The next day, my trunk packed and homework done, Harry and I left Hogwarts with Ron to go to the Burrow. As excited as I was, I couldn't stop thinking about Draco and Snape's conversation from last night. Apparently, neither could Harry.

The three of us were in the kitchen, cutting vegetables for Mrs Weasley. I were siting quietly, lost in thought, while Harry was telling Ron everything about last night.

"Are you sure Snape was offering to help Draco?" Ron asked for the third time.

"Yes!" Harry answered, obviously irritated.

"But why?"

"Because they're Death Eaters, why else?"

"We don't know that, Harry," I interjected.

My brother sighed. "There's so much evidence for it!"

"That doesn't prove anything," I said.

"He brought you up, Y/n! Why are you so quick to defend him?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but he decided against it and went back to peeling his potato in silence.

Slightly surprised by his good reaction, I paused for a moment, letting the knife in my hand simply rest. Harry has changed, I thought to myself. A smile unconsciously grew on my lips until Ron asked me what was on my mind.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, and returned to cutting the carrots on the table.

"So," Harry said, "Y/n. Tell us about you and Malfoy."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "What about him?"

"The Christmas party."

"Oh," I said, heat rising to my cheeks as I recalled the events of that night. "Um, what are you talking about?" I laughed cautiously.

"I'm asking the same thing," Ron added. "What are you saying? Why would Y/n have anything to do with Malfoy and that party?"

Harry chuckled darkly. "Oh, Ron, if only you had seen the two of them. I told you about what happened, right? Filch dragged Malfoy into the party?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"Slughorn thought that Malfoy was late or something, so Y/n said that he was her date."

"What?" Ron turned to me, trying to hold back his laughter. "You're joking." Nobody answered, so Ron looked at us, eyes widening with surprise. "You're being serious?"

"I am," Harry said.

"Why?"

"That's what we were asking, Ron." Harry faced me. "So, Y/n, would you like to explain?"

I faked a cough, stalling. "I, um." I couldn't conjure up a lie quick enough. "Well, you see," I paused again, stuck between whether or not I should lie, "okay." I gave in. "Draco—er, Malfoy—and I have been getting closer recently—"

"You're dating Malfoy?"

"No!" I said quickly. "We're not dating. But, um, we're not exactly just friends, either."

"Oh, Merlin," Rom said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Y/n, are you sure he's—"

"Is he a Death Eater?" Harry said a bit too loudly. Ms Weasley heard his voice, but not his words, and called down to ask if the vegetables were cut.

The three of us looked down and realised that we had all stopped preparing the vegetables in the excitement of Harry's question. At the same time, almost as if we all thought the same thing, we grabbed our tools and continued working.

"Well, is he?" Harry asked, quieter this time but just as eager to know.

"No, he's not," I stammered

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"But you heard Malfoy's conversation with Snape—"

"Harry," Ron said cautiously.

I took a deep breath, cultivating a believable response. "I know what it sounded like, but that's not what it was. All I can say for sure is that Draco is not a Death Eater and Snape probably isn't helping him," I lied.

Harry began to protest, but with a small nudge from Ron, steadied his breathing and calmed himself. He placed his knife on the table, stood up, and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Ron to peel the rest of the potatoes.

I moved to follow him, but I stopped. Maybe he just needed to be left alone right now. Plus, Ron probably needed help with the remaining potatoes.

~~~

The holiday passed quickly, and before we were ready for it, we were back at Hogwarts. Things were slow as ever in the Slytherin common room; many students who had gone home were reluctant to get back into their lessons since we would be hit even harder with homework this half of the year. Here and there a couple of students would be rejoicing after being separated for the two weeks we had for break, but other than that, most of us were just tired.

Draco and Star came into the common room, looking more exhausted then every Slytherin combined. After a very quick greeting, both marched right on up their dorms to relax in the quiet their rooms held.

Just as I was about to go upstairs to join Star in our dorm, there was a small commotion by the announcement board by the entrance to the common room. I walked closer to see what was causing the ruckus.

There was a sign on the board that read "Apparition Lessons" in large black letters.

Complaints quickly went up about the fine print.

"A twelve week program?"

"Fourteen galleons just to learn how to Apparate?"

"Aww," someone whined, "only sixth and seventh years get to do it."

Right before I moved to sign up, I remembered that Draco and Star could Apparate. Maybe they could teach me.

"Hey, love."

I turned around to see Draco, looked happy to see me despite his visible exhaustion.

I hugged him quickly. "How was your holiday?"

"It was fine," he said quietly. "Do you want to go out and walk the halls for our Prefect duties?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," I answered, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the door. We began walking, and after a few minutes of quiet, I spoke up. "You look so tired, Star, too. Did something happen over the break?"

Hesitantly, Draco nodded a yes. "It's nothing much, I guess. My parents were working us to half to death. I mean, with everything that's to come, I'm not exactly surprised, I just didn't expect this."

"What's to come?" I asked, curious.

"Oh—um, nothing. It's just something for home," Draco stammered.

"Oh, okay. That's interesting."

Neither of us spoke for a moment; the only noise was the sound of our shoes clacking against the floor. Soon we made it out of the cold hallways of the dungeon and continued walking through the giant school.

"Hey, Y/n, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Why . . . why do you care about me?" he said, voice low and sad. "You know how easily you could get hurt with me around."

"You're worth that, love." I squeezed his hands lightly and looked into his eyes. "You've been there for me whenever I've needed it, and you take my feelings into consideration. I don't know, I've just always felt welcome around you after we started getting close. You make me really, really happy, Draco."

"I do?"

"Absolutely. You show that you care, and I know you're being genuine. And even though you're going through a lot at home right now, you're not taking it out on me. You're talking about it calmly and trying to protect me at the same time." With a laugh, I added, "You're also really attractive."

Draco laughed. "Thank you, love. You know, you're gorgeous."

"Aw, Draco, you're so sweet."

"I honestly don't know what I did," Draco said calmly. "There's no way I deserve someone as perfect as you."

I smiled, giving Draco a hug. I missed seeing him this happy.