Chapter 42
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world obviously belongs to JK Rowling and not me. Obviously.
… … … …
They continued to fly higher and higher over the London skyline. Leila wondered what the Muggles must be thinking. They probably just mistook it for an airplane, even though a dragon looked nothing like an airplane. Leila clung tightly to the spine in front of her. The others did the same. Hermione was in front of her, while Harry took the spine behind her. Ron was in front of Hermione and Draco carefully maneuvered himself back toward the front of the dragon. Draco nodded to Harry as he managed to grasp the spine beside Harry's.
"Almost thought we lost you there," Harry said.
"Yeah, me too," Draco said shaking his head.
"Oi, Draco. Glad you didn't fall to your death!" Ron shouted from the front.
"Thanks, Ron," Draco shouted back. "I think."
Harry, Leila, and Hermione chuckled at the exchange as the dragon continued to climb a little higher. He seemed to prefer flying through the colder air through the wisps of clouds. The dragon must have been enjoying his freedom, because he didn't even seem to notice his passengers. Leila looked down and noticed little grey dots moving in and out of London. Those were cars and busses and this wasn't the first time she had seen the cars and busses from this height.
"It's funny to look at all the cars down there, brings back some memories, eh?" Leila commented.
"At least this time we can't get in trouble for 'flouting the decree of secrecy and underage wizardry,'" Ron said quoting Professor Snape from second year.
"Unless Snape finds us and punishes us," Leila laughed.
"I really thought we were going to be expelled that night," Harry said.
"Bless ol' McGonagall's heart," Ron said.
"What are you lot talking about?" Draco asked.
"This isn't the first time Leila, Ron, and I have been in these skies before," Harry grinned.
"No?" Draco asked.
"It was Ron's fault. Couldn't we just patiently wait by the car? No, of course not. I just got dragged into it," Leila retorted.
"C'mon off it, Leila. We all know you won't do something you don't even somewhat want to do," Ron quipped.
"Fine, the thought crossed my mind a few times as we walked to the car; happy?" Leila said.
"Very," Ron grinned.
"It does look quite beautiful from this high up," Hermione said.
"Where do you reckon he's going?" Ron asked.
"Not a clue, but he's headed north," Hermione said.
"He is? How do you know?" Ron asked.
"Multiple factors: placement of the sun and I know most of London by heart because of all my trips with Mum and Dad," Hermione smiled.
'I'll take your word for it," Ron agreed.
A lull of silence overcame their group. For a while, they just rested against the dragon, clinging tightly to their respective spines. The cool air felt wonderful against the burns and blisters marking their skin from the curses in the vault. When Leila looked back down, she could no longer see the cars driving. They were up too high to get a good look at them and they were now over the green countryside landscape. The patches of green and brown of the land looked so quaint with the blue of the rivers winding through the landscape. Leila released a contented sigh.
"There's just something tranquil about the country," Leila commented.
"I always wanted to live in the country," Harry responded.
"I just wanted to live somewhere that wasn't the Dursleys," Leila chuckled.
"Well, that too," Harry grinned.
"And now we have nowhere to live," Leila sighed.
"When this is all over, you and I are going to find a place and live the lives we've always wanted," Harry said.
"Harry, don't go making promises you can't keep," Leila responded.
"I'm going to try my best to keep it," Harry said.
"Promise?" Leila asked.
"Promise," Harry agreed.
"Good, I think I'd like that," Leila whispered.
Harry smiled at his sister. The thought of "normal" for a while seemed impossible, but he knew it was what he and his sister needed. Like she said he might not be able to keep that promise, but he also spoke the truth when he said he was going to try his best to keep it. It also made him breathe a sigh of relief. While he and Draco might be friends now, he wasn't sure that he was ready to let go of his little sister to the bloke. Harry looked back at Malfoy and chuckled. If someone would have told him after their initial meeting, hell even a year ago, that he would come to trust Draco with his life he would've thought that person had been drinking too much tea with Trelawney. But now, he couldn't imagine the past few months not having the blonde. Harry's scar began to prick, but he couldn't reach it because his hands were tightly clinging to the dragon's spine. Harry squeezed his eyes shut before he began to rub his forehead against the dragon's scales. He then lifted his head back up to find Draco giving him an odd look.
