A/N: Thanks to CappucinnoSunshine for your review - I always wanted to have others to see Cho as nothing more than a normal teenage girl. And as for Malfoy, I think his guise is the hardest, yet easiest, semblance to characterize. It all depends on what's going to happen in the story.

Sleep Away Life

I decided that I would follow him after classes ended to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. Karen Connelly was a dangerous girl. She was the Slytherin prefect and she knew how to use her power. She had people that would defend her honor. She was friends with nearly everyone and knew how to manipulate others. At the snap of her fingers and they'd do anything she wished. Anything she wanted, she got. She was one of the most adored students in our school. She was almost like a female version of You-Know-Who to me. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. You-Know-Who had his death eaters; Connelly had her crew of "friends".

The last bell rang and I grabbed my books and belongings, and I shoved them into my bag. Malfoy's class was not so far away from my own and knowing I couldn't simply yell his name inside school, I rushed out behind him. He was several meters ahead and I knew I needed to hurry so I wouldn't lose sight of him. He headed out through a door, leading to the dungeons, and I nearly missed him. Breathlessly, I caught up to his quick pace. He did not turn around, even though I believed I was quite loud in running.

Once we had walked out of sight, away from the crowd, he whirled around. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

I froze. I had not known he knew I was following him. "I… didn't want you to get hurt or anything. So I followed you." I lowered my eyes to the ground. He must've thought I was nosy and stupid.

He didn't respond instantly but instead, he was struggling to say something. He managed to say, "Thanks, but I don't need help." My eyes widened. His voice was almost… soothing. It threw me off, but when I looked to his face, he was no longer looking at me but something behind me.

And then I heard footsteps. "Aw, that's so sweet, Draco. Unfortunately, bastard, that's going to be the last thing you say."

It was Connelly. She had a fairly large group of people with her. My heart dropped, and Malfoy's face hardened. He pushed me to the side so I wouldn't get caught inside the action. A split second later, one of her posse members grabbed me and roughly dragged me behind Connelly.

Fear gripped me and never let go. I saw Malfoy twitch ever so slightly that I believe I was the only one who noticed. His eyes became the cold, grey rocks that they were.

"When you said you wanted me, I thought you meant you wanted me as a person, not my body," she sneered. "You made me believe that you had changed and that I was the one who would last with you." She grinned, evilly. "I was stupid. But now, I get my revenge."

Swiftly, a seventh year, in my Charms class, shouted a spell, and it hit him in the stomach. He fell, clutching his abdomen. There was a lump in my throat that wouldn't go away. I shut my eyes tight to avoid seeing Malfoy in pain. My hands became numb and I could not watch him being beaten.

"Open your eyes, and watch your boyfriend," the person holding me jeered. His grip tightened. He smelled of heavy cologne mixed with sweat. It was enough to make me gag. And from what I had heard, he had a father that was a Death Eater, which made the knot in my stomach worse. I didn't want him to use any Dark Arts on me.

My eyes were bleary as I opened it, knowing that closing my eyes would not help matters. Malfoy was no longer on the ground but now was hexing and hitting anything and everything in his path. Karen seemed to disappear and all that was left was all the guys she brought with her. Malfoy's teeth were gritted and I spotted a cut on his lip. He threw jinxes everywhere and I watched in horror as he vanished from my view, behind the sea of people.

He emerged again, pushing and shoving. He had pushed himself through and turned around to get a better fighting position. He kicked the closest person and then began to slowly make his way through, using all of his spells and defenses. I realized that it was completely hopeless on his part. It was around ten versus one. Malfoy would be killed, I caught on, terrified.

I began to struggle out of my captor's hands, but he was stronger than I expected. His grip was painfully strong and I stopped because of the throbbing in my arms. Then, I began to rack my brain for a spell that may help me. I knew that I needed to cast a nonverbal spell so he would not suspect a thing.

EXPELLIARMUS, I thought. He gave a cry of shock and his wand flew out of his hand. At that chance, I yelled, "Confundus!" and he became dazed and I rushed off to see how Malfoy was doing.

Amazingly, Malfoy had conquered about half of the lot by himself. He was a hell lot stronger and smarter than I had believed. He pulled through and he cursed whoever was in front of him. I joined him and began yelling spells at the top of my head. "Impedimenta! Petrificus Totalus! Rictusempra! Stupefy! Tarantallegra!"

After a while, the band of people realized that they were losing and began to scatter and thin away. The bloke that had me for a while was still confounded but had enough sense to run with the rest of the band of people. Malfoy was panting and gasping for air by the time he was done. I watched him closely while he dropped beside me. His cut had become bigger and he had bruises all over his body. He caught his breath and glanced at me.

"Are you ok?" he asked, scratchily.

I nodded. "What about you?" I asked, worried. His wounds looked pretty bad. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

He smiled for the first time. "No, I'm always the strongest."

I couldn't help but smile too. He seemed so relaxed. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

-:- -:- -:-

He was sleeping in my bed, in my room. It would have made more sense for him to be in Bletchley's room but he wasn't in and I didn't know how long he'd take. I read through the library's copy of The Healer's Helpmate. I looked through the book for various healing charms and used them on Malfoy. It worked perfectly and before long, he was completely rid of all injuries.

Events happen so fast that you don't realize how long it's been until everything stops. I was sitting at my desk, not knowing what to do. I had finished taking a shower and cleaning up my own cuts. There was nothing else to do but to wait. Wait for Draco Malfoy to wake up from his slumber.

He was sleeping so calmly that I would hate to wake him. He seemed to be so peaceful and not so sad. Knowing my parents would never approve of a boy sleeping in my room, he'd have to go before Bletchley comes back or else he'll come to the worst conclusions. Sadly, rumors spread faster than a wildfire once it's out, especially when it concerns Malfoy, with his reputation. I decided to let him sleep until it was necessary for him to wake up.

I couldn't help but watch the boy who changed my life ever so quickly. The guy who protected me in my time of need. He was everything I needed and wanted.

His face was at ease. There was no hint of the careless façade he always wore. He seemed happier in his dreams, and it took all I had to keep me from staring deeply at him, think. I knew he'd come up with a retort if he woke up to that. I smiled to myself at that thought.

I never needed to wake him up, after all. He woke up on his own and at first, the surroundings confused him, but he saw me and understood and remembered. He got up and stretched. I watched him, curious to see what he'd do. Or say.

"I'm going to assume that your parents wouldn't approve of me here," he stated. He was glancing around my room, like a curator examining new paintings.

"Yeah, my parents would freak out if they found out," I said, a bit disappointed that he had said nothing else. "But they won't. You feel better?"

"I'll live."

He finally stopped looking around and settled his eyes on me. They were strangely blank and expressionless. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Not that I ever could, but it'd be nice to see a change.

He didn't say a word as he started towards the door. He was leaving and I was unusually downhearted. I suppose it was the fact he was leaving already. Or maybe it was because he had not said more than a few words. Whatever the reason, I was discontented.

As my thoughts trailed to the fight, I remembered his voice being soft and almost kind. They stuck out to me, and his words repeated over and over in my head. It was the first time I've ever heard him speak in a polite tone.

That was enough to confirm my question of whether we were friends or not. I began to recognize that the trust was always there. I didn't see it at all. I had always trusted him but I denied it to myself to not get too attached. I didn't want to trust him, at first. I was scared to, when no one else could. I didn't want to become more than friends.

Well, it's a little too late for that.