I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Twenty One: The Map

January leading into February was a dull one. Delilah had become quieter than normal once she got back, and even refused to confide in Luna what was on her mind.

Her sister and Amanda had reassured her that one break up wasn't the end of the world over the holidays, and she was sure of that. She had enough common sense to know the world wasn't going to end because she and Draco weren't together anymore, or on speaking terms, but she was still upset over something.

There was something wrong with him, and she was still concerned what it was. He was sometimes able to play off the worried look in his eyes when he was speaking with a few of his Slytherin friends, but there were numerous times when she'd catch him looking deep in thought with a look of worry in his eyes, or talking quickly and hushed with Crabbe or Goyle.

The bags still hadn't disappeared from his eyes, in fact, they seemed to be getting darker, and he seemed to carry an aura of distress about him. Delilah had even wondered if it would work to go to Madam Pomfrey for help, but she quickly realized if Draco wouldn't tell her what was wrong, why would he tell Madam Pomfrey?

One day, while she and Luna were studying alone in the Ravenclaw common room, it hit Delilah so hard she nearly threw her Potions book across the empty couch.

"I've got it!" she said happily.

Luna, who was sitting in a blue, cushy air chair next to her, glanced up at her curiously. "Got what?"

Delilah placed her book next to her and turned to look at Luna, a large grin on her face, "I just remembered, last year in D.A. Harry showed us the map he has of the school. Well," she paused, looking at Luna to see if she had caught on. She realized after a moment she hadn't, and quickly continued, "I could ask Harry to borrow it and see if Draco is okay; if he isn't doing anything bad, of course. This way Draco doesn't have to tell me, since he won't even speak to me, and I find out if he's okay or not."

Luna stared at her for a moment, before shrugging, "Are you sure that's okay?"

Delilah gave her a curious look, "What do you mean?"

Luna rested her head in her hands, "Well, it's been about three months since you two have broken up. Perhaps maybe you should stop worrying about Draco. What he does now is his business, isn't it? Besides, he might look like that because of how infested Hogwarts is with nargles; they'd have taken half is belongings by now, probably. Of course he'd seem stressed after that."

Delilah sighed, a pout forming on her face. She had no romantic intentions with this plan. All she wanted to do was make sure Draco was okay. She'd wanted to make sure of that since the beginning of the year. For all she was concerned, what happened with Draco was her business now, since she's been trying to help him for months.

Deciding trying to convince Luna she had no romantic intentions was hopeless, she said goodnight and headed up to bed.

Delilah hurried around the castle, nearly out of breath, trying her best to find Harry. She knew she needed to ask him somewhere private. She had a hunch that having a map that told you where every single person in the school was were against the rules.

Finally, after heading up the stairs to the third floor, she spotted Harry walking a ways ahead of her with Ron, both talking.

She ran as quickly as she could, clutching the strap of her book bag as she did. "Harry!" She called, hurrying to a stop behind him. Harry and Ron turned around and Harry gave her a small smile, "Hello Delilah. Is there a problem?" he asked.

Delilah paused, placing a hand on her chest as she caught her breath. Finally she waved him towards an empty classroom to their left. Harry and Ron hesitated, but followed her inside regardless.

She closed the door behind them and struggled to find the words. After a moment, she turned to Ron, "I actually need to speak to Harry, um, p-privately." She said nervously, hoping she didn't upset him.

Ron paused for a moment, before slowly nodding, "I'll just meet you up in the common room, then." He said, quickly leaving the room.

Once Ron had left, Harry stared at Delilah expectedly, while she continued to try and find the words. Finally, she could manage it. "Could I, m-maybe, b-borrow your m-map?"

Harry quirked an eyebrow, "Uh, do you mind me asking why?"

She paused, but realized it was no use lying any more. "I worried about what Draco is doing." She mumbled her voice very quiet.

Harry's eyes widened, "Malfoy? Are you worried about what he's doing?"

She gulped, twiddling her thumbs together nervously, "I-I've been worried about him since the year started and he c-couldn't tell me. A-And I overheard him speaking to Professor Snape a-about s-something…"

"At Slughorn's party." Harry added, staring at her knowingly. Her eyes widened, "H-How did you,"

"I had my invisibility cloak. I wanted to know what was going on, so I followed them out. I was standing right next to you when they were talking in that classroom. But, you're just his tutor. Why are you so concerned about his well-being?"

