Girls talked. That's what she had told him.

They shared their lives with each other, and maybe that's why they were more at ease with their emotions. Anger, elation, sadness, fear; all the emotions were there, and they seemed to be able to express them freely. They were made out to be weak and vulnerable, but the women who had been (and were) in his life, were strong and capable. They could scare the shit out of you with one look; or they could make you fall in love with them in the blink of an eye. It might be a rollercoaster, but at least they could express how they felt.

In his experience, guys didn't do that. Not the ones he had known anyway. If there was something bothering you and you told your mates, they would in turn tell you not to be a nancy, and then you'd all laugh, call each other names and beat your chests. What the hell was wrong with guys?

Draco huffed out a breath, the vapour expelled from his mouth turning white in the freezing air. He had risen early and left the dorm, avoiding having to deal with her yet again, childish and immature he knew, but right now, he didn't really care. He was sitting near the lake despite the near-freezing temperatures. His lungs were burning, and his hands and face were red with the cold, but the cool, clean air out here seemed to help clear his head.

It had been two weeks since he'd spoken to her. Two weeks since they'd argued, since she had called him Lucius, since he'd walked out. He was angry, and hurt, and despite his jealous behaviour, he was pissed off at her for what she had said. He had no desire to be associated with that man ever again, no matter who he was. He had to bear the name of Malfoy and the hatred that came with it, and that was burden enough.

He prided himself on the changes he had made; in his life, in his person and in his beliefs. He had discovered the much more pleasant rewards of being respected for the positive things he'd achieved, rather than being respected out of fear. It had been a hard lesson to learn, the bigoted views that had been ingrained in him from birth had been hard to push aside. But once he had managed to, the outcomes had far outweighed the struggle.

He saw in his former rivals an unlikely friendship that was loyal and forgiving. They were a family, they held nothing back. They shared their lives; the anger, the hurt and the frustrations, but also the joy, and laughter and kindness. He, on the other hand, had been taught to hold everything in, to not let anyone see his true feelings and to remain stoic and rigid, to use fear as a weapon. But watching them together, he realised what he had missed. True friendship, no strings attached. And they had accepted him as he was, all but wiping away the hatred and torment of their formative years. They, of course, pulled him up on his shit, but that's what friends did, right?

And Hermione. She was unexpected, so much more than the unlikely alliance with Harry and Ron. She had more reason to hate him than anyone. He had called her mudblood, and considered her beneath him. He had tormented her, put her down and despised her for simply being smarter than him. He had had no equals when it came to school. He had outshone all his peers, until she came along. But he had been so wrong about her. So very, very wrong. She was brilliant and kind; compassionate and fair. She made him laugh more than anyone had. And she was stunningly beautiful. And on top of all that, she was the most talented witch he had encountered in his life; and he'd grown up surrounded by purebloods, having their doctrine shoved down his throat. She outshone all of them.

He sat staring over the half frozen lake, the rational side of his brain telling him to find her and talk to her, that he needed talk to her and work this crap out. However, the irrational side of his brain was disagreeing, telling him he was right, and she should be the one to seek him out. And it was the irrational side that was winning.

He was well aware that he hadn't been making it easy, but she didn't seem to be trying to find him at all. He had been avoiding their dorm for two weeks now, only going there to sleep. She would usually be spread out in the common room; books, quills and parchment everywhere, but he'd seen no evidence of her at all. He wasn't even sure if she was simply holed up in her room, or if she was sleeping elsewhere. The only time he had seen her was in their classes, and he had to admit, she looked like hell. Maybe he didn't need to concern himself as to where she was sleeping, but if she was sleeping at all.

"Draco?"

He looked up as Harry, Blaise and Ron headed his way. He had managed to avoid them all these past two weeks, even Blaise who knew all his hiding places hadn't found him, and he winced inwardly as they approached. While they were his friends, he wasn't sure how they would react. He wasn't even sure if they'd spoken to her. He'd told them nothing, and was still averse to telling them anything at all. He'd reverted to his old ways, and was keeping everything to himself.

They all adored Hermione, everyone did and he was sure that if Blaise was straight, he be in hot pursuit of her. And he was also of the firm belief that if anyone hurt her, if she didn't kill them herself, they all would gladly step in. It was why he had avoided them; he was Draco Malfoy and she was Hermione Ganger. He had no doubts as to which side they all would be on.

