"Don't be impossible," she snapped. "Clearly I'm the pet in this situation, and both of our lives depend on people thinking that."

He said nothing, glaring at her.

She sighed and slowly uncrossed her arms. "Listen, Malfoy. You knew who I was when you bought me." His throat bobbed. "The fact that I want to help the Order shouldn't surprise you."

His gaze tumbled over her neck and shoulders again, before sliding back up her eyes.

"You know who I am just as well," he said, and a hint of that old Hogwarts arrogance slipped over him like a cloak. "It shouldn't surprise you if I stand in your path. We have opposing interests, after all."

She blinked at him. A slight sneer on his face, as if he'd slithered back into the persona he tried to wear for so many years. It looked strange on him now.

"I'd like to think I know who you are." Her voice was soft, drifting over to him like a breeze across a field. Even at Hogwarts, she'd thought she knew — thought she'd seen a piece of him he tried to keep buried. "I'd like to think…that our interests aren't as opposing as you'd let me believe. Why else would you help me with Cho?"

She watched the slow movement of his ribs, watched his eyes skate over her face. He didn't deny it. He just stared back at her, his fingers paling as they gripped the marble banister.

She thought she could maybe survive the absence of his affections if he continued to help her and speak openly with her about the war. She thought that maybe, if she could have that from him… it could ease the ache.

Her gaze slid back up, preparing to close the book that cataloged the softness of his eyes and the way his shirt hugged his torso. He might have been doing the same.

"I promise to keep you informed." She moved closer to the stairs. "I promise to do everything in my power to not get you or your mother killed. Or your father, if I must." She chanced a half-smile.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. "And what about getting yourself killed?"

"Yes, yes, protecting your investment and all that." She blew out a quick breath. "I promise to try to avoid that, too. I'm not a big fan of the idea myself."

"Then I expect you to act like it." He dropped down the first stair to meet her. "And I expect you to keep your word."

She nodded. And when her stomach flipped at his gaze, she broke away, stepping backward.

"Practice tomorrow, then?" she asked.

He made an impatient sound at the back of his throat. "I really don't think—"

"And I really do. Edinburgh is five nights away, and we can barely stand to be in the same room as each other because—" Her cheeks burned, and she looked at her shoes. "Because you've been away so long."