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To my reviewers:

glamrockstar-Thanks for reviewing! I hope this chapter is just as good!

mikochan-I do try to put a lot in my writing, thanks! ^_^

Miaka-Cho did wake up, remember? She just hesitated a lot, and missed the killing of her father.

Kiara of LL-Hey, you've been bugging me for a long time to get this story up, so here it is! Hope it meets your expectations!

Galaxy-Gal-Never read a Cho/Draco fic? Wow! Hope I help you convert into a D/C supporter! In the meantime, read All About Our Love, by Eddie Munster! It'll help you convert.

george bush-Hope you like this chapter!

Crystal Megan-I really appreciate your long reviews. I love hearing what a reader thinks. In your review, you questioned cho still living with her parents at age 24. Well, in chapter one, I mentioned she was vacationing at her parents', not living there. ^_^ Also, she did wake up when her mother screamed. The Death Eaters just killed her dad quickly, is all. Sorry if that's a little confusing.

fairy-lights1-THANK YOU!! Favorites List? Wow, I'm flattered!

Three People Trying To Write-Thanks for reviewing!

Paige-Hope you like this chapter.

samskiz-I'll make you like Draco someday...

Thalia-Thank you for reviewing! Chapter three, then...

animal_gal-Chapter three is finally here. Hope you enjoy it.

LiL-Miz-Chief-Thanks for reading my story!

jade-I've continued! Like this chapter?

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Chapter Three is here! As I'm writing this, it's September 22nd, Tom Felton's 16th birthday. Happy birthday, Tom! I wanted my story be up today, and here it is. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Chapter Three
Over and Again

He was visiting her again. In his usual white robes and his light smirk. His silver-blond hair was sweeping across his forehead gracefully. Like always, he just floats there, gazing at her with mild interest.

But then, without any warning, everything changed. His white robe was suddenly splattered red with fresh, shining blood. He appeared not to have noticed, though, as he kept smiling in the same way, not at all affected by the change. She wanted to scream, but found that she couldn't. She watched in horror as the bloody man moved toward her with an outstretched arm. He gently touched her cheek, leaving a red fingerprint behind.

"You betrayed me," She whispered, eyes glistening with tears.

"I did," He replied in the same soft whisper, his voice filled with regret, blue eyes blazing. "But I loved you," His words faded into nothingness as he turned and started to drift away from her.

She tried to follow him, but hands held her back. "No," She muttered, trying to break free from their grasp. "Wait, come back,"

The pair of hands holding her back gripped her harder. Cho turned to see who it was, annoyed. The hands belonged to none other than Harry Potter. His vivid green eyes were bored into hers, revealing sadness, jealousy, but concern at the same time.

"Harry!" Cho whispered. "Let me go, I-I want to---" She glanced back towards the direction in which her blond intruder had gone, and she could still see a faint, distant outline of him, almost completely engulfed in the whiteness. Cho struggled against Harry's hold, but his grip just hardened, and he wouldn't let go.

"Harry! Let me go! Harry!--Harry--!"

Hands shook her awake. Cho's eyes snapped open, expecting to see Harry. Instead of the expected vivid green, she found herself locking eyes with a cold blue-grey. She gasped aloud when she realized whom they belonged to.

It was the man who haunted her dreams! He had the same silver-blond hair, curled lip, facial features, and the same all-but-forgotten eyes, which seemed to hold such vigor and contempt. They were like ice, glittering coldly.

This was the same person who broke her heart all those years ago. He was the same person who brought her more pain than she thought a living being could ever experience. The person she hated so much, yet could not bring herself to forget. Despite every bit of torture he had brought upon her, she couldn't let go. And she hated herself for that.

And now, Draco Malfoy, the one person whom she thought in all her life would never again see, was right before her. Memories came so vividly in her mind that it seemed like it was only yesterday she had talked, cried and laughed with him. Draco Malfoy, former Slytherin, rich, arrogant, sly, hurtful… He had the gift of turning words into knives that pierced their way into people's hearts and lives, leaving them sad, angered, ashamed and humiliated. His spiteful manner claimed his place as a cruel, heartless bastard at Hogwarts. His good looks were contaminated with his fixed sneer, but that didn't matter with most girls. With a little charm and his manipulative skills, he captured girls' hearts like a moth to a flame; he had them lined up, waiting. Draco Malfoy had everything. No wonder he became the arrogant narcissist he was.

Cho stared at him, trying to catch her breath. He looked same as she remembered, just older. His looks were even more striking than before, and Cho felt uncomfortable under his gaze as an unexplainable feeling churned inside her.

Draco broke the silence. "Sorry to disappoint you like this, I'm clearly not the person you were hoping to see," he said in an unctuous tone.

