Chapter 47: This is not a Test

I want it but I'm haunted
By the thought of losing everything that we've been through this far and
Please help me, believe in all these things that I've been screaming
Talk is not enough, god knows I love to talk too much

"This is Not a Test" - The Coronas.


The air crackled with tension and anticipation as Bella let out a small sound of surprise before falling to the floor with a small thump. Neither males moved for a moment. Lucius still had his wand in the air, pointing forwards. He was breathing heavily, taking deep breaths in and out. His eyes were wide now, and lips looser than before. His eyes, that were a darker shade of grey to Draco's, were unreadable, though his expression was quite clearly frozen.

Draco glanced back and forth between his aunt and his father, scarcely believing what had just occurred. He wondered if he had been knocked out this entire time, and the whole scenario was simply what he would like to have happened. Blinking and shaking his head, he soon came to the conclusion that that was not the case.

Bellatrix was dead. A smile bloomed across his face, and before he knew it, he was exclaiming, "You did it.. You killed Bellatrix!"

Lucius, snapping out of his reverie, put his arm down by his side and nodded. "We have ten minutes to get out of here.. Its only a matter of time before someone comes looking for us and finds Bellatrix." He fisted for something in his pocket, "Here's your wand. We removed the non-magic ward when we entered, unbeknownst to you. Now, go. We have to leave."

Draco climbed up from the dungeons, appreciating the change of scenery and feeling of fresh air. His father pointed in the direction of the exit, but Draco paused mid-step, "What about Theo?"

"There's nothing you can do, Draco. He's made his decision. Now mov-"

"People said I made my decision, too. He doesn't support Voldemort, he was bullied into it!" He said, frustrated. Lucius flinched at the name of the Dark Lord.

Lucius shook his head at his son, his blond hair swishing behind him, "What do you suppose we do? Kidnap him? The best thing you can do now is get out of here. And then plan with the light."

Before Draco could protest anymore, Lucius gave him no option. After dragging him down a corridor, he clenched Draco's arm tightly and apparated.

Damn him. was the sole thought in the Slytherin heirs head as he felt the familiar sensation of being sucked through a straw.

He wanted to bring Theodore as he was aware that his friend was unhappy as a Death Eater, and essentially, being held there against his will. Although, he mused, there was no way Theo was going to leave without his father.. And it would be a very big operation to get all of them out.

Perhaps he would be able to save Theo in the end anyway, in the final battle. He could still protect him, and maybe convert him - it wasn't impossible.

Draco shook his head; all these notions of saving people. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was turning into a bit of a Gryffindor.

Safe to say, he knew better.


Luna let her foot move up and down leisurely as she read, providing the only movement in the large room. It was dark, with light only shining in from the two ceiling-height windows at the far end of the room. The library was like the one Luna had seen when she was in Italy as a child, with high ceilings and rows and rows of books covering each of the walls. Except, unlike the hot and colourful country she had been in, it was musty and musky, with the windows providing little light as the weather continued to prove miserable. The rain battered against the windows and the sound filled the room and gave a sense of comfort to Luna, as she was sure it did to others also. There were several candles spread across the desks that were scattered across the room, but these also did little to improve the lighting conditions, meaning Luna had to sit as close as possible to the candle in order to read anything.

They were under strict orders - from Hermione - not to use any magic, as they were forbidden to be in here. If found, the teenagers would face grim consequences - each prospect worse than the last. If it was Voldemort and his cronies, well, the consequences were pretty much spoken for. The same went for if someone in the Order found them.

And so they proceeded with delicacy, making very little noise - as if it made a difference - and also moving very little. They were confined to the library of Grimmauld manor. The adults that questioned their whereabouts were of the opinion that they were in Neville's house that his grandmother left to him.

What they don't know won't hurt them - apparently.

Nonetheless, Luna persevered and pushed all guilty and hesitant thoughts out of her mind, opting to focus on the material in front of her. It was essential that they found out more about Voldemort and the hocruxes, and the Black library was certainly a fantastic place to start - in theory. They had found little as of yet.

