Note: This chapter is dedicated to moonshine and mustard seed.

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:Chapter Thirteen: Halloween Ball

Immediately after Harry woke up, his first thought was, 'I'm meeting Mischief in just a matter of hours.' He sat up and realized that the lead butterflies from yesterday were now igniting fires inside his belly. He felt a hundred times worse. When he opened his eyes, he saw Neville and Seamus at the bottom of his bed; looking side to side, he saw Ron and Dean. Then he remembered his roommates waking him up from his nightmare last night and trying to comfort him until they all just crawled into his bed and fell asleep. He had the most awesome friends.

Ron shifted beside him. "Sleep. Harry…Saturday…" He mumbled.

So Harry scooted back down and stayed there. It's not like he was going to do anything productive anyway… his stomach hurt so much that eating wasn't an option, he would miss his friends camaraderie if she showered alone, and the thought of how cold it was outside the Castle this early almost gave him goosebumps. After a while, he drifted off to sleep again.

The next time he woke up, he was in bed alone. Ron was standing above him, shaking his shoulder.

"We're heading off to shower. You coming with?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, be there in a minute." He answered.

After showering and getting dressed, they all went to the Common Room. Hermione pulled Harry aside.

"Ron told me that you woke everyone up with your screaming last night. When did you start having nightmares again?"

"Last night was the first one in about a month. I usually put a silencing charm up, but I guess I forgot."

"You should tell Dumbledore. Also see if Madame Pomfrey will give you a sleeping draught, for when you wake up having one. Ron said it took a while to get you calm enough to fall back asleep again."

"Okay, I will." Harry said, looking slightly embarrassed.

They walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry refused to eat anything, no matter how hard Hermione pressed him.

"You haven't eaten in two days! Just have a piece of toast or something."

"I'm not hungry." Harry told her and ignored the look she gave him.

Glancing around the Hall, Harry realized that Mischief was probably sitting there, in the same room as him, eating breakfast. He never thought about it like that before. He started laughing and then placed his forehead on the table. Hermione, who had taken to sitting beside him instead of across from him for the past couple of weeks, leaned over.

She whispered, "What's so funny?"

He tilted his head to the side and said, "It's stupid really, but I just realized that I wasn't even a tenth this nervous when I was heading off to battle Voldemort during the Last Battle."

"What are you so nervous about?" Hermione asked him. "I thought you were sure about your feelings for him."

"I am sure about how I feel. But what if we meet and he doesn't like me? What if he doesn't want to deal with dating me, knowing that his name will be smeared all over the front page and he'll probably get a ton of howlers from ten year old girls with crushes on me or doesn't think I can be faithful because I supposedly have tons of people throwing themselves at me, or all the other issues I've dealt with in the past. What if he hates that I am part muggle? That's something we've never discussed. Or, oh no, what if he is a Slytherin and I'm responsible for one of his relatives being in Azkaban or dead?"

"I'll admit - that is a lot to worry about. But, I'm sure everything will be fine. The Sorting Hat wouldn't have matched you up with someone like that."

"Good point. You're smart." Harry said while lifting his head off the table. "That actually makes me feel a bit better, thanks."

"Good, are you going to eat now?"

"Definitely not. I still don't think I could stomach anything, but I promise to eat when I get hungry."

"Good."

"Oi." Called Ron. "What are we doing today?"

On Saturdays, they usually left the castle and did something athletic, whether it was playing Quidditch, Volleyball, swimming in the lake, jogging around the lake, or any other sports and activities they could come up with.

"Well, it's cold outside, but I think if we could get to the Quidditch Pitch before anyone else, we should practice some. We are playing against Slytherin next week, after all."

"Only the official Gryffindor team can play today?" Seamus asked.

"No, anyone can play. It's not an actual Team practice. Actually, I won't even play Seeker today. Let's just have fun."

His classmates seemed excited. As soon as they noticed a group of Ravenclaws standing up to leave the hall together, the Gryffindor students stood up and rushed out of the hall, making many people wonder what was going on.

Harry, Seamus, Hermione, and a few other students ran off towards the Pitch, while Ron, Ginny, Dean and some other students ran up to their dorms to grab scarves, gloves, brooms, and other equipment.

After a few minutes, the students outside were hovering close together for body heat and blocking the entrance to the broom shed so the Ravenclaw students wouldn't have equipment to take the Pitch.

Hermione leaned over and whispered to Harry, "What if your match is a Ravenclaw?"

