Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and Elle. So please don't sue, because all you would get is a few cents.

Chapter 8: Things That Go Bump In The Night

Elle walked down to the Common Room the next morning with a much happier spirit than what she had owned in the past few weeks. For the first time, she was actually unaware of the smile that had dawned on her face as she walked up to her friends.

"Well," Hermione commented with her own smile, "You seem to be in a splendid mood this morning."

Elle laughed, though not intentionally, but knew that Hermione spoke the truth. She had never felt better. Last night had been the beginning of something for her and Draco and she was positive that she could now call him a friend. It was like they had reached an unspoken agreement or something with their newfound friendship. She couldn't wait to speak with him today.

After breakfast, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Elle all marched out of the Great Hall and to their first class which happened to be Transfiguration.

They were about half way there when Elle looked ahead to see Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all walking towards them. And just as they were about to pass, Elle flashed Draco a wide grin and greeted him, "Hey, Draco."

But instead of the friendly greeting that she thought she would get from him, she received a cold glare, just like the one she received the first day she met him. She stopped walking and Hermione was the first one to take notice.

"Come on," she said softly, "he's nothing but a prat. He's not worth your good manners."

But Elle wasn't paying attention to her friend. Her features instead displayed hurt as Draco continued to walk by without saying a word. But before he could get too far, she called out softly, "Draco?"

Draco could hear the pain in her voice and wished that she would have just let him walk on by her without a word. But he knew he had to answer this time. He slowly turned to face Elle. He noticed that Hermione tried to tug at her arm again to get her to keep moving. Harry and Ron on the other hand looked as if they were ready to attack if given a reason to.

"What do you want mudblood?" he asked cooly without conviction.

Hermione gasped and looked at Elle.

Elle could feel that all eyes were on her, and so she didn't know if the red hue creeping into her cheeks was from embarrassment or because of the fact that she was saddened by the way Draco had ignored her. But in truth she felt as though she had been slapped across the face.

Draco saw the pain flicker through her eyes and knew that what he said had dealt her a blow. He felt his stomach drop for he knew he had hurt her deeply. 'If only she hadn't said anything else, I wouldn't have had to hurt her like this,' he thought. He felt bad for ignoring her and such, especially after the way she had listened to him the night before. It was true, he did care about her. After all they had talked about the night before - each sharing with the other something that was haunting their very existence - there was no way that a friendship couldn't evolve from something like that. He wished so badly that she could read his mind. If she could, then he would tell her that this is all some act to uphold who he has to be. Out of all the things that Draco shared with Elle the night before, he didn't tell her that he was a Deatheater or that he worked for Voldemort.

He remembered Voldemort telling him to get as close to Elle as he could to keep an eye on her, but he also knew that there was at least one other Deatheater at Hogwarts, and if he was seen being friends with her on a daily basis, then he was sure that Elle or himself would be put in danger. And he didn't want her to lose her life because of him. Before last night he wouldn't have given a damn if she had lived or died. But things change…people change. And now he knew that.

"You're a sick bastard, Malfoy," Ron's voice made him come back to reality.

"Well you're a poor bastard, Weasley," Draco retorted.

He looked towards Elle again and saw that her face was now expressionless. His mind was urging him to say something to her, but his mouth just wouldn't cooperate.

Elle couldn't believe how he was behaving! She was usually pretty good at seeing through people, but for some reason Draco had mislead her. She felt like such an idiot. Taking a deep breath, she gave one last glance at Draco, turned on her heel and walked away from him, with Hermione, Harry, and Rom following closely behind her but not before giving him a look of death.

Draco could do nothing but watch her retreating back wishing that he could have said something to her.

Just then he heard Crabbe and Goyle laughing at the reatreating Gryffindors. He turned to face them both and glared at them, "Shut it," he growled. He pushed his way between them and continued down the corridor. Crabbe and Goyle just shrugged stupidly at one another before following him.

