What Lies Within

When the sun rose, waking Sophie from her troubled slumber, she lay in the small bed, staring up at the stone ceiling of the room of requirement, unsure if she actually wanted to get up and go to her classes today, or spend the entire day in this room, avoiding her boyfriend.

Finally curiosity got the best of her, she wanted to know what happened with Harry, so she got out of bed, put her robes back on and ventured out of the room. As it was still so early, she passed no one as she made her way towards the Slytherin common room. After saying the password she ventured into the dark and damp room. She gave a sigh of relief when she found that it seemed to be empty, she knew she would be questioned on where she had been all night if a Slytherin saw her coming in so early and still dressed in her uniform from the previous day.

"Sophie?" She had just gotten to the door to the girls dormitory when a groggy voice came out from the back corner of the room, making Sophie jump. She turned to none other than Draco standing up from one of the chairs. He too was dressed in his uniform from the previous day, his hair was messed up as if he had been running his hands through it all night and he had large bags under his eyes. He must have had just as awful of a sleep as Sophie herself had.

"Draco." She spoke, looking anywhere but his eyes as he took a few steps across the room towards her.

"Where have you been all night? I've been worried sick." He came to stand in front of her, though she still looked anywhere but at him. Right now, his shoe laces were very interesting.

"The Room of Requirement. I went there right after you took Harry away." She told him, shrugging. She heard him sigh as he shuffled his feet. He wanted nothing more than for her to look up at him.

"Look, I'm sorry, Sophie. I really am. I know that I shouldn't have done it. It was heartless and wrong, I know. Please, forgive me." The sadness present in Draco's voice made her finally look up and meet his eyes. She almost gave in when his grey-blue orbs met hers. His eyes were filled with such sadness. Sadness that Sophie didn't even know Draco was capable of feeling. This just proved her realization from the night before. She really didn't know her boyfriend as well as she thought she did.

"I want to forgive you, Draco, I do." She told him, returning his sad look with one of her own. "I just can't. I.... you aren't the person that I thought you were." She told him honestly. "I don't even really know you..."

"No... no no no. Sophie," Draco pleaded, reaching forward to place his hands on her hips, pulling her close to him. She sighed and closed her eyes as he rested his forehead on hers. "You know me better than anyone else ever as. I've never been more myself around anyone else. You are the only person to ever know the true me." Draco sounded close to tears. The thought of Draco crying brought tears of her own to Sophie's eyes but she quickly shunned them away. This was not the time for crying, she had to stand firm.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I just can't believe that. You hurt me yesterday. What you did... it just ... it showed me how much you care about doing what others tell you. It's all about making yourself look better," She pulled away from him, his hands falling limply at his sides. She looked up at him sadly. She reached back, resting her hand on the doorknob of the girls dormitory. "and I can't handle that." With that she turned and swung the door open, slamming it quickly behind her, knowing that he couldn't follow her.

Sophie rushed to her dormitory, finding that the girls were up and getting ready. She ignored all of their stares, especially Pansy's and went to her bed, grabbing a fresh set of robes for the day. After she showered, did her hair and makeup, still ignoring her friends questions and looks, she grabbed her bag and quickly left the dormitory before anyone else had even put one line of eyeliner on.

"Sophie, can we please jus-" Draco immediately rushed her when she stepped into the common room. He too had been up to his room and had showered and changed but the dark circles under his eyes were still present.

"No, Draco. We can't." Sophie told him, rushing across the still basically empty room. There were a few Slytherin's sitting around, waiting for a friend to finish getting ready so they could head down to breakfast, and a few were even trying to finish some last minute homework that was due that day. "I just need space and time, alright?" Sophie watched as Draco's face crumbled. He looked close to tears again and Sophie hated the fact that she was doing this to him. She was waiting for him to blow up on her, scream at her, do something other than look so... defeated.

"Time? Space?" He whispered, shaking his head. "I can't be away from you, Sophie. You are my... life. I can't lose you." Sophie sighed and took a step forward, reaching up to rest her hand on Draco's cheek. He stared down her, his eyes watery. She reached up on her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lip.

"You aren't losing me, Draco. I just need some time to figure all of this out, okay? I need to figure out who you really are." She sighed and stepped back, letting her hand fall to her side. "After classes today, meet me at the Room of Requirement." She told him, making him vigorously nod. She gave him a soft smile before turning and heading out of the common room. It felt so weird to be walking up to the Great Hall alone. It was like she just left her other half in the common room.

"Sophie!" A voice yelled as soon as she stepped into the Great Hall. She turned to see the trio rushing up to her. She was so happy to see that Harry hadn't been expelled. She wrapped him in a tight hug the second he reached her.

