Chapter 25

6:27 p.m., Quidditch Field, Hogwarts(Wednesday)

The surrounding Hogwarts students from the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses remained silent. Many Gryffindor students were looking to one another in shock of Draco's outburst toward Harry. Yet in the Slytherin stands students could be seen shaking their heads in a disapproving manner and exchanging disgusted looks amongst themselves.

"It's not like I meant to throw her off of my broom, Malfoy!" Harry shouted back.

"Why would you continue to go after the snitch when you knew that she had fallen off?" Draco questioned angrily.

"I didn't realize she had fallen off the back of the broom," Harry defensively stated. Draco groaned.

"Liar! You mean to tell me that the added weight of another individual on your broom was completely undetectable?" Draco sneered calling Harry's lie.

"Okay fine! I couldn't risk losing that snitch but Vixen was perfectly safe! My team was watching out for her," Harry told him. Vixen raised an eyebrow at the statement.

"Your team? Potter, nobody on your bloody team was even trying to catch her! Had I not turned away from you and that snitch when I did, she would be dead by now," Draco spit pointing at Vixen.

"You were willing to lose the entire Quidditch match against the Gryffindor House to save Vixen all for some stupid Muggle Studies grade?" Harry asked in disbelief. Vixen looked to Draco quickly.

"If you seriously believe all of this was for some bloody grade then you really are as stupid as you look," Draco quietly said shaking his head. He turned and started to walk back toward Vixen.

Her hands were still covering her mouth as she watched him stride toward her. The students who had been watching from the stands above had now burst into whispers. Draco stopped in front of Vixen with his eyes on the ground.

"Draco…I can't thank you enough," Vixen whispered to him gratuitously. He looked up, a few strands of his shaggy blonde hair falling into his eyes.

"Don't you dare thank me. You didn't ask for my help, therefore I made the choice to save you," Draco told her. Vixen was slightly confused.

"So because I didn't ask for you to save me, I can't thank you?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Precisely. Never thank someone for doing something on their own. Only thank them if you ask for their help and you receive it," he told her. She nodded in understanding.

"Vixen, you have to understand that you were safe the entire time," Harry explained while approaching the two. Draco shot him a glare.

"How was I safe Harry?" Vixen asked.

"A professor would have saved you," he told her. Vixen laughed.

"Are you joking? Harry, you knew that I had fallen off of your broom, but you didn't come after me. All because you wanted to win a game?" she said shaking her head at him. Harry sighed to himself.

"So now I'm the villain and Malfoy is some hero?" Harry said in disbelief. Vixen sighed.

"The fact that you even said that is ridiculous. This isn't about being a hero, Harry. It's about being a good friend. You need to straighten out your priorities," Vixen unhappily said as she started to walk off of the field. Draco followed after her.

9:17 p.m., Slytherin Common Room, Hogwarts(Wednesday)

After the incident that happened at the Quidditch field earlier Draco refused to continue the game. This in turn meant that Slytherin forfeited deeming Gryffindor the winner. Naturally, the already displeased Slytherin students became outraged at Draco's betrayal of the team.

Draco and Vixen had spent some time together discussing what had just happened. Vixen was alright physically but was a bit lightheaded and tired from the height of her fall. Draco had walked her back to the Gryffindor painting where he gave her a tight hug and a soft kiss on the lips before she had entered the house. He made his way back to his own house now.

When Draco had entered the painting and started through the tunnel that lead to the living area he could hear numerous voices. When he got closer to the living area he noticed that nearly all of the Slytherin students were in the room. Draco became slightly nervous when he entered the living area. The students fell silent when they saw him and glared at him. Draco placed his hands in his pockets.

"Well look who we have here, the most noble of all gentlemen," Blaise angrily said from the leather couch in the room while waving his hand toward Draco.

"My thoughts exactly Blaise," Pansy agreed, crossing her arms over her chest. Draco smirked and stepped out of the tunnel entryway and into the middle of the room.

"Do the two of you have any idea who you are talking to?" Draco asked menacingly.

"A Muggle-lover," Pansy sneered. Draco glared at her.

"I am Draco Malfoy. The Prince of Slytherin. I could have you all killed within a matter of minutes. Yet you all find it appropriate to glare at me and speak to me in a rude manner," Draco said turning to look at the other Slytherin's. Many looked away while others bit their lips.

