What Lies Within

"You don't want to take a break and come watch the game with me? It's just an hours break." Sophie asks Draco the morning of Gryffindor v Hufflepuff on the Quidditch pitch. Ron had been in hospital all week but was doing great and should be out soon. He and Lavender finally break up officially, after she follows Harry and Sophie around, asking constantly why he won't talk to her. They finally got him to stop pretending to be asleep when she shows up and break it off with her.

"I'm so close, love, so close." Draco insists. He and Sophie were in his dormitory. All the other guys were long gone, down at breakfast, and it was just the two of them laying in bed together, enjoying a quiet morning together.

"Just come down to the pitch. You love Quidditch. Please?" She presses her lips against his in a pleading kiss, making him sigh into her mouth and kiss her back, pulling her close against him. He found it hard to say no to her. An hour wouldn't hurt, anyway.

"Just for a bit then." He found himself giving in, making her smile. Sophie grinned, pressing her lips back to his and rolling them over to she was on top of him.

"Yay!" He silenced anything else she was to say with his lips.

Later, when the couple were dressed and down at breakfast, Draco turns to his wife as she eats. He watches her chew, engrossed in her food, and grins. He could seriously watch her eat like this, so peaceful and worry free, forever. These moments were rare and so he cherished them when he could.

"Stop staring, ya creep." Sophie says, grinning over at her husband who grins back. "What's on your mind, Dray?" She puts her fork down and turns to look at him fully.

"I think I'm going to skip the match." Sophie just rolls her eyes and stands, pulling him up with her. She takes his hand and leads him from the great hall, joining the crowd of people as they began to make their way to the pitch for the match.

"You already told me you'd come." She kept him talking as they walked, trying to get him as far away from the school as possible so he couldn't say no. Draco pulls her to a stop, pulling her to the side of the hall, letting everyone pass them.

"I'm serious." He says, suddenly serious. "I'm onto something here." Sophie sighs. She looks down at the ground to hide her disappointment and nods. When she looks back up at him, she is smiling slightly.

"Alright," She says. "I understand. I'll let you know how it goes." Draco gives her a soft look but then looks up, meeting eyes with someone who made him narrow his eyes. Sophie turns to see Harry making his way down the hall. Almost everyone else was already outside, meaning Harry was running late, being captain and playing today and all.

"Shouldn't you be in the changing rooms, Harry?" Sophie questions her best friend who continues to look at his enemy.

"I'll see you after the match." Draco looks back at Sophie and kisses her, stepping away from her. She looks up at him and nods, releasing his hand.

"Where're you going?" Harry asks him. Draco gives a small sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, I'm really going to tell you, because it's your business, Potter." Draco sneers. Sophie sighs and shakes her head. She takes a few steps towards Harry, ready to drag him away if necessary. He had a match to get to. "You better hurry up, they'll be waiting for the 'the Chosen Captain' - the Boy Who Scored - whatever it is they call you these days." Draco rolls his eyes at Harry, glances at Sophie and then turns, disappearing down the hall.

"You need to go, Harry." Sophie says, watching the gears turn in Harry's head as he contemplated going after Draco. Sophie drags her friend along, hoping he wasn't going to be too late to the locker rooms.

"Where was he going? And why you without him?" Harry asks, Sophie knew he would.

"He's just going to study. I want to watch the match." Sophie explains. "He's not much interested in Quidditch lately. He's got other things on his mind. Classes have been difficult lately." It was mostly true. They were hard for her as well but that was because the two were not paying much attention or doing their homework anymore. It was March and they had but what felt like a few short weeks to finish their given tasks, they had to focus on that now. Come exam time, they probably won't even be here anymore.

"Where does he disappear to all the time? I never see him - or you - on my map. You just vanish." Sophie sighs, knowing that the Room of Requirement doesn't show up on Harry's map of Hogwarts. "I know you guys are in the Room of Requirement." Oh. "Why?"

"Harry..." They come to a stop in front of the Gryffindor locker rooms. "Draco and I are a couple, a married one at that... what do you think we are doing there? We'd like time alone." It wasn't lying. They did spend a lot of time wanting to be alone but most of the time they were in there, it was with the cabinet but Sophie knew if she made Harry think a certain way, he might let it drop.

"Oh." Harry turned bright red, making Sophie smile a little. She reaches up and kisses his cheek.

"We aren't the enemy, Harry."

"I know you aren't." He responds, making Sophie shake her head.

"He isn't either." Before he could open his mouth to argue, Ginny sticks her head out the door.

"There you are, Harry! You're late!" She then sees Sophie. "Stop hogging the Captain! Is this Slytherin's way of making us lose?!" Ginny jokes, making Sophie and her both laugh. Harry still seemed to have his mind elsewhere.

"Maybe." Sophie takes a step back, patting Harry's arm. "Good luck. I'll be cheering you on." With that, she turns and rushes up to the stands, easily finding Hermione in their usual seats.

"Where have you been?" She asks her. "Why hasn't the match started?" They then watch as the teams finally make their way out onto the pitch.

