Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.

A/N: Thanks to littledhampir13, givetherabbitthefreakintrix, and Rosiline for the reviews!

I didn't get my five reviews! I'll give you another chance; five reviews and I'll give you a hint to see what will happen later in the story. Like how, before DH came out, JKR said that "three main characters would die." Something like that. But I gotta get five reviews!

Chapter 18

Dear sweet Merlin.

I have no idea how long I sat there, being bored.

Yep, that's the only thing I was; bored. And cold – freezing, actually. And maybe a little annoyed. Or a lot annoyed. With Riddle. Because, come on, who leaves somebody they "care" about (As if, I thought, he probably just wants me to trust that he won't hurt me when I know he will.) tied to a chair in a frozen room all alone for what feels like hours?

Eventually, I found my head lolling to the side and my eyes drooping.

Oh God, don't fall asleep, I ordered myself, shaking my head clear and opening my eyes wide to keep them open. If you do, you'll probably wake up to find yourself stripped and tied to a bed…Okay, that's a revolting thought. I think I just threw up a little.

I looked down at my watch – actually, it was Sirius' watch from the seventies, but I called it mine – and saw that it was nearing two-thirty. What was Riddle playing at, keeping me here this long? Was he hoping that I would fall asleep, so he could do…well, me?

Just in case he was, I refused to allow myself to fall asleep.

My head was leaning backwards onto the back of the chair with my eyes closed – I had almost given up on not falling asleep – and it was a little after three in the morning when I heard the door open quietly from behind me. I think I was actually in that phase between being asleep and awake when I heard it open, and I jerked my head up as soon as I heard it and turned my head around slightly to see –

"Draco!" I exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He shut the door quietly behind him quietly, staring at me as though confused.

"I don't really know," he replied. "I was told to come here at three in the morning and meet in the upstairs drawing room. I met Riddle there, and he told me to come here and see if you're asleep. If so, I'm supposed to bring him here, but if not, I'm to release you, but tell you nothing whatsoever. Except that you can use magic again. And then I can leave."

"Well, you didn't really listen to him so well, did you?" I pointed out as he waved his wand and the chains around my wrists disappeared suddenly. I rubbed the red marks on my wrists that clearly weren't going away for a while before I realized that rubbing them made them sting, so I stopped. Instead I stood up and turned to face Draco.

"What happened to your face?" he asked suddenly. I frowned.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked, confused.

"It looks like you got slapped."

"Oh! Well that's probably because I was slapped," I said, remembering that Riddle had slapped me earlier after I had spit in his face.

"What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did something?" I asked, indignant. He rose his eyebrows, and I sighed. "Alright, alright, I spit in his face."

"Why?"

Because he told me he would kill Regulus because he honestly thought he was Regulus' competition, I thought. Instead of saying that, though, I shook my head slowly – I really didn't want to talk about it because it forced me face the possibility that Regulus could actually be killed in this war just like anybody else.

Obviously, that fact hadn't yet occurred to me.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Draco asked softly as we left the room and headed toward the staircase that led to the Entrance Hall. "I won't tell anybody." I sighed and nodded.

"I don't want to talk about it. I don't even want to tell Dumbledore, let alone anybody else. Even though I know I probably should tell Dumbledore," I replied.

"I'm sure he'll understand if you wait until tomorrow," he said as he pushed the large front doors open and allowed me to go first.

"No, I'll probably forget everything by then. I'm going to tell him straight away." I paused, waiting for him to close the door behind himself. "You can come if you want, I suppose. I'm still pretty pissed at Dumbledore because of what he said to me last time I was there; I might need somebody there to keep me calm."

"What did he say last time you were there?"

"You didn't hear?" I asked. He shook his head. "Oh. I'm surprised Dumbledore didn't tell you." I paused. "He yelled at me for having my doubts that Harry was really on our side. I mean, come on, who the hell is that good of an actor?" Draco stopped abruptly, and I followed suit and turned to face him slowly.

"To be honest, I thought the same thing for a while. But as soon as we had left the Manor, he looked about ready to break down crying and told me that he felt really horrible about having hurt you and wanting nothing more than to kill Riddle for making him and himself for actually doing. I almost had to subdue him to keep him from actually trying to do so." I felt my eyes widen from shame.

