A/N: and the next one!

Ch. 4

By the next morning, that old gossiping picture had told almost the whole Gryffindor tower about the interactions last night between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin. They in told began telling their friends in different houses and of course even more overheard the exchanges. By lunch time, the whole school was muttering again about the two of them kissing and dating.

After an interesting lunch where the two sources of the rumors actually listened to the story told about ten different ways with some very elaborate and embarrassing embellishments, Draco and Lara kissed a chaste peck on the lips before heading to their own classes. Before Lara could walk into her room, her arm was grabbed and she was pulled off to the side by a seventh year Ravenclaw. He was a particularly persistent young man, frequently asking her out. He was a sweet boy, but she just didn't see him that way. She thought his name was David Laurant.

"Can I help you?" Lara asked, trying to be polite about it.

"How much do you know about the boy you are hanging out with?" For once, David's voice wasn't soft and reserved when speaking to her. Instead it was sharp with worry.

Lara tilted her head in confusion at the needless worry. "Quite a bit actually."

"Oh? So you know he caused the deaths of several students while helping Voldemort? You enjoy being with someone so dark and evil?" David's was skeptical and it made Lara's defensiveness rise in response.

"Listen here, Ravenclaw. I am not one for gossip. I won't have you telling me stories about Draco."

David threw his hands up in a defensive position. "Ok, Ok. Ask him yourself, McConnell." With that he gave her a look of pity almost and went into class. Fuming, Lara joined the class, but she barely paid attention. As class dragged on and her anger dissipated, Lara began to wonder what had sparked such a rumor and decided the only way to know was to talk to Draco.

The object of her thoughts was waiting for her outside of class. He gave her a quick peck and then held her hand as they walked towards dinner. Her silence was awkward today and he picked up on it immediately. Knowing she had finally heard, he didn't even sit down. He grabbed them both a plate and piled it with food before leading her outside. They made their way to the horse field and sat just outside the paddock to make sure the horses didn't try to steal food from their plate. They ate in silence for a bit while Lara tried to gather the courage to bring up what needed to be spoken about.

"Who did you hear it from?" Draco couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Some Ravenclaw who keeps asking me out. I think his name is David." Lara gave a soft unsure chuckle.

"You think?" Draco had a grin on his face, but it was tinged with sadness and worry. "I assume you want to know?" Lara just nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Long version or short?" Lara shrugged. "I'll give you the short. If you have any questions just ask ok?"

"Ok," she mumbled.

Draco gave a small sigh and scrubbed his hand through his hair. "My father was a dark wizard who supported Voldemort. He brought my mother into it and then me. I was given a task after my father failed his master to restore my family name, they said. If I didn't do it, they would have killed me and my whole family. I don't care so much about my father. I know that is horrible, but it's the truth, but my mother- she is the only person who has stood by me through everything. I was to kill the headmaster here who Voldemort feared." Lara gasped and he darted a quick glance at her. "I didn't," he reassured her, "But someone else did because I led them here. There was a huge fight and a lot of people died and it was all because I gave them the first way in and killed everyone's greatest defender."

Lara was watching Draco's reactions by now. She watched his remorse, his disgust, and his horror at what he caused. She wasn't sure what to say about it, wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Do you hate me now? I wouldn't blame you if you did. Most people do now, but I brought this on myself. I let myself be goaded into something I should never have gotten into. I thought I wanted to be like my father and I wanted him to be proud of me, but I can't stand what I caused." A single tear slid down his face, but a hurried angry hand scrubbed it away. Lara felt her heart shudder at what Draco must be going through. Gently, she grabbed his face and made him face her. Slowly, to give him time to back away, she laid her lips softly against his, pouring her own feelings into the kiss.

"I don't hate you, Draco," she said breaking the kiss and gently holding his hands in hers. "You did a horrible thing, but you are trying to get past it. You never meant for that to happen." She looked down at their joined hands with a thoughtful expression. "Hm- You know, that Ravenclaw asked me how I could be with someone so dark. I don't think you are dark and your hands are too gentle with me to be evil."

"I don't want to be evil and I didn't mean for any of those deaths to happen. I never really thought about what I was doing would mean," Draco mumbled, his throat thick with unshed tears. His eyes were holding a wealth of pain.

"Draco, I'm here and I'll be here." Again, Lara kissed him, but it quickly escalated from the soft innocence that it held before. Draco was almost desperate to know that she was really sticking by him through this. Lara felt the need welling up for each other and gave into it. The tongues met and twined as they pulled each other as close as they could get. Her back met the ground softly as Draco laid over her, continuing their passionate encounter. Part of his mind wasn't completely submerged in his hormones, though. He laid his midsection and lower to the side of Lara's body, knowing in a foggy way that if they were to get too close, they wouldn't stop. Lungs starving for air, the couple finally pulled apart. Draco rested his forehead against Lara's as they both breathed heavily trying to get their bodies under control.

"We need to get back up to the castle, Draco." Lara's voice was husky as she spoke softly. Her fingers were playing idly with Draco's hair. "Besides, I'm getting cold."

Draco gave a small laugh. "The first snow hasn't even hit yet. It's not cold yet. In fact this winter is mild so far."

"Southern girl, remember?" Lara gave a quirky smile as Draco scrambled up and offered his hand to pull her up from the ground. "You going to walk me back to the tower now?"

"Yeah, come on," Draco gave her a grin as he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "You know, I wasn't sure we could even be friends. Now, I almost can't remember it being anything other than this."

Lara blushed beautifully. "Well, when two worlds collide sparks are sure to fly, hun." They laughed softly as they hurried in through the castle doors.

The castle was a good bit warmer and Draco rubbed Lara's arms to try to help her fight off the cold. 'I've got to remember she isn't used to this weather' Draco thought a little abashedly. Taking off his outer cloak, he draped it over her form to help warm her further. As they climbed to the tower, the people they passed stared at the Slytherin and Gryffindor house sigils lying beside each other.