Brianne - Uum… thanks? Haha, I'm not really what to say to you. Hope you like this one, I don't think you've read this one yet.

Liliana - Thank you! Drea and Draco may end up together, but you'll have to keep reading to find out. It's going be a bumpy road for them, either way. As a couple, I think they could work, although I have someone else in mind right now. Any guesses who it might be?

The song in this chapter is called Push by Moist.

Chapter 9 - Unforgivable Conversations

Defence Against the Dark Arts the next morning created an entirely new brand of shock for Drea. She'd been surprised before, even horrified by some of the spells that they'd learned at Durmstrang, but this was just disgusting.

"Curses," he blurted out as soon as the class began. "They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry, I'm only supposed to teach you counter-curses, that's all. You aren't supposed to see the Unforgivables until your sixth year, but Professor Dumbledore and I discussed it, and we say the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourselves against something you haven't seen?"

A murmur of general approval filled the room. Anger seethed up inside of Drea.

"A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't about you tell you what's he's going to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. CONSTANT VILIGANCE!

"Now, do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizard law?"

Nearly every hand in the room shot up into the air, excluding only Draco's and Drea's.

"Yes, Mr Zabini," Professor Moody said, though his magical eye was clearly fixed on Drea.

"The Cruciatus curse," he said proudly, smiling at the girl sitting next to him.

"Yes, the Cruciatus curse." He reached into the jar sitting on his desk and pulled out a small spider. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to see it properly," he explained, after enlarging it. "Now watch carefully. Crucio!"

The spider on the desk began to twitch and curl its legs up. When Professor Moody didn't stop, it began to rock and shudder more violently. Finally, when the spider had almost completely stopped moving, he removed his wand and put the spider back into the jar.

"Now, does anyone know why the spider stopped moving near the end there? Mr Malfoy?"

Draco raised his eyes but not his face to the Professor. His jaw was clenched and his eyes held more anger than Drea had ever seen in the boy. "Its body was shutting down. Its body was dying."

"Correct. Five points to Slytherin. Does anyone know another Unforgivable curse? Mr Crabbe?"

"Avada Kadevra," he said stupidly, as though he could form the words but had no idea what they meant.

"Yes, the worst curse… the killing curse. There's no counter-curse, no blocking it. Only one person's ever survived it, and that's Harry Potter." He paused to allow that to sink in. He then pulled the same spider out of the jar. "Avada Kadevra!"

A green light flashed out of his wand and the spider died instantly on the desk. Drea cast a glance at Draco, whose jaw had clenched more than even before. His fists were wrought so tight that his knuckles were turning blue.

"To perform this spell, you have to really mean it. Simply uttering the words will mean nothing. Aside from a few select members of this class, you could probably all point your wands at me right now and say it, and it would probably tickle.

"And the third Unforgivable? Can anyone tell me its name? Ms Parkinson?"

"Imperius."

"A very popular spell a while back. It got so bad that the Ministry couldn't tell who was under it and who was acting of their own free will." He pulled another spider out of the jar and put the curse on it, causing it to perform cartwheels, then a tap dance. Some of the students looked bored; Drea felt sick.

"The Imperius curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. Now take out your quills and copy this down."

The spent the rest of the class copying down notes. Drea's writing was shaky; she couldn't help it, she was so angry. The curses were illegal for a reason. And the way her had kept the spider under the Cruciatus spell until it nearly died was so enraging that she had nearly walked out of the room. After all of the questions she had been asked about learning the Unforgivables, simply because she was from Durmstrang, she had ended up learning them here at Hogwarts.

Finally the class was dismissed. Drea picked up her books angrily and stormed out of the room. She could feel Moody's magical eye on the back of her head, and nearly gave him the finger. Draco came up beside her, as though sensing her anger, and touched her hand gently. It had been only for a moment, but she recognised the gesture for what it was and thanked him with her eyes.

"Cut Runes with me," Draco said suddenly, in a deep, quiet voice.

