Anyone But Me

Chapter Forty-Eight

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to ACupples. Thank you so much for your kind words and all of the help that you have given! It is definitely appreciated!

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Nervousness threatened to keep her frozen in place on the wrong side of the wall. She knew that if she didn't conjure the door soon she would end up getting caught but she could not make her legs follow her commands for movement. No matter how many times she counted to ten and tried to take the first step, she remained there. Completely immobile. Staring across the hall at the place the door would appear.

Well... If she ever got up the courage to call for it...

As Hermione stood there, her mind continuing to wrestle for control over her body, it struck her as odd that there was no sharp edge of hysteria that signaled a panic attack. There was no hammering heartbeat in her ears or vice-like grip around her throat making it hard to breathe. The only other outward sign of her internal dilemma, besides her stubbornly uncooperative legs, was the slight tremor in her hands and the sweat that was collecting on her palms.

This left little doubt that what she was experiencing was actually refreshingly typical-much like the jitters she had while waiting for the results of an exam. It was a completely acceptable biological response to an academically (or in this case, socially) challenging situation. The realization of the sheer normalcy of her situation caused an unexpected relief to flow through her veins. How long had it been since she felt like she could face a stressor without the feeling, fleeting or not, that the weight of her anxiety would crush her?

The small burst of confidence from this thought was enough to finally relax the tight rigidity that held her captive. She realized she had subconsciously been waiting for the moment that she would fall apart, and hadn't wanted Draco to see her blubbering and hyperventilating over something he wouldn't understand. The irony of her apprehensively waiting for her anxiety to take over was not lost on her. She shook her head and smiled at her own absurdity as her legs finally started along the familiar paced path.

I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room. I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room. I need the door to Draco Malfoy's room.

When the door appeared for her, the smile spread fully across her face. Grateful that she was no longer banned from entry like the last time, she rushed forward and closed the door quickly behind her.

Her gaze worked from one far corner of the room to the other and she saw that she was alone. The door to the loo stood open, squashing any hope that he may just be running late getting ready. Nothing had been done to change the room in any way, like her imagination had dreamt up. There wasn't even a note for her to wait for him...

Slowly her hand fell from the door knob and she made her way over to the couch and sat down, clinging to the chance that he was held up somewhere and would be there soon. She carefully inspected the room once again from where she sat, double checking that she had not missed anything on her initial sweep. Absolutely nothing had been moved since the morning she had woken up late- other than the bed was now made. Even her CD player was still sitting in the exact spot she had deserted it.

Or was it?

Hermione looked intently at her stereo, eyes narrowed in concentration. A whispering voice nagged at her that maybe there was something amiss from when she had been there last, she just could not put her finger on what it was. Ginny's purse, which she had borrowed to tote the CDs to the room, laid off to the side right where she had set it down. The small leather binder that had held the CDs was discarded a few inches away, the zippered teeth holding the fabric... closed?