Note: Just as a precaution, I am not affiliated with Linkin Park in anyway. Just mentioned a song of theirs =]. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Feel free to message me or review the story.

Chapter 10

3:02 p.m. Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts (Saturday)

Vixen and the others had returned to the Gryffindor common room from a very short game of hide-and-go seek at Vixen's request. Harry and Hermione were sitting in chairs, Ron was stretched out on the couch, and Vixen sat on the floor. Nobody asked her why she decided to quit playing, but instead they remained silent. Vixen stirred on the floor.

"What do you guys think of Jake?" she asked the three. They exchanged looks.

"That one muggle kid?" Ron asked.

"Way to be specific Ron. There's only 14 of them roaming around," Harry replied. Ron rolled his eyes.

"He seems charming," Hermione replied crossing her legs. Ron angrily crossed his arms.

"Oh sure. If you're into that whole tall, dark and handsome thing," Ron snorted. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You think he's handsome?" Harry questioned jokingly. Vixen smiled.

"Why do you ask, Vixen?" Hermione asked, genuinely interested in the response. She shrugged.

"I think he might like me," she replied shifting on the floor to a more comfortable position.

"Is that a bad thing?" Harry asked, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I dunno. He's kind of a jerk, but he is funny. Well, sort of," she replied biting her lower lip.

"He seems a little intense," Hermione admitted. Vixen looked at her.

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied. The four remained quiet now.

"What about Draco?" Vixen asked. Harry's face became serious.

"Vixen, Draco isn't a nice guy," Hermione quickly said realizing Harry's change of expression.

"Malfoy is incapable of being nice to anyone. He's a cold, foul mouthed, arrogant child," Harry angrily told her.

"Did I hit a nerve, Harry?" Vixen asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Harry and Malfoy are basically mortal enemies," Ron stated simply. Vixen nodded.

"You need to be careful around him, Vix. I'm not sure what he is trying to do by pretending to care about your well being, but I can assure you it's nothing more than an act," Harry said storming out of the room. Ron got off the couch and ran after him.

"So much for our fun night," Vixen said sighing. Hermione frowned sympathetically.

8:16 p.m. Hallway, Hogwarts (Saturday)

Draco was on his way to the dinning hall for dinner when he was stopped. Jake was standing in front of him with a serious expression on his face. Draco raised his eyebrow at him.

"We need to talk," Jake told him. Draco crossed his arms.

"About?" he angrily asked.

"You know damn well what about," Jake said inching closer to Draco's face. Draco remained still, but glared back at him.

"Sorry, but not really," he spit back.

"You need to stay away from her!" Jake yelled. Draco looked around to make sure the hallway was empty.

"Her?" Draco asked. Jake stepped back and let out an aggravated laugh.

"You know, Vixen. Stay away from her," Jake said, a vein in his neck pulsing.

"She's my muggle, kid. I can't leave her alone even if I wanted to," Draco pointed out.

"If you wanted to? Hm, sounds peculiar. I seem to recall how stand-offish you were to all of us muggles when we arrived. Why the change of tune, blondie?" Jacob replied crossing his arms. Draco smirked.

"You jealous, muggle?" Draco taunted. Jake laughed loudly now.

"Oh please! I have already claimed her. But I don't need you messing things up for me.

Now, stay away from Vixen, and we won't have a problem," he said walking away from Draco and into the dinning hall. Draco stood quietly by himself in the hallway.

"Claimed her?" he wondered to himself. He shook his head, and continued into the dinning hall.

8:25 p.m. Dinning Hall, Gryffindor Table, Hogwarts (Saturday)

Vixen watched Jake enter the dinning hall angrily. She bit her lower lip reminiscing on what had happened earlier that day at the tree. She snapped out of her thoughts when Draco, who was also angry, entered the room. She then replayed what Harry and Hermione had told her about him in her mind.

She followed Draco with her eyes as he crossed the room and sat at the Slytherin table. She jumped when someone placed their hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa! Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya!" Jake said, smiling down at her. His hand was very sweaty on her exposed shoulder. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her.

"What do you want, Jake?" Vixen asked sighing.

"Just trying to see how the prettiest girl in the room is doing," he replied smiling wider at her. Ron made a gagging noise and Hermione shot him an angry look.

"Then you should go ask her," Vixen replied shrugging his hand off of her. Jake became serious.

"What's your deal?" he half yelled at her. Draco, who had heard Jake's voice get louder, perked up at the Slytherin table.

"Hey, calm down, mate. No need to yell," Harry said from across the table while standing up. Jake locked eyes with Vixen.

