Draco stalked behind Harry as they left the dungeon, trying to figure out a way to get the boy's attention. He settled on tossing a small piece of paper at the newly blonde's head. Harry looked behind him, spotting Draco leaning against the wall nonchalantly. Harry eyed the other boy carefully. Draco looked over at him and winked meaningfully. Grinning, Harry turned back to Hermione and Ron.
"Hey guys, I'll meet you in the Great hall. I left a book in the Potions Room." he said, heading back down the stairs.
"Be careful." Hermione called after him.
"Don't worry." said calmly disappearing down the stairs. Hermione shrugged and walked down the hall to lunch with Ron. Draco waited till they were gone and slipped down the stairs after Harry. He was passing a side door when it opened and two arms emerged, pulling him in.
"Ack!" he sputtered.
"Sh! It's me you idiot." Harry whispered into Draco's ear.
"You didn't have to grab me like that." he muttered angrily. Harry turned the other boy around and smiled.
"Someone's just cranky cause he hasn't gotten any in a while." he whispered kissing Draco gently. The blonde smiled and let Harry do as he liked, falling into his lover's arms.
"You know me all to well Harry." whispered in between kisses. Harry slipped one hand under Draco's shirt. "Unfortunately we don't have enough time right now." Harry frowned.
"Yeah I know. Then what did you want?"
"Just a kiss. We have to be so hostile towards each other in public. I guess I just wanted some reassurance." said quietly.
"There is that." Harry said calmly. "One more and then we should head back before someone gets suspicious." He leaned in a kissed his lover passionately once more before slipping out the door and heading to the great hall. Draco grinned and waited several minutes before slipping out himself and heading for lunch.
SHIFT
Edward stared at his food, picking at it. Al was chatting with the little red-head again. He watched with interest as Harry arrived late. Even more interesting was that Draco arrived only a few minutes later. He stored the pieces away for later and dug into lunch. Hermione was talking to Ron about when they would fix his hair when Edward noticed someone was missing, Roy. He was not at the staff table, nor was he anywhere else in the hall. Frowning Edward pulled his watch out of his pocket to check the time. It was only half past, Roy could just be running a little late.
Sure enough a few minutes later, Roy appeared at the door and walked into the Great Hall. Moving up the aisle he stopped where Edward sat.
"Can I help you professor?" he asked, just enough heat to distract Al and just enough courtesy to keep himself out of trouble.
"Do not forget about your apology. I would like it made today, understood?" he said quietly. Edward grimaced but nodded.
"Yes sir, I'll take care of it." replied, turning back to his lunch.
"Good. I'll see you in class then." said, patting Edward on the shoulder before heading off to the staff table for his own lunch.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked curiously. Ed turned to her, his face still bearing an annoyed expression.
"I have to apologize to Malfoy as part of my punishment for fighting him." muttered.
"Why didn't he just take points? Or give you detention?" Harry asked, interest peaked.
"He did take points, ten to be exact. And I have detention, five days worth." Edward replied, "State is a strict school, and he did teach there. Personally I was surprised at so few days. Normally he would have given me a month's worth." Ron shook his head.
"For one fight?" said in amazement.
"No, for using. . . Never mind. It's not important." He turned back to lunch and refused to be drawn in to any more conversations, afraid he would let something slip that he shouldn't. Hermione and the hair color victims slipped out early after they finished to fix their hair before their next class. Edward sighed and finished off his own lunch, he needed to pick up his things for Herbology. Defense against the Dark Arts wasn't until this afternoon, Ed was planning on using that time to figure out his strategy. He had to be polite, but still hostile enough to make everyone ignore anything he let slip.
Then of course there was the stone, he would have to do some reconnaissance tonight to scope out the castle and its grounds. He would be able to look outside some in Herbology, but the walk was not far enough to get very much information. Reaching the tower without incident this time he gave the portrait the password and headed up to the room.
SHIFT
In the meantime, Al followed Ginny to their next class, opting to get there a little early. They made their way down the lawn to a hut at the edge of the forest. Care of Magical Creatures was the subject Al had been looking forward to all day.
"You'll like Hagrid Al. He's a very kind Professor and he knows a lot about the woods around here." Ginny said cheerfully. Al smiled and followed her to where several logs lay on the ground. They sat down on them and settled in to wait for their classmates. "Your brother certainly is quite. . . loud." Al grinned.
"Brother can be like that sometimes. You just have to get to know him."
"The same goes for my brothers. . . all six of them."
"You have six brothers?" She nodded. "Wow, and I thought one was a handful." She laughed, smiling brightly. "Oh, is that the rest of the class?"
"Yup, well then I suppose it's time for class." Once the other students had arrived, the huge man Ginny identified as Hagrid lead them to the edge of the forest.
"Now I have a real exciting lesson today. We'll be lookin' at centaurs. A whole herd of em live in these woods. Now, you haf to be real polite to em. Very proud people centaurs. Just like you and me, remember that." The class nodded and he smiled, whistling loudly. Out of the forest walked two centaurs. A male and female.
"Chimeras! Oh my God!" Al shrieked, backing away. Ginny looked at him strangely, actually the whole class looked at him strangely. "Um. . . sorry. . . I. . . I. . ."
"It's all right Elric, I can see you've never seen a centaur before. Why doncha come say hullo?" Al gulped, but nodded eagerly. He cautiously approached the male centaur and held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you?" He said, voice shaking slightly. Much to his surprise, the centaur took his hand and shook it.
"A pleasure." Al smiled, this was going to be a great day, he was sure of it.
SHIFT!
"What the hell are you doing here?" Edward screamed, pointing at the smirking blonde. "I left you behind at State!"
"Now now. . . I just couldn't resist Ed. You are so cute when you're angry."
"Russel Trigham! I swear you're like a stray dog that just won't go away." He kept on smirking.
"Mr. Elric, five points from Gryffindor for your profanity. Now settle down and transplant your devil's snare." Edward glared at the other boy the entire class, getting entangled by his snare ten times in the process.
"I don't think I know him." Hermione said softly.
"He's from State. . . one of the many reasons I transferred here."
"Oh I don't know. . . He seems nice." Edward raised an eyebrow at her, she blushed. "Try to get along with him Ed. He's in Gryffindor too you know. I heard his little brother is here too. Fletcher isn't it?"
"The little brother is fine. . . It's Russel I can't stand. And yes it is Fletcher, what house is he in?"
"Ravenclaw." Ed nodded and slapped the snare away.
"Let's get going. . ." Hermione nodded and they left the greenhouse.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts next Edward."
"I know." He made a face, grumbling as he strode on ahead. Harry and Ron glanced at Hermione.
"What's up with Ed?" Ron asked, looking at the angry blonde warily.
"Russel. . . coupled with DADA, I get the feeling he and Professor Mustang do not get along." The boys nodded and the three friends hurried after the volatile young man, careful to stay at a safe distance.