"What's going on?" Blaise asked, sitting beside him on the bench. They would need to be patient. It had never been easy to get anything out of Draco Malfoy, and the fact they hadn't seen him would make this even harder.

"Nothing." Draco snapped, but really there was no point in being angry and trying to push them away, clearly they already knew something was wrong.

"Okay," Harry began cautiously, "We've not seen you or Hermione outside a classroom for two weeks, and we've not seen the two of you together in all that time. Hermione just told us to fuck off when we went to see her, and has told us the exact same thing every time one of us tries to talk to her. You've been hiding and now we find you out here sulking. Are you still going with nothing?"

"We had a fight," Draco said, looking at his feet, refusing to make eye contact with them, "That's all."

"A pretty big one by the looks of it." Blaise noted.

That's an understatement Draco thought. With both he and Hermione being as headstrong as they were, and the fact the neither was willing to give an inch, epic fight was probably closer to the truth. He finally looked up at each of them, waiting for the name calling and chest beating to start; instead he only saw concern on their faces. Maybe this was his chance to do the talking thing she told him about.

"Draco, what's going on?" Blaise asked again.

He closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. He took a steadying breath and looked back up at them, "She said that I was acting like Lucius would." He finally told them and they all winced. They all knew how much effort he had put into changing his ways and telling him he was exactly like his father was probably the lowest thing she could have said.

"Whoa," Harry breathed, "She really said that?" Draco nodded.

"And what happened between the two of you to make her say that to you?" Blaise asked and Draco narrowed his eyes at him, but his friend knew him all too well, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not defending her, but I know there's more to this than her accusing you of being like Lucius."

Draco stood and took a few steps away from them and looked out over the lake, "I hated that Warrington was here. That he was talking to her, that he was even near her." He clenched his fist, his short nails digging into his palm. "None of you know what it's like."

"How's that?" Blaise asked.

"Potter and Ginny were each others' firsts and they will never be with anyone else. Rumour is that Weasley and Pansy are a thing now, but they've both been with other people, and Blaise, you might be with Graham now, but do I really need to mention your man-whore days?"

"The number of people you've slept with is not important...unless its hundreds," Blaise told him, "Pansy, Ron and I, it's probably not as many as you think. And we all have history."

"I don't." he said with a huff, "I'm not concerned that she's got history, I'm honestly not. And I don't care that she's it for me. I just hated seeing her with him. Laughing and smiling and...argh...I just hated it."

The three shared a wide-eyed look. Did he realise what he had just said -she's it for me? There was more going on here than any of them had realised.

"And you told her that?" Harry asked.

"I did," he answered, "She got angry and told me that I was being an idiot and that she wasn't interested in him."

They waited for him to continue, but he remained silent. Blaise rolled his eyes in frustration. It was Draco's jealousy that had almost ended the two of them before they even got started. And it appeared that the green eyed monster had reared its ugly head again.

"And you didn't believe her?" Blaise asked, recalling the conversation he had had with her at the game the previous day, when she asked him why he thought Draco didn't believe her when she said she only wanted to be with him. She hadn't understood his jealousy; why it had so infuriated him that Warrington was there. But she, and now them, had no idea just how he felt about her.

Draco turned to face them, "I did, I have no reason not to, but I was too pissed off to say sorry. So I told her that I didn't want her to speak to him again."

"And there it is." Blaise said.

"And there what is?" Draco snapped, his anger raising.

"I know you were pissed off, and I understand why you are. You're nothing like Lucius, you truly are not. And I agree that you have every right to be angry at her. I mean, I would hate for Graham's ex to show up. But you can't act like this every time another guy talks to her, regardless of who he is. You need to trust her when she tells you she's not interested in anyone else, especially when she's told you that repeatedly. " Blaise explained.

"He's not her ex," Harry corrected, "They were never together. It was a one-time thing with them. I'm pretty sure she's told you that too."

Draco nodded; this whole sharing thing wasn't going as planned. They were supposed to be bitching and whinging about her, turning her into evil spawn. Instead, they were being logical and fair, and making sense of the whole situation.

"Besides, she's totally in love with you." Ron said finally speaking up and surprising them all, "I've known her for a while now, and I was the unlucky bastard that followed those three. Nothing ever happened between us; she told you that, right?" Draco nodded and Ron continued, "And none of them, or me, gave her that spark she now has in her eyes. You're blind if you don't see it."

