CHAPTER 21-HONEST DISCUSSION
Winter had left Draco at the boy's dormitory and gone down to the common room to wait for Blaise since she knew it needed to be done. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt as she wasn't about to dress up nice for him and pulled her hair into a ponytail. The common room still had a few people scattered around but not as many as there had been earlier that day. Winter took one of the free couches and waited for Blaise to arrive, wondering what exactly he had planned. She watched the crackling of the fire and crossed her legs, bobbing her foot back and forth.

It still was unbelievable to her that Blaise had scared off potential boyfriends; she wondered what his actual reasoning was and planned to confront him about it. She had always been honest with him, about everything; it was his turn to be honest with her.

"Winter," said Blaise, and Winter turned around on the couch and saw Blaise standing behind her. "I didn't think you'd really meet me."

"Despite everything we've been friends a long time, I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself," Winter replied.

"Come on then and let's go have dinner."

Winter stood and when Blaise attempted to reach for her hand she clasped them both behind her back. He frowned but kept walking and led her out of the common room and down the stairs to the bottom floor. Then he left the school, instead going out to the grounds and leading Winter over to the lake. When they got closer she saw a blanket lain out and a bottle filled with blue fire was lighting up the area. Blaise took a seat on the blanket and Winter sat across from him, wondering how they were going to stay out here long with the curfew.

"I picked out your favorite foods," said Blaise, getting into a basket that was off to the side of the blanket and setting a plate full of food in front of her and then him. She saw it was Shepherd's Pie with a side of salad with double the tomatoes as she loved tomatoes. It surprised her a bit that Blaise knew that Shepherd Pie was her favorite dish, she had never expressly stated it to him that she remembered. It was one of the dishes that Shay had first made when she became their house elf and Winter had asked for on any special occasion that she could find, even if she had to make up that it was her imaginary friend's birthday.

"It looks good," said Winter, dipping her fork into the pie and taking a bite. It was delicious as she had expected, the only difference she noted was that it was absent a spice that Shay secretly added and never told about.

"I have a friend that helped me talk the house elves here into preparing it for me."

"You always did have friends in all places."

Winter snacked on the salad next tasting a type of sweet nut that made it taste even better than usual. She remembered that the last time Shay had made her Shepherd's Pie was when she got her letter from Hogwarts detailing the supplies she'd need for the new year. Winter had made the event special just to get Shepherd's Pie even though there really wasn't anything significant about it. She took a few more bites of the pie knowing that once she brought this next subject up to Blaise she may not feel like eating after. Once she had swallowed her last bite she set her fork down and looked up at Blaise.

"Did you threaten Adrian Pucey to break up with me?" asked Winter. Blaise had been taking a drink when Winter asked and coughed a few times as if the question had caused him to choke.

"What are you talking about?" asked Blaise, setting his drink down.

"You know what I'm talking about, Blaise."

"He wasn't right for you; if he could be scared off by me then he wasn't good enough for you."

"You scared guys off from me all through school, how could you do that? Do you realize that it made me think there was something wrong with me that no guy in this entire school wanted to touch me?"

"I was trying to stop you from getting hurt."

"I should be able to make my own decisions about what happens to me. Why does everyone think I need to be protected? And better yet, how do they not realize that by trying to not let me get hurt, they in fact hurt me themselves?"

"People do stupid things when they're in love."

"Then they should have said something before it was too late."

"It's not too late, Winter," said Blaise, scooting closer to her. "I still love you, I've loved you for a long time and I'm not going to just give you up."

"You don't have a choice," Winter replied. "I don't love you in that way, Blaise, I have never seen you as anything but a brother. Nothing you say or do is going to change my mind."

"You aren't even giving me a chance."

"I'm giving you a chance now, I agreed to your dinner, I'm hearing you out but nothing has changed. My feelings for you are still the same; if there has been any change at all it's that I'm starting to love you less."

"If Draco wasn't in this picture I know that you would see that you do love me."

"This has nothing to do with Draco, whether I was with him or not my feelings for you wouldn't be any different."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know how I feel, these are my feelings, mine, I should know them well enough to know that I don't like you as anything more than a friend. Bollocks, Blaise, I used to tell people you were my brother!"

"That's when we were young and you didn't understand."

"Maybe but now I tell people you are like my brother; there is not much difference in that."

"But I'm not your brother, that is a big difference."

Winter groaned and stood up, not being able to take arguing with Blaise any longer.

"I'm sorry, Blaise, but I can't do this," said Winter. "I don't know how many ways I can tell you that I don't love you and don't want to marry you. I'm still up for being friends and I always will be because I care about you but I won't argue with you anymore. When I came here I hoped I could make you understand all of that but you won't listen, when you feel like actually caring what I have to say talk to me then. If not then leave me alone and leave Draco alone, goodnight, Blaise."

Winter turned around and began to walk off but Blaise grabbed her by the arm and spun her around, making her face him.

"I love you, Winter, I really love you," Blaise said, and Winter tried to pull out of his grip. "Draco can never love you the same way I do, how can you even trust him to after everything you've heard about him?"

"Because I gave up believing in gossip now, I get the facts before I make assumptions," Winter replied.

"They're not assumptions, I was Draco's best friend and he told me things. He's not as innocent as he appears to be, he cheated on Pansy and he is going to cheat on you, that's just his way."

"Then I'll ask him and he'll tell me the truth because we trust each other."

"You only think that, Draco doesn't trust anyone and you'd be barmy to put your trust in him."

"Just like I was when I put my trust in you?"

Blaise's eyes darkened at that and Winter just stood there, waiting until he let her go as her squirming was doing nothing.

"You'll see I'm right soon," Blaise said, releasing her. "You want to experience hurt and pain then go ahead, I won't help you this time."

Winter glared and Blaise and turned around heading back into the castle not even bothering to think on one thing that Blaise had said.