Leanne was walking back to the Hufflepuff common room after a late night in the library when she heard someone running down the hall. She turned and saw Draco.

"Drakey!" she yelled happily. She hadn't seen him in over a week and she missed him terribly much. He had been oddly distant lately and she hoped that maybe now she could get to the bottom of it. But apparently he had other plans because he completely ignored her as he ran by. She watched him in confusion and waited a few moments for him to turn around with his playful smile and come running right back to her. But he didn't.

"Draco?" she called after him. She followed swiftly behind until she caught up to him and grabbed his arm. He turned on her quickly and swatted her hand off him. Leanne gasped and let go.

"What the hell do you want right now?" Draco snapped at her. Leanne was taken aback for a minute. She didn't know how to answer. She looked in his eyes and they were hard and cold. He didn't seem like himself. Despite his anger and coldness she reached up and gently touched his cheek.

"I saw you running and I just wanted to say hello and ask you what's been wrong lately," she replied quietly. For a moment, Draco's eyes flickered slightly with emotion but quickly grew cold again. He slapped her hand away from his face and glared at her. As he had hit her hand the sleeve of his robes fell down his arm and she caught a glimpse of something on his forearm. She looked at him and pushed up his sleeve and gasped when she saw the dark mark.

"Draco!" she exclaimed. "So the rumors are true, then. You're a death eater now." Draco didn't respond. Leanne nodded slowly to herself. "I have been defending you against people for weeks. I've been telling them that you're just stressed, that there's nothing wrong with you. And everyone told me that I was being naïve and blind because I love you so much. But I was wrong."

Draco rolled his eyes and glared at her. "I didn't ask for you to defend me."

"You didn't have to. You're my best friend," she said quietly. He laughed loudly at her.

"Best friend? You think I'm your best friend? You're nothing but a whiny little half-blood Jigglypuff who wants some attention so you trail along behind me and hope someone will notice you," he spat. Leanne trembled trying to control her tears and closed her eyes.

"Fine. If that's all I am to you, then fine," she said. She turned and started walking away from him. She heard him take a few steps and stop.

"I didn't mean that," he said half-heartedly. She knew part of him didn't but that wasn't enough. She stopped walking and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Yes, you did," she said. She continued on but he kept calling after her.

"Leanne, stop! Damnit, Leanne! Turn around!" he yelled. He was getting angrier with each second and she could hear it in his voice. Her heart froze when she heard him yell "Crucio!" and she was lifted off the ground, screaming in pain. And then she was lying crumpled on the ground, trying to breathe and comprehend what had just happened. Draco had hurt her. He had purposefully inflicted pain upon her. Seconds later she heard his footsteps running away in the opposite direction. What felt like hours later, Leanne picked herself off the floor and dragged herself to bed.

It had been four months since the incident with Draco. Everyday they passed each other in the hall and one of them would attempt to make eye contact while the other looked away and continued walking, acting as if they had never even known each other at all. Today had been Leanne's turn to try and get Draco to look at her. He had for half a second but it was enough for her to see the regret in his eyes. She sighed and walked faster to her destination. She was on her way to the Quidditch pitch where she liked to sit under the stands and drink alone. As she got closer, she saw someone flying and then suddenly they were falling from the air. She began running so she could try to help whoever it was and as she watched the body hit the ground she realized it was Draco. Her heart stopped and she dropped her bag and sprinted as fast as she could.

"Draco!" she yelled. She knelt beside him and he was groaning in pain. "Draco, can you hear me?" she asked. Her hands were fluttering all around him, trying to figure out a safe spot to land. His eyes were closed and he began pushing at her hands.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. She smiled slightly to herself. Even in his injured state he was the biggest pain in the ass.

"Draco, stop it. Let me help. DRACO MALFOY, STOP PUSHING ME, I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" she said angrily. "Damnit, open your eyes and you'll see it's just me." One of Draco's eyes opened slowly and he stared up at her.

"Lee?" he asked, disbelieving. Leanne rolled her eyes and continued to look him over now that he had stopped trying to get her away from him.

"Yes, it's me. If you had opened your eyes in the first place you would have realized that and we wouldn't have had to go through all that fuss now sit still for me while I make sure you're not going to die anytime soon," she said. After a few silent moments she sighed. "You'll live. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing at this point but you'll live. You need to go to the hospital wing, though. I'll help you." She helped him stand and put his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist so she could support him up to the castle.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked. "After what I did to you…why would you help me? Wouldn't it be great payback to watch me suffer on the grass?"

"How very Slytherin of you," she said. "Despite what you did, you are still a human being and I'm not going to just leave you there in pain. You know I'm not like that." He nodded his acceptance of her answer and didn't say anything else. When the got up to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey helped Draco into an empty bed and began to examine him. Leanne sat down in the chair next to his bed and watched silently as Madame Pomfrey gave him a few potions to drink and wrapped up some of his cuts.

"You'll be fine, Mr. Malfoy, but I'd like you to stay here overnight," she said and then left to help another patient.

"You going to leave now?" Draco asked Leanne. She stared blankly at him for a moment and then shook her head.

"No, I'm not," she said. "I'm going to stay with you until you can leave. I don't want you to be lonely." She smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand.

"I can't leave until tomorrow," he said, confused.

"I know. And I'm going to stay here overnight with you. We'll have a sleepover, just like we used to do in the Room of Requirement," she said. Draco smiled at her and her smile grew wider. "I've missed you, Drakey."

"I've missed you, too, Lee," he said quietly. "I'm…I'm so sorry about what I did. I wasn't myself. I don't know what happened. Can you forgive me?"

"I forgave you before it was over," she said softly. She got into bed beside him and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"I love you, Leanne," he said. She nodded and hugged him.

"I'm fond of you," she said with a smile. Draco kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. "It's good to have you back again."

"Same to you, Fitzgerald."