Here it is; chapter 26. As always, thank you for reading and reviewing, it's what keeps me going. This chapter is a bit longer than usual, maybe the longest I've written so far. So I hope you'll enjoy it, and that it might clear some things out for you.

Special thanks, again, to JuicyLucy921 whose review made me smile for a whole day again! :)

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Chapter 26

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"Are you finished soon?" Daphne asked and leaned in over Alice's shoulder.

"Why? Got anywhere else to be, have we?" Alice asked while finishing the sentence she was writing.

"Not really, it can wait", said Daphne and sat down next to Alice by the table. They were in the rather empty common room. "Just something I recon you'd enjoy", Daphne continued without being able to keep the smile away.

"When you say it like that, you know I can't wait", Alice said and smiled back. Daphne put up her books on the table next to Alice's.

"You know what?" She said and started searching for a specific page in one on the books. "I think I'm going to keep this one for now."

"Oh no", Alice said, her face went blank.

"What?"

"You can't do that to me, now I won't get it out of my mind", Alice laughed. "You need to tell me!" This time Daphne's face went blank.

"On no", she said and looked passed Alice. Alice turned half a turn only to see Pansy Parkinson coming over to them. Pansy stepped in between Alice and Daphne to give Daphne a hug. Daphne just watched her in disbelief.

"Did you get the invitation to the dinner tonight?" Pansy asked, standing in the way to completely shut out Alice. "Sixth years only", she said over her shoulder to Alice.

"I did", Daphne said and looked down in her book. When Pansy didn't move away Daphne looked up at her once more.

"So?" Pansy asked.

"So...?"

"Are you going?" Said Pansy, as it was the most obvious in the world. "You know, I heard Vincent's got the hots for you."

"Vincent as in Crabbe?" Daphne couldn't help but laugh. "Don't disgust me", she then said, fully serious. "Alice, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah", Alice said and put the books in her bag. "See you tonight, Pansy", Alice whispered as the two girlfriends walked passed her. Daphne led the way out to the hallway and they started walking up the stairs.

"Blaise asked you to go with him?" Daphne asked with a smirk.

"Weeks ago", Alice answered and they both laughed at the irony of it. They walked under silence through the crowded corridors; even if they'd tried to talk the words would probably have disappeared in the murmuring. Daphne pulled in her in to a toilet on the second floor without any forewarning.

"Blimey", Alice said in the surprise. "I don't think I've ever been here."

"That doesn't surprise me", Daphne said and walked further in the room. "No one ever goes here."

"And yet here you are", a shrill voice said from above them. Alice looked up and met the eyes of a young, girl ghost. "Come to bother me again?" Girls toilet, ghost, second floor.

"Excuse me", Alice said to the ghost. "What's your name?" She decided to be nice at first.

"Myrtle", she answered and lowered down to Alice's level.

"When did you pass?" Alice continued. She'd read the story in a book about Hogwarts. "In 1944?" Myrtle seemed chocked as she just nodded before floating away. Alice turned to the sinks to her right.

"It's over here", Daphne said as Alice started looking closer at one of them. "How did you know?"

"Father told me of it", Alice said and walked over to Daphne. She was right. There, at the tap was the image of a small snake. Alice let her hand linger at it as she spoke;

"Open up", Alice said, her voice was low and hissing. Then the sink moved, sank down out of sight and a pipe wide enough for one man to slide in to was left behind.

"Brilliant!" Daphne said and looked down the pipe. Alice walked closer to the pipe and looked down it. It was rather dark and it was impossible to see where it ended. Alice lit her wand and reached down, as far as she dared without falling in to the hole. The pipe was dirty and old.

"Terasus Sursuma", Alice said and pointed her wand at the walls that instantly cleaned up. "What do you say? Should we take a look?" Alice asked and looked over the shoulder at Daphne. Daphne on the other hand seemed a bit unsure of entering the unknown, black pipe. Alice put the wand in her pocket and smiled at Daphne before she jumped down the pipe. It wasn't a very long journey before she found ground again.

"Daphne, let's get going. We don't have all day", Alice said, trying to lure her scared friend down.

"Well..." Daphne answered after a few seconds. "Isn't it dirty down there?"

"Just come, Daph, or I'll go without you..." Alice knew exactly what to say. A scream followed by a scared Daphne entered the long corridor that followed the pipe. Daphne, who wasn't as graceful as Alice fell right on her bum and looked rather mad as she stood up and brushed the dirt of herself.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Alice said with a big smile. Daphne returned the smile with an evil glare that suggested that they'd better move on. The corridor looked as it had been cleaned up recently; the floor was almost to clear. They were stopped by a door, decorated with twisting snakes that was tightly shut. It couldn't be as simple as it had been to open the previous one, but Alice tried and the door slowly opened. They entered the long, dim lit chamber, decorated with pillars of snakes and at the far end a great statue of the honourable Salazar Slytherin. Suddenly Alice had a hard time breathing, the air felt thick and unapt. She put a hand over her chest whilst trying to take a full breath. Something was stopping her, as if she had a pair of arms holding tightly around her upper body.

