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A/N: Happy New Year! I hope everyone had an awesome one! Sorry for the long wait, but here it is! Happy reading.

Chapter 47

Theo's POV

I raised the steaming white mug in greeting and winked at the little blonde pigtailed girl at the entrance of the seventh floor. My wink was returned with a glare from Zoe Accrington, a much misunderstood occurrence considering the little third year was probably the happiest and naive of the whole bunch of us Snakes. Has her blue eyes turned back to the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy I smirked, it must be Goyle in disguise.

For some reason old Greg despised me, might have something to do about that pair of mentally challenged trolls comment I made back in first year. Crabbe, bless his blank minded soul, never let the remark get to him. Or never understood it. Either way, he never seemed bothered by my presence.

I glanced around the familiar face of the Room of Hidden Things, one of the interchangeable facets of the Room of Requirement. I manoeuvred my way over to the hunched over figure at the centre of the room, my only greeting a silver eye of annoyance. That would usually indicate that Draco had risen from the wrong side of the bed this morning, but that would imply him sleeping at all.

I placed the cup down on the drawer next to the Vanishing Cabinet, glancing at the propped open Advanced Rune Translation textbook with original inscriptions by renowned translator, Blishen, interspersed with some of Draco's and my own penmanship.

"I've looked over the calculations; the quantities need a bit of tweaking. I don't think the matter transitionary quotients are right."

He got to his feet, grabbing the piping hot mug without a wince and gulping half of it down, "We just need to do a trial run first. That's why they're so small, we'll take in the difference between an apple and Carrow's heaving bosom when we are doing the final one. For now we just need to make sure it works."

"Speaking of Carrow... have they told you who else will be making an appearance?"

He glanced around the vast room uncomfortably, as if we were not the only two souls in its presence. "Aunt Bella continues to skirt around the topic. She says to just fix the cabinet and not to worry about anything else." His silver eyes met mine over the rim of the mug, "It shouldn't be that many people. The Order's numbers dwindle, and the main... they're just meant as backup... they shouldn't send a lot..."

I took in the frown in his eyes that he tried hiding with the mug and understood his concern. "Draco... maybe it is best you go to him. Take Kitten. Tell her first. Ex-"

"No." His voice whipped at me as he turned his back to me and to the book, "Your dalliance with Granger has addled your brain. You know what my options are, you know full well."

"He could protect you Draco. He's said to be-"

"This is NOT about who is the strongest!" He flipped a page in agitation as he turned back to me, "You think this as easy as a duel between Dumbledore and The Dark Lord? This is about tact, about manipulation and planning and eighty percent of this war will be waged without a spell being shot. The Dark Lord has his Death Eaters, Karetnikov's Red Cloaks, Blishwick and Alya and all those who call her mistress! What does Dumbledore have?"

I shook my head at him, having exhausted this argument. An argument that I constantly lost, and it was probably for the better. Draco wasn't completely wrong, Hermione had changed me. I found myself wanting to tell her, to go against my word, to just tell her everything. But I know if I did it would ruin everything we had. It would ruin my chances of keeping her safe. Her friends safe. For now we held the cards, we controlled the playing field. Draco isn't indispensable, if he leaves, take refuge in the Order, the Dark Lord would just undersign another, someone who would be eager and prepared and uncaring as to the outcome and how it would affect Hogwarts and all who call it home.

I sighed, leaning against a battered chair as Draco pretended to read his tomb whilst his head buzzed with conflicting thoughts. "I went to the Forest last night."

He glanced at me, his eyes slightly less sad at the change of subject, "I don't wish a blow by blow recount of yours and Granger's trysts."

I didn't respond, an unusual pang in my chest at his words. Not that I was affected by Draco's demeaning mine's and Hermione's relationship to acts of nothing but carnal in nature, I suppose that was his coping mechanism.

The uncomfortable feeling I just felt was in fact due to the absence of Hermione, for the past few weeks, and by that I don't mean the lacking of her presence which was certainly the case most days. But even when she was with me, she wasn't really there. There was something bothering her, something that had her brain working and her attention stolen but something she couldn't tell me. I suppose it's the same way I couldn't tell her about all of this, and the same reason why I didn't call her on it... is this how it's always going to be? A series of skirting around topics, of denial...

"If you're just going to stand there and imagine fornicating with Granger you might as well ju-"

"They were fifteen aurors." I cleared my throat and straightened up, "Five on the outer boundaries, three on the east, two on the west and another five on the innermost boundaries. Not to mention the many in Hogsmeade. They've doubled the guard."

"Well that makes sense doesn't it? The attack on Honeyduke's was bound to gather such a reaction from Dumbledore." Draco paid me full attention, his exhaustion making way for alertness at the tone of my voice.

"Exactly. One would think, with such a mission bestowed on you, of getting Death Eaters into this school that should be the last thing one should evoke. An increased defensive force in the enemy."

