Filia de Malignus

Chapter 4: The Compromise

The hospital wing in Hogwarts was almost always occupied, whether it was broken arms, dragon bites, or petrified students, the beds were almost always full. Hogwarts wasn’t always the safest place, for injuries, that is, but everyone had to admit, it had a great medical system!

Harry was sitting in a chair beside two beds. One was holding his newfound friend while the other was holding his archenemy. The funny thing was, they were both Slytherins. He was waiting very impatiently for one of them to wake up.

Madam Pomfrey was now tending to Xenia. Xenia saw Malfoy on his broom halfway into the dive. She slammed him to the side to throw off his broom, thus slowing him down, but causing great injury to her. She was knocked out, as was Malfoy, but her neck was sprained, her right arm was broken, and she almost cracked her skull open when it connected hard with Malfoy’s elbow. Malfoy was knocked out with a few scratches. He slammed into the stands, Xenia saved his life by risking hers. However, both of them were still out cold.

Harry looked at Xenia, Madam Pomfrey fixed her up good. Her arm wasn’t bent up at a weird angle any more and the blood was gone from all of the wounds. Harry couldn’t stop staring, because to him she was beautiful, in her own ways. Despite everything that she had ever told him, about her being not girlish, about her being not pretty like the other girls, and about the fact that she was not accepted, he still thought this must be what an angel looks like sleeping… He longed to brush the hair out of her eyes so that he could see her face more clearly, but he knew that Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t have it. He was staring at her; just staring in absolute amazement at such beauty and pain that was in the same moment. But there was something odd about his feelings, he didn’t feel the urge to just grab her and kiss her. He didn’t like her the way he liked Cho. Not yet, anyway. He didn’t love her the same way, perhaps. As he was staring, he heard a movement of bed sheets behind him. Someone groaned loudly,

"What the… where am I?" the voice said to himself.

Harry turned around. "Malfoy!" he said.

"Potter!" he groaned. "Of all the people in the world I could’ve had to come see me, Potter comes to the rescue!"

"I’m not here for you, Malfoy, don’t worry!" he snapped.

Malfoy looked around, "Why am I here?" he asked. He tried sitting up. Pain seared through his body, especially his elbow. "Oh, I see…" he lay back down. "What happened?"

"Do you really want to know? You might not be able to handle it," said Harry. "Just be happy you aren’t dead, okay!"

"Dead?" he looked at Harry in disbelief. He obviously had no recollection of the past day’s events. "Why would I be dead?"

Harry groaned, "Noooo! Don’t tell me you don’t remember!!!"

"I don’t, Potter, refresh my memory," said Malfoy.

"Okay, Malfoy, in a nutshell, you thought you could fly better than Xenia so you dove practically vertical and couldn’t pull yourself up," said Harry.

"Oh, and wait for it… wait for it… you saved me!" said Malfoy with fake enthusiasm.

"Not me, Malfoy," he stepped aside to show Xenia’s face. "But her."

Malfoy was staring at the girl in the bed next to his, "No… she couldn’t have, she’s a girl!" he said with disgust. "She is only a girl," he said again. But she is a girl that could kick your ass in a fight any day and is probably way stronger than you are, so you never know… He thought about it for a few moments and then said, "Nope, not a chance she couldn’t have saved me. You’re lying!"

"Feel your elbow, Malfoy, the right one. Doesn’t it hurt? It connected with the back of her head. She could have died! She saved your life, by risking hers," he said.

"There is absolutely no way," he said, minus the cold drawl. His voice was softer now, "She hates me, she wouldn’t want a thing to do with saving my life. She would rather see me dead."

"Maybe if you hadn’t of been such a prat to her in the first place, she would’ve talked to you rather than hurt you. You probably wouldn’t think it important, but my guess is that she values life more than petty grudges," said Harry. "Unlike some people…"

"And how do you know about her all of a sudden?" he asked. "How do you know that she isn’t just trying to get expelled by this school too, just to keep up her running record?! How do you know that she didn’t try to kill me off?!" he was breathing heavily now. It looked as if the last three sentences took more energy to say than running a mile. He looked over at Xenia, who was sound asleep in her bed. She was taking in little breaths of air, barely audible, but Malfoy heard it. They were gentle and delicate, not like her. You never know about people like her… he thought. A peculiar feeling came over him, it was warm and nice, and all around good. He had never felt anything like it before…A smile found its way to his pale face, but when he saw Harry looking at him funny, he dropped it immediately. "What, Potter?!"

