The Dragon Tamed

Chapter 7.

As the weeks went by, Thea and her friends soon settled into a routine for the year. Every morning they would go down for breakfast where they would find out the latest news surrounding Voldemort and the Death Eaters. At the beginning of the term only Hermione and a few other students had subscribed to the Daily Prophet, but within two weeks a good proportion of the student body were doing so, and those who weren't read their friends copies.

The news was not encouraging, to say the least. As the days passed there were more stories detailing the exploits of Voldemort and his minions...this is, Death Eaters. The number of attacks were steadily increasing, especially on Muggles and other groups the Death Eaters considered sub-human. The Muggles were becoming increasingly alarmed. The Muggle government was having a bit of a time trying to explain away anything that had been the result of magic. Some were passed off as natural disasters such as high winds or flash floods. Others, mostly those that took place in the populated areas, were blamed on the IRA or gas leaks. Some of the more bizarre deaths were blamed on sadistic and ritualistic killers. Which, in a way, was true; it was how Thea would describe Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

On the other hand, Voldemort's sustained attacks on the other species had the benefit of pulling in alliances left, right and centre.

Naturally the Prophet was only reporting half of what was really going on, but then, who honestly expected the likes of Rita Skeeter to report the truth? As annoying as it was, Hermione had pointed out that any misinformation would only confuse Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Although Mrs Weasley had finally relented on telling Harry, Ron and Hermione things (probably more because Sirius would just tell them anyway than out of any belief that they were old enough to hear such things), she still believed that Ginny was much too young to be involved. Mrs Weasley's reluctance didn't seem to extend too many of the others though. Harry thought nothing of keeping Ginny up to date with the latest goings on of the Order then Ginny would tell Thea what she felt she could. Sirius and Remus were also good to go to for information.

Then, of course, there was the matter of the Ministry and what they were, or rather, weren't doing. Fudge had, inevitably, lost his job after the Department of Mysteries fiasco. Rufus Scrimgeour had lasted through Thea's fifth year until he had been assassinated by a Death Eater at the beginning of the summer holidays. The next minister, Argard Pontifure, had been completely ineffective. He had been more concerned about whether the Death Eaters got him, than about what happened to the wizarding community. He hadn't lasted long, ousted in much the same fashion as Fudge. The current Minister of Magic, Rebecca Tucker, was apparently rather good according to Remus and Sirius. The problem now was that the Ministry, having been run so badly for so long, had become much too lazy, corrupt and bureaucratic. Voldemort had also got his claws into the Ministry with so many spies that you couldn't turn around without hitting one, or at least that was what Mr Weasley had said. Hence, a top priority was fundamentally changing the structure of the Ministry and weeding out all the spies and corrupt officials. This took time and time was something that they didn't have, but at the same time it had to be done so the Ministry could function effectively against Voldemort.

As much as the teachers tried to protect the students from the invasion of the terror from the outside world, it didn't always work. Rumours of students' families being attacked soon became fact and they became more frequent. Several students had family who worked for the Ministry, and of course half-bloods and muggle-borns were constantly worried about their families. Any pure-blood who didn't swear loyalty to Voldemort - and there were a lot - was also in danger.

Every morning at breakfast the hall was always tense until after the Owl post arrived, for it was then that you could get a note from the Ministry informing you of any missing or killed members of family. By the beginning of October everyone knew someone who had received such a letter. In Thea's own dorm, Jessica Tyler's father who worked for the Ministry was missing and Natasha Hammond's brother-in-law had been killed in an attempted raid by Ministry Aurors. Alicia's aunt and uncle had been killed, while Abi's sister was in St Mungo's. Both Hannah Abbott and Terry Boot had had cousins killed. Dominic Norton's (a Ravenclaw) Muggle parents had ended up in St Mungo's after a Death Eater raid was interrupted by the arrival of the Aurors. The list just kept on growing and the longer it got, the more guilt-ridden Harry seemed to get.

For her part, Thea tried to not think too hard about the fate that could befall her family. It was something she was unable to control, and thinking about it would send her crazy. It didn't stop her stomach freezing every morning when the owls arrived; there was always that fear that she would get the letter saying her family had been killed. She did though, have the perverse wish that the Death Eaters would turn up at her house and scare her stepbrother silly, just to show him and to prove that she wasn't making things up just to get attention. Of course, she wanted the Aurors to turn up before anything bad happened to him. He may infuriate her but that didn't mean that she wanted him dead. Her mother seemed to just want to bury her head in the sand and pretend nothing was wrong. Her stepfather was the only one who seemed to grasp the severity of the situation (or maybe her mother did get it and that was why she ignored it). He went to great pains to reassure Thea that everything was alright and that he was taking precautions. Just what those precautions were, Thea didn't know, and she was too afraid to ask just in case there weren't really any, and her stepfather was just trying to make her feel better. Benji and Colin were also worried about their families but it just wasn't something they talked about often. Mostly to stop it from being real, Thea reckoned.

While the outside world kept becoming more terrified, those at Hogwarts felt strangely insulated. Everyone knew that Voldemort feared Dumbledore above everything else, so most felt relatively safe. Dumbledore kept the student body up to date and often assured them that the security around Hogwarts was second to none. He had added that he was personally overseeing all security and nothing happened without him knowing. From Sirius and Remus Thea and Ginny had found out that what that meant was that there were wards surrounding Hogwarts that prevented anyone from entering the premises unless they had Dumbledore's express permission. He had spent several hours in the summer holidays reciting the names of every student so that they didn't get sent to the set of caves near the school that had been set up to catch anyone who fell fowl of the wards. Those who were invited by Dumbledore couldn't invite people through the wards themselves so Dumbledore knew exactly who was in Hogwarts. He had also made a point of ensuring that the wards couldn't be hoodwinked by polyjuice. Aurors now patrolled the edges of Hogwarts as you could never be too careful and once the prefects had finished their rounds, Professors and Aurors took over. According to Harry it was becoming increasingly difficult to move around the castle undetected, and he had the invisibility cloak.

In an attempt to try and forget about the horrors of what was happening in the outside world, Thea had thrown herself into her studies. To be honest, she was pretty sure that the rest of the student population were trying to cope in similar ways. Despite the horror, or perhaps because of it, she was enjoying her classes. Like her friends, and a lot of the sixth years, Thea was finding the workload rather overpowering. Not only did they get homework from their professors, they were also getting homework from the tutorials as well.

