Hermione Freak: Updated as fast as I could, hope you like!
Amy: Let's see. . .did he kill Malfoy? ::Grins evilly:: hehehe, just you wait and see. . .
Kim: I don't understand the 'bloody' word either, but it's cool to say and I use it all the time. . .especially since my English teacher got me hooked on it. . .anywho, if you think Lucius is a doody head now. . .well. . .I'm gonna write a prequel eventually that is about Lily and James' 7th year at Hogwarts. . .that's sure to drag out more hatred. . .thanks for the review! And update your story soon, too!
Laterose: Malfoys bite, I know. . .hopefully you'll find this chapter a little fulfilling. . .
Fleeper: Oh. . .I'm sure you're good! Hmm. . .I'm very persistent, I bet I can find out who you are. . .maybe. . .anyway, thanks! I'm honored to know that you find me good enough to make it to your favorites' list! I'm not finished yet, but it's getting there!
Leaf: No no no no no no no no no no no! Oh! Sorry if I gave that impression! Ew! ::Shivers:: Sorry, I REALLY don't like the Malfoys, there's not way I'd make Harry one of them! Good guess though. Eventually I'll get around to writing a prequel that goes into detail about Lily and James' last year at Hogwarts, but 'till then you'll just have to trust me. Anywho, yay! Another H/Hr shipper! Blessed be the day! Lol, welcome to the club!
Paul: Make him leave, okay. That's 6 to 3, letting him stay. . .hey, it's getting closer!
Lady Kris: 6 to 4, letting him stay! It's getting closer, folks! Maybe he'll go away after all. . .sorry, though, IF he does, it won't be until the end. . .
NOTE:
If you want, there's gonna be an optional song to listen to while reading the end of this chapter. If you're interested, it's called Kung Fu Fighting by New Found Glory(preferably. . .there are other groups out there with the same song). I'll give you an author's note telling you when to start it, if you want. . .IT'S NOT NECESSARY. . .if you want to be amused, I would suggest it, though.
Wanted: Love
Newspapers and Nun Chucks
"---I bet it was Potter---"
Harry picked up his pace as he heard Malfoy's voice. The fact that it had actually been the elder Malfoy who had hurt his mother didn't matter to him; all that did was that he was a Malfoy. He would NEVER forgive the family for what Lucius did. Besides that, Harry was willing to bet that Draco knew about the whole thing. He expected nothing less of Lucius Malfoy than to brag about it to his family.
"---besides, father was supposed to pay him a visit again tonight."
"Malfoy!" Harry roared as he came upon the blonde Slytherin and his two lackeys.
The three spun around and faltered at Harry's obvious rage.
". . .What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy asked with a pitiful sneer.
Harry said nothing as he stalked forward and punched him as hard as he could in the face. Malfoy stumbled back into the wall as his hand flew to his nose which had begun to bleed profusely. He glared at Harry and regained his posture.
"What the hell was that for!?" he asked, fuming.
Once again, Harry didn't even bother to say anything as he jumped on the Slytherin and started punching anything he could get his hands on. Malfoy fought back furiously, but Harry was too set on inflicting injuries to feel the damage being impressed onto himself. Crabbe and Goyle kept backing in and out of fighting range, a bit fearful of Harry's powers.
"Get off!" Malfoy croaked between the punches.
"You've had it coming! Your damn family has had it coming since before I was born!" Harry bellowed.
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, you sick bastard!"
"What!?"
"Don't play dumb! You know exact-"
"Harry!"
Harry found himself being pulled off Malfoy, though he fought against it every inch of the way, "Let me go, Sirius! He deserves it!"
"Harry, he didn't do it, his father did."
Snarling Harry chose to ignore his headmaster's comment. He heard his friends run up behind him but didn't stop his attempts to break free of his godfather's grip. For several minutes waves of white light hit him, and despite his efforts at keeping his temper up, he found himself slowly relaxing. His muscles tension lessened and he gradually stopped fighting against his captor.
"You lucky they came to save your ass, Malfoy." Harry said calmly, though he continued to glare.
"Come on, Mr. Malfoy. I'll take you up to the infirmary," Dumbledore said walking over to his student before turning back to the others, "Why don't you take the children back to one of your rooms for the night?"
Tali, Remus, and Sirius nodded before leading Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender away from the fight scene where Crabbe and Goyle continued to stand motionlessly.
**************
The rest of the night passed quickly. They had wound up going to Sirius' room, located only a short distance from the Gryffindor tower. The room's decoration strongly reminded the students of their common room. Everything from furniture, though in nicer condition, to the colors was basically the same. The only difference being a bed on the far side of the room.
At the moment, the sun had begun to peak a few of its rays through the burgundy curtains of the room. Harry was lying on his back on the red and gold rug on the floor, staring at the window with the sun beating into his eyes. A rather cheerful conversation was going on around him, but he took no part in it. Slightly perturbed that his revenge had been cut short, Harry found it impossible to get in good cheer.
"You should have seen it!" exclaimed Lavender, "I thought Ron was going to pee in his pants!"
"Hey! Those skrewts are a lot bigger than in our fourth year!" Ron said indignantly as he shoved her.
Everyone except for Harry and Ron laughed. Ron got a pink tinge in his ears and changed the conversation, "I got a letter from dad yesterday. He reckons that the Ministry already knows who's going to be the next Minister."
"Really? Who?" Hermione asked, rather interested.
He shrugged, "Don't know. He doesn't even know. But he says that there have been a lot of secret meetings between the upper members lately."
"Anyone has to be better than Fudge." Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked, noticing his lack of participation in the conversation.
Harry didn't say anything and the others turned their attention to him as well.
"Harry?" asked Sirius.
Again he didn't respond. They began to move towards him when he suddenly sat up, "No way!"
"Huh?" was the general response.
Harry stood up as Hedwig flew into the room and landed on the chair in front of him. He smiled and took the Daily Prophet from her. That fact that she was no longer an owl didn't seem to matter to her as she had continued to bring Harry his mail. Harry unfolded the paper and, in spite of himself, felt his anger begin to diminish as he broke out into laughter.
