A/n: I changed everything I planned on writing. Oh and I know I have a lot of songs in these past few chapters but it's because I've gotten a lot of songs and they're all good so I want to share them with everybody! Anyone hear of "My heart is the worst kind of weapon" by Fall Out Boy? Love the beat. Oh and I LOVE YOU REVIEWERS! (Few but precious) Oh and has anyone heard "Hello? Is this thing on?" by !!!. If not then it's in my Xanga!
Laura: Yeah Draco…well you'll see. I'm sorry about Harry and Helen not being together (I personally think they WOULD be awesome together but there's something about Draco that makes Helen like him). Thanks for reviewing and reading!
Quesomonkey: You took down your story? Awww. Lol Malfoy coulda been worse (but if I made him that way then there's no way Helen would be able to forgive him, no matter what her feelings were). Yup my trip was great thanks lol. Thanks about the Snape comment too! Hehe. Brian's just some muggle guy Dumbledore knows who helps "distract Helen". Yeah and I'm sorry about 15 being so short. I know I should have just combined it with 16 but I was being super lazy. Lol. Plus 16 was pretty long anyway. Will Brian be back? Not too sure…never thought about that possibility. And about the Harry/Helen thing…hehe Laura said the same thing. Oh and about Hermione's reaction…it's so funny because I thought it was in Chapter 16 but then I looked back at 17 and was like "Oh…that's where I put it". I didn't put all that much time into the scene (I know I could have made it a bit jucier…like have Hermione mad at her…you know how girls aren't supposed to date the guy their friend likes) because I was so eager to write the other things that I have planned. Wow this has been a long explanation lol.
And don't worry…Draco isn't killing anyone yet. Oh there your story is!
Anasazi: Your bro works there! Does he happen to have the name Alejandro or something like that (read his nametag thing)? Because I saw the CUTEST guy (no idea how old he was…early twenties or less or something. I don't think much older than that.) working in this one place when I was buying keyrings. Walk like an Egyptian is an awesome song! Hehehe I'm glad you liked those lines (my favs in that chapter too) LOL I think both Helen and Harry had some fun during that plan. Hehehe oh boy I'm happy now. I'm so happy that I'll even share my chocolate chip cookies with you! (Aren't they cookie monster's favorite kind? Lol)
Chapter 17: "Change In The Winds"
It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain, oh
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
Maroon5
"Hey Hermione," Helen smiled despite the fact that Hermione looked like she had been crying, or trying not to.
"What's wrong?" Helen asked, knowing exactly what it was.
"Can we talk in my room?"
"Sure."
It was just around the corner.
"Have a seat."
"Okay I'll drop the act," Helen said quickly, "You still like Harry but you feel like it's too late because you think he and I are together."
Hermione stared, openmouthed at her.
"Harry was just helping me get back at someone by pretending we were dating. The entire time all he could think about was you."
Hermione continued to stare.
"What are you still doing standing there? Go get him!"
Hermione smiled and when Helen blinked…she was gone.
Well…at least her Harry/Hermione plans worked…unlike her Draco ones in the past that backfired. If only…no. Ron was right. Draco…Draco…she knew she should hate him. She knew she was being stupid for still thinking about him…but…Gosh! Everything was so frustrating. She couldn't deny the way she felt about him despite all odds against her. Was she crazy for falling for him against all reason? Was she naïve for believing he had a good side?
"Helen! I heard your voice! I know you're in there!"
SLAM!
"Draco…"
"I won't let him have you, Helen, I won't."
"That's not really for you to decide, now is it?"
"The only one who can stop me is you," Draco whispered in her ear, "And I don't think you'll want me to."
Helen stepped back.
"You sound very sure of yourself for someone who waves fireballs in people's faces."
Yeah sure Helen…keep pushing him away.
Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of it has caught my eye
And roped me in
So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
I am captivated
I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
"I'm sorry I was an ass. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I was weak. I'm…I'm sorry for being…"
"Are you drunk?"
"No. I mean yes. I mean I don't know, I mean I feel so strange. So liberated. Like all this time I've been pretending to be someone I'm not and finally I'm allowed to be the person you want me to be. And yet I'm sad. I'm sad because I betrayed you and I'm used to being untrue to people but by the time I realized how much of a jackass I was being I'd already had time to hurt the most important person in my life. And I realized you're the most important person because you made me jealous. Seeing Potter with you made me go crazy with anger. How dare he touch you? And then I started thinking to myself after the talk with Dumbledore—"
"You and Dumbledore—"
"—I realized that jealousy means wanting something someone else has. Then I thought to myself why do I want Helen? Is it because she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen? I always knew you were pretty last year but suddenly this year I saw you as a perfect flawless creature and I came to realize Zabini was right."
"About what?" Helen asked, surprised she was still listening to Draco's rambling.
"He said I loved you."
