The Dragon Tamed

Chapter 11.

It was the morning of the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch game, making it Gryffindor's first match of the year. Originally, they had been supposed to be playing Ravenclaw, but the fifth year team members, including reserves, had been involved in a bit of an accident in Potions. Since they were still in the infirmary, Ron and Harry along with Jonathan, the Hufflepuff captain, had agreed to the swap.

Thea was feeling decidedly nervous. She had only played in one match the year before, when Katie Bell took time off to concentrate on her NEWT exams. Harry had asked her to play against Hufflepuff and she had agreed. She hadn't been nervous then. Of course, it didn't help that due to detentions and her huge workload of late, she'd been forced to miss a few practices over the last few weeks. Both Harry and Ron had been surprisingly understanding about the whole thing. She just hoped that once her detentions with Snape ended, the pressure would lessen somewhat.

'How are you feeling, Thea?' asked Harry, who was sitting opposite her.

'Rather queasy, to be honest with you,' she admitted. There was a big difference between filling in for someone and actually being a part of the team and Thea was well aware of the distinction.

'You should eat something,' suggested Ron around a mouthful of food. 'It'll make you feel better.'

'Ron, that's disgusting,' complained Ginny. 'Eat with your mouth closed. You'll put Thea off her food even more, along with the rest of us.'

Ron ignored her. 'You should be eating as well, Gin,' he told her seriously. 'You'll need your strength.'

Ginny waved the slice of toast she was holding in front of his face. 'I am, you idiot.'

'Dear God, Ron. Leave the two of them alone, would you?' said Seamus. 'Thea's nervous enough as it is.'

'Nervous about what?' scoffed Ron. 'We're going to kill Hufflepuff today.'

Hermione looked up from the Daily Prophet. 'That possibly wasn't the best choice of words, Ron,' she told him, 'considering what has been going on recently.'

Ron waved away her concern with a fork full of eggs and bacon, which naturally didn't stay on his fork, but flew across the table and landed on the top of Hermione's stack of books. She glared at him as she cleaned it off.

Ron quickly stood, his breakfast forgotten. 'Ummm, ah, we should go and prepare for the game. Come on, Harry.'

'But I haven't finished my breakfast,' protested Harry, looking at his half finished plate of food.

'Come on, Harry,' repeated Ron, grabbing one of his arms and pulling him up.

'Ok, ok, Ron,' grumbled Harry as he stood up, 'I'm coming.' He grabbed a couple of pieces of toast from the plate before Ron pulled him too far from the table.

'See you all down there,' Harry said to the table at large.

'I want the rest of the team down on the pitch in ten minutes,' called Ron as he began to drag Harry out of the hall.

'Hey,' Ginny called out. 'Wait for me.' While scrambling from her seat she turned to Thea. 'You coming?'

'No,' Hermione replied firmly for her. 'She's going to try and actually eat something.'

Ginny looked sympathetically at Thea. She hated it when Hermione tried to mother her and she pitied anyone else who experienced it. 'See you later. Don't be too long. You know what Ron can be like.' She then hurried over to Ron who was beginning to look impatient.

Without Harry and Ron around, Thea found she felt slightly less nervous and she reached for the bowl of yoghurt. She didn't think she could eat a lot but having something to settle her stomach could only be a good idea.

As she picked up her spoon she looked over to Hermione. 'Thanks,' she told her. 'They were only making me feel more nervous.'

Hermione smiled at her. 'My pleasure. Ron could turn the most hardened stomach when he's excited about Quidditch.'

Thea laughed.

After a few more minutes she pushed the bowl away from her. 'Right. That's all I think I can manage.'

Hermione looked critically at Thea. 'Well, it wasn't much but I don't think you'll fall off your broom now. You may go.'

'Why, thank you, Your Majesty,' she said, bowing.

As Thea stood, Hermione spoke again. 'You don't have to be nervous, Thea. You, Ginny and Demelza play very well together. I've watched you at some of the practices. Plus, Harry and Ron have been raving about how good their Chasers are.'

By all rights hearing that should have made her more nervous but surprisingly it didn't. If anything it relaxed her and made her feel more confident. Perhaps she wouldn't screw it up for everyone after all. 'Thanks, Hermione.'

'You'd better hurry,' Colin told her, 'everyone else has already gone on ahead.'

'Good luck,' Benji said as she walked past him.

'Thanks,' she said, smiling at her friends. 'I'll see you after the game.'

Once she was out of the Great Hall she ran out of the school and down towards the Quidditch pitch. She was going to be late for Ron's talk, she just knew it. She was pelting down the steps when she realised there was someone on them in front of her. Unable to stop herself in time, Thea threw herself to one side just in time not to collide with them but she did fall rather heavily onto the grass. Nothing hurt, but she checked herself over - Ron would kill her if she couldn't play, before looking to see who she had nearly run into. She groaned.

'It's nice bumping into you too, Maggi,' said Malfoy dryly, amusement lacing his voice.

'Yes, well, sorry about that,' she huffed, standing up and brushing herself off.

'You should watch where you're going,' he chided.

'I was,' she told him. It's just she was going so fast she had been unable to stop.

'Well, it certainly didn't look like it to me,' he informed her.

She shrugged before frowning to herself. As of yet, he hadn't insulted her for nearly running into him. Levels of animosity between them in the tutorials had declined to it being more or less non-existent but outside of there it was always a bit hit and miss. The biting sarcasm was still there but the hint of cruelty wasn't. Looking at him she decided to test the waters. 'You seem to be in an agreeable mood today.'

He flashed a quick grin her way. 'An agreeable mood?' He considered that for a moment before carrying on. 'Is that because you don't want to presume a good mood just in case it gets me in a bad one?'

She considered for a moment, already knowing that he was in more than an agreeable mood. She would peg it as a good one. 'Yep.'

'Understandable,' he told her. 'Are you in a rush to get to the Quidditch pitch, by any chance?'

She nodded, her eyes straying to see if she could see any movement on or around the pitch below them.

'You do realise it doesn't start for another half an hour, don't you?'

