Story title: Memoirs of a lost soul

Author: Yukaya

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the main character and certain parts of the plot, not everything. All the rest belongs to JK Rowling and the editors/publishers/etc of the Harry Potter series.

Pairings: Irmada/Draco

Summary: We all know what happens to the trio in all seven books. Now, how about a look at what it felt like to be the "bad guys" having love issues…

Author's note: Well, here's another chapter ^_^. I wrote this at one in the morning, so it might not be as good as the past chapters but I was inspired so I wrote it anyways ^_^ lol. Enjoy your reading J!

.:ζζζζζζζζζζζ:.

Chapter 8: Secrets

I flipped through the pages of the books I found in the library. All of the books were ancient enough to be mistaken for mere sheets of paper gathered in cloth even though, at the time they were first published, they would have – without a doubt – been hard-covered books. They were full of words and images that didn't even make sense, despite my profound knowledge of Latin and medieval English. I continued to look, searching for something that would clarify the ideas in my head. I continued to flip through the pages of the ancient material in my hands, believing less that I would find an answer every minute. After going through a dozen books, page by page, I went to another section in the library and went through another dozen book before giving up and leaving the city altogether. I hated not finding what I was looking for but I knew I had to be patient and I knew this would take me a while.

I continued to search in various libraries all throughout the week, getting more lost at every new book I picked up. I was starting to get discouraged. I wanted to find answers to the questions running around in my head, confusing me beyond anything I had ever experienced before but each time I tried I ended up straying farther from the truth. One day, as I was giving up and heading back home after a long ten-hour search in the library closest to my old home in London, I walked past a very peculiar pub. I entered the pub, knowing not what to expect. It was quite ordinary from the inside but the people there stared back at me, some angry, some confused, and some utterly petrified by an emotion I could not understand. I walked past them, trying to see what caused their troubled gazes and failed miserably at it. I somehow remembered this place and was almost certain that I had come here once with my father long ago. I followed the path in my memory to the back of the pub end found a large brick wall blocking my way. I was out of the pub, behind it, hidden from everyone's eyes. I remembered how my father had once tapped the brick wall with a stick and so I did the same with my fingers. Magically, it worked.

The wall split and parted, evaporating into thin air and leaving me under an arched pathway onto a very crowded street. I hesitated at first, then stepped onto this street, looking around in amazement et the diversity of things stacked into piles on shelves and hidden behind curtains. I walked around, watching in awe as people bumped into me and into each other and as objects flew up into the air without the help of anything. People around me were dressed like my parents, wearing dark cloaks that touched the ground and sharp hats that covered their heads. However, none of the women wore Victorian-style dresses like mine. Some of them even stared at me walk by, just like the people in the pub. The street was so big and yet so crowded that I kept walking without realizing which direction I was going in. A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to a small path. The person whispered in my ear and I was relieved to know who it was.

"Have you gone mad? What on earth do you think your doing?" I stared at Draco in confusion as he pined me to the wall of the dark alley. He seemed extremely edgy and nervous.

"What? What did I do now? I was only walking down a street, for heaven's sake. I didn't do anything wrong." I answered back, trying to keep calm as to not annoy him any further.

"What do you mean you were only walking down the street? Have you any idea how dangerous it is for you to even be here? And worse, your unprotected. Don't you have some sort of body guard or nanny or something to keep an eye on you?"

"Listen, your constant anger is really starting to get on my nerves." I was furious and felt insulted. I frowned and looked him straight in the eyes, making sure he understood how much I hated his treating me like a child. Did I really act so childish?

"Yes, you did" he said. Had I said that out loud? He looked back at me for a while, very firmly, slightly frowning. Then he sighed and backed away.

"Alright then will you please tell me why you're walking around Diagon Alley alone?" He looked at me, obviously exasperated by having to save me from a catastrophe every now and then.

"I was looking for a library, got lost..." I said, although curious would have been a better word " ...and ended up here. It's as simple as that and now I don't know how to get back home. So do you mind? I'm not really in the mood for lectures."

