Blythe stared for a moment, allowing herself to take in his scent and the feel of his arm around her.  Then she woke up.

"Yeah…yes I'm fine.  Thank you," she replied softly.

He righted her and she bent to collect her books.

"Watch where you're going next time, wench," Pansy sneered.

Blythe froze and couldn't suppress the low growl, "What did you just say?"

Pansy sneered at her, "You heard me."

Blythe nodded, the green in her eyes becoming more apparent, "Yes, I did.  But you will wish I hadn't."

Pansy snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder.  Blythe narrowed her eyes and brought out her wand.

"Silencio," she murmured, then, "Furnunculus."

Pansy's eyes widened as boils began to appear everywhere and she pulled out her wand to perform a counter curse.  Then she realized she couldn't speak and turned to the boy.  Blythe too looked over at him.  He was trying very hard to keep a smirk off his face as he removed his own wand.  The note of amusement in his voice as he performed the counter spell to the silencing charm was evident.

"Draco!" Pansy wailed, "Did you iseei what she ididi to me?"

Draco arched one elegant eyebrow, "Yes, and I dare say you deserved it."

Her eyes got even wider and Blythe watched in a detached sort of interest as she fumbled for a response.  Then, finding none, she proceeded to rid herself of the boils.  Her source of amusement gone, Blythe turned and walked away.  But not before she returned Draco's small smile.

~*~

Blythe mulled over that day as she absently stroked the snowy owl that was perched quietly inside its cage.  The air around her was still warm and somewhat humid even though it was well past sunset.  Blythe blinked and looked up.  Someone was following her.  She turned and peered behind her, her brown eyes widening as they settled on a familiar figure walking towards her.

"What a coincidence meeting you here," he stated, smirking slightly.

Blythe raised an eyebrow, "Coincidence, is it?"

He nodded and motioned towards her supplies, "Hogwarts?"

She nodded, "You?"

"Yeah," he paused, "I'm Malfoy.  Draco Malfoy."

Blythe smiled softly, "Blythe."

He raised an eyebrow, "Blythe…?" he prompted.

Blythe laughed, "If I knew my family name, I promise you I'd tell you."

Draco laughed too, "So, what house are you in?" he questioned, falling into step next to her as she continued on her way.

"I'm just starting this year," she shrugged and had to suppress a grin at the half masked confusion on his face, "I'm going into Seventh year," she supplied, "I just transferred."

The confusion cleared and he nodded, "I was wondering why you didn't recognize me."

The two chatted lightly until they reached The Leaky Cauldron.

"This is my stop," she informed him, a note of regret in her voice.

He shrugged and opened the door for her, "I'll walk you to your flat…my parents have a…iguesti at the house and I'm not exactly welcome."

She knew she looked shocked and shook her head, the look of warm friendliness returning, "It's fine with me."

She walked through the open door and looked around, the atmosphere somewhat dreary and the air filled with the smell of stale liquor and old tobacco.  She wrinkled her nose and walked swiftly from the pub.  She took a deep breath once outside and smiled softly as she heard Draco do the same.

"I've always hated the way that place smelled," she told him, shaking her head and grinning.

"Yeah, horrid place," he glanced around, "So which way do we go?"

~*~

"iAlohamorai," Blythe mumbled before opening the door.

Draco was too busy staring around the hallway to notice she hadn't used a wand.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in?" Blythe questioned sarcastically.

Draco smirked at her and stepped into the apartment, closing the door softly.

"Quaint," he stated, glancing around, "Very…empty."

Blythe cast him a withering glance, "I just moved in.  So sorry it doesn't meet your standards Your Highness."

Draco grinned at her, "Draco will be fine."

"I'll stick to Malfoy," she muttered.

"But only my 'Enemies' call me that!" Draco protested.

Blythe smirked, "Well, then you won't know iwhati to make of me then, will you?"

He muttered something along the lines of "Potter must have gotten to her" before sitting in a nearby chair.

"So, where'd you move from?"

Blythe shrugged, "Small muggle town.  I've moved around a lot."

Draco nodded, "I've never moved.  Always lived at the manor."

"Manor?  Geez, how rich are you?"

Blythe felt her cheeks heat at the look of utter disbelief Draco was giving her.

"You mean, you really," he paused and shook his head, "You've never heard of Lucius or Narcissa Malfoy?"

Blythe colored more, "Should I have?"

"God," he breathed, "This is almost like," he stopped and his eyes clouded.

"Like what?"

When he looked at her again it was with such intensity that it caused her to stagger back.

"Like when I met Potter."

~*~*~

Blythe took a sip of her tea and nodded, "So, when you met him, he was as clueless as me and neither of you knew who the other was?"

"Basically, but," he smirked, "That was when I was cocky."

"And you aren't now?" Blythe scoffed.

He shook his head, "Not nearly so much.  He rejected my friendship and that hurt.  Then, last year, I left him alone.  I started trying to be helpful if not inicei exactly.  He rejected me again; well, actually his friends rejected me for him.  He was warming up to me."

"So what's the deal?  Are you obsessing over him or something?"

Blythe raised an eyebrow when Draco colored, "No, I just feel sort of bad for all the shite I put him through."

"Go figure.  A Slytherin with a conscience," Blythe drawled.

"But I never said I was a Slytherin."

She smiled, "From what I've heard, the Slytherins and Gryffindors are enemies and Potter is a Gryffindor.  It was merely a guess.  Was it right?"

"Yes," he mumbled.

She merely smiled at him.

~*~*~

Blythe sighed and rubbed her temples.  She was alone again, Draco had left a few hours ago and she had gone to bed.  Sleep would not come.  And if it did, the nightmares would come with it.  The dreamless sleep potion she'd had was used up.

"Damn it," she whispered to no one in particular.

Her eyes closed and that familiarly unknown face drifted before her eyes.  That pained face, the face of a friend she didn't know about yet…or that she'd somehow forgotten.