"Nothing, you just looked kinda’, well, not all with it for a couple seconds," said Harry.

"I was just thinking!" he snapped.

"Do you always look insane while thinking about girls?" asked Harry.

"I would never think of Xenia like that! Never in a million years!" he said. But he was lying.

Malfoy’s thoughts had changed… This girl is the reason I’m not dead… I owe my life to her… Oh my dear god…look at her, she doesn’t look like she could hurt a fly, all helpless in her little bed… Hey, she looks kinda’ cute! SHUT UP, Draco, she could kick your ass…Who cares if she could? Just look at her, maybe I should give her a try… Everyone deserves it… Malfoy was surprised at what he was even thinking!

"I, unlike you, gave her a chance and talked to her. She seems quite nice, I don’t see how she could have possibly gotten into Slytherin," said Harry.

Malfoy wasn’t listening; however, they were both fixed on the face and body of Xenia, who was beginning to move. He tapped Harry on the shoulder, "Hey, look at her, she’s waking up…"

Harry spun around, Xenia’s eyes fluttered open. Malfoy, who was now standing up behind Harry, was watching with curiosity. She yawned and stretched out on her bed and kicked her covers off.

"Mmmmm…" she said. "Wann… go…backtasleep…" she was obviously talking in her sleep.

Harry and Malfoy thought at the same time, Phew! At least she’s okay!

"Should we," Malfoy paused and looked at Harry. "Wake her?"

Despite the fact Harry really wanted to wake her up and talk to her some more, he said, "No, Malfoy, leave her be. Let her sleep."

"Come on, Harry, let’s wake her up!" said Malfoy, with a huge smile on his face. And the funny thing was, it was a smile, not a smirk.

"No, she should sleep, she only saved your life!" said Harry.

"But, Harry, I don’t wanna’ sleep!" said a voice behind them.

"Xenia!!" cried Harry and Malfoy at the same time.

She looked really tired. It looked like it hurt for her to speak, "Harry, what am I doing here?"

"You saved—" Harry began.

"My life!" cut in Malfoy. He stepped in front of Harry and looked into her eyes, they were half closed and looked so relaxed. It was the first time he had seen her not tense. She was, in the weirdest way, beautiful, but he dare not admit that while Harry was around. It seemed that he had fallen for her. "I just wanted to thank you."

Harry was looking at the situation with a weird _expression. He was happy that Xenia was up, but not happy that Malfoy was looking at her like that. A guy like Malfoy seems like he would take advantage of girls, although Xenia could totally take him, but still…

Xenia was just staring at Malfoy, just staring. How hard DID I hit him, to change him like that? Is it at all possible that people can change their ways this quickly, from hating to liking within hours…? Or is it hours?… How long have I been asleep for?

"Malfoy…" she began softly. "I don’t know what to say…I’m happy that you thanked me and are being nice and all…but," she tried to sit up. She gasped with pain. She still sat up though, now breathing in sharp gasps. "I don’t understand h-how you can change your feelings so quickly…ahh…" she felt the bump on her head. "Oooh! That one’s a doozie…anyway, Malfoy, what I’m trying to say is, well, how do I know that you aren’t the jerk you were on the train, now? How do I know this?"

"You… you don’t believe me?" said Malfoy. "You don’t think I’m serious?"

"Well, in all honesty, no, I don’t believe you. I’m sorry… I just don’t…" she faltered.

"Well, I’m sorry too!" Malfoy did look truly hurt, for once. "I’m sorry for trying to show my… forget it, you won’t believe me anyway. I knew right from the off that you were weird, I just didn’t know how weird you could get, and now you don’t believe me?! I was being completely sincere!" he turned to Harry, who was finally starting to think that Malfoy was turning at least one single cell in his body good. He yelled, "You know, this is your fault. Thank you for getting my hopes up, Potter. Thank you! Oh, and Xenia, you are no Slytherin. True Slytherins would never fraternize with the likes of him," he spat.He turned and ran out of the hospital wing, despite the intense pain he was in. Madam Pomfrey called after him, but he didn’t care.

                    * * *

He ran at full speed, all the way to his dormitory, where he dropped onto his bed and started punching his pillow with all fury, pretending it was Harry’s head. He kept punching until his arm hurt more. The few scratches that he got were now ripped into gashes that bled furiously. He was still in his bedclothes from the hospital wing.

