He's down the hall. Turn and run. Coming down for breakfast. Uh-uh. He's still in the common room. Sit by the lake. Five minutes. He'll be out of class soon. Lunch? Can't be avoided. I'm starving. IGNORE! This was my train of thoughts for much of the passing weeks. I'd been avoiding Draco, if it weren't already obvious. Wherever Draco was, I was sure that I was as far away from that place as humanly possible. I silently scolded myself for even considering giving him a chance. If the stunt that he pulled with Anderson was an revelation to his true character, it was in my (and Anderson's) best interest to stay out of his line of fire.

I'd gotten to know Anderson better. It turned out that he was pretty amazing. Cody was as smart as they come in the Slytherin house. His intelligence centered in Defense and Potions- no surprise there. It seemed that the only reason he was truly in Slytherin was because his father expected him to be. His pride could have easily put him in Gryffindor as it did Slytherin. He told me a few days ago that he wouldn't have agreed to be a Slytherin if he'd met Ginny earlier. They'd been together since the summer- a very dangerous time since You-Know-Who came back into power, apparently. Cody and Ginny had just come across each other one day in Diagon Alley. They instantly fell for each other. They'd been keeping it a secret for months. It was pretty amazing, a Slytherin being so in love. It only made me hate Draco even more.

But now? Now I was starving. I'd missed breakfast that morning, and I barely made it through my first few classes. I decided that I would sit by Cody and chat the few friends that he had left. Maybe I would help him with a plan to get Ginny back. After that night, all the heirs spread around what he'd said about Ginny at the Judgment. She hadn't spoken to him since. It was terrible to watch, so I did my best at cheering him up- even though I felt like crap myself. We were going over romantic things, most of which I'd gotten out of the Muggle Twilight series, when Draco sat beside me.

He sounded annoyed; an irritable twinge riddled his voice. Still, I couldn't bring myself to care as I listened as he began talking to the back of my head.

"You can't avoid me forever."

I closed my eyes and turned my head very slowly. I acted as though I was going to look at him, but then glanced past him to Harry. Maybe I could spend the rest of the day with him.

"You're seriously going to hang out with that Potter kid? Hello, are you listening to me? Paniettiere!"

I turned back to Cody grinning widely. It was hard not to laugh. "Hey, maybe you can buy her a box of chocolates."

"Naw, Ginny hates that kind of stuff." He glanced briefly at Draco, a small glint of fear in his eyes but tried to stay calm. He did this whenever I was around. It was almost as if I was his protector. It wasn't as if I sought out to be this way, but I wasn't about to let Draco and his friends continue to harass the poor boy.

I snapped my fingers and poked out my lip. "Ugh, well maybe-"

"Emma! Will you listen to me!"

'I can hear you perfectly fine you insensitive, barbarian jerk.'

"Emma. Come on."

I continued to ignore him. "Come on, Cody. Maybe I have something in my room we can use. I can't think out here. There's something breathing on my head."

As Cody and I got up, Draco grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the Great Hall. Cody stood there dumbly as I was taken away. Fourth years were such patsies.

"Emma, stop being stupid. I've put up with you for weeks now. Everyone is getting-" He hissed.

I rolled my eyes and took my arm back. "Everyone meaning the heirs, or every one meaning you?"

"I'm not going to put up with this."

"Well, neither am I. I didn't sign up to beat kids senseless for having hearts, for being in love."

"He's like fourteen. What the hell does he know about love?"

"More than you." I folded my arms and walked away from him.

I didn't hear any steps behind me, so I decided that he wasn't following me. We would have to meet up again in Potions. With Draco being Snape's favorite, of course he'd assigned me and Draco to be partners. Figures. I just worked silently as he tried to talk my head off. According to him, I wasn't being reasonable. Reasonable used to be my motto. Not really, but yeah. I clamped my mouth tightly. I still got the glares from Pansy. I bet he'd never worked this hard to get Pansy's attention in all of his years of knowing her. It made me a bit smug for split moments in time. I couldn't help but adsorb the glares she gave me. I loved them.

Silent. That was all I had to be. Then I was alone. I walked into a small room on the third floor as all the classes ended. Dumbledore had always said that it was dangerous, but that was for people who didn't know where they were going. There was a small room that I'd found in third year that had small couches and candles. I suspected that past students set the room up. There were hidden candy jars everywhere. I'd worked on it, so it was now my own little space. I remembered that I could've gone here in all the chaos. I wasn't thinking, but now I was. No one could get to me. I picked up a dusty book that I never took out of the room. It'd been sitting in here all summer. I began reading. Edward Cullen was my favorite character- totally in love, complicated but simple, perfect but so imperfect. I was in love with him. I admitted that I was more like Bella though. Perfectly content with staying out of large crowds and being alone never bothered us. She turned on me in the second book though. She started to thrive on the company. I swore I'd never depend on anyone to comfort me.

