Trademark smirks and Temperamental redheads

Chapter 23 - Lovers' Quarrels (Seventh Year)

Harry was in the common room playing Exploding Snap with Seamus and Dean when the prefects returned from their meeting. Harry watched as first Ron, then Hermione and finally Ginny stepped into the room, each with different expressions on their faces. Ron's eyes were glazed over, which clearly suggested he was tired and about to collapse, Hermione's face was in that grim expression she wore whenever she couldn't find a solution to a problem from a book. Ginny's face was pale, though the tips of her ears were red, a sign that she was silently seething. Wondering what had happened at the prefect meeting, Harry waved the three over and waited expectantly for them to settle down.

"I hate being Head Boy! Why couldn't I be Quidditch Captain instead?" Ron whined, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Because I'm Quidditch Captain," Harry answered matter-of-factly. "Now is one of you going to tell me what happened? You three look like something disastrous happened."

"Don't worry about Ron, he's just sulking because he didn't get Quidditch Captain and Head Boy," Hermione replied, ignoring Ron's indignant protests. "You don't know how hard it is being Head Girl, I spent hours pouring over the assignment of prefect duties, and in the end nobody's happy with their duties anyway. I don't know why I bother, should have just picked them out of a hat if you ask me," Hermione continued, the corners her lips drooping in a small pout.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean it like that," Ginny spoke up. "I was just surprised you'd pair me up with Malfoy that's all. I understand how hard it is for you, I promise I won't complain again okay?" Ginny leaned over to give Hermione a squeeze, giving her an assuring smile. Hermione visibly relaxed at this, but continued to pick at the frayed bits from an over stuffed cushion.

"Well, now that the girls have sorted out their problems. Let's move on," Harry said brightly. "You have no idea how hard I'll be training the team for Quidditch this year Ron, what with new Chasers, new Beaters and a new Keeper now that you're too busy with Head Boy duties. It'll be a nightmare just getting us to fly as a team instead of broken arrows. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I got the letter telling me I was Quidditch Captain. Ron, you think you could help me with strategy? You're so good at chess, you should be able to come up with something for me," Harry begged.

"I'd love to, mate, but right now, I can barely stand up. So, I'm going straight to bed while I still have the strength. Night everyone." Ron got up and gave Hermione and Ginny both a kiss on the cheek before making his way up to the Head Boy's dormitory.

"I have Transfiguration homework to do before I begin my patrol tonight," Hermione declared, getting up and making her way up to her own room.

Seamus and Dean had moved across the room to play Exploding Snap with Neville, leaving Harry and Ginny alone by the fire. Harry got up and went to join Ginny on her couch in front of the fire, giving her a tired smile as she hugged a cushion to her chest.

"How are you?" he asked her softly.

"I've been better," she answered with a small smile.

"Did you enjoy your year at Beauxbatons?"

"Immensely. I met Gabrielle Delacour while I was there, you know, Fleur's younger sister?"

"Did you really? Well, glad my bracelet wasn't your only companion there," Harry replied.

"Speaking of the bracelet, I can't believe you did all the charms without any help from Hermione. They were brilliant, helped me out a lot."

"Did you figure out all the charms?" Harry asked, fidgeting nervously with his own cushion.

"Well, almost, I know the lion is a Warming Spell, and the quaffle's the Cooling Spell isn't it? The wand casts impervious on me when it's raining and the owl lightens the weight of anything I've got to carry. Can't for the life of me figure out what the snake and the broomstick do though. And whenever I touch the stag I get this warm, tingly feeling. What is it Harry?"

"Err, just some protective spells, you'll find out when the time's right," Harry answered vaguely.

