Rollo May
The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt.
Elly walked with Charles to the door of what she had told him was her apartment building. It was actually Nicole's. Charles turned to her, smiling.
"I had a great time, Elly," he said. "I'm really glad that you came." She nodded.
"So am I," she told him. "It was nice to get out of the ca-I mean apartment for once." Charles looked at her for a moment and then leaned in. She moved forward, letting their lips meet as his arms wrapped around her. She dropped her purse, snaking her arms around his neck and letting her fingers run through his dark hair. They moved backwards slightly, Charles supporting them against the wall with his arm as their kisses deepened and his hand wandered from her waist to her exposed thighs. She groaned as he moved his lips from her mouth to her neck, nipping it affectionately. His hand slipped under her dress, rubbing her upper thighs gently as her leg moved up his.
Elly, think about what you're doing? she thought suddenly, and she pulled away, gasping. You're still married. She looked away from him as he frowned.
"So, um...can I call you?" he asked and she nodded.
"I'll see you at the cafe, ok?" she told him and he nodded and left. She watched as his car drove off and then sighed, hurrying inside. Banging on Nicole's door, she ran the scene in her head and closed her eyes as another image came into focus in her mind. She was inside a room and someone was whispering something into her ear. She had been pushed onto a bed and the same person now straddled her, whispering something more. Lips crushed hers and her eyes snapped open. Nicole had opened the door and was looking nervous.
"You ok, Elly?" she asked, eyes concerned. Shaking her head, Elly sighed.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Draco walked quietly into his shower, turning on the water and waiting until the room was filled with steam before getting in and letting the scalding hot water beat down on his skin. He let out a laugh and shook his head.
"Yeah, I'm cazy," he muttered. "'E'll be crazy after they finish fixin him..."
The time is now...
"Oh shi, wha the hell do you wan?"
Shut up, you filthy little traitor. You need to realize that you don't have much time before the Ministry gets to you.
"Oh, you tink I didn't know tha'? I'm na stupid. Now leave me alone."
Your time is running out and your loyalty is still in question.
"Go. AWAY!!"
You belong to me. I own you and you know it. You must decide. This game of loyalty that you play cannot be won.
"I'm na playing a game. I'm not playin anythin. You try to kill me!"
You did that yourself, you jumped up, little ingrate. I didn't throw you out the window of a moving train and into the wall of a stone tunnel! You accomplished your demise well on your own.
"GO AWAY!! LEAVE MEH ALONE!!"
The Dark Lord will not wait for you forever. I demand your absolute loyalty!
"Screw you."
You will bow to me in the end.
"Fuck You!"
Be sure that I will have the soul of every man, woman and child inside that building. You cannot deny it!
"FUCK YOU!!!" His fist pounded into the wall, his shout echoing the walls of the bathroom. The voice was gone for now, but it would return again. That much he knew. It would come back. He shook his head, eye closed.
"Geh it out of your head, Draco," he whispered. "'Ou can't lose your mind. Not right now. Not with the Minstry watching... they'll have ou... she'll have you... can't let tha appen... HA! They think they can geh a Malfoy... stupid fools... they'll all die... jus lik she died... lik I died... Ha... Ha, I died... I DIED!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!"
Elly shifted out of his grip slightly, trying to soften the kiss. Sitting in one of the booths of the cafe, Elly felt self-conscious with Charles kissing her so deeply. She felt that maybe it shouldn't be going so fast, but then again, it felt so right.
But didn't doing something wrong always feel right?
Nicole, who was watching this, shook her head, laughing while Hillary shook her head.
"This isn't right," she said and Nicole waved her off.
"It's fine. It's not like they're gonna get married or anything. It's just some harmless kissing!"
"She's a married woman! It's wrong!"
"Oh, so being dumped in an alleyway isn't? Come on, Hillary! She deserves some happiness! How do we know that the man she's married to didn't just dump her off in the alleyway? Until we get the results from the Hospital, let her have some fun!" Hillary glanced at the couple. She could not deny that there was an intense like from both parties. She sighed.
"I guess it won't hurt any..." Nicole smiled.
"They look so cute together!!"
Charles pulled away, moving his kisses down her neck. "What are you doing tonight?" he asked Elly and she shrugged, pulling her neck away gently. She didn't want to come across as rejecting him, but she still felt that the neck thing would have to wait for later times.
"Nothing. I was going to go do some shopping for Nicole. Why?"
"Did you want to come over to my house for a party I'm having? Not many people. Like twenty or so. It'll be fun!" She smiled.
"I'd love to."
