A Powerful and Painful Addiction

Chapter 11: Old Acquaintances Not Forgotten

"Let's see," said a handsome teenage wizard, tapping his wand to a beat against his thigh. "She said you enter by tapping certain bricks in sequence."

He was staring at the wall like it was his cornered enemy.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his instructions. "Okay, this says three up..." he tapped, "and then... two across, one down."

The bricks shifted away, molding themselves into a large archway. He looked to a side wall with a sign reading Diagon Alley and let out a bated breath for he knew that he was finally heading in the right direction after having been lost in Heathrow Airport for ages. He walked the foreign pathway, checking every which way for the building he wanted... well, needed, desperately.

"Quidditch brooms! I wonder if they sell Quodpot equipment. I have to go there before I leave. Uh, Madam Malkin's, no, the Apothecary... so that's where it all began," he said quietly to himself. "No, I'm not far enough down; she said it was closer to the end on a side street."

He weaned his way through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, bumping into a few holiday shoppers here and there, following his directions that he could barely read. He told himself continuously to work on his handwriting for unreadable directions would surely bring trouble and after a short twenty minute walk, he came upon his building.

"Calamity Carriages: for all your travel needs. She can't be serious! So this is what I get for being the epitome of an apparition failure."

He crept into the tiny shop and scanned the travel package listings to different wizarding locations on the walls. He let out a nasal snort when he read that a first class ride to Aberdeen was 809 Galleons and forty-three Sickles. The prices people pay to travel in style just because they can, he thought.

"Can I help ya, laddy?" asked a straggly, grey-haired man in a tartan kilt, smoking a pipe with purple smoke billowing from the end.

"I need a carriage to Eagle Terrace."

"In what county would that be?"

"Uh, Wiltshire, I believe," the teenage wizard replied with uncertainty.

"Is this for leisure or purpose?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, laddy, the faster ya need ter get there, the faster carriage ya'll need. Fast carriages don't come cheap, ya know. So I ask again, is this for leisure or purpose?"

"Purpose," he replied agitatedly. He had a feeling that this shop owner was taking advantage of him being a foreigner.

"How fast do ya need ter get there?" he asked, blowing smoke into his customer's face.

"As fast as possible." He was thoroughly fed up with the manner-lacking man.

"Why don't cha try Apparatin'?"

"That's none of your business," he snapped.

"Well, me carriages have a special anti-theft spell on each and every one of them. So it's no use in tryin' -" he rambled.

"Look!" he burst, slamming down a pouch filled with a hefty amount of coins on the counter. The owner's eyes gleamed with greed. "I'm willing and able to pay for your fastest carriage, so let's arrange to get me there by Christmas."

The shop keeper quickly snatched up the pouch. With his back to the teenager, he opened the bag; his mouth curved into a twisted smile as he looked at the gold and then shoved the small satchel into his cloak.

"Eh, this'll do." The teen rolled his mountainous carved, hazel eyes. "Yer carriage is out back, pleasure doing business with ya."

"Pleasure scamming me out of three hundred Galleons," he said under his breath, making his way to the rear of the shop.

"Where to?" asked the near-death carriage driver as the occupant climbed in.

The teenage wizard looked at him cautiously through his peripheral, his mind screaming at him for his failure in his apparating tests all those months ago. But then again, when you take the test three times and still fail, there wasn't sense in embarrassing yourself further by taking it repeatedly; a break was warranted, and needed.

"Eagle Terrace, please."

"Aye, yes... the McGill residence."

"You know them?"

"This shop has done some business with Master McGill and his family. Good chap that man."

With a crack of a whip, the carriage was exiting Diagon Alley and off into the distant countrysides of England.

...........................

"Joely, where is your father?" asked a woman with identical skin and hair color to Joely's.

"He said he had to go to Diagon Alley to meet someone, but said not to put a hold on dinner because he'll be back by then."

"Meet someone? About what?"

"He went to see some man about a horse," she said snidely.

"Was the horse's name Mr. Ed?" snapped Noelle.

"He said it was about renewing a license to dispense a potion."

"A potion dispensing license renewal, are you sure? Your father isn't in that department. Why didn't you say that before? Why did you have to give me the run around about where he was?"

"Cheater!" yelled Joely.

"Joely Emmeline McGill, are you listening to me?"

"I have never cheated in my life," sniggered Draco, keeping Joely's queen out of her reach.

"You're such a liar!"

"Joely?" Noelle ranted.

"What?" Joely yelled back at her mom.

"Who was he going to see?"

"I - don't - know! Ask Draco's father, he always knows what Dad is up to!"

Noelle massaged her knotted neck and left the billiard room hastily.

"Are you saying that my father is a know-it-all?"

"No. If he was, he would've known to stay away from Voldemort."

Draco's face dropped. "That was low," he hissed.

"So is my temper, now give me my queen!"

"Give me a kiss and you can have it back," he smiled, wiggling an eyebrow.

"Kiss what I can't, Malfoy."

"Are you clean down there? When was the last time you had a bath?"

"Two hours ago, for your information."

"I'll make it up to you."

"How?" she asked, stopping her struggle for her chess piece.

"I'll buy you something expensive."

"A bribe of retail therapy, huh? When I was little, I always wanted a pony all to myself to ride whenever I wanted."

"I'll be your pony and you can ride me whenever you want," he mumbled erotically, setting down the chess piece and closing in on her. "Up and down, up and down you go, your body bucking back with the movements of me underneath you...."

"That's what I have Blaise for, sweetheart," she growled under her breath, cupping the apex between his thighs.

"Is that so?" he asked, baring his teeth at the pleasure of her hand grasping him.

"Mmm," she moaned, tracing her lips with her tongue. "I had the most sensual dream about him last night. Very... hot. Very... lewd. I woke up all sweaty and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I swear it was real," she groaned, giving the bulge a gentle squeeze. "I felt so sated after my dream it was almost made me want to visit him in the wee hours of the morning for a true romp."

Her touch was making Draco's eyes flutter and his knees crumble.

"I'm going to take a nap," she whispered softly, standing on her tiptoes to gently bite his ear lobe.

Joely exited away from Draco, abandoning him with the worst ache between his legs he had felt in quite some time. "Damn her." Fortunately, visualizing the possibilities that she and Blaise were perchance doing said acts, quickly remedied him of the throb. He assumed that over the past four days he was slowly gaining her back, but obviously, either she had an amazing amount of control, or her anger for him was still alive and one-on-one punishment of this kind was her forte.

What more did she want? He had apologized that night at the Halloween Ball; things had gone downhill once again since that night however. Had he jumped to conclusions thinking that since he now knew that a curse was causing her pain, he could have the happiness he had during the summer? There wasn't pain when they touched, so why not enjoy the time that they could together? Was she really trying to push him away for good?

No one fooled around with a Malfoy's emotions, specifically not one that was doing it, and could do it so well. He wasn't going to stand for this. He was going to put a stop to her playing puppeteer with his heart. He was going to march himself up to her room and demand to know why she was doing this to him, to know if it was in trying to push him away when he was damn sure that equal feelings of more than care existed.

Waiting about an hour and pondering his speech, Draco barged into her room, actually having seen the interior for the first time. He had been lucky to find a house-elf show him which door to enter. The seafoam green walls with the white sheer drapes and wood floors made the large room look very breezy, summery even in the bitter cold outside, and wholly comfortable. All the furniture was in a light cherry wood; the far wall held three almost floor to ceiling windows with a cushioned bench beneath; on the left was a desk, an armoire, and the door which he was sure was a bathroom, considering the light inside was surely from a window. On the right, near the wall's edge was another door which he assumed was a closet, and in the middle of the right wall were two bedside tables with her bed directly between them.

There he found her asleep, on top of the covers, wearing a pink camisole and black sleeping shorts, her arms resting on the pillows, encompassing her head. Slowly he eased up onto the bed, straddled her legs, situating himself above her, and flattened his arms on the mattress. He didn't crave to wake her as he indulged in watching her sleep so peacefully, but with him being on top, she was in a very vulnerable position, she would have no choice but to hear him out.

"Joely?" he cooed.

"Hmm?" she asked, slightly stirring.

"Wake up, gorgeous."

Agonizingly unhurried, she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to focus. Seeing who was just inches from her face, she gave him a provocative grin.

"Yes?" she whispered rosily.

Draco knew and felt that she was gaining, or already had taken command of the situation. What woman couldn't win this over in that top? Draco thought. I won't succumb, he chanted. He was going to stand his ground and control this interrogation.

"Why?"

"Come again?" she asked.

"Why are you playing games with me like this?"

"Like what?"

"This!" he bellowed, looking down her body, implying about the positions they were in.

"Uh... you're the one on top so for all intents and purposes, you're the one playing games with me."

"Then what about downstairs and the past four days? What do you call that? I've had enough of you toying around with my emotions."

"Oh silly Draco, I have just begun to toy with you."

"Excuse me?" Draco queried with heat.

"Haven't you ever heard of a delightful little game called foreplay?" She wrapped her legs around his waist, slightly squeezing his sharp hips.

"I'm supposed to be the one seducing you," he groaned, locking her arms against her pillows.

"This is my game, Draco. We play by my rules."

"What authority authorized you to be in command?"

"We are in my bedroom. It's just the natural rules that not many typically follow."

"So, if we were in my room then it would be by my rules?"

"If I let you," she growled teasingly, massaging his claves with her feet.

"My mother is here, gossiping with yours so of course she's in no hurry to leave," he said, peering down at how her shorts had bunched at her hips, "my father's at work; we'd have the house to ourselves... make as much noise as we want," he taunted seductively, leaning back on his heels, caressing his hands down her sides, his thumbs grazing down her aroused nipples.

"We can make noise," she replied, fluidly moving her leg inside his thighs, caressing his aching shaft, "when my game is over." And like water escaping cupped hands, she was out from under him and across the room, eking the bathroom door shut just to add more tension.

"Shit," Draco mumbled into her pillow.

........................................................................

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," complimented Joely to a richly dressed Draco.

"Joely, we're eating in the small dining room this evening, so when you two are finished...."

Joely forced a snide grin.

"Believe me, we're done," she retorted to her mother. "For now that is," she whispered to Draco as she walked past him.

"All right, Joely and Draco on this side here, Narcissa and Noelle on the other, and Lucius at the other end," said Sean. "Yes, wonderful. Who wants champagne?"

Dinner for the most part was enjoyable, intellectual conversation however was offensively lacking. The parents frequently conversed on the affairs of the ministry and of the latest reports on Azkaban. Noelle and Narcissa changed to their own chat about events which registered strictly to them. Joely and Draco however, were battling to see who could be the most immature with their food.

Draco molded his remaining mashed potatoes into two perfectly shaped mounds and placed a single pea atop each mass, creating a pair of breasts. Joely in return pushed aside her food and grabbed the nearest gravy boat; writing words with her finger, that would make any mother (hers or not) die from embarrassment, in the poured sauce.

Neither set of parents paid mind to their offspring as the four of adults indulged themselves in some of the most expensive bottles of champagne the McGill's owned. These were the bottles classified and so well named as the "Holiday Spirits," guaranteed to lift anyone, down or not until over consumption naturally brought you into a stupor.

Joely typically found dressing up for dinner to be an absolute nuisance, but as she began to play dirtier in her game of seduction, the black mini she had chosen to wear was doing its job.

Noticing that their parents were entirely occupied amongst themselves, Draco began to put his strategy of making this game by his rules, into action. While they were waiting for dessert, he continuously dropped his napkin to bend under the table and glide his fingers up her long legs, aspiring to inch his way higher and higher up her thigh each time. She settled on humoring him and opted to let him think he was getting somewhere. Draco thought his fingers were going to reach where they aimed to be, he could feel it in his bones.

Just as he was within mere millimeters from her core, she crossed her legs tightly, halting his roaming finger's journey. He wiggled his fingers against the soft skin before removing his hand, and placed the pad of his finger that had been the closest to being successful, into his mouth, sucking on it gently.

Joely bit her bottom lip as though his gestures were ramming her to her peak. She reached under the table and slipped her right shoe off, giving Draco a view of her curling her toes as she wobbled her head about with having felt the pleasure his hand produced. He squirmed about in his seat in hunger to see her curling those toes in the ecstasy he wanted to drown her in. Joely angled her chair so that she was at an intersecting line with the table. Legs still crossed tightly, she scooted her foot along the inside of his right leg, ascending up the limb until her toes were mid-thigh.

Draco drew in a deep breath at the close proximity of her adventuring foot to the tightest part of his pants. The perfectly tailored trousers were unsatisfactory in hiding his arisen member. Draco cited his mother relaying to him over the summer that he had been conceived one night after his father had given her what she deemed a very...'stimulating' foot massage. It still wasn't a memory he could recall without recoiling. Draco was in no way hoping for Joely to conceive his child, but he was optimistic to perhaps get into the act that leads to conception. His knowledge that he wouldn't get that far was valid, considering this game was on her time table and he wasn't about to force himself on her, but was there harm in trying to 'stimulate' her lewd mind? He knew women enjoyed foot massages anyway.

On her foot's fourth excursion up his leg, he quickly grabbed it and placed it atop his thigh. Joely gave him a questioning look. "Shh," he said. "Just relax and enjoy." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly when she felt his fingers go to work. Draco's nerves frenzied and his senses of touch, smell and hearing sharpened. He had never massaged anyone's feet before, but he had received a few tips from his father and Blaise; Blaise was the renowned Slytherin king for being the houses' foot masseuse.

Joely found this art of Draco firmly caressing her foot and toes not only intense and satisfying but very pleasurable. She had never received something that could unravel her as a whole before. The way his lithe fingers firmly stroked the space between her toes and the heel of his hand pressed into the arch, the way he would cup her heel and the pressure he would enforce on the zone just below her ankles was slowly blowing her mind. It was wonderful and so sensual.

Draco studied her as her head began to loll back and her hands gripped the seat of the chair of their own accord. The way she rolled and curled her foot in his hands was detonating small explosions throughout his body. Her barely audible moans of delight were causing the ache in his groin to intensify. The sweet scent of her skin was overpowering his senses. This was so gratifying to him; watching her body move to a rhythm not entirely different to that of which they would create with her under him was pushing him to the edge; he gloated in how her pleasure was his doing. He was seeing how and why others found this erotic.

"Ahem!"

Joely wasn't sure what had made her alert; whether it was Draco's ministrations coming to a sudden halt, or if was the stern male voice calling for her attention; still feeling Draco's unmoving hands currently on her soles. Her eyes opened into a squint and saw Draco peering at his father; her own eyes felt her eyes to have moved involuntarily to her father. Her eyes then began to dart back and forth between her parents, the family friends, and her sexy masseuse.

"Tea, anyone?" she asked, lifting the nearest porcelain teapot.

"Can I ask what you two were doing?" asked Sean in a bold voice.

"I don't know, can you?"