"It doesn't matter, they won't be crossing any boundaries, they would be entering, straight-"

"It does matter. Because whether they apparate right into the castle or emerge from the ground, Dumbledore has twice as much force on immediate hand. The reason why Hogsmeade was never attacked previously, why nothing has happened close to home all this time is because the Dark Lord would want to lull them all into a false sense of security. That is what he does. What any tactician would want, your foe is best when their guard is down so by making Dumbledore double-"

"Alya is sabotaging me!" He banged his hands onto the drawer at the conclusion and the heavy tomb trembled, "Fucking hell that woman!"

"No."

"What?" Draco turned to me, his face red and fists clenched, "She means for me to fail."

"No Draco. Yes she did orchestrate the attack to increase defence, but just as I saw it so too would have the Dark Lord. An increase in defence retaliates an-"

"Increase in offence..." He whispered... "He'll send in more death eaters."

"Exactly. And considering what you told me from your mission meeting, the troop was supposed to be made purely of members who were loyal enough not to even think of breaking the Dark Lord's command. Your Aunt. Yaxley. Gibbon. The Carrows. And the Dark Lord's command is strictly to have your back, give you the opportunity to do exactly what needs to be done. More Death Eaters mean the less control we have."

His nostrils flared at me as if I was the Dark Lord and not merely the messenger, "The Dark Lord wouldn't let Alya join the group. He knows how impulsive she is. That's the last thing he requires."

"You think he'll have much choice? The way I see it he needs numbers, and with your aunt involved he isn't going to send Karetnikov, those two won't play nice. Bellatrix... he trusts her... and she trusts Alya... why else would she have instructed the attack on Honeydukes. It wasn't the Dark Lord's orders nor was it necessary."

"You think she... you think she wants in on the mission. SO she can do it. She can be the one to... to..." His eyes roved the room as he couldn't voice the words.

"No... I don't think she wants to do that. Draco... warped and perplexing as it maybe... Alya has feelings for you. She's somehow latched onto you, and I know you think it's just mind games... but she's not crossed the line with you."

"She's got my mother under some sort of hypnosis, she nearly killed Pansy, she orchestrated the murder of Mandy, she tries to kill Ky..." His voice cracked at the sound of her name and he cleared his throat. "You think that's not crossing the line?"

"Draco, the only people she's tried killing are females romantically involved with you. Your mother, whatever control she has on her is a desperate attempt to have control over you. But what really made me think that Alya's feelings for you, whilst demented are definitely genuine... was when she took Ari. She took the care to make you think it was Kitten who hurt her, she took the care to bring her back safely. She didn't know Ky was there that day. The events that occurred in that alleyway were not planned. She merely took Ari out to Diagon Alley, because you look to her as a little sister. And implanting an image of herself saving Ari from dangers, wheedling trust from that girl, was some sort of tactic of wheedling trust from you. Alya Bellamy is in love with you Draco. And you're not the Dark Lord. You know what love can make people do."

He looked away, I could practically see the image of Hermione's house burning reflect in his mind and the memory of the fear that the girls we love had...I straightened my back pushing the thought away. "Why are you telling me this?"

I smirked, "I've decided to become Alya's wingman." He glared at me and I chuckled, it died of quickly when my thoughts formed into words. "She wants to do one of two things. She wants to help you, show you that she has your back. Coax some trust out of you like she intended doing so using Ari. Or... she wants to do the more Alya thing. She wants what she always wants to do."

"Ky..." He breathed out and I walked forward and harvested his attention by the serious look on my face.

"We can stop her."

"I'm not telling-"

I held my hand up, "This doesn't require any interaction with Dumbledore. Alya seems to have it in her head that the absence of competition would make you love her. If there was no Mandy, Pansy or Ky then you would love her on default."

My words sunk in, he knew it to be true. Mandy Brocklehurst was not supposed to die that night, Alya may not have shot the spell but she lead Mandy and Pansy to the room where she knew Rabastan and Bellatrix were going to murder Mandy's parents. Mandy was always the biggest threat even though Draco cared for her the least, he may have been sexually involved with Pansy and in love with Ky but Emelia Brocklehurst was Narcissa Malfoy's best friend. They were rumours of an arranged marriage between Draco and Mandy, false but the possibility was there if Draco never found a wife his parents found suitable.

He banged his fist against the Vanishing Cabinet and I sighed, knowing he had come to the same conclusion that I had. There was one way of stopping Alya. It required no force, no fighting, it was the simplest way. A pang ran through my chest for the second time, but this time it was for my friend... Draco... he sold his soul to the Dark Lord... now it would seem he would have no choice but to sell his heart to Alya... when all of this is over... I wonder what would be left of Draco Malfoy, if anything at all.

"Draco?"

