1Chapter 11: The Witch And the Knight

"What the hell's your problem!" Squall heard Irvine shout as he came in through the portrait hole. He spotted Selphie and Rinoa sitting by the Common Room fire and Irvine standing next to Selphie's squashy chair. She looked as though she didn't even notice him there. Rinoa kept her eyes gazing into the fire.

Suddenly Selphie spoke.

"I'm not the one with the problem."

Irvine made a noise that sounded something like a growl. "Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "I thought we were friends, but I guess that's too much for me to handle, because I apparently am the one with the problem."

Irvine stomped past Squall, giving him a mean look before almost smashing through the portrait hole. Selphie and Rinoa finally noticed Squall standing there.

"Oh, hello Squall," Selphie said before looking back at the fire. "Found your way okay?"

Squall gave a stiff nod before walking towards the dormitories. "Where're you going?" she asked, a grin coming back across her face. "Stop being so anti-social."

"Squall's always anti-social," Rinoa laughed. Squall faced them, trying to focus more on Selphie then Rinoa.

"I just like to sleep. Is there a problem with that?" he said, not realizing the pun he'd made on the previous situation. Selphie and Rinoa giggled. Squall groaned. He was trying his best to stay out of the Selphie v. Irvine thing.

"Come and stay awhile with us," Selphie said as she calmed down. "Tell us what happened to you during lunch."

Squall tried not to blush. Had they seen him leaving the Great Hall with Hermione? He wondered what they thought. Why should I care? He settled himself into the chair closest to them.

"Nothing. I just went to the library," he answered. Selphie and Rinoa exchanged glances.

"With... Hermione...?" Selphie grinned. Squall tensed up.

"Yes... with Hermione," he said, not looking at them. They giggled again.

"She is very nice," Rinoa said. "And pretty, even though I don't think she realizes it."

"Yes," Selphie agreed. "And she's pretty focused on her work. A lot like you Squall."

She and Rinoa waited for Squall to respond, stifling further giggles.

"Whatever," came his reply.

"I knew it!" squealed Selphie, jumping up and standing in front of Squall. He noticed how she bounced in her little yellow dress. Being a guy could get in the way sometimes. He didn't flinch or show any sign of this as he answered, "Knew what?"

"You like Hermione!"

Squall couldn't keep himself from turning a Ron-like color. "What are you talking about?"

Selphie giggled more. "Stop trying to hide it, Squall. You don't realize how easy it is to read you sometimes."

She leaned in so Rinoa couldn't hear what she said next. "Like the other day when you were worried about Rinoa."

Squall didn't say anything. Rinoa looked on questioningly. Suddenly Hermione came in through the portrait hole. Squall wondered how much weirder this could get. "Hello," she said cheerily, heading for the girls dormitories. "Harry's holding a quidditch practice if you guys want to come watch."

Squall had figured out that Harry was captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Selphie turned away from Squall and said to Hermione, "Squall won't talk, so would you inform us of what happened in the library?"

Hermione laughed. "What else? He read and I did homework. It was nothing, really."

Squall couldn't help but feel a little hurt by this. Selphie and Rinoa cast a glance at him. He really wished only Selphie were here. Having his ex-girlfriend in the room made this situation about a million times more embarrassing. He wondered how she felt, or if she had any feelings for him left.

"So, are you coming?" Hermione continued, heading towards the dormitories. "It's a little cold outside, so I'm going to get my coat."

"Yes, we'll come," Selphie answered, still looking at Squall. "Meet you back down here in a few minutes, Squall?"

"Yeah, whatever," he said, going up to his own dormitory. Not like he had a coat to put on. He figured his leather jacket would keep him warm enough.

Squall flopped onto his four-poster. Irvine was off somewhere, Harry and Ron at quidditch practice, and those other three guys… he had no idea where they were. He looked over at Ron's bed, where posters of the Chudley Cannons with zooming players decked his small amount of wall space. Squall wondered how the whole moving pictures thing worked. If someone at Hogwarts took a picture of him, would he be moving in it too?

He must have not realized he fell asleep because suddenly he felt himself being shook and Selphie was saying, "Come on, Squall, we're going to be late!"

