Traitor: A Draco Malfoy Story

fourteen

I found myself back in my dorm, breathing heavily, as tears streamed down my face. I'd bounced from family to family and I've never felt as out of place as I did at Hogwarts. I'd never had to pretend to be someone else just to belong. In fact, I'd always believed that I should do the opposite.

I stood by the furnace, hands on the railing, feeling the heat spread through my body. I always got cold when I was upset, with cold fingers and cold toes. I drew in the warmth as I tried to calm down. I'd closed my eyes to focus on my breathing, so when I opened them I saw a steam-like substance rising from my skin, pale and curling in the air. I stumbled back away from the furnace. My first thought was that I was on fire, but it didn't hurt. I didn't think the furnace was that hot to be turning my tears to steam, so what was going on?

I watched as the vapor stopped leaving my body and returned right through my skin, a sudden feeling of refreshment making me stand up a little straighter. If my eyes had been closed, I wouldn't have noticed. Only now, I felt much less calm. Was it possible the vapor was stress? Was I going crazy, crazy enough to actually visualize how deep in shit I was right now?

Shaking all the thoughts from my head, I slipped a leotard and tights on, then replaced my uniform overtop, grabbed my pointe shoes, and left the dorm. Dumbledore has said I was here to dance initially. It's what he told Barbra and John. I hope you will be able to find the time to keep dancing. He can't be mad at me for skipping a stupid class that teaches you how to throw ingredients in a pot for some personal time. Then again, you'd have to mix the right ingredients in the pot to....stop, I thought. What's done is done.

I wandered the corridors, but most of the classrooms were occupied.

"Looking for something?"

I jumped, spinning around to answer whoever had spoken. There was no one there.

"Yoo-hoo! Up here!"

I looked up at the wall of paintings. I had never noticed them moving before, but now as I watched, a man waved down at me from one of the frames, his hand lazily sitting on the head of his dog that stood beside him.

"How...?" I breathed.

"Well, I died, and now I'm here!" he boomed. "People really only hang your portrait once you're dead."

I nodded, still bewildered.

He took a deep bow, the feather on his hat brushing the ground. "Giffard Abbott, at your service. Were you looking for something?"

"Azalea," I introduced myself. "And I was just looking for someplace with a little solitude. Somewhere no one would bother me."

"I find that when I most want the company of no one, I head to the Astronomy Tower," he mused. "Head right up these stairs, and you'll find a door at the top. Take the right circular staircase, and that should take you where you want to go."

"Thank you," I smiled and hurried away.

Once I arrived, the view was very calming, and I liked being able to see the top of the Black Lake instead of its depths. Plus, I could use the railing as a bar. Risky, but then again, that was just the mood I was in.

I left my blouse, robes, socks, and shoes on the ground in a heap by the door before throwing my hair up and tying the ribbons of my pointe shoes around my ankles. I had brought four more pairs, assuming that because they had dance at Hogwarts, there would be plenty of shoes available. I was wrong on both accounts.

While I did my warm-up stretches and ankle exercises, I stewed in anger. I was angry with Dumbledore for lying about what this school was. I was angry with Umbridge for being unreasonable. I was angry with everyone who believed the rumors that I was some unwanted delinquent. I was angry with Malfoy for...well, being Malfoy. And honestly, I was a little mad at Harry too, just because I needed him to fix everything wrong. I hated being dependent.