Finally noticing the looks the others were giving him, Harry tossed the post at them as he continued to laugh. The room soon filled with the laughter of those in it caught glimpses of the paper. For, decorating the front page, was the picture of Snape in the snow in his elf outfit. The twins had developed it the Muggle way, as to prevent photo-Snape from running out of sight. Along with the picture was a small article that explained it:
"Potions Master Severus Snape of Hogwarts gets into the holiday spirit. Due to the persuasion of Mr. Harry Potter, Snape and Albus Dumbledore (see page 13) dress as an elf and Santa Clause. 'Harry needed a couple of people to help him with a gift for his friends and I thought who better than Alair [Snape] and I?' revealed Dumbledore."
"Brilliant! George's gotten better!" Ron laughed.
A rise in the laughter said all that need to be said in response. All of a sudden, a loud screech could be heard echoing out from the dungeons, silencing the laughter. No one bothered to ask what it was, they all knew.
Sirius stood up and straightened his robes, "I don't know about you, but I'm *starving*. . ."
The others were instantly on their feet, "Me too!"
**************
Breakfast that morning was likely the most amusing thing any of them had ever witnessed. Snape had stormed in not too long after the group had taken their seats and immediately accused them of deliberately encouraging the twins to give the paper the picture.
"Like they needed any encouragement. . ." Ron had muttered under his breath.
Harry agreed with him. Fred and George would have still given it to the Prophet if they had to forfeit their pranks for a year. The amusement the picture gave off was far too great that it, indeed, seemed a crime to hold to themselves.
Pretty soon students and faculty alike were filing into the Great Hall in hoards. Snape had a hell of a time trying to hex every single owl that carried a newspaper. After a stray spell nearly hit a Ravenclaw, Dumbledore called him over to the Professors' table where he sat with his hands over his face.
Once everyone found out what Snape had been trying to hide, the rest of the meal was filled with laughter that couldn't be contained. If there was one thing Harry had to be thankful for, it was that he didn't have Potions anymore. Undoubtedly, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender were in for a hell of a time. He voiced this, simultaneously becoming greeted with three rather loud groans. When they all headed out of the Hall, they caught a glimpse of Malfoy who was glaring at them from the Slytherin table.
"He better just wait till tonight- " Lavender started heatedly.
"No," Harry interrupted her, "No, we can't do it tonight. . .Malfoy's probably going to be on his guard for a while yet."
"God dammit! We're never going to do this, are we?" Ron asked, perturbed.
"Of course we will," Hermione said calmly, "We just have to wait. . .what about this weekend?"
". . .I suppose that's enough time." Harry said as they reached the dungeons, "Well. . .I guess I'll see you guys later. I better get to the Chamber."
"See you, Harry!" they called after him.
By the time Harry made it to the Chamber, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore were already there. Shaking his head he headed towards them. Spending several hours practicing didn't really appeal to him at the moment. No, he'd much rather be in Honeydukes, downing a few butterbeers with his friends. But he forced himself to remember that they had the "pleasure" of spending two hours with Snape, and after the comparison, it didn't seem so bad.
**************
The week passed dreadfully slow, or so it seemed to Harry. The aching to go ahead with the prank nearly overwhelmed him more than once. It took every ounce of self control he had to stick to the plan. He supposed that Snape's unusually large amount of bitterness towards him, didn't help much either. From what he had learned from his friends, Snape had taken off a total of fifty points from the Gryffindors for miniscule things such as breathing or writing too loudly.
The end of the week was met with great welcome. Not only because the next day was the first meeting of the Dueling club, but also because Snape had seemingly been stalking the four of them, looking for any and all reasons to give out a detention and take away points. However, there was yet another reason to rejoice, as everyone soon would find out. . .
"Is everything in order?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, I just double checked with the other houses, they're ready and rarin' to go." Lavender said with a smile.
"I should think so. We've only put it off what, three, four times?" Hermione asked.
"Two times," Ron corrected her as he shoved a whole boiled potato into his mouth, receiving looks from his companions, "What?"
"You're a pig, you know that, right?" Hermione said, shaking her head disapprovingly.
Ron swallowed and smiled brightly, "Wrong again, Herms. I'm a red wolf."
"You know what I meant!" Hermione snapped, slapping him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for!?"
"For being a dirk," she said simply.
"A what?" he asked.
"Ugh, you're hopeless."
"What? What's a dirk?"
Harry, Hermione, and Lavender glanced at each other and laughed.
"What?" Ron asked hopeless.
"Ron, you really are clueless." Harry laughed.
"Huh?"
"Aw, don't worry. I still love you, you little cutey!" Lavender exclaimed, pinching his cheek.
"Hey!" Ron squirmed.
"I don't see how. . ." Hermione led off.
"Hey!" Ron cried, even more indignant.
"What? Look at this face!" Lavender said, squishing his cheeks together so he looked like a fish before waving his head back and forth, "How can you not love this face!?"
Harry, Hermione, and other's near them broke out laughing as Ron fought to get free. Once he succeeded, he rubbed his cheeks, which were now bright red, and looked from face to face.
"I don't see what's so funny about it. Damn, Lavender. You nearly broke my face off!"
"Aw, I'm sorry. Here, let me make it all bet-" she started to move towards him.
Ron backed away, right into the next person and shook his head, "Oh no! You stay there!"
Lavender pouted and crossed her arms, "Fine! I was just trying to stick up you!"
"Some job. . ." Ron muttered.
She stuck her tongue out at him as Dumbledore stood up, "May I have your attention please?"
A hush slowly overtook the Great Hall as the headmaster stared out across the sea of faces, "As you all know, February is nearly upon us-"
He gave an unintentional pause at the end of the sentence, and while it lasted no longer than an instant, it was enough to make several people in the room rather uncomfortable. Harry shifted in his seat and became very interested in his plate as his friends casts glances at him.
"-Tomorrow, as a matter of fact, is the first. And, in light of the upcoming holiday, we will be hosting a Masque."
A subtle murmur broke out among the students, some wondering what a Masque was, but silence was reinstated as Dumbledore raised his hand, "For those of you who might be wondering what a Masque is, it is a sort of Ball. . .our theme is famous couples throughout history. And classes will be cancelled on the fourteenth to provide each of you time to prepare, so we are expecting the best from you all."
As soon as he sat down an excited chatter exploded throughout the Hall. The Gryffindor table was no exception.
