Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Friends aren't ours.
The painting that led to the Elf Quarters was opened to reveal three Gryffindors; one girl and two boys. The girl was desperately fighting her tears while being led gently to the couch by a boy with chubby cheeks. The other boy snapped his fingers to call a house elf, which appeared to be Dobby. The boy managed to ask for teas and snacks before the elf noticed and widened its eyes in worry upon seeing the girl's state. The house elf vanished and reappeared in record time with a tray of foods and teas that had been asked for by the boy. Politely, the same boy asked for privacy, which Dobby granted right away. Then both boys sat at either side of her and silently attempted to sooth her.
"Come on, Hermione… Stop your tears, please," pleaded Dean seeing silent tears roll down her flushed cheeks. "He's really not worth every tear you've cried, Herm… Trust me! OW!"
Neville glared at Dean, and his not-so-calming words, and eventually managed to smack him in the head. "That's not helping, Dean," he chided. "But, anyhow, Dean's right Hermione. And trust me, Harry will be broken if he sees you in your current state. You know just how much he cares for you."
Hermione angrily wiped off her tears, "I can't believe I'm in love with him!" she ranted. "Dear god, what did I do to make myself so blinded to his jealousy?!"
"You see, he hid it well but I think he has always had a tendency to want fame; being Harry's best friend and all. Remember last year in Triwizard tournament?" Dean shook his head. "He was always overly sensitive on 'famous' things and sometimes it made him lose his rationality."
"When do we ever find that he was thinking straight and rationally?" Neville mumbled sarcastically.
With a grim expression, Hermione nodded. "Still he was actually a nice boy; I used to like his laughter and jokes, his blatant comments even though they were full of idiocies, his carefree and innocent manner," Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed. "But nowadays I find all of his attitudes mentioned are just so damn infuriating. How could he overthrow a friendship of four years just for… For reasons like that!"
Hermione sighed. Deep inside she was hurting, but she tried to ignore it. It was hard, how could it not be? She had loved him for about two years, and now suddenly she was forced to face the fact that the boy she liked was no longer the boy she thought she knew before.
Silence reigned the room; no one dared to break it until the sound from the slamming portrait simply made them all jump. All heads turned to the source of the noise only to be met with the furious pretty girl, known as the descendant of one of the most beautiful creatures on earth.
Clarissa Aiden had made her grand entrance.
She made a step closer to the occupants of the coach and made a gesture to that made them scoot over. She plopped graciously on the couch and stared at Hermione, who gave her a blank stare. She then rolled her eyes and wore an annoyed look.
"Oh, please, Hermione. He's not that great! One simple kind of a pathetic pureblood!" Clarissa ranted, still mad at the red-haired boy. "No grace and no fortune… How could he possibly think of winning over my heart?!" At this, Hermione's eyes narrowed while the boys gulped.
"Yeah, says the one who already has her own Prince Charming!" Hermione sneered sharply. "Of course Ron is no comparison to your beloved, right Your Highness? After all, your blonde is handsome and has a vast fortune, besides... His place is so high on pedestal; what do you call him? Hmm… Oh yeah, a high-class aristocrat pureblood bastard!"
"How dare you!"
Both girls were now standing, with their eyes narrowing and hands ready to grab at their wands. Outcast, the boys moved slowly when they felt the crackling magic in the room. They hid behind the stairs to the dorm with worry etched on both their faces.
"You know nothing, Granger," Clarissa hissed angrily. "You don't know a single thing about being a pureblood."
"Tell me what I don't know!" Hermione practically yelled. "Tell me, that you purebloods only seek fortunes, that purebloods only care about social status, that purebloods value themselves almighty and higher than anyone else," Hermione stared hard at Clarissa. "And that purebloods always look down at people like me… The ones you call mudbloods!" She spat.
All the occupants in the room, beside her, were stunned into silence. Clarissa immediately recovered from her shock. She opened her mouth in an attempt to reply to Hermione's accusation, but the Gryffindor beat her to it.
"If that's what you think I don't know about purebloods, then I'm a step ahead of what you think of me, Aiden," Hermione sneered coldly. "You want to know why? Because that's what your blonde lover practically has done for all these years, especially to me!"