Harry nodded and said, "Who's in charge here for Ravenclaw?" He spotted Terry Boot and said, "Let's play together. We'll mix up the teams so it isn't Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Also, anyone on an official House team can't play their regular position."

"Sounds good." Terry said.

The Gryffindor team moved out of the way of the broom shed and let the other students go in and grab school brooms and the chest containing the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch.

Harry leaned over to Seamus and said, "Figures that Ravenclaw would know to show up to breakfast already wearing their winter clothing!"

Seamus responded, "Yeah, us Gryffindors just take life as it comes – why think ahead when we know we'll just jump into whatever we feel like doing for the day?"

All the students overheard and laughed.

Hermione leaned over and said, "Body heat, people!" And all the Gryffindors got back into their huddle mode to preserve heat.

By the time the rest of the Gryffindor students walked onto the Pitch, all of Ravenclaw was in the air flying around. Harry jogged over to Ron to grab his scarf and gloves. Then he took his broom and thanked Ron for bringing his stuff out.

"What's this? You couldn't hold them off from taking the Pitch?" Ron asked.

"Well, we decided to play together." Harry answered. Ron nodded.

A few minutes later, all the students were in the air. They chose mixed teams and positions. There were too many students, so some of them had to sit out the first game. Hermione spelled the Snitch to fly a bit slow and be somewhat brighter, otherwise the game could take up many hours - which wouldn't be a bad thing if it were an official game and no one else was waiting to use the Pitch.

Before the game started, Harry looked around and noticed a ton of students were now sitting in the stands watching. They were all sitting in one stand, regardless of what House they were in. His eyes fell upon a particular blond Slytherin. How could he not notice? Malfoy had the palest blond hair of anyone he'd ever seen. The whistle started and Harry immediately turned his attention to the game.

Draco was watching the game with much interest. It wasn't very often he got to watch Harry play other positions. As Chaser, Harry's job was to get as many points for the team as he could, by throwing the Quaffle through one of the three golden hoops at the end, and hopefully avoid being hit by either bludger.

Harry scored a couple of goals - which was fun to watch because he has natural skills when it comes to flying with his broom. After about half an hour, Harry's team lost even though they had scored the most goals. Dean had caught the Snitch for the winning team. Harry and his teammates congratulated the winners and then flew off to watch the second match from the stands.

Harry was sitting with his team watching the new game when Pansy yelled from the other end of the stand, "Hey Potter. Your female friend seems to be playing pretty well."

He glanced at the Pitch and then yelled, "Of course. Hermione's amazing at anything she does."

Pansy leaned over to Draco and whispered, "Don't I know it!"

Draco's guard dropped and real smile appeared on his face. Harry wasn't sure if he had ever seen a smile like that on the blonde boy's face. Immediately it disappeared and was replaced with a look of indifference.

After the second game, Harry and his team jumped off the stands and flew onto the field to congratulate the winning team.

"You played great today, Hermione!" Harry said and then he congratulated the rest of her team. Everyone left the Pitch and headed back to the castle because the weather was getting colder.

Hermione was walking so slow that Harry and her were the last two people to enter the castle. Ron had already taken off with Luna. When they entered through the doors, Pansy and Draco were standing there, almost as if waiting.

"You played a great game, Hermione." Pansy cooed to her.

"Thank you." Hermione said while blushing.

They walked ahead, leaving Harry and Draco behind.

"So, you play Chaser pretty well." Draco acknowledged.

"Thanks." Harry said, noticing that he was now alone with Draco. "Do you… want something, Malfoy?"

Draco just shrugged his shoulders. A few seconds later, he added, "So the Halloween Ball is tonight."

"Yeah." Harry said, his face now lighting up.

Draco's heart sped up and he resisted the urge to grab the green-eyed boy and plant a kiss on those soft looking lips.

"Come on Draco!" Pansy shouted from ahead. Draco gave a brief nod in Harry's direction and started walking towards Pansy.

Hermione fell back to walk with Harry.

As soon as they were alone, Harry said, "What was that about?"

"Oh, she was just complimenting me on my playing today." Hermione answered.

"I swear, those two are up to something."

"With those two, I'm sure there's always something going on... But for now, don't worry about it." Hermione looked down at her watch and said, "Let's see. It's 2pm now – which means we have six hours before the Ball starts. Let's get back to the Common Room and see what everyone's up to."

