Draco Malfoy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

It was his turn to sit down.

The girl he had rescued and cared for had been Snape's niece all this time.

"Where have you been hiding her?" Snape asked, his voice quivering slightly.

"The room I've been working in," Draco answered dully, his heart racing in his chest as he tried to get his head around this shocking revelation.

"Pandora," Snape whispered, and Draco didn't miss the wobble in his voice, "she was... beautiful."

"What happened?" Draco asked, curiosity piquing his interest, "if you cared about your sister so much, why does Astrid not know who you are? She thinks the only family she had left was her father. And he- he is vile."

"Pandora - my sister, ran away from home when she was sixteen, I came back from Hogwarts one summer and she was gone - our parents didn't even care, they carried on acting as though she had never existed. Years later, after leaving Hogwarts, I decided to try and find her. Eventually I discovered her living with the Muggle man, and the child. The three of them, they seemed... happy. I would watch them from afar but was too afraid to approach them. They were Muggles, and by then I had been affiliated too closely to the Dark Lord. I was afraid. But I continued to watch them. And then- then she died."

Draco watched on in horror as a lonely tear fell down Snape's pallid cheek.

"I couldn't bear to watch them anymore," he continued, as Draco listened avidly, "the girl - Astrid - looked more and more like her mother every day. I- I couldn't bear it. I thought she was safe and well with her father. If I had known..."

Draco looked on as Snape placed a hand over his mouth, closed his eyes and started shaking.

"What are you going to do?" Draco dared ask, after giving him a moment to recover.

"What I should have done years ago. We keep her safe, Draco. We keep her here. No one must know she's my niece. Least of all her."

Draco looked up, hardly daring to believe it. "You mean-"

"Continue as you are," Snape said solemnly, "she's not safe out there anymore. I'll stave off any awkward questions from the other Professors. I- I trust you care about her?"

Draco nodded slowly and swallowed, looking earnestly into Snape's black eyes. "I care about her a lot."

"Then look after her, I'm trusting you, Draco - keep her safe and she can stay."

Draco nodded again and shakily stood up, he felt a sudden, urgent need to be with her.

"And Draco," Snape said, looking fiercely into his eyes, "you mustn't tell her. It is imperative to her safety that she, or anyone else, doesn't ever know. If the Dark Lord finds out..."

Draco understood, although the idea of him knowing more about her than she did made him feel uncomfortable, he knew he had to put her safety first.

"I promise, Professor."

If Draco had looked down to his right as he stepped out of the classroom, he would have seen a lone foot seemingly attached to nothing.

But as it was, he had kept his focus solely to the left.

Draco had seen nothing.

...

"Fancy another dance, Hufflepuff?"

I looked wearily up at Blaise. I really didn't. In fact, I was hoping to be able to slope off and go back to the Room of Requirement. I was itching to find Draco and tell him about how worried I was about Snape.

"I think I might just head back, I'm really tired," I lied, looking furtively at the door, hoping Draco would reappear.

"Oh," Blaise murmured, and as I glanced back up at him, I noticed his face fall in disappointment, "I thought we were having fun."

"I was- I am," I implored quickly, "I'm just... tired."

"Okay," he sighed heavily, "I'll walk you."

"There's no need," I said quickly, looking up in horror, "you stay - have fun."

"It'll be no fun without you," he shrugged, his dark eyes twinkling sadly into mine.

"We'll do something again soon," I tried, feeling desperate to escape now.

"You promise?" he asked, a smile twitching at his lips.

"I promise," I said, now starting towards the door, feeling relieved that he didn't try to follow.

I practically ran all the way back to the seventh floor.

When I entered the room, I was relieved to see Draco there. But instead of being in his usual spot - working on the cabinet - he was sat on the sofa, looking morosely straight ahead of him, as if he'd been waiting. Waiting for me.

"I'm worried about that Snape man," I said breathlessly, throwing myself down onto the other end of the sofa.

Draco glanced over at me with a startled expression on his face. I was shocked at how ill he looked - as if he'd just encountered a terrifying ghost.

"Draco?" I asked in a small, fearful voice, my heart hammering in fear.

He just looked at me, his grey eyes studying me as though he had never seen me before - like I was a stranger. It made me feel horribly uneasy.

"What is it?" I implored, "you're scaring me!"

He closed his eyes, shaking his head briefly, as if trying to dispel something from his mind.

"Nothing," he muttered, "I'm just- I'm just so tired."

"Don't work on the cabinet tonight," I said, my heart squeezing painfully at how exhausted and disconsolate he sounded, "just sleep. Please, Draco," I implored, "just sleep."

And not being able to help myself, I reached over and took his hand in mine, squeezing it gently in a gesture of comfort. And to my utter relief, he didn't pull away, but instead, entwined his fingers tightly around mine.

When it was apparent he had finally fallen asleep, I released my hand from his slackened one and quietly got up to locate a blanket from the many that lay strewn over my makeshift bed around the corner.

But when I returned, blanket in hand, he had gone.