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Alanis let her hand run up and down the black wood of the Cabinet, slightly touched the silver ornaments and inhaled the strong scent of that old magic that was locked deep within it. It smelled even more fantastic than the old books in the library and new parchment.
In fact, she quickly realized how powerful that Cabinet was, but at the moment she touched it, she almost felt as if she could hear the Cabinet lamenting.
She closed her eyes and swallowed to calm down her whirling emotions. This cabinet was a dark object and it let so many memories grow up inside Alanis.
She felt so close to her parents as she took some steps back to scrutinize the Cabinet more carefully. The ancient wood creaked eerily as if it had to bear an enormous weight, but she knew that it was just responding to her, discerning her presence.
All of that did mean that Draco already managed to revitalize it. So Draco wasn't that unsuccessful as he pretended and thought to be.
But she quickly realized how heavily damaged that Cabinet must have been, before Draco started to repair it. And until the Cabinet would not retain its essence of life, being able to release its power, it would not be able to create passageways for animate beings, neither humans nor animals.
A Cabinet was definitely comparable with a tree, as well with its structure and its existence as well. The Cabinet itself allegorized the trunk and it almost stretched its branches to the place where it's twin was, like a tree would reach out for the infinite distance of the sky. Its power was similar to the magic a wizard performed if he apparated, but a Cabinet didn't take much effort to travel from a place to another, if it really was used to travel. It was a great hiding place as well, but Alanis had to focus on its ability to proceed a passage between Hogwarts and its twin at Borgin and Burkes.
Alanis opened the wooden doors of the Cabinet, just to take a look inside, but its inside was quite unspectacular and assimilated to a common wardrobe. But it was inside where she had to do her work. She sighed heavily and pulled out her wand.
She knew she actually betrayed herself, her own loyalty, her own promise.
At Slughorn's Christmas party she'd sworn to never raise her singing voice again and she would try to hold on to that vow. But if she now wanted to fulfil the task that she was ordered by Dumbledore just as her own wish to help Draco, she had to make exceptions.
The real secret of giving life to something was sacrificing a part of your own life-force and that wasn't just possible with simple enchantments and those silly spells that were used in the charms lessons. That was more complex and close to rituals.
She was just happy that she already succeeded very well with using nonverbal spells. Therefore it would just be enough to hum under her breath while using some charms to make that Cabinet complete again. As a side effect, this Cabinet would contain something of her. What that was, did Alanis not know herself, but anyway, that Cabinet would be linked to her. That meant that she would be the only one that was able to use it entirely or destroy it.
Perhaps it was just a little, but even that little comparable to that Horcruxes that Harry told her of. However, creating a Horcrux was just horrible to think of, as Voldemort created seven of those, but it was nevertheless comparable with the enchantment Alanis was about to use.
For god's sake, she didn't have to kill someone, but she had to split a part of herself and give it to the Cabinet.
All of that was really dark, powerful and dangerous magic, that she never ever would have dared to use. But Albus trusted in her and had given her few instructions to use that enchantment properly, without risking to confer too much of herself to it.
Alanis sighed heavily.
What was she doing that for? For the sake of the commonalty as Dumbledore did? For Draco?
Perhaps, but the whole thing already went that far... Draco seemed to have found the right term. She was a puppet, as much as Draco was and they both didn't even know to whom they really belonged. It almost seemed that the two of them did neither belong to the bad, nor to the good side. As if they just were acting in order to save their lives and also their life they would probably like to spend together.
Perhaps they were just similar to Severus Snape.
But what did that potions master fight for? If he really was that selfish to fight just for himself, he wouldn't make that effort, wouldn't he? Then it would be enough just to join the majority and hide if there was any danger.
Why didn't he choose the bad side? Or did he even choose?
Alanis was not sure if asking herself where to belong was important anymore. There just seemed to be two men, Voldemort and Dumbledore, that ruled everything and everyone, just as they were pleased to do, until one of them finally succumbed the other.
But Alanis asked that particular question herself so often, since she got to know Draco Malfoy.
Wasn't it just enough being in the middle of the good and evil ones?
Was the bad side really that bad? Voldemort was evil and cruel for sure, but were all his intentions to create an intimate and more strictly organized group of wizards that bad? Although there should really be no separation between purebloods and halfbloods, there could certainly be a useful side of especially his plans to create more discipline, which would perhaps improve the relations between the Hogwarts school and the Ministry. In general, the idea to create structure was not that bad, but it was the way how Voldemort wanted to realize the worse version of it. Violence was no way to peace.
But what about the good ones? Sure, they were good and that always seemed to be enough, but there was nothing more than their pure hearts. However, what if they remained there inside their secret walls, in their beautiful world, were naive and characterless, didn't see what was going on outside?
Alanis knew that her heart was entirely on the good side, but being together with Draco Malfoy just had opened her eyes that there was always sense in good and bad things. No one could stop learning from them, no one should live blindly with a tunnel vision and ignore the daily life.
And as much as Voldemort's actions were horrible, and as much as Alanis had to suffer from them herself and saw Draco and others still being hurt, she knew that all of this had sense.
And even if this war between the Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort was horrible and would surely require lots of sacrifices, it would teach people to cherish a peaceful life and make them understand how important it was to preserve it.
Draco rolled from one side of his hospital-bed to the other, sweat covering his whole body, as his wounds finally healed. But it wasn't just the pain of the healing process that prevented him from sleeping.
Alanis was persistently on his mind and he wondered if she was at the Room of Requirement and examining the Cabinet. Would she really be able to finish that work that he wasn't able to do? He was quite skilled himself, but he knew as well how gifted Alanis was, just to mention her adorable Transfiguration skills.