Drea thought about it for almost three seconds, then turned toward the doors to leave the castle. Draco followed her closely, trying to blend in with the rest of the students. He followed her all the way to the lake, where she finally stopped and sat down in the grass. She threw her books onto the ground and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Draco lay on his back, putting his arms behind his neck for support, and stayed there, watching the long, thin clouds drifting across the grey sky. He turned his head to look a Drea, who now leaned against a large rock, looking back at him. She smiled sadly, then looked across the lake. Draco turned to see what she was looking at, but saw nothing.

"Drea," he started casually, "Why did you change schools?"

"You know what happened in class today?"

"Yeah," Draco answered, unsure what that had to do with his question. The anger that had finally calmed down blew up once again, though it was much easier to keep it under control now that he was alone with the girl. Professor Moody had lied, among other things, and that angered him more than anything.

"That was everyday at Durmstrang. Everyday you learned a new way to hurt the people around you. It was like a huge brainwashing community, not a school. That's when I started dying my hair different colours and stopped speaking up in class," she finished, sounding almost sorry for the way things had turned out.

"Did you have many friends?" he asked, hoping to bring up something happy about the school to lighten her mood.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't really trust any of them though, save maybe my ex-boyfriend. He was the only person I could talk to, but I got along okay with everyone else. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you seemed very stand-offish when I first met you, almost like you didn't want to trust anybody," he said. He had been wondering about her strange attitude for quite a while now.

"I didn't."

"Why not?" he asked, confused. He had thought that everyone wanted someone to trust.

"I've found that in my experience, giving people your trust only gives them a chance to break it."

"Do you trust me?"

Drea turned her head from the spot across the lake and looked him straight in the eyes. He looked back, wondering what she was thinking. She was so individual, and he wanted so badly to know what went on in her head. Her self-confidence was so real, not generated like that of Zabini, or overwhelming like that of his father. She turned away from him, looking back at her non-existent spot across the lake.

"I'm not sure yet," she answered honestly, after a long, thoughtful pause.

"Drea?"

"Yeah."

"We're going to get in trouble for cutting class aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Okay," Draco said, gazing into the grey expansion above him.

Drea ended up missing the rest of her classes for the day. Her and Draco had spent it writing lines in opposite corners of the Potions class. She now sat in front of the man, who was very angry and wasn't the least bit concerned about showing it.

"What could have possibly possessed you two to skip a class?" he asked. "What were you even doing? Actually, I'm not sure that I want to know, it doesn't matter. There is nothing that could possibly lend an excusable reason." He paused at this, glaring down on the pair with disdain in his eyes.

"Have you any idea what this does to the reputation of this House?" he asked. "My two best students, skipping class, and together I might add. Would either of you care to explain your absence?"

Drea looked cautiously at Draco, who looked at her with a blank stare. She took a deep breath, her words choking in her throat, then spoke.

"Sir, I… we were both very upset about the events of our Defence Against the Dark Arts class; I probably would have lost it if I had've gone to class."

"Not that it matters, but what could have possibly upset you both so much that you had to skip class?"

"Sir, Professor Moody showed us the Unforgivables today," Draco said, speaking up. "He also said that Harry Potter was the only person to have ever survived the Killing Curse."

For a moment, the Professor's face showed rage, understanding and deep sadness. It then changed back to the ever-familiar disgust that he had previously been sporting. Drea herself had no idea what Draco's last sentence had to do with anything, but barely had time to realise this before the Professor spoke again.

"I shall speak to Professor Moody about this. However, this was a complete disrespect for the rules. Detention with myself for the next week, beginning now." The surly man turned and walked to his desk, took a seat and began to work. Drea sat expectantly in her desk, waiting for instructions from the man, then realised that they weren't coming. Her and Draco ended up sitting in silence for four hours.

"You may go," the Professor said finally. "Although I'd like to speak with you in private for a moment, Mr Malfoy."

