Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

Once the points were tallied, Harry was found to be in the lead with near perfect scores across the board save for the headmaster of Durmstrang. That left the Gryff's puffed up, and other than a few hard core types like Malfoy, the Potter Stinks pins were basically non-existent by the time Supper in the great hall came around.

The Ravenclaw contingent in particular had ditched them like they were scalded, looking embarrassed whenever the pins were brought up. Some puff's still wore theirs, doggedly loyal to their own despite Cedric's public stand against the offensive pins. Ironically, of the three non-Potter houses, Slytherin had the least embarrassment overall now that the pins had been tossed out, as few in the house had bothered with them in the first place.

Xander was mostly oblivious to that, however, as he was focused on the theory notes he'd made from Black Addams grimoire masterpiece. Her ideas concerning thought magic were unlike anything he'd read about Occlumency and Legilimency to date, and he was fascinated by some of the implications.

The Dominance, Jetta had written, was the key to projective thought magic. This was a state of mind that represented the most primal parts of the human mind, the part that was barely cloaked by the veneer of civility. The part that would gleefully tear the throat of an enemy out with its teeth.

Xander found Black's choice of examples to be quite Addams like, and cringe worthy to say the least. Her ideas, though, were almost revolutionary over a thousand years AFTER she had written them.

Modern Occlumency and Legilimency were strict disciplines, tied to rote exercises that aligned the mind into rigid responses and, internally, predictable reactions. That wasn't to say that it was completely pre-designed or anything of the sort. Imagination and unpredictability were fundamental parts of the Occlumens play book, but what Jetta proposed was something far different. Something that reminded Xander of, well to be frank, the Dark Side of the Force.

It was something to think on, but for the moment he wasn't going to personally delve too deeply into it, for safety's sake as much as anything else.

Around him the school was moving on past the first task, and the headmaster had just announced the upcoming Yule Ball, to the shock and wonder of basically no one that mattered as far as Xander was concerned. It did bring up one thing he'd been worried about since he heard of the plans.

He had to get a date.

On the surface that wasn't such a tough thing, he supposed, but honestly there were only three girls in his life he'd consider asking at the moment. One was in Sunnydale, so she was out. Between the other two Xander had to admit to a certain preference, and perhaps more importantly he suspected that Harry may be interested in the other, so that left him with one.

Now, granted, she was his first choice which was good. However, she was Wednesday Addams, which could be very, VERY bad.

That said, Xander wasn't entirely stupid. He knew that if Wednesday every got even a hint that he wanted to ask her and DIDN'T, he'd pay for it. It might even destroy their friendship, since one thing that Wednesday didn't tolerate was voluntary weakness of any sort. Her irritation with Harry being a prime example, though Xander was a little worried that she was taking that a bit too far.

Harry was a good enough sort, and he knew how to work when the chips were falling. He was just a little lazy otherwise, Xander knew that he himself was pretty much the same except for one thing. Magic was just SO DAMN COOL. That was the one thing that he didn't get about Harry, honestly. How could he come in from the non-magical world and NOT being totally stoked about magic?

Xander just shrugged off the question, though he suspected that it had something to do with Harry's Aunt and Uncle. It wasn't the time to answer, not now, he had more important things to figure out.

Like how exactly does one ask an Addams out to a ball without getting their entrails used as Christmas Tree decorations?

He suspected that the first part of the answer was "Don't ask an Addams out to a ball unless you're confident they're going to say yes."

It was the second part he was thinking about.

That is, how do you make it memorable?

Padma Patil noted idly that the screaming in the Ravenclaw dorms would have been unusual in almost any other year, and were unusual even this year for one reason only.

That reason was currently marching down the stairs in deliberate fashion, looking annoyed at the sound.

"What is going on?" Wednesday Addams scowled, annoyed at all the shrieking.