"And you think your red-head crush was any better than Draco?" Clarissa snapped. "In case you forgot, he also thought about you the same way!"
"And that's because of you!" Hermione screeched. "He was a nice, friendly boy before you came to meddle in our lives! If it's wasn't for your name, your looks, your stupid blood status, and your inheritance… He would… He would…"
"What? Propose to you?" Clarissa mocked. "As if!"
"At least, he'd still be the same nice boy I used to know!" Hermione screamed.
"Nice?! Please!!" Clarissa huffed in annoyance. "Did you forget how he treats you and your friends; especially Harry? Wake up, girl! Your problems had started among you way before we met each other! You simply can't blame me for his stupidity. Besides, I'm not here for the sake of this blasted school or the wizarding world! I'm just here for my brother!"
Both girls glared at each other in menacing fashion. Clarissa drew her wand at record speed before threatening the brunette Gryffindor.
"But, if you like red-heads so much, why don't you just become one?" she flicked her wand and soon it sprayed some kind of liquid that covered Hermione's hair and clothes, making them spotted with a bright red color.
Hermione squeaked in surprise, but when she realized what had happened to her appearance, she growled in anger. Hermione drew her wand and without any warning she threw the same spell at Clarissa. Instead of red, Clarissa was drenched in bright platinum silver.
With wide eyes, Clarissa gave an indignant squeal, her face full of distaste. She looked up only to find Hermione standing with crossed arms and smug expression.
"Hope you're thrilled that you now have the same hair color as your beloved," Hermione mocked.
Clarissa threw another color spell at Hermione in reply, "I distaste this color the most, you bitch!"
Soon many liquid colors flew around the room, and nasty words echoed around them. Hermione and Clarissa both tried their best to dodge each other's color attacks and to stain each other with color as much as possible. To say that Neville and Dean were confused was understatement. They could only watch the two witches involved in this childish brawl with speechless and blank minds. Their common room was soon painted in rainbow colors and more. Splotches of liquid covered the couches, floor, wall, tables, curtains and even the stair handle.
"Oh, I see now that Her Highness is really fond of the rainbow it seems!" Hermione mocked, commenting on the many colors mixed on Clarissa. "Or should I add more? Grey, perhaps?" Hermione threw a grey liquid right onto the elf's face while she ducked behind the couch.
"You bookworm freak!" Clarissa screeched.
"Oh shit!" said a boyish voice from the door.
xXx
Harry Potter was not happy, but the silent walk from the Great Hall to his quarters had cooled his head. He managed to re-arrange his disarray of anger. When he neared his quarters, he frowned. He heard many noises from it, from screeching to squealing, and shrieking to screaming. Thinking that somebody was in pain, he ran in a panic to the painting that led to the quarters.
What he saw made his jaw drop. He thought he would see someone injured, he thought he would see wailing from his broken-hearted sister-like friend, instead he saw the said friend simply coloring the other girl right on her face, which of course make the other girl screamed in rage.
"You bookworm freak!" Clarissa screeched.
"Oh shit!" said Harry.
He strolled into the room and silently took in the room's condition. Then he realized that the two girls were blatantly ignoring his arrival, instead they were continuing their battle. Harry rolled his eyes, he almost stepped into their fight to cease their argument if Dean and Neville had not kept blowing hushing sounds at him. Frowning, he stepped closer to them and asked them about what had happened to their common room. Sighing, the two witnesses started to tell the tale of the fight in hushed voices. And they advised Harry to stay away from them for the time being.
"We can only wait, Harry, woman's brawl is more scary than it looks. Trust me, my mother often smacks me when she's on her period," reasoned Dean.
And so they waited. But the wait was not for long, the fighting ceased just a few moments after Draco and Blaise came through the portrait. It involved Draco being a victim of one missed shot of the liquid from Clarissa, which of course tainted his perfect hair and robes with purple color. Harry winced inwardly and thought, How I hate purple! Eww! And he silently watched, as Draco's expression grew colder and angrier. Harry flinched in anticipation, waiting for the soon to come shouts from a certain blonde.