Draco was staring at him, dumbfounded, "I don't think she's in love with me."

"I'm pretty sure she is," Harry was nodding, agreeing with Ron, "I've never seen her this alive."

Draco thought about the last time they were together, when he was watching her fall apart beneath him; it was in that exact second he realised how much he was in love with her. He had whispered those three little words to her as she fell asleep, tasting the words on his tongue, and discovering that they felt real. He'd laid there for almost an hour after she fell asleep. She was wrapped around him, her head on his shoulder, and he knew he needed nothing more.

He assumed she hadn't heard him whisper to her; she'd not brought it up. He did want to tell her, but he was worried it was too soon, that he'd scare her away. But if what Weasley said was true, and she loved him back, he had royally fucked this up.

But still, he wasn't completely at fault, she had referred to him as being like Lucius, and he told his friends as such.

"You're right," Harry agreed, "I imagine she would have been angry, but she does need to apologise, she should never have said that. But neither of you are going to fix this if you're not speaking to each other.

Harry was right – and he hated when Harry was right – they needed fix this.

"You're right," Draco said "We need to fix this."

"Well, it's gonna have to wait," Ron pointed out, "We have a riveting History Class to get to."


Hermione woke up alone. Again.

After two weeks she knew for sure that she hated sleeping alone. She didn't think that after such a short time of sharing a bed with someone that she would so miss having a body beside her. Draco's presence each night since New Year's had been a comfort, he made her feel safe. Whether they were in his bed or hers, it made no difference. She simply wanted him near her.

In the time that had passed since she'd accused him of being like his father, she had barely seen him. Other than in their classes, or during Heads of School meetings, he avoided her. He wasn't giving her a chance to apologise, to sit down and talk rationally about what had happened, and it was driving her crazy.

She had heard his door quietly close an hour earlier; it had become the routine. He would leave early and return late, avoiding their dorm completely, if (she assumed) he thought she was there. She had tried to catch him in the first few days, but had long since given up. Clearly he didn't want to see her.

She dragged herself out of bed, and a lazy glance at the clock let her realise she would be late. Fuck she thought and looked longingly back at her bed. She could simply crawl back in there and disappear for the day. Of course McGonagall would instantly be here, along with all the others, to see why she wasn't in class. She had never missed one in her entire time at Hogwarts, and no matter what had happened between them, Draco Malfoy would not be the reason she missed her first ever class.

She showered quickly and headed for the hallway that led to her History of Magic class. She rounded the corner and was stopped in her tracks. Draco was speaking to a seventh year Ravenclaw girl, who was smiling and nodding, a genuine look of delight on her face. She had seen him talking to her two days ago, in the same hallway, but that time she'd taken very little notice of them. This time her blood was boiling at the sight.

Draco looked up, noticing her watching them; his face remained blank and impassive. He turned away and continued conversing with the girl, who also had noticed Hermione, although, unlike Draco's nonchalance, she looked slightly terrified.

Who the hell was she, and what was he doing with her? Hermione glared at them both, before storming past them.

She headed for the end of the hall, where Professor Binns would be waiting to start their History of Magic class. She stormed into the room, avoiding her usual front row seat and sitting way in the back, as far away from everyone as she could. Since the class was that of the eighth years and had so few students, she had the entire back row to herself, and most of the one in front of her. Her actions caused a rippled whisper through the class. Hermione never sat in the back, no matter how boring the class was. Harry and Ron looked back at her, but she had her head down and refused to acknowledge anyone. Pansy moved to stand, but Harry stopped her with a shake of his head. Hermione was clearly in no mood to be near anyone, so it was best they all stayed away.

Draco entered the class a few seconds later, and took a seat on the opposite side of the room. He also sat alone, causing another whisper to spread through the room. The entire class was watching for Hermione's reaction, but feeling all of their eyes on her, she refused to look up. She began writing furiously, scribbling notes about who knows what, and ignoring everyone around her, including the Professor, who had started droning on about the legal acknowledgement of Fairy and Elf rights in 812AD. Hermione had completely tuned out. In her mind she only saw Draco and that girl, talking and smiling. What the hell was he playing at?

Was this Draco's way of getting back at her after he saw her talking to Cassius on Sunday before he left?

