Emerald (Lazuli Book #2) Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter Twenty-Nine - No More Lies

Over the next couple of weeks, Harry and Dumbledore planned. They invited me along at first, eager to have another perspective on the matter, but no matter how many minds we had puzzling it over, we always came to the same conclusion.

We would have no choice but to go to the cave and retrieve the Horcrux ourselves.

The thought of visiting the place my father had died not only filled me with dread but terrified me beyond belief - my father had been killed there, we'd be in immense danger. After seeing what had happened and what was waiting there, I'd rather face the Dark Lord himself in battle than venture to that place.

Well, maybe not the Dark Lord, but I'd take Bellatrix Lestrange any day.

It came as a hidden relief to me then when Dumbledore decided that I would stay at Hogwarts as a look-out. Harry had point blank refused to stay behind and since he was the one connected to the Dark Lord, only he would be able to navigate his way to the Horcrux. Dumbledore was attending for the simple reason that he was the greatest wizard of the age.

When Dumbledore had told me the news that I'd be staying behind, I made no secret of my happiness. He gave me the job of ensuring that everything was ok during his short absence, and if anything went wrong, I'd be the only one who knew where he and Harry were and could bring help. He presented me with a small device which - in the case of an emergency - would illuminate and I was to go immediately to Professor Snape and McGonagall and bring them to the cave. He seemed confident that since the trace of my father's memories still lived within me, I'd be able to follow them and locate the site of the Horcrux which was otherwise unplottable. How he knew where it was I didn't presume to ask.

The day crept ever closer and the repetition of daily life was infuriating. Harry had made me swear not to tell Ron and Hermione until it was too late for them to stop him, since he knew how Hermione would possibly use Petrificus Totalus to ensure that he didn't go and put himself in harms way once more.

Besides, it wasn't as if I hadn't tried to stop Harry enough for the both of us. But despite my pleading, Harry was insistent that he was going and he couldn't be stopped. That we both knew it needed to be done. I begged him to persuade Dumbledore to let McGonagall or Snape accompany him in Harry's place, but deep down I knew that wouldn't be possible.

Harry had to go.

The lessons dragged by in peculiar normality - Slughorn ignored Harry and I most of the time, only speaking to praise my potions and ask Harry why his had suddenly deteriorated. In Defence Against the Dark Arts, we continued to learn defensive spells under the ironic tutoring of an ex-Death Eater and the head of Slytherin house.

Draco apologised profusely of course for missing my birthday, even buying me a stunning diamond and pearl necklace in apology. Shameful as it is to admit, I had Hermione run protective spells over it first, to ensure that it wasn't cursed.

I was unable to stop thinking about the Room of Requirement, and wondering what Draco had been doing in there. I never brought myself to enter the room again, but on more than one occasion I hid around the corner and watched as Draco entered and left the room. Eerily, on each occasion of departure, he looked sicker and frankly more terrified than when he had entered the room, as if he was counting down the minutes in his head and with each painful second, the task he'd been given crept closer.

Perseus remained faithfully by my side - once a week we would dedicate an entire afternoon purely for each other, where we flew around the Quidditch pitch, practiced different spells and generally took our minds off our troubles. Perseus' presence was silently reassuring, and simply knowing that I had a loyal older brother living only a few rooms away from me was more comforting that I ever could have imagined.

I tried to concentrate in my lessons, dedicating time to revising and ensuring that all of my homework was completed. But I found my mind irrevocably concentrated on other things, namely the danger that Harry was putting himself in and my relationship with Draco, where we were growing further apart each day. I found myself unable to remember little details like Draco's favourite colour, his favourite band, and this terrified me. If I couldn't remember things about him, that surely wasn't a good sign.

The date for the mission was set for the end of June, on a warm summers evening where hopefully the waves surrounding the cave would be mild and allow easier access. With each day that passed and the event grew closer, apprehension sat permanently in the pit of my stomach, rendering me unable to concentrate and falling behind in most of my lessons. It seemed as if I was more worried about the whole thing than Harry or Dumbledore.