"Stop it!" Draco snapped, complete with death sentence glare, directed toward the two witches who had stopped their hand movements. "Now, sit!" Draco said in commanding tone.
With a grumble, Clarissa plopped down on the dirty couch. Hermione sat on the nearest seat, still glaring at Clarissa. Sensing atmosphere was safe; the three Gryffindor boys came out and warily sat on the empty seats.
Draco glared at Blaise, who suddenly had the urge to sit quickly, that left the blonde Slytherin the only one standing. With an air of intimidation, Draco glanced at the two witches.
"So, now that we've agreed to sit and talk, REASONABLY…" Draco said sweetly to them, voice full of sarcasm. "Perhaps… One of you can enlighten me to the PURPOSE of throwing that, that… Whatever that wretched liquid is, around this bloody fucking room!"
Harry widened his eyes and exchanged glances with Neville. Had the Ice Prince just swore?! They both thought. Hell, this is bad!!
Being chided, no, actually being yelled at was not something that amused or cowered the witches. Now, instead of glaring at each other, they both teamed up to glare at Draco. But Draco was an arrogant and proud person; he never backed down on a challenge, more over from glares. He was kind of… Immune to that, what with being the only son of Lucius Malfoy.
As a result, Hermione was the first person who looked away, a faint blush could be seen on her pale cheeks. Next Clarissa looked away, but not before giving Draco a full sulking face. Draco sighed, he drew out his wand and performed a cleaning spell on himself before he sat gracefully on the only vacant seat, which was beside Clarissa.
No one talked for a few moments. The room filled with only a heavy silence, as each person had their own thoughts. It was the sexy dark skinned Slytherin who finally broke the tense silence.
"Tomorrow will be full of rumors it seems," Blaise said. "The commotion down there was not something that could be forgotten easily, or at least not for a few days."
Clarissa 'hmph'-ed. "Of course there was going to be a talk for a while, in case you forgot, I made myself a full-blooded elf back there. Stupid move, now everyone knows what I look like."
"You made yourself appeared to be an elf?" Hermione asked. "Why?"
Clarissa rolled her eyes. "Oh forget it. I'm knackered. See you guys, I'm off to bed," She grumbled.
She stood and walked away without waiting for any responses. Blaise flicked his wand and soon a pocket watch appeared before him. He frowned slightly.
"How will we get back, Draco?" Blaise asked. "It's past curfew and we can't go back to the dorm without being caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris."
Draco thought for a moment before he said, "We'll stay for tonight, besides we haven't had the chance to tell Clarissa about what we saw."
The Gryffindors stared at each other. Dean decided to speak his thought.
"Is it about the 'event' down there?" he asked. "What happened afterwards? I mean after we took off."
"Clarissa showed the students body her true self, that's all," answered Draco curtly.
"I've been meaning you to ask that," Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed. "How and why?"
"Being a full elf meant that she was overruled by the anger within her and, in short, she went ballistic, Granger," explained Blaise.
"And… And she did it on your behalf, Hermione," added Harry gently. "It's not very nice of you when you suddenly blame it all on her."
Hermione frowned, clearly deep in thought. Then she sighed, "Guess I'll apologize to her tomorrow."
Harry put Hermione's hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze of encouragement. The five occupants sat and talk for a while before Dean and Neville decided to go sleep, followed by Blaise who managed to look at and give Hermione a small smile of suggestion before he went on.
Harry raised an eyebrow before saying, "Is it only my imagination or did he really flirted with you, 'Mione?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry. "Who is 'he'?"
"Zabini, of course, who else?" said Harry.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Like I told Neville and Dean, he's always flirting with everyone! Boys and girls…" she shook her head. "I'm not going to think about his actions seriously."
"What if he is serious, Granger?" Draco asked in his friend's defense. "Surely, a person cannot be a playboy forever."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "And you're telling me this because…?"
Draco shook his head with an annoyed expression on his face. He decided to end the conversation so he stood and said, "Later Potter, Granger." Without anymore words he walked gracefully upstairs, which left Harry and Hermione alone in the common room.
"Hey, 'Mione. What if… And I mean if, Blaise Zabini really likes you? Just like Malfoy said, what if Zabini really serious this time?" Harry asked.
