Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.

A/N: Thanks to peanutfreak and Jessica682 for the reviews!

I saw the * cries * last Harry Potter movie at the midnight showing. It was FUCKING AMAZING! (excuse my language) Anyhoo, if you haven't seen it yet...bring tissues.

Sorry about not having this up a week after, but it's not too late.

Chapter 37

I felt my eyes widen involuntarily.

Had he just said what I thought he had?

Surely not!

But his wand didn't lower even a millimeter. And I knew, if I didn't tell him or come up with some quick, amazing way to get out of there, he wouldn't hesitate to resort to the Cruciatus.

"Please," I said quietly, staring from his wand to his eyes. I shook my head slowly. "Please, I didn't tell anybody! How can I convince you that I didn't?" He still didn't lower his wand. I could see the words forming on his lips before he said them, and knew there was only one way out of this.

"Crucio!" he exclaimed.

As soon as I knew for sure it was coming, I pushed my feet against the floor and tipped the chair I was in over backwards. The jet of light zoomed right over me, missing me by a mere inch. I couldn't stop the shriek that escaped my lips as I scrambled to my feet and started to run from the room, jumping out of the way when I heard him yell, "Crucio!" again.

I slammed the door to his office shut behind me in an attempt to delay him at least a few minutes, but it didn't work much. I had only gotten a few more steps out than I would've had I not slammed the door when he was hot on my tail again.

As he chased me down the corridor, Moody had stopped shouting the Cruciatus Curse for fear that somebody would overhear. But he did keep yelling, "Miss Black-Lupin, get back here this instant!"

I didn't listen. I just hoped to run into a teacher, or any staff member, and soon.

I didn't realize that it wasn't past curfew, and that a few students would still be out. I didn't realize, that is, until I found myself in an otherwise empty corridor face-to-face with Draco.

He was staring at me, obviously confused as to why I was running away from Professor Moody and why I looked so horrified. I stopped completely for a second when I first saw him, but then heard Moody yell,

"Miss Black-Lupin, you – !" But he cut off as he rounded the corner, must've thought it was empty, and instead yelled, "Crucio!" I pushed myself suddenly against the wall, and the curse flew past me. Even from such a distance I could see Draco's eyes widen in shock from hearing such a curse.

As soon as Moody spotted him standing there, he froze from surprise. He obviously hadn't seen him.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Draco asked sharply after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Come with me to my office," Moody said after a moment. "Both of you," he added sharply to me when he and Draco made to leave but I stayed put. When I still didn't move, he sighed and said, "Miss Black-Lupin, if you don't come, I'll have do that thing we said." I felt Draco looking from one of us to the other, confused – he looked even more confused when I quickly made to follow.

We walked in complete silence. Even though his back was to me, I knew that Moody was watching me with his magical-eye closely and, even though my back was to him, I knew Draco was watching me in much the same manner. When we finally entered Moody's office, I had my hand in my pocket and wrapped tightly around my wand.

Moody must have waved his wand and made another chair appear next to the knocked-over one before we had entered. Once Draco and I had both entered, Moody shut and locked the door and I flipped the chair back up and sat down slowly. Draco sat down beside me, and Moody sat behind his desk.

"Mr. Malfoy, you must be wondering what was going on," Moody said after a moment.

"Obviously!" he exclaimed. "I just saw a teacher, who also happens to be an ex-Auror, throw the Cruciatus curse at my girlfriend! Of course I'm going to be just a little confused and concerned!" Well at least, despite our "fight" this morning, he was still concerned about me.

"Yes, well, your little girlfriend and I have this...deal, shall we say – "

"I wouldn't call it a deal," I snapped, crossing my arms. "Because with a deal, both parties have to be equally satisfied with the results! And, obviously, I'm not satisfied!" Draco was staring at us in confusion again, but I didn't care. And nor, it seemed, did Moody.

"Oh yeah? I thought you'd be pretty satisfied considering I let you live after you found out!"

"I think I would be much more satisfied if everybody I love gets to survive, not me!"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Draco snapped, suddenly alerting Moody and I to his presence once more.

"Miss Abigail here...figured out something about me that I could not have rumors about running over the school," Moody said maliciously, staring at me instead of Draco. I could feel Draco staring at me too, but I kept my gaze on Moody. "Took her a fair bit of persuading, but she promised she wouldn't tell anybody. I had to threaten a few people, however..."

"A few?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "I think there were more than a few."

"What did she figure out?" Draco asked suddenly. "I don't think any secret is big enough that you should threaten somebody!"

"Oh, this is pretty big," I said, nodding drastically. "You know, almost as big as hiding that he's the spy. You know, the spy that everybody knows is at Hogwarts, but that nobody knows who it is!" Almost immediately, the detectors, which had finally stopped going off, started going again. I knew a horrified expression was plastered on my face. "Whoops," I said quietly under Moody's glare and Draco's wide eyes.

