Love used to be just a word | Draco Malfoy

- FIVE -

We walked down the halls in a fast pace, as if we had to hurry and get it over with. Without warning Malfoy turned the corner into another hallway, one that led to a part of the castle that hadn't been used since the year 1512. As far as I'd heard this was due to construction failures and a nasty ghost haunting some classrooms.

I had never walked down these halls before and I always assumed no one had, but I guess Malfoy knew a lot of weird stuff from his father. He probably even mapped it out for his "amazing" son.

My body stopped walking. I was well aware I'd probably never find my way back if we'd got any further than this. We definitely weren't going to the Headmaster's Office and these halls were getting eerier by the second. "Where are we going?" I asked in an annoyed voice, breaking the long-lasting silence.

"Maybe if you'd walked instead of talked, we'd be there by now," Malfoy snapped at me without turning around. He did however seem to slow his pace a little. "Well excuse me for not being too fond of dying this young," I scoffed back. This made the young man stop and he turned his head a little in surprise. "Why would you think you're going to die?" Malfoy walked further, and I stared after him a little confused.

Don't fall in this trap, you're not that stupid. My subconscious sneered and I rolled my eyes. Although I got her point, I wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't even sure why. It's not like he'd ever been nice to me or gave me a hint that he wasn't just an all evil Death Eater. His chances had sailed a long time ago, probably in our first year of Hogwarts. And yet...

I felt the hesitation in every bone as I took a step forward again. It didn't take very long before we finally reached some wooden door which would lead to an old classroom. I could hardly think straight – this was it. This could literally be the end of me, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

Draco opened the door and I walked after him, adrenaline running through my veins. My eyes darted around the room, my left hand in my pocket to reach for my wand.

But there was no one in the room.

It looked like a normal classroom. There were a lot of desks and a few large bookcases, all still in very good condition, considering it hadn't been used since the early 1500s. Malfoy seemed to notice the frown on my face "It's almost as if you're disappointed I didn't set you up." He closed the door behind us and walked to the front to sit on the, presumably, teacher's desk. "Well, it would've been a thrill to see you lose a duel against me," I said with a smirk. Malfoy decided to ignore my comment and started fidgeting with his hands. I wondered what he had to say that was so important that he needed to bring me all the way to this part of the castle.

While he seemed to think over what he had to say, my eyes wandered around the classroom. To my surprise I noticed a few spots without any dust, some fingerprints around the edges of the desks. One of the bookcases had some books in them that seemed to be taken out at least once. They had probably forgotten to relocate the books before abandoning this part of the castle. The last thing I noticed was one of the desks in the front row was quite clean, the print of a large book was slightly noticeable. I wondered if Malfoy spend a lot of time here, but I couldn't understand why.

"Earlier today," Malfoys voice echoed through the classroom. My head snapped back to look at him. He seemed uncomfortable and looked at me a little uncertain, as if to say thank you with just his expression. I thought back at the moment with Greyback and nodded. "Yeah, that's okay," I said, trailing my finger in the dust of one of the desks.

An awkward silence followed. After a few moments I looked up at Draco again, he seemed deep in thought, almost struggling with himself. He doesn't seem like his usual self.

I'm not entirely sure why it bothered me this much. Maybe it was the fact that I felt out of place myself, abandoned by my friends and left alone with the feeling that I just wasn't good enough. Or maybe it was just that I couldn't stop myself from caring about other people, even if I wanted to.

Fuck it. I thought as I walked up to him with determination in my steps. "Can I ask you something? Off the record of course, as this conversation never took place anyway." His gaze found mine and the doubt across his face was obvious. It was only now that I saw the uncertainty in his face, that I noticed how much he'd changed the past year.

He looked slimmer than he ever did before, his cheekbones very prominent since he lost more weight over the summer. His pale face was almost as white as his hair – the little color he used to have in his cheeks was barely visible. Eventually giving in to his thoughts, Malfoy sighed and nodded at me to ask my question. He probably thought he owed me one after saving his ass this morning. "Are you okay?"

The pain crossed his face just as before when the words rolled over my lips, but he got himself together faster than the last time I asked. "I'm not entirely sure what to think of your obsession with my well-being," he simply replied before standing up and walking towards the door. I walked after him and cut him off just before he reached it. His face was hard and cold – the mask was definitely back on.

"I'm not entirely sure why I asked either, okay? But you owe me an answer anyway," I argued as I looked up to him. We were as close to each other as we were this morning. Only now I noticed how tall he actually was, almost a head taller than me, but I didn't back down. It was quite obvious we both felt uncomfortable being this close to one another, but neither of us moved an inch. "No, I'm not okay."

The sincerity and honesty in his words caught us both off-guard. He pushed me aside, softer than he'd done before, and opened the door. I wanted to ask why, but before I could the youngest Malfoy already spoke "I owed you one answer. That was it." I heard the door close behind me as it dawned on me how odd this whole day had been.