Draco and Blaze didn't work out as Draco had planned. In fact, after the Yule Ball, Blaze went back to hating Draco from a distance. Her hatred, though, decreased by a good amount ever since they'd danced together, but she'd never admit it out loud.

However, Draco managed to mend ONE relationship.

"Draco Malfoy, would you mind explaining THIS!" Shiro growled heatedly one day, storming up to Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle. Shiro clutched an issue of the Daily Prophet in his hand, and his face was bright red.

Draco looked up casually and shooed his cronies away. "Depends. What is 'this?'"

Shiro pointed at an article, his hand shaking with fury. "In case you're too stupid and big headed to READ, this nasty woman Rita Skeeter, who takes everything she hears and juices it up to ruin peoples' lives, wrote about Harry again. Not only did she say some bloody lie about Harry and Hermione, but she says Harry is still sobbing his eyes out over his parents. Now, that's aggravating enough, but then it says: Dear Harry has, however, found comfort in a Ravenclaw boy by the name of Shiro Ueda. I have seen Shiro with my own eyes, and what a dashing young man he is. His best feature is certainly his smile; I wouldn't be surprised if that's what won the heart of Gryffindor Blaze Alexanders. 'Shiro's the sweetest guy you'll ever know,' says his closest friend, Slytherin Draco Malfoy. 'He's an orphan like Potter, but UNLIKE him, he's never shed a tear over his loss. It's most regretful he's gotten to be friendly with a disgrace like Potter, but I'm always rooting for him.' What IS this bloody nonsense?" Shiro crumbled up the Daily Prophet and tossed it on the ground. His eyes were alight with rage.

"Oh calm down, Shiro. Now you-"

"I most certainly will NOT calm down! Not only will people who were considering being my friend think I'm close to a revolting someone like YOU, but now the whole wizarding world knows about my parents' death! I don't want people to know this!" he hissed. He got so close to Draco's face, their noses were nearly touching. "And that little bit about Blaze… Blimey, Malfoy, I knew you hated me, but this much?"

"I don't hate you!" Draco exclaimed quickly.

"Well you sure have a lovely way of showing it."

Draco's usual stuck-up, devious expression vanished from his face. "I mean it. Shiro, I didn't say ANYTHING about you and Blaze. I swear in the name of Salazar Slytherin I didn't! And that other stuff… Yeah, I told her. I just thought that, if you won't take it from ME that you're still important to me, then maybe other people would try and convince you too and there'd be more of a chance."

Shiro sighed irritably. "Since when am I important to you?"

Draco's gray eyes seemed almost pleading. "In case you haven't noticed, I don't hang around the kindest of people. I mean, I'M not kind myself, but… Shiro, I miss having you as a friend. Of course, I wouldn't trade my current life for another- I DO adore my popularity and leadership- but if I could make any change, it would be that you're back in it! In all honesty, the only reason I have for refraining from being an even worse person than I am now… The only reason I ever feel any regret… is you! You're the yang to my yin, you're my conscience! Please… What can I do to make you at least hang out with me a bit?"

Shiro was silent for a moment. He'd never seen Draco so innocent, so vulnerable… "You could be less of a brat, and be nicer to people," he muttered. From Draco's silence, he knew that was apparently too much to ask. "You could… tell me how this Rita Skeeter woman has been getting word on all these people…"

Draco bit his lip, obviously weighing his decision. "If I tell you, will you be my friend again?"

"You sound like such a little child. But…" Shiro sighed. "I admit I've missed having a git like you as a companion. I won't be VERY close to you, but… Sure. We can be mild friends again."

A smile threatened to form on Draco's pale face. "Very well… You can't tell ANYONE though. You still owe me some for last summer, you know." Shiro nodded, wondering if he should tell people anyway. "Rita Skeeter… She's an unregistered animagus. She can turn into a beetle… She buzzes around eavesdropping and getting little interviews with Slytherins. I, er… I'm a bit like her accomplice."

Shiro was speechless for a moment; he only whistled. "Well, I DO still owe you for saving my life, so I'll keep quiet… Can you PLEASE try to be nicer? Please?" he spoke after a few seconds.

