A/N: thanks to those of you who are catching my mistakes. I do spell check and re-read the chapter three times but I know I will miss things occasionally. Hope you like this chapter; I had to put a twist in it like the Death Eaters in Dragon Tears!
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Tug of War
Tuesday flew by for Marissa as she wondered what happened between Harry and Brian. She had seen him in Potions but her father kept them so busy, she hadn't a chance to talk with him. At mealtime they would acknowledge each other, but neither of them felt comfortable coming up and asking about their respective conversations. Casual glances and smiles were exchanged so she knew his talk probably skewed on the positive side, just as the conversation between her and Draco.
The duel had come and gone, but people sure hadn't forgotten about it. Many people had come up to them and remarked at how "talented" their fathers were and how "cool" it was to see them up there. After their display, it seemed even more of the female population was enamored with either Draco or Harry and Marissa found both quite unsettling. It was one thing to hear about someone having a "crush" on your teacher, but when one of them was your father, it wasn't entertaining in the least.
During Potions on Tuesday afternoon, she had managed to pass Brian a note asking how to get into the Room of Requirement, because she needed a quiet place to study. He had told her, thinking it was for the Potions Owl that would be coming up in June. She didn't bother to correct him saying it was for the Charms OWL that she planned on taking in another few weeks. Early Wednesday morning, she found herself in Professor McGonagall's office, taking the first exam that might let her skip her fifth year. Her father and Professor McGonagall had talked and decided they would let her study on her own and then take the exams as she felt she was ready. During the two hour test, Marissa managed to transform a book into a pillow, parchment into a blanket and a teakettle into a clock. Everyone knew Marissa was already on her way to sixth year Potions, so now that she had completed her Transfiguration OWL, she also needed: Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, DADA, Arithmancy and Charms were on her schedule to take in the next three months.
On Wednesday evening Marissa entered the room and set out her studying materials in her organized fashion-- also making a mental note to try and find Brian after studying for her Charms exam. She curled up on the floor in front of the fireplace in the RoR and pulled her first set of notes towards her, studiously quizzing herself over and over, until the warm crackling fire and her full stomach from dinner lulled her to sleep on the floor.
She had been in there about two and a half hours when Brian, after asking Devon where she was and him not knowing (Devon then realizing he hadn't seen her since dinner) Brian made his way into the RoR and found her asleep on the floor.
Softly he closed the door then walked over to the thick, dark blue rug she was sleeping on. He stopped and looked down at her, stretched out on the floor, her head on her arms and notes scattered around. For a moment his brain didn't realize it was Marissa Malfoy. Awake, she always looked guarded, seemed to always be thinking about something. Her blue eyes were always drinking in the details around her. Her full mouth seemed to be either pressed together in concentration or moving into a smile. Now, she was relaxed, her mouth slightly open and she looked very stress free, although with the amount of papers around her he knew she wasn't feeling like that when she was awake.
Crouching down he gently touched the curve of her shoulder. She twitched slightly and he gripped it tighter, feeling
the bone underneath her sweatshirt.
"Hey," he said quietly and her eyes flew open, blinked a few times, then turned to look at him. Reluctantly he dropped his hand seeing the confused look on her face.
"Brian…I was going to come look for you, but…," she pushed herself up and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face, "I guess I fell asleep." She hastily closed her book so he couldn't see it was a fifth year text, not wanting anyone but her parents knowing what she was trying to do. Her fear of failure was not something she wanted to broadcast and after taking an extremely difficult Transfiguration exam, she wasn't too confident she could make it through her other OWL exams without failing considerably.
"Yes, you did…must be exciting stuff," Brian stood up and offered a hand to her. Gratefully, she took it and he pulled her up then led her to the sofa.
"So, what happened on your visit to your father?" Brian asked, watching her try to wake up. She stifled a yawn behind her hand, then began her side of the story.
By the time she was finished, Brian was nodding and they were both munching on candy that she had found in her bag.
"Pretty much a similar story to what I heard," Brian started and told her his conversation with his parents.
