A Final Chance

By: Shadowedheart89

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

Chapter 9: Lunch

I woke up a few hours later with Draco whispering in my ear, "Wake up sleepy head. Take a look at the grounds."

I slowly opened my eyes and turned to look at him. "What are you talking about?" I asked, not really remembering where I was or really how I got there.

"Just look," he told me pointing off in front of us. I looked in the direction where he was pointing and gasped. The sun was beginning to rise, and true to Draco's word, everything looked as if it were on fire. The light shone through the trees, making the leaves glow various shades of reds and oranges. The lake shimmered with the light, making it look as if flames were dancing across it. It was simply breath taking.

"How in Merlin's name did you find this place?" I asked awestruck.

He resettled himself so that he was more comfortable, and pulled me closer before answering. "Well one night, I couldn't sleep so I started wandering around. Thanks to you I had developed an appreciation for the outdoors, and stumbled upon a secret door and wound up here. I liked this place immediately. It makes me feel so at peace. Like sitting out by the cabin…" he trailed off.

"This is amazing," I said, still filled with admiration at the view.

"I know," he told me, kissing my neck. I shivered and he ran his hands down my bare arms. "Are you cold?" he asked sounding concerned.

"Yeah, just a bit," I told him snuggling closer.

"We should go back to the dormitory then so you don't get sick," he replied, gently trying to lift me.

I took his hands in mine and wrapped his arms around me. "Just close your eyes." Before he could protest, I felt the familiar spinning sensation and seconds later we were in his bed. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked turning to look at him.

He looked at bit green in the face as he said, "It is way too early in the morning for that."

"Aww, I'm sorry," I told him kissing him softly before burrowing into the covers and lying down beside him. My lack of sleep was catching up to me, and I was extremely tired.

He smirked, "I'm sure you'll find some way to make it up to me." He slid under the covers next to me and pulled me against him. "Warm now?" he asked, his breath ghosting over my ear. I nodded, and my eyes started to drift closed. I felt him study me for a few seconds before asking, "You haven't been sleeping too well have you?"

I shook my head and mumbled, "No."

I felt his lips press gently against my forehead and his fingers run soothingly through my hair. "Get some more sleep, and then we'll head down to breakfast."

"Thanks Draco," I mumbled before finally drifting off.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw were two beautiful blue-gray orbs staring back at me. I couldn't help but to smile at them.

"Good morning. I was wondering when you were planning on joining the realm of the conscious," he joked.

I stretched and studied him for a few seconds. He was already dressed, lying on his side next to me, with his head propped on his hand, where he had most likely been watching me sleep. "Did we miss breakfast?" I asked, my voice still thick with sleep.

"No," he said touching my hair, the humor leaving his eyes. "I was just a bit worried. You are usually the one that wakes up before the sun rises."

I giggled. "And you're usually the one that sleeps until noon. What happened to you?"

He shrugged. "Too much on my mind to sleep." His eyes darkened briefly with some hidden emotion and it killed me to see him seeming so distraught and not being able to help him or even know what was going on.

I brushed away the few strands of hair that had fallen into his face. "I wish I knew what was going on inside of the mind of yours."

He smirked. "I have no doubt that if you really wanted to know you could find out."

"I suppose I could," I told him hesitantly, "but that would be immoral. I want you to trust me enough to tell me yourself."

He stared at me with that steady gaze of his for a while. His eyes held no trace of the amusement and warmth they had carried only moments before, and instead held an icy, unreadable expression. "We should be going to breakfast," he said finally turning away from me.

He started to get out of bed, but I got a flashback of my nightmare and the fear of us being separated washed over me. I grabbed him and kissed him, needing to feel his touch. When I pulled away he looked a bit worried. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Are we going to be alright?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

"Me and you? Are we going to be alright? If the war starts again, are we going to be split apart?"

"You're the one with all the powers Marlene. Why don't you tell me?" he said a bit bitterly.

"I don't know anything," I told him softly feeling my tears start to well.

He looked into my eyes and must have seen something showing how distraught I was because his expression changed faintly. "We are going to be just fine," he assured me, planting a soft kiss on my forehead. "Now can we please go get something to eat? I'm starving."

