AN: Hey all! another blissful chapter. this story is well on it's way to being done, and i'm planning a sequal to it already! i hope you guys are enjoying, and even those of you who dont choose to leave reviews but are subscribed to the story, thanks so much!

For 5 months they stayed at NightNim, slowly falling into the routine. Units traded responsibility frequently and it wasn't long before Draco had worked everywhere in the camp; from the walls, to the washing, to the guarding, to the torture chambers. While it was no pleasure cruise, he found himself slowly beginning to feel more and more at home, and it worried him. They got constant new people to the camp; there must have been nearly a thousand there by now.

As compared to everywhere else, this camp was relatively calm, and after a while one grew used to the constant sounds of torture going on around him.

Blaise continued to document each day in her large book, to which she was now adding pages. Of course, there was not much to document now.

Draco heaved himself down onto his bed once it was night. There was no one else around, so he pulled out the familiar red journal and began to read pages he had read a thousand times.

"For the memory of love is sweet, though the love itself were in vain. And what I have lost of pleasure, assuage what I find of pain." - Lyster

Diary,

Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. I should know about risks. I'm risking everything I've ever thought I was, to be someone I never knew existed. Confused? Welcome to my world. He just… makes me feel like a new person. A beautiful, creative, love-worthy person. I've never experienced anything like it before. But I think its love. And if it is, I am willing to risk everything for it. I just hope he is too.

Ginny

"Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate!" - Cassie

He sighed, skimming through the pages. He had every inch of this Diary engraved in his head, so it didn't really matter if he had the diary or not any more. But he kept it, despite the risks, because without it he was afraid he might end up thinking the entire thing hadn't been real. And if none of it had been real, he wouldn't feel so torn about all the horrible things he'd done.

He flipped to the last page, which had one page of writing, and a picture of Ginny attached to the back cover.

"Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, never... never forget it." - Curtis Judalet

Draco,

I will never love anyone but you. I hope you know that. This book belongs to you now. Do with it what you wish. I only hope that you cared for me as deeply as I cared for you. I will never stop loving you Draco. If ever you should need me, I will be there. All you have to do is find me.

Love,

Ginny

"It is with true love as it is with ghosts; everyone talks about it, but few have seen it." - Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Draco closed the book slowly, closing his eyes and imagining for a brief moment that she was close to him. The scent of her hair wafting around him, her delicate figure lying beside him, her slow shallow breathing in time with his own.

"Malfoy!" Nott burst through the opening to the tent and Draco startled, dropping the book inside his robes. "Get up; your father wants words with you."

"What? Why?" Draco stood, still holding the book behind him.

Nott shook his head. "He wouldn't say. But he seemed happy, so best to get down there before you raise his temper by making him wait." He backed away through the curtains and left Draco alone.

Draco quickly fastened the book to his leg and straitened his clothing. He grabbed his wand and headed out of the tent. It was dark now, probably close to midnight. The camp fires were going, and like most nights around here, almost everyone was gathered around them, drinking and feasting. This whole war was a game for them.

He walked through the tents up to the lead tents, which were rather larger than the rest. He found his fathers fairly quickly considering he hadn't been to see him in the 5 months they had been there, but the Malfoy emblem on the front of the tent was hard to miss. He walked inside.

His father was sitting at a desk writing a letter of some kind. "Come in Draco, have a seat." He ordered. Like Nott had said, he seemed in a pleasant enough mood, so Draco doubted it had anything to do with something he had done. His father had called him here to ask something of him, he just wasn't sure what.

The last time they had spoken, it had ended with the death of Vincent Crabbe.

Lucius put down his quill and rolled up the parchment. He pushed it aside and turned to face Draco, who was only now sitting down.

"You're what now Draco? 25?" He asked, placing his fingers together in his lap.

"24." Draco corrected. Lucius nodded.

"Right, 24. Why, you're all grown up. I'd hardly noticed." He paused, judging Draco. Draco shot back an icy cool look of confidence. "Draco, you're a Malfoy, and as a Malfoy, you are destined for great things. You could be very powerful. You will be very powerful. The Dark Lord likes you, always has. You need to be ready to accept whatever power he's going to give you."

"I don't want power." Draco stated simply.

"Every man wants power." Lucius shot back.

"I don't." There was a moment of tense silence in which Lucius judged his sons intentions and Draco judged his fathers. Lucius smirked.

"No, I suppose you don't. But with your age comes responsibilities. Responsibilities you don't have yet." He stood and walked to the wall of the tent, which looked like stone on the inside. He ran a finger over a mantle holding various items. "Blaise Zabini, you know her, yes?"

"Yes." Draco answered, not daring to say anymore than his father asked.

"What do you think of her?" He wasn't looking at Draco, instead straightening out an already straight arrangement of items.

"She's loyal, and trustworthy. She… handles responsibility well. If your asking where her loyalties lie, they are with her father, nothing more." He answered. He found himself suddenly afraid for his friend's life.

"Only to her father? So, whatever her father wishes, she does? What about you? What does she think of you?" He turned to face him at last, curiosity carefully pulled over his features.

"We're… friends, I suppose. We've been in the same unit since we were initiated."

"And, do you like her?" He picked up his old serpents cane and examined it carefully, as thought not to show any interest in the conversation taking place.

"We're friends. What else is there to say?" Draco stood as well, following his father to the mantle and picking up a glass ball.

Lucius smiled. "She's fairly pretty, is she not? And of good family. Purebloods, all of them. Zeels yes, but that can be lived with." Lucius replaced his cane on the shelf. Draco's grip on the glass ball suddenly tightened as he turned to face his father.

"What are you implying?" He asked. Lucius stared back at him with a fierce intensity.

"I've come to an agreement with Blaise's father." He walked back over to his desk and picked up a parchment.

Realization clicked in Draco's mind, and the glass ball in his hand shattered. He turned to his father as collected as he could, letting the glass shards fall to the ground.

"You want me to marry her, don't you?" Stunned as he was, he did not let it show on his face. His father glanced back at him curiously.

"Arranged marriages have been going on in this family for years Draco. Your mother and I were chosen for each other by our fathers. And, it is your duty as a Malfoy to carry on the family line. You knew this day would come. I couldn't let you waste the good years of your life here in this camp as a bachelor, could I?" He looked back to the parchment and scribbled something down.

Draco said nothing, but stood glaring at his father. The dull pain in his hand where the glass had pierced his skin felt like nothing compared to the heaviness of his heart.

Lucius looked back up. "All you have to do is sign." He pushed a parchment which Draco realized was a marital agreement toward him with a quill. He hesitated.

After all, what were the odds he would ever see Ginny again? And if he refused, what would his father do to him? He could live with Blaise, but he knew he would never love her. She knew that too. And if she agreed…

He looked back up at the watchful eyes of his father. This was what was best, for his family, and himself. He knew now he had no control over his life. His life was no longer his own. It had belonged to the dark lord for 6 years.

"As you wish." Draco lowered his eyes to the parchment and picked up the quill. Over a dotted line he signed, Draco L. Malfoy.

"Good. The ceremony will be in two days. Spend tomorrow preparing. Your mother will be here by then."