Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Draco, or any people, things, and plots associated with them. However, if you know who I can go to to borrow Draco for a day or two, let me know...

Chapter 2

"in violent, frustration he cries out to God or just no one
is there a point to this madness and all that he was...
is just a tragedy

he feels alone
his heart in his hand
he's alone
he feels alone
I feel...

then on that last day he breaks
and he stood tall
and he yelled... and he takes his life"

"Poetic Tragedy" – The Used

"Mr. Malfoy, so glad you could join us."

Draco picked his head up and looked at Dumbledore. He was seated at his desk, three chairs facing him. The two chairs on either end were occupied by Granger and Lena O'Connor. He quickly made his way to the chair in the middle.

"Professor," he mumbled in greeting, with a quick bob of his head.

"Now that we are all here, I'd like to quickly bring Draco up to pace about what has been happening in the past week. Lucky we had two Head Girls to handle all the work since Mr. Malfoy was missing in action." Dumbledore smiled at his own "joke." Ha-ha, Draco thought. Yes very funny.

"Draco, I know you are acquainted with your fellow Heads. I trust this year will run smoothly. As you all know, this is a great responsibility. With the war raging, I want this year to be as normal as possible for our students. We'll have three balls this year. It's up to you to decide when, and what years to invite. Many other responsibilities will be given to you three throughout the year…"

Draco felt himself tune out. He couldn't handle all this information. He was sure he'd be reminded of everything as it came up. He'd just deal with it then. The old bat would go on and on; it was bets just to stop listening.

As he thought, Draco felt eyes on him. Turning to his left, he met the gaze of the wonder woman herself. Draco was stricken by the look in her hazel eyes; she just seemed so sad. Draco shook his head, breaking the gaze they had shared. There was no need for her to be sad. Everyone liked her; she was beautiful, smart, nice, and so much more. What possible reason could she have for feeling sad? He just wanted someone to feel what he was feeling, Draco figured. He had to accept that not everyone's lives were horrible; he was alone. Like always.

"Now, about the matter of rooms," Dumbledore said as Draco began to listen again. "This past week, our girls have been staying in dorms form the different houses, but I do have a treat for you all. We have special chambers prepared for our Head Girls and Boy. You will find them behind the portrait of Professor McCoy, one of Hogwarts Headmasters. The password is "Lion's Fang," but you all may change it at any point. You will share a common room. There are two bathrooms, with one connecting two of the bedchambers. You may arrange who will live in each room on your own. Since you could not move in this week, you can do it now. You are excused from your duties for the Feast, but if you wish to join us, you are welcome. Now, I have First Years to see sorted. Let's make this year a good one."

The three students said their goodbyes and headed down from Dumbledore's office. Draco would be sharing a common room with two girls; it was a year of change. Draco smirked to himself – what guy wouldn't pay to be in his position?

The trio made their way to the room in silence. When they approached the right portrait, as always, Granger took control and said the password. It was only when they were in the common room with the portrait closed that someone dared to speak.

"Malfoy, good of you to decide to join us," Granger spat. She whipped around and glared at him. Draco lifted his head and looked at her. She was certainly different from First Year. Her curls were smoother, prettier. Her face wasn't horrible to look at; it never had been. She was slim, and she seemed stronger. Draco wouldn't deny that she had seen a lot in the past six years; she wasn't the meek, pitiful mudblood she had been when she entered Hogwarts. The years has strengthened her, made her grow harder.

Lena, on the other hand, seemed untouched by the war. She was always smiling; she had some kind of innocence around her. Now her smile was quite thin, her eyes concealing something as she stood between Hermione and Draco.

Draco didn't know what to say to Granger. For once, he didn't have a rude comment; the years had changed him, too.

"So," Lena began after a long stretch of silence, "who will be staying in which room?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Pathetic," she mumbled to Draco. Then, turning her attention to Lena, her features softened a bit.

"Well, I would say it makes logical sense that the girls share the bathroom, so they get the adjoining rooms."

Draco nodded his head; that's what he had figured.

"Want to look at the rooms before we make a decision?" Draco asked. He wasn't sure why; Granger's logic made sense.

Again, she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Not like it will make much of a difference. I'm not sharing a bathroom with a Malfoy."

"Of course," Draco countered. He couldn't let another stab go unanswered. "What would be the point of going in a bathroom to get cleaned if it's all been touched by a mudblood."

