Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, it all belongs to JK Rowling…I'm merely an obsessed fan with ideas stuck in my head.

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Leila entered the common room to find it practically deserted, so she took a seat on the couch. She hadn't gone back to the hospital wing to see Draco as she promised. She couldn't after the ultimatum Harry had given her. She felt so stuck, again. Every time something seemed to be going right, everything fell apart and she was forced to choose between Draco and Harry, brother and boyfriend, light and dark, good and evil. Or at least that was the black and white picture, and Leila wanted to find the gray area. Leila rubbed her temples in contemplation. She could never turn on her brother, but at the same time she didn't want to lose the one boy who loved and understood her.

"Why didn't you come see me?" Draco asked from behind her.

"Draco, what are you doing here? Madam Pomfrey said she wasn't going to release you for a few days yet." Leila said.

"You didn't come see me and I wanted to see you." Draco said.

Leila turned to face Draco. He was still unnaturally pale, with dark circles around his eyes. He looked on the verge of breaking down. She had always found him handsome, but something was wrong, like something was slowly eating at him. His eyes didn't have that arrogant sparkle to them and his Malfoy smirk was no longer plastered to his face. Leila knew that this wasn't all because of her, or at least she hoped that it wasn't because of her. She stood up and examined the common room to make sure no one was there. She then stepped closer to Draco and placed her hands on his face, with his hands resting on hers.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Leila whispered.

"You didn't come see me." Draco whispered back.

"I'm sorry about that, I was busy." Leila said.

"Busy?" Draco spat.

"Harry's mad at me so I took my frustrations out on my homework rather than you." Leila said.

"Saint Potter's doing again, should have known." Draco muttered.

"Draco, just forget about him. You should be back in the hospital wing. You don't look so well." Leila said.

"I'm fine." Draco sneered.

"You can tell me you know." Leila sighed.

"Tell you what?" Draco asked.

"Tell me anything. Whatever it is that's eating at you. It's not healthy to keep it locked up inside of you." Leila said.

Draco looked into her eyes. She was genuinely concerned about him. He wanted to tell her, but if he told her he would lose her. She would never forgive him for what he was trying to do, should he succeed. But right now he was sooner to his own death rather than Dumbledore's. Draco knew that if she kept looking at him like that he would eventually cave in, so instead he placed his lips on hers. Leila instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Draco kissed her more passionately, but soon became short of breath and began coughing.

"You need to get back to the hospital wing." Leila commented.

"Like I told you I'm…" Draco began.

"Fine? No, come on, I'll walk with you. I can't have you passing out on the way there." Leila said.

"No. I'm not going, I'm staying with you." Draco said firmly.

"Draco, please? You need to get better and you won't be able to do that snogging me." Leila said.

Draco's glanced away from her as he felt her arm wrap around his torso. She then placed his arm over her shoulder as she led them out of the common room. Draco leaned a little more heavily on Leila, just to be closer to her. She really was too good for him, but she was his. He would never admit it to anyone, and even though Leila wasn't a pureblood, he could picture the rest of his life with her. He could see her standing by his side with a couple of kids. But with this war, he would never have that, so he wanted to hold onto her while he still could. Draco a bit too preoccupied by his thoughts didn't even realize that they were already to the hospital wing.

"This is where I leave you." Leila said.

Draco didn't respond.

"I love you. I'll come see you tomorrow. I promise." Leila whispered for only him to hear.

Leila stood on her tippy-toes, kissed his cheek, and walked away. Walking away, that's what she should do with Draco. She knew that he was a Death Eater, even if he hadn't officially spoken the words to her. Death Eaters wanted to kill Harry, her only family. She couldn't imagine Draco as a cold-hearted Death Eater, at least not the Draco she knew. But the Draco she knew could turn his emotions off as with the motion of a wand. The only problem was he held a firm grasp on her heart. How she let Draco manage to do that was still uncertain to her, but she had done it. Leila finally reached the common room again and quickly went to bed to be rid of the day.

But she couldn't fall asleep. Her thoughts kept turning back to her boyfriend. He claimed that she was the only girl he ever fully let in; but why wouldn't he let her all the way in? She had been trying for months to get Draco to have a change of heart, to leave his Dark roots behind; but she was nowhere closer than where she started. If he would only tell her; but then again, there was a way she could find out without him actually telling her. Leila shook her head. She couldn't possibly think of doing that spell. It would be an invasion of privacy, almost as if she couldn't trust him; but it also could help her understand him more. She couldn't do such a thing, could she?

