Disclaimer: We all know I don't own Harry Potter...come on don't act so surprised, you knew this was coming...


"Do I have to?" My repetitive groans were muffled due to my face being firmly planted against my pillow.

It was our first day back to classes after the break, and yes while I loved doing magic and all the sort, me and mornings just didn't mix impeccably well.

"Yes Christina, I've given you an extra ten minutes! At this rate we'll probably already miss breakfast," Hermione reminded me sharply. Her expression softened after, however. "I promise that you can have the best nap of your life during your free period. I'll even tuck you in and everything," she goaded.

"You'll even tuck me in?" I repeated sarcastically, though I couldn't say the prospect wasn't amusing. "Well then, Hermione. You've made me an offer I just can't refuse." Though my body protested strongly, I willed myself out of my bed and practically sleep-walked into the bathroom to freshen up.

Five minutes later I reappeared, dressed in my uniform – which was decidedly unkempt looking, like I had just thrown it on...but that's kind of what I did so...

"Christina, your hair is up!" Hermione observed with mild surprise.

The burst of self-consciousness I felt after hearing that was enough to wake me up slightly. I hadn't even give it a second thought until now. "Uh, yeah, it is. Is it...okay?" I asked, patting it worriedly.

"Yes, of course. I was just surprised. You never wear your hair up," Hermione replied.

She was right – I never did. I always thought that I had too round of a jaw line, and I compensated with having my hair down – always. It became a habit now, and I usually never went anywhere unless my hair was loose around my shoulders – I couldn't feel comfortable with it any other way.

But honestly this morning I was too tired to even care about a silly matter such as hair.

If we were talking about sleep, well, that was another matter altogether. My bed looked practically delicious right now.

"I know I may not look my best," I stammered quietly, stifling a yawn, "But I can't bring myself to care. It's just for today."

Hermione sighed deeply, "Christina, you look fine. I was not insulting you. I told you, I was surprised. Imagine if I walked out of the bathroom with shiny straight red hair, and how different I would look," she offered as a possible scenario.

I mentally pictured it and scrunched up my nose. "I see now, Herms. That would be quite a change," I murmured, glancing over at her wild brown curls. "I've just barely gotten used to you now, don't go changing on me," I teased.

"Your humor is coming back, you must be waking up," Hermione cracked a smile.

I grabbed my book bag and started to descend the dormitory stairs. "Talk to me after I've had my customary morning pumpkin juice – I'll be even better then."


The Great Hall was filled to the brim with lifeless and dull energy. Everyone seemed to be feeling the morning-after-break effects that I was.

Actually, the only student who seemed to be exempt from this was Hermione...big surprise there.

Hermione and I found our seats at the Gryffindor table next to Harry and Ron.

At this moment in time, they were both leaning against each other, looking to be in a state of light sleep.

"Should you wake them, or should I?" Hermione asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow.

I put up a hand to stop her, glaring at the boys enviously. "Let them sleep, those lucky lads. Off in the dream world, peaceful and quiet. No work...no mornings...the world could be beautiful and the skies could be filled with song...they could even have bright and shiny-"

"Christina you're frightening me. Please drink your pumpkin juice," Hermione blinked a few times before adding as an afterthought. "You seem to be spending too much time with Luna..."

"She's definitely got a nice view on the world, you have to admit," I mumbled, pouring myself a glass of juice. I downed it in one swing. "That's the stuff! I feel like a million galleons."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Hermione asked curiously.

I merely raised an eyebrow.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned sharply to Harry and Ron. "Wake up boys!"

Harry and Ron each shot their heads up, rubbing their eyes tiredly.

"Where am I?" Ron asked, looking around, apparently still in a dream state.

"Merlin – you must've been out of it. You're in the Great Hall, buddy. Get ready for a day full of classes," I hated to be the bearer of bad news.

Ron frowned. "You couldn't have just let me sleep?" he mumbled.

"Oi, if I have to be awake, so do you," I pointed out decidedly. "It's a rule."

"A rule?" Harry repeated tiredly. "Why haven't I heard of these rules before?"

I gave an expression of false shock. "What? I tell you the rules all the time!"

