"How did your nose get broken?" I laughingly asked Malfoy who had a strip across his now slightly crooked nose.

We were sitting on his bed with piles of food. People had swarmed us when we walked in the café hall. It was all too much being only a few hours after the first task so we decided to eat our lunch in his room instead.

He huffed shaking his white blonde fringe out of his eyes, "There were vines trying to grab my ankles so I was running not looking at where I was going and I got whacked in the face by a bloody tree."

I laughed harder at the frustrated look on his face, "Pretty feisty tree eh?"

"It is when you can't use bloody magic. Honestly I would have rather taken the dragon," he said shivering lightly and chomping on a fruit cookie.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "Seriously?"

"Yes seriously," Malfoy looked at me like I was crazy.

"I thought it wasn't too bad for a first challenge. I was sure they were going to throw us to some monstrous beast," I said sipping on pumpkin juice.

"Magic always made me feel safe. When I was a kid I had my mother place a ward under my bed to keep monsters away. Slept like a baby ever since," he said looking pleased.

"Awww big bad Malfoy is afraid of the dark?" I said poking his side and laughing.

"Pftt I am not afraid of anything," he said puffing out his chest with a mock serious face.

I throw a cookie at him and he caught it in his mouth making us both laugh at our own antics.

Knock Knock Knock

I gave Malfoy a skeptical look and he looked back at me just as confused as he opened the door.

"Hey Scorp, what did you make of the clue?" A voice was saying in the doorway.

Nik came walking into the room and went to sit at the small desk. He looked surprised when his brown eyes landed on me.

"Oh…sssorry. Didn't know you had company," he stuttered out looking embarrassed.

"No it's fine. We were just having lunch," I said smiling lightly at him.

"Yeah, have a seat Niko," Malfoy said looking at him with an odd expression that seemed almost teasing.

Nik looked as though he might have been blushing if he could as he put his head down and stuffed his hands in his pocket shuffling towards the door, "I'll just see you guys later."

He left the room quickly as Malfoy burst into laughter.

"What is so funny?" I asked annoyed at being left out of whatever joke was between them.

He turned looking sheepish, "I probably should not be telling you this but he really fancies you."

I looked at him in surprise, "Really? But we have barely even spoken two words to each other."

"Yeah, I am convinced you are a succubus of some kind," He said with a serious face before bursting into laughter again.

I threw a pillow at his face, "Well then, does that mean you are secretly in love with me too?"

He rolled his eyes but avoided my gaze, "Pfft Adrian would have my head on a platter if I even looked at you the wrong way."

I rolled my eyes at him now, "As if that wanker Flint has any real feelings for me."

He looked me right in my eyes then, "He does. I don't know what you did to him but I swear he is absolutely mad about you. I've never seen him talk about anyone as much as he does you. It's kind of creepy actually."

"Kind of?" I asked semi incredulously.

He rolled his eyes again, "Okay fine it's creepy; very creepy in fact. But even without Ad, imagine what people would think; the Potter princess with the Malfoy scum. It would be a quite the scandal. I can imagine old birds in bird hats gossiping about it over afternoon tea."

I might have laughed at that normally but for some reason the conversation was bothering me. "Don't talk about yourself that way. Besides would it matter what anyone else thought? I mean if that was what you wanted?"

He looked at me confused as if he wasn't sure how to answer, "If it was just random people I didn't know then no, I suppose it wouldn't, but I can assure you my family would be none too happy if I announced to the world that I'd fallen in love with a Potter."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I expected that people would be judgmental of Malfoy, what I never considered was that someone would be judgmental of me. My families were the good guys. My father was Harry frickin Potter for goodness sake.

"Why would your family have a problem with that?" I asked feeling like this conversation had taken an ugly turn.

He looked worriedly at me, "That came out the wrong way. I mean, other than Adrian no one would outright object to it, but I know they would be unhappy. Rammy is harboring a not so secret crush on you and my dad would hate being tied to your family in any kind of way. Our fathers may not hate each other anymore but some wounds run too deep. My mom would be fine but would react to everyone else's negative attitudes about it. Overall it just wouldn't be pleasant."

I looked at him feeling hurt but not really knowing what to say.

"This is all just hypothetical. I mean we are friends right?" He looked at me softly as he placed his hand against mine.

Not knowing what was wrong with me in the first place I put my feelings aside and smiled softly. "Yes. We are friends."

"What were we talking about before?" Malfoy asked scrunching up his face in confusion.

"Your new mates unrequited love affair with me," I said grimacing.

He shook his head at me as though reprimanding me, "Do not make that face. He's a really decent bloke."

I laughed lightly, "I didn't mean to be rude. It's just strange to me. I don't think I have ever felt that way about anyone."

Malfoy looked surprised, "Not even your boyfriend?"

I blushed deeply in embarrassment, "Well it's different with Frank. I knew him all my life so I never felt that feeling of having a crush on him. When he asked me it just seemed like the most logical solution that I was ready to be in love and that he was the perfect person."

He paused for a moment as though trying to look aloof, "I didn't realize you were in love."

"I am. At least I think I am. He is the most logical choice and I am fifteen. I think it was all the right timing." I said plainly.

Malfoy looked at me as though I was crazy, "I wasn't under the impression that love was supposed to be logical."

I scoffed at him, "Of course it is. You can't just go falling in love with anybody."