Leila awoke the next morning and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she got there, she hesitated as where to sit. She hadn't sat at the Slytherin table for quite some time, but with Harry mad at her she wasn't sure to sit at the Gryffindor table. She decided to take her chances with the Gryffindor table but found that Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't there. Leila sighed and was about to leave the Great Hall, when she saw Hermione enter with Ron and Harry.

"You can sit with us." Hermione said.

"I won't be joining if she is." Harry said.

"Suit yourself then." Hermione said.

"You know I was just going to head out." Leila said.

"Leila, if Harry wants to act like that, then let him." Hermione said.

"Wait, why are we mad at Leila?" Ron asked.

"Ask her yourself. I'm going to go sit with Ginny." Harry said storming off.

"What's eating him?" Ron asked.

Hermione sat down and gave Leila the look to tell Ron. Leila sighed; Ron was her friend, and a pretty good one at that. Leila sat down and looked at Ron who was already devouring his bowl of Pixie Puffs.

"Are you sure you want to get in the middle of this?" Leila asked.
"Harry's my best mate and you're my friend too." Ron said.

"I'll understand if you never want to speak to me after this…" Leila began.

"That bad is it? It's not like you've went and joined You-Know-Who's side. Have you?" Ron asked.

"No, I haven't, but…" Leila continued.

"Just tell him already!" Hermione hissed.

"Fine. Erm…first, do you promise not to tell anyone or at least not anyone who doesn't know?" Leila asked.

"Who all knows?" Ron asked.

"Harry, Hermione, me, and …. Draco Malfoy." Leila said.

"Why the bloody hell does Malfoy know?" Ron shouted.

"Sh!" Hermione and Leila shushed Ron.

"Sorry, why the bloody hell does Malfoy know?" Ron whispered.

"Do you promise?" Leila asked.

"Fine, fine; I promise." Ron said.

"The reason Harry's mad at me and Draco knows it because I'm dating him." Leila said hesitantly.

"You're barking. Hermione, tell me she's barking." Ron said.

"She's telling the truth, Ron. The only reason she told me is because I caught them snogging." Hermione added.

"No wonder Harry's pissed. He's hated Malfoy since forever and then to find out his sister's snogging the bloke; that'd be like Ginny snogging Malfoy. Disgusting, I'd never allow it." Ron thought out loud.

"Any other opinion you need to voice?" Leila hissed.

"I was only thinking." Ron said.

"Maybe next time think in your head." Leila commented.

"Sorry, but it is rather shocking news." Ron said.

"Are you mad at me then?" Leila asked.

"Mad, not really, more like confused as hell. You're honestly telling me that you're dating Draco Malfoy?" Ron said.

"How many times do we need to go over this?" Leila complained.

"Are you using him to get something? I mean it would make things make much more sense." Ron continued.

"Bloody hell." Leila groaned.

"I think Leila has genuine feelings for Malfoy." Hermione said.

"Huh." Ron said.

Ron then turned his attention back to his cereal. He took several bites while Hermione and Leila watched him confusedly.

"What? I'm hungry." Ron said with his mouth full of cereal.

"Always thinking of your stomach." Hermione muttered.

"You're not going to say anymore? You're not going to tell me to stop seeing him?" Leila asked.

"I'm assuming Harry already told you that." Ron said taking another spoonful of cereal, dribbling some milk on his chin.

"So that's it then, no yelling?" Leila asked.

"I can guarantee that Harry did that too." Ron said.

"I should have told you first." Leila muttered.

Leila ate breakfast with Hermione and Ron, while receiving glares from her brother, whom sat further down the Gryffindor table with Ginny. She really wanted to make things right with her brother and she dreaded the only way she could do it. Leila walked out of the Great Hall and leaned against the wall, waiting for her brother. Harry walked out holding hands with Ginny.

"Harry, wait up!" Leila called.

Harry and Ginny stopped walking. Ginny quickly kissed Harry on the cheek and walked away.

"What don't you understand about me not wanting to talk to you?" Harry asked.

"Harry we've always worked things out before; I'm your sister." Leila said.

"A sister who betrayed me." Harry hissed.

"I haven't betrayed you." Leila shot back.

