Sorry for the long wait! This chapter was hard. I've forgotten how confusing the male mind is.

Listen to while reading -Maroon 5: Harder to breathe /_Pz0K7Q-64A

I regret punching Weasel.

Don't get me wrong, she deserved it, but I wish it hadn't landed me in a gruelling detention with Rigorosa. I've had enough of them.

I pick at the food Madam Guaritore gave me after fixing up my face. Weasel and her family have an incessant need to make my miserable, it seems. Why can't they just leave me alone?

The bell rings, and I leave my still half-full plate on the bed before leaving the hospital wing. Double Charms next, which we share with the Hufflepuffs – fine by me. Abhiroop's really boring though. I don't know what the girls see in him.

After class I head to the Slytherin common room to get as much homework done as possible before dinner, because it's unlikely there will be any time after dinner. Thankfully there's still the weekend, but our teachers love piling on so much work for us to do that it's best to get it done as soon as possible.

It also means more sleep time tomorrow

Dan Baldwin joins me just as I finish a horrible Transfiguration essay.

"Hey mate", I say, not bothering to look up.

"Hey", he replies as he plonks down next to me. "You wanna come watch quidditch practice tonight?"

"Sorry, I can't", I reply, pulling out my Charms assignment.

"Why not?"

"Detention."

He gives me a knowing smile. "What for this time?"

"I punched Weasley in the face." I'm unable to hide a grin at this.

"Good on ya!" He slaps me on the back. "Which one?"

"Female. Hey, do you know the answer to number four?" I ask, pointing at my homework.

"I was going to copy off you."

We both groan as I scribble down a guess. Thankfully, I manage to finish the assignment with only a few guesses before dinner.

And now it is 8 o'clock, and time to head to Rigorosa's stupid detention. Weasel is already here, of course. I don't think she can physically be late to something.

"Mister Malfoy. Glad you could join us."

I'm not sure what he means by this, so I just nod.

"You know why you are here, correct?"

Urgh. Typical detention script.

"Yes, sir. Fighting is not tolerated at Hogwarts." Blah, blah, blah.

"Good. You two will be cleaning the Great Hall without magic. I'm sure Ms Filch will have plenty of supplies for you to use. Leave your wands here, and report back to my office when you are done." He motions for us to leave the room.

The entire Great Hall? Is he joking? I've only ever had to do lines in detention.

I glare at Weasel. She's the one who got me into this mess.

"Thanks a lot", I mutter. She ignores me.

Ms Filch and her creepy cat are happy to hand over cleaning equipment. "It's nice to know that you troublemakers are finally learning how to help out around here. Maybe now you will appreciate how hard it is cleaning up after you lot." She says this all with a sneer.

Armed with buckets and mops and other obscure objects, we stumble to the Great Hall, meeting some sniggers along the way. It's tiresome, but I do get a kick out of how unhappy Weasel looks.

Any happy feelings disappear when we get to our destination though. It's huge without the house tables. We'll be here all night!

That last part I say out loud.

"Maybe you'll learn your lesson then", said Ms Filch before leaving us alone in the hall.

We silently pick up a mop each and start washing the floor. After what seems like hours I lean my mop against a wall and plonk down beside it, nursing my aching joints.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Weasel demands.

"Taking a break", I tell her.

"After ten minutes?" she yells. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm stuck here too. And if you don't work as hard as you can we'll be here all night!"

Yeah, Weasel really enjoys making my life miserable.

I start mopping again. She decides to mop right in front of me. I stare at her bushy hair, fascinated about how its colour matches exactly how angry I'm feeling right now.

Then she flicks her mane into my face, and I'm both literally and figuratively seeing red.

After another couple of hours, Weasel clears her throat.

"Can you answer me something? Why do you hate me so much?"

Well that was unexpected.

"Hate you? Why do you hate me?"

"I asked you first."

"Well, my answer kind of depends on your answer", I say stubbornly.

"Urgh! Just forget it!" she exclaims before defiantly crossing the Hall and continuing to clean as far away from me as possible.

And so we continue in silence for a while longer.

Not long enough.

"What are you doing?" she yells at me again.

"What?" I was only mopping – and doing a pretty good job if you ask me.

"I already cleaned there!"

Would it hurt her to ask nicely? "Well maybe if you'd cleaned it properly I wouldn't have mistaken it for a dirty floor!"

"Well maybe if you paid attention, we could be out of here before N.E.W.T.s!"

"Tell me what to do then, oh great Professor Weasel."

"What did you just call me?"

"Profe –"

"Oh, just go clean the windows", she snaps, chucking a rag at me.

I don't bother trying to take it any further, and just snatch up the rag from the ground (yes, I missed it) before walking over to the windows.

When we finally finish, I collect up half the cleaning supplies and walk out the door. Weasel follows in my footsteps with the rest of them. Once we dump them in Ms Filch's office, I start heading to Rigorosa's office.

"What are you doing?" Weasel hisses at me as I make to knock on the door

"You really like that phrase, don't you?" I say.

She ignores this comment. "It's one o'clock in the morning! He'll be asleep!"

I press my ear to the door. "No, he's in there. You can hear him snoring."

"Exactly!"

"I don't see your point. He told us to report to his office when we we're done. We're done. So let's report."

"He's asleep."

"So? It's his fault for setting us this stupid detention. I don't think I'll ever be able to walk properly again", I say, rubbing my back.

She grabs my wrist as I reach to open the door. I glare at her, as angry as her hair.

"I dunno about you, but I actually want to get some sleep". Before she can stop me, I open the door with my right hand and push inside. The snoring isn't so gentle in here.

I clear my throat. "Professor?"

Still snoring.

"PROFESSOR", I roar. He looks up from his desk, startled.

"I apologise for Malfoy's waking you", Weasel buts in.

"It's okay", he waves a hand then yawns. "I'd wake up in cramps if I had stayed like this. Let's go see your work."

Man, he must be tired. No snide comment?

He seems pretty pleased with our work. "I hope you learned something from this."

"Yes sir. I will never do it again.", Weasel says brightly. Urgh.

"Mister Malfoy?"

"Yes sir. Fighting is not tolerated in Hogwarts." Blah, blah, blah.

"Good. Now off to bed."

Finally.

I sink into the darkness and clear my mind of the previous events. Well, almost.

The lion roars, showing off its sharp teeth. I hiss at it, but know it is no good.
The lion prepares to pounce. I slither off as fast as I can in the opposite direction.
The lion charges after me, covering two paces to each of my one.
The lion snaps its jaws, sheltering half my slim body in its mouth.

I wake up, panting. I've had that nightmare before.

But only now do I realise why its mane was that exact shade of red.

Thanks for reading! Please review! :)