Oh wow! Thank you all much for the reviews and favorites/ follows. You have no idea how much they mean to me. That being said. Sorry it was a slow update. I've been super sick this week but I haven't been able to take off from work, so I would come home and pass out. Love you so much. Keep the reviews and stuff coming. Hope this update was worth the wait.

Also DO NOT be afraid to tell me if you think anything is out of character. I love all feedback!

-Madi

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I own any of the lyrics I quote in each chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Here in the Black

"Is this real or imagined,
Because if I'm asleep,
Well then I don't need to scream for long,

Here in the black it comes for me,
Here in the black I'm lost…"

Here in the Black By Gary Numan

Still Thursday October 31st, 1996

In the hallway just outside the Slytherin's common rooms, half past ten at night

The word uninterested came to Blaise's mind while he slowly slipped away from the fifth year girl he hadn't even bothered to get the name of. Even with his fairly polite demeanor there was no easy way to let her down, so when some of her friends managed to capture her attention he left the party.

Sighing aloud in order to push away the oncoming brush of guilt, he walked down the dimly lit corridor leading out of the dungeons, wondering where Pansy had run off to. He still had been trying to get her to talk about what had been bothering her, but it was Pansy. Out of everyone he knew he had still yet to come across a witch who was more stubborn than she was, but that had not deterred him from looking.

Walking up the winding staircase leading to ground floor of Hogwarts, he heard talking as he rounded the last bend forcing him to almost run into someone. Looking up he saw Crabbe and Goyle staring down at him with distinct mutual expressions of abhorrence; which was curious and strangely amusing considering the fact probably neither of them knew the definition of the word.

"You following us Zabini?" Crabbe snarled. Other than raising his left brow, Blaise allowed the rest of his facial features to remain indifferent almost in a way he picked up from Malfoy.

"I find it rather fascinating that you think I would spend any of my time following the likes of you …" He replied. The two of them glared down at him while shoving past him as he continued speaking. "But, if you must know, I was looking for Pansy. So you must excuse me, I have more important things to attend to…"

Then continued walking around the corner that led down a narrow corridor where he was able to relax only slightly. Something about those two this year faintly unnerved Blaise. He couldn't quite place what it was but the malcontent behind their actions was loud and clear. With pursed lips, he made his way to round another corner but was stopped by a singular ball of blue light flying past him right into the stone wall three feet to his right.

The explosion of light burst and crackled before him as he peaked around the corner to see someone lying upon the stone cold floor while two other people tossed spells. The second he saw the flaming red hair whipping around from the jerky movements caused by blocking spell after spell, he knew who it was. Ginny Weasley and well, the other he wasn't able to make out just yet.

'What in Salazar's is going on?' he thought to himself as he watched her jump out of the way of yet another spell that flew his way. The color of this one was vibrant red splattering against stone with another crackling sound.

"This is pointless Ginny," the other person, defiantly a boy, spoke. "I underestimated you, yes. It is truly remarkable how you managed to push past the spell, yet again. I'll give you that. But this is getting tedious-"

"Is that what it is?" she called out from behind a stone pillar. "Tedious? Pointless? Then why do I get the feeling that you are a bit anxious?"

Blaise watched the two of them gripping at their wands, ready to cast another spell while he leaned against the stone wall. In that second he knew the other person wasn't going to acknowledge what she said with a response. The only thing Blaise could hear was his own shaky breath while he reached for his wand slowly in case he needed it.

Ginny scoffed and then continued to speak, "I know for a fact that since you no longer have control of what I do or say, it has you worried. And I'll have you know, that I'm not just some easy target for you to continuously use in order to get your way. I will expose you along with all the things you've done…"

"Is that so?" the voice called. Blaise swallowed thickly as he looked from the two figures started to move slightly. Then he turned his attention away from the two fighting, looking towards the unmoving person on the ground and the second he realized who the person on the floor he couldn't breathe.

'Pansy…' he thought to himself.

