Chapter 33: The one with All the Gryffindors

Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Chapter 32

"So… you guys are going out?"

I looked at Mi through the mirror whilst I brushed my hair. "What, no. We're just friends that flirt occasionally."

"But you've been seeing him all over the castle."

"Coincidences. Just random acts of…randomness. Look, I enjoy his company and he is a boy and a good friend, I despise the term boyfriend, it's demeaning and trivial and he's not. I mean boyfriend, he can be demeaning when he wants to be, I kind of like that. Anyway, I'm not keen on labels and I actually don't mind putting off the whole 'what are we' talk permanently. I kind of like not knowing what we are."

"You like not knowing where you stand?"

"It keeps me on my toes."

"You're deranged."

"Why thank you. Anyway, Sev will flip and so will Minnie. Apparently seventeen is equivalent to paedophile in their eyes."

She laughed and said, "Well you keep denying that you want anything more from Cedric."

"I don't Mi. There's no denial, just the cold truth."

"Oh yes. That's why you've been brushing your hair for ten minutes."

"Hey, the state of my hair is mutually exclusive to the status of my relationship and lack thereof."

I walked out the room, trying to ignore her laughter. I reached the Entrance Hall and saw the head of familiar brown near the basement steps, his back turned to me. I was just about to pounce for the sneak attack when,

"Bane, you're late. I guess I'd never have to wonder if your identity has been stolen, I'd just have to kill you if you showed up on time knowing it can only be an imposter."

I turned to the dungeon entrance, "So nice to know that you would kill for me Sensei."

"Take the 'for' out, the sentence is better without it. Follow me; you won't be brewing potions this time, Filch has asked for your assistance."

"Oh, come on Sensei, he'll have me doing manual labour."

"Rewarding you with making potions is not a punishment."

"Speaks like Severus, sounds like Minerva. The New Professor Doll now in stores. First hundred comes with free 'stab in the back' knife." I said in a 'male advertisement' voice.

"You sound like an idiot when you try impersonating a man."

"So do you."

He snapped around and the words just slipped out of my mouth like word vomit. I quickly opted for a change of subject, "So what kind of manual labour does Filch have me signed up for?"

He glared at me and continued down the dungeons, "I don't know, but I'm sure it's nothing kind. At least I hope it isn't."

We rounded another corner and saw Filch standing in the dark with a lamp hovering at his shoulder. As we approached, I realised that the lamp slowly took on human form, and it was in fact a mop of silver blonde hair that was shining. It wasn't the hair that offended me; it was the head that the hair sat on.

Draco Malfoy lazily turned around, his features slack with boredom. He had one hand casually in his designer slacks pocket and the other picking at imaginary lint on his black cashmere sweater. Someone didn't own pyjamas. He straightened up when he saw us approach, ignoring me completely, which we very pleasantly did ever since that one time his face walked into my hand,

"Professor Snape, fancy seeing you down here."

"I was about to say the same Draco. What's the meaning of this Filch?"

"I just caught Mr Malfoy breaking curfew. I brought him down here to serve his punishment."

Malfoy rolled his eyes as if Filch was lying but didn't protest. He was relaxed about the whole situation.

"Right. Fine, Mr Malfoy will serve his detention with Miss Thornton. I'll leave it to you Filch."

Malfoy looked shocked at Sev; I think he was expecting some kind of pardon. Filch had a huge grin on his face, Sev nodded to us and walked away. I turned and smirked at Malfoy, who composed himself and turned to filch.

"May I at least go and change?"

Filch didn't even acknowledge the request and instead started walking down the corridor. He eventually came to a flight of steps which he descended and then took a left turn, and then a right. It was freezing down here, and I didn't carry a sweater, clad in my black sweatpants and Beatles tee. He walked down the corridor, stopped in the middle, and opened the door.

He didn't enter, just looked at us. I looked at Malfoy, who in turn looked at me. I rolled my eyes; he is such a coward. The eye roll seemed to have triggered something though and he walked through the door first.

