Chapter 22: Liquid Smoke

December 31st


Wake up. Please wake up. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is all my f-fault. I-I did this to you. I'm sorry. Please… If you wake up you can kill me, I swear it. If-if you don't wake up before term starts Potter w-will kill me anyway. Fuck. Potter… What am I supposed to tell him, El? He keeps sending me messages through that coin… I can't- I haven't answered. I don't know what I'm supposed to tell him. It should be me. It should be me in that bed. Fuck, Ellie. Shit. I'm so sorry.

Elara leaned into memory-Harry and sighed, taking in his broom polish and treacle scent again. She could hear Draco sobbing, confessing his sorrow to her, but it felt far away. She sat and let the memory wrap itself around her mind again, smiling softly as memory-Harry pressed his lips into her hair and whispered "I love you" over and over.

Since Snape first visited her mind, he had been back several times, interrupting her peace and trying to pry her from her happiness. She was aware now that she was mind-locked. She was also severely aware that she had done it to herself. She had no intentions of leaving anytime soon.

Being stuck in her own mind wasn't a bad place to be, she decided. Since the potions she was being force fed created lucidity and granted her the ability to have her wits about her, she had discovered she could leave any memory and enter a new one, as if walking through rooms in a house, she simply found a door and passed through it and something new would appear.

She pushed herself out what had become her favorite place to lay and passed through the door on the other side of the room of requirement. When it opened, it was the Garden at the Manor and she was sitting on the stone bench on a sunny afternoon wearing a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt.

She could feel the heat of the summer sun kissing her cheeks, could smell the geraniums as the breeze licked her shoulders and heard the buzzing of the bees as they floated about. In the distance, she could see Blaise and Draco flying on their brooms, playing a one on one seeker's match and behind her, she could hear the soft music from the charmed violins floating from the ballroom.

Her second favorite memory to visit.

This memory was from summer the year before. The last summer they had before everything turned completely sour. She had just turned fifteen and she had finally mastered her fanged geraniums, gained their trust enough to not be attacked every time she walked by them. Now, they lovingly nipped at her and offered up their fangs left and right. She sat humming along to the music as she watched her brother and friend fly around the grounds, hollering and laughing as they attempted risky and terrifying moves that she knew would end up with one of them breaking a limb. It was peaceful. She looked over her shoulder and saw her father standing at the window, a fond smile playing his lips as he looked over her. She met his gaze and then gasped.

That was wrong.

She watched as his face slowly began to sink in on itself, his cheeks hollowing, his eyes deepening into the back of his head. His shoulders slouching in a protective manor as his hair became greasy and matted and his face fell from smile to frown under a straggly looking beard. She stared at him, furrowing her brows together and tilting her head in confusion.

She snapped back from the image as she heard Snape's low drawl. "In the gardens today."

She looked back at him and narrowed her eyes. "Yes." She said.

"I was growing tired of seeing Potter over top of you. The change of scenery is appreciated."

"Leave me alone or I'll just go back there now."

"It's been six days, Elara. It's time to come out of this." He said, sounding like a parent whose patience is running thin with a toddler.

"I don't think it is." She said. "Besides, you keep giving me that horrid tasting potion, it's giving me more control over what I do in here."

"You can taste it?" He arched an eyebrow.

She nodded. "I can hear you too. From the outside."

"Interesting." He said. "Can you feel touch?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

"If I have to Crucio you to get you out of here, I will." He said, simply.

"Torturing me is what put me in here. I'm not coming out because of it."

"Gaining the Dark Mark is what put you in here."

She clenched her jaw and turned back around, staring at her father. Wondering why he was presenting in this state. "Can you see him?" She asked.

"I can." Snape replied. "I see he is not the same Lucius as you should be remembering in this particular haven."

"He's not." She said. "It's not happened before."

"Your mind is trying to tell you something."

She furrowed her brows and turned back to face Snape. He had begun to stroll through the geraniums, careful not to touch them or get too near. She followed him and brushed her fingers along their petals. "They respond to music." She said. "That's why we always have the violins playing in the ball room, even when there's nothing going on. They like the violins the best."

She watched as the memory went hazy for a moment and repeated, Draco doing the same double barrel roll and Blaise nearly falling from his broom as he attempted a triple. The same notes of the violins repeating the song over again. The buzzing of bees and the geranium scented breeze.

"Why are you here, Severus?" She asked. "Why are you trying to wake me?"