"Themed?" Harry asked.
"Oh what a brilliant idea! This will be so much fun!" Hermione exclaimed happily, "Who should we be, Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment, ". . .I don't know. . .I suppose we should try to think of something original. . ."
"Right! It wouldn't be any fun if half the other people came as the same thing." Hermione agreed.
"How about us, Ron?" Lavender asked.
"As long as I get a sword I'm happy." Ron said in a voice that clearly stated that he didn't care.
Lavender looked to be in deep thought for several minutes then lit up, "I've got it!"
**************
"Here he comes!" Hermione whispered excitedly as she hurried over to the Gryffindor table.
"And about time! You'd think he got his foot stuck in one of the stair cases at the rate he's going." Ron said irritably.
As he said this the doors opened and in walked a flock of Slytherins, Malfoy among them. They went to their table and waited with the rest of the school for breakfast to start.
"Sure is taking longer than normal. . ." Lavender commented.
"I heard there are a few new house elves. . .maybe they're slowing things up." Ron suggested.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"I'm sure they're doing the best they can," Harry cut in, hopefully sparing the school of any future SPEW efforts.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Hmm. . ."
"Oh look! Breakfast's here!" Lavender said, quickly changing the conversation.
Ron bent down to eye level with the table, "What is it?"
"Don't be silly, Ron. They're. . .er. . .that is. . .what *is* it?" Hermione asked as she picked up a funny shaped roll.
"Ha! You don't know either!" Ron exclaimed triumphantly.
"I've never seen food like this before. . .I wonder what they're up to in the kitchens. . ." Harry pondered out loud.
The rest of the students seemed to share this inquiry, for all of them looked just as blank as the three Gryffindors. In place of the regular foods were big bowls of what looked like porridge. . .only with chunks of gray. . .meat perhaps. Other than the "porridge" there were piles of twisted, canoe shaped pastries. And there weren't even any drinks.
Quite a few students began to speak up in protest, but Dumbledore kindly explained the change, "It has been decided that children today are not exposed enough to other cultures. So I have come to the decision to try and correct this. Once a month we will eat food from another country. This month it is China. What you have in front of you are congee and crullers. It is a typical breakfast for those for the Chinese. I do hope all of you will give it a chance."
With that he left the students to either eat or skip the meal. Ron eyed the "congee."
"It looks like someone threw up in a bowl and decided to serve it," he commented.
Harry had to agree with him there. Had he known that *this* was how Dobby and the other house elves wanted to help, he might have given it a second thought. He shook his head and picked up a cruller.
"At least it's begun," he said as he snapped the pastry in two and sniffed it.
"I don't see how serving Chinese food is supposed to even the score with that git," Ron said, nibbling on the edge of a cruller, ". . .Not bad, though."
"Think about it, Ron," Hermione said pointedly, "*What* are we basing this prank on?"
"Ni-" he started.
"Right! And *where* are they from?" she asked.
"Chin-Oh! I get it!"
"'Bout time." Lavender snorted.
"Shut up." Ron said.
"Hey, Harry!" Sirius said, clapping him on the back as he sat down, "Ron, Hermione, Lavender. You guys all enjoying your. . .er. . .confee."
"That's congee, Padfoot." Remus said, also sitting down.
"Right, that's what I said," he said sheepishly.
"Anyway, we're supposed to tell you to meet us out by the lake in a half hour for some more practice. . .we're starting on something new today," Tali said to Harry with a wink.
"Of all the days. . ." he said sarcastically.
"Think you three could. . ." Sirius led off.
"No problem!" Lavender enthused.
"Yeah, consider it done!" Hermione agreed.
"Great! Well, we'll be seeing you, then." Remus said with a smile as he walked off.
Harry glanced at Ron who was staring wide eyed into space, "What's wrong with you?"
"This. . .is. . .great!" he exclaimed before plunging his spoon into the congee and inhaling it leaving all those near him in disgust.
**************
"Hey, Hermione! Lavender just told me Hagrid got a new dragon!" Ron shouted in a loud whisper as he ran up to her in the hall.
"He what!?" she asked, exasperated.
"It's another Norwegian ridgeback!" Lavender supplied.
Hermione cast a look around to see who was listening and saw Malfoy staring at them intently, "Bug off, Malfoy. Come on; let's go have a look, then."
She grabbed both their wrists and practically yanked them off their feet. They made it to Hagrid's in record time who quickly ushered them in. Almost instantly, the four hurried to the window and were pleased to see Malfoy sauntering up to the cabin.
"I can' believe 'e is fallin' for it!" Hagrid laughed, "A'noder dragon indeed. . .I sure would love one, though. . ."
Hermione cast a worried glance at him, "Hagrid, you can't be serious. You know what happened last time-"
"He's coming!" Lavender shouted, clamping her hand over her head.
"Okay, okay, let's get going." Hermione said, walking towards the door.
"You need to get rid of that before anyone finds out! Who knows the trouble you could get into!" Hermione said seriously as they exited the cabin.
"Ain't no one know 'bout him, o'der than yeh lot." Hagrid pointed out.
"What're you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron asked, cross-armed as he "spotted" the Slytherin.
"Just checking up on what I heard. . .*another* dragon?" he asked with a victorious smile.
Hagrid quickly looked to his companions and back to Malfoy, "What you be gettin' at, Malfoy? There ain't no dragon here."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and I really belong in Huffelpuff."
"The Huffelpuffs would murder you before they admitted you to their house." Lavender said with no hint of sarcasm.
But Malfoy was no longer listening. Voices that didn't sound too far off had reached them. . .they sounded like they were fighting.
"What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" Ron asked, noticing how he had paled.
"N. . .nothing, Weasley, mind your own busi---"
"High ya!"
"Ha!"
"Hoo ha!"
Malfoy slowly walked past the cabin until he could see where the noise was coming from. When he did, he looked ready to wet his pants. A good distance off, were what appeared to be four ninjas, fighting each other with swords and nun chucks.
"'Ey! What are yeh lot doin'!? No fightin' on school property!" Hagrid shouted at them as he, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender saw what was happening.
Malfoy looked positively petrified as the ninjas stopped fighting each other, and turned to look at them. After what appeared to be a brief moment of discussion, they all let out war cries and ran towards the group. Malfoy promptly screamed and ran back to the school as fast as his legs would carry him.
