DRACO

"Rise and shine!"

Draco yawned, opening his eyes just in time to see Theresa throw the curtains for the window wide open. She was wearing a longsleeved blue dress with a twirly skirt that went down to just below her knees, leggings, and flats. Her hair was twisted up on her head and pinned in place by a fancy beaded flower. She was even wearing mascara.

"You look great," he slurred, blinking sleep from his eyes.

"Thanks," she said. "We're meeting my grandfather in half an hour. You need to look your best or not come." She turned and smiled at him. "I can't wait!"

Draco shooed her out of the room, dressed in one of his many black suits (but with a blue tie to match Theresa's dress), and went downstairs, where he ate a hurried breakfast of waffles and coffee. The Weasleys didn't exactly live in style, but they certainly knew how to cook. Then he joined Theresa outside. "How long do we have to get to the mansion?"

"Fifteen minutes approximately," she estimated. "Do you know how to drive a car?"

"Nope," Draco said.

"Alas," Theresa said. "It's chivalrous for the man to drive the girl . . . but I guess I'll have to drive."

"You can drive?" Sometimes Draco thought that this girl would never cease to amaze him. Shaking his head, he followed her around to the Weasley's old, rusted car. She was swinging the keys for it on her finger. Draco went around to the passenger seat and climbed in. Theresa got in and started the car, turning halfway to drive backwards down the driveway. "Not the best at this," she murmured, "but I think I can do it . . ."

"You inspire confidence," Draco told her, his fingers slowly closing around the edges of the seat. "I forgot how much I hate cars."

Theresa stayed silent, concentrating on not driving into the Weasleys' hedges. When they backed onto the road, she gunned the engine and they shot down the road. Draco tried not to scream. "Lead foot," he gasped out.

Theresa slowed the car a little, but she looked like she wanted to break the speed limit five times over again.

When they neared down, though, she had to go the speed limit. They made their way through the streets until they reached the mansion, where they parked on the side of the road. Draco shot out of the car with a small gasp. Theresa balked, staring up at the terrifying thing with something like fear in her eyes.

Draco took her arm and gently led her up the steps. "Shall I knock, my lady, or shall you?"

"Cut the crap, Draco," Theresa snapped, although she did look a little less nervous. Draco shrugged and banged the knocker several times, noticing idly that it was a lion's head.

A butler opened the door with a snooty expression that only grew when he saw the two teens. "Mr. Potter is not accepting visitors at this time."

"It's important," Theresa said. "Family business."

"Mr. Potter is not accepting visitors at this time," the butler repeated.

Draco felt a spark of anger flaring inside him and he barely resisted punching the living crap out of the butler.

"Tell him his granddaughter is here," Theresa suggested, lifting an eyebrow. "That might liven him up a bit."

"Mr. Potter has no grandchildren," the butler said uncertainly.

"Scratch that," Theresa said. "Ever heard of Harry Potter? Ever heard of Indigo Potter? She married a Muggle, didn't she? She had children, yes? Let me in." She said these last three words with astounding force.

"What house was Indigo Potter in?" the butler demanded.

Draco winced inwardly. Theresa had never been told the answer to this question. Oh, man, she was going—

"Ravenclaw," Theresa answered confidently.

The butler slowly stood to the side, allowing them to enter. "The foyer is on your left, please take a seat while I fetch Mr. Potter."

They entered into a long hallway, the end of which had a large door. The mansion had golden-colored walls and reddish brown hardwood, inspiring a Gryffindor theme. The walls had lion's head lamp brackets. Draco found the foyer (also Gryffindor themed) and sank into a large armchair. Theresa perched on the edge of the couch, looking nervous but trying to hide it.

"How did you know?" Draco asked. "About being in Ravenclaw?"

"Well, logic," Theresa said. "No one in Gryffindor had ever heard of an Indigo Potter, and I know she wouldn't have been in Hufflepuff or Slytherin, and Ravenclaws have tendencies to fall for Slytherins, as evidenced by both my mother and me. Logic."

"Wow," Draco said.