"Joely Emmeline," he warned.

"What? You know, that is the second time someone has used my middle name today."

"Well now you know I mean business. Now, what were you doing?"

"Yes, Draco," said Lucius, "what were you doing?"

Draco quickly lifted up Joely's bare foot to their parent's gaze, nearly sending her into a backwards fall before catching her.

"I was only giving her a foot massage," he answered.

Narcissa and Lucius turned to each other with concern in their eyes. If Draco was as skilled with feet as his father was, they were alarmed about a future situation that could fall into their hands.

"That is not how you behave at dinner," said Lucius.

"Your mother and I did not raise you to act that way, Joely," scolded Sean. Joely looked to her mom to at least put her foot down and settle her father. But all her mother did was nod in agreement with her father. "You know your place, young lady."

Joely snapped her head toward her overly couth father. The nerve of him, she thought.

"Here's dessert anyways," said Sean, giving his daughter what her and her mother called "the eye." Squinted eyes and a curt nod was his favorite form of reprimanding his daughter, other then telling her that she's not a child and knows how to act better. Well, he had done that one tonight as well. Her father always believed that blood had nothing to do with how good of a witch or wizard you were, but, he strongly believed that the higher stature in society you are; the more proper and schooled your etiquette should be. Acting prim was one thing in Joely's book, but acting like a pure-blooded, head up the ass snoot was another. No matter how pure her blood was, no matter how highly regarded her family was or is, she knew she was going to stand her ground and refuse to behave like an "above all" witch.

After a less than enthusiastic dessert of strawberries and fresh cream, the adults excused themselves to the drawing room for tea and Firewhiskey, while Joely and Draco meandered up to her room for a reprieve from the "priggish ones."

Draco sat leaning against a bed post facing her pillows, while Joely sat opposite, her back supported by the headboard. They sat there and Draco just listened to her rant about her father.

"Ugh, god he irritates me to no end! If he goes off about a foot massage, I can imagine what his finding out I'm a Gryffindor would cause."

"He doesn't know you're not a Slytherin?"

"No. And he won't for as long as possible. But I know that Snape is dying to tell him, I know he is; I can see it in that snide smirk of his. He reeks of his disgust of me."

"And why is that?" he said with a teasing grin.

"In case you haven't noticed, he doesn't like me genius."

"I know I'm a genius, but thank you," he smirked.

"I was being facetious, Draco."

"You would like to think that though, wouldn't you?"

"I'm just waiting for the day that he finds out and all hell breaks loose."

"What would happen?" he asked honestly. He had heard of Sean's wrath, but those were only words. Seeing the indignation first hand was something he felt he should know about in detail.

"The day he finds out, I'm running to you for help first."

"Well then, let's hope he finds out soon," he said, crawling up the bed to lie beside her.

"That's not funny, Draco!" she replied, shifting down so that they were now face to face. "My dad is very adamant about all McGills that attend Hogwarts to be in Slytherin. It's like an extensive tradition in my family."

"A tradition has must be broken sometime."

"You don't understand! Being a McGill and not in Slytherin would be like a way of disgracing the family name. It would bring shame upon the family. My dad broke the tradition of marrying a Slytherin female.... Well, actually it just so happened to turn out that all of the women were Slytherins, but that's beside the point. You don't know of the heat he took from my grandfather for marrying outside of the tradition, let alone a tacky American. My dad can be very scary sometimes, and seeing the look of repulsion on his face if he ever found out before graduation is a very scary and very ugly thought."

"Hey, hey," he said soothingly, pulling her into him. "No matter how much I worship the thought of you running to me first, we will do whatever it takes to ensure that it doesn't happen."

"We?" she asked suspiciously, looking into his grey pools.

"Yes, love; we, meaning you and I working together to keep your father in the dark."

Joely was flabbergasted. She had never expected him to keep a secret like this that would be oh so delicious to tell. She sat up and straddled him, her junction directly on top of his, teasing him a bit by trifling with his shirt buttons. She wanted to make sure she had his full attention.

"Why should I believe that you won't spill my secrets as soon as the best opportunity approaches you?"

"Why shouldn't you believe me?"

"Well, Blaise didn't exactly hold up his end of the promise by not saying anything to you about the curse and..."

"He didn't tell me anything," he said in Blaise's defense.

"He told you that something would happen if you knew."

"That didn't tell me anything."

"It told you in a round about way that something magical was going on. Something happening when knowledge becomes an issue screams magic to me. "

"Jem, I'm not like Blaise. Yes, I'm pleased that I know what you're having to go through, but I'm not going to go and throw around hints to people spreading the news that I'm privy to it and they're not. You should know me better than that, love," he told her comfortingly, reaching up and entwining his fingers with hers.

"I don't want to ruin you though."

"Ruin me? How is letting me know what is happening to you, and by doing so helping me figure out how to help you, going to ruin me?"

"Well Blaise said -"

"Enough said," he interrupted.

"I've said this before, Draco, and I'll say it again. I don't want to hurt you, but if I have to, to keep you safe from him, I will."

"Listen," he said, his thumbs massaging her palms, "I'm fine; it's you that I'm worried about. I've accepted the fact that because of my feelings for you, there's little you can tell me, but I promise you that I will find out what I'm facing with you, and I will make it so you never have to feel pain when we touch again. But, considering that you aren't in any pain now, let's enjoy this while we can."

"From the horror stories I've heard about you, you've never been that evil so far, even when we were fighting."

"You've harnessed my inner demon," he said, quickly flipping her onto her back.

"Actually, I've turned you soft and fun to cuddle with," she razzed.

"Only in some places actually. But, in other places.... I'm hard as hell."

"We'll venture into that territory later."

"How long is it 'til later?"

"When I'm up to the challenge, babe," she answered.

"A kiss then to satisfy my cravings for you?" he asked, his eyebrow cocked.

"Where?"

Draco squirmed and gave a low throaty moan. "First, on my lips... then the second time around..."

"Do you think you're some kind of sex buffet or something?" she laughed.

"You can have as much of me as you want," he moaned.

"Oh believe you me, when I have you, you will wonder if there's anything left of you. Your whole body will explode and just my touch will send you into shock." With steady and firm moves, she ground her pelvis into him and wrapped her legs tighter around him, pulling their pleasure territories into contact.

Draco was going into overload. Her touch alone was already sending him into preliminary shock; his steadied arms beside her head trembling. He could feel his nerves erupting down to his very fingertips, his body coveting to melt into her and they become one. But outwardly, such a heat was not in her comfort zone. But, there was one thing he needed to know -

"Do you remember when I asked you how many guys you've been with?"

"Yeah," she answered nervously. Why does he want to know?

"Since you never answered, I took that as none. I just want to know, so please don't be offended at the thought, all right? Are you still a virgin?"

Suddenly, tiny snickers and giggles filled the room. Draco and Joely diverted their attention from each other to fearing about who was in the room, how long they had been there, and what exactly had they heard.

"Master and the Misses will be most unpleased," said the pygmy voice. Then, a tiny house-elf in an aqua sundress raised its head above the mattress' edge.

"Hey, Tinka," said Joely, both hers and Draco's bodies still pressed firmly together.

"The Sirs want to see you and him."

"Sirs?" asked Draco looking at Tinka.

"You mean our fathers, Tink?" Little Tinka nodded. "Okay, tell them we'll be right there." The house-elf vanished with a little snap. "If he has the gall to... Oh let's just get this over with." She checked her and Draco over, straightening their appearances, then grabbed his hand and lead him downstairs.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"What's been going on upstairs?" asked Sean, swirling the contents of his whiskey tumbler, the ice chiming against the glass.

"Does it matter?" she said rudely.

"Yes!"

"Okay, fine! We were rutting around like dogs in heat and you interrupted just as my headboard was about to start banging repeatedly against the wall."

"Joely!" scolded Noelle.

"Draco?" asked Lucius sternly. "Explain."

"We were just talking," he said shortly.

"Joely?" asked Sean again, this time with a firmer and more demanding tone.

"Why say anything, you won't believe me. It's like you want to hear that we were fooling around or something." Thank God that they were unaware of the truth. "We were just talking! We aren't angst-ridden, hormone driven teenagers... Okay, scratch that, maybe we are, but that has nothing to do with this. We were talking, that's all!"

"Joely, just tell your father the truth," sighed Noelle, sipping her tea.

"I was seducing him, happy now? Like I said, you interrupted just before things got really hot!" she yelled.

"I'm sure that wasn't too hard. Damn, baby, you look like sex on a stick!"

Both Joely and Draco turned around quickly. "TYLER!"

Joely ran to the dirty-blonde, blue-eyed man standing in the doorway. He picked her up, swinging her around in circles. This guy twanged a nerve in Draco. A charitable feeling was not felt for this male. Or... maybe he was envious? Or... maybe he was even jealous? Bollocks, Malfoys never got jealous of anything or anyone, they were better than that. Before Tyler stopped with the spinning, Joely had wrapped her legs around him to gain some stability and a bearing.

"I can't believe your here!"

"Now, aren't you glad that your mom and dad made you come home for the holidays?" said Tyler. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. McGill."

"So this dog is the reason that you made me come home?" asked Joely, smiling at her parents.

"Your father and I have been organizing this for ages. We weren't about to let you ruin it. Introduce your guest, Joely."

"Oh right, I have to play hostess. Tyler, this is Draco Malfoy, and his mother and father. His mom and my mom are good friends, our fathers work at the ministry, and obviously Draco and I go to school together. Draco, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, this is my best friend Tyler Greene."

"Hello," they replied.

"Are you two in the same house?"

"No, I'm -"

"Yes!" interjected Draco. Joely quickly smiled in appreciation; a successful job of keeping tight-lipped was not in her favor.

"Care for something to eat, Tyler?"

"No thanks, Mrs. McGill. I'm just really tired; the carriage ride seemed like it was never going to end. For the price I paid I expected to be alone in there and come straight here. I found out that Scotland is really nice this time of year with the snow in the highlands."

"I'll take you upstairs," said Joely, laughing. "Where's your suitcase?"

"In my pocket."

They had left, but Joely returned a few moments later.

"Draco, are you coming?"

"Very Greco-Roman, French Chateaux feel to this place," said Tyler, his eyes lighting up with Joely's weird look. "I heard a rumor that the Barbers are eyeing your old house."

"Greco-Roman? Aside from that, I'd like to see them try to move in; we still own that house," scoffed Joely. "Even if we did end up selling it one of these days, my Grandpa Alec would haunt whoever moved in until they left."

"Sell it, make a profit, or move back in possibly?" he said, hopeful. "Oh, I'm supposed to ask you if you've gotten an owl from Maura yet. She said she sent one but the post office sent it off with a decrepit looking bird so she's curious if maybe it died in flight or whatnot."

"Um, I haven't gotten anything from her since the summer. Back to the house though, my dad didn't want to sell it. Too many memories I guess. I might move back in there after graduation, depending on where I work, whether it's here in England or back home."

Draco's ears perked up at hearing her talk about possibly leaving after graduation.

"I guess that's fair. So, what's so special about this place that your dad refused to leave it unoccupied?"

She shrugged. "The upper levels are all bedrooms... Well there's another drawing room on this floor in the east wing, but other than that it's just bedrooms and bathrooms. The ground level is like any other ground level; drawing room, living room, ball room, and the like. I'm not all that fond of this house, but it's been in the family since it was built so my dad made use of its emptiness and moved us in."

"What about the basement?"

"HA!" she laughed. "I won't even go near the basement door, let alone down there. Are you freakin' mad or something?"

"What about the basement at McGill Park? You were down there all the time."

"McGill Park?" asked Draco, lagging behind like a third wheel he felt to be.

"It's my old house back in the States. My mom and dad have this idea that unless you name your home, it's just another building people live in. Don't ask, I never did. Here's my room. Since this was news to me, I don't know if there was a room made up for you, so you can sleep with me."

"What?" Draco shouted, shocked to say the least.

"Just throw your stuff anywhere, hun," said Joely.

"Um... HELLO!" yelled Draco.

"Tyler Greene."

"Draco Malfoy," he replied stiffly, shaking his hand.

Confusion struck Draco like a cannonball, standing about like a knot on a log while Joely sank into her closet and Tyler made his imprint in her sheets.

"Hey, Jammers?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Babe?" Draco mouthed.

"What happened to my dip?" he laughed.

"My dad decided to leave all the old furniture at the other house in case we go back to visit or something of the like. I think he did it because he wanted to leave in a hurry, but I got a new bed, so therefore... guess what? - I got a new mattress. Just fashion a new dip."

"Dip?" asked Draco out loud, making sure this time he was heard.

"Tyler and I basically spent all of our summers together. We slept at each other's houses all the time, and well, he made a dip in my mattress," she said walking out of her closet in the same pajamas she had on earlier that day. "What's new of the outside world?"

"Enlighten me first."

"Always past before present, try again."

Two hours later, they were still chatting the night away and Draco had yet to even utter or mumble one word in that time frame. Was it because he really didn't have anything to say? Or was it because Joely seemed unaware of the fact that he was in the room with them? He was feeling as though with Tyler there, he currently held no matter to her.

"Be right back," said Joely, heading for the bathroom.

"So, how did you meet my Joely?"

"Your Joely?" Draco snapped.

"Do you take offensive to claiming her as mine? I've just known her all my life, literally, and have called her mine since first year at Salem. We go back to the diaper rash ages, and we even took baths together," he smirked, winking.

"We met in Flourish and Blotts over the summer holiday. Our fathers were housemates."

"So you're the one..."

"Yes," said Joely quickly. "Enough about the bathtub times, okay? No one wants to hear about you having seen me in the nude since we were little."

"The one what?" asked Draco.

"The one with the whole... Apothecary... incident," said Joely, trying to seem unfazed.

"Yes, that would be me. Do you take offense to that?"

"Does he...?" asked Tyler.

"NO!" Joely barked.

"Well, why not?"

"And throw it all away and risk losing him? Not a chance in hell! There's way too much right now, Tyler. It's gone too far and it can't be stopped."

"If I'm the 'him', believe me, love, I'm not going anywhere," said Draco a bit too roughly.

Joely gave him a half smile; his tone did not leave a palpable taste in her mouth.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Is Draco in here?" asked Narcissa when she and Noelle popped their heads in.

"Hi, Mrs. Malfoy. Yeah, he's in here."

"Draco, darling, it's getting late, we best be going."

"Right, Mother."

"See you, man. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Malfoy."

"You too, dear," said Narcissa.

"Bye, Draco. Oh by the way... my game is still on."

"And I'm still playing."

"'Night," said Joely, closing the door and inhaling deeply.

"Game?" asked Tyler with a glint of wicked curiosity in his eyes.

"Keep your nose out of it, but I'll satisfy your corrupt mind and say that it's nothing important. Why don't you go change, Mr. Sandman has some dream sand reserved for me."

