Little Bird

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eve

            The next two weeks passed by sluggishly, the spring weather making the entire atmosphere at Hogwarts seem slower and slightly dull because of the almost constant rain and muddy grounds. Nothing had changed with all of Umbridge's new rules, and it looked like we were going to have to put up with it all for the rest of the year. I was just glad that there was only a little more than two weeks left before the summer, so we wouldn't have to put up with the insanely early curfew or the no physical contact rules for much longer.

            But I couldn't ignore how different Draco had been acting ever since he came back to Hogwarts.

            He was so much quieter now, especially when we were with other Slytherins or working together in class. I found it much harder to get him to laugh or smile—something which I had previously been able to do without even trying. When we stayed out late in the common room at night together he was more talkative, but it was always obvious his mind was partially elsewhere. After how scared he'd made me that night he came back from the manor, I was too cautious to ask him outright what was up. He'd made it clear he didn't want to talk about it, so I wasn't going to push him for answers. Besides, I was hoping part of it had to do with the stress of classes—so maybe it'd all blow over when the year was finally over.

            Either way, it was killing me to see him so distracted and upset.

            The weather improved drastically that Saturday, the sun coming out for the first time in days and burning off the looming rain clouds. Since the rain had finally ceased and the spring air was warm, most of the students were out on the school grounds instead of staying inside. I went down to breakfast a little later than usual, and I ended up sitting with Flint and Christian when I realized Draco wasn't there. The two of them mostly just complained about how they weren't even allowed to practice Quidditch—something they'd been upset over for about three weeks now—and how they were worried things were going to be exactly the same when we came back for our sixth year in the fall.

            "There's no way Umbridge will still be here next year," Christian said, reaching across me for a piece of toast after a quick apology. "Dumbledore will be back by then for sure."

            "Yeah, I never thought I'd say it," Flint agreed, "but I honestly want that old man to come back. All these shit rules are getting ridiculous."

            "But what if he gets arrested over the summer?" I asked, poking at my cereal. "I'm just saying, it's not like he can hide forever. They must be close to finding him."

            "Nah, they've got idiots in the Ministry who are looking for him," Flint told me, snorting as he thought about it.

            Christian laughed too, looking over at me and adding, "Besides, Fudge is too busy trying to cover up the fact that the Dark Lord's back. He's a moron, I'm telling you."

            I immediately felt awkward at the mention of You Know Who's return, but I managed to cover it up by letting out a small laugh along with them. Flint started to ask Christian something about the Transfiguration essay they had to do, so I put down my spoon and glanced down the length of the Slytherin table. Draco wasn't anywhere to be seen, and I wondered if he had gone outside—which would have been surprising. He rarely left the castle these days.

            I pushed the cereal bowl away from me and asked, "Have either of you seen Draco around?"

            "Just when I got up this morning," Flint told me, grabbing another piece of bacon. "I asked him if he was gonna come down for breakfast with me but he said he wasn't hungry. I think he's still in the dorm. Why?"