". . .What's wrong with him?" Harry asked as he, Sirius, Tali, and Remus made it up to them in their practice clothes.
"No idea," Hermione said innocently, "It's like he thought you all were ninjas or something."
Remus looked down at the nun chucks tucked in his belt and the sword in his hand, "Oops. . .I guess we did sort of give that impression. . .didn't we?"
"What a shame," Tali said, disappointed.
**************(AN: if you want to listen to the song, start it now)**************
"First of all, I would like to thank all of you who came extra early," Sirius said from the front of the Great Hall, "Now, I believe that all of us are here, so shall we get started?"
A shout of approval bounced off the walls and Remus stepped up, "Very well, then. Welcome one and all to this year's first meeting of the Dueling Club. This is going to be very different from the last one for those of you who remember it. In accordance with Professor Dumbledore's idea of exposing you students to all cultures, we shall be teaching you one of the oldest forms of fighting from China. . .the martial art skills of the ninjas!"
A mixed response met this. Some clapped and shouted, while some grinned evilly at each other.
"Does everyone have their outfits on?" Tali asked and there was a shouted reply of yes, "Perfect. . .now pair off in twos and we'll begin."
It actually didn't take long at all for a majority of the people to get rather good at the fighting. The only problem was that as they were all covered from head to toe in black ninja clothes, so it was rather difficult to keep tabs on your partner. The only thing you had to help you identify were their eyes.
Never the less, they were all having a great time. In fact, most nearly forgot the purpose of their get ups. It quickly raced back into their heads however, as the doors swung open. Everyone froze and turned to see Malfoy, frozen on the spot. His jaw was ajar and his eyes were bugging out of his head.
Harry, unrecognizable due to his clothes, ran through the crowd of his accomplices until he was clearly visible. He glared at Malfoy as someone whispered something to him from behind.
He nodded and, in a magically altered voice, spoke to his fellow "ninjas", "He has come to stop us! Quickly, capture him before he alerts the white bearded one!"
A simultaneous shuffling of feet sent Malfoy, who had finally gained the feeling back in his legs, out of the room, screaming like mad.
It seemed to Malfoy that he was supremely outnumbered. Every turn he took he ran into at least three or four ninjas. He was running out of breath, but the ninjas showed no sign of slowly down. Malfoy made it all the way around the Quidditch field, up to the Astronomy tower, back to Hagrid's cabin, to the Transfiguration room, and even Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It must have gone on for at least a two hours.
More than once, he had nearly been captured by ninjas who jumped down from their positions on the ceiling where they had been awaiting him. And not even once had he seen another student or teacher, which would have seemed rather weird had he had time to think about it. After all, with all the noise they were making, they probably woke up the whole of Hogsmeade.
Towards the end of the second hour he made the mistake of looking back over his shoulder to see how close they were and didn't see Peeves flying straight at him. Turning back just in time to avoid running through the ghost, Malfoy fell down a flight of stairs. By the time he managed to stand up, he was surrounded by ninjas. He gulped as two rather large ones took him by his arms and dragged him down to the dungeons.
They pulled him for at least a good ten or fifteen minutes. Finally, they entered a dark, dimly lit room. In the center was Harry, though Malfoy still didn't know this. He was surrounded by four tall ninjas, probably his body guards. Harry motioned for Malfoy's captors to bring him forward.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Harry circled him, "You are frightened, no?"
Malfoy gulped again but didn't see any point in denying it, ". . .Yes."
Laughter of the others in the room filled his ears but Harry silenced them, "Good. . .you wonder why we have brought you here?"
"Yes."
Harry turned around and walked back to the table he had been standing in front of originally. When he turned around, he had a sword in his hand. Malfoy lost his balance and slipped into the ninja next to him who shoved him roughly in the other direction into the wall.
"You know too much." Harry said as he walked over to him.
"I don't know anything!"
Harry stared at him, puzzled, "You are stupid then?"
"Yes! The stupidest!"
A snigger erupted behind them and Harry turned to him, "Not now! Save for later, M. F."
He turned back to Malfoy, "You not stupid. . .my spies have seen you around lately. You tricked boy Neville into being framed for your deed and ruined robes!"
Malfoy snorted before he could control himself, "Well you would too. That fat lubber might as well be a squib!"
"Silence! You shall pay for your crimes!"
"What crimes!?"
"Say goodbye. . ." Harry said as he raised the sword.
"No wait!" Malfoy screamed as he fell to his knees, "Please! I swear, I'll keep my mouth shut! I won't say a word!"
It was taking all Harry had to keep from laughing as Malfoy started to leak some tears, "You be nice to boy Neville?"
"Yes! I'll buy him new robes and everything!"
Harry thought about this for a moment, "Well, in that case. . ."
He raised his sword again and Malfoy curled into a ball, squeezing his eyes shut, "No!"
"Say cheese!"
Malfoy shot up at the familiar voice. Instantly, everyone in the room pulled down their face cloths. Malfoy looked mortified as he saw face after face laughing at him. The person who had last spoken happened to be the one Harry had spoken to.
"Nice picture, Malfoy!" Ron laughed as he passed it around.
Malfoy stormed to his feet and glowered at Harry, "Potter!"
"Oh no, please don't hurt me! I'll do anything, I swear!" Harry laughed as he pretended to cower beneath him.
Louder laughter broke out. Malfoy stood there for a few more moments before flushing bright red and running from the room.
"That was bloody brilliant, Harry!" Ron said as he patted him on the shoulder.
Harry smiled as he handed the picture of Malfoy blubbering like a baby to him, "We should send this to Fred and George. . .I'm sure they can find something to do with it. . ."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes! My muse it back! Whoo hoo! I love this chapter! What about you all? I'll be updating within two weeks, hopefully sooner! It's likely too as it's about to get really exciting!
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: K, people, it's starting next chapter! Ole Voldie's coming to steal something! Those of you with intuitive natures probably know what! Anywho, okay folks! If you want to read an AWESOME story while waiting for me to update go read Lady Wildcat's story 'Seven Years'! It's *so* good! I almost died from laughter in the last chapter! Oh! And if you do, be sure to tell her that I sent cha!