"And for Merlin's sake, what are some of these rules?" Harry asked, amusement playing behind his thick, sleepy tone.

I put a finger to my chin, "Hm. If you have food you have to share it with me."

Ron seemed defensive, "Any specific food?"

"Good food," I clarified.

"Good food," Harry was holding back a laugh. "Any other rules we should know about?"

"You cannot fly the Ford Anglia while I'm in the car with you," I reminded.

"Knew that," Ron snickered.

"Fine, um...you can't use the word 'bloody' more than ten times a day," I smirked.

"Well that's bloody-" Ron cut himself off and gave me a scowl. "I don't like these rules."

"Well they're rules, you're not supposed to like them, you're just supposed to follow them," I said innocently.

There was a moment of silence before all my friends cracked up, even some of the surrounding Gryffindors who were listening to our conversation started to chuckle.

"Christina," Harry gasped out between laughs. "Did you just hear yourself?"

"When have you ever followed the rules?" Ron added.

"Well I..." I began to stammer defensively.

"I think it's a rule of yours to break every rule set before you," Hermione couldn't help but input her own comment.

I glared at my friends mutinously. "Whatever," Was the best response I could come up with. "Well, I'm going to class."

I waved off my friend's protests as I exited the Great Hall. I knew it was all good fun, but I was still annoyed.

I'm not that much of a rule-breaker, am I? Well what about Harry! He's the same way, even worse!

I shook my head, still trying to tell myself that I followed the rules...well, just the ones that made sense, anyway...or, the ones that made sense to me...

Before I could ponder any further on this subject, I felt a strong grasp on my left arm, and quickly stumbled into a small alcove.

I already knew who it was before I looked. It was my boyfriend's telltale sign.

Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.

Would I ever get used to say that? Especially when its meaning was tied to-

"Hello," Draco murmured softly, looking at me with ill-concealed affection.

"Hello to you too," I smiled brightly, feeling energy sweep over me.

Sleep? Sleep? How could I have ever wanted sleep? I'm here now with Draco and sleeping in the last thing on my mind...

"How are you, this morning?" Draco obviously couldn't read my mind, or body language, or he purposely overlooked my pretty obvious signals.

I didn't even get a hello kiss yet, but I tried to stop myself from feeling too deprived. I guess this was what love did to you – wait, what, love?

Well, given that I had kind of come to realize that I was starting to develop love-like feelings for Draco...it was a whole other story to plainly admit it. And a whole other scenario to admit it to him.

No I wasn't ready – not yet, anyway.

So I decided on a relatively casual answer. "Sleepy, but good. And yourself?"

Draco looked amused. "Rather sleepy myself, I must admit. You did keep me pretty late at the Astronomy Tower last night..."

I flashed him a cheeky smirk, "If I can recall correctly, you were the one who suggested to stay for 'a little while longer'," I raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't get enough of me, could you?"

"Perhaps not," Draco said it in a way that seemed to be a revelation to himself as well. I didn't pursue that line of questioning. In fact, I didn't have time to say anything at all because Draco spoke again, "You look...different," he commented, looking me over briefly.

I bit my lip, "Oh yes, it's the post Draco-Astronomy Tower glow. Can't you tell?" I teased flirtatiously.

Draco knitted his eyebrows together, "Oh no, I noticed that when you walked into the Great Hall this morning," He waved a hand dismissively. Before I could protest, however, he continued, "But now that I'm seeing you up close, there is something different."

"Are you quite sure?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant and confident, but even I could detect a flicker of uncertainty in my voice.

Draco seemed to hear it as well, as he briefly met my eyes concernedly before going back to his search. After a few more moments the pieces seemed to click for him, and a knowing, triumph look graced his eyes. "I know," he began, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your hair is up."

I was tempted, oh so tempted, to let out an exasperated breath.

Yes, so my hair was up. I'd been getting strange looks since I walked into the Great Hall. Was it really that big a difference? And more importantly, that big a deal?

"You caught me," I mumbled sarcastically, trying not to hint at my irritation.

"It's different," Draco murmured distractedly, and I could tell that he was studying me intently. I felt like shying away from his gaze, but I didn't. I stood firm.

