Draco's Hufflepuff | Emerging

Sixty-Six: Catatonic

A/N: Just a quick warning, this is a sad chapter. I cried whilst writing it... twice. Please make sure to read the second author's note at the end of this chapter. I'm sorry in advance.

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Friday, 14th March, 1997

Draco seemed to have kept to his promise, and he did seem to be spending more time with me. Since Wednesday evening, things were slowly getting better between us. Nowhere near what they were, but it was a little progress.

Granted, two days was nothing in the grand scheme of things, but to me, it was everything, because it proved that he was being serious about what he said to me.

I hadn't seen Draco all day. He hadn't been in any of our lessons, he wasn't around for break, or in the Great Hall for either breakfast or lunch. I would have been worried, but Blaise reassured me that he was alright.

Because of everything that's been going on, my grades were starting to slip as well. The only difference being it wasn't as noticeable when it came to me because I've always been an average student, sometimes even below average.

Yesterday in Charms, Professor Flitwick threatened me with a week's worth of detention if I didn't pick my work back up. I was marked with a Dreadful in my latest essay.

I knew I should care, because next year, we were going to complete our N.E.W.T.s, which were even more important than our O.W.L.s, but my school work was the last thing on this earth that I thought of.

As I watched Hannah and Seamus walk away together, a pang of jealousy shot through me. They've never had to deal with the things Draco and I have. Everything was so uncomplicated with them – it was all straightforward.

The last place I wanted to go was back to my common room, and be reminded once again that I was all alone. Leanne was with Luke, Susan was with Lisa, and Megan was with Ernie. I got to thinking about the time when it was me going off to meet the person I was with... how we would soak up every second we had together.

Now it seemed to have flipped around – my friends were the one's going off and I was the stuck behind. I couldn't even be mad at them either, that would be incredibly unfair of me, because I remembered how exciting it was.

I just kept thinking to the time when things with us were back to normal and Draco could tell me everything about this thing with Professor Snape. I refused to believe that those few months were the only time in our life we would be that idiotically happy together.

I knew I would have to be patient and let Draco come back to me, just as he had done so many times before. He was the love of my life, and that trumped every single negative thought, sad feeling, and questionable action.

My heart stopped momentarily when I saw Draco standing with his foot rested against the brick wall at the spot between our common rooms.

I found my pace quickened up significantly and I more or less ran over to him. It was as though I was walking on clouds or something. The relief that washed over me was like nothing I had ever felt before. At least I could now see for myself that he was okay.

"Draco! Oh, Merlin, there you are!" I threw my arms around him, "I've missed you so much today. Where have you been?"

"I've just had to do something with Snape, it's nothing important. Look, I was wondering if you would meet me later on in the Astronomy Tower, at around 8:00pm?" Draco held me tight, but his tone was weirdly indifferent and serious,

"Yes, of course, I will, absolutely," I beamed up at him, a huge grin forming on my lips,

"Good," Draco kissed the top of my head, "I'll see you later, yeah?"