Author's Note: The Hogwarts Prefect Reeka helps an injured man and finds out he is a Death Eater. They meet again under random circumstances and Reeka doesn't know who to turn to. She tries to deny what connects her to him and soon enough realizes that cutting someone out of your life does not mean cutting them out of your heart. This story takes place around 1977. The Marauders will appear but will not be the main focus of this story. Ten chapters planned.

Rating: T for safety.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter. No copyright infringement intended.

"I believe in true love. I believe in love at first sight. I believe love conquers all. And that doesn't mean there's not gonna be hard days or difficult things to deal with, because there will be. But finding that person who does it for you and knowing that person loves you back it just makes everything so much easier." ~ Haley James Scott, One Tree Hill

Chapter One: Compliancy

It was a ridiculous time to be outside. It was dark, it was clouded. The only light was the faint glow Reeka's wand cast. Reeka saw the lake and the dark forest beyond. She took a step or two towards it and stopped mid-step. Hesitation and doubt made her bite her lips. About to turn back and head up to the castle, she let her wand arm sink and sighed deeply.

She didn't know what made her slip out of the Common Room after curfew. Probably the first week of her sixth school year had been more exhausting than she was willing to admit. Being a very good student from the beginning, she couldn't stand what others would say if she showed any signs of weakness so shortly after arriving at Hogwarts, although getting eleven OWLs was, even for her, a very pleasant surprise. She thought briefly of her Prefect Badge that lay abandoned on her nightstand. It wasn't exactly a very Prefect-like virtue to sneak out of the castle at this time of night. She didn't even wear her robes but a very comfortable pullover and sweatpants. Her hair was pulled up into a short pigtail and she was, in fact, barefooted.

Reeka suddenly had to think about what a pathetic appearance she must be, standing alone at the edge of the lake in the middle of the night, looking definitely sloppy. She thought about her best friend, Helen, who would refuse to leave the dorm without a perfect outfit and the most expensive make-up she could possibly get hold of. She would probably never talk to her again. The thought of an outraged gaping Helen made Reeka smile wryly. She thought of her Prefect colleague, Barny, who she had thought had a crush on her. He would probably never spare her a second look ever again.

She thought of James, who she had thought she had had a crush on, who was hopelessly in love with another girl. Well, it was his last year anyway. If Reeka ever got the guts to properly talk to him he had probably graduated. At least it wouldn't change anything between the two of them if he saw her like this.

Finally the reasonable part of her took over. She turned around and walked quickly up to the school.

At least it wouldn't be that bad if someone really saw her. She could always pretend to be on Prefect duty. Well, her clothing would be a problem… Whatever. So soon after beginning of school nobody would really truly bother.

She reached the way leading to the great Entrance Doors which she had left open only a slight. She couldn't keep from hurrying a bit, eager to finally get into the safety of the castle. It was, after all, a dangerous time.

And then a voice called something out so loudly that Reeka jumped and almost fell to the floor. Her knees buckled but she managed to stay upright.

"Damn." That was what the voice had said. Someone was there, in one of the bushes seaming the way to the border of the school grounds.

Eyes opened widely, Reeka swallowed hard. She considered slipping into the school and running straight to the Headmaster, but she couldn't imagine what he would say when he saw her dressed like this at this time. And maybe the person cursing was an injured student who needed help. She was, after all, a Prefect. This was her job.

Deciding to jump back at the first sight of danger, she approached the place which she assumed the cursing at come from. Chewing on her lips all the time, she stopped just in front of it.

There was rustling and the breaking of branches and then again the voice, saying, quieter this time: "Ouch."

Reeka pressed her lips together. It was a male voice, and a very grown up male voice. This was not a student. And a teacher? Well, then this would be even more awkward.

But what if, what if, the person lying there was a Death Eater? Reeka couldn't protect herself properly. Defense Against the Dark Arts was not her best subject and, being a not even started sixth grader, she didn't even know the best protecting spells.

