/

Chapter six

Eyes in the dark

/

Angela stared at the ceiling, where the shadows of trees flickered in the night breeze, her head filled with gloomy thoughts that did not allow her to sleep.

What would the Dark Lord´s gain if she and Draco married? Was it possible that he cared so much for keeping the blood of wizarding families pure? Or was there something else entirely? And if yes, how to figure it out? Who could understand the thought process of the maniac who delighted in murdering innocent Muggles?

She sighed deeply, preferring to take her thoughts elsewhere. She feared a bit how would Daria react when she finds out about this... Did she already see Draco again? It was quite a nice irony that she was about to make the exact same mistake Angela did when she started dating Harry.

Harry… she repeated the name in her mind. What is he doing now? Does he ever think of me?

She would love to be with him again and at the same time scolded herself for such thoughts.

Angela rolled onto her side and looked out the window into the night. She remembered the beautiful creatures and strange words of one of the unicorns. Something else started to gnaw her.

If I was not taking those nasty pills, I would have been able to know things in advance... Maybe I could even prevent some of them from happening. Yet, for what price?

The idea gave her a headache.

After another half hour of tossing and turning, she sat down on the bed in disgust. She got up and walked over to the open balcony door. She went outside and looked up at the cloudless sky lit by thousands of stars. Not even any breeze moved the air, and even though it was already after midnight, the temperature did not drop below twenty degrees. It was a hot, hot night.

Absentmindedly, she glanced at the dark outline of the forest and suddenly felt someone's hateful gaze directly on her. Despite the sultry summer night, she got goose bumps. She tried to peer into the shadows under the distant trees, but saw nothing.

Only after several endless seconds did she see two small red lights. Angela froze completely. They were eyes, and there were not many creatures, whose eyes could glow red like this in the dark. She saw another, and then some more. They were staring at her impassively from afar, and she felt like a very cold pillar of stone. She could not move an inch.

There were even more of them hiding under the trees, she could sense it. How in the hell could they find her here?

There were many various protective magical shields around their house, she just could not remember if Aunt Marion was thinking of anti-vampire protection as well. For now, it looked like she was. Otherwise, they would have been by the door a long time ago. Even if they would not be able to get inside, since they could not enter anyone´s home unless invited, she was glad they could not come so close.

Suddenly, the three pairs of glowing eyes disappeared, and Angela was finally able to move. She backed into the room and closed the glass door. Her heart was pounding and she was still cold.

After a moment of forcing herself to calm down, she crawled back into bed and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Yet, it took long before she finally stopped shivering.

/

A good distance away, in the suburbs of London, at Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy was tossing and turning in his bed, his thoughts not so different from Angela´s.

Never in my life would I have thought that Angela would be my fiancée. The Dark Lord has some seriously weird ideas. I can only hope that it will take long before the actual wedding...

He turned onto his back and put his hands behind his head. He knew he should tell Daria about it soon. Rather explain it to her, than to have her misunderstand it again.

Daria… He was going to see her the next day. Though… Was it even worth taking such a risk? They usually walked together only among Muggles, but even so, someone they knew might have noticed them…

Draco saw her face before his eyes, her smile, he remembered her kisses…

Yeah, it's definitely worth it, he decided, smiling for himself. But he had to see Angela first; it almost did not pay him off when he did not tell her something in advance.

Then his thoughts returned to Daria again and he fell asleep imagining her smiling at him.

/

Draco walked quietly down the flagstone pavement leading to the pool. Soon, his field of vision filled with a brunette wearing green two-piece swimsuit, sunbathing on an inflatable lounger in the middle of the bluish water with dark glasses on.

He walked up to the edge of the pool and studied her for a moment. Then he finally decided to let her know about his presence. "Hello, Rosier."

To his surprise, Angela jerked violently, throwing off her wobbly balance on the lounger and landing with a loud splash into the water. When her head popped up again, Draco could not help but let out a mischievous laugh.

Angela angrily took off her glasses, placed them on the lounger, which was turned upside down, and brushed her wet hair from her forehead.

"You're a jerk!" she barked grumpily. "Do you have any idea how you scared me?"

