A/n: I'm back. I've been keeping myself busy with this story. I'm just waiting for the new book, and I'm quite excited. I've become kind of an insomniac as well, so that means I write more. I have two chapters, and I really appreciate the reviews I got from phabandphat and T. Riddle. Everyone, read, review, and enjoy.

Hate's just a word

Chapter FOUR: They're Friends For a Reason

It was seven o' clock when she entered the library. He was there in the same place as the day before. She took her seat across from him, silently. He looked at her and smirked.

"Hello, dear, it's nice to see you again," He said, menacingly. "I missed you in bed last night. That's not the way to go if you're my slut."

She ignored him to the best of her ability and started to read. It was hard to ignore him. He was such a bastard. She often wanted to punch his lights out, but she realized she needed to do this project. The first few days of the project were very much like this one. He would make annoying comments just to get a rise out of her. She kept her patience most of the time and just ignored him, but sometimes she would show her anger and reply with rude comments. It was becoming routine. During the day, he would annoy her in between classes. She became what Harry had been. She became his number one target. He always targeted Ron, but of course, not when Harry was anywhere near. One day, she was leaving Potions class with Ron. Up ahead of them was Draco and Harry talking like the best of friends.

Lindsay saw the disaster waiting to happen if Ron noticed this.

"Er, Ron, I think Hermione wanted to talk to you," Lins said, knowing that Hermione was behind them.

"Oh, okay…" Ron said, sound a bit confused. He stopped and went in the opposite direction to talk to Hermione. Lins let out a sigh of relief. Ron would have gotten very angry if he had seen Harry and Draco together. She couldn't believe that they were friends and acting the way friends do. It was still mind-boggling.

"Hey, Harry!" She called out. The two of them stopped, and turned. Lins walked up to the two, ignoring the presence of Malfoy. "You left something behind."

"What?" He asked.

"Your best friend," Lindsay replied. Harry raised an eyebrow. "All I'm saying is spend a little more time with him, alright?"

"I guess you're right," He said. He looked at Malfoy. "See you later."

"Yeah, bye," Draco said. Draco and Lindsay looked at each other for a moment. Draco opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't even say a word," Lins said before leaving him there. He frowned and watched her leave. That night, they met in the library at seven as they normally did. Lins was used to the routine, so everything he said had no affect on her. She'd just go along with it as if it were no big deal. It annoyed him that he wasn't annoying her anymore even though he was trying, but there was nothing he could do. They were reading in silence, as they normally did. Lindsay stopped her reading and stared at the Malfoy boy. His blonde hair hung in his eyes as he looked down at his book. For the moment, he didn't look as evil as he normally did. He looked kind of normal for once. And for that moment, he was the most attractive she had ever seen him be.

"Malfoy," She said to him. He looked up.

"What?" He asked, looking straight at her.

"Why? Why are you friends with Harry Potter?" She asked, suddenly and randomly. He stared, taken aback by the question.

"What do you mean 'why'?" He asked.

"Come on! The school year begins and suddenly you guys are the best of friends. What happened over the summer? Why are you friends?" She asked, forcefully.

"Ask him," He muttered. It seemed that there was something he didn't want to tell.

"And you can't tell me because…?"

"Fine," He muttered, bitterly. "Dear Uncle Malfoy thought I was a traitor to my family because I'm kind of cowardly, so he decided to kill me. As he was about to execute me, Harry Potter saved me. Normally, I wouldn't have thanked him and I would have gone on with my life as normal. But I couldn't forget it. He saved me although he hated me with everything he had. So, I did thank him. And I decided that I wasn't going to treat him that way anymore. He didn't need it nor deserve it. So I did stop. And we sort of became friends…"

Lins stared, surprised by the answer. He actually sounded sincere about it. It didn't sound like some scheme. It sounded genuine. But she couldn't trust it just yet. Malfoy was a known liar. But the look on his face, prevented her from being on full guard. It just seemed like the truth. She couldn't let him know she was feeling sympathy for him.

"Saved you, huh?" She asked with a smirk. Draco frowned.

"Of course, you wouldn't understand."

"Right, I'm not in with all the dark arts stuff and my dad's not in Voldie's inner circle," Lins muttered.

"Shut up. It's not a joke. He's not something you just joke about," Draco said, angrily.

"Which one? Your Death Eater dad or your so-called Dark Lord?"

"Both."

"Pfft. Your Dad's in jail, man. He won't be controlling the Ministry anymore. And your Dark Lord…he won't last long."

"Are you forgetting He's the most powerful wizard in the world!" Draco hissed.

