Single Sweet Soul
Chapter Ten: Sweet Misery

By Angelee

Oooh thirty reviews! You know what that means? It mean I'm adding in a fun little scene! D I could do without it, but I figured that if people like this fic, I may as well try and make it its best.

So.. enter a tub of ice cream. Not this chapter, probably next... XD You'll see. You just wait and see...

HEAPS AND HEAPS of emotion in here. And may I say, the majority isn't all good feeling. But, I promise you'll like it. So don't not read it if you hate angst because I worked very hard on this all, and you know it'll resolve in some way. )

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Breakfast was tense. With the current events, the school was even more excited about the Gryffindor-Slytherin match. The Gryffindor team had decided to meet early in the locker rooms, so the Slytherin captain decided to do so as well. "We don't want any reason for those prats to beat us, after all," he explained, scowling and whirling off, the rest of the team at his heels.

"See you later!" Cali bade the team. "Good luck, you guys!" Draco gave her one last kiss on the cheek and stood up, falling in step behind the departing Slytherin house Quidditch team.

Minutes later, too impatient and restless, the rest of the Great Hall emptied out and filled into the seats in the Quidditch pitch. It was awhile before the players flew out onto the field for everyone had arrived early. There were buzzes of excitement, as the Slytherin section of the field smirked at the rest.

There was one excited squeal as a second year girl pointed at the bottom of the pitch. The Gryffindor team was coming out. Flashes of red flew onto the field, then landed. There were cheers from three fourths of the crowd, though it was nearly drowned out from the boos in the last fourth. The crown looked instinctively, expectantly, to the door to the Slytherin locker room. Moments later, the door inched open slowly then it was flung wide.

A blonde head emerged, streaking across the field in a green and silver blur. Draco was followed shortly by the team captain, who was currently yelling at him.

"Malfoy! I'm the team captain, meaning I come out freakin FIRST! You go behind me, got it?"

Draco rolled his eyes. Cali caught no more of the words except for "stupid dramatic entrance", "lame", and "shut the fuck up!"

All fourteen players landed smoothly, Draco landing last. He touched ground lightly, as the captain stepped out to shake hands with the Gryffindor captain. The Gryffindor captain glared at his Slytherin counterpart and they gripped hands briefly but firmly, probably hoping to break a few fingers.

As soon as they stepped back and mounted their brooms, Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, sending every player shooting into the air. Draco and Harry rose higher than the rest, being Seekers, and looking around for signs of the Snitch.

"Going down, Potter," Draco yelled across the field.

"After you," Harry replied, scanning the field as Draco was. Neither of them looked at each other.

Draco just smirked and veered right. Harry, thinking Draco had spotted the Snitch, zoomed off after him, still searching. Draco slowed down slightly, gradually so Harry could catch up. Then he did an impressive, split-second u-turn, laughing out loud at the look of surprise and anger on Harry's face.

"Bastard," Harry hissed, pulling out of his dive and going in the opposite direction.

"At least I'm a clever one," Draco retorted, doing loops in the air. He had a lot of skill, though he used most of it on tricks.

While this was going on, Cali strained to see what was going on. She was near the bottom of the stands, so she had to crane her neck to see the action. She smirked, seeing Draco trick Harry, and winced as a Bludger hit a Chaser.

The game was going smoothly, there had been no violence so far, which said a lot, considering Slytherin was on the field. Slytherin was behind 30-20, though, so the lack of violence would cease soon enough. And cease it did.

A Slytherin Beater whacked a Bludger in the direction of a Gryffindor Chaser, missed by an inch, then in rage, reached out and struck the Chaser's broom with his club.

"Foul to Gryffindor!" Madam Hooch yelled, glaring at the Beater.

The Gryffindor Chaser took the Quaffle and shot. It went in. The Slytherin section booed loudly as the team cursed. The Slytherin captain whispered something to Draco, who nodded and sped off.

All of a sudden, Cali heard Draco's voice in her head. She looked around.

'Hey, Cali?'

'Yes?'

'I don't know how good your eyesight is but do you see the Snitch?'

