Hey everyone! Finally, here's the next chapter. Thank you very much for all the reviews and I hope that this chapter will not dissapoint you. I think this one is quite intense once more... Please keep commenting! I appreciate every single comment!

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Alanis trembled as she took her steps to the top of the Astronomy tower. She knew that Draco was there and perhaps waited for her joining him, although he would deny it. But what would she do? What could she say to keep him calm?

How should she be able facing him, ignoring her feelings for him and considering what she just had done? Kissing Blaise was definitely the worst idea she'd ever had. She'd realized that from the first delicate and beguiling movement of Blaise's lips on hers and Draco's horrified expression just proved it.

How should she explain that she wanted to help Draco, even wanted much more than that, but didn't want to spy on him? How should she do that without mentioning anything of Dumbledore's awareness and Snape's real position?

But Alanis surrendered fighting with herself and just tried to smile as she reached the top. However, how much this smile would have worked, she would have never came to know it, because Draco stood there, leaning on the handrail, with his back towards her.

She was riveted as she looked at him. He seemed to be far more away than he'd ever been, as if only knowing him would be some kind of revelation of starry-eyed she was, she could have stayed there only looking at him.

The more she looked at his shape, hardly illuminated by the dim light, the more she wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight. She even wanted to apologize.

"Draco." she said, finally testing his first name on her tongue.

Draco straightened himself up, but didn't mind to face her.

"Leave me alone."

"But I have to stay. I want to talk to you.", Alanis said and took some unsteady steps until she stood by his side. He even then didn't look at her and focused something in the distance. She could feel the tension inside him.

"Can't you finally leave me alone?", Draco asked her with a tired voice, which frightened her.

What the hell did break him down that much that he even didn't have the strength to quarrel with her? Was he really that hurt of her kissing Blaise?

But she would not apologize for how she'd paid him back, never.

Alanis looked his face all over, which showed his fear, despair and loneliness, too.

There were still some other important things she had to tell him, considering her own task.

"I don't judge you obeying the orders of You-Know-Who, as he threatens and forces you to fulfil his wishes. But I refuse to accept you wanting to destroy yourself by doing this all alone. You need help!", Alanis began slowly, but Draco didn't seem to be willingly to listen to her, as his body tensed.

Did she already say too much? But she had to make things clear.

"You want to repair the Vanishing Cabinet, so let me help you with it. I can fix this. My father's a pro to do that and I'm sure I learned a lot from him.", she continued hopefully, but his expression was empty.

"You have to know that things are different with objects and animate beings. Father always said that-"

"Your father is dead! Don't you realize that? Don't you realize who did it?", Draco suddenly snapped and furiously faced her.

"Don't you see who murdered you parents? That death eaters killed them? That we did it?", he spat and vigorously uncovered his left arm, "That I killed them?"

And there it was. Horribly seeming to pulse as fear let her shiver, it disfigured his white skin, the Dark Mark.

So Harry's suggestion was right, from the very first moment. Draco was a death eater, not just someone who was about to fulfil a task of Lord Voldemort. And this task was to kill Dumbledore.

The presence of the dark power inside him threatened Alanis, although she always knew where Draco belonged to. She couldn't bear this sight of him, which was much worse than him showing her his vulnerability.

Alanis unconsciously took one step behind.

"You didn't. You would not kill, Draco!", she whispered, not able to look away from his Dark Mark.

"But I did!", Draco cried and his voice trembled as much as her body did. "It was part of my initiation. I had to kill innocent people who didn't want to join the Dark Lord. Those people could as well have been your parents! I'm a murderer!"

As much as Alanis wanted to answer, she couldn't. She was horrified and finally brought back to earth.

There was no space for that fancy desire for him. She had to face the reality of murder, cruelty and darkness.

Those had to be the only bonds between them.

They both had to fulfil their tasks, in order to save themselves. Alanis had to be at the good side, she owed Harry to support him, as this would include obeying Dumbledore's orders and trusting that he knew what was best for Harry.

"I have to keep my mother away from any danger she would be threatened by the Dark Lord. I promised her to regain the honour that my dad took from us. I have to retain my family as best as I could. And therefore I was forced to become a deatheater and a villain. I took somebody's families to get my own back.", Draco said and clenched his teeth. "I'm a coward and a murderer and I don't deserve any pity and even no self-pity. Because this is my fate, my mission. So I beg you to leave."

There was just silence and a few seconds nobody of them didn't even dare to breathe.

Alanis looked away down to the Hogwarts Lake which reflected the full moon and sighed.

"I'll stay."

She could fancy his bewildered expression, but now it was her turn to ignore him staring at her. But in fact he looked at her as if he wanted to hit her from despair, hurt and amazement, and otherwise leech onto her, with big question marks in his eyes.

"I'll stay to prevent you from having self-pity. Additionally you'll never get any compassion from me. That's why I stay.", Alanis said.

Draco hung his head to hide his urgency to knock his fist against the wall.

Then he looked up and she could read something in his eyes, she'd never seen before. He was thankful, angry, hid his little glance of desire for her very well and there was another thing, too.

Shame.

"So you're going to be my punishment?", he asked bitterly, but gave her a sad and even infatuating smile.

She raised her arm and hesitantly touched his still uncovered arm with her fingertips and ignored him flinching.

