For The Greater Good (A Draco Malfoy Story)

Catching Up

 "Rose? Everything alright?"

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," I smiled at Ron's befuddled expression. He gave me one more look before moving to the kitchen. A sigh escaped me. This wasn't working out. I kept trying not to think about it but I knew I was spacing out like a ruddy schoolgirl. I touched my lips, feeling the sensations Draco made me feel last night. His warm lips molding perfectly against mine, his tongue demanding entrance and bloody hell, those damn hands holding my face as if I was the ruddy Holy Grail. After the kiss, he just looked at me with the raw intensity that I was sure I would never get used to and he asked me where I wanted him to take me. It was probably a risky idea to tell him the address of where Harry was hiding but I trusted him. Foolishly, yes, I trusted him. Besides, I didn't think we'd stay here long.

It was when I was finally in the house that I realized Gabriel wasn't with me and I had no idea where he was. Or even what happened to the Weasleys. Guilt had hit me so fast I had gotten whiplash. Draco was dangerous, and I'm not just talking about his soul. He made me forget everything and I was consumed with him when at the same time my brother was out of my reach and the Weasleys were held prisoner. Ron told me that they were all safe and stuck at the Burrow but they hadn't seen my brother. That night, I shifted into my animagus form and stood perched on the arm of the couch, trying to reach out to my brother mentally. Eventually, we made contact and he assured me he was safe and well. Someone at the wedding had told him that I had apparated away with someone so he did the same and went to our safehouse, thinking I'd have gone there. When he didn't find me, he went to the Order and joined them. He knew the best thing to do is to contact me mentally like I did with him.

Now, I was with Harry, Ron and Hermione and we were trying to crack the code of the locket. Turns out R.A.B was actually Regulus Arcturus Black, a fact we learned after exploring the other rooms in the house and finding his name on one of the locked doors. We spent the afternoon scouring the house for any sign of the locket but all efforts have turned up empty.

The Black Family house elf, Kreacher, shuffled into the kitchen where we sat staring at the locket. He was a grumpy one, to say the least. His long nose drooped low like a beak and his narrow eyes became slits when he'd look at Hermione, an occurrence that slowly but surely began to irritate me. Kreacher was a mixed bag -- the colors around him were arranged differently than that of a human's and they were more transparent and muted. The difference in his aura threw me off a bit, making me rearrange all I had surmised so far about the colors and their corresponding emotion and meaning.

"Kreacher," Harry called out suddenly.

Kreacher responded with his gravelly voice, bowing his head to acknowledge his new employer. "Yes, master?"

"Have you seen this locket before?"

The house elf merely shook his head before muttering distastefully under his breath. "Kreacher," Harry warned, an edge appearing in his voice that I never heard before. "Don't play games with me. Tell me where the bloody locket is."

"Harry," I frowned, placing my hand on his arm. I felt the muscle under my hand relax after a moment and he settled back in his seat sullenly. I turned to the house elf. "Kreacher," I spoke gently. "Could you please tell us where the locket is or just anything you know about it? We need your help."

Kreacher's beady eyes narrowed further at me but I didn't know whether it was the fact that I spoke calmly with him or my blood status, but he nodded his head. "Master Regulus was the one to give the locket to Kreacher. After Master Sirius ran off, Master Regulus turned to the Dark Arts and soon joined the Dark Lord's forces. But when Master Regulus saw the death and destruction of the Dark Lord's power and his plans for the future, Master Regulus sought to destroy the locket. He discovered the location of the locket in a cave and witnessed the Dark Lord force another house elf to drink the poison in the basin to get to the locket. Master Regulus made a copy of the locket and told me that he would call on me soon and when he did, I was to appear before him. Master Regulus did call, and I found him in that cave. Master had drank the poison and told Kreacher to leave him, take the real locket and destroy it at all costs..."

"And? Did you? Destroy it, I mean," Harry said eagerly.

Kreacher shook his head sullenly, fidgeting with his dirty garment. "Kreacher tried, Master. He really did. But the locket is made of dark magic, powerful magic, Master. Kreacher's magic did nothing so Kreacher hid the locket in his cupboard."

"Where is it now, Kreacher?" Hermione asked gently. Kreacher scowled, sniffing with that droopy nose of his.

"Kreacher does not know. A thief broke into the house after Master Sirius passed away and stole the locket."

"Who was it? The thief?" I frowned.

"Mundungus. Mundungus Fletcher."

Harry's jaw clenched, the colors around him pulsing strongly. "Find him."

And with that, Kreacher disappeared with a crack! He didn't come back for a few days.

Draco.

What the fuck am I doing?

I wish someone would be able to answer me that because I had no clue myself. I kissed her. I bloody well kissed her. I didn't even stop to ask myself if she wanted me to kiss her. She's everything I'm not. She has more light in her pinky toe than I have in my whole body but...she was there. With me. And she looked at me with those cutting eyes of hers, making me feel like I was staring into the deepest depths of the ocean. That stubborn wrinkle in the middle of her brows and the sardonic tilt of her mouth drew me in and I couldn't stop. How could one person have so much faith in another after just seeing them at their worst for a year? I never showed her who I could be or who I really was, although to be fair, who I really was wasn't a walk in the park either.

Sometimes I hated her for it. For being so bloody forgiving and giving me a chance when I didn't deserve it. I just wanted her to scream at me and pound her surprisingly powerful fists against my chest. But at the same time, every time I'd imagine that lovely mouth of hers twisted in a sneer directed at me, my insides seemed to wrench horribly. Was it selfish of me to let her hope instead of pushing her away? Probably.

But fear was an honest to merlin thing. And it coursed through my blood, seeped into my pores and diluted my air as the thought of pushing away the only light that could possibly save me would enter my mind. What if I turn into Bellatrix without her? I feared that the more I stayed here in this Manor to handle this on my own, the more my soul would die...and the chances of me killing her would increase.

If she can't save me, then I can't save her...from me.