She had run into Cassius when she decided she couldn't hide in her room any longer. She had finally ventured outside the dorm, with the plan to hide by the lake, to simply get away from the castle. As enormous as the castle was, she felt enclosed, like she couldn't breathe, so outdoors in the freezing weather would be the perfect place to clear her head.

Cassius had spotted her in the entrance hall.

"Hermione!" he called, "Wait!"

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able pretend that she didn't hear him and make her escape; the entrance hall echoed, and therefore there was no way she could ignore him. She stopped just inside the doors and waited for him to catch up, "Hi Cassius. You're still here?"

"Yeah, Wood wanted to stay and celebrate with the Gryffindors, so I stayed and commiserated with the Slytherins. We're just waiting for Philbert, so we can leave" He told her, "Hey, are you okay?"

"No, not really," she told him, "I was just..." she trailed off, not really wanting to tell him what had happened.

"Do you need some company?" he looked genuinely concerned.

"Draco's pissed at you," She blurted out, close to tears. "He doesn't want you near me."

"Okay," he said slowly, "What happened?"

"He knows about you and me," she looked down at her feet, "And he was pissed off that you sat with me at the game yesterday."

"He knows it was only one time, right, you and me?" he asked, and she nodded, "So what's the problem? "

"He thinks you're after me," she said.

"If you weren't seeing someone, maybe I'd take my chances and pursue you, but you're with Draco, so there's no way. I'm not that guy."

"I know that, but he doesn't." She shrugged, "I got angry and told him he was acting like his father. And he stormed out."

Cassius winced, "Hermione. No. That was way too harsh. He's nothing like his father. I kind of get why he's mad."

"I wish I wouldn't have said it. But I've not seen him to apologise. I'm pretty sure he's avoiding me, and probably will for a few days."

"It might be a good idea to give him some space. I know he's changed, but I'm sure he still has a temper."

She sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"Hey, he'll come around. If he's pissed at me for that one time, then I think he's pretty serious about you."

"Thanks Cassius," she said as he hugged her, "It was good to see you."

Of course Draco had to be standing in the entrance hall with Philbert Deverill, who had stayed to talk to Ginny that morning, when Cassius had hugged her goodbye.

And, of course, several students had noticed when Cassius hugged her, and that it was fairly tense between she and Draco, so naturally the rumours that they had split had spread like wildfire.

Was that what was happening in the hallway? Did the entire female population of the school assume he was single again, and they were free to flirt and make eyes at him? Was he single? Was she? Had they actually split? She wasn't sure how this worked. They'd been sleeping together, in both senses of the word, for almost two months, so did a fight this big simply signal the end? Or did the words need to be spoken? But then there was no chance of that happening any time soon since Draco was avoiding her. She inwardly moaned, she should have just skipped all of her classes today and stayed in bed.

She was so in depth in her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed that Harry had moved to sit next to her. He hadn't spoken, or even cleared his throat to announce his presence, so when she realised he was there, she was startled. Harry had always been there for her, and it appeared this time would be no different. She had avoided him, and the others, staying holed up in her room, not wanting to have to explain what she said. They were all told in no uncertain terms to leave her be when they came to check on her. And despite all of that, Harry was here, sitting beside her. She felt a lump form in her throat and tears prick at her eyes. She lowered her head quickly, hiding her face and wishing this class would end.

Forty five minutes, and her head full of a thousand what if questions later, the class was finally over. She quickly gathered her books and moved in her seat, but Harry put his hand on her arm, silently telling her to sit. They watched as their classmates stumbled out in a sleepy daze, Professor Binns managing to lull the class into a stupor yet again.

She had noticed that Draco had glanced at her on his way out and she searched her mind for the possible meaning in his gaze, but came up blank. He had given her nothing for two weeks, so she was at a complete loss as to why he was suddenly looking at her now.

The Professor looked up at them, "Oh, you're still here."

"Sorry Professor, we got caught up talking about your lesson," Harry lied.

"Well, you best be off then. You don't want to miss lunch." He told them.

"Harry, I don't want to eat in the Hall," Hermione said when they left the classroom, "I can't stand everyone looking at me."

Harry hugged her and kissed her temple, "I figured," he said, "Come on." He led them down several flights of stairs and they wove their way around hallways and corners until they reached a quite alcove near the library.

Hermione sat on the wide stone window ledge and curled her knees to her chest. Harry handed her a sandwich, but she waved it away.

"You have to eat, Hermione," he told her, "When was the last time you did?"

