Despite Draco's words to Blaise, what Blaise had told Draco remained with him over the next few days. Yes, Penny was becoming more of what was considered to be a model Slytherin, but at what cost to herself? She was changing who she was completely, and Draco was going, to be honest, as much as he had tried to convince himself otherwise, he didn't like it.

Penny still wasn't eating, either. Amelia was lucky if she could get her to eat a bite or two at mealtimes. She was slowly killing herself off, and everyone who was around her could see it. Draco decided that his best approach was to just be blunt with the girl. "Montgomery, I want to talk to you. Meet me in the courtyard."

Penny was surprised by the tone in his voice, but she nodded her head. "Alright." Her voice was hoarse, and it made Draco wonder when the last time that she had even drank anything was.

When Penny arrived in the courtyard, Draco cut right to the chase. "Penny, you need to stop all of this."

"All of what? You're going to need to be more specific."

"Penny, you know bloody well what I'm talking about, you need to stop starving yourself, quit being someone that you're not."

"Since when do you care?" Penny scoffed. "You haven't cared about me in a long time, so why would you care now?"

"Because back then you weren't trying to bloody kill yourself! Penny, I get that you want to keep your friends safe, but this isn't the way to do it!"

"It's the only way to do it! My father is going to kill them otherwise, just like he had Derek killed!" Tears were pouring down Penny's face. "Don't you get that?! One of my closest friends was killed because of me! If I had just listened to my father in the first place, had just done what he wanted, became the daughter that he wanted me to be, then Derek would still be alive!" She went to walk away, but stumbled, and Draco caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground. "Penny!"

Penny's face was pale, all those days of not eating and drinking had caught up to her. "I just want to keep them safe." She whispered.

"And you will, but you have to find a better way to do it, Penny, you understand me?"

"But I...I don't know any other way to do it."

"Can't you go to Dumbledore or something?"

"I...I suppose. Draco...why are you helping me?"

"Because as much of an ass as I might be, I still care about you, Penny. I never really stopped, even after our fight." Draco smiled sheepishly. "I was just too stubborn to admit it, even to myself."

Draco then realized that he was still holding Penny in his arms, and he blushed before helping her back up onto her feet. "Uh...just, just think about what I said, yeah?"

Penny nodded her head, smiling just a bit. It wasn't a big smile, but it was the first time that she had smiled in days. "Draco...thank you."

"Are you going to be able to get inside on your own?"

"Yeah, I think that I'll be able to manage it okay."

As she made her way back inside of the castle, Penny realized that Draco was right. She could keep her friends safe, but she didn't have to do it her father's way, she was going to find a way to do it her own way.

"Penny, just how are you planning on doing this?"

Penny had snuck into the Gryffindor girl's room that night, and had pulled Hermione down to the common room. "I don't know Hermione, that's why I was kind of hoping that you would be able to help me."

"Of course, I can help you, I'm just glad that you're finally starting to think straight again."

"Yeah...I actually have Draco to thank for that."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

Penny nodded her head. "Yeah...turns out that he doesn't hate me as much as I thought that he did, and I probably;y should have forgiven him a lot earlier."

"Well, anyone with eyes could have told you that he doesn't hate you. I mean, every time that you enter the same room that he's in, his eyes stay on you. It must make Pansy so jealous."

Penny blushed a little bit. "I guess that I was a little blind to it."

"You and Draco both, but that's something that we can discuss at a different time. Penny, there's no telling who in the school is spying for your father, so that is going to make things a little bit difficult. We can assume people whose families are loyal to you-know-who, unless they've proven that they don't want to go down that same path, people like Blaise Zabini."

"That rules out almost everyone in Slytherin. I mean, I can obviously trust Amelia, and maybe the Greengrass sisters."

"Penny, are you sure that you don't want to go to Dumbledore about this whole situation?"

Penny shook her head. "I can't, I can't risk my father finding out anything about what I'm trying to do. Please, Hermione, you have to promise not to tell anyone. And for God's sake, don't tell Harry and Ron about this yet, you know that those boys couldn't keep a secret if their lives depended on it."

Hermione laughed quietly at that. "That's true. What about George and Fred?"

"Yes. I want them to know." Besides Derek, Fred and George had probably been two of the closest friends that Penny had. "Merlin's beard, I don't know how much longer I would have been able to last without them."

"Not for bloody long, that's for sure!"

Penny gasped and turned to see the aforementioned twins. "How long have you two been standing there?"

"The whole time." George had a grin on his face. "There's no sneaking about that we don't know about."

"It's about time that you came to your senses." Fred scolded Penny. "Just about bloody killed yourself before you did. And to think that it was Malfoy that was able to do it, I never would have thought."

"I'm sorry," Penny said quietly. "I'm so sorry you guys."

"Well, what are you just standing there for?" George demanded. "Get your arse over here."

Stifling a sob, Penny ran over to the boys, hugging them tightly.

"Hermione's not the only one that's going to help you find a way out of this." Fred stated. "Together, we're going to figure something out."