Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros. This fan- fiction is here purely for enjoyment and no money is being made from it.

A/N: Hello everybody! Sorry this took the longest time, but I kind of got side-tracked and had a lack of inspiration for this chapter, but here it is! *beams* Anyway, happy reading.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ginny needed to go to the toilet badly, and so she did, hurtling towards the girls' bathrooms. She sprinted up staircase after staircase diligently avoiding those hazardous trick stairs- she did not want her leg sinking like quick sand through a step in this crucial situation. Sometimes nature just called!

 As she made her around a corner, she careered headfirst into a solid mass and brought herself and it down with her. She landed on top of a body and was sprawled on the ground in a position she clearly did not want to be seen in, in public. It would have whipped the rumour mill of Hogwarts into frenzy.

"Watch where you're going Weasely," grunted the boy, through clenched teeth. His platinum blonde hair obscured his eyes and he brusquely pushed the strands away from his face. Ginny flushed darkly and hastily got up, her red hair coming loose from her braid.

 "Shut up Malfoy!" she replied defiantly, holding her head high and thrusting her chin more outward than necessary. Incessant anger raged through her eyes and she placed her hands on her hips, in a similar fashion to that of her dear mother. "It's not as if I wanted to end up on top of you, don't flatter yourself."

Draco smirked. "I know that I'm hard to resist, but please restrain yourself in the future. If your brother saw this little tryst he'd probably have a seizure and die, though that would be something to rejoice about."

Ginny stood stock-still, glowering at the boy who had made it his mission to make all the Gryffindors' lives a living hell. Her hands clenched themselves into fists and her escapade to the toilet was long forgotten. "My brother is none of your damn business," she intoned, glaring at Draco Malfoy who was leaning on the banister of the staircase. Pure, unadulterated hatred seared through her veins and she felt compelled to cause grievous bodily harm to the pathetic git that stood nonchalantly in front of her. "You know what? You're not worth my time." She attempted to push past him but he blocked off her path; loathing blazed in his eyes as he locked glances with her. Both didn't drop their gaze and Ginny drew herself up to her full height.

"Going somewhere?" he demanded, putting his hands in his pockets and propping his elbow up against the railing leisurely, providing a barrier between Ginny and the stairwell.

"As a matter of fact I was," Ginny, answered back, keeping a level head unlike Ron would have done in a similar situation. "So if you'd please kindly move or I'll Bat-Bogey you to hell and back." Her fingers slowly enclosed around her wand, her knuckles were white from clasping it, and she struck up a predatory stance.

The smirk vanished from his face but he stood his ground looking Ginny up and down as if she had grown multiple heads. Ginny regarded him contemptuously. "What do you need instructions in black and white writing!?" she exploded, earning aghast looks from people passing by but Ginny was beyond caring. "Move aside Malfoy or I swear I will make you rue the day your mother ever gave birth to a moron like you." Her eyes narrowed as she took a step towards him, her wand raised and ready to strike. A flicker of fear darted across his eyes but was soon replaced with malevolence.

"Since we're on the topic of mothers," he said silkily, lifting his own wand up. "Why don't we talk about your mother: the ugly, old frump of a woman who has more children that she can afford and is a poor excuse for a witch? Not the kind of person I would idolize." He clucked his tongue, knowing he'd touched a nerve. And he had.

Ginny lunged, sending the Bat-Bogey hex flying at him. He swiveled to shield himself but he could not deflect the spell. The corridor watched as his bogies swelled to the size of large over-grown bats; sprouted wings the size of dinner plates; and proceeded to assault Draco's face. Girls shrieked as some of the 'unidentified-flying-objects' escaped and were weaving in and out of the crowd of their own accord. Draco clamped his hands over his face, trying to stem the ambush but tripped over his feet and came crashing to the floor. Suddenly his hand shot out and grasped Ginny's ankle. Caught completely off guard, she swayed and crumpled to the floor, whimpering as his strong hold dug into her flesh.

"Weasley, you're going to pay for this!" he snarled, dragging her leg towards him. Ginny was knocked off balance and they both thundered down the stairs, thudding against the curves of the winding staircase. Ginny and Draco were flung off the last step and crumpled into a heap near the foot of the stairs. Draco and Ginny were an intangible knot of arms and legs looking completely ludicrous in the middle of the corridor.

"Well, well Weasley," he purred sarcastically. "I'm impressed. Who ever knew you were such a bad girl?"

"Ugh, in your dreams Malfoy," she grimaced, ungracefully picking herself up from the floor. The sudden need for her to find a toilet, rushed back to her and there in front of her was the door to the girls' bathroom, shining like a beacon of hope in her mind's eye. Rushing forward she wrenched open the door and bolted to the nearest cubicle.

One thing was for sure, falling down a staircase with none other than Draco Malfoy was not her idea of a good time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The kiss deepened and an agile tongue gently parted her lips and massaged Hermione's own. She felt strong hands caress her face as if it were fragile and made of glass; and her she felt her pulse rate fly faster than a runaway train speeding across the tracks. Her subconscious was telling her that this was wrong but something inside made her feel that this was right. Nobody had ever kissed her like this before and she wanted it to last forever.

Suddenly a shrill shriek pierced through the air and Hermione felt her mystery man pull away abruptly. Hermione opened her eyes to see what all the cacophony was about and gasped. Her Romeo's identity had been revealed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Severus I need this match," said Lucius testily, observing the Gryffindor table with contempt etched in his face.

"Lucius I hardly think you need my help in that matter," replied Severus coolly. He too turned to the Gryffindor table and sent a steely glance towards the group that had the audacity to call themselves the Marauders.

Lucius took a swig of pumpkin juice from his goblet, allowing the liquid to effervesce down his throat. "Do you think I would have asked for it if I didn't need your help? Besides, you owe me a favour."