After climbing up all the flights of stairs, they gave the password to the Fat Lady and walked through the portrait. It seemed a party of sorts was happening. Everyone was loud and excited and music was playing from somewhere. Someone rushed up and pulled Hermione into the mix of people. Harry was offered a butterbeer, which he gladly accepted.

"It's a pre-party Party, Harry." Ron said cheerfully.

Parvati Patil walked up to Harry and said, "I saw you dancing at the Hufflepuff party a couple weeks ago. How come you never danced like that with me in fourth year?"

"Um. I was too nervous and besides, ballroom dancing is not the same thing as club dancing."

"Well, you should dance at least one song with me tonight if you get a chance." Parvati said as she walked off.

"Sure." Harry said, although he wasn't sure if she heard.

Neville stopped by and told Harry that his mailbox was glowing. Harry set off with a fast pace to the stairs leading to the boy's dormitories.

Once inside, he retrieved the parchment and unrolled it.

Dear Jolt,

I am relieved that the Ball is tonight. I am not sure I could have waited much longer to meet up with you. I will admit that I am a tad bit nervous, but mostly just excited. How are you feeling today?

I think we should meet up around 8:30. You can go ahead into the Great Hall. I know what your costume looks like, so I can find you easily. Maybe stay near one of the walls though, just so I'm not getting bounced around by all the dancers while looking for you.

Eagerly yours,

Mischief

-o-O-o-

Putting the parchment down, Harry realized his right hand was holding his necklace through his shirt. This was something that he noticed he did a lot of recently. Letting go of it, he wrote a quick reply and sent it off; then he went back downstairs to the party.

His nerves were getting worse, but he noticed that while he was with his friends laughing and talking, he didn't feel as bad. Around 6pm, everyone started heading to the showers to get ready. That was when his nerves came back tri-fold.

Harry went upstairs and showered. Then he went into his room and retrieved the box from his wardrobe. With shaking hands, he pulled the costume out of its box. He took more time to look at it than yesterday. It was a dark shade of burgundy, which he assumed would look great with his eyes. The dark shade showed off the embroidery as well as the precious stones that were sewn onto the brocade fabric. There were black velvet parts near the waistline and sleeves; as well as slashings in the fabric so you could see some of the cream of the undershirt showing through it.

He put on the pants first, which true to Mischief's word, were full length instead of knee length. Then he added the layers of shirts, which the top one had a stand-up collar and puff sleeves. There was a dagger in sheath that he attached to his waistline. Then he added the short cloak that was all black. Last, he put on the broad toed shoes.

When he turned around, his roommates were all standing behind him with their jaws hanging open.

"Bloody hell, Harry. Where'd you get that costume from?" Ron asked.

"My Quill-Pal sent it to me."

Ron looked down at his costume and made a noise.

"You look good as the Grim Reaper, Ron." Harry told him. "And you make a great surgeon, Seamus. Nice Vampire costume, Dean! That cowboy outfit looks really good on you, Neville – those chaps really add a nice touch." Harry complimented them.

Harry turned back to his bed and gently picked the mask up. It was a full-faced mask made with feathers and material, it looked like an owl face. He loved it. The colors were beige, dark brown, dark yellow, and a few burgundy colors here and there.

He put it on and faced his friends.

"It's amazing." Seamus said. Everyone nodded.

"Thanks, I'll stop and check it out in the bathroom mirror before I head out."

Harry sat down on the bed because his legs suddenly felt like they were going to give out. A moment later, he was heading towards the bathroom at breakneck speed. He went into a stall and was standing in front of the toilet - willing himself to not get sick. Every minute that ticked closer to 8pm, make his hands sweaty and his stomach hurt worse.

-o-O-o-

Draco was downstairs getting dressed after his shower. He hoped Harry liked the costume he designed for him. Draco's was very similar. The main color was a dark green and it had dark brown velvet near the waist and on the sleeves, with slashing to show the cream color of the undershirt. There were matching stones and embroidery on the brocade fabric. His short cape was dark brown, and he had the same broad toed shoes as Harry. He put his matching dagger onto his waist. His face-covering was of a Barbastelle Bat, so instead of feathers, there were many shades of soft brown hair all over and even some velvet pieces; inside the short ears was soft pink material. And just to make the mask match the costume - there were a few shades of green placed near the edges.

When he finally had his outfit on, his roommates complimented him. He waved his hand, "Of course I look good. I always look good." Draco stated.

Vincent and Gregory were wearing Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee costumes. "How appropriate." Draco commented.