In the blink of an eye, June was upon us, the evening before the mission grabbing me before I could stop it. A Friday, everybody was glad to be finished with lessons for the week, and excited for leaving school in less than a week to start the summer holidays. I sat on my own in the common room, pouring over a Transfiguration textbook as around me people chatted, the fifth year students who had just finished their OWLs competing to see who was brave enough to throw the most of their work into the fire. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a boy throwing his entire five years of Herbology papers and work into the fire, to a cheer from his friends. I rolled my eyes - he wouldn't look so pleased with himself when Professor Sprout caught wind of what he'd done. For his sake, I hope he failed his OWL so that he didn't have to take it at NEWT level. I doubt he'd last two lessons once Professor Sprout realised he'd destroyed all of his work.

It seemed as if I was the only one still concentrating on school, but I hardly cared. Studying distracted my mind; it stopped me from thinking about all the other terrible things that were happening in my life. Since Draco was nowhere to be found, Harry and Ron had Quidditch practice, Honey was off somewhere with whoever was her latest victim, Sophia was taking extra Arithmancy lessons and Perseus was at very moment taking his Runes NEWT in the Great Hall. Despite the fact that I supposedly was the most popular girl in Slytherin, it seemed like there was nobody for me to talk to in the entire common room, even though most of the house was in there.

I slammed my book shut, frustrated by the noise coming from the fifth years and a group of gossiping second years who'd decided to sit on the sofa beside me. I gathered my papers quickly and stood up, at the precise moment as a dishevelled looking Draco slumped through the door, staring at his shoes as he hurried through. I rushed over to him, stepping in front before he could leave the common room. I wanted to face him here, where he couldn't hide.

"Juliet" he breathed, his deep thoughts broken as I crossed my arms across my chest. "Where have you been?" I asked him sharply, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Draco stepped forward and placed a hand on my arm. "The treehouse, where else would I be?"

I stared at him. "You're lying" I replied, "I checked the treehouse - it was exactly the same as it was three weeks ago. Where have you been all this time Draco, when you said you were there? I've checked it every time you disappeared, and you've never been there."

Draco gulped nervously. "Can we go somewhere more private please?" he mumbled, trying to smile although it was clearly forced.

"Are you going to tell me where you've been?" I replied.

Draco stared, a silence passed between us that quickly made his answer evident. "I thought not" I hissed, pulling my arm from his grasp and stalking away, staring at my feet so that the people loitering in the corridor couldn't see my tears. I felt Draco's gaze staring into my back as I headed to my room, just once I gazed over my shoulder and looked to him. He was hurt, the agony on his face was so great that I almost turned around and went running back to his arms.

Almost.

I was sick of the lying. Sick of him treating me like a child. Sick of my relationship being full of secrets. I loved Draco, more than I'd ever loved another human being. If anything happened to him, a part of myself would die.

Draco was like my personal horcrux - keeping me alive, pushing me to keep fighting.

So why couldn't he trust me?

"Juliet, love, please wait!" He shouted to me, I heard his footsteps as he strode after me, ignoring the dumbstruck stares of our loitering housemates. I didn't stop, not until I reached my bedroom door and was twisting the handle to open it. Through the gap, I slipped inside, about to slam the door in Draco's face when he jammed his foot in the way.

"What do you want, Draco?" I hissed through my tears, trying to slam the door shut. He winced as his foot was crushed between the heavy wooden door and the frame, but didn't move. "Please sweetheart, I can't bear to argue with you."

"We're not even arguing Draco!" I shouted in reply, "you won't even give me a reason as to why you're lying."

Draco's eyes saddened as he tried to push the door and I kept him out. "Come on Li, you know why I can't tell you the truth."

Suddenly, I ripped the door open and grabbed his tie, pulling him into the room and tossing him into the wall. He was unprepared, and I was stronger than I looked.

I slammed the door shut and folded my arms across my chest. Draco groaned as he rubbed his forehead - having smashed it into the said wall - and turned towards me.

"I've seen you Draco, going to the Room of Requirement..." I whispered.

Draco gasped in shock, his face sinking as he ran a hand through his hair and took a seat on my bed. I slowly steppe towards him, perching at his side and pressing my lips softly on his cheek. "You need to tell me the truth, Draco. No more lies."

Draco turned to look at me, reaching up to stroke my cheek. "No more lies" he repeated.

As I began to smile reassuringly at him, I barely noticed as he reached into his pocket and drew out his wand. By the time I realised what he was going to do, it was too late. His wand was pointed menacingly at my temple.

