Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but my OC's are mine.


Chapter Twenty-Two

"I can't believe you punched him," Sally recalled on Boxing Day when she met up with Ira in the common room. "You always talked about it, and you finally did it! I almost can't believe that you did it."

"Neither can I," Ira said begrudgingly.

Although her night at the Yule Ball was uplifted by a kiss from Harry, she still felt a weight on her shoulders from the actual dance itself. It was her night to feel happy and carefree, but it was stolen right under her nose by Malfoy. He soiled her night by planting Neils as her date, making it appear like genuine interest when it was anything but. Ira would never forgive him for it.

Sally offered a consoling hand on Ira's arm. "Don't worry about it. Malfoy's a prat, and he deserves what's coming to him." She grinned. "So, what's your first move against him?"

Honestly, Ira hadn't gotten that far yet. Between the anger running through her veins and the sadness that swallowed her up and Harry's kiss the night before, Ira had little time to plot her next move. She did declare war on Malfoy, and she was still sticking to that plan. Her mind was just too jumbled to think straight.

The Great Hall was a mass of chatter when the two of them arrived at the Slytherin table that morning. Lily looked up from her bowl of porridge at the two girls, nearly gawking when she saw that Sally was sitting with them again.

"Hey," Ira greeted.

Lily frowned. "Hi."

Sally looked torn as she nervously grabbed a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

Ira figured the best thing to do was explain everything. And she did—except mentioning her kiss with Harry. When her spiel was over, Lily glanced over at Sally as if debating on taking her back in or not.

Ira chewed her food. "Lily…"

"Fine," Lily said. "You're forgiven. And if you ever do this again, I won't think twice before turning you into a squid and throwing you in the Great Lake."

Sally managed to smile at that, and in turn so did Ira. She had her friends back—well—except for one of them.

Ira's eyes moved down the table. There, she spotted Theo sitting next to Blaise and Daphne. Draco wasn't anywhere to be found. She frowned in thought, wondering where he was. He usually never skipped out on breakfast. He was probably sporting a good-looking bruise by now and was too scared to show his face in public.

Back to Theo: Ira missed him. She felt his absence, even if he did turn into a prat. Nothing could change the fact that Ira and Theo were close. All four of them were. They still didn't talk, and Ira felt something missing in their group—and it was him.

Lily made Ira snap back to reality. "…can't believe that happened. He's stupid."

"Hmm?" Ira hummed through her food.

"Malfoy. Are you even listening?" Lily shook her head. "I was saying he's stupid. He realized what he was missing out on last night and took it to the extreme."

Sally nodded. "Yeah. And what was with the part about your mother?"

Ira shrugged, unable to piece together what Draco meant when he called her mum a whore the night before. She always knew her mother to be a kind, dotting wife. It made no sense.

Sally sat back and scowled. "Well, what I do know is that if anyone spoke of my mother—especially after she's passed—I won't think twice before using a good stinging jinx on them. Or worse."

As Lily and Sally began to catch up with one another, Ira picked at her breakfast with her thoughts in a scramble. Her eyes moved to where Blaise and Theo sat, both alone without Draco there to join them. This caused Ira to peek around for the blond ferret, but she couldn't find him among the students in the Great Hall. That was a first.

When her eyes moved to the Gryffindor table, she saw Harry sitting with Hermione and Ron, looking in a much better mood than she. Then, she saw the twins messing around with their group of friends, and an idea popped into her head.

Ira didn't say anything and stood from the Slytherin table, approaching the Weasley twins that were in a fit of laughter.

"Boys?" Ira stood behind Lee Jordan, facing the twins that stopped laughing at once seeing her stand there.

"Our favorite Slytherin!" Fred cheered.

"What can we do for you?" George asked.

Ira slid into the seat next to Lee and smirked. "I need your help."


The first day of classes after break brought a harsher winter than they expected. Ira followed behind Lily and Sally to their Care of Magical Creatures class nearly shivering to death.

"Can't we have class inside?" Sally groaned while fiddling with the pink earmuffs over her ears. "I'm tired of the cold."