"Well, good different or bad different?" I asked the practically given question.

I honestly didn't care what his answer was, or anyone else's for that matter. It was too late to put my hair down now; it would probably be all greasy and messy anyway. If I was going to have to deal with my hair up, then so would the world.

And that was that.

Draco surprised me, however, when I felt one of his hands reach up and finger the exposed skin of my neck. I had to fight the urge to close my eyes as he calloused yet soft fingers traveled the expanse of my neck slowly, before returning to its original starting point and repeating the motion again.

At one point his fingertips were so lightly touching me it almost tickled...but I stifled my giggle, not wanting to break whatever reverie Draco was in. I rather liked it at the moment.

"You look like Christina," Draco finally whispered, like that answer solved my question and any more I would throw his way.

"I guess that's good considering I am Christina," I trailed off, beginning to ramble.

I usually never got nervous or jittery in these types of situations, but right now I honestly couldn't fight it.

Draco continued like he hadn't heard what I said, or purposely glossed over it, "This makes it a whole lot easier to kiss your neck, one of my favorite places to kiss," Draco murmured, leaning in like he was about to taste the forbidden fruit. He was right; he did seem to spend a lot of time on my neck when we kissed. "No hair in the way...and your smooth pale skin in all its glory..."

Okay, I must be in a dream. Draco had never talked to me like this before.

But when I felt Draco's all too real lips attach to the area just above my collar bone, I knew I wasn't dreaming.

I let out a gasping moan, my hands twitching restlessly at my sides, itching to weave into his hair. But glancing down at the perfectly styled platinum locks, I didn't want to ruin it, so I refrained. Though it was a struggle.

Draco glided over my neck with such swiftness that it almost felt like a phantom kind of sensation. Feeling it was there without really being there at all.

His lips landed just beneath my earlobe. Every time he let out a breath, I could feel the hot air span across my neck, eliciting goosebumps across my body. Draco's mouth opened wider as he continued to travel down, and I could feel a trail of wetness that made me shiver when a breeze of wind came.

Unexpectedly Draco bit down on the skin covering my jugular, and it make me snap back into my senses and into action – perhaps his desired response.

Feeling all my Gryffindor courage and Christina Miro fearlessness return tenfold, I almost savagely gripped Draco's shoulders and shoved his body into mine.

Draco made a low sound of surprise which was interrupted by my lips crashing down on his. But Draco didn't seem to mind at all, in fact he began to kiss back with equal, if not more, fervor.

My tongue traced his bottom lip determinedly, before slipping into his mouth and hungrily pressing against his own tongue.

Draco didn't seem to know what to do with this hands first, at one point they were cupping my jaw, and the next they were digging into my hips, firmly and purposely.

I couldn't get enough – I needed more.

The alcove suddenly seemed too small – too much for all of this passion, this energy.

I lifted my hips without any hint of my earlier nervousness. Our groins connected rather harshly, but our low growls told me that the experience wasn't unpleasant.

Draco began to roll his hips to my rhythm, a seemingly unconscious act.

Our kisses grew stronger, deeper. Instead of long, drawn out caresses our mouths were now meeting with short, quick dips, laced with hunger and arousal.

We both knew that it couldn't go on for much longer – anybody could walk by at any moment, and we had class to get to. Plus, we were in an alcove.

But neither of us seemed to care at the moment.

"We're going to be late for class," I managed once I pulled away from Draco's bruised lips, taking in a much needed breath of air.

Draco, however, didn't seem to need the luxury of breathing as he dove straight down for my neck again, lavishing it with small nips followed by soothing openmouthed kisses.

"When have – you cared – about that – before?" The sentence slipped out of Draco's working mouth in spurts, and I could barely understand him as his mouth continued its attention on my neck.

"You gotta start caring sometime," I murmured, swallowing a loud groan as Draco bit down on a particularly sweet spot.

"I wish we were in a more private area," Draco relayed, glancing up at me quickly. "I love to hear you."

I suppose I should've blushed or looked away sheepishly – but I didn't.

In a moment of pure confidence, I pressed my hand against Draco's solid abdomen, before moving lower until my palm was pressed against the almost obvious tent in his trousers.

