CHapter 12 has arrived! It's a bit shorter than what I've been writing, but it still has enough in it!

thank you to Watergoddesskay, indigofrisbee, and xXMizz Alex VolturiXx for their reviews on chapter 11 ^_^

and also thanks to SilhouetteGypsy for adding this to her favorite story list ^_^

Read and Enjoy!


Our Time is Running Out

Parchment 12: A Third bedroom

Lixella stood staring at the large stone entrance. The doorway was tall and arched, with dark wood, double doors. It gave off a sense of regality and authority. It had started snowing, the white flakes danced and spun to the sounds of the ticking clock tower. She breathed in a heavy sigh. The cold winter air filled her lungs, the air was thin and cold, it dried her throat. The air around her pricked at the skin on her face. Her eyes fell down, she was done admiring Hogwarts. She was scared that it would be her last glance of it. Winter break had begun, and in a few moments she would be heading down to the Hogsmeade station, on her way home. It was almost depressing, the fact that she knew that, at some point this winter, she would meet Voldemort. It was even more depressing for her to think that she couldn't avoid it.

She breathed the air in one last time, smelling the cold and evergreen. Then, she turned around, luggage in hand, and headed out towards the station. Jynx ran up behind her.

"Oi! Ya tryin' to avoid me or something?" she said sarcastically

"No….just a bit unhappy"

"Why, it's gonna be Christmas soon! Ya should cheer up? Wha's there to be sad about?"

"I'll just really miss it here! And you!" She smiled

"Tha's sweet!"

They arrived at the station, and watched the kids, loading their luggage and boarding the train. Jynx waved over to Luna and Neville, who were heading into a train car. Lixella was admiring the white smoke, billowing out of the front of the train, as if it was creating clouds. She turned to see Draco, standing across the station. He turned his head and nodded at her. His expression was sincere, and a bit apologetic. Since the night he told her about Voldemort, they had become a lot closer. He seemed to be hell bent on getting her through it all. In fact just last week, he began 'schooling' her on what he liked to call, "proper death eater etiquette".

"No…you never, ever make eye contact. With anyone! Just stare in one direction, but don't act terrified." he said sternly.

"well, I figured. But what about my uncle?"

"Not even him, when you are a death eater you do not have a family. He may ask you to torture someone, if he questions your loyalty."

"Jesus Christ! This guy sounds just awful!" she said with a grin.

"Well, of course he is, Lixella" Draco chuckled, shaking his head at her awful placement of humor, "That's kind of why no one wants to utter his name!"

"Sorry" she muttered, "I know I need to act more serious about this…"

"Yeah, that could help a bit"

"It's just….I'm going to be a death eater…against my will! And now I have to learn how to survive, in a place I don't want to be in. Can't I just stay here?"

"heh" he laughed, "If only…if only."

A smile crept over Lixella's face. She would really miss Hogwarts, it was such a safe haven for her. It had become like a home to her, considering that she did not like her relatives. She and Jynx, finally, boarded the train and made their way down the train cars. They did not want to be sitting in the Slytherin 6th year car, since they despised most of the people there. Eventually they found Neville and Luna, and sat with them.

"This year's been pretty tough so far" said Neville. They had started on the topic of N.E.W.T.s, and whether or not they would all pass them.

"Well, I know one thing is for sure. I'm going to have to start pulling all nighters for potions. I am terrible in that class." said Lixella.

"You should be askin' that Harry Potter. I 'ear he's pretty good." Jynx said, as she slid up against the window.

"Yeah, he's great at it!" Lixella replied.

"This semester has been rather complicated" Luna inquired, as she read the latest issue of The Qubbler, "but, also very interesting."

"Oh yeah, it's wintah! 'ave you met that boy yet?" Jynx asked Lixella with excitement.

"Okay, for the triple umpteenth time….Professor never said he, specifically. She just said, "someone very important is about to enter your life."

"I still think it's a guy" Jynx went back to staring out the window.

"Maybe it's not even a person!" said Neville

"Oh, my god" said Lixella in shock

"What?" asked Jynx

"I think I've already met them" said Lixella, thinking back to the banshees in the forest.

"Really, man or woman?" Jynx said anxiously awaiting her reply.

"They were all women!" Lixella said

"5 sickles Jynx!" said Luna without peering up from The Quibbler. Jynx handed her 5 sickles, and sat back in annoyance.

Lixella told them about the banshees in the forest. About, how they had said it was necessary that she learn of them before winter break. However, she was unsure that these were the people in the prophecy, since it spoke of only one person. Nonetheless, her friends were shocked at her story. Jynx swore that she must've been bewitched and imagined it all. Luna completely believed her. Neville just sat with wide eyes, in disbelief that her story was true. Eventually, their train reached Kingscross station. Lixella gathered her belongings and said good bye to her friends. She urged them to write to her this winter, and not leave her out of anything.

