The master of the house was home over the weekend, but on Monday, he had business to attend which left the children mostly alone in the Manor. Of course, Narcissa Malfoy was still there, but she didn't keep such an obvious watchful eye over them as her husband. She was interested, but wouldn't do it in a way in which they could tell she was watching them and grow uncomfortable. She didn't need much to realize that Katherina was very different in their absence, as she caught small laughs every now and then.

The little half-blood was living up to her expectations, which was surprising, to say the least. Well-educated and disciplined, she recognized authority and obeyed. They had three tutors come every weekday for three hours each. Narcissa asked for their opinions on the children, already expecting absolute excellence from her son accompanied by a sometimes overconfident attitude and some hints of laziness. She was pleased to hear that because their guest of honor wished to be ahead of him, Draco was also working harder and showing greater determination in his tasks. If only one summer showed such unexpected progress, she could only dream of the heights these two would achieve in six more years of carefully selected classes.

Their chemistry was undeniable to the trained, experienced eye. Sure, they did have about a dozen arguments a day, but none meaningful. When Dobby reported having seen the two crossing the main hallway back and forth between their quarters and passing transfigured notes with each other, she wasn't the least surprised.

This happened again on a Tuesday. After studying the practice of magic, potions, and etiquette, Draco had sent her a transfigured spider note asking if it would be fine for them to meet in her room in ten minutes. Katherina agreed and sent back her reply. Not bothering to knock and careful not to be spotted, Draco made the leap from his quarters to hers.

"Are you ready to talk now?" she pleaded with him for what must have been the twentieth time.

"Briefly," he warned her. Draco sat on the sofa in her room, resting his feet on the glass cocktail table. "My head hurts, for some damn reason..."

"That's not an excuse," she commented as she kicked his feet off the table. "Don't give me that attitude! Look, hold your hands like this."

The young Malfoy looked at her like she was nuts. She sat at the opposite end of the sofa, turned towards him.

"What's that supposed to mean, are we making shadow puppets?"

She began to laugh. "No, silly! Have you really never heard of this? There's a pressure point in your palm. If you're tense, or stressed, or you're feeling bad, it's going to feel kind of like a pulled muscle. Press it down for a few seconds, try to relax, and you're going to feel much better."

He raised one suspicious eyebrow at her. "...Is this some kind of muggle trick?"

"I have no idea who came up with it, but it works, I promise you!"

Draco looked carefully at her hands and copied the posture. His palm did feel kind of tense... but wasn't it supposed to be that way? Well, whatever, might as well give it a try, only when he pressed it down, he cringed. "Ow!"

"Not so hard," the girl continued to laugh at him. "The goal is to release tension, not to put a hole in your hand! Try to take a deep breath."

"Well, you should have said so!" The annoyance made his headache even worse, but then Draco gave this trick another try. This time he focused better and felt around his palm for the core of the pressure point. When he thought he had found it, he took a deep breath and pressed it firmly, but gently, as he allowed the air to flow out of his lungs and carry his negativity with it.

She watched him for a little while, then looked away with a smile. He was succeeding! She didn't want to distract him, but the thought that Draco was learning something from her made her pride bloom. When he looked up, his gray eyes were wide with surprise.

"...What kind of sorcery is this and how come I've never known of it before?"

"You're welcome," she said with a bright smile. "So are you going to tell me how much have you told them about me?"

Draco looked away. "Hm..." He shrugged, trying to find the best word for it. "Pretty much everything."

"What does everything mean?" She instantly thought of their moments together which they both agreed to keep between themselves.

"Well... I told her about your fights with Richard, and how he kept trying to sabotage me, and I suspected it was because of you."

Katherina rolled her eyes - not again! "We've been over this before..."

"Not at the time I told my mother about it," he defended himself. "And then, I told them about Richard in the girls' corridor..."

"Obviously..." she nodded.

"And after that, the fight in the Great Hall... and how that she-man Stephenie kept bullying me. My father knows all of this as well."

"Did you tell them about... that night in the hospital wing?" she mumbled in a low voice.

"Only my mother."

"But why?" Katherina had to ask. Hopefully, his mother hadn't planted any ideas in his head.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know... You wouldn't tell me why you stayed with me, so I wanted to see if she could figure it out."

"But I did answer you! I didn't want you to wake up on your own, I thought you'd be confused..."

"Yeah, that's what she said, that you were just being nice... but I still don't get it. What did it matter to you if I woke up alone? I'm smart enough to piece things together!"

The girl looked away. "Right... and the Astronomy tower?"

Draco looked away as well. Here she was, avoiding the real answer again while trying to make him feel guilty with the tone of her voice. "It's not my fault, alright?! She's a powerful witch, she can read my mind if she wants to do it!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "What mother does read her child's mind?"

"How should I know?" Draco asked in self-defense. "Wait. How would you know?"

"I'm a girl, Draco," she chuckled. "We know things, alright? You think you're so unreadable with your poker face and your smug bully attitude, but I can read you like an open book, and if I can, do you have any doubt about your mother?"

