I'm not getting along with me
I can't get my mind to stop working

I knew all the blackest blues
You were all my favorite tunes
This was all I had to lose

Should have known to turn
Get ahead of the curve but I've learned
the failure sounds all to familiar to me

To my surprise
I can't fit in anybody's arms
No more disguise
Oh you, oh you left just in time

As the light
Darkens again
I lose myself within
Cause in the end
Still I'm reminded

[Just In Time by There For Tomorrow]

Later in the night, Brooke felt like she couldn't breathe. Like all her troubling thoughts threw a great weight upon her, but it didn't have to be there. It shouldn't, Brooke thought. Hardly was it her job to protect Draco Malfoy; he's grown, he can do it himself.

Sure, the locket made she, Hermione, Ron and Harry disturbed and restless upon the subject. Once Brooke and Harry reached the common room, they hoarded them with questions. The answers the two gave however, made Ron and Hermione asking more and more, some they could only guess at. But, in the end, that Horcrux was as good as dead.

She didn't have any reason to worry.

Brooke sighed. Pressing the cold side of the pillow against her face and pulling up the blanket, she scrunched her nose. He was an idiot. He was an idiot and all Brooke wanted to do now was help him.

Locket or not, Brooke knew she was crazy.

On their way back from Hagrid's, a certain Slytherin boy and his characteristic blonde hair formed out of the small speck of a person walking a ways away from their path.

"I might as well get this over with," mumbled Brooke. In heavy steps, she strayed away from Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Brooke out of the dirt path, onto the hilly grass covered grounds. This incoming conversation would certainly be as disastrous as her last attempt to talk to him, and probably even worse, nonetheless, she called his name.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," she tried smiling, wracking her brain for words. "Do you think you could help me with Potions?" Yeah, it was better to ease her way in.

"Why not ask Slughorn? I'm sure he'd be willing to help," said Draco with the most aloof expression he mustered up.

"I didn't want to bug him," shrugged Brooke.

"No, he loves you," he said with eyes plastered to the ground. "Besides, I promised to meet Pansy in a couple minutes."

"Oh, alright," said Brooke, unlatching her clenched teeth. She secretly hoped some dense pebble would rise in midair and launch itself onto Draco's head as he left her.

That arrogant head would think she wanted to talk to him if she made another attempt at a conversation.

No, she had to talk to him. To find out where he got that locket.

Fine. If pride had to be sacrificed for that answer, Brooke knew very well which choice was the obvious.

Getting that opportunity grew even harder over the next few days. With hardly any homework that Saturday, she and Harry spent a lot of time with the Marauder's Map while Hermione dragged Ron off to the library to force him to do his long procrastinated homework.

The entire day, Draco was missing from Castle grounds according to the map.

Harry dragged Brooke along, with less convincing than usual, to keep watch on the corridor where the Room of Requirement should appear. They lasted only an hour, sitting and waiting in a small dip in the wall, so as to avoid suspicion.

"We'll keep the map open, then," said Brooke, getting up from the bench.

"Nevermind. Even if we see him then, we'd be too far away to slip in," said Harry, folding the parchment and tucking it into his back pocket.

Hermione and Ron were still in the library and with Madam Pince walking by the table every other minute to make sure they were silent, she and Harry decided not to stay.

"What if they actually get together?" asked Harry.

"Good for them," smiled Brooke. "It's been ages until they realized it."

Storming in from the courtyard, Ginny greeted them with as much of an acknowledgement as her burning stare could give. Dean, quickly followed, trying to catch up.

"Girls," he said dejectedly, rushing past them.

Harry smiled. Not in the way he would laugh at a joke Dean made, but there was something slightly sinister in it.

"What?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"The smile," said Brooke. "What is that?"

"What do you mean? It's a smile."

"Oh, come on, tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," he said, unsuccessful in hiding the delight.

Brooke gasped. "So, Hermione was right."

"Hm?"

"You. And Ginny," she laughed.

He cocked one eyebrow. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Harry!" Brooke reached for his arm before he turned.

Then, they heard someone else speak from inside the bathroom. It sounded like Moaning Myrtle.

Slowly, Harry pushed open the door to the still tile floored room. The softly clinking footsteps hid behind the sound of running water and a series of gasps.

"No, don't," crooned Moaning Myrtle.

She floated a few feet in the air, resting a her pearly transparent fingers on her equally pale mouth. Next to her was a tall boy, hunched over the running sink, clutching onto its glossy edges.

It took a couple more gasps from the boy for Brooke to realize Draco was crying. She thought she might have run into Moaning Myrtle, but the sudden cold chill that washed over her was not from the ghostly girl.

Not whining, not complaining, but Draco was crying. His grayish tinge practically blended in with the bathroom walls. Even his platinum blonde hair seemed to have lost its normal sheen and with every shaking gasp, his hands gripped harder, losing color.

