Common Ground ⌁ Draco Malfoy [2/4] ✔

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A/N: I've just published the first chapter to a Fred Weasley fanfiction if anyone is interested? I'm not too confident on it, though, so if you do decide to read it, expect slow updates c: 

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It just didn't feel real. Emma's mother...missing? What caused her to feel this way, unable to breathe, was the fact that missing wasn't missing, anymore. Missing meant dead. What if she was dead and they just hadn't found her body yet? There were many Dark Marks being left around the place, which was where Death Eaters marked where they had just killed, but what if one of them was where her mother was...but nobody had looked...

Emma remained strong for the rest of the week. She didn't shed a tear and focused on her school work and Apparition lessons, getting hopeful whenever she saw an owl get close enough to land beside her but only doubled over to the person she was next to. 

Harry had tried talking to her about her mother, but each time he brought it up, whether to apologize for it or try to be comforting, she simply brushed it off and talked about something else. She was glad, though, that her father hadn't arrived at the school to take her home, away from the safety of the castle and out into the dangerous streets. Many students were taken home due to their parents going missing or ending up murdered, and it was a silly thing. 

When March arrived, Emma still had not heard a word from her father or anyone about the whereabouts of her mother. She wanted to cry so bad, but would not allow herself to, for she knew if she did, she would not stop. 

She declined the offer of going down to watch the match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, deciding to stay up in the common room and get a start on her homework, since she had avoided it for as long as she could. There was no one else in the common room, so it just left her and the next half an hour of peace and quiet...

Over the time, she had lost all motivation in completing Snape's set homework. Her mind was blank and she had no words to fill in for his essay, so she shoved her homework back into her bag and headed out toward the location of the library. Thoughts of her mother came swimming in and out of her head, and it took all she had not to tear up...

"Emma! There you are!" shouted a female's voice down the end of the corridor when she stumbled out of the dungeons. When she looked up, she saw Ginny walking quickly down the corridor to meet her half way, her red hair drenched in sweat and her breaths escaping her lips in fast pants. 

"Hey...how'd the match go?" Emma said uncertainly, as she could tell it did not go so well from the unusual complexion and angry brown eyes staring at her. "Not too good, huh? That's a shame. I would have loved for Gryffindor to have won, only to see the look on Smith's face."

"Harry's in the hospital wing," said Ginny breathlessly, swallowing hard. 

Emma started to talk quickly, demanding to know what happened as Ginny forced her to walk with her up to the hospital wing. Emma caught onto the words 'Bludger' and 'McLaggen' but that was it. When they arrived in the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had just left Harry's bed, where Emma could see his head was wrapped in bandages. She winced loudly. 

"What's happened to him?" she asked Madam Pomfrey, who was helping an ill patient at the other end of the room. "Is he going to be all right? He doesn't have brain damage, does he?"

"Cracked skull," was all Madam Pomfrey said, too focused on feeding the ill patient a spoonful of medicine. 

Ron was awake, and Emma was aware of him having been poisoned not too long ago, on his birthday, too. Ginny was talking to him about the match. 

Emma sat down in the chair nearest to Harry's bed, tucking herself closely so that she could try staring beneath the opaque bandages. Staring at Harry's unconscious figure brought her back to thinking about Lily and James, and how that now, she quite possibly had lost three of her parents. Emma mechanically reached over and held onto Harry's hand, being reminded of that very familiar feeling that begged to make itself known from the pit of her stomach. Exactly like the one she felt when she had hugged Harry Potter for the very first time. 

"Have you seen Draco anywhere?" Emma said, pulling Theodore Nott back by the robes so that he could see her. He shook his head, shrugged her off, and proceeded with his journey through the courtyard the following Monday morning. 

She was growing rather annoyed with all of Draco's disappearances, and he promised each time that he'd make it up to her by sitting with her during breakfast, or walking with her to class. He was, though, the one who had suggested she stick by him, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle earlier during the term when she'd told him what Daphne thought of their relationship. But whenever she decided to, he'd just vanish. 

The only thing other than this that Emma seemed set on, was completely ditching Snape's next class. 

It was after lunch when Emma finally saw Draco for the first time in a while. She had been standing near the Entrance Hall with Daphne, talking about their Defence Against the Dark Art's class, when she suddenly felt hands shake her shoulders and a loud 'Boo!' echoed in the hall. 

She had promised herself that the next time she saw him, she would let him have it. But the thought completely disappeared when she saw how ill-looking he was, how pale yet grey he looked, how much it seemed he wasn't sleeping at all. Her hand unconsciously reached up and grabbed his face, turning it side to side, resulting in Draco looking rather confused as his cheeks were squished together and his mouth was in a rather uncomfortable looking pout. 

"Wow, are you OK?" Emma gasped, reaching up to brush his stray hairs away from his forehead. It was strange seeing him without any gel in his hair. "You look like you haven't slept in three years."

"Thank you, I think you look pretty yourself," Draco responded. 

Emma blinked. "Was that sarcasm?"

Daphne cleared her throat to remind the pair that she was still standing there. 

"No, but seriously," Emma continued, her eyes scanning Draco's face. "You look...bad. How are you feeling?"

"The way one feels when their girlfriend behaves rather bluntly," Draco said in a soft yet posh voice, and she could see he was trying to either distract her from his ill-looking figure or the fact that he'd broken his promise, again. "But really - have you always been this blunt?"

Emma shrugged. "I'm just worried."

"Aww," Draco pouted, pinching Emma's cheek. 

"Hey, I'm still -" 

But whatever Daphne was going to say was drowned out by Draco's voice, saying "Any word about you moth-"

And whatever Draco was going to say was drowned out by Daphne's unbelievably loud cough. It appeared that Draco had forgotten that Emma had not wanted to hear a word of it until she was notified by her father or the Headmaster. 

Emma swallowed before letting out a very shaky breath. 

Draco looked halfway between wincing and scratching his forehead uncomfortably. "Say," he said slowly. "You're looking very beautiful today, Emma. I want to catch you like a cold," he finished with a wink.