Disclaimer: Do not own the Wonderful World of Harry Potter… not making any money from my writings…DO NOT LIKE that Rowling has killed Sirius Black and have chosen to pointedly ignore that certain, allowing him to make an appearance here…

Note to readers: your reviews are only welcome in these type of formats: praise, gushing, skepticism, flames, anger, denial, repulse/disgust, and I suppose constructive criticism can be entertained as well…

A/N: Warning: Snape/McGonagall appearance starting from this chapter, will get worse as story progresses, or as worst can be without increasing the ratings. Also be prepared for unorthodox reaction of Harry towards Snape and Snape's unSnapeish behavior

~*@*~

Winter had finally made its way to Hogwarts, covering its vast grounds with white snow and coating its trees with shiny, sharp icicles. Only the lake, rippling occasionally, showed no sign of succumbing to the bitter north winds. Christmas was coming and soft jingle tunes would escape the lips of students as they flocked about the chilly hallways, a light spring in their steps.

Ah, but how fun could a Christmas holiday be, if it wasn't preceded first by a trip to Hogsmeade? The trip was scheduled two weeks before the holidays and it was all that the seventh years could talk about.

Jessica, naturally, had no idea what importance that day held. She was sitting in her room, reading a Jude Deveraux's romance the night before the Hogsmeade trip, when the door burst open and Hermione, like a miniature whirlwind, blew in. Her face was contorted in anger. Behind her were Harry and Ron. They had just returned from prefect patrol. Hermione had begun to open and then slam hard the cupboard drawers.

"I wish I could just hex him! Or change him into a toad… No that's not bad enough, a slug maybe… no a snail, then I'll pour salt on him! Yes, I'll do that," she muttered to one in particular. Her face was flushed red and her brown eyes glinting dangerously. Jessica only looked at the two boys, who were looking warily at Hermione.

"Hey, Herm, I'll hold, you punch," she said, trying to inject some humor into the grave scene. Hermione turned her angry eyes to Jessica. Jessica unwittingly winced at the impact.

"How about, I kill him and you dig his grave?" she retorted. With a scream, she stomped into the bathroom. Ron slumped onto Hermione's bed and Harry sat on Jessica's bed.

"What just happened?" she asked. Ron just groaned, so Harry figured it was up to him.

"We had an encounter with Judas's apprentice," said Harry.

"Huh? Judas?" she asked puzzled. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, his alias here is Draco Malfoy," he said. Jessica strained her mind to put a face to the name. Nope, nothing.

"Who?" she asked again, suddenly feeling a little silly. Ron looked at her in wonder.

"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin… greasy silver hair, sharp, ugly pointed face… constantly flanked by two equally ugly gargoyles?" said Ron. Jessica tried again. Of course, she had to take in Ron's description with a pinch salt, as she knew his tendency to exaggerate. Silver hair, pointy face… oh there it is, she's receiving an image. Oh yes, Slytherin prefect, Snape's pet. Hmmm, ugly wouldn't exactly be what she would describe him.

"Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about. I thought he was good look~" she said but had to cut short her sentence when Harry gave her an evil eye. She had forgotten about the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry.

"Good loo… er, loser… yeah, I always thought he was a good loser," she tried to cover her initial thoughts. Harry just gave her a withering look. Ron had gone back to clenching the bed sheets tightly and ranting into Hermione's fluffy pillow.

"So what did he do?" she asked, hoping to divert Harry's annoyed look elsewhere. It worked as Harry, turned to look at a wall, his green eyes almost black with anger.

"It isn't much what he did, its more what he said. We had a prefect meeting in the prefect's common room. Ron and Hermione came late."

"We were inspecting the outside grounds!" Ron yelled from under his arm.

"Ron, I know. Anyways he called Hermione a mudblood, not surprising, he always does that, but he went a step further this time," said Harry. Jessica couldn't say much, but she knew what a mudblood meant. She's been one for as long as she can remember. Harry wasn't done.

"Then he said out loud to everyone in the room, that there's a double meaning to Hermione being head girl… y'know what I'm saying right?" said, Harry, suddenly becoming uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I get it. What an asshole!" Jessica said her eyes wide with indignation. Good looking or not, this Draco Malfoy had just made another enemy in the form of Jessica Stanford. How dare he even hint of such a thing!!

"It gets better," said Ron suddenly, getting up to sitting position. His anger was so defined, his hair was sizzling.

