Golly you guys, chapter 22 already! This is coming along nicely, we're fast approaching the end of the year, and the big finale.

I've decided to make a sequel to this, with a bit more about Lunareth in it!

Also, thanks to Katchile94, andEvaReads for the favorites

and, DizzyPotter, Ikisha, xXMizzAlec VolturiXx for the reviews (I shall respond at the end!)

Enjoy!


Our Time is Running Out

Parchment 22: Eureka, it works!

Jynx sat at the work table, staring blankly at the many thousands of papers in front of her. She was stuck in detention, with two people she despised. Professor Snape was the first, the second, Blaise Zabini. Now, Jynx understood her hatred towards Professor Snape, all things considered, he wasn't exactly everyone's favorite teacher. However, her hatred for Blaise originated from something entirely different, association. She hated Draco Malfoy, therefore, since Blaise was one of his mindless little followers, she hated him too. She never had much more of a reason than that. Then again, she never needed more of a reason.

She peered down at the potions list in front of her. Professor Slughorn had asked Snape if he could use her and Zabini for a project of his. Since Snape had been doing detention with Harry for the past few Saturdays, he was more than happy to give them both a job. She was required to alphabetize the supply shelf. Once she had the cards in order, Blaise was required to find their matches, and move items accordingly.

"I can't believe that I'm stuck here on a Saturday" Blaise said, unpleasantly, "and with you!"

"Dried dragon dung" she read aloud, "Aw' look…There's a lovely picture of you next to it!"

Blaise took the card and there, next to the words, was a picture of a Dragon's backside.

"Oh, Clever one" he said sarcastically, "Twat"

"Bettah than what you're comin' up wit'?"

"Really, who uses dried dragon dung as an ingredient?" he asked staring at the card in confusion. Jynx chuckled, and flipped through a few.

"Here's a good one" she said, handing it to him.

"Troll Sludge?" he squinted, making sure he had read it correctly.

"Yep!" Jynx laughed, "Ya gotta wondah what he's doin' with all of this!"

"Ick, potions teachers just bother me sometimes," he handed her the card.

"Yeah, really"

They spent the afternoon alphabetizing cards, having a laugh every time they found a good one. It was, in fact, a rather pleasant Saturday for both of them. They were dismissed just before dinner. After deciding that they were both starving, they headed down to the great hall.

"Full of it?" Jynx asked, taking a sip from her water glass, "I never would've thought, you would find Draco to be full of it."

"What?" Blaise asked in shock, "he's completely full of it! Why wouldn't I think that? it's not hard to see."

"Well, you're one a his righ' hand guys. I just assumed you were, ya know, jus' as thick headed!"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty stubborn guy. But, I'm not some minion, I mean, I'm sure there are things about your friends that you don't like."

"o' course not…" she said a bit taken back.

"Oh, come on, everyone's got a critique for everyone else. What about, Lixella?"

"Well" Jynx pondered, "She is a bit, ovah everythin'. Like, she's really strong willed, but I think it's so strong tha' she has a hard time takin' opinions from otha's, ya know. She doesn't really…critique herself, much. An' she really values her brain…which is why she hates people who can't think fa' themselves."

"Must be why she hates Pansy so much."

"Naw" Jynx said, pushing her food around with her fork, "She hates Pansy, 'cuz Pansy spat on her. I mean, Pansy is pretty judgemental, but I think Lixella is as well…Well, Bloody hell!" She said, stabbing her fork into her steak.

"What?"

"You've got me bad mouthin' Lixella! Is this a joke?" She stood up, and leaned over the table, until her face was inches from his. "If this is a ploy, so you can go off an' make fun of her" she pointed her knife towards his face, "I'll beat you 'till you're blue!"

"No!" said Blaise, intimidated by the knife's distance from his face. "I was just asking. Trust me, there are plenty of things that I don't' like about my friends." Jynx sat back down, slowly, eyeing him.

"Really, I mean, damn" he said, "I'm sure you could go on all day about Draco."

"Oh yeah, I could!"

"Exactly, tha's what I mean. I see the exact stuff you see, I'm just better at putting up with it."

"Oh, Really?"she questioned, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I mean, he's that way for a reason. You're the way you are for a reason, so am I, so is Lixella. It's not like any of us were born without flaws. He just seems to…act more, on his flaws."

"Ya know, you ain't half bad of a guy" Jynx said, getting up from the table.

They made their way down the hall, and towards the Slytherin dorm. Jynx was happy to know that at least one other person in Slytherin, wasn't a complete ass. They sat down in the common room and began their homework, having small conversations about their lives.

"Nope, I hate him 'cuz he made fun of my friend Ariel. I don't know if ya remember her, she was the weird girl, who was damn good at potions. She switched schools afta' a plant nearly chopped her arm off in Herbology."

"Ah!" Blaise said, "Ariel Boylan, I remember her. Didn't talk much, when did that happen? Like, third year?"

"Yep" Jynx stared at her Herbology book, "I never really forgave him for that. It wasn't like he really knew her."