"How long do you think before they know we broke in?" Harry asked.
"I suspect they already do or they will soon," Draco responded.
"He's going to know what we're doing once he finds out we took Hufflepuff's Cup," Harry commented.
"Which means he's probably going to protect his other Horcruxes," Draco sighed. "How many others are there again?"
"We think there are two more. You-Know-Who had an obsession with splitting his soul into seven pieces," Harry answered.
"From what I read in that book Leila had, the process is grueling and disturbing," Draco said.
"A price he was willing to pay for immortality, I suppose," Harry stated.
The sun's golden hues were coloring the sky as the dragon continued to fly over the countryside passing small towns as villages. The teenager's bodies ached from their burns and from clinging for dear life to the dragon's spines. Leila wanted nothing more than to be able to rest her eyes for a few moments. Her eyelids began to droop, when Ron began to shout.
"Is it just my imagination or are we losing height?" Ron shouted.
Leila's eyes flung open as they all attempted to guess their elevation. Harry looked down the hills and valley surrounding them, but right below them was a body of fresh water, a lake.
"We're dropping!" Harry shouted back.
"I say we jump," Ron continued.
"Into the water?" Leila questioned.
"It's our safest bet before the dragon realizes we're here," Harry said.
"No, no, no! I'm not jumping into a giant lake!" Leila shouted.
"I thought you weren't scared of water," Harry responded.
"I just said not as much and I prefer being able to touch the bottom," Leila screamed.
"You've got to be kidding me," Harry muttered.
"Harry, are we going to do this or not?" Ron shouted.
"Leila, one of us will get to you. Promise," Hermione said looking into Leila's eyes.
Leila looked at each of her companions. They all nodded in agreement as Leila closed her eyes to squeeze out a tear. This day had already been long and now it was just about to get worse. While she had slightly had overcome her fear of water, it felt right now as if any progress she had made was now out the window and all her unwarranted fears were flooding back. But the more she looked around at the landscape, this was probably their best shot of getting away unscathed. Large rocks were scattered through the hillsides and she couldn't let the others risk their lives on one of those just for her irrational fear.
"I guess," Leila sniffled.
"All right, we're jumping," Harry shouted.
"When?" Draco asked.
All eyes were on Harry as the dragon continued to lose height. Draco, Ron, and Hermione looked willing enough but his sister he was holding out on making the decision. She agreed to jump, but he could easily read the fear in their eyes; especially his sister's eyes.
"Just don't let me drown," Leila breathed unevenly.
That was all the assurance he needed to know that this was the right thing to do.
"Now!" Harry shouted.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco immediately released their hands from the dragon and plunged into the lake. Leila held on for a few seconds longer before she could muster up the courage to jump. She saw everyone else plunging toward the lake. Rather reluctantly, Leila released her hands from the dragon's spine before she began to fall fast toward the lake. Her scream echoed through the air before her body harshly met the water. The water was bone-chilling and Leila immediately choked under the water taking in a mouthful. As she struggled not to breathe she tried to paddle to the surface of the water; but her arms were practically dead from holding onto the dragon's spine for so long. The harder she seemed to struggle toward the surface the slower she seemed to go. When Leila finally broke to the surface she thrashed around in the water gasping for air and coughing up the water she had swallowed. Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind which caused her to scream. There was no way in hell she was going back under again. She struggled to get away as it wrapped tighter around her.
"Hey, it's only me," Draco shouted.
Leila turned around and flung her arms around Draco's neck and sobbed. Draco treaded water as Leila clung to him. He removed one arm from around her to keep them afloat as he whispered words of comfort to the terrified girl clinging to him.
"Sh, I've got you. I've got you," Draco comforted.
"I didn't think I was going to make it," Leila sobbed.
"As long as you're with me, you'll be fine," Draco whispered.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron swam closer to Draco and Leila.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked.
"You must think I'm pathetic," Leila whimpered.
"No, I think that was very brave to face your fears like that," Hermione responded.
"Hermione's right," Harry agreed.
"As much as I enjoy happy reunions, can we continue this somewhere drier?" Ron asked.