"Really?" I asked quietly. He nodded, smiling slightly. "Damn it, Drake, you just made me feel even worse than I did when Dumbledore yelled at me!" He laughed softly as we started walking toward the gates again.

"I thought maybe I would make you feel better. Sorry that my efforts were a waste."

"I wouldn't call them a waste," I replied. "You did help with my trust in Harry; you just didn't help me feel better about the fact that I didn't trust Harry for a while. Severus says it's because I wasn't in the right state of mind, that the…the curse had messed with my mind, since I hadn't been under it for a long time."

"That sounds about right," Draco muttered as the gates flung open upon my touch. "I was wondering if, since it's been 17 years, if not for your mind then for your body at least, the tor-curse – " he corrected quickly, " – would have a worse effect on you than you had expected."

We came to a stop simultaneously about ten feet past the gate. I heard it close behind us and heard the locks click into place. Draco held out his hand and I took it. He Side-Alonged me right into the Shrieking Shack.

"Why are we going this way?" I asked. "We could've just Flooed right to Dumbledore's office."

"I don't know," he replied as I entered the passageway. "This was just the way that came to mind."

"Ugh," I muttered as I moved forward slightly so that he could come down too. "This tunnel sucks, it's too damp and dark and tiny."

"And long," Draco added.

"Don't complain, you're the one who picked this way to get in," I pointed out. "We really should suggest moving the hideout to Grimmauld Place or something easier to get into."

"What's Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh, I forgot that you wouldn't know," I muttered, ducking so I wouldn't hit my head on a piece of rock protruding from the ceiling. "It's where Sirius and Regulus grew up, it fell into Sirius' possession when Regulus died last time…obviously, Regulus didn't die this time, so it's his. Last time from 1995 to 1996 we used it as a hideout for Order members and Dumbledore put the Fidelius Charm on it and was the Secret Keeper."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Draco said thoughtfully. "A really good idea, actually. Except…except, I think you should be the Secret Keeper."

Out of shock, I smashed my head into another piece of rock protruding from the wall.

"W-what?" I asked, massaging my forehead to try to get the aching to go away. "Me? But then, if Riddle says –" I put on a fake, high voice, mocking Riddle "– 'Tell me where they are!' I'll have to!"

"Not really," he pointed out. "Besides, we can tell him that Dumbledoreis the Secret Keeper. If we even can tell him who the Secret Keeper is. And, if he ever gets hold of Dumbledore…which he won't…Dumbledore can just be like, 'I'm not the Secret Keeper, Tom.' And we know he'll refuse to say who it is because, come on, it's Dumbledore."

"I'd probably tell him if he just asked once because I'm worried he'll find out I'm not really on his side and kill everybody I love –"

"Oh come on, I know you, Nicole, you won't tell him, because if you do, everybody you love will die, but if you don't, they won't."

I frowned. He's right, I couldn't help but think. Voldemort wouldn't expect it. I would actually be the last person he'd expect since he thinks I'm under his control completely.

"Maybe you're right," I said quietly as I clambered out of the hole from under the Whomping Willow and pressed the knob in the tree to freeze it as Draco followed suit. "I mean, Riddle would never expect it. It'd be a nice surprise." Plus, I thought, it keeps Dumbledore out of danger too. It only puts me in the danger, which is always what I want.

"See? You should suggest it to Dumbledore."

"I might just do that," I muttered, starting up toward the castle. The lights from the windows illuminated the grounds and I could see the giant doors up ahead and suddenly realized something. "Dammit, Draco, I bet the front doors are locked." I saw Draco shrug through the darkness.

"Oh well, we can just send a Patronus up if we have to," he pointed out. "Dumbledore can probably unlock the doors from his office somehow and then just have us lock it behind us. Or he can send Filch. Although Filch will probably snap at us and try to give us a detention – he'll even try to give you a detention, and you don't even go to school here anymore."

"Sounds about right to me," I agreed.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, and, even though I knew that the gates would be locked, I tried to pull them open anyways. No luck. Draco sent off a Patronus message to Dumbledore and a few seconds later we heard the locks click open. This time, when I pulled the gates open, they opened easily.