"You're to clean this up. Separate it into things you must keep, and things you should throw away, and things that can be repaired. I'll come back for you lot in two hours. Have fun…oh, and don't put your fingers in any holes if you like them the way they are."

And with that he shut the door.

"Lumos." We muttered at the same time. We were standing in a room about half the size of the Potions classroom. There was junk everywhere, it was like a Hogwarts basement.

I couldn't make out a thing, except dust and spider webs. Those reigned supreme in this room. I walked to the first pile and reached for the object,

"Are you deaf as well as stupid? Didn't you hear the squib; he said not to touch anything."

"No Malfoy, he said don't put your fingers into any holes. Does this look like a hole to you? "I picked up the object, skurged it and it appeared to be a mortar. At least that's what I thought it was, it was a relic. Malfoy moved closer and observed the mortar, without touching it.

"Well technically that is a hole. You put the pestle in it."

"And technically you're an idiot. You put the D in idiot."

He shook his head and walked to the edge of the room. He scourgified an object that turned out to be a stool. I was quite surprised; I thought he wouldn't help considering he had the silver spoon shoved so far up his mouth it stuck out of his arse. I guess that explains what was stuck up his arse then. I made a mental note to let Ron in on that joke.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I snapped at him as he adjusted himself into a comfortable position on the stool.

"I see your sorry state of language hasn't improved. Well Thornton, let me teach you. This is a stool; it is used for sitting."

"Just for sitting?" I asked innocently.

He smirked at me, "Well, they are other more fun things that it can be used for…you could come over here and I'll show you."

He must have had a heart attack when I started walking forward with a flirty smirk on my face. He was stock still when I reached him.

I quickly whipped my wand out and magicked the stool out from underneath him, he fell onto the floor with a deafening crash…unfortunately he seemed to have upset the pile that was on the left of me, and I was too busy laughing to notice until the last second as the huge pile of junk fell down towards me.

Moments later I opened my eyes and met light grey. Malfoy's palms were on either side of my face, propping his body up. There was junk lying all over us and a dull pain radiating from my back. Suddenly the grey eyes changed from confused to afraid and he quickly jumped off me and pulled me up.

"Fuck, you're bleeding." He touched my forehead which was sore, and I put my hand up there as well. I looked at the sticky substance and rubbed it between my fingers. I put it up to my nose and sniffed at it.

"It's not blood."

I started digging in the junk in excitement, ignoring the dizziness. I turned to Malfoy, who was standing there in confusion, "Well don't just stand there. Look for the container. It looks like blood."

I dug through the junk, throwing potion instruments here and there.

"I found it…I think."

I turned quickly and saw Malfoy holding a jar of something red. I clambered over to him and made to grab it, but he held it out of my reach. Oh, why does he have to be such an annoying prat?

"What is it?" He said.

"Just a potion ingredient."

"Doesn't sound like it's just a potion ingredient. Sounds like a bit more than that to me. Sounds like it's something rare. That means expensive."

I growled up at him, why does he have to be such a Malfoy about this. "Fine don't give it to me, I don't care."

I turned and walked away, folding my arms to stop myself from attacking Malfoy which may cause him to drop the jar.

"Sounded like you cared an awful lot five minutes ago."

"Things change. You take that side; I'll take this side."

"OK. I'll just toss this back in the junk."

I turned quickly but I already heard the glass shatter. I ran, but it was too late. Tears of anger burned in my eyes,

"You insufferable idiot, how can you-"

I stopped my rendition has I saw Malfoy standing there with a smirk on his face, holding the blood red jar in his hand. I was so angry I felt like head butting him, but then he might actually drop the jar this time.

"So are you going to tell me what it is or do I have to send a sample to my labs and have them find out."

I sighed. He wouldn't let this go. "Its Lamian leave sap. Now, can I have it?"

"What's it used for?"

"Nothing at the moment. So technically it's useless."

