Fireplaces, Hot Chocolate, and Marshmallows

Chapter 6

For the next few weeks, Britney and Draco met in secret and passed notes in their classes. As the Christmas Break drew nearer though, Harry and Ron became more and more suspicious, until one day, they couldn't take the secrets any longer, and Britney walked in to find them waiting for her in the common room after dinner.

"Hey guys," she said, nervously sitting down next to Harry.

Ron just stared at her, but Harry replied, "We want to know what is going on, Britney. We know that you, Ginny, and Hermione are up to something."

Britney glanced at them uneasily, and then sighed. "Do you guys promise not to slaughter me?" she asked them. Harry and Ron looked at each other, and then nodded their consent. Britney took a deep breath, and leaned forward so that no one else in the common room would hear her. "I... I've been meeting Draco... in private."

Harry and Ron gasped so loud that everyone in the common room turned around to look at them. Ron looked at Britney perplexedly, and asked, "Why would you want to do that?"

Britney flushed a deep purple. "I... I, uh..."

Ron and Harry said simultaneously, "Oh my God!"

Once they had both recovered, and Britney had returned to her normal color, Harry said, "How did this happen?"

Britney just raised her eyebrows as if to say, "I have no idea." Lucky for her, Hermione walked up just then and dragged her off to the library, trying to save her from further interrogation.

"What just happened back there?" Hermione asked.

"I told Harry about Draco and me," she replied, trying to choke back tears. "You... you don't think... they'll be mad at me?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure Brit, but I'm sure that they might not be mad for long."

Britney regained her posture. "I hope you're right."

* * * * * * * * * *

The next day, Britney went to breakfast as usual to find two very silent Ron and Harry. "Morning guys," she said, trying to lighten the heavy mood, but Harry and Ron just kept on eating as if they didn't know that she was there. Britney sighed. 'I knew this was going to happen,' she thought. 'Just when we were beginning to get close, you have to go and screw it up. Great Brit, just great.'

Later that day, she wrote a note to Draco in Potions.

'Draco,

I'm so sorry, but Harry and Ron, they know about us now. I didn't have a choice; they knew that I was up to something. Now they won't talk to me. What did you do to make them hate you so much? ~Britney

P.S.~ Are you going home for the holidays or are you staying here? I could really use some company, seeing as how they probably won't pay much attention to me now.'

Britney folded the note two times and gave it to Draco when no one was looking because Neville had spilt his potion all over the floor again. She didn't have to wait long, because Draco was a fast writer, and it only took him a second to write back. It read:

'I guess it was doomed to happen anyways, right? I didn't do anything! On the train to school in our first year, he refused to be friends with me and decided to hang around Weasley and Granger instead. We've been enemies ever since. It was his choice, not mine. I suppose I'll stay here. I'd rather be here with you than home with my father any day. Meet me today after dinner at our spot. ~Draco'

Britney folded the parchment back up and put it into her pocket. 'Tsk, tsk,' she thought as Snape dismissed them from class. She gathered her books and put them in her pack or her cauldron, and left the classroom. She could've sworn that as she turned into the hallway Pansy Parkinson had given her a weird look. 'What's up with her?' she thought to herself, making her way to the Great Hall.

She'd soon know the answer....

* * * * * * * * * * *

As soon as dinner was over, Britney made her way across the grounds to the place Draco and her always met; the tree he had taken her to the first time they met in secret. She sat down against the trunk to wait for Draco to arrive.

"Why are you late?" she asked curiously when he arrived. "It's not like you."

"Pansy kept nagging me when I tried to leave," he explained. "Guess she doesn't know to call to it quits, huh?"

Britney smiled in response. She didn't Pansy either.

Draco took a seat next to her. "So," he began, getting comfortable. "Why won't Harry and Ron talk to you? Do they really hate me that much that they'd stop talking to a friend?"

Britney shook her head. "I don't know. We aren't exactly best buds. We just met a few months ago. We haven't really had much time to get to know one another yet. I didn't think that they'd take it so hard. I thought that they might understand."

Draco gave her a quick hug. "Well, I hope that they forgive you. I'm tired of seeing you frown all the time. Lighten-up, Brit. It's not the end of the world. They'll forgive you, and you'll be friends again, I know it. They're not that mean."

Just then, they heard a clicking noise. Draco sat up immediately. "What is that?" he asked. It stopped almost instantaneously. Then, Britney thought that she heard footsteps, going toward the castle. Draco got up and pushed aside the weeping willows hanging branches, and silently cursed. Britney got up to examine what he was so upset about, and then she saw. It was Pansy Parkinson, making her way back to the castle, practically fleeing for her life; camera in hand.