"I agree. The Skrewts probably don't like it either. Hagrid's probably had them frozen for us to defrost."

Ira laughed. "They breathe enough fire to defrost the whole class. I'm sure we won't have to worry about defrosting them."

"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," a woman with close cropped gray hair barked. She stood next to Hagrid's cabin with her prominent chin in the air, looking over each student that hustled through the snow.

Ron stood ahead of Ira along with the rest of Gryffindor house, speaking up upon seeing her. "Who're you? Where's Hagrid?"

That was a good question.

"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated from Ron's side.

"He is indisposed," Professor Grubbly-Plank said shortly.

Laughter started nearby, and Ira turned to see Draco's group laughing hysterically about something. Although Draco wasn't present, he'd been absent for his classes that day—much to Ira's surprise—so Blaise and Theo stepped in to start shenanigans with the Gryffindors.

"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank before striding off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. The class followed.

"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Never you mind," she said in an annoyed manner.

"I do mind, though," Harry said hotly. "What's up with him?"

Grubbly-Plank ignored him. She led the class to the edge of the forest where a beautiful unicorn stood tethered to a tree. Ira couldn't help but grow in awe at the sight. It was the first time she'd ever seen a unicorn. Except there was that time in first year…

"Boys keep back!" Professor Grubbly-Plank barked when a few boys approached. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it…"

Ira started first with her hand outstretched. The unicorn—stark white as the snow—nudged into Ira's palm affectionately.

"She likes you, Ira," Lily said as she brushed the unicorn's mane.

Ira smiled.

After classes that day, Ira met up with the Weasley twins in the library. She slammed a large book on the Dark Arts down in front of them, quickly skimming the pages to find what she needed.

Fred and George eyed her curiously when they saw the title, sharing a concerned look between the two of them.

"Erm, Ira?" Fred said, gaining her attention.

"Hmm?"

"The Dark Arts? I thought we were coming up with a prank," George reminded.

"We are. A dark one," Ira said mischievously. "Oh, don't give me that look. It'll be completely harmless."

The boys exchanged nervous glances when Ira went back to her reading.

Ira smirked. "You two know about joke boxes, right?"

"They're currently in the works," Fred said. "Why?"

Ira slid a finger across the page she read. "How would you feel about making a Dementor box?"

"Uh—"

"Hear me out. It's not an actual Dementor. It's just some spells and potions mixed into a box that conjures a fake one that doesn't actually harm anyone," Ira smiled. "It'll be fun. Harmless fun. Imagine the profit you could make off something like this. It'd be a hit."

As the boys mulled over her words, with galleon signs in their eyes, Ira took some notes on dark spells and potions. When she finished, the twins grinned while looking over her paperwork, already feeling their pockets getting heavy as the minutes ticked by.

Pretty soon, they made great progress. The only part they didn't have figured out was how they'd get the box in Malfoy's possession.

"I can always plant it in his dorm," Ira said thoughtfully, her hand hovering over the parchment she scribbled on.

"That involves you getting into his room in the first place, and girls aren't allowed in opposite sex dorms," Fred pointed out.

Ira evened their stares. "Like that ever stopped you boys before."

They stayed quiet.

"That's what I thought." Ira began collecting her materials. "I'll start on the potions tomorrow and let you know how it goes. If you two could find a sturdy box for me by the end of the week, that would be amazing, and add the Weasley twin touch to it."

Ira bid the boys a goodbye, then left the library.

As she flipped over the few papers in her hands, mulling over the work she'd gotten done in the past hour, she felt another presence behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, feeling her bones run cold suddenly despite the warmth radiating off the torches lighting the corridor. Nobody was there, however.

Ira returned to her pages and continued through the stone walls towards Gryffindor Tower.

Before she raised a foot to mount the stairways, all the torches around her went out, and the staircases paused in the air, the whole area becoming a standstill. Ira glanced around the darkness, seeing that she stood alone. Even the portraits had vanished, leaving blank frames on the walls.

Hair raised on her neck, goose pimples along her arms, Ira backed away from the staircase slowly, grabbing her wand from a pocket inside her robes.

