Watching Shadows Grow || Draco & OPEN
It was late the next day, and Draco was still unsettled by the events of the night before. It hadn’t helped that he had had to spend most of the day pretending not to be; everybody wanted to talk about the strange, horrifying fate that had befallen Professor Moody, and as one of the only two students who had seen their teacher Petrified before he had been whisked-off to the Hospital Wing to await a cure, Draco had suddenly become a very popular conversation partner. Since he could hardly admit that he was upset, he had to pretend quite the contrary; puffing his chest out and swaggering around, making blustering statements about how Moody had clearly bitten-off more than he could chew and deserved whatever he got, and if he wasn’t such a ninny for thinking that Professor Snape, of all people, could ever be behind something wretched, he wouldn’t have suffered such an unfortunate accident--or attack. He was enjoying the attention.
That didn’t stop him fretting, though; remembering the weird trail that he and Parkinson had stumbled upon, and worrying about who had Imperiused Theodore, and for what purpose; worrying about who or what was still wandering the halls of Hogwarts, unimpeded. Most of the other students hadn’t seemed to have thought about that yet: that whatever had attacked Moody might not be done, and as much of an arse as the former-auror had obviously been he was no longer there to try and stand against whatever it was. Now he sat a little away from the rest of the students who had sought some relaxation in the courtyard off the Great Hall after their dinner, worrying over his fears like one would a loose tooth. He was so on-edge that when someone behind him spoke, he actually jumped. “What? Who was--I wasn’t--” he stammered.
