Snape looked up from his desk as the heavy door to his suite slammed open. A very pissed off looking Draco Malfoy stalked through the open door and rounded on the greasy haired professor as if he were the object of every frustration in the world, and of course, the blame for each and every one of those frustrations.

Draco's eyes flashed dangerously. He dropped his bag onto the floor, all appreciation for its fineness forgotten in his bad mood. His hands flew to his hips, and he tapped his foot, just once.

Snape uncurled from his seated position at his desk, and placed his hands palm down on the table top. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head at the blonde.

Draco continued to stare at the professor, and tapped his foot once more. He was the very picture of a person that had been wronged, with the attitude to go splendidly with it.

"What now...?" asked Snape, his eyebrows creasing into confusion.

Draco merely tapped his foot again. One stray piece of platinum darted into his face, and into his eye, only to be shaken out a moment later.

"McGonagall has extended my detention-"

Two black brows shot down into a sharp frown. "She has no authority to do such a thing-"

"-into cleaning duties..."

Snape stopped in his sentence, his eyes mirroring Draco's in a dangerous way.

"What brought this about?"

"I was late."

"And...?"

Draco glanced at the floor and mumbled.

"And...?"

Grey eyes shot up to face Snape, annoyance reflecting in their realms. "I transfigured Potter's chair into a black hole alright?" he mumbled. "It did wonders for his hair..."

"Pray tell, just how did this do wonders for his hair?" Snape asked. He looked genuinely interested.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Please, just get to the lecture."

"Lecture...? You will serve the detention Draco. That was an absolutely horrendous thing to do to the poor insignificant boy." Snape smirked.

"You get way too much pleasure out of others pain, you know that?"

Shaking his head Draco unfolded from his madam position and slouched into the chair opposite Snape's. He conjured a tea cup for himself and stretched his long legs out, ankles finding each other in a knot of leg and shoe.

"Oh I know. It's a terrible burden I have to carry each day, shame."

"Yes, shame on every poor bugger who crosses your path." Draco snorted, sipped at his tea and conjured a biscuit.

"You have another ten minutes until Weasley and Zambini arrive."

Draco dipped his biscuit and bit at the edge, a purr meeting his lips at the taste. "And...?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "I can see you are in your immature brat mood."

Draco choked on his biscuit. "Hey! I resent that, I was never immature!"

Snape smirked and got up from his chair. Sweeping around the side of his desk he disappeared into the potions classroom. "Come Draco."

Draco shook his head, rolled his own eyes to the ceiling, plopped the last biscuit into his mouth and threw the tea cup into the air.

"And don't break that tea cup on my floor."

Grey eyes widened an inch as the blonde pointed his wand at the tea cup and banished it before it hit the floor. He cared too much about the expensive carpet to destroy it with china splinters, or, too much about the owner of the expensive carpet. He spun on his heel and followed through the doorway he had slammed into the room by and was met with Snape's back.

"Sev-" said Draco reaching out an arm to tap the man on the back, extending his arm back to his own body like he had been shocked when the man spoke.

"Weasley why on earth are you early?" said Snape.

Ron Weasley stood in the centre of the potions classroom, a furious shade of scarlet painting his face. He held his wand in one hand and a piece of parchment in the other. He opened his mouth, thought better off it, and snapped it shut with finality.

Snape raised a black eyebrow in a sardonic motion and unfolded his arms. Gesturing around the room he spoke.

"Weasley, I know you are fortunate enough to attend Hogwarts School as I myself have the unfortunate pleasure of teaching you, thus you must realise no incantations can be cast in my potions room without my presence?"

Ron turned a deeper shade of scarlet, righted his shoulders and said nothing.

"No? Well, in that case Weasley I see I shall have to educate you in this fact."

Snape gave a flick of his wand at the red head, smirked internally as the boy flinched, and charmed the piece of parchment from his hand. Catching the parchment he scanned it and almost smiled at the idiocy of the boy.

"Weasley, just precisely how ignorant are you? If you were to steal for Potter and Granger from my store cupboard why did you not wait until I had left the room?" smirked Snape.

Ron's mouth twitched as his suppressed an anger that had begun to build. "You weren't in the room..." he mumbled. He fumbled with his wand back into his pocket and stood still, looking Snape directly in the eye.

Snape cocked his head at the boy, and as if thinking, he spoke very slowly.

"Well, as you technically were not in fact trying to cast in my potions room, but you were attempting theft, I think I shall have to add to your detention duties. You will get details of this extension in our next detention."

The potions door opened and Blaise Zambini walked through it.

"Malfoy." He nodded at the blonde.

Draco nodded back. "Zambini, how lovely of you to join us..."

Blaise smirked at the blonde, and then nodded at Snape.

"Good evening My Zambini. Mr Filch requires your aid on the fourth floor and he has expressed his need for your person in a few minutes. Do not be late."

Blaise's mouth shot open and his eyebrows furrowed. "Professor!"

"Do not be late Mr Zambini and do stop arguing with your peers." Snape replied, waving his hand at the doorway.

Blaise snorted and made his way back across the room, mumbling a complex string of obscenities as his form disappeared through the door frame.

Draco began to laugh quietly, only to be stopped a few moments later at a glance from Snape.

