I know I know! It took me over a month to get this out! But I was unbelievably busy people -.- now that I'm back in Brazil again I can breathe in peace and I'll probably pick up my pace once more. All I can say is, the working-for-disney thing really got me exhausted and I had little time for myself, so yeah…

Ok ok, lol anyway read notes at the bottom ok? Kisses!

And JK owns them

Oh yeah, I'm still beta-less now -.-

--

He woke up completely disoriented and the light that got into his eyes positively made his head hurt, so he shut them again. Five, ten, twenty minutes passed and he still kept them closed, no matter how conscious he slowly became.

Maybe he shouldn't have pushed himself to go to DA last night, it obviously had done him no good. And he was pretty sure he hadn't been able to teach much either, he should have just not gone.

Oh, and what did he get after his sacrifice? He got bloody History of Magic first thing in the bloody morning, that's what.

"I hate Mondays" he croaked out from beneath his sheets.

"We all do mate, care to get up anyway?" Dean Thomas' voice replied in a good mood. Apparently Harry had said that much louder than he thought.

He made another noise of acknowledgement that he was sure sounded at least a bit hostile before finally rolling out of bed like he should have done long ago.

"You look hung-over" Dean said matter-of-factly, arching an eyebrow quizzically.

"Thanks" was all he murmured back before heading straight for the showers, he needed to defrost under very *hot* water.

After a very, very long time he managed to drag himself from under the warmth so he could go to what was left of breakfast and try to get to class in time.

He looked around the common room as he left and felt as though he was inside a bubble. He felt unbelievably detached from all of that – people, study – it was like that feeling of being suffocated was coming back. It suddenly seemed as though he had been dragging himself through every day that year for he felt completely exhausted.

Worries that he had pushed aside started nagging at the back of his head, and he knew there was something important he had forgotten…

--

The sound of loud music and unusual noises was something that he knew didn't make sense. Why was he in a place that had music like that? He was supposed to be… where was he supposed to be again?

He blinked twice, feeling as though he had just woken up, but knowing that it wasn't the case. The dream-like fog that had been tainting his vision began to slowly dissipate as he took in his surroundings.

He was in a room that had very dim light, and though he had never seen this place before it felt like he had. People were talking in loud voices and drunken laughs could be easily heard as well, no matter how high the music was.

He was away from everyone else, sited on a chair in one of the corners of the place. Where in the name of Merlin was he?

He closed his eyes again, trying to not call attention to himself – who knew what those people were up to – and started backtracking all he had done in the past few days… but found he couldn't remember. Last thing he was sure of was… Dumbledore.

"Yeah" he murmured to himself as things started becoming a bit clearer.

Dumbledore had asked him to try and get the werewolves to side with them on the upcoming war, he had gone after them and then…

And then blank. Nothing, not a single memory, he didn't know how he went from there, how he got here, who these people were, or what they were celebrating. Worse, he didn't know for how long he had been there and couldn't remember if he had talked to Sirius or Harry.

'Maybe I've only been gone for a day' he frowned, and looked around once more 'it's like I've drank all my memories away'. He knew that feeling well, it used to happen all the time back in Hogwarts, when all of the marauders would get so unbelievably drunk that they wouldn't remember their own names the next morning, well that and they'd get a bone crushing headache. 'Headache which I don't have right now' he pointed out to himself matter-of-factly, it ruled out that possibility.

Frustrated, he studied the room more carefully, it didn't seem willing to give him any more information, it was just obviously a gathering of complete strangers.

But then Remus saw him, oh that was definitely a familiar face, one that he'd recognize anywhere, even under the dim light. Those scars, those sharp teeth that were know exposed as the man laughed loudly among the others, and specially those big murderous eyes. It was the man that had given him his curse, Fenrir Greyback.

And Remus Lupin hadn't been nearly sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing. However confused he was, he quickly put two and two together and concluded that he was in nothing less than a Death Eater's meeting. Well, party.

Suddenly how he had gotten there and what had happened in the past Merlin-knew-how-much-time became irrelevant. Happy Death Eaters was always a bad sign, and partying Death Eaters was panic-inducing. Something was definitely wrong, and he was sure somewhere hell was breaking loose.

He had to get out of there, that was all he knew, so recalling everything he had learned while sneaking around as a marauder, he started scheming his way out of that devil's celebration.

--

No matter how much he had looked at the silver and green table, the eyes he sought refused to meet his own, which caused him to give up despite his frustration. If Malfoy was refusing to explain himself, Harry was ready to pretend he didn't care.

The blonde's actions, however, also brought rational thinking back to the Boy-Who-Lived. He slowly started fitting the pieces of the puzzle and, in the end, decided that the only scenario that made sense was the upcoming attack. Draco was in it, he was sure of that. He didn't know how the blonde was going to help bring him to his doom – whatever that was – but that seemed like the only reason. He was probably under very specific orders right now, to keep away from Harry.