He buried his face in his pillow and laid there in complete darkness. The darkness soothed him, and calmed him down. All he could think about was Potter and Xenia. Why didn’t he see it as soon as he woke up?! He was so BLIND! They like each other. It is so obvious! Harry was waiting in the hospital wing for Xenia, Xenia. He said it out loud, "Xenia…" What about Draco? What about Malfoy? Harry’s words echoed through his head… "Well maybe if you hadn’t of been such a prat, Malfoy!"…He was trying his hardest to snap back to reality. Come on, you hate Potter and anyone associated with Potter you should hate too. Remember the good times when you used to think that? Remember? Instead, he remembered the scent of Xenia’s fruity smelling perfume on the seat where she sat on the Hogwarts Express. He remembered the way he felt yesterday when he was whispering in her ear. Sure, he was taunting her, but the feeling he got from being so close to her, thinking back on it, was unbelievable. He had never felt anything like it… it was a love-hate relationship, however. He couldn’t stand the fact that she could hurt him if she wanted to. He didn’t like the fact that if they ever did have any kind of relationship, she would always have the upper hand in strength and intellect. He didn’t like it at all. As a matter of fact, he positively loathed the idea of a girl being better than him. All the girls in his life knew their place around him. Why couldn’t she…?

                    * * *

"I can’t believe him!" said Xenia. "He thinks that he is king of the world, doesn’t he?! Thinking that he could just be all friendly with me and all, after the way he treated me on the train! I mean, I don’t understand what is wrong with him."

"Everything!" said Harry. "I stupidly thought he was actually turning good for a second. For those few moments before and after you woke up, he was smiling and laughing like, well, a normal person! It was weird to see a smile break out onto his normally cold face. And then there is the fact that he hates me because I put his dad’s evil master out of business… Well, for awhile, anyway." Harry looked angry now. "Maybe he is plotting of ways to kill me along with his dear old dad right now."

"Harry," said Xenia softly. "Don’t worry about him." she looked into his eyes and his look immediately softened. "Not about him killing you, anyway."

He half-smiled and sighed, "Yeah, he’s just Malfoy. But, I still think he is thinking of ways to kill me right now," he said.

"Oh, people do that sometimes when they are mad," she said with a sly smile, recalling her "Many deaths of Draco Malfoy" drawing that she had made only yesterday.

They talked for hours on end about everything, from Quidditch to Malfoy, classes, and then back to Malfoy. Then, Xenia tried to recall how she saved his life.

"Well, I don’t really remember exactly how I did it. I have no clue WHY I did it. I mean, he is so stuck up and rude." she sighed.

" Not to mention, disgusting, nasty, ugly, and evil." added Harry.

Xenia nodded her head, "Ugly? I dunno… He’s too blonde, but I don’t think he’s ugly. Acutally, he’s kinda’ cute when he’s really mad!"

Harry was making gagging noises and pretending to puke, "There goes my lunch!"

"It’s true! But," she said with a little bit of a smile. "He is still a slimy, disgusting, nasty, evil… thing! Don’t worry, I’m not falling for him in the least!" she looked straight at the wall, pretending to be interested in a certain part of it. "I don’t really know about the boy that I’ve fallen for." her face was blushing a bright red. Harry didn’t know what to say. He just looked at her, trying to decipher what she meant along with her _expression. She looked at him suddenly, "Harry, did you know that I’ve never been kissed?"

"What?" asked Harry.

"Harry," she said slowly. "Did… you… know… I’ve… never… been…—"

"I know what you said!" said Harry in a loud voice that he probably would have only used with Ron, whenever he said something really pointless or stupid. "Sorry. So you’re saying that you’ve never been kissed?"

"Beaten to an inch from death, spat upon, and nearly raped, but no, never kissed… never loved… My parents even seem distant from me," she said, twisting a piece of her long red hair.

Harry looked at her in disbelief, "But… how… when… huh?" he was totally bewildered. "When did all of this happen? How did you--?"

She made a fist, "Why do you think I’ve learned how to fight?" she pulled her sleeve up to reveal her forearm.

"There isn’t anything wrong with it!" said Harry. "You hit Malfoy on the other arm!"

"Don’t be stupid and watch," she said. She flexed her muscle. For a girl, it was pretty big. Actually, for a guy, it was pretty big too.

