A FINAL CHANCE

By: Shadowedheart89

Disclaimer:I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I claim to.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Starting Over

I heard voices everywhere. They were in the room. They were in my head. Some of them were loud, but others were quiet. Some sounded angry, others sounded worried and yet others just sounded confused. I couldn't quite make out what any of them were saying though.

They pulled me out of the thick darkness that I was in. A part of me knew that I wanted to stay in the darkness. It was protecting me. It was stopping whatever pain would be awaiting me as soon as I got out of it. I didn't know what was supposed to hurt me or how I knew that it was going to hurt, but it was an undeniable truth. Yet I also knew that I couldn't just stay in the comforting darkness. For one, it wouldn't be able to protect me forever. Whatever it was that I was hiding from would be able to get to me here, and somehow I knew and understood this. Secondly, there were people that needed me and things that I had to do. I had to help the voices that were calling to me. So I swam through the darkness, trying to reach the voices.

I pried my eyes opened, only to have them burned by the light of the room. I hissed and clamped by eyes closed quickly.

"It's okay. It's dark now," a voice whispered close by. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it at the moment.

Slowly, I opened my eyes again see several people standing around my bed peering down at me anxiously. The faces were blurred and seem to run together so I couldn't immediately identify the people around me.

"How do you feel?" the same voice asked softly.

I looked towards the sound, trying to focus on just that one person and immediately seeing the alabaster face framed with the white blonde hair, and the magnificent blue gray eyes looking at me, clouded over with worry, and a bit of relief. Warmth spread through me at the sight of him, and in an instant froze me as I remembered everything that happened, and what must have been why I was in the hospital wing. "Get out," I croaked at him.

His eyes widened slightly. I was so weak that I could feel everyone's thoughts swirling around my mind, unable to block them out, and while I wasn't really paying attention to any of them, I could still feel his strongest. "Don't do this Marlene. You don't understand," his words were just a mere shadow of the thoughts and feeling swirling around in the boy before me.

I shook my head, refusing to even look at him. I didn't even need to see him to see the desperation that flickered through him. I could see it from the thoughts of the others around the room. I could feel it radiating off of him. I pushed it all aside though, refusing to let it sway my thoughts. "Get out. Stay away from me. I don't want to ever see you again."

"Just listen to me. Just give me one moment to explain," he pleaded with me. He sounded so desperate, and so unlike himself, but I didn't care. He lied and he cheated on me. There was no excuse, and I didn't care why. All I wanted was for him to leave.

"OUT!" I screamed, hearing the sound of bottles shattering nearby, and a few surprised gasps. I glanced around at the other faces looking out, and took notice of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Uncle Albus. At the commotion, Madame Pomphrey came hurrying out of her office.

"Mister Malfoy, I'm going to have to ask you to leave immediately," Uncle Albus said, using his authority as headmaster.

Draco could do nothing to refuse despite how obvious it was that he wanted to. He gave me one last pleading look, and when he saw that I wasn't going to change my mind, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room with his chin held high. He was a Malfoy through and through. There was no way that he was going to let the pain I felt coming from him show in his exterior. Malfoys never show weakness. He might have slipped up a few moments again, but he was quickly pulling together the façade.

"Albus, what are you thinking? How could you let her get so upset upon waking up?" Madame Pomfrey chastised as she hurried over and started examining me.

"It was inevitable. I was unaware of the rift that has formed between Miss Wizidore and Mister Malfoy. Shall I ask the others to leave as well?" he asked me.

I just shook my head. I didn't really care if the others were there or not. "What happened to me this time?" I asked as Madame Pomfrey finished her examination.

"It would appear that you exhausted your magical supply," she told me with a click of her tongue. She gave me a potion and waited patiently for me to swallow it before moving on with the next order of her business.

"You were found lying unconscious in one of the corridors and was immediately brought to the hospital wing. No one appears to know how you got to be in the corridor though." Uncle Albus supplied.

