Snape and Lily's daughter

The real Draco

Grace had no reaction when Draco kissed her.

"I have always liked you, Grace, from the day of your Sorting in your first year at Hogwarts." Draco spoke.

"I-I-" she was still speechless from what had just happened.

"And you have always liked me, haven't you? At least since last year... I saw the way you looked at me when I was with Pansy."

Grace took a deep breath. "Yeah. But if you've always liked me, why didn't you talk to me in the beginning?"

"Because before I thought you were into Weasley... And then Zabini..."

"And I always thought you liked Pansy..." Grace said quietly.

"I went out with her because you were always with Potter, Granger and Weasley, and if you weren't with them you were with Zabini..."

"That doesn't change your attitudes, Draco. You were a jerk, not only to me, but to my friends as well. I heard about what you called Hermione in your first year, a mudblood. The way you treat my friends... There's no getting over it, no matter how much I like you." Grace said, sighing.

But Draco had a reaction that Grace certainly didn't expect. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Draco Malfoy was crying?

"I... I know the things I've done, but you have to believe me!" Draco said, sniffing.

"What's wrong, Draco?" Grace asked worriedly.

"I feel obliged to do these things... My father... well, he is..."

"Complicated?" Grace said, and Draco nodded. "Look, I can't say that I know what you're going through, because I really don't, but I think it must be very stressful for you to try to maintain the reputation of your family, one of the oldest in the wizarding world... And I guess your father must put a lot of pressure on you, huh?"

Draco nodded again. Grace saw there what she never imagined she would see: Draco suffering.

"I'm really sorry, Grace. For everything I did. The way I treated Harry, Ron, and Hermione I think was more because I was jealous or envious of them, because they were always with you and I wasn't. You have no idea how much it hurt me to hear you call me Malfoy. Because all the people who call me that hate me, at that moment I thought I would never get your friendship back."

"And you have no idea what it was like for me to have to walk away from you because of the way you were treating me... You know, you were my best friend, before Ron and Hermione and even Blaise." Grace said sincerely.

The boy had his head down, looking very sorry.

"You know, most Slytherins only act this way out of fear of their parents, most of them don't believe in this whole blood purity thing. Me especially, I don't know if you know, but my mother is a Black, and my aunt was disowned for marrying a muggle-born." Draco told her.

When Draco mentioned his aunt, Grace knew he was talking about Andromeda, but decided to leave that conversation for another time.

Grace never thought she would feel sorry for Draco. To her, no matter how much she liked him, he would always be the spoiled and prejudiced boy that everyone saw. But it seems that she and everyone else were wrong, he was really just a boy who had to grow up with pressure from his father and always afraid of what his father might do to him.

She put her hands on Draco's face and kissed him again. This made the boy smile, a smile Grace thought she would never see on his face, a smile that showed true happiness.

"Come on, Umbridge is waiting for me in her office, and you can't be caught." Draco said, breaking the kiss.

"What about the other Slytherins?" Grace asked.