Little Bird

Chapter Twelve

Draco

            Eve wasn't in Potions the next day. I thought that this would have made it slightly less awkward, but there was still an uncomfortable silence at our table. I sat across from Zabini, glancing at his bruised face and thinking I had gotten off better with just a split lip. Goyle was sitting awkwardly in between us, trying to pay attention to what Snape was saying at the front of the room.

            I leaned forward on my elbows, looking at Eve's empty seat and wondering where she was. She hadn't been in the common room when I forced myself out of bed ten minutes late, and she hadn't been at breakfast either. I put the end of my quill between my teeth and wondered if she was still in her dormitory.

            I shook myself slightly when I realized what I was thinking about, reminding myself that it honestly didn't matter to me. And it didn't.

            The Potions class dragged on more slowly than it usually did, the entire room actually silent for once now that no one at our table was talking. Zabini and I still hadn't said anything to each other after I punched the shit out of him, and it was going to stay that way for a while longer so long as I had anything to say about it. Even sitting here at the table while Snape drawled through the notes at the front of the classroom, I still felt a burn in my stomach when I thought about what Zabini had almost done last night.

            Finally the bell rang, and I was able to stand up from my chair, having been unable to sit still for most of the class. I lazily packed up my things, only glancing up slightly when Zabini left the room alone. Tucking my books under one arm, I nodded to Goyle and headed off to Transfiguration.

            I spent the rest of the day went pretty much the same way, going through it sluggishly and without paying much attention to any of the lessons, and I was so tired that I ended up skipping my last two classes. I headed back down to the common room tiredly after a pointless hour of Divination, wanting to just go back to bed. I hadn't gotten much sleep after what happened with Zabini, so all I wanted to do was crash and sleep off the massive headache I had.

            It came as a huge relief that the dormitory was empty when I got upstairs. I dumped my books by the nightstand gratefully and unbuttoned my shirt, messily pulling it off my shoulders and letting it fall to the ground. I kicked off my shoes and lazily pulled back my sheets, finally sliding into bed and letting out a tired sigh.

            It only took me a few seconds to fall asleep, and I was too tired to be annoyed with myself for my last thought being about why Eve hadn't been to any of her classes all day.

~*~

            I woke up around three a.m. in a cold sweat, completely wide awake with the sheets twisted around me.

            I lay there in the darkness for a long moment, breathing heavily and blinking away the water in my eyes. I couldn't remember the dream I'd been having, but my hands were shaking terribly so I knew it must have been pretty bad. After a long minute, my heart rate finally slowed back down to normal and I was able to sit up in bed.

            Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini were all sleeping heavily, so I exhaled quietly and rubbed my eyes hard. There was no way I would be able to go back to sleep now.

            Quietly, I threw the sheets off my legs and rolled out of bed, reaching around in the darkness for a shirt. I tugged it over my head and stuffed my shoes back on, finding my way out of the dorm slowly so I wouldn't trip over anything.

            I descended the steps down to the common room, running one hand through my hair messily and blinking to adjust my eyesight to the growing light. When I turned the corner into the common room, I began to make my way sleepily over to the couch by the fireplace.

            I jumped when there was movement to my right, and I looked over to see Eve sitting up from her place on the black armchair. I turned to her, taking in her appearance and not missing her puffy eyes that seemed glossed over. She was looking over at me, clearly surprised, and then she said quietly in a strained voice, "Oh. Um, hey."

            I shook my head, trying not to scoff at her as I collapsed onto the couch across from her, the two of us seated by the fireplace. "Why are you up this early?"

            She didn't say anything for a moment, but I refused to look over at her. Eventually she said awkwardly, "I can't sleep."

            "Didn't you sleep all day? You skipped all your classes, after all."

            "Are you just going to ignore what happened last night?" she snapped suddenly as I stared into the fireplace. "Obviously I couldn't sleep all day."

            I still didn't say anything, and I heard her sigh angrily as she said, "Look, I just...I don't know. I want to know why—hey, would you at least look at me?"

            I rolled my eyes and finally turned my head to look at her, and then the fire light caught my split lip and her eyes widened. Eve pointed to my face and asked in a small voice, "Is that...is that...?"

            "Yeah," I answered flatly. "Don't worry, he got off worse."

            She shook her head, one hand over her mouth and her eyes starting to water. I hoped she wasn't going to cry again, because I wouldn't know what to do. Eve swallowed hard and said, "I just...I don't understand why—"

            "Why what?" I interrupted, looking over at her. "Why did Zabini want to get in your pants? Why do you think? He's an ass, Hawkings. Everyone knows that."

            Eve was biting her lip and staring at the floor with a confused expression. "I don't understand. He was...he was the only one who was actually good me."

            "I told you to stay away from him," I snapped, leaning back against the couch and spreading my arms out along either side of me.

            "And I was supposed to listen to you?" Eve said hotly, raising her voice slightly for the first time.

            "Look. I'm the one who pulled him off of you," I said harshly, already throwing it back in her face. She flinched slightly as though I'd hit her, but I ignored it.

           Eve had her eyes fixed on the floor, her hands twisted together in her lap as she said in an almost silent voice, "Thank you. For stopping him."

            For a moment, half of me wanted to get up off the couch and pull her into a hug that anyone could tell she needed. There was another moment of silence, and then the other half of me took over as usual and I laughed loudly.

            Eve looked up at me as I laughed at her, her sad expression twisting into one of disbelief. I forced out through the laughter, "I didn't do it for you. I just stopped him because I'm tired of him getting everything he wants. He always picks up every girl he lays eyes on, and I'm sick of it. What? Did you honestly think I did that for you?"

            There were tear tracks running down her face now, but she held herself upright and didn't break down again like she had last night. Eve gave me the saddest look that almost wiped the smirk off of my face.

            "Oh," she said. And then she got up off the armchair, folding her sweater around herself and wiping furiously under her eyes. She turned for the stairs, and whispered something that I almost didn't hear.

            "I should've known."

          And then she disappeared up the stairs, leaving me to pretend as though it hadn't affected me even after she was long gone.