Nicole Stevens: Blood and Daggers

Chapter Twelve: Together

I awoke lying next to Draco's sleeping form. Blinking, I recalled all that had happened the previous day; Harry and Ginny. I shuddered at the mere thought.

I looked out the high window and saw silvery-blue moonlight flooding through it, casting everything in a sad light. Moving closer to Draco, I felt extremely relieved that, though Harry and I were no longer together, Draco was here for me. I inspected Draco's features, in awe at how different he seemed while sleeping. His lips, usually curved into an elegant smirk, were now relaxed into a half-smile. His beautiful silver hair was still sleek, but slightly tousled. I gave him a gentle kiss on the lips before lying down again and trying to sleep. However, my restless heart would not allow me to sleep.

I lay for an hour, staring up into the green canopy of the bed.

I am lucky he even let me stay with him tonight, I thought.

Yes, that is true. My, he really is gorgeous while he sleeps, isn't he?

I know.

How could you not?

I snuggled against Draco's side, and when he wrapped his arm around me, I realised with a start that he had woken up.

"Hi," I whispered, looking up into his face.

"Hello. Have you slept?"

"Yeah. I woke up a while ago, and I couldn't get back to sleep," I answered quietly. Draco nodded.

"So, how have you been? I know that we've spent the last couple of weeks together, but you never speak openly to me," Draco said.

"Oh. Well, I don't ever speak to anyone. Harry--" I faltered, tears welling up in my eyes.

"It's okay," Draco comforted, tightening his arm around me.

"I don't know how I've been. It's seemed like a dream to me, all of it. But, I've been feeling cagey, like someone's going to attack me, or something. And then, there was the whole business with Ria and Harry."

"What?"

"Ria was seducing Harry, and I caught them in her bedroom. She had been kissing him, and her shirt was half-off, and Harry's shirt was gone altogether."

"You're honestly telling me that Potter cheated on you twice and you stayed with him?"

"Well, he stayed with me after all the stuff that I did," I became quiet.

"Yes, but you never slept with anyone."

"So you've been keeping tabs on my love life, have you?" I asked playfully. Draco grinned and kissed my forehead tenderly.

"Not necessarily. I just paid attention to who you were with and things like that. It's just--"

"Draco," I interrupted, "can you keep a secret?"

"It depends if I think that it is for the best," he said, before asking, "Why?"

"Because I have something to tell you that you can't tell anyone else, because it'd put everyone in danger."

"All right. I won't tell anyone."

"I am joining the Order of the Phoenix. It's a committee of Light wizards. I get to have a daemon," I informed him.

"Really? That's not good."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Because you'll be in danger. If you think Voldemort won't find you just because you're in the Order, then you are sorely mistaken Nicole. He will find you, and when he does, he'll kill you. Do you want that for yourself? I don't. I can't protect you from him. Potter, I can protect you from, but Voldemort I can't. I have no power over him. My father works for Voldemort. Sooner or later, my father'll figure out about us, and he'll tell Voldemort. I know I'll be in trouble then, I know we both will, but that's a chance I'm willing to take. However, if you're going to go be heroic like your idiot ex-boyfriend, then I can't risk it. I would do anything for you, but don't ask this of me. I'm begging you, Nicole, don't join. You will be in even more danger if you do, and I don't know how I'd live with myself if you died."

"Draco, I've already agreed. It's done. I can't change it. I promise I'll be careful, and I won't waste my efforts. I'll be so much more useful. You see that, don't you? I can promise you that we'll spend every spare moment together, and then some. I won't get absorbed in the Order's business, I can assure you. And I know that Voldemort and Lucius will find out, and I don't care," I said, holding his hand in mine and kissing it, "I don't care about them. I'm serious. If I had one wish in the world, I'd wish that we'd be together and that Voldemort was dead."

"That's two," Draco whispered vacantly.

"Two of what?"

"That was two wishes, not one," he answered in the same listless way. I stared confusedly at him. Why was he acting like this?

"So what?" I gave him a quick kiss and reassured, "It'll be okay."

"Mortem Agdeburg," Draco whispered.

"You know about him?" I asked suspiciously.

"He wrote a book. I heard Binns talking about it one day when I was skiving off. It was called The Coming. It had to do with some stuff. I heard my father talking about it one day. He said it would bring about the end of Light."

"I have the book, I checked it out," I told him.

"Oh no. I understand now. Follow me," he stood and pulled on his clothes. "Hurry," Draco ordered as I sat up, staring amazedly at him. I nodded and hopped out of bed, slipping on my robe. Draco pulled open the door.

