Author's Note: Hey, so yeah...haven't updated this story in forever. Year's been crazy, 'nough said. However! I am now on summer break so more writing is to come! (: I really hope you all still have interest in this story, it's been forever so idk if you'll still care but whatev, i'm hoping you like it anyways! This is kinda a transitional chapter so give shit a chance to get more juicy later on hahah. Anyways, as always please review, for it is much appreciated! And i really hope you enjoy, thank you so much for your reading and patience. (:

"You mean to tell me that Esther Sinclair actually offered herself to you as bait for a bet?" Blaise exclaimed after hearing about the terms of the deal that Draco and the brunette beauty had made.

"Trust me Blaise, I wouldn't lie about this," Draco returned smugly, "…well I would, but it's the truth."

"Nice work," Blaise complimented, "Do you think you'll actually be able to do it?"

"Please," Draco scoffed, "That bitch'll be riding me by the end of the week."

"If you say so," Blaise laughed as he turned over onto his four poster.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Draco," said a smooth, cool voice coming from the doorway. Suddenly, the boys were joined by their roommate Lucas Briggs, a handsome yet devilish boy not much unlike themselves. He wasn't exactly a favorite of Draco's, but he didn't mind the bloke's company every once in a while. This was not one of those moments.

"What makes you say that, Briggs?" Draco demanded coldly.

A slight smirk formed on Lucas's face as he crossed the room and planted himself down on his four poster. He folded his hands deviously before his eyes flashed up to Draco, who merely shot him a dirty look.

"Well, many things," he returned.

"Elaborate," Draco said.

"For one thing…" The boy trailed off simply to get under Draco's skin, which only caused the blonde to become even more impatient.

"Get on with it."

"Well, let's just say…I know something you don't know…"

"Why don't you clue us in here, Briggs?" Blaise chimed in, bored of the mind games that Lucas attempted to play on his best friend.

"What would you say if I told you that our dear friend Esther was a virgin?" Lucas asked as his smirk widened.

Draco's jaw dropped as he pondered what Lucas had just said. There was no way…

"I have an errand to run," he announced as he hopped up from his four poster and treaded to the doorway. There was no way he was going to take Lucas's word for it. He wanted to do his research. If what his roommate told him was true, Draco was going to enjoy this bet a lot more than he originally thought.

Draco entered the Slytherin common room and was not surprised to find Esther spread out about the couch having what seemed to be a deep conversation with Pansy. He rolled his eyes, not in the mood to deal with his ex, but he was willing to chance it in order to get some insight from Esther. He approached the pair of girls, and cleared his throat loudly in order to catch their attention. Pansy merely snarled when she saw him, while Esther made eye contact and raised her eye brow at him coyly.

"Sorry to interrupt girl talk," Draco said patronizingly, "but I would like to speak to—"

"Save it, Draco. I don't wanna talk to you," Pansy snapped, crossing her arms over her chest haughtily. Draco chuckled for a moment before addressing the girls again.

"Actually Pansy, it was your best friend I wanted to have a word with."

This statement seemed to only add to Pansy's agitation as she jumped up from the couch and stomped to the hallway that led to the girls' dormitories, leaving Draco and Esther to have their conversation.

"How may I help you, Draco?" Esther asked, her throaty voice more appealing to him now than ever.

"I need you to verify a rumor I heard about you," Draco told her smoothly as he took a seat beside her on the green, leather couch.

"A rumor?" she questioned, "Hmm…sounds interesting, do tell."

"Well, word has it that you're a…virgin," he explained, his lips contorting into a smirk as he said the last word.

"Yes," Esther verified as she rose her eye brow once again, "And?"

"Nothing," Draco laughed darkly, "I was just surprised to hear it."

"Well how about that."

"You do realize that you just got ten times sexier in less than ten minutes, right?"

"I did?" Esther asked before smiling slyly, "Good to know."

Draco was simply floored by her calmness.

"You do remember what I get when I win this bet right?"