Draco watched Drea walk out of the room, then turned back to the man. "I am very disappointed with you, Draco. I don't care what Moody says in that class, it is no reason to risk the entire House's reputation."

"Yes Sir," he replied, careful not to allow his clenched jaw to show.

"Draco, you know that Professor Moody probably is not even aware of the fact that another person has withstood the killing curse," he said with more compassion.

"Well maybe he should. Maybe everyone should know. I'm so bloody tired of everyone standing in awe of Harry Potter, 'the boy would bloody fucking lived,' while I get nothing. Potter didn't even do anything, everyone knows that it was his mother dying for him that saved him. Why is he such a big deal and I, who actually fought off the curse, am just another Malfoy, popular only because of my wealth and my father's power?"

"Kindly watch your choice of language, Draco. Using vulgar terms only shows your lack of vocabulary."

Draco glared at the man, furious with his reaction. He was supposed to be comforting, he was supposed to reassure Draco that the man would be in Azkaban soon enough, not comment on his choice of language.

"May I go now, Sir?"

"Make sure it doesn't happen again Draco."

"Yes Sir."

"You may go."

Draco left the room without another word and found Drea standing beside the closed door, waiting for him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He just told me that he was disappointed with me."

"Oh," Drea said in a voice that led Draco to believe that she didn't really believe him. Just before they entered the Common Room, she grabbed his arm. "Draco… I heard what you said."

Draco stared at Drea, confused emotions welling up inside of him. Part of him wanted to cry, wanted to sink to the floor and feel her warm arms around him, soothing him. Another part of him wanted to scream at her, furious that she had listened in. A third part was glad that someone other that Snape knew. A fourth part, and the most dominate Malfoy trait, the pride aspect of his personality, wanted to walk away as though he had no clue what on Earth she was saying, which was precisely what he did.

"Draco…" she said pitifully just before he entered the room.

Drea slept horribly that night. First she was angry, then sad, and finally she sunk into a disturbed sleep. She awoke at 5 o'clock in the morning and found herself unable to sleep, so got dressed and walked down to the Great Hall, carrying her book under her arm.

Unsurprisingly, nobody was there. That suited Drea just fine, she just wanted to be alone anyway. She tried to read, but found that the words blurred together after only moments so closed it and put her head down on the table. She had almost fallen asleep again, but heard someone sitting down and picked up her head.

Sitting across from her was Draco. His hair was messy and his eyes were troubled. She looked at him, unsure of what to say.

"It was Voldemort," he said finally. Drea reached out and put her hand over his. They sat like that for maybe ten minutes, neither one speaking.

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

"Like hell."

"What made you do it?"

"Hatred and the desire to prove them both wrong."

"Both?" Drea asked without thinking.

"Voldemort and my father. He thinks Voldemort is so strong, that nobody can resist him. I proved him wrong.

"I hate him," he added after a pause. "I wish he'd rot in Azkaban. I wish that they'd leave him there until he lived only because he body was still functioning, then suck his soul right out of his body. If he has one, that is."

Drea was overwhelmed. She'd never seen someone so full of pure, unbridled hatred before. "Let's go for a walk."

"Where?" he asked, distracted for a moment.

"Does it matter?" she asked rhetorically. She then stood up and took his hand in her own. They walked to the lake without really realising it and lay beside each other, each lost in their own thoughts. Draco flipped onto his side and propped his head up, looking at Drea, an expression that Drea couldn't quite place on his face. She eyed him curiously, wondering what he was thinking.

"Drea… I… Thank you," he said just before bringing his lips to hers. It was so natural that Drea had closed her eyes even before he reached her. She felt the rush that one feels when they experience their first kiss in a relationship, along with the comfort that came only with time. When Draco finally pulled away and told her quietly that he'd see her in class, she nodded slowly and stared across the lake, though this time she wasn't wondering what was behind the massive forest that surrounded her. She was still wondering what Draco was thinking.