Amy: Let's see. . .did he kill Malfoy? ::Grins evilly:: hehehe, just you wait and see. . .
Kim: I don't understand the 'bloody' word either, but it's cool to say and I use it all the time. . .especially since my English teacher got me hooked on it. . .anywho, if you think Lucius is a doody head now. . .well. . .I'm gonna write a prequel eventually that is about Lily and James' 7th year at Hogwarts. . .that's sure to drag out more hatred. . .thanks for the review! And update your story soon, too!
Laterose: Malfoys bite, I know. . .hopefully you'll find this chapter a little fulfilling. . .
Fleeper: Oh. . .I'm sure you're good! Hmm. . .I'm very persistent, I bet I can find out who you are. . .maybe. . .anyway, thanks! I'm honored to know that you find me good enough to make it to your favorites' list! I'm not finished yet, but it's getting there!
Leaf: No no no no no no no no no no no! Oh! Sorry if I gave that impression! Ew! ::Shivers:: Sorry, I REALLY don't like the Malfoys, there's not way I'd make Harry one of them! Good guess though. Eventually I'll get around to writing a prequel that goes into detail about Lily and James' last year at Hogwarts, but 'till then you'll just have to trust me. Anywho, yay! Another H/Hr shipper! Blessed be the day! Lol, welcome to the club!
Paul: Make him leave, okay. That's 6 to 3, letting him stay. . .hey, it's getting closer!
Lady Kris: 6 to 4, letting him stay! It's getting closer, folks! Maybe he'll go away after all. . .sorry, though, IF he does, it won't be until the end. . .
NOTE:
If you want, there's gonna be an optional song to listen to while reading the end of this chapter. If you're interested, it's called Kung Fu Fighting by New Found Glory(preferably. . .there are other groups out there with the same song). I'll give you an author's note telling you when to start it, if you want. . .IT'S NOT NECESSARY. . .if you want to be amused, I would suggest it, though.
Wanted: Love
Newspapers and Nun Chucks
"---I bet it was Potter---"
Harry picked up his pace as he heard Malfoy's voice. The fact that it had actually been the elder Malfoy who had hurt his mother didn't matter to him; all that did was that he was a Malfoy. He would NEVER forgive the family for what Lucius did. Besides that, Harry was willing to bet that Draco knew about the whole thing. He expected nothing less of Lucius Malfoy than to brag about it to his family.
"---besides, father was supposed to pay him a visit again tonight."
"Malfoy!" Harry roared as he came upon the blonde Slytherin and his two lackeys.
The three spun around and faltered at Harry's obvious rage.
". . .What do you want, Potter?" Malfoy asked with a pitiful sneer.
Harry said nothing as he stalked forward and punched him as hard as he could in the face. Malfoy stumbled back into the wall as his hand flew to his nose which had begun to bleed profusely. He glared at Harry and regained his posture.
"What the hell was that for!?" he asked, fuming.
Once again, Harry didn't even bother to say anything as he jumped on the Slytherin and started punching anything he could get his hands on. Malfoy fought back furiously, but Harry was too set on inflicting injuries to feel the damage being impressed onto himself. Crabbe and Goyle kept backing in and out of fighting range, a bit fearful of Harry's powers.
"Get off!" Malfoy croaked between the punches.
"You've had it coming! Your damn family has had it coming since before I was born!" Harry bellowed.
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, you sick bastard!"
"What!?"
"Don't play dumb! You know exact-"
"Harry!"
Harry found himself being pulled off Malfoy, though he fought against it every inch of the way, "Let me go, Sirius! He deserves it!"
"Harry, he didn't do it, his father did."
Snarling Harry chose to ignore his headmaster's comment. He heard his friends run up behind him but didn't stop his attempts to break free of his godfather's grip. For several minutes waves of white light hit him, and despite his efforts at keeping his temper up, he found himself slowly relaxing. His muscles tension lessened and he gradually stopped fighting against his captor.
"You lucky they came to save your ass, Malfoy." Harry said calmly, though he continued to glare.
"Come on, Mr. Malfoy. I'll take you up to the infirmary," Dumbledore said walking over to his student before turning back to the others, "Why don't you take the children back to one of your rooms for the night?"
Tali, Remus, and Sirius nodded before leading Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender away from the fight scene where Crabbe and Goyle continued to stand motionlessly.
**************
The rest of the night passed quickly. They had wound up going to Sirius' room, located only a short distance from the Gryffindor tower. The room's decoration strongly reminded the students of their common room. Everything from furniture, though in nicer condition, to the colors was basically the same. The only difference being a bed on the far side of the room.
At the moment, the sun had begun to peak a few of its rays through the burgundy curtains of the room. Harry was lying on his back on the red and gold rug on the floor, staring at the window with the sun beating into his eyes. A rather cheerful conversation was going on around him, but he took no part in it. Slightly perturbed that his revenge had been cut short, Harry found it impossible to get in good cheer.
"You should have seen it!" exclaimed Lavender, "I thought Ron was going to pee in his pants!"
"Hey! Those skrewts are a lot bigger than in our fourth year!" Ron said indignantly as he shoved her.
Everyone except for Harry and Ron laughed. Ron got a pink tinge in his ears and changed the conversation, "I got a letter from dad yesterday. He reckons that the Ministry already knows who's going to be the next Minister."
"Really? Who?" Hermione asked, rather interested.
He shrugged, "Don't know. He doesn't even know. But he says that there have been a lot of secret meetings between the upper members lately."
"Anyone has to be better than Fudge." Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked, noticing his lack of participation in the conversation.
Harry didn't say anything and the others turned their attention to him as well.
"Harry?" asked Sirius.
Again he didn't respond. They began to move towards him when he suddenly sat up, "No way!"
"Huh?" was the general response.
Harry stood up as Hedwig flew into the room and landed on the chair in front of him. He smiled and took the Daily Prophet from her. That fact that she was no longer an owl didn't seem to matter to her as she had continued to bring Harry his mail. Harry unfolded the paper and, in spite of himself, felt his anger begin to diminish as he broke out into laughter.
