Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just this plotline.

I whip my head around to face him when he said that, "I would never do anything to endanger you. If you keep my confidences, then I will do the same with yours." I look at his hand resting between us, "You know Draco, you aren't so bad after all. You just put up a front when around people who could relay information about your behavior to your father. And after what you said, I have no doubt the threat of punishment made you as callous as you were…or are, I am not sure yet. With threat of all but torture, I would do the exact same." I gently touch the tips of my fingers to that hand between us, "You are one of the bravest people I know, Draco Malfoy."

"You would not do something that would bring me pain? I thought that was what you and your two little friends wanted." It is my turn to let my jaw drop, how the hell could he think I would do such a thing, to anyone?

"How could you even suggest that I would do something that would deliberately put someone in a position to that would make them suffer? It is Harry and Ron that wish for your demise, not me. I could never want that pain inflicted on anyone…except for maybe Voldemort. Now that bastard deserves all the pain in the world for what he has done." I take my hand off of his, clenching it into a fist at the thought of that vile creature that dares to walk among the living after what he has done to the world.

His hand grips mine, gently easing it out of the fist. "You cant blame me for thinking what I did, you have been part of the group that has tried to do nothing but ruin my life here at Hogwarts. Sure you never really did anything…besides hitting me back in third year. By the way, that really hurt, you have a decent right hook." I loosen my hand even more at this.

I look up at his face, clasping his hand in mine. "I know that I have not given you any reason for changing what you have thought about me, but that does not mean you should just make assumptions about people you have not take the time to understand. Even after you have insulted me, and others like me, year after year, I do nothing to you. I do not say a word. Yes the things you have said hurt, but that would be no reason for me to retaliate." I brush the fingers of my other hand across his cheek, "I am sorry for hitting you, you know. I was just angry at what was happening to Buckbeak. He was an innocent creature, he just felt threatened. No offense, but you were the stupid one to approach without taking the necessary precautions. You were the reason he attacked."

His other hand catches mine when it is brushing against his cheek, "I realized that same thing after you punched me. You really knocked some sense into me that day. But as you now know, I had to act the way I did. My father has spies hidden in the school to monitor my behavior, I could not slip up for a moment without the looming threat of punishment hanging over my shoulder."

I tear my hand, and my gaze from him. "Why are you being so kind to me now? Why all of a sudden, I just don't understand this at all. You confuse me to no end Draco."

I can hear him take in a breath, no doubt trying to figure out how to answer me. "You are not the same person I have known for nearly six years. You are completely different right now. Even though I do not know you well, I can tell that something is bothering you."

I tense up, if someone who does not really know me can see that something is wrong, what will the people who really know me think? I star out the window again, "Things are different for me now. I don't know what to make of my life anymore. I don't know what to believe."

"What do you mean? How could it be different for you now?"

"I have done hours of research on muggle-borns, and how well they can control magic. My ability of control is unheard of for a muggle-born witch. Things have just been adding up lately, and I am beginning to believe that I am not the Granger's daughter, at least not by blood." My eyes go blank as my thoughts recede into the depths of my mind.

"What would make you think that?"

I keep my blank stare focused on the world outside of the train. "I look nothing like them, or anyone else in the family. I am the only one with that can use magic, before my eleventh birthday we all thought magic was just a myth. There is nothing in my home recording my mother's pregnancy, I couldn't even find my birth certificate. There is no record of my birth." I turn around to face him, a stray tear traveling down my face. "There are no pictures of me as a baby, nothing. It's like I did not exist before the age of three. It makes sense that I am not their daughter, they do not love me like a parent would…when I received my letter six years ago they wanted nothing to do with me. Each and every year I have had to gather my things and find a way to the train station by myself. They are always out of town…country more like it. They want nothing to do with me, and this part of my life."

He gently wipes away my tear, his arm going around my shoulder. "Shh…everything is going to be alright. If you want I will do whatever I can to help you figure this thing out."

I look up at his eyes, "You would risk your own safety to help me? Why would you do such a thing?"

He pulls me closer to him. "You are such a strong person, you always have been in the time I have known you. And to see you in such a state is not something I would want for anyone. To not know the truth, to not know who you really are. I would risk everything to help the only one to ever stand up to me. I would do whatever to help the only one that has ever treated me as a person that is not my father. I have always been thought of as Lucius' son, never Draco. And you are the only one to notice that I am not him."

"Then I ask for your help, I need to know who I am."