"I'm kidding," Theresa said bluntly. "I figured that we'd need the answer to that so I looked up the entire Potter family tree and what house they were in."

"You are a very believable liar," Draco informed her.

Theresa shrugged and lapsed into silence, staring at her hands.

The door opened and the butler admitted a tall man with black hair, rectangular glasses, and brown eyes. He was wearing a gray suit with a gold and red tie, and his breast pocket had the Gryffindor emblem on it. Theresa rose, and Draco followed suit.

"Sit down, sit down," the man said, waving his hand and doing as he had instructed. "You claim to be my granddaughter?" He asked Theresa.

She swallowed as she slowly sank down onto the couch. "Yes."

"I have no granddaughters," Mr. Potter roared, jackknifing to his feet. "Get the h—"

"My mother is Indigo Potter and my father is Severus Snape," Theresa shouted, also flying to her feet. "If that doesn't make me your granddaughter then the world is absolutely crazy!"

Mr. Potter froze.

"The only reason I came to your house," Theresa snarled, still not quite calm, "was to find where my mother is. If you can't help me that's fine!" She grabbed Draco's arm and started dragging him from the room. He wrenched his arm free. "You go on ahead, okay?"

Theresa stormed out.

Draco turned to Mr. Potter. "Please, sir . . . I know you probably don't think very much of her, but she's been through a lot in her life, particularly in the last year, and you were the only lead she had. She's going to go back to Hogwarts with only disappointment to bring to Professor Snape and consider herself motherless for the rest of her life . . . if you could give me her mother's address I would be eternally grateful."

"What has she been through," Mr. Potter said, "That would make her so desperate to see her mother again?"

Draco let loose the flood of events that had happened in the past year. By the time he was finished, Mr. Potter was wearing an expression of shock. "I can give you Indigo's address if you answer one question."

"Okay . . ." Draco said slowly, already having an idea of what the question was.

"You nearly killed her," Mr. Potter said, "and she became your girlfriend?"

"That's not the point," Draco said quickly. "And it was her decision."

Mr. Potter wrote down the address and handed it to Draco. "When you have a spare night, do come over for dinner . . . it's been quite lonely since my wife passed away."

"Sure thing," Draco confirmed. "Just give your butler some lessons in manners and you'll be all set!"

With that, he strolled from the room, pocketing the address.

"How'd it go?"

Draco glanced at Theresa, waiting for her to answer Fred's question. The twins saw her disgusted and furious expression and parted so she could get past them. With an apologetic shrug, Draco followed her up to Ginny's room, where she started pulling pins from her hair and throwing them around. "I can't believe him!" she burst out, tearing the flower from her hair and chucking it onto the bed. "And I thought Gryffindors were the nice ones!" She sat down on the bed to rip her shoes off, then continued her stalking and pin-pulling.

Draco didn't know what to say to this, so he went over and picked the flower up from the floor, straightening the cloth petals.

Suddenly Theresa burst into tears. "I was so hopeful, and what does he say? He doesn't have any granddaughters?! Do I exist or not?"

Draco was alarmed. Dropping the flower, he went over and hugged her, murmuring "Shh, it's okay . . ."

He guided her over to the bed and sat. She wrapped her arms around his middle gently, even though it had been a week since he'd started healing. They sat like that for a long time, Draco stroking her hair comfortingly, Theresa crying into his chest. Eventually they had to go down to lunch. Theresa pulled her hair into a ponytail, wiping the tears off her face, and smiled bravely at him. "Why don't you go get dressed in something normal and I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Normal is this," Draco said, gesturing at his suit, "besides the blue tie."

"Well, luckily for you, I bought you some normal Muggle clothes today," Theresa said. "You're all set."

"How on earth did you have all that time?" He got up from the bed anyway and went up to Ron's room, where there was a pair of jeans, a black hoodie, and a T-shirt that said, Sarcasm is the body's natural defense against stupid. Draco pulled the clothes on and went downstairs. The hoodie felt weird, and so did walking around in socks instead of dress shoes. Theresa wasn't downstairs yet, but the twins were.