"I second that," Leila sniffled.
The group chuckled as they slowly began to swim for the shore. Draco swam a side stroke as Leila continued to hold on to his neck. If dragging Leila along bothered him, he didn't let it show. He just continued to speak words of encouragement and comfort to the petite girl clinging to him. After a few minutes, Draco could touch the bottom of the lake; but it was still a bit high for Leila. So Draco attempted to walk though the lake while his feet would get caught in mud and the reeds. Harry, Ron, and Hermione eventually followed suit, but Leila was still wrapped around Draco like she was getting a piggy-back ride.
When they finally reached the shore they all flopped onto the slippery grass panting. Hermione coughed and shuddered while Leila began to shiver. Draco took off his wet shirt and pressed his body close to Leila's. She was freezing, but body heat was probably the best thing to keep her warm. Harry looked over to the sight of Draco and Leila, and Draco moved to explain what he was doing; but Harry put his hand up to silence him. He didn't need an explanation because he knew what Draco was doing to help his sister. Harry then stood up to put up the usual wards from their days in the tent. He wanted nothing more to drop to the ground and sleep, but he needed to finish putting up these wards. He needed to make sure that they were safe.
Harry finally joined the other when he was finished with the wards. They were all sitting close to each other dabbing themselves with essence of dittany. It was then that Harry got a good look at them. All four of them were covered in red burns all over their faces and arms. Draco's back was practically one giant burn, he had probably gotten it when he had fallen from Ron's shoulders and landed with his back on the treasure. Hermione handed Harry a bottle of dittany and he began to dab it on his hands and arms. While Harry's back was to them because he was busy healing himself, Leila dabbed the dittany onto Draco's bare back. She could tell he was trying to keep from shouting in pain, so instead low groans escaped his lips. Leila continued to dab the dittany onto his back. The skin began to heal, but it looked quite painful. When every last inch of Draco's back looked to be repaired, Leila flew her arms around his neck from behind. She leaned heavily on his back and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Your back looks much better," Leila said.
"Thanks to you," Draco responded.
Leila then leaned a little further forward and pressed a kiss against Draco's cheek. Draco then reached for Leila's face with his hand and kissed her on the lips tenderly. Leila moved in for another kiss, but she didn't meet Draco's lips which caused her eyes to flutter open. He dangled the bottle of dittany in front of her.
"Your turn," Draco said.
"I can do it myself, thank you very much," Leila said rolling her eyes.
"You can't see the ones on your face," Draco stated.
Draco reached his arm behind him and snaked it around Leila's waist before pulling her onto his lap. She looked like she was pretending to pouting with her bottom lip sticking out and her arms folded across her chest. But her frown soon turned to giggles as Draco placed a kiss on her nose. Leila quickly looked behind her to see Harry sitting with Ron and Hermione.
"My brother's right there," Leila whispered.
"We're not doing anything wrong," Draco whispered back.
Leila's face blushed furiously to which Draco chuckled. He then began to dab the dittany on Leila's face. Leila could feel the skin healing, which was an odd sensation. It didn't hurt, but it tingled. When they were finished healing their wounds, Leila sat on Draco's laps with his arms wrapped around her. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as Harry glanced back at them and cocked an eyebrow before he shook his head and turned back around. Leila's fingers began to trace the scars on Draco's chest. She couldn't tell which scars on his chest were from what. He had several from Harry using a spell he had no idea what it did last year in their bathroom fight while some of them were from that night at Malfoy Manor. Not that Leila was trying to stare at the marks on his chest, but they made him more appealing to her, which was exactly why he needed to put a shirt on.
"You need a shirt," Leila said playfully smacking Draco's scarred chest.
"You're the one who's holding my clothing hostage," Draco teased.
Leila's face flushed again as she crinkled her nose at Draco. She then plunged her hand into her beaded bag and pulled out a shirt for Draco. Draco winked at Leila as he pulled the shirt over his head. Leila stood up and began to walk toward her brother, Ron, and Hermione; but Draco's arm reached out and grabbed Leila's causing her to jerk backwards.
"You promised me a proper kiss once we were back to normal," Draco said lowly.
"You already kissed me," Leila retorted.