"Oh, I remember," she assured him, "but you're not gonna win, so I'm not worried."

Draco stood up from his place on the couch as his smirk grew even bigger.

"We'll see about that," he returned with an eye brow raise, "The games begin tomorrow…you sure you're ready for it?"

Esther rolled her eyes playfully before uncrossing her legs and also rising to her feet. She clapped Draco on the shoulder and smiled.

"Don't you worry about me, Draco. I'll be just fine, I'd be more worried about myself if I were you."

She tugged on his belt buckle quickly and flashed her eyes up to his, then turned to walk towards the girls' dormitories.

"Goodnight," she sang. Draco just continued to smirk at her retreating figure.

The next day, Draco was more than ready to put "Operation: Bed Ginny Weasley" into action. He had spent the whole night scheming, and knew what his approach would be. He considered trying to play the whole "my meanness is a façade of how broken I really am inside" tactic…but that was just too obvious. He needed something more complex. Instead, he figured he was just play up his main strength: manipulation. However, before he could get to that stage, he had to place himself in Ginny's vicinity. He started out in the courtyard, a place where a lot of students decided to hang out when they had a midday break in their class schedules. But, much to his dismay, she was not there. His next stop was the library, and he was lucky enough to find her sitting at one of the back tables studying like mad. He slowly approached the table, not wanting to make his presence so obvious that she merely relocated herself upon his arrival.

Once he was right in front of the table, Draco was not surprised when the girl didn't look up. She seemed very engrossed in studying…that, and even if she did notice him she still probably wouldn't pay attention. He smirked and cleared his throat loudly.

"Hitting the books pretty hard, aren't we Weasley?"

Ginny looked up at him and instantly rolled her eyes before slamming her books shut as if she was ready to pick up and leave.

"What could you possibly want from me, Malfoy?" she demanded impatiently.

"Who says I want anything? Maybe I just wanna talk…"

"Just talk…to me? You do realize I hate you, right?" Ginny asked.

"I'm aware of that fact, yes," he shrugged, "but that's not gonna stop me."

"Well, just because you wanna talk to me doesn't mean I'm gonna waste my time talking to you."

"Oh come on, Weasley. Trust me, the topic I have in mind will definitely be of interest to you."

She rose from her chair and glared at him before crossing her arms over her chest. He could tell she was a second away from bolting. He had to just get to the point already, as much as he did enjoy the buildup.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, "Fine then, what is it Malfoy?"

"I heard you and Potter had a parting of the ways," he said.

Immediately, Ginny's face fell and a layer of tears coated her deep blue eyes. Obviously, he had hit a nerve. Perfect.

"No," she hissed, "No, no, no. I am not talking about this, especially not with you."

"Oh, come on Weasley," Draco pressured, "Might as well talk about it with someone you hate. You know all your Gryffindor friends would just go side with him. Let an impartial person give you their expertise, ay?"

Ginny seriously seemed to consider his words, which only caused the smirk on his face to grow. After a moment of pondering it, she blinked back tears and gave him a deadly glare.

"I wouldn't talk to you about this if you were the last person on this damn earth," she snarled before gathering up her belongings and storming away from the table.

Though he should have been expected to take this as a defeat, Draco instead saw this as a victory. Phase one of his plan was complete. He cocked an eyebrow and smiled to himself before sauntering out of the library.

That very same day, Esther had started her own scheme to win her end of the bargain. She was lucky enough to have the same Charms class as her target: Harry. All throughout class, she had noticed that he seemed pretty down, probably due to his fresh break-up with Ginny. However, despite this, she obviously kept shooting him looks and was satisfied to find that he was making eye contact with her. It was a small thing, but it all factored into the plan. Once they were dismissed from class, Esther timed it perfectly so that both she and Harry were exiting the room at the same time. This gave her ample opportunity to catch his attention. Obviously, the whole Gryffindor vs. Slytherin debacle would make it hard for her to worm her way into his world, but Esther was a Slytherin, after all. Therefore, she was a master manipulator.

