Summery: It's a month or so since the end of 'Seeing', Ivy is preparing to go off with Harry, Ron and Hermione to track down the Horcruxes and is determined to do all she can to bring down Voldemort and his Death Eaters. However, she still can't seem to shake the after effects of Draco leaving, though she pushes them aside and tells herself they are nothing. Draco meanwhile is finding life in the Malfoy Manor difficult and frustrating. Following the events of Deathly Hallows with a few of my own twists.

Disclaimer: as with the last fic, I own nothing Harry Potter related, Ivy and her family and Carcia and Marcus are my OC's but that's as far as it goes really.

Chapter one: the ends beginning

Draco

The similarity between his current situation and the one he had been in about eight months ago was not lost on Draco. As he sat with his parents in the drawing room of his manor home, seated on the sofa opposite them and once again with his back to the door, they all anxiously awaited news from his aunt. He could however, see that there were some differences, such as this time his father, who had recently been freed from his cell in Azkaban, was sitting next to his mother, who this time was not AS frightened for Draco's life as before, and Draco, unbelievably, thought that he was in an even worse situation than he had been all those months ago. At Christmas that idea would have been unthinkable, the old Draco could not even begin to imagine a situation worse than being forced to work night and day to repair a vanishing cabinet that would allow him to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts and kill its headmaster, all to keep his family and himself safe from the Dark Lord's wrath. And as if that task wasn't difficult and critical enough the Dark Lord had 'gifted' him with another job, to find the Seer among Potter's friends and convince them not to share anything they saw about the Dark Lord's plans with Potter. No, eight months ago Draco couldn't have imagined a scenario worse than that, but of course, that had been before the afore mentioned Seer had changed everything. Ivy Jones, a Muggleborn witch and close friend of Harry Potter was the very last person Draco had expected to feel anything for, his upbringing firmly went against such emotions but there had seemed to be nothing he could do to stop them. His priorities had changed and with them what Draco could stand to bear. The change had been gradual, as slow as his quietly building feelings, but irrevocable just the same. The changes weren't dramatic, he was still proud to be a pure blood, he still hated Potter and Weasley, he would still insult Granger the first chance he got and he couldn't stop the cruel thoughts he sometimes got. However, he now wanted to change that, Ivy had made him want to be a different person, someone like her, and for Draco that was a huge deal, no one had every inspired such emotions in him as she had.

Sitting ramrod straight in his seat Draco wished that his aunt would hurry up and tell him the news, darkness was falling outside and they had expected word hours ago. Draco wouldn't be able to calm down until he found out what had happened. Trapped in the silent room, since neither of his parents had anything to say, Draco had only his own thoughts for company and he tried to ignore them as much as possible. If he didn't they would surely drive him insane. Her face dominated his thoughts, she smiled at him in a way that he knew she never would again, his mind was torturing him, showing him what he could never have because of the decisions he had made. She would never forgive him, he knew that, Ivy's forgiveness would stretch only so far, he was sure she hated him and that thought tore him apart. He couldn't change that though, he had done what he had to do to save his family and his self and he knew that he would do it again if he had to, regardless of the consequences. That didn't mean that he didn't regret it of course, even if he hadn't been the one to kill Dumbledore, he still felt the guilt and shame as though he had. This was surprising, since Draco had once thought that killing the old wizard would have been something to be proud of. The very idea was laughable now.

Frowning to himself Draco tried to ignore the throbbing in his chest, exactly where his heart used to be, and pushed aside the image of Ivy's fury the last time he had seen her by Hagrid's Hut and instead touched the finger where his platinum ring used to be. Before he could stop himself Draco wondered where the ring was now, he hoped that Ivy still had it but he knew her well enough to know that there was a distinct possibility that she had thrown it away. To this day he had no idea why he gave it to her, only that he couldn't keep himself from doing it. His father had been furious to discover that the ring was missing and that Draco had no explanation as to why, it was a family heirloom after all, and it was probably at the bottom of the Black Lake or something like that, Draco thought almost laughing in hysteria at the idea. Wouldn't that just have been perfect?