I nodded and used magic to change my clothes quickly. He stared at me for a few seconds before smirking. "You know, somehow I thought watching you change clothes would be a lot more thrilling."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, so you want a thrill, do you?" I asked, jumping at him and kissing him. As we kissed, I teleported us into an empty corridor by the Great Hall. He didn't really seem to notice the slight spinning feeling usually occurring with the teleportation, and just kept kissing me. He began pushing me back against the wall, and his kisses moved to my neck. I didn't want him to stop but a rational part of my mind told me that we ought to before we got caught. "Draco," I tried to say firmly, but his name came out little more than a whisper, though he heard me.

"Hmm," he mumbled back, his face still hidden in the crook of my neck sucking and gently biting at the skin there.

"I think we should stop," I said, although I was still holding onto him.

"Why?" came his muffled response, as he barely lifted his lips from my skin to answer.

"If we get caught, we could get into trouble," I told him, holding back a moan.

Reluctantly, he stopped but still held me close. His eyes were so bright with lust that they were almost transparent. He was slightly flushed, his hair was slightly mussed, and his lips were pink and swollen. After a few seconds, his eyebrows furrowed, and he asked, a bit angrily, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You just look so adorable," I told him, trying to fix his hair a bit.

He arched an elegant eyebrow at me. "Adorable? I have never been called 'adorable' in my life," he told me, making a face at the word.

I rolled my eyes, seeing that his arrogance was starting to return, and he was going to start acting like the Draco that everyone hated soon. "Well now you have," I told him, kissing him one last time. He tried deepening the kiss, but I pulled away. "You know, if we keep this up, we'll never get to eat."

He grinned, "Suddenly, I'm not hungry for breakfast anymore."

"Too bad, I am. Let's go," I said, gently pushing him away.

He rolled his bright eyes. "You're no fun," he said pretending to pout.

I tugged on his arm and he fell into step next to me. "What are we going to do about us?" I asked.

He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we were supposed to keep a low profile about us knowing each other. I think we might have blown that, or will when people see us snogging in the hallways one of these times."

"We could have just met still. No one can really prove that we've known each other from before. We are just kids, we are supposed to be reckless," he reasoned.

"Are you in the habit of snogging girls you have just met?" I asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me? You must be forgetting that I am Draco Malfoy. I wouldn't give most of the girls here a second glance, but they throw themselves at me. Most of these girls are far beneath me though, or just plain disgusting. Everyone would just realize that I've finally found someone on my level, and you of course could not resist my charm."

I stopped and raised my eyebrow at him. "You've got to be kidding me. 'My level?' 'Charm?' Do you try to be this arrogant, or does it just come naturally?"

"What are you talking about Marlene? You know that I come from one of the highest regarded families in the wizarding world, and I have an image to maintain."

"Well I think your family's regard went down when your father was arrested for being a death eater. Besides, I thought you were leaving all that behind. You know, being your own person?"

He turned on me glaring. "My father made a mistake. His actions have only disgraced himself. I will carry on the Malfoy honor. If you play your cards right, you may one day have the chance to bask in the glory that will be the Malfoy name."

My temper started to rise and I could feel my face heating up with my anger. Luckily, I was still calm enough to maintain control of my magic. It didn't stop me though from giving Draco a piece of my mind. "I do not need you to find glory or honor. I will find it on my own and I won't have to rely on my family name or my connections. Everything I accomplish will be done on my own, and know one will care who my family is or where I came from."

"Not everyone is you," he shot back. "Some people just have to use whatever they can to make it."

I just stared at him, unable to believe that this was the same person that I so close with just a few years ago, or even the same person from the morning. "You know what Draco, I'm going to breakfast. Find me when you are back to normal," I told him before walking to the Great Hall.

I sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and they all looked at me funny. "You've had an early morning," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You weren't in the dorm this morning when I woke up," Hermione said.

"Well I had trouble sleeping, so I decided to explore a bit," I lied.

"You shouldn't be walking around the school so early in the morning. You could get into trouble," Hermione warned me.

"It was fine. I ran into Draco, and we talked for a while and caught up a bit on the last few years."

"Talking? Is that what you call it now?" Ron asked.

