"... cannot afford mistakes, Draya, because if you are expelled-"

"Oh, shut it!" I interrupted angrily, "I'm doing my best, okay?"

I turned away from my once favourite professor, driving my hands exhaustedly through my hair.

"And then why is Potter sniffing around you?" Snape snarled, "he clearly suspects something."

"Ha!" I laughed, wheeling back round to face him. "If Potter is my biggest threat then I'm laughing! What's You-Know-Who threatening to kill me and my family over a pathetic four-eyed, Muggle loving orphan?!"

Snape closed his eyes, looking exhausted himself.

"Listen to me," he said slowly, his voice low, "I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draya-"

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it. I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

Snape's eyes widened just a fraction. "What is your plan?"

"It's none of your business!"

"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you-"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!" I crossed my arms over my chest with an air of defiance.

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or back up. These are elementary mistakes-"

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!"

"Keep your voice down!" Snape spat. "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at pres-"

"What does it matter? Defence Against the Dark Arts - it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts-"

"It is an act crucial to success, Draya! Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance on assistants like Crabbe and Goyle-"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people!" I said, inwardly cringing at the childishness of my voice.

"Then why not confide in me, and I can-"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

A pause as Snape's black eyes glittered. "You are speaking like a child," he said coldly. "I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but-"

I did not stay to hear him finish. Instead, I marched across the classroom he'd dragged me into and left, making sure to slam the door behind me.

Rather than storming up to the seventh floor, however, I continued down the corridor, not stopping until I was a good safe distance away from Snape.

I stepped into an alcove before I spoke. "You can show yourself, Potter, I know you're there."

Silence.

Sighing, I placed my hands on my hips. "Just take the fucking cloak off, Potter, and stop pretending that you're not following me."

All of a sudden, the Gryffindor appeared before me, his hair messy atop of his head from where he'd pulled the cloak free.

"How- how did you know?" He spluttered, his green eyes wide with amazement as he blinked out at me from behind his glasses.

I smirked. "Because you're predictable, Potter." I didn't add that I could recognise the scent of his cologne anywhere.

He opened his mouth to respond, but then thought better of it and closed it again. To my disconcertment, he took a step closer to me and I found myself balking in horror, thinking he was going to kiss me again.

"Why did you come to the party?"

"Why did you try and save me?"

"I asked you a question first, Malfoy. And I think you at least owe me an explanation for putting my neck on the line for you."

"I owe you nothing, Potter."

He lowered his head, bringing his mouth tantalisingly close to my ear. His warm breath fluttered my hair and tickled the nape of my neck. "I heard you talking with Snape just now. What's an Unbreakable Vow, Draya?"

I suddenly found it difficult to breathe and my heart raced crazily beneath my chest. My head was spinning and I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. All my thoughts were filled with the memory of our kiss.

"It's none of your business," I said, growing more flustered by the second.

He lifted his head a fraction, his gaze flickering around my heated face. Infuriatingly, his lips twitched into a smirk, clearly amused at the effect he was having on me.

"I'll find out what you're up to soon enough," he murmured, his voice husky and low. "And I'm not going to quit until I do so."

He lifted a hand and slowly tucked my hair behind my ear, his penetrating gaze never leaving mine. Instinctively, I took a step backwards, only to find the cold stone wall pressing against my back.

Harry immediately closed the gap, the hand that had touched my hair now cupping my neck. I felt this sudden rush of anger and brought my hands up against his chest, pushing him hard away from me.

"You think you're so big and clever!" I snarled watching with satisfaction as he stumbled backwards. "But really you're nothing but a loser, following me around like some stalker beneath that stupid cloak! Get a fucking life, Potter, and leave me the fuck alone!"

My heart was racing so fast by now that I was surprised it hadn't burst out of my chest. I was so angry, so fucking fuming at the audacity of this bitch.

Harry quickly regained his composure, fixing his dress robes as he glowered darkly at me, his cheeks sporting a pink tinge. "You're bad news, Malfoy. First your father, and now you. What's Voldemort got you doing that has even Snape worried about you?"

I reached up and slapped him hard across the face. And when I spoke, my voice was cold and unwavering. "You dare mention my father, and you dare say his name to my face."

I turned to leave, but found myself being yanked back. Harry had grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his arms. And then we were kissing, hard and with a heated desperation.

Hands were everywhere, fingers pulling, tugging and groping at everything they could grab. I couldn't get close enough to him, I couldn't kiss him hard enough. I only stopped to emit a gasp of pain as the back of my head slammed hard against the stone wall. A gasp that was immediately silenced by Harry's frenzied lips.

