The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 55

Alexis' POV

      I feel myself wake up but refuse to open my eyes. The aching pain in my head is too aggressive.

       The pain switches from my head to my stomach. I shoot up from where I'm laying and spit up everything left inside, which isn't a lot considering I haven't eaten in ages.

     After coughing and cleaning up my face I look around and try to remember where I'm at. As soon as I look in front of me everything hits me again. The blood dripping from his neck and all of the color taken from his skin.

                    My father is dead.

       It's nighttime now and there's no lights in the garden which means I can hardly see anything else around me. I slowly pick myself up from the ground and try to brush off as much of the mud as possible.

       There's going to be a time when I can cry about everything that has happened, but now is not that time. Right now, I need to find Paige, and find Draco.

      Gripping my wand tightly I start back towards the inside of the school where I last saw Paige. It seems as if things have quieted down a little but I don't want to get my hopes up.

     Right when I enter the school I see Paige sitting with her back against a wall, holding something tightly in her hands. She turns my way and I watch as her facial expressions change from defeated, to hopeful.

            "Lex!" She shouts while getting up from the ground and rushing at me.

              I give her the best smile I can. "I told you I'd find a way around."

     She stares at the dried up tears scattered all over my face. I try to rub them off and I think I manage to do so, but for some reason they feel like they're permanently on me.

                               "You know." Paige says softly.

       It takes me a second to understand what she's referring to, but finally I just nod. Her hands pull me in for a hug and I feel the water behind my eyes trying to force its way out.

                                  "I'm so sorry, Lex."

         I conceal my feelings once again and pull away from her.

                           "How do you know?" I ask.

        Just when I thought her facial expressions couldn't get any more heartbreaking, they do. She doesn't answer instantly, I see her trying to find a way to explain but eventually she decides to just say it.

       "Draco's gone," Paige tells me. "He just gave me this and ran off, I wish I knew where to."

        She points at the little bottle in her hand while talking and I stare down at it intensely.

                                    "H-he just left?" I stutter.

         Paige stares at me with sad eyes. "The death eaters for some reason were going after him?"

        As badly as I want to keep asking questions, I can't take my eyes off of the liquid in the small bottle. I have no idea what it is or what it means but I want to know.

                            "Did he say what that is?"

           She shakes her head. "He told me to give it to you, though."