There you go! The next one is up. I'm getting back into writing :D I'm so happy, you can't even imagine!

This round was about random pairings, no matter whether their relationship would be romantic, platonic or familial. Mine was called 'Artist's Flame' which included Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas.

(dialogue) "You're crazy!" / "Were you ever under the impression that I was normal?"
(word) mist
(word) scarf

Enjoy!


'A Guide to Happiness' by Ginny Weasley

„You're crazy!"

„Were you ever under the impression that I was normal? Seriously, Dean! We were together for a year. You must know me better by now."

The evil grin that spread over the youngest Weasley's face was frightening to say the least and the young Gryffindor who was kneeling beside said Weasley was very happy that he had not been chosen as a victim this time. It was horrible enough that Ginny grew up with two of the most infamous pranksters of the world but to have them ruin her innocent mind in a way that made her come up with even more dangerous and downright frightening plans was just too much for him to handle, so he could merely sit back and watch the show.

They were crammed in a small broom cupboard that left little room to breathe, lest move at all. They were quite literally stuck in there. Not that he minded... He had never stopped liking Ginny in a romantic way, even though Ginny had told him that she did not feel the same for him anymore. He could accept that and he was trying his absolute best to get over his infatuation with the ginger haired witch. Being pressed against her side, having her thighs press against his wasn't really helping his case though...

Soft footsteps caused Ginny to gasp and wiggle forward a bit so that she could peek through the key hole in the wooden door, touching his knee with her bum in the process. Dean squeezed his eyes shut tightly to keep his body's normal reaction at bay and held his breath. He didn't want Ginny's wrath directed on him, Merlin forbid!

A sigh could be heard through the door and a soft thud as the person leaned against the wall across from them. He didn't know who they were but according to Ginny's excited, whispered descriptions she was very happy with what she was witnessing...

*~*Artist's Flame*~*

Harry leaned back against the cold stone wall of the cold dungeon, wrapping his scarf tighter around his slender neck. He was happy that he had remembered taking it as he had upped and left the Common Room to meet up with whoever had sent him this nice sounding letter. He just hoped it wasn't some crazed fan who wanted to kidnap him.

After his defeat of Voldemort, girls and boys alike – no matter what age – had followed him everywhere. He had not been able to walk through Diagon Alley at the start of term to get his school supplies – he had to apparate out of there quickly in order to escape the screaming mop of people, some of whom actually fainted as they caught sight of him. Some Order members had to complete his shopping for him. It had been incredibly embarrassing!

Even at Hogwarts he hadn't been able to breathe because students tended to follow him everywhere he went – the library, the class rooms – no matter whether it was an eighth year class and they were supposed to be in a second year one. Some even had the courage to march straight into the Quidditch changing rooms which had not only been horribly embarrassing for his boxer shorts-clad self but for the other team members as well.

Harry groaned and rubbed the famous scar on his forehead. Why had he even bothered to come? It was sure to be some kind of crazed and infatuated student who would just love to get a hug or even a kiss out of him. Running a hand through his hair, he slowly turned to leave the cold corridor.

*~*Artist's Flame*~*

A frown darkened his face as he wandered through the dungeon corridors towards the meeting spot he was supposed to be at in - he cast the Tempus charm – ten minutes ago. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He was already too late anyway.

Why did he even bother to leave the somewhat warm Common Room in favour of the cold stone halls of Hogwarts?

Oh, right.

Because some bimbo had sent him a letter he had intended to ignore only to have it ripped out of his hand by none other than Pancy Parkinson herself who immediately started gushing about how cute all of this was and teased him with having a crush with whom he'd write love letters. Pfft, as if a Malfoy would downgrade himself like that. But he had had to agree on meeting said mystery crush in order to shut her up and prove to her that he had indeed no idea who that person might be and to prove that he had no positive thoughts about this matter whatsoever. It was very twisted logic but logic one Pansy Parkinson thought to be accurate and who was he to not do anything in his power to convince her that he did not have a crush that sent him love letters?

It wasn't as if Potter would be the one writing that letter. He just couldn't imagine the boy-wonder sitting down in front of the fire, the flames warming up his slight figure as he hunched down over a piece of parchment, his falcon quill in his right hand, a pot of ink on the floor next to him...

He blinked and shook his head rapidly to get those wicked thoughts out of his mind. Where the hell did that come from? Potter? How did he...

Draco stopped walking and leaned his forehead against the cold stone wall to his right. He was close to the Potions classroom and he could smell the fumes wafting through the corridor. Having all this probably toxic or at least unhealthy mist floating around him didn't exactly make it easy for him to get back into the right state of mind. He knew where that thought had come from if he was completely honest with himself, but he refused to dwell on those feelings. He had sworn to himself to never act on them! He was a Malfoy, damn it, and Malfoys did not like the male but the female and would marry a female and would sire children with said female in order to get an heir to the Malfoy name.

