Chapter Two

-Draco-

"Where have you been, mate?" Blaise asked me. "You disappeared right after Potions."

"None of your business," I snapped. Ever since meeting with that girl, I had been put on the edge. I ran my hand through my already messy platinum blonde hair and let out a sigh. She was bugging me to the point that I was snapping at one of my best friends. "Sorry Blaise."

Blaise's eyebrows shot up as soon as those words left my mouth. "Excuse me? Did you just apologize to me?"

I was just as taken aback at my words as he was. Since when did Draco Malfoy apologize? "I guess I'm just not myself today," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. "I'm going to bed."

As I headed to the bathroom to shower, I wondered about what was going to be in store for me this year. I was now a death eater; a replacement for Voldemort for having my father in Azkaban. As a punishment for my father's failure in the Department for Mysteries, I was now burdened with the task that he was supposed to receive before: to kill Dumbledore and get the rest of the Death Eaters into Hogwarts.

It was a task that I feared more than anything, but failure wasn't permitted when working with the Dark Lord. Every failure accounted for one hour of torture. The torture was supposed to be painful, or so I had heard from other Death Eaters. You were beaten until you were barely alive, then healed till you had forgotten what it was like to feel the pain.

A shudder went through me as I remembered my mother's face when she had begged me not to join. I glanced at my forearms, where her nails had left deep scratches as she had tried to pull me back from my fate. I winced, remembering how my blood had stained her robes, matching the color that the whites of her eyes had become.

At least father would've been proud, I thought bitterly. I'm exactly what he wanted me to be. But even now, I was questioning myself if becoming a Death Eater was worth making my father proud. He couldn't get me now that he was in Azkaban, he couldn't torture me anymore that he was locked up and rotting away.

So why did I become a Death Eater?

I had no choice. The Dark Lord would've killed me and my mother. My mother didn't deserve that fate, not after all she had done for me. She was the one that healed me when my father had tortured me, the one that ever showed me any love and compassion. I knew that she cared deeply about me, and she didn't deserve to die. Even if she followed the Dark Lord, she didn't deserve to die.

I laid my head in my hands and let out a sigh. What a mess my life has become... I thought to myself. A few years ago, all I used to have to worry about was hanging out with right crowd, and getting decent grades in classes. Now I had to worry about surviving the next day, and making sure that I didn't fail.

At this moment, I hated my life more than anything.

-Alia-

The bright sun started to hit my eyelids, waking me up from my sleep. I squinted against the harsh rays, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light. I had expected to wake up in that dark corner, but was surprised to in the infirmary. "How did I get here?"

"Ah, Ms. Morgan, you are awake," Madame Pomfrey smiled. "You were brought here by one of the school elves after they had found you unconscious near the kitchen."

I nodded, trying to remember getting carried by one of the school elves. No such memory came to my mind, but I remembered how much I had been crying, and the sudden pressure that I felt when all eyes were on me in the Potions classroom. I had been partnered with Draco Malfoy. The very thought of that made me cringe. But that wasn't even the worst of it.

Yesterday, Draco had been here. I felt his presence as I had been asleep, the warmth that radiated off of him as he stood close to me. I wanted to reach out, hold his hand, or at least feel it somewhere on my body. I hoped that I hadn't started talking in my sleep, as I tended to do when I was dreaming. I was re-living the memories of him hurting me verbally. I was re-living the moments that he treated me like I was absolutely nothing to him.I was re-living the times that he had changed, and I was caught in the whirlwind of his downfall to disaster. I was re-living the time that he had broken my heart, and I told him goodbye.

He couldn't have possibly heard it through my sleep talk. I would've been dead embarrassed if he did.

What I did do, however, was start rolling around in my sleep. I must've shifted really close to the edge, because the next minute, I knew that I was falling. It happened too quick for me to gather a reaction, but I was surprised when I realized that I didn't feel any pain during the fall. The only thing that possibly happened was that someone had caught me.

I had opened my eyes, and realized that it had been Draco. His eyes had been closed, he probably didn't want to see my face. Hurt stabbed me in the chest. Did he hate me so much as to not be able to bear my sight?

I had wanted to do so many things then. I wanted to run my hands through his silky white blonde hair. Was it as soft as I remembered it being? I had wanted him to open his eyes, so I could drown in their beautiful gray color. Were they still cold and piercing? Most of all, I wanted to feel his embrace and his warmth. Judging from his build, he seemed to have been working out. I wanted to feel his strength, and tease him about how much the girls would've died to feel him.

But I didn't do any of these things, as tempting as they were to do. I just gazed at him, sadness consuming me. We would never be friends again, not while he was like this. I missed him so much that I could've just broken down right there. The only thing keep me was my dignity. I wouldn't let him see how broken I was.

"You," was all I had said instead.