Blaise was wearing a Dementor costume. "Hey you, stay away from my man later." Draco said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Who is your man?" Blaise asked.

"You'll see later."

Draco left the room and walked towards the Great Hall. It was almost 8:30. He wasn't that nervous. He knew he was going to go in and take what belonged to him, which was something he had been doing his entire life. He walked to the open doors and paused to take in the scene.

The lights were off but there were thousands of candles floating in the air above, making the room very dim. There was a famous rock band playing loudly on the set-up stage in the far left corner of the hall. Many students were already dancing, but quite a few were standing on the sides talking to their friends. A lot of the costumes he saw were very elaborate looking and some were comical.

Draco felt a hand on his back and he turned to see who it was.

"Well Elizabeth Bathory, you're looking mighty young and beautiful tonight." He told Pansy. "And I take it this is your next victim?" He asked while nodding towards Hermione, who was wearing a tight and very revealing peasant outfit.

"Yes, now you go get him." Pansy said while placing a kiss on the cheek of his mask. "You look handsome, by the way."

The two girls took off towards the dance floor.

Draco headed towards the left wall and started to search for Harry's costume. He hadn't spotted him yet, so he passed the stage and started walking near where the teacher's tables usually were set up. After walking down the entire length of that wall, he finally spotted Harry near the corner and his heart lept. Harry had his back to him and was looking towards the main doors.

Draco walked up to him, placed his hands on Harry's hips, leaned near his ear and said, "Jolt?"

Harry immediately turned around and said, "Mischief?" Draco nodded.

Harry's heart started beating even more rapidly than before. He had been waiting for this moment for almost half an hour, and at this point his legs were shaking so much he could barely stand up. He just knew that he was meeting someone who would play a huge roll in the rest of his life.

Immediately they leaned in towards each other and a heartbeat later Harry was surrounded by two strong arms.

Harry hugged him back and said, "You're real." He was thankful that his mask was covering his entire face, because he didn't want Mischief to see his eyes threatening with tears of happiness.

"Yes, I am." Mischief replied, squeezing tighter.

"These costumes are amazing." Harry said. He leaned back, cocked his head to the side and said, "You make a pretty bat."

Harry couldn't see his smile, but heard Mischief answer, "You make a beautiful owl."

Harry leaned forward, back into the hug and they stood like that for a while. The hug was a tight one and Harry wasn't sure if it was his own heart he was feeling beat rapidly, if it was the other boys, or a mixture of the two. Eventually the music calmed down and they started slow dancing together in the corner. A couple of songs later the music started getting faster, but the two boys continued dancing slowly in each other's arms.

Harry felt that he fit perfectly into Mischief's arms. Not that anyone could see, but he had a smile on his face that couldn't possibly be faked. He started running his hands up and down Mischief's back which only made the other boy lean closer to him and make content noises. Harry wanted to kiss him very much. His stomach now felt like the butterflies had sprouted arms and were playing tug-of-war with his insides.

After what seemed to be a couple of hours, Harry was still thinking about kissing the other boy, but was unsure. Yes, he had spent the summer snogging Brent, but this felt entirely different. Suddenly, as if Mischief was reading his mind – he stopped dancing and took Harry's face into his hands. With his thumbs, he slid the mask up to reveal his lips. He could see Jolt take a quick breath in. "Don't worry." Mischief assured him. He traced Jolt's lips with his thumb. "Now close your eyes." He told Jolt, whose eyes fell shut behind his mask. Mischief lifted his own mask so that his mouth was showing. He leaned in and brushed his lips on the other boy's. He could feel Harry's body give in to shivers. Draco dropped his hands and pulled Harry to him. Both bodies were breathing quickly and Draco's body was absorbing Harry's tremors. Moments later Draco leaned in and seized the soft lips in front of him.

In his entire life, Harry had never felt this wanted before. Those lips felt like they were claiming him forever. The kiss was so gentle and passionate, Harry was sure this was the best he had ever felt in his life. Mischief's mouth opened to him and he opened his in return. His tongue barely made it a centimeter before he felt the warm silken tongue meet his. Harry's stomach sent shooting stars throughout his body and he whimpered into the other boy's mouth.

Draco had to suppress a smile. He had been waiting for this moment for years. His body felt faint at the thought that he could cause this much pleasure to Harry, with only kissing. ---

After many minutes the kiss slowly trailed off. Harry leaned back and said, "Let me see your face." He saw Mischief nod as he slowly lifted his mask the rest of the way off. Harry removed his mask as well and had a dreamy look in his face. That is, until he recognized the beauty before him. Then his face turned to disbelief and shock. Draco leaned forward him to kiss again, but before he could meet his lips, Harry shoved him off saying, "You!" Harry then spun around and left Draco standing there.

