"Well you look really happy this morning mate." Blaise smiled at me as I sat across from him at the table in the Great Hall, I made sure that I was facing the Ravenclaw table.

"I am happy this morning Blaise, why wouldn't I be? I've got a gorgeous girlfriend the school year is just beginning, so I'm free from my parents. And then I get to have breakfast with you." I ended sarcastically, "Which is just the cherry on the sundae for me." Blaise grinned and shook his head at me.

"It's something else. You're happier than usual. Did Grey let you slip it to her?" I wrinkled my nose at the crass description.

"Not that this is any concern of yours, but no, I have not had sex with Gray. I'm just happy." Blaise threw me a skeptical look as I loaded my plate up with food.

"Sure Draco, I'm so sure." I rolled my eyes at him and started chowing down. Blaise launched into a story about Candy Floss, as I thought of her. And how he convinced her to have sex with him in an alley in Hogsmeade and then how she had gotten upset at herself for doing it and lashed out at him. He was nearing his fill of Candy Floss and I didn't blame him. I looked up and saw Gray leaving the Great Hall. She threw a look at me and I winked at her. She smiled widely before she disappeared with Miranda. My heart sunk I wanted to keep her in my sights. I instantly felt stupid for having the thought. Blaise ended his tirade and looked at me expectantly. "So you think I should end things with Sherrie?" He asked.

"Sherrie?" I asked. Blaise chortled out a laugh.

"Candy Floss," He clarified.

"Oh, Candy Floss, yes end things she sounds ridiculous."

"She's an amazing lay though." He debated.

"Is that all you want? You just want someone to have sex with? You don't want anything more?" I asked. "Because if that's all you want you can stay with Candy Floss." Blaise looked vexed over the issue.

"I don't want what you have…that's a lot of commitment, especially since we're still in school. I want something a little deeper than what's happening now though; someone who I can actually talk to."

"So you want friends with benefits?" I asked.

"I guess so." He shrugged.

"Well good luck with that." I shoveled a few more mouthfuls of breakfast in before standing. "I have some homework to do. I'll talk to you later Blaise." He nodded and I quickly made my way into my dorm. I spent the afternoon working away, trying, and mostly failing to keep my mind off of Gray. When lunch time finally rolled around I gratefully set my homework aside and made my way up to the Great Hall. Gray was already sitting at Ravenclaw table so I made my way over to her. I sat next to her and slid my arm over her shoulder. "Hey gorgeous."

"Hey Dray." Her voice was quiet and unfocused, she wasn't looking at me.

"Is something the matter?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"I'm just tired. I didn't get as much work done as I wanted, so I'll probably be busy till dinner." She responded glumly. I got the sense she was not telling me the truth.

"Well that's kind of crappy. But that's fine, I didn't get all the work done I wanted to either. I could always force you into a nap." I smirked down at her. She threw a weak smile back.

"Sounds nice, but I can't. So much work." I nodded. We ate in silence, and I felt awkwardness between us and knew I had to do something to fix it. Gray was about to get up and I grabbed onto her wrist.

"Gray I'm not obtuse; I can tell something is wrong. I'll give you until after dinner to sit and think about it, but then we are going to talk." I said. She looked at me mysteriously, I had no clue what was behind the expression. She finally sighed and nodded.

"Okay Draco. I'm sorry, it's something totally ridiculous. You're going to think I'm stupid."

"Are you seriously going to leave on that?" I asked.

"I have to. I'm sorry. I promise I'll talk to you about it after dinner. We can go out to the lake, okay?" I squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes, there was fear there, and that was odd for her.

"Okay, after dinner then, although I won't be able to focus on anything until then."

"I'm sorry." She whispered. I let go of her wrist and watched as she walked off. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I got up and shuffled off towards my room. When I got there I locked the door and flopped onto the bed. A bed where less than twenty four hours ago Gray had been moaning my name, and professing her love for me, now she was acting weird and calling herself stupid. I ran a hand over my face and groaned. This was not good.


The seconds felt like minutes, and in every minute an hour, and I could do absolutely nothing but sit and worry about what was going on with Gray. "Fuck!" I groaned for about the millionth time. I got out of bed when the dinner hour finally rolled around. The only reason I was going was to see Gray, stress had made me lose my appetite. She wasn't there when I arrived so I went and sat at the Slytherin table. My bad mood seemed to be a repellent to the other students in my house, no one, not eve Blaise approached me. When Gray finally entered the Great Hall I thought I was going to tackle her and make her talk to me. But I managed to keep myself under control. She would not meet my thunderous gaze and that frustrated me all the more.

I watched her until she finished eating and stood immediately and stalked towards her. "Okay Gray it's after dinner and now you're going to talk to me." She nodded and stood, following me silently with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. We were halfway to our spot at the lake and the silence was killing me. "Merlin Gray what is it? Can you at least talk to me? I feel like you hate me right now." Her face thawed a fraction.

"Of course I don't hate you! How could you think that? I'm just really nervous and when I'm nervous I shut up." She shrugged. "I just want to wait till we get to our spot…" She evaded. I groaned softly and her look of fear deepened. I felt bad that I was making it worse, but she was freaking me out. We finally reached our destination and I sat cross legged facing Gray. She still said nothing and avoided eye contact.

"Well Gray, I'm dying of curiosity over here!" She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair before looking at me.

"It's stupid; you're going to think I'm an idiot. I think I'm an idiot." I leant forward slightly and placed a hand on her knee.