"What, you can't kill us yourself?" Blaise taunted. Draco laughed.

"Enough with the senseless chatter from you, Zabini. I could kill you, it's true. But why get my hands dirty when someone else can do it for me? I am a Pureblood after all," Draco boasted. Blaise swallowed hard.

"You all do remember that Draco has a plan on killing the Muggle's right?" Jacob asked. Draco hadn't noticed him in the room until now.

"So what? He could have let Vixen plummet to her death and be rid of her sooner," Pansy noted. Jacob rolled his eyes.

"But he is supposed to be the first one to kill his Muggle. If he didn't go first, then all of you would be forced to figure out your own plans which I doubt you could do," Jacob pointed out. Draco was rather impressed.

"Whatever. But you better go through with it on Friday like you said. Oh and by the way, you have a letter from your father," Pansy said before leaving the room. The other students left for their rooms chattering about the situation.

Draco was brave enough to take on an entire room full of Slytherin students but he was scared to death to open that letter from his father.

Draco had picked up a black envelope with the Malfoy family wax seal on the back of it. He held onto it tightly as he made his way into his bedroom. He was unhappy to see that Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle were present in the room. Regardless, he made his way over to his bed and sat on the edge of his mattress. He took a deep breath before opening the letter.

Dear Draco- I'm sure you can only imagine how surprised I am that you were investigating Jade Charm and did not inform myself or your mother. I'm going to hope that you were unaware of her being a threat to our Lord when I met her. I'm more interested in your explanation of devising a plan to eliminate her. Surely you haven't been telling other Slytherin students? That is very unorganized and unsafe, Draco. Even if they are in your House. I would expect a Malfoy to have more common sense than that. But then again, you never were the brightest boy. Harry Potter would have been smarter about this. Which is exactly why we cannot count on you for anything. You will never be smart enough to beat that boy. If you don't take care of that girl, I have been ordered to infiltrate your school and do it myself. Also, Severus has been and will be watching you closely. Do NOT embarrass me. -Lucius Malfoy

Draco crumpled the piece of parchment in his hand quickly after reading it. He gritted his teeth angrily as he continued to squeeze the parchment into a crinkled ball. He threw it against the wall next to him and laid back onto his bed. Jacob who had just entered the room watched him curiously.

Within seconds, Draco pulled himself out of his bed and stormed out of the bedroom. Jacob followed after him quietly from a respectable distance. The two boys had exited the Slytherin House all together now. Draco slipped into the boys restroom and Jacob slowly walked in moments after him. Draco was gripping the sides of one of the white porcelain sinks as the water ran loudly from the faucet. He was breathing heavily and his arms were shaking.

"Get out of here Jacob," Draco angrily said without looking up or turning around. Jacob leaned against the wall behind him.

"Something wrong, Blondie?" Jacob asked while crossing his arms over his chest. Draco scowled into the mirror at Jacob now.

"I've already told you that we are not friends. Now leave!" Draco yelled at him through the mirror. Jacob glared back at him.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," Jacob demanded. Draco groaned angrily and looked back into the sink.

He let go of the sink and splashed cold water over his face. He tried to slow his breathing and made little improvement. Jacob remained still with his eyes glued on Draco. Draco let out a long sigh and shut the water off. He then slammed his palms onto the sides of the sink and looked into the mirror at Jacob.

"I've got to save us all," Draco angrily said shaking his head back and forth. Jacob raised an eyebrow at him.

"Save us all? Who are you talking about?" Jacob asked him. Draco chuckled slightly.

"Everybody," Draco simply replied with a sad smile on his face. Jacob felt his heartbeat start to increase.

"What have you gotten us into?" Jacob asked genuinely concerned. Draco turned around and faced him now.

"I didn't do this, Jacob. But I didn't try and stop this from happening either. Now, I might be too late," Draco said unhappily shaking his head.

12:19 p.m., Dinning Hall, Gryffindor Table, Hogwarts(Thursday)

Tensions ran high at the Gryffindor Table today. Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to say to Vixen and she didn't try and talk to him either. Hermione and Ron sat quietly around their two friends. Vixen pushed chopped up pineapple pieces around in her silver bowl with her fork. Ron sighed catching everyone's attention.

"Can we just deal with this?" Ron asked sadly. Hermione frowned at him.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Vixen lied. Harry snorted.

