Author note: Hi guys, since this chapter is pretty long I'll forget the long AN and simply say, enjoy…:)

Disclaimer: quite obviously I am not J.K Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter twelve

Draco

Closing the classroom door behind him with a harsh slam Draco stalked through the dungeons, irritated that yet again Snape thought that he could summon Draco like some trained pup. Snape was only jealous though, jealous that the Dark Lord had given Draco such an important job and not him, he wanted to take all the glory away from Draco and Draco wasn't going to let him do that, he was going to be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams and no one was going to get in the way of that, especially not Snape, for whom Draco had lost a lot of respect lately. Draco only had to commit one small act to get what he deserved, one tiny little thing and then people would respect him, his family would be safe and shame his fathers failure brought upon them lifted. It ought to have been an easy choice, one that required no second thought, but still it kept Draco up late into the night, even after he had finished his efforts in the Room of Requirement and he climbed into bed exhausted and begging for sleep he still lay there through the night, thinking about what he had to do. But there was no choice, not really, the Dark Lord would kill Draco and his whole family if he didn't do this, there was no other way.

Still, Draco didn't appreciate Snape giving that blithering idiot Slughorn messages for him, Draco had been avoiding talking to his Head of House since returning to Hogwarts after the Christmas Holidays and for Slughorn to send him to Dumbledore's office to find Snape was especially irritating. Draco didn't like being told what to do, not by anyone; he could do this on his own and he was in half I mind just to ignore Snape's summons and go to the Room of Requirement. However, anger at his current situation had taken control of Draco, he needed someone to shout at, someone to blame and someone to take all this anger out on and Snape fit the description perfectly. He wouldn't dare do anything to punish Draco should he shout at him because it was the old potions master's life on the line now too, he needed to keep Draco relatively sweet (though Draco scoffed at the very idea) so that Snape could help him and fulfil the Unbreakable Vow he made Draco's mother. That was another thing that annoyed Draco, that his own mother didn't think that he was capable of doing this, but she was a notorious worrier and Draco supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised, it still maddened him though. Storming up the stairs that led from the dungeons the blond haired Slytherin continually clenched and unclenched his fists while his tired feet propelled him along. Draco came to a stop as soon as he reached the top of the stairs, freezing when he spotted a trio standing across the Entrance Hall. It was Ivy, Ivy and her pathetic friends, Potter and the Mudblood Granger. A small amount of revulsion rose up at the sight of her there acting like she belonged here, but a larger volume of something all together more troublesome did as well and Draco tried to shake it off, not liking the feeling of guilt.

Draco stood there, not wanting her to spot him again and waiting for her to go into the Great Hall for supper, she didn't, instead she said goodbye to Potter and Granger, laughing at something Potter had said and irritating Draco for a reason he could not understand. She then walked away from them and headed towards the Grand Staircase, running her hand through her midlength mahogany locks, a motion Draco had learnt during the twenty-four hours he had stayed with her meant that she was nervous. He wondered why.

Suddenly angry again Draco pushed away the thought, deciding it was unimportant, why should he care what she was worried about? Furious that her presence had him hiding in the shadows like a coward Draco hastily crossed the Entrance Hall and took to the steps of the Grand Staircase, keeping a set distance between himself and Ivy. Draco had been expecting to see Ivy downstairs in the dungeons, he had know that she was in his potions class and had readied himself for going in there, he had expected her to be openly hostile, throwing insults his way and making comments about him being a Death Eater. Draco had also spent the remainder of his holidays waiting for the Order to storm into the Manor and arrest him for being a Death Eater. They hadn't though and Ivy had done none of the things he had expected, she had instead watched him for a brief moment as he entered the classroom and then looked away, seemingly uninterested in his presence. And with that Draco had headed for his usual seat and spent the remainder of the lesson seeking out her gaze, which never seemed to turn in his direction and resulting in a ruined potion and a maddening comment from Slughorn.

Draco had spent a lot of time trying to figure out what he would say when he saw her again, he was forever warring with himself about it, the majority of the time he asked himself why he was even bothering, Ivy was a muggleborn, a nobody and very unimportant, he had been sent to do a job and he had changed his mind at the last minute, effectively saving her life, he owed her nothing and the least she could do was be grateful. However at times, mainly when he was lying in bed late a night, Draco felt the unwelcome emotion of guilt set in and the gravity of exactly what he had done to Ivy, however indirectly he had been part of the reason why she would be forever hunted now, the Death Eaters would never leave her be not when the Dark Lord wanted her, she would never be safe again even if they only wanted to prove that Draco was telling the truth and that she wasn't a Seer. Also he imagined that neither she nor her family would ever be able to return to their home again, the Death Eaters would expect it. That bothered Draco as he remembered the pleasant family life Ivy had had and all of her siblings, it didn't sit right with Draco and contrary to popular belief he wasn't proud of what he was, he was just good at dealing with the hand life dealt him. he had been given a chance by the Dark Lord to make up for the failure of his father and to protect his family along with getting himself some respect, Draco would have been a fool to turn that chance down. However Draco could admit, if only to himself, that he regretted taking the mission to gather information about Ivy, though he'd be damned if he'd have let someone else do it, she wouldn't have gotten away then.