'Er, yes, now that I look for it.. why? Oh, gods, you're not asking me to cheat, are you? Oh, dumb question,' Cali said rolling her eyes.

'No, I'm not asking you to cheat. I'm asking for you to... give me some helpful hints.' Draco winked.

'I won't, that's not fair.'

'Slytherins don't play fair.'

'I see,' Cali said, smiling.

'You want us to win the Cup, don't you?'

'Yes, of course. But I'm not going about it by cheating!'

'Oh, come ON. Stop being such a Gryffindor.'

At this, Cali fumed. 'If you haven't noticed, I was in Gryffindor for a reason? I have SENSE?'

Draco smirked. 'You couldn't be implying..?'

'Of course I am!' she smirked back. 'Now, look to your right.'

'I owe you one,' he said, changing direction.

Cali nodded, then shook her head. "Geez, I can't believe I just did that!"

"Did what?" Blaise asked.

"Er, nothing. Just something I did er, yesterday."

Blaise stared. "Do I look stupid? Now, spill."

Cali smiled. "I told Draco where the Snitch was." ''Cause he's too irresistible. That smile...' Cali trailed off her thoughts, grinning like an idiot.

"Now I wonder how you were ever put in Gryffindor," Blaise laughed, contradicting Draco's words. "Wait. How.. did you tell him? I would've heard."

'Like this. It's part of being telepathic,' Cali explained, demonstrating.

'Like.. this..? Wicked!'

Cali grinned. "I know." She then switched the connection back to Draco.

The two looked up just in time to see Draco go into an extraordinary dive, followed shortly by Harry.

"He's seen the Snitch!" a Slytherin first year squealed excitedly.

Cali grinned to Blaise. "About time."

Draco scooped out of his dive, with Harry still trailing, though looking extremely put out. Draco was holding the Snitch delicately.

"YEAH!" Cali jumped up with the rest of the Slytherins, screaming and cheering.

"Argh.. Slytherin wins 170-40," Lee Jordan announced sadly. The stands began emptying of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs.

Draco glided around the pitch as his team celebrated their defeat of the Gryffindor team, and mainly, Harry Potter. The Slytherins poured out of the stands, surrounding the landing figures in green.

Cali ran out, leading a group of fifth years, and jumped into Draco's arms. "Took you long enough," she whispered.

Draco grinned. "Sorry 'bout the suspense."

They were too busy to notice the red blur go shooting past them. The Beaters, in their excitement, hit the Bludgers at the nearest red figure. Harry.

Cali whipped around, and saw Harry hurtling leftwards. If he wasn't stopped, he would hit the wall for sure. "Harry! STOP!" Cali yelled, feeling foolish. Unfortunately, he looked quite dazed, as one Bludger had hit his back, and the other the side of his head.

Draco snickered as Cali hit him.

"Not nice," she muttered, releasing herself from Draco and turned in Harry's direction.

She cringed, remembering the last time she'd done this. How unbearably drained she had felt, how tired she had been. When she'd saved Draco from falling, she'd fainted. Then a thought hit her. 'If I save Harry.. the Gryffindors will have to appreciate me!' she thought excitedly. And without more than a world-weary smile, she closed her eyes and concentrated. She obviously didn't have much time to waste.

"Cali? What - oh, NO!" Draco said, gazing, shocked, at her. It was too late.

Apparently, Harry was trying to stop but having been hit with two Bludgers must have some effect. He wasn't doing much good.

Cali shouted aloud, much to the concern and horror of the Slytherins. Right as Harry was about to hit the wall, he stopped. So did Cali's mind. Harry fell a few short meters to the ground as Cali dropped backwards, barely conscious, into Draco's arms.

One hour elapses

'Where.. what is this place?' Cali said, whirling about. She was standing in a circular black room. There seemed to be no one there, just her. Cautiously, she took a step, and nearly pitched forward. 'Ah!' she breathed, steadying herself. But it was no use; she fell forward on her hands and knees, a sharp pain radiating from where she hit the ground. Or was it ground? It felt icy cold to the touch, though, Cali wondered, surely there's no such thing as black ice?

