Nicole Stevens: Blood and Daggers

Chapter Fifteen: The Truth

"Sorry I'm late, Harry. I got held up in Arithmancy. You know the deal; Vector can't stop preaching to us about lunarscopes and kaliseidles," I apologized hurriedly as I jogged over to him and sat beside him.

"Oh, that's all right. I really don't mind it. Some teachers can't even--"

"You weren't in Arithmancy," Hermione said from across the table. "I remember looking for you. Professor Vector noticed your absence, too."

Note To Self: Must learn how to lie in a believable fashion.

"Oh--well, I mean to say--I wasn't there, but I had previous homework that Professor Vector had written down the assignments for, and she just rambled on and on about the kaliseidles. It's pointless, really."

"Well," said Hermione turning up her nose, "that's your opinion. I happen to believe that all of the material given to us is fascinating and completely necessary."

I shrugged indifferently.

"Harry, you remember earlier?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Well, you know how you were acting? It didn't seem like you were yourself, if you understand me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. It was like you weren't yourself. I couldn't begin to tell you how different you seemed."

"Come to think of it, I don't remember exactly what I said. I just thought I asked if you'd consider dating me again. Did I say anything else?"

"Yes, lots of stuff about how I was supposed to do exactly what you said every second of the day and loads of things that really irked me. But, if you don't remember that's fine."

How can he not remember what he said? It's like he was possessed or something.

"Well, if I said anything to bother you, I apologise," he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and giving me a kiss on the top of my head. I nodded and inspected the other people at the table.

Ron and Ginny were sitting together, deep in conversation. I suddenly remembered what I had wanted to ask Harry.

"Harry," I asked in a whisper, "why'd you do that with Ginny?"

He frowned, "I don't know."

"How can you not know something like that?"

"I can't think of why I did that. I mean, I remember her coming to me and pleading. She moaned and cried and screamed and tore. I can hardly recall what led up to that. All I know was that afterwards, I felt free. I was there, lying on the floor with her, when it suddenly hit me: What was I doing? It felt so wrong. Her hair and eyes were bright and they made me shiver. It scared me when I thought of her and you and my mistake. And Ron. I was convinced that he would never forgive me. I still am. But, she cooed to me that everything was all right and you wouldn't care and Ron wouldn't care and Hermione would agree and you would agree and it was all right and nothing was wrong. She said that a thousand times if she said it once. I can think about what she said, and all I heard was that it was okay and you were okay and I was okay and this was right and good and pure and no, I hadn't done wrong, and no, she hadn't done wrong, and yes, you would still love me and how could I ever think she would do something wrong to me. And when you came, we were laughing. The boys and I were laughing that innocent little Ginny would ever do that and certainly it was funny that she chose me to do it with. When Seamus heard, he wanted her. He thought she would be good. And, I told him 'no, it's not right' but I knew I wouldn't matter because that was my one time to be with her and it wouldn't matter to me who she slept with next. But when you came in; the world stopped. It stopped. I knew how wrong it had been when I saw you cry. Ginny had lied and I knew it. I had known it from the start. And I thought 'God, if you can hear me, please let this be forgotten' and you turned and ran. I just sat and sobbed. And no, I'm not ashamed. I cried over you. I cried for your spent tears and I cried for the purity that I had cast away carelessly. When I saw you this morning, all I thought was 'she's good; she's pure; and if I can't have her no one can' and that was it. I didn't even hear your words."

That was way more than I needed to know, I thought.

"It's okay Harry; I know what its like. Well, not exactly, but..." I faded off.

"Nicole," I heard a sugary sweet voice from behind me. It made me sick. I turned around and saw her. The temptress; the serpent; Ginny.

"Yes?" I asked with a harsh tongue.

"I was just coming to say," she paused and Ron gave her a pointed look from his seat, "that I shouldn't have slept with Harry. It was wrong, and I acknowledge that."

You had better damn acknowledge it, you little--

"Why, you know what? I happen to agree with you. You were wrong to sleep with my boyfriend and you knew it. I acknowledge the fact that you apologise, and I thank you for it. But, I won't accept your apology. In fact," I stood and faced her, "I think you had better leave before I decide that my fist would look very nice planted on your face." I smiled as a snake would, if snakes could smile.

"Very well, then," Ginny said with a laugh that reminded me of the tinkling of bells. "I was just attempting to apologise for my imprudence, but it was my mistake."

"Now, there you are perfectly correct. It was your mistake. But, I am warning you, because I am finding this very difficult: if you want to sleep with someone, go to someone without a girlfriend, or you'll wish you were dead."

She laughed again. "I can assure you, it won't happen again." But she gave Harry an evocative look that was not only suggestive, but it tore into my heart, ripping out what it wanted.

"It had better not," I said, "or I'll be sure to inform your parents of your--extracurricular activities."