Of course, the former side had won out when Draco had almost banged into her after potions and Draco had opted to be threatening and hostile, daring her to speak out against him and wanting her to know that if she did he would make her regret it. Though Draco was sure none of those thoughts had been sent across, she had only stood there, defiantly waiting for him to move with a look of determination on her face but a softness in her light brown eyes. Draco had stuck to his decision and treated her like the nothing he ought to believe that she was and had been irritated when that insufferable Potter had spoken up and not Ivy, rage flaring inside of him at Potter's blatant superiority, most definitely not from the fact that Potter had touched Ivy and that she had allowed him to. And then Slughorn had called Draco over to tell him about Snape's message and it had all been over, the three Gryfindors had left and Draco had been sent to receive a lecture.

So, following Ivy as he made his way towards Dumbledore's office, absentmindedly wondering where she was going, Draco was having a similar kind of internal battle. He wanted her to understand why he did what he did, he knew that it shouldn't matter but for some reason it did, he didn't like her going around thinking he was something he wasn't. Yes, Draco was a Death Eater, but he wasn't the kind of person who would just hand her over to the other Death Eaters, knowing it meant either a lifetime of misery or certain death. Ivy was one of the very few people at Hogwarts that Draco had (grudgingly) found he had some sort of connection with, though he loathed admitting it Ivy had always been sort of a friend to him and Christmas and Boxing Day had just proved that. But she was still a Mudblood, he told himself, a Mudblood with a power that the Dark Lord wanted to use and to keep away from Potter, she would only be safe here for so long after the Dark Lord took over anyway, so what did it matter? Frustrated Draco raked his hands through his formerly perfectly neat hair, not caring what he looked like in front of Snape, and slowly becoming overwhelmed by this internal struggle. Why did what she thought matter to him so much?

As Ivy turned onto the corridor that led to the headmaster's office Draco realised that they were heading for the same place, suddenly his stomach filled with dread and his eyes went wide. Thinking that maybe she had been waiting all this time just to get back to Hogwarts to tell everyone, not to mention Dumbledore, what Draco was and just what he had done to her. Worried that she had only been bidding her time Draco came to a stop, fearing for his life and the lives of his family, for he knew what would happen if he failed this mission.

"She wouldn't," he muttered quietly and a little worriedly.

"That's the first sign of madness you know," a scratchy voice said to Draco's left causing him to jump, it was a portrait of a monk in an abbey who was currently sitting on one of the pews "talking to yourself."

Alarmed at the volume of the monk's voice Draco looked back, a little tentatively, in the direction of Ivy, he hadn't been hiding from her; not really, it would just make his life so much easier if she didn't see him. She did of course, having heard the monk's loud exclamation Ivy was now watching Draco with a mixture of shock, anger and worry playing with her features. Locking his gaze with hers Draco watched as she undoubtedly made assumptions, probably thinking that he was following her or something like that. Sticking her chin out a little and setting her mouth in a frown Ivy shot Draco one last contemptuous look before turning back to the gargoyle that hid the headmasters office, she gave it the password causing it to spring aside and then dashed up the stairs. Throwing the monk a harsh glare for the trouble it had caused Draco, the blond Slytherin hesitated for a brief millisecond before making a dash for the gargoyle; he didn't know the password and Slughorn had told him just to wait down here until Snape came down, however Draco didn't fancy that option and instead wanted to wait upstairs. Rushing through the doorway just before the gargoyle sprang back into place, earning himself an outraged cry from the stone creature, Draco took to the moving spiral stairs and followed Ivy.

Ivy

Really not wanting to have to describe the traitorous events of Boxing Day yet again and lie to yet another person I turned onto the corridor that led to Professor Dumbledore's office and fought back a sigh. Why did I have to do this? Had I slipped up and Dumbledore was calling me back because he had spotted a hole in my story, something that didn't quite make sense? Gawd, I was an idiot to think that I could lie to Dumbledore of all people, like I could ever fool him. Anxious I ran my hand through my hair again, hurrying down the corridor so that I could get this over and done with, my school shoes making clicking noises on the marble floor. I had just about reached the gargoyle that hid Dumbledore's office when a loud, harsh voice rang out across the corridor, causing me to turn around and alerting me to the presence of someone else in the corridor.

"That's the first sign of madness you know, talking to yourself." The voice said and I felt my eyes widen when I spotted who was standing there sending a glare at the offending voice, which belonged to a monk in a painting at the other end of the corridor, it was Draco Malfoy.

He looked up in my direction almost cautiously before letting his usual arrogant expression fall into place on his face, he then straightened up so that he was standing a little taller and locked his gaze with mine, I reluctantly held it. What's he doing here? I asked myself as I frowned at him, he was trying to look innocent but I didn't buy it, there was nothing innocent about this guy. Clearly he had been following me, I decided remembering how he hadn't looked pleased that I had spotted him, but why would he be following me? His mission for his master was surely over now, unless Voldermort hadn't been satisfied with me getting away like that without him being given a chance to inspect me for my ability to see, unless Malfoy still had a job to do. Refusing to be frightened or intimidated by Malfoy in any way I defiantly stuck out my chin and made sure I was standing tall myself, something odd flashed in his eyes as I did this, someone that I had never ever seen there before and something I wasn't even going to attempt to identify because my resolve didn't need putting under anymore pressure. Braking eye contact I turned to face the gargoyle and muttered,

"Chocolate Frogs," just loud enough for it to hear and just quiet enough so that it would be pretty much impossible for Malfoy to hear, hopefully meaning that he couldn't follow me up to the headmasters office.

