disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does

A/N: review!

Chapter 21: Farewell

"Now presenting Miss Ginny Weasley." The redhead walked with confidence into the Great Hall, dressed in an exquisite saphire blue dress which contrasted nicely with her hair and brought out her bright blue eyes.

"Now presenting Miss Selena Thomas," After a quick hug with her sister, Selena entered, with grace and poise. She was wearing an emerald green dress, which matched perfectly with her eyes and complemented her dark brown curls.

"Now presenting Miss Hermione Granger," Applause began as she came in, dressed in a scarlett red gown with a simple gold necklace. Finally, Alina stood in front of the huge doors to the Great Hall. She anxiously thought about where Draco was. Was he already there? Would he be there to take her hand as she walked in? And who was Selena's date? She hadn't told her yet. Was David going to the ball? If he was, who was his date? The numerous questions that flickered in and out of her mind were driving her insane. "Now presenting-"

"Hold on," she told the announcer. He merely nodded and watched her as she breathed in and out, exhaling and inhaling deeply. She was feeling slightly dizzy. She hadn't eaten all day, feeling close to puking every single time she saw food. Her temperature was up, definitely, but she knew that her sister was waiting for her.

Inside the Hall, Ginny and Hermione and Selena gave each other a look, all wondering what was taking Alina so long. Selena wanted to go back out, but none were allowed to exit until everyone was presented. Draco was waiting in a corner and he saw Selena's worried look and began to worry too. He hoped that how he had acted earlier that morning was keeping her from coming. David was nowhere to be seen, thank Merlin, but all the same it kind of worried Draco, because of the slight possibility that David was with Selena right then, comforting her.

On the other side of the doors, Alina regained her composure and motioned to the announcer to restart, not trusting herself to speak at the moment.

"Now presenting Miss Adelina Thomas!" The doors swooshed open magically and slowly, she walked in. A quiet dispersed throughout the whole Hall. All heads turned to look at her and the sight made Alina slightly nauseous. She was a sight though- like a goddess almost. She wore a floor length white strapless gown that trailed in the back a little. It was form fitting, but more loose towards the very bottom. There was silver and blue embroidery on the edge of the skirt of the dress, and she wore Draco's necklace, which truly shone, reflecting the light of a thousand candles in the room. Her black hair was swept into a loose bun and her eyes shone a blue-gray now. Searching the many faces as she walked further into the room, she found Draco, who was already walking towards her. Attempting a small smile she let him kiss her hand and take her arm, walking her in.

"You look amazing, Alina," he said to her as they started to dance. She nodded her head, trying to keep her head up and her mind clear. "I don't think they have real words to describe you,"

"Decent will do," she said.

"Stunning was more of what I was aiming for," she smiled weakly and rested her head on his shoulder as another bout of dizziness came to her. They danced in silence for quite a while until he finally said "Listen Alina- I'm sorry." His voice was pained, and she could sense a bit of regret and sadness.

"Why?" Alina asked, even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You of all people don't deserve to be ignored. You of all people deserve respect- I didn't give that to you." she said nothing. He continued.

"And you, above everyone else should not have to say sorry for anything, especially when you've done nothing wrong." she remained silent. "Sometimes my pride gets in the way of my stopping you- I don't want to have to admit that I'm sorry and I don't want to have to admit my mistakes- and I've let you blame yourself." Draco began to realize that she was being too quiet. He stopped dancing and made her stand upright. "Alina- can you say something? I know you're mad that I was silent before, but do-" She started to waver a bit. "Woa there-" He held her firmly. "Are you okay? Sh-" he stopped himself, realizing that certain professors were within earshot and that many were staring at Alina in her beautiful dress. "You're burning up like hell- let's go I'll take you to the hospital wing."

For the first time in five minutes she spoke. "No. Draco it's Christmas- can we just stay here? I'm fine, I promise you. Afterwards you can take me to my room, okay?"

"Alina, you're not well at all-"

"I'm well enough," and for emphasis she stood straighter and held her head high. "There's only a few more minutes left of the song. Let's dance." Giving in he agreed and they danced the last few minutes without thinking about anything. "Thank you Draco," she said quietly. Draco took her hand and let her lean on him as they walked out of the Great Hall and to her room.

"Can you give me some time to change out of this dress?" Alina asked.

"I could help you," he said sincerely, seeing that she was a bit pale.

"I'm sure you'd love to," she smiled wanly, "But I'll change by myself. You should change to- and if I remember correctly I have a gift to open from you." she said.

"Right. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I will, don't worry. Can you make me something to eat? I haven't eaten all day," Alina said.

"Why not? Jeez Alina, are you trying to starve yourself?"

