He did go back to the end of the corridor to wait for her. Not so far as the main hall though, because there would be more people there and being seen with Bones in front of them would be just as bad as being seen hovering in front of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

It took no longer than five minutes for Bones to join him. Her hair was still untidy, escaping its braid in a way that might have looked provocative on the Patil twins but only made her look a little like Professor Trelawney. Draco thought that if she was going to abandon him for another Hufflepuff then the least she could do was attempt to tidy herself up.

"What is it?" she asked as she approached him. She didn't look particularly interested as most people did when he singled them out. In fact, she looked distracted.

"Come to the boat house with me," said Draco.

She frowned at him. "Why?"

Draco wondered whether she practiced crushing the souls of those unfortunate enough to ask her out or if it came naturally. Either way it sort of explained why she was single. "Do you need a reason?" he asked a little incredulously. "It's not as though you'd have anything better to be doing, surely?"

She hesitated, tilting her head to the side. After a moment of wondering what she was up to, Draco heard the voices that she must have been listening to. They had a slightly echoing quality in the narrow corridor, but he thought that they were getting louder.

Before he could panic at the terrible notion of being caught in a secret tryst with a messy Susan Bones, she stepped backwards, melting into the darkness of another, smaller corridor that Draco had never noticed before. With a breath of relief, he followed her.

"I don't want you to tease Hannah," Bones said quietly as they walked down the darkened corridor.

"She can't take a joke?"

Bones met his gaze, her eyes shadowy and glinting lowly in the dimness. "Not when it's coming from you," she said.

She had never judged him based on anything but his actions or words, so the condemnation in her tone stung. Scowling, Draco snapped, "Do you mean from a Slytherin or from a Malfoy?"

He didn't expect Bones to snap back at him, but she turned, eyes flashing sharply. "From someone who doesn't know her well enough to tease her like that," she said, voice just as sharp. "Now what do you want?"

He was not used to people demanding explanations for why he wanted to be around them. Usually they were too delighted to think to question their good luck. He was quick at thinking of excuses though, so he tucked his hands into his pockets and said, "Were you serious?"

The question made her mouth twist in confusion.

"With this thing you were doing with Potter. The DA. Or were you just having fun?"

That just made her look more confused, like he'd trapped her and was asking her questions to which she did not know the answers. "I'm…" she said finally. "I…Ernie Macmillan was going. And Hannah. It seemed like a good idea."

It was too dark to tell if she was blushing, but Draco didn't believe her. He tilted his head back and frowned down at her. "I know spells," he said flatly. "Possibly different ones to what you learnt. Would you be interested in swapping?"

She drew back, hitting the corridor wall. Her eyes narrowed a little, but her mouth curled at the corner and Draco thought that she was at least mildly interested. He waited. "I'm not…very good at learning new things," she said finally, tone cautious.

"You're a Hufflepuff; I had noticed," agreed Draco and waited once more.

She chewed her lower lip. Draco wondered whether he'd overestimated her previously, and she did hold being a Slytherin against him. "Just for fun," she said finally. It was evident that she was trying to keep her tone neutral, but she wasn't having much success. She sounded excited.

"Fun?"

"Not serious," clarified Bones. She paused for a moment before sighing finally. "I'm not much better with DADA than I am with Potions," she said, voice lowered as though the situation bothered her. "My aunt Amelia says that my skill level should be higher. Most of my family is exceptional when it comes to defensive spells. If you're going to get impatient because I can't pick up on things quickly, then I'd rather not bother."

Slytherins would not admit to weaknesses like that under a pain of death, but Draco supposed Hufflepuffs were different. It was a relief anyway; to know that her family's magical acumen didn't extend to her. He didn't tell her that he wouldn't get impatient; he knew that he would. Instead, he said, "where would you like to practice?"

"The Forbidden Forest," said Bones. It should have occurred to Draco straight away that she responded too swiftly and too decisively; as though she had considered such a situation before. He was too busy congratulating himself on having conquered her to pay any heed to it.

"Are you mental?" he asked. "You want to practice in a place that we will almost certainly get killed and…and die?"

"I don't think we'll get killed and die," said Bones pensively. "It just seems like the kind of place that no one would stumble across us, you know, doing forbidden magic."

Draco didn't much worry about the forbidden magic stuff, but he did consider that it was one of the very few places he and Bones wouldn't be seen by other students. He had learnt many more curses, counter-curses and spells since first year, but the forest still terrified him. "Perhaps," he said reluctantly. "We can find a place just inside the forest, so we can get out quickly if necessary."

"I know a place," said Bones unexpectedly.

The darkness was becoming impossible so Draco lit his wand, tucked it into the crook of his arm and frowned suspiciously at her.

She blushed and scowled a little before tilting her chin up. "Theoretically," she said, her tone defensive. "I mean, Harry's been in the forest loads of times and he mentioned…" She broke off, looking furious with herself. "I'm not Gryffindor," she said flatly. "I was never brave enough to actually…"

When she didn't finish, Draco asked sweetly, "Go look?"

That made her laugh and Draco could feel her mood lighten. "Sorry," she said. "I'm not usually this cross."

"No, you're not," he agreed, and he hated to admit it, but his stomach was unknotting now that she was happy.

She smiled at him again, and Draco didn't think that anyone had ever smiled just for him before. There were no strings to her smiles; he didn't feel the weight of his father's influence in them or the worry that he would crush her if she didn't indulge him. "Hannah was really displeased about you taunting her," she said. "I get really displeased when she gets displeased. Except for the time when I played that joke on her, because that was hilarious."

Draco tried to ignore the fact that she'd just told him precisely how to hurt her. It was information that he didn't want suddenly. Instead he reached out with the arm not holding his wand to smooth down the hair that was pulling free from her plait.

She backed out of his touch before he connected. "I'm really not available," she said. More wistful than cold.

He closed his hand and pushed it back into his pocket. "Who are you unavailable with?" he asked.

Her smile flickered. "Ernie," she said. And then, in case he hadn't been paying attention during rollcall for five years, added, "Macmillan."

She must have been able to feel her face burning; the blush was clear enough to Draco. "You're a terrible liar, Bones," he said, though somehow it didn't matter anymore that she was lying. If she was so bad at it, it meant the smiles were real; and Draco thought that the trade-off worked in his favour.

She flinched, before recovering quickly. "Well," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sure you're a good liar. Maybe you can teach me."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I can try," he drawled, letting his tone suggest that he doubted his success in such a venture.

The sarcasm made her lips curve into a smile so sweet it could only be perfected by a Hufflepuff. "This corridor leads to the hall near the dungeons," she said, drawing back along the way they'd come but not turning her back on him. "I'll see you later."

For once he didn't mind that she faded back into the shadows without waiting to be dismissed, and usually he couldn't stand people leaving him. The corridor did lead to a hall near the entrance of the dungeons; and there weren't even monstrous creatures to evade as he'd half expected.

"Why are you smiling?" Pansy asked when he finally reached the Slytherin Common Room.

Draco was jolted unpleasantly from his reverie to find Crabbe, Goyle and Nott eyeing him in a manner that seemed a little scared. "Uhm…" he said. "I'm plotting…evil plots?" When Pansy stared at him in open-mouthed disbelief, Draco cleared his throat, "And adjourning to my room," he said, waving a dismissive hand as he headed for the stairs. "Carry on."