There was something in the way he said it, the cruel sneer that took over his face that caused her to hold her breath as she processed his words.
He knew.
She felt the world around her shake as she looked at the man in front of her. She could hear the blood rushing through her veins and her lungs fighting her to take a breath. It was as if he had punched her in the stomach. She shook her head to clear the fog that threatened to overcome her.
He knew.
"Granger." He spoke softly as if she were a child that was reacting badly to news and reached for her arm again; quickly she moved out of the way to avoid his hand. A black fog was starting to invade her vision. She could hardly make out that the busy hall had cleared as students made their way to their classes, her world was frozen in place. Staring at the stranger in front of her.
He was responsible.
She took in the breath she had been holding. "Why." She forced out looking him in the eyes. Watching as the color turned to ice, she had offended him. Angered him. Something she had done before on more than one occasion, but this was different. She could see the war behind his gaze, the vein in his neck stood taunt as he fought to gain control of himself.
"I tried to do this your way, to make it easier on everyone. No one was supposed to get hurt." He leaned towards her and forced it through his teeth, eyes darting around for stray people. She made a noise, between a laugh and a sob as the tears came. No that couldn't be right. That was what she had wanted to hear so that is what he had given her, no one was supposed to get hurt. But someone was supposed to die. Her hand made its way to her mouth to try and force the sounds coming from her to stop.
"I could've. Oh god I could've stopped it. Stopped you." The words came out rushed as she finally tore her eyes away from him. "He wouldn't be almost dead if I had only stopped you."
"Look let's talk about this somewhere else. Somewhere not so bloody open." She laughed at that then the hysteria came over her and the tears dried up and something inside her snapped her back to the reality of her situation. Her internal alarm began to ring, the adrenaline spiked and steadied her shaking hands. She should have been running, the fight or flight response that should have been controlling her throughout the school year finally went off as she reached into her robe and pulled out her wand.
"You come near me again Draco Malfoy I will curse you into oblivion. I want nothing to do with you or anyone you associate with. Stay away." He made a step towards her and she sent a stinging hex into his shoulder, his eyes turned to steal at the contact, and she could see his jaw tense as he calculated his next move. She stood tall as his hand flexed, bracing herself for the duel, when his hand clinched to a fist, she saw the tension leave his face as he turned and walked away. She watched as he continued his way up the stairs and out of sight before she lowered her wand. A quick sob escaped her lips and he brought her hand up to stifle it looking around for a witness.
She let out the breath she had been holding and placed her wand back in her robes. She turned her head down and allowed her feet to take her to the only place she could think to go. She counted her steps as she made her way to the hospital wing and paled at her arrival. The rest of the Weasleys had left or not made their way yet. She could feel the tremors return to her hands as she approached and ran her hands over the mess of red hair laying on the bed in front of her.
"Oh Ronald I've done something stupid. I'm so sorry." She felt the tears again as she grabbed Rons hand and let them fall.
He had destroyed the room again.
How dare she try that with him. If she hadn't gotten in his head he would have never chose a poison to be the next step. Poison was a coward's way out, a fools way out. He paced the floor looking for more to destroy as his mind ran the incantation for the cabinet over and over again.
Abruptly he stopped as the birds above him began chirping. He ran to the cabinet and flung the door open thinking. It was time. It had to be time, the cabinet needed to work so he could leave. Get as far away as possible. He reached into the cage and felt the breath of the bird in his hand, the small flutter of its wings and he felt the familiar pull in his stomach as the small amount he had forced down this morning tried to make its way back up. He let go of the bird and slammed the cage shut making it swing.
His fingers twitched as he shut the cabinet door and rested his head against the cool wood. The incantation ran through his mind, he had been saying it for months. The cabinet could work, the damned apple had been proof of that. But it wasn't alive, it wasn't breathing, he couldn't… He reared his head back and banged it into the cabinet doors. It stopped the thinking, the warmth of the blood coming from his forehead allowed him a moment of clarity.
He could.
He already had sent two people to their potential death; this hesitation would get him killed. He grit his teeth and touched gingerly at the wound. A door appeared in the room signaling his need to leave, he grabbed his things and made his way out the door and down the stairs. Sneaking into the restroom as laughter erupted around the corner.
He walked to the mirror and frowned at the reflection before him. The red of the blood smear was stark against the white of his skin. He pulled his want out to vanish it and he heard a noise behind him.
"Well someone's been awfully bad." The ghost pouted at him as he glared daggers at it, this had to be the one that bothered everyone at the worst of times, Myrtle.
"Go bother someone else." He mumbled returning to the mirror to close the wound
"They closed my bathroom the last time someone did something foolish in it, I wonder are you planning something foolish here as well." He closed his eyes and willed for silence as the damned woman giggled.
"Foolish and Deadly. Now leave me alone." He snarled at her and she pouted again.
"There's no need to be rude." She yelled vanishing into the toilets. He could feel the tension in his jaw and his hand clenched and unclenched again. He snatched his bag off the floor and strode out of the room.