"Hello?" Ira said aloud.

"Ira…" a sinister voice crawled over the stone, her name a bare whisper against the quiet. "Ira…"

It croaked louder, nearly begging her to come closer to where the sound resonated.

Ira swallowed and turned down a corridor. Her wand remained outstretched as the name got louder in her ears.

Someone grabbed her from behind, their hand latched onto her upper arm. They spun her around and that's when Ira met Hermione's face.

Everything went back to normal. Students passed them in the hallway and the torches were alight again.

"Ira? I've been calling your name, and you've just been ignoring me," Hermione said, removing her hand from Ira's arm. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ira shook her head. "I think so. You didn't see that, though?"

"See what?"

Ira sighed, "Never mind." She started walking again. "I was actually just about to go up to Gryffindor Tower to ask you a favor."

Hermione fell into step beside her. "Go ahead then."

"I need to borrow your potions kit for a project I'm working on."

Hermione gave her a curious look. "A project? Did we get something in Potions that I missed?"

Ira chuckled. "I highly doubt you'd miss anything, Hermione. It's nothing for class. It's something to do with my free time. Since I don't have quidditch this year, I need to do something that doesn't involve homework or studying. It's getting boring."

"Sure. I'll go to my dorm and grab it for you."

They walked up the moving staircases until they got to Gryffindor Tower. After Hermione used the password to get inside, the portrait swung forward and allowed them entry. Although it didn't go unnoticed that the Fat Lady side-eyed Ira the entire time.

The Gryffindor common room was partially empty with a few students studying in the corner and some playing a game of chess. Sitting in front of the fire, however, were Ron and Harry, who stared intently at the golden egg Harry had won in the first task.

Hermione turned to Ira. "I'll be down in a few."

When she was gone, Ira moved to the boys seated on the floor.

"Have you worked it out yet?" Ira asked, interrupting the boys' train of thought.

They looked up at her, and while Harry smiled, Ron looked annoyed

"Ira, what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

Ira took a seat in between them. "I'm grabbing something from Hermione. Anyway, the egg?"

"Nothing yet. Just a bunch of screeching," Harry said.

Ira pursed her lips, reaching out to touch the golden egg's hard exterior. The second she did, that familiar wave of uneasiness crept up on her.

She sat on the edge of a wooden dock, coughing up fits of water while people hurried to aid her. Harry knelt beside her, damp from what only Ira could only guess to be the lake sprawled in front of them. She shivered from the cold, her soaked clothes sticking to her pale body.

"You saved me," Ira said through chattering teeth. "Harry, you—"

And he cut her off with a kiss.

Ira spiraled back to reality, watching her two peers share worried glances with each other.

"What was that?" Ron asked, squinting to get a good look at Ira.

"What was what?" Ira asked casually, rising to her feet when she saw Hermione come down from the stairs. "Harry, try that with water. I think that has something to do with it."

Leaving Harry to mull over her advice, Ira grabbed the potions kit from Hermione's hands and left the Gryffindor common room to start her potions.

That following Saturday the lot of them went to Hogsmeade for a day of unwinding. Ira, Lily, and Sally went shopping at the stores in town before finishing their day off at the Three Broomsticks. Ira could feel vials of herbs and potions jingling around in her bag, knocking off of her right thigh with each step.

Sally toyed with the pearls around her neck she'd bought at a store in the village, eyes narrowing ever so slowly as they passed the pane windows of the Three Broomsticks.

"The ferret finally crawled out of that hole of his," Sally remarked, grabbing Lily and Ira's robes to stop them from entering.

Lily shrugged her off. "What's it matter?"

It'd been a week since the Yule Ball, the last time any of them had seen Draco Malfoy in the flesh. Judging by his posture and stotic expression as he sat with his group of friends, he was anything but happy to be out and about. He skipped every one of his classes so far, so Ira wondered how he was allowed to go that Saturday to Hogsmeade.

"It's still awkward between us," Sally said.

Ira scoffed. "I'm sure you'll live."

