This chapter was revised 3.22.07.

Enjoy!

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

S –

Oh, so you're a daring little girl, eh? Sneaking out of Hogwarts the first weekend back at school? What did 'Bee' end up getting anyway?

Favorite color is black. Favorite animal… dragon, maybe? I've never really thought about it.

To the box,

Later

O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O+O

It was two weeks into October on a bright sunny day when Draco was awoken by the ruthless hoots of an owl he did not recognize the sound of. He cracked his icy blue eyes open to catch a glance of the unfamiliar bird, and found a large white hawkish looking owl, clutching a roll of parchment encircled with a golden ring bearing the Malfoy emblem.

Draco rolled his eyes and opened the letter slowly.

Dear Son,

It has come to my attention that you will, in a few months, be turning seventeen at which point you will begin your Death Eater training. You will receive the mark on your seventeenth birthday along with a few of your house mates who are also coming of age. Keep in mind that any resists will be useless. You must remember where your loyalties lie, son. Do not let down the Malfoy name.

Sincerely,

Your father

Draco laughed bitterly at the letter before him, amazed at the stupidity of his own flesh and blood; the man that called himself Draco's father.

Draco quickly scrawled his response.

Father,

I have told you before and I will tell you again. I am not joining your master. He means nothing to me, and I will not serve a man I do not know without a purpose. My loyalties do not lie with you, and they never have. As for the Malfoy name, I do not need to let it down. You've done that enough yourself.

Draco

With that, he sent the white owl on its way and focused his attention on a small owl that he had come quite familiar with. His friend, if you could call this mysterious girl his friend, had written him.

Dear you, (you really need a more elaborate name)

Bee still won't write her owl pal. She doesn't even open the letters from him anymore; she just throws them in the fire as soon as they arrive. I kind of feel sorry for the boy, but it's really quite comical.

(Just for conversation purposes) What type of girl are you interested in? Do you have a preferred look? I always think people are too stereotypical, and much more people could be happy if everyone disregarded looks, but I guess that's just how the world is, and always will be most likely.

Okay well, Bee is driving me crazy to go to breakfast, so I'm going to run. Well not literally, but you get what I mean, right?

Hope to hear from you soon,

Strawberry

Thought of the Day – Is the glass half empty or half full? Or is it just that the glass is twice as large as it needs to be?

Draco chuckled a bit. He had grown accustomed to the daily thinkers that the mysterious 'Strawberry' sent his way, and he nearly always had an answer.

Draco folded the note and put it in his uniform pocket, deciding to write her back during Transfiguration, his second class of the day, which was Wednesday.

Slowly he trudged down the stairs, where a tall tan boy with dark hair and piercing green eyes was waiting for him by the couch.

"Morning Malfoy," the boy greeted with a grin.

Draco grunted, "Zabini."

The two boys were as close to friends as it got in the Slytherin house, and both knew that if one were in trouble, they could count on the other for support.

"You really aren't a morning person are you?" Blaise teased as they exited the Slytherin Common Room.

"You know as well as any other," Draco responded tiredly, and rubbed his eyes.

Blaise chuckled and looked around at a pair of Gryffindor girls as they passed. They weren't girls he had seen before – or so he thought. Walking past him with smiles on their faces as they shared a joke, was the infamous Ginny Weasley and her best friend Mindy Reed.

Ginny, despite her good looks, was not the one who caught this sixth year Slytherin's eye. It was her friend, Mindy. Her looks intrigued him; the way her dark hair swished when she moved and the way her teal eyes shined in the light, showing specks of silver in the light.

"Hey Draco," Blaise elbowed Draco's side lightly, "Who's that?"

Draco followed Blaise's gaze and a look of distaste spread across his face, "Weasley?"

"No, not her, the other one. Her friend," Blaise tossed his head to keep his black hair from his eyes.

"The mudblood? Please, Blaise, you can do better than that," Draco sneered.

"She's beautiful," Blaise said, somewhat distantly, "What's her name?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Her last name is Reed. I think her first name is Mandy or something."

"You think she'd come if I asked her to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Blaise asked, gaining eye contact with his friend.

Draco looked disgusted, but said nothing and kept walking.

Blaise hurried to catch up, "Aww, Draco, come on. Lighten up a little, it was just a thought."

"Then you aren't going to?" Draco asked.

"No, of course not," Blaise replied a little uneasily.

There was a silence, and Blaise spoke up once more, "Would you be mad?"

Draco rolled his eyes again, "God Zabini, you are hopeless."

O+O+O+O+O+O

During the middle of a particularly boring speech from Professor Binns, Ginny's mood was lightened by a silver owl flying toward her, holding a roll of parchment, tainted with scribbles of black ink.

Without hesitation she ripped the letter open, setting in her lap to read.

S –

Hmm, I'm starting to like this friend of yours. Maybe I should take a lesson from her and start throwing your letters in the fire when they get here… I can tell you it would save me a LOT of time that I waste writing to you.

Uh huh, sure it's not for your personal interest. You know you want me.

