Hey, you guys know the drill. And, btw, yes, allycatwhatever, Leia's story about losing her virginity was strategic in her character and her thoughts about sex and sexuality. Read, enjoy, review, tell your friends. Love.

Chapter 7

Lay My Head Down by Band of Skulls

She was surprised how much a good night's sleep made her feel. She was sharper, quicker, and slightly cheerier. Leia even saw a visible difference in Draco. His skin didn't look nearly as gray as it did yesterday. She got Snape to fix her bed the next day, reluctantly. With no vital need for a common room sleepover, she slept in her bed that night. Well 'slept' is stretching it. She laid in her bed pretending like sleep would come. Finally, she drifted off to a few hours of sleep with thoughts of what she and Draco could have been doing together if she'd gone down and 'chatted' again.

The next morning Leia woke feeling as crappy as ever, and drifted through breakfast on 3 hours of sleep. Her eyes glazed over to Draco and friends to find him looking just as shitty as she felt. The next time she fully opened her eyes, she was in Potions and a note had appeared in front of her. It was folded neatly and had the letters 'LEIA' written in fine calligraphy. It took a moment to register that this note was intended for her and that she was meant to open it. Inside the message read:

"Please visit me again tonight. I think you need a proper night's rest just as much as I do. I apologize for what will happen when this message disappears.

-D"

The note then turned into a crude drawing of something Leia refused to look at. She tore it into pieces before giving it a real glance. She frowned at Draco, keeping up an act, and threw the parchment into the bin. Theo didn't bother to ask what was on the note. Part of Leia wondered if he had already known.

She waited until she felt that the girls were asleep, and then with the help of a silencing charm, snuck out of the girl's dorm. Draco was waiting for her on their couch, holding the same book, but this time carried a pen and was scribbling notes alongside text.

He was still in his uniform black dress shirt and forever perfectly pressed trousers. Leia sat facing Draco with her legs bent, knees touching the edge of his book. She was in her silk black and white striped J Crew pajamas the cuffs of her shorts lying right above her knee.

"Did you tell Theo?" Leia asked in a smooth voice.

"No, but he's probably got it all figured out already." Draco murmured as he lent towards Leia. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment.

"How does he know everything?" She said keeping her eyes closed.

"No idea. But it becomes annoying when he guesses your masturbating material correctly on the first try."

Leia laughed while her eyes fluttered open.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're not preparing for the Quiddich game this weekend against Gryffindor. It will be Ron Wesley's first and they won't stop talking about it."

"Oh… I quit. I haven't gone to a practice this year. I've also been relieved of my Prefect duties."

"You're quite the rebel now. Just wondering, it's not like I would have gone anyway."

Leia closed her eyes again and snuggled into his shoulder.

When did I become this affectionate to anyone, ever?

She opened her eyes when she felt a blunt object drawing lines into her knee. She opened them to find Draco finishing a perfect spiral on the outside of her left knee. She made a noise of surprise.

"Did you have a stencil that I didn't see or something?"

Draco laughed.

"No I practice almost obsessively. Like, it's as if drawing the perfect downward spiral would cause the opposite effect on my life. Sometimes all I really want is an imperfect journey up and out of all of this."

Leia was surprised at how poetic that sounded.

"Imperfect?"

"Perfection is overrated. I can imagine perfection and live it in my dreams. There are no plot twists in perfection. Perfection makes for a bad story."

"Does that work? Drawing perfect downward spirals?"

"Well you're here right?"

Leia rolled her eyes.

"I really enjoy sleeping." She said trying to avoid any hints of personal enjoyment in Draco's presence. But she wasn't trying very hard.

"I find you oddly comfortable. You don't look it though."

"I guess it helps that you're now just as boney as I am without Quidditch. Not that I'm complaining. Maybe our boney-ness cancels each other out or something."

She sensed Draco smile as he nuzzled his head against her.

"I talked to Pansy. Have things been better?"

Leia paused for a moment. Nothing had happened since the mud incident.

"No news is good news, but thank you. How's the refurbishing going?"

"No news."

"That doesn't sound good news."

Draco wrapped an arm around Leia.

"The good news is I'm here with you... I can feel your eyes rolling, but I mean it."

Leia laughed quietly. She had rolled her eyes.

They sat in enjoyable silence until Leia lightly murmured.

"Harry is obsessing about you again. While this next bit might seem like advice from the enemy, I wouldn't discourage you from acting civil towards them or at the very least indifferent. You might want to try the idea of making it at least difficult for them to hate you. I know it's made worse by the fact that Harry refuses to understand such a concept, but all I'm saying is it wouldn't hurt to not call Hermione a filthy mudblood when she picks up a book you dropped... Just a thought."

Draco sighed and Leia immediately regretted her suggestion. She wondered if he would push her away and spit ugly words at her. She prayed that the venerability that they've shown each other thus far wouldn't be thrown away in one breath.

"I wish I could. It's impulsive. And if I don't say awful things then they doubt my loyalty. I'll say things I don't even understand and somehow in their twisted logic it means that I'll die for their cause. I say things all the time and I can't believe I said them."

Leia laughed a little.

"I know that feeling, especially when I'm with you. But they're not lies. It's blurted out truths and confessions. Sometimes words fly out of my mouth and I see them before me and wonder who said them. I realize it's me and want to shove them back into my mouth. But you take them."

Leia stopped when she realized just what she had said. She just described the feeling she was currently feeling. She might as well have said, 'I trust you, Draco Malfoy, possible death eater, bully, general ass hole, and son of magical Hitler's BFF.'

"Thank you," he said in a quiet voice, "You-"

His voice broke in tears.

Wut.

He can cry?

He does that?

Leia's mind came up with a thousand reasons for these tears: he loves you, he's never had someone trust him like that before, he just heard that Tupac died, he trusts you but is unable to show it, he has a really sad Adele song suck in his head, his dad's in prison, his mother is in a depressed state since his father's incarceration, he cannot get the Dora theme song unstuck from his head and that's super frustrating, a family member of his died, he has a pain in his side, this restoration project is a metaphor for his life, he's still upset that Kurt Cobain died... Or he's a death eater. He doesn't deserve your trust and he knows it.

Leia focused on the Tupac one. She cried about that too.

Draco dropped his book and pen on the floor. They shuffled to a horizontal position on the couch, similar to their last position, but this time they faced each other. Leia nuzzled her head on his chest and Draco pressed his face into the top of her hair. She felt tears wet her hair and warm arms around her. Within minutes she felt the tears dry and sleep melt over her.

They woke up in a similar manner to the other morning, but minus the morning wood. They parted with bittersweet goodbyes. Their days weren't satisfying without one another.