Draco gasped and practically whimpered – a sound I'd never heard him make before.

Ooh yes, I could definitely have fun with this...

I leaned in closely to him, pressing my mouth directly up against his ear. "I like hearing you too," I whispered, pressing my palm down a bit harder. I could hear his breathing quicken, and I felt his heart rate increase against my own chest.

After taking a couple deep breaths, I pulled away and prepared to walk out of the alcove. I couldn't say I was surprised when I felt two hands grab onto my shoulders.

"Christina, Christina, you silly girl," Draco shook his head, and somehow his words were laced with seduction, making my knees tremble and my lower body quiver. "You have no idea of the magic you hold."

I couldn't help but smirk slightly, "Well duh – I'm a witch."

Draco wasn't deterred, "That wasn't what I meant, and you know it." He ducked in for another kiss, but I reluctantly dodged it.

Merlin did I want to kiss him again, but I was going to be late for Transfiguration.

"We need to get to class," I reminded him earnestly, though my heart wasn't really in it.

Draco let out an annoyed sigh, "Can't we lose ourselves in each other for a bit more? Reality doesn't seem as nice after that."

I almost gave in – almost. But I was strong, and despite my intense desires, I couldn't let lust drive my decisions. I needed to get to class, we both did.

"Later," I said, and it was a promise as much as a statement.

After a couple moments Draco gave in, "Later?" he repeated, looking for affirmation.

I nodded surely, "Yes. Now go – I'll see you in Potions." I leaned in to give him a quick goodbye kiss, but as I saw his arms going up to pull me in closer I broke away. "Ah ah ah, don't be naughty," I teased.

"I like naughty," Draco admitted in that low voice that was like a turn on switch for my arousal.

"That's good to know – for future references and all," I nodded. "Now goodbye for real. Catch you next period, Malfoy."

I escaped from the alcove with no more interruptions. I was long gone by the time Draco replied.

"Later, Christina."


Transfiguration went by rather quickly, and I was pretty sure it was because I spent half the class in the back asleep. I couldn't help it, my eyes seemed to drift closed at the own accord.

Once the bell rang for next class, I grabbed my things and hurried to the dungeons for Potions with Slughorn. Now there was a professor I didn't really miss all that much. On the top of that list, however, would be the obvious choice of Snape.

No, he wasn't dethroned as the most dismal professor yet.

I arrived in the classroom and saw the whole class there already. I smiled at Hermione, Ron, and Harry before taking my place at my station with Draco.

We both avoided outright eye contact, but from the corner of my eye I could see him glancing at me every so often, and we shared a small smirk. Sometimes secrets were fun...for a little while.

"Hello class, and welcome back from break. I trust you all enjoyed yourselves?" Slughorn asked, but got no response.

I figured it was one of the those things every teacher did, throw out rhetorical and casual questions knowing full well they were likely to go unanswered. Perhaps they did it out of politeness, but who knows?

"Ah – today we're going to jump right into the lesson. We're going to be making Draught of Living Death," Slughorn explained excitedly. "And this is going to be individually, so I hope each of your brought your own cauldron."

I automatically reached into my bag and pulled out my cauldron, as did everyone.

"And..." Slughorn began again. "For the student who makes the best batch of this draught...they will receive this." Slughorn reached down and pulled up a small golden contained with clear liquid inside.

"What is it, professor?" Lavender raised her hand and asked.

"This, class, is a curious little potion known as Felix Felices," Slughorn replied. "But it is more commonly referred to as-"

"Liquid Luck," Hermione spoke quickly.

"Yes Ms. Granger," Slughorn nodded, "Liquid Luck. Desperately tricky to make and disastrous should you get it wrong. With one sip, you'll find that all your endeavors succeed. At least until the effects wear off."

I was fascinated by that little potion, but when I turned to see Draco's reaction, a tight knot in my stomach began to form.

He looked awed and hopeful, and I suddenly knew that with that potion in his clutches, it would only do more harm than good. I had yet to figure out what he was up to, but I knew that I couldn't let him get that potion.

With this mindset, I promised myself that no matter what, I wouldn't let his potion succeed. I had to do whatever it takes.

