Disclaimer: If I owned any of this, I wouldn't be going to school, now would I?

A/N: Yes, yes. I know it has been ages since I updated, but there were a lot of problems on my end of the universe. Firstly, school started, which took up a good chunk of time with first week back problems. Secondly, there has been a heat wave here which is mentally debilitating, so I haven't had the energy to write. And thirdly, there was a diagnosis of cancer in my immediate family, so any free time I had after the first two was spent on that. Luckily, it was caught early, and everyone is expected to come out of this no worse for the wear. So, thank the Nine for small miracles. Enough about me. On with the show! -DeathDealerWolf

Chapter 4: Unreasonable Haste is the Direct Road to Error

Ginny and Blaise quickly drew their wands, and swung them around wildly, searching for the source of the voice. "What the bloody hell?!" Blaise yelped.

Mahalath poked her head out from behind Hermione. "Calm down, my lovelies. I mean you no harm."

Ginny's eyes widened, but Blaise's looked as though they would explode out of his head. Mahalath wasn't naked as she usually appeared, but rather was wearing a black leather corset, and skin tight black jeans. "Who-? Wha-?" He stammered.

Mahalath giggled. "Both excellent questions. Perhaps I shouldn't be the one to answer them, however. Hermione?" she said, looking up at her host with a mischievous smirk.

Hermione glared at her. "We never said we would tell them about you." she growled.

Mahalath raised her eyebrow. "Oh, and how were you going to explain how you ended up fucking Draco?

Hermione blushed furiously, and said nothing.

Draco sighed, and stepped forward. "Okay, short version. Hermione messed with something she shouldn't have, and now she has a temporary house guest. Meet Mahalath. She is a Succubus." he said.

Ginny frowned, while Blaise looked at Draco in alarm. Like- he mouthed, before Draco cut him off with a nod.

"A Succubus?" Ginny asked. "Where the hell did you find something to summon her, Hermione?"

Hermione's blush returned with a vengeance. "Well, I found a hidden bookcase, and I managed to snag one of the books from it... It was hers, you see, and it was a bit..."

"Raunchy?" Draco offered.

"Sexy?" Mahalath said with a grin at the same time. They looked at each other and gave each other a mental high five.

Hermione groaned, sitting down and covering her face with her hands. Mahalath leaned against her, her arm wrapped around Hermione's waist. "Anyways, she didn't understand what she was doing, and summoned me on accident. Draco happened to be the first person to find us, and... well, we got acquainted rather quickly." Mahalath said with a grin.

Blaise looked at Draco, raising an eyebrow in question. Draco rolled his eyes. "She was naked. What would you have done?" When all he received was a glare of disappointment, he sighed. "Yeah, yeah, Man-whore. I know. Anyways, when the seductress tried to feed off of us, the wards on the Signet ring went off, and that's how I figured out what was going on. And being the outstanding humanitarian I am, I decided to help."

All four occupants in the room snorted, and Blaise let out a laugh. "Translation: you are a man-whore, and wanted free sex." Draco smirked, but said nothing in his defense. Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes.

"Men." Mahalath muttered. "So easily manipulated."

Draco sat down next to Mahalath. "I resent that."

Mahalath ignored him, turning towards Hermione. "Anything else, kitten?"

"No, I'm pretty sure you've told my life story by now." Hermione said sarcastically.

Ginny raised her hand, as if she was in class. Hermione fought the smile that tried to etch itself on her face, but couldn't. "Yes?" she asked.

"Why doesn't she just leave then?" Ginny asked.

Hermione looked at Mahalath, who answered, "Once a connection had been made, it cannot be severed until I have been sated, or I have taken on a new host. The new host must be another woman, and cannot be in the same social circle as the original host. That happened once in the 18th century. The ramifications were… Let's just say several prominent families were destroyed though jealousy, deceit, and murder. The two women who were possessed were best friends, and both in very high standing families. Lilu told me about it. After that incident, he decreed that incubi and succubi could only posses mortals of the same gender. The fallout from an incubus possessing a woman, or vice versa could be catastrophic. Neither would be able to control themselves for long." Mahalath sighed. "Anyways, back on point, I can't leave Hermione until I have enough energy to return to the Æther. A Succubus cannot exist in the world of man outside of a summoning circle, or without a host."