She rolled her eyes. 'Of course I do. I think Ron wants to run through some of our set-pieces again. You know, just in case we've forgotten from when he went over them last night.' Thankfully she had missed a good portion of Ron's training session because of her history tutorial, but she'd still had to sit through over an hour of Quidditch diagrams after returning.

'I could kill him for you, if you'd like. It would be no hardship to rid the world of King Weasel, believe me.'

Thea was pretty sure that he was joking, but she was still finding it difficult to recognise when Malfoy was joking as it didn't seem to happen so often. 'Ah, no, thanks. I think we'd like to keep our Keeper, if it's all the same to you.'

'If you'd prefer, he could just lose his voice.'

'You can do that?' she asked, the question slipping out before she could stop it.

'Would you like me to?' countered Malfoy, moving perceptively closer to her. Once upon a time that would have intimidated her and made her back up, but not anymore.

'No!' she exclaimed.

'Liar.'

She frowned at him. 'Even if it is slightly tempting, I wouldn't do it. He only wants us to win, you know.'

'You'll win anyway,' dismissed Malfoy. 'As usual, the race is between Slytherin and Gryffindor. The only difference being that Slytherin is going to win this year.'

Thea snorted in amusement. 'As if. It's never going to happen. Keep on dreaming.'

'Never say never, Thea.' He scowled and glanced around them.

'What are you looking for?' she asked him.

'Making sure there's no-one around listening,' he muttered.

She looked around the grounds. They were a good hundred yards away from anywhere a person could be hiding.

'I don't think there's anyone hiding here,' she told him.

'Just because you can't see someone doesn't mean they aren't there,' he said seriously, glancing around again.

'Golly, next you'll be telling me the trees can hear us speak,' she teased.

He regarded her solemnly and Thea felt her eyes widen. He was kidding, right? Trees couldn't understand them, could they? Over the years she had learnt that in the magic world you couldn't dismiss something just because it sounded daft, because it was always possible.

'You don't happen to know a talking lion, do you?' she asked him weakly. If he said yes she was going to keel over from the shock.

He gave her a look full of bemusement. 'What are you talking about?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing that important.'

'You really are very strange,' he finally informed her.

She flashed him a grin. 'Sure am,' she agreed. 'Anyway, I've got to go. Ron'll kill me if I'm late.' She stopped, thinking. 'Unless, of course, I blame it on Hermione.' That could work. Ron knew Hermione had kept her back and he would never actually confront Hermione about it.

'How could this be Granger's fault?' he asked as he turned and walked down the steps with her.

'Hermione refused to let me leave the table until I had eaten something. Ron was making me nervous.'

'Surely using the Weasel's revolting affections for Granger to stop yourself from getting into trouble is a bit of a Slytherin thing to do,' he suggested.

'Is not,' protested Thea indignantly.

'How so?'

Thea opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She shut her mouth, thinking, all the time aware of Malfoy walking next to her, smirking. 'Well, it's because, I don't, ummm.' She frowned. 'Oh fiddlesticks.'

Malfoy chuckled, something Thea still wasn't used to. 'Relax; anyone would use that to protect themselves from Weasel's loud mouth.'

'He's not that bad,' protested Thea. 'He's just...enthusiastic about Quidditch.'

'That's one way of putting it,' muttered Malfoy. 'And anyway, are those two ever going to get together?'

'Who? Ron and Hermione?'

'Who else?'

'Why on earth do you care?' she asked. 'And are they that obvious?'

'The Dark Lord is less obvious with his obsession to kill Potter than those two are,' he told her dryly.

Thea laughed.

'And, no, we - we being Slytherin - don't care. In fact this whole thing sickens us. But it's driving us mental watching them dance around each other.'

'What, and you think it will get better once they get together?' Thea wasn't that optimistic.

'Merlin, no. It'll be a different form of torture. The key word there being, different.'

'What will you do when that gets too much for you to stomach?'

'Engineer a break-up. That would be fun to watch. A crying Granger. Weasel more explosive than he usually is. It would be a good thing.' He sounded as though he was already planning it and could see it playing out.

'Can't say I'm particularly wishing that my friends break up and hurt each other,' she told him.

'Well, of course you don't. You're a Gryffindor. You're their friend. Believe me, while you might find the prospect upsetting, I find pleasure in it.'

'You really have got to get some new material, you know. This whole "because you're a Gryffindor" thing is getting a bit boring.'

He raised an eyebrow at her.

'And anyway,' she continued, 'do you really believe that what house you're in has that much of an influence on our actions or thoughts? I thought the Sorting Hat put us in the house which corresponded to our strongest characteristics. It doesn't say that we have none of the characteristics of the other houses as well, does it?'

'Not many people remember that, you know, Thea,' commented Malfoy.

'No they don't,' she agreed. 'But anyway, you didn't answer my question.'

'No, I don't believe it. It's just a convenient line to fall back on, especially when people are talking about me. I'd actually hope that we all have more to us than a few traits offered to us by a house.'

OK, that was...deep, and a little bit weird. Never in a million years would she have thought that she would have heard Malfoy say anything like that. Obviously it was her year for strange things to keep happening to her.

'So, why are you nervous?' he asked.

'Huh?' What did that have to do with traits?

'Granger was force-feeding you this morning.'

'Oh, that. Nerves. First Quidditch match and all that,' she told him, feeling much more relaxed in the fresh air.

'No, it isn't. You played in the last match of last year.'

'How do you know that? You weren't there.'

'How do you know that?'

'Ron and Harry noticed the lack of your presence and decided that it was because you couldn't stomach watching us win the Cup again.'

'They would think that.' He scowled darkly for a moment before shaking himself out of it. 'Even if it was your first match, why are you nervous? You're a good flyer.' He frowned, as if realising he'd paid her a compliment. 'For a Gryffindor,' he tacked on.

'How do you know I'm a good flyer? As I know I've already pointed out, you weren't at the match last year.'

'I've seen you fly.'