She sighed and glanced around, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

Before going to Grimmauld, they had to work out a plan. Of course they couldn't all go, decoys and plan B's had to be put in place - especially supposing someone went to check on them at Neville's. And so they had been grouped based on their research ability, but Luna had a feeling she was only picked because she was a Ravenclaw. Nevertheless, she, Hermione, Blaise and Pansy had been chosen to go to the library, while Neville, Harry and Ginny went to Neville's. They would also attempt to collect whatever information there could be found there, but Hermione said she was sceptical.

But time was of the essence and they had to cover as much as possible in as short time as possible.

"It's five to eight." Pansy replied shortly, shaking her arm so that her watch sat comfortably on her wrist. She then shifted her position, cracking her ankles in the process.

Hermione visibly winced, "Must you do that?"

She shrugged, "I've been sitting in the one place for hours now." Pause. "So yes."

"I've found close to nothing, it feels like this has just been a waste of time." Blaise complained, sighing deeply.

Hermione looked to be searching for a reply, so Luna decided to speak first, "That's not entirely true. I've garnered a greater knowledge of horcruxes since coming here, and I'm sure all of you have, too? I've also been able to read more about Tom, and it just comes down to figuring out what would have symbolised enough for him to make it into a fourth part of his soul.."

"Luna's right. I've learned a lot here, so it hasn't been completely fruitless. Now I've read about Salazar's locket quite a bit, and there seems to be no-"

Luna shook her head, "He already had the ring.. Wasn't that enough for jewellery?"

"It wasn't the object itself though, but rather what it symbolised. As you said. The locket was a possession of prestige and radiated power and heritage, even. Everything Voldemort seemed to crave," Hermione explained, feeling more like herself than she had in days as they started to throw theories around.

"It's not the locket," Pansy shook her head, and then rooted around her pocket for something. "Dumbledore eliminated that before his death. I never figured it worthy to mention, didn't know you suspected it."

Annoyance flittered across Hermione's face, but she got a hold on it impressively fast and her expression was pensive again.

Blaise threw his book aside, rubbing his eyebrows for relief. "I wish someone would just tell us," He laughed, though it lacked any real humour.

"Nothing is ever that easy." Pansy shot back dryly, finally finding what she had been looking for as she pulled a cigarette and lighter out of her pocket. She put it in her mouth and lit it, inhaling it slowly and then exhaling even slower, grating on Hermione's nerves with great ease.

Luna almost smiled at the absurdness. Out of curiosity over anything, Luna asked, "Where did you get that, Pansy?"

"One of the Weasley's was smoking out the back. Offered me one, said I looked stressed and distressed. I said he was on the ball."

"That's great," Hermione bit out sarcastically, "Just great. We'll go off and fight the war, you just sit here and smoke and just wait around for cancer to come and get you and we'll just die for our lives fighting while you just do the same but in a completely different context!" She ranted off, not taking a breath until the end, where her words were becoming harder to distinguish due to her lack of inhaling.

Pansy simply blew the smoke out once more nonchalantly, "You look like you could use one?" and held one out for her.

Hermione hit her hand away, but not roughly. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed, as we all are. We need to find this horcrux, and yet any minute Snape or another death eater could come here and find us.. And at the same time, a tiny, tiny, miniscule part of me wants to be found because I can't stand the 'not-knowing' of where Draco is or how he is." She paced back and forth, never pausing to take a break.

Luna smiled softly, "We're all in the same boat, Hermione. Take a breath."

"I think I'm done with the research for the night. Was never one to read until my eyes fell out, and don't think I'll start now! I'll need them, you know." Blaise winked at Hermione, and he was about to stand, when voices alerted them to the fact that they were no longer alone.

The four teenagers froze upon hearing them. Pansy hastily put out her cigarette and withdrew her wand, as did Hermione, Luna and Blaise. Blaise took the lead, quietly whispering that he was the one they could most afford to lose. The girls failed to respond, as directly after, someone spoke again.