"I was with Draco. We, uh…" I trailed off, feeling myself flush. I was suddenly embarrassed by the situation and I really didn't want to admit to my uncle that my boyfriend had cheated on me, although for some reason I suspected that he might already know. "We had an argument, so I left. I went to the Room of Requirement. I wreaked some havoc there and I might have destroyed a lot of school property," I said, feeling my flush darken even more. "That was the last place I remember being. Who found me anyways?"

"Mister Malfoy," Uncle Albus told me.

I groaned and buried my head in my pillow. I definitely didn't want to owe Draco for anything, especially now. I pushed the feeling of owing him away, figuring that what he did was worse and the least he could have done was to make sure that I was okay, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out how he managed to find me.

"Just lovely," I muttered.

"Are you sure that all that happened was that you were upset?" Uncle Albus asked.

I racked my memory trying to figure out if something seemed off, but I couldn't find anything. "I'm pretty sure. I remember being in the room and things exploding. It started to rain, and there was fire. How much trouble am I in?"

His eyes sparkled down at me. "You are in no trouble. There was no permanent damage. Everything in that room is created as necessary. If you ever were to go back, you would find it working properly and everything fine, unless of course for some reason you needed that specific room again. It must have known that you were in danger, or you subconsciously asked for help and it pushed you outside. I am just very thankful that you decided to go some place where you wouldn't hurt anyone else or draw attention to yourself."

"I can't really say that I was thinking much about anyone else. I just needed to get away from Draco and go somewhere where I knew that he wouldn't be able to find me."

"Well then, I must say that you have excellent instincts and I am most impressed. Though, now that you are awake and well, I have some other business that I must attend to. Enjoy your evening." I watched him as he left the wing, and then turned to the others who remained silent throughout the entire exchange.

"How long have I been here?" I asked.

"Most of the day. Dinner is about to start in like an hour," Harry told me scooting closer to the head of my bed so that he would be closer to me.

"Well at least it hasn't been a couple of days this time," I muttered.

"What did you and Malfoy argue about?" Ron asked, earning him an elbow in his side from Hermione.

"Maybe she doesn't want to tell us," she hissed at him.

"Well she can bloody well say so," he retorted rubbing his side.

"He cheated on me," I told them, effectively ending their argument. All three of their eyes widened.

"Who would be mental enough to get with that git?" Ron asked.

"Some girl from his house named Pansy," I muttered. I was surprised at how good it felt to have friends to talk about this with. I was used to having to keep so much to myself, that it was a relief to be able to have people around who really seemed to care.

"He used to be with Pansy," Hermione said softly.

Ron looked at her incredulously. "Why are you paying attention to the love life of Malfoy?"

"I'm not!" she protested. "I just hear things. I only pay attention to my own love life."

"You have a love life?" he asked surprised.

"Oh course I have a love life! I am a girl you know. Or haven't you noticed?" she was bristling by now.

Ron just stared at her, looking a bit confused. "Malfoy is an idiot," Harry said before Ron and Hermione could continue their bickering.

I shrugged. "Maybe I was just stupid for trusting him. I should have known that there was something wrong, but I never saw it coming."

"It's not your fault. You were willing to trust him when no one else would. That's not a bad thing," Hermione assured me.

Madame Pomfrey came over then, interrupting our conversation by giving me another potion to drink it. After it was all gone, she deemed me well enough to be released from her care, but made me promise that I would take it easy and I would get some food.

As I left the hospital wing, the trio hovered around me. I suppose they were just trying to make sure that I wasn't going to just sit around and mope, and I was thankful that they cared enough to do so, but my mental barriers were weak and I just wanted some time to myself.

"I appreciate everything you guys, but I just really want to be alone for a bit," I told them as we made our way down the hall.

They all just stopped and looked at me. "Oh," Harry said simply, looking away. I could feel that he was hurt.

"It really isn't anything personal you guys. My mental shields are down, and you all think really loudly. I have a huge headache. I just want to go rebuild them and it's kind of hard to do so when I'm around other people."

This seemed to make things a bit better. "Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "I'll be fine, I promise. No more trips to the hospital for a while. I'll be back in the common room long before curfew too," I added to reassure Hermione.