Hermione breathed deeply. "I don't know, we'll see about it later on. Besides, we don't know his true intentions, his or Malfoys actually. They're Slytherin, remember?"
"So, you don't trust them yet?" Harry frowned. "What about Clarissa? She's sincere enough…"
"I can think myself to like her. I mean, I agree with you in saying that she's good and really cares. But we don't know about Malfoy and Zabini, do we? We don't know which side they're standing on, though Malfoy did declare to be on Clarissa's side the summer before. It doesn't mean that they will also side with us. It's just that, Malfoy and Zabini are not the kind of people I can easily trust. Better we watch our backs than having another betrayal, right?"
Harry nodded. "So… What do we do now?"
Hermione chuckled and stood. "Stand up, Harry." Without asking, said boy followed the girl's instruction. Hermione drew her wand and cleaned herself. Then she transfigured the couch they had been sitting on into a big mattress. She laid down on it and looked at Harry with a smile. "Lay down beside me?"
Harry obliged with a grin. Both of them lied side by side. They watched the enchanted ceiling for a second before Hermione gave another flick of her wand and the scenery of the ceiling changed. It no longer showed the exact replica of snowy sky; instead it showed the night sky with stars, meteors, and the aurora.
Harry laughed, "It's been a long time, yeah? Since the last time we laid down and talked side by side like this. It was… when was the last time we did this?"
Hermione turned onto her side and chuckled. She punched Harry's upper arm lightly, "It was not more than two weeks ago, you silly person."
"Really? Feels like it's been years to me, Mione."
"Yeah, and you're missing Sirius and Remus, right?"
"Yep, I miss them a lot!"
"Have you sent any letters to them, Harry?"
"Just once. Have you?"
"Twice. You really should keep in touch with them more often, Harry. You know how they get."
"I guess. So 'Mione…"
"…"
"…"
"Yes?"
"Feel better now?"
"…Loads! Thank you, Harry."
"You're welcome."
xXx
Hermione stirred from her slumber when she felt something snuggly and warm descended upon her body. Slowly she awoke from her slumber and blinked away her drowsiness. She focused her sight only to find a certain dark haired girl with a sheepish look staring back at her. Hermione then noticed a light blanket covered her body.
"Cla…" Hermione attempted to say her name only to be cut of by a shushing gesture.
The brunette looked down and she saw the sleeping Harry. Understanding what Clarissa's intention was, she whispered, "Thank you for the blanket…and I'm sorry for this evening."
"No. It was my fault," Clarissa whispered back. "I shouldn't have scolded you like that. It's obvious that you're not okay. I'm sorry."
"But I…"
Harry's low mumbling interrupted both of them. The two girls stared silently at him before catching each other's gaze. Then they smiled and giggled at their own stupidity. Clarissa held out her right hand.
"Friends?" she asked.
Without thinking, Hermione accepted the hand and shook it slightly. "Friends."
Clarissa placed another blanket on Harry and pecked his forehead. "G'night Harry," she said. As she stood, she caught Hermione's stare at her and both shared knowing smile on their faces. She turned around and walked upstairs without another word.
"Night Claire," Hermione whispered in the quietness, her voice laced with sleep.
"Night Hermy," Clarissa replied.
When Clarissa's body could no longer be seen, Hermione moved her gaze to her best friend. She studied him closely and something clicked in her mind that made her smile. "Night Harry," Hermione said and pecked Harry's black mane before going back to sleep.
xXx
Harry opened his eyes as the dawn light fell on his face. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to focus his gaze. A small movement from his side made him turn to face the person he thought as family. Hermione snuggled closer to his side and it brought smile to his face. The next second, Hermione opened her eyes and they stared at each other. They both grinned and laughed afterward, feeling relieved and refreshed.
"We slept with our robes on," Hermione giggled.
"Yeah… Just like, you know a pajamas party or something like that. I don't even remember when and how I slept, geez…"
"You slept like a log, Harry. Admit it," Hermione grinned. "Any plans for today?"
Harry shrugged, "No, I guess. You heard Snape. Clarissa and I are not allowed to go to Hogsmeade today."
"Then I guess, I'll cancel my plans today too."
