I'm sooo sorry it took me so long to post the last chapter. I started editing this one as soon as the other one was up. I really want to thank every single person who has been reading and reviewing this story and who have favorite and made it a point to follow it. Unfortunately I've had a pretty busy personal life and I've started work on another piece of fiction concurrently with this one (which I swore I would never do, but look how that went). But I've been working hard on outlining the story with even more detail as I've said it will appear in three parts. The next installment will be the prequel which will run in concurrence with the sequel.

Chapter 10: The Death of Innocence and Birth of the Unknown Pt.1

"Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more."
-Virginia Woolf

Genevieve awoke after her last night in the hospital Wing to find herself surrounded by a veritable rainbow. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, Madam Pomfrey stomped over to a table at the foot of her bed and placed yet another vase of flowers and the only bit of bare surfacing left. She set her disproving gaze upon her patient and Genevieve blushed an even deeper shade of scarlet and sank down into her blankets guiltily. There was a basket of all her favorite sweets sitting next to the arrangement that Madam Pomfrey had just deposited.

Genevieve covered her face with her hands in mortification and peeked out between her fingers. There were two students-first years-who had managed to get too close to the whomping willow while having a snowball fight. One was working on growing back both rows of teeth and the other was trying to mend both a broken ankle and a broken elbow. They were both staring over at her bed with great interest, the two of them whispering excitedly as they tried to discern who it was that kept sending her flowers.

"I hope you have enough friends to help you bring these up to your dormitory," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, shaking her head. Genevieve turned a nice shade of plum at that and groaned in response.

"Oi, MacDuff, have you been discharged yet? You've still got time to go to-" Katie Bell's sentence cut short as she entered the hospital wing followed by Leanne and Ginny Weasley, the latter of the two colliding with her back as the sight before her stopped her in her tracks. "Blimey, MacDuff, who the bloody hell sent you all this?"

"Oh, Hermione has got to see this," Ginny cried as she whirled around and ran out of the room. Genevieve sat up and wailed after her, "No, Ginny!"

She fell back into her pillow and willed the tears threatening to spill out of her eyes to dry up. She could hear Leanne and Katie hypothesizing animatedly. "D'you think it's a seventh year? Can't be Fred, he's got Angelina."

"Not George. I heard he's got a bit of a thing for a girl in Ravenclaw-"

"No, he doesn't that was two months ago. He's on about that one girl in Hufflepuff now, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Think it could be Ernie?"

"Have you got a card," Katie asked obnoxiously around a mouthful of Droobles she had pilfered from the basket of sweets. Genevieve stared at her incredulously, one hand still covering her face. "No."

"So, it's a secret admirer then," she declared, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Just in time for Valentine's Day. I bet he's the one that sent you the fancy Christmas present that's been sitting on your bed."

Genevieve sat up at that. "What present?"

Katie shrugged as she picked through the basket, pulling out all the sugar quills in search for more Droobles. Genevieve couldn't help but glare at her. Those were her Droobles. "Don't know, been sitting there since you been here. We think someone snuck it in while we were the Great Hall. You know, when you passed out. We think they snuck it in then."

"Hermione and Ginny think a house elf snuck it in," Leanne put in helpfully. Katie nodded in agreement. "Which means whoever it is, is old money. I sure don't have any house elves. Neither do the Weasleys and they're purebloods."

"Did you try opening it," Genevieve asked, dreading the answer. Katie Bell smirked and Leanne stifled a laugh as the Chaser beside her spoke. "Beckwith tried. She's convinced that it's from a Slytherin because it's wrapped in green paper. Which is ridiculous, because the bow is gold. Anyway, she picked it up and the next thing you know, her hair is purple. Purple, Gen. Remember that horrific set of robes Lockhart wore? That purple. It was fantastic. She wouldn't come out of the girls bathroom for an entire day. Parvatti had to charm her hair to get her to come out, but it wore of by the end of the day and she couldn't re-charm it."

Genevieve couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Has it worn off yet?"

Katie opened her mouth to answer her when Ginny exclaimed from the doorway. "Look, Hermione, just look at it! Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Genevieve looked over at the sound of her voice and felt as though a bucket of ice had been dumped on her before being set on fire by a Hungarian Horntail. Ginny hadn't brought Hermione Granger. She'd brought all of the fifth, sixth, and seventh year girls. She caught sight of an additional trio of redheads and cringed further when she realized that all the Weasleys were present. "Ginny, how could you," she lamented loudly, embarrassed beyond belief.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Ginny said defensively, having to shout partially in order to be heard over the crowd of excited students. "Some of them heard me and decided to follow."