He sniffed, pushed himself away from the wall and stood straight. He needed to keep a clear head to find out what all of this letter nonsense was about, so with this thought it was that the blond wizard walked around a corner and saw one particular Gryffindor wander through the corridor, his back turned towards him, mumbling softly but quickly to himself and Draco's heart stopped.

*~*Artist's Flame*~*

"There he is! Finally! Merlin, he is too late!"

Ginny shook her head disapprovingly and crouched closer to the door, waving for Dean to follow in her wake. She leaned against the old wood, pressed her ear against it and waited.

And waited.

She frowned. Next to her, Dean glanced up from his spot on the ground. He had somehow managed to lie down on the floor, press his cheek onto the cold and dusty stone floor and tried to sneak a glance through the small space in between the ground and the door. Ginny huffed.

"What was supposed to happen?" Dean blinked and rubbed at his eye to get out a grain of dust that had landed in there from Ginny's breathing out rapidly. He grumbled as it started to tear up.

"Well, what do you suppose should have happened?" She hissed quietly and annoyed, both with him, herself and the two lovebirds outside the dirty broom cupboard they were hiding in which was filled with dusty, old brooms, rusty buckets and bottles of unknown liquids... and probably about a hundred or so spiders hiding behind the items stored in there.

"Well, I don't know!" Dean answered exaggeratedly.

"Shut up, you idiot, they'll hear you!"

"We already can hear you."

The voice made them freeze and stare at each other in horror as the door to the cupboard was opened and had them tumbling out and landing on the cold stone floor in one heap of tangled limbs.

"Why, hello there, Weasley, Thomas," a sneering face came into Ginny's field of view and smirked down at her. She huffed as she glared into those steel grey eyes that she hadn't despised ever since the end of the war. There was an amused gleam in there that warmed up the usually cold colour and made her cheeks go red with embarrassment of being found in a broom cupboard, watching both him and the other teenager secretly.

"Draco," Ginny huffed and pushed against one of Dean's feet that was currently digging uncomfortably into her stomach. "Would you please move, Dean? Your foot is in my stomach."

"Oh, sorry."

"OUCH! Freaking...! Stop kicking me, you idiot!"

A booming laugh had them freeze again as Harry pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against and leaned down to them, still giggling, as he tried to pull her away from the other Gryffindor who was doing his best in fending off the Slytherin as the latter pulled him onto his feet, the sneer more prominent on his aristocratic face than usual.

"Would you mind telling us what exactly you're doing in an unused broom cupboard, both covered in dust?" Harry grinned down at her as she straightened her school robes, trying not to blush too much.

"Umm... research," she said and sneaked a glance to her right towards Dean who was looking everywhere but the three people in front of him. She huffed. Typical of him to not support her in a moment of need. She rolled her eyes and met Harry's amused, emerald green ones.

"Research, huh?" His glance darted to the blond Slytherin who was still standing next to him, smirking. "I wonder whether that research had anything to do with two letters that happened to be delivered to us yesterday evening."

He ran a hand through his hair, succeeding in making it point into every direction, giving him that freshly fucked look she absolutely loved. More innocent people would say he looked as if he'd just climbed off of his broom after hours of flying around but she preferred her description of what she saw and Draco seemed to agree with her as she saw his pale cheeks darken slightly with a lovely pink colour as he watched Harry mess up his hair.

Ginny grinned. She couldn't believe that they had not yet noticed each other's Feelings, but as she looked towards Dean who was busy watching her, she wasn't all that surprised. Apparently guys were just blind when it came to emotions. She rolled her eyes and winked at Dean who blushed and quickly turned away. She giggled.

"Depends on whether you'd think of them as important."

Her eyes darted from Harry to Draco and back again. Both of them seemed different than just this morning at breakfast. Not that she was particularly close to the blond but she was with the raven-haired Gryffindor and that much was for sure – he was behaving differently.

"They were indeed interesting, I have to say," Draco replied and a soft smile appeared on his face as he tried to look everywhere but to the spot next to him where Harry was doing the exact same thing.

"Ah, I'm glad," Ginny smiled innocently and turned towards Dean. "What do you think? Should we make a short trip to the kitchens and have some delicious cupcakes for celebration?"

Dean raised his eyebrows at her, but as he saw her nod discretely, he smirked and agreed. She'd tell him what they had just done soon enough, he thought as Ginny took hold of his hand and tagged him along down the corridor in the direction of the picture with the pear.

Although, he had to admit as he turned back shortly before they turned around a corner only to witness both former rivals blush and quietly talk to each other, that he might have a very good idea what he had just managed to achieve.

He grinned and squeezed Ginny's hand. Sometimes people had to be forced into being happy. Especially if said people were as stubborn as one Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.


I hope you liked it! Please leave a comment. I always love reading and answering them! They make my day :D

Word count: 2050

Until next time - See ya!