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.
Draco was playing with his cup which contained pumpkin juice while Blaise kept looking at Pansy, trying to be subtle. Juliette had no doubt that he was excitedly waiting for Pansy to cause a scene, which would make the situation even worse; if that was possible.
"So," Pansy started before biting into a bread slice. Only then Juliette realised that she still hadn't touched any food regardless of the breakdown her stomach was having at the moment. "You're Cedric Diggory's friend, aren't you?"
At first, Juliette wasn't sure if she was talking to her or not since she was expecting Pansy to insult her when the right moment came.
"Yes. I am."
The Slytherin hummed and put her fork down, which she was using to lift the steak towards her mouth so she could bite it. She wasn't using a knife to cut it into small pieces and it made Juliette internally cringe. Her mother's voice was echoing in her mind: Sit straight, eat properly. Don't hold the knife like a savage, Juliette. It's a fish on your plate, not a whole deer.
Pansy placed her elbows on the table, on each side of her plate, and slightly leaned forward. "Then why aren't you sitting with him?"
Juliette saw Draco's head slowly turning towards them as she frowned at her question. Pansy's blunt words made her blush and it made her look embarrassed, which she didn't like but then she really didn't know how to make it stop and think of a witty comeback and it made her lips tremble with uncertainty, so she blushed harder.
"Because..." Juliette started, but no words made any appearance. Stop blushing and answer her. Be sarcastic, you know how to be sarcastic, she thought to herself, trying to take control of her anxiety.
"Well I–" She unsuccessfully tried again, and if it wasn't for Draco, her face would've turned into the reddest tomato.
"I wanted her to sit with me." He answered for Juliette, saving her from further stuttering.
Juliette sent him a thankful look, which almost made him smirk. She looked down on the table, still feeling uncomfortable regardless of Draco's presence, as Pansy directed her venomous glare at him.
"You did?" Her voice was far from friendly. Juliette didn't understand why she didn't like her, at all, and it was unnerving.
"Yes. She's a friend." The confidence in his voice gave Juliette a slight comfort and support but she couldn't completely embrace the feeling. Her fingers were playing with the fabric of her skirt under the table, making her nervousness known to no one.
"A friend?" Pansy looked like she wanted to laugh. The unnecessary tension in the air was drowning Juliette and she wanted nothing more than to stand up and run back to the library, where everything was calm and quiet. "Since when do you hang out with–"
I have to leave. I have to leave. I have to leave.
"With what?" Draco asked when Pansy abruptly stopped. Surprisingly enough, she had the ability to stop herself from uttering a possible insult in front of everyone.
"You know what I mean." Pansy replied, lowering her voice after meeting Draco's intense gaze.
"No, actually, I don't know what you mean." He sounded annoyed and Juliette couldn't help but blame herself for making him argue with his friend. If only she could say no to him...
Pansy rolled her eyes and motioned Juliette with a wave of her hand. "First of all, she's a Hufflepuff. Since when do you speak to them?"
Draco opened his mouth to answer but got interrupted by Pansy's irked words, "She doesn't even talk! She just sits there all by herself, freaks out when someone says something to her and suddenly you're friends?"
Juliette didn't realise how hard she was clenching her fists until she relaxed them after Pansy's talk and saw the nail marks she left in her palm. Juliette hated how Pansy acted like she wasn't in the room, sitting right in front of her. She hated it and she hated how Pansy talked about her as if she knew her personally.
"Alright, that's a bit harsh–" Blaise tried to intervene. The excited smile on his face was long gone and Juliette was glad. She would rather have a third vision in front of Draco than to have someone side with Pansy against her.
"Did I ask for your opinion, Blaise?" Pansy said, harshly interrupting him.
Oh, great. They're all fighting now. Yay me, Juliette thought silently. She took a deep breath in and tried to control her anger and anxiety before opening her mouth. She only hoped that she wouldn't stutter in front of everyone.
"And I didn't ask for your opinion, Pansy, but you gave it anyway." Juliette said, and felt her pride clapping her on the back.
Pansy, looking taken aback before covering her expression with a scowl, looked at Juliette. Her lips slowly parted before she closed them again. Juliette could see the wheels turning in her head, she was trying to find a good comeback.
"Listen–" She started, but an unexpected presence Juliette felt behind her interrupted Pansy.
"Good afternoon, friends." Greeted the unknown voice.
Juliette reluctantly looked over her shoulder and the person she saw made all the courage she had, which wasn't a lot, drain from existence and disappear.
In their Durmstrang uniforms, Viktor Krum and a couple of his friends were standing with their usual facial expressions which were colder than the Northern Europe.
Oh, no. No, no, no, please don't sit here. Please just walk away, please–
"Is it okay if we sit here?" Viktor asked, motioning the empty spaces. It was funny that he would ask that. No one would say no to him, not even if they wanted to because the dominance that was radiating from him would never let them.
"Of course!" Draco replied, way too enthusiastically. Juliette believed he was glad that Viktor and his friends interrupted the scene Pansy was making.
Durmstrang students started to take their seats on the table. Most of them sat next to Draco, some of them went to the opposite side to sit with Blaise; but much to Juliette's horror, Viktor Krum chose to sit next to her with two of his friends.
Her whole body tensed up that even Draco was able to sense it. He looked at her and frowned when his eyes caught the sight of her fists. Juliette would never know it, but it took everything in him not to reach out to squeeze her hand. He didn't know what to do to comfort her. He didn't understand why she was so tense. Was it because of what Pansy had said?
Juliette hesitantly turned her face towards Viktor, who didn't waste any time to fill his plate with various foods. Juliette's stomach didn't make a sound to remind her of her hunger. It seemed like every part of her body was under stress, nervous to see what was going to happen next.
Viktor, noticing someone's eyes watching him, looked at Juliette. Her heart skipped a beat and it nudged her stomach with panic.
"Hello." He said with a faint smile, which was completely unfamiliar to Juliette. "I've never seen you before. What's your name?"
Much to Juliette's surprise, he was being unexpectedly friendly to her. Or maybe she was too used to being ignored by everyone else that situations like this were rare in her life.
Juliette quickly averted her gaze, not answering his question, and turned her right, where Draco was sitting and watching her with curious eyes.
"I have to leave." She whispered to him hurriedly and stood up. As she was trying to step away from the long table, her elbow accidentally hit Viktor's arm and even though he looked like he didn't even notice it, she felt the need to apologise.
"I'm sorry." She said, her voice almost inaudible, and she turned around to walk towards the wide open doors of the Great Hall. They were calling out to her since she took a step to the Slytherin table but now, it was the only sound she could hear. Not even Draco's voice reached her ears while he called after her.
When she finally made it out, she felt a fresh air wash over her face as her anxious thoughts slowly left her body. She was better now but she knew those thoughts would come back as soon as she'd realise how awkward and weird she must've looked to others.
"Juliette!" A voice coming behind her startled her, causing her to involuntarily turn around.
Draco, holding two bags in his hand, was standing a few feet away from her with a confused frown. "What was that?" He asked, examining her face with an attentive look.
Juliette, slumping her shoulders in defeat, covered her face with her hands as if it would hide her from the world, and whispered, "I'm sorry."
▬ ▬ ▬۩▬ ▬ ▬
People don't really need a traumatic experience to have social anxiety but you'll probably understand her reasons better after her father makes an appearance. Hopefully you won't get annoyed with her, she's not going to stay like this the whole story.