Draco sighed and followed him, finally catching up with him outside the Great Hall. He grabbed Harry's arm and forcefully pushed him into an empty room and blocked his getaway.

"Wait Harry, let's talk about this." He demanded gently. Harry was still trying to get around him. "I know you're not happy to see me, but can't we at least talk?"

Harry placed his mask onto an empty desk and yelled, "You, you... liar! You already knew it was me, didn't you!" Seeing Malfoy's eyes shift towards the ground, he added, "Is this why you strung me along for months, making me wait to meet up? So you would have enough time to make me fall for some imaginary person - making the joke even worse! I thought I was falling in love - but it ends up you were faking the whole thing!"

He grabbed at Draco's arms – who was momentarily stunned - and searched for the bracelet he made for Mischief. "Ah ha! Damn it. I was writing to you this whole time! I'll admit, thought, this is a great payback for me sending your dad to Azkaban twice, right!"

He muttered some thing that Draco couldn't make out and started yanking on Draco's arm to try and remove the bracelet.

Draco finally got over his shock and started moving his arm around so Harry couldn't reach it. Then Draco placed both arms behind his own back. The only thing that Harry achieved while trying to grab at Draco's arm, was getting them to stand face to face very closely. Draco tilted his head and kissed Harry. Their lips stayed together seconds before Harry came to his senses.

He quickly stepped back and said, "Fine - keep it! But you can have this back." He lifted the necklace off his neck and held his hand out with it. Draco put his hand out and caught the necklace in his palm. While Draco was staring at the necklace in his hand - surprised that Harry didn't throw it at him, Harry snuck around him and bolted out of the room.

By the time he got his wits back, Draco set his mask down with Harry's and started out the door to find him again. When he made it to the hall, he called out Harry's name but didn't see him anywhere. Fury finally started to take over and Draco stormed into the Great Hall and found Pansy dancing. She saw the look on his face and followed him out of the room, with Hermione trailing both of them. He led her to the same empty room that the masks were in.

"What happened?" Pansy asks Draco.

"I let him know that I was his match, and he yelled at me and took off!" Draco said.

"Who is your… oh no. It's Harry, isn't it?" Hermione guessed.

Pansy nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have tried to help some how!" Hermione said loudly.

"Well I knew he wouldn't take it well, but I never imagined it would go this badly!" Draco yelled.

"What? You already knew he was your match before tonight? How did you know - was this a set up?" Hermione accused.

"Who else would that damn Hat match me up with? No one else would be good enough!" Draco said, not caring how vain it sounded.

"Draco's been in love with him for years, Hermione. It only took a couple weeks for him to figure out who his Quill-Pal was." Pansy told her.

"Fine, let me go talk to him. I'm sure he needs some consoling right about now." Hermione said.

-o-O-o-

Harry ran up the stairs and practically exploded through the portrait. The Common Room was empty, not that he noticed through the tears threatening to fall. He went into his room and closed all the curtains around his bed and spelled them so no one could open them or hear anything. He was trying to get control over himself - but all he could think about was that Mischief had lied to him. Harry had actually believed that he found his soulmate and now he felt empty and alone. He couldn't believe that his enemy could ever stoop that low. Trying to hold his tears in, his broken heart finally got the best of him. He felt the tears falling down his cheeks, warming it. At some point, he had started to cry in loud sobs. After a few minutes, he felt like he was going to pass out and his face was numb.

At some point between sobs, he heard someone outside of his canopy yelling.

"Harry! I can't hear you, but I know you're in there. I'm going to sit right here by your bed and sleep on the floor, if I have to. I am not leaving until you talk to me!"

No answer.

"Listen, I knew Draco had a crush on you but I didn't know he was your match until a few minutes ago. You practically destroyed him."

Harry took the spells off his canopy and asked, "You believe that?" With a voice that gave away that he had been crying.

Hermione stood up and crawled into the bed and put her arms around him. "Well, I've been seeing Pansy for a couple of weeks now..."

"You never told me." Harry said between sobs.

"Well, we wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while..." Hermione said, adding, "She guarantees me that Draco isn't lying about his feeling for you. He didn't fake anything in the letters."