"She screamed at him and guess who should 'just' happen to walk in at that moment," said Ron mockingly. Jessica groaned in understanding.

"Snape,"

"Yep, he deducted 20 points from Gryffindor for disturbing the piece. He wouldn't even listen to us," continued Ron.

"He is such a bastard," she cried and began to crawl off the bed.

"Where you going?" asked Harry.

"To give Snape a piece of my mind," she retorted. That man made her cells boil in anger. Harry pushed her back onto the bed.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" he asked. She is so stupid sometimes.

"Forget it Jessica, you'll only help loose more points. Besides are you sure, you want to go see him now, at night, in his bedroom? He might not be alone," said Ron, a small smile on his lips. He still couldn't get over Snape and McGonagall. Jessica paled.

"Err, maybe you're right. Nothings worth that," she said. At that moment, Hermione stepped out of the bathroom. She had changed to her cotton nightdress and was more relaxed. She went to her bed and snuggled under the covers. Ron joined her and pulled her into his arms.

"Feel better?" he asked. Hermione sighed into his shoulder, her head resting on it. Jessica looked away. Somehow, she felt like she was intruding a special moment. Harry also had looked away, his face wistful.

"Yeah, I feel better now. I shouldn't have lost it. Its not like anyone would listen to him," she said.

"Of course not. I wish you would let me pound him," said Ron.

"I'll help," chipped in Harry. Hermione laughed.

"Maybe once we're in Hogsmeade," she said. Jessica perked up.

"Doth my ear deceive me? Is Ms. I-would-rather-die-than-break-a-rule encouraging violence?" said Jessica pretending to be mortified. Hermione threw a pillow at her. Jessica caught it and threw it back at her.

"Too bad Dumbledore had to take him back," said Harry regretfully.

"Take him back?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah he was 'asked' to leave by Dumbledore two years ago, but his father, the has been still a loser Lucius Malfoy, managed to "convince" the school board to accept him back to Hogwarts," explained Harry. There was silence as the three contemplated that regretful day and Jessica just staring at the ceiling, not a clue what they were talking about.

Then the unthinkably unexpected happened. A knock was heard at the door and on the other side someone spoke.

"Ms. Granger, Ms Stanford? May I come in?" said the crisp voice of Professor McGonagall. All four gaped at each other for a second but then Ron dived under Hermione's duvet and Jessica motioned Harry to get under hers. Without thinking, she rolled over him to hide the bump his body made. She nodded to Hermione.

"Come in, Professor," Hermione said, trying to sound calm, and trying not too look guilty. Jessica had grabbed her book and hid her face behind it. Professor McGonagall walked in.

"Good evening girls. You're up late," she said casually.

"Yes Professor, just doing some light reading," said Hermione, before she realized she wasn't holding a book. Jessica, who was reading a book, couldn't say anything. She had just realized something and it had left her immobilize. It had just registered in her head that her body was molded to the contours of Harry's body and Harry's face was pressed intimately against her breast, and she couldn't move without revealing that there was another person in her bed. She tried to wriggle a bit, but Harry grabbed her waist and made her stop. She could hear him groan into her chest and she could feel something poking into her thighs… OH JUMPING JELLYFISH!! She gave Professor McGonagall a strained smile. Professor McGonagall gave her a funny look but said nothing.

{It's a good thing, McGonagall was looking at Jessica, for at that moment, Hermione's eyes widen and began furiously pushing away at 'someone' from underneath her duvet)

"Hermione, I would like you to get the names of the students who will be staying back for Christmas and hand me the copy as soon as possible. Will you and Ms. Stanford be staying back for Christmas?" she asked and turned again to Jessica. Hermione and Jessica shook her head, Jessica trying to minimize her movements as much as possible, still maintaining her strained smile. Hermione knew something was not right.

"Um, Professor where are you spending your Christmas?" she asked, tying to divert McGonagall's attention away from Jessica. Professor McGonagall turned back to Hermione, and blushed a little.

"Well, about and around. With my family most probably," she said quickly. Then she bid the two good night and walked out. The instant Jessica heard the door close, she leapt of Harry, as if she had been burnt, which in a way it was true. Harry got up to a seating position, his face red like Ron's hair. Jessica saw him blush and she could feel one creeping up her face. Soon, the two had identical red faces. Ron and Hermione looked at the two, not sure what to make of their red faces. What had happened under the duvet?

"Are you two okay?" Hermione asked. Ron grinned at the two of them. He had an idea but he thought he'd let Harry defend himself first.

