A/N from Samwise: Whee! Reviews! You guys are all uber-kickass and stuff! Yay! Oh, and by the way- I'm 15 now! Is anyone else young for their grade? Cause I am, I'm a sophomore! I'm going to turn it over to ZiBl. Oh yeah, one more thing- sorry it took so long, this is entirely my fault. Don't blame ZiBl, it's all me.

A.N From ZiBl: Actually, there's not gonna be an author's note from ZiBl this time, as she got herself grounded from the computer. On to the story!

Dancing With the Dragon

A FanFic by two Insane Idiots (a.k.a. samwise-dragoneyes and ZiBl)

Chapter Three: Best Friends and Battles Lost

Ginny walked into the common room to find it empty except for Dane, who was dancing to "Max 300" on the DDR machine. He looked absolutely exhausted. His breathing was labored, and his face was drenched with sweat as well as screwed up in intense concentration. No wonder, Ginny thought as she looked at the screen. The arrows were flashing by on the screen so fast she could barely follow them.

"DAMN IT!" Dane yelled as the song abruptly ended, the screen flashing the word "failed" at him in hugeblue lettering.

"Uh... Dane? What do you think you're doing up? It's two in the morning and from what I hear, all the seventh-years have a huge test in History of Magic tomorrow!" Dane jumped, then rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. It's not like I care. And where have you been? You left the common room ages ago and you're just now getting back?"

The tell-tale Weasley blush spread across Ginny's face as she snapped, "None of your beeswax!" He needn't know I just spent three hours in the library trying to find a hex to put Malfoy in the hospital wing for the next two weeks. "We both oughtta go to bed. But, Dane, can I ask you a question first?"

"Sure," said the black-haired lad.

"Can you give me DDR lessons? I think this is something I could really be good at, and you're the best player I've ever seen, don't tell Dean that though!" she added hastily.

Dane grinned at the compliment. "Of course. I'm already helping someone else, a Japanese chick named Koharu who just moved here. You guys are about the same skill level, and you should get along. Lessons start at 9:00 and last until 10:00. Now get some sleep, you need your energy if you are to become..." he paused dramatically. "A DDR master!" With that, he swept up the boys staircase, leaving Ginny to stare at the machine and ponder the question that had been haunting her ever since she left the kitchens. Why in the hell did Malfoy accept?

There were still many students awake when Draco finally entered the common room, most Slytherins being insomniacs by nature. Blaise looked up as his regal gaze swept the room with its usual cold contemplation. Not good! I can't practice here, there are too many people, not to mention I swore I'd never play that game from the moment I first saw it. Well, that only leaves me one more choice, then. I'll have to practice in the Inter-House Challenge Room, starting tomorrow night. Damn that Weasel for forcing me to do this!

"Hey Draco, looks like that trip to the kitchens worsened your mood, rather than improving it." Blaise called out. Draco quickly stalked over to his best friend and sat down crossly.

"My life sucks," he complained, but quietly, as he wasn't supposed to show any emotion other than utter contempt for all non-Slytherins. Blaise had been Draco's best friend for years, though, and they actually trusted each other. Both of them had been raised to be emotionless always, and it was only around each other they were anything else. Still, there were some things Draco was definitely never going to tell Blaise, and his bet with Ginny Weasley was at the top of that very short list. "It's just my father, as usual. I hate being expected to be a Lucius clone. He thinks I should be all evil and unemotional, like him, but..." Draco's voice faded, and as expected, Blaise finished the sentence for him.

"But you're not like him, you're your own person. And even though you are a bastard on occasion, you're not evil. You just want to live your life the way you like it, not anyone else's way."

Draco nodded, accepting that Blaise was talking about himself as much as he was about Draco. "I'm sick of death; I don't dare get friendly with anyone remotely unacceptable. If I do, that sick bastard will murder them." Blaise looked at Draco, understanding reflected in his eyes. The past summer, Draco had found out a horrible secret, one that had been eating him from the inside out. Draco, you see, had a little brother. Well, he used to, until Orion had mysteriously disappeared the summer before Draco's first year. He'd been devastated and had wanted to remain home and aid in the search for his little brother, as they'd been best friends. He'd been forced to go, though, and heard nothing about Orion until last summer, when he'd "accidentally" eavesdropped on his parents' conversation...

Draco, walking in the hall by their room, heard voices, and immediately crouched down next to the door to listen.

"That dratted boy's been getting too rebellious lately. We might have to do to him what we did to Orion when he started acting up," Lucius hissed. Draco leaned closer, clinging to the doorframe in shock. He'd always thought his brother was murdered, but now he knew who haddone it.

"Lucius, please. He'll grow out of it, just like Orion would have if you hadn't been so rash. Don't make the same mistake twice, just give him time," Narcissa said passionately.

Lucius sighed. "Perhaps you're right. He hasthree monthsto prove himself better than that little disgrace to the Malfoy name he called a brother." Draco's eyes were wide as he ran silently down the heavily carpeted hallway to his room. It was them. It was them all along.

"If she hadn't stuck up for me, I'd be dead now." Draco muttered into his hands, where his face had been hidden for the past ten minutes. Blaise, after carefully checking that they were in the shadows and that no one was looking, patted his back in an 'It'll be all right' way. But suddenly both boys sat straight up, automatically assuming their normal expressionless faces as Pansy Parkinson's voice reached their ears.

Draco resisted the urge to clap his hands over his ears and run screaming to the boys' dormitories as he heard what Pansy was screeching. "Drakie dearest! Where are you? I haven't seen you all day and I missed you sooo much!" Thank goodness the stupid bitch can't see me when I sit so far away from the fireplace, Draco thought smugly to himself. "I'm off to bed, Blaise. Go distract Pansy for me." Blaise smiled grimly and followed orders, knowing that Draco would do the same for him the next time one of the members of his fan club decided they needed to have a five-hour chat with him. When Pansy was sufficiently occupied with the other tall and gorgeous Slytherin, Draco quietly slipped up the stairs.