He smiled lightly. It reminded me of the way my parents would smile at me when I was younger and would say something immature, "Falling in love with someone is not something that can just be turned on or off like a light switch on a wall. Love isn't a choice. It's not logic. It's emotion. It's your heart beating out of your chest whenever that person is near. It's the smile in your heart when you just hear their name. It is so far beyond logic. It is the purest kind of magic in the whole world."

I was so enchanted by his words it sent my heart racing.

"But you could get hurt that way," I said barely above a whisper.

"Everyone says that love hurts, but that's not true. Loneliness hurts, rejection hurts, losing someone hurts. Everyone confuses these things with love, but in reality. Love is the only thing that heals all these things. Love is what makes life wonderful again. It is a risk, but some things are worth that risk."

"Have you ever been in love before Malfoy?" I asked quietly, not sure I wanted the answer.

He smiled a true smile now, "That Potter, is a story for another day. Now let's get this mess cleaned up. I have some letters to write."

I realized this was his subtle way of dismissing me, so I quickly helped him clean up and left to go visit Jack again.

When I walked in the room I could see LaRoux once again leaning over the very still body of Jack. She had changed her clothes and was talking quietly to him. I stayed very still afraid of interrupting what seemed to be a rare tender moment.

"Jack I am so sorry I didn't try and catch you. I watched him knock you off and I didn't try to help you, even as you called my name. I am so sorry. I am so sorry I wanted you to fall. I admit I felt glad that I didn't have to worry about taking you out myself. I am a monster. I know this. But I also know that I have to win. I have to win. I'm so sorry I had to lose you on the way. I'm so sorry his opinion of me out weighs yours. You have always been such a good friend. My only friend. You have protected me. And I failed to protect you. I am so so sorry. Please forgive me."

Her body hiccupped as she sobbed some more. I was so shocked by her revelation that I couldn't move. So Des had knocked him off and she had watched him fall. I felt disgusted by the very sight of her but I also felt sympathy. As sad and wrong as she was, it is clear she feels immense sense of guilt.

"Hello there Lily! I shall be with you in a moment," Bae said popping his head out of a side door before disappearing again.

She turned so quickly I'm surprised it didn't snap her neck.

Her face was contorted in rage, words coming out of her mouth like poisoned daggers, "What are you doing here pothead?" she hissed.

I was terrified but I tried not to let that show, "I came to check on Jack. See how he was doing."

She spoke her next words quietly but I could feel the anger bubbling beneath them, "How long were you standing there?"

A took a small breathe replying, "A minute or so. I heard you talking and I didn't want to interrupt."

Furious was the only way to describe the emotions that washed over her pale face. Her body began to shake and before I had time to react her wand slashed through the air as she shouted viciously "Langlock". My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth as though I had stuffed it full of peanut butter. I grabbed for my wand just as she shouted "Impedimenta". My body flew through the air, knocking me into the stone wall. The last thing I saw was her furious face as she quickly left the room and everything went black.

The first thing I heard when I woke up was laughter. I slowly peeked open one eye to find I was in the hospital wing again and it was night time.

"Wotcher Scorp, throw me another one of those cheese buns," I heard the voice of Nik saying somewhere by my left foot.

"If you eat them all there weren't be any left for Potter," Malfoy said sounding exasperated somewhere to my right.

Nik scoffed, "What are you her mother?"

I sat up then, "Actually I am quite hungry."

Both boys smiled brightly at me, which was a strange sight for both of them.

"Oh good, you are up. I was trying to keep this one away from demolishing the food I brought for you from dinner," Malfoy said looking pleased.

"The food we bought for you. I just wanted to make sure they were… good and all that. Can't have you eating stale buns now." Nik said laughing nervously.

I rolled my eyes at both of them before grabbing three buns and stuffing them down my throat.

"What happened? Why am I in here?" I asked not remembering anything past this morning.

They exchanged glances then before Malfoy replied, "We were hoping you could tell us. Bae said there was no one here. He came in and saw you knocked out on the floor with that head wound."

I reached up to touch my head to find it heavily bandaged. Fear seized my throat as I tried desperately to remember how I ended up in here. And then it came to me. Walking in on the one sided conversation of LaRoux. Her anger. Her cursing me. I couldn't tell that to them though. It was much too embarrassing how once again I had failed to protect myself. I was used to having family around to do that for me. It never even crossed my mind to have my wand out.

I shook my head and lied gracefully, "I don't remember."

"Do you think they wiped your memory? Or maybe it's a conspiracy to…" Nik began to drone on about different theories about what happened to me; each theory more wild than the next.

Malfoy looked at me with one eyebrow raised. It was clear that he didn't believe me. Not that it mattered. I wasn't about to reveal the truth to him or anyone else.

"…a sham. Just like that bleeding clue." Nik said shaking his head.

I turned to him them feeling like I had missed something, "What about the clue? What was it?"

"Didn't you look at it this morning? It was the first thing I did," he said looking at me shocked.

I narrowed my eyes at him feeling annoyed, "No I didn't look and you didn't answer my question."

"That's because there isn't one. The scroll was blank. All of them are." Nik said softly.

"What do you think it means?" Malfoy said looking frustrated.

I shook my head picking up half of a roast beef sandwich, "I don't know and I don't care. We have a whole three months to figure it out. Can we recover from the first task before we start moving onto the next?"

I nibbled on my roast beef sandwich before exhaustion took over me and I slept once more.