"It was hot underneath there," Harry muttered and climbed out of the bed, making sure his front was hidden from view. Jessica lay down and pulled the duvet over herself, until only her head, which was facing the wall, showed.

"Err, I'm tired so I think I'll go back to the room. See you later Ron. Good night Hermione, Jessica," Harry said and without turning he opened the door carefully, just in case Professor McGonagall was still there.

"Good night Harry," said Hermione. Jessica mumbled her good night. Just as Harry was about to close the door, Ron cried out.

"Enjoy your cold shower Harry!" he said and started laughing, even when Hermione's brush came flying towards him. Hermione tried unsuccessfully not to smile and Jessica had disappeared completely under her cover. A minute and a kiss to Hermione later, Ron also left. Hermione turned off the lights and fell asleep almost instantly, the nights horrid encounter with Malfoy forgotten. Jessica however, stayed awake most of the night, her body still burning.

@~~}~~~

Ron burst into his room and saw that Harry was lying face down on his bed. He sat down next to Harry.

"Hey, man, what the hell happened?" he asked. Harry only let out a loud groan. Ron gave his friend's head a poke but pulled back in surprise.

"Harry! Are you sweating? In the middle of winter, in a stone cold room?!" Ron cried out, grinning broader. This just gets better and better, he thought.

"Come on Harry, you can tell. What carnal events took place under the covers?" he pestered.

"Ron, shut up!" Harry finally looked up at his best… soon to be ex, friend. He gave Ron a threatening look, which Ron ignored. Still grinning, he continued to tease Harry. Finally, Harry had enough of Ron's teasing and gave in to Ron.

"Her… chest was pressed into my face and it triggered a reaction," he said, not looking at Ron, his embarrassment growing. Ron stared at Harry. The lucky bastard! Even Hermione and he hadn't gone that far, and they'd been going steady for two years.

"Did she feel it? Your reaction?" he asked. Harry let out another groan.

"Right through her thighs," he mumbled his answer, but Ron caught each word. His stunned silence soon gave way to fits of laughter.

"Glad you find it funny, Weasley," Harry said bitterly. He regretted telling Ron. Ron was going to tease him for the rest of his life.

"Oh man. Oh, man! I am speechless," Ron guffawed.

"Good! Now leave me alone," Harry spat. That just caused Ron to laugh harder.

"So what you gonna do about it?" Ron asked.

"What the hell can I do? She probably doesn't want to talk to me anymore," said Harry

"C'mon, Harry. You couldn't help it. You're a hot-blooded male, it was inevitable. You just feel bad, coz you have a crush on her," Ron tried to reason with Harry.

"I don't have a crush on her," he said then said something else, but it was muffled by the pillow he had placed on his head.

"Speak up man, I can't hear you," said Ron and grabbed the pillow of Harry's head.

"I said I love her," he snapped. There he said it. It's now in the open. Ron was not laughing anymore.

"What?! Harry that's bloody ridiculous!" Ron cried.

"Why?" asked Harry defiantly.

"Well, one, you don't know her that well," he said.

"So?" Harry asked. Ron sighed, not knowing how he was going to get his friend to come to his senses.

"Harry, you're confused. You think you love her, but you're just infatuated with her bad ass chick rep that's all," said Ron.

"You're wrong. I know what I feel. And how would you know what I know anyways? You were busy disliking her," said Harry. Ron was stumped. Harry had a point. When everyone, including himself, had snubbed her, only Harry and Hermione had bothered to talk to her. This new discovery was not comforting to him and Ron vowed he'll make it up to Jessica. Later. Ron looked at Harry who was staring at the ceiling. Harry had sounded sincere, so maybe he does love Jessica. So, if that's what Harry Potter feels, then who was Ronald Weasley to say otherwise?

"Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah?

"When you were under Herm's Duvet…. Did you… I mean, did you feel…" stammered Harry. Immediately Ron's face turn beet red.

"Harry, as much as I like to tell you all that happens in my life, that's none of your business, man," he answered. Harry rolled his eyes and sank back into bed.

"Go to sleep, it'll be better in the morning…. Or worst," he said laughingly and gave Harry's leg a soft thump. Harry just gave Ron a small grin. He's really feeling down, thought Ron as he removed his clothes and climbed into bed. As his eyes began to droop, Ron was thinking of ways to get his best friend and his love together.

A/N/N: Can you believe the things muses come up with??? I did not see that coming at all… ^_^… but did you all like it??