This chapter is dedicated to April Qian - one of my best friends and a sister forever. April, it was you who gave me the confidence and idea to restart this story again. Thank you. I love you! And good luck on the Asian History exam. We shall both rock Kearney's test – if I get this Fanfiction up in time for you to see it before… Which I doubt I will.

The occasional sparks of light given off by the wands lighted up the forest; the battle was still ongoing despite the fact that it was too dark to see who their opponents were. Professor Snape had followed Lorna into the depths of the woods, only to lose sight of her in them midst of the chaos almost immediately. He wanted to curse.

"Lorna! What the…" Snape whirled around to see Draco standing a few feet away from him, panting after he took down yet another Masked one. Beside him, Lorna faced him calmly; there was no sign of discomfort between a Slytherin and Gryffindor, nor was there the usual awkwardness Lorna had around people. Snape, to put it simply, was baffled. He was half-ashamed to admit that he couldn't figure Lorna out at all.

Having not noticed Snape's presence, Draco continued talking, "What do you think you're doing here? I thought I told you to – "

"I can't just let you fight in the battle alone, right?" Lorna interrupted softly, impatience lacing her words as she finally broke the eye contact and looked at the ground.

Draco sighed; his former annoyance subsided slightly as he turned around to face another opponent. "Then don't get yourself hurt," was all he mumbled before he ran back into the chaos.

"Yeah." Lorna answered to his receding silhouette as she eyed the trees warily, watching out for a surprise attack.

"Ah! A little girl, what a pleasant surprise." An unfamiliar slur sounded behind her as the trees rustled and a man walked out onto the battleground. There was an odd aura of power surrounding him; he seemed to carry himself in an old-fashioned manner, with his shoulders set squarely and his chin pointed upwards – a sign of authority and defiance.

Lorna hated him instantly.

It was quite obvious that he held quite a high-ranking among the fighting soldiers. Around them, everyone lowered their wands warily and pointed it to focus on the newcomer instead. The Masked ones retreated back into their previous formation – a tight straight line, with their wands clutched tightly in their hands – and lowered their heads respectfully. The newcomer eyed the clearing impassively. He seemed to look at all of them and none of them in particular at the same time. And then his gaze fixed on Lorna once again. His intense gaze bore into her. Lorna was never good with eye contacts; she felt embarrassed.

This time, it wasn't just embarrassment that flooded her, fear and an odd sense of hatred engulfed her as well. She clutched her fist tightly, feeling the starting of trembles, and started backing away cautiously. Her eyes never met those red and glaring eyes fully, but she felt the intensity of the glare with an overwhelming clarity. She wanted to turn around and run towards Draco, but she knew that it would ruin everything – their plans of trying to keep her hidden, the tense silence that had descended on the clearing. Even though it was awkward, she knew that the silence gave everyone the time to think and process the events that had happened so suddenly; a short break was always welcomed, wasn't it?

But the silence didn't last as long as they hoped when the newcomer spoke once again, in a booming voice, this time, addressing the whole crowd, "I see that my subordinates have caused quite a mess here," he chuckled humorlessly, sending shivers up Lorna's spine. "I know you are all confused. We haven't introduced ourselves, nor have we told you our purpose. But I hope you don't mind the confusion, because the questions cannot be answered just yet. There is a way to solve the problem, however, and I'm sure one person in this clearing already holds the answer. Alas, I have spent too much time in this nonsense. I hope the person would think it through and accomplish the difficult task. We will be waiting."

And just like that, the Masked one disappeared with a wave of the hand from the leader.

~HP~HP~HP~

Lorna turned around to find Draco when she noticed his grim expression. His lips were pressed in a thin line, his brows furrowed together; his expression was painful, and his hands were clutched his hands tightly against his sides. Lorna forced herself out of her shocked stupor and stumbled towards her brother.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Lorna whispered softly, her finger touching his clenched fist briefly – from her that was as good as a hug.

Draco didn't look up but instead, turned away to look at the center of the clearing. He wasn't staring at anything in particular, but his gaze was faraway and unfocused.