Ten minutes before classes started, Drea got up from her spot in the grass. She ran to the Common Room to get her books, then walked to Arithmancy. Hermoine turned around and spoke to her before she even had a chance to sit down.

"Where were you during Runes yesterday?" she asked accusingly.

"Me and Draco went down to the lake." After seeing the disapproving look on the brunette's face, she quickly explained what had happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts and how they were upset.

"Was Professor Snape angry?"

"Furious. We have detention with him until Thursday."

Hermoine started to say something, but Professor Vector walked into the room and began the lesson. Drea looked over at Draco who looked back at her, smiling. She smiled back, then turned to her page and started copying the notes off the board.

She sat with Draco, Blaise and Pansy at lunch, but Pansy ended up leaving in only minutes, due to the fact that Drea had insulted her since the moment she had sat down.

"Where were you yesterday, Malfoy?" Blaise asked the blonde, smirking wildly.

"Got caught cutting class and spent the rest of the day writing lines."

"Sucks to be you, man," Blaise said, smacking Draco on the back. "So what are you plans for Hallowe'en, Drea?"

"Not sure yet, but I'm sure not going to be here."

"Do you really think Professor Snape will let you leave the school after you cut class?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Ooo, rebellious," he said, winking.

"The way I see it, if I don't ask, he can't say no, right?" she said, smirking. Draco was giving her an incredulous look, but at the moment she really only cared about Blaise.

"Are you going to look for a party, or is it going to be more of a two-person kinda thing?" he asked, winking again.

"Well, I suppose that all depends," she answered flirtatiously.

"Depends on what?"

"If anyone asks me out," she said, standing up and walking away. She had no idea where she was going, she had done it only for effect. That and it had been quite awkward flirting with Blaise while Draco was there. She decided to go down to the Common Room to read for a while before Potions. She brought out her book and sat on the sofa in front of the fire. She had read only two pages before Draco came into the Common Room and sat down beside her.

"Hey," he said. "Why'd you leave?"

She hesitated a moment. "I realised that I took it too far and needed to end it."

"So you weren't hitting on Blaise?"

"No, I was, but I was joking."

"But you don't want to date him?"

"Definitely not."

Draco lightened up a bit. "I'm glad, he said, leaning in to kiss her. She moved out of his reach and cocked her head to the side. He looked at her with a furrowed brow, his eyes full of hurt and confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to talk to you about this morning." She folded her legs up under her and turned to face him. "Draco, I thought we were different."

"So did I, that's why I did it. I really like you Drea."

"That's not what I mean. I thought that we were friends," she said, hoping that she wasn't offending him.

"Oh," he said, then after a short pause, added, "Okay. Well, I have to get ready for Potions, I'll see you in class."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" he said innocently, his eyes answering differently. "See you around."

Severus told Professor Moody in a very polite, and yet very intimidating voice, that he would like to speak to him when he was finished his dinner.

"Where will I be able to find you?" he asked, smiling like a large purple and pink cat that Severus had once seen in a muggle movie. It wasn't a very good movie, mind you, but it had interesting concepts if you looked closely enough.

"I'll be in my classroom. You know were it is, I believe?"

"Of course, Snape ol' boy."

"Right." How he wished Moody would stop calling him 'ol' boy.' He went back to his chair to finish his food, watching Draco and Ms Daray with interest. He nearly laughed when Pansy stalked away from the group. He had very clearly heard Ms Daray tell her that she couldn't arouse an 80-year-old sailor.

Severus had been observing Draco and Ms Daray curiously. Only a few days ago, Draco had been complaining about the insufferable ability that the girl had for holding a grudge, and now they were rarely apart. He watched Ms Daray get up from her seat, followed minutes later by Draco. He half-smiled fondly, remembering a very young Draco telling him that he would never like girls, then pushed his plate away and walked down to the dungeons.

Once in the classroom, he began preparing the room for the 4th years' Potions class. He remembered that the class would be ending half an hour early next week and briefly thanked the gods for this coincidence.