"Well, sorry if I find it a little suspicious that my biggest school enemy for years suddenly tells me he has romantic feelings towards me – just months after I get his father sent to Azkaban for the second time! It's a little much to take in and a bit hard to believe." Harry said while wiping tears from his eyes. "Sure, I can take a joke, but the biggest thing I am upset about is that now I know my soulmate isn't real. It almost feels like someone intensely important to me has died. It's like Sirius all over again…"

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I wish you didn't feel like this." Hermione said while smoothing his hair, "I am curious though, how come you seem okay with me dating Pansy, but you won't believe that Draco has feelings for you?"

"Oh come on! How many times has she done anything to us? None that I can think of – sure, she's always stood in the background laughing, but from my knowledge she has never participated in any of the cruel jokes or hexes. How can I believe Malfoy when he has done nothing but play tricks on me and harass me almost every single day since I started coming to this school?! Besides, his Aunt is trying to kill me and how do you know he isn't a part of her plan? Just last week, Malfoy tried to hex me at Hogsmeade!"

"But Harry-" Hermione started, but Harry cut her off.

"Listen, tomorrow you can try and talk some sense into me - but please just leave me alone for the rest of the night... I can't believe I waited all day for this, making myself sick to my stomach when I should have just stayed in bed this morning."

Harry started crying again, his throat constricting very tightly.

"Okay, but let me know if you want company or anything." Hermione told him. She bent down to kiss the top of his head and left the room.

As the Fat Lady portrait was shutting behind her, Hermione's only thought was to find Pansy. Draco suddenly appeared and tried to get past her, but the portrait had already shut by then.

"What's the password?" He demanded.

"I can't tell you. Besides, he really needs to be alone right now. He's not doing too well."

"That's why I'm here. I need to talk to him!"

"Trust me, things will only get worse if you go in there and try to talk to him right now. He's crying his eyes out."

"Please, I need to see him!"

"No, Draco. If you really care about him, you'll leave him alone."

"Fine!" Draco says as he turns around and storms down the staircase towards the Dungeons.

Once he entered his room, he was beyond furious. He walked to his desk and with a swing of his arm, dumped everything onto the floor. He picked up the bottle of ink and threw the jar against the wall, breaking it. He then headed to his wardrobe and threw all of the contents out. He reached out to his vanity and dumped the entire thing to the ground. Then he took the paintings off the wall and kicked holes through them. Finally, exhausted, he threw himself onto his bed.

'I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry.' He started chanting to himself. But then he thought about Harry upstairs crying, and a sob escaped from his lips. That's all it took. Suddenly his eyes started releasing its tears and he found himself crying for the first time since he was a small child.

"Draco?" Pansy said.

"Go away."

"Are you… are you crying?" She asked while sitting down on his bed.

"No! Go away."

"I've know you you're entire life and I have never seen you cry before."

"And you won't be seeing it this time either. Just leave."

"Okay, but just one question first. Is he worth all this?"

"Yes." Draco answered, and started crying again, suddenly not caring if Pansy saw him.

"Alright, I'll leave." Pansy said as she closed his curtains and put a silencing charm on them, so his roommates wouldn't hear him when they came in. She looked over to Hermione and held up a finger to her mouth so she would know not to talk. Both girls set the vanity upright and fixed some of the repairable items, along with making the clothes go back into the wardrobe. The rest, they piled up next to the trashcan.

Both girls silently left. Once outside the room, they looked at each other.

"Well, now I know Draco definitely isn't faking it." Hermione said.

"Hopefully Harry will realize this too."

"I'm sure he will. He just needs time. You don't know what it feels like to be tormented by Draco for years."

"Thankfully, I don't." Pansy said with a small smile.

"So what do we do now?"

"We can go back to the ball and drink butterbeer until our livers fall out. It's hard not being able to comfort your best friend when you know he needs it."

"Agreed." Said Hermione.

Both girls left the Dungeons and headed back to the Ball, with sad looks on their faces.

-end of chapter-

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Note One: Please, no death threats to me or my plot bunnies. I love them too much. And yeah, my heart was sad for Draco after the confrontation! I wanted to yell, 'Play nice!' - to Harry, but he wasn't listening…

Note Two: Brocade (weaving), is thick heavy fabric into which raised patterns have been woven. It is usually shiney, from my fabric shopping experience, anyway.

Note Three: Yes, some of you may have recognized a hint of lyrics from The Cure's 'Close to Me' song, in this chapter. Notice I said hint, it's not word for word.