Hey guys! I am really really happy how much you and I are enjoying this story. I will really try to do my best with it and please keep on reviewing like that! Please don't hesitate correcting me and forgive me any mistakes! I hope you'll enjoy Draco's personal development, if it really could be named as that, but rather regression. He's really going mad and I hope you all will enjoy that!

Please review! With love, peerme

"An apple, mate?", Blaise asked and offered him a very delicious looking green one, but Draco pushed his hand away that the apple fell down to the floor and rolled through the half of the common room.

Blaise grimaced angrily and threw himself into one of the black couches and took a bite of his own apple. Draco flinched at the sound of it and rubbed his still aching limbs, trying to shy away Voldemort's figure from his mind.

"What's wrong with you?", Blaise asked and Draco watched him chewing, as if he wanted to cheer himself up just with looking at something which could hardly but a little distract him from his memories of his torture.

Draco just pointed at his left arm and Blaise almost choked on his bloody apple.

"You have been-?"

"Keep quiet Blaise or I will plug that apple into your throat and serve you for dinner!", Draco spat at him angrily and rubbed his arm as if he wanted to scratch out the Dark Mark of his flesh.

"What happened?"

Draco shrugged, but regretted it immediately as bolts of pain ran down his back. Voldemort had done a good job, there would only be marks on his body. No one could even imagine him being tormented, except rather notice him hobbling and stooping. But if he ever let somebody look in his eyes, then they would have noticed the emptiness inside him, that still didn't fade away.

"He was definitely not amused. But it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why aren't you working today? You even haven't got any classes, you could use the time well.", Blaise asked and seemed to be really worried. Great, Draco needed nothing more than a suddenly relenting Zabini Blaise.

Draco sighed and leaned himself back and put his legs on the table in front of him.

"Keep cool, Blaise. This is not your task and I know what I'm doing."

"I guess he would not appreciate you dossing about."

Draco took one of his books out of his bag and threw it at him and was really satisfied as Blaise grunted with pain.

"Dark Materials And Its Uses? What do you need that for?", Blaise asked resentfully, but was interrupted by Pansy Parkinson sitting down beneath Draco and looking curiously at him.

"Not having a busy day, Draco, my dear?", she asked and stroke Draco's blond hair, but Draco just smirked.

"I thought that this day would only be busy with you joining me, Pansy."

And with that he reached out for her arm, kissed Pansy roughly and she first pretended to struggle, pushing him away from her, but she wasn't someone who rejected herself to him for a long time. He knew that she anyway had been disappointed that he'd sent her to Coventry the last few months and would now be relieved to see that he was still attracted to him.

Or whatever she might like to think of. But in fact he abominated her.

Draco wasn't attracted, or infatuated or whatever else. He just needed distraction and he would need much of it. And there was just one sort of distraction that Draco Malfoy would accept and Pansy was a good start to begin with.

Additionally, it would keep that Dumbledore girl at bay, in real life, his bloody mind and dreams as well.

Blaise threw his book back at Draco and Pansy and him stopped snogging, as the book hit Draco's head.

"Stop that!"

"You don't have to look at us, Blaise. Besides, I think you could also need some sort of amusement like that. I thought you considered hitting on that particular little Ravenclaw girl, didn't you?", Pansy said, while she grabbed Draco's collar and opened the first two buttons of his coat.

Blaise just snorted contemptuously. Pansy giggled and pulled Draco closer, looking flirtatiously at him.

"I wonder Pansy, if you would like to take a bath in the Prefect's bathroom?", Draco asked, stood up and pulled the girl with him.

Pansy just giggle another time, flung her arms around his neck and they walked out of the common room, followed by the wary scowl of Blaise.

But Draco didn't mind his best friend being upset about him. There were so many other far better things on this earth he could pay attention to and he would get one of them very soon.

"That was just horrible as I heard Ron being poisoned... But as Ron lay there on the bed he semiconsciously mumbled my name, Alanis. You should have seen Lavender, she shouted at me like a crazed fury!", Hermione said cheerfully, daffing her jacket as they entered the castle, returning from their morning walk.

Ron had been poisoned as he'd been ad Slughorn's to be cured from that love potion that Romilda Vane wanted to foist on Harry. He'd know been for some days at the hospital wing and what a wonder, he'd not been murmuring Lavender Brown's name in sleep, but Hermione's.

That and her jealousy was reason enough for Lavender to break up with Ron and Ron seemed to welcome it, and Hermione besides, was very happy about that and had even started to talk to Ron again.

"Why don't you finally speak to Ron? Tell him that you just don't only want to be his friend anymore.", Alanis asked Hermione and they took their steps to the upper classrooms.

"There's no need to, things will work out by and by.", Hermione said happily and almost hopped up the stairs. Alanis just shook her head, but Hermione suddenly jerked to a halt at the stairhead and looked down to Alanis with a most peculiar expression.

"You did not tell me what happened that day when you disarmed Malfoy."

Alanis frowned. She should have known that Hermione would be asking her that some day.

"Nothing.", she mumbled and rushed past Hermione and took eager steps to the seventh floor.

Hermione moaned and moved on, close on Alanis' heels.

