Hours had passed since he had sat down in front of her and other than a few grumbles to himself mixed with many sighs of frustration, he hadn't said a single word.

She couldn't say she was upset about it, on the contrary she unfortunately liked the comfortable silence they shared. It was a pleasant change from their usual routine. Something that didn't involve screaming or cursing one another. This was well, it was easy, much easier than any other part of her life had been in the past few weeks. She didn't have to put up any sort of façade with him sitting there because frankly she didn't give a damn what he thought about her. She wasn't the one with all the secrets.

Yet at the same time she couldn't help but take the moment to observe him, the frailness of him was striking. She could see the veins running down the back of his wrists. She remembered the strength of them, the strength behind his lips. A contradiction in itself. His looks could deceive the inner strength she knew he possessed.

"Your eyes are going to pop out of your head if you don't stop staring Granger." He never looked up from his book as her called her out. She began to blush.

"Don't flatter yourself Malfoy, I was simply waiting." She said pulling her book up and resting it on the ledge of the desk to hide her face. She did not need to give him any ammo he would do well enough on his own she had faith.

"Waiting on what?" He pulled her book down flat on the table to look at her. I guess were doing this then.

"You to return to normal." She shrugged. "I mean be honest here, you didn't just sit here to read in silence. Enjoy each other's company? You said so yourself you came here to pester me so get on with it then." She waved her hand out, allowing him the stage he normally held when it came to his shows of name calling.

"I was quite enjoying the silence thank you" He said picking his book up and continuing.

"Oh, come off it Malfoy really. I have much better things to do than this. Unless you plan to sit there in silence for the rest of your life then this is your chance, have at it." She said becoming irritated. What was he trying to accomplish?

"Why do I have to have any sort of motive? Can I not just sit here, and the world keep spinning like normal?" his eyes were beginning to turn a grey color that she could only associate with anger. Serves him right.

"No." She said biting her tongue. "Just think of it as payback" she threw his words back at him. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What do you want Granger." He said glaring at her.

"Answers Draco, something other than vague statements here and there. Then we go through the stage of weeks of being tortured by you relentlessly for doing nothing but comforting you while you were down, I have had the guilt of coming to your side after Katie following me around to the point that I have spent the past month pretending that I have been pissed off at my best friend because there's no way I could ever admit that you had been the one to get under my skin. Then to make things even worse you kiss me. Randomly kiss me at that. So now I am expected to just sit here in silence and pretend there is nothing going on, that the world will keep on spinning as so put it." She was screaming at him.

Her frustration had increased tenfold and she felt the traitorous angry tears threaten to form on the corner of her eyes. He stood pushing himself away from the desk allowing the chair to fall down behind him. She could see his carefully constructed facade begin to crumble as he paced behind the table before slamming his hands down on the wood. The crack as his hands made contact had her blood pumping dangerously fast through her veins.

"Well go on and ask it then" he said opening and closing his fists as he stared at her with those steal grey eyes.

"Ask what?" she said rising from the chair, she needed to give herself a level field.

"What you've been dying to ask since the beginning but wouldn't" he said not breaking eye contact with her.

"Who is it" she asked without hesitation, it had been one of many questions she had wanted to ask. One that had a simple answer.

"You will never know Granger. I will make certain of that and when it happens you and the rest of the world will stand shocked at what He is capable of making someone do." He sneered at her. "Now stop asking and leave me the hell alone"

"That's not an answer," She threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "I didn't ask for this! I was damn set on avoiding you, then everyone forced my hand. Why even bring me into this? Why not just avoid me? Even now you stand there ready to run but instead you're here." The look of pain crossed his face and her voice fell ending her rampage. Her feet walked to him of their own accord, shakily her arm reached up to lay her hand on his face, to bring him back to the reality she could see him struggling with he quickly grabbed her wrist stopping her. "You've already let me in once, more so than you probably even know." she said looking at him. His eyes were slowly returning to their silver color she was used to.

"I will get you killed Granger. I will be the one that hurts you, all of you. There is no one around me that will be safe in the end." He looked torn then, as if he was as confused by what he had said as she was. He paused for a moment before quickly leaning down and planting a kiss on her forehead. She could feel the difference this time, it was softer, as if he believed pressing harder would cause her to fade away. She could feel the hairs on her head move slightly as he inhaled deeply before releasing her arm and pushing her arm distance away. "You need to stay away before you can no longer make that choice." With that he turned away and left.

She pulled the arm he had grabbed to her chest and rubbed the feeling of him away, sitting back on the table behind her. She felt as if all the nerves endings around her heart were alight and firing, a warning message that her brain had not caught until now. He was more than he seemed. She laughed under her breath as her reactions once again were the opposite of what they should have been. She knew in her heart that any choice she wanted to make was no longer her own.

It was bigger than the stupid, harsh kiss in the Astronomy Tower. More than the secret that was burning within her, the one that her brain wished to scream to every single person she knew that would be able to stop him.

Her inability to walk away from a challenge, and he was nothing short of a challenge, would be her downfall.

A.N. Two chapters in one day only because you all are so amazing. Please let me know what you think!