"Hey," they said together, each putting an arm around Draco's shoulder. "You've got a plan up your sleeve, don'tcha? We both know you have the address she's looking for. When are you leaving to take her there?"

"I was thinking today," Draco admitted. "Is this close?" He showed them the address.

"A few miles that way," Fred said, pointing south. "You can make it a lunch outing if you hurry."

"Thanks, you guys," Draco said. He wrestled himself from under the twins' arms and went over to the stairwell. "Hey, Theresa! Get semi-presentable! I've got lunch plans!"

Then it occurred to him that he couldn't drive. He told Fred and George this and they smiled. "We can drive, mate. We've got business down there anyhoo."

Theresa came down the stairs a few minutes later, looking entirely refreshed in black jeans, a black T-shirt, a white jean jacket, and white combat boots. Her hair was in its typical over the shoulder braid. "Where are we going?"

"A restaurant in the next town over," Draco said. "Fred and George are coming too, because they've got stuff to do there."

"Oh, good," Theresa said. "They can drive. I am not anxious to drive again."

Fred pulled them up to the curb of a large tudor-style home and went to press a button on the dashboard. George stopped him with a glare. "You can't use the ejector seat, Fred, are you crazy? That's only for people we don't like. And we like Tess and Draco."

"If you insist," Fred muttered. "Well—out you go, lovebirds! Have a nice lunch!"

Theresa was eyeing the house with a suspicious look. "This doesn't look like a restaurant."

"It's not," Draco said. "Get out of the car."

Theresa slowly slid out of the car, and as soon as she was a foot away, the Weasleys slammed the car doors and sped away, leaving the two "lovebirds" on the curb looking up at the house. Draco glanced down at the address in his hand, then up at the address on the mailbox. They matched.

"We're here," he announced.

"What is here?" Theresa asked.

"Let's go," Draco urged.

"Draco, what is this place?" Theresa whirled from looking at the house so she could glower at him. "This is not a restaurant!"

"You're right," Draco said. "Do you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest," Theresa notified.

"Good. Let's go!" He walked up the path and knocked on the front door. "Come on, Theresa, you'll be fine."

He waited, and Theresa joined him just as the door opened. It revealed a woman of about average height with brown eyes, bobbed black hair, and glasses. She was holding a spoon with evidence of mac and cheese on it and looked kind of frazzled. She perfectly matched the description Snape had given them.

She stared at them for an awkward amount of time. "Um . . . do I know you?"

"Indigo?" Draco said. There was a sharp intake of breath from Theresa as the woman nodded, but he ignored her and went on, "Yes, you do know us—at least her." He nodded at Theresa. "This is Theresa Emily Mica Eleanor Olive Ingrid Wilford-Snape-Potter." That's a mouthful, he thought. "You sent her to live with Henry and Kendra Wilford when she was young, but since her entire family is dead, she came looking for you."

The woman paled. "T . . . that can't be!"

"Why?" Draco asked, with a sideways glance at Theresa. She was staring openmouthed at him.

"Her entire family's not dead," Indigo said. "Sadie and Alexa are here."

Theresa's voice squeaked as she exclaimed, "They are?!"

"I'll call them if you wish," Indigo offered, unable to take her eyes off her daughter. Draco felt as though this reunion was private, but he couldn't back off now.

"May I?" Theresa's eyes were sparkling, but they had an undertone of cunning. "Is there a good place to hide and scare them too?"

"Of course," Indigo said, smiling at last. "There's under the stairs . . ." She led her daughter into the house. Draco followed awkwardly, closing the door behind him. Theresa hid behind a large armoire-like piece of furniture, grinning evilly.

"SADIE! ALEXA! COME DOWN HERE PLEASE!" Indigo bellowed.

There was a thudding noise, as though there was a herd of elephants in the house, and two slim girls who had to be twins came rushing down the stairs. They had curly brown hair and green eyes and wore mischievous expressions. They'd get along with Fred and George, Draco thought. Probably.

"What's up, Aunt Indigo?" one of them asked.

