Hello my peoples! How are you? I hope you're doing fabulous.

I posted the prologue to my new fanficiton, Stand Still Juliet. It's about Loki and it's set in the time of the Avengers movie. I hope you can maybe read it and review, even if it's criticism. Anything is welcome! I just want to know whether it's even worth posting. Thanks, dearies. (:

Also, maybe watch for me to post a couple one-shots. One is BBC Sherlock, and I may post that one today or tomorrow, and the other I'm still working on. Top secret, hush hush. You guys are awesome.

Anywho, thanks to midnight reader for leaving another review!

On to the fic!

Chapter 02-3

Secrets

I called after him, my voice hoarse, "Draco!"

He didn't even look back. I could see his stiff motions as he walked.

I cleared my throat and yelled again, "Draco!"

Still, not so much as a backwards glance.

I ran after him. Couldn't he hear me?

"Draco!" I grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face me. My brown bangs fell into my eyes.

"Astoria, stop! Don't try to make this worse than it already is. You're my friend. I like you. Please, before you get hurt, leave. Go, without me. Just forget about me."

What did he mean, before I got hurt?

"I can't forget about you," part of me was truly shocked to find this was true.

"Oh really?" sarcasm started to show through in his voice.

"Yes!"

There was a pause before he spoke again.

"Why?" Draco's face showed he was sincere now.

"Ever since the Ball, since my second year, I haven't been able to forget about you." I felt my cheeks getting red as I looked down at my feet.

A moment of silence until he understood.

Then Draco took a step back and looked incredulously at me.

"You don't mean... Astoria, no. This will not work. We can't be together, it would put too much risk upon you."

I blushed even further and didn't speak. Why did he keep talking about danger and risk?

"Look, Tori. We've known each other since we were kids. You're one of the only friends I have who's a kind, sincere, real person. And, friends or something more, I've always loved you, Tori. And I would never put anyone I truly loved in danger. You're not safe with me. You can't trust me. I'm not even sure I can trust myself!"

All this talk about danger was starting to scare me . I knew the Dark Lord had risen to power again but this was terrifying, almost as if he was here with us. Draco looked me dead in the eyes, and I felt something I'd never felt before. Exhilaration mixed with dread. Joy mingling with depression. Light coexisting with darkness.

Then Draco sighed and did something I never would have expected.

He pulled up his left sleeve.

I looked down, then backed away in panic. On Draco Malfoy's arm was the Dark Mark.

I screamed, "How could you!"

"What would you expect from the boy whose parents are both followers of the Dark Lord? He told me he'd kill them!" Draco's face looked panicked, pleading with me to understand.

Tears swam up to cloud my vision.

"You... You don't know... What he did..." I stammered.

"Who?"

I had to maintain control before I answered.

"A Death Eater," I whispered.

Draco's face paled. He quickly regained his composure.

"I know what the Death Eaters do. What they do is help to try and rid the world of those… Those Mudbloods." But even I could tell he didn't quite believe it himself.

"That's not all... They did... You don't know what... What he did... To me..." I was gasping for air now, my head spinning.

"He didn't hurt you, did he Astoria?" Draco's face was twisted into an expression I couldn't place.

This time it was my turn to reveal my secret marks. I tried to catch my breath, and then reached backwards to pull down the collar of my shirt slightly, revealing the large scar across the back of my shoulder. Draco gasped.

"Tori, what happened?" his voice was soft and urgent.

I knew then that it was time to tell my horrible story, something I had never shared myself with anyone before.

Sometimes it's harder to tell something to someone else when you haven't told yourself.

I sunk down in a huge velvet chair big enough for four of me and told Draco everything. About April, how she was the most amazing and embarrassing person I knew. How we did everything together, except one thing. No matter how much I thought and believed that we would grow old and see the end of life together, we couldn't. I told him what happened that day in the alley behind Ollivander's. What the Death Eater did to her, and also to me. Soon enough I had stopped talking and the only sound heard in the Room of Requirement was my crying. Draco had been standing in one spot the whole time I had been talking, and now he hadn't moved for a long time. When he did, it was subtle. He walked very slowly over to me and sat in the chair beside me. After a few seconds I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders. I laid my head on his shoulder, my tears soaking into his shirt.

"Astoria," he whispered, "Look at me."

I looked up at him slowly.

"Tori, I'm so sorry," Draco said, "I shouldn't have been so cold to you."

My green eyes locked with his grey ones. Draco leaned down pressed his lips against my cheek.

I knew then Draco wasn't going to come with me. And I also realized how childish it was for me to want to leave. I couldn't just drop everything as soon as things got hard. I had no reliable means of transportation, and I'd be seen as a runaway, and furthermore, a coward. If Draco could

I knew there was a possibility that Draco could go to Azkaban-or even die-doing what he was going to do. I closed my eyes and promised to myself to savor the moments I had with him from then on.

Thanks for reading! (: