When I woke up the next morning, I was in Malfoy's bed. I looked over and saw that he was still sleeping. He looked so innocent and peaceful when he was sleeping. I found it quite cute, actually. Wait, what the hell was I saying? Maybe those plants I was around last night really got to me.

Feeling his arm around me, I carefully moved it away and got out of his bed and started creeping to the door. I stopped, turned back around, and smiled weakly at him.

When I closed the door behind me, I realized what day it was when I looked at his calendar on the way out. My name was written and circled on the last day of July, which was today.

Today was July 31st. My birthday. I turned sixteen today and so did Harry. I wanted to be happy about today, but what was really happy about it? I didn't even get my brother a present. I hadn't been able to write to him all summer and now was my chance. I grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment, sat down at the desk in my room, and began writing.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday, brother! Can you believe we're already sixteen? I can't. I was hoping we would have a big party at the Burrow, but I guess that won't be happening. I hope Dudley isn't giving you a hard time over there. I'd give him a piece of my mind if I saw him again. I've been having nightmares again. They're all about Sirius. Seeing him die over and over again is really getting me into trouble over here. I keep waking up Lucius every night. He ended up kicking me out of the house for the rest of the night. But Malfoy came and let me stay in his room.

I'm sorry I didn't get you a present. I promise that I will get you something when we return to Hogwarts. Love you, and please write back.

Max

I placed the letter in an envelope and wrote Harry's name on the front. I stole Hedwig from Lucius' bedroom and quickly sent the letter out for Hedwig to give. Lucius was still asleep, thank Merlin for that. But his wife was not in bed, which meant she would notice that Hedwig was missing.

"Maxine." I heard her voice, knowing that she was behind me. "Wake up Draco, will you?"

I nodded and went back into his room to wake him up. I saw that he went back to sleep after I left.

"Draco, wake up." I shook him, waiting for him to wake up. "Get up, Draco."

"Five more minutes," he groaned while turning around, facing his back towards me.

"You mother sent me in here to wake you up," I informed him. "Draco, get up." He still wouldn't get up. "Draco--"

His arm flew towards me, but I dodged it, only finding myself falling off the bed and hitting the nightstand in the process.

"FUCK!" I cried. I covered my bloody nose and fell to the floor.

Draco rolled over and saw me on the floor. "Shit! Are you alright?"

"No," I groaned.

"Here, let me clean that up for you." He ran out of his room and came back with a washcloth. He attempted to clean my nose, but I was being stubborn about it. "Stop moving."

"It hurts," I said.

"Well, let me clean it up and it won't hurt anymore." He started gently dabbing at my nose. I winced each time he dabbed at it.

"Are you almost done?" I inquired.

"Yes," he replied. "I didn't mean to--"

"I know. Just wake up next time when I ask you to."

He chuckled. "Sounds fair to me. There, I'm done." We both got up and I went over to his mirror and looked at my reflection.

"Thanks," I muttered.

He left his room and I followed him. Before I left, I took another glance at his calendar, where it had my name at. I noticed that it wasn't a circle around my name.

It was a heart.

*******

I received a letter from Harry later that afternoon. Hedwig was a smart owl and came flying to my room. There was a letter and a package as well. I decided to open the letter first.

Dear Max,

Happy Birthday, sister! Even though you didn't get me a present, I managed to get you one. I hope you like it. I had to ask Hermione for help since I wasn't able to make it by myself. But nevertheless, it's the thought that counts, right?

So about Lucius, are you okay over there? Your letter kind of scared me a bit. I can always come and get you. And I've been having nightmares as well. Shocking, isn't it? Dudley isn't giving me a hard time. I know you hate him. I don't blame you.

Well, I think you should tell me about Malfoy next time we see each other. And don't worry about the gift. You being alive is the only gift I need from you. Love you, sis.

Harry

I opened the package and looked at it in awe. It was another necklace. Clearly, everyone loved to give me necklaces. I still didn't take off the ones that Cedric and Sirius gave me. I simply added all of the charms onto one chain instead, making it easier to keep them all in one place. This necklace given by Harry was a circle, where on the front my initials was engraved in it.

Maxine Lillian Potter

I smiled down at the necklace. I heard the door open and quickly turned around to see who it was. It was Draco, holding something in his hand.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey," he said back.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I just came to give you this." He held out a cupcake with a candle in the middle and a cherry right beside it. "Happy Birthday."

I looked at the cupcake. "Did you make this for me?"

"Yeah. I did it without magic."

I grinned at him. "You didn't poison this, did you?"

He laughed out loud. "No, I didn't. I think You-Know-Who would rather kill you."

"Got that right," I scoffed. We both sat down at the edge of my bed as I blew out the candle, ate the cherry, and took a bite out of the cupcake. Holy shit, that cupcake was good. "Cherry."

"Your favorite," he added.

"You remembered?"

He nodded. "Of course I remember the time we went to Hogsmeade last year. It was the most fun I had in a long time."

We were silent for a moment as I continued to eat my cupcake. He watched me as I devoured it and laughed when he saw my face.

"What?"

"You have icing all over your face."

I blushed in embarrassment as he took a napkin and got rid of the icing off my face. "Thanks," I said.