"Why?"
"I don't want to go to Hogsmeade all alone, Harry. Besides, I can't go to The Tower. I'm afraid I'll blow up in anger once I see read-heads," Hermione huffed in frustration.
"I'd sure love to see you in that scene again, Granger."
Both Gryffindors turned their heads and standing near the stairs was Blaise Zabini with his smirk. Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"What is that supposed to mean, Zabini?" she asked challengingly.
Still smirking, Blaise walked in their direction. In his deep and husky voice, he drawled, "Oh, has no one ever told you that you looked sexy yesterday?"
Harry rolled his eyes at Blaise's attempt to seduce his friend, but he did nothing to stop it. Instead he watched with amusement in his eyes. Hermione remained still while Blaise reached out his hand and played with the small curls in her hair. The pair shared a look before Hermione sighed and once again turned her attention to Harry, in short, she was ignoring Blaise's advance on her.
"Where was I, Harry?" Hermione frowned. "Oh yeah, I don't want to go to Hogsmeade and I want to stay with you. I need to be with you today, Harry. And stop playing with my hair, Zabini!" Blaise stopped with a small 'tch' sound after Hermione swatted his hand away. "I can't go to The Tower in case I go mad and start a blood-frenzy upon the Weasleys in there, on the other hand…" She looked down at her robes and sighed. "My clothes are all there, and I need a pair to change into. Eugh… I'm smelly."
Harry seemed to be deep in thought, "Well, I can ask Dobby to get you a pair, Hermione."
"Why go through so much trouble?" Blaise interrupted. "Just borrow a pair from Clarissa. Both of you are the same size. I'm sure she won't mind."
Harry and Hermione exchanged uncertain looks. Hermione shrugged her small shoulder while Harry said, "I don't know…" Hesitantly.
"Oh, come on! Stay there, Granger." Blaise dragged Harry upstairs by the sleeve. "Better if you're the one who asks."
Once they stood in front of Clarissa's bedroom door, Blaise knocked a few times without thinking. Both of them could hear a shuffling sound from inside before the door opened to one, in-boxers-only, grumpy, tousled hair look, Slytherin blonde. While Harry's jaw dropped and he gaped at the sight before him, Blaise only gave a small wave of greeting and didn't looked surprised at Draco's appearance.
"What do you want, Blaise?" Draco grumbled.
"Harry wants to ask something of Claire," answered Blaise.
Draco scrutinized the blushing Harry from the top of his head to his toes. Suspiciously he looked at Harry before turning around and leaving the door wide open. He walked back to the queen size bed, slipped under the comforter, hugged Clarissa from behind and said something to her ear. The scene was free and obvious for all to see, and Harry was speechless because of it. Somehow, he felt something stirring in him, something he didn't recognize and didn't like.
As a result of Draco's action Clarissa roused slowly from her sleep, which meant that Draco had woken her up. Lazily she stretched her body like a cat before slipping out of the bed and heading to the door. One could tell that she was slightly annoyed about being wakened.
"Wha' izzit?" she slurred, voice still hazy from sleep.
Harry turned to Blaise who shrugged at him. He looked at Clarissa once again and fidgeted nervously. I don't know whether this is a good idea, Harry sighed mentally. I knew I should've just call for Dobby.
"Oi… You've just woke me up, now spill!" Clarissa snapped, completely pissed off.
Harry scratched his head and he couldn't help but felt a bit disheartened, "Uh… I think… I think it's nothing. Sorry Claire…it's just noth-"
"Bollocks!!" Blaise cut off. "Spill it, Harry. Che… So much for being a Gryffindor!"
Harry glared at Blaise who, in Harry's opinion, seemed to question his bravery enough. Well, excuse me for being scared, he grumbled inside. Gryffindor's bravery got nothing to do when one is facing a pissed off, short tempered elf like her.
"I, uh…. I was wondering if… Um, perhaps you could lend a pair of clothes to Hermione?" Harry grinned sheepishly. "That is if you don't mind, of course. I could always ask Dobby for help if you say no, so no worries there," he added quickly.
Slowly, those hooded eyes revealed shiny twinkles. Harry could see that the girl slowly processed his request in her foggy mind. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, as if it were the first time she had ever seen him.