Which was precisely the reason it was a little odd. Apparently Wednesday didn't have anything to do with this particular event. Padma raised her eyebrows slightly as the Addam's girl looked at her, then nodded off in the direction of Cho and Marietta who were squealing and scrubbing their hands desperately with whatever they could get their hands on.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Marietta squealed in disgust.

Wednesday looked at their hands, but didn't see anything amiss. She glanced back again at Padma, curious.

Padma shrugged, "They cleaned it off a couple minutes ago, but I can't say I blame them."

Wednesday now looked truly puzzled, not a normal state for her.

"Check the entrance."

Wednesday nodded slightly, then walked over to the entrance that protected the dorms, demanding silently at it open. Her eyes widened when she saw the other side and noted the still beating human heart spiked to the door.

A smile played at her lips, she tried to contain it but couldn't. A silence descended on the dorm as Wednesday Addams reached out and pulled the spike from the door, with the heart still perforated and hanging from it as it beat steadily.

Abruptly she spun on her heal.

"Wait!" Padma was now burning with curiosity. "Where are you going?"

"My room." Wednesday said, as if it were blatantly obvious. "I have to look my best."

"Huh!?" Half the room stuttered out as Wednesday strode up the stairs.

The other Claw's looked at each other in confusion.

"What the hell was that about?" Padma finally got out.

Only Luna Lovegood deigned to answer, and she just sighed.

"Wednesday has a date to the Yule ball. It's really rather romantic."

Everyone stared at Luna incredulously, but no one dared say what they were thinking as they all remembered Sharia Rules.

Xander gulped as Wednesday stalked up to him in the Great Hall, stopping in front of his place at the Slytherin table. She stared at him for a long moment, just enough to send chills up his spine, and sweat beads down it.

Finally she spoke.

"How did you know?"

Xander shrugged, kinda embarrassed all the same. "Your Dad talks about his 'conquests' when your Mom isn't around. It sounded like something you'd appreciate."

Wednesday nodded, leaning over and reaching across to pull him closer. Xander was surprised when she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, I'll go with you."

Xander let out a breath of relief. "Thank God. I figured it was either yes, or you were going to kill me, but with you it's hard to tell."

Her eyes danced, with something that Xander could only imagine as malicious amusement, "There's still time, maybe we can do both."

Xander chuckled nervously, "Uh yeah, sure."

Wednesday nodded, then straightened up. "I was a little disappointed that it was transfigured, of course…"

"Well, I don't think we're at the point yet where I should be carving out people's hearts as a gift to you." Xander replied, his smirk back in evidence.

She sniffed as the Slytherins present all turned to gawk in shock at Xander. "Yes, well… maybe later."

"Did I at least freak out Chang and Edgecombe?"

She raised an eyebrow, "That was intentional?"

"Well," Xander said, "You have been a little annoyed with those two lately, so I thought I'd put some psychological torture into the gift, you know to make up for the transfiguration thing."

Wednesday stared for a long moment at Xander, starting to make him nervous again. Finally she just nodded. "Impressive. I will see you later."

Xander nodded, a slightly confused smile on his face as she withdrew.

"If it weren't an Addams we were speaking of, I swear I'd have the boy in counseling already," Flitwick said, shaking his head tiredly. "Half the house is still shivering, and the other half is just hoping this calms Addams down for a while."

Severus Snape snorted, rolling his eyes. "While it's a distinctly disturbing thing to do, I'll grant, it was all for show, Fillius. Harris and the Addams girl are just firing another salvo in her little war with your Claws."

Minerva McGonagall shuddered, shaking her head. "I hardly think it matters. Disgusting behavior. I'm going to have to have a word with Ms. Granger about who she associates with. Anyone as twisted in the head to do that, even if it was a prank, is someone we need to be concerned about."

"Harris isn't the type you're thinking," Snape shrugged calmly. "The boy is disgustingly straight forward and moral."

"He nailed a human HEART to the castle walls." Pomona Sprout said in response. "Honestly, Severus, I can't see how even you can condone such things. I'm just happy that none of my Puffs have been associating with the boy."

