Happy New Year, my old and new readers and followers :) I got to say, it's a great feeling to start the new year with an email inbox telling me that my story has new followers :D thank you all who have read, followed or reviewed my story, it is always an incredible feeling.

It's one of my New Years Resolutions to finish this story and I have quite a few ideas what to do with it, so don't worry :)

There is one thing I'd like to share with you guys: This New Year's Eve, I've learned that our decisions are truly what make us who we are and what decides our way. I chose to work this New Year's Eve. It was a conscious decision. I didn't want to go clubbing, my friends were all celebrating with their boyfriends and I don't have a boyfriend. I didn't feel like celebrating with my family either (I love my grams but I can really only hear her telling me to find a nice guy so she can meet her grandchildren before she dies so often before it gets annoying). Anyways, a good friend of mine works at the same place I do and she had a pretty shitty year. She's lost her best friend, university life isn't going great and she might lose her job. A lot of it is out of her control. But whether this New Year's Eve would be a good memory or a bad one, that was within her control. My coworkers and I played cards, ate brownies and chocolate and drank champagne. Her ex best friend came by and gave her a present. She decided to not accept the present and play on her phone while we played cards. She said she wasn't hungry and didn't like wine. A lot of things might be out of her control, but this wasn't. Not starting over with her best friend wasn't destiny, it was a decision. Not celebrating with us and having fun with friends was a decision she made, not fate. I've mentioned it in this story already and Dumbledore said it in the books too, "it's our choices that show what we truly are." Never have I understood this to be so true as I have that day. Not everything is in our control and shit happens, but often there is a lot more we can do and decide than we think and I hope my friend will learn this in 2018.

Anyways, enough about me. I hope you all will have a fantastic 2018.

As always, read, enjoy and review :)

Draco, breathing heavily and still coughing, together with Harry, who was holding the wrapped up Diadem, Goyle, who hadn't said anything since the whole ordeal had started, and an unconscious Crabbe, who they were levitating, made his way through the castle. Fortunately, it was still early morning on a Saturday and there were hardly any students outside their dormitories.

Draco's mind was racing. Crabbe and Goyle had seen the Diadem. They had seen it, they knew it was important, they knew it had been full of Dark magic,... If - or rather, when - the Dark Lord returned, Crabbe and Goyle would join him. There were no two ways about it, sooner or later, they would. Draco might be able to keep the Greengrass sisters and Theo away from them, but Crabbe and Goyle were lost causes. And if they became Death Eaters, the Dark Lord would know that Draco not only knew about his Horcruxes, but that he was destroying them as well. Then he would make new ones. Ones Draco didn't know about and could do nothing about. And he would try to find Draco. Torture him and intrude his mind. He was a good Occlumens, but not good enough to withstand hours of torture and Legilimency. And if the Dark Lord broke through his Occlumency shields... He didn't even want to think about it. The war would probably be won by the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord would know about Snape's allegiance... His punishment would be slow, gruesome and fatal...

Why did none of his plans ever work out the way he wanted them to? He was sure that had never happened to Potter and his friends...

He could feel a headache forming in his head. He looked at Potter. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as well.

When they arrived at the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office, Draco had reached a decision. He stopped walking and drew his wand, pointing it at Crabbe and Goyle.

"What are you-?" Harry started to ask.

"Obliviate," cast Draco, before Potter could stop him. Goyle's eyes glazed over and he looked a bit disoriented. The memory charm had worked.

"What the?"

"Shh- I had to do it. Or would you rather have them know about the H-" Draco noticed that Goyle was looking at him, "you know what?"

"No. But you can't just do that to people! It's probably not even legal. You should have talked to Dumbledore first."

"He wouldn't have let me do it," Draco answered defiantly. He had thought about it but knew that Dumbledore believed in giving people choices. And erasing memories was quite the opposite.

"Then there are probably good reasons why you shouldn't have done this! What if you didn't do it right? Do you want them to end like Lockhart?"

Draco glowered at Harry. By now, the stone gargoyle had stepped aside and they made their way up the circular, moving stone staircase.

"Good morning," greeted Dumbledore. His trade-mark twinkle disappeared as soon as he saw how distraught Harry looked. His eyes wandered from Harry to Draco, who's disheveled appearance made him look grim. His eyes then fell on Crabbe and Goyle and he threw Draco a sharp glance.

He knew, Draco thought. He knew about the memory charm.

"What happened?" the headmaster finally asked.

"They followed us," said Draco, motioning his head towards Goyle and Crabbe, who was still floating in the air. Then he coughed and a sharp pain shot through his head.

"And Draco cast a memory charm," growled Harry.

"How'd I get here?" asked Goyle, looking around the room. He still looked rather confused and disoriented.

Dumbledore looked at Goyle kindly. "Your friend has unfortunately hit his head. I have offered to bring him to Madame Pomfrey. Do not worry. You may return to your room."

Goyle, although still looking confused, nodded and left the office.

"Mr. Malfoy," admonished Dumbledore and his disappointment and disapproval were evident.

"They saw!" Draco immediately defended himself. "Do you have any idea what that could mean once the Dark Lord is back?"

"This was not your decision to make and I will not allow you to attack other students in my school."