"That doesn't count," Draco smirked.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Leila asked.
"This," Draco said huskily.
Leila's heart skipped a beat as Draco leaned down and pressed a hungry kiss against her lips. Her arms snaked around his neck, while his found his way around her waist. After such a stressful day, it felt comforting to be in his arms once again. Even if Harry could spy on everything they were doing. Speaking of Harry, he purposely sat with his back to the couple, but he was muttering the entire time about how he was just going to ignore them this time. But knowing Harry, his 'ignoring" wouldn't last long. Draco moved in for another kiss.
"How many times do you have to do that? We were going to eat soon, but now I think I need to vomit," Harry called to them.
The couple momentarily broke apart as their eyes moved to Harry who was watching them. Draco grinned sheepishly, but Leila rolled her eyes at her brother before she reached up for one more kiss. The moment their lips met again, Leila stomach growled. Draco chuckled with her lips captured in his before he released them. Leila's hands rested on her stomach as she looked down at it before looking back up at Draco.
"Someone needs some food," Draco teased. "I see where your priorities are: food over me."
"Shut it," Leila groaned.
Draco chuckled as Leila swatted at his arm, but he grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers in hers before they walked over to the rest of the group. As they joined the group, Hermione handed them bottles of pumpkin juice and sandwiches she had brought from Shell Cottage. They all began to devour their ration of food and drink quickly.
"Well on the upside," Ron began. "At least we got the Horcrux. On the down side…"
"No Sword," Harry said through gritted teeth.
"No Sword," Ron repeated.
"That goblin is a double-crossing little scab…" Draco began.
"I'm sure we can barter something for a basilisk fang," Leila said hopefully.
"We're not exactly welcome anywhere that would have a supply of those," Ron responded.
"Then maybe it's time we do go abroad to look," Leila suggested.
"Maybe Leila's right. We haven't any ideas about where the other two could possibly be hidden," Hermione sighed.
"I just wish we had a sign," Harry groaned.
"Well, good thing about the Cup is that we can't wear this one. It'd look a bit weird hanging around our necks," Ron said trying to lighten the mood
Hermione looked across the lake and watched where the dragon was still drinking water. Leila too looked at the dragon, while she would be grateful that the dragon never turned angry on them, she still would prefer to spend her life far away from the creatures. How Charlie Weasley could work with them was beyond her.
"What'll happen to it, do you think?" Hermione asked.
"Dunno," Leila shrugged.
"Will it be all right?" Hermione questioned.
"You sound like Hagrid," Ron groaned.
"We may have another S.P.E.W. on our hands," Leila teased.
"Spew?" Draco questioned.
"Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," Leila, Harry, Ron, and Hermione repeated simultaneously.
"I suppose since S.P.U.G. didn't go anywhere," Ron grinned.
"Do I want to know what that stands for?" Draco asked.
"I never promoted a group for goblins," Hermione scoffed.
"No, but you drafted unwillingly for the House Elf one," Harry said.
"You never said that you wouldn't do it," Hermione snipped.
"I did, but you still snuck stuff in my bag even though I loathed you," Leila stated.
"Wait, was that the little group that everyone made fun of fourth year?" Draco asked.
"And fifth year?" Harry continued.
"And sixth year…" Ron furthered.
"They did?" Harry whispered.
"I did," Ron shrugged.
"Well, let's just hope she doesn't start the Society for the Promotion of Dragon Welfare," Leila coughed.
"But S.P.D.W. doesn't make a word," Ron laughed.
"We'll just need a word with a 'd' in it," Harry suggested. "Dimwit, dump…"
"Daft," Leila said.
"Damn," Draco smirked.
"Oh, I know…dung!" Ron chuckled.
Laughter rippled through the group, everyone except Hermione.
"Funny, you're all hilarious," Hermione said rolling her eyes.
Hermione huffed and folded her arms across her chest defensively.
"Hermione, you know we're only joking," Leila said elbowing her friend.
"Besides, it's a dragon, Hermione. It can look after itself. Honestly, it's us we need to worry about," Ron said.
"And why's that?" Hermione questioned stubbornly.
"Well, I don't know how to break this to you," Ron whispered. "But I think they might have noticed we broke into Gringotts."
