Chapter 22

I don't own any of the characters apart from Melanie Malfoy. All of the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

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It had been a week since I'd finished the cabinet, but I hadn't told a soul. When I finished it, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders, until I remembered that wasn't the last part of the mission. Yeah, I forgot the main part.

After the few seconds of relief had washed through me, that's when the dread flooded in. The memory was like a tidal wave, the memory of the night our mission had been announced came and hit me with a huge force.

So you can probably imagine the emotional roller coaster I went through in the first five minutes after I'd fixed the cabinet. Relief, dread and finally sickness. And the last two had been alternating all week.

Like I said earlier, I haven't told anybody about the cabinet, which included Draco. I know I should have told him the second I finished but I just couldn't. Whenever he'd suggested going into the Room of Requirement, I began to feel sick again so he'd end up sitting outside with me so I could get some 'fresh air'.

Don't get me wrong, I feel bad that I haven't told him yet, but I just can't bear to think of what the end product will be. Neither of us had put any thought into the final piece, as far as I know on Draco's part, so when it comes to it, I don't actually know what will happen. Knowing Draco, I have a feeling he'll have some sort of idea on what we will do.

So, one week later, at 2 o'clock in the morning, I'm sat in the Ravenclaw common room, trying to calm the many thoughts swirling round my head. My own mind seems to think that I need some sort of plan on how to tell Draco and how we'll finished the mission without my permission.

It's getting quite stressful actually...

No one had noticed me over the past few days as I'd been keeping a low profile. Before that, every time someone said my name I became jumpy and nervous, thinking that everything I was asked was questioning my motives or my activities. Even Cho had stopped talking to me first, the only time we actually had conversations was if I started it. Although, we only talked about homework, so I don't know if that counts.

It was truly a form of torture for me. I've never kept secrets from Draco in my life, so having to keep something this big away from him until I can sort my head out, is what's causing me the most trouble. If only we had that twin telepathy thing, at least I wouldn't have to tell him, and he might be able to help me sort out the jumble in my head.

"Hi..."

I jumped, whipping my head round to see who was sneaking up on me. Don't even bother asking why I thought that. Who would sneak up in someone and then say 'hi'? I'm so paranoid...

When I realised it was Cho stood in the doorway from our dormitory, I relaxed slightly. I was still ready to run out the common room though if I thought she found anything suspicious. Not like running away from her isn't suspicious or anything. I think I just need some sleep.

"Hey." I turned around and stared into the fire again. The silence surrounding us was awkward, something I'd never had to experience with my best friend before. We'd always had something to talk about, even if it was a more sensitive subject, we were always comfortable around each other. I didn't like this change.

"How you feeling? Still feel ill?" she asked. I could see her slowly walking to the armchair next to me, careful not to make any noise or move too fast. This was how everyone else acts around me, as if I'm going to turn and shoot their heads off at any moment. They sure know how to make a person feel welcome here. Please sense my sarcasm.

"Please don't do that," I groaned, resting my head in my hands. She was probably only doing that because I'd been acting strange all week. To be honest, she could just be acting that way subconsciously, but it still bothered me.

"Do what?"

"You're acting the same way as everyone else does around me. I won't hurt you, I've just had a bad week." I explained, rubbing my hands down my face. I saw her nod before lowering her head.

"Sorry. I was only doing that because I didn't know whether or not you wanted to be left on your own. I've seen you sneaking out of the dorm every night, thought I would make sure nothing was bothering you?" her last statement came out as a sentence, inviting me to share all my worries with her.

"Erm..."

The truth is, I didn't know whether I wanted her to know or not. What if she turned her back on me? Everyone else did when they learnt my 'last name' and that wasn't even real. When I told her my true identity she never turned her back, but would her knowing that I work for the Dark Lord push her?

"You don't have to tell me. But you know Mel, it's not good to keep everything inside. It'll just make it harder for you to decide what you need to do. Anyway, I'm always here for you, no matter what," she finished, a small smile on her face to show she meant her words.

She just didn't know that my secret is the only thing that would, not just make her turn her back, but possibly run for the hills as well. Then suddenly, my head made a straight decision and it was the only thing I could think about.

