Disclaimer: Don't own anything. You know the drill.

Chapter 10

'And I knew I was addicted to him. '

But by the next evening, Draco was the last person on my mind.

I stood in front of a pair of mahogany doors, beautiful, really, if I had taken the time to admire them. And if there had been any light shed upon them.

My escort, a tall, dark man, stood in front of me, almost as if he were waiting for a signal.

"Come in."

And that signal arrived.

With two hands, he pushed against the doors, and thrust them open to reveal to me—

To reveal to me

The grand and magnificent splendor of the dining room.

Or more like; the Great Hall.

Oh, yes it was very dark and full of gloom and on the gray walls were the same sinisterly paintings that hung in the corridors, and on the cracked ceiling was a giant chandelier that had been unkempt—for it didn't shine.

But never the less, the sheer size and aura of the room was indeed splendid—breathtaking.

"Sit."

And as soon as the Dark Lord spoke, I felt cold, numb and sweaty at the same time, unease filling my mind until it was all that I thought about.

Someone, I can't even remember who, led me to my seat among the rows of tables that were there, and Lord help me, were they expecting me to eat in front of Him?

I couldn't even think for myself in his presence, let alone connect the fork to my mouth while his red eyes were fixed on me, his voice echoing into my head.

But soon, there was a slow chatter that arose, a slow, somewhat comforting chatter that filled the room, taking my mind off of Him. But it wasn't idle talk. It was plans of when to attack, when to do this, how to do that.

" So—if we attack here, my lord, we would surely be getting the advantage—"

" Ah, but my friend, if so, we would be leaving this entire side unguarded!"

But all of it I didn't care much about; I was hungry and tired.

Until.

" And when shall we initiate the new girl, my lord?" Another voice rang out in the midst of the crowd. My head shot up as I looked at Him. I could just imagine a cruel smile curling up his pale, ashy face.

" Soon, my dear servant. Very soon."

And at that point, I lost all appetite.

Initiate?

Me?

Me, a death eater…

Suddenly, my stomach was churning, and the sight in front of me was beginning to grow hazy.

Even now, when it was obviously too late, fear constricted me, and I thought that I couldn't even move.

Apparently, I was wrong.

My chair scraped backwards as I stood up, my fork falling to the tablecloth. The hall was silent.

" Excuse me." I murmured breathlessly. And I ran out the door.

Draco stood up soon after, throwing his napkin on the floor as he followed me.

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I was running so fast, I was squinting, unable to see clearly where I was going. All I knew was that I had to get to somewhere I could find some goddamned peace. I rounded corner after corner until the whole place felt like an endless, treacherous maze.

But finally, I came to an end, and at the end, there was a narrow flight of wooden stairs that seemed to lead to nowhere, unlike any I had seen before.

Not wasting another moment, I climbed the stairs that lead to nowhere.

But then, there was a door. And beyond the door, was a dusty room.

An attic.

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Of course, he found me.

Somehow, Draco found me. Because I heard his heavy footsteps as he climbed the stairs, and I saw him watch me from the doorway, watching me sit by the window, thinking of nothing and everything.

He squatted down next to me, sighing.

" So," He began, looking around the attic. " You've found the Malfoy Manor Attic." I looked up at him, and surprisingly, there was a hint of humor in his gray eyes. Was he trying to comfort me? But if he was, he saw that I was not being comforted. He sighed again.

Scooting closer to me, he sat down on the dusty floor, folding his arms over his knees.

" Why're you running away?" He whispered, face merely inches away from mine. I hesitated in answering, because I didn't know what he would think of me if I told him the truth.

" Because…" I began. " Because I'm scared, Draco. Scared to death of what will happen next."

" You do look terrified."

And if possible, his features seemed to soften just a bit, as if a light of understanding had shone within him. A slender hand cupped my chin and lifted it upward to meet his face.

I didn't blink.

" Don't be." I stared at him for a moment, as if entranced by his words.

Then, I shook the feeling away, and laughed mirthlessly. I broke the gaze and looked out the small window beside me.

" Easier said than done." I muttered. He seemed to hesitate a bit in what he had to say next, because I heard him take in a shaky breath.

" Look—if it's any comfort to you, I've felt scared like you too." I looked at him suddenly, a sly smile curling up my lips.

" You, scared?" I asked playfully, grinning now. He frowned slightly.

" Yes—anything wrong with that?" I just shook my head and let the subject drop. Then there was a moment of silence—not awkward—just…silent, as we both looked towards the window, and the dimming sun as dusk approached.

" Lots of things up here." I commented lightly, trying to start up a casual conversation. Though I wasn't looking at him, I could almost see the cocky smirk on his face.

" Well, yea—it's only an attic." He said, sarcasm dripping in his words. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched his shoulder. Looking at the boxes and boxes of things, I noticed a particular box—full of books.

Standing up, the floorboards creaked, and I made my way to the box of books, smiling slightly as I marveled at my discovery.