"I'm so sorry Li, I hope one day you can forgive me. But I need to keep you safe."

I struggled but he held me tight. With tears in his eyes, he pressed his lips to mine, before drawing back and mumbling "petrificus totalus."

My body went numb. I tried to say his name but my lips could no longer more, a strangled sound breaking from my throat before that too was silenced. My arms and legs seemed to disappear - I had no feeling anywhere in my body - and couldn't fight back when Draco laid me down on the bed and tucked the covers around me. Tears fell from my eyes as I watched him tie my hands to the bedpost, unable to feel it. Then, he pulled back and sat beside me.

"I love you so much Juliet" he whispered, his voice thick with tears, "and I'm only doing what I have to do to keep you safe. No more lies."

If I'd been able to move my arms, I'd have punched him in his perfect nose.

"He - Voldemort - is angry that my father failed him. As a punishment to my parents, he's forcing me to repair the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement - so that he can get inside the school. But that's not the worst part.

"He wants me to kill Dumbledore. Everything I've tried has failed - the necklace, the bottle of mead. I don't want to do it Li."

Draco was sobbing now. I stared at him in shock, and wondered how I hadn't guessed. For once, I was glad to be completely paralysed - had I been able to move, I probably would have sat still and refused to comfort him. At least like this I had an excuse.

"I have to do it though, because otherwise he's going to hurt you. He knows that your father's spell has been broken, that you know his secret. Now he wants you dead more than ever."

Fear rose up inside me like bile. How could he possibly know? Only Dumbledore, Harry and - through the confidence of Dumbledore - Snape knew about it. There was no way he could have known.

Unless Snape had betrayed me.

Anger pounded in my head and heart, the only parts of myself I could still feel. How dare Snape betray me like that? I'd been his favourite student, his protegee, and now he'd told the Dark Lord my greatest secret. He'd have no use for me now, no reason to keep me alive. Snape had signed my death warrant.

"I need to keep you safe Li, above anything else. That's why I've done this. I'm going to lock the room, and the curse will lift in 48 hours. I'll be gone by then, and I don't want you to look for me.

"Maybe one day when all of this is over, you'll be able to forgive me. Maybe we can be together again. That's all I'm hoping for." Draco takes my senseless hand into his and lifts it to his lips. "I'll wait for you love, if it takes the rest of my life I'll wait."

Draco reached into his pocket and drew out a tiny vial containing a dark liquid out of his pocket. "I'm doing this for your own safety" he said once more, more like he was trying to reassure himself than me. Uncorking the bottle, I caught a whiff of the mixture and instantly recognised it as a sleeping draught. I opened my eyes wider in panic, pleading with him not to do it, to let me help him. But as ever, Draco underestimated me. He knew that I couldn't help him, that I'd only hinder him. To my agony, I realised that he was right.

Perhaps this was for the best, I'd be out of harms way at least, and the Death Eaters he was getting into the school wouldn't attack the Slytherin common rooms. They'd concentrate on the Gryffindor, maybe going for a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws if they got in the way.

What are you saying, Juliet? I thought with anger. Of course it's not for the best.

People are going to die if Draco succeeds - your friends will perish. Dumbledore and Harry will return from the cave to find the castle burning, and Draco waiting to take the wizard's life. Maybe he'd spare Harry - after all the Dark Lord reputedly wanted to finish Harry himself - but nonetheless he'd be a murderer and his battered soul would be split in two. That wasn't my Draco, I could see in his eyes as he lowered the vial to my lips that he didn't want to do it, that he was desperate for salvation.

I tried to make my lips move, but Draco's magic was strong, and the curse refused to lift. I fought with every inch of power within me as Draco poured the disgusting liquid into my mouth and forced me to swallow. It burned at my throat as I rejected it, and for a few moments I thought that I had won.

But I'd taught Draco well. My eyes began to grow heavy, like they had metal weights dangling from them and pulling them shut. My body began to tingle strangely as it began to shut down, forcibly put to sleep. I held my gaze on Draco for as long as I could, keeping Harry's face in my mind and knowing that I had to warn him about what was happening. Dumbledore couldn't leave the castle vulnerable.

Fight Juliet, keep fighting.

My eyes gave out under the pressure, and I fell into a guilty sleep.

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Sorry that it's only short, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter, I promise!