Mandy hurriedly left Greenhouse Four, taking her schedule out of her bag to see what class she had next as she went. Perhaps if she moved quickly enough she wouldn't have a chance to think about Draco. Why was it all of a sudden she couldn't stop thinking about him? After all, he was quite near the end of the list of people who could help her become a real person with a real life. People like him were part of the problem, not seeing Mandy as a fellow human for a single second. She had thought she had better self-control than that.

Mandy slowed her pace as she entered the Charms classroom; it would not do to accidentally knock tiny Professor Flitwick over, especially on her first day back. Already sitting in the classroom were three of her year-mates; Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin, huddled close over their adjacent desks, and a bored-looking Justin Finch-Fletchley, doodling on what appeared to be his schedule.

Puzzled, Mandy drew out her schedule again. How could she have missed that they had Charms with the Hufflepuffs this year? But there it was, written down nice and neat in Professor Flitwick's small letters. She shook her head to clear it. This Draco business was messing her up. She then carefully placed her bag in a seat as far away from Lisa and Terry as possible before hurrying yet again out the door towards the girls' bathroom on the second floor. It was always out-of-order, but it was rather nice that way, without other girls to ignore her. She was nearly there when she unexpectedly flew and skid across the floor.

"Trip jinx," she noted. It somehow didn't cross her mind that someone had purposely put a spell on her.

"Trying to get yourself some attention?" a voice drawled lazily above her.

She slowly picked herself up and turned to see who had spoken. Draco Malfoy stood in front of her, his infamous smirk wide across his pale, pointed face. A gang of Slytherins, Vincent, Gregory, Pansy, and Millicent Bulstrode included, stood behind him, laughing.

"No," Mandy answered him quietly, not making eye contact as she began to pick up the various items, her wand included, that had fallen out of her robes during her fall.

Draco turned to the small crowd of Slytherins around him. "Now, come on, that's not very nice, she fell. Move along now, nothing to see here," he told them in what would have been a sincere manner had he been able to keep the smile off his face.

The crowd cleared as Mandy finished replacing her belongings back in the pockets of her robes and stood. Draco was still nearby. Why hadn't he gone away with the other Slytherins? She could not think of a reasonable explanation.

"Listen, Brocklehurst," the blonde began with something less than his usual confidence, "can you, er," he glanced around as if checking for teachers, or maybe even eavesdroppers, "can you keep secrets?"

Mandy blinked. Something odd was going on here, that much she knew. Since when did Draco tell people secrets? Since when, she reminded herself, did someone like him ever speak to someone like her? She was invisible to everyone but the professors and the occasional ghost. She nodded slowly. It was the only way she'd get her questions answered. And it would put something different in her life for once, spice it up a bit.

Draco smirked. "Of course you can, a loner like you doesn't have anyone to tell!" He laughed malevolently at his own joke. When she didn't reply, he beckoned her closer and hissed into her ear. "If Parkinson calls me darling one more time I swear I'll hex her. I'm not interested in her one bit."

Mandy drew back. This was interesting. All the Ravenclaws in her year seemed to think Draco liked Pansy, or at least the attention she gave him. But here he was telling her that the situation was the complete opposite. She had a lot to think about.

"If anyone hears about this you're going to regret it," Draco warned with a growl, watching her carefully.

"I know," she murmured in response, nodding her head as he stalked off and disappeared, his bag clunking against his side.

Noticing the halls were almost completely empty, Mandy quickly turned around and walked back upstairs to the Charms classroom. She hadn't really needed to use the bathroom, anyway. It was just something to do to fill up the dull time lapse between her lessons, just another diversion from her growing problem.

Impulse

It doesn't make

Any sense

What I want to do

It doesn't make

Any sense

What I have to do

Impulse

What I want to do

Impulse

What I have to do

Impulse

It doesn't make

Any sense