'How? When?' Why did she get the feeling they were going round in circles? And why did she get an even bigger feeling that he was going to evade her questions with vague answers until she got bored and stopped asking them.

'Oh, that.' He grinned. 'I can't tell you that.'

'You've been spying on our practices, haven't you?' she demanded.

'Well, I am the Slytherin captain, you know,' he reminded her, without actually answering her question, she noticed.

'And your point is?' she asked as they approached the edge of the pitch.

'I guess I don't have one.' He shrugged.

Thea gritted her teeth. He was doing this on purpose, she knew he was, but damn him, he was being so fucking annoying.

'Well, you'd best get going. King Weasel will do his nut if you miss anymore of the St Crispin's speech.'

She grimaced. 'Thanks for that lovely thought.'

As she turned to walk away he grabbed her arm and her heart jumped into her throat. She had thought that she'd stopped being afraid of him, but obviously not.

'Haven't you forgotten something, Maggi?' he asked, clearly amused.

'Don't think so,' she told him, pulling her arm away. Thankfully he let go straight away.

'Forgive me if I'm wrong,' he mocked, 'but most who wish to play Quidditch do so with a broom.'

'I haven't forgotten my broom. Harry brought it down for me earlier.'

'All praise Saint Potter,' said Malfoy scathingly.

Thea rolled her eyes before replying, 'Well, exactly. What more is there to say?'

She grinned at him as he glared at her, before turning and making her way over to the changing rooms.

'I would wish you luck,' he called out just before she opened the door, 'but I don't think you'll need it.'

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

As they walked out onto the pitch, Ginny nudged Thea. 'Hey. What's up with you this morning?'

'Nothing. Why?'

'You've been staring into space for ages. You completely zoned out during Ron's 'Let's go get them!' speech, and for that I'm so completely jealous. But I'd still like to know what you've been thinking about.'

Thea shrugged, not wanting to tell her friend, but not quite knowing how to avoid the subject. She wasn't very good at keeping secrets from Ginny.

'Nothing, my arse,' retorted Ginny. 'I'm going to keep on at you until you tell me. You know that, right?'

'Look, Madam Hooch is about to blow the whistle. We should get in the air and get into position.'

'Nice try, Thea. You should know better than that.'

As they kicked off from the ground, Thea heard Ron yelling, 'Concentrate Gryffindor. Concentrate.'

'Fine,' she huffed in resignation. 'On the way down here, I bumped into Malfoy.' Not looking at Ginny, she scanned the air around her, noting where the opposition were.

'Why do I get the feeling that there is more to it than that?'

'He walked me down here. He was nice.' As she spoke to Ginny her eyes were pulled to the Slytherin stands where she scanned the crowd until she saw Draco sitting between Zabini and Parkinson. It could just be her overactive imagination, but it looked to her as though he was watching her.

Ginny just shook her head. 'I don't know what to say to you, Thea. He's not being the Malfoy I know and loathe. It's tricky.'

'Tell me about it,' she muttered, as much to herself as to Ginny.

'Just be careful, Thea. Be careful.'

Thea flashed her a smile as she flew past her to catch the Quaffle as Demelza threw it towards her. 'Aren't I always?'

She could have sworn she heard Ginny yell "No" after her, but she was probably hearing things.

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

Thea landed next to Ginny as the final whistle went, cheering along with the rest of the team, and a fair amount of the crowd as well. It had been a wonderful game and Thea had enjoyed it immensely. Of course it hadn't been such a fun game for Hufflepuff; they had been well and truly beaten. Thea hoped that Abi would be in a better mood than she had been when Hufflepuff had been beaten by Slytherin, although she doubted it. Abi, like the rest of them, took her Quidditch seriously.

Seeing Abi walking over to them, Ginny and Thea pushed their way out of the crowd and ran over to her.

'Sucks to be a Hufflepuff at the moment,' groaned Abi.

'Yeah, but you played really well,' Thea told her.

'Big deal,' huffed Abi. 'I still can't believe Jon agreed to play you guys even though we've hardly had any practices. If we'd at least known how to play together then perhaps we could have made it a more respectable loss.'

'Even so, that was a corker of a goal where you turned upside down to fly under Ron,' enthused Ginny. 'You have to show me how you did that.'

'It doesn't matter how many goals you score if your Keeper is shit and doesn't save the Quaffle once,' said Abi, leaning on her broom. She really did look quite tired. 'Did he actually save any, at all?'

'Well, he did catch the one I dropped,' said Thea.

'Yeah, but Ginny intercepted his throw,' Abi reminded her miserably.

'Then, no, Abs, I don't think he saved a single one,' confirmed Ginny as they made their way to the changing rooms.

'I think there's going to be a mutiny,' Abi confided in them. 'After two such stunning defeats I think we're going to oust Johnny as Captain. He's a good Beater, but he never tells anyone off. In practice last week he congratulated Tom on nearly catching the Quaffle. And when I say nearly he was about ten yards away and looked like he was going to fall off his broom, not catch a Quaffle.'

'Are you going to have tryouts then?' asked Ginny.

'That's the plan. Or at least, I assume it is. We're going to talk once back in the Common Room. God knows who'll show up. But to be honest with you, anyone'd be better than Tom is.'

'Can't argue with that,' agreed Ginny. 'But with a new Keeper, better captain and some practice, I think you'll be a good team.'

'Yeah, right,' said Abi, snorting.

'No, seriously,' argued Thea. 'Your biggest problem is that most of the team are inexperienced. Jonathan is so busy being a crap captain he isn't spending any time training them and you, Abi, can only do so much. Come next year, you might be in with a chance.'

'Why? What's so special about next year?' asked Abi glumly.

'Next year, we don't have Harry and Slytherin don't have Malfoy. That's two of the best players, gone. All the teams are going to be hit by it, except Hufflepuff because all of your players are younger. It's going to open the field right up and make it much more of a competition.'

Abi visibly brightened. 'I'd forgotten about that. With Potter and Malfoy not here it'll be all change.'

'See? Things are already looking up, aren't they,' teased Ginny.

