A/N : Here's another chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 76: Unsolved business

"Cedric wait up! " he stopped and looked around until he found me heading up to him.

"Hey Selene what's up?" He really remembered my name? Man this guy was the definition of Hufflepuff.

"Well, I realized that with all the fuss after the task, I didn't get to thank you properly for saving me."

"You're a great witch, I'm sure you would've gotten out of it alone too. I mean, professor Flitwick gives us your example every time someone screws up."

"Ummm" His eyes went wide that exact moment.

"Oh, I didn't mean it to sound like that. It's actually, he tells us how good you are in charms, even our level."

"K, got it. But actually I didn't know any charm for breathing underwater, plus I didn't have my wand, as I left it in the library the night before. So I actually would've drowned if it wasn't for you."

"Uh, ok then. You're welcome. I meant to ask you; what's up with that Slytherin guy? The blond one."

Shit. Why would he want to know about Draco? What did he hear?

"Nott, I belive." I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. Our secret wasn't out.

"Oh, him...Wait, what about him?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. When you got out of the lake he rushed into the hospital tent, and I heard that he actually yelled at you on the hallways a few times."

"Umm, he's a Slytherin." I hoped that'll be enough.

"Yeah, but he's known for being quiet and a lot less prejudiced than the others."

"Really? Oh well, I still have no idea what's up with him."

"Hmm. Ok then. I have to get to Herbology now. Se you later." he said with a big smile that lit up his whole face and left.

All the talks I had this past days had me thinking that I should actually speak to Theo. And now I actually got what I could say to him.

"Draco. Can you hear me?"

"Well, as you are the only one that can speak into my mind, I belive that is a stupid question."

"Someone's snappy today. What happened?"

"Never mind."

"Lemme guess. Harry?"

"Who else could piss me off so fast?"

"Just give him a break. He's got a lot on his mind with the tournament."

"He's been participating for months now, this isn't an excuse."

" It's supposed to be the most dangerous task. How would you feel to know that you are in imminent danger of death? And to actually have to go though it?"

"Yeah, well, he's still a pain in the ass."

"I'll give you that. Whatever, what I wanted was for you to tell Theo come to the greenhouses, cause I have to speak with him."

"What for?" he really felt suspicious by now, and the color my ring was was definitely black.

"Relax, I'm not getting myself killed. Just tell him."

"Ok, I'll do that."

Half an hour later, I was in the greenhouse, watching a couple of Bouncing Bulbs in cages trying to hurt each other apparently.

"You're here?"

"Over here." I called out. As he appeared from behind a giant Flitterbloom, he looked mostly wary. Theo was squinting at me, and I waited for him to say something; but he didn't, and just kept looking at me the way you'd look at disassembled Ikea furniture.

"Look, I thought about it, and talked to Eve, and I think we were apart for long enough. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I know you're not like this, everyone does; and I'm willing to help you. Plus, you didn't have any reaction to everything we talked after the second task, and I got worried." He finally straightened himself, and opened his mouth, but what came out of it confused me.

"It's him isn't it? "

"What? Who is what?"

"Your soulmate. It's Draco." I froze in place and my smile vanished instantly.

"How, wh-"

"Well, you were acting as his cousin. And he was there after the lake. And he's the one who told me to come here to meet you."

"Well, I guess that makes sense. But it's not what we were talking about. What's gotten into you?"

"Well, my mom has been acting all weird during the summer. She kept saying she feels like something awful is coming, and the way my older brother acts is not helping at all." Oh right, Garret Nott, the distant brother. Even when Theo was little, his brother wasn't much of a family loving boy, and he always made their mother worry.

"He's not really at home most of the time and is even talking to us less than before. So I was locked in most of the summer. I barely got her to let me to the World Cup. I guess I built up frustration over the summer."

"But that's not an excuse to lash out at people."

"I know. And what you said that night really got me thinking. About this person that You-Know-Who sent to kill you. And about your brother and, well, those were huge surprises, and not really good. I needed some time to sort them out."

"Ok then, I'll let you finnish that. When you're ready, we'll meet, you, me and Eve, and we'll solve it all."

At the end of the day, I was completely exhausted and the sleep would've come as a delight, if it wasn't for the nightmare. But a little bit into it I realized...I wasn't dreaming.

"Thou weren't supposed to keep it, and were supposed to be mine. But the bastards didn't let me. Thou can't escape me forever girl, nobody can."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Oh dear, many names have been spoken when talking about me, I've been called Thanatos, Hel, Kritanta, Libitina, but I'm sure the name thou know me by is Death."

That alone should've discouraged most people, but I wasn't going to back away.

"And what do you want from me? I was never extremely close to dying, maybe close, but not too."

"It seems as someone doesn't know their past, girl. Thou weren't supposed to be alive, not even for a few minutes. When thy mother was giving birth, thou were about to die. But thy ancestors had other plans. Now I'm here to finish my job, and that isn't explaining myself to a mortal."

Death came close to me and I felt the heat leaving my body. I was trembling. It caught me by my throat and started choking me.

You know how they say in your last moments you see your life passing before your eyes? It was nothing like that; instead I could see all the colours fade before my eyes. Death's cloak, that was a few moments ago pure black was now faded to a dark grey. The darkness surrounding us looked more like a fog now. It was hard to breathe, and I felt my legs going numb. But I wasn't going without fight. I stretched my hands and caught Death's neck, feeling warm skin under my fingers, as though blood flowed under it. But after some time, a force unglued my fingers from it and I felt helpless. My arms went numb too, and there were no colours anymore. My head was pounding just as my heart was supposed to, but that one stopped. A smile graced Death's face but it looked nothing like the happy smiles I was used to.

"After all this years, I caught you. Nobody should have the Deathly Hallows or their powers unless I gift them. And nobody escapes me."

I was falling into the known unconsciousness, but this time I wasn't going to wake up anymore.