Chapter Fourteen
One Step Closer
Hours had flown by since Abigail had read Harry's note to her. Since then, she had sent Hedwig back letter-less, she had lifted the charm she had placed on the curtains, and she even took a little nap before heading back to the Great Hall.
The stack of parchment she had taken from Caitlyn's drawer still sat in disarray on her bed; however, given her most recent failure with regards to the nap, Abigail couldn't be bothered with the whereabouts of the enchanted documents. If the map was in neither Caitlyn nor Harry's possession, it was possible that the map had just disappeared over time. After all, Hermione and Ron had said that Harry seemed to have stopped using it, Abigail told herself, it was very likely that The Boy Who Lived had simply just misplaced the map. Whatever the reason, Abigail scolded herself for thinking it was possible dethrone the Gryffindor Princess.
"Something the matter, princess?" a voice called out as Abigail made her way down to the Great Hall. Abigail turned around to see Draco leaning against a nearby wall. He pushed himself off the wall and made his way toward Abigail, sticking his bandaged left index finger up at her. "Also, am I to understand that you gave Zeus orders to bite me?"
Abigail rolled her eyes with a stifled laugh, pulling the Slytherin into the shadows hurriedly. "Did you give your goons a holiday? I find you and I are running into each other more and more lately," she whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. "And yes, I did give Olympus orders to nip you."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Draco inhaled sharply. "How many times must I tell you, Crenshaw?" said the Slytherin. "My owl's name is Zeus – not Olympus."
"Well, I like Olympus better," Abigail replied, shooting Draco a smirk.
"He's not your owl!"
"He's not yours either!" the Gryffindor shot back. "He's the Malfoy family owl."
Draco rolled his eyes at the girl. "And the last time I check, I am a member of the Malfoy family."
Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Abigail rolled her eyes once again. She did a quick scope of their surroundings, making sure that no one else was within their vicinity. Figuring the coast was clear, she turned her attention back to Draco.
"With the amount of caution you're exercising," Draco mused, "it's almost like you don't want to be seen with me. How ever are we supposed to go to the Masquerade Ball together, princess?"
"It's a masquerade," she reminded him. "We'll be wearing masks and therefore I didn't think it would be a problem. Now, is there any particular reason you were waiting for me right outside the Great Hall?"
Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "You replied to my note," he stated, "but I didn't see you with Granger or in any of our classes together. I figured I'd wait to see if you were coming to dinner tonight. Is everything okay, Abigail? You look rather upset-."
"You're disrupting feeding time yet again, Draco," Abigail drawled with a smirk, uncrossing her arms and putting one hand on her hip. "And no, everything is not okay."
There was a pregnant pause between the two of them.
"… well," Draco began, "are you going to tell me what it is? Or am I going to have to guess-?"
"Why should I have to tell you anything?" she hissed with an eye roll. "You haven't spoken to me in nearly two years and suddenly we're going to be Masquerade together as though all of our problems have been solved!"
"Need I remind you," Draco said with a low growl, "you're the one who asked me to the ball. In fact, you practically begged me to take you! And even beyond that… you're the one who avoided me for the last two years-!"
Abigail let out another sigh before kicking the wall beside her out of frustration. "It wasn't supposed to be like this, Draco!" she said through grit teeth. "It was never supposed to be like this and you know it!"
She could feel the tears swelling in her eyes. Her hands were balled into fists tightly. She didn't know what have gotten into her; all she knew was that she was suddenly angry. At Draco for not talking to her for the past two years. At Hermione and Ron for not believing her theory last night. For Harry for dragging her into a lie that put her directly into her rival's line of fire. At Caitlyn for existing. At herself for letting her past finally eat away at her to cause this mess.
She let out a cry of frustration as she ran a hand through her hair. "Why did it turn out like this…?"
"Abs," Draco said gently, taking a step closer to her, "come here."
Abigail allowed her ex-boyfriend to pull her closer to him. He let out a sigh when she stiffened under his touch.
"Draco…" she said warily.
"What's wrong, princess?" he asked, stroking her back.
Abigail froze as the platinum blonde continued to comfort her. She suddenly became very aware of the silence and their seclusion from the rest of the school; it was just like it had been during their third year. Draco had genuinely cared to know what was bothering her, but the Gryffindor knew, that by telling her ex-boyfriend her problems, she'd have to reveal one of the real reasons they broke up: her sudden crush on Harry Potter himself.
