A/N: So, it has been a while... My beta still hasn't edited this, but as I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow (and not coming back until July 8th) and won't have computer access, I decided I should publish this chapter. So, try to ignore my mistakes. This chapter's a bit lighter, and I hope you find it humourous. :) ENJOY (and rate/review).

I expected rumours to be following me around the day after an incident like that. Turned out I was right. I must have heard a thousand different variants of what had happened in the Three Broomsticks. Some people said I had ripped off Thomas' shirt. Other said that he was the one who had come after me. I even heard one person tell another that we had started doing it right then and there. Awfully enough, the girl didn't seem traumatized by it either. In fact, she practically bragged about it. It was enough to make me shiver.

Neither Blaise nor Thomas was too pleased with those whispers of what had supposedly happened. It wasn't to say that we didn't occasionally hear the truth, but that was extremely rare. Slowly, however, as Blaise finally came out with his relationship, people began to understand what had truly happened. I could only imagine how difficult it must have been him to have to start explaining what happened, but it was difficult from all sides to put up with this nonsense.

Somehow Pansy had gotten it off easy. She had merely gotten a severe warning and two months worth of detention. Of course, she had also been warned that if she tried to do anything at all, she would be expelled. Obviously, she wasn't too pleased with either Blaise or me. But there was nothing she could do. I was almost smug about it, but it was difficult when – despite the threats they sent her – I was still terrified of her. I felt it was only a matter of time before she decided to break the rules and take the following "prank" she pulled to the next level.

Still, I sat with the Gryffindors for the next week, and now Blaise did as well. At first he was reluctant, and attempted his chances with the Slytherins, but when he saw that was a lost cause, he sat with us. We weren't trusted by some people still, Weasley mainly, and Blaise became more of an object of suspect than I was. He rarely let Thomas put an arm around him, wary of showing any signs of affection around others. When he would, there was something rough about the way he touched Thomas. At first I just brushed it off as signs of possessiveness, but soon even I couldn't deny that there was something more than that.

Surprisingly, Thomas and I had been talking more and more recently. I supposed I felt some sort of connection to him; he was going through the same trouble I was, and he was definitely more willing to talk about it than Blaise. So, one day, when we were sitting along in the common room, I turned to him and asked whether he knew what the matter was. After all, I figured he should, being Blaise's boyfriend and all…

"Blaise just wants to prove to others that he doesn't love me."

"Well, he's dating you, so I think he shouldn't be too concerned about that anymore." I rolled my eyes at how ridiculous the situation was, and propped my legs up on a table.

"Well, he could be dating me for reasons other than love for all others know. He's trying to make it seem like I'm more like an object he has to own than someone to cherish. I don't know, half the time I think I am. He's so cryptic sometimes." I nodded; it made sense.

"Sounds irritating. At least he's come out about it, though."

"True. It took him long enough." He shot me a grin. I had been sure that it would be incredibly awkward to be around him after what happened in the Three Broomsticks, but luckily I had been wrong. He was the only Gryffindor who didn't take everything I said to heart and who I felt most like I could be myself around. While Granger supported me, she didn't tolerate much of my Slytherin self. Truth be told, I wasn't a Gryffindor at heart, and she had to learn to accept that.

"Details, details. You're still a lucky bastard."

"Oy, you shouldn't be talking. You're dating the Golden Boy. You two are quite a couple, too." My jaw clenched momentarily at his flippant reference to Harry, but I managed to just brush it off and scoff. I had been about to continue our conversation when the portrait swung open, revealing none other than Professor McGonagall. My mouth immediately dried, and my jovial mood disappeared. As my feet slid off the table, the question slipped out of my mouth.

"Is Harry okay?" My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes blinked rapidly. This was too soon after the first false alarm for anything real to happen, wasn't it?

"Yes, everything's fine." I relaxed and let out my breath in a tight hiss. "Dumbledore has asked me to take you up to his office. He needs to talk to you immediately." She gave me a rare smile, and I jumped up, suddenly feeling hopeful. Whatever it was, it was going to be something good. It had to be. Feeling unusually confident at this thought, I stood up and followed her with a rather un-Malfoyish grin.

"Lead the way, Professor." My tone must have been – unintentionally – mocking, for she gave me a sharp glare. Still, I couldn't keep that pesky grin off of my face. As I walked out of the portrait, I turned back to Thomas with an excited look. He rolled his eyes and picked up a book lying on the table.

The hallway was filled with students, and the buzz around us made up for the lack of our own conversation. I did once open my mouth, but upon realizing I had nothing to say, quickly snapped it shut. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as exciting of a visit as I had imagined. She would have told me already if there was something particularly important, would she not?

