Tessa somehow managed to finish out the week of her first classes without getting into any more fights. She was so relieved when Friday came around not only because she would be heading out tomorrow with her Slytherin crew for her first trip to Hogsmeade but also today she would get to attempt to make her first ever portal with Professor Lupin.
Tessa sat impatiently through her first few classes. In potions Tessa and Luna made progress on their Draught of Peace. It was now a proper lilac color instead of the murky brown it had turned after Tessa accidently dropped a few porcupine quills into the mix. Luna didn't mind and Snape was more than willing to give them a few pointers to get them back to a good place with their potion. In Defense against the Dark Arts they had started reading chapter five which Tessa couldn't focus on. Instead she doodled on the margins of the book and tried not to fall asleep while Draco on the other hand was drawing insulting pictures of the Gryffindors with his goons. When they were finished they would ball them up and throw them at the Gryffindors to provoke a reaction out of them and had managed to make Harry so mad that he disrupted class and received yet another Detention with Professor Umbridge. And in Transfiguration Tessa was doing really well. Ever since Draco had started tutoring she had begun flying through the class. Professor McGonagall was so impressed with her improvement that she even awarded Slytherin a few extra house points to Draco for doing such an amazing job tutoring her.
When the bell rang Tessa basically ran for the door. She was the first to leave class which didn't bother her because she was planning on eating as quickly as she could and then heading down to the library early to meet up with Lupin. As she approached the great hall though, Tessa noticed a certain bushy haired Gryffindor stood waiting impatiently tapping her foot as she looked over the students that were filing into the great hall. When Hermione's eyes landed on Tessa's she quickly rushed to her side.
"There you are! I was beginning to think maybe you were skipping lunch for another lesson with Malfoy." Hermione confessed to her as she nervously twisted her fingers together.
"No not today. But I was planning on leaving early to go meet up with Professor Lupin to get started on our lesson as soon as possible." Tessa confessed to her as she turned her eyes over towards the Slytherin table to see if anyone had shown up yet.
"Great! Um listen I was wondering if I might catch a word with you in private it's very important?" Hermione asked her suddenly in a very serious tone.
"Five minutes that's all you get. I really have to get to the library as soon as possible" Tessa answered her as they took off.
Hermione led her to a large fruit painting down the hallway that was close to the Hufflepuff common room. Hermione leaned forward and tickled the painting and Tessa watched in wonder as the portrait swung forward and she motioned for her to go in. Tessa climbed down a few steps and looked into a room that looked like a giant kitchen and in the corner was a small wooden table and at the table Harry and Ron sat huddled whispering hoarsely about something.
Ron noticed Tessa first while Harry kept talking not realizing she was there because his back was to her.
"And how do I go about telling her that exactly? Hey Tessa what's up just so you know the order said your father has sent a spy to Hogwarts to spy on you, no big deal? It's Malfoy it has to be and he already has her wrapped around his greasy little finger. She actually thinks he cares for her can you believe that?" Harry growled as he slammed his drink down on the table.
Tessa watched as Ron's face slowly flushed. She slowly crossed her arms over her chest and felt an anger rise up in her chest. Hermione suddenly cleared her throat and Harry liked to jump ten feet in the air.
"How long have you been standing there?" Harry asked suddenly as his face turned red.
Tessa shoot him a dark glare before turning on her heel and marching out of the portrait.
"Tessa wait!" she heard Harry call from behind her but she didn't stop.
Tessa had just walked out of the castle when someone tugged at her arm. Tessa spun around narrowed her eyes.
"Tessa please you have to listen to me." Harry pleaded.
"Get your hands off of me Potter." She hissed as she yanked her arm out of his grip.
"Alright fine. Look I'm sorry but what am I supposed to think?" Harry exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air.
"I don't give a damn what you think Harry! I'm pretty sure I've made that abundantly clear." She spat at him as her fingers twisted into fists.
"Tessa look I know you don't want to believe this but the letter said specifically that he has sent someone to the school to spy on you. Obviously they're going to be in Slytherin and it's going to be someone who can get close to you." Harry muttered to her in a lowered tone so no one would hear them.
"And that automatically means it Draco?" Tessa sneered as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Tessa think about it! He only tried to get your attention and to spend time with you after you told him about yourself. You don't think that's a bit suspicious?" Harry snapped back at her.
"No. I don't because he isn't like that! And he has been trying to get my attention long before he knew who my father was and don't even try and deny that! You were there the day I met him and I recall everyone being shocked because he was actually nice to me. Draco is not the person that you all make him out to be." Tessa defended Draco as she started to walk away from Harry.
"Tessa stop!" Harry called out as he followed close behind her.
"Potter didn't anyone ever tell you that stalking isn't cool." Blaise spat as he and a group of Slytherin boys strolled up beside her.