She smirked, "Oh, well. Such is life! If you would excuse me, I must get ready for potions." Ginny turned, tossing her hair in my face. I stood, stunned and angry before realising that she was gone and it was over. I sat back down, my arms frozen by my sides.

"Can you say catfight?" Harry said incredulously as I sat.

"I need to go throw up," I whispered hoarsely, standing and running out the hall doors. There were people pointing and laughter as I ran out. I did not care, though.

I ran for five minutes, before reaching a bathroom. I pelted into the room, throwing myself into one of the stalls and retching. The acid burned my throat, and I longed for water, but I did not dare leave. Not if I might see her again. I flushed the toilet and used toilet paper to wipe my mouth. I tossed it into the toilet, too. That was when I noticed there were other sounds.

Something was constantly knocking against one of the stall doors, and I became curious at once.

"W-who's there?" I asked, my voice raspy.

"Does it matter, really?" came a boy's voice.

"No," I answered truthfully.

"Then you don't want to know. Who're you?"

"I'm Nicole."

"Oh, right. Daemon girl. I remember you. Surprising really. Wanna come out?" he knocked against my door. I saw feet underneath the stall door, and unlocked it. Standing outside was a brown-haired, amber-eyed boy, who I did not recognise, but knew was in seventh year. I came out of the stall, trying not to redden.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Levine," he answered.

"So why're you in here?"

"I was skipping class."

"How come?"

"Because it's time for History of Magic," he said dully.

"Okay. Well, I should probably be going, now. You know, Divination. Trelawney hates it when we're late. Bye." I started to leave.

"Watch out for her," Levine said as I left.

I nodded and left. As I walked up to Trelawney's tower, I wondered. Watch out for whom?

I climbed up the ladder leading into the Divination classroom. Everyone else was already inside, so I felt extremely embarrassed when all of their eyes turned to me as I entered. Harry was sitting at a back table, and Ron was sitting with Neville. Ron and Harry were still fighting, apparently.

I went to sit by Harry, choosing the chair opposite of him. Trelawney was looking upset at my lateness. She sighed and continued speaking.

The fumes from the fire were stifling, and I could hardly breathe. The smoke was overpowering, and I found that I was soon drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

And as I slept, I dreamed.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"Oh, Tom," moaned a girl.

"Am I hurting you?"

"Yes! Don't stop."

"I'm tired of this," Tom said finally, pulling away from the girl.

"I'm not," gasped the girl, pulling him back to her.

"Ginny, I must go. There is business I must attend to."

"No." She yanked the silken sheets over them both and began kissing Tom all over his body. He pushed her away and stood, looking irritated. He began to gather his clothes.

"What did you do about the girl?" Tom asked as he dressed.

"I tried to hurt her, but she seems invincible. After I seduced Harry, she didn't even bat an eyelash. She was upset, but not even close to dead."

"So she is not dead, nor has she forgotten any of what she has seen?" Tom questioned, growing deadly quiet.

"Not that I know of."

"Then you will suffer."

"Tom, you don't mean--you wouldn't. No. I-I'll stop the spell. I will. I'll do it and you won't stop me!"

Tom laughed coldly, "I suppose I wouldn't dare to. But I could always hurt you other ways." He took one of her red curls and wrapped it around his finger, before letting it spring back into its curls.

The girl watched as her love walked out of the room, leaving her alone on the bed. It always ended like this.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"I pronounce her guilty of the High Crime. She is sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss."

"Take me!" the girl cried. "Take me! I do not care! It is better soulless! What is a body without a soul? It is strong!"

There was a murmur from the crowd as black robed figures glided in the doorway. They went to the girl and unshackled her hands. She shivered in their presence but quickly hid her fear.

"The sentence is to be performed now, so all may see this woman and her treason fall into ruins."

Some clapped. Most clapped.

The lead Dementor raised the girl's face to his, and her red curls tumbled down her back. It brought its mouth down upon hers, sucking the soul from her.

"Virginia Natalie Weasley has fulfilled her sentence."

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

I awoke when I felt someone tapping my arm. I looked over to see that Harry was trying to wake me up without attracting the teacher's attention. He seemed relieved when I woke, and whispered, "It's lucky we're doing crystal balls today, or we'd both be in trouble."

"Not again," I groaned, looking at the milky orb on our table. "I hate these things."

"You and me, both. But we can pretend, can't we? All right, so..."

I turned my gaze to the silver orb. The smoky contents in the globe swirled and I soon found myself lost in their contents. It seemed like forever, but was probably only a minute before I saw something. The picture was foggy, but soon became clearer.

I saw a sword. It was glowing and emitting bright sparks. There were diamonds and sapphires in the gold hilt. The sword was in a case of glass. I knew somehow that it was the Sword of Light. Someone was trying to get the Sword out of its case, but to no avail. The glass would not open.