"Have you ended things with him yet?" Harry asked.

"No, but…" Leila began.

"Then you know where I stand." Harry said turning to walk away.

"I have always had your back Harry. I didn't like it when you dated Chang and you knew I didn't like her. Did I act like a baby and cut you out? No, I didn't." Leila shouted.

"You were hardly around last year." Harry quipped back.

"Oh really, where was I then?" Leila hissed.

"You were too busy mourning over Cedric because you were in love with someone you could never have. That seems to be a recurring theme for you, doesn't it?" Harry shouted.

"Take that back!" Leila yelled.

"Both of you knock it off! The whole school can hear you!" Hermione shouted exiting the Great Hall with Ron trailing.

"This is why I'm not talking with her." Harry said.

"Harry, mate, I don't like what she did; but she's your sister and our friend. It's not like she's went and joined You-Know-Who's side." Ron said.

"She probably has." Harry scoffed.

Leila hastily rolled up her left sleeve to show a bare forearm.

"There you are, Harry. Happy? I would never join Voldemort; never ever! He killed our parents and has tried to kill us on multiple occasions. You may think I'm an idiot for whom I chose to love; but I'm not mental enough to join Voldemort." Leila said.

"Harry, let's all try to be reasonable." Hermione commented.

"I'll consider being reasonable, when she does the reasonable thing and breaks things off with him." Harry said.

This time Harry turned to go, and he actually walked away from Leila, Ron, and Hermione. Leila shook her head in discouragement and walked with Hermione to their first class of the day. Leila could hardly concentrate through her classes. Harry refused to sit anywhere near her or look at her. She knew he would be mad when he found out, but never did she imagine he would stoop to something so petty and low. It was almost like she was at odds with Granger again, except this time she was at odds with her brother. Hermione and Ron tried not to choose sides, and Leila wasn't comfortable having them attempt to hold the peace. So she was glad when classes came to an end and she could sneak off to go see Draco.

Leila walked into the hospital wing as Pansy Parkinson was leaving.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" Pansy sneered.

"Madam Pomfrey wanted a brief check-up, is that a problem Parkinson?" Leila smoothly lied.

Pansy turned her nose up in disapproval and quickly walked away from Leila. Leila was suspicious if Pansy was on to her and Draco. Leila was already ostracized by the Slytherins; but she knew Draco wouldn't do well being on the wrong side of their House. She walked through an empty hospital wing to where Draco lay, pretending to be asleep.

"Parkinson's gone, love; it's only me." Leila whispered in his ear.

"You came?" Draco said somewhat in shock.

"Of course I came, I promised that I would." Leila said.

"What about The Chosen One?" Draco sneered.

"I made you a promise and I intend on keeping it." Leila snipped.

"Good, Parkinson was getting bloody annoying." Draco drawled.

"I don't know what you ever saw in her." Leila commented.

"She's different once you get to know her." Draco said.

"Is that why you dated her then?" Leila asked.

"No, I did that to piss you off." Draco smirked.

"Only took six years to do so." Leila said.

Draco sighed and looked away from Leila.

"What're you thinking about?" Leila asked.

"Nothing." Draco mumbled.

"You're thinking about something." Leila said sternly.

"It's nothing for you to be concerned about." Draco said.

"I think I can make that judgment for myself." Leila said.

"Well, I made it for you." Draco said.

"What's so bad about telling me?" Leila asked.

"You need to understand that there are some things I can't tell you. Sometimes you're too nosy for your own good." Draco said.

"So now this is my fault?" Leila hissed.

"You always twist my words." Draco sneered.

"And you will never let me all the way in!" Leila shouted.

"I can't! Don't you understand that? Am I not enough for you?" Draco hissed.

"I keep trying to hold onto you, onto us, for dear life; but you always seem to be pushing me away! This won't work if you won't fully let me in!" Leila cried.

"What you have is what you get." Draco said coldly.

"I'm done with this conversation. I asked one thing of you and you won't even try." Leila said putting her hands up in defeat.

"Leila, don't be mad." Draco sighed, letting his cold façade melt away.

"I'm not mad, Draco; I'm not mad." Leila said.

Leila simply walked away from Draco, something she had been doing a lot of recently. Walking away and fighting, the top two activities for the couple since Harry had found out about them. Leila was almost to her breaking point, and she knew that Draco was close to his as well. She shook her head and walked to the Great Hall for an early dinner, where Harry would not be present and then continued to the library until it closed. From there she made her way to the Slytherin common room.