"Whoa…!" exclaimed Harry. "You must’ve worked out a LOT!"

"I told you I lived in the city. Not in the best area either, fighting was essential. My friend, who was like the brother I never had, taught me how to fight, duel with a wand, and use a knife. His name was David, I loved him as a friend and brother. He’s probably the only person I’ve felt close to. But he was a great deal older than I was, I think by five years or so. He saw me get pushed around my school a lot when I was 8, so, he started teaching me."

"Was he a wizard?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered. "See, I didn’t know that he was a wizard in training until I was showing magical signs. That was around eight also. He just didn’t wanna’ tell me until he knew for sure." she smiled. "I remember the first day I showed magical tendencies, I turned my hair red. When he saw me, he flipped and told me everything. My hair used to be black, you know." she twisted another lock of her hair. She stopped smiling, "But, he died right before I went to Miss Hawthorne’s. I watched it happen. I was only 13 or so at the time, and never had lost anyone before in my life. I watched some gang of Muggles stab him, in a back alley. He was stabbed 17 times over. By a gang of filthy Muggles that were his so-called friends. When they cleared out, I rushed over to him, and I remember the last words he ever said was ‘Trust only those you love… I love you always and…’ he just… died." a small tear formed in her eye. She brushed it away, but Harry saw it. "Well, that was three years ago, and anyway, that is why I have never let anyone get near me, or have been kissed for that matter," she added. "And the reason I can fight."

Harry looked for the right words to say. "Xenia, I—"

"Harry, don’t say anything. Let’s just forget that I told you. It is a thing of the past. Everyone has to move on." Xenia said.

Harry looked out the window, the moon shone brightly through the window and onto her bed. It was night already, Ron and Hermione would be wondering where he was. "Xenia, it’s getting late," he stood up. "My friends will be wondering where I am, and I don’t want them to think I was all going off to find Voldemort or something."

"Harry, don’t—never mind. You should go see your friends," she said. "I might as well go, I mean, my arms, legs, head, well, my body doesn’t hurt much anymore." she took off her sling and flexed her fingers. "Well, I see that the nurse has mended my broken bones. She is pretty good isn’t she? At that kind of thing."

"Madam Pomfrey, yes, but she can be a little strict sometimes," said Harry. "I had to get my bones regrown once, it was terrible! But it worked."

"Ouch!" she said. "Hey, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow in Potions."

Harry shuddered. "Potions, ugh! I hate Snape. Don’t you?"

"Well, I wasn’t paying attention to him, I was drawing ways to kill Malfoy, actually," she said.

Harry laughed, but the smile quickly disappeared, "Just watch yourself, Xenia. Nobody knows what the Malfoys are capable of."

"I still don’t believe that blondie is a dark wizard, but I will watch myself, don’t worry. If he tries to kill me in the common room, I’ll just punch him a couple times. He’ll be back in here soon enough!" she said. She got up slowly and carefully and grabbed her clothes.

He saw that she was about to change and didn’t want to invade her space. He pointed to the door and said, "I’ll leave you alone,"

"I was wondering when I would have the time to change!" she walked over to Harry. "Thank you for coming to visit me. It’s so great talking to you." she tore her eyes away from Harry’s. "I can’t help but think that there is something else bothering you. Something big, something that doesn’t have to do with Quidditch or Malfoy or anything to do with that kind of magic." she felt the blood once again rise to her cheeks. "Harry—"

"Shh…" Harry said. This was it… it was the moment for all truth to come out. He took his finger and brushed the hair out of her face and brought it so he looked into her eyes. To touch her skin was amazing. The lightening bolt sensation was jolting throughout his body once again, more powerful than ever. "Xenia, there is something about you that makes me, I dunno, right. It makes me happy and complete and it feels like knowing you for the past 24 hours has somehow changed me." he remembered what he said to Ron before when he said that he didn’t like Xenia in the same way as Cho. Scratch that, I can’t help this! Harry didn’t know what to say or do next, as he had never been in a situation like this before.

Xenia stared up at him, her body was trembling and she obviously was at a loss for words also. All that she knew was that Harry was a good thing, he could be trusted. As for the feeling that she got when he touched her cheek, she felt like she wanted to cry she was so happy, "Oh, Harry, I—"

"You don’t know what to say or do, you don’t know what you are thinking or feeling, but you like it, and you don’t ever want it to end," said Harry.

Xenia looked stunned, "How did you know what I felt?"

