A/N: This chapter has little substance, but it's pretty dang funny.  (I think Oliver makes a good violin player)  If you're itching for action, though, the next chapter will feature a Quidditch game that nearly ends in tragedy…

~~ Chapter Eight: Sock Drawers and Violin Jokes ~~

            "No, that's not how it works… Anthony, maybe it would be a good idea if you just gave me the – Anthony!  Do you have any idea how long it takes me to tune that thing?"

            Lisa Turpin, Draco Malfoy, and Alina Terringer tried not to laugh as Oliver Wood attempted to wrestle his violin away from Anthony Goldstein.  They were unable to hold it in for long, though; the sight of the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team trying to free a violin from the clutches of a Hufflepuff nearly four years younger than him was far too amusing to just sit back and watch.

            "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let him see your violin, Oliver," Lisa pointed out.

            "Thanks for the warning," Oliver grumbled.  "Where's the bow?"

            "Right there," Alina said, pointing to a long shaft of wood lying on the table in front of Oliver.

            Oliver picked up the bow and gave Anthony a quick tap on the head with it.  Anthony was so surprised that he released the violin.  "Thank you," he said.  "And you had it on the wrong shoulder, by the way."  He placed the violin on his left shoulder while pointing out to Anthony that that was the correct shoulder, and then brought his bow up to the strings.  "Professor, could you be so kind as to give me a concert A?"

            Alina's melodic voice hummed the desired pitch for almost twenty seconds, plenty of time for Oliver to get his violin back in tune.  "Thanks," the Gryffindor said, setting his violin down in his lap.  He glared at Anthony, then tightened his grip on the bow.

            "Don't hurt me," Anthony pleaded, attempting to hide behind Draco.

            "I won't hurt you," Oliver said.  He glanced around the room and plucked a random pizzicato melody on the strings of his violin.  "Too many witnesses."

            Seeing Oliver's obsession with his violin made Alina think of a joke she heard in her childhood, and the memory made her smile.  "What's so funny?" asked Draco, noticing the amused expression on the teacher's face.

            "Just a memory," she said.  "Oliver, did I ever tell you my father was a violin player?"

            Oliver's eyes lit up.  "Really?"

            She nodded.  "Yes.  Jonathon C. Terringer VIII, Concertmaster of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years."

            "Was your mother a musician, too?" asked Lisa.

            "Yes.  She sang soprano for the Chapel Royal choir," Alina answered.

            "Why did you attend wizarding school all the way in France if you're from England?" inquired Draco.

            "I almost went to Hogwarts," Alina said, "but Beauxbatons was the only school in Europe that had a Musical Enchantment department.  Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that was what I wanted to be: a Master of Musical Enchantment.  Don't ever let anyone tell you that dreams can't come true."  She glanced at the clock.  "Goodness gracious, where is Hermione?  I've never known that girl to be late for anything."

            "Maybe she heard I was coming," Draco said.

            "Don't be ridiculous, Draco," Alina replied.  "Hermione would not throw away an educational opportunity because of a personal grudge."

            "What was the memory that was so funny?" asked Oliver.

            "A joke I overheard my father telling my mother when I was about seven," the instructor answered.  "I didn't understand for several years, but I wasn't a violin player.  I tried to be, but my strength was in my voice.  You would get it, Oliver, but I don't think the others would.  And," she said, leaning in close to him so as to whisper in his ear, "it can be quite scandalous if interpreted incorrectly by the non-musician."

            "Is it…," Oliver said, whispering a slightly risqué music joke he knew into her ear.

            Alina shook her head.  "No, it's worse than that."

            "Tell me," Oliver pleaded.

            "That's not fair," Anthony protested.  "If you tell him, you should tell the rest of us, too."

            "How about she tells Oliver, and if Oliver thinks we'll understand, he'll tell us?" suggested Lisa.

            Anthony shrugged.  "Works for me."

            Alina whispered several words to Oliver.  The young man's eyes grew wider and wider with every passing moment, and when she reached the punch line, Oliver had to cover his mouth with both his hands to keep from exploding with laughter.  "You're right," he said when he was able to speak again.  "That is bad."

            Just then, the door flew open, and in came Hermione Granger.  "Sorry I'm late," she said.  "Ron couldn't find his stupid wand, so half of Gryffindor was helping him look for it.  Blame it on Ron's sock drawer.  That's where it was."  She spotted Draco and froze.  "You," she hissed.

