Dream Girl

TWELVE - UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Draco was sitting on the sofa, reading one of his books. He was so ready to go back to Hogwarts. He spent most of the winter break hiding in his room since he really didn't want to meet any of the other Death Eaters. Luckily he didn't need to wait for much longer, just one more night and he would see her again.

He was bored and he was missing his friends and Alora. It was dangerous to send owls to each other so he was feeling rather isolated.

The winter break was terrible and Christmas practically didn't exist for him. His mother didn't want to celebrate it since his father was still locked in Azkaban and Draco didn't mind. He wasn't exactly in the mood to celebrate either.

The soft knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Draco, dear, Dark Lord is waiting for you in the meeting room," his mother said with a wavering voice from behind the door.

Draco gulped nervously and closed the book. He hasn't seen him or heard from him since he got the task. He wasn't sure what he could want from him. Draco immediately shut his mind even though he was still in the safety of his room.

The walk to the meeting room was shorter than he would have wanted. When he saw Voldemort sitting in one of the chairs, he couldn't help but shiver slightly under the stare of those deadly red eyes.

"If I didn't know better I would have felt you are not particularly happy to see me, Draco," Voldemort said with a veiled voice.

Draco decided to say nothing, Dark Lord only yanked his head ever so slightly to sign Draco to sit. He obeyed and remained silent.

"I came here today to ask you how your task is going."

Draco's pale face got even paler. He looked ghostlike. He didn't forget, of course not. How could he? It only got relegated to the side-lines for now since his mind was occupied with something else, or someone. But Draco didn't allow himself to slip, not now, in the presence of the Dark Lord. He moved every memory of Alora to the farthest corner of his mind, feeling the stare of Voldemort on him.

"I am currently working on repairing the Vanishing cabinet that is located in the castle. It turned out to be much more difficult than I anticipated," Draco took every courage he had and looked into the angry red eyes. The expression on Voldemort's face was unreadable though.

"And what do you plan to do when the cabinet is repaired?"

"I plan to bring some other Death Eaters to the castle so they could help me fulfil my task. There will still be other professors and students who would likely wanted to help Dumbledore. I thought I would even the ground a little," he said with a firm voice.

"Not a bad idea," Voldemort smirked. "They could cause some mishap there, that wouldn't be so bad. Be sure to take Bellatrix with you and Fenrir as well."

Draco almost shivered at the thought of bringing a werewolf into the school. He tried not to show his fear, especially because he wasn't worried about himself. He forced himself to nod in agreement and decided to yet again stay silent.

"Now when that is sorted. I would like to ask you one more question." Voldemort stood up, still looking at him almost without blinking. Draco could almost physically feel that he was trying to invade his mind. He was looking for any sight of a lie right now. "I've heard that there might be some extraordinary witch in Hogwarts with really extraordinary abilities. Have you heard anything?"

Voldemort was now pushing harder. Draco's head started to hurt as he was searching though his memories and traveling through every nook and cranny of his brain.

"I am not exactly a sociable person, my Lord. Most of the people there are not worthy of my attention."

Voldemort tried one final push but it looked like he didn't find anything suspicious in Draco's mind. "I can see why. But I'm asking you to keep your eyes open. Her ability could really be useful in our ranks."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good. Don't disappoint me, Draco. You have five months." And just like that he was gone.

Voldemort's voice lingered in the air for a long time after he vanished, piercing his eardrums. The throbbing headache wasn't helping either. But Draco didn't let his guard down. He was afraid to do so. There were still too many Death Eaters walking around the manor who could spy on him at the order of the Dark Lord.

Draco turned around to go back to his room, ignoring his mother's worried stare in the hallway. He just wanted this day to end so he could go to sleep. He was so tired. He was practicing Occlumency almost three weeks straight, and it exhausted him. The stress only added to the exhaustion. The constant urge to be vigilant.

When he finally fell asleep he was welcomed with yet another nightmare. Draco was sure that he would have to dream through it the whole night. Alora wasn't coming to stop it this time. But that doesn't mean that she wasn't there. She was actually the main part of it all.

* * *

Draco was forced to watch her being torture by Voldemort over and over again but she sill refused to help him, to join his side. He was forced to watch her involuntarily get the dark mark, she was crying the whole time and her hand was bleeding heavily after Voldemort finished. And he couldn't go to her, to comfort her, wipe away the tears and the blood, to protect her.

And finally he was forced to watch her die. One moment she was there, resisting and full of life and then Draco blinked, the bright green light blinded him. And when he opened his eyes again she was gone. Her eyes wide opened with one singular tear still running on her cheek. Draco let out a blood-freezining scream, finally able to shake off the hands that were holding him. He kneeled down next to her body, taking her in his arms, crying and pleading with her to wake up but it was to no avail. She was gone. He lost the only good thing in his life.

He heard someone laughing maniacally.

The laughter stopped and the words he heard next made his heart shutter. "I said don't disappoint me, Draco."

* * *

Draco woke up with sweat dripping down his forehead and his heart beating rapidly. Voldemort's words and laughter still ringing in his ears and the blinding green light flickering behind his eyelids every time he blinked.

Draco arrived at the King's Cross station among the first in hope to catch a glimpse of the small curly-haired woman. But he didn't see her. He boarded the train last and on the opposite end when his usual compartment was. Walking quickly through the aisles, peaking into every door to look for her. But he didn't see her or Felix.

The panic consumed him and his whole body started to shake. He was terrified that his latest nightmare could become reality.

"Draco, finally. I thought you missed the train," Theo said with relief.

Draco looked around the compartment, to see the usual assembly there. Theo, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. Pansy was probably with other Slytherin girls. Not that Draco would complain. He grabbed Theo's hand and pulled him out of the door to the empty aisle.

"Have you heard from Alora during the winter break?" Draco whispered with undisguised urgency in his voice.

"Yeah, she wrote me a letter or two since she knew she couldn't write to you. She hoped that you and I would meet."

"And have you seen her today?"

"Draco, calm down. She mentioned she would come back to Hogwarts earlier," Theo said with a calm voice, trying to also calm his friend.

Draco let out a long sigh and took a deep breath again. She was safe. She has to be.