Leila sat in the Slytherin common room curled up on the couch with a book she had recently checked out from the library. The Slytherins had deserted the common room almost an hour before, leaving Leila alone, which she was fine with. Her room was filled with girls who hated her, so the common room was the better option. Leila turned the page and was slightly startled by the common room door opening. Draco walked through the door.

"Madam Pomfrey said she'd release you tomorrow, Draco." Leila sighed.

"I couldn't sleep without apologizing to you." Draco said.

"What's done is done." Leila said.

"I know you have every right to be mad at me, but I really am sorry. But I just can't." Draco said.

Draco looked at Leila with a pang of sadness in his eyes. Leila sighed.

"Oh come here." Leila said patting the couch.

Draco sat beside Leila and rested his head on her shoulder. Leila brushed away his tousled hair which fell in front of his eyes. He then wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.

"You're awfully clingy tonight." Leila teased.

"It's been so long since I've gotten to actually hold you." Draco yawned.

"You should get back to the hospital wing and get a decent night's sleep." Leila said.

"Just a little while longer?" Draco asked.

"Fine, but why don't you rest your head on my lap so I can continue reading." Leila suggested.

Draco moved so that his head was resting on Leila's lap. He was asleep in no more than five minutes. Leila sighed, set her book down, and ran her fingers through Draco's hair. If only her eleven year old self could see her know: in love with Draco Malfoy. She struggled with when the change occurred, when she actually fell in love with him. It was true what some say: love sometimes does come softly. Draco then began to mutter in his sleep.

"Stop! He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me."

"Draco." Leila said, shoving him.

Draco didn't wake up. Instead he clung to Leila in fear. Fear, an emotion she could never recall seeing on Draco Malfoy. Leila shook him again, but he continued to mutter. Leila's thoughts immediately turned to what his could possibly be. Her wand lay on the side table beside her. She could easily pick it up and hopefully find out what was bothering him. Leila slowly reached for her wand weighing the pros and cons. It was possible that Draco could never know she went into his thoughts, or he could wake up and be very pissed off. This could be a deal-breaker in their relationship, but Leila didn't like seeing him like this. Sleeping was where Occlumency shields were at their weakest. She knew he was trained, but maybe she could get past the guards he put up. Leila's hand gripped her wand as her breathing became uneven.

"Draco." Leila whispered.

Draco continued to mutter in his sleep and didn't even flinch at the whisper of his name. Leila took a deep breath and removed her wand from the table, and pointed it at Draco's temple. She knew that Snape had failed at getting into Draco's thoughts, but she figured that she would have the best luck getting inside his head. He trusted her, and if he found out, that trust would be broken. But Leila was determined to know what he feared so she could help him and sway him to the right side, the light side, her side.

"Bloody hell." Leila groaned.

Leila closed her eyes tightly shut and firmly grasped her wand.

"Legilimens!" Leila whispered.

Leila instantly burst through flashes of memories in Draco's mind.

*Leila stood there with a sad expression on her face and her arm in a sling, Draco quickly turned his back to her and walked away. The scene was after the debacle at the Department of Mysteries. This is when the change began, after his father had been arrested for being a Death Eater. This is when he tried to harden his heart toward her, but he had failed.

*Draco's mother stood before him in tears. "Come, my son. It is time." Draco walked through a set of doors and before him stood Voldemort.

*"Do you swear it?" Voldemort hissed. "I swear, my lord." Draco whispered shakily, his voice unsure of himself. Voldemort's wand pressed against Draco's left arm and Draco screamed and writhed in pain. These scenes must be from Draco's initiation into the Death Eaters. He wasn't ready to be a part of them; but it was forced upon him.

*Bellatrix had Draco pushed up against a wall with her wand pointed at his head. "You're supposed to block me out! You'll surely fail the Dark Lord if you can't perform a simple shield!" Bellatrix screamed. "I won't fail!" Draco shouted back. "If you keep focused on that Potter girl, you will!" Bellatrix fired back. Draco mustered a nasty sneer as Bellatrix forced her wand at his temple.

*"Be safe, my son. Don't let that Potter girl get in the way. If you fail the Dark Lord, he will surely kill you." Narcissa whispered and kissed her son good-bye as he boarded the Hogwarts Express.

