Theo cleared his throat, hoisting himself out of his seat sandwiched between Blaise and Draco. The two were seriously discussing the nuances of drinking Firewhiskey, apparently, the thought of mixing the blessed beverage with anything other than more Firewhiskey was a travesty that Malfoy simply could not get his head around. With a flourish Theo swept aside a few wrappers and empty glasses from the table in front of him and stepped up, surveying the common room that was, as per the time of year, packed full of Slytherins.

The end of term Christmas party was something that Theo knew with certainty his house did with flare; every student putting aside grievances and general hatred to celebrate the wonderful time of year. Every Slytherin brought offerings of food and alcoholic beverages that they had managed to smuggle into the school in wonderfully varied ways. And when Snape was searching for contraband it paid to be imaginative. Theo shook his head as he spied a fourth year filling his glass from a repurposed trunk.

"My fellow Slytherins." There were a few heads that turned but ultimately most of the room carried on with the festivities ignoring whatever he had to say.

"Oi, shut it!" Pansy shouted smiling wickedly at Theo when the room fell silent.

"Ever grateful, Pans. Now, my fellow Slytherin's we are approaching the end of the year, and what a year it's been." The room erupted in cheers and several beverages were thrown resulting in a few choice words from the people it landed on.

"As you know-AS YOU KNOW," Theo shouted, smiling charmingly when he once again got their attention, "Christmas is a time of cheer, a time of coming together and getting shit faced and of course…" He paused, glancing around the room for added effect, "the Slytherin games."

The common room was once again full of the celebration, clapping and cheering bouncing off the walls. Theo sometimes wondered whether the Slytherin common room moved into the dungeons simply because they made far too much noise, he wouldn't have blamed people if they had, no amount of begging, pleading or punishing would have got his housemates to shut up at that precise moment. He knew why though, the Slytherin Games were a tradition that took place every Christmas, one last hurrah to bring the year to a close and also give the Slytherins that were staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, at least one thing to celebrate. When Theo had found out about the tradition in his first year he had taken it very seriously, determined to run each and every game from that point on, and it had to be said that he had succeeded. Though there were a good few people that despised Knott, he did have a flair for those types of things and every year he had run the games had been a year to remember.

"THIS YEAR I host one of my most daring games yet, a game that has not been attempted since the debacle of '92." There were a few winces among the crowd and some evil looks sent Crabbe and Goyle's way, who seemed to be trying to sink further and further into the sofa, taking a rather worried looking Pansy with them. The debacle of '92 as Knott liked to call it, had been the first attempt that Theo had made to run the games and it had not gone entirely well. Rudolph's nose was game of patience and cunning, where the Slytherin who crossed the threshold of the common room with the nose would win the grand prize. The only problem was when everyone had finally made their way back to the common room it became obvious that there was no prize because Crabbe and Goyle had taken it upon themselves to eat it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, a new, original, reimagining of a classic.'

"That doesn't make any sense." Matty Owes, who was sat at the back with his other weird and spotted friends spoke up, swaying precariously as he tried to stand.

"Your face doesn't make any sense." Pansy countered, nearly knocking off her headband of singing Christmas trees as she pointed at him, her gaze suggesting that his very existence offended her at that precise moment. "Thank you Pans. Everyone hold onto your hats as I give you, the new and improved Rudolph's nose." Theo held up a small round red object, and when he lifted it towards the crowd two tiny wings sprouted out of its side.

Draco rolled his eyes at his friends' theatrics, knowing for absolute certain that 'Rudolph's nose' was, in fact, a repurposed Snitch he'd nicked from the Quidditch store, only agreeing to that so he could watch all of Theo's failed attempts at turning the thing red. Draco had to admit it was a better idea than they'd come up with in second year, painting a pixie red and releasing it into the castle had to have been a stroke of genius on par with letting Crabbe and Goyle guard the prize. The little red bugger had wreaked havoc all throughout the school before somehow disappearing, lucky for them the damage was assumed to have been the orchestration of Peeves who was always particularly active and annoying during the festivities.