In an instant, Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at Draco. Lena stepped in front of him. Seeing this, Granger's eyes bugged out.

"Lena, move. He has to take that back," Granger said shrilly. Draco shuddered; she was so touchy.

"Look," Lena began, standing her ground, "If we're all going to live together and do our jobs, we have to get along. Our job is to make this school seem normal; make everyone forget about the threat of the war. We can't do that if there's a war amongst us."

"What do you mean, Lena?" Hermione snapped. "Draco and I have always fought. Even before the war broke out."

"You think the war just started two years ago, Granger?" Draco finally cut in. "It's been around a lot longer – longer than you and I, maybe. It's always been there; there was no avoiding it."

Granger's face got red from anger. "Unless I'm mistaken, Malfoy, people weren't getting killed so viciously and freely before our fifth year." She was getting annoyed; she had strong convictions about this.

Draco looked up into her eyes. There was so much she didn't know, yet she pretended to know everything. Suddenly, Draco envied her. She hadn't been around this evil her whole life; she didn't have to know how long the war had actually been building.

"You know, Granger," he began quietly, his voice shaking with conviction and rage and pain, "just because you don't see something, it doesn't mean it's not happening. Killings happen in the streets now; people see the murder. It's terrible, but not as terrible as silent deaths. Someone goes missing, and they're never found. No one knows where they are, how they died screaming, begging for their lives. People have always been killed, Granger. For this war. It didn't start when Sirius Black died. It didn't start when Ginny Weasley was possessed in the Chamber of Secrets. It didn't even start when Potter "defeated" Voldemort. It's been going on much longer; it has always been there, and it always will be. We can't keep it away."

There was a stunned silence as the girls took in Draco's words. Hermione looked around, enraged, but thinking of any kind of response so she could win; she was always looking for a way to win. Lena, on the other hand, looked straight at Draco, searching for something in his eyes. It looked like she was about to speak, but she just shook her head and turned away, heading in the direction of the closest room.

Hermione and Draco stood staring each other down as Lena looked through the rooms, coming out of one door only to go to the next. Again, her voice broke the tension.

"Well, it looks like the rooms have already chosen their own occupants."

Malfoy and Granger turned their attention toward Lena, who was now seated on the common room's sofa.

"What?" Hermione snapped at her.

Smiling calmly, Lena nodded in the direction of the three doors. "Go see for yourselves."

Draco was the first to follow instructions. He walked into the first room Lena had gone in. It was spacious, but cozy. The curtains on the large window were white, as was the rug and the walls. There was a seat on the window ledge, with big white pillows. The large bed has a sheer white canopy tied to its bed poles. The sheets and comforter were white, but there were pillows covering the bed of every shape and size. There were green ones, silver ones, red ones, gold ones, yellow ones, purple ones, blue ones, and black ones. It was exquisite to see the splash of color in a room so white. The floor was tiled with wood, but the white rug was placed under the large bed. In one corner of a room, there was a small bureau with three large drawers. There was a closet with many clothes hanging in it through one open door, and there was one other room: the adjoining bathroom.

The bathroom was nice; there was a large tub in the middle, a door on the other side, two sinks. It was obviously the bathroom for two. The room was white; the girls would like it. The faucet was gold on the side that would obviously be Lena's, judging by the room he had just been in. he was about to leave the way he had come and search out the other room that was bound to be his when something caught his eye on the other sink. The faucet had some kind of design on it. It seemed to be a…

No. Draco thought. It couldn't be…

But it was; it was a snake. Draco was amazed. Slowly, he walked across the bathroom to the door opposite the one he had entered from. If he was right…

Slowly he opened the door, only to be hit with how right he was. The walls were a dark green. The window also had a seat to it, with forest green pillows on it. The bed was also a large canopy, covered in green silk sheets and large green pillows leading down to a small silver pillow in the middle of the arrangement. Under the bed, covering the wood floor was a green rug with the outline of a silver snake on it. This was his room; and it felt like home.

Draco was taken away; for once, it felt like he had a home, something that he belonged to.

"I hope you're not a slob in my bathroom."

He heard a voice behind him. He whipped around, facing Lena. He was all tense, ready for a fight if need be.

"Hey," Lena said, putting her arms up as if to show she wasn't looking for a fight. "I was just kidding. Didn't mean to offend you, if I did."

Draco felt his face soften; he doubted Lena was capable of offending anyone.

"I get my own bathroom!" Granger squealed, crashing into Draco's room, her face alight with happiness.

