Jackie: Well, 6 Reviews is certainly a start.
Agent Blorange: Oh no, you're not going to do the whole "respond to every review in hopes of getting more" bit other author's do?
Jackie: Anything that works.
Draco-muse: We interrupt this regularly scheduled disclaimer for the following messages TO our sponsors…
Jen: Hope you're still there, our first review coolness chica, and we certainly hope you like the rest of the story.
kathryn: Yeah, I know it started out sad, but it got happier! And if you like sad, try reading "Beating the Odds" too…
aquila: Thanks, that new character took…oh, let's see, when did we start writing CSMH…3 years to develop properly, and at least one person likes my characterization! Thanks for the support!
Greenleaf-girl412: Here's that update you wanted…well, actually, it's that 3rd update you wanted…hope you liked the others too…
kickedoutofthegoblet: Of course there are other Rentheads out there, but I didn't know there were other Harry Potter/Rentheads out there! You rock gurl! *Runs off singing "There's only now, there's only here…give in to love, or give into fear…*
bakaneko: I loved reading your review. Lots of responses here…okay, I don't know why I don't get reviews either, it sucks! The OOC Draco thing, there's a note about that at the end of this chapter…yes, the number of HP stories is frightening…TOM FELTON WILL GROW UP TO BE A SEX GOD! Just like Draco…hee hee hee…Merci beaucoup, a vôtre service…and once again, hope you like the rest of the story.
Takeru-muse: Well, whether or not you mention a song in this chapter, you've already got your RRR in there, so let us move on, shall we?
Jackie: Yes, lets. *Ahem* I don't own Harry Potter. You've already read my opinions of Draco and Tom Felton above. There, that about covers it?
Draco-muse: Therefore…Please Enjoy!
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Chapter 5: Complications and Confrontations
"Um, Jackie, what does the Pythagorean theorem have to do with transfiguration, again?"
"I have no clue. But this stupid worksheet is due today, so we'd better figure it out."
Jackie and Draco were sitting in the library trying to figure out their Advanced Magic Mathematics homework together. It was a losing battle, but at least they had a chance to be together without being scrutinized. Much.
Draco sat the huge textbook they were studying from up on its edge, hiding the two from view of anyone else in the library. Jackie snuggled a little bit closer and Draco leaned over and playfully kissed her neck. "We really need to find some other way to be together," Draco whispered to her. "Someone's bound to figure us out here. A person can only study so much."
"Unless you're Hermione," Jackie said quietly. Both looked at each other and laughed quietly before engaging in a quick kiss. Draco, Jackie learned, was an incredibly fast learner…he had taken their one encounter at the lake and a bit of research on his part, and become, in her opinion, the best damn kisser she had the pleasure of knowing. He pressed his lips to hers, gradually increasing the pressure, and then began exploring her mouth with his incredibly supple tongue. Jackie simply melted into him, allowing him to have control of the situation and enjoying the moment for all it was worth.
They had almost lost track of time when Draco saw out of the corner of his eye that the book was falling down. He quickly stopped the kiss and grabbed at the textbook to guide it down quietly. Both slightly embarrassed teenagers looked around quickly to see if anyone noticed. Fortunately, the library was almost deserted at that point, and Jackie breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at her watch.
"Hey buddy, I'd better head to practice before Harry bites my head off for being late. Again." Draco gave her puppy dog eyes and pouted a little. "Who cares about Potter? Don't you love me more than him?" The way he said those words was sarcastic enough that anyone within earshot would have taken them as a joke, and not seriously.
"Of course I love you. But I also love having a spot on the Quidditch team. So, I'll TTYL, okay?" Jackie leaned over and patted his cheek as she stood up and gathered her things. "Okay, C Ya!" Draco called after her sarcastically. Jackie flipped her hand over her shoulder behind her in a "talk to the hand" gesture and walked out without turning around, but with a considerable grin plastered on her face.
Draco sighed as she disappeared through the library doors, and reluctantly went back to his worksheet with thoughts of their next encounter swimming in his mind.
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"Coming your way Ron!"
The Gryffindor Quidditch practice was in full practice as thick grey clouds covered the skyline, and tiny raindrops sprinkled over the landscape. Ron swung his arm back and knocked the Bludger Seamus was referring to out of play temporarily, as Harry zoomed in after the Snitch between them. Jackie, who had been recruited earlier in the summer as Angelina's replacement, currently had the Quaffle and was doing passing drills with Katie Bell, the last remaining team member from Harry's 1st year. She zipped over Seamus's head and pitched the Quaffle straight through the goals.