"He was the most powerful wizard. He hasn't won against Harry yet and he never will. I have confidence in Harry," Lins said, fiercely. "And who do you support the most? Harry Potter, your friend, or your Dark Lord?"

"You don't know anything," He said to her, his voice lowered, and his eyes glowing. He was glaring with the most intense hate.

"You didn't answer my question," She said, glaring back, with the same intense hate.

"Like I said," He growled. "You don't know anything."

"Or are you using him? For information to feed your Dark Lord? I mean, you can't have much other use. Like you said, you are kind of cowardly."

"Shut up!" He hissed. "I'm not using Potter."

"Oh, you're not?" She asked. "That's a surprise. Oh, Potter, you said? Aren't you guys on a first name basis? Because that's common with friends."

"Fuck you," He said. She smiled with satisfaction, and actually started laughing. It felt so good to get a rise out of him. "Oh, it's funny now?" He asked, glaring. He stood up, abruptly. "Well, laugh, go ahead. I admit it. You got me angry. But don't go tonight thinking that you're the better person. You would have made a fine Slytherin, you know. In fact, right now, you're just like me. Aren't I the person you hate the most? Well, guess what? You're acting exactly like me. I hope your happy now."

He grabbed his book and stormed out of the library. Lindsay stopped laughing. Oh, god. He was rubbing off on her. She did enjoy it. She was acting just like him. She was tormenting him and then laughing about it. Yes, he did deserve it, but she was being just like him. She was being the person she hated the most. It made her feel even worse. Now she couldn't even wallow in her victory. She had to go back feeling all crappy because she had turned into Malfoy for those few minutes.

The next day, they got into a fistfight, but they didn't get detentions. They were suffering enough doing Snape's project. By now, they knew everything there was to know about the potion. They couldn't make it, but they were going to get all of the supplies involved. They started with the supply hunt first. It was the easiest part. They each split it into half and they each got half of the supplies. Draco's half was basically the half he'd ask Snape for, since some it wasn't available to the general public. It only took them a couple of days to get the ingredients. Next was the 5-roll essay. That would take forever and they would have to spend more time with each other. Neither of them were looking forward to it, but for some reason, they were becoming more tolerant of each other. They both tried to stick to only talking about the project. They didn't fight as much anymore. They both just wanted to get it all over with.

One day Lindsay realized that she didn't mind him as much as she used to. He had been behaving better later, well, towards her anyway. He only said his usual comments, and nothing that was terribly insulting or infuriating.

"Okay, well, I guess it's time to write the final essay," Lindsay to said to him. He nodded.

"Right."

"So, uh, who's' going to do the actual writing?" Lins asked.

"Who has the better handwriting?" He asked. They both looked at each other before writing down their names. They both studied it for a while. It was obvious who won. Draco had the neatest writing she had ever seen.

"Guess it's you," She said, happy her hand wouldn't be getting cramps anytime soon. He frowned, and stared at her.

"Fine, but you're dictating every word I'm writing down," He said with a smirk. Lins frowned and crossed her arms.

"Why?" She asked, frowning.

"Because I like the sound of your voice," He said, sounding serious, but she knew he was just being himself. She frowned at that, but for some strange reason she had this certain feeling. She almost wished he was telling the truth. She must have been staring, because he raised his hands. "What? It's better than Crabbe's voice. I could imagine him doing this." He put on his best Crabbe voice. "Uh…the Polyjuice Potion was founded in 1937 because they wanted to spy on people and stuff…"

Lindsay found herself laughing. It was a real laugh. Draco smiled. She suddenly realized that Draco was joking and she had laughed because he made her laugh. It wasn't a negative thing… it was positive. Granted, he was making fun of someone, but it wasn't the normal making fun of someone. She stopped laughing once she realized that she was laughing in a good way, with him, and not at him. Draco was smiling, a genuine smile, and the farthest thing away from a smirk. A second later, he realized what she realized. He stopped smiling.

"Let's just get this over with," She said, quickly. He nodded. He sat down in front of the rolls, and she sat down next to him. "Okay. Let's start with background information. In Nineteen Thirty-Seven, the muggles had just emerged themselves in a war. This war was known as World War II. The Allies in European countries were facing the deadly enemy, known as the Axis Powers. There were many dangerous elements in this war, but what the Muggles did not know that there were more magical forces surrounding this war. The wizarding world was dealing with the growing threat of Grindelwald and sides were beginning to form. The Muggle War was a perfect cover-up to the darker side of the Wizarding War…"

She continued on, until Draco's hand needed a rest.

"I must say, it sounds good so far," Draco said, re-reading what he wrote. Lins nodded.

"Of course," She said, feeling proud of herself.

