A.N before we begin, I have not forgotten about my other stories I have just finished education (completely!) so I will have more time now to continue and begin new stories! I just wanted to do a one-shot to get me back into the flow and allow all you lovely people that follow me to have a bit of an update and know I am still here haha! 3
Several students were sat in a meeting with Professor McGonagall discussing prefect duties and schedules. The students present had recently been selected as prefects to patrol the hallways and ensure all students are abiding by the Hogwarts rules.
"As you all know, we are working towards integrating students of different houses and year groups. This means banishing all the opinions students have had of houses and the students that are allocated into that house. This is going to take time but my prefects need to lead by example. To ensure this, patrols will be executed in pairs and you will be paired with someone from a different house and where possible, you have been mixed with someone of a different year group. If you do not lead by example, you will be stripped of your prefect status and will lose any privileges." Professor McGonagall announced.
"Urgh" Ginny moaned to her best friend of the same house and year group, beside her, "I was really hoping to patrol with you, Arabella."
"Too right, who are we going to get stuck with then?" Arabella replied looking horrified and continued "Merlin, I hope not with Theodore Nott, he gives me the creeps."
"More than Draco Malfoy? Or Blaise Zabini?" Ginny asked, amused.
"Totally!" Arabella exclaimed, "Nott would lure you in then Avada you without a second thought!"
"Isn't that what Zabini's mother does though?" Ginny replied, smugly.
The girls quickly stopped their chatter only as Professor McGonagall read out their names.
"Ginny Weasley with Blaise Zabini and finally, Arabella Thorne with Draco Malfoy. Please check your days for patrol and you may leave." Professor McGonagall finished.
Ginny and Arabella's mouths hung open.
"Well would you look at that, how bloody typical! Someone is out to get is Ari." Ginny said to Arabella.
"Is it too late to resign?" Arabella replied, walking towards the rota to check her days for patrol.
Tonight was the first night patrol for Arabella and Ginny. They would both patrol different areas with their partner, but then they were all instructed to meet at the Great Hall to return to their common rooms with a partner.
"Well at least if we don't return there won't be a question as to who is responsible." Ginny joked.
It was 6PM and the patrol began at 8PM and so the girls decided to eat dinner before heading back to their dorm. Back at their dorm they changed into some comfy clothes as Professor McGonagall had stated they needn't not wear their uniform as long as they had their prefect badge clearly on show. Arabella felt this was to try to make up for those working with someone they weren't fond of.
"What does McGonagall think we are supposed to do for 4 hours on patrol?" Arabella asked Ginny.
"Uh, patrol?" Ginny replied, laughing.
"But like, in silence though?! What do you talk about with an ex-death eater?" Arabella replied, horrified.
"Well, that will make interesting conversation, I'm sure." Ginny replied rolling her eyes, "I'm sure you can talk about school or which broom cupboard to check next for snogging teenagers."
"Gin, sometimes you are no help." Arabella replied with a sigh.
The girls walked down to the Great Hall to find their patrol partners. Ginny wore her ginger hair loose, with a grey baggy T-shirt and black sweatpants, whilst Arabella wore her blonde hair in a loose ponytail, with a navy jumper and grey half cut leggings. Ginny was a petite firecracker of a girl, her body was athletic and lean. Whereas Arabella was also a petite girl whose body was more curvy than athletic. Her jumper and leggings allowed for her feminine curves to be defined through the material.
"Are you nervous?" Ginny asked Arabella.
"I thought I would be, but I'm not sure I am." She replied.
"Yeah right." Ginny rolled her eyes.
The girls turned the corner to the Great Hall as they spotted two figures coming towards them from the opposite corridor.
"Great, 8PM on time, that's what I like, right Draco? Come on Miss Weasley lets be going." Blaise Zabini had come and gone, before Arabella could work out that those words had all just slipped out of his mouth, taken Ginny by the arm and left.
"You'll catch flies." Draco Malfoy had said to Arabella, who stood with her mouth open, looking towards where her best friend had just gone.
"Uh sorry, I wasn't expecting that." Arabella said with a slight giggle, which to her surprise Draco greeted with a laugh of his own.
"Zabini loves to charm." Draco explained, leading on in the opposite direction to Ginny and Blaise, to begin patrol.
"He'll have a hard time charming Ginny, I'm sure." Arabella replied.
"She's feisty." Draco agreed humorously. "I haven't heard much about you though." Draco said glancing in her direction.
"Well, I've been around." Arabella replied absently, hoping he wouldn't pry.
"I'm not sure if I'm more surprised you came to do patrol with me or that the Weasley girl actually let you." Draco said, Arabella noted an icy edge to his voice.
"Her names Ginny." Arabella said with a laugh, "I'm a big girl, I can make decisions for myself."
"A big girl that can protect herself from an ex-death eater?" Draco questioned raising an eyebrow. Arabella was sure she saw humour in his eyes.
"I'm not scared of you, you know?" Arabella replied, smiling.
"Oh you're not?" Draco replied with a smug grin.
"No. I mean Theodore Nott then maybe but you? No." Arabella spilled. Draco roared with laughter.
"Nott? Out of everybody you're scared of Nott?" Draco replied laughing.
"I just think he's a bit of a creep, that's all." Arabella replied, acting as if it was nothing.
"Why? What's he done that's so bad?" Draco replied, still finding the conversation funny.
"Well, I just think he's hiding something, that's all. I wouldn't trust him." Arabella replied, thoughtfully.
This sent Draco over the edge and he began howling with laughter.
"What? What's so funny?" Arabella replied, laughing herself at Draco's reaction.
"Hiding something? Like what?" Draco asked, simmering down slightly.