Professor Moody knocked on the door with a crooked smile and let himself in before Severus could even respond.

"Professor Moody," he said, nodding slightly.

"How have you been, Snape?" Moody said cheerfully, though something wasn't quite right with the way he said it.

"Fine. As you know I don't believe in small talk, so let's get right to it. Some of my students informed me that you demonstrated the Unforgivables in your classroom yesterday."

"Yes I did. If they don't know what they look like, how will they be able to fight it?" he said, the smile on his face looking quite out of place.

"I trust that Professor Dumbledore knows about this?"

"Of course, Snape ol' boy. You don't really think that I'd do something without Professor Dumbledore's permission, now do you?" he asked with a smirk.

Severus glared at the man, letting him know full well that this was not the case. "I have also been informed that you told the students that Harry Potter is the only person to have ever survived the killing curse."

"Well, it's true, is it not, Snape?" Moody asked maliciously.

"We both know full well that it is not," Severus said just as maliciously. He saw something flash behind the man's eyes, but it was gone too suddenly for him to recognize it. "I would appreciate it if you would stop giving out misinformation. Also, I have become aware of your intention to cast the Imperius spell on the students. As long as Dumbledore has approved this, I can do nothing about it, however if any of my students chose not to participate, that is their decision and they will be excused without punishment of any kind. You may leave now, my students will be arriving soon."

"See you around, Snape," Moody said over his shoulder. He was acting strangely, almost unlike himself. Honestly, Professor Snape was not expecting any students for at least ten minutes. They tended to arrive just minutes before the class began. They avoided being in the room any longer than they had to, Severus guessed. He sat down at his desk and began reading over his notes for what must have been the hundredth time, hoping to find the problem with the potion that he had been working on.

He read his papers twice, noticing nothing that he hadn't noticed before, then sighed, putting his head in his hands. He then heard two voices in the hallway, headed for the classroom. Moments later, Draco and Ms Daray entered the room talking animatedly about dragons. He tried to be angry with them for skipping class the previous day, but once again the image of the small boy, hair in disarray, sweat on his brow, running up to his front door with urgency in his eyes.

"Hide me, Sevrus!" he had said quickly, panting.

"What is the matter, Draco?" a much younger version of Severus asked him.

"Those girls are chasing me again! Hurry!"

"Which girls?" Severus asked, visually upsetting the boy with his lack of speed.

"Those girls! Pansy and Violet and… Rebekka! Hurry, Sevrus!"

"You know, in a few years you'll be interested in girls, Draco," he said, smirking and walking calmly into his house, then closing the door behind Draco.

"Yuck! I will never like girls, Sevrus. Never!"

Severus smiled at Draco, who was looking at him curiously, then went back to reading his notes.

"Are you mad?" Drea asked him.

"Why would I be mad?" he answered sweetly, trying to hide the sarcasm and anger that he was feeling. Of course he was angry! "See you around," he added over his shoulder, then walked into his room.

What is wrong with me? he wondered furiously. Ever since she had showed up, he had been so confused about everything. And now the one thing that I was actually sure about blew up in my face.

 he wondered furiously. Ever since she had showed up, he had been so confused about everything.

Draco put his head in his hands, sighing deeply. He wasn't really angry with Drea; he was more frustrated with himself. She was constantly throwing him off. How long would it be before he screwed up in public?

He heard Drea sigh and get up from her chair, then walk to her room. Draco got up quickly and fixed his hair, then grabbed his Potions text and walked out of his room. Drea was just leaving her room and eyed him curiously. He turned to her and waited for her to catch up.

They walked to Potions together, talking about dragons, as it seemed that Drea was quite fond of them and Draco's father was funding several organisations around the world including Greece, Korea, Romania, and even a few in America. The conversation had been difficult and forced at first, but as soon as Drea got started on the different breeds and their unique markings, they both relaxed and the conversation flowed. They ever ended up arriving early for Potions. Professor Snape glared at them but said nothing. When Draco looked up at him a few minutes later, the Professor's face flicked into what could have very possibly been an actual smile. Draco returned the smile with a smirk, then returned his attention to Drea.