He pulled his eyes from the boys on brooms and turned to look at her. "I vowed to help and protect your brother. I can not do that if you are here."

"I am safe here." She said.

"Your safety is an illusion."

"How so?"

"You seem to be under the impression that lying in your bed, unwilling to pay attention to what is happening around you has created safety. It is a false sense of security. You are only alive because the Dark Lord decided he wants you to be. He will change his mind if he believes you have lost value to him."

"Let him." She said, turning back to sit on the bench as the memory went hazy and replayed again. She looked up to Snape and narrowed her eyes. "Get out."

"Elara, you need to come back with me."

"I don't need to do anything. Get out of my head before I force you out."

He sighed and turned on his heel. He walked inside the manor and was gone. She watched Blaise nearly fall from his broom attempting the triple roll, and the memory fizzled and replayed again.


Harry paced around the room, running his hands through his hair and huffing angrily.

"You need to calm down, mate." Ron said, mouthful of chocolate as he looked up from his Quidditch magazine. "You're going to run a rut into my floor."

"It's been over a week!" Harry exclaimed. "I haven't heard anything from her in over a week! She hasn't answered any message!"

"Maybe you're being a little… overbearing?" Ron said, closing the magazine and sitting upright. "You did say she never said it back."

"No." Harry said, shaking his head and sitting on his cot. He pressed his elbows into his thighs and folded his hands between his knees. "No, she was responding. I told her I would keep telling her. She needs to hear it. Merlin only knows what she's going through trapped in that place. She needs to know someone cares about her."

"Draco cares." Hermione said, closing the door behind her. "Her mother cares. She isn't locked in a cell in Azkaban, Harry. She's at her home."

"We go back tomorrow." Harry said. "She hasn't said anything since the day after Christmas! You can't tell me I shouldn't be worried! Her fucking wank of a brother isn't responding either!"

"You've messaged Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, I have!" He said, standing back up to resume his pacing. "Three days ago!"

"They're Malfoys, mate. They're probably having some sort of ball every night and sleeping it off through the day." Ron said.

Harry shook his head. "No. Elara never went to them. She wasn't allowed and she didn't want to go. She's told me that herself. She doesn't like being around that many people at once if she doesn't have to be."

"Harry, I'm sorry but I have to agree with Ron. Maybe she's simply feeling smothered? She's used to being alone. Maybe she's simply enjoying her alone time and focusing on her garden? She told me that she wanted to work on cross breeding a few things while she was home, that would take some time and effort." Hermione reasoned.

"You aren't listening!" Harry shouted. "There's something wrong. I can feel it. I know it."

"Okay mate, okay." Ron said, putting his hands up in surrender. "what can we do about it?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned to face his friends. They both looked concerned, staring at him like he was crazed. He took a deep breath and blew it out through his nose, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "I'm not mental." He said.

"No one said you were." Hermione said.

"I know there's something wrong. She wouldn't just stop contacting me. We promised each other! Every day. We would send a message every day, so I knew she was okay. She wouldn't just stop because she's enjoying her alone time."

"I messaged Blaise." Hermione said, holding her coin up. "If anyone has heard anything, it would be him."

"Do you think he'll message back?" Ron asked.

"He's more likely to answer me than Draco Malfoy is." She reasoned. "Besides, if she isn't talking to us, she may not be talking to him either. He's her best friend, right? So, if she hasn't talked to him at all… Oh. He's responded."

"What's it say, then?" Harry said, feeling impatient.

"He said 'sorry, no. Haven't heard from either of them.'" Hermione looked up and shrugged. "I'm sorry Harry, but I don't know what we can do to find out about them."

"Her. Find out about her. I don't fucking care what's happened to her Death Eating brother." He snarled. "Whatever has happened to her, it was probably his fault. He's gotten her wrapped up into something and now she's gone completely silent?! You can't tell me that isn't suspicious!"

"You're letting your anger at him cloud your judgement." Hermione said. "We go back tomorrow, just like you said. I'm sure she'll meet us at King's Cross and will explain everything on the ride back."

Harry nodded, sitting on the chair near the window. "Yeah." He said. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just worried."

"Don't worry yourself." Ron said. "I'm sure she's fine."


Harry looked around the crowded platform, eyes darting to every student he passed. They arrived earlier than usual, hoping to catch Elara if she came early. Ron had already walked the length of the train and reported that he didn't see her or her brother.