The gargoyle sprang aside, making some unwelcome comment about Malfoy following me around which I ignored as I jogged up the moving spiral staircase, wanting to get to the top as quickly as I could and desperately hoping that the gargoyle would spring back in place in time to keep Malfoy out. After that scene in the potions room I wasn't eager for another meeting with him. Panting I reached the top of the stairs and waited to catch my breath, not wanting to see the headmaster in this state, he might as me what was wrong. Sucking in a lung full of air I stared at the door, getting ready to knock, at least that was until I heard footsteps on the spiral staircase which I now noticed was still moving. Crap, I thought as the footsteps slowed, Draco had followed me up here and now I was going to be in a rather small space with him while I waited for Professor Dumbledore to answer the door. Deciding I wasn't going to deal with that I stepped forward to knock on the office door, stopping when I heard voices on the other side, someone was already in the office talking to Dumbledore, and I recognised that voice.

"…so you expect me to just do nothing, you overestimate my self control if you expect me to sit through any more of this, the past six years have been nothing but a constant nightmare, one long reminder of HER and the past. What if I can't take it?" A rather worked up Snape asked Dumbledore, shocking me and causing my hand to stop in midair as was about to knock, I waited for the headmaster's response.

"I can imagine how hard this must be for you Severus," Dumbledore said calmly and I listened, appalled as Snape scoffed "and I applaud you being able to go through with this, but you know as well as I that we must let things run their course, this is of vital importance and nothing must get in their way."

"No Dumbledore, I do not know as well as you do, I fail to understand how something as trivial as this can be of any importance." Snape replied sharply.

"No, I don't suppose that you can. Though really Severus you should understand better than most how important this is and what it can make a person do." Dumbledore said pausing for thought before continuing "Not to worry though Severus, in time you will understand or perhaps not as it is not really necessary for you to know, however if everything works out as it should they will understand the significance of this."

"Of course it is important for me to understand," Snape all but shouted at Dumbledore "if I am to be a pawn in your little game Dumbledore I expect to know why reliving my misery every day will help your cause!"

Dumbledore paused for a moment and I lent closer towards the door, intrigued to know what would be said next and wanting to know who they were talking about and what was causing Snape so much misery "you make a valid point Severus…" Dumbledore started but I didn't hear what he said next as the footsteps on the staircase, which had become mysteriously absent while I listened to the two men talk, started up again and I turned around quickly, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping even if it was only Malfoy on the stairs. As I turned round I realised that Malfoy was only climbing the last few steps, causing me to blush and wonder how long he had been stood there, watching me listening in on what Dumbledore and Snape were saying, I wondered if he had heard it too and if he had any more of an idea of what it meant than I did. I would never ask him of course, I wasn't that interested.

My gaze locked with his again, making me feel uncomfortable and angry and empty all at the same time; though to be honest anger was the dominant emotion. Malfoy sized me up as my hands clenched into fists in my rage, he was probably remembering me hitting him on Boxing Day and I was glad that he was, it made me feel like I had a kind of upper hand. I didn't though, if anything I was once again at his mercy since I seemed incapable of moving any more unless it was in reaction to something he had done, he froze me with his eyes. Once again Malfoy looked torn as he stood before me, obviously trying to decide on something as he stepped onto the small landing before the headmaster's office he frowned deeply and appeared to be troubled. Glaring at the floor Malfoy seemed to make a decision as he looked back at me and said,

"Ivy…" his voice was almost pleading as he spoke to me, almost, his pride wouldn't let him actually plead with me to listen.

"No," I said balling my hands into fists to channel some of my anger and feeling my expression become one of rage "No, Malfoy, don't talk to me."

Looking taken aback Malfoy straightened and pulled an irritated face "Just hear me out, you don't understand…" Malfoy started but I shook my head at him, losing none of my anger in the wake of his presence, if anything it was intensifying now.

"No, I understand perfectly," I said coldly going for a piercing look with my gaze but not sure how successful I was being "and clearly you aren't here to apologise since you're incapable guilt or any emotion other than arrogance, so there's nothing that you can say that I would want to hear." I said punctuating my words with a glare at the stuck up Death Eater.

Clearly seething with rage Malfoy clenched his fists and almost shook with anger as he spoke "I'm not going to beg you to listen to me, Jones."

"Fair enough," I said sharply as I folded my arms across my chest "I wouldn't have listened anyway."

