Draco POV:

Once I'd wrapped my head around this fact, I went back to thinking about what Mia had said earlier. The most important things in any kind of relationship to her were honesty and trust...

Honesty: that was sure to kill me right there. But I had to prove to her that I had those qualities, or she would never even give me a chance. I had two options: hide things from her and pray she never found out, or be completely honest with her.

Neither of these two ideas appealed much to me. Mia was smart; I didn't believe for a second that I would be able to keep many secrets for very long without her getting wind of it. Maybe though... maybe I could be truthful about some big things, so that she can trust me, and just keep the important stuff hidden. That could work. So first that required telling her the honest truth of some things.

"Hey Mia," I said, fiddling with my hands, "I have a confession. You said how honesty and trust are so important to you, right? Well I want you to be able to trust me and I realize that that means I'll have to be honest with you about things. Well the truth is, I lied to you earlier."

"About what?" she asked, staring intently at me.

So far she seemed to be rather relaxed about it. I hope I could some good points in her book for doing this. I realized quickly that fiddling and being nervous was not the way to go. Mia was the kind of girl who would only respect someone who faced what was coming with no evident nerves (when it was their own fault). Someone who stared back at her as intently and honestly as she was. And that's what I did.

"The other day, when I found you crying in the corridor, I wasn't coming back from the restroom. I was in the Great Hall with everyone else. I saw you dash out and you looked so... distressed. I wanted to help. And since none of your friends rose to the occasion, I ended up following you. I just didn't tell you because I thought it might seem creepy to you, but I swear it's not like that."

Mia seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. She began to absentmindedly twist the only ring she wore.

"Thank you," she said finally, "for admitting that. And for doing that for me. I really do appreciate them both." A slight pause. "Now that you know my feelings about honesty and all that though, can you just be honest about everything from now on? I'd even much rather you truthfully tell me you don't want to talk about something than make up a lie just to satisfy me. Sound good?" I nodded in understanding.

"Also," Mia continued, "if you ever have any major problems with me, be it a personality trait or something I say or whatever, just be straight up and tell me. That's the only way things can possibly get solved."

"Come now Mia, you should know by now that I'm gladly very straight up like that with people," I smirked, "You shouldn't even need to tell me that."

"I guess that's true, but there's no harm in making sure," was the cheerful response.

Suddenly- Bong! Bong! Bong! The familiar sound of Slughorn's clock rang out all through the room. I felt my heart drop.

Mia POV:

The clock rang out, telling everyone that the time was now 9:00pm. I felt a sad feeling pass through me and I looked over at Draco. He didn't look too thrilled either.

"Well, I guess we're done here."

"Yeah," he said simply.

"Draco… can we please keep this relationship? I like being friends with you here. I don't want the fact that we'll only see each other in classes change that."

That really was my worst fear; that things would just go back to normal and I'd never get to see this side of him again.

"I'll try my best Mia but… I just can't be the same with you around other people. I can't. Maybe we could see each other sometimes outside of classes."

"Why can't you act the same around other people? Is it because of your reputation?" I demanded angrily, standing up. Draco followed suit.

"No! It's not my reputation. That isn't it. Look, I can't explain it. I just can't. I would if I could, but I can't. Please trust me. It's not because I'm worried of soiling my reputation. Eventually I'll tell you why all this is true, but I can't talk about it now. Please? Trust me?" His grey eyes held such a pleading glance that I couldn't say no.

"All right… it still hurts though…" I muttered.

"I know; I'm sorry," he said quietly before firmly stepping forward and enveloping me in a hug.

I was momentarily surprised by this new development but I quickly relaxed into his chest. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and he did the same for me. Just like I'd already found out about his hands, Draco was rather warm. I on the contrary am generally cold, so the warmth was comforting. Draco rubbed my back a few times and then drew back.

If I'd thought I was surprised by the hug, I was shocked when Draco gently reached out and held my face in his hands while kissing the top of my head. My heart beat thunderously and my palms began to sweat.

Why was I reacting like this? Draco was simply acting… like an older brother. Something like that. Why were my damn hormones acting up? I had the crazy urge to just reach up and kiss him, but I knew this was just my teenage emotions getting the better of me. I instead just smiled and held out my hand.

"Come on," I said, "Let's head out of here." He smiled and grasped the offered hand. With me leading the way, we strolled out of Slughorn's office together for the last time, hand in hand.