******

Elle couldn't concentrate for the entire day for her mind was stuck on trying to figure out why Draco had acted like he did.

She was glad that she was now sitting comfortably in her pj's on her bed. She was brushing out her hair slowly, almost as if she was in a trance. Her mind kept running through what had happened in the corridors earlier that morning. It was like she kept hitting a rewind button and then allowed the event to play over and over and over again. She finally shook out of her thoughts and forced her mind to focus on something else. She uncrossed her legs and reached over for one of her textbooks that was sitting on her nightstand.

"Ah," she thought, "If a little bit of Wizard's History can't get me to sleep, then nothing can." She propped her back against her pillows and opened to the chapter that Hermione told her to read. She started to read, but only made it through the first couple of pages before she felt her eyes getting heavy. She tried to fight the urge to drift off but it was no use, because only minutes later she had fallen into a deep slumber.

~*~*DREAM*~*~

Elle could feel that her body was lying flat on something soft. She brushed the surface with her hand and knew by it's texture that it was grass. She opened her eyes and above her she could see a clear blue sky. She smiled as she felt the warmth on her face. She sat up and realized that she was sitting out in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. She then heard her name being called from behind her, "Elle…"

She turned around and saw that it was Draco. She stood up and kept her eyes on him as he walked towards her. He smiled his handsome smile at her and she couldn't help but smile back. He then reached down and took her hands, kissing one and then the other.

"Draco?" she asked as his eyes met hers. "What happened to you today? Why were you acting like that?"

She noticed that his face immediately became very serious as he spoke his next words very quietly, "It's him…"

Elle searched his eyes for what he meant, "Who?"

Draco then gently stroked her jaw line with his thumb. "I won't let him hurt you…I promise."

Elle was starting to become very alarmed, "Who are you talking about? Tell me…"

Draco didn't answer, but instead bent in to kiss her forehead. "I promise…" he whispered.

Elle had closed her eyes at the feeling of his lips brushing on her skin, but suddenly felt his grip get a lot tighter on her hands. She then opened her eyes and screamed at what she saw. It was a face unlike she had ever seen. It was very old and scabbed. The eyes had no colour to them and the skin dripped with blood. But yet…the lips formed into a smile. A very disturbing smile.

Elle screamed again as she tried to pull away but found that she wasn't able to move. It was like she was paralysed. The bony hands reached up for her neck and gripped it tightly. She tried to scream again, but found that all her air had been cut off and she was struggling desperately to breathe. She tried to will the creature to let go of her but found herself growing weaker by the second.

Just when she thought she was as good as dead, she felt the ground break out from under her and her attacker releasing his grip from around her neck. She could then feel herself begin to fall down into the pitch blackness that was below her…

*~*~*END OF DREAM*~*~*

"Ahhhhhh…!" Elle cried out as she sat straight up. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she realized that she was no longer on her bed, but instead on the floor with the covers wrapped around her. She was panting heavily and noticed for the first time that there was something underneath her. She pulled it out from under her and noticed that it was the textbook that she had been reading before she fell asleep.

"Damn," she thought to herself as she got up off the floor and back onto her bed. "That was some dream."

As she got comfortable again, she was quite surprised that her room mates were still snoring away in the safety of their own sleep. She wished that her body would escape from the tenseness that it was now in. She was also sure that she would find it difficult to get back to sleep after having a nightmare like that. She wasn't sure why she had one though. She usually only had one after watching a horror movie. Elle tried to force her mind to wander to more pleasant things, but she still wasn't able to get rid of that face. She thought it was the creepiest thing she had ever seen and wished that it would disappear completely from her mind. But unfortunately, she wouldn't get anymore sleep that night. But what the morning light would make her see, even she wouldn't guess…

A/N: Things are going to start to get a little darker from here on in. The first disappearance of a student will occur in the next couple of chapters probably as well. How am I doing so far guys? Is it sounding alright? Please don't forget to review!!! ^_^ Later!