I felt myself blush. "Well we did actually talk. I can't believe how much he's changed."

"Well you said you met him two years ago, and I hate to break it to you, but I knew him then, and he is pretty much the same," Harry told me.

I laughed. "Maybe it's just the environment. He's different when we are alone. Something is bothering him though," I said more to myself.

"Poor Draco," Ron said sarcastically, "Are we supposed to feel sorry for him?"

"No," I said, noticing Draco walk by the table. He glared at me, but otherwise didn't acknowledge anyone's presence. He sat at the Slytherin table and snapped at his friends when they tried to talk to him, and stubbornly refused to even look at my table.

I slammed my hand on the table out of frustration and everyone around me jumped. I felt my self blush as I apologized.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked quietly.

I sighed. "Nothing, I'm just over reacting."

"Are you sure?" he asked. He seemed to be genuinely worried for some reason that was beyond me. We barely knew each other, yet here he was, trying to help me once again. It was truly touching.

I smiled at him. "I'm sure. I guess I'm just frustrated. It seems like I've been here forever, not just two days. I forget that its going to take awhile before things start to run more smoothly."

"It's hard getting used to this place. Things will get better though," he told me and gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back at him, and jumped as hundreds of owls suddenly flew into the hall.

Hermione giggled, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. The post comes every morning at the same time."

I laughed. "I guess I'm just a bit jumpy," I said absently as I watched the owls swoop and dive to their owners or recipients. "What a beautiful owl," I commented as a snow owl started to descend towards our table.

"That's my owl Hedwig," Harry told me as she landed on the table in front of him and he fondly stroked her feathers before untying the parchment from her leg. As he read through the letter, Hermione submerged herself in a copy of the Daily Prophet, Ron continued to munch on his breakfast, and I merely gazed around at them lost in my own thoughts, mostly centering around Draco and my nightmare.

The rest of breakfast passed with idle chit chat, and with Harry, Ron and Hermione happy with some plan they had made during the summer working out, of which they had just received word. After breakfast we all walked together to our first class of the morning, Transfiguration. Unlike the previous days classes, most of the period was spend reviewing work that was supposed to be done over the summer and giving an outline of what would be expected over the year. The lack of the practical part of the lesson, however did not prevent us from getting a foot long essay on the theory. As we were being dismissed, Professor McGonagall handed me two slips of parchment.

As we made our way to Charms, I read through the notes. The first one was a list of does and don't for the class, telling me what powers I could use, when I had to use my wand, ect., which I hastily stuffed into my robes before anyone could get nosy and see. Surely it would have risen questions that I would rather have avoided. The second one was a note from Uncle Albus, requesting that I join him in his office for lunch. "Oh great," I muttered to myself.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, who had been walking beside me, curiously watching as I read through the notes.

"Uncle Albus, er, I mean Professor Dumbledore," I corrected myself, "wants me to have lunch with him."

"That's a bad thing?" Hermione asked, who had been walking on the other side of Harry and had heard what was going on.

"Well, I just met with him yesterday. I can't imagine why he wouldn't have just told me everything then. Unless something has come up in the last 24 hours," I told them, more speaking to myself than really trying to inform them. For some reason I had a really bad feeling about the note that I couldn't explain. Part of me knew that Uncle Albus could just want to have a friendly lunch and just talk, but the other part of me insisted that there was much more to it.

I spent the rest of the morning with my focus drifting between what was being said in class, thoughts of Draco who was still ignoring me throughout class, my nightmare, and wondering about the real purpose of the lunch. When the morning classes were over, I was surprised to realize that they had passed so quickly.

I said good-bye to the trio in front of the Great Hall and made my way upstairs to gargoyle, who guarded Uncle Albus' office. I was lucky enough to not even get lost on my way. "Back again?" the gargoyle growled when I stopped in front of it.

"Well it's not by my own doing," I muttered.

"Password?" it asked grumpily.

I gave the obligatory password and stepped onto the spiral staircase. I reached the door, to find that it was cracked, and there was someone already there. I tried to peer inside to see who it was, but the person was just out of view, and the two of them were speaking in such low voices that I couldn't recognize the voice either. Reluctantly I knocked on the door and was immediately told to enter.

