A/N: Sorry, I know there were some grammer problems in those last chapters! If anyone likes editing- let me know! Please review guys! This is my first fanfic and I need to know if you think I'm heading in a good direction. Open feedback is always welcome… Thanks!

Chapter Three

Draco and Alysious slowly made their way out to the grounds. It was a hot summer day and Alysious could embarrassingly feel the hand she held with Malfoy become more sweaty.

"Potter doesn't seem too pleased with you being sociable with me," Draco mused quietly. Alysious sighed.

"Harry doesn't seem too pleased with anything I have tried," She replied glumly. They walked around the grounds together, not really paying attention to the scenery.

"So, did you and Harry…ever…date?" Draco mumbled awkwardly.

"No, we never have. We have just been friends… I'm not really his type I don't think," Alysious trailed off. She withdrew her hand from Draco's and nervously straightened her shirt.

Draco noticed how uncomfortable she was and automatically assumed it was because Harry was brought up into their conversation.

"You have a thing for him, then?" he asked, almost accusingly. Alysious snapped her head around to face him.

"Don't judge me, Draco. Besides, even if I did it wouldn't really matter. Everybody has little crushes…" she smiled at him slyly.

"Let's not talk about Potter anymore…" Draco sat down on the soft grass and pulled Alysious down beside him playfully. "Let's talk about more interesting things…" Alysious smirked.

"I'll start. Where did you go this summer that caused you to change so much?" She raised her eyebrows at him. Draco fidgeted, and played with a blade of grass to stall his response. Finally, he sighed and began speaking.

"Well, it's kind of a long story, so I should only tell it if you're really interested and don't mind listening to me ramble for a while."

"Yes, yes, that is to be expected. Go on…" she encouraged.

"Alright. Well, you probably are aware that my father is…" Draco paused.

"Half the man you are? Yes, continue…" Alysious grinned at him.

"Well said. So, my family is part of a close-knit dark group, which puts a lot of pressure on me to continue in those footsteps and receive my Dark Mark. I was very good at playing the part, and for a while I think I even convinced myself that I wanted to be a Death Eater. But, last school year, something…happened…" Draco stopped talking, a pained look on his face.

"Draco…" Alysious moved closer to him. "I don't want you to feel like you have to talk to me if you don't want to…"

"I'm okay." He took a deep breath. "My father killed my mum. For Voldemort. For no other reason than the fact that he wanted her dead. Voldemort thought she had gone soft in a way… wasn't the woman she used to be when she first married my father and came to him. A nuisance is what he called her. So, not even trying to defend her, my father killed her. I tried so hard… I couldn't save her… people were holding me back and I was screaming at him… but it didn't matter. He didn't care about me, he only cared about him. I knew right then that I only wanted to see either one of them one more time before I died. I want to kill them both, for killing my mum, for making me grow up feeling worthless and unloved, for teaching me…to hate everything." Draco looked up at Alysious. He was not crying, but instead had a fierce look on his face. Alysious stared at him, she had the sudden urge to kiss him, hold him, tell him that everything was going to be okay, that she would love him…

"This all happened last year?" she choked out. Draco nodded, looking away.

"So, after the school term ended, I ran. My mother, suspecting that something like this might happen one day, had left me… a considerable inheritance. So, I took part of the money and bought my own house. Dumbledore came and helped me charm it to make it highly protected and unplottable. Then, I spent the summer with Charlie Weasley, under the promise that our work would stay between us and no one else. We were overseas, with some of his fellow colleagues training dragons. I got this nasty burn on my back-" Draco paused slightly to lift up his shirt to show Alysious his back. She noticed, not only the large scar where he had been burned, but also his sculpted, perfect body. He was acting proud of his burn. "-but I got a lot stronger, and I learned a lot too. You have to be able to trust and be trusted greatly when you're working with those beasts. Dumbledore recommended it to me, it was one of the best things that could have happened to me right then." Draco finished, smiling.

"It sounds unreal. Are you sure that all really happened? You weren't dreaming?" Alysious asked. Draco laughed, and Alysious' heart did a somersault.

"It was all very real," he answered. They gazed at each other in silence for a moment, before Alysious broke their eye contact. "So, now that I have told you about me…tell me about you." Draco put his hand on her thigh. Alysious felt the spot where he was touching her start to tingle and feel warm.

"Well, like I said, I spent a lot of the summer traveling with Hermione. I didn't do anything nearly as exciting as you. Although, I can't say I'm very jealous…dragons do scare me…" Alysious laughed nervously.

The couple talked together, becoming more and more relaxed with each other's company until it became too warm to stay outside comfortably. They walked back into the castle together, and Draco escourted her back to the portrait for the Gryffindor common room.

Once inside the common room, she immediately noticed Hermione and rushed over to her. Ignoring Harry's glares, she plopped down on the oversized couch next to Hermione, looking giddy and flushed.

"We need to talk…" Alysious whispered excitedly. Hermione smirked at her.

"Do you realize you have been off with that boy since nine thirty this morning?" Hermione pushed her arm playfully.

"What time is it now?" Alysious asked innocently.

"NOON!" Harry bellowed, storming out of the common room and slamming the portrait shut behind him. Ron, Hermione and Alysious exchanged nervous glances.

"I'll go talk to him…" Ron sighed and stood up slowly. "You bloody owe me Alysious…" he pointed at her sternly, but smiled after a few seconds.

Once the two girls were alone, Alysious filled Hermione in on everything that had happened.

"Alysious… you need to know something… it is something that not even Draco knows about himself." Hermione looked at her nervously.

" What are you talking about?"

"I heard Dumbledore talking about it to Harry outside the Great Hall. I wasn't sure if it was true so I didn't say anything, but now I know that it must be…since Narcissa really is dead...

"What?" Alysious probed.

"Draco's mother did not die just because Voldemort wanted her dead. She was, well, in the way, if you will for a plan that Voldemort had against Draco. Voldemort wanted to use Draco as kind of sacrifice. He wanted to use Draco's death to create a kind of Horcrux that no one would be able to destroy. To ensure that he would be able to live forever."

"How can you have a Horcrux that no one can destroy? It has to be an object, right?" Alysious felt very frantic.

"Well, that is the common theory, yes. I didn't hear Dumbledore say anything more about it. I don't know if he has any ideas of how Voldemort could create an indestructible Horcrux or not…"

"Oh my God…" Alysious whispered.

"Narcissa was wanted to protect Draco, she was threatening to do something similar to what Harry's mum did for him when she died. I don't know if that is what ended up happening or what. But if Draco ran away after she was killed, I'm sure Voldemort was furious. He has to have him to create his last Horcrux, which means many dangerous people are out looking for Draco right now. Dumbledore is probably protecting him while he is at Hogwarts and at his house, but he can't hide in those two places for the rest of his life…" Hermione finished quietly. Alysious put her head in her hands.

"Hermione… you don't think…" she started.

"He may have replaced Harry as Voldemort's prime victim. He is in extreme danger, Alysious."

"He didn't say anything about it though!" Alysious felt as though she could cry.

"Of course he wouldn't. He doesn't even know right now. But it comes down to this: he will have to either kill Voldemort or be killed by him. He is in the same boat as Harry now."

(A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please review… even just a few comments will make me super happy!) - shesmyfavorite