Tyler exited the bathroom about ten minutes later in nothing but navy blue pajama bottoms and his hair slightly wet.

"You know," she teased, "if you feel like remembering the diaper rash ages again, I too have seen you naked. You didn't have to change in the bathroom."

"Are you having withdrawals from having not seen my sexy body in so long? You look like you could use some lovin'."

"Yes!" she wailed, throwing her arm across her forehead as though she was desperate. He may be her best friend, but there was no denying his fitness along with those eyes and smile.

"That was almost believable, Jammers, almost, but your acting gets worse every time. It's such a burden having such a baby face and glistening teeth."

She scoffed. Adoration of his self publicly was not believable. She was proud of him for not having a huge ego. "All right, this once I'll let you off the hook, but tomorrow I get the whole kit!"

"So, tell me about Prince Charming," said Tyler, stretched out on his side, propped up on one elbow. "I know you said that you weren't on speaking terms, but it's obviously not that way now. He doesn't seem to be too much of a bad person, but maybe I'll like him more after a little interrogation."

"He's really an okay guy. He's the first one that I haven't really felt afraid to feel something for. He knows all that I can tell him and yet... he still seems to be there; he hasn't turned his back on me. I mean, if you were to have met me for the first time and told you that I was cursed, what would you have done?"

"You forget, Jammers; I am and always will be by and on your side. After all you helped him accomplish, there's more than likely a very strong bond between you. Platonic bond on the fall?"

"You can't be by my side at school anymore, Tyler. Granted, Draco and I had a grim start at the beginning of the term, but now since he knows a little; it seems to being working out okay, slowly, but surely. It was rough up until Halloween, and as you know, that fell apart. But now - "

"Tell me you didn't spill your guts."

"No, I didn't. But, well, for about a week before holiday break started, something kept telling me that I was supposed to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; something said I shouldn't go home. And then on the train home, he touched me..."

"What do you mean he 'touched' you?" he said forcefully.

"His hand touched mine, you one-minded nut! He's not like... Him, Tyler. Draco is something else; something not like any other; even unlike you. Grandma Kelly would've liked him. But, the thing is, when he touched me, something clicked and I knew that whatever was telling me to stay back had to do with him."

"Well nothing's made you want to go back yet, has it?"

"No. I just feel that it's coming though. Like it's going to happen soon and rip me to shreds."

"Well let's hope whatever 'it' is, stays hidden. I don't want to have to kick his ass."

"Must you play overprotective brother right away? You need to knock that crap off."

"That's part of my job, Jay; to be around when you need me and to make sure that you're safe. But you know, if you think about it, we are anything but brother and sister," he teased with a sly grin.

"True, nobody would date and kiss their siblings," she laughed. "I know that he and I have only known each other for a very short time, but he just makes me feel so alive and safe, you know? That something that clicked about him being involved with this pain I'm going to feel, turned off when I think about all that happened over the summer. Almost like my memories is the counter."

"Just be careful, Jam, I don't want to lose you too."

"The only way I'm going anywhere is via death as well," she laughed. "I don't plan on dying just yet, but I'm not going to be overly cocky and say I can survive anything."

"How's he doing?"

"In a vegetative state and drooling out the side of his mouth, I hope. Everything was checked on before the holidays, and they say all is well, so that takes quite a load off of my shoulders."

"No news is good news," said Tyler reassuringly.

"In some instances yes, but you know how the Society works involving stuff like this. Sometimes no news means they might be hiding something from me. It's Christmas, to know something has gone wrong would ruin any chances of a good holiday."

"I know you would've heard something by now, babe. My dad is still heading that department and he definitely would've let you know if something was up. He wouldn't have let me come either."

She nodded sluggishly. "Let's hope so. But, speaking of babe, how is it coming with you and Vanessa? I got an owl from Jude about a month ago; he said she wasn't dating anyone and you were still hot on her tail."

"It's going shitty as ever, as you can imagine. I'll get her though," he smirked, reaching for her feet. "I always get the girl. I'm irresistible."

"Tyler, no!"

"See your little toes wiggling? See, they're begging and screaming for my attention."

"No!"

"Too late!" he shouted, tickling her feet mercilessly.

"NO!"

........................................................................

It was the night before Christmas Eve and everyone was sleeping soundly, or so it was thought. The young were dreaming of waking up Christmas morning and rushing downstairs in their pajamas to see their stockings filled and presents abound. The old were pining to see their children, grandchildren, and perhaps great-grandchildren, enjoying the holidays; their eyes alight with the Christmas spirit and their tummies rumbling for a holiday feast. Yes, that covered what the young and old were envisioning in their dreams, but what about the between ages? What about Draco?

It had been laborious enough just to fall into slumber, but staying in a peaceful sleep was even more toilsome. He was tossing and turning, his sweaty body glued to his sheets, his fitful sleep ladened with macabre nightmares.

"Let me go!"

"You're mine!" said a disembodied voice.

"You lied to me D --!" cried a helpless female.

She was hit across the face. "Don't you dare speak my name! You're nothing! You're nothing but a filthy whore!"

She struggled to free herself from her captor's tethered hold; gathering all the strength she had and pushed him away. She ran, ran away as fast as she could from his insane cackle.

"You can't hide from me," he teased. "It's you and me forever, sweetheart, together until the end."

"Help me, please," she begged, running through what seemed like the same hallway repeatedly. "Grandma, please, oh god, please help me."

"The only one you can turn to is me; there's no one else."

She whipped around and saw him gliding towards her. She backed herself into a corner, trying to cast any spell that would possibly bring her to safety. Nothing penetrated his enclosing barrier. She was trapped, trapped with Satan's spawn.

"There's nowhere to go, darling."

"Don't call me that!" she hissed.

"You're my property! I will call you whatever I damn well please!"

"You can't own a person!"

"I OWN YOU!" he screamed.

"NO!"

"Come here!" he yelled, dragging her by her hair away from the wall.

"STOP, you're hurting me! Let go!"

"You're going to be hurting a lot more if you don't shut the hell up!"

"Please, please," she cried, "just let me go."

"Shut up! CRUCIO!"

He laughed and snickered as he watched her writhe in the excruciating pain. He adored seeing her mouth wide open, the corners of the opening cracking and stretching thin, blood coming to the surface, knowing that the pain was too intense for her to scream. The look of enjoyment on his face was out of nothing but pure evilness. He finally liberated her when blood poured from her palms from where her nails had pierced her skin.

"Stand up!" he demanded.

"Da -" she began, but stopped at his threatening look. "I'm sorry."

"You will learn your place, even if I have to kill you so that it is eternally imprinted in your mind, you piece of trash."

"I'm sorry, just please don't hurt me anymore. I can't take it, it hurts too much."

"Of course it hurts. Pain wouldn't be pain without the hurt. Go."

"Where?" she asked regretfully.

He smiled poisonously. "You know where, my sweet."

"No! You, you promised that you would never hurt me like that again."

"I never made such a stupid promise, you whore! Now go!"

"No!" And she ran again.

"IMPERIO!"

She fought with all her might to not succumb to the curse; she was too weak.

"That's it, my darling, come to me. Yes, come with me," he coaxed.

When he released the controlling curse, the girl realized that she was in his favorite room. A dark, murky dungeon with various torture contraptions and objects littering the walls; the room smelled of death and rotting flesh; lit by a solitary candle, dwindling to a meek glow. She knew she wasn't and wouldn't be the first to die in here.

"Which one shall we use, my pet?"

"Please, you don't have to hurt me; I know you don't mean this."

"I mean every damn bit of it! Don't you understand? This is payback for everything you've ever done to hurt me. This isn't even half the agony that you've caused me. Thank you, for you have just shown me which one you prefer."

He groped about his belt and withdrew a blade from a handcrafted leather sheath. The hilt was made of dark, rich mahogany and carved into a demonic, ritualistic design; possessing a clear stone on each side, both filled with red liquid resembling blood. The blade was born from steel and inscribed with ivy engravings leading down to the needle point tip. The man grabbed her, turning her away from him, her back tight against his chest.

She screamed as loud as she could against his hand screening her mouth. Her eyes widened and tears streamed from her orbs when her arm was roughly lengthened out in front of her and her shoulder gave a ghastly pop: it had dislocated. There was no way she could resist now without control of that arm.

"HELP, DADDY! CODY!" she screamed through his stretched fingers.

"You're helpless!"

He withdrew his wand from his cloak with the same hand that was holding the blade. He pointed the tip at her throat, the end closely touching her skin. He shouted, "Silencio!"

Her voice went mute. Without her utterance, the only way to overpower him was through warring him hand-to-hand. She wasn't going to give into the evil. She elbowed him in his stomach and he just laughed at her technique. She tried to maneuver around to face him, but with one arm around her neck, squeezing her windpipe, all she only caused herself more pain.

He tossed his wand and firmly gripped the dagger. He immobilized her and raised the blade to her exposed forearm. He stabbed the skin, nearly hitting the bone and drug the blade through the flesh siring a two inch gash. Blood spilled from the wound like a fountain, pooling below her. He released the spell, and she screamed, the shrill echoing throughout the whole manor.

"See the blood dripping from your veins? See how it gathers at your feet and turns glossy? Watch how your pathetic tears are being swallowed up. Blood is more powerful than anything. It's very symbolic, wouldn't you say, my pet?" He threw his head back in a hearty guffaw.

"Draco, Draco! Wake up!"

"NO!"

"Draco, darling, it was just a nightmare. You're awake now and everything's all right. What happened?"

"What, Mother?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Your nightmare. What happened?" asked Narcissa, coddling him with her soothing voice.

"This girl was, uh, she was being attacked and tortured. I've never seen anything so awful. It was horrible, Mum. She kept begging to be let go; pleading for her life to be spared, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept on and on; ruthlessly unrelenting."

"Draco, it was just a dream, dear."

"No, this happened, Mother. He put her under both the Cruciatus and Imperius curses. I know how much those hurt."

"Draco," Narcissa sighed, "that was a long time ago. There's no need to reminisce."

"It wasn't that long ago," he rebutted.

"Well, what did they look like?"

"I couldn't see the man's face, but... the girl she..."

"She what, darling?"

"I, I think it was Joely, Mother."

"Well," she said taking a deep breath, "she's perfectly fine, but you need to get ready, we're leaving in an hour and a half."

............

"You're getting close, Draco," said a misty voice.

"What?" he asked as he stepped out of the bath.

"Follow your heart, you're getting close."

Draco scoured around the room, trying to find out who was there with him. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly; waste binning the thought he was going mad. He wasn't going crazy, was he?

"Just follow your heart. Only you can save her..." And the voice disappeared.

............................................................

"Yes! Yes!" Draco heard as he walked down the corridor to Joely's room. He recognized it at once as her.

"What in blazes...?"

"Oh yes, faster!"

Draco took off at a marathon speed sprint, hoping his mind was not relaying the truth of what was happening behind her door. That was the last thing he needed. He stopped at her door, finding it... locked.

"Joely?" he asked.

"Yes! Yes! Go baby!" she screamed.

"Ugh!"

Draco knew that grunt was male and his face flushed. If his suspicions were correct, Joely and Tyler were up to indecent behavior. Anger washed over him and he threw his shoulder into the door, wanting to break it down.

"Ouch! Tyler, not so hard!" she moaned.

"Joely! Open the door!" yelled Draco.

"It is open!"

He opened the door not to find the two friends in compromising positions, but instead found Joely jumping up and down on the bed in nothing but a turquoise lacy bra and matching panties and Tyler donning strictly a towel. They were playing a racing video game.

"Yes! Yes! Faster!" she yelled.

"Ugh!" Tyler grunted again. "Come on! Move it!"

"Yes! I won! You ate my dust!"

"I still won the last three," he reminded her.

"Oh hey, Draco, Tyler and I were just playing a video game. When did you get here?"

"You were playing like that?"

"We have taken baths together," Tyler interjected teasingly, aiming the comment at Draco.

"As Tyler has regretfully reiterated, we've seen each other in less so I'm not bothered. Now that you mention it, we better get dressed, my dad would have a shit fit if he saw us like this," she laughed, jumping down off the bed. "Crap! Tyler hand me a towel, I just spilt my juice."

"There isn't anymore," he replied from inside the bathroom.

Draco was astounded at the improperness of the wide open door.

"Well... then hand me the one you're wearing."

Draco's mouth and stomach dropped as he watched the towel fly out the door and into Joely's hands.

"Thank you."

"Hey, Jammers, will you look in my suitcase and take out my khakis?"

"Which shirt do you want?"

"Uh, I don't know yet, I'll look later. Oh, can you pull out my red boxers too?"

"Which ones? You've got the ones with the eagle on the side, or the ones I gave you. Pick."

"The ones you gave me," he smiled, peeking his head around the doorframe.

"You've given that bloke boxers?" asked an alarmed Draco.

"When in doubt of what to buy a guy, buy him clothing closest to his favorite body part. It gives them the idea you think about sex with them and they'll love you forever."

"What?" the two men asked in unison.

"Hey, they come off the fastest," she reasoned, tossing Tyler his boxers and juice stained towel.

"You've got a point, babe, but I strongly suggest you dress fast because I can remove what little you're wearing in record time."

"You forget, Tyler, look," she smirked, turning to her side. "No snaps or ties... these would have to be ripped off."

"You inviting?" Tyler teased.

"Maybe later," she replied saucily.

"Um...?"

"Oh sorry, Draco, I forgot you were here."

..................................................................

The day had been anything but worthy of waking up for in Draco's opinion. He, along with Joely, Tyler and their mothers, had spent the day in Muggle London, shopping for last minute Christmas presents and decorations for the New Year's Eve ball.

Several times that day, Tyler and Joely had gone off alone, only to be dragged back by Noelle and reminded that Draco was there too. Noelle was highly embarrassed at Joely's forgetfulness. It had happened one too many times and Draco rebuffed Noelle's harping attempts to keep Joely and Tyler with him, so he gave up and went home to a vacant Malfoy Manor.

He slugged his way up to his room to sleep what was left of the horrible day away. He noticed he had several parchment envelopes on his desk; all of them from Pansy. They had been the same thing over and over about her wanting to know when he was going to come and see her for the hols. Well, one did say Happy Christmas in, so that wasn't so bad. After reading the letters, his tolerance for women in general was at an all time low.

He considered changing into something that was more sleep worthy and comfortable, but instead just removed his shoes, socks, and jumper. He laid on his back, lacing his fingers behind his head. When he was awoken, he felt as though he had only just fallen asleep.

"Wakey, wakey, hand off snakey."

"Joely? What are you doing here?" he said groggily.

"Well, I felt really bad about the way I treated you today, so I thought maybe I'd come over and..." she said in a low voice, trailing her fingers down his chest, "apologize."

Seeing her straddling him in nothing but a bra and panties was gnawing at his insides.

"At two o'clock in the morning?"

"I felt really awful."

