Tutoring A Dragon

Almost, and The Boys Squirm

As Hermione walked away from Draco, she felt awful. She knew he had betrayed her trust and love horribly, but she still loved him.

True, Ewan was fun, carefree incredibly handsome, and sweet, but did she want him? Maybe what she needed was a sarcastic, sleek, charming, and undeniably sexy man like Draco.

She shook her head, and glanced back behind her.

Draco was standing there, head down. He looked up, feeling her gaze. He smiled, and walked after her.

~*~

True, Draco had broken Hermione's heart, but he wasn't completely to blame. Hermione had to take some of the fault, too.

What kind of girl leaves a party with a guy who isn't her boyfriend? Usually a tramp, trollop, slut, whatever you want to call her, that's usually what she is.

Calling on Draco's upbringing, you can't really make him become unsuspecting innocent creature overnight thanks to Hermione's influence alone, can you?

And, adding in the fact that he was yet a bit insecure in his relationship, since it was the first one revolving around trust and love instead of a more physical aspect for him, having Hermione leave a party known for it's, shall we say, rambunctious behaviors, was not exactly the most reassuring of things.

So, when he saw Hermione looking back at him, he took a chance. A leap of faith, you might call it.

~*~

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and sighed. The ball was in two days and he had yet to find a costume.

Then an idea struck him, and he pulled out a quill and some parchment and hurriedly wrote to Madame Malkin, telling her what he wanted. She wouldn't have to measure anything, as they kept his measurements on record, just incase he came up with a new and outlandish idea as this one was.

He knew that the outfit would be incredibly against the theme, but, then, he was Headmaster of Hogwarts! He could do as he pleased!

And so, he sealed the letter and handed it off to his owl, Maurice, to deliver.

~*~

"Are you crying?" asked Draco.

"No." sniffed Hermione. "Go away." And she ran.

"Wait!" yelled Draco. "Just... wait."

But she kept running.

~*~

Hermione kept on running, till she reached Gryffindor tower.

She panted out the password ("Mutton stew!") and climbed through the portrait hole.

Falling heels over head, she entered the bright red room.

"Oof," was what she uttered as a greeting to Lavender and Parvati, who were on a couch, arguing about swatches.

"Hey there; which one do you like better?" said Lavender, holding up a swatch of purple crushed velvet and one of lavender silk with silver embroidery of stars on it.

"Both."

Daggers were shot at her then. "What do you mean, 'both'?" cried Lavender and Parvati in unison.

"Well," said Hermione, "If I was going to use them, I wouldn't use both of them for a dress. The lavender one would be better as a dress, and the crushed velvet is perfect for a dress cloak."

"Hmm..." murmured Parvati, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Me neither," said Lavender.

"Thanks, Hermione!" they chorused again.

~*~

Draco glumly walked towards his room, kicking at small objects in the corridor.

"Urgh," he muttered, "Why me?"

He went instead to Ron and Padma's rooms, where the guys had scheduled a meeting.

Like Hermione, he fell through the portrait hole.

"Watch the first step;" said Ron, glumly, "it's a doozy."

Draco stood up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes. "What's the matter with you lot? Just heard your girl wants another?"

"No...." sighed the guys, who were all lounging around on couches, moping.

"What then?" asked Draco.

"We aren't sure that our girlfriends are going to ask us to the Sadie Hawkins," moped Harry, from a seat by the window. He was painting (very badly), a portrait of what seemed to be Ginny. "Ah... Would you look at her? Perfection. Right from her gorgeous mouth down to her-"

"Hold it, Potter!" yelled Ron. "You may be my best mate, but she's my little sister! Keep your comparisons to yourself, thank you very much!"

Harry just sighed and looked at his painting. "Ah..."

Jon Hopkins was sitting by the fire, whittling.

Draco went over and looked at it. It looked decidedly familiar. "Erm, mate... What's that?"

"This," said Jon, motioning with his knife, "is what Susan says I think with. So, I'm carving a replica and burning it in effigy."

All the guys near him crossed their legs. "Well, keep you effigy away from me, mate!" yelled Seamus Finnegan, from across the room.