"You shouldn't have told anybody in the first place! It's nobody's business who sends me flowers," she snapped, embarrassment quickly being replaced with outrage. "I'm going to hex your hair purple just like Beckwith's."

She reached over to the side table for her wand and accidentally bumped one of the vases. It was a vase full of forget-me-nots and violets and baby's breath. She reached out to right it as it began to topple over and as her hands grasped the lavender hued vase, a flock of miniature hummingbirds and several butterflies burst forth. She yelped in surprise and so did several other girls as the same effect exploded from the rest of the vases in the room. A vase full of red roses produced white doves. The vase of Gerber daisies produced swallows and bumble bees. A vase of birds of paradise produced several Macaws, a cockatoo, and even a toucan.

"What is going on in here," Madam Pomfrey yelled as she marched into the room as all the girls giggled and cried out in awe. Even the Weasley twins were watching the birds with matching expressions of admiration. Genevieve grudgingly admitted to herself that it was indeed impressive. Madam Pomfrey's jaw dropped in shock as she watched the different flocks of birds that swarmed above Genevieve's bed in a dizzying array of color.

"Madam Pomfrey, why are all the students-Oh good Heavens," Professor McGonagall let herself be pushed further into the room as the influx of students increased. Draco had made her a complete spectacle and the show wasn't over.

The birds came together, converging into a giant, multi-colored flock as they soared up toward the high ceiling. As they converged and condensed, the shape of the flock became more pronounced. "It's a dragon," someone called out over the exclamations of amazement, pointing heavenward and the crowd began to roar. She was too surprised to be embarrassed by this newest development and watched with rapt attention along with the rest of the students who had congregated. The swarms of butterflies and bumble bees burst into rainbow confetti and Genevieve thought she might have heard Ron say to Hermione and Harry from somewhere nearby, "This is bloody brilliant."

A moment later, the dragon exploded into fireworks. Blue, gold, green, and red lit up the room and Genevieve couldn't stop herself from smiling. It really had been a sight to behold and it illustrated perfectly how wonderful magic could be. How beautiful it was. It was a dream come to life, really. Something she would have thought up as a small child when she had believed fairies and mermaids to be real before she had come to know they truly were. It was perfect.

"Wicked," the Weasley twins echoed one another as they nodded up at the ceiling in one final show of approval. She felt her grin widen; she had to agree with them on that.

"Whoever did this must be filthy rich." Her smile dropped at that. Even though the words had been quiet, it caused an immediate hush around her and she felt the eyes of the girls closest to her boring into her, expecting her to reveal who it was that had sent her such a dazzling gift. She narrowed her eyes at the person who had spoken and Lavender had the decency to at least look apologetic though Genevieve doubted she truly was and that only grated on her further.

Genevieve looked at her friends who were gathered around her. Katie was looking at her thoughtfully, as if she had an inkling as to who the mystery admirer was, but couldn't quite remember who. Ginny and Leanne looked as expectant as everyone else. Hermione looked no less than amazed and Genevieve's stomach dropped as the knowing expression set in. She knows, the singular thought echoed through her skull, Hermione knows.

"Well, who is it, then," Ginny asked, her smile hopeful, "do you know?"

Genevieve let her smile falter further and shrugged. "I'm sorry, I haven't a clue. I didn't even know I had one."

The crowd groaned their disappointment in unison and Genevieve thought that even Professor McGonagall looked a bit crestfallen herself. "Well, then, Miss MacDuff, I trust you will make sure that this garden that you have managed to cultivate while you have been laid up will be removed immediately once you have returned to your dormitory," she said in her usual no-nonsense voice as the crowd quickly dispersed. Madam Pomfrey was currently chasing after the Weasley twins as she made sweeping shooing motions and threatened to notify Umbridge of their loitering about in the hospital wing. The Weasley just laughed; it was an idle threat that would never be carried out.

"Yes, Professor," she replied immediately, turning red once more. Professor McGonagall studied the vase closest to her, fingering the petal of one of the blood-red roses. "Whoever is responsible for this, put a great deal of thought into it and has displayed a great deal of talent." She leveled her sternest look on Katie, Leanne, Hermione and Ginny, who had yet to leave to hospital wing. "Don't you four have some place to be?"

"No really, Professor," Katie replied, causing Leanne to elbow her roughly as McGonagall's expression morphed into a half scowl. "Sorry," Katie muttered as they quartet scurried off. McGonagall cleared her throat and turned back to Genevieve. "I trust you will make my opinion known to the guilty party."