"Merlin, can't anyone have a normal life?" Marissa declared. "I mean, our fathers had pasts that continue to haunt them, my grandfather wasn't a very nice man, Harry's aunt and uncle the same thing…then you look at Amy Parkinson…at least nothing like that has happened to us. Except," Marissa poked him in the arm, swallowing her last piece of sour candy, "you are the son of the boy who lived, so you get a bit more press than I do!"
Brian rolled his eyes, but smiled and nudged her with his shoulder.
"You jealous?"
Marissa shook her head vehemently, nudging him back.
"Nope…though I think the last article in Witch Weekly I read had you dating a seventh year, and it said you were going to drop out of Hogwarts and marry her."
Brian laughed so hard he almost choked. After she finished pounding him on the back to dislodge the candy, he settled down enough so she could continue with the rest of the article.
"Oh, and you wanted eight children," Marissa concluded watching him in amusement. His eyes were dancing in hilarity and he seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face.
"Gotta love those articles. I wonder how that kind of rumor starts?" Brian moved a bit closer and snagged a mint from the table.
"It's just fun to read because they are so wildly untrue. I don't know if anything that magazine prints IS true," Marissa mused, looking at the papers scattered on the floor. "I guess I better pack up my stuff and head up to my room…it must be almost curfew."
"Almost."
Brian slid off the sofa to help her and as he gathered up her two notebooks and handed them to her he was struck for a minute as to how different she looked. The firelight seemed to be dancing on the side of her face, as she gathered up her notes, casting a sun gold hue over her cheek. Her hair was loose, a bit wild and down past her shoulders again. She was so relaxed, and looked less like the perceptive, stunningly intellectual Malfoy she was and more like a girl who had let down a wall; letting Brian see a side of her not many people got to see. Without really noticing he was doing it, he reached for her quill and moved closer to hand it to her, entranced with her body language and loose, slightly wild hair. Looking up to thank him, she saw him watching her.
"What? Do I have marks on my face or something?" she reached up and touched her cheek.
Brian shook his head hoping she wouldn't reach up and start smoothing out her hair. Slowly he extended his hand with her quill between his fingers.
"Thanks," she whispered taking it from him, but felt a tug of…something…yearning? that stopped her from turning away. Some magical force was pulling her towards him and as she stared at him she could see he felt it too. Marissa suddenly felt the need to kiss him as her whole body hummed in tune to something she couldn't put into words. As if it was synchronized they moved towards each other on hands and knees and their lips met…lightly at first then reaching for each other they moved closer. In a tangle of limbs, she felt him move in such away that she was leaning back, hardly aware of when her back hit the floor. Heart racing and nerves firing she felt every fiber of her body reaching for him.
They arranged themselves on their sides, arms wrapped around each other and slowly began to get more daring. His mouth moved to her neck and sucked gently near her collar bone; her hands flying to his shoulders squirming and pushing against him because it tickled and felt good at the same time. Meeting his lips again she felt emotions pouring over and into her as his tongue moved against hers and his hand tightened on the small of her back.
Marissa had no idea how long the brilliant snog lasted but she soon became aware of a kink in her neck and pulling away she whispered they needed to stop, proceeding to recline onto her back.
"I'm sorry," Brian said quietly, thinking he had done something wrong, moving his hand from her hip as he slowly pushed himself up.
"No, no, no, it's my neck," Marissa reassured him as she rotated her head and heard her neck crack. Then she met his eyes which were still gazing down at her as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. For a moment they stared at each other both not wanting to admit what they were feeling, that just being friends was just about out of the question. Not after what she had felt on the receiving end of his mouth and his very polite hands; and not after what he felt when he kissed her…like he didn't want to stop and just wanted to lie down and hold her all night.
"We should probably get back," Marissa cleared her throat and pulled herself up slowly.
Wordlessly, they finished what they had started out to do, cleaning up her papers. By the time they had done that and reached the door both had regrouped. Marissa put her hand on the door knob, then turned to Brian before opening it.
"Thanks for waking me up…and…everything," she said, blushing despite her best efforts not too.
"Thanks for not hexing me," he responded and Marissa was startled to know that he thought that she would ever do such a thing to him.