            Draco gave a timid wave.  "Hi, Hermione."

            "Draco, Hermione, do you think you two could be kind enough to put your differences aside for the next hour?" Alina requested.  "We have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in."

            Hermione sighed and sat down next to Lisa.  "Fine.  One hour a day, Malfoy.  That's all you get from me."

            When no one else was looking, Draco caught his teacher's eye and gave a small smile.  When she was also sure that the other students weren't watching, Alina smiled back.

            "Hey, Ron?"

            "Yeah, Harry?"

            "Have you noticed anything funny about McGonagall lately?"

            "She didn't give us any homework today."

            "Besides that."

            "Oh."  Ron paused.  "No, not really, no."

            The wand fiasco that kept Hermione from her study session had been over for almost five minutes, and the two boys were in the Gryffindor common room, lounging around and staring at the ceiling.  Ron was lying on a couch, and on the floor right next to him was Harry.  Ron rotated his body so he was now lying on his side, looking down toward his friend.  "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

            Harry removed his glasses, placed them on his chest, and rubbed his eyes.  "I don't know.  Lately, she just seems less…"  He searched his mind for the right word, but couldn't seem to find it.

            "Grumpy?" Ron offered.

            "Yeah."  Not quite the word he was looking for, but close enough.  He replaced his glasses and propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at Ron when he spoke.  "And is it just me, or does she spend an awful lot of time with Dumbledore?"

            Ron cocked his head to the side and shrugged his eyebrows.  "Maybe they're secretly in love and have to keep it under wraps or suffer severe consequences."

            "Ron," said Harry, "you're scaring me."

            "Hey, I could be right."

            "You could.  Or, more likely, you couldn't be more wrong."

            "Tell you what, Harry.  If I'm right, I'll kiss Draco Malfoy on the mouth."

            "That's disgusting, Ron."

            "I know, but what are the odds that I'm right?"

            Harry thought for a moment.  Ron had a point with that one.  "Slim to none."

            "Exactly."

            Suddenly, the boys heard footsteps behind him.  Ron peeked over the back of the couch, then gasped and dropped down to Harry's level.  "It's McGonagall!" he said.

            "Where?" Harry asked, sitting up.

            Ron didn't answer.  "Let's follow her!" he suggested excitedly.

            "Maybe that's not such a good ide – Ron!"

            Ron was already on his feet, trying to get as close as possible to the head of Gryffindor house without being detected.  Harry sighed and stood up.  "Well, here we go again."

            Since Harry had taken the time to go back to his room and get the invisibility cloak, it took him a while to catch up with Ron and McGonagall, but it was worth it.  Now the two boys could travel at a much closer distance with almost no fear of being detected.  Harry decided that if they were going to go through the trouble of following her, they might as well make it worth it.

            "Where's she going?" whispered Ron as they followed her through the halls of Hogwarts.

            "It looks like she's heading for Dumbledore's office," Harry said.

            Ron's face lost some of its color.  "Do you think they really are secretly in love?" he asked.

            "Of course not," Harry answered.  "She's the deputy headmistress.  I'm sure she has a perfectly professional reason for seeing him."

            Ron looked slightly relieved.

            Halfway up the staircase leading to Dumbledore's office, Minerva McGonagall and her two invisible companions rounded a corner and met none other than the headmaster himself.  "Albus!" McGonagall exclaimed when she saw him.  "What are you doing all the way down here?"

            "Looking for you, of course," Dumbledore replied, placing his hand on the handrail and descending the steps until he reached her.  "You were fifteen minutes late.  I was starting to get worried."

            "Well, Ron Weasley lost his wand, and half of Gryffindor was looking for it for over twenty minutes."

            "Good heavens.  Did the boy find his wand?"

            "Oh, yes.  If not, we would still be looking."

            "Where was it?"

            "His sock drawer."

            Harry had to hold his breath to keep from laughing.  Ron was getting more and more pale by the second.

            Dumbledore chuckled.  "Blame it on the sock drawer.  That Weasley may be a burden sometimes, but he really is a wonderful boy."  McGonagall nodded in agreement.

            "You hear that, Ron?" Harry asked, gently elbowing Ron in the ribs.  "You're a 'wonderful boy.'"

            "Lucky me," Ron said sarcastically, rubbing his ribs where Harry poked him.

            "Do we know anything more about the Terringer/Malfoy situation?" inquired Dumbledore.

