Hello yet again everyone! Thanks a bunch to all of my reviewers! You are all the reasons why I continue on. Hope you enjoy this!

Chapter 13: The Internal Struggle Begins

Draco walked briskly to the Heads Dorm, gave the password and headed to his private room.

Jesabelle was still sobbing. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Blake tried to rape her!

Draco refused to look down at the sobbing form in his arms. He couldn't believe that that Marshall person tried to rape her! "The stupid git!" he thought to himself as he walked into his private room.

His walls were painted a dark forest green, a bed laying on the right of the entrance, with black pillows, and a black blanket, with a canopy with silver green curtains. To the right of the bed was a small studying desk, full of pieces of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. To his left lay the door that lead to his bathroom. There was also a window at the end of the room and to its right, a handsome wooden shelf with a bunch of books. To the left of the room lay Draco's closet and dresser.

Draco walked to his bed and gently laid Jesabelle on it, letting her stay in a sitting position at the edge of the bed.

Jesabelle was closing her eyes. She refused to believe that she was here. After what had happened, she was so scared, for all she knew, it could have been Blake in disguise, not the real Draco. Thinking about this, tears formed to her eyes and slipped down her cheek.

Draco watch as the tears slipped down her face. He looked away. He didn't like to see her cry; it made his heart break. She began to sob silently.

Draco couldn't take it any longer. He pulled a chair close by the bed and gently whispered into Jesabelle's ear, stroking the tears from her face saying, "Jesabelle, you're safe. You're here; here with me."

Jesabelle opened her eyes and looked into Draco's face. He looked tired. He looked scared. He looked confused. He looked so, wonderful. Jesabelle did not want to have such thoughts, at least not at the moment. She began to cry so hard, that more and more tears rushed down her cheeks. She covered her face in shame and looked away from Draco.

"Jesabelle." Draco said, "Marshall is gone. He isn't here, only you and me."

Jesabelle dared another look at his face. She broke down. She saw such tenderness and compassion in his eyes that it made her heart melt.

"I thought he loved me." Jesabelle whispered, looking down at the ground.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"He was my first love." Jesabelle said.

Draco remained silent. Jesabelle went on.

"We went out just a year ago, when we met at our old school. Our relationship only lasted about ten months." Jesabelle said.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

Jesabelle took a sharp intake of breath and exhaled saying, "One day I was walking back to my dormitory from a meeting with one of our Professors when I found him snogging Gabriel Parker."

"Parker?" Draco asked.

Jesabelle nodded. "She had always been my enemy because she had always wanted Blake, but it so happens that I 'took' him 'away' from her." Jesabelle said, still looking down at the ground. "I loved him. He told me he loved me." She said, looking up and into Draco's eyes. "Then he had to go and cheat on me like that. He dumped me soon after."

Draco stared into Jesabelle's eyes, his heart skipping beats.

Jesabelle broke the gaze and stared down at her hands, which were on her lap. "You must think I'm pathetic."

"No, I understand." Draco said.

Jesabelle looked up, the surprise evident on her face. Draco smiled lightly and said, "You must be tired. I'll get you cleaned up, and you can go to sleep."

Draco got up and walked into his bathroom, turning on the light, and walking to a small cabinet and taking out a small hand towel, washing it with warm water.

He walked out to find Jesabelle lying on his bed, looking to the side and out the window at the stars, looking so exhausted and pale that Draco felt his heart sink, she didn't look well.

He sat down in the chair next to the bed and began to wipe the side of her face with the warm towel.

She had traces of bruises on her face that were already beginning to turn blue. Jesabelle turned to Draco and looked into his eyes again. It took Draco about five minutes to clear Jesabelle up and to make sure that her bruises were taken care of.

When he was finished, Jesabelle was trying to get up, but grimaced and lay back down and Draco's bed, exhaling deeply, not noticing that she dropped her tie on the floor.

"You shouldn't get up." Draco said. "You must be sore."

Jesabelle stayed silent.

"You could sleep here if you want." Draco said.

"No, I don't want to be a nuisance." Jesabelle said trying to get up, but Draco gently pushed her back down.

"You need your rest." Draco said.

Jesabelle nodded and closed her eyes. Draco, thinking she was asleep, removed her shoes, and threw the blanket over her.

He was about to leave the room when Jesabelle's voice came from his bed.

"Please don't leave me here. I don't want to be alone." She begged, her eyes opened, the exhaustion visible within them.

Draco sighed and sat in the chair next to the bed. "I thought you would be stronger that this." He said.

"Even the strongest people can sometimes be vulnerable." Jesabelle said, her eyes closing and falling into slumber.

Draco sighed again and looked at Jesabelle's form. He was definitely having feelings for her. He hated it up to some degree.

