"Draco," a voice said in its dull drawl. "Come into my office." Draco slowly turned around. Professor Snape stared down his nose at him. His black coal eyes noticed the change in young Mr. Malfoy. Shadows under his eyes almost looked like bruises. He had lost weight when he hadn't needed to. He looked sickly and even paler than before. What exactly had made this happen? Draco's eyes didn't show any emotion what-so-ever either. Nothing at all.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Come."
"Yes, sir," he said in monotone. What was wrong with the boy? No sneering, no backtalk, no feeling at all.

He led Draco into his office and gestured to a seat. The boy slowly sat down and it seemed the energy drained out of him.
"Draco?" Draco looked up at Snape. "What is going on?"
"Nothing," he said. "It's none of your business," he tried to fill his voice with hatred, but he just didn't have the strength.
"I've noticed you've been tailing Miss Kaitlin Winters," Snape murmured, now sitting behind his desk.
"No, you must be mistaken. I have not," Draco lied.
"Really? I have proof, boy."

Draco leaned back. "Besides, the deed is almost done," he said and didn't look at Snape.
"Draco, I demand you tell me what's going on!"
"Winters doesn't mean a thingto me," he spat the words.
"So you wouldn't mind if the Dark Lord killed her?" Snape asked quietly. What color was in Draco's face, slowly left him.
He didn't speak, he just sat there.

"That's not going to happen," he hissed.
"How?" Snape asked. It had happened to the girl he'd loved.
"I just won't let it," Draco said, shaking his head.
"You can't stop him," Snape said, putting weight on each word.
"I won't give him a reason to even touch her."
"So you will do what needs to be done?" Snape asked. Draco stood up and leaned over the desk. Face to face with Snape.
"Yes, I will." And he had to stay away from Kaitlin, Draco told himself.

***

"Oh, you look bloody awful," Zach observed from a chair beside her.
She ignored him and looked back at the fire.
"It's been a week," she heard a first year say, "and she's still acting like the world has ended."
It had, but only for her.

It all started when they got back from Malfoy Manor. They hadn't gotten in trouble. Draco had walked her to the entrance to her dorm, and then kissed her on the cheek. That was it. Nothing else. The next day, he didn't speak to her or look at her. No contact. She didn't understand what she had done wrong. Was it something she'd said? She'd only spent one day with the guy and she liked him more than anyone else.
Now, he was totally ignoring her. And it had been fourteen days, 10 hours, and forty-two minutes later.
Not that she was counting and not that he mattered. She just….she didn't….she couldn't….be herself right now.

People were talking, laughing, and they asked what was wrong with her. Finally, Kaitlin got out of the chair and went up to her dorm room. No one was in there, so she put on a nightgown. She looked in the mirror. She had drastically changed over the past two weeks. Her clothes, which used to have a nice and comfortable fit now hung off her.
Her eyes didn't shine. She didn't laugh, sing, and have fun...Not anymore. She should just move on with her life. It was ridiculous! She shouldn't be feeling this way over a boy! Gosh! She had school to worry about.
But did that stop her from feeling like there was no light in the darkness? No.

She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. What had made Draco ignore her? Not talk to her? Was it his mother? What it was, she had no clue. She decided to tough up and she wouldfind out what had made this happen. Even if it killed her. She could deal with it as long as she knew why. So tomorrow, she would confront Draco Malfoy and then, she'd know the truth.
With that, she slowly fell into a dreamless sleep. One that didn't make her dream of Draco. The first one in days.

"Malfoy." He turned at the sound of his name. There was Kaitlin, glaring at him like he was some bug that flew into her pumpkin juice.
"Winters," he said, just as coldly.
"Come with me," she said briskly, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of sight of others.

She pulled him up the stairs until she reached the room of requirement. She looked around and saw Harry Potter. She raised an eyebrow at him. He did the same. She made a shooing motion and Draco noticed.
"What are you doing?" he asked. She looked up at him and put a finger to her lips. Pulling him into the room, she shut the door.