Harry shrugged, "I feel the exact same way," he said simply. He was thinking hard on what to do now. What would Ron do? Ugh, Never mind, I don’t wanna even think about it! Should I kiss her? HOW WOULD I KNOW HOW TO KISS A GIRL! I’ve never kissed a girl! Oh my god, I am blanking… what does your heart say, Harry?

Her eyes were staring right up into his. He had to, he just had to. It was what his heart wanted him to do, wasn’t it? This was it…there was no other chance. He leaned over to her and then… stopped because he heard something. He heard footsteps, fast ones, coming up the corridor leading to the hospital wing. Two figures were in the door, it was none other than Ron and Hermione.

"Harry! What are you doing?" said Hermione. "We’ve searched EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!"

"Harry!!!" Ron exclaimed, looking at Harry and Xenia, inches away from each other. "Oh," he said, seeing that he was walking in on something a bit important. "Hermione, I think we should go. Harry is a bit busy right now." he looked at Harry and winked. "Come on, Hermione," he said with a tug on her robes.

Hermione jerked back, looked at Harry and scowled. "What are you doing up here?! You’ve been gone since the match! We thought that you left to go… " she thought quickly, "go find Voldemort or something!!"

"Hey!" said Ron in disgust. "Stop saying the damn name, Hermione!"

"It’s just a name, Ron, honestly! And you should quit swearing!" she yelled. "Harry, thank goodness you’re here!"

"Told you my friends would be worried, didn’t I?" said Harry. He wasn’t mad, though. He still had that little smile on his face, "Xenia, this is Hermione and Ron. You guys, this is Xenia, she’s new here and my friend." he thought for a second and said, "yes, Ron, she is in Slytherin."

"She is more than your friend, as far as I can see," scoffed Hermione, under her breath. Ron elbowed her in the arm lightly, he was frowning and he mouthed to her, "Stop it!"

"Pleased to meet ya’!" said Xenia, holding out her hand. Ron and Hermione shook them. Her voice sounded pleasant enough, but Harry sensed the uneasiness in her voice and thought that she should go up to her dormitory. He didn’t like the look on Hermione’s face and didn’t want any fight to start. Harry thought of telling Xenia this, but before he even got two words out, Xenia spoke,

"Maybe I should go up to my dormitory and get some rest. It was a pretty long day for me," she said.

"I’ll see you tomorrow then," said Harry.

"I’ll see you tomorrow, bye" she said. She picked her clothes up off of the bed. She made her way towards the door, but as she was about to walk past Harry, she stopped. She looked up at Harry and said, "Thanks, Harry." then, she did something that Harry didn’t expect in the least. She threw her arms around him and whispered in his ear in the most quietest whisper, "Close call, wasn’t it?"

"Definitely," Harry whispered back. When she let go, Harry had the most peculiar look on his face. It was a mixture of surprise and pure happiness, "Bit of advice, Xenia, don’t tell Malfoy."

She nodded and walked out of the room, as Harry stared after her.

As soon as she was safely out of earshot, Ron and Hermione started talking to him at the same time.

"Harry! You dog! What did you do all day in the hosptial wing?" asked Ron.

"Harry! What are you thinking?! She is a Slytherin! And I’ve heard some things about her… she has gotten expelled from seven different schools! Oh, Harry! That is bad!" said Hermione.

The both of them kept talking. Ron about Harry being the first one of the whole Gryffindor fifth year lot to "get anywhere" with a girl, and Hermione saying how "terrible" that Xenia was.

"SHUT UP!! The both of you so I can tell you what happened today!!" he said.

They both wen quiet, seeing as Harry looked as if he would slit their throats if they talked. Harry took a deep breath, and began,

"Okay, to make a long story a slight bit shorter, Xenia saved Malfoy’s life, while risking hers. Malfoy actually took my stupid dare so that he could actually prove that he could fly better than she could. Yeah, she is a good flier, too. Well, she saved him. Oh and get this, Malfoy turned good for about two minutes, I saw it. He smiled, I mean REALLY smiled. He likes Xenia, and he just started to, I can see it. The problem is, he sees this friendship thing we have going between us and he went ballistic. Xenia got to talking with me and we talked for, well, most of the day. I was about to leave and find you when… I…um…well, it’s hard to explain, really."

"Out with it!" said Ron, excited to know about how this "hospital wing romance" started to bloom.