Precisely one week later Drea and Draco were walking to Potions. Draco was talking about the different challenges that would probably be part of the tournament, but Drea wasn't really paying attention. She was thinking about the arrival of the Durmstrang students, wishing desperately that she could miss their arrival. She was so lost in thought, however, that she walked straight into Professor Snape's.

"Er… sorry, Professor," she stammered, "I was thinking about something else."

Professor Snape twisted into an amused smile, but his eyes showed that he understood completely. "Ms Daray, you seem to show a fair bit of aptitude in Potions. I was wondering if you would stay after class and look over the notes that I have made on an experiment I am doing."

Drea's eyes opened widely. "Of course, Sir! The opportunity to read your work without the editing of the magazines would be fantastic!" Drea nearly winced when she saw the look that Draco was giving her; he looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"The documents are on my desk. When you have finished with today's assignment you may take them. However, I would like them to stay in my room."

"Yes, Sir," Drea said. She had forgotten completely about Durmstrang now.

Drea worked as quickly as she could to prepare her potion, making certain that everything was prepared properly. When she was finished, she brought the potion to Professor Snape's desk, carefully picked up the documents that she found there, and moved to a desk in the far corner of the room.

She read over his notes twice before the class was dismissed, but was so caught up in them that she didn't even notice that the room was empty until she had finished reading it for the seventh time.

"Professor, what time is?" she asked, panicking suddenly.

"It is approaching 5:30," he answered smoothly.

"I should be in the Great Hall right now!" she said anxiously, then frowned at looked at the man. "May I stay here until they've arrived?" she asked.

" Ms Daray, I have alternate intentions with almost everything that I do. Aside from hoping that your insight may help me find my errors, I thought that it might keep your mind off of the arrival of the other students. Unfortunately, I must go to the Great Hall myself; therefore cannot leave you here alone."

"Alright. Thank you Sir, it really did get my mind off of their arrival. I've just got to run to the Dorms for a moment, then I'll be there."

"Hurry Ms Daray."

"I will Sir."

Drea ran all the way to the Dorms, which really wasn't all that far in comparison to the rest of the school, but it did take a good three minutes. She changed into some nicer clothes, redid her eyeliner, then threw her robes back on and ran to the Great Hall. Upon entering, she realised that nobody was there. She looked around for a moment, confused, then heard slowly crescendo-ing voices coming from outside. She walked quickly down the hall, scanned the huge crowd that was waiting outside for Draco, then saw Chase waving to her like a maniac and walked over to where he was standing.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"I had to stay after Potions," she said.

"Professor Snape was here 10 minutes ago."

"Yeah I know, I had to change and fix my eyeliner," she said, standing on her toes to see over the crowd, who were equally standing on their toes to see a huge, flying horse-drawn carriage landing on the ground. They watched huge woman, followed by several students wrapped in thin shawls, step down from the carriage and walk into the castle.

"I thought you didn't care what they thought of you," Xander said to Drea alone.

So did I.

"Who said it was for them," she said, winking at him.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," he said more loudly, letting the others back into the conversation.

"I've been in detention for the past week."

"With Malfoy, right?" Xander asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, what about it?" she retorted, more defensively than she had meant to.

"Nothing, I just haven't seen much of him either." As an afterthought, he added, "Not that that's a big disappointment."

"You know, he really isn't that bad once you get to know him," she said, standing on her toes again.

"Maybe you just don't know him well enough," Jadon said. Drea stopped looking for the ship that she was sure Durmstrang would be arriving on and stared at him. It was the first time she had ever heard him speak. His voice was deep and smooth, strong yet quiet. His deep brown eyes stared at her with startling seriousness, as though he had never said anything so important in his life. She wondered if she should say something back, stand up for the boy, maybe, but Jadon seemed so sure of himself, so positive that there was more to him than she was seeing. There was something strange about his stony silence, something intriguing.