Malfoy lowered his guard and let out a noise of irritation before taking a step towards me, at which I took a step away from him, and he practically shouted "of course you wouldn't, because you are a stubborn, foolish girl who has no idea how far out of her depth she really is and how much danger she is in just because she is a…"

"…Filthy Mudblood?" I concluded cutting him off and speaking with as much force and volume as he had, not giving a second thought to the two men in the next room who could probably hear us. Malfoy looked as though I had slapped him and blinked at me for a moment before taking one more deliberate step towards me one which I couldn't back away from without banging into the office door. The blond haired death Eater then lent in close to my face and hissed,

"Because she is a Seer," In a very low and dangerous voice that would have had any other girl going weak at the knees, not me though, I met his gaze as he looked down at me and glared at him, anger rolling off of me in waves so strong that I wouldn't be surprised if he could feel them in his close proximity.

"Yeah, and don't you forget it." I said cryptically, insinuating that I knew something about him when I really didn't but just enjoying the shocked and irritated look that gave him and seeing him squirm. While Malfoy tried to figure out just what exactly I meant by that I held his cold gaze as I raised my balled fist and knocked on the headmasters office twice, the loud bangs echoing in the tense silence.

For a moment we just stood there, Draco right in front of me glaring down at me furiously and frustrated, his cold blue eyes shimmering and dancing in his sockets. I matched his gaze, well aware that I wore a mischievous and superior grin of my own, glad that I had cause to wear it and he didn't. Malfoy continued to frown at me until the door to the office was thrown open and he jumped away from me as though I had just delivered him an electric shock, not that I had expected anything else. Throwing Malfoy another superior grin I turned back to the door and found Snape standing there, having just opened the door, his dark eyes shinning with annoyance and something else I couldn't quite place, like pain? I dismissed the idea as crazy, Snape didn't feel pain, he wasn't human enough for that, the greasy haired, hook nosed teacher shot me a dark glare before fixing his furious gaze on Malfoy, who didn't so much as flinch under the weight of it, instead he only folded his arms across his chest and match Snape's glare with a contemptuous look of his own. Confused my gaze darted between the two of them, who had always gotten on so well in the past, Snape being Malfoy's favourite teacher and Malfoy being in Snape's house. There was a new hostility there that I didn't understand.

"Miss. Jones, Mr. Malfoy, how pleasant to see you both," Dumbledore greeted from across the room where he stood by his desk, watching the two of us from over his half-moon spectacles with interest and causing me to feel a little uncomfortable, thinking maybe he had heard our argument.

"Hello Professor," I greeted, ignoring Snape who of course didn't give two hoots since his gaze was still fixed with Malfoy's as though trying to convey some secret message or annoyance. Malfoy wasn't paying attention to Snape though; he was staring at Dumbledore with the oddest, strained look on his face that I couldn't quite place, though it unsettled me.

"You wanted to see me Professor," Malfoy half sneered as he returned his gaze to Snape.

"Yes I did," Snape said menacingly "but I specifically asked Professor Slughorn to tell you to wait downstairs."

Malfoy shrugged "I didn't want to wait downstairs,"

Glaring at Malfoy reproachfully Snape gritted his teeth "follow me, Mr. Malfoy; I need to have a word with you." Snape said tightly before indicating for Malfoy to go down the stairs, reluctantly an apparently rebellious Draco Malfoy did as asked and headed back down the stairs, but not before sending me one very odd and unreadable look, crossed between distaste and something else entirely. And with that he was gone and I recovered the ability to breathe normally, feeling all the anger start to slowly drain out of me I was soon only left with a tired, empty feeling.

I stepped out of the way as Snape strode past me, not really wanting to be on the receiving end of the former potions master's obvious anger. Snape had just reached the top of the spiral staircase when Dumbledore called out,

"Remember what we talked about, Severus."

At which Snape looked over his shoulder at Dumbledore with an unreadable expression on his face before hastily disappearing down the stairs after Malfoy. Slowly I turned back to face the headmasters office, finding Dumbledore still standing by his desk apparently lost in thought, he then seemed to shake out of it and smiled at me pleasantly before saying,

"Come in Ivy, I hope that you haven't been standing there long but I had a rather urgent matter to discus Professor Snape."

Blushing since I was sure he had known I was listening in I crossed the threshold of the office and walked towards him "I wasn't stood there very long, Professor," I told him trying to say that I hadn't overheard very much, or at least anything that made any sense to me.

"Good, it would be impolite of me to leave you standing outside for too long," Dumbledore said as he returned to his desk and sat down, indicating for me to take the chair opposite his.

As I crossed Dumbledore's office I was once again sucked in by the vastness of it and all the many strange and wonderful objects it homed, the lamps were yet to be lit and though the sun was starting to set outside there was still plenty of light to see by. The portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses were all wide awake and watching me with interest, some were muttering to each other, maybe about me but also maybe about the conversation they had just witnessed between Snape and Dumbledore.

"How are you then, Ivy," Dumbledore said as I settled into the chair across from his desk "I am sorry that I didn't have the chance to ask you this properly over Christmas but it was important that I gathered all the facts of the matter then, I hope that you understand."

"I do, sir," I replied honestly, Dumbledore had had to find out everything about the Death Eater's almost attack on me so that he could make sure that it was safe for me to return to Hogwarts this term, fortunately it was "and I am fine thank you."

Dumbledore didn't say anything at that, he only looked at me, his piercing blue eyes inspecting me and telling me that he didn't really believe what I had just said and causing me to blush again, of course he didn't believe that, it was an out right lie.