As both she and Harry passed through the door way of their classroom at the exact same time, she "accidentally" brushed arms with him. He looked over at her quickly, and she merely flashed him a coy yet apologetic smile. He shook his head and redirected his gaze forward as they both trekked through the mass of people in the hallway. Esther took this as her opportunity to make the first verbal contact.

"Am I the only one who thought Charms class was a massive bore?" she asked quietly with a smile.

Harry offered a confused yet soft smile and shrugged. Dammit, he was a shy one. However, Esther was more than certain that she could fix that.

"Oh come on, is my small talk that bad?" the girl inquired with a chuckle. Harry gave her a fast glance but looked forward as they continued to walk through the hall.

"No," he returned, "I guess I just wasn't sure if you were talking to me."

"Well, who else would I be talking to?" she said with a furrowed brow.

"Not me…you're a Slytherin." And with that, he turned down the adjacent hallway leaving her to analyze the events that had just occurred.

"This Potter kid's gonna be a tricky one," she sighed aloud.

That evening in the common room, Esther was desperately trying to think of a way to get to Harry. Her initial plan hadn't worked, so she would have to come up with a new strategy. Harry Potter was the golden boy of the campus; she should have known that he would not be so easy to manipulate. She was just so used to having everybody wrapped around her finger, that Esther was surprised when she could not so easily entice him. However, she was still Esther Sinclair…there was no way she was going to lose this bet without a fight.

Ironically, just as she was pondering her entire situation, Draco Malfoy had strutted into the common room seeming very pleased with himself. This could only mean that he was having success with his end of the bargain, unlike her. Esther couldn't ignore that this scared her a little, but she wasn't going to seem fazed.

"Well, hello there Sinclair," Draco said coolly as he approached her with a wicked smile on his face.

"Good evening, Draco," she returned, confident as ever, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to see if you had made any progress with Potter today."

"Please," she scoffed, "It's only a matter of time before his heart will be in my hands. I'm just laying the groundwork now. How goes things with the Weasley seduction?"

"I'm laying some groundwork of my own," Draco countered, "and I'm making more progress than expected. Does that scare you?"

Esther stood up and cocked her eyebrow at him before taking a few steps closer. She smirked.

"I'm not worried, Draco. I can already see myself riding that fancy broom of yours."

"Oh, no, no, no," he said slyly, "The only thing you're gonna be riding is me."

"We'll see about that." She turned to walk away from him, but Draco called after her.

"Bet or no bet, just give it time, Sinclair…you're gonna be mine first."

"Keep dreaming, Malfoy," she called back to him with a hidden smirk on her face.

"Will do," he said under his breath as he grinned devilishly and headed towards the boys' dormitories.

A few days later, Esther was even more determined to make some progress with Harry. She noticed that he was eyeing her a lot more in class now that she had made her presence known to him. At least, she could be happy in the knowledge that he thought she was a hottie. However, that wouldn't be enough to gain the heart of Harry Potter. She was pretty sure she thought of a way to get through to him, but she wasn't sure if it'd be entirely effective. After all, he had already brushed off her initial attempts so easily, there was a chance that things still wouldn't work out. However, Esther wasn't ready to give up. Not even close.

This time, instead of timing it so that they would exit the door way at the same time, Esther rushed out of class so that she would be ahead of him. She positioned herself on the wall beside their classroom and leaned against it, books still in hand. As soon as Harry left the room, she called out to get his attention.

"You say you didn't think I'd talk to you cause I'm a Slytherin?" she asked with a raised eye brow. He turned towards her with a look of surprise on his face and merely stared at her, without even offering a reply. She was pretty certain that he just didn't know what to say. She took this opportunity to continue on, "I thought someone like you would be above all that. I mean, a house is just a crest on your robes and a team to root for at Quidditch matches, right?" There was another pause as he just looked at her in utter shock, "Just thought I'd try to make a friend. Anyways, see you around Potter." She offered him one more subtle eye brow raise before taking off down the hallway, smiling as he watched her retreating figure in astonishment.