A witch's heart [Draco Malfoy x oc]

Empath

[Niela]

Things had been fine inside the hospital wing. Only when I stepped outside I wished I'd never left.

Feelings from the entirety of Hogwarts punched me in the gut - literally. As if carrying people's emotional weight wasn't enough, no, it had to physically hurt.
I could technically go to Madam Pomfrey again, but within the hospital wing, I was fine. She healed injuries, magical and mundane, though what I felt couldn't really be considered an injury... Something told me that I wasn't going to get rid of it anytime soon.

"Niela! Wait, aren't you supposed to be in the hospital wing?", Cecily, who had come out of nowhere, asked.
"Madam Pomfrey let me go today", I said and hugged her.

The emotions stopped bothering my head. For one second, I thought I was free - until I felt deep sadness. Almost as if Cecily was drowning in a sea of tears.
"Are you okay?", I carefully asked, not letting go of her hand.
She smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. But you're not. Let's get you to the dorms."

She was lying. The sadness was still there with a hint of resignation ... Cecily had stopped caring about herself.

I stopped walking when we reached the common room. "C-lily, I think I have gained new powers."
She looked surprised. "Really? What kind?"
"It probably has something to do with empathy, but I'm not too sure. Either way, I can feel what everyone in Hogwarts feels."

The surprise on her face slowly started shifting to guilt. "Everyone?"
I nodded. "Wanna tell me now?"
"I don't think you'll want to -"
"You are the first friend I ever had. Of course I'll want to know."
She smiled, but tears were welling up her eyes. "Eric cheated on me."

Oh, that bastard son of a bitch.

"When did it happen?"
"One week ago."
Two, three days later, Draco and I had started dating. "So that's why you didn't tell me..."
She nodded. "You were happy, and I didn't want to ruin it."
If the price for my happiness was her suffering, then I didn't want it. But getting mad at her for thinking so wasn't fair, was it?

Of course not.
Well look who rose up from the dead.
I didn't want to interrupt your cozy little sessions with Maaalfoooyyy.
Shush Agapi, I'm trying to comfort someone.
Do go on.

"How did you find out?"
"His behaviour was weird", Cecily said. "Always cancelling our dates, not wanting to hold my hand in public - I should've known then. Instead, I got worried when his excuse was an illness, so I visited his dorm room. But he wasn't alone in his bed."
She let out a bitter laugh. "Maybe he just grew tired of me."

"Cecily?"
"Hm?"
"It's his loss, not yours."

She looked at me, teary-eyed.
"Then why did he leave?"

I held her while she cried, trying to come up with condoling words - but quite honestly, I didn't know what to do. 

+

When Laurel and Alicia entered the dorms, Cecily was alright again - or as alright as one could be, having been cheated on.

Since I had let go of Cecily's hand, Hogwarts' feelings were free to bother my head again. There were three groups of emotions standing out, though - and they belonged to the three people I was in this room with.