The Healer- A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 18

 My friends had a million questions to ask about Draco. I answered them as neutrally as I could manage, giving no indication that I was actually torn up inside. I had told Draco that we were better off apart. It wasn't a breakup, but it sure felt like one.

They believed me when I told them I had only walked him to the Medical Wing and left him with Madam Pomfrey. I expected the questions to stop after that night, but it was unfortunately all they could talk about for the next two weeks. It was horrible having to hear the name of the man I was trying to forget. I couldn't eat much, couldn't focus on studies, couldn't paint- whenever I tried, I found myself looking at the pages of my notebook with him on it. Even that became too much of a reminder of my painful longing for him. So I tore them out and fed them to the fire in the common room.

I didn't see Draco again, not even in passing. Whenever his friends were around, I left, fearing he may appear. I eventually stopped leaving my room altogether except to go to classes and meals. I spent many sleepless nights in that dark bedroom I shared with my friends- but the meaning of the word seemed to be lost on me. For what kind of friends were they if they didn't even notice how deeply I was suffering?

After they all fell asleep, I would cry into my pillow. For I was alone.

Greta had mentioned something before, a concept in the world of dating called a 'rebound'. It's someone you use to get over the person you were really interested in. That was why I still kept my word with Cade to attend Slughorn's Party with him. I had a dress already picked out (with help from Penny, Evelyn and Greta). It was one of my mother's that I had sneakily taken with me to Hogwarts this year. I never expected to use it, as it was admittedly quite mature. The dress was made of shiny grey fabric, and had a swooping neckline that revealed almost my entire chest. Greta was kind enough to make a few alterations, but it still hung a little too low for a 15 year old. I was going to make Cade my rebound, even if reluctantly.

"Wow," Cade's eyes ran up and down my body as I emerged from the girl's corridor. As he described in painstaking detail, he was wearing a velvety emerald green suit with a black lapel. Even though it was a little big on him, he looked quite dashing. "You look... good."

I gave him a half-hearted smile. "Thank you. You do, too."

Cade could hardly take his eyes off of me the whole time we walked through the castle corridors. He offered me his arm, which I took- mostly because the winter air coming through the windows was horribly frigid. Winter break began tomorrow, and then we would get to spend two weeks at home with our families. My plan was to go back to London and spend that week with my mum, as I always did. It was just the two of us in her quaint townhouse. Two weeks without any chance of seeing Draco. I knew I should be looking forward to it. But I wasn't.

Cade and I had almost reached Slughorn's party when I saw something flying towards the window. I stopped walking and stared.

"What is it?" Cade asked, squinting at the spot in the night sky I was looking at. "Is that an owl?"

I watched as the owl, brown and tousled, perched on the windowsill. Its eyes were looking at me. So I stepped towards it, my eyes going to the letter in its beak.

I took the blue envelope from the owl, noting the neat cursive handwriting on the front. "It's from my mum," I said quietly. Why my mum was sending an owl right now was beyond me. But I had a sickening feeling like something was wrong.

"Go on ahead to the party, Cade," I said, not taking my eyes off the letter. "I'll only be a moment."

Cade told me to hurry, and then left. As soon as I was alone in the corridor, I opened the envelope and carefully read the letter in the moonlight.