A/N: The last two chapters offered a bit of an emotional insight to Draco and Blaise, but this is more of a light-hearted story, so I don't guarantee tons of that stuff XP. But I will promise a couple twin induced pranks within the next few chapters.

The Seventh Year

Chapter 6

The Hufflepuffs and A Crisis Averted

"I hate my life," Erin groaned, this time sprawled on the floor in one of the Hufflepuff dorm rooms after classes the next day.

"Why now," sighed Katya, Natalie's blond roommate. The other two occupants of the room were out, probably comforting Terry Boot and Michael Corner with a horde of other students, since the two boys had just got out of the Hospital Wing. Secretly, they probably all just wanted to see the sorry state the two boys were still in after the fallout of the twin's bomb.

"I think I like Draco Malfoy," Erin groaned again, burying her head under Natalie's pillow. Only the three girls were present, because the Head Girl didn't want to admit such an embarrassing thing in front of anyone else, especially not in front of Marisa, not yet.

Katya began giggling. "You're just realizing this now?"

"Shut up!" came her friend's muffled voice.

Natalie was busy poking at a strange fruit candy sitting on her desk. "Where did this come from?" she murmured.

"I wouldn't eat it, it's probably from Marisa," Erin warned generously.

"Why is this a problem?" Katya asked her, beaming. "You two would make a lovely couple, and I think mostly all the students would agree with me on this one, except for his incessant fan club, the slags."

"But I can't like him!" Erin moaned. "It wouldn't work at all!"

"Why not?" Katya shrugged. "I mean, your mum is a pureblood, so you have something to talk about with his parents. He's mature, and has a tight grasp on his emotions so you won't have to deal with him being stupid like other teenage boys. He can keep up with you intellectually, so you definitely won't be bored."

"My father's not a pureblood," Erin muttered. "Like I care, obviously. And I don't know about those other things."

"Uh huh," Katya grinned, clearly not convinced. "Anything else you'd like to deny?"

"Oh, Katya," the Head Girl moaned, "Do you know what he did yesterday?"

"Pasted your room with pictures of himself?"

"How'd you already know?" Erin gasped indignantly. "That was my story, Marisa wasn't supposed to go around telling it!"

Katya snorted. "Yeah, because Marisa always tells your stories."

"Where else would you have heard?"

"Overheard Blaise telling Pansy at breakfast," Natalie told her smugly.

Erin grit her teeth. "Oh, the nerve of that boy. I wish Marisa had chosen someone else to not hate. I mean, she hates everyone, why not him?"

"She'd claim she does hate him," Katya pointed out.

"That doesn't mean it is true," Erin groused. "She never admits to being able to tolerate someone. She's tolerated him for years. Ask Hermione."

"It's probably because he is more studious than you," Katya teased. "He doesn't have ADHD."

"I don't—oh sweet Merlin, what is that doing here?" she gasped, pointing at a hair clip lying on Natalie's desk.

The other two girls just stared at her, open-mouthed, for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"What?" she asked, sounding sheepish. She thought back for a moment and then groaned. "Merlin's blooming knickers, I do have ADHD."

"Malfoy gave that to me to give to you," Natalie answered her question, kindly skirting Erin's attention issues. "He said you lost it?"

"I did, but how'd he know that? That tosser!"

"Clearly he stole it so that he could give it to you with his admission of his undying love for you, and then chickened out," Katya said drily.

"Now I have to thank him!" Erin wailed. "And I wanted to yell him, because he all but ran away from me before I could get around to giving him a piece of my mind last night."

"Oh, the horror," Natalie giggled. "You and Malfoy would make such a cute couple."

"That is a lie, we'd self-destruct."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Katya warned. "I actually think it would work out a lot better than you would expect."

"I don't want to think about it anymore."

"Well everyone else does. . ." Natalie muttered.

"What do you mean?" Erin snapped.

"Haven't you noticed? Half the school is all up in flames about your not-romance," Natalie grinned.

"People are talking about us?" Erin buried her face in her hands and let out another mournful sigh. "But I don't want anyone talking about us! There is no 'us'! There can't be an 'us,' and I don't want to talk about an 'us' so no one else should talk about us either!"

"And when I was talking to Cat, she told me that it is all the talk in the Slytherin dorms," Katya added, shaking her head at Erin's rant.

"You should tell her," Natalie murmured.

"Tell me what?" Erin gritted out, her voice still muffled by her hands.

Katya grimaced. "Well, there's a betting pool, you know."

"A what?" she gasped, her head shooting right back up.

"A betting pool. It apparently started in the Slytherin common room. But rumor has it that Marisa's put a large amount of money down on a date that is sometime within the next week."

"She what?" Erin sprang from the bed, suddenly indignant. "That is not ok! I am going to kill her!"

A/N: Marisa will return next chapter. . .if Erin doesn't kill her. XD. But, as you can see, Erin didn't kill Malfoy, so Marisa's chances are looking pretty good! Four reviews, please? Is that too much to ask?