Beauty and the Beast [Draco Malfoy]

Chapter Thirty-Four

Draco's POV:

I sat in the Slytherin common room in the middle of the afternoon, having skipped classes to await Lizzie's return. The sofa beneath me sagged under my weight, for I had been sitting in the same spot for the entire night, barely even changing positions. I could feel the bags under my eyes already forming from my refusal to sleep. I was not going to miss Lizzie's return.

My mind had spent the time switching between thinking about absolutely nothing at all to worrying about why Lizzie hadn't returned yet. I had to stop myself from thinking every once in awhile because my mind had begun to think about some terrible situation that Lizzie could be in.

Was she stranded in the Forbidden Forest surrounded by a hungry pack of werewolves?

Did she fall into the lake and get dragged under the water by the squid?

Had Potter led her into a trap that had inevitably led to her demise?

Did she need my help?

Was she in mid-battle with a troll and losing quickly?

No she wouldn't lose. If I know Liz at all, she would fight with every fiber of her being and win easily. She is a feisty little thing.

I wished that I could have a sign, any sign at all, that she was okay. Or I was going to go crazy sitting here waiting for her.

My wish came true around dinner time, when my stomach had begun to growl with hunger. I had been sitting on the sofa staring at a stone in the wall thinking about another horrible situation Liz could possibly be in when the cushion beside me sank as someone sat down. I turned to tell the person off but leapt in surprise when I saw a pair of deep grey eyes smiling back at me.

"Elizabeth Samuels, where the hell have you been?" I asked fiercely, throwing my arms around her body and holding her tightly to me.

"Nice to see you too," she winced slightly as she gently hugged me back. I drew back quickly and placed my hands on her shoulders, staring seriously into her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. She shrugged and refused to make further eye contact with me.

"I'm fine, just got a little bump in the head by Pluto," she smiled a bit as if this were a joke to her.

"What do you mean 'a bump in the head by Pluto'? As in the planet Pluto?" I raised my eyebrows at her, shocked and worried.

"Yeah," she smiled shyly.

"You better explain," I commanded. I did not wait here all night and all day to be left in the dark about what happened, especially now that I knew she got hurt.

"Can we uh- go somewhere no one will hear us?" She cast her eyes around the room, looking to see who was around us.

"Room of Requirement," I muttered, grabbing her hand and dragging her to said room.

Once inside, I sat her down on the red velvet sofa provided by the room and looked at her expectantly.

"Spill it all," I stated firmly. Lizzie was not leaving this room if I didn't get an answer.

"Have you heard anything at all?" she asked.

"No," I replied honestly. "I'd been on that sofa from the moment you left to the moment you returned and refused to talk to anyone."

"Oh, well, uh- after we left Umbridge's office, we met Harry and Hermione at the edge of the forest. Apparently Umbridge got carried off by a herd of centaurs. I don't know what happened to her." She looked down at her hands which were fidgeting nervously in her lap.