"None of them are smart enough to warrant his attention." Severus countered snarkily.

"Why you…!"

"The boy only seems to sit with the most intelligent, if obnoxious, females in the school." Severus pointed out calmly. "Or had you missed that fact? In Slytherin the only girl outside his small clique he deigns to speak with is Greengrass. Addams from Ravenclaw, and Granger from Gryffindor. Who in your house could keep up with their *small talk*?"

"Mr. Harris doesn't seem that intelligent himself." Pomona countered, huffing.

"He isn't." Severus shrugged, "They all far exceed his own intelligence, however I've observed that he has one quality that they all lack."

"Indeed?" Albus spoke up for the first time in the meeting since the conversation had shifted over to the subject of Alexander Harris and his recent 'romantic' overtures. "What, pray tell, would that be?"

"The boy can't keep up with any of them in the theory, let alone all of them," Severus admitted, "However his practical scores are generally just behind your boy wonder, Albus. And, given that Harris is actually taking classes that challenge him, his talents in applied magic likely far exceed Potter's."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Sprout grumbled, still miffed at Severus' implication that none of her puffs were smart enough to sit in with the group they were speaking of.

"Put simply, whatever insanity they can come up with… Harris can put into action." Severus snorted, "Or have you lot failed to notice his left hand?"

Fillius frowned, "I have, but it doesn't make sense. Why carry a second wand? It's not like he can use it."

"On the contrary, we've all seen that he uses it quite effectively." Albus corrected his Charm's Master. "Remember Lord Vader on Halloween?"

"That was Harris?" The short professor squeaked, "And the second wand worked? I thought it was distraction…"

"No, Fillius, it was quite real." Albus Dumbledore replied, "I've puzzled over it occasionally since, however I'm quite certain that he cast through both wands."

"But… I didn't think that was possible," Minerva said slowly.

"Nor I," Albus admitted. "The boy, however, is an accredited Wand Crafter at the ICW level. Legally we can't confiscate his wands, nor are we permitted to pursue any 'professional secrets' he may utilize in their making."

"You didn't punish him for that disruption?" Pomona asked.

"What good would it do?" Albus smiled genially, "we can't actually prove it, and even if we could, it was a harmless prank done in jest."

The other professors nodded, accepting that, but Albus caught the dark look from Severus. The two of them knew the more poignant reason not to punish the boy for that prank. It would credit him with having pulled off several feats of magic that students were STILL attempting to decipher. Outing the boy over that would grant him more influence, something Albus was not currently interested in doing.

His recent overtures to the Addams girl worried Albus, though not so much as one might think. He was well aware of Addams proclivities, and knew that what might be a sign of a demented mind in a normal person was merely a little spot of fun for an Addams. Had it been the Addams girl who spiked the heart to the boy's common room door, in fact, Albus would have laughed it entirely off and not given it another thought.

The boy, however, wasn't an Addams and so would bear watching. The fact that it was transfigured, as opposed to a cow heart or something of that nature was likely a sign that the boy was merely playing into the Addams' own game, however. If the boy and the Addams girl continued to get closer, it would bring many of Albus' concerns to rest. If they broke, and Harris continued his seemingly dark ways, well that was another matter.

Still, Addams or no, Albus had to admit to being made queasy by the whole scene.

'Whatever happened to candy?' He wondered belatedly, popping a lemon drop into his mouth.

"A human heart, honestly?" Hermione asked as she sat across the table from Xander, her books untouched.

Xander shrugged, glancing up from his own. "Just be happy I transfigured it. I think Wens would have gone for the real deal."

"She would not!" Hermione hissed.

Xander lifted an eyebrow, "Really? You don't think Wens would have… taken care of, say, Quirrell if he'd gotten in her way the way he did for you guys?"

Hermione flushed a little, looking away. "Doesn't mean she would have cut his heart out."

