FINAL CHANCE

By: Shadowedheart89

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

Chapter Twenty-Three: An Invitation

I buried myself in research. I had some book or another in my hand in every moment of my free time. I even had taken to reading while I was in class. It was much to the annoyance of professors when they would notice that I wasn't paying attention in class, yet when they asked me a question and yet I would still be able to answer with a full, in-depth, and most importantly, correct answer. That seemed to only infuriate them more. Of course I suppose that it was cheating that I would reach into my classmate's minds in order to find out what the question was, but at least I answered with my own knowledge. It wasn't my fault that I had either learned the material before, or had already passed the section when I was reading through the text books.

Ron and Harry took to joking with me that that I was worse than Hermione when it came to research. Sure, she was spending much of her free time trying to find some information about telepathy and mental links, but to her credit, she had other things that she had to do as well. She had her prefect duties, and it took her a bit longer to do her homework than it took me, mostly because she was a lot more in-depth with her research than I was. I couldn't be bothered to look up evidence to support things that I definitely knew to be facts. I didn't have that kind of patience. Plus I even convinced Severus and Xavier to not only spend the time of our lesson researching, but also helping and letting me bounce ideas off of them.

Probably my biggest reason for throwing myself into the research with such force was to just forget about everything that had happened with Draco. I had no idea what to do about the situation. Part of me was still furious at him because of his betrayal. No matter what his intentions might have been, it was still wrong, and it hurt. The worst part was that I could feel his intentions. I knew that in his own crazy way, he really did think that being with Pansy would serve to save me. It really took the edge off my anger to know that he was really trying to do something good. The entire thing was just confusing me, and my mind was still roiling with the fact that he told me that he loved me. Granted it was in a bit of a roundabout way, but for Draco, that was about the same as a normal person pledging their undying love and servitude. It wasn't something to be taken lightly.

I wasn't sure how I felt about him still, even outside of the whole cheating thing. I liked to believe that he was a pretty good guy, though it was quite possible that I was just being very naive about him. He had just been dealt a rough hand, and had no body to help him find the right path. I had fun with him and for some reason I was really comfortable with him. I could talk to him. I knew that I cared about him a lot, but I had no idea to what extent my feelings reached. I didn't really have anything to compare my feelings towards him with. He was the only guy I had ever been involved with, and I never really had many friends my age. The closest I had was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I hadn't known them as long, and it seemed unfair to compare them to Draco.

He did go talk to Uncle Albus like he promised he would, for which I was very thankful though I didn't know what exactly was said. He let me know later that day, and since then we hadn't talked at all outside of Severus's class in which we had to speak because we were partners. It was as if we took a mutual break from each other to sort ourselves out. I was glad that he wasn't spending every free moment trying to butter me up, not that I really expected a Malfoy to do such a thing, but I found myself missing him quite a bit, especially at night. I found myself having nightmares again without the comfort of him sleeping next to me. I tended to only get a few hours of sleep before I would wake up stifling a scream. I would then spend the rest of the night in the common room reading.

During those few rare moments that I wasn't distracting myself with class work, homework, studying, research, lessons with Harry, Xavier or Severus, or sleep, I would find myself staring off into space just thinking about Draco.

I was in one of those moments when Harry started gently shaking my arm. We were in the Room of Requirement studying alone. Ron and Hermione had prefect duties to attend to, and the common room was packed. We had had been in our own little worlds studying when I had spaced out. I blinked and started at him perplexedly. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

He just laughed. "I was just asking if you found out if you were going home for the break."

I felt myself frown. He had been asking me a lot about what my plans were and I had yet to find out why. "I wrote to my parents asking them what the deal was, but I haven't gotten a response yet. I'll probably get it today. Why?"

He just shrugged. "I was just wondering. I figured that if you didn't have plans maybe you would want to join Ron, Hermione and I."

My eyes widened. "You are inviting me home with you?"

He blushed. "It's just that we usually spend the holidays together, and I thought you might rather join us than being stuck here alone. There is plenty of space if you decide to. It's safe too. Dumbledore tends to stop by a lot."

I nodded absently. I had heard mentioned a secret meeting place for some group that Uncle Albus was supposedly in charge of and I figured that must be the place they were all going. "Well, as soon I get word from my parents, I'll let you know."