"Stop it! The both of you need to stop this right now. I understand this is awkward for you both but it is even more awkward for Hermione and myself," Ron pointed out. Vixen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fine. You want us to talk? Then I'll talk. Harry, I'm really sorry that you were a neglectful friend and let me fall of the back of your broom thousands of feet in the air," Vixen sarcastically said scrunching her face up at Harry.

"Then I'm so sorry that you weren't paying enough attention to realize I was going after the snitch and you clumsily fell off of my broom," Harry shot back, also sarcastically. The two glared at one another in silence.

"There. Now was that so hard?" Ron asked them. Hermione placed a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Excuse me," Draco said from behind Ron. The four looked up at him questioningly.

"Are we having a party tonight or no?" Draco asked shortly. Vixen scoffed at the idea.

"I think we should," Hermione told him nodding slightly. Ron agreed by nodding.

"Fine. Then we need to find a room for it," Draco replied while placing his hands into his pockets.

"Why can't we use the Potions classroom?" Ron asked. Draco smirked unhappily at him.

"Snape is still cleaning the room up from your little accident the other day," Draco told him. Ron nodded once and turned around.

"Well, I'll find someplace for us then. I'll send you a letter when we decide, Draco," Hermione told him calmly. Draco nodded and looked to Vixen.

The two looked into one another's eyes for a moment. Draco broke the contact and made his way out of the dining hall. Vixen watched him leave sadly.

7:36 p.m., Gryffindor Common Room, Hogwarts(Thursday)

"Well, we've found a place," Hermione said entering the living area of the Gryffindor House with Ron trailing behind her. Vixen perked up.

"Where?" Vixen asked happily. Ron flopped down on the couch beside her.

"The Astronomy Tower," Ron told her casually. Vixen smiled.

"I already alerted Draco, so we should head over there soon," Hermione informed Vixen and Harry. Harry shrugged in his seat.

"You two are still fighting?" Ron asked unhappily. Vixen sighed and looked at Harry.

"Not really, Ron. Harry is just pouting," she said pointing his way.

"No I'm not!" Harry said angrily defending himself. Hermione sighed out of irritation.

"Can we please go?" Hermione pleaded. Ron and Vixen stood up.

"Alright, we can go. Come on Harry Pouter," Vixen taunted as she began to walk out of the room with Hermione. Ron tried to stifle a laugh but failed.

Harry angrily followed after the three into the hallway. Vixen tried her best to ignore Harry while they walked together and tried to focus on her upcoming week with Draco. Sure they had gotten along fine when they weren't living together but what was going to happen when they were in the Slytherin House? Vixen followed the three up a winding staircase.

"Hello," Hermione said in a fake happy voice when she noticed Draco was already in the room. He responded with a nod.

"This place is wonderful!" Vixen yelled spinning in the middle of the room. Draco couldn't help but smirk at her.

"It's not bad," Ron admitted before sitting on the floor. Hermione sat next to him casually.

Harry remained standing, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Draco was leaning on a nearby windowsill peering out of it and up at the sky. Vixen walked around the room examining it.

"This is so weird," Vixen admitted sadly before sitting down on the floor. Everyone looked at her.

"What is?" Harry asked. Draco sneered at him.

"I'm moving out of the Gryffindor House tomorrow morning. It's my last week here with all of you. It makes me a little sad," Vixen told them. Hermione frowned.

"Only a little sad?" Ron asked. Vixen chuckled.

"No, not just a little. A lot actually. This place has become a part of my everyday life for the past month now and honestly, I don't want to forget it. But more importantly I don't want to forget all of you," she told them with tears starting to form in her eyes. Hermione could feel her own eyes watering at the thought of her new friend disappearing.

Draco turned around and was getting ready to go over and comfort Vixen when Harry moved. Draco watched him approach Vixen and sit down beside her. He glared at Harry when he put an arm around Vixen rubbing her tanned shoulder with his hand. Instead Draco crossed his arms and sat on the window edge, staring at the two.

"I hate that you have to have your mind warped to forget us," Ron told Vixen. Hermione tensed up.

"What if there was some way that we could stay in touch?" Hermione said inquisitively. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"How would that be possible?" Ron asked. Draco uncrossed his arms.

"I know a way," he said. The other four in the room looked over at him quickly.

"I've been thinking about this for a while actually. It's a fairly simple concept really. But actually making it happen is quite difficult," Draco started.