"How about we take a walk around the grounds? I need some fresh air to help me sort my head out some more." Cho looked apprehensive so I walked over to her and gently pulled her up by her elbow. "I promise we won't get caught. Plus I'd rather talk where I know there's nobody around."

My last sentence seemed to sell it to her and she willingly walked towards our dorm to get our cloaks down. It may be June, but at this time in the morning, it was still bound to be cold outside.

I waited by the portrait hole taking deep breaths, trying to calm the news that were threatening to take over my body. To say I was scared would be an understatement, because I was terrified. Even though I had already made the decision to tell her, the negative questions were the only things swarming around my head now.

"Here you go. We better be careful, Filch is normally quite close to these parts and he'll punish us the most." I nodded in understanding, checking the coast was clear outside our common room, "maybe we'll get in lucky and Draco will be on his rounds tonight," she giggled.

To her it may be lucky, but for me, I could only dread that. I hadn't even talked to Draco properly since I'd fixed the cabinet. The sick feeling threatened to settle in my stomach but I quickly pushed it away and dragged Cho out of the portrait hole and behind a tapestry as fast as I could.

The prefect walked past oblivious to our presence and I motioned Cho to follow me by keeping my index finger up to my lips, letting her know that we needed to be quiet. From the nights I'd spent sneaking to the Room of Requirement with Draco, I knew exactly how to avoid being caught.

Before I knew it we'd reached the front doors, and weirdly they'd been left open. I slowly reached my hand out and took hold of the metal handle and pulled it towards me as I felt Cho tense up beside me. This sent a warning signal through me and I dragged the door back and pushed Cho out and then followed her.

"Why did you do that?" Cho asked, dusting herself off from where she'd hit the wall. I shrugged and looked back to see if anyone had seen us. When I saw nobody or any shadows creeping along the walls I turned to face her again.

"You tensed up and I thought someone had seen us. If that had been the case, I got us out before anyone would have seen our faces or been able to recognise us," I explained and started walking towards the lake knowing she would follow behind me.

"What's wrong then?" she asked as she jogged over to me. I took a deep breath and sat down on a fallen log, not letting her see my eyes. If I avoid looking at her for a while then I might be able to build up enough courage to do this without showing much emotion.

As weird as it sounds, I don't want her to feel sorry for my or stay with me because of sympathy. I want her to stay because she wants to and because she truly is my friend. She's been true to me until now, so I don't know why I'm suddenly doubting it, but this is a bigger secret than it should be for a 17 year old girl.

Yeah, I'd even celebrated a birthday this month, if you could call it celebrating. I think I'd spent the day in the Room of Requirement working on the cabinet by myself for that full day. Oh, apart from the half an hour when I went to find Draco to give him his present. Apart from that, it was spent alone, trying to keep my mind away from anything but the mission at hand.

"It's a long story. I just need you to promise you'll listen for the full thing and not walk away before I've finished. Please?" I asked, finally meeting her eyes. She looked confused for a second before nodding.

"Promise. And you know I never break a promise," she smiled, coming to sit down next to me. "Just tell me everything."

So I did. I told her every little detail that I could remember. From the minute I got chosen to do the mission, to the branding of the Dark Mark, the threat about my family, lying about asking to be Sorted into Ravenclaw. Every so often she nodded, but she never once interrupted. For that, I was thankful.

I went on to explain how we decided to fix the cabinet to let Death Eaters into the castle, how we'd planted the necklace and the poisoned mead to try and get them to Dumbledore but instead ended up nearly killing the two students. The conversations with Snape about how we were running out of time.

"I've fixed the cabinet. Actually, I finished it a week ago," I told her, bringing my knees up to my chest, leaning my chin on it and hugging them closer to my body. "I haven't told anyone yet though, apart from you. That's why I've been acting weird, I never wanted this day to come."

I finally looked up at her to try and see what she was feeling. Her face wasn't giving anything away, but she still hadn't spoken so I was scared. What she did next surprised me.

She leant over and pulled me into a long, tight hug. "It isn't your fault that you've been brought into this and you didn't have any choice in it. I'm not going to turn my back on you. You clearly need a friend right now, and that's going to be me."

