Quidditch was not something Alli particularly enjoyed, but unfortunately, the entire school was instructed to attend the games. The match that afternoon was between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Alli groaned as she opened the door to the sixth-year girls' dormitory. Alli's roommate, Ashley, was getting dressed for the game when she entered.
"What is it?" asked Ashley, as she wrapped a green and silver wool scarf around her neck.
"I don't want to go to the game," Alli admitted. Ashley's eyes widened in shock.
"What? Why not?"
"Uh, 'cause I don't like Quidditch," Alli told her as if it had been completely obvious.
"Are you mental, Alli?" Ashley replied. Alli raised her eyebrows, slightly offended.
"No," said Alli, stubbornly.
"Why don't you like Quidditch?" asked Ashley, still taken aback by Alli's statement.
"Not everyone likes Quidditch, Ashley," said Alli.
"Well, you're the first I've met," Ashley responded.
"I still don't want to go," said Alli.
"You have to," Ashley told her. "It's required for all students. Anyway, don't you want to support Slytherin?"
"No."
"Come along, Alli," said Ashely with a roll of her eyes. She grabbed Alli's arm and pulled her towards the door. Alli tried her best to keep her feet planted, but Ashley was stronger than she anticipated. Alli was forced to follow her. As Alli and Ashley followed the crowd of students and teachers to the Quidditch pitch, Ashley struck up a conversation.
"So, I heard you and Draco are a thing, now," Ashley said. "How is that going?"
"How did you hear about that?" Alli asked. But, when she saw Ashley's matter-of-fact expression, she reluctantly replied, "It's going fine."
"Just going fine? Why is that?" Ashley inquired. Alli sighed.
"Well, you've probably noticed, but I tend to wake up in the middle of the night a lot." Ashley agreed with a small laugh. "I've been having nightmares," said Alli. Ashley narrowed her eyebrows.
"Nightmares?' asked Ashley. "How do you mean?"
"Well, they have recently involved Draco... and You-Know-Who," Alli told her.
"But, they're just dreams," Ashley told her, noting Alli's worried expression. "Right?"
"That's the thing, though," said Alli. "I think they may be... actually happening." She bit her lip nervously waiting for Ashley's response.
"Do you think that has something to do with your scar or You-Know-Who or something?" Ashley asked, intrigued.
"Yeah!" Alli replied, a small hint of excitement in her voice. "Oh, and get this: Snape showed up, too."
"Snape?" said Ashley. "And you said that Draco is there, too? And You-Know-Who?" Alli nodded and looked down at the grass as they walked. "What happens in your dreams, specifically?" Ashley asked.
"It seems like You-Know-Who has ordered Draco to do something. I think Snape is supposed to help him or something. It's really weird."
"That is strange," Ashley agreed.
"I've been talking to Harry about them. He and I both see the same things when we dream," said Alli. "Harry says that we both have some sort of connection to You-Know-Who."
"Like, I said earlier, right? It has something to do with your scar? But, how is that?" asked Ashley.
"No one knows, really. Except maybe Professor Dumbledore, but I'm not sure," Alli mused. Ashley shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway," Alli continued, "That's not really the only thing that's gone on with me and Draco." Ashley raised her eyebrows and smirked.
"Oh, really?" Ashley said with a smile. Alli blushed. "Well, go on, spit it out!"
"So, the other night," Alli began, "I woke up from one of my nightmares. I had to get out of the room so I just went down to the common room, right? Well, Draco was there. He was sitting on that couch by the fireplace. I told him about my nightmare and he got really pissed off. But, then he felt bad about making me cry. So, he started being super sweet and comforted me and he apologized. Then, he asked me if I wanted to go somewhere with him." Alli's cheeks turned slightly red.
"And..." Ashley prompted with a giggle.
"He took me to this balcony near the library that overlooked the grounds and the stars were so beautiful. It was so romantic," Alli remembered. She sighed. "Oh, and then we... well, let's just say other stuff happened between us that night," Alli finished.