As one the Malfoy's all jumped when the sound of the door opening echoed through the silent drawing room, Draco span around, his blood pressure rising rapidly as he looked in earnest to the door. It wasn't Bellatrix though; frustrated Draco spotted the house elf they had taken up to replace Dobby, Kidda he believed she was called, dusting the cabinets in the corner of the drawing room. She had been the one who opened the door. Furious at the false alarm Lucius Malfoy jumped to his feet, strode across the room and picked the elf up by the scuff of her tea towel and flung her roughly back into the hall, shouting that they weren't to be disturbed unless it was by Bellatrix or the Dark Lord. As he watched his father Draco was reminded of an image he had long since forgotten, it was of Ivy in their fourth year as she sat at the Gryffindor table and helped her friend Granger make badges and things for her stupid elf protection society she made up. Ivy had always been kind to elves; Draco recalled and suddenly resented his father's treatment of Kidda.

He scowled but remained silent though, his father hadn't been in the best of moods since returning from Azkaban and Draco knew it was best to hold his tongue. Lucius Malfoy was on edge right now, having been confined to his home until the Dark Lord took over and he would be allowed back into society, he hated being cooped up like this and thought nothing of venting his frustration on his son verbally, despite this past year's trials. It didn't help that the Dark Lord was using the manor as his command station either, the intimidating presence of Lord Voldermort walking the corridors of Malfoy Manor all the time put considerable strain on its residents, with the soul exception of Bellatrix, who actually enjoyed his being there. Today was a rare occasion where the three Malfoy's were on their own, the rest of the Death Eaters were all busy doing their allotted tasks and the Dark Lord was completing a secret mission of his own, the Malfoy's were alone for the first time in months. Things were still awkward though, his parents could see a change in Draco, it was only a faint one but they didn't know what to do with him now, he seemed to be privately turning his nose up at everything to do with the Dark Lord's plans and when their master was around he was silent and frightened all the time. They couldn't understand it; they had thought he wanted the honour of being a Death Eater, but apparently not.

"Cissy!" Came an excited shout from a short distance away, all three of the Malfoy's jumped, Draco, who had been forcing himself to think about the task at hand, not his emotions, and Narcissa and Lucius, who were regarding their son with confusion.

On his feet in an instant Draco span around as his aunts familiar voice continued to shout as she made her way down the corridor towards them "Cissy!" she repeated several more enthusiastic times before bursting through the door, Draco knew what she was going to say before she said it, but that didn't lessen the blow.

"We've done it!" his black haired aunt exclaimed as she strode into the room, a slightly manic look in her dark eyes.

"You mean…?" Lucius asked with a sudden excitement, taking a step towards his sister-in-law.

"Yes," Bellatrix gladly confirmed "the Ministry has fallen. The Dark Lord now controls the Ministry!" she all but sang in her joy for her master.

Draco's heart sank, it was all he could do not to lower himself back into the chair and hold his head in his hands, this was exactly what he hadn't wanted to hear. However, Draco had years of practice putting on a front and managed to remain upright and composed as his aunt, who usually couldn't stand his father, ran up to Lucius and gave him a hug, she then turned to her sister and did the same. Though his body showed no outwardly reaction to the news Draco's mind was working furiously, running this new information through his mind. The Ministry had fallen, the Dark Lord now had control and while that now meant that Draco, who was wanted by the Order of the Phoenix for his part in Dumbledore's murder, was free to roam the wizarding world as he pleased along with his father, it also meant much worse things. It meant that Ivy was in danger. This was the horrific situation which was worse than the last one Draco had been in, where he was forced to watch, helpless, as Ivy was put in danger. The Dark Lord once again wanted Ivy so that he could use her visions to help him control the wizarding world. He couldn't allow that to happen, emotion built up in his chest as he thought about it, for Ivy that would be a fait worse than death and one that could ultimately lead to it. When he had gotten what he wanted from her, Draco surely knew, the Dark Lord would execute Ivy for aiding Potter as she had all these years. And while Draco had convinced the Dark Lord that Ivy was not a Seer at Christmas, Snape had since assured him that Draco was mistaken and that Ivy did in fact possess the sight and Voldemort was once again hell bent on controlling her. He was stuck now; the threat hanging over his family had not gone away, if anything Draco was deeper in the mud than he had been before now that he was a fully fledged Death Eater, he had more responsibility and it would be harder than ever to get out. Not that he had anything to try and get out for any more.

