Skyler stood in the middle of a dungeon corridor with her head turning back and forth. The front of her robes were left open to reveal the black form fitting tee and jeans she had on underneath. She had been following a pair of Slytherins but had taken her eyes off of them for a second and now she found herself lost. She started off back down the way she came, or maybe it was the way she thought she had come? All these corridors looked the same!

Skyler mentally cursed as her purple eyes flashed in her frustration and she had to force herself to calm down. As much as she didn't like the thought of being lost in a big, unfamiliar castle, she was, and no amount of cursing whether aloud or not, was going to reverse the  situation. The teen took a calming breath and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. She was lost so might as well make the best of it and explore a bit. Eventually she'd have to run into someone.

Ldeciding this was a great idea and possibly a great opportunity, Skyler pushed off the wall she had leaned against and continued to strut down the narrow corridor, her black and white converse clad feet hitting the stone floor the only sound she heard. Maybe it was a plus to have the  little  badge that she had pinned to her belt loop.

Somehow his method of dealing with Parkinson had actually worked. Surprising, but quite nice. Draco found he was able to calm himself enough to leave the sanctity of the common room before the younger students could make him too angry again. It wouldn’t do any good to get back to the rage level he’d been with the brunette before she’d run off with that dejected look in her eyes. Of course, Draco wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d given up, but at least she was defeated for the time being. He could enjoy the rest of his evening.

The blonde stalked out of the room, noticing a few late arrivals to the dungeon lair as he slipped out of the common room and into the corridor. He took a few steps into the shadows before hearing footsteps in the distance. It seemed someone was lost. Maybe it was a Hufflepuff trying to find their dorms. Every now and then the Puffs struggled enough to get lost in Snake territory. If that was the case, Draco would definitely be having a nice evening.

The boy stalked through the shadows, smiling in a devilish manner that would scare the pants off of most of the Hufflepuff house. If they could see him in the darkness, that was. His wand was in his hand and his steps were silent as he stalked his prey, coming up behind the dark haired girl before realizing just who it was. His smile grew as Draco let out a low whistle, sure he had caught her by surprise.

“Well, well, well,” he hissed, emerging from the shadows to stand very near the younger girl. “What are you doing out here all alone? Don’t you know the dungeons aren’t safe at night?” He looked at her with hungry grey eyes. “You should at least have someone with you. Someone to… assist you, should you need it.” He reached his hand out, fingers whispering over her waist before he tried to actually grasp her hip. He wanted to be close to this girl for some reason, and Draco Malfoy always got what he wanted.

Skyler was walking down who knew what hallway and it felt like she had been walking for ages. She hadn't come across anyone else either. This could prove to be problematic but she refused to allow it to get to her. But the darker it got the more eerie the corridors became with their shadows that moved in the flickering light. It was around this time a low whistle sounded very near to her and she couldn't help the little jump she gave at being startled. This angered her more than anything once she got over her initial shock and she whipped around to come face to face with one of the boys from the prefect meetings.

His name slipped her mind but she could tell from his robes , which were identical to her own, that he was no doubt the other Slytherin prefect. Skyler actually felt a small bit of relief at having finally ran into someone, but that relief quickly faded when she saw the look in his eyes. It took a moment for her to place the look because Skyler wasn't as great at reading people she didn't know. Her father she could read like a book, as well as her mother, no matter how hard the older witch tried to look blank. This boy she didn't know at all, so it was rather lucky she could find something to call the look in his grey eyes at all.

The brunette arched a dark brow at his words, wondering at why it would be dangerous in the hallways of a school. Regardless of the fact that it was an old castle. But when she felt his fingers at her waist and then trying to grip her hip the teen witch felt an anger wake inside herself. Skyler had learned long ago to channel her emotions into actions and this was no different. She shoved the boy into the wall and grabbed her wand, aiming it directly at his nether region.

Skyler's purple eyes became hard and glinted in the light as she glared at him. "I may be alone, but that doesn't mean I am incapable of defending myself." Tilting her head slightly, Skyler smirked her patented Riddle smirk at him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex your bits off? And I wouldn't bother using the 'you'll get in trouble' route. Trouble happens to be my middle name. "

The Slytherin male was a bit taken aback by the girl’s reaction to him. He wasn’t used to the ladies wanting to hex his bits off. Usually they wanted to do more… acceptable things to his bits. He laughed at the idea that he’d threaten her with getting into trouble. “Draco Malfoy does not threaten people with getting into trouble, unless it’s a very fun kind of trouble, and I don’t really see how such a threat would save my bits right now.”