Thea was finding her Elemental Magic classes to be both fascinating and difficult. The theory side of it was the fascinating part; there was so much to find out. It was the practical lessons that were so difficult. It was one thing to have potential in Elemental Magic, quite another to actually harness the power, or to control it. It was quite frustrating, to be honest, and Thea knew that Abi and Alicia were feeling equally frustrated. She had no idea what the Slytherins were thinking and really didn't care.

Every lesson they would set their bags by the door and sit in a big circle. Then, Professor Algaron would walk around the circle, hands clasped behind his back, talking them through what they were to do. Every week, without fail, he would say, 'I want you all to close your eyes and regulate your breathing. Let everything fall away and focus on the magic around you.' It was difficult to explain what they had to do; she had tried to explain it to Ginny, and failed miserably.

They had to move past the magic within them so they could connect with the magic around them and use it instead of their own magic. The majority of witches and wizards were limited by their innate magic. It could be nurtured to a certain extent but in the end there was only so much you could do. With Elemental magic there were potentially no limits. The idea was to pull Elemental magic, an endless source, through your body and mould it however you wished. The only limitations existed in the person trying to channel the magic. As long as both body and mind were strong enough, anything was possible. This they would have to learn and perfect with each of the four elements: earth, fire, wind and water, starting with the easiest - water, and working up to the most difficult - earth. If they were lucky they would learn how to harness two of the elements. Being able to use three was practically unheard of, and four hadn't been done since the time of Ambrosius Magnus.

Algaron had told them that since water was the easiest, everyone would start with trying to harness its power before trying to move onto the next element, wind. Algaron had admitted to them that he wasn't really expecting any of them to be able to master two elements within the next two years. Harry and Malfoy were the only two to have been able to do so in the last twenty years, making their year very unusual. For there to be more than two in such a short period of time would be more than unusual. Of course, there were advantages to only being proficient in one element: you didn't go mad, for one. The more elements you could control the greater the possibility you could lose control due to all the pressure.

Naturally though, they had to start small. As such they were all sitting with feathers in front of them, trying to perform Wingardium Leviosa. Once they had mastered that, they would be moving on to transfiguring a match into a needle. Heady times indeed.

Learning how to control and harness the power of Elemental Magic was most important because if either was not strong enough then body and mind were in danger of being overwhelmed by the magic; as control was lost, the user would become mad, and, unless they died first, their magic would become destructive, to say the least. It was, apparently, very apocalyptic. In their theory classes Algaron had taken great delight in describing to them, in graphic detail, exactly what could happen if the magic controlled you. None of it was nice.

Practical classes, predictably enough, were concerned with the practical application of Elemental Magic. It was very intense, both on mind and body and, to begin with, both got drained very quickly. According to Algaron and Harry, the more you trained the longer you could use the magic before you became drained. At the moment Thea was tired by the end of every practical. Lucky for her she had no more classes after her Tuesday class and so she could go and collapse for a few hours. On Fridays Thea, Abi and Alicia had Defence Against the Dark Arts after their Elemental class and so Algaron tended to keep to the theoretical side of things so they didn't fall asleep in Remus' class. Harry, on the other hand, just slept very deeply on the nights after his class, or so he said.

In order to prepare them for using the magic they had to do both mental and physical exercises. Thea had no desire to see her brain fried or for her blood to haemorrhage, so she took them very seriously. A lot of what they were doing had to increase their durability and so the exercise included a lot of running, swimming and climbing. This "increased their cardiac output" according to Algaron, and thus was a good thing. He had also given them sets of push-ups, sit-ups and any other kind of 'up' you could think of, to improve their general fitness. There were also encouraged to do a lot of exercising during their spare time. Thea had next to no spare time but she did enjoy her sports so she was more than willing to make the time. Her dad had been a very keen sportsman and Thea had inherited his enthusiasm. She loved swimming and running, as well as sailing, just being outdoors in general. The same could not be said for the Slytherins, or, at times, Alicia. They moaned and groaned every time they had a physical class. Even Algaron's descriptions of death and gore weren't enough to motivate them.

Every Saturday she and Ginny would play a long game of tennis until they literally couldn't move. The weather at Hogwarts during autumn was never pleasant and wasn't all that contusive to tennis, unless you wanted to be knee deep in mud. Instead they went to the Room of Requirement where they were guaranteed perfect weather and a beautifully cut court. More often than not Abi and Alicia would join them for a game of doubles, and Harry, rather taken with the idea, would join them f he wasn't too busy.

The mental exercises, on the other hand, were slightly less simple and much more frustrating. They took a lot of time and concentration and from what Harry had told her, it was similar to Occlumency. They had to stimulate their minds and increase their levels of concentration and ability to do more than one thing at a time. All the work they were doing for their NEWTs was considered to be quite stimulating, although Algaron was not above setting them logic tests at a moment's notice, or any other type of test he felt like. Concentration, though, was essential. You couldn't use Elemental Magic if you couldn't concentrate. Algaron would set them various tasks to improve their concentration as homework. In Thea's opinion the current task was rather pointless, but that could just be because she was so bad at it. They had to sit in their common room for an hour a night and think of nothing except a Phoenix feather without being distracted by either the thoughts going through your own mind or the antics of those in the common room with you. So far Thea had only managed fifteen minutes before being thoroughly distracted by Colin and Benji.

Each of the different tasks were supposed to help them learn how to empty their minds and concentrate wholly on whatever it was they were supposed to be doing, with no thought for what was going on around them. If you got distracted while using the magic there was a very real possibility that you would be overwhelmed by it and either go mad or die, or, if you were really unlucky, both. Harry had told her that once the feather could stay fixed in their minds for an indefinite period of time, then they would start adding other things to think about, all while keeping first the feather and any other objects fixed in their minds without wavering. Such levels of concentration would mean that not only would the magic be unable to overwhelm them, but that they would be able to do a lot of things as once. Eventually they would learn how to pull in their surroundings so they would be able to remain aware of events around them, but without them being adversely distracted.

There were also exercises to help them open their minds and reach for the magic, but these could only be performed in class. To do them unsupervised would be dangerous, to them and others. The classroom was properly warded so that if any Elemental Magic did escape, it wouldn't be able to get into the rest of the school. Algaron was also there to rescue them if the magic was stronger than it should be and threatened to consume them.