He beamed at me, looking quite pleased. "So how is the research going?" he asked, noticing the book that was momentarily abandoned in my lap. I noticed that he was nervous about the whole idea, but he was still trying to keep an open mind about it.

"Well it's not going too far. I really don't think we'll be able to find too much information. There doesn't seem to be a connection like yours recorded before, and I've been through pretty much every book there is on the subject. There haven't been many true telepaths reported either. There are other connections though. For instance in some bonding ceremonies the two parts form a telepathic connection. In those cases if you use Legilimency on one, you can enter the other's mine, and cause no harm to any of the three. In the rare cases of a telepath trying to enter the mind, they have been able to easily sort through the minds without either of them noticing what was going on."

"Why is it that you can't tell when a telepath is in your mind anyways?"

"A telepath just gets on the same wavelength of your brain. It's more like I'm a radio antennae and I can just tune in to other peoples stations, and I can match my frequencies to yours to send a message back. Generally I just listen to the top layers of your mind, which is what you send out as you think. I even pick up on the subconscious things too. If I were to delve into the deeper parts of your mind, that's when you would feel me."

"So Legilimency is just like going straight to the deeper parts?" he asked.

I nodded. "Plus it's a force. They have to do something to actively get in, instead of just being able to hear you. Those who master it might be able to keep it from going so far so that you can't tell they are there, but that is extremely rare. You have to have excellent control. It's like a sculpture carving out the intricate details or a doctor performing a very delicate surgery. It takes lots of practice to be able to do it well."

He looked at me oddly. "You know, I took you to be a pure blood."

I laughed at him. "I am. Granted my ancestry consists of some obscure family names, I probably have some of the purest blood in our world. I'm probably of purer blood than the Malfoys, Blacks, and Zambinis. You can even trace my blood back to Merlin himself. Dumbledore can too, though I doubt he would ever tell anyone."

Harry looked mildly impressed, though I doubted he knew enough about blood lines to truly understand the significance. "You seem to know a bit about muggle culture. You've referenced them a few times," he pointed out.

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at him. "I'm surprised at you. I would have thought you spending time with the Weasleys would have taught you something. Not all pure bloods are against muggles."

He flushed. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course not all pure bloods hate muggles, but most of them still don't know anything about them."

"Well when I was younger, my parents tried the whole, raising me as muggle route. They thought that maybe it would help keep me off the radar. Most of my primary school days were spent bouncing around, going to several muggle primary schools. It was difficult, since I was always very in touch with my magic and was constantly doing incidental magic."

"Where all have you been?" he asked astonished.

"I honestly couldn't tell you. I know we spent quite awhile in America. We probably stayed in that country the longest. It was the easiest to blend in I think. They are pretty odd over there in some places. We stayed in Asia for a while too. I think I've been to most continents and a large portion of the world's countries. Sometimes we were only in a place for like a week before we moved on. We would bounce between the muggle sectors, the wizard sectors, and sometimes even stay with indigenous people," I told him, thinking back to all the places that I had been.

"Where was your favorite place?" he asked curiously.

I thought about it for a moment. I had seen some beautiful places in my travels. Some of them seemed like they had to be from different worlds. I met a lot of people, some of them beautiful, and some of them the kindest souls I could ever imagine. But which was my favorite? The answer came surprisingly easily. "Here?"

He looked surprised. "Of all the places you've been this is your favorite?"

I nodded. "I have people here that I never had before. I have friends. I mean there is you, Ron, and Hermione. There is Uncle Albus and Xavier. Even Severus has his moments. Of course there is…" I stopped myself from including Draco's name. I shook myself a bit before continuing, "I've never been this surrounded with people before. Well people I could truly considered my friends and who actually knew about me. I've had some amazing experiences traveling around, but it's been pretty lonely."

"I'm glad you are here," he said before blushing furiously.

I just smiled at him and laid my head on his shoulder. "Me too," I told him. In the back of my mind, I knew that Harry had taken a bit of liking to me, more than that of just friendship, and I shouldn't do things like put my head on his shoulder unless I wanted to start things with him, but I was craving physical comfort and I was tired. Despite of him being so skinny he actually made a pretty comfortable pillow. In no time I was asleep.

