"Ginny!" Comes a whisper, causing the youngest Weasley's ears to perk up, almost unsure if she heard it. "Ginny, it's me!" Quickly she turns and sees him, Draco Malfoy in all his glory, shirtless, in black silk pajama pants, lying beside her. Almost immediately she covers up further, a blush adorning her face, and the whole gesture is actually pretty silly given they're already in the Great Hall and she's fully covered by her blanket.

"Draco, what are you doing?!" She half-yell-half-whispers, panicked by the sight of the boy who stole her first kiss, the boy who she's supposed to stay away from, and the boy who makes her heart jump and her face flush. Not to mention seeing said boy shirtless. And at night.

"Coming to see you, of course." Her blush deepens further.

"You can't." She protests quietly. "You can't be here. Go back to Slytherin, I can't be seen with you like this."

"Relax." He says, waving off her concerns. "No one can see us right now, I made sure of it. They can't even hear us." He assures her. She knows she should be somewhat frightened by the thought of being truly isolated with the boy…at night…shirtless…as she's in her pajamas, but she finds herself not caring too much.

"Then why are we whispering?" The redhead asks, confused. The blond simply shrugs.

"Because it's fun to pretend sometimes." He answers as he almost levels her with his dashing smile and she blushes again.

"Well, what do you want?" She says harshly, so much so that it almost doesn't sound like a question.

"To talk." He replies in a simple tone.

"So talk." She commands. And the Malfoy heir obliges. The two talk for at least an hour, sharing little facts like favorite colors, favorite subjects, favorite foods, and of course, their favorite Quidditch teams. They continue, with Draco sharing (water-downed) stories of some of his adventures with Blaise and Nott, some from their childhood, and some in Hogwarts. He talks about how he rode the Hippogriff, and promises to take her next time if she wants, and he even talks about how he was a mirror trap away from nabbing the Philosopher's Stone.

"Why?" Ginny asks, noticing a lack of motive given and no real need for said relic.

"Because I could." Draco says with a shrug and a grin. She nods and then gets quiet, clearly thinking about something else. Something dark.

"So what Harry and Ron said…." The youngest Weasley trails off, not wanting to nor needing to finish her thoughts.

"It's true yeah." He confirms, matching her quiet tone.

"But…"

"It's because I like you." He answers her unasked question. "And I don't like them." He clarifies further. "Plus, they challenged me. And they needed to be put in their place." He speaks with an inarguable finality. She can only nod at his words as she swallows down some of her feelings.

"Did Wood challenge you too?" The redhead questions meekly, not exactly liking the answers she's getting.

"In a sense." The blond replies. "It was more of a message for everyone else."

"A message?" Ginny almost lashes out, sickened and disturbed by the words coming out of his mouth, by his poor reasoning. "Sent by burning someone alive? What kind of message could possibly—"

"To fear me." The 'little demon' answers simply. "And they do. So it worked." Ginny sits silently for a bit, contemplating things in her mind.

"And if I challenged you?" Draco only smiles and plays with her hair.

"I'd welcome it. Enjoy it." He assures her. Somehow she doesn't feel better knowing that.

"So, you wouldn't send a message?" She questions, causing his grin to widen and form into a more predatory grin.

"Oh I would, but I think we both know exactly what kind of message it'd be."

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Draco sits with his two best-mates after a session of magic and dueling and sharing secrets and whatnot, and he finally brings his thoughts to light.

"So tell me if I seem loony—"

"You always seem loony, Draco." Blaise interjects before he can finish his thoughts, earning him a glare. "What? Nott thinks so too, don't you Theo?"

"I-I…you n-normally d-don't do things the c-conventional w-way." Nott speaks in his new nervous stuttering style.

"OK, then tell me if I sound barmy then." Draco corrects himself, rolling his eyes at his mates' cheekiness. "But I was thinking…about letting Professor Lupin bite me." He says simply, waiting for a response. A good ten seconds of silence passes, both boys clearly shocked by his suggestion, before the darker boy breaks the silence.