He shrugged in response. "No problem."

"That was embarrassing," I mumbled under my breath.

"I thought it was kind of cute." He winked.

Damn, he heard me. He started to stare at me and I was doing the same. I never noticed how beautiful his grey eyes were now that I looked at them closer.

"Your eyes are beautiful," I whispered.

"So are yours," he replied. When he realized what we were doing, he snapped out of whatever trance he was in. "I-I have to go now. Happy Birthday again. There are more cupcakes in the kitchen."

"Thank you." I watched him as he left my room and shut the door behind him. I knew that somewhere inside him, he desperately needed someone, and I thought that someone was me.

*******

When I went to bed that night, I had more nightmares again. Lucius was so angry at me for it. He also found out that I stole Hedwig and I got into more trouble for that. When I woke up the next morning, I looked like shit. Even Draco and his mother took notice of this and looked at me with sadness in their eyes. I knew they wanted to help me, but while Lucius was around, they couldn't show me any mercy.

Once I was done serving all three of them breakfast, my next task was to wash all the dishes. Before I could start on the first dish, Narcissa came in and stopped me. "You go upstairs and rest. I'll handle these."

"But your husband--"

"Don't worry about him. Just go and rest." She gave me a sad smile.

"Thank you," I told her and headed upstairs.

When I heard Lucius talking to his son, I stopped so I could listen to their conversation.

"I'm going away today, Draco," he informed him.

"Why?" he asked.

"The Ministry has found out that I escaped Azkaban. Someone transfigured various aspects of my appearance to disguise himself as me. That's how I was able to escape. I just need to be away for a little bit. I want you to do me a favor, son."

"What is it?" Draco inquired.

"That stupid Potter girl is waking me up every night, and I'm getting tired of it. If she does it to you then I want you to do whatever is necessary to keep her quiet. I don't care how you do it. As long as you get her to shut up."

I heard Draco gulp and he nodded. "Yes, Father."

"I'll be back tomorrow night." Lucius left to go to his room and Draco just stood there, contemplating on what he should do.

*******

Lucius left early that afternoon, so Narcissa gave me today and tomorrow off. I didn't see Draco for the rest of the morning or afternoon. We both spent the rest of our day in our rooms until dinner came. On the way downstairs, I bumped into him.

"Sorry," I muttered, trying to cover my face

"My mother can fix that, you know," he commented on my face.

"Really?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I can get her to fix it."

"Okay. Thank you."

We headed downstairs and saw that the table was smaller than it was this morning. Narcissa shrank it so that it was small enough for three people. I sat across from Draco, who kept eyeing me the entire time.

"Narcissa," I started. "I was wondering if you could...well, fix my face."

"Of course, dear." She smiled. "Draco begged me to fix it once he saw you this morning."

"Mother!" Draco hissed at her.

"Thank you," was all I said, with the thought that Draco was beginning to get concerned about me.

We were silent after that. The only sound we made was the clinking of silverware against the plates. Draco stopped staring at me after his mother gave away too much about this morning. When we were all done, I headed up to Narcissa's room, who was waiting for me.

"This won't hurt," she said.

I nodded as she started working with all my bruises and wounds. "So this was Draco's idea?"

"Yes, it was. I felt bad for him. He's never acted that way around any girl before."

"What do you mean?"

"He's never really told me much about the girls at school. Whenever I ask him about it, he says there's one girl he's been after for three years. He told me her name and she sounds like a lovely girl."

"Well, you should tell him to go after her. He might not have the chance later on."

I knew she was smiling when I said that. "I'll make sure to tell him that. There, you look like your beautiful self again."

I looked in the mirror and not a bruise was in sight. My hand was also clean and soft. "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem, sweetheart." She smiled at me.

I nodded and headed back to my room, thinking about who that mystery girl was. Then I thought about the heart around my name on his calendar.

*******

I kept on telling myself not to have nightmares. But of course, like the night before, I had another one. I was waiting for Draco to barge in and start hitting me. But when I heard him barging in through the screams and cries, he jumped on my bed and pulled me into his arms.

"NO! NO, DON'T KILL HIM! NO!" I cried.

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay. It's just a dream."

He started to rub my back soothingly as I silently cried in his chest. Both of his muscular hands were wrapped around me, making sure he didn't squeeze me too tight. When my crying finally died down, I sat up and looked at him through my tear-stained eyes. "Draco...make me forget. Please, just make me forget."

It took another moment for him to pull away from the hug and lifted my face with his hands, wiping my tears away with his thumbs. I felt myself calm down, with the tears going away and my breathing becoming more even. I looked at him with sad eyes, my heart rate slowly increasing.

"I want to forget," I begged, my voice cracking a little.

Before I knew it, before I could even think, he kissed me.

I froze for a moment, but then went ahead and kissed him back. We both got on our knees, kissing each other. His lips then trailed down to my neck, which made me gasp. Once he stopped, he looked back in my eyes and started to kiss me again.

I pulled away, almost out of breath. "Draco..." I whispered, my hands gliding down the bottom of his shirt.

"Do you want to do this?" he asked.

I stared at him and nodded. "Yes," I answered.

He nodded his head as well. "Okay."