"You said clothes?" she asked. "For Hermione?"
"Uh… Yes."
She smiled a very bright smile at him, which Harry backed off slightly from. "Bring her up, she can take a shower in my bathroom. About the clothes, I'll pick them for her myself," she said proudly. "Now, chop chop!"
She left the door, without bother closing it first. Half running, she neared the bed and jumped on it. Then, without hesitation she kicked the blanketed lump that was Draco off the bed, making the Slytherin Prince fall disgracefully. As a result, he glared at her for disturbing his sleep.
"Wake up Draco and out my room now!" She was too happy to even bother glaring back Draco. "My doll will be up, and we ladies, will have our beauty time! Out now, you vile boy! Out, out!"
Draco stood on his feet and slowly gathered his own robes from the bed post while grumbling. Clarissa opened her trunk lid and climbed into it, soon she was vanished from everyone eyes.
Harry looked at Blaise who rolled his eyes. "She has a walk in closet inside her trunk," the Slytherin boy informed. "She's always complaining about how small the normal trunk is that even her knickers only couldn't fit in it, so she ordered a specially charmed one and that's what she got! A walk in closet trunk, the biggest one, mind you!" He shook his head. "Anyway, I'll go tell Granger to come upstairs, besides I'm on my way down to the dungeon. You just go and take a shower."
Harry nodded slightly and took off to his room's direction, "Thanks Zabini." Without looking back, he clearly didn't see another person go after him in the same direction.
xXx
The thought of being the last person to shower made Harry really take his time. Once he was done, he dried himself with a fluffy white towel before remembering that he didn't bring his clean clothes with him. Shrugging, he wrapped his lower half with the towel and left the bathroom. Softly humming, he didn't recognize another presence in his dorm, thinking that he was left alone after Neville and Dean left before he had showered.
So, imagine his surprise when he looked up in the middle of his walk to his trunk and saw the blonde Adonis, who had opened Clarissa's door for him, sitting on his very own bed, his chest was still bare though instead in boxers he wore his slacks from last night. Harry stopped and gaped at the lazy smirk the blond graced him with, which silently commented on the rapid blush on Harry's face and neck. The Gryffindor couldn't help but feel stripped by that pair of grey orbs.
"You sure took your time, Potter," Draco drawled. "Never thought you'd be one of the narcissistic type before."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I was just trying to clear my mind. What are you doing here?"
" Waiting to pounce on you and than drag you into bed and shag you senseless," That drew another blush and a small whimper from Harry who backed away in instinct. "Merlin, Potter, I'm here waiting for my turn to take shower, you dunderhead."
"B-but… Don't you take your showers in the dungeon?" Harry stammered.
"I prefer the easier way. And since I have my own share of clothes here, I might as well just change and getting ready for the day here instead of trekking down to the dungeon," Draco scrunched his nose. "Not that I should tell you that. And what are you doing, standing there in the middle of the room with nothing but towel on, looking like a complete idiot?" Not that I mind the sight, actually, Draco added silently.
Slowly, the grey pools traced every line that was visible on the tan skinned Gryffindor boy. First he noticed was that Harry was a small boy, smaller than all of their year mates, his build was perfect for a seeker with his slim build yet toned and firm muscles. His waist was small and his sides were elegantly drawn in feminine and soft curves. Draco wondered whether it had anything to do with the boy's inheritance, because he was not in any way to be described as masculine.
"I, uh… Could you move away from that bed, Malfoy?"
The quiet question brought Draco back from reverie. "Why should I?"
"That's my bed you're sitting on."
"So, your point is?" Draco teased with his patented smirk planted on his face.
Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. He crossed his arms and pouted, the last mentioned, of course, being done unconsciously. Then he sighed, tired of having pointless arguments with the Slytherin. He walked near his bed and crouched in front of his trunk. Quickly, he snatched a pair of clothes from it. While doing so, he was also aware of the stripping gaze directed at him, actually at his body, by the other occupant of the room.
"Stop it, Malfoy!" Harry snapped, nervous at the tingling feeling on his skin caused by Draco's gaze.
