Chapter 9
The Explanation and the Promise
“Well, I hope you learned your lesson, Draco,” Alanna said softly. “And I hope Harry did also. I don’t want that happening again “ do you understand me?”
They had been walking the deserted road leading out of Hogsmeade, and she stopped to take his face in her hands. Her blue eyes bored into his grey eyes. His eyes softened as they always did whenever she looked at him.
“Yeah, I promise I won’t do it again,” he said, and she smiled. They kissed and began walking again, just in silence. It was nice and peaceful.
Suddenly, totally out of the blue, Draco asked, “Hey, Alanna? Why were you expelled?”
Her eyes widened, and she looked at him again. “Where did that come from? But, are you sure you want to know?”
“Shouldn’t I know, if we’re going out?” he asked reasonably. She nodded.
“Good point. Well, it’s a little hard to talk about. But here goes. Alright. I was expelled in my fourth year. I had been hanging out with a group of well, questionable characters. They started rumors, vicious rumours, about people and really hurt those people.
They also hurt the students emotionally and physically. I never started any rumors, but I also didn’t do anything to stop them. I just hung out with the group, and occasionally I would laugh at their antics. I never beat people, but I also didn’t tell the group to stop it. I did nothing. I felt so guilty, but I didn’t have any other friends, so I just let it go, telling myself it wasn’t important. Unfortunately, it turned out that stopping them would have been very well advised.
“There was this one girl, Miriam Baxter. They especially liked to make fun of her, and she was one of their regular victims for beatings. I’m not trying to be mean, but she was rather, well, homely. She was in the year above us, but she was weak. In her childhood, an illness had crippled her, and nothing could be done, somehow. I don’t know the specifics “ I never took the time to find out. She had a twin “ she could have told her, but she didn’t tell anyone. Neither did I.” Draco wanted to hold her, but somehow he knew it wouldn’t help her right now. She had to get it out, and he had to let her.
She took a deep breath. “They took to making up new rumors almost every day. They also beat her weekly. And she was crippled “ how could I have not done something? I was blind “ I wanted to keep these so-called friends, so I turned my head and refused to see the facts. Well, one week, they converged on her for her weekly beating. They took her bag, and started tossing it above her head. It always started out as not that bad, but as they went along, it got worse.”
Tears had come into Alanna’s eyes and were choking her up. Draco now felt it safe to put an arm around her. They had stopped and sat on a rock by the side of the road. She smoothed her old robes over her legs. She took a wavering breath, then continued.
“Eventually, they moved on to shoving her while throwing insults at her. Thank god I wasn’t there. I had detention. They continued like this for a while, and generally this was as far as they’d go. They’d give her one last shove, one last punch, one last insult, and they’d leave her crumpled on the ground. Leaving her to hobble back to her common room.
“But that day, the ringleader was feeling particularly vindictive. She had gotten a better mark than he had on a test in Transfiguration that day. He was in the same year as her. Before, he had also been the best student in the year. Although I don’t know where he found time to study. I don’t know how they managed to keep all the beatings, all the insults, secret from Dumbledore, but they did, and I helped by not telling anyone anything. At any rate, he was angry “ his father had given him a knife for a going away present. His parents didn’t know about everything either, or they would never have been so stupid as to give it to him. He always had it on him “ using it at every ample opportunity. Showing it off.
“Well, he decided to give her a scare. He pulled it on her. This was when I walked in. He was threatening her with it, and she began to cry. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore “ I yelled for him to stop. She hadn’t been expecting anyone; she’d thought she was all alone in her troubles, so she jumped in startlement “ unfortunately, she jumped forward. Right onto the unsheathed knife. It went hilt deep, Draco “ buried in her chest. All because I had made her jump.” She let out a hoarse rasping sob and buried her face in his chest. He held her for a while, letting her cry herself out.
How many times has she cried over this? How many nights? he wondered as he held her close.
Finally she was cried out “ for now. She continued, although Draco tried to deter her.
“No, Draco, let me talk. Just, be quiet, alright, love? After she “ impaled “ herself, the group ran for it, obviously. She didn’t even cry out. They left me staring at her body on the ground, with that guy’s knife in her. Suddenly, her twin came running “ you know about twins’ connections. She just knew. She came running down the hall and saw her sister on the ground, dead, with a knife in her. She looked from Miriam to me, then threw herself at me, screaming like a banshee. She’d taken the knife to be mine and that I’d killed her. I was surprised they hadn’t used magic to kill her. Anyway, that’s when the teachers came. Snape, McGonagall, and Sprout. The twins were in Hufflepuff, and she was their Head of House. They took me to the Headmaster’s office, where Snape wouldn’t let off accusing me. I know he’s your Head of House, but I hate him so much.”
“Sometimes he’s not the best person in the world,” Draco murmured. “He can be a real jerk.”