No one seemed to care though, a general ripple of excitement passing throughout the students as they muttered amongst themselves. Draco chuckled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. He had found that, while there was a general sense of apathy when taking part in anything that had been remotely organised for enjoyment, Slytherins tended to work up quite a lot of enthusiasm when it came to games that had been invented by their own, added to that, of course, the amount of alcohol they had consumed. He took another sip of his Firewhiskey, watching as Pansy drained her glass and clumsily reached for the purple bottle on the table in front of her. She was chucking back a considerable amount of Wizz Bomb Wangers, a cherry liqueur that crackled on your tongue; a night spent drowning your sorrows with that lead to a tongue the size of a Quaffle and a hilarious inability to talk properly.

He smiled to himself as he noticed that his other friends were not holding back on their drink, grinning goofily at one another as they emptied their glasses and hastily refilled them. Draco was biding his time, there would come a time when everyone was so drunk and so invested in the game that he could slip out and go meet Granger. Hermione had decided that they needed to plan everything they were going to do when they eventually arrived at Masarvas Manor. He really couldn't have cared less if they had no plan at all, as long as he got to see her again. The previous night, where they'd spent hours together felt like a dream and he wanted to see her again just to make sure it had all been real; all those looks she gave him, the gentle caress of her fingers along his side, the fact that they had actually had time together that was just them, no Sensieve, no thoughts of all the crazy crap that could possibly come, just them.

"The name of the game is to find Rudolph's nose," Theo jumped off the table, opening the door to the common room and letting the red Snitch fly out into the darkness. "The first person to have the nose and come through that door." He pointed behind him, "wins the grand prize." There was a collective intake of breath as every Slytherin turned to the table by the fire. Every person in the room had brought an offering of sorts, adding either food, drink or various interesting nick nacks, till they filled the entirety of the table. Theo sauntered over to it, standing behind it with his arms spread wide.

"Look closely friends, because all this could be yours. Now, groups no bigger than four people and before you leave everyone, and I mean everyone, has to put their wand into this." He casually kicked a basket at his feet that seemed to jump to life, its lid snapping at the air. A few of the older witches and wizards winced.

The Slytherin common room housed the highest concentration of cursed objects in the whole school; various implements that tried to bite your hand off if you went near them, or the rather annoying suit of armour that liked to trap unsuspecting students in its arms, not letting go till it received a kiss from a fair maiden. Blaise had once been trapped for half a day simply because the only girl within kissing distance was Millicent.

"I'm not going near that thing," Anrose stated from her place on her boyfriend's lap, flicking her hair over one shoulder and looking to her beaux for support.

"She's got a point, Knott, that thing is evil."

"Quit being such a Hufflepuff." A second year shouted, receiving a cheer of agreement in answer.

"Which of you little fuckers said that?" Anrose was deposited unceremoniously on the floor as her boyfriend rose to pick out whichever unfortunate second year he decided had made the comment.

"Now, now everyone, calm down, this is not the time for fighting," although for some reason the Slytherins always seemed to think that it was, the amount of fights spiking considerably on the final day of term, "now is the time for celebration and joy, and every second we waste here the further away Rudolph's nose gets." This seemed to have the desired effect, Anrose and her boyfriend assuming their earlier positions and the room once again turning their attention to Theo.

"Now I understand some of the older students having…er…reservations about using Barty" he said, gently tapping the top of the large wicker and quickly snatching his hand away before it could bite him, "but I assure you that my friends and I have found the all-important catchphrase, so when it comes to getting your wands back, he'll be as docile as an Imperiused kitten."

Some of the sixth and seventh-year students didn't seem to sure, eyeing up the basket suspiciously. Draco could understand, he had it on good authority that Snape had used the basket as a form of punishment, placing various important items that the students needed within its depths and ordering them to retrieve it. It wasn't just that Barty bit, and bite he did, it was the other nefarious things that lurked within the baskets depths and if the right words weren't spoken then there was no telling what you were dipping your hand into. Barty as a punishment had eventually been stopped when a particularly angry parent complained that their child had severe night terrors over what they had seen in a wicker basket. Barty was muzzled and placed in the corner of the room, but some students still would not go near it and when asked about their experiences they would simply shake their heads, turning pale and shivering, their eyes vacant and scared as if witnessing some unseen terror.

"I don't know, seems like a heck of a risk." Theo rolled his eyes, dramatically pulling a small scroll from his pocket and pointing his wand at the basket.

"Bartyus Buxus." The wicker basket, whose lid had been snapping violently instantly stilled, allowing Theo to open and close it with ease. "See, nothing to be afraid of."

A first-year stuck his hand up, waving it about frantically till Theodore noticed and nodded at him rather tiredly.

"Yes?"

