I stepped through the curtain which had been concealing the sleeping white-blond haired Slytherin from view.

My heart twisted as I took in the sight of his torn pale body wrapped in bandages. He looked so broken; a shell of his former self.

"Drac," I whispered, lowering myself into the chair next to his hospital bed and reaching over to lightly touch my fingertips to his cheek.

His eyes fluttered open almost at once, a flood of warmth filling my heart as his face softened upon seeing me.

"Blaire," he rasped, wincing as he tried to sit up.

"Drac, don't," I said, gently placing my hand on his shoulder, "you've lost a lot of blood. You need to lie down and rest."

"But you don't understand," he said, panic rising in his voice, "I can't stay here; I've got things to do. I-"

"I know, Drac," I said cutting him off and looking intently into his eyes as I moved my hand from his shoulder; down to his bandaged forearm where I lightly pressed the spot I knew a certain dark mark was branded into his skin beneath. "I know."

His eyes widened as I felt his arm tauten, but he didn't flinch away.

"How?" he asked hoarsely, pain etched in his features.

"I worked it out," I said quietly, keeping my hand on his arm, my fingers delicately stroking the bandage, "I mean, it's not exactly a stretch, is it? I literally saw them drag you away. They made you one of them didn't they, Drac? And all this time you've been trying to hide it from me to protect me from finding out the truth of what you are doing."

"Mother said it was the only way to keep you safe," Draco said, his voice trembling, "that if I cared about you then I'd keep you well and truly out of it. And I do, I care about you so much-" His voice cracked and he took a second to gather himself. "But look; I've failed you. I failed you because I was too selfish to keep away from you."

"You haven't failed me, Drac," I implored, immediately cupping his face in my hands as I leant my forehead against his and wiped away his tears with my thumbs, "you could never fail me."

"You shouldn't know, it's not fair on you."

"Not fair on me? Drac, what about you? You've been so alone in all of this with no one to turn to."

"It has to be that way," Draco continued, his voice strangled, "this is my mission and my mission only. I will not have you involved, I could never do that to you."

"Drac, this mission," I said, my mind flashing back to that strange room, "does it have something to do with a cabinet?"

Draco reached up and pulled my hands away from his face as his eyes looked utterly horrified into mine.

"How did you...?" He choked.

I reached into my pocket and retrieved the two monopoly pieces.

"After Snape brought you up here, I went after Potter. I was told he was last seen on the seventh floor so I tried every door up there. One door led me into a room that I was sure wasn't there before."

"The Room of Requirement," Draco murmured. "It's what Potter's stupid army used last year." he added upon seeing my bewildered expression.

"Well, that explains why he was there then."

"Potter was in there?" Draco spoke sharply. "What was he doing?"

"His best mate's little sister if I hadn't intervened." I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Anyway, I blasted him with my wand and he fell against this creepy looking cabinet. It was next to it where I discovered these; our pieces."

Draco swallowed, looking down at the Scottie dog and old boot nestled in the palm of my hand. His trembling fingers lightly trailed over them before he plucked up the old boot, clasping it tightly in his hand as he closed his eyes.

"It made me feel less lonely," he said, his voice full of pain.

"Oh, Drac," I exhaled, my heart swelling and shattering for him; hating that he had to go through all of this alone.

He opened his eyes, and the sadness swimming in them nearly broke me.

I reached up and touched his cheek, leaning in to kiss him lightly on the lips. "I'm always with you," I whispered.

He pulled me onto the bed with him; both of us sighing contentedly as we lay in each other's arms.

"You know something, Zabini?" Draco murmured; his hot breath tickling my ear, sending tiny shivers down my spine.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head up to see a small smile twitching at his lips and a glint in his silver grey eyes.

"There's something I really, really want to do with you right now."

"Oh?"

He reached over to pick something up from the bedside cabinet, turning back to me with a pack of cards in his hands.

"Best of five?"

******

Two days later, Draco was out.

"Being cursed has obviously done you wonders," I remarked as he threw himself into the empty seat next to me at breakfast. "I haven't seen you look so chipper in months."

"Yeah well don't tell Potter that," Draco muttered, looking up to glare at the Gryffindor table, "else he'll probably expect a fucking medal for his services."

Before Draco could start filling his plate up, I quickly placed upon it a wrapped gift.

"Happy birthday, grumpy," I said, grinning at his startled expression, "and don't look so shocked, do you really think I'd forget my best friends seventeenth?"

