A few minutes later, Hermione and Alexas were still talking as they arranged their personal things.
Hermione shook her head disbelievingly. "It's hard to take in everything that's happened today."
Alexas shrugged. "I can take being shifted in here, just not the way it's been arranged. I thought all the houses would be together, but it's the different years."
"I don't mind having to share with you or Hanna Abbott; it's just her I can't stand." That muttered comment was directed at Pansy Parkinson who was setting up her many pictures of Draco on her bedside, in most of which 2D Draco was trying to escape in many different ways, all of them ingenious, yet sadly ineffective. "At least our lot is better than Ron's. He has to put up with Malfoy in person."
"You really do hate him, don't you?" She said curiously, still watching the futile struggles of the photographic Dracos. "Personally, I find him intriguing."
"Are you sure your friend wasn't right?" Hermione grinned slyly, her meaning crystal clear.
Alexas laughed softly and shook her head. "I can assure you it's nothing like that. He just has such a complex mind." Hermione's confusion was evident so she continued to explain. "I shouldn't really tell anyone, but I reckon you can be trusted. I'm an empath so I can sense the layers of feelings coming from him, and they fascinate me, that's all."
She cast a doubtful look at Alexas. "What layers?" The only answer was a dismissive shrug that made Hermione think she wasn't being told the whole story.
Alexas covered this up by saying, "It's getting late and I've got Herbology first thing tomorrow. Night." She clambered into her bed and pulled the curtains as Hermione bid her goodnight in return.
Draco sat on his bed, bored out of his mind, listening to Weasley and that Hufflepuff, Ernie something-or-rather and someone else he didn't know bleat on about how much of an inconvenience it was to be stuck with him.
He rolled his eyes. "Like it's the greatest time of my life to have to put up with you lot. At least they think still I'm asleep."
He waited until he couldn't hear them any more, then started off down stairs. He knew he'd missed breakfast, but he missed the idiot mob too, so it made up for it. He decided then and there to get up earlier from now on.
"Now!" A bucket, floating above his head upended and covered him in what appeared to be tar. Before he could even begin to process this, a pillow suspended above the bucket split open, showering him with feathers that stuck fast to the extremely sticky tar, as that's what it was.
He was shocked out of his trance by the flash of a camera and Alexas and Cliff collapsing in fits of hysterical laughter from either side of the stairwell.
"Y-you're ex-expression! It's priceless!" She put her hand to her face. "Look! Tears! Actual tears!" She plonked down on the floor, her still shaking with laughter.
Cliff went down beside her, leaning on her shoulder, also still shaking with laughter. "That had to be at least," he paused for a moment, "the third funniest thing I've ever seen!" He got up.
"Where are you going Cliff?" she asked as he started to leave.
Still chuckling, he replied. "Gotta get to charms. Then to get this developed. That shot was definitely one for the books."
The closing of the door seemed to wake Draco up. "What is wrong with you!" He clenched his fists and whipped his wand out of his robes panting with fury.
Alexas grinned cheekily up at him from her seat on the floor. "What's the matter? Can't take a joke? By the way, I wouldn't use a vanishing spell on that if I were you."
"Of course you wouldn't." he retorted, raising his wand in preparation for the spell. At the last moment, Alexas shielded her face with her arms. Draco however, had not expected what happened next, so he was caught totally unaware. Stunned once more, he looked at what had happened. Not only had the tar exploded and covered everything around him, it had also blended with the feathers to make a sticky pulp.
"Nice. Real nice. You ruined my favorite robes! This stuff is permanent you know!" Alexas complained loudly, evaluating the damage.
"Permanent?" His hands flew to his face, where there was more of the odd concoction.
She sighed exasperatedly. "Not on skin or anything. Just fabric. A simple cleaning charm will remove it." She stood up haughtily. "Now I have to go and change! Thanks a lot you moron!" She stormed off to her dorm, slamming the door behind her.
After standing there for a moment or two, Draco moved off to change as well, only when he got back down to the common room did he realize what she'd said to him. He hurried to catch up with her and give him a piece of his mind.
Adrian was nervous. He always worked with Alexas in Herbology when they were in pairs, but she was late. "She probably slept in again." He thought gloomily as he tried to decide who he would end up being stuck with when the time came.
"Now I would like all of you to get into pairs and get to work." It seemed to Adrian that Professor Sprout had somehow known what he'd been thinking.
He turned to Michael Corner who quickly agreed to work with him. "Better you than a Slimeryn." Adrian laughed half-heartedly at that quip, still wondering where Alexas could be.
He was lucky enough to have his question answered only minutes later as Alexas hurried into the greenhouse followed closely by Draco Malfoy of all people. A momentary flash of jealousy surged through him, until he realized they were bickering fiercely.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but you are both late to my class. Mister Malfoy? Miss McDougal? Are you listening?" Both of their heads snapped around at the mention of their names. "Please sit down and get to work, continuing our last lesson. As it requires students to work in pairs, you two can work together. I think you two deserve each other."
The two sat down each as far as possible from the other, took out their trowels and started to work in silence, not even looking at each other. And so it was in that way that the rest of the lesson passed. And it was because of this that Alexas decided to make sure she'd get him, and get him good.
A/N: Hee hee. Being evil is fun, is it not? R R!