The scene continued much in the same way for half an hour longer, and then Harry blew his whistle and called in the team. "Okay, our next match is against Slytherin, we need to be in top form so we can beat those bastards!" A series of supportive comments and enthusiasm followed his short-but-sweet pep talk from the rest of the team, except one. Jackie rolled her eyes and pulled at her gloves impatiently. I hate gloves…wish that Harry would get his head out of his ass for two seconds…why are these things so tight?
"Jackie, did you hear me?"
Jackie snapped back from her hatred of her hand apparel and back to the green-eyed face staring at her. The rest of the team had flown off to the locker rooms, and it was just the two of them. "Quoi? Excusez-moi, Harry, mais j'ai rêvassais, je suis desolée…" Harry cocked his head at her. "What? Anyway, I just said practice is over, see you in two days." With that, Harry was off as well, leaving Jackie alone on the field. Rather than going into the dressing room with the others, however, she decided to have some private practice of her own. She flew up as high as she could, and then went into a quick series of dives and ascents. The feeling of the wind against her skin at the high speeds she was going was refreshing to her mind and body, stripping away a layer of stress that had piled up over the past few weeks.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Draco's voice startled her as she dove near the ground. She pulled the nose of her broom up and made an emergency stop, flipping the broom (and consequently, herself) upside down. She hung there for a moment, smiling into her very surprised boyfriend's face. "How in the world can you stay like that?" he asked. "Don't you have a headache?" Jackie giggled. "This is actually quite fun. And look, no hands!" She released her hands from the broomstick, and hung solely from her legs as Draco jumped to catch her until he realized that she wasn't going to fall off and kill herself.
"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days. I'm supposed to be scaring you on my broom, not vice versa!" Jackie simply smiled, leaned in and placed a quick kiss on Draco's nose, and flipped herself upright before landing on the ground next to him. "But you should have learned by now that stereotypes don't apply to us, now, do they?" Draco smiled and put his arm around her, and kissed her cheek briskly before herding her towards the building for there next class.
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Potions started out uneventful as usual. Snape began by taking the customary 5 points from Gryffindor for something frivolous, quizzed random students about parts of the previous night's homework (while consciously ignoring Hermione's waving hand), and briefly explaining the day's potion before pairing groups up.
"Potter, Parkinson."
Harry groaned and Pansy pouted her lips in Draco's direction as she stood up and walked over to Harry's desk, making an effort to attract Draco's attention as she sashayed her hips and dropped her quill "accidentally" in front of his desk. Jackie watched the scene with disgust. Jeez, what a slut ho bag…almost as bad as Katy (A/n- Ignore that last part, it's just stress relief for me.) Draco was thinking something similar.
"Weasely, Goyle."
"Granger, Bullstrode."
"Malfoy…" Draco shut his eyes, hoping for anything but Neville, whom he had been constantly paired with for over a year. "…Ashmore." Draco's eyes shot open and went wide as he stared at the head of his house, shocked by his uncharacteristic generosity. "Maybe by pairing you with someone who knows what she's doing, she'll start rubbing off on you." Snape then turned to Jackie, who was happily gathering her things while trying not to appear quite so happy, and gave her what passed on Snape as a smile, and winked.
"Longbottom, Crabbe."
Eeyeesh. Jackie thought, shuddering. That was possibly the creepiest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Class continued as usual, but Jackie and Draco couldn't help but feel like someone was watching them as they made their concoction. It was beginning to make them uneasy. Jackie stopped mid sentence and spun her head around in time to catch Ron break his stare and return to his potion. Jackie gave Draco an "I thought so" look as she finished measuring out the daisy root.
At his cauldron, Ron was angrily chopping up his root. He pictured it as Malfoy, and thus did a very complete job of doing so. Goyle was just standing back, watching Ron both out of ignorance of the potion and fear that he would be next on the block.
Stupid git, what Malfoy wants, Malfoy gets. I bet he put her under some kind of spell that day, and that she would be mine if I could just figure out how to break it. Damn it, what is it about him that makes him so bloody irresistible to women? Maybe if I bleached my hair blonde like he does, or walked around with his scowl on my face, or…
"Ron, did you hear me?"
Ron's trance was broken as he stared up into the face that he longed to own. He covered his shock in a split second with a look of apathy, and went back to gathering the miniscule pieces of root. "I said, could we please borrow a gram of asphodel? We didn't get quite enough." Ron simply ignored Jackie, and poured the daisy roots into a beaker to measure them. Maybe if I show her what it's like to be rejected, she'll see the error of her ways, and come to her senses. Maybe that will break the spell Malfoy's put her under! She'll just stand there, waiting patiently, and finally ask me…
"Gregory, could I borrow a gram of asphodel?"
