Chapter 13: Under a Tree
I felt pain before I even thought about what was going on. It felt like my heart was being ripped down the middle. I stood in the entrance, blocking the way for other students, but I never heard their protests. I didn't notice when they pushed me to the side of the door in order to get through. My mind was racing. Why was his arm around her? Her head dropped onto his shoulder as I watched. What was going on? Why wasn't he pushing her away or telling her to stop? Why was he doing this?
I backed up unconsciously until I hit the wall. It was then that I realized that tears were running down my face and some Hufflepuff girl was trying to get my attention.
"Are you alright?" she asked me. I didn't answer. I kept watching Draco, my tears silently falling. I was growing more and more angry and confused and hurt by the moment. Draco was just sitting there. He didn't even know I was standing there. She asked me again if I was all right, but for some reason all it did was make me realize that Draco was cheating on me. He had to be. And I fell for it.
I started shaking my head, and apparently I was whispering "no…no…god please no…" because the girl in front of me said "No? No what?" I slid sideways along the wall. I ran into an intricate metal pole with a torch on top, causing a huge noise. I didn't even hear it; all I knew was that everyone suddenly was turning my way. When the Hufflepuff grabbed the pole to keep it from falling, I bolted. I ran around her, still silently crying, then through the doors. I didn't know where to go. I knew if I went back to the common room, people would be asking questions. Even in my room people would knock on the door to find out. I turned in the opposite direction instead, towards the front doors.
As I grabbed the handle, someone called my name.
"Shayna!" I turned around. It was Draco, of course. "Shayna what's wrong with you?" he asked, almost angrily. The tears started falling faster, and by now I'm sure my face was very wet. I just stared at him. I couldn't believe I had fallen in love with a cheater. I couldn't believe how naïve I had been. I was right, earlier, when I had said he was just another worthless guy. "Shayna?" I pulled open the door and ran out.
My eyes frantically searched for a place to hide. I heard footsteps pound to a stop just beyond the door. Looking, I saw nothing but open yard and the stones for the steps. The door was opening. Wait… the door!
I dashed behind the opening door just as Draco came bolting through it. He ran straight down the steps before stopping. He looked around for me, but never thought to look behind him. I took the opportunity to sneak along the wall and drop behind the stairs with a light thumping noise. I heard Draco's feet slide on the grass, but when his eyes still found nothing, he heaved a huge sigh. Slowly, he dragged his feet back up the stairs. I curled as tightly as I possibly could and hoped he wouldn't see me. Draco's footsteps stopped momentarily at the stop of the staircase. I briefly wondered what he was doing, but then the door opened and his footsteps died away.
Carefully, I peaked over the steps at the door. Draco was gone. Happy I had outwitted him but still pissed, I ran off towards the lake. Though I did not want Draco to see me, I wanted more to be away from everyone in this place.
I stopped in front of a tree right near the bank and purposely put myself out of sight of the front doors. Then, watching my position, I plopped myself on the ground.
It was at this time that I realized I was still crying. Draco had cheated on me. Or at least that's what it looked like. Maybe they hadn't done much, but jesus christ he had his freaking arm around her! That pretty much says there's something going on. But why? He had told me just this morning that he never talks to her anymore. Obviously something changed. What the hell is going on? Am I missing something?
I let out a small noise of frustration. Home was becoming very tempting. What if I just left? Would that save me a whole lot of trouble? I pondered it, but soon realized that yeah, it would save me from I'm sorrys and goodbyes and all that, but I'd regret it terribly. Eventually the tears slowed, and I wiped the last away. I wasn't exactly better, but I had at least stopped crying. For now.
A twig cracked behind me, and none other than Harry walked up to the lake. He squatted near the edge of the water, silently trailing his wand through the surface of it. The squid's giant tentacles made little waves, but Harry didn't seem to notice. Some of his robes dipped in the water, but his attention seemed to be in another place. Then he softly laughed.
I couldn't resist. "What's so funny?" I asked, startling him.
He whipped around, standing fully upright with his wand straight at me. My hands went up in mock surrender. I knew he wasn't going to shoot any spells at me.
"Shayna?" His wand dropped and he relaxed again. "What're you doing here?"
My hands fell as well. "I could ask you the same thing."
Harry grinned crookedly. His eyes wandered back to the lake. "I was just thinking."
More to prevent him from asking why I was there and less out of curiosity, I asked, "About what?"
"I don't know. Everything, I guess." He walked over and sat near me. His arms wrapped around his knees but his eyes remained focused on the lake. "I've been coming here a lot lately. It kind of…calms me, you know? The lake is so calm, so serene, or it looks that way on the surface. Then you go in it and not only is there the giant squid, there's merpeople and terrible weeds and nasty little creatures that would as soon drown you as they would look at you. I don't know… I guess it more takes my mind off everything than it helps me think."
I remembered reading about Harry's adventure in the lake. After the short pause, I decided to steer the subject there. "Harry, what was the Triwizard Tournament like?"
He glanced at me, his eyes thoughtful. "You know about that?"
A small grin flickered to my face. "I know about a lot."
His eyes lingered on me a moment longer before once again returning to the lake. "Challenging. Frightening. Unfair." His expression went sour. "Downright evil, in the end." Oops. Forgot about that. "I suppose you know about that, as well."
"Yeah…" Details and all. Hell, I was there with you. Kinda. You actually lived through it, I just read it.
It was Harry's turn to try and change the subject. "So why are you here?" he said suddenly, his voice a little choked. Obviously the memory of that graveyard was still terrifying for him.
I considered my answer. "Same reason, I guess."
His attention turned to me, which made me a little uncomfortable. I never knew it before, but Harry's got a penetrating gaze when he wants to know something. It kind of reminded me of Dumbledore. "What do you mean?" he said.
"Well…" Once again, I considered what I could say. Instead of blatantly stating the truth, I decided to worm my way around it. "I guess I just wanted to get away for awhile," I said.
"Oh." He looked at me curiously for a moment. Then his shoulders shrugged ever so slightly, and he stood up. "Well, I didn't mean to interrupt your escape. I really should get back to the Great Hall, I left my bag in there when Ron and Hermione started bickering again."
Once again, a faint smile came to my face. "You didn't interrupt. But yeah, you might need your bag."
He looked down at me thoughtfully before saying, "Right. See you Shayna."
He turned and started walking away. "Bye Harry," I replied. In the distance, I heard the Hogwarts bell ring. I heard Harry say "Bloody hell!" before starting to jog up to the front doors.
Then my attention was drawn to the lake. Harry was right. After awhile, it does sort of make you forget everything.
i SO got a digital camera for christmas. EEK is excited
R&R PLEASE