"Please tell me. How am I supposed to make you feel better if you don't tell me what's wrong?"

"It's something Miranda told me." She started. I waited her pause in dialogue driving me nuts. "I was telling her about yesterday, and about how I thought sex would be more painful…and she…she said something along the lines of course he would know how to make it good for you. And then went on to insinuate that you had ample experience under your belt, and if you hadn't it wouldn't have been as good of an experience. I mean I guess I knew that you weren't exactly a virgin, but I never really thought about how many girls you have been with. Is it a lot?" She asked. Shit. I was hoping that she wouldn't want to have this particular conversation.

"Gray, do you really need to know that? Would it actually make you feel better?"

"So the number is that high then?" She asked. I sighed.

"It's not a huge number, but it isn't a tiny number either." I hedged. She looked adamant. "Twelve." I said.

"Twelve?" She asked. I couldn't tell from the tone of her voice what she thought of it. "Just how old were you when you lost your virginity?" She asked. I frowned.

"Twelve." I answered again. Her eyes widened.

"You've had twelve girls in three years?" I looked away from her face briefly and nodded.

"How?" She asked.

"Well as I'm sure you can recall sex feels amazing. So after I had it the first time I chased it constantly. And when I was thirteen I had my own dorm room, and a plethora of girls dying for my affections. So…I just went with it. They didn't mean much to me, and you do, so this isn't going to change anything is it?" She was silent. She wouldn't look at me. "Gray, you knew that I had sex before you, so what's the big deal now?" She avoided my gaze.

"Why…why would you want me when you can have anyone, someone who you don't have to teach about sex because I'm so new? A more equal partner; I feel I must be inadequate compared to some of the girls you've had." So this was the crux of the matter.

"You feel inadequate? How could that possibly be? It's better with you because you're not just a body to me. I love you, stupid amounts of love, it makes a huge difference." Her eyes finally sought mine out. I couldn't read her expression. "Would it be better for you if I didn't know what I was doing physically? Would you prefer it if it was really awkward and painful and I lasted like two seconds before coming?"

"I mean, no, probably not. Think of it reversed though. If you were new and didn't know what you were doing, and I did. Would you feel good about that?"

"That's not the same." I answered. "Sex is different for guys than it is for girls. If I were new it would be this horrible fumbling, quick experience. It wasn't that way with you being new. Women are more intuitive when it comes to how to move and what to do. And like I said the feelings behind it are different with you than anyone else. You don't need to feel this way. Look at me Gray." Her eyes darted up to mine and she looked strained. "I wouldn't be bothered if you had been with other guys; it's enough for me that you're with me now." My voice softened and she could finally maintain eye contact with me.

"I told you it was stupid Draco. I don't even know why I'm feeling this way." She blinked and horrifyingly there were tears welling in her eyes.

"Gray, don't cry love! It's not stupid. I understand how you feel, but, I don't know what else to say. I don't know how to make you feel better." I wanted to reach out and comfort her, but I wasn't sure how she would react.

"You should just be mean tell me how stupid I'm being."

"No. You're not stupid. Gray I love you." I waited until she looked at me. "I love you. Please try to remember that." I held my arms open to her and she leant forward into my arms. I pulled her into my lap and stroked a hand over her head. I could hear her sniff and drew back to see tears falling from her eyes. "I feel really bad that you're feeling this way. It's my fault." I looked away from her this time.

"How could this possibly be your fault? It's not like you've ever pretended to be anything you're not. I just…there's too many emotions floating around in me right now. Maybe I rushed this. I shouldn't have made you do that" She curled into my chest. I froze.

"So then you regret it?" I asked. I tried to keep my tone light, but I couldn't deny then pain that was shooting through me.

"Draco…that's not what I….of course I don't…this isn't…" She didn't get a full sentence out, and I felt the sting of rejection, which made me immeasurably angry. My arms released from around Gray and gently pushed her off of me before standing.

"I told you I didn't want to ruin things and have you regret this. Maybe I'm a seer." I spat out more venomously than I mean to. She got to her feet, fire in her eyes for the first time.

"It's not like I forced you to at gun point Draco!" She snarled. "And so I'm feeling a bit confused right now, what's so wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is that you're making me feel like I did something wrong and that you don't want to do this anymore because you are insecure. You couldn't even say that you don't regret it. Do you know how that I feels? I don't regret a single second of the past couple of days, and to know that you do…it cuts Gray." I snapped out the words and ran a hand angrily through my hair. Gray just stood there looking at me. "You don't have anything to say to that?" I asked. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before shrugging.

"What's the point in saying anything to you right now?" She asked. "You're upset and everything I say is getting spun. I'm sorry I'm so inadequate at relationships." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence. I almost relented but my own pain was holding me back.

"You think I do know how to do relationships Gray? I know I've had sex with more people than you, but I never wanted to date any of them. We're both new at this part Gray. I need to go. I'm going to say something I'll regret if I stay. And I know how to avoid things I'll regret." Gray looked affronted, but said nothing as I stalked away. I knew as soon as I had turned my back that neither of us had handled that situation right. The day had exhausted me though, and I couldn't bear to face Gray at the moment. I angrily strode toward the castle and soon enough found myself glaring at the ceiling above my bed. I had to get a handle on my feelings and talk to Gray. There was no way I was going to throw our relationship away now.


AN: Ayiyi trouble in paradise! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter! Special shout out to Pottermouth17 for being and awesome reviewer and making my day. :) Anyway lemme know what you thought. Love all you readers! ~WS