Little Bird

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Draco

            Just two weeks after what happened with Potter and the Dark Lord at the Ministry, the school year ended without any end of term exams. On the train ride back to Platform 9 ¾, I tried to act like I was happy to be going home—but the closer we got to the station, the harder it got to hide the fact that I wanted nothing more than to jump off the train and sprint in the opposite direction.

            "You okay?" Eve asked me quietly while Flint and Goyle got up to take a look at the trolley. We were sitting on the same side together, seated so closely that the slight rocking of the train was causing us to gently bump shoulders every so often.

            I glanced over at her to see that she was watching me with concern, and I felt a bit guilty for making her worry over me. Reaching for her hand and giving a small smile, I squeezed her fingers and told her, "Yeah. Don't worry, alright?"

            "Alright," Eve said uncertainly, and it was clear she was doing just the opposite of not worrying. She was opening her mouth to say something more to me, but Flint reentered the compartment at that moment and she quickly looked away before he could think anything was wrong. I kept holding onto her hand, though; my heart was pounding incredibly fast and, for some reason, I was too scared to let it go.

            The train ride was much shorter than I'd anticipated. We reached the station all too soon, and I felt light-headed as I helped Eve with her trunk. This was all happening too fast, I didn't want to leave yet—

            "Are you alright, mate?" Flint asked, grabbing my shoulder when I almost tripped down the steps off of the train. "You look a bit pale, if I'm being honest."

            "Thanks," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes and trying to play it off. Eve had gone to say goodbye to Weasley, and I didn't want anyone to know that I felt as though I was seconds away from passing out. "Get off my back, yeah?"

            Flint laughed at this and clapped me on the shoulder, saying, "My dad's over there. See you next year, mate—tell Hawkings I said bye."

            "Yeah, I will," I said, shaking myself and forcing a grin. "See you around."

            "She's alright, you know," he said, his expression suddenly turning more serious—something that didn't happen very often. "Hawkings. She's alright."

            I looked over at him a bit warily, unsure what he really meant. But before I could say anything, Flint's grin returned and he said again, "See you, Malfoy." And then he turned away and disappeared into the crowds of students and parents, leaving me staring after him and wondering why he'd thought to say something like that.

            I was still feeling confused when Eve appeared beside me, making me jump guiltily as though I'd been doing something wrong. Eve didn't seem to notice, however, and she told me, "Ginny's gone off to find her mum, but she promised she'd write me over the summer. Isn't that brilliant? I thought she'd forget about me."

            "That's good," I said, turning and looking down at her with the train on our left and people bustling past on the right. I thought I'd managed to make myself sound cheerful—after all, I really was happy if she was happy—but Eve frowned and looked up at me as though she knew exactly what I'd been thinking.

            "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching over and lacing her fingers through mine. "I thought you'd be glad to be leaving school."