'Oh yes,' agreed Abi. 'But what are you going to do without Potter?'

'I wouldn't worry about us,' Thea told her. 'What about Slytherin? Most of their players assume he'll catch the Snitch and everything'll be fine. What are they going to do when they realise they actually have to play Quidditch and can't just throw people off their brooms?'

Both Ginny and Abi laughed at that as they walked into the changing rooms. Thea was about to follow them when a hand pulled her backwards and round the building so they were out of sight behind the trees.

'Shit, don't scream,' that person hissed in her ear.

Thea relaxed. She recognised that crisp, polished accent. It was Malfoy.

'No screaming, I don't want the Boy Wonder and his trusty sidekick to come flying in to save you from being kidnapped by me for some dark and insidious Death Eater plot.'

'Are you trying to kidnap me for some insidious Death Eater plot?' she asked curiously.

He stared at her for a long moment as if trying to figure out if she was serious or not. 'If I was,' he finally responded, 'don't you think I'd have my wand pointed at you and that I might have Stunned you by now or put you under the Imperius Curse? And do you think it's possible that I might have planned to do it at a less conspicuous event than a Quidditch match?'

Thea considered that all for a moment. 'So that would be a no, then, would it?'

'Yes, Thea, that would be a no,' he agreed.

'Sweet. So, if ever you pull your wand on me, in a quiet and secluded part of the castle, that'd be the insidious Death Eater plot, and I should run?'

Malfoy looked to be fighting a smile as he said, 'That would be right.'

'I'll keep that in mind. Now, what did you pull me in here for? I was just about to go and have my shower.'

Malfoy leaned back - no mean feat that, since there was so little room for him to do so, they were practically touching as it was - and raked his eyes over her, making her blush. 'Were you really?' he drawled.

Ah, perhaps she'd just given Malfoy too much information there.

'Could you stop looking at me like that?' she mumbled, looking anywhere but at Malfoy.

'Ah, but you're cute when you're all embarrassed and bashful,' teased Malfoy, putting a finger under her chin and forcing her to look up at him. Not sure if pulling back would be a good idea or not, she decided not to move.

'Don't feel cute,' she muttered. In fact, she felt more than a little ridiculous. What she wouldn't give for a Harry-shaped rescue about now. 'Can I go now?'

'No. Not until I say what I was going to tell you.'

'Please, just say it and let me go,' she begged.

'We'll get round to it eventually, Thea, don't worry,' he assured her.

'Abi and Ginny'll be wondering where I am,' she reminded him.

'Please,' he scoffed, 'they were so eager to get into the showers that they won't have noticed you missing until they actually got into the showers and then they'll be too warm to want to leave and find you.'

'But even so, they'll wonder where I was all this time, especially as I was right behind them.'

'You can leave whenever you want, Thea. I'm not stopping you. Kidnapping you for the insidious Death Eater plot is later, remember?'

She smiled. 'I'll put a note in my diary,' she promised.

'Good plan. The Dark Lord does hate to be kept waiting.' A look of dark pain flittered across Malfoy's face and he frowned for a moment. Whatever he was thinking about, it wasn't sugar and spice.

'So, what were you going to say to me?' she prompted him, hoping it would distract him from whatever he was thinking about.

He stared at her for a minute. 'What?' He blinked a couple of times. 'Oh, that.' He recovered his poise and smiled arrogantly at her.

That was better, this was the Malfoy she knew, not the one who had dark thoughts that she wanted to save him from. Hang on a minute, did she just think--? No, she wouldn't have. Why would she want to save Malfoy, of all people?

'Just wanted to say I told you so.'

'You told me what?' she asked, feeling rather confused.

'That you didn't need any luck.'

She laughed. 'Oh that. You pulled me in here to tell me that?'

'I couldn't have you thinking I was wrong,' he said.

'Well, on this occasion you can rest assured; I don't think you were wrong.' She wouldn't mention all the other times when she knew he was wrong.

'How gracious of you,' he remarked dryly.

'Although, of course, Hufflepuff would have done a lot better if they'd had a captain who knew what he was doing and a cabbage as a keeper,' continued Thea as though she hadn't heard him.

'A good captain is always helpful,' he agreed. 'But why a cabbage of all things?'

'First thing that popped into my head,' she admitted.

This time he didn't bother to hide the smile. 'You really are very strange.'

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

It was just before nine in the evening and all Thea wanted to do was go to bed, but that, unfortunately, wasn't an option.

She stood up, pushing Cleo off her lap as she did, and picked her bag off the floor.

Colin frowned at her. 'Where are you going?' he asked.

'I have a detention with Snape,' she told him.

'What? But it's a Saturday!' exclaimed Ginny, turning around from the game of Wizard's Chess she was playing with Ron.

'I thought McGonagall had convinced him to let you have weekends off,' said Benji.

Thea shrugged. 'He found me as I was walking back here from the library and told me I'd better be there.'

'That's really mean,' said Colin, looking angry.

'It's mean, but what else do you expect from Snape?' asked Ron, pondering his next move. 'At least this way, they'll be over sooner and you won't have to be in his stinking presence for much longer.'

'There is that.' If she had a detention tonight, then she only had four left. She could now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

'And whatever he does to you, he's done worse to me,' added Harry from the floor where he was playing Exploding Snap with Dean, Neville and Seamus.

'But Harry, mate, he hates you,' pointed out Seamus.

'Fair point,' conceded Harry.

'Well it's not like it's easy to forget. He gets a hard-on just from the thought of you getting expelled.'

'Seamus!' cried Ginny and Colin.

'What?' he protested.

Thea threw a cushion at Seamus as Dean and Neville punched him. 'God, Seamus, that's so not an image I need before I go have detention.'

'That's an image I never needed,' croaked Ron, looking as though he was going to be sick. Harry looked equally pale.

'Right, I'll leave you all to kill Seamus,' said Thea, laughing at the increasingly alarmed look on Seamus' face. Served him right for saying things like that.

'Don't worry, Thea,' Ron assured her solemnly, 'he'll be dead by the time you get back. We'll just need you to help us dig the hole. Is that alright?'