"Does 'nothing' mean what I am afraid of?", she asked her, but Alanis just took step by step, assiduously blanking out that Draco Malfoy could be anywhere around.

But that could hardly be possible anymore, because Draco didn't seem to care about the Vanishing Cabinet or whatever he had to fix. As much as Draco Malfoy had seemed to be changing in the first months of that school year, he now definitely went back to his roots, but to a so much worse version of the original bigheaded moron.

Everyone could see him dating even two girls a day, he resumed abusing his position as Prefect and harassing little first classes, mocking other students and even playing jokes on people like poor Neville.

He just acted as if he was desperately in the need to humiliate himself and he even didn't care about him succeeding with that.

She knew that Draco just acted out that weird in public to try to fool everyone. He was more weak than he'd ever been, although he pretended to suddenly have gained new strength.

He hung around with that silly girl Parkinson whom he lied to like a trooper, just as he always did and pretended to be somehow back to his old position as the resurrected and even so treasured Slytherin masher, who was playing hard to get. That effected half of the school's girl being attracted to and drool over Malfoy and likely to giving themselves to him, who even seemed to be more mysterious than ever.

But nevertheless, Alanis knew as well, that these actions should hurt her too.

"It does not, Hermione. I just gave him back his wand, that's all."

"But there must be a reason for his sudden change. I mean, he never ever acted like he does recently. And additionally, do you think that he could be guilty for that poisoned mead that almost killed Ron?"

Alanis shrugged and moved on, suppressing her anger.

To see Draco Malfoy in other's girls arms, see him acting out like she'd never saw him before, like she never thought of him being able to do, let that Draco she knew from the Christmas holidays seem like a complete other person. Where was that Draco that she felt attracted to, whom she thought of being someone who even understood her without any words?

Was Hermione therefore right with her guesswork? Could Alanis really be the reason that Draco made a fool out of himself? But why that? They didn't even kiss, although they were close to do so.

But if Draco Malfoy did really care that less about his love affairs, there had to be another thing that affected him so much that he didn't even try to maintain his pride.

Something took place the evening of her detention at Snape's, Alanis was sure of that. She'd realized that as she had looked into his face as she met Draco after her detention. Alanis had felt that at that moment he had absented himself from her, as if he ruled off their acquaintance.

"Perhaps he is, perhaps not. We just have to figure that out, but actually I can't bear looking at him.", Alanis said and Hermione grabbed her arm.

"That proves it, Alanis! You're upset about him, hurt badly because of him making out with other girls! It's obvious that there was something between you both and you can't deny it!"

"Don't worry Hermione, he might have an interesting face, but I knew from the very beginning, that he's a bad one! And I guess it served him right that I offended his pride with disarming him."

"But if Draco Malfoy is interested in you, you can be sure that he refers only to sexual interests! All his recent love affairs prove that!", Hermione argued.

Alanis sighed and walked to the windows to look at the Hogwarts estates. Hermione might have been true, but Alanis somehow felt that there was something completely wrong about this whole situation.

"I'm suspicious, Hermione.", she slowly began and looked directly in the brown eyes of her best friend, "I feel that this is not Draco Malfoy anymore. And whatever between us might have been, there must be another thing that affects him. And that is definitely linked to his mission."

Hermione just went silent for some moments.

"His mission? What does that mean, Alanis? Is he really working for You-Know-Who?"

"It was not only Harry and us who have been suspicious. Dumbledore and Snape think as well that Malfoy is planning something. Dumbledore ordered me to observe him like Snape does and find out what exactly his mission is, nothing more and nothing less. He believes that Malfoy would be less careful with me if I used the affection that emerged between us to fool him. I just pretend to be interested, Hermione!", she said and looked up to the high towers of Hogwarts castle, ignoring her deep sense of guilt emerging deep in her heart. Hermione gasped.

"Dumbledore thinks as well that Draco is planning something? Does he believe him being a deatheater?"

Alanis frowned. What should she say now? There was no doubt that Draco had to fulfil a mission for Voldemort and even that she didn't want to tell Hermione directly.

But was Draco really a deatheater yet?

"No, I don't think so, Hermione. I think Dumbledore just wants to prevent some dark actions inside of his school. That's all."

Hermione tightened her grip around her arm.

"But honestly, Alanis, do you really not feel anything for Draco?"

Alanis freed herself from Hermione's hand and sighed heavily.

"I just can't tell. The problem is that I wasn't yet able to figure it out.", she mumbled but Hermione didn't let go of her and patted her shoulder.

"Just promise me to be careful, ok?", she whispered.

Alanis looked another time through the window and squinted her eyes and peered to the Astronomy tower. Someone was standing there. And she definitely knew who's shape this was. And she felt her stomach grumble and she got goose bumps as she reckoned him staring back at her.

Speak of the devil, Alanis thought, and there he is.

But suddenly Pansy Parkinson wrapped her arms around Malfoy's waist and he turned to her and Alanis was able to see them kissing.

Something seemed to burn in her stomach.

Alanis swallowed down her disappointment and anger. Perhaps Hermione was just right and Malfoy chatted up every girl he was attracted to. And Alanis was just one out of hundred.

Just a girl.

Just a number.

"I promise."

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