"Harry ran into Draco and I. Draco didn't want to come... Harry wanted to know why." Sophie explained.

"The cabinet?" Hermione asks, making Sophie nod. "Harry knows you two disappear into the Room of Requirement to do something, he just doesn't know what."

"I may have helped that." Sophie responds as the captains shake hands. Hermione frowns at her best friend, making Sophie laugh a little. "I told him we're a married couple and need privacy and alone time." Sophie shrugs while Hermione giggles. "It's true."

Soon, the match has started but it was going terribly. McLaggen was in for Ron and he seemed to be trying to control everything. When the score was 70 - 40, Hufflepuff, McLaggen grabbed Peake's bat and seemed to be demonstrating how to use it. Even from here everyone could see how angry Harry was as he flew towards them, yelling and gesturing. Just then, McLaggen managed to hit a bludger and it hit Harry straight in the head.

Sophie and Hermione, as well as many others, screamed as they watched Harry fall off his broom, thankfully to be caught by Ginny and the other players. He was lowered to the ground and then McGonagall came out and magiced him onto a stretcher.

"Let's go!" Hermione said, taking Sophie's hand. They pushed their way through the stunned crowd and raced up to the hospital wing. By the time they got there, Madame Pomfrey was just finishing up on Harry.

"Well at least I won't be alone now." Ron says as the two sit in between their adjoining beds. Harry was unconscious but they knew once he awoke, he would be pissed with McLaggen for not just breaking his skull but losing them the game.

"You need to get better already, Ron." Sophie told her friend, who nodded. "The team obviously needs you." Ron laughs. "I should go find Draco. He's probably wondering where I am, if he hasn't heard yet." She knew that he wouldn't have, being locked away in the Room of Requirement.

"We'll tell Harry you cried by his bed side." Ron jokes, making Hermione give a small laugh but shake her head anyway.

"Yes, please do." Sophie stands from her chair and shakes her head before leaving the room, giving her farewell's to her friends.

"That was a long match." Draco said, seeing his wife walking towards him where he stood by the cabinet. He holds his arms open to her in greeting.

"Harry's skull was cracked open. I was with him up at the hospital." She explained, falling into his waiting arms. He hugs her tightly, kissing the top of his head.

"How unfortunate." Draco really sounded the least bit concerned. "How did it happen?"

"McLaggen hit him in the head with a bludger." She explained, making Draco grin. She elbowed his ribs, making him laugh harder.

"I'll be sure to send McLaggen a thank you card then." He laughs again and steps away from her before she could elbow him again. "I'm about to try something." He says, turning back to the cabinet, very serious again.

"Oh yeah?" Sophie asks, wrapping her arms around his torso from behind, burying her face in the crease of his back.

"Send a live bird." Sophie pulls back, her husband turning to look at her.

"You think it will work?" He steps away from her and grabs an apple off the table beside him and holds it up to her. He turns it to show that it had a bite taken out of it. She gasps and looks at it, covering her mouth with her hand. "You.. you didn't do that, did you?" He smiles and shakes his head. She starts to feel tears well up in her eyes. "You did it, Dray!" She reaches forward, hugging him tightly.

"Almost." He pulls away and goes over to a small cage of twittering birds she just noticed on the table. Where he got those, she wasn't sure she wanted to know, just in case they didn't make it. She wanted to pretend they weren't real birds. "Let's just see if it can transport live things."

"If it does, if you can get this to work, Dray..." They look over at the cabinet. "Maybe who ever comes through can do it for you." They were both thinking the same. The Death Eaters that come through here on whatever night they finish this, they could kill Dumbledore and keep Draco's hands clean. Just maybe.

"I know." He whispers. He then opens the cage and takes a small bird in his hand. It chirps in annoyance but rests on his palm calmly anyway. "Shall we?" Sophie nods and goes to open the door, allowing Draco to rest the bird inside. Afters he closes the door, he closes his eyes and repeats the spell she had found him months previously over and over again. He then opens the cabinet and it's gone.

"Oh my." Sophie gasps. It worked. It's gone.

"Now... we wait." They both look up at the cabinet, both of their hearts racing. This could be it. Everything could be okay again - well, better - if this actually happened. They would be one step closer to being a normal married couple that could focus on their relationship.

A minute later, they hear a soft whoosing noise so they open the cabinet and there it is. The bird - but it was dead. They look up at each other, frowning. Sophie tried to hold back her tears.

"It... it came back though." He tries to see the bright side but it was hard. He was so close that it hurt. Time was running out and it was terrifying him. His blood ran cold and he began to shake.

"We'll figure this out." Sophie assures her husband, seeing him begin to shake. She pulls him into her arms. "We'll be okay." He just grabs her tightly, holding on to her as if his life depended on it.

"I'll keep you safe." Sophie pulls back and gives him a soft smile.

"I know." She leans down and kisses him gently.

Later, she tells Draco she was going to go check on Harry but really she made a detour on the way there to the dungeons, knowing on Professor Snape's office door.

