Note: I just wanted to thank those of you that have been reviewing the story. Your opinions are very important to me. Enjoy!

Chapter 26

9:30 a.m., Muggle Studies Classroom, Hogwarts(Friday)

Draco walked behind Vixen slowly as they entered the classroom. Ron, Hermione and Harry were all sitting quietly in their usual seats at their table waiting for the two. As Vixen took her place on top of the table Draco sat down in his chair slowly. Harry shot Draco a quick glare but he didn't notice.

"Hello class! As you all know it is our last week of observations! I can't stress how important it is that you switch with the last member of your group for observations," Burbage said, her eyes darting over at Rylen and Luna. Vixen smiled at the hint.

"No," Rylen calmly said. Burbage sighed loudly.

"It has been a huge pleasure having all of you Muggle children here with us at Hogwarts.

I want you to enjoy this last week to the fullest extent and for that to happen I have planned a special evening to take place," Burbage continued happily. Draco raised an eyebrow questioningly at her.

"I had this approved by Professor Dumbledore this very morning in fact. Next Thursday night, starting at precisely 6:00 p.m., I will be throwing a ball for you students and your muggles!" she told her students while clapping her hands together. Many male students groaned.

"A ball? You mean, like fancy stuff 'er somethin'?" Crabbe asked confused. Draco rolled his eyes at the remark.

"Yes, Mister Crabbe. The young women will dress in beautiful gowns of their choosing and you young gentlemen will be wearing dress clothes. I do not require dress robes but a nice button up shirt and black slacks will work fine," she explained. The boys continued to groan.

"I think it sounds like a lot of fun," Vixen said to her group happily. Ron groaned.

"Balls are terrible!" he complained. Hermione crossed her arms.

"I agree with Vixen. I think it will be exciting to get dressed up," Hermione told the group around her. Draco didn't have anything to say about it.

"Thursday night? This can't happen Thursday night. Not when my plans are falling together," Draco thought to himself. Vixen looked over at him briefly before looking across the room.

"Hey, where is Jacob?" Vixen whispered to the group. All of them but Draco shrugged.

"Draco?" Vixen asked. He shook his head before looking at her.

"What? Oh, Jacob? I'm not sure," he told her looking across the room. Surely enough Jacob was not present.

"Hey Neville, where is Jacob?" Harry whispered. Neville turned to look at him.

"Pansy said he was sick this morning," he replied. Burbage cleared her throat.

"If Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom are finished with their discussion, I will proceed with mine. Now, this ball will require you to bring a date. I don't care who they are but they must be dressed appropriately. Now, my students must check in with their Muggles regularly, I'm talking about every 20 minutes or so. Of course it would be easier to just go together as a double date," Burbage explained. Harry and Neville sat back in their

chairs quietly.

"What if you want to go stag?" Vixen asked. Many students gave her a strange look, Draco included.

"I'll be your date," Liam said while turning and winking at Vixen. Matthew from a few desks away made a loud gagging sound.

"Then you need to talk to me before hand, Miss Charm. But I really encourage you to bring a date," Burbage explained. Vixen nodded and looked back at her group.

"Like you need to worry about finding a date," Ron said chuckling lightly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vixen asked him.

"You're one of the most attractive girls in Hogwarts. Men will be dying to take you to this ball," Harry explained. Draco scoffed quietly to himself.

"Well, regardless of my situation, I expect all of you to save me a dance," Vixen said pointing at everyone in the group. Everyone but Draco nodded.

"Vixen, we need to stop back at the Slytherin House before Transfiguration," Draco simply stated. Vixen raised her eyebrows at him.

"Okay, that's fine," she said while nodding her head. Draco folded his arms over his chest and sat back in his seat.

"I don't even know what to wear for this ball. I don't have a gown with me," Vixen said. Hermione smiled.

"Which gives us an excuse to go shopping!" she chimed nearly bouncing out of her seat. Vixen sighed.

"I guess you're right. I'm no good at picking things out though," Vixen warned her. Hermione nodded.

