"So," Draco began, "to get Zabini out of the picture…"
"We're not going to hurt him, if that's what you're suggesting," Neville said quickly.
Draco cast him a curious glance. "Did I ever say that I was going to hurt him? Merlin, you're dense. Why would I risk my neck for a little piece of satisfaction? I overestimated you, Longbottom."
"Shut up, Malfoy," Neville replied.
"All I'm suggesting," Draco went on, ignoring the other boy for a moment, "is that we need to break them up. And then Potter will surely come crawling back to you, being the Gryffindor that he is."
"How do you suggest we do that?" Neville inquired. "And I don't want any of this coming back to me. I have lost Harry once; I don't want to repeat that."
"Don't worry about it. No one will be blamed but Zabini. I'll make sure of that," Draco said. "But just keep in mind, you can't ever talk to me in public. In fact, unless I initiate conversation even in what seems to be private, don't talk to me other than Gryffindor drivel."
"I'm not stupid," Neville protested.
Draco raised his eyebrows and glanced down at the boy. He snorted in response, but didn't say anything. "To make things short," he drawled, "We have to make it look like Zabini cheated on Potter."
"Who would possibly be okay with being the other?" Neville questioned.
Draco grinned. "I was hoping you would ask that." He turned to leave, and called, "Come on, I'll introduce you."
As they walked deeper into the dungeons, Neville drew his arms around himself to keep himself warm. Draco noticed the subtle movements and chuckled, "Oh, but you are a Gryffindor. Too cold for your likings? I would think so. The lake is flush against that far wall, after all."
"I'm n-not c-c-cold," Neville protested, shiverings giving himself away.
Draco laughed. A few more meters down, he stopped abruptly and drew out his wand. After tapping a rhythm onto a stone panel, not unlike the bricks at Diagon Alley, a portion of stone shaping like an archway melted into a shimmering liquid that did not pour out onto them, as Neville would have thought that it would, but stayed in place. He thought to himself that it didn't look unlike one of those portals in the muggle science-fiction movies he had watched behind Gran's back.
Draco stepped forward, into the portal. When Neville didn't follow, he rolled his eyes and went back out. This time, went he walked through he was pulling Neville along by his wrist.
"Draco…?" a girl Neville had never seen before inquired as she caught sight of him.
Draco just shook his head, a warning of silence, while pulling Neville across the common room to a dark hallway. He rapped on a door three from the beginning and let go of Neville's wrist. "Just a minute!" a high pitched voice called from behind the door.
Less than a minute later, the door opened to expose Pansy Parkinson.
Neville looked at Draco in disbelief, mirroring Pansy's expression at the two of them.
"Parkinson? That's who you had in mind?" he exclaimed.
"Longbottom?" Pansy smirked. "I never pegged you as a chubby chaser, Drakey-poo."
"I-he-she…" Neville uttered incoherently.
Draco kissed Pansy on each cheek and then pushed her aside and strode into her room. Pansy rolled her eyes and let a confused Neville into her room as well before closing the door behind them.
"I am not with Longbottom, Pans," Draco informed her.
"Oh, drat," Pansy pouted. She plopped herself down on one of the dark canopy beds, full skirts splaying on either sides of her white legs. She twirled one of her black curls with a slim finger. "That would have been so kinky."
"Sorry to disappoint." Draco sat on the bed across from Pansy.
"Well since you're not here to flaunt your new relationship…you must be here to beg me to have mind-blowing sex with you to convince you that you're not a bloody poof?" Pansy teased with bright eyes. "I never pegged you as much of an exhibitionist, darling. That is kinky though, so I suppose you're forgiven for not being with the Gryffindor."
"Wrong again," Draco chirped, taking Neville a-back. "We're here for your help, actually." He glanced over at Neville. "Are you going to just stand there like a log? Sit down," he exclaimed impatiently.
Neville took a seat, while Draco continued to talk, "We need your help breaking up a couple."
Pansy grinned, bright white teeth gleaming against red lips. "What do you need me to do?"