"You didn't!" Ashley exclaimed. "You shagged Draco Malfoy?" Alli nodded and giggled. Ashley squealed excitedly. "How was he?"
"Amazing!" Alli told her.
"Wicked," said Ashley, laughing as well. As they reached the Quidditch Pitch, Ashley said, "Okay, come on. Let's get a good seat!"
"Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor!"
There was a blur of red and green as both teams circled around the Quidditch pitch.
"Today, we are witnessing the first Quidditch match of the season- Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"
The crowd exploded with cheers. Alli looked around at the other students and rolled her eyes. She just didn't understand the excitement of people on brooms, tossing a large red ball around trying not to get attacked by dangerous flying black metal balls, while one person from each team searched around for a gold ball that was nearly impossible to see. What was the point? The sport was hard to follow because there was so much going on at once. Not to mention, the players threw the Quaffle so fast that it was hard to figure out where it was. Alli sighed.
Madame Hooch stepped out onto the field, released the Bludgers and the Golden Snitch, then finally tossed the Quaffle into the air. A Gryffindor chaser reached for the Quaffle, but was caught off guard by a Bludger flying by.
"Slytherin is in possession of the Quaffle," called the commentator. "Vaisley passes to Urquhart- captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team. Urquhart nears the goalposts. It looks like he is going to score! But, wait, here comes Gryffindor's new keeper, Ronald Weasley! Weasley blocks easily. Ginny Weasley has the Quaffle. She passes to Demelza Robins. Robins passes back to Weasley. She is almost to the goalposts."
A ding sounded as Ginny scored.
"Ginny Weasley scores! Ten points to Gryffindor."
The Slytherin section groaned and Alli just crossed her arms. Ashley nudged Alli with her elbow.
"Ow," Alli grumbled, rubbing her arm, "what?"
"So, where is he?" asked Ashley. "Draco."
"What do you mean?" Alli responded.
"He's the Slytherin seeker," said Ashley. Alli raised her eyebrows.
"Hmm, I didn't know that," Alli replied.
"I guess he has some secrets from you, then," said Ashley, with a smile. Alli's heart dropped into her stomach. There was that word again: secrets. Despite the fact that she knew Ashley had been joking, Alli couldn't escape the binding feeling that the idea of Draco keeping secrets had on her. "You okay, Alli?"
"Y-yeah," Alli stuttered, drawing away from her thoughts. The ding of the goalposts rang out again.
"Slytherin scores!" the commentator yelled out. Ashley, along with the rest of the Slytherin section, screamed and jumped up and down.
"Hey!" called Alli.
"Yeah! Go Slytherin!" Ashley screamed in an unusually high-pitched voice.
"Hey!" Alli yelled again. She shoved Ashley's shoulder. Ashley stopped jumping.
"What?" she snapped. "I'm trying to watch the game!"
"I'm leaving. I'm going to go find Draco, okay?" Alli told her. Ashley shrugged apathetically and turned back towards the game. Alli rolled her eyes. She was forced to push and shove her way through the crowd to get out of the stands and back down to the grass.
"I think, yes! Harper, substituting for Draco Malfoy as Seeker, sees the Snitch!" the commentator called out as Alli marched towards the castle. "He is so close! But, here comes Potter!"
The commentary was shut out once the castle doors closed behind Alli. She sighed. She welcomed the quietness of the castle. Quidditch was too loud for her. Alli didn't feel like going back to the common room. Instead, she decided the library would be a good place to relax for a while by herself. As an extrovert, she rather enjoyed spending time with the few people she cared about. As rare as it was that Alli wanted to be alone in that particular moment, she couldn't help but think how it would be much more enjoyable with Draco there. As she neared the library, Alli turned a corner and jumped. Professor Snape and Draco stood facing each other in the corridor. She darted quickly back around the corner. Alli leaned her back against the wall and exhaled nervously. Snape and Draco were talking in hushed voices. Alli strained to listen.
"This mission was given to you to prove your worth. You have not shown him reason to make use of you any longer," said Snape.
"This is my moment," Draco replied angrily.