"Why were you listening to his conversation?" Delilah asked curiously.

"I'm not concerned for his well-being, believe me. I'm curious about what he's been up to. Could you answer my question, please?"

Delilah hesitated, before sighing, "We were in a relationship since the end of 4th year. I just want to make sure he's alright."

Harry's eyes widened so much Delilah thought they'd fall out of his head. He was fumbling with his words as he stared at her, but Delilah kept her serious face, keeping her eyes on Harry. She thought he'd laugh and refuse to believe her, or be repulsed that she had dated him at all. But, instead, he shook off the shock and asked her,

"Were?"

Delilah gulped, nodding her head, "I went to talk to him after he walked out on Professor Snape. I told him I wanted to help him, and that I could tell he was sick but he broke up with me."

Harry thought this over for a minute, before nodding his head, "Alright."

Delilah quirked an eyebrow at him. "Alright?"

Harry nodded, "You can borrow the map on one condition."

Delilah grinned, "Anything, Harry, anything!"

"As soon as you find Malfoy, and figure out what he's doing that's making him so sick, you need to tell me so I can see for myself."

Delilah paused for a moment, and then shook her head, "You want to get him in trouble, don't you?" she asked, her voice quiet. He sighed, "I have very good reason to believe he's doing something that could be dangerous. I just want to know what it is."

She paused, but ultimately nodded. "All right, it's a deal."

"Just send me a message on the D.A. coin you got last year, alright?"

Delilah nodded, trying hard to remember what she had done with her coin. He grinned, "Fantastic. Follow me and I'll get you the map."

"Thank you so much, Harry!" she said happily, following him out of the room.

She followed him to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, but she held her hands over her ears as Harry gave the portrait the password and he disappeared inside. After a few moments, he returned, holding the old piece of parchment.

"Have it back to me tomorrow night, alright?" he asked. She nodded.

"Just tap it with you wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' when you want to use it and 'Mischief Managed' when you're done." He explained to her. She nodded, placing it into her bag.

"Remember; send me a message on the coin if you find out what's wrong with him." Harry reminded her urgently. She nodded, before hurrying off to the stairway leading to the Ravenclaw common room.

The curtains were drawn around her four poster bed, her wand lit over the map as she looked at all the names wandering around the castle. She felt odd knowing where every single person in the school was at all times. She didn't understand how Harry could manage it without the strange feeling of stalking all of them. She already felt strange enough keeping an eye on Draco; she couldn't imagine just looking at the map for fun.

Her eyes were mostly on the Slytherin common room, where Draco's name stood still, along with Crabbe and Goyle.

She fell against her pillow, checking her wrist watch. It was nearly nine o'clock and she knew soon they wouldn't even be able to leave their common room.

She sighed, realizing that this was all just a waste. As she sat back up to grab the map, she saw Draco and his friends footsteps had disappeared. She scanned the map, and saw they were moving out of their common room and into the dungeons. She threw back her curtains, grabbed her D.A. coin and ran out of her room, down the stairs and out of the common room.

She stood in front of the door, watching their footsteps and looking around the map to make sure the coast was clear for her. After a moment, she hurried down the stairs and ran as quickly as she could to the corridor Draco was walking towards.

She reached the stairs when she realized they were coming from the other side. Hiding behind a statue, she watched their footsteps until they were on the next floor, before hurrying up after them. As she followed them, she recognized the route they were taking after a while, and instead of following their footsteps, she scanned the map for teachers as she continued the route by heart.

Once she made it to the seventh floor, she ducked behind a suit of armor and watched as Crabbe and Goyle took up posts by each entrance to a difference corridor while Draco paced in front of the stone wall and within a moment, a large door appeared and Draco hurried inside, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to stand watch.

Delilah hurried to look at the map, and sure enough, Draco's footprints were gone but Crabbe and Goyle's were still there. She quickly realized that the Room of Requirement didn't show up on the map.

She waited a moment, a realized if she tried to go back to her common room they would see her and either attack, or tell Draco they saw her hiding behind the suit of armor. She gulped, and wondered if she'd send a message to Harry, he'd bring his invisibility cloak and she could sneak out of there that way. No, of course he wouldn't come. He wouldn't know when someone was coming and he had a higher risk of getting caught, even if he did have his cloak. Who knows who he'd bump into as he turned a corner?

