CH-15

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he leans forward, and the broom shoots forward at a ridiculously fast speed. Fighting the urge to scream, I tighten my arms and lean forward with him, flattening myself against him. I don't really know why, but having someone to cling to makes me feel safer, even if it isMalfoy.

Please, please, please let this flight end soon.

"Hello, Granger. You look well."

Her eyes move away from mine, and there's a strange twisting feeling in my chest. To hell with it, I want to be closer to her. I get to my feet and start to walk around the table.

She doesn't turn to look at me. "I heard that your family lost Voldemort's trust," she says.

Yeah, right. My father, maybe. I personally haven't lost anything.

I stop right behind her as she finishes speaking.

"What are you doing?" she asks me.

I gently place my hands on her shoulders. She stiffens just slightly, and I can't help but smirk. So she is affected by my presence. I lean down and inhale silently, and the flowery scent of her hair fills my nose, distracting me momentarily.

Then I place my lips near her ear and whisper, "I'm testing you."

She shrugs her shoulders, and I remove my hands.

"Get away from me," she says.

I take a small step back.

"The others have decided that I'll be your contact," she says when I don't speak.

I chuckle. "Yes, I see that."

She turns around to face me, and this stupid hope rises in my chest that she wants to see my face. More likely than not, she simply wants to keep me in her sights because she doesn't want to be attacked.

"Why can't you sit at the table like a normal person?" she asks.

"I'm hardly a normal person now, am I?"

"Well, it's nice to see that this war hasn't hurt your ego in any way," she says, her voice layered with sarcasm.

I take a moment to consider whether or not she could ever understand me. I'm not egotistical just for the sake of being egotistical—it's part of my self-defense. But she's a Gryffindor. They don't understand the way that we Slytherins think. They can't.

"We should probably set up some rules for meeting," she says.

I lean back against the wall. "Sure."

"Do you have a meeting spot in mind?" she asks.

I think about it. "Hmm, no. No, I don't."

"And how are we going to contact each other? It'll have to be something better than a Patronus or an owl—that's much too obvious."

I smile. "That I already have covered."

I reach into my back pocket to pull out the necklace that I chose for her, and in the blink of an eye, she has her wand out, pointed at me. I know that she's always this cautious—and she's right to be, seeing as I'm a Death Eater—but there's still this pang in my chest, and I realize that I want her to trust me.

I cover up my weak emotions with an amused smile.

"Calm down, Granger."

Then I pull out the necklace in my fist and hold it out in front of her face. She wears a guarded expression, but I can tell she's curious.

"What are you playing at?" she asks.

I grin and open my fist, dangling the necklace in front of her.

I bought it from Anderlini, a renowned dealer in Rome—Blaise introduced us several years back. Since he and his family were Purebloods, he was able to continue his work in peace. When I visited him last week, he did complain that he was losing a lot of business due to the war.

I knew that I couldn't pick an ostentatious necklace because she wouldn't wear it. I chose this one because Anderlini said it would bring the wearer "peace and clarity of mind". Sounded perfect for Granger. She's never at peace, and she thinks too much. I figured she could use some clearing of the mind occasionally. Of course, I've never tried anything from Anderlini's so I can't possibly know if his charmed jewelry works or not.

I brought it home and cast a few charms on it myself to prepare it.

"What's this for?" she asks.

"I got this idea from you, actually," I say. "A Protean Charm, like the one you did on all those Galleons for Dumbledore's Army in fifth year."

She reaches out for the necklace, but I pull it away, shaking my head at her.

I have to put the necklace on her myself, if the charm is going to take effect. There is not a charm or potion in the world that can create attachment between two people, so it's a good thing that that's not what I'm going for. As long as she's protected, I'm satisfied.

Fuck, I'm turning into a useless, besotted idiot. I'm going to have to do something about that.

"What?" she says, surprised. "Surely I have to have one, if that's how we're going to communicate."

"Stand up," I say, earning a glare from her.

"I'm not taking any orders from you, Malfoy."

I smirk. "Stand up, please."

She continues to glare at me, but she stands up. I gesture for her to turn around, and after a moment of hesitation, she does. I put the chain around her neck, and she pulls her hair out of the way so I can fasten the ends of the necklace together.

My fingers burn where they come into contact with the warm skin of her neck. She stiffens again, much like she did when I touched her shoulders, and I wonder if she feels it too.

As soon as I finish putting the necklace on her, she takes a step away from me and turns.

I give her a small smile. "Perfect length."

The necklace really is the perfect length—it has to be long enough for her to lift up the charm and see the date without having to find a mirror or take it off.

"A heart, Malfoy?" she says, lifting an eyebrow.

"Girly enough for you to wear, Granger?" I retort.

"Sure. What's your object?"

Instead of replying, I pull out my own necklace. I've been wearing this silver chain for years—it was a gift from my mother. I feel a twinge of guilt as I recall that I'll be using the necklace that my mother gave me to betray her side. I don't like being a traitor. Puts a bad taste in my mouth.

But the only way for Granger to be safe is if the Light side wins. I honestly don't give a fuck about all the killing, as long as Idon't have to participate in it. But if the Dark side wins, she'll be captured, or tortured, or killed trying to turn the tables. And I can't stand the thought of any of those three fates befalling her.

"So, how are these going to work? Will a date appear on the back?"

Her voice takes me back to the present. Damn it, she has noidea what kind of mental torment she's putting me through.

I fist my hand around my charm and close my eyes. I focus on tomorrow's date, midnight. The charm burns my hand lightly, and I open my eyes up to see that she's pointing her wand at me again, eyes narrowed.

"So tense, Granger."

I open my fist and let the charm fall back against my chest. She lifts up her small golden heart and appears satisfied with the date and time that are etched on one side. She glares at me and lowers her wand.

"That solves date and time," I say. "As for the place… I think I know the perfect place."

"Where?"

"I'd rather just take you there."

"I'm not going to just Apparate somewhere with you," she says.

"Well, I can't take you anywhere by Apparition anyway—I don't have a wand. Come, let's go."

I start to walk away from her, and her hand shoots out to grab my arm, stopping me.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me where we're going," she says.

I feel like flames are blazing their way up my arm from the place where her hand comes into contact with me, even though I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt and our skin isn't touching. I turn back to look at the hand that's setting me on fire.

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