"Waste not, want not."

Hermione and Xander both jumped as Wednesday spoke up, appearing from behind them to claim her normal seat.

"Don't DO that!" Hermione hissed, trying to keep her voice low in the library. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Well, I would hate to damage a perfectly functional gift." Wednesday deadpanned.

Hermione flinched, pulling away from her friend, eyes skittish.

"Stop scaring her, Wens." Xander rolled his eyes. "And Herms, cut it out. You know us better than that."

"I thought I did."

Wednesday eyed Hermione for a long moment, then looked over at Xander. "She's boring me."

"She's a suburb brat, Wens." Xander said with half a smile. "Cut her some slack."

"So are you."

"I'm also too dumb to be afraid." Xander said with a grin.

Wednesday sent him a dark look, and he leaned away while holding his hands up. "Hey, just trying to lighten the mood. Herms doesn't spend holidays with your family Wens. Seriously, cut her some slack."

Wednesday settled a bit, but still shot Xander a dark look that boded badly for him. Xander had a sneaking thought that maybe he shouldn't be siding against Wednesday with another girl just after he asked her out to a dance.

He sighed.

'Probably should have thought of that BEFORE I opened my yap.'

Hindsight wouldn't save him from Wednesday, Xander suspected.

"Maybe we should change the subject," Hermione said, feeling uneasy herself. "I don't get it, I know that… I don't really WANT to get it, but it's between you guys."

Xander nodded, "Thank you."

Wednesday considered for a moment, then tipped her head. "Agreed."

Hermione looked nervously between them, "So… uh, you two at the ball, huh?"

"Apparently."

"Wow."

Wednesday arced an eyebrow, "I'll let you know if it's 'wow' after the ball."

"Oy, I'm sitting right here." Xander complained.

No one listened.

"Harry ask you yet?" Xander asked, rolling his eyes.

Hermione looked shocked, "Harry? Why would he ask me?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"He's been crushing on Cho Chang, for one."

"That figures." Wednesday rolled her eyes.

"You're kidding." Xander looked confused. "Why her?"

Hermione shrugged, "She's pretty, she plays Quidditch. What else?"

Xander shrugged, "I dunno. I just kinda figured…"

"Wrong." Hermione said simply. "Besides, I've been asked by someone else."

The Yule Ball Fever, as it had been dubbed by one of the Weasley Twins, raged through Hogwarts and only got hotter as the days went by. Xander, for his part, ignored it. He'd already asked his date out and had a yes, and while he wasn't stupid enough to take Wednesday for granted, he was at least in a semi comfortable state of not having to worry about getting a date.

Learning to dance, that was something else.

Luckily there were some basic lessons available, if one was willing to look and ask. Xander was, just barely, but he quickly managed to get the awkward shuffle step of slow dancing down. Enough not to embarrass himself too badly he hoped.

The rest of his time was spent mostly on his own projects. The school had dropped a lot of the workload off, mostly in a head tip to the ongoing tournament, and what there was Xander was already ahead on thanks to Hermione and Wednesday.

So he spent large chunks of his day in the Room of Requirements, tinkering his spell project, practicing dueling or sword play (He was terrified of meeting Gomez again without having practiced. The man would SLAUGHTER him… with a smile.).

He'd been pleased, and shocked to be honest, to find that Harry had modified the Spell Phone he'd given him. The autodialer Harry had added was a bit limited originally, but with Hermione's help Harry had improved it to something Xander was contemplating incorporating into the device on a base level. It was great, but as it stood it required a fairly competent spell caster to add names and 'numbers' to the phone. That was a bit of a pain, in Xander's opinion, and limited its value to anyone but 'full' Wizards and Witches.

Since he had a lot of family and friends that weren't exactly in that category, that was simply no good at all.

Still, that was a summer project, Xander had decided.