When he was sure she was asleep, he just decided to just set it all aside and climbed into the bed with Jesabelle, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her close to him, treasuring her scent and warmth he felt around her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco woke up the next morning to find that Jesabelle had left. Worried, he got up and went into the common room to find her sitting in a chair in front of the fire.

"Good morning." He said.

She turned around, she still looked as exhausted as she did the night before, and her bruises were still visible on her face.

She smiled and said softly, "Good morning.", standing up and carrying a plate of what looked to be everything that usual showed up on the breakfast table every morning and a jug of pumpkin juice and an empty goblet. "I didn't want to wake you up, you looked really tired last night, so I had some house elves bring some food from breakfast."

"What time is it?" Draco asked, stifling a yawn.

"It's about one in the afternoon." Jesabelle said.

"What time did you get up?" Draco asked.

"I woke up at like seven in the morning. I couldn't go back to sleep." Jesabelle said, growing pink with embarrassment.

"I see. Since then you haven't left the dorm?" Draco asked, curiously.

Jesabelle shook her head.

"You have to tell them somehow." Draco said, running his hand through his hair, making it look messy and very appealing to Jesabelle.

"They'll be furious." Jesabelle said.

"But they will find out in the end right?" Draco asked.

"Yes, of course, they deserve to know." Jesabelle said.

There was silence in the common room for a second and then Jesabelle said, "But until then, eat up, I'm sure you're hungry."

She handed him the plate and Draco ate its contents quickly and drank a few goblets of juice. He didn't notice, though, that Jesabelle got up and walked into her room, closing the door softly behind her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The weekend went by quickly and it was back to the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

One night, Jesabelle was sitting in the common, struggling over her Astronomy homework, when Malfoy came back from Quidditch practice. He went into his room, washed up and pulled on a pair of black boxers and a green shirt.

He left the common room to still find Jesabelle pouring over her Astronomy homework. She seemed to not have noticed him. Draco crept around and sat next to her.

"Need some help?" he asked.

Jesabelle looked up from her book and said, "Oh, no, I'm fine, thank you."

"You've been reading that same page for the past thirty minutes Jesabelle." Draco said, "What do you need help in?"

"It' just these stupid star patterns the Professor assigned us." Jesabelle said. "Like how are we supposed to know when they would and would not appear in our night sky?"

"Well, actually, it has a lot to with our weather and the eclipses that take place near earth." Draco said. "You can read more about it in this book I found in the library." He handed her a, red, leather-bound book; there must have been about eight hundred or so pages in it.

"Don't you need it for your homework?" Jesabelle asked.

"No, I already did mine before Quidditch practice." Draco said.

"Thanks." Jesabelle said, gathering her things up and heading to her room. Draco stood up as well, as thought afraid she might still be weak and fall over from the effort of walking.

"Oh and Draco," she said, putting her things down on a table, and suddenly hugging Draco. "Thanks, for saving me and everything. It means a lot, my friend."

Draco smiled. As awkward as the situation was at the present, he liked it. He pulled her closer to him and said. "Anytime, my friend."

She pulled away from him, picked up her things and heading to her room, smiling warmly at him before closing her door, leaving him dumbstruck and confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jesabelle was sitting at her desk, staring at her already finished homework. Her thoughts kept straying back to Draco.

"Why did I just hug him?"

~Because you are feeling an attraction towards him.~

"No, that's not possible."

~Why not?~

"Weren't you just telling me to watch my back a little while before all this happened?"

~You were actually listening to me for once?~

"Yes, I was."

~Oh, that's a surprise.~

"Are you my conscience or a hypocrite?"

~Both actually.~

"Just get on with what you have to say on the matter."

~Just lay low, don't try anything until things start to pick up. Just be careful, you don't want to get hurt again.

"All right, I will, thanks."

~I'll always be here, just holler.~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Draco sat on a couch, staring into the fire, thinking to himself.

"She just hugged me right?"

~She just hugged you.~

"No way."

~Yup, she hugged you.~

"Why?"

~Um, maybe because you saved her life~

"Oh yeah right, I kind of forgot about that."

~You seem to be forgetting about lots of things.~

"And why do suppose that happens?"

~Because your mind keeps straying back to Jesabelle, that's why.~

"I have feelings for her."

~Yes, you do.~

"But, I don't want to hurt her."

~Listen, it's really up to you on what you want to do from here. It could have just been a friendly hug and nothing more.~

"But, on the other hand, it could have been a hug of thanks and possible attraction."

~That too.~

"I don't blame her. I always was so damn sexy."

~Get over yourself.~

"I was just joking."

~I know. I just want to tell you to take things slowly. You don't want to hurt her again, ever.~

"No.....I don't."

Yeah I know kind of a weird and possibly boring chapter but hey, at least I updated! Just to let you all know, or remind you, that the little dialogue said here ~""~ are the characters' consciences. And the regular quotations with dialogues are the characters themselves. So there you go! Please read and review! ^_^