Blaise shot a look towards Draco, who shook his head. Later Draco mouthed. "So now what?" Blaise asked the group. There were a lot of looks exchanged, and no one had a real answer. "Well..." Mahalath started slowly. "Draco agreed to help Hermione, but he won't last long." Blaise snickered, and Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Mahalath smacked his arm. "Not like that, you moron." she snapped. "Men." she muttered, rolling he eyes.

"Anyways." Hermione interrupted. "She's right. Draco could feed us for about a week or two, but eventually, it will take its toll on him, and he could die. Obviously we don't want that, so we need a plan."

Ginny looked confused. "How long do you need to feed?" She asked Mahalath.

Mahalath mumbled something, but no one but Hermione heard her. Hermione's eyes widened in horror, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "WHAT?!" she yelped.

Mahalath sighed, before answering again. "About a year or so..."

Blaise let out a low whistle, while Hermione looked ill. Draco chewed his tongue, but said nothing. He knew it wouldn't come to that, so he wasn't worried.

"A year?! If I can't have a guy for more than a week, am I supposed to have fifty-two different guys?" Hermione screeched.

Mahalath looked at her guiltily. "You read my book. That was all in one year..." she said.

With that, Hermione fell silent. Her hair fell over her face, covering her eyes. Her body shook, and the others in the room were unsure if she shook with sadness or anger.

"Hermione?" Ginny said quietly. "Hermione, say something." she pleaded.

"Get out." was the reply.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me? Why should I leave when we haven't-"

"I said GET OUT!" Hermione screamed. She looked up, but wasn't staring at Ginny. She was staring at Mahalath. "Leave me! I don't care what happens to you! I refuse to be a whore for your own gain!" Hermione rose to her feet, causing Mahalath to rise with her. "Let go of me!" Hermione shrieked, pushing Mahalath away from her.

Mahalath clamped her hand around Hermione's wrist as Hermione pushed her, causing them both to fall on top of Draco.

"What the bloody fuck?" Draco groaned as the two women crushed him.

"Blame her! She's the one who can't take responsibility for her actions!" Mahalath spat.

Hermione pulled herself up, and left Mahalath on top of Draco, her hand still wrapped around her wrist. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Mahalath's hand.

Mahalath's eyes widened, and she shouted, "Wait!", but Hermione, blinded by rage, ignored her.

"Relashio!" Hermione spat.

Mahalath's hand flew off of Hermione, and there was a flash of bright light. Hermione crumpled to her knees, and there was a scream. Hermione blinked rapidly to clear her vision, and looked around.

Blaise was holding Ginny against him, and had his back towards Hermione, as if he was protecting her from an unseen threat. Draco was lying on the couch, and looked unconscious. And much to Hermione's glee, Mahalath was nowhere to be seen.

"Good riddance." she muttered, as she moved to help Draco. She pointed her wand at his chest and said "Rennervate."

The flash of light hit Draco's chest, but nothing happened. Puzzled, she hit him with the charm again.

"It won't work."

Hermione turned around to look at Blaise, who was glaring at her with a cold fury in his eyes. She involuntarily took a step back.

"Why won't it work?" she asked in a small voice.

Blaise let go of Ginny, who sat back down on the couch. He took a step towards Hermione, but this time she stood her ground. "It won't work because in your haste to rid yourself of your problems, you just pushed them on Draco." He spat. Hermione's blood ran cold, and she bit her lip apprehensively. "She's not gone. She's in him." he said. Hermione turned around slowly, and stared at Draco's body, and winced as his brow furrowed, but did not wake.

Draco found himself in a hazy fog, which was odd, considering he was in his bedroom at Malfoy Manor. There shouldn't be any weather in his room. He opened his door, and was shocked to find the Slytherin common room there. "What the..." he mumbled to himself.

"Draco?" he heard someone call, he turned back into his room, to find Mahalath standing there, wearing a Slytherin school uniform.

"What the hell is going on?" he snapped at her.

She looked around, puzzled. "I don't know. This isn't normal."

Draco growled. "What do you mean, this isn't normal?" he asked, fighting to keep calm. Mahalath looked at her feet, and mumbled something. "What was that?" he asked.

"This isn't like a normal possession." she repeated.

Draco bared his teeth, and growled again. "You stupid little-"

"Wait!" Mahalath yelled, holding her hands up and taking a step back, as Draco had taken a step forward. "It wasn't my fault! I didn't want to die, and when Hermione threw me off her, I was already touching you!"

Draco stood in the center of his room, unmoving. Mahalath risked a step forward, and stood in front of him. "I swear, I didn't know, Draco. I want this to end just as badly as you do."