Before she could consider running away, she said hoarsely: "Hello?"

The rustling stopped at once. After a long moment, someone answered: "Hello?"

Reeka sighed in relief. At least, he hadn't attacked yet. He could have, but he hadn't.

"Are you alright? You sounded hurt." She was pleased that her voice didn't shake.

The silence was shorter this time. "I… well, yeah. I cut my shin and it bleeds. And it hurts, ouch."

Reeka swallowed. "Is it bad?"

"I… well, listen, I'm usually not the kind of person to dramatize things but this looks pretty bad."

Reeka took a deep breath. If this person was dangerous, he didn't show it yet. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe." The answer came quickly and sounded a little amused. Reeka didn't know what to make of it.

"Maybe I can", she responded, "but I need to see it first. Why don't you…"show yourself? "Come out of there?"

"I can't." The answer sounded as though spoken through gritted teeth. "Maybe you could give me a hand."

Reeka took a step back. Maybe this was a trap. "Let me get help first", she said carefully.

"No!" This time the answer was shouted. "You can't. I… please. Go. I'll be fine."

Reeka knew she should follow his advice and get into the castle as quickly as possible. But something in the man's voice told her that he wasn't faking. There was a man there, lying defenseless, who needed help. How he got there in the first place and why was another question.

Reeka peered into the tall bushes and held her wand up. What she saw made her gasp.

A man was leaning against the trunk of a tree. He wore dark robes and was bent over his right leg, which was bleeding. There was a nasty cut on his shin which he had tried to cover up with a torn piece of his cloak. It hadn't really worked.

When he hurt her rustling he looked up and Reeka looked into the most fascinating eyes. At first they seemed to be plain blue. But when he looked up at her, she saw that they were partly a very soft dark blue, but also a very deep green. Later she would find out that, when the sun was standing well, they would turn a little brown-y too.

His hair was dark and curly and when he saw her his lips curled into a kind of half-smile which was probably what had made her gasp.

He wasn't very old, not much older than she was. Eighteen, maybe. Twenty tops. And when he saw her scared face he pushed himself into a half-stand, half-crouch, and she saw that he was tall. He held his hand out to her and said, still half-smiling: "Nice to meet you."

Reeka didn't know that to do, so she shook his hand. Then he winced and swallowed hard and her attention focused on his injured leg. "Can you stand on it?"

"No", he said. "Otherwise I would already be out of here, wouldn't I?"

Reeka heard the impatience in his voice. "What do you need?"

"Probably some Corius Sanatus unguent. You know where to get it?"

Reeka thought of the only place in Hogwarts where she could get the very rare but very effective healing potion: the Hospital Wing. The unguent was to be put on the cut or abrasion and it would heal in two minutes' time. Still, it would leave a visible scar, but when you were in a hurry, which this man obviously was, that was subsidiary.

Reeka didn't like it.

"I don't know if I can get my hands on it right now", Reeka said slowly. "I could do this by hand. It's not that difficult."

He looked up at her from his leg and Reeka saw that he was handsome. "Is that right? You would spend more time with me than necessary? Don't I frighten you?"

Reeka thought about that. His cloak was torn and although he still smiled she saw the sweat running down his cheeks. This man somehow got onto the Hogwarts grounds in the middle of the night. Reeka didn't know if he had been hurt before that or really because he fell. She decided she didn't want to know.

"A little", she admitted. "But I can't leave you lying there. If you give me five minutes I'll be back with what I need." She paused. "Will you wait?"

He laughed shortly, darkly. "I don't really see myself going anywhere."

That satisfied Reeka. She turned around and hurried back to the castle doors.

Some minutes later she was back, small bottles of healing crèmes and towels in her arms, both from her own personal store. Last year when she was made a Prefect she decided she needed some things to be on the safe side if ever anything happened while she was on duty. Now was the time.