For what felt like hours on end, she sat, alone, in the dimly lit room. 'Dimly lit..?' There was no sign of where the light was coming from, or was it light at all? She blinked several times, and realized that the light was in her eyes. Her eyes were like miniature flashlights. Then, with a lurch, her mind refocused. 'Where am I? Anyone here?' She spoke the last sentence, calling out into the darkness.

Then she was spinning. She felt a calling, and answered, wanting and needing for someone, anyone to come to her side.

Green blob, red blob, black blob, what? Cali jerked awake, all of a sudden reminded vaguely of the Dr. Seuss book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. She blinked several times as the 'blobs' focused in. "Draco?" she looked fearfully around.

"Alright, Cali?"

Cali turned to her right, and to her great relief was Draco. He sat down on the bed next to her.

Crowded around her and Harry's beds were the Slytherin Quidditch team (green blob); the Gryffindor Quidditch team (red blob); and Hermoine, Ron, and Ginny (black blob). Cali smiled weakly at them, a dullish pain pounding in the base of her skull.

She looked up at Draco, tears in her eyes. The feeling.. the empty, hopeless feeling she'd had in the strange black place. The feeling that she'd never see anyone again. A wave of emotion coursed through her, almost moving her physically.

"Cali, you alright?" Draco asked again, prodding her with his silver eyes, which sported an unmistakable layer of concern.

"Draco, I-I.." she faltered, not knowing how to put these horribly confused feelings into words. "I..." She looked desperately at him; her own emerald eyes layered with anxiety, mingled with relief and need.

He understood. Draco pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms securely around her. "It's okay, I'm here now," he whispered, knowing only a bit of what in the world he was talking about.

"I know," she sniffed, "Don't leave."

"I won't," he said, catching a whiff of her scent. It was still the distinguishable scent of fresh raspberries. "I would never."

--Cali's POV--

"I would never." His words echo in my head.

Thank whatever Gods brought him to me. It's strange, that if I'd never met him, I would've never seen this hatred, this disposition of the Gryffindors. Knowing him has brought me pain, but it's... it's sweet misery. [ What a difference.

--Draco's POV--

I think about what I've just said to her. It's true; I would never leave her for anything. I do realize that if she'd never come to Hogwarts, neither of us would have to go through this, this torment. But the truth is, I'm grateful I met her. I've never felt this way about anyone before. Pansy could never even come close. Close to HALF of how much love I feel toward Cali.

--3rd person--

The Slytherin Quidditch team was looking concerned at Cali. She gave them a weak smile and they brightened. Their Gryffindor equivalent was crowded around the bed that Cali assumed held Harry.

Madam Pomfrey appeared between the beds and handed Cali the same purplish potion she'd taken the last time. Seeing as Cali was more drained than the last time, Madam Pomfrey ordered her to drink every last drop of it. Cali nodded vaguely, gulped it all down, then watched as Madam Pomfrey healed up Harry's minor scratches. Then, suddenly, she got up and shouted to the crowd.

"These two need their rest, at least, Miss Drache does. You four," she motioned to Draco, Hermoine, Ginny, and Ron, "may stay, but the rest of you leave! Go on now, they'll be fine."

The Quidditch teams minus Draco filed out, purposely pushing and glaring at each other.

"And Mister Malfoy, if you don't mind.. I need to perform a charm on Miss Drache. I don't want it to hit you as well. I will not have you bouncing off the ceiling with the extra energy," Madam Pomfrey said.

Draco kissed Cali lightly on the forehead, lingering just for a moment. He settled into a chair, looking amused, and made a comment about the comfort level of the chair.

Madam Pomfrey muttered a variation of the reviving spell. "Enervise." With the combined forces of the pain-relieving potion and the charm, Cali felt and looked in much better shape. Her head stopped hurting and she was able to sit up on her own. "Now, I am assuming that you, Miss Drache, are in worse shape than you were the last time you did this because Mr. Potter here was speeding faster toward, a wall, you said? And I will advise you against trying this again," Madam Pomfrey explained and nodded at them, telling Cali and Harry to stay for awhile longer, then bustled away.

