I drug myself to the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table for Scarhead. I had no real reason to dislike Potter, except he was a Gryffindor, the 'Chosen One', and he happened to be the main leader in the 'Golden Trio' who were always disrupting Slytherins lives. Ok so I had a grudge which was why I was more than happy to get him out of Draco's way for awhile. I saw him getting up from the table and striding towards the door purposefully. Luckily Granger and Weasley were staying behind this time making my plan easier. I waited for him to pass and for his friends to find something else to pay attention to and I followed behind him.

I stealthily came up behind him on the deserted second floor landing. He didn't seem to notice, he was focused which was perfect for me. Just as he was about to go up to the third floor I decided to attack.

"Petrificus Totalus." I said and watched him fall to the ground. Not knocking him out as I hoped but definitely leaving a mark.

I covered my face and thanked Merlin for my forethought to not wear my school robes. I snatched his glasses off his face, found his wand and drug him to a near by broom closet. His eyes were shifting around wildly looking for a way out or a way to identify me. I shoved him in, tossed his glasses at his feet and locked the door. I looked around for a good place to put his wand and decided that above the door would work. I quickly got away from the crime scene before anyone could come along and find me.

I reached the Room of Requirement and quickly paced in front to open it. It appeared and a disappeared inside it as soon as possible. I wondered around for a while just thinking about everything that had happened, the guilt and hurt was fresh now that I didn't have other things to think and worry about. I had let myself and Pansy down. I didn't have a best friend or a roommate. I didn't know where to go from where I was.

As I continued to contemplate what to do, I found myself in the small space that held the cabinet we were trying to fix. Draco was walking around it muttering to himself. When he made it back to the front, he noticed me there. I stared at him for a minute and he slowly walked towards me. He stopped just in front of me and I continued to stare up at him with a blank look. Taking me by complete surprise, he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I don't know how he knew but it was exactly what I needed, it also cut through the last of my defenses, I immediately started sobbing into his chest. He held me tighter without saying a word and just rubbed my back until my crying subsided.

He pulled back a bit to look at me, while I was still sucking in deep breaths trying to calm down.

"What's wrong?" He finally said.

"Pansy." I couldn't manage to say anything else.

He hugged me close again and started murmuring how sorry he was. It wasn't his fault but it made me feel better to know he kind of understood. He made me feel like we were in this together and he was there for me. I found myself sighing and melting more into his embrace. He started smoothing my hair back and I closed my eyes enjoying the closeness. I hadn't been this vulnerable with someone in a long time. I noticed my heart was fluttering and while I felt turmoil all around me threatening to close in, my mind was calm and at ease. I realized that right here and right now, I felt safe. This was probably the most laughable thing to feel right now with all the things that were going on in my life. A bubble of laughter broke my lips and before I could stop myself instead of shaking with tears, I was quaking with laughter.

I knew Draco thought I was certifiable right now but I couldn't stop. Maybe I was losing it, cracking from all the pressure. I tried a time or two to control myself but realized it just made me laugh harder. I pulled away from Draco and went to sit on the couch to ride out this laughing fit. Draco seemed to withdraw a little when I no longer touched him; I finally sucked in a deep breath and looked at him.

"Sorry about that. I think I'm losing my mind."

"I'd have to say that yes you're definitely bonkers."

"Ah well, better to be crazy then boring… or a Gryffindor."

"Still a Slytherin at heart at least, I see. So do you want to tell me what exactly happened?"

"Pansy confronted me, told me she knew about us, but apparently she didn't know the whole story. I ended up saying more than I should've and she flipped out, told me to find a new roommate."

"Well, at least you no longer have to keep that giant secret but I bet that really sucks."

"Thanks for your at least semi-empathetic response."

"It's better then what I normally say, so you'd best appreciate it. What about Potter?"

"I still took care of that before I decided to come in here and break down."

"Ok well thank you for that. I'm sorry but I'm not a touchy feely person, my family obviously isn't that way, so I don't really know what else to do."

"You did great actually. Thanks for being there for me. Now if only you could find me somewhere to stay."

"Well the boys dorm isn't off limits to girls you know."

"Ha! Nice try. I appreciate your help but I'm not going to sleep with you in either sense of the word."

"You realize that you'll have to eventually when we get married."

"Yeah well it can wait until then. I only wish I had other friends who were girls. Ugh."

"Well…you could sleep here. There's a bed back in the mess away."

"Show me?"

He grabbed my hand and drug me through a few rows of debris to a giant four-poster bed. Other than being dusty, it was pretty much perfect. I looked at Draco as he assessed my reaction so I decided to through him another curveball and I leaped and hugged him. True to form, he hesitated before embracing me back awkwardly. I kissed his cheek and pulled back.

"Thank you, you've truly been a huge help. Now how about you tell me what you've been up to with that wonderful cabinet of ours."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him grin a little when I said 'ours'. I had to admit I did a little too. I didn't feel nearly as conflicted about these flare ups of affection between us now that Pansy knew. Even though she was furious, and rightly so, I didn't feel like I was lying to everyone now. The weight off my shoulders was amazing and I felt much better. I looked over at the blonde boy who I use to think of as the coldest, worst person on this planet. Instead of hate and revulsion, I felt warmth and butterflies, quite the change. Wherever this was going, other than the obvious marriage, I was interested to see. Maybe we wouldn't have a completely miserable marriage, maybe we could even manage to be friends. While I didn't admit it even to myself, I almost hopped we could be something more as well.