That afternoon I planned on confronting Draco again. I had to see it to trust that he was a deatheater. That would end this thing between us once and for all. He was a deatheater. I was sertain. Why would he otherwise act in such a way when I asked polietly?
I had changed clothes and was walking towards the common room when Frieda came and stoped me.
"Just let it be for a while. He doesn't deserve whatever hell is breaking loose when you meet him next time. At least wait till after the exams are done. For your own good. We need to finnish these NEWT's." Frieda said and turned me away from the commonroom.
I took a breath and looked at her. She gave me a smile and I rolled my eyes.
"Alright! But don't think I'll let this pass. He has it coming."
"He's had it coming for 6 years yet nothing that has happened to him has changed him." Frieda followed me back to the dorms.
"By the way, you missed the mail. There was a letter for you" Frieda said and gave me a brown envelope.
I sat down on my bed and opened it.
Adeline
I've heard rumors about you meeting someone. I hope he is worthy of you and that you don't trust him upon to many of your secrets yet. Your history is large to carry but I hope that day will come when all this will be over and you won't have to hide it. I got a letter from Dumbledore that told me you are doing great on your tests and that you will probabaly find mostly destinctions on your grades. I am so proud of you and can't wait for you to come back for break. Say hello to Ribbon for me.
Love, Eliza
I folded the paper and put it on the night stand.
I layed down in my bed and looked up in the four poster bed. Maybe I needed something else to focuse on after all. If Draco was a deatheater there was no need for me to speak now since the damage was already done. I had friends who cared and the future war would probably not start tomorrow.
The spring air was wonderful and we had decided to continue our studying on the courtyard.
One more NEWT was done and we only waited for the last one tomorrow morning. Then it would be the final week before summer break.
"Can you believe we only have two more years here? It sounds so unreal when you think of it." Grace said and layed down on one if the stone benches.
"Good someone can focuse on the future." Frieda said and looked up from her book. "This school is probabaly the only thing keeping us from the worries around the world. My mum told me in her latest letter about the deatheaters. They are traveling through the countryside burning down houses and trying to recrute people. I am not sure we will be able to do our usual trips as usual. This summer we will just meet to make sure everyone in the family is alright." She looked worried but at the same time put together. Then she looked around as to see if anyone could hear her. "I heard some of the parents to some of the students have already been recruted. Some volonteered and some were forced to." She returned to look in her book and I looked at Grace and Liona.
"I know. I heard it too. I just hope they won't come to our neighbourhood this summer. I just want to relax and focuse on something else." Liona said and closed her book. "This unstopable war is taking to much of my energy and I am honestly scared."
I remained silent. If the deatheaters were searching recrutes I only hoped they wouldn't pay Eliza a visit. If they got as much as a hint of my existent I would have nowhere to hide.
The final NEWT was probably the easiest for me. But my thoughts were somewhere else. Draco, his dark truth kept haunting me. Even though I knew it was true, that he had now become a deatheater, I wanted it to be false. I wanted him to stop whatever made him be this way. So after dinner when everyone wanted to relax after the finals, I followed Draco untill I found him alone in a corridor on the second floor.
"We need to talk!" I shouted from the other end of the corridor and he stoped and slowly turned around. His face was pale and I could see his jawmuscle twitch.
"What do you want Radcliff?" He said and I walked confident towards him.
"I want you to stop being such a pain in the ass and tell me the truth. I known you are one of them." I said and stoped a few steps away from him. He was pressing his teeths together and looking at me both with disgust and a glimpse of fear.
"If you don't want to tell me atleast show me. I know you should have a mark. So just show me your arm." I said nodding at his arm covered by his dark suit.
"Don't mess with me Radcliff or you will regret it." He said taking a step towards me trying to look threatening.
"I can only say the same, Malfoy." I looked him deep in the eyes determined to get what I wanted. His blue piercing eyes was staring at me and I raised an eyebrow. He did the same before he turned away and began walking away.
I quickly grabbed his arm and pushed him to the wall while I tried pulling up his sleeve. He fought me back and I was about to fall when I took out my wand. He grinned at me.
"So this is how you'd like to play huh?" He said pulling away hair from his face before taking out his wand.
"Not exactly. Just pull up your sleeve and I'll put it down." I said pointing with my wand towards his arm. He smirked but with a hidden fear behind it.
"If that's how you want it." I said casting the first spell. He smashed into the wall and quickly sent another spell towards me. I was sent towards the window and hit my back on the stone floor. I quickly got up and sent a new spell making him hit the ground again. This time I was quicker than him and held him down while I forced his sleeve up to reveal his arm. And there it was. The mark. A dark snake with a skull was covering his underarm. I stoped almost losing my breath for a second before letting him go and walking away to the window holding my hand over my mouth. I knew how they looked but I had never seen one up close. It made something inside me cold and I could feel something similar to panic make its way through my body.