"Are they moving on with the plan?" Lucius asked and Draco's ears prickled, this was what he had been worried about, if the Ministry fell today, which it had, then the Death Eaters could take down the protective enchantments around the Weasley house, where Potter and more importantly Ivy were staying, meaning that they could go in and get them. That was what had Draco terrified, he had been left out of the group of Death Eaters assembled for this task which meant that there was nothing he could do to sabotage the mission or protect Ivy. If the Death Eaters went to the Weasleys he had no doubt that she wouldn't escape.

"Yes, they are taking down the enchantments even as we speak." Bellatrix said, her voice brimming with excitement.

"Excellent," Said Lucius, who was positively giddy at the idea of Death Eaters descending on the Burrow and giving those blasted Weasley's what they deserved.

Blood pounding in his ears as Draco emotions built up suddenly, taking him by surprise since he had felt little other than numbness, regret and fear for weeks, he was angry now, filled with a furious protectiveness and he knew that he couldn't just stand here and do nothing. It didn't mater that there was nothing much he could do, Draco had to try. Lips set in a firm line and blue eyes flashing with determination Draco promptly turned away from his family and headed towards the door, his mind buzzing with potential ways to help Ivy, he was halfway to the door when the sound of his mother's voice stopped him.

"Draco," she said confusion obvious in her voice "where are you going?"

Looking back over his shoulder Draco did his best to look calm and hide the fact that he was barely restraining himself from running out of the drawing room and apparating over to the Weasley house, he wasn't sure how successful he was. "To my room," he answered as coolly as he could, going for a tone of indifference. "I can't see what else I can do down here."

"Don't you want to celebrate?" Bellatrix demanded, looking almost insulted that Draco should want to leave at a time like this.

"Not yet," he said turning back to face the doors and setting off walking again "I'll wait until we know the outcome of tonight." Draco said, thinking that if this worked out well for him and Ivy managed to escape then he'd crack open the firewhisky himself and have a little sing song, and that if it did work out and Ivy was captured he'd quite happily drown his sorrows in a bottle.

Draco was at the doors and wrenching them open before anyone else could protest, shutting the doors behind him Draco looked up and down the darkened corridor and upon finding that he was definitely alone he broke out at a run. Sprinting down the corridors of the Malfoy Manor the young Death Eater rushed into the entrance hall, grabbed hold of the polished, wooden banister and used it to swing himself up onto the staircase and give him more momentum. Taking to the stairs two at a time Draco dashed forward, determination and desperation propelling him forwards and his every thought on keeping her safe. Even if she'd never know.

Ivy

A few hours earlier

Alone in Ginny's bedroom I stared at myself in her full length mirror, unsure about what I saw there. I was just finishing getting ready for Fleur and Bill's wedding and was wearing some new dress robes for the occasion, however, something in my reflection didn't seem right to me, I just couldn't put my finger on what. This wasn't a vanity thing, I can promise you that, in my opinion there was nothing all that wrong with the way I looked, I could have stood to be a little taller to better suit the dress but I didn't look dreadful by any means, in fact I kind of liked what I was wearing. It wasn't that I was picking holes in the way I looked or that I didn't look right to myself, it was something else, something I couldn't quite figure out.

