Draco's Hufflepuff | Emerging

Eighty-Two: Doubt

**

Monday, 23rd June, 1997

Between Draco telling me about his Dark Mark and Patrick telling me that he was in love with me, it's taken everything and all I could do to not have a full-blown mental breakdown.

Despite the weather being sticky and unbearably hot, my arms were covered in goosebumps. Ever since Patrick kissed me, there was this constant weird atmosphere hanging around me. We hadn't spoken properly since I rejected him, and I knew a part of him was hoping I would change my mind. I could see the desperation and the longing in his eyes.

Shivering as I walked through the castle hallways mindlessly, it was hard to be in my own mind right now, let alone around other people. I had nowhere I could go. If I wasn't reminded of Draco, I was reminded of Patrick, and neither of those scenarios were pleasant right now.

I couldn't help but think about the start of this year and how vastly and absurdly different things were. Not just with Draco and me, but everything in general. I would do anything to go back to that time of my life. Who knew six months could change so much?

Draco was my boyfriend, I was a normal person, nothing was broken. Was I really that naïve and stupid to believe things could have stayed that way?

I wrapped my arms around my body and continued walking with no destination in mind. With every Slytherin I passed, my heart stopped, and my blood froze still, terrified of Draco being there. I wanted to simultaneously be permanently attached to him and be as far away from him as I could get.

Out of nowhere, I heard the hurried footsteps and frantic breathing of someone running through the hallways, which naturally piqued my attention slightly.

"Oh, there you are," Justin panted, trying to catch his breath, "I've been looking for you everywhere. Maddie, you need to come and see this,"

The urgency in Justin's tone and the worried, cautious expression on his face made my stomach drop slightly. I just knew something bad had happened, I just knew it.

**

I was more or less running through the castle hallways, following Justin the entire time. We were silent, and quite a few of the students had looked at me with the same face Justin had, which made everything ten times worse.

When I saw the tall, broad frames of the two boys in my life who once claimed to love me, my heart leapt into my throat. Justin looked over at me and pulled his lips into a tight line, silently saying, "I'm sorry."

I was catching my breath as I ran over to them instinctively. The two boys were fighting, and I mean really fighting. Patrick had punched Draco in the jaw, which Draco retaliated with a punch to his stomach.

The air in the castle evaporated, and it obvious what they must have been fighting over... me.

There was a small crowd around us, and I looked back to Justin, who was now joined by nearly all of the other Hufflepuffs in our year, minus Hannah, who must still be with Seamus.

Leanne and Luke were looking on in horror, not knowing what to do. Susan was still holding hands with Lisa, and they didn't quite know what to do. Ernie and Megan had a stricken, worried look on their faces. Zacharias even looked slightly concerned.

"Please, stop fighting. I don't want either one of you getting hurt," I said honestly.

I held Draco's arm back, who was just about to lunge forward to hit Patrick once again. Patrick had a big cut on his lip, and he spat a mouthful of blood out.