Draco Malfoy once again found himself in the position of Slytherin Seeker.

This meant that he was expected to be at practice most nights of the week, which down right pissed him off.

It had been true, what Rosie said, he had once been passionate about Quidditch. Once. But things had changed, he had changed. Quidditch now seemed so trivial after everything he had been through. To just slot back into school life like nothing had happened wasn't easy for him.

He got that Rosie was only trying to encourage him to have a life, but he hated being apart from her. He could never forgive himself for believing Potter and leaving her last year. After she had spent the summer with her parents, he had vowed to himself that he would never leave her side again. It made him anxious not being with her. He just wanted to protect her from anything bad ever happening to her again.

And now he had just left her sat at the Slytherin table on her own with a bunch of muggle haters, whilst he swanned off to Quidditch practice.

He turned around. This was crazy, he had to go back to her to make sure she was alright.

"Malfoy! Where do you think you're going?"

Draco turned back to see Blaise looking at him crossly with his arms folded. Blaise Zabini was captain, which was probably the only reason that Draco had got onto the team; Draco had certainly lost any popularity he had once had within Slytherin due to recent events, but Blaise had remained civil - friendly even. He probably thought he was doing Draco a favour by appointing him Seeker.

"I was just- uh- nothing..." Draco trailed off, defeated. Rosie would kill him for skipping practice to check up on her anyway.

So, he turned his attention back to the team and listened glumly as Blaise talked tactics.

***

"Where's Draco tonight?" Ginny asked as I joined her and Ron, and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Quidditch practice." I said, pinching a sausage from one of the still full serving dishes.

"Hey!" Ron whined, looking furious as I bit into the sausage. "Gryffindor sausages are off limits! Go back to your Slytherin ones!"

I grinned, wriggling my eyebrows as I took another bite. "Not as juicy, I'm afraid."

"I won't argue with that," Hermione said, making both Ron and I simultaneously choke.

"Good god, Hermione!" Ginny gasped in horror. "Too much information!"

I looked at Ron who had gone a very deep shade of red.

"I was merely referring to the level of water and fat components contained within the sausage, thus making it a rather exceptionally juicy one." Hermione stated haughtily.

Both Ginny and I started snorting with laughter. When I looked up after having to clutch my side from shaking so much, I was met with Hermione's glare - a look very much worthy of Molly Weasley.

"So, what are you going to do with your evening now you've lost your bodyguard?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows.

I shot him a sharp look. "He's not my bodyguard, Ron."

"He doesn't leave your side, usually," Ron guffawed. "And he glares at anyone who so much as looks at you."

"He does not!" I snapped indignantly.

"He so does!" Ron interjected. "Yesterday, in Potions, I thought he was gonna deck old Slughorn when he said your potion needed improvement!"

"Well," Hermione jumped in. "I suppose it's been quite tough for him, you know, thinking you were dead all that time. That sort of thing could cause separation anxiety."

"Separation anxiety?!" Ron spluttered. "Come off it, Hermione! That's something that toddlers have when being dropped off at preschool!"

"Ronald, it's perfectly plausible that Draco is suffering from some kind of stress related disorder. Think about it - the first time he was torn away from Rosie, months later he was witnessing her being tortured by his aunt - sorry, Rosie." She looked apologetically at me as I flinched. "And then he was forced away from her again until the battle, where he went on to witness her almost dying god knows how many times. Then, he thought she was actually dead and had to mourn her for nine months. And he then returned to find that she was in fact alive after all and also that she- that she-" Hermione faltered as she glanced over at me anxiously. "Well, you know..."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to swallow down the lump that had suddenly appeared in my throat.

"All this," Hermione continued, "is bound to have an affect on Draco's mental well-being when it comes to Rosie. In fact, it would be rather strange if it didn't."

"Still bloody creepy though," Ron muttered. His eyes flicked upwards past my shoulder. "Speaking of Edward Cullen, here he comes now."

"Ron!" Hermione hissed as she smacked him in the arm.

I looked back over my shoulder and, sure enough, Draco was traipsing towards us, his grey eyes trained on me the whole time.

"Practice finished already?" I asked, looking up at him, as he placed a protective hand on my shoulder.

"Blaise cut it short after Pritchard fell off his broom. Again." Draco muttered stiffly, his eyes darting over my companions. I could tell he was feeling really uncomfortable being at the Gryffindor table.

I stood up, looking apologetically to my friends. Draco's hand found mine and I heard him exhale a small sigh of relief as our fingers clasped together.

"I'll see you guys later," I said, giving them a small wave as Draco started to lead me away.

Ron scowled, Ginny smiled and Hermione just looked at me sadly.

***