Draco's POV:

"Hey, Draco," Liz smiled softly at me. Her auburn hair was twisted into a simple plait down her back, but a few strands fell in her face. She was dressed in her white button-through shirt and skirt uniform, having removed her sweater and robe.

"Hey, love," I replied as she sat down beside me. We were sitting in the Slytherin common room on the leather sofa in front of the fire.

"How are you?" she asked quietly, snuggling up next to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I slung my arm over her back and rubbed my thumb against her shirt.

"I'm alive," I sighed. "You?"

"I'm alive," she repeated in a whisper.

We then fell into a comfortable silence where the only noises were of the crackling fire, the quiet sound of the water from the lake, and the hushed voices of the other students working on Merlin knows what. I focused on the sound of the crackling fire and relaxed. The flames made a low whooshing sound that reminded me vaguely of the sound the wind makes when it rushed through the halls. There was an occasional pop or snap of a log settling. The sizzling comforted me.

I leaned my head against Liz's and took a deep breath. Hogwarts this year was stressing me out beyond belief. The fact that Liz and I were about to attempt to murder a man chilled me to the bones and made me shiver. It was as if ice were coursing through my veins rather than blood.

"Let's have a picnic," Lizzie said suddenly, lifting her head and looking at me.

"A picnic?" I asked a bit startled.

"Yeah," she affirmed. "We could get food from the kitchens and then go to the Room of Requirement. I'm sure it could give us a blanket and a nice place to eat." Her hair was slipping into her face as she spoke to me and her grey eyes twinkled brighter than I've seen for quite a while.

"A picnic." The idea was preposterous. A picnic? Considering all that we were going through?

"Nevermind, it's a stupid idea," she said, frowning, shaking her head, and laying back down on my chest.

"No, wait. I like it," I replied, not wanting to upset her. "Let's go have a picnic."

"Really?" she asked, lifting her head once more.

"Really," I confirmed. "Come on." We both stood as I lifted my arm and nodded my head towards it. "Shall we?" With a small nod of her head, she looped her arm through mine.

"We shall."

Together, our shoes clicked against the stone floor as we made our way to the seventh floor corridor that housed the Room of Requirement. I paced back and forth with Lizzie's arm still crooked in mine and the door began to appear.

"You go on in, I'll go to the kitchens and get the food." I placed a hand on her arm and smiled softly. She nodded and opened the door in front of us with a loud creak. Once it was shut, I turned and began the journey down to the kitchens.

Where had the idea for a picnic come from? Did she just want something to do with me? Whatever her reason, I didn't care. I loved Lizzie with all of my heart and adored spending time with her, no matter the situation. I was glad that I was going through these tough times with her, though I wasn't glad she had to. There was no one else in the world who I would rather be around. No one else I would rather hold at night. No one else I would rather kiss. No one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with.

I tickled the pear on the portrait that was the entrance to the kitchens and waited a few seconds as it opened.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was bombarded by a chorus of 'Hello's from the house elves, who were working feverishly to prepare the dinner for that night. I greeted them kindly, remembering Lizzie's views.

"Hello," I spoke. "Would there be any chance of me nicking some food for a picnic?"

"But Master Malfoy," one particular elf with large eyes replied, "tis winter, isn't it cold for a picnic?" I looked closer at the elf, vaguely recognizing him from somewhere, I just couldn't place it.

"It'll be an indoor picnic," I answered him. He bowed lowly and ran off with the other elves to prepare a small basket filled with food for me and Liz.

The large-eyed elf ran forward grasping the basket carefully. "Dobby hopes Master Malfoy enjoys his picnic."

"Thank you," I replied hesitantly, still trying to place this elf.

Shaking my head, I turned and walked out of the kitchen. I could swear I had seen that elf somewhere before. Bringing my empty hand to my chin and rubbing a scar, I closed my eyes.

I had gotten that scar by falling down the stairs at Malfoy Manor. An elf with those same large eyes had helped me. I could see him right then in my mind, helping me up.

He used to work for my family, that's why I recognized him.

I shook my head once more and realized that I had already arrived at the seventh floor corridor. I paced back and forth and opened the door carefully.

The room that appeared was beautiful. It was a field of grass that reached past my ankle and the occasional bright, yellow flower. I could still see the walls of the room, but the grass spanned for what seemed like ages. I grinned at what the room provided for us.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Lizzie called to me from the center of the room where a large navy blanket was spread out. She was sitting cross legged on top of the blanket smiling at me brightly.

"It really is," I replied, trekking through the grass towards her. I sat down across from her, copying her position, and placing the basket down. "Un repas extravagant fourni par les elfes de la maison de Poudlard," I drawled in a French accent that sounded very authentic and presenting the basket to her in a dramatic fashion.

"Draco, the only French I know is La Belle et La Bête, wi, and bonjour," she laughed. It was the kind of laugh that I had come to love. The kind where she threw her head back, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to let go. I let myself soak in her image, knowing that I probably wouldn't see it again for a while.

"In that case, mademoiselle, s'il vous plaît permettez-moi de complimenter comment beau vous regardez aujourd'hui," I teased her.

"What are you saying?" she asked with a grin on her face.

"I guess you'll have to find out," I replied with a wink.

"You're insufferable sometimes," she smiled, reaching into the basket and unloading the food we were provided.