Reluctantly, they left and I made my way outside. As I headed to the doors I wondered absently when Ron and Hermione were going to get together. It was obvious that they both liked each other. They bother were just probably too stubborn to actually admit it aloud. I shook my head laughing to myself at their antics and headed straight for my favorite tree and sat beneath it with a sigh of relief. It was finally quiet. That didn't last for too long though because moments later I heard, "I thought I'd find you here."

I looked up to find Draco standing beside me, leaning casually against the tree as he stared out over the lake. He had his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. A slight wind blew sending strands of his hair into his face, and he looked absolutely gorgeous, as if he were a statue of a god. He must have blocked his thoughts very well for me not to be able to hear him as open as I was. If only he had that much control over his thoughts last night, we wouldn't be in this situation. I quickly discarded that thought. No, I was much better off knowing the truth than just believing a lie, no matter how much it might hurt. "I thought I told you to stay away from me," I said coldly.

"I'm not leaving you alone until you listen to what I have to say," he drawled.

I sighed and leaned my head back against the tree. "I don't really care what you have to say Draco. What's done is done. Why can't you just leave me in peace?"

"I don't want you to be hurt. There is more to the story than you think. After you hear me out if you want nothing to do with me, then I'll leave you alone, but I'm not going to just give up on you."

"Why not?"

"You never gave up on me. You had loads of people telling you that you should just leave me alone and forget about me, but you didn't. I don't want you to just think that they were all right about me."

"I don't care about any of that, and I don't want to hear what your excuses are right now. Maybe you can tell me later, but please, just leave me alone for now," I begged him. My head was throbbing and I was exhausted.

"If I don't do this now, I don't know if I'll ever get another chance."

I shook my head and stood up. "Go away. Now. I mean it Draco." He stood firm, refusing to walk away. Sighing, I cast a series of spells that left him incapacitated and unable to speak. I pulled out my wand and held it to his throat. "I've had a very bad day. I promise you that if you just leave me alone, we can talk in a few days. I'll listen to whatever you want to tell me. But for now, I just want you to leave me alone and stay out of my way."

I added a bit more pressure to the wand at his throat before straightening. "Finite Incantatem Totalus," I said, ending all spells that held him. He stood up gingerly and began to wipe his hands on his trousers. I studied him, waiting for any indication that he was going to retaliate or refuse to leave. I glimpsed something that was on his left arm that wasn't there before. "What's on your arm?" I asked trying to keep my voice steady.

His eyes immediate dropped to his left forearm and he hastily pulled down his shirt sleeve to hide it, but it was too late. I already saw the Dark Mark marring his perfect flesh. "Nothing," he said and I heard a slight tremor in his voice.

I slowly moved closer to him, half expecting him to bolt but he didn't. He just stared at me in wonder. I took his hand in mine and lifted his sleeve to look at the tattoo better. "It looks like you chose your side," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I didn't have a choice," he replied, his voice just as soft.

I met his eyes and was surprised to see his filled with tears. "What do you mean? You always have a choice."

"My choices were to get the Mark or die. I probably made the wrong choice. He's most likely going to end up killing me anyways."

Part of me was angry at him for allowing himself to be branded a follower of the Dark Lord, but I realized that he really didn't have another choice. "Who else knows?"

"Hardly anyone. Only a select few in his inner circle."

"Go to Dumbledore. He can help you."

He laughed bitterly and brushed at the tears in his eyes. "Why would Dumbledore help me? I'm just a Death Eater."

"You are his student. He cares about all of his students, no matter who they are. If you don't want to follow Voldemort, he will help protect you, but he can't do anything if you don't swallow your stupid pride and go to him and ask for help." Despite the fact that he hurt me, I still couldn't bear the thought of him on the dark side or being killed at the hands of the psychopathic Voldemort.

"It's too late. I've already been Marked."

"How long has it been anyways?" I asked.

"I got it right before school started."

"So what did you go to Dumbledore for before?"

He shook his head. "It was about something completely different."

"Did he help you?" He nodded slightly. "So he'll help you with this. Just trust him, unless of course you do just want to be the slave of Voldemort."

