Huffing wildly as he ran away from 'Books', Draco hoped his identity had remained a secret. Upon first seeing her there in the same isle, all he had wanted to do was grab the book he was looking for and leave immediately without her seeing him. Things went from bad to worse when he realized they had been searching for the same book.
When he finally stopped running, he found himself in a small, safe area away from everyone else. Lowering his head and closing his eyes, Draco apparated quickly, not caring where he ended up. The only thing he wanted was to get as far away as he could, as fast as he could.
Finally lifting his head and opening his eyes, Draco found himself inside his bedroom, completely alone. After slinging his book bag onto one of the chairs near his large windows, he flopped onto his bed and began to reconsider his decision. In all the time thinking about his decision to go back to Hogwarts, it never occurred to him that the Golden Trio would possibly be returning too.
Thinking back to how he had treated them in all their years at the school, Draco figured they wouldn't want him back there. Why should they? They most likely wanted a year to get away from him. Even after Harry's testimony that kept his mother and himself from joining his father in Azkaban, he didn't think they would want him to return to the school too.
No. I'm going back. Draco said as he quickly got out of bed and walked to his book bag. I don't care if they don't want me there, I have to finish my education.
Taking his book bag from the chair, he sat on the floor and dumped out its contents. With his decision reaffirmed to himself, he decided to organize everything he had bought that day in an attempt to make sure he hadn't missed anything from his list.
The train ride to Hogwarts was just as bad as he had built it up to be in his mind. As he sat in the back corner of the known Slytherin car, Draco could find no solace. With the whispers, glares, and avoidance he received from the other students and his former friends, he had begun to feel more alone than ever before. He was an outcast.
As he stood up to leave the car, everyone around him moved to the side and gasped wildly, as if he were about to place the Cruciatus curse on everyone in the car. Keeping his head lowered to the ground, he headed for the train cars ahead of the one he was in. When he moved, everyone around him moved to the side, as if making any contact with him would equally damn them to isolation as well. Because of this, the trip took him only a few seconds.
As he finally reached one of the many cars that was broken into separate compartments, Draco quickly entered the one closest to his right without lifting his head or seeing if it was even empty. Closing the door behind him, he kept his hand on the door handle and pressed his forehead against the cool glass, happy to have some sort of barrier between him and the other students.
After a few moments of silence, he left the door and walked over to the bench on his right. With his knees drawn to his chest, his arm on the window sill, and his face against the window with his eyes closed, Draco let out an audible sigh in defeat. He had thought he could handle the avoidance and stares from his former classmates, but he never imagined it would be this bad.
It wasn't until he heard slight rustling coming from the bench on the other side of the compartment that he noticed he wasn't alone. Lifting his head and opening his eyes, he saw her sitting in front of him, a shocked but concerned look on her face. Finally looking away from her, Draco's eyes slowly trailed down to what she had been holding in her hands. It was the book, the one he had given up before bolting from the store.
"Granger!" Draco said as he stood up quickly and backed away towards the door. "I didn't realize... I hadn't noticed... I... I'm just going to go..."
"Malfoy, wait! Please..." he heard her say as he opened the compartment door, ready to run away as fast as he could again.
"Please don't go?" she said, more of a question than a statement.
Had he really heard her right? Did she really just ask him to stay? Standing in the doorway with the door halfway open, Draco couldn't make up his mind on what he should do. Should he run? Should he stay? Why did she want him to stay?
After a few moments of silent contemplation, Draco finally made his decision. He was going to stay. He felt as though this was some kind of ploy, a trick to get him vulnerable. He didn't care, though. His emotions were already raw from the whispers, glares, and avoidance from the other students.
After he closed the door and returned to his previous seat across from Hermione's, Draco leaned his head against the glass once more and sighed inwardly.
Author's note: Hello hello! As promised for weekly updates, here is chapter 4 of Their Final Year! Since this chapter is so short (sorry!) I've also decided to post chapter 5 as well, that way there's a bit more for you guys to read! Thank you so so SO much for your reviews, guys! Please keep reviewing, and definitely be honest with your reviews! If you like something, or don't like something, let me know!