Don't judge people for the choices they make when you don't know the options they had to choose from.

- Reone Rajput

"Hey, are you still up?" I asked as I put my hands on Draco's shoulders. He was sitting on one of the couches in the common room, in front of the fire, reading a book.

"I am, I thought you were hanging with Daphne and Tracey tonight?" he asked.

"I did, but they went to bed and I can't sleep, so I figured I'd see if you were still up." Draco checked his watch, realising that it was almost midnight already. He looked around to see that he was the only one left in the common room. I put the box I was carrying on the table and climbed over the couch to sit down next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"What are you reading?" I asked curiously.

"Just something for the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay that's due next week. Not very interesting", he shrugged, closing the book and putting it on the table.

"What did you bring?" he asked as he spotted the box I had placed there.

"That can't be revealed for another ...", I checked my watch, "nine minutes." I smiled. It was the fourth of June, just a few minutes before midnight.

"Did you get me a gift again?" he chuckled, putting an arm around my waist. "I promise I'll get you one this year."

"I had to make sure Pansy didn't beat me to it this time", I said, thinking of this day last year. Pansy really hadn't been that difficult ever since, which I was very grateful for.

Draco laid down on the couch, pulling me with him. I laid my head on his chest and gently traced patterns on his shirt.

"You're all I need, Ellie", he hummed, his hand absentmindedly running up and down my arm. I smiled at those words. Draco was doing so much better than in the first few months of the year. He had fully recovered from Harry's curse and now all that was left ... was the task.

I hadn't murdered Harry Potter like I had promised myself I would, but I hadn't let it go by unnoticed, though. The day after the incident, I had punched him in the face. It resulted in a bloody nose, but he hadn't ratted me out. He seemed to feel a little guilty about what had happened, as he should. After that, I hexed him every time we crossed in the hallways, to the point where he found the nearest corridor to escape in every time he saw me. I finally understood Tracey's hatred for the boy.

"I feel like I should have a cute nickname for you too", I mumbled eventually. Draco always called me Ellie and I loved it. I knew that something was wrong when he didn't. But Draco was just ... Draco.

"You really shouldn't", Draco chuckled. "Most people call me Malfoy anyway, so you're already special. I don't need a nickname."

"I think you do", I grinned, the sleepiness starting to make me a little loopy. "How about Dragonboy or Honey butter biscuit or Captain Handsome or Drackey-Poo like Pansy used to say, or ...", I was really having fun with this, coming up with the most terrible nicknames I could think of.

"Or princess, or Cutie patootie or ... or ... ferret boy", I laughed. "Yes, I think I'll stick with ferret boy."

"Sof off", Draco laughed, wrapping his other arm around me too. "You're terrible at nicknames." He buried his face in my hair, placing a soft kiss on my neck.

"You just don't have a fun name to turn into a nickname", I said, gently weaving my fingers through his hair. It was quiet for a long time, but I was perfectly fine where I was.

"I like it when you call me love", he said eventually. I blushed at the thought. Never in the world had I thought that Draco could be like this. So ... soft.

"I'll keep that in mind", I grinned. I checked my watch and shot up straight.

"For Merlin's sake, Eleanor", Draco groaned as I had pretty much hit him in the face by doing so.

"Sorry", I laughed as I faced him again. "But it's midnight. Which means that you just turned seventeen", I grinned.

"I was born late in the evening, so technically I'm not seventeen for at least another twenty hours", he said.

"Oh sod off and let me congratulate you", I complained, throwing a pillow at him. He caught it gracefully, but eventually, he sat up and smiled.

"Okay then", he said.

I grabbed the box and handed it to him. "Happy birthday, love", I said with a small wink. If he liked that nickname, then I was never going to use anything else again.

"Thank you", he said and slowly took off the lid. At the top was a small, metal object. He got it out and frowned.

"A lighter?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Yes, I stated. A Phoenix Fire Lighter to be specific, for eternal fire." He knew better than to ask questions right away, so he just got out the next item in the box, which fitted the first gift.

Draco smiled as he read the label on the front of the candle.

"You complained that I don't smell like berries when we're at home, so I thought I'd give you the scent in an Everlasting candle, so you never have to miss it", I shrugged. I had doubted for a very long time whether to get it or not, as it felt narcissistic to give him a candle in the scent of my shampoo, but he mentioned it so often that I had to.

"I think this is my favourite gift", he grinned as he got out the picture at the very bottom of the box. It was a picture of the two of us when we were younger. I found it over Easter break when I was going through some old stuff in my father's office and decided to keep it for Draco's birthday. The picture displayed our youth perfectly.

In the picture, Draco and I were clearly having a fight over a toy broom. I was pulling on the handle whilst Draco was pulling on the broomtail. I remember that day and I remember that I had lost the fight. Draco had taunted me with it all day, causing me to spend most of the time in the library at Malfoy Manor, waiting until my parents finally decided to go home.

I was surprised that my father had kept it, as it didn't display the proper Selwyn girl he wanted to raise. But it was a perfect photo to me. I wish I had a camera at school. There were many memories I would have loved to capture in a picture.

"Look at that", Draco chuckled. "We've come quite a way." I nodded resting my head on his shoulder again. He gently placed everything in the box again and wrapped an arm around me.

"Just one more month, and then we're going back there", he said softly, placing a kiss on my head.

"An entire month of exams", I groaned. I had been studying non-stop for the past month and I was already fed up with it. Draco nodded, intertwining our fingers.

"Have you decided yet when it's going to happen?" I asked. I knew he didn't like talking about it, but the dreaded day was nearing. We had finished the Vanishing Cabinet three days ago. It was ready to be used, all Draco needed to do was send the letter to Malfoy Manor, but he was delaying it and I knew why. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to kill Dumbledore. I just wished he had a choice.

"As late as possible", he said softly. "You need to focus on your exams first. This task can wait." I knew that he wasn't waiting because I had exams, but I just nodded, knowing that he did not want to talk about it. Talking wouldn't help. It just had to be over with and after that, we'd see what would happen. It just had to be done, because it was the only way Draco would survive. The rest was irrelevant for now. We'd see what would happen over the summer.

"I just want you to know that it's okay, Draco. I'll still be here after it's done and I'll still love you very much. You're not a terrible person, you're just following the orders of very important people. But none of that matters, okay?"

Draco nodded again, but I knew that he didn't really believe me. Half the time he didn't believe that he was a good person himself, but I couldn't change that for him, as much as I wanted to. I just hoped that we'd get more time in the future, enough time for me to convince him that he was good. I had to show him that he was worth it, that he mattered and that he was special.

He was so special to me.

"What do you think is going to happen when Dumbledore is gone?" I asked eventually. I hadn't been included in any of the meetings at Malfoy Manor, so I had no idea what the Dark Lord was planning.

"They'll probably attack the Ministry. If they have enough manpower that it", Draco sighed. "After that, it's difficult to say. Hogwarts will be different, Diagon Alley will be different, everything will be different."

"Except for you and me", I whispered. He smiled, squeezing my arm slightly.

"You only have Arithmancy in the morning, right? So we can hang out in the afternoon?" he asked.

"Cake at the lake?" I grinned.

"Cake at the lake."