I lifted my legs up off the floor to curl around his waist, letting his broad torso pin me against the wall. I could feel his heart racing just as wildly beneath his hard chest as he kissed me harder, his groans of longing vibrating deliciously down my tongue.

"Fuck," he murmured hoarsely, dragging his mouth away from my lips to press a trail of kisses down my throat. 

I tangled my fingers in his hair, clasping and tugging as waves of pleasure flooded through my body. I dug my heels into his arse, and relished in the way his hardness pressed against my stomach.

"Let's take this somewhere else," Harry said hoarsely, his lips moving hotly against my neck. "I want you, Draya. I want you so fucking much."

And yeah, I wanted him too, but I had the little issue of the Dark Mark on my arm. And I'd rather not lose my virginity to a smug, cocky bastard like Harry Potter.

No matter how hot he was.

"We can't." I said with great reluctance. "I've got things to do."

He froze at my words. Lifting his head, he gave me a quizzical look, his eyes dark with lust. "Like what? It's almost midnight."

"Yeah, didn't I tell you my fairy godmother is waiting up for me?" I bit sarcastically. "If I don't leave now then my broomstick will turn into a Cleansweep Five and my robes into Weasley's rags."

"Oh, ha ha," Harry sniped, still pinning me up against the wall. "Don't try and make a joke if you don't know how to be funny."

"You want to hear something funny?" I scoffed. "Try this for size - you refuse to shake my hand but yet here you are begging to fuck me?"

Anger flashed in his eyes, and he moved away from me so that my legs fell back down to the floor, my feet catching me. My chest still heaving, I leant my head back against the wall and laughed.

"You're still not funny, Malfoy," Harry snarled. He sounded highly irritated, but still he did not make any attempt to leave.

Part of me was glad, part of me wanted him as far away from me as possible. And yet a bigger part of me felt oddly empty and wished he was back in arms, kissing me.

I dared meet his gaze, and with everything I learnt from Aunt Bella, I attempted a spot of Legilimency. Almost straight away, memories started to flood out of his weak little mind. Memories full of... me. Kissing me, arguing with me, watching me.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Harry snarled, cottoning on straight away. He snapped his eyes away from me, his face scarlet with fury.

"Not very nice when someone tries to invade your privacy, is it?" I smirked. "Maybe you'll remember that the next time you reach for that pathetic cloak of yours. Happy Christmas."

I threw him a smug look before walking away, leaving him standing alone with his boner.

******

I needed to stop this nonsense with Harry and concentrate on fixing the Cabinet.

But Christmas really was just a waste of my time. Despite Harry having fucked off somewhere for the holidays, my mind was still full of him, constantly replaying our heated encounters over and over again, so that I ended up having to take several cold showers.

I kept wondering where he was and with who. I'd put a wager on the Weasley's shack, but then I'd get this sort of burning sensation in my chest when I thought about Ginny.

Had he ever kissed her? And if so did he kiss her like he kissed me?

I was so distracted by these unwanted thoughts that I hadn't noticed I'd delivered the pre-poisoned mead to the wrong office.

Oh, well. It had Dumbledore's name on it so I'm sure it would arrive to the correct recipient's hands in due course.

******

"Mate, what's wrong with you? You've been acting like a right moody cunt all Christmas. Not even being force fed mince pies by my sister cheered you up."

Harry shrugged at his friend's question. "Just a lot on my mind lately."

"You've got a lot on your mind? Mate, trying being me - I've got to think of a way to dump Lav and still be able to keep my balls intact."

Harry looked out of the window and watched as the landscape flew past. He really wasn't interested in listening to Ron's pathetic woes. It was all he had banged on about during their entire stay at the Burrow and Harry found himself relieved to be on the train back to Hogwarts after a desperately long two weeks of trying to hide from both Ron and Ginny.

Ginny's obsession had certainly upped a notch. One morning, he'd stepped out of the bedroom he was sharing with Ron and found Ginny, dressed in what looked like one of Molly's dressing gowns, kneeling down in front of him to tie up his shoelaces! It was so awkward, Harry didn't know what to do.

And then there had been that night when Bellatrix popped over to torch the place, and as Harry heroically ran through fields of wheat after her, Ginny followed him, screaming his name like a demented banshee.

It was all so embarrassing.

But Harry did not know how to handle it, especially as he had slept with her in the past. If Ron were to find out, there would surely be blood. He thought about confiding in Hermione, but he could already hear her lecture about immoral behaviour and how all men were shits.

Maybe he was a shit. He didn't know. All he knew was that it wasn't Ginny he wanted.

As the castle came into view, Harry couldn't help but feel bubbles of anticipation. He told himself it was just because he was hungry.

Well, he was, he thought as he smiled to himself.

It just wasn't for beef stew and dumplings.

******