With a gasp, he looked upwards towards them as the person came out of the shadows only to reveal Theo Nott shoving Ginny into the wall beside her. She moved her hand to point her wand before saying something Blaise missed while he watched something fly towards her hand. Blaise watched them struggle over something that fell with two distinct pings while Ginny landed upon her knees. He then watched her as she moved to point her wand at whatever fell.

"Bombarda!" she shouted. Theo screamed as the three of them watched what looked to be a singular vial turn into dust along with some of the stone flooring. Three short seconds passed before Blaise saw Theo reach for Ginny, taking a fist full of her hair to pull her to her feet. She cried out as he pulled her against him, spitting hot words of utter ire in her ear. Blaise then watched her as she stomped upon Theo's foot hard enough for him to let her go before running just down the hall into the library.

Once Theo followed her inside, Blaise rounded the corner towards Pansy who was still sprawled across the floor and the only sign she was alive was her faint breathing. The sound of someone approaching them from the other end of the corridor signaled him that someone was coming. Looking around he turned back towards Pansy deciding it was best to hide her before going to get some sort of help.

Reaching under her legs and her back, Blaise picked her up out of the middle of the corridor and leaned her against the wall hidden behind the same pillar Ginny hid behind only moments before. The sound of whispers tickled the hallway as Blaise listened to spells being thrown inside the library. Whoever it was entered the library probably in order to check out what was going on. With a huff, he turned his attention back towards Pansy while the spells seemed to stop all together.

"Pansy," he spoke. He bent down next to her, cupping her cheeks in order to right her posture at the same time as attempting to wake her up. "Pans, can you hear me?"

Blaise lifted his wand, pointing it towards her body, and spoke, "Rennervate…"

He watched her eyes flutter faintly before opening as he then sighed in relief as she moaned lightly.

"Blaise…" she whispered softly, "He took it… took the mark. He's working for the Dark Lord…"

"Who?" he asked as she started her eyes once again started to close.

"Theo…" she gasped while she reached for his arm.

"I don't know how this is going to end,
I don't know how this is going to change,
I don't know how this is going to feel,
But everything comes down to this,

Nothing is easy and no one is calm,
Love is a stranger that hides in the corner of sane,
So much unspoken, words left for dead,
All I can hear is the screaming of someone to blame…"

Everything Comes Down to This By Gary Numan

Still Thursday October 31st, 1996

Inside the library, ten till eleven at night

"…Theo?" Draco sneered.

With his wand at the ready he slowly took a step backwards away from them trying to understand what was going on. Theo couldn't be the one leaving notes, messing with him, possibly following him and reporting back to the Dark Lord; could he? They were friends, have been since they were kids. Theo wouldn't put him as well as his family in imminent danger. Draco shook his head of those thoughts and scoffed aloud, because there was no way, it just wasn't plausible. Was it?

"Fancy seeing you here Malfoy," Theo spoke while looking over his shoulder towards Ginny. "And with Granger I see…"

Draco sneered once again lightly, deciding not to even dignify the snide comment about Granger with a response let alone one of his signature retorts. He then observed Theo tapping his wand into the palm of his right hand while walking into the aisle way towards Draco.

"You can relax and lower your wand Draco. We're on the same side you know…" Theo raised his eye brows in what looked like annoyance as he spoke.

"Well then," he drawled. Not even making an attempt to be inconspicuous about not lowering his wand. "If we're really on the same side; prove it."

"Come on Draco," Theo jeered softly. "Don't be a prat. You know the notes you found places; it was I who took the liberty of writing them for you. To help you focus. Then there was the tragic photograph... You know, the one of you snogging that filthy mudblood-"

Theo reached for the bookshelf knocking over some books for some unbeknownst reason, as if it was to an added theatric to what he was saying. Draco froze when he heard about the photograph. 'So Granger hadn't been lying…'

"I didn't ask for an excuse Nott," Draco snapped. Theo had been the one behind it all, probably had something to do with Pansy's accident too. Draco then clenched his jaw while watching the other Slytherin roll his eyes before tugging his left sleeve up to reveal a similar mark that danced across his forearm. Draco then eyed the offending serpent slithering, he looked at it in the same manner he looked at his own.