"BWAH!" Theresa screamed, jumping from her hiding place and throwing herself at her sisters, who jumped three feet in the air, screeching like wet cats. "Tess!" one of them cried.

There was a lot of hugging and exclaiming and tearfulness that Draco felt he did not need to be there for, and at last the three sisters turned to Draco. The twins started circling him, rubbing their chins thoughtfully. When they got back to Theresa, one of them—Sadie?—said, "He's hot, I'll give you that."

Draco wanted to die on the spot.

"Is he smart?" the other twin demanded.

"Which House is he in?" the other other twin interrogated.

"Of course he's smart," Theresa said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But he is in Slytherin."

"Ohh," one of them said. "That's bad."

"Hang on," Theresa said, as Draco felt slightly insulted, "how on earth do you know about the Houses and which one is good and which one is bad? I never told you!"

The twins exchanged glances and pulled think sticks of wood from their pockets. They turned to the stairs and said in unison: "Glissseo!"

The stairs turned into a slide. Theresa gaped. "How do you know that?"

"Remember Fleur Delacour?" one of them—Draco decided it was Alexa—said. "From the Triwizard Tournament during your fourth year?"

"What the—I never told you about that," Theresa exclaimed.

"Do you, though?" Sadie persisted.

"Yeah," Theresa said slowly. "She went to Beaxbatons."

The twins grinned.

"No," Theresa gasped. "No way! How come I never knew?"

"Our term started after yours and finished before yours," Alexa explained. "I can't believe we fooled her all those years!" She high-fived her twin.

They stayed at Indigo's house until the father (who turned out to be Kendra Wilford's brother) came home and wondered who all the extra people in the house were. Draco and Theresa went up to the bedroom the twins shared and Apparated to the Weasley's house. They spent the night trying to figure out who the heck was related to Theresa. As they already knew, Harry Potter was her cousin, making Lily and James Potter her aunt and uncle. Indigo Potter's children, Mellie, Arnold, and James, were Theresa's stepsiblings. Kendra and Henry Wilford were her aunt and uncle. Sadie and Alexa were her cousins. And the rest was obvious.

Theresa sat back, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Fred handed her a plate of salad and chicken, while George gave one to Draco. They both accepted them wearily and ate.

When they had finished eating, they each went upstairs. Theresa followed Draco into his bedroom. "Thanks."

Draco shrugged. "No problem."

"I take it you forgive me for what happened out in the forest?" Theresa asked.

He shrugged again. "Sure."

She shook her head with something like amazement in her eyes. "You know, I will never understand you. I will never understand how on earth you managed to switch from being a complete utter jerk last term to being this nice."

"Well . . ." Draco didn't know what to say to this. He made some sort of I dunno gesture with his hands.

Theresa laughed and kissed him. "You can be so funny sometimes."

"Really?" Draco said, gazing into her green eyes. "I thought that was Fred and George's job."

"They're funny," Theresa admitted, "but you're a different kind of funny. Adorable funny." She grinned.

"Adorable," Draco muttered. "My God, if you called me adorable in any year before fifth I would have killed you on the spot."

She looked confused. "Why not before this year?"

"Because it was in my fifth year that I got a crush on you," Draco confessed. "I just didn't realize it until—"

"Sixth year after you pulled Sectumsempra on me," Theresa finished, understanding dawning in her eyes. "That was why you looked like an Inferi when you wanted to apologize to me."

"Hit the nail on the head," he confirmed. He dropped his head for another kiss.

"Truthfully," Theresa said, avoiding the kiss, "I've had a crush on you since third year."

Draco laughed. "How ironic. Why?"

"Why?" Theresa stared at him, incredulous. "Because that was the year you got hot, idiot!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "My God, you can be so slow sometimes."

Draco mounted his broom, giving the Weasley twins an uncertain glance. "You will make sure she gets home safely?"

Fred grinned. "Wouldn't dream of anything else, young Sir."

"Don't call me sir," Draco said, at the same time George said, "Don't call him sir, Fred."

Theresa pushed the twins aside. "Be careful," she pleaded.

"Same goes to you." All of a sudden Draco wasn't so sure why he was doing this. He kissed the top of her head. "See you in a week."