Draco scoffed. "Since when did you become such a bleeding heart?"

Mahalath winced as though his words physically hit her. "It's a side effect of possessing someone. This kind of stuff is a double-edged sword. I can influence people's personalities, but some of their personalities can get imprinted on me. Hermione has a big heart, so it was rather impossible for me not to be affected by her."

Draco mused this over. "Is the effect permanent?" he asked.

Mahalath chewed her bottom lip. "I- I don't know. I mean, I've always possessed women who were like me. Very flirty, sexual, uncaring women. It made my job easier. I don't think any Succubus or Incubus has ever possessed someone like Hermione before."

Draco scoffed. "Just great. A fucking Gryffindor Succubus. Just when my life was bad enough as it is, I have to babysit a saint who needs sex to survive."

Mahalath growled. "I am not useless, Draco. I am still a demon, in case you forgot that. I am more powerful than you can ever wish to be, and I have knowledge gather over millennia."

"Then tell me what the fuck is going on!" Draco roared at her.

There was a deafening silence that filled the room. Mahalath looked at Draco with hurt eyes that he recognized far too well. He had seen them many times over the last six years. He groaned, turning away from her and diving face first onto his bed.

"Why me?" he asked no one in particular. "Why do I always get the short end of the stick? First, my family has to play host to Lord Suck-a-Nut. Then, my Father fucks up, and get sent to Azkaban. Then, it is up to me to redeem my family's name by killing the one person no one can kill. Now, I am possessed by a demon who is going to kill me in a week or so anyways." He lifted his face from his mattress and looked back at Mahalath. "You know, when I asked for a way out all those nights ago, I didn't mean dying."

Mahalath rolled her eyes. "Like I had anything to do with it. Maybe you should have prayed to me instead of your gods. At least I am here."

Draco let out a barking laugh. "Oh Merlin, if they are anything like you, all humans are fucked in the long run."

Mahalath had an offended look on her face, and was about to respond, when a voice came out from the common room.

"Drake, get down here, we need to go to class."

Draco and Mahalath locked eyes. "Blaise." they both said.

Draco stood up, and smoothed his hair and clothes. "Stay next to me, and don't talk much. We need to figure out where we are, and how to get out."

Mahalath nodded, linking her arm through Draco's. Draco lifted an eyebrow, surprised, but didn't say anything about it. They walked out of Draco's room into the Slytherin common room. Draco was surprised to see Blaise standing there, but it wasn't quite the Blaise he remembered. He was a bit taller, and he was smiling instead of frowning.

"Yo, Drake, buddy! What took you so long?" Blaise greeted, pulling Draco into an overly friendly hug. Draco stared wide-eyed at Mahalath, who was equally surprised. "Let's go, mate, we got Potions with the Gryffindors in 5 minutes!" Blaise exclaimed as he ran out of the room.

Draco and Mahalath quickly followed, unsure of what else to do. As Draco passed other students and classmates, he noticed that people he knew in passing looked slightly different, and people that he knew more socially had major things wrong with them. As he passed Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil, he noticed that they both were blonde and lighter skinned, even though he could clearly remember how they looked normally.

When he reached the Potions corridor, he nearly fell over in shock. Harry Potter was standing there, his long black hair covering his eyes, making him look like one of those Muggle musicians. Ron Weasley was covered in curly red hair, and his facial features made him look more like a troll than he normally did.

But when Draco looked at Hermione, he nearly drooled. She was leaning against the wall, one leg up, her normal knee length skirt now was barely covering her knickers, and her blouse was unbuttoned just enough to show her green lace bra underneath. She had knee high black leather boots, and was wearing a black leather choker on.

When she saw him, she smiled brilliantly at him. "Hey, Draco. Come here a second." she said, holding out her hand.

Draco looked over at Mahalath, who everyone seemed to be ignoring. "What do I do?" he asked her.

Mahalath blew out a breath of air. "Fuck if I know. These are your projections."

"Projections?" Draco asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Mahalath nodded. "This doesn't feel like a constructed scene, so it isn't someone trying to break into your mind. It also doesn't feel like a memory, since there are glaring inaccuracies, so the only logical conclusion is that this is how you perceive the world."

Draco frowned. "I'm pretty sure Blaise isn't a fucking Gryffindor, and Granger isn't a stripper in my mind."

Mahalath rolled her eyes. "Well of course not, Draco. This is how you see the world according to how your mind sees it. Blaise is your best mate, so he acts like your best mate. You are attracted to Hermione, so she appears attractive."