"Marlene! Welcome again. I hope you don't mind, but I asked Professor Jamison to join us today," Uncle Albus greeted me warmly.

"Of course I don't mind. How are you today Xavier?" I asked, as he stood and gave me a hug.

"I'm doing quite well this morning. How about you?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I responded, not quite honestly. My exhaustion was starting to get to me again, and the thing with Draco was really bothering me, not to mention the anxiety this meeting was causing me. I looked at Uncle Albus, and his eyes were twinkling as if he knew exactly what had been going through my mind, and it wouldn't have really surprised me if he did.

"Well shall we begin our lunch?" Uncle Albus said, before waving his wand over his desk and a large selection of food appeared before us. "Help yourself," he told us as he began to fix his plate."

I sat down warily, expecting the worst still, although I did help myself to some of the delicious looking sandwiches that were displayed. All was quiet for a few minutes as we all munched on our meals, until Uncle Albus finally spoke up. "How are you enjoying your classes so far?"

"They are okay," I responded. "Yesterday's classes were quite interesting, especially finding that I already knew the teachers," I said glaring a bit at Uncle Albus.

"I thought it would be nice for you to be surprised with a few familiar faces," he told me, sounding a bit apologetic.

"Well it is nice to be learning from Xavier again," I said looking at him fondly. "I have always enjoyed his style and way of talking to me. Severus, on the other hand, is a completely different story."

"Ah, yes. I have heard that you two have already run into a few problems," Uncle Albus said, looking at me with those sparkling eyes.

"What happened?" Xavier asked, sounding intrigued.

"Severus and I got into a bit of an altercation in class yesterday," I told him nonchalantly.

"If I'm not mistaken," Uncle Albus added, "I believe you to started to duel again."

Xavier looked awestruck. "You didn't."

I felt myself blush a bit with shame. "Well it was both of our faults. I was surprised to see him here, and I suppose I was a bit rude, but I still think that he overreacts."

"Well what happened?" Xavier asked, a grin beginning to show itself on his handsome face.

I sighed. "Well he was giving a lecture about the importance of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I pointed out the fact that counter curses aren't really going to help you if you start to panic. He gave me detention for that and made me help him demonstrate the lesson on non verbal magic."

"I think I can see where this is going," Xavier laughing.

I laughed and continued, "Well he cast the first spell without even explaining to me what he was doing or what I was supposed to do, but I managed to deflect it at the last second. He had me cast a jinx at him, and when I did, he just criticized me. I doubted he would have done that to any other student, because he didn't even tell us how you are supposed to perform non verbal magic. Well I got mad, and cast another spell at him, this time strong enough to almost knock him down. Well it goes without saying that it didn't go over too well with him, and he cursed me."

"There was a lot of commotion among the students over the duel. They seem to think that he had hurt you. What spell did he use on you?" Uncle Albus asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered truthfully, although I avoided catching his eye. Even though I didn't know what exact spell he had used, I was sure it was Dark Magic.

"You don't have any idea of what it was?" he asked suspiciously.

"All I know is that it caused pain," I said hesitantly. "He's not in trouble, is he?" I asked. For some reason, even with all the animosity between Severus and I, I didn't want to cost him his job. Well, not again.

"No, he's not in trouble. He already came to me and told me what happened. You will serve your detention with him, and will spend one day a week working with him in his office. You two are going to have to put aside your differences and learn to work together," he told me.

"Either that or kill each other," Xavier stated laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you going to have me doing something every day of the week?" I asked.

"I know I am giving you a difficult schedule, but it isn't anything that you can't handle. If time does become an issue, we have ways of making it work," he told me, a twinkle in his eye.

I sighed resolutely. "I guess I'm used to it. Between you and my parents, you guys have never really given me too much time to myself that didn't have anything to do with bettering myself."

There were a few minutes of silence, before Xavier spoke up. "I talked to Albus about making you my apprentice. Well that is if you are still up to what we had discussed."

"Of course I am. I would start to go crazy if I had spare time," I said a bit bitterly. Xavier looked a bit unsure with my answer, so I smiled reassuringly at him. "Yes, I still want to go along with the plan."