However, when she reached the outside, her aunt was not to be found. She searched around for her uncle Zander, he wasn't there either. She could've sworn that the letters said to meet them out at the front, by the lobby. She searched her memory for anything to tell her otherwise.

"Lixella, why are you over there?" asked a voice from behind her. She turned around to find Narcissa Malfoy waving at her from a few feet away. She stared at her, very confused.

"Oh hello Mrs. Malfoy" she said, curtsying. She hated that she curtsied, her grandmother had conditioned her to. "Have you seen my aunt Iris, or my uncle Zander?" she asked, looking around.

"They didn't tell you?" Lixella shook her head, "Oh dear, they're at the ministry….waiting for a trial."

"What? Are they okay?" Lixella asked in shock

"Well, the ministry has put out a warrant to search the house. They believe the your uncle is a death eater, and that he is hiding some great dark weapon."

"But…we have nothing in that house. Who would've tipped them off?"

"Probably the order, they can't seem to keep their noses out of other people's business." Narcissa's face became disgusted as she remembered having her own house searched. Lixella doubted that it was the order, since she was such good friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Then again, the three of them didn't know her aunt or uncle.

"Anyways," said Narcissa, coming back from memory lane, "your aunt asked if we could take you home with us. I said we were more than delighted to have you come along!"

"That is very nice of you Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you."

"It's no problem." she smiled, "We just have to wait on Draco now. Lord knows where he's at. It seems to take him forever to make his way across the station. Here, come into the car, it's much warmer!"

Narcissa led her over to a very nice black car. It was beautiful. It resembled an old ford v8 model. The interior was white leather, and the back was quite spacious. Lixella leaned in carefully, the car reminded her of when she was young. Her grandmother used to teach her a lot of etiquette. Aside form curtsying she also knew arranging, decorating, table manners, ballroom dancing, tea sipping, and how to get into a car properly. Her grandmother would always say, "You never, ever, slide into a nice vehicle. You duck and glide."

The driver came around to the side and took her bags. Narcissa waved at a very lost looking Draco. He walked over, and gave his mother a hug. The driver took his bags, and put them in the trunk, then opened the door again for the two of them. Draco ducked into the car, and laughed upon seeing Lixella.

"you…you would be here." he exclaimed.

"apparently my aunt and uncle are at the ministry, facing a trial" she said, looking down.

"oh, wow…it's okay, I don't think they'll find anything. I mean it's just your uncle that's a death eater isn't it?"

"Yeah, but he's there, nonetheless"

"I'm sorry…they'll be okay." he said and hugged her. They left Kingscross station, and headed off towards Malfoy manor. Lixella stared out the window, she'd never really seen the country side of England, on the ground, since her aunt preferred to travel by flying carriage. It was lovely, the trees passed by her window, masking the sunlight. The roadways were small and winding.

"I think my dad owned a car like this one" she mentioned.

"Oh? Does he?" Narcissa said curiously.

"Well, it looks like this one. It's actually a shadow car. He drives it at night to avoid muggles. It can camouflage itself into the darkness."

"I've heard of those, they're very rare, and cost quite a bit."

"My dad had a love for cars. They were a passion of his. We have a full garage of them underneath our house, in America." Lixella remembered the many summers they had spent going out on drives through the city. Her dad was a wonderful driver, and always kept his cars in top condition. She missed her dad so much, she would never spend another summer driving with him.

They arrived at Malfoy manor. Lixella exited the car and nearly gasped. The house was quite large, and lovely. The manor towered over her, she always thought that Cruxshade manor was large, but it didn't have the vertical extreme that this house had. The house was one large square. Like the Cruxshade manor, it was made of stone, but instead of being green, it was grey. The entrance was white marble, with large columns. Lixella could not believe that she had forgotten what this house looked like.

"Bring back any memories?" Draco asked as he stood next to her, "You actually spent quite a few summers here when you were younger. It's a real shame that you can't remember any of them."

"I can remember that one. It's the only memory I have" she said as they headed inside.

"That was the last time I ever saw you." he said, "well, until this year, of course."

"strange huh? To think that the only memory I can recover is leaving your house, that last time."

The inside was just as dazzling. The floors were black and white tiled, with a large staircase against the right wall. It had high ceilings, and many doors. Just as they entered, Narcissa came rushing out of the study, on the left. She was walking with a piece of parchment in one hand, looking very worried. She stopped in front of Lixella and Draco.

"I have bad news" she said with a heavy sigh, "you're uncle…"

"Oh god! He's in Azkaban…" Lixella covered her mouth anxiously.

"No…they're putting him under surveillance."

"Pardon? I've never heard of that before"

"It means they're putting watchers in your house." Lixella looked at her confused.

