disclaimer: J.K. Rowlign owns Harry Potter and its characters... This story is a work of fanfiction and mine including the new characters

Chapter 14: Surprise, Surprise

All through November, Draco and Alina continued their lives in the same way. They kept their relationship private and minimal. Minimal of course, because of Alina. Occasionally they'd take their afternoon rides over the grounds, and once or twice they went to Hogsmeade together. Harry, Hermione, and especially Ron were, to say in the least, nicely surprised that they hadn't had to deal with one annoying encounter with a particular ferret. There seemed to be an unknown agreement to ignore each other that worked out to pleasure of everyone. Still, Draco was hardly satisfied with how things were. He was a Slytherin for Merlin's sake, a man- he was known for his hot, short temper. Yet he waited, chastising himself every time he felt the urge to do more than she wanted.

Inside, Alina was fighting a long, hard battle. She had finally accepted her feelings for Draco, but other feelings were still there, deep in her heart and they were difficult to dig out. To keep herself distracted, she planned a little surprise for Draco. Selena began to help and together they organized a complete Thanksgiving meal. Well, a miniature one, but nonetheless a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. At the end of the month, she came down to breakfast, more cheery than he had ever seen her.

"Should I be worried?" he gave her a suspicious look as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't eat too much today, okay? And dress nicely tonight."

"For what, may I ask?"

"I'm making you dinner."

"Say what-"

"Ta ta." she laughed and he stood there, watching with amazement as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Swear the girl's a maniac." Still, the prospect of skipping a meal in the Great Hall to be with Alina the whole night was appealing. Upon declaring that he would go along with her scheme to himself, he went upstairs to get the box.

"Bloody hell- how long did it take you?"

"Five hours. By hand. Well, okay a little magic to clean up and to hurry things up but still, all homemade. Selena helped. She says to leave her some leftovers."

"Will do." he said and looked at her. She was gorgeous- her black hair was finally let down and it framed her face oh so perfectly. She wore a teal chiffon dress and a silver necklace that he recognized- she always wore it when she was depressed or in the mood for being silent. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case tonight. Not knowing how "nice" he was supposed to dress, he wore a green button up shirt with black pants.

"Thank you," Alina said as he seated her at the table overflowing with food.

"Now, uh, what is all this, and what for?"

"Thanksgiving, obviously. The way we 'Americans' do it."

"Ah- I see. Your attempt to fatten me up and make me a homeless, jobless hobo living in the alleys."

"How did you know?" she laughed. The night went by peacefully, with no interruptions until the end...

"Okay, but only tonight, and don't go trashing the- mmm- what is that smell? Oh-" Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all came to a halt in front of Draco and Alina, the former who had a disgusted and annoyed look on his face, and the latter who was blushing profusely. "Oh- I'm sorry- I didn't know- um-"

"It's fine." Alina said quietly, attempting to smile.

"Uh- well then-" the moment was becoming increasingly awkward by the second.

"Sweet! They've got peach cobbler and taters and- OW- what? What did I do?" Ron rubbed his arm where Hermione had slapped him.

"Well- we'll be going now...won't we?" Hermione gave Ron a look.

"You don't have to, we have plenty for you to eat," Draco shot Alina a look as she spoke. "In fact, we'll go and you all can help yourselves." She started to get up and Draco followed suit.

"Oh no, no, it was our fault, really you don't have to-" Hermione protested, obviously flabbergasted for lack of knowing what to do.

"It's fine." Alina said firmly and the group watched Draco take her hand and guide her up the stairs to his room.

"Well that was bloody uncomfortable."

Hermione hit Ron hard upside the head. "You think?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything-"

"Whatever-" the two continued to bicker while Ginny and Harry looked at each other.

"That was uncomfortable." Ginny said.

"And odd. And strange." Harry added.

"Yeah.. I hardly know anything about Alina though.. I only know Selena. They seem pretty different." Things between Ginny, Selena, and Harry had settled down since the incident, although there was still some tension between Harry and Selena, surprisingly, since Ginny and Selena had managed to remain friends.

