What Lies Within

Sophie couldn't sleep. After hours of tossing and turning in bed she found herself wandering around the dark and eerily quiet Malfoy Manor, finding herself in the library, curled up in a large overstuffed chair.

She stared out the large multi-paned window, watching the moon move across the sky as the night wore on. Her mine was racing with thought after thought.

Something about this whole situation with her father put her off. More so than it obviously would. It just didn't ... fit. Her father had never been that into the Dark Lord's business, he was more the behind the scenes man, never on the front line where he was put in danger. At the end of the day, her father was a wuss, and no where near good enough with a wand to be of any help in a wand fight. She had a feeling that this was a direct action from You Know Who himself, he did this to her father. She just didn't know why. Her mother must know, but of course she wasn't speaking to her.

"Why aren't you in bed?" A soft voice questioned from behind her, making her jump up from the chair and turn to see Draco leaning in the doorway of the large room. He was dressed in a grey t-shirt and a pair of green pajama pants. It was odd to see him in something other than his Slytherin robes or a black suit. The two were all he had worn since he started at Hogwarts, she forgot what he looked like in anything else.

"Draco, you scared me." She told him, making him smile softly. "I just couldn't sleep. What about you?" Draco moved into the room, walking slowly over to the small couch that was placed in front of the unlit fireplace. He took a seat and then patted the seat beside him. Sophie smiled and went to sit beside him, pulling her pajama clad legs up beside her. "So, why couldn't you sleep?" She questioned again, looking over at him.

"Just couldn't." He answered, shrugging. "I always go on strolls through the house when I can't sleep. I just so happened to have come across you on my stroll." He told her, making her smile.

"Well don't let me interrupt you." She said, making him laugh softly and shake his head.

"I'd rather sit here with you." They exchanged a smile. "So are you alright? Do you want to talk or anything?" He asked. She sighed.

"I just... I feel like he did it." Was all she said, making him frown.

"He as in... ?"

"Yes, The Dark Lord." She told him, making him nod, knowing that she was talking about what happened with her father. She watched this thought pass through his face before he nodded.

"It is possible. Your father was never one to really get in too deep into problems with The Dark Lord. Maybe he was just unable to complete whatever it was that was asked of him." Draco suggested, making Sophie shrug.

"I wish I could talk to my mother about this." Draco sighed and reached over to put his arm around Sophie's shoulder, pulling her against him. She rested her head on his shoulder, snuggling into the softness of his shirt.

"I'm sure your mother will come around. She just needs some time." Draco assured her, making her shake her head.

"I just don't understand why she won't see me. I'm her daughter." Sophie was actually surprised that she hadn't started crying yet. She most likely was just all cried out from the previous day.

"I know, it doesn't truly make sense." Draco said. Sophie didn't respond, she simply closed her eyes and tried to stop thinking about it. Instead, she thought about how much things have changed since the start of term. She never would have guessed that her and Draco would ever be this close, or that he could ever be this nice to anyone, especially her.

"Can I admit something to you?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him.

"Yes, of course." He answered almost immediately, making her smile.

"I kind of miss you being mean to me. I miss our bickering." She told him truthfully, making him throw his head back and laugh.

"Only you could ever miss arguing with someone. Weirdo." She pretended to be hurt and gasped, lightly slapping him on the chest, while he continued to chuckle.

"That's not very nice." She told him, putting a small pout on her lips, making him grin down at her.

"I thought you missed that?" He countered, making her narrow her eyes.

"Touche." She mumbled, which in turn made him chuckle once more. He sighed and wrapped his arm tighter around her, pulling her against his body as tight as possible. She watched as his face went from full of laughter to deadly serious. "What's wrong?"

"Can I admit something to you now?" He asked, making her nod. "So... this past term we've talked about this girl that I like." He started.

"Yes, this mystery girl. Are you going to tell me who she is?" She asked. He looked down at her and nodded.

"Well... you see... the girl that I like... I'm crazy about her, alright?" He sighed. "She drives me crazy. Her smile makes it seem like everything is okay and all I want to do is make her smile, no matter what it takes. She's the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. She's witty, and extremely smart. She has the biggest heart in the universe and I admire her so much for her courage and just... everything about her." Sophie couldn't help but feel her face pull down in a frown as he spoke this in a dream like state, obviously thinking about her. It hurt for him to act like this with her and yet... he liked someone else.

"She sounds awesome." She muttered, making Draco smile softly and nod.

"She's amazing." He answered.

"So who is she?" She pushed. She didn't really want to know. She knew that as soon as he said the girls name, she would instantly hate her. This girl has practically taken Draco from her because as much as Sophie may deny it, she liked Draco.

"Well...." Draco started, suddenly looking nervous again. "It's-"

"What are you two doing up?" A cold voice droned from the doorway making the two of them jump up to see Lucius Malfoy standing in the doorway.

"Father, we just couldn't sleep." Draco told his father who nodded.

"Well you two definitely won't get any sleep sitting down here. Up to your rooms, now." The teens quickly nodded and moved past the older man.

"Goodnight, sir." Sophie told him as her and Draco rushed down the hall, towards the stairs. They quickly made their way up to the hall that their rooms were in, across from one another.

"Well... goodnight, Sophie." Draco said as soon as they got to their rooms. Before Sophie could say anything else he quickly went into his room, shutting the door after him. Sophie stood in the dark and cold hallway alone, extremely confused. Who had Draco been about to say and why was he acting weird now?

Sophie shrugged it off and decided that she could ask him about it in the morning. She went into her room and crawled up into the large four poster bed, curling up underneath the dark green and warm blankets. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before she found herself overcome with exhaustion. She rolled over, staring out the large window and soon fell asleep, unknowing that Draco was sitting across the hall, tossing and turning in his bed, frustrated with himself. He should have just told her. Draco had never been more nervous than when it came to this situation and he just didn't know what to do anymore...