"Hey don't forget we got out too!" Draco said raising his pumpkin juice.
"Here, here," Ron said trying to contain his laughter.
Ron raised his juice too, but the second he took a sip of the drink he spewed it all over the place because he started laughing. Soon they all were laughing. Leila wasn't sure what was funnier: Ron's take on the situation or him spewing his pumpkin juice all over the place. Nevertheless, they were all grasping their aching sides from laughter as they fell to the ground. They all rested on the ground staring up at the setting sun.
"We should change while we still have some daylight left," Hermione suggested.
Harry nodded his head as Hermione began to hand out clothes to himself and Ron, while Leila dug for her own clothes.
"The girls can change here and we'll take a few steps that way," Harry said.
"I already changed," Draco said.
"You're still coming with us," Harry retorted as he yanked Draco along with him.
The boys began to change with their backs to the girls, but Draco couldn't help but sneak a peek. Leila was trying to be discreet about changing underneath the long cloak she was wearing, but she put her jeans on it lifted up in the back revealing her green knickers. Harry swatted the back of Draco's head.
"Hey, keep your eyes off her," Harry hissed.
"All I saw was her knickers," Draco commented.
"That's all you better have seen of her, ever," Harry continued.
"It is, it is. I'm not stupid enough to piss you off that much," Draco responded.
"Good," Harry nodded.
The boys stood with their backs to the girls until Leila called that they were decent. Once again they all settled on the grass to rest a bit after their eventful day. Leila snuggled up against Draco as they continued to talk.
"What are we doing to do though?" Hermione asked. "He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes."
"Maybe they'll be too scared to tell him?" Ron said hopefully. "Or cover it up."
"I don't think they can cover up something that big from him," Draco responded. "Delay telling him, likely, but he'll know by tomorrow."
Suddenly, Harry gasped causing Leila to look at him. His eyes had rolled back as he began to mutter words that weren't understandable to them.
"Not again," Leila groaned.
"What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Harry's mind is connected to You-Know-Who's at the moment," Leila sighed.
"What?" Draco gasped.
"Don't worry, he knows better than to go into Harry's head again, but Harry can't help going into his head," Leila explained.
"He should have learned Occlumency when Snape was teaching him," Hermione groaned.
"That's Harry's own fault. He's the one that…" Leila stopped.
Leila scratched the back of her head. She couldn't focus properly. She wanted to mention something about the pensive incident, but other thoughts began to swirl with her memories. "The twins survive…they both have her eyes. You remember Lily Evans' eyes, don't you?""No one can know!""And what about my soul?" Leila braced her arms against the ground. She knew this couldn't possibly have been a full conversation or even a conversation at all. But why were these words swimming in her head. She felt like she should know where they had come from, but she couldn't place how she heard these words or who spoke them.
"Leila," Hermione said.
"Sorry, I just feel like I'm forgetting something," Leila said slowly.
"What do we do about Harry?" Draco asked.
"We wait until he wakes up," Ron shrugged.
Harry began to hiss.
"You just let him do this?" Draco asked.
"This is a rather calm episode," Leila sighed.
"They can get pretty bad," Ron stated. "Bad enough to wake others up from a deep sleep."
"I take it that's happened to you?" Draco asked.
"Yeah. He feels real bad about doing it afterward, but he can't really control it," Ron said.
"He could if he tried," Hermione scoffed.
For several minutes they sat there in silence watching Harry thrash and hiss, until his eyes finally opened again. Harry forced himself into a sitting position and immediately noticed that everyone's eyes were on him. Harry struggled to get up, shivering from his wet clothing which was partially drenched from their lake excursion as well as his sweat from his Voldemort connection. Once Harry was steady on his feet, he turned to the group.
"He knows. He knows what we took and he knows we're hunting Horcruxes," Harry said.
"Harry, you know better than to let him in," Hermione hissed. "You can't keep doing that."
"I can't always help it, you know that. Well, maybe I could, but I don't know," Harry said.
"Never mind that, what happened?" Leila asked.
"Well, he's angry," Harry stated.
"Obviously, we just stole a bit of his soul," Draco responded.