"Why can't we just keep our wands?"

"Because when I put a protective enchantment around the grand prize, I don't want some cheeky git wandering back and somehow disarming it, not looking at anyone in particular," Theo stated, casually glancing at all the people that had in fact tried it over the years, Draco and Blaise been just two of them. That was the only problem planning a game for Slytherins, every possible angle of cheating had to be thought of and guarded against, which realistically went against Theo's nature.

"Right now, if that's everything, and no one else has any questions, perhaps you can all put your wands in the basket, get in your teams and let's get this show on the road." He clapped his hands loudly and rubbing them together in excitement, out of all the years that he had run the games he had a good feeling about this one, a really good feeling.

"Remember groups no bigger than four, I don't want half of the Slytherin house contesting for the prize because they were 'part of the same team'." There was lots of shuffling and chatter but eventually, Theo had a basket full of wands and groups of Slytherins ready to be let out on the chase.

"Things to look out for, as we all know Peeves is particularly active at this time of year, try not to provoke him and he'll be, well he'll be a little less annoying. Filch, he's always trying to shut this down, so move as stealthily as possible." There were several laughs of derision and Draco could see their point, most of the older Slytherins were struggling to stand without having the worry of being stealthy about it.

"Well, just try not to get caught, Filch is about as cuddly as a dragon at the best of times but Christmas?" Theo shivered, remembering one of his own run-ins with the caretaking squib during the run-up to the holidays and it had not been pretty, there had been threats of shoving tinsel where Theo didn't bear thinking about. The brown-haired boy fingered the tinsel around his neck uncomfortably before grinning up at the waiting faces.

"Everyone ready? Oh erm, anyone caught with their wand will answer to Crabbe and Goyle." There were a few huffs as several people in the crowd moved towards the basket, dropping their wands in with faces like thunder. "Right, let the games begin." He opened the door and quickly stepped to the side before he was sucked into the vortex that was determined Slytherins.

Eventually, he was the only one left, turning with a sigh he paused, momentarily startled by the presence of Daphne behind him. She was wearing a green pointy hat, a dainty bauble hanging from the tip and it looked unbelievably good on her. She tipped her head to the side a rather large smile spreading across her face, dimpling her rosy cheeks.

"Where did…where did Malfoy go?" Theo asked, glancing around the common room just to be sure that the blonde hadn't fallen behind some furniture in the scuffle. Daphne laughed shrugging her shoulders, the sound of it making Theo want to melt a little.

"I guess it's just you and me." She commented, her eyes not leaving Theo as she walked towards him. Theo gulped, he knew it was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea, but at that precise moment, he couldn't actually think why.

"Yeah, I guess."

Draco sighed in relief when he managed to untangle himself from the crowd, disappearing down a small dark corridor, a smile already growing on his face at the thought of seeing Hermione again. Blaise and Pansy had not been that difficult to throw off, what with the press of bodies all determined to try and trip others to give themselves a head start. He'd thought that he would have had more difficulty trying to extract himself from his blonde girlfriend, but to his relief, he hadn't even been able to see in her in the fray.

He rounded the corner and there she was, waiting for him, looking so adorable in her woolly hat, scarf and gloves. When he'd asked her where she wanted to meet again, she had seemed dead set on returning to the rose garden, a small blush lighting her cheeks. He wondered if it was because they'd had such a nice time there with him and the thought made his chest puff a little. He knew it was probably more to do with the fact that the place looked beautiful, but he ignored that, because imagining it was to do with him was much nicer.

"Hey, Granger." She turned, and he nearly died when she smiled brightly at him.

"I thought," she glanced around the corridors confused, "I thought I heard something, was going to go and investigate."

"Of course, you were." He smiled down at her fondly. "Probably my fellow housemates making idiots of themselves trying to chase a red snitch."

"What?" The entire sentence seemed to have thoroughly confused Hermione and Draco chuckled. It wasn't very often she looked confused, but he had to say that it was incredibly adorable.

"We call them the Slytherin games…I'll explain in a bit, perhaps we should get out of the corridors before one of the aforementioned idiots comes alone."

Hermione nodded following him out the door and into the crisp snow, the sky clear and full of stars above them, the air still. The lake looked as though it were made of glass and Draco had an unbelievable urge to go race across it, hold Hermione's hands as she stumbled over and into him. He shook his head, walking around the side of the castle to the rose garden, hoping that no one else had decided to frequent the garden on the last day of term. He guessed that the bitter cold would scare most of them off.

