Hey! Here's the next chapter containing some of the first clues for the progress of the story. Thank you for your reviews, they really cheer me up! ;-) Please enjoy reading and keep on reviewing!

As Draco finally reached the seventh floor, he tried to calm himself down and concentrate. All he needed now was the Room of Requirement, his work would ease his excitement. This little girl would not distract him from the path he would take.

He reached the corridor in the seventh floor which led to the Room of the Requirement, but somebody was already standing there.

Bloody hell, he thought, did this girl track him?

"Looking for something?", he asked and smirked as he noticed her turning around alarmed. She obviously wanted to enter the Room of Requirement too. She tightened her grip around a book which was obviously a present from Dumbledore.

Advanced Transfiguration of Animate Objects.

"Just sod off, Malfoy.", the Dumbledore girl said, but her voice was too nice and friendly to him.

He smirked another time.

"I would be careful talking to a Prefect like that, Dumbledore."

She laughed out loud and it shortly reminded him of her singing voice, which he now found out being treasured inside him. What did that girl do to him?

"You don't deserve that title, Malfoy. It is more than embarrassing how you neglect your duties. So just leave me be and join your Slytherin footman, or maybe your footgirls?", she said and turned her back on him. He almost lost his temper at her words and stepped closer until his lips almost touched her ear and he couldn't keep himself from inhaling her scent, as he leaned forward and said:

"If you prefer going back to your wonderful domicile at Hogsmeade, I won't be in your way. I have to be honest, I would rather live in the shrieking shack than even passing such a fusty and filthy shed like the Hog's Head."

He expected her being upset, even pointing his wand at him, but she just turned around and chuckled and shivering of having him felt a little too close.

"Honestly Malfoy, in spite of you being a nerve-racking ferret, you could not have said it better."

Draco leaned back and looked baffled at her.

"Was that some kind of compliment? You change your mind quite fast, Dumbledore."

Alanis shook her head and her smile got mischievous.

"I just wanted to see exactly that look on your face! And you gawp cockeyed, but be careful this sometimes leaves horrible marks on pretty faces like yours.", she mocked, but he reckoned as he looked in her eyes, that she'd been honest with her words. She hated the Hog's Head.

"Don't worry, Dumbledore, my face is not as much pretty as yours, so I'm quite out of danger.", he said, but regretted it immediately. The last thing on earth he wanted to tell her that he thought of her being pretty. But Draco didn't give her time to collect some words and her mind as well.

"Just tell me how do you want to leave the castle, hanging around in the seventh floor?"

"I just wanted to take this book to the common room."

She held the book out in front of her and almost bumped it into his chest.

"You had better times being convincing, Dumbledore."

"But what about you?"

"I just followed Professor Slughorn to apologize for disrupting his party."

His answer was just so ridiculous that he had to struggle with himself to restrain his own laughter. But Alanis anyway seemed to roar with laughter as she read his grimace.

"And you had better times lying, I suppose!"

Draco grew angry. He wanted to enter that bloody room and didn't want that girl to see him doing it. How could he get rid of her?

"I would be pleased if you then just would go to your dormancy and leave me alone.", he snapped.

"You are the one who should be leaving! I dare to remember that Dumbledore forbid it to wander around in the corridors at night!"

Draco stepped closer.

"Leave now, Dumbledore."

"Leave, Malfoy."

They just stared at each other, angrily and impatiently. But Draco avoided diving into her intense gaze, as he felt his core boil with rage and his still present arousal let him feel as if he needed to buy a new pair of trousers or a find nice quiet spot where he could get rid of his little problem. But the Room of Requirement would serve as well...

At almost the same time they turned their backs at each other and walked away in different directions. Draco looked back at her over his shoulder.

How was that girl walking hip-wiggling!

He chuckled. Such a big nonsense.

Perhaps it would really serve him retiring for a few moments.

About half an hour later Draco managed to get into the Room of Requirement without any interruptions. It just turned into the room if hidden things, which he considered as his personal room. The Vanishing Cabinet which he had to repair was hidden there.

As soon as he managed to repair it, it would serve as a secret an secure path to Hogwarts. Some death eaters would enter the school through it when he would kill that silver bearded antique-headmaster.

The Dark Lord threatened to kill his parents if he was unsuccessful with his mission. In fact, the Dark Lord only wanted to punish his father for failing collecting the Prophecy at the Department of Mysteries with giving Draco an almost unaccomplishable task . But Draco wouldn't fail, he would be the one regaining the honour that the Malfoy clan deserved and owned for hundreds of years.

Alanis stood at the entrance of the Room of Requirement and was totally overwhelmed. How amazing that room was! It just had changed into something like a huge cathedral, filled with old rubbish like broken and damaged furniture, thousands of books, their scattered and ripped out pages covered the floor and shelves with bottles of strange looking and perilously shimmering liquids or ingredients.

She also discovered some Dark Detectors, probity probes, secrecy sensors, that she reckoned from her father's work and even a broken pensieve.

She wondered how many people had hidden their stuff in there that they wanted to get rid off or know safely secured. She passed a broken table, which lacked a leg, and shivered as she looked right into the face of a padded gnome.

Then she noticed a very awkward sounding noise and followed its direction where it came from. An old record table caused a strange howling tune that was really annoying . But between those piles of broken furniture she wasn't able to reach it to silence it down.

But then a ear-piercing noise, much more unbearable echoed through the whole room. It sounded as if something cracked, or even exploded and she was able to hear a furious outcry. She was horrified. It didn't sound like somebody was harmed, but it sounded as if somebody was likely to destroy everything around him.

