That night replayed in my mind. The frigid air as I stepped outside the house billowed around me in waves. The clouds that drew nearer to me, twirling around me like they were little dancers. The footsteps echoing around me. The snake slithering toward me, followed by her master, who was followed by my sworn enemy's father. The tattoo on my inner arm tingled as Lord Voldemort approached me, and it burned when he spoke. Lucius stood there like a little boy following his parents, and I so wished he would have said something, anything. There was no way I could do what Voldemort asked of me, but I said I would, just so I wouldn't get into trouble and end up dying at the hands of that monster. Plus, I knew if I would have said no, they would have hurt my friends, and there was no way that was going to happen. 

At the beginning of Sixth Year, I was forced to befriend my sworn enemy: Draco Malfoy. He wasn't as rude as he was during the years leading up to that one, which was alright with me. I wasn't miserable like I thought I would be. He just seemed . . . stressed about his mission. I completely understood; I had to aide him in it, so I was stressed too. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were all worried about me at the beginning of the year, but I convinced them that I was alright, that it was just classes making me act like that. I knew that Hermione didn't believe me, but she didn't push me, and for that, I was grateful. 

For the months leading to when our mission was supposed to be complete, I tried talking to Draco about how what we were doing was bad. Even if I may have come from loyal Death Eaters and a Pureblood family, I did not believe in the Voldemort cause. My parents made me get the Dark Mark, though. I had to put on a façade that I was enjoying my work as a Death Eater so I wouldn't get tortured and die. 

Draco seemed to be listening to my words. As time went on, he became more and more empathetic towards people. He actually started caring about the people around him, and it looked like he was changing. I just hoped he wouldn't go through with the mission. 

"Julia." His voice rang through the silent hallway, making me spin around. No one else was supposed to be out and about that night, so it was weird seeing Draco standing behind me. "What are you doing up so late?"

I flashed him a grin. "I could ask you the same thing, Draco." I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest. "But since we're both Prefects, nothing can really happen to us."

"Unless the Head Boys and Head Girls find us," he joked, giving me a rare grin. He looked absolutely adorable in the shadows of the hallway, having a little grin on his face. I wished others could see how he looked right now, but they couldn't. "You know how they love finding two people and spreading rumors about them snogging and having sex in the Prefects bathroom."

Draco walked over to me, and we started down the hallway. Only our footsteps echoed around us, and I got nervous. It was late at night and no one was out, so it would have been a great chance for Draco to take Dumbledore's life. I glanced over at him and saw a thoughtful look on his face, which meant that he was thinking about his -- our -- mission. Great. 

"You know you don't have to do this," I whispered, sending a quick glance around the hallway. Thankfully no one else was around to hear what we were going to talk about. "There are others here that can do your job."

"You know I have to do this," he whispered back. His voice echoed softly around us, sounding so hollow and thin. "If I don't, he will kill me."

"Let's run away," I said suddenly. I stopped walking and latched onto his hand, pulling him to a stop, too. He faced me, and in the dim moonlight, I could see the terror in his eyes. "Let's run away together, Draco. He won't be able to find us if we disappeared in the dead of night."

"He will find us," he said. "I know he would try anything to find us and kill us."

"We're some of the best witches and wizards Hogwarts has to offer," I argue back. "We can take care of ourselves."

"I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"I'm not getting hurt because of you. This is my mission, too."

Draco turned away from me. His hand grew limp in mine right before he let go. His shoulders were droopy and it looked like he was carrying the weight of the world. I felt terrible for him because he didn't deserve any of this. He could have had a great life if he wasn't born to the Malfoy's. He had a good heart underneath the weight of the world.

I fell back into step with Draco, wrapping my arm around his. He leaned against me as we walked, sort of like I was holding him up. "What if we did run away?" he whispered, startling me slightly. "What would our life be like then?"

I thought about it for a second. What would our life be like if we ran away? I knew that I had feelings for him, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out if he liked me back. I didn't really want to say something that would tell him that I do like him, so I said, "We'd find a little cottage in the woods to stay at. It would be far enough away where Voldemort and our parents wouldn't be able to find us."

"What would the cottage look like?"

I grinned. "There would be a small fireplace in the middle of the living room that would always have enough wood to keep us warm. Since it is a small cottage, there'd only be one bedroom, but that's alright. There's a couch as well, right in front of the fireplace. There's obviously a bathroom and a kitchen, but they aren't that important."

"You don't think eating or going to the bathroom is important?"

"It is, but not as important as the heart of the house," I said, rolling my eyes. "Everything good happens at the heart of the house."

We stopped outside of the Astronomy Tower. Draco pulled his arm out of my grip, stepping right in front of me. He brushed a piece of my brown hair out of my eyes, and I noticed that he had a small smile on his face. My breath got caught in my throat when he placed his hand on my cheek. "That life sounds amazing," he said, the corners of his lips dipping down, "but we can't have it."

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't meant for that life." He drew me even closer to him, snaking his other arm around my waist. "I have to do this, Julia, and you can't stop me." And then he kissed me. 

I was stunned. There was no possible way that Draco Malfoy could have liked little old me, but apparently he did. I immediately kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. My fingers got tangled in his hair, and I deepened the kiss. 

He was the first to break away. I couldn't move from my spot and my eyes were screwed shut. Nothing could have moved me from where I was standing, besides someone grabbing onto me. My eyes flashed open and I saw Harry. He had an angry look on his face as he let go of me, running toward the Astronomy Tower. Draco was gone; he must have gone to where Harry was going to. 

I was still stuck in place. I knew there was a part of Draco that wanted to have the life I described, but I knew that there was a bigger part of him that needed to prove to his father that he could do this. 

Another pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders. I looked over and saw Bellatrix, a weird grin on her face. She pushed me forward with the others, and we walked up to the top of the Astronomy Tower. I heard some talking, and it kind of sounded like Snape was up there. I knew of his promise to Narcissa. They must not have believed in me to help him assassinate Dumbledore. They thought right. 

Something pointy pressed against my side. It was Bellatrix's wand, and terror ran through my body. If Dumbledore didn't die, I would. 

We made it to the top, right as Headmaster Dumbledore plummeted to the earth. Snape was standing in front of the spot where he was, with Draco off to the side. Bellatrix let out a screech, her claws digging into my arms. "Draco!" she yelled. "You were supposed to kill him!"

Draco slowly spun around and I saw the panic on his face. He knew that Bellatrix was unstable at best, and since she was mad at him, she would take it out on anyone, especially me. My own wand was stuffed in my pocket. I wished I could have reached it, but I couldn't. Bellatrix had her grip on me, which meant that I couldn't grab my wand. 

Draco motioned slightly to me. He was reaching for his wand. He was going to save me. 

Time seemed to slow down as he drew his wand. I didn't hear which curse he said, but Bellatrix fell away from me, collapsing on the floor. Draco rushed forward, grabbing onto my hand with his free one. My free hand latched onto my wand and I sent a curse hurtling behind me. Draco and I ran away from the tower and away from the school. By the time we were done running, we were so far away from Hogwarts that I wasn't even sure where we were. 

"I think it's time we start that new life," Draco said, panting ever so slightly. He slowed to a stop, looking over at me, and in the dim moonlight, I could see a huge grin on his face. "You were right, Julia. I didn't have to kill Dumbledore. I don't have to prove to my father that I'm loyal to him."

"I'm so glad that you finally figured that out," I said, taking a couple of deep breaths. "Let's start this new life." We both shared a grin and started walking again. Walking toward what? I wasn't sure, but I knew it would be much better than the life we were living before. We had each other. It was going to be alright.