I'm Here When You Need Me- Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, spells, places, etc...Sorry. I just don't.

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed my first chapter! It is because of you (you know who you are ; ) ! ) that I am updating this story tonight. Thanks! I hope you all like it!

The next day, schedules were passed out. Professor McGonagall came sweeping up the aisle, giving each Gryffindor student their class schedule for the new term. This turned out to be sort of good news for Sarah, but horrible for Harry, Ron and Hermione. As it turned out, almost all their classes were with the Slytherins.

"Rubbish. That's what this is, utter rubbish!" Ron said.

"Ron, it might not be that bad," Sarah said soothingly.

"Maybe for you; you have Malfoy wrapped around your finger," said Harry with distaste in his voice.

"Harry! How could you say such a thing!" Hermione scolded.

"Well, it's true. Look at him! He's over there gawking at her! It's pathetic!"

All of them turned to look at the Slytherin table. Sure enough, there was Malfoy, sitting by himself staring at Sarah again. When he realized that the others were looking at him, he quickly turned his gaze to his porridge in front of him.

"Well, I think it is sort of cute. I've never seen him this way. He's acting kind of vulnerable," Hermione sighed.

"You know we could use that to our advantage. If you became his friend, maybe you could make him stop bothering us. Its always worth a shot," Ron said to Sarah.

Hermione looked shocked. "I can not believe you actually said that. Using Sarah as a shield to protect yourself from him. It's disgusting, it's foul, it's—,"

"I'll do it," Sarah interrupted.

She had been silent the whole conversation. What Ron had said made sense. If she did what he had suggested, maybe she would see this terrible side of Draco that they had been telling her about. Then she could decide how she felt about him. After all, the three of them were her friends first; she felt like she should help them out.

"Seriously? You would do that?" Harry asked disbelieving.

Sarah explained her logic, omitting the part about her feelings, and the rest of the group agreed. Sarah made up her mind. Looking at her schedule, she said, "I will see you guys in Charms. I'm off to make a new friend." With that, she picked up her belongings and headed over to the Slytherin table. People were making faces at her, but she didn't care. Malfoy had seen her get up, and with his eyes, followed her until she was standing next to him.

"Hi, Malfoy," she said.

"Hi. Here, sit down."

Malfoy moved his books from the seat next to him and put them in front of him on the table. Sarah sat next to him, ignoring the angry looks that she was attracting from the Slytherins.

"Please, call me Draco," he said quietly. Apparently he didn't want anyone to hear him ask Sarah to call him by his first name.

"Okay, Draco it is. I see we have Charms together. Do you want to walk with me to class?" Sarah said sweetly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah could see Pansy Parkinson look at her with pure malice. It was a well known fact that Pansy thought Malfoy and she were a couple.

"Sure. After you," Malfoy said politely.

This was a spectacle to behold. A Slytherin and a Gryffindor walking to class together. It wasn't just any Slytherin either. Draco Malfoy, even though he was only fourteen, was well known as the Slytherin Prince. It was this, and also the fact that his father was very rich, that kept anyone from saying anything. As they were walking out of the Great Hall, Sarah turned to look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It appeared that all three of them were in shock. Sarah smiled wide and waved at them, then turning her head, followed Malfoy.

"So, um… would you sit with me in class?" Malfoy asked Sarah, looking at the floor.

"Sure. I'd like that," Sarah said, trying to hide her enthusiasm.

Malfoy turned his gaze to Sarah. She looked at him, too. He smiled at her. She felt her heart skip a beat. She really liked his smile. On the way to Charms, they didn't talk much. It seemed to Sarah that he was finding it hard to talk to her. She tried to make conversation by talking about the Tournament.

"Are you going to try to make Hogwarts Champion?"

"I don't know. Are you?" asked Malfoy.

"Yeah, I am. I think it would be kind of cool," Sarah said.

With this new topic, conversation came easier to Malfoy.

"I just want to see who comes from the other schools. You know, I was supposed to go to Durmstrang, but my mother didn't want me to be so far away. I was mad at her for a while, but now I'm glad."

"Oh, really? Why is that?"

"Because if I had gone there, I never would have met you."

Sarah stopped walking. She was totally stunned. She had only known him for a day. Now he was saying he was glad he met her. Sarah wasn't only stunned; she was actually kind of pleased. She grinned. Malfoy seemed to think he had said too much, but seeing her grin, made him smile also. He smiled even more when Sarah told him she was glad to have met him too.

They started walking again. When they reached the Charms room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already sitting at a table in the corner. They saw Sarah and Malfoy walk in together, and they weren't the only ones to notice. All the Slytherins were giving Sarah nasty looks, and the Gryffindors were looking appalled at the whole situation. Hermione was beckoning Sarah to sit with them, and Pansy gave Malfoy a pleading look to sit by her. Remembering that they were sitting together, Sarah moved instead to a vacant table in the center of the room, while Malfoy followed her.

"I don't think people like us sitting together," Sarah whispered to Malfoy.

"No, they don't. But I don't care. If all I did was try to please everyone I'm friends with, I would have died of exhaustion years ago. I'm used to doing what I want, so they will just have to learn how to deal with it," Malfoy replied.

Sarah thought that this was a very mature thing for him to say. Not only that, but she totally agreed with him. All through out the class, people would turn around to look at them. Sarah found it distracting, but Malfoy seemed to be enjoying it; it was like he loved attention of any kind, and this was a real treat for him.

When the class was over, Malfoy asked Sarah if she would sit with him in Transfiguration after their free periods. She accepted, and they parted ways. Sarah walked over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and waited for them to pack up their books. Hermione had a smirk on her face, while both boys looked a little tense.

"What's the matter you two?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing," Ron said simply. Harry didn't say anything.