"You're the spy?" Draco asked suddenly, staring at Moody, who was still staring angrily at me.

"Maybe I'll just have to do what I said I would if you told," he said through gritted teeth. "Who shall it be?" he asked thoughtfully. "How about one of your fathers? Or Riley or Sam? I would love to make it Harry, but I've got to save him for the Dark Lord..." His eyes slowly trailed from me to Draco, and I knew what he meant instantly and found my eyes widening in shock and fear. "Or...Draco, perhaps? He is the one you told, afterall...one less person to try to keep quiet..."

I stared at his hand as he started to lift his wand slowly toward Draco, who was staring at it, looking frightened yet determined. I started shaking my head slowly.

"No, no, I didn't mean to!" I said quickly, still staring at the steady wand even though I knew Moody and Draco were both staring at me.

"Don't worry," Moody said quietly, "I won't kill him. On one condition." I looked up at him. "You tell me who you've told."

"I haven't told anybody! Your detectors must just have been sensing that I know and that I was nearby!"

"Then why aren't they going off now?" Moody snapped.

"In case you didn't realize," I said suddenly. "They are."

"Only because you just told Mr. Malfoy."

"How do you know that's why?"

Moody was silent for a moment before he lowered his wand slowly. "Fine," he snarled. "You win. You're lucky you're smart, or else I wouldn't have taken a second thought at killing either, or even both, of you." He paused and flicked his wand from one of us to the other, using it to point. "If either of you tell anybody, I won't hesitate this time to kill the other. And painfully."

My eyes met Draco's for the first time since I had seen him in the corridor, and I knew in that moment that we would both do anything to make sure that the other was not harmed.

"Now get out of my office."

I don't know who was in the biggest hurry to get out of there; me or Draco. Either way, as soon as we were outside and the door had shut behind us, Draco grabbed my wrist and pulled me after him. I didn't know where we were going, even when he pulled me into the dungeons, but I didn't ask.

It wasn't until he pulled me up to a blank wall and said, "Parseltounge," quickly and when the wall split to reveal a narrow passageway that I realized he was taking me to the Slytherin Common Room. I was about to tell him I wasn't supposed to be here when he pulled me in, ignored the strange looks the students seated in the dark green and black leather sofas shot us, and continued to pull me down a hall and into a room on the left.

It must've been the fourth year boys' dormitory, because it looked exactly like the Gryffindor boys' dormitory except it was decorated in dark green instead of maroon. Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and another weedy-looking kid I knew as Theodore Nott were there. Draco barked at them to leave before they could ask any questions, and they did so quietly and quickly. Nott glared at me as he left, though. The other three all looked bewildered, most likely because Draco and I had gotten into a fight earlier and now seemed to be fine.

When they were gone, Draco finally dropped my wrist, went to lock the door behind them, and then turned slowly toward me. I was staring at the floor and heard him quietly walk in my direction, but still didn't look up, even when he took my hands in his.

"Did he get you?" he asked softly. "Before...before you found me?" I finally looked up and my gaze met his as I shook my head slowly.

"No," I answered quietly. "Almost, but no."

"Is that what you've been hiding?" I nodded slowly. I heard him exhale sharply, and he shut his eyes. "Oh Merlin." He opened his eyes again, and they met mine. "I'm so sorry that I got mad at you for hiding something from me this morning. I should've listened...I should've let you explain..." I shook my head slowly.

"It's okay. Even if you would've asked me, I wouldn't have had any good explanation, and it's not like I could tell you." He didn't say anything for a long moment. Instead, he dropped one of my hands and pulled me lightly over to one of the beds on the other side of the room. He pulled the curtains back and moved to sit against the headboard, pulling me up next to him. Once we were seated, he put his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him so our hips were touching.

"How long have you known?" he finally asked softly.

"Since Monday," I replied, shrugging one shoulder. "Not that long."

"Still, I can't believe you were able to keep such a huge thing quiet for so long," he said. "I would have to tell somebody. I mean that's huge!" I laid my head on his shoulder gently and sighed before saying quietly and slowly,

"Well...I didn't really keep it a complete secret." When Draco said nothing, I tilted my head up slightly to look at him and saw that he was staring at me, his eyebrows rose and his mouth slightly open. I sighed again before reaching into my pocket and pulling out the mirror.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he asked after a moment. I swallowed and then hesitated before answering.

"Watch," I answered quietly. "Just...don't say anything, and don't lean so you would be able to see yourself in the mirror, alright?"

"Okay..." he replied slowly. I held the mirror up, closed my eyes briefly, and then whispered into it,

"Sam." There was no answer. "Sam!" I said louder.