Or at least that's what the gryffindor kept telling himself. It was unbelievably comforting – however sense it lacked – to think that Malfoy was avoiding him out of orders and nothing else. What said orders would mean, that was a whole different story.

--

"Harry?" Hermione called as they headed to their History of Magic class.

"Hmm?"

"Come" she said in a very suspicious tone, after looking around the hall.

All the daydreaming boy could do before he was dragged away was frown and acknowledge the fact that his red-head best friend wasn't with the two of them as he had thought.

The bushy haired witch kept a grip on his arm and pulled him through the halls then up the stairs, leading him to somewhere he didn't know and all the while Harry let himself be dragged like a rag doll.

Finally they reached the tapestry that guarded the entrance to the Room of Requirements and the fresh emotional wound caused by waking up alone in that place just the other day made the boy finally halt.

"Wait, Hermione, what are you doing? What are we doing here?" he asked, taking his wrist back.

"I heard something, Harry, and I called the DA… " she said in a dismissive voice "Look, I have no idea what's going on with you, you refuse to talk to us no matter what Ron and I have tried. But I think you do remember telling us that something was going to happen this week, and you're so… trapped inside whatever it is you won't tell us that you forgot about the whole thing entirely." She said in a stern and urgent voice.

He immediately wanted to retail, to say she was exaggerating , but kept his mouth shut in the end. He had completely ignored not only his best friends but the feeling that told him something was wrong for the past couple of days, all because Draco Malfoy cut their little arrangement off. He knew he was wrong however he didn't want to admit it.

"… I haven't forgotten, I just… never mind" he sighed in the end "If you're actually skipping class, I guess it's something unbelievably urgent." He shrugged, motioning for them to go inside.

She gave him a stern look but did the walking up and down three times and the door to their meeting room was suddenly there, their mates all waiting behind. Or so Harry thought.

There was nothing but an empty room behind that door.

Said door closed behind him and Hermione leaned against it for a few seconds, as though illustrating that she had no intention of letting him get out.

"Sorry about doing this, I just… I just didn't know how to go about it any other way, not when Ron's always around." She said in a very apologetic tone. Then she finally backed away from the door, going towards him "I know what's going on, Harry and… I want to talk to you about it" the witch said all at once, as though said phrase had cost her half the gryffindor courage she possessed.

The Boy-Who-Lived didn't move a muscle, as though anything could give him away. He wasn't even sure she was talking about that. She could have just concluded something completely different on a complete different subject. Or so he hoped.

"I'm talking about you and… and Malfoy" she said with an expression as though the words had hurt her throat.

His breathing became heavy, betraying his mind's orders to look calm, he definitely couldn't control himself when the subject was said slytherin. Still he didn't say anything, he didn't want to, he was still hoping she was referring to something else. After all, why now? Why today of all days she had to approach him about it? When he was trying with all his might to focus on the upcoming battle and forget how broken the blond had left him.

"Harry… say something, please"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked with a trembling voice. "Aren't you the one who dragged me here? I thought you were the one who had something to say" he said with a colder voice than he had intended.

"Oh, Stop acting like this!" she said with a pained voice "Stop pushing me away, Harry, I just want to talk to you."

She approached him and laid a hand on his arm looking up to meet his eyes with hers "What did he do to you? How did this happen? Please, Harry, I need to know." the girl pleaded with true worry in her eyes "When did it start… you… you… are… you're seeing him… aren't you, Harry?"

That definitely stung. He didn't know how to react, he was mad that anyone would suggest he was seeing the slytherin when said boy avoided him like plague, when they met in hidden places, when they lied and pretended it wasn't happening. And he couldn't believe that Hermione was talking to him about his worst enemy and their apparent relationship when that meant she had probably seen him.

"No" he answered as firmly as he could. It was true, no matter how his heart hurt thinking about it. "You've got it all wrong, Hermione" this time it came out much less convincing.

"Harry, I told you this so many times already. We've been through everything together, why do you think you've got to hide? I wish you'd stop lying to us! Something is destroying you, he is destroying you, Harry. He's making you completely vulnerable, look at yourself! If something was to happen, how are you going to defend yourself in this state? Have you forgotten everything we're fighting for?"

The accusations hurt him much more than he could say, the Draco that existed in their little world, she didn't know him. She had no right to say those things.

"I already told you, you've got it all wrong!" he repeated backing away from her touch.

"Then tell me! Tell me why you've changed so much ever since these stupid detentions started, tell me what's that look you have in your eyes when you see him, tell me what you were doing with him here just this Friday."

That was as good as a slap on his face, to have his own best friend bring up Friday's event so casually.

"You guys are following me now?" he demanded, unable to think about the mentioned date for another second.

"No, But when you disappeared from History of Magic with him Harry, it was kind of hard to miss. I got worried, I thought you were going to do something hasty like you always do when it comes to Malfoy. And when I looked for you on the map, I couldn't find you… and I couldn't find him either. Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I thought he had captured you, I thought something serious had happened, but then I remembered how you can't see when people are in the room of requirement so I tried to get in there… and it wouldn't open for me. Which meant it was already occupied… by the two of you." She explained methodically, closing the space between them once more "Tell me I'm wrong, Harry, and I'll believe you. Look at me in the eye, stop hiding, and tell me" she demanded with a very serious tone.