She mentally cursed, trying her best to get comfortable against the wall as she tried to think of a spell to get her by.

After about ten minutes of waiting, she slowly kneeled down to the floor and looked at Crabbe, who was watching the corridor she was standing in. She pulled her wand out and slowly pointed it towards him.

"Petrificus totalus." She whispered and Crabbe's arms and legs locked together, and fell forward onto the floor. He made a rather loud thump and she quickly jumped up and ran towards the stairs. Not even seconds after she has cursed Crabbe did she hear Goyle's voice shout at her and his spell bounce off the stone wall next to her as she passed.

She ran down the stairs, her wand clutched in her left hand and the map in the other. She flung it open as she made it half way down the stairs and saw Goyle's footprints by the wall, and seconds later Draco's reappeared. They must have known the counter-curse because Crabbe was quickly running down the corridor along with Goyle and Draco, in the same direction as her.

She gulped, running faster down the stairs, checking the map to make sure Filch, or any of the teachers or Aurors were coming their way. She thanked Merlin the corridor leading to the staircase towards Ravenclaw tower was empty and she quickly bolted in that direction, trying her hardest to make sure Draco and his friends didn't catch her.

She ran up the steps two at a time and collapsed right there in front of the door to her common room. It had asked her to solve a riddle, but she was too busy catching her breath and calming her heart to answer straight away.

After a few minutes she caught enough breath to choke out an answer and the door flew open. She hurried inside, clutching her chest as she did. She knew she was in a little shape since she swam her lake every summer, but she had no idea she'd get winded so easily by running across the school like that.

She stumbled into the common room, earning a few curious looks from her fellow house mates, and slowly made her way up the stairs. She quickly began loathing the stairs now that she was out of breath from all the running. She decided going to tell Luna what happened was too tiring, and instead went straight to her room and collapsed against her bed.

Delilah and Luna walked along the corridors, out of their uniforms and enjoying their Saturday morning. Delilah had Harry's map tucked in her pants pocket and she was keeping her eye out for said boy so she could return it.

She felt a knot in her stomach as she realized what she was going to have to tell him. She didn't want to tell him Draco was spending his time in the Room of Requirement, but maybe Harry already knew that. Maybe he actually thought nothing of it and wanted something more than that. Who knows what he was doing in the Room of Requirement. He could be studying since she had stopped being his tutor right after they returned from the holidays.

She and Luna made their way into the Great Hall to look for Harry; perhaps he had gotten there early for lunch.

Sure enough, he was sitting at the table with Hermione, while Ron was nowhere to be seen.

As they approached, Luna spoke first, "Where's Ron?"

Harry looked up at them and whispered, "He's been avoiding Lavender. I suspect he's in the library."

Luna nodded while Delilah pulled the old piece of parchment out of her pocket and handed it to Harry. "Thank you very much." She told him, a small smile on her lips.

Harry nodded, tucking the parchment into his own pocket, "Did you find anything out?" he asked.

Delilah paused, quickly thinking over if what she had seen was worth telling at all. Finally, she shook her head and shrugged, "He was in his common room all night."

Harry sighed, staring down into his plate. "All right. Well, thanks for saying so, Delilah."

She nodded, before turning on hear heel and heading towards the doors. Luna quickly followed her, a curious look on her face, "Why didn't you tell him? Did you forget momentarily?"

Delilah shook her head, "He was just in the Room of Requirement. That isn't really a big deal, is it? Harry doesn't need to know about that."

Just as they walked out of the Great Hall, she spotted Draco walking down the corridor alone. Delilah stopped, keeping her eyes on him to see if he'd look. He glanced at her, but quickly glued his vision to the floor, hurrying past her.

"Hello Draco." She called, turning around to face his back. He paused right outside the Great Hall, as if contemplating if he should say anything.

Sadly, within a moment he continued on his walk into the Great Hall without a word. Delilah sighed, parting ways with Luna and making her way to the courtyard.

Draco lay in his dormitory, the curtains around his four poster drawn and the sounds of his roommates' snores loud in his ears. His heart was pounding in his ears and he was grinding his teeth as he thought over what was happening.

