I'm really sorry that this is late again. I have my reasons, and I posted them at the end of my other story's chapter, and I'll do the same here. Sorry to anyone who reads my other story and ends up reading it twice.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, even though it isn't particularly long.


You are my Hope

Chapter 11


"Are you sure you're okay, Draco? You don't seem like you are..."

"I'm fine, Harry," he snapped. Harry blinked. What had happened to make him like this? "I love how my mother isn't even here to see if I'm okay." Was that why he was like he was?

"I don't know where she is... Hey, Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes?"

"Where is Narcissa?"

All four professors froze at those words. They turned to each other, though said nothing.

"Well?" said Draco as they started to walk again.

"The thing is, Draco, is that she... She is in St Mungos," said Severus. "She was somehow poisoned, not as severely as you, though it almost killed her. We didn't tell you because you have enough to deal with right now and we were worried that your Veela powers could come through badly if you found out."

"Oh, I see..."

"That's all? I thought I would get a worse reaction than that."

"I'm just a little shocked, that's all. I'm just grateful that she's alive. Would I be able to see her?" he asked.

"Of course you'll be able to see her, Draco," said Louise. "We just didn't know how to tell you. We wanted to wait until she was better."

"It's alright, I understand completely."

"I don't understand any of this." All eyes turned to Millicent. "I can't remember anything. I can barely remember the plan..."

"Plan? You were part of this?" Minerva demanded. Millicent sighed and nodded.

"I hate to say it, but yes. I never wanted it to go this far though, and I did try and stop them. I was the one who gave him the antidote. I only went along with the plan because Theo forced me to and I didn't tell anyone because I like him. Well, I should say 'liked'," she explained. "But I assure you, I never wanted to hurt Draco."

"I don't know if I can believe that," the said boy muttered coldly. Millicent blinked at him and shook her head.

"Draco? Why can't you believe it?"

"It just seems to be a bit off, doesn't it? Doing something you don't want to do for someone you like."

"You did the same thing!" said Ron. "You ran off away from Harry yet you didn't want to."

"Draco, really, what's the matter?" Harry asked softly. Draco shook his head and walked faster so he was no longer walking by Harry's side. Harry was about to catch up to him, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. It was Remus.

"Harry, leave him be. He is probably still angry and upset about what has happened, and you don't want to increase this otherwise something bad could happen. I expected the mentioning of his mother would do just that, but clearly not," he said.

"I just want him back."

"I know, Harry. I know."


"So, we still need to find Skià," Louise said as they all entered Professor McGonagall's office. They were now joined by Pansy and Blaise, who were soon informed of what had occurred. "Did they leave the Chamber with her, Draco?"

"Hm?" he looked at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, I'm not sure. I think I may have saw them head in that direction."

"Them? I just realised, throughout all of this, we don't know who it was for sure. Who was it?" asked Harry. There was a moment of hesitation before Draco spoke again.

"Theodore Nott and Gregory Goyle, as well as Millicent, obviously."

"Yes, we know about Millicent. We've sent her to the hospital wing," said Louise.

"Speaking of the hospital wing, wasn't Theodore meant to be in there?" questioned Hermione.

"He snook out of there, I think," Draco replied.

"I told you guys that Goyle was part of this! I knew it!" Ron exclaimed.

"Want a medal?" Draco snapped. Ron blinked at him, confused.

"Draco, what is the matter with you?" murmured Harry.

"I... I don't know."

"Don't worry about it, Draco," said Severus. "It's normal for you to be like this. We're just lucky that we found you as soon as we did..."

Harry couldn't help but be disappointed throughout the day. Draco just was not speaking at all, and he wasn't acting like himself. Harry knew that it was understandable for Draco to act this way, and that it was going to take a little time for him to go back to how he was before, but it was still hard for Harry.

That night, Harry had tried to snuggle up to Draco as they did their homework at their desk, but the Slytherin had pushed Harry away.

"Please, I'm not in the mood," he had said.

Harry couldn't help but feel rejected. Was it selfish of him? Maybe he just wasn't understanding enough. It must have been extremely tough for Draco. Harry didn't even know what the blonde went through. Even by telling himself this, he still couldn't dispose of the loneliness that night as he slept in his bed alone.

It hadn't changed the next morning either. Ron and Hermione did their best to cheer him up, but no matter how much they tried, Harry just wasn't happy. Pansy and Blaise tried to talk to Draco and get through to him, but their attempts did nothing. There was definitely something wrong with their friend but they couldn't work out what it was.

He stayed silent even when a younger year stammered a message to him.

"P-Professor Snape has asked you and Harry Potter to come to his office."

