Pros & Cons

16. The Astronomy Tower

I was sitting in an armchair next to the fire in the common room; finishing off my potions homework and watching the green flames flare against the black brick of the fireplace when Nott and Zabini came running in. They were talking quickly between themselves and I was hoping they would take their whirlwind of a conversation elsewhere, but instead they dropped down on the leather sofa opposite me.

"-and then when she just jumped on top of her-"

"-or what about when she started trying to rip out her hair-"

"-no, no, no what about when she started to go to town on Parkinson's face-"

They were practically tripping over each other's sentence, both too hyped to shut up "What are you two on about?"

"You haven't heard" Zabini leant forward towards me with his forearms resting on his thighs "Gardner went crazy on Parkinson and now Parkinson's in the hospital wing and no one can find Gardner"

Fuck. She is so stupid, she's really gone and done it now.

"Why did Gardner attack Parkinson?" I tried to keep my voice as monotone as possible but my fists were clenched so tight I thought I was going to pop a vein.

"What makes you think she had a reason?" Nott chuckled.

Bastard.

"Well, she's not exactly the fighting type. Plus we all know Parkinson, she'll say anything to get a reaction out of someone" I reasoned.

Zabini raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement and rested his arms on the back of the sofa - we'd all been on the receiving end of Pansy's poisonous tongue at least once "Well I only got there by the time Parkinson was unconscious-"

"Wait, Gardner knocked Parkinson out cold?"

"Yeah mate it was hilarious. Gardner went proper ape shit, you should've been there" Nott slapped his knees and knocked his head back, continuing to laugh to himself.

Merlin, Gardner's going to get in some proper shit for this and they mentioned no one can find her either? She better not do something stupid.

I got up from my chair and started walking out of the common room.

"Malfoy! Where you off to?" Zabini yelled.

"Um, gonna check on Parkinson"

It was utter bollocks, but it was believable. Pansy and I have been hooking up since fifth year and everyone knows she's obsessed with me; I put up with her, only because there's no one else. It might sound cruel but I don't really give a shit - I've got other things on my mind, I can't spend my time worrying about Pansy's feelings.

I left the dungeons and started to wander the corridors, I tried to think where Gardner might have headed but in truth I really didn't know her all that well.

I don't know if we've ever actually had a real conversation that didn't end in an argument.

I meandered around the school for a while checking in empty classrooms, girls toilets, storage rooms and even peered out of the windows to see if she was down by the lake. I could only think of one last place, the astronomy tower - it was a long shot but it was the only place I hadn't looked.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs I tried to listen in to see if I could hear her up there, but there wasn't a sound so I started to ascend the staircase.

The open air tower was absolutely freezing, especially in January, you could hear the wind whistling through the room bouncing off of every surface. I had spent quite a lot of time here during the first term, it's unoccupied most nights because people get put off by the harsh chill.