"Do you feel that?" She asked and turned back to Daphne. Something was pressing inside of her, taking more space and pushing something else out.

"Feel what?" Daphne asked and walked up to Alice.

"Never mind", Alice said and smiled. They continued to walk down the path, towards the statue. The chamber widened, it almost felt infinitely large. The further they walked, the more Alice got the feeling of not being completely alone with Daphne.

"Oh my, look at this Alice!" Daphne stood a few feet away, at the head of a year's old, sort of half rotten kind of snake. A big one too, at least ten yards to say. "How long do you think it's been here?"

"Don't know", Alice said and looked closer on it. "Something killed it though."

"You know, I heard something about this. In our second year, a lot of mudbloods were attacked, no one died. Apparently Harry Potter was in here", Daphne said, she just remembered the incidents that had taken place during their second year.

"We're not alone in here", Alice suddenly said. She looked around, at first it seemed as nothing. But then she came eye to eye across the room to a pair of big, brown eyes under a mane of brown hair.

"What are you doing down here?" Hermione Granger asked and took a few steps towards them. "As a prefect it is my duty to inform..."

"Oh shut your mouth hole, mudblood", Alice said clearly and glared angry at the girl. Hermione went in to some sort of shock; she couldn't get another word out of her mouth.

"It's you", Hermione then said. Alice glanced over her shoulder at the very confused Daphne. With a fast wave with her hand Daphne fell down, unconscious on the wet floor. "What did you do?" Hermione said loudly and pulled out her wand.

"Relax, she's just asleep", Alice said and walked forward, towards Hermione. "She can't hear this conversation."

"Who are you?" Hermione asked. Alice stopped when they were close enough to speak normally to one another.

"But you already know that", Alice said and smiled. Hermione looked at her in misbelieve and raised one eyebrow.

"You're in the Slugclub, which means that you are talented. You're always with Greengrass or Zabini, so you're probably in Slytherin. But what is your name?" Hermione said.

"I would have thought your love's baby sister would have told you, that you'd spoken of me", Alice said and smiled. It hadn't been hard at all to enter the mudbloods brain without her even noticing. "But you already have, you just don't want to say it." Hermione backed away and put her arms over her chest.

"How do you know that?" She asked; a moment of concern flew passed her eyes. Alice tapped twice at the side of her head.

"You told me so", Alice said and smiled. "You know who I am." Hermione looked scared for the first time.

"You're Alice Gaunt, a fifth year in Slytherin and..." shivered Hermione.

"And...?" Alice pushed her to continue.

"You're the heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle's daughter", whispered Hermione. Alice took one step forward, disappeared and repapered only inches away from Hermione.

"And that makes you very aware of what I can do..." Alice smiled and pulled a strain of hair out of Hermione's face. Hermione looked to be at the brink of crying.

"You're clever; I give you credits for that. But one thing I do not fully understand", Alice said, turned and walked a few steps away from the frightened girl. "Why haven't you told Harry Potter of me?" She turned back o face Hermione.

"Because you're not your father", Hermione said. "You're nothing like him..."

"You say this, yet you do not even know me. Why?" Alice felt suspicious towards these statements. True, she was not her father. But neither was she not like him.

"If it is one thing I've learned about him it that he does not love", Hermione said. "And it is love that drives you." Alice stood silent; she wondered what this would lead too.

"For those who know what to look for, it's obvious", Hermione said. "You love him... Draco, you love him." Alice wasn't sure why she reacted so strongly, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at Hermione.

"I do not love him", she said between her teeth. "He is nothing to me."

"Why are you creating a distraction?" This couldn't be happening, this girl couldn't know this much.

"Crucio", Alice said and the red beam hit Hermione in the chest. The pain spread in her body as the curse took place in her. "Ossa Frangere", Alice said and the sound of breaking bones echoed through the open space. In a second Alice stood beside Daphne and woke her up.

"What happened?" Daphne asked.

"She was quick with the wand, knocked you out", Alice said and helped her friend to stand. "Let's get out of here." They walked over Hermione's broken body and hurried through the corridor, as they walked the tortured girls screams faded away. They came back to the empty toilet before they stopped to catch their breaths. Alice turned to the sink and told it to close itself.

"You didn't close the door down there", Daphne reminded her. "What if the mudblood tells?" Alice took a grip of Daphne's arm and dragged her out, towards the Slytherin common room.