"It's not like he really knows a lot of people. I mean, he does, but they're all the wrong ones, I think. Keeping up appearances, ya know?"

They both turned back to their text books. About an hour past before the common room was completely empty. Jynx had fallen asleep on the couch, her textbook still open in her lap. Blaise just sat there, trying his hardest to concentrate on his potions homework, and failing. He peered over to Jynx, a small smile forming on his face He liked this girl, she seemed to have some kind of spark to her. It was something that Blaise hadn't seen in a girl for a long time. Most of the girls he'd met in Slytherin, all seemed to just complain about their lives, or about the lives of their friends. Jynx, for him, was a nice breath of fresh air. With her "take no shit" kind of attitude, she truly was her own original person. His gaze shifted to the clock on the wall, it was getting to be around 7 p.m.

"Where the bloody hell is he?" he asked under his breath.

He hadn't seen Draco since he left this morning to attend his detention with Jynx. It was unhealthy, he thought, how much time Draco spent on his 'mission'. Then again, he halfway thought that he locked himself in there just ot be alone with Lixella for a few minutes. He had no actual idea of what had been going on all year. Just that Draco had been assigned a very important task, and that Lixella had, somehow, been pulled into it.

~In the distant Room of Requirement~

The cabinet just stood there, taunting the both of them. They stared back at it, confused, and tired.

"How?" Lixella yelled, "How are you this complicated? You're just a damn cabinet!"

"welcome to my year" sneered Draco.

Lixella circled around the cabinet once more, then gave it a hard kick.

"Work!" she shouted. She stumbled backwards, hitting into a pile of chairs. She just stared back at the cabinet, dumbstruck.

"That bloke Burke said he'd have it fixed by now" said Draco, "and your uncle, isn't he supposed to be helping?"

"Yeah…" Lixella said, cradling her head in her hands, "He is…"

Lixella began to ponder if her uncle was doing anything to help.

"He said that your father told him 'only a true Cruxshade can fix it' , surely he meant you, right?"

"yeah, I guess" she was trying to put it all together in her head. She'd never watched her father mend the cabinet, it always just worked for him. Then it hit her, like a sack of bricks.

"Why the hell did my father need to come to Hogwarts?" she asked aloud.

"What?"

"My father had no business here, so why would he need to travel here? Draco, how long has this been here?"

"I dunno, a boy got lost in it last year, that's how I heard about it."

"I learned on the one in bourgin and burke when I was 11, it's been 6 years since then. So this one must've moved. Perhaps, there's nothing wrong with it, at all" she paced the room.

"oh no…" said Draco, "There's something wrong, obviously!"

"No, not with this one, it's just been moved. If only I could get to the other one, then I could see if there's anything wrong with it."

Several seconds past, they both just stared at the cabinet.

"That's it!" yelled Lixella, she looked over to Draco, "send me!"

"You're mad…how will you get back?" he asked

"I'll travel back through it…I'm sure I can fix it, if I can figure out what's wrong on the other side."

"I'm not risking you coming back in two pieces, Lixella, or without your insides." he stared at her, confused, "I'd like to keep you in one piece, if you don't mind?"

"Just do it, Draco" she said, climbing into the cabinet, "clearly there's nothing wrong with sending, it's the other one, sending it back. I just have to have a look at it. So send me…or would you rather tell Voldemort you decided to keep me around instead of going through with the mission?"

Draco shuddered at the sound of his name, "Fine, get in"

"Do not mutter the return incantation" she said, "I'll do it myself. Just wait for me, okay?"

He nodded.

Lixella climbed into the cabinet. There was a weird sensation of her floating, everything became white, as she drifted across a strange tunnel. Suddenly, she landed on a wooden surface. She opened the door, and peered out. Sure enough, she was in Bourgin and Burkes, completely whole. She stepped out of the cabinet, and looked around for any people. She seemed to be in a cellar. It was dark and smelled like musty wood, and dust. The cabinet before her resembled the one at the school. Lixella looked around it, checking for damages.

Her eyes moved across the black wooden finish, then stopped suddenly, on a small indention beside the key hole. It had been carved into a small willow tree. Something triggered her memory, and she pressed a finger to the keyhole. Suddenly, a compartment opened on the bottom of the cabinet. Lixella peered through the crack, there seemed to be something wedged inside of it. She squeezed her pointer and thumb into the compartment. After several minutes of failed attempts at fishing for the item, she caught it, and yanked it out. To her surprise it was a piece of parchment, she quickly unraveled it.

To the true Cruxshade,

Only you would be able to remember the compartment I showed you. I've only ever told one person about this, so only you could find it. I always intended to give this to you, my darling daughter. I hope it serves you well in life. If you are reading this, it means that I am no longer on this earth. If so, then, I would like to tell you that I love you, my Lixella. You are the light of my life, as well as your mother's. We love you with all of our hearts. Keep your mother close, love your aunt and uncle, and above all, my dearest daughter, do not forget to love in return.

Good bye, Lixella

William Cruxshade

(your loving Father)

Lixella was nearly to tears. Even in death, her father had managed to help her through her struggles. She missed him desperately. She flipped over the parchment, on the back were instructions on how to work the vanishing cabinet. It was complicated, but possible. She climbed back inside, knocked on the door three times with her wand, and chanted the incantation that her father had scribbled. She chanted it 4 times out loud, and then 4 times, inaudibly. She felt a floating sensation, as she drifted through the tunnel again. She landed on the wooden floor, and opened her eyes. She checked to make sure she had come back in one piece, pulling everything out of her pockets. Then, the door opened.

Draco's jaw nearly fell to the floor. Lixella was waving at him, in one complete piece. A smile formed across his face. He let out a rather excited scream, and reached in to grab her. He hoisted her up into the air, and sat her back down.

"H-How did you?" he asked, examining the cabinet once more.

"My dad, he seems to be very good at keeping secrets" she said, holding up the parchment.

"Bloody hell…" he laughed, "of course! You're a genius!"

He picked her up in a hug, and spun her around a few times. Once he stopped, he leaned forward and gave her the longest, most enthusiastic, kiss that she'd ever received. He then began jumping around the room, whooping with excitement. His cheers echoing through the room.

"Hello" a voice called from a distance, "is someone there?"

"Shit!" Draco spat, under his breath, "someone got in here? How?"

He suddenly dashed around a corner. Lixella followed closely behind him. He stopped beside a large wardrobe. She peeked around the side, and saw professor Trelawny, pacing the room in confusion. Then, Draco removed something from his pocket, and threw it towards her. Everything went pitch black. He ducked around the wardrobe, and darted in front of professor Trelawny. Lixella looked around, unsure of what to do. Then, she saw a glimmer of light, and heard the doors begin to close. A hand grabbed hers, and they both sprinted out of the exit. Luckily, no one had seen them. They dashed around a few corners, and ducked into a nearby classroom.

"That was close" Draco said, releasing her from a tight embrace. He peered his head out of the classroom door, and saw nothing.

"Do you think she saw us?" asked Lixella.

"No" he said, "but she might go tell someone. If she does then…then we'll have to do it tonight, and really soon."

"tonight?" Lixella whispered, "I don't know, Draco. Do you think you're ready?"

"Yeah" he said as he leaned down and kissed her, "I'm going to do it. I'm going to prove to everyone that I can do it. Tonight, I'll finally be able to prove myself."

"But, Draco" she started, "You really don't need to…I mean, is it really necessary that you do this?"

"Yes, Lixella, I can do this. I'm tired of everyone saying I can't. I have to prove them wrong!" he stared into her dark purple eyes, "Plus, if I don't, he'll kill you…he'll kill you, and my mom, and my dad…he'll kill me. I don't have a choice."

"Just know that you're better than this" she said, "You're so much better than this."

"I can do this, Lixella. Now, come on, we have to alert everyone else."

They sped back towards the room of requirement, checking for lurkers. Once they had entered, Draco removed a coin from his pocket, and proceeded to whisper to it. Lixella didn't really have time to ask questions, for she was being pulled between towering piles of random objects. They reached the vanishing cabinet after a few minutes.

"They're getting to Bourgin and Burkes" he said, "When they get there, I want you to go through and retrieve them. I've told them that you have the instructions, so have them ready to use."

They waited for a few more minutes, and eventually Draco stood up, motioning for Lixella to enter the cabinet. She nodded, and turned to open the doors. Suddenly, He grabbed onto her sleeve and pulled her back around. She went flying into his chest, and he caught her lips on his, kissing her with as much passion as he could.

"I don't know what's going to happen tonight" he said, pulling away, "but, whatever does, I promise, I'll make you and everyone else, very proud."

"Draco" she said, brushing one of his hairs back into place, "I am already, and will always be, so very proud of you. Just…please…promise me you won't, make the wrong decision."

"Of course not" he said. He kissed her one last time, and helped her into the cabinet.

"and, Lixella" he said, before closing the doors, "I love you, know that!"

"I love you, too, Draco" she said. He closed the doors.

She chanted the incantation in her head, and landed in Bourgin and Burkes. She removed the parchment from her pocket, and opened the cabinet doors.

"Hello, little Lixl…" said Bellatrix from outside, "Sorry"

Suddenly, Bellatrix snatched the parchment from her hands, and shot a spell at her. Lixella toppled over, landing on the ground, unconscious.


Uh oh! Cliffhanger! can you pull yourself back up?

Thanks for reading guys!

Ikisha: Thank you, I'm only here to entertain!

xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Blaise and Jynx, are you psychic?NO SPOILERS! okay, maybe a few ^_^

Dizzy Potter: Yeah, I kind of really hate Pansy in the books! plus, Draco needed a boost before going off to kill Dumbledore, he's had a bad year. Also, YOU ARE NOT ANNOYING! I adore the reviews on every chapter! please continue ^_^

Also, please review guys, I know that's such an annoying statement, but the only reason that this is so long is because of the good feedback the first 3 chapters brought me ^_^

See you guys soon!