When we entered the office, Dumbledore met us at the door, beaming widely. His hand extended in the direction of an empty chair, and I sat down, waiting as he quickly sat down on the chair on the other side of his desk. Still, I was getting tired of the silence and lack of answer, and just wished someone would tell me already what had happened. "I thought you would like to be the first to know."

"The first to know?"

"Healer Jones contacted us to tell us that Harry should be getting back to Hogwarts in a few days. He hasn't woken up yet, but they think he should sometime today." Harry was going to be alright. For the first time in ages, I felt true relief. As much as the pain and worry had lessened, there had still been a pillow muffling my heart with concern. But word had finally come that he was going to be okay. As I sat, unable to come up with an adequate verbal response, Dumbledore chuckled a little. Finally, a childish question slipped from my lips.

"He's really going to be okay?"

"Yes, I promise I'm not lying to you."

"That's not what I meant! I just can't believe that he's finally coming back. I mean, I expected him to, but I couldn't stop worrying…" The dam on my mouth broke, and words rushed forth, unstoppable. "I couldn't help but fear that something might happen, but he's finally okay, and everything's going to be alright, and he's not going to die!" Oh, I sounded like an idiot.

"Mr. Malfoy, clam yourself!" Professor McGonagall finally shouted. In a calmer voice, she repeated herself. My face heated up, and the nonsense stopped.

"Thank you." No one said anything, and although the silence wasn't necessarily tense, I wanted to go tell Thomas, even Granger. "May I go–"

"Of course!" Dumbledore smiled, and I stumbled out of the chair, and rushed to the door as fast as I could walk without seeming rude.

As soon as I got out of the office, I broke into a run. Today I truly had turned back time and become a three year-old. I grinned like a madman, and even with everyone staring at me, I let out a whoop of joy. Harry was going to be alright! Noting could be wrong with the world.

"You're looking unusually cheerful," the portrait lady muttered. She still wasn't fond of me. Of course, she didn't really seem to be particularly fond of anyone.

"Periwinkle!"

"No time for chatting with me, I see. Who would want that?" she grumbled as she swung open. In my rush in, I tripped over my own two feet, barely catching myself on the couch as I fell.

"Blimey, you alright, Malfoy?"

Thomas set the book down and looked at me with uncertainty.

"Harry. Back in a few days. Okay. No coma." My thoughts were far from formulated.

"Wait, are you saying Harry's going to be alright and back in a few days?" I nodded vigorously. Thomas gave out a whoop just like I had earlier, and jumped up to – of all things – hug me. "This is definitely cause for celebration."

XxXxXxXxX

I wasn't sure what he meant by celebration until twelve o'clock that night. He had thrown a little party of sorts. Everyone was drinking Firewhiskey, and chatting amiably. I stood by Blaise, the only other person here who wasn't a Gryffindor. He was the least enthusiastic-looking person here. He had a slight scowl on his face, and continually took giant swigs from the bottle in his hands. I felt awkward next to him, but any need to say something dissolved as soon as Seamus shouted, "Truth or dare?" Everyone agreed by using their wand to move the furniture – during which time several bottles crashed on the floor – and forming a circle.

"Who wants to go first?" Lee Jordan asked.

"I'll go first," Ginny volunteered, grinning. "Neville, truth or dare?" Longbottom blushed, and I couldn't help but snicker slightly, although I wasn't heard; everyone was still talking amongst each other.

"Erm, truth."

"Have you ever asked anyone out?" I was tempted to tell Weaslette that it was an idiotic question and he'd never do any such thing, but Longbottom's face began to change colour.

"I asked Luna out at the beginning of this year."

"I knew it! Luna refused to tell me anything. She's too loyal for her own good, sometimes. You two would be cute, though." Weaslette attempted to give him a sympathetic smile, but it just came off as a smirk. "Your turn."

"Erm, Hermione, truth or dare?"

"Truth." How predictable. This game was far less exciting than any Slytherin round.

He looked like he was about to ask her some childish, like who she had a crush on, but a swig of Firewhiskey seemed to inspire him to at least be slightly more courageous. "What's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

"I once streaked across the Hogwarts grounds." Her face was a deeper shade of scarlet than Weasley's hair.

"You did what?" one of the two Weasley twins snapped.

"Parvati thinks she's so clever. She said that I wouldn't do anything that didn't involve studying. Well, I – I showed her." Granger was actually strong about her decision for a second, but the moment she finished speaking, she buried her face in her arms. "Oh, I can't believe I just said that." Everyone was madly laughing, myself included.

"Didn't think she'd be one to do anything like that," Blaise chuckled beside me. Even he had calmed down enough to enjoy himself.

