The Right Thing To Do

Chapter 23

"Yes," she said, and turned to pass him.

"Unless you would like me to give Mr. Malfoy a message –?"

"No. I – thank you. I will head back to Gryffindor tower." She hurried to the door and flew through it, muttering to herself about foolish ideas.

~*~

"He would have saved me."

Harry stared at her blankly. "Okay..." He grabbed her elbow and guided her out of the room. "I don't really know what that means, but we have to go." He threw the cloak over her head and grabbed her invisible arm.

Harry led her out. She could hear her shoes clapping, feel her legs working, but she wasn't sure her brain was firing. She was still hearing the screaming and the gasp.

Harry locked the door with a combination of spells she didn't recognize. Her pulse racing. Footsteps down the hallway, and she gathered herself enough to cast Silencio on her feet. Harry leaned in to where he supposed her to be standing.

"Leave when it's safe. I'll come by later."

And Montgomery rounded the corner, tugging at his sleeves. "All good here?"

"Yep. Boring as usual."

The tang of stale cigarettes filled the hallway, and once Montgomery reached them, she slipped past, continuing through the maze she'd memorized.

She reached the main concourse of Level 2, and wound her way through the cubicles. She was having trouble catching her breath and wanted so badly to duck into an empty cube and take off the cloak, but she knew she couldn't just appear out of nowhere.

She zipped past Katie Bell's cube as she munched on a snack, and slowed as she passed the bottleneck near the conference room. The door was open.

Draco sat at the conference table. His back to the door. She stepped in, moving around the table to see him, creeping by his right shoulder and to the other side. His lips were turned down as he studied what looked to be a map.

He scratched his jaw.

She thought of him in her house. On the top of the stairs, he'd headed left first, then chose right. How had he known which room was hers?

She thought of him in her bedroom, bursting through the door, even though the house was empty. What did he hope to find? Or not find?

She thought of him in front of his fireplace, shaking, rebuilding his wall after it shattered.

She watched him now as he breathed deeply at the conference room table, sighing. His hair had fallen across his forehead and she wanted so badly to push it back for him.

She had tried to solve the enigma that was Draco Malfoy. And he felt as foreign to her as before.

In response, his eyes snapped up. He turned over his shoulder and looked at the door. He narrowed his eyes, brain working, listening.

After thirty seconds, he stood, and she held her breath. He moved slowly to the door, and she crept further from him. She watched as he poked his head out of the doorway, looking left, then right. He came back in, staring at the ground, thinking.

He looked up at her. She swore he did. But then his eyes glazed over her spot on the wall and he took a breath. He looked out the door again, a frown in his eyes.

Footsteps. "Afternoon, Malfoy!" Robards' jolly voice.

She watched as Draco smiled softly. "Afternoon, sir. Is Granger up here?"