'Ah, come on, guys, I was joking,' wailed Seamus as Neville and Dean grabbed him.

As the portrait closed behind her Thea could still hear Seamus protesting his innocence and the others yelling at him for corrupting their minds. She shook her head and set off in the direction of the dungeons.

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

Thea reluctantly pushed open the door into the Potions dungeon to find not only Snape there, but Malfoy as well. She didn't say anything as she closed the door behind her. All she hoped was that Malfoy would leave pretty soon. She didn't think she could cope with both Snape and Malfoy this night.

'Miss Maggi,' began Snape as she made her way towards her seat,' I have been unexpectedly called away, so Mr Malfoy will be supervising your detention.'

'Yes, Professor.' She didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, no Snape - a bonus if ever there was one; on the other, she still had detention and since Malfoy was in his official teacher's pet role, she didn't know how he would act tonight.

'I believe you have some homework you could do so as not to disturb Mr Malfoy.'

'Yes, Professor,' Thank god she wasn't going to be cleaning out any more cupboards.

As Snape swept out, Thea pulled her things out of her bag. Thank god she had grabbed it at the last minute. Neither Snape nor Malfoy would have been impressed if she'd needed to run back to the Common Room.

'So, what did you do this time, Maggi?' asked Malfoy who was sitting at Snape's desk.

'This time?' she echoed.

'Yes, Maggi. What did you do to deserve another detention?'

'Another detention?' Was he being dense on purpose?

'It's not a difficult question, Maggi, so why are you taking so long to answer?' He was beginning to sound irritated.

'Oh, I'm still on the fourteen detentions he gave me in Potions a couple of weeks ago,' she told him. 'I haven't actually done anything else.'

A brief look of guilt slipped across his face. 'How many have you got left?'

'Ummm, five, including this one.'

'Well, you should get on with whatever Snape left you to do,' suggested Malfoy a bit stiffly.

'I suppose so,' agreed Thea, eyeing her books with loathing.

About an hour later she was startled out of her rather non-productive daydreaming by Malfoy remarking, 'In the last hour all I have seen you do is scribble things down, cross them out and ball up pieces of parchment.'

'And your point is?' she snapped.

'My point is that isn't that all rather pointless?'

'Of course it is.'

'So why do it?' He actually sounded genuinely curious.

'Because this,' she indicated towards her Potions work, 'is driving me crazy. I have no idea what I'm doing.'

He stood up and walked over to the table then frowned as he studied her work upside down. She helpfully turned it around so he could see it. 'Thanks, but I knew what I was looking at before. What I can't understand is why you're writing about the Properties of Swelling Solutions and not our homework from Monday.'

'I did the homework on Friday,' she reminded him. Again he had gone through the parts that confused her and so her homework was all ready and waiting to be handed in.

'I remember. What I'm trying to work out is why you aren't doing the work I set you on Felix Felicis.'

'Because Snape will kill me if I don't hand this in tomorrow evening,' she told him. Plus, did she really want Malfoy to know that she hadn't actually had time to start the work he's set in the tutorial? She'd been doing her Transfiguration homework when she'd been in the library earlier and since she feared getting on the wrong side of McGonagall, especially after the professor had been so supportive of her, she had left her Potions work to the last moment.

'You do realise this is work from the second year, don't you?'

'No shit, Sherlock,' she said sarcastically. 'I think I know that.'

He frowned at her but other than that did nothing to acknowledge her sarcasm.

He opened his mouth to ask another question but Thea beat him to it. She knew that she would end up telling him the truth so she might as well get it over and done with. 'After class, Snape added a bit more to the points and detentions.'

'You have to redo, or even, in some cases, do, the homework you hadn't done in previous years?' he guessed.

She nodded grimly. 'Yep.'

Malfoy looked at her for a moment before sniggering to himself. 'Professor Snape has outdone himself this time,' he decided.

'Could you please stop finding this funny?' she begged.

He shook his head. 'No. I think it is one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time, not that much that I've heard has been all that funny, but that's not the point.' He smiled before carrying on. 'But I still don't understand why you are finding the work so difficult.'

'Oh, that.' She grimaced, really not wanting to give Malfoy the whole nine yards.

'Yes, that,' he agreed, raising an eyebrow as she slouched further onto the table.

'Well, Snape also decided that all of my late work has to be done to NEWT standard.'

'He didn't, did he?' Malfoy asked her disbelievingly, his sniggers turning into chuckles.

'Nice to know someone finds it funny,' she muttered glumly, folding her arms in front of herself. And to think she had had such a good day up to that point. Now it was ruined. In a strange way she thought she would have preferred it if Snape had been the one to take her detention. At least there was no danger of her ever liking him. Her two conversations with Draco earlier that day had been fun and she had enjoyed them, but now they were tainted in a way. She knew it was stupid to think like that, but she couldn't help it.

'So, how many have you managed to do so far?' he asked.

She glared at him. 'Why do you want to know?' she demanded belligerently.

'Curious.'

'Yeah, right. You just want to laugh at me some more,' she retorted bitterly.

He shrugged. 'Maybe, but maybe not. And you'll never know if you don't tell me.'

'I've done all my fifth year and third year, not that there were all that many from those years.'

'How many have you got left?'

'Nine. Seven from my fourth year and two from my second, including this one.'

'Seven!' he exclaimed in shock. 'How on earth did you survive that? I don't think even I would have got away with that.'

She shrugged. 'My dad was ill so I was visiting him a lot. School work took a bit of a back seat.'

'What happened to your dad?' asked Draco softly.

'He died. Cancer,' Thea answered shortly.

'I'm sorry.' The funny thing was she believed him. Most of the time when people said that, it was just empty platitudes, but him; she honestly believed he meant it.

'So, this homework, what's the problem?'

'It was four years ago, Dra...Malfoy. I can't remember that far back. That and I have no idea how to turn it into a NEWT piece of work. It's impossible.' She was going to totally ignore the fact that she had nearly called him Draco. It hadn't happened. And even if it had, this was so not the time or the place to freak out about it. It helped that Malfoy had either not noticed or not reacted to it.

