I am having some kind of chapter 10 celebration! this will be my first chapter 10...so I have to make it special!

If you have any ideas for this...please send me a review message ^_^

Anywho...thanks to my reviwers: lenie954

also to the people who have added my story to their watchboard: lenie954, and Words-and-Bullets

I hope you enjoy this...I'll update soon!


Our time is Running Out

Parchment 9: Cooties from Monkies!

As Lixella walked through the halls of Hogwarts for the millionth time, she found herself surprisingly happy. Somehow, despite everything that had happened in the past few months, she'd found some kind of happiness in it all. The school had this strange feel to her, like it wanted her there. Not to mention, she had made friends more quickly than she had anticipated.

Jynx Spackerton was quickly becoming one of her best friends. She wished that she could introduce Jynx to Nym Muse, back in America. The two of them would adore each other. Luna Lovegood, also, had become a close friend to her. They did not see each other often, because they did not live in the same dorm. However, Lixella enjoyed divinations with Luna, and their conversations about magical "made-up" creatures.

Even Ron and Hermione had been talking to her. However, something strange must've happened. Around the middle of term, the two of them began hating each other. She saw Hermione everyday in Ancient Runes class. And, every day, Hermione seemed to have something awful to say about Ron. It got to the point where Ron became almost taboo. It was sad, Lixella was new, and she could even see that the two of them wanted each other. Ron wasn't much to talk to anymore. It seemed anytime Lixella saw him he was wrapped up with a girl whose name she couldn't recall. It was something very colorful from what she could remember of Hermione's rants.

Neville, on the other hand, was quite a wonderful friend. Lixella hated that she only got to see him during charms, and dinner. He always went on about herbology, and for a while, got Lixella to study it. He was extremely helpful when it came to charms class. The only problem she had with him was, his grandmother. Lixella was always a very obedient child, so she understood what it was like to have a guardian that insisted you be one way. It was awful because Neville was a wonderful student, but he was so scared to show it to people. He shined in mostly all of his classes, and was entertaining to talk to. The problem was that, he was trying to find his courage as a Gryffindor. At least, that was what Lixella thought.

She disliked when people couldn't act like themselves, or genuine. It was one thing she despised about Slytherin. It was full of people who acted a certain way, to get the attention of certain people. Most specifically, or from what she could think of, were Draco's minions. She and Jynx had made it their duty to completely bash Pansy into the ground. Pansy, had made it her duty to ruin their lives, as well. It became this war of Jynx and Lixella versus Pansy and her posers. The two sides were equally matched. Pansy was vicious, but Lixella was clever, and Jynx was just a bad ass.

It was getting colder, and Lixella didn't like the cold. It reminded her of the rain, which strangely reminded her of her dead parents. It seemed as if the entire world was getting colder. Even the fireplace in the common room, where she spent most evenings, didn't warm her completely. Perhaps it was the stress from her schoolwork. Or, maybe it was wondering about all of those predictions everyone seemed to be making about her. It came up in conversation often.

"so, you met tha' guy yet?" Jynx would ask while doing homework.

"What guy?"

"Tha' one guy….that's supposed to change your life!"

"Okay, for the umpteenth time, Professor never said it was a boy. In all honesty I think I've had all the boy interaction I can handle" she was thinking of the terrible behavior of Ron, and the smugness of Draco.

"Well, it makes the story bettah if it's a boy"

"I'd prefer a woman. Perhaps one that could help me decipher all of these strange cryptic messages." It was true, she hoped it was a woman. The first person she'd pictured when the prediction was made, was her aunt Marceline. Lixella had written to her aunt a month ago, at the beginning of October, and had heard nothing from her. She was beginning to worry that the family room would remain locked forever.

"Well, I got a bet wit' Luna that it's a guy!" she exclaimed, peering over her transfigurations book, "if I lose, it's 6 sickels out o' my pocket! So try an' meet more boys this wintah, Okay?"

"I'll try to survive this semester. This homework is making me go mad!"

"I know, I can't believe they expect us to do all o' this in a day! And wit' our other classes?"