"What--?"

"Potter. You wanted Potter?" He dropped his unctuous tone to adopt a bitter one.

Cho was confused. "When did I say--?"

Draco cut her off. "You were muttering Potter's name in your sleep," he said flatly. "You're dreaming of him at night. Doesn't that tell you something?" Draco cast her one disgusted look and then proceeded to the window beside the bed, where light was pouring in from the large glass panes.

Cho felt ashamed at his words. The truth was, she dreamed of him nightly, not Harry. But she couldn't correct him, so she just let him carry on with that untrue fact.

Cho relaxed a little without his stare, and made to sit up in bed. As she did, sharp pain shot through her body, and she let out a small gasp. Draco turned sharply at her small outcry. He watched her by the window as she tentatively got up, body aching horribly.

"I brought you here to Malfoy Manor so you can heal. After that, you may leave."

Cho snapped out of the stupor that had settled on her upon seeing Draco. Suddenly, she remembered. All at once, reality came crashing back, and her heart immediately sank. Images filled her mind. Blood everywhere, the Dark Mark, the many Death Eaters, her parents' bodies, devoid of life--

Again, she couldn't breathe, and she found that there were tears on her eyes. The memories came crashing back too fast, leaving her mind and body numb.

"What," she gasped, unable to talk properly. "What am I--doing here?"

Draco cocked an eyebrow. "Surely you remember the-ah,-events of the previous night?" He said slowly, "I couldn't just leave you there in that house of blood, now can I?"

Cho flinched at his insensitive remark, but then his words registered in her mind, and she realized what he had just revealed.

"You--," she gasped, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. "Leave me--? You--YOU were one of the Death Eaters!" She scooted backwards on the bed, horrified. Draco had an odd expression on his face and moved toward her. He made to touch her, but she jumped out of his grasp and quickly got off the bed, backing away from him. "YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!" Screaming this was extremely hard for her; she didn't want to face the fact that her parents were gone now, leaving her very much alone in this world. Tears were welling up in her eyes. The person who helped murder her parents was standing right in front of her. A boiling hate erupted inside her. She couldn't believe he would do something like this, given--their past. She knew Draco Malfoy was capable of much worse than just murder, of course, but she thought that he had more of a heart than that. She thought that he would just leave her alone for the rest of her life. Apparently, she was wrong. Apparently, Draco Malfoy does not have a heart. She was a fool to ever believe that he had one. He proved that years ago, and he's proving that now. He insists on driving knives into her already fragile heart over and again.

"You tortured them to death," Cho chocked back tears. "You tortured them and I watched you." She grew angrier with each word. "I WATCHED YOU DO IT!"

"I didn't--," he started in a low voice.

"IT DOESN'T MAT--DO YOU THINK IT MATTERS WHETHER YOU FIRSTHANDEDLY KILLED THEM OR NOT? YOU STOOD THERE, DIDN'T YOU? YOU WERE A PART OF IT, WEREN'T YOU? YOU HAD A HAND IN THEIR DEATHS! You--," Cho was too overwrought with anger to continue. She hated him so much. How could he be so evil?

Draco just stood there wordlessly, watching her.

Cho took a deep breath to calm herself, but the sound of her mother's ripping flesh was not easy to forget. She winced and turned her head at the memory. "You bastard," she continued. "Why didn't you just leave me there?"

Draco was not one to take insults silently. "What, and leave you unconscious and injured with your dead parents? God knows what you'd do when you come to and see your rotting parents all over again," he retorted.

"What's one more life to you? You and I both know what you do every night! You go around slaughtering and torturing innocent people just for the fun of it!" Cho spat, "We both know what you and your mates do to women, and--and--children." Her voice was full of loathing and disgust. "You're sick."

Draco was clearly angry at her words, but tried to mask it. When he spoke, his voice was dangerous and frighteningly calm, though his face gave away his attempt of nonchalant. "Consider it as a--favor--returned to you," he sneered. "I daresay you provided me with many favors during our school year? Your information was most useful to me. To us."

Cho looked at him with revulsion. How dare he bring that up? How could he stand there and remind them what he had done? He had betrayed her, and now he was boasting about it? "You bastard," Cho said again, her voice breaking, remembering her heart breaking when she found out the person she loved most turned out to be using her. "All that time, I thought I could trust you, despite everyone's warnings. But you just ended up selling me out, selling everyone out. How can you live with yourself? You showed your true colors in the end, though. You're nothing but a lying, manipulative coward, Malfoy."

"You fool," Draco's face was contorted with anger. "Don't assume you know the whole story. Besides, if so many people warned you against me, then why did you still come to me, Chang?"