The cabinet still wasn't working. It was taking too long to repair and the year was almost over. The plan he was so sure would work was failing and he had no idea what to do. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if he returned home at the end of the year, his mission failed and the Dark Lord waiting for him.

He felt his heart in his throat as the idea came to mind and he shot up in bed, gripping his hair in his hands. What was he going to do?

He needed to calm down. He hurried out of bed towards his trunk and began rummaging in it. He dug to the very bottom and pulled two pieces of parchment out of a small box and returned to his bed, pulling the curtains closed as he did.

"Lumos," He muttered, holding his wand above the parchment as he lay down in bed. He didn't need to read the letter; he knew it by heart at this point. He simply looked it over, studying the curly handwriting. He knew she would be able to calm him down but seeing how he was trying his hardest not to speak to her, her letters would have to do.

But even if he was trying not to speak to her, it didn't mean he didn't keep an eye on her. She seemed quieter now, even barely speaking to Luna when he'd seen them together in the Great Hall. A few times he'd see her saying hello to Ginny Weasley or Granger, but other than that she was quiet.

He put the first piece of parchment down and began looking over the second; going over the sixteenth birthday party her family had thrown for her over the summer. He wished he would have been able to attend. The way she explained it sounded so much fun; a swimming competition, scavenger hunt through the woods behind her house, and she tried mead from Madam Rosmerta's for the first time. She wrote that it was quite fantastic, but that she still prefers Butterbeer.

He smiled, before something hit him. Madam Rosmerta's Mead…someone had mentioned that to him before. He knew it.

That was it. It was years ago, but he recalled seeing Dumbledore in The Tree Broomsticks on one of their Hogsmeade weekends, drinking some of Madam Rosmerta's Mead, he even told her it was his favorite when she had served him.

That what he could do; his original plan wasn't working the way he had planned it, so he could poison a bottle of Mead! But how would he get the Mead, poison it and give it to Dumbledore?

He remembered how he had slipped the necklace to Katie. He had gone into the loo after seeing Madam Rosmerta go in after Katie Bell. He put Rosmerta under the imperious curseand hid in a stall as Rosmerta gave Katie the necklace. He kept in contact with Rosmerta with an enchanted coin in case he needed any more help from her, but thought he wouldn't since December. He realized he'd need to use her again. He'd tell her to poison a bottle of Dumbledore's favorite, and to pass it along to a Professor, telling them that it was a 'late Christmas present to Dumbledore from her.' It could work, it could really work.

He rummaged in his bedside table, and found the coin, pointing his wand at it and sending a message to Rosmerta.

He really felt like this would work. That he'd really be able to kill him now and he wouldn't have to worry any more. He wouldn't worry Delilah or his mother any more. Everything would be okay.

He lay back down in bed, making sure the curtains around his bed were closed and looked back at the letter. He wished he could have gotten her a birthday present now that the idea of presents were in his head. The only present he'd ever gotten her was a Christmas present the year before along with a bracelet on Valentine's Day. He'd never gotten her a birthday present before.

He hoped once all this was over and he succeed in his mission, he'd be able to give her something for her birthday. Although he highly doubted she'd accept it. She'd probably detest him with all her heart after she finds out he had killed Dumbledore and is a Death Eater. Maybe he could give it to her in secret, use a new owl she didn't recognize. He sighed, resting his hand and the letter on his chest as he closed his eyes, drifting off into a restless night's sleep.

A/N:

so sorry it took me a while. I was busy all week and when I finished the chapter last night (2 a.m.) my internet wouldn't load. I waited until this morning and it turns out the internet was shut off completely -.- I had to spend 106 dollars to turn it back on since my parents were broke :( now I only have about 50 dollars left and I need to buy stuff for my theatre project and buy wigs for mine and my friend's possible play.

But I do hope you like this chapter. I'm already working on the next one. I've figured this story is gonna have maaaybe 28 chapters. If not 28 than maybe 30. But don't hold me to it. It might be more or less. We'll see. haha.

Tell me what you think about this one guys :) And what you think will happen in the next chapter! if you know you're HP, you could figure out what happens after Draco gets Rosmerta to poison the mead and (cough cough) chapter 24 (cough cough). anywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ay. enough hints. Review please! I love hearing from you guys! Until next time! :)