"Have they all gone mad?" Lixella asked while throwing her arms in the air. She honestly was about to go insane from her amount of work. It was taking up every free period, and extra time during lunch, to complete. The worst part was that she had no one to let her anger out on. She hadn't seen Draco in a month, aside from their classes. He had begun talking less, and looked more sickly with each time she saw him. In fact, it was making her worried for him, which was rare.

"Well, at least when we go to Hogsmeade tomorrah…I'll be a right spiffy loon!" exclaimed Jynx.

"a spiffy loon? Ya know, if you said that in America, people would just stare at you."

"Well, this isn't America…and I'm obviously still a spiffy loon, so whatever!"

Lixella chuckled, it was such an odd word, but it was the way Jynx talked. She said strange word combinations, even for a British person. To name Lixella's favorites: spiffy loon, blubbering troglodyte, narcoleptic hag, and something called a Spartrificlator. She had asked several others what these words meant. However no other person in Hogwarts, or outside of it, knew either.

The next day, Saturday, had finally come. The weeks had been long and terribly stressful. She was happy that for today, at least, there was nothing to do but go to Hogsmeade and buy a butter-beer. Lixella thoroughly enjoyed days where she had no responsibilities. Lately, it seemed as if a lot was being asked of her. Getting used to a new school, moving from home at 16, no parents, living with her judgmental relatives, the slew of predictions she's heard, and being placed into her aunts favorite place in the world; Every detail made her annoyed. However, she couldn't do much about it. As a 16 year old, pure-blood witch, from an upstanding family, her word didn't have much power in anything.

It was bitterly cold outside. The kind of cold that pricked it's way into your bones. She and Jynx were wrapped in at least three layers of clothing, as they headed to Hogsmeade. They stopped for a second, as Filtch proceeded to search them for objects. The protection here was ridiculous. Lixella was convinced it was mostly because of Harry Potter.

They made their way down to the three broomsticks, and sat down with Luna and Neville. The four of them didn't feel like trying to head anywhere else in town. It was far too cold to do much of anything. Jynx volunteered to get drinks, and returned a few minutes later, with four warm butter-beer mugs. Everyone reached hastily for their cup, practically inhaling the warm liquid.

"Madame Rosmerta has gian' knockers…'ave you noticed?" she stated, sitting down. This cause Lixella to exhale her first sip of butter-beer, out of her nose, and onto the table. Part of it shot across the table, and nearly hit Neville. Everyone paused a moment, staring at Lixella, and then busted into laughter.

"Oh my gawd! Tha' was one of the greates' things to 'appen this week! Just sploosh…righ' out of your nostrils!" said Jynx as she nearly fell to the floor.

"Well, maybe if you didn't mention a certain old ladies boobs!" she proclaimed, wiping the drink off of her shirt with a napkin. Several minutes, of useless napkin wiping, passed by. Lixella gave in, and realized she would have to go to the bathroom and get some water.

She stepped carefully out of the booth, trying to not spill anything else, and made her way to the bathroom. As she did, she found a young girl with long brown hair, and a heavy coat, leaving the restroom with a large package. She looked pretty determined to get where she was going, so Lixella did not bother her. She entered the restroom, and pulled a few napkins off of the counter, running them under water. As she did she heard a noise in the corner. Her ears perked up, and she looked over to the corner. Standing in the corner of the bathroom was, a very confused looking, Madame Rosmerta.

"You alright, Miss Rosmerta?" she asked, a bit scared. Madame Rosmerta did not respond, but merely looked to Lixella with a confused stare. She seemed to not understand why she was in the bathroom, and slowly made her way out the door. Lixella finished wiping the butter-beer off of her shirt, and headed back outside. She explained the scenario to the group.

"Sounds like Nargles!" exclaimed Luna. She seemed to have accepted this answer as completely true, and looked back out the window.

"I dunno" said Neville, "that seems strange, Lixella. You might want to be a bit careful around Madame Rosmerta, after that."

"yep….she saw you laughin' at her boobs!" Jynx almost snorted, "so now she wants revenge" Jynx had gone completely mad. She was banging on the table as she laughed, at her own jokes. The rest of the table chuckled as well.