The fog shifted and concealed the image. Then I saw a tall tower. It was far away, but it soon sped closer. I noticed that it was made out of the blackest stone. It reminded me of Saruman's tower from Lord of the Rings. There was a window at the top, and through the window, I saw a small, circular room. There were candles in brackets on the wall, and I saw myself shackled to a chair. I was straining to get loose, but the chains were too secure. The door opened and a man stepped in. I thought at first that it was Draco, before I noticed his attire; black pants, black shirt, and a dark green, velvet cloak. Not Draco. Besides, he looked older, while I looked the same. The Draco look-alike walked over to me, and began speaking. I saw him reach into his pocket and extract a vial. He dripped the potion into my mouth and I slumped, unconscious, in the chair. He smiled, satisfied, before walking out the door.

The fog swirled back into my view, and did not leave. I drew myself out of the semi-trance and saw the rest of the class looking into their crystal balls. Harry was watching me with apprehension.

"You saw something, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"What did you see?"

"A sword and a tower."

"That's all?"

"Mostly."

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"I can't believe I'm doing this. I really can't believe. Oh well, Lamia," I said to the bare wall. "I mean, I'm not kidnapping him, I'm just seeing if he's there and forcing him to listen to me. That's not a crime, now, is it?" It was difficult to convince myself.

I went through the stone doorway leading into--you guessed it--the Slytherin common room. The embers of the fire were making shadows leap across the walls and causing the room to be cast in a fiery glow. It made me shiver, but I soon forgot that, as I tiptoed down the corridor to Draco's bedroom. His door was slightly open, which worried me. He never left his door open.

I crept closer to the door, listening hard. There were noises, but they were muffled as if by a pillow.

Here goes nothing, eh?

I pushed the door wide open. Draco was lying on his bed with his face pressed into the pillow. Either he was trying to suffocate himself (likely) or he was trying to conceal his tears (not likely). He didn't hear me or realise that he was not alone. I was quiet as I shut the door behind me and inched toward the bed. As I neared, I noticed that Draco's hair was unkempt. Now that was odd.

"Draco?" I whispered, touching his back. I felt him tense.

"Who is it and whoever you are take your hand off of me before I--"

"It's me," I said quietly, retracting my hand and looking down at him. Draco rolled over and stared up at me. Had no one told him that it was not polite to stare?

"What do you want?" he asked sharply, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. His eyes were filled with sorrow, and I wanted to cry for him right then. But I didn't.

"I want to explain. I tried to find you earlier, but--"

"I don't want your pity," he said coldly.

"That would be why I don't pity you, then. I am sorry, though. If you call that pity, then so be it, but I'm apologising to you. What I said, about loving you, and all, it wasn't a lie. None of it was a lie. I love you with all my heart and it pains me when you act this way. I made a deal with Harry. I'll finish the deal and then..."

"So, you made a compromise with Potter," Draco sneered. "Well, that's lovely. In fact, it's spectacular. Now go."

"No. You still don't understand."

"Tell me, Nicole, what exactly don't I understand? Is it that I can't seem to find reason in your agreement with Potter? Or possibly that I want to kiss you so badly right now that I am literally killing myself inside?" He looked it. His eyes were cold and hard, but they had a furious edge to them.

"So why don't you?"

"You're not mine."

"No, I'm not right now. But you've never seemed to mind before."

"You'd never been mine before. I realised during the time I spent with you how upset I would be if Potter came up and kissed you. So now I know what he went through. I won't do it again."

"You can't blame yourself if it's my fault," I said, yanking him off the bed to his feet, and pulling his mouth down over mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him as close to me as we could be. Draco was stunned for a minute, but soon the temptation was too great and he kissed me back. His hands ran along my sides, and I finally had to move away for breath. Draco kissed my neck and the hollow of my throat. He slid his hand up my side and brought my lips back to his. His kiss was hungry, and heated. I felt him so close to me, it was as if he were a part of me.

I hardly noticed, but he had pulled us onto the bed. We rolled over and over, laughing and kissing and tugging each other closer. We were both smiling and happily cuddling beside one another. Draco held me tightly as we kissed and rolled, and never once were we not touching. I felt blissfully at ease as I had not in many weeks. Not even the few days I had been Draco's, had I ever felt so good. I believe it was the same for Draco. He had lost his stony attitude and seemed much more jovial.

"Do you think Harry'd just let me come back to you and still join the Order?" I asked as I giggled as Draco nuzzled against my neck.

"No, but I don't care. He can go to hell, for all I care." He began kissing me again.

"You're right," I said lightly, forgetting Harry altogether as I was pulled into the spiralling vortex.

It was morning when I awoke next to Draco.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Dedicated to Richard Harris.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

A/N: Must I remind you again, people?!?! Do NOT let your mind get swept into the gutter! They snogged, that's ALL! Argh, I need to go sleep.