The last thing she needed was having Malfoy ruin her day. She'd walk inside with confidence, acting as though he didn't exist.

Lily opened the door to the pub and let Sally and Ira enter first. The warmth felt amazing against Ira's bare legs that peeked out between her robe as she walked. She felt some eyes on her, making her gulp. She wouldn't turn towards Malfoy's table. She refused.

The girls sat at a table in the corner next to a large window. After ordering some butterbeers, they settled into their wooden chairs.

"So, what's the plan for those herbs you got?" Lily asked.

"Not much," Ira shrugged. "It's just this potion I want to try out in my freetime."

"Looking for some extra credit?"

"Perhaps."

Sally's eyes moved from the floating menu in front of her face to something moving over Ira's shoulder. "There's something about that Durmstrang lot. They always move in packs."

Lily chuckled. "Maybe they're actually werewolves."

"I can see it." Sally halted mid sentence, glaring. "There's Neils...talking to Malfoy."

Ira stiffened, taking a sip of her butterbeer. "He's probably looking for the coin Malfoy owes for the other night. Knowing the ferret hasn't been seen in public in days, he most likely hasn't paid up."

"I still can't believe it," Lily remarked sadly. "It's just cruel to use someone like that."

Sally nodded. "There's no coming back from something like that. I can't even imagine..."

Ira crossed her arms as her friends quieted. She glanced outside the window to see the snow falling gently on the ground as she tried to resonate with the anger fueling her insides. Her anger could extinguish the snow, melting it into puddles that she could drown Malfoy in. The thought made her smirk, the devil on her shoulder cheering in her ear.

That smirk fell when she saw Rita Skeeter managing her way over the snow in high heels that clashed with the awful yellow robes she wore that day. As usual, her photographer followed behind her.

Once she entered, she began speaking fast and loudly over the other patrons in the pub.

". . . didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights...what nonsense...he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman...' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo—we just need to find a story to fit it—"

Her sentence ended when Harry spoke up from a nearby table.

"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" Harry asked loudly.

Everyone seemed to turn towards them, stopping their conversations to hear what Rita would say next. The surprise in her eyes shined.

"Harry!" she beamed. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join—?"

"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," Harry said furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"

Rita raised her penciled eyebrows. "Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my —"

"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"

Ron and Hermione remained silent while seated around his table. Ira could tell Hermione was itching to say something, however.

Rita looked pleased by Harry's interest with Hagrid. She opened up her crocodile handbag and retrieved her infamous Quick-Quotes Quill and started.

"How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"

Hermione stood up at once.

"You horrible woman," she said, gritting her teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman—"

"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly."I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl...not that it needs it—"

Hermione slammed the butterbeer in her hand down on the table and grabbed Harry and Ron. "Let's go."

They left, and Rita's quill quickened its movements across the notepad it accompanied. Thankfully, she didn't make any moves toward Ira.

"Potter and Co. always have drama following them," Sally said, bringing the two other girl's attentions back to their table. "I'm surprised you're not wrangled up in it yet, Ira."

Ira frowned. "I haven't been able to spend as much time with them lately. I'm sure if I did, I'd be wrapped up in whatever is going on. I hear it's that article about Hagrid."

"Skeeter is right, you know. I read the article and wholeheartedly agree. Although the woman is completely bonkers and a manipulative swine, I see her side of things."

Ira's frown deepened even more at that, unable to open her mouth to argue with Sally. Lily stayed quiet the entire time, sipping her own butterbeer and deciding it best not to try reasoning with their blonde friend. Sally had her good and bad attributes—one of them being her pureblood thinking—and the girls had to deal with that by letting her think the way she wanted despite how narrow-minded she was. They loved her anyway.


Several days passed until that following weekend when Ira and the Weasley's prank box would be tested out on their most honored subject.

The old but sturdy oak box in Ira's hands went unnoticed by her fellow peers as she walked from an abandoned classroom on the first floor that was mostly used as storage towards the Slytherin common room. She met the two ginger-haired boys after dinner that Friday to put together the final touches of their prank. The boys were giddy with excitement, but Ira, she was even moreso as she felt the magic and potions brewing beneath her slender fingers. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, an evilness creeping into her features that she'd never shown before.