The four of them left the Three Broomsticks, and headed back to Hogwarts for some warmth. Lixella wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, she was admiring the lovely little town of Hogsmeade. That was, until, she peered down an alleyway. She could've sworn she saw Draco darting behind the buildings. This made no sense because she knew, for a fact, that he was in detention. She shrugged it off as her eyes playing tricks on her. When they returned to Hogwarts, word had spread about Katie Bell and the cursed necklace. Lixella didn't want to say anything, so she tried to keep a low profile.

The rest of the day was filled with hushed whispers of Katie Bell and the Necklace. She did not want any trouble. Lixella tried to not get into it. It went by, and she had managed to not tell anyone of her encounter with Madame Rosmerta in the bathroom. She spent the rest of the day in Slytherin hall, doing homework, and avoiding the subject.

"I'm goin' to bed….I cannot be lookin' at another piece of parchment or I'll become a nocturnal git!" Jynx threw her quill down, as she said this, with such force that it blotched her tights. She stared at the stain for a second, attempted to clean it off with her spit, and then gave up. "I'm goin' to use the loo…comin'?" she asked. It wasn't an option to say no to traveling to the bathroom with Jynx, she hated dark hallways. She would use the bathroom in the dorm, but Pansy was in there constantly.

"Yeah…I'll go" said Lixella, "but I'm not waiting for you like last time!" Last time, Jynx had nearly flooded the bathroom, and tried to stop it with more toilet paper. Lixella was left standing outside, oblivious to what was happening, until water started pouring out of the door.

Jynx merely rolled her eyes and headed off. The nearest bathroom was by the dungeon entrance, just before the potions classroom. They walked in, chatting about Hogsmeade and the cold. After she had finished, Lixella went to wait outside for her friend. It was bitterly cold in the hallway, and eerily quiet. Lixella was deathly afraid of silence. It was to due with her memory loss. Somewhere in that time, she became afraid of very quiet places.

She stood, eyes closed, humming a tune to keep herself brave. Then, a noise traveled to her ears, faintly. It sounded like someone sobbing, or panicking over something. She

stopped humming, and froze. The sound was so faint, almost like a whisper. She could barely tell the direction it was coming from. It was far, but seemed to be coming from up the stairs. Lixella decided to go see what it was. She knew it was stupid, all that ran through her head were horror movies. However, the panicking wasn't ghostly, it was just faint.

The large round staircase wrapped, elegantly, ascending into the moonlit path above. The dungeons were below the black lake, so the colors faded from green to a glowing white. The steps unwound in front of her, as she made her way up. Her heart was pounding, unaware of what she would see at the top. It was very late, so she didn't know who would be up and out of bed at this hour. It was against the rules to be out of the dorm this late.

Then, she reached a small window, near the top of the towering stairs. It was a regular paned window, broken up into pieces. The moonlight shown through it with a heavy glow. Giving the window an almost haunting feeling. However, the most interesting part of this window, at the time, was that Draco Malfoy was standing by it. He was leaned up against the wall, his hands supporting him on the window sill, staring outside at the night. He was breathing pretty heavily, as if he had just been chased. Lixella wasn't sure what to do, he seemed to want privacy, and she had never seen him worked up before. It confused her a bit, to see him have any look, other than smug. She just stood, in silence, watching him stare outside, almost insanely.

"You…" he said as he slowly shifted his eyes to her, "why are you here, Cruxshade? Why are you always here?"

"Well, gosh Draco, I…" she couldn't finish after seeing his face, "I mean, are you okay?"

His face shifted back towards the window. He sighed heavily and pursed his lips together, and his gaze shifted back towards her. He pushed himself off of the window, and turned to face her. The stairwell became so quiet that Lixella could hear water dripping from the dungeon downstairs. Several seconds passed where they just shifted glances. Until, he inhaled sharply, as if he was about to say something extremely important.

"um" he started, "I just, I can't…" he paused suddenly, trying to word it all. After a while of playing around with words in his head, he gave up. He couldn't explain what he had to do, Lixella wasn't a death eater. She was trustworthy, but he didn't think she'd understand. He grabbed onto his left arm, and hung his head, in defeat.