"Don't get me wrong, love, but if you're going to apologize in nothing by knickers and a..." He stopped mid-sentence when she reached behind her and began to unclasp her bra. Hearing the two clicks as the hooks were released was almost his undoing. Draco gulped when she removed the material, letting the pert globes become exposed to his gaze. "I may have to be mad more often."

She leant down allowing her breasts to come in contact with his bare chest as she suckled the taught skin right below his ear. His body was so close to exploding in ecstasy. She was right; he didn't think that there would be anything left of him when she was done.

He reached down her sides, running his hands up her smooth legs, coming to a stop and massaging her derrière. She moaned into his ear and he moved to the sides of her panties, taking a firm handhold of the lacy fabric.

"What has gotten in to you?" he growled.

"I have a headache."

"What?"

"Don't you remember me telling you that I sometimes get really naughty when I have a headache? Well this one hurts... really bad."

"Well let me be the perfect medicine," he said against her crushing lips. He flipped her onto her back, and sat back on his feet to look at her. "You've got my full attention now."

She brought his face down to hers, their lips meeting in a hungry and wanton kiss. Her fingers crawled around to the lower portion of his back and she started dragging her nails up his back from there. Draco gasped into her mouth at the electricity that was turning on inside him. He accidentally bit a little too hard on her bottom lip, tasting her coppery blood as she opened her mouth for him to explore.

Draco laid his arms on either side of her head and nestled himself between her thighs. His tongue searched the sweet and honeyed opening of her mouth, their tongues engaging in a war of sexual appetite. He placed one last kiss on her lips and trailed his way down her chin, to the hollow of her neck, down her breastbone, moving to the right and taking her right nipple into his mouth, teasing the pebbled peak with his tongue.

"Oh gods, Draco," she moaned.

He bit around the base and pulled just till she cried out his name again. The moans coming from her mouth made him melt like ice in the summer; the sweat on his body from the heat between them was about to sizzle on the sheets.

Joely couldn't hold back the feelings that Draco was causing to soar through her body, making her feel so wanted. As he kissed around her breast, her hands found their way to his hair; massaging his scalp and messing up what was perfectly groomed locks. As he turned his attention to her left breast, Joely thrusted her hips up; making hard contact with Draco's erection.

"I'm glad to see you're so anxious," she said hoarsely.

"Do that again," he moaned. "But... harder."

"Your wish is my command." And she complied.

Draco gave a grunt as she did indeed go harder. He didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to hold out until this possibly turned wild. He descended down her body, leaving a shimmering trail of kisses down to her panties. He hooked his thumbs on the sides of the material, slowly bringing it down the curve of her hip.

"No!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's my turn, Draco." She reversed control, turning him onto his back.

Looking into his eyes, she gave him a wicked grin and in one quick move, she freed him of his belt. She tossed it aside, it landing next to her bra. She started with kisses on his forehead, down the side of his face; kissing his temple, down his left jaw line, and then moved up his right side. Coming back to her starting point in the center of his forehead, she went down the bridge of his nose to the tip, kissed each eyelid with affection, finally meeting his swollen lips. She ensnared his senses with her lust swollen lips.

Next, she sat up, her apex resting center on his manhood. Placing both palms on his chest, she massaged his pectorals while simultaneously moving her hips in circles, teasing his aching erection. Draco's head rolled back in pleasure has he held on firmly to her hips, keeping her circles tight on his member. This was pushing him too close to the edge. She took each nipple in her mouth, flicking the nub, giving him the same attention he gave hers. He was groveling in need of release and she glorified in it. She climbed down his body, her face stopping at the closure to his trousers.

"Joely..."

"Shh, this'll feel good, I promise."

"Wait -"

Draco was having second thoughts. It already felt good, it felt damn good. But, a tiny voice in the back of his head, that he was trying his damnedest to ignore, was raising its tone. Ignoring the voice was a task, but he couldn't overlook the ache in his trousers.

Joely bit the button off his pants and sat up a little, letting Draco marvel the mother-of-pearl circle between her teeth. She threw it aside; it clinking the floor like a loose coin. She gave him a wink and moved onto his zipper, her teeth taking hold and pulling it down agonizingly slow; her hair tickling his stomach.

Draco was in the heat of passion. The other girls that he had been with just wanted what they called "the main event." Joely wanted the foreplay and all the pleasurable and agonizing teasing that went along with it. So this must be what it feels like to make love with someone you actually care for? he thought. To him, most of his other encounters were just... well sex. One girl he had felt something for, but that ended about mid-fifth year. This was passion. This was how love was supposed to be shared, though rarely ever was.

But when he thought about in terms of love, something went off in his head. Were they really in love? They had never said they loved each other. He knew they both cared deeply for one another, but was it love? Suddenly, he felt a sickening resemblance to this situation. Suddenly, this felt like all those other times... casual, but good.

"Stop, Joely!"

"What? Why?" she asked throwing his pants aside.

"We can't do this."

"What do you mean 'we can't do this?'" she asked sardonically.

"This isn't right."

"Let's see, I'm ready, and you obviously are," she said eyeing his raised boxers. "Tell me what's not right about this?"

"I want this to something special between us, not just something casual."

"You've got to be kidding me! I can't believe this! Draco Malfoy is turning down sex!"

"That's the thing! I don't want this to be just sex with you, I want this to be more," he said honestly.

"All right then, my turn to ask the questions. Why? Why me? Why did you have to turn celibate on me? All those times Blaise told me about you forgetting to put a silencing charm on your bedroom when you were with Pansy, or someone else. You didn't turn them down! So why turn me down?"

"Jem..."

"You know what?" she said angrily, climbing off the bed and reaching for her clothes. "Forget it, I don't give a shit!"

"Jem, just please listen to me."

"Why? What's there to listen to?" By now, all was on but her shoes. "I am throwing myself at you, offering the only thing that I can give you and what do you want? You want this to be 'special not casual', you want this to be more," she said mockingly.

"So you are a virgin." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Funny thing you mention that, Draco. You have no qualms about popping my mood, but you can't find it within you pop something else of mine. I think we need to alert the Daily Prophet that Draco Malfoy has turned down sex with a virgin. I mean that is what every guy dreams about isn't it? - taking a virgin."

Draco sighed deeply edging in bits of annoyed growls, shaking his head at her words.

"No, Joely, that isn't what every guy dreams about. Some of us dream about it having meaning each time, not just the first. I don't want you to regret it and I think you would if this were to happen tonight," he said as she put her shoes and cloak on. Did losing her virginity to him tonight really mean that much to her? Or was there another reason behind this?

"'Night, Malfoy," she hissed, slamming his door behind her. Draco cringed at the loud bang.

He flounced down onto his pillows in frustration. Why did he say no? It wasn't like he had never thought about them together, he had thought about it many times. He was lost. She was right again. She was throwing herself at him, and he was being the gentlemen and turning her down.

"Fuck," he grumbled. "Why do I have to be the enemy? I cannot believe I'm being the gentleman and telling her she's not ready. Damn these emotions! You're not helping either," he called, looking down to his nether region.

...........................................................................

Twas the night before Christmas and all through Gryffindor house, not a creature was stirring... well maybe a mouse... by the name of Ginny Weasley. The Christmas hols were supposed to be a time of excitement, a time of gathering family, and the anticipation of waking up each morning and it being one day closer to Christmas. But if you were Ginny, the thought of facing each new day was anything but cheerful, especially when you were being hounded by housemates about being friends with another housemate.

"Why are you still up?"

Ginny turned around from her place by the fire to see Hermione at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hello, Hermione. I can't sleep."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ginny hesitated. She didn't know if Hermione could help with this problem. Hermione had always been there for here before when she needed her. But this time she didn't know if anyone could help her.

"Has someone ever... tried to convince you to dislike another?"

"Who is to be disliked?"

"I just want to know, Hermione."

"Not that I can recall, no."

"What if they told you some really outrageous stories and yet, you kind of believe them?" she asked shyly.

"Ginny, who are you talking about?"

"It's Lavender and Dean."

Hermione meandered carefully around Ginny's swaying about blurting out the truth. "Is this about Malfoy?"

"A little."

"How little?" Hermione asked gravely. "Ginny, how can I try and help if you won't tell me what's going on? Who are they trying to turn you against? And how is Malfoy involved?"

Hermione put two and two together; remember having seen Lavender and Dean not only cornering Ginny, but Seamus, Colin and many other Gryffindors as well, and not holding back on using bullying tactics. She then remembered reading a parchment leaflet on Professor McGonagall's desk. "Ginny? Are they trying to turn you against Joely?"

"It's not just me that they're doing it to, Hermione!" She felt a bit relieved that she hadn't been the blabber-mouth she'd been thought to be. "They're doing it to Colin, Holli, Seamus, and a bunch of Gryffindors that don't even know her. Others from the other houses are getting it too!"

"When did all of this start?"

"Um, a bit before Halloween, I guess." Ginny hung her head, feeling weak.

"Lavender's loathing is well known, but Dean's muddles me."

"Dean thought that since he and I dated he would sway me, if you could call that dating, but when that didn't work, he sent Lavender after me. They're saying some of the most awful things about her. She told Colin that Joely has a blacklist, and on it are all the Muggle-borns and half-bloods at Hogwarts. She said that her family is on the Dark Side, and she's continuing Salazar Slytherin's work by ridding the school of Muggle-borns and half-bloods!"

Hermione produced a powerful belly laugh; a chuckle as such had not been heard in ages. "Ginny that is absurd!"

"She said that Joely has a system. She said she befriends them and raises them up on a pedestal to make them think that they're really good mates and gains their trust. Then, once the students start to disappear, no one will suspect her because they were friends."

"Ginny, did you ever think that maybe Lavender pieced that story together from some of the things that happened your first year? Remember how people thought that Harry was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin because he could speak Parseltongue? They thought it was him trying to rid the school because he had one of Slytherin's traits. Joely has no knowledge of Salazar Slytherin. You don't really believe them, do you?"

Ginny shrugged. "I don't want to, but some of these things could be so real."

"What about Dean? Why is he trying to turn Seamus?"

"Well, Lavender failed with Parvati, but they're still speaking, so Dean is trying to turn Seamus who would then sway Parvati."

"It sounds like they have the system," Hermione chuckled.

"Holli keeps trying to tell me it's not true, but Lavender's been spouting off at the mouth to her too."

"What was she telling her?"

Ginny shrugged again. "Holli gets too shirty when you mention it. She said something about their stories being fabricated; that they don't know her like she does, but Holli doesn't really know Joely either. But, I do know that it started when she and Joely were in hospital one night. Joely was changing a bandage on Holli's arm, I think she got it at practice, but when Joely left, Lavender made a beeline for Holli."

"Okay, but where does Malfoy come in?"

"What are you two doing up?" asked Harry.

"Oh sorry, Harry. Were we talking too loud?" asked Hermione.

"No, I went to your room to..." Harry stopped when he remembered that Ginny was present too. "Never mind then. So who's the lucky fella?"

"Come again?" asked Ginny.

"Fella? You know... the one you're talking about?"

Hermione scoffed. "What gave you that impression?"

"Two girls by a fire at three o'clock in the morning. Sounds like fella talk, right? This is something Parvati and Lavender would do."

"It's a coincidence that you mention Lavender," said Ginny venomously.

Harry looked perplexed. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning she's a flamin' cow who needs a good kick in the pants!"

"Harry, would you excuse us, please?" asked Hermione pleadingly.

Taking the hint, Harry gave Hermione a quick kiss on the head and bid Ginny goodnight.

"Hermione? What does Lavender have against Joely?"

Hermione was wary about relaying the details that she has read on that parchment. After all, nobody was supposed to have seen it. If she was to tell Ginny, and Ginny accidentally let it slip, trouble would haunt her for all eternity. Was she really the one to tell Ginny about the past? Or should she save it and let Ginny find out on her own... if that was possible? They say history repeats itself, so maybe it was coming around.

"You know, Ginny, it's awful late. Can we talk about this some other time? Ron is going to come bounding down here soon with it being Christmas and all. We better get some sleep."

They sat in silence while Ginny thought about what Hermione had said, and Hermione watched the fire procreate distorted figures on the walls. Hermione took her cue and began to leave for her room.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Ginny?"

"Could you at least give me some advice?"

"Don't believe anything anyone tells you. Especially, if you're hearing it from someone else. It's all bollocks, Ginny. People get hurt all the time from that gossip, and it always gets worse as it spreads. It's like a disease, it mutates and worsens..."

"Okay," she interjected, "I don't want to know about diseases on Christmas. Thank you."

"Sorry, Gin."

"Maybe advice wasn't the right word? Do you know why all this is happening?"

"Well, Dean is a mystery to me," she said, giving her neck a scratch in thought, "but as far as Lavender goes... it's nothing new. Now I do admit that Joely's family once had a few dealings with the Dark Side, but that was hundreds of years ago. Like I said, Ginny, don't believe anything you hear because it's all bollocks. But, if you're really unsure, tell me and we'll talk to Joely about it face-to-face."

........................................................................

When Joely walked into the drawing room Christmas morning, she was bowled over by what felt like a miniature steam engine.

"Jowey, Jowey!" Joely looked down to see the tiny-teethed grin of her cousin Dylan. "Merry Twismas, Jowey!"

"Merry Christmas, Dylan."

It was normally the McGill tradition to decorate all but the tree which was trimmed on Christmas Eve. Joely however, had skipped out on that event this year; even with it being her favorite thing to do when she was home for the holidays.

"Pwesents! You have to open your pwesents! Come on!" he screamed, pulling her across the room.

"All right, Dill, I'm coming. Who decorated the tree?"

"Me!" shouted Dylan.

"It's beautiful, Dill."

"I know." He jutted his proud nose in the air. "Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Noelle and Uncle Sean said so too. I got special cookies for being the best."

Joely couldn't help but smile at him. Though he was only four, he was sure enough of himself to be the little kid who threatened bullies to pick on someone their own size. She looked at her family to see them filled to the brim with mirth at the pint-sized ego tripped tot.

"Tyler!"

Joely turned to see her best friend walking in and Dylan running and jumping in his arms. Tyler was very much Dylan's big brother. If Joely was ever unable to baby-sit, Tyler jumped emphatically at the chance. They got along so well that most people had tendencies to confuse the two for siblings. When watching the two together, it was easily seen on how great of a father Tyler would make. Things sometimes went as far as people falling under the notion that Tyler was Dylan's father and Joely his mother. Joely revived a memory of her and Tyler caring for Dylan one day and deciding on tiring him out at the park. While Tyler was off playing "I'm gonna get you" with Dylan, an old lady told Joely that it was a nice change to see a young father taking such an interest in their son. Joely wanted to tell her that Dylan wasn't theirs, but she couldn't bring herself to disappoint the woman. After all, having a husband with an interest in kids like Tyler did was many girls' dream.

"Wook, at my twee!"

