A/N: Alright, fine, here's the real chapter. ;P I decided to write this in Dusty's point of view, just to get a little insight into how Dusty was feeling during the cable scene. I hope you like it! :) ~Em

Dusty POV:

It was the Monday after Slytherin won and I had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin. I was looking forward to it, because Defense is my second favorite subject, beaten only by potions.

"Students, students, quiet down, please!" Professor Smith said it quietly, but everyone shut up immediately. Professor Smith may seem gentle and reserved on the outside, but she had a fierce temper when she was ignored. Many people have been on the receiving end of her anger, and it wasn't pretty.

"Thank you. Now today," she said, pacing across the front of the room, "we will be focusing on trust." A chorus of shouts followed, but Professor Smith hushed them with a glare. She pointed to a random student who happened to be a Slytherin. "You! What do you want to work as when you leave school?"

"An- an auror, ma'am," she stuttered, picking at her fingernails. The professor nodded approvingly.

"Yes, trust is essential for those who wish to become aurors. And you, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Smith pointed to Scorpius, who puffed out his chest proudly.

"A Quidditch player," he stated.

"Yes, so I assume you like to win?" Scorpius stared at her blankly.

"Of course I like to win," he said.

"And what does it take to win?"

"I have to catch the snitch."

"But what if the other team has too many points? What if you catch the snitch but you still lose?"

"That won't happen. My teammates won't let it," said Scorpius confidently.

"So, basically, you have to trust your teammates to not let the other team score?" responded Professor Smith, smiling slightly.

"Well, yeah, I never thought of it that way."

"You see, every job you may hold needs some basis of trust in order to do it properly. Aurors have to trust their partner, Quidditch players have to trust their teammates, healers have to trust their co-workers. That is why this week we start a unit on trust. We will be using a muggle contraption for this first week, with some magic used to make it safer. However, should one of you interfere, the magic could be disrupted and it could be extremely dangerous. The student in question will be given a punishment worthy of their crime. Am I clear?" We nod our heads silently. Professor Smith waves her wand and what looks like a "Y" made of thin cable appears in the middle of the room, and at each end a large wooden pole about eight inches in diameter. The cables themselves seem to be 15 meters in the air and about half an inch thick.

"This will be your challenge," said Professor Smith, motioning to the muggle contraption. "You will have a partner which you will be working with for the remainder of this course. I have chosen partners for you already, and you might not be with your best friend. I will name the groups now." The professor pulls a sheet if parchment out of her pocket and begins listing pairs of names.

"Jonathan Chang and Daphne McKinnon; Jamie McKay and Robert Belby..." She continued to name groups monotonously so I drifted into lala-land. I was brought back to it by my name being called.

"...and Dusty McKay..." I turned where Scorpius was standing beside me, grinning broadly down at me.

"I take it your my partner," I sighed. At least I hadn't been paired with that Patil dude. He'd been crushing on me since first year. I, however, found him utterly revolting. Just thinking of what he imagined me doing made me want to vomit.

"Yup," he replied, popping his "p". I shook my head and waited until Professor Smith finished calling out the groups.

"This is your partner, you cannot change it, you will not whine about it. Now, first of all, this is a competition. For every obstacle you complete, your team will get one hundred points. Individual obstacles will have separate ways to win or lose team with the most points at the end of the unit will win one hundred and fifty galleons to split evenly." The classroom erupted into cheers, fists punching the air. Then Professor Smith cleared her throat and everything was so quiet you could hear pin drop.

"Thank you," she said. "As I was saying, this obstacle we have here gives you the chance to win at least one hundred points, but points may be taken away under circumstances that I will explain." Smith paused, taking a deep breath. "The team members start at one of the poles with a ladder. They will have to cross about three meters of cable by themselves and then work to cross five working together. They will have a harness for stability, but the harness does nothing if you fall. Instead, you will have to rely on your partner to cast a cushioning charm or similar spell to protect you. If your partner fails, well, you die." Gasps echo around the room, and even some sobs are heard. Professor Smith immediately started laughing.

