Hey guys. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope Santa was good to you! I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to upload. I recently tore my ACL and have had to have surgery and do physical therapy and all that crap. So I will really try harder. Thanks for being patient with me!

Chapter 6 The Games of a Slytherin

I was very freaked out about what happened with Malfoy the night of our detention. Any mature person would either confront him or let it go, but this is me we're talking about and I am definitely not mature. So, I did what I thought was mature, I avoided him. Every time he would round a corner and be in my view I would run. If he would look at me, I would look anywhere but him. If he tried to talk to me, I would ignore him. Let's just say, not my best plan.

I was sitting at the Gryffindor table one evening watching the November snow hit the roof when Anthony almost made me jump out of my skin.

"Draco Malfoy is staring at you," he whispered in my ear.

"He's probably trying to do that thing were you kill someone with your mind," I said as my stomach did a flip.

"I don't think so," he whispered back. "He looks almost…sad."

I didn't even glance at Malfoy. I was tired of his constant staring and trying to confront me. "I have to go." I got up stiffly and marched off, leaving Anthony sitting there dumbfounded.

I didn't even think, my legs just carried me straight the Astronomy Tower. I sat down on the ledge with my feet hanging over the side. I sat there shocked at myself because I felt like I was going to cry. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? I never cry.

I heard the door bang open and jumped a foot in the air. "What is wrong with you?"said a voice from behind me. I guess I was expecting him to follow me, but I was really hoping he wouldn't.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said quietly, not turning to look at him.

"You know exactly what that means," he sounded angry. Very angry. "Why are acting so weird?"

And then, I lost it. He was the one who was acting weird. "I'm acting weird. You're the one that's acting weird. You can't just act like my friend when no one's around and then hate me when people see us!" I stood up and got right in his face. "It's like you have two personalities. Pick one!" I stormed pass him and out the door. I was so mad, I was sure steam was coming out of my ears. He couldn't just act like that. I was not just going to let him walk all over me.

I marched up to the portrait and almost shouted the password at the Fat Lady. "What's got you all in a twist?" She asked grumpily. "You don't want to know," I mumbled as I crawled through the portrait hole. Fred and George were in a corner with their heads bent together. I huffily pulled a chair up to the table and sat down, folding my arms and pouting like a child.

"What happened to you?" Fred asked, giving me a smirk. "I saw you storm out of the Great Hall and then you just disappeared. Where'd you go?"

"Astronomy Tower," I snapped.

"Oh," they said in unison. They knew it wasn't good when I went up there. I was either very sad or very pissed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" George asked tentatively.

"No!" I snapped. Then I sighed and before I knew it I was blurting out random crap. "It's just, if people act like they're your friend when no one is around and hate you when people are around, then they don't really deserve to be your friend at all, right?"

"You've lost me," Fred said slowly. But George looked me in the eye and held my gaze. "What's going on, Jade? You can tell us."

"No…no. I'm fine. I just, I really hate people sometimes," I sighed. Fred and George started to laugh and then I started to laugh and then before we knew it we were howling with laughter with tears rolling down our faces. They both gave me a hug and told me they were my best friends. I didn't need them to tell me that, I knew it would always be true.

I woke up the next morning freezing my butt off. I ran to the window to see beautiful snowflakes hitting the window. I jumped into my warmest clothes and snow boots and ran into the boy's dormitory. I began to shake Fred and George frantically as if the world was ending. They grumbled something about how it was so early and I was being so annoying.

Of course, when I screamed at them that it was snowing, they jumped right up and started pulling on their snow clothes. They didn't seem to care that I was standing right there, but I guess that's how it is when you're best friends. We ran out of the common room and out the doors of the castle. We ran down through the fresh snow, leaving our tracks through the fresh snow all the way down to the lake. We fell on the ground rolling around in the snow like we were five. Then things got very immature when Fred suggested we build a snowman. It was really fun until we started getting pelted with snow balls.

We looked around, confused. Of course our questions were answered when we heard Pansy Parkinson squawking her horrible laugh as Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise pelted us with snow balls. So I guess he did choose who he wanted to be.

"Is this what you do for entertainment? I guess I should have expected something like this from blood traitors like you!" Malfoy yelled.

"Better to be a blood traitor then a coward, hmm?" I shot back. He glared and threw another snowball at me. It hit me square in the face with a very unsatisfying shhh. Then, I got pissed, which of course made me do something stupid. I pulled out my wand and shot a hex at him. It hit him right in the chest and he shot backwards. All his friends rushed towards him to see if he was okay.

"Time to go!" I said, turning to Fred and George.

"Not so fast Miss Pennington," came a stern voice from behind me. I spun around to see Professor McGonagall giving me a serious look. "Come with me." I followed obediently, my stomach turning. She led me back into the school and down a corridor.

"Um, Professor, where are we going?" I asked tentatively.

"To see Professor Dumbledor," she replied shortly. I was in trouble.

The walk to the Headmaster's office was long and agonizing. I knew I was in some serious trouble, but I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen to me. When we finally reached the staircase I realized I probably could have guessed the password based on how many times I'd been here. When McGonagall told the gargoyle lemon drop, I had to hold back a laugh because that had been my second choice. We stood on the spinning staircase until we reached the huge oak door to the Headmaster's office which she banged loudly on.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's soft voice, and in we went. "Ah, Professor, how may I help you?"

"Professor Dumbledore, Miss Pennington was just outside hexing Mr. Malfoy," she said, pushing me forward.

"Oh, dear," said Dumbledore. "Well, I suppose I should talk to her about that problem she seems to have."

"Yes, I think that would be good ." She turned on her heels and walked out.

"Well, Miss Pennington, take your usual seat and please, make yourself comfortable," he said, gesturing to the seat that should have my name on it.

I sighed and sat down, biting a fingernail.

"Well, it seems this has been the main reason I see you so often," said Professor Dumbledore, a smile on his face. I grunted in agreement. "Well, why don't you tell me what happened."

"Oh, the usual," I said. "He made a snide remark, I hexed him, now I'm in trouble." He smiled knowingly.

"Well, that does sound about right. You will have detention with Mr. Filch tomorrow night and please, try not to hex anyone anymore."

"Now Professor, you know there is no use saying that." I said. He smiled and waved me away.

I nodded and got up. I shouldn't have even been worried. Professor Dumbleoder wouldn't give me too bad a punishment. I walked out, heading back to my common room. It was already dark outside and I really just wanted to go to bed. But of course, that just couldn't happen.

I turned a corner and a hand grabbed me, pulling me behind a suite of armor. I looked up to find Malfoy's grey eyes inches from mine. I really hoped this was not going to become a habit.

"What are you doing?" I hissed angrily. "Let go!" Of course, he didn't.

"You are going to be so sorry you did that!"

"Really, cuz I feel very satisfied." We glared at each other for a minute before I ripped my arm from his grasp. "Just stay away from me!" You could hear the venom in my voice. I walked away, my footsteps echoing through the corridor.

Thanks for reading my story. I will try to have the next chapter up tomorrow or the day after. Happy New Year! :)

Love, Audrey