The voices of the crowd of students standing outside the school suddenly raised and Drea saw the familiar mast of the Durmstrang ship raising from the water. The students walked off of the ship, mostly males, wrapped in thick cloaks of fur. Drea saw Karkaroff step toward the Head Master and shake his hand, nearly releasing an animal-like growl. She hated the man with a passion.

She could hear nothing that was said. Both men were smiling broadly, but unlike Professor Dumbledore, Karkaroff's eyes didn't match the expression on his face. Something cold was smouldering in them.

"Is that… it IS! Harry… its Krum!" Drea heard a voice say. She looked to see the redhead from the Great Hall pointing toward a dark, cloaked figure walking past her into the castle. It most definitely was Krum, his posture was unmistakable, as was the attention that Karkaroff was lending him. She recognised a few of the others as well, none of them fondly.

"Drea, what's wrong?" Xander asked her, walking into the castle.

"Nothing," she said unconvincingly. He nodded, then sat down at the Slytherin table. She watched Viktor and the other students from Durmstrang standing by the door.

Drea watched Viktor scan the room, glancing toward the ceiling, which was now a deep, dark blue, then to the staff table. Dumbledore motioned excitedly for him to sit down, after which he looked at the Hogwarts students for the first time. He looked around quickly, then chose the Slytherin table, followed immediately by the rest of the Durmstrang delegates.

Drea became very interested in the food on her plate, then looked up at Xander and Chase and rejoined the conversation that they had been having. She tried to listen, she truly did, but she could hear Draco speaking loudly again, like he had at the beginning of the year, when he had been trying to impress everyone. Why does he have to change all the time? she thought desperately. Why can't he realise that people would be more impressed if he would just be himself?

"Drea?" Xander said carefully, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah?" she said, picking up her head from her hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've just got a headache is all."

"Alright," he answered, not really believing her.

"I'm going to go back to the Dorms. I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said, pushing away her plate and getting up from the table. Just before leaving, she cast a glance at Jadon, who was watching her curiously. She turned away and walked out of the Great Hall, deciding to go to the library.

She had read over the Professor's notes so many times that she had memorised the list of ingredients, the quantities, the directions, and the results. She wrote down the first three, ignoring the last, then pulled out every book that she thought might be useful. Working on potions had always made her relax. It was something about the preciseness, the knowledge of what will happen, and at the same time the anticipation of what might happen if one was to change the potion. She wrote down the properties of each ingredient, which took a significantly long time, considering the long list, then the reactions that each might have with another on the list.

It was something that Drea had always done as a child, then in her first year of school. Demitri had asked her to research the ingredients in potions that he had been working on, and then to form a hypothesis based on what she had learned. She had become quite adept, almost every hypothesis matching the actual results. She had nearly perfected the art, coming so close that her hypotheses different from the actual results only by a fraction, when ever. She hoped that by doing this, she might find the problem that the Professor was having. It also pushed her thoughts of her past to the back of her brain for a while.

Mudfungus, a very powerful poisonous fungus found in the Central regions of Canada, most commonly in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In small doses it can build up one's immune system, but when taken in doses larger than 2 ml per 7 gallons of liquid ingredients, it can-

"Drea?" a low, husky and familiar voice called.

Drea jumped, startled by the sudden break in the silence. She looked up but saw no one.

"Who's there?" she asked, unafraid but bothered.

"It is me, Viktor," the voice said, a body stepping into the room to confirm this.

"Why aren't you in the Great Hall?"

"I didn't see you anywhere so I told Karkaroff that I was going to bed and came looking for you. Besides, there was this very obnoxious boy bragging about his father."

"That's Draco. He isn't always like that." Drea finished awkwardly. She still found herself unsure of what she felt for the boy.