"Listen this is between me and Tessa." Harry warned them as he took a step closer to her.
"Like Hell it is Potter." Sneered a voice as Draco suddenly swaggered forward from the group of boys.
He stopped besides Tessa and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.
"Anything you need to say to my girlfriend you can say in front of me. That way I can determine if you are harassing her or not. And if you are I'm going to make you'd wish you'd never survived that curse." Draco threatened Harry as Ron and Hermione suddenly came to join the group.
"Girlfriend?" Ron muttered with confusion as he looked from Hermione back to Harry.
"That's right Weasley not that I'd expect you to know what that is when you can hardly speak to any girl without making a fool of yourself. Isn't that right Granger?" Draco teased with a slight smirk on his face.
"Go to Hell Malfoy!" Ron spat as he pulled his wand from his pocket and aimed it at Draco.
The Slytherin boys all at once pulled their wands from their pockets and aimed them at Ron.
"Stop it let them go." Tessa said as she reached out and pushed Draco's wand down.
"Come on." Hermione instructed the boys as she grabbed a hold of both of their robes and pushed them towards the door.
"This isn't over Malfoy!" Ron shouted back.
"Of course not but next time Tessa may not be there to save you." Adrian retorted.
"Hey Potter how does it feel to know she picked me over you?" Draco called out as Harry stopped in his tracks and turned around just as Draco leaned in and kissed Tessa roughly on the nape of her neck causing her to let out a soft moan while the other Slytherin boys snickered.
Harry marched down the steps with his wand drawn and was about to send a hex flying their way when an annoying voice rang out over the crowd.
"What is the meaning of this?" Professor Umbridge called out.
"Potter I should have known. How dare you attempt to hex your fellow students! You just can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble can you? No matter I will fix that. You are forbidden from going to hogsmeade this weekend." Professor Umbridge declared loudly for all to hear.
Harry flushed a deep red and shot an angry look at Draco who in turn pulled Tessa closer to him and gave Harry an evil smirk. Harry turned his eyes to Tessa they were full of sadness before he turned and marched up through the castle.
"Why did you do that?" Tessa hissed as she pushed against Draco trying to break free of his grip.
"Hey I got him to leave you alone didn't I?" he asked as Tessa turned her eyes back towards Harry but he was gone, "You should be thanking me really." Draco smirked as he pulled Tessa into him once more and stared into her eyes.
"Don't! I could have handled that myself." Tessa growled at him as she pulled out of his grip and started off towards the great hall.
"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure you looked as if you were planning on ripping him to pieces. Remember what Snape said if you get in anymore fights?" Draco called out to her as he followed close behind her.
Tessa stopped and turned around to face him.
"That doesn't mean you have to lie and say we are dating and then go after my neck like that in front of everyone." Tessa sneered at him.
"I'm sorry would you have rather I'd fight him for you because I'll do it. I'll do anything you want Tessa just say the word. You want me to tell everyone we're not dating fine I'll do it. TESSA AND I ARE NOT ACTUALLY DATING BUT I WISH WE WERE!" he yelled aloud as she noticed students stop in their tracks and start staring at him like he was crazy.
"There are you happy?" he asked as Tessa felt a small smile form on her lips.
Tessa flushed a very bright red as she noticed more and more students starring at them.
"What nothing to say now?" Draco teased her as he leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"Draco I'm just not ready for all this just yet." She confessed to him as she let the smile fade from her face.
"And that's perfectly fine. I'd wait for a lifetime for just a chance at getting to call you mine Tessa. However don't think that this will keep me from trying to win you over because it won't. If anything it'll just motivate me more." He confided in her as he moved in closer to her and leaned down and kissed her cheek softly before heading back outside.
Tessa lifted her hand to her cheek and exhaled deeply as she watched Draco disappear. She heard someone chuckle and noticed Blaise standing there watching her.
"Shut up Blaise!" she growled at him as he walked with her into the great hall to get some food.
"You're into him. I can tell." He teased her as she plopped down in an empty seat at the table and Blaise slid into the empty spot next to him.
"Shut it Blaise!" Tessa warned as she reached over the table and grabbed some food and tried to eat as quickly as she could.
"And who is our sweet little Tessa into exactly?" Adrian asked as he and Graham appeared at the table and sat down.
"Me, obviously." Graham replied as he winked at Tessa.
"He is talking about Malfoy who seems to be just as smitten with her as she is him." Eva hissed as she took a chomp out of her roll and glared at Tessa.
"Well then what are you waiting for then Tess? Go make your move!" Adrian encouraged her.
"He's absolutely head over heels for you. I've never seen him act like this for any other girl." Graham managed to make out in between chewing his food.