If she really managed to do this job for him, there was just his ultimate task left. And that should anyway not be his, as Snape and Dumbledore had already planned.
How could he ever reward Alanis? She took that immense burden off his shoulders and even better, she seemed to be willingly to be with him.
His whole body tensed, and he groaned at the waves of pain blurred his thoughts and let his limbs tremble, but he felt excitement too.
Very well, Alanis and him had been kissing, even mentioning that they felt more for each other than for simple love affairs, but nothing more and nothing less. A kiss could be far away from being connected to real feelings, it could just be based on passion and sudden desire.
But how about that kiss between Draco and Alanis?
It was definitely something that they both were longing for a long time, but was it therefore also connected to that feelings that proved them to be in love? Why would Draco then otherwise kiss her?
Referring to Draco's countless dates, Alanis could as well be one of his little girls. She could as well just play with his feelings, as he was used to do with other people before he met her.
Draco knew that he would have never let himself get involved with her if she really prevented him from fulfilling his mission and endanger him. But he nevertheless did and all of that came true.
She was a Dumbledore and a foe to him and the reason why he made a fool of himself the past weeks. However, being now stuck with her utterly was the best thing that ever happened to him and apparently she wouldn't be a danger to his mission, but even an ally to him.
Would they ever admit to themselves that they wanted more, much more than a little pleasant kiss, even more than where passion could lead to?
They both indeed urged to feel every inch of each other, but their mental relation was as well important as their physical. For that reason he refused to treat her as if he would have treated any other girl.
Draco sighed. He never ever wanted a girl so much than Alanis. He never thought being possible that a girl could affect him so much, captivate him, make him restless, sleepless, aching for even a glimpse of her to gain salvation.
Did Alanis already have such a power over him?
Should he really let it go through?
Should he allow himself being happy again?
Draco smiled and buried his face into his pillow, silently moaning with joy.
Bloody hell, whatever allowed him to feel that marvellous and stirred, he hoped it would be well-disposed to him a hell of long time.
Alanis was just exhausted from her work. She didn't even have the strength to test if her efforts worked out. She surrendered to her tiredness, closed the Cabinet's doors, smiled slightly and grabbed her bag.
She was terribly tired. That's how Draco must have felt, just weak.
Alanis rubbed her stomach, as she missed dinner because of her intense work, there would hopefully be some cauldron cakes left, that Aberforth had sent her with his nice letter of apology. He just admitted her how glad he was that she still was alive and lived with him. Alanis was so happy about Aberforth finally warming himself up for her, even if she nevertheless wished he would have told her that personally.
"Oh, Merlin's be- I mean, what are you doing here Harry?"
She just found Harry sitting on the floor in front of the Room of Requirement, tightly holding the Marauder's map in the one, his invisibility cloak in the other hand. What the hell was Harry doing here? He'd just scared her to death. But that was the less tragic thing of that situation. Harry knew that she'd been in the Room of Requirement.
"Alanis? What were you doing in there?"
"Answer me first." Harry cocked his eyebrows at her harsh tone. But she know felt how hate raised inside her heart, how much she finally felt the urgency wanting to curse that boy in front of her because of having hurt Draco so much.
"I wanted to hide that Advanced potions book. Then I wasn't able to enter the Room of Requirement, but I decided to wait, just to be sure that it wasn't Malfoy inside. I want to find out in which form the Room changed for him."
Alanis clenched her fists eagerly.
"It can't be Malfoy, you thickhead! He lies in the hospital wing, suffering from that deep cuts that your awful curse slit in his body!"
Harry struggled to get to his feet and readjusted his glasses to peer at her without, not understanding of her being that outraged.
"Wow, Alanis, why are you that upset? I do regret what I've done-"
"But did you ever consider to apologize?"
Harry looked baffled at her as if he didn't recognize her.
"How would I ever apologize to that dumbass?"
Alanis just stared at Harry being that rude. He never ever heard him talking that vulgar, but at that moment Alanis realized how similar Draco and Harry had been. They were both stubborn, loyal to what they believed in and stood for it until the end. Perhaps they could have really been friends, or maybe could be in future when all that war was over.
"It's just horrible what you've done! And everything you can think of is what Malfoy might be concocting and doing in that Room of Requirement?", Alanis asked, finally trying to calm down, that Harry wouldn't realize how much she really cared for his archfiend.
Harry nodded stiffly, folded his cloak and plugged it under his sweater.
"I know, Alanis. But what did you do in there?"
"I just did the same as you, I went to go to that place where Malfoy was.", Alanis sighed, at least that was the true part of her answer, "But I don't know what he might have wanted in the room of hidden things."
"The room of hidden things?"
"Are you deaf or something?", Alanis asked angrily.
Harry suddenly looked really worried and sad.
"What's really up with you?"
Besides I want to smash your glasses to earth and jump on it and laugh about you then tottering around like a blind man, stretching out your arms like a mummy? Besides I want to rip your heart out of your chest and roast it? Besides I'd like you to feel exactly how I did when I heard you hurting my beloved? Nothing, dear Harry!
She suddenly hesitated. Did she just admit to herself falling entirely for Draco Malfoy?
Well, it had just been a question of time and her urgency to avenge him proved it right.
She just angrily rushed past Harry.
"Just hide that bloody book and leave me alone. I'm not in the mood to talk to you anymore."
"Alanis?"
Alanis hesitated and loosened her grip around her wand, to prevent herself from hexing him with the most powerful Conjunctivitis curse that she knew.
"What?"
"Just remember that we are friends."
Alanis let her shoulders drop sadly and moved on, ignoring Harry being thoroughly confused about her sudden rejection.
"Yes of course.", she said, but mumbled to herself, "But it's sad to say."
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