Running my hands down the front of my dress to smooth it out I tried to figure out what was wrong. In keeping with the light and happy style of weddings I had opted for a baby blue, floor length dress, it was simple in design and plain but for the layer of blue lace (the same colour as the dress) which lay atop the blue silk from the neckline to the waist and formed sleeves on my otherwise bare arms. It was a pretty dress, light and airy if not entirely me, while the patterned lace and all was nice; I felt that my dress for the Yule Ball had suited me better. My heart pranged in my chest at that and a feeling of cold emptiness spread though me but I quickly smothered it, keeping up with my new philosophy that if you didn't think about something it stopped being so important. Returning my gaze to the mirror I carried on inspecting my reflection, on my feet I was wearing a pair of strappy baby blue heels and my hair hung impossibly straight to my shoulders, a result of the straightening spell Ginny had taught me. My complexion was a little paler than normal, a result of weeks of planning and staying indoors, along with one or two other things I wouldn't think about, but a complexion spell and a bit of make up had cleared that out. Puckering my light pink lips I struggled to think what was missing, I had a feeling that it was obvious but I just couldn't see it.

Sighing I raised a hand to press against the small, circular object hidden behind the neckline of my dress. The platinum and emerald ring hung from a silver chain around my neck, hidden at all times by a top, or in this case a dress, since I didn't want anyone else to see it and ask questions. I refused to wear it on my finger any more, to me it felt like I was accepting what had happened to me and the act of wearing it would turn me into some brooding old woman who would sit and weep about what happened to her and do nothing about it. I wasn't going to be a Miss Havisham, no way. I kept HIS ring for one reason and one reason only, to remind me never to trust him again, it served as a constant reminder of what he was capable of and that I would never allow myself to be fooled by him again. Scowling at my reflection I pulled my hand away from the ring, my thoughts quickly turning to the promise I had made myself and the decision I had made. I had decided that I would never talk or think about Malfoy ever again if I could help it and unless it was absolutely necessary, something that all of my friends respected. Even Harry, who had been trying to get me to talk about Draco for some time, had recently given up in his efforts. I had made this choice, to pretend that didn't mean anything and was nothing more than a foolish mistake, out of self preservation, it was easier to get through things if I put the reason for my broken heart out of my mind, sometimes it even made it hurt less. That said there were some times when I allowed myself to think of Malfoy. Whenever I was feeling frightened by the mammoth task my friends and I were going to undertake or when I lost faith in what we were going to do, then and only then would I remind myself of all the dreadful things Draco Malfoy had done to me, what he had been intending to do to Dumbledore and what he would be doing to others as a Death Eater. As soon as those thoughts filled my mind all doubt would leave me and I would be overcome by such rage and such determination that there was no way that I could think twice about taking on Voldemort and his Death Eaters, HE was all the motivation I needed.

Pulling myself out of my dark and vengeful mood, since once I started thinking about what I would do to Malfoy the next time I saw him there tended to be no stopping it, and alarmingly sometimes my thoughts drifted from making him regret what he did to me to something completely different. And those sought of thoughts were exactly what I did not need. No, I said pulling my mind back to the task at hand, this feeling had nothing to do with the ring; it wasn't why I felt something was off here. I felt almost as though something was…missing, yeah that was it, something was missing from my reflection. Looking at myself in the mirror once more I inspected myself intently, in the mirror I saw a girl of seventeen, average build, average height, brown hair, brown eyes, dark brows knitted together in thought and lips pursed tightly. I couldn't see anything missing, other than the recent addition of the chain there was nothing that I usually wore, no piece of jewellery, nothing of sentimental value that I always wore. So how come I felt the absence of something, something vitally important? Unless, I thought cautiously, unless what was missing wasn't an object at all, but rather a person, someone who ought to have been here.

That got me really thinking then and of course the first thing I thought of was my parents, who probably should have been here, they had always gotten on with the Weasleys and I had no doubt that if it were possible they would have been here for Bill's wedding. They weren't here though, they were in hiding, taken away from the life they knew and plunged into the dangerous and inconvenient world I lived in, protected by the Order from the most dangerous dark wizard of all time so that he couldn't use them against me. I glared at the floor when I thought about the reason they had to go into hiding, I knew full well who I blamed for that and it was just one more offence of the list of the ways he had wronged me. However I pushed that thought aside and returned to looking at myself, imagining my mum and dad reflected at either side of me in the mirror and wondering if they were what was missing. Terrible though it was to admit, since I dearly loved my parents, I knew that they weren't it, I was so used to being separated from them to go to school and whatever else that though I did miss them I wasn't devastated by their absence here. Besides, I had seen them not very long ago, the Order had granted me permission to go and visit them for a week where they stayed with Marcus and Carcia. Thinking about that I felt myself smile, seeing them had been exactly what I had needed, to see first hand that they were all okay and coping with this change, they had all been worried about me of course having heard about what happened at Hogwarts, but I had soon reassured them. It was certainly strange, being without them once more, but not unbearable like this feeling was, and though I felt like a rubbish daughter for admitting it, being without them was something I was used to. So it wasn't them missing from this picture.