"That girl won't be telling anyone", Alice said before making sure no one was close enough to hear. "I broke every bone in her body."

"What?" Daphne said, surprised by the information she'd retrieved. "Can you even do that?"

"Don't know about anyone else, I can", Alice said. They entered the common room and made way directly to the girls dormitory. "Get changed, we're late." Alice stepped in to her room. She'd lost it down there, and it couldn't happen again. How could that girl, that insignificant mudblood affect her in those manners? She slipped out of her tight jeans as her thoughts raced in a hundred miles an hour. Without really thinking about it she picked up the first dress she got her hands on and pulled it over her head. She walked over to the mirror. It was that dress, the one with a corset, the one...

"It looks good on you."

"It is a bit to big tough", Alice said and pulled the fabric together at the waist. Steps grew closer to her and she felt a pair of hand at her back.

"It's a corset, remember", he said and pulled up the ties on the back.

"Yeah, I remember", she said and closed her eyes, just too intense the gentle touch of his hands. He pulled all of her hair to one side and placed his lips at her neck. Alice took his hands and put his arms around her body, the warmth, the love.

"Alice? Alice!" Alice opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, the dress was still hanging lose around her body.

"Do you need help with that?" Blaise asked. Alice nodded and he walked up behind her to tighten the ribbons in the back. "You look beautiful", he said and put his arms around her body. Alice turned and smiled.

"You don't look bad either", she said and fixed the collar of his jacket. He bent down and kissed her. It didn't feel like it had done. It wasn't him that had changed, it was her.

"I love you", he whispered and kissed her again. "Ready?" Alice nodded; she wasn't sure what to answer to the other things he'd said. But ready, that she was.

They caught up with Daphne right outside the Great Hall and no one said much as they walked to the place of the dinner. It was somewhere at the seventh floor. Crabbe and Goyle stood placed at a door Alice had never noticed before.

"Hey Daphne", Crabbe said as they passed by. Daphne shook her head and stepped through the door. It lead in to a big room that was decorated completely in green and silver, lit with candles and three fireplaces. Three groups of tables, seven seats at each, took up most of the room along with tables full of running across the walls. Alice's eyes got drawn to the first group she saw, Pansy and Draco stood closely together holding each other's hands. Draco looked up and met her gaze, but looked away quickly without any emotion in his face. It'd worked, just as she'd planned it to do. It had worked perfectly. Pansy left Draco's side and headed in the direction of the loo. Alice excused herself and followed, she needed to see it for herself. Alice pulled out her wand before entering the toilet. Pansy stood by the mirror and put her hair in place.

"Petrificus Totalus", Alice whispered and Pansy's body stiffened. She couldn't see Alice, and didn't know what had just happened to her. Alice focused her mind and entered Pansy's without any difficulty. It wasn't as simple as Alice had thought, she saw Draco, the memory was from three years ago. Pansy's memory showed the emotion of love and affection towards him, she'd been in love with him for ages. And this memory portrayed their first kiss. It was one of the happier memories Pansy had. He'd never been fully devoted to her, and she was well aware of it. But he kept relying on her for some reason that neither of them understood. A bond of trust had been formed between them. They'd been together for so long. Alice came to the memories where she'd entered the picture. Pansy had taken notice of Alice long before Alice had taken notice of her. She'd been amazed by Alice's looks and perhaps a bit jealous. Then she watched the look she and Draco had exchanged by the table in the Great Hall the first night they'd been here. Pansy had read much more in to it than Alice had. It wasn't strange that Pansy hated Alice, why wouldn't she? Alice came out of nowhere, steeling the love of her life. Alice took the spell of Pansy, who instantly turned around.

"What are you looking at?" Pansy said and walked passed Alice.

"I'm sorry", Alice said. Pansy stopped, backed up a few steps and faced Alice. "I didn't know..."

"Didn't know what?" Pansy spat.

"I didn't know how much he meant to you", Alice said with guilt. "I didn't realise that you had so much history together, and I'm sorry I didn't care about it." Pansy's face softened.

"I would probably never say this to someone else, but it's something about you..." Pansy started and put a hand on Alice's shoulder. "How could you know? I mean, he didn't tell you so who else could have?" They stood quiet and Pansy's eyes filled up with tears.

"Do you know what it feels like to love someone that doesn't love you back? Someone who is meant for someone else but sticks with you for god knows what reason?" Alice stood quiet. "Of course you don't, because you're perfect and it will never happen to you." Pansy walked passed Alice and was very sure to hit Alice's shoulder with her own.

"He's out there with you, isn't he?" Alice said in anger. "He chose you."