When I woke up, I didn't remember where I was or what happened at first. All I knew is that I was warm and comfortable. As what happened began to dawn on me, I realized that I wasn't in the same position I was in before I fell asleep. Instead of my head being on his shoulder, it was in his lap, and I had a blanket covering me. His arm was also around me, giving me an extra sense of warmth and security. I moved a bit so that I could look up at him and saw that his head was leaned far back and he was sleeping. Chuckling to myself, I tried to sit up without waking him, but I failed. As soon as his arm slid off of me, he woke up startled.

He blushed when he realized what happened. "You fell asleep," he said softly.

"I know. I'm sorry. You just made a pretty good pillow and I guess I haven't been sleeping to well lately," I told him stretching.

"Why not?" he asked seemingly concerned.

I bit my lip, reluctant to share the information with him. In the end I decided that it wasn't really anything worth hiding. "Well I was spending most of my nights with Draco. I guess I'm just not used to sleeping by myself now."

He grimaced. "Oh."

I laughed. "No, it wasn't quite like that. I just tend to have nightmares if I'm sleeping alone. For some reason having someone close chases them away." I shrugged. "It's no big deal though. I'll adjust."

"Well if I can help, just let me know," he told me before his eyes widened at the implications of what he said.

I started laughing. "Thanks, maybe I'll have to take you up on that," I told him with a wink before I could catch myself. I didn't know what came over me. I was really comfortable with Harry, and I enjoyed his company, but I didn't like him like that. Or did I? Was that the reason I kept flirting with him and leading him on? Did I really like him more that I thought and was just so involved with Draco that I never bothered to pay attention to it? But now I wasn't with Draco. I was free to be with whoever I wanted, if I even wanted another relationship. Or was I still just waiting for things to get better with Draco even though I told him as well as promised myself that I wasn't going to sit around waiting for him?

"We should probably head back to the common room before it gets too late. Ron and Hermione should be back by now," he told me bringing me out of my thoughts.

________

"Draco and Hermione, would you please stay after for a few minutes? You too Marlene," Xavier said right before the class was about to start packing up to leave. The three of us mentioned just looked at him in confusing before nodded.

I had no idea what he was up to. Hermione probably couldn't get into trouble if she meant to. Draco seemed a bit distracted in class, but he didn't do anything wrong. In fact his potion for the day came out nearly perfect. If I was in trouble with something, I couldn't imagine why he would be lecturing me in front of the others, especially since I technically wasn't in the class, and I couldn't figure out what would involve the three of us.

As soon as the classroom cleared, the three of us approached his desk. I looked at Xavier and realized that he was a bit nervous for something. I had to bite my lip not to laugh. Here he had us afraid that we were in trouble over something, and he was nervous.

"Well as you are well aware the term ends next Wednesday. You three have worked really hard and have done an excellent job in class. I was thinking that it would be nice to do something for you as a reward. I was thinking of having a little gathering for the top few in each class. You would all be welcomed to invite someone along if you wished." He paused for a moment, looking extremely uncomfortable. "What do you think?" he asked his eyes on me.

"That sounds like a lovely idea," Hermione blurted before blushing.

"It really does. That's nice of you," I told him grinning.

I turned to Draco to see what his reaction was, expecting it to be negative. Instead I just found him starting at me with an unreadable expression. "Sure," he said flatly, before turning back to Xavier.

"Great," he said beaming. "Well I suppose I'll finish getting the details in order and you can expect some invites in the near future. And don't forget you can bring dates if you wish."

"Why Xavier, is there going to be a beautiful young lady on your arm that night?" I asked with a grin.

He blushed as he looked at the other two, slightly upset that I was talking to him as I normally did in front of the others, instead of like a professor as I tried to do while we were in class. "I'm not sure. There is a very lovely young lady that I have found myself taken with, but I'm not sure that she will be joining me as a date."

I studied him curiously. Well why not? Just ask her, I sent him, knowing how uncomfortable he was.

It's not that easy. It's not really appropriate. I probably shouldn't even be interested in her. I don't even know if she likes me like that. And there is a bit of an age difference. I'm just not sure if I want to take that step. It could be horrible.

It was times like this when his true age began to shine through. He had a brilliant mind, but he was still an insecure teenager at times, especially if it came to social interactions. I probably would have been the same if I hadn't been forced to pretend that I was normal for most of my life. I think you should go for it. You only live once.

He just shrugged. Maybe I will. Then he cleared his throat before saying aloud, "Well have a lovely day you three."

The three of us headed for the door. When we got into the corridor I was surprised to hear from Draco. "Marlene, could I have a moment?"