As he changed into his silky dark green pajamas, his mind wandered back to the challenge he had gotten earlier that night. I'll start practicing tomorrow night at 10:30, was his last thought before his beautiful silver eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

The final arrows crossed the screen, with Koharu hitting them all and Ginny only missing one. "Very good, ladies!" Dane called as they stepped off the machine. "Remember, keep your feet off the middle! Let them rest on the arrows they were on last." Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, as that had to be the 20th time Dane had said that in the past half hour. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was already 10:05. "Same time tomorrow. Lesson's over. It's Dane dance time now!" Dane grinned to himself as he stepped onto the machine, leaving Ginny and Koharu to look helplessly at each other.

Koharu pointed at Dane and mouthed, "Obsessed!" and Ginny quickly grinned in agreement. Koharu smiled back and went off to bed wkith a yawn. Ginny looked around the almost empty common room restlessly. She was ready for more practice, not bed! Glancing around again, she decided to go to the Inter-House Challenge Room to practice. No one else will be there at this time, and Dane's too busy trying to beat Max 300 to notice if I leave, Ginny thought. Making up her mind, she slipped from the common room and started down the corridor.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived in the room. Looking around to assure herself that she was alone, she dropped her cloak, revealing her baby blue pajamas. They used to be soft and fuzzy, but by the time three of Ginny's cousins were done with them, they weren't exactly either. They were also quite thin, a fact Ginny noticed immediately as it was rather cold in the room with only the pajamas. But wearing a cloak would hamper her dancing, so Ginny stepped onto the machine without it. She was about to select single mode when a sound form the doorway startled her, and she whirled around to see who else was up practicing so late.

Draco entered the challenge room and found himself facing a pair of large brown eyes, which quickly lost their startled expression and gave way to anger

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ginny snapped. Draco responded in his usual cold, detached manner while taking off his jet-black cloak to reveal his warm flannel pajamas (he had decided to forego his usual silk as it was rather chilly in the practice room).

"I believe this room is open to anyone who wants to practice," he drawled, staring at her insolently.

"Oh, shut up," she growled. She was shivering in her too-thin pajamas, and he began to make a mental note to get her new ones before he remembered that he didn't like her. Normally, when one dislikes someone, one does not buy them expensive gifts. So what was up with that flash of sympathy, for a Weasley no less? A cynical voice whispered inside Draco.

"Shut up, you," he muttered.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, Ferret Boy." He glared at her.

"Shut it, Red. Nice pajamas, by the way." She stiffened, and he noticed her eyeing his own warm pj's before turning back to the machine.

"Go away, Malfoy. I was practicing here first."

"You've been here longer than I have. Go practice in your own common room."

"All the machines in mine are in use," she said coldly, blatantly ignoring the fact that only one was actually being used. But I'll be damned if I back down to a Malfoy, she thought with a flash of fierce resolve. "You go practice in your common room."

"Same situation," he replied tonelessly. Ginny snorted loudly, shaking her head.

"I seriously doubt that. Four Slytherins using a Muggle machine at one time? I don't think so."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Draco's voice had swiftly changed from cool and collected to dangerously soft, and his eyes blazed. So what if he was lying? No filthy Gryffindor should ever doubt the word of a member ofthe Malfoy family. You're beginning to sound exactly like Lucius, his inner voice whispered.

His eyes widened, and he dropped his aggressive pose only to regain it two seconds later as Ginny replied with, "And what if I am?"

"Then you're one of the stupidest people I've ever met. No one crosses me and lives." Silence stretched out between the two, growing longer and longer as they continued to glare at each other. Finally, Ginny broke it with a long sigh.

"Whatever, Dragon-boy. Listen, neither of us is going anywhere, so we'll just have to practice together. Call it a..." she paused, searching for the right words. "a mini-challenge, with no stakes except bragging rights, of course." Draco thought about it for a minute, then nodded silently and stepped onto the machine.

"Know how to play?" she asked asa smirk- his smirk- crossed her lips.

"Yes," he said shortly, trying to get her to start so he could kick her butt. Come on, you step on arrows. How hard could that be? When they got to the level selector, Ginny chose Light mode proudly. Draco, not to be outdone, chose Light Mode as well, even though he'd never played before. Then the song selection came up.

"Choose," Ginny said curtly. Draco looked at the long list for a moment before selecting a song entitled "Speed Over Beethoven." I've listened to him before; I can't believe people think he was a Muggle! There's no way a deaf guy could compose such beautiful music without magic. That was unfortunately as far as he got in his thoughts before the opening notes of a techno version of Für Elise blasted through the speakers, and he had to begin stepping.

Ginny, having practiced this songquite a few times, stepped through the arrows easily, and even got a huge combo. Draco, on the other hand, was having a slightly harder time. Okay, left, right, left, up, left, right - wait, no! Left AND right? Ahhh! How the hell are you supposed to do this?

The song finally ended, and Draco stepped off the machine, glaring at Ginny, who was standing with her arms crossed and an extremely smug look on her face. "You may have won the battle, Red, but I will win the war." She grinned.

"That's the worst insult I've ever heard you say, Malfoy. What's the matter? Not used to having your ass kicked by s lowly Gryffindor? Well, get used to it."

His eyes narrowed to mere slits. "I'm going to make you regret the day you were born, Weasley." And with that, he strode past her, picked up his cloak, and stalked out of the room with as much dignity as he could muster. That's it! Blaise is giving me lessons.