𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 | draco malfoy ✔️

75. outsider

TRAINING WHEELS
OUTSIDER

2ND OCTOBER

Amora didn't know if it was all in her head or if breakfast with her friends was genuinely quite awkward the next morning. She barely glanced at Draco since upsetting each other yesterday afternoon, but it seemed like even her other friends were barely interacting with her. She tried to convince herself that was just overreacting, but her heart was sinking anyway.

Lunch was the same, and dinner. Draco didn't talk at all but the other three tried to communicate with her. Even Pansy's laughs seemed pretty forced. Amora could feel all of her deepest insecurities crawling out and laughing at her, so she was actually glad when dinner was over and she was able to retreat back to her own bedroom.

Amora spent the entire night reading. It took her away from reality for hours and she felt like it was keeping her sane. It also gave her an excuse to sleep all the way through Sunday, hoping that maybe by Monday morning her friends would have gone back to normal.

She was wrong. Pansy asked where she had been the day before, but other than that, everybody seemed to barely talk. Amora stole glances at Draco, hoping he'd talk to her or even look at her, but it didn't happen.

She felt useless by Tuesday, lost on Wednesday, and frustrated on Thursday.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked all of her friends suddenly among a silent breakfast.

They all turned to look at her - even Draco, who hadn't spoken to her in six days since their small argument in the prefects' bathroom where he claimed she smothered him too much.

Pansy practically jumped from beside her. "What? No?" She said, "What are you talking about?"

Amora swallowed a little. "Well, it's just been really quiet recently," she tried to explain. "Nobody's really been talking much..."

"Don't take it personally, Amora," Blaise said, "I guess school's just tiring us out."

Amora felt like he was lying. However, she jumped at the opportunity to switch the conversation, forcing a smile as she nodded along.

"Oh, same here," Amora grinned naively, "I think it's the repetition of having a time table, you know? Or because we had so long during summer to just sit around doing nothing..."

Blaise forced a weak smile back. "Exactly."

Amora struggled to maintain hers until he looked away, and she tried to swallow the sadness away, feeling sick and like an idiot. Pursing her lips together, Amora stared down at her porridge. She couldn't even stomach it right now, nor could she handle sitting around her friends where she couldn't ignore the thick tension that seemed to have settled over them over the weekend.

"Okay, I think I'm going to go and... Er, grab a book from the library," Amora excused herself, climbing out from her seat and grabbing her bag. "I'll see you guys later."

She didn't wait for their goodbyes, leaving the Great Hall as fast as she could whilst looking casual. Only once she was in the safety of the entrance hall did it feel like she could finally breathe, her chest heaving a little bit with panic as she began to head in the opposite direction of the library, wandering outside instead.

The early October breeze on her skin felt refreshing as she blinked back pathetic tears. She walked so quickly with her head down that she wasn't surprised when she bumped into somebody. Hands immediately grasped her wrists before she could stumble backwards and she heard books smack to the concrete ground beneath her feet.