It was by far her favourite class, the opportunities it presented had the potential to be endless, or at least it felt like it. Elemental Magic might be her favourite class, but her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes were a close second. The things that Remus was teaching them were fascinating. Not only was he teaching them wandless magic, but also loads of new spells to counter dark magic, that they would never be learning if it wasn't for the war. And now that she came to think about it, her History of Magic classes were also brilliant. Her Charms and Transfiguration classes were equally fascinating. So, in fact, she was loving all of her classes, no big surprise there, she had dropped all the ones she had hated during her OWLs. The only problem was Potions. She still found it interesting but it was so much harder at NEWT level than she had expected. So much of it seemed to be going over her head. She couldn't understand how Potions had suddenly become so difficult for her.

And then there were the tutorials. It was bad enough having to put up with Malfoy in class, but in the tutorials too, it was too much. In their classes Malfoy was irritating. He was never overly hostile but he did everything he could to keep her on edge the entire time. Naturally his worst behaviour took place in Potions where Snape practically ignored everything Malfoy did to her. His behaviour towards her was at its most pleasant during their History of Magic classes, which confused her. It wasn't that he was nice to her, but he was civil, bordering on pleasant.

The way Malfoy acted in their classes mirrored his behaviour in their tutorials. Predictably he was worst in Potions. He picked on her the most and took every opportunity to show her up in front of the others. In Transfiguration he practically ignored her, rarely asking her anything. However, in their History tutorials Malfoy was pleasant, even bordering on nice. They spent the two hours of the tutorial sitting at the same table, reading books or doing homework. They rarely spoke, but the atmosphere was never hostile or uncomfortable. He even answered any questions she had, albeit, grudgingly. Even the walks back to the common room were borderline pleasant. He said goodnight to her every week, and Thea was beginning to think that he was finally going to forget about the truth potion in Potions.

While the walks back after the History of Magic were bearable, those back from the Potions and Transfiguration tutorials were less enjoyable. Every week Thea was convinced that she was imagining the History tutorials because the Malfoy then was so different to the one at all other times. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that Sirius had also ordered Malfoy to escort back to their common room looked positively terrified of him. They always looked relieved to be back where they belonged and always gave Thea sympathetic looks before they closed the doors to their common rooms. She cursed the fact that Gryffindor Tower was always the furthest away, meaning she was always the last to be walked back. However, once they had gone Malfoy did thaw out a bit and his bad mood lessened a smidgen. Occasionally Pansy Parkinson would join Malfoy from her rounds as he escorted them all back to their common room. Those nights he always remained particularly unpleasant, probably so Parkinson didn't think he was becoming "soft" by being tolerant of a pathetic mudblood, and Thea was always relieved to be back with her friends on those nights. Benji, the lucky bastard, didn't have to worry about being escorted by Malfoy since his Arithmancy tutorial was in the middle of the day, meaning that they didn't need to be walked back to their dorms.

Due to all the time she spent around Malfoy, Thea was beginning to notice things about him. As far as she could tell the only emotions he allowed others to see were his irritation and anger, and even these were well controlled, getting his point across without letting things get out of control. The only times he had lost control in the past years had been during confrontations with the Dream Team, but he had finally managed to get a handle on that the year before. Now he seemed able to bait Ron and Harry without reacting to a word they said about him or his family. How he did it, she couldn't say. While he allowed others to see that he was irritated or angry, Thea had worked out that the only way to know just how pissed off he was, was to look at his hands. If he was pretending to inspect his nails, he was acting bored when really he was quite enjoying whatever reception his antics had received. If his arms were crossed and he was tapping his fingers on his biceps, he was properly irritated, if his hands went to his hips, he was irritated on the edge of anger. Thea had yet to see him past angry, and, truth be told, she really didn't want to.

When not in class, tutorials or the library, Thea and her friends were either in the common room trying to relax or escaping onto the grounds when the weather allowed. They were also involved in the DA twice a week; in addition Thea and Ginny had Quidditch practice twice a week. From what Fred and George had told her and Ginny, and the stories she remembered from Harry in previous years, Harry and Ron were becoming almost as scary as Oliver Wood had been when he had been captain. She had never had Oliver as her captain and hadn't really paid that much attention to his actions as captain when he'd been at Hogwarts. She would have to write to Fred and George about it since she knew they'd get a kick out of hearing it, plus they never passed up an opportunity to take the piss out Harry or Ron. Ginny was already making the twins proud though. In one practice she had asked them how they decided who got to channel Wood each time and in another she had wondered what poor Oliver did while he was being channelled.

The first Quidditch match had came and gone without any accidents or spectacular events. The first match had been between Slytherin and Hufflepuff and predictably enough, Slytherin had won. Harry and Ron had made it mandatory for the whole team to attend the game. However, since everyone always went to the games it seemed a rather pointless order.

They had been under strict orders to study the moves of every player on each team, except the seekers. They were to watch for set pieces, signals or anything else that they could train to counteract. Harry and Ron had both recorded the game with their Omnioculars so that they could replay the match in practices to come and spot things they had missed in the game itself.

Despite all of Harry and Ron's planning, there really hadn't been all that much to watch or record. Malfoy had caught the snitch in seven minutes, hardly enough time for the two teams to settle into the game. The problem, Thea and Ginny had decided, was that Hufflepuff had good players, but a bad team; they just didn't play together. Their captain Jonathan Beech, was a good Beater, but a terrible captain. He hated telling others what to do, or telling them off when they did something wrong. They were also a relatively inexperienced team. Most of them were third and fourth years and had only just started playing or had been playing for a year or so. Abi was, in Thea's opinion, the best player on the team, but she also had the experience and didn't let them intimidate her. When you had a team like the Slytherins, it didn't matter if you had a band of good players; you needed the experience of how to play against them to even stand a chance of beating them. Their Seeker, while rather brilliant, was only a third year, and terrified of Malfoy. She hadn't had the courage to try and knock him off his broom like he had tried to do to her.

For about a week after the match Abi had gone about like a bear with a sore head. Despite the lack of a challenge, the Slytherins, and especially Malfoy, had been disgustingly smug, acting as though they had won the world cup. As risible as it had been, it had provided one plus point; Abi had been the first one in their Elemental class to finally manage to use the magic, if only for a few seconds. Flint had been mocking Abi mercilessly for a good portion of the class. Thea had been impressed that Abi had managed to control her temper for as long as she did. Finally she had snapped...and managed to throw Flint back about ten feet into the classroom wall - without moving from where she was sitting. It had been more than impressive. Plus, Flint had had to go to the infirmary.