"Draco?" Lorna prompted again; she was starting to feel a little scared. She never saw Draco like this before. He was always the stone of the family, the person she leaned on when she had her doubts. He was the one that took care of her all the time, and never has she seen such a cold expression from him. His eyes were always warm, his lips always curled upwards in a soft smile. But his body was rigid, his eyes cold and lips firmly shut.

Lorna had the sudden urge to cry.

Sensing her increase of discomfort, Draco forced himself a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Go sleep," his voice came out rough, without its usual concern and warmth.

Lorna staggered backwards; this wasn't Draco, this wasn't her brother at all.

"Who… who are you?" She stuttered, panicked. She has been through a lot, but no matter how hard the circumstances, she knew that her brother would be there for her, to help her through; this time, however, her brother was the problem.

A flash of pain entered his eyes when she spoke those words, but it was gone as fast as it had come; Lorna wasn't sure if she saw it right.

"Lorna? Draco? Why don't you both head back to the dormitories with me?" Snape's voice was suddenly very welcoming in Lorna's ears. She turned towards him gratefully and was about to speak when Draco said, "Professor Snape, do you mind taking Lorna back first? I'll be right there."

"No! NO! What happened to you, Draco? You're… you're never like this. I thought you won't keep anything from me," Lorna forgot that she wasn't suppose to know Draco well, that she was suppose to be under a fake identity; she forgot everything in her panic. She couldn't leave him like this; she had to stay with him.

Fortunately, the only people left in the clearing were the three of them. Lorna rambled on, "Why? Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" As if a sudden thought occurred to her, Lorna's eyes opened wide, "Draco… did the leader mean you? Were you the one that has to accomplish the task?" Her voice was barely a whisper now, struggling to make everything clear.

Draco flinched slightly and was about to speak when Lorna screamed. She fell hard against the floor and writhed in pain, her hands clutching her back; her breaths came in gasps, "Draco… tell me, please."

Draco knelt down immediately in alarm, "Lorna? Lorna! What's wrong?" Turning towards Professor Snape, "Professor Snape, can you…" But he was already there, gently pushing away Lorna's arms and circling his own to support her weight.

Snape turned towards Draco, "Come with me," and he walked swiftly back towards the school before Draco could protest.

~HP~HP~HP~

"Black Diamond?" Lorna tested the words in her mouth again, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"So he wants you to find this diamond in 'a place higher than Heaven and lower than Hell; the place where no sun shines but bathes in the glow of the moon', what kind of place is that suppose to be?" Snape growled in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair roughly, scowling as his eyes threatened to droop down and close for the sleep that he longed for.

"Yeah, I don't understand it either. But I think I'll have to go and figure things out, or else this mystery would never be solved." Draco's tone was definite and confident; both Snape and Lorna knew that he wouldn't waver from his decision.

"I'll go with you then."

The two male occupants in the room simultaneously turned to glare at her, "No you are not," they said together.

Lorna sighed, "I'm fine. My back isn't bothering me anymore."

"Oh? So it's your back that was hurt." Draco raised his eyebrow and allowed himself a small, satisfied grin. He had tried for quite a few times in the past two hours to get Lorna to tell him where she was hurt – but to no avail.

Lorna blushed deeply; ducking her head under the covers to escape the amused look her brother was giving her.

"Since the question that Draco was dying to know is answered, do I get to ask one too?" Snape asked with an unusual and very rare teasing-tone.

Lorna cocked her head to one side; confusion filled her eyes as she looked at Draco quickly. A silent understanding seem to pass through them as they both sat upright and looked at Professor Snape with an all-too-innocent look.

"What's the relationship between you two?" Snape asked in an equally innocent tone.

Lorna flushed and looked at Draco for help. Draco was biting his lips, an odd expression plastered on his face. He didn't know what to feel – amused at the irony, or scared that their biggest secret was going to be exploited to the Dark Lord's most trusted Death Eater… or was he now?

But somehow, the two youngsters felt a sense of comfort and trust in the aloof professor. And that trust and comfort allowed Draco to open his mouth, his eyes accepting the silent agreement that the professor has said through his eyes, that he would promise to keep it a secret. Professor Snape was shocked when he heard what Draco said, but the only reaction he had was a simple, genuine smile.

"We're siblings."

I love you April. Thank you for everything. You're just like Draco to me xD *wink*