"Alright then," Ginny agreed, too tired to argue about it. She made a face when she remembered what day it was tomorrow. "Tomorrow's Wednesday, which means I have prefect duties with Malfoy. Better do my homework now then, night Harry." She gave him a quick hug before padding up the stairs to her dormitory.

~~~

Ginny paced the width of the corridor impatiently, her heavy footsteps thundering down the hallway threateningly. Where was the stupid prat? She had been standing here for a good fifteen minutes already, it would almost seem like she was the one eagerly anticipating the two hours of torture! Seething, she took her anger out on a stubborn looking stone that dared to jut out from the smooth walls.

"Rather unladylike wouldn't you say?" Draco drawled from the shadows. He had been standing just out of sight for the past ten minutes, silently watching as Ginny demonstrated her anger.

"Mere target practice Malfoy," Ginny spoke with false civility. "Just be glad I wasn't attacking the real thing." She glared at him for a long moment before moving down the hallway.

"Where are you going oh angry one?" Draco asked. "I believe we're supposed to start at the library."

"Change of plans, you start at the library, and make your way down from the fourth floor to the dungeons. I'll cover the fifth to seventh floors, then we'll meet at the towers."

"Who's going to protect you if something goes wrong?"

She pushed down the warm feeling spreading through her at his question, forcing herself to turn around and frown at him. "I'll manage, besides, aren't you afraid I have Weasley germs?" She gave Draco an innocent smile before walking away.

"Weasley!" Draco called after her, bringing a small paper airplane out of his robe pocket. "Take this with you."

Ginny felt something whiz past her left ear and focused on the small object hovering a few inches in front of her. "It'll tell me if you're in danger," Draco explained from behind her. Shrugging, she continued her path with the paper plane zooming around her head excitedly.

Ginny made her way slowly across each floor, pointing out directions for first years who had lost their way while getting back to their common rooms from the library. It surprised Ginny just how many couples Hogwarts held, it seemed every shadowy corner held its own love story, a brutal reminder of her own loneliness. But of course, she had an obligation to keep and soon enough she was rolling her eyes while casting lumos on every corner she passed. The snogging couples would squeak in surprise before scurrying off, possibly in search of a new sanctuary. The patrolling was a joke and after an hour and a half of startling passionate lovers from their nightly sessions, Ginny found herself standing outside the Astronomy Tower waiting for Draco's appearance. It was only as she sat down on the top step of the staircase that she realized she'd forgotten to tell Draco which Tower to meet at. Too tired to move, she decided he'd just have to find her.

She heard a rustling sound and something soft and heavy began wrapping around her shoulders, whipping out her wand, she turned to her attacker. It was Draco. He raised an eyebrow at her and straightened up, holding out a hand for her. Letting out a sharp breath, she brought his cloak tighter about her and took his proffered hand.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"My paper plane," Draco said with a shrug. It was only then that Ginny noticed the paper plane hovering behind Draco's left ear.

"Right, let's go then, we'll start with this tower," Ginny said, pointing to the large door leading up to the Astronomy Tower. "We'll need to clear it out, they're having an Astronomy class here at midnight."

Nodding his agreement, Draco turned and opened the door, holding it open for Ginny to step inside. As soon as the two of them had made their way downstairs and cast a lighting charm on the tower, gasps went up in the room as a dozen couples turned their heads to face the intruders.

"All right, everybody out," Ginny declared, putting on her sternest expression, much like Molly Weasley when she was scolding the twins. Perhaps it was because she had never quite mastered the terrifying quality to Molly Weasley's scowl, nobody seemed to pay her much attention.

"Why should we?" One pimple-nosed boy asked from the far corner.

"Because I will issue a detention to each and every one of you if this room isn't cleared within two minutes," Ginny said, giving her stern expression another shot. No luck.

"Go away, can't you see we're all busy? If you two need some space to yourselves go find it somewhere else," a round-faced girl called from Ginny's left.

Ginny could feel her face burning scarlet; in indignation Ginny assured herself. Before she could turn around to shout a retort at the girl, Draco spoke up.

"The Astronomy class will be here soon, I'm sure the Professor would not hesitate to issue you all with a months worth of detention if we suggested it," Draco said silkily.

Grumbling, the couples moved as a group to the door and marched out, each giving Ginny a disgusted look. Furious at being treated in such a way, she marched about the room using her wand to explode every single cushion in the room. Finally when the room was filled with white feathers, she sat down on a bench looking satisfied at the damage she'd wrought.

"Weasley, I believe people are supposed to become more mature as they grow older," Draco said. He was standing near the door waiting for the feathers to settle down.

"Sorry to disappoint," Ginny ground out, not the least bit sorry. "Those couples are completely out of line, wait until I tell Hermione to set harsher punishment for this sort of thing."

"Why bicker with them? They're young and thoughtless, not everyone has private rooms at their disposal," Draco replied, fixing the cushions with a wave of his wand. When the white feathers had all disappeared, he made his way toward her.

"They shouldn't be doing this sort of thing anyway, did you see them? Half of them were fourth years and under!"

"A bit hypocritical wouldn't you say?" Draco asked, coming to stand beside her and staring out at the moonlight.

"What are you implying Malfoy?" Ginny ground out angrily.

"Simply that you should let the couples be," Draco said casually. "Let them be held for their own actions."

"We're on duty for a reason, I'd rather be the bitch now than for them to regret what they did later on," Ginny replied.

Draco blinked, was she implying that he had been her mistake? "It's late, I'll check the other towers, and you can go back to your common room and get some sleep." He walked out of the room quickly and fled the steps.

Ginny watched him go, already regretting her harsh words. She took off his cloak and hugged the bundle to her chest, how could she stand to see him in this way?

