Chapter 1 – First noticed
It was an unusually chilly evening in November and Draco Malfoy was aimlessly walking around in the 5th floor corridor. His head was filled with thoughts about the odd thing that had happened yesterday in the corridor while he was on his way from the Great Hall after dinner. He now felt uncomfortable, all this wasn't like him. He couldn't quite shake what had happened from his mind and what was even stranger was, that he couldn't really pinpoint what had actually happened that had made this impact on him. He just knew that he now had this unsettling feeling in his stomach and it disturbed him. 'It's nothing.' he mumbled to reassure himself that he was just imagining things (probably because he was tired as he hadn't slept well these past days).
He glanced at his watch and decided it was best to head back to the common room. Due to the late hour, the large common room was empty and Draco sighed in relief as he hadn't been prepared to answer any questions of where he had been all evening. He knew he was tired but he wasn't sleepy so he sat down in the big leather chair facing the fireplace where the fire was fading. Staring into the fire for a while he felt his shoulders finally relax and he sank into a comfortable reclining position. His eyes suddenly felt too heavy and he let his uneasy mind be seized by a longed-for sleep.
Draco woke up with a start to realize that he was still in the common room, and he was freezing. He cast a glance at his watch and as it showed 04:25 so he quickly went into the boys' dormitory and still fully clothed, he sank in between the covers of his bed and once again fell into a heavy sleep.
The next morning, he felt much more like himself when he entered the great hall for breakfast and sat down between Blaise and Crabbe, who gave him the usual appreciative smile, as if he was honoured that Draco would sit next to him. This bothered Draco, since he and Crabbe had known each other for what seemed like forever but Crabbe had never seemed to stop giving out this faint but clearly detectable idolizing air, whenever he was around Draco.
'I think it's just right!' Blaise exclaimed, pointing enthusiastically to an article in the Daily Prophet that he had just read out loud. 'He does not deserve a second trial; his crime is clear as day! I can't understand how anyone could doubt that". Draco, having only half listened to his friends' discussion, let his eyes wander around the Great hall, searching... searching for what? Those eyes, he wanted to see those eyes again. He needed to see that he had just imagined everything these past, weird, sleep-deprived days… And there; sitting at a table not far away from him he found what he had searched and Draco felt his stomach turn in that same strange way that he had felt two days ago. "Why..?" He asked himself and it was only when he heard Blaise's voice 'Hey Draco! What are you looking at?' that he realized he had frozen in a stare, with a puzzled expression his face, and his friends were now alternating between looking at him and in the direction of his gaze. 'It's nothing' Draco said in an irritated voice, quickly averting his look and stealing a carrot cake muffin from Crabbe's plate.
The day was moving along like every other Thursday: 2 hours of Transfiguration followed by a 4 hour, excruciatingly boring, History of Magic class and lastly, a 3 hours Potions class, which was Draco's favourite subject. During the last hour of Potions, when Snape had made Neville hyperventilate by threatening the class that those who wouldn't be able to make an acceptable dreamless sleep-draught should not bother coming back to class next week, Draco noticed that something was definitely off with him. Normally, he would have laughed loudly, seeing Neville's red sweaty face, but now…He still found it funny but he didn't feel like laughing, even though Goyle made a very comical impersonation of Neville's pathetic reaction which made Blaise, Pansy and Crabbe laugh hysterically at Draco's side.
'Even you aren't usually this sulky', Pansy said and cast him a smirky look as they were walking down the corridor after class. Her dark eyes looked at him intriguingly and he could see that they glistened as she searched his light gray eyes for a clue. He averted his gaze. 'Nevermind Pansy' he sneered and added 'I'll go and send an owl to my father, he's been writing' and he turned right and walked up the stairs heading for the owlery without another look at her. Pansy cast him a longing look and then with a swift movement of her head cast her long (she had let it grow since last summer) black hair over her shoulders and followed the rest of the class towards the Great Hall.
Who did Draco see that suddenly made him feel something he has never felt before?