CHAPTER 10

Oh wow. This chapter was pretty late in coming. It was actually the hardest chapter I have wrote. I was halfway through it, then realized that Draco wasn't mature enough at this point, so I had to take a lot of stuff out.

Thanks to the few of you who reviewed. Hate to complain, but it's really weird that I get all these hits and views, but only a couple of people review. So thanks to those who did!

Also, I'm looking for a beta writer. I comb my chapters pretty thoroughly, so I don't really need it for grammar/spelling, but more along the lines of content. This person would need to get on the computer fairly often so I wouldn't have to wait forever before posting, and needs to be able to give good advice/criticism. And, she (I assume most of my readers are girls, but if I'm wrong, someone tell me XD) would be able to read the chapters before anyone else.

Anyway, so here's chapter 10. Enjoy!

Lost in a riddle that Saturday night, far away on the other side,
he was caught in the middle of a desperate fight, and she couldn't find how to push through

--Groove Coverage

"So," I asked, "why aren't you in Hogsmeade like everyone else?"

Draco and I were sitting side by side in the Slytherin common room, sipping hot chocolate we got from the kitchens, and sitting on a bed of cushions and blankets we had gathered. It was very comfy.

I wasn't quite sure if I was really allowed to be in the Slytherin common room, but Draco assured me that no one would dare say anything as long as I was with him.

"I was in Hogsmeade earlier," he replied, "but I had to come back."

"Why?" I prodded.

He hesitated.

"I was talking to Weasley outside of the Shrieking Shack, and someone threw mud at me. I had to come back to take a bath and change clothes," he explained.

"Someone threw mud at you?" I asked. He probably deserved it, seeing as he never just talked to any of the Weasleys, but still…

Draco shifted his eyes and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but I remembered how mad he had seemed before I started our snowball fight. I didn't think he was telling the whole story, but I let it drop.

"What about you?" he asked. "Why didn't you go and enjoy yourself at Hogsmeade?"

"Oh," I blushed scarlet, "I didn't get my permission form signed."

Draco frowned.

"You didn't get it signed? Like, on purpose? You didn't want to go?" he asked in disbelief.

I avoided his gaze. I didn't like talking about the orphanage, but I figured he would just make me tell him sooner or later anyway.

"I would need the headmistress at the orphanage to sign it, and I was afraid to go back. She wasn't exactly… happy that I decided to work at Borgin and Burkes last summer instead of slaving away there," I explained quietly.

"It's that bad there?" he asked. I nodded. "I guess it has to be pretty bad if you would rather work with that creepy guy that keeps staring at you than go back," he commented.

I looked up in surprise. I didn't know that he noticed that Borgin liked to stare at me. He was almost intolerable this past Christmas holiday. Draco nodded in understanding.

"I noticed," was all he said.

We were silent after that. I drank the rest of my hot chocolate and plopped down into the cushions.

Draco drained the contents of his cup and lay down beside me.

"I really missed you," I admitted after a moment. I turned my head to look at him. His icy blue eyes were staring at the ceiling.

"I missed you, too," he murmured quietly.

"It wasn't the same," I continued.

"No, it wasn't," he agreed.

"Why do you act so mean all the time?" I asked in curiosity.

Draco understood that I was referring to our argument back in September. He turned his head and looked me in the eyes.

"I don't know," was all he said.

I turned my head so I was staring at the ceiling. After a moment, Draco's gaze mimicked mine.

I knew I had a decision to make. Should I continue to be friends with Draco? Could I? I wasn't sure.

On one hand, he was an arrogant ass that was horrible to everyone and acted like he owned the place. Like he was better than others.

On the other hand, he was never mean to me. He was kind and sensitive and fun. He was dependable and understanding. He was my rock.

Could I endure the bad to enjoy the good?

I decided to just take it one day at a time, and see if I could get past his attitude.

Draco suddenly leapt to his feet, startling me. I started at him for his odd and random behavior.

"I almost forgot!" he exclaimed, excited. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

"Forgot what?" I asked, amused.

Draco's face turned slightly pink. Was he, Draco Malfoy, actually blushing!?

"Ihaveasurpriseforyou," he said quickly.

"Really!? What kind of surprise? What for?" I interrogated.

"Your birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I got you a present. I just haven't had the, er, opportunity to give it to you," he explained.

I was touched. I didn't expect him to even know when my birthday was, let alone get me a gift when we weren't talking to each other.

"Oh!" I squealed, hugging him tightly, "thank you!"

Draco laughed.

"Don't thank me before you've seen it!" he exclaimed. He didn't seem to mind me hugging him.

Cheeks burning, I let him go and allowed him to blindfold me (he insisted, saying it's "a surprise") and lead me. It felt strange to know I trusted him enough to let him lead me blindfolded.

We walked quite a while. I had no idea where we were going, except that we went up quite a bit.

After a while, Draco finally took off my blindfold. Hundreds of owls in a tall, circular room greeted me.

"Wow," I breathed. I had heard other students casually mention the owlry before, but had never had an opportunity or excuse to go here before. It was amazing.

Draco let me soak it all in before dragging me over to one corner of the owlry where two large Eagle Owls sat. They puffed out their chests regally.

Draco pulled two owl treats from his pocket. "This," Draco said, holding a treat to the slightly larger owl, "is Silverwing." The owl hooted softly and took the treat from him. "This one," he continued, giving the other owl a treat, "is now yours. Happy late birthday, Willow."

Too shocked and happy to speak, I threw myself at Draco, squeezing the life out of him. That done, I turned to my new owl with glee.

"I shall name you Zephyrus, after the Greek god of the west wind," I proclaimed delightfully.

Draco gave me a strange look, but I ignored it. Zephyrus hooted softly. I took that as a good sign.

When we came down from the owlry, I turned to Draco. My cheeks flushed crimson; suddenly I felt shy.

"Thank you. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," I admitted.

Draco placed his finger against my lips, shushing me.

"Not so loud!" he whispered. "People would think I'm growing soft."

I smiled. I had missed him so much.

Instead of going to the Great Hall for supper, we grabbed food from the kitchens again, returning to an empty Slytherin common room.

I was quite comfortable in my makeshift bed of pillows and blankets with the fire cackling merrily in front of me. I gave a sigh of content.

My comfort lulled me into a drowsy state. Draco asked me a question, but my fuzzy brain couldn't quite comprehend his words. I was asleep before he finished talking.

I dreamt that I was in a room with a pretty witch wearing canary yellow robes. The room was out of focus, like it was unimportant, but the witch was in perfect clarity. She had short, light brown curly hair with bright, honey brown eyes.

With a startled revelation, I realized that she could have been my mother. She had the same eyes, hair colour, and face structure as mine. But she didn't share my nose, chin, or frame.

Right now, she was looking at me like I was the best person in the world.

"So you'll do it? You'll help us?" she asked earnestly.

On their own accord, my lips turned up into a genuine smile.

"Yes, Helga," I assured her, "I'll do it, for you."

My voice sounded foreign to my ears. It was deeper. Male.

She squealed excitedly, and threw herself into my arms. I kissed the top of her head fondly.

Helga looked up into my eyes. Her face, and lips were coming closer and closer…

I awoke from my strange dream with a start. What the bloody hell was that about?

I peered through the darkness, confused as to where I was. This didn't feel like my bed.

I felt a body breathing under me. Then I remembered falling asleep in the Slytherin common room, and realized that my head was lying on Draco's chest, who was fast asleep. I knew I couldn't leave, for it was well past curfew.

Mentally shrugging to myself, I went back into a slumber. This time, I didn't have any dreams.