Author: So sorry, but here's a warning: things in this book get harder from here...

A Forced Betrayal

It was scary going back to Hogwarts days later. All the purebloods knew. All their children were going to make fun of them. Being raised as he was, Draco was scared half to death. His parent's advice was to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't get into trouble. If he wanted to talk to her, he would have to write secret notes. Bella agreed to the idea. Nervously sweating, the children boarded the train back to school…

"Oi!" Theodore Knott shouted from his compartment as Draco was trying to drag Bella to somewhere empty as fast as he could.

"Why you holding on to that half blood?" Pansy jeered.

"Nng," Draco muttered as Bella whimpered. "Who cares?" he shouted back.

"Bella!" Caly called. She shoved her way through the crowd. Griffith tried to hold her back. "Bella! I'm sorry! Mum and Dad confiscated the presents from you!"

"And took away the ones we were going to give you," Griff grunted, before hauling his sister up and away from the Slytherins.

"Awww," Bella said. "I got you the nicest things!"

"What did you get us?" Griff said, curious.

"Who cares?" Crabbe grunted.

"I got you a 'best friend' necklace, and I got you a book," Bella said first to Caly then Griffith.

"I got you a sweater, then she bought ya what you got her," Griff said.

"Booo!" Goyle called.

"I even got the house elves stuff!" Bella piped up.

"You get your house elves stuff?" Pansy said in shock and horror.

"What? It's just blankets and cleaning supplies!" Bella said hopefully.

"Crabbe, Goyle!" Draco called desperately as the purebloods began to crowd him and Bella. She was now nearly wailing.

"Sorry," Crabbe hollered. "Dad said: we not come. Unless you drop half blood."

Livid, Draco burst through the crowd ruthlessly, keeping his hold on Bella. By no means was he going to leave her behind in that fray. They might beat her up! What were his parents going to say to that? How would he feel? Not good for sure.

"BELLA!" Harry shouted. Bella jolted. "Geez, I come on the train as it goes here for this-Elbow out of my ear, Zambini-"

"I'm not letting you get to her!" they heard Zambini hiss. "You're going to help her, aren't you? Don't do that!"

"You lowly fiend!" Harry roared as the crowd rippled, probably from him struggling.

"Let go of the half blood!" someone howled.

"NO!" Draco roared.

"YOU TRAITOR—"

"SHUT IT, Parkinson!" Percy Weasley snarled.

Finally managing to escape because of the prefect, Draco slid into the compartment at the very back of the train and shut it, closing the blinds. He slumped against the seat, dejected. His shoulders shook slightly. Harry was still in the fray, but by the looks of him, he could easily get out of it. He had probably been in plenty of scrapes before. Besides, Draco just couldn't leave Bella alone.

"I wish they wouldn't make fun of us," Draco sighed, cheek forlornly against the cold window. He felt more hurt as he realized he was crying. He felt slim arms around his waist. He wriggled, whimpering.

"Sorry!" Bella gasped, drawing away. He grabbed her arm and put it back where it was. As painful as her comfort was, at the same time it made him feel better.

They sat in silence. Time slipped by, time they had alone, with no one else to bother them, or make fun of them. He still couldn't believe the others had jeered at him. His father was going to hear about this.

"I like you, Bella," he said softly. "Mum and Dad said I'll have to be mean to you in front of the others. You know. Then when no one's around, which we have to make sure is every day, then I don't have to be mean. And don't worry, all the stuff I'll say about you, I don't mean it. It's just for show. It's unfortunate."

"Yea," Bella whimpered, quivering. "You—you kind of have to." She clung to him. "I don't want you to be mean! I just want everything to be happy again."

"Everything will be happy again at the end of the day," he assured her. "Also, you could have pretty much anybody for a friend now," he said wistfully.

She smiled. She nuzzled his shoulder. He put his arm around her. He was finding it much easier to be nice to her than being mean. Even back when he was mean to her behind his parents' back—that he found easy. This was easier, somehow.

Too bad it wouldn't last long. At least they had the ends of the days.

Harry came around.

"I finally got out of that," he whispered, hair wild and messed up, clothes torn in a couple places. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Draco said. Harry quickly slipped in, and when he sat down Bella fixed his clothes with her wand.

