Cold

Chapter Twelve

(Harry Potter)

I was walking...

Everything seemed so familiar, but I was almost certain that I, myself had not been there before. I shuffled down the hallway, feeling robes brush against my boots and the hood bobbing ever-so-slightly on my head. I halted upon seeing a man with long, platinum blonde hair. He turned and looked at me.

"Sire," he said, bowing his head.

"How are the preparationssss coming," I felt my voice hiss.

"Quite well, sire," came Lucius's reply. "The three who bleed shall not only be discovered by their peers, but hopefully terminated."

"I doubt that," I said, though it wasn't my voice. "Dumbledore would never have his precious students harmed. Don't worry. We'll be using them to our advantage. Has your boy finally come to our side?"

"What?" I thought. "Malfoy refuses to be a Death Eater?"

"No sire," came his curt reply. "The boy is quite determined on refusing. It also seems he has made a friend. The girl that bleeds."

"Really," I felt my eyebrows raise. "And the Potter boy..."

"That's me!" I mentally gulped.

"He has not been spotted with the two," Lucius returned.

"I sssee..." I felt the voice-that-was-not-mine say. "Well, the attack on them failed, but it did send a message. Lucius, I want you to keep the three of them apart. Together, they could make some of the strongest magic known to man, and I will not have that. If worse comes to worse, and your boy does NOT join us..."

"Yes sir?" Lucius awaited the answer.

"Kill him," I felt my voice say before I turned swiftly and exited the room.

By then, of course, I knew who I was seeing through. I refused to wake, however. I had to find out where he was. I would not let him get away with this, and I had many burning questions about the previous dialogue between Lucius Malfoy and the Dark Lord. The place was large, but dusty and musky, like an old castle. An old castle...

"HARRY!"

"WHAT?!?!" I yelled, awaking with a start and slamming my head into Ron's forehead. "...ow..."

"Damn, Harry, you're head is bloody hard!" Ron cried out, rubbing the red spot that stood out only slightly against his hair in the dark.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked, feeling sleep weighing my voice down.

It was then that I realized how pale Ron and the two boys behind him were.

"What?" I asked.

Why were they staring at me like that. I looked down at my hands and stared at the stains on them. Crimson...

"Y-you're okay?" Ron asked, surprised.

I saw that the red on Ron's head was also a smudge of red blood... blood from my scar...

And the Potter boy...

"Oh no..." I whispered, pulling my knees up to my chin.

"What? What is it?!" Ron asked.

"The dream I had..."

"Not another dream!" Ron exclaimed, looking strung out. My dreams always meant bad things.

"No, this dream doesn't involve you," I muttered, "so calm down."

"Huh?"

But who is the girl?

"What did you see, Harry?" Ron asked softly, handing me his handkerchief.

I held it against my forehead.

"V- You-Know-Who was talking to Lucius Malfoy," I said. "He was talking about the... three who bleed. After listening for a few minutes, I found out that Malfoy... Draco Malfoy, that is, refused to be a Death Eater."

"Really?" Ron was amazed. "I thought he was into that kinda shit!"

"Well he's not, and they're not happy. The three who bleed consist of three people, of course... him, me... and someone else."

"YOU?!"

"Well, yeah! Why do you think I'm bleeding?!"

"Good point," Ron said.

"But who's the other person?" Seamus asked.

"I don't know. They never said her name."

"Her?"

"They referred to her as the girl that bleeds."

"Who do you think it is?" Ron asked, worried.

"I don't know, but she's hanging out with Malfoy. Lucius said something about them being friends."

"I'll bet it's that Parkinson girl!" Dean exclaimed.

"Yeah, right," Seamus said. "That girl isn't important for anything. Besides, I see her all the time. She's never with Malfoy. People are saying he's become some sort of recluse!"

"Yeah, I heard that too," Ron said. "I didn't believe it until I realized that it's almost Christmas and he hasn't come near me, much less insult me."

"I know," I replied. "For a while I thought he had gone crazy, but I don't think so anymore. We were attacked on the Quidditch pitch because V- I mean- You-Know-Who doesn't want us together. Whoever the third person is, if she was close enough to put him on the edge, he would have killed us."

"Huh?" The three replied in unison.

"You-Know-Who said... that the three who bleed... when together... can create more powerful magic... than him."

Ron's eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me, and since Malfoy refuses to be on their side, Lucius is going to kill him!"

"Kill his own son? He wouldn't do that, would he?" Ron asked.

"This is Lucius Malfoy we're talking about. He'll do anything to serve the Dark Lord."

"Yeah," Ron stared down. "It's hard to believe that someone would off their own son just to get what they want..."

"I know, but we're not gonna let that happen."

"We're not?" Ron looked incredulous.

"Look, Malfoy's a bastard most of the time, but if he refused to be a Death Eater, he can't be that bad, and I'm not gonna let Lucius kill him. Besides, if the Dark Lord doesn't want the three of us together, there's a major reason. I think that the three of us can defeat him."

"Harry, that's awfully far-fetched," Seamus said, sounding a bit afraid.

"Yeah, but I know the Dark Lord better than most, and probably more than he knows. I have to use this to my advantage."

I removed the handkerchief and kicked my legs over the bed and opened my trunk.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked.