Blaise led them towards the front hall, where the noises seemed to be coming from. His wand held carefully out in front of him, his grip firm and eyes alert. Looking back cautiously at the girls, he raised his finger to his lips and then rounded the corner.

The girls, and yes, Blaise, abruptly screamed.


Draco was feeling decidedly disgruntled with the way his father had man-handled him into transporting him from Voldemort's hide-out. He huffed petulantly and dusted himself off, righting his clothes as they had become pulled to one side, and then realised he was acting like a child. Draco stood tall then and rose a brow at his father, who held his usual guarded and aristocratic expression, but amusement also.

"Your mother would have been proud of that performance." The remark almost slipped out, it was said in a joking manner, not one of 'tearful-remembrance', but the seriousness of the statement was not lost on them, and Lucius almost instantly wanted to take it back.

Draco tried to smile, but ended up in only succeeding in raising one side of his mouth. A half-grin was good enough. He glanced around, "Where are we?"

"That's n-" He halted, eyes wide and yet focused as he stared ahead. Draco kept his eyes on his father, reading the old man's face for signs of something amiss. And then he heard it, too. Footsteps. There was someone - people, by the sounds of it - in the house also, and a million thoughts hit him at once. Should they abandon ship? Was it the Death Eaters, coming to find and kill them both? Was it the light, with exclamations of joy and expressions of relief? Draco knew he had to find out, and would then take the appropriate course of action. Only glancing briefly at his father, he began to walk forward.

He had only taken a step around the corner when he collided with someone, and then there were several screams. He smirked; these were definitely not Death Eaters.

Fortunately, no one had fallen in the collision, and instead Blaise drew him into a manly embrace, clapping him roughly on the back. "You're alright, mate!" It was the exclamation of joy that Draco had been waiting for. "I thought they were going to convert you or skin you," He joked, laughing though it wasn't really funny, but laughing genuinely for the first time in days.

Lucius had now come around to them, too, but simply stood there, not saying a word. Blaise moved aside and nodded towards Draco's father, "Mr. M! You bailed Draco here out again, yeah?"

"I'm afraid it couldn't quite be called 'bailing', Zabini."

It was a moment before Hermione launched herself at Draco, throwing her arms tightly around his neck and squeezing him until he thought he might suffocate. His automatic feeling was to push her away, his insides churning at the display of affection and the rush of fondness disgusted him to some extent, but he couldn't overcome it or push the sentiment away. He was relieved to see her again, to feel a positive emotion that made him think he could someday know how to love.

So Draco Malfoy permitted a smile to bloom across his face - albeit, a small one - and to put his arms loosely around the brunette who was still clinging to him as if her - or indeed, his - life depended on it.

"You're so stupid, getting captured in fight." she mumbled, though there was no real heart in it. His smile widened; he had missed this, missed her.

Lucius barely reigned in his disdain, "Shouldn't you greet your other friends, Draco.." He mentally congratulated himself in not gagging or pulling his son away, or not making a vulgar or insulting comment. Well done, Lucius.

Pansy had glistening tears in her eyes, proof that her ice queen exterior wasn't all that was there. "Thought I'd finally lost you!" she joked, before giving him a firm, but swift, hug.

Before he could utter a word, Luna grabbed his hands, "I knew you'd be okay! You're too talented, needed and good-looking to die yet."

He smirked and winked at Luna, "You've got me penned, Luna."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Let's not give him a bigger head, no?"

"I think he's too far gone, Hermione, really.. I mean, he's worse than me."

"Talented? This is true. We all know how good I am with the aul' magic and spell work. And needed? Undoubted. You would perish without me.. Good-looking goes without question, didn't even warrant a statement."

Hermione punched him lightly on the shoulder, laughing with relief more than anything. This was the man she thought she would never see again. But he really was standing in front of her, tall and sturdy, with wide, but slender, shoulders at the same. His blond hair fell lightly over his forehead, causing him to push it back every now and again. Hermione then came to his eyes, and wished as she did that she could read all that was locked in their depths - such darkness, secrets and sadness. There was a combination of joy and humour in those grey sparklers also though, and it shone in the moments they were together.. The grey enigmatic eyes of Draco Malfoy were shining brightly now, and Hermione wondered if she'd ever actually seen his eyes before.