"Then we can make it a girls day. Myself, you, Ginny and Luna could all go and buy dresses," Hermione told her. Vixen nodded in understanding.

"I'll see you all next week! Please, be safe and enjoy yourselves this weekend," Burbage said waving off the students. Vixen followed Draco out of the classroom silently.

"Why are we going back to the Slytherin House?" she asked Draco as they walked down the hallway.

"I need to check on something. It won't take long," Draco replied without looking at her. Vixen continued walking next to him.

"So, who are you taking to this ball?" she asked casually as they made their way up the stairs. Draco scoffed.

"I have better things to think about than some lousy ball," he replied. Vixen bit her lower lip.

"Oh," was all she replied. Draco looked down at her quickly then back ahead of himself.

"It's not like I can just come right out and tell her I want her to be my date. I mean, I'm supposed to kill her, and my night of warning her is getting ruined. Stupid Muggle Studies," Draco thought to himself as they continued to walk side by side.

"So why are we going back to the Slytherin House?" Vixen asked changing the subject.

"You already asked me that," Draco pointed out.

"Oh, so I did. Well, what exactly do you need to check on?" she asked, slightly changing the question. He sighed.

"It's nothing, really. I know you're curious but just take my word for it. It's nothing extremely important but it's important enough that I need to check it out," he told her, avoiding an answer. Vixen groaned.

"Fine," she said obviously aggravated. The two stepped through the Slytherin House portrait and into the tunnel way that led to the living area.

Vixen walked quietly behind Draco through the dark tunnel way and into the living area. Draco continued to cross the room and she started to follow him. He turned when he noticed she was walking after him.

"You need to wait down here," he told her. Vixen placed her hands on her hips.

"Why is that?" she asked suspiciously. Draco let out a loud breath through his nose.

"You need to stay down here because our room is filthy. I live with Crabbe, alright? I need to get something for class now just wait for me," he lied to her in a frustrated tone. Vixen rolled her eyes and took a seat on the black couch.

Once he was sure that she wasn't going to follow him, Draco continued up the stairs and into his bedroom. He closed the door quietly and locked it behind himself. He sighed to himself when he noticed a lump under Jacob's covers. Draco made his way over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of the mattress throwing it to the floor.

A groggy Jacob looked up at him now, blinking rapidly from the sunlight that was pouring into the room. He sat up slowly and yawned. Draco scrunched his nose up in disgust at him.

"Why aren't you wearing pants?" Draco asked obviously disgusted. Jacob looked down at his electric blue boxers.

"It's too hot for pants," he replied rubbing his eyes with his fist. Draco shuddered.

"You're bloody disgusting," Draco told him while raising both eyebrows at him and nodding his head. Jacob turned his head at him.

"What do you even want?" Jacob questioned. Draco crossed his arms.

"You weren't sick last night, Jacob. I'm assuming you aren't ill this morning either," he told him. Jacob stretched his bulky arms above his head.

"I was fine last night. But then Pansy made me test out some Potion and I was throwing up everywhere," Jacob confessed as he lowered his arms. Draco nervously looked around the room for vomit.

"Not in here, Blondie," Jacob said squinting his eyes. Draco sighed a mental sigh of relief.

"Fine. What potion did she give you?" Draco asked him. Jacob merely shrugged.

"Well, whatever then. Are you alright?" Draco asked unhappily looking away from him. Jacob raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, you're checking on me?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Just answer the question," Draco demanded. Jacob smiled and chuckled.

"I'll be alright, yeah. I hope you know that we aren't friends though," he joked. Draco wasn't amused.

"Fine," he said beginning to walk to the door. He stopped when he noticed his crumpled up letter from his father on the floor by Jacob's bed.

Draco knelt down and picked up the paper. He unrolled it just to be sure it was the letter. He clenched his teeth together when he realized it was. He turned back to Jacob.

"Did you read this?" he angrily asked holding the paper up.

"Sure did. Your dad sure thinks highly of that Harry kid," he responded. Draco threw the

paper to the floor.