"I don't know the whole story?" Cho retorted, ignoring his last question. "What's the whole story then, huh?" When Draco didn't respond, Cho continued, "What's there to tell?" Cho gave a short derisive laugh, growing hysterical. "I trusted you, and you betrayed me. End of story!" She said in a mock cheerful voice. "God! How could I have been so stupid?" Her voice turned into a shrill, angry one. "To believe that you, of all people could actually convert sides and decide to change your ways. How the hell did you pull that one off? I guess you're just a good liar. But that's nothing to boast about, is it? How could I have trusted you with information on my side? God! How could I have been so stupid?"

Draco stayed uncharacteristically quiet. They both didn't say anything for a while. The silence was only broken by Cho's attempts to stifle her tears and anger. After a moment, "Let me go."

"What?" Draco demanded in a menacing voice.

Cho lifted her head to glare at him. "Let me go," she said louder. "Let me go ho--Just let me out of here. I don't want to be here."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "How will you get anywhere if I 'let you go'?"

"Why do you even care--?" Cho paused, taking a deep breath. If she wanted to get out of there, she should learn to not let her anger get the best of her. "I'll apparate," She said dully.

Draco snorted. "If you're lucky, you'll splinch yourself. You're so distressed and tired I doubt you'll make it past the front gates, let alone apparate. I didn't think you were that much of a fool," He said sourly.

Draco's words annoyed her greatly. "I'll--I'll find a way! I'll--," Draco waved his hand to stop her.

"No."

"Why are you keeping me here?" Cho yelled, losing her temper. "Why do you care if I--if I get well or not, if I splinch myself or not? Why--?" Draco's fingers lightly grazed her cheek, stopping her tirade. She looked up uncertainly, confused, unsure of what this gesture meant. She didn't remember standing so close to him before.

"Ah, Cho," Draco said with a soft smirk, amused at her anger, "Why won't you believe me when I tell you I only care for your well-being?"

Cho jerked away from his touch, suddenly angry again. "If you cared, you wouldn't have killed my parents." Draco's smirk vanished. "Whatever twisted plan you have for keeping me here, I don't want to be part of it. Let me go," Cho repeated.

Draco's jaw clenched and he walked to the door. "I will not continue this conversation with you." He opened the door. "I will be back shortly with a mediwitch to look after your wounds. Rest peacefully," He said coldly. And with that, he vanished, locking the door behind him.

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She heard footsteps approach the door. Cho sat up quickly and wiped the tears away from her face. She didn't want him to know she had been crying all alone in her room. "Ready to release me yet, you cold-blooded murderer?" Cho asked in a childish voice. She felt as though she were back at Hogwarts. The door swung open. She turned her head to glare at the doorway. But it wasn't Draco she saw. It was someone-something-not even human.

"I is bringing your breakfast, miss!" squeaked the house-elf, trembling. Cho's brow furrowed as she looked at the creature. It was like the ones she had glimpsed in her 7th year, wearing an ugly rag and the same pathetically doleful expression. Personally, she thought these creatures were quite sad, doing all the dirty work for humans and actually enjoying it.

"Oh." The house-elf tentatively approached her bed, carrying a silver platter. Cho didn't even bother to see what food she was being brought, because just then a plan formed in her head. "Listen," she said hurriedly to the house-elf. "Would you happen to have some floo powder? I need some." The elf looked at her for a minute, his eyes giving a nervous, hesitant look.

"I is instructed to only bring food up to miss," it squeaked at last. Cho's brain worked fast. These were trustful and gullible creatures after all. They should be easy to lie to. "Well, I'm sure your master wouldn't mind." When the elf still continued to gaze hesitantly at her, she said, "I'm sure Draco Malfoy would not mind," she said lamely. She inwardly grimaced. She was a very bad liar. If she had a better plan, she would use it, but right now, all she had was this childish plot. Perhaps it was upon hearing his master's name that reassured him, but whatever the reason, the elf's expression cleared.

"Master Malfoy?" He paused, then smiled. "I is bringing miss some! Wait here, miss!" It ran out the door. Cho paced around the room nervously. What if Draco came back? He said he would, after all, with a mediwitch. She wished the elf would hurry up. She didn't exactly know why Draco was keeping her here, but she sure as hell knew it was out of the kindness of his cold heart. She took this time to look around the room. It was slightly dusty, and had the air of not being used very much. There was a large window by her bed. She proceeded to it, wanting to see outside the depressing room.

