Me: Hey ya'll! The reviews were great and rather… unexpected. In a good way. Many people took a guess as to who Max's father was, and I was really rather surprised how many people guessed the same person. I won't say whether you're right or not, just know I have the entire thing planned out already. But some reviewers did get me thinking. But it would be too complicated to change all that now. Unless…

Rebbie: Oh god, here we go.

Me: I know it's been awhile. I moved, then found out the reason I've been so sluggish was because, wouldn't ya know, I've had mono for three months and every time I went to the doctor or what not, they just said nothing was wrong and sent me off, when I really needed tons of rest. Finally someone said "Hey wait… you've got mono! Go home and sleep, and drink lots of fluid, and don't think twice about staying home from school!" Which sucks, because my grades went down slightly due to all the work I missed and had to catch up on. But I think that's a pretty decent reason for not updating.

Rebbie: There's also that minor thing called "she goes through cycles of which fandom she likes"

Me: aha, but we don't need to get into that. Anyways, onto the chapter!

I glared at the speck of dust that had drifted down on my desk as if it had offended me. Though, everything has offended me at one point or another. This speck, at the moment, was merely offending because it was there, and I couldn't move it. If I made any sort of movement, it would draw that freakish teacher's attention and I did not want her staring at me through those creepy glasses.

It was a ridiculous class, really. Divination. There was no way anybody, with perhaps the exception of Angel on rare occasions, could tell the future. I mean, the Voice gave me heads-ups (which, now come to think of it, said voice has been awfully quiet lately), and Iggy was certainly perceptive enough, but predicting the future? Complete idiocy.

I was happy to note that I was not the only one to think so, however, as Hermione was not even in this class. She scoffed when Harry had found me sulking near the library after my meeting with Dumbledore to tell me that if I didn't hurry I would be late for class.

"Divination." She had huffed. "What a useless subject. Not an ounce of truth or fact about it. Completely unreliable."

I was beginning to see her point. Harry was doodling or doing homework, I couldn't tell from my angle. Ron had fallen asleep ten minutes into the lesson, with half of the Hufflepuffs behind him. There were the few odd balls who clearly found this class a lot more interesting than it was, but that might have been due to the over-excitement that the creepy teacher was completely devoted to giving them. Not that it mattered; every person she talked to died a horrible death or had something terrible happen somewhere near in their future. It was amusing the first three times, but then it just got old.

Which is why I was left staring angrily at the speck of dust on my desk, refusing to acknowledge the crystal ball on the table in front of me and tuning out yet another student's death sentence. I was intent on making myself a statue just so she didn't acknowledge my existence. Of course, when does anything ever go my way?

I heard Iggy whisper to Fang behind me, "If she keeps this up, there will be no students left," which unfortunately made me giggle quietly. That was all it took to get her attention. I rolled my eyes as the frizzy haired Professor whirled around to face me. How she heard me and not Iggy is something I will never know.

"Ah, Miss Ride! Do you perhaps seek a prediction? Your aura is very clear… but it's very dark! You are surrounded by gloom and darkness and death! Someone you love will turn their back on you! You will be alone when you need them most! Someone near to you is going to die! And you are in grave danger!"

A few kids in the class stared at me in horror, but I merely refrained from laughing as Ron snorted in his sleep at my being in grave danger. I was thinking along the same lines. Harry was looking at me with a mixture of sympathy and apology. I could hear Iggy snickering behind me, and I wanted to hit him. She had pretty much just summed up the entire lesson and put it into that short prediction. Oh, and wait, I was going to die. Now how many times had I heard that?

"Uh, Professor Trelawney? Not to burst your bubble, but I've been in grave danger since the day I was born. In case you weren't aware, I have wings. I have no parents and I've been on the run for awhile now. I just found out I can do magic, which makes me more valuable. No freakin duh I'm in grave danger. And of course someone near to me is going to die; everybody dies. It would be nice if you could specify when. Then maybe I'd believe you. Or, you know, like predict the weather or tell me if I should wear blue or red tomorrow and what will happen if I don't. If you keep telling everyone they're in grave danger, then of course it's going to come true! Get a new hobby!" I exclaimed, thoroughly frustrated. This whole deal, first with Malfoy and then with Dumbledore, was really getting to me, and then this? It was too much, and this pathetic teacher had been my unfortunate outlet for my irritation. And I felt a little bad, because she looked like she was going to cry, but I was so angry that it didn't matter to me.

"You, my dear, are suffering greatly. There are things that you have not told even those closest to you. Your aura is oppressive and suffocating, and yet I fear there is nothing to fix it. You are doomed!" I hardly heard the second half of her measly attempt to fix her prediction, because I had felt Fang stiffen behind me when she said there were things I had not told anybody. Even if he believed this crackpot less than I did, he still would not take the chance that there was something I wasn't sharing.

After all I told him everything, didn't I?

Well, at least, until we got here.

Finally, I stood up and flung my bag over my shoulder, glaring at Professor Trelawney and muttering some choice insults under my breath. And, as I hear Hermione did, I stormed from the Divination classroom in a huff, swearing that I was never returning. How dare she say things like that about me?

"Moronic lunatic. What an airheaded freak! All that damn incense has gone to her head." I muttered as I turned the corner to head to the Quidditch pitch. I could use some flying time to burn off some steam.

"Ah, you came from Divination, then." I heard a voice that was becoming all too familiar say from behind me.

I didn't stop walking, nor did I make any note that I had even heard him as I continued my angry stride towards the corridor that would lead me outside. I heard him land on the ground from where I presumed he had been sitting on a ledge, and take up pace beside me. Still, I refused to even glance at him (however much I wanted to).

"Skipping class are we?" He asked casually. I knew he scowled when I continued ignoring him.

"Aren't you a bit too old to be ignoring people, Ride?" Still I gave no response.

Frustrated, he gripped my wrist in an attempt to stop me from walking, but my hands were still injured my from brutal wall beating that occurred the night before, so when he latched on to my wrist a sharp pain coursed up my arm. I couldn't hold back the slight cry of pain that escaped my lips as I stopped short in an attempt to relieve the pressure, and immediately I bit my tongue to prevent myself from crying out again.

Malfoy let go quickly, startled. "You okay there Ride?"

I nodded, wanting just for him to go away. I think being so lax was causing my pain tolerance to diminish. Either that or I had really done a number on my hands. Knowing me, it was probably the latter.

I was surprised when a gentle hand lifted my hand and pulled back the robe to reveal the intense bandages and heavy wrapping that Nudge had been so kind as to apply for me before I got pissed and locked myself in the bathroom. Cautiously, I peeked up to see Malfoy turning my hand over and staring at the bruises that were visible. I had to refrain from flinching when he reached for the other one, but I let him see that it was just as bad.

"Merlin, Ride. What happened? Why haven't you gone to Pomfrey?" he asked, and I picked up on the hint of anger and concern that laced his voice.

"Nothing. It's nothing. I'm used to it." I said briskly, trying to take my hands back without hurting them.

"Nothing? This is nothing? Have you seen your hands, Ride? Hell, I'm surprised you're still moving them. You're either stronger than I gave you credit for, or stupider than I thought." He told me, and I think he was trying to insult me, but he was just too surprised at the damage for his hurtful tone to come through.

"Look, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." I said, doing my best to glare, but for some reason I couldn't muster one up. Instead, I only managed to look vaguely irritated and increasingly pained.

"Clearly." He responded dryly. "Now, would you like to tell me what happened, or would you like me to drag you to Pomfrey?" He threatened, and I gave him a look that clearly said 'you wouldn't' to which he responded with one that said 'Try me.'

Sighing, I blew my bangs out of my face. "I punched a wall."

There was a moment of silence in which Malfoy looked at me incredulously before he began laughing. "Did it hit back?"

Yanking my hands from him, I managed a harsh glare and began storming away. Oh he could just laugh at my pain, could he? He didn't even know he was the reason I had punched the wall in the first place. Maybe then that stupid smirk would be wiped from his face. If my hands hadn't been so bandaged up, I probably would've hit him.

I hadn't even known he was following me until I felt a strong set of arms circle my waist.

"He-he-hey! Heyheyhey! Excuse me! What do you think you're doing?" I exclaimed as I suddenly felt my feet leave the ground. Before I could form coherent thought, Malfoy had picked me up and dropped me over his shoulder and begun walking in an unknown direction. I pounded on his back mercilessly (well, as mercilessly as I could with injured hands) and kicked, screaming to be let down, but he kept walking.

"Excuse me! I demand to be released! Put me down! Malfoy! Dammit! Put me down, now!" I screeched, clawing at his robes as I tried to wriggle out his arms. "Where the hell are you taking me!"

"I'm taking you to Pomfrey."

I didn't want to go Pomfrey. I had heard she was a nice person and all, but Pomfrey was the nurse, and nurses meant hospitals, and well that was something I was keenly against. I struggled to get out of his grasp, but with injured hands it was quite difficult, and for what is was worth he was rather strong compared to most other arms I had been in. Not that I had been in many people's arms, but when you are about to get captured, things happen. Regardless, I knew I wasn't getting out of his arms easily, so I had to figure something else out. Thus, I turned on the Max charms.

I didn't count for the Malfoy charms to be on an equal, if not higher, level.

"If I promise to go with you willingly, will you put me down?" I asked, trying with all my might to put Bambi Eyes into word form.

Malfoy, I could tell, rolled his eyes. "No."

"Well could you at least loosen your grip?"

"No."

"I have to pee."

"No you don't."

I huffed, resting my elbow on his back and putting my chin in my hand, despite the slight pain the pressure caused. There had to be something I could do to make him put me down. I went through a list of spells that I had learned that would help me in the situation, and sadly could think of nothing that wouldn't harm me as well. And it wasn't as if I wanted to harm him (although I wouldn't have minded Malfoy earning a sore shoulder or something). I just wanted to be put down.

"I have a fear of hospitals. If you take me there, who knows what might happen." I stated calmly.

Malfoy slowed, but didn't stop. "That's ridiculous. Nobody is afraid of hospitals."

"It's true. I'm dead terrified. I might injure my hands further trying to escape. Then all this would have been for nothing." Insert dramatic sigh for effect, and done.

"You have to do something for those injuries, Ride, and Pomfrey is the Healer here." Malfoy told me, but he had nearly stopped walking. Almost to freedom…

"I told you, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now if you put me down, I'll go find Iggy. He'll know what to do." I said, attempting a shrug, which is apparently a lot harder to do when you're hanging over someone's shoulder.

I could practically feel Malfoy give in. See, I knew underneath that cold exterior was someone who cared about the welfare of girls… or at least my sanity. Or… well he cared about something. And whatever it happened to be at that moment, it was helping to earn my freedom.

"Alright, Ride. I won't take you to Pomfrey." He said, and I knew he was smirking as he continued walking. And I was so close!

I argued with him (although it was more like arguing with myself as he refused to cave in) for another five or ten minutes, until we arrived at what appeared to be an empty hallway. I looked around for any signs of, well, anything, and there weren't any. It was a desolate hallway. And Malfoy had stopped dead center, staring at the blank wall. And here I was, questioning my sanity.

Just when I thought Malfoy was going to put me down, he began pacing in front of this huge strip of empty wall. It began to make me dizzy, so I closed my eyes, which I really shouldn't have done, because when I opened them, that empty wall had become a huge door.

"That wasn't there before." I stuttered out intelligently.

"Welcome, Ride, to the Room of Requirement." Malfoy stated as he pushed open the door.

I was about to question what he meant by that when I was set down, none to gently, on a couch. Taking a look around, the room seemed rather quaint. It almost appeared to be someone's bedroom, or perhaps a living room. Although, it was rather bleak. It had a couch, a table, a chair, a sink, and huge cabinet, which Malfoy was now digging through.

He apparently found what he was looking for, because he returned with medical supplies and sat down on the table so he was sitting in front of me. "Give me your hands."

"Why."

"'Just do it."

"Tell me why."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, just give me your hands!"

Grudgingly, I lifted one of my hands for Malfoy to take, and watched as he began unwrapping Nudge's handiwork. With what seemed like practiced ease, Malfoy cleaned the wounds on my left hand, set my broken pinky, and redressed them. Taking the same care with my right hand, soon I had clean bandages on my hands, despite a slight sting left over from the antiseptic.

"Isn't there a spell you could've done?" I said, despite myself.

"Dammit, Ride. You don't know how to be grateful, do you?" He exclaimed, rather loudly, and I could tell he was thoroughly irritated with my antics.

Stunned, I sat on the couch staring at him for a few minutes. I mean, I didn't have a lot of things to be grateful for. Not to mention this was the same guy who had kiss me twice in a manner of a week with no explanation, was the reason for the bandages, and I had also just been given a heavy load of information concerning my background. But with this one small act of kindness, I couldn't be grateful.

Bowing my head, I grimaced. I hated being in the wrong. "Thanks… I… appreciate it."

Malfoy looked taken aback, but cracked a mischievous grin. "Anytime. I'm good with my hands."

I scowled. He had to make a joke like that…

He helped me to my feet (but not without my looking at his hands with disgust) and we left the room, heading to the Great Hall for lunch. I hadn't even noticed that we had spent that much time arguing over my hands (rather silly thing to waste time over, now that I think about it…), but I'm kind of glad we did. Despite his annoying tendencies, and how absurdly stubborn he is, it was a rather fun way to spend time. Plus I got a free hand treatment.

Just as we were about to go through the Great Hall doors, at different times of course, he turned to me with a curious look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shrugged before turning his attention back to the noise coming from the dining hall. "There are spells I could've done, Ride."

And he left it at that as he strode through the Great Hall doors as if he owned the world, leaving me standing on the other side staring in confusion, wondering many things. The first, why didn't that jerk use his damn spells on my hands in the first place? It would have made life so much easier. The second being, why didn't that jerk use his damn spells on my hands in the first place! It would have been such a great show of power "Hey look, I can use magic, you can't." So, if there are spells he could've done, why didn't he?

I was beginning to doubt that I would ever understand Draco Malfoy.

Me: I know it's not the best, but I really need to build up their relationship (and yes, it has to happen while Max is in her first month at Hogwarts, which is why everything seems rushed.) But really, it isn't rushed, once everything comes together.

Rebbie: You need to stop explaining things, because you never actually explain things.

Me: Anyway, House points!

Currently: Slytherin: 48
Gryffindor: 7
Hufflepuff: 0
Ravenclaw: 20

Aww, poor Hufflepuff…. Yay Slytherin! Though, I think I'm supposed to be biased on this… Anyways, house points will continue! Remember, if I like your review, you get bonus points.