She thought of all the things they haven't done yet. She willed for more time with him. 

-

Taylor

She slept through the entire day. She woke up late at night. "Great," she mumbled, "Now my sleep schedule is fucked up." She dragged herself into the shower, two pumps of shampoo, three pumps of conditioner, body wash the size of a Sickle. Letters were piling up on her windowsill. They all said the same things:

Taylor,

You need to be in the hospital. Where did you go? Come back now.

Taylor,

You're not well. You should be in the hospital. 

Taylor,

Please tell me where you are. Please come back. The doctor said you're Bulimic. I want to help you, honey. 

She sighed and picked up her quill and a piece of parchment.

Dad,

I'm at Hogwarts. I don't need to be in the hospital. I can take care of myself here. Love you.

As she finished writing, another letter came. She handed her note to the owl and watched it fly away. She took the rest of the notes from her dad and stacked them neatly on top of each other. She tucked them into a drawer in her nightstand. That's when she saw a different letter sitting on the surface of the little wooden table next to her bed.

Tiny. I'm not sure when you'll read this. Madam Pomfrey told me you're being sent to some Muggle hospital. Emersons. I don't know where that is. I don't really know why I'm writing this. I got really scared last night when you passed out. I know you haven't been eating much but I didn't think it was this bad. I want to help you. Please let me help. I know you probably hate me, which is fair. I haven't been kind to you. I'm sorry. Truth is, I'm fascinated by you. I hope when you read this, whenever that is, that you'll hate me a little less. I hope you'll let me help. I hope you'll sing for me. I want you to get better. I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I put a jinx on your potions supplies and the ingredients. If I hadn't your potion wouldn't have failed. Pansy wouldn't have given it to you. Please forgive me someday.

-DM

p.s. I think your bear is cute

Taylor stared at the note in her hands. She never, in a million years, would think that Draco Malfoy cared for her. He must have written this no more than twelve hours ago. At the last line, she realized he was in her room. She glanced at the stuffed bear sitting on her bed. She didn't hate him. She should, but she didn't. Taylor tried to collect her thoughts. She started with things that she knew.

Draco Malfoy was a Slytherin. Taylor was a Hufflepuff. Draco had been the reason why her potion failed. He's called her a Mudblood a few times. He's tormented and bullied countless other students. He apologized to her. He took her to a party and danced with her. He sent her a letter saying he was sorry for the way he treated her. He told her he wanted to help her. He said he was fascinated by her. She didn't like him, though, she wanted to spend time with him. She knew there had to be more to him than some dick who thought he was better than everyone.

She thoughtlessly started walking to the Slytherin common room. She reached the doorway but couldn't remember the password. When Draco said it, she was busy thinking about his hand in hers. She didn't need it though because he was walking up to her from the opposite direction she came from. She then realized she wasn't sure what she was going to say.

"I left the hospital this morning. I- well I didn't want to be there so I came back. I read your letter and thought I'd come to see you." She knew she sounded and looked like a nervous wreck. 

"You... You just left?" Taylor nodded. "Tiny, you should be there. You need help." A look of concern flashed across his face. "I know. But it was really lonely and cold in the room and I didn't want to talk to my parents about it all. I don't really understand it myself." Draco leaned against the wall and fidgeted with the end of his sleeve. "I guess I also thought maybe you could help. I know we're not exactly close but I like talking to you and being in the same room as you." She was talking awfully fast, slightly embarrassed, and nervous.

He smiled, "You like being in the same room as me? Well, that's a start I guess." He pushed off of the wall and walked towards her, not breaking eye contact. "Of course I'll help you." She wanted to hug him, for whatever reason. She cautiously moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. Taylor didn't know how much she needed this. She felt his hands on her back, pulling her in closer. He smelled vaguely of mint and a soft twinge of expensive cologne. "Would you like to come back to my dorm? It's empty, I don't share it with anyone."

"I'd love to." 

-

They talked for ages. Luckily, no one had been in the common room when they walked through. Everyone was already asleep. She didn't feel like explaining Draco to Heidi or Cedric. She thought maybe if someone had been there, she would walk right past them. That maybe she wouldn't stop to answer their questions and wouldn't care about what they thought. 

Taylor and Draco came up with a plan. Every meal, they would get their food and go back to one of their common rooms or go outside. Then he could talk to her and distract her while they ate. He was going to stay with her for some time afterward too, just to make sure she kept it down. "Oh, that reminds me, before I forget you should probably take these." She walked to the bathroom and pulled open one of the drawers. She took out the small bag of puking pastilles and handed them to Draco. "I think that's a good idea," Draco said looking down at the bag, obviously concerned but not wanting to ask questions, "How will I know you won't get more?"

Taylor pulled her Sickles and Knuts from her pocket. She placed them on her dresser and dug through her nightstand to get the rest of her money. "I'll leave these out. You can count them whenever." She started sorting them out and stacking them carefully. She made sure each of them was facing the same way. The first stack was three Galleons, then two stacks of eighteen Sickles, and four stacks of fifteen Knuts. It was the only money she had that she could use in the wizarding world. Her dad had to exchange his notes in her first year to buy her school supplies. He could barely keep himself together with the goblins lining the room. He told her later that he thinks there should be a human, at least one, to help the Muggles. Dad gave her 100 Pounds every year to convert it to wizard currency. She started with roughly £29 in Galleons, £14 in Sickles, and £0.38 in Knuts each year. It wasn't a crazy amount, but she thought she was pretty lucky for her dad to be able to spare £100 just so she could purchase something while at school. 