"He did and he's never going to be yours." Pansy walked out from the room leaving Alice alone. No, he was never going to be hers. The door opened behind her again.

"Alice..." Daphne walked up to her and have her a hug. "I heard."

"How can I be so stupid?" Alice said, tears started falling down her face. "And Blaise's outside, loving me, thinking that all is well and I'm... I..."

"Calm down", Daphne said and put a hand on each of Alice's shoulders. Alice sat down on the floor, her legs wouldn't carry her. Daphne sat down next to her.

"It's better like this. They have each other now and I can't interfere in that anymore."

"Do you love him?" Daphne asked and sat down beside Alice. "Draco? Do you?"

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"Hey Draco, have you seen Alice?" It's been more than half an hour since he left for the loo.

Why would I keep track of someone that makes my life a living hell?" Draco said, it wasn't like him to speak like this. "So no, Blaise, I haven't seen her."

"Whatever, man", Blaise said and frowned. "I was just asking if you'd seen her."

"She's probably off haunting some mudbloods", Draco said and shrugged with his shoulders.

"What?" Blaise asked and took a step closer to him; this was not something everyone should know.

"She's flipped the switch, gone nuts."

"What?" Blaise asked again.

"This was never her, she never hurts anyone if not necessary, she doesn't use people like this. Something's gone wrong."

"All of the things she's doing is because of..."

"She is doing this because she doesn't care!" The sudden outburst Draco made got Blaise to recoil a step. "None of it matters to her, it never has..."

"What are you speaking about?" Blaise asked; they were both putting on a harsh tone towards each other. "I might not know Alice as well as you do, but even I understand what matters and doesn't matter to her!" Draco didn't know what to say; Blaise knew Alice much more than he ever would.

"Well obviously..."

"She does it for you!" Blaise interrupted him. "She loves you, don't you get it?" Blaise said. He was hurt, the tone in his voice told so. "What happened that day?" The day they had the fight, of course.

"We talked, nothing special and the as always we started nagging at each other", Draco said and shrugged his shoulders.

"You never nag at each other, Draco. You try to call each other names and being mean, but everyone else sees that it really doesn't work." Draco felt confused, he wasn't really the one to nag, neither was Alice. "She does this because it's the only way she believes can be with you. You didn't fight; she made you remember the fight because she didn't want you to remember the kiss."

"The kiss?" Draco asked, was this one of Blaise's tricks?

"You kissed", Blaise said with intensity. "She made you forget because she thinks she's protecting you." The tension in Dracos' shoulders dropped, he signed for Blaise to leave the room and talk where no one could interfere.

"You talked, no nagging, no fight. You just talked and you finally fessed up, you acknowledged your feelings for her", Blaise said. "But she knows that you can't be together without risking your life. She made you forget and move on to protect you. Feelings like this don't just change overnight. I know this, because I saw it. I was there."

"I'm just so angry with her, and I don't know why", Draco said. Before Blaise got the chance to say anything else Draco turned and walked away from the scene. As long as Alice wanted to be with him, he would stick around, knowing he was the second choice. But just as long as she wanted him too.

"Blaise", Alice said and walked up to him. Her eyes were red of tears, even though she'd done a good job trying to hide it. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Yeah, well. Here I am", he said and smiled. It hadn't been so real until now. "Have you ever kissed?" He asked; it was a thought he hadn't really meant to speak out loud.

"Excuse me?" Alice said, confused by the situation.

"Draco, have you ever kissed him?" Alice reacted in a way Blaise wasn't prepared for at the question.

"No..." Alice said and looked down in the floor.

"Then why is it so hard for you to tell me that you care?" Blaise lifted her chin up so that their eyes met. "It shouldn't be, not after this long time." Alice didn't say anything. She did care for him, but to actually say it. To make it official; it felt hard.

"Is it because of you father?" Alice shook her head. No, that wasn't it. She didn't know the reason really. It was guesses combined with defuse feelings.

"I love you, Alice", Blaise said again. "Do you love me back?"

"Um", Alice said and looked down on the floor again. Blaise took a step away from her. He'd made up his mind.

"If this is where we're at, it's no point in going any further", he said and completely let go of her. "If this is all we'll ever get, it's not worth trying anymore." Was this it then? Was he breaking up with her? She needed him, he couldn't leave. Not now.

"Thank you, it's been... interesting", he said and started walking away. Alice panicked.

"I do!" She finally said after him. He turned around, but kept walking. "I do care for you?" She knew he'd pick it up for what it was; a question. A doubt.

"You care more for him", he said and swallowed, but then put up a smile. "If we ever had half of what you two have. It'd still be reckoned as absolutely fantastic." He turned his back to her and picked up the pace. Then he suddenly stopped. "Thank you, Alice."