Lost Image | dramione

6 | the invitation

He was starting to get quite annoyed. The fact that she hadn't asked to meet with him again must have meant that everything went smoothly with Healer Judith, but it bothered him that he wasn't informed. He had owled the Healer, of course, to ask, but she had sent back something about "patient confidentiality." Since when did she have principles?

They now had only a day left. She would have to accept his offer tomorrow, and leave Hogwarts for the wedding at four. Draco was certain the only reason he was being so calm about everything was that the reality hadn't fully settled in yet. Or maybe he had just had so many months to get used to it that he was over the worst of his nausea.

It was going to be a long day.

He walked purposefully up to the seventh floor and around to the Room of Requirement. Impatiently, he paced, thinking about the room with the law books.

The door appeared, and he burst through into the room, eyes taking in the scene of disaster around him.

Books were laid out everywhere, dotted occasionally with heavily scribbled notepads. There were half-empty cups of coffee on every surface not coated in open books, and he had to walk carefully to avoid stepping on anything.

"Granger?" he called, feeling irate. Was this why his owl had returned to him without delivering his message to her? He wanted to- no, not wanted. Needed to talk to her and find out what their current situation was. This was his life too, dammit. The little witch acted like she was the victim: poor little Granger and the big bad Malfoy. Well, he was tired of it. There was no doubt who was coming off worse in this whole arrangement, anyways.

That's when he heard it- from one aisle of books. A soft rumbling noise that he almost thought he had imagined. He walked forward, peering down the aisles.

There, at the end of the last aisle, a book open and pressed to her chest, was Granger. She was sleeping at a strange angle, snoring lightly with her head thrown back.

Draco rolled his eyes. How classy.

He walked over towards her, crouching down and shaking her shoulder roughly. He was hovering over her when her eyes finally opened, his frustration playing all over his expression. She cracked her eyes open, muttering, "Five more minutes..."

"Granger!" he said, again, more sharply.

She jumped, looked around with rolling eyes, and finally tilted her face up at him. Her eyes were glossy and underlined with bruised-colored circles, her skin pallid and her hair unwashed. It was clear she had been in there for some time. When her wide eyes met his she gasped, pressing her back further into the shelf behind her.

"M... Malfoy," she managed. "What..." she looked around again, noticing the book she was clutching. She threw it aside, rubbing at her face. "I fell asleep... what day is it?"

"Day!?" he asked, perplexed. How long had she been in here!? "It's the 27th. Well after dinner."

She groaned, making an attempt to pull her bushy hair out of her face, clutching it behind her head in a fist. "I shouldn't have slept..."

He frowned. If she was working this hard, her little plan must not have gone as expected.

"I'm sorry Malfoy," she said, struggling to her feet. It was hard with all the books around her and the sleepiness not yet gone from her eyes, so she almost fell. Instinctively, she reached for Draco, grabbing his arm and setting his own balance off tilt. Once she was standing she jumped, releasing him quickly as if she's been burned. "I, uh, have something for you," she muttered, maneuvering her way around all the scattered books towards the coffee table. She moved a few things and grabbed something, tossing it his way. He caught it, staring down at the familiar bag with disdain.