"Same- can't believe Draco seems to have a heart."

Ginny said seriously "Me neither... ever since Selena and Alina have come here it's been a whirlwind of unexpected things." Harry nodded and the subject was dropped as the four reluctantly (well, only Hermione was reluctant) ate what was left over of the feast.

Upstairs in his room Draco was furious. "Bloody prat." he spat. "They had no right-" Alina interrupted him, placing a finger on his lips.

"Shh" she whispered. "It's all right- at least you got to taste what my amazing cooking skills can do." He smiled.

"It was delicious," he said and pulled her closer to him. She let him bend his head down to nuzzle his nose against her neck and let him place a soft kiss in the spot between her neck and shoulder. "I've got something for you." he said, pulling away. He reached towards his nightstand and grabbed a huge black box.

"Thanksgiving isn't actually a giving day," she smiled as she placed the box on her lap, sitting on his bed.

"I know- I got it on our first trip to Hogsmeade. Well, to London, actually I think it was. I told you I had some errands to do, remember?"

"That was what you were doing? But you-"

"Didn't know you that well then? I knew there'd be a time when I would want to give something to you. And now I do. Open it." Carefully she lifted the lid off and set it beside her, and removed all the tissue paper that was covering a very large sketchbook. Underneath of it was a set of paints, brushes, and pencils.

"It was hard to find, there aren't many wizards who actually paint by hand. But I saw your drawing of the lake- I must say it beats any portrait within the castle. Though of course it has no moving people in it." She laughed, still speechless. She gazed at all of it, and noticed something in Draco's hand.

"What's that?" she pointed to it. Draco looked down at his hand and looked back up at her.

"Something I wanted to give you by hand."

"More?" she said. "Are you trying to bribe me to get me to sleep with you?"

"No, but if it will work, then there are no objections-" She threw a pillow at him. He caught it. "Nevermind then. Here." He handed her a small, slim case. He watched her intently as she opened it and felt a smile forming on his face as he saw her look of awe and excitement. It was a beautiful necklace, with a chain of white gold. Upon it was a pendant that looked ethereal- it looked like a star- but not the typical stars she doodled on her parchment. It was an abstract shape, and it could've been a flower, she didn't know, but white gold spiraled around it and diamonds and sapphire were embedded in it. Suddenly, she thought she thought she saw something moving inside the star or flower or whatever it was inside the sapphire. She held the necklace closer to her face as she peered inside of it. Alina gasped as she saw two tiny figures flying and dancing inside.

"They're not alive, by the way, just charmed figures." Alina nodded her head slighlty as she watched one of the miniscule (very very very minisicule) figures kiss the other. A small gleam of light shone through the sapphire. Then they started to fly around inside the tiny, precious, gem.

"Oh my God..." she said, obviously awestruck.

"It was my mother's"

"She gave you-"

"No. She lost it, consequently, years ago. She never really noticed nor cared- when she had it then it didn't have those inside of it. Lucky for her she had much to make up for losing it. I was clearing my room out a bit, since I'll be leaving next summer to get my own place, and it was in a large envelope tucked in between the wall and my desk. She probably put it there before I switched rooms and it must've fallen off in between the wall. Anyways, I figured my mom hardly remembered it or needed it. And it would've been worth a lot of money anyways, if I had sold it. But I ended up getting someone to make it better."

"I can't take this Draco,"

"Why not?"

"It's your mother's.. it's too precious- I might lose it or someone might steal it..."

"My mother has one almost exactly like it, though admittedly not as great. And, I don't care if you lose it, I just want you to have it. And I've put a charm on it to keep people from stealing it."

"Do you always have to have an answer to everything?"

"'Actually, yes.'" He answered, imitating her reply earlier. She laughed and he took the necklace, and obediently she turned around, pulling her hair away from her neck. He carefully removed the other necklace and felt her tense slightly and saw her hold on to it tightly as he put the other on her neck, her skin soft and warm.