"Guys let's drop it okay." Blaise interjected as he turned his eyes to Tessa who had her eyes glued on her plate.
Tessa ate her lunch quickly and then took off for the library to start working with Lupin so she wouldn't have to endure anymore love life questions from her fellow Slytherins. All of them except for Eva were encouraging her to go out with Draco but Tessa just didn't want to hear it. When she arrived at the library Lupin was already there back in the restricted section. She noticed that he had cleared away their table and in the center of their small working space was a full length mirror that had been framed with black wood. The mirror looked ancient to say the least and at the top she noticed was her family crest.
"Hello Tessa." Lupin called to her in an excited voice.
"Hello Professor." She replied with an anxious smile on her face as she took her seat and threw her bag to the ground.
"I hope you are ready and prepared for what we are going to be doing today." Remus smiled at her.
"I am! I think I've read the introduction to portals about a million times from the journal since Snape gave it to me." Tessa confessed as she took a deep breath and looked towards the mirror.
"That's wonderful! Well then you should know that like all things this spell will take practice." Remus encouraged her.
"Yes I know. I read Mom's entry on her experience with learning the spell. She said it took her about a few weeks to master the spell." Tessa reassured him.
"Four Weeks to be exact." Remus informed Tessa.
"How do you know that?" Tessa asked him.
"I was there of course! Your mother and I were best friends for years before we started school at Hogwarts. I was devastated when she was sorted into Slytherin but she didn't allow that to change who she was. Your mother was a good person it's a shame she fell for your father's tricks." He admitted to her softly.
"Did he ever love her?" Tessa asked out of honest curiosity.
"I don't know Tes. I can tell you that your mother was crazy about him to a point where it blinded her of his ways. I tried to warn her when things started to get bad but he kept that side of him a secret from her. She had no idea until the night Harry's parents were killed. After that she took you and went into hiding to keep you safe. Your father knew about her gifts and your mother feared if he knew you were inheriting them he would take you and force you to use your powers for evil." Remus confided in her as he crossed the room and turned his eyes to the floor.
"That night when he murdered my mother he said he would never hurt me and that he wanted to bring me home to where I belonged. I want to believe that he truly means that deep down. That in his own way he does love me as his daughter but at the same time I want to hate him for everything he's done. For the pain he's caused everyone and for all the death he's brought upon all of us." Tessa cried out a single tear fell from her eye.
"I know that this isn't easy for you. Especially when everyone keeps comparing you to him and expecting you to fail but you are not your father Tessa. You're a good person and you bring out the good in others. I can honestly say when I was a teacher here Draco was horrible to everyone including his close friends but with you he's a completely different person. Harry will come around you just have to give him time." Remus smiled warmly at her as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
Tessa smiled back at him feeling a slight blush rise on her cheeks.
"Now then shall we give this a go?" Remus asked as he pulled away from her and motioned towards the mirror.
Tessa nodded and headed over towards the mirror with a determined look on her face. She raised her wand and waited for instructions from Remus. After several attempts and several hours later Tessa was no closer to casting the spell than her mother had been the first time she had attempted to make a portal. Tessa was exhausted and her arm ached from waving her wand ferociously in circles as she tried over and over to get the spell to work.
"Alright Tessa I think that's enough for today. We'll try again on Monday. You did beautifully today." Remus beamed at her as he helped her gather up her books and walked her out of the library.
As the approached the front of the library Tessa noticed Draco standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"Well enjoy your weekend Tessa and be careful. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do." Remus winked at her as she waved to him and called out.
"See you on Monday Remus!"
"Hey" Draco greeted her as she walked over to him and he offered her his arm.
"Hey" she smiled back as she took his arm and he led her out towards Care of Magical Creatures.
"Are you still mad at me?" he asked with a slight pout on his face as he let go of her arm.
"I don't know Malfoy are you willing to play nice?" Tessa teased him as she gave him a mischievous grin.
"Of course I am! And just to make sure you know that I mean it I'd like to invite you to our Qudditch Practice tomorrow night." Draco smiled smugly at her.
"Somehow I think you're only inviting me just to get me to do something to help you out again." She replied with a slight smirk.
"I'll have you know that is not my intentions at all however if you'd like to help referee the game tomorrow we are short a team mate." Draco confessed to her as he raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer.
"Alright fine I'll go. But no funny business sir!" she warned him as he beamed as they continued to walk together to Care of Magical Creatures.
As soon as they arrived Adrian and the other boys joined them as they took their seats on the logs farthest away from the teacher.
"So what did she say?" Adrian whispered hoarsely over to Draco.
"She said yes as long as there is no funny business." Draco replied with a smug smile on his face.
"Ah there's always a catch with these girls today!" Adrian teased as he winked at Tessa.
