Chamber of Love

Chapter 24

  Juliette sighed. It was a short breath that spoke louder than her growing anxiety. She was overreacting. She had to be overreacting. What other explanation was there to describe the situation?

"I'm sorry." She said before covering her face with her hands. Her fingers caressed her skin, softly at first, but then harshly slid down her blushed cheeks until she was face to face with Draco again, without any barriers. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"It's okay–" He tried to say reassuringly.

"I don't know why I did that, really." She said, her hands lazily wrapped around her neck.

"Juliette, I said it's ok–" He couldn't finish his sentence because Juliette interrupted him once again with her rushed words.

"I know I overreacted, and I'm sorry." It seemed like she was lost in her mind, probably recalling the horrifying experience she had at the Slytherin table, and she couldn't hear him.

"Juliette–" He tried again, knowing very well that he wasn't helping her in any way by only standing there and reciting her name to get her attention.

"That was so embarrassing." She started to pace around, not hearing the loud sigh that came out of Draco's mouth.

Just as she was about to walk past him, maybe for the fifth time in a millisecond, he grabbed her arm instead of uttering a weak consolation. He looked at her with utmost curiosity. Her wavy hair was drawn back into a ponytail but some strands were escaped from the tie as they put weak shadows on her red cheeks. It didn't take long for him to realise that she couldn't maintain eye contact and her hands were slightly shaking. She was extremely tense, that was for sure.

"I didn't realise how uncomfortable you were." He said unsurely, not really knowing if that was a good thing to say at the moment.

Juliette shrugged, causing his hand to drop. "I tried to tell you."

"I know, but I thought you were... just being shy." His words sounded like an uncertain question.

Juliette slumped her shoulders in defeat and looked at him with a weak smile. She tried to find comfort in his sharp eyes.

"I'm not just shy, Draco. I don't like being surrounded by... people. Especially people that I don't really know." She shrugged, trying not to make the situation seem as pathetic as it actually was. "I just panic."

Draco didn't utter a word, patiently waiting in silence to see if she was going to say something more. When she didn't, he slowly nodded even though her words sounded strange to him. An unfamiliar feeling.

"Okay..." He murmured, not knowing what to say or do to distract her from the obscure thoughts and feelings that surrounded her like a strong aura.

"You don't have to understand." Juliette tried to assure him, noticing the hesitancy in his actions. "I'm sorry for abruptly–"

"No. Stop apologising." This time he interrupted her. "If I'd known, I wouldn't–" He stopped, looked down, bit his lip and then looked back at her. "I wouldn't have... asked you to..." He stopped again and let out a sigh. "You know what I'm trying to say."

Noticing his struggle with apologising, Juliette smiled without trying to hide it. "I know."

Pansy was sitting right in front of Juliette. Five minutes, five painful minutes had passed since she forced Blaise to scoot over so she could make the anxious Hufflepuff more uncomfortable than she already was. Maybe she was trying to intimidate her, Juliette didn't really know her motives.