Lena laughed at her happiness. Her laugh was infectious; Draco even felt the corners of his lips turn up into a rusty, unpracticed smile.

Hermione smiled at Lena, and then her expression changed to worry. "Oh, Lena, you don't mind, do you? If you would be more comfortable, Malfoy and I could change rooms, right Malfoy?"

Draco took his eyes off Lena to look at Granger. He didn't want to change rooms; he wanted to share a bathroom with Lena. What was he thinking? Of course she's rather have Granger, not him, a Malfoy. He felt himself deflate.

"Sure," he mumbled, sitting down on his head, almost unable to handle his sudden change in moods.

"Oh no," Lena said, eyeing Draco out of the corner of her eye. He looked up at her when she answered and she smiled at him. "I don't mind at all. Enjoy your own room, Hermione. You've earned it!"

Hermione smiled thankfully at her, but asked again, "Are you sure? Dumbledore did say we could choose our rooms."

"Yes," Lena answered thoughtfully, "but like I said, our rooms chose us. I'm sure they had a reason. And I really have no problem with it. Unless, of course, Draco does."

They all turned their attention to Draco. "No, No. I don't mind," he mumbled again, feeling content once again. He tried a smile out; it didn't feel so strange, actually, despite the fact that it hadn't been used in years.

Hermione looked from Lena to Draco. "Good. Well, I think I'm going to go down to the Great Feast. It's been so long since I've seen Harry and Ron. Plus, Dumbledore might need my help. You guys going to come?"

"No thanks, Hermione. I'm really tired. Tell Harry and Ron I said "hi" though!" Lena answered, leaning comfortably against the doorframe leading into the bathroom.

"Alright. I'll be back later then. Bye!" she chanted happily, practically skipping from the room – a big chance since the anger she had felt just moments ago.

"Bye, Mione," Lena replied sweetly.

It wasn't until they heard Hermione leave through the portrait hole that the silence was once again broken.

"It's nice, isn't it?"

"What is?" Draco asked puzzled. "The room?"

Lena chuckled softly and pushed a stray strand of dark, wavy brown hair out of her face. "Well, yes, that too. But I meant seeing Hermione like that."

Draco's brow furrowed in confusion. "Granger? Seeing her like what?" he asked warily, not sure he wanted to hear her response.

Lena cocked her head to the side and caught Draco's eyes in her own. "Happy. Seeing her happy."

Draco chortled in reply. "Well at least some people are," he said bitterly, looking down. He shouldn't have said that. Cold, hard Draco Malfoy wouldn't say that.

Lena got up from leaning on the wall and walked over to Draco. Calmly, she reclined across the top of the bead, lying right below the last pillow.

"I know the feeling."

The room was silent for a long time. Slowly, Draco turned slightly from his seat at the foot of the bed to look at the girl lying on his bed. Of course, he has girls on his bed before, but never so…innocently.

"And you don't have to be," she finished.

Once again, Draco was confused. "What? I don't have to be happy?"

"No," Lena said. Smiling sadly, she looked from the ceiling to Draco's eyes once more. "You don't have to be the Draco Malfoy everyone expects you to be."

It was as if she had read his mind. Draco was getting wary. His eyes narrowed. "Oh, really?" he said, a little too harshly. "And who is that?"

Lena looked back up at the ceiling. "You know who it is. It's an unfeeling boy. A strong man. The son of a Death eater. It's the kid that mocked Harry Potter ever since he set foot in this building simply because he was Harry Potter. It's the person who thinks those of muggle birth are dirt. It's someone who would hurt you, kill you even, if you disagreed with him." Draco got up, angry. So she had judged him too.

Draco was at the door to the room when her voice called him back.

"It's everything you're not."

It was then that Draco heard it in her voice. She was different; she could learn to care, if she didn't already. Draco had someone to turn to. He paused in the doorway, knowing he had a decision before him. He could turn to her; let her see that she was right; that he wasn't some evil bastard. Or, he could walk away, walk away as he had done from every chance that he had in the past. Draco shut his eyes, strengthening his resolve. He knew what he had to do. She'd be there when he came back, right?

"I'll be back," he said, not turning back to her. He heard her get up from his bed.

"Draco…"

"I'll be back."

And with that, he left his new found home. Roaming the halls of Hogwarts, he found his way to a door leading out of the castle. He opened it to be greeted with a heavy rain. Perfect. It would wash away the blood.