"Alright class today we are going to go over everyone's final drawing of the Bowtruckle. There are some very good drawings in this pile so I thought it would be nice to share them with all the other students as well as to make sure we are clear on what is what on the Bowtruckle before move onto the next part of our lessons. These drawings will be receiving a final grade and the best drawing will receive ten house points." Professor Grubby Plank informed them.
"Let us start with the Gryffindor drawings first." She informed them as she waved her wand and all the Gryffindor drawings shuffled out from the pile of papers that were sitting on the tree stump in front of the Professor.
In the end the students had narrowed it down to the top 3 drawings from Gryffindor. The drawings were by Hermione whose drawing was more accurately labeled than artistically good, Parvati Patil which was Tessa's favorite drawing of the batch and Neville Longbottom which was shocking in itself. Harry and Ron's drawings had been god awful and Tessa tried to hide her laughter as the Professor presented their pictures to the class. Of course the other Slytherins were not as nice about it and were making all kind of lovely remarks which made Ron's face turn the shade of a tomato.
"Right let's take a vote on the best Gryffindor drawing which will go up against the best Slytherin Drawing. I want you to raise your wand for the picture you like best as it floats above the others. Right then here we go." Professor Grubby Plank announced as slowly each drawing floated up and the students voted on them.
Parvati Patil ended up winning hands down which put Hermione off as she crossed her arms over her chest and started muttering to herself.
"Now let's get to the Slytherin drawings!" The Professor sang as she waved her wand and the Gryffindor photos were replaced with the Slytherin ones.
One by one the Professor went through the photos.
"This one here is by Crabbe." She called aloud as she had it float up above the others.
"WOOO" Blaise shouted.
"What a pile of rubbish." Draco snickered to Adrian.
"Obviously it would be much better if it were labeled correctly. Crabbe you will receive a passing credit for this er…interesting drawing but I must insist you pay attention to labels next time yes?" she called out as his drawing floated down and went back into the pile with the other not very well done drawings from Slytherin.
"The next work of art is from Tessa. " Tessa's face turned red and she ducked down as the boys started to hoot and holler telling her how great it looked.
"Not only is her drawing pretty spot on, it is labeled accurately and there in the corner she even added a fun fact for us that the Bowtruckle will bite if startled which Mr. Zabini learned all too well." The professor chuckled as Blaise shot a glare at Tessa.
"Tessa you have exceeded the expectations and your drawing is one of my top three." She smiled at her as she raised her wand and her pictured floated up next to another drawing that was done by one of Pansy's pugs.
When Blaise's picture went up Tessa screamed like a wild fan girl which embarrassed Blaise.
"What is that supposed to be?" muttered Adrian.
"Wow that's garbage!" Draco added with a snicker.
"Shut up!" Blaise growled at them.
"Blaise you will receive a passing grade only because your labels are correct but I'm not even sure what this drawing is supposed to be of." The professor finished.
"HA!" Graham burst out as the other Slytherin boys joined in.
"Finally we have Mr. Malfoy's drawing." The Professor said as Draco's drawing floated forward.
Tessa felt her jaw fall open and a shocked breath escape her lips. There in perfect detail was a beautiful drawing of Tessa holding the Bowtruckle in her hand. It was stunning and shocked almost everyone.
"You drew that? That's incredible man!" Adrian said as he patted Draco on the arm.
Draco smirked and then shyly looked over at Tessa for approval. Tessa felt her cheeks heat up as she looked over and her eyes met Draco's. They sat there staring at one another until the Professor finally interrupted the two of them.
"Draco you have gone over and beyond what I asked for this assignment. Everything is labeled correctly and this image is just beautiful. It is the best drawing I've ever seen in the many years I've taught this class." She confessed to him as his drawing went up with the other two top drawings.
In the end Draco ended up winning the best drawing and won Slytherin ten house points which made everyone ecstatic. At the end of the class the Professor sent everyone's drawings back to them with a wave of her wand. Tessa looked up confused when Draco's drawing also ended up her lap.
"Draco here, I somehow ended up with your drawing." Tessa smiled as she leaned over to hand him his drawing.
"No, keep it." He said suddenly as he pushed it gently back towards her.
"Draco, I can't. This is so beautiful. I just…" she started but Draco interrupted her.
"I wrote a note to the Professor and told her that I wanted you to have it." He shrugged to her as he gathered his things up and got to his feet.
Tessa slowly rose to her feet with the drawing in her hand.
"Thank you." She called to him softly, "This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"Well get used to it." He smirked at her before turning around and heading up the hill to go inside the castle.
"Oh I can just hear the wedding bells already!" Blaise teased as he batted his eyelashes at Tessa and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a big squeeze.
"Oh shut up Blaise!" She growled as she playfully smacked him.
