These Dark And Hollow Nights

Chapter Twelve: Vulnerable

Chapter Twelve: Vulnerable

Draco's POV

Draco was sitting in the hospital wing again, next to Astoria's bedside. He'd hardly left since he heard she'd been attacked, except for class. He hadn't eaten a single meal in the Great Hall in the two days that had passed, and a house elf with big green eyes would bring him food. He was quite sure that the elf was female. Hermione didn't bother dragging him out to do the Patrols anymore, and she even brought him coffee in the morning when she came to collect him for class. Blaise must have told her how he liked his coffee, because it was always done exactly right. She never spoke about their fight, and he knew she hadn't forgiven him yet, and he knew that she was only doing it because she felt bad about Astoria. And Draco despised being pitied.

'E-excuse me, Head Boy?'

He looked up in surprise at the frightened voice, and saw a small girl, probably a first year, standing in front of him. She had brown curly hair and big wide brown eyes, and she looked terrified.

'Yes?' He asked.

She looked nervous. 'I-I was just... well, I was l-looking for a P-Prefect, but I went to ask an older student, and they t-told me to come h-here instead. You are the Head Boy, right?'

'Yes, I am. I'm Draco. You're a first year, aren't you?' He asked. With her curls, she kind of reminded him of Hermione, minus the fact that she was clearly terrified. The curls bobbed as she nodded.

'I'm Emily,' she told him. "I'm in H-Hufflepuff.'

He smiled at her. 'Nice to meet you, Emily. Come, sit down,' he said, using his wand to summon a chair from across the room. Her eyes widened in amazement, and she sat down.

'The older students told us first years stories about you. Is it true you have a Dark Mark?' She blurted out, and then blushed.

He laughed, and pulled up his left sleeve. Her eyes widened, and she stared at his arm in amazement. 'It's not that scary, if you think about it. I don't understand why everyone is so afraid to say Voldemort. It's just a name, and he was just a person,' she said, her matter-of-fact tone so much like Hermione it was funny.

'You're right,' Draco found himself saying. 'Voldemort is just a person. Nothing to be afraid of.'

Emily looked surprised. 'You must be the first person to agree with me. Everyone else just says I don't know what I'm talking about,' she said. She had definitely got over her nervousness, and she seemed very opinionated about things.

'Well, most people would say that,' he agreed. 'But that doesn't mean it's true. Now, you said you needed something?'

'Oh, right, I forgot,' she said, blushing. 'Well, I know it's the right thing to come to a teacher or a prefect or the Heads, if there's trouble.'

Now he was curious, and he pulled down his sleeve, realizing he'd left it up. 'You should definitely report trouble, especially if it sounds or looks like someone's going to get hurt. So, tell me what happened,' he said.

Emily swallowed. 'I was in the library, and I heard... well, I heard two seventh year students, a girl and a boy, sitting close together, whispering. At first I thought they were just talking, but then I realized that they were arguing.' She said.

'What did they look like?' He asked, almost fearing what she would say. He desperately hoped that his face hadn't gone paler than usual.

'Er... well, the boy was pale-skinned, with dark hair. He looked muscular, but I couldn't really tell since I didn't have a good look. The girl was fair-skinned with black hair,' she said.