"Yeah, I figured that much too; but what I didn't expect was him to be scared. And he's scared." Harry continued.
"How do you know that?" Ron asked.
"Because he can't understand how we found out. He's going to check on the others, starting with the ring," Harry furthered. "Plus he knows if we find and destroy all the Horcruxes we'll be able to kill him."
"Now that he knows he's going to stop at nothing to make sure we don't find the rest," Draco added.
"But we don't even know where the rest are," Leila responded.
"Ah, but there's more. One of them is at Hogwarts," Harry said pointing to the sky.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"You saw it?" Hermione asked.
"No, I saw the castle and Rowena Ravenclaw," Harry said.
"Anything else?" Ron asked.
"He was concentrating on warning Snape for a while. He never thought of where it was exactly," Harry said. "But it makes sense that the object has to do with Rowena Ravenclaw with our Founder's theory being right."
"So what?" Leila asked.
"So, we have to go there now," Harry explained.
"We can't possibly do that. We can't just go. We've got to plan. We've got to figure it out," Hermione rationalized.
"Hermione when have any of our plans actually ever worked? I think today was proof enough of that," Harry argued. "We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose."
"He does have a point," Leila stated.
"One problem mate. Snape's headmaster now. We can't just walk through the front door," Ron commented.
"I still don't understand why you're all so scared of Snape," Draco muttered.
"Well, we'll go to Hogsmeade and go to Honeydukes and take the secret passage in the cellar," Harry suggested.
"The secret entrances were closed," Leila added.
"All of them?" Ron asked.
"Snape may be a foul git, but he's not stupid," Leila said.
"So how do we get there?" Draco asked.
"Well, Hogsmeade is still our best bet," Harry stated.
Draco nodded his head while Harry finally stopped his pacing long enough to face his friends and sister. He ran his fingers through his hair which caused it to stand straight up on his head, before he brushed it back in place with his fingers.
"And how are we going to stay hidden, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"We'll all get under the Invisibility Cloak. We need to stick together on this," Harry said.
"We won't all fit," Hermione sighed.
"Two of you could carry Hermione and I on your backs," Leila suggested.
"I can carry Leila," Draco said.
"I guess that leaves me with Hermione," Ron stated.
"Well if you don't want to…" Hermione huffed.
"I didn't say that," Ron hissed.
"It's the way you said it, Ronald," Hermione continued.
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered.
"As entertaining as this is…" Leila interrupted.
"Leila's right. I'll just settle this: Draco you'll have Leila and Ron you'll have Hermione," Harry said.
"One problem, there will be three pairs of feet will be sticking out," Hermione commented.
"It'll be dark, so I doubt anyone's going to notice our feet," Harry finished.
Hermione stood with her hands on her hips for a moment before she sighed and threw her hands up in the air in frustration.
"Bloody hell," Hermione muttered.
"You're in?" Harry asked.
"I'm in," Hermione said reluctantly.
Draco ducked down for Leila to climb onto his back once more. She jumped up on his back and wrapped her legs around his middle, while her arms wrapped around his shoulders. Ron got down low for Hermione. She rolled her eyes and muttered something none of them could hear before she too jumped on Ron's back. Harry nodded in approval as he threw the Invisibility Cloak over them. He adjusted the Cloak so that it was down as far as it would go.
"Well, here we go…again," Leila stated.
And with that they Disapparated into the night.
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating. To quote the Dark Lord, "I must confess myself, disappointed." I know that posting this isn't about getting the reviews, believe me I do. But I guess the reviews are what give me motivation to post…and when I don't that many, I start second guessing myself and if I even want to write. So, for those of you who took the time to read this note, thanks. I appreciate you listening to me. I understand that this is a busy time of the year. I'll try not to be a whiny review whore, but I just wanted to let you know my thoughts. Plus, I was in a car accident and I've been recovering from that. Anyway, this chapter is kinda filler but it's leading up to everything…and at least we got a Dreila moment. Thanks to those who review! And monthibr who pushes me to write, even when I say that I can't. : )
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: I did say, maybe. Tentatively, I feel that I can save one of them; but it would be too much to spare both Lupins.
HermioneandMarcus: Thanks for the review!