"Do I need to bring The Coming?"

"Yes. Quickly now. I'm serious."

I grabbed my book from the chair and followed Draco as he sprinted down the hall. I ran after him, down the hall into the Slytherin common room, out the entrance, into the potions hall. Once we were in the hall, Draco stopped and grabbed my hand. He pulled me along, as I jogged to keep up with his set pace. I ran into Draco as he stopped suddenly.

"Damn!" he cursed quietly.

"What is it?"

"They've got teachers watching this hall. Idiots. They don't know what they're doing. Come here," Draco pulled me to his side. He led me into the shadows, past Snape, who was looking irritable. Draco instructed me to follow him through the shadows.

We headed past a creaky suit of armour, which creaked at us as we passed, but in the darkness, it could not find us. I spotted Ravena Sinistra striding quickly through the door of the Great Hall. I had never seen the school so busy at night.

As we passed the doors to the Great Hall, Draco stopped and peered all around us. He seemed to be searching to see if a teacher was lurking in the shadows. There was no one, so he gestured for me to go ahead of him. We were soon standing before the front doors.

"We have to go outside. It's going to be a bit cold."

I nodded silently and trailed after him as he barely pushed open the door and headed outside. I slipped through the door, closing it softly behind me.

Draco held my hand and we snuck down the lawn. I heard a bush sway in the cold breeze, and jumped. But I soon realised that it really had been the wind. I ran ahead to catch Draco up. We stopped at the edge of the forest, where the Feoxi was lying, awake. She appeared to have been waiting for us.

"Hello, girl. You are here again. And, Mister Malfoy, good-night. It is nice to see you again."

"Thank you for the talon," he said.

"What? You gave him the talon?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes, dear," the Feoxi answered.

"Oops," I blushed, looking embarrassedly at Draco, who shrugged.

"Asriel, do you know about The Coming?" Draco asked the Feoxi.

"Yes," the Feoxi answered slowly, "I have known it was beginning."

"So, you're name is Asriel?" I asked the Feoxi.

"Yes," Draco snapped irritably. "Nicole has a book written by Mortem Agdeburg, it's about The Coming. Nicole, open that book and look for some odd symbols."

I agreed and began flicking through pages. Passages jumped out at me:

It was said by the Mages that no such Coming would occur. Little did they know what I saw in the Orb of Fate. Had they seen what I have seen, each Mage would know that I speak the truth. My words are not fictitious. If only...

They believed me not, and I was forced into hiding, for they would never accept my prophecy. When The Coming occurs, they will see for themselves, and be confronted by its wrath. The old fools in the council do not know how difficult living shall be once it has begun...

I stopped flicking through the book, seeing no symbols.

"So?" Draco asked expectantly.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Give it to me, and I'll look," he grabbed the book from me and rifled through it.

"There's nothing there," I told him, "I'm serious. I looked from front to--"

"Aha! Here, Nicole look at this," he returned the book to me, and I looked down at the page. It said:

Rely on that which is seen by your inner eye. The Coming shall occur, and when it does, the whole world will fall to ruins. There is one chance; if the Mage Child of the Orb, the one saviour from the ANCIENT COUNCIL, chooses to wield the Sword of Light and Dark, then there shall be a chance for survival. If the Mage Child of the Orb refuses to cooperate and wield the Sword of Light and Dark, then the earth will fall into the murderous hands of a Dark Lord; should that happen, no soul or daemon shall remain to salvage this earth from the wreckage.

"Draco, I can read this. You must be blind or something."

"What? You can read it? Well, read some of it to me, and I'll see if you're telling the truth."

"'Rely on that which is seen by your inner eye. The Coming shall occur, and when it does, the whole world shall fall to ruins. There is one chance; if the Mage Child of the Orb, the one saviour from the ANCIENT COUNCIL, chooses to wield the Sword of Light and Dark, then there shall be a chance for survival. If the Mage Child of the Orb refuses to cooperate and wield the Sword of Light and Dark, then the earth will fall into the murderous hands of a Dark Lord; should that happen, no soul or dæmon shall remain to salvage this earth from the wreckage.' Happy now?"

"Is she--?" Draco broke off, staring at the Feoxi.

"Yes, she can read it. It is the speech of the Seers: Oraclyb. No one but a true seer could read that. I, for one, can read Oraclyb." ( soft i sound.)