"I noticed that," Draco replied, still in a fit of laughter.

Angela hastily swam the two-meter distance between them and unceremoniously pulled herself out of the pool, not forgetting to give Draco a proper splash of water, as she went to get a towel.

"Learn to make some noise when you come," she mumbled, as she wiped her face.

"I will try. But only someone with a bad conscience is scared so easily," he pointed out.

She gave him a grumpy look and tossed the towel back onto the plastic chair. Then she stopped and looked at him again.

"Hmm," she hummed, scanning him up and down.

"What is it?"

"Nice haircut," she grinned, commenting on Draco's purposefully unkempt, treated with hardener hair. "Did you show up at home yet?" she asked heading toward the house where she had a cold drink ready on the terrace.

"No. Why are you asking? It's up to me what I do with my hair, isn´t it?" Draco assumed, defending his new style while following her. Only one opinion mattered to him – he just hoped Daria would like it.

"Sure, but I´m not sure if your mother will be happy about your decision this time," Angela remarked amused.

As soon as they entered the shade of the terrace, he also took off his sunglasses and sat across from Angela, who had magically summoned another glass from the kitchen and was already pouring them some juice.

Then she looked at him inquisitively again. In a white tank top that showed off his muscles and with that new haircut, he looked rather attractive. Draco Malfoy was a damn hot guy. She was not at all surprised that she was so attracted to him last year, before she met Harry…

Daria is a damn lucky girl, she noted only for herself.

Draco, on the other hand, ran his gaze over her slender, already slightly tanned, and rounded in the right places body. On her left middle finger shone the ring with a small heart, which she never took off. He smirked. He did not quite understand why she kept wearing it. He noticed that she was looking at him strangely.

"What is it now?"

"Nothing," Angela shrugged. "So, what do you want? I doubt you came just to show off your new haircut."

"Excellent point," he responded teasingly. "I came to inform you about something and to agree on certain deal."

"Speak up then," she encouraged him, running a hand through her wet hair.

"Parents gave me a hard time last night for our rebellion," Draco began.

Angela rolled her eyes: "How else. Mother hardly speaks to me."

"They have already set the date for our engagement. On the thirty-first of July you will receive that ring you liked so much," he informed her coldly, showing her the back of his left hand, which was decorated with a silver ring in the shape of a coiled snake. "It's just going to be smaller."

Angela put down the glass and looked into his eyes: "So soon?"

Draco shrugged this time and she sighed.

"You can't imagine how it bothers me to be engaged and I'm not even seventeen! Moreover, against my will!"

"But, I can," he contradicted her.

"Yeah… Draco, listen… It will be possible to break off that engagement, right?"

He eyed her warily: "It should be."

"What do you mean by ´it should´?"

"That means no one in the family has ever tried it," he replied.

"Ah," Angela swallowed.

"We'll let it go for now. There is one more thing…"

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I wanted to suggest something to you…" Draco danced around the main topic.

"Get to the point, little Dragon," Angela urged him.

"I leave the house quite often now, and my lovely parents are terribly interested in where I go. I need you to cover me every time I go out," Draco explained his request to her. "But when I'm gone, you have to leave the house too, so that we won´t be exposed. We could say that we want to get closer before we get engaged."

Angela stared at him blankly and remained silent.

"I'm quite sure that you sometimes go somewhere you don't want your mother to know about, don't you?" Draco pressed on.

"Hmm, maybe," Angela admitted. "And I also know where you go when you don't want it to be known so desperately."

Draco frowned and pressed his lips.

"It's a pretty good idea," she nodded slowly. "Let's say I would agree with that. However, we have to notify each other when we are leaving the house and when we are coming back. How do you want to do it? It's too long with the help of owls and risky through the fireplace. Someone can hear us."

"That's what I was thinking too," Draco began pulling something out of the deep pocket of his canvas pants. He then held out a palm to her with two simple bracelets. "We will always warn each other an hour in advance, so that the other has the opportunity to arrange accordingly or to warn that it won´t be possible. Just tap it twice with your wand. It will start to feel cold," Draco explained their function.

