i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry! i realize it's been forever but life's been crazy and i'm shutting up cause they're only excuses and you just want the story!

Chapter 6: Love and Dreams

I didn't let go of that stupid vile of liquid all the way back to the common room. But in there, I stared at it. I stared at it so long and so hard that you'd think the solution to all my problems was hiding in that clear liquid, just waiting for me to discover it. I was still staring at it as Slytherins came through between classes, and I continued watching the fluid through lunch. Not that it mattered. I wasn't hungry. All through the afternoon I sat there, thinking. What if I just swallowed it all? What if I didn't say goodbye to Draco? Would he forget about me? Mourn me? Hate me? Would his memory of me be so strong that he finds a way to come to me? Would my stay here affect him so much that the Malfoy in the books would be noticeably different? Would everyone in the school forget I ever existed? Would Draco forget me? What if I didn't leave? What if I never drank the potion? Could I stay here with witches and wizards, though I've got no magic myself? If I didn't leave, would Dumbledore kick me out? If I stayed, would Draco realize I did care for him? If I left, would he continue thinking I didn't care about him?

It was then that I realized two things. First, Draco would not believe me until I convinced him. Unfortunately, I needed to leave. I couldn't stay here, and I knew it. So that gave me a week. But my second realization was much bigger.

I realized I loved him.

Now, I know there are people out there who say they love their boyfriends right away coughKellicough but I am not one of them. I take the use of the word "love" very seriously. I don't think you should say you love someone unless you really do. And, though I hated to admit it, I loved Draco Malfoy.

And now I'm crying. The man-slash-boy I love thinks I don't even care about him. I've got less than a week to convince him he's wrong, but unfortunately he's a Slytherin, and Slytherins are very stubborn people. They do not easily admit they're wrong.

"I was wrong, wasn't I?" came a cold, drawling voice from in front of me.

Yep, you recognized it.

"D-Draco?" I could barely comprehend the feelings going through me right now. Happiness because he's talking to me, amazement because he admitted he was wrong, fear that he'll still reject me, pain because of last night, awe because I realized I loved him, nervousness because I knew I needed to tell him, and...just so much, I could barely comprehend it all.

He came over and sat next to me. He looked at me for a moment, taking the time to wipe the tears off my cheeks with his thumb. Then he pulled me to him and hugged me. He just sat there and held on to me as though he would never let me go. He must've sensed I would be leaving soon, because he had never held me like that before. In his arms I continued crying, but these tears were of joy.

Unfortunately, he didn't sense that, and thought I was still weeping about last night.

"I'm sorry," he said. The usual coldness that filled his voice was gone. He was being honest. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just…I know that you leaving means I'll probably never see you again, and I don't want to deal with that yet." He started rubbing my shoulder. "I don't want us to end," he whispered.

I couldn't stand it. I sat up, smiling.

"Shayna?" Draco asked, confused.

"Draco, it's okay!" I was about to start laughing I was so happy. "God, all I wanted was for you to talk to me, and look at you!" Then I did start laughing. "Thank you…" I said after the laughter subsided. "So you know that I do care about you?"

This time he chuckled. Yep, that's right, Draco chuckled. "How could I doubt you?" He looked at me, deep into my eyes. I love it when he does that. "I snuck in your room last night," he told me. I said nothing. So he continued. "I wanted to know if you were okay, so I snuck in." I still said nothing. "You were mumbling in your sleep…I thought it was just some dream you were having, but then you started talking about me. You were calling out to me, tossing and turning, but I guess I wasn't answering. So I walked over andreplied toyou. You talked to me like you were awake. Hell, I thought you were awake for a while. You told me you wanted to stay, but couldn't. You explained it all so brilliantly that even Crabbe and Goyle could've understood." He paused and looked down. "Then you started going on about pink penguins and black and white flamingos. I figured you were having a normal dream, so I left."

This amazed me. I was dreaming about pink penguins! Just kidding!

I remembered vaguely having a dream about Draco last night, but no details came to me. But then…there was one small detail that slowly came to me…the one that made me realize I loved him… Snap. I told him I loved him in my dream. What if he was still there when I said it?

"Did I say anything…else to you?" I asked carefully.

He glanced up at me nervously before looking back at the knees of his robes. "You told me you loved me," he whispered.

Okay, so that checks telling him I love him off my list of things to do today.

We kind of just sat there for a minute. I was slowly working up the courage to tell him that it was true, while he was probably still thinking about me and my dream-honesty. For some reason, I thought of Peachie, my old cat, and courage leapt into me.

"Draco?" He looked up. "I do love you."

He stared at me, open jaw and everything. For some reason that open jaw bugged me, so I reached over and shut it. He still stared.

"Hello?" I asked. His eyes came back into focus and he shook his head.

"Sorry…you're not joking, are you?" he asked cautiously.

"No."

A wave of relief flooded through his face, closely followed by a red blushing of embarrassment. "Good." He paused. "Because I love you too."

(a/n: i realize some of the chapters are rather short, but this was supposed to be a short story, so, well, that pretty much explains the shortness. the chapters do get a little longer as the story continues though, so never fear!)