The fake Dementor inside the box would only last several seconds to terrorize the person that opened it. Although for the subject, it wouldn't feel like seconds, more like minutes that would tick by dangerously slow for them as the Dementor sucked the life from them.

At first, Ira had a hard time figuring out how she'd make it in the first place. It was the first time she ever worked with such high-level spells and potions. She almost gave up halfway through the process, draining herself of her magic for hours at a time. But she didn't give up.

She found the spells from a very old textbook in the restricted section, nestled behind cobwebs and dust after meandering around the aisles in search of the perfect text. After its use, Ira decided to hold onto it for future endeavors. Nobody would miss it. Madam Pince probably forgot it was there considering the withered state Ira had found it in.

Before Ira got to the first step leading into the Dungeons, she heard a group of people rush by her from behind. She turned and saw Colin Creevey among them, dressed in his Gryffindor robes with that bloody camera around his neck.

Ira took a step back and called out for him. "Oi, Colin!"

Colin stopped and turned his head to meet her gray eyes, something like fear making him step back when seeing her. Was she really that terrifying?

Ira sighed. "Quit acting like a bloody Hufflepuff. How many galleons to borrow your camera?"

"Not enough," he said bitterly.

Ira inched forward, watching him inch back. "How does three hundred galleons sound? Or five? I'm offering anything that pleases you just for a few hours with your camera."

Colin glanced from Ira to his camera, that treasured trinket that he loved so much. He thought for a few moments before removing it from around his neck, handing it over.

"I want it back by tonight," he demanded, a hint of fear in his voice.

Ira smiled. "Thank you, Creevey." She dug a hand in her robes and took out a small purple drawstring bag from a pocket, dropping the hefty coin in his outreached hand. "Does this light come off by chance?"

"No, it's the flash. In order to have pristine pictures that look ready to jump off the page, you need that to even—"

"Okay, I get it." Ira turned on her heel and took off for the common room.

She wanted to capture the moment Malfoy saw what he was in for. She hoped for an embarrassing picture of his face in horror, for something to laugh at the next day when she posted the pictures all over the castle for the rest of the student body to see.

Ira knew that Malfoy, Blaise, and Theo wouldn't be in their dorm for some time. She asked the Weasley twins to specifically keep them occupied in the library by offering up some of their upcoming merchandise. She hoped they'd take the bait and stay in the library, especially Draco, so that she could get things set up.

Nobody was in the boy's hall when Ira reached the dorm. She juggled both the box and camera in one hand while grabbing her wand from her robe.

"Alohomora," Ira whispered, hearing the lock click back. She smiled wickedly and opened the door.

There was only one occurrence that Ira had been in this very room. It was to retrieve Lady from Draco's confines.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Ira took a look around the room. The only bed that was neat and organized was the one by a tall window looking out through the lake. The other two were disheveled and unmade. The neat one led Ira to believe it was Draco's.

Ira placed the box on the trunk at the base of the bed. After looking around at Draco's space, she found a pillow embroidered with his first initial in the velvet fabric. She snorted. Typical.

She wasn't one to snoop, but the idea of being alone with Draco's things made her want to go picking through his desk and wardrobe. She nonchalantly started doing so very gently, making sure to put things back in the place they were before she'd picked them up. Everything seemed to have a home in a organized manner. There wasn't a speck of dust across any of Draco's things or something out of order. It was all very Draco-like.

A small untitled leather book gained her attention. The corner of it peeked out from beneath a dark pillow on his bed. Ira pulled it out and turned it over in her hands, wondering why it wasn't with the rest of the alphabetized books on the shelf above his desk.

It wasn't any ordinary book, she realized, when she started flipping through its blank pages. Every single page was stark white except for one in the very middle of it.

The journal, she found, was empty except for a single page written with a few lines wrote in elegant scrawl only a Malfoy could pen.

I hate her.

