Dreams of Magic (Harry Potter)

Nine: An Unknown Danger

There were several things running through Addy's mind at the moment, the first of which being 'Draco's going too fast!'.

He was pulling her through the hallways with practiced speed, and after a while Addy began to wonder if he would ever stop. He was running like his life depended on it, and as far as Addy was aware, there was nothing around that warranted them to be sprinting like this. At least, not when McGonagall could walk around a corner at any moment and punish them for tearing through the halls at breakneck speed.

The pair didn't stop running until the Slytherin dorms portrait was in front of them. Without any hesitation, Draco said the password and pulled Addy through with him. It was only then, when they were safe inside, that Draco let out a breath he had been holding in. He leaned against the nearest wall and closed his eyes, and Addy stood next to him, supremely confused.

"Draco, what on earth is going on?" Addy asked, her volume not climbing above a whisper. She looked at her surroundings as several pairs of eyes turned her way. Suddenly, Addy felt as if these Slytheirn students were predators, and she, in her bright Ravenclaw blue, was the prey.

"I think I should go-" Addy began, turning to climb back out of the portrait hole, but Draco jerked her hand back.

"I don't think so," He said with such certainty that Addy actually listened. "Not with that troll out there."

"That what?" She repeated. Draco nodded, finally pushing himself off the wall.

"It was obvious you had no idea what was going on. I mean, an actual troll was roaming the halls and you were strolling back to your dorm like nobody's business," Draco explained. "The troll was last making noise over by your dorms and most of the Ravenclaw kids had gone to the classrooms under teacher supervision." Addy took a moment to process this information, and she felt her body begin to tense up with what she called 'aftershock fear'.

"I could have been dead," Addy realized, and Draco nodded, affirming the thought. Her hands clenched into fists, and that made the pair realize they were still holding hands. Draco's hands were icy and Addy's were warm, and it became increasingly obvious that they should have noticed this before. As soon as she looked down, Addy let go of his hand, swiftly crossing her arms behind her back. Draco coughed, looking away for a moment.

"Yeah, you sure would have been. You're welcome," He said, and despite her fear, Addy chuckled.

"Thank you," She said, and truly meant it, "But do you think you could tell everyone to stop staring at me? It's kind of stressing me out." For the first time, Draco fully straightened up and looked around. Indeed, several of his classrooms were glancing over at them with rather judgemental looks. A few of his friends, he noticed, were simply watching, but others were visibly miffed.

"What is she doing here?" One girl called from her place across the room. She was in an armchair by a lit fireplace, surrounded by a mountain of books and two other friends. Her question called more attention to Addy's presence, and a few more kids looked on.

"Just standing, at the moment," Addy spoke up, and Draco has to clear his throat to mask a laugh.

"I invited her over," Draco stated, pulling Addy over to a different collection of chairs where his other friends were. He hoped that if he ignored the girl (like he usually did) she would leave him alone, but no such luck.

"You just invited her over? While a troll is roaming the school? Shouldn't she be with the rest of her class?" The girl pressed, and Addy stared at her with a look.

"Please mind your business," Addy said as she took the seat Draco offered. "There's no rule against me hanging out with a friend. And yes, maybe I should be with my class, but I'd rather not be dead, so I'm sure the prefects will let me stay until the problem is solved." To her point, one Slytherin boy with the signature shiny badge had listened to the entire conversation thus far and hadn't said a single thing. In fact, at Addy's remark, he snickered and turned back to his own homework. The girl's face turned a nice shade of pink, and her brown hair swung to and fro as she stood up angrily.