Chapter 12

"FIRE! FIRE!!"

Ashley woke with a start and upon hearing the word 'fire', fell to the floor in a tangle of pillows and bed sheets, her eyes still half-closed.

"Glad to see you're awake." Draco said pleasantly. He was smirking although he knew Ashley couldn't see him. Ashley sensed there was no real fire and lay down on the mess of bed covers and pillows.

"Malfoy, you loser, get out." Ashley groaned sleepily, hiding her face under the pillow.

"Greyson, you weirdo, wake up!"

Ashley forced her eyes open and glared at Draco. "Why are you here?" she growled, sitting upright.

"We need to strategize. I couldn't afford to have you late." Draco scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. He was fully clothed and looked fresh from the bathroom. She could smell his manly perfume.

He smells sort of good actually… Ohmygosh, what am I saying?? Stop it! You're sleepy, you're groggy. You just fell off the bed courtesy of some retarded blonde ferret so you're allowed to go crazy once in a while. You don't mean it. Malfoy doesn't smell good. He smells awful. Like cow poo. Or goat poo. Or poo in general. And he's ugly too!

"What time is it?"

"Six." Draco shrugged.

"There's absolutely no way I'm going to be late to breakfast if you're waking me up this early."

"Who said we were going to have breakfast?" Draco snorted. "We have to have a course of action for this matchmaking. We have to have a plan." Draco spoke with a gleam in his eye, with such determination, that Ashley fought the urge to laugh out loud.

With a sigh, Ashley got off the floor. "I'll meet you in the Great Hall in thirty minutes, now bugger off."

Draco smirked. Up until Ashley threw a pillow at his face (and her aim was true, mind you) before walking out of the room, laughing.

For once in her life, Ashley was early to breakfast. By the time she'd arrived in the Great Hall, it was almost completely deserted except for those overeager-to-start-with-lessons people. And of course, Draco Malfoy.

Ugh. Ashley thought disdainfully.

"Good morning, Greyson!" Draco called out cheerfully, causing one of the few heads in the Great Hall to turn and stare at them.

Ashley glowered at him. She was never particularly a morning person. "It was until now." Ashley muttered as she plopped down across from Draco and fixed him with another steely glare.

"Glad to see such a cheerful expression on your face, sunshine." Draco snorted sarcastically. "And for once, you're on time." He smirked.

"All thanks to you." Ashley muttered resentfully. Oh, how she despised the early mornings. She always got annoyed easily and she absolutely detested having to wake up so early. It was the reason why she was always, always, late to breakfast.

"So what exactly do we need to strategize about?" Ashley yawned. She was too sleepy to notice the full plates of steaming hot and fresh breakfast laid out. "We're not exactly planning a coup Malfoy."

"Yes, but it never hurts to be prepared. Everything has to be scripted, especially if it's Bletchley. He always screws up! Remember Potions back in fifth year?? It took me nearly a month to get my hair to shine again!"

Ashley chortled, the memory flashing back into her head like wisps of smoke. How could one really forget the time Bletchley and Draco had been partners for the brewing of a potion and it had exploded—after Bletchley took over, Malfoy had claimed—all over Draco and his shiny white blonde hair? He had ranted on relentlessly about how hard it was to get his hair to shine again.

Ashley remembered watching one of his raves with amusement. She inwardly applauded Bletchley for such a job well done.

"Spoken like a true drama queen Malfoy. Of course, I do wish I had been responsible for that said tragedy in your life. I wouldn't have trailed after you apologizing." Ashley snorted.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Ashley. She was sitting across from him and with her so close; he could see the features of her face perfectly. She was beautiful, he realized. The gold in her hair was highlighted by the sun that seeped in from the huge overhead windows. Her eyes were such a rich blue, he realized. Rich and icy blue. But they didn't radiate a harshness like most icy colors did. They seemed to sparkle every time she looked at him and to his complete horror; he found it so hard to just look away.

Ah, young love.

What on earth are you talking about?

It's so obvious Draco. You're attracted to her.