"So, what, I can read Oraclyb? How is that possible?" I wondered aloud.

"Yes. So, back to your reason for being here. Why do you need my assistance?"

"Okay, well, I dunno why Draco wanted to come, but I have a question about The Coming. I woke from a dream the other night, and I stumbled out of bed for some reason. I walked downstairs and heard voices, but I don't know who they were. I went out into the hall, and fainted. When I woke up, Professor Lupin told me that what had caused me to collapse was 'The Coming'. I don't understand."

"Oh, yes. I do know about that. In Agdeburg's prophecy, he said that the Mage Child of the Orb would be drained of his power. In essence, the force that is being summoned into this world would begin to drain the Mage Child of the ability to see in the Orb. Though, as I understand it, no one ever thought that it would drain his ability to see in other ways," Asriel said with a sly air.

"Oh! Then, you mean--"

"Yes, the dream you had was a vision."

"But, how can that be? And I could probably see in the orb if I tried," I said defensively, "but I just don't want to right now."

"Look up at the moon, and tell me what you see," the Feoxi ordered with authority.

I raised my face to the full orb of the moon. Its milky light washed over me, flooding over my face and casting it in silver light. The moon shone down on the forest around me and bathed everything in a natural blue-silver. As I stared up into the black abyss of the night sky, my eyes sought out the moon and became transfixed upon its creamy disk. Disordered thoughts rushed into my head. They were...voices! And they were screaming and crying, crying for the sake of the world around them. The voices were lost in the void of space, never to be returned to life. There was a rumble, a crash. Then a shredding sound. The sky was still whole, but the ripping sound continued. It was as if someone was tearing the boundary between this universe and another. I was unable to take my eyes from the large circle of light, but I did not see it. All I saw was light, a terrible, foreboding light that was slowly creeping toward me. I cried out in fear, and felt someone's arms lock around me from behind. I yelled again, kicking as I was pulled away from my fixed spot. There were strong hands on my shoulders, turning me around to face the person. I still saw only the light.

It was not until I was shaken roughly that I saw Draco's anxious face peering down at me. He tightened his grip on my shoulders, and I relaxed immediately. I suddenly felt weak, leaning against Draco for support. He wrapped his arms around me and held me to him. As we stood there, I slowly regained strength, but it was not my own strength. The strength that was in me was powerful and commanding; terrible, yet great. I stepped away from my concerned friend and gazed up into his face; our eyes locked on one another's.

"What just happened?" I asked Asriel, not taking my eyes from Draco.

Finally unable to stand the stare-down with Draco, I unhappily wrenched my gaze away from his face and stared at the Feoxi, who was standing alertly.

"The Coming is becoming more intense. It will continue becoming worse until...you go into a coma. There is very little anyone can do for it, but I can contribute something to your cause," Asriel said deeply. She thudded toward me and bent her head down to look into my face. Asriel whispered, "I promise this will not hurt."

I nodded with my eyes closed. There was a whoosh and I felt a warm breeze engulf me. Curiously, I opened my eyes and looked around me. She had blown her fire onto me. The fire itself was gone, but my skin was as milky-white as Draco's, and I was glowing with a radiance such as only the moon possessed.

"There," Asriel stated, "you are protected by my Oplicybical flame. I do sincerely apologise about the glowing, but it cannot be helped. My flame will suffice to keep you feeling strong for a week; two at most. I cannot repeat the process more than once. Use this time well. I wish you the best of luck in your fight. You," she added, "must go now; the sunrise is in an hour."

Draco nodded, grabbing my hand gently. He waved once at Asriel as we headed toward the castle, and we began our slow trek back. As we reached Hagrid's cabin, I apologised quietly, "Sorry if I kicked you earlier. I didn't realise what I was doing."

Draco glanced at me worriedly, "I know. That's what Asriel told me. She knows more than any of us, and I suggest that if you need anything, don't go to Dumbledore for it. Go to Asriel. She will know the answer."

"Okay. Draco," I suddenly thought of something, "why are you helping me?"

"It's what friends do," he answered seriously. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I thought of everything that had happened.

I reflected on what Draco had said. It's what friends do.

Yes, I thought, it is.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Nicole, wake up. Come on, you have to go back to the Gryffindor dorms and change clothes."

I stretched in Draco's large four-poster and sighed contentedly.

"This would work," I said, waving my hand at his room. "You, me, here. It'd work."

"I'm glad you think that. Now get out of my bed and go change clothes. Unless, of course, you'd rather go around today in clothes that you've worn the day before; you might start a trend."