"No way; You know I'd never hex you!" Marissa leaned up and what was supposed to be a friendly gesture touched her lips to his, loving how quickly his arms came around her pressed her into him. What she had meant as a quick friendly kiss turned into another deep heart-felt kiss that left both teens breathless and speechless. Wordlessly, they finally headed out the door, managing to utter "good night" and headed back to their towers.
As Marissa dropped her bag off on her bed she stood looking in the mirror, seeing a slightly amused expression on her face and, as she turned her head to the left a bit, a mark on her neck. She touched it, then felt her face grow hot as she realized it was from Brian. Janet came out of the bathroom and saw Marissa staring at herself, with her hand on her neck.
"You okay?" she asked and Marissa nodded mutely. The freckles on the bridge of her nose stood out against the blush on her cheeks, which Janet noticed right away. Coming closer, Janet met Marissa's eyes in the mirror, both flicking towards the door as Chloe (one of their other dorm mates) came in and headed to the bathroom.
"What is that?" Janet murmured, nodding to where Marissa was touching her neck. Quickly, she dropped her hand and broke her gaze from Janet's.
"Oh…my…Marissa Ginevra Malfoy!" Janet whispered excitedly giving her friend a little shake. Reaching up, Janet pulled Marissa's shirt collar back a bit and stared. "You got a hickey!"
"I guess I did," Marissa said in a bemused voice turning and making her way to her bed. She sat cross legged and a bit dazed upon it staring at Janet who had covered her mouth not believing what she had just seen.
"From…you know who?" Janet whispered, meaning Brian and let out a small squeal when Marissa nodded.
"Quick, tell me while Chloe is in the shower and the other girls are gone…what happened?" Marissa's bed bounced as Janet flung herself next to her friend and stretched out next to her.
So, Marissa gave her friend the over view and by the time she was done Marissa was receiving a massive hug from
Janet.
"I still don't know where we are…relationship wise…so keep it under wraps, please?" Marissa begged of her friend, starting to get dressed for bed. Janet made the zipping motion with her fingers across her lips which were still smiling.
As the lights went out one by one in the Ravenclaw Tower, Marissa could feel every one of Brian's kisses on her lips, her neck, her jaw and as she drifted off to sleep, anyone who could see her in the inky darkness of her room would see she had a slight smile on her face.
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The next day was Thursday, April 10th, and Marissa was going to see Brian for the first time that day in Potions class. While getting dressed that morning, she had to scramble through her wardrobe looking for a white shirt with a collar tall enough to hide the mark on her neck lest her father saw it and questioned her about it.
As she made her way from where she had been studying in the afternoon outside in the warm April air, Amy ran up and fell instep beside her.
"You going to Potions?" Amy asked, her robes unfastened looking like she was done classes for the day.
"Yep, last class of the day. How're you doing?" Marissa asked moving to the side of the hall as a rush of students went running by on their way outside.
"I was ok up til last class. I got an Owl from mum; apparently my father," she spat out the word with so much anger that Marissa glanced down in surprise at her, "got into an argument with my mother. My mum told me to stay here for the Easter holiday. I'm sure there's more to the story than she is letting on though."
Marissa felt a pang of sadness for this first year. The Ministry of Magic had decided to give students a four day weekend for Easter with the option of remaining at school or going home. Marissa had every intention of going home, but now poor Amy had to stay.
"That's rough. Is your mum ok?"
Amy shrugged and stopped outside the classroom, standing to the side and Marissa stopped with her.
"She just told me to "stay put" while she figured out what my father was up too," Amy sighed and Marissa gave a smile to Brian as he walked by and glanced at them. "I just wish I was going home."
"Well, maybe Erin will choose to stay here and you guys can hang out." Marissa had no idea what her sister was planning on doing. All she knew was that she and Devon planned on going home and sleeping in every morning.
Amy nodded, bid Marissa farewell and went back down the hall towards her room in the dungeons.
For a moment she stared after Amy, then shaking her head slightly she turned to find her father standing in the doorway.
"What's going on with Amy?" he asked handing her a piece of parchment and Marissa told him in a sentence or two what Amy had said. She saw a dark look pass over her father's face and quickly scooted past him to get ready for her hour and half long class.