"Did David give that to you?" he asked as she turned to face him again. She nodded, looking down at it. Of course Draco's was magnificent and exquisite, but taking off David's necklace was like taking off a part of her.

"Alina, talk." he demanded. She sighed- she really wasn't in the mood to. But seeing the determined look in his eye she complied.

"David and I.. we didn't really have a good break up, needless to say. I think it had been an year and a half since we first started dating. God he was perfect- amazing- everything I wanted. But he wasn't more than I wanted. I know it sounds selfish and spoiled to say it, but it was true. Every single thing was expected... just things were too perfect. Or not perfect enough. And when Uncle Chris died..." she paused momentarily.

"Well I didn't tell him immediately that I was planning on leaving. In fact, I told him only several days before I was going to go. And I had to lie to him- I had to tell him I didn't love him, so it would be easier for him to let me go, so he would hate me which would make it easier for me to go..." she kept her focus on his nightstand, and kept talking.

"And of course it backfires on me because it made it harder... and Selena could've stayed home. She could've kept her life. But I was selfish then too, I didn't want to be alone. I knew she wouldn't let me go by myself so I told her. I never told her she could've stayed... And now I have to tell her after this year that I'm staying an extra year. She'll be graduating with us, she's been taking all seventh year courses now. And I have to lie to her too so that she'll go home without me." She looked at Draco.

"And the worst part is that I should be getting over him.. I've told myself a million times that it's over... I know I didn't like some things about him that much, but when I came here I wanted to believe that we had the perfect relationship and it was ruined because I was alone here. But now that I - now I think that if I'm with you" she breathed in and out, slowing down. She had almost said those fatal three words.

"If I'm with you.. then... it won't be as good. Or that I'll still love David. That I'll have to hurt and lie to you too. That I'll have to leave you. I promised myself I would'nt do that- couldn't do that to anyone." She was staring straight at him. Draco looked away.

All because of this one guy, she wouldn't let go of her relationship to start a new one. All because her Uncle died her whole life was wrecked. He turned to look at her again. She wasn't crying, but looked close to doing so. He didn't know if he wanted to deal with all that. He wasn't that kind of person. But the urge to kiss her and hold her and tell her that everything was all right was strong.

"Alina-" he pushed a stray hair out of her face. "Can't you let go of him?" she diverted her eyes elsewhere. He sighed. He knew he'd never be able to find anyone like her again and didn't want to lose her because of some ex-boyfriend. Still, he wasn't about to give her up to anyone else. He was giving up a lot more than she knew and was changing for her. So he stood up, kissed her forehead and helped her up. Taking the hint, she silently walked towards the door. Before she left, she turned to look at him, who was leaning with his arms folded on the window sill.

"I'm sorry."

"Not the first time." he replied, without turning to look at her. She closed her eyes, a few tear drops falling down her face. The four Gryffindors were still there, and they heard her exit the room. Without looking at them she entered her own dorm.

"Oi. What's up with her this time?" Ron wondered out loud.

"I hope it's not our fault," Hermione said anxiously.

"Most likely Draco's, knowing him," said Harry.

Alina collapsed onto her bed and cried. She heard every last comment and burst into tears. It wasn't Draco's fault, it was her own idiotic, miserable self. She finally felt she understood how pathetic Selena had felt only a month before. "I want to go home." she whispered quietly to herself.

"That could be arranged." said a voice behind her. She saw the light flood into the room momentarily as the door opened and shut. Slowly, frightened, she turned around. As soon as she saw who the voice belonged to, she screamed.

A/N: how was? REVIEW! (please? lol)

and no, the person is not Voldemort.

the necklace idea came from Arwen's necklace in the Lord of the Rings.. i saw a picture of a model of it before and it was hard to describe because i didnt remember it

i just changed the idea around a little bit- it was called the evenstar i think