"Oh no," I laughed, "not another one."

Draco smiled at me, his face showing every sign that he was elated that I wanted to stay with him. He lie beside me on the bed, and caressed my cheek softly.

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed," he whispered.

We both jumped when the silence was broken by a loud knock on the door. Whoever was outside obviously didn't care whether they had permission to come inside or not, because the door suddenly opened and Pansy stepped in, calling out the door, "I'll be right there, Mark! I'm just checking on--oh my god!" Her shriek caused me to jump again. I scrambled away from Draco and toppled off the bed. Pansy squeaked, dropping her book bag.

"Pansy, don't freak out," I said slowly, picking myself up and dusting off my wrinkled robes. "It's not what you think."

"How do you know what I'm thinking?!" she hissed loudly. "Draco, how could you? With a Gryffindor nonetheless! She--well, we all knew you fancied her, but no one thought that you'd take it to this extreme."

"Pansy," Draco said coolly, "Nicole and I did not sleep together. She didn't want to go back to the Gryffindors."

"Oh, well, I don't believe that," Pansy screeched.

"It's the truth," I acceded, "we really didn't do anything. I just hate all the other Gryffindor sixth years now."

"Oh? Well, why is that, Miss I-Get-Around?"

"It's private, Pansy, and if you don't get out of my bedroom, I'll tell Snape," Draco defended me.

"I already plan to inform him of your little--ugh, I can't even say it!" she turned on her heel and began to stomp out of the room. But Draco's next quiet statement stopped her in her tracks.

"You know you can't. If you do, I suppose I shall tell him of your affairs with Mark Nott. How do you think he would react to that?"

Pansy slowly turned around.

"You wouldn't dare!" she spat venomously.

"But wouldn't I?"

"Fine. But, you must promise not to tell Snape about Mark and me."

"Agreed," Draco said proudly. Pansy nodded and stomped out. Once she had, Draco collapsed back onto the bed.

I walked over to where he was lying and sat beside him.

"I'm going to go shower, and change into something else, and then I'll come back down here and we can spend the day together making fun of the other Gryffindors. Okay?"

"Sounds perfect," Draco said, bringing my lips down onto his and giving me a soft kiss.

I stood, Draco following, and I ruffled his hair as I passed. Draco wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and pulled me back to him, giving me another kiss, this time on my lower neck.

"Hurry," he whispered, letting me go. I smiled at him and walked out of the room, hurrying down the hall and into the Slytherin common room. As I got to the exit, two bulky boys blocked my way; Crabbe and Goyle.

"Excuse me, boys, but I need to leave. Would you mind stepping aside?" I asked politely, giving them my angelic smile. One of them shook his head, while the other just gave me a blank stare.

"No," said Crabbe, or maybe it was Goyle; "we're not leaving 'til you tell us what you've been doing with Draco."

"Well," I paused, "I'm just hanging out with him. We're best friends. And if you don't move out of my way, I'll tell him that two boulders are blocking my way." They stared uncomprehendingly at me.

"I don't believe that," Crabbe/Goyle said, "Draco would never be friends with a Gryffindor."

"Draco!" I called loudly; there was no one else in the common room, so no one was there to stare at me. I heard footsteps in the hall and turned to see a curious Draco walking into the room. He came to stand by me.

"You called me?"

"Yes," I answered. "The boulders are blocking my way, and they won't move."

"Crabbe, Goyle, get out of her way," he ordered sharply.

"No, Draco. We can't. Your father gave us strict orders not to--"

"Excuse me?" Draco asked in a dangerous whisper. "Whom do you serve? My father or me?"

"We have orders," was all Boulder one said. I think it was Goyle.

"Look, I came here last night to tell Draco some things that he would need to know, and that's the story."

"All right," said Boulder two, moving. I thanked Draco and walked out of the Slytherin common room.

As I jogged out into the large chamber that contained the doors outside and the doors into the Great Hall, I saw Harry. Alone. Score one for me!!!

I walked purposely past him, knocking shoulders with Harry. He turned to me and his eyes widened.

"Where were you last night? We were all--"

"Worried?" I asked spitefully.

"Yes."

"Well, you needn't have been. I stayed the night with a friend."

"Who?" Harry asked, clueless.

"Oh, no one you'd be particularly interested in. Just a certain Slytherin sixth year who's always been close to me." I put my hand over my heart dramatically, staring adorably at Harry.

"Malfoy," Harry said sourly. "I should've known."

