A/N: Thank you all once again for reading this story. I am sorry that it is taking me so long to post, but I have school right now and I am writing a novel, so that is making things difficult. However, I will try to update at least once a month and I will not abandon my story, so bear with me. As usual the disclaimer and responses to recent reviews can be found on my bio page. Without further ado, here is your next installment.
Pansy found herself in something of a quandary. Did Weasley know? If he did, this little game just got a whole lot more interesting. Her violet eyes narrowed in thought, Pansy twirled a dark curl around one finger and tapped a perfectly manicured dark green polished nail on her teeth. Thinking of her next move, Pansy only gradually became aware of shrieking coming from behind her in the common room.
Her eyes widened in shock. Draco was running around waving his arms and shrieking. Normally, this would not be in his character in the least, but he seemed to be on fire.
Even a Malfoy has trouble keeping his composure under such circumstances. He had also been under a great deal of stress lately, Pansy reflected as she calmly got up from her seat by the small library in the Slytherin common room. She aimed her wand at him and muttered a spell. Immediately, a torrent of very cold water from the lake dropped from the ceiling and onto Draco. It was a good thing the common room was underneath the lake, or Draco might still be spontaneously combusting.
Strangely enough, he was completely uninjured. Stranger still, he continued running around screaming. Her eyes narrowed again. There was a second hex…no, a jinx. That Weasley girl was tricky—a worthy adversary for Draco if he could get himself together long enough to retaliate. Pansy was concerned that Draco might have actually fallen for the Weaselette. That simply wouldn't do. He knew the rules of the game just as well as she.
As fascinating as it was to watch the most self-controlled person she knew making a fool of himself, Pansy knew Draco would not thank her for prolonging this. Even though Pansy had the liberty of being Draco's best friend and often got away with more than anyone else dared, even she still shivered at the thought of Draco's wrath. He could be positively frightening when he wanted to be. Besides, she had more to think of right now than a spoiled prince in a snit.
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Ron was pacing again. Hermione was writing another letter and Harry was simply watching his best friend in amusement, eyes flicking back and forth as if watching a particularly rhythmic quidditch match. Glancing at his watch, Ron let out a small laugh and turned to his friends.
"Time to go to the Great Hall for dinner."
Both Harry and Hermione looked oddly at Ron at this point. This was the last straw for Hermione.
"Ronald Weasley, what has gotten into you? First you act like you never want to see food again; you seem overly paranoid in the hallways; now you are eager to get to dinner and you're chuckling about it. We can see there's something wrong. Are you going to tell us, or are we going to have to figure it out for ourselves? I, for one, am getting tired of this behavior."
Ron simply looked at Hermione. The light in his eyes reminded Harry of when he stopped a Slytherin from making a goal in Quidditch.
Ron smiled absently at his friend and calmly stated "Don't worry 'mione. Why don't you just finish your letter? I'm sure Victor is waiting eagerly for it."
Normally, this statement, coming from Ron, would have been delivered in exaggeratedly huffy tones, signaling his jealousy of the Bulgarian seeker, but strangely enough, he actually seemed to mean it this time. His voice didn't hold a hint of anything but vague sincerity.
"I'm going ahead, if that's all right. See ya' later Harry."
With that, the redhead walked out of the common room and stepped through the portrait, whistling all the way.
Hermione turned to Harry with a strange look in her eyes. It almost looked as if she had been saving a piece of candy for after dinner and someone had come along and snatched it while she was eating something else.
Harry just shrugged. Privately, he was glad that Ron seemed to be moving on. Hermione played him and Victor against each other much too often, even if she didn't realize she was doing it.
With an apologetic glance back at Hermione, Harry hurried after Ron to the Great Hall, hoping to get some idea of what was going on with his best friend.
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Attempting to look as if she weren't avidly watching the doors of the Great Hall, Pansy occupied herself with trying to read the letter Draco had just received by owl. It didn't seem to be pleasant news. Draco was glaring at the letter quite intently. It wouldn't have surprised Pansy if that look burned a hole through the paper. A few seconds later, it did burst into flames, and Pansy could see Draco's wand peeking out of his sleeve before he pushed it back into the special pocket where he kept it. He held onto the burning paper for longer than was safe, and very calmly dropped the mess into his empty goblet. When the paper had turned to mere ashes, he poured water into the goblet, and it disappeared. While she was trying to gain some clue from Draco's moody expression, a glimpse of red caught her eye.
Pansy allowed her violet eyes to drift in the direction of the red flash. She looked through her thick lashes toward the Gryffindor table. She snorted quietly. It wasn't the Weasel, but the Weaselette. Once again twining her dark hair through her fingers, Pansy looked with interest at Draco. His eyes were following Ginny's every move. There was hunger, confusion, and frustration in his eyes—if you knew what to look for. To almost anyone else, it simply looked as if today was a day to be particularly careful around the blond Slytherin. Blaise started to say something to Draco, but seemed to think twice about it, letting his own glance stray to Ginny Weasley briefly. Apparently he too had been enlisted in Draco's attempts to catch the Weaselette's attention. Goyle boldly leaned over and whispered something in Draco's ear.
With interest, Pansy watched Draco's face clear suddenly, as if something had just fallen into place. He nodded, looking up at Goyle and narrowing his eyes a bit. For his part, Goyle simply looked patiently at the other boy. Then he began to make his way out of the Great Hall. Draco hesitated a moment and then followed.
As Pansy's gaze followed the two, Ron walked into the Great Hall. He seemed much more at ease, and Pansy's speculations were confirmed. He did know. Now, what would he choose to do with the knowledge? Alimentarius Corruptela wasn't exactly unforgivable, but it was frowned upon. If he so chose, she could be expelled from Hogwarts. She watched him surreptitiously as he moved to his table, unconsciously noticing the keeper's strong build. He had really grown into his height these past two years. No longer clumsy or lanky, he walked with more grace than he had previously shown. Pansy licked her lips. A Ravenclaw walking to his table happened to see the sultry gesture, and walked right into another student who was just getting up. Pansy didn't notice at all. Her eyes were on a certain freckled Gryffindor.
Sitting down, he piled his plate high with food and poured himself some pumpkin juice. Then he looked up. Pansy's breath caught. His eyes were so blue she could see them from across the hall. He wasn't casting a spell on her, but it certainly felt like it the moment their eyes met. Then he smiled at her and raised his goblet, a light of challenge in his eyes. Amused and relieved and a bit surprised, Pansy raised her crystal chalice in acknowledgement and they toasted each other, never breaking eye contact. Pansy felt an excitement that she hadn't felt since she and Draco first made up this game. She finally had a worthy opponent. The question was who would win?