Hagrid had left the hospital wing after informing Madam Pomfrey of what had happened. Draco had stayed with her, still feeling extremely guilty for her injuries. She was conscious at the moment, which was a good sign.
"Why did you jump in front of me?" He questioned, glancing at the large scratches before looking away with a grimace.
"You may be the meanest person I know, but I know it's and act. You'd probably be a great person in a different situation," Addi winced as Madam Pomfrey began to clean her wounds. Draco reached out to grab her uninjured hand. She would squeeze it when something hurt, and he just sat there watching her with a pained expression.
"That's it, dear, just try not to do anything to excessive, and come back after dinner to get it redressed," then Madam Pomfrey walked away from the pair.
Addi stood up, but Draco stayed seated, his hand still clasped in her's. To Addi, he looked small and innocent. The blonde girl sighed and sat down next to him.
"Did you mean it?" Draco whispered while playing with her fingers.
"Yeah, I did," She took her hand away from his and put it on his back before standing and walking toward the door. She stopped next to the open door, "By the way, I like your hair this year," then walked out of the hospital wing, leaving Draco with a smile on his face.
~~~
Returning to the common room was a process. On the way back, multiple people had come up to Addi and asked her what happened. It seemed the whole school already knew about her injury, and it had only happened an hour earlier.
At one point a very kind Hufflepuff carried her away from a crowd of people who were being very obnoxious. In fact, he carried her all the way to the Gryfindor common room.
"Thank you, Cedric!" Addi grinned when the older boy put her down. He gave a her a dazzling smile in return.
"Course! Couldn't have you back in the hospital wing so soon now, could we?" He teased. Addi pouted, a pink blush present on her cheeks. Cedric laughed, poking her cheek before bidding her farewell.
Addi waved goodbye before turning to the Fat Lady.
"Password?"
"Acid pops," the portrait swung open with a roll of her eyes. Addi frowned at her rude gesture, stalking into the warm common room. All eyes turned to her.
Addi looked at everyone with wide eyes. All at once, everyone jumped up and barreled toward her. A body smacked into her own causing a wave of pain to surge through her. There were at least thirty pairs of arms circling around her small body.
"Ow! Ow,ow,ow,ow,ow," all her sounds of pain were muffled by the chest her face was pressed against.
Finally, everyone pulled away and stepped back, except for the person who first got to her.
"Freddie, let go of the poor girl. She just got attacked by a hippogriff," George called out, much to his twin's embarrassment.
Fred pulled away from Addi with a slight blush on his face. "What were you thinking? You could have died!"
Addison watched as the rest of the common room nodded their heads in agreement.
"It's Malfoy! If Buckbeak had injured him, he would have probably gotten his father involved. He'd probably have him executed," Ron murmured his agreements, while Hermione smacked him on the arm.
"Well don't do that ever again," Hermione scolded. Seeing her best friend covered in blood wasn't something she needed to see ever again.
"Here, here!" Everyone else shouted.
"Yep! Never again," Addi agreed with a smile, rubbing her bandages arm gently. Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Now, who's hungry? It's time for lunch," Addi exclaimed and the common room cheered.
Snape watched in dismay as a stampede of Gryfindors tumbled into the Great Hall.
~~~
"Was it terribly scary, Draco?" Pansy Parkinson's whiny voice filled the air. Ron scoffed as the four listened from the table next to them.
"Terribly." Draco replied dryly, looking at his fingernails in boredom.
"Lucky that filthy half-blood stepped in front of you. Better her than you," Pansy spat when mentioning Addi. Draco put a steely gaze on the pug-faced girl.
"Quiet, Pansy. Nobody deserves what happened to Addi," Pansy made a whimpering noise, turning her face to avoid the blond's glare.
One table over, the four gryfindors listened with wide eyes. Addi unconsciously rubbed her bandaged arm; that was the exact reason Addi took the injury in the first place. Harry noticed the unfocused look upon his friend's face and intertwined their fingers under the table, giving the smaller hand a squeeze. Addi smiled gratefully at her best friend, squeezing his hand back before continuing to eat her lunch.