Anyway, I like a girl that stands firm and has a backbone, unlike all these boneheads that wear so much make-up it gets to their brains. I guess I like a sensible girl that won't let others control her, but she can't be too stubborn. She'd have to be able to multi-task and make conversation (don't get any ideas). As for looks, I don't want to date a fat cow, but I wouldn't want to date a pole either. Someone in the middle, that's good looking but not obsessed with looks.

Wait, wait, wait, why am I telling you this? I'm going to go with the excuse that I'm bored of listening to Professor McGonagall going on about turning our books into tropical birds. Anyway, I answered, so now you answer. What's your ideal guy? Looks? It's only fair if you answer.

Okay, as for your thought of the day, it's possible that the glass is both half empty and half full, it just changes depending on your mood. For instance, if I received a howler from my mother in the middle of the Great Hall, I would say the glass is half empty. On the other hand, if I won the World Quidditch match for my team, the glass would be half full. And as for the glass being twice the size it should be: the glass is never to large or too small, it is always the right size, you just have to know what to do with it and how to make it right; how to fill it up.

I think I've written enough.

To the box,

Or your pocket.

Bye.

Ginny, unaware that she was still in class, began to laugh out loud.

"Miss Weasley," an old, tired voice droned, "Do you think it's funny that the giants raided the witch and wizard towns in the 1600's?"

Her head snapped up. Mental note: do not read notes from owl-pal in class, she thought to herself, stifling a grin.

"N-no sir," she responded. "Sorry, professor."

Mindy gave me a questioning looked.

"I'll tell you later," Ginny mouthed. She nodded and giggled, returning her eyes to her History of Magic book.

(Later that day)

(Back to Draco and Blaise)

"Hey Draco," Blaise said, after classes that day, "Wait for me a second. I'm going to talk to her now."

Draco sighed, "Make it fast, Zabini. I don't have time to wait for you to fawn over lowly Gryffindor scum."

Blaise didn't let Draco's words bother him, he just smirked and walked casually toward the dark-headed Gryffindor.

He muttered a small spell under his breath, causing her bag to break and all of her books to fall out. He quickly shoved his wand in his pocket and bent to help her, "Bag break?"

Mindy looked up at him with an eyebrow raised, "It looks that way, doesn't it?"

Blaise just smiled and picked up the rest of her books, and handed them to her, avoiding eye contact with the odd looks he was receiving from Ginny, "Here you go."

Mindy took her books awkwardly and muttered a thanks.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then," he said casually.

"Um… right," Mindy said weirdly, "Bye."

Blaise watched as the two girls turned their backs to him and began to walk away, whispering heatedly. Ginny looked back at him and quickly snapped her head forward upon reaching his gaze.

o.O.o.O.o

"Why would Zabini help me?" Mindy wondered aloud, muttering a reparation spell on her bag.

"I think he's up to something. Probably has something to do with Malfoy. I saw him watching from behind," Ginny told her as they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Exploding Snaps."

"You never know with those damn Slytherins."

"Nope, you never know," Ginny agreed quickly, taking a seat by the fire, ready to relax. She decided to write her owl pal before she got ready to do her homework.

D – (I'm going to call you D for dragon, just to make things easier)

Ha-ha, nice try. You can't escape me that easily, buddy! Besides, if you threw my letters in the fire, who would listen to me talk nonsense, eh?

I like your opinions on your 'girl', it's better than I can say about a lot of people. Oh, must I answer? I guess if I have to I will.

My ideal guy is someone who's manly and tough, but has a sensitive side and can talk to me about stuff. I want someone who values my opinion but also gives input, and doesn't always let me win. I want someone honest and loyal; someone that will love me and not care about what I wear, or whether I look goofy. The guy would have to have a sense of humor, but have the ability to be serious when needed.

As for looks, he's got to have pretty eyes. I don't know what is with my obsession with eyes, but I love a guy with gorgeous eyes. I would like someone good looking, but apart from the eyes, there's no musts.

Wow, I definitely did not expect that response from you on the thought of the day. It was nice, and very thought-provoking too. You seem intelligent enough.

Well, I have homework and Bee wants to talk.

Hope to hear from you soon,

- S

o.O.o.O.o

Even though this was updated or whatever, I'm going to leave the review things here.

ShadowOnTheMoon – Aww thanks so much XD There's your new chapter and thanks, I hope I'm keeping up to your expectations! I'll try and keep ya posted!

moony's number 1 – Ohh! I'll be sure to check out your story when it comes out. Let me know! Thanks so much for the review, and we'll see if the kitten has a part later on, hehe. And I took your advice about the Draco's POV thing, there it is. Yay! Thanks again XD

MaybeIShouldQuit – Thanks XD I'm trying not to make things go too fast, as I have heard that I do that. Let me know if I do! Thanks for the review XD

ExtremeDancer – Now you know what the note said! Hope you like this chapter, feel free to let me know what you think! Thanks for the review! XD

Pennies from Heaven – Hehe I'll try not to be so hard on myself… Thanks so much! I hope I'm still keeping you interested in all of it XD Thanks so much for the review, and I'm sorry I don't have a response to fit the length of your review. Thanks again!

Franke "Thui" Black – Nothing long for you.. I already thanked you in person. Thanks, talk to you later.

Thanks for reviewing, all of you!