"You did that all by yourself?" he asked.

"Yep. Well... my mommy, daddy, Aunt Noelle, and Uncle Sean helped. Just a wittle though. You have pwesents too! Come on!"

Dylan dragged both of them, sitting them down beside the tree. He grabbed the remaining packages and handed them out according to the names on the tags. Dylan swore that since his teacher at wizard pre-k told him that he was a such a good helper at passing things out, he would one day be one of Santa's elf helpers and pass out presents to boys and girls.

"Dis one is for Jowey, dis one is for Tyler. Open!"

"Hey, Dill? You want to help me?" asked Joely.

Dylan bolted right in and started ripping at the paper, throwing it everywhere out of his way.

When the enigma of the unopened packages was done and the paper discarded, Dylan nestled himself in front of the fire to play with his new Spiderman toys that Joely had given him. Thankfully, he was never deprived of muggle toys. The adults were enjoying some tea biscuits, and Tyler and Joely were on their way to play a game or two of pool before it was time to begin dressing for Christmas dinner.

"Joely?" asked Noelle, setting down her china teacup. "A note came with this asking that it be hand-delivered to you."

The package was about medium sized, wrapped in silver paper and tied with a baby blue ribbon. There was no tag or card designating the sender.

"Who's it from?" she asked.

Noelle only smiled and gave a small shrug. "Open it."

Joely looked to her father then to Tyler. Sean nodded with an encouraging smile.

"Tyler, is this from you?" He shook his head. She should've known better than to ask that; she had already opened her present from him. "Mom... Dad?"

They duplicated Tyler's answer.

Joely tugged the ribbon loose, letting it fall to the ground in waves. She gingerly eased open the paper and bit her lip in skittishness at what it had been hiding: a black, crushed velvet box. She looked at it quizzically, wondering who it could be from. She opened it slowly to find -

"Oh my gods, Joely!" exclaimed Noelle.

Joely scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's from Malfoy," she sneered.

Inside the box was a beautiful necklace. It was made of alternating platinum, loose "S" curved bar and small princess cut diamonds. Even at the distance that she was from father and Aunt and Uncle, they could see the gems twinkle in her eyes.

"Joely?" asked Tyler, nervously. "Isn't that the necklace that you saw that day we went to London?"

"Yeah," she said softly, rubbing her scrunched forehead.

"I wan see! I wan see!" yelled Dylan, running at top speed.

Joely showed him the piece. The sparkle in his smile resembled that of the gems.

"He weally wikes you."

"Dylan!" shouted Elena, Dylan mother.

"Well, Daddy says that he gives you stuff wike that because he wikes you."

Tyler was setting up for their pool game when he copped a glance Joely sitting in a chair some ten feet away from the box, staring at it intently. He laughed as she began to indulge herself in her habits of tapping her foot hurriedly and running her thumb across her bottom lip; her pathetic attempts at hiding her frazzled nerves.

"I've been meaning to ask you about yesterday. Where were you all day?"

"Out!" she snapped.

"Out?"

"Yeah, out! Did I stutter?"

"It's Christmas, Jammers, lighten up!" he said sternly.

"Shut up, Greene!"

"What the hell is up with you? Is this about that necklace? You need to remove whatever is lodged up your ass because it's pissing me off." The look she gave him answered his question. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, chalking up the end of his cue stick.

"No, you're one of them."

"What?"

"Did I say that out loud?" she asked bashfully.

Tyler's eyebrow rose almost completely into his hair.

"I'm sorry, Ty. Let's play pool, you break."

.....................................................................

"No, Draco, listen. You have to come to the States and see a game of Quodpot. It's unlike anything you've ever seen," said Tyler enthusiastically.

"It sounds awful. People throwing a Quaffle to try and score before it explodes hardly sounds appealing, let alone challenging."

"There are more players per team on the pitch, and time is of the essence. Besides, haven't you ever heard of trying something new?"

"Only if it sounds interesting," rebuffed Draco.

All were gathered in the formal living room, chatting with familiars and unknowns. Joely's family; both maternal and paternal sides; the Greenes, and the Malfoys, were acquainting themselves with one another. One however, was missing: Joely was being fashionably or unfashionably late.

Tyler and Draco were seated on one of the plush couches, arguing about whether Quidditch or its American counterpart, Quodpot, was better.

"Tyler, come over here," said a brunette woman with a rosy face dressed in a gold silk gown. "Bring Dylan too; Elena wants to see that little ditty of a thing you two do."

"Right, Mom," he replied exasperatedly. After all, he and Dylan had only been doing it at every get together since Dylan could walk. "We'll continue this whole Quidditch-Quodpot thing in a minute. I'm going..."

"Tyler!" screamed Dylan, wanting him to get a move on.

"I'm going to prove to you that Quodpot is awesome."

"Good luck, Greene."

Draco let out a deep sigh. He looked around at Joely's family, many of which looking his way and grinning. He gave a half-hearted smile to a shorter woman in red, and turned to face the fire. Seeing all these people gathered and being family or in the case of the Greenes; close enough to it, made him think about how he had always mocked Weasley for their family gatherings. It wasn't just some petty thing muggle lovers do; it was something he supposed families do. He looked upon the top of the coffee table and saw a leather-bound book about two inches thick.

"Salem Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Second Division," he said softly, reading the title.

He inspected the cover embellished with Salem's Crest: three wands crossed in the middle of a shield, with an animal at each tip of the wands, and at the top most point the Latin word "E" and on the bottom "pluribus" and "Unum" tracing the downward curves.

"One out of many," he said, translating the text. He flipped to the inside cover to the see the school's crest again, the headmistress' name and the corresponding year. This was Joely's fourth year yearbook. He scanned through the pages, not really paying much mind to the students.

He arrived near the end and skimmed through the pictures of the Quodpot teams, finding Tyler in a picture representing Eden Tower. He had heard once that he and Joely were in the same house, so he reversed his search until he came to the section designated for Eden Tower. He went forward to the 'M' section and there she was, smiling that heart warming grin. Draco shook his head as the picture chuckled then returned to its normal smile.

Scattered at the bottom of the pages were pictures of friends together, professors teaching their lessons, Quodpot games, solitary or groups of people acting goofy for the camera... there were even a few of disasters like that of Neville's exploding cauldrons with students zooming out of the way. But in the middle of each page, was a picture of someone voted for a superlative.

On the page with Joely's picture was the winner, or, in this case, winners voted "Most likely to make you laugh." Joely and Tyler were both in it, along with two other males and one other female. The girls were standing upon a tabletop, striking rock star poses with their wands stuck in the air. The three guys sat upon the tabletop, their arms around another's shoulders, smiling at the camera.

"Joely McGill, Kylie Daniels, Shea Owens, Tyler Greene, Ben Ingram... not pictured Cody Rawlings." Draco flipped back to find out who Cody Rawlings was, becoming curious at the person's absence. Why wasn't he in the picture? he thought, looking down at Cody's picture.

A few more pages ahead he fumbled, finding that Joely and this Cody fellow were voted "Cutest Couple." He peered into the background of the picture to the see the trees and ground blanketed in snow. Both had on their winter cloaks on and were hugging tightly as they posed cheek to cheek.

He looked at the remaining members of Eden Tower, some seeming to resemble fellow Hogwarts peers. The last page of Eden's section was declared a memorial page. In the middle was a larger picture of Cody having been voted "Most Missed." At the bottom under the picture was a poem written by the members of Eden Tower -

We wake in the morning, knowing it's true

But we pray it's all a dream

Because the one we're missing is you

You used to tell us that you're only as weak

as we let people believe

But what if they know we're weak

because you're the one we need

You made us laugh and now we cry

We still make believe

that is was he that died

They say the time will come

when we'll be happy to be alive

But how can that come

when all we want is for his demise

They say if it rains on the day of a death

then the heavens weep

for the Earth has lost one of its breaths

We sit here writing this in the rain

and pray for that day

when they tell us that this pain

will finally put itself at bay

We've lost apart of ourselves and we cannot lie

that knowing we won't see you tomorrow

still makes us cry

Salem isn't the same without your laugh

and neither are our hearts for that

We cannot say goodbye because that suggests the end

when we really know that your new life is about to begin

We love you and always will

-- Eden Tower

"I'm telling you, Draco, Quodpot..." said Tyler before nastily snatching the yearbook from Draco. "Where the hell did you find this?"

"Right there on the table," said Draco defensively. "This Cody Rawlings, he's dead?"

"Lay off!"

"Oh so I see I've struck a nerve. Joely's never mentioned anyone by that name."

"And unless she sees fit for you to know and tells you herself, DON'T bring him up! Got it?" said Tyler in a shirty tone.

"Is he the castor of the curse?"

"Did you read the poem?"

"Did I not ask you who he was?"

"The poem is self-explanatory. Cody died, but the one that was meant to go... well his time is drawing close."

"Is he in that yearbook?"

Draco studied Tyler's actions and movements thinking that perhaps if he pushed him enough, he'd break like a feeble fool.

"Yes. But if I were to show him to you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Why is that?"

"He's a genius at putting up façades; it's sickening. People would believe Dylan to be the spawn of the devil before they'd believe that... He was evil."

"Was he in Eden Tower?" asked Draco, trying to dig deeper.

"No. He was in Thistle Coliseum." Tyler grew ill-tempered as Draco pushed the questions when he sternly demanded him to retreat.

"How many houses are there at Salem?"

"Didn't you look at the whole book?" asked Tyler snidely.

"Due to the fact that you decided to be a bastard and take it from me, no."

Tyler sighed. What was a question of houses going to hurt? "There are six houses: Eden Tower, Vanden Hall, Pioneer Plaza, Bentley Bend, Thistle Coliseum, and Capital Cloister."

"Hogwarts only has four and it's the largest school in Europe."

"Salem also provides for the magical persons of the U.S., Canada, and the children of foreign officials. English students though, well, there are none." He paused, looking around for anyone that might be spying. "Specifically, what are you searching for?"

Draco's eyes grew hot with success at breaking Tyler. "A secret keeper I can be. I want it all."

"You know his sister."

Draco's immediately reaction was that this guy had turned nutters or was just yanking his chain to get him to close his gob. How could he know this person's sister when Joely was the first American he'd ever met?

Just then, Joely entered the room. Tyler had seen her dressed elegantly before, but this time... he couldn't help but be curious if her apparel had been secured with a hearty, monetary bribe.

She was dressed in a strapless, black gown with a corset style top and satin trim around the bust with silver buttons replacing the zipper. Her hair was in a curly updo with strands purposefully falling down her neck; her earrings radiating with the focal point of people's eyes: her necklace; the present from Draco.

As she walked, she appeared to be gliding; the elegance she exuded was testimony that this was a rare event to see her in such a manner.

She finally reached Tyler after having squeezed her way through all the family and friends she had to reacquaint herself with and welcome. She opened her mouth to speak but was stopped when she felt a gentle tug on her gown. She looked down to see one snazzy dressed tot.

"Yes, my little heartbreaker?" she teased, crouching down to Dylan's eye level.

"You wook very pweety, Jowey."

"Thank you, Dylan. You look pretty sharp yourself."

Dylan's face lit up with a glow. "Mommy! She said I wook shawp!" he screamed running across the room to his mother.

"You look amazing, Jammers. What's the occasion?"

"It would do you good to keep your mouth closed. There aren't many dresses I actually like, but I happen to be enjoying this one. Evening, Malfoy."

Draco looked nonplused. Since when did she start calling him Malfoy again? On that note... why was she calling him Malfoy again?

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen and young master. Dinner is served," said a house-elf dressed in a black tailcoat.

"Thank you, Wimble," said Sean. "Shall we?"

Immediately, Joely groped for Tyler's arm.

"Would you do me the honor of escorting you to dinner?" he asked teasingly.

"The pleasure's all mine, good sir," she joked.

"No! I wan do it, Tyler!" grumbled Dylan. "My mommy said I have to be a gentlebin."

"That's gentleman, Dill," laughed Tyler. "All right, little man, she's all yours."

"Jowey?" he asked, raising his hand to hers.

"You got it, kiddo," she laughed.

"What did you do?" Tyler asked Draco as they lagged behind a few paces.

"How the devil should I know? She hasn't called me Malfoy since... Oh gods in hell."

"What?"

"Her headache," he groaned, scratching his scrunched forehead.

"What?" Tyler yelled, receiving questioning glances at his outburst.

"Night before last she had a headache. Well she came to me..."

"And?" asked Tyler accusatorially.

"You can unclench the fists, Greene, because I stopped it before it got torrid. She left in quite a huff."

"Thank God. I was wondering if I would have to break you down," he cursed.

"You flatter yourself with your thoughts on your strength. But do tell why you would try."

"Joely has no control in those situations. When she gets those kinds of headaches, she gets naughtier than... well it's a sight."

"You know this for a fact? How many times have you reaped the benefits of these naughty headaches?"

"Let's just say that these headaches are a relapse into Damon taking control. They're kind of like the Imperius Curse, or a test, just to see how far she'll push herself into pain. But they only work in conjunction with - damn it all!"

Draco played deaf to Tyler's name mention and near revelation of a possible clear link to this curse.

The dinner guests arrived into a fantastically decorated large dining room. The cream drapes were intertwined with ones of red and green, and the ceiling was charmed to snow with a gentle and fluffy flurry while faerie lights danced around the enclosure. Both fireplaces at either end of the room were lit; the table dressed with a dark crimson tablecloth and set for at least fifty people with fine china and crystal used solely on holidays.

"Oh my gods, Jammers!" said Tyler as he and Draco stood to Joely's left.

"Wow! I've never seen anything like this!" she gasped. "This is beautiful."

"It had to be for our first Christmas in England," whispered Sean with a smile when he passed her.

"Jowey, sit by me!"

"Tell you what. You find my setting and I'll sit next to you. Remember, no knives."

"Where will you sit?"

"Where there are no knives, silly."

Dylan smacked his forehead playfully. "Oops!" And he bounded off on his little quest.

Dylan found the setting and sat in the chair to the left of it with Joely next to him, and Tyler sat to Joely's right. Draco, however, chose the placing directly across from Tyler.

He was nosy about the whole "no knives" situation. Of all the places to sit, what was the reasoning for knives near her to be prohibited?

Once everyone was seated, Sean tapped his wine glass and rose at the head of the table. "I want to make a toast and welcome everyone here tonight. First, I want to toast to my beautiful wife Noelle for putting this evening together. A toast to my daughter Joely for upholding the McGill honor as a Slytherin." Joely's head dropped as her tawny cheeks burned red hot with embarrassment; Draco's gaze highly noticed. "A toast to my dear friend Lucius, his wife Narcissa and their son Draco for welcoming us into their lives. Draco, thank you for taking such good care of my daughter."

Joely's eyes quickly diverted to Draco.

"My pleasure, sir."

