I hadn't been alone in the Owlery since the incident with Malfoy.
A few times I had taken Neville with me or I had given Min my letter so that she could send him away with me.
It wasn't that I was afraid of Malfoy, I just wanted to avoid running into him, especially when we were both alone.
But now I felt safe not to run into him.
He was certainly in Hogsmeade, probably sitting with Astoria in some café drinking butterbeer.
I had written the letter to Grandpa on the bench by the lake on a piece of parchment, of which I always had some in my pockets.
It was a short letter that didn't say much worth mentioning.
Mainly that I would miss him over Christmas but understood why he couldn't come to England.
I also wrote how school was going and that I wanted ice skates for Christmas.
On the way to the Owlery it had been quite slippery thanks to the snow and I had almost slipped a few times.
I was glad when I reached the top in one piece.
It was noisy here, the birds were screeching and flapped their wings wildly.
They all expected me to choose them to deliver my letter but only one bird could do it.
And this one did not fit in at all with the others, for it was not an owl or an oddball but a raven.
A normal raven, without magical abilities.
Well, he was particularly clever, that was almost considered a magical ability.
He had fallen out of the nest as a chick and we had raised him by hand.
I was three years old at the time and couldn't pronounce raven, so I always said ruben instead and since then the little one was called Ruben and did the job that owls actually did.
He cawed when he saw me and flew onto my shoulder, where he nibbled a little on my ear.
That was his way of telling me he was happy to see me.
I waved my head and told him to sit on my arm, which he understood immediately.
I gently slid my fingers over his shiny black feathers.
"If you only knew how beautiful you are," I said to him and he cawed again.
He was fully aware of how beautiful he was, he had just confirmed that to me again.
I giggled.
"You're not arrogant at all either."
I tied the letter to his leg.
"Fly carefully and say hello to Grandpa for me."
I let him take off from my arm into the cold winter air.
"I wouldn't trust that ugly feathered creature to even arrive, let alone say hello to anyone."
I turned around and saw light blonde hair.
It was like déjà vu.
"Do you actually live here or why are you always up here when I send letters?", I hissed at my counterpart.
Unlike last time, I reached straight into my pocket and clasped my wand.
"I'm watching you.
I promised you another curse, you remember?", he replied surprisingly calmly.
"I'm really flattered but I'm sure your girlfriend doesn't think it's so funny that you're stalking other girls."
I crossed my arms in front of my chest but held my wand firmly in my right hand.
"My girlfriend is none of your fucking business, Harper!"
There was an end to his calm as he hissed the words.
"I just wanted to talk to you but you have to come right back here and put on a show like that."
"YOU want to talk?", I thought I was hard of hearing, which was already biologically impossible.
"What do you want to talk about, with ME?",
I overemphasised 'you' and 'me' in case I had misunderstood something or in case there was someone else up here he could talk to.
"Yes I need to talk to YOU about something," he emulated me.
I tried to look as questioning as possible without losing my evil countenance.
"You're good at Care of magical creatures," he began.
"I already knew that, you didn't have to follow me up here for that", I interjected into his very long pause in speech.
He rolled his eyes.
"Shut up Harper or I'll make you shut up."
I looked at him grimly but said nothing.
"I can't fail this exam or I'll be expelled."
Another long pause, so slowly I grew impatient and gestured him with my hand to keep talking.
"You're the best in the class, even better than Granger, so you have to help me not fail the exam."
He looked at me expectantly.
"I don't HAVE to do anything", I replied snappishly.
"If you want me to help you I want something in return."
He couldn't expect me to agree unconditionally, could he?
"How much do you want Harper?" he asked monotonously.
"Money? I don't want money, I don't need it."
"Then what?" he was annoyed now.
"Two things.
First, I want you to ask me to help you. The sentence must contain my first name and the word please.
And secondly, I want you to apologise to Neville for always treating him so meanly," I stated triumphantly.
"Forget it Harper!", I got in reply.
"Fine, then see how you get through the exam on your own or find someone else.
But not with me, either on my terms or not at all."
I didn't have much of my terms.
I could have asked for other things but it was clear to me that Malfoy would never stoop to either of those things and so had to find himself some other stupid.
"Fine," he said and I was honestly taken aback by this response.
"If I apologise to Longbottom, won't you help me fail the exam, ... Daisy?"
I looked at him expectantly and I indicated again with my hand that he wasn't finished.
"Please?" he supplemented reluctantly.
"Since you asked so nicely, Malfoy, of course."
I wouldn't use his first name, because apart from Astoria and another of his friends, I hadn't heard anyone call him Draco.
"Alright, Monday night 8pm Potions classroom, be on time."
I nodded silently and without another word he turned and left.
I heard another soft "Alohomora" and shortly after that the door slammed shut.
The guy had actually locked it.
I stood rooted to the spot for a moment and realised what had just happened.
Draco Malfoy had asked me to tutor him voluntarily and was so desperate that he had even accepted my conditions, which were clearly abhorrent to him, and the whole thing would take place in the dungeon rooms on Monday evening.
What had I got myself into?
Because of the situation in the Owlery, I had completely forgotten that Neville had been on a date.