Thea herself was close to being able to use, if not control, the magic. Every time she centred herself she could feel the magic flowing over and around her. She just couldn't get it to go through her. It was as though the magic was taunting her; every time she reached out for it, it jumped back, just out of reach. She was getting increasingly frustrated. She had tried to talk to Abi about it, but she had admitted that she didn't really know how she had managed to tap into the magic. She had been so angry she hadn't found the usual barrier there and had just gone right on into the magic, but only for a moment. However, that moment had been enough to send Flint from one side of the room to the other. Thea had spoken to Harry as well but he had been less than helpful. Well, that probably wasn't entirely fair. He couldn't help her in her quest to get to the magic, as that was unique to each person. He had told her that it became much easier after the first few times and not long after that it became almost like second nature to call upon the magic. The difficult bit came with controlling the magic. Just what she wanted to hear; going from the frying pan into the fire.

Thea, Ginny, Colin and Benji had been spending the few free moments they had to try and work out what was going on with the Dream Team. It was rather difficult to do so as their timetables rarely coincided with the Dream Team's and once they had disappeared it was rather difficult to find them again since they had both Harry's map and cloak. Once, when they had been visiting Remus and Sirius, Ginny had jokingly suggested to the two remaining Marauders that they make her a map. Neither Sirius nor Remus had been all that agreeable to such a suggestion, so Ginny had wisely decided against mentioning it again. The two of the most notorious trouble makers Hogwarts had ever seen had actually given them a lecture about the dangers of creeping about during such a dangerous time. In truth, Thea doubted that any of the Marauders would have taken any notice of such warnings, or that Harry was being subjected to such lectures - well, maybe from Remus.

Thea and Ginny made sure that they visited Remus and Sirius at least once a week, although it didn't always work out like that if they had too much work. They either joined the Dream Team when they visited or went by themselves some other time. It was during one of these visits that Thea and Ginny had asked Sirius about why Malfoy was escorting Thea back to the common room. The reply hadn't been at all what Thea had wanted to hear and Ginny had been less than impressed as well.

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

'So, Sirius,' Ginny had asked him as soon as they had entered the room, 'what's with trying to get Thea killed?'

As they had entered Sirius had stood up, and as Ginny spoke, he had frowned in obvious confusion. 'Ginny,' he said slowly, 'I'm not trying to kill Thea. Why would you think that?'

'I think she might be talking about Draco, Padfoot,' offered Remus.

'You think?' drawled Ginny sarcastically.

Thea nudged her friend. 'At least let them explain,' she whispered. She looked at Sirius. 'Why did you do it?' she asked him, sitting down in one of the armchairs.

He stood in front of her, worrying his lip as he looked at her. 'It...I...well, you see, ah.' He rubbed his hand over his face before starting to pace. 'I don't know how to explain,' he admitted. 'Give me a minute.'

'Oh really, Padfoot, it's not all that difficult to explain. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.'

'You do it then,' huffed Sirius. 'You were the one who said I wouldn't be able to tell them much about Draco. Let's see how easy you find it when there's so much you can't say.' He sounded annoyed but Thea thought that had more to do with Ginny's suggestion - even if it was in jest - that he was trying to kill Thea. Ever since he had escaped Azkaban he had been a bit touchy about being accused of such things.

Ginny leaned down from where she had perched on the armrest of Thea's chair to whisper, 'I'm surprised that Sirius even remembered that there are things he can't tell us. Doesn't stop him normally.'

Thea smiled and nodded.

Remus pulled a chair over to sit opposite Thea. Sirius just kept pacing, but at a more sedate pace than when he had begun.

'Well,' he began, 'Sirius is right about one thing, there isn't much we can tell you.'

As Ginny tried to protest, Remus held up a hand to silence her. 'It's not because we don't want to tell you, or that we don't trust you both. We do. However, it isn't our story to tell. It is Draco Malfoy's. You wouldn't like it if we told him personal information about you, so you can understand why we are extending such a courtesy to him.' He looked from one sceptical face to another. 'Hummm, perhaps you can't.'

'You could try to explain it,' suggested Ginny.

'Not a point by point explanation,' added Thea. 'Just enough for us to understand where you're coming from. You don't have to tell us anything you think is too personal.'

'You both know that Draco is my second cousin, right,' started Sirius slowly, finally stopping behind Remus to place his hands on Remus' shoulders, as if to anchor himself there.

They nodded.

'Well, I'm worried about him. I don't see why he has to be a Death Eater and join Voldemort. He has the potential to be a good person.' He saw Ginny's sceptical look. 'A good person, Ginny,' he repeated. 'Not a nice one.'

'But he's a Malfoy,' pointed out Ginny. 'Even if what you say is true, and I doubt it, how do you know he even wants to be something other than a Death Eater?'

'There's no law that says that a Malfoy has to be a Death Eater,' reasoned Remus. 'Just because his father is one, doesn't mean he has to be one himself.'

'No, it doesn't,' agreed Ginny, 'but I think it's fairly obvious that he wants to be.'

'Why?' asked Sirius. 'Because he repeated what his father told him as a small child?'

'For starters,' said Ginny.

'But can't a person who has been brought up in a one way, see how people they love are wrong and want to change?'

'No, not really,' replied Ginny.

'Yes, they can,' disagreed Thea.

Ginny turned to her. 'Thea?'

'Sirius did it, You told me about his family and look at how Sirius turned out. By rights Sirius should have been a Slytherin, loved the Dark Arts and been clamouring to join Voldemort. But he didn't. He became friends with Harry's dad.' Thea turned and looked at her friend. 'It is possible, Ginny.'

Ginny looked slightly guilty at having forgotten about Sirius' family. 'Sorry, Sirius. I always forget how horrible your family was because you're so unhorrible.'

Sirius smiled at her. 'That's OK, Ginny.'

'Unhorrible isn't a word, Ginny,' said Remus, a ghost of a smirk gracing his lips before he turned serious again.

'No it's not, but it got my point across,' she retorted. She looked again at Sirius. 'So you want to help Malfoy because you don't want him to feel as though he has to be a Death Eater, especially when he's just sixteen.'

'That's pretty much it,' agreed Sirius.

'You realise he might just be bad and enjoy it,' commented Ginny. 'I don't want you to be disappointed if he is evil. Not everyone is as good as you are.'

'I know, but I have to hope, Ginny,' said Sirius.

'I'm guessing you've actually had conversations with Malfoy,' said Thea, 'and that these conversations have led you to think he might not be as evil as we once thought.'

'A fair assumption,' agreed Sirius cautiously. 'I hope you're not trying to get me to say something I shouldn't.'

