Chapter 7

Weeks after Draco and Calysta met up in the hidden corridor, Draco was walking down into the Slytherin common room when he spotted Abelinda lying on the leather couch in front of the fire place. "Bell?" He said softly, as not to startle her. She sat up on the couch and turned to look at her long time friend, standing behind her. He had a sad look on his face that played with the worry in his eyes. He slowly walked over towards her and stopped when he got to the couch. She slid over a bit to let him sit down beside her. He looked at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, the way her hair had started to go awry around her face, and the way her whole face showed the deprivation of sleep she had been getting. He held his arms out to her and she reluctantly lay in his arms, and she broke down crying in an instant.

After Abelinda finally calmed down, she looked up at Draco and smiled softly. "Thank you so much Draco. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I don't understand Bell. You've been without me for the past two months. You wouldn't talk to me, look at me, you practically ran when you would hear me coming no matter where we were. How can you say you don't know what you'd do without me when you showed me these past few months that you can be without me?" Draco said, hurt playing on his words.

"But that's the thing Draco. I couldn't be without you. It's killed me every single day that I haven't spoken to you. You're my best friend and you have no idea how much pain I've been in without you by my side each and every day." Abelinda breathed. She had been so tired that she barely had the energy to speak.

"I have no idea how much pain you've been in? Well of course I don't Bell. You wouldn't let me know how much pain you've been in. You know how much it's killed me not having the one person I care about in this damn school with me?" Draco stood up from the couch, staring down at Bell with hurt in his eyes. "No, you wouldn't know because you haven't been there, and that's not my fault either. You refused to let me in when you were hurt, and in pain, and in trouble. I didn't even know what was going on with you until I asked Calysta what the hell was wrong with you."

Abelinda looked up at Draco with complete disbelief. "You talked to Calysta? Are you serious? She said she wouldn't tell anyone. That lying little-"

"Stop Bell, she had no one else to turn to. You wouldn't talk to anyone and she needed to talk to someone about what the hell was going on with you and she knew she could trust me because you were doing the same damn thing to me. Your cousin isn't as bad as you put her out to be. Seriously Bell, give her some credit. She did go out of her way to make sure you figured out what was going on with your family when she didn't have to do that. Especially with the way you treat her." Draco started walking around the common room, looking at Abelinda.

"Are you seriously defending her?" Abelinda stood up from the couch, walking away from Draco.

"Yes, I am. She went out on a limb and stuck her neck out for you and what do you show for it? Refusing to let her help you through this. I get you ignoring me; you don't want to involve me or anything in it. But refusing your own cousin? The only family you have in this school? Why would you do that Bell?"

"Because I can't look at her, or you or anyone that has anything to do or has any connection with what's going on with my father without breaking down and crying like a pathetic child. You have no idea what it's done to me Draco." The tears started to flow as she was speaking; Draco rushed over to her as soon as he noticed this.

Draco held her in his arms and rocked her back to sleep. When she was fully asleep, he took her up to her dormitory and laid her in bed. Once she was fully in bed, he walked from the Slytherin dungeons and down to the Great Hall. He had just turned the corner when he bumped into someone going the opposite direction. "Watch where you're going you impotent tw-" He started, but then, noticing who he had run into, stopped and stepped back. "Calysta, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." He smiled, noticing her standing in front of him. He looked down and saw her books strewn all over the corridor and suddenly reached down to get them for her. He started for her papers when a hand appeared on his, he looked up and Calysta had gotten down to eye level with him. She smiled and shook her head.

"There's no need for that Draco, I can handle my books just fine. But thank you for the consideration." She smiled and gathered her things and straightened up and looked at him. "Where were you headed that got you so distracted from your surroundings anyway?"

Draco looked around and double checked that there was no one else around them to hear their conversation. "I just left Abelinda. She finally spoke to me again."

"Did she? How did you accomplish that?" Calysta said with surprise.

"I ran into her in the common room and she finally broke down. But the downside to all of this was that we got into a fight because of it." Draco sighed and sat down on the steps beside him.

Calysta sat down next to him and looked at him questioningly. "How on earth did you get into a fight with Bell because she broke down?"

Draco looked at Calysta and told her all that happened in the Slytherin common room and when he finished, he worried that he had done something wrong and that Calysta would have been on Abelinda's side after the story, yet, Calysta just sighed and looked at Draco. "My cousin does have a way of making everything someone else's fault doesn't she?" She shook her head and laughed at the thought of Abelinda getting mad at Draco for her not speaking to him.

"Yeah, I guess she does. But I've never really minded it. She always knew what to do and how to get us out of trouble when we were kids so I never questioned it." Draco smiled.

"Well, you're just going to have to break out of that shell you've been buried so deeply in Mr. Malfoy." Calysta nudged Draco with her shoulder and smiled at him. He returned the smile and they sat at the end of the stairs until it was time for them to return to their dormitories. Calysta started heading towards the Gryffindor tower when Draco called for her. She turned to see him running towards her. "Draco, what are you-?"

Draco cut her off mid sentence, grabbing her by the shoulders, and pulling her closely. He kissed her, soft and gently. She gasped, surprised by his random spur of the moment kiss, but she fell into the embrace, kissing him back. When they finally pulled away, Calysta was speechless, grasping for words. But before she could get any out, Draco was gone, walking down the corridor towards the Slytherin common room, and away from her.