You and me

Part 13 - A long Summer

It was a particularly long summer.
There was so much of secrecy everywhere.
Draco didnt write to me or visit me.
Mum wouldnt let me visit him either.
There were things about Lucius Malfoy's arrest in The Daily Prophet. And once, I saw Draco and Narcissa on the front page. My heart ached to see him like that.
I kept having more nightmares, and they seemed worse than before. I saw Draco in most of them, and I saw him hurt, and screaming.
My parents began hiding the papers from me after that. Hermione and Ginny wrote to me regularly, and I had to ask them if they heard anything about the Malfoys. They didnt tell me anything useful.
Seeing my pain, Mum came to talk to me one night.
"Mia, look at you" she said, touching my hair. "Dont do this to yourself"
I was angry. So angry.
"Everything is going to be fine, dear" she assured me.
"Mum, please" I said "I need to see Draco ! I havent heard from him for over a month now"
I felt myself shaking uncontrollably.
"Please, Mum" I said through loud sobs. "I need Draco ! I love him, Mum"
Mum hugged me, as we both cried.
But she didnt say anything.

The next morning, just as I came out of my bath, I heard voices in the living room. I dashed down to see Narcissa and Lucius, in an argument with my parents. My eyes searched the room for Draco, but he wasnt there.
Narcissa noticed me, and they all fell silent. She came forward to hug me, and whispered ," Draco is fine darling...hes been ill for a while and  the healers say that he needs to take a lot of rest. I will take you to meet him once he gets better"
She squeezed my hand gently, as if assuring me of this. I stared at her pale face. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark shadows under them. I looked over to Lucius Malfoy, who looked furious, and as if hes been hit by a tornado. His long platinum blond hair was a mess, and his clothes looked shabby. There were bags under his eyes.
Just as I left them to talk, I again heard them arguing.
"You promised !" Dad was yelling.
"Draco and Mia should be our first priority !"
I had no clue about anything. How totally blank I was.

                                 * * *

Ginny invited me over to the Borrow on the final week of holidays. I wrote back almost immediately that I would go. I had to get away from home. Everyone treated me like as if I were made of glass, and it totally bugged me.
Dad took me to the Burrow. And spending a week with the Weasleys, well it was a much needed break for me. We went to the Diagon Alley the day before school, and visited the Weasleys Wizard Wheezers.
They had all sorts of crazy stuff in there, and it helped me get over my bad mood.
"You will see him on train tomorrow" said Ginny with a smile. "Maybe its hard for him to face you after all those things written in the Daily Prophet"
I gave a small nod. Thinking of him was starting to hurt. I missed the way his fingers ran through my hair.The way he smelled. The way he touched me. The way he always knew what I thought.
Ginny took my hand in hers and we began walking around, followed by Fred and George. We didnt notice the trio slipping out of the shop, because when they were back, they all looked pretty grim.

Once back at the Burrow, Hermione took my hand and into Ginny's room, locking the door behind us.
I stared at her in confusion. And she seemed to be hesitating.
"We saw him" she said.
My heart began racing as I waited for her to say the name.
"We saw Draco and his mother" she continued. "We followed them into Knockturn Alley."
"What ?"
"The Borgin and Burkes"
"But why?"
Hermione shook her head, not knowing why.
I felt some stabbing pain in my heart, at not being able to see him, eventhough I was there.
"Im sorry Mia, but I thought you would want to know" she said, touching my shoulder.
"Thanks, Hermione" I said, and my voice broke, as I began to cry. "It hurts" I wailed. " It hurts so much !"
Seeing me cry, I saw her eyes moistened as well, and she put her arms around me, as I cried.

                                * * *

"Did you see him ?" I heard Ginny asking Hermione.
"No" she said, her eyes moving through the crowd of students at Platform 9 3/4.
I sat watching them getting into the train, chatting and laughing happily.
"The train's going to move any minute now" Luna said, sitting next to me.
I was just so exhausted, I couldnt cry.
I just stared on.
And my heart skipped a beat, as I saw the last person getting on the train.
He looked pale and seemed thinner. As if he was really ill. There were shadows under his eyes, and they looked tired. He wore a black suit, and looked years older.
He had a grim expression on his face, and he scanned the crowd nervously.
His eyes fell on me.
My eyes began to blur, but I held on.
I stood up, wishing he would run to me, and take me in his arms like he used to. But, that didnt happen. Instead, he was utterly formal with me. He came forward, and said "Hi"
I stared at him.
There were million things that I wanted to tell him, but all I managed to do was stare. I saw his lips tremble a little.
"Mia" he said. "How have you been ?"
My friends stared at him as well.
I couldnt say a word.
Silent tears were flowing down my cheeks, and I saw his eyes moisten.
"See you around" He said, before moving on.
I felt so humiliated, I could gave just jumped off the train and killed myself.
And for the first time ever, I felt like I was losing him.
Forever.