A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! I ONLY OWN THIS PLOT! THANKS TO MY AMAZING AND WONDERFUL BETA ELENA RAIN!

They finally arrived at the nurse. Malfoy tried to set Alex on the bed but she just screamed and clung to Malfoy tighter acting as if the bed was on fire. "NO!

"Alex, it's ok. Just let him go. You're safe now." Justin said.

"Justin?" Alex whimpered looking around for him.

Justin came and stood in front of Malfoy. "I'm right here. You're safe. Just let Malfoy set you down so the nurse can look at you."

Alex reached out to her brother. Justin took her into his arms and comforted her and set her down on the bed. "You're ok. Now, just lay still and let the nurse look at you."

Alex whimpered but nodded and lay still allowing the nurse to examine her. After a few minutes the nurse was done.

"She is physically fine. Just let her rest. Try to keep her calm and relaxed. If she gets upset, right now it may cause a panic attack. Other than that she'll be just fine." The nurse walked off to treat someone else.

Every sat on the foot of her bed around her.

"How are you feeling?" Justin asked.

"That was awful I never want to do that again." Alex answered softly.

"You won't have to. We were all required to go once and we did. Now we never have to go back." Hermione said.

"Any chance Ginny will get expelled again?"

They all sighed. "The Ministry of Magic required this so I don't think so." Harry said.

Alex looked like she was going to cry again.

"Can we talk about something else for a minute?" Ron said.

"Like what?" Justin asked.

"Like why this filthy monster actually saved her." Ron said looked to Malfoy.

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" Alex cried! "HE SAVED MY LIFE! HE ISN'T A MONSTER!"

"Shhh, shhh, it's ok. Just calm down." Harry said quickly.

Alex calmed down and sniffed softly.

"I'm forever grateful to you, Malfoy, but I am curious as to why, last I checked you hated us.
Justin said.

"Um…" Malfoy looked to Ron, Hermione, and Harry, then to Alex and Justin. He glared and said "You all were just standing around frozen so I had to do something." He scoffed. "And you call yourself her friends."

With that he walked away. Alex suddenly has this feeling like there was something he wasn't saying. There was more to why he saved her, she just wished she knew what it was.

"Jerk." Ron muttered.

"DON'T CALL HIM NAMES!" Alex cried out again.

"Why are you defending him?" Ron asked. "He's a good for nothing piece of trash, Alex. He'll never change."

"STOP SAYING THAT! HE SAVED MY LIFE! RON! THERE MUST BE SOME GOOD IN HIM IF HE SAVED MY LIFE! SHUT UP! STOP IT! HE'S A GOOD GUY!" Alex was screaming now as fresh tears fell down her cheeks.

"Ron, enough." Hermione said in a warning tone.

But Ron wasn't done. "You're seriously crying because of what I said? What is wrong with you? The is a jerk. He bullied us before the break, now all of a sudden he's playing the nice card. Something is up, Alex. You can't trust him!"

"He saved my life! He saved my life! HE SAVED MY LIFE! HE…SAVED…MY…LIFE!" Alex cried as she started to gasp for air.

"Ron stop it, did you miss the nurse saying not to upset her!" Justin growled.

"Alex, Baby, it's ok, shhh, shhh, shhh," Harry soothed. "I believe you. I believe there is good in Malfoy he just doesn't show it often."

"You do?" Alex whimpered softly calming down.

"You do?" Ron asked in shock.

Harry nodded. "He and his mom saved my life more than once too."

"How?" Alex asked.

"Well, there was this one time we were captured by the bad guys and so Hermione did a spell so my face was messed up and they couldn't tell who I was. They asked Malfoy who I was and even though deep down he knew who I was he didn't tell them."

Alex smiled softly. "He protected you."

Harry nodded happy she was calming down again. "And after Voldamort killed me he sent Malfoy's mum to check to see if I was really dead or not. She knew I was alive but told Voldamort I was dead."

"So he is a good guy deep down." Alex said.

Harry nodded. "He just doesn't show it often."

"I told you, Ron." Alex said.

"Whatever." Ron muttered. "I still hate his guts!"

"He's not a bad guy though." Alex pushed.

"You may believe that, but I don't." Ron said.

Alex just sighed and shook her head. "Just don't call him names in front of me."

Ron just nodded. But they were all still curious as to why Malfoy would save Alex, they all knew there was more going on than he said.

Alex had to stay overnight, only family was allowed to stay with her so Justin stayed the night. He fell asleep quickly. Alex couldn't, she was too busy trying to figure out what was Malfoy's deal. He spent all first half here verbally abusing her and now he was defending her and standing up for her? Had he been taken over my aliens? Was there a spell to turn someone nice? She sighed and laid her head back on the pillow. "Malfoy what are you hiding?"

"Instead of asking the ceiling you could just ask me."