"I apologize" he said.

"So do I" I answered. He looked at me cautiously for an instant then decided there was obviously no danger there to avoid. I felt him drop his guard.

"Come. I'll take you home"

I nodded and walked by his side as we left the alley and walked back to the crowd. Now no one seemed to look at me at all. I walked by Draco's side and moved closer when he asked me to, trying to keep up with his pace as he raced through the crowd looking concentrated or angry, I didn't know which.

"Stay close" he insisted as we passed by a group of red-haired individuals. I recognized no one but all of them seemed to recognize Draco, a person they visibly hated to cross. All Draco did, though, was throw them a disgusted look and drag me – by the hand – along with him down a dark, narrow street. It felt awkward to be holing hands like this under the curious eyes of so many passers-by that were now staring at the scene as we walked past them. I felt myself blush but continued to walk all the same, following Draco's every move until we reached a dark store.

"Draco, where are we going?" I pleaded.

"Shh!" he whispered. "Wait by the front door while I discuss something with the man at the counter." He said, then went to where the man stood. They had only spoken a few unintelligible words when Draco came back for me, pulling me up the stairs to a barely lit room.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" I repeated.

"Stay quiet!" – he hesitated – "I'll tell you later."

"Fine." I said, defeated.

He started to rummage around between the shelves, apparently looking for something. Then he found it. It was an old shoe that he held up with precaution using a wooden plank. Right behind him, on a shelf on the other side of the room, I could make out the shape of a hand, contrasting slightly against the brown of the wood.

"Hold it."

"Hold what?"

"Hold the portkey." He said it as if it was obvious.

"The what?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'll count to three and we'll both grab it." He muttered something under his breath but I guessed it was better I didn't hear it.

"Alright, if you say so. I'll trust you" I teased. He raised an eyebrow and stared at me.

"Urgh" he whispered, rolling his eyes.

I giggled slightly as he started counting. One. Two. Three. All of a sudden I was in the air, spinning around myself, choked by some invisible rope. Air ripped at my dress and ran through my hair, sending waves of emotion all over my body. I could feel myself flying too fast for it to be enjoyable. I did my best to hold on to the port-thing but I was slipping. A hand took hold of mine and I was safe again, holding onto the shoe for dear life, using as much force as I could muster. Suddenly, the spinning stopped, the flying ceased, and I was cradled in Draco's arms as his feet touched the ground so silently it was almost unreal. He whispered for me not to cry – I never noticed I had been. He got up and carried me all the way to my bed – I hadn't realized where we had landed either: my bedroom – and set me atop it. I clung to him. I didn't want him to leave, I felt safer with him there.

"Shh" he whispered softly to me. "I have to go. I really shouldn't stay."

"Why not?"

"Because if I do we'll both end up in trouble." His voice was somewhat apologetic.

"Please don't go." I pleaded. "I promise I won't do anything wrong."

"It's not about doing something, it's about not doing it."

"Huh? Wait, you lost me."

"Never mind. I'll come back for you tomorrow."

"You're coming tomorrow?" I asked excitedly, looking at him for the first time since we landed. Just as I thought, his face was just as apologetic as his voice still was.

"Yes. My parents and I are coming for a visit but you'll only be finding out about that tomorrow morning. So I suggest you don't wake up too late. Remember to seem just a little surprised when your parents tell you about it." I looked at him in bewilderment. "It's just a safely measure, so they don't find out we were together."

"Alright." I said.

I didn't know what else to say. It would be wrong to go against his advice. I obviously had no idea what kind of trouble I was constantly getting the both of us into. I had to play along even though I was sick of the game and I was feeling it get more dangerous by the minute. Reluctant as I was, I let him go. He had promised to come back after all. He turned and walked back to the shoe, leaving me confused in the emptiness of his hazy disappearance. The overwhelming sleepiness I felt suddenly took hold of me as I drifted quickly to a deep, restless sleep.

.:ζζζζζζζζζζζ:.

And so ends the 8th chapter of this fanfic. I hope you guys liked it, stay tuned for the next one ;P