On Monday the thirtieth of June, the year nineteen ninety seven, our headteacher, Albus Dumbledore was brutally murdered in the school grounds at the hands of another teacher.

It was one of the many days that majorly changed the course of my life.

*****

It started off like any other.

I woke up, feeling the usual aching hollowness that greeted me of a morning of late.

Trevor looked at me sadly, darting his tongue affectionately in my ear, trying to gear me up for another day.

I hadn't seen Draco since I left him in the hospital wing. It had been a week and he was still recovering. I never made any further attempts to see him; fearful of his rejection.

I rolled my eyes when I entered the common room and saw Harry sucking the life out of Ginny's face. It wasn't that I was jealous or not happy for them; I just found Harry's lack of remorse hard to stomach. Only days after nearly killing Draco, I had to endure Harry gleefully celebrating Gryffindor winning the Quidditch cup by publicly shoving his tongue down his best friend's little sister's throat and I felt so sick at this completely callous display that I had to remove myself from the scene.

So, trying my best to ignore them, I went down to breakfast as normal, allowing my eyes to glance up at the empty space where Draco used to sit amongst the Slytherins.

Swallowing down the newly formed lump in my throat, I attempted to eat breakfast. I knew I'd be no good in classes on an empty stomach. It was hard enough to concentrate these days as it was.

The morning dragged on as it always did, the classes I normally shared with Draco being particularly difficult. My eyes constantly wandered to his empty seats and his absence hurt me so incredibly much that at lunchtime it was no surprise when I found myself walking to the hospital wing.

I'd deal with his rejection, I thought to myself as my heart thudded apprehensively in my chest upon pushing the door open. I just needed to see that he was alive and just... there.

But he wasn't.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" I asked Madam Pomfrey stupidly.

"He was discharged first thing this morning. Scarred, but all fit and well."

I was confused. He hadn't been in any classes. So where on earth was he?

My only other guess was, of course, the Room of Requirement.

As I hesitantly approached the seventh floor, however, I dared not conjure the door that would allow me access to him. Instead, I brushed my hand against the blank wall, closing my eyes as I pressed a cheek against its coolness, imagining the white-blond haired boy on the other side.

My eyes flew open as I heard a strange noise coming from the other side; a kind of whooping sound.

Concentrating hard, I moved my ear along the wall, trying hard to hear more.

"I've done it! It's worked!"

My heart hammered fearfully in my chest. That was Draco. And it sounded horribly as though he'd finally fixed that damned cabinet.

Which meant only one thing.

I conjured the door. I needed to see him, to plead with him one last time to get help.

"Neve?" He murmured in surprise, whirling around on the spot as I marched into the room. I had to stop myself from crying out; he looked like the very definition of death.

"We need to go to Dumbledore before it's too late," I begged, instead.

But Draco just shook his head. "It is too late, Neve. It's done and they are coming."

"When?" I breathed, my voice trembling as fearful tears pricked behind my eyes.

"Tonight."

"And you're happy about this?" I spluttered disbelievingly. "Celebrating the fact that an innocent man is going to get killed?"

"No, I'm celebrating the fact that I won't get killed and for finally achieving what the Dark Lord has requested of me!"

"Draco, who are you?" I quivered, tears now spilling from my eyes.

"I AM A DEATH EATER!"

"And don't you care that you're endangering our lives?" I wept, desperately trying to find the Draco who had told me he loved me and had once vowed to protect me and Trevor with his life. "Don't you care about me?"

His grey eyes flashed as they looked back at me. I watched as his Adam's apple moved in his throat. I had to stop myself from running into his arms and pressing my lips against it.

"Go back, Neve," he said steadily, his voice low and dangerous. "Go back to your tower and stay there. You need to stay out of this."

"How can I?" I panicked, my voice breathless and full of fear. I was terrified for him. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. "I love you, Draco."

"Don't, Neve," he said, closing his eyes as pain strickened his already hardened features. "You can't love a monster."

"You're not a monster!"

"For fuck's sake Neve, just get away from here! Get away from me!"

"No."

I stood, unwavering, my chest rising and falling heavily through my determined breaths.

I didn't even flinch when he strode towards me, his face snarling angrily; his movements purposeful and fierce.

And, when he grabbed my wrist and started to roughly pull me towards the door, I fought with everything I had.

"Stop fighting, Neve! I don't want to hurt you!" He spat, gripping my flailing wrist tighter under his painful grip as I dug my heels into the ground.

"Let- go- of- me!" I cried, writhing and squirming to free myself.

When I drew my wand out of my pocket with my free hand, Draco reacted quicker, his arm raising and slamming my hand with such force that my wand clattered to the floor and rolled out of sight.

"I said don't make me hurt you!" Draco roared, his face now red with fury as he pulled me right up against his chest and started shaking me violently by the shoulders.

And then his lips suddenly crashed down upon mine, kissing me angrily with a force that took my breath away. I was too shocked to respond and so he bit down on my lip, the pain making me gasp, allowing him to shove his tongue hungrily into my mouth.

I pulled away, managing to angle my face away from him, but he just took the opportunity to attack my jaw instead, frenzied biting, grazing and lapping as though he was devouring me.

His fingers gripped my upper arms so tight I could already tell I was going to be marked for days.

"Draco, stop!" I tried, desperately trying to free myself from his impassioned attack.

But he wouldn't quit, his hands gripping tighter still, making me whimper in pain.