He slowly picked it up, swallowing. "With everything happening, I forgot," he said, a wistful sadness in his expression.

And I knew what he was thinking; that it felt as though the last year of his childhood had been cruelly snatched away from him.

"Yes, well good job you've got me to remember these things for you," I said gently nudging his arm with my elbow, "and I expect your mum'll be sending you something with the post. Now come on, open it up."

He slowly released the box from its gold wrappings, carefully lifting the lid and peered inside.

"I know it's no charm bracelet," I said to my immediate defence as I studied his face, trying to gauge his reaction, "but to be fair, you really set the bar rocket high with that one."

"No- I... I love it," he said, lifting the silver photo frame out of the box, swallowing as he stared at the moving photo of the both us smiling and laughing together. "How did you get this?"

It had been taken during the Quidditch World Cup by a professional photographer who had gone around snapping various attendees as they exited the stadium right after the match.

In this particular photo, both Draco and I who had been high after witnessing Krum's performance, had happily posed cheek to cheek, the both of us doing bunny ears on the other.

We refused to take the photographer's card though, both agreeing he was just a gold grabbing opportunist.

At the time, the idea of recording our happy memories was lost on us. We were just fourteen and living in the moment, with no clue or even a care in the world of what was laying in wait for our future.

But to me now, it suddenly seemed so important. I never wanted to forget how happy our friendship had made me; how it wasn't always angst and heartbreak, but times of fun and laughter too.

"I tracked down the photographer," I explained, recalling all the owls I had to send until I eventually found him. "And luckily he had kept hold of all his film from that night."

"This is-" he paused as his throat gave a prominent bob; and when he opened his mouth again, his voice was gravelly and thick with emotion, "this is perfect."

I realised, as he slowly placed it back in the box, that his hands were shaking.

"Drac?" I said quietly, "are you sure you're alright?"

He stared back at me, an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"I am," he said in a very precise manner, "in fact," he added, leaning in close to drawl quietly in my ear, "what do you say we skip morning classes and head to my room where I can thank you for this properly?"

My reaction was instantaneous; stomach knotting, pulse racing and breaths quickening.

Not even five minutes later we were tearing off one another's clothes and playing a frantic game of tonsil tennis as we landed ungracefully upon his bed.

We fucked like we'd never fucked before. Both moaning and grunting loudly as we found pleasure in each other's bodies.

"Fuck, I love fucking you so much," Draco groaned as I held onto the bed post for support whilst he thrust into me from behind, greedily groping and kneading my breasts in his hands.

His hot rasping breaths hit the back of my neck as he thrust deeper and harder. I could feel the build of my orgasm in my stomach as it knotted and wrenched, threatening to rip in two.

"I'm close," I gasped, as my fingers dug into the hard wood of his bed.

He pulled out of me as soon as the words left my mouth, whipping me around to face him.

"Not without me," he growled, flinging my back down onto the mattress and lowering himself down above me.

He hoisted my knee up as he angled his hips between my legs, pushing slowly and sensually into me as his eyes burned intensely into mine.

"Please," I begged, rolling my hips up to deepen his thrusts; desperate for him to go harder and faster.

He lifted a hand up and brushed my hair from my face. "Don't take your eyes off me," he ordered, his fingers cupping the side of my head, "I want to be looking into them when I cum deep inside of you."

His words alone started to send me toppling over the edge. And as if sensing it, Draco began thrusting hard, his momentum picking up speed causing my entire body to feel alive with flames.

And, as the waves rolled back in my stomach, I saw the widening of his pupils as he shuddered above me, causing the rip and crash of my own orgasm.

Both of us cried out simultaneously, our lips immediately connecting as we stifled our groans into each other's mouths; riding out our pleasure together.

"Thank you," Draco panted afterwards as we collapsed sweaty and breathless side by side.

"You don't have to thank me for the fuck, Drac," I grinned, playfully hitting his shoulder, "you know I love it as much as you do."

"No, I mean for the photo," he said, reaching out to pull me to him, wrapping his arms around me as I nuzzled blissfully into his chest, "and for being you."

"We'll always be in each other's lives, won't we?" I asked, my eyes not being able to help but glance down at the sinister mark on his left arm.

"Wild Hippogriffs couldn't drag us apart," Draco chuckled, tightening his arms around me. "And believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

And as we lay there in each other's arms, waiting for our hearts to slowly return to their resting rates, a word hovered in the air above us; unspoken but present.

Soulmates.

******