Angry, Vixen stood up and turned to face him. Jake looked down at her, continuing eye contact. Vixen's heart was beating rapidly, and she felt her blood heating up. Too long had she allowed people to yell at her. Too long had she let men yell at her. She placed her palms on his chest, getting ready to push him backward when he grabbed onto her wrists.

Vixen was taken off guard, but was more confused. She examined his hands briefly. His skin was smooth and his knuckles were completely fine.

"But...how? I saw him bleeding!" she thought to herself. Jake noticed her staring, and released her wrists.

Vixen took a step back, confusion covering her entire face. Jake remained still, placing his hands into his jean pockets. Draco was now standing beside the Slytherin table, watching them intently.

"Oh Jake!" Pansy yelled while striding over to him. Vixen didn't move her eyes off of him.

"Come now, Jacob. Leave this trash alone and come eat with the Slytherin's," Pansy urged grabbing onto his arm. He quickly pulled away from her.

"I'm Neville's this week. Not yours," he pointed out. Pansy glared at him and slowly walked away.

"Jake, you should go," Vixen said shifting her eyes quickly from his hands to his face. His jaw moved slightly.

"Fine. I'm sorry," he said walking away from the group and walking over to Neville, who was quietly sitting at the table. Vixen exhaled quietly.

"You okay?" Harry asked placing a hand on her shoulder. Without looking at him, she nodded.

She turned over her shoulder and examined the Slytherin table. Draco was gone now. She laughed a light laugh to herself. Of course he wouldn't stay to help her. Hermione, Harry and Ron must have been telling the truth after all.

"Guys, I'm going to go for a walk if that's okay," Vixen said to her three friends. They all exchanged nervous glances.

"I'm supposed to stay with you," Hermione pointed out. Vixen tilted her head.

"Hermione, I'll be fine," she reassured her. Harry glanced at her.

"Okay...I guess it wouldn't hurt. Just stay within the castle," Hermione urged. Vixen nodded and left the room.

"You think we should tell her?" Ron asked.

"No. We best keep it to ourselves," Harry replied. Hermione nodded.

9:03 p.m. Hallway, Hogwarts (Saturday)

Vixen had been wandering through Hogwarts alone. She kept her hands in her front pockets as she walked through the dimly lit halls. The moving paintings were still startling to her, but not enough to make her afraid. She stopped when she stepped on something.

Vixen slid her foot off of the item and bent down to examine it more closely. Surprised, she picked up what appeared to be an exact replica of her iPod from home. Confused she scrolled through the playlists to find all of her music within the device. She examined the hallway up and down a few times, only to find that she was alone.

Smiling to herself, she walked into an empty classroom. She turned the volume up as far as it would go, and hit play on her favorite song, When They Come For Me by Linkin Park. The drums started playing, and she set the iPod down on a table after taking the headphones out of it.. Alone, she began to sway with the beat.

The music flooded her ears, and her heart began to beat along to the rhythm. She started extending her legs farther and swaying her hips more dramatically. She began moving her arms and laughed to herself as she danced in the dark.

Draco had been walking through the hallway on his way to the Slytherin common room when he heard the music. Curious, he began to follow it until it got louder and louder with every step. He knew immediately that this was not music that a Hogwarts student would listen to. He stopped in the doorway of an empty classroom where the music had been coming from.

He furrowed his brow at the sight he was seeing. Someone was dancing along to the music in the dark. He caught glimpses of skin, clothing and strands of white hair in a stream of light shinning in through the window. He smiled when he realized it was Vixen. He remained quiet and watched her move.

She was quite entertaining. She was also quite good. Draco had never seen a witch or wizard move the way she did. He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized he was drumming his fingers to the beat. He quit drumming along and looked back at Vixen. The song began to fade and she stopped moving.

The music was now gone. Vixen stood quietly in the room looking up at the stream of moon light shining down across her face. She jumped when she heard someone walk into the room.

"How long have you been there?" she quickly asked Draco, who was now in front of her.

"Long enough. I didn't know you could dance," he said. She snorted.

"It's not like you actually care what I can and can't do," she said crossing her arms. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" was all he could think to say.

"There's a reason you've been being so nice to me, isn't there?" she angrily asked him.

"Would it really matter if there was a reason?" he angrily shot back.

"Is there?" Vixen said narrowing her eyes at him.

"I like you!" Draco yelled. Both Vixen and Draco's eyes widened at this statement.

"Why did I just say that! I do NOT like her!" Draco thought.

"Well...that made this really awkward," Vixen pointed out. Draco smiled at her response.

"I tell you I like you, and you find it appropriate to point out the awkwardness of it?" he laughed. Vixen smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she replied. Draco stopped laughing and kept smiling at her.