She nodded furiously. "Of course, Professor."

"I look forward to seeing you in class," McGonagall said as way of goodbye as she strode from the hospital wing and Genevieve let out a sigh of relief and finally began gather her belongings. Madam Pomfrey drew the curtains around her bed so that she could dress in her school uniform in privacy and Genevieve then busied herself with shrinking each and every vase to fit into her book bag, arranging them neatly so that they wouldn't break. Then, she thanked Madam Pomfrey for caring for her and ventured out of the hospital wing for the first time in two weeks.

She breathed a sigh of relief as a small sense of normalcy began to settle over her. It was beginning to get a bit easier to deal with her loss now that she could focus on school. A small part of her was willing to admit that Draco was a major proponent. Knowing that he was still there had soothed the part of her that was hurting enough that she could focus on returning to her normal self.

Genevieve stopped in her dormitory long enough to drop off the vases of flowers, arranging them around her bed as best she could and let her eyes linger on the unopened present sitting on her bed for only a moment before she left for the Great Hall. There wasn't much time left for breakfast and she was famished. She made it to the Great Hall in record time, threw herself onto the bench and immediately loaded her plate with pancakes and eggs and bacon and several pieces of toast, pouring syrup over the entire plate with reckless abandon before she began forking mouthful after mouthful into her mouth and chomped vigorously. She downed an entire glass of orange juice in one go, her face screwing up at the aftertaste and she couldn't resist sticking her tongue out in disgust a second before she stuffed an entire slice of toast in her mouth, tossed her book bag over her shoulder and raced off to her first class.

Genevieve handed it the last of her essays over the course of the day and she spent the majority of her time in classes studiously taking notes in order to avoid the curious gazes of her classmates as they whispered about the morning's events. Genevieve cringed when she caught Rosamund Beckwith turn around in her seat during Charms to glare at her. It caused her to bend further over her parchment. She would never understand why her former friend hated her so. What had she done to deserve the blonde girl's ire? Daphne Greengrass, who seemed to be the only sixth year girl able to tolerate Rosamund any longer, tugged on her irate friend's arm. Rosamund turned back to face Professor Flitwick slowly, dropping her glare once she could no longer hold it properly.

After her last class, Genevieve returned to her room and to the present that was sitting on her bed. She drew her bed curtains around her and used a muffling charm just in case there was anyone in the dormitory who decided to get a bit too nosy. There was no card with it. Taking a breath, Genevieve slowly untied the bow and lifted the paper off the box. The box my have been a bit long, but it was also fairly flat and that made her nervous. Flat, long boxes tended to contain jewelry. She pulled the top off the box and blinked in surprise. Staring up at her, was a reflectionless mirror that was much more plain than the gifter's usual standards. She turned it over in her hands slowly, quite pleased with the simplicity of it yet confused as to why this would be the gift he would give her for Christmas. A light green card peaked up at her from inside the box and she lifted it and flipped it over. The message left her even more perplexed.

Now we've no need for owling one another. Happy Christmas, MacDuff.
-Draco

Merlin's beard, what does that mean," she wondered in annoyance as she studied the sterling silver mirror again. There were no snakes covering it, which she had expected. It was simple. She wondered if maybe that was why he had chosen it, because he knew she would appreciate that most. Even if something was rare, Draco could still manage to find an array to choose from. She had no doubt that he had managed to find several and had studied each of them as she was studying the one she held in her hands. He'd probably stared at each one with that blank, yet stern expression of his with such disinterested intensity that the merchant had begun to sweat until he finally pointed at the one she was holding and said in that tone of voice that brooked no argument, "I want that one."

Genevieve smiled at the thought and then placed the mirror in the large wooden trunk he'd given her for Christmas two years prior which was the year his gifts had begun to get more expensive. It had an undetectable extension charm placed on it and was also charmed so that no one could open it but the one who owned it. It was plain looking as well and it was old, but it still managed to look expensive. She placed it on top of the book Sirius had sent her and closed the trunk. It let out a click that ended in a hiss as the lid sealed itself shut and stuffed the card that had come with it into her pocket along with the gift that she had brought for Draco herself, pulled straight from her vault. She figured that if anyone would enjoy the convenience of it, Draco would. He was a Slytherin after all.

Hopefully, he would explain to her why he had given her a mirror that refused to show her her own reflection.