He kicked off before he could think of doing anything else and soared away over Ottery St. Catchpole.

He didn't realize he was flying fast until he arrived above the outskirts of Hogsmeade and it wasn't even one o'clock. He touched down in the forest, slung his broom over his shoulder, and started the hike back up to school. It had snowed since he'd left, and it was oddly chilly. As he entered Hogsmeade, he got strange looks and with a jolt he remembered that he was still wearing the "normal" (a.k.a. Muggle) clothes Theresa had gotten him. He sighed. Of course he had to be wearing the shirt with the cat on it. It was a gray cat with several ear piercings, a snarl, and a lightning bolt streaking across its face. He Summoned his coat from his bags and pulled it on.

There was a squeak from nearly under his feet. He looked down. A sodden gray tabby kitten was sitting in the road, looking up at him with large blue eyes. He had nearly stepped on it.

He stooped and picked it up, cradling the wet mess against his chest. "Hey there." The cat started purring.

"Draco!"

Someone rushed at him. He realized a split second before she hugged him that it was Pansy Parkinson and he managed to step aside, leaving her to barrel past him. "Hello, Pansy," he said coolly.

"Draco, Blaise broke up with me," Pansy whimpered. She latched onto his arm, nearly dragging him down with her weight. "I need you!"

"I don't need you," Draco snapped. "Go away." He shrugged her off and started rubbing the lost kitten's fur backwards so it dried faster.

"Miss Parkinson," a voice thundered. "Step away from Draco."

Draco looked up fast. Snape was striding towards them across the snow, pushing through the crowd of students that had started to gather and watch the unfolding scene.

Pansy reluctantly obeyed. Snape took Draco by the arm and steered him up to the castle. "What is that?"

Draco realized his Head of House was talking about the kitten. "It's a kitten, sir."

Snape locked eyes with him. "You rescued a kitten?"

Draco continued rubbing its fur backwards, although he was hindered by Snape's tight grip on his arm. "Of course, sir."

"Is Tess already in the castle?"

"No, sir."

Snape swung around, alarmed. "Why not?" he said in a dangerous tone. Draco gulped. "She wanted to stay in Ottery St. Catchpole so she could be closer to Indigo, sir. We found her, you know. She's married to Kendra Wilford's Muggle brother, so Theresa stayed behind for an extra week to hang out with her cousins—Kendra Wilford's daughters, they're not actually dead and they're witches—and her mother, to get to know them. It kind of felt awkward for me, so I left."

Snape sighed. "I would have preferred that you stayed with her, but I suppose if it was awkward then you can stay here. You begin classes next week." He shot his student a sharp look. "Pansy was doing your homework until a certain Miss Lovegood stole it from under her nose and said that it was her responsibility. Do you know why?"

"Lovegood," Draco mused. "Oh, yeah, Luna Lovegood. She's a year behind us but in Theresa's house."

"Does anyone else know that you and Tess are together?" Snape asked idly. He had let go of Draco's arm by now.

"Ginny Weasley, I think," Draco said. "And her mother and father and the twins, Fred and George . . . she may have told Ron Weasley too, but other than that I don't think anyone. Perhaps Raven."

Snape's eyes widened and a look came over his features that was so unusual for him that it took a moment for Draco to realize that it was soft. "Raven passed away," he said quietly.

Draco's eyes widened. "No," he gasped. His heart was already breaking for Theresa.

"And Quinn got away," Snape rasped. He looked terrible.

"My God," Draco whispered. The cat started slipping from his arms and he tightened his grip. It meowed in protest.

"Go to your dormitory," Snape said, weary. "Get a good night's sleep."

"Yes, sir," Draco said. He headed off for the dungeons.

When he got there, Pansy Parkinson was standing in front of the entrance to the boys' dormitories. Draco didn't feel like dealing with her. He Stunned her, or rather he tried to, but she had already put a Shield Charm up in front of her. He tried to Stun her again, but she blocked it again.

"Get out of my way," he snarled, dropping the kitten and preparing for a real fight.