"You know nothing of my father! Don't you ever go through my things again," Draco said through clenched teeth with his finger pointed at Jacob.

"Well it was on the floor. Seems like fair game to me," he replied. Draco shook his head angrily.

"If you speak a word of that letter to anyone, I will kill you," Draco admitted. Jacob shrugged.

"Fine. I wasn't going to anyway. So don't act like it's because you threatened me and I'm scared," he told Draco. With that, Draco walked out of the room and down the stairs.

Vixen turned her head when she heard him enter the room. She noticed his angry expression and stood up from the couch. He stopped when he realized that she was in the room with him. He was so angry with Jacob that he forgot she was waiting for him.

"Everything go okay up there?" Vixen asked realizing he wasn't carrying anything. Draco remained silent but nodded.

Vixen placed herself in front of him now. She looked up at him but his head was turned to the side slightly. He refused to look at her at this moment. Vixen looked over his face numerous times to try and figure out what he was thinking. She bit her lower lip before making a decision.

She reached one hand up and placed her fingers at the base of his neck. She slowly ran them up his hair line until she reached the top of his shaggy blonde hair. She then started to run her fingers through it, massaging his scalp.

"No. She can't do that. Not right now. I can't even look at her. That feels fantastic though...no! I need to stop this," he thought fighting with himself. Unhappily he reached up and lightly gripped Vixen's arm.

He slowly pulled her arm away from himself making her hand release his hair. He then released her and she placed her arm at her side. He looked at her quickly only to see her look of confusion and disappointment. His heart grew heavier the longer he looked at her.

"Not right now, Vix. Just...not right now," he told her quietly. He watched her bite her bottom lip softly.

Oh how he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to grab her and place his lips to hers. He wanted to feel butterflies in his stomach and he wanted to make her knees weak. The urge was driving him insane but he had to restrain himself.

"We need to go to Transfiguration," he said, his voice quivering slightly. She nodded.

He walked past her and she followed behind him. His heart kept beating slower and slower as he kept picturing the look on her face. How was he supposed to make this up to her? Occasions like this were easy with Pansy. He never felt guilty about turning her down and she never really got that upset. But this was completely new to him. It was...frightening

10:11 a.m., Transfiguration Classroom, Hogwarts(Friday)

Vixen was terribly confused at Draco's behavior back in the Slytherin Common Room. She couldn't help but let her mind wander about the many things that he could have been thinking. She sat quietly next to him in the classroom while he kept his eyes on the front of the room. Vixen lightly bit her lower lip as she tried to sneak a glance at him.

She looked away from him quickly after noticing he was trying to pay attention to Professor McGonagall. Vixen attempted to try and listen to Minerva but found it difficult considering she wasn't sure what she was trying to teach the students. Vixen looked back at Draco when she noticed him grabbing a goblet off of the table in front of them.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked looking from the goblet to Draco. He looked at her quickly.

"I need to transfigure it into something else," he told her calmly while pulling his wand out of his pocket. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Transfigure?" she asked.

"Transfiguration is magic which changes one object into another," he explained placing the goblet onto the table. Vixen nodded in understanding.

Professor McGonagall was walking around the room examining her students carefully. She hesitated when she was nearing Vixen and Draco. She watched her Slytherin student flick his wand with careful precision aiming at his goblet. She raised her eyebrows when his goblet was transfigured into a white rose. She was impressed with Draco's skill but she was not surprised. He was one of her best students after all.

Minerva stood quietly behind the two teenagers observing them. She smiled when she saw Draco pick up the flower in his hand and nervously hand it to Vixen. Smiling, Vixen accepted the flower, turning it in her hands slowly and looking up at Draco. Minerva noticed that he had a small smile, not a smirk, on his face for the first time. She happily walked up to the two now.

"Careful, there might be thorns," Draco warned pointing at the rose.

"Well done Mister Malfoy. Your transfiguration skills are quite exceptional," McGonagall told him. Draco shrugged before looking away from her.

"I'll tell you what. Miss Charm, go ahead and keep your flower. I have plenty of goblets stored away. Losing one won't hurt," Minerva said placing a hand on Vixen's back.