"Wow…Draco…I never knew you felt that way." He speaks, clearly still shocked. "What with Angelina and Ginny, and with the Slytherin girls, I had no idea you had such…" He doesn't get to finish his joke, as Draco catches on and interrupts.

"Haha, real funny Blaise. We both know, we all know that Professor Lupin is a Werewolf, and I was thinking of becoming one myself to bolster my abilities. Now I know what you're thinking, but I'm confident I'll be able to control the transformation." Nott looks to the floor, clearly not in agreement with the plan, and Blaise…Blaise palms his own face.

"Mate…the transformation isn't the issue." He pauses for a moment. "OK, for normal people it is, but with you? Trust me, we believe you." Draco nods, not getting what he's saying.

"OK…so what is the issue then?" Blaise exhales slowly and closes his eyes.

"Mate…it's bloody stupid." He says simply. "You asked if you sound barmy, and you've gone beyond it. A Werewolf is no stronger than a normal wolf, and from what I remember, mate, you killed something like…a pack of wolves? When you were only a child, right?" Draco is hesitant to respond, using his Legimancy, his magic to burrow into his friend's mind to find what he needs. He's still somewhat gentle, still liking Blaise, but…what he just said…

"Yes." Draco says quietly, unnerved because he never told them that, and Blaise's memories hold no recollection of him saying that. And for good reason. That event happened as Thriller, in his past life, so… "Blaise…" He starts off in a deadly tone, one that sets both boys on edge. "How the Bloody Hell do you know about that?" Blaise for his part simply gulps down his fear, before shrugging in the face of death.

"I still dream about you." He explains, before thinking on it and clarifying. "Or rather, that thing with your voice, the demon from before." The dark-skinned boy furrows his brow as he tries to remember. "My dreams show me…visions sometimes, and for some reason, I swear on Merlin's Bloody Grave, that I saw something about wolves and I just connected it to you." Draco stares into his best mate's eyes and strangely enough, he's not lying.

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With his Werewolf plans down the drain, Draco finds himself floundering for a way to gain more power. He didn't like being vulnerable, and he disliked the truths the visage of his killer spat at him, before he turned his own fire back on him. And so he finds himself more observant than usual, looking for power, looking for unusual occurrences, and he finds some, with Nott in particular.

"Nott." He addresses his dear friend who he's invited into this classroom alone.

"D-Draco." Nott acknowledges him with a nod.

"Tell me about the device they gave." Draco starts off right to the point. "The one you use to turn back time." Immediately, Nott's eyes widen and he begins stammering even more than usual, in his quiet tone that he once abandoned.

"ᴵ⁻ᴵ ᵈ⁻ᵈ⁻ᵈ⁻ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ʷʰ⁻ʷʰᵃᵗ ʸ⁻ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵗᵃˡᵏ⁻ᵗᵃˡᵏ⁻ᵗᵃˡᵏᶦⁿᵍ ᵃᵇ⁻ᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᴰʳ⁻ᴰʳᵃᶜᵒ." A poor attempt, but at least he tried. Draco smiles sinisterly, and in that instant, Nott is put on notice.

"I understand, Nott, Theo, that they made you promise not to say anything, but come on, it's me. You can tell me." He coaxes his quiet genius of a friend. "I've already figured it out, seeing you in two places at once, meaning it's either cloning or time shenanigans, and given the lack of clones in the Wizarding World, time actually makes more sense here. Am I wrong?" Nott remains silent. "Now it's either a spell or a magical device, and even Hogwarts isn't dumb enough to hand out a spell that does it, especially to a student, and thus it must be a device." Draco reasons it out for his friend, trying to get him more comfortable with the idea of coming clean. "Hand it over." He demands, and Nott does it albeit with hesitation.

Draco takes the tiny hourglass in his hand, turning it around in his fingers, getting a good feel as he inspects the magical time machine.

"Let me ask you a question Nott." Draco begins, before leaning forward and looking his friend in the eyes. "Can you replicate this?" Theodore Nott thinks for a moment, about his training, about his prowess, and slowly he does the unthinkable and nods.