Draco lay next to her, his arm around her bare waist, staring silently up at the ceiling. She loved him, they both knew that. Neither of them said it or even acknowledged it, they just knew. Draco didn't love her, they knew that too. Draco couldn't love; she didn't even try to kid herself that he could. But if he could…
A part of Draco wished he could love her. She sometimes acted, she pretended to everyone that she didn't love him, that she was just earning her reputation as the Slytherin Slag with the Slytherin Sex God, they both knew it was more than that to her. Draco was almost glad it wasn't just that, he liked to spend his time with her, for some reason things were always better with her than they were with all the other girls. There was a spark to her kisses and something about the way she moaned his name made it sound more special. She knew him, better than anyone, and she accepted what she knew about him, even though she knew the worst of him, knew the depth of his hatred, the extent of his evil and his full capacity for cruelty. She didn't care.
She deserved better than this. Obviously not better than a Malfoy, there was no better really, but she deserved to love someone who was actually capable of the emotion and returned it to her. Someone she didn't have to hide away with.
When he thought about it he wondered why she stayed, what could he actually offer her? He had money, but she was Pansy Parkinson, she had money. He had power, but as the sole heir to the Parkinson estate, she really didn't need any more. And he couldn't give her power anyway. She couldn't manipulate him and even if we were married, the power would still be his. The only reason she stayed was that she loved him. Even though he still couldn't give it her back.
Some in their house thought that if you loved someone then you would have to leave them and instantly, but she knew better. If you stayed with them you could pretend to yourself and everyone else that it was just sex and snogging, that there were no emotions. But if you left them then it would hurt. You couldn't pretend to yourself because you would be able to feel the emotions hurting, there was no forgetting it. So she stayed, and Draco let her.