Filled up with doubt
I have to move home
But I want to stay with you
For all of the summer
I have my plan
That you won�t remember
If you want to see the world
Then please ask your mother

I cannot hold your hand
To watch you go
I am a liar
As you might know
I need you now
I need your touch
And your lips
I need that smile
And your kiss

You�re so cool
You�re so beautiful
You�re so
You�re so

It had been a month. One, whole month since Granger had comforted Pansy�s best friend, and one, whole month since Pansy had seen Draco upset. He was back to normal - or at least as normal as one could be when planning to betray your entire family.

A scant three days after the �incident�, as Pansy liked to think of it, Draco had announced a meeting in the Slytherin common room. The entire house had waited with baited breath to hear Draco�s plans for them - the survival plans. And he had given them plans. Plans provided by Dumbledore�s Order, and Granger.

She had, apparently, stormed into Dumbledore�s office, Draco�s hand in hers, and proceeded to verbally eviscerate the Headmaster. When Draco had told them, he had been in fits of giggles.

�She just looked right at him, and started asking him about me, about all of us Slytherins. What he was going to do with us, how he was going to help us� He didn�t have a single answer for her, so she basically directed him to create a place for us to go if we don�t want to fight. There�s a safe-house, secret-kept, and warded to the high heavens. They�ll give us Portkeys, so that if� if the worst should happen we�ll be far gone.�

�What�s the catch?� Blaise Zabini had asked shrewdly. �There�s always a catch.�

�Veritaserum. To prove our loyalties. The Headmaster will question people, but I�ll be there too, and so will Hermione Granger.�

�They trust you,� Pansy said. Not a question, but a statement.

�I took Veritaserum already.� Draco admitted softly. �He - Dumbledore - tried to ask me other things, but she stopped him.� His head had moved upwards, eyes meeting Pansy�s. She had struggled to decipher the emotion that lay in those pools of molten silver, a mixture of pain and resentment, tempered by hope. �Go to the safe house. It�s the best option you have.� Pansy�s head quirked at the pronoun he used.

�The best option we have? Not you?�

�The best option any of us have. I�m just choosing not to take it.� The common room had been in uproar, every Slytherin demanding to know what had changed, why he was leaving them. Draco�s eyes locked with Pansy�s, and he spoke again, so quietly that she had had to strain to hear them. �I�m joining them. I�m going to fight.�

And his quiet declaration had swayed more of Slytherin house than any other single event could have. The worst thing about it had been that Draco hadn�t even wanted for them to fight, and that, in essence was why the Slytherins stood with him. Draco, and Granger had even approached the ever-prickly Potions Master and asked him to brew a near vat full of Veritaserum to interrogate the entirety of Slytherin with, sparing the rest of them from asking.

And now the month-long brewing process was over. Pansy had volunteered herself to be the �guinea pig�, and had let herself be interviewed first. After all, she had told herself steadfastly, somebody needed to not show their fear, and to prove their trust in Draco, and if his own best friend couldn�t just take the damn potion then what hope was there for the rest of them? So, Pansy had taken a deep breath and trekked up to the Headmaster�s office.

True to his word, Draco sat on a small sofa in the room. Pansy struggled to keep a scowl from her face as she noticed his fingers entwined with Granger�s, reminding herself that Draco was grown now, and hardly needed her help in choosing a girlfriend. Except� there didn�t really seem to be anything between them. Pansy focused her attention on the space between the two, ignoring the questions that Dumbledore was asking her and the automatic responses that came thanks to the potion.

Sure, they were holding hands, but their postures were very different. Pansy was pleased to note that both of them were focused on the questions being asked, but Granger�s concentration was absolute. Draco faltered every minute or two, looking back at her, at their joined hands to gain some kind of strength from it. As the questions came to a halt, Pansy felt an urge to speak to Draco. She pulled him away from Granger, who watched on with eager eyes.

�Draco,� she said under her breath. �I�m still under the effects of the Veritaserum.�

�I know, that�s why Dumbledore said to stay in the classroom down the corridor. It�s warded really-� For a smart guy, Draco really could be dense sometimes, Pansy thought.

�No, I don�t mean that. I mean that what I�m going to say will be the truth.� Pansy took a deep breath and set her shoulders straight. �She�ll be good for you, she�ll treat you well and she�ll care for you like none of us ever could.�

�Pansy, don�t say that - There�s a contract between us at any rate. You know full well that our parents wouldn�t release it.� Draco�s comforting tone was marred by the expression of sadness he wore.

�I signed it with my left hand, Draco. It�s not valid. You�re free. Don�t waste this chance.� Pansy left the office with her head held high, only just catching Granger moving over to Draco in the corner of her eye.

Once Pansy had safely ensconced herself in the specially warded classroom, a single tear had escaped from underneath her closed eyelids. Still under the Veritaserum, she sighed, and spoke aloud, admitting the truth to herself.

�I love you, Draco Malfoy,� she whispered softly, another tear falling.

* * * * *

It had taken several hours, but finally all of the interviews were over. Every Slytherin but one had returned to the common room. Every Slytherin apart from Draco. As was often the case, Pansy had essentially been sent after him, based upon the logic that being the person who knew him best would give her an insight into where to find him. As she reached the corridor next to Draco�s courtyard, as she had taken to thinking of it, she was hit by a strong sense of d�j� vu. There, on the same bench as the previous month sat her best friend and Granger.

Pansy secreted herself next to a window behind them. From her very strategic position she could hear every word that was said, and the pair would be none the wiser. She watched with baited breath as Draco held up a clear vial, and showed it to the Gryffindor girl.

�I asked Professor Snape for an extra dose of the Veritaserum,� he said slowly. �Don�t worry, I�m not trying to overdose myself, it has been watered down. It�s just� there�s something I need to say to you, and you need to know that it�s the absolute truth.� He frowned and took a deep breath before swallowing the contents of the vial in one go.

�Draco, you don�t-!� But Granger was too late. Draco grimaced, although when he looked up at her his face softened.

�Hermione,� he breathed her name almost reverently. �It�s been a month since we last sat here, and in that month you�ve changed my life so much. You�re amazing, you know that? You�re funny, and pretty and so smart you make my head hurt. And yet you don�t stop caring for people. I don�t know how you do it sometimes, you just fix everything. You�re so calm, and cool and sophisticated, and when I�m next to you I feel like I�m nothing. You�re so� so� you�re just so��

Pansy watched in abstract horror as Granger stopped Draco�s words. Her lips pressed to his gently, and Pansy�s eyes squeezed themselves shut, not wanting to watch anymore. When she had composed herself enough to look back, they weren�t kissing anymore. Instead, Draco had his arm around her, and she leaned into his shoulder. Pansy couldn�t help but to remember herself being in the same position with Draco, many, many times over the years. And yet he had never looked so happy, so peaceful.

Perhaps, Pansy thought sadly to herself, the whole comforting lark might have been easier than watching this.

I see your grace
From my window
When it is late at night
It�ll show me your shadow
I�m in my place
Hope you remember
When summer�s gone
I�ll still sing a song
Of you in September

I cannot hold your hand
To watch you go
I am a liar
As you might know
I need you now
I need your touch
And your lips
I need that smile
And your kiss

You�re so cool
You�re so beautiful
You�re so
You�re so

These words I say mean
You�re so amazing
I�ve noticed lately
I need you, maybe

You�re so cool
You�re so beautiful
You�re so
You�re so