Learning How To Talk

~Chapter 11; Break the Rules~

The four Slytherins sit in comfortable silence while they eat their Halloween feast. It was a day like any other, except for the giant jack-o-lanterns surrounding the great hall. Or the pity-filled stares given to Holly, although he doesn't seem to take any notice. Holly proceeds to use her new favorite word, why, for almost every conversation. And much to her friends' delight, she has stopped taking every meal's leftovers with her. Although she is still severely underweight, luckily, her friends make sure she eats every day. While nibbling on her food, Holly, as well as the others, jump when the Great Hall's large doors slammed open.  

Professor Quarrell runs through the tables screaming, "Troll! In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!" He stops dead in his tracks, in front of the teacher's table, "Thought you'd like to know," and with that, he faints. Holly sits, confused. What's a troll?  After a few moments of silence, the four tables of students begin to freak out. Although still very confused, Holly grows scared as well. Her hands fly up to cover her ears, turning to look at Draco. He's worried; she can see it in his eyes. 

"Students, please calm down!" Dumbledore shouts from his throne. "Prefects, take your houses back to the dormitories!" Three of the tables calm down, the fourth, however, creates an uproar. "Our dormitory is IN the dungeons!" The male Slytherin Prefect growls. You could practically hear the eye roll in Dumbledore's tone, "Fine, Slytherins go to the Astronomy tower." 

Draco grabs hold of Holly's hand. "What's wrong?" Holly asks, her confusion overshadowing her potential fear. "They've found a troll, do you know what a troll is?" Holly shakes her head. Before he can inform her, the Slytherin's are ushered to the Astronomy tower. As the students stagger through the hall, Draco takes the time to give a brief explanation to Holly. She stares at him, horrified. "Don't worry, Snape and McGonagall will find it and all will be-"

Before he can finish his sentence, a blood-curdling scream is heard. All heads turn toward the sound; Holly's pupils dilate before slipping her hand out of Draco's and running off in terror. "Camilla, go inform Professor Snape of that scream." The head boy orders in haste. She nods quickly before hurrying off. He turns to the male prefect, "Andrew. Can you go find her?" The prefect nods, beginning to walk away before he's stopped by a blond first year. "Wait! She doesn't know you. You'll just scare her."  The seventh year rolls his eyes, "Fine, you come with me then." Draco thinks he looks way too calm for Holly being missing during a troll attack. 

"Where do you think she went?" He asks after a minute. Draco shrugs, "She's quiet and feels safe in dark spaces." He thinks back to the time he found her huddled under her bed during a bad thunderstorm. She told him that the dark areas remind her of her cupboard. He still doesn't quite know what she meant by that. 

While searching, Andrew would let out loud sighs; this annoyed Draco more than anything. "This is pointless! She ran off; she can find her way back." He mumbles while looking through the countless hallway doors. The blond becomes more and more worried, though this does not stop his blood from becoming hot with each comment. Just as he was about to snap and tell the prefect to be quiet, he heard it, a soft whimper. Draco's mind screams to run and check on her, but his feet move slowly. "Holly?" His voice is quiet, trying his hardest not to frighten her more. Andrew walks over; arms crossed across his chest. "Holly?" He tries again, now he can see her shoulders moving, she's crying. 

Draco continues to move slowly until he's sitting in front of her. He takes note of her hiding spot, under an unmoving flight of stairs, curled with her knees to her chest. Draco can hear Andrew sigh, but he ignores his sorrowful attempt to speed him up. Gently, his hand moves to Holly's back. Draco feels her jump slightly, "Holly?" His voice was just above a whisper. She lifts her eyes to meet his. The vibrant green contrasts with her red-puffy face.