Draco woke in his dorm before anyone else. He lay there a moment. It was Monday, meaning that he would be picking up his 'game' from where he left it off on Friday. The game of course, being his life. He thought back trying to recall what he had done on Friday….

"…Big words potter, from someone who hangs out with a mudblood, and a kid who belongs in the poor house."

"Shut up Malfoy! You don't have to lash out at everyone just because your father hits you!

….

Fridays events began to surface in his memory. Why had he pretended Harry's comment had hurt him? Why had he even pretended to hate him in the first place? Maybe because pretending was all he knew how to do. He had faked a look of pain, and stormed from the class. He had been in his room since that time. All the slytherines- even some students from other houses became concerned about him. Of course, this is what you should expect when you act out of character, which is certainly what he was doing. He sighed. This was sick, and he knew it.

An hour later as he sat down in the great hall for breakfast, he felt all the eyes at the table on him. He looked up and glared, "well, stop staring and pass me the coffee!" He snapped. Instantly all eyes dropped, and Pansy passed him the pot of coffee.

"are you feeling any better today?" She asked with a smile, "You were looking rather sick this weekend." She finished. He knew she thought he was upset about potter 'uncovering' his secret, and he could tell by the way that everyone within ear shot cringed, that they expected him to lash out, and cause a scene.

'Let's see how out of character I can get this week' He looked up at Pansy from his plate, pecking her on the cheek, he replied, "loads, thanks for asking" She looked slightly confused at first, but then smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, rubbing his arm gently. "Don't let potter get to you, he's just a bastard who thinks he's too famous to be polite" she said and he nodded.

Despite her being his girlfriend, Draco really had no feelings for Pansy. He wasn't even really physically attracted to her- Sure, she was pretty, but he was just too detached from humanity at this point to have any kind of real romantic feelings for anyone. He didn't need anyone's love.

As pansy's hand wandered to more personal regions, he began to feel sick. He had done this a hundred times with her before, and never felt anything for her. This time it was different, though. He felt almost wrong for taking her love in as though it was nothing.

"I have to go" He said coldly as he rose from the table. He was getting too tired to hold up the mask he needed to become the pretend Draco. He needed to compose himself. He left the great hall, and began to wander the corridors. Immersing himself in his thoughts, he began to contemplate his strange life.

'What's wrong with me? Why am I getting these feelings? It's like I'm getting tired of pretending. That's ridiculous! Who would I be if I didn't pretend? Draco Malfoy doesn't even exist, apart from the character I created. If I stopped pretending, I would be no one. I would be lost. I would-'

His thoughts were cut short when he felt his body collide with another, and fall to the ground.

He looked. It was Potter.

"Watch it!" He said, as was expected of him.

"Malfoy? Is that you?" Harry said, in a cool tone. Draco noticed that the other boys glasses had fallen from his face when they had collided, and he was now searching for them, without much luck due to not being able to see where they were. Draco saw them, they had been thrown to a corner. He made a decision.

"God, Potter! You're practically blind, aren't you?" Draco said, retrieving Harry's glasses, and holding them out to him.

"Save it Malf-" He started, then noticed the glasses being held in front of him. "Uh- Thanks" He said taking his glasses and placing them on his face. "Look, about the other day," he spoke awkwardly. "Well, it was out of line of me, and… well… sorry."

Draco looked at him. He looked at Draco. There was silence, and then Draco spoke,

"Well, we all say a lot of things that we don't mean." He continued down the hall leaving a confused Harry behind.

He looked back, and their eyes met for an instance, before he looked away.

'Perhaps it's time for a change in character' he thought.