"Have you heard anything from the Weasley clan?" Hermione cut her eyes at him but sighed heavily.

"Ron said that his dad is fine, still in the hospital, but he's okay."

"Ah, that's good."

"He said that Harry had withdrawn and won't really talk to anyone," Hermione mumbled, she had been worried about her friend all day, especially when reports from both Ron and Ginny had shown that he was no longer interacting with the others. She knew what Harry was like, he internalised everything, blamed himself for the smallest failure and believed that he should save everyone. Something like this would have been a serious blow and would have left him feeling like he had brought evil into a perfectly innocent family.

"Why would he do that, Weasley dad is fine, everything's sorted." Draco shrugged, not entirely believing it himself, there was still the reason of why he was attacked to deal with and also who had attacked him. The possibility that his father had some sort of involvement niggled at the back of his mind, but he bit his tongue. He couldn't be sure and there was no use talking to Granger about something so…sensitive. He had a feeling that she would not be able to keep it a secret from Harry Potter and once the boy wonder knew then everything would come crumbling down around the Spectacled Freak doing 'the right thing'

"Harry…blames himself a lot, if something goes wrong then he thinks it's because of him, because of his failing. He felt that way about Cedric."

"Delusions of grandeur much?" Draco laughed, stifling it when Hermione frowned at him. "My point is Granger; the magical world doesn't revolve around Potty. We all had lives before him and bloodie hell if anything happens to him we'll have lives after. All the things he goes against, all the things that he succeeds at defeating, there's nothing new about them. You know from the memories, these are old threats done in new ways, to think that magickly everything you do or don't do has some bearing on now or the future is…well, it's childish."

Hermione's eyes widened, her step faltering momentarily. It was probably some of the most profound words to ever leave Draco Malfoys mouth and she realised that he was right. Hermione realised that she would have to have a word with Harry when she made it to them.

Dumbledore had made a point of seeking her out, apologising for not allowing her to accompany her friends. Hermione hadn't really known what to say, on the one hand, she felt like he should have been apologising, but then, then there was the fact that she had gotten closer to Draco because she hadn't been allowed to go and she was no longer sure she would have traded that moment.

"It's quite alright." She said, resting her hands in her lap as she looked over the desk at Dumbledore, his long beard piling on the surface of the desk rather comically. With one wrinkled hand, he smoothed it against his robe and smiled at her knowingly.

"I imagine you have found plenty of support among the other students." Something in the way he said it made her feel uncomfortable and she couldn't get past the feeling that he knew an awful lot of what she had been up to.

"Yes, they have been most kind and incredibly supportive." Hermione smiled softly as she thought of Draco, how chivalrous he'd been walking her back to her common room, ignoring the hateful glances The Fat Lady had been throwing him.

"Good, good, very good. The scent of roses can be good for the soul, so I've heard." Dumbledore grinned and Hermione blushed, quickly excusing herself from the office.

The thought of her meeting made her wonder whether she should tell Draco that it seemed Dumbledore knew quite a lot of what went on in the school. She shook her head, mentally chastising herself for being such an idiot. What could she possibly say, that she thought Dumbledore was on to them. It was already difficult enough to meet with all the issues that seemed to be surrounding them, add their knowing headmaster into the mix and Hermione was sure that Draco would run for the hills, never meeting her again.

"Look, I know he's your friend but…" Hermione jumped at his words, realising she still hadn't moved out of place. "but I'm allowed an opinion too, even if you're going to tell me that it's wrong." There was amusement in his voice and Hermione found herself shaking her head at his words.

"No…no you're right, it is immature, it's just…" She didn't want to say that Harry was sensitive, especially not to his enemy, but he was, incredibly so. "It's just it's difficult to explain that to him without…" Draco nodded sadly.

"I get it, he had a crappy start, that's got to mess you up a little." Something in the way Draco said it was haunted, as if he'd witnessed the atrocity first hand and knew exactly what damage it would have done.

"Yeah." Hermione began walking with him again, smiling up at cheekily after a few moments of silence.

"You're being awfully kind about Harry this evening."

"Don't even go there, Granger, there's plenty I can say about Potty, just being considerate, present company and all that," he gestured to her, his fingers brushing hers when his arm dropped back by his side, "but what I said is true, crap starts usually lead to crap middles and crap ends."

