Thanks Just silver and Dragon Rose

'Your fathers daughter...'

The words rang in her mind like a charm as she paced backwards
and forwards in the round tower room. It was windowless and the heavy
door was bound in iron and spell locked. She hadn't tried to break out,
she'd probably hurt herself.

And that would hurt Draco, a sigh wended its way out of her,
since when did she care about other people? It wasn't at all like her.
The sighs twin issued from her lips and the pain hit her low in her
stomach.

She knew that she cared for all of them, but it wasn't the same,
her Drake was a part of her soul, he had been even before the spell.
Even when she'd been trying to forget him and immerse herself completely
in the darkness the old one had led them into.

He'd always been there, he was there now and it was those
thoughts as well as the partially true accusations levelled at her
by Dumbledore that were making her pace like a caged thing. Thoughts
of Draco Malfoy and the L word that she didn't want to admit to feeling.

Her pacing was making her slightly dizzy, it was also helping
her forget all about the claustrophobia that really did plague her.
Dumbledore hadn't believed her of course, he thought she was going to
somehow make her way out of the window and run.

She could have of course, throwing herself from the window would
have brought on the change, and since she would have been leaving
loosing her secrecy wouldn't have mattered. But leaving wasn't an option.

Not alone.

"Damn it Malfoy, you've crippled me"

And she drove her fist into the wall.

***

He saw pain run like flashfire over Malfoy's face, before he blanked it
to that slightly supercilious expression that he was beginning to realise
masked quite an intelligent brain.

"What's wrong?"

Malfoy shrugged, then shook his hand as if reliving an ache.

"If I was to make a guess, Amaris just put her fist into the wall"

Both of his eyebrows fled to his hairline before he could stop them,
the link was meant to have been cut off. He'd heard the spell Dumbledore had
placed on them, Malfoy it seemed had interpreted his question.

"You can't break the spell we took part in P...Harry, it's older than most
forms of magic, perhaps you could break it if it was forced but not if it
was welcomed."

He nodded his head. Felling a little like a Donkey before Hermoine spoke
from where she'd been perched quite unselfconsciously on Ron's lap, the sudden
blossoming of their relationship had both startled and pleased him.

"So all Professor Dumbledore's really managed to do is shield Ama off from you?"

Malfoy, he supposed Draco would be better now shook his head, a small
and rather evil smile gracing his lips.

"Oh no, not just that, he's also made us both mad"

It was Ron that put his thoughts into words

"Bad move"

Draco's smile deepened into the sort of smirk he had nightmares about.

"But of course, now you all have an idea as to what your doing?"

He stifled a sigh and nodded in tune with the other two, another reason
people seemed keen on keeping Draco around he supposed the boy was a born leader.
Professor Snape hadn't stayed around, something about his own obligations, he
hadn't been stopped from leaving so he presumed Draco understood. Those grey
eyes had been steely between dawn and now, just after the lunch bell. Muscles
all over his body were tense and then he shifted, his white hair reflecting the
light like snow.

"It's time"

***

His plan was pretty simple, they would break her out of the hole
Dumbledore had put her in and then he'd hide her. He wouldn't, couldn't throw
her to the wolves that waited for her outside. But he couldn't leave her in a
locked room. He loved her, it was easy for him to think it, it almost brought a
smile to his face, the rest of the equation could be sorted out later.

There, what a guard. He gently pulled his wand from the impromptu
holster that held it strapped to his forearm and looked at Filch and the
disgusting cat that sat at his feet. He turned to Hermoine.

"I presume you brought the cat?"

His voice was a whisper, he'd perfected that at home, conversation was
not an art that his mother possessed. Hermoine nodded and released the huge and
rather ugly ginger tom that sat in her arms. Mrs Norris didn't stand a chance.
He felt the smile that blossomed as Filch ran down the corridor after the cats
and moved forward, just in time to see Snape step out of the shadows and brace
himself in front of the doors.

Pulling in his breath he stifled a sigh, this wasn't good, but it had
been reckoned on, by Potter of all people, he held his wand pointed floorward
and spoke.

"Move, or I'll go through you"

It should have sounded ludicrous, he was nineteen years old and Snape
had to be 35 at least but to his surprise it didn't, and there was respect
registered in the older mans black eyes. And he stepped aside.

He couldn't help the raise of his eyebrows, the question he knew had
to be reflected there but to his surprise he was answered.

"I had to be sure you were serious"

Then Snape produced a key and a slight smile that would have done Fred
Weasley proud before undoing the lock.