His smirk curled in a dangerous way as he put his hands up in a sign of surrender. This girl was definitely interesting. “How about you don’t do anything mean to my bits and I’ll help you find your way back to the snake pit? That seems fair, right?” He winked at the girl, knowing he was pressing his luck. Oh well, he’d just successfully gotten rid of Pansy for once. He was feeling rather lucky.

The boy sized up the newest addition to his house, noticing once again her peculiar purple eyes. “So, tell me about yourself. What brings you to Hogwarts so late in your school career?” There was a lot of doubt in his mind that the girl would actually tell him anything about herself, but it was worth a shot. It wasn’t like either of them had much better to do. Maybe he could even make a game of it.

“You can even ask me anything you want. It’s only fair to offer some information in return, right?” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest, lounging in such a natural way that he looked like the most relaxed person to ever exist. Of course, his blood was still pumping from his earlier rage, but Draco would not let this girl know about that. He would appear cool, calm, and collected. Just as the Malfoy name demanded. It was his nature.

So this was Draco Malfoy. Skyler had to admit she wasn't exactly impressed, even if she had been surprised by the boy. And yet, aside from him touching her and looking at her like she was something to eat he didn't seem all too bad at the moment. The pompous, jerk her red haired friend had described to her in the joke shop seemed almost a stranger to the boy now standing before her.

Sure, he had a rather cocky swagger about him, but then, there wasn't much wrong with being confident was there? Skyler got the feeling he might be a bit overconfident though, and that was probably were the pompous bit came in. He was definitely full of something, whether it be himself or something else, she wasn't yet sure. What she was sure of was that there was an edge about the Malfoy boy, a certain feeling she got from him being so close that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing. It had her blood pumping hard, and was kind of thrilling even if it made her a bit wary.

She had watched him through guarded eyes, and scoffed at his bargain with her own smirk. "Who says I'm lost?" She was convincing, even though it was a straight out lie. Skyler was, in fact, lost, but her pride at the moment wouldn't allow her to admit to it to this boy. The brunette also didn't give any indication that she somewhat knew who he was, thinking it could only work in her favor to feign ignorance. But she did slowly lower her wand, with a warning glare.

"Just keep your hands to yourself if you know what's good for you." She backed up to mirror his own stance against the wall, except she planted one foot flat on the wall while the other stayed on the ground and she tucked her wand behind her right ear.

A small grin tugged at the corners of her lips despite herself at his ploy to get information. It was the exact same little game she had played with Harry in the Leaky Cauldron. Skyler absently wondered if maybe they had more in common than she first thought as she answered aloud. "Alright, I'll play your little game. On one condition. " Skyler paused and raised her right hand in what would have been a fist except her pinky finger was extended up.

She grinned widely at him, her eyes lit with amusement at her own actions. "You have to pinky swear to tell the truth." Skyler knew this was rather ridiculous considering regardless of whether or not he did actually pinky swear he could still lie, but then so could Skyler. Atleast this way they were both making a conscious pact to tell the truth. Skyler didn't mind telling the truth because she really didn't have anything to hide, but at the same time she liked to be on even playing fields.

Draco raised his brow at the girl’s assertion that she was, in fact, not lost. He didn’t say anything, but gave her a knowing look, letting her continue puffing herself up. He nodded to her, giving her a two finger salute in reply to her demand that he keep his hands to himself. For now, he would comply. Whatever the little snake desired. Draco wanted to get closer to her, so he’d play her games. For now.

The boy found that he rather liked the way the American girl tucked her wand behind her ear, not to mention the way her lips curled in that grin. He desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. He found himself letting his lips curl in much the same way as she held her smallest finger out to him. “The truth you say?” he tilted his head, grasping her pinky with his own and leaning in close to her face. “Sure, little snake. I’ll play by your rules. I promise to tell you all my dirty secrets.”

He wiggled his brows suggestively before taking his hand back, reverting to his position upon the wall. He looked at the girl again, wanting to ask her about her eyes, but still wanting to give her the first ask, since he’d technically already asked her something and she’d yet to answer. That meant she owed him an answer and a question before he could ask again. “Go ahead, then. Ask away.” He shot her a dashing smile, rather pleased at his luck this evening after all.