"Oh, and Caldwell?" He said. She looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"You've got a nice laugh," He said. She didn't know whether he was mocking her or not. She didn't know what to say, either. She just stared at him. Luckily, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Harry and Neville. They ended up being partners for Snape's project. It was Snape's perfect way to pair together his least favorite students. This way, he had an excuse to fail them. They knew he was going to fail them, but they still bothered to do the project.

"Hey Harry and Neville," Lindsay said, quickly to them. They looked over.

"Hey," Neville said. He saw Malfoy and looked away. Harry stared.

"Hallo Lins, and Draco," He said, confused at the thought of them sitting together. "What are you two doing here?"

"Our project, what else?" Lins muttered.

"Of course," Harry said. "Uh…us too."

"Which one are you guys doing?" Draco asked.

"The Werewolf Drought," Harry replied. "You?"

"Polyjuice Potion," He replied.

"Oh, that one. Hermione knows a bit or two about that one," Harry said.

"Does she?"

"Yeah, and I do too. I wonder why she didn't choose that one. Or me…" Harry said. Lins stared as the two conversed like pals. Neville was gawking as well. It made absolutely no sense. They made no sense. But Lins was interested in the behavior change of Malfoy when Harry was around. It was interesting. He was still foul to everyone but Harry. He suddenly changed and it was interesting, yet very weird to watch. They talked for a while, but then Harry and Neville went off to do their project.

"Incredible," Lins muttered once they had left. Draco looked at her, ready for insults.

"What's incredible?" Draco asked.

"You're so fake. How can you suddenly turn from bad to good? You act like a total dick to everyone, but when Harry comes around, you're suddenly a nice guy," Lins said. "I could so tell you wanted to call Hermione a 'mudblood' or you wanted to say something about Neville, but you can't. Not in front of dear old Harry."

"Shut up," He said, frowning. He crossed his arms. "You don't know anything about me so stop talking like you do."

"I don't need to know anything. You're an easy person to figure out," She said, crossing her arms.

"Let's finish this tomorrow," Draco said, as he started to gather the rolls. "I'm getting sick of you."

"Fine," She said. The two left and went their separate ways. Lindsay hated him at the moment. He was so confusing. Sometimes he was a total jerk, and other times, he almost had his moments, but then he went back to being a jerk. He was driving her mad. She went back to the common room, and found Ron playing Wizard's Chess by himself. She went and sat down across from him, taking him by surprise.

"Could I?" She asked. "I'm in a mood for a good game."

"Oh, yeah, sure," He said to her. He re-set up the pieces and they started to play. They were quiet for the most part. "So, how was you-know-who?"

"Oh, his normal terrible self," Lins said.

"Have you any thought to what he's using Harry for?" Ron asked, as he directed his piece.

"I've been thinking about it, and I have asked him things, But I don't think he using Harry," Lins said. Ron stared as if she were crazy. "Okay, hear me out. You know how they became friends, right?"

"Yeah, Harry saved 'im for some odd reason."

"Right. Malfoy told me that Harry saved him even though they hated each other, and after thinking about it, he decided he would thank him and he wouldn't treat him bad because he didn't deserve it. They formed a friendship from that. You know and I know Malfoy hasn't changed. His family is still all 'dark arts' and he's still a git. Except when Harry's around. He won't say a wrong word. I think he is trying to make up for the bad way he treated Harry. I don't think he's using Harry for information or anything. Harry's not stupid. He's not going to talk about those things with Malfoy. I think he's genuinely trying to be his friend. But…I think it's different than we think. I know Malfoy may find this as his way of repenting and staying out of Azkaban...but Harry. He's got a lot to gain from this friendship. I mean, the war has started with You-Know-Who. What's a better way to get information than befriend a Death Eater's son? Unlike Harry, Draco is stupid. He would let something slip. It's a good opportunity for Harry. So he accepted Draco's offer of friendship… It makes perfect sense."

Ron stared at her, slightly puzzled and bewildered. "Why wouldn't he tell me something like that?"

"Maybe he can't. You do get angry with Malfoy a lot. What if you let it slip?" Lins said. "I don't know, but there are probably things he's kept from you before. He'll tell you eventually."

"Well, it's an interesting theory," Ron said. "Maybe you're right. Actually, I hope you're right."

"Me too," She said, continuing to play. But there was something she noticed about Malfoy. Harry's obviously had a good effect on him. A little Draco was rubbing off on her, but a little Harry was rubbing off on him. He had moments where he was almost decent. And that made him almost likeable in her eyes. She didn't want him to be almost likable. If he were to be likable, then she could find him attractive. That brought her back to the kiss. She thought about it randomly, and a lot. It was a bad feeling she had, but there was a looming good one.

It was quite frustrating.