Chapter 9

Hermione took a seat next to Keely fifteen minutes later and asked, "How's the essay going?"

Keely turned her head toward her best friend without really seeing her. "Huh?"

Hermione became anxious. Keely was never one to be short of words. "Are you alright, Keels?" she asked as she placed her hand on Keely's forehead. It was clammy. "Keely! What happened?!"

"Uh. . . I think I have a problem, My."

"Are you feeling okay? Do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey?"

Keely shook her head.

Hermione grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook her roughly. "What is the matter?!"

"Well, uh. . . I think the serpent just offered me some forbidden fruit," she said quietly.

Hermione had to lean close to hear her. Hermione put a hand to her mouth and whipped her head around to the Slytherin table. Draco was fixing her with a disgusted glare and she quickly turned back to her friend and sighed. "What did he do?"

"Well, I asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted me. Not in so many words, but that was the gist of it."

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and frowned concernedly at Keely. "I know you said that you liked him. But I don't think I'd be a very good friend if I didn't offer you a word of warning." She looked over her shoulder again to look at Draco. He was talking animatedly with Crabbe and Goyle. She sighed and faced Keely, shaking her head slowly. "Please be careful, Keels. I love you, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"What's going to hurt you, Love?" asked Fred, sitting down on the bench next to Keely.

Keely jumped slightly. She hadn't noticed Fred and George approach. "Oh, er. . . Hermione and I were just talking about quidditch," she invented.

Fred brightened. "Surely you aren't going to try out for the team? Are you any good? We do need a new keeper. I could put in a good word to Angelina for you. . ."

"Fred!" Keely nearly had to shout to interrupt his rambling. He stopped talking and looked at her intently. "I don't think I'm going to try out. Hermione talked some sense into me. It was an errant suggestion, really. I'd end up falling off my broom and hurting myself. That's what My was telling me. I'm much better use in the stands."

Fred frowned. "Well, I think you'd be brilliant on a broom. And if you needed extra help, I'd be happy to give you private lessons." He winked at her.

Keely laughed, she pushed Draco to the back, well, more like the middle, of her mind. She placed her hand on Fred's face and gave him a slight shove. "Oh, go on, you! I don't know why, but I get the feeling that you don't really want to teach me quidditch." She put an arm around Fred and gave him a friendly squeeze.

He returned the gesture, but let his arm linger. Keely didn't even think to shake it off. She had sat with Fred in exactly this manner, many times before. She loved Fred like a brother, and she did her best to make that clear to him. He had asked her out countless times and she told him flat out that she didn't have any romantic feelings for him, whatsoever. If he wanted to torture himself, so be it.

Harry and Ron took a seat opposite Keely, Fred, George and Hermione.

"What's with Malfoy?" asked Harry, amused. "He looked like he was about ready to have kittens when we came in."

Keely squirmed. Fred's arm suddenly felt extremely heavy. If she wanted to take Malfoy up on his offer, she would need to be careful. Her friends would never accept him. Hermione would try, but the Weasleys and Harry never would.

Fred grabbed Keely's copy of the Hogwarts Herald and began flipping through the pages, reading only the headlines. "I still can't believe that you didn't get on."

Keely shrugged nonchalantly.

He stopped at the advice column and read through it. "Who do you reckon this Honey is?"

Another shrug from Keely. She kept her face downcast, pretending to be interested in her soggy Cheerios, so her eyes wouldn't give her away.

Hermione saved her from having to answer. "I don't have any idea. She gives good advice though. Don't you think?"

Keely shot a sidelong glance at Hermione and smiled slyly.

"Yeah, not bad," consented Fred. He seemed to be mulling something over.

Keely glanced at her watch. Care of Magical Creatures started in twenty minutes. "Are you guys ready to go?" she asked to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Hermione pushed her half-finished breakfast away and stood up. She took one more sip of her pumpkin juice and grabbed her bag. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I wonder what monster Hagrid will be showing us today," she mused with a shudder.

"Are you coming?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron.

"You two go on. We'll catch up."

Halfway down to Hagrid's hut, someone shoved hard into Keely's shoulder as they passed, causing her to drop her bag. "Ouch!" She rubbed her shoulder and stared after the culprit. He was flanked by his goons and he didn't even look to see if she was okay. What was his problem?! She bent to retrieve her bag and stood up.

Hermione stared after him curiously. "I wonder what his problem is." She picked up a book that had fallen from Keely's bag and handed it to her.

Draco was horrible to Keely all through class, more so even than the last four years combined. By the time the class had ended Keely was near tears. She was so confused. She could have sworn that he liked her. He had more or less told her just that. Was it jealousy? Did he see Fred's arm draped around her and think that he was too late? 'What's with Malfoy? He looked like he was about ready to have kittens.'

