Chapter 2

Rionach woke with a start as a loud thunderclap sounded overhead. The room was dark, and it was obviously still night. She thought it strange, that she could hear the thunder, as the Slytherin dungeons were underground, and began to feel the cold. It was winter, and the chill was starting to make itself known. She saw the glow of the fire coming from up the stairs and slid out of bed, walking towards the light.

She entered the room, and walked to the fire, jumping in fright when she heard Draco's voice behind her. He was lying on the same couch as when she had gone to bed, and he didn't look like he had moved. His face was red due to the heat from the fire, and he looked as if he hadn't slept.

"Have you been awake this whole time, Draco?" she asked him, and watched him nod his head. After he nodded, she said softly, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

He shook his head and replied, "No, go ahead," removing his feet from the other end, where she sat herself down. She lay against him and rubbed her head into his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her stomach, before they both fell asleep to the flicker of the firelight and the faint clap of thunder.

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Draco was awoken in the morning by the abrupt stop of Crabbe and Goyle's snores, and found Rionach still silently asleep against his chest. Without waking her, he gently lifted her, and carried her down to the Girls' Dormitories, where he placed her gently on her chosen bed, and left the room. When he finished his ascent of the small stairway, he found a piece of parchment and a quill, and left a note for her on a table in the Common Room. He picked up his cloak, which was laying over the arm of the couch, and walked briskly from the room, in search of Professor Dumbledore.

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Hermione wandered into the Gryffindor Common Room, and found Ron and Harry waiting for her. They were fully dressed; It looked as if they had already been outside the Dormitories. They both looked displeased, and had obviously just stopped arguing over something.

Ron looked at her. "That bloody Slytherin git got us a trip to Hogsmeade."

Hermione was surprised by his reaction. "And why is this a problem?"

"Well, McGonagall has ordered us to all stay together, so it basically means, we go and act civilly with Malfoy, or miss out on an unscheduled Hogsmeade trip," Harry intervened. "I hate to say it, but I need to go there. I'm craving Butterbeer."

"What's to stop you from going there under your Invisibility Cloak though, Harry? I mean, It's never stopped you before."

Harry grimaced. "Well now that there's only seven students in the whole castle, Madam Rosmerta will find it a lot easier to identify us. Besides. I'm not the one who goes down there even when there is no trip. Fred and George are, but they went home for the Holidays."

Ron was busy kicking a chair when the two others looked at him, and looked sheepishly towards them when he saw the look they were giving him. "I don't care whether you need to go, I need more Stink Bombs, more Chocolate Frogs, and more Beans, but you don't see me wanting to go! He's a lousy bastard, I tell you."

Harry rolled his eyes, and picked up his cloak, before walking towards the window. As he looked through the glass panes, he called out to Ron, "It looks like it's going to rain, Ron. We may as well go, there'll be nothing else to do."

"You could go to the Library and do your Potions homework," Hermione laughed.

Ron scowled at her, before turning to Harry and murmuring, "Hmmm. Potions homework, or Butterbeer. I wonder… Potions sounds good." He feined seriousness, and then grabbed his cloak, before laughing at Hermione's suggestion, and running out the portrait hole, with Harry on his tail.

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Rionach wandered out of the Girls' Dormitory, up the stairs and into the Common Room, where Crabbe and Goyle were playing Exploding Snap. She spotted the note that Draco had left, laughing gleefully when she read its words.

Draco returned a few minutes later, a large scowl on his face. "Potter, Mudblood and the Weasel are coming too," He groaned, obviously displeased. "Professor Dumbledore decided that we should all go together thanks to the shortage of students. These oafs are coming too if they want," he added quietly.

Rionach grinned at him, "Look at the opportunity here. A day with the Gryffindors, and you're not even plotting anything?" She gave a small laugh. "I'm ashamed, Draco, but it doesn't matter. We'll just go, try to enjoy ourselves a little, and make fun in upsetting them."

Goyle turned his head away from Exploding Snap, and slowly said, "Crabbe and I aren't coming. It's too wet."

"What do you mean, it's too wet?" Draco asked.

"We went outside to the Owlery," Crabbe said, "The rain was only just stopping."

Rionach looked at Draco, before murmuring, "I happen to like the rain. Does it really matter that it's a bit wet?" She looked hopefully up at him, and smiled as he shook his head.

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Authors Note: This chapter isn't finished, but it's going up here for the moment anyway. R+R!