Author's Note:

I was reading my old fanfictions and I couldn't help but laugh at how bad they were (hahaha). I hope this fic is up to par.

Review and Comment! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters; they are solely the creation of none other than Ms. Rowling herself.

The dim-lit burrow that housed the snakes looked empty than usual. While the fireplace glowed a deeper red, a distinct figure kept his solemn gaze into it. Soon, his own thoughts crash and break upon hearing a familiar girl's voice. "Draco, where were you? I didn't see you during dinner." Pansy asked sighing as she sat across the boy.

Draco rubbed the chain of his new found keep between his two fingers—the silkiness of it ironically urged the flooding of questions within his own thoughts about the letters on the pendant and the notebook—as he continued to stare blankly into the pith of the fireplace. "Nowhere…" He replied.

"Nowhere means that you were somewhere and not there." Pansy smugly worded. "Well, I'm meeting up with Zabini to do the homework for that ding bat's class. Do you want to come with?"

"I have to do something." Draco simply replied as he stood up and began to head towards the dormitory. Without a second further, he immediately turned around to address another thing. "Tell Zabini to return my book." With that said, Draco retired to the dorms.

"Fine. Whatever…" Pansy muttered unenthused as she made her way out of the commons.

The room was a circular mess: Unkempt beds and unkempt dressers. Except for one corner. Draco—by nature— was raised into a very obsessive compulsive family. At a young age, his parents had taught him about what it meant to be proper and beyond adequate—perfect. Plopping his tall frame onto his clean and well made bed, his eyes quickly affixed on the badge that Professor Umbridge had ever so kindly bestowed upon him and his friends. "Inquisitorial…Squad." He muttered to himself with a smirk as he reached out for it and tossed it aside. "Bollocks…" He sighed. Soon enough, his thoughts rolled back on tonight's events. "Bloody murder…" He cursed as he reached down for the same notebook he had been trying to understand for the past couple of hours. After continuously running his eyes through the tight leather-bound object, he had noticed a few things about it. The notebook was numbered from 1 to 365, marked on the top right corner of each page. Each page was neither heavily filled nor lightly marked and most of it—almost all—was written in a different language. Draco had come across a few pages that had English writing on them, alas the theme repeated—the whole notebook seemed to be written for someone.

"Ey Malfoy, Pansy's wonderin' when you'll start your shift." Blaise asked upon entering the room.

Draco quickly sat up to find that it has been an hour. "Where's my book?" He asked in reply as he quickly slipped on his robes.

"Here. Oh, I smeared some custard on that one page about mandrakes. Sorry 'bout that." Blaise replied smirking. "Hey. By the way, are you taking Pansy out this weekend? I mean, cause it's her birthday and all."

Rummaging to take a hold of his prefect badge, Draco returned his gaze back to Blaise and simply offered him a raised brow and a smirk. Without a single word, Draco exited the dormitory—the commons—in a quiet fashion.

Fingers intertwined, and head leaned against the wall, Cho sat on her bed restless. She had been to the library, to the Astronomy tower, to the Great Hall, to the commons—everywhere— and she still didn't have any luck. 'I wonder where I left it? The owlery maybe? Hogsmeade? Wait, I haven't even been to Hogsmeade in a week.' her thoughts soon scramble as the rest of the girls enter one by one and settle into their own corner.

"Hey Cho, you've been quiet the whole evening. Is eve-" Marietta didn't even get to finish.

"I'm alright." Cho immediately answered, calmly. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning." She added before slipping on a robe and exiting the room with a book clutched in her hand and a wand in her pocket.

"Wait Where a-are…ah! Never mind." Marietta, irritated, hissed as she slipped under her sheets. "Night!" She called after.

Cho quietly made her way to the commons and sat in front of the pith. The warmth soon crept up her frame as she opened her Transfigurations textbook to Chapter 45. "Did I leave it in Tran—" it's been a repeated cycle as her thoughts break once more upon seeing the familiar face in front of her.

His smile radiated from the photograph—that sat neatly in between page 455 and 456—, happily standing next to the familiar, smiling girl that once had light in her eyes. The picture was taken in front of the familiar Quidditch pitch two years ago. Yellow-Black and Blue-White flags waved calmly behind the couple. One arm wrapped tight around the girl's frame and the other held tight onto a broomstick. They were more than content. Fingers lightly smeared the front of the Polaroid and soon after, tears followed shortly—creeping into the scene. Cho had tried to get a hold of her emotions after Cedric's death, but the constant reminder of his smiling face made her remember how vulnerable she really was. He did everything for and with her. He spoiled her, which she reluctantly admitted to herself, but was obvious to the rest of their friends. She had thought about dating other men to forget about him, but alas only to find herself dating the one guy that ultimately brought her to remember him.