'Of course it isn't impossible. It's easy.'

'I think my hour of screwing up parchment shows how easy I've found it.'

'Look, all you have to do is do the original homework and then investigate each of the ingredients mentioned and what else they can be used in.'

'So, for example,' she said, thinking over what Malfoy had said, 'I could say what puffer fish eyes do in a Swelling Solution and then describe what other potions it can be used in, like the Deflating Draft.'

'Isn't that what I just said?' said Malfoy, sounding bored. 'Anyway, hadn't you better get on with it? Professor Snape should be back soon.'

Thea frowned. The tone of Malfoy's voice suggested to her that he knew where the professor was, wherever that may be.

Realising that he was right and that she had no idea what time Snape would be returning, she dived into her work, feeling more positive now that she knew what she was doing.

She had just started her ninth inch when the door to the dungeon swung open and Snape walked in. Thea thought he looked a lot paler than when he had left, but it was difficult to tell with Snape; there was a reason rumours flew around about him being a vampire.

However, the fact that Malfoy jumped up with a look of concern as Snape walked in suggested to Thea she was correct in her assessment.

'Are you alright, Professor?' asked Malfoy.

'Of course I am,' snapped Snape but it lacked his usual venom. He glanced at Thea. 'You are dismissed,' he rasped.

She quickly gathered her belongings and stuffed them in her bag. She wanted to get out of the dungeons as quickly as possible. She knew something was going on here and as much as she wanted to know what was going on, she didn't want to get any further on the wrong side of Snape.

As she opened the door, Malfoy called out, 'Wait for me in the corridor, Maggi. I'll only be a minute.'

Thea rolled her eyes as she closed the door. She just wanted to get back to the common room as quickly as possible; she really didn't want an escort. She also wanted to be able to talk to her friends about Snape's disappearance and what it could possibly mean.

Finally the door opened and Malfoy emerged. 'Let's go,' was all he said, moving n front of her.

Nothing was said as Malfoy escorted her to the tower. He obviously had a lot on his mind as his brow was furrowed and his eyes were troubled. She knew that he would snap at her if she spoke and she once again found herself missing their usual conversation as they moved through the school.

Nearing the Gryffindor tower Thea heard low voices from inside a classroom before it opened up to reveal Ron and Hermione.

'What are you doing here, Malfoy?' demanded Ron as they stepped into the corridor.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react. All those who had been involved in the incident in the corridor were being a lot more careful, lest McGonagall decided to take a more severe line.

'I'm escorting Maggi back to the common room. What does it look like I'm doing Weasley?'

'It looks like you're skipping rounds and what were you doing with Thea in the first place?'

Malfoy usually had rounds on a Saturday with Hermione. However, with Snape using him to watch Thea, someone else had to take over. Despite his protests Thea suspected that Ron really wasn't all that bothered. It was probably just the fact that it was Malfoy that he objected to.

'I was supervising her detention for Professor Snape. Does that satisfy you're curiosity, Weasley?'

'Where was Professor Snape?' asked Hermione curiously. He notoriously preferred dealing with detentions himself.

'He was indisposed,' answered Malfoy shortly.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a significant glance that made Thea want to smack her head. She'd been so silly. It was obvious: Snape had been to a Death Eater meeting. It explained his appearance perfectly.

'Are you alright, Thea?' asked Ron.

Before either Thea or Malfoy could say anything, Hermione spoke. 'Don't be silly, Ron. Thea is fine. Malfoy is just walking her back to the common room like he does every week after her tutorials.' Thea was sure she was imagining it but she thought Hermione sounded slightly impatient and that she just wanted to get away from them.

Regardless, Ron narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Malfoy. 'We can take Thea the rest of the way, Malfoy. You can return to the dungeons.'

Thea looked at Malfoy and saw an evil glint in his eyes. Oh dear.

'I'm surprised, Weasley, that you would offer to take Thea back while I take your place doing the rounds with Granger.'

Malfoy had injected a leering quality into his voice and Ron looked equally angry and embarrassed while Hermione blushed redder. Thea looked between them all, realising that Malfoy had picked up on something that she had missed. She frowned as she looked between Ron and Hermione. Ron and Malfoy glared at each other, neither of them prepared to make the first move and get into trouble.

'I'm not leaving Hermione with you,' bristled Ron as Thea finally noticed what Malfoy had obviously spotted straight away.

Hermione's tie was pulled loose and her shirt was slightly untucked. Her hair, well, her hair looked wilder than usual. Ron looked as untidy as he always did, but he did look rather flushed and slightly uncomfortable. Thea looked away as she grinned. It had taken her a while, but now she was sure that Ron and Hermione hadn't been doing rounds in the strictest sense of the word.

'So, which will it be, Weasley? Rounds with Granger here, or escorting Maggi back to your common room?'

'Ron, really, it's fine. Malfoy's not going to do anything. He's been walking me back all term without anything happening to me.'

'Really, Ron,' chided Hermione, 'you're being ridiculous. Let Malfoy go about his business and we can go about ours.'

Ron opened his mouth, no doubt to protest but he closed it as Hermione gave him what Thea could only describe as a coy look.

Coy was a word she would never have thought of using to describe Hermione and she found it far too amusing. The look of disgust on Malfoy's face, though, suggested that he was less than impressed.

'We'll leave you both to it,' announced Malfoy, obviously itching to get as far away from Ron and Hermione as he could.

Ron tore his eyes from Hermione and looked seriously at Thea. 'Now, Thea, are you sure...'

''Yes, I'm positive,' Thea cut in. 'Now off you go,' she said, shooing him away, hoping he'd get the hint.

As Hermione and Ron carried on down the corridor, Thea heard Ron whisper, 'Do you think they noticed anything?'

Stifling a laugh she realised that Ron had been so anxious about him and Hermione being found out that he hadn't even begun to notice the lack of animosity between her and Malfoy. Hermione could very possibly have noticed something but she would have the sense to ask Thea about it later, Ron would demand to know what was going on immediately.