"I want to toast my other dear friend, who was the first friend I had when I arrived in America; Michael Greene, his wife Nicole and their son Tyler. Thanks for letting us borrow your son by the way."

"Anything, Sean," said Michael as the guests laughed.

"A toast to my brother-in-law Evan Crown, his darling wife Elena, and their son Dylan."

"That's me! That's me, Uncle Sean!" squealed Dylan, bouncing in his chair.

"That's you, buddy," said Tyler.

"And to all our guests, a toast!"

"Here, here!" said everyone, raising their glasses.

"Enjoy!" chanted Sean.

Dinner had gone off without a hitch. As the wine and champagne were consumed, nothing but conversations of the happy holiday spirit and laughs were exchanged. Everyone was enjoying the company of those around them.

Draco felt a pang of soaring anger and confusion as to why Joely hadn't spoken to him or even looked in his direction (that he knew of) all through dinner. She had submersed herself in Dylan and Tyler; even portraying a self-absorbed resemblance to Granger on the rarity. He couldn't be incensed or jealous of the attention the four year Dylan received, but Draco still had a tweaked nerve as far as Tyler was concerned. If she really did mean to rid him of her life, why the mind games, the teasing, and seeming to willingly engage in foreplay?

"Just a sip, Jowey? Pwease?" Dylan whined and begged.

"One sip, Dill." She tilted the champagne flute on his tiny lips, the bubbly liquid passing the rim.

"Blah!" Dylan spat. Joely quickly grabbed a napkin, covering Dylan's mouth with it, allowing him to spit out the remaining champagne into the linen.

Joely and Tyler roared with laughter. "How did it taste?" Tyler asked.

"Icky! No more!"

One by one the guests retired into the drawing room. The men began to gorge themselves in more liquor, the spirit of choice: Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. It was illegal in America, but according to most, it was the best and well worth the risk of black market buying. The females talked over pots of Earl Grey and Christmas tea and a few of Joely's distant cousins gossiped about the cutest new Quodpot or International Quidditch star.

Joely looked around in search of her missing man and boy. She knew they had been right behind her when they left the dining room, so where could they have rushed off to? Maybe Dylan was playing hide-and-seek? It was one of his favorite games, other than the "let's pretend I didn't hear Mommy call me" game.

"Jowey, come on!" yelled Dylan, tugging hard on her hand and pulling her out into the corridor.

"Where we going, Dill?"

"No talking in the corwidors!" he demanded, sounding like a teacher. "Come on!"

He pulled her into the ball room in its beginning stages of decorating for the upcoming New Year's Ball. The room was just a stunning and elegant as the dining room. Red and green were everywhere, a little cream mixed here and there, giving the room a brilliant and balanced splendor. It wasn't snowing, but the faerie lights were glowing, and everlasting icicles claimed the ceiling's edges.

Suddenly, Tyler snuck up behind her, looping his arms around her waist.

"What do you think?"

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Dylan and I added the faerie lights and the icicles. We thought that you could use extra doses cheer with... you know coming up."

"Well, you know, I told myself that I wasn't going to think about it and so far until now I hadn't," she laughed, nudging Tyler in the ribs. "But this is fantastic. Thank you, both."

"Wisten to the song," said Dylan, who was now dancing around barefoot and without his dinner jacket.

Immediately, Joely's favorite Christmas song began to play. Her eyes lit up and she smiled brightly as Tyler spun her quickly to the middle of the room; the irritated blonde leaning against the doorframe was ignored.

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There's just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
more than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas
Is you...

Draco watched on as Joely switched off dancing between Tyler and Dylan. Dylan lacking the skills in dancing, Joely simply twirled him in circles until he was too dizzy to even stand. A smirk did cross the face of the malcontented Malfoy when Dylan would rebound and go back for more.

Oh I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
I'm just gonna keep on waiting
underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
to the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
holding on to me so tight
What more can I do
Baby all I want for Christmas is you
You... baby

All the lights are shining
so brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need
Won't you please bring my baby to me

His thoughts strayed back to dinner and the whole no knife babbling. Why won't she sit where there are knives? It struck him. She never uses knives! his mind screamed. Thinking back to the other night when he had been giving her the wayward foot massage under the table: there wasn't a knife at her seat. He recalled watching her in the Great Hall on the occasion: she always used spoons or forks. Over the summer: knives were like the plague. She shied away and refused to touch, let alone go near one in potions. Snape always gave him the task of cuttings the required ingredients. He remembered how she thought he was going to kill her that day he stabbed a knife into the table in potions.

Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see baby
standing right outside my door
Oh I just want you for my own
more than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You... baby

Draco grew exhausted as he felt his body being sucked away from the present. He gained his bearing and realized that he was in his dream from the other night. He heard a high pitched scream and looked all around but found nothing until a female with brown hair zipped past him, running straight into a corner, begging for help.

"The only one you can turn to is me; there's no one else. There's no where to go, darling."

"Don't call me that," she hissed.

Draco realized that he was indeed in his dream.

"You're my property! I will call you whatever I damn well please!"

"You can't own a person!" she screamed.

"I OWN YOU!"

"NO!"

The surrounding scene grew foggy and Draco's head felt liquefied and slushy. The following thing he heard was the man shout, "Crucio!" and the female twisted and contorted in painful positions as she thrashed about in agony. Veins protruded from her neck as she screamed, her back arched off the floor and her nails penetrated her palms. His dream sped up and he found himself in the dungeon. The very same dungeon were torturing was its common use.

"Which one shall we use my pet?"

"Please, you don't have to hurt me; I know you don't mean this."

"I mean every damn bit of it! Don't you understand? This is payback for everything you've ever done to hurt me. This isn't even half as bad as the pain you've caused me. Thank you, for you have just shown me which one you prefer."

Draco flinched as the knife was bared to him; it made his bones quiver and his body trembled in chills. It was the same dagger from his dream where he saw this very room with all the wall cases of sharp instruments. He remembered it now. This knife was the one that always struck him, but could never remember when he woke up.

He watched the slashing of the female's arm for the third time. His stomach turned over warning of the impending emptying as the blood spilled like a broken dam from her arm. Draco lost control of his body as it moved itself over to stand next to the wailing victim. As the man without a face cackled like always, he heard a misty voice say, "You're getting close, Draco. Just follow your heart, only you can save her." The voice now gone, Draco checked about the room thinking that maybe he was missing something or someone in the dreams; he found nothing of familiarity. So again he pried the space with his eyes then faced the girl; her face had sharpened... it was Joely.

Draco was violently thrown back into reality with a force resembling that of portkey transportation; his parents and the McGills behind him and calling for his attention. He looked between them all, silver sweat on his brow, his shallow breathing now heavy, his usual stoic body quaking as though having looked death in the eye.

"Draco, darling, what happened? You weren't responding to us," asked Narcissa.

He looked back into the ball room to the three still dancing happily as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Joely was the one attacked in my dream," he said collectively. "She was there."

The four adults exchanged looks of vexation.

"Draco, what are you talking about, son?" asked Lucius.

"The other night, Mother woke me from a nightmare. I was witness to a girl being tortured then stabbed and I had a vision of some sorts of the same event when I saw a scar on Joely's left arm in Hogsmeade before Halloween. I told Mum that I thought it was her, but she tossed it aside like I was going mad. I saw her face, Father. It was Joely. My dream is how she got the scar!"

"Draco, you're talking nonsense!" charged Lucius.

"Have I ever talked nonsense? No, you've always played that card on me to keep me under your thumb. I've been having this nightmare since the night before term began. I'm in this room that's lit by just one candle sitting on a table in the middle of the area. All around me are nothing but glass wall cases full of daggers, just daggers. I see this one that strikes my fancy, but when I wake up, I can't remember what it looks like. The bugger in my dream slashed Joely's arm with that very dagger I could never remember. I'm not mad!"

"Can you describe the blade?" asked Sean.

Draco recounted it exactly the way it was in his dream; the details vivid and lively enough to be deemed gruesome. Sean rubbed a hand roughly through his hair, scratching the base of his neck until his wife commented on him having left marks.

"It was her, wasn't it?" asked Draco.

"Yes," Noelle whispered.

.....................................................................

"Tell me again why I have to do this?"

"Joely, don't give me that tone. We do this every year and the tradition won't stop because you ask it to. You do not command this family. Traditions are very important to your father," scolded Noelle as hers and Joely's New Year's Eve gowns were being fitted.

"Note the reason he would die if he ever found out that I'm not a Slytherin. But the fact that we do in fact do this every year is my point!"

"The Minister of Magic will be here tonight, as will many of your father's new co-workers, so you will behave properly."

"I'm not five, Mother!"

"Then stop your whining."

"I'm not whining, I'm bitching. Besides, telling me to act properly does not mean that I have to act like I have my head up my ass. If that were the case then count me out!"

"You keep this up and you won't attend."

"Don't make me get my hopes up."

.........

"Who is it?" asked Draco, bobbing his head up from the letter on his desk.

"Draco, we need to talk about something, dear," spoke Narcissa through the door.

Draco quickly covered his letter with his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. If she asked, a quick lie of researching Quodpot as mentioned by Tyler was on hand in his mind.

"Come in."

"We need to talk," she said gravely. Narcissa looked at his desk to see parchment peering out from under a book, his ink well open, and the quill tip dripping with fresh black ink. "Who are you writing to?"

"If you came in here to question my correspondence -" he said shortly.

"Who are you writing to, young man?"

"Pansy," he fibbed.

"Well good, I'm glad to know that you two are close again," she smiled. "You have been friends for quite sometime, you know?"

"We're not close, Mother. Not after what she did to me. We may talk, but that's all." He wasn't about to involve his mother of his actions with the Slytherin female. He had enough hounding from his mother about respect as it was.

"Well, I've come to talk to you about the ball tonight. I don't want you under any circumstances to tell Joely about you knowing of her attacks. She hardly says anything to her mother; I doubt she'd confide in you."

"Why would I question her? We haven't spoken as of late and I don't foresee any conversation anytime soon. Wait... attacks? I only know about one."

"No more of that," Narcissa ordered. "Now, did you thank her for the gift?"

"No."

"Perhaps telling her you enjoy what she's given you will spark some friendliness between you. I know she adores her necklace. Noelle said that she wears it quite often."

"That Greene friend of hers gave me a note with her idea of a thank you."

"Oh, well, good then. We'll be leaving in about two hours, so you better start getting ready, darling."

"I will," he responded as his mother closed the large door that enclosed Draco in his cave, "after this letter is sent."

He signed the letter in his elegant and secretly practiced signature, and removed an envelope and a torn corner of parchment labeled with an address from his teak desk. He dipped his quill in glowing green ink and tainted the fine envelope with the address. Mistress of Magic Megan Baker, Mystical Society of North America, Oregon. With a bubbling splatter of the Malfoy crested sealing wax, the letter was secured; he whistled for his owl.

"I need this delivered to the addressee only; no one else. If she won't accept, stay there until she does. Don't come back until you've delivered it correctly."

Draco leaned out his window, taking in deep breaths of the crisp, chilly air, letting it sting his lungs to diffuse the anger boiling in his chest. Triton flapped out into the night, getting lost among a group of hunting bats.

"Mine." He heard a voice howl in the wind. "She's mine. She's mine," it growled.

"Leave her be," Draco commanded as he slammed his window shut.

.....................................................................

By eight o'clock that night, all guests invited had arrived; receiving the warm welcoming Sean expected of his staff. Before the ball's official beginning however, the master of the McGill household felt it necessary that everyone exchange pleasantries over drinks.

"Minister, I would like to introduce you to my wife Noelle."

"It's a pleasure to have you here tonight, Minister," said Noelle, a friendly hug so designated appropriate.

"Please, call me Cornelius. You wouldn't mind me calling you Noelle, would you?"

"Please do."

"And, this is my daughter Joely, sir."

"Ah yes, so good to finally meet Sean's daughter. I've heard quite a lot about you from Albus."

"I hope it was all good," laughed Sean a little exaggeratedly.

"Thank you, Minister. It's nice having you here tonight," said Joely respectfully. "I hope you find you enjoy yourself."

"Do tell what the monetary award is for behaving so properly. Who was that?" asked Tyler, handing Joely a glass of punch as the adults walked away.

"If there was a monetary award involved, I would've kissed up better than that," she ridiculed. "That's the Minister of Magic."

"Ah! So that's him."

"Don't you just feel incredibly honored to have met him?" she said acerbically. "I guess after all he's done for us, it's only right he be here tonight. I have to admit that he understood everything very well. He said that he's heard a lot about me from Professor Dumbledore, and that makes me nervous."

"If he heard anything bad, no doubt you'd have heard about it; and possibly never have heard the end of it either. And you know; who wouldn't understand your situation? They'd have to be pretty thick not to," he smirked, planting a kiss on her neck.

"Mister Greene, oh how you make me blush with your kisses. Your good mood is due to a certain letter received from Mistress Vanessa?"

"Yeah right, I'm sure she's turning people against me as we speak." Joely laughed over the rim of her punch glass. "I'm actually trying to keep you happy."

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm fine," she said, licking up the tiny drips of lemonade punch from her glossed lips.

"Are you? Look over there," he said wearily, turning her face to the opposite side of the room.

There, she found Draco engulfed by girls; girls that she went to school with now and a plethora from Salem. Jealousy erupted through her like a long time dormant volcano. Granted most of the girls she did not associate with, but one there made her blood putrid green and acidic, corroding her veins. Fortunately, Draco had yet seemed to notice her as he was quite enraptured with a busty blonde in red. They were fawning over him and salivating like a hungry mutt over a precious piece of meat. Hands touched and groped about his body; pouted, fire engine red lips caressed his ears with words that were straightforwardly lewd. She'd seen hormone driven teenagers butter up to him before, but this time he showed how much he was enjoying their saucy attention to his male features.

******FLASHBACK******

Something woke her very early Christmas Eve morning. A sharp stab in her mind ordered her out of a much enjoyed slumber. A tiny, vehement voice warned her that Draco was not all he spoke of.

She wormed out of bed as hushed as possible as to not wake Tyler. The clock read half past six, and with them being on holiday, it was a sure thing that he would be grumpy with having been woken at such an hour without a cogent reason. She padded across the room to her closet, cursing the squeaky door as it opened. She dressed in a pair of jeans and a maroon turtleneck sweater, grabbed her boots and wool pea coat and was on her way out the door when she swore to hell and back knowing that her father's security measures would not allow her to leave without the house-elves ratting on her departure. She was watched like a hawk. Christmas was not a time of year where she was trusted.

She decided to sneak out the next best way: out her window. Flooing to the Malfoy's was out of the question; this was her only option. Well, there was a chance she could pinch one of her parent's cars, but one, the garage attendant would surely betray her, and two, she was the worst when it came to driving in snow.

