There's Something About Potter

Chapter 5

Draco was in a very sour mood that afternoon.

He had spent a good chunk of his morning prowling around Hogsmeade like some kind of besotted stalker, asking the entire village if they had seen a girl who fit the description he gave them. Unfortunately, his efforts were to no avail because not one of the people he had spoken to had seen his mystery girl. Most of them had just given him a pitying look, probably feeling sorry for this poor young sod who was so obviously infatuated with a girl he couldn't even get a hold of.

Sadly, Draco had no more leads to follow at that point – no hint of an address, no background, not even her bloody name.

He was beginning to think he would never be able to see her again.

It didn't help his mood that when he returned to Hogwarts later that afternoon to spend some time alone in the library, he was joined by an unwelcome pair – Greg Goyle and Astoria Greengrass.

The two former Slytherins had spotted Draco in the corner of the library and had decided to join him - without his permission, unfortunately.

Within a few minutes of the three of them studying together, it was obvious to Draco (as well as everyone within ten meters of their table) that Greg and Astoria had drifted off into their own little world.

The two childhood friends kept whispering little snarks and comments under their breaths, grinning like fools and nudging each other like a pair of first years. In fact, Draco seriously doubted that either of them was even still aware that he was there. When Greg finally slid his chair closer to Astoria's so he could read what she had written for her Divination essay and the two suddenly began giggling like idiots, Draco decided he had enough.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Draco slid his chair back and stood up sharply from his seat.

His two companions looked up at him in surprise, their attentions from each other momentarily diverted.

"Draco? Is everything okay?" Astoria asked him softly, a worried frown creasing her features.

"Yeah, Malfoy. What's wrong? You've been looking foul all morning." Greg pointed out.

"I'm fine. Just leave it." Draco gritted his teeth, trying not to let his irritation at their concern show.

Don't bother snapping at them. It's not their fault you can't find your nameless mystery girl.

"Anyway." He took a deep, steadying breath to quell his anger before he looked up and met their confused looks again with a curt nod. "I'll be back, I just remembered I wanted to look for this book."

Draco didn't bother waiting for either of them to answer before he took off towards the back of the library, eager for any excuse to get away from the annoying pair and have some time to himself. After a few minutes of him wandering aimlessly around the many aisles of thick, dusty books, he found himself stopping in the middle of the Ancient Runes research section.

Oddly enough, the memory of those strange, rune-like symbols he saw on the back of Potter's neck suddenly flashed into his head.

What were those weird symbols on the back of Potter's neck again? Were those Ancient Runes? Did she tattoo them onto herself? Draco frowned in thought.

Before he realized what he was doing, he was walking towards one of the nearby bookshelves and scanning the titles lined up along the shelves. A significant amount of time later, after Draco finished scanning a thick encyclopedia of ancient magical symbols, he took a quick glance at his watch and realized, with a start, that he had just wasted away nearly two hours of his day searching for something he still had no answer to.