Immediately he was working on spacial charms from the grimoire. The reality warping spells that permitted the creation of such fantastic contraptions as his multi compartment trunk and all sorts of insane aspects of wizarding life.

Jessie and his pals would refer Xander to Bags of Holding, Portable Holes, and those sorts of things from pop culture as ideas, and indeed he had spent some time reading up on any of those materials before he started working. He'd purchased a few slabs of wood in Hogsmeade their last visit, and with the help of the Room Xander had been able to work them into a very nice dark mahogany door frame and door.

The next bit came straight from the grimoire, and was a combination of etching and mathematics that was intended to make the outcome he wanted possible. Basically all sides of the frame, and its solid back, were carefully escribed with runes to absorb the magic he was going to cast, anchoring the effect with an 'indefinite' effect.

He couldn't call it permanent, since that was effectively impossible. All spells ran out sooner or later, depending on how they charged their base runes, where the objects were kept, and how talented the caster was. In theory it was possible to keep enchanted items powered for an 'indefinite' period, in practice most lasted only a few years even after careful etching was completed.

That had taken him weeks, mostly cause he was working with Harry so much, but since the First Task had ended and the Ball was announced Harry had started to flake out a bit. Xander thought he was getting cocky over being in first place, at least until he realized that Harry was basically freaking out about the Ball.

Whatever. In Xander's mind that just gave him some time to work on his projects, including this one.

With all the ground work completed, Xander admired his work for a minute before breaking out his wand. This was going to be tough, Xander suspected. Not so much in terms of skill, the spellwork was fairly simple in practice. However Xander wasn't sure about his endurance, since all the work had to be done in one shot. He couldn't take a break or all the prep work would be ruined.

He took a breath, Ollivander wand in hand, and with a smirk tapped it twice on the wooden desk by his side before he began waving it in earnest.

First up were the expansion charms, aimed at the frame, basically just pushing the back of the door out about six feet. Nothing difficult about it, really. It would be possible to teach first years how to do that much if parents were generally afraid of what they would do to their homes unsupervised.

He charged the runes then, getting a few seconds breather as the glow faded.

Next came the sizing charms, aimed at the whole of the door. He carefully reduced it to about the size of a briefcase, locked that position in the runic design, then inserted an automatic trigger to return it to normal size.

By this point, only perhaps ten minutes into his work, Xander was feeling a little lightheaded as he looked over the results of his toil. So far he had a fairly nice looking resizable door that opened up into a six foot deep closet. The inside looked kinda weird too, he noted as he stepped in a checked the walls.

The woodgrain was obviously stretched out, looking like a badly zoomed photo on Willow's PC. Well, ok, not so much Xander decided. Willow's PC showed a lot of dots, this was just like someone took silly putty and stretched it out.

Oh well, he decided. He'd worry about looks later, a nice coat of paint would take any weirdness out if it was still there when he was done with it.

With that in mind, Xander pulled out his wand and got back to work. From inside the 'closet' Xander pushed the walls out in each direction, until he reached the edge of what he could manage. When he was done, Xander wiped his brow and his eyes carefully, and noted that the room was now about twelve feet wide by maybe fifteen deep. He nodded, smiling weakly and nodded.

"Did it." He mumbled out just before he collapsed.

Xander was awakened to shaking and someone yelling at him.

"Xander! Xander, are you alright? Come on, mate! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes slowly, and grimaced as a blurry image of Harry Potter shook him. "Lemme alone. Five more minutes."

"Xander, you're in the Room of Requirements! Do I need to get the professors?"

Xander swung, backhanding a surprised Harry Potter and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"Ow! Bloody hell! What was that for?"

Xander rolled to a sitting position, "Get the professors my arse. We've got a good thing here, mate. You tell people about this room and we'll never get any time in it."

"You git! You hit me for that? You could have just said 'No, Harry, don't get the Professors'!" Harry snarled as he rubbed the side of his face.

"No, Harry, don't get the professors." Xander parroted.

