A/N: Hi everyone, second story for today. This chapter is one of the most important. I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 12

The Wilting Rose

I'm awake...afternoon

Fell asleep in the livin' room

It's one of those moments

Where everything is so clear

Before the truth goes back into hiding

I wanna deside

Because it's worth desiding

To work on finding

Something more than...severe

Takes so much out of me

To pretend

Tell me now

Tell me how

To make amends

Maybe I need to see the daylight

Leave behind the half-life

Don't you see I'm breaking down

Oh lately

Somethin' here don't feel right

This is just a half-life

Is there really no escape

No escape from time

Of any kind-

" Half-Life"

Duncan Sheik

The Quidditch Cup match finally came, but Draco didn't have the confidence like he'd had at the last one. He didn't have Alana cheering him on anymore. This time, Draco didn't care if someone cursed him again. He just hoped that if they did, that he'd be killed in the fall. His heart ache never waned away. What pained him more was knowing that Alana's pain was greater than his, and that the cause of it was him. The day might have been sunny, but with his spirits so down, the heavens might as well have been coming down with everything they had. The Slytherin team played poorly that day, showing just how much of Draco's karma effected the rest of them. When Harry finally caught the snitch, Gryffindor won at two hundred and ten to twenty. The Slytherins just made it another reason to hate Draco. He was getting used to being the outcast of the school. It seemed like no one wanted anything to do with him.

As April turned into May, Alana continued to grow worse each and every day. Her smiles had become a thing of the past. She had lost so much weight that she looked almost like another ghost in the castle as she walked down the corridors. It was rare to even hear her talk anymore. She had now become the wilting rose that had once been her nickname for so long. Just like a wilting rose, Alana was dying ever so slowly with no hope of ever surviving.

One night, Alana walked down a corridor towards the Prefect girls' bathroom in silence swiftly. She could barely stand being in her room for very long anymore. It just reminded her too much of the happy memories about Draco; memories that she wanted so desperately to forget. Now, it had gotten so bad that she'd had resorted into taking baths in the Prefects' bathrooms. An arctic chill seemed to envelope the corridor as Alana passed through it. She hugged her bathrobe closer to her body, but it didn't seem to be helping at all. Her heart already felt as if it were frozen over, like it was nothing, but solid ice. The feeling caused her so much pain everytime she thought about him. When she just caught a glimpse of platinum hair or saw the flash of a pair of harsh, stormy gray eyes, it felt like her heart was breaking all over again. Images of that fateful night would come back to haunt her, making Alana sink even deeper into her depression. Alana was absorbed deeply in her thoughts as she entered the bathroom.

She mumbled a locking charm before walking over to the already steaming, white marble pool of water. Alana went over to the cabinet that contained all of the bath oils and soaps and took a bottle of lavender scented oil out. She poured it into the pool, and once it mixed with the water, bubbles magically appeared on the surface. Then, she hung her robe on a nearby hook and sank down into the water with a sigh. Even the calming waters rushing over her body and the therapeutic aroma of the bath oil couldn't sooth her aching spirit. Alana rested her head against the edge of the pool and closed her eyes. But when she did, images of Draco flashed through her mind's eye. The memories flooded back to her instantly. Draco's smile, the blissful touch of Draco's hands upon her skin, the sensual feel of Draco's lips upon hers, the unexplainable pleasure of Draco making love to her. Everything Draco. Draco! Draco! DRACO! No matter what she did, he wouldn't leave her in peace.

" My heart is already broken, Draco! What else do you want from me?" She thought, a single tear running down her cheek.

Crying had become a second nature to her. She cried almost four times everyday, sometimes even more. Nothing she did could make her forget what he had done or how he'd lied to her about everything.

" I gave him up, dismissed him from my life. He betrayed me and broke my heart, yet it still yearns for him. How can I still love him so passionately after he caused me so much pain?"

" He didn't betray you. Draco still loves you with all his heart. It was all a huge misunderstanding." Her conscience told her.

" 'Sure didn't look like a misunderstanding to me! Everything was exactly as it seemed. Draco screwed me over with Pansy and that's that!" Alana thought, savagely.

" If you loath him so much, then why do you still call him "Draco" and not "Malfoy"?"

" Force of habit."

" No, that is just an excuse, and you know it. You'll never forget about your love; no matter how hard you try; no matter how resistant you are."

" You're wrong!"Alana argued, indignantly. " I want nothing more to do with that lying, cheating, pathetic bastard!"

She laid there in the water a little while longer, trying to calm herself slightly. Her rage towards Draco sometimes got out of control, and Alana had a hard time putting it out once she'd unleashed it. When she was pretty sure that her emotions were in check, Alana rose out of the pool and grabbed a nearby towel. After dying off, she wrapped it around herself carefully. It was hard to believe that a half hour had passed by so quickly. She walked over to the counter where she'd left her stuff in a private drawer from one of the other times she'd come here. When she said her incantation to make it unlock, Alana took out her brush and started to go through her soking-wet, matted hair.

