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"Professor Slughorn, Sir. I just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor." Filch's voice made me falter in my movement. The previously shared laughter of Blaise and me dying out almost immediately.

The rest of the room quickly grew silent, as well.

My head snapped in his direction, my brows furrowing when I saw Draco being dragged in by his jacket.

His eyes were fixated on me, not seeming like he was planning to look away anytime soon. They were narrowed, small wrinkles forming on his forehead as he glared at me.

He looked angry; annoyed he had been caught doing whatever he was doing here.

What was he doing here?

He broke our eye contact, his gaze stuck on my neck. Instinctively my hand reached for the necklace around it; A small, golden one that matched my dress.

Why would I still wear the necklace he gave me when he wasn't even looking at me? It felt stupid, so I stopped.

"He claims to have been invited to your party."

At that, Draco's eyes darted over to Blaise, and then back and forth between the two of us. When he noticed, Blaise put an arm around me, his hand caressing my shoulder it was draped over. Draco scrunched up his nose at the motion.

"Okay, okay. I was gate-crashing!" He spat, growing visibly more irritated by the second. His attention was entirely on me again. His stare so intense I felt like I might pass out if I didn't look away.

His grey eyes were piercing into my own, the boy he was the last time we spoke completely wiped away. He wasn't looking at me with pleading eyes; he wasn't begging me to do anything.

But I held his eye contact, not daring to let him win this round.

Though, I visibly stepped away from Blaise, bringing a little bit of distance between the two of us. I don't think Draco even noticed as Snape stepped right in front of him, and therefore broke our eye contact before he had the chance to.

"I'll escort him out," Snape said, his voice so calm it was almost scary.

"Certainly, professor." The blonde nodded, sarcasm lacing his voice before he hit Blaise's shoulder with his own on his way out. Snape right behind him.

"Alright," Slughorn cleared his throat before putting on a fake smile. "Everyone, carry on, carry on," He laughed, hoping to defuse the tension in the room.

It seemed to be working, as most of the guests just continued their previously interrupted conversations.

"So, where were we?" Blaise chuckled, clearly confused by Draco's entrance and exit.

I looked at him for a moment, scanning his features; his sharp jawline, his smooth skin. And I felt my lips turn into an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry, I think I have to go and take care of something right now," I mumbled, feeling bad about it as soon as the words left my mouth. I could still see the corners of his mouth falling, the smile on his face being wiped away; but before he could say anything else I turned around to leave.

His hand on my wrist stopped me, and once he pulled me back, I was looking right back at him.

"Make sure you're making the right decision," He said. His voice was calm but definite.

I didn't think this was really a decision I still had to make.

"I'm sorry," My voice was quiet, and in one quick motion, I pulled my wrist out of his grip and turned on my heels to follow Snape and Draco out of the room.

The corridors were cold, and empty compared to the room I was in just minutes ago. I heard distant voices, and while I wasn't sure it was who I was looking for, I followed them anyway.

"Harry?!" I hushed, a quiet gasp escaping my mouth as soon as I saw him pressed against the same wall I was about to pick for the exact same purpose.

How did he even get here before I did?

He startled, his eyes wide when he noticed me, but his finger in front of his mouth told me to shut up. "Shh!" He hissed, and then I heard it, too.

"Maybe I hexed that Bell-girl, maybe I didn't. What's it to you?" It was unmistakably Draco's voice saying that. he sounded irritated, and annoyed. Angry.

A loud noise echoed through the corridor before Snape spoke. "I swore to protect you! I made the unbreakable vow!" He said, his voice not as calm as it usually was when he spoke.

"I don't need protection!" Draco immediately snapped back, his voice rough and tired like he'd had this same conversation a million times before.

I furrowed my brows as I tried to follow their conversation. I tried to understand just the tiniest bit of what they were talking about, but I was completely clueless as to what was going on. And so it seemed, was my brother.

"I was chosen for this! Out of all others; me!" He hissed. "I won't fail Him. I won't fail her-" His voice grew quiet towards the end of his sentence. So quiet, it was almost a whisper; and I was glad I understood it, in the first place.

"You're afraid, Draco," Snape said, his voice a lot calmer now. "You're not doing this for yourself, are you?" A heavy silence grew in the corridor, making me fear they might register my heavy breathing.

My heart was racing, and I exchanged a quick look with Harry, who was listening just as intensely as I was.

"You forget, the dark lord trusts me, Draco. I know everything about your task. And why you're so eager on doing it."

"You know nothing about me!" The blonde spat, accompanied by the ruffling of clothes.

Snape snickered, "Trust me when I tell you, nothing is going to happen to the girl, Draco."

My brother's eyes were on me again, but I was entirely focused on the conversation. I wanted to hear more, understand more. But right now all they said were empty words to me.

"I won't allow it. So let me assist you," Snape added, and at this point, Draco's breathing was so loud I could hear it from here.

"I won't, either," He said before loud footsteps echoed through the corridor, moving further and further away from us until they were too far to hear.

I closed my eyes, my body slowly sliding down to the floor, my back still pressed against the stone wall.

I sat on the floor now, my face buried in my hands while I tried to regain my composure. My breath was still heavy, and my heart still felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.

Harry didn't say anything. He just quietly put an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I know he wanted to tell me he was right all along; that he knew something like this would happen. But he didn't. And I was eternally grateful for that.

"Were they talking about you, Y/n?" He asked slowly after a long silence had filled the atmosphere around us.

I shook my head, a deep sigh escaping my lips.

"I don't know."

Y/N: Thoughts?

I'm also going live again tomorrow on my Instagram "seselinamae" at 8 pm GMT+1, 11 am PST, 2 pm ET time! I hope I can see as many of you there so we can chat and speculate about upcoming chapters!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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