Ron fumed as his partner nodded and measured out the ingredient for her. She thanked him and walked back to Malfoy's desk, leaving Ron infuriated and humiliated.
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"Ron, I don't think you should get yourself all worked up about this," Hermione said as she sat a plate down in front of Ron. Very uncharacteristically, he pushed it aside and continued to stare off into the distance.
Lunch was a painful time for Ron, because he had to be in such a close proximity to Jackie, and yet he couldn't say or do anything about her and Malfoy without attracting attention. Currently, she was sitting separately from the rest of the table, and she and Malfoy were sending silent signals back and forth, a reality which Ron was trying his best not to acknowledge.
Harry leaned over to Ron and whispered, "After all, she's friends with that ferret Malfoy. She can't be all right in the head."
Ron shot Harry the meanest look he could muster, and his two friends decided to stop the conversation then and there. Ron picked at his food for a little while, and kept stealing glances toward Jackie's end of the table. Malfoy is no better than I. Just you watch…I'll have her and there's nothing Malfoy can do about it.
Jackie finished her meal and slung her backpack casually over her shoulder as she got ready to leave. At the Slytherin table, Malfoy did the same with his bag, and the two staggered their exits so that they wouldn't be seen leaving together, but Jackie didn't have to wait to long for Draco outside the doors of the Great Hall.
Ron waited for Draco to get about halfway to the door before quietly slipping out of his seat and towards the exit.
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"Did you see the death looks that Weasely's been giving us all day?"
Jackie and Draco were making their way down the hallway towards the grounds. They'd made a habit of hanging out outside the school, because first of all, there were less people outside during meals, and second, both of them liked fresh air, and Jackie loved the weather in that country (Draco thought she was nuts though…Who likes cloudy days?) They'd find a spot near one of the fountains, and just sit and discuss things of varying importance until their next class.
Jackie shook her head sadly. "In the dialect of my home town, he is 'muey pissed off-o.' But he'll get over it…I hope." Draco slid his arm around her waist, and Jackie leaned her head against his shoulder.
"MALFOY! A word with you!"
Draco turned around to see a red-faced Ron Weasely glaring at the two of them. Draco's old cocky grin came back on his face as he confronted his old enemy. "Oh, and what would that be?"
Ron strode up to Draco and looked down into the shorter boy's face. He spoke in a low voice, but every word was hard and sharp. "You can have any other girl in this world, and I will have no problems. But you have taken the one that you cannot have, and it is my duty as a gentleman to defend her honor." Draco raised himself as tall as he could make himself, and got nose-to-nose with the larger, angrier boy. "Are you saying, that you're willing to fight me, for her honor?"
Jackie stepped in between the two before anything else was said. "You two are gentlemen, not bucks. Draw in your antlers and leave each other alone." Draco took a step back first and turned to walk away, and then Ron leaned backwards. "Not so tough without your little handmaiden there to protect you, huh Malfoy?" he spat. Draco whirled on his toes and was right back in Ron's face. "Weasely, are you asking for trouble?"
"I'm asking for a Wizard's Duel. Astronomy tower. Tomorrow evening, after the game. That is, unless you're…afraid."
Draco leaned in as close as he could get. "I accept, Weasel."
Ron smirked and took a step backwards. "You'd better show up, Ferret, or it'll be all over school how a Malfoy backed down to a Weasely's challenge."
Draco took Jackie's arm as he walked away. "I'll be there." And with that, he kissed Jackie right on the lips, as if demonstrating the prize of the fight to Weasely, and the fact that no matter who won, she most likely would not change hands as easily as he imagined.
The kiss only aided in fueling Ron's rage, and he spun on his heels and headed for his dormitory to look up spells for the duel.
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Jackie: How come all the chapters split up so nicely on the Plot page, but when I write them, I overlap and split them?
Agent Blorange: Because your muse sucks at organization.
Draco-muse: No, it's because all the good details and extra scenes that spice up the story line weren't originally accounted for in the summary plot.
Takeru-muse: Draco, your attitude did a 180 in that last section, que passa?
Jackie: I got a comment about Draco being extremely OOC, and even though that's kind of the point, I wanted to show that he's still the same old Draco Malfoy. After all, it's that cock-sure attitude that attracted me in the first place.
Agent Blorange: That thing about Katy…jealous much?
Jackie: Yes. You can kind of delete that whole paragraph from your mind if it didn't fit into the story line, but it was my stress relief and ventingness at a slut who pissed me off at a party.
Draco-muse: Ventingness?
Jackie: Don't diss the new wordage.
Draco-muse: O…kay. Anyway, same old message: stay tuned and please R&R!