"Well I see no problem with it," Uncle Albus told us. "It will still be your responsibility, Xavier, to make sure that she knows all of the material for the tests at the end of the year." I opened my mouth to retort, but he cut me off, " I know what you are thinking. As I've said before, even though you know more advanced magic, doesn't mean you can just ignore the basics."

"I know, I know," I said, sighing in defeat.

"Well, lunch is almost over, and I have to set up some things for my next class. Marlene, I will talk to you later to discuss when we can meet and to go over some lesson plans. Thank you for the lunch Professor," Xavier said, before rising elegantly.

"I was happy to have you. Good luck with the rest of your classes," Uncle Albus told him.

"Don't get too annoyed with your students," I warned him grinning.

He laughed, "I'll try not too." He put his hand on my shoulder momentarily, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Until next time," he said, before leaving.

Uncle Albus waited a few seconds after the door clicked shut to ask, "Has he been having trouble with the students?"

I smiled. "No, he's doing fine. The students seem to like him, especially the girls. He was just expecting everyone to be on a higher level than what they are."

He nodded in understanding. "One of the curses of being so exceptionally gifted, such as him and even yourself. You sometimes forget that others aren't at your level."

I nodded and fell into a thoughtful silence for a few minutes before saying, "Uncle Albus, can I ask your interpretation on something?"

"Of course, my dear."

"I had a nightmare last night. It's really been bothering me, and I'm not sure what it means." I gave him a quick account of my nightmare, of Draco and I being chases and attacked by both the Dark and the Light. "What do you think?" I asked, after I had finished my story.

He sat for a few moments in a thoughtful silence, motionless with his fingers templed beneath his chin. "Well the could be open to many different interpretations. I don't pretend to excel in divination, but in my opinion it would seem that you are torn."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Well, ever since birth, you have been haunted by a prophesy. You know that you are supposed to lead the wizarding world, but you do not know what side you are going to be on."

"Of course I do. I fight for the Light," I told him indignantly.

"You have been raised to believe that the way of the Light is the right way. If someone other than your parents had raised you, who knows what you would believe right now. Maybe now, you are subconsciously exploring the idea that the Dark isn't as evil as it appears, and it contrasts so deeply with your upbringing that it is causing you to be torn."

"I don't have any interest in the Dark, what so ever," I told him. I was finding his interpretation quite a bit disturbing. I was starting to feel as if I was programmed to think the way I do, to be who I was. It was making me feel as if I didn't know who I was or what I was supposed to be doing anymore.

"But you do have an interest with young Mr. Malfoy," he said matter of factly.

"You are confusing me, Uncle Albus."

"It's another matter of contrasting images. You think of Draco as fundamentally good, but you know of the Malfoy's association with the Dark. My guess would be that you be thinking that if something good could come of something bad, it can't be that bad at all."

I tried to wrap my head around what he was saying. "So you think I am confused about the Dark and Light, and what side I am supposed to be on?"

"In a sense, yes," he said simply.

I paused a moment, trying to sort through my thoughts and decide whether or not it was true. After a few seconds I realized that that was an impossible task to do within a few seconds time. "So if that is true, what would you suggest I do?"

He stroked his long beard for a moment or two as if to go over the possibilities. "Well you would first have to understand that the division between Light and Dark is not as simple as its made out to be. In reality there is no division. Evil things have been done for the sake of good, and vice versa. One good deed will not make an evil person good, and one evil deed will not make a good person evil. It is the serious of choices and events that happen that determine which side of the spectrum it will fall upon. You must decide your own ideas about what is good and what is evil, of what is right and what is wrong, and what is Light and what is Dark, and no one else can make that decision for you."

"Well whatever side I may belong on, I believe that Voldemort must be destroyed, and that his ways are wrong. In my opinion that puts me on the side of the Light," I told him with confidence. He might have confused me about my own beliefs, but that was one that I still felt held true.

He smiled kindly at me. "Then there you have your answer."

I stared at him for a moment, still utterly confused, but I was starting to get a headache trying to understand his meanings. "Well I should get ready for my next class," I said standing up.

I was about to head to the door, when it suddenly burst open and Draco ran in, "I need your help!"