A/N Just a quick update- so far more votes are asking for Sophie to go light side. Though there was one request for her figuring out some third path, which is something that I'll take into consideration. There's still plenty of time for the votes to shift, but that's where we're at right now (: Thanks to voters Alpha-Wolf619, Guest, callieakerman13, and DeathUser

Dear Jessie,

I decided that today felt like one of those days where I really should be going to class, if only so I don't fail the exams at the end of the year and get kicked out entirely. I know we've sort of reconciled, but I'm still not sure that I'm ready to meet you face to face. I'm not sure that I ever will be.

For exams, I've heard a few people mention owls and newts. I don't really know what either of those mean. I'm pretty sure that one is just for underclassmen and one's for upperclassmen. Hell if I know which is which. But I'm thinking that failing them would mean flunking out of school. If it didn't, then what would be the point of even having final exams at all?

So I started to head towards the class that I was pretty sure I was supposed to be in at the time. But I sort of ended up getting distracted along the way. Honestly at this point, I don't know why I haven't just been kicked right out of this school yet. It's not like I'm really doing anything that important or useful. Sorry, I'll get back to the point of all of this.

When I was walking down the hallway, I spotted Hermione. She spotted me too, and didn't really question why I wasn't in class. She probably just assumed that it was my free period too. I smiled at her. 'Hey,'

She smiled back! 'Hey. I haven't seen you around for a bit. Is everything okay with you?' She was showing so much concern towards me! That's a very positive sign. I think.

I nodded. 'Yeah, I'm fine. I've just had a lot on my mind lately. A lot of things to think about. I should probably start focusing a bit more if I don't want to be kicked out of the school.'

She gave me a sympathetic look. 'Yeah, things can get sort of tricky around here. Or more accurately, things get too boring to even bother paying attention to anymore.' She chuckled. 'Anyways, you're just learning all of the stuff that we did last year, so if you ever find yourself needing help with anything, then you can come to me. I'd like to think that I've gotten pretty good at studying, no matter how unpredictable things get sometimes.'

I swear, I thought that my heart was actually going to stop. She had just offered to help me study. I don't know if the slang is a bit different around here, but I know that back home, if someone wants to study with you, you're not really going to be going over any of the class material.

Not that I want to just jump to conclusion. That could make things a bit awkward if it turns out that when she said study, she really did just mean study. I didn't want that to just be the end of the conversation, though. Even if we didn't talk about a single important thing, it would still be one of the better conversations I've had before. 'So how's all your schoolwork coming along?'

Hermione grinned. 'It's been wild, but I've been pretty successful so far at keeping up with my classes. Mostly it comes down to dividing up your workload so that you never have one day where you need to get everything done. And no matter how much Harry and Ron may complain about my work habits, I can always point out that at least I'm passing my classes.' I laughed in response to that, and it just felt so natural.

'Getting some help would actually be incredible. I'm not sure you manage to handle all of this by yourself.'

Hermione shrugged. "It probably helps that I've been going here for years now, so I've been eased into it, where you've just been dumped in way later than I've ever seen anyone come here.'

I nodded. 'That's true. And I really do appreciate the offer. Trying to learn all of the history stuff is like the hardest part, since we've always grown up learning muggle history. It was bad enough trying to cram all of that in our heads, but now there's not room for anything else.'

Hermione laughed. 'That's true. I guess that's why us muggle borns need to stick together when it comes to History of Magic. Though we do have the upperhand when it comes to Muggle Studies. There's not much in that department we can learn here that we haven't already learned elsewhere in our lives.'

It was such a nice conversation. I wish that we could've just kept talking forever. She was making me laugh, and even more important, I was making her laugh. It was all like some kind of dream come true. Until that dick had to show up and interrupt us. Or am I supposed to call him a prick since I'm in Scotland and they speak funny hear? Eh, I dunno. The point is, I totally wanted to strangle him.

Draco just waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and then slid his eyes back and forth between me and Hermione a few times. I felt completely embarrassed. Didn't he have anything else he could be doing with his life? Anything that didn't involve humiliating me so much?

Apparently he did not. Before he could say anything, though, Hermione put her hands on her hips and stared at him coolly. 'Is there something you need, Malfoy? Trying to harass me again? Still need my help on your little project? If you're not careful, then my guardian angel might show up again.'