Draco was about to comment on Hermione's appearance, when it suddenly changed. She was no longer wearing her 'dressed to fuck' outfit, but now she looked more like she normally did, in her modest Gryffindor uniform, holding a stack of books.

"Malfoy." she responded with a cold tone in her voice. "Ready to get second place again?"

Draco grinned. "Of course, Granger. A gentleman always comes second." he replied, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione blushed slightly, before huffing and turning to sit with Potter and Weasley, who Draco noticed looked normal again.

"Come on, mate. We got class in five." Blaise muttered in his ear, before brushing past him, and entering the Potions classroom. He seemed to have lost his overly friendly attitude, and returned to his usual demeanor, to which Draco was immensely grateful.

Instead of following him, however, he stayed in the corridor with Mahalath. "What do we do to get out of here?" he asked her.

Before she could answer him, the ground lurched violently, and there was a bright red shimmer of light that seemed to sweep through the world. It seemed to destroy Hogwarts, and left in its wake Malfoy Manor.

"What the hell?" Draco muttered, slightly nauseated. He looked around, realizing he was not on the grounds behind the Manor.

Mahalath gasped. "Paarsehadrim." she whispered.

"Run that one by me again." Draco asked, staring at her with a confused look.

"Paarsehadrim. Ambition of the Mind. It is an ancient demonic magic that was once used to show mortals what they truly desired, beyond physical satisfaction and worldly goods. It could show you what you didn't even know you wanted."

Draco raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He already knew what he wanted. He would complete his mission, become the Dark Lord's number one Death Eater, restore honor to the Malfoy name, and find a way to keep Granger around as his servant. What else could a man want?

Even as these thoughts ran though his mind, he felt his stomach lurch. Did he want these things really? He was told from a young age that they were what he wanted, but did he truly believe it? No. Draco knew that he was lying to himself, but what else could he do? This was his life, and the only thing he could do is make sure that he survived the coming war and enjoyed what comforts were left.

"Draco, my nephew? Is that you?" a voice called out.

Draco winced at the sound. "Yes, Aunt Bellatrix." he replied stiffly, turning towards the source of the voice. His Aunt stood there, looking just as ragged and insane as he remembered.

"Why are you here, boy? Shouldn't you be working on your mission for the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix asked, her fingers running over the handle of her wand.

Draco looked over at Mahalath. "Are you sure this isn't real?" he asked her quietly. When she answered him with a nod, he turned back towards Bellatrix. "No. I refuse to work for the Dark Lord any longer." he said, surprised to find such conviction in his voice.

"Crucio!"

Bellatrix's spell hit Draco right in the chest, and he dropped to his knees in pain. "I thought… wasn't real…" he managed to get out between groans and gasps of pain.

Mahalath jumped forward, and took a swipe at Bellatrix with her hand, but was shocked to find that it went right through her body, and Bellatrix seemed completely unaware of her presence.

"You filthy blood-traitor!" Bellatrix spat. "You dare show your face here? You are as useless as your father, and bring just as much shame on this house as he did! Crucio!"

Draco writhed on the floor, the intensity of Bellatrix's Cruciatus Curse overwhelming his senses.

"Draco! Hold on! It's not real!" Mahalath called out to him, hugging him from behind.

After the longest minute of Draco's life, his aunt lifted the curse. He was left shivering and twitching on the floor, covered in sweat. "You were foolish to come here, and as much as it pains me to do this, I must deliver you to the Dark Lord." Bellatrix said without a hint of remorse.

The world lurched again, and this time they were in the Grand Ballroom of Malfoy Manor, not converted into the Death Eater's main base of operations. The Dark Lord sat on a black marble throne, and he was flanked by Bellatrix and Fenrir Greyback.

Draco tried to lift his head, but found that he had a metal collar around his neck, and he was shackled to the ground in a kneeling position. "What the fuck now?" he muttered to himself, still groggy from his aunt's torture curse.

"I see you have decided to rejoin us, Draco." a cold voice said. Draco tensed up involuntarily, causing the people in the room to laugh. "Oh, are you frightened, young Master Malfoy?" the Dark Lord sneered. "Well, you should be. Lord Voldemort does not suffer a traitor to pass."

Draco took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. However, when a hand was placed at the small of his back, he jumped. The other people in the room roared with laughter, as Draco winced in pain.

