Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter, but I do own this plot and the character Mary.

Authors note: Sorry this took so long! I've been really busy! I saw 'Goblet of Fire' yesterday and let me tell you it was exciting. It was different, but good. The part with Snape in study hall was really funny & so was the scene where Fred and George try to put their names in the goblet...So yeah, anyway...

P.S. Oh, and this is unbeta-ed so sry if there are a lot of mistakes...

Unvoiced Decisions

Chapter 10: Facing the Truth

Tired, she sat down in the yellow armchair next to the fireplace. As she sat, she took in her surroundings.

Everything was empty, and everything would stay empty for the next two weeks. Sure, there'd be a few underclassmen running around here and there, but she was alone.

Leaving her comfortable spot on the chair, she made her way over to her robes which were hanging on a coat rack by the door. Her books were crammed into her bag beneath the rack, and she quickly selected the one she was looking for.

Now that she had her sketchbook she needed some pencils. Reaching into the inner pocket of her robes, she grasped the cool metal tin that protected the soft lead inside.

As she did so, she noticed something peek back out from inside the fabric. With her tools in her left hand, she reached in and pulled out the object with her right. It was a new crisp parchment, but it had seen some wear and tear in the confines of her robes.

Curious, she headed back to her seat. Placing her sketchbook on her lap along with her tin, she inspected the paper more intently. When she turned it over she noticed that the wax seal that adorned the parchment was green. It was clearly a letter; a letter from Draco by the looks of things. After all, who else would use a green seal showing a serpent encircled by the words A Wizard's as Only as Good as His Blood. A family motto no doubt, she thought as she began to unfold the curious note. There was no actual envelope, but the message was written on the inside of the paper itself.

It read…

Dear Mary,

I am writing this letter because I am too much of a coward to tell you face to face. These past few months have affected me in ways that I can't even describe. I know it sounds cliché, but I've felt things that I've never felt before. You've taught me so much, but I'm too ignorant to change. It hurts me to say this, but we both know the truth. One of us was going to have to do this sooner or late; I just did it sooner. It's not your fault. It's the world's. No, it's mine. Being with you made me limited. It was leading me down the path that I fear most; the one thing that truly scares me.

"Ok, Ok, my turn!" she laughed into the frosty air.

"My favorite flavor of ice cream…" she smiled at him the way she always did. The way she always did when he felt most vulnerable. It was as if she was egging him on; waiting for him to crack. It was all in his head of course; paranoia.

"Umm….wait, I know….Chocolate." He had got this one right, he could feel it.

"Close, but no cigar."

She had rolled onto her side to have a better look at him. He was lying opposite her on the cool grass. His long frame draped across the field.

"For once I actually thought I got it right." He admitted, switching positions, and adjusting himself so his left arm was propping him up.

"Well, if it's not chocolate what is it?"

"Rocky road, but chocolate's my second favorite, so I'll give you half a point."

"So generous," he drawled sarcastically.

"I know," she answered, just as mockingly.

"So what does that make it?"

"If my calculations are correct, which they are," she added quickly, and he smirked as she continued, "Then it's seven to a half."

"Seven?"

"Yes, seven."

"But I thought you said the color one didn't count."

"Yeah, but after thinking about it I decided that it did."

"Cheater." He accused.

"Opportunist(1)," she corrected, "Besides, it's not my fault that I forgot the exact shade. You're just too particular. It's amazing that I've remembered this much considering. You know how forgetful I am"

"I know too well. It's the only reason you get detentions. You do all the work and then forget to bring it to class. You'd lose your own head if it wasn't attached, which I wonder sometimes if it is. That's another thing. You have these moments when you just space out like you're hypnotized or something, and half the time you don't even notice it. I think you have blonde roots." He said, ruffling her hair.

"You just insulted yourself you know."

"My hair's not blonde, it's white." He said rhetorically.

"It is not! It's blonde! You're a true blonde."

"Fine, if you want me to be a blonde, I'll be a blonde."