This wasn't right. Why hadn't she been talking to him? He knew she hadn't been able to say it back, but that wouldn't have stopped her from talking to him. She admitted she cared for him, admitted that there was something there. She just couldn't say it back, and he was okay with that. He knew his feelings for her were running rampant through him, stronger than anything he'd felt for anyone before. He was confused himself, unsure of how to handle the constant need to see her face, smell her orange blossom and cinnamon scent, taste her cranberry lips… The fact she hadn't responded to him in over a week set his teeth on edge. Had he done something wrong? Did he fuck up everything by telling her how he felt?

Things were getting complicated in terms of what was happening in the Wizarding World, he could feel it. His meeting with Dumbledore had proved it. They were going to war very soon, and he needed to be able to tell her what he felt. Neither can live while the other survives pulsed through his mind regularly and he knew that for him, it was kill or be killed and he had to tell her he cared about her before he had to face that reality.

He wasn't going to live forever. He probably wasn't going to live another two years. He'd die fighting but he needed every person he cared about to know that he cared. Especially her.

She looked at him differently. She gave him hell when he deserved it and didn't treat him like royalty. She understood what it felt like to have every person pass you and have something to say under their breaths. She understood what it felt like to be truly alone and had no judgement of wanting to revert to that from time to time. She was smart, funny, and kind.

He wondered if she knew that she held conviction better than most Gryffindors he knew.

He waded through the sea of students and parents, hugging their goodbyes until the end of the year. He ignored the looks and the whispers. It had been months, why are people still doing this?!

Finally, as the thick of the crowd began to dwindle down, he spotted a white blonde head. He walked toward it, fury building in his chest as he realized there was only one. "Malfoy!" He called out; anger evident in his voice.

The small crowd of third years looked at him, watching him march over to Draco Malfoy.

"Potter." He said, a sneer on his face.

"Where is she?" He asked through gritted teeth. "Why are you here alone?!"

Malfoy looked at his shoulder and flicked a piece of lint from his tailored suit jacket before looking back at him. "She's decided to stay home."

"Bullshit." Harry growled, brandishing his wand and digging its tip into Malfoy's chest. "Where the fuck is she?"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and he looked down at the wand, and back up to meet his glare. "I don't have to tell you anything, Potter. You're lucky I have enough respect for her not to rip your fucking throat out right here for talking to me like that."

"If you've hurt her, Malfoy, I will kill you." Harry hissed. "I will kill you slowly and fucking painfully."

Harry turned around and walked quickly back to the train, nearly pushing over a group of second year girls as he clambered on and stalked back, looking for Ron and Hermione. He tore open the compartment door and slammed it shut behind him, not apologizing for making Hermione yelp in surprise as Ron jumped forward a bit.

"He's here, but she isn't." Harry said, sitting down and bouncing his leg. "Said she's decided to stay home."

"You said crowds are overwhelming for her." Hermione whispered, sadly. "Maybe she's just decided that it was too much, being here."

"Tosh." Harry said. "I don't believe that for a second. She would have told me. Something's happened to her."

He stared out the window, frustration seeping through him. They didn't understand. They always thought he was obsessed with Malfoy, that his suspicions were unwarranted. He knew something was wrong. He knew he was involved in something dark, and he brought Ellie down with him. He had to find out. He stood up and pulled his Invisibility Cloak out from his bag.

"Where are you going, mate?" Ron asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm getting answers."

"The last time you did that, you ended up with a broken nose." Hermione reminded him.

"I'll be careful. A broken nose is the least of my worries right now." He said, pulling the cloak over him and exiting the cabin.

He walked to the back of the train where he knew Malfoy and his lackeys usually sat. His heart raced as he realized the door was still open, thanking Merlin, he passed through, creeping into the corner and crouching down at the table opposite.

"She's decided to stay home?" Zabini said, arching an eyebrow.

Zabini doesn't believe him either…Harry thought.

"She's… Unwell." Malfoy said, a slight hitch in his voice. What was that? Nerves? Anger?

"Will she be coming back at all?" Zabini asked. "I got her a gift for Christmas I wanted to give her. So did my mum."

"I did as well!" Pansy said.

"You can send it to the Manor." He said. "I don't know… I don't know how long she'll be out for."

A rapping on the side of the door frame pulled their attention to the entrance. A tall girl with curly dark hair and almond eyes smiled. "Blaise? Want to come sit with me for a bit? I've got the compartment to myself…"

"Sorry, mate." He said, looking over to Draco. "Talk later, yeah?"

Malfoy gave a sharp nod and Pansy smiled after him as he left, closing the cabin door behind him.