Draco's eyes glanced up at the mirror, growing wide once he spotted Brook and Harry watching in the background. In one swift turn, Draco grabbed his wand, swung his arm and sent a spell right in between the two.

Brooke jumped out of the way, snatching up her own wand, however, knowing no other spell but a shield charm would pass her lips. Looking behind her, both Harry and Draco disappeared from sight, but their footsteps echoed in the bathroom.

"Aah! Stop!" screamed Myrtle. She flew higher into the air to no particular direction.

Stepping carefully, Brooke headed to the sink closest to the stalls and backed into it, so no one would pop up behind her. For a few moments, she heard nothing.

Then, a stall door slammed open somewhere deeper in the bathroom and shocked her nerves alive. Peering into the line of stalls on her left, Brooke saw Harry run quickly toward her from the circularly arranged urinals and closely dodged a spell.

Instead, it headed straight for Brooke. Quickly, she ducked and heard the shatter of the mirror on the far wall behind her. Harry ran all the way into the very last row of stalls, again disappearing except for his footsteps.

"No! Stop it!" Myrtle kept shrieking.

The sounds of spells ricocheting off the walls and burst pipes from the toilets interrupted Myrtle's high pitched pleas.

Footsteps grew louder and louder from the furthest lane of stalls and out came Draco running toward the door. About to run to stop him, Brooke furrowed her eyebrows, not seeing him continue out from behind the urinals.

Without warning, Draco darted from his hiding spot toward her. She knew he was going to attack her, but all Brooke brought herself to do was hold out her wand. Closer and closer, he sent no spell.

"Cr-" he began. His wand pointed into the line of stalls, ninety degrees from where Brooke stood.

"Sectumsempra!" shouted Harry.

The spell hit Draco in the chest and the force sent him in midair for a second before landing on the puddles of water on the floor.

Blood seeped in slashing lines through his shirt. Brooke felt planted to the ground, only managing to gape at Harry.

They rushed to Draco's body. Both blood and water began fanning out on his white shirt. Thankfully, he wasn't dead. His fingers moved slightly and Draco groaned weakly between pained gasps.

"MURDER!" Myrtle screamed. "MURDER IN THE BATHROOM!"

"I didn't-" said Harry, wide eyed.

Kneeling down, she tore open his shirt at the buttons and hastily tugged it out from under him. More than half his shirt was wet and acted as a poor sponge, nonetheless, Brooke tried soaking up the blood still seeping from the foot long cuts across his chest.

His fearful eyes blinked furiously to keep the blood from sliding into them, so Brooke had to use her sleeve to wipe his face. The stoic gaze he held onto over the course of the year fought with the escaped expressions of pain.

She grew frustrated that the wounds wouldn't stop bleeding.

Draco could feel his insides opened up to the cold air and clenched his teeth to stop the stinging every time he gasped for air.

The doors burst open and Snape strode in, livid at the scene. His nostrils flared and his black eyes darted between Draco on the floor, to Brooke's red hands and Harry, loosely holding his wand.

Without a word, he walked closer to Draco and Brooke clumsily got up from her knees to get out of the way. He muttered a lyrical incantation, waving his wand horizontally across Draco.

Soon, the open wounds began to stitch together without any material and with one last squeeze of blood, Snape stopped. The bathroom resorted back to its stillness with only the running of broken pipes and Draco's subsiding gasps.

Snape managed to pull him into a half standing position.

"You two, stay here," he said dangerously. It never occurred to them to make a run for it, but the tone in his voice rooted them to the ground.

She and Harry stood, silent as the drained gurgled down the mess. They were kicked out for good.

"I didn't know what it was," said Harry, still slightly breathless.

Brooke nodded in reassurance, but pursed her lips as heat rose to her eyes. What could have been so bad to make him cry like that?

The door opened again, and Snape came at them in more cold anger than the first time.

"It was an accident," explained Harry immediately. "And Brooke had nothing to do with it, Professor."

"No," said Brooke quickly. "Professor, I should have stopped it."

"Enough," he said curtly. "It is evident that Ms. Miller did not cast the spell with her wand lying feet away."

He was right. Brooke's wand lay where she dropped it when Draco got hit.

"You can return Mr. Malfoy's shirt," said Snape. "I need to talk to Potter alone."

"Sir, I-" said Brooke.

"Now," he said through his teeth.

Throwing Harry and apologetic look, she left the bathroom, receiving odd stares from students passing by. It was more than understandable. Brooke's shoes squeaked and she carried a wet bloody bundle in her hands. She could care less what she looked like.

Speeding up her pace, Brooke kept getting flashes of the slowly dying Malfoy and the frightened look in his eyes.

The Hospital Wing was completely empty except for the one bed, third from the front, thankfully with no blood covering his body. Instead, Draco looked ghostly white as if all his blood was in Brooke's hands.

"May I help you?" asked Madam Pomfrey from her office door.

"I needed to return his shirt," said Brooke, holding up the bloody cloth.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and left back into her office.