"I want you to be a blonde." She insisted, and he consented without a fight; instead he continued on with the game.

"I'm going to ask you another question; one that you'll never get right. It is my turn right?"

"Yeah, it's your turn."

"My greatest fear."

"Your greatest fear?" she asked surprised by the question.

"Yeah, what's my greatest fear?"

"Hmmm…that's a tough one. Are you even afraid of anything?"

"Everyone's afraid something."

"True. Oh, I don't know….the Dark Lord?"

"No. I figured you'd guess that."

"Well, what is it?"

He rolled onto his back; placing his hand behind his head stated simply, "Attachment."

I hope you find this before I return, but if you don't…I'm sorry. Either way I'm sorry. I don't deserve you, and I hope in time you find someone who does. I can't go on pretending. I hope you understand.

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy

So that was it then. Not even a hint. Not one little hint. Maybe she should have taken his answer as a hint, but it happened so long ago. She thought he might have changed, but yet again Hermione was right. It was too hard to change sixteen years of programming. Sixteen years of bad choices and stupid mistakes.

She tried. That was for sure. No one could say she didn't try. The question was, did he? Did he ever care enough to try, or did he just think it would be handed to him on a silver platter like everything else in his life?

'Sincerely'…not even a 'Yours Truly'.

Staggered, she leaned back in her seat. Willing it to suck her in and devour her completely. This was how it ended? How was this fair? They had survived the storm; now he was giving up after the rain? No, she couldn't let it happen, but there was nothing she could do. He was long gone; by the time he returned she'd be just a memory. Whether the memory was good or bad was for him to decide; only for him.

"Oh, god what's wrong?" Joey asked rushing to her side.

"He's gone."

"Who's gone?"

"Draco."

"I know. He left for Christmas break. It's only a couple weeks. You'll be fine..."

"NO! He's gone for good. Here." She mumbled, thrusting the note in his face.

She watched his eyes scan the paper; trying not to cry. She didn't even know if she could cry. In order to cry you need to feel emotion. In order to feel emotion you need to be alive.

"God Mary, I'm so sorry." He said, taking her into his arms. "If there's anything I can do…"

"Stay with me…please. Just stay with me for the night. I don't want to be alone." She held on desperately to any part of him that she could grasp.

Standing up, he took her with him. He made his way towards the stairs; with her clinging all the way.

Once in the room, she stripped down and he helped her into bed. He climbed in under the covers and wrapped his arm around her waist as she molded into him. She snuggled her head into her pillow drying the tears that were at last beginning to fall.

"I guess this means I'm staying for Christmas vacation." he smiled; taking in the smell of her hair.

"I guess," she sighed.

"Hey, if you don't want me to stay all you have to do is say so."

"No, I want you to stay….really. I just need some time to myself."

"You don't want to be alone, but you need sometime to yourself."

She elbowed him in the chest playfully, "You know what I mean. Now shut up and hold me."

"So demanding; good thing I do whatever you ask of me, or else you might have trouble."

She raised her elbow in motion to strike.

"Shutting up now." He insisted, holding her closer still.

She let out a small laugh causing him to smile, "Good night Joey."

"Night."

Mary awoke the next morning with Joey still at her side. He was lying face up; his right arm lay haphazardly above his dormant body.

She gazed around the room hazily while trying to remember why Joey was present. Then it hit her. Actually, 'hit her' was an understatement. It was more like 'smacked her harshly up-side the head'.

Draco, yes she remembered him, but did he remember her. As words and phrases popped unwontedly into her head, a few small tears began to fall, but were quickly suppressed by a steadfast hand.

"Hey, hey, hey…," Joey comforted softly after waking up in time to notice her obvious actions. "Are you ok? You weren't crying again were you?" He placed a hand supportively on her back.

She shook her head slightly in response.

"Do you wanna talk about it? We never really got a chance to last night."