I hate her, I hate her, I hate her...but I can't stay away.

Her fire ignites me, stirs me up in a way I can't explain. She challenges me. If I push, she pushes back. We know each other well by now. I can tell by the way she scrunches her nose or the way she narrows her eyes that it's a look only I deserve.

And I like it.

I like her. And I hate her all the same.

Ira stopped reading, her pulse racing from what she just read. It isn't just any girl he's referring to. She has a feeling it's herself he's mentioning. Placing the journal back in its place, Ira paces around Draco's large bed thinking about the information she'd just found.

Her heart beat against her rib cage the more she thought about it. Draco likes her. He can't like her. If he did, why would he have acted so foul towards her all these years? It made no sense.

At that very thought, Ira heard someone walking up to the door.

No, no, no, she thought hurriedly, trying to find a place for her to hide. She wasn't ready yet.

When she heard the lock click, she rushed into Draco's wardrobe at the last second, evening her breathing and the pounding heart in her chest.

Through a little crack between the double doors, she watched Draco walk inside alone still dressed in his uniform. He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it in a manner that made him look wild, and Ira enjoyed it. It was different than that polished look he always had.

Malfoy began stripping himself of his white button down, throwing it carelessly across his bed. He hadn't noticed the box yet.

Ira got a good glimpse of the planes of his back. When had he gotten so fit? There wasn't a moment this school year that they'd had a chance to play Quidditch. He must be training himself on his own time.

When he turned around towards the wardrobe, Ira's breathing hitched at seeing the front of him.

Stop it, Ira. You're merely acting like this because of what you read. Quit acting like you're interested. But she couldn't deny that he wasn't hard on the eyes. Anyone would agree the Draco was one of the best looking guys in school. Even if she hated him, she had to admit it.

He grabbed the same journal Ira had been reading through before and opened it up, taking a seat at his desk. A swirl of his wand came from above the reading material and all Ira could hear was the scratching of a quill against parchment.

Was he writing about her again? It made her heart pound.

When Draco stopped scribbling, he waved his wand again over it and shut it. Placing it back under the pillow, he flopped down onto his bed, placing an arm over his face.

Ira was starting to get impatient. Without realizing it, her foot slipped forward and hit the wooden door with a pang.

Draco shot straight up, glancing around his room curiously. When his eyes landed on the box on his trunk, his eyes narrowed questioningly.

Bingo, Ira thought cheekily.

Malfoy reached out and unlatched the top of the box, a look of wonder on his face as to where the thing had come from and what exactly it was.

The lid opened, and Ira watched with bated breath as the box started rattling uncontrollably. It stopped suddenly. Then, as Draco started closing it, a black mass raised from the inside, looming over his pale form.

He gulped and stared up at the thing, frightened by the tendrils that floated around it. Ira had to give herself credit. It looked identical to a Dementor, if not a bit smaller than an actual one.

When it moved closer, Draco's face faded from surprise into fear, letting out a yelp the closer it got to him. Ira took that moment and flashed a picture. His face found hers in the semi-opened wardrobe, pure rage igniting his once scared face. But that was before the Dementor started sucking the happiness from his soul.

Ira gave it five seconds before the thing disappeared in a wisp of air.

Draco fell backward on the bed, breathing heavily with sweat pouring down his forehead and chest.

Ira got a little worried then when he didn't move a muscle. "Malfoy?" She got closer to him. "Malfoy?"

Then, like a bolt of lightning he grabbed her and threw her down onto the bed, catching her wrists and pinning them above her head.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing, Soares?" he ground out. "Toying with dark magic like that? Are you an idiot?"

"That's what you're all riled up about? Not the fact that I plan on taking this picture and plastering it all over the school to see?"

As if forgetting, he stared down at the camera around her neck. He growled.

Ira wiggled under him, thrashing against his hands. "Are you seriously going to hold me here like this? And don't you think about touching the camera or I will kick you where it hurts."

"That's what you deserve, since you decided to play dirty, Soares."

Ira thrashed again, bucking against him with a knee to his stomach. Wrong move.