"Although, then again, just because we wear the same mark," Theo said. Pulling his sleeve downwards and fixing his cuffs, while Draco's brows scrunched together in confusion. "It doesn't mean we're on the same side really…You know what I mean?"

Draco took another step backwards, sliding his foot across the ground as he looked down at his feet to see Granger's unconscious body slumped on her right side. Turning his attention back towards Theo who was looking at him, the emotions that tied his features into his current expression were harder to read than normal.

"I'll just skip the formalities then," Theo sighed lightly. "In all honesty, I personally don't think you can actually go through with your task; both parts of it. And after Crabbe's unfortunate yet instructed handiwork on your cabinet, I'd say you have a lot more work to do. You might not even repair it in time for the school year to finish. Who knows-?"

"What did you have Crabbe do to the cabinet?" Malfoy growled. Panic spilled across the nape of his neck in the form of cold sweat while the thought of explaining this to anyone made bile rise in his throat. Theo shrugged, continuously taping his wand against his right palm, all the while blatantly disregarding what Draco asked. He then bent down retrieving Weaslett's wand with his free hand while Draco ground his teeth together in a fit of ire. "I asked you a question-"

Theo threw up his wand towards Draco, while the tip started to glow a dim blue light and he took two steps backwards towards Ginny. Once he handed Ginny her wand, he lightly lowered his own as if he was going to talk but then casted a spell of stupefy and threw it at Draco.

Draco then blocked the spell with ease taking another step backwards but stopped as his foot collided with something warm. He could feel the slight temperature change through his pant leg as he made his way to throw spell at Theo after blocking yet another spell. Panting to catch his breath, Draco then watched as Theo threw a spell of incendio which he promptly blocked with a simple shield spell.

"I know that I'm prepared to watch you burn Draco," Nott spoke slowly as Draco made his way around the end of the bookshelf. "Either it will be now or later… in the end the results will be the same."

Normally Draco was able to mask his emotions to a believable degree but there were always rare times like this he couldn't. Not fully anyway. With his brows frowning in confusion, Draco couldn't understand what happened to Nott, what changed.

"Out of everyone Nott," Draco started speaking, "I didn't think you would take part in this, at least not by choice. The way you use to talk about what your father did-"

"You of all people don't get to lecture me on following a father's footsteps Draco." Nott's sharp tongue spat the words out in a biting hiss. "As I recall you're only doing this to redeem the Malfoy name, or so I've been told…"

He knew it was a bit hypocritical to put Nott on a different level than him but it wasn't like Draco use to verbally express his hatred for his father. Since the Dark Lord's return, for Draco it had been inevitable; he was to become a death eater just like his father, Lucius. The semantics may have changed minimally over time but the outcome was the same. Nott on the other hand, had a choice…

'You may not have had a choice, but you can't pretend that some part of you didn't want this. You know the truth… You wanted to become a death eater…' the voice whispered in the back of Draco's mind as he peered around the corner where Nott once stood to find an empty aisle way. Shoving the voice away from his thoughts, Draco pushed off of the shelf into the aisle way looking for any sort of movement.

A soft feminine moan then echoed softly as it peeled Draco's attention towards the ground where Granger began to move slightly. Taking a few steps towards her he bent down to eye level as she sat up while rubbing the back of her head. Holding his breathe, she parted her lips lightly signaling that she was about to say something but before she could he lifted his free hand to place his pointer finger across his own lips.

With a shaky sigh, Draco extended his free hand so that she could get some help standing up while he still looked around for any sign of Nott. He stiffened a little as the familiar burn of her skin meeting his forced him to look back towards her while he slowly pulled her to her feet. He then watched her closely as she stumbled into him slightly, both her palms flat against his chest while she huffed.

Spinning them around so that her back was towards the aisle he moved her backwards so that he could use the bookshelf to support Granger. Bending down, he retrieved her wand and handed it to her as she closed her eyes letting her head dipped back against the wood. Leisurely he took a step closer towards her so that she was fit in between the shelf and him while he exhaled next to her right cheek.