"Thank you, Professor," Vixen replied while smiling. McGonagall nodded and left the table.

"That was nice of her," Vixen told Draco. He scrunched his nose up.

"Never cared for that old bat," Draco replied angrily. Vixen furrowed her eyebrows.

"Draco, that was incredibly rude," she pointed out. He shrugged.

"Well I'm not exactly a polite person," he coldly replied. With this being said Vixen

placed the flower on top of the desk.

"What is your problem today?" she asked him while placing her hands on her hips. Draco looked down at her with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm not acting any differently than I normally do," he told her. Vixen shook her head from side to side.

"Cut the crap, Draco. Why are you being so openly rude today?" Vixen said slightly raising her voice. Draco nervously looked around to make sure nobody was staring at them.

"Will you lower your voice?" he angrily asked with his voice no louder than a whisper. Vixen scrunched her nose up at him.

"Only on one condition," she said examining her fingernails. Draco groaned.

"What?" he asked her. She smirked at him.

"Apologize to Minerva," Vixen said pointing at his professor. Draco scowled at her.

"There is no way in hell that is happening," he told her while crossing his arms.

Vixen chuckled.

"You don't think so?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Actually, I know it won't happen." he pointed out. Vixen chuckled again.

"Oh Professor! Could you come over here for a moment? Draco has something to tell you," Vixen yelled waving over McGonagall. Draco shot Vixen an angry look before Minerva made her way to their table.

"Yes, Mister Malfoy?" she asked him, her wrinkled hands clenched together. Draco groaned.

"Apparently I apologize for being rude to you," he unhappily said while looking over at Vixen. Minerva smiled slowly.

"Well, thank you Draco. But you certainly are not the first student to call me an old bat," she said to him. Draco's face turned red and he shifted his eyes nervously from side to side.

"You heard that?" Vixen asked her, surprised. She nodded.

"These old ears still work my dear. But in all seriousness, thank you for the apology," McGonagall said before leaving the two.

"I can't believe you did that," Draco whispered to Vixen. She shrugged.

"Never underestimate the things that I will do, Mister Malfoy," she warned while winking at him. Draco smirked at her.

"Well, are you ready to go to lunch?" Draco asked. Vixen nodded.

The two walked out of Transfiguration together in a slightly better mood than when they had entered. While he wasn't paying attention, Vixen slowly nudged him, pushing him to the side slightly. He smiled down at her and she returned one back. Draco's smile faded quickly when they were approached by Jacob.

"How's it going guys?" Jacob asked as he approached Vixen and Draco.

"Fine," Draco responded quickly. Vixen raised an eyebrow at Jacob.

"I thought you were sick Jacob?" Vixen said in a suspicious tone. He looked perfectly normal to her.

"Yeah I was feeling a little under the weather this morning. But after Blondie here came to check on me, I made a quick recovery," he said pointing at Draco.

"Wait, Draco checked on you?" she asked looking over at him. Jacob nodded.

"Well we need to get going. Goodbye Jacob," Draco nervously said as he pulled Vixen along down the hallway.

"What was he talking about?" she asked him. Draco sighed.

"Remember when we went to the common room before class because I needed to check on something? Well, I kinda left out that it was Jacob," Draco admitted nonchalantly. Vixen scrunched her nose up at him.

"Why?" she asked obviously confused. Draco stopped walking and sighed.

"Seeing you in the hallway with Pansy today really impressed me, alright?" he simply told her.

"So what does that have to do with…..wait. You were trying to be nice, weren't you?" she happily asked him. She smiled when she saw his cheeks turn pink.

"You're so great!" she laughed while embracing him. Draco smiled at the surprise of her hug but quickly pulled away from her when he realized students were in the hallway with them.

"Well, make sure you don't tell anyone," he whispered to her as they walked into the Dining Hall. Vixen nodded.

"Promise. As far as everyone else is concerned, you're the same old villain you used to be," she joked as she entered the room beside him. Draco smirked and shook his head.