"Right." Cho mumbled to herself while wiping her tear-stained cheeks. She immediately stood up and exited the Ravenclaw commons.

"I'll take the left." Draco coldly spoke as he tucked his robes closer to his body. The hallways seemed colder than usual, which made Draco even more uncomfortable. He hated the dark. He felt more comfortable surrounded by warm, bright lights, than standing in between cold stonewalls. Nonetheless, no one knew about this, but him.

Pansy grabbed a hold of the boy's arm and said, "Draco, wait." Pansy's timid nature showed mostly when she was around Draco. The girl's slight obsession with the boy has been this teenager's dilemma, which completely infuriated her in the inside. She hated having to beg for his attention when he was around; she hated what she changes into when she's around him. Quickly, her grab softened into a release. "Er…ah-" She stumbled on her words. "-ah did Zabini return your book? I told him that if he didn't return it, he'd get it." She quickly composed.

Draco remained standing with his arm slightly dangling behind and his back towards her. Turning around, he responded. "Zabini wouldn't be afraid of you."

Draco's harsh and cold responses usually elicited the defensive side in most people. For Pansy, this was always the case. "What do you mean he wouldn't be afraid of me? Whatever."

The boy simply shrugged. "By the way, he wants to take you out this weekend for your birthday. You should go" Draco replied, amused. He knew quite well about Pansy's infatuation and he usually tried to refrain from encouraging her to think that they had a chance of being a couple. Oh don't get Draco wrong. He liked her personality very much, but something about Pansy didn't click; she seemed more of a friend than someone to be romantically involved with. "You have your wand. Don't do anything stupid." He simply added as he turned back around and started heading towards his side.

Pansy stood there wide-eyed. Mouth agape, she couldn't find any words to describe how disappointed and a little hurt she was. "Whatever…" She mumbled to herself as she walked along, only to find herself crying softly.

Draco stopped to turn around and made sure that Pansy wasn't following him. A guilty sigh escaped his lips as he rubbed his forehead lightly. 'She'll never get it' He thought to himself as he turned back around. Torches lit with each step he took as he continued to patrol the dungeons.

"Mr. Malfoy." A woman's voice called from behind.

"Professor Umbridge?" Draco, questioningly, muttered to himself as he turned around to see his DADA professor. "What are you doing down here? At this time of the night?" He asked.

The woman merely chuckled and waved a gloved hand in front of her. "Oh don't go investigating me. I'm the one who should be asking those questions. Now, I want you to—"

"Professor, I'm currently on duty. Professor Snape ask—"

"Well professor Snape will need to understand that I asked you to do something for me. I wouldn't worry about him boy. Now, follow me." The woman covered in pink retorted. Draco, without another word, followed the woman. Up the staircases and passing through empty rooms, finally, both Draco and the professor ended inside her office. "I'd like to ask if you've had any luck finding out what that no good, classmate of yours is up to. I have an inkling that he's been doing something against the ministry's policy!" She spoke in quite a singsong tune.

Draco sat down on one of the chairs in front of her table and laced his fingers together. He wasn't that enthused with the professor's ideas, but being on her good side paid quite a lot. "No professor. I haven't spotted Potter and his round of scoundrels lately. However, we've been on the lookout of anything suspicious going on." He replied.

"Perhaps you're just not doing your job very well if we still don't have any clue what he is up to. Something tells me that it has to do with Albus, but without solid proof, we cannot have any solid punishment. Go on then. I want you to keep an eye on him. You and your friends better watch him closely. Report to me immediately if you find something." The professor sternly said as she stood up to walk Draco out of her office.

The boy simply nodded and walked out into the hallway. Yawning as he walked along, he noticed something move from the corner of his eye. Turning towards that direction, he not only caught who it was, but silently followed behind.

Cho stood silently in front of the familiar wall. Pacing back and forth three times, a door immediately showed and opened, which she quickly slipped past into, unaware of another person's presence. Inside, the room was brightly lit by a number of torches and candles. The shelves full of books stood opposite sides as Cho walked to the center of the room. Gold tapestries hung high above the ceiling as she slowly took a hold of her wand.