The door rang and a tall, dark skinned man came in. He rubbed his hands together, looking at the glass case.
"Two doughnuts and a coffee to go, please," he said to Nicole, who nodded and walked around to the back to get some more coffee beans. The man looked about the cafe. In the corner, he spotted a couple and did a double take. The woman looked strangely familiar.
"Something wrong?" came a voice from behind the counter and the man looked over to see Hillary standing there. He leaned on the counter, frowning at the young woman.
"That girl," he said, pointing. "Do you know who she is?" Hillary's eyes widened.
"Do you know who she is?" The man glanced at her and nodded.
"Yes. She's supposed to be dead." Hillary blanched.
"What?!" The man nodded again.
"She was proclaimed dead by her parents about a month ago." The man was biting his lip now, as if unsure what to do. "Wow, to see her after so long... How long have you known about this?"
"I never knew! My husband brought her home one day, saying he found her in an alleyway. She was horribly tortured. Poor thing doesn't remember a thing." The man's head snapped around, eyes wide.
"What do you mean, she doesn't remember a thing?" Hillary eyed the man.
"How do you know her?" The man stood, looking back over to the young woman, who was locked at the lips with a young man with dirty blonde hair and striking features.
"Forget the coffee," he muttered, handing Hillary a five pound note. "Keep the change." With that, he left in a hurry, rushing down the sidewalk and around the corner. He entered a building that nobody else on the street noticed and headed through the dimly lit room and out through the back door. Pulling out a wand, he tapped the bricks and stood back as they opened into a street filled with people. Pushing his way through, he opened a door marked Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and asked to see the owners. The young woman at the desk pointed to the back and the man walked through the curtain. Two tall redheaded men looked up from hovering over a bottle filled with unidentifiable liquid.
"Kingsley, what's going on?" the first twin exclaimed, straightening up. Kingsley glanced back out the door.
"You'll never believe what I saw." The second twin smiled.
"A Death Eater in frilly knickers?"
"A dog wearing a bikini?" the other one guessed and Kingsley glared at them both.
"Hermione Granger, alive!" Both twins paled, the humor knocked out of them in a single blow.
"He...Hermione?" the first one stuttered.
"She's dead!" exclaimed the other one.
"I saw her in that cafe off of Henry and Greyton! I swear, it was her that I saw, only a bit different. Gained weight and a couple of scars, but it was her alright!" He turned to one of them. "Fred, you need to contact Dumbledore immediately. Not your brother yet, I want to be absolutely certain it was her that I saw. Get Dumbledore down here immediately!"
Harry, Ron, Ginny and Blaise followed Draco as they sat down at the Slytherin table for dinner. Draco had been uncommonly quiet throughout the course of the day and it was starting to scare them.
"Are you ok, Draco?" Ginny asked softly, touching his arm. He glanced at her, shrugging her off.
"No. So stop asking." He sat down at the table and glowered at his plate, mumbling to himself incoherently. Ron glanced at Harry and made a crazy sign with his hands, but Harry shook his head. Now was definitely not the time. People began eating, talking amongst themselves. Draco ate a bit and then, as he was getting up to leave, stopped, watching, like everyone else, as a lone owl floated into the room, resting in front of Dumbledore. The Hall was silent as Dumbledore reached down and opened the letter. For a second he was motionless as obvious shock and disbelief flushed his face. He handed the letter to Professor McGonagall, who, at looking at it, fainted. The Great Hall gasped as Hagrid moved forward, scooping up the teacher. Dumbledore stared at the letter again and then, with a quick whispered talk with Snape, whose eyes widened in the same shock, nodded and Dumbledore swept out of the Hall. Snape fixed the students with a glare.
"Get back to your meals," he snapped and they all fell into whispers on what could possibly be in the letter. Draco slowly sank to his chair, frowning. Harry glanced at Hagrid, who was running out of the Hall with McGonagall in his hands.
"What do you think happened?" he said.
"I don't know, but it looked important and shocking, for McGonagall to go like that," Ron muttered. Blaise couldn't help but sneer at him. The stupidity of the statement, and any other statement made by Weasley, was the bane of his existance. He hated hearing people pointing out the obvious, especially the redheaded idiot he was forced to be around for Red's sake. He let out a self-suffering sigh and Ginny gave him a gaze that clearly said, "Don't say a word, Blaise." He contented himself with a glare at Weasley before standing and leaving with Draco. Ginny sighed and motioned to the others.
"Well, no use waiting around in here. Come on, let's go to the Hospital wing and find out what happened!"