"It's nothing…" she murmured into Draco's Slytherin robes. "I'm just being overdramatic."
Scoffing, Draco let out a short laugh. He let for of the stiff girl in his arms and smirked. "Abs, you're always being overdramatic," he replied, "but I know this is more than just 'nothing'. Something's upsetting you, princess, but you don't want to talk about it. Sounds fair."
"Draco Malfoy? Being reasonable and tolerable?" she giggled, rolling her eyes. "Never thought I'd live to see the day."
"Stow it, Crenshaw," said Draco, pushing Abigail playfully. "Get to dinner… and if you decide you want to talk, come find me."
With that, Draco turned to walk away from Abigail.
Quickly, the blue-eyed girl reached for Draco's arm, stopping him from getting any further. "Wait!" she said.
Draco, raising a curious eyebrow at the Gryffindor girl, turned to face her. "Yes?"
"… thank you," she whispered, pulling Draco into a tight hug.
Almost as quickly as she had pulled Draco toward her, Abigail released the Slytherin from the embrace. She allowed him to disappear into the Great Hall before letting herself follow suit.
Abigail pushed past the giant doors into the Great Hall, scanning the room for Hermione and Ron. Once she spotted the bushy-haired girl and the redheaded, lanky boy seated in the middle of the Gryffindor table, Abigail slowly made her way to her friends. She suddenly became hesitant of her seating decision as she noticed the petite brunette and her famous boyfriend sitting across from her two friends.
Groaning inwardly, Abigail's eyes darted to the ground beneath her feet. Caitlyn was probably celebrating her mini victory from earlier that day. Biting the inside of her mouth, Abigail forced a smile and sat beside Hermione.
"Are you feeling better?" Hermione asked.
Abigail briefly explained how she was feeling to her best friend, tying her hair up in the process. "I'm doing much better," said the blonde, using the thin hand-me-down wand to tighten the bun she created. "I was able to take a small nap and I found potion vials in my end table that really did the trick."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Abigail, a small smile tugging at the ends of her lips. "Your hangover potions did the trick?" she mumbled. "Why am I not surprised?"
Before Abigail could reply to Hermione with a witty remark, Caitlyn let out a small giggle. "Littly Abby? Drink? Oh please, you've got to be kidding me, Hermione. Abby is the last person in the Wizarding World to drink. After all, she knows Mummy Deareest wouldn't have approved of it."
There was suddenly a stinging in Abigail's chest. She could feel the rest of the world just stop. How dare Caitlyn comment on her (albeit non-existent) drinking habits. How dare she interrupt the conversation Abigail was having with Hermione. How dare she bring up her mother!
Abigail was fuming internally, but she knew that there was nothing she could do to have this go any desirable way. She bit her tongue and forced another smile.
"Oh, don't be silly, Caitlyn," chirped Abigail, putting her elbows on the table in order to prop her chin up in her hands. "My hangover potions aren't necessarily for hangovers; they help with the severe migraines that have been bothering me since childhood."
There was an icy silence that took place between the five Gryffindors.
"Oh, how silly of me," chimed Caitlyn sweetly, resting her head on Harry's shoulders. "Harry, dear, would you mind if I stayed in your dormitory tonight? On the off chance that Abigail is actually contagious, I wouldn't want to risk catching it."
Harry, who had been ignoring the situation and eating his dinner, was suddenly drawn back into reality when his girlfriend's head touched his left shoulder.
"Um… sure," the Boy Who Lived agreed quietly. "I don't mind… but I don't think Abby's contagious. Madam Pomfrey released her from the Hospital Wing, so I'm sure Abby's okay… otherwise, she'd still be in the hospital bed…?"
Her world remained unmoving. Even now that Harry was technically defending her, Abigail sat in her seat, empty as ever. She brainlessly shoveled food onto her plate, watching as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Caitlyn continued whatever conversation they were having prior to her arrival.
"The Masquerade's coming up really soon," Caitlyn reminded the others. "Do you and Ronald know what you'll be wearing yet?"
Abigail looked at Hermione who said beside her blushing madly. "We haven't exactly discussed that far into the dance yet," admit the girl with bushy hair. "We've only just agreed that we'll be going together. I have a dress ready in my trunk, but I'm not sure it matches Ron's dress robes. But I'm sure we'll work something out as the dance draws nearer."