'I'm not,' she reassured him, thankful she didn't have to make any promises about Ginny, who would probably be more than happy to trick Sirius into an admission. She scratched her head, thinking. 'I pretty much get the whole "not wanting Malfoy to be a Death Eater" thing, but what on earth has any of that got to do with me?'

'Ah, I was hoping that you'd forget about that,' confessed Sirius.

'As if,' scoffed Thea and Ginny together.

'Well, Draco is rather - how should I put this - set in his ways.'

Ginny snorted in amusement. 'You think? He's a git and everyone knows it.'

'Anyway, he has certain long held beliefs that are, well, wrong. I want him to see how pointless his prejudices are.'

'But how is Thea going to help with that?' questioned Ginny.

'He's a bit stubborn. He gets it from both the Malfoys and the Blacks. You can't tell him something and expect him to believe you,' explained Sirius.

'He has to come to these conclusions on his own terms without any interference,' added Remus.

'So, we thought that Thea was a perfect example of how talented a Muggle-born can be,' finished Sirius.

'Me? Talented? You must be joking. I mean, I got a T in my OWLs,' protested Thea.

'It was only Divination, Thea,' responded Sirius. 'Hardly the fail of the century, or anything.'

'Plus, Draco doesn't put much stock in Divination,' injected Remus. 'You are talented at the subjects that Draco considers to be important. Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Potions. Despite popular gossip, History of Magic is his favourite subject, hence he holds anyone else who enjoys it in high regard.'

Thea was not convinced. 'If you want a talented Muggle-born then wouldn't Hermione be a far better choice? She is talented, stupidly so. Plus, she and Malfoy have to spend time together doing their Head Boy and Girl duties.'

'And they thoroughly despise each other,' added Remus.

Ah, yes, that would be a slight problem, she supposed. 'Well, that would make it more amazing when they finally became friends.' She winced; if she couldn't convince herself it was unlikely she would be able to convince Sirius and Remus.

Remus looked sceptical while Sirius laughed. 'And while they plait each other's hair, hell can freeze over,' he said.

'You want him to like a Muggle-born, surely one is as good as another.'

'Draco doesn't hate Hermione because she's a Muggle-born,' explained Sirius, 'or at least that's not the main reason; he hates her because she's Harry's friend and because she is the only one who can threaten his position at top of the year, belittling him in the eyes of Lucius.'

'Padfoot, I think that counts as one of the things you shouldn't have told them.'

Sirius scowled. 'Told you I'd be useless,' he groused.

Remus rolled his eyes before continuing from where Sirius had left off. 'You, on the other hand, are a neutral - or as neutral as is possible to get these days. He doesn't really know you, hasn't had any run ins with you, as such.'

He can't really find you all that objectionable,' added Sirius, grinning. 'Oh, and to top it all off, you're an Elementalist,' he added, excitedly. 'It is impossible to be a poor wizard or witch and be an Elementalist. You are just what he needs to see that just because you aren't a pureblood doesn't mean you are inferior to him.'

'So, by not telling him what to think, you're manipulating him into thinking what you want him to think,' noted Thea.

'Yes, but we're not forcing him to think anything. We're just setting up the possibility that he might see past what his father has told him,' said Remus.

'Isn't that rather Slytherin?' asked Thea.

'It is somewhat, isn't it,' agreed Sirius, grinning. 'That's why we don't think he'll catch on.'

'Won't he be mad if he finds out how you've manipulated him?' asked Ginny.

'Maybe to begin with, but I think he'll appreciate the Slytherin nature of what we did and, if it goes to plan, he'll see what he has gained from it.'

'Which would be?' enquired Ginny, still sounding rather sceptical, not that Thea blamed her.

Sirius shrugged. 'How should I know?'

'Let's hope he thinks it's worth it,' muttered Ginny.

Thea and Ginny sat next to each other for the next five minutes not saying a word as each of them processed what Remus and Sirius had told them. It was a lot to take in.

'I'm at a loss as what to say,' Ginny finally said. 'Can we talk about something else?'

'Not for much longer, I'm afraid,' said Remus, looking at his watch. 'Sirius and I have classes in a little while.'

'We'd better get going then,' said Ginny standing up and pulling Thea to her feet when she protested.

Thea reluctantly picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder. 'Fine, let's go.'

'Feel free to drop in and speak to us if you have any queries about what we talked about today,' Remus told them.

Just as they got to the door, Thea remembered about the permission slip. 'Hey, Sirius, could I have a permission slip to get a History book out of the Restricted Section, please.' Say yes, say yes, she chanted in her head.

'Which book?' asked Sirius, walking over to the desk and picking up a slip.

'Which book?' repeated Thea dumbly. She had been so sure Sirius would agree to it without question that she hadn't even bothered to think of a book should she be asked.

'Yeah, which book?'

'Can't remember, couldn't you just give me a blank slip and I'll fill it in when I get back to the dorm?'

Sirius laughed, Remus joining him. Thea wasn't all that aware that she had said anything funny.

'Honestly, Thea. You're talking to a couple of Marauders here. Do you really think you could get past us?' asked Sirius. 'Now get out of here.'

'And be more creative next time,' added Remus, winking at them. 'You never know, we might give you a blank slip as a reward for originality.'

Thea and Ginny walked out and shut the door behind them. 'Well, that went well,' commented Thea.

'How could we have been so stupid? We should have guessed that they'd see right through us.'

'So, how are we going to find out what the Dream Team are up to now?' wondered Thea out loud as they walked up the corridor.

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

As such they were having problems finding out what the Dream Team were up to. Since they were unable to find out, or at least not with any ease, they were now trying to do their best to find out how Colin and Benji had asked out Lauren and Abi and how things were going. They knew it had been after the DA, but apart from that they had been completely unable to get anything out of them. The boys had refused to tell them anything, saying they would interfere and wreck things. Thea thought they were being a bit harsh. Sure, she and Ginny would find it funny for a little while, but they only wanted their friends to be happy and would have left them alone eventually. So, to try and get the boys to trust them, both she and Ginny had been on their best behaviour. They politely asked how the dates went but never asked for details, no matter how curious they were.

The first Hogsmeade weekend had come and gone in the second week of October. Colin and Benji had gone on their respective dates after extracting solemn promises from Ginny and Thea that they would not be followed or watched in any way. For that reason Thea and Ginny had spent a lazy morning in the common room before making their way down to the village. Every time they had seen either Colin or Benji they had managed to avoid them by jumping into doorways or shops. All in all it had been rather fun. Eventually they had got bored of their game and had sought out refuge in the Three Broomsticks. Luckily for them, they had found Neville, Dean and Seamus in there and had had a very fun afternoon listening to Seamus telling all kinds of tales, most of them probably untrue.