She quickly exited out the window, stepping onto the snow covered balcony. She looked out into the pinkish sky and prayed that she wasn't afraid to fly. Well, flying would require the possession of a broom. Neither of her parents owned one, and Tyler hadn't brought his, so the flying choice was abolished. She climbed onto the ledge and literally inched her way down the trellis. High heeled boots don't work well in this situation, she thought.

She jumped down when she was very near to the bottom and was welcomed by shin deep, cold, wet snow. She shook her head. She should've known there would be mountains of snow out here.

"Okay, this will not work," she said in immense frustration.

But something else struck her; she didn't know the way to the Manor. She and her family normally flooed there and Joely had never paid attention to the roadways when they drove. Shaking from the bitter wind and her pant legs close to icicle status, there was only one thing she could do -

By the time she found the manor, natural illumination was only courtesy of a faint pink and orange glow from the horizon. Night, good camouflage, she thought. That compelling voice that she had heard this morning was pushing her to go around back; she obeyed. She took a look in the window at a distance and saw the fuzzy outlines of Draco's parents, three unrecognizable people, and a house-elf carrying a silver tea service tray. Draco's form was absent. She pressed against the bottom corner of the glass; her sensitive ears eavesdropping on the conversation as she hid in the shadows.

"It's so good to see you again, Jean," said Lucius.

"It 'as been awhile," said the greying, stocky man in a thick French accent. "Narcissa, I muz zay you become more beautiful every visit."

"Well thank you, Jean, that's too kind of you," laughed Narcissa. "How was your trip, Chantal?"

"I muz zay it was bumpy. Nozing I can't 'andle, of course." The air of the brunette appeared drastically less arrogant than her physical features.

"Where is young Draco?"

"He'll be joining us shortly. His correspondence is at a record. No doubt concerning his future in the Ministry," said Lucius.

"It 'as been a long time zince I zaw 'im," came the high pitched voice of a smug girl with a perfectly pert nose and searing eyes. Surely she was at least the age of 15, though it was doubtful in her tiny stature.

"He's every anxious to see you," said Lucius.

"As well 'e should be," she replied.

"Ah, yes there he is now. Draco, do come in."

Joely's eyes opened widely as she watched Draco glide into the room, his air that of being worth millions of Galleons. Then again, he was worth much more than most believed; his silk shirt and fine trousers proof for the doubting.

"Draco," began Lucius, "you remember the Duke and Duchess de Marseille and their daughter Giselle?"

"Of course I do. It's a pleasure to see you again."

Draco and the Duke exchanged strong, firm handshakes. He gave a friendly, welcome kiss to each of Chantal's cheeks, and when he went to repeat the typical gesture on Giselle as was done in her home country, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tenaciously.

"Oh, Draco, it iz zo good to zee you again!"

"You too, Giselle," he said light-heartedly, pulling her away and kissing each cheek.

"You always knew 'ow to make me blush."

"Just one of my many fine attributes," he teased.

"Do sit down," said Lucius. "Tell me, how are things now?"

Joely paid no mind to the chatting adults that were almost too close to her hiding spot for comfort. She was solely focused on watching the way Draco and Gazelle or Giselle, whatever her name was (Joely was too angry to really remember), talk very spiritedly and paw and grope about the other's body. They seemed quite attached, almost as though they were joined at the hip. She shook her head; she was not going to think about that. She was going to find out about this little, pompous French Miss if it killed her. Jealousy ran and bubbled through her like a babbling brook; her hackles up like a bear clawing for the salmon jumping in that brook.

She kept watch over the pair non-stop for what seemed like hours. She didn't have a normal watch on; for sure it would've fallen off while missing an imposable thumb. A muggle clock wasn't in her current eyesight range either. Having wondered on many occasions when Astronomy would come in handy, she knew now was the time to implore one of her best subjects. She checked the positions of the moon and stars, guesstimating the time to be around that of nine.

Her attention was diverted back to the room where she saw Draco and Giselle traipsing closer to her. She ducked quickly deeper into the surrounding shadows and pleading to any one above that would listen that she hadn't been seen. Thankfully their voices were still clear as before.

A low growl raised itself into the back of her throat as she watched Draco support Giselle's weight against his hip as they enjoyed their privacy. Joely saw the back of his shirt ruffle, no doubt by the clammy and perfectly manicured hand of Giselle. Her ears sparked and perked up once more when the French darling began to speak.

"Do you wonder what it would be like if we were ztill betrothed?"

An alarm went off in Joely's predatory mind. Betrothed!

"Sometimes, yes, I do. Now though I'm quite sure we're best with having relationships with other people." Strike one for Giselle, Joely thought. "There is someone I currently have that I could possibly marry." Strike two! Joely's heart fluttered. Did he mean her? "But trust in me for should I ever become betrothed again, I hope to find you available for the position."

Strike... wait, that wasn't a strike. But... that was how baseball worked. Three strikes and you're out! If Draco had been playing baseball with his charm as the bat, he would've just hit a home run, she thought.

"Oh, Draco, you're too good to me. When I 'ad heard about what 'ad happened to you, I thought I 'ad lost you. I was zo scared."

"I'm still here, love."

Joely had heard more than enough. If this wasn't what her mind demanded she stay at school to avoid, she didn't want to know what else Draco could feasibly up to.

"Did you zee that?" asked Giselle.

"See what?"

"Out there. I zaw sumzing by those trees."

"Maybe we should have a look," Joely heard Draco say excitedly as she listened from her fresh hiding place in the middle of a group of pine trees. Slowly, to keep her padded feet on the top layer of snow, she edged her way into the back trees. Joely's acute eyes could see Giselle's reluctance at stepping out into the open, but the warm and secure grip of Draco's hand in hers lulled her fear.

"Careful, the snow out here can get really deep."

"Cela est beau! Who made zat snow angel?"

"No one you know," he said casually.

Joely quietly hissed. "Give me five seconds and she'll know exactly who made that angel."

"Giselle, you're eyes must be playing tricks on you. There's nothing out here."

"Oh, Draco, look paw prints!"

"Where?"

"Right there beside you, bête."

Paw prints? Joely's mind screamed.

Draco looked down to his side and saw the animal tracks.

"Zay are big!"

"A little too big for anything that lives in the woods around here," he said curiously. "We best return indoors."

"It might 'ave been a beast. One with big claws zat you see in books."

"All the more reason to get you inside."

"Shit!" Joely growled once Draco and Giselle were inside, but smiles were glorious when she sharpened her sight and watched Draco peek through the window then lock the doors.

******END FLASHBACK******

It was rotten enough that she was informed of his once betrothal through a window and not directly from him, but it was something more hurtful all together for her to think that he felt that keeping something of that magnitude from her second-rate and continue to let these girls paw over him. Mad did not begin to describe her emotions. He seemed to care not about these harlots viewing him as nothing more than a piece of meat, and a high-priced cut at that.

Joely zoned herself out. Lost so deeply in thought, she was exhaustively unaware of Tyler moving her into a chair, and two friends from Salem, Shea and Greg, standing root next to her to say hello. Tyler stayed faithful in attempting to break her spaced out gaze, but even shaking her to the point of whiplash was futile. Finally, the voice of one man broke into her defunct mind.

"Everyone began dancing half an hour ago; why are you two just sitting here?"

Joely blinked, slowly tilting her head to the 6'3" man next to her: her father. Unbeknownst to Joely, Draco stood behind her, mouthing for Tyler to keep quiet of where he was.

"What the hell is Amanda Thurston doing here?" she bellowed.

"The Thurstons are here every year, Jem, you know that. Ever since Christmas Eve you've been too edgy to tolerate. What's wrong?" asked Sean.

She smelt Draco's spicy cologne, turning her head to see him standing there, comfort oozing out of his bones.

"Nothing," she spat. "I'm just peachy."

She flew out of her chair in a huff and disappeared out the doors and into the gardens. Sean looked to the two young men he knew spent time around his daughter.

"Has she said anything to either of you about something upsetting her?"

"No," said Tyler honestly. "I thought it was because the fourth is nearly here." Sean stared beadily at Tyler for such a comment.

"Christmas was the last time her and I have spoken, and it wasn't much conversation at that," said Draco off-handedly. He assumed that whatever was bothering her would pass on its own. Why interfere and make her angry with him?

"If she happens to confide in either of you, I expect a full report." And he left to join his wife in a waltz.

Tyler sat and listened to his internal clock tick away the seconds. His eyes began to droop as the usual boringness of this annual event overwhelmed him. Had this year gone as smoothly as he and Sean had verbalized about, he and Joely would be off on their own and eventually falling asleep next to each other still in their ball attire just like all the previous years. Sean didn't want this year to be any different; but somehow this year, his trust in his daughter's abilities to control her self was dangerously low.

"Nice watch."

"Thank you," said Draco, "it's from Joely."

"A necklace like the one you gave her is not usually just out of a friendship. Something like that means that more is wanted. Bribery to feel for you, Malfoy, perhaps?"

"If I was bribing Joely into falling for me, I'd spoil her with more than that necklace. With what she's been through, I decided she deserved it."

"So what was it, a pity gift?"

Draco and Tyler whipped around to see Joely behind them, shaking from head-to-toe with chills and the hem of her lavender satin gown dark with wetness from the ground's covering. Flustered, pink cheeks from either wind or anger glowed brightly and her hair was falling down in pieces from the vexatious and gale force winds this area of England was infamous for in the winter season.

"Sweetheart, I know you run when you're angry, but must you ruin your gown in the process of calming yourself?"

"Shut up, Tyler! Was it out of pity, Malfoy?"

"What the hell is the matter with you? And when did you feel it necessary to call me Malfoy again? What have I done, love?"

"Answer my question, Ferret," she yelled.

"Ferret?" asked Tyler.

"Stay out of it, Tyler!" she grumbled. "Answer me, damn it!"

"Yes, it was out of pity! Are you happy now?" He mentally warred with himself. He hadn't meant that. He had given it as an honest gift of affection.

"Here," she spat, throwing the necklace at him, "I don't want it. Why don't you give it to Giselle as an engagement gift? Most people give rings, but seeing as you would hope she would be your bride if another betrothal arrangement was drawn, I'm sure she would agree in a flash."

Draco looked over Joely's storming form with an improper gaping mouth. How did she know about Giselle? That information was under the tightest security of the Malfoy safe. No one, not Blaise, not Pansy; no one but Lucius, Narcissa and Draco himself knew of his former betrothal.

"Do you know him?" asked Tyler.

"Know who?"

"That guy Joely's talking to."

Draco's eyes narrowed. This "him" was not someone he fancied Joely being within any proximity to.

"Aaron Newcastle," Draco chiseled out acidly, spitting venom at the black-haired boy.

"So you do know him."

"Unfortunately, yes. He's gone through more woman than you or I would in about six lives. Should she get a headache, I don't imagine I need to further those details. He wouldn't so much as turn a hag down if she offered."

"What? Joely!" screamed Tyler through cupped hands.

In a split second, Joely projected her arms around Aaron's neck, planting a smashing and bruising kiss upon his thin lips. Tyler pulled her off the boy dominantly. She and Tyler exchanged a fair amount of rash and unforgivable words before he blasted his arms up in frustration. Joely leaned to the side and gave Draco a sly wink before seductively pulling Aaron out in the garden. Aaron turned his head back and flashed Draco a "look, what I got" smile. Draco knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that he hated Aaron with a passion. He had enough; he wasn't going to let her play him for a love-struck fool anymore.

Tyler sat himself in the empty chair next to Draco, muttering words under his breath Draco never thought he'd hear someone utter about their best friend since birth. He stared at the now ownerless necklace in his hands. He now more than ever regretted saying it was given out of pity; but time was not reversible for that doing.

"Who's Giselle?"

"Huh?" asked Draco, sounding dazed.

"Giselle," he said, looking at the necklace. "Who is she?"

"Her father was a Death Eater who led the league of supporters in France. She and I were once betrothed but the contract was broken in May after the Dark Lord's death."

"Let me guess, you never told Jammers about her?" Draco shook his head. "So tell me about this Newcastle guy. Is there a likely chance of him being forceful?"

"There's as likely of chance as you and I not even bearing a thought of such."

"Fuck!" yelled Tyler, flying out of his chair for the French doors into the garden.

Draco let out a long sigh that emptied his lungs as a new song began. This was definitely going to be a night, no, holiday, to remember. It had begun as a holiday he felt would ensure his presence back in her life; now, the beginning of the term was repeating.

"Would you care to dance?" asked a blonde, green eyed beauty.

Draco's insides froze but his air of sophistication remained as he studied the silver fastenings between the girl's dangerously plunging halter dress. If Joely could gambol about with other males, why couldn't he with females? Their chances were surely shot so why not enjoyed his time of singleness.

"Love to," he told her, bringing her to the dance floor.

"Noelle? Who is that girl Draco is dancing with?" asked Narcissa.

"Oh bloody hell! I told Sean that this would happen! Why doesn't he ever listen to me? She does this every year!"

"Who is she?"

"The last person Draco should be around."

......

"What the hell were you thinking, Jammers, going off like that?"

"None of your damn business!" she spat, jerking her arm from his handhold, as he hurled her into a chair like a rampaging father.

"Draco said that that guy wouldn't hesitate to try and take a girl by force."

"Thanks for rescuing me, Daddy. Remind me to yell for you next time I shower so you can watch me so I don't fall. When did you start listening to Malfoy anyways when you said so many times that you thought he had something against you."

"Are you PMSing or something?"

"Yeah, it's called 'putting up with men's shit!'"

They continued to argue through the next five waltzes. Tyler, worn out from fighting, left to cool his scorching temper. Sometimes she could be as stubborn as a jackass. But, he loved her with all his heart and was not about to see her hurt again, let alone by a complete stranger with a history.

"Nice ball, McGill. I must say it's better than last year's."

Joely took deep breaths, counting to ten each time before exhaling. She promised her mother that should she show up, she would be a welcoming hostess. The welcome party between these two ex-schoolmates had been over ages ago. Joely's forehead crinkled when Draco glided up next to her vile adversary, hugging her waist. Draco grinned in spite. He was getting her back for Aaron and she knew it. She wasn't about to let him believe he was affecting her.

"Come on, love, let's dance."

"Just give me a minute, puddin.'"

Joely snorted under her breath. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the ball, Thurston."

"Oh good, you do remember me. I have to say that this isn't as lavish as my Christmas party, but taking your financial status in consideration... it, it'll do."

"You're not an acquaintance that I've forgotten. Besides, the only person with more money stuck up their ass than you, Amanda, is Malfoy there."

"Oh, McGill, you slay me." She faked humor.

"Don't put it past me."

"Or me," said Tyler, backing Joely.

"Greene, why are you still associating with this failure? It's not like anyone misses her at Salem. You're wasting your chances of climbing the social ladder hanging around with this trash."

"The only trash around here is you, Thurston!" yelled Joely, taking a hold of a water goblet in aim of drenching the paphian.

