Draco made his way towards the dungeons, confused and slightly dazed. He recalled watching Padma as he conjured the flowers, thinking about a time before social appearances and expectations of…everyone.

He finally found the portrait of a knight and whispered "Gillyweed." The portrait opened and the there was the sound of slow jazz and various students were spread out on the leather upholstery. Draco paused and sized up the room, looking for someone in particular. He found him with a giggling fifth year perched comfortably on his lap. Draco rolled his eyes and strolled over to Blaise.

"Hey, man, how was your session?" Blaise asked, shifting the girls weight a little so he could see Draco better.

"Yeah I need to talk to you about that…in private." Draco said quietly, shooting a pointed glance at the girl, who pouted theatrically before getting up and joining a pack of girls and disappearing in the throng.

"What's up?" Blaise asked, standing and stretching. Both boys turned towards the dormitory and walked side by side to their room.

"It's just…I dunno, mate. I feel like I've been hit with some sort of hex." Said Draco, flopping down on his bed.

"Well, have you?" Blaise asked, laughing slightly.

"No that's the thing. I haven't been hexed once today." Said Draco, looking at the ceiling and seeing Padma laughing at his crappy joke.

"Well when did it start?" Asked Blaise, taking on the role of therapist.

"When Patil ran into me before Transfiguration." Said Draco slowly. "I remember because I kept thinking about her and…" He trailed off, realizing what he was saying. He sat erect and stared at Blaise, looking terrified.

"Is it possible that you might…have…feelings for the Patil girl…again?" Asked Blaise, raising his eyebrows.

"No, no, no way…no fucking way. She's a blood traitor. I can't…she's not…what?" Draco managed to confuse himself quite effectively before lying back down on his bed and closing his eyes.

"What exactly went on in your tutoring session?"

"Nothing really. I showed up, got a bit snippy, figured out the spell with her minor assistance…"

` "Of course." Blaise smirked.

"…then she left saying I need to care more." Said Draco, rolling his eyes.

"About what?"

"I don't know! All she said was 'anything.' I mean, what the bloody hell does that mean?" Draco snapped at nothing in particular, replaying Padma's exit in his mind: the flip of her hair, the swish of her skirt, the call of her voice…

"During the session, was she acting like, say, Parkinson? Did she come on to you?"

"No, that's the thing, she was all about school. If anything I was coming on to her." Said Draco, sounding shocked and scared.

"I knew you were looking at her earlier. Ha! This is going to be fun to watch." Teased Blaise, pulling out a book and lying down on his own bed. They sat there in silence for a while. Draco was re-analyzing the entire session while Blaise pretended not to be alarmed.

"Hey, Blaise." Draco whispered, staring at his ceiling.

"Mmhm." Blaise acted as though he was immersed in his book while really he hung on his friend's every word.

"What do yellow tulips, white bellflowers, red carnations, and forget-me-nots mean?" He whispered, thinking about the bouquet he had conjured without trying.

"What the hell?" Asked Blaise, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Like, in symbolism?" Draco clarified, looking in Blaise's general direction.

"Do I look like bloody Longbottom? Go to the library or something." Draco turned back to the ceiling. "Or, better yet, ask your new girlfriend."

Blaise received a pillow to the head.

"Oi, Longbottom!" Draco called, spying the weak boy after Herbology. Neville looked around nervously before trying to scurry away. "Hey! Come back!" Malfoy caught up to him with ease and grabbed his arm.

"Leave him alone, Malfoy." Said Granger, witnessing the scene and trying to come to the rescue.

"Sod off, Granger. I have a Herbology question for Longbottom." Sneered Draco while he looked the nerdy, little mudblood up and down.

"Neville, would you like me to wait for you?" She asked kindly. Neville looked from her to Draco, and then shook his head. She sighed and walked away after shooting a murderous glare at Draco.

"Y-you have a Her-Herbology question?" Spluttered Neville, he was quite afraid of the blonde boy who had terrorized him for so long.

"In symbolism, what do red carnations, yellow tulips, forget-me-nots, and white bellflowers mean?" He almost panted, desperate to know if Padma Patil had had any influence on what flowers he had conjured. He was afraid and excited for the answer and nearly shook Neville when he didn't answer almost immediately.

"W-well in floriagraphy, yellow tulips are a symbol for hopeless love…and the red carnations mean deep romantic love or 'my heart aches for you.' The forget-me-nots mean true love and the bellflowers…"

"Yes?" Said Draco eagerly, a burning in his eyes that Nevile could almost see that had prevented him form answering quicker.

"Thi-thinking of you." He squeaked, cringing away from Draco like a mouse. However, Draco released him willingly, staring off into space. "Di-did someone send you flowers, Malfoy? I-I mean Draco." Neville asked, cautiously curious.

"Just go!" Malfoy shouted, still in shock. When he was sure Neville was out of earshot, he whispered, "No. Fucking. Way."

OOOOO Draco no happy!

**Yawn** Sorry it's such a short chapter, just sort of a filler. I'm really craving a blueberry muffin and I got exams coming up and I'm probably not going to make it into the winter mainstage at my school and I'm really tired but am kind of hypnotized by my computer.

WOOO VENT SESSION MUCH? Oh well everyones got something they have to go through and I could have it a lot worse.

Hope you're liking the story so far and to anyone who read through my rant…you're a good person 3

-BEE