Living On

Tracey moved through the halls towards the dungeons. She was in a foul mood due to an unexpected low grade on an assignment. She was grateful, though that the halls were fairly empty.

She heard a low whine before Theodore rounded the corner ahead of her; the pitiful sound came from the second year Hufflepuff following him. He was dutifully ignoring the crying girl as he tossed around what looked to be a Quaffle. His dark eyes brightened when he saw her, a wicked grin forming on his lips.
They stopped when they met in the hall. "Good evening, Tracey."

Though her body showed no sign of amusement, her lips twitched in a small smile. "Good is a relative term, Theodore." Her eyes lingered on the Hufflepuff that was whining about her rat. "What's wrong with her?"

Theodore glanced briefly at the girl. "She doesn't seem to like the fact that I turned her pet into a Quaffle." He glanced back up at Tracey. "And why is your night not a good one?"

She gave a small scowl. "That new Potions professor. It's like he's going out of his way to punish the whole house." She shifted to lean against the corridor's wall. "I miss Professor Snape."

Theodore nodded. He wasn't in the seventh year Potions class, but he had heard the same thing from others that were in various Potions classes. "There's only one place Snape is headed if he's caught." He gave the Quaffle a small toss into the air before throwing it to Tracey. She caught it reflexively as he grinned. "Why don't you have some fun with this, love?"

She gave it an experimental toss, smiling at the hope in the girl's eyes and the fact that the thing was furry. She knew that if Theodore had wanted, he could have made it fur-less, but it was more tormenting for the girl this way. "I know exactly what to do with this." She pushed herself off the wall. "Thanks Theo." She started moving down the hall, the girl trailing behind.

"What are you going to do?" Theodore called at her back.

She looked over her shoulder, her honey eyes right. "See if it floats or sinks."

The girl gave a louder wail at that. Theodore smirked at Tracey's retreating back. She only had a short time before curfew if she was to truly do it.

* * * * * * *

Theodore sat on a couch in the Slytherin common room. It had been a couple hours since he'd left the Quaffle in Tracey's hands, and he hadn't seen a sign of her since. Jasper sat across from him on another couch. They were discussing the changes in the school since Dumbledore's death last term. No one knew if the school was going to reopen, but McGonagall said that Dumbledore would have wanted it to stay open, so it did. Not all those in Slytherin had returned for their seventh year. Those that did knew that which ever way that war turned, they would need jobs to support themselves. It didn't stop them from being their normal cruel selves, but it gave them one more year before they were forced to take sides in the war; and to keep with the hope that the war would be over before they left Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and his friends hadn't returned either. It was rumored that they'd gone after the Dark Lord to finish this once and for all. However, no one could prove it, nor did anyone seem to know anything concrete and those who did were very tight-lipped about it.

Their conversation was interrupted when Tracey entered the common room and tossed a wet, furry, Quaffle at Theodore. He caught it with a raised brow as she moved over to him, her eyes sparkling. She kissed his cheek and breathed, "It floats," in his ear before moving up to the girls' dorms.

Jasper peered cautiously at the wet thing in Theodore's hand. "What is that? And why are you ginning?"

Theodore tossed it to Jasper. "A Hufflepuff's rat. I turned it into a Quaffle and then gave it to Tracey. Se said she was going to see if it floats." He glanced over to were Tracey had disappeared up the stairs. "I didn't think she'd actually do it."

Jasper chuckled and set the Quaffle on the table. "She has a cruel streak in her almost dark enough to match yours. If you know how to bring it out, that is."

Theodore nodded, "Or if she's in a foul mood."

The entrance to the common room opened and Slughorn entered, a slight anger glowing in his eyes. Spotting Theodore and Jasper, he moved to stand if front of them. "A Hufflepuff girl says that a Slytherin stole her rat and ran off. Know anything about it?

Theodore stopped himself from looking at Jasper and instead nodded to the Quaffle on the table. "A student said he found that in the hall. Didn't know why it was there, but didn't want to leave it."

Slughorn picked it up, a grimace forming at the wet fur on the thing. "And you didn't bring this to me because why?"

"Because curfew is in affect and we can't leave the common room after nine." Theodore glanced at the clock in the room. "And it's ten-thirty. I was going to bring it to you tomorrow morning."

Slughorn eyed Theodore, but believed his explanation. He had no doubt that they could have snuck around, but few were brave enough to deal with McGonagall should they be caught. He still wasn't happy that the girl wouldn't name anyone, but if she didn't want to name names and McGonagall stood by her decision, there was nothing to be done. "Fine. Good night boys."

Once Slughorn was gone, Jasper gave a small snort of amusement and grinned at Theodore. "Between the two of you, this should be an interesting term."

Theodore gave a wicked grin. "And I haven't even asked her to be my partner in crime yet." The grin told Jasper he was right; it would be an interesting term indeed.