"Yeah, I think that might help. I just need to vent." Standing up, she shuffled over to the four poster opposite, and collapsed onto the soft material. She noticed shortly after that her ensemble consisted only of a white tank top, a pink pair of boy cut bottoms, and socks. After the initial shock had past, she remembered who she was with and relaxed enough to explain her situation.

"Well last night I found that letter in the inside pocket of my school robes and well, you know everything it said."

"Yeah, but do you why he wrote it."

"I think it's kinda obvious, don't you? He doesn't want to be with me any more plan and simple. He wasn't ready to try. He always was a quitter."

"Harsh." He whispered noticing the bitterness in her voice. "You know, I don't think you can blame this all on him."

"What are you talking about? I though you're supposed to be on my side."

"I am on your side." He said, moving over to the edge to the bed. Then, with great effort, stood up groggily and made his way over to her side. Comfortable, he continued, "But being a man, I have to look at this from his point of view. It's for your benefit believe me." He added after she gave him a slightly irritated look.

"Ok, so how is this my fault?" Feeling somewhat chilly, she scooted over to the foot of the bed and wiggled her way under the covers. He waited for her to get comfortable before he answered her question.

"Well did you ever make an effort to bring things together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, did you ever try and get to know his friends, or have a get together with your friends and his?"

"No."

"See, so it's…"

"But it's not my fault! It's not like I could do that! Sure all our friends said they were ok with it, but I know he still said things to them behind my back. And his friends! Don't even get me started on them. I hate his friends with a passion."

She looked up from her hands which she'd been using to wring the covers on her lap out of frustration. Her dark brown eyes met his honey and she knew instantly that he had won.

"I hate you Joey." She said jokingly, throwing a nearby pillow at him.

"Why?" He almost screamed, recovering from the nearly fatal blow; his hair even more messy than it had been seconds before.

"Because you always make me face the truth, and I hate the truth."

"Yeah, the truth can hurt, but you need to be able to pick the truth out of the lies. If you can't, then you'll never amount to anything. You'll just dwell over the past and wonder what went wrong, but if you take the time to figure out exactly what did go wrong then you avoid similar situations in the future."

"Wow that was pretty deep for you. When did you get all Buda on me?"

He smiled, "When you made me that way."

"Oh." They broke out simultaneously, laughter filling the room.

Later that day, after she had showered and dressed, Mary made her way back to the Hufflepuff common room. She had just finished researching a project that was due after the holidays. Feeling fatigue from the excessive thinking, she decided that a quick nap might be the best thing for her. On her way, she ran into a familiar face.

"Hey Mary!"

"Hey Colin, what are you still doing here?"

"I always stay during Holiday. Remember, I was making that scrapbook to send home to my mum."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Had it only been last night? It felt like ages since she'd allowed Colin to take that picture.

"By the way, I developed that picture I took of you last night. Here, I have a copy for you." Reaching into the tan bag at his side, he pulled out large black leather photo album. Knowing exactly which page to turn to, he reached into the slot, pulled out the picture, and handed it to her.

"Here you go." The mousy boy smiled.

"Thanks Colin. It was really nice of you of you to give me this, but I don't…" Her voice trailed off as she inspected the moving image she held carelessly in her hand.

"But you don't what?" Colin asked.

"Never mind, it's great thanks!"

"Are you sure? If you don't want it just tell me."

"No, I want it." …No, I need it…

"Okay," Colin smiled, happy to have made a friend. "Well, I'll see you round?"

"Yeah, you'll see me."

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(1) If this sounds or looks familiar to you that's because I got this line from my little sis who used it in her alias fanfic Putting Aside Differences. Thanks Tess!

Liljdpegasuschic160: well, that's that...I just got the new Ryan Cabrera cd for my birthday on wednesday and there's a song on it called 'Photo' n I just listened to it after finishing this chapter. It fit really well. Some things are a little different, but it fits for the most part. If you want to check it out just google 'lyrics, Ryan Cabrera, Photo'...After you're done doing that CoMmEnT 33