A/N: It's been quite a while since I've written this. I don't know why I decided to continue this, maybe cos I was reading a friend's fanfic(slam dunk) and was sorta inspired to write again. A lot happened the past 2 years and well, my writing style sure has changed I think, though I've a feeling it's for the worse... P righty-o. I haven't really had a plot mapped out at the beginning, so I'm just going with the flow. Here goes nuts...

2 days later...

Draco Malfoy walked down the corridor to the stairways leading into the Dungeons in quick strides, having just gotten Little Red from the library. He shook his head in wonderment. It was as if Little Red actually liked going to the Library. Whenever he couldn't find her anywhere else, it was always the library where he would find her, nose buried in shelves of books. It's as if the damn cat could read, he thought to himself, skimming down the stairs. "Look what you've done, you... you bookworm! You got me late for Potions with Snape! Urgh." He poked Ginny on her nose. She sneezed.

"Oof." The first thing he saw was a blur of books crashing to the ground. Not his. Travelling his gaze upwards, he saw the brunette getting up to her feet, dusting her robes and adjusting her hair. Ginny had fallen off his shoulder and was now a few feet away, playing with the books and quills on the ground.

It was Pansy that he had knocked over. Taking a breath as not to scream at her, he knelt down, picking up the things strewn on the ground. Gathering it in a haphazard pile, he handed it over into her shaking hands.

"Thanks Draco," she mumbled. "I'm sorry for knocking you over," she said hurriedly, stepping to the side so she could climb the stairs.

Draco blocked her way. "Aren't we having Potions now? Where are you going?" he cocked an eyebrow, looking at her suspiciously.

Pansy stilled, her brown eyes cast downwards, not daring to meet his narrowed grey ones. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped her books tightly to herself, and said in a tight voice, "That's none of your business."

"O-ho. Going to my father to report something new this time? Like how 'out of hand' I'm getting? How I helped a filthy Gryff first year to the mediward? Or how I'm skipping Transfiguration classes? Or how I bullied you two nights ago?" his voice got lower, simmering with rage as he clutched the front of her robes.

"Let go of me," Pansy said as stolidly as she could, finally looking up into his eyes.

Ginny was tugging at the hem of his robes urgently, and Draco released Pansy with a 'humph', and stalked off in the opposite direction. He had to keep himself in check. He was still betrothed to Pansy; he couldn't nullify the engagement unless Pansy willed it. It was customary for the one who made the engagement to break it, but the other party to accept whatever offer they were given. Draco was actually kind of glad that Pansy's family had initiated the betrothal, because if it were his father who did so, he could never shrink his way out of it.

Draco stepped into class, earning a disgruntled look from Snape, but he didn't make a move to deduct house points, for which Draco was grateful for. He had lost enough points for the House already by arriving late to most of his other classes and for handing in assignments after due dates as well.

He sat down in his seat next to Blaise, who was looking at him weirdly. "What's going on these days, mate? I hardly ever see you anymore." he said, chopping up the ginseng root that was in front of him.

"Missed me did you?" he snapped, placing Ginny on the balancing scale, which tilted suddenly at the increment in weight. Ginny yelped, her hairs standing on end.

Blaise laughed at Ginny, who snarled at him in return. He spoke to Draco, "Ok, ok. I don't want to get caught in one of your hissy fits again," he raised his hands in surrender, returning his gaze to the instructions on the blackboard. "Here," he tossed Draco the belladonna. "Put it in the cauldron will you?"

Draco casually dumped the flower in the bubbling purple potion, turning it pink. "I'm not throwing a hissy fit." He complained.

"Yes you are," Blaise scribbled something on his parchment.

"No, I'm not," Draco's voice was near being whiny. Ginny looked at him in surprise. Was Draco actually whinging?? She couldn't help the bubbling mirth that started at the back of her throat. It was funny to see a cat laugh with its eyes scrunched shut; jaws open with its two fangs sticking out. A soft gurgle escaped her throat, and Draco turned to look at her, eyes brightening in amusement. buzzstuff(dot)net(slash)archives(slash)laughing-cat(dot)gif

"Look at her!" Draco pointed, nudging Blaise at the same time. Blaise turned around and caught Ginny in her fit of giggles. He tickled her on her stomach, making her purr in delight. Blaise's smile widened and he looked at Draco slyly, who was still gaping at his beloved cat.