Helen looked into his blue-grey eyes. BLUE GREY! They were back to their original color before the spell! But how…
And I am flawed
But I am cleaning up so well
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself
So clear
Like the diamond in your ring
Cut to mirror your intentions
Oversized and overwhelmed
The shine of which has caught my eye
And rendered me
So isolated, so motivated
I am certain now that
I am Vindicated
I am selfish
I am wrong
I am right
I swear I'm right
I swear I knew it all along
"And I do love you Helen. I realize that now! God, I don't even think I'm making sense because how can a seventeen year old be in love? And I mean…how can I truly know what love is? Is it the warm feeling I get whenever I see you or the insane jealousy I have when you're with someone else or the fact that I see your face everywhere I go and you're all I can think about, even when I hurt you…even when I was supposed to hate you. Through it all I knew that I'd never be able to forget you or pretend you didn't exist because you were too much a part of me. And you must think I'm insane. And I am insane for admitting all this because how can you possibly forgive me? How can you just start over again? I don't know how I can earn your trust back and I doubt I deserve to."
"Draco…I don't…I don't think…I…" Helen was at a loss for words.
"I'm going to try Helen, God, please give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not spineless. I want to be there for you and make all your pain go away. I'll disown myself…cut off my balls…live in poverty…jump in the lake…anything you want, just so you can be mine. If you-know-who wants me dead so be it. He's not going to touch you while I'm around. Shit, you don't believe me do you? I'm acting like a lunatic aren't I, but I don't know how to handle what I'm feeling inside. I don't know how to react to this. I need your help. I need you to convert me. Change me. I just want you to be happy with me. I know we can be happy. You-know-who tricked me into thinking I was supposed to kill you and when I said I'd kill you I didn't mean it. I couldn't do it. I really couldn't and then I saw our kids…yea our kids in a dream and that just proved right there that I couldn't kill you cause I freaked out. I flipped! But anyway Dumbledore showed me the book that said I was destined to love you and I believe it! Yes, I believe it! I've never been so sure yet unsure in my life because it's all up to you basically. If you can love me…if you can give me a chance then I'll be the happiest person and if you hate me then I may as well just lie down and die because I can't live without you by my side."
Helen's brain wasn't processing fast enough.
"You're going to turn away from your family and the Slytherins and Voldemort and his Death Eaters for me?"
Draco nodded.
"I'm in love and nothing can undo that."
"What about Harry? Hermione? Ron?"
Draco sighed.
"I'll have to deal with them, won't I? I'll have to…Helen it's going to be tough to make me accept them. That's where I need your help. Will you be able to put up with me? Is that okay? Will you help me? Can you understand that removing seven years of hatred for them and seventeen of muggles is going to be difficult for me?"
Draco looked at her so helplessly. Was this the real Draco? Would he change his mind again? Could he really mean everything he said? Should she give it one more try, like her heart was begging her to do? Too many questions!
"Helen, please just say something. I…I'm not good at explaining how I feel since I never said I love you to anyone before and it's all so new to me."
Was this a trick? Could she really trust and believe him? If she didn't…she'd never know what could have happened between them. She looked up at him and used her gift...
And she read what his expression was telling her.
She read was his eyes were trying to say.
And she believed him.
She didn't remember falling into his arms or holding him tight or the tears of joy that sprang from her eyes. She only remembered feeling one thing. Completeness.
So turn
Up the corners of your lips
Part them and feel my finger tips
Trace the moment, fall forever
Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'd be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current
Hermione stood in the doorway, staring at the two of them.
"Oh."
Helen looked up at Draco and he knew she needed to be alone when she explained things to Hermione. He gave her one last hug and left the two friends alone.
"What…"Hermione paused, "is going on?"
Helen took a deep breath and began to tell her.
A/n: Okay so I figured I should end the chapter here but it's really short and I have about a four page list of events that are supposed to happen from now until the end of the story and I really don't want to have 30 chapters so I'm adding more to this chapter PLUS I'm probably going to be excluding a lot of events that I planned.
[PAGE BREAK]
"Oh God, I forgot how to do the Hovering charm." Hermione panicked.
"It's Natare, calm down 'mione. You're way ahead of the rest of us" Harry reassured her.
"The Engulf in Flames spell…is it Operire Flamma or Oparie Flamma?" Helen asked.
"Operire Flamma," Harry turned his attention to the two girls whose heads were in their books. The both of them were frantic with studying for the N.E.W.T. exams (which were all the way in June) while the rest of the students in the classroom were trying to get the hang of the charm Flitwick told them to learn.
"Thanks, and Hermione, you've got to show me how to do that one curse that attaches someone to the wall," Helen mumbled without looking up, "I'm the only one in DA (Dumbledore's Army) that hasn't mastered it yet."
"I can show you later tonight."
"Uh…"
"What?" Hermione looked up.
