-----Part Six

Another storm was coming. Thick clouds hid the stars and moon. Even the dining hall's enchanted ceiling didn't seem quite as brilliant as usual.

It was already the first weekend of Winter Break. Saturday night, to be exact. Draco Malfoy was sitting alone, picking at his food and shooting occasional glares in the general direction of the Gryffindor table. No one was actually sitting at the table just then, but it didn't hurt to keep in practice.

The fifth year Slytherin hadn't associated with Ron, his rival, since the Quidditch incident. The redhead had been rather hurt when, realizing they would never catch the dark robed entity, the two teens had strolled back to their fallen brooms only to find them alongside a couple of horribly crumpled Wizard Cards. Yes, Draco had endured quite a few of Ron's killer looks this week.

"It wasn't my fault," he gritted out. And, besides, why should he care if the Weasel was angry? That's right, they were enemies. He shouldn't care. "Stupid Weasley."

"Excuse me?" It was Flitwick. The little Professor had been touching up the huge, decorated tree that dominated the hall and was now standing beside Draco, giving him a puzzled look.

The blond dropped his fork. "Uh, nothing."

After a pause, the Charms teacher regained his default smile. "Well, better get off to bed, Mr. Malfoy. You don't want to get in trouble." He turned, heading for the exit. "Just finish your dinner, and then off to your House."

"Right," said Draco, grabbing the last bit of food on his plate (a slice of bread) and sticking it into his mouth. The plate instantly disappeared. " 'Night," he said, feigning politeness, but the Professor was already gone.

Standing, the platinum haired teen left the dining hall and headed for his House. He did somewhat feel like a walk. All of the energy he usually used up picking at Harry or bossing around Crabbe and Goyle was still in him, running through his veins and preventing sleep. But he wouldn't go for a walk. Not after having to hide out with his enemy for a matter of hours. Not after the cuddling. No. Walks were trouble.

Maybe the walk to my dorm will be enough to burn the energy. Draco doubted his own thoughts. He did an awful lot of bugging and bossing around.

-----

For the last two hours Ron had kept busy playing chess with John, a first year, and the only other Gryffindor (besides the pissed off Ginny) who had stayed for break. He'd won (of course), and had had a good enough time playing. Now, however, John was tucked away in his dorm and Ron's stomach was growling. That's right. While totally destroying the first year in a game, the Weasley had managed to forget all about dinner.

"This is horrid," said Ron. He was sitting on one of the extremely comfortable chairs in the Gryffindor common room. "I'm starving." Unfortunately, he had also skipped lunch. Just in order to avoid that complete prat, Draco. The damned Slytherin had mutilated his cards.

It was cozy and warm in the common room, but through the windows Ron could see that a storm was brewing. He could also see that it was dark outside. Which was, obviously, his problem. Students weren't allowed out of their Houses after dark. He'd broken that rule recently and had ended up cuddling with his enemy, getting his hopes of a complete Wizard Card collection crushed (literally) and meeting up with a freak in a dark robe who had tried to kill him. So all in all, it wouldn't be too smart to ignore the rules again. Not smart at all.

"I'm so hungry." It was hopeless. He was going to starve to death. If only there were some way he could sneak down to the kitchens. He wouldn't take much. Just a snack. Resigned to death by food deprivation, Ron stood and started toward his room. "There just isn't any way. I won't be able to-"

Suddenly, he stopped his muttering, his unseeing eyes on the stairs that would lead to his dorm. He was thinking.

No. I couldn't. Could he? He was just so hungry and Harry wouldn't mind. At least, Ron didn't think Harry would mind. As long as Ron didn't get caught. And how could he get caught, when what he would be using was Harry's invisibility cloak?

After only a short pause, Ron hurried to look through Harry's trunk.