Chapter 2

Hogwarts

Tessa looked around the Great Hall as she waited for the Sorting Hat to call her brother up to be sorted. She was curious as to what house he was going to be sorted in. He could fit in either Slytherin, like their family before them, or Ravenclaw, like her. Her brothers always thought it was funny that she was sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin like the rest of the Harrington family. But she always said that her Ravenclaw abilities outshined her Slytherin abilities.

The Sorting Hat finally called on her brother to be sorted, so she sat forward in her seat, listening intently.

"Ah, another Harrington. What house shall I place you in?" The Sorting Hat drawled. Tessa held her breath as she waited for the answer. "I could put you in Slytherin like your family before you. Or in Ravenclaw, like your sister. Maybe even Gryffindor. Hmmmm….what house to choose…"

She could see Josef biting down on his lip as he waited. "I place you in…SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table cheered as did Luna and Tessa as Josef made his way to the Slytherin table. The rest of the sorting ceremony went by in a breeze and soon dinner was served as the Great Hall was filled with chatter as students caught up with old friends.

Luna looked over at her best friend and wondered what was going on through that mind of hers. It was so different being back in school after the war. Seeing friends that survived the war and then seeing the empty seats from those who lost their lives. She knew that this would be a hard time for Tessa. The poor witch lost both of her older brothers, her cousin Fred and nearly lost her own life several times trying to save somebody else. Tessa had a lot of dark secrets and Luna hoped and prayed that her best friend could find somebody this year to confide in and that could save her best friend before she was lost. Looking over at the Slytherin table, her eyes caught on the dark eyed gaze of her boyfriend. He had a slight frown on his face as he moved his gaze over to the red hair Ravenclaw that stood so suddenly that the whole Great Hall quieted as they watched her. Without saying a word, Tessa left the Great Hall.

Tessa couldn't breathe. She felt like she was suffocating in there. It was like everything just came crashing down on her as she looked around the room, noticing the students that were missing. The teachers that were gone. Running towards the Astronomy tower, she tried to find something else to think about but nothing was working. Entering the tower, she went straight to the window ledge and leaned over, breathing in the fresh air. She blanked her mind as her breathing finally got under control. Since she didn't really want to head back to the Great Hall and face all the questioning looks, she moved so that she was sitting on the ledge with her legs hanging over. After a while of staring out into the darkness of the school grounds, Tessa's thoughts came creeping back in. She was so caught up in her own head that she didn't hear the person that entered the tower behind her.

Draco watched as Tessa got up suddenly and left the Great Hall. He noticed that she look upset and since neither Luna or Blaise were getting up to check on her, he decided that he would go check on her. Nobody should be alone when they are upset. Getting up, he ignored both Pansy and Millicent as they both called out his name and promptly left the Great Hall to follow Tessa. He had a feeling that he knew where she was going. If he was right, she should be heading up towards the Astronomy tower that was abandoned. It was where he always went when he wanted to be alone. Draco kept his distance so she would freak out if she realized she was being followed. As he followed her, he wondered how she was dealing with everything that's happened since the war was over. He knew that she lost a few friends and two of her brothers. Luna had told him that Tessa hasn't talked to anybody about how she was feeling. Not even her parents and that bothered Draco. He didn't know why it bothered him since he wasn't close to the girl. He watched as she disappeared into the tower and waited a few minutes before he entered silently behind her. He walked up to her, stopping a few feet behind, a frown forming on his face as he heard her sniffling.

"Tessa?" He whispered, not wanting to scare her. She jumped, nearly falling off the ledge is Draco hadn't have reached out and caught her. Her startled blue green eyes met his silver grey ones.

Tessa tried to calm her heart as it hammered in her chest as she stared up at Draco Malfoy. She was acutely aware of the fact that his hands were on her hips as he held her to him so she wouldn't fall out of the window. Wondering what he was doing here and how he knew where she was, she tried to pull away from him.

"Why are you in here?" She asked softly as she moved off the ledge and moved around the blonde Slytherin.

"I saw you leave the hall. You looked upset. I wanted to make sure you were alright." Draco said, watching her.

"I'm fine. I just needed a moment alone. I'm fine though. You can leave."

He frowned as he stared at her.

"I'm here if you need to talk, Tessa. You shouldn't keep all of that bottled up inside you."

"I just told you I'm fine. What makes you think something is wrong?" Tessa glared at him.

It was quiet for a moment. Neither of them speaking. It was an odd moment for her. Tessa was standing in a room with a known Deatheater, regardless of the fact that he is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, he still has the Dark Mark, the Slytherin Prince and Sex God and the resident Hogwarts bad boy. It made her wonder why he was talking to her, a Ravenclaw, when he hasn't really talked to her much in the past few years since Blaise introduced her to him as his sister.

"Look, Malfoy…Draco, I'm fine. Ok? I just got a little overwhelmed in there and needed a moment to myself. I'm fine. Promise." She stated, giving him a small smile.

Draco was quiet. He didn't say a word, just stood there and stared at her, making her wonder what was going through his mind.

Finally, he nodded and walked up to her, startling her as he reached up and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Without another word, Draco turned and left the tower, leaving her confused as she tried to figure out what just happened here. Not coming up with anything, Tessa decided to just call it quits for the night and headed towards the Ravenclaw tower to unpack before finally falling asleep, dreaming of a certain blonde hair, silver eyed Slytherin.