"Nothing, I'm just doing something tonight that's all," Helen mumbled
"What's that?" Harry turned to her curiously.
"Just meeting someone…" Helen tried to sound innocent.
"Who?" Ron asked warily.
"A friend, geeze, what's the big deal?"
"The fact that you're hiding something." Harry quipped.
Helen looked to Hermione for support but the brunette just shook her head. Helen heaved a sigh.
"Draco, alright."
"WH—"
"Keep it down, both of you!"
"Malfoy!" Ron hissed, "You two got back together!"
"Are you crazy?" Harry fumed, "What the hell do you see in that little shit?"
"This is why I didn't want to say in the first place!" Helen grumbled.
"Helen—"
"Save it. I understand why you guys are having a fit but there's no use discussing this."
"Helen! You're making a huge mis—"
"Drop it!" Helen said icily. Harry stooped listening. He wasn't going to see another person suffer at the hands of one of Voldemort's minions, Malfoy especially.
[PAGE BREAK]
Harry stared at the clock on his bedside, fully dressed. It was almost midnight and right about now the last few Gryffindors in the common room were probably trooping up to their dormitories. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and wand before heading to the door.
"You were going to go without me?" Ron pushed the covers off himself, and jumped out of bed, "What kind of friend are you?"
Harry grinned and beckoned his best friend to follow him out.
"Man, it's been ages since we've used this thing."
"Shh! Get under the cloak, I think I hear something."
The two boys scrambled into a dark corner of the common room and covered themselves in time to see a little white Abyssinian/Egyptian Mau hybrid cat descending down the stairs of the girl's dormitory.
A/n: I was looking up revered Egyptian cats and I came up with the search about white (called silver) Abyssinian cats and Egyptian Mau cats and I just wanted to say that I don't know if they can like…interbreed or something but I wanted to have that in my story. I'm pretty brainless when it comes to cats.
"Who's cat is that?" Ron asked quietly, "Helen's maybe?"
"Is is Helen. She's an unregistered animagus. I saw her change in the Order's headquarters before school started,"
"Hey, Harry," Ron whispered, "Remember when we wondered if animals could see us under the cloak in first year?"
"Yeah," Harry lowered his voice as Helen was drawing nearer.
"We're about to find out."
Helen (in her animagus form) walked by them but stopped short inches away from Harry's right shoe before bolting out of the already slightly opened portrait door.
"I wonder what made her run like that. Do you think she knows we're going to follow her?"
"No, I think she just took a whiff of your sneaker, mate, and dashed off."
"Like yours smell any better," Harry laughed, "C'mon lets go."
They trailed after her down staircases and hallways until they finally reached the entranceway to the grounds. Helen went back to human form and was on all fours.
"That hurt," Harry muttered.
"Well maybe if you didn't stop so suddenly I wouldn't have crashed into you!" Ron shot back, "Besides, there's no room for the both of us under this thing anymore."
"Your big feet take up all the room," Harry joked.
"Shut up, and why is Helen still on the floor? What's she doing?"
"Lower your voice!" Harry whispered, "And she still has a little trouble when she changes form.
Helen finally stood upright and went outside.
"C'mon," Harry darted forward so quickly that he almost tripped over himself.
"Settle down!"
Harry and Ron ran as fast as they could, considering the circumstances, and only stopped when Helen did. Then they found a nice clump of bushes to conceal themselves in. Harry wasn't sure why he needed to hide when he was wearing the invisibility cloak but something told him to do it anyway.
"You came," Draco smiled, taking her hands in his. "No trouble sneaking out?"
"None," Helen beamed.
"Look at the little ferret," Ron hissed in Harry's ear. Harry was so busy watching that he didn't comment.
"Actually…Harry and Ron found out that I was meeting you tonight and they flipped."
"As expected," Draco smiled.
"Look at that icicle smiling 'cause he knows we were mad!" Ron grumbled.
"I got this for you," Draco pulled a book out of his robes and handed it to her.
"A Warrior's Guide to Dark Arts and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Draco, how did you know I wanted this?" Helen looked up at him in wonder.
"I didn't," he tousled his hair, "But I figured we'd need to be as prepared as we could. When people find out about us…there will be more complaints than from just Potter and Weasley."
"I wanted to talk about that…" Helen looked down. "I want to keep this a secret."
"What?" Draco was taken back. "I thought—I thought you wanted to get this out in the open. I'm okay with revealing it to everyone now, honestly." He caressed her cheek with one hand and separated the gap between them with the other.
Harry didn't realize he was darting forward until he felt Ron hold him back.
"Before I was a frightened coward, but not anymore."
"Bullshit!" Harry thought to himself. Malfoy was the same false, backstabbing, shitface that he'd always been. How could Helen believe the trash he was saying? How could she look at him so adoringly? How could Malfoy pretend to look at her in the same way?