Once Draco broke his stupor and looked to me, his entire demeanor changed back into the expressionless mask I knew intimately.

"So – ah, like I brought up before. This is what I offer each one of you, one tiny vial of Liquid Luck to the student that in the hour that remains manages to brew an acceptable Draught of Living Death. Recipes for which can be found on page ten of your books. Good luck to you all."

Each student opened their Potions books and began.

I checked over the ingredients swiftly. I had to focus on many things right now, including what I was doing and what Draco was doing.

Looking back down at my book, I glanced at the instructions.

1. Cut up the Sopophorous bean

2. Pour in 250 fl. oz. of water and add 5 oz. of African sea salt to the beaker. Set the beaker aside after all the water has been added. Be very careful not to shake or move the beaker now.

3. Leave the water and salt to rest for five minutes.

4. Slowly pour all the water into the cauldron.

5. With your left hand use the graduated cylinder to obtain 40 . of essence of wormwood.

6. With your right hand hold the cauldron at a slight angle and pour ten drops (20 .) of essence of wormwood.

7. Now with your left hand hold the cauldron at a slightly different angle and pour another ten drops of wormwood essence.

8. Chop three Valerian roots into small squared pieces. After cutting place it in a beaker with water. Leave it to settle for five minutes. Your potion should now be resembling a smooth blackcurrant-colored liquid.

9. Carefully pour the Sopophorous bean's juice into the cauldron

10. Add seven drops of the reduced liquid from the beaker; make sure there are no traces or fragments of Valerian root.

11. Stir the potion ten times clockwise; your potion should now be turning a light shade of lilac.

12. With your right hand stir the potion counterclockwise until the potion turns as clear as water; every stir should take approximately two and a half seconds.

13. Slowly put in seven square pieces of Valerian root.

14. Stir the potion ten times counterclockwise.

15. Add one hundred and fifty . of powdered root of asphodel.

16. Hold the cauldron with your right hand; with your left hand gently stir the potion ten times counterclockwise and eight times clockwise.

17. Leave the potion to settle for two and a half minutes.

18. Add one small piece of Valerian root.

19. Your potion should turn to a pale pink color; the preparation is now complete

Okay – simple enough.

Not really.

I couldn't panic, I had to remain calm.

First things first – I had to get all the ingredients.

I was one of the last ones to get the ingredients, followed only by Draco. As I gathered the ingredients in my arms, Draco did the same, glancing at me every so often.

"You look troubled, dear Christina," Draco observed, grabbing the Valerian root from the shelf.

"Troubled – what – me – no –psh," I said that all too quickly. "If there was an award for the least troubled person right now, it would go to me," I continued, babbling. "If we were in those muggle Olympics, I would take the gold medal in the 'least troubled' category. Ha..ha..." I trailed off, chuckling nervously, before flashing Draco an innocent grin.

Draco looked at me as if I had just turned into Fluffy, the three headed dog. "Okay Miro," Was all he ended up saying, but I was sure he was thinking a bit more.

On our way out of the closet, I 'accidentally' knocked into him, and a couple of his ingredients crashed to the ground, now useless.

"Malfoy – I'm sorry!" I said, lacing my voice with sincerity.

Slughorn glanced over to see what the noise was, but once he caught sight of me he turned away knowingly.

Draco glanced at me with a guarded expression for a moment. "Whatever, Miro," he mumbled, leaning down to pick up his stuff. I knew he wasn't too mad, but he had to act the part for the students in the class who were watching.

I quickly got back to my station and placed all the ingredients in front of me.

So now what?

I decided to start with my draught so that I didn't look too suspicious.

Firstly I had to...I checked my book...cut up the Sopophorous bean. I grabbed one of the beans and lifted my knife. As I tried to cut into it, the bean literally jumped away.

I glared at it, becoming increasingly annoyed. Trying again, the bean went soaring off my desk and managed to hit Slughorn in the forehead. He stared at me pitifully before turning away to check on another student's progress.

Merlin, end this bad luck. I really don't deserve it.

"Having trouble, Miro?" Draco's voice was an equal touch of amusement and sarcasm.