Through the dust, I managed to uncover quite a lot of classics. Tucking them under my arm, I walked over to Draco again, eyes shining.

" Well, look what I found!" He looked at me disinterestedly.

" Books." He said dryly.

" Not just any books—muggle classics." At this, it must have sparked some interest, because he took them out of my arms for a closer inspection.

" How come you keep these up here?" I asked. " Don't you ever read them?" But he didn't look at me, nor answer me for a long time. He only looked at each of the books, cover to cover, jaw tightening as he did.

When he finally did look at me, his eyes seemed a shade darker. There was a tight-lipped, strained smile on his face.

" They were my mother's things." He said. My face fell, and I gaped for a moment.

His mother.

" Oh." I felt so foolish. He was telling me that these were his deceased mother's things, and all I could say was, 'oh' ? Guilt along with sympathy flooded through me.

And Draco chuckled darkly, throwing the books to the floor.

" My foolish, poetic mother and her silly obsession with muggle literature." He muttered. I thought he would drop the subject, but he did not relent. He picked up a random book.

" I mean, Romeo and Juliet? What kind of shit is that, anyway?" He was laughing, but it was painful to hear him laugh, because it was the kind of laughter that came out when you were too sad or bitter to cry.

" Oh, Draco…It's not shit. It's beautiful." I whispered almost breathlessly, trying to get him to look at me. " It's about two young lovers who love each other—and in the end, they die for the love they believed in."

" That's stupid." He spat.

" Yea?"

" It's stupid to die for something as fake as love." And to that, I had nothing to say. I mean, what do you say to a person like Draco when he talked about love like that, like nothing would ever change his mind about it?

So I just shrugged. The conversation had gotten a little too emotional for my taste, anyway.

" So why do you keep it up here?" I repeated, trying to make the tone light and nonchalant. But he wouldn't lose the bitter tone in his voice as he spoke.

" Father always said that mother was weakness. Her ideas were always filling my head when I was young, filling it with nonsense. When she died, he decided to remove of everything that was ever hers—everything that would remind me of her. He told me I had to be a strong man, and not a foolish boy." He looked at me, an odd glint in his eyes.

" And I was. I didn't even cry at her funeral." He almost sounded proud. I looked down at the floor, feeling like I shouldn't be hearing this, as if I wasn't entitled to hearing all this personal facts about Draco.

" Crying is weakness, he would say. So I never do." I looked at him, sadness and confusion etched into my features, and all I could think about was how horrible his childhood must have been.

But I stopped him there, because I felt like I couldn't hear any more of it. I was trying hard to bottle up my own emotions about what he had told me. Smiling a strained smile, I stood up.

" We should go now. I'm tired." He didn't protest, and I was grateful. Nodding, he stood up also, and we walked out of the attic door, and down the rickety stairs.

How ironic. Ironic in the sense that it was I who was wanting to comfort Draco now, instead of the way it had been when I had first run up the stairs.

We walked to my room in silence, and even the darkness didn't bother me, because I was too lost in my own thoughts, sneaking a few glances at Draco to see if he was alright.

And when we were in front of the door to my bedroom, he stopped.

" I'll be going now." Looking at his face, it was back to being solemn and blank—I wondered if he regretted telling me what he had told me up in the attic.

I nodded, biting my lip—and to tell you the truth, I was secretly thinking of the creeping fear that would grasp me once I lay alone in the darkness, and I was secretly wishing he would stay with me again.

But judging by the current circumstances, I couldn't do that.

What I wanted to do was tell him that it was alright, that I wanted to comfort him and that he could tell me everything he needed to tell and, and…

" Draco—" He looked at me with tired eyes. I smiled softly, and standing on my tip-toes, I wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in the pine fresh scent as I hugged him tight.

" I'm sorry." I whispered in his ear. The next thing I knew, his arms were wrapped around me, and my lips were on his and—

It was a soft, endearing kiss.

And while my face was pressed against his, I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks, smudging onto his face.

Let's just say I was crying for him.

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A/N: It is time for some thank yous. No, the fic isn't over—but without your support, I would have just given up on this fic. And for that, you guys deserve a bountiful amount of cookies. If I forget you, smack me, and I will write your name in the next chapter with big, bold letters.

Thank you: Eclipse ( Real author? Pfft. I wish. Thanks, though J), Trillium, Lady Lestrange ( Thanks a million for your compliments *hugs*), Simply Bewitching 1( Why doesn't she need it? *evil grin* Because…), raindrops, padfoots_muse, redwillow, Deanna, Merusa, damnzdevil, Scarlett, hahatushkaru, GinnyYvetteHermione, fb90, Melanie Pointe, Sharlene, Angel Hiragizawa32, Medusa, goodgirlsbadboys, Eowyn85, Riverchic1998, Crystal, anonymous, Imp, The Charmed One, Jin Munku-JGSPTV and Elwing Alcyone.

There—a complete list of all the reviewers so far—I seriously can not stress enough how much I thank you.

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