Last Train Ride

This is the last chapter for this story! It's going to alternate between Leah's POV and Draco's POV…just like the next story is going to be like.

(Leah's POV)

Gryffindor won the house cup again. It was close, as always, between them and Slytherin. It's funny…I never thought I'd be so sad to leave this place. Now I know how mom felt.

My mind kept returning, as it always did when I was alone, to my dead baby. My stomach had continually felt as if there was a rock in it. Strange how I'm supposed to be a protector but I couldn't save my child. Strange how I'm supposed to be powerful and smart enough to guide Harry into defeating Voldemort, but I couldn't be smart enough to stay away from him.

Draco and I rarely talked the last two days of school. We spent most of our time in our separate rooms, packing. Dumbledore had called us to his office on the third last day and told us how well we did as Head boy and girl. For the first time in a very long time, Gryffindor and Slytherin were no longer complete rivals. I bet anything that, if it had been Harry who had become friends with Draco, then there would be no way those two houses would fight anymore. After all…Draco was practically the leader of Slytherin, and Harry was the leader of Gryffindor.

I still haven't talked to Harry and the only time I saw him was the rare time when I would join Hermione and Ginny for meals, and during the NEWTs which were now over. I didn't talk to Ron either. I think the only people in the whole school that I talked to during that last week, were Hermione, Ginny, rarely Draco, Dumbledore, Hagrid and McGonagall. I rarely talked to Remus at all…I think I'm actually avoiding him.

"I'm gonna miss you." Hagrid said. Me and Hermione were sitting outside his hut with him. Luckily he was restraining himself so that we didn't have to worry about getting broken ribs.

"You can always come visit." Leah said. "And I'll come visit the school a lot. There's no way that I'm staying away from here." Hagrid smiled at that.

The last day of school was full of good-byes. Hermione and myself ran into the forest to say good-bye to Grawp who, unlike Hagrid, actually broke down into tears and did hug us. Luckily, again, he didn't hug too tightly and eventually he did let us go.

Even though we shared the Head compartment, I didn't talk to Draco and barely looked at him. The last time I did talk to him…it was such a good outcome.

(Draco's POV)

I'm not sure how I managed to tell Leah about what I had to do after school. Really…I had to do it. My parents practically forced me. And I couldn't disagree because that surely would have caused suspicion and I wasn't going to let them figure out that I wasn't on their side. There was no way in hell that I was going to let them hurt Leah.

But the look on her face when I told her…god! I couldn't stand it. We haven't talked since.

Now that we were sitting across from each other in the head's compartment, silent, I couldn't even look at her. Whenever someone came by, both of us forced smiles onto our faces and talked cheerfully. But as soon as that person left, the smiles and the noise disappeared. I couldn't stand it so, very quietly, I told her that I would be back before I left.

I found Potter, Weasley, Hermione and Ginny sitting with Blaise and a few others that I didn't know. Hermione saw me and waved me into the compartment. Reluctantly I joined them.

"Is Leah asleep or something?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah." I lied. "She was pretty tired and just sorta fell asleep."

"Oh…" Hermione said. She knew I was lying. Somehow I got pulled into the conversation about jobs. Potter and Weasley stayed quiet and I pretty much forgot about them.

Eventually I managed to leave…and got pulled into another compartment by Lupin. I don't know how I felt about that. It was almost as disturbing as the dream I had the night before. Except Lupin didn't say anything about Leah. He just wanted to know what I might have planned for the future and gave me some advice.

What was the dream? Well…like I said…it was disturbing and involved Leah's parents.

I was standing in the middle of a big empty space…alone…for a moment. I blinked and Leah's mom appeared a few feet from me.

"Hi." She said, casually.

"Umm…hi?" I said.

"Don't worry. I've known about you and Leah from the beginning…well…actually…only from the time I died." She said. That was a surprise. Not that she was dead…I knew that…but that she knew everything and was so calm about it. Didn't she and her husband hate my parents?

As if on cue, Sirius Black appeared next to his wife. I started trying to make myself wake up.

"Relax." Sirius said. "We're not going to kill you or anything. We just have to tell you a few things."

"Both of us…" Sabrina said, giving Sirius a look I couldn't understand. "Are completely fine with yours and Leah's relationship."

"And we know that it's going to be…put on hold…for a while." Sirius said.

"Ok." I said.

"Draco." Sabrina said, stepping forward. "You know about Leah being a protector." I nodded. "And you know how desperate she is to have you ask for it." I nodded again, slowly this time.

"You have to do it." Sirius said. "If you don't…you will get killed. Not by us…we're dead…we can't kill ya even if we want to."

"But the Death Eaters might find out." Sabrina said. "And you have to be alive to if you want…" I blinked and there was a bundle in Sabrina's arms. "To get your baby back." I think made a noise but I wasn't sure. My eyes were suddenly glued on the face of the baby in Sabrina's arms.

I can't remember the rest of the dream…if there was anything else. All I know is that from the time I woke up to now, the only thing I could think about was what they had said to me.

(Leah's POV)

Once Draco left, I felt really alone. I couldn't help it. I thought back to the time in May where I had asked him to ask me to protect him. I wanted him to…and I still do. I need him to. If he didn't…I don't know how I was going to survive until the next time I saw him…if I ever did. That thought nagged at my mind as well. What if I never saw him again?

I loved him…I now acknowledged that fully. But I haven't told him. I should tell him…when he came back. No…yes…I don't know. GOD! I can't believe how hard this is. I could tell him everything else but the one feeling that I think I've felt for him for, pretty much, ever…I couldn't tell him.

It had only hit me last night. I had completely forgotten about those dreams that I used to have about the mystery guy…until I had all of them come back to me again last night…this time I saw the face…it was Draco's face. How could I have been so blind? The different things he said to me over the years…the different things said in my dreams…most of them were the same or semi-similar.