Neville slunk back into the Gryffindor common room close around eight. He had spent the last few hours listening to Draco and Pansy go over finer details to their plan. He hadn't known what his purpose was until Draco had turned to him and informed him that he needed to do reconnaissance.
So that was what he aimed to do.
He just wasn't prepared for what he saw when he got into the room.
"Urgh," he groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.
Pressed into the wall was Blaise, and holding him there was Harry. Blaise's long arms were wrapped around Harry's neck lazily, and the two were engaged in equally lazy, slow kissing. Neither had heard Neville, so by the time he had regained feeling and the nausea had melted away, he snuck away without either of them noticing.
When he had reached the top of the stairs, Blaise began to speak. Neville hid behind a wall that followed the next staircase and listened in.
"Harry," Blaise began, stopping for one last peck at the other's lips, "will you accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
Neville could hear the smile in Harry's voice. "I would love to," he answered without skipping a beat.
A small smile crept across Neville's face. Soon that would be Harry, in his arms, kissing him.
"Hannah," Daphne plead. "Darling. Don't be angry at me." Blaise nearly passed the two in the hallway as he made his way to the dungeons.
"How do you expect me not to be mad at you?" Hannah fumed, "You were bollocks-ing around with Padma Patil and you don't expect me to be mad at you? You're so thick!"
"We were broken up!" Daphne replied exasperatedly. "It didn't mean anything. Any time we had spent together was meaningless. You have to know that."
"I don't have to know anything," she replied, crossing her arms across her chest.
Blaise chose not to say anything and passed by without either of them noticing.
"So you bollocks-ing around with Ernie MacMillan meant you were cheating on me," Daphne proposed.
"That's different," Hannah scowled.
"How could that possibly be different!" Daphne exclaimed. "The fact that he was male was the only thing that was different."
"I told you that I would be trying out different relationships," Hannah explained, "You didn't warn me."
"So you assumed I would take up an Amish existence whilst you were having a merry old time trying to convince yourself that you actually loved me? Bollocks is what I say to that," Daphne yelled. When she heard her yell echo down the hall, she calmed. "Bollocks."
"You wouldn't have wanted me doubting our relationship. I know you wouldn't, so don't bother trying to deny that," she said. Then she added snidely, "Besides, Patil is a grade A slut. I thought you had more class than that."
"Take that back," Daphne said dangerously, "You take that back."
"So you get defensive when I call out Patil but you don't get angry when I ask you for a break in our relationship," Hannah continued, eyes shimmering with tears.
Daphne frowned deeply. "Merlin, Hannah. That was months ago. Merlin, you can hold a grudge. Padma and I are friends. Just friends. Friends who like to fool around together," she allowed, "but nothing more. I swear upon it. Of course I didn't get angry at you. You said it yourself, I couldn't possibly bear to be with you while you doubted us. Why would I get angry for that?"
"I didn't have sex with Padma," Daphne continued. "Can you say the same for you and Ernie?"
Hannah didn't say anything.
"I thought so," Daphne said quietly. "I don't understand why you're so angry with me, Hannah. I just don't." With that, she walked away, leaving Hannah to herself.
Not ten minutes later, Daphne was being cradled in Blaise's arms in the Slytherin common room. "I just don't understand her bloody mood swings," she cried brokenly. He brushed her hair away from her face tenderly and let her continue to cry.
"You know that I don't understand you women," Blaise attempted to joke.
Daphne laughed. "I know," she replied, eyes shining with mirth and cheeks with the tears.
"Isn't it funny," she thought aloud, "how polar opposite our love lives seem to be?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I'm in a rut, and you couldn't be happier in your relationship," she explained, "when weeks ago I was going strong with Hannah and was obliviously happy while Harry was going out with Neville and you were depressed."
"That does suck," he agreed.
"Not for you," she teased.
"Of course for me," he explained, "because we'll never be able to wallow together if we continue in this pattern."
"You never were one for karma though," Daphne said.
Blaise smiled. "So maybe we do have a chance."
Happy New Years, folks! Hope you have a good one.