Secrets and Dirty Deeds

By the Barefoot Pianist

Chapter 14

Day Four

When Carmen crept into the boys' dormitory for the fourth day in a row, she found the hangings on Malfoy's four-poster to be shut for the first time. She neared it, and pulled the hangings aside to find Malfoy, sitting cross-legged on his bed with his wand pointing straight at her.

"What did I tell you about waking me up?" he looked malicious.

"Just one thing," Carmen began. "I didn't wake you up this morning."

"But you were going to, if I had been sleeping," accused Malfoy.

She crossed her arms and smirked. "Naturally," she said.

"Get out," he said bluntly.

"Make me," she held stead fast. Malfoy looked thoughtful. He got off his bed and walked over to his trunk and took out a parcel. It turned out to be his weekly parcel of sweets from home, and from that, he took out a block of Honeyduke's Best Chocolate. Carmen's eyes widened as she saw him break a small piece off and pop it into his mouth.

Then, as if just noticing that she was there, he looked up and offered, "Want some?" Carmen's head nodded furiously – chocolate was her one and only weakness. Malfoy gave a smirk, and then broke off another piece. He threw it towards her and she automatically ran after it to catch it in her mouth. She chewed happily.

When she had finished, Malfoy threw another one to her, then another, and another. All the while, getting gradually closer to the door of the dormitory, and finally, she was out of the room and Malfoy shut the door firmly, locking it. He then clapped his hands, as if dusting them off, and returned to his bed to make use of the remaining time to sleep.

……………………………………………..

"Millicent?" Carmen called out in a sweet voice.

"Mmm." she replied

"Can I borrow your cat?"

Millicent's eyes narrowed, "what for?"

Carmen tried to look as innocent as possible, "Oh, just for some homework."

Millicent hesitated before giving her consent, not liking the smile on Carmen's face.

…………………………………………….

Transfiguration was probably one of Carmen's least favourite classes. In her opinion, the subject wasn't bad, but the teacher, as she often referred to as 'the chalk-and-talk mushroom fogy" was a different matter.

Today, Carmen had arrived in class without having attempted her homework, but looked confident as she shouldered a bulging school bag, that was wriggling and making spitting sounds. The people around her looked at it curiously, and Millicent looked pale.

Suddenly, McGonagall came bustling in, her emerald green robes billowing behind her. "Sit down. Now, I will be collecting your essays that were issued to you in our previous lessons." Everyone began to shuffle papers and books to get them out, as McGonagall moved from desk to desk, taking in rolls of parchment. But as she came to where Carmen sat, she looked down disapprovingly. "Where is your homework, Miss Davies?"

"There was a slight complication," she started to explain.

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "What is it this time, Miss Davies? Was it a stampede of over grown partridges that stopped you, or was it the recent storm of Flobber Worms we had?"

"Actually, no." Carmen reached down to her bag and wrestled out a very ruffled and angry black cat – Millicent's cat. McGonagall looked alarmed as Carmen offered it to her.

"What do you mean by this?" McGonagall's voice was tight.

"My cat ate my homework. So sorry for the inconvenience, but if you'd still like it, you might be able to find it, half digested in its stomach," offered Carmen.

McGonagall drew herself up, "Miss Davies, is this a joke?"

"No, Ma'am. It really ate my homework." Carmen reminisced of her break before Transfiguration class, when she was scrunching up her essay into little balls and feeding it to the cat. She mentally reminded herself that she had to warn Millicent if the cat was to cough up parchment balls, then she shouldn't worry… it would end in a few days.

McGonagall took some deep breaths. "Very well," she said after a while. "This is not to happen again, do you understand? These things should not be happening during your sixth year at Hogwarts. It is only a year until you will be standing for your N.E.W.T.S and it is time that you took some initiative and responsibility towards your work…" Blah, blah, blah was all Carmen heard from McGonagall's lecture. It wasn't long until Carmen began to lose interest. But she snapped out of her day dream when McGonagall changed the subject. "In the mean time, I shall talk to your Head of House to discuss the proximity between your living environments and your pets," and she walked along the rest of the desks to collect the remainder of the papers. Millicent rolled her eyes at her, as did Pansy, and at the back of the room, Malfoy was unable to keep his laughter.

Another day, another chance, another excuse.

A/N: R&R! So what's the score? Good? Fantastic? Brilliant? Let me know by reviewing! Think Carmen's starting to lose the plot? Maybe, maybe not. But Malfoy will wizen up soon! More Carmen/Draco stuff coming up!
P.S. Sorry if the chapter 13 was a bit short – I like to keep everyone on their toes!