"Why don't you expel me, then?" hissed Draco. He knew Dumbledore would never expel him. He needed to keep Draco under his watch so the Death Eaters wouldn't get to him and his valuable information.

"Mr. Malfoy, watch your tone or you will serve detention with Mr. Filch," stated Dumbledore.

Don't treat me like a child, Draco wanted to say, but couldn't. Not as long as Potter was in the room.

Draco slumped into a chair and glared at Dumbledore.

"Judging by your behavior, I assume you have found the Diadem?"

Draco blinked. Was it possible that he had again been influenced by a Horcrux? He hadn't even touched it.

Harry looked at Draco, then at Dumbledore. "Yes." He put the tightly wrapped Horcrux on the desk and freed it from all the robes.

Dumbledore leaned forward to examine it. Then he got out the sword again and gave it to Harry.

The Diadem hissed, but before anything could happen, Harry had brought down the sword and cut it in two. Something light and misty swirled out of the Diadem, but also something black, that looked like blood.

Draco felt lighter immediately. Apparently the thing really had had an effect on him. Now he regretted how he had talked to the headmaster. "I am sorry," he breathed. "I don't know why they affect me so."

"I do have some theories, but this is neither the time nor the place to discuss them," said Dumbledore.

Draco nodded but he felt dizzy doing so.

"Harry," Dumbledore turned his attention to Potter, "have you had the chance to talk to Prof. Slughorn yet?"

"Ehm- no. But I will."

"Good. Good." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "We made some important progress today."

"So, he's really coming back? Voldemort?"

Draco flinched at Harry's use of the name. Potter looked sad, but not as shocked as he had when Dumbledore had first told him about the Horcruxes.

"Yes," Dumbledore said gravely, "there is reason to believe he will return soon."

"I should have known..." Potter mumbled.

"Known why?" asked Draco.

Harry looked at Draco as if he were surprised by his interest. "I've been having these weird dreams," he admitted. "I didn't think much of it but then my scar began to hurt again..."

What did the scar have to do with anything, wondered Draco.

"What kind of dreams, Harry?" asked Dumbledore and he looked far too interested for Draco's liking.

"Ehm- I've seen V-Voldemort... he talked to Wormtail- ehm, I mean Pettigrew... and there was a snake and..."

A snake? Draco paled. If that was Nagini then the Dark Lord had already made another Horcrux. "And what?" he asked.

"He- uhm- he killed a muggle. He told his snake to eat the man."

That sounded way too realistic to be just a dream. "Legilimency?" Draco asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked out of the window into the distance. He didn't seem too happy. "Quite possibly." He turned back to look at the boys. "I believe you might benefit from learning Occlumency, Harry."

"Occlu- what?"

"Occlumency. It is the magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."

"Oh. Do you think that's what Voldemort is doing? Reading my mind?"

Dumbledore smiled. "It is a bit more complicated than that, but yes."

"And you will be teaching me?"

"No. I fear I am not the best candidate to do this. I believe Professor Snape-"

"No!" Harry jumped up and his loud voice increased Draco's headache.

"Harry," Dumbledore said calmly, "Professor Snape is the best Occlumens I know."

"Surely not better than you, sir," said Harry.

Potter argued some more with the headmaster, but Draco could barely concentrate on them.

"Professor Snape will teach you," Dumbledore finally said in a tone that left no room for further argument. "Now, tell me what happened today."

Potter looked unhappy, but told Dumbledore everything about their adventures in the Room of Requirement.

"There is not much to do about Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle, I believe. They do not remember what happened," at that he looked sharply at Draco, "and we cannot hold them responsible for what they did under the influence of the Horcrux. You can leave now, Harry. I will bring Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Malfoy to the infirmary."

"Why me?" asked Draco.

"You are clearly showing signs of smoke inhalation."

"So that's what this is?" groaned Draco and let his head sink onto the desk before him. "I feel like my head is going to explode."

Harry left the room and Dumbledore helped the two remaining Slytherins to the Hospital Wing.

"I believe," Dumbledore said on the way there, "that you would also benefit from Occlumency lessons."

"With Professor Snape?"

"No, with me."

"With you, sir?"

"Yes. We need to construct memories that, should you ever be captured by Voldemort, show an ordinary boy who knows nothing of Horcruxes and who thinks that Professor Snape is a devoted follower of him."

Draco nodded. He knew how important this was. It wasn't just about his own safety. It was about the safety of his friends and his godfather and might be imperative if they wanted to win the war.

In the infirmary, the second time in just a week he noted unhappily, Draco got the chance to tell Daphne, Astoria and Neville what had happened.

"You have to spend more time with Crabbe and Goyle," said Neville once Draco had finished his tale.

"What? Are you crazy?" hissed Daphne. "They tried to kill us! They can count themselves lucky if I don't hex them every time I see them from now on."

"No!" hissed Draco, "they don't even now what happened anymore and you can't punish Crabbe for something he did while under the influence of the Diadem."

"And you guys not spending time with him is the reason why they were there in the first place," added Astoria. "They probably just felt lonely."

"Fine," growled Daphne. "But you can't force me to like them."

Draco chuckled. "No problem."

TBC