It was clear to Skyler by the knowing look he sent her that he knew she was lying about not being lost, but she chose to ignore this instead of trying to convince him otherwise. And as long as he was going to play nice and not make her admit it, thereby allowing her to keep her pride, she wouldn't argue the point. So she let it drop. Skyler found it hard not to laugh out loud at his little salute, but managed it, even if her small grin gave her away.

When he mirrored her grin though, Skyler thought it was a good look for him. She couldn't contain her laugh at his flirtation though. She was one hundred percent sure she was just a novelty, and in a week or so he'd be nearly ignorant of her existence. She didn't blush or giggle as most girls probably would have when he invaded her personal space and made innuendos, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively at her. She just laughed and shook her head, her eyes shinning with amusement and her grin equally amused by his antics. She might have taken offense to being called a little anything if it wasn't for the fact that she was, in fact, rather small for her age group. Skyler didn't let it bother her anymore like she used to. She had learned this was an advantage in more ways than one and exploited them to the best of her ability.

Skyler hadn't thought this evening would contain another round of twenty one questions but there she was. She couldn't help the soft snort that escaped at his smile, but answered his earlier question with ease. "My family moved to Wiltshire. So I transferred to Hogwarts." That was the truth, or pretty much the gist of it. She might have left out some details, but there was no need to elaborate for the time being. Skyler didn't hesitate in asking her first question, having had it ready already. "Why do you act like a jerk to people?" She tilted her head and observed him with a questioning look in her eyes. She had asked this questions for a number of reasons, and she was well aware that he would draw the correct conclusions and know she had already heard talk about him. She wasn't worried about giving this up, because eventually it probably would've slipped anyways. Besides, she had pinky sworn to tell the truth. Now was the chance to find out if he really was what Ginny had depicted him as or if there was more to him than met the eye.

So, the little snake wasn’t going to elaborate on her trip across the pond. Draco would just have to work his way up in her eyes so that she might share more details with him, then. Her question brought a smirk to his lips and his eyes took on a dangerous darkness. “How do you know it’s an act?” he growled, looking a bit intimidating in the shadowy dungeon. He laughed then, grey eyes again shining brightly as he shook himself from the façade.

“I act like a jerk because it’s what is expected, little snake. You’re about the only person I’ve ever told that to, so feel special.” It was true that Draco had never said this truth to anyone. For all his supposed friends knew, he really was just a spoiled prat who hated the world. In truth, there was much more to the blonde boy. He was lonely and hurting a lot of the time, but he wasn’t allowed to let anyone know that. It wouldn’t be very ‘Malfoy’ of him.

He cleared his throat and looked at the girl, a sneer on his handsome features as he thought of his upbringing. “There are certain expectations when you are from a family such as mine. You can only interact with certain people, only act certain ways. You must always have the best and be the best. And when you aren’t the best, you are nothing.” He probably answered with more information than was strictly necessary, but once he started Draco found he couldn’t stop. If only he could tell this girl how many times he was made to feel like nothing…

“My turn now,” he quickly changed the subject, wanting to get away from his memories. “Tell me about your eyes. How’d they get such a beautiful hue?”

Skyler wasn't exactly phased by the darkness that crept up into his almost silver eyes. Truthfully they were what one could only call pretty, but Skyler would never be caught saying such a thing out loud. She cursed herself mentally for even thinking it. The brunette was more intrigued than anything though. She knew from experience it took dedication and practice to put up such a mask at any given moment. Not to mention the sheer control required. She knew but it was something she struggled with and something her grandmother enjoyed pointing out. Skyler didn't mind because she didn't care for wearing masks much anyways, even on Halloween. But even she had to admit it was a useful trade to have.

Skyler wrinkled her nose at the little snake comment, shooting the blonde boy a half hearted glare to show just what she thought about it. For his sake she hoped it didn't became a nickname. Thinking on it though she had to admit he probably just need something to call her and since he hadn't asked for her name, she hadn't given it. She mentally shrugged that away for the time being and focused on what he said. The teen witch was surprised that he seemed to be telling the truth. There was always a chance he was lying but she decided she would just have to take his word for it. To show this, she rolled her eyes and shot him a cheeky grin. "I know it's an act because no one could possibly be a jerk all the time. It takes far too much energy and there are too many other fun things to do." A full blown grin came to her face by the end of her little speech. Fun was something Skyler lived for.