Finally noticing the looks the others were giving him, Harry tossed the post at them as he continued to laugh. The room soon filled with the laughter of those in it caught glimpses of the paper. For, decorating the front page, was the picture of Snape in the snow in his elf outfit. The twins had developed it the Muggle way, as to prevent photo-Snape from running out of sight. Along with the picture was a small article that explained it:
"Potions Master Severus Snape of Hogwarts gets into the holiday spirit. Due to the persuasion of Mr. Harry Potter, Snape and Albus Dumbledore (see page 13) dress as an elf and Santa Clause. 'Harry needed a couple of people to help him with a gift for his friends and I thought who better than Alair [Snape] and I?' revealed Dumbledore."
"Brilliant! George's gotten better!" Ron laughed.
A rise in the laughter said all that need to be said in response. All of a sudden, a loud screech could be heard echoing out from the dungeons, silencing the laughter. No one bothered to ask what it was, they all knew.
Sirius stood up and straightened his robes, "I don't know about you, but I'm *starving*. . ."
The others were instantly on their feet, "Me too!"
**************
Breakfast that morning was likely the most amusing thing any of them had ever witnessed. Snape had stormed in not too long after the group had taken their seats and immediately accused them of deliberately encouraging the twins to give the paper the picture.
"Like they needed any encouragement. . ." Ron had muttered under his breath.
Harry agreed with him. Fred and George would have still given it to the Prophet if they had to forfeit their pranks for a year. The amusement the picture gave off was far too great that it, indeed, seemed a crime to hold to themselves.
Pretty soon students and faculty alike were filing into the Great Hall in hoards. Snape had a hell of a time trying to hex every single owl that carried a newspaper. After a stray spell nearly hit a Ravenclaw, Dumbledore called him over to the Professors' table where he sat with his hands over his face.
Once everyone found out what Snape had been trying to hide, the rest of the meal was filled with laughter that couldn't be contained. If there was one thing Harry had to be thankful for, it was that he didn't have Potions anymore. Undoubtedly, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender were in for a hell of a time. He voiced this, simultaneously becoming greeted with three rather loud groans. When they all headed out of the Hall, they caught a glimpse of Malfoy who was glaring at them from the Slytherin table.
"He better just wait till tonight- " Lavender started heatedly.
"No," Harry interrupted her, "No, we can't do it tonight. . .Malfoy's probably going to be on his guard for a while yet."
"God dammit! We're never going to do this, are we?" Ron asked, perturbed.
"Of course we will," Hermione said calmly, "We just have to wait. . .what about this weekend?"
". . .I suppose that's enough time." Harry said as they reached the dungeons, "Well. . .I guess I'll see you guys later. I better get to the Chamber."
"See you, Harry!" they called after him.
By the time Harry made it to the Chamber, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore were already there. Shaking his head he headed towards them. Spending several hours practicing didn't really appeal to him at the moment. No, he'd much rather be in Honeydukes, downing a few butterbeers with his friends. But he forced himself to remember that they had the "pleasure" of spending two hours with Snape, and after the comparison, it didn't seem so bad.
**************
The week passed dreadfully slow, or so it seemed to Harry. The aching to go ahead with the prank nearly overwhelmed him more than once. It took every ounce of self control he had to stick to the plan. He supposed that Snape's unusually large amount of bitterness towards him, didn't help much either. From what he had learned from his friends, Snape had taken off a total of fifty points from the Gryffindors for miniscule things such as breathing or writing too loudly.
The end of the week was met with great welcome. Not only because the next day was the first meeting of the Dueling club, but also because Snape had seemingly been stalking the four of them, looking for any and all reasons to give out a detention and take away points. However, there was yet another reason to rejoice, as everyone soon would find out. . .
"Is everything in order?" Harry asked in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, I just double checked with the other houses, they're ready and rarin' to go." Lavender said with a smile.
"I should think so. We've only put it off what, three, four times?" Hermione asked.
"Two times," Ron corrected her as he shoved a whole boiled potato into his mouth, receiving looks from his companions, "What?"
"You're a pig, you know that, right?" Hermione said, shaking her head disapprovingly.
Ron swallowed and smiled brightly, "Wrong again, Herms. I'm a red wolf."
"You know what I meant!" Hermione snapped, slapping him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for!?"
"For being a dirk," she said simply.
"A what?" he asked.
"Ugh, you're hopeless."
"What? What's a dirk?"
Harry, Hermione, and Lavender glanced at each other and laughed.
"What?" Ron asked hopeless.
"Ron, you really are clueless." Harry laughed.
"Huh?"
"Aw, don't worry. I still love you, you little cutey!" Lavender exclaimed, pinching his cheek.
"Hey!" Ron squirmed.
"I don't see how. . ." Hermione led off.
"Hey!" Ron cried, even more indignant.
"What? Look at this face!" Lavender said, squishing his cheeks together so he looked like a fish before waving his head back and forth, "How can you not love this face!?"
Harry, Hermione, and other's near them broke out laughing as Ron fought to get free. Once he succeeded, he rubbed his cheeks, which were now bright red, and looked from face to face.
"I don't see what's so funny about it. Damn, Lavender. You nearly broke my face off!"
"Aw, I'm sorry. Here, let me make it all bet-" she started to move towards him.
Ron backed away, right into the next person and shook his head, "Oh no! You stay there!"
Lavender pouted and crossed her arms, "Fine! I was just trying to stick up you!"
"Some job. . ." Ron muttered.
She stuck her tongue out at him as Dumbledore stood up, "May I have your attention please?"
A hush slowly overtook the Great Hall as the headmaster stared out across the sea of faces, "As you all know, February is nearly upon us-"
He gave an unintentional pause at the end of the sentence, and while it lasted no longer than an instant, it was enough to make several people in the room rather uncomfortable. Harry shifted in his seat and became very interested in his plate as his friends casts glances at him.
"-Tomorrow, as a matter of fact, is the first. And, in light of the upcoming holiday, we will be hosting a Masque."
A subtle murmur broke out among the students, some wondering what a Masque was, but silence was reinstated as Dumbledore raised his hand, "For those of you who might be wondering what a Masque is, it is a sort of Ball. . .our theme is famous couples throughout history. And classes will be cancelled on the fourteenth to provide each of you time to prepare, so we are expecting the best from you all."
As soon as he sat down an excited chatter exploded throughout the Hall. The Gryffindor table was no exception.
"Themed?" Harry asked.