Harry clenched his jaw. Shit. He thought, trying to figure out how he'd get out of the cabin undetected. He'd have to just wait for Zabini to return.

"I like Alannis and Blaise as a couple, don't you?" Pansy said, massaging Malfoy's thigh and smiling.

"Yeah." He said. "They seem good together."

"I always thought he'd end up with Ellie though. Surprised that didn't happen. Saint Potter stepped in and swooped her off her feet."

Harry grimaced, wrinkling his nose up. He didn't swoop in. He hadn't planned on spending his year fancying a Malfoy! It just happened!

"Fucking Potter." Malfoy grumbled. "The tosser. He cornered me asking where she is."

"Is she ill, then?" Pansy asked. "Are you ill? You look terrible, love."

"Didn't get a lot of sleep." Malfoy said. "It was a… difficult holiday."

Harry stood up, trying to get a better look at him. He needed to see his face, to see if he could tell that he was lying.

"She'll be okay, won't she? She's just overwhelmed?" Pansy asked.

"I don't really fancy talking about it." Malfoy said. "Actually, you could take my mind off of it."

Harry furrowed his brows together. It was a difficult holiday? He needed to get his mind of it. What happened that he would- His thoughts stopped in their tracks as he heard the very recognizable sound of a zipper coming down.

"Draco! Now? What if Blaise comes back?"

"I don't really care if he does." He said. "You want to help me keep my mind off of it or not?"

Harry's eyes widened as Pansy's head dipped below the table and Malfoy sighed. Oh fuck. This is not… Not the kind of information I needed to gain today… he thought, trying to figure out how to get out of the cabin.

"Draco, are you sure you're alright?" Pansy said. "You know I love doing this for you, but it seems like you need to talk and-

"Panse, I'm going to be straight with you. If you keep moving your lips and they aren't around my cock, I'm going to scream. It was a bad holiday and I'd much prefer this right now so if you don't mind…"

Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. Malfoy really was disgusting.

"Ah, there's a good witch." His eyes closed as Pansy continued.

Harry took the opportunity to duck out of the cabin, being careful to open and close the door as silently as possible. He snuck back to his own cabin and pulled his cloak off, stuffing it back in his bag.

"You were gone awhile." Ron said, looking up from his copy of The Daily Prophet.

"Well I got stuck in the cabin while Parkinson sucked Malfoy off, so I didn't really know what to do."

Ron howled with laughter. "You- what?!"

"Yeah. Apparently, he had a bad holiday and that was his remedy. Merlin."

"Bloke's not wrong. It's a good fix for a foul mood." Ron laughed, wiping the tears from his lashes.

"Shut up. I never want to think about that ever again." Harry grumbled, throwing himself into the seat across from Ron. "Where's 'Mione?"

Ron shrugged. "Lavender stopped by, so she left. Said something about going to talk to Neville about a herbology essay."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Malfoy said that Ellie is 'unwell'. Also mentioned he didn't get much sleep over the hols and that it hadn't been a good break. Something definitely isn't right."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon, mate." Ron said, looking back into his copy of the Prophet.

"Yeah." Harry said, staring out the window. "Sure."


Two weeks had passed, and Harry still had no further information. The first few days of the second half of term, he heard whispered questions from his classmates. His friends asking him where she was, and he noticed Malfoy dodging questions as well. He had considered cornering him after class and beating the answer out of him, but Hermione talked him out of it.

"If you get expelled, you really won't see her again. Don't be so thick." She had said.

Harry had taken to staring at his Marauder's Map again, tracing Malfoy's whereabouts and timing them down to the minute. Just like the first half of term, he often disappeared for hours at a time on his own. There was something new this time, however. He seemed to be spending far more time in Snape's quarters than usual.

Thursday evening, he walked to Dumbledore's office as he did every Thursday, preparing to meet and dive into the pensieve. He wasn't interested in it today, feeling completely sluggish and flustered. Lack of sleep from a combination of his familiar nightmares of Sirius and new nightmares of what could be happening to Ellie were taking a toll and he felt run down.

He trudged up the steps to his office, gave the password and stepped through the door. Dumbledore was waiting for him, a small smile on his face and glasses perched on the end of his nose.

"You look worn, Harry." He said, motioning to the chair in front of him. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Just tired." Harry said.

"You haven't been sleeping?"

"No." Harry said. "I haven't."

Dumbledore looked at him, staring holes through his eyes as only Dumbledore could. Harry sighed, maybe he could help. Maybe if he at least voiced his concerns…

"Is there something you wish to speak to me about, Harry?" He asked again.