"Uh, why would you be doing that?" asked Draco, backing away slightly.

"Oh, just gives me something to do," said Jon, adding detail. "Bored, you know."

"Ah," said Draco dazed. He made his way to an empty couch and sat in the silence that covered the room.

But, that silence wasn't for long.

Ewan McAlpin burst into the room, flushing and grinning. "Guess what!" he exclaimed, rather excited.

"What?" asked the guys, in unison and in a horribly down sort of way.

But, Ewan ignored this. "I just got asked to the dance!" he yelled.

"Woohoo!" went Dean Thomas, sarcastically, waving a Gryffindor flag in the air.

Ewan ignored this, too. "And guess by who?" Silence. "Well, I'll tell you then. Hermione Granger!"

"Aw, shut up!" yelled the guys. The loudest were the Gryffindors. They had discovered that Draco wasn't nearly as bad as some two-bit stuck-up Ravenclaw, who was incredibly annoying. They only tolerated Ewan because of Jon.

"Well, I thought you'd be happy for me," said Ewan in a hurt sort of voice. "So, Jon, mate, what're you carving?"

"Well, you see, Susan-" began Jon, only to be cut off.

"We don't want to hear that again," cried Neville. He sat up, and lobbed a potato at Jon. Apparently when Neville got nervous, Neville made mashed potatoes with lots of whipping cream and butter and cream cheese and just a hint of garlic.

"Oi! Neville! Can you pass another bowl over here? Those potatoes are great!" yelled Justin Finch-Fetchley.

"What d'you need potatoes for, Justin? You haven't got a girlfriend!" yelled Dean Thomas, five couches and a chintz armchair away.

"That's what you think," said Justin smugly, licking a mashed potato spoon. He smiled to himself, growing increasingly smug.

"Well?" said Ernie, four chintz armchairs a table and two couches away. "Who's it then?"

"Lavender Brown."

Laughter spread across the room. "Oh, man," spurted Dean, "you really got us! Lavender Brown! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"No, really, she's my girlfriend!" protested Justin; then came more laughter.

Suddenly, there was a tap, tap, taping noise by the portrait.

"Justin!" yelled a voice that made the Gryffindors tremble in fear. "Come out here!"

Lavender Brown was most known for being a gossip amongst the girls. But, amongst the men folk, she was an incredibly strict and compelling girlfriend. If Lavender said you were going to pick her up at seven, which meant 6:45. You did not go against Lavender. Because everyone had done something at Hogwarts that they didn't want everyone to know. And Lavender was notorious for finding that thing out when you went against her, and telling everyone.

"Yes, dear?" said Justin, running towards the portrait. Normally the guys would have made whip sounds, but none of them wanted anything more than embarrassing or worse to mysteriously make its way back to their girlfriends. So, there was silence. And, consequently, they heard every word Lavender said.

"So, Justin," she said, her voice somehow sounded different than it did with all her other boyfriends. Softer, more loving. "Would you, erm, like to go the ball with me? I mean, you don't have to, but if you'd like..."

"Of course!" said Justin. "Who else'd I go with?"

And then came some loud and long kissing sounds.

Justin wobbled back to his seat. He was presented with a big bowl of potatoes, and a grim smile.

"Here," said Neville. "Take the lot. You've got more to worry about than all the rest of us combined." And he walked back to his table of potatoes.

~*~

The sight that greeted Lavender when she reached Pansy's room would have shocked, horrified, disgusted, and turned on all the boys.

All of their girlfriends and possible girlfriends were there, in pajamas, and writing on a large chart.

"Justin is secure!" crowed Lavender.

The other girls giggled.

Hermione, who had found Ewan out on the grounds, had gotten lost on her way back so she only now got back to her fellow conspirators.

"Ewan is mine!' she said, smiling widely.

More giggling.

Neville had ended his mashed potato phase of stressful cooking, as the House-Elves announced that there were no more potatoes left in the kitchens.

So, he had moved on to Soufflés. Currently, he was making a chocolate soufflé, and glared at anyone who made a noise.

The guys said many meaningless things, but it was Draco who mentioned the one thing they were all thinking of. "I wonder what the girls are doing."