"Now, Mr Weasley, as I cannot trust you in my store cupboard, Draco will pass ingredients to you, which you will prepare as we did in the last lesson. I do hope you were paying attention, otherwise every piece you molest will come out of your own money for replacement."

Snape turned on his heel and walked back into his private rooms. His passing remark floated into the room after him. "Do not damage any of my utensils either, or each other. I can hear you perfectly well from my rooms."

Ron huffed and kicked the table behind him. He muttered curses as his foot began to throb.

"Now now weasel, I'm certainly not paying for what you break in your childish strops." Draco smirked at the red head and then walked into the store cupboard.

"Oh shut up ferret face."

Draco stalked back out of the store cupboard, threw a jar at Ron and sneered as he failed to catch it. "What was that Weasel?"

Ron ignored the blonde and looked down in dismay at the broken jar of ingredients. He bent closer to the glass shards in an attempt to read what the contents had been.

"What was that?" Snape hollered from his rooms.

Ron gulped as he saw the label. Draco had purposely thrown the most expensive ingredient he could find, purely so Ron would have to pay for its replacement.

Snape stormed into the room, his face alight with contempt at the red head.

Ron snapped up form his huddled position and gulped audibly. "I-"

The professor's eyes shot to the mess on the floor and back up again at the red head.

"You will replace that jar Weasley and have the next month in detention with me added on to the time you already have. Do you understand me?" he roared.

"Yes." Ron mumbled at the man, wisely choosing not to argue with Snape when his eyes glittered like coal in his anger.

Snape waved his wand at the mess and spun on his heel back into his private rooms, massaging his temples as he went.

As Snape's black robe floated out of sight Ron rounded on the blonde.

"You- you complete whanker. You complete arsehole."

Draco shrugged at the red head.

"You utter bastard Malfoy." Growled Ron, his face a wash of vibrant red, hands clenching and un-clenching at his sides.

"Whoops. Did I not give enough warning? I am so sorry." said Draco in voice that could have melted butter. He clasped his hands in front of his waist imitating a young child.

Ron's lip quivered violently.

Draco sneered at him and walked back into the storeroom. What was he doing? He had wanted to get Ron into trouble, hadn't he? Hang on, since when had he called the red head Ron? Oh my god. Draco slapped his forehead. "Oh god..." he groaned. "No, no, no..."

For the remaining few hours spent in the potions room Ron and Draco barely exchanged grunts between them let alone words, nasty or nice. Ron had kept a leash on his anger and Draco had kept a leash on his razor like tongue.

Snape dismissed them just past eleven.

Ron shot towards the door and stalked through it, his back tensed up like a wild cat before a fight.

Draco followed slowly after, nodding a goodbye at Snape as he walked through the door. The heavy door closed after him and he glanced up the corridor. Catching sight of Ron's cloak swishing around a corner, he followed.

Jogging some way he caught up with the red head. He reached out an arm to tap the boy, and re-coiled for the second time that evening as the red head shot around, an angry look darting in his eyes.

"What do you want Malfoy?" he said flatly.

Draco frowned slightly and rolled his shoulders. "I want to pay for the jar."

Ron reeled. His face registered shock, surprise, and then disgust.

"I don't need your charity ferret face."

Draco bristled at the hated name, took a deep breath and tried again.

"Look Weasel, I am paying Snape for the jar, got it? Good." With that he turned away from the red head and marched back down the corridor.

"No you are bloody well not. I have said I don't need your flipping charity." Ron said, walking after the blonde and catching up with his pace after only a few steps of his long legs. He reached out to Draco's arm.

Draco spun around just before the red head's palm reached his arm and sneered at him. "Yes I am, now run along to your precious Gryffindor's."

Ron's face flitted between anger and confusion. Draco had truly thrown him for once. This new side of the blonde was as much unexpected as it was disliked.

Draco took advantage of this momentary puzzlement and turned the corner in the corridor.

Ron shook his head and followed the blonde, only to be greeted with an empty corridor. "What? Where the...?"

He breathed out a long sigh. Draco was a prefect, his room could be anywhere. It did not necessarily have to anywhere near the Slytherin dorms, which he and Harry still knew from their second year.

Ron raked his hands through his red hair, and muttered something under his breath. He turned back on himself and headed towards the Gryffindor dorms.

Draco stepped out of seemingly no-where and shook his head. He would never understand Gryffindor's. If that had been him, he would have searched out for the seemingly missing person.

He too, made his way back down the corridor he and Ron had come down. Making his way to his dorms he frowned. Why, oh why had he offered to pay for someone, and a Weasley, of all people? It was disgusting. He smiled.

It was petty money for him, yet a perfect opportunity to grab the red head unawares, in concern of the jar payment of course. Draco turned the last corridor in his route and practically bounded into his dorm, well, as much as a Malfoy allows himself to bound anywhere.

A few minutes later the blonde frowned. He wasn't meant to be engaging Ron in extra contact, was he? Wait a minute, Ron? What happened to Weasel? A distant part of him whispered the ugly truth, even though he refused to listen.

You like this boy Draco Malfoy.

Draco snorted in a most un-Malfoy-ish manner and threw himself onto his bed, burrowing his head into his pillow.

Yeah, and?