I decided to get rid of one of the rules of the contest: I mean, it wouldn't be nearly as fun if there was to be no magic, right?

And thanks for the reviews, guys.

Anyhow, on with the story:

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Draco stuck his nose up in the air in an aristocratic fashion: this meant tilting his head up so high that if it had been raining, he would surely have drowned. He strode along the halls arrogantly, shoving Weasley aside as he went.

Unfortunately, Draco lacked the foresight to realize that this aristocratic fashion of tilting one's head up kept him seeing straight in front of him, which in turn led him to walk face-on into one of the stone walls.

A small price to pay for the satisfaction of seeing Ron's outraged face, however (he had failed to notice that Draco had received his comeuppance in the form of a bloody nose). "Don't push me, you- you ferret," Ron finished lamely.

Draco giggled and wiped a fleck of red from his otherwise immaculately white shirt.

Snape looked at him, slightly disturbed. Who would've thought that so high a noise could've possibly come from a male?

Then again, Draco was rather feminine. Indeed, although at first glance he seemed to be a miniature copy of his father at closer scrutiny his resemblance to the unmistakably female Narcissa was positively striking.

Lucius was a bit of a girly man, though. It was all very confusing.

Snape tried hard to take his mind off this train of thought, making an effort to concentrate on the first other thing he thought of instead.

The only other thing that came to mind was his dear Bunny Foo-Foo.

It was a long, long story, but basically what had happened was that one time in seventh year, the insufferable James Potter decided he would send Snape a Christmas present. Severus woke up and found, to his surprise, a large package wrapped in sparkly paper and adorned with messily tied ribbon bows sitting at the foot of his bed. Curiosity won out over the portion of his brain that hinted that this was a prank present, and Severus eagerly opened it to find the fluffiest, most adorable pink bunny rabbit he had ever seen in his life. To his dismay, Severus quickly became attached to it. (On a side note, while Severus correctly deduced that Bunny Foo-Foo had indeed been a prank gift from James; he never learned that this came to be because of a sneak trip to Hogsmeade, 5 bottles of Firewhiskey, and an extremely drunk Sirius and James.)

And yet the two halves of his mind were in constant conflict. One side was saying: "It's all right to show your love for an inanimate object, really it is!" The slightly more evil side said: "Pshhht. What kind of sadistic Slytherin jerk would declare his affection of a stuffed bunny rabbit?"

It seemed as though the first half would surely win, for Snape had a secret. A horrible, embarrassing secret:

He couldn't sleep at night without Bunny Foo-Foo.

Shameful, yes. He had been living in fear that someone would discover it for the past twenty years, and now that he had been entered in this ridiculous contest, it seemed as though someone finally would. Probably Potter, the nosy little twit.

Resolutely, Snape decided he would create curtains containing an Imperturbable Charm around his bed. And as no one in his or her right minds would ever dare to disturb Severus Snape in slumber anyway, there was no chance of anyone ever finding out about it!

And, well, if they did… rules were made to be broken, right?

"Do not inflict bodily harm upon anyone…"

As if any self-respecting Slytherin would obey such a rule anyway.

Suddenly feeling cheerful, Snape began to smirk. He was, after all, an evil Slytherin git.

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Harry watched suspiciously as Snape's pale face took on a twisted sort of grin. "What's he so happy about?" he whispered to Ron.

"I suspect he's finally found a way to poison you without being blamed, Potter," Draco said maliciously from behind them.

They both turned to glare at him. "Nobody asked you," Harry retorted.

Draco pretended to tremble. "Oh no! Weasley and Potter are glaring at me! I'm all aquiver with fear."

Harry ignored him, as they had reached the Room of Requirement.

"Now," Dumbledore instructed them, "Walk back and forth in front of this wall three times, and concentrate very hard on the contest."

Harry imagined they all looked quite mad, pacing in front of a wall in sync. Finally, a door popped out and Dumbledore pushed it open. "And this is the Room of Requirement."

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Eyebrows raised, everyone took in their surroundings. They were now standing in an extremely large room with plain walls decorated in tapestries and a wood floor with lots of rugs. There were a few couches and armchairs in the middle of the room, and a wizard chessboard sat on a table. One corner seemed to be a kitchen/dining area. In another corner, there were two doors. One of them, Dumbledore explained, was a bathroom, and the other was a bedroom.

Lucius stuck his head in the bedroom and pulled it back out, looking indignant. "We're supposed to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags? Are you out of your mind? I refuse! You can't make me."

"And there's no mirror," he added as an afterthought.

"You can conjure yourself up a bed, can't you?" Dumbledore said. "There's a mirror in the bathroom."

Lucius opened the bathroom door, went in, and stepped back out almost immediately, frowning. "This does not qualify as a mirror." He held up a small looking-glass about the size of a book. "And where am I supposed to put all my hair care potions?" In one swift moment, he pulled out his wand, waved it in the air and muttered something. A very large suitcase spouted out of the end and fell to the floor. It opened with the impact, revealing a jumble of bottles and tubes labeled things like Smooth 'n Shiny Hair Gel and Extra Strength Strawberry Scented Hairspray.

Draco came closer and took a peek. "Hey, you stole my hair gel!"

Fred, George and Ginny snickered. Rita pulled out her pen again.

Dumbledore glanced at a clock on the wall. "The contest begins in approximately 6 seconds- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1! So long."

And with that he turned and left the room. A click was heard as Dumbledore locked the door, footsteps, and then nothing.

Ron finally broke the silence. "So… anyone want to play chess?"

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A/N: 1,154 words! Here you go and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US. On a side note, has anyone seen the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? It's brilliant! Go watch it if you haven't gone already.

And don't forget to review.