"Git." Harry mumbled, shaking his head. He looked around the room inside a room they were in, and frowned. "Why'd you have the Room create this place?"

"I didn't." Xander rubbed his temples. "God I have a headache."

"Want to go to the infirmary?"

"Naw." Xander shook his head, digging into his pockets. "Expected this."

He produced a travel pack of extra strength tylenol and exited the room, grabbing a bottle of water from the desk.

"Headache potions are faster."

"Not significantly." Xander said, shaking his head as he swallowed four pills and all the water. "Not for this."

"What happened?"

"Magical exhaustion." Xander replied, "I thought I had more reserves than that. I'm dehydrated, mostly, that's the cause of the headache. Water and rest is the only cure."

"Wow, how'd you know that?"

"Your mom told me." Xander half grinned, "It's in the warning notes of the grimoire."

"Oh," Harry nodded. He'd gone over those, and vaguely remembered something like that. He hadn't tried anything so taxing yet, though. "What'd you do?"

Xander nodded to the door that was sitting in the center of the room, and idly kicked it shut. It stayed in place, now just a door that led apparently to nowhere. "Spacial expansion charms. Next time I get you do them, you'd probably think it was taxing as a damned Leviosa."

Harry frowned, but didn't say anything as Xander stumbled a bit on his way over to the 'door'.

"Now, did I get it all right?" Xander asked himself as he reached up and grabbed the top of the door frame and pulled.

Harry jerked in surprise as the door slowly shrank down on itself, until it was about the size of a briefcase. Xander then picked it up and tucked it under his arm, "Man I'm wiped. What time is it, Mate?"

"Couple hours before curfew." Harry shrugged, "I was going to get a little dueling practice in."

Xander nodded, "Finally get a date, did you?"

Harry flushed red, "Yeah. Parvati is going with me."

"Cool. She's one of the twins, right? The non-redheaded variety?" Xander smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah. She in Gryffindor, her sister is in Ravenclaw. Padma is going with Ron."

Xander couldn't help it. He snorted.

"What?"

"A Ravenclaw is going out with Ron Weasley? Did she lose a bet?" Xander asked, grinning.

"Hey! That's my mate you're talking about!"

"I didn't know you two kissed a made up." Xander returned, shrugging. "I stand by my point. Still, I don't know the guy much so who knows, maybe I'm totally off base. Still, you've got to admit, he's not the guy you'd expect to interest the brainy girls."

"What do you mean?"

Xander rolled his eyes, "Who talked you into taking the easy classes?"

"Ron… but…"

"Yeah, I've had to listen to Hermione bitch about everything you and Ron have done for going on four years now." Xander said as he waved over his shoulder at Harry on his way out the door. "I'm gonna go sleep for, like fifty years or so. See you tomorrow, dude."

Harry scowled as his American friend left the room, annoyed at the boy's comments. Sure they were mostly true, but it was impolite or something to say, right?

He pushed that thought aside, and asked the room for a dueling platform with targets. As it responded, Harry just pushed everything out of his mind. He knew he'd been slacking off lately, worries about the social side of matters getting to him, and he had a lot to catch up on.

Xander's luck for the day was holding par to course as, when he got back to the Slytherin dorm there was a party going on. He thanked whatever Gods there were that the tylenol was kicking in, as Wizarding music cranked way past sane levels was SO not what he wanted to deal with.

It seemed Draco had managed to get the 'crème of the crop' from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons together for a little pre-yule party. Xander wished he'd stayed in the Room. He sighed, pushing his way through the crowded common room, trying to make his way to his dorm. He was almost there when his arm was hooked and he was pulled to the side.

"Daph, I'm beat." He said, noting the blond that had latched onto his arm.

"Oh shush, it's a party, Xander. I'm doing you a favor," She said, smiling widely. "Have you met Miss Delacour yet?"

At the mention of the name Xander blinked and threw up his Occlumency shields again, then noted tiredly that they were already up. He smiled at the blond, "Miss Delacour, a pleasure."