"If it isn't being used for anything it must not be well researched, and that must be because it is hard to come by. It's probably the cure for some illness or something like that."

"Maybe. Or maybe it's useless. Daddy won't be too impressed for wasting his time experimenting on a useless potion ingredient."

He shook his head, "I'm not going to give this to my father Thornton. If I wanted to find out what it does, I'll do so by myself. Fortunately for you I have better things to do with my time than play with ancient potion ingredients. There."

He held it out to me, and I hesitantly reached for it, just like I thought he would, he pulled back just before I can grab it.

"Just remember, you owe me one. A Malfoy always collects on his debts."

I wanted to slap him hard but held myself back. Seems today was a good day for restraint. I took the jar, shrunk it, and carefully placed it in my pocket.

"Thank you." I muttered.

He laughed, a hollow laugh, "Don't thank me just yet Thornton."

"Ky!"

I turned around and saw Apple coming towards me. I told Mi I'll see her down at breakfast and ducked into the room he just entered.

"Are you OK? Did Snape give you another detention? I saw him walk away with you, I'm really sorry, it's all my fault you were caught after curfew, and I wanted to follow you and tell Snape that-"

"Woah! Let's make this one rule. Let's never have the urge to tell Sev anything. Ever. He'll flip out and I don't think you want to go into the next task with one leg. He already thought something was going on with us before."

"And what did you tell him?" He was sizing me up with his eyes, waiting for my response.

"That we were just friends."

"Oh. Is that what we are?"

Oh, fucksickles, this was that 'what are we' talk. Just as I was about to open my mouth and put my foot into it, the door burst open. A couple came giggling in totally ignoring our presence, hands, and eyes, only for each other. We realised we were just kicked out and made our way to the door,

"Look, I have a pretty busy day ahead of me. I'm running late for Charms. Can you meet me in the basement room at around 8? We'll talk then." He rushed off then, stopped and turned around and made his way back to me.

He put his hand in my hair and played with a strand. He gave me a deep stare and then leaned down and gave me a light kiss on the forehead. "See you later Kid."

My heart was still beating at a higher rate when we sat down for lunch that day. I was barely listening to the chatter around me. Just a simple sensation had me feeling like this?

I suddenly snapped my head up when I heard Apple's name.

"Missy Leeson said she saw him with some girl up on the seventh this morning, near our common room. Of course, she didn't see the girls face considering Robert was sucking her face off at the time."

Mi and I started paying attention to Bobby and Parvati's conversation, an unprecedented occurrence.

Parvati laughed, "Pad told me that Missy spent the rest of the lesson fantasizing about Cedric. Do you blame her though; Roberts's nose is so off centre it might as well be called his lips."

"Ugh and that ghastly haircut. Not like Missy is the bee's knees, did you see what she wore for the last Hogsmeade trip."

"Yeah, can you spell skank? If he was talking to a girl near our common room, she's probably from our house, right?"

"Oooh, I bet its Katie. They would make the cutest couple."

"You bet what's me." Katie sat down with Alicia and Angelina, looking at Bobby curiously. Ginny and some other girls from her year that I knew by face but not name, moved in closer. Ugh… this was becoming a gossip fest.

Bobby leaned in dramatically, soaking up the attention. "Cedric Diggory was spotted making out with a girl in an abandoned classroom near our common room. So, we figured she must be a Gryffindor."

Where did 'making out' come from?

Katie laughed, "And you think it's me? Believe me ladies if I was snogging Cedric Diggory, you lot would know about it, seeing as I would have screamed it out in the middle of the Great Hall."

"Or had her name tattooed on his forehead." Alicia chipped in.

"Or his arse." Everybody laughed at Angelina's last comment.

Mi cut in, "Well not that it is anybody's business, but by the logic you're using, and by the fact that Cedric is really smart, the girl is probably not from Gryffindor. I mean… why take the risk of getting caught so close to home. She's probably a Ravenclaw…or a Slytherin."

