Chapter 2: Vacation

"Wow," Draco muttered to himself as he and Moira climbed the stairs to his second floor bedroom.

"See? It's not so hard is it?"

"He's going to be angry isn't he, he Dark Lord?"

Moira shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe we undermined his authority by leaving before we were dismissed but it's not like we don't know what happened. I just didn't want to hang around to watch it. Maybe letting Nagini - well, you know- was supposed to teach us all a lesson, the lesson that all Muggles and Muggleborns are scum and if we try to defend we'll pay the same price as Charity did. However, don't we already know all of that?"

"I wonder about the bit about Muggles though. You don't see them fighting like we do and, like I said, some of the best students in my year are Muggleborn or were raised by Muggles."

"They fight like this," Moira corrected him, though she was happy his parents teachings hadn't completely brainwashed him. He was his own person. "I'll give you a book on the last century and you can see that they fight. As to the best students in your year, they have just as good a shot at being great as you do, whether they're pure-blood, half-blood or muggle born. The only advantage you have over them is that you've known since you were small why the things that happened around you were occurring. They just thought it was strange."

He nodded in agreement. "You sound like you know a lot about this." He wasn't looking at her, but he wasn't directly making an attempt to avert his eyes. He was simply looking ahead as they walked down the hall.

"I didn't quite take Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, but I spent a good amount of time with Professor Burbage talking about it." This was true. What she did not tell him just then was that she had lived in a Muggle community with her parents until age nine and then spent the next two years and the summers in between Hogwarts years in a Muggle orphanage. He had pushed open his bedroom door.

Draco was looking at her now as she passed him into the room. "You knew her?"

Moira nodded. "But I couldn't've done anything to stop it. You had a good grip on my hand." He had pushed his door closed and was now leaning against it.

"That was why you didn't stop him?" He felt as if her previous statement was not the whole truth.

"We aren't cut out for this," Moira began. "but it would've been too un-Death Eater to stop him. I just wasn't gonna watch that snake devour her." She had turned around, walked away from Draco, and sat down on his bed. There was a look of compassion on Draco's face. He did not know what it was like to watch a friend being murdered and he hoped he'd never have to find out. He crossed the room and sat down very close beside Moira.

She was looking away from him, down at the floor. "It's ok," she shook her head and looked back up at him, trying for a smile. He put one arm around her shoulders and she stiffened momentarily but them rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for several comfortable moments, both recognizing silently that sitting here, feeling the warmth of another person, knowing that for some reason, on some level, that person cared what happened to you, cared how you felt, wanted to see you happy, was irreplaceable. "I've got an idea," Moira said.

"Hm?" Draco said, not moving.

"I want to go camping." He moved and stared at her and she could almost see the question mark on his face. "Camping. Like a Muggle, in a tent."

"What was that about un-Death Eater?" He smiled at her and she mock-glared back.

"It's fun. It'll be fantastic. You've never been camping?"

"We stayed in a tent for the Quidditch World Cup a few years ago but it wasn't what you'd call camping. We used magic all the time and the tent was the size of a small house on the inside."

"Oh no. I'm talking about actual camping. Pitching a normal-sized tent and sleeping there, away from here for a few days."

He thought for a moment then asked, "Can I come?" Moira sat up and looked him straight in the eye.

"Of course you can. I sort of expected you to."

"Well then. When do we leave?"

Disclaimer: Don't own

AN: Aww, Draco and Moira. I've got like 40.000 more words for you to review. :)