"She sure has softened you up quite a bit," he commented, giving him an approving grin.

Draco scowled. "Whatever," he turned to stroke his Little Red on the head, Potions momentarily forgotten. "She's my adorable Little Red, aren't you girl?" he cooed softly. Ginny nodded in affirmation. "I swear, she's the smartest kitty I've ever come across."

"That's all well and good, Mr Malfoy, but I would really like to see this assignment done sometime today!" a booming voice sounded in front of him at the teacher's desk, followed by a dull thud of books. Snape was glaring at the both of them in irritation, finally announcing, "20 points from Slytherin!" he raised his hand, silencing both boys who both looked like they had something to say. "Now shut up and do your work."

It was late afternoon and Ginny was in the library again, desperately seeking the book that she had found nearly 2 weeks ago. Where is that book? She thought to herself, wishing she still had her lips to bite on. She jumped on the table, gained some leverage, and then leaped onto the shelf where she last gave a search. There were just so many books on Animagus. '1001 animals to transform into'? No... 'The magic behind Animagi transformation'? Not that one either... She scanned through the titles of the books on that shelf, then crawled onto the next one.

There it is! She clawed on the book titled 'Animagus Transformation for Dummies'. She wondered why she chose a book with such a title in the first place. A half assed book for a half assed transformation. The book dropped to the ground, the sound dampened by the thick carpet. She flipped the pages with much difficulty to the page where she left off, and started reading from there. It seemed as if it was more of a meditation thing than a 'simple mutter a spell and transform back to herself' kind of process. She swallowed, and continued reading. Hang on, what's it say down here? Hmm... usually a surge of a powerful emotion would trigger the transformation from animal back to the human self – she was suddenly grabbed from the back, and let out an undignified yelp.

"There you are, Little Red," Seamus Finnegan smirked down at her evilly. "Look here guys. Draco's cute widdle pet!" the rest of the Gryffindor boys gathered round to look at her. Ginny had a bad feeling about this.

Dean Thomas gave Seamus a look. "What are you going to do with her?"

"Well, I'm going to get back at Malfoy for the time he made us beg him in front of everyone at the Great Hall," his eyes glinted, the memory of being shamed still fresh in his mind. Ginny mewled a silent plea at that, causing Colin to look at her pitifully.

"She's just a kitten," Colin interjected, sounding a tad worried.

"Don't be daft! I'm not going to feed her to the wolves or something. It's just my little way of saying 'thank you' for that incident that day," Seamus rolled his eyes at Colin, who still looked a little unsure.

"Hey guys! Why are all of you huddled around there?"

The boys turned around, revealing Harry standing over them, peeking curiously at what they were crowded around.

Seamus hid the kitten behind him, trying not to look obvious as he shook his head. "Nothing much, thought I saw..." he looked around for something that might help him, and his gaze dropped to the book he saw lying open in front of him. "Yeah! I thought I saw this real interesting article over here," he pointed at the book, "and thought it extremely useful, so I called the guys over to take a look at it," he finished lamely.

Harry seemed to have bought it, though. When he spoke, his voice dropped into a hushed whisper. "This is a restricted section after all. You might want to keep it down,"

Seamus nodded. "S-sure."

"I'll see you guys later then," he gave a nod and walked off.

The group sat in silence for a while, letting the shock of having being nearly caught wear off slowly. It was only Harry, after all.

Colin was the first to speak. "That was close."

Seamus only nodded. Picking Ginny up, who was thrashing wildly in his grip, he placed her as gently as he could into a pouch, tied it up and thrust it at Dean. "You keep it,"

Dean looked scandalised. "No! You keep it!"

"I don't want to!"

"It was your idea anyway!"

"Fine! I'll keep it!" Colin snatched the bag from Seamus and stalked off to his room, rolling his eyes.

Ginny wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at being 'abducted' by one of her fellow housemates, but settled on being quiet as she planned on what she should do next.