' No, just trying to kill myself,' Alina thought dryly.

"What?!" Draco said aloud.

"Woops. I'm just kidding Draco. Can you get me some medicine too?" She pleaded.

"Sure- but don't go anywhere Alina, okay? Just lay down,"

She nodded and watched him as he left. She waited until she was sure that he was all the way down the stairs before she went down to the Gryffindor Common Room, and then left there to head to the entrance. She walked as quickly as she could, even slightly jogging, feeling herself grow weaker by the moment. She had bought herself around 20 minutes, which was barely enough to say goodbye and go back.

"David?" She called as she walked outside into the cool night air. It was snowing now. "You look gorgeous, Alina," she turned around.

"Hey David. Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah, the Portkey is right over there," he pointed towards a small suitcase.

"I guess this is it, then." She said.

"It doesn't have to be, Alina. You could still come with me, right now."

"David, don't do this to me again-"

"I'm not. I know you want to stay here, even though it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. But I guess that's what I've always liked about you," Inside Alina wondered if she should've come at all. "I'm not going to piss you off by asking again. But I do want to give you your Christmas gift."

"Oh, you didn't have to-"

"I wanted to." David said as he pulled at a small box. He opened it towards her and pulled at a small bracelet. It was a simple white gold bracelet, but it was beautiful.

"Thank you David," Alina said. She wasn't planning on wearing it though. She would probably sell it off or give it to Emilie or Selena for her birthday.

"Here, put it on," He undid the clasp and motioned for her to put out her wrist. Reluctantly she held out her arm and watched as he put it on. As soon as he did, the wrist suddenly tightened and she felt herself freeze. 'Wow it must be really cold,' she thought. But then she noticed that she couldn't move a muscle. She tried to yell and it didn't work. Her mouth was frozen in place.

"You really are beautiful Alina. Too beautiful to let go. Don't worry, you'll forget all of this when we get back home." Horrified she watched helplessly as he dragged her to the Portkey, and at the stroke of midnight he held on to her tightly with one hand and grasped the suitcase with the other. She felt herself being pulled in all directions and she thought she heard a voice yelling- it could've been her own voice yelling inside her head, for all she knew. She wistfully hoped that it had actually been David's voice, and that he had accidentally dropped her while he had held the suitcase. In a matter of seconds though, she landed on top of a bed, with David next to her. She looked around. It was familiar to her...it was David's room. In the United States. And the Portkey was nowhere to be seen.

'Crap-' She saw a beam of blinding light directed at her and suddenly- everything went black.

Draco hurried to change out of his dress robes, pulling on sweats and a t-shirt. He scrambled to find the gift and realized that it was most likely already in her room. He ran downstairs to find something for her to eat. He figured a sandwich would suffice for right now and then began to search for medicine. But why did he need medicine? He should know some healing spells that would make her feel better anyways. So without wasting any more time, he rushed upstairs with a sandiwch alone and opened the door, hoping that she had not begun to throw up yet. When he saw that her room was empty he flipped. Alina had never lied to him, ever, but he saw a piece of parchment lying on her bed. How had he not seen it before?

He scanned the letter rapidly and cursed. Why had she gone to say goodbye to David when she was so sick? And why did she lie to him? For a second he thought he should find her and yell at her and David, but then he began to rationalize and thought it might be best to let her say her farewell and talk to her when she got back. But the thought of leaving him alone with Alina for more than a minute killed him and after re-reading the letter he saw that nothing good could come out of them meeting each other. Upon deciding his course of action, he ran as fast as his long legs could take him to the entrance of the school. 'Damn anti-apparating charms' he muttered.

He reached the entrance in under 10 minutes, but as he opened the doors, he saw David grabbing the suitcase, holding Alina. And before he could even yell "no" they were gone. He had made a promise. And he had failed miserably. He regained his senses and turned to rush inside, heading towad the HeadMaster's office. 'How could she lie to me?' he kept on thinking. 'He is going to regret ever laying his eyes upon her,' he said, even though it was his own guilt that was killing him inside.

As he ran, he ran into Selena and Oliver Wood.

"Draco? What the hell are you doing? Where's Alina?"

"That asshole David took her." He said, continuing to run.

"What? When?!" she demanded and started to run alongside him.

"Just now. Get the bloody hell out of my way!" he barked at nearby first years who rushed to move away.

"I'm coming with you-" Selena said. He said nothing and continued to run, but Selena found it hard to keep up. Oliver caught up with her and Draco felt the urge to ask him a question, like why the heck was he there, but he knew there was a time to ask later and ran. 'I swear Alina, you'll be the death of me.'