"He...hey where are you running off to Petal?" Neville catches my wrist and gently tugs, getting me to stop by pulling me into his chest. His eyes search mine worriedly, and he slowly reaches out to brush a loose strand of hair out of my face.
"I um..." I shake my head to myself, taking a deep breath to try and collect my racing thoughts and string words together to from a coherent sentence. "Have you seen Draco anywhere?"
I pull against Neville's fingers, turning my head behind me to search the rest of the corridor in the direction I had came from. I catch flashes of robes in the archway of the Great Hall to the right, but I quickly realize it's not who I'm looking for.
My gaze flickers back to Neville, who takes his bottom lip awkwardly between his teeth. He raises a concerned brow as he searches my desperate face, his fingers wrapping tighter around my wrist when I try to tug it free.
"I haven't" Neville's eyes remain on my face as I look past his shoulder, standing on my tippy toes to look down the corridor in hopes of catching a glimpse of Malfoy.
"Annah?" Neville's fingers hook under my chin, bringing my attention back to him. "Annah what's going on?" His thumb tenderly sweeps against my cheek followed by rubbing against my bottom lip.
"I... I need to find him" Neville looks down at me worriedly while my eyes search his desperately.
My eyes leave Neville's, my breath hitching in my throat when they land on the spiral staircase. My heart begins pounding against my throat as the foyer fades away from view and suddenly I'm back in the astronomy tower with Draco.
"Where'd you go" I pout when his presence withdraws from my body. "Right here princess" he whispers in my ear while uncovering my eyes. "Where did you get this?" the taste of my favorite chocolate melting on my tongue. "Do you come here often?" "Often enough I suppose. I come here whenever I need to think or get away."
.....
I stop in my tracks in his compartment, his platinum blonde hair in front of me. . "I think I'd rather pitch myself off the astronomy tower than have to be stuck at this school for another two years" Draco scoffs in disgust.
.....
I overhear Daphne talking to Millicent "I don't know, he said something about pitching himself over..."
That's all I needed to hear before taking off in desperate attempts to find Draco.
Everything comes screaming back to life all at once. And suddenly it all makes sense.
"The tower" I gasp suddenly. I rip my eyes from the empty staircase and clash my gaze with Neville's worried one.
He furrows a brow in confusion from where he's looking down at me, mouth slightly parted as he lowers his head a little more. My heart pounds frantically against my chest while thoughts begin zooming through my head. Neville squeezes my wrist gently in reassurance while I bite back against the utter panic coursing through my veins.
"Neville listen to me, I think something very bad is about to happen. Malfoy, he's..." Neville continues to stare patiently, nodding his head with confusion to the unfinished statement. I huff with frustration at this. "I have to go!"
I try to pull myself from Neville's grasp, nearly dragging him backward when his fingers tighten and he digs his heels into the floor. He pulls me back, using his forearm against my abdomen to keep me from running off while ensuring he's not hurting me.
"Wait!" he struggles against me, tugging a little more forcefully to get me to stop. "I'm coming with you! It's too dangerous for you to go by your-"
"NO!" I shout more harshly than I intended, and guilt flickers through me when I see the look on Neville's face. "I have to go alone!" I pant breathlessly. "If we're not back in 10 minutes, get help!"