Angela hesitated for a moment, but then she took one and Draco knew he had won.

"Okay, but I have one condition," she said quietly. "We won't ask where the other one goes, or try to find out."

"Totally agreed," he nodded. "So, we're going to the movies tonight."

Angela shot him a devastating look.

"At least we´ll see how it works," he defended innocently.

She hummed something incomprehensible. Draco finished his glass of juice, put the bracelet on his left wrist and stood up.

"I won´t bother you any longer then."

"Say hello to her," Angela said with a smirk.

Draco paused for a moment and wanted to retort something, but then told himself it wasn't worth it and just nodded. If Angela wanted to give them away, she would have done it a long time ago.

"And take care of yourself," she added worriedly.

/

The silver bracelet awakened to its warning coldness at exactly six in the evening. So at seven... Angela thought. And she would not be back until after dark. Needless to say, she was slightly nervous.

She put the envelope she had already prepared last night into her purse, although she did not know yet, if she would really gather courage to go there…

Before leaving, she checked the silver dragon was visible around her neck and informed her mother that she was going out with Draco and did not know when she would be back. Fortunately, mother did not mind at all.

/

Daria was not at all surprised that she was not too interested in handsome Orlando Bloom on the screen when Draco was sitting next to her, gently squeezing her palm. She just felt that he was a little out of place the whole evening. As if something was eating him up. After a few kisses she gave him, however, he was fully devoted to her.

She was so happy to be with him again that she completely suppressed the guilt of lying to reassure her grandmother. She told her she was going out with Angela. However, if she told her the truth, she definitely would not let her go. After the scene she gave her last time, it was clear to her and she was not willing to risk it.

/

Harry propped his chin thoughtfully, holding the once crumpled, but now straightened photograph in his left hand. He stared out the open window where the sky was reddening from the setting sun. He found an envelope with that photo in front of the door of his room, along with a short message:

Just returning what is yours to deal with.

A.

It was the photograph that used to be in the frame, which he angrily smashed against the wall near the Room of Requirement in January.

However, it was not at all clear to him why Angela gave it to him now. She must have known that it would bring back memories...

He understood her actions less and less. When he peeked out into the hallway a moment ago, he heard her voice from below, and he felt excited. It took a lot of effort for him to ignore the urge to go downstairs.

Then he heard her short, soft laugh, and his determination failed. He looked at the photo once more and thought he could show her different pictures. Those in the album where his parents were together with Sirius…

In half a minute, he was down in the hall, surely heading for the salon, where the voices of Lupin, Tonks and hers could be heard. All eyes were on him as he unexpectedly opened the door.

"Harry, don't you want to sit with us?" suggested Lupin, who was pale and with circles under his eyes from another full moon that had just passed. During those nights, he used to disappear deep into the woods that were located about a kilometre past the end of the grounds that belonged to the mostly unoccupied houses in Grimmauld Place.

"Hmm, no thanks," Harry replied. "I just… Angela, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Angela was no longer smiling; she was just looking at him. She stood up hesitantly and only the presence of two other people made her calmly agree.

"Yeah, sure," she replied and followed him out into the hallway.

The door clicked behind them and Tonks looked at Remus.

"Do they have something together?" she asked with a smile.

Remus shook his head slowly: "They had," he replied quietly with emphasis on the past tense.

/

"Harry… I´m sorry," Angela started apologizing almost at the second they were alone. "I know I shouldn't come here, but I just wanted to…"

"That's not what I want to talk about," Harry cut her off. "This is your house as well… I want to show you something."

She looked at him indecisively for a while and then slowly nodded: "Okay."

They went up the stairs together.

"That photo you gave me…" Harry began while still in the hallway. "Why did you put it in front of my door?"

"I just thought you should decide what to do with it yourself…" her voice was audibly anxious.

"If you wanted me to have it back so urgently, you could have handed it to me in person," he noted. "Why didn´t you?"

"Honestly?" she looked up at him. "I didn't want to meet you."

Harry held the door for her, stopping for a moment astonished: "Why?" he asked and closed it.