"Enter." Came his cold voice from the other side of the door. "Ah, Mrs. Malfoy." Snape stands from his desk, gesturing her to a chair in front of it. She sits, trying to hold back the tears. "I was hoping that you would come see me eventually. Though I had hoped Draco would be with you."

"He doesn't know know that I'm here." She tells him. "I'm not sure he'd like it if he knew." Snape nods, knowingly. "Ever since Christmas, I've been wanting to come to you but... Draco assured me he had it under control. Today... he got a bird through and back." Snape's eyes widen. He was simply stunned, that's better than he, and really anyone else, thought Draco was doing.

"Then why have you come to me for help? Things seem to be going to plan." Sophie shakes her head.

"It came back dead." Snape sighs, taking his seat behind his desk. He brings his fingers up, resting them on his chin while he looks at Sophie will cold eyes. She shifts uncomfortably. She wasn't sure what he could do to help them but she... she needed to do something.

"I see." Snape looks at her apprehensively again. "I understand that Draco has made a few attempts to subdue the headmaster." Sophie nods slowly.

"None successful, obviously, but he's trying." She tells him. "He doesn't talk to me much about his plans for that until after they have come to happen. If I had known Slughorn's poisoned mead would find its way to Ron I would have-"

"Done what?" Snape cuts her off to ask. She freezes, unsure of how to answer. "Done nothing to interfere that wouldn't give everything that the two of you have been doing away." She knew that Snape was right but it would have been nice to think that she could have prevented Ron's poisoning some way. She should have at least try. "Draco's heart does not seem to be in his task."

"He's being asked to murder his headmaster!" Sophie exclaims, quickly shutting her mouth from her outburst. She felt her face go red. "It's hard for him to exactly jump into that excitedly."

"Even with your life at cost of his failure." It wasn't a question, it was statement. "Draco should be trying harder, if he wants to save you."

"He does. But again, I don't exactly want him to be a murderer." She explains. "Besides, The Dark Lord said I'd become a Death Eater, not be killed."

"You know as well as I do that the Dark Lord's plans change without telling anyone. If he wants to kill you, he will." Sophie knew his words were true. She was dead. She could feel it in her bones already. She was living on borrowed time.

"Will you help us? Or help Draco, at least." She pleads, looking up into the cold dark eyes of her once potions master. "I know that I am as good as dead because of not fulfilling my part with Harry but you can save him, save Draco." Sophie now had tears fall down her cheeks. "Please."

"I have made the unbreakable vow with his mother that I would protect him and keep him safe. I will perform his task if he is unable." Sophie felt relief wash over her. She may not be safe but Draco was and that was of utmost importance to her. Her husbands life and safety were her number one concern, her's came second.

"Does he know?" She wonders why he hadn't told her that if he did know.

"He does." Snape nods. "I told him at Christmas. He must not have told you because he did not want you to know."

"Will you help him though? Will you kill Dumbledore instead? Take that burden off of him, please." Snape regarded Sophie with his cold eyes, just watching her as she pleaded, tears falling down her cheeks. It was clear to see how she was doing this for Draco's safety, not her own. It was love that was pushing her, not fear of her life, but fear for her husbands.

"You are asking a great task of me. To become a murderer because your husband is too weak to."

"Draco is a child! We aren't even legal yet!" She exclaims, unable to hold her voice down. "We are only sixteen years old. How could either one of us be asked to do these things?!"

"You are correct, Mrs. Malfoy." Snape bows his head in a slight apology and acknowledgement. "I will do what I can about Dumbledore."

"Thank you." She whispers, barely able to get her voice any higher.

"Now leave me." Sophie jumps up and nods. She bows her head at him in gratitude and rushes from the room, all but running back to the Room of Requirement, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Did something happen to Potter?" Draco asks worriedly when he sees his wife's tears but she shakes her head.

"I haven't been to see Harry." She says and then explains her meeting with their professor.

"How could you, Sophie?!" Draco yells, making Sophie jump back in freight. "This task was given to me."

"And you can't do it!" She yells back. "You can't murder someone! You have the cabinet all but finished but you still aren't any closer to killing someone, Draco!" He glares at her and raises his wand.

"Watch me." She frowns but then watches as he points his wand at the cage of birds, twittling away happily. "Avada Kedavra!" He yells and a bird drops, dead cold where it laid. Sophie sighed.

"That is a bird, Dray. Not a human being." She whispers. She could see even that took a lot for him to do and he regretted it. He drops his wand to his side and nods but still glares at her a second later.

"I do not need his help though, Sophie." He scolds. "You made me look weak!"

"I'm trying to save your life, Draco!" She yells, unable to believe that he wasn't seeing that.

"Well I'm trying to save yours and I can't do that if I don't do this myself!" He looked so defeated as he shook his head, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Draco-" He broke her off with a shake of his head.

"I need to go." He turns and runs from the room, leaving Sophie alone with her tears as she falls to her knees and cries.