Draco, on the other hand, hid behind a wall as he watched what Cho was doing. 'What's Potter's girlfriend doing?' He thought to himself as he closely observed. Blinking in disbelief, he quickly moved closer to the wall as soon as Cho had disappeared behind it. "This is insane….ah. Alohamora!" He muttered as he paced back and forth, hoping that the wall would do the same effect with him. Pausing to see if a door had appeared, Draco grumbled to himself defeated. Pacing back and forth once more, Draco thought quietly to himself. Finally, a door appeared.

Her back was turned towards the door as she raised her wand high enough. "Expecto Patronum!" She spelled out. Silver sparks shot out from the tip of her wand, but the execution was a little bit mediocre. Her mind wasn't quite in the happiest of all moods, which made it rather difficult to deliver the spell. "Bollocks!" She grumbled as she raised her wand once more, hoping she'd get the full effect of the spell.

Draco slowly stepped inside the room. Succumbing to the brightness that it held, his eyes slowly adjusted, before finding himself to watch whom he had just been following. Taking a step further, he waited for the right time to speak. After watching a rather entertaining attempt of the Patronus charm, he spoke. "That was a failure, innit?" Chuckling to himself, he continued to move closer to Cho.

Cho's body tensed as she heard Draco's voice. She didn't know if she was just hearing things, but as she turned to face his direction, she knew that this was really happening. "Wh-Wh-Wh…"

"-Wh-Wh-What? Cat got your tongue?" He teased, smirking. His eyes began to wander around the room as he processed the place. "So this is your hideout? You, Potter, and the rest of his people? To think that you'd be the one to foolishly give it away." He continued to taunt, amused.

"Draco, it's not what you think. It's just an empty room. I'm going to go now." Cho quickly replied as she swiftly stuffed her wand in her pocket. Head bowed down, she tried to walk past Draco to only find the boy grabbing her by the arm.

"So what do you do here? Some weird magic that I should know?" He asked, chuckling as his grip on her arm tightened.

"Draco it's getting late, if we-"

"You weren't this nice to me earlier? What's gotten into you?" He asked. His smirk was prominent by this time. Cho simply kept her head down. She wasn't in the mood to really converse. More so, she wanted to just spend this time alone. It's as if her whole energy has been drained out of her system. Her silence did not do her any good. "20 points from Ravenclaw for wandering the halls in the wee hours of the night!" He added.

Cho's eyes widened. "What? But you're not even supposed to be here too!" She retorted as she pulled her arm away. 'Who am I kidding? I'm reasoning with a snake.' She silently thought to herself.

"Do you want me to deduct more points? Tell me, what that mudblood and that Potter have been up to? Surely you'll know. After all, you are Potter's pet." His words escaped his lips like a serpent's tongue hissing.

"Good night." She simply said as she turned around, ready to head out of the room, but Draco wouldn't let her go without any answers. Quickly grabbing her arm, he carelessly pulled her towards him, causing the girl to lose her footing. "Ah!" Cho cried out.

"Don't cross me. What's Potter up to?" He asked again, tightening his grip on her.

"Nothing. Now let me go! It hurts!" She replied, hoping Draco would believe her. She couldn't tell him what was really going on. Harry wouldn't forgive her and so would the newfound friends she's acquired. "There's nothing going on."

"10 points from Ravenclaw." He simply replied, while the sadistic side of him did care if the girl was hurting from his grip. "I know that you know what's going on."

Cho, by nature, was fragile. She allows things to get inside her mind. Her vulnerability worsened, especially, when Cedric died. Tears quietly rolled down her cheeks as she heard Draco deduct more points. "I don't know anything." She replied, head held down.

"Fine. Whatever. You're useless. I don't understand why Potter keeps you around." He replied, irritated, as he released his grip on her. Turning around, he was about to leave the room, but he quickly turned to face her as he remembered something. Fishing for something from his pocket, he quickly tossed it towards Cho.

Cho blinked through her tears as she saw the glinting object that Draco threw her way. Wiping her eyes, she knelt to pick it up only to find the surprise. "Where did you get this?" She asked as she laced it through her fingers. Her eyes staring curiously back at him.

"When you obnoxiously hit me this afternoon, I picked up after you. Ridiculous." He replied. "A cheap present from Pott—"

"My father gave it to me." Cho simply cut in as she pocketed the necklace. Ignoring Draco's words, she began to move towards the door.

Draco simply raised a brow and thought out loud. "What's Z.L. then—" but he quickly caught himself before finishing his thought

"It's my father's initials." was all Cho said, having caught him speak out his thought, before leaving the room.

'Her father…' Draco thought to himself before showing himself out.