It was a stormy day out. Cho could see the grey clouds looming ominously in the low sky, threatening to shower. It was how she felt inside. Cold. Stormy. Depressed. She didn't want to bring back her wild emotions and her endless tears, so she forced herself to think of another subject matter and focused on the dark sky. Malfoy Manor. She was at Malfoy Manor. She had been here before, but, she gave a derisive laugh, it had been on a much happier occasion. She remembered how Draco had led her lovingly around the Manor, giving her a private tour. His strong arms had been wrapped around her tightly. They had been so in love back then. Well, at least she was. Forcing herself, again, to think elsewhere, her eyes lingered on the dark clouds. Draco's eyes were of that color when he was angered. Cho mentally slapped herself. Why did she keep bringing him up? I hate him, She reminded herself.

The door opened, scattering her thoughts. Her heart jumped, and she spun around to face the intruder. Cho was relieved to see it was only the house-elf, returning with the floo powder. It held out a small, black pouch. "Here miss. I is having your powder."

Cho took it. "Thanks." She quickly walked to the door and wrenched it open. Casting on last look at the room, she departed at high speed.

"Wait! Where is miss going?" The house-elf squeaked, but it was too late. Cho felt guilty for tricking the elf. She knew it was probably going to be severely punished for letting her escape. But why shouldn't she leave? She wasn't a prisoner. She didn't exactly know why she was in there. The thing with house-elves, Cho thought as she quickly made her way down the opulent hall, is that they're too trusting. Now, all she needed to do was find a fireplace, and she was gone. There hadn't been one in the room she was in, obviously, and she didn't know the Manor well enough to locate one immediately. The Manor was overwhelmed with doors and entryways and even more hallways branching off of the one she was currently in. Hopefully, one of those rooms would hold what she so desired.

Deciding to just try them one by one, she approached the nearest door. Timidly opening the double doors, she felt a rush of cool air greeting her. It was a magnificent ballroom, dimly lit by candles. It was truly a wonderful sight, and Cho suppressed the urge to run in and waltz around the room. There was no fire, so Cho grudgingly closed it again and proceeded to the next. This room, like the last, was unsuccessful. It was nothing but an empty broom cupboard. And so this went on. Cho found room after useless room, getting angrier and angrier that a huge mansion like this one could hold so many useless and empty rooms, none which held a single fireplace. Locked rooms, empty rooms, rooms so sinister Cho didn't dare enter… Cho soon found herself in front of a narrow staircase going down. She didn't know how far she had traveled now, getting lost amidst the maze of halls. Half-heartedly, she took the stairs.

She was now standing at the end of a very dingy hall that did not match the magnificence of the rest of the manor. A door abruptly opened five doors down where Cho was standing. Before she even had a chance to duck out of sight, a house-elf came scurrying out, supporting a large platter above its head. Thankfully, the elf ran the opposite direction and didn't notice her. Cho waited until the elf disappeared from sight before slowly walking towards the door the elf emerged from. It was still slightly open. Peering in, she gasped in delight. Around ten house-elves were scuttling in all directions, busy with their work. A warm and sweet aroma reached Cho's nose and a hot wave of air escaped into the dingy hall. In the middle of all this was a roaring fire, crackling merrily in its fireplace. This must be the kitchens! Cho realized in happiness and cautiously took a few steps in. The elves took no notice of her, and still continued to tend to their smoking pots and scrumptious dinners. At this, Cho hastened her steps toward the flames.

"What is you doing here?" said a harsh voice. The other house-elves curiously stopped to look, too. Cho turned around to face the elf who had spoken.

"I-I need to use your fire," she said lamely, extremely uncomfortable under their quailing stares.

"You oughtn't sneak around like this, you oughtn't," came the harsh squeak again.

"Please, I need--,"

"We should alert Master Malfoy, we should," cut in the elf unsympathetically. These elves were clearly not as nice and devoting as the rest of their kind. "Come with us, miss," another said coldly. They closed in around her and started to push her toward the open doorway with their bony fingers.

"No, I--," Cho struggled for release against their strong hold. She was starting to get annoyed and frustrated again. After all this time, she finally found a fire, and she wasn't going to let a couple of house-elves stop her. With a heavy jerk, she managed to wrench one arm away from their grip. The floo powder that was clutched in her hand flew out and sailed into the dancing flames. At once, the fire gave a deafening roar and turned a sparkling emerald green. This was her only chance now. With newfound strength, Cho shook off the beasts clinging on to her and leaped into the inferno. She coughed and sputtered as the hot ashes flew into her mouth. The fire was roaring too loudly as she stated her destination. She didn't even know whether she said it properly or not, she couldn't hear anything over the raging flames.

But it was too late to dwell on that. With an almighty lurch and a rush of green, Cho sped through the fireplace and out of sight.

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Whew! I'm finally done with this exhaustingly hard-to-write chapter! Thank you, Betas! Please review!! I hope chapter four will be easier to finish.