And I have the storyline for Angels written out (and most of chapter one but w/e). If you wanna know it, I can post it.

And there's some Deanne/Cody in here too. Not entirely interrupted...
And more of Cody's past! Not much but some.
Enjoy the update!

Chapter 19
Choices

The next two weeks passed awkwardly. I was happy word hadn’t gotten around about my secret, but Harry still seemed to have a problem with it. Ron, on the other hand, was just more on edge than he was going full-out on avoiding me the way his best friend was. Ginny was the same, and it seemed Hermione was the only one that actually seemed to get over it by acceptance. We were closer as a result, but that had its pros and cons.

If only she could understand the difference between us is beyond human.


“What are your plans after grad?” Hermione asked me as we wandered outside.

“I dunno, I was thinking of asking if I could join the Order actually...”
I saw a surprised expression on her face out of the corner of my eye. It then changed to thoughtful.

“That would actually be rather helpful... and since you’re able to at least stand Lupin that helps even more.”

I grumbled at the mention of the man’s name. We then stopped by the shoreline of the Black Lake, which was entirely deserted by students. Naturally, I bet that Cody was lingering somewhere in the forest, but it’s not like I’d count him. We had grown a bit closer, to my own surprise as well, since that day he was nearly stretched to death (a thought I found rather amusing afterwards). I think because of that, I learned that deep down, I do still love him, even if I don’t like the thought of it after everything he had put me through.

“And what about your other vampire friend? Unless he and the rest of the people he associates with decide to avoid the incident,” she emphasized the two words. “He probably won’t be going back.”

“Once you join the Dark Lord, there’s no going back,” I muttered, absentmindedly kicking a rock. It soared many feet in the air and it dropped into the water with a splash.

“Yeah,” Hermione murmured, just as grimly. She then seemed to remember something, but didn’t say it.

“What?” I finally asked.

“What are you doing to do about Malfoy?”

I automatically fell silent.

“Come on, you know it’s going to be coming soon... maybe tomorrow after grad, you never know,” Hermione pointed out.

“I don’t know. There’s just so much to consider. I mean, history with Cody, possibility of accidentally killing Draco...”

“Wouldn’t be much of a loss,” Hermione said, shrugging. I turned to look at her with a glare. “Oh yeah...” she chuckled, clearly embarrassed. She gained back her composure and asked me, “So you have no idea what to say to them?”

“I’ll just tell them I need to think about it more. I dunno, what would you say?”

Hermione appeared in thought for many long moments.

“It just seems... what do you think Draco will do when he leaves Hogwarts? Follow in his father’s footsteps? Or dare defy him and You-Know-Who?”

I thought about that. I shrugged and responded, “We’ll find out. I can’t say if he does join the Death Eaters it will make it any easier.”

Hermione sighed.

“I know,” I said, sighing as well. “It just seems easy, but at the same time it’s hard. If I choose Draco, he’s still human. If I go for Cody... well, it’s Cody.”

For what felt like the first time that week, Hermione chuckled. Above us, thunder echoed across the grounds. As we looked up, rain emptied from the clouds, pounding down ruthlessly.

“You go on in, I want to check something,” I told Hermione.

She nodded understandingly and ran into the castle. I went in the opposite direction and practically fell backwards; Cody was standing by the edge of the forest, hidden behind a tree.

Lightning lit up the suddenly blackened sky.

“You know it’s dangerous to be under a tree when there’s lightning,” I told him. “But it’s even more dangerous now that I know you were listening to me.”

Cody smiled.

“About your doubts of my allegiance, do you honestly think that I’d go back to a group that tried to kill me?” he pointed out, pulling me closer protectively when a strip of fork lightning descended onto the earth with a long, loud crack. I let my cheek rest on his chest, my ear over where the soft beat of a heart would be on a human.

“You’ve changed; how should I know?”

I looked up at him once I felt his eyes on my head.

“What do you mean exactly?”

“You know what I mean.”

He just kept looking at me. I knew full well he wanted me to elaborate.

“You left your coven, for goodness sake! You just... went bad. Living off of human blood, becoming cold in personality, threatening me. For all I know... if you hadn’t have changed so much, I would still be human and be some 50 year old woman.”

“Would that be a life worth living?”

“That’s what you kept telling me would be, but you contradicted yourself that day.”

He knew what I was referring to.

“Why?” I whispered. He drew me close once more at another crack of lightning that follow the echoing thunder.

“Before I met you, my life was like a dark room. Walls on all four sides, pitch black. You were my light that led me to the door, but I didn’t realize that until you left. When that happened, life was meaningless. Everyone I knew refused to kill me, so I left, attempting to distract myself. Along the way, I attempted tracking, and I passed through a muggle town as a result. I smelled something, it was horrible, like sour milk. I followed the scent and round a group of muggle boys running away, leaving something. I found someone dead. This unfortunate person was stabbed to death, their blood everywhere. That’s when the foul smell left and an overpowering, sweet scent just overtook.

“I’ve never been good with large amounts of blood, like Carlisle. Before I could think, any trace of blood was gone. Ever since then, things just kept getting more out of control. When I found you...” he couldn’t even finish.

Before I could respond, I recognized the sweet smell of Draco; it was getting stronger by the second. Pulling away slightly, both Cody and I looked around, trying to find Draco.

“You should go,” he said. I heard the unwillingness in his voice.

“I might see you tomorrow,” I responded, shrugging. Cody pulled me into a kiss. It felt like only short moments until the sensation of heaven was yanked from me and he said to me, “Go.”

He let me go, and I ran towards the castle. Just as I was in the courtyard 200 feet from the doors, I nearly ran into Draco.

“What’re you still doing out here?” he asked me. Thunder cracked one more, emphasizing his question.

“I like rain,” I responded, shrugging.

“Well you do like many weird things, so I won’t question that.”

I glared at him as he smirked playfully.

“Come on,” he said softly. He took my hand - surprisingly he didn't even flinch at the cold my hands emanated - and we ran inside the castle.