She looked like hell, tired and drawn, and he had assumed the dark circles beneath her eyes meant the nightmares had resumed. But since she was Hermione, she would never admit that she was struggling. He had seen this version of her before; before they returned to school, and long before Draco. The scars that marred her body were insignificant to the ones that resided inside her. She had struggled through the first round of nightmares, casting silencing charms over herself so no one would hear her screams. It took everything Molly Weasley had to get her to finally talk, and since it was Molly that had killed Belatrix, her reassurances that she would never return seemed to finally put Hermione at ease. Molly was the only one who knew the full extent her nightmares, and Hermione refused to speak to anyone else, no matter how much they had tried to comfort her, so if they'd started again, he wasn't sure how he could help without Molly's assistance.

"Yesterday," she said, "I think."

"You think?" Harry shook his head. He knew better than to argue with her, but she had to eat, "One sandwich. It's not that hard."

She took it and placed it near her feet, "I've barley seen him and he won't talk to me. How can I say I'm sorry if he won't even talk to me?"

Harry took a deep breath, "He knows you didn't mean it. He's just angry."

"He spoke to you?" Harry nodded at her, "When?"

"This morning," Harry told her, "We went and found him after you told us all to fuck off."

A small smile graced her lips, "Sorry about that."

"That's okay," Harry told her in a soothing voice, "But this can't keep going. You both need to talk about what happened."

"He told you?' She asked

Harry nodded, "He told us his version. I'm fairly certainly it's accurate."

Hermione felt the tears form in her eyes, "I hate that I said it Harry, but I can't take it back. I wish I could, but I can't. I know he's nothing like his father, but I was so mad at him, it just came out."

Harry squeezed her ankle, "Hey, I know that. You're not a mean person. But he's pretty hurt that you said it. He's made some big changes to get where he is, and even just to say it in anger, Hermione, that's just not you. What's going on?"

"I just don't understand why he won't believe me when I tell him I only want to be with him. I simply cannot see myself with anyone else, and he just doesn't seem to get it."

Harry smiled. Ron was right; she was in love with him. He was certain she hadn't admitted it to herself yet, but there was no denying the fact.

"Well, the Hermione Granger that I know, wouldn't run and hide, she'd face the enemy head on." Harry said.

Hermione smiled, "I haven't faced an enemy like this before."

"Yeah, you have," Harry said with a grin, "This is Draco Malfoy remember? Just punch him in the face, and he'll fall madly in love with you."

Hermione's eye went wide, "What?" she whispered.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Ginny interrupted them, but Hermione ignored her.

"Harry," she said slowly, "What are you saying? Is Draco...?"

Harry's face flushed, realising his mistake, "You need to talk to him. He has to tell you himself."

Ginny scowled at Harry, "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing," Harry told her, but his eyes were focused on Hermione.

"This doesn't look like nothing," Ginny was watching Hermione. She had that serious look on her face that she got when something didn't make sense, "Hermione? Are you okay?"

She looked up, and shook her head, "I'm not sure. I just need to..." she got up and walked away, the frown still on her face.

"What did you tell her?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing," Harry repeated, watching Hermione walk away.

"Is she okay?" Ginny had seen her friend at her lowest and hoped that the stress of whatever was going on with Draco hadn't caused her to take a backwards step.

"I told her she needs to speak to Draco. Hopefully that will help." He told her and took her hand, "Otherwise your mum will be getting an owl telling her to get her as quickly as she can."


Hermione spent the entire afternoon in her own head. The sleepless nights had started to take their toll, leaving her unable to concentrate on anything for any length of time. After wandering aimlessly through the castle, trying – unsuccessfully – to clear her head, she'd arrived back at the heads dorm without even knowing how she'd gotten there.

Harry had implied that Draco loved her, and she was struggling to process her thoughts. She couldn't quite get her tired brain around it. They'd only been together less than two months, he couldn't possibly be in love with her. Could he? Harry had to be wrong. He just had to be.

And the most glaring question was; did she love him? She had tumbled the question over and over in her brain until she felt she'd go mad. But if she was completely honest with herself, she would have to admit that she did love him. She felt it in her entire being. But she was also torn. His jealousy and possessiveness was almost suffocating, but the affection and warmth, the compassion and courteousness that he now carried was a like a breath of fresh air; air that it now seemed she couldn't live without.