Genevieve bounced into the dungeon classroom where Snape was just finishing collecting a stack of essays he had collected from his classes that day. "Macduff," he said in his usual monotone, which sounded as pleasant as he was capable of sounding while looking down at his hook nose at her. Genevieve sent him a radiant smile. "Good afternoon, Professor."

"Yes, it's positively lovely," he replied snidely, but she remained unruffled. "Where is my wayward student?"

"A student is he," Professor Snape mocked and she felt herself blush as she averted her gaze to the stone floor beneath her feet, "after that display he put on for you in the hospital wing, let's not make light of your relationship with Mr. Malfoy."

"You heard about that," she asked lamely. He gave her a patronizing look. "The third year girls spent the entirety of class blathering on about how romantic it was. How was I not to know about how particularly lovestruck Mr. Malfoy is when he is one step away from announcing it in the great hall. Subtlety has never been the boy's strong suit."

Genevieve tried not to be too put out with what the potion's master was saying. "I don't think he expected nearly the entire school to show up in the hospital wing-"

"Of course he did," Snape scoffed, "all Malfoys love putting on a show and Draco is no different."

She couldn't argue with that. Draco did love to put on a show. He loved attention. She frowned. "You don't think he meant it?"

Snape stared at her for a moment and then breezed past her and out the doorway. "Clean up when you are done."

Genevieve sat herself down on a stool glumly as she waited for Draco. She jumped when he burst into the room, breathing heavily. He looked somewhat upset. "You didn't open my present, yet! Why didn't you?"

She looked back at him with equal amounts of alarm. "Of course, I did. I brought yours with me. Why on earth would you think I hadn't?"

"Because you didn't use it," he said as if she were slow. Her brow furrowed in confusion and some of the ire in his demeanor ebbed away. "There's nothing wrong with the way I look right now is there?" She reached a hand up to her face. "Have I got something on my face? I couldn't use it. There wasn't any reflection in it."

His shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Raised by muggles, right," he said to himself. He shook his head at her and rolled his eyes. "Did you really think I'd give you a plain old mirror."

"I thought that's why you picked it for me," she admitted, "because it is plain."

He let out a chuckle. "Well, that particular one yes, but mine looks much more to my tastes. I got them so we can talk to each other through them."

"Talk to each other through them," she asked in surprise. He nodded. "Yes, talk to each other through them. I can see you through mine and you can see me through yours. We don't have to owl each other anymore. Brilliant isn't it?"

"But how will I know when you want to talk to me," she asked, still confused by the idea of communicating through a mirror. "You'll be able to see me in it. And I've had it made so that only the person it belongs to can hear-"

"Magic is strange," Genevieve said aloud and Draco gave her surprised look. "What do you mean?"

"We can talk to each other using mirrors," she explained, "from anywhere in the world. It's peculiar."

"I suppose so," he responded, though she could tell by his tone he didn't really understand. She shook her head with a smile and then pulled his wrapped gift from her pocket. She tapped it with her wand and it grew. She handed it to him once it was its original size. He tore open the paper like a small child and she couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. It was a plain looking tome and the cover was worn. He opened the book and frowned at the first page. "It's blank."

"Ask it a question," she prompted. He shook his head and his expression darkened. "I'd rather not."

She laughed then. "No, really. Ask it a question."

"What are the ingredients to a Forgetfulness Potion?"

Slowly, a small column appeared on the page. In small script was written: Lethe River Water, Mistletoe Berries, Valerian Sprigs. Genevieve pulled the book closer towards herself. "What school does Draco Malfoy attend?"

The book answered immediately. The book of Endless Knowledge belongs to one Draco Lucius Malfoy and shall answer only to him unless directed otherwise.

"The book of Endless Knowledge," Draco exclaimed loudly, his eyes as wide as the dinner plates in the Great Hall. He snapped the book shut and shoved it back into her arms. "I can't take this. I can't-do you have any idea what this is?"

"The book of Endless Knowledge. It told me when I found it."

"Where did you get it," he asked, his tone serious, which worried her. She bit her lip. "I found it in my vault."

"You found it in your vault," he repeated dumbly. He was giving her a thoughtful tinged with worry. He ran a hand over his face and shook his head. "Genevieve this book is one of a kind. It is priceless. It can tell you anything. Anything. Do you realize how powerful that is? How dangerous it could be if the wrong person got ahold of it? It was supposed to be a myth. The all-knowing book which was lost forever. Witches and Wizards have been searching for this for centuries. And it's been in your vault all this time."

