~Unknown Markings~

~Cursed~

Harry POV:

Hermione was the first thought that came to my head after seeing the sentence. If anyone could figure out who had written this on my arm it would be her. That's when I started my quest to find her. After I saw her in the common room a while back that was the first place I looked. 

I stumbled down the stairs from the boy's dormitories, managing to skip a step that knocked me off balance. The stairs giving a dreadful creak as the uneven weight was forced upon it. 

The common room was filled with people, all socializing with each other. Ginny was at a table chatting to another girl in her year with brown mousy hair and dark eyes. By the fireplace, Fred and George were giving a demonstration of how they could go through the fire without getting charms and getting hurt. Lee Jordan was cheering them on thoroughly engaged while Angelina Johnson was trying to stop them. Ron was trying to subtly get the attention of Seamus and Dean who were making out on the sofa to no avail. Neville was away from the commotion tending to a little plant that he had gotten from Professor Sprout a few days ago. Despite all people in the common room Hermione was nowhere to be found. 

Once I had exhausted Gryffindor tower which happened pretty quickly, I made a bee-line for the library. There were only so many places Hermione would be and the library was the most likely. 

The corridors were long, empty, and dimly lit. The smell of mildew, sweat, and new robes wafted in my senses, which only made me hurry more. When I entered the library it was silent except for the occasional turn of a page. The light coming from the patterned windows created a design that danced along the floor. Little rainbows being split and shone on the bookshelves. The sight of those made me happy. I walked down the long pathway in the middle to try and spot Hermione. Behind the first bookshelf, however, I was met with Draco Malfoy. Of course. 

"Potter! What are you doing here?" he squeaked as he stepped away from the bookshelf, a mahogany-bound book in his hand. The crack in the Malfoy mask was brief but I didn't think much of it. My eyes studied him and I saw how worn his features looked. His eyes held no malice but instead looked downtrodden. There was a word on his arm sticking of his sleeve. He noticed me looking at it and he paled. Quickly he moved to pull down his sleeve covering the word. 

"I mean-Potter shouldn't you be with your bastard friends. What could you possibly want in a library?" There was this confidence behind his voice now, his features changed and the mask restored. I sighed, hoping that he could have actually been nice. 

"What's it to you Malfoy? Why do you care what I do?" I snapped back and was about to turn away. I didn't have time for this. I needed to find Hermione. Before I did, however, I saw him gulp, there was this sense of fear in his eyes. Was he afraid of me?

"Of course not Potter don't be an idiot," He muttered almost like he wasn't aware of what he was saying. A strand of one of the boy's blonde locks had now flopped down in front of his eyes, still stiff from hair gel. I observed him quickly stuffing his book in his black leather satchel and hurried off without giving me a second glance. How odd. 

 I didn't have time to dwell on it however because I had just stopped Hermione on the far left table. Her nose was deep in a book that had faint yellow pages and a fluffy red quill was writing beside her. As I walked closer faint mutterings could be heard. 

"Hermione I need your help," I announced disrupting the unwritten silent policy in the library. Hermione slowly raised her head from her book giving me the death glare. Her eyes judged me like she could see all of my secrets. I got the message loud and clear. Silently I sat beside moving some her of textbooks over slightly. We had been through this many times before. Too many times before.