Harry had been right about one thing though, she was Hermione Granger and she didn't back down from a fight, even if she was three steps past exhausted. She decided it was time to stop hiding in her room, waiting for him to talk to her. So she took up her usual spot in the common room, spreading her books and parchment across the coffee table and the floor, and then immersed herself in her schoolwork. And she was so completely absorbed that when Draco entered the dorm, she didn't even notice.

"Hey," he said, and she yelped, startled.

"Oh! You scared me," she said, her heart hammering in her chest.

He lifted his hand, a small gesture that said sorry, without having to actually say the word.

"Hey," she said, the awkwardness not dissipating with the small acknowledgement.

Draco stood staring down at her; he hadn't been prepared for her to be sitting in her usual spot. He figured he would knock on her door, and approach her slowly and calmly. But she had thrown him and everything he wanted to say was stuck in his head.

Hermione was staring right back. Her heart was still racing, but she wasn't sure if it was from the scare or that he was standing here in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "You look tired."

"I've not been sleeping," she told him, wanting to say not that you care but biting her tongue. There was a time and place for childish taunts, and this wasn't it.

"Am I to blame for that?"

"Maybe. No," she said and shrugged, "I don't know."

"Sorry," he said, "For everything."

Hermione sighed, and stood, "I'm sorry too, Draco I—"

"Hermione, just let me, please?" He said, "I shouldn't have been jealous. I should have trusted you and believed you. I know you're not interested in him, or anyone else, and I'm not excusing my behaviour, but I just hated seeing you with him. "

"I'm sorry that I said what I said, I truly didn't mean it," she told him, "I was so angry with you for not believing me. But after seeing you today, I guess I know how you felt."

He frowned at her, "How do you mean?"

"That girl you were with, this morning in the hallway."

"Were you jealous?" He tried to keep his face impassive, but failed.

"Of course I was jealous!" Hermione yelled; she didn't take kindly to the smug look on his face, "Go ahead, this is your chance to throw it in my face."

As much as Draco wanted to throw it back at her, he held back, "Hermione, the way you felt when you saw me with her, that's how I felt, probably more so. When I saw you with Warrington, I thought everything in me would explode. And then I saw him hugging you, and it made my skin crawl to watch him touch you."

"Is that why you did that? Talked to her where I would see, to get back at me?"

"Of course not!" He exclaimed, frustrated, "Why would you think that?"

"What the fuck did you expect me to think? We have a fight and you refuse to speak to me, and then I see you with the same girl twice in as many days. I figured you had moved on, that you'd decided to change your one and only status."

"Her name's Amelia. She struggling with Potions and Professor Slughorn asked me if I would help her. She has History of Magic before us, so it was easier to talk to her between classes." Draco said, stopping her rant.

"What?" Hermione took a step back, "Potions? What?"

"I'm helping her with Potions, that's all," Draco remained calm, one of them had to, "I thought you trusted me."

"I do," she said, "But you wouldn't speak to me, so how they hell would I have known that? It's been two weeks Draco. Two. Weeks. Do you know how hard it's been?"

"Yeah, I do." He said, "I hate not being with you. Seriously Hermione, two weeks without you...fuck! I couldn't stand it."

"So why did you avoid me?"

"You said I was like my father. And, I'll be honest, in that moment, I hated you." He admitted.

"Draco, I'm so sorry I said that. I was mad and-" she stopped, "No. There's no excuse for me saying that. I know you're not like him. Sorry."

"I don't want to be him, Hermione, I don't. When you said that to me, I thought that I'd failed, that I had turned into him. So while I was hating you, I was hating myself as well." He gripped her shoulders, "I know you're sorry, and so am I," he took a breath, "I give you my word that I'll try not to be jealous. I can't say it won't happen again, but I'll try my best."

Hermione smiled, "And I'll try not to get mad if you do."

He cupped her face, and she placed her hands on his, "We're okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay."

He leaned down and kissed her gently. "You look busy," he said nodding at the mass of books and parchment spread across the floor and table, "I'll leave you to it." He moved towards the stairs.

"Draco?" he turned around, she was looking at him with a rueful smile, "You're not him."

Draco smiled back at her, and headed up the stairs.


A/N: Cheers for the support, it's much appreciated :)

The little story that was CH1, has taken on a life of it's own...I just hope I can continue to get the words out of my brain and onto the page.