When he sneered Skyler was a bit taken aback, and absently thought that she much preferred his smile while she listened in rapt attention. So he was one of those purebloods. Skyler's gaze turned understanding. Before this summer she would never have known how much pressure was out on kids who came from families like his. But having spent an entire summer with her grandmother and mother together, Skyler got a small taste of what he probably went through his entire life. She wouldn't allow any sympathy show though. If he was any bit like herself his pride wouldn't allow for anyone to feel sorry for him.

Before she got a chance to make any kind of response though he changed the subject by asking his question, which had her blinking with a blank look on her face. The question and it's delivery were such a stark contrast to what he had said not moments before it had caught her off guard. She laughed lightly and shook her head as a beaming and proud grin spread across her lips and her eyes danced in amusement. "My first time performing accidental magic. My mother was trying to force me to switch my favorite color and I guess I got so angry I turned myself purple. Only the eyes stayed, which I am thankful for let me tell you." The brunette added the last bit on with an earnest face. She liked purple yes, but didn't want her skin to purple. Purple hair might be kool though.

Skyler laughed a little at that thought, shaking her head before tilting it to one side with furrowed brows as if she were trying to figure something out as she observed him. Truthfully she was trying to figure out whether or not to say what she wanted to. Normally she didn't come with a filter but she didn't want to ruin what little truce they seemed to have for the moment. Eventually she decided to go ahead and speak her mind. It was a free country after all. Wasn't it? Either way, she decided to say what she wanted. "For what it's worth, I don't think not being the best at everything all the time makes you nothing. I think it's actually really stupid to attempt it. It's like setting yourself up for failure." Skyler nodded her head to show she meant what she said and because she had started she couldn't stop because this was something that had been bothering her all summer and she had had no one to tell.

"I mean, there's always going to be someone better than you at something. And why should anyone get to tell anyone else who to be friends with and how to act? What's the point of even having kids then if you're just going to deprive them of all the fun things in life?" Skyler seemed to be speaking mostly to herself instead of the Malfoy boy by this time. She let out a huff and sagged against the wall as if she had finally said something that she had wanted to for a while and was relieved to have done so. "I think it's better to be someone who stands up for themselves and what they believe in, even it means you stand alone." She muttered softly, remembering the phrase her father had told her once. He seemed to have lost that phrase lately bit Skyler hadn't. And she wouldn't.

Skyler took a few breaths and offered a small smile of apology to him for her little rant, and that's when the perfect question to ask him came to mind. The spark came back to her eyes and her grin was back in place as if the rant before had never happened. "How long does it take you to do your hair?" The questions came out innocent enough, but the smirk on her lips was far from it. As was the mischief in her eyes.

The brunette’s rant was really not expected, and Draco stood in rapt attention. So, this girl knew a bit about the Pureblood way of life. That was rather surprising given the way she seemed to hold herself. She seemed to still retain her independence, to not care what might get back to her family about her behavior and the like. But judging by the way she spoke, that was a characteristic of hers. She refused to play by the rules. Draco supposed one could get away with that if she didn’t have the Dark Lord giving her personal lessons in behaving.

Draco was in quite the spot with that whole ordeal. He wished there was some way he could get out of it now that he realized it was less of lessons and more an excuse to torture him with impossible tasks and terrible punishments. It seemed like the monster of a man just wanted an excuse to get the blonde out of the picture. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was a punishment for his failures of parents. Yet another way the system failed him. Punish the old by hurting the young. That made total sense. Right.

He laughed when she explained her eyes. “You actually turned yourself purple? That’s brilliant!” He wished he had experienced more fun with accidental magic when he was a kid. His stories all involved torturing the house elves or breaking into rooms he wasn’t supposed to go into so that he could play with dark objects that would try and kill him. Not very fun childhood memories. Nothing like turning yourself colors and giving your parents heart attacks. He could just imagine the look on Narcissa’s face had he turned himself green.

“I’m glad they eyes stayed. They are a good representation of how unique you are,” he said smoothly, looking at her in a way that would make other girls blush. He didn’t expect such a reaction from this one though. No, she wasn’t foolish like that. She was much more. Her question actually made him snort in laughter and slight indignation. Why did everyone assume he cared so deeply about his damned hair?