"I'm going to help you preparing Dumbledore's assassination."

But at that moment, Alanis knew that with this few words every kind of relationship they ever had, was ruined.

Draco quivered with rage as he pushed her hand away.

How did she get to know what he planned? How did she know that he was about to kill Albus Dumbledore?

He realized himself having put out his wand as he pointed it at her.

Alanis looked horrified. She knew that she had done something wrong. She just had given herself away.

Draco now understood. She only was interested in him, or better intended to have a crush on him in order to spy on him. She had the advantage of being new at the school, of Draco not really knowing her, and that made her interesting and perhaps trustworthy.

After he almost got rid of that traitor Severus Snape, the Order of the Phoenix must have sent her to spy on him. She was announced to find out his plans, using their fascination for themselves which had just risen up as they first had met. So there probably was no sympathy from her for him. And therefore she was lying. She wouldn't help him. She would only want stop him killing her relative, preventing him from repairing the Vanishing Cabinet.

And he let himself lull into trusting her and ruling himself by his feelings and just told her that he was a deatheater!

It wasn't that him being a death eater was a secret, all Slytherins and other Hogwarts students did know that. But he was about to reveal every feeling he had, he just showed himself fearful and vulnerable to her. He should have better known it. There was no way that Gryffindors and

Slytherins could be together, even if it was just for physical pleasures.

It anyway didn't get that far between them and he was thankful for that.

"How do you know that?", he asked fiercely.

Alanis was pale and did seem to have lost her voice and he could see her trying to collect and prepare to defend herself. But she just backed away, without being able to answer him.

"Who told you to spy on me?", Draco demanded, but Alanis kept her mouth shut.

And then he saw tears falling down her cheeks. Was she still deceiving him? Was she that way trying to prevent him from hurting her? Did she really think that tears could stop him even torturing her to find out what he wanted to know?

"I've been honest to you with saying that I want to help you, Draco. You ought not care about what had driven me to offer you my support. Believe me, I still ask myself why I have to do that, and even other things. I still ask myself why I can't let you ruin yourself. Why I can't stay away from you.", Alanis suddenly murmured and looked down to her feet.

Little, bloody liar, Draco thought angrily.

"But how do you now of Dumbledore?", Draco asked and stepped closer, still pointing his wand at her.

"It was Snape. I know it from Snape.", Alanis answered slowly and Draco felt that she kept something away from him.

Snape? Why would Snape tell her what Draco's mission had been?

She was lying. There was no other way. But as long as she was aware from his plan, the Vanishing Cabinet, that he was a death eater and that he had to kill Dumbledore, she was a danger to him.

He had to curse her. He had to extinguish her memories or put her under the Imperius-curse.

And forget about everything else.

"Why should Snape tell you?", Draco asked.

He could see that Alanis fought with herself.

"Snape and I are ordered to help you finishing whatever you started. I am not your enemy!"

But at that Draco went mad, raised his wand and without thinking he cursed her. The disarming spell hit her hard and knocked her into the wall, so that she let out a painful moan and collapsed at his feet.

"I need no help! It is my task and no one must put his nose into things of mine!", he screamed, "And you are only told to spy at me, as much as this traitor Snape is! You are my enemy! Why would you try to help me killing your relative? Why should I trust you? Why shouldn't I curse you once and for all? Why shouldn't I finish you off, as you're a danger to my mission?"

His breath came out in heavy pants, but as he looked at the girl to his feet, he felt himself getting weak. Alanis' face was drowned in tears and as she tried to pull herself up, sobbing, she just glanced at him with a painful expression.

As he looked at her, realizing that he just really had attacked her, he knew that the last thing on earth he would have ever done, was wanting to hurt her. Even if she really had been his enemy, he would have never wanted to cause her pain.

"I…"

As he took one step forward and reached out for her, she backed away, turned around and escaped, headed down the steps.

Holy crap, Draco thought.

I'm just falling for her.

He wanted to follow her, but he had to calm himself down. He still felt likely to hurt her.

She said that she wasn't his enemy. But how should he know that to be true?

Snape said that he wanted to help because he'd done this unbreakable vow with his mother. But Alanis said that Snape and she were both ordered to do it. Voldemort could hardly be the employer.

Draco stiffened.

There was just only one man left.

The only man who was connected to Snape and Alanis as well.

It was Dumbledore himself.

Draco's palms grew sweaty and he had to tighten his grip around his wand. That would mean that Dumbledore knew that Draco's intention was to kill him! And he didn't try to prevent it. Dumbledore did nothing to save himself. On the contrary, he ordered Snape and Alanis to support him fulfilling his task!

Dumbledore wanted Draco to succeed!

Why would he do that?

And then Draco understood.

If Draco would fail, the unbreakable vow would make sure that Snape had to kill Dumbledore and that would Voldemort make trusting Snape entirely. Draco didn't understand why Dumbledore would make that sacrifice.

Draco was intended to be helped until the point that he should fail. He would fail murdering once more and Snape and Dumbledore knew that.

They didn't care about him, only thought of having an advantage over Voldemort. And Snape was this advantage, this bloody fucking traitor!

Draco was nothing more than a puppet. And Alanis?

He didn't know. Maybe too.

But the only thing he really wanted to know about her was if she'd been honest.

Honest with him.

And there was only one way to find out.

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