"Hands off, Malfoy," Blaise Zabini's voice shouted. Draco Stunned him nonverbally over his shoulder. There was a thud.

Pansy rushed at Draco and kissed him. Instantly Draco was shoving her away, horrified and disgusted. "Get away from me!"

Pansy tried to kiss him again, but Draco had her at wandpoint by now. "Drop the act, Draco," she said. "We all know you love me."

"The hell I do," Draco gasped, resisting the urge to use Sectumsempra on her. It was a very strong urge and it was very hard to resist.

Pansy only looked a little bit hurt. "Draco—YEEOW!"

Draco looked down. The kitten had raked its claws down Pansy's calf, and now the Slytherin was hopping around on one foot. Draco scooped up the kitten before Pansy decided to hex it and hurried into his dormitory.

"That cat—!" Pansy spluttered loudly after him. He shut the door in her face, leaned back against it, and locked it, then put an Anti-Unlocking Charm on it. He tried to calm his breathing.

He unpacked all his things and stowed his broom in the niche above his bed. He was just about to settle down for a good read (Theresa had bought him a book about an assassin) when he heard a small shout.

Then the door exploded.

Pansy stormed in. The kitten had been resting on the foot of Draco's bed; now it leaped at the intruder, snarling. Pansy Stunned it out of the air. She wrenched the book from Draco's hands, ripped it in half, and dragged Draco out into the common room, her wand at his throat. He was too shocked to do anything, and his wand was still on his bed.

"DRACO AND I ARE TOGETHER," Pansy shouted at the entire common room. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

She kissed him, her wand still at his throat. Draco tried to pull away but she drove the point of her wand into his larynx and he choked.

Someone wolf whistled.

A plan formed in Draco's head.

He put his hand on Pansy's shoulder, pretending to trace her arm lovingly. When he got to her fingers, he ripped her wand out of her hands and snapped it in half. "Leave me alone," he spat.

Pansy stared at the remnants of her wand, which were clutched in Draco's hands. She looked around at the shocked, silent crowd. "It's all good," she said, and kissed Draco again. He was so unprepared that he let her.

Someone in the crowd wolf whistled again. Draco grabbed Pansy's arm and, with strength he didn't know he had, judo-flipped her over his shoulder.

"DRACO, DUCK!" someone in the surrounding crowd screamed. He dropped to the floor as a jet of red light flashed over his head. Blaise Zabini was back on his feet, his face contorted with rage.

Draco grabbed Pansy and hauled her in front of him as Zabini altered his aim. The next Stun hit Pansy. Draco scrambled to his feet, ducked again, and dove into the crowd. A second year went down, thanks to Zabini's horrible aim.

Draco shot into the dormitories, then tripped over his kitten as it tried to streak past him down the steps. It was holding his wand in its mouth. It dropped it in front of him, meowed urgently, and took off back up the steps. Confused but gratified, Draco snatched up his wand and turned around just in time to block Zabini's next Stun.

Then Zabini spun and shot another Stun and Pansy, even though she'd already been Stunned. Draco bit his lip, confused.

Zabini continued to Stun Pansy, looking utterly demented. Draco broke out of the crowd. "Blaise, stop!"

Zabini ignored him.

"You're going to kill her," Draco shouted, wincing as yet another Stun hit Pansy.

When Blaise didn't stop, Draco Stunned him twice. "Get her to the hospital wing," he snapped at a nearby group of third years, who scurried into action. He walked over to Blaise and shook his head in disgust. "Leave me alone," he called to the others in the common room. "I'm sick of this place," he muttered, heading up the stairs to the dormitory. He found a random rock in the dormitory room corner and Transfigured it into a door, which he put in place and put an Anti-Girls and Anti-Explosion Charm on. Then he locked it. And put an Anti-Unlocking Charm on it.

He flopped onto his bed and stared at the remnants of the book Theresa had gotten him. How was he going to explain that? Hi, Theresa, can you buy me another one of those assassin books you bought me, because Pansy ripped it in half in her haste to kiss me. Yeah. That would work perfectly.

He cursed, punching his pillow, and decided to take a walk out on the grounds. He stalked through the common room, ignoring the whispers that followed in his wake, and headed out to the lake. As he was walking past a group of girls, they giggled and batted their eyelashes at him. Was it just now that they were starting to do that, or had they always giggled and batted their eyelashes at him and he hadn't noticed until he got a girlfriend? He glowered at them, hoping to discourage them, but that made them bat their eyelashes more and giggle harder.

It wasn't until he was walking through the forest to get to the lake that he realized his kitten was padding along calmly beside him. He realized he needed a name for it and picked it up. "Hey, what about Rocky?"

The cat gave him a skeptical look, which he didn't think was possible for a cat.

"Jeez . . ." Draco looked around for inspiration. "Cloud. Fog. Storm. Slate. Dead Grass—"

The cat meowed.

"Dead Grass?" Draco exclaimed. "Really?"

The cat hissed at him.

"Cloud?" Draco guessed.

Glare.

"Fog."

Snarl.

"Storm."

Its claws came out, pricking his arms.

"OW! Slate?"

The kitten purred and snuggled up against his chest. Draco shrugged. "Slate it is, then."

Draco walked and walked and walked until he reached the lake. There he put Slate down and watched the kitten frolic in the shallows from a fallen tree.

He was sitting there three days later, breathing in the cool fresh air, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, but no one was there.

"Nice cat."

He jumped to his feet and turned around. Theresa was crouching next to Slate, stroking the cat's head. Slate was purring so loud Draco could hear it from at least fifteen feet away.

"I thought you were staying with the family," Draco said.

Theresa picked up the kitten and scratched its ears. She had yet to look at him. "I changed my mind. Indigo was busy and her husband had no clue who I was. Alexa and Sadie . . . well, they got annoying fast."

"Your mom didn't want to talk to you?" Draco asked.

"Oh, she did," Theresa responded. "She didn't have the time. And besides. If she wants to talk to me, I'm available by owl."

"What about the rule? No owls in or out of the school?"

"Dad's gonna have to deal with it." Her tone was dark. "So . . . there's a rumor flying around."

"What?" Draco felt a sneer cross his face. "The famous Harry Potter is coming back to school? Too stupid to face You-Know-Who, so he's coming back to learn more?"

"That you and Pansy are together," Theresa interrupted, finally facing him. She looked murderous and upset at the same time. Slate dropped from her arms and ran to Draco, mewling.

He ignored the cat and laughed. "What a weak rumor."

"So you are?" Theresa demanded, slowly backing away from him. Unfortunately for her, backing away from Draco meant backing into the lake. She stopped when her feet got wet.

Draco laughed again. "Are you crazy? When I got back, Pansy had broken up with Blaise Zabini and tried to kiss me. I didn't let her. I unpacked and such, and then the freaking door exploded and Pansy dragged me out in front of all the Slytherins and kissed me . . . three times, I think. I broke her wand."

"So you counted how many times she kissed you?" Theresa said, shouting now. "You liked it so much that you counted?"

"She had me at wandpoint," Draco protested. "I hate her, Theresa, I hate her so much I threw her on the stone floor. Like, over my shoulder."

Slate let out a sudden yowl. Draco looked down. The kitten was staring towards the castle. Draco looked along the beach. Someone was running towards them.

"Dear Lord," Draco muttered, recognizing the figure.

He started walking, then broke into a wand, his hand delving into his robes for his wand. Theresa ran after him. "Who is it?"

"Pansy," Draco called over his shoulder. When he reached the girl he stuck his wand in her face. "Stay. Out. Of. My. LIFE!"

"What are you doing with that Ravenclaw?" Pansy asked.

Theresa walked up to the two Slytherins, Slate trotting at her heels. "Pansy," she greeted icily.

"Stay away from my boyfriend," Pansy hissed, getting right up in Theresa's face.

"OH GOOD GOD," Draco yelled. He Stunned Pansy, leaving her to crumple to the dirt, and started dragging Theresa up to the school.

A/N: Someone's getting jealous . . . :)