Alex jumped out of her skin and sat up with a gasp. She was shocked to see Malfoy at the foot of her bed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came back to talk. I figured everyone else would be gone."

"Justin is still here."

"Is he a heavy sleeper?"

Alex nodded.

"Good than we can talk."

"About what?"

"About why I saved you. I know, you know, there is more than I've said."

Alex nodded once more.

"But if I tell you, I need you to promise me you won't tell anyone, not even Justin or your diary."

"I don't keep a diary."

"Not the point, Alex. Nobody can know what I'm about to tell you. I need you to promise me that or I won't be able to tell you."

Alex was silent for a moment before she spoke. "I promise."

Malfoy inhaled and exhaled. "I'm sure Harry told you about my…partnership with Voldamort right?"

Alex nodded. "But in the end you walked away. You didn't fight."

"But that didn't stop my dad from…" Malfoy stopped.

Alex wasn't sure he was going to finish but he did.

"Malfoy's are known to be heartless trouble makers, helpers and workers of Voldamort. After Voldamort was gone I thought maybe we could nice. I was wrong."

"So you're mean to everyone because your dad wanted you to be?" Alex guessed.

"Something like that."

"Malfoy, what is it? You can tell me."

Malfoy sighed and looked to his hands. "If I wasn't mean and I didn't get in trouble and they didn't call my father to complain…"

"Malfoy, tell me." Alex pressed. "Please, you'll feel so much better once you do."

"He hits me and my mum. That's why I was so horrible to you and the others. My dad wants us to keep up our reputation of being the mean horrible Malfoy's."

Alex sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't even begin to know what that is like for you."

Malfoy nodded. "My mum left him over the break and she told me I can be nice to people and try to start over. I figured saving you was a start."

"Well it was. I'll help you start fresh but please understand Malfoy I'll give you a chance but…but I can't forgive you yet. You'll need to earn my trust and prove to me you want to start over."

Malfoy nodded and smiled. "I do understand that, thank you, Russo, you're not as bad as I thought."

"Back at you, Malfoy."

They smiled softly at each other.

"Well, I'll let you get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Alex nodded. "Thanks for telling me the truth. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks…Alex."

"You're welcome…Draco."

They shared another smile and Malfoy walked away. Alex smiled as she lay down and closed her eyes finally able to sleep. Maybe she and Malfoy could actually be friends. But how were the others going to react when she told them?

The next morning Alex was quieter than normal but everyone figured it was because of what happen with her and Ginny. That wasn't the truth. Alex was really just scared to tell them about her new friendship with Malfoy. Would they accept it or get angry at her?

She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "Guys, can I...can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, you can tell us anything." Harry told her.

"I um...I...I might have kind of, maybe, sort of told Malfoy he could be my friend."

"YOU DID WHAT!? ARE YOU INSANE! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? YOU'RE SO STUPID ALEX!" Ron yelled angrily.

Alex flinched back and pressed her lips together not saying anymore.

"Ron, calm down! Don't you dare speak to Alex in that way." Harry scolded him. Harry looked back to Alex. "Ignore him, why did you accept his friendship. What made you decide to do that? Was it just because he saved your life?"

Alex refused to say another word to anyone. She shook her head.

Justin and Harry sighed. "It's ok, you can tell us. We won't be angry."

Alex bit her lip and shook her head once more. She looked to Ron fearfully. Hermione looked to Ron and smirked softly. "Hmmm…" she whispered something under her breath and the next thing everyone knew Ron's lips sealed shut and when he tried to speak it was muffled. He looked to Hermione and glared

Alex giggled softly. "Thanks, Hermione."

"Anytime. Now can you tell us, we won't be angry."

"Malfoy confided in me about why he was being nice all of a sudden. He his reason was good enough for me to give him a chance. I haven't forgiven him and it will take time before I can trust him but I'm giving him a chance."

Everyone nodded. "We support you, but you'll have to understand that it might not be as easy for us to give him a chance." Hermione said.

Alex nodded. "Of course, you don't have to see him or speak to him if you don't want to. But I didn't want to sneak around and hide it from you guys."

"Thanks for being honest and we will try to get along with him." Harry said.

Alex nodded as they all smiled…well except for Ron. Hermione un did the spell and Ron glared at Alex. "Fine, be his friend. But when he hurts you, and he will, don't come crying to me. I will not help you. I will laugh in your face and say I told you so. This is the stupidest move you've ever made Alex and it's going to come back to haunt you."

Alex didn't respond to him. He'd get over it…wouldn't he? Was he right? Did she make the wrong choice being Malfoy's friend? Was he really only her friend so he could turn around and betray her? Was the story he told her last night about his father even true?

A/N what do you guys think about Malfoy's new confession? Is it truthful or is he lying for other reasons? Leave me your thoughts in a review.