A/N: *trumpet blast* I have finally gotten around to deciding to continue this story!

I must warn you all, I won't be writing unless I have ideas, and my other story (feel free to check it out) will be top priority, but now that I've actually written chapter 2 I'll be more motivated to write the rest of them.

And reviews would definitely help motivate me :-)

I want to dedicate this chapter to the wonderful people out there who asked me to continue this story. Without you, well, I probably wouldn't have. Hope you enjoy!

I didn't see Malfoy again until that evening at dinner. He came strolling in to the Great Hall, surrounded by his usual group of friends. I was sitting at the end of the table nearest the doors, talking to Isobel about the Transfiguration homework, when he walked past between our table and the Slytherin one. His laughter caught my attention, and as I looked up, he glanced in my direction. He gave me a considering look for a moment, and then, to my great surprise, winked at me before turning back to his friends. I started to smile before I remembered it was Malfoy.

Isobel looked at me with a confused look on her face.

"Rose? What was that all about?"

I sighed. "Nothing, really."

"That didn't look like nothing to me."

"Remember how I accidentally told Stephanie yesterday that I'm going into Hogsmeade with Malfoy?"

Isobel chuckled. "The look on your face when you realised what you'd said was priceless."

"Anyway," I said, slightly annoyed, "I confronted him after lunch and he agreed."

Isobel spluttered. I pulled out my wand and cleaned the pumpkin juice off my plate as she stared at me.

"He what?"

"Agreed."

"I heard you the first time. You mean you're actually going to Hogsmeade with him?"

"No," I said sarcastically, "I mean he agreed to lend me his Potions notes. Yes, I am. Wish me luck."

"You'll need it," Isobel muttered, turning back to her apple pie. She opened her mouth to say more, but suddenly seemed to be distracted by something on the other side of the Hall.

I followed her gaze to the Gryffindor table, where the only thing I could see that might have caught her attention was my cousin Al horsing around with Lysander, our fellow fifth year, Lorcan's twin and a Gryffindor like Al.

And like everyone else in the Weasley-Potter clan but yours truly. Well, and Victoire, who had been a Hufflepuff. But she was so much like Aunt Fleur that I always had a hard time remembering to include her in the list of Weasleys.

"Why are you staring at Al?" I asked, puzzled. It wasn't like he and Lysander didn't act stupid every day.

"I wasn't actually looking at Al…" Isobel muttered.

"Alright then, why are you looking at Lysander?"

Isobel said something I didn't quite catch. But I already had my own suspicions.

"You like him, don't you?"

"I…of course not."

"Isobel dearest, you stopped talking to watch him, you turned pink when I mentioned it, and come to think of it, you've been rather distant lately in all the lessons we share with Gryffindor. And you're not listening to anything I'm saying now, either, are you? Let's see how long I can talk before you notice. There's a Hippogriff rampaging on the staff table. James is busy kissing his girlfrie…oh wait, he really is, so that won't make you notice anything. McGonagall just said we don't have homework for the rest of the month. The Chudley Cannons beat Puddlemere United last week."

That snapped her out of her reverie.

"No way did they do that! The Chudley Cannons suck, everyone but your little brother Hugo knows that."

"Glad to see you're in the real world again, Is."

"How many times have I told you, don't call me that."

"I won't if you tell me what's going on between you and Lysander."

Isobel sighed and turned to look at me.

"Nothing's going on between the two of us. I just happen to…like him, that's all."

I grinned. "I knew it!"

We were interrupted by Stephanie—again. Why can't she leave us alone for once? She's been tormenting me for four and a half years now, you'd think she'd have found something else to do with her free time. She sat herself down opposite me, followed by her friend Michelle Davies. Michelle's not as annoying a Stephanie, but since she follows her around and does whatever her friend does, she's definitely not on my list of people I'm friends with.

The two of them slid onto the bench on the other side of the table. Stephanie whispered something to Michelle, who laughed. Then Michelle leaned over to me and said: "So I heard you're going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy."

I took a deep breath.

"As a matter of fact…"

I could see Stephanie watching me.

"…I am," I concluded.

The expressions on their faces were hilarious. Stephanie was really surprised. I wouldn't wonder if she'd already been planning all the ways she would tease me about it when she found out it wasn't true. Except that now, it was.

"You're what?" Michelle asked.

"Going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy," I said slowly, with the air of someone explaining something to a two-year-old.

Michelle looked at me again, and then turned and started a whispered conversation with Stephanie. I could totally tell that they didn't believe me.

"Come on, Is, let's go back to the common room. I have some homework I need to finish."

"I keep telling you, don't call me that!"

I walked out of the Great Hall, followed by Isobel. It was all I could do to hold in my laughter until I was out of earshot. Then I burst out into giggles.

"Did you see their faces? When I told them I was actually going with Malfoy?"

"Well, that would have been because it is slightly unbelievable…"

"I'm with you on that one," I sighed. "But it's not really a date, I'm just taking the easy way out. I just hope he doesn't find it horrendously funny to stand me up or something."

"Why would he? He agreed to go with you, didn't he?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Isobel, Malfoy and I have a rather long history of not getting along."

"That's an understatement," she muttered.

"Precisely. In fact, you could say our families have a history of not getting along well."

"I just hope you survive Saturday."

"Believe me, Is, I hope so too. But it's only the one morning."

"You sure?" Isobel had an impish look on her face.

"What? Merlin, Isobel, as if I would ever consider going out with him for any other reason! No way in a million years."

Isobel muttered something that sounded very much like: "That's what you think."

I stared at my best friend. "Since when are you a Seer? Look, the chances of me dating Malfoy are about as high as the chances of Albus suddenly going out with Michelle Davies. And that's not likely to happen any time soon."

Luckily, Isobel decided to drop the subject, and instead mentioned something about how much homework Professor Frobisher gave us in Charms. It always feels like we get twice as much homework in Charms as in any other class. Not that we have a problem with doing it (actually, it's my second favourite class), it just takes forever. And with our O.W.L.s coming up, the workload is even heavier.

"And we have that essay from Professor Brocklehurst on defensive spells, and I haven't finished my Runes translation either…so what homework do you have left, Rose?"

I chuckled. "None, actually. I only said that to get away from Stephanie."

"I don't blame you. It's bad enough sharing a dorm and almost all our classes with her, does she have to come interrupting us at mealtimes too? She's got her group of friends and we've got ours."

Isobel was right about that. Stephanie and Michelle were generally to be seen in the company of a few giggly fourth years, whereas Isobel and I had formed a quartet with Lorcan Scamander and Simon Boot. The four of us spent all our free time together—except during Quidditch practices and matches. Lorcan was the Ravenclaw Seeker, and Simon was the Keeper, but Is was nearly as hopeless at flying as I was. Although, as I always point out every time the subject comes up, she at least managed to keep her balance on the broom. The fact that she only went up two feet before landing and insisting that she would never mount a broom again is of no consequence.

We reached the foot of Ravenclaw Tower, where I answered the question and we headed inside. I went up the stairs to my dorm to get my book, and settled down in front of the fire for a cosy evening of reading.

Lying in bed later on, I looked out of my window at the moon, which shone brightly over the grounds. I thought back to my earlier conversation with Isobel. Though I hadn't admitted it to her, I was feeling jittery. In two days' time, I would be pretending to date Malfoy. I really didn't know how it was going to work out.