What The...

Ron pulled out his wand to slow her down, but she had already managed to exit the staircase, onto the second floor.

"Hermione, I'm going to put a leg locker curse on you if you don't slow down! Slow... Whoa!" Ron had spotted the Bloody Baron.

Surely Hermione couldn't outrun him. He was over six feet tall. Picking up the pace, Ron ran for his life, away from the laughing Bloody Baron.

"Hermione, slow down! Please, slow down!" Ron said, his voice cracking. The Bloody Baron was on his tail, literally and Hermione had just Apparated trying to catch Peeves.

He was alone. Ron was alone again with the Bloody Baron.

"You know, I work at the Ministry and I don't think ghosts are supposed to do what you just did to me. Stop that!" Ron said swatting stupidly at a ghost.

The hotel door opened and Lucius stepped out, about to complain.

He was completely caught off-guard when Ron began hiding behind him like a small child.

"What the... Weasley, get off me! You're wet, you smell like a wet grim, and you're touching me!" Lucius tried his best to remove Ron. No such luck. Ron was much taller and much stronger.

Lucius spun round and round as Ron hid behind him from the Bloody Baron.

"I could simply float through the both of you," the Bloody Baron said, stopping the chase.

Lucius held out a hand to stop the Bloody Baron, "I'd rather you not." He spoke in that usual calm, haughty demeanor. "As a matter of fact, if you don't go back to the room that you're supposed to be in, I'll report that you're terrorizing people you shouldn't be."

The Bloody Baron looked at Ron with a manic glint in his eye, but floated away nonetheless.

Ron stood back to his normal height and smiled at the bare-chested Lucius Malfoy.

"Thanks much. He has already attacked me earlier. I don't think I could deal with the emotional stress much more."

Lucius didn't take this as a joke.

"Mr. Weasley, may I ask why you're here talking to me? I thought you of all people would know the best way to get rid of the Hogwarts ghost. What exactly are you at the Ministry for?"

Ron was just about to answer when a huge grin spread on his face.

"Someone's busy," he said, looking over Lucius' shoulder.

Cho Chang stood in the doorway, her arms folded in a nice little black number that Ron couldn't help but look over twice.

Lucius turned to see Cho and the red began to creep up in his cheeks. Was he blushing?

Ron sniggered and headed off to find Hermione again.

Another female voice from inside asked, "Who was that?"

"It was just your brother," Lucius said as he pushed Cho back inside and closed the door.

Ron was at the end of the hall, but he stopped, wondering if he had just heard Lucius Malfoy right. Thinking better of it, he decided to just find Hermione, wherever she was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hermione growled when she finally did catch up with Peeves, who was on the highest floor, going to his hotel room.

Or Hermione hoped it was his hotel room.

"Peeves! If you don't come out here," Hermione headed to his hotel door and yelled, "open this door right now! You really don't want to make me angry!"

"Make you angry," a drawling voice said in Hermione's ear.

Hermione turned fuming at Draco.

Her hair was like a soppy mop and her clothes clung to her as she glared at him.

"Granger, although you resemble a willow tree, I'd say the wet look works wonders." Draco flipped Hermione's hair with his wand.

"I'm not the one that looks absolutely ridiculous though." Hermione eyed Draco's slip dress, giving off that Granger know-it-all smirk.

Draco looked down at his outfit and back at Hermione. "You're just upset because I look better in it than you do."

"Honestly, Malfoy, do you think I care about slip dresses?"

Hermione turned back to the door and knocked angrily. The door opened quickly and Hermione was hit in the face with what seemed to be lemon creme pie and the door was closed again.

She stood standing at the door, sulking. It was just time to give it all up.

"I don't think creme on mud-"

There was a hand whacking Draco in the back of the head.

Draco rubbed his head and turned to see McGonagall, standing there with her lips pursed and the chaps. Oh, the chaps.

"Go to the room, Draco. And not another word. I'll be punishing you later." McGonagall said this with such a strong hint of what her 'punishment' would be that Hermione couldn't help but to shudder.

"Well, Miss Granger, fancy seeing you here. I assume you're looking for someone."

McGonagall pointed her wand at Hermione's face and said a cleaning spell. The lemon creme pie was removed from her face and she was now dry.

"Where on earth is your wand? Surely you weren't insane enough to leave it behind?"

Hermione gave off a fake laugh and shook her head. "Of course not. I wouldn't be that daft."

Hermione's mind flashed to a mental picture of her and Ron's wands sitting on the bed. They were so busy trying to hunt McGonagall and Malfoy that they had left their wands behind.

Oh, I'm so stupid, Hermione thought as she laughed at McGonagall's comment.

"Well, Miss Granger, I must be going. I've got a lot of things to do. Will you tell Mister Weasley hello for me?"

Hermione's mouth dropped at the smile peaking at McGonagall's lips.

After she left, Hermione turned to Peeve's hotel door, sighed, and headed to her hotel room.

"If I ever see Peeves again, I'm going to kill him. No. Scratch that. I'm going to have the Bloody Baron rape him." Hermione smiled maniacally at this thought. Her smile faded when she passed a mirror in the hall and saw the giant mass of hair flying in every direction all over her head. It resembled an Afro. An Afro that had gone terribly wrong.

She ran her hands through the puff of fluff and sighed when her fingers became stuck.

"Back to the room," Hermione said to the mirror. Thankfully, it did not talk back.

Hermione decided that she did not care who found out what, she just wasn't in the mood anymore. So she Apparated back to the floor where their hotel room was located.

Literally bumping into Ron, Hermione smirked at the look on his face when he saw her standing there dry. Puffy, but dry.

"How'd you do that? Your wand is on the bed beside mine." He sounded sort of jealous.

"I bumped into McGonagall. Turns out she is here with Draco. She also sends her love." Hermione took Ron by the hand and headed back to their room.

When Ron told Hermione about Lucius, Hermione stopped at the door, turning a nasty shade of green.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked concerned.

Hermione covered her mouth, as thought trying to block her mouth from revealing something very important.

Ron looked at her suspiciously, then he became sickly pale. "Hermione, I know you know something. Whatever it is, you better tell me. You better tell me now!"

Ron grabbed Hermione by her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"It's something about Lucius Malfoy, isn't it? I know it is. It's not what I think..."

Ron's mouth dropped for what seemed to be the hundredth time tonight.

"I'm going down to that room right now!" Ron turned on his heels, with Hermione following, shouting random protests.