If one more person tried to pull her into the castle gossip she would curse them into next week. It had been two weeks since she had been seen following Draco Malfoy after potions and two weeks since he apparently 'vanished'. As if people didn't just skip class around here. The library had been full of students stopping to ask her if she had done something to him, one person even offered her a Galleon for her trouble.
"So where did you stuff him?" Ron said smiling at Harry as they sat at the table next to her. She could feel her blood boiling, she swallowed and sat back in her chair.
"It's fairly childish that any one would think I did anything to him." She said slamming her quill down on the table.
"Better that than what I heard, rumor has it you ran off with hearts in your worried eyes." Harry said taking a bit of an apple trying to hide his laughter.
"Oh, that is just." She could feel herself gag at the thought. "Harry Potter this is all your fault, if you hadn't said anything I would've just let him off and go." She said picking her quill back up.
"Did he tell you anything?" Harry said leaning forward to her, the intensity in his face took her aback. It was not often that Harry focused on something as much as this, it made her warry, this obsession he was starting to form over the idea in the short month they had been at school.
"He didn't say anything, didn't even stop." She lied. The fear she had felt when he turned on her. She was never privy to kind looks from him, but the murderous glaze his eye took on when she had asked him to confide in her. She may have well drawn her wand and talked him into battle with the way he turned on her. There was no since in worrying the boys with that.
"Okay," Harry said deflating a bit and standing up. "We're heading to dinner, you want us to wait?" He asked.
"No, I'll be down shortly. I need to find a book still." She smiled at them as the turned and walked away. The smile quickly fell away at their retreating backs, she could feel the slight pang in her chest at the look on Harrys face. He had wanted a grand story, a caught him in the act moment and all he was left with was rumors and lies. No, Draco had not told her anything. Yet it was his denial, the strength of it that caused her to know he was doing something. She had been dealing with Harry and Ron far to long to not see the signs of hiding something.
Sighing she stood and walked to the back of the library, the crowds of students was thinner here. She knew it was due to the proximity to the Restricted Section, most couldn't stand the screams the books let off, the rattling of chains that let you know there was evil behind the doors. She could not see them as purely evil as many of her class believed, behind those doors there was no more evil than in the real world, it was just packaged in such a way as to throw off those not willing to look further than the cover.
She made to walk past the room, looking through the tiny window on the door her heart stopped as she froze in place. No. He was there, his head flopped forward towards his lap, arms to his sides there were many books strewn around him, some moaning in protest at being discarded in such a manner. She closed her eyes to clear her head and calm her heart, looking around at the empty halls around her she quickly opened the door and closed it again silently as she entered and approached. She saw no movement but the rise and fall of his shoulders, at least he's alive. She picked up one of the books that fell around her feet and read the first passage Invisibility she thought staring at the passage, her eyebrow burrowed together as she spun and read some of the others around her, the next book was on teleportation methods and another was on wards. What in the world. She needed to leave him as he was, let someone else find him and just pretend that she never saw anything. It would be easier than getting herself worked into whatever it was he was doing. She knew it would never happen that way, her curiosity won her over more times than not and silently she walked around to the front of him leaning in close to his face to look at him. He looked more alive when he was asleep backwards as it may be, not nearly as hard as he had the last time she looked at him. There was still a sharpness to him, as if he was anything but at peace with what was happening behind his eyes. His skin was still paler than normal, she could easily see the purple veins in his face and down his neck and she could tell he had not showered in a few days. The wrinkles of his shirt and the slightly musty scent was rolling off him. She was starting to feel voyeuristic, watching him sleep like this in vulnerability. The blush began to creep up her neck and she willed him to wake up. Without thinking, she grabbed his arm to wake him and he jumped in a flash throwing her back to the ground and straddling her, wand at her throat. Her scream caught in her throat as his hand flew to her mouth keeping her quiet. The weight of him was crushing, she was sure the wand point at the base of her throat would leave a bruise. His eyes held no recognition, the light grey they normal were was replaced with hard steel and he pushed his weight into her making her whimper slightly. It was then that they began to clear, and his face changed from one of rage and anger into something softer, confusion was evident in his face as he pushed himself off of her and back into the book shelf being him.
"Christ Granger do you have a death wish" He whispered holding his head in his hands, she quickly sat up and faced him, the breath in her lungs was coming much faster than what could have been healthy, the panic she had been feeling was threatening to boil over the edge. "What are you even doing here" he said finally looking up at her in bewilderment.
"You were sleeping in the Restricted Section Malfoy, I came to see who it was… figured you needed to move." She could feel her heart beating throughout her body, a fear she had never felt before rose up her back and into her chest. She was not scared of him per say but of the look in his eyes as he took her in, staring at her like he had never seen her before. She wanted him to release her from this look, so she could leave and never think of this. Why couldn't you just let him be she cursed herself internally. The silence held heavy between the two before he finally looked away and she followed his eyes to the sleeve of his white shirt, she could slightly see a hint of black poking through the bottom and her stomach flopped. He quickly pulled the sleeves further down his arms and grabbed the book next to him before standing.
"Thank you" he said pausing at the door, before leaving the room and not looking back at her direction. She felt the breath she wasn't aware she was holding leave her lungs and she sat on the ground to gather herself. She could feel the panicked tears begin to fall around her as she fought to catcher her breath. She clutched at her chest as she tried to stop her heart.