"I just can't, deal with dad….being in jail." he said, unable to think of anything else.

"I saw in the news, about he search they did on your house. I'm sorry, that must've been pretty terrifying." she responded.

"Yeah, it was" he grabbed onto the back of his neck awkwardly. The two of them had always had this strange dynamic to their relationship. They kept each other in check with snaky remarks, but understood their stress because of their bickering with each other.

"Look, my dad died for all of this stuff. I don't really understand why he had to, or wanted to. But, he didn't seem to have a choice. Be happy yours is still alive. I don't know a lot about the death eaters. Well, other than the stories I've heard from my family. I just, I didn't like what they did….especially how my dad was always effected by it, negatively." her tone was darker than usual. It wasn't a clever mocking tone, it conveyed a real sense of distance, and distrust. She gazed out at the stairwell with glassy eyes.

"What your dad did, was amazing. It's kind of an expectation for everyone to…..sacrifice everything in a war." he tried to speak as cryptically as possible. His words were terrible,

and he looked back to see if she understood.

"Expectations!" she exclaimed, chuckling, "That's what it is, huh? Living up to expectations of other people. Trying to prove your worth to someone who barely knows you. Yeah, that sounds, just like something worth dying for."

She didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't want to move any further with it.

"We should go to bed." he said meekly, "or…umm…"

"or you'll lose your ability to form full sentences?" she said with an understanding smirk.

"The only one who is going to go speechless around here is you, Cruxshade!"

"Oh…really Draco, and when is this amazing silence going to happen?"

"Trust me, you'll know Cruxshade! You'll be left gawking at me…"

"well, that will take a while then. Because what you have now, is far from gawking level!"

"Still jealous of Pansy, I see?" He remarked, walking down the stairs.

"Who, you're love sick puppy? Or is that the poo throwing monkey that you like to play tongue quidditch with?"

Again, she could swear she heard him chuckle at her remarks about Pansy.

"poo throwing?" he asked, halting his stride down the stairs.

"Yep, she's been flinging shit at Jynx and me all year!" she exclaimed, "after she spit on me of course!"

"Well, every great leader needs someone to do the dirty work for him."

"oh, you make fun of your minions too?" They had reached the portrait door, "ya just don't hold back about anyone, do you Draco?"

"Sniveling Slugs" he said and the door swung open, "No, why should I. It's not like the people here are worth it?"

"So, what do you have to say about me, huh? I'm sure there's a lot!"

He turned around, Lixella bumped into him. She looked up with attitude, crossing her arms, waiting for a snarky reply. Draco's expression became sinister and crazy. In a split second, he leaned down, and kissed her. It was so quick, that Lixella wasn't sure if it'd actually happened. She stared at him, confused, for several seconds. Then, her face twisted into something gruesome.

"Oh! Disgusting…STDs, Cooties, oh god! Monkey poop! You are vial Draco…you kissed me with the mouth you use to kiss that diarrhea infested monkey of yours!"

"Good night, Lixella…try not to dream about me too much!" he yelled as he strode up to the boys dormitory.

"If you make me sick Malfoy, I swear to god!" she shouted. It was pointless, he had already reached the upstairs. Lixella stood in anger for a minute, then headed to the girls room. Surprisingly, Jynx wasn't in her bed. In fact, she entered minutes later.

"Jesus, were you in the bathroom that whole time?" asked Lixella.

"Eh…I 'ad to take a shit! Then I wondered if I should t'row it at Pansy over there!" she exclaimed, sitting down. Pansy heard her remark and darted her head around. She narrowed her eyes, and stuck her tongue out at Jynx. "Oh no! look out for flying monkey spit!" She yelled, pansy just pouted and turned back to her homework. Lixella couldn't sustain her laughter, and ended up on the floor.


this...guys..was a really long chapter, with not too much in it! But, I'm trying to get through first semester, and character development...

The really good stuff doesn't come till winter break and post-winter break in hogwarts!

Well, I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading! send me a review...see you in the chapter 10 party ^_^