He looked at her with a pout. Draco hated the thought that someone could get to him, see his emotions which he tried so hard not to feel. "You're not my mother. Why the hell would you do that?"

She opened her mouth to yell his answer, but the words that came to her mind shocked and scared her at the same time. Katherina bit her lip and looked away.

"Well?" Draco insisted. "You have no right or reason to even try to understand me!"

"Fine!" she threw one of the decorative pillows at his face. "Whatever you say! You know, sometimes I wonder the same damn-!"

Draco threw her pillow back, full force. "What was that for?"

She caught it and attempted to throw it back, but Draco was on his feet, throwing every other pillow at her and forcing Katherina to use the first one as a shield.

"Because you always shut me out, Malfoy! Damn it all! You're never going to make any friends with that attitude and guess what? You need people for success! Loyal, capable people!"

"I have plenty of them! I'm a Malfoy, I have everything I need for success!"

"Really? Who's that, Draco? Cabble and Goyle, who can't tell right from left?" Draco reached for his wand, but so did Katherina. "Don't raise your wand at me!"

Furious, he lowered it and went for the door. "I knew this talk of yours was going to be a waste of my time! Damn my curiosity!"

Katherina placed her wand down and rushed to cut his path. "Draco, stop!"

"What?!" he yelled, knocking his shoulder into hers.

Katherina stopped him by grabbing his arm. "You can't run away from what makes you uncomfortable forever!"

"Oh, really? Fucking watch me!" He threw her hand off and stormed into his room.

Katherina watched him slam the door to her quarters, and then the one to his own - so much for being discreet about it. The girl had seen him do the exact same thing too many times already, but she didn't know if she should intervene... Lady Malfoy was still home, technically. She was never in their way, but she was there, and something about her ever-present smiles gave her a cold chill down her spine.

She sighed and paced around the room, holding the bridge of her nose. She needed something to distract her before she would tear down both doors separating them and confront Draco about all of his bullshit. She took her journal and sat down at the desk in her room. This entire Malfoy business didn't sit well with her... She had been accepted, officially, but she still felt the blood purity distancing her from the power couple of the house.

The girl went over her notes from the first year and found the name of the book to which Snape has been referring several times. Having memorized it, she went into the study praying to the universe itself to find a copy of it there. Since the library in that room was mostly intended to make Draco's life easier while studying at Hogwarts, she managed to find the book and take it back into her room. With a little bit of effort, she found the list of ingredients and the instructions for what she wanted. The girl read it, again and again, trying to memorize it. This wasn't something taught in their first year, so she had to make her first attempt on her own.

Draco was furious! She always avoided the subject! Why couldn't that brave-ass girl with her sharp tongue and that bloody annoying attitude just tell him one thing straight? She was quick to give him advice on everything, the advice he did not ask to hear, but when he asked her why was she always around him, she changed the topic!

He slammed his new sketchbook on the desk, opened it, and stared at a clean, blank page. He needed to let out his anger... but how? The only thing he saw behind his eyes whenever he blinked was her expression from before. For a second, she looked like she was ready to finally give him a real explanation, but then she stopped, swallowed her words, bit her lip, and turned away from him. What the hell could be so hard to say? He took a quill and began sketching away, absent-minded, with short, angry strokes that nearly slashed the page.

Before dinner, Narcissa went upstairs to warn the kids about their guests arriving soon. She knocked on Draco's door.

"Draco, dear, can I come in?"

That's when he realized he had been sketching the view he had from Katherina's room at Hogwarts while sitting on her bed. Damn! He quickly closed the book and cast Reducio over the quill and ink.

"Of course, mother. Is father home?"

She opened the door. "He has been for a few hours. We are expecting the Goyle family for dinner today. Please make yourself presentable."

"Is Gregory coming?" he asked with a frown. He wasn't in the mood for that.

"Most likely. Play nicely," she warned him before she knocked on Katherina's door.

Having heard some movement in the hallway, the girl was already by the door. She opened it and saw Draco slamming his when their eyes met briefly.

"We are expecting a few guests for dinner," the lady informed her briefly. "It's possible one of your fellow Slytherins to be among them. I hope you remember what we spoke about your identity."

She nodded. "I remember, Mrs. Malfoy. Thank you." Katherina expected her to leave, but she took a confident step past her and the girl found herself backing away to let her into the room.


Author's notes:

I still hope to find the ideal updating time of the day so that this story won't get pushed to the second or third page in a few hours. I'm really glad to see it's been well-received, even by only a handful of readers so far. Thank you Ghostwriter71 for your continuous support!

Usually, when I sketch the concept of a character, I want them to fit well enough into a universe so that the canon characters with which mine is supposed to interact have a genuine, believable reason to accept that interaction. I've been reading a few (wonderful) stories that paired Draco with a very kind, very soft girl, his polar opposite, and often from Hufflepuff. I do find the idea very cute, but I'm not so sure how long would such a character survive in the darkness of the Malfoy family (and all those related). Therefore, I thought I'd come up with a character that's a little bolder.

Let me know what you think in a review, and if you haven't already, follow and favorite. The dark side is tempting us all, isn't it?