Chapter Twenty-six

A few hours later, Araminta was shown into the same room that she'd been given yesterday, only, this time she had nothing to her name but the clothes on her back. No Fawkes-Iolanthe, no trunk, no spellbooks. She was just lucky that her wand (made of petrified wood from Arizona with a dragon heartstring-unicorn hair-phoenix feather core) had been in the pocket of her robes.

Professor Dumbledore had excused her from classes, so she wandered the hallways, looking at the paintings and reading notices. "Quidditch tryouts on Friday," said one. "Quidditch Ball tickets on sale tomorrow! Only ten Galleons!" said another. "Mail order for Fainting Fancies! Take a coupon!" Araminta ripped off a square of the paper, since she herself never fainted and that might come in handy sometimes.

As she turned a corner, her gray-green eyes met a pair of stormy gray ones. A boy with silvery blond hair was sitting in a shadow and using a quill to put a tattoo on his arm. Araminta moved closer and sat down next to him. He was wearing a little bit of black eyeliner and he had on a white t-shirt and black leather pants. He was really hot.

"Hi," said Araminta. The boy glanced up at her, and then went back to inking the tattoo on his arm. It was shaped like the skull on a pirate flag but instead of having the crossbones underneath it had a big snake coming out of its mouth. "Um, I said hi," said Araminta.

"Hullo," said the boy. "Are you new here?"

"Sort of," said Araminta. She hadn't realized that she was going to have to lie until now. "I just transferred from...Japan. Yeah. Ohayo."

"Oh-hay-yo...I thought that was a really lame place in the United States. Are you a Muggle?"

"No," said Araminta. "You?"

The boy just sneered and laughed. "So, you wanna be my bird? I just broke up with some, so it's okay. I'm free."

Araminta's heart leapt with joy. She'd been in the past less than a day, and she would have a boyfriend to keep her company until she got to the future again. "Yes, I want to be your lover."

"Let's seal it with a kiss. You know, swak me." The boy leaned forward, and Araminta thought that he smelled like pine trees and coconut and mountain skies. He planted one on her, and she leaned into the kiss and wrapped her arms tight around his waist so she could play with the chain that hung from his belt.

It felt so familiar in his arms. "Oh baby," he murmured in her ear.

"Yeah, I'm your baby," she murmured in between kisses.

The boy kissed her and smirked. "So maybe you should call me your daddy. I'm rich, I'll be your sugar daddy."

Araminta suddenly realized why the boy seemed so familiar. He was Draco Malfoy! She couldn't date her own dad! "Um, I don't think this is such a good idea. You just broke up with someone. Maybe you should get back together with Da...Harry."

Draco laughed a very long laugh. "Get back together with Harry? I've never dated Potter. I just let him chase me around. But if you don't want to go out, that's cool. We can still be friends. Wanna tattoo?"

"No thanks, but I do want some dinner. Is it time yet?"

Draco checked his witch and it started to beep. "Exactly. C'mon, let's go!