"Speaking of trash, didn't I just read an article in the Pioneer Press about your father being thrown out of the Society like trash for embezzlement?" asked Tyler with glee. "That explains how you got the funding for the party and for that dress. But, I hate to be the one who has to update your couture, but that dress was so last season."

"Let's go, puddin'," said Amanda, dragging a chuckling Draco.

"You're going to make me owe you one, aren't you?"

"I promised long before Cody died that I wouldn't always look out for you, and I have. Even before Cody it was always me. I don't care how mad you make me; I will never leave your side."

"You like me, you really like me," she giggled, pecking his lips.

"Wow!" gasped Tyler, his cheeks tinged pink.

"I know. We definitely have a 'friends with benefits' relationship."

"I don't remember receiving any of these supposed benefits."

"I'm keeping you on a leash until you're ready for me. I'm too much for you." Tyler cocked an eyebrow. "I'm ready for bed."

"Let us retire, my queen."

"To my chambers, my knight."

Joely stood and Tyler picked her up bridal style, carrying her out into the corridor and up the marble staircase.

.........

Draco watched on as Tyler carried a laughing Joely away like lovers off for a night of love making. It was common and frequently reminded knowledge that they were close, but their closeness level and Draco's comfort zone were far apart. But hey, what was he saying? He was tired of her game of leading him on and then leaving him behind. Her naughty and enticing behavior only to be downplayed to an innocent had now been abolished.

"... so I told her, I said, 'Erica you have to come with me.' But obviously she isn't here. I know that she would've put McGill right in her place. I don't know so much about Greene because she's had something for him ever since first year. Can you imagine Erica and Greene? It's almost repulsing. Honey bee, are you listening to me?"

"What?" he asked half-heartedly, staring at the exit and not his dance partner.

Amanda grabbed him by the chin, roughly turning his face to see straight with hers.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Why did you lie and tell me you weren't the Amanda Joely despises?"

"Aww, puddin', just forget about her, you've got me now. Did I ever tell you what she did to this guy in our year named Cody? You are not going to believe this!"

The song concluded and the crowd began to applaud when Draco saw Tyler enter the Ball Room with his tux jacket and bowtie off and the first three buttons of his shirt undone. Tyler all by pounced on a person that struck familiar to Draco as someone he had seen in Joely's yearbook and whispered something into his ear. Next, Draco watched the extraction of something square and wrapped in green foil from his pocket, and quickly shove it into Tyler's hand. Tyler gave him a firm tap on the arm and jetted off.

"Bitch!" he said under his breath. "So, she wants it that way, huh? Let's go," he told Amanda.

"What? Where are you taking me, sugar lips?"

"To the highest peak you've ever had."

..................................................................

"What? Where are you going?" asked a groggy Tyler, sitting up partially on one elbow.

"Shh. I'll be back soon, just go back to sleep."

"Jammers, let me - uh - go with you."

"Are you mad? You're still half drunk. You know, you won't remember any of this conversation once you wake up, let alone sober up." Joely laughed, zipping up her boots. "Oh gods, don't breath on me."

"It's your fault, you're the one that opened the second bottle," he stuttered, his cheeks puffed out as though he was trying to refrain from vomiting.

"I didn't make you drink it."

"Mmm," were Tyler last words before crashing back into slumber.

Oddly for a quarter to ten in the morning, the McGill residence was veritable quiet. As she exited her room, butterflies fluttered inside her. Nerves took over as a reminder of what she was about to do - talk to Draco and see if they could clear the slate and start fresh.

It was now the third of January, the party two days previously, and they left for Hogwarts on the sixth; that seemed like adequate time for both to cool off and make peace again before the return to school. If only this was going to be a simple as counting days. This was going to be the pure and simple truth that was rarely pure and simple. No, she knew this was going to be rough and drawn-out. She knew that she was being, and had been a complete misery to him this holiday with playing the mind and emotion games that she had and then even when he'd ask what was bothering her, she played another game, one everyone called, "Nothing, I'm fine."

.........

Her mind was full of nothing but things she wanted to say to him before he interrupted and possibly threw her out without forgiving her. Yet somewhere in her mind she knew she didn't deserve for him to accept her apology. She eased her hand up to the doorbell, but just as she was about to press the button, her hand drew itself back. Well, no turning back now, she thought. She swallowed her fear and pressed.

"Joely, come on in."

"Thanks, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Did you walk?" she asked worriedly.

"No, I drove."

"Good, it's quite a long walk."

"I know," Joely said off-handedly, not even thinking.

"What, dear?"

"I uh, I was just saying that it seemed like a long drive so walking would be awful."

"Oh here, let me take your coat," offered Narcissa.

"Oh, thanks. Um, is Draco home?"

"I believe so. You know, he has stayed locked in his room since New Years. His father nor I have seen him."

"I'm sure he's just tired. It's been a very busy holiday, and with having to back to school, I'm sure he's catching up on his sleep."

"Well, go on up, dear. I'm sure he'll be enchanted to see you."

"Thank you."

Joely's thoughts reared their ugly heads, burning her eyes when the ugliness of them scared her into believing she would be departing this manor without Draco back on her side. Each thought squabbled with her about what should be told to him and in what order. She hated when her thoughts were the ones thinking. She was thankful that she didn't eat breakfast, for she was sure that it would've reappeared on her.

She came upon his bedroom door, hoping that he was up and in a good mood. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and reached for the handle, but she was caught off guard when it opened by itself - or so she thought.

"Hello, McGill."

Joely's heart sped up and sank. Standing before her was none other than the one girl she wished didn't exist. But yet, there she was, alive and walking out of Draco's bedroom carrying her heels and in the same dress she had been wearing at the ball.

"What...?" she sputtered. "Amanda?"

"That's right, sweetie," she answered in her Georgia Peach accent.

"What're you...?"

"Well, well, look who it is," came a long snide voice.

"I think I'm going to be sick," said Joely, her throat coated in putrid bile.

"Oh trust me, love, the morning sickness has yet to begin. Unless... last night wasn't the first?" hissed Draco, almost evilly.

"What?" asked Joely.

"Come on, McGill," teased Amanda. "You know morning sickness, puking when you're pregnant. I knew you and Tyler were close, but we all know just how close you two are now, don't we? You know each other in the biblical sense, now. That's wonderful."

"We never -"

"Well, sugar lips, I better go. Thanks for the peak," said Amanda sweetly, giving him a gentle kiss on the lips.

As she walked past Joely, she gave her a "you lost" wink, and wiped the corner of her mouth.

Joely stared down at the floor until she heard the massive front doors close, signifying Amanda's departure. She slowly raised her head but refused herself to look at Draco. Even without eye contact, the infamous Malfoy smirk was evident from a mile away.

"What? Did you think I was going to let you get the better of me with Aaron. I told you that I was sick of you playing with my emotions. Did you really think that I was going to let you continue to play with me like a toy just because I like you?"

"You're evil," she whispered.

"Oh I'm evil?" he burst, pushing her very roughly into the wall. She whimpered when her back hit the wall; she lost her breath.

"Yes, you!" she yelled. "Just like your father, you bastard!"

She had crossed the line and Draco let her know it. In one quick flash, Joely's head was forced right instead of forwards. Her cheek fire-red and stinging terribly; Draco had slapped her.

"Don't you dare talk about my father, you whore. Where the hell do you get off calling me evil, knowing that YOU killed Cody?"

Joely was forcing herself with all the strength she had not to cry or rip him limb-from-limb that the cackle in her head had ordered of her. She refused him the satisfaction of confirming that he'd broken her. Draco was treating her the exact way... "He" did. He always told her that she was worthless and she would be treated accordingly by everyone that she came near.

When Draco mentioned Cody's death, Joely's heart dropped into her stomach. Clueless she was on how he could've found out about Cody except... if Amanda told him.... Oh what a horror to think about. The tears stinging her eyes begged to be released, but she wasn't going to give in; she couldn't give in. She was going to prove to herself, to Draco and to "Him" that she was stronger than everyone thought. Just like Cody always said, "You're only as weak as you let people believe."

"Can't even look at me, can you? Does the truth hurt, Jem?"

"Don't call me that! I should've listened and not got involved with you! I should've let you die!"

Draco looked taken aback. "Who told you not to get involved with me?"

"EVERYONE DID! My father, Blaise, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all warned me. I hope you die a horrible death. I might even find it within my cold heart to help you along."

"Oh believe me, darling, I died two nights ago," he sneered. "Do you know the beauty of that death? Everything you and I had died as well; all of it gone, painlessly, and with many welcoming sensations from your stunning friend that just left."

"And what exactly did we have? We both know it wasn't sex. I went after that and you turned me down, remember? Aww, couldn't take a virgin, Draco? I know Blaise will be ecstatic to assist me in the removal of my virgin burden. We don't love each other, Draco. Well, love is a hard concept for you to grasp, so you probably wouldn't be able to love at all unless it was yourself..."

Draco punched the wall beside her head as a warning.

"We did care about each other, but you decided to murder that. Oh, murder! You've heard that word before, haven't you? Where were we? Oh, yes, the subject of caring, correct? I did help you find something within yourself that you felt you were too big and almighty to find alone. Or maybe you were just too chicken shit and worried about your fucking reputation as bad ass Draco Malfoy to look for it. So I guess that concludes everything we uh, what'd you call it? Oh yes, everything we 'had', Malfoy."

"I did more than care about you, Jem," he growled through gritted teeth.

"Yeah well, you know what?" she replied. Draco watched her slide down the wall and under his arm into the open corridor. "So did I. I've always done more than care when it comes to people, and I cared extra for you. You know what it caused? It caused a curse, a death of the only guy that has ever loved me without wanting something in return, and my meeting you. But it's like a double-edged sword, see, if I hadn't cared I would unhappy, but alive, and you'd be dinner for worms. But since I do care too much for my own damn good, I'm cursed, Cody's dead, and you're alive and tearing me apart inside."

"See now you're playing the pity me cards."

"No, it's called regrets, Malfoy."

"Regrets?"

"Yes, Malfoy, regrets. Something I seriously doubt you've ever experienced."

"I have a lot of regrets!" he shot back.

"Like what? Hiding in the shadows of the Light and not following your father's orders to fight for the Dark? If you had done that, you would still be betrothed to Giselle. After all, you did say that should it happen again it would certainly be to her."

"How the hell did you find out about my betrothal, and why the devil won't you drop that? It's over, Joely, it's fucking over! My regrets are none of your damn business! If there was a way to take back the things I've done wrong, I would! Did your spy happen hear what I said about me having someone I could possibly marry?" he yelled.

"Well, there's something that Professor Dumbledore told me before I was sorted, 'As powerful as magic is, there's only one thing that it can't take away... regrets!' Unfortunately, he's right. A really powerful memory charm would erase your knowledge of it happening, but until the day you die, something will continue to ache in your gut until you find out what it is. Then, when you do, it'll make you so sick to know that you were capable of something so horrible you won't want to live anymore. Believe me, I know."

"What do you regret?" he asked honestly, keeping his temper on the down.

"Oh god, Malfoy, I have so many regrets. I sometimes regret seeing the dawn of a new morning. I have more regrets than you've had sexual partners."

Okay, now that was uncalled for.

"But right now, at this very moment, I regret knowing you. I regret the knowledge of your existence. Only one other person has ever hurt me this bad, and right now I wish with every fiber of my being that he was dead. I'd rather him haunt me for the rest of my life than know he's alive. I'm not sure if I hate you that much yet, but give me time. You betrayed me, Malfoy. I know the truth. You turned out to be exactly what everyone said you were. I know who you are, and I can honestly say I don't love you anymore. And I can openly admit that I did love you. But rest assured that you're no longer a target."

"I heard once that a man has never truly lived until he has found the one woman he would willingly die for!" he yelled into her retreating back. "I never knew how true that was until now!"

"As far as dying for Amanda goes, I'd be careful if I were you; you just might 'die' for her! She's one of those that you might catch something from that hasn't even been named yet!"

Now it was Draco's turn to smart remark back. "You best be mindful of Tyler! I saw one of your Salem friends slip him one of those muggle reproduction prevention inventions that the two of you used the other night!"

Joely nearly fell down to the floor in hysterics. Muggle reproduction prevention inventions. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a few packets of what was identical to what Draco had seen at the ball.

"Did it look like this?" she asked, the foil wrapper glinting in the light shining in the windows.

"Yes."

Joely took one of the squares and threw it towards him; it landed on the floor and slid to stop at his feet.

"Excedrin, the headache medicine," he read.

"Mike is a walking medicine cabinet of muggle remedies for headaches. Neither Tyler nor I had any potions or muggle remedies and I was too sick to look elsewhere. We both knew that Mike would have something so Tyler grabbed those for me."

Draco watched her disappear around the bend and down the staircase until the wall hid her from him. He picked up the torn foil packet and stormed into his room, slamming the door fiercely. He banged his head against the door a few times before rolling it down toward the floor. In the process of doing such, his eyes fell to the watch on his arm: the one Joely gave him for Christmas, the very same one that she had seen him eyeing in the same jewelry boutique that her necklace came from. The platinum band and black faced watch never left his arm. Even in showers, it never left his body.

"SHIT!" he yelled. Suddenly, his owl flew into his open window carrying his long awaited response. He ripped open the top and nearly tore the letter when he unfolded it.

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

Thank you for your inquiry, however I regret in saying that you're request is classified information. The case has not yet been entirely resolved; therefore, I am not at liberty to divulge anything regarding your inquisition. I'm also sorry to say that I cannot help you with names of those that could be of service to you. All involved are sworn to secrecy under the penalty of treason until the matter is closed. I cannot tell you how long that will be for this case is very intricate. I understand your feelings, but I assure you that her safety is our first concern.

Sincerely,

Mistress of Magic, Megan Baker

Mystical Society of North America

................................................

"Draco Xavier Malfoy, you get your arse out of that bed right now!" yelled Lucius, pulling Draco's heavy drapes open to let light into the musty smelling room.

"Take your leave," he grumbled, turning over onto this stomach and covering his head with a plush pillow.

Lucius forcefully removed the comforter followed by the sheets, then the six pillows around him, irritating Draco off even more when he jerked away the pillow pressing his face into the mattress.

"What the hell?" yelled Draco, turning onto his back and staring his father down.

"Get your bum out of this bed immediately! The train leaves in one hour, and you BEST be ready and on it!"

"Fuck school! I don't care anymore!"

"You have the Malfoy name and honor to uphold, boy. I will not allow shame to fall upon this family."

"I won't be the first to bring disrepute this family. Let me wallow in peace."

"Draco, you get up this instant or I will disown you as my son!"

"Then do it, but I'm not leaving this room!"

"Joely won't be riding with you to King's Cross so you'll make it just in time if you get up now."

Draco bolted upright. "Why isn't she?"

"She's already back at Hogwarts."

"Why?" asked Draco sincerely.

"She had an attack night before last."

To Be Continued...............