"What the bloody hell are you doing in here?" I, Astoria Greengrass practically screamed. Standing in my dorm room was Draco Malfoy: pureblood and fellow Slytherin, but still!
He ran his hands through his pale blond hair. I was only a Fourth Year, but even I could still remember the days when the now Sixth Year gelled his hair back, much to my dismay.
"Sorry." He frowned at his loss for words. "But… I needed to see you."
My best friend, Clara Rosier, tossed in her bed, and I froze. Who knows what she would do if she saw Malfoy. Scream, more or less, waking up all of the girls in my dorm.
"Why?" I studied his face. Did he just…? No. Blushing is not something a Malfoy would partake in, especially that Malfoy.
"I… I have no clue. I've been having a rough - " He paused. " - year. And the first person I wanted to talk to was you."
I smiled, though I'm sure he couldn't tell. The Slytherin Common Room and Dorms were normally very dark, so in the night, it was pitch black.
"We can't talk here," I told him.
He nodded slowly, saying, "But I know somewhere we can."
And then before I knew it, I was in my pink shorts and white tank top, going with Draco Malfoy to an unknown location after curfew. We could've been expelled, but honestly, I couldn't have cared less.
We finally came to a blank wall. He then passed back and forth in front of it three times, and a door appeared. "Welcome to the Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room."
Inside was amazing. It had soft couches, tons of plush pillows, and even a few tissues. Books on feelings and counseling lined the walls. "This is wonderful, but… It's odd for a place like Hogwarts," I told him.
"Yes, it is," he replied. "It will give you any room you want. Last year, Potter used it to hold those Defense meeting with his blood traitor friends. I'm using it this year for… And today, I wanted a room to talk. Apparently it thought I needed counseling."
"Whoa," I muttered in awe, not really listening to what Draco was saying. "Oh sorry, this was supposed to be about you."
He laughed. "Well, take a seat."
He sat down right next to me on a leather couch.
"What's wrong?" I asked him, and his face became stormy.
Draco breaths became frequent and loud, enough so that I began to worry about him. Before I could comment, however, he began speaking.
"Have you ever wanted something your whole life, but then once it was yours, you didn't feel the same? That's how I am now. My father pressured me into… something, and I did want it. I was proud to be doing the deed assigned to me. I don't want to do it anymore, though, and it's eating me alive. I can't sleep or eat or think."
I just looked at him, taking his hand into my own.
"Can I help?"
He let out a sinister laugh - one of irony and self-pity. "'Tori, I can't do that to you. I know your position, and I would never do that to you."
I nodded. "You'll be okay, Draco. You're smart and funny and independent."
He smiled at her. "I love that about you, 'Tori. You see the light in people."
"L-love?"
"Yes," he answered.
And then, he kissed me.