None of those involved in the dates had said much, except that they had been a success. Even Alicia had tried to get something out of Abi and Lauren but it had all been in vain. Both the boys were spending less time with Ginny and Thea now, but they didn't mind. It was kind of sweet seeing them both with a girl.

Although Ginny often bemoaned her lack of a boyfriend it didn't help that she refused to allow that any of the boys in the sixth or seventh years had any potential. She had made a list and gone through it, ticking them off as she had found a reason as to why they were unsuitable. There had been the obvious reasons ('Harry, like brother, yuck.'), and then the less than stellar reasons (Neville, sweet but can't dance, Michael, sore loser. Dean, too laid back. Giles, too thin. Jonathan, voice too deep. Richard, quiff in hair.), and in the end there had been none left. 'At this rate I may have to look at the Slytherins and see if any of them get my interest,' she had complained. Thea had pointed out that Ginny hadn't considered any of the girls yet, prompting Ginny to chase her around the common room with Seamus cheering them on.

The biggest entertainment of the term, by a mile, was being provided by the antics of Snape and Sirius. After a big bust up in the second week that had had to be broken up by Remus and practically every other teacher on the staff (Hagrid had been rather helpful in that matter) they had started sniping at each other through their houses, and particularly the points system. Whenever Snape took points away from Gryffindor for no reason and awarded Slytherin points for no reason - both of which were regular occurrences - Sirius did the same but vice versa. All the Gryffindors had agreed that it was very nice to finally have a teacher who was so openly partisan to them. Thea was certain that sooner or later Dumbledore was going to have to step in because the points for Gryffindor and Slytherin were changing daily, if not hourly sometimes. At the rate things were going Hufflepuff were going to end up winning the House Championship that year, which was a scary thought. Abi, on the other hand, thought it was a fantastic prospect.

-----------------

Everything had been relatively normal, or as normal as events at Hogwarts could be, until one Friday evening in the middle of November. Thea was sitting in her chair in the History of Magic classroom, staring blankly at the book in front of her. Instead of reading one of Malfoy's books, she was attempting to do her Potions homework. Attempting, being the operative word there. Snape had given them a horrendous amount of homework that week and this was the only time she had to get it done. Trouble was she was getting nowhere fast with it.

In a sudden fit of rage she threw her books on the floor. Realising she had probably disturbed Malfoy with her temper tantrum she winced, muttering, 'Sorry,' before staring moodily into the distance, not really seeing anything. Stupid Potions, why could she not understand it? It was so simple up to a point and then her brain got tied up in knots.

'Problem?' an amused voice asked.

'Potions,' she said succinctly.

'Anything in particular?' he enquired lightly.

'Homework.' This was the most general conversation that they had exchanged since the tutorials had begun but Thea wasn't in the mood to talk. If she didn't get this work done she would be dead as dead can be, and then some.

Malfoy snorted. 'That I had guessed myself. What about the homework in particular?'

Thea didn't answer for a moment but then glanced at Malfoy, had he just snorted with laughter?

'Everything, it's driving me crazy,' she finally told him.

'Then do it later,' he advised, looking at her over the top of whatever book he was reading. Whatever it was, it probably involved being evil.

'Can't,' Thea sighed mournfully looking dejectedly at the books at her feet. 'I have that Transfiguration homework to do for Monday, and I haven't even started it. Then, 'because I have the DA on Monday night, I have to do my Elemental Magic and Charms homework over the weekend. And I have Quidditch practice on Sunday and then we are right back at Monday morning and Potions class. So it's either tonight, or an early grave come Monday.' After finishing her rant she looked round at Malfoy to see just how much she had bored him, but he wasn't looking bored, just vaguely amused, which honestly didn't make Thea feel any better.

'Finished yet?'

She nodded wordlessly, not quite sure how he would react to her tirade.

'Good. Now pull your chair round here, and let me see that,' he ordered.

Thea stared at him for about five seconds, frozen in place with shock. However, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth - especially as it would probably bite - she did as he had told her. She was his partner in Potions after all; she knew just how good he was at it. She shuffled her chair round so she was sitting next to Malfoy, aware that his eyes had never left her. Ignoring his stare, she retrieved her book before pointing to what had got her so mad she had resorted to throwing books across the room.

He looked at what she pointed at for a moment before turning to her. 'I'm going to help you, but on one condition.'

Thea's eyes narrowed. 'What?' she asked suspiciously. Why was she not surprised that there was a catch with Malfoy?

Malfoy hesitated before replying, which was slightly strange. Malfoy was always confident, annoyingly so. 'When we are here I can call you Thea. This surnames business is pissing me off.'

Thea looked at him, shocked, unable to speak, not that she could think of anything to say to that. Of all the things Thea thought he could have asked for that hadn't even been in the top one hundred.

'Are you the real Malfoy?' she finally blurted.

The glare directed her way got rid of any notion that it wasn't Malfoy she was sitting next to. 'Never mind. Forget I asked. Who else could you be?'

He frowned. 'What makes you say that?'

'No one glares quite like you, Malfoy,' she informed him.

'My father does,' he said.

'Are you your father?'

'No,' he answered shortly. He held out his hand. 'Do we have a deal then?'

'Do I have to call you Draco?' she asked hesitantly. She could cope with him calling her Thea, as weird as it was, but to have to call him Draco would just feel wrong.

'Up to you. Now hurry up and decide.'

Thea didn't quite know what to do. After all this was Malfoy, spawn of the devil, Prince of Slytherin and Darkness. However, she was intrigued, especially after what Sirius had said to her and Ginny earlier in the term. This was a new side to Malfoy and she found herself curious to see what she would discover. It was always possible that he was working an angle, though what it could be, she didn't know. Despite this, her instincts were all screaming at her to take the hand being offered to her. There was no doubt in her mind that this was a one time offer, never to be repeated again. He didn't handle rejection at all well, if his supposed reaction to Harry snubbing him on the train in the first year was anything to go on. There was also the slight possibility that Malfoy was being genuine, and if that was the case then Thea wanted to see what the real Malfoy was like because none of those she had seen so far seemed to be it. Just as his hand seemed to waver fractionally, she nodded before shaking his hand.

A ghost of a smile flittered across his face and Thea couldn't decide if she'd made a deal with the devil or not. Either way, she was positive that she had just made a life changing decision.