He had opened his eyes, then, but he still wouldn't look at me. He looked up at the ceiling at first, and it seemed that he was deeply thinking about something. I vaguely wondered if he was thinking about me, and my heart beat faster with that thought.

But the next thing he did shattered my heart and all the hopes I had along with it.

He looked at me in disgust, just plain disgust. No other emotion was present in his face. "Yeah, it's me you filthy mudblood!" he yelled, dropping me. I had fallen to the floor, hurting my arse in the process. I had let out a cry as I fell, and that cry soon turned into silent tears as I saw him exit the room.

He hadn't even remembered me? That had hurt me more than anything that he had done before. Out of everything that I had hoped for, I had sincerely hoped that he could remember me, his ex best friend for the last five years. But he had forgotten everything...everything.

After that, I had cried myself to sleep.

The tears were now threatening to come back now as I thought about him, but I couldn't cry in front of Madame Pomfrey. I knew once that I had started crying, I couldn't stop. I sighed, then realized that Madame Pomfrey had been talking to me.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," I murmured sheepishly, looking down shyly.

She sighed and looked at me with a strict expression on her face. "I said that if you are feeling well, you may leave whenever you want."

I nodded and rose. I couldn't take being in the infirmary anymore. "Thank you for caring for me, Madame Pomfrey."

She cracked a smile and patted my head in a motherly fashion. "It was my pleasure, Ms. Morgan."

When I looked at the clock, I realized that it was breakfast time. My stomach growled, and I began dreaming about eating some toast for breakfast. All that crying had drained me of my energy.

As soon as I sat down at the Gryffindor table, I was flooded with multiple questions.

"Why did you run out of Potions yesterday, Alia?"

"Did Malfoy do something to you that made you run out?"

"Did Malfoy rape you or something? Did you guys date or was it a fling?"

I closed my eyes, groaning slightly as I did so. Of course there would've been talk about me running away from Potions class. Of course everyone would be asking about it the next day. I sighed, not wanting to say anything.

"You guys, leave her alone. I'm sure that she doesn't want to talk about it," Harry said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I didn't look at his face, but stiffened slightly at his touch. Did he think we were best friends now or something? I just talked to him for a few minutes yesterday, and here he was wrapping his arm around me!

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Alia," he murmured in my ear, dropping his arm.

I nodded, my eyes on my pancakes. "Thanks, Harry."

"But I'm still curious to what did happen," he said, grinning sheepishly.

I groaned out loud this time, shooting him a withering look. "I thought you were on my side!"

"Well, you don't have to tell the whole table...maybe just me?" he offered, that grin still on his face. "C'mon, I won't judge you."

I rolled my eyes, getting up from the table. I couldn't even eat a full breakfast without getting hounded with questions! "I don't think so, Harry."

"Well, at least sit down," he said. "Please don't go. I promise that I'll stop."

"But will everyone else?" I pressed. "All I need is to eat breakfast, and I'll go to class. Is that so hard to ask for?"

He shook head. "They're just curious. Just ignore them."

It was my turn to shake my head. "Sorry Harry. I just can't do this." I got up again and started walking towards the Gryffindor dorm.

"What, are you going to run and cry again?" he yelled, anger entering in his tone.

I froze, hearing the full volume of the laughs behind me. I turned around slowly, trying to stop my lips from quivering as I did so. Anger fueled through me as well, and I stalked over to him, my eyes blazing. I raised my hand, glaring at him murderously, and slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't you dare talk to me again," I growled.

The laughter had died down immediately once everyone heard the sound of my slap. The whole hall was now deathly silent, even the other tables had heard the slap echo across the room.

Cheers erupted from the Slytherin table, but I quickly shushed them with a look. The whole Gryffindor table was dumbfounded with my outburst, and Harry was staring at me in shock, one hand holding his now red cheek.

I gave him a hurt look, my chest heaving with the amount of emotion that I was feeling. "I can't believe that you would say that to me, Harry."

"Wait, Alia, please! I didn't mean it!" he cried, grabbing my hand as I turned away.

"Then what did you mean?" I whispered. I didn't take my hand away for now. I secretly enjoyed his warm touch. It had been way too long since I had let anyone touch me.

He didn't say anything, and I sighed, closing my eyes. "That's what I thought." I wrenched my hand away from his grasp, heading towards the dorms again.

"No, Alia, please!" he begged. "Please, I didn't mean it!"

I ignored him, and ignored all the other eyes on me as well. As I turned the corner, I managed to look back, and my breath caught in my throat. All the other tables were now looking away from me, but Draco Malfoy was still looking in my direction. I shook my head quickly, then bit my lip. I couldn't let him get to me, not now. Not when I had just gotten better.

I turned and took the steps two at a time, slamming the door to the dorm quickly. I sat on my bed and let out a sigh, wondering how in the world my life had become so depressing.