Draco's eyes automatically fell on me, but as smart as Hermione is, I don't think that she saw the connection there. Honestly, Draco shouldn't be seeing a connection there either. There's no way he could no that I'm the one who accidentally attacked him that day. If he did, then he wouldn't even bother pretending to be friends with me, let alone actually being friends with me. Not that he's acting like a very good friend right now anyways.

Finally, Draco dragged his eyes back to Hermione. He spoke in his slow drawl that made it sound like he was bored, and would rather be anywhere else in the world. 'You know, Granger, by some strange circumstance, not everything in the entire world revolves around you.'

Hermione arched one eyebrow. 'Then why are you here?' Then she turned to look at me, and she clearly saw something. 'Are you here to bully Sophie? Do you think that just because she's in Slytherin and she's younger than you it's okay to be a total prat? You'd better leave her alone, Malfoy, or you're not going to be very happy.'

Draco rolled his eyes, still looking pretty bored. 'I'm not here to be a bully. In fact, Sophie in I are actually close friends.'

The Gryffindor looked dubious of that fact, but she did look at me for confirmation. I nodded. There was no reason to lie. As surprised as I am, I have come to think of Draco as a friend, even if I haven't known him very long at all. I've known him far less time than I've known any of the Gryffindors, yet I've somehow managed to grow much closer to him than with any of the others. 'Yeah, we're friends. Even I'm not entirely sure about how that somehow happened. It's cool, though. He's not really as bad as you guys said that he is.'

Hermione nodded acceptingly. 'Alright. As long as he's being good to you. But if he ever tries to do anything mean, just let me know.' She looked at Draco menacingly. 'I could always just punch you again.'

I couldn't help but let that catch my interest. 'You've punched him? Seriously? When? Why?'

Hermione sighed, and it looked like she didn't want to get into it at the moment, especially not in front of Draco himself. Draco ended up being the one who answered. Maybe because we're friends? Maybe because I already told him that I'm a murderer and I don't think that it can really get much worse than that? He cleared his throat. 'I was being a major prick. I had it coming.'

Hermione seemed surprised, but impressed by that answer. 'So then you've finally managed to grow up at least a little bit? Is that what you came here to tell me about?'

He shook his head. 'Like I said before, Granger, not everything is about you. I'm here because a friend of mine was wondering if you're into girls at all, or only guys.'

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. 'What are you talking about?'

Draco rolled his eyes. 'Come on, Granger, I know that you're not a complete idiot, though you do come awfully close sometimes. It's the nineties. You can do whatever you want, right?'

Hermione shook her head. 'I don't know what you're talking about.' And the entire time they were talking, I just had to stand there feeling completely mortified. What was he thinking? I could get into so much trouble if anyone figures out that I'm the student he was just referring to. People aren't supposed to like people of the same gender! That's why until very recently, you were the only one who ever actually knew about me!

But I don't think Hermione even noticed the way that my face was turning about the same color as a ripe tomato. Draco shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with the answer to his inquiry. 'Whatever, Granger. I've got better things to be doing than standing around and talking to you my entire free period. And I'm sure that you've got plenty of studying to do,' he looked at me. 'And shouldn't you be in class or something?'

I shrugged. 'Whatever, it's not really that big a deal.'

I noticed that Hermione looked pretty horrified to hear that I'd cut class (not that I usually attend anyways), but I did appreciate that she chose to remain silent on the matter. Maybe she could see that a lecture wasn't really going to suddenly convince me to change my ways. I'm also grateful that she didn't question my dedication to studying together when it was pretty obvious that I don't really care about my classes.

Draco looked to me. 'Do you want to go hang out somewhere?'

I looked back and forth between Hermione and Draco. And really, what was the right answer? The guy who was quickly becoming my friend and I'd told some of my darkest secrets to? Or the hot and smart girl who I liked but clearly didn't like me back? As disappointing as it was, it wasn't hard to arrive at a conclusion.

I shrugged. 'Sorry. I kind of already made plans to study.' Draco nodded acceptingly.

He turned to walk away. 'I need to talk to you later. Find me when you're done.'

It wasn't until after he'd left that Hermione politely pointed out the fact that I'd made no indication that I wanted to study with her immediately. My face flushing red, I returned to my dorm room. I guess I should've gone with the slightly more reliable choice. I'll keep that in mind for next time. A sure friend has got to be better than an unlikely girlfriend.

Yours always,

Sophie

A/N So I don't really know much about how lgbtq things went in the 90s, so I'm just kind of writing blind here. If it ever seems unrealistic, then I do apologize (: