So, shall we continue? No? Tough. Thanks for your review, Izaranna and jessica02.
Slytherin beat Ravenclaw at Quidditch, though only just. If Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw (who they were playing next) they would be in second place (Ravenclaw had creamed Hufflepuff). But Fern didn't see Draco for some time, because she was mostly curled up in the Gryffindor common room with a ton of homework.
Ron started getting suspicious of Hermione and her timetable again, because she still seemed to have two
or three classes going on at once. For example, she had Muggle Studies at the same time as she had Divination, and she never missed Divination, even though she thought it was stupid. However, one of the Hufflepuffs had mentioned that she never missed Muggle Studies either. She even let Fern borrow her notes on how to explain electricity in one essay.
Harry did get his broom back before the match against Ravenclaw, declared completely harmless. The boys were all set to make up with Hermione, but there was one setback. Just after Harry had started asking Hermione about something, they heard Ron yelling, and on investigation, they found Scabbers gone, bloodstains on his sheet, and ginger cat hairs strewn all over. It looked like Crookshanks had finally finished off the rat.
Ron and Hermione refused to talk to each other, and Harry and Fern couldn't see that they'd ever make up.
"I'm pretty sure Ron's right." Harry said miserably. "But Hermione won't hear a word against her cat. I tried to explain to her, but she told me to go away."
Fern frowned. "I don't know. She's really protective of Crookshanks."
Harry turned most of his attention on Quidditch. The Ravenclaw Seeker was apparently a very skilled fourth-year girl called Cho Chang, and getting the Snitch before her wasn't going to be easy.
Harry had to bring in his Firebolt in the morning, and everyone in the Great Hall wanted to see it. Penelope Clearwater, Percy's Ravenclaw girlfriend, even asked to hold it. After everyone else had gone, a familiar voice sounded behind the group. "Sure you can handle that broom, Potter?"
"And here comes Draco to bring down everyone's spirits once again." Fern muttered. She didn't really mean it, though.
"Yeah, reckon so." Harry said coolly.
"Got plenty of special features, has it?" Draco continued. "Shame it hasn't got a parachute, in case you get too close to a Dementor."
"Pity you can't attach an extra arm to yours." Harry retorted. "Then it could catch the Snitch for you."
Fern giggled. Draco shot her a glare, then mouthed "We'll talk after the match, OK?"
Fern noticed something at the beginning of the match: an eye exchange between Harry and Cho. She knew her friend, and guessed that he might have just noticed how pretty Cho was, because she could see that Harry thought Cho was pretty, if she squinted at his face. Cho was a pretty good Seeker, and Harry did have a tough time getting the Snitch first, but the match's most exciting moment was halfway through, when Cho gave a cry and pointed down to what looked like three Dementors. Fern thought as hard as she could of her friends, before realizing that she hadn't felt the cold and misery the Dementors usually brought.
Fern found out after the match that the Dementors had no effect because they weren't Dementors. It turned out that they had just been Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, as well as Draco and his minions. Fern could actually hear Professor McGonagall yelling at them from a distance.
Draco managed to corner Fern before she could get to the party being held in the Gryffindor common room. Fern scowled at him. "Look, I'm really not in the mood today. Not after that stupid stunt you pulled."
"Oh, come on, Fern." Draco coaxed. "It was nothing personal. All's fair in love, war and Quidditch."
Fern thought about it, and sighed. She was fighting a losing battle. After all, while her mind didn't really want Draco, the temptation, the chance that he might french-kiss her was too much. "OK, I guess you did lose fifty points and get detention. I can let this one go."
"Good, cause I was hoping you remembered that you still owed me for Christmas."
Fern nodded.
"Well, I would take it to my dorm or yours, but there are two problems. First, everyone else in the common room is in the mood to kill a Gryffindor, should she step in there. Second, the Gryffindorks are partying, and they won't welcome me. Oh, and there's also the fact that I think all the red and gold would make me go blind. So it looks like we'll have to use a deserted classroom."
"So...what is the favour you want from me?" Fern asked.
"You'll see." Draco said. He laughed at the nervous look on her face. "Fern, it's not like I'm asking for your life or your V-card. Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm not even asking you to take your clothes off. In fact, I think you'll enjoy this. All you have to do is-" He pushed six chairs to make a symmetrical row. "Lie on those, and not resist me unless I say so."
Fern hesitantly obeyed. The chairs were slightly longer than her height, so she was fairly comfortable on them. She was only on three, while Draco took up the other three. He was slightly taller than Fern, but he was still not as long as the chairs.
First, all he did was what he'd done to her before the holidays – french kiss her. "Just relax." he whispered, as he continued to kiss her. He was doing everything with the utmost sincerity, and soon, Fern's tense muscles relaxed completely, as deliciously chilling sensations flooded through her. Her eyes slid shut. She didn't keep track of the feather light kisses that were planted everywhere, from her forehead to just above her robed shoulders.
She felt as if she was moving away from the universe, into a different place where space and time stopped. Most of her worries left her for those moments – Black being after Harry, Ron and Hermione not speaking, even the blackmail itself. She was just letting herself enjoy those moments.
It could have been hours, minutes, seconds later that Draco nudged her. "Hey, Fern, you can get up any time this week."
Fern opened her eyes and found that he was already standing. "Um...how long was that?" she asked.
"Only about five minutes," Draco replied, looking thoroughly amused. "I told you you'd enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, you might want to straighten your tie and brush your hair before you go join that party."
No one really noticed if Fern looked a bit disheveled when she did get to the common room. Hermione would've if she'd been joining in, but as it was, she barely looked up from her book. She was studying feverishly, the way she always did when she was particularly upset. Harry did ask her to join in, but that was the only time anyone got a response out of her, and she still didn't look up.
It was only later when the students went up to bed that anyone noticed anything. Hermione's head was still in her book, but Parvati saw it. "Um...Fern?" she said. "You're not by any chance...getting really involved with some guy?" There was one thing that wasn't going to fade from Fern within a few minutes.
Lavender looked up, and immediately spotted the same thing Parvati saw. "Is that from the guy you went on that date with on Halloween?"
"What are you two talking about?" Fern asked, confused.
Parvati and Lavender exchanged glances before Lavender said "Well...you better check the mirror."
Fern did so, and stopped, staring in shock. There was a purple mark on her neck, an obvious bruise. She knew what it was, too. Hickey, love bite, whatever you called it...the favour Draco had asked for was the chance to make a bruise that announced she was spoken for.
I always planned some kind of makeout session, but it seemed to work out this way. Now, review!