Following all the greetings, laughter, and remarks of relief came the business side to things. The order had to be contacted and a story had to be provided by Draco, he still had to prove his innocence and show that he had never once strayed from their side. Lucius also had to explain what had happened, and tell of his murder of his sister-in-law and once friend.

Due to all of this, Hermione knew she had to immediately call the order to Grimmauld Manor, which Lucius assured them was safe. Why, they hadn't heard yet, as Lucius wasn't saying anything until Kingsley and Remus at least got to the house. Until then, Blaise filled Draco in on everything that had happened since he had been gone. Draco was told all about the fights over him - which to his credit, he didn't smirk smugly or make one egotistical remark, he knew the limits and knew when he had to be mature about things - and about what the order were going to do, what Voldemort had been doing and what had been done. Draco was informed about Moody and Dumbledore's death, about the take-over of the Ministry and the deaths of many others.

Afterwards, Draco sat back and raised both eyebrows in disbelief and overload of information. He sat quietly, slowly digesting everything that he had missed. He wasn't quite sure where to start, but suddenly felt that their mission seemed that little bit more impossible, and that whole lot more necessary.

"Lucius," Kingsley nodded, coming into the room and effectively announcing his presence. "How relieved I am to see you," He shook the mans hand, and gestured for them to sit at the table in the Grimmauld dining table. It was visibly bigger than the Weasley table, and would comfortably fit those that were called to the Manor.

McGonagall, Remus, Kingsley, Arthur, Amelia Bones and the teenagers were the only ones present when Kingsley began to talk. Luna realised that these were the people that were privy to the most crucial information and the ones that knew the most.

Amelia Bones surprised her, but with her high rank in the Ministry, it shouldn't have.

"Evidently, you escaped from Voldemort," Kingsley began, prompting either of the Malfoy's to talk.

Draco responded, "Yes. He's currently residing in Lestrange Manor. I was being held in the dungeons after being blindsided in the battle and.." he trailed off then, frowning as he recalled details. He began shaking his head, "No.. it.."

"Draco?" Remus gave him a concerned look, wondering what was going on, as were most of the people at the table.

Harry, Ginny and Neville and long returned and were currently sitting at the table also. Luna found it funny in an odd way that the teenagers were sitting with the highest members of the order, listening to conversations and gaining information that other adult members of the order would never hear or know.

Draco was looking at Blaise now. "It was Theo that captured me."

Despite the gasps of surprise and everyone's evident shock, wisely, no one uttered a word and instead followed Draco's example and turned to Blaise.

The boy blinked several times, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly - wholly stunned. "What… What?" He finished, completely at a loss for words.

Draco sighed, "He's a death eater now. He was the one who captured me at the final battle, which makes sense because I would have trusted him." He paused, "When I woke up in the dungeons, he was the first one to come see me. Said he had to change sides because they were torturing and going to kill his father. I should have told him to join the club," Draco said bitterly, without thinking, but didn't spare his father a glance. "Anyway, I didn't see him again after he came to check if I was awake. The next day, my father came to rescue me and here I am."

"Rescue?" Arthur asked, a little amusement in his tone.

"I knew you hadn't even a notion of Draco's whereabouts, and would probably spend the greatest amount of time debating that he was even there against his will. And so I took it upon myself to get the both of us out. My sister Bellatrix had been ordered to retrieve Draco from the dungeons and so I accompanied her down here and then killed her, and got both my son and I out."

There was such silence that a pin dropping could have been heard, or so the saying goes. Remus was the first to gather himself, "Bell-Bellatrix is … dead?" It was as if he could barely believe what was being said, and Draco smirked at this.

"Dead."

"Ding-dong the witch is dead!" Blaise exclaimed, half-singing it as he threw his arms into the air in celebration. "I think we should drink to this.."

"You're not old enough for alcohol." Amelia replied sternly, staring at him firmly. She didn't know Blaise or his habits, and so knew little enough to assume he was serious and actually expected them to get him a drink.