"Well," I amended "I'm as well as I can be."

At that Dumbledore nodded his agreement "I would not have expected anything else, you have been through a traumatic and upsetting experience, it is only natural that it should affect you somewhat." Dumbledore said as he began to route through the papers on his desk, searching for something "fortunately however, I might just have something to cheer you up slightly." He said as he located an envelope on his desk and handed it to me, it was unopened and I recognised the script straight away.

"It's from my family?" I asked though I need not have bothered since it was clearly my mum's handwriting on the front.

Dumbledore nodded and happiness filled me up as I looked down at the letter in my hands and ran my thumb over the writing on the front, tears of pure glee almost overflowing. I blinked the tears away and looked back up at Professor Dumbledore, smiling.

"Thank you, Professor." I said honestly at which Dumbledore pulled a serene expression and bowed his head.

"Though I appreciated your gratitude Ivy, the thoughtful suggestion for the letter lies with the lovely Carcia and not with myself, she thought that it would help both you and your family. I shall pass on your thanks if you so wish." Dumbledore said and I nodded.

"Would you? Thank you Professor."

"It would be no trouble Ivy, now, in regards to your reply. Once you have written one, if you do indeed chose to write one, kindly bring it back to me and I shall ensure that it is sent safely to your family, of course this will not be a regular thing for security reasons, but you will certainly be given the chance to communicate with them every now and again." Dumbledore explained as a set the letter down to read later when I could cry openly and unashamedly.

"Okay, Professor."

"Now, before we get down to the second matter that has caused me to so promptly summon you, keeping you away from your dinner which I assure you, you shall not miss out on. Might I just ask what you and Mr. Malfoy were having such a, lets say, heated discussion about?" Dumbledore asked, shocking me since I hadn't really expected this to be brought up and I hadn't thought of what I should say.

Blushing a little and trying not to look wide eyed and shocked I answered with "erm, its nothing important really," and then frowned when I thought about it and added "well it is to me, but its clearly not important to him." in a irritated tone which caused Dumbledore to raise his eyebrows at me "sorry Professor," I added, embarrassed.

"You do not need to apologise, Ivy, emotion is not a sin, but perhaps you will find that whatever it is that has you so upset, though I can not claim to know what that is, is important to Mr. Malfoy too." Dumbledore speculated at which I scoffed loudly forgetting where I was.

"I don't think so, Professor," I said and Dumbledore smiled at me before nodding a mercifully dropping the subject.

"If you say so Ivy, I'm sure you know best in this matter," Dumbledore said unintentionally making me feel like a stupid child "now to the matter at hand, I must confess that I would like to as you to relive the frightful experience again for me, in the interest of me gaining a better, fuller understanding of what happened." I nodded having expected as much, it would be painful, especially after what had just transpired between Draco and I but I knew that I had to keep on top of this before it overwhelmed me "I am truly sorry to ask you to go through his again."

"It's okay Professor, where would you like me to start?" I asked fighting back the urge to sigh, I hated all of this lying and how difficult it was to make sure I was telling exactly the same story to everyone, it was necessary though, if reliving the experience over and over again was what it took to keep everyone from finding out the truth then I would do it.

"Ah," Dumbledore said catching my interest with his apologetic tone "it seems that I have not made my meaning clear, what I meant to say Ivy was that I would like you to give me your memory of the vision and the incident so that I might understand it better. If that is all right with you of course."

It took every ounce of my strength to keep my expression neutral and not let my shock or horror show on my face. What? No, no this wasn't good, Dumbledore wanted the actual memory, how could I possibly lie then there was no way I could give him the made up story I had told everyone else because it didn't exist in my memories! Fear filling me I looked at Dumbledore for a few short moments, trying to grasp what this meant and why the idea seemed so awful to me. The worst thing that would happen to me would be that I would get into trouble for lying to everyone, in retrospect that was nothing and surely it was best that Dumbledore knew the whole truth anyway, I would be better protected if he knew all the details. But yet again something was stopping me from coming clean and telling the truth and I honestly could kick myself for whatever emotion stopped me from shouting to the world that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater and that he had tried to hand me over to his master. I couldn't do it though, and just like that I knew that I couldn't give Dumbledore that memory, it didn't feel right, like it wasn't my secret to tell. I didn't really have a choice though, I couldn't just tell Dumbledore no, he'd want to know why and surely it wouldn't take him very long to figure out that I was lying what with a brain like his, that was if he didn't know that already.

Not permitting myself so much as a gulp and cursing my loyalty, I met Dumbledore's gaze as I asked "Right now?" finding that my voice became emotional and my eyes water, I tried to bat away all these emotions but it wouldn't work and I gave in to the feeling of pain, fear and weakness that was surrounding me.

"Of course not right now," Dumbledore said softly though he had a look of triumph in his eyes that I didn't quite understand, it was as though I had passed some sort of test I hadn't known was taking place "I am not such a brute that I would ask you to relive the incident that caused your family to be taken into hiding and you to fear for your safety without time to prepare. I was thinking that maybe you could go away and send me back the memory once you are ready, as long as you have it to me before tomorrow."