"I'm sorry, Draco. It's me." Mahalath whispered in his ear. "Draco, this isn't real. Remember that."

"Then how come I felt every bit of that curse?" Draco asked through gritted teeth.

Mahalath bit her lip worriedly. "I don't know…" she replied. "But-"

She was cut off by Voldemort shouting "Crucio!"

"NO!" Mahalath shouted, trying to shield Draco, but the spell ran right through her. Draco gritted his teeth, and fought to not make any sounds, but all that accomplished was angering the Dark Lord, who intensified the spell. With a loud moan and soon screaming, the Dark Lord was soon satisfied that Draco wouldn't try to fight back anymore.

"It hurts, doesn't it, Draco?" Voldemort teased. "Would you like me to end your suffering?"

"Go to hell, fucker!" Draco spat between wheezes. Voldemort's eyes narrowed, and he once again threw the Cruciatus Curse at Draco, who screamed all the louder.

After five minutes, or five years of torture, for Draco could no longer tell the difference, Voldemort relented. He vanished the shackles holding Draco down, leaving him in a curled up ball, twitching and groaning in pain.

"The Dark Lord does not take betrayal lightly." Voldemort said in a low voice. "You have dishonored your family's name, and betrayed everything the Death Eaters believe in. You would stand with Mudbloods and Blood-Traitors before your own family?" Voldemort stood out of his throne, and slowly walked towards Draco, stopping a few feet before him.

"Draco? Draco, can you hear me?" Mahalath whispered desperately in his ear. He was largely unresponsive, muttering under his breath. "Draco, please say something." Mahalath pleaded.

"You should know better than anyone, Draco, that there is no escape. You serve me forever, until you die. Die in battle for the betterment of Wizarding kind, or at my hands. There is. No. Escape." Voldemort punctuated every word of his last sentence with slashes from his wand, cutting Draco deeply. Draco barely reacted to them, however. He was rapidly losing blood, but was unable to move to defend himself.

"DRACO! Please, Gods, Draco! It's not real! Draco!" Mahalath was in tears, clutching Draco with all her strength. As much as she knew it wasn't real, she couldn't help but believe that if they ever escaped this nightmare, the scars would linger.

"I tire of your presence. You are no longer worthy of this world." Voldemort said coldly. "Goodbye, Draco."

Draco lifted his head slightly, and managed to get his unfocused eyes to look in the Dark Lord's direction. He couldn't make out what he was saying, but when that flash of green light erupted in front of him, he knew it was all over. And, strangely, he was fine with it. A rush of magical energy bulldozed through him, a millisecond of unimaginable pain, then… peace.

The first sign that something had changed was Mahalath slowly rematerializing next to Draco. Hermione quickly grabbed her wand, and pointed it at her, along with Blaise and Ginny.

"What did you do?!" Hermione screamed. Mahalath seemed unable to hear her, for she was stroking Draco's hair softly, and whispering into his ear.

Hermione was about to say something else, but her voice died in her throat as Draco groaned. Blaise rushed over to his friend's side, and Ginny held Hermione steady. "He's okay, love." she whispered in Hermione's ear. "Relax."

The fog slowly lifted from Draco's head, and he risked opening one eye. He was terrified that he would still be in that ballroom, and that his respite was simply because he passed out from pain. He was thrilled when he saw Blaise leaning over him, and Mahalath lying next to him.

"Draco, mate. What the fuck happened?" Blaise asked.

Draco's body twitched painfully, and a small yelp of pain escaped his lips. He shut his eyes, trying to fight back the memories that seemed so real.

"We were stuck in Paarsehadrim." Mahalath whispered, still stroking Draco's hair, comforting him. "He was captured by his aunt, and taken to your Dark Lord as a traitor. He is still suffering the after effects from the Cruciatus Curse."

Hermione gasped, as she knelt beside Blaise. "Draco, do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" she asked timidly. Draco responded by twitching violently again, and letting out a moan of pain.

"We have to do something! We can't just let him suffer like this!" Ginny pleaded.

"What can we do, love? Who can we turn to who won't ask questions about how he was injured?" Blaise asked calmly. Ginny glared at him fiercely, but couldn't come up with an answer.

Draco mumbled something, but no one could understand him. "What was that, mate?" Blaise asked, lowering his ear to Draco's mouth. Blaise listened to Draco repeat himself, and his eyes widened.

"Mate, are you sure that is a good idea?" Blaise asked him, a look of disbelief and apprehension on his face.