Raising one eyebrow, Draco slid off the bed and slowly made his way to the shower room. Right before he closed the door, he glanced over his shoulder with a suggestive look. "I should say, Potter, you have a nice ass there." And he snickered. "Quite a view."
And Harry glared hard at the closed door though it didn't stop the rousing blush on his face.
xXx
Many minutes passed as four teens, named Harry, Draco, Dean, and Neville, waited in tense silence, the two girls still hadn't shown up yet. While Draco was calmly reading a certain potion book, Harry, Neville and Dean decided to play some word games. At eight (Draco had cast "Tempus!" and was ready to drag the girls down by force), Clarissa showed up at the bottom of the stairs with a very wide and very bright grin.
She walked in their direction, turned around slowly, and then set a pose. She smiled suggestively and winked at them, "So, what do you think?"
Her appearance was simply stunning. The boys were dropping their jaws at her beauty, though Draco masked it well. She wore black mini skirt, knee-length black boots, white tank-top, and left opened white jacket. She let her hair tied in a simple ponytail and wore a light make up on her face.
"Am I stunning?" she grinned. "Or am I wonderful? Oops… Don't answer that! Silly me, of course I'm beautiful!" She answered her own question with a high level of arrogance.
And the boys responded with groans or sweat drops. "Right, Claire!" mumbled Draco. "Now, can we go?"
"Wait, you haven't seen her!" Clarissa yelled, hands latched on her hips. "Wait here!" Once again she went upstairs with bouncing steps.
"Is she a storm, or what?" Dean asked, slightly unsure how to comment on her behavior.
Harry and Neville shrugged before all of them eyed Draco, who scowled at them in return. The tapping sounds from the stairs brought their attention to it. There they saw a hesitant Hermione being pushed gently by Clarissa. Hermione wore a pale yellow, knee length sundress with a clean white cardigan and a pair of short white heel shoes. Her soft curls were braided with a French braid and tied with yellow ribbon on its tail. A sheer lipgloss shone on her lips. Despite her appearance, a slight frown stayed on her face.
"You okay, Hermione?" asked Neville, noticing the frown.
Hermione looked up and managed to give a weak smile. "I'm just… Not used to it, I guess," she said dryly.
Clarissa ignored her comment and slowly she twirled the other girl around. With beaming pride she asked, "So, how does she look? Pretty? Pretty, right?"
Draco smirked. "Not bad for a muggleborn, Granger, no wonder Blaise has fall for you," he complimented half-heartedly.
Clarissa rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on Draco. You have to admit that she's pretty."
Said boy refused to give another word on the subject, which made Clarissa shoved him slightly while mumbling 'Sore arse!' Draco looked offended but stayed silent at the insult, only his eyes narrowed in mocking glare. Seeing that, Harry thought of something along the lines of 'If it was me saying that, I bet he would've beaten me senseless.'
Dean walked up to her and offered his hand, mimicking the best gentlemanly behavior, "You look so beautiful, Milady. Shall I escort you out?" Dean grinned when Hermione accepted his hand with a blush. "Honestly, had I not been gay, I would've fall for you, Herm."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it's really too bad that you're gay." She eyed a certain Gryffindor who blushed under her mischievous scrutiny.
"Aren't I good?" Clarissa cut in, trying to once again to gain the spotlight. "You can't deny that it was because of ME, you get to see this pretty lady," she added smugly.
Harry squeezed her shoulder and smiled brightly, "Yes, Claire, thank you. You did great. Now my little sister can finally show the world all her worth."
The wide grin dropped from the black haired girls' face. Harry didn't see it though, for he was exchanging wicked smiles with Dean while Neville laughed. But Hermione and Draco saw the flicker of pain and sadness in her green orbs. She quickly regained her composure and presented a strained smile instead.
"Well, shall we head to Great Hall?" Hermione asked quickly, trying to ease some of the tension. And with that everyone made a move toward the door. They went out one by one, Harry being the last out. The boy managed to close the painting before a pair of calculating grey eyes stopped him in his steps.