"Oh what a brilliant idea! This will be so much fun!" Hermione exclaimed happily, "Who should we be, Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment, ". . .I don't know. . .I suppose we should try to think of something original. . ."
"Right! It wouldn't be any fun if half the other people came as the same thing." Hermione agreed.
"How about us, Ron?" Lavender asked.
"As long as I get a sword I'm happy." Ron said in a voice that clearly stated that he didn't care.
Lavender looked to be in deep thought for several minutes then lit up, "I've got it!"
**************
"Here he comes!" Hermione whispered excitedly as she hurried over to the Gryffindor table.
"And about time! You'd think he got his foot stuck in one of the stair cases at the rate he's going." Ron said irritably.
As he said this the doors opened and in walked a flock of Slytherins, Malfoy among them. They went to their table and waited with the rest of the school for breakfast to start.
"Sure is taking longer than normal. . ." Lavender commented.
"I heard there are a few new house elves. . .maybe they're slowing things up." Ron suggested.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"I'm sure they're doing the best they can," Harry cut in, hopefully sparing the school of any future SPEW efforts.
Hermione pursed her lips, "Hmm. . ."
"Oh look! Breakfast's here!" Lavender said, quickly changing the conversation.
Ron bent down to eye level with the table, "What is it?"
"Don't be silly, Ron. They're. . .er. . .that is. . .what *is* it?" Hermione asked as she picked up a funny shaped roll.
"Ha! You don't know either!" Ron exclaimed triumphantly.
"I've never seen food like this before. . .I wonder what they're up to in the kitchens. . ." Harry pondered out loud.
The rest of the students seemed to share this inquiry, for all of them looked just as blank as the three Gryffindors. In place of the regular foods were big bowls of what looked like porridge. . .only with chunks of gray. . .meat perhaps. Other than the "porridge" there were piles of twisted, canoe shaped pastries. And there weren't even any drinks.
Quite a few students began to speak up in protest, but Dumbledore kindly explained the change, "It has been decided that children today are not exposed enough to other cultures. So I have come to the decision to try and correct this. Once a month we will eat food from another country. This month it is China. What you have in front of you are congee and crullers. It is a typical breakfast for those for the Chinese. I do hope all of you will give it a chance."
With that he left the students to either eat or skip the meal. Ron eyed the "congee."
"It looks like someone threw up in a bowl and decided to serve it," he commented.
Harry had to agree with him there. Had he known that *this* was how Dobby and the other house elves wanted to help, he might have given it a second thought. He shook his head and picked up a cruller.
"At least it's begun," he said as he snapped the pastry in two and sniffed it.
"I don't see how serving Chinese food is supposed to even the score with that git," Ron said, nibbling on the edge of a cruller, ". . .Not bad, though."
"Think about it, Ron," Hermione said pointedly, "*What* are we basing this prank on?"
"Ni-" he started.
"Right! And *where* are they from?" she asked.
"Chin-Oh! I get it!"
"'Bout time." Lavender snorted.
"Shut up." Ron said.
"Hey, Harry!" Sirius said, clapping him on the back as he sat down, "Ron, Hermione, Lavender. You guys all enjoying your. . .er. . .confee."
"That's congee, Padfoot." Remus said, also sitting down.
"Right, that's what I said," he said sheepishly.
"Anyway, we're supposed to tell you to meet us out by the lake in a half hour for some more practice. . .we're starting on something new today," Tali said to Harry with a wink.
"Of all the days. . ." he said sarcastically.
"Think you three could. . ." Sirius led off.
"No problem!" Lavender enthused.
"Yeah, consider it done!" Hermione agreed.
"Great! Well, we'll be seeing you, then." Remus said with a smile as he walked off.
Harry glanced at Ron who was staring wide eyed into space, "What's wrong with you?"
"This. . .is. . .great!" he exclaimed before plunging his spoon into the congee and inhaling it leaving all those near him in disgust.
**************
"Hey, Hermione! Lavender just told me Hagrid got a new dragon!" Ron shouted in a loud whisper as he ran up to her in the hall.
"He what!?" she asked, exasperated.
"It's another Norwegian ridgeback!" Lavender supplied.
Hermione cast a look around to see who was listening and saw Malfoy staring at them intently, "Bug off, Malfoy. Come on; let's go have a look, then."
She grabbed both their wrists and practically yanked them off their feet. They made it to Hagrid's in record time who quickly ushered them in. Almost instantly, the four hurried to the window and were pleased to see Malfoy sauntering up to the cabin.
"I can' believe 'e is fallin' for it!" Hagrid laughed, "A'noder dragon indeed. . .I sure would love one, though. . ."
Hermione cast a worried glance at him, "Hagrid, you can't be serious. You know what happened last time-"
"He's coming!" Lavender shouted, clamping her hand over her head.
"Okay, okay, let's get going." Hermione said, walking towards the door.
"You need to get rid of that before anyone finds out! Who knows the trouble you could get into!" Hermione said seriously as they exited the cabin.
"Ain't no one know 'bout him, o'der than yeh lot." Hagrid pointed out.
"What're you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron asked, cross-armed as he "spotted" the Slytherin.
"Just checking up on what I heard. . .*another* dragon?" he asked with a victorious smile.
Hagrid quickly looked to his companions and back to Malfoy, "What you be gettin' at, Malfoy? There ain't no dragon here."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and I really belong in Huffelpuff."
"The Huffelpuffs would murder you before they admitted you to their house." Lavender said with no hint of sarcasm.
But Malfoy was no longer listening. Voices that didn't sound too far off had reached them. . .they sounded like they were fighting.
"What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" Ron asked, noticing how he had paled.
"N. . .nothing, Weasley, mind your own busi---"
"High ya!"
"Ha!"
"Hoo ha!"
Malfoy slowly walked past the cabin until he could see where the noise was coming from. When he did, he looked ready to wet his pants. A good distance off, were what appeared to be four ninjas, fighting each other with swords and nun chucks.
"'Ey! What are yeh lot doin'!? No fightin' on school property!" Hagrid shouted at them as he, Ron, Hermione, and Lavender saw what was happening.
Malfoy looked positively petrified as the ninjas stopped fighting each other, and turned to look at them. After what appeared to be a brief moment of discussion, they all let out war cries and ran towards the group. Malfoy promptly screamed and ran back to the school as fast as his legs would carry him.