"At least Hagrid didn't get sacked," Harry spoke first. Ron nodded absentmindedly, watching as Addi began to scratch at her bandages. The red-head reached across the table and gently smacked her hand away from her injury, "Don't scratch, you'll make it worse."
Addi pouted before turning away from him with a hmph. Hermione leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice, " Yes, but I hear Draco's father's furious. I don't think we've heard the end of this."
Ron scoffed, eyes wide in disbelief. "Nothing even bloody happened to his son. What does he have to be mad about?"
His question went unanswered as Seamus burst into the Great Hall screaming 'He's been sighted, he's been sighted'. Getting closer to where most of the Gryffindors were, the boy threw down a copy of the Daily Prophet, the others crowding around it hurriedly.
"Who?" Ron asked before catching sight of the notorious Sirius Black on the front page. Immediately whispers broke out among the students. Addi scratched at her arm nervously until someone smacked her hand away again. Looking away from the paper on the table, Addi looked up to see Ron pointing a scolding finger at her. Shrugging, she looked back at the paper with racing thoughts.
"Dufftown? That's not far from here," Hermione exclaimed, looking back at Addi in worry. Addi watched as Harry become progressively tense and reached out to run a hand through his hair. Harry sighed slightly as his the tension in his shoulders seemed to melt away, but only for a second.
"You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" Neville innocently asked, looking over his friends for comfort.
"With the Dementors at every entrance?"
"Dementors? He's already slipped by them once, hasn't he? Who's to say he can't do it again?" Lavender spoke causing Harry to tense again; even Addi couldn't help this time.
"That's right," A boy named Bem began," Black could be anywhere. Its like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." Addi grimaced while patting Harry on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Bem! Couldn't have kept that to yourself?" Addi muttered sarcastically under her breath. The Tyler girl told Harry that she had to go before quickly jogging out of the great hall. Harry watched her go, before following after her.
He caught up to her near the portrait hole, she was looking at the ground and scratching her injured arm.
"You know, you really shouldn't scratch. It won't heal if you do," His voice caused the blonde girl to jump in fright and spin around to face him.
"Harry James Potter! Never do that again," She warned while glaring at him, hand placed dramatically over her heart. Harry laughed brightly, sauntering over and wrapping an arm around her.
"Addison Lyra Tyler! Never do that again," Harry mocked while pointing at her injury. Obviously he meant not to scratch anymore. Addi giggled, muttering the password and watching as the portrait swung open. Harry led her into the common room and plopped them both onto the sofa, watching as the fire crackled. "So why'd you run out?"
Addi glance at the boy next to her briefly before directing her gaze back on the fire. "I'm not really sure if I'm being completely honest. Everyone was talking over each other, and whatnot. I guess it just became to much for me."
Harry nodded before switching his position; his head now laying in her lap and his legs up on the cushions. Addi absently ran her hand through his unruly hair while they conversed. This was normal for them. Whenever Ron and Hermione would argue, Harry and Addi would sit like this and wait for them to solve it for themselves. Occasionally, the pair would do this when either were upset or angry. It made them both feel better, and for the first time in Harry's life he felt unburdened. This is why Addi was one of his best friends; she made his life easier and refreshing. Something Harry desperately needed in his life.
"Ready for Lupin's lesson?" Addi asked. Harry let one eye open as he looked up at her.
"Is it already time for his lesson?" He asked in surprise. He could of sworn that it had only been ten minutes since they began talking.
Addi nodded,"Yeah, we have like fifteen minutes till class starts."
"Oh! Well that's plenty of time," Harry replied before closing his eye again. Addi laughed, standing up and watching as Harry tumbled from the sofa.
"Time for lessons, Harry," Addi smirked.
Harry groaned from the floor.