"And you, Monsieur…?"

"Harris, this is Alexander Harris, from America." Daphne said, "He's been doing some work with the Malfoy and Black families while in Britain."

"How interesting."

Xander stared at Daphne, "How do you know that?"

"I speak with Narcissa Malfoy, of course." She said, "And she asked me to make certain you were introduced around."

"Oh lord, save me from politics and parties." Xander grumbled, drawing a laugh from Fleur.

"I know how you feel."

"I'll bet," Xander said with a tired smile, "And for the record, most of my 'work' has been helping the *Potter* family settle some paperwork, the Black and Malfoy connections are incidental."

"I was not aware that there was such a connection," Fleur admitted, puzzled. "I had been told that Monsieur Potter and Monsieur Malfoy were enemies."

"That might be a tad harsh, but accurate." Xander admitted, "But Lord Black is Harry's Godfather, and Narcissa Malfoy was born a Black."

"Ah. I begin to see, yes."

"At any rate, it's nothing big. I was just in the country, and Sirius asked for a favor."

"Sirius Black, yes I read of that case. Rather shocking, in this day and age." Fleur said, shaking her head. "To be sent to such a place without trial…"

Daphne nodded, "That's causing quite a stir in the Wizengamot, actually."

"I thought they didn't have to have a trial?"

"Oh, they don't. That's not the problem, actually." Daphne admitted, "No, it's the fact that he was sent to Azkaban. Simple courtesy says that you don't send someone to a prison like that without a trial, especially not a head of house. No, they're arguing that he should have been locked in the Tower if someone wanted him out of the way."

"Of London, you mean?" Xander asked, bemused, "I didn't think they used that anymore."

"Well, obviously not if they're sending people to Azkaban without trial." Daphne rolled her eyes, "Aren't you paying attention?"

"Apparently not." Xander rubbed his temple.

"Good lord, Harris, what have you been doing? You look trashed."

"Oh joy." Xander sighed, shaking his head before answering, "I've been doing some enchanting, if you must know, Draco."

Draco smirked as he swaggered over, "I think you're aiming a little high if you're trying to enchant these two, they're already the most enchanting things in the room."

"Merci, Monsieur Malfoy." Fleur nodded, extending her hand.

Draco accepted it and clicked his heels as he bowed lightly over it, "Madam. You light up the room, unlike a certain grungy American I could mention."

"Terribly Sorry, Draco, I must have missed my notice for the party. I was working this afternoon," Xander said, a little tweaked by Draco's comment, and a bit envious of the show of manners. He knew all that, but Draco was so much better at it, even when Xander could remember to use them.

"On what?" Fleur asked, smiling slightly.

"Just some spacial compression charms," Xander said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I thought you said enchanting?" Daphne asked, confused.

"Well, yeah, I had to make them last longer than a few minutes." Xander answered. "Hence, you know, the enchantments."

"Full enchantment?" Fleur asked, now impressed. "That's a little ahead of your year."

"Was harder to power the runes than write them." Xander said, "That's why I'm so out of it."

Fleur nodded, "Yes, I imagine so. You were making a trunk then?"

"No, already have one of them." Xander said, "I made a door."

The three blonds stared at him.

"You made a *what*?" Draco asked in consternation.

Xander sighed, hefting the object in his arms. "A door."

Draco frowned, looking sideways at it. "It's kinda small."

Xander groaned, "I am too tired for this shit."

The two girls snickered softly, much to Draco's irritation.

"What?"

"He told you he was working on spacial compression charms." Daphne said, shaking her head.

"The question is," Fleur asked lightly, "A door to what?"

"Privacy." Xander answered with a shrug.

"A valuable portal, then." Fleur responded.

"Around here? Yeah." Xander said, glancing at Draco, who was glaring back at him.

Fleur giggled slightly, slapping a hand over her mouth in annoyance. She hated it when she giggled.

