the girl with all of the choices

t w e n t y

3243 words

june twenty-fourth- the realization

I slumped down against the wood behind me as everyone began to make their way from the stands, down to the grassy level where his body lay. 

My mind went blank. I just stared at the wood of the railing in front of me. 

Soon enough, I was alone in the stands. I don't think anybody noticed me. I heard voices, but I couldn't understand them. 

My mind was blank. My ears were deaf. My eyes were frozen. My body was immobilized. My heart...

Eventually, I couldn't see the people down by the grass. It was just me. I was alone.

~ Draco ~

What in the bloody hell happened? 

As soon as I saw them appear, I knew something was wrong. My body went cold, which was saying something considering I was always freezing. Diggory looked colder than me. So cold that he could never be warm again. 

Diggory's father wailed so much that I thought I would punch someone. 

I would have liked to think of myself as a tough guy. I didn't really feel emotions. The only person that had ever made me feel something was Addison. She made me feel warm. 

His screams, his agony, made me feel something. I thought that that was the moment where I realized I was no longer a kid. 

Cedric was dead. Nobody realized it at first. But I did. I've seen enough dead people in my days to recognize what they look like. Diggory was dead. 

People screamed. Others cried. Most were silent. 

I was silent. What do you say when your classmate turns up dead? When your girlfriend's best friend-

Oh my god. Where is she?

I started to scan the stands to find her. I found her friends, Stevens, King, Carroll, and that Hannah girl that let her stay in her room when her friends were treating her like crap. 

I even found the Weasley twins. But I couldn't find her. 

I saw Dumbledore gather the other professors down around his body. His body. His dead body. 

Snape and McGonagall started to usher people out. I hesitated. I needed to find her. 

Snape made his way over toward where I was and started to tell people how to get out of here. They were having us go the back way, probably so we wouldn't be traumatized by seeing his dead body. Too late for that.

I wanted to tell Snape that I couldn't find her, but he was too fast. I followed Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise out into the area they were guiding us to. I frantically started to look. 

Where is she? Come on, Addie, where are you? 

I couldn't find her. I finally spotted one of the Weasley twins and ran over to him. 

"Where is Corbyn?" I asked hurriedly. 

"I-" he started, stammering as he realized he didn't know. "I don't know. We were in the stands and then we all were led out but I didn't-"

That was enough of an answer. Shit. I continued to make my way through the crowd, spotting Stevens. She was with the others, sobbing hysterically, barely able to lift her eyes from the ground. Addison wasn't with them.