"Watchers are like surveillance cameras, they allow the ministry to monitor a certain vicinity, for a set period of time." said Draco, "Basically they are watching your family, and what they do. It's a nasty thing to do to someone, invade their privacy."

"Anyways, your aunt isn't sure if she wants you there, while the watch is going on." Narcissa turned to Lixella, "She says that they may question you about your family, and your parents. Since they were suspected death eaters as well."

"Well, then where am I going? How long will this take?" Lixella asked.

"I told them that you could stay here." Narcissa said, "the watch should end sometime after Christmas."

"Oh, thank you!" Lixella said, "are you sure, I don't want to intrude!"

"No, it's fine. Your aunt was a great help to us when we were searched a few months ago, it's the least I can do. You'll have to go get your things, though, anything you don't want them messing with."

"Okay, thank you so much Mrs, Malfoy. This is so nice of you!"

"Like I said, it's not a problem. If we don't help each other, we'd all be sunk. Now, Draco, go take Lixella to her guestroom. I'd say the one two doors down from you."

Draco nodded, and they headed up the stairs. The room was a bit smaller than the one she had at Cruxshade manor. The walls were covered with dark blue textured wallpaper. There was a large window that overlooked the back of the house. On the windowsill, was a bench, adorned with black velvet curtains, and royal blue pillows. The bed was a queen size, cherry oakwood, with a royal blue silk comforter, and white pillows. There was a closet near the door, and another door next to that one, that lead to a bathroom.

"Wow, this is lovely." she said

"Yep, I'm right down the hall too. So, that's a perk" he said with a sly smile. Lixella elbowed him in the side. "What?" he said, "I think that living next to me should be a plus."

"Well, that's because you are full of it!" she exclaimed, sitting on the bed. She was unhappy that she was changing locations for the second time that year. This was her 3rd bedroom, not counting the Slytherin dorm. She couldn't believe that she had been pushed out of yet another home. However, this time she was pushed out by the ministry, instead of her parent's death. The minister must be pretty unhappy with her uncle.

"I can't believe that I'm getting pushed out of my house, for the second time this year!"

"Well," Draco said sitting next to her, "you do know why you are really here for the winter, right?" Lixella stared at him for a bit.

"No!" she gasped, realizing why, "this can't be his doing?"

"Open your eyes, Lixella" he said, brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes, "everything up until now, and from now on, is his doing. He's got you trapped, right here at death eater headquarters. There's no way that you can say no to him now."

Lixella stared at the ground. She couldn't believe that the past few events in her life had been planned by Voldemort, just to get her here. She had walked right into a trap, and was completely oblivious of it.

"I wish I wasn't me, right now." she said, burying her face in her hands.

"don't we all" said Draco, wrapping his arms around her. He hugged her tight, "he may have you marked by your first meeting."

"Oh boy….just what I wanted for Christmas!" she said, leaning in closer. "do you know when that is?" she asked hesitantly.

"Most likely in a few days. Once he knows that you're staying here, he'll have to come and brand you."

"So, does it hurt?" she asked

"Oh yeah!" he said, "like needles, just pricking you a hundred times in one spot!"

"Thanks for the description" she said sarcastically.

"Sorry"

The two of them sat there for a few hours. Draco tried to explain what meetings were like, and schooled her in more etiquette.

"Try not to scream, when he marks you. It's kind of degrading if you scream. Also, you have to address him as 'Lord', not 'sir'. He got pretty angry about that one time. He may also kill a few people during a gathering, so be prepared to see some awful things. He likes to 'set an example' for the rest of his followers. I won't lie, this isn't going to be pretty. Oh, and be careful what you say around my aunt Bellatrix, she's kind of in love with him."

"this sounds complicated. I have to be unafraid while cowering, I can't scream during painful things, and I may have to do something terrible to someone I care about. Why would anyone want to be a death eater out of choice?"

"Approval, mostly. He takes people who are desperate for approval, and gives them someone who's approval they have to work at to earn. Everyone has their weaknesses, some more than others."

Lixella breathed in a heavy sigh. She was caught in a problem that was unfixable. She would just have to survive being here. It was terrifying, thinking that someone wanted to use the banshees through her. They wouldn't' be protected, like she promised. How could she protect them, her life had been planned since that awful summer of her childhood. She was always doomed to fail, but she refused to give up. She swore to herself that she would find a way out of this terrible mess. But, for now, she would just have to follow whatever Draco said, and get through the worst part. She scooted a little closer to him.

"It'll be okay." he said, and kissed her on the cheek.


On to chapter 13! it's an unlucky number, so I'll have something unlucky happen XD

oh, just to warn you guys...my university will be starting back up from break soon! I'll still be updating, but it might not be every single night, so bare with me!

and thank you for all of the support to this point, this is my most reviewed, and best reviewed story!

see you soon! bye!