The two of them walked back the common room together and she dropped her stuff off in her room. She then changed into some casual clothes since it was finally the weekend. She pulled on a short black shift dress with sheer bell sleeves. She pulled on a pair of black knee highs and her boots over that. She waved her wand and her hair came out of her tight braid and fell into loose curls. She touched up her make-up and then headed back down to the common room.
"There she is!" Adrian called as he jumped up from the couch and rushed to Tessa's side. "We were just discussing that we should storm the dining hall tonight fill up some plates and eat dinner out by lake. What do you think?"
"I think that sounds amazing!" she smiled as she waited for the group of boys to get up and walk with her to the great hall.
They all grabbed plates and filled them up and grabbed glasses and filled them to the brim and then headed out to the lake. All the Slytherins were already out there. Someone had enchanted floating lights around the edges of the lake that lit up the water and from somewhere music was playing. Some kids were dancing while others were eating and playing catch with a quaffle.
"Tessa over here!" Blaise called out to her from where the students were dancing.
"Here I'll take that." Graham beamed as he took her plate and goblet allowing her to go meet up with Blaise.
Just at that moment a song came on that Tessa recognized too well. It was by one of Tessa's favorite Muggle bands Garbage. Tessa made her way over to Blaise who also knew this was one of her favorite bands as they started to dance wildly to the song.
"What drives you on
Can drive you mad
A million lies to sell yourself
Is all you ever had
Don't believe in love
Don't believe in hate
Don't believe in anything "
Tessa and Blaise sang at the top of their lungs and then grabbed each other's arms and started spinning wildly around in a circle as the song ended they pulled each other close and started laughing hysterically. The song switched over to a slow song and Blaise wrapped his arms around Tessa and did a dramatic dip as the song kicked in.
"Mind if I cut in?" asked a sly voice as Tessa looked up to see Draco standing next to Blaise with a slight smile on his face. He had on a black button up shirt which showed off his arm muscles really good with dark colored jeans and pair of black boots. His hair was pushed off to the side and Tessa couldn't help getting lost in his eyes.
"Of course not." Blaise smiled wickedly as he handed Tessa over to Draco and he disappeared through the crowd.
Draco wrapped his arms around Tessa's waist and she placed her hands on his shoulders and they did a slight two step. Draco took Tessa's hand and spun her softly and then pulled her back into him. She smiled and leaned into him and placed her head on his chest as the song started to belt out.
"I'll be there till the stars don't shine
Till the heavens burst and
The words don't rhyme
And I know when I die, you'll be on my mind "
"What is it with Muggles and their sappy music?" Draco laughed slightly in her ear.
"This is Bon Jovi and he is a Sappy song King." Tessa confessed with a smile.
"Well it's disgusting." He chuckled as he spun her again.
"And here I thought you were a hopeless romantic." Tessa teased him as she spun back into him.
"Only for you." He answered as he stared into her eyes.
Tessa felt herself blush as the song ended and was replaced by her and Blaise's favorite dance song of all times Another Night by Real McCoy.
"TESSA THIS IS US!" shouted Blaise over the mass crowd of students because now it was more than just Slytherins.
"I'm sorry but this our song do you mind if we show off a bit right now?" she asked Draco as he shrugged and watched as her and Blaise broke out into a strange routine dance that was pumping with energy and a bit of swing dancing here and there. When the song ended a small group of students who had been watching started clapping.
Tessa and Blaise bowed and acted like total Divas. Tessa and Blaise made their way back over to Draco who was joined by Adrian, Graham, Crabbe and Goyle all of whom were clapping still.
"I did not know you could dance like that Blaise!" Winnie fake pouted as she wiggled her way over to them in a very tight cat suit.
"That's because you never asked me to dance before now. Shall we?" he said as he offered her his hand.
The boys started to play a game of catch while Tessa walked over and grabbed up a plate of food. She stood there watching and cheering them on while she nibbled on her pizza.
"Hey who wants to race?" Blaise called as he appeared from out of the crowd with his broomstick in hand.
"I'm in!" shouted Adrian as he took off running towards Blaise.
"Us too!" cried out Crabbe and Goyle.
Tessa looked to Draco who smiled at her and then motioned for her to come with him. She placed her plate down on the ground and then walked over to his side and followed to him to a large clearing next to the Qudditch pitch where boys from every house were lining up to race. The boys included Fred, George, Harry, Adrian, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, Graham, Zacharias Smith, Rodger Davies and a few other male students from various houses.
"Alright this race will include two laps around the school, across the lake, over the forest and back to this field right here." Seamus called out.
"What's the winner getting?" Fred called out.
"Money!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Food" another Goyle called out.
"WOMEN!" winked George as he shouted loudly.
"A KISS!" cried out Rodger Davies.
"A kiss from who?" asked Seamus.
"The winner gets to pick." Blaise offered.