"I don't know, maybe a dark secret." Arabella replied, feeling slightly embarrassed as she realised he obviously knew Nott more than she did.
"You want to know what he's hiding?" Draco asked seriously, with a sly smile playing on his lips.
Arabella nodded, at a loss for words.
"You can't tell anyone though, this has to be our little secret." Draco said in a hushed voice, checking if anyone was around.
Arabella felt scared, she had no idea what Nott would be hiding, maybe murder, drugs, anything! In a small voice she replied, "Okay".
"Nott is hiding… that…" Draco dragged it out, "that… he's gay." Draco burst into laughter.
"What?" Arabella exclaimed, smiling with Draco.
"No murder or anything horrible like you were thinking, jeez!" Draco replied, still not containing his laughter.
"Oh Merlin, I'm a horrible person." Arabella replied, laughing herself at her pure stupidity.
"Do me a favour and never become a detective" Draco replied with a laugh.
"I'd be a terrible detective, clearly." Arabella agreed, smiling.
As they walked on through the corridors they heard fumbling coming from a near by broom cupboard. The two prefects exchanged knowing looks and Arabella reached out for the handle. As she swung it open the light flooded into the broom cupboard spotlighting two scared teenagers now fumbling for clothes.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Stephen Cornfoot and Tracey Davis. I expected more of you Davis, a Ravenclaw?!" Draco sighed. "Snakes and birds do not work Davis, get back to your dorms." He finished with a glare that would scare the burliest of men.
With that the two teenagers picked up the rest of their belongings and ran in the opposite directions.
"That was interesting." Arabella said, breaking the silence as the two continued on their patrol.
"Davis certainly has some taste!" Draco replied laughing.
"Yeah I wouldn't expect most girls to touch him with a barge pole." Arabella agreed. "So what do you want to become?" Arabella asked Draco, changing the conversation.
"Hmm?" Draco questioned looking at her, not understanding.
"Like as a job, when you've finished at Hogwarts, what do you want to become?" Arabella quizzed.
"Oh, erm, ah, well, uh-" Draco began.
"Sorry, too out of the blue? You were right, I'd make an awful detective, no good at questioning either." Arabella replied laughing.
Draco returned the laugh and replied, "I haven't really thought about it. My life was so different this time last year that I'm just working on finishing school without having a mental breakdown." Which Draco followed with a little nervous laugh.
Arabella felt a twang of sympathy for Draco, she knew everything he'd been through, everyone did.
"Sorry, I should have thought-" Arabella began but Draco interrupted.
"Awful detective skills once again." He laughed, "What do you want to do as a career?" he asked.
"I'd like to be a Arithmancer." She replied, to which Draco replied with a quizzical look.
"Really?" He asked, not shocked, just curious.
"Well, I'm good at reading the charts, I've made predictions since I was little." Arabella shrugged.
"That's cool, you look like you'd know all the secrets." Draco replied with a coy smile.
"What?" Arabella asked, amused.
"I don't know, you just have a special aura about you." Draco replied quietly, "Like most people hate to be in my presence, let alone have conversations with me, especially Gryffindors."
"I'm not going to judge you on what other people say about you." Arabella replied, thinking that was obvious.
"Most do." Draco replied.
"I guess I'm not most people then." She replied smiling at Draco, which he mirrored.
The next stop on their patrol was their half of the Quiditch Pitch, which Blaise and Ginny would patrol the other half and so they braced themselves and walked out into the cold winter air.
"Holy cow it's chilly!" Arabella exclaimed and Draco began laughing.
"Holy cow? What is that?" Draco asked, still laughing.
"Holy cow? It's, well… it's nothing. It's a saying. Kind of. Like when you say 'oh Merlin' like that!" Arabella replied giggling at his reaction.
"You're such a muggle." Draco teased.
Arabella knew Draco wouldn't blink twice at being horrible to muggles or half-bloods, but this was a friendly tease she noticed.
"100%" Arabella replied with a wink, making Draco smile ear to ear.
The two continued walking towards the Quiditch Pitch.
"Draco!" Arabella whispered/exclaimed whilst tapping him repeatedly on the arm.
"What?" Draco replied in the same tone of voice, amused at her.
"Look!" Arabella whispered again, pointing towards a Quiditch stand where the fabric was moving. "There's clearly people doing sexy things in there!"
"Sexy things? Really?" Draco laughed at her choice of words.
"Well from here, I can't tell you exactly what they are doing." Arabella replied, obviously.
"That's not on our half of the Quiditch Pitch, Ari." Draco had said, subconsciously giving her a nickname, as he saw her walking towards the stand.
"It's our duty to embarrass them!" Arabella replied with a sly smile.
"Fine!" Draco replied and caught up with her.
The pair approached the Quiditch stand and tore apart the doorway material shedding light on the two students inside.
"OH MY HOLY COW!" Arabella exclaimed.
All four students stopped what they were doing and looked horrified back at each other.
"GINNY?!" Arabella asked/ yelled horrified.
"Blaise?!" Draco asked, laughing.
Arabella and Draco had just walked in on a naked Blaise and Ginny in a very compromising position. Blaise was stood with his back against the material of the stand, explaining the bulge Arabella had seen and he was holding Ginny who had her legs wrapped around his waist.
"I think we should leave, Arabella." Draco softly said with a chuckle.
Draco subconsciously grabbed Arabella's hand and pulled her out of the Quiditch stand and back inside the school.
"What just happened?" Arabella asked Draco in disbelief.
"I think patrol just got a bit more interesting." Draco replied, with a smug smirk.
Later that night in the Gryffindor's dorm…
"So, what did you end up talking about?" Ginny asked Arabella.