Angela looked around the room and answered with her back still to him.

"Why? Oh, Harry," she slowly turned. "Every time I see you, when I'm alone with you, I fear myself. I'm afraid of what I might do."

Harry was dumbfounded, looking into her shining eyes.

"I´ve tried, but I can't talk to you normally and pretend that nothing happened, that we're just friends…" she finished, lowering her eyes quickly.

"I wouldn't believe you feel nearly the same as I do," Harry responded quietly.

Angela forcefully stifled the urge to jump around his neck just for him being so understanding and took a slow breath.

"What did you want to show me?" she changed the subject with much more self-control.

Harry nervously ran a hand through his hair and headed for the shelf above his bed.

"I have an album with photos of my parents," he replied, praying she would not recognize how his throat was clenched. He took it from the shelf and sat down on the couch. "It also has a few pictures of Sirius in it, so I thought…"

A soft smile appeared on Angela's face and she slowly sat down next to him. He opened the album and for the next ten minutes, they were going through it nostalgically.

Then Angela returned the album to the page where was the wedding photo of Harry's parents and ran a finger thoughtfully over Sirius' face. Harry noticed tears welling up in her eyes but pretended not to see anything.

Angela took a shaky breath and blinked quickly. Then she realized something and her expression hardened.

"Harry? The Ministry is still convinced that my father is a murderer on the run, is that right?"

He nodded slowly. "Maybe even worse," he commented grimly.

"And isn't it about time someone at least cleared his name after death?" she suggested quietly.

"I wanted to, but we have no proof," Harry replied slowly, but he had a feeling he knew what Angela was hinting at.

"When you told me about him, you said there was someone who could prove his innocence."

"Yes, Peter Pettigrew," Harry snapped with such hatred and revulsion that Angela looked at him surprised. "But I haven't seen that rat since the fourth grade at Hogwarts."

"On the other hand, I've seen him quite often lately," she reacted in disgust.

Harry looked at her questioningly: "He´s still crawling up Voldemort's ass?"

"Exactly," she nodded gravely.

"To prove Sirius's innocence, someone would have to bring him to the Ministry alive," Harry said.

"Yes, that would be the best," Angela agreed and Harry saw something in her eyes that had not been there a moment ago – a furious desire for revenge. "He ruined my father´s and your godfather's life. He deserves to have us destroy his in return."

"How do you want to do that?" he asked curiously.

Angela closed the album: "Leave it to me."

"I'd like to help you."

She looked at him: "And I would like to accept your help, Harry, but… you can't even leave the house without permission."

"I know," he muttered. "And yet I'm dying to go right now, find him, and enjoy his death!" he barked so angrily that Angela winced. She did not often see Harry like this. She had actually only seen him really angry once so far…

Hesitantly, she put a hand on his shoulder, half-afraid he would shake her off. But he didn´t and calmed down instead, even though he did not look at her. Then he pulled one of the few recent photos of Sirius from the album and handed it to her: "Keep it."

"Thank you. I'll have to hide it properly…" Angela said softly, looking into Harry's eyes.

He returned her gaze in such a way that she jerked her hand away from his shoulder and stood up quickly before she could do something stupid. She tucked the photo into her trousers pocket and turned to Harry.

"I don't know how long it will take, but I will find that rat, Harry. When they give him a good hearing at the Ministry then, he will regret that he was ever born. And I think that… I won't be the only one to help him with that regret," she added in a significant tone.

"You're absolutely right," Harry agreed menacingly.

"Well… I'd better go."

Harry stood up as well. Even though he had their agreement in mind, he could not keep silent.

"Don't go," he said simply.

She took a shaky breath: "Harry, if I stay here any longer, even for a minute, I'll do something I'll regret later because I'd hurt not only myself but you again," she emphasized sadly and hastily turned away, heading for the door.

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and literally forced his legs to stay still: "And what would it be?"

Already in the open door, Angela turned for the last time. "I'd kiss you," she replied so quietly Harry almost did not hear her and then she was gone.

He stared at the closed door for a long time, thinking that if she really did that, he would not just let her go anymore.