"Oh, gosh, you really think I'd let you guys die? No, the harness is going to have a spell that slows you down when you get within three feet of the ground. However, if your partner fails to cast a cushioning charm, your team will have twenty-five points taken from them. You will gain points for teamwork, communication, the time it took. I will not take away points if you fall, because this exercise is about trust, not balance. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Professor Smith," we said duly.

I climbed the ladder up the pole, wondering why the hell we volunteered to go first. I mean, Professor Smith was all like, "Who wants to go first?" so I said Scorpius and I would. I'm really regretting my decision at the moment.

I could feel my heart in my throat as I took my first step. The cable was shaking, most likely because my legs were as well. I know it wasn't the wind, because we were inside, in the Defense classroom. I glanced over at Scorpius. He seemed right at home up there, easing across his individual part as I took little baby steps. Eventually, though, I made it to the middle where he was waiting for me, looking extremely bored.

"You want to go first or do you want me to?" he asked me softly, probably remembering that I had an extreme fear of heights. So I guess he wasn't a completely insensitive prat.

We were gathered around a rope in the middle, loosely suspended between the cable we were standing on and another cable above us. I looked into his eyes, and suddenly knew he'd never let me go, not until I told him to. We were face to face, so close I could have kissed him if I wanted and passed it of for a stumble- wait, why was I thinking about that? Oh, no, no no no no no! I can't possibly...

"Ahem." I looked back at him, blushing.

"Sorry, I'll go first," I said, with a newfound realization that I could do this. I could do this and the only thing stopping me was fear. Fear that I could ignore.

I started to make my way across, grasping Scorp's hand for balance. I peered over my shoulder where Scorpius was smiling encouragingly at me. I attempted to grin back, but it seemed more like a grimace, so I gave up. I turned back around and continued with the task at hand, catching glimpses of the ground, which was a long way below me.

Sure, it took a minute, but I made it to the end pole. Shrieking excitedly, I spun and saw Scorpius inching his way across the cable, subconsciously sticking his tongue out in concentration. Oh, he looked so adorable like that... Wake up call, Dusty, he was just a friend. I shook my head and held my hand out for him to grab. He did, and I quickly pulled him closer to me. He touched the pole. The pole that ended the chaos. The pole that allowed me to get down from there. I was so relieved, but I was also going to miss it. Having someone else to depend on really felt nice, actually. I was so used to doing everything myself, having someone else to do something, to lighten the load a bit; it was relieving. Also, I would miss being in close contact with Scorpius... Oh, damn me and my wandering mind.

"Alright, you can jump down!" the professor called from below. I grinned at Scorpius.

"On three! One..." I guessed I couldn't hide from the truth anymore...

"Two..." There's no point in denying it, what good would it have done me? Here goes, admitting it to myself is step one...

"Three!" I fancied Scorpius. A zero-gravity feeling overtook my entire body, my stomach, my chest, my head. I was falling. Really, truly falling. And then I suddenly felt terrified. I was falling! I was really, truly falling! Down! Towards the ground! I did the only thing I felt was sane to do: I started laughing. Not a short, terrified giggle, but guffaws, loud and long, until tears began to squeeze out of my eyes. They must've thought that I was crazy. That I was insane, and this just proved it. I suddenly felt myself slow down exponentially, and only then did I realize that the ground was only a few feet from my face. But before I could scream I was face-down on the floor.

I shouted out unintelligible syllables then wrapped my arms as hard as I could around Scorp's neck. I heard applause and I figured the class was cheering for us. I could hardly hear them, only the sound of mine and Scorpius' breathing. The way he stroked my back, and breathed softly on my neck, and how soft his skin felt on mine.

And then someone wolf-whistled.

"Oi, shut up!" I shouted, irritated. I turned to see the culprit was none other than my brother, Jamie. I stuck my tongue out, making the face that would make him cry when he was little. But he grew up, so the face made him laugh. I started giggling, too, and pretty soon the entire class was cracking up, doubling over, laughing for no reason whatsoever.

I guess it just felt good to let it out.

So, what do you think? She fancies Scorpius! Gasp! Please review! :) And I have something special planned for the next chapter... *wink wink* ;)