"As much as I habitually enjoy our witty banter Granger," he murmured beside her ear. "Right now, I need you to listen and as difficult as it may be, I need you to refrain from asking questions… At least until we make it out of here."

She mustered a reluctant nod in agreement causing her hair to tickle his cheek before he pulled back and away from her. Draco clenched his jaw together before he looked around the peering down the other aisle way where he saw Theo swiftly walking towards them. Yanking Granger off of the shelf he pointed his wand towards Theo and spoke.

"Impedimenta!" Draco barked out the spell causing Nott to freeze in his spot. Draco then took the moment to cast yet another spell upon the bookshelf beside them. "Flipendo!"

When the spell hit the shelf, it wobbled towards Nott, starting to fall but was caught by the other bookshelf. All the books from the shelves piled upon Theo as Draco stared for a second while a small smirk played at his lips from outsmarting the other Slytherin.

"We need to go," he said turning around towards her just in time to see her eye roll. With a scoff, he started towards the exit of the library at a deliberately slow pace while he looked over his shoulder to make sure Granger wasn't too far behind. Out of nowhere her expression changed to one of confusion as she started to speak.

"Ginny?" She asked pushing past him in order to walk over towards her friend when Draco grabbed her by the wrist pulling her to a stop. "Malfoy-"

"Granger," he retorted in a similar manner of contempt, speaking through his teeth not even giving room for any sort argument. "Look at her eyes. It's awfully apparent that she's under the imperious curse… She was the one who used the Cruciatus curse upon me…"

He eyed the youngest Weasley's wand closely, waiting for it to move even in the slightest. Then Granger took yet another step forwards yanking at Draco's grip upon her wrist and forcing him to look away for a second. Letting go of his hold on her, that's when Ginny threw a spell surprisingly towards Granger and not towards him, which she managed to block just in time. It was then that he deduced Granger was rather impressive with her silent blocking skills, probably even more so than him.

'Focus…' he reminded himself as he threw a silent stupefy towards Ginny who was able to block it seamlessly.

"Ginny! You have got to fight it!" Granger shouted. While the redhead hesitantly held up her wand, shaking as she cast yet another spell, sending it once again at Granger. That's when a scuffling sound came from behind them pulling Draco's attention towards Theo.

"Granger, move," Draco bellowed shoving her into the aisle way as they then started to run towards the middle of the library where Granger was met with balls of light. Draco turned around to see Theo coming after them throwing spell after spell with a certain venomous intent, which Draco blocked.

"Expelliarmus!" the voice shouted as he turned to see Hermione's wand fly across the aisle way and into Weaslett's free hand. Cursing under his breath, Draco turned towards Theo who was smirking distastefully.

"Now Ginny," Theo spoke loudly, "Kill the Mudblood and then yourself. I'll deal with Malfoy."

Fear in its purest most potent form laced Draco's wand as he pointed it towards Ginny while she shakily held her wand, tears pouring down her flushed cheeks. Just when he was about to cast spell, a book hit him in his right hand knocking his own wand to the ground. With no time to grab his wand, he stumbled while pushing Granger out of the way as Ginny shouted a spell that was originally pointed right at Granger's throat. Looking back towards the witch in a trance, he found the spell coming right, for, him….

"Diffindo…"

Sharp pain coursed through him…

Wet lively warmth flowed from him and down his pale toned chest…

Draco fell to his knees, as Granger's cry echoed in his ears along with a drumming of his own heart. He watched as Ginny's wand fly from her grasp, behind her into someone else's hand. He then collapsed backwards into what felt like warm arms, and was slowly laid upon his back with curly locks of hair hovering above him. Draco looked to his right, his eyes meeting Nott's one last time, as he witnessed Theo look from Draco towards whoever entered the library. Then he changed into a thick obscure shadow, twisting into the stale night air, ripping through the glass of the window behind him.

"Draco, you're going to be alright, just hold on…" he listened to the lulling sound of Granger's voice as the pain scratched and gnawed at his newly ripped open skin. He wasn't going to pass out, not if he could help it. Whatever was the purpose behind Nott's grand exit, Draco was now determined to figure it out, by any means necessary.