Nodding as the lump in my throat made it impossible to talk I cursed Draco Malfoy in my head, why was I defending him, why was I putting my neck on the line just so that he was safe? He didn't deserve it, not even in the slightest, why on Earth was I lying to Dumbledore who only wanted to help me, just to keep Malfoy safe? Deciding I needed my head checking I forced myself to talk.

"I would appreciated that, sir." I said deciding that this was the best offer that I was the best offer I was going to get, since it gave me time to come up with some sort of plan to get out or around this I decided to take it.

Dumbledore smiled down at me in that all-knowing way that made me feel like he could see though all of my lies and was only humouring me, but surely he wouldn't be doing that with something this important so I decided I was being stupid.

"Good," Dumbledore said picking his wand up from his desk and asking "would you like me to show you how to extract a memory?" I nodded my agreement since I didn't really have any idea of how to do it beyond the descriptions Harry had given us of the time he saw Dumbledore take a memory straight from his head.

"It is fairly simple, Ivy," Dumbledore told me with a kind smile "in order to extract a memory straight from the brain one must simply place the tip of their wand, here," Dumbledore said bringing his wand tip to his temples "and concentrate intently on the memory they wish to extract. Once the memory fills up the whole of your mind you then simply draw your wand away from your head, bringing the memory with it." Dumbledore said before doing just that and pulling a silvery, white thread from his temples, probing it further with his wand before dropping it into a glass bottle. "And there you have it, one memory."

I smiled at Dumbledore as he set the memory down and handed me two empty bottles "thank you professor," I said as I took them from him, trying to think of a solution to my problem.

"It is no bother, Ivy, and thank you for consenting to give me your memory, I know it was a very difficult experience for you. Now," Dumbledore said as he looked at the large grandfather clock across the room "you must dash if you wish to make dinner before all of your classmates clear all of the plates." Dumbledore said with a kind smile which I returned despite my worry, there was no way I was heading down to the Great Hall.

"Yes, Professor," I said as Dumbledore got to his feet, only then did I spot his blackened hand, instantly it reminded me of the mystery that surrounded it and I stared at it again, wanting to ask Dumbledore about it and having been worried since the start of term feast where we all first noted the injury.

Dumbledore followed my gaze "Ah," he said moving his deadened looking hand "just like Mr. Potter I am afraid you too shall have to wait to hear this story, it is a thrilling tale and I do so wish to do it justice." I smiled at Dumbledore's interest in making the story interesting but I was no less worried "now, off you pop."

Reacting to the obvious dismissal I said goodbye to Dumbledore and headed out of his office, down the spiral staircase and out past the gargoyle, a thousand thoughts running trough my head. How was I going to get out of this? I asked myself as I exited the corridor and started working my way through the castle, yet again wondering why I was even bothering and knowing that I would never be able to answer that question, there really was no rhyme or reason to what I was doing here. Draco Malfoy didn't deserve to be protected! But I was protecting him so there was nothing more to say about it really. Feeling tears of anger, frustration and loneliness stinging my eyes I walked blindly through the corridors searching my brain for a solution I could not find in my state. Remembering the letter I still grasped in my hand along with the two bottles I decided that now was as good a time as any to read it, words of comfort and news of my family was exactly what I needed right now. Finding myself on the seventh floor corridor that homed the Room of Requirement I decided to make the most of its services and to read it in there. Jogging towards the right spot I stood there for a moment, considering what I was going to ask for before deciding and walking back and forth before the wall three times thinking,

I need a quiet, private place to read, a place that will inspire me to think and help me solve my problem.

I came to a stop and looked expectantly at the wall, frowning when the door didn't appear. Am I in the right place? I wondered, thinking maybe I was on the wrong corridor even though I had come here enough last year for D.A meetings I still doubted myself. No, I thought when I caught sight of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy hanging across from the spot where I stood, this was the right place. I continued to frown at the spot where the door should be; irritated and deciding that someone must already be using the room meaning that I couldn't go in. Curious as to who was inside and really wanting to use the room myself I waited around for a few minutes, but it soon became apparent that whoever was inside wasn't coming out any time soon. Bothered I walked a little further down the corridor, coming to a stop when I spotted a little alcove type thing at the end of the corridor, settling myself on a stone bench in the corner there I set my things down.

Taking the letter from underneath the two bottles I hesitated, worried that it might not say the things I was hoping for and that my family would be miserable, but then deciding that I wanted to know either way I quickly tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. I felt my worry gradually leave me as I read it, clearly my mum had wrote the letter since it was written in her handwriting but I could tell that everyone else had contributed too and told her to write there own little comments as I could spot all of their little inputs, which provided me with more comfort than I could say. They spoke of how they were settling in, which was supposedly well as the safe house Carcia and Marcus had chosen for them was nice and apparently abroad too, though they couldn't say where exactly in case the letter fell into the wrong hands. Apparently everyone had there own room, so the house must have been big, and they were getting along with Carcia and Marcus really well who apparently both had a good sense of humour, which was something you really needed when living with my mischievous siblings. I couldn't help but laugh when my mum wrote of the trouble they had already gotten into, braking things and playing practical jokes with the Weasley Wizarding Wheeze's products I had bought them all for Christmas, which my mum thanked me for, her sarcasm evident even in the letter. Though they seemed fine and to be in relatively high spirits I knew that it was taking a lot of effort on their part to be like that. I cried openly when my mum told me about how they had to use magical disguises if they wanted to go outside the house and how she worried about her friends who no longer remembered her. They were all putting on brave faces though, making the most of what had been given to them and simply happy that they were all safe.