'I don't think so,' Thea heard Hermione answer, 'but then I don't really want to go and ask them.'

As they turned a corner, unaware that Thea and Draco were standing exactly where they had left them, Thea leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, finally allowing herself to laugh.

Malfoy stood in front of her for a few seconds before joining her on the floor. He, however, didn't laugh. On the other hand, Thea had never thought in a million years that she would witness Malfoy sitting on a cold stone floor, and with her no less.

Eventually she stopped laughing and wiped away the tears running down her cheeks. She looked at Malfoy. 'Come on,' she coaxed, 'that was pretty damn funny.'

He made a face. 'Actually, I thought it was pretty damn revolting. The thought of those two together...' he shuddered. 'Yuck.' He scowled. 'It made me feel so ill I never thought to tell Weasel that his secret was out.'

'Why would you do that?'

'To see the look on his face?' suggested Malfoy as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'But that's just momentary gratification,' she told him, regretting the words as soon as soon as they left her mouth. Now why had she said it like that? It was just asking for trouble.

'Is it really?' he drawled, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

'Well, you would know all about momentary gratification, wouldn't you?' she muttered.

'You say that like it's a bad thing,' protested Malfoy.

She rolled her eyes. She didn't want to have another talk with Malfoy that revolved around sex. 'Whatever.'

'What would you suggest instead of momentary gratification?' he literally purred, looking at her through his eyelashes.

Thea could feel herself flushing in embarrassment but she couldn't tear her eyes from him. His eyes, she noted absently, were a pale shade of grey and she could see the amusement shining from them. His gaze never wavered and it became more intense; as if it was morphing into something else; something that she couldn't quite explain and that was making her stomach go all queasy. She swallowed hard and mentally shook herself to knock herself out of the trance like state she was in. As much as she hated to admit it, she could see why some of the girls practically fell at his feet. When he turned on the charm and sex appeal it was pretty damn irresistible. This was the first time he had acted like that towards her and it was stupidly distracting. 'How about leaving them alone?' she finally managed to choke out, wishing she had some water handy.

Malfoy quit leering at her so he could look at her incredulously. 'Leave them alone?' he repeated. 'Are you quite mad? Why on earth would I want to leave them alone?'

'Well, if you left them alone, you wouldn't insult Hermione, you wouldn't get into a fight with Ron and you wouldn't get into trouble - again - with Dumbledore and McGonagall.'

'Well, there is that, I suppose. I can ill afford to get into anymore trouble at the moment.'

They sat there quietly as Malfoy stared off into space. After a while he stood up and offered a hand to Thea. Not one to question such things, she accepted it and was pulled to her feet.

'Come on,' he said, 'better get you back to your common room so you can tell Weaselette all about her brother and Granger.'

'Am I really that predictable?' she asked him.

'Only sometimes.'

'Oh, well, that's alright then.' She didn't know if that made her feel better or not.

He rolled his eyes before walking off. Obviously he was expecting her to follow him.

They made it back to the common room without further incident and Malfoy didn't leave until she was inside.

'How was it?' asked Ginny immediately.

Thea sat down next to Ginny. 'Huh?'

'Your detention. How was it?' she repeated.

'Oh, that. It was alright.' Thea couldn't believe it; with all that had happened on the walk back to the common room she had more or less forgotten that she'd started the evening in detention.

'It was detention with Snape, Thea. How could it have been alright?' said Colin sounding confused.

She looked around the room. There was no-one sitting that close to them; she knew where Ron and Hermione were; Harry was nowhere to be seen, and Dean and Neville were sitting at one of the tables, working hard. 'Snape wasn't there,' she confided in them. 'He was called away before it began.'

'Really?' said Ginny, sounding curious.

'Where did he go?' wondered Colin.

'And who took your detention?' asked Benji.

'Good question,' agreed Ginny.

'Oh, Malfoy took my detention, but...'

'Malfoy?' exclaimed Colin a little too loudly as Neville looked over at them briefly before returning to his work.

'Would you like to yell it any louder? I don't think Hermione and Ron heard you on the Astronomy Tower.' If anything could distract them, that would do it.

'What? Ron and Hermione, what? What are you talking about?' babbled Benji.

'Malfoy walked me back from my detention.' She waved off Colin and Benji's attempts to interrupt her then. 'As we got close to the common room, we saw Ron and Hermione leaving a classroom. They looked flustered.'

Ginny started to laugh. 'Oh my god, how obvious is that?'

'It took me a few moments to get what was going on but Malfoy got it immediately.'

'I bet he did,' remarked Ginny. 'An empty classroom is about as romantic as Malfoy gets.'

Thea smirked to herself as she thought back to Kimberley's proposition to Draco that night when they'd been caught spying on the Slytherins.

'So what happened?' asked Colin.

When she had finished telling them everything that had happened, excluding what Malfoy had said to her because she knew it would worry them, Ginny, still laughing, said, 'I wonder how long it will be before they tell us.'

'Ages, by the sound of it,' declared Colin.

'Especially if they think they managed to stop you and Malfoy guessing,' agreed Benji.

'Where's Harry?' asked Thea. 'I really wanted to tell him. He'll find it hysterical.'

'No clue where the boy is,' Ginny told her. 'Do you think he'll be able to pull it off, not telling my idiot brother and Hermione that we know? He's not the best liar.'

'Guess we'll find out,' said Thea, looking around the common room once again, checking that Harry hadn't suddenly appeared.

'Hey, if Malfoy was there, how did it not descend into a fistfight?' wondered Colin.

'They're being real careful after the fight. McGonagall will kill them if anything like that happens again,' Ginny said. 'She won't be anywhere near as lenient if they do it again.'

'So, if Malfoy took your detention, where was Snape?' asked Benji.

'Well,' she motioned for them all to lean in, 'I think he was at a Death Eater meeting and I think that's what Hermione and Ron thought as soon as Malfoy told them that Snape had gone somewhere. They looked at each other as if to go "ah ha!"'