I smiled at Mi and her poor cover up.

"Well, whoever the sneaky little ho is we'll find out soon." Bobby said, a tad bit threatening.

Fred and George jumped in between Angelina and Katie, "Are you going to let these young un's call you a sneaky little ho Ang."

George turned to the group, "Ang is not sneaky. She's a big ho and she's proud of it."

Angelina hit him on the head. One of Ginny's friends piped up, "How would we find out."

Bobby gave the girl an exasperated look. "Well, you children wouldn't know, but the Yule Ball is coming up and Cedric is probably going to be taking the Gryffindor sneak as his date."

I felt a nudge and I moved down the bench, Ron took the place and Harry sat on his other side. Mi was avoiding all eye contact, probably going to burst at any second.

Fred laughed out loud, "Oh please, that Puff can never get one of our ladies to go with him."

Bobby, Parvati, and some of the younger girls gasped at the absurd accusation. Angelina, Katie, and Alicia didn't though. Angelina shrugged, "Unfortunately Fred has a point."

"Oooh Ang, let's not pretend that you don't know just how pointy I am." The boys and I laughed at that.

What looked like a second-year girl piped up, Apple was really pulling a crowd, "But why…he's very…handsome." She looked down quickly, blushing both at the attention and her words.

Lee took this one, "Well little cub, you'll soon learn. We Gryffindors may not be known for our loyalty but that doesn't mean we don't have it. Dating Diggory will be the same as outwardly stating that we believe he is the real Hogwarts Champion."

There were murmurs of agreement and I watched Harry closely. He didn't seem to have much of an opinion on the matter and was chewing his lamb pie. Ron on the other hand did,

"Might as well get traitor tattooed on your forehead like the last one."

He laughed at the squeak the little girl emitted and Mi scolded him and cut in.

"Don't worry, we do not brand people here. I think you guys are being ridiculous. Harry wouldn't think it would be treason if someone from Gryffindor went with Cedric for the Yule Ball."

"Well, it's not Harry's opinion that matters, is it Mione'. It's about how it looks. If Harry's own housemates don't support him, how can the rest of the school?"

Mi gave Ron a deadly stare, "I bet you would change your tune if Fleur Delacour asked you out."

"Well, that's different." Everybody looked at Dean. "She's actually hot."

The boys laughed and then George added, "And taking a Durmstrang or a Beauxbaton student is fine because you could still be supporting Hogwarts. Taking Cedric or Harry is a direct declaration of your choice as the true Hogwarts Champion. It's house honour at stake."

Bobby groaned, "Now I definitely have to tell him no."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that Lavender…because he won't ask you." Everybody laughed at Seamus, whilst Bobby smacked him up the head.

I ate the rest of my pie in silence…well this is something to think about. Would Cedric even ask me to the Ball? Ugh Ball! I remember Minnie mentioning it this morning in class, but I didn't think I'd have to go. I'm jumping the gun; I don't even know if he would ask me. I knew he had to go as a champion but maybe he'll take a friend instead. That blonde girl that always walked with his friends to class. Or the red haired he sat next to in potions. Anyway… when did I even care what other people thought?

I was pulled out of my reverie by an invasion of space, the suspect being a certain green eyed messy haired individual. Ron seemed to have left at some point and was now engrossed in quidditch talk with the other guys, Mi was reading her book, and the others were talking about dresses. Harry moved up close enough that I could feel his familiar scent linger in the air.

"Talking about all this..."He stopped and started scratching the back of his neck, "I know I never said it…out loud. But I am grateful. I mean… I've known Hermione for years and even Ron, my best friend needed convincing…but, not you. You just…supported me from the get-go. I mean all these other people," he muttered quietly, "They only really started supporting me from the whole dragon thing…but you…you've been there from the beginning….it means…it means something to me." I looked up at his sincere face and just nodded.

Fucksickles.

A/N: And the rollercoaster continues. Feedback as always is very much appreciated.

Kalina