Why Her?

Prologue: Overwhelmed

Prologue: Overwhelmed

Book after book after book. Each word pressed into his brain as he reread each chapter, each page, his eyes scanning each and every syllable, memorising each and every sentence. Even as he stood on the platform, hands shoved deep into his pockets, he was going over everything he had crammed into his brain over the past week.

But nothing, no books or comforting speeches could have prepared him for life outside. It was like he was going into sensory overload. Each smell, each noisy, draining his energy, making him squirm on the spot. The boy standing next him, hugging his parent goodbye, reeked of overused body spray, and the lady a few feet away had bubble-gum chewing gum shoved underneath a couple of bottles of potions, the scents mixing together, and from his exhaustion, he could not be bothered to focus in order to separate them. He could hear the rattled breath of an old lady kissing her young grandchildren good luck on the other side of platform, the rattle of the train too far down the track than he should be able to hear. His brain was pounding with all his senses, the sun too bright, his shirt too itchy, the taste of every ingredient that had been thrown into making his breakfast still lingering on his tongue and down his throat.

His mother had tried to prepare him, given him every book in their house, brought a hundred more, talked him through every detail. She didn't leave out a single painful or complicated piece of information. But nothing he had imagined had been even close to actually being in crowds. The heavy hum of footsteps rattling his brain to the point of pain.

He didn't understand how his mother was happy for him to leave the house. He hadn't learnt yet how to control any of new-found abilities or emotions, and now here he was, disguised in the shadows of the corner, hands in fists, doing everything in his power to hold himself back from attacking everything that was setting his nerves on edge. It was taking a lot of his energy, and he didn't know how he was going to fend in the tight containments of the train. Maybe he could find an empty compartment, lock the doors and cast a silencing charm. He knew no one would want to share with him, if the looks of deep hatred that had been fired faster than any spell in his direction since he had arrived were anything to go by.

"Draco!" A tall girl, taller than him, scurried over, her high heels making her tower over him even more than normal. Daphne came to a hurried stop in front of his person, stretching her arms around his neck in a hug, but to Draco it just felt like she was just rubbing sandpaper over his skin. He gave her a quick squeeze before rolling his shoulders in an attempt to get her to release him from his misery.

"Hey Daph." He gave her a quick smile, before taking a few steps back, the stench of her makeup making him gag.

"I'm so glad you decided to come back. Ast insisted that you wouldn't, even tried to bet me. She'll be so mad to know she lost. She's coming in a few days though, got a stomach bug yesterday, but with the way she acts, it's like she's dying."

Draco didn't know what to say, so he just nodded his head, trying to rein in his beast. It was getting harder, and even though Daphne's voice a normal pitch for any woman, it made his ears ring, and set his nerves on edge even more than they already were. If this was any indication of how the rest of the year would go, then he didn't know how he was going to cope.

"Oh look, there's Blaise and Pansy. Come on." Daphne didn't hesitate to grab his wrist, tugging him from the comfort the corner had provided, right into the centre of the platform. And she was right. There was Pansy, who hadn't noticed the couple heading over, too busy filing her nails until they looked perfect in her own sight, and Blaise who was skimming through a book, his neutral face looking more like one of annoyance than rest, or maybe he was just annoyed, Draco had lost interest trying to work it out.