The sun was fully up with long rays falling from the high windows as Liam's voice made its way through the mismatched shapes that threw each other in shadow. Draco continued perusing Blishen's notes so I responded to the kid.

"We're by the table."

It surely wasn't the only table in the room, but it definitely was the only one cleared and one of three designated spots in this tomb of missing things, the other two being the Vanishing Cabinet and an armchair that Draco sometimes slept in.

I watched as his sandy head made an appearance as he walked from the direction of the cabinet which we left hours ago, hoping that a more comfortable working area would garner results.

"I've got your mail."

I glanced at Draco as he glanced at the letter in Liam's hand. I saw the little gleam of hope die quickly; it wasn't Mrs Malfoy's hand writing. She hadn't written to him since December, and who could blame her. Her life wasn't really hers at the moment, Bellatrix seemed to think her sister was taken ill from stress about Mr Malfoy's imprisonment due to the fact the Malfoy Matriarch hadn't left her bed in months. Draco couldn't tell his aunt the truth considering the threat that Alya had made. Which probably makes the decision he reached two hours ago that much more painful.

I grabbed the letter from the boy with a smile, "Must be fanmail. Draco's got something of a club these days. Why just the other day little Astroria Greengrass sent you a love letter, didn't she?"

"She's a child, can you refrain from insinuating that I would have relations with a child."

His retort was drowned out by his lack of interest on the subject. I laughed turning to Liam to find his brown eyes on a broken chair that seemed to gain all his interest, I glanced down at the letter... ahh...

"Draco, here." I held out the letter to no avail, he continued staring down at the textbook. "It's from Kyra."

I watched as Liam gulped slightly just at the same time Draco's silver eyes flashed with intrigue by the first syllable of the name and died out as I completed the name. I pushed the letter at him but he deflected it annoyed, an action causing it to flutter to the floor.

"I'm going to breakfast." Liam was out the door faster than I thought it possible with the natural obstructive nature of the room and I sighed as I reached for the letter.

"Draco, as important as fixing the cabinet is, can you refrain from breaking the poor kid's heart any more than necessary."

"What?" He snapped, annoyed enough to tear his eyes away from the book.

"Well, this shouldn't come as a surprise considering his surly attitude when you refused admission to her for the ball, but it seems Liam is very much in love with Kyra. And Kyra is very much infatuated with you."

"Me?" He grumbled and I couldn't help smiling in response.

"You did save her from a lifetime of prostitution. And there's those amazing cheekbones Pansy is always going on about." I laughed at his glare, "Can you at least show her some respect in front of Liam. It takes a lot of courage and selflessness to play matchmaker for the girl who has your heart, so read the letter. Let's not let Liam's hard work go to waste."

He sighed, "Slytherin sac Theo if you harp on about love and relationships or any of that other garbage for a second more I'm going to shove my wand-"

I rolled my eyes and blocked out his tantrum, knowing he needed to vent and letting him have his fun. I unsealed the letter, if this is a love confession Draco and Liam deserved to...

"Theo?" He stopped immediately at the look on my face, snatching the letter just as I turned to the door.

It was a short note, conveying two things. One, the Red Cloaks have all but disappeared, not a sign of them in the Manor or outside. The second was the sighting of two additions to the Manor, a blonde girl and boy in their late teens, she couldn't tell from her distance but they looked to be siblings but she did see a tattoo of a sword on the boys right shoulder, from what she gathered they were aurors, and members of the Order of the Phoenix. Well there was that third thing something about wanting to inform Draco cause she thought he should know and that she looks forward to seeing him in the coming Easter Break but that hardly sounds important now.

"Theo!" I was on the fifth floor by the time Draco reached me, he spun me around, "What the fuck are you doing running off like that."

"Isn't it obvious. I'm going to tell Hermione or Kitten or even Potter that their missing-"

"Are you fucking serious. No." I pushed his hand off me.

"You were right about earlier, about the plan of action regarding your-" I glanced across the empty corridor and began down to the fourth floor, "mission. But this is intel that we cannot keep to ourselves. Timing is imperative. If they want to get the Sabres out-"

"The Sabres?"

"They're twins, and good friends of Kitten I suspect as they were part of her Summer guard. I've even seen her with the guy a few times this past few months. I take it the sword on Silvain Sabres shoulder is a tribute to his bloodline."

He brushed off my facts, as usual not even caring how I came about them and glared down at me, "You cannot tell Ky. If someone finds out that you-"

"Nobody would find ou-"

"That is not a chance we take! You're being ignorant, blinded by your need to impress Granger! It will get us killed! What difference would it make that the Sabres are taken to the Manor. Blishwick, Alya, Aunt Bella, Rodolphus and Rabastan are there as well! What chance would they have of survival? Telling Ky would result in nothing but helplessness on her part! Not even the Order would take that risk!"

