AUTHOR'S NOTE: YAY for more people reviewing. Um, yeah, that's pretty much it. Thanks for all the favorites and alerts, that I've been getting it means a lot. So I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: Not JKR, sorry.

The clock in the castle struck eleven and the dark skinned girl closed her book on her finger and sighed. The quartet of sixth year Slytherins had long since said their goodbyes and gone to bed. Melanie slept calmly in the bed next to her; the only movement from her bed was the rising and falling of her chest. Pansy slept on her left snoring softly and rolling over every so often. Adrienne, when she was asleep, slept more like Melanie than Pansy. The clock continued to toll and Adrienne pulled herself out of bed, carefully so not to wake her cat, Lilith – named for her pure black fur- who was sleeping at the foot of her bed. No bothering to put on shoes, she placed her sock clad feet on the floor, tucked her wand behind her ear, and started down the stairs of the dormitory.

When she got to the foot of the stairs, she saw Draco leaning against the black leather sofa. She made her way over to him slowly and pushed her hands into the pockets of her black satin pajama top. Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun and her dark eyes were tired. "Hello," she said quietly.

"Walk with me," he said as he made his way towards the wall that was the entrance and exit to the common room. "You'll need shoes for that, Adrienne." The girl narrowed her eyes at him and pulled her wand from being her eyes and pulled her wand from behind her ear. With a simple flick of her wand, her slippers appeared before her. "You've gotten good at that," Draco complimented as she slipped her feet into the slippers and followed him quietly.

The betrothed couple walked out of the common room and into the cold dungeon. Adrienne was glad that she'd put on the slippers, because her feet would have frozen. The air was freezing in the dungeons. However, after six years of living under the lake when it was frozen, they were completely used to the cool air. The two walked in silence as they ascended the stairs from the basement, and left the frozen air behind them. Draco led them through the door that led out of the castle, and still quiet Adrienne followed. The outside air was much warmer than the air in the castle. Draco's grey eyes were trained to the lake as they walked across the grass and to the lake. Draco wandered towards the lake and Adrienne sat down wither back against a tall oak tree. She pulled her knees to her chest and waited for Draco to speak.

"His hand," Draco said his back turned to her.

"Yeah, I saw it. It looks dead. But the other one looks fine," Adrienne added.

"Did you see the ring he was wearing?" Draco asked his back still facing her.

"Yeah, but Dumbledore has a million rings," the girl said.

"There's a ring on his hand that's very similar to one that the Dark Lord wore in a picture that's in our manor. It looks just like the one that he wore, down to a tee."

"So how did Dumbledore get it?"

Draco shrugged and made his way towards her and sat next to her, his back also pressed against the tree. Their shoulders touched as they sat in silence watching the lake. There were occasional ripples on the surface, but nothing broke the otherwise glassy surface. The silence grew heavier as they sat, until it was suffocating Adrienne. There was something that had been left unsaid since she was inducted into the Death Eaters. It was her turn to stand and walk towards the lake.

"When are you going to tell me?" she asked.

"Tell you what, Adrienne?" he asked, his mind clearly occupied with something else.

Adrienne walked back to her spot and sat down beside him. She knew that it was unsafe to have this conversation outside, anyone could be listening – even the Dark Lord himself, however, she also knew that it was more risky to have the conversation inside the building. "What the Dark Lord assigned you," she whispered.

Draco continued to sit in silence and look out over the dark lake. However, she could see his hand tighten around his wand, so much that the veins in his arm began to show, and his already pale skin, paled more. Adrienne knew that she'd crossed a line. She knew that she should have waited until he came to her and told her. However, she just couldn't wait. She was curious, and curiosity had gotten the better of her. Draco remained still and silent, as if he wanted to tell her, but was formulating the correct way to tell her. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, he spoke, "Dumbledore," he started quietly, "he, the Dark Lord, wants me to kill him."

Adrienne contemplated on what to say to that. There was no proper response. There was nothing that she could say to that. So she turned her dark eyes to the lake and inhaled softly. Her brown eyes were troubled. She felt bad about feeling the weight of the Dark Lord's trust, now knowing how much he trusted Draco. She felt bad about feeling bad for Draco because she knew that he hated to be pitied.

"Adrienne, you're skilled at Legilimency and Occlumency, correct?" Draco drawled. The girl nodded in the darkness. "My aunt, Bellatrix, trained me over the summer, do you think that you could…"

Before Draco had finished Adrienne pulled her wand from behind her ear and muttered, "Legilimens." Immediately, she was met with a vision of a grey stone wall, much like the one that led to the Slytherin common room. She prodded his mind more, looking for a crack in the wall. She pushed against the crack in his mental wall with her mind, and finally pushed through. Behind the wall were a few memories from before Draco's fifth year. The sorting hat was among them. The young Draco Malfoy sat on the bench and before the hat even touched his head, he was placed in Slytherin. A flash of something in the Malfoy Manor, and she was then pushed away. "Good," the Zabini said calmly.

Draco's face was paler that it had been before. He turned and looked away from her dark brown eyes. Adrienne yawned and closed her brown eyes. "You can go to bed, Adrienne," Draco told her without looking at her. She shook her head. "You're waiting for me, aren't you?" She needn't answer. "Alright," he said, "Let's go." Draco stood and held his hand out to Adrienne. "It doesn't bite, and I promise I won't turn it into a snake."

A smile played on Adrienne's lips and she took him cool hand and allowed him to pull her up. The dark haired girl stood gracefully and exhaled smoothly. "Okay, let's go."

Draco pulled his hand way from her and pocked them. He then started off towards the castle, with Adrienne at his side. Draco, who was familiar with wandering the grounds at night, knew then exact path that he needed to take, and Adrienne, after figuring that out, fell into line behind him. However, Adrienne had never been the most coordinated person in the day time, so to have her walking around tree roots at night wasn't the best idea. And of course the inevitable happened, Adrienne's foot got caught under a tree root growing above the ground and she tripped. Draco immediately stopped and caught her, just before her face hit the ground.

"You ought to be more careful," Draco told her coolly. Even in the dark she could see the smirk on his lips. He waited until she was on her feet again before releasing her from his grasp. He then held his hand out to her again. Understanding, Adrienne took his hand in hers and followed him back to the castle.

Once the two Slytherins reached the castle, Draco didn't release her hand, so she didn't release his hand either. The walk to the common room was short and when they reached the common room, Draco dropped her hand and turned back towards the corridor.

"Good night, Adrienne," he muttered.

"You're not coming?" she asked.

Draco turned to face her and his smirk had turned into a soft smile. "I don't sleep, Adrienne. The Dark Lord's more powerful than you at Legitimacy," he told her. "Puer," he said, and the Slytherin common room started to appear behind her. "But you should sleep," he continued. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "So, I bid you a goodnight, Adrienne." Draco dropped her hand and turned her to face the common room, then with a final departing act pushed her gently towards the room.

With the added momentum, Adrienne was able to walk into the common room and look back to see Draco walking back towards the stairs just before the wall blocked him from sight.