"Abbey?" Sam's face appeared in the mirror, replacing my own. Draco's eyes widened and he let out a sharp breath of shock. "What was that noise?" Sam asked suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Er, what noise?" I asked, deciding to play dumb. Sam shook his head slowly.

"Never mind," he said. "Anyways, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "I just wanted to...to apologize for – for my rude behavior towards you and Katie after dinner tonight," I said after pausing for a moment to come up with a reason for having called him randomly. I saw him narrow his eyes suspiciously, but he only muttered,

"It's alright."

"So that's all," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Hey, where are you?" he asked suddenly before I could put my mirror away.

"My dormitory...why?"

"Well David and Sean were looking for you, so Addison went up to see if you were in your dormitory and you weren't," he answered. "And unless you slipped in somehow and weren't noticed by, like, anybody, you're not in your dormitory."

"Fine, I'm on my way back." I paused. "Hey, I gotta go, I think I hear somebody coming. See ya!" Sam rolled his eyes, but his face disappeared from the mirror. I stuffed it back into my pocket and, while I was doing so, Draco said,

"I still don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"Alright," I said slowly. "I'll start at the beginning." I paused before launching into the full story of what the Marauder's Map was, how I had seen "Bartemius Crouch" on it, how Harry and I had "fallen" into Dumbledore's Pensive, how I confronted Moody and had called Dad on the mirror, leaving it in my pocket so he could hear it all, and how I had, in fact, purposefully gotten a detention today so Dad could tell without him assuming that it was me.

"So when you told him that you hadn't told anybody, you were lying?" Draco asked.

"...Technically."

"That was really convincing," he said, his eyebrows rose. "Should I be worried, now that I know you're a good liar?"

"Very," I joked. He smiled and shook his head. After a pause, I looked up at him and said, "I've spoken up and told you everything. Now it's your turn."

"What do you mean?"

"Blaise told me you're hiding something from me, too," I said quietly. "I told you what I was hiding, now you have to tell me."

"Blaise told you?" I nodded. "That bastard," Draco muttered. I rose my eyebrows, but he only rose his right back at me. "I never agreed to these standards."

"Please?" I whined, resting my head on his shoulder again but still looking up at him. He sighed and looked away.

"It's my father," he said quietly. "He...well, it's obvious that You-Know-Who is – "

"Voldemort," I corrected, but when I saw him visibly flinch at the name I said quickly, "Sorry." He shook his head.

"Don't be. Anyway, it's obvious that he's getting stronger. And, you know my father's a Death Eater right?" I nodded slowly. "...He's trying to convince me to join, you know, when I'm old enough. And...I – I don't want to." He paused. "But...I feel like he would disown me or something if I don't." I licked my lips and then bit my bottom lip for a moment before I answered.

"If you don't want to join, just don't," I replied quietly. "It's your life. You get to make your own decisions. Besides, he's your father. He might threaten to, but I doubt he would really disown you just because you won't join. Besides, he's not even back yet. And I doubt you can actually become a Death Eater until you're like 17 or even older, so you still have quite some time to think about it."

Draco didn't say anything for a long time. We both merely sat there in silence, evolved in our own thoughts. I was busy worrying about who Dad had told, and he was probably thinking about what I had said.

"I love how your argument alone wouldn't help," he finally said quietly, "but you still managed to make me feel better just by being here." I didn't have time to reply before he pulled the hand he had wrapped around my waist out, put it under my chin, and pushed it up lightly so I was looking him right in the eyes before he kissed me.

Right as our lips touched, somebody banged on the door three times and Blaise's voice called,

"Draco, if you and Abbey don't stop making out and let us in already, we're going to barge in!"

Draco and I separated, keeping our faces close, and laughed.

"Oh hang on, will ya? I'll be right there!" Draco called back, still smiling. "You better get back before it gets too late," he added to me. "You need to get ahold of Professor Lupin, don't you?" I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I probably should." We climbed off the bed and headed over toward the door. Right before he opened it, Draco pulled me back into another, longer kiss. We only broke it up when somebody tried turning the knob on the door again. Draco rolled his eyes and I smiled as he unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Happy now?" he asked Blaise, who was the only one standing behind it.

"Very. Now when you pass them, tell Crabbe and Goyle and Nott they can come up."

"Right. I'll be back in a bit," Draco said, taking my hand in his and leading me down the long hall back to the slowly-emptying Common Room, passing Blaise's message on as we passed Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott, and right down the passageway that led to the dungeons.

"Will you let me walk you back to your Common Room tonight?" he asked at the door. "It's not after curfew yet," he added quickly. I paused for dramatic effect before I whispered,

"I suppose I will."

A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want.