BANALITY : Draco Malfoy

65

Terry lied. He said he barely knew me at Hogwarts, but Terry had an ex though, an ex he was missing over Easter break for reasons that are vague, but war-related, and Anthony is talking about me like I'm the ex. I'm not stupid enough to believe that some other pretend ex died in the war. Fool me once, Draco, shame on you. Fool me twice, Terry. My hands are frozen. I step back, my fingers so stiff they struggle to even hold the wand. My thoughts are racing like cars on a racetrack, engines loud and deep. They are impossible to quiet. I look around Terry's bedroom. There is a window above the desk. I climb up on it and struggle to unlock the window with my rigid fingers. My body will fit through.

The door opens behind me, and I try to rush out. I pull up the windowpane and I start to pull my torso through the gap. The door behind me slams.

"Marty, Marty you don't understand," Terry grabs my legs before I can even get my hips through.

I kick at him, my heart racing. I can't scream, because then Michael will hear me and know that I'm here, and then there is another risk altogether. What if it's Terry who erased my mind? I should have been more suspicious. I was blinded by how much I wanted to save Draco from having his soul sucked out of his body that my own safety hadn't even been a priority. Truly, my safety wasn't even a consideration.

Terry pulls at me, and I come crashing down onto the desk. The wind is knocked out of my chest as I fall on the wood. I cough, trying as hard as I can to force my chest up and down. Terry grabs my hips and pulls me around to face him. Without air in my lungs, it is hard to resist. In the struggle, a bottle of ink rolls off the desk and smashes on the floor. It's sure to stain his rug. Will my blood stain it too when Terry is through with me? I turn my wand towards him, but Terry snaps his wrist and my wand flies across the room.

"Let me go," I can feel my heart pounding.

The door opens behind him.

I assume the stocky blond man on the other side is Anthony Goldstein. He looks at me from behind his strong brow, then at Terry, who has me mostly pinned to his desk, and then back at me.

He faints.

Terry swishes his wand, "Petrificus totalus."

My body goes stiff and limp. Terry guides me to the floor. I cannot scream. Actually, I cannot do anything. My entire body is not even able to look at Terry. I'm experiencing the world like I always do when I relive my memories. The feeling is back. The helplessness, the claustrophobia of being not just in a room, but inside a body limited. There is no five things to count since my eyes can't even scan the ceiling, but my heart cannot race and my blood isn't heating up, so all of the panic is trapped in my head.

"Rennervate," Terry says.

I hear Anthony gasping for air. It's not me who gets to move. My fingers cannot twitch no matter how much I try to force them. This is a new definition of stiff. I cannot even see Anthony; the only reason I know he is awake is because I can hear him puffing.

"Is that Marty?" Anthony asks. "Merlin, is that Marty Turner?"

"Yes," Terry says. "Verifiably."

"She's dead," Anthony says. "She's actually dead. How is she here? Why isn't she moving? Did you use a full-body-bind on her? Terry, what is going on?"

"I've used a full-body bind to immobilize her," Terry says. "She has a suspicious disposition, and I hadn't mentioned that I really knew her. The little trust we had established has evaporated, so forgive me if I don't tell you any more details out of respect for her privacy."

"I suppose I don't trust you either," Anthony says. "And wait... what do you mean you hadn't mentioned that you knew her? Shouldn't she know?"

Terry's face pops into my vision. He adjusts his glasses as he peers down at me, "I'm going to release you, okay? If you try to run, I might have to use another full-body-bind on you again, but I would rather not do that. I'm on your side. I promise. This is just a misunderstanding. Well, not really. I messed up. Let me explain."