Walking the Halls

Chapter 13

"Draco?" Harry stares at him. 

"What is going on?" Filch yells. He pushes through the crowd. "Who did this?"

Draco steps back. He can't believe the person he was...is?

"It was you, wasn't it?" Filch asks.

Draco shakes his head.

Reggie nips at him. 

"Haha. Look out, Mudbloods," he yells. 

Harry's jaw drops and he steps away from the hanging cat. 

"Harry Potter, you did this," Filch says. His voice cracks.

Draco sneers. 

His chest heaves with each inhale. Water splashes into his shoes. He grabs the wall, but it's damp. He slips down and lands on his hands and knees in a puddle. A hand touches his shoulder. He slaps it away and push himself further into the wall. Reggie nips at his hands. 

"Neither Mr. Potter nor Mr. Malfoy have the power to do this," Dumbledore says. 

Mr. Filch grumbles. 

Draco tries to focus on the scene, but his vision is muddled. Noises are ricocheting in his head and distorting. Someone is saying his name. He tries to focus on it but it's getting further. Water soaks through his robes and sticks them to his skin. 

"Draco, come back."

He groans. 

"Yeah. It's okay. Really. We explained everything. No one is in trouble."

He reaches a hand forward. Another hand wraps around it. 

"Ron. Hermione, and I are here," Harry says. 

Two hands rub his shoulders. 

"Honestly, embarrassing," someone says. 

Harry tries to pull from him. 

Draco groans. He sighs and moves closer to him. 

"Alright, let's get you back to the dorms," Harry says. 

He nods. 

Dumbledore says, "We should discuss this in my office."

"No. We're tired. Nothing will change if we talk tonight," Harry says. 

He opens his eyes. "Gryffindor?" 

Harry turns to him. "Yeah."

Ron wraps an arm around his waist. 

Draco wraps an arm around his shoulders. 

Harry does the same. They help him up and down the hall. 

"I can walk," he says. 

"Can you?" Hermione asks. 

He puts more pressure on his legs, but they buckle. 

"If I sleep another day and a half, I swear to Merlin, I will go on a reign of terror," he mutters. 

Harry smiles. "Seeing as one of us two is the heir of Slytherin, how do we know you haven't already?" he asks. 

He laughs. "I suppose we don't, but we all know I would take credit for any chaos I cause." 

Hermione says, "True. He may be sneaky, but he would own up to this." 

"Can we ask what happened back there?" Ron asks. 

He sighs. "I'm not sure how to explain it beyond a panic attack. It reminded me of something else that happened in my life, and I guess I freaked out."