Once we had closed them behind us, I stopped Draco before he could start walking toward Dumbledore's office.

"We can't just leave the doors unlocked," I pointed out upon his confused look. "Especially since the Death Eaters are out."

"How could they even get into the grounds?"

"The same way we did," I said, trying to figure out how to lock the doors. I saw Draco pale out of the corner of my eyes at the thought.

"Shit, they could get in so easily it's terrifying."

"Exactly why we need to figure out how to lock this."

"Well we could just –"

There was a sudden "meow" and we turned our eyes to see Mrs. Norris standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at us with her big yellow eyes. We both paused, knowing what was coming.

And, sure enough, a few seconds later Filch came pounding down the stairs.

"Students out of bed!" he yelled. "Students in the corridors!" He stopped when he saw us, seemed to consider walking away and leaving us be, but then continued to call, "Students out of bed!"

"Students out of bed? Oh, it's just you two." Severus, hearing the ruckus, had come sweeping out of the dungeons. "Move along, Filch, they're fine and you know it." Filch turned around, looking completely disappointed, and followed Mrs. Norris, who kept watching us, up the stairs.

"Thanks Sev," I said once he was gone. "Hey, can you lock this? Dumbledore unlocked it so we could get in, but we don't know how to relock it." Sev nodded, raised his wand, and waved it, causing the locks to click. "Thanks," I muttered.

"What happened to your face?"

"I was slapped cause I spit in Riddle's face."

"Did you just get back?" Severus asked, not even bothering to ask why I had spit in Riddle's face. When I nodded, he furrowed his eyebrows. "What happened? Why were you gone for so long?" I shook my head slowly.

"I don't even want to talk about it," I muttered.

"Well are you going to tell Dumbledore?" I nodded.

"Of course," I replied. "I don't really want to, I don't want to tell anybody, but I know I should tell him, so I'm going to. You two can come, if you'd like." I saw Draco and Severus make eye contact and decide to come as I started toward the stairs.

We walked the entire way to Dumbledore's office in silence and, even when we had stepped onto the moving staircase behind the stone gargoyle, not one of us had anything to say. The silence was finally broken by Dumbledore's soft call of "Enter" after I had wracked my knuckles on his door three times.

I led the way into his office and, as though expecting us, there were three chairs sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk. He was as wide awake as he usually was around noon and still around ten at night. I wondered if he ever slept as I sat in the middle chair of the three.

"Do you ever sleep?" I asked, unable to stop myself.

"Why yes I do, Nicole," he replied. "But I was up waiting for you to get back tonight…or, should I say, this morning."

"Oh," I replied. "Well, I'm back now."

"I see that," he replied. "My, my, what happened to your face?"

"Is it really that bad?" I asked, rubbing my face. "Riddle slapped me cause I spit into his face." Dumbledore, like Severus, didn't even bother asking why I had spit into his face. Was I really that predictable? Instead, he just asked,

"What news do you bring?"

I sighed.

Well, here we go.

"Well, he mostly just told me stuff that we already know," I started. "About lying low, coming to Hogwarts in a few days, trying to take the Ministry at the end of March. He implied that he would tell me how, exactly, he planned to take the Ministry but didn't actually tell me." I paused. "He also said…he said he was going…going to have everybody in the Order killed as soon as he took the Ministry."

"Is that it?"

"Well…he said he hadn't made another Horcrux yet, but was planning on it, he just needs to find the right artifact. He also said he was definitely going to give it to me once he made it." I didn't want to say that he had wanted to use my ring at first, so I didn't bother. That shouldn't matter to anybody.

"You need to deter him," Dumbledore said. "Try to keep him from making another Horcrux."

"How? I have to obey everything he says, I can't just force him not to."

"No, but you can use your words," he pointed out. "You know his weaknesses better than even I do." I saw the twinkle in eyes and I knew immediately that he knew exactly what I was thinking – his weakness is me. "I'm sure you can find some way to convince him not to make one."

"It'll be difficult. But I suppose I'm up to a challenge." I paused. "That's really all he said. I have a feeling he has more to talk about once he calls me back, which will probably be soon knowing him."