'Something must be about to kick off,' decided Colin. 'Why else would Snape be off to a meeting?'

'Perhaps Voldemort was just checking up on him,' ventured Thea, rolling her eyes at Benji and Colin's barely suppressed shudders. 'I mean, he doesn't strike me as the kind of madman that allows his minions to do what they see best.'

'So, apart from the fact that he has to have been somewhere, what else makes you think Snape must have been with the Death Eaters?' asked Colin.

'Well, he was really pale,' she began.

'That doesn't mean anything,' protested Benji, 'Snape always looks pale.'

'I hadn't finished. He looked as though it was taking all his concentration to not fall over and he didn't say anything nasty to me.' If that didn't convince them, nothing would.

'That doesn't prove anything,' disagreed Benji.

'But Ron and Hermione obviously thought something was up,' she argued. 'They were probably off to find Harry and talk to him about it.'

'She's probably right,' admitted Ginny. 'We have got to try and find out what the Dream Team is up to at the moment. If we haven't found anything by the end of term, Thea and I can snoop around over Christmas. It should be easier with fewer students around.'

'Good luck with that,' said Benji.

'Yeah, they always seem to be able to avoid us when they are doing something they shouldn't be,' said Colin.

'Years of practice,' Ginny said.

'Knowing our luck you'll find something out while we aren't here and we'll miss all the interesting stuff,' grumbled Benji.

'Well, if we do discover anything, we'll owl you straight away, how's that?' asked Thea.

'Is Malfoy staying?' asked Colin.

'I haven't a clue,' she said. 'I guess he'd be going home.'

'I hope so,' muttered Colin under his breath.

She frowned. 'Why's that?'

'I don't trust him,' said Colin.

'Well of course you don't. He's a Slytherin.'

'It seems as though you're beginning to trust him,' declared Benji.

'Oh dear. You're not all back onto the insidious Death Eater plot thing, are you?' she groaned.

'No, we're not,' Ginny reassured her. 'But, just because he isn't part of some Death Eater plot...'

'You forgot the insidious part,' interrupted Thea.

Ginny glared at her before continuing. 'It doesn't mean that he can be trusted or that he isn't going to ultimately going to do something horrible to you.'

'Yeah, he's already slipped you a truth potion and got you two weeks worth of detentions,' Colin reminded her.

'I know he's not a nice person, I'm not even beginning to suggest it. I just don't think he's all that evil.' She tried to explain to her friends without really telling them anything she'd learnt about Draco. She didn't think he'd like it and she wanted to prove to him that she wouldn't use what she knew about him against him or gossip about him. 'Look, I know you are all sceptical, to say the least, but please trust me. He's not all that bad. He acts differently around me now.' She bit her lip trying to work out what she could say to convince the doubtful faces in front of her. 'I can't tell you anything that he's said to me, or that I've seen because it would be talking about things that, considering they are none of my business, you really shouldn't know, unless he tells you himself. I know you think I'm insane for saying that, but I'd do the same for all of you. If he asked me things about any of you, or Harry or Ron, I wouldn't tell him because it would be like an invasion of privacy.' She looked round at her friends anxiously. 'Does that make any kind of sense?'

'No!' exclaimed Colin and Benji at the same time, while Ginny nodded her head slowly, looking thoughtful.

'We're your friends; you're supposed to be like that with us. Malfoy is the enemy,' Benji told her.

'No. His dad is the enemy. Just because he's Lucius Malfoy's son doesn't mean he has to go the same way. However, if no-one ever shows him there are other options, he will and it won't necessarily be his fault. If everyone gives up on him, why should he think about changing sides?'

Ginny flashed her a small smile, obviously thinking, as Thea often did, about their talk with Sirius and Remus.

'Oh come on, Thea, look at what he's done over the years, what he has said to us, to Harry, to Gryffindors in general,' raged Colin. 'He's a bastard, and that's all he'll ever be.'

'He's not a bastard,' blurted Thea angrily. 'You don't even know him.'

'Oh, and you do, do you?' retorted Colin.

She felt her anger deflate at that, but still felt the need to defend herself. 'Not even a little bit, but I know him better than you do.'

'Come on, Gin, back us up here,' appealed Benji, 'she's being taken for a ride, right?'

Ginny looked up at all three of them. 'On the one hand, this is Malfoy and I don't think I'll ever like him after everything he's personally said about my family.' Colin shot Thea a triumphant look that died as soon as Ginny started speaking again. 'But that doesn't mean that I don't think he can't change. As Thea said he's got an uphill struggle because everyone has already assumed his role in everything because of who his father is. That's not fair.' She looked straight at Colin and Benji who were both looking shocked. 'What happens if we lose the war because we spurred Malfoy when he wanted to come over to our side?'

'Gin, have you gone mad?' breathed Colin. 'This is Malfoy we're talking about here.'

'I know that,' she snapped. 'Just because I accept the possibility that he might change doesn't mean that I think I'll ever like him or trust him. I'm not going to let my guard down around him one bit, but then I don't think he likes me.' Here she grinned at Thea. 'Thea knows I don't like him and why I don't like him. She's not expecting us to like him, or agree with her. All she wants is for us to know what is going on and keep an eye on her.'

'Exactly!' cried Thea. She pointed at Ginny. 'What she said, that's what I was trying to tell you.' Well, she didn't exactly want them to keep an eye on her, but she'd save that argument for another day.

Ginny laughed at her. 'Glad to be of service.'

Thea looked back at the boys. 'Are we alright now?'

'As long as you know we're both going to be keeping an eye on Malfoy,' said Benji.

'We don't trust him at all, but we can't stop you from thinking you can,' added Colin.

She grinned. 'What would I do without friends like you watching out for me?'

However, what she really wanted to know was what Ginny had been thinking about as she had agreed with Thea. This was obviously something that she had been giving a lot of thought, and Thea wanted to know what had prompted such deep thinking from her friend. This not being something she wanted to bring up in front of Colin and Benji, Thea resolved to talk to Ginny at the first possible moment when they were alone.