Draco had simply nodded, rose from the table, and left without even a goodbye to Pansy and Blaise. He joined Harry at the Great Hall's exit, and was still quiet. He didn't say anything until the pair entered Severus' office, and even then, his words weren't directed at Harry.

"Why have you wanted us here?" Draco asked.

"I want to talk about how you've been. Sit down," the Potions Master replied. Harry and Draco did as they were told and sat in the seats opposite the professor.

"What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Draco. I mean the way you have been acting. Obviously, you aren't going to be fully okay after your ordeal with Goyle and Nott, but as none of your Veela powers have come through, clearly you haven't been in the sort of pain and anger to push you over the edge. So why have you been like this?" Severus questioned. There was a slight pause before Draco spoke again.

"I don't know."

"Obviously you must know. As much as I hate to admit it, you and Potter were incredibly close before this, and now you've barely talked! Perhaps... Contact between you two would actually help you."

"Maybe I don't want contact or anything! I just don't feel right about it, and I can't help it! You need to give me time. So if you excuse me Professor Snape, I am just going to leave this now!" Draco snapped, and began to rise out of his chair, though a wand pointed towards him stopped him in his tracks. Harry stared at Severus, shocked.

"Professor, what are you doing?"

"Draco calls me Severus," he replied quietly. Silence fell on the room.

"I-I was just angry! That's why I didn't call you Severus!"

"Don't you lie to me," he hissed. "Potter, get Minerva now."


Harry returned with the headmistress, and also Louise, who was in the office at the time. They all looked over at Severus, who was still pointing his wand at Draco, who was now sitting back in his seat.

"Severus, what is the meaning of this?" Minerva asked, her eyes gazing back and to from Severus and Draco.

"This isn't Draco," he answered.

"What do you mean, I'm not Draco? That's mad!"

"Severus, what has made you accuse him of that?" Louise asked.

"He called me 'Professor Snape'. Never when we have not been in class has he called me that," Severus explained.

"But... But what if he was just angry?" Louise asked softly.

"Doesn't it make sense though, with how he has been?"

"How can we know for sure, though?" said Minerva. "It isn't right to make accusations without being certain."

"We could use Veritasium."

"W-What?" the blonde said.

"Severus, no! You can't use that on a student..."

"But we need to find out if this is Draco or not! For the sake of Salazar, he could be somewhere right now seriously hurt! I am not standing around letting my so-called godson here pretend to be him."

"Alright, alright..." Minerva sighed. "Where is it?"

"In that cabinet there, top shelf," replied Severus, his eyes still fixed on the possible imposter. Minerva nodded, retreated the flask, and handed it to him.

"You don't expect me to take that, do you?" asked Draco.

"If you aren't an imposter, then you shouldn't have any worries at all," Severus pointed out. Draco stayed silent, though he willingly took the potion.

"So, here we go. Tell me, are you Draco?"

"... No." A moment of silence fell on the room.

"Then who are you?"

"Gregory Goyle."

Harry clenched his fists. He was using a tremendous amount of self control to not hit or hex Goyle.

"Why have you pretended to be Draco?"

"Because I wanted Theo to have enough time to get away. I knew that you would have figured it out but not so soon. I planned on getting back to them, but clearly that didn't work out."

"Where are they?"

"... They are still in the Chamber."

"Come on, we need to go! You're coming with us, Goyle."

"Wait, hang on," said Harry. "How did you manage all of this?"

"Most of it is thanks to my Animagus form."

"Wait, Animagus?" said Louise in a surprised tone.

"Yes, it's of a spider."

"A spider..." murmured Harry. He thought back to that night in his and Draco's room, when that spider had been crawling across the floor. So if Harry had squashed that spider, he would have killed Goyle without realising it.

"We seriously need to go. Come on," said Severus.


Draco tugged at the chains bounding his wrists above his head, for probably the fifteenth time. Theodore Nott sighed. He was sat across from Draco, his back against the wall. Skià was stood by him.

"Seriously, will you cut that out?"

"Let me out of here now, Nott!" Draco hissed, in a voice quite unlike his own.

"For the last time, no. Orders are orders." He gritted his teeth angrily.

"Getting a bit annoyed, are we? Come over here then. Take out your anger if that's what you want!"

"SHUT UP!" Nott shouted, as rose up from where he was sitting and started to make his way over to Draco.

"If anyone should be getting angry, it's me," said Draco, looking up at the boy in front of him.

"I can tell you're already angry, Draco. Furious, even," Nott said. He was now kneeling down, and he reached out a hand which clasped around Draco's throat.