As soon as she recovered enough to speak, she lifted her face and looked directly at Weasley. "Ron."

"I'm not afraid to take a risk. Dare," he muttered. He seemed to be sure that Granger wouldn't ask him to do anything outrageous. Of course, I figured that he shouldn't be so sure of this after her last answer. This seemed to dawn on him as well, for his smile suddenly slipped off of his face. Granger still hadn't had given him a challenge, and her expression was one of deep thought. Just when I was about to tell her that this wasn't a Potions exam and she should hurry it up, she spoke again.

"I dare you and Malfoy to snog each other, with tongue for thirty seconds and not just on the lips." My jaw dropped, and Weasley and I immediately started protesting.

"No way!" Weasley exclaimed.

"This isn't my dare," I growled. I refused to do this. This wasn't fair! I could take eating a cockroach with a slight grimace, but I refused to kiss Weasley. Granger had lost her mind. Still, I felt the invisible force of the dare pulling us together.

"Why is it every time I play magical truth or dare, I get forced to do something absolutely horrifying?" She merely gave an enigmatic smile and no response. "Fuck you, Granger." Screw manners.

"Oy, don't talk to her like that!" several people protested. Of course, they cut off the moment Weasley and I slid close enough.

"This doesn't change anything; I still hate you," Weasley said.

"Don't worry, the feeling's mutual." With a final, dare-induced shove, we were forced together. A shiver went through me as his lips brushed against mine. Although the touch was initially gentle, the dare forced us together roughly yet again. Our lips parted, and my tongue unwillingly slipped into his mouth. I gagged, and couldn't help but feel thankful that the Firewhiskey completely washed over any Weasley-ish taste. Still, I felt nothing but revulsion as my tongue pulled back, dragging on his lower lips. I refused to go any lower than his neck with my tongue, as Granger hadn't been too specific as to where I had to place it other than his mouth. My tongue made a heated trail down his vein, and reached his neck. As I bit down, Weasley gasped. My eyes finally opened at the sound, and I saw his eyes flutter. Was the sick bastard actually enjoying this? As if hearing my thoughts, he gave me a weak glare. This was wrong. So, so wrong! I belonged to Harry, and it was nothing but a betrayal of his trust to be snogging anyone but him. I couldn't bear this that much longer.

Weasley pulled back momentarily, only to yank me back at his lips. Now he invaded my mouth, roughly pressing against me. Just in time, the dare's release let go of us. Weasley must have felt it too, yet he didn't stop plundering my mouth. Angrily, I shoved him off.

"Get off of me!" I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and proceeded to sputter and spit. "I can't believe you made me kiss that thing." Weasley must have been dazed because he didn't make a movement to erase that memory from his mind. He didn't even respond to my insult.

"Ron?" Seamus muttered, placing a hand on him. The touch sent him back from his thoughts into what was going on.

"Thing? You're no angel yourself," came his belated response.

"You were kissing me after the dare ended! I can't believe you." I turned from him to Granger. "Are you even going to try to justify what you did? Not that you can…" I took a much-needed giant gulp of Firewhiskey, and cringed as my throat burned.

"Ron, you alright?" I threw my hands up in despair, and looked over at Blaise, who looked as if he couldn't decide whether he was disgusted or not.

"'Mione, I am going to kill you. My first kiss was Malfoy's."

"At least it was a hot kiss," Thomas muttered. I looked over at him – Blaise had previously been obscuring him – to find him chuckling.

"Hot? Did you honestly just call that kiss hot? Has everyone gone mad?"

"I felt violated just watching that," Finnegan said.

"You're quite a rough kisser, aren't you, Malfoy?" Lee Jordan chuckled. Suddenly, everyone except for Weasley and I was laughing about it. Even the other Weasley twins found humour in the situation. I crossed my arms over my chest and proceeded to glare at everyone, realising that complaining did nothing to help my situation. Weasley tried once or twice to tell everyone that they shouldn't be laughing, but they promptly ignored him, and he soon took to sulking.

"Just continue the game. You have to challenge someone."

"Seamus, truth or dare…"

The game went on for a while. We soon found out that Finnegan's first wet dream featured one of the Parvati twins and Lee Jordan had once kissed a Weasley twin. Of course, with everyone drinking increasingly more Firewhiskey, it was inevitable that the dares wouldn't progressively be worse. When it was Finnegan's turn, he decided to ask Weaslette, who had asked to be dared, to strip.

A small giggle broke through my lips. "Strip?" I couldn't imagine this coming from the shy, little Weaslette.

"Seamus, you crazy thing!" She battered her eyelashes, and attempted to get up, only to fall down again. She burst into giggles, and Granger, also drunk, pulled the Firewhiskey bottle Weaselette was reaching toward away from her.

