One (Hot) Soul

Chapter Four: Telepathic Bonds

I forgot about this for the first three chapters, so here it is!!:

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter plot and characters do not belong to me in any way but to the awesome author, J.K. Rowling!! Also, I don't own the lyrics or any of the song(s) used, for that. I got all the songs off the CD The Spirit Room by Michelle Branch. But I do own Cali, my very own original character.

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All through Transfiguration, Cali played the happenings of Potions class over and over in her head.

--Flashback--

"On a scale from one to ten, one being the least, how much do you like the cutest guy here in your opinion, of course?"

It surprised Cali how Draco could fit that much so perfectly into one sentence. "It's you, and out of ten, nine."

"Only nine? I'm hurt."

It was Cali's turn to laugh.

"What's your favourite thing about him, er, me? Just pick one."

Cali held back a giggle as she said, "You're dead sexy."

--end flashback--

Cali giggled and as a result of her loss of concentration, she turned her quill into a bracelet instead of a necklace. McGonagall gave her a sharp glare, and Harry leaned over.

"What the heck are you doing?" he whispered, when McGonagall turned her back.

She was about to risk an answer when she got a better idea.

'Nothing,' she said, answering telepathically, causing Harry to jump in his seat. Fortunately, McGonagall missed this one. 'Sorry,' Cali apologized, with a hint of amusement.

'It's okay. WAIT.. am I talking to you through my mind?!'

Cali suppressed a laugh. 'Yeah, I can open a line between me and one other person.'

'Wicked!'

Cali grinned.

'So what were you laughing up a storm about?'

'I was laughing that loud?'

'No.'

'Hmph. Well, I was just thinking about what happened in Potions.'

'What happened in Potions? I mean what was so funny? Besides Crabbe's face, but ANYWAYS.'

Cali proceeded to tell him of what all happened, though she kept their answers to herself. Harry then told her of the dull questioning of Crabbe.

'Must've been way easy to ask Crabbe anything. I mean.. he's so clueless!'

'Yeah, if Snape hadn't been glaring at me the entire time. It's really very unsettling.'

Cali turned her laugh into a cough. For the rest of Transfiguration, the two of them were officially distracted, as that Cali left the mind telepathy connection open.

It was always that Harry would ask her for help, but they would end up blabbing about something else. At the end of class, when McGonagall came around to check up on their work, Cali did a bit of cheating and turned both their quills into exquisite necklaces via mind control.

Though it was quite an advantage to be able to perform acts of magic with her mind, Cali felt guilty for doing so. Back at home, if she couldn't get a spell down, she would just slip by and use her mind. The only thing she couldn't avoid, however, was Potion-making, though with Snape's lack of hating her, it wasn't much of a problem.

Cali's mind was anywhere but on task. She just couldn't stop feeling guilty (she had gotten both her and Harry top marks), not to mention, she was itching to see Draco again. She could not tell exactly what was between him and her, and how exactly he felt about her. She definitely did not wasn't to over (or under) assume and look like a complete idiot.

Yet, with the lack of Draco, she got to know the Gryffindors a lot more. She held mind conversations with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine.

She saw that they were all wonderful people, really, and yes, she even came to like Hermoine.

Hermoine had said, 'I know I haven't all nice to you... it was mostly because I wasn't sure what to make of you.' Cali must've looked a good bit confused, only with a vague feeling knowing what Hermoine meant.

'Well,' she had explained, sounding so straightforward, Cali admired it. 'On the train, I naturally gave the benefit of the doubt. You seemed nice enough, and I knew exactly how it felt to be cut off from the wizarding world. I could relate, you know? But as soon as Malfoy showed up, and you seemed to like him, I started having doubts.'

Cali nodded. It was a gift, inherited from her mother, to understand people.

'So you see... er.. you know what I mean?'

'Totally. I get you, Hermoine.' Cali agreed that if they were in each other's places, she would DEFINITELY have been suspicious of Hermoine if she taken liking to a four-year enemy.