'So, do you want to know where you are going wrong in your Potions?' he asked.

Thea laughed hopelessly. 'Do I ever. I used to get Potions, or at least I did in our OWLs. Now, it just seems to fly about a mile over my head.'

Malfoy didn't respond, merely raising an eyebrow before reaching into his bag and pulling out a book, one Thea could see was a Potions book. Opening it, he then spent the next few hours taking her patiently through the homework. He never gave her the answer, she had to figure it out for herself (a bit like Hermione in that respect, though she didn't think telling him that, or Hermione for that matter, would be a good idea). He seemed a different person from the Malfoy who took her potions tutorial. She might have to get angry about her Potions homework more often if this was the result. When he explained a concept she just wasn't getting for about the fifth time she marvelled at his patience and lack of irritation. Although, she did acknowledge to herself, he was a Malfoy and therefore less likely to show his emotions. Even so, patient was not a word she would have used in conjuncture with Malfoy before tonight.

Eventually Malfoy looked at his watch. 'Merlin, it's nearly half past ten. We'd better be going.'

'Is it really?' asked Thea, looking up in surprise. It didn't feel like that much time had gone by.

'Well, it is,' responded Malfoy shortly. 'Pack up your things, Magg...Thea.'

Thea had been picking her bag up off the floor when Malfoy had called her by her name. Although she had remembered the deal she had made with him, she hadn't expected him to use her name so...soon. She needed time to adjust to the idea. It sounded stupid, but there it was. She smiled shyly as she pulled her bag onto the table, it was nice being called by her name, she could get used to it. Not that she would be calling him Draco any time soon.

'Don't get used to it, Thea,' said Malfoy abruptly, almost as if he had been reading her mind. 'It's only going to be like this here, nowhere else.'

'I know that, Malfoy.' It was going to take a while until she even began to contemplate calling him Draco. Ah, even thinking it seemed wrong.

'Come on,' said Malfoy, shouldering his bag.

Thea grabbed hers and followed him out of the classroom.

They walked back in their customary silence, although it seemed more companionable that evening. Thea was thinking very heavily about what had happened that night. She was unsure if she had done the right thing but at the same time she was glad that she had.

Once at the portrait, Malfoy, as usual, stood back while she gave the password, mock saluting her as she walked past him.

As she stepped into the common room she turned back to look at Malfoy who was still standing in the corridor, watching her. Normally, he had walked off by now. She smiled shyly at him before the portrait closed, thinking that she saw him smile before he disappeared out of view.

She looked around the common room, looking for Ginny. She really needed to talk to someone. Since it was late, it wasn't all that difficult to see her; there were very few people still in the common room. Ginny was sitting at a table next to the window, at the far end of the room. Neither Colin nor Benji were with her, so Thea guessed they were both off with their respective girlfriends.

Thea walked over to her, waving to Harry and Seamus as they sat talking on the sofa by the fire.

She dropped her bag on the floor before throwing herself into the chair opposite her best friend.

'Hey, how was it?' asked Ginny, setting her quill on the table.

Thea leaned forward and rested her chin on her arms. 'I don't know,' she told Ginny. 'But it was weird.'

'How come?'

'Well, I got mad with my Potions homework, and threw my books on the floor...'

'As you often do,' said Ginny, grinning. 'But I bet Malfoy wasn't happy with that.'

'Well, Malfoy didn't look impressed,' agreed Thea, 'but he wasn't mad, instead he offered to help me with it.'

'He what?' exclaimed Ginny, sitting up straighter.

'I know, it was strange,' admitted Thea, relieved to be able to talk it out with Ginny.

'You told him no, right?' said Ginny, leaning her elbow on the table, resting her head on her hand.

Thea squirmed under Ginny's stare. 'Well, um, not exactly.'

'You let him, the Prince of Slytherin, help you with your Potions?' demanded Ginny.

'Yes.'

'Are you insane?'

'Well, he didn't try to curse me or anything,' objected Thea.

'So? That doesn't mean he didn't plan to, or that he isn't going to,' cried Ginny.

'Gin, you're overreacting,' Thea reassured her. 'I needed help with my Potions, and Malfoy, for some reason, helped me. It doesn't mean anything.'

'Overreacting? Is it possible to overreact when Malfoy's concerned?' questioned Ginny.

'Ummm, yes. Just look at your brother. He goes crazy if Malfoy so much as looks at him.'

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Come on, Ron is a special case. You can hardly compare him to anyone else, especially me.'

'Well, yeah, 'cause you two are nothing alike, are you?'

'Are you saying it's a family failing to think that the Malfoys are the scum of the earth?'

Thea laughed. 'No. Malfoy is the scum of the earth. No question there. Doesn't mean that I can't take advantage of his Potions know-how.' The sighed to herself; considering how Ginny had reacted to news that Malfoy had helped her with her Potions, she doubted her best friend would react favourably to them now being on first name terms, even if it was only occasionally. She couldn't fully explain to herself why she had agreed to it, so she doubted she would be able to explain it to Ginny.

'Just make sure he doesn't take advantage of you,' warned Ginny.

'No danger of that,' reassured Thea. 'I'm not one of those vapid little girls who hang off his coattails...and even if I was, he wouldn't be interested in me. I'm a Mudblood, remember?'

Ginny scowled. 'How many times do I have to tell you? Don't say that word.'

'Sorry.'

Thea jumped as Harry asked, 'What was that you were saying about Malfoy?' from directly behind her.

'God, Harry. You nearly gave me a heart attack,' exclaimed Thea, putting her hand to her heart dramatically.

Harry laughed as he sat down next to her. 'I'm sure you'll survive,' he told her.

'I dunno, Harry,' she teased him, 'I might suffer from the trauma for a long time. I might never recover.'

'How do you cope?' he asked Ginny, who was laughing at them both.

Ginny just laughed louder.

'So, Harry, where is Seamus?' asked Thea, trying to change the subject.

'He's gone to bed, why?'

'What were the two of you talking about?' asked Ginny. 'You were both very quiet, I couldn't hear a word.'

'Were you trying to?' asked Harry.

Ginny blushed. 'No, of course not,' she denied quickly. 'I would never do anything like that.'

'Of course you wouldn't,' deadpanned Harry.

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. 'So?' she persisted.

Harry looked at her blankly.

'What were you talking about with Seamus?' reminded Thea.

'Oh, that. Nothing much. Just Quidditch and the usual,' he told them casually.