Draco's eyes wandered nervously. "I, uh… I guess I'll be nicer to SOME people, but you can't expect me to improve my behavior toward Potter, Granger, and Weasley…"

"Actually, I can. But, I suppose you have the right to enemies…" At that moment, Shiro did something that he wasn't even aware he was doing, nor would he ever have done if he was completely in his right mind: he took a jump-step forward, and gave Draco a hug. To make the moment all the more shocking, Draco gently wrapped his arms around Shiro's back in return.

"I'll… see you on September first. Maybe over the summer," Konata murmured at King's Cross station at the end of June. Lots of things had happened before the year drew to a close… Mainly the rising of Lord Voldemort, and Harry winning the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric would have also won, but…

"You're still upset about the Leaving Feast, aren't you?" Shiro inferred softly.

Konata gave a small nod, her emerald eyes beginning to water. At the usual celebrative end of term feast, everyone had raised their goblets to honor the death of Cedric Diggory. "I… I didn't fancy him, please know that. He just… He was a really nice boy, and was among the last people who deserved death, and gave my House the honor we've been deprived of for so long…" Her voice was distant and frail.

Shiro rubbed her arm comfortingly and used his thumb to wipe away a single tear that trickled down her face. "It's alright, love. It's summer break. Let's… put this behind us for the meantime, alright?" Wiping her eyes on her hand, Konata nodded and gently snuggled up close to him.

Shiro planted a kiss on her head. "I'll miss you a whole lot," he murmured.

"I'll miss you too," Konata agreed. "I hope we can see each other this summer…"

"Same. Here, I'll give you something to remember me by." Shiro cupped Konata's chin in one hand and gave her a light kiss. Konata blushed, but immediately dove to give him another. It wasn't long before Konata's hands were gripping Shiro's shoulders, Shiro had one arm around her waist and the other touching her back, their eyes were closed, and they were giving each other repeated kisses. Mischief seemed to roll her eyes in her crate; Tar stared at them, head tilted, from atop Konata's suitcase.

"KONATA ELIZABETH VERDENT, WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN ARE YOU DOING!" shrieked a man's voice, causing the couple to rip away from each other. Konata's face glowed crimson: she hadn't yet told her parents she was dating Shiro.

"D-Daddy! I, er, h-hello!" she squeaked. Shiro's cheeks were also burning pink, and he looked as flustered as someone who had been awoken by pie in the face.

"Don't 'h-hello' me young lady! What in BLOODY hell do you think you're doing, sucking face with that boy!"This is worse than getting a howler in the mail, Konata thought as she noticed a significant number of people turned to face them.

"Oh, lay off it, Will. Shiro is a wonderful boy from everything Konata's told us about him, I say it's about time they got together," sighed Mrs. Verdent. She gave the couple a warm grin. "It's lovely to see you, Shiro. And I've missed you so much, Konata, dear."

Tongue-tied, Konata and Shiro just nodded. "Shiro, c'mon! We gotta go!" called the voice of Satoshi. Shiro snapped out of his trance and quickly said, "Nice seeing you Mrs. Verdent, Mr. Verdent. Have a wonderful summer… See you, Konata." With a quick peck on her cheek, he grabbed his cart and steered it off to his brother and sister.

Before Konata could receive the scolding of a lifetime by her father, Blaze conveniently trotted into view. Konata spun around to face her. "Hey, you! At Hogsmeade you said you'd catch up with us, but we didn't see you…"

"Yeah, sorry about that… Hermione asked me to sit with her, Ron, and Harry, and I didn't get a chance to tell you and Shiro… The three of them, plus the Weasley twins, hexed Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle at the same time. The results were bloody brilliant! Draco sprouted some form of tentacles on his face…"

Konata grinned a bit. "You called him Draco instead of Malfoy. How sweet!"

Blaze's cheeks uncharacteristically turned a light shade of pink. "Shut it you. Besides… When we get back to Hogwarts, I plan on asking out Satoshi."

"Adorable!" Konata squealed, bouncing over to retrieve her cart. Blaze just sighed, smiling good naturedly, and fetched her own cart. As they proceeded to the parking lot, Blaze kept eyeing Konata silently. After a while, she smirked a little. "Oh my god. Konata, were you snogging Shiro in front of your parents?"

Konata's face flushed. "H-huh! We were not SNOGGING!" she cried.

"They were definitely snogging," Mrs. Verdent whispered to Blaze.

"MUM! H-how did you come to that conclusion, anyway, Blaze?" Konata asked, her voice so high it was almost a whine.

Blaze winked. "It's written all over your face, honey."