Severus raised an eyebrow quizzically. "What do you propose I do then?"

Lucius wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glanced around for eavesdroppers. Finding none, he turned back to Severus. "I want you to sabotage the Gryffindor side; do it subtly. Get rid of their star players," he spat.

"And how am I supposed to execute that Lucius? By all means, it is no mean feat to attempt or even carry out, and it is riddled with risks and implications," demanded Severus, his face becoming gaunter by the monosyllable.

"You're Severus Snape," replied Lucius nonchalantly. "You'll think of something, I do not take you to be a complete fool." He turned away to stare lewdly at a huddle of seventh year Ravenclaw girls who had just sauntered into the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"SIRIUS!"

A shell-shocked Celia stood at the foot of the stairs quivering with shock her face chalk-white and drawn. The look on her face registered disbelief as her eyes roamed to where Hermione was seated.

Sirius hastily let go of Hermione's shoulders staggering backwards with a startled expression on his face. He stood there mouthing wordlessly looking like a fish out of water. All three figures stood silently still as if stunned until Celia turned on her heel and fled back up the stairs; silent tears of rage streaming down her cheeks; and her black robes billowing and swirling behind her. Hermione could hear her shrieks of disgust reverberate all the way to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Aw-co-aw-Celia-wait don't go!" bellowed Sirius and without a backward glance he charged after her, elbowing his way desperately through the developing crowd with great gusto. Hermione felt thousands of eyes bore into her back as she turned to her food, feeling an odd tingling numbness spread throughout her body. Why had Sirius kissed her? And why had she let him? Her head was teeming with unanswered questions and confusion and resentment was starting to seep in.

She glanced up, her appetite diminishing by the second. She caught Bellatrix's eye across the hall, who was smirking derisively with some willowy Slytherin girls. "Trouble in paradise?" drawled Bellatrix, not troubling to keep her voice down, as the hordes surrounding her snickered cruelly. Hermione looked away, anger coursing through her veins and her heart hammering again her chest. Glaring at the green peas who seemed to have no problems in the world, she speared them with her fork and gave them a sour look. She felt like a flower- once proud and triumphant unfurling its petals towards the sun; now wilting, its stem buckling and drooping.

A cheerful voice broke through Hermione's reverie. "Well hello, sorry I took so long," chirped Ginny sitting down and reaching for the stack of roast potatoes.

"That's ok," rasped Hermione in a hollow voice that was not characteristically hers. She did not have the mind or the incentive to talk just yet. Her brain seemed to have slammed the breaks and called an early work-lunch.

Ginny gave her an odd look, her eyebrows raised in blatant curiosity. "Why so glum? Did something happen when I was gone?"

Hermione was sullen for a moment before answering. "Oh nothing," she cried in a surly manner. "Unless of course you count Sirius kissing me and then running after Celia- who saw everything- at the drop of a hat. Other than that everything's fine." She finished with a bitter laugh a scorn unfurling across her face.

Ginny's eyes widened but she looked at her sympathetically and set down the pepper grinder she was holding. "Oh don't worry," she said consolingly. "It'll all blow over soon, they'll sort it out."

Hermione was not convinced. "Sure it will. Honestly, I don't know why he did it, and that's what confuses me and the worst thing is that I let him and I enjoyed it."

Ginny opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it again. Suddenly Remus and Draco traipsed into the hall, Remus rubbing his hands together expectantly as he surveyed the spread before him on the table. Honestly, what was with men and their obsession with food?

"Wotcher everyone!" beamed Remus sitting down next to Ginny. Hermione curtly nodded while Ginny smiled pleasantly at Remus. Hermione noticed something tauten in Ginny's face as Draco sat down opposite her and it seemed that both of them were purposely averting their eyes.

"Pass the bread-rolls please Hermione," ordered Draco, holding out his hand regally.

Hermione was taken aback. "Um, Ginny's closer to it, why don't you ask her?"

Draco held his nose in the air and ignored her statement. "Fine, if you won't get it, I'll get it myself," he spat, causing Remus to jump. Draco roughly pulled the basket towards him and loftily tossed two rolls onto his plate. Ginny regarded him coolly before turning back to her food. The atmosphere was tense for a while before a smug smile stretched across Remus's face. He looked knowingly at Ginny who flushed slightly and haphazardly began to cut up her pie. Hermione furrowed her brow wanting to know exactly what was going on and was about to inquire as to why when Ginny shot her an 'I'll-tell-you-later-look.'

Puzzled Hermione went back to sulking while Remus chatted animatedly about his Arithmancy lesson. After a while, she felt claustrophobic and politely excused herself from the table. Her mind was a whirlwind of fantastic proportions threatening to engulf her entire being.

 Ginny hurried behind her, trying to keep up with Hermione's strides. A comfortable silence fell between them as they made their way up to the Gryffindor common room and Ginny squeezed Hermione's hand as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who had donned a studded tiara today.

"It's going to be ok," reassured Ginny as the portrait-hole swung open.

"I sure hope so," Hermione sighed as her heart slowly sank with each step and she hoped for a quick, swift confrontation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I'm sorry I'm leaving it there guys but I'll try to get the next chapter up in a couple of days. I'm already working on it and I know some of you had expected a long chapter but I've just had a total lapse of inspiration for this whole story and hope to get some more soon. Please read and review and I truly am sorry for keeping it this long. Thank you for the immense support I've been getting, it's been truly overwhelming for my first fanfiction and I want to thank you all for making it a worthwhile experience for me. I will now stop rambling! *grins*

This chapter was not beta-read so if there are mistakes, feel free to point them out. Also I'm going to delete some of the author notes in the story so don't think I've deleted the chapters because I haven't.

CeLeStIaL BeInG