"A pure malt whisky, please" Draco asked the bar tender. After getting out of the restaurant and away from Zabini, the only thought that was in his mind was I need a drink. Whisky wasn't really his favorite, but at least it was strong. Very strong. Enough to make him forget her. And remember who he is.

When his alcohol arrived, he drank it in one shot and ordered another one, which he sipped slowly, lost in his thoughts for yet another time that day.

He reflected on his friends words.

"…I know how to recognize a man in love when I see one…"

"…You deserve happiness…and to be loved…"

No, decided Draco. There was no way his friend was right. He wasn't in love. And he most certainly didn't deserve to be. Nor happiness.

Not after what he had done.

Standing aside is, they say, as much a crime as the act itself. Well then he, Draco Malfoy, was the biggest criminal in the world.

Memories flooded back to his mind. Blood, screams, hate, pain, horror, death. He was lost in turmoil of blackness from which he couldn't come back. It flooded, washed, leashed over him. He was drowning in his own body. He was fighting to breath, to keep his calm. He tried to remember where he was. Tried to keep control. If he lost it, he might very well end up on the floor, curled up in a ball, screaming for his life.

Suddenly, something brought him back to earth. Woke him from his nightmares. His souvenirs. A sound. A marvelous bell ringing, a crystal-clear melody, acting like a light showing him the path away from the darkness.

"Mylord…Hum…I mean, Younglord?"

Draco turned around and saw her. The one whom he been running from all evening. And toward to at the same time.

"Hello Miss Greengrass" he said, trying to keep his voice smooth, clear, and trying to keep it from breaking or showing how happy he was that she was there.

" How lovely to find you here. Though I am asking myself what a lady like yourself is doing in such a place. It might not be safe you know."

"I saw you from outside. I wanted…needed to make sure it was you."

She needed to. Why did these words brought such an intense joy to his hearth?

"Why would you need to make sure?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Be-Because…Because I wanted to see you again" she said. And her honesty brought the young man at lost for words. She had wanted to see him. Longed for it. Just like him.

Suddenly, Draco heard himself mutter: "I, too, have wanted to see you again."

As he registered what he had said, he felt an intense shame at showing his feelings so clearly. Which melted instantly as he saw her bright smile at his words and the small blush growing up her cheeks.

"Why don't you join me for a drink" he proposed.

"That would be…delightful"

He mentioned the barman to come over.

"I will take another glass and this young lady will take…?"

"A glass of hydromel, please." She ordered

When they were served and after he paid for the two drinks, Draco asked her: "You said before that you came in after you saw me, but may I ask what you were doing outside at night, alone like this? It doesn't seem safe. Wouldn't you have rather stayed at home and rested after the…accident of earlier" he flinched at his last word, the hate and outraged rage still burning towards the fools who had dared to touch her.

She, though, didn't seem to mind. " I have told you before, younglord. I do not hold grudges. I am an easy forgiver. As for staying home and resting, I would have done so had I not been prevented that my brother had gone after my attackers. I simply couldn't let him roam this street in a vengeance attempt. What if he had found them? I know him well enough to know he is capable of furies that would put to shame even the most badly-tempered. I would not bear him doing something that may be held against him on my behalf."

"So you went after him? But then, did you find him, if you have the time to stay with me?"

"Yes, I found him and calmed him down enough to send him home."

"Didn't you go with him?"

"Yes. But when I saw you, well…I told him to go along, that I had seen a friend to whom I wished to speak. He seemed disproving but then I said you were the one who had helped me earlier and he said he wished to speak to you. I said I wished to speak to you first. Alone."

"And what did he answer?"

"That it was not conventional. A girl alone in a bar talking to someone she had ever met once. But I made my point by saying that had you been ill-willed, you would have acted earlier on. And so, he let me at one condition."

"Which is?"

"That you, and your family and or the people you are staying with of course, should accompany us for dinner tomorrow night."

He chuckled slightly. She had made her story; talked, kept his interest, making her seem innocent enough. Yet she had had a goal whole time. How very…slytherin-ish of her.

"Will you accompany us to dinner tomorrow Younglord?" She asked on a very soft voice.

Draco thought of it. And realize there was nothing to think about. He wished to see her again more than anything and here she was, giving him what he wanted so desperately on a silver plate.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? Getting the chance to see you once again and to meet your family, which must be lovely if they have raised a daughter such as you."

The smile that brought his response made Draco's hearth fill with joy; he thought it might explode.

"Then, meet us at the Rose Rouge tomorrow at seven." She said.

She smiled and added "I look forward to seeing you. Draco Malfoy."

With that she stood up, curtsied and left, without leaving him a moment to react. She was already outside by the time he had gotten to his feet.

He couldn't help the small, soft, indulgent smile that crept on his face.

That was when he realized. Zabini had been right all along.

He really was in love with her.