"Just what in Merlin's beard is going on?" she screamed at him. Losing control of her temper and her emotional self, she tried not to cry. "What did I do? I've crushed on you forever. You give me attention and then toss me out like a dirty rag! Didn't you wonder how this made me feel? Tell me Draco, did you? I know you said we could just be friends, but we aren't even that!" The tortured look in her eyes almost made him confess.
"It's in your best interest. I can't tell you. If I did, you'd...," he trailed off, softly, looking around the room. It was a room full of mirrors. Their reflections staring back at them.
"What does that even mean? 'In your best interest'," she mimicked. Tears streamed down her face and she didn't even notice. He wanted to explain, to break down and tell her everything. But he just couldn't. Why couldn't she have come years ago, he thought? Why did he have to notice her now?

She swallowed, hard. "You know Draco? I just don't care anymore. It was just a day. I should have thought nothing of it. It was just a one time thing. I was just making a big deal of what I thought was going on. I thought you liked me, but I guess I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things." With that, she stormed out of the room. Rushing to the bathroom, she sobbed her heart out while Moaning Myrtle laughed at her. Repeatedly.
"I know you. You're that girl. The one hanging around with that boy. The cute one, you know. And now he's broken your heart," she giggled.

***
Draco looked at the mirrors. Her face was still there. Taunt and haunted. He'd done that to her. He should've stayed away in the first place.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
For the next few days, he watched Kaitlin. She stopped going to classes and was scarcely seen. The only person who'd talked to her was Hermione Granger. Filthy Mudblood. But he was glad Kaitlin had at least some kind of company she enjoyed.
He thought about Kaitlin and how he'd changed within a few precious hours of time with her. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't go through with it.
Not anymore if it was killing her that much.

***
"Draco, do you have any idea what the Dark Lord will do to you? And to her?" Snape asked, livid with worry and frustration.
Though Draco just thought he was mad.
"I don't care. We can go into hiding."
"It won't work."
"I'll make sure it will."

"There's no possibility of that happening," Snape said.
"You could help."
"I can't do that."
"Yes, you can," Draco said.
"It's just about the girl, isn't it?" he asked.
An enchanted look came over Draco and he actually looked happy and normal. "She's everything."
"I once knew a man," Snape said slowly, "who fell in love with a girl. She ended up marrying his enemy. Then, another man, extremely powerful, wanted the girl and her husband dead. The man I knew begged for the powerful man to spare the woman. Did he? No, even though he would do anything for the powerful man," Snape said. His eyes started to tear up and he broke down inside, once again.
Draco watched as Snape tried to hide his emotion. "The rest?" he asked quietly.
"She'd had a son. My friend, well, not even my friend, was supposed to help the boy. But anyway, the girl wasn't saved and our lord is even more powerful now than the other man."

But Draco had put it together. Harry Potter's mom was Snape's true love. The powerful man was Lord Voldemort. No.

***

"No!" Voldemort screamed. "The boy, the stupid Malfoy boy! He will pay!" He'd felt him make the decision. No, that would not happen. Snape would see to that, but the great Voldemort felt a nagging of doubt.
"I'll see to the girl," he said, petting his snake. "She won't live for long."

***

"Kaitlin, I'm sorry, it'll get better," Hermione said and handed her a cup of water.
"You have Ron," she whispered. "And I feel horrible."
She'd become sick, deathly sick, and Draco hadn't come to see her. He doesn't even know you're sick you git, she told herself, and he wouldn't care anyway after your last 'talk'.
"Do they have any idea what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
Kaitlin shook her head no and even that hurt. No medicine or spell would help and no one knew anything about why she was sick.

"How did you become sick?" she asked gently.
"I don't know," Kaitlin whispered. "I was sleeping and then I dreamed that someone was standing over me and waving their wand, muttering something. I jerked awake and found there was no one, but then that's when I felt like I'd been beaten up by someone even bigger than Hagrid. Then, I lost energy, it hurt to move, to breathe, to wake up, to talk. And it just gets worse."
Hermione smoothed Kaitlin's hair back.
"It'll be okay, Kait," she said. Though she hadn't found anything helpful in the library. Time to talk to the only two people who could help. Kaitlin fell asleep and Hermione noticed her breathing was shallow. The sick ward was empty except for Kaitlin.
Hermione knew what she had to do. Talk to Dumbledore, and...Draco Malfoy. Then afterwards, talk to Ron and Harry about the whole thing. Kaitlin was dying and Hermione realized it. Something altogether was at work here...
And she was about to find out just what.