"I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak," I replied simply.

"Oh, no, not again!" Ron sighed. "Okay, let's do it."

"I... I would... but..." I began sifting through my things. "It's... it's gone!"

"WHAT?!"

"My Invisibility Cloak is GONE!" I quickly threw the door open and descended the stairs to the common room, Ron, Seamus, and Dean on my heels.

"Who could have snuck in here and took it?" Seamus asked as we hit the carpet of the common room.

"I don't know," I replied, looking through the common room for the silvery material. "I don't know why they would need it..."

"Do you think Hermione took it?"

"No," I said. "Hermione wouldn't do it because she thinks it's a bad idea. Besides, she would ask me first. I would let her use it, and she knows that."

"True," Ron said, helping me look. "Then who would need to sneak into your room and take it?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out," I said glancing around the room.

"How?" Ron asked.

"Well, obviously, they still have it. We'll just have to wait here until the person comes back here. I'm betting they're putting it to use right now."

"Good idea, Harry," said Seamus, "but I'm tired. Can I go back to bed?"

"Yeah, me too," Dean agreed.

"Huh, uh, sure. You can go too, if you want, Ron."

"Nah, I'm not all that tired. I'm a real night owl, says my mum. I think I'll stay up with you."

"Thanks," I said, smiling.

"No problem. What are friends for?"

"Now remember, we have to be really quiet so the person doesn't know we're here," I said, magically dousing the fire that had started when we entered the room.

"Right," Ron whispered.

(Ginny Weasley)

"You got anything, Draco?" I whispered across the room, the Invisibility Cloak pulled over my body and the large book in my lap.

"Nothing," Draco's voice replied.

His mother had sent him an Invisibility Cloak for Christmas after he begged her for one. He told me that once he got one we could investigate the 'three who bleed.' So, here we were, reading away, but finding nothing.

"There doesn't seem to be anything on the 'three who bleed,'" I said, closing the book. "Do you think this whole thing is new?"

"I don't know, but I bet it has something to do with us. I can almost feel that you and I are two of the three who bleed."

"Yeah, I feel the same way," I replied, placing the book back where it was.

"C'mon," he said. "We need to be rested for the trip tomorrow."

"Yeah," I said.

Christmas holidays started tomorrow. No more school, no more teachers, just us, and I couldn't be more excited. Not only that, but a masquerade ball would be held for the return of the students. I loved masquerades, especially since I knew that Draco and I wouldn't be recognized. It would be fun to dance with him, and he had already joked about the two of us dancing in the middle of the Great Hall as my brother passed out. I smiled at the thought.

"Well, this is where we go our separate ways," he said. "I'll see you on the train tomorrow. Wait until your brother and his buddies get off the train before you join me in my compartment. Try not to let anyone see you nonetheless in case someone decides to blab."

"Right. Third one on the left, right?"

"Correct," he said. "I'll see you then."

We stood there for a few moments, staring into the empty air that we knew were each other's faces. I didn't want to leave. I felt so happy, so relaxed around him. We had spent so much time together, I felt overwhelmingly lonely when he wasn't with me, even if I was surrounded by friends. I knew he felt the same way, but that was because he never spent time with anyone else but me. It made me feel special in a way. I wouldn't even be sure he was there if I didn't feel his presence. It had gotten to where we knew when the other was there, even if we couldn't see or hear each other. It was just how close we had grown.

"Well, um... bye," I whispered, rushing off towards the Gryffindor common room.

"...Bye," his whisper reached my ears.

(Draco Malfoy)

"...Bye..." I whispered, feeling my hand drop.

I felt suddenly very alone and very sad. I turned quickly and strode down the hall, biting my lip. By the time I had reached the Slytherin common room, I was exhausted, not physically, but mentally. Scary thoughts had been plaguing my mind lately. What if something happened to Ginny? What would I do? How would I react? My emotions around her were a bit confusing. I wasn't sure how I would feel if I lost her, except that I probably wouldn't be able to take it. I would understand more, but the thought terrified me and I always shook it away. It brought up other thoughts just as bad though.... What if I lost Snape? What if I lost my mother?

That thought made my face pale. I threw my cloak the couch and sat down, feeling my legs wobble at the mere idea that my mother would be dead. No, I told myself, don't let these thoughts get the best of you-you have enough nightmares as is. And I did. I rarely slept now because the dreams were so horrid. I closed my eyes and leaned against the couch cushions, trying to talk myself out of my thoughts. It didn't work-it never worked, because even though I was more composed, the thoughts still lingered in the back of my mind, still scaring me.

"I shouldn't have to think of these things," I whispered. "I'm just a teenager!"

And it was true. While other kids my age were thinking about their significant other, grades, and what to do when they got out of school, I was thinking about what would happen if my father killed the people I loved. I was questioning if I even HAD a future. I sighed.

"Damn you... damn you, Lucius Malfoy..."

(Ginny Weasley)

I slowly slipped into the common room and halted. Someone was watching me. I held my breath.

"It's too late," I thought. "They saw me come in."

"Take off the cloak," came a familiar voice.

"OH NO! IT'S HARRY!" My mind screamed.

I sighed and removed the cloak.

"Ginny?!" Ron gasped.

"Oh, no..." I whispered. "Ron..."