"Hell yes!" Called out Adrian.
"I'm in!" Zacharias chimed in.
"Well then it is settled, winner will get a kiss from the girl of their choosing." Seamus announced.
"Is everybody ready?" Seamus asked.
"Wait I'm racing too!" said a voice and Tessa turned to see Draco shoot her a sly smile as he waved his wand and muttered a spell and his broom came soaring through the air.
Tessa sighed loudly and rolled her eyes at him.
Draco leaned over to her and whispered, "Don't worry you're my first and only choice if I win."
"I hate you." She muttered back to him.
"Oh you don't mean that. Can I get a good luck kiss?" he chuckled as she playfully punched him and watched him join the others in the lineup.
"Hope you're ready to be knocked off your feet Tessa!" George called out to her as he made a kissy face at her.
Tessa crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them. She looked over all the boys who looked so pleased to be racing for this cause. Harry locked eyes with her and she shot him a glare as if to say "Don't even think about it."
"This is going to be very ugly." Ron mumbled as he looked over the boys and stepped up besides Tessa.
"Tell me about it. I'm surprised you're not out there with them." Tessa confessed as she sent an evil look to Blaise who just smiled brightly.
"Ready, Set, GO!" Seamus shouted as the racers took off.
The boys took off in a hurry. Draco and Harry shot off for the lead with Fred and Blaise close on their heels.
Almost immediately Rodger Davies was shoved off his broom and fell into the lake.
"And here we go." Hermione seethed as she watched the boys as they started blasting spells at each other and slamming each other off their brooms.
Within Minutes only Draco, Harry, Fred, George, Graham and Adrian were left in the race. The students below were screaming and hollering and had started taking bets on who would win.
"Who do you want to kiss Tessa, Malfoy or Potter?" students kept asking her.
Tessa rolled her eyes and ignored them before following Ron and Hermione and sneaking off into the Qudditch Pitch to get a better view of the winner. They climbed to the top of the stadium and watched as the boys rocketed around the school. Adrian was neck and neck with George and as they went by the Gryffindor tower Fred zoomed out from nowhere and caused Adrian to fall off his broom and onto the Gryffindor balcony.
"Adrian is out." Seamus's voice rang out.
"Harry and Draco are at it." Ron cried out as he pointed at the two them who were slamming into each over top the lake.
Tessa felt her heart start pounding out of her chest as she watched the two boys fight. They we halfway over the lake when Draco slammed so hard into harry that he slipped from his broom. He managed to keep one hand holding onto the broom as Draco shot off towards the forbidden forest.
"Come on Harry!" Ron shouted.
Harry managed to swing his leg up and got his grip back on his broom and then shot off after Draco at an alarming speed.
"Oh my god they are going to kill each other!" Hermione exclaimed over the shouting and hooting and hollering.
Draco and Harry both had their wands out at this point and were shooting curses at each other left and right. The sky was lit up with spells as each boy raced for the finish line and dodged multiple spells. Harry suddenly shot a spell at Draco and the end of his broom caught on fire. Draco spun out of control as he muttered a counter spell to put the fire out and he slammed into Harry and knocked him off his broom. They both went tumbling towards the ground.
"OH MY GOD!" someone screamed but Tessa wasn't listening she turned around and took off running towards the forest where the boys had both fallen.
Hermione and Ron were hot on her trail as the three of them entered the forest looking for where the boys had fallen.
"Draco! Harry!" Tessa called out but got no response.
"Harry!" Ron cried out as he fell in step behind Tessa.
The three of them went further into the woods to the point where they could no longer see anything in front of them. Tessa held up her wand and as she did so the tip of it lit up so they could see. There was a rustling to the left.
"Draco?" Tessa called out.
"Harry?" Hermione asked.
Slowly Harry emerged from the bushes with his broomstick in hand. He was covered in filth and leaves but other than that looked to be in good shape.
"Draco!" Tessa called out as Ron and Hermione made their way over to Harry and Tessa continued on into the woods.
"Draco!" She called again.
"Tessa come on let's go get a teacher. It's not safe to look out here." Hermione informed her.
"I don't care. I'm not going to leave him out here." Tessa snapped at them, "He might be hurt."
"Alright Hermione, Ron you guys go get a teacher. I'll stay here with Tessa and help her look." Harry instructed them.
"No way. The woods are not safe for either of you." Hermione said as she pushed past Harry and help Tessa look for Draco.
Tessa looked to Harry and he just shrugged at her as they all continued on looking for Draco.
"Draco!" Tessa called.
"Tessa I'm really sorry about what happened the other day. About the things I said" Harry said suddenly.
"It's fine. I forgive you. Just help me find Draco." Tessa said as she blew him off and continued to look.