"I got this for your Christmas," Harry said, handing her a small book that had been in his pocket (wizard pockets are longer for wands). "Err, it's slightly battered, but it's about Slytherins."

"Aww yay a book! Thanks!" Bella cheered, hugging him. "I got you this," she said, remembering. She reached into her pocket and brought out a chain with a copper dragon charm on the end.

"Whoa," Harry gasped, gently reaching out and taking it.

"Because you're fierce," she giggled. "like a dragon!"

They laughed.

They spent a peaceful day chatting like they never had before. It was not stiff or formal. They were warming up to each other. With Bella's head leaning against Draco's shoulder and his arm around her, it was too peaceful. They forgot she was a half blood. They just were there, pointing to things outside the window, laughing at Draco's imitations, Harry's pretending to be a teacher, and Bella's tickling. They were being, yes, normal, only tensing when there were sounds outside their compartment. Draco mostly talked to Bella, but he felt he was becoming friends with Harry too.

When the trolley lady came, Draco went out by himself. When he came back, he surprised Bella with a chocolate frog as an in-advance sorry for his planned rejection. No longer under the Malfoy's strict no candy rule, she enjoyed it thoroughly. Harry got himself a jelly slug.

Their hearts sank as the train arrived at the Hogwarts station.

"Welp," Draco said tensely. "This is it."

"Yea," Bella said, quivering. "But I want to find Caly first. I can't go out into the crowd by myself."

"Caly!" Draco called, peeking his head out. Nothing. The shuffling and chatting and shouting of the other students was too loud. "We-w-we have to go out," he gulped. "D-don't worry, I'm going to keep you safe until we get to Caly."

"I hope she can help me," Bella moaned.

"I'll take her if you want," Harry offered. Draco slowly shook his head.

"You can't really take her alone. You guys are both small and easy to beat up," he said.

As they forced their way off the train, they felt that more people were elbowing them, and on purpose. There were whispers. Bella saw a couple of people point. One was Pansy.

They found Caly and Griffith when they got onto the platform. She was telling Crabbe about her Christmas.

"And so of course, Mum and Dad were ecstatic to have us over," Caly was saying. "They got me writing supplies, so I wouldn't run out. So far, I only missed five days where I didn't write."

"Blimey," Crabbe grunted, as though he wasn't listening.

"Oi!" Draco called. Griff looked first.

Bella tentatively approached them. "Um," she whispered, staring at the ground.

Griff sighed. "Um, Bella," he said, then winced as someone in the background called 'half blood, half blood.' "I-I don't know…I mean, I still want to be friends, b-but…"

"I don't care if you're a half blood," Caly said. She hugged her friend.

"O thank you, O thank you!" Bella gasped, clinging to her tightly.

The real trouble started the next day before the first class.

The purebloods never had their chance to descend upon the so called traitor at the table with the staff table right there, and then later Snape was making announcements in the common room, but now Draco was out in the corridor with Bella, searching for Caly or Lily. There were no teachers around, no prefects. Harry was off somewhere. The purebloods surrounded them. Draco felt a tight hand grip his sleeve.

"Haha, Draco with a half blood," Pansy jeered.

"What a disgrace," Knott said, shaking his head.

"Nooo," Draco moaned.

"O no," Griff sneered. "What happened? You're still holding her! What did your family do wrong?"

"Nothing!" Draco managed, shaking with fury.

"You sure?" Pansy crowed. "Haha, puny little Malfoy, holding on to a disgrace—"

"STOP!" Draco shouted.

"Heh heh, he's too soft to let go!" she continued. "Too soft, too soft! And his family too!"

"Don't be a blood traitor like those Weasleys," Knott said seriously.

"I'm not," Draco whimpered.

"Stop it you're hurting him," Bella whispered. No one heard her.

"What are you?" Griffith taunted. "Your poor family, having filth under their roof for so long. How did you manage? How did you not know sooner?"

Bella burst into tears. "OI!" Draco roared. "You—you—"

"If you say 'hurt her' we're ditching you," Pansy snarled. "She needs to know her proper place! And it's not with us. She'd taint us!"

"YOU—YOU!" Draco howled. "Why? I'm on your side!"

"You're not filth," Knott said. "Half bloods—you can't trust them. Just show her you are the boss!"

"You're not on her side, ARE you?" Pansy mocked.