She's pretty, I'll admit. And she's the hottest girl in Hogwarts, no one can deny that. But, we've already settled this. She's on my to-do list, remember? After that, I'm done with her. I just need her out of my system.

If you say so.

I'm always right. I'm Draco Malfoy.

Right. By the way, she's looking at you like you're mental.

"Draco…?" Ashley looked at him, her expression apprehensive.

"I was just…strategizing." Draco cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from hers. Damn, she was so tempting. He felt something tighten in his pants and cursed inwardly.

Ashley noticed Malfoy's expression and frowned. Was he wincing? Why on earth was he wincing? He looked like he was in pain but from what, Ashley hadn't a clue.

"Uh…are you alright, Malfoy? You look like you're in pain."

"Fine, just fine." Draco nodded, as he straightened in his seat.

"Erm, right. So how exactly do we do this again? The matchmaking, I mean. I've been against it from the start, but… "

"I was thinking that you could just convince Ivenson to go with Bletchley on the dance, but be subtle. Don't make it so obvious. Like you always do."

"Hey! At least I've got better matchmaking skills than you. I mean seriously, what were you thinking—Miles and Callie??"

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't insult my matchmaking prowess."

"I can't insult something that doesn't exist Malfoy." Ashley smirked.

Draco rolled his eyes heavenward, his lips twitching. "You're just jealous Greyson because no one can match me." He grinned slyly.

Ashley chortled. "In vanity?"

Draco shot her a glare but it was half meant. It was obvious he was being playful. "Among other things." He said huffily.

"Malfoy, my ferret is probably more skilled than you."

"Well, he was smart enough to run away from you."

Draco smirked when Ashley said nothing to counter that. Congratulating himself inwardly and feeling very pleased, he reached for a sausage to put on his platter when suddenly, an egg tart sailed across the table and hit his forehead before plopping onto his plate, deformed.

Across him, Ashley burst out laughing. She just couldn't ignore the dumbstruck expression that crossed Draco's face.

Before Draco could say or do anything to Ashley, however, the oak doors opened and in marched Callie, Seth trailing after her.

With all their playful banter, Ashley hadn't notice how full the Great Hall had gotten. Most of the students were staring at them; some were craning their necks to get a good look at them. She could tell they were going to be the talk of that morning. And most probably for the rest of the day.

Well, who wouldn't? Draco thought smugly. I'm Draco Malfoy.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you Malfoy but I've got to go and put Operation Valkyrie into action." Ashley stood up from her seat.

"What?" A look of pure confusion graced Draco's features.

Ashley sighed. This man clearly knew nothing of World History. "Never mind, Draco. Never mind." And with that, Ashley walked off to join Callie and Seth, who demanded an explanation of why on earth she was sitting with Draco Malfoy.

******

Ashley stared at her tea leaves in deep concentration, twisting them around to see if she could make out anything. Anything at all that wasn't normal. After Ashley had stared at her leaves for five minutes and had gotten no message from it at all, Ashley threw her hands up in the air with a groan and gave up. There was nothing she hated more than Divination.

Callie, who seemed to be doing better than Ashley with her tea leaves, turned to face her best friend with a frown.

"What's wrong?"

"My stupid tea leaves don't look like anything. They just look like leaves."

Callie shrugged. "I think mine says I'm going to barf copper in the next twenty minutes or I'm going to face tragedy in the form of a... sheep? Mule? Okay, I have no idea what that is." Callie slammed her Divination textbook shut and sat back in her seat, massaging her temples.

"This is hopeless."

"What are you going to write in your parchment?"

Trelawney had given them the entire period to translate the message in their tea leaves provided that she would be collecting a detailed account of their translations by the end of the lesson.

Oh joy. Ashley thought bitterly as he stabbed her tea leaves with her teaspoon.

"I'm probably going to make something up." Ashley shrugged, picking up her quill. "Now…what do you think would please Trelawney?"

"Death. She always goes on and predicts Potter's."

"Yeah, but that's Potter's death. We all want that. It's different that way."

Callie shrugged and picked up her quill and a piece of parchment.