Keely was sure that Draco had seen Fred with his arm around her. She hung her head in thought as she and her three friends made their way back up to the castle and their next lesson.

Harry bumped shoulders with her lightly, to claim her attention. Hermione and Ron were several paces ahead, their heads bowed in conversation. "A knut for your thoughts?" he asked kindly. "You're being awfully quiet."

Keely looked up at him, her eyes were dark blue-violet, and she smiled feebly. "M'alright," she mumbled.

"You can't lie to me, your eyes are giving you away. Perhaps others don't notice, but I do. They change color with your mood. And right now they're so dark, it looks like someone just killed your kneazle."

She just shook her head and returned to watching her feet. If she opened her mouth to answer, she would probably start crying. As long as she didn't look at anyone and she kept her mouth shut, she would be able to keep the tears at bay.

Besides that, how could she tell Harry that Malfoy had hurt her feelings? Malfoy had been teasing her and being horrible to she and her friends ever since their first year and she had never let it bother her before. And there was absolutely no way that she was going to admit her feelings for Draco to Harry.

Harry realized that Keely wasn't ready to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her and wrapped an arm around her, letting her know that she had a friend on whom she could lean. She laid her head against his shoulder and they continued up to the castle in communal silence. A single tear rolled unbidden down her satiny cheek.

-:-|-:-

By the end of the day, Keely was in a relatively better mood, although her appetite had been almost nonexistent all day and she had taken only a few bites at both lunch and dinner. She sat cross-legged on her bed with Hermione, playing a Muggle card game by dim wand light. Lavender and Parvati were in bed, asleep, so conversation was limited. They played mostly in silence until Keely's stomach loudly protested the lack of food it had received that day.

Hermione giggled softly. "I told you. You should have eaten something at dinner."

"Yeah, I know, but I really wasn't all that hungry." She looked at her cards before deciding on the one to play. "Maybe I'll sneak down to the kitchens and grab a bite of something."

"Are you crazy? It's nearly 11:00. If you get caught, you'll get detention for sure!"

"Then I'll just have to not get caught. I'm starving, My. I'll be right back," she whispered.

She had been to the kitchens several times with the twins, so she knew her way easily. She walked cautiously. Stopping at each corner to peer around and make sure the way was clear.

She jumped and let out a little scream when there was a sudden tap on her shoulder.

"Well, well, well. Look who is clearly breaking the rules. I'm going to have to give you a detention for being out past curfew, Chambers."

Her heart skipped a beat, then began fluttering so quickly she was sure she was going to pass out. She turned around to face her captor. His wand was illuminating his face and casting shadows in the most flattering way. She was entranced. She couldn't speak and she could barely breathe. She swallowed a lump that had lodged itself in her throat.

His actions toward her throughout the day came to the forefront of her mind and her face hardened. "Leave me alone, Malfoy!" she spat and tried to move past him.

He stepped to the side to block her way without touching her. "Not so fast. Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business. Why are you out of bed?"

"I'm looking for rule-breakers, obviously. The Slytherins are on patrol duty tonight. My shift will be ending in another few minutes, and I was afraid that I wasn't going to catch anyone. But it looks as if luck is on my side, after all."

Keely tried to side step him again and moved closer to the wall. His arm shot out, hitting the wall and blocking her progress.

She pulled her wand out from under her dressing gown and pointed it at him. "Outta my way, Malfoy!"

His face hardened. "Or what? Are you going to go and tattle to your little boyfriend?"

Keely shook her head in shock. "What? What are you talking about?" 'So it was jealousy over Fred.' "Are you talking about Fred?"

He gave her one curt nod. And she burst out laughing. That seemed to infuriate Draco further and his face flushed.

"Fred's not my boyfriend, Malfoy. Not that it's any of your business who I date, but Fred and I are just friends. I've told him many times that I'd never have feelings other than friendship for him."

His scowl evaporated immediately and was replaced with a new determination. He placed his other hand on the wall, trapping Keely between them.

Keely was frozen. She could do nothing but stare at the face that was coming closer to hers by the second. He whispered, "I'm making it my business who you date," before claiming her lips with his.

The world stood still, or perhaps it had dropped out from beneath her feet. She couldn't think. Her wand fell from her slack grip. She didn't bother picking it up. Her hands snaked around his neck and she held him to her as though he were a life preserver and she was in danger of drowning.

He broke the kiss after what seemed like an eternity and retrieved her wand for her. He put his lips to her ear and said softly, "If I ever catch Weasley touching you again, I'll curse his arm off." He kissed the tip of her nose and said, "I'll let you know when and what your detention will be as soon as I talk to Snape about it." He straightened and ran the back of his middle finger along her cheek bone and walked away.