[Chapter Seventeen] Nightmares
Today is the day. Today I will finally have some hard evidence, even though I have failed my task, he will forgive me for my failure for discovering this.
The brunette gazed at her target across the room. Her demise will be my salvation.
As Lena awoke, she noticed the sunny filter from yesterday had gone, and the ominous sky had seeped deep within her bones with a tremendous chill. As she ran her fingers over the locket in her normal routine, the dark became Stygian. As though I am being warned of something dreadful to come.
As the thought entered her mind, she was unable to force it out, as though it were not her own.
Something dreadful to come.
Lena got dressed and did her best to prepare for the worst, and when she finally exited the room, she held the locket in a small pouch, wrapping securely around her neck and beneath her clothes. She must keep her secret safe.
Nobody can ever know.
As the girl walked out into the bleak midwinter day, she looked out toward the lake for him. She knew he would already be waiting, she was nearly ten minutes late. But she knew leaving the locket was not an option.
As she headed toward the frozen mass, she wondered how the time had passed so quickly. How was it already December, and the winter gala for sixth and seventh years was being held right before Christmas break?
Draco stood behind the shadow of a huge tree, and Lena hardly saw him until she was upon the lake. She headed toward him smoothly, her white cashmere sweater allowing the chilly wind to find the tiny holes.
She approached Draco and gave him a small kiss on the lips. He shied away and Lena found her fingers gingerly touching the locket in the pouch, at her chest, though the soft cashmere.
"What is it?" She whispered. He had said it was something important, that he didn't want anybody but her know about.
He looked at her breifly, and his eyes shot away quickly as they met hers.
"Draco, tell me," she pleaded, praying it wasn't something terrible. Something that deemed that thought in her head true.
"You asked me why all the lies. And I wanted to tell you then, but I couldn't. Not in front of all those people. You know the sort that hangs out in Hog's Head. You haven't brought anything odd, have you? Any products from stores, or books? Anything you've recently obtained? A gift from somebody or...?"
Lena's thoughts immediately went to the locket, and her fingers gingerly touched it again. Her hand drew away quickly. How could he know?
"No, nothing," she responded after a moment. "Why, what's wrong, Draco?"
"The Dark Lord has people watching me. Watching you. His paranoia has grown only worse, and trusts no one." Draco began whispering quietly over the small breeze, frantically almost. "Over the summer, the Dark Lord assigned me a task, just before he had you kill me. He gave me a potion and cast a spell that he claimed would bring me back to life. He told only my father. I doubted that it would work against the killing curse, but it did.
"The Dark Lord sent Lucius to train me, somewhere up in the mountains. When I returned, he told me I was forbidden from seeing you, contacting you, anything, in any way. He said that you were merely a distraction for me, and that anything between us would have to wait until after we win the war. That was in July. I had no intention of going without seeing you before the two of us went to war, Lena. I sent you a gift as secretly as a could, a two-way mirror that would allow us to speak to each other. When I saw you never opened you gift, I knew there was no way I would be able to tell you at Hogwarts without anybody finding out-"
"But you're telling me now," Lena whispered, more loudly than she intended.
"I know, but there isn't much time, the Dark Lord is looking for something that has gone missing. He will not rest until he finds it. Please tell you haven't gone and done anything stupid."
"Of course not." Lena responded quickly. Her lie had almost embedded into her head by now. Her her fingers still reached for the locket. She longed to stroke her fingers against it and have the power within her rise again.
Draco's stressed face showed just a hint of relief at her response.
"I want to be with you more than anything Lena." He stepped forward and stroked her cheek, kissing her gently on the forehead as he looked down on her. "I love you more than anything."
"I love you too, Draco."
He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "Would you accompany me to the Christmas Gala, Rosalena?"
Lena nodded instantly, unable to control her response as her smiled ardently. Suddenly her thoughts began to stream into a sudden conclusion. "Lena." She paused. "You said that you saw I never opened the gift...That means you would look into the mirror?"
"Every night for months."
Lena's eyes grew wide. "Draco, my gifts were stolen. I didn't open any of them."
Draco's confused expression quickly understood.
"So, whoever stole them would know everything you've said while you were anywhere near the mirror-"
Draco's expression changed to quick fury, and Lena stepped back. "Everything will be fine, Draco, everything."
The locket, I didn't mention the locket aloud at all did I? I never spoke out loud while writing my letters to Regulus over the summer, did I? Lena raked her mind frantically, and she knew Draco was doing the same. It was so long ago, she couldn't remember. And though Lena was at a lot less risk than Draco was for the crimes the two of them had committed, and in a lot less danger of getting caught, her punishment for getting caught would certainly be more severe.
There was only one true punishment in the Dark Lord's eyes for a disobedient servant.
Death.
Something dreadful to come.
Who had put that thought there?
The Dark Lord?
Of course he could have put the thought there, but she would know if he had been probing through her mind. She had been so careful, everything had been hidden so well. Even in her every day thinking, she never brought up those things. She had to be safe.
He couldn't possibly know.
The night had grown dark as Lena and Draco roamed the grounds together. Keen on forgetting what they had just discovered, and praying for the best. Words between them were lost in desperate kisses.
As the bricks in front of the Slytherin common room began to separate, Lena and Draco's lips remained clasped, blindly heading toward his bedroom. But as the light and the sudden eruption of "Merry Christmas!" exploded, they broke apart.
Lena looked around and the apparent celebrations suddenly turned into whispers of judgment and awkward silence. Her heart began to race as Parkinson approached him.
"Drakie, what are you doing? Don't tell me you're taking out the trash now..."
Lena felt the sudden urge to run. Get out of there before they killed her. But Draco's fingers brushed against her's and pulled her hand between them.
"Shut up, Parkinson." The girl's jaw dropped in shock as Draco looked her directly in the eyes. "In fact, anybody who has a problem with my girlfriend should just go."
Lena swallowed nervously as the awkward silence slowly turned back into a party. Parkinson grabbed Daphne and tried to push several of her younger followers out, but they quickly sideswiped her and stayed and the silenced turned back into conversation and music.
Lena looked up at Draco and gave him a silent thanks. He smiled and kissed her on the lips, dragging her toward the food table.
The brunette watched silently as her target entered the room and as the party continued after the speech. She was surprised how easy it was for her to remain unseen.