By Charms, after warm conversations with the Gryffindors, she felt as if she'd been there with them since their first year. She even considered Hermoine a friend. Yes, she was still a walking dictionary, no joke about that matter, but after she got used to it, it was more amusing than annoying.

In fact, she was so caught up with continuing her earlier talk with Ron that she didn't notice the Slytherins trickling into the room. Most importantly, Draco.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again," he drawled with a half-smile.

Cali smiled happily. Her life seemed to be going great. She was a witch, a pure-blood, at that. She had three great friends, not to mention the attention of the hot Slytherin bad-boy.

Though Charms, she held a telepathic conversation with Draco. Actually, it consisted mainly of Draco making snide comments about what Professor Flitwick was saying, and Cali smothering her laughs. For this is the stage where nearly everything teachers say sounds at least slightly wrong. Such as:

"For the mastering of this Charm, we will get into threesomes..."

'Oh, gosh, I never knew Flitwick had views like THIS...'

'Surprises, surprises,' Cali replied, sighing.

Then:

"Now don't push each other too hard. All it takes is a little bit of patience..."

'Next thing you know, he's going to make us tap dance half naked in front of McGonagall after hours to demonstrate the Invisibility Charm.'

'I think he'd consider that 'pushing each other too hard though.''

Draco snorted. 'Oh, don't worry 'bout it, Cali, I'll go easy on you. But you're going to have to contain yourself. I happen to have some serious charm.' He winked at her.

'Draco!' she blushed indignantly, but played along. 'We're in SCHOOL,' she chided.

'I never knew you had any regards toward school rules.'

'Good point.' Cali grinned. Then she had a sudden thought. She screamed loudly, in her and Draco's minds, at the mental picture forming in her head.

Draco winced. 'Ow.' Some Slytherins were starting to look at him funny, though all he had to do was glare back at them. They quickly reverted their stares somewhere else. Then he shifted his glare to Cali, instinctively rubbing his ears. 'What the HELL are you screeching about?! We haven't even started!!'

Cali face-faulted, flushing even more red in the midst of internal laughter. 'Sorry, I had a thought!'

'A disturbing one might I assume? And why didn't I hear it?'

'I'm the telepath here. But anyways,' she giggled, 'Harry, Ron, and Hermoine - the perfect threesome.' She dissolved into another fit of giggles. Though they were her friends, she just couldn't help it.

Draco's eyes widened considerably. 'Well, I always thought there was something more between those three prats-"

'Hey. Those three are my friends, even though I just said that..'

'Sure. Whatever. But two problems: one, I would have to be involved in 'the perfect threesome' and two, that's just plain wrong. DO control your hormones.'

Cali laughed even louder.

--Dinner; Great Hall--

Everyone at the Gryffindor table was laughing heartily at a joke Fred and George had just told, relieved to be done with the first day of classes. In fact, all the tables, including the staff table, were filled with cheerful faces, even the Slytherins, who looked as cheerful as Slytherins do.

Cali had just met Ginny, and they were talking, concentrated, about 'girl stuff.'

"So, I heard from Ron that you slept with Malfoy. Did you really?!"

Cali was astounded. "NO! I mean, yeah, I spent the night with him-"

"Wow."

"But.. nothing like that happened, heavens, no."

Ginny sighed. "I was about to seriously freak out."

"Why? Do.. you like him?"

"He's incredibly hot."

Cali grinned. "Got that right."

Ginny gasped. "DID YOU HEAR ME SAY THAT OUT LOUD?!?"

"Sure did."

"Oh, dear.."

"It's okay," Cali reassured her. "There's no point denying it.. and oh, I won't tell Ron."

"Phew. Thanks."

McGonagall stopped conversation at the staff table and tapped her glass. Dumbledore stood up and the students immediately quieted.

"I have an announcement. First off, I see we have all made it through day one." He smiled and winked. "Now, Quidditch is starting up very soon. The first match will be in four days, between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Best of luck to both teams." He sat back down and conversation started again.