"That's it?" Severus asked suddenly. "You were gone for three and a half hours, and that's it?"

"He tied my wrists to a chair and left me there for about two of those hours," I retorted rather rudely. I'm really not in the mood, Snape, I thought. Severus rose his hands in a surrender position at my harsh tone.

"Sorry, I didn't know. I was just wondering." I didn't even apologize for my insolence.

"I was thinking, though," I said, turning back to Dumbledore. "That we need someplace better to use as a hideout. Not that Hogwarts isn't a good one – a really good one, actually – but it's so difficult to get to the Room of Requirement. We need somewhere that we can just Apparate and Disapperate right into and out of."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Grimmauld Place. It's in Regulus' possession, the Death Eaters don't know that, they won't expect it, and we can easily put it under the Fidelius Charm just in case."

"That's a rather brilliant idea, if I do say so myself," Dumbledore said. "I can be the Secret Keeper, not to be arrogant but I'm probably the safest choice –"

"About that," Draco interrupted. "Nicole and I were talking, and we think it'd be better to have her be the Secret Keeper. I mean, we can tell Riddle that you're it, but really have her be it. He wouldn't suspect it, he would expect her to refuse to be it since she would have to tell him if he asked, and, if he ever gets hold of you, which we all know he won't, you wouldn't tell him anyways so that wouldn't be surprising when you don't."

And, I thought again, it only puts me in the danger, which is always what I strive to do – keep everybody else out of danger and me in it.

"That's an intelligent suggestion, Draco, I have to say," Dumbledore said. "However, I don't feel comfortable putting Nicole in that type of danger."

"I'm willing to take the risk," I contradicted. "Happy to, actually. I don't want anybody else in danger except me, and you know it. Just let me do it, please?" Dumbledore sighed.

"Alright. Tomorrow you and Regulus and I can go check out the place, make sure it's alright to use, and perform the charm and tomorrow night we can have everybody move." I felt myself smiling despite the horrible mood I was in.

"Good," I said. "I'm glad you came around, because I know some other people who know how to perform that charm and they could've done it without your knowledge, which I would hate to do."

"Well, you all best be headed off to bed. It's awful late – or maybe early, depending on how you'd like to put it – and I know you all need your beauty sleep."

Severus and Draco bid goodbye, but I said no more as I left and headed in the opposite direction than them – they were both headed back to the dungeons where their sleeping quarters were and I was headed back to the Room of Requirements.

I saw nobody in the Common Room as I walked through, but I think I was in some sort of daze. I pulled open the door to the room Regulus and I stayed in and shut it behind me, putting up a Silencing Charm around the room.

Regulus wasn't there, but I didn't even have time to wonder where he was before I threw myself upon the bed and screamed into one of the pillows until my throat was raw, at which point the tears started to fall.

I think I had been crying for only a few minutes when the door opened quietly and Regulus entered. I don't think he noticed that I was crying at first, but, once he did, he crossed the room quietly and sat next to me, pulling me into his chest. He didn't even ask what was wrong until I had finished sobbing hysterically a good half hour later and was reduced to sniffling.

"You okay?" Regulus asked softly, running his fingers through my long hair. I shook my head.

"I hate this," I whispered. "I don't want to do it anymore."

"Then don't," he replied. "Talk to Dumbledore – he'll understand. Have him pretend to have you locked up somewhere because he figured it out somehow, or something." I shook my head again.

"No – I can't. If I do, it…it'll just make things worse."

"What do you mean?"

"He already has plans to kill you," I spilled before I could stop myself, tearing up again. I felt him tense up slightly in my arms, but I don't blame him. "I don't want to give him any more reason to want to. I love you, and I don't want to loose you."

"But…he's not stupid enough to think that it's your fault. Why would he want to punish you?"

"He doesn't want to kill you to punish me."

"Then why does he want to kill me?"

I paused. I didn't want to tell him this. I didn't want to tell anybody this because it was just plain revolting. But I didn't feel right keeping it from him.

So, I just spilt it.

"I think…I think he may be in – in love with me."

A/N: Don't forget to review! If I get five, I'll hint at what'll happen next!

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