~~~

Sooner than she expected, Friday night had arrived and Ginny found herself waiting outside the library for Draco. When he arrived, she dumped his cloak into his hands.

"We'll do the same thing as we did for Wednesday, I'll meet you at the Astronomy Tower," she said. He nodded and took out his paper plane.

Ginny was just falling into the routine of catching couples in dark corners when a loud bang echoed from down the corridor. She raced over to the source of the sound and had only just registered that a table had fallen over when a shadow appeared on the wall in front of her. Heart leaping into her throat, she whirled around in time to see an axe slash down toward her face before she leapt back in fright. A suit of armor with an axe in hand was making its way slowly toward her, swinging the axe wildly in front of it. Giving a startled shout, she raced down the other end of the corridor, vaguely noting that the paper plane was no longer hovering above her head.

The clanking of metal followed her all the way and seemed to be getting louder as Ginny rounded the corner and stopped dead. The staircase that connected the seventh floor with the sixth was nowhere to be found. Searching desperately, she spotted it connecting itself to another banister across the landing from her. Trapped, she gave a frustrated growl and took out her wand, carefully waiting for the suit of armor to appear. She listened intently for any sound of the armor but found only silence, unnerving her even more. Her heart was pounding wildly and she had a hex on the tip of her tongue, but when a shadow ran by, her knees wobbled and she kneeled down on the floor, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Ginny!" a voice shouted. She looked up to see Draco rounding the corner following his paper plane; his eyes were darting around frantically. As soon as he spotted her he rushed over, concern showing in his every move. Unable to speak, she grabbed the front of his shirt and began to sob uncontrollably, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and Malfoy's scent enclosed her in warmth. "It's okay now," his voice soothed. "It was just a Slytherin third year, he was making a sick joke."

After another minute of sobbing, the initial shock wore off and was soon replaced by anger. "How dare he! Who was it?" Ginny roared, getting up and brushing herself off.

"Don't worry, let me take care of him. I'll talk with Professor Snape about it," Draco assured her, keeping a protective arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll do the rest of the patrol with you, I was nearly finished with my floors anyway."

She gave him a slight nod before realizing that he still had his arm wrapped around her. She shrugged off his arm and moved out of reach, her heart still pounding, though this time not from shock.

They walked slowly side by side, Ginny making sure to keep a respectable distance between them. As they walked, she carefully reminded herself of all the reasons why they could not be together and why it was wrong to continue wanting those full lips to be on her own.