            Minerva shook her head.  "Nothing more than what I told you this afternoon.  Draco has joined the Musical Enchantment study group and Alina threatened to turn Lucius into Rip Van Winkle."

            Dumbledore smiled at her.  "And I thought you would be the hard one to win over."

            A rare grin flickered on her face, and she put her hand over his that was on the handrail.  "I could care less about Lucius, but I trust you, and that will be my strength."

            Dumbledore took another step closer to her, and they kissed.  It wasn't their first kiss, but it was the first that had been witnessed by anyone other than Fawkes the phoenix.  When the kiss ended, the Hogwarts headmaster slipped his arm around his second's waist.  "We'd better get going," he said.  He glanced at the stone walls on either side of them.  "The staircase is a nice place and all, but we can't save the world from here."

            Minerva put her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder.  "I couldn't agree more," she said, and together, they walked up the staircase.

            Ron and Harry raced to the bottom of the staircase as fast as they dared.  Once they were sure the headmaster and deputy headmistress couldn't hear them, they removed the invisibility cloak, and Ron grabbed Harry by the shoulders and nearly threw him against the wall.  "Harry," Ron said frantically, "I am not kissing Malfoy!"

            "Ron, relax," Harry said, patting his friend's wrists.  "You said secretly in love.  For all we know, they could be secretly… infatuated."

            "Harry, they're old and they were kissing.  It's love."

            Harry was having a hard time refraining from laughing at his friend's misfortune.  Leave it to Ron to suggest something as crazy as a romantic relationship between Dumbledore and McGonagall and be right.  "Tell you what, Ron.  I won't hold you to your declaration that you were going to kiss Malfoy…"

            Ron gave a relieved smile.

            "… as long as you try to make friends with him."

            The smile vanished from Ron's face and was replaced by a look of disgust.  "I'd almost rather kiss him."

            The Musical Enchantment study group was productive for the rest of the hour, discussing the history of M.E. and its applications in the modern world.  All five of the students were captivated, of course, but it was Oliver Wood and Draco Malfoy who were the most interested.  Oliver had been a musician all his life and loved anything even remotely related to music, but Draco's fascination surprised even himself.  The boy had never taken to anything like he had to Musical Enchantment.  Perhaps he had finally found his niche.

            After Professor Terringer released them, Oliver pulled Draco aside.  "Malfoy, I'm impressed," he said.  "I never knew you were so interested in music."

            "Neither did I," Draco admitted.  He glanced at Oliver's violin.  "How long have you been playing violin?"

            Oliver glanced at his violin and smiled.  "Since I was two, I think.  When I was nine, I went on tour with the London Philharmonic as a soloist."

            "Wow.  That's really amazing, Oliver."

            "Thank you.  You've got great musical potential.  Were you thinking about focusing on vocal or instrumental music?"

            Draco shrugged.  "I really don't know.  An hour ago it was just Musical Enchantment that I was interested in.  Now, even normal music seems fascinating."

            Oliver grinned.  "You know, if you played violin, we'd just have to find a viola and a cello, and then we could have a string quartet."

            Professor Terringer glanced over at them.  "Recruiting violin players, Mr. Wood?"

            Gryffindor's Quidditch captain laughed.  "I'm trying, Professor."  He handed Draco his violin.  "Try it," he said.  "But don't touch the tuning pegs."

            Draco touched the bow to the strings and gently pushed it forward.  The violin let out a squeak.  He laughed and gave the instrument back to Oliver.  "Got any trumpets?"

            Oliver shook his head.  "Sorry.  Come on, let's go."

            The two boys left the Musical Enchantment classroom and headed for the staircase that led to the houses.  Then, Draco remembered something.  "Hey, Oliver, what was the joke Professor Terringer told you?"

            A smile crossed Oliver's face.  "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

            "Absolutely."

            "Okay."  Oliver took a deep breath and began.  "A violin player and her boyfriend went shopping at the mall one day.  The violin player needed to go to the music shop, so they went there first.  Then she remembered that she left the lights for their car on, and her boyfriend offered to pick up what she needed while she went out to turn them off.  The violin player walked to the front of the music store, then turned around and shouted at her boyfriend, 'Honey, don't forget that I need a new G string!'"

A/N: No, Dumbledore and McGonagall do not go off and do naughty stuff.  They're trying to figure something out, but I can't tell you just what it is yet, or that would spoil the big surprise coming…