*"You're letting the Potter girl get in the way aren't you? You must not fail him!" Bellatrix lunged at Draco. She pointed her wand at his temple, but quickly backed away. "Happy? You taught me well!" Draco sneered. He pushed Bellatrix away; his hand was missing his Slytherin ring. Leila could only guess that this scene had taken place during their Christmas break, probably after the attack on the Burrow.

*Draco was crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom "If I don't do this he'll kill me. I can't do it; but I have to. I need more time. I don't want to die."

Leila opened her eyes, stinging with tears. She immediately threw her wand on the floor. She gasped and looked at Draco. He hadn't woken up yet. She was thankful for that much; but her thoughts were spinning. Draco was deep into this mess, and there was no easy way out for him. She remembered that his mother had told her to stay away from him at the beginning of the year. She probably should have listened. She really was distracting Draco. The more he was with her; the more likely Voldemort would kill him. She still had no idea what his mission was; but the thought of Draco dying because of her she couldn't handle. There had to be a way she could fix this.

A tear slipped from Leila's eyes to Draco's cheek. Draco's hand absently moved to his cheek as his eyes fluttered open. He rolled his head to face Leila.

"What's wrong, Leila?" Draco mumbled.

"S…s…sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Leila whimpered.

"Leila, why are you crying?" Draco asked, sitting up.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. I love you so much, Draco." Leila said burying her face in Draco's shoulder.

Draco confusedly wrapped one arm around her shoulder and the other hand ran through her hair. His head felt a little fuzzy, and he shook his head to be rid of the feeling. Draco could only guess that the change in her mood from anger to tears was one of those girl things he would never understand. Leila lifted her head and kissed his cheek.

"Why does it have to be so hard and complicated?" Leila asked.

"Why does what have to be hard and complicated?" Draco asked.

"Being together: you and me." Leila said.

"Dunno, but we knew that it wasn't going to be easy when we started though." Draco said.

"I just never imagined it would be this hard. I mean Harry…" Leila began.

"I can take care of Scarhead for you. I think a little payback is in order." Draco said.

Leila inwardly cringed. He was placing her and her happiness above his mission. She knew that most girls would be happy and ecstatic that a guy was putting her first; but with Draco's life in the balance, being first in his life felt wrong. Leila sat up straight and placed her hand on Draco's cheek.

"Draco, you haven't even been released from the hospital from the last time yet." Leila sighed.

"And I can see where this conversation is quickly going. You're going to tell me to go back to the hospital wing." Draco sighed.

Draco stood up to leave, but Leila quickly grabbed his arm. Her emotions were confusing her; but right now she needed him. She would decide what was best from there. He quickly turned around, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Neither of them heard the footsteps coming from behind them.

"Don't go." Leila whispered.

"All you have to do is ask." Draco slightly smiled.

"Stay; please stay with me." Leila said never breaking eye contact.

Draco slightly smirked and sat back down on the couch. He swung his feet onto the couch as Leila crawled in closer to him and snuggled up close. His arms wrapped around her and held her tightly as she inhaled his familiar and comforting scent. Draco kissed the top of her head.

"I love you." Draco whispered.

"I love you too. I just sometimes wish we didn't have to hide from the rest of the world." Leila said.

"I know; but we also agreed to this when we started." Draco said.

"I understand why we have to; but sometimes I wish things were different." Leila trailed off.

"As do I." Draco mumbled.

Leila trailed her hand on Draco's arm, feeling slightly guilty for invading his thoughts. What made her feel worse was that he didn't even know and she didn't know if she would ever be brave enough to tell him. Bravery definitely wasn't her forte, probably why she made Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. If she had been in Gryffindor things would be much different and she probably wouldn't be in such a predicament. Leila looked up to find Draco asleep and yawned. She knew she should head to bed, but just this once she was going to stay. She rested her head back on Draco's chest and soon was fast asleep.

The footsteps in the dark crept closer to the couch where Draco and Leila slept. The light from the fireplace cast light on the intruder: a jealous Pansy Parkinson.

"Draco in love with Potter?" Pansy spat.

Pansy wanted to curse Leila for stealing Draco away from her. She even was so far as having her wand drawn when a better idea came into her head.

"You don't to hide from the world? Don't worry you won't have to." Pansy smirked.