"Quidditch.. remind me again how that's played?" Cali said to Ron, who was sitting next to her. Desperate to find out as much as possible about the wizarding world, she had crammed in a ridiculous amount of reading, resulting in remembering only bits and pieces of everything.

"Well, I think I'll turn that topic over to Harry. He's on the House team, after all," Ron gestured to Harry, who nodded.

"There are four balls used in Quidditch. The Quaffle, the one used for scoring points; two Bludgers, that fly around by themselves, trying to knock players off their brooms; and a Golden Snitch, which the Seeker must catch to end the game."

Cali nodded, piecing together what she knew and what she was being told.

He continued. "Each House has a team. There are seven players on each team. The Keeper is basically the goalie," he explained, using Muggle terms. "Then they're three Chasers, who pass the Quaffle to each other and score, or try to. Two Beaters, well, beat the Bludgers away from their team members. And the Seeker. That's me."

"Oh, I see. So.. who else do I know plays on a House team?" Cali asked curiously.

"Well, Fred and George are the Beaters. And, er, Malfoy's the Slytherin Seeker."

"Oh.. is he really.." Cali said, her eyes drifting on over to we-know- where. The Slytherin table.

"We've lost Cali," Ginny announced, sighing. Ron glared at them both. Hermoine rolled her eyes.

The rest of the dinner feast was filled, and nearly bursting with laughter, though Cali didn't take part in most of it. She and Draco were planning out a meeting.. one that would take place after hours, after everyone had fallen asleep, and hopefully, after even Snape stopped patrolling the hallways.

'Midnight?'

'Gotcha.'

Cali got up, and followed her fellow Gryffindors out the double doors. It wasn't hard to spot Draco in a crowd, she realized quickly. All she had to do was look for silvery-blonde hair that wasn't hers. That, or she could use telepathy. 'It all works out. Perfect.'

She had wanted to talk to Draco about just why he wanted to see her after hours, though, she thought, that was very romantic. So she told the Gryffindors that she forgot something in a classroom, and that she'd meet them back in the Tower later.

She looked around for Draco, and not seeing him, walked along slowly, not wanting to hold up the packed hallway. When the crowd parted at the stairways, she had the strangest feeling that she was being followed. Closely followed. She didn't recognize the auras of the four boys following her. 'Boys.. they're boys. Oh, my gosh.' Cali suddenly stiffened, remembering an event about a month before she received her letter. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

Then she stopped in a corner. Slowly, she turned around. There, cornering her, and with evil grins on their faces, were four unfamiliar boys.

"Hi, Miss California," one of them spoke up.

"Going to bed so soon?" another one, to the right of the first speaker, asked.

"Er, well, I was waiting for.." Cali trailed off, looking fearfully at them. Then she did the first thing that came to mind. 'DRACO!!' she screamed through the still open connection.

Just exiting the Great Hall, Draco whirled around, searching for Cali through the pain of his head.

'Cali?'

'Draco, help, I'm-!" she was cut off.

"Oh, my gosh, what has she done now?" he muttered, and using their mind connection, he started off in her direction. All he saw were a group of Ravenclaw sixth years standing around a corner. He stared, confused, for a moment. He had felt her, stronger than ever, felt her needing anyone, but hoping it would be him.

Then realization struck. As if confirming his suspicions, a flash of bright blonde hair whipped around one of the guys' side, followed by a muffled squeak.

"YOU FUCKIN DIRTY GIT!" Draco yelled, pulling the guy off Cali. He then delivered a hard blow to his jaw. Much to his surprise, the Ravenclaw kicked him hard in the shin and in the stomach. Draco glared.

Then, they engaged in a ferocious battle, though it was quite obvious the Ravenclaw couldn't come close to putting up a descent battle against Draco.