Alanna continued. “They wouldn’t believe I hadn’t done it. Dumbledore was away on business overnight only “ but it was enough. I think I would have been let off if Dumbledore had been there. But they acted on their eyes’ evidence. Not even McGonagall believed me. I don’t know why “ maybe it was because it was one of her first times acting as Deputy Headmistress, but I doubt it. I mean she’s been around for a long time. Well, Snape, you can imagine. Sprout was so angry, I’ve never seen her like that “ she wouldn’t believe me, she just kept screaming. It was awful. They expelled me and the ringleader, once they’d found him. No offense to you, like, I love you, but I hate your House. All that group was in Slytherin, except for one from Ravenclaw. By the time Dumbledore got back, I was already gone, and so was that lunatic. I can’t even say his name, I hate him so much. Dumbledore was furious, apparently. They got in a lot of trouble, the teachers “ at least, that’s what I heard, from rumors and such. But he couldn’t do anything “ he had to let me go. I wouldn’t have come back, anyway. Oh, when I got home, my mother screamed all night. There are no words to describe how she felt. I was finally sent to my room to ‘think’ about what I’d done. At that point, I seriously considered killing myself. It was all my fault. I wrote a suicide note “ I worked on it all night.”
At that, Draco pulled her away from him. “Alanna, it was not your fault whatsoever. It wasn’t. How were you to know she would jump forward? Don’t believe that. You better have gotten rid of that note, too. If you haven’t, burn it, or I will do it for you.”
Alanna gave him a watery smile, although it was hard. He kissed her and she snuggled into him again and continued. Her story was almost done.
“Well, after considering it, and after figuring out that I wanted to live, just not there, I just packed a few clothes, my money and a few possessions, and I disappeared. It was like, one o’clock in the morning. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going “ I’d never been exposed much to the Muggle world. But I ran to London, and I worked there for a while, once I got the hang of things. It was hard to get used to doing things without magic “ but they had broken my wand, after all. I spent a night on the streets “ I don’t ever want to go through that again. My job was a low paying waitressing job. At the beginning of this year, in February I think, I couldn’t pay the rent, so I got kicked out of my boardinghouse. I had a boyfriend, so I stayed with him for a while. But he tried to force me into bed, so I left him. I wandered around. Then I came back here two years after everything “ I was sure my mother would have cooled down by now, so I asked for a job, and I got it. I don’t even know why she gave it to me “ I was sure I’d be turned out and left to fend for myself. But I wasn’t. And I found you. That’s it.” She closed her eyes, trying to block out the memories.
“Alanna, I don’t know what to say. Who really does in this situation?” Draco said softly. “All I can do is hold you. But know that you can trust me “ I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want them to know.”
“Thank you. Do you know I really do love you?” Alanna whispered. “And I hope you love me also.”
“I do, Alanna,” he said, kissing her again. When they finally parted, she bit her lip. She did this when she was thinking about something, so Draco asked her what was in her thoughts.
“I need to ask you a favour,” she said. “I know you’re not going to enjoy it, but I need this.”
“Anything for you, love,” he said. “Just ask me.”
“I want you to tell “ well, Harry for me,” she said quickly. She felt him stiffen and said, “Draco, please. He came to talk to me yesterday, and we became friends. We straightened out everything that happened, and please don’t, well, yell at him or anything. I can’t tell anyone again what happened, so I need you to be strong for me, and get past your pride. He needs to know “ he’s a friend. I know he’s not yours, but please, Draco?”
He sighed and nodded. “I love you, and I’d do anything for you,” he said. “Even talking to Potter civilly.”
“Thank you,” she said. Suddenly, she remembered her talk with Harry the day before, one thing in particular, and she stiffened in turn.
“What is it?” he asked in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, when Harry came to talk to me, he said that your father was, well, a Death Eater,” she said hesitantly. “He said you might follow in his footsteps. It was just a warning, Draco, but I need to know if you are planning to. Are you?”
“No, Alanna,” Draco said, staring into the distance as he answered, not looking at her. “I’ll try not to “ but I may not have a choice. If he tries to force me, I will tell you, because I will run. And I’ll have to leave you.”
“Draco, no,” Alanna cried. She clutched his arm. “Don’t let him get you “ if something happened to you, I truly would kill myself.”
He turned her around suddenly and shook her. “Don’t you ever say that again, do you hear me? NEVER. You will not kill yourself because of me. Promise me, Alanna. Promise!”
The fierceness in his eyes convinced her that he did love her, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her. Faced with that love, she couldn’t do anything but promise. “I promise, Draco, I promise,” she whispered barely audibly. “But I will love you forever.”
“And I will love you… forever,” he said. They kissed, long and hard, and Alanna felt the surge through her veins that was her passion for him. She never wanted to let him go… ever. She didn’t know what would happen to her, her heart, if he did have to run.
A/N: Well, that was a bit longer than most, and a lot deeper. But I hope all the readers enjoyed it, and please leave reviews “ they mean a lot!! Daniela