He was still there, leaning against the trunk, clutching his leg. Reeka knelt down next to him and, without waiting for an answer, took one of the slightly wet towels and dabbed at the dried blood on his leg. He winced when she touched the cut but said nothing else. It was only when she could clearly see the cut that Reeka noticed how deep indeed it was. This was not a cut he had gotten himself by falling.

He seemed to notice her slightly aloof reaction on the sight of the cut because he smiled grimly and said: "I won't tell you how this happened because I know you don't want to know. Don't worry. I'm out of here as soon as this is done."

He smiled again and Reeka nodded.

She pointed her wand at the cut and murmured the incantation to repair the skin. Luckily, last year a Ministry officer had come over and given all fourth to seventh graders a short course what to do with injuries and other wounds. They had been taught how to clean and stitch with a wand and what they were to do in an emergency and now Reeka was glad they had.

After a moment or two, the cut was neatly healed but from the expression of the man Reeka could tell that it did hurt a lot. Corius Sanatus would have been almost painless. But Reeka didn't like the thought of taking the rare healing potion from the hospital wing. It was, after all, expensive and in emergencies very important.

"I'm going to apply a crème that will take some of the aching away, alright?" she said carefully, just as she had learnt from the course. Be gentle and careful, don't talk too loudly and try to keep gawkers away.

Well, at least she didn't have to think about the last part.

He just nodded.

After half a minute she was done and watched a little color return to his face. He looked down at his leg and nodded respectfully. "Good job."

Reeka stood up. "Thank you. Now, can you stand?"

He straightened his uninjured leg and tried to put some weight on the other one. It was a little shaky but he seemed satisfied. He nodded. "It's alight."

He looked up at her. "I didn't even introduce myself. Dexter Dawson." He gave her a small smile.

"Reeka", she said, deciding she didn't want to share her further personalities with a total stranger.

"Reeka. That's an unusual name", Dexter Dawson said. Standing upright, Reeka saw that he was tall, even a little taller than she was, and most considered her very tall.

She shrugged. "Most people say that. It means 'the river' or something."

"I like it", he said.

They both stood in silence for a moment. Reeka wanted to ask what he was doing here, wanted to know what really happened, but the look in his eyes silenced her.

"I will leave now", he said slowly. "I won't bother you anymore."

"No", she finally burst out. "You owe me." She didn't know where those words came from.

He raised one eyebrow. "I do? Then, what do you want?"

"I want to know what happened." Reeka sounded much more confident than she felt. This man was about to leave her without a single word. "Who are you? What are you doing here? What hurt you?"

The smile slid from Dexter Dawson's face. "Sorry, Reeka", she swallowed when he said her name, "but that is none of your business."

He climbed out of the bush and started to limp away when she said: "Just tell me you're not a Death Eater."

He stopped and turned his head. Smiling very sadly, he lifted the left sleeve of his cloak.

There, practically gleaming brightly, was the Dark Mark.

Reeka's mouth fell open and she felt color leave her face. Gaping, she let out a deep breath.

He didn't smile anymore. He just nodded, once, turned around and walked away.

This time Reeka didn't stop him. She just stood there, maybe a minute, maybe an hour.

She had just helped a Death Eater.

If he was able to walk now and hurt or killed someone it would be her fault.

She turned around and walked back to the castle. Her legs moved without her command. They walked on and on until she stood in front of the Gryffindor entrance portrait. The Fat Lady was still up, reading a book she had borrowed from the library wizard who was sitting in a portrait only some feet away. When Reeka murmured: "Happy Dragon", the portrait swung open without the Fat Lady looking up.

The Common Room was, of course, deserted. She hurried up to the sixth years' dorm and tiptoed into the room.

She sat on her bed and stared at the Prefect badge lying on the nightstand. She wouldn't have the right to wear this anymore. Because the job of a Prefect was to keep the pupils safe. And what she did this night was certainly not safe-keeping. It was compliancy.

Right, so first chapter is done. Let me know what you think and whether I should continue uploading the next chapters. Thank you.