Nonetheless, Draco was getting fed up. "Impedimenta!" He rolled his eyes as the Ravenclaw stopped short. "Now.. petrificus totalus!" The Ravenclaw dropped to the ground. Two of the other guys sidled away, seeing the 'Prince of Slytherins' in a rage. The last one stayed, looking both defiant and scared for his life.

"Well, what are you still here for?" Draco demanded, pushing Cali behind him.

"Um, er, I think, you know what, I think I left a book in the Great Hall. I- I'll go get it." He dashed off, knocking over a couple of Hufflepuffs in the process.

Draco glared, disgusted as the boy sped off. Then he turned around to face a shaking Cali. She was crying. "Dumb question, Cali, but are you okay?"

"I-I.." she stuttered through tears.

Without hesitation this time, he wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his robes. "Cali, don't cry. It's over. They're gone.. and I'm here."

Her sobs quieted slightly. Him being there did make it better, a lot better. She was so utterly grateful. And at this, she cried even harder.

Draco stared. "Oh gosh. Now come on.. let's get you back to Gryffindor Tower." He tried to guide up her to a staircase but nearly stumbled. "Ow," he stated, remembering the Ravenclaw. His eyes darkened to a stone gray with extreme irritation at his shin, which was already turning a shadowy purple-blue colour. He felt unnaturally out of breath, too, from the blow to his stomach.

Cali noticed it, too. "Draco," she said gently, still sniffling, "scratch that. You should go to the hospital wing. I'm not physically hurt. You are."

He tried not to wince in pain. "But Cali.." he said, in nearly a whine, "it's just a stupid bruise.. from a stupid Ravenclaw."

Cali smiled weakly. "And you're going to feel awfully stupid tomorrow with that er, stupid bruise."

"Hm.. good point. But.. what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I have you.. remember?"

"Another good point."

So Cali followed Draco up to the hospital wing, purposely leaving the Ravenclaw, where they spun up a strange story about how Draco hit his foot on Cali's star formation replica for Divination. ('Though,' Cali thought, 'what are the chances the er, non-existing replica would survive if Draco tripped on it so hard, or rather, what are the chances Draco would trip in the first place?')

Cali stayed overnight in the hospital wing with Draco, though he said it'd be better for her to get some rest. "Accio!" she Summoned her pajamas, and on second thought, her CD player.

Draco eyed it for a moment. "What's that?"

"A CD player. A Muggle item."

"Oh. A Muggle item, eh?" Draco sat up, and made no effort to hold back a cough. "So what's it do?"

"Well, it plays CDs," Cali said, for lack of a better explanation. She opened the cover and took out a round, shiny disc with a hole in the middle. "This is a CD. It has recorded music on it."

"Oh," Draco said again. This Muggle item looked as if it had actual use.

Cali put the earphones on as Draco watched curiously, though he was distracted for a moment as he drank down a cup of Potion Madam Pomfrey handed him.

Draco watched as Cali sang softly along with the music. Not to his surprise, the song was completely unfamiliar to him. Then she stopped singing and giggled.

"What now?"

"Oh, I just realized how these lyrics speak my soul, as to say."

"Um, sure.."

Cali giggled again, then resumed singing. He hadn't heard many people sing, not up close like this, anyway. Cali had a very nice voice, he noticed appreciatively. Soon, he began drifting off to the sound of her singing.

"You give me something to sleep to and all I know is you give me something to dream to when I'm all alone and blue. Don't leave me now, don't leave me now..."

'Something to sleep to, eh?' he thought, and closed his eyes.

'Sweet dreams,' she answered. She had apparently forgotten to close off the mind connection.

Draco gave a small, genuine smile and fell to sleep.

Three hours later, it was completely dark except for the moonlight peeking in through the windows. Draco groggily opened his eyes and saw that Cali was sitting in the same chair she had been for three hours now. She was so pale, in her pajamas now, and the silver-blonde hair, now a gently glowing white, fell around her, making her truly look like an angel.

"Cali, what are you doing? It's somewhat unnerving to wake up to… an angel."