"Unless of course, you do something to stop it." Draco stared at her longingly for a moment, her nose all bright red in the cold, lips parted as plumes of breath clouded into the air in front of her with every step she took. What if he did something to stop it? What if he decided to put an end to all the crappiness? It always seemed so impossible, so out of his hands, but when he was with her, sometimes it didn't.

Theo gulped as he once again he cast a quick glance at Daphne who was trailing along happily beside him, humming a Christmas song adorably under her breath. He still couldn't fathom how everything landed so blindingly in his favour. If he thought about it too hard it all seemed just a little too convenient, like a trick to catch him out in his traitorous behaviour. He supposed that he could always ask Daphne, come right out and confront her about the whole thing, but then what would he say? Fess up Greengrass I know your game. If it was all just a bit of good ole luck, then he'd look like a wizard with severe mental difficulties and all hope of him ever sweeping Daphne off her feet would be gone.

But there'd been Draco and Pansy and Blaise, and he'd been sure that Daphne had been with them, taking her place next to her blonde boyfriend as she always did. He'd looked away because the thought of her spending one more minute with the Albino cut a huge swathe out of his carefully constructed façade and made him want to sink into one of the common room chairs and drown his sorrows. That was preferable to the other option which included traipsing through the castle with Crabbe and Goyle, who seemed to forget the aim of the game every five fricking seconds.

Somehow though, somehow, she was beside him and, it seemed to him, happily beside him. Theo had noticed over the course of Daphne and Draco's pointless relationship, that Draco's lack of attention or enthusiasm when it came to her had upset her, green eyes welling with tears that he knew she'd ever shed in front of anyone. He'd started trying to make her smile, whispering jokes and funny limericks in her ear, something inside of him glowing when she covered her mouth and let out an adorable giggle.

He couldn't believe that he'd ever accused her of prattling, as every mundane sound that came out her mouth soon became like fricking gold to him and he counted them all, watching over them and going through them at night in his mind like a miser. And that's what he was really, hoarding a wealth of all things Daphne, just for himself, poring over the memories like some weird pervert.

He couldn't really pinpoint when he had become aware of the disastrous changes within himself, or his treacherous feelings, but when he did become aware of them, they became the bane of his existence. Not a day could pass without him wanting to curse his friend till he was nothing but a ferret-sized crater full of dust and pulverized aristocracy. And it was a problem because he didn't want to hate Malfoy, Merlin knew the blonde gave lots of people plenty of reasons, but he was after all his friend. He wanted to wish the happy couple well and go back to the easy pickings of the Zabini castoffs, but it seemed even they were in nought supply; Blaise becoming such a miserable beggar that most of his usual fans were giving him a wide birth. And then, the cherry on the most almightily unfortunate cake was the fact that Daphne seemed to respond to him, seeking him out. Touches and glances became his world and he'd done his very best to ignore the glares that Pansy had been sending his way, because as ever, somehow, she knew.

"It might have gone in here," Daphne suggested, popping her head around the door of an open classroom, before slowly stepping into it, casting him a quick glance to check that he was following her. He was, thumbing the end of his tinsel scarf. He'd got so caught up in his own thoughts that he'd almost forgotten why they were walking the lengths of corridors. He of all people had almost forgotten about his masterpiece. He almost cried at the travesty of it all, how could he have possibly forgotten about something that had been so mercifully important since he'd learnt of the blessed tradition.

The door slammed shut behind him and both students whirled round in surprise. On impulse, Theo reached for the handle his attempts becoming more frantic when he realised that it wouldn't budge.

"What's happening?" Daphne asked, her voice wobbling a little with worry.

"I'm not…"

"Sly little Slytherin's, trapped inside a room. Will they ever get out? We just don't know." There was a fit of manic laughter and Theo sighed, turning his back to the door and falling against it.

"Peeves. Should have known," he whispered to Daphne shaking his head, "THAT DOESN'T EVEN RHYME YOU STUPID EXCUSE FOR A GHOST." He shouted, rubbing his face in frustration. Getting trapped with Daphne was the last thing he needed, he might have wanted it but that was beside the point.

"It doesn't have to rhyme to be true. Will keep you locked away." Theo gave Daphne an apologetic look, letting his head fall back against the oak door. He could hear Peeves muttering and cackling to himself about his wonderful brilliance.