Alanis took some unsecure steps to the place where that noise came from. There were a few more grunts and cracking noise, as if somebody was tampering with something very bulky. Alanis peeped around the corner and saw Draco Malfoy pulling on a door of a huge, black wardrobe. But as she looked closer at it she recognized what it was.

It was it's strange pointed shape, the dark wood, the special marquetry and silver ornaments on it that made it unique. This was definitely a Vanishing Cabinet, a very old and rare one too.

Her father often had to free and find people who were lost inside those cabinets.

What did Draco Malfoy want with a Vanishing Cabinet? It actually seemed that he tried to repair it, she anyway considered it being broken as it was placed in that room. Was this the task of Malfoy that Harry wanted and was about to discover? If it was, a Vanishing Cabinet would be no threat to the school, nor would it be something that bothered the Dark Lord.

Would Draco want to hide inside it? But what would he hide from?

Considering Harry's suggestions there was a reasonable possibility. If Malfoy really had to fulfil a task for Voldemort and failed, the Dark Lord would punish him for that. Draco would be able to hide in that special cabinet until it was over and done with. But was Voldemort someone who could forgive? Wouldn't he summon someone or even something to hunt Draco Malfoy down?

She sighed deeply and her whole body trembled while she reflected how she should move on. Should she stay and try to spy on him? Our should she hurry back to the Hog's just persuading herself that she just imagined Draco Malfoy concocting something?

But why hiding from the truth? She should be brave and curios! She still struggled with herself and forced her to take some steps forward, and if fate had its fingers in the pie she stumbled over some leaky cauldrons and bumped to the floor.

"Who's there?"

Alanis pressed her lips together to prevent her from crying out in pain, as she felt that her foot was jammed and she couldn't free herself. She just tried to make no sound any more.

"What are you doing here?", Draco cried out and his face grew pale as he hurried around the corner and discovered her. Malfoy's expression was horrified and he already pointed his wand at her as he stepped closer to her, half of his face and his clothes covered with dust and cobwebs.

Alanis grimaced and tried to free her leg, but it just caused her much more pain.

"How did you get in here? Are you spying on me?", Draco shouted at her and Alanis shook her head, moaning with pain.

"Would you be so kind to warm up your Slytherin heart and help me?", she panted and felt that her dress ripped, as he begrudgingly reached out for her hand and pulled her to her feet. He quickly let her hand go as if he'd touched a crumple-horned snorkack. But she anyway had no time to think about her clothes or her injured leg, because Draco still pointed his wand at her, stepping closer.

"Don't!", cried Alanis, as Draco almost stepped on her new book which lay down to their feet.

"You still have that book.", he mumbled as he looked where she was pointing at.

"I just decided to hide it, because Hermione would probably be jealous.", Alanis said hastily, but Draco grunted fiercely.

"Just stop this! That's preposterous! I'm anyway not very interested in your concerns, true or not.", Draco shouted at her and then pressed his wand against her throat. Draco looked likely to kill her only for seeing him working on a Vanishing Cabinet. "Don't tell anyone that you saw me in here, Dumbledore, for your own sake!"

Alanis nodded quickly, still panting heavily, but not only because of her foot. She'd never seen such a furious, sinister and intimidating expression in his face. Additionally she wondered why he had been so merciful with her. He could have done anything to her, when she was trapped down there to his feet, making her swear that she would keep her mouth shut or even could have erased her memories. But he'd let her go, even helped her.

Perhaps all of that was not as serious as Alanis supposed. Draco perhaps just wanted to be alone and had observed that cabinet, with no concrete purpose.

"Just make sure that I won't have to pass your way anymore, Dumbledore.", Draco said to her and put his wand back into his robe, turned around and walked away.

That was all. Now he left and Alanis had to leave too, returning to the Hog's Head, overwhelmed by her feelings. Alanis cried out reluctantly, but quickly pressed her hand against her mouth to quieten herself. Draco jerked to a halt and cocked his eyebrows at her.

"Would you like to do me a favour?"

Her voice was nothing more than a whisper. She just imagined him being more than surprised, rooted to the spot and didn't dare to look at him.

"Keep going teasing me, that I wouldn't be able to leave. Just make me stay, because I don't want to return to that morose one of a grandfather.", she mumbled.

Was she actually asking him to stay with her? Asking Draco bloody ferret Malfoy?

But Malfoy remained silent anyway and therefore forced her to look at. Then a big evil smile covered his face and all of his sudden furiousness disappeared.

"You actually want me to mock you? I would be careful with that."

"Just go on."

He looked really baffled at her, not even amused.

"This is ridiculous, Dumbledore. That's no fun. Just leave me be with your childish plays."

But why didn't Malfoy catch the chance? Maybe because she wouldn't mind being hurt and that wasn't the real purpose he was always playing at. She just wanted to use him and Draco Malfoy would not ever dare letting himself being 'abused' for anything. Or did he, was forced to do it by Voldemort?

"You owe me. We're not even yet."

Alanis clenched her fists. How stupid she was, how embarrassing and childish she acted! Was she really that desperate that she didn't care making a fool of herself?

"Even? How would I ever dare being even with a Gryffindor! Just bear being a weak little girl, Dumbledore. It seems anyway that you never be anything more than that.", he said annoyed and she reckoned that he would never be in the same mood than he had been before, teasing her. She remained silent, saw Malfoy avoiding her gaze and then he finally left.

Now, after that little scene in here, they would grow to real enemies. They'd been natural Hogwarts-house rivals before, had just enjoyed the thrill of teasing each other, but now all of that would be gone. He was the dark and she was the light.

After she'd been alone for some moments, she sighed.

What the hell had that been?

What the hell was she thinking of doing?

But whatever she did, she had to return to Hogsmeade. If the Room of Requirement answered to her thoughts, she immediately found the door which led back into the secret passageway.

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