Cali smiled gently, her eyes shining, looking more and more heavenly. "Shh, go back to sleep."

Draco yawned hugely. She reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite remember. "Right then. You don't have your jacket again. Are you cold?"

Cali looked embarrassed. "A little," she admitted.

Then, making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere in sight, he snuck her into bed next to him.

And for the second out of two nights, they fell asleep together.

Morning; Great Hall

Draco had successfully healed over night. There was much questioning about Terry Boot and how the heck he had ended up, bruised and Petrified next to the stairs. No one who had witnessed the happening dared to tell, in fear of Draco delivering the same fate.

Cali took a risk and was sitting at the Slytherin table between Draco and Crabbe. She was definitely getting some weird looks. Sometimes students would sit with friends from different Houses, but never did Slytherin and Gryffindor mix at meals. Never.

Draco and Cali were attempting to carry on warm conversation, even trying to include other Slytherins. Yet, not to their surprise, they only responded with icy glares, or an occasional grunt to stay on Draco's good side.

It ended up with Cali giving Draco a kiss on the cheek, Draco fighting down a blush, then Cali standing up, sighing exasperatedly. "Gosh. Draco, I think I should just go back to the Gryffindor table. See you in Potions."

"Cali, no," Draco protested but she had made up her mind. She strode off across the room, alarming several students, and dropped into a seat next to Ginny.

"What's with you guys?!" Draco demanded, rounding in on the Slytherins.

"What's with you? You're a Slytherin, she's a Gryffindor, in case you haven't taken the time to look below her face," a seventh year said dryly.

Draco fixed the famous Malfoy death glare on him. "I believe you're the one who hasn't looked past her face. I never thought I'd be saying this but frankly, I don't give SHIT that she's a Gryffindor."

Then he got up, stalked over to the Gryffindor table, scaring the students that hadn't been scared by Cali, and stood over her. "Come on," he said, and without waiting for a reaction he pulled her up and dragged her out of the Great Hall.

"What the hell? You could've at least said, 'we need to talk.' Damn you." Cali yanked her hands out of his.

Draco's expression barely changed. "Okay then, we need to talk. Good enough?"

Cali sighed. "Draco, I'm sorry. It's just.. all this stupid rivalry crap is just so..." she made a disgusted sound, for lack of justifying words.

"I know. Boy, do I know. But listen.." his expression was completely different now. Any trace of anger was replaced with seriousness. He took her hands again. "Back there, with that lot, I told them that.." - he restated his exact words - "I don't give shit if you're a Gryffindor."

Cali's eyes widened. "Seriously, Malfoy."

Draco winced. Her calling him by his last name stung a little. "I mean it. I know that two days ago, I would have MUCH preferred for you to be in Slytherin. But now... I think it's really very interesting. It only makes love stronger. ...Oh, damn, I sound like a lame Hufflepuff."

"No, you don't," Cali said firmly. "You're absolutely right. Nothing they say will change it."

Draco nodded. "Now.. I don't really fancy going back in there, do you?"

"No, I most certainly don't," Cali agreed. "Hey.. now that I've been in the Slytherin common room.. you wanna come up to Gryffindor's?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, unable to hide his contempt. "Could be interesting. Can I jack up Granger's stuff?"

"No," Cali said stubbornly, as the two of them descended upon the staircase.

Starting to feel a hint of angst? shivers By the way, I'm moving the rating up for swearing and other events coming up in later chapters. You'll see...

I actually wrote out a detailed plot summary, mainly because I was so confused. I had a bunch of events but I realized that I had no idea what the exact order they would go in. So, after about half an hour, I planned out the whole story! So it's all a matter of writing it all out and well, elaborating. )

Thanks BUNCHES to "strawberries are mine" (no they're NOT, Irene, they're MINE! D), aznqtpai, Keeper of the Moon, and all other previous reviewers!! 14 reviews probably doesn't sound like much to some people, but to me, it's completely WONDERFUL. )

pLeAsE R/R!

Angelee