"Wait, are you actually smiling?" Vixen asked squinting at him.

"I dunno, maybe," Draco replied shrugging.

"Well, it looks good on you," Vixen said picking up her iPod and walking out of the room. Draco watched her leave, with a smile still on his face.

9:37 a.m. Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts (Sunday morning)

After Vixen had run into Draco the previous night, she left him and went to the

Gryffindor common room. She went to sleep on her make shift bed in the living area, and fell into a deep and heavy sleep. She hadn't seen Jake since the incident at dinner, and she didn't really mind.

She was awake before her three new Gryffindor friends this morning. Quietly, she made her way to the women's restroom and changed. Today she wore a cropped pink top that's sleeves were positioned off of her shoulders. She brushed her hair until it was straight and she then applied light powder to her already tanned cheeks.

Her jeans sat low on her hips and the bottoms dragged behind her Converse. She sighed at her reflection in the mirror. She wasn't sure what she was going to do for the rest of her time in Hogwarts. She took her pajamas back to the Gryffindor room, and then made her way to the dining hall for breakfast.

Halfway to the Dining Hall, she was stopped by a man crossing her path. He had long pale blonde hair, and wore a black cloak that was level with the ground. His face was pale, and sunken in, and he walked with a snake head tipped cane. He walked right past her without any recognition. She remained still as she watched him round the corner until he was out of sight.

"That's Lucius Malfoy," Pansy Parkinson said walking up to Vixen's side. Vixen raised an eyebrow.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Vixen sarcastically said. Pansy tilted her head.

"He's Draco's father. My future father in law," she said smiling. Vixen snorted.

"Well, good luck with that," she said starting to walk away. Pansy grabbed her wrist lightly, stopping her.

"Listen, we got off on the wrong foot. I'm just... defensive of Draco. He is my boyfriend and one of the most attractive guys at Hogwarts, so you can see why I had to be cautious, can't you?" Pansy asked, blinking faster than necessary. Vixen remained expressionless.

"Yeah, okay. I guess I see why you did what you did. But this doesn't make us friends," she pointed out pulling her wrist from Pansy's grip.

"Of course. My only advice is to make sure Lucius doesn't find out what you are. It won't be pretty if he does," she warned. Vixen directed her attention back to the corner where she saw Lucius.

"Okay. Thanks, Pansy," she replied. She then walked around the corner in attempt to follow him. Pansy laughed quietly to herself before walking into the dining hall.

Vixen walked down a hallway for a few minutes with no sign of Lucius. She was close to returning to the hallway that led to the dining hall, but she stopped when she heard a familiar voice around another corner. She peered around the castle wall to see Draco and Lucius in discussion.

"I just don't understand why you had to come," Draco said obviously annoyed.

"Because if I didn't come check on things, then Voldemort would not keep our family in his good graces, Draco," Lucius spat back.

"But Snape is here! He can easily keep an eye on things!" Draco said crossing his arms.

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Lucius yelled, drawing his hand back toward Draco. Vixen knew what was going to come next, and she did the unthinkable.

"Hey, Draco! There you are!" she said sweetly, walking over to the two. Lucius put his hand to his side, and Vixen mentally sighed in relief. Draco's expression showed panic.

"Oh, hello there, sir. I hope I'm not interrupting?" she said looking up at Lucius.

"No, no you're fine miss," he replied taken off guard. Vixen smiled her biggest smile at him.

"Is this a friend of yours, Draco?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow. Draco turned to his father, eyes wide.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, sir! My name is Jade Charm, pure-blood witch. I just transferred to Hogwarts from Australia. Draco has been kind enough to show me around

these past few days," she said, lying through her teeth.

"Pure-blood, you say? Well, I'm glad to see my son making friends with good company," Lucius said, smiling and half laughing. Vixens stomach churned, but her expression remained neutral.

"I'll leave you two be. I'll be seeing you soon, Draco," he said striding off down the hall. When he was completely out of sigh, Vixen exhaled heavily.

"Jade Charm?" Draco asked.

"Middle name," Vixen quickly said. Draco nodded in understanding.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Thanks," he replied. She shrugged.

"I'm sure you would have done the same for me," she said to him. His face became serious.

"You don't know that," he said to her, seriously. She directed her eyes to his.

"You're right. I don't know that," she replied calmly.

"You shouldn't trust me," Draco told her shaking his head slightly and lowering his eyes.

"Well, you should know something about me Draco. I don't trust anybody," she said beginning to walk away. She stopped at the corner and turned her head over her shoulder.

"Besides, I would never ask you to do anything for me," she said before disappearing. Draco smirked, staring at the last place he saw her.

"No. No, you wouldn't," he said quietly to himself.