heyeveryone. (: here's chapter 3. it's kinda sort of a little all over the place. lol i tried writing this chapter at like 3 different times when i couldn't sleep. :/ so, hopefully you can follow it, if not just let me know and i can try and fix it so people other than me can follow it. (: so, read && review, since reviews are my ambrosia. [ haha, that was a Percy Jackson reference! :D ] also, Draco is kind of an ass to Pansy, so i'm not sure if I'm going to keep him like this.

'Natalie. Natalie Hale.' I thought to myself. She had the most gorgeous name I'd ever heard; it went perfectly with her face and gorgeous body. I walked into the Slytherin common room and sat on the couch in front of the fire. I was staring into the fire for about 15 minutes before I noticed Pansy sitting on the couch behind me. "Can I help you?" I asked, disgusted that she would even try and talk to me after dinner.

"I was just wondering where you went after dinner, you disappeared." She answered, her face becoming distorted as she was trying to smile.

"God, you're nasty." I whispered. "I went to the bathroom, Jesus. Am I not allowed to piss anymore without your approval?"

"No, I was just . . . just wondering." Pansy answered, not looking at me. "Why are you so mean to me? I've done nothing but be nice to you for seven years, and you hate me."

"Do you really want to know why?" I asked, not looking at her. "It's because my father has forced you on me from the beginning, and you're not even that pretty." I finished. "I mean, yeah you're soort of pretty, like half-blood pretty, but there are so many other girls that are prettier than you, so I don't understand why you feel the need to be all over me all the time. And you've never been nice to me. You're always trying to push me around, and I'm not going to have it."

I stood up, looked into the fire one last time, and went to my room. Luckily, I didn't have any roommates this year since I was Head Boy. I shut my door and changed into my pajamas. I laid in bed, but soon found I couldn't sleep. I sat up and grabbed a book out of my bag sitting on my nightstand. I looked at it, realizing that it was one of my mother's Muggle books that she hid from my father. "How the fuck did that get in my bag?" I asked myself. I threw it across my room and watched as a piece of paper fell out.

I got up out of my bed and picked the note up. It was from my mother. "Dear Draco, here's a book for you to read so that you maybe don't turn out so much like your father. But, any girl you chose will be lucky to have you . . . even if you do turn out to be as cold hearted as your father, I will always love you." My mother always knew how well to write her feelings down on paper, where as I had learned from my father not to show any emotion at all.

I picked the book up, noticed the title and I began to laugh. It was her favorite Muggle book from her favorite author, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. I remembered her reading me passages out of it when I was younger, and my mother could sneak away from her wing of the Manor to kiss me goodnight. I smiled remembering the way my mother read to me.

I soon felt sleep trying to overcome me so I crawled back into bed, thinking of Natalie and dreaming of my mother reading to me again, like I was a little boy. That night was probably the best night sleep I ever had.

The next morning I woke up and found Pansy had fallen asleep on the couch in the common room. I sighed and conjured a blanket and laid it across her. I walked out of the room and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. I got down there and noticed Natalie sitting alone at the Hufflepuff table. I walked over to her. "Hello, Miss Hale." I said, and she smiled as she turned to look at me. "Where are your brother and sister?"

"Sister-in-law, actually. Alice and Jasper are still . . . sleeping." She said, giggling. "I decided to come down for some early breakfast. And please, call me Natalie or Nat."

"Like the little fly thing?" I asked teasingly. "Alright, if you insist."

She smiled and pushed me lightly. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Slytherin table?" she asked then. "Or is breakfast kind of a free-for-all?"

"Well, technically I have to sit at my house table, but if you'd like a partner for breakfast, I'd be happy to have you join me."

"I'd love too." She said, standing next to me, her brown hair flowing down her back in a braid. "So, where is your table?" she asked.

"It's this one here, the one on the far left of the Hall. We like it better this way. It keeps us away from those pesky Gryffindor snobs."

"Oh, I like this. I wonder if the Head Master would be willing to let me switch houses." She said, sitting down. "Come on, sit. You look hungry."

I sat down next to her and began to eat. I noticed that she didn't actually eat anything; she nibbled at things when she knew I was looking. I thought that was strange, but maybe I had caught her at the end of her breakfast and she was just staying with me to be nice. "So, how did you sleep?" I asked, my mouth full of food. 'Shit, she's going to think I'm nasty if I don't swallow my food before I talk.'

She giggled again and then said "Oh, I slept alright. I tossed and turned all night, but I got a few hours." I heard her stress the word few and then she giggled again. "Uh, will you be able to help me with classes and stuff."

"Of course." I said smiling. "Do you have your schedule on you?" She handed me a little piece of paper and I read over it. "I see you don't have any actual magic classes." She nodded. "It's alright. I'm not taking any of these classes except for Potions, but I can take you to the doors of the others and then meet you outside to take you to your next one. I can also talk to the Head Master about you switching houses, if you'd like."

"Oh, could you really?" she asked, hugging me. "Oh, God. Sorry." She said, looking away from me. After a few minutes, she turned back to me. "That would be very helpful of you."

We smiled at each other and sat in silence while I finished my breakfast. After I was done, we walked out of the Great Hall and I saw her brother and sister walk by. She waved at them, but didn't say anything. They smiled and waved back, her brother staring thoughtfully at me. I walked her up to the Hufflepuff dorm so she could get her things. Then I walked her to her first class. "I'll be just down the hall, so wait for me here, okay?"

"Okay." She said smiling, her golden eyes flashing at me. "I'll see you later." She gently touched my cheek and then walked into her classroom as I stood there, too stunned to move.

"Draco?" I heard someone say. I turned around and it was my old friend and neighbor, Jerrod. "Are you coming to class?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something. Come on." I said, smiling at him as we walked down the hall and talked about his family.