"What is your idea?" Hermione asked, intrigued. Vixen sat up straighter.

"We need to un-bewitch Vixen's crystal ball which will be a time consuming task in itself. But then we can redirect the magical signal from the Muggle-world to the Magic-world. So whenever she would say one of our names she could see what we were doing. The only thing we need is a second ball that is bewitched so we can still see her," Draco explained. Hermione was genuinely impressed.

"That's a very impressive idea, Draco. But where would we get one of the crystal balls for ourselves?" Hermione asked contemplating her own question.

"I'll steal one," Vixen said calmly. The group looked at her curiously.

"I'm serious. It won't be difficult. Most of the other Muggles didn't have their crystal balls bewitched to only appear when they want it. I can just steal one from one of them on the last night," Vixen explained. Draco smirked at her intelligence.

"But who are you going to steal one from Vix?" Ron asked. She thought to herself for a

moment.

"Jacob," she replied.

"Why him?" Harry asked releasing her shoulder.

"Because the both of them will be in the Slytherin House this week. That's perfect!" Hermione told him, understanding Vixen's logic. Vixen nodded.

"Okay, so this is all falling together, but you forget one thing. Burbage is erasing her memory!" Ron said stating the obvious. Vixen bit her lower lip.

"Then we need to put on our best acting faces. We will convince Burbage that we need to do it to have closure or something. She's into that sentimental crap. Harry will cover himself with his cloak of invisibility and stand between Granger and Vixen holding a mirror above his head. Granger will start the spell, aiming above Vixen slightly. It will bounce off of the mirror and into a wall or something," Draco said placing a hand to his

chin. Vixen smiled.

"Then I pretend that I don't know where I am!" she said happily. Draco nodded and

smiled at her.

"How did you know about my cloak?" Harry asked, shocked. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, Potter. Everyone knows about it," Draco told him. Vixen smiled.

"Gentlemen, Vixen, we have ourselves a plan," Hermione said happily. Vixen laughed and hugged her tightly.

9:20 a.m., Hallway, Hogwarts(Friday)

"Thanks for helping me move my things," Vixen said to Draco as he carried her bag of belongings toward the Slytherin house.

"Not a problem," he replied before they stepped into the painting doorway. He placed her bags on the floor by the couch.

"It's so regal in here," Vixen told him looking around the room. He nodded.

"It's one of the only good things about being in a House full of kids whose parent's donate generously to improve the House," Draco told her. The two left the House and started to head to Muggle Studies.

As they rounded the corner Vixen noticed the back side of a brunette girl storming toward Muggle Studies in front of them. She could tell by the girls white socks that had the initials "PP" embroidered on them in green that it was Pansy. Draco also noticed her and tensed up slightly. Vixen stopped walking when Pansy tripped and fell to the ground, dropping her books and parchment on the floor.

Draco smirked at the sight. It was about time that Pansy got a good taste of reality even if it was accidental. He furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed Vixen running toward her. Draco remained still, dumbfounded, as he watched the two. Vixen knelt down beside Pansy and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Vixen asked, genuinely concerned. Pansy looked up at her confused.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled back swatting Vixen's hand off of her shoulder. Vixen remained knelt down beside her.

"Here, let me help you," Vixen said calmly as she started gathering Pansy's things off of the floor. Pansy stared at the muggle girl with confusion all over her face.

"Why are you helping me?" Pansy asked her. Vixen looked up slightly at the girl before handing her the items she dropped.

"It's the kind thing to do," Vixen said before standing up. Pansy adjusted her things in her arms while still sitting on the floor.

"I like your hair a lot better like this. It accentuates your cheekbones," Vixen said extending her hand to Pansy. Pansy glared at her hand for a moment but reluctantly ended up grabbing it.

Vixen hoisted the girl off of the floor quickly and released her hand. They shared an awkward moment of silence before Pansy turned and walked away toward the classroom. Draco approached Vixen now.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Draco asked her in a shocked tone. Vixen gave him a small smile.

"That was me being a decent person, Draco," she said turning her face to look at him. He still looked at her completely confused but shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm never going to understand you, am I?" he asked placing an arm around her. Vixen raised her eyebrows at him.

"Who knows. I guess you better start observing," she teased before shaking his arm off of herself and entering the classroom. Draco shook his head, laughing quietly to himself as he walked in behind her.