I heard Draco getting up from the floor brushing the dirt off and pulling down his sleeve.
"Why'd you have to be such a..." he was trying to find the right insult but something made him stay silent. I turned around trying to calm my breath. I looked at him and then closed my eyes. This boy standing in front of me could not be my enemy. He could not be part of the worst people in the world. He just couldn't.
"Why?" I said through my breaths still keeping my eyes closed. I heard him taking a step closer.
"I have no choice. I have to do this. You don't understand." He said quiet but determined.
"But you are not bad." I said both sad and angry. I opened my eyes and saw a broken Draco in front of me.
"You can't be one of them. That is not who you are." I said when I started to get my breath back. I was so mad at him. "You can't do this. Not to me." I said and sighed.
He looked at me and then held out his arm to touch mine. His touch was electric and I looked at him both sad and unsure. He moved his hand up my arm to my neck. There he stopped and then moved a little closer. I closed my eyes again.
"I have no choice, Radcliff. There is no other way. I have to do this." He said quiet and I pressed my eyes together hard. Then I held out my hand to touch his face. I could trace his jaw. It was like touching a skull. Then I breathed out.
"I know." I said and then leaned in and kissed him. He held his arm around my waist and I pressed my lips hard against his. I don't know if it was his or my tears on my cheakes. The sadness and anger only made our kisses more violent and I dragged him to the window holding his hair tight in my hand. I didn't want to let go. He sat down in the window and I sat down in his lap not leaving his face. The world outside was not our friend and we both knew that. When I finally let go of him I looked him in the eyes.
"You know I can't be with you from now on no matter how much I wish I can. This basicly means we are now sworn enemies." I looked to see his expression. He looked down and then faced me.
"Don't worry. You don't want to see me when summerbreak starts." He said but huried to look away. He looked sad and afraid. Almost like a lost puppy. I grabbed his face.
"Well then," I said and curled one of his hairlocks. "lets just make this our good bye then." I said and pressed my lips to his again feeling as his cold hands touched my neck sending shivers down my back. The darkness was beginning to creep in and we just sat in the window leaning on eachother. I sighed and slowly leaned away.
"I think we should leave." I said and he nodded. He got up and held out a hand to help me up. I looked on his arm where the dark mark was hidden.
"Good bye, Draco Malfoy." I said and looked at him.
"Good Bye Adeline Radcliff." He said and looked at me.
We looked at eachother in silence before I turned around and walked away. Not knowning that this was the last time we would see eachother for the next 6 months.
I walked slowly back to the dorms. I wanted to talk to Dumbledore. He would have something good to say. I changed my direction and skipped a few steps as I made my way up the stairs to his office. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I slowly opened it and the paintings on the wall looked at me.
"He's not here miss Radcliff. You just missed him." The painting to my right said and I smiled friendly.
"Thank you. Do you know when he will return?" I asked and the man in the painting shaked his head.
"No miss. Sorry."
I left the office and went down to the dungeon. Just as I passed a corner I almost crashed into professor Snape.
"And what is Miss Radcliff doing out here past bedtime?" He said and I looked down on my feet.
"Sorry sir. I was trying to speak to Dumbledore but he wasn't there. I'll go straight to bed now." I said ans looked as he examined me.
"Alright. It will work this time but I hope it won't happen again. And this is not a good night to run around the corridors. You can leave now." He said and looked down on me.
"Thank you sir." I said and hurried past him and quickly passed the common room towards my dorm. The girls were not sleeping as I had forseen.
"And here comes the thief. Creeping in late at night." Grace said and they all sat up in their beds.
"Sorry! You didn't have to wait up." I said and hurried to get ready for bed.
"Yes we did. To make sure your rage didn't force you to kill Malfoy." Frieda said and laughed.
"Well that was unlikely. I just needed to see something and I got my answer. Kind of." I said and started braiding my hair.
"So? What did you do? Spill it. We want to know everything." Liona said leaning forward in her bed.
"Well I was mad. And he was to I supose. So we had a small fight until I beat him and then we kind of made out." I said as if it was just a usual activity happening every night.
"You fought him and then made out. Gosh Adeline. What were you thinking? I thought you didn't like him now." Frieda said and they all looked at eachother confused.
"Well. That is partly right. This was kind of our goodbyes. I won't see him anymore. We made that clear." I said and started lying down in my bed.
"I crashed into Snape on my way back and he told me this was not a good night for running around. So if you excuse me I should follow his example and go to sleep." I said and turned my face away from them to try and sleep.
"What? So you'll just stop there? No more details?" Grace raised he voice and I could picture her gestures. I just stayed silent. After a while she gave a big sigh and then they turned off the lights to go to sleep. Unaware of what was taking place in the castle, we fell asleep.