Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Thanks you guys for reading and enjoying this story. You guys are wonderful.

I sat down on my bed, in Malfoy Manor, my head in my hands, trying to keep my tears from falling.

Of course, thank Merlin, the attack on Harry had failed, for lack of a better word. Harry and all of them were safe at the Burrow, by now and I was stuck here now, my job in play as I tried to keep Voldemort from knowing that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were searching for the bits and pieces of his soul.

But my heart was broken. The sight of Harry's face at the sight of me was more than I could bear. I almost gave myself up right then, just to let him know that I wasn't evil, that I was doing this for him.

He had looked at me with such pain and shock it had almost been unbearable.

And then George. I had to fight myself to not fly down there when Snape blasted off his ear, that dirty bastard. I prayed that he was alright, that the blast to his ear didn't kill him or make him lose to much blood.

Merlin, what had I gotten myself into.

There was a knock on the door and I sat up, clearing my face and my mind as I grabbed the book and sat back casually against my pillows.

"Come in," I said, turning the page in the Dark Arts book I would never have touched otherwise.

Draco Malfoy stepped in and I groaned aloud. "Do you always seek a need to torment me with your presence?"

He frowned, shutting the door behind him. "Alright, give up the act already, Travis. Go home back to Potty, Mudblood, and all the Weasels. Leave now."

"This again?" I said, putting my book down and climbing to my feet. For the past couple of weeks I had been here, he'd been bugging me and I could only escape him when I left to go spend the night at George's. "When are you going to just deal with the fact that I'm here to stay?"

"Because I don't want you here!"

"Why? Is it because I'm a threat to you?"

"Because you're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be out there fighting against us! You're supposed to be out there keeping those friends of yours together! You're – you're supposed to be the one who is always smiling and laughing and optimistic!"

I just stared at him for a moment, confused. He wanted me to help my friends destroy his master?

Wait . . . what?

Shaking my head, I started to walk past him. "Some people change, Malfoy. I've changed and I see you've changed also. You used to be tough. A regular old bad-boy."

He grabbed me by my arm and twisted me back to face him. "Don't you get it? Don't you understand what this place, what he does to you? You're not going to be the same Melody Travis that you were when I met you! The Melody Travis I knew back in school was nice and she smiled and she made sure everyone was okay and she was always laughing! If you stay here, you're not going to laugh or smile anymore! You're not going to be the same as you used to be!"

"What does it matter to you, huh?" I said, angrily, yanking my arm from his grasp. "The only time you took out of your miserable day to talk to me was to insult me! You called me a blood traitor every single time you could! And now, now that I'm finally trying to prove to you that I'm on your side, you pull this shit! So what does it matter to you, Malfoy? What does it matter to that I've changed?"

And you wouldn't believe what happened.

I'm going to tell you, of course, but I still don't think you're going to believe me. I don't even believe me.

He grabbed me and kissed me.

You heard me right, folks. Draco Malfoy kissed Melody Travis. A Slytherin kissed a Gryffindor. It wasn't a long, passionate kiss, mind you. It was more like a hard, quick kiss to prove a point. And when he stopped, he said, "I liked the old Melody Travis!"

The room vibrated in silence. I stared at Malfoy in shock. He . . . wait, what? I had to be hearing stuff. He didn't just say he had liked me, did he? I was confused and my thoughts were running wild. It was a good thing Voldemort was near to read my thoughts.

Draco glared at me, his hands slipping from my arms. His cheeks were flushed and he was breathing hard. He turned and stormed out of my room, leaving me standing in the middle of the room.

Whoa.

DRACO'S POV

I slammed the door to my room, pacing in front of it.

I didn't just do that.

I did not just kiss Melody Travis.

I'll admit, I've always had a crush on her. I'm not ashamed to admit it, even if she was a Gryffindor. She was all what a Gryffindor should be (unfortunately), but she would also make a perfect Slytherin apparently.

But that didn't give me any right to admit to her that I liked her. And then I kissed her!

I punched the wall angrily, mad at myself, but mostly mad at Melody. Why I was mad at Melody, I wasn't actually sure.

I flung myself backwards onto the bed. Merlin, what was I going to do?

There was a knock on the door and it was pushed gently open. Melody stared at me, but there was something different about her expression, something gentler. She closed the door behind her, crossing her arms across her chest.

"We need to talk.