Cali motioned for Draco to sit back on her bed, and he did so. Everyone in the room sat quietly for several moments, when Cali broke the silence and turned to the bed next to her.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked suddenly. She'd almost forgotten that this was all because she had decided to save Harry from smashing headlong into a wall.

"Er, yeah, I'm fine. I mean, thanks to you.." he trailed off uncomfortably, fidgeting in guilt.

"I'm fine, too," Cali half-lied. "Don't worry about me."

Harry smiled back. "I feel bad about it. It's my own fault I wasn't paying enough attention to those bloody Beaters but you... you didn't have to stop me, you know."

"Yes, I did," Cali said, smiling. "It'd probably kill me if I knew I could've done something instead of just sitting there."

"And then I'd have no choice than to kill the rest of you!" Draco sang gleefully.

The Gryffindors glared. "Shut up, Malfoy," they said together.

Cali couldn't help but laugh. "You guys must really hate each other. It's probably fairly amazing that you're not killing each other already, I mean, we've been sitting here for a long enough time."

Ginny cracked a smile. "It's the self-control."

"Right. It's unfortunate I have too much self-control at the moment," Draco joined in.

Then Cali noticed Hermoine and Ron glaring at Ginny.

"What..?" Ginny asked, confused.

"You're being civil to Malfoy," Ron said, gritting his teeth.

Cali stared. "That was ridiculous," she muttered incredulously as Ginny blushed.

Then Hermoine turned to glare at her. "And who do you think you are, making yourself look all great by saving not just Malfoy, but Harry, too?"

This certainly was a turn of tables.

"I..." Cali was at loss of words again. The peaceful feeling she'd had was quickly fleeting away. But this time, it was out of anger, out of fury.

"Hermoine's right," Ron said, his face taking the determined but pained look as it did when he'd accidentally hit her. "If you think that stopping Harry from crashing would get us to like you?!"

"If I hadn't done that, he could be DEAD," Cali found her voice through the nasty sensation of shock routing through her soul.

"A professor could've stopped him. A lot of people could," Ron said, gaining more and more confidence as he went. Hermoine was smiling approvingly at him.

"You couldn't. And the professors didn't see what was happening," Cali hissed, then fell back to the bed, feeling deadbeat. But Hermoine didn't let up.

"I can't believe you'd do that after betraying us, going over to Slytherin! You want to be friends, do you? You sure have an awfully funny way of showing it," she said, jumping into the conversation, as did Harry.

"'Moine..." he said, in almost a whine. "You're forgetting again that I might not have the ability to talk as I am now if Cali hadn't used her own energy on me. She didn't have to, as I already said. But she did it anyway. You saw how horribly tired she looked," he reasoned, glancing at Cali. She smiled gratefully back at him.

"This is a Slytherin we're talking about! I would have done that for you, and you know it! I just don't have messed up powers like she does!" Hermoine said, appalled.

"Those 'messed up powers' just saved me. But..." he paused, "you're right. She is a Slytherin."

The shock deepened. Cali was beyond furious. "What the fuck, Harry? I just saved your freakin tail and this is what I get? 'This is a Slytherin we're talking about'?! I'm a Slytherin, so what, great of you to notice?! And because of that, me saving you doesn't MATTER?" she screamed angrily, ignoring the returning pain in her head.

"'Yes, of course it matters... but... do you know what I mean?" he said, mentally stumbling between their argument.

"No. No, I don't. I don't understand at all. I stop you from crashing into a wall, and probably saved your broom, too. You know what, it would've been BETTER for me to just let you crash. You probably wouldn't even notice that I could've stopped it, and if you had," her eyes flashed lividly, "you would just say, 'well, what do you expect? SHE'S A SLYTHERIN, AFTER ALL! A BLOODY SLYTHERIN!"

Though he looked as enraged as Cali, Draco could not help his comment. "You sound British."