Malfoy kept her legs apart with one of his knees, using his hips to practically keep her in place.

"Malfoy, let me go."

"I'll let you go if you promise not to tell anyone about this."

Ira cackled. "You fool. The whole point of this was to tell people what a scaredy-cat you actually are. This is only the start of my revenge, Malfoy. Get used to it."

Draco gritted his teeth and took one hand from her wrists, bringing it down to the camera.

Ira took her unrestrained hand and shoved him away. "Don't you dare."

She skidded off the bed and threw the camera off, sliding it across the other side of the room as Draco came on her again. This time he had a wand pointed at her neck.

The cold stone of the floors felt rough on her back as she stared up at him.

"Do it," she seethed. "I dare you."

Draco got down to her level, kneeling over her. "You think I won't."

"I know you won't."

He stared at her with calculating eyes.

He smirked. "Accio camera."

It flew into his hand with ease, and Ira slapped the wand from her face when he didn't notice. She tackled Draco and took him to the floor onto his back, straddling him with her hips. Although when she finally came to, with her own wand pointed at his neck, she realized that all she wore beneath her skirt were cotton knickers that made her blush when Draco stared up at her.

He snickered. "Was this all a ploy to get in my pants, Soares?"

Ira's face reddened. "You're disgusting."

"You're the one on top of me like you're ready to shag the life out of me."

"You know I would never!" Ira yelled, sticking the wand deeper into his neck. "I'd rather be with...with...Neville Longbottom before ever coming close to you!"

Draco looked unfazed by the wand. He continued to look at her with a dark grin. "Is that why you're so close to me now?"

Bile rose in her throat at the insinuation. She merely wanted the camera back. Oh, how the tables turned.

Ira leaned down so her face was inches from his. "Listen to me very carefully, Malfoy. That camera is mine and that picture is mine. You wish I would drop my knickers for you like the rest of the girls in this school, but unlike them I have standards, and you fit in at the very bottom of that. I'm done taking your bullying. It's my turn now."

When she leaned back, something in Draco stirred dangerously underneath her. Ira wasn't a prude by any means, but being this close to him in such a manner did look like something suggestive. Her blush deepened and because of it, her body reacted respectively.

Draco didn't move. He stayed positioned there while Ira's other hand grabbed for the camera that had fallen from his hands.

Then, she felt his gentle fingers touching the bare cream of her legs that peeked out beneath her skirt. Her breathing hitched, a new feeling coming over her when he danced his fingers across her leg and down towards her knee high socks.

Ira snapped out of it quickly and jumped from him, feeling ashamed that she let him touch her at all.

The door opened up and two sets of footsteps came inside. Ira paled and looked to find Theo and Blaise.

Theo's face turned cold. "What's going on here?"

Malfoy moved to his feet. In their state of disarray, it looked as though they had shagged each other. A flutter of embarrassment took over and Ira stayed quiet.

Blaise gave the pair a cheeky smile. "This is quite fascinating—haters turned to lovers."

Ira found her voice. "That's not it at all," she protested, cradling the camera to her chest.

Draco laughed, reaching out to run a knuckle down her cheek. "Oh, Darling, keep telling yourself that. It was like that a few minutes ago."

Blaise smiled, while Theo's face twisted into disappointment and anger. Ira didn't know why.

Ira slapped his hand away. "Don't make me give you another bloody nose, Malfoy. You disgust me!"

She turned and marched from the room, hearing Blaise and Draco chorttle with laughter on her way out.

It wasn't Draco who felt embarrassed tonight. It was Ira Soares.


Writer's Note: I'm baaaaackkk! Although I never had the intention of leaving, I have a full time job now that keeps me from my laptop at home. I've also been working on my very own book that will probably never be published. But I have a chapter or two of it posted to Wattpad if you'd like to check it out. The main characters name is Ira, too, since I just love that name for some reason. You can find me at valyrianivory on Wattpad. The story is called Shards of Souls! Besides that, I will hopefully be working on this fanfiction more often since there's still so much left of it to go. Please leave some feedback and I'll see you all next chapter!