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Thanks for the review! I really do appreciate the time you take to review every chapter Thought you ought to know :) *faints*
savil: Thanks for the kind review. Really, it makes me smile that you like my story and that you get excited about when it's updated. As an author it's nice to know that people are actually reading what I'm writing and that they're liking it.
Sydney-Jo: Thanks for your review! I try hard to make it realistic to tie them into the story without losing a sense of what Harry Potter is. This chapter was a bit filler, but it's gonna get chaotic soon. Hogwarts and war…yikes! I've been writing ahead and sometimes it gets hard to write just knowing how it's all eventually going to end.
LeilaxDraco Fan: :D :D :D Let me just start with that for my favorite reviewer. :D I'm truly appreciative for a reader like you. Really, whenever I think that I want to just give up, I think of you and I know that I don't want to leave you hanging like that, especially after all the time you've put into my story. Siriusly. As for the reviews, well what can you do? Write your own? Haha, jk. I don't know if you've ever heard of Mark Schwan or his show One Tree Hill, but I like to remember his words. (now I'm paraphrasing) but it was something to the extent that we may not be the biggest, but we're someone's favorite. So, I suppose that's like me too. After reading Deathly Hallows, I always thought that Draco was capable of more…if only he'd been given the opportunity. Then, Leila was created in my mind. She was his opportunity. At least, in my mind. It's funny when I go back and read the books or watch the movies, Leila is always in them now. Maybe it's just that she's become so ingrained in my mind from years of writing her, but she's always there. Hogwarts is just around the corner, which is scary and exciting at the same time. I have my ideas too :P But, you're right, there's got to be some show down with Bellatrix. Sorry, for this insanely long paragraph to you, but really I do appreciate your reviews! I also like that you actually put some thought into them. You really are Leila and Draco's #1 fan. :D
Amber Rose Black: Mislead! Haha. Sorry, it was the point to see if that would happen. Thanks for the review! I really do appreciate it!
Tessa: Thanks so much for the review! It really is nice to hear that you liked it. As far as chapters go I don't have an exact number, but I'm guessing about 10. As far as next goes, the poll right now wants me to write a Post-Hogwarts so that's where I'll try to write next, but because it's only a 5 vote lead I started a couple chapters of 4th year to please the Years 1-5 crowd too. What do you think of that?
Hi: Yes, yes it was! Was waiting to see how many people caught that! Haha. Dramatic scenes aren't going to be hard to come by in the near-distant future.
xxxRena: I'm so glad that you liked it! And that you continue to review! I'm so glad that you understood that they're working together…and each have something to contribute.
Luli Cullen: Thanks for the review! I'm thankful for your continued support.
Hollis Annalise: I'm so glad that you thought it was creative. I was trying to figure out a way to make Gringotts a team effort and yet show that it was a difficult. I was going for the mislead! But I couldn't kill Draco…at least, not yet. :P Thanks for the reviews! I'm so thankful that you take the time to do so.
Seibelle: Thanks for taking the time to review my story. :D I really appreciate it.
Nikki-W94: Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate that you've been taking the time to review and I understand that life gets in the way of things. Believe me, I do.
Guest II: I'm so glad that you love this story! I've had a Draco Malfoy obsession for quite some time, so welcome to the club. :P I'm so glad that you took the time to review my story! Here's another chapter.
Enbuscadenuncajamas: I'm so glad that you like Leila. I've tried hard to develop her into a realistic character and that she could just fit seamlessly into the HP world. I'm kinda fond of her too. :P Thanks for taking the time to review my story, I really appreciate it!
XxShadowhunterxX: I wish I was Jo! Haha. I'll get to be on summer break in about a month, but rereading that HP books for like the millionth time (or so it seems) is on my to do list. Haha. I do try to follow the basic storyline of HP just so that there isn't a whole lot of confusion with the story. I know when I was just into the reading stage of fanfictions, I would try to read them and then just get so confused with what was going on…so, I figured I couldn't be the only one with that problem. Haha. I know Arthur was almost killed in Order of the Phoenix, but she spared him…in return she did kill the Lupins; but *spoiler alert* I've already planned a death that isn't in the books…but that's all I'm spoiling. Haha.