It was rather funny though, since he knew there were rumors about him spending hours on it each day. “You want the truth or do you want me to feed the fire? Since we agreed to the truth, I guess I’ll have to burst your bubble. It takes me about five seconds, once I towel it dry after a shower. A bit of gel, just a bit so it doesn’t make it crusty or anything, and a hand raked through it, then a simple drying charm. That’s it. It does this little number all on its own.” He motioned to the way his platinum locks fell in an attractively rugged way. Apparently it looked like a lot more work than it actually was.

“One thing I can thank my father for. Great hair.” He laughed easily, running a hand through said hair and feeling himself laugh again as it fell back into place. “Hmm,” he thought, trying to come up with a good question for the girl before him. “Alright. What are you thinking right now?” He wondered if she’d actually tell him the truth this time. He hoped she might, but if not, that was okay too. Even a lie told a lot about a person after all.

Skyler smiled a genuine smile at his laugh. It wasn't often Skyler actually smiled, the brunette was more prone to grin or smirk, so it was rare for her to give someone an actual smile. But she did flash one unknowingly because it was nice to see him laugh and she had to wonder if he did it often. A pleased grin wormed its way in its place though, and she was happy that he seemed to find her story amusing. She certainly did, even if her mother never did.

If Skyler were anyone but Skyler she might have blushed at his well placed compliment and subsequent look. But she was Skyler, and though she wasn't above feeling something akin to what other girls might feel in this situation, she didn't feel the need to make herself look like an idiot. Instead, she adopted an amused look and flashed him another of her cheeky grins. "Don't they though?" She questioned rhetorically, being in complete agreement with him. Playing along with his flirtatious behavior, she fluttered her long, dark lashes at him playfully, before laughing. She seemed to be doing a lot of that around this Malfoy boy. Skyler didn't think this was a bad thing and she would rather believe him when he said that being a jerk was not who he really was, but rather something he felt he needed to do.

That could prove problematic, because Skyler didn't usually take people's words for it. But she couldn't think of any reason for him to lie to her. She figured she would just figure that out later and just enjoy the moment for it what it was. Which was refreshing. And fun. Those were definitely two words Ginny had not described him as though, and this had her biting her bottom lip as she became lost in thought. Maybe she should talk to Ginny about it? Skyler seriously doubted the girl would believe her of she tried though.

The brunette shook her head free of these thoughts as he answered her question. She seriously couldn't help the ear to ear grin and excited look she gave his hair. "Well that's lucky. I guess you won't mind this then." Darting forward, Skyler was almost pixie like in her small stature as she reached up and ruffled his hair, noting the silky softness of the blonde locks. She had intended to mess the hair up, but it really was soft. Skyler absently wondered if anyone else had ever dared to mess with his hair before as she made it stick up in various places before dropping her hand with a satisfied smirk. "Perfect! Now you look almost easy to approach." She gave him a teasing grin.

Tilting her head at his question, Skyler laughed with ease. "Well, I was thinking that you're a total contradiction to what I've been told. Now I'm thinking your not half bad as long as you're laughing, so I might need to make it my personal mission to make you laugh a lot." Skyler answered honestly, even if humorously. Thinking of a new question, Skyler regarded him curiously. "So if you're supposed to be a jerk, then why are you being relatively nice to me?" Skyler felt this was a good question, because he didn't even know her. Why befriend someone you don't know you can trust when you work so hard to keep up a facade?

Draco couldn’t believe he was actually laughing, like really laughing! He couldn’t remember having laughed like this… ever before. When she started actually messing up his hair with all the effort she could spare, it was like they were little kids messing around. It was fun. He felt like he was actually truly enjoying something so simple, and it felt great! This was what he’d always been missing out on. Having to keep up that mask, keep up his guard all the damn time. He’d missed out on having fun. And this new girl, a girl he had no reason at all to trust, was unlocking it for him.

Perhaps that was the reason he was finding it so easy to open up around her. She didn’t know him. He didn’t know her. They didn’t have any expectations to live up to. They could be anyone with each other, and that meant Draco could be who he wanted to be rather than who he was supposed to be. It was freeing, and it made him feel light and almost… happy. No, it wasn’t even an ‘almost’. Draco was actually happy. Despite his earlier depression, he now felt like he could actually enjoy life.