"Who said anything about alcohol?" He asked, aghast. "I was merely suggesting a light refreshme-"

"Can we please get back to the topic at hand?" Kingsley interrupted, shooting looks around the room. "Now, as relieved as I am and as great as it is to hear, Bellatrix's death is but a small victory in the grand scheme. However, I must extend my congratulations, and now move on."

"Yeah, congratulations, Malfoy." Harry grinned, finding the irony of the whole thing comical. Traditionally, it would be offering condolences..

"I'm happy for your loss." Blaise quipped.

Neville joined in then, "I extend my sincerest congratulations."

"My joy to you." Harry laughed.

"That's enough," McGonagall announced tightly, "I'll have no more of that. Now, how did you know that Grimmauld was safe?"

Luna closed her eyes, praying that this would not lead back to them and why they were there. Kingsley would most definitely not be pleased to hear they had lied and disobeyed all of the adults by going to Grimmauld Manor without permission.

Lucius sighed, as if everyone should already know this. "Severus Snape is the only Death Eater, besides myself obviously, with knowledge of the Black Manor whereabouts. He's still on our side, so naturally, I knew this was safe."

"He killed Dumbledore!" Harry shouted in retaliation immediately, and Luna rested a hand on his arm in a silent order to calm down.

"I'm aware of that, Potter." Lucius responded, maintaining his passive and unemotional expression as he stared at him. "Dumbledore wanted him to do that."

There was another suspended silence. "Lucius, no offence intended, but you do realise what you just said?" Remus asked finally.

No one else in the room knew about this, and everyone was awaiting his reply on tenterhooks. Which Lucius secretly revelled in. (Or, not so secretly.) "Theodore had been ordered to kill Dumbledore, but the coward captured my son instead because he couldn't do it. Intelligent, Nott knew the second best thing would be bringing my son to Voldemort. He used Draco. Dumbledore thinks there's something worthwhile in Theodore Nott, and felt if he had not been killed there would have been catastrophic consequences. He was dying anyway, for reason I have not been privy to." His lingered on the heirs then, but before they could even process that thought, he moved on, "Severus was ordered to kill Dumbledore in order to protect all of you, and to protect Theodore as well. And probably Draco - he would have been killed in anger if Dumbledore had been alive. Guaranteed."

Kingsley was the first to respond to the bomb that had been just detonated. "I think it's time to retire for the night. That is a lot to take in and I'm sure Draco is exhausted, as are the rest of us. Remus and Lucius, I wonder if you would stay here with the teenagers? Perhaps choose a secret-keeper for the house."

"Of course," Remus nodded, and one by one, Arthur, Amelia, McGonagall and Kingsley left.

As everyone cleared out, Harry sat with a frown. Draco had been lucky to get away, and he wondered briefly what could have been the boys fate had his father not rescued him. Death was obviously an option, and the topic of death seemed to be everywhere Harry turned lately.

It gave a sort of relief to see everyone breathing, and he took a new appreciation to the rise and fall of his chest. To the beating of his pulse. People were dropping like flies, and although he didn't quite appreciate that phrase in this context, it was true and over and over again, Harry thought about how life was so short. How each day was a gamble when you walked outside the door; everyday you took some sort of risk, and most of the time, no one even realises.

Draco and Hermione shocked him, to say the least. Their relationship was one of complexities and slightly abnormal but it worked, even if it wasn't quite a 'dating' relationship, and just one of mutual fondness and friendship. But Hermione had taken that risk, that chance - because they all knew how limited their time could be.

So Harry watched as everyone slowly left the room, until Luna was the only one left. Sitting in front of him, she stared at him unabashedly, her beautiful silver eyes gazing into his as if she could read his every single thought.

Which, she probably could, despite getting no 'powers' that enabled such a thing. He automatically wanted to smile at the thought, but had no idea as to why. Because it really made little sense.