Her father turned around in the door and told the students to read the parchment and that he would be back in five minutes. Marissa was surprised like everyone else, as he liked to start class right on time. This was very out of character for her father and she glanced at Brian who returned her puzzled glance then turned his attention down to the parchment. Marissa followed suit.
Floo Powder can transport more than just a person from one destination to another. It's as simple as putting the item or items to be sent into the fireplace, throwing in the appropriate amount of powder and clearly stating its destination.
A handful for the person doing the traveling from one destination to another is enough to get them safely to where they want to go.
However, you can use different amounts for other items that you need to transport if you aren't able to apparate yet, or if you just want to send one item to another place.
For example: a school trunk weighing seventy pounds requires only two teaspoons of floo powder, or approximately two hundred granules of floo powder. This item would take approximately ½ a gram of floo powder.
Using the formula below, calculate the amount of floo powder needed for the following items: your Potions text book, a box containing a small bag of Honeydukes Licorice Snaps, two Potion flasks, unfilled.
You may use the scales; however you might not always have them available for your usage. Using another method, try and calculate the weight of the item to be sent.
Note: using excessive floo powder isn't a problem, however using to little will not carry your item from one place to another, either dropping it in a fireplace closer to the originating point or doing nothing at all.
Marissa stared at the equation at the bottom of the paper and tapped her finger against her lips, trying to think of another way to calculate the weight. A thought occurred to her and she jumped up, heading towards the scales in the back of the room she whipped out her wand and set it on the scales. Making note of the weight she headed back to her seat and tried to calculate the weight of the other items, based on her wand. She could hear the low murmur of voices as people discussed the best way to weigh an item.
She felt a presence at her elbow and turned, seeing Brian standing there, then bending and lowering himself to her level. There were enough people talking that he was able to speak to her without anyone hearing him.
"What're you doing after class?"
"Going to visit Hagrid. He has a baby unicorn he wanted to show me. You?"
"Maybe I'll tag along; I've never seen a baby one," Brian said interestedly.
Marissa felt her heart skip a beat as his hand grazed hers when he stood up.
"Ok. I'll just meet you outside a few minutes after class? I need to change."
Nodding, he scurried back to his seat as Professor Malfoy walked back in.
During the rest of the class they attempted to send their items from the classroom to the Professors office and by the time Marissa was done, she had a small bag of floo powder in her school bag. Their homework was to send their latest exam to their parents with a note to owl them when they received it. Marissa found it highly amusing she would have to do that, but figured her mother probably never really saw her work so she didn't feel it wasn't worth her while to send it.
As her father dismissed class, he called her back to his office and Marissa silently told him to hurry up as she wanted to go walk to Hagrid's with Brian.
"I talked with Amy's mother a bit about what was going on and Amy's going to come spend Easter with us. So, all of you are coming home this evening after dinner."
Marissa nodded, knowing that if he was taking in a former girlfriend's daughter that this couldn't be good.
"I'll be there around seven this evening then," Marissa said.
"What're you doing after this?" he asked and Marissa found it odd that he was asking about her social life.
"Going to visit Hagrid's new baby unicorn, then come back for dinner. Why?"
"No reason. It's a beautiful day, just wondering if you were spending it outside," he said lightly and Marissa gave him a knowing look but didn't question him.
"I am. I gotta run. I'm meeting some people to go see it." Marissa waved to her father, ran out of his classroom and up to her tower. Changing into jeans and a short sleeve t-shirt she grabbed her school bag, threw in a bottle of water and a bag of crackers then headed down to the main entrance to meet Brian.
She could pick him out easily as he sat on the stairs. Three girls were sitting near him, each vying for his attention and being the patient person he was (you had to be with three sisters) he made small talk with all them, but seemed very relieved when he caught sight of Marissa.
"Ready?" he jumped up as she nodded both of them making their way down the stairs, and running into James.
"Hey! We just came from seeing the baby unicorn." He hugged Marissa and ruffled her hair.