"You know, I feel as though you're in need of new trick, Peeves. Locking people in classrooms, old chap? Come now, that's first year levels of imaginative." Peeves took a moment to deliberate over the statement, before laughing happily.

"Worked on you didn't it?"

"Only because we took pity on you, saw it coming a mile off."

"Pity Smitty."

"Merlin, that's not how rhyming works. You can't just make up words" He turned to Daphne in disbelief, "that's not how rhyming works."

Daphne shook her head, laughter bubbling in her throat and Theo was surprised by the flood of relief he felt at the simple fact that she no longer looked scared. She pushed herself off the wall beside him, wandering amongst the desks and looking back at him, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"He'll get bored before we do."

"No, I won't." Came the petulant reply from the other side of the door. Theo grinned knowing that she was right, Peeves did not exactly have patience, his pranks were short and incredibly annoying, usually incorporating some sort of magical goo that was impossible to get out of clothing. Getting trapped in a classroom was one of his lesser punishments, Theo could only guess that the stupid ghost had not found the rest of the Slytherin house traipsing round drunk and unguarded.

Theo followed her lead, watching as she hoisted herself up onto one of the desks, swinging her legs back and forth merrily, glancing over her shoulder out the window. It was a beautiful night, in the dimness of the classroom Theo could see the spot of stars, could make out the iciness of the lake. He shivered, glad that he was in fact inside and not out in the bitter cold, he supposed the situation could be worse.

"Professor McGonagall would have our heads if she knew we were in here."

"Knott if I have to tell you one more time…" Daphne burst into laughter at the convincing impersonation of their severe transfiguration teacher.

"It's like she's here."

"Sheesh don't say that you might summon her."

"That is true. Out of all the teachers, she does seem to have it in for you."

"Probably because I give her reason to, my level of charm only really works on some people." Theo stopped in front of Daphne, his hands resting against the edge of the desk behind him. He daren't meet her gaze, too scared that it would lead him to do all manner of stupid things.

"You know, I've never really noticed before." She was reaching forward taking in the one end of his tinsel scarf and weighing it in her palm.

"Noticed what?" He asked nervously, gulping as she tugged at the other end of the tinsel, pulling at it gently. Theo straightened, allowing her to drag him forward.

"Your charm."

"Well it's subtle, hides under the radar and catches you by surprise."

"And, how funny you are.' She was whispering her gaze dropping down to his lips.

"Yeah well, when the audience is as good as you, it gives a guy incentive to be funny."

"As good as me?" Daphne mumbled coyly, her eyes twinkling, a light blush on her cheeks as she parted her legs, tugging him even closer.

"Yeah well you're…you're perfect." Daphne's mouth opened the tiniest amount and with another sharp tug, she was kissing him, tipping her head and pulling at the tinsel, her feet hooking around the back of his legs. Theo knew he should probably pull away, but the heady taste of Wizz Bomb still lingering on her tongue and the way she pressed into him made it impossible, a rather unmanly whimper leaving him.

Suddenly she was leaning back, and he was scrambling to mount the desk, propping himself up on his arms so he hovered over her. And all the while she wouldn't let him go, holding him fast against her lips, pushing her hips incessantly up into his.

"Daphne," he breathed, tasting the pale skin of her neck and finding that the flavour made him groan.

"Theo." It was whimpered in reply, head tipped back, her bottom lip between her teeth. He closed his eyes at the sight, the way she looked, the way things were going, the desk was going to see so much more than transfiguration. Her fingers buried themselves in his hair, raking at his scalp and making him shiver.

They both pulled away quickly when a screech echoed in the corridor.

"PEEVES, YOU STUPID…ARGH." Theo jumped off the desk, running his finger through his hair and adjusting his tinsel. He took several deep breaths, hoping that in some way they would calm him. He was in a bad, bad situation and he wasn't sure he could joke his way out of it, wasn't sure he even wanted to.

"What's happening?" Daphne was next to him, her hands gripping his arm, breasts pressing against him all warm and tempting.

"I don't…I think Peeves has found a new victim." His suspicions were proven correct when he opened the door easily, the mischievous ghost no longer on the other side. Daphne pressed her weight against the door, urging him to close it again. She gently slotted herself in front of him, back pressed against the dark oak, his hand next to her hip, still wrapped around the handle.

"We don't have to go back just yet." She was fingering the buttons of his shirt and he was leaning into her struggling to find a reason why he shouldn't.

"No, I guess we don't."