She said that so proudly, I had to check that those words came from her and I hadn't just imagined it. With that, I put as much love as I had for this girl into the hug. It was unreal how much I owed her, but I made a mental note to make sure I did.

And that moment is the one that I burst into tears, finally unable to hold in all my pent up emotions. It had been years since I'd cried, but I knew that I had more than enough reason to right now. Cho hugged me tighter, asking me what had happened. I'd been so strong while I'd told the story so it was weird that I cried now.

"I'm so scared. Scared that I fail in his mission and my mother gets hurt because of me. Scared for Draco after he's done so much in this and if we failed he would take it out on him as well as me. I'm just scared of what Dumbledore will say when he sees me stood opposite him when we have to finally k-" I choked, unable to say the end of the sentence. I knew what was coming and that's what scared me the most.

"I don't wanna see the look on his face when he sees what we have to do, he could feel betrayed and he'll definitely be disappointed. I can't deal with knowing I made him feel those things," I sobbed, clutching tighter onto Cho's cloak as if she was going to leave me at any minute. I couldn't deal with it if she did. I needed someone by my side right now.

While the sobs took over my body, Cho stayed with me, whispering reassuring things to me. None of them meant anything to me because to me it sounded like she was lying.

We sat there as we were until the sun started to rise over the castle. My tears stopped after a few hours, it felt as if I'd ran out. I felt drained and after thinking over everything I'd told Cho, I realised exactly what I was going to have to do. I guess I was just going to have to get used to this drained feeling.

"Look, I know that I won't fully understand how you feel, but is there anyway that you don't have to finish your mission?" Cho asked, turning to face me again. I shook my head, feeling the tears well up in my eyes again.

"If I don't go through with the mission then he will kill my whole family including me. If he chooses someone to do his jobs for him and as his follower, then there's no chance they'll get out alive." I replied sadly, wiping at my eyes. I hated crying, it made me feel weak, and that isn't something I wanted adding to how I felt now.

"What are you going to do?" she asked softly, looking into my eyes. I saw something in her eyes that told me she wasn't about to leave, even if she wasn't keen on my answer. I needed to do this though, and unfortunately, nothing would be able to stop me.

"I've got to tell Draco the truth."

**

"Mel, what's wrong?" Draco called after me. After Cho had persuaded me to go back into the castle and had forced some food into me, I decided I needed to talk to Draco sooner rather than later.

"I just- just follow me, okay?" I shouted over my shoulder, increasing my already quick pace so that we'd reach the Room of Requirement faster. The longer I put this off, the closer my family would come to their deaths. I knew that I couldn't scare myself out of this now, too many lives depended on it.

Apparently, my answer wasn't good enough for my twin. The rest of our journey through the castle was filled with his worried questions, and as we neared the Room of Requirement, it changed to how he was tired of the running after me. That couldn't make me stop though.

I dragged him through the doors and drew him level with the cabinet that had been repaired and abandoned for the past week. As I let my gaze study it, I realised that this day had to come. I believe that everything happens for a reason, so this clearly was a big part of my life's course.

Wow, that sounded deep...

"It's finished."

My voice was so quiet that even I barely heard it. Judging by his reaction though, Draco had heard me very clearly.

"When?" he choked out. I don't think he'd have been able to say more than that even if he'd tried.

"Last week. I was trying to put it off for a bit longer, but Cho persuaded me that I should tell you. After all, we're in this together."

"Well, I guess we better get the messages out," he gulped, turning his head so he was looking at me, "we have a mission to finish."

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I'm back! Sorry it took me so long, but as I type up the chapters onto the iPad, it's been hard to get hold of it. Whenever I need it, another family member suddenly decides they need it urgently and take it off me :/

Anyway, there are going to be 3 more chapters of the story :( Mel's sixth year is quickly coming to an end, but in other news, I am planning on doing a sequel :) I've been keeping it a secret, but I'm planning it out, but I'm not giving out anymore details until the end of TMS

I hope you like this chapter. I tried to get it so that Mel would open up a bit more and you'd get to understand how she felt about everything more. I know it might be repetitive at times, but it's how I imagine her to feel so I'm not sorry about the repetition

As usual, vote & comment, it means a lot to hear what you think about the story :)

Until next time

C x