"Then, prove it!" said Snape.
"I'm trying."
"He will not wait much longer. It's time. If you do not go through with it soon, then I will be forced to intervene," Snape growled.
"You don't have to," Draco told him. "I was chosen for this!"
"I don't have a choice, don't you understand? I made the unbreakable vow!"
"Fine," said Draco, defeated. "I'll do it soon."
"Tonight," Snape demanded.
"Yeah, tonight."
Alli peeked around the corner to see Snape turn on his heel and walk away with his black cloak swishing around his ankles. Draco sat down on a nearby bench and put his head in his hands. Alli watched his shoulders shake as he began to sob into his arms. Alli swallowed nervously. 'Should I go and comfort him? No, I need to think more.' Draco obviously has a mission given to him. Snape was definitely in on it as well. 'My nightmares have confirmed this and their conversation just now supports that idea, too.' But, if Draco did have a mission and it was from Voldemort then that meant- 'Draco has been lying to me. Why would he lie? What is he afraid of telling me?' Alli wanted so badly to go to him now. She wanted so badly to trust him. But, Alli couldn't stand the fact that Draco wasn't the person she thought she knew. 'I hate this.' She looked at him again as he continued to sob.
"Ugh," Alli sighed angrily. "Fuck it." With that, she turned the corner and stepped down the corridor towards Draco. The clacking of Alli's shoes on the stone floor made it impossible for her to keep her presence unknown. Draco looked up, saw Alli, and put his head back in his hands. Alli sighed deeply and sat down on the bench next to Draco. Neither of them spoke. Alli tried to keep her breathing slow. Finally, Draco looked up at her. His gray eyes were shining from his tears.
"What's going on, Draco?" Alli asked. The tone of her voice was stern.
"Don't worry about it," Draco replied. Alli narrowed her eyes at him angrily.
"That's bullshit, Draco," Alli snapped. "There's something going on that you're not telling me." Draco opened his mouth to defend himself, but Alli didn't give him the chance. "I heard you and Snape talking." Draco's lips parted slightly.
"What all did you hear?" asked Draco, nervously.
"Enough," Alli snapped. Draco looked down.
"I just told him that to get him off my back, Allison. God, would you give it a rest?" Draco snapped. Alli narrowed her eyes at him.
"Why should I believe you?" said Alli. When Draco didn't respond, Alli shook her head. She looked away as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
"Allison," Draco whispered. He placed a hand on her knee. "What is it?" Alli turned her face to him and shrugged as she continued to cry.
"It's just," Alli paused, "I don't believe anything you're telling me. I don't believe you've ever told me anything that wasn't a lie." Her voice was cold. "These dreams I've been having are real. I know they are. Harry has them, too. We share the same dreams. And, you know what? Harry has never lied to me."
"Potter is mental to think that. He's mental! Just as I said before."
"So, does that make me mental, too?" said Alli, angrily.
"No, you're not," Draco said calmly. Alli crossed her arms and glared at him. "Listen, Alli," Draco began. He unfolded her arms and placed his hands on top of hers. "I want you to understand something," said Draco with a serious tone. Alli swallowed nervously. "I don't want to lie to you any longer. I never wanted to lie to you. But, you've got to understand where I'm coming from. The Dark Lord is using me for..." Draco paused. Then, he leaned in and kissed Alli's lips softly. Alli breathed in deeply as he pulled away.
"What was that for?" Alli whispered.
"I'm so sorry," Draco told her. Alli looked down at her hands and nodded. "I love you, Alli." Alli's head shot up immediately. Draco had a look on his face and his eyes shone with such sincerity. His lips parted as if he was shocked at what he had just admitted to her. But, he also looked sad.
"What did you say?" said Alli, quietly. Draco wrapped his arms around her and held the back of her head against his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Allison," Draco whispered in her ear. Alli touched his chest and felt his heart beating fast against her palm. Alli wanted to tell him that she loved him back, but the hurt she felt from his lies made her resist it. "Will you meet me in the common room tonight at midnight? I want to show you something else."