A/N: Thanks to billys-green-soup for reviewing! I'm so glad I have readers!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP...I only claim Abbey.

Chapter 4

Abbey sat underneath a large oak tree near the lake, eating a chocolate frog (those always made her feel better) and working on a bit of homework.

As she took a bite of the frog and began chewing it, she heard footsteps approach her. As always, she knew who it was before she even looked up. She felt her stomach lurch and her chocolate frog seemed to turn sour in her mouth.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, not looking up. Her voice didn't hold its normal impatience and aggravation. Now it sounded tired and frustrated.

To Abbey's shock, Draco took a seat next to her, leaning against the trunk of the tree. He let out a sigh and gazed sideways at her. She still didn't look at him, but she had stopped doing her homework. She just gazed at her open book, her eyes distant. He saw tears well up in them. Draco also noticed a barely-visible bruise on her left cheek…he could only imagine where that had come from.

"Well, since you're soon going to be my--" he started.

"Don't say it," Abbey snapped, her voice bitter now.

"Well, you know what I was going to say," he continued, "I just figured we should have at least one civil conversation." His voice wasn't malicious and sneering as it usually was either. Instead it was quiet and uneasy.

Abbey finally looked over at him, true surprise on her face. She gave a slight shrug and put her quill down.

"Alright," she said, "I suppose it couldn't hurt." She waited patiently for him to start.

"Alright," he repeated, running a hand through his hair, "Uh…well…what are you working on?"

"My potions homework," she answered. They both fell silent as the memory of Snape's announcement returned in their minds.

"Oh," Draco said finally, "I haven't started on it yet."

"Oh," Abbey replied.

"Yeah," Draco mumbled, biting his bottom lip.

"Listen, Malfoy," Abbey said suddenly, gazing at him. Her eyes flashed. "Gryffindors don't marry Slytherins," she continued, her voice having a cold bite to it.

"I wasn't too happy about it either!" Draco spat back, standing up now. He didn't leave, however. He just stood over her, his hands on his hips.

"I can't imagine you were," Abbey said nastily, gazing back down at her book.

"Well there's no way to avoid it," Draco replied, calming down a little.

"No, there's not," she admitted.

"So I guess we'll just have to deal with it," Draco finished, a little harsher than he intended.

"I guess so," Abbey replied, agitated.

"That's that, then," he said. As he turned to leave, he stopped when Abbey spoke again.

"Look at us, Draco!" she cried. He noticed that she had called him Draco and not Malfoy. He turned and gazed at her. "We can't even have one polite conversation, and we're going to get--you know," she finished hastily.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, nodding his head in agreement, "That's not very good."

"Of course it's not!" Abbey barked, a little more cruelly than she had intended.

"But there's nothing we can do," Draco replied, the truth hitting him as if he had just now truly realized it.

"I don't want to be your wife," Abbey whispered, her voice dripping with saddnessand a hint of anger.

"Well I don't want to be your husband!" Draco roared. With that he stomped off, his chest puffed out in anger. Behind him he heard Abbey break out into loud sobs as he walked away.

Geez, will they ever get along? Hope you liked it, and thnx for reading! Please R&R!

AbbeyMalfoy87