Ginny shock her head. 'No way you two were talking about Quidditch. You would have been way louder than that.'

Harry frowned at Ginny, obviously trying to think of something other than the truth. He really was crap at lying.

'Nothing much, Gin. Just this and that,' he finally told them.

'Gee, Harry, could you vague that up for us a bit?' said Thea, rolling her eyes.

Ginny looked at him, exasperated. Thea had a feeling that if she had been standing up, her hands would definitely be on her hips. Not that Harry had to tell her anything; Ginny was just being nosy.

'What?' he protested. 'Why are you looking at me like that?'

Just as Ginny was about to interrogate Harry some more, the portrait swung open and Benji walked inside.

'Lucky for you Hermione is studying with Ron in her room, otherwise you'd be so deaf,' Harry told him. 'You know what she's like about curfew. I mean, she even gets angry with herself when she breaks curfew. And if you'd been caught by a teacher, or worse, an Auror, you'd have been in so much trouble.'

'Harry, you're hardly one to talk,' pointed out Ginny, smiling.

'I, Gin, am speaking from a wealth of experience.'

Benji threw him a weak smile before throwing himself face down onto the sofa.

Harry threw Ginny and Thea a significant look. 'I'll be off to bed then.'

'See you tomorrow then, Harry,' said Ginny as she and Thea stood up and made their way over to Benji.

'Night, Harry,' Thea said as she passed him.

'Ben, what's the matter?' asked Ginny as she knelt next to him.

'I don't want to talk about it,' mumbled Benji, his voice muffled by the cushion his face was pushed into. He sounded wretched.

Thea perched on the edge of the sofa, her hand resting on his shoulder. 'Come on Ben,' she coaxed, 'tell us what happened.'

He lay there for a moment longer before turning around enough to look at both Ginny and Thea. 'It's Lauren,' he finally said.

'What about her?' asked Ginny as Thea sighed inwardly. This was their sixth bust-up in about two weeks. Thea liked Lauren but she did seem to blow things all out of proportion when things concerned Benji. She seemed to be quite the demanding girlfriend. In Thea's view they spent most of their time arguing, although Benji had said something about enjoying the making up, whatever that meant. When she had voiced her confusion about that to Ginny, Ginny had laughed and promised to explain it to her, but she had yet to get round to it.

'I don't know. She got mad at me and stormed off. I don't even know what I did.' He looked at them both mournfully. 'You've got to help me, girls. I have no idea what I've done.'

'Well then, talk us through the night, and we'll see if we can work out what happened,' said Thea.

Benji shifted so he was sitting up and so Ginny and Thea could sit either side of him.

'Well, we were in the library, doing homework and talking, nothing out of the ordinary, and all of a sudden she got up and stormed off. I've no idea what happened.'

'What were you talking about?' asked Ginny.

'Nothing all that important, to be honest. It was mostly what we are going to do tomorrow in Hogsmeade.'

'What did you say to her immediately before Lauren ran off?' asked Ginny.

Benji frowned. 'Well, she asked if I wanted to take a walk,' he said thoughtfully.

Thea and Ginny exchanged glances. Oh boy. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to see where this was going.

'And did you want to take a walk?' asked Thea.

'Thea, I was finishing my Arithmancy homework. Of course I didn't want to go for a walk. We can do that tomorrow in Hogsmeade,' said Benji.

'Ben, you blew her off,' Ginny told him as Thea shock her head. Hopeless. He was completely hopeless. Talk about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

'How did I do that?' he asked, looking bewildered.

'As far as she's concerned, you decided that homework was more important than she is,' explained Ginny.

'But I don't think that,' protested Benji.

'And anyway, who does their homework on a Friday night when they could go off with their girlfriend?' exclaimed Ginny.

'Well, I haven't seen you going off with anyone on a Friday night, Ginny,' retorted Benji.

'I don't have a girlfriend,' snarked Ginny.

Thea hit Ginny on the shoulder. 'Will you shut up, you're not helping.'

'Sorry,' said Ginny unrepentantly.

Benji sunk further into the sofa and crossed his arms across his chest. 'And anyway, I have a test on Monday. That's why I wanted to do my homework, especially as I'm going to be in Hogsmeade all day tomorrow.'

'Did you tell her that?' asked Thea, guessing that he probably hadn't.

'I tried to. Instead she told me I didn't care about her feelings and only thought about myself. She then packed her bag and stormed out.' He sighed. 'I just don't understand girls,' he admitted.

'Oh dear, that's not good,' agreed Thea, glancing at Ginny.

'So,' whined Benji, 'what should I do? How do I go about make things right again?'

'It won't be easy, Ben.' Ginny told him. Thea was leaving the advice giving to Ginny. She had no idea how to "make things right" as Benji put it. Ginny had at least dated a couple of guys, which was more than Thea had done. She thought Lauren was being ever so slightly over the top. She doubted she'd be like that if she ever had a boyfriend.

'How do I make it right?' he repeated.

'Apologise, that would be a good start,' began Ginny.

'But what do I say?'

'Sorry,' suggested Thea, smirking at Ginny, who smothered her laugh.

'Well, yeah, I got that bit. What else?' For some reason Benji was beginning to sound exasperated with them.

'Ask to talk to her alone and then just tell her about being worried about your test next week. And don't go over the top otherwise she'll think you're lying.'

'Do it before going to Hogsmeade, and then spoil her loads while you're there,' suggested Thea.

'Oh, that's a good idea,' agreed Ginny. 'Do that.'

'Do you think so?' asked Benji, looking doubtful.

'Definitely,' confirmed Ginny determinedly.

Sighing, Benji got to his feet. 'God, I hope you're both right. Well, I'm off to bed. I'll go and see Lauren in the morning, I guess.'

'OK then, Ben, see you in the morning,' said Ginny, flopping onto the sofa where Benji had just been himself, taking up more room than was strictly necessarily.

'Night, Ben,' called Thea as he walked out of the common room. 'And cheer up,' she called after him.

Ginny looked over at Thea. 'What do you think?' she asked.

'I think Lauren is ever so slightly overreacting,' she said, carefully.

'Are you telling me you wouldn't be upset if your boyfriend found his work more interesting than spending time with you?'

'Well, we are at school, and homework is a necessary evil here.'

'Do you always have to think about things so logically?' demanded Ginny, sounding exasperated. 'Things like that aren't logical.'

Thea looked at her best friend. 'What's wrong with being logical sometimes?' she asked.

Ginny just groaned and buried her head in her hands.