"Okay," she said, blinking slowly, "so, why can't you take it? I trust you to take it. I trust you with it."

He shook his head adamantly. "No, Vivvy. No one can know about this. No one. It wasn't lost because someone misplaced it. It was lost because people fought over it and died."

He took it from her for a moment and turned it over in his hands, shaking his head in thought. "It doesn't look the way it does in the story. It's supposed to be covered in runes and gems and the pages are supposed to glow. Whoever put it in you vault enchanted it to make it look inconspicuous. They wanted it hidden. And with good reason."

Genevieve stared at the book as he handed it back to her, completely crestfallen. "Well, blast. I really thought I picked out a good one."

He gave her a small smile. "It's definitely the best gift anyone's ever given me, but I can't accept it. It belongs in your vault."

She sighed in irritation and pulled another box out of her pocket. "Here, I thought maybe you'd balk at that one. In which case, I thought you could use one of these."

He raised one pale eyebrow at her as he opened the second box and pulled out the object inside. "A stick?"

She shook her head, smiling in excitement. "No, it's a wand replicator. You just describe your wand and it changes to fit the specifications. I'm not quite sure how it works and I think it works fairly well, but I thought it might be a handy thing to have in case something happens to yours. I know how attached you are to yours."

It was quite true. While all witches and wizards were attached to their wands, Draco was doubly so, considering it more as a companion than a conduit for which his magic could be channeled more precisely. He regarded Genevieve with both pleased surprise and greatly unguarded affection. "You should have led with this one. I like this one better."

She beamed at him and he blinked dumbly at her, unable to move. She frowned in concern immediately. "Are you alright?""

After a moment he fixed her with a smile, which came off as more of a smirk. "I'm perfectly fine," he replied easily as he pulled her to him and kissed her soundly, causing her to moan. His smirk had grown when he pulled away. "Do we really have to study right now? Can't we just snog instead?"

Ignoring the way her face heated up and the way it caused him to smirk even more, she cleared her throat and mumbled out, "I suppose ten minutes couldn't hurt." Genevieve barely had time to finish that though before his mouth was on hers again, causing her to yelp in surprise, but Draco paid her no mind as he pushed her back into the table, causing the cauldron sitting on top of the burner to tumble from its perch and clatter to the stone floor.

Genevieve knew that the proper thing to do would be to stop and put the cauldron back, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care when her stomach was beginning to tighten like that and her heart was beating faster than it had ever beaten before. Somehow, she had managed to unknot Draco's tie and slip it around his neck and she'd unbuttoned the top half of his shirt. She wanted to see his skin again. More so now than ever before because she had to touch it. If she didn't touch it...Draco gently guided her hand away from where it had been busying itself with trying to untuck the bottom and Genevieve yanked her hand away, annoyed at having her progress thwarted even the slightest bit. Simply kissing him wasn't enough. There wasn't enough touching involved. She pulled him farther into her until she was nearly bent backward over the potions table with Draco's hands buried in her hair and up under her shirt.

She had just managed to work his shirt free and readying herself to push it from his shoulders when he jumped back from her, his entire body heaving with each intake of air. There was a crazed look in his wild, silver eyes as he shook his head slowly at her. Genevieve righted herself immediately and tugged her skirt back down further and clamped her legs shut in a desperate attempt to stop the throbbing that had begun the moment he'd touched his lips to hers. Realizing that he'd somehow managed to unclasp her bra, she turned from him as she reached behind herself to fix it. Draco also turned away from her, retrieving his tie from the floor as he began rebuttoning his shirt.

Once they were done, Draco cleared his throat and shot Genevieve and embarrassed look which she returned with one of her own. "So, potions?"

"Right," she agreed shakily, feeling shyer than she had ever been before him. "Um, Snape needs a batch of doxycide. There's been an infestation-"

"Right then," Draco replied quickly, coughing to cover up his awkwardness as he turned his body away from her slightly and her embarrassment increased tenfold. "What are the ingredients?"

"Bundimun, Dragon liver, Steelers, Cowbane Essence, Hemlock Essence, Tormentil," he rattled off, though he sounded unsure. She nodded at him encouragingly and he went to go retrieve the ingredients he would need. Genevieve settled herself on her stool once more and waited patiently. The rest of the lesson was completed nearly in silence as she slowly guided him step by step. Draco did manage to mumble sourly that he didn't think he needed to know how to brew Doxycide as there had never been a recorded infestation of Doxys at Malfoy Manor. Genevieve decided not to comment and just watched his movements patiently, correcting him only when necessary. She was pleased she only had to do so once.

