Running On Air

Chapter 15

The storm gives way to rain and when Harry wakens the next morning, the sky is a pale grey. It starts to rain lightly during his morning run, and when he trails back into the guesthouse — leaving sodden footprints behind him — the receptionist looks dismayed.

Nevertheless, it doesn't deter Draco, who — after a leisurely breakfast — insists on a coastal walk.

"You can go. I'm staying here," Harry says.

"Oh, I forget. You still have at least seven pages of Quidditch Weekly left to pore over," Draco retorts, but there's no malice to his words and Harry just laughs.

"Don't fall off a cliff," he says.

"Thanks for that advice, Potter, I'll write it down so I don't forget."

Draco leaves the room, taking his wand with him. He has a way of using his fingertips to catch the wand and flick it into his sleeve, where it stays as if adhering to the material. It's a very neat trick, Harry thinks, and seems even quicker than the method the Aurors were taught.

Once Draco's gone, Harry turns his attention to the copy of Quidditch Weekly he picked up from the stationary shop in Hopper's Crossing. He's read nearly every article twice. There's a page devoted to Ginny in the 'Top Ten Female Players' section. The page is peppered with photographs of her and references to 'Harry Potter's ex-fiancee'. That annoys Harry. Ginny's struggled for years to carve a name for herself, but at countless sports interviews and Quidditch articles, Harry's name has always been dragged in by enthusiastic interviewers. Now it seems even though they're no longer in a relationship, she's still having the same problems.

Harry wonders idly how the papers represented the story. Though they broke up at Christmas, the press didn't start speculating until February, and Hermione told him Rita Skeeter officially broke the news in late April. Harry wouldn't know. He doesn't read the paper, relying instead on Ron and Hermione to keep him updated on the happenings in the wizarding world. Otherwise, he knows, he'd be reading page after page about his apparent personal life. At least there wasn't anything malicious in the articles, Hermione assured him. Mostly daft and outrageous reports, like Harry claiming ownership over their apparent pet dragon or Ginny selling her engagement ring through The Daily Prophet classifieds.

Of course, there would no doubt be far more outrageous reports if anyone found out he'd gone missing suddenly.

He's always shied away from the media, and he's notoriously difficult to pin to paper. Hermione and Ron will cover for him, but his work colleagues will no doubt notice his unexplained absence and whisper among themselves. And soon, the whispering will reach the ever-alert antennae of Rita Skeeter.

Harry doesn't even think about Draco going to the papers. Draco wouldn't do that. He doesn't know why, but he just knows Draco wouldn't do it. When they go back...

When they go back.

Harry sits on the edge of Draco's bed. It's a sentence he's trying to avoid thinking about. When we go back. It seems strange to imagine. Of course his friends will be desperately worried and he'll have to visit them at once — a pang of guilt echoes in Harry's heart — and he'll have to explain his absence to his annoyed supervisors, and deal with curious colleagues —

— but then he thinks of the apartment, the concrete box in the sky, with its dusty countertops and empty rooms, the silence that weighs heavy on his sleepless nights.

Harry stands up suddenly and reaches for the Renault keycard as if it's a liferaft.

By the time Draco returns in the afternoon, Harry's gone for a drive, returned, and settled down with Flowers For Algernon.