She began to stand then, shooting him a gentle smile as she did so. "Goodnight Harry," Her smile broadened, and her face lit up for the few short moments. Her cheeks were rosy from being inside the heated house all day - and the excitement - her hair was tousled due to its lack of maintenance in all the chaos and her eyes were now alight, not unlike a silver star amongst the black sky. They stood out against her pale face and blonde hair, watching him with such scrutiny, and yet nonchalance, but always holding that candle of optimism and happiness.

"Wait!" Harry wasn't sure what he was doing, nor why he had stopped her, but continued with his gut instinct. "Don't go until I apologise."

"Apologise?" She chuckled a little, "What for? You owe me no apologies, Harry," Luna replied soothingly and serenely.

He shook his head adamantly, "But I do. I have a whole lot to apologise to you for - primarily for being a complete and utter imbecile. I should have swept you into my arms when I had the chance, when we could have had some alone time before all of this. I know you're a fighter, that you're loyal and that there's no way you wouldn't fight in this war no matter what my opinion is. And the fact is, whether I'm with you or not, you going into that war is going to tear me apart either way. Because I think I'm in love with you, and I'm not going to let anyone else go without them knowing how much they mean to me and living up every minute with them." There was that companion of silence again, as Luna stared at him.

As an afterthought, he added, "Of course, I don't intend on letting you go and would put my life on the line trying to stop it."

"Of course I don't intend for you to have to do that." Luna managed, though her heart was beating erratically and she wondered if she could scream like the teenager she was without seeming too juvenile. She felt a little light-headed, a little disbelieving and a lot of happy.

After several anxious moments for Harry, Luna pulled him forward. Nose touching, a smile stretched across her face again, she laughed, "Yes, you have been an imbecile."

Then she kissed him. Harry momentarily forgot why he ever thought it would be a bad idea.


The next day was one of monotony for Draco, as all they did was read. No mistakes, Draco enjoyed a good book, but reading the same information one after the other was not his definition of a good time. Or anyone else's, for that matter. Even Hermione seemed to be getting sick of the research.

Draco thought they could probably come up with something if they just threw some ideas around, bounced theories off each other and argued and guessed until they came up with something solid. But Hermione insisted that there had to be some foundation and basis to the argument, and not just opinions of ignorance - and he had humoured her, gone along with it. Draco was just happy to be in the presence of his friends, instead of in a dungeon for Voldemort's disposal. At this stage though, he was becoming thoroughly sick of reading about souls.

Harry was rubbing his forehead again, he noticed. Almost absentmindedly as he read, Harry touched his scar, carefully and then roughly. It seemed it was getting irritated again, which obviously, was no a characteristic of a normal scar. Draco had heard about Harry's connection; how he could feel Voldemort's emotions, see his thoughts at times, and how Voldemort could very easily sometimes access his. It was strange, and definitely no ordinary scar - but why was it like that? Why did he have that connection?

Draco thought back to the stories he had heard of the night the Dark Lord killed Potter's parents. As he had grown up, they were stories vilifying the Potter's and glorifying Voldemort, despite his losing to a small boy. Draco had been determined to meet and befriend this boy who had defeated the wizard he had heard so much praise about - 'praise' in terms of power and magical ability.

Voldemort had tried the killing curse on Harry, but in effect, it had killed himself and only scarring Harry with - well, with a scar.

Something clicked in Draco's mind suddenly. His eyes widened and he gasped, attracting the others attentions. He should have been more discreet, but it had slipped out before Draco had even realised. But he knew he had to tell this to Harry in private, and not in front of everyone. His eyes strayed to Luna and Hermione for a minute, the latter looking at him quizzically. They would never recover if he was correct.

Draco shook his head, "Sorry. Thought I had found something, but I read it wrong."

"Don't get our hopes up," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, thanks for that Draco. I had a brief moment there where I thought I was going to see the sun!" Blaise joked, earning him a few smiles.

"There is no sun out there, don't you remember where you live?" Pansy added dryly.