They worried about me, that was the only truly negative emotion that my family let me see in their letter, the rest I only picked up on or imagined they would be feeling since I knew them so well. My mum wrote for me to keep myself safe at least four times before the letters conclusion, begging me not to do anything stupid and to keep my head down just like they were.

Raw from all the emotions the letter had brought on combined with the stress of having to hand Dumbledore the real memory, I folded the letter back up and decided to reply to it when I got back to the common room, I had a feeling I would be needing my friends support if I was going to get through this one. I missed my family so much and I was so frightened and sorry for doing this to them, but I didn't want them to know how devastated I was by this, just like they didn't want me to know the same thing even though I could sense it. Putting the folded up letter in my pocket I stared apprehensively at the two bottles resting on the bench next to me. I couldn't give Dumbledore the real memory, I just couldn't, but I had to give him something. Frowning deeply as I thought intently and I considered what Dumbledore had asked for, he had wanted the vision its self, which had been mainly been of me seeing the Death Eater's waiting outside for Draco to come, and then Draco actually coming out of my house. Then, eyes going wide as I considered this fact I wondered if I would be able to cut off the memory, stop it just before Draco immerged from my house meaning that Dumbledore would only see the Death Eaters standing under the streetlight.

Deciding it was worth a shot I closed my eyes and put all my energy into focusing on my vision until it filled up my mind and there was no room for anything else. It replayed before my minds eye over and over again, torturing me with its harsh reality, the truth and the fact that I had been betrayed. I watched as three dark, hooded figures appeared from no where, standing under the industrial streetlight and waiting to collect what they had been sent here for, or for further instruction. Just like in the initial vision all other emotions vanished as I became lost in the world of my vision, I shivered as the harsh wind blew around me, it was so cold, and I was freezing even though I was aware that I wasn't really there. Once again I watched as the door to my house was thrown open and a stormy faced Draco charged towards his fellow Death Eaters, a red hand print glowing brightly on his cheek and a determined expression on his face. I could feel his determination even from where I stood. Having enough of this and sensing emotions outside this memory, primarily hate, pain and betrayal, attempting to brake through and ruin the purity of it I immersed myself in the memory for one final time, drawing my wand away from my temple as the vision played before me yet again. With one sharp movement of my wand I cut off my memory just before Draco stormed from the house, meaning that Dumbledore would only see the Death Eaters appearing in a flicker of the streetlight and their uneasy wait for instruction. A shock reverberated through me as I cut the memory short, sounding out with a sharp popping sound in my head and causing me to worry about if I had removed that memory completely. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, I hadn't and I could still recall the truth.

My eyes snapped open and I inspected the silver string that was my memory, attached precariously to my wand tip. Opening up one bottle and letting the memory float inside I felt a triumphant grin grace my face, there was no way of knowing for sure if that had worked (unless I had a vision about it which was unlikely since my visions were very rarely convenient) but I felt confident that it had. Spurred on my this victory I proceeded to do the same thing with my second memory, choosing to select the one where I watched Draco (though you couldn't tell it was him) and the three Death Eaters disappear and me then running to summon the Order and everything that happened after that. Fortunately this one didn't need to be cut and once it was securely in the second bottle I got to my feet, putting them both in my robe pocket before hurrying down the corridor. I had to get back to the Gryffindor common room and write a reply to my family before Harry left, that way he could take both the memories and the letter to Dumbledore, since I didn't really feel like going back there today.

Running through the corridors of the castle I made it to the portrait hole in next to no time, supper had just ended and the common room was packed with students lolling around chatting and busily doing their homework. Scanning the room I soon spotted my friends, Ron was huddled up with Lavender in a far off corner not looking too happy about that fact and Harry and Hermione were sat down by the fire in our usual comfy armchairs. Hermione appeared to be doing some homework and Harry had the Marauders Map open in front of him, he was staring at it fiercely as though he couldn't understand what he was seeing there. Making my way over to Harry and Hermione, both of them looking up at me pleasantly as I approached, I felt some more of my tension and worry evaporate, it was good to have my friends here for me.

"Ivy," Hermione smiled when she spotted me "what happened, you were gone for ages?"

"Yeah," Harry said as I settled down in the chair next to his "what did Dumbledore want…?" Harry asked before trailing off when he got a good look at me and putting on a troubled expression, feeling my smile slip from my face I looked back at him in question.

"Is something wrong, Ivy?" Hermione asked, her tone worried and her expression now matching "you look like you've been crying." She said gently scooting to the end of her chair and closer to me.

"Oh," I said blushing and raising my hand to my tear stained cheeks, crap, I had forgotten about that in my haste to get my letter written, I had been hoping to downplay the emotional effect the letter had had on me but that seemed impossible now "err, yeah, I was." I admitted giving one of my probably bright red eyes a tired rub.

