Thanks to Sanguiyn my wonderful beta, who not only saves me from grammatical errors, but also dresses as a super hero when she does it.

Disclaimer:

Loosely based on '10 Things I hate about you', which was based on Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'.

Gilmore Girls quote alert in this chapter too. ;-)

You all know that I don't own the Harry Potter characters (JKR does). But if I did, something like this would happen to them...

"So Lavender definitely thinks she saw Madam Pince hugging Filch outside the--" Ron started to say, but was distracted when something caught his eye. "Oooh the house-elves made cupcakes for dessert, be a pal and pass me a chocolate one, would you, Harry?"

"It's hard to believe that either one of them is capable of any human emotion whatsoever especially… love," Harry replied, as he reached for a chocolate cupcake to pass to Ron.

"No, wait!" Ron stopped him. "Hand me a blueberry one instead."

Harry rolled his eyes amusedly before handing the cupcake to Ron, who took it gratefully.

"People can evolve together though, don't you think--" Ron began, going to take a bite out of his cupcake. "Actually I think I'll have the chocolate one after all."

"Yoko and John Lennon did. They just got closer and--" Harry agreed, reaching for the chocolate cupcake for the second time, only to be interrupted by Ron again.

"Actually never mind, I'll just stick with the blueberry."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Yes."

"Going to change your mind again?"

"No…" Ron said firmly, still eying the plate of cupcakes out of the corner of his eye. "…though the strawberry one does look quite tasty."

"Ron, if you don't make up your mind soon, I'm going to shove that blueberry cupcake somewhere dark; somewhere where it will make it impossible for you to walk," Harry threatened. "Why don't you just eat all three?"

Ron looked anxiously over to Hermione, who shook her head resignedly. "Fine, Ron, eat all three! They're your arteries, not mine!"

Ron smiled widely as he piled the cupcakes onto his plate. They vanished within seconds, as he ate them eagerly, finishing his last bite with a small burp.

"Er… cupcake," Harry pointed to Ron's face, referring to a blob of chocolate icing that Ron had unsurprisingly gotten on his chin, before returning to their previous discussion. "As I was saying, Yoko and John Lennon evolved together. They just got closer and closer as the years went by. And at the end, they had the same face."

"Who's Yokel and Joe Linen? Hey, imagine what it would look like if you combined Filch's face with Madam P--" Ron stopped suddenly and gaped worriedly at Harry. "Wait a minute. Did you just call me Cupcake?"

"What? No!" Harry explained hastily. "I was pointing out the bit of icing that you have on your chin."

"Oh," Ron sighed in relief, rubbing his chin with a napkin. "Thank Merlin. For a minute there I thought that you had said the first nickname in the history of the world that would've made Gilderoy Lockhart say, 'Whoa. Step back. No one's i that /i gay'."

"No, Ron," Harry said, laughing. "I would never call you Cupcake, seeing as it appears to bother you so much."

"You can call me Cupcake if you like." Harry heard the unmistakable drawl of Draco Malfoy behind him. "I wouldn't mind it."

Harry whipped around, and sure enough Malfoy was standing by the Gryffindor table, his customary smirk replaced by a charming, flirtatious smile. Harry noticed the strange change in his facial expression, and for all the hatred that had once clogged his veins and weighed his feet over the past six years, he realised that he didn't despise Malfoy anymore. This unnerved Harry to no end, and all he could do under Malfoy's intense gaze, was turn a very deep shade of red.

"Finnigan," Draco continued coolly, turning to Seamus and handing him a folded piece of parchment, "Blaise asked me to give you this."

"Thanks," Seamus replied, failing to hide the excitement in his voice.

"No problem," Draco replied, turning back to Harry and winking before strutting back to the Slytherin table. "See you around, Cupcake."

center /center

The stairway leading up to the Astronomy Tower was dismal with faded, murky paint peeling off its walls to reveal another grey layer of nothingness underneath. As Harry approached the gloomy tower, a strange feeling crept over him. As he came closer to the old, wooden door, he stiffened. The dark walls of the stairway made his heart feel heavy as he and Seamus slowly walked up the dusty staircase, floorboards creaking underneath their feet. Somehow he felt nervous. Was something waiting for him in the tower?

"Seamus, why are you taking me up here?" Harry asked, his voice echoing eerily around them.

"I-I want to talk to you," Seamus floundered. He really wasn't good at lying. He was a Gryffindor after all; he wore his heart on his sleeve.

"But we can talk in the common room," Harry reasoned, gazing apprehensively up at the wooden door that loomed menacingly above them.

"Well, I didn't want anyone to overhear us," Seamus explained, stumbling slightly on the stairs due to the hungry desire that coursed through his veins at the thought of seeing Blaise again. He caught his breath and steadied his footing. "I want to talk to you privately."

"About what?" Harry questioned as they arrived at the top of the staircase, which was damp with age. He stared intensely at the door, his eyes trying to penetrate its moistened wood, in order to see what was inevitably concealed behind it.

"About how many chocolate frogs I'm going to buy you for doing this for me," Seamus replied, fumbling slightly with the doorknob before pushing the door open.

The hinges of the door creaked as it swung open and a gust of wind blew over their faces. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck started to stand up. He didn't know whether to go forward or run away.

Summoning the courage to enter the tower, he felt fear run through his veins. The cold air of the tower made him feel unsafe. The darkness of the room was impenetrable and he stood still, waiting for his eyes to adjust.

"Doing wh--" Terror seeped through Harry's veins. As he finally saw what lay ahead of him, he started to panic. He didn't want to be in this dreadful place; he wanted to be back in his dormitory where he could be safe.

BANG! The door slammed shut behind him. To his horror, Seamus was gone. Then he realised that he was in the same predicament that he had been the night before. He was stuck with Draco Malfoy.