He mistook the sound coming from me as pleasure and I felt the vibrations of his longing groan against my skin as his teeth continued to bite and graze, finding my mouth again and clamping his lips back over mine.

He slammed my back against the wall behind me, the back of my head connecting painfully with it, causing flashing lights to dot my vision.

I wasn't afraid, just completely confused. Draco didn't seem to have any intention of stopping or any concept that he was in fact hurting me.

"Draco, please," I begged, my voice breathless in my attempts to break away. But despite his painfully thin and gaunt appearance, he was surprisingly strong, and his body was pinning mine helplessly against the wall.

I could taste blood in my mouth and I winced as he continued to attack my lips, the lower one clearly split as it throbbed in pain.

He pressed his hips into mine, and I could feel his erection through the fabric of his trousers. I couldn't help but gasp, and despite this unwanted attack, my stomach knotted and then pooled in a familiar longing.

And it was only at that point did I realise that I had begun to kiss him back, my hands clinging frantically in his hair, clutching him desperately to me.

I had no idea when I had stopped fighting and started responding. But it was as though someone had reached inside me and flicked a switch without my knowledge, and now all I wanted, all I needed was him.

He was pulling at the buttons on my blouse, practically ripping it off me in his urgent need to get me naked. My bra was flung to the floor in seconds and I cried out as he dipped his head to graze his teeth and lips over my nipples, pushing me further up the wall as I curled a leg around his waist, digging my heel into his backside.

"Fuck," he moaned, humming against my breasts as a low guttural groan escaped the back of his throat.

He brought his face back up to mine, hot erratic breaths hitting my skin before he connected his lips back hungrily to mine.

My fingers fumbled clumsily with his belt, my need to feel him inside of me alarming me with its ferocity.

He stepped back causing me to slide back down the wall, his wild, hooded eyes never leaving mine as he ripped his shirt up over his head, revealing his scarred, lean torso. I tried to disguise the horror from my face as my eyes roamed the angry red lines which Harry had inflicted upon him.

Speedily stepping out of his trousers, he closed the gap and resumed his fierce attack on my mouth, his throbbing cock pushed up against my thigh as he bunched up my skirt in his fists and angrily yanked my briefs down.

I gasped into his mouth as I felt his fingers expertly rub against me, slowly inserting one inside, making me writhe and buck against him.

"You feel so fucking good," Draco growled after moving his lips to my ear, his voice hoarse with longing.

I couldn't speak, the pleasure and yearning coursing inside of me rendering me speechless. I'd never thought it was capable to want something so much, never in all the times Draco and I had had sex was it ever like this.

He had always been so sweet and gentle in our love making, but this new domineering side was something else.

"Beg for me," he hissed as his fingers worked harder, almost bringing me to the brink as I trembled and writhed against him.

"I- I want you," I managed to quiver out, my breathing so shallow it was a wonder I could speak at all.

And then he smirked, hoisting me up and steadying me by gripping his hands under my backside. He slowly pushed inside me, stretching me and filling me, causing me to let out a little whimper as I accepted my reward.

"Fuck, Neve," he groaned, his eyes dilating in desire as pushed to the hilt, hitting that spot of pleasure right at the back.

I dug my fingernails into the skin of his back as I squeezed my legs around his waist, fully pinned to the wall.

The only sounds that filled the room was our jagged, heated breaths; both erratic and frantic as they bounced off our sweaty faces.

Draco started to move, painstakingly slowly at first, frustratingly so. I wanted him to ram into me hard; I wanted him to groan and cry out and watch him come undone as he surrendered himself completely to me.

"Not yet," he growled, reading my thoughts.

He pulled out of me and turned me around so that my face was pressed up against the cold wall.

I felt his hands go to my hips as he hoisted me up slightly, entering me from behind as he clamped an arm across my stomach, supporting me to him.

I leant back into him, curving my spine as I pushed the back of my head into his shoulder.

His hot breaths tickled my ear as he continued to thrust into me, the pleasure building in my stomach, my fingers and toes curling in mounting desire.

"I'm close," I panted, whimpering as his tongue continued to dart out to tease the spot below my ear, his own breathing getting more ragged by the second as his pounding sped up.

"Me too," he rasped, his throat making a small mewling sound as his thrusts became sloppy.

I placed my palms flat against the wall to steady myself despite Draco's arm tightening across my middle as he pulled my back against his chest. His other hand danced across my heat, rubbing and flicking my sensitive spot as he continued to ram into me from behind, his stomach slamming up against me with such force I was amazed we didn't topple over.

"Fuck, I'm coming," he cried, pressing his sweaty face into my neck just as I felt my stomach beginning to rip.

His last sloppy thrusts sent me over the edge and we both cried out simultaneously, our orgasms milking together as our bodies trembled and jerked against each other.

Eventually, we came to breathless still, the air filled with our heavy, gasping breaths, as we both leant heavily into one another, trying to steady ourselves.

He carefully slid out of me before spinning me round to face him. The anger had completely left his face, replaced with a soft, sad tenderness. He immediately wrapped his arms fiercely around me, pulling me up against his chest.

"Oh, Neve," he murmured, as I pressed my face against the furious pounding of his heart, closing my eyes as I clung tightly to him.

And I felt him bury his face in my hair as he sobbed against me, his body shaking and trembling through his fear and grief.

I could hear the distant sound of the bell signalling the start of afternoon classes. However Draco and I made no attempt to move.

We both knew it without saying it, but as messed up as it was, this was our goodbye.

*****