Harry reached over and grabbed her arm and she slowly turned towards him. Ron gave Hermione an awkward look before the two of them walked ahead of Harry and Tessa to keep looking for Draco but were no doubt listening in on their conversation.
"No I mean it. I'm sorry truly I am. I didn't mean what I said. You're nothing like your father and I should have never said that." He explained.
"I appreciate that Harry I really do. But I feel like most days you hate me just because I'm friends with Draco and that's not fair to me." Tessa explained to him.
"I don't hate you Tessa. I could never hate you." He admitted to her.
"Harry I'll always be friends with you no matter what but that's all I can be for you. It's too dangerous for us to get involved and if something happened to you because of me I'd never forgive myself." Tessa admitted to him as he stood there starring at her.
"Yeah…Okay. Fine. Let's just find Malfoy." Harry replied as he walked past Tessa to rejoin Ron and Hermione.
Tessa had to basically run to catch up to them. She held her wand out looking every which way for a sign that Draco was near. Then suddenly she spotted it on the ground, Draco's broom.
"Look! It's his broom!" Tessa ran ahead of Harry and picked it up. The broom was in one piece and looked fine.
"DRACO!" Tessa yelled and she heard something moan.
Tessa looked up and there dangling in the tree was Draco. There was blood all over his face and his legs were tangled in the most unnatural position.
"Draco hold on I'm coming to get you." She called out as Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed up to her side.
"If I untangle him can you use a spell to lower him down?" she asked Hermione.
Hermione nodded to which Ron responded,
"And how are you going to get up there?"
She took hold of the lowest tree branch and pulled herself up. She climbed the tree quickly but that took a toll on her bare legs which were now scraped and bleeding. She got halfway up the tree to where Draco was stuck and she slowly climbed out to untangle him.
"Well that's one way to do it." Ron muttered softly
"Draco its Tessa. I'm right here just stay still okay?" she called out to him as she climbed closer to him.
She managed to grab a hold of the back of his shirt and haul him back up into the large part of branch and lean him against it. She then looked him over and noticed that he had hit his head pretty hard. There was a large gash across his forehead. She then leaned down and untangled his leg which looked like it may have been broken around his ankle.
"Draco can you hear me?" Tessa said as she climbed next to him and pulled his head up in her lap.
Draco's eyes rolled around in his head as he tried to say something.
"Hermione be careful bringing him down I think he may have a concussion. " Tessa called out to her.
"Harry can you fly ahead of us and warn the teachers so they can help us get him into the castle?" Tessa asked as she glanced down at Harry.
"Tessa I'm not leaving you all out here in the middle of the forest." Harry seethed as he looked from Hermione to Tessa.
"Just let me get him down and then you two can take his arms and help get him back to the castle." Hermione instructed.
Tessa nodded and watched as Hermione slowly raised her wand and muttered a spell. Draco slowly floated down towards the ground. He landed gently but was still not responding to them. Tessa quickly climbed back down out of the tree as Harry and Ron took either of Draco's arms and hoisted him up so they could carry him back to the castle. Hermione had Harry and Draco's brooms and Tessa followed closely behind them.
"Gosh he sure weighs a ton!" Ron huffed as he and Harry tried their best not to let his feet drag too much on the ground.
When they finally made it out of the forest they noticed the race was over but that most of the students had left and or were being sent off by Professor Umbridge who was having a fit at their antics. Tessa noted near the entrance of the school Professor Snape and several other teachers stood idly but as soon as they caught the sight of the five of them the teaches began to rush towards them.
"What were you doing in the forest!?" Severus barked at them as two more Professors raced to his side.
"We were racing on our brooms and Draco lost control and fell off and when he went down he took me with him" Harry explained at once.
"Fools! The forest is not safe for any of you in a time like this!" Professor McGonagall lectured them.
"We know that! We tried to come back but someone was refusing to leave the forest without Draco." Harry growled.
"Tessa that was extremely foolish of you! But I'm glad you're not hurt now let me get Draco to the hospital wing." Severus said coldly as he waved his wand and Draco floated up in midair
"I want to go with you." Tessa said immediately.
Snape nodded his head and she looked over towards Harry.
"Thank you for helping me I'll be forever grateful." Tessa nodded towards the three of them as Hermione smiled and Ron nodded.
"Anytime." Harry muttered without looking at Tessa.
Tessa took off with Severus and the teachers to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey went to work first with fixing his ankle which was indeed broken. They did make Tessa leave the room for a few minutes as they changed Draco into clean clothes. She also cleaned up his cut on his forehead and put some paste on it to heal it up.
"Miss Von Burren it's getting late why don't you head back to your room and get some sleep. Snape will update you on Mr. Malfoy's condition in the morning." She encouraged as she looked to Snape for reassurance.