"Draco!" Blaise Zabini called out as he approached, "You need to hear this."

Draco turned to look at the tall dark skinned boy, "What is it?"

"Krum here was telling us he has a date to the ball." Blaise said, nodding back over his shoulder.

"So?" Draco rolled his eyes, "He's Viktor Krum. Of course he has a date."

"He told us who." Blaise said.

"I do not see the problem," Krum said, joining the conversation. "I merely said that I asked Hermy own ninny to the ball."

Draco and Xander both started choking, albeit for different reasons.

"The *mudblood*!?" Draco choked out, only to get an elbow in the stomach as Xander managed to stop laughing long enough to retaliate. "Ow! Damn it, Harris!"

"Do not call her that." Krum growled, towering over both of them.

Xander shoved Draco's head down, knocking the blond to the floor. "Sorry about him, he's a bit of a dork. What did you say her name was again?"

"Her my own ninny." Krum said slowly, scowling.

Xander crumbled down beside Draco, laughing to kill himself. "Oh god, make it stop!"

"Why is the stupid boy laughing?"

Neither Daphne, nor Fleur were willing to answer, though they both were smiling themselves.

"Sorry, sorry," Xander said from where he was getting up, pushing Draco back down to the floor to push himself up. "My bad. I'm tired, a little giddy. Yeah, that's all. I… I just… Her my own ninny? Oh God."

"Why is stupid boy laughing at me again!?"

"Ow! Get off you lump!" Draco growled from where Xander was now sitting on him. "Goyle! Crabbe! Get this idiot off me!"

Xander looked around, concerned about the two mountains coming at him. He snickered again when he spotted them.

"Crabbe! Goyle! Where the bloody hell are you!?" Draco yelled from the ground.

Xander knocked on Draco's head, "Did you get someone to smuggle in Firewhisky?"

"Ow! Cut that out! And yes, what of it!?"

"Look over there."

Draco looked in the direction Xander was pointing and groaned, slumping in place. Crabbe and Goyle were slumbering against a wall in the corner, a jug of Firewhisky between them.

"I'm going to make you pay for this, Harris." Draco grumbled from underneath Xander.

"Call my friend a mudblood again and I'll see if you have any useful wand components packed in that scrawny body, Dracy." Xander said, thumping Draco once more before getting up.

He glanced at Krum, "And the same goes for you if you hurt her."

Krum looked back at him, "Is stupid boy done laughing yet?"

"Yes, and stupid boy has moved on to threatening." Xander countered, then paused. "Wait. Can I have a do over on that?"

Daphne and Fleur were softly snickering off to the side, causing a petulant Xander to pout. "I didn't mean it like that, damn it."

Krum, thankfully, seemed to have missed the 'joke'. "You think to threaten me? You are stupid, boy."

"I think we already established that." Draco grumbled as he got to his feet, dusting himself off.

Xander sighed, setting his 'door' down by one of the couches that adorned the common room. He then dropped down into the seat and looked tiredly up at Krum as he put his booted feet up on the table. The snakeskin motorcycle style boots caught some attention almost immediately.

"Let me put it in a way you can understand, Jockstrap." Xander said, "The last *thing* that hurt Herms, I'm wearing its skin on my feet. You? You look good for a pair of gloves. Nuff said?"

Krum looked at Xander's feet in confusion, "A snake hurt Hermy Own Ninny?"

Xander started laughing again, then glowered, "Cut that out! This is serious!"

"That's not snakeskin." Blaise said softly. "Merlin, Harris. Those were just rumors…"

"Zat is Basilisk skin." Fleur said, stunned, "But I have never seen a piece so large. To make boots like zis, takes many skins? Non?"

Xander chuckled, "non. One skin, and plenty left where that came from. So, listen here Jockstrap, be nice to my friend or we'll have words. Got me?"

Krum looked confused, "Who is 'jockstrap'?"