Draco opened his dark forest green cashmere shirt and threw it at Harry. "Wear it Potter, cover those rags with it. Honestly, whoever taught you your sense of fashion was obviously mental," He sneered, then resumed his walk.
xXx
The group, with Clarissa being the leader, met Blaise at the entrance of Great Hall. Blaise stood with his back connected to the wall, a bored look on his face. He smirked though when he saw the group nearing him.
"My bet, you won't have a nice and comfortable breakfast for today," He drawled lazily. "The student body really made a fuss about yesterday's event. You will be stared at, gossiped about, and even glared at. Still bothering to go inside?"
Clarissa smirked back at him, "That's nothing new. Being famous and popular taught us all. Don't worry, Blaise honey, there's nothing we can't handle."
Blaise grinned before opening the door and made a bow, "After you, Your Highness," He mock saluted.
The group walked in and the chatter in the Great Hall dropped down. Their steps halted when they realized that every eye had turned on them. The glances were varying; fear, resentment, awe, and calm glances were sent to them from students who were not at Hogsmeade yet. While the teachers gave them concerned and neutral looks.
"Don't know about the rest of you, but I don't fancy having a meal among these idiots," Blaise sighed lowly, glaring back at the students he stood near. "It's not good for my stomach."
"Agreed," Mumbled Neville.
"Then we'll eat at Hogsmeade," Clarissa said determinedly.
"You weren't given leave for the weekend, Claire, and neither was Harry. Remember?" reminded Neville.
"Oh, no need to worry, Neville dear. Rest assured that nobody can resist me."
With that being said, Clarissa grabbed Harry's hand before strutting to the Head table quickly, all the way mumbling something which Harry could not comprehend. Something along the lines of 'depleting my appetite' and 'too bad for my diet'. Unable to object, Harry just followed the girl, silently wondering what she was up to now.
Clarissa stopped right in front of Headmaster and gave the old man a charming smile. Dumbledore smiled back at her kindly, though the twinkle in his eyes told her that he already knew what she was about to ask.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, would you granted us a pass to go to Hogsmeade today?" She asked, straight to the point. Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously once he heard this.
"Oh, but I thought a certain Professor had banned both of you from going to Hogsmeade this weekend," Dumbledore said, seeming to be thinking seriously about it.
"That's why we came straight to you, Headmaster. I, I mean… We wish to change the punishment into something else, we'll even accept any number of detentions in exchange to go to Hogsmeade today," She turned on her puppy dog eyes charm on the old Headmaster. "Please, Headmaster? Pretty please?"
Dumbledore looked at her amusedly, "What reason made you want to go to Hogsmeade so badly today, if I may ask Ms. Aiden?"
Clarissa waved her hand impatiently, an adorable pout formed on her face making her look pitiful, "Reasons, Professor. First, we would love to have a calm, soothing, free-from-glare," Clarissa added some pressure to her words which made several students shuddered and looked down in shame, "Breakfast. Second, today is a beautiful day. It's such a waste to spend it inside. Besides, Hermione and I," She glanced backwards and gave a wink at said girl. "We've already dressed up prettily today. It would be no good if we don't show it off, right? And the third…." She trailed off, locking eyes with Dumbledore. 'I want to spend the first outing time with my brother.' "I think you would understand, Headmaster."
A tense silence followed as Dumbledore looked at Snape who held back stubbornly at first, but then caved in. Dumbledore looked back at the two teens and gave them a blinding smile. "I grant your wish, Miss Aiden." Clarissa grinned wickedly, "But, in exchange for this day, both of you will serve a weeks worth of detention, separately." Clarissa pouted a little at this. "Miss Aiden, you will serve your detention with Professor Hagrid, while Mr. Potter will serve his detention with Professor Sprout. Both of you are to help the Professors in any task given to you. Is that understood?"
Harry and Clarissa exchanged glances and happy grins before nodding in approval. Dumbledore leaned back in his seat and silently resumed his breakfast. "Now go and enjoy your day."
"Thanks, Professor." Both teens said in sync.
The two teens glided down the aisle and Clarissa smirked at the lot. "See, told you that nobody can resist me. I'm just too irresistible," she said haughtily.
xXx
a/n: thank you for our reviewer, and sorry for long update...please, give us our opinion about this chapter...see ya!!!