Abigail continued to space out thereafter. She neither cared for the masquerade or the couple that say in front of her at dinner. She did, however, note that – in all the time she had known Hermione – this was the first time that Harry was sitting with her since he had started dating Caitlyn.
Her wandering eyes landed on the Slytherin table. She caught a glimpse of Draco and his friends. Abigail noticed that Draco and Blasé were exchanging a few words, smirks gracing both their faces. She wondered what the two of them were talking about. And in an instant, Blaise stood up from his seat beside Draco. Tiling her head at the motion, Abigail tried to catch Draco's attention.
Why had he been talking to Blaise Zabini?
Didn't they hate each other?
"I'm not so sure about that, dear," replied Caitlyn. "I think Neville is going to the ball with… Ginevra, just like he did for the Yule Ball. Anyhow, if you found don't mind, I'm going to head up to my dorm to gather my things for tonight."
Without another word, Caitlyn dashed out of the Great Hall.
That was strange. When did Caitlyn ever just leave Harry alone in the Great Hall? Abigail tilted her head in confusion once more. She looked at the raven-haired boy who sat across the table from her. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what Harry saw in the retreating brunette; but then again, wasn't this a question she asked herself almost every second of the day?
Hermione and Ron immediately dove into their own conversation, forgetting the rest of the world – or at least that's how Abigail saw it. Her eyes went back to the Slytherin table, staring at the platinum blonde who was lively chatting with his fellow Slytherins.
"Thanks for not saying anything back then," said a hushed voice amongst the loud chatter of the Great Hall.
"What?" Abigail was confused as ever. What in the Wizarding World was Harry Potter thanking her for? She tilted her head in confusion once more, turning her full attention to the raven-haired boy who now sat directly across from her. "What's happening?"
Harry let out a small chuckle. "Thanks for not saying anything when Caitlyn asked about Hedwig," murmured the Gryffindor hero. When he was greeted with another bewildered stare, he explained further. "Just then… when Caitlyn asked why Hedwig wasn't in the Owlery earlier… and I said that I hadn't seen her all day…? … Hedwig is my owl? Any of that ringing a bell?"
Abigail looked at Harry with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," she said, looking down at her half-eaten meal. "I kind of zoned out right after I sat down."
"You sure you're okay, Abby?" Harry asked, his green eyes darting between Abigail and her dinner. "You hardly touched your food."
Abigail looked at her plate once again. "I guess I'm just not that hungry tonight," replied Abigail with a half-smile. "Sorry, Harry, but I have to go… I'm suddenly feeling ill again."
Abigail big Harry goodbye. She turned to Hermione and Ron, however, the two of them seemed so engulfed in their own conversation that the two of them hardly noticed. Rolling her eyes, Abigail looked toward the Slytherin table one last time and made her way out of the Great Hall.
Once she reached the Gryffindor Common Room, Abigail prayed that Caitlyn wasn't still in their dormitory. After all, the last thing she wanted to talk about with anyone – Caitlyn especially – was her mother. Abigail trekked up the staircase to the girls' dormitories. When she arrived at her own dormitory, she knocked carefully on the door before pushing it open.
Thankfully, Caitlyn was nowhere to be found. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Abigail made her way to her bed. She pulled the curtains back to reveal the pieces of parchment that were still scattered across her bed. Abigail crawled onto her bed, gathering the paper into one huge stack.
In between the walk from the Great Hall to the climb into her bed, the up-do Abigail created with her wand and become loose, causing her late mother's wand to fall onto her bed. The sudden motion caught her eye and Abigail abandoned the pieces of parchment and picked up her wand. She was about to put it back into her wand pocket when, from the side of her eyes, Abigail caught a glimpse of a tattered, folded up piece of parchment.
In a flash, Abigail snatched the folded note from underneath the piles of parchment. A glimmer of hope flickered within her as she tapped her wand against the parchment. How had she not noticed it before? How long had it been underneath the first piece of paper? Oh Merlin! How many times had she tried to get the first parchment to reveal secrets it wasn't keeping. She felt like a fool!
This had to be it though, Abigail told herself. The paper that she held her hands just had to be the Marauder's Map!
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" she whispered frantically, her wand pointed at the folded-up parchment.
And just as quickly as the words escaped her lips, the parchment's contents began to materialize.
-author's note-
[written]: - -, 2016
[published]: - -, 2016
[last updated]: August 31, 2017
[word count]: 2,594 words without a/n