"Draco, that's not up to us to decide. Information like this can change the fate of lives; the Order is nothing like the Dark Lord's Death Eaters. Telling them where their members are will narrow down their search. Dumbledore cares for his men, if he knows, he will get them out."

"Then Dumbledore is fucking fool, and you're an even bigger idiot for thinking you can help them! You're NOT on their side Theo! You may fuck that mudblood but that doesn't make you good-"

I flicked my wand, a sizzle up my spine at his words scampered across the line of my patience and I snapped just as he crashed into the wall opposite me. "You may disrespect me as much as you want Draco! BUT NEVER say a thing against Hermione!" I caught his spell on my arm and I felt it go limp, I could feel a trickle down it and his silver eyes grew wide at the blood but I didn't move.

"Theo..." He pocketed his wand, the exhaustion from lack of sleep washing over him, his fury dying down slowly, "I'm sorry." I could tell that it was for attacking me and not for insulting Hermione and my fists clenched. "You're being naive. You know that informing them of this would not help the situation. All they would know is where their friends are being tortured; they won't be able to get them out. I know this has been hard, you having to keep all of this from Granger... Hermione," My fists unclenched, that there was his apology for his earlier insult but my eyes narrowed... Draco was being much too nice.

I glanced to my left and I caught sight of the long dark mane just as it entered the corridor. So this was Draco's attempt at distraction!

"Kitten!"

Draco stopped talking and I watched as his silver eyes grew wide as they snapped around but with a cold electrifying sensation I fell backwards, unmoving.

I watched as the helmet of a Suit of Armour fell off and I swore inwardly at being caught with a silent petrifying curse, I caught the gleam of triumph in Draco's eyes as he hid me behind the suit of armour just as Kitten's familiar octave floated towards us...

I took my usual place in Transfiguration just as McGonagall walked in. I smiled at her which she never returned, a bemused gleam hidden in her olive green recesses. She need not be so confused, she was my girlfriend's favourite teacher, and with the admiration Hermione spoke of her it was hard not to respect the woman. My smile fell at the thought of Hermione... I hadn't seen her at lunch and I had a feeling when we did meet it would not be the reunion I envisioned.

Draco entered, with an especially potent glare tossed in my direction and I rolled my eyes. The way he was acting was as if I had given them the secret password to his private rooms, not merely relaying where their missing members were placed. Not that Kitten even seemed to understand what I was saying at the time what with the chaos the Weasley Twin caused in the corridor.

"I'm not going to sit through another hour of you two tossing glares at each other. Frankly, I have no problem with you lot fighting, but it's getting in the way of enjoying my sirloin steak and you know how-"

Blaise cut of as McGonagall called the class to order, shaking his head in disappointment as Draco continued his glaring. Just as we were done with an introduction to Multicorfos, a spell used to change the colour or style of the casters outfit and which Pansy could barely contain her look of superiority as everyone was aware of her particular prodigiousness in the spell, there was a tap on the door.

That wasn't strange, class was known to be interrupted now and again, but due to the current state of affairs, a knock on the door requesting a pupil in the Headmasters office was more likely to inform you of a death rather than a detention.

The class was so silent you'd think a bunch of Claws were sitting in it as we watched the little first year boy come in. My brows furrowed when I saw the glossy affectionate texture in McGonagall's eyes, she'd look down from the staff table at kitten like that at times. I glanced at the boy again as he whispered to her, I recognised him. I saw him with Kitten a few times. Why would McGonagall look at him like she looks at Kitten? Why the special attention.

"You are to continue with the Multicoforfos spell until I get back."

Without another word she was out the door. I glanced at Blaise and Draco, feigning confusion, Draco dropped his glare for a contemplative look, finding her actions bizarre. It wasn't like McGonagall to leave a class. Slughorn does it and even Sinistra and Babbling, but McGonagall never.

"McGonagall leaving class? Half the castle is probably on fire. What's going on?" Blaise kicked the back of Pansy chair which made her turn around and scowl at him. Tracey poked her head to the side so that she could see Blaise, a sliver of Jealous on her features at not being asked first considering she had been whispering to Pansy moments ago and therefore should have the courtesy of being asked.

Pansy rolled her blue eyes, tossing a glance at Draco who was apparently reading about today's spell but his eyes were not moving, "Tracey seems to have it in her head that the princess has left the castle."

Tracey tossed Pansy an icy blue glare at her disbelief, "You know I can lip read! That's what that boy said!"

"Princess?" Blaise's eyes narrowed in interest but I caught the sidelong glance he made at Daphne who had her head to the front but her ears pricked eavesdropping in our conversation.

Tracey laughed a hollow sound, "Not the Ice Princess."

Blaise scowled at the name often used for Daphne, but his scowl fell at the next words and I glanced ahead, feigning surprise just as Draco's eyes landed on me, "Thornton. She's run away!"

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