There was only a week left, finals were finished and students lounged about waiting for the results. Malfoy saw Gwen lazing on the lawns, smiling at Harry reading aloud from a comic book about muggles. He strode over to them. �Half blood freak.� He said, nearly spitting the words at her.

She looked at him calmly. No matter what she would ride this through. Harry made a move to stand, but she placed a hand gently in front of his chest stopping him. Malfoy�s eyes narrowed into tiny slits, measuring her up.

�What do you say we have another duel?� He said.

�I have nothing to prove, Malfoy. It would be a waste of my time and yours.� She replied coolly.

He arched his eyebrow. �How about you Potter, want to have a go?�

�This obviously has nothing to do with me.� Harry sighed. He would have loved the opportunity to knock Malfoy on his ass, but in consideration for Gwen he would not do so.

Malfoy�s anger was bubbling up and he couldn�t contain it much longer. He turned back to Gwen. �You and I will have it out before long.�

She couldn�t decide how to respond. No matter what she said to him he would react as badly as ever. She couldn�t say anything more about his father, it was obviously a sensitive subject. She couldn�t try and convince him that she was being sincere. She really didn�t want another enemy, and underneath his rude exterior she felt there might be a good guy dwelling somewhere. Only time would tell.

Before she could say anything, however, Malfoy stalked away, his fists balled in rage.

�What was that all about?� Harry asked.

�An experiment gone horribly wrong.� Gwen said wryly.

�Care to share?�

�Well, everyone treats Malfoy like the enemy, right?�

�That�s because he is the enemy.�

�No, Voldemort is the enemy.�

Harry looked at her surprised. He knew that saying the name had never bothered her, perhaps it was a fey thing, but she was the only one who said it fearlessly. Her bravado took his breath away.

She sighed softly. �I just thought that if Malfoy had friends other than Crabbe and Goyle, maybe he�d be nicer. It sounds stupid, but I offered him a truce. I thought that maybe if I treated him kindly he might treat other�s kindly in return.�

�It�s a nice thought Gwen. A really nice thought. But I think Malfoy is beyond kindness now.� He said, looking back on his own tumultuous history with the boy. Maybe she was right, but it hardly seemed worth the trouble to him. What was one more to Voldemort�s side?

And then he remembered Cedric Diggory, someone he had avoided thinking about since that awful night two years prior. Malfoy�s jeering over the boy�s death had enraged him so. Maybe Malfoy just didn�t know better. �Well,� he started quietly �maybe you�re right.�

She smiled. His words would give her enough courage to stick with it. When Malfoy was at his worst she would be at her best.

To be Continued in Episode Sixty