It took Draco a whole half hour before he finally realized he was chewing nervously on the inside of his lower lip. Ginny was acting strangely rigid, each time he would even so much as swing his arms a little closer to her direction, she would jerk away as if there was an invisible force field between them.

He cleared his voice and took a sideways glance at her before speaking. "I'm kind of hungry, maybe I'll head to the kitchens when we're done. You could er, come too...if you want," he said, trying to sound casual.

Ginny couldn't help but smile slightly at Draco's poor theatrics. "Sure! ... I mean, I'm a bit hungry myself," she replied. After all, she was kind of hungry; it had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to spend more time with him...

As they neared the end of their shift and reached the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, Ginny mentally prepared herself for a hard time from the room's occupants. Nodding slightly to herself, she was about to reach for the knob when Draco stopped her by placing his hand on her arm.

"Let me deal with them, you're tired, take a rest here," he said, before turning the knob and stepping inside. Obediently, she sat down on the top step and leaned her head against the stonewall, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

~~~

"Astronomy Tower cleared, maybe we should go to the kit-" Draco's voice trailed off as he neared the dozing figure of Ginny. Smiling wryly to himself, he crouched down beside her on the top step and studied her sleeping profile. She had tied her hair in a ponytail tonight, loose strands escaping and giving color to her pale cheeks. He gently brushed them aside and leaned forward, breathing in her scent.

Draco contemplated kissing her, but decided against it. Instead, another idea occurred to him; shrugging off his charmed cloak, he settled it lightly on her shoulders and placed his paper plane in her lap before setting off.

Ginny awoke with a start, disturbing the warm cloak that had covered her body a moment before, immediately she felt the night chill and reached for the fallen material. Looking about her, she realized she'd fallen asleep. Wondering just how long she'd been asleep for, and where Draco was, she made her way inside the Astronomy Tower to find that it was empty. A bit worried and a tad annoyed, she silently pondered where Draco could be. It was then that she noticed the paper plane hovering above her head; it was zooming back and forth between the door and herself. Taking the hint, she followed the object out the door and down the stairs, negotiating the hallways of Hogwarts in the dark before finding herself in front of the kitchens. Skillfully tickling the green pear, she stepped inside and quickly scanned the room. She spotted Draco's blond head sitting in the middle of the room with a plate of ravioli floating slightly above the concrete floor. Storming over, she placed her hands on her hips and glared down at him.

"You left me in the middle of the hallway! After curfew! I could have been caught! I - stop eating you pointy-faced pig!" she bent down and snatched the fork from his hands before resuming her glaring.

"I am not pointy faced, I merely have sharp features," he replied calmly, deliberately avoiding the main point.

"I am not going to play games with you," she said sternly. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Why? I thought I was supposed to mind my own business?" he inquired innocently. He smiled inwardly as he watched her fume and stomp her foot.

Before she had the chance to hit him, he smirked and stood up, putting his hands on both sides of her face to make eye contact. "Shhh. Calm down, I wanted some time to make you a snack. If you had paid a little more attention, you would have noticed how close you were to stepping on it," he said, continuing to stare into her eyes even after he finished.

She was momentarily speechless as she looked into his grey eyes, flecks of silver reflecting the light in the kitchens. She was distracted at the feeling of his hands caressing her cheeks, tickling her eyelashes as his fingers brushed over them lightly. It took her a whole minute before she realized he was still waiting for her reply, she struggled to remember what they were talking about.

"Really?" She winced at her lame reply and pulled away slightly to search for the aforementioned snack. It was sitting on the floor a few inches from her left boot and she bent down to pick it up. Two slices of whole meal bread were joined in the middle by something distinctly gooey and sticky. "It looks, err...nice?"

Draco laughed and moved behind her, placing his chin in the nook of her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her. "It's called a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I heard the muggles love it," he explained.

"Since when were we a muggle expert?" she asked in surprise.

"I asked the house elves, it seems many muggle students are quite fond of it," he admitted. "I made them teach me how to make it," he added sheepishly.

Although she was still strongly aware of his arms around her waist, she didn't really mind, instead, she snuggled deeper into his embrace, enjoying his soft breath on the side of her neck. She took a bite of the sandwich and immediately fell in love with the taste in her mouth.

"Glad you're enjoying that so much, you know how much trouble it took make that?" he whispered in her ear, before raising his left hand and showing her two gashes on the side of his index finger.

She frowned as she examined the cut. "Why did you even need to pick up a knife?" she asked in puzzlement.

There was a slight pause before he replied. "Well, I was actually going for a complex Italian salad, but I kept slicing my finger instead of the ingredients."

Ginny rolled her eyes in wonder. "You're an expert when it comes to slicing your potions ingredients, but when it comes to preparing cuisine, you're a hopeless rookie. Typical," she said, grinning at his scowl.

She turned around to face him and took his hurt finger in her hand. "Poor baby, let's make it better," she said, before gently taking his finger into her mouth and running her tongue along the wound.

His expression immediately sobered, the amusement of a moment ago forgotten as his eyes darkened, watching her intensely. "You know, there's another place that could use a kiss to make it better," he said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving hers. Leaning down, he gently kissed the corner of her lips, inclining his head further to cover her mouth more firmly.

Ginny instinctively threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as a small moan escaped her lips. She had missed him much more than she would care to admit, and even as she had told him they were over, her heart still yearned for him. As they clung onto each other tightly in the damply lit kitchens, all the cares and prejudice that had kept her emotions at bay were dispersed from her mind. How she had managed to forget the torrents of emotions he could rouse from deep within her was a mystery.