"If it's all the same I'd like to stay with him that is if you don't mind Professor." She said as she looked to Snape.
"If that's what you want to do. I don't see why not, it is the weekend after all." He replied as he looked to Madam Pomfrey for approval.
"Alright then let me get you a bed ready then." She answered as she got up slowly to head back into her office.
"Oh no please don't worry about it. I don't think I'll be able to get much sleep tonight." Tessa said as she looked from Madam Pomfrey back to Draco who was still out cold.
"Very well then Miss Von Burren." She nodded as she turned and left the room.
Just then Blaise, Adrian and Graham came into the hospital wing carrying pillows, blankets and a bunch of snacks.
"What are you all doing here?" Tessa asked as she saw them.
"What did you think we'd let you sit up here all alone all night?" asked Graham.
"Draco is our friend too and we're worried and want to be here when he wakes up." Adrian added.
"Well then goodnight Tessa, try not to have too much fun tonight." Snape smiled slightly as he nodded at her, "I'll be back in the morning to see how he's doing."
And with that he turned on his heel and left the hospital wing.
"Right then, Graham you're in charge of filling up the air mattress. Adrian you can lay out all the blankets and pillows. And Tessa and I will supervise you both while you do so." Blaise instructed with a mocking tone.
"That's no fair!" Graham huffed but he pulled out the air mattress and started muttering spells to get it to fill up.
"How is he?" Blaise asked as he scooted next to Tessa at Draco's bedside.
"Out cold. Madam Pomfrey said he may be like this for a while because he hit his head pretty hard. He also broke his ankle which he won't be happy about because he'll have to miss a few practices with you boys." Tessa informed him.
"And how are you?" Blaise asked her as he turned to look at her.
"Shaken up and worried to death but I think I'll survive." She confessed to Blaise as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"You know you're crazy going into the forbidden forest just to look for this schmuck. There are so many things that could've happened to you in that forest. But I'm glad you're okay and I'm glad you found Draco. He may have been a lot worse off if you hadn't found him as soon as you did." Blaise cooed to her as he let her go.
"I'm glad we found him too." She replied softly as she turned to look at him.
The boys stayed up with her all night as they swapped funny stories, did a game of charades, and they even taught her how to play wizards chess which she was horrible at. By the time the sun came up Draco had shown no signs of coming around. Tessa was so exhausted she fell asleep leaning on Blaise's shoulder while he was telling Adrian and Graham the story of how the two of them had met for the first time in New York.
Tessa awoke with a start when she heard a round of laughter coming from next to her. When she looked up she saw Blaise and Graham on either side of the Draco's bed and then she saw Draco who was wide awake and smiling warmly at her.
"There she is. Our own little Slytherin hero! She stayed up all night waiting for you to wake up. No doubt in hopes to get that kiss." Blaise teased as Tessa slowly sat up.
"Well now that she is finally up let's get some breakfast." Adrian called as he slowly stood up from off the mattress.
The other two boys helped Adrian clean up their mess while Tessa moved to Draco's bedside. Draco reached his hand out to her and she took it.
"You really didn't have to stay here all night Tessa, but I'm glad you did." He smiled brightly at her.
"I was so worried. " Tessa confessed to him as she slowly sat down in the chair next to his bed.
"Well I'm alright now. But I wanted to thank you for going out into the forest to find me." He said softly to her as he caressed her hand with his thumb.
"You would have done the same for me." Was all Tessa said as she smiled warmly at him.
"There isn't much I wouldn't do for you Tessa." He replied as he smiled back at her.
Tessa blushed as the boys started to carry on and pretend to be swooning over the things Draco was saying to her.
"Oh shut up you three. You're just jealous I don't say things like this to you." Draco teased them as he winked at Tessa.
"The only thing I'm jealous of is that you got the most beautiful girl in Slytherin to rescue you from the forbidden forest. Know that I expect the same treatment if something ever happens to me." Adrian said as he made pouty face at Tessa.
"By the way I meant to ask, who ended up winning the race last night?" Draco asked the boys.
"George Weasley." Graham muttered unpleasantly.
"Didn't he want…"Draco started as a sour looked crossed over his face.
"Yes. Tessa I'd advise you find him and get it over with because he's been bragging about it since he won and is also coming up with all these romantic schemes of how he can get this kiss to happen." Blaise informed Tessa as he draped a blanket over his arm.
"Well I guess I better go find him before he gets too carried away." Tessa sighed as she let go of Draco's hand and slowly stood up to go join the boys.
"We'll come back as soon as we're done eating and try and smuggle you out so we can all still go to hogsmeade today alright?" Blaise smiled at Draco.
"Sounds good to me just keep an eye on Weasley. Make sure he keeps his hands to himself." Draco called after them as they started laughing and left the Hospital Wing.