"Oh, Harry." She mumbled into his neck, hugging him still. "I'm so sorry." He pulled her back and gave her a soft smile.

"It's okay. I didn't get in trouble. Well... not fully anyway." Sophie frowned.

"What do you mean? What happened?" That's when Sophie looked up at the head table to see that in the large throne like chair that was usually occupied by Dumbledore, sat little Delores Umbridge, looking smug as she stared around the bustling room.

"It's a long story. Basically, Dumbledore covered for me. He got in trouble though, a fight broke out and then Dumbledore left." Harry quickly explained, Ron and Hermione nodding behind him.

"Left? What do you mean left? Where has he gone? Why is Umbridge in his seat?" Sophie questioned, glancing at the pink toad like woman again.

"Fudge was there. He made her Headmaster." Ron explained, glaring at the woman.

"Oh, that's awful! Why can't something actually go right this year?" Sophie exclaimed loudly, making a few students nearby turn to give her odd looks.

"Enough about that toad woman. What's going on with you and Malfoy?" Harry questioned, looking over Sophie's shoulder. She too turned to see that Draco had just entered the Great Hall. His eyes rested on hers for a fraction of a second before he gave her a soft smile and turned towards the Slytherin table, going to find a seat and have breakfast.

"We got in a fight over what he did last night." Sophie said, shrugging as she turned back to her friends.

"Him catching me?" Harry asked, making her nod. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, Sophie. Don't be angry at him for that. You guys knew when you joined the Inquisitorial Squad that it would be mainly me Umbridge would come after. He was just doing what he had to do." Sophie's eyebrows crinkled in confusion.

"Are you actually defending Draco?" Sophie questioned, a little shocked. Harry laughed and shook his head.

"Of course not. I just know how much you like him and I don't want what you two have to be ruined because of me." Harry explained.

"Trust me, Harry. This problem isn't really because of you. Draco is just.. different than I thought. Don't worry though, he and I will work it out eventually. There's just a lot going on right now. We'll figure this out though." Sophie told him, turning to look down the Slytherin table at Draco who sat alone, staring down at his plate of eggs though he made no move to actually eat them. "I should go get some breakfast, and make sure he eats as well. I'll see you guys later." She gave them all soft smiles before turning to the Slytherin table and took a seat beside Draco who looked over at her.

"Hi." He said quietly before looking back at his plate where he continued to push his eggs around. Sophie sighed and put her own eggs and toast on her plate.

"You should eat." She told him, pouring both of them a goblet of juice. She passed him the glass as she took a drink of her own.

"I'm not that hungry." He told her, putting the goblet down without taking a drink. Sophie sighed and put her own down. She reached over to rest her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her frowning. "What happened to space and what not?" He questioned. She sighed and pulled back to look at him.

"You are just too cute for me to resist.... Plus... if I want to get to know the real you, I can't ignore you, can I?" She told him honestly, making him smile.

Sophie really was scared that she was making a bad decision. She was just afraid of what was going to happen. Was Draco the sweet, caring, gentle man that she sees in private, or was he the harsh, snob that she saw more? She didn't know but she did know that he couldn't be both. For the time being though, she was satisfied with who sat beside her, and that's all that mattered.

"Can I have a proper good morning kiss then? I feel like my entire day will be in a funk if I don't get a real kiss." Draco asked, making Sophie laugh and shake her head.

"No. You don't get a real kiss. Maybe you can when you meet me after class. I'll kiss your cheek though if you eat all of your food." She told him, turning to her own food. She saw Draco shake his head before he dug into his food. They ate in silence and soon had to go to their lesson. "So remember, Room of Requirement after class. Maybe I'll see you at lunch. I might be studying." She told him as they left the Great Hall together.

"I won't forget, I promise." Draco assured her. "I ate all my food. My cheek is awaiting a kiss." He told her after they arrived in front of her class room. He turned his head and pointed at his cheek. Sophie laughed and reached up to press her lips to his cheek but he turned his head so their lips connected instead. Before she could pull away he threaded his fingers through her hair, keeping her lips in place though there was no need, she eagerly kissed back. Draco was a marvelous kisser and after an entire night of being without his lips, Sophie felt deprived. After a satisfying kiss, Draco released her and grinned down at her.

"Will your day go alright now?" Sophie asked, smacking his arm. He laughed and nodded.

"I have a feeling that today will be a wonderful day." He told her, smiling. She smiled up at him and rolled her eyes.

"Have a nice day, Draco." She turned to walk into her classroom.

"You too, babe!" He called after her, making a few students in the hall turn to look at him. He just simply continued to watch her. He was relieved that she seemed to be on her way to forgiving him. He spent the night worrying that he lost her. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced and he vowed to do whatever he could to make sure he never felt it again.