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

I put down the book. There was someone pounding on the door. I didn't understand. No one knew about this place but me. I was sure of it. I thought I was sure. There weren't any traces of anyone new. I grabbed my thick black velvet coat. It was cut at my thighs and it had big black buttons. It had a nice cut collar that made it look classy but subtle. I wore a red fedora that went with my red gloves. My dark jeans went perfectly with the ensemble. I picked all three up in one hand as I rushed for the back exit. I didn't get there in time. I didn't know why I was running. Something just told me that I didn't want to see the person on the other side of that door.

Turns out that I was right (just a girl's intuition). I heard a rough voice calling into the room. "Who's there?" I tried to sneak by him, but he ran into the center of the room.

"Emma, what are you doing in here? It's dangerous on this floor."

I turned slowly, grimacing, as I brought him into view. "I know what I'm doing. I always come here. This is my sanctuary." I gestured to the room. He sighed deeply and walked up to me.

"Emma, you keep pushing and pushing." He said in a whisper. His eyes narrowed. His blond hair dangled away from his face. It looked like he was really tired. Maybe I should give him a break. He grabbed the bottom of my arm.

"What do you expect? What do you want?" I asked him, my voice as low as his. He grabbed my arm and hissed furiously.

"How about you stop pushing your luck? There are a lot of angry people in the Slytherin house. I'm doing everything I can. Word's spread to the Death Eaters. You can't go around doing everything you want. I'm running this show."

I rolled my eyes, but he gripped my wrist tighter. I winced slightly, but stood my ground. "Draco?"

He looked down as if he hadn't known his hand was crushing my bones. He let go and balled up his fists. I rubbed the red hand imprint. Yes, it was definitely going to bruise. Jack-ass.

"Sorry," He mumbled.

I scoffed and picked up my coat. I pulled it on with my hat. I walked past him slipping on my gloves. I didn't want anyone to see the bruise. It would start unnecessary drama. I had a big enough spotlight as it was. On the other hand, maybe I did want to screw him over. Merlin knows he deserved it. I glanced behind me just to make sure he wasn't there. Then, I slammed the door with as much force as my good hand could muster. It was just me in the large, massive corridor. The silence was a bit too much. The cool air would do me and my wrist some good.

There was snow on the ground everywhere. Footprints seemed to echo the games and laughter of the students who'd been their earlier. There were lots of body imprints from kids who fell into the cold fluff. Snowmen and angels were present in lots of places. It could've been a winter wonderland if I wasn't in such a bad mood.

I took a deep breath, composing myself as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came into view. They had built large forts and were currently making large piles of snowballs. Harry did a little double take as I joined the small group. Harry smiled. I returned his warmth. How could I not? There was just something about Harry. He was always nice to me. It brightened my day. Harry was kind and easy going and never tried too hard to be my friend. He didn't force anything on me. He waited for me to come to him, and I liked that. I was a Slytherin. He was a Gryffindor. The only thing that changed between the two of us was that now we knew each other. Maybe that was why I hadn't told Harry about what happened with Cody. He wouldn't understand. Hermione had tipped me off that he could be rash in these sorts of subjects. There was a mentality about Slytherins that he couldn't understand- that he refused to understand. I shoved my hands deeper into the soft pockets. Even though I wore gloves, I was still hyper aware of the discoloring of my hand and wrist.

"Hey Emma, you wanna have a round? You can be on my team." Harry beckoned as he set a pile of lumpy snowballs behind his icy wall.

I smiled. "Hmm, I think it should be boys against girls. It's only fair." I tried to tuck my thoughts away into the back of my mind. It was hard when I'd gone from not thinking to overthinking.

"It'll be three against two. How is that fair?" Ron whined.

Hermione walked past my back and smiled carrying some more frosty balls. "Well, what our team lacks in testosterone, we'll make up for in numbers, so it evens itself out Ronald."

I nodded satisfied with Hermione's answer. I was just being sexist. Her reasoning was much better than mine. I walked behind the girls' fort. It was much better than Harry's and Ron's. I guess this was Hermione's handy work. She was way too smart, but in times like these, it came in handy. I decided a long time ago that Hermione's intelligence didn't bother me one bit. More power to her. I took a seat behind the wall that Hermione was perfecting. Ginny slumped right beside me and began stuffing the snowballs with a small object that looked like blue ice.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Evening the odds a bit more... if you wanna think of it that way. They're just an enchantment, courtesy of Fred and George. They'll melt the fort when I hit it." She answered quietly. She gave me an evil smile and passed me a loaded snowball. The evil seemed to seep into her eyes as well. I'd never met a devious Gryffindor before, but she was definitely devious. She could easily pass off as a Slytherin. She'd probably be at the top with Draco, she was so cool (for a fourth year).

"Four...," Ron counted off standing up with one arm raised, "...three...tw-"

Ginny socked him right in the face. Everyone began laughing except for Ron and Hermione.

Ron turned beet red sending fowl words across the clearing, and Hermione mumbled a few giggled 'It's not funny' and 'he could have been hurt'. I stopped listening to her soon enough to see that Harry was completely distracted. He roared with tears coming out of his eyes. He didn't even notice when I threw my only snowball at him. It hit him square in the glasses.

