A/N- I apologize for my newest chapters of late for being on the shorter end of around only 1,000 words or so. I plan my chapters ahead of time, so sometimes when I get excited to write a certain one, I rush the others and treat them as more of a filler to connect parts of the story. Expect the next two to be a bit more lengthy.

/ Lily /

"Harmonia Nectere Passus.''

The old, dark wood cabinet creaked as Draco pulled on its hinges. The door opened and in it was the same speckled green apple that I had placed inside it moments ago. Draco picked it up and examined it closely; the Granny Smith was cool and hard, free of any bruising, but when he rotated it in his hand the backside of the fruit revealed a missing chunk, the juice still dripping around the edges. Someone had taken a bite out of it.

"It worked," I murmur under my breath. "Draco, it worked."

As he held onto the apple, I saw a smile form on his lips and watched as a look of relief washed over his face. But, as quick as it appeared, the smile faltered and I could see the muscles in his body contract.

"We aren't finished yet."

In the Slytherin common room...

I closed the book I was reading, making sure to mark my spot, and set it on the coffee table before me so that I could go get ready for Professor Slughorn's dinner party.

"Lily."

I turned to my left to see Draco coming down the stairs dressed in a slim fitting, white button down, an untied black bowtie draped around his collar. After Slughorn gave me the impression that I ought to bring a date to his little get together, I invited Draco to accompany me. Plus, it gave me an excuse to keep an eye on him.

Once he was close enough, he took a seat next to me on the arm of the couch.

"I, uh, have an early Christmas present for you," he said handing me a shimmering box with a matching silver ribbon. "Er- it's from my mum, really. I told her that you probably already had something to wear, but she insisted. She very much enjoys doing this sort of thing, you know? Doesn't get out too often these days..."

I listened to him as I lifted off the lid of the box after pulling on the bow. Under a layer of tissue paper was the most gorgeous gown. I ran my fingers over the fabric; it was as soft as ever.

The strapless dress was silver in color and fell to the floor. Around the top were pieces of black lace overlay covered in delicate jewels similar to the ones near the hem of the dress. Something like this could only cost a small fortune.

"Draco, it's... stunning." Much nicer than the simple, black party dress I had planned on wearing. I turned to face him, placing a hand on his knee. "Thank you."

"You can thank my mum," he said biting down on his lip. "I thought about getting you a necklace to go with it, but seeing as you never wore the last one I got you..."

"What? Oh, no, I love that necklace! Look, here," I said reaching for my book and opening it to the last page I read. Inside was the silver necklace Draco had gotten me for Christmas last year. I picked it up and held it for him to see. "After I opened it, I put it inside a book I had gotten and placed it inside so as not to loose it. I guess I left it in there and it turned into a pretty good bookmark... But it would work perfectly tonight."

I stood up and unclasped the chain.

"Would you mind?"

Draco jumped off the end of the couch and took the necklace from my hands.

/ Draco /

"Uh, yeah, alright," I said. Lily turned so that she was facing away from me.

With one hand, I moved her hair over to one shoulder and brought the necklace around the front of her neck, bringing the two ends together in the back. I tried to hook the one end onto the last link, but couldn't get them to match up. My hands were shaking too much.

"Damn," I said as the thin chain slipped from my grasp. "Tricky little bastards."

"It's okay," she laughed, picking up the end I had dropped and holding it over her shoulder for me to try again.

I took a step closer, our bodies brushing up against each other slightly as I finally managed to make ends meet. I took a half step back, reaching up to wipe the sweat off my brow.

Without turning back to face me, she says, "Meet you back down here ten 'til?"

I nodded, forgetting she couldn't see me.

"Draco?"

"Oh. Sure. Ten 'til."

With that, I headed back up the stairs to my dorm, taking the steps two at a time.

/ Lily /

I took one last glance in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance, before bending over to pull on my shoes, black suede pumps with a rounded toe.

Careful not to step on my dress, I walked down the stairs carrying the jewel encrusted bottom above the marble floors. Waiting at the bottom was Draco, sporting the same clothes as before, only this time with his dress robes as well. And there it was, the rare smile plastered across his mouth.

"You look - amazing," he breathes.

I blushed and looked down sheepishly at our feet, my newly curled hair falling over my face. I felt his fingers as he brushed the few strands of hair behind my ear. I turned my eyes up at him.

"You don't look too shabby, either. Except," I say, pointing up to his still untied bow tie, "you forgot this."

Reaching up, I tied it into a neat bow, straightening the ends of it. "There..." I said letting my hands slide down until they rested on his chest. I closed my eyes and inhaled the surrounding air.

"You smell... NICE. Nice. You don't smell, you - smell nice. Like-Like outside," I said quickly letting my hands drop back to my side.

"Outside?" Draco questioned, looking like I just delivered a blow to his admittedly oversized ego.

I averted my gaze. "Well, yeah... Like fire and trees and nighttime. Like... outside."

I really liked the smell of those things, but maybe Draco didn't like to hear that he smelled like burning wood and the great outdoors.

"Come on," I say grabbing hold of his arm. "Let's go."

At the party...

I blinked after the bright flash went off leaving me with large dark spots in my vision. As soon as we arrived, Slughorn whisked Draco and I off to take a photo with him for his collection. He attempted to start up a conversation with us before noticing Harry, along with Luna, hurrying off to greet his most prized student. Spared us a dreadful few words, I suppose.

"She said that?" I laughed almost choking on my food.

"Oh, yeah. She even said the blue fabric of the dress would bring out the color of my eyes, tried to get me to try it on. My ten year old self was scarred by the fear that my mother might force me into girls' clothing. Could've really used a sister," Draco says, splitting a roll in two, a hint of humor in his voice. "I like to think that my father enjoyed the idea of a son, though."

I lost the wild grin and watched as Draco's eyes looked past me, following some moving object.

"Do you mind waiting here for a sec?" he asks still looking away.

"Where are you going?"

"Just to speak to Professor Slughorn, thank him for the party."

"Um, okay?"

With that, he left.

In the meantime, while I waited for Draco to return, I sought out Neville and followed him around, chatting, as he passed out various trays of finger food to the rest of the guests. After some time had gone by, I looked for Draco.

It had been nearly half an hour and I begun to wonder if he had just left the party entirely. He wasn't anywhere. I exited Slughorn's office to look for him when I heard voices down the hall. Quietly, I approached the noise and caught a glimpse of some light hair and a dark robed figure.

"Listen to me. I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco-"

It was a furious Severus pinning up an alarmed and tired looking Draco who was paler than ever in this moment.

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, and I-I have to do it. There's no other way; the I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

Then, I heard a small scuffle to my left and whipped my head around.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" I hissed through clenched teeth shoving him into the wall.

"Same as you, I gather," he says, staring right back at me. "Unless, that is, you already know."

"Leave. Now."

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