The Mists of Memory

Chapter 10: ... and Draco's Nightmares

'DAMN!'

Draco cursed all the curses he knew, pacing his room over and over. His face was pink from the rage, and his arms were crossed harshly at his chest. Then, he stopped before the wall and slammed a fist against it. When Ginny had talked, he had the sudden flash of himself kissing Potter...his stomach still ached for the retches. And what was worse...

Damn! I shall absolutely get to defend myself from those bloody Dementors. Weasley was right. If someone else was in her place...Granger...or Potter...damn, bloody Potter, for goodness' sake! I can't even think about it; I'd rather die!

He knew that Ginny said that on purpose, but he also knew that she had told the truth, which chilled him. He really would've kissed anyone at that moment. He couldn't think of anything else. He knew well that Potter wouldn't draw aside: if he'd seen Draco needing to be woken up, Harry would've tried to help him—precisely as he had done earlier, and the day he saved his life.

Draco shuddered.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, breaking the thread of his thoughts.

'Who's bloody there?' he roared. The door slammed open, and Granger appeared with a strange and indiscernible expression.

'We were speculating when you'd stop cursing and come back downstairs,' she said. She probably stayed out the door for a while, listening to his cursing.

Draco sat on his bed. 'Should I really go back downstairs?' He stared at her tiredly as Hermione nodded.

'I believe so. Today, you look exhausted and a bit hysterical. I don't know what the problem is, but unfortunately, we all must do our part of the work; you saw how many books we have to skim through,' she said.

Draco sighed and stood up, reluctantly following her.

Harry was the first person he noticed when they arrived at the library. Of course, having seen him first didn't make Draco happy. He glanced at him and went in the opposite direction, holding the first two books he found handy and sitting down with his legs crossed. He tried to concentrate on the books and forget Ginny's words, but he found it challenging. Each time he saw Harry passing near him, he stood instinctively, trying to distance himself from them.

'Malfoy?' Ginny asked. Draco felt a shiver running through his spine as he tried to stare back but didn't lower his gaze. 'If you only want to exercise and you've no intention to do any work today, please let us know.'

'What d'you mean?' he asked, standing up for the millionth time that afternoon, walking to the other side of the room and sitting down again.

'Just that. You stand up every five minutes, and it's almost two hours that you're reading the same page of the same book,' she pointed out harshly. 'I didn't think it was that interesting.'

Draco's face flushed in a soft shade of pink as he tried to again give his attention to the book he was attempting to read. Ginny hardly hid a snigger.

What a bloody bitch, thought Draco, shuddering and trying to focus on the book he was reading. He didn't look around until he finally reached the next page. But when he raised his gaze from the book, his eyes met a pair of worried green ones. Harry had kneeled at his height.

Draco paled.

'D'you have a relapse, Malfoy? Maybe you shouldn't have gone out yesterday. You're paler than you've ever been today,' he said, touching Draco's forehead.

Draco paled even more and tried to stand up. But as he was about to do that, a beautiful tawny owl flew into the library and stopped right in front of Remus Lupin. For the first time, Draco noticed that Lupin was with them...he hadn't noticed the man's presence at all.