Harry sighed again, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. He knew his focus should be on the memories that they were going through. On Voldemort and figuring out what in the hell Slughorn told him, but he just couldn't focus on anything outside of his worry for Ellie.

"It's… It's my erm- my girlfriend sir." Harry said, pulling at the collar of his shirt and swallowing the lump he hadn't realized was in his throat.

"Ah. Young love!" Dumbledore smiled, a twinkle in his eye behind his half moon rims. "Do continue."

"I've been seeing Elara Malfoy." Harry said.

"Malfoy." Dumbledore repeated, looking intrigued. "I had been made aware that you both had gotten… close. I didn't know it was a romantic relationship."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Erm… I guess it is. I mean, we didn't like tell everyone we were… Anyway… I'm worried that she hasn't returned from Holiday. I wondered if- if maybe you knew…" He trailed off, looking into his lap.

"You want to know if I have any information on her whereabouts." Dumbledore responded. "I do not."

Harry looked up at him, brows furrowed. "You don't know where she is?"

"I know she has not returned." He said. "I do not know when or if she will."

"Do you know what's happened to her? Is she- is she okay?"

"I believe that an answer will be brought to light soon for you."

Harry sighed in frustration at the cryptic way Dumbledore was answering his questions. It was a simple yes or no! Was she okay, or wasn't she? He ran his hand through his hair and tried to settle his anger. It was harder, now, without her here. He didn't realize how often her abilities must wrap around him, to hold him together.

"I apologize, Harry, that I can not provide you with better information." Dumbledore said. "She is alive. But whether or not she is okay is simply up to her."

She's alive. His insides screamed with joy at that. She's alive but possibly not okay? His stomach churned. He would focus on that later, for now, he needed to worry about the contents of the pensieve and gathering information.


Draco sat in front of the Vanishing cabinet, whispering incantations and moving his wand over the panels. He had some success with sending things through, but never received anything back that wasn't mangled or dead. It was becoming frustratingly clear that he was not equipped enough in his knowledge to continue the task on his own and with Ellie catatonic in her bed back at the Manor, he was feeling the crushing panic take him over more often than not.

If she didn't wake up, he was going to die. And then, they'd kill her too.

He placed an apple in the passage, closed the door and whispered the incantation three times, doing the wand movements that Ellie had figured out. She was always so smart with making charms and figuring things out. So much smarter than he was. He may have her beat on potions, but that was really more about following directions and precise timing. There's no abstract to potions really…

How fitting, for him, he thought. Of course, he would excel in the one subject that didn't require actual skill to be good at. It required following orders and being told what to do. He rolled his eyes as he thought about it. He was good at following orders. He was good at shutting his mouth and doing as he was told because he knew the consequences of what would happen otherwise.

He wished she would have followed orders. Obeyed when it was asked of her.

But she had never been the type to do as she was told, come to think of it. She always did whatever she felt she wanted to do. She dressed exactly how she wanted, wore her hair how she wanted, took the classes she wanted, did whatever hobbies she wanted… She never cared how it looked to others when she took Muggle Studies and Divination. She didn't care that most people would think she's barmy if they saw her outside, talking to her vicious fanged plants. She simply did what she felt was right at that moment.

And it was going to get them both killed.

He had spent the last two weeks actively avoiding Potter. He was no Empath but spending the last sixteen years living with one had certainly taught him how to read a room and Potter was furious. It seemed as if his rage was growing each day that passed with Ellie's absence and Draco could tell it was directed toward him. He didn't particularly care if the git hated him, but he didn't need to be assaulted with more angry threats from Potter about her blood being on his hands.

He knew that already, and he hated himself enough for the both of them.

He opened the cabinet doors and frowned. The apple returned, but it was rotten. He picked the wet and mushy Granny Smith up from the cabinet and hurled it as hard he could against the stone wall. He had to figure this out! Why couldn't he just figure it out?! He slammed the door shut and kicked over a pile of books. Ellie would know what to do. She always knew what to do!

"Draco."

He looked up to see Snape standing a few yards away, his arms crossed, and a disapproving look on his face. "What?!" He yelled. "What could you possibly want now?!"

"You need to come with me, to my quarters." He said. "I have Elara."

His face paled and his throat constricted. "She's awake?"

"No." Snape said. "Follow me."