Leaving his hair messy as she made it, Draco looked at his fellow Prefect with sparkling grey eyes. She liked his laugh? Most people would have mocked him for laughing like this. This girl was different. She was special. He’d have to be careful with her. “So you’ve heard things about me? Sounds like it wasn’t from the Slytherins, since you thought I was a jerk…” In truth, he didn’t really care who had told her this. It was honestly true in a lot of cases. He had to be. It was expected. Draco hated himself for even thinking it, but he knew it would take something very special for him to fight against the expectations, especially considering how deep he was in with the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord.

“I’m not being a jerk to you because I made a promise to be truthful,” he said with a shrug. He acted as if this was the most obvious thing ever, and the girl was a bit slow for not knowing such. “My true self isn’t a jerk. He enjoys laughing and getting his hair mussed as long as it’s by a pretty girl like you.” He grinned at her, feeling so at ease it was a bit unnerving. “If you were someone who would hold this stuff against me, you wouldn’t be so different from the rest. You wouldn’t be so honest and so friendly in a den of snakes. You wouldn’t take the risks of admitting that you want to be you and not some sad imitation based on expectations. You’re honest, so why shouldn’t I be?”

He looked at her with a clarity that he hadn’t felt often before. Draco knew this girl was definitely something. He almost feared her. She had the power to make him change, he thought, simply based on this interaction, and that scared him. It also excited him. She had the power to set him free. It was his turn to ask a question, so he said what was on his mind. “What would you do if I kissed you right now?”

It took a good deal of time for Pansy to work her anger down to a manageable point but she got there in the end after destroying several bed hangings, which weren't her own. It took a relatively decent amount of time to convince herself to forgive Draco after that horrid display in the common room. He had humiliated her in front of the entire house! Snakes didn't do well with humiliation. Especially not when they had already been subjected to more than their share in a single day.

Alas, eventually Pansy forgave the boy and made the decision to allow him this knowledge, which in her mind he should be thankful for. Search as she might though he was not within the walls of the snake pit. She headed through the common room door to search for him in the rest of the castle and not giving a second thought to what time it might be except to hope it wasn't past curfew.

Creeping along the corridor she heard voices up ahead and proceeded with caution and was careful not to make any sounds. If she had stumbled upon anything that provided her with more information than she should have about someone she didn't want them to know she was there. Inching closer though she recognized the voice of the boy she was searching for and the second held her attention for one reason and one reason only. It was a girl.

Which idiot of a snake would even dare to go behind her back and be alone with Draco? Immediately Pansy's wand was in her hand and a curse on the tip of her tongue when a sound she had never heard before filled the corridor. What was he doing? Was he..was Draco laughing?! She didn't her the rest of what was said because she was too in shock to pay attention. It was true the boy had laughed before but never had she heard him laugh like this! This served to infuriate Pansy further because idiotically she thought that she was suppose to be the one who made Draco laugh.

Pansy wouldn't let anyone show her up or take her rightful place as future Lady Malfoy and stepped out of the shadows and wrapped herself around Draco. "Aw Drakie! I knew it was you from your laugh. You always laugh like that." This couldn't really be said in truth but Pansy was not above lying and she needed to show this other girl just who the boy belonged to and if she didn't take a hint Pansy would just have to show her the end of her wand.

Skyler couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed someone else's enjoyment. He laughed like he had never laughed before, and the grey eyes now sparkled. But Skyler grinned from ear to ear, genuinely happy he was enjoying himself, even if she were kind of shocked. The way she had heard it, this laughing, smiling, joking boy was not what she had depicted meeting when she had thought of Draco Malfoy. But that was based on Ginny's observations. Skyler couldn't help thinking she was glad the red head had been wrong. Or atleast seemed to be.

The brunette smiled endulgingly, not wanting to give any reason to end his moment of laughter and fun too soon. It seemed like an almost sacred moment, watching someone laugh who probably never did. It didn't escape Skyler's notice though that she seemed to have made a friend out of her other friend's mortal enemy. Not that she cared. She was sure it would complicate things a bit, but Skyler didn't let her own parents tell her who to hang out with. She wouldn't let anyone else either. If anyone tried to convince her otherwise, they weren't any friend of hers.