"Shut up," Cali snapped. "As neat as that is, it's beside the point." She flashed a smirk at Draco then turned back to the offending Gryffindors. "I don't believe you. I suppose Harry's right in saying that I could've chosen against this. But I didn't. I chose the right thing. The RIGHT THING. What can I do that'll be good enough for you? If this isn't enough, I don't know what to say."

Hermoine and Ron faltered only slightly, but Ginny broke down.

"I'm so sorry, Cali. You did do the right thing. And I'm grateful for it."

Cali smiled happily at her. "Thanks, Ginny," she whispered.

Ron watched his sister, and sighed in resignation. "Harry's my best friend, and I could never repay you for saving him. Hermoine, you're my best friend, too. I just..." he stopped to see the look on Hermoine's face. "I just hope you can see how this all is."

"Ron, Ginny, listen to yourselves! You're talking about this traitor, this person who went from our side to - to their side," Hermoine said, her voice leaking disgust. "Do you really think she did it from her heart? A Slytherin would never do anything sincerely for a Gryffindor. No matter what they say." She paused to glare at Cali. "It's not so hard to see that she only did this to look good. So typical."

Cali jumped up, startling Draco, and tried to think of a comeback, but she found that she couldn't. This was far beyond anything she'd ever faced. "I.." Much against what her mind was telling her, she seized Draco's arm and fled the hospital wing. She left a moment too late. They'd seen the tear running down her cheek.

She headed to the Slytherin common room, wanting desperately just to get away. Down the stairs, down the left corridor, turn right, down the stairs again. Blinded by tears, she stumbled on the cold stone floor. She sat down hard, letting her hair make a silver curtain around her, shielding her from the pain.

Sighing, Draco knelt down next to her. He pulled her up into his lap and rocked her as if she were five years old. "Cali, you did the right thing, even those Weasleys and Potter think so. Screw what the Mudblood says. No matter what, you did what anyone with sense would have, and that's all that matters," he said soothingly. Her sobs softened to some extent so he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the Slytherin dungeons.

Maybe it was because she was psychic, but Draco swore he could feel her sadness, her pain. It was a horrible thing, though, for she was radiating so much sorrow that Draco wanted to go and murder everyone who had to do with it. But he was stronger than that. Self-control, they called it, was often a helpful thing to have, but more often than not, it was utterly despised.

"Cali," Draco said tentatively, "Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to, of course, but... maybe it'd be better?"

"Yes," she said, "I think it would be." He wiped away the last of her tears, as she began speaking slowly. "I don't even know where to start.. it's all so confusing."

"I know," he said gently. "Just pick something, pick any one of the many horrid things that've happened..."

Cali smiled weakly. "Today was the worst. I can't believe them. Of all the ways I'd thought they would react, that, I must say, was not what I was expecting."

"No fucking joke," he said in a low voice. "Fine, I admit that you saving Potter is probably better than not," he said, looking overly pained. "And if I think it's an okay thing... they should definitely appreciate it."

Cali almost laughed. "That's a very good point." Then her expression went bitter. "A point they can't see, apparently."

"They are so thick," Draco commented.

"Very," Cali agreed wholeheartedly. She sighed. "In that stupid parchment from Hermoine.. when they said we wouldn't like what was coming..? I didn't actually think they were going to do anything."

"You've never been more wrong in your life, I'm guessing. I didn't think so, either, I guess."

"And they're pretty good at it." It was Cali's turn to confess. "This is just unbearable. I don't think I can take another day of this. Exploding mail.. and all the yelling about you beating up Terry Boot, about me saving you and Harry. All this yelling is pretty much it. And there seems to be no way out. Gods." Cali sighed loudly.

Draco nodded, letting her talk. "But there is one way.. remember..?"

Cali looked up. "There is..? Oh... that." 'Breaking up,' she thought wretchedly.

"But that is out of question, isn't it?" he asked quickly, seeing her almost breaking into tears again.

"Actually, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but no... I don't think it completely out of question anymore."

Draco stared in amazement. "I expect you're right... this is getting a bit out of hand. More than a bit, if you ask me."