"Shall we start on an Awakening Draught," she asked as she put away the ingredients they hadn't used while Draco cleaned out their cauldron. "That's trickier than what we brewed up just then by far. Takes a bit longer to make, but it would be done setting by the time we come back tomorrow."

"No, we need to move on to your tutoring," he said crisply as he set the cauldron down on the table, not bothering to look at her as he spoke. "You're still rather shoddy at dueling. And you're absolute shite at wordless magic."

Genevieve felt her body go numb with indignation, though she didn't reply. He was right, but his words still stung. She scowled as she shoved her books in her bag. "Fine then. Where will be studying?"

"The other side of the lake, where Hagrid showed everyone Buckbeak," he said, his voice cold. She narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips. She didn't like his tone of voice. He sounded distant. Something had his wand in a knot and she wasn't happy about it because whatever it was had happened in the last hour that they had been together, but she wasn't about to try and comfort him. She couldn't recall a single thing that could have made him feel cross with her.

"Suppose we won't have to worry about anyone finding us if we're that far out," she agreed evenly. He nodded. "Good. Drop your things off in your room and we'll meet each other there. Don't forget to hide that book. If one of the Weasley got ahold of it the world would fall into ruin."

"Can't really disagree with that," she conceded. She slid her eyes over to him as they both made their way to the door. "They were impressed, you know," she ventured, "with what you did in the hospital wing."

Draco scoffed as he often did when it came to anything the Weasleys did or said. "Of course, they were. Better than anything they've ever done. Anyone can put dungbombs in a suit of armor."

"Very true," she agreed, trying to get him to warm up a bit. He glared at her, the heat in it dying out as she blinked up at him with her dark eyes. He let out an audible sigh. "Stop it, Vivvy."

"Fine, but I expect to see a smile when we meet up in a bit," she replied with a sigh of her own as she passed him in the hallway. "Bye, Draco," she called over her shoulder, not bothering to wait for his reply as she sped off.

She was anxious to get their dueling session over with. She was horrible at it. Dueling would never be her strong suit. That much was certain. While her wordless spellcasting had improved infinitely, it was still subpar at best. Draco continually disarmed her as quickly as she could blink. The moment she began to think of the spell she wanted to use, her wand had snapped out of her hand and landed in his. He would always toss it back as he said, with that infuriatingly monotone voice that reminded her too much of Snape, "Again." Some times he would add, "Are you even trying, MacDuff?" Then she thought he truly was Snape. However, she doubted Snape would have an interest in teaching her how to duel. And she certainly didn't believe he'd willingly disguise himself as a student to teach. Especially considering Draco liked to snog her sensless by way of apology for being hard on her when she didn't perform as he expected. He could be a right git when he tried, which either improved her wandwork or hindered it depending on how she took his hostility toward her. He was a hard teacher.

Genevieve had managed to make off with a couple of apples from the kitchen. They always had a snack during dueling sessions. It helped them immensely. Genevieve arrived first as usual. She adjusted her skirt around her legs. It was colder out now that it was so late in the day. It was nearing dusk soon.

"I see you didn't have any trouble finding your way." She jumped at his voice and brought a hand up over her chest. "Draco Malfoy, you berk! Don't do that. You know I don't like it out here."

"Yes, I do, which is why I picked it," he said nonchalantly as he caught the apple she hurled at his head. "If you're forced to defend yourself, it could be anywhere at any time. It could even be in the lavatory, Vivvy."

"And what if you were attacked in the loo," she asked with a snort, "you think you could defend yourself so much better than me?"

"Yes," he responded confidently. Genevieve rolled her eyes at him and he continued to smile. "The people who want to hurt you aren't going to wait until your comfortable and ready to stand up for yourself. In fact, they'd prefer you were as off guard as possible. They're not going to owl you a time and place to meet up and it's absurd that you would think otherwise."

Genevieve nodded solemnly as he stepped closer to her. "These people want to kill you. They'll show you no leniency. They'll torture you if they like. You need to be ready at a moment's notice. Potter's lucky. He's got Aurors and Dumbledore and Granger and the Weasleys to hold his hand through this. And Sirius won't be around forever to rescue you in the nick of time. If you're going to live, you need to stop hesitating and second-guessing me and yourself and you need to do whatever it takes to get your wandwork sorted. Can you do that?"

Genevieve gave him another nod. "I can."

He returned her nod with one of his own and stepped away from her. "Good. Let's begin."

Thank you for reading! Please review.