Now everyone was laughing. Ginny continued launching our frozen ammo at Harry and Ron's quickly melting fort. It took no time at all for it to turn into a large puddle of water. The boys were soaking wet. Hermione and I were now on the ground too. My core muscles tightened, making it hard to breathe. My black velvet coat was covered in snow by the time I got control of myself. I sighed letting the last of my giggles escape me as the two boys walked over to us, still dripping from head to toe. These people had become dangerously close to being my... friends. It was a hard word to place with anyone. I never really thought of anyone as a friend, but over the last few weeks, I'd been hanging out with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and mostly Ginny and getting to know them. It had started as a simple way of avoiding Draco, but they were really cool people. The more I got to know them, the harder it was for me to see why Slytherins hated them so much.

"You're pretty cool, for a Slytherin." Ginny noted as if responding to my mental comment. She was lying in the snow and making a snow angel.

"Cody's even cooler than I am." I noted, giving her a hint of the conversation that the pair of them had been evading. True, Cody and Ginny should've been working this out themselves, but they were unwilling- Ginny was mad, and Cody was scared and refusing to put his pride on the line for a girl. 'That's what got him in trouble in the first place,' I thought to myself.

"I thought so too, but he's an ass. He's just like the rest of them." She said idly, trying to distract herself by absently admiring her angel. She pulled at her own soft cotton red and gold gloves walking away.

I sighed. Ginny had a lot of trouble with boys in the past. Hermione told me that the only reason she was with so many was because she couldn't find the right one. Ginny might have thought Cody was the best so far, but he'd blown it. I'd been trying to get Ginny to give him another chance, but she always left the room without even discussing the issue.

"She just needs time." Hermione reasoned.

"No, Anderson needs to stay away from my sister." Ron interjected. He held out his arms so Hermione could use a spell to dry him.

"He's not so bad. It's just Draco..." I broke off, thinking. "Let's call it a day. I'm tired. I still have some work to do before Christmas break."

"Sure, we'll see you then." Harry said. I waved to the three of them and walked off.

Then, I ran back into the school. I was suddenly freezing, so I ran as quickly as I could down to my house as sun was setting in the sky. There was a big, hot fire already going. Most people were probably already in their rooms. I didn't realize how late it had gotten. It would get dark quickly. As I entered the common room there was only one person sitting by the fire.

Draco sat alone in a soft easy chair. He had a blue rose in his hand and twirled it back and forth. His gaze was locked on the flames that burned on the wooden logs. He looked focused, like he was in deep thought. I sat in an identical seat adjacent from his own. I waited for him to look at me, but he just continued to stare into the orange and red flames. There was nothing to see really. They danced within each other. It was beautiful, but I'd watch fires too much to be entranced by them at this age.

"Is that for Pansy? She'll be pleased. She's-" I began.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked with no emotion in his voice.

I slouched back and crossing my legs. I really didn't feel like arguing with him at that moment. I took off my hat and my coat. I decided to leave the gloves on. I didn't want to see the bruise that had developed. The bruise- the reason why I was mad at Draco today. I'd forgotten all about it. "Yes, as a matter of fact. I had loads of fun."

He didn't respond. I waited for a few more minutes in the uncomfortable silence. Weird. Silence was uncomfortable to me now. I moved from the chair to the front of the fire. I laid on the floor facing the ceiling. The heat of the fireplace was too delicious to leave. My body was frigid with the harsh bite of winter and I wasn't about to suffer from frost bite just to ignore a Malfoy. I closed my eyes and waited for the lecture to come. I waited for a very long time, but it didn't come. Instead, I felt a hand slip into mine. My eyes snapped open.

Draco had taken a seat beside me. He was upright and reversed so I could see that he had one knee up. He lifted the hand he'd crushed earlier. Slowly, he slipped the glove off my hand and examined the damage. It was now a dark purplish blue. I winced as I saw that it had finally taken shape. He traced it and placed his hand in the position in which the swelling had formed. The fingerprints fit perfectly. I gazed at him. I'm not really sure what changed at that moment, but something did. I wondered what was going on in his head. I wondered why he looked so gentle at this very moment. I wondered why I was perfectly fine just sitting with him. I wondered why my heart pumped the blood in my veins a hundred times faster.

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

I blinked and gently took my hand back from him. He didn't protest. His grey eyes looked into mine and he leaned back until we met, eye to eye. "Yeah, we'll I've got a blast-ended shrewt waiting for you if you ever do that again."

I'm not sure how long we sat there. All I know is that I eventually fell asleep watching the flames. I was preoccupied with my thoughts of how to relate the flames to Draco. Maybe that's what he was doing. He was comparing himself to the destructive beauty. He was beautiful, but he was destructive. He could hurt people. It was hard to see the good he could do... if there was any good in him at all. I wasn't sure. Maybe there was, but then again it was a once in a lifetime thing- a solitary moment.

And that's the revised Chapter. Upon reading the original version, I feel that I have to note… I do not approve of abuse in any shape, way, or form. Draco was a bit abusive in this chapter and I feel that it should be pointed out that I don't advocate that sort of thing and it has never happened to me. A friend of mine was in that situation and it was not pretty.

Anyways, send me your thoughts or general opinions of the story. Lots of love to all of my followers and reviewers.