A/N: Well, we thought we'd post another chapter before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out! SO EXCITED! Dunno if we're gonna post another chap before that, but if we don't… just thought we'd do this one in case! Well, hope you like it!! And don't forget our 200th reviewer gets an early chap! So, read, review, and leave an email! Now, enjoy chapter fifteen!
Oh, yes… and by the way, Blaise Zabini is going to become a more celebrated character in this story. Can't tell yet if he's gonna be portraying anything important, but we love him, so there!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"TALKING" ((THINKING))
As if on cue, the moment Draco plopped down at his usual spot in the Great Hall (next to Pansy, across from Blaise), Harry and Ginny walked in together.
"Oh, my gosh!" gasped Pansy.
"What is it?" Draco rolled his eyes.
"Weasley's coming!"
"And…?" Draco looked at Blaise in question. Blaise shook his head.
"You'll find out soon enough, mate. She's been talking my ear off about it all weekend. Where've you been by the way?" Blaise asked as he raised a perfectly arched (but not plucked) eyebrow.
Lucky for Draco, he didn't have to answer as Pansy began talking again.
"Weasley's coming… and that means that Neville will be coming in with her!" she squeaked with excitement as her eyes squinted in the direction of Ginny, obviously trying to look past her to see if Neville was there.
"Neville?!" Draco spit out his orange juice. Blaise began laughing.
"They're on a first-name basis," he whispered to Draco.
"Since when?" Draco asked Pansy. She blushed.
"He's a Gryffindor, Parkinson!" Draco continued. "And a squib, at that!"
"You're just jealous, Draco! Well, I got news for you!" she cried. "You've had your chance! I've moved on; I like someone else!" she pouted.
Draco snorted. Blaise was now clutching his gut, whooping with laughter.
"You're not the one I want, Parkinson," Draco drawled with disgust.
"It doesn't matter, Pansy," Blaise told her through his tears of mirth. "It wasn't Longbottom anyway. Only Potter came with her today."
Draco got up from the Slytherin table.
"Where are you off to?" Blaise inquired.
"Oh, you know, to poke fun at Potty and Co.," Draco said quickly and rushed off to the Gryffindor table.
"Oh, look," Draco drawled as he neared where Harry was sitting with his friends. "It's The Little Midget Mushroom Picker!"
Harry, Hermione, and Ron wheeled around.
"What? Who called me?" Harry wondered aloud until he spotted Draco and scowled.
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione said in Harry's defense.
"Keep your bushy head out of my business, Granger. Go save an elf or something," Draco sneered.
"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Harry spoke up.
"I think a better question is: What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off breaking the rules?" Draco asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. I mean 'saving the school?'" He used his fingers as quotation marks for those last three words.
((Wow, that was kind of lame,)) Draco thought to himself piteously. ((Think of a better insult next time, Malfoy!))
Ron stood up. "Shove off, Malfoy," he spat. Everyone said that Ron was pretty tall, but at that moment you could see that Draco was actually the taller of the two.
"Is that a new style, Weasley?" Draco gasped in mock awe.
"What?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Your pants! The ends don't even reach your ankles," he smirked viciously.
A wave of scarlet spread across Ron's face, from the tip of his nose to the tips of his ears. He stepped back slightly and raised his fist.
When he bumped into the bench behind him, suddenly Ginny's head snapped toward them. She had been staring at the Great Hall entrance, waiting for Neville to arrive. She figured that Harry had made a mistake when he said that he had already left the common room with Hermione.
"Huh? Draco? What are you doing here?" she cried. She had been so transfixed on the doors that she didn't even realize he had come over.
Draco's eyes widened as he turned to her. His cheeks turned slightly pink. He gulped and turned back to Harry.
"Well, Potter… I can't spend all day pointing out your faults, but to tell the truth, it would take more than one day," Draco smirked cheekily. "I'm off then."
Draco winked slightly at Harry, signaling that he still remembered their plan, and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Ginny suddenly ordered. "Did you just wink at him?" she asked, looking from Draco to Harry.
"Well-I-NO! I most certainly did NOT!" Draco roared. He turned around and stomped back to his house table.
Ginny turned to Harry. "Is there something you need to tell me?" she asked as if speaking to a three-year-old.
"No!" Harry answered, a little to fast. "I-I mean… like what?" he fidgeted.
"Nothing…" Ginny replied suspiciously.
"Oh, Hello Neville!" Hermione suddenly cried out as Neville neared their table. "Come sit next to me!"
"Uh, okay. Sure," Neville answered as he sat down on the bench.
Ginny frowned; Hermione was kind of getting on her nerves. She was constantly flirting with Neville right in front of Ginny. The first couple times Ginny let it go, but Ginny had now developed a theory: Hermione secretly hated her and wanted her to die. But, at that moment, Harry was looking at Neville like he hated him and wanted him to die.
((Well, you learn something new everyday,)) Ginny thought to herself.
Ron squirmed next to her and she saw him trying to magically make his pants longer, but only in vain. He whimpered slightly and gave up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco walked back to the Slytherin table and found Pansy ready to explode. Blaise was trying to quiet her.
"Shh! Pansy, it's okay!" he cried.
"Stupid Mudblood-kill-argh-hate-die!" she mumbled.
"I think she's broken or something," Draco laughed.