After my family the next logical people to be missing were my friends, however it couldn't possibly be them because they were only downstairs, helping to welcome Bill and Fleur's guests like I should have been. They would be standing beside me again very shortly so it couldn't have been them that I was missing. Once again I felt as though the answer was blindingly obvious as I looked at myself in the mirror, dressed in my finery and about to go to a party, of sorts. What had I had the last time I was dressed like this? I wondered thinking about the Yule Ball, which recently I had been trying to do as little as possible. Who had been with me at the Ball that wasn't here now? I wondered and then it hit me. My bruised heart plummeted in my chest and for a moment I was in freefall as I realised what was missing. It was Drac – Malfoy, he had spent the greater portion of the Yule Ball with me, which was the last time I had been dressed like this and which was why I was missing him. Recovering quickly from feeling as though I had been punched in the gut I turned sharply away from the mirror, refusing to look at my reflection any more, ashamed and guilty that I had felt this way. Bloody Malfoy! I raged internally as I gritted my teeth and scowled at the floor, how could I possibly be missing him, the last time we'd been together on a formal occasion he'd spent the entire night arguing with me, complaining that I couldn't dance and making me feel pathetic, why should I want him here now? It was absurd! Even if he had helped me get back at Aleksandar and Pansy and made the night almost entertaining.

Letting out an enraged noise I threw myself into a sitting position on the camp bed and dropped my head into my hands as I glared. I was still defending him. Still! What was wrong with me? I hated him with a burning passion, he had betrayed me, lied to me, led me on, put my life and the lives of those I cared about at risk, and tried to kill Dumbledore. How could I even try to defend him after that? Slowly I lifted my head out of my hands and sighed, these bloody emotions will be the death of me, I thought as I looked around and tried to be rational. Okay, yes there was a part of me that still wanted to believe that Draco had some good in him, but there was a larger, smarter, more dominant part that believed he was a lying, traitorous, Death Eater who was going to get what was coming to him and that I should be the one to give it to him. Draco Malfoy was vile, he was prejudiced, he was a bully, he was a potential murderer and he caused nothing but trouble wherever he went, I knew all that, I just had to focus on it in times of weakness like this, I thought as I knocked a stray curl from my eyes. This wasn't the time to be having doubts though, along with protecting my friends and helping the wizarding world, getting back at Malfoy was my motivation for undertaking this task, it wouldn't do to doubt that now.

Sitting up straight I fixed a firm expression in place and forced myself to think about how someone needed to put a stop to Voldemort and his Death Eaters and Harry might be just the person to do that, that I might be able to help him do it. I'd convinced myself a thousand times over that Draco didn't matter to me and that he never had, that the only reason I hurt so much was because I felt angry and betrayed. It was the same thing now, I told myself, I wasn't missing Draco now, and it only felt strange that he wasn't here because he had been the last time I'd been dressed up like this. It was nothing else, I insisted, just the memories of the Yule Ball, it meant nothing and it certainly didn't effect my desire to make Draco pay or mean that I actually felt anything for him. I tried to convince myself, believing that I actually had and feeling determination fill me once more, even as a firm little voice in my head said,

'yeah, right.'

Author note: I'm back, you didn't even have the time to miss me! I think I've updated quicker than I would have done if I were writing a new chapter and not planning and starting a new fic, but here it is, I couldn't seem to hold this chapter back, I hope you guys like it. :)