~~~

It wasn't until Draco felt Ginny's two small palms softly touching his bare chest that he realized exactly where they were and what they were doing. "Ginny," he grunted, unwillingly breaking their kiss. She moaned in reply and leaned closer. "Not here, let's go back to my room."

"Mmm, no, I have a better idea," Ginny said, hastily buttoning up his shirt and leading him away from the kitchens. He was vaguely aware of the missing house elves who had all gone into hiding as soon as they had begun their little striptease, but mostly, his attention centered on Ginny and the black bra she was wearing that so visible underneath her thin cotton shirt. Throwing Draco's cloak around the both of them, Ginny hurriedly led him up to the seventh floor, concentrating on the room they would be needing. Finally, she stopped in front of a normal looking set of double doors, giving Draco an impish grin; she turned the knob and pushed back the doors to reveal a dimly lit bedroom.

Draco's eyes lit up with amusement as realization hit him. "The Room of Requirement? However did you think of it?" He followed Ginny into the room to where a tall four-poster bed stood in the center.

"It looks sort of comfortable, want to test it out?" Ginny asked, her eyes roaming over his body teasingly.

Instead of answering, he gave a wicked grin and made his way over to her.

~~~

Harry threw his invisibility cloak over his head and quietly stepped out of the Gryffindor common room. It was already past midnight and still there was no sign of Ron or Hermione, so he had decided to go in search of the pair. He deliberately avoided the main stairwell to the first floor, knowing that Filch would probably be patrolling that area regularly. Instead he continued around the seventh floor until he was halfway past the Room of Requirement, thinking to take a rarely used stairwell at the end of that corridor.

His path was halted as he heard laughter and a door opening to his left; instinctively, his Seeker reflexes brought him to hide behind a pillar before he remembered he was invisible. He stepped cautiously out from behind the pillar in time to see a red haired girl dressed in a revealing white nightgown in the arms of Draco Malfoy.

"Come on, I'm still hungry! Let's go to the kitchens quickly before Filch catches us," Ginny said, smiling up at Draco.

"Aren't I enough to satisfy your hunger?" Draco whispered, nipping gently at her neck. She giggled and snuggled closer to him.

Catching his gasp just in time, Harry could do nothing but watch wide-eyed as the pair in front of him began to kiss, half groping each other in their intensity to feel every inch of the other person. In his shock, Harry's grip on his cloak loosened and the invisibility cloak slipped from around his shoulders, exposing him to all of Hogwarts. However, the pair in front of him were so involved with each other that neither noticed the silent observer bare meters from them. In fact, they would never have looked up and noticed him had it not been for two new voices coming from down the corridor.

As Ron and Hermione emerged from the shadowy length of the corridor, their footsteps were halted at the sight in front of them. Malfoy and Ginny were standing together, both quite undressed and Harry was standing a way off clearly trying to find his voice.

"Oh! ... Well, hello!" Hermione said in surprise, staring from Draco to Ginny to Harry.

"Ginny?" Ron whispered, feeling his temper rising rapidly, he tried to control himself as best he could when he felt Hermione's grasp on his arm.