"What?" he said, opening his eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know, but I knew you would probably fall asleep so I just came up here once the rest of us came back to the common room," she said as he sat up. He saw she was wearing a huge jacket that was way too big on her tiny frame. She noticed him looking at it. "Rinoa lent it to me. I'm glad she brought so many clothes now."

"Yeah," Squall said.

"Don't you have a jacket?"

"No."

"Squall, you'll freeze!"

"That's okay."

They made their way down to the common room, where Rinoa and Hermione were waiting.

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Malfoy sat at his desk in his personal dormitory, writing another letter to the Dark Lord. He was very interested in the fact that McGonagall was keeping a band of outsiders at Hogwarts and a front page header was in the works for the Daily Prophet, who was still wrapped around the fingers of some of the most powerful of Deatheaters. "They're going to buy wands tomorrow at Diagon Alley," Malfoy wrote. "It should be an excellent opportunity to finally get some proof of these people."

Malfoy still followed Voldemort even after what had happened at the end of the previous year. Some of Dumbledore's last words still troubled him, especially in his nightmares; "The Order has ways to make you disappear". It had even crossed his mind that he was just a pawn somehow in the great scheme against Voldemort, but he wouldn't dare mention this to anyone, for as much as he respected him, Malfoy was simply scared shitless of what the Dark Lord could do.

He shivered, trying to conjure a pleasant image in his mind to make himself feel better. Hermione with her soft and slim figure came sauntering into his mind. As much as he had always had the hots for her, she was still a mudblood, and some fool had made her Head Girl- what a joke! In his opinion, only pure bloods should be allowed such a high position in the school, or anywhere in wizarding society. Malfoy cackled to himself.

He had managed to squeeze more out of Almasy about Rinoa. Almasy said he was planning on "breaking up" with her soon. Malfoy couldn't wait. He had been watching Rinoa over the past few days. He loved the way she walked, and how her voice sounded, and her milky skin. He couldn't wait to bed her. Even if Almasy didn't break up with her, he would still have her. He was Draco Malfoy, after all.

At the moment, Seifer was sprawled on Malfoy's couch flipping through one of his dirty magazines. The way the pictures moved made these wizarding magazines so much better. Malfoy signed his letter and stood up. "You can stay if you like, Almasy, but I've got to send this off."

Seifer nodded. "Good."

"Later, Almasy."

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"Bollocks, I forgot my camera! Harry wanted me to take some pictures of them at this practice," Hermione said as their small group hurried down the Grand Staircase. "I'll meet you at the pitch?"

"Sure, Hermy," Selphie replied. "I know the way."

"Good. See you soon!"

Hermione rushed back up the stairs, cursing the person who thought to put the Heads room in one of the highest towers. After about five minutes, she finally reached it, spat out the password (Cheese Doodles), and entered the Heads main room, which was just as big as the other common rooms even though only two people stayed there. She spotted her camera where she had left it on her favorite arm chair along with her school books. Suddenly she heard someone coming down the stairs from Malfoy's room. Crap, Malfoy's here, she thought as she headed towards the portrait hole.

"Oh, hey," she turned around when she heard a voice she didn't recognize.

"Hello," she answered to the tall blonde-hair guy in a white trench coat. "You're Seifer, right? Rinoa's your girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't really call her my 'girlfriend'," Seifer replied, settling down on one of the chairs. Hermione stopped for a moment, not wanting to be rude to one of the guests, whether they were Malfoy's friends or not.

"Oh, really? That's interesting."

"Yeah."

Seifer gave her a strange look. Hermione uncomfortably looked towards the door. Suddenly Seifer stood up.

"I have to get going to the quidditch pitch," Hermione forced herself to say. "Nice meeting you, Seifer."

But in a flash it seemed he was blocking the door from her. "Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, his voice seeming strange. Hermione tried hiding a wince as she held her ground.

"No. Please let me by. I'm going to be late."

Hermione certainly didn't expect it when Seifer forced his hand on her upper chest, knocking her back so she landed on the chair. Hermione, for one of the few times in her life (surprisingly), felt truly scared. She instinctively fingered the wand in her pocket, ready to take it out if he made another move. And he did. He approached her slowly, daunting in his tall, muscular figure. "I won't make you late," he said, with a slightly sinister grin.