"Go on then, I'm hurt enough as it is," the blonde gasped. Nott's grip tightened, and his eyes narrowed, though to Draco's astonishment he kissed him instead. Draco was questioning why, but then a horrid burning shot through his chest and it all felt so wrong, and he could do nothing about it. When Nott pulled away, Draco's head fell down onto his chest, and he gasped for breath.

"I know about your Veela blood, Draco. Unique, isn't it?" Nott said. "One kiss can do more damage than the Cruciatus curse."

He leant in again, though he paused as he looked at Draco's eyes.

"Your... Your eyes..."

"What?"

"They're red... Like, crimson red."

"What do you..." Suddenly, Draco let out an ear-piercing scream, and Nott was quick to back away. Fury consumed Draco, and all of the betrayal and pain he had felt was circling around his mind, as well as the image of Harry.

"What's going on?" Nott demanded.

"Like you said..." Draco panted. "... My blood is unique."

He let out another scream, and then to both his and Nott's amazement, gigantic wings shot out of the blonde's back. Sharp and pointed feathers fluttered into the air and onto the ground. Nott touched one of them which had landed near him, and quickly pulled back after it cut his finger and a bead of blood oozed out. He slowly turned his head back into the direction of Draco.

"How... Was this from anger?"

"I think so..." Draco managed to say. A thought of Harry once again entered his mind, and once again, the fury got the better of him. His red eyes narrowed at Nott in a threatening fashion, and the latter boy gulped.

"S-Skià, do something!" he cried.

"No."

"Huh?" He turned to her, and his eyes widened at the sight of her wand being pointed straight at him.

"You really thought that I wouldn't be able to fight through that curse eventually?" she questioned, a sly smirk on her face. But then it faded. "You should have known not to do that, Nott."

"I-I didn't realise it would..." his voice drifted off.

They both turned back to Draco, and to their astonishment, the blonde broke the chains around his wrists with a sudden ounce of power. With the newly formed pointed wings spread out either side of him, he slowly walked towards Nott.

"You're going to pay for what you've done to me..." This time, it was Draco who had his had clasped around Nott's throat.

"Draco, please..." Skià pleaded, though the rage in Draco was far too strong for him to listen to her.

"I'm going to make you sorry," he hissed. His hand tightened incredibly, though it loosened as a shout echoed through the Chamber.

"Draco? Draco, where are you?"

"Harry?" Draco whispered, and Nott was released from his grip. Nott fell to the floor, gasping for breath with his hand rubbing his throat.

"Draco! What on Earth is this..." Harry said as he got closer, his emerald eyes staring at the wings.

"I... I..." Draco didn't know what to say. He still felt a rage for the Slytherin on the floor, and Harry could see this. The Gryffindor held Draco's hand and smiled up at him.

"Draco, it's okay. Leave him be."

It was these simple words that helped. Draco's eyes dimmed back to their original grey colour, though instead of disappearing completely, his wings turned softer and more into angel like feathers. He pulled Harry into a hug and held him close.

"Harry... I've missed you so much," he whispered, as a tear fell down his cheek.


Aww, isn't that sweet?

Anyway, here is what I said on my other story I want to tell you guys about as well:

So, the first thing I wanted to say is about my head. What I mean by that is constant headaches, from when I wake up to when I fall asleep, everyday for over a year. Naturally this makes me lack in motivation and concentration, especially from how it has become severe in the last couple of weeks. I am now getting tested and it is linked to my spine being out of alignment, so don't worry, it isn't life threatening. It is giving me difficulty in school as well, and I can imagine it will also do so in my maths exams in the next two weeks, so that sucks.

I also have something that's a bit more personal but I think it is a good thing to tell you guys as it explains why sometimes I might not get a chapter uploaded quickly. Due to problems in my family and my health and everything I'm suffering from depression. I know some people just say this when they are feeling down, but I took the Goldberg's test and I got a 52 on the scale, which could be considered pretty high. I am fine when I am with my friends, but as soon as I am on my own I'm basically a completely different person.

I also am in a struggle of recovery from self harm. It's pretty difficult and it's something that's on my mind a hell of a lot. I get urges every day and it's pretty hard... Sometimes writing will be a distraction, other days I won't even be typing it out properly and I'll be thinking about that instead. It's pretty serious and I need help with it but I don't want my mum to worry. She knows about my depression but not my self harm.

So that's about it really. I am actually not as bad today, I'm feeling better in myself. But I hope you all understand why I haven't been posting very often and everything...

On a much more positive note, I hope you liked the chapter. How many of you guessed that had happened? I am going to be ending this story very soon.

Thank you for reading.