Draco has left the castle. You don't know where he is for sure, even though you have an inkling.
~~~
True to his word, Draco had disappeared from the castle. None of the teachers asked questions, they seemed to know where he had gone. However, all of your friends had questions, and you had no answers for any of them.
Even though you had an inkling about where your Slytherin Prince might be, you knew you couldn't talk to anyone about it. You wondered how quickly the rest of your friends would disappear if any of them found out about Draco becoming a Death Eater.
Due to his absence, your nights had been filled with a lot of thoughts swirling around in your head. You had found yourself wondering what to do when it came to the Malfoy heir, whether you should leave to protect yourself (and potentially your family) or what it would mean for you, your family, and your reputation to stay with him.
Granted, your relationship was still currently a secret, but you knew that it was inevitable that someone would find out and that you would be forced to choose between Draco and a reputation that wasn't associated with the most powerful dark wizard of your time.
You tried to keep yourself busy to keep your mind off of Draco and his whereabouts, but that only served to make you think about it more. It was only when Snape dismissed you from Potions to go meet with Headmaster Dumbledore that you were able to focus on something besides the white-blond boy that plagued your dreams.
"Miss Everglade," Dumbledore spoke as you entered his office. "Please, come sit down."
He held out a dish of yellow candy as you did so, his eyes twinkling. "Would you like a lemon drop?"
You nodded, taking one from the dish and popping it into your mouth. It practically melted on your tongue, and the mix of sweet and sour flavors was absolutely heavenly.
"Lemon drops are actually a Muggle sweet, but I've grown quite fond of them," the headmaster remarked as he set the dish back on his desk. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you to my office."
You nodded, knowing deep down you weren't really in trouble, but anxiously wondering about it anyway. "Am I failing a class or something?" you asked timidly, your hands folded tightly in your lap.
Dumbledore chuckled, a deep, reverberating sound. "Of course not, dear child," he said kindly. "Your marks are actually some of the highest of your year. You've raised the bar for almost every professor regarding your O.W.Ls next year."
You smiled despite yourself. You had worked hard for those marks, you'd more than earned them.
"The real reason I called you up here today was to discuss your recent actions in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class," he said then, the twinkle in his eye never leaving. "Professor Lupin was quite beside himself at your ability to produce a corporeal Patronus so quickly."
"Well, Headmaster, Harry Potter and I have been practicing with each other," you reasoned.
"Even so," the headmaster continued, "you've only been learning the spell for a couple of weeks now. It's not uncommon to have students still unable to produce a full Patronus by the end of their semester. Someone with your power and your ability is quite frankly unheard of."
You felt your chest swell with pride as you heard those words from Dumbledore.
"If I may ask, what form did your Patronus take?" he asked.
"A tiger, sir."
Dumbledore paused then, his large hand coming up to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "A rare Patronus form, produced so quickly into learning to cast the spell, that's incredible," he mused, and you sat there, unsure what to do with all of the praise being heaped upon you.
"Miss Everglade, your raw power and talent could be very useful in our fight against the Dark Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said quietly, and your blood ran cold at the words.
"So he really is back?" you asked meekly, although you already knew the answer from looking at your boyfriend's arm.
Dumbledore nodded grimly, his face darkened. "I'm afraid so. The rumors are getting out of hand, I will admit. The only thing the Ministry really knows right now is that he is back. I do not believe he is at his full capacity, or he would've already come after Mr. Potter by now. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare for the worst anyway."
You swallowed heavily, nodding in acknowledgement.
"Miss Everglade, someone with such extraordinary powers as yours would be a great help in our fight against him," Dumbledore repeated. "I cannot express how helpful a powerful witch like you could be. You and Mr. Potter would be nearly unstoppable."
"Dumbledore, sir, Harry hasn't produced a corporeal Patronus yet," you protested.
"I know, but he has done better than everyone else in the class save for you," Dumbledore pointed out. "And after all, he is evidently the Chosen One to defeat the Dark Lord."
You sighed. The poor boy was eighteen years old, and he'd spent practically half his life fighting the dark wizard.
"What do you say, Miss Everglade?" Dumbledore pressed. "Will you ally yourself with our forces against Voldemort to help defeat him once and for all?"
You opened your mouth before you could stop yourself. "I don't know."
Dumbledore halted, but quickly regained his composure. "What do you mean?"
You froze. You had no idea why you'd said that. It should've been an easy yes.
But you knew why you hadn't given a solid answer. And the reason was in the form of a white-blond Slytherin boy whom you'd only been with a few months.
You scrambled for another excuse, one that wouldn't give away the fact that you were sleeping with one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters.
"I—I'm eighteen, professor," you blurted out. "It's a lot to think about, putting my life on the line and all. And I know it should be an easy yes, I should be more than willing to sacrifice my life for the greater good, but I'm the only magic-wielding child my parents have. I could end their wizard bloodline if something happens to me."
Dumbledore nodded, the twinkle in his eye gone. He looked over at you, his gaze heavy on your shoulders, and you felt like shrinking into a ball and running away.
"I understand, Miss Everglade," he said solemnly. "I suppose a wizard of my age is more ready to die than a student as young as you are. I understand you wanting to finish your education and keep the magic in your bloodline alive. It's a big choice to make, and it was unfair of me to push it on you so quickly."