"What, why?" Hermione asked her tone travelling upwards in volume with her concern, causing me to smile in spite of how serious she was taking this. Harry said nothing, he only looked at me with that half angry half troubled expression on his face, I could tell that Harry thought that someone had made me cry and wasn't very happy about that fact, though what good friend would be? To be honest with you Harry was more than just a friend to me, both he and Ron were like another set of brothers to me and I think that they saw me and Hermione (or at least Harry did for Hermione) like sisters too.

"It's nothing bad," I said honestly wiping away my tear tracks with one hand and searching through my pockets with the other "not really," I said before pulling the letter from my pocket and unfolding it, the other two eyed it with interest and a little confusion before a laughed and explained "it's from my family, this is what Dumbledore wanted to give me, I'm late because I went somewhere to read it."

Immediately understanding Hermione started to offer words of support and comfort while Harry grinned at me and told me that this was great because he knew how worried I had been about them. Smiling at my two friends before me as they offered to put aside what they had been doing to help me write a reply, I graciously accepted sure that my emotions would get in the way if I attempted to write it alone. Together it didn't take us very long to write the letter; by the time Harry needed to be heading off to Dumbledore's office we had constructed a fairly casual and un-alarming letter that commented on all the things my family had mentioned in theirs, mentioned how my first day back at school had gone and expressed the relief I felt to hear them say that they were fine and told them all that I missed them. Lots. Harry was just getting up to leave when I stopped him and asked,

"Harry, could you take the letter to Dumbledore so that he can send it out?" I asked before remembering what else Dumbledore had asked for and pulling the two bottles from my pocket "oh and these please."

"Er, sure Ivy," Harry agreed as he took the letter and bottles from me "but what are these?"

Feeling no need to lie about this, gawd knows I've done enough of that I settled back down in my chair, lowering my voice since the common room was considerably emptier now. "They're memories," I said and Harry's eyes went wide in understanding as he recognised the bottles as the kind he saw in his meetings with Dumbledore and probably remembered all the memories he had seen so far "Dumbledore wanted to see exactly what happened on Boxing Day." I said feeling my face heat up because I knew that that wasn't 'exactly' what happened, thankfully no one saw it in the dimming light of the fire beside us.

"Okay," Harry said dropping the items in the pockets of his robes, he then shifted about on his feet for a moment between the chair where he had been sat and the portrait hole, almost as if he wanted to stay. This motion caused Hermione to look up from the homework she was carrying on with and watch him with a reproachful look, apparently understanding the motion.

"Ivy?" Harry asked as he seemed to reach a decision and turned to me "would you do me a favour?"

"Harry," Hermione complained apparently knowing what he was going to ask, I didn't however and so shrugged and said,

"Sure, you're doing me one for me."

A smile flashed onto Harry's face as he quickly snatched up the Marauders Map from across the table and set it down in front of me, Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and muttered something about him being ridiculous which Harry ignored.

"I need you to keep an eye out for Malfoy," Harry said pointing to the map, I froze in my seat so suddenly and sharply that it was a wonder that Harry didn't feel it too from where he was standing beside me "he's disappeared again and I want to see if I can find out where he's gone."

I should have seen it coming, Harry had first noticed that Malfoy was disappearing off the map before Christmas and I really shouldn't be surprised that Harry was still intent upon finding out where he disappeared to. It still made me uncomfortable though, just the mention of the traitors name how about a million different emotions shooting through me and I had to grip the chair arm just to keep my expression neutral.

"Harry, this is ridiculous," Hermione said from where she sat causing both Harry and I to look up "While I can't deny that Malfoy is up to something, but don't you think that you're taking that a bit far?"

"No, I don't Hermione," Harry said firmly while I seemed incapable of speech and so couldn't add my opinion to the conversation since all I really wanted to say was that I agreed with Hermione "I want to know where he's disappearing to, you cant apparate in and out of Hogwarts, you told me that, and there are Aurors on every exit. Malfoy is going somewhere off the map and I'm going to figure out where that is."

Hermione frowned but didn't say anything further, I managed to tell Harry that he was going to be late for his meeting with Dumbledore and with that Harry said bye to us both and disappeared out the portrait hole. Hermione sighed and returned to the homework that really I should have been starting too; instead I took a deep breath and shuffled forwards on my chair until I was perched on the very end of it and peered down at the Marauders Map, reluctantly searching for Malfoy's name. Just as Harry had said, Draco Malfoy was no where to be found. Doing as asked I sat there scanning the pages of the map, my eyes more than occasionally drifting away from the parchment at the emptying common room where in no time only Hermione and I sat, Ron having resolved to hear what Harry had to say in the morning. Other than when my gaze and mind wandered my emotions had no rest from the constant onslaught I received when I searched in vain for Malfoy's name. Tired of anger and all the other emotions I was subject to I prayed that Harry would get back soon.

Author note: what do you think? I'm not too pleased with the ending but I wanted to round it off at the end so that starting the next chapter might be easier than if I'd left it hanging. Anyway, please let me know what you though about this, I absolutely adore it when I get reviews and they are such good motivation, big love to everyone who has reviewed so far and please let me know your thoughts on this chapter :) x