And all the suddenly-turned coward of a gryffindor could do was look away from her and mutter "…and when are you ever wrong?"

She turned her face away from him like a betrayed lover. "It really is true, then" she said as though a tiny bit of hope inside of her had expected him to deny it all. "Oh, Harry" her expression turned into a sympathetic one and she felt torn between an involuntary feeling of betrayal and a need to help her best friend through something unimaginable like this.

She had never imagined, for so many reasons, that Harry would get involved with someone like Draco Malfoy, she had never dreamed of it. She had ignored the feeling that had been nagging in the back of her mind because he had seemed happy for some days, but when he came in through the portrait that Friday, looking soulless once again, she knew she had to do something. She knew it was time she faced that unexpected scenario.

"And you ask me why I didn't say anything, yeah, look how well this is going" he said sarcastically, referring to her almost offended face.

"It's not like that, I'm just… I'm…shocked, and can you blame me?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders, looking at him again. "But I rather know about this then see you struggling with whatever is happening, you can… talk to me about it. I won't… I won't judge you, Harry" she said with a sincerity she hadn't even known she could muster towards such a subject.

They weren't shallow words, no matter how Harry felt angry at the moment, he could tell Hermione meant it. And after all Malfoy and his father had done to them, to their friends and family, he knew it took amazing amount of will power to sound half as supporting as she was showing herself at the moment.

He breathed in heavily, trying to calm down, trying to see the situation from her point of view and so his anger slowly dissipated, and he was able to get a hold of part of his rebellious feelings.

"Hermione, I-" he began, ready to let out all that was trapped in his throat and heart.

But it was as though his willingness to open his heart to his best friend left it more vulnerable to other people as well, mainly, one Dark Lord.

It began as it always did. The entire room around him faded and he saw the bushy haired witch's alarmed expression as his body gave away without much explanation. As simple as that and he wasn't there anymore.

He saw a dark room, cold-looking walls, he knew the place very well, it was the room with the glass spheres. He walked down till he saw the number that meant something to him, ninety-seven. That was right, that was where he was supposed to go. Down the aisle he went, he was determined, his mind was set, he was here to take something and he refused to leave without it.

The sight of a man on the floor made him smile in the cruelest way; he was rather pleased by the way the wounded man looked. He was certain he'd get his way, no matter what it took.

"Time is passing, werewolf" a cold, hard voice left Harry's mouth, it sounded morbidly pleasant. "The longer you make me wait…" it drifted off.

The man before him breathed with difficulty as though it took his entire strength to do so. He lifted his face to look at Harry, his expression was defiant, but he said nothing. It was his father, the gryffindor noticed, even in that dark room and even though the man's face was dirty with blood, Harry knew those amber eyes.

The unwillingness of his victim made him angry and so he lifted his wand at once, and a harsh "Crucio" escaped his lips.

He laughed as he watched his father scream and try to get away, "Scream as you wish, Lupin!" he urged with a sadistic grin "No one will hear you, no one will come for you" he said over the man's hoarse voice. "And you better drop this before I lose my patience" he said word by word as he lifted the curse. "You shall give me what I cannot get for myself and you will do it now" he ordered with a strict voice.

But Remus just looked at him with the same expression as before "You won't get it from me!" he spat to the Dark Lord.

"Very well, have it your way then…"

The wand was raised one more time and suddenly Harry felt like he was being sucked out of the scene. Everything was became further and further away, like he was zooming out of it and finally his eyes shot open as he fell back onto the floor in the Room of Requirements.

He could barely think, he could barely remember what he had been talking about with his worried friend mere minutes ago. The image of his father was enough to clear his mind of all else and all he wanted to do was bolt out that door to do something about it.

"Harry, what was it? Did you see something?" Hermione asked worried as she kneeled down beside him.

"My dad" was all he managed to say after a good minute of rearranging his thoughts.

--

A.N:

Notes on this Chappie:

-I'm 99% sure that none of you know that yesterday (as in Sunday, as in the day after Hogsmeade and the day when DA took place) was march 1st in the fic, lol, but I want to kindly point that out lol just to say that I deliberately decided to ignore the fact that yesterday was Ron's birthday. It just would throw my plot all the way across town. It was something I couldn't really work with, so err… Ron's birthday just isn't march 1st on this fic, alright? XD bear with me lol

-This came out completely different from what I had planned, it just kinda wrote itself o.o So ahm..sorry if it's weird, but yeah, at least the plot's moving now lol

Answer to Reviews

Fantasyfan4ever: Hahaha he's being a jerk ain't he, poor thing lol. Thank you :)

Airlady: Definitely. Thank you!

Nenifer121: Yeye thanks :D yeah I know, small thing it was. You're right about that though xD we're about to actually get somewhere with the plot lolol

sierra's scarlet: Thank you :DDD