"Dracooooo!" she wailed as she latched onto his robes.
"Get off!" he grimaced as he slapped her to bring her back from LaLa Land.
She sniffed, but quieted and let go of him. Blaise shot up from his seat and dragged Draco out of the Great Hall.
"Let's go before she starts up again," Blaise said.
"Yeah, class starts in ten minutes, anyway," Draco replied.
As they walked toward the dungeons, Blaise stopped.
"Alright. I can't take it anymore, mate," he sighed.
"What?" Draco asked, confused.
"Where've you been? What's happened to you?"
"What the bloody Hell are you talking about?"
"I have barely talked to you since October! We used to be best mates, man. What happened?"
"I don't know… I've had stuff going on."
"Stuff that you used to be able to tell me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what I mean. What's with the secrets, Draco?"
"I-"
"And what about that Weasley girl? Ginny?"
Draco snorted. "What about her?"
"That's what I wanna know! You been holding out on me, man?"
"What?!"
"Yeah! I want in on that action!"
"What action, Zabini?"
"Well, I mean, obviously she's a great shag if you're so obsessed with her."
"I-what?!"
"You are obsessed with her, mate!"
"No, not that! I mean we never shagged!"
There was suddenly a long silence.
"Never?" Blaise gasped in disbelief.
"Never."
"So, then…why are you obsessed with her?"
"I'm not obsessed with her!"
"Draco! I saw her go into your room every night before vacation!"
"She's my tutor!"
"Tutor? Draco, don't lie to me! Just say that you don't wanna tell me!"
"I told you, she's my tutor! I'm failing Potions!"
"No way! You are so lucky!"
"Lucky? That I'm not going to graduate?"
"Nah! You got a HOT tutor!"
Draco rolled his eyes. "She is not hot. She's a Weasley for goodness sake!"
"So, you don't like her?"
"No, I don't!"
"Then you don't mind if I give it a go?"
"What-Yes! I do mind!"
"How come?!"
"Because I said so! She probably won't like you anway."
"Not like me? I'm sexy!"
"Sure, Blaise. Just-no."
"Ugh," Blaise pouted.
"Get over it!"
"Why?!"
"Because I might want her later and I don't want your leftovers!"
"You said you don't like her!"
"I said I might later!"
They suddenly realized it was time for class and they ran to Potions.
After class, Blaise walked up to the front desk.
"Professor?"
"What do you want, Mr. Zabini?" Professor Snape answered irritably without looking up from his desk.
"I've noticed a vast improvement in Draco's potion brewing," Blaise said as he leaned in close, "I've noticed it hasn't blown up in his face recently."
Professor Snape waved a hand in front of his face, successfully retrieving his personal space. He nodded, "What's your point?"
"Well, I've actually had a lot of trouble with that dang potion, Nocturnal Nutter, is it?" Blaise mimicked a confused look; one eye squinting and mouth agape.
"Nocturnal Nectar, Mr. Zabini. And please stop making that face, it'll stay that way."
Blaise quickly changed his face back to normal, touching it to make sure everything was right.
"Well, I was wondering what Draco did, you know, how did he get better?" Blaise continued.
"He's being tutored."
"Oh, really? Well whoever it is, they're really good… I wish they could tutor me, too…" he said as he left that last thought hanging and anticipated his professor's answer. When no answer came, Blaise pressed on, "Yeah… because I'm having trouble with that potion, too."
"I heard you, Mr. Zabini, and yes, I have noticed," Professor Snape said as he finally looked up, "How about you and Mr. Malfoy attend tutoring sessions together?"
Draco, who during this conversation had been putting away all his parchments and supplies, stopped abruptly. He stalked toward the front desk and slapped his hands atop it. "Say what?!"
Blaise smirked, "Hey tutor buddy!"
Draco waved a hand in his face and turned to his professor. "But, Professor! All he wants is-"
"That's enough! No more discussion about this! If I hear about this topic one more time, I will fail all of you!"
Draco and Blaise blinked. Professor Snape massaged his temples, "Now, get out of my classroom."
The boys grabbed their bags and practically sprinted out.
A/N (continued from the A/N at the end of Chapter Fourteen):
Dolly: WHY ARE YOU STUFFING THE GINNY PIÑATA WITH COAL AND STRAW?
Llama: So it burns FASTER! *cackles an evil laugh*
Dolly: Llama! It's already made of paper.. wait! Did you glue real hair on it?
Llama: It's Ginny's… *smiles maliciously*
Dolly: Llama! You're making a VOODOO doll?
Llama: Just tell the story, Dolly, and stay out of my business!
Dolly: *takes Llama by the shoulders and looks into her eyes* Llama, you CANNOT burn Ginny!
Llama: Would you like to WATCH me do it?!
Dolly: If you burn Ginny, there will be no lead character in our story!
Llama: *snaps fingers like a valley girl* Excuse me? DRACO is the lead character in THIS story!
Dolly: Whatever, Llama! But, we need Ginny!
Llama: *looks away* She can be replaced…
Dolly: NO!
Llama: GOD, FINE! Bossy, bossy!
Dolly: That's a good girl.. *takes Ginny Piñata*
Llama: What are you going to do with that?
Dolly: *a demented look spreads over her face* None of your BUSINESS! *cackles*