"I try," I answered, watching her bring out a platter of sandwiches, blueberries, strawberries, croissants (how fitting), two bottles of butterbeer, some cookies, and some sherry tart.

"Oh thank Merlin," Lizzie sighed when she saw the sherry tart. "I haven't had any of this since I was poisoned."

"That seems like it was ages ago, doesn't it?" I asked after a few seconds as I picked up a plump blueberry and popped it into my mouth. The bitter-sweetness exploded across my tongue as I bit down on it.

"It does," she replied, biting into a sandwich, chewing carefully as if the sandwich might bite back. After she swallowed she said, "I have a question."

"Ask away, love," I answered kindly.

"Do you really want a brother?" she asked, looking me in the eyes. "I remember hearing you say something about it once."

"Well, that's random," I chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm just curious," she said quietly.

"No need to apologize, but yes, I do. Ever since I was little, I always wished I had a little brother or sister to play with and protect, you know?" I began to pick at the edge of the blanket we were sitting on, pulling on a thread.

"Why?" she pushed.

"Father always put so much pressure on me to be proper and perfect, but I figured that if I had to share that pressure with someone, it wouldn't seem so bad," I shrugged.

"And here I spent so much time wishing I was an only child," she laughed.

"Why?"

"Gray and I spend so much time arguing that it seems we are more animostic than kind. Sometimes it just gets to be too much. I have no idea how my mother deals with us." She took another bite of her sandwich.

"What's she like at home? Your mum?" I asked.

"She tries her best to be gentle and loving with us, but there are moments when she snaps. What are your parents like?" She smiled softly as she spoke of her mum, as if she was thinking of a good memory.

"My mum is sweet. She never yells or curses or loses her temper. She's quite obviously the loving one in their relationship, being the one who hugs me and says she loves me, but my father is hard as stone. He's very strict and emotionless. He used to be softer and more open, but as I grew older, he began to close himself off."

"I'm sure he loves you very much," Liz replied.

"I know, he's just not the best at showing it."

The room was lurched into a silky silence, where the air around us seemed smooth. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all, but Liz fidgeted as if she had something bothering her.

"Why aren't you eating?" Lizzie asked quietly, breaking the silky silence with her beautiful voice.

"I'm not hungry."

She placed her sandwich down and looked at me with worried eyes. "Do you know what Pansy said to me the other day?"

"What?"

"She said that she's noticed that we're not eating as much and so has everyone else. They've noticed we're losing weight and said they're beginning to talk." She spoke with a low voice, as if she was ashamed and someone would overhear what she was saying.

"Who cares what other people think?" I countered easily.

"I know, but if we don't eat, we might die of malnutrition or starvation before You-Know-Who gets a chance to kill us."

"We won't die, Liz."

"Look at yourself, Draco. Don't tell me you don't notice at least some weight loss." I looked down at my body and tried to imagine myself a year ago. Comparing the two images, I realized that I had lost a bit of weight. Not too much, however.

"No, I don't see it," I replied, refusing to admit she was right.

"Okay then," she said firmly, standing up. "Look at me." She held her arms out to make a point and raised her eyebrows.

I studied her body. She stood before me in her button-through and skirt. Her body was not the same one that I had seen her in this summer. Her hips were less full beneath the cloth of her skirt and her thighs were significantly smaller than they used to be. My eyebrows furrowed.

"You look the same, Draco," she sighed, picking up on my realization and sitting back down. "So, if I promise to eat more, do you promise to eat more?"

I hesitated before answering, "Yeah," I whispered. Liz picked up a sandwich and held it out to me. I accepted it carefully and bit into it. She smiled. "You're crazy, you know."

"How so?"

"Well, we're days away from an attempt on a man's life and here we are, sitting in a field of flowers and laughing. It's kind of out of place, don't you think?" I pointed out with an arched eyebrow.

"It's not that odd," she said back, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

"I haven't seen you laugh like you just did in ages."

"I feel different in here for some reason," she said, looking around us. "It's like You-Know-Who doesn't exist in here. Like we're not about to kill Dumbledore. I feel... happy."

"Le bonheur est incroyable pour vous, mon amour." I felt a smile tug at my lips.

"Let's just pretend for a while that all of that isn't real. That we are just a happy couple having a picnic in a beautiful meadow," she begged, ignoring what I had just said.

"That sounds wonderful," I replied.

"So, teach me some French."

"I can think of one kind of French you already know," I smirked, leaning forward.

"Draco!" she laughed. I pushed the picnic food aside to allow me access to her.

My lips connected with hers smoothly and we moved together in sync. She tangled her fingers in my hair and tugged slightly, causing me to moan into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap. Her ankles crossed behind my back.

As I dragged my tongue across her bottom lip, she opened her mouth further, and allowed my tongue to explore her mouth. I slipped my hands up the back of her shirt and rested them against the bare skin there. She shivered and arched her back, pressing herself against me. I ran my fingertips up and down her back, causing further shivering.

I pulled away and tucked her loose hair behind her ear. I trailed kisses across her jawline and down her neck until I found the spot the made her moan. She tilted her head and continued to tug on my hair. I sucked on her sweet spot until I was sure I left a mark.

"At this rate, you're going to get a stiffy and I'm going to have to take care of it," she laughed.

"Would that be so bad?"