Ginny's mind whirled from the sudden intrusion on her and Draco's blissful night. Later, she would never be able to explain why she did it, except that she couldn't possibly have been thinking properly when she had stiffened and pushed Draco roughly away from her.

"I-...it's not what it looks like," Ginny began; then frowned. "What I mean is it's not - I didn't mean for this to - " she stuttered to a stop. Feeling her face growing hot, she shut up and lowered her head, wringing her hands nervously and wondering why their night had to end like this.

The five of them stood silently, not looking at each other and busy trying to wedge their way out of this awkward situation. Hermione was the first to recover.

"Well, you two look...busy, and we're very tired from our lesson, aren't we Ron?" she asked, nudging Ron in the ribs.

"Huh...Yeah..." Ron managed to choke out, his hands fisted tightly at his sides.

"We'll just be on our way now," Hermione added, dragging Ron away from Draco and Ginny. "Harry, you should probably come along too." Dumbly, Harry followed along as Hermione led them out of sight.

Ginny let out the breath she was holding and turned to face Draco, relieved that her brother had been able to hold his temper. Her relieved stated wavered as she took in Draco's stony expression. "Draco?" she asked uncertainly, taking a step toward him.

He held out a hand as if to hold her off. "It's not what it looks like?" he repeated, his voice not concealing his icy contempt.

Ginny's eyes widened as she remembered her actions from a moment ago. "Oh Draco, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that, I just panicked - " She tried to explain, but Draco turned away with a disgusted look on his face.

"There's no need to explain. Besides, I was merely testing how much it would take for you to come crawling back to me," his malicious tone held a hint of amusement. "Obviously, not very much."

Ginny shook her head in disbelief, shame and anger flooding her face bright red. Shaking, she glared at him. "I knew it was wrong to trust you, I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for your tricks." She shook her head sadly and ran away down the corridor.

~~~

In the days to come, the pair's quarrelling could be heard in every corner of Hogwarts and students took to quietly sliding out of sight whenever Ginny and Draco were sighted to be within shouting distance of each other. Not only that, the corridors were suspiciously devoid of defiant couples after curfew when it came time for Ginny and Draco's patrol. The pair was famous for their harsh punishment to whoever was unfortunate enough to cross their warpath during the hours of their night patrols.

So it was either with great courage or great stupidity that Alison Hanneson of Slytherin came up to Draco one night and grabbed him from behind.

"Draco honey, it's been so long since we've been out on a date, is this Gryffindor taking up too much of your time?" she asked, moving around so that she and Draco were face to face. She threw an amused glance at Ginny who returned it with an icy glare.

"Honestly, are Slytherins so desperate they can't wait till they're back in their common rooms before discussing that kind of thing?" Ginny huffed, stalking away fuming.

Draco who had been about to give Alison a good dressing down changed his mind and transformed his scowl into a grin. "What are you talking about? I always have time for you, honey," he said silkily. He bent down to whisper something in Alison's ear that made her smile delightedly.