"Ah, it was all in the metaphor, my dear, Pansy,"

As Hermione had silently omitted a small break, everyone began to talk amongst themselves and Draco knew he had to talk to Harry immediately. It couldn't wait, and it was extremely urgent. "Potter, could you help me get the food Krecher made? He left it in the kitchen, we should get it,"

Draco thought he would have to convince Harry, as no one likes fetching the food, but there was not but a noise of protest out of the golden boy and he simply walked over to Draco. "Sure, didn't know we had asked him for anything though.." He started as they began walking out of the room.

As soon as the door shut, Draco replied. "We didn't."


Harry was confused now, for lack of a stronger word. Perhaps befuddled? Or confounded? There was an array of words that suited him at that moment, but all alluded him as he followed Draco through his house, asking questions that were never answered. Draco wanted to get away from the others, so Harry could only presume that obviously they were going to discuss something quite important.

They came to a halt then, and he almost crashed into the blond in front of him. Attempting to maintain his cool, Harry cleared his throat and stood straight. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Draco laughed, as he had been asking Draco questions the whole time they were walking. But then he remembered the topic of discussion and his laughter died quickly, turning him sombre. Harry caught his expression, "Do I want to hear this?"

There was a pause. "No, but that doesn't matter."

Groaning; "I don't think I could handle anymore bad news, to be honest.."

"This is more than just bad news -" at that precise moment, Harry chose to scratch his scar. Draco frowned, "Your scar… Did you ever wonder why you have such a connection with Voldemort? Ever wonder why you can feel Voldemort's thoughts and emotions sometimes?"

"It's just a connection, nothing to worry about. Dumbledore told-"

"He was protecting you." Draco cut in swiftly, ending anything Harry was about to say. He took a deep breath and looked the boy straight in the eyes, furrowing his brow and studying him for a moment. Harry looked apprehensive and perplexed; it was time Draco stopped dancing around it.

"Harry.. The horcrux; it's you."


Long A/N:
Sorry folks, c'est ca! Apologies for the delay in updating by the way.,., Safe to say, I had not anticipated the amount of work I would have to do this year.. Definitely had not seen the four to five hours of homework. No excuse, but tis all I have! Also, I had this on a USB as I wrote on my laptop for a while, and then lost the USB. So, yeah. But I found it eventually :D

Quite a long and meaty chapter, perhaps a little wishy-washy, but decide for yourselves. The end is approaching my friends :)

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter, they were really brilliant reviews! I also got the highest review count to date on this story last chapter, and acquired a few new readers - welcome new readers! Haha

I love fun facts on stories as well, background, so I thought I'd give you alittle bit of info on the beginning stages of this story:

- There was originally going to be a small fling between Harry and Ginny. Fling meaning casual relationship, not one night stand! Haha… But I took it out as I felt it would only drag back the storyline and I'm not a fan of writing them together. Though, in hindsight, it would have been interesting.

- Neville was supposed to realise he loved Ginny, run to tell her, and find her in the arms of Harry. Hugging, by the way. But I reckoned the story had enough angst and they just needed to get together.

- Draco was going to fight with Trelawney constantly, as Hermione does, but a lot of people have him do that.. I wanted a different perspective and found it funner to make him like her. Mock her, yes, but like her!

- Neville was supposed to notice Hermione/Draco first and say it to Harry. I had a whole scene written from the start where he'd say it to Harry. Harry would blow it off, but then Draco would say something somewhat nice to Hermione, and he'd hex him. They'd get into a massive brawl that resulted in Hermione talking to neither. And Luna not talking to Harry. Luna and Harry wouldn't have happened till the very end in this version, and I didn't want that.. Nor was I up for more conflict between everyone, and reasoned that Harry could take a mature approach to it as well.

- In the scene with snow, where Hermione and Draco first talk closely about things and feelings, and she had found him with his broom, they were originally planned to have a snow fight. She would enter with throwing a snowball with him, they'd get competitive, and in the end, they'd nearly kiss but he'd storm away. I thought this was extremely cliché and overdone, so cut it out. I still preer what I did instead, as the scene above is suited to a more comical fic perhaps.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed those! I'll give more next update. Which will be as soon as possible.

A bientot!

xCNx