But as soon as I sat down to dinner and he came through the door, I remembered.
Judging by the look on his face and the big grin, it had been a good afternoon and I knew I wouldn't tell him about Malfoy just yet.
That could wait until tomorrow, or maybe even Monday, because tonight was Neville's night and I certainly wasn't going to ruin it.
My best friend sat down in the seat in front of me, grinning broadly.
"I told you it would go well," I began before he could say anything.
No answer, just a grin.
"Go on, tell me," I urged him.
"I don't want to have to pull every single word out of your nose. "
"Well..." he began and I listened intently.
He started at the beginning and really told me every little detail. From the outfit she was wearing, to their topics of conversation, to the drinks they had ordered.
His whole face lit up a little more every time he mentioned her name and I couldn't help but like this girl.
Neville liked her and spoke so wonderfully of her, she could only be a great person.
And what kind of friend would I be not to support him?
"So?", I asked as his monologue ended.
"Did you guys go on a second date?" Neville nodded hastily.
"We were going to go for a walk on Monday afternoon after school", he blushed.
Monday... He would be so excited all day again and if he knew I was meeting Malfoy that evening, he would be in a bad mood all day and wouldn't enjoy his date.
But it wasn't that far yet, Malfoy had only fulfilled one of the two conditions and I believed, or at least hoped, that he wouldn't fulfil the second.
I only realised that I was wrong after lunch on Monday.
Malfoy had not yet apologised to Neville and I lulled myself into a sense of security.
But I had underestimated Malfoy, I realised when Neville and I were standing in front of the Potions classroom and Malfoy came towards us.
He stopped directly in front of us.
There was confusion in Neville's gaze where as there must have been pure shock in mine.
Malfoy would chicken out, I had told myself all along, but now that he was standing in front of us I wasn't so sure.
Malfoy turned his head to the left and right as if to make sure no one saw or heard us.
"Longbottom," he began quietly.
"I haven't treated you fairly these last few years, it wasn't right of me... I'm sorry."
He spoke softly but it was obvious from the expressions on our faces that we had both understood him.
Malfoy had been skilfully staring at the wall between me and Neville the whole time, thus avoiding eye contact.
But now he looked me straight in the eye and said, clearly louder now, "Is that enough Harper?"
I nodded cautiously.
"That was my part of the deal, now it's your turn. Eight o'clock, be on time."
Again I nodded.
Malfoy maintained eye contact for a few moments more, then turned and left.
The whole thing couldn't have lasted more than two minutes but it felt like an eternity.
Neville was the first to regain his speech
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Believe me, I'm not quite sure myself
That's why I shrugged, maybe he'd believe me I was as surprised as he was.
"Don't tell me you didn't know!"
By Neville's standards, he spoke quite loudly and seemed almost angry.
"He said he'd fulfilled his part of the deal , now it was your turn.
What deal, Daisy?
Why do you even have a deal with Malfoy?
Why is he apologising to me about it?
And why didn't you tell me about it?"
With each question he looked a little angrier and I suddenly felt rather guilty.
"I didn't want to ruin your date with Hannah," I confessed meekly, answering only the last of his questions.
Professor Slughorn arrived and we all followed him into the classroom.
He had saved me from Neville's questions, but only until the end of this lesson, after which he would not let up until I told him everything.
I only had this lesson to come up with a plausible explanation why I had made a deal with Malfoy, when I didn't even have an explanation myself.
During the lesson, Neville kept giving me nasty looks and I tried to ignore them as best I could but I didn't succeed very well.
Malfoy, on the other hand, was the best when it came to ignoring me, because he didn't say a word to me the whole lesson or make a stupid comment, as if I wasn't even there.
When Professor Slughorn ended the lesson I tried to get out of the room quickly to avoid Neville but he was quicker than me and grabbed my arm.
"Forget it Daisy. You're staying here until you give me an explanation of what just happened in the hallway."
"But your date?", I tried to deflect.
"Not for another hour, I hope you can make it."
He still looked angry.
I expelled a defeated breath and sat down on one of the tables.
"I was at the Owlery on Saturday.
Malfoy was there too and wanted me to tutor him in Care of magical creatures.
I don't know why I did it.
I said I'd do it if he met my conditions.
I didn't expect that he would accept my conditions, let alone that he would actually implement them.
So I quickly said that he should first ask me to help him properly and secondly that he should apologise to you."
I had spoken the last sentences quickly and now paused for a moment.
"I couldn't have expected him to actually go through with it."
I looked guiltily at the floor.
"You had Draco Malfoy in the palm of your hand and could have asked ANYTHING of him and you choose THAT?!"
"I'm really sorry, I really didn't think he'd do it, that's why I played my poker so low.
I underestimated him.
I'm honestly sorry."
I looked my best friend in the eye.
There was a smile where I had expected anger.
"You could have had ANYTHING and yet the first thing on your mind is an apology to me.
That's crazy Daisy and totally stupid but also kind of sweet."
Now I looked at him confused.
He bridged the gap that had existed between us during the conversation and gave me a hug.
"That was really sweet of you but also totally stupid."
I smiled against his chest.
Yes, that was quite stupid of me.
How stupid it really was, I couldn't see at that moment.
