Secrets and Dirty Deeds

By the Barefoot Pianist

Chapter 17

Day Seven

Carmen basically gave up on annoying Malfoy… or at least the wake up calls anyway. As much as it was Carmen's every malicious pleasure to make sure his sweet dreams were shattered at six thirty every morning, once the victim started to wake up before you, somehow the fun wears away. So this morning, she enjoyed a connivingly well-deserved sleep-in… or so she thought.

"Wake up, Carmen! Come on, chop-chop! Time to get up! It's morning and the sun's shining!" an unusually high-pitched, very loud and very fast voice yelled in her ear. Carmen painfully opened one eye, dreading to find Malfoy beside her bed. But quite the opposite.

Pansy was jumping around on her bed, hair flying, still in her pyjamas and high as a kite. She bounced around the room for a while, yapping and chatting and chittering away, until she finally sprung out of the dormitory and into the common room. The rest of the dorm was up, and she looked around at the others with a dumbfounded face and was returned with a similar befuddled expression. The only person who gave her a different reaction was Daphne, looking sly. It was later on, while on her way to breakfast, that Carmen saw her dispose an empty vial of powdered Gillyweed stings in the bin…

………………………………………………….

Pansy was still bouncing around that night, while everyone was doing their homework in the common room. At least she's staying in one area, thought Carmen. All day, she had not stopped moving, fidgeting, laughing, talking, squawking… but now she was jumping up and down on the couch. Irritated by her, most of the Slytherins were congregated to the opposite side of the common room.

Carmen was there too, scratching away at a piece of parchment, thinking of lots of fluff to fill up the numerous inches she had to scribble in. And unfortunately for her, she became an easy target when Malfoy walked in, after finishing his hours on Prefect duty. His eyes narrowed, and he soon came back with his school books and sat next to her.

"Evening," he said.

Carmen ignored him.

"Working hard?"

She still ignored him.

"Are you going to answer me?"

This time, she gave a sigh, looked up slightly and went back to work again. Malfoy started to get a little pissed off, and after finishing a long day, a long and cold hour in the halls on duty, and now a long night of homework ahead, he wasn't exactly feeling all that dandy. He got his quill, dipped it deeply into his ink well and spluttered the ink onto Carmen's homework.

"Oi!" she yelled at him. "What the fuck do you think you're fucking doing?"

"Getting your attention," he replied coolly. She glared at him, but went on with her work. But then after a few minutes, she too went to dip her quill in her ink well and flicked the nib at Malfoy's face.

"Agh!" He almost yelped, wiping the ink off his face with the sleave of his school robe. But then, before Carmen could even smirk, he got his quill again and flick ink back at Carmen. Carmen responded with throwing her ink well at him, the glass bottle hitting him in the forehead.

After a while, the whole common room looked like a war zone. Somehow, other students started to get involved, less because they happened to make a mess of others' homework, but more so for the fun of it. The dozen or so people, including Carmen and Draco, were streaked, dripping and drenched in ink, and the common room too was covered in it, strewn with litter and pieces of parchment.

But as it always does, every party has a party-pooper and the fun always has to come to an end – and what an end it would be.

Snape walked in for the fortnightly house meeting and found nearly everyone sodden in ink and chucking stationery. "What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed when everyone had come to a halt. All who were blackened stood still, at attention. Snape repeated himself, "What is the meaning of this?"

Carmen was the brave enough to speak, "Re-enacting a war, sir." A few snorts came from the students around her and Snape cast a warning eye at her.

"Really? Which war?"

"The first."

"And they fought with ink, did they?"

Carmen stood silent.

"Who started this?" he asked. Everyone looked guiltily towards either Carmen or Draco, and the two who were standing next to each other, pointed each other's finger at the other. "Right," Snape said shortly. "Mr Malfoy and Miss Davies will accompany me to my office, and while I speak to them, I suggest that all of you take a shower and be here promptly at nine thirty for our meeting."

Everyone immediately broke up, and Carmen followed Draco towards the door. But he turned before going through the door, and said quietly, "Ladies first."

A/N: R&R!

So what did you think? Really very sorry about not updating sooner… but somehow I actually survived going travelling with my Dad – even if we did travel five hundred kilometres (one way) in a paddock-basher (that's a truck). I think I might have looked a little like Pansy, bumping up and down while Dad put the pedal to the floor. Hah, if it has an engine, Dad is sure to drive anything like a sports car… men…

Anyway, apart from that, I just wanted to say thanks to my newest reviewer…Mari! You rock!!! I'm really glad you enjoyed my story so much!

And to chocol8skittle, ShE-wHo-EaTs-To-MuCh, Just-being-Anna, Clich' Brat, and Prowling Kit Kat – please, please, please review, if you like this story enough to put my story on alert! Every skerrick of review is 100% absolutely totally appreciated!!!