Helen wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I know, but I don't think it'll do any good to let Voldemort's side know you're with me just yet. You'll be safe as long as they have no idea."
"As long as you're sure." Draco kissed the top of her head.
"Aww, that's all I get?" Helen pouted.
"Just the start."
At first Harry was going to smash through the bushes and clobber the hell out of Malfoy the second he saw them kissing: hands roaming wherever they pleased, mouths being explored, bodies being pressed…all the things that Harry wanted Helen to do with someone else…anyone else but Malfoy. But something stopped him. Maybe it was the fact that Helen and Draco reminded him of himself and Hermione. They looked perfect together…like salt and pepper, or sugar and spice, or ketchup and mustard. Okay, so he was hungry, but that basically summed up how he felt. No one could look at Helen the same way he looked at Hermione and be faking it. Maybe Malfoy was the first…who knew?
"This is getting me ill," Ron said uneasily.
"Helen would kick our asses if she knew we were watching," Harry replied quietly.
"Let's hope she doesn't."
"Any chance you can possibly sneak out again to meet me? Like a study date tomorrow?" Draco inquired.
"We'd never actually get around to studying," Helen pointed out.
"But that's the fun of it!" Draco laughed.
"Alright. What time?"
"I've got Quidditch practice in the morning."
"I have it in the afternoon."
"Potter's always with Granger nowadays at night."
"What?" Helen asked in a puzzled tone of voice.
"They've even begun sleeping in the same room. I heard them."
Harry could feel Ron glaring at him.
"What?" Harry blushed, "It's not true! You saw me in the dorm tonight."
"Yeah, probably planning on meeting up with Hermione after you followed Helen."
"No," Harry's cheeks got redder.
"Shame on you for trying to lie to me," Ron frowned, "Whatever. I'd probably do the same thing anyway."
"I'd better go to bed." Helen suppressed a yawn.
"Damn, already?" Draco sighed, "I suppose rest is important."
"Look at that bastard act like he's concerned," Ron muttered, neglecting to lower his voice.
"What was that?" Helen raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear that?"
Draco looked in Harry and Ron's direction. If Harry didn't know better he could have sworn that Draco could see him. Still, Harry had an uneasy feeling. Maybe it was the fireball that Draco conjured up in his hands. Maybe it was the smirk on Malfoy's face and the finger he held up before throwing it at them. Maybe it was that when they moved seven paces to their left Draco conjured up another fireball and threw it at them with precision and accuracy?
"Uh, you reckon he can see us somehow?" Ron asked.
"You're quite the mind reader," Harry mumbled.
"Can you see who it is?" Helen asked, eyeing the next fireball that Draco made which was roughly the size of her head.
"Maybe," Draco grinned, throwing it.
"Cease," Helen made it disappear in midair.
"Hey!"
"Who?"
"Your overprotective buddies, Harry and Ron, over there." Draco pointed at them.
"How the hell can he see us and Helen not?" Harry wondered. Before he could give it much more thought, Helen tackled him to the ground, pulling Ron as well.
"Why—" she paused after every word, "—are you two here?" she asked after yanking their hood down and taking the cloak off them.
"Making sure Malfoy doesn't do anything stupid."
"I managed not to pull a stunt like this one." Draco snickered.
"You know you can—"
"Where are you going?" Ron interrupted Harry and Draco.
"I'm going to bed," Helen gave them fierce look. "Don't you even dare try to talk to me tomorrow either."
"C'mon, Helen, we're just looking out for you."
"Yes, as noble as your intentions were," Helen said sarcastically, "you two FOLLOWED me. You totally invaded MY privacy and stuck your overly large noses in MY business. I am capable of taking care of myself THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH! What you overheard was personal! I have half a mind kick you both in the balls right now!"
"You were kidnapped twice. That fact doesn't prove your case much."
"You asshole! How dare you use that against me?" Helen shook with rage. "I had a great night until you numskulls came and ruined it! You freakin perverts! Watching us kiss! Watching us…" Helen's voice trailed off as she shot them a look of pure disgust, then suddenly laughed in a way that was no where near sounding amused. "I'm not even going to waste my time explaining just how unbelievably BRAINDEAD you guys are. Draco, please, let's go AND DON'T YOU TWO DARE FOLLOW OR I'LL HAVE YOUR HEADS!"
After listening to Draco calm Helen down as they walked away, Ron picked up the Invisibility cloak.
"Which head do you bet she was referring to?"
Harry shook his head. Now was not the time for joking. The Marauder's Map showed Helen and Draco not walking to Gryffindor common room…but the room for the Head Boy.
A/n: The song that was unnamed is "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional. Omg I hope that's right. I don't want anyone murdering me. Oh and sorry about any mistakes on here but I was so eager to post this and so tired from today that I didn't check it four to five times like I usually do.