D E V O T I O N

Written by Bunnyyyy
Disclaimer Harry Potter series belongs to JK Rowling.
Shipping Draco/OC
Rating M
Author's Note: This is a short chapter, so I thought it wouldn't hurt posting this up right away. Please read and review..

Chapter Seven: A Little Game, He Says

"I need to tell you before anything bad happens because of me. And I don't want anything to happen to you. Evaleen, I'm a—"

"Your meal, Master Malfoy. And your meal, Miss Bettencourt." A frail looking house elf placed a plate of food in front of the both of us. He glanced at me, and I smiled as I nodded a thank you. He gave a small smile back.

Draco growled, "Now get on! Move! You've given us our food, so you're no longer needed here. Go wash yourself for crying out loud."

The house elf whimpered and dashed away as fast as his little legs could take him.

I looked at Draco in shock, "Draco! That was so mean!"

"Maybe you should eat before the food gets cold."

I glanced down at my plate. Amazing. It was the meal I had in mind when Draco first mentioned having lunch outside. The plate held three-meat ravioli with 2 pieces of garlic bread and a side plate of César salad. I was a total sucker for Italian, or more like food from Olive Garden.

I looked up and found Draco eating quietly. I waited for him to continue the topic he brought up, but he never did. He just sat and ate. Looking down at his food and eating a spoonful every 30 seconds, he never bothered to look up at me. Why did he just drop the topic that sounded so important?

"Draco?" I finally asked after almost 3 minutes of watching him eat.

He gulped down whatever food he had in his mouth, drank from the glass of water, cleared his throat and said, "Yes?"

I sat there, eyeing him suspiciously before continuing, "Didn't you want to tell me something?"

Draco sighed and looked off into the beds of flowers, "I've changed my mind. It's too early for me to tell you. Perhaps when we get to Hogwarts. It'll be safer."

"Draco, what are you talking about? Why can't you tell me now?" I furrowed my eyebrows. I hated it when people brought up subjects and then decide they don't want to talk about it anymore. They obviously do.

Draco glanced at me and smirked, "My, aren't we impatient? Don't fret about it. I'm just making it sound a bit more important than it really is. I'll tell you soon. Understood?" He then shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth.

My mouth twitched with irritation, but I didn't push the matter. It was clear he wasn't going to fess up anytime soon.

Thirty minutes later, we both cleared out plates. The air between was still tense and I found myself playing with the loose threads of the table cloth. Draco sat there watching my fingers dance around the cloth as the same house elf quickly collected our dishes and disappeared before Draco could lash at him.

"Evaleen, lets play a little game."

Draco suddenly got up and walked over to me. The confusion on my face seemed to amuse him as he held out his hand for me to take. Hesitantly, I took his hand. His cold hand continued to grip mine as he led me past the beautiful flowers to the garden maze which laid on the far right of his Quidditch field. I eyed the maze that made goose bumps rush throughout my skin and knew this wasn't good.

"The game is simple. Whoever makes it out of the maze first, wins. Alright?"

I shook my head, "Draco, I—"

"Perfect!"

He kept hold of my hand and ran into the maze with ease even though I was trying my best to stand my ground. As soon as we entered, the path leading back out closed off. My eyes widened with fear as I turned around to face Draco.

"Draco, I'm scared." I clutched tighter onto his hand. I really was scared. I had a feeling something was going to try and kill me in this place.

"Don't worry about. It's not that long of a maze, unless you want it to be. If you're determined enough, the maze will guide you out. But if not, it'll keep you in here longer. Now, I'll go this way."

There were two directions to pick from, and Draco chose the left path although they were both equally creepy.

"No, Draco. I'm too scared," I pulled him back a little when he took a step to the left. "Can we please not do this?"

"It's okay. It'll be fun," he smirked as he slowly released my hand.

"Draco! No!"

I reached out to take hold of his hand again but before I could, the bushes closed right between us. I stared in shock at the spot where Draco had been. I had no choice now; I had to go through with it.

Okay, stay calm. You can do this. Just stay determined.

I slowly made my way down the path. The walls of the maze were overwhelmingly tall. All I could do was look up and see the clear blue sky. Other than that, the only things I could possibly look at were the trimmed grass beneath my shoes, rocks that dotted along the maze, or the tall bushes that made up the walls. I kept walking until I came to a split. At the split, my choices were to either keep going straight or take the left. After much debate with the inner voices in my head, I decided to take a left. It didn't look as creepy. I kept walking until I started to hear rustling of the bushes. I looked around, curious of what the source may be, when the path in front of me suddenly closed off. Another rustling sound and I realized the path behind me suddenly closed off. A path to the right opened up.

Alright, this is cool?

I took the right, and that's when I heard it. Something moving. It was moving slowly, but with long strides. As I heard it get closer, I could hear a faint, but low growl. It wasn't a growl from a wolf or dog; it was something else. It was like a growl and a hiss put together, if possible. Like a sort of demon. What ever it was, I panicked. I didn't want to find out what it could have been. And so what did I do? I ran. I ran like hell, and whatever was behind me chased after me. The growling got louder and the strides got faster. The creature was closing in on me. Another split in the path, and didn't think about it. I went left. And so did the creature. My breathing quickened and I sobbed in fear. Damnit Draco, you said this would be fun!

I took another random left in hopes of losing it, but after I ran down the path it suddenly closed off. The maze had betrayed me and led me to a dead end.

"No..."

The creature was silent. I knew it was behind me somewhere. I couldn't hear it, but I sure as hell sensed it. With whatever courage I had left, I forced myself to turn around to see what had been stalking me. But there was nothing there. It was quiet. My panting slowly decreased. It disappeared? But how? How could it have moved so fast? I could have sworn it was there.

I pulled out my wand that I had purchased at Ollivander's and walked back down the path I had previously run down. Jeez, what if this was all some sort of joke Draco set up? This really wasn't funny at all!

Then, a sudden coldness filled my body as I froze completely. Something was behind me again. I knew it. And I had to find out what it was.

I slowly turned around in hopes to finally see it. Just as soon as I had fully turned around, everything went black as something pushed me with amazing strength onto the ground which resulted in my wand flying out of my hand. I felt the back of my head collide with a rock. Pain seared through my head like someone had stabbed it with an axe. The creature stood over me; its' silhouette the only thing visible before my eyes unwillingly closed. And all I could think about was the fact that I was going to die before I lost all consciousness.

Author's Note: Sorry it's short, but hey, at least I got another one out. Please review!