I stared up in horror as Katie's limp body hung in the sky, her terrified screams reverberating hauntingly in the air.

"What the fuck..." Blaise breathed beside me.

I ran.

I ignored Blaise's calls of concern.

I had half been aware of the giant gamekeeper coming rushing to the scene as I barged on past.

I didn't stop running until I reached the castle.

I was freaking terrified.

I threw myself into the Room of Requirement, tears cascading my cheeks as I sobbed heavily into the sofa, curling myself into a tight ball, rocking viciously back and forth.

"Astrid!"

I felt hands grapple at my arms as they tried to free me from my tight self embrace.

"Please, Astrid... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,"

Realising it was Draco, I released my arms and let him pull me into his chest. I buried my face into his shirt, heaving dry wracking sobs as he comforted me in his arms.

"Shhh, Astrid, it's okay, it's okay," he kept murmuring into my ear, over and over again as he rocked me gently in his embrace.

"What have I done?" I gasped, lifting my face up to look at him, "I've killed her!"

"I promise you - you haven't!" he said vehemently, looking fiercely back down at me. "I saw her being taken to the hospital wing - I promise you, she's alive."

I felt my heart lift slightly and I was suddenly so grateful to the Slytherin who held me in his arms.

Without thinking, I leant upwards, pressing my lips firmly against his.

He pulled instantly away, looking into my eyes questioningly.

"Astrid?" he murmured hoarsely, confusion flashing in his grey eyes.

My furiously beating heart suddenly stilled. I had gotten it so wrong.

"I-I'm sorry," I breathed, struggling to untangle myself from him.

But instead of letting go of me, Draco tightened his hold, and I was suddenly aware of the rapid beating of his heart against mine. His eyes continued to look into mine searchingly, and as I stared back up at him, a frisson of electricity passed between us.

Then without warning, his lips came crashing down on mine, and I was surprised at how easy and natural kissing him came to me.

My hands reached up, entwining my fingers deliciously through his hair, pulling him into me, desperate for him to deepen the kiss.

I felt his teeth gently graze my lower lip, making me gasp in surprise. Draco took the opportunity to let his tongue slip through, gently lapping at first, as if testing the waters and, when I responded by moving my tongue against his, a furious fervid dance in our mouths ensued.

It was as though a fire had been lit deep in my core, and it roared fiercer and fiercer as our kiss grew more frantic. He shifted himself from underneath me, rolling me over so that he was pushing down on top of me into the sofa. I responded by wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, making him release a deep groan into my mouth.

Draco suddenly stilled, as if the noise he had just made had alerted him to something. He broke the kiss, lifting his head slightly, as the sounds of our breathless panting filled the still air.

"I'm sorry," he growled huskily, looking down at me, "I shouldn't be doing this."

"It's okay," I breathed, feeling panicked. I didn't want him to stop. I wanted this kiss more than I've wanted anything ever in my life. I wanted to get lost in him and not have to think about anything - Katie, Dumbledore... My father.

Disappointment tore at me as he broke himself away from me, sitting up so that my arms and legs fell away from him.

"No, Astrid, it's not okay," he murmured, ruffling his hands agitatedly through his hair, "you're upset - you're not in your right mind. I shouldn't be taking advantage."

"You're not," I implored, sitting up to join him. "I want this. I do."

But Draco just shook his head, unable to meet my eyes. "I'm sorry, Astrid, but this is wrong."

My heart pounded painfully in my chest, I felt so incredibly hurt by the rejection, that I needed to get out of there - away from him.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked, alarmed as I jumped up from the sofa, turning away from him so he couldn't see the tears rolling down my cheeks.

"I can't... I- I've got to get out of here..." I stammered, stumbling away from him as quickly as I could.

"Astrid, don't go - come back!" I heard him call as I slammed the door shut behind me.

...

Draco gave a heavy, frustrated sigh. He wondered if he should have gone after her, but he was still waiting for a certain issue to calm down in his trousers.

Stopping that was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. But he was concerned that they were getting to a point when he would not have been able to bring proceedings to a halt.

The longing and yearning coursing through his veins when she had kissed him astonished him. He had never felt anything like it before. Nothing had ever felt so right - and yet there had been something in the back of his mind that told him it was so wrong.

Astrid, he knew, was extremely vulnerable. He had brought her here after her ordeal from her abusive father. And now he was getting her involved in his murder mission. To start sleeping with her would be wrong - no matter how much she thought she wanted to.

But the problem was he wanted her. He wanted her so much he physically ached. He had hardly dared believed it when she had brought her lips to his. His heart started pounding just at the mere memory of their hot, fervid kiss that followed.

He threw a cushion frustratedly across the room. This wasn't helping his trouser situation.

...

Blinded by tears, I made my way to the hospital wing. I needed to see for myself that Katie was all right.

I tried not to think of the Slytherin I had left on the sofa. But I couldn't help but torture myself wondering what it was about me that disgusted him so much. What was it that Pansy had that I didn't?

But deep down, I knew the answer. It was my blood.

It was the whole reason behind this awful war, after all: Muggles shouldn't mix with wizards. And that was the side Draco was on.

I didn't manage to get any success in the hospital wing. I couldn't exactly ask, as I was to avoid speaking to any teachers at all costs. So I just had to take Draco's word for it that she was going to be okay, that I hadn't killed her.

I decided to curl up in a small alcove in one of the corridors while I waited for dinner time. I couldn't face going back to the Room of Requirement. The thought of facing Draco was far too humiliating.

When, at last I could go down to the Great Hall, I went straight for Susan who seemed to be eagerly awaiting my arrival.

"Are you okay?"she asked, her mouth gaping open in horror, "you look as though you have been crying. Did your date not go very well?"

Date? I stared at her in confusion for a second, before remembering Blaise. I guiltily glanced up at the Slytherin table, and sure enough, there he was, eyeing me warily.

"Oh, oh yes, my date," I flustered, whilst piling mashed potato onto my plate, "it was okay."

"Did you hear about Katie Bell?" Susan jumped in, eagerly keen to swap the gory details, "she was Cursed!"

"Yeah..." I mumbled, feeling a nauseating wave in the pit of my stomach. I looked down at my mashed potato wondering how I was going to manage it.

"Terrible, isn't it?!" Susan babbled on while my eyes flicked back up to the Slytherin table, this time seeking out a certain white-blond haired boy.

He was there. And he was looking right at me. His grey eyes fixed on mine, looking sorrowful, almost pityingly.

I glanced back down at my plate feeling the saddest I had ever felt before. I slowly stood up, not touching my food.

Susan stopped mid sentence about how she knew someone that had actually heard Katie scream.

"Where are you going? You've only just got here!"

"I'm not hungry," I muttered, and fled before anyone could see the tears falling sadly from my eyes.