As she and Ashley were discussing what their translations would be, meanwhile, on a table on the other side of the room, sat a very aggravated Draco.

Draco wasn't having much luck with his tea leaves either. In fact, so far, all he could make out of them was the fact that they were a bunch of smelly, wet leaves piling on top of each other. They didn't even really form anything.

I hate this class. I hate that old bag of a teacher. I hate this room. I hate these stupid leaves. And I hate that smell!

"Having luck with your leaves, mate?" Blaise Zabini asked.

"None whatsoever." Draco sighed, pushing the tea leaves away from. Merlin, the smell is awful. Sort of reminds me of Parkinson… Draco suppressed a shudder.

"I don't understand how on earth this will aid us in the real world." Draco spat resentfully. "I mean, if I'm in a life or death situation or at wand point for instance, who on earth will spare me because I can tell my own future by reading tea leaves?"

"I feel you, mate." Blaise sighed.

Draco had continued on his tirade as Blaise nodded and occasionally agreed with Draco. When he was done, perfect timing had led Trelawney to amble over to their table and check on their progress.

"Mmm… I take it none of you have seen anything yet…" She said in a slightly disapproving voice.

Draco and Zabini both shook their heads. Trelawney wasn't even looking at them. She was concentrating on the tea leaves.

Suddenly, she let out a gasp and gazed at Blaise with huge, bugged eyes. "Mr. Zabini! Trouble! I see trouble in your future!"

"Erm, what sort of trouble, professor?" Blaise asked apprehensively. The truth was, he was more afraid of Trelawney's expression than whatever horrible fate she could have foreseen in his tea leaves.

"Death, Zabini! Death!" She replied with a slightly manic expression on her face.

Blaise frowned. "That can't be true. Mother says I'm strong enough to live until the ripe old age of eighty."

"The tea leaves never lie Mr. Zabini." Professor Trelawney said crisply before moving on to inspect Draco's tea leaves.

Blaise grimaced and gave Draco a look that said he clearly did not believe their crazy Divination professor. When Trelawney looked up from the leaves, gone was the manic expression on her face and the crazed glaze in her eyes when she told Zabini's fortune. Instead, her expression was a mixture of sadness and something….something Draco couldn't quite put a finger on.

"My dear boy… Your leaves…"

"Yes?" Draco yawned. He hated Divination and only took it upon his mother's insistence. Narcissa Malfoy loved Divination when she was a student at Hogwarts and had insisted that Draco take it up in N.E.W.T. levels. She had gushed on and on about how she knew Draco would be a natural at Divination, just like she was, until finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and had agreed to take the subject. Natural… Hah!

"They spell out love in your near future…"

Draco almost choked on that. But Trelawney either did not notice, or did not care. She continued in a soft, raspy voice.

"A love so strong that it can weather the storms. A love so powerful that your knees buckle with its weight. And a love so fierce that you can have no choice but to give your heart freely and completely, regardless of the consequences." Trelawney said with such fervor that Draco questioned the woman's sanity. Of course, he had done that so many times and was beginning to think he was right (that she was insane) so really, what else was new?

Draco quirked an eyebrow. Crazy old hag. Probably doesn't know what she's rambling about. This is exactly why I hate Divination.

But the next thing she said caught Draco's attention.

"But you will fall in love with the wrong person and she will break your heart."


Hello there. If you're reading this right now, you've probably already finished the chapter. Congratulations and I do hope you like it :)

Anyway, I've decided to try and put my author's ramblings here in the end of the chapter.

Sooo… I've just finished with my finals and will be working on my thesis this Sunday and it's finally Christmas break and I just had to post this.

I know this chapter is quite short and I apologize. I shall be updating soon. :D

Ohhh, anddd I'd like to say thank you to those who reviewed. :) I appreciated them very much and I'd sure love to see more of them :)

And by the way, just a little reminder, Draco and Ashley are in their seventh year, not sixth. I changed the information at the beginning, so yeah. :)

So anyway, I'll stop talking now so you can go ahead and leave me a review, yes? :D