"That's where we're going. Who is "we"?" Marissa smoothed down her hair and pulled the bag up on her shoulder a little higher.
" Your sister went with me, along with Reggie of all people. Don't go down the left path, there's a loose blast ended skrewt that the second years are trying to round up from Hagrid's class."
"Thanks, James. See you later," Marissa said and set off down the path, turning to the right to follow the path along the edge of the forbidden forest towards Hagrid's. Not really sure what to say to Brian, her brain feeling like mush from the kiss shared last night, she told him about Amy and what was going on with the Parkinson/Nott family.
"Nott sounds like he'd do anything to get Amy…I wonder why?" Brian kicked a rock into the bushes and birds flew up and over the forest. "I mean, besides the fact that she is his daughter, but he hasn't seemed interested in the past eleven years of her life."
"I think he's just a control freak. And, being that his daughter is a pureblood he probably wants to continue that and what better way to find her someone that IS, so that she can end up marrying him?"
"That's just sad having your parents chose someone for you to marry," Brian said slowing his pace down the hill to Hagrid's cabin.
"My father's parents did that to him, but you know that story. It seems to be an old fashioned custom." Marissa stumbled on some loose pebbles and managed to catch her footing before going head over heels down the hill. Brian's hand steadied her for a moment then they both jumped apart as a startled bird flew up into their path.
Soon, they heard Hagrid's voice greet them from the edge of the forest urging them to move faster. Jogging over to where he was standing Brian and Marissa followed him into the forest to catch a look at the new baby unicorn.
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Brian and Marissa stayed with Hagrid for an hour, petting and fawning over the baby all the while keeping a wary eye on the mother who stood guard near by.
"I have to say, that is the cutest baby animal ever," Brian admitted as they made their way through a well worn path to the other side of the forest. Marissa agreed and they walked in silence to the edge of the forest where Marissa suddenly stopped.
"What?" Brian turned around at the edge and saw her standing there, head cocked to the side concentrating.
"I heard something…like…an animal…a cat meowing. Do you hear it?"
Brian walked back towards her and listened. Sure enough he heard a soft mewing coming from a clump of bushes a few feet away. She followed Brian around the edge of the bushes but nothing was there except an old tree branch.
Marissa looked at it then pushed a few bushes aside as she heard it again. Nothing but leaves and twigs and a few little bugs crawling away from the disturbance.
"I think it's down there a bit." She pointed a bit further into the forest and Brian looked at her skeptically.
"You want to go that far in?"
She could tell by the way his eyebrows drew together that he wasn't to keen on the idea.
"Well, let's just go to that clump…we're still along the edge. If we don't see anything, we'll head back." Marissa started moving towards it, not asking him to follow her but he did anyway, his curiosity as piqued as hers. As she approached the bush she could hear the meowing a bit clearer. Pushing aside a large branch she and Brian came upon a small gray kitten sitting on a log, quietly appraising them.
"Well, there's your cat, but whose is it?" Brian squatted down and looked at it. The cat blinked but made no move to run or come towards him.
"He's cute…it looks like he's four or five months; a bit young to be out here in THIS forest." Marissa made a move towards him and Brian watched her carefully. The cat swished her tail but made no move to run away.
"Probably some first year's pet." Brian watched Marissa creep nearer and the cat didn't move. It just continued to look at them, blinking and it's tail twitching slightly.
"I wonder if he'll let me pet him?" Marissa said mostly to herself. She loved animals and her Aunt Samantha said she should ditch the whole magic world and become a veterinarian for Muggle animals. Marissa always used to laugh at that, saying she could just fix most of their problems with magic so why pay money to go for more schooling?
"I don't know," Brian reached out and grabbed her arm. "He might bite."
Marissa looked at him the back at the kitten. Tentatively reaching out she touched the cat's head, feeling Brian's grip tighten on her arm, getting ready to pull it away if the cat made a move.
But a bite isn't what she felt. A tug behind her belly button had her and Brian spinning in a whirlwind of noise and images and suddenly she found herself thrown onto a hard surface, with Brian at her side. With a loud grunt her breath was knocked out of her and her head filled with pain as it slammed against the hard floor.