Fireplaces, Hot Chocolate, and Marshmallows

Chapter 7

Britney and Draco ran after Pansy, not stopping until they reached the castle's threshold. Upon entering the entrance hall, however, Professor Snape was waiting for them, with a menacing smile on his face.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy, and Miss Handley," he said, turning to look at them. "Miss Parkinson has already told me that she saw you two wandering across the grounds after dark. Can either of you explain yourselves?"

When neither of them could give a legitimate excuse, his smile became broader, and his eyes, for once, twinkled with an evil excitement. "Who would have thought that one of the best Gryffindors would be caught outside, after dark, with a Slytherin, who happens to be her friend's worst enemy? My, what have these students come to?" he asked himself. "Twenty points from Gryffindor, Miss Handley, and both of you will receive detention. Now I don't want to hear about students wandering the halls ever again. Is that clear?" Both students nodded. "Good, now go to your common rooms where you're supposed to be," he said silkily.

When they reached the dungeons of the Slytherin dormitory, Draco and Britney said goodnight. "'Night Draco," Britney said, who was fighting the urge to give him a hug, but knew she couldn't in case Filch was lurking around.

"I'll try to talk to Pansy about this. If she gets those pictures developed, there's no telling what she'll do. She might tell the whole school just to give her a good name." Britney nodded. "Well, good night then, Britney," he said, turning to say the password.

Britney stalked off, and heard Draco mutter something under his breath. As quiet as she could, she made her way to Gryffindor Tower. Once she got there, she eagerly pulled back the sheets and hopped into bed. She was too tired to notice that she needed to change into her pajamas, or that her cat was picking at her foot. She just went to sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, when Britney arrived at the Great Hall, she instantly spotted Pansy Parkinson talking to Draco. She walked right past them, not wanting for others to notice anything, so she sat down next to Hermione. She was pretty good at reading lips, so she discreetly looked over at Pansy, trying to catch something. She could tell by the look on Draco's face that she was upsetting him, probably even threatening. She couldn't pick up anything, except for the words, "I just might tell the whole school." When Pansy and Draco were finished with the conversation, she turned her head back around, and found the Weasley twins looking at her square in the face.

"What?" she asked defensively.

The twins both smiled. "Why were you trying to listen in on their conversation?" asked Fred.

"I thought I might hear something important," she explained, not technically lying.

George grinned and nodded. "Yeah, you'd think that they were going out or something." Everyone at the table laughed at this comment, except for Britney, Hermione, and Ginny, who only grinned half-heartedly, although no one else noticed it.

Britney stood up and said, "Excuse me." As she made her way to the doors, she glanced out of the corner of her eye, and saw Pansy hanging all over Draco, in a style that much reminded Britney of a drunkard. 'God! Could she be more repulsive?!' she thought. Just then, Pansy pulled Draco by his tie and kissed him on the cheek. 'Guess not,' she scoffed. Draco better have a good excuse.'

* * * * * * * * * *

Draco and Britney met later that night under the willow tree. "Why did you let Pansy hang all over you?" Britney asked, sitting down.

"Pansy got the pictures developed. She... she's threatened to dispense them to the whole school, unless I act like I'm her boyfriend," he replied. "Sorry Brit, but it's the only way."

Britney was close to tears now. "That slut! She thinks she can just come and ruin everything. How dare she?"

Draco hugged her while she cried on his shoulder. "It's okay. Christmas break is coming up soon," he said, trying to comfort her. "I'm sure she'll probably leave, or else we can think of something to lure her away."

Britney whispered," I hope it works."

* * * * * * * * * * *

The next days went pretty good for Britney, minus Pansy feeling up Draco, which gave her a temper a bit of a booster shot. She had snapped at Harry, and even Hermione, and Fred and George said it must be "that time of the month," which she repeatedly denied. Everything went fine until Friday, when she found Pansy kissing Draco just before Potions class out in the halls.

She just kept on walking, right on to her seat, and tried to act as if nothing was wrong, although it became quite evident by the end of class. She had started shaking by the time she had to crush snake fangs, which consequently resulted in a fine powder. Her porcupine needles, needless to say, ended up the same way, although Snape warned them only to snap them into a few pieces.

Britney's potion ended up a bright purple color, which was supposed to be a scarlet red color like the rest of the class. Snape came by, looking into everyone's cauldrons, nitpicking and criticizing even the best ones. When he arrived at Neville's desk, she heard Snape say quietly, "Helping Longbottom again, are we Granger? Five points from Gryffindor!" at which Neville whimpered.

'Oh, my goodness, even Neville did better than I did! He's going to squash me like a bug!' she thought, just as Snape peered over her shoulder.

He gave a wicked smile, and then moved in front of her cauldron. 'Oh crap. He's not gonna do what I think he's gonna do...' she thought. He ladled some up, and then said, "Handley, I want you to try this. If you made it correctly, you will answer any question we ask truthfully."

Unfortunately, the whole class had pulled around to see. Snape passes the ladle to Britney, who reluctantly grabbed it and scooped up some potion. She looked around at all of her classmates who were leaning forward to make sure they got a good view, then gulped some down.

It tasted bitter at first, with a chilling cold, but then she tasted it no more, and her eyes became hazy. Almost instantly, questions started running through her mind at top speeds, and then stopped. Then, questions came slowly, one-by-one, allowing her time to answer.

"Why did you move here to England?" one asked.

"My parents died in a car crash last summer," she answered groggily. "I came here and moved I with my grandmother."

The whole class had now gone silent. Then, someone asked, "Why were you put in Gryffindor?"

Britney shrugged. "The Sorting Hat just put me there."

Encouraged by the strength of the potion, the class again began to hurdle questions at her. "Quiet! Now, one question at a time," commanded Snape.

"What's your favorite color?" asked Lavender. The whole class groaned in dismay, while many shouted insults at her for wasting the length of the potion on such a silly question.

"Lavender," Britney answered.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" one Slytherin in the back shouted.

Britney nodded. "Yes, Draco Malfoy."

Right about then you could've heard a pin fall on the floor, minus the gust of gasps heard just before. Draco turned to his fellow Slytherins who were staring at him. "You can't believe that's true?" he drawled, a slight twinge of pink on his cheeks. They started whispering, but Snape silenced them.

"I don't believe Handley would tell a lie, given her current condition." He shook his head in silent disapproval. "Although I'm quite surprised that her potion even worked. The only way it could've would be if she just over crushed her ingredients. I believe it is almost time to switch classes. Gather your things."