You let out a breath you weren't aware you were holding. "Do I have to give you an answer right now?"
Dumbledore smiled slightly. "No, child, you don't. I would like one as soon as you can, so we can begin training you in more advanced defense spells, and other dueling spells, but there is no definite timeline. Take your time to think on it, and don't hesitate to come back to me once you've made your decision."
You nodded vigorously. "I will, sir, thank you."
"Of course, Miss Everglade. You are free to go if you wish."
You nodded again, standing, and turning to leave. "Thank you, Professor. I will think about it, I promise."
Dumbledore smiled at you. "That's all I ask, dear child."
You nodded once in acknowledgement, and you were gone.
~~~
You ate by yourself once again, something that was seemingly becoming more and more frequent for you. It wasn't that nobody wanted to sit with you, you just wanted to be alone with your thoughts for a while.
You had no idea what you wanted to tell Dumbledore. On one hand, you knew the havoc that Lord Voldemort had wreaked on the wizarding world, before and after his attack on Harry and his parents. You wanted to see an end to that just as much as everyone else at Hogwarts did.
On the other hand, the last thing you wanted was to join an army that was directly fighting against Draco. You weren't sure your heart could handle being pitted against the boy that held your heart.
So instead of dwelling on that thought, you went and found Harry after dinner, practicing on his own in the courtyard.
"You could've invited me," you said jokingly as you approached him, watching as he turned to you, rolling his eyes playfully.
"And have you show me up in front of everyone out here?" he asked.
You laughed as you looked around you. There were exactly two other people out there, and they were both under a tree a good fifty feet away from both of you.
"How long have you been out here?" you asked more seriously, and he shrugged. "Half an hour maybe? I haven't really kept track, but it hasn't been too terribly long."
You whipped out your wand then, tossing it between your hands. "Let's see what you've got, then."
Harry smiled, pointing his wand out and casting the spell.
Blue mist, as expected, shot from the tip of his wand, swirling around and beginning to shimmer before it dissipated once more.
"Bloody hell, Harry, that was a lot more than you managed in class!" you said with a smile, and Harry grinned brightly back at you. "Just keep concentrating, you'll get it!"
"What did you feel when your memory worked?" he asked.
You took a breath, thinking back to the first time you had produced the Patronus. "I sort of felt warm, like I'd just eaten a big bowl of hot soup," you admitted. "And the warmth sort of just spread through my whole body, and I visualized it shooting through my wand, like a burst of my positive energy enveloping me and exiting through my wand, and next thing I knew there was a white-blue tiger sitting in front of me."
Harry nodded thoughtfully, his eyes full of wonder. "I keep trying to think of happy memories, but they're all tied to Hogwarts so far and all of my Hogwarts memories end up having me think about fighting off Voldemort at the end of every freakin' year."
"You can say 'fuck', Harry," you said with a laugh.
Harry rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. "Every fucking year," he said, emphasizing the swear.
You laughed loudly. "Never mind," you said jokingly. "Swear words sound too weird coming from your mouth."
Harry lightly shoved you, which only made you laugh harder.
"You're a proper git, aren't you?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
You shrugged. "I'm a Slytherin, love. We do it best."
He chuckled at that.
He looked back down at his wand, turning it over in his hands. "You really think I can cast a Patronus?"
"Harry, you're the most talented wizard at Hogwarts," you said earnestly. "If I can do it, you absolutely can. You just need to concentrate a little harder. Like Lupin said, I'm the exception, not the rule."
He nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He held out his wand, seemingly concentrating heavily as he continued to take slow, deep breaths. After a few moments, he visibly shivered, and his call of "Expecto Patronum!" came out as nearly a whisper.
You watched in awe as blue mist poured from his wand, in nearly exactly the same fashion it had done from yours. Instead of swirling, however, it pulsated this time, the white light at the end of his wand growing and flowing from his wand like a waterfall of light.
You and Harry stared in awe as the stag that had come from his wand stood and gazed back at the two of you. Its antlers were large and majestic, and it bowed its head to Harry before disappearing in a flash of light.
"I...it's a stag," Harry whispered, seemingly unable to move. His gaze was frozen on the spot where the Patronus had disappeared from, and you were just as awe-struck as the Gryffindor boy beside you was.
"Harry, do you realize what this means?" you asked. "We're the only students in our year who can produce corporeal Patroni. We have to tell Professor Lupin!"
He nodded, still seemingly mute, and stood to brush himself off.
"I just need a little time first, to sort of...collect my thoughts," he said absentmindedly.
You nodded, returning the hug he then lunged to give you. "Take your time, it's okay," you reassured. You knew that seeing a Patronus that matched his father's likely shook the poor boy, and he would need time to process that.
You walked Harry back into the castle, only going your separate ways once you reached the door to the Gryffindor Tower. You waved your goodbye as he headed off, and he smiled at you even as he left.
You knew the Gryffindor boy had a lot on his mind, but you realized as you entered your own dorm room that you did, too.
Two of the most powerful sorcerers in the castle, in opposing Houses. One simply trying to stay alive year after year while a dark wizard kept trying to kill him, and the other knowing what the right choice was, but still hopelessly in love with a Death Eater whom she hadn't seen in three days.
How the fuck were you supposed to take care of any of this?