Skyler shook her head and grinned proudly. She was proud to call Ginny and Harry friends after all. "Nope. Gryffindors." Her tone matched her grin, but her eyes dared him to so much as disapprove. She very much wanted to point out that just because they had pinky sword truth didn't mean he actually had to tell the truth, and she would have been a fool to assume he would. But instead she kept her mouth closed in preference of hearing what else he had to say. He didn't disappoint.

A beaming smile bloomed on her lips and she aimed it directly at the blonde boy. It had nothing at all to do with something as vain as being called pretty. Skyler could care less about receiving compliments of that sort. The best compliment he had paid her all night was by simply being honest with her, and by seeing her as someone completely different from the norm. Skyler strived to be different, and usually accomplished it with ease. So it was a stroke to her own ego when someone complimented her on it far more than when the typical means boys used.

To say she was startled by his question would be an understatement, and her smile faded just a small amount as she tried to imagine exactly what she would do if he kissed her then and there. A small amount of pink tinged her cheeks, but it really had nothing to do with him wanting to kiss her, though that was a separate issue all on its own, and everything to do with having never been kissed before. This was entirely new ground Skyler found herself on, and she could feel the fear creep inside her body at the idea of a kiss.

That was enough to make her the tiniest bit angry. Skyler hated to fear anything, and a kiss was the last thing she wanted to be afraid of. It was pathetic. It was worse than pathetic. But there it was. In the moments that she realized all of this, Skyler still had absolutely no clue what she would do if he kissed her. She supposed any normal girl would kiss him back, but Skyler wasn't exactly sure she was ready for all of that. This was her first night in the castle for crying out loud!

She was just about to state this out loud when another dark haired girl approached from the shadows of the corridor. Skyler watched as her smile slowly faded and her face closed off, leaving her with a blank look. One dark eyebrow arched as the girl, who Skyler already considered a simpering fool and hadn't even been around her a full five minutes, snaked herself around the boy in a clear move all girls, whether they dated or not, recognized as staking their claim.

This was an interesting turn in events, to say the least. Skyler wondered what this burning sting growing inside herself was but was sure she didn't want to know so tried not to focus on it. She had to admit she had never thought to ask if he was dating. Then again, she hadn't thought it would be necessary, with all his flirting. But it hardly mattered, she tried to convince herself. It wasn't like she wanted to date the boy herself anyways. A small voice in the back of her mind questioned what that stinging pain was then? Skyler forcefully pushed the small voice away, gritting her teeth against a growl that threatened to burst forth at it's ridiculous accusations.

Instead, Skyler merely answered his question. "Looks like you've already got your hands full Malfoy." It took everything in her to pull the smirk she did then, but even then it was only half hearted at best. This confused Skyler so much. She was no good in this boy stuff. It was why she kept them as friends, and nothing more. It was purely an act of defiance on Skyler's part that kept her right where she was. It might have been a mistake, but she didn't really care. She was not going to be pushed around by anyone. Atleast, not without a fight. A truly wicked grin graced her lips at that thought.

The idea that Gryffindors had told the brunette to basically fear Draco didn’t really surprise him at all. The fact that she was talking to Gryffindors, and in a friendly way it would seem, also didn’t surprise him now that he was getting to know this girl. He could practically see her mind working behind those intriguing eyes. So badly did he want to ask what she was thinking again, but he wanted to give her time to form her answer. If he was patient, he might just get to feel those lips against his own. Merlin… the thought was enough to bring a schoolboy smile to his lips and a bit of a hue to his cheeks!

Just when it looked like she was going to answer him, their whole interaction was completely interrupted by an unknown force screeching out of the shadows and launching itself onto the blonde boy. His eyes went wide and he stared at the small girl before him, a look of pleading horror clear in that crystal gaze. He then focused on the hideous beast who held him. One, he had never enjoyed her stupid nickname for him. Two, she had never heard him laugh. Draco glared coldly at the girl, his rage coming back with ease.

“Get off of me,” he hissed. Shoving her away from him with as much strength as he could manage, hoping she would find purchase on the wall. He looked at her with something akin to utter hatred, wanting nothing more than to make her disappear. He’d just been in the middle of a true moment with this girl. He had let her in further than anyone else had ever been, and he actually thought he might have a chance at some sort of redemption if he just kept talking to her. If he could just get closer to her and let her really see him for who he wanted to be! And Pansy was going to ruin it all!