". . .What's wrong with him?" Harry asked as he, Sirius, Tali, and Remus made it up to them in their practice clothes.
"No idea," Hermione said innocently, "It's like he thought you all were ninjas or something."
Remus looked down at the nun chucks tucked in his belt and the sword in his hand, "Oops. . .I guess we did sort of give that impression. . .didn't we?"
"What a shame," Tali said, disappointed.
**************(AN: if you want to listen to the song, start it now)**************
"First of all, I would like to thank all of you who came extra early," Sirius said from the front of the Great Hall, "Now, I believe that all of us are here, so shall we get started?"
A shout of approval bounced off the walls and Remus stepped up, "Very well, then. Welcome one and all to this year's first meeting of the Dueling Club. This is going to be very different from the last one for those of you who remember it. In accordance with Professor Dumbledore's idea of exposing you students to all cultures, we shall be teaching you one of the oldest forms of fighting from China. . .the martial art skills of the ninjas!"
A mixed response met this. Some clapped and shouted, while some grinned evilly at each other.
"Does everyone have their outfits on?" Tali asked and there was a shouted reply of yes, "Perfect. . .now pair off in twos and we'll begin."
It actually didn't take long at all for a majority of the people to get rather good at the fighting. The only problem was that as they were all covered from head to toe in black ninja clothes, so it was rather difficult to keep tabs on your partner. The only thing you had to help you identify were their eyes.
Never the less, they were all having a great time. In fact, most nearly forgot the purpose of their get ups. It quickly raced back into their heads however, as the doors swung open. Everyone froze and turned to see Malfoy, frozen on the spot. His jaw was ajar and his eyes were bugging out of his head.
Harry, unrecognizable due to his clothes, ran through the crowd of his accomplices until he was clearly visible. He glared at Malfoy as someone whispered something to him from behind.
He nodded and, in a magically altered voice, spoke to his fellow "ninjas", "He has come to stop us! Quickly, capture him before he alerts the white bearded one!"
A simultaneous shuffling of feet sent Malfoy, who had finally gained the feeling back in his legs, out of the room, screaming like mad.
It seemed to Malfoy that he was supremely outnumbered. Every turn he took he ran into at least three or four ninjas. He was running out of breath, but the ninjas showed no sign of slowly down. Malfoy made it all the way around the Quidditch field, up to the Astronomy tower, back to Hagrid's cabin, to the Transfiguration room, and even Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It must have gone on for at least a two hours.
More than once, he had nearly been captured by ninjas who jumped down from their positions on the ceiling where they had been awaiting him. And not even once had he seen another student or teacher, which would have seemed rather weird had he had time to think about it. After all, with all the noise they were making, they probably woke up the whole of Hogsmeade.
Towards the end of the second hour he made the mistake of looking back over his shoulder to see how close they were and didn't see Peeves flying straight at him. Turning back just in time to avoid running through the ghost, Malfoy fell down a flight of stairs. By the time he managed to stand up, he was surrounded by ninjas. He gulped as two rather large ones took him by his arms and dragged him down to the dungeons.
They pulled him for at least a good ten or fifteen minutes. Finally, they entered a dark, dimly lit room. In the center was Harry, though Malfoy still didn't know this. He was surrounded by four tall ninjas, probably his body guards. Harry motioned for Malfoy's captors to bring him forward.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Harry circled him, "You are frightened, no?"
Malfoy gulped again but didn't see any point in denying it, ". . .Yes."
Laughter of the others in the room filled his ears but Harry silenced them, "Good. . .you wonder why we have brought you here?"
"Yes."
Harry turned around and walked back to the table he had been standing in front of originally. When he turned around, he had a sword in his hand. Malfoy lost his balance and slipped into the ninja next to him who shoved him roughly in the other direction into the wall.
"You know too much." Harry said as he walked over to him.
"I don't know anything!"
Harry stared at him, puzzled, "You are stupid then?"
"Yes! The stupidest!"
A snigger erupted behind them and Harry turned to him, "Not now! Save for later, M. F."
He turned back to Malfoy, "You not stupid. . .my spies have seen you around lately. You tricked boy Neville into being framed for your deed and ruined robes!"
Malfoy snorted before he could control himself, "Well you would too. That fat lubber might as well be a squib!"
"Silence! You shall pay for your crimes!"
"What crimes!?"
"Say goodbye. . ." Harry said as he raised the sword.
"No wait!" Malfoy screamed as he fell to his knees, "Please! I swear, I'll keep my mouth shut! I won't say a word!"
It was taking all Harry had to keep from laughing as Malfoy started to leak some tears, "You be nice to boy Neville?"
"Yes! I'll buy him new robes and everything!"
Harry thought about this for a moment, "Well, in that case. . ."
He raised his sword again and Malfoy curled into a ball, squeezing his eyes shut, "No!"
"Say cheese!"
Malfoy shot up at the familiar voice. Instantly, everyone in the room pulled down their face cloths. Malfoy looked mortified as he saw face after face laughing at him. The person who had last spoken happened to be the one Harry had spoken to.
"Nice picture, Malfoy!" Ron laughed as he passed it around.
Malfoy stormed to his feet and glowered at Harry, "Potter!"
"Oh no, please don't hurt me! I'll do anything, I swear!" Harry laughed as he pretended to cower beneath him.
Louder laughter broke out. Malfoy stood there for a few more moments before flushing bright red and running from the room.
"That was bloody brilliant, Harry!" Ron said as he patted him on the shoulder.
Harry smiled as he handed the picture of Malfoy blubbering like a baby to him, "We should send this to Fred and George. . .I'm sure they can find something to do with it. . ."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes! My muse it back! Whoo hoo! I love this chapter! What about you all? I'll be updating within two weeks, hopefully sooner! It's likely too as it's about to get really exciting!
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: K, people, it's starting next chapter! Ole Voldie's coming to steal something! Those of you with intuitive natures probably know what! Anywho, okay folks! If you want to read an AWESOME story while waiting for me to update go read Lady Wildcat's story 'Seven Years'! It's *so* good! I almost died from laughter in the last chapter! Oh! And if you do, be sure to tell her that I sent cha!