Draco returned…I didn't look at him. I could have hit myself. Here I was, sitting across from the guy that I loved more then practically anything, and I couldn't even look at him.

(Draco's POV)

I returned to the compartment and Leah's eyes looked up then back down at the book she was reading. I felt hurt to say the least. I just sat down and stared out the window.

"It never would have worked." Leah suddenly said. I looked at her. She was still looking at her book. I wondered if she was reading out loud.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Us." Leah said, still not looking up. I just stared at her. What was she going on about?

(Leah's POV)

What the hell was I saying! I couldn't stop myself. Oh god….not good…not good!

(Draco's POV)

"What about us?" I asked.

"We never would have worked." Leah said. She finally looking up, but not at me.

"How do you figure that?" I asked, slightly angry. Oh fuck! Here comes my old self again. The one that couldn't care less if I was Death Eater or not…and couldn't care less what Leah thought so long as I had her.

"Think about it." Leah said. "My dad's cousin…is your aunt. Which makes us like…second cousins or something."

(Leah's POV)

No, no, no, no, no! I had thought about this, yeah, but I didn't consider Bellatrix related to me, that's why I never mentioned it to anyone. Oh god please make my mouth stop! Suddenly it hit me…I wasn't in control of myself…someone else was doing it. But how?

(Draco's POV)

It took a second for what Leah said to sink in. True…we were related, and closely too, but since when did she consider Bellatrix related to her. And if it really mattered…then why didn't she stop thinks earlier before we got…

Leah made a noise that was half laugh, half sigh. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you fucking serious?" I asked, the anger rushing out as if a dam had just broke. Leah shrugged. "So what…are you saying that you don't want to be with me anymore?"

"There's no point in it." Leah said, finally looking at me. "You're going away aren't you? I'm never going to see you again." We both stood up and I grabbed Leah's upper arms. She winced. I looked at her eyes. They were dark and hollow. I couldn't stand seeing her anymore so I just let her go and left.

(Leah's POV)

I collapsed to the floor and moved my hair to see the marks on my arms. I slowly turned my hand around to look at my wrist.

"No." I said. I wanted to so badly. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus on doing something other then cutting myself.

Nothing I did worked. The next thing I knew, I had three new cuts that stood out deep red against the pale pink of the scars. I slapped my other hand over my wrist to try and stop the blood. My vision was getting blurred from all the crying.

Someone knew. A death eater knew about me and Draco. That was the only explanation. I walked into the bathroom and cleaned off my hand and wrist. The bleeding stopped, thank god. How could a death eater control me? Not even Voldemort has been able to do it. He even said so.

I looked down at my necklace. The one that connected me to my family. Is this why? I seemed to be able to draw power from them if I needed it but since they were dead.

I was crying again, but for a whole different reason then before. I heard the compartment door slide open and closed then I heard Hermione's voice…then Ginny's. Next thing I knew, Hermione was hugging me and telling Ginny to get someone.

(Draco's POV)

"Draco!" I turned and saw Ginny running towards me. "What happened to Leah?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Ginny stared at me. I guess the bitterness startled her or something.

"Well she's…uh…crying." Ginny said. I tilted my head. "Me and Hermione...we felt something. We went to your compartment and saw Leah on the floor, leaning against the seats…and crying. She was muttering stuff too. We're not sure what it was. Hermione told me to come find you."

"And." I said.

"There's no 'and'." Ginny said. "What's wrong? You don't seem worried."

"I'm…" I said. I couldn't say I wasn't worried. I then remembered her eyes. Her eyes were never hallow…ever! They were more like… "Bellatrix."

"What?" Ginny asked. "Did you just say 'I'm Bellatrix'?"

"No." I said.

"Umm…actually there is an 'and'." Ginny said. I looked at her. "Umm…Leah was…umm…bleeding." She raised her hand and showed her wrist. It clicked in my head. No! Leah wouldn't do that…it's been such a long time since she had. She wouldn't…but yet….

(Leah's POV)

"Leah…sweetie. It's ok…I think." Hermione was saying. "Please stop crying." I tried, I really did. But I couldn't. The compartment door slid open again. Hermione gave me a squeeze before standing up. I could hear whispered voices, Hermione's and Ginny's and someone else's. It was a guy but at the moment I didn't care who it was so I wasn't trying to figure it out. The door slid open and closed again. Someone was still with me.

(Third Person POV)

Draco walked over to Leah and stood next to her before kneeling. He took her chin in his hand and she quickly moved away from him.

"Leah…" Draco said.

"Don't." Leah said.

"You cut your wrist again." Draco said softly.

"I couldn't help it." Leah said, wrapping her hand around her wrist. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it…"

"I know." Draco said.

"Bellatrix…" They both said.

"How could she?" Draco asked.

"I don't know." Leah said, shrugging. She looked at Draco finally. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Draco said, wrapping his arms around her. They stayed like that for a long time. The train pulled into the station and they were still like that. Draco stood and pulled Leah to her feet. They stared at each other. He held her face in his hands before kissing her softly. He pulled back only slightly and whispered the two words Leah had wanted him to say for a long time now. "Protect me."

"I will." Leah whispered back. They then got their trunks and walked off the train together. They stood on the platform, waiting to go through the barrier. Once through, they looked at each other one last time before turning and heading in different directions, both unsure of where they were going and if they were ever going to see each other again.

The End

Well this story is done. What do you think of the end? I think it's touchy.

A year later…the next story! The title? Well…I still don't know. ARG! If anyone has ANY ideas for a title…PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me! If I figure it out, I'll post a notice in this story telling you guys about it. I really can't think of anything. The best I can come up with is Return of the Marauders but seeing as how I'm not bringing anyone back to live, it's really not going to work.