"I'm not," Draco hissed. He turned.

He smacked Bella on the head, harder than he meant to.

She cried harder.

Why did I do that…he thought, beholding her wailing like he'd never seen her.

The cheering of the purebloods was misty, in the distance. He felt Crabbe and Goyle nudge him as they made their way back to their stations on either side of him.

"Yea!" Pansy shouted. She was the only thing he could make out. "Alright, let's go!"

The purebloods wandered away, chatting as though nothing had happened. Bella continued to whimper on the floor. Slowly, he forced himself to walk with the others. But he couldn't take his eyes off her.

I-I can feel what she's feeling right now, I don't like it…

I'm going to say sorry.

"Crabbe, Goyle," Draco murmured. "You go on ahead." They grunted and lumbered off. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure they couldn't see him, he stole off towards Bella. She was now sobbing silently.

Harry turned the corner. He began to run when he saw Bella. Draco dove for an empty classroom. He peeked out.

"You ok?" Harry asked, kneeling by Bella.

"No," she sniffed. "D-Draco h-hit me! In f-font of the purebloods! He said he-he's not on m-m-my side!"

Harry stared at her in shock. "What?" he gasped. "How could he-he was becoming my friend, he was talking to us in the train-That's not nice at all!"

"I know," she whimpered. "W-we used to be siblings, b-but we know I'm a half blood and now he's m-mean again! I can't believe he did that!" she wailed, shaking. "He was never really nice."

"You're a what?" Harry gasped. Draco inwardly writhed in helpless despair to see Harry's face, in pale shock, but the light in his eyes was closer to simmering rage. "Oi, I'm also a half blood," Harry continued, "Did I tell you that? Yea, he's not nice to me at all either, but you already know that." He offered her his hand.

"Sure," she said in relief. So she was still going to have a friend then. "Did you ever have a mean sibling?"

"Mean cousin," Harry said, hauling her up. "But that's nearly the same thing, right?"

"I always wished I had a nice sibling," Bella sighed after thanking him.

Draco's heart overwhelmingly clenched in guilt. How could he have been so mean? Couldn't Harry just leave so he could apologize to her? His conscious wouldn't stop that consistent nipping if he didn't.

"A sibling? That would be nice," Harry said, smiling faintly. "Really nice."

"O!" Bella said. The cheer in her voice was unnerving. "You want to be siblings? You know, pretend?

Draco nearly choked. His grip on the door tightened. He was her brother-she just dropped him mercilessly, just like that?-weren't they friends?-didn't she care about him-how dare she!

"We could, we could get to watch out for each other I guess. And um, be nice. I don't know what else nice siblings do," Bella mused.

"That'd be brilliant," Harry said cheerfully. "Then let's go see Ron. Come on!" And with that, they began to walk away, chatting happily.

Draco was shaking in pain and rage. She'd just basically betrayed him. Filthy little traitor…they were right. Half bloods can't be trusted.

Keeping up a good image is going to be easy.

Several other times that day, he saw Bella and Harry together. They were chatting happily. Without him. His sister and his rival.

He had no choice.

He went solemnly to his room. He didn't notice as he passed Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle lumbered by. He had a family picture in his room that needed an...adjustment.

He made it to his bed. There the picture sat, a cheerful reminder of how happy and delighted they were as a family. Even if he was never nice to her and meant it. He had no idea of her potential—he had wasted years, years when she could have helped him—and then they did get together, only to be torn apart.

Shakily, he took the family picture out of its frame. He set the glass on the dresser, and carefully took the paper in both hands.

He ripped Bella right away from him and his parents.

He set his family on the dresser. Slowly, sadly, he twisted towards the trash can on the side of his bed, and hid the torn off Bella under his pillow. He stared at where it was, as though he could see through the white fabric and fluff.

Gently setting the picture back in its frame, Draco shakily set it back where it belonged. There was an empty space. An unfilled hole. It was filled as long as he could remember. Only he didn't notice the solution to everything was right there, in his own house. Everything could have been better. He should have treated her better. He had no idea he was tormenting the one in his life who could fix everything. His sister should be there in the gapping, raw hole…his brave, troll-chasing sister.

He felt the hole inside him. He knew his parents did too.

Author:...sorry, that was heart-breaking...