"I think you've had enough for the night."

"Aww, you're such a spoilsport, Hermione." She pouted, but began to get up again. "Let's get this thing done with."

"Blaise?" I couldn't help but wonder.

"Draco?"

"Was I like this when you guys dared me to strip?" He chuckled.

"Oh, you were much worse than that. You're very…proud of your body."

"Proud?"

"And with reason." He blushed, and jumped a little when Thomas nudged him.

"Oy, if you're going to compliment anyone's body, it might as well be your boyfriend's."

"You know, I think the three of us are the only ones who aren't enjoying this," I murmured. At this point, Weaslette had taken off her shirt and pants, leaving her only in a bra and underwear.

"You have to remember three of her brothers are in the room," Thomas muttered. Sure enough, the three of them were looking away, all slightly green.

"If the first naked body I see is my sister's, I swear I'm going to kill you, Seamus," Ron moaned. Blaise, Thomas grinned, chuckling at his discomfort. Soon, however, the bra was undone with a high-pitched giggle, and at the first sight of tits, the three of us turned away disgusted.

"So," Thomas called over to the Weasley twins, who were sitting facing away from the scene, "talk 'bout awkward." They both gave uneasy snorts of laughter.

"I think we've learned never to take her out to a club," one said.

"Or really give her anything to drink. Ever," the other added.

Luckily, the whole mess didn't last too long, and due to everyone except for Longbottom, Finnegan, and Lee Jordan begging for her to put her clothes back on, the matter was soon resolved. Although, she had put her shirt on inside out.

"Ronnikins, truth or dare?"

"I think I've had enough dares for the night. I have to say truth."

"Did you enjoy that kiss you shared with Malfoy earlier?"

"I've never kissed anyone before." Was he actually blushing?

"You're not answering the question. You're going to have to do that sooner or later."

"I can't judge fairly."

"Good Gods, I think he did," Thomas muttered. A hand flew to Weasley's mouth, and he clamped his mouth shut. He was fighting the dare. Sweet Salazar, if he said yes…

"It's not my fault he's a good kisser!" The room erupted into laughter.

"Maybe that's why Harry liked you so much, Malfoy?" Finnegan said.

"You actually enjoyed me kissing you?"

"It was quite intense, you know," Lee Jordan added with a wink.

"You enjoyed it?"

"I wasn't the one who asked you to do that thing with your tongue or bit my neck."

"Neither did I. That was part of the dare." I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him my iciest glare. He shrunk back, but still persisted.

"The biting was not." I opened my mouth to retaliate, but couldn't find anything to say. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"I wasn't exactly trying to be gentle, and after a while, I just let the dare magic – or whatever the hell you call it – do what it wanted. Believe me, I would have much rather just sent a nice curse your way."

"Well, same." The come-back was only half-hearted, and his gaze lingered on my lips.

"I think Granger planned it out to be this way, didn't you?" Blaise asked.

"What?" Obviously, she didn't expect to be dragged into this.

"You did this so that every time he sees Draco, he won't be able to be angry."

"What, I'm still angry at Malfoy!" the ginger protested.

"Alright, insult him right now."

"You…stupid Slytherin." Blaise smirked, his point proven.

"Alright, so I'm not that angry at him, what your point?" Blaise turned to address Granger again.

"Now he'll only be able to think of this. He might feel awkward around Malfoy, but he certainly won't hate him."

"You're clever, Zabini. I think I might like you." She grinned at him.

"'Mione, next time I think I'll just listen to you when you tell me I should trust someone."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea. Glad to have taught you a lesson."

The game sort of dwindled after that. Several people just curled up into balls, unwilling to actually climb the stairs to get to their dormitories. Blaise crawled after Thomas, and surprisingly enough, the couch was empty. I pulled myself onto it, and snuggled into the pillows, a drunken feeling of happiness calming me like a lullaby.

"Maybe you aren't so terrible, after all," Finnegan muttered from the floor.

"Glad you think so. You know, you're not as much of a bastard as I once thought you were either." As far as touchy-feely moments got, I had to say this was as fluffy as any conversation I'd had with a Gryffindor, other than Harry, of course.

There was silence, followed by a few snores. It soon seemed that everyone in the room other than me had fallen asleep. I lay there for a moment or two, smiling to myself. Harry was coming back soon. There would be no more worrying of what was going to happen. Everything would turn out just like I'd wanted. I'd never been one for fairy tales, but as far as I was concerned, this relationship now had a happily ever after. Harry was going to be alright. Wonderful Harry… My Harry…

For once, I slept soundly.