"And I agree. But... think about it.." Cali could not believe she was saying this. "It would shake them up, perhaps. But with all we've seen... who knows? For all I fucking know, they could act like they were expecting it. They could almost ignore it!"

Draco nodded. "It's a possibility. But..."

"It's the only way. It would make things better," Cali finished, heaving another sigh.

"And they'd stop bothering us. How nice that'd be." Draco said, placing his head in his hands.

"Oh, gosh, Draco, THINK. There must another way. There just has to be," Cali said desperately. This was all a nightmare, she kept telling herself, just a nightmare. 'And in a minute, I'll wake up and Hermoine will be giving me a 'happy two-or-three-month anniversary' card,' she thought scornfully.

"I'm thinking," he said, though Cali saw that his mind was on something else.

"Draco.." she said again, "I.. I know there's something wrong. And I know that it'll be better if you tell me."

He stared at her and laughed, almost mirthlessly. "Of course there's something wrong. Three fourths of the school hates us! You don't think anything's wrong? Of course. And now you're worrying about me?"

"How could you even say that? I know the school hates me, but I'm trying to deal with it. But you... there's something besides that, something you're hiding from me. How could you?"

"You forget." He shook his hair out of his eyes. "Through all this, I'm still a Malfoy. I say what I want. And if I tell you, it won't make things any better. At all."

"I'm sure it couldn't make things much worse. Seriously."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that.." Draco said doubtfully.

"Fine, whatever, but you're telling me."

"Okay," he said regretfully. "I was thinking.."

"Yes?" Cali said impatiently.

"You know Voldemort wants me on the Dark Side. Even my father does. Now if Voldemort knows about us... he might use you to get to me."

Cali's expression drained of all edge. She shook her head and to his surprise began singing softly, "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll GO EAT WORMS!!" she said, screaming the last part. Draco raised an amused eyebrow.

"Worms aren't that tasty, you know?"

"I meant," she said testily, "it seems like barely anyone wants us together. Gods."

Draco grinned, despite the situation. "I agree with that. Oh, and nice song."

"Ahhh," she growled. "The song is stupid. I hate it. Now, did you have a point?" she finished, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"As a matter of fact, I did," he said, sniffing. "Before you interrupted with that ridiculous song, I was going to say that you could get hurt. Voldemort isn't an exceptionally nice person."

"No, you think," she said sarcastically, but looked quite somber. "THIS REALLY SUCKS!" she yelled, for lack of better words. 'There's just some things you can only express so perfectly in Muggle terms,' she thought, sighing.

"Sure," Draco said, looking fairly unsure. "But you know.. it's not a good thing."

"I know it isn't. Another thing we'd have to deal with..."

"We'd? We'd.. are you implying.. that we should...?" Draco didn't miss a beat.

"I... I just meant..." she trailed off, tears in her eyes.

"I know what you meant. It's obvious."

Cali made an anguished noise and repeated the phrase. "It's just not fair!"

"Of course it isn't. Life isn't fair. My father wants me on the Dark Side. It takes all I've got to stand up to him, even for a moment. And now, when I finally find something, someone to go to, THAT'S GOING TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME, TOO! That, along with free will. Gods." Draco sighed, not looking the least bit embarrassed.

Cali placed a hand on his shoulder. "Draco, I'd never know exactly how bad it is for you, but I can tell you that I'm not the luckiest person alive, either. I feel the same feelings you do. I'm wounded like you. I'm so much like you, Draco, and it hurts so - fucking - much to be pulled apart like this," she said, tears running down her cheeks. She drew her hand back, feeling nearly afraid of his reaction.

After what seemed to be en eternity, Draco looked at her, at her big, beautiful emerald eyes freely flowing with tears. He broke the roaring silence, pulling her to him. He held her shaking body, the precious body shaking with pain, with grief, with unmatched sorrow so strong. He held her for dear life, for the entirety of life. 'The meaning of life,' he thought, 'surely, the meaning of life is to live to the fullest and afar. Then why is this happening?'

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Wow, I've never written angst like this... Review?

Angelee