" Never again will I allow someone to get so close to me." She murmured. " Never!"

Alana was too pre-ocuppied in her grief and thoughts to even notice that someone had unlocked the door and come into the room. As she was reaching for her robe, a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist! Before she could see who had done it, her captor pulled her to them, wrapped an arm around her neck, and held her in a vice-like grip. She clutched the arm tightly as her heart rate escaladed rapidly. Alana was too petrafied with fear to even scream. Her breathing had grown frantic and ragged. She'd never been so frightened in her entire life!

" Wh...who are you and w...what d...do you want?" Alana asked, shakily.

" You can just call me the Angel of Death and well, let's just say you won't live to see tomorrow." A malicous, yet syrupy voice said.

Suddenly, mind-numbing pain exploded in her stomach. What might have been a scream only came out as a broken gasp. Her eyes bulged and began to water. Alana looked down and saw a dagger protruding from her stomach! The handle had two, intertwining snakes engraved in the silver. A dark emerald gleamed in the light omniously. Blood was oozing out onto her once pure-white towel. Her captor's laugh was as dry as sand. She dug her nails into the person's arm, but they didn't let her go. When they removed the dagger, Alana's towel fell to the floor silently. At that moment, she felt more exposed than if a whole group of students had walked in.

" Oh, how I've waited for this moment to come." Her captor sneered. " To see you in such agony brings me so much joy."

Alana knew that she'd heard that voice somewhere before. It was so familiar, but her mind was too focused on the pain to match a face to it. She felt blood trickle down her legs and onto the floor. They shook as they struggled to keep her up.

" You have no idea how long I've wanted to kill you. For awhile, it seemed like I'd never get my chance, but finally, my opportunity came." The voice told her.

Alana watched in horror as her captor ran the dagger across the top of her breasts. Terrible pain seered through-out her body, making it even harder to bear. Every breath she took seemed to take more and more energy from her. She felt so helpless as the person, also, cut a line up her upper left arm and down her right thigh.

" Why are you doing this to me?" Alana cried out, weakly. " What have I done to deserve this?"

" You stole something from me. Now, I'm taking it back by ridding the world of you." They replied.

Alana wished she could just catch a glimse of her captor, but the mirror infront of her had a thick condensation all over the plane of glass from her bath, and her vision was becoming very hazy. She knew that she had already lost a great deal of blood; the proof was all over her body and the floor. The person who was torturing her laughed and held up the dagger for her to see. The jagged blade was coated with her blood in a crimson sheet. Tiny droplets dotted the handle.

Also, she could make out bony, deathly pale fingers with long, red nails clutching the handle. Her captor had to be female. Alana knew that she could identify her if her mind hadn't already begun to cloud over from exhaustion. She felt like every inch of her body was going numb from the pain. Her legs were becoming weaker and weaker by the second. Then, Alan felt the girl's breath near her ear. It sent chills up her spine.

" Good night, Lil Miss Perfect." She hissed, say the last words mockingly.

Alana's eyes would have widened if she'd had the strength. Only one person had ever called her that!

" No." She murmured.

" Oh yes. This is the end for you. Don't worry...I'll take his mind off of your death. Before long, you'll only become a dim memory in the back of his mind. Draco's in good hands."

That's when her captor released her. Alana swore she saw a flash of black hair as she fell. It seemed like everything had gone into slow motion when her body made contact with the hard, cold marble floor. She lay in a puddle of her own blood, unable to move. Alana shivered because she felt so unbelievably cold. A heartless cackle rang through-out the room before disappearing through the door. Alana continued to lie on the floor; too weak even to groan in pain. It all seemed so hopeless now. Here she was, lying on the floor in the Prefects' bathroom, bleeding to death with no strength to even yell for help. She could feel herself waning away with each passing moment. Right now, it seemed like her only choice was to just give up. What was the use in fighting? There was no reason for her to keep on living. If she did give up, Alana could escape not only her physical pain, but her emotional pain as well. She would never have to think about Draco again. Yes, to give up was her only way to freedom.

As everything began to darken, a few tears trailed out of her eyes. All of the memories flooded back again. Even as she was dying in the worst possible way, Alana longed for him. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, Alana would always love Draco. Her heart would be his forever more. For the first time in what seemed like ages, Alana didn't mind. That thought suited her just find. Who was she kidding. Alana couldn't just forget about all that her heart felt for him. She gave one, last lingering smile before closing het eyes and said in a hoarse whisper, " Draco, if you can somehow hear me, I just wanted to say...goodbye. Please, know that no matter what I've said to you, that I love you in everyway imaginable. Do me this one, last favor...never forget me."

And with that said, Alana gave one last gasp before she slipped into unconsciousness. Even as she lay there, her voice seemed to echo through-out the room in her last, desperate plea.

Never forget me...

A/N: Wow! I really out did myself. Will Alana die? Or will she be saved just in time? Don't you all just love cliff-hangers:) Well, review please.