Draco raised his head an inch to see who walked in.

"Hey," she said nervously.

"What are you doing here?" he said with the lack of pleasantry he actually felt.

"Your shirt," said Brooke. She draped it on the railing at the foot of the bed. "And I wanted to make sure you're alright."

"I'm fine, aren't I?" replied Draco, sitting up. Although the wounds closed, the red lines on his face and neck shone against his skin.

"It didn't look like that in the bathroom," said Brooke. "I've never seen such a gruesome spell besides Unforgivables-"

"Well, I'm fine now, alright?" he said with folded arms.

"What's your problem?" asked Brooke, decidedly showing her anger at him now. "I'm trying to be nice and all you're doing is picking a fight."

Draco rolled his eyes and turned his back on her.

"I'm just worried about you," Brooke mumbled.

Stubbornly, he laid facing the wall and planned on doing so until he heard her footsteps leave the Hospital Wing, however, Brooke sighed and sat on his bed.

It was her own silent way of telling him she was won't leave until he talks to her.

For three minutes they sat, waiting for the other to start.

"You can tell me, you know?" Brooke finally said. "Whatever's going on with you."

Draco sat up again and looked at her.

"You won't leave me alone," he said in a way reminiscent of his usual tone of arrogant mockery.

Brooke narrowed her eyes and made a face.

"No," she said patiently. "I mean, really. What's bothering you so much to make you cry like that?"

"That's none of your business," he said sharply.

"Maybe it's not, but it's making me worried," she defended. "You've been acting strangely all year and progressively looking terrible."

This scene played out so many times in Draco's head, where he could finally tell Brooke everything and apologize for how much he'd been a jerk. It would lift so much off his back, but he knew tell her would only do more harm.

That was the selfish thing to do, to tell her everything. He kept quiet, staring at the sheets crumpling in towards her blood crusted hand.

"If you can't tell me, can you at least tell me where you got the locket?" asked Brooke.

"What locket?"

"The locket- the one you gave me?" By now, Brooke grew tired of trying to pry any more out of him and settled for a resigned tone.

"Why?" asked Draco.

"Curiosity."

"Found it around the house one day," said Draco, uncertain of her intentions. "I think it was in one of the studies, stuffed in a drawer or something."

"Oh," said Brooke, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Do you think your father brought it home or did you buy it somewhere?"

"I don't know," he said slowly. If only he'd learned Legilimens rather than Occulmency.

"Mm'kay," she said and stood up. "Well, thanks. I should get going."

"Hold on," he said, reaching into his pocket. After a bit of struggling, he tossed something to her that she could barely see, only catching it by the light reflecting off it for a millisecond.

Brooke held the ring between her thumb and forefinger.

"Why are you giving this back?" she muttered.

"What am I going to do with it? You said you'd keep it on no matter what and I don't feel like it's mine anymore," he said with a hard to read face.

"Wouldn't it be weird if I still had it?"

"It's just a ring," he shrugged.

Right. Like how the locket is just a necklace.

"Miller," someone said angrily.

They both turned toward the door to find Pansy in full stride, looking just about to strangle Brooke by the neck.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," she said, drawing her wand.

Brooke raised an eyebrow. Ready to leave anyway, she strode to the door, bowing while passing Parkinson. "As you wish," she smirked.

The whispered arguing behind her brightened her day a little a more and Brooke walked out, pocketing the ring.

The sudden change of scenery alerted her of Snape and Harry in the bathroom. It must have been a while since she left and Brooke doubted the two were still there. She briskly walked to the common room, hoping he wasn't expelled or at least killed by Snape after what happened.

Thankfully, Harry was alive and didn't have his trunk packed next to him. He, Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat in front of the fire, their grim faces darker in the flickering ember lights.

"Where've you been?" asked Harry.

"I had to return his shirt," she replied simply. "But what happened? I thought Snape would have had you out of Hogwarts."

"I had to hide my Potions books," said Harry.

"Is that where you got that stupid spell?" asked Brooke angrily. "You could've killed him, you know."

"He was about to torture me," said Harry. "You were there."

"But you didn't even know what that spell was. You could have at least disarmed him or use a shield charm," retorted Brooke.

"Lay off him," said Ginny. "It obviously put Harry in a pressured situation, just be glad he reacted quickly."

"Like he hasn't been in a pressured situation before," snorted Brooke.

"The book's gone and hidden," spoke up Hermione. "And Harry's not going to go look for it again, will he?"

"No," said Harry grudgingly.

"Well, this is great," said Ron sarcastically. "Now Harry can't even play in the last Quidditch match."

A/N: Hey guys :) Hope you liked my rendition of the bathroom scene. Review and tell me if you did or didn't or anything you have to say about the story in general. Thanks especially to Luli Cullen and vampire-angel1996 for their awesome ideas & of course everyone who read and reviewed. Being on Spring Break, I'll probably have a lot more time to work on the story and might actually finish up writing this book. So keep a look out!