"No," I said through gritted teeth. "Mind your own business, Malfoy."

"As you wish," Draco chuckled before getting to his concoction. He really looked determined – this wasn't good.

When he tried to cut up his Sopophorous bean, he understood why I was having so much trouble.

"Having trouble, Malfoy?" I couldn't help but comment sarcastically.

Draco barely glanced at me; he was too busy trying to cut his bean into oblivion.

While he was so focused on the bean, I inconspicuously took his Valerian roots and traded them with another similar root I found on the shelf. I hoped to Merlin he wouldn't notice the difference – they were quite alike.

Once I had finished five steps of the draught, I checked back in with Draco.

He was looking at his cauldron with firm intent, carefully adding each ingredient. When he was about to add in the essence of wormwood, I accidentally tripped into him, causing way more of the ingredient to fall into the cauldron.

"Miro!" he called out sharply, distress obvious in his tone. For a moment I felt bad – he really wanted this. But then I remembered the larger goal and steeled my resolve again.

"I'm so sorry Malfoy," I whispered, trying to act horrified. "I didn't mean to, I swear it."

Draco looked at me with annoyance, and I could tell he was trying to reign in his temper. He didn't reply to me, he only turned back around and tried to fix the damage done to his draught.

Sorry Draco, by the time I'm through with you it will be unfixable.

We continued to work in silence until I saw another opportunity for disaster.

Draco had his powdered root of asphodel all measured and lined up on the desk beside me. With a seemingly innocent brush of my arm, I sent the ingredient to the ground.

"Merlin, Malfoy!" I shrieked quietly. "I don't know what's wrong with me today!"

Draco's expression could kill. Me, specifically. "Miro, I don't know what you're-"

"Is everything alright over here?" Slughorn hurried over, obviously seeing the commotion.

"I'm sorry, professor. It's me. I'm rather klutzy today. I promise I will be more careful," I pledged sincerely. I hoped Slughorn bought it – and Draco too.

"Yes very well," Slughorn murmured indifferently. "You would do well to, Ms. Miro."

I nodded, "Yes, indeed."

When Slughorn walked away Draco still pinned me down with his stare. I think we both knew that his potion was not salvageable at this point.

Mission accomplished.

Merlin, Draco looked murderous.

Once everyone in the class finished their draughts, Slughorn came around to check.

When he went by our station, he looked highly disappointed with Draco's draught, but gave me a begrudging 'well done'. Certainly not the best, but hey, at least he didn't look at me with pity and sorrow and tell me I was the worst student he ever had...which was what I was expecting.

Hermione had a very well done draught, but the biggest surprise was when Slughorn looked at Harry's cauldron with glee. He quickly dropped a small leaf into the cauldron and watched as it completely disintegrated.

"Very well done! I daresay one drop would kill us all," Slughorn praised. "I believe you are the winner, dear boy."

We all watched as Harry took the Liquid Luck from Slughorn carefully.

"Use it well," Slughorn warned, and Harry nodded stiffly.

The bell rang for class to be dismissed and I hurriedly gathered my books. Draco was already heading out, but before he left he cut me one last scary look.

I might've saved the world from Draco's evil plans, but I didn't know how safe I was.


A/N: Finally an update, yay! Anyway I've been super busy but I just found a little bit of time to get this update out. Hope you all enjoyed the bit of romance and humor. And I wonder what's going to happen next... Thank you to every reviewer, you honestly don't know how much you mean to me.

Oh and for The Walking Dead fans, my reference in the last chapter was the line, "I'm doing stuff, Herms. Things!" It's become a pretty popular meme in the fandom haha.

Now for the question...many of the responses I got were incredibly different. Some for Sirius, some Luna, Fred, Draco...all very good characters.

For myself, I was always caught between Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy, and *gasp* Tom Riddle! I think each character has an amazingly detailed and crafted backstory, and that's what draws me in. They are such well created characters, and I can relate to each. Well, maybe not Tom Riddle so much on the 'I'm going to kill all who oppose me', but in other ways, yes. Thank you all for sharing your answers with me.

Next question: What is your favorite HP book? And what is your favorite HP movie? Why?

Thanks to all of you again!