A/N: Re-uploaded for your enjoyment! Please review.
Over dinner one week after classes had begun Harry and Ron ambushed me with more questions.
"Malfoy?" Ron was saying incredulously. "You're friends with Malfoy?"
I shrugged at him. "Yes, so what if I am? He doesn't seem so bad."
"'He doesn't seem so bad' she says." Ron remarked exasperatedly to the air around him. "Amy! There is everything bad about him!"
I scowled at him. "Like what?"
"He's an arrogant prick, he hates everyone except other Slytherins, and he thinks that because his blood is 'pure' he is better then everyone else, he…"
"Amy," Harry said seriously, interrupting Ron's tirade. "Malfoy is a bad idea. Don't go near him."
I glared at Ron. "Obviously he doesn't hate everyone except other Slytherins if we're friends." I hissed at him. "And why not?" I turned on Harry. "He's decent to me, and respects me."
"Respects you?" Ron's voice rose. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you Amy? Girls always fall for pretty words. He just wants a way to get at Harry; he's using you for that. Listen to us and don't go near him again!"
"Neither of you control my life!" my voice rose to match Ron's, and a few of the Gryffindors around us turned to watch the spectacle.
"I'm the one who does most of all, seeing as I'm older then you." Harry told me.
"You don't know that!"
"Oh yes I do. Remember, I told you on the first night that Hagrid told me about you. That I had a younger sister."
"That doesn't mean you control my life." I stood. "If I want to be friends with Draco Malfoy, that's none of your business." I stormed out of the Great Hall, leaving my plate completely untouched.
Harry and Ron watched in complete amazement as a few minutes later, Draco stood and followed me out.
I sat on the floor in an empty classroom, leaning against the wall and trying not to cry. I wanted to be friends with them, but they were always trying to control me. 'Amy, eat this', 'Amy, you can't be friends with him'.
I heard the door open, and I jumped.
"I-I'm sorry." I began to stammer, expecting a teacher to be standing in the doorway. Instead, Draco Malfoy stepped through the door, shutting it quietly and crossing the room towards me. I curled up against the wall again, facing the wall opposite.
"Amy?" Draco sat next to me.
"I'm not supposed to be here. If they find me…"
"Here as in an abandoned classroom or here as in with me?"
I flinched away from him, the argument over dinner fresh in my mind.
"Oh, so you're on Potters side now?" He knelt in front of me, stopping me from rising. "You're with him, shunning the Slytherins because they're Slytherins and inherently evil? Because they're not Gryffindors, who are 'pure'?" He stood, stepping away from me reluctantly. "I'll just go then, if you're so worried about getting into trouble with your precious brother."
"No! Draco! Please stay. I'm sorry." The fright of him – who was definitely my friend – leaving me caused the tears to come, and I struggled to keep them silent. He turned slightly and saw me crying. He was by my side again in an instant.
"I'm sorry Amy. I didn't mean to hurt you." He said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in, pretty much onto his lap.
"No, its not you, it was them. At dinner…" I cried into his chest.
"Potter and Weasley?" He stroked my hair slightly. I nodded, trying not to sniffle. How embarrassing.
"What did they say?"
I shook my head, and the tears came faster as my mind went back to that scene.
"Shhh. Shhh, it's okay." He whispered to me. I heard the door click quietly behind me, but I didn't turn. I knew it was Harry and Ron, and I felt Draco glare at them. After a moment, the door clicked shut again.
"What did they want?" I asked after a minute, hiccupping slightly.
"You. But they won't bother you. Not while I'm around anyway." He continued stroking my hair, until all my tears had dried. After that I sat back.
"I-I'm sorry, Draco, it's just –'
He cupped his hand over my mouth, silencing me. "It's just nothing." he told me. "I don't need to know. And you're not the one who should be sorry." I saw him scowl at the doorway again, where they had been and my stomach lurched.
"You won't hurt them, will you? You'd get in trouble." As much as I was mad at them, I didn't want them hurt on my behalf.
"No, I won't hurt your precious brother, or Weasley. I wish I could though. They shouldn't make you feel like this."
I shrugged slightly. "It's nothing new."
"Yea." He agreed quietly. Leaning forward slightly he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, and left the room. After a moment more, I made my way to the Gryffindor common room, hoping Harry and Ron were somewhere else.
Unfortunately, they weren't. I entered the common room, and they both leapt to their feet.
"Amy…" Harry began.
"I don't want to hear it." I cut him off, stalking past him and to my dormitory, collapsing onto my bed and falling asleep almost immediately.