Draco smiled slightly, and shook his head, as if saying 'No, but who cares?'.

"What does he want us to do?" Hermione asked Blaise.

Blaise looked up at her, then at Ginny, then to Mahalath, who was looking up at him sadly, still clutching Draco. "He wants us to break into Malfoy Manor. We need Lilu."

Mahalath nodded slowly, turning back to Draco, and kissing his cheek softly.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other. "If we are going to do this…" Hermione said slowly.

Ginny nodded. "We need Harry and Ron."

Blaise groaned, leaning against Ginny, as Hermione joined Mahalath in tending to Draco. "Just great. Now I'll never get to hit on you…"

Ginny let out a small giggle, and playfully slapped his arm, before absentmindedly playing with his hair.

"Draco." Hermione whispered. "We understand, and we'll help, but right now, you need help. We need to heal you."

Draco moved his elbow, nudging Mahalath. She raised an eyebrow, before looking at Hermione. "I can heal him, but I'll need you, and for them to leave." she said, motioning towards Blaise and Ginny.

Hermione frowned. "Why would- Oh." Hermione's eyes widened, as it clicking in her mind. "Right." She turned around towards the other two occupants, and cleared her throat. "Clear out, you two."

"Why?" Blaise said, shaking a fog of peace and sleepiness that had settled over his mind. "We need to take care of Draco."

Hermione blushed slightly, and turned away to look at the fire, trying to hide it. "We are going to. But we need privacy."

Ginny scoffed. "What could you do to him to help him that you would need- oh. Oh!" Hermione blushed harder as Ginny's grin grew. "Taking advantage of a man while he's down? Hermione, this is so unlike you." she teased.

Hermione pulled out her wand and lifted the two into the air. Ignoring their should of protests, she carried them to the door and tossed them unceremoniously out. Her blush returned with a vengeance, knowing that they would hear it from those two tomorrow, before returning to Draco and Mahalath, stripping off clothes as she walked.

Ginny had landed on top of Blaise, who was looking up at her with a growing hunger. Ginny, noticing she was in a dangerous position, bit her lip worriedly, and tried to lift herself off of him.

"Do I scare you that much, Princess?" Blaise asked softly, causing her to freeze in place.

There was a long moment, before Ginny nodded. "Yes." she whispered.

"Why?" he asked softly, stroking her hair slowly.

Ginny let out a small whimper, and nuzzled his hand softly, closing her eyes. "I don't want to get hurt again."

Blaise frowned at that. He slowly lifted the both of them off of the floor, and in silence, they walked back to the Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was fast asleep, so Blaise took this opportunity to pull Ginny against him, and leaned against the wall.

"I won't hurt you…" he whispered softly, as Ginny nuzzled his chest.

"You can't promise that." she responded.

"Yes, I can." he responded forcefully, enough so that it caused Ginny to pull away from him in shock and stare at his eyes. "I've seen my mother go through so many husbands. And everyone thinks that she is just a gold digging whore who marries for material gain. And she lets them believe that because she is too good of a person to tell the world that she is a terrible judge of character, and every single one of her husbands were abusive, cruel, and unloving. They married her as a trophy wife, and when it finally sunk in, she left them. It hurt her so much every time, but she never learned." Blaise's eyes watered a bit, but he blinked hard, and shook his head.

Ginny didn't know what to say, or where he was going with this, so she did the only thing she could do at the moment. She nuzzled his chest again, and felt his arms wrap around her. She sighed contently. She hadn't felt this good since… She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. No need to remember all of that painful drama.

Blaise, oblivious to Ginny's internal turmoil, continued. "I saw how hurt my mother was by them, and I swore I would never be like them." He lifted Ginny's chin, and the two were staring into each other's eyes. "I could never hurt you like that, Ginevra." he whispered, as he slowly lowered his lips onto hers.

Ginny sighed, her mind growing foggy. This was sinfully good. In her haze, she didn't hear the footsteps approaching. Neither did Blaise, who had pulled Ginny closely against him. It wasn't until they hear two mirrored gasps did they break apart suddenly, turning towards the source of the noises.

And both of their hearts plummeted into their stomachs as they stood face to face with the Prefect Patrol of Ronald Weasley and Pansy Parkinson.

A/N: I can only hope to satisfy you as you satisfy me. Let me know how it was for you. –DeathDealerWolf

A/N2: The title of this chapter is a quote from Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, a French playwright who is also known by his stage name, Molière. Just giving credit where credit is due.