"I miss you," Viktor said, sitting down across from Drea. "School is not the same without you," he said sadly. "Professor Cadrick had decided that since you are gone, I am the one who is to be the hardest worker in Potions. Transfiguration is less interesting without your constant mistakes," he said, changing his tone to a happier one. "The Quidditch team is very good this year. Are you having lots of friends here?"

"It's 'Do you have,' Viktor," she said, smiling a little, "But yes, I'm doing all right."

"Why did you have to leave, Drea?"

"It's better this way," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You keep saying that, but you do not tell me why."

"It's hard to explain."

"Please try."

"I have to go," she said, picking up the notes that she had made.

"They are very angry, you know."

"I expected that."

"You did not expect this, Drea. All they spoke of the whole way here was how to destroy you."

"I can handle them. You know that Viktor."

"I know. Good night."

"Good night."

Drea walked out of the library having learned something, but not what she had expected to. She had expected them to be angry with her, maybe even send her a couple curses every once in a while, but this was serious. She had seen it in Viktor's eyes; they wanted to hurt her.

She walked into her Dorm and did the only thing that had ever helped her deal with her feelings. Drea pulled her guitar out from under her bed and sang. She sang softly, angrily and with so much emotion that she nearly cried. When she couldn't bare to sing anymore, she pictured the words in her head, each one striking her with such force that she could hardly stand even that.

A little bit more than I ever wanted
A little bit more than you could ever say
Did you really think that I'd forgotten?
Kicked out the windshield, water coming in
Fade away, fade away

I tried to give more than you thought I'd take now
Taking more than you could ever say
Push come to shove you kicked me in the head
You knock me down I ripped the handle off again
I wanted more than this, wanted more than this
Fade away, fade away

Push just a little too late
Is this what you want? What you need?
Is this what you wanted me to be?
Always loved me strapped to you
Lock it down and drive me through

Hands gripped to the wheel held too tight to feel
Face pressed to the glass, please don't ask
One more breath, one more, it's alright
I could never give enough, have enough, be enough
You could never stand to stay there
Only only only, fade away, fade away

"Drea?"

Drea jumped at the sound of her name for the second time that night. "Draco, how are you in my room? I mean, aren't there spells or something?"

Draco laughed honestly. It was a pleasant sound. "Everybody knows that any girl in Slytherin can take any guy. It should be the guys that are protected."

Drea smiled appreciatively, then put her guitar on the ground.

"Some of the Durmstrang boys were looking for you. Where were you, I haven't seen you all night?"

"Well, I ended up staying later with Professor Snape than I intended. Xander and Candra and them were being too nosy, and you were acting like a jerk, so I decided to leave. I saw Viktor in the library, then I came back here."

"What do you mean I was acting like a jerk?"

"When you start getting cocky or when you're trying to impress someone, your voice gets a little higher and you talk louder."

"I don't need to impress those guys. I already know that I'm better than them."

"So do I, most of them. That's why it's so frustrating. I just don't get it Draco, why do you always feel the need to make yourself look better than everyone else. I really just makes you look ignorant and stuck-up."

"Oh, and I expect that you're just perfect!"

"I didn't say that."

"Why is it that you're so scared of these people anyway? What did you do that makes you so afraid?"

"It's what I didn't do."

"So tell me, why don't you?"

"Because it's none of your business, that's why. Get out of my room."

"Maybe I don't want to. In fact, I find it quite nice here, perhaps I'll just stay."

"Suit yourself, I'll leave."

"Fine."

Drea felt tempted to yell 'Fine' right back at him. Instead she walked out of the door, down the hallway and out of the Common Room.

Everything had been going so smoothly, aside from the kiss. Even that hadn't been entirely bad. In fact, it was quite good, she thought before banishing the memory from her head. Once again Drea found herself angry with the blonde just when they had been getting comfortable.

Yay, I'm getting good at this whole updating thing! School is super stressful right now, but I have a week off so the next chapter should come soon. Wow, this was a long chapter. As a matter of fact it was... wow, almost 7000 words. Sweet! Anyway, review review review!