Draco swallowed.

"OK."

A strange feeling of relief swept over him. To have finally been able to share this with another person gave him a little bit of light in his very dark world.

Besides, he had already told her too much. He hadn't meant to, he just couldn't hold it in much longer. And with Rosie, he let his guard down when he was around her these days.

But he still hadn't shown her the Mark on his left arm. And he still hadn't revealed that Dumbledore was the target. There were some things that were better for her not to know.

But she was willing to help, and right now that was enough for him.

Rosie gave him a small smile, looking relieved that he had finally accepted. Draco watched her as she stood up, dusted her hands together and looked to the Cabinet.

"Right, you are going to have to explain to me everything you know about this and how you've been trying to fix it."

Draco smiled as she approached it, admiring her attitude.

And then he spoke.

It was two o'clock in the morning by the time they finally emerged from the Room of Requirement.

***

I was now as tired as Draco. I didn't mind though. I don't know why Voldemort wanted him to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, all I knew is that Draco had no choice.

I did gently try and suggest that we go to Dumbledore and ask for his help and protection but Draco would have none of it. In fact, just mentioning Dumbledore's name turned Draco's face green.

So I made my choice. I promised Draco that I would say nothing to anyone and that everything in the Room of Requirement would stay in the Room of Requirement - including our alliance. We didn't converse in the rest of the castle. We made no attempt to approach one another or even look at one another. We agreed that it would be too dangerous to draw any sort of attention to our new comradeship.

Harry, Ron and Hermione suspected nothing. They had their own things going on to notice any change in me. Hermione was now a member of the 'Slug Club', much to Ron's disgust, and often got called away to Slughorn's little 'parties'. Harry, although also a member, spent a lot of his time in Dumbledore's office having some kind of private tuition. And Ron spent a lot of his spare time practicing Quidditch, fearful of making a fool of himself at the next match.

The upcoming match: Gryffindor versus Slytherin was giving Ron a lot of nerves. I decided to join my Gryffindor friends at breakfast the morning of to wish them luck.

"Cheer up, Ron. You'll be fine, I know you will!" I assured a pale and sick looking Ron as I sat down next to him. He grunted as he took a feeble bite out of his toast.

"Pretty lucky the weather's this good, eh?" Harry nudged Ron encouragingly.

I noticed Hermione was scowling across the table at Harry. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Harry just put something in Ron's pumpkin juice." She said haughtily.

"As I said, I don't know what you're talking about, Hermione." Harry said, grinning.

I eyed Harry suspiciously but decided not to get involved. I knew what was being implied - Harry had won that Felix Felicis after all.

Ginny approached the table, grinning widely.

"Guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey - he took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their practice, and he's too sore to play! And even better than that - Malfoy's gone off sick too!"

This caught me by surprise. My eyes automatically went straight to the Slytherin table - Draco was not there.

"What?" Harry wheeled round to stare at Ginny. "He's ill? What's wrong with him?"

"No idea, but it's great for us." Ginny said brightly. And then, noticing me sat there in my Slytherin robes, her cheeks blushed. "Oh sorry, Rosie. Sometimes I forget you're a Slytherin!"

I smiled, not minding at all. "It's ok Ginny, so do I sometimes. And believe me when I say I'm fully for a Gryffindor win!"

I studied Harry's face who had gone quiet throughout this exchange. He appeared troubled. I suspected he was wondering what Draco was up to.

"Fishy, isn't it?" He said in an undertone. "Malfoy not playing."

I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act nonchalant about it all.

Hermione stood up, her face furious. We all looked up at her in surprise.

"Lucky, I call it!" She hissed towards Ron and Harry before storming up the table away from them.

I took this opportunity to leave, wishing the team luck as I left. I had no intention of going to the game and prayed they wouldn't notice my absence.

Upon learning that Draco wasn't playing, I immediately decided to go the Room of Requirement, knowing where that is where he was going to be.

I was correct. As I approached the Cabinet, Draco was already working on it, muttering the chant over and over again. "Harmonia Nectere Passus. Harmonia Nectere Passus."

He stopped when he heard me approach and gave me a small nod. A tight, tired smile upon his face.

"You came." His voice was croaked with fatigue but I sensed slight relief in his tone.

"I knew you'd be here when they said you dropped out of the game." I hesitated before adding, "Harry's suspicious, just so you know."

To my surprise, Draco gave a low chortle. "Since when is he not. Always poking his nose in where it's not wanted."

I said nothing. We both stood, side by side, surveying the Cabinet before us.

"Getting any further?" I asked, still feeling overwhelmed by the task in front of us.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know. I've been thinking I need to try to send something. An object of some sort to start with."

The unspoken question between us was what exactly.

I threw my bag down on the floor between us and started rummaging. "I've brought us some supplies, by the way." I said, pulling out bottles of water, a selection of chocolate bars and a couple of green apples.

Draco bent down and picked up one of the apples. He inspected it closely, twirling it around in his long calloused fingers.

"It's called an apple, Draco." I said half amused, half bewildered. "You can also get them in red."

Draco's eyes peered at me over the apple. He gave me a playful smirk. "Ha ha, Carter. I didn't realise you were so funny."

He then carefully placed the apple on the shelf inside the Cabinet before turning around to face me.

"We are going to send it to the other Cabinet."

"Oh." I replied. I was suddenly feeling both anxious and excited at the same time. We were going to find out just how far Draco had got to fixing the Cabinet.

Draco took one last glance at the shiny green apple before firmly shutting the Cabinet door.

"Would you like to do the honours?" He asked, offering his wand out to me.

"I- I'm not sure how..." I trailed off, suddenly feeling self conscious. I wasn't sure why he was offering me his wand and I suddenly felt utterly useless. So much for me being helpful.

"Here, I'll help you." His grey eyes twinkled amusingly as he stepped behind me and placed his wand in my right hand. He supported my hand in his as I gripped his wand, aiming it at the cabinet door.

From behind me, he whispered in my ear, sending goosebumps traveling down my neck. "Now repeat after me: Harmonia Nectere Passus." Each word he spoke sent tiny thrills to the pit of my stomach.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus."

His right hand that was still clutching mine guided the wand over the Cabinet door as I chanted the words.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus."

His chest was pressed up firmly against my back and I could feel his heartbeat getting stronger and faster as the surface of the Cabinet glimmered and trembled, almost as if alive. I gasped.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus."

I could feel Draco's fast hot breaths in my ear and I felt giddy as the heat intensified throughout my body.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus."

The wand fell from my grip and toppled to the ground as Draco pulled my arm in, spinning me around to face him. His other arm wrapped around me tightly, pulling me into him. And as he brought my chest up firmly against his, he looked down at me, his eyes full of burning desire and then his lips came crashing down on mine.

I didn't hesitate to respond. The want and the need to be this close to him was overwhelming. I parted my lips allowing his tongue to explore. My hands reached up to the back of his head, my fingers intertwining with his hair as I pulled him in, urging him to kiss me harder.

He released a growl as I hungrily bit his lower lip, pleading for more. He responded by pushing me up against the wall, his lips working furiously over mine. I lifted my leg, wrapping and squeezing it around him. I gave a moan as I felt his excitement push up against me. He tugged at my robes, letting them fall to the floor, leaving me in just my shirt and skirt. His hands roamed up and down the length of my body, grabbing and stroking, sending waves of desire crashing through me. My hands started to wander under his shirt, and he moaned into my mouth as my fingers flitted across his taut, toned stomach.

"Draco."

And then he stopped.

***