Draco's POV:

"Lizzie," I sighed, knocking on her dorm door, "Lizzie, come on." There was no noise coming from the other side of the door. "Open the door, love." I sighed again and ran my hands through my hair.

Lizzie was not one to anger quickly, and when she did anger, she usually expressed it passive aggressively, so the fact that she had locked herself in our room was quite a deal.

"I'm sorry about what I said," I breathed, resting my forehead on the door. "I was angry and it was out of line. Please open the door."

No response.

I sighed for the third time and resigned myself to the fact that I had messed up.

-----

When I woke the next morning, Lizzie was nowhere to be found. She had woken up before I had and gotten ready for classes quickly just so she didn't have to see me that morning.

I got ready for classes slowly, with dragging feet. It was rather different to be going about my morning routine without Lizzie bustling around behind me. To make my day even better, there was a piece of hair that refused to lie flat on my head, despite all of my efforts.

-----

The first I saw of Lizzie that day was in Potions class. She had arrived before I had and had positioned herself at one of the front tables, almost directly in front of Slughorn.

I hurried to the open spot beside her before any other student could claim it. When she noticed that I had appeared, her back straightened and she lifted her chin.

"Lizzie," I whispered, "I'm sorry."

She didn't reply, but kept her eyes facing straight forward.

"Please just talk to me," I begged her. "This is getting-"

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Slughorn clapped, standing from his chair and cutting me off. "Today we will be working on the Shrinking Solution. Can anyone tell me of its properties?"

Lizzie's hand rose into the air, which surprised me. She was usually quiet in classes.

"Yes, Miss Samuels?" Slughorn prompted with a knowing smile and twinkling eyes.

"The Shrinking Solution, also known as the Shrinking Potion, causes creatures to shrink to a younger form," she stated simply.

"Wonderful, five points to Slytherin," he smiled. "The original inventor is not known, for the potion is such an old one that the history is hard to follow. However, Zygmunt Budge is often credited for its invention due to his adaptation in the 1500's, which made it significantly more potent. So potent, in fact, that when Budge spilled a small amount on the grass outside of his house, a flock of sheep shrank to lambs the size of mice. He used these mice as ear warmers during the bitter winters." Slughorn gave an amused chortle. "You will find the recipe for the Shrinking Solution on page 213 in your books. When you have finished, pour a small amount into a phial and write your name upon it. I will test it later tonight on a few mice which have decided to take up residence in my office." He waved his hand and the sound of pages flipping filled the classroom.

"Lizzie-" I began to try and speak to the girl, but she turned and walked to the store cupboard where the majority of the students were now attempting to gather their ingredients. I growled and stoked the fire under my cauldron.

-----

Lizzie's POV:

Dear Hermione,

I know that you will never read this because I can't actually owl it to you seeing as you have disappeared from the face of the earth, but I need to talk to someone and you're the only friend I have. I'd call Harry my friend, but that's just complicated...

Draco and I had a row last night. We joined Dumbledore's Army, which is now being run by Neville, Ginny, and Luna, and the four of us made an attempt to steal the sword of Gryffindor, which is in Snape's office, but we got caught. Snape sent the other three with the Carrows and I haven't seen them since, but he sat me down and we had a talk. I told him how I want You-Know-Who dead and he told me how dangerous a thing that was to say. I know how dangerous it is, but I trust him. I think he is truly on our side and wants You-Know-Who dead, as well.

When I told Draco what I had said to Snape, he got angry with me and told me that he doesn't trust my judgement. He doesn't trust Snape, but I think we can. He told Draco and I to fight back against the Death Eater rule on the castle, he made our password 'croyez moi', which means 'trust me' in French, he didn't hand me over to the Carrows like he did with Neville, Luna, and Ginny, and he made the password to his office 'Bloodroot', which was the poison that was used on me back in fifth year. I know he's fighting for our side. I can feel it.

I hope whatever you, Harry, and Ron are doing is going well.

Much love,

Lizzie

-----

I was sitting on the common room sofa in front of the fireplace working on my Charms essay when Draco entered the room. When he saw me, he froze for a moment before making his way towards me. Still bitter about our argument, I stood with my gathered materials and started to walk towards my dorm, where I was planning on hiding until dinner.

"Lizzie," he spoke quietly. I ignored him and continued towards my dorm.

I was about two feet away from solitude when the door slammed shut, causing a squeal to erupt from my throat and my arms to drop all of my supplies. I turned around to see Draco standing there with his wand pointing in my direction.

"That's enough," he growled, walking towards me with a threatening aura. "You do not get to avoid me anymore. I have apologised several times over for what I had said. I was angry and it was untrue. I don't distrust your judgement. But you don't get to avoid me anymore. Suck your pride up and either accept the apology or reject it. But don't bloody ignore me!"

As he said all of that, the distance between us grew shorter and shorter until he was about a foot away from me.

"I'll ignore you if I want to. You don't own me," I snapped back, closing the distance until our noses were practically touching.

"No, you don't get to ignore me! Votre chagrin est mon chagrin. Suck it up and talk to me!" His eyes were alight with anger, but he didn't scare me. We both knew who held the power in this argument.

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"

"This is hardly talking," he countered.

"You can't make me accept your apology if I don't want to," I spat, growing angrier and angrier by the second.

"I'm not trying to make you accept my apology, I just want to talk this out with you! We aren't going to solve anything if you keep ignoring me!"

"Fine, let's talk this out," I replied sharply. "I trust Snape and I told him that I want You-Know-Who dead and you jumped on me for that."

"Because if he decides to tell You-Know-Who, you're dead!"

"He's not going to tell!"

"How do you know that?" he growled.

"He would have done so already if he were going to, but he's not."

"How are you so confident about that?"

"How are you not?" I scoffed. "He's your dad's best friend. He's your godfather, for Merlin's sake!"

"That doesn't mean I have to trust him!"

"That makes him part of your family and you're supposed to trust your family!"

"You can't make me trust him!"

"Why do you care so much about this, anyway?" I asked, leaning back on my heel and crossing my arms. I looked at him with narrowed his eyes.

"Because you could die! How can you be so careless with your life?"

"So?"

"I can't lose you, Lizzie!"

"You're not going to lose me!" I huffed, throwing my arms into the air.

"You're so bloody stubborn!" he exclaimed.

"Get used to it," I snapped in reply.

"I am used to it, you just keep finding new ways to throw it around!"

"Yeah, since my judgement isn't any good, I got to make sure yours is working fine."

"I'm sorry I said that I don't trust your judgement! How many times do I have to say it?"

"Obviously more than once."

"I'm going to keep saying it until it gets through that thick skull of yours."

"Sod off," I retorted.

"I'm not going anywhere," he growled.

"Why not?"

"Because I've got to make sure Snape doesn't kill you."

"You're such an ass!" I flared.

I was going to continue to chew him out, but suddenly his lips were pressed against mine. I wanted to pull back and slap him, but he held my face too tightly.

Teeth clashed against teeth. Nose collided with nose. Lips fought against lips.

The angst was practically dripping from the air.

"You're such an ass," I growled when he finally released me, and stormed into my dorm.