"And just so you're sure..." She pulled a few notes and pence from a small velvet bag. She laid them out next to her wizard currency and began to organize them, making sure they all faced the same way and rotated them to the same angle. She didn't keep a lot of her money from home at Hogwarts, she had no use for it. There were some students who had never seen a pound before, so she started bringing a little bit with her if anyone was curious. Last year, she put the entire £100 towards Galleons. She had 20, and the disapperation training was 12 Galleons. That's how she learned it. She got anxious thinking about the situations where she would need to know how to apparate. It was an additional course taught for six years, but she needed to know it sooner. It wasn't completely legal, but it settled her thoughts. 

"What are those?" Draco asked curiously when she took out her notes. Taylor laughed a little. "Don't tell me you've never seen Muggle money." Draco laughed with her. "We don't use it! How am I supposed to know what a random piece of paper is?" 

"These are very valuable to my father. He clings onto each and every one of them like his life depends on it. Which... I guess it does. We don't have much at home, had to sell the house three years ago. We moved into a small apartment, it only has one bedroom so dad sleeps on the couch." She tried to talk about it casually, she tried not to sound sad. But every time she thought about it all, which was often, she couldn't hide her feelings. At least she wasn't crying. Yet. 

She looked over at Draco who was sitting on her bed. She could see he wanted to ask questions. Taylor started opening the drawers of her dresser to refold and reorganize her clothes. "Mum was ill a while back. A Muggle disease. We sold everything to pay for it, apart from the house. That was the one thing mum didn't want dad to sell. But then she died and we were barely hanging on. The house was too much, it was two stories and had three bedrooms. And since mum wasn't around to protest, dad sold it. The other bedroom belonged to my sister, Ana. She's dead now, too." She was finished with the first drawer and moved to the next. She was moving quickly, trying to focus more on her clothes than the story.

"I'm sorry. How did she die?" From the tone in Draco's voice, she could tell he really was sorry. "Um, well. Ana was a Muggle like my parents. When I was younger, I couldn't really control my magic and bad things would happen a lot. I set a cupboard on fire. Mum was in the hospital and dad was visiting her. Ana got trapped in the kitchen and I couldn't get her out. I was seven, no, eight actually, when it happened." Taylor felt tears stinging her eyes. That night was on a constant loop in her mind. The fire blazing, her sister screaming, the sirens of the firetrucks and ambulances. Seeing her sister lying burnt lifeless on the gurney. How it all felt like a really bad dream. 

In the weeks after the accident, her parents had to replace the charred furniture, pay for the services of the firefighters and doctors, and plan a funeral. This is when they had to start selling whatever they could. Dad brought up selling Ana's things, but mum was extremely against the idea. Then she got sicker, and the medical bills were piling up. The only things left of Ana were pictures and a necklace. Taylor never took it off. It was silver with the small letter 'A' at the end. 

"Is this her?" Draco was holding a framed picture of Taylor and Ana. She nodded. "We were at the pumpkin patch. I'm six there. We found a giant pumpkin, and we were determined to bring it home." She laughed at the memory. "We even tried carving it ourselves. It looked like a mangled version of a jack-o-lantern." 

She wasn't paying much attention to where she was putting her clothes. When she looked at how they were folding and where they were placed, she got angry. "No, no, this isn't right. Goddamn it!"  She took all of the clothes out of the drawer and started to fold them again. Tears started to fall down her cheeks. "Hey..." Draco got up from his spot on the bed and kneeled down beside her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him. "I'm a murderer."

"No, you're not." Taylor cried more, "Yes, I am. I killed her. She's dead because of me."

Draco pulled her into a tight hug. "You couldn't control it, it's not your fault. Tiny, you can't blame yourself for this." He let her cry into his shoulder. She felt like it was her fault and she could absolutely blame herself. At first, she didn't want to come to Hogwarts. She wanted to forget about magic and never use it again. But dad told her she should go, and that Ana would have wanted her to learn magic. He wasn't wrong, Ana would've thought that this was the best thing in the world. It would have blown her mind if she got to see Hogwarts. Taylor could send Ana letters about her classes and her friends. She could tell her about Draco, ask for advice. Ana would be eighteen now, a grown adult. Taylor feels tremendous guilt about taking Ana's life from her. She would have accomplished so much. Sometimes Taylor thinks about all the things that could have happened if she managed to get Ana out. Sometimes she wishes she would have stayed in the fire with her. She wishes that she would have stayed so Ana wasn't alone. She wishes she died with her.

When Taylor sat up and away from Draco, his shirt was damp. He helped her up saying she should go to sleep. "I need to put away my clothes." Her voice was shaky. "I'll do it, you get in bed." Taylor protested, "they need to be in the right order." But then Draco cut her off, "Tiny. I'll do it. Short sleeves first, color-coded. Yeah?" Taylor smiled to herself, wondering how the hell Draco was able to know that just from watching her. She got in her bed and covered herself with her quilt. She watched Draco through tired eyes as he folded her clothes neatly into the drawer. He seemed very careful about putting them in the correct order. Her eyes closed and she drifted to sleep.

When Draco had finished, he closed the drawer as quietly as he could. He turned back to see Taylor sleeping peacefully. Her stuffed bear was sitting at the opposite end of the bed. Draco picked it up and smiled. He placed it next to her and stood by her bed for a few more minutes. She had woken up very slightly and clutched the bear in her arms. Draco turned off her lights and left silently.