I looked at Hermione who looked very displeased. Then again she didn't know about that conversation that he and I had where we kind of made things better. I felt a rush of affection for her for caring enough to get mad that someone who had hurt me was trying to talk to me. "Ummm…sure. I'll catch up to you later Hermione."

She looked at me shocked. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Draco and I are okay. We aren't going to kill each other. At least I don't think so." She looked a bit reluctant but nodded and headed off. "So what can I do for you Draco?" I asked trying to keep it casual.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he told me apparently sincere.

I stared at him a moment, puzzled. It wasn't like him to randomly check into someone's well being. "I'm okay. I've been better and I've been worse. How about you?"

He laughed darkly, "Well I don't remember being worse, but I'm sure that it's possible."

"Why? What's going on?" I asked concerned.

He just shook his head. "There is nothing for you to worry about. It's just all stuff that I've gotten myself into."

I frowned. "If you need someone to talk to Draco, you can still come to me. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you."

"The same thing goes for you. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, then feel free to come to me. Any time of day."

I couldn't help but to smile at him. I knew him well enough to really doubt that he would ever truly put someone before himself. Sure he would help me, but as long it wasn't interfering with something for him. "Sure. If it's in the middle of the night and I need you, I'll be sure to come knocking on your door. Or I suppose shaking your bed curtains."

He nodded and took my hand, pulling me along with him as he walked down the hall. I pulled my hand out of his grasp, but kept in step with him. He frowned. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," I told him quietly.

"I know that I can't do anything to change what happened. The stupid Ministry won't let me borrow a time turner." He scowled at the idea. "If I could turn back time and do things differently I would. I want to make things right, but I don't even know where to start."

"Things will never be exactly the way they were. You can't expect that they will. Let's just take things slow."

He sighed. "It's just really difficult. I really want to kiss you right now. I want to hug you and have everything okay between us. " He chuckled to himself. "Who knew that I would actually have a heart?"

"I did. I always told you that you weren't nearly as tough as you pretended to be."

He smiled to himself as we continued down the corridor for a while in silence. "So are you going to be at Jamison's little party he's throwing?" he asked with a slight grimace. I couldn't stop the flicker of triumph that ran through me. I knew that he was against the whole gathering, I was just glad that he didn't say anything to Xavier.

"Yeah. It should be fun. Plus Xavier was really nervous about it. It'll kill him if no one shows up or if someone makes a mess of it. He's not a people person, but he's trying to do something nice. He's really sweet."

"Are you going to bring a date?" he asked carefully.

I shrugged. "It's not like I've really hate time to. think about it. I don't really know that many people."

"We could both go alone and then just mingle together at the party," he said absently, trying to hide his hope.

"Even if we do bring dates, it doesn't mean that we won't be able to talk to each other and hang out," I told him.

His eyes narrowed. "You are going to bring Potter, aren't you?"

I shrugged. "It's a possibility. Hermione will probably bring Ron. If I bring Harry all of my friends will be there. We are just friends."

He growled. "How would you like it if I brought Pansy?"

I felt an unexpected wave of hurt. "You can bring anyone you want Draco. You are single." My voice was as cold and hard as ice.

I quickened my pace to get away from him, but he just grabbed my arm and made me face him. "I'm sorry okay? I just don't want to see you with anyone. Especially not with Potter."

"Well it's none of your business anymore Draco," I hissed at him. "I'm I'm tired of hearing your apologies. You want me to believe that you are sorry? Then prove it!"

"How?" he asked desperate.

"Figure it out," I growled at him before storming off.

___

When I got back to the common room I found a letter waiting for me. I figured that it was from my parents. I opened it eagerly, wondering what they had to say. I read through it taking in all the little stories about what was going on in the outside world, both good and bad. At the end they told me that I would indeed be leaving the castle for break, but we wouldn't be going to the home they had obtained for our stay in the area. They told me that they couldn't divulge all the details through the letter but they were sure that I would enjoy it and they couldn't wait to see me in a week or so.

I turned to Harry who was sitting next to me on the couch in front of the fire. "Well I have news. It looks like I'm going to be spending the holiday with my parents."

He frowned. "Well at least you won't be stuck here alone," he said trying to force a smile.

I shrugged. "Hey, well at least we have owls. Maybe I can even get permission to pop over and visit or something. I have to get you your Christmas presents somehow." Technically I hadn't even gotten any presents yet. I was waiting until the weekend when we were due to go back to Hogsmeade, but that was beside the point.