"Why are you trying to help me? I thought that you hated me now," he asked softly.

"No one deserves to have their life and choices taken away from them. Not even a bastard like you."

"I didn't have much of a choice in what happened with Pansy either," he said softly, sitting down and drawing his knees to his chest.

I rolled my eyes and sat down too, making sure to keep plenty of space between us. I should have known he would take the opportunity to be able to tell me whatever it was that he had to say. "Let me guess, you were under the Imperious Curse."

He shook his head. "If only it were that. That would have been at least slightly justifiable."

I groaned. "Just get on with it then. I can't wait to wash my hands of this entire business."

"You are on my mind too much. Break is coming up soon, and I'm going to be called to the Dark Lord's lair. You have no idea what it's like to be in his presence. He is terrifying, and he just gets so deep into your mind."

"You do remember that I'm a Telepath, right?" I asked a bit sarcastically.

He glared at me. "It's not like with you. He basically rapes your mind. I couldn't afford to let him see you in my mind. If he did, he would become curious and he'd make me tell him about you. He'd try to recruit you. I got with Pansy to try to protect you. I figured that if I just concentrated on her, he wouldn't see how important you were to me. He'd just think that I was with Pansy."

I couldn't stop the bitter laugh that escaped my lips. "So you slept with Pansy in order to save me?" He nodded grimly and even looked at bit embarrassed. "Why didn't you just ask for my help? Don't you think that of all people, I'd be able to help you?"

His grey eyes caught mind and they were full of turmoil. "How was I supposed to ask for your help without telling you everything? If I had asked, you would have wanted to know why."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn't. He was right. As soon as he would have asked me, I would have wanted to know why, and if he refused to tell me why, I would have assumed that it was to hide things from me. "You should have told me everything," I told him instead.

"How do you tell the person that you love that you are everything that they hate and vow to destroy?" he asked looking at me meaningfully, yet desperate to have me tell him what he could do to make it right.

I stared at him. Love was not a word I ever imagined Draco using, not even towards me. I knew he cared about me, but he wasn't really in touch with his emotions, so for him to say something like that was a very big deal, even bigger than it would be for anyone else that I knew. I brushed it aside though, still too upset and hurt to let him off the hook. "You start by doing everything you can to not be the person the one you love hates and vows to destroy."

He closed the space between us and cupped my face in his hands. "How do I do that?"

"Start by going to Dumbledore."

He sighed but nodded. "I'll go first thing in the morning. What about us though?"

"There is no more 'us' Draco. It doesn't matter what you were trying to do, you still betrayed me, and I can't trust you anymore."

I saw the hurt in his eyes. "So that's it then? It's just over between us?"

"For now it is. Maybe one day I will be able to trust you again. Maybe we'll just move on with our lives and find someone new. We just start over and go back to the beginning."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to give up on us."

I just shrugged, feigning nonchalance while in my chest my heart was beating like crazy, hoping that it was true. "That's your choice, but I'm not going to wait around for you to get yourself together."

He nodded and a trace of the old Malfoy smirk graced his lips. "I love a challenge. I can do anything that I put my mind to. Or have you forgotten that I'm a Malfoy?"

I grinned, relieved that the worse part of this conversation was over. "How could I forget? You nearly bleed arrogance. Don't worry I won't hold your family name against you too much."

He kissed my forehead. "You'll be mines again soon. No one can resist my charm."

I rolled my eyes. "The possessive thing really doesn't work in your favor."

He gave me one of his rare true smiles. "I'll see you around Marlene, and I really will be seeing Dumbledore tomorrow morning."

I nodded. "Good. Just make sure that you are going because it's what you really want and not just because you think it will win me back."

He nodded thoughtfully before turning and heading back to the castle. I sighed with relief as I watched him leave. That whole conversation was much more than I could have ever expected and was too much to digest. I needed a distraction. I closed my eyes and summoned the books that Severus let me borrow, figuring that I might as well do something productive as I distracted myself. I opened my eyes to see the book lying in the grass beside me. I picked up the first one, and began to read.