"I know exactly what to do," Alison assured him, before glancing at Ginny with a victorious glint in her eye. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she kissed Draco soundly before walking away, swishing her hips from side to side.

Draco studied Ginny's murderous expression as she watched Alison go, feeling a small sense of satisfaction at Ginny's reaction. He caught her eye for a moment and gave her a smug grin. Ginny seethed and fumed for the rest of the patrol, conscientiously staring daggers at Draco's back. Finally unable to help herself, she made sure to stick her foot out just a bit too much as they turned a corner. Draco's foot tripped over hers, making him stumble forwards in a rare display of clumsy ineptitude.

"Watch it there Malfoy, wouldn't want you to have an accident before your big date, what would she say if you turned up with a squashed nose?" Ginny said, her tone challenging.

"Petty, Weasley," Draco said instead, shaking his head at her in a way that made her all the more furious. "Very petty."

Not trusting herself to speak, she growled and stomped away. "Finish the patrol your own bloody self!" she spat over her shoulder at him.

Draco's grin disappeared as soon as she disappeared into the shadows, then, straightening his shoulders, he made his way back to the Slytherin common room.

He had barely settled himself onto the couch before Pansy was beside him and glaring impatiently at him.

"Why," she began, turning his face so that he was looking at her, "was Alison Hanneson pestering me all evening about a date with you? She kept asking me for times when you would be free so she could make an appointment."

"That would be because I told her to," Draco replied, deliberately ignoring Pansy's frosty expression. When she remained silent, he sighed and gave up. "I whispered it in her ear in front of Ginny... I just wanted to see her reaction."

Pansy gave frustrated cry and started battering him with a cushion. "What?" he demanded. "I wasn't the one who was ashamed of our relationship. Why shouldn't she be punished for it?" Draco continued indignantly, making halfhearted attempts to fend off Pansy's attacks.

"I'm surprised neither of you have grown out of this silly quarreling, honestly!" Pansy replied despairingly. She stood up ready to go to her own quarters.

"Pansy!" Draco called after her. "Be a darling and make sure I'm not available, ever!"

"Why should I? Alison's your problem! In fact, I'm giving her a copy of your timetable tomorrow!" she called over her shoulder.

Draco made a face and punched his cushion.

Author's Notes: To those people who reviewed last chapter to tell me that I had gotten the Ravenclaw mascot wrong, I have only one thing to say: Ha! We're all WRONG! (Including me) the Ravenclaw mascot is NOT a phoenix, NOT a raven, NOT a crow, NOT a defluffed chicken (although that's what it looks like to me on the crest).

It is in fact an eagle, so that means all of us got it wrong, (except for lousie, she got it right ^-^ ) I live in Australia so we go by the English version so I have no idea what animal it is in the American version. But because I'm a gigantic pooh who refuses to acknowledge her mistakes, it's going to be a phoenix in my story, so there! *Sticks tongue out in childish manner* Nah, I just can't be bothered to change it lol, but if it upsets you that badly, you can always cover your eyes when you get to that section =)

I lied about the chapter ending explosively, the thing is, when I wrote it, it turned out to be waaay too long. So I decided to split it into two chapters, perhaps I won't have an epilogue or something. I'll see. So yes, sorry, but hey! You all got your d/g action! So no sulking! I used all ideas submitted by my dear reviewers, and for those who are going to argue about my not getting them back together. Ha! I'm all ready for you! As you may have noticed, they did actually get back together; it's just that they had a falling out afterwards. See? You didn't ask for them to get back together indefinitely =) aren't I a smart cookie? I assure you it will happen though! Trust me? =)

Again, I apologize profusely for the late update, what with house hunting, actually moving house, shopping for a new computer desk and then my finals coming up all at once I've just had to leave my writing hanging. And then just when I was about ready to settle into writing, a surprise trip to Hong Kong came up! I've just gotten home and the first thing I'm doing is run to my computer and finish writing this chapter! Please stick with me; I will try to be prompt from now on!