"Hopefully, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to get through the wards or that I'll be allowed far enough from the house to meet you somewhere."

I laughed, "You forget, we have the biggest ally on our side: Dumbledore. Besides, it doesn't seem like I'm having trouble bursting through wards. If I can manage doing the impossible here, I'm sure I can do it at a house."

"Well that is true."

"Don't think that you can get away from me that easily. You've already accepted me in, there is no turning back now," I joked.

"I'd never try to get away from you," he told me in a joking matter, but I couldn't help but to notice that he was indeed serious.

We fell quiet for a few moments, both just staring into the fire, lost in our own thoughts. "Xavier, er, Professor Jamison is having a little party next week for a few of the top students. He said we can bring a guest. Want to come?" I asked, not really sure what possessed me to invite him along. Quite possibly it was just lingering anger at Draco and me wanting to get back at him. But what I told Draco was indeed true. We were only friends, and if Hermione invited Ron as I suspected she would, Harry would be left out, and I didn't want that to happen, especially after all that he did to help me fit in with him and his friends.

He looked at me stunned. "Really? You want me to come with you?"

I nodded. "Why wouldn't I?"

He blushed. "Sure, I'll come."

"Brilliant," I said, flashing him a smile.

____

My eyes rake over the still bodies lying on the ground before me. There must be hundreds of them sprawled across the meadow I'm standing in, but there is one bunch that catches my eye. There are eight bodies lined up instead of heaped haphazardly like the others. They are all lying on their backs, their unseeing eyes staring unblinkingly up at the sky. I take in the faces of Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Xavier, Severus, Uncle Albus, and finally of my mother and father.

A movement behind me catches my attention, and I turn quickly, only to be faced with a mirror. I look at my reflection. I'm covered in blood, though none of it appears to be mine. My facial features, instead of being contorted in horror to express how I felt, were instead lit up with glee and excitement.

"Did you really think you could save them? Did you honestly not realize who the real monster was behind this all? Did you really think that Voldemort was the one to be feared?" my reflection asks me.

I just stare at my reflection with the words stuck in my throat, unable to say anything. It was me all along. I was the danger here. I was the one that killed everyone I loved and cared about. I kept trying to tell myself that what I was doing was for the good of everyone, but this is what it was leading up to. Their death.

As I stare at my reflection trying to make sense of it all, two figures come behind my reflection. I stare at them entranced, unable to make myself turn around to look at them. Both are cloaked and have their hoods up to hide their faces. The only thing that can be seen is their eyes that seem to glow in the darkness of their hoods. From one, red eyes bear down on me, and from the other, mercury.

"You will always be one of us," one of the cloaked figures hiss at me reaching out a hand to put it on my shoulder…

I woke up screaming, thankful that I had taken to casting a silencing spell on my bed ever since I stopped going to Draco. I just had a feeling that I would end up waking up screaming one night, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

I couldn't remember ever having a dream that vivid. It felt more like some kind of vision than a dream. I shook my head of that thought though. I didn't have visions, and that was definitely not my future. I didn't care what happened in the future I would never take the lives of those I cared about, especially not by my own hand.

I could feel the tears streaming down my face, and I couldn't seem to stop myself from shaking. It took several minutes before I could get myself to calm down. Even when I was calm, I knew that I didn't want to be alone. Knowing that I was quite possibly about to make a huge mistake, I closed my eyes and let some inner part of me guide my teleportation, choosing for me.

When I opened my eyes I was standing in front of a bed. I quietly opened the curtains and shook the prone form awake, fighting back the images of seeming lying dead in the meadow from my dream. He sat up suddenly peering at me in the darkness. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice deepened with sleep.

"Does the offer still stand?" I asked in a small voice, hating my weakness. His eyes searched my face, looking for something that I had no idea of. Finally after what seemed like several long minutes, he nodded and slid over to make room for me. I quickly slid in between the covers and silently and wandlessly cast the spells that prevented any roommates from discovering my presence. "Thank you, Harry," I whispered as I snuggled against him in the darkness.

A/N – Well everyone seemed extremely OOC in this chapter, even more than normal. I'm not quite sure why though, but oh well. I hope it was at least enjoyable. Let me know what you think. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays, and have a happy New Year!