Snape turned on his heel and walked quickly toward the exit, not waiting on Draco to get his mind together. Draco shoved his wand into his pocket and sprinted after him, following him out the door and into the seventh-floor corridor.

"What do you mean she's here?" He whispered, his voice frantic. "She's not awake? I don't-

"Quiet." Snape said. "We will talk about it when we reach my quarters."

Draco huffed in frustration but followed him, his legs carrying him faster than his mind was able to move. All he could think of was Ellie. She was here, not awake, but here. How? Why?! What was happening that she was here? Did he figure out a way to wake her? What had he been doing the last two weeks going back to the manor? Was he able to pull her out? Did he hurt her?

They reached Snape's door and he said a series of spells, unlocking the wards on his quarters. They slipped inside and Snape led the way. "Follow me, she's this way."

Draco had never been any further into Snape's quarters than the sitting room. There were two small bedrooms and a modest bathroom. The bedroom on the right looked as if it was used as a potion's lab, like much of his study and living space had looked. In the room, a small bed was shoved against the wall and Elara laid atop it. Her eyes still shut and her body unmoving.

"Why is she here?" Draco asked, staring down at her, watching her shallow breaths as her chest rose and fell rhythmically.

"Your mother asked me to remove her from the Manor and to wake her by any means necessary."

"The potions haven't worked though!" Draco said. "How is bringing her here going to help?!"

"I'm able to monitor her completely if she's here. See if there's any change in her. I'll be able to work more, now. Longer sessions. I have access to my own ingredients-"

"What do these sessions entail?!" He interrupted. "Can I help her?"

"I enter her mind and walk about her memories until I find where she is locked, and I try to pull her out. She has made it clear that she knows she is mind locked and has no intentions of coming out anytime soon. I fear she will whither away and die if we do not bring her out. That she will succumb to her own mind and lose herself completely."

"She can't whither away!" Draco said, alarm pulsing through him. "We-we've been giving her the nutrition potions and—and keeping her hydrated."

"It's simply not enough." Snape said. "She is losing herself within her own mind. She is making the conscious decision to repel anything that is not in her own head."

"She's rejecting the potions?" He asked.

Snape gave a nod. "She started slowly rejecting them after you came back. Your mother thinks it is best that you stay together, that it's helping her."

Draco nodded, fervently. "Anything. Yes. I'll stay with her all hours if I have to."

"I don't think that's necessary. You can't afford to lose yourself as well. Visit her, at least once a day. I will continue my efforts to pull her out. You mustn't tell anyone she's here."

Draco nodded, his eyes on his sister. "Can I stay with her now? For a while?"

"You may." Snape said. "I need to collect some ingredients for a more… potent potion. I'll return in a few hours."

Draco looked to him and thanked him as Snape conjured a chair for him to sit on by the bed. He waited for Snape's footsteps to silence, heard the click of the main door closing behind him and he grabbed her hand and sobbed.

"I am so sorry." He cried. "I did this to you. You can't die on me, El. You can't. You have to come back."

He rubbed his hand against her left wrist and gasped. It felt hot, impossibly hot. He turned her arm over and tilted his head, studying her Dark Mark.

The skin around it looked angry and puffed, much like his own had for the weeks following his branding, but the actual mark was seeping. A strange black liquid was slowly pooling on the surface of her skin. He looked around the bed and located a small cloth. He pressed it to her forearm and fluid turned to smoke against the fabric.

"What the fuck?" He whispered, trying again to pat the pooling liquid from her arm.

He turned around, eyeing the table behind him. Snape may teach DADA now, but he was a potions master… He had to have—there! A clean vial. Draco pressed the vial against her arm and collected the strange liquid smoke, putting a stopper on it and placing it his pocket. What is going on? He thought.


a/n: Hey all! Hope everyone is doing well. Thank you all so much for reviews and favorites and follows! I love you all so much!

So I have to be honest here, this story has taken an unexpected (even to me) turn. I had it all plotted out and when i started writing, it morphed and changed and became something else entirely. I'm honestly considering taking this all the way through the Battle of Hogwarts, but I know that will make this extremely long and I'm not sure about it. Would you guys be interested in seeing it go that far?

I really enjoy writing the Malfoy dynamic of it and I've realized there's I could do with Elara in terms of another year at Hogwarts during the thick of it all. I don't, however, want to drag it out just for the sake of it. Sooo what do you think? Yes? No? Let me know.

Anyway, again a HUGE thank you for reading. Please keep the reviews coming! I love you guys and you make my heart so happy!

xo

-mimi