"Okay…" he took yet another deep breath. "I dunno what came over me. When I’m around her, it feels like a huge gap in the depths of my heart is filled. She came over to me and something came over the both of us. When I touched her, I felt almost complete, like the missing link was found and that kind of thing. It felt all around good. But I was scared, no, dead terrified of whatever happened next," he stopped. He walked over to the window, "Lets just say that you guys interrupted something. I dunno now, though…"

Ron looked disappointed, "Oh, so… you’re saying that you didn’t do anything with her?"

Harry was glaring at him. "No!"

"No kisses?" he asked

"NO!" exclaimed Harry.

"Not even a little one on the cheek?" asked Ron.

"Ron, I barely laid a hand on her. I was about to kiss her, though. I guess I should be happy it wasn’t Malfoy who came in. He would have hexed me on the spot," said Harry.

Hermione looked relieved, "Well! At least you didn’t kiss her or anything! Now if this is all taken care of, I’d like to get back to Gryffindor Tower before Madam Pomfrey comes in and finds us all here. She won’t be too happy."

"Hermione, don’t be jealous. Be happy Harry finally found someone," said Ron. "That Cho thing was getting really annoying, honestly!"

"I liked Cho! She was nice!" said Hermione. Cho was a prefect this year. "Don’t you dare call ME jealous, Ron! I am not jealous of anybody!"

"Suuuuuure!" said Ron. "That’s what they all say…"

The mood was a lot lighter after that, but Harry could only think of one thing, Xenia.

                    * * *

Xenia made her way up to the Slytherin dorms quietly, thinking of Harry. She crept in the portrait room door and hoped no one was in the common room. She had a look around and went over to the black armchairs by the fire. She was about to collapse in one when--

"You live here?" asked a drawling voice.

Xenia closed her eyes and turned around, desperately hoping that it wasn’t Malfoy. Sure enough, it was.

She collapsed into another chair. "Malfoy, I’m really not in the mood."

"Did our widdle Xenia have a long, hard, Dwaco saving/Potter wuving day?" said Malfoy in an attempted cutesy-wutesy voice.

"Malfoy, I’m serious, I really have had enough crap today to last me the rest of my life, and I just want to think," she said.

"If you want to be alone, go up into your girls’ dorm where I can’t get you," he said.

"Your girlfriend might try to kill me in my sleep. She happens to think that I am madly in love with you and that I raped you on the train," said Xenia in a calm voice.

"What girlfriend?" he asked, looking puzzled. "Oh, that girl that I took to the Yule Ball, ah, yes, Pissy Pansy the Perverted Pixie. Did she really say ‘raped’" asked Malfoy.

"Yes," said Xenia. "But I told her that I just slapped you around a bit." she thought for a second. "I think that pissed her off even more, now that I think of it."

"Xenia," he started. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," she said, waving her hand. "Make it quick…"

"Why didn’t you believe me today in the hopsital wing?" he asked.

Xenia stood up, as did Malfoy. "Because no one can change that quickly in the course of a day," she said with a sharp tone.

"I was being sincere!" he said.

"Yeah, and I bet that half the school takes your sincerity as a real joke," she said.

"Xenia!!" he pleaded. "I wanna’ thank you for saving my life!"

"You’re welcome," she said. "Would you do me a favor and not bug me ever again? Okay, here’s my idea. I just wanna’ stay on decent terms with you because I really don’t want to hurt you. But if you push me over the edge like you did on the train, I most certainly will."

Malfoy saw that there was no winning this battle. That doesn’t mean the war is over! "Okay, Xenia, we’ll go our separate ways but stay on good terms."

"Thank you very much."

"You’re welcome," he said. And he sat down by the fire with his knees pulled up to his chin. She sensed the sadness around him, bad vibes.

"Good night…" she said, feeling terrible for the boy. "…Draco."

Malfoy turned his head up to the circle staircase. She had called him Draco. He barely used his first name in school, since he was usually known as "Malfoy". It felt nice to be called by his first name once in a while. Then his thoughts turned to Harry. He grabbed the fire poker and stabbed a log with it, shattering it and sending sparks everywhere. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, he whispered loudly, "Potter, you take everything away from everyone, the fame, the glory, and now… the girl."

Little did he know that Xenia was at the bottom of the staircase watching him, biting her lip nervously. She now realized his sincerity, and the smallest part of her wished that he would’ve stayed down in the hospital wing.