"Yeah, you're right. You know, I'd think you'd be with Ron, but, oh yeah, you screwed his sister!"

Harry blanched, gulping.

"You don't need to yell it."

"I do though, it makes me feel better." Harry scowled as I turned around, flipping my hair in his face. I held myself proudly as I walked up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. Being mean was so cool!!!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I went up to my dorm and grabbed a fresh skirt and shirt. There were a couple of people in the common room, but no one I bothered with. As I passed by the message board, there was a sign-up sheet for co-teaching a class. I grabbed the quill that was fastened to the board and scrawled, 'Nicole Stevens, Gryffindor, Sixth Year'. Then I re-pinned the quill and made my way down to the bathroom.

I pushed the bathroom door open and peered around. There was no one else there. I stepped into the nearest stall, which was more like a room, than a stall. It had a large bench carved into the marble wall, and the showerhead was made of a pearly stone. I shed my clothes, tossing them into the hamper, where the house elves would wash them and return them to me.

Turning the tap, warm water sprayed from the showerhead. To me, the water felt freezing. I twisted two knobs, and the water heated up and became perfume-scented. The warm water flooded off of my smooth (and still glowing) skin. It dripped down my back in a spray of hot water. I ran my fingers through my soaked hair, before pouring shampoo into my hands, and rubbing it into a lather. I washed it out in a hurry and began the same process with the conditioner.

Once I was finished, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the rack and drying my hair. Then I towelled off, grabbing my clean clothes from the counter. Slipping them on and tossing the wet towel into the hamper, I sped out the door and made my careful way down to the Slytherin common room. It would probably be better if I did not run into Boulders one or two again.

"Lamia," I said to the bare stretch of wall that led to the Slytherin dungeons. The stone slid smoothly past, and I strode boldly through the common room. A couple of Slytherins gave me malicious glares, but no one else even noticed me. Most of them were too self-absorbed to pay attention to the atmosphere around them. I quickened my pace as I reached the hall that led to Draco's bedroom. (He got his own because he was a prefect.)

I pushed open his bedroom door, and was immediately greeted by Draco, who had seemed to be waiting anxiously for me. He told me to sit down on the chair in front of the fireplace. I agreed, curious as to what he had planned. Draco leant against the nearest bedpost, and surveyed me.

"I was thinking about last night," Draco began, "and, while I still think that you should not join the Order, I am willing to take a chance that my father will kill me for it. So, I assume The Wonderful Potter knows you're not with him anymore?"

"Yeah, he knows, all right. And he'll know it better later today, but--go on."

"Now, I hate to have to repeat this again, as I have said it numerous times before but," he shrugged nonchalantly, "I suppose I don't have another choice. I don't want to draw this out any longer than I have to, but I need to be sure that you aren't going to be surprising me with secrets about you all the time. So, first off, I remember that your birthday is on the thirty-first of October, and that you're turning sixteen this year. Second, I know your favourite subject is Divintion, because you can slack off. Next, your favourite colour, if you have one?"

"Blue," I answered.

"All right, I will remember that. Your favourite holiday?"

"My birthday."

"Okay. That's all I need to know. Well, there's something else, but I figure you'd think it too straightforward of me to ask. So, I won't ask it."

"What is it? I'll tell you anything," I paused and reconsidered. "Well, I'd tell you anything within reason."

"Are you a virgin?"

I laughed loudly. "Is there a particular reason you'd like to know?"

Draco blushed, "No! It was just...a question. I mean--"

"Yeah, I'm a virgin. Anything else embarrassing that you need to ask me?" I asked.

"No. So--"

"So, I get to ask you some questions now. Your birthday is when?"

"Well, I turn seventeen this year. In November, actually. The twenty-ninth of November," he said.

"Good. Then, what's your favourite class? And don't tell me its potions, because I might have to kill you."

"Then I'll lie and say I like charms."

"All right. Favourite colour?"

"Black."

"Virginity status?"

"You can't--no. I won't answer that," Draco said obstinately.

"You haven't, have you?" I asked, my voice full of glee.

"I have," he said.

"Oh, and with whom?"

"If you must know, when I was fourteen, before you came, I went to the Yule Ball with Pansy, and we sort of--snuck up to the Astronomy tower, because it was empty--and, well...Never mind. It's not important. That's all you need to ask me, I assume?"

"Only one other thing," I stood slowly, Draco watching my every move. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Do you believe in true love?"

"I have since last year," he proclaimed.

"So have I."