Fireplaces, Hot Chocolate, and Marshmallows

Chapter 4

The next day was a Saturday, so Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Britney made their way towards Hagrid first thing after breakfast. They found him around back, tending to his pumpkins.

"Ah, there ya are," he said turning around to greet them. "I was beginnin' to wonder if ya knew I was still 'ere. Come on in, I made some treacle fudge just this mornin'," he said, rounding the group into his tiny shack.

Once the group had settled in around the fire, Hagrid gave them some news. "Guess who came down ter see me yester' eve? Mr. Lucius Malfoy, that's who. He came over ter say that the Ministry was keepin' a close eye on me, and I better watch my steps."

The group was only slightly awed, however, they were very upset. Hermione leaned over and whispered, "That's Draco's dad, in case you were wondering."

Britney's jaw dropped open slightly. "Really? Why would he do something like that?"

Hermione didn't answer, but raised her eyebrows as if to say 'that's how Malfoys are'.

"Them Malfoys are no good. I'm tellin' ya, one of these days, they'll get what's comin' to 'em."

Britney's face was pink the rest of the morning, trying to ignore the constant 'Malfoy bashing'. The group left Hagrid's shack just in time for lunch. Once at the Hall, they all sat down eagerly, ready for some real food. Once all the students were seated, the food appeared, along with hundreds of owls for the owl post. Much to Britney's delight, a letter dropped in front of her. Hermione leaned over her shoulder, because Britney hadn't received a letter yet this year.

"Who's it from?" she asked, stuffing some food into her mouth.

"I don't know," Britney said, opening the envelope and unfolding the parchment. Britney nearly gasped. It was from Draco.

Britney,

I know we just met, and I'm sorry, but I didn't say what I meant to the other day. Would you please meet me at the Astronomy Tower tonight at 10? See if Potter will lend you his invisibility cloak. I know he has one. Don't be late.

~Draco

Hermione nearly spit out her pumpkin juice now, and Britney's face was now a bright pink, and she had one of her hands covering her mouth. She turned to look at Hermione, with a very surprised look. "Now way!" she whispered meekly.

Hermione just smiled at her. "I can see all those hate notes now," she said.

Britney gasped again. "No, don't you say that."

* * * * * * * * * * *

That night, Britney sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower without coming across anyone in the halls. Harry had lent her his cloak, along with the Marauders Map, but not without several minutes of heavy questioning. Finally, Hermione intervened, and forced him to give the items to Britney.

Now, she made her way silently up the stairs to the chamber at the top, hardly making a sound. When she arrived, she saw that Draco had already arrived. 'Great, and he said not to be late,' she thought, drifting over to the window to join Draco, and taking off the invisibility cloak.

"Hi," she whispered meekly. "Sorry I was late, it took Harry a minute to give me the cloak."

Draco just smiled at her. "That's okay," he said. There were a few minutes of uneasy silence.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" asked Britney rather hesitantly.

"Uh... yeah. Well... um..." he stuttered, trying to find somewhere to begin, and then sighed. "There's just... something about you. I... uh," Britney was now looking very eager. "I'd like to get to know you better. Yeah, that's what I meant to say..."

Britney and Draco were now both blushing furiously now. "Oh, okay," said Britney shyly. They stood there for a few more minutes, not knowing what to say. "Uh, I think we should probably go," she said, putting Harry's cloak back on.

"Yeah, we don't want to get caught," said Draco almost breathlessly.

They said a quick good-bye, and then went their separate ways. When Britney got back to the common room, hardly anyone was still there. She crept silently up to her dormitory, and took off the cloak. She got ready for bed, and laid down on her bed. About a million thoughts ran through her mind. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.