After staring at the pathetic excuse for a female, Draco turned back to his prior companion and shot her a satisfied smirk. “Actually, my hands are quite empty,” he said with ease. “Parkinson doesn’t understand what ‘I’m not interested in slags like you’ means. That isn’t my problem though, and it definitely shouldn’t be yours. Maybe we should take this somewhere a bit more private, though.” He shot Pansy another glare, wanting to say more yet refusing to waste any more time on her. “We are both prefects. I could show you the way to our special bathroom if you like.”

He offered her his hand, hoping she might take it so they could get as far away from the pug as they could, and as quickly as possible. “Oh, and I’m not trying to suggest anything, you know? I just figure you might actually need to relax some this year. After a few trips you can usually find your own perfect combination of scents and bubbles, too.”

Now he just needed the girl to agree to this late night excursion and for Pansy to take the hint and leave. Would it actually work? Could it actually work? Somehow he wondered if there was any way the gods would be so kind to one such as him.

He was shoving her away AGAIN! Only this time there was a hard stone wall that her back and head hit and from the force of it the air was knocked out of her lungs making her gasp. The contact with her head and the wall made a loud smacking noise and she was sure there would be blood but she couldn't think about that.

All Pansy could think about was how he had humiliated her AGAIN! He called her a SLAG in front of this purple eyed little freak who was nothing. NOTHING! compared to herself. She gulped in air and listened with growing fury and when he held his hand out to the little freak something in Pansy snapped.

This girl was threatening everything Pansy had worked for and wished for and dreamed of since she had met Draco. She couldn't let that happen! Now to add insult to injury he offered to take the little freak of American nature to the prefects bathroom! A place Pansy had begged him to take her all year last year when he was made prefect!

Humiliation and fury and a blood boiling hatred seared through Pansy until all she saw was red and the girl who in her mind threatened to take away everything Pansy thought belonged to her. It was her fault and Pansy would make her pay for it dearly. From the inside of her robes she grabbed her wand and with perfect aim at the freak's face she screeched out "Conjunctivitus!" and opened her mouth to follow up with expulso.

Skyler met the horrified gaze of his with her own questioning one. Maybe she had gotten it all wrong? Apparently she had if his sudden rage was anything to go by. Skyler felt a tingle go up her spine at his demonstration of anger and she felt kind of bad for the girl as he shoved her away roughly. Skyler thought maybe too roughly, as the sound of her head meeting the wall made a sickening cracking sound. Skyler winced visibly at it and sent a glare at the Malfoy boy. She could understand his wish to not have the girl cling to him, and the fact that the girl did was kind of pathetic in itself, so Skyler felt the rough shove was hardly necessary. The girl seemed to embarrass herself enough without anyone else's help.

Skyler had to remind herself that she shouldn't judge the situation too quickly, or take any sides. For she all knew this sort of thing happened a lot and the boy had finally had enough. This seemed to be the case if his words were anything to go by. But it didn't change the fact that she felt bad for the girl. So Skyler did what any good person would do in this scenario. She offered help. "Are you ok?" She asked the other girl in Slytherin robes with a bit of concern on her face and in her tone. She couldn't really help it. That hit had sounded hard and obviously the boy was not going to care.

But then he was offering to show her to the prefect's bathroom, and Skyler looked at him with a suspicious gaze. Her first instinct was to hex him then and there, but she found herself pausing in that act as he explained himself and assured her it had nothing to do with any foul play. When he held his hand out to her, Skyler hesistated, her thoughts flowing faster than she could keep up with. On the one hand she thought she might be an idiot for taking his hand and going along with him. On the other, he had obeyed her wishes to keep his distance, and he had trusted her enough to be honest with her and had given her no reason to doubt him now. Not to mention the part of her that didn't want to doubt him, but actually wanted to believe in him. This was an extremely insane scenario and she had no idea just how much more insane it was about to get.

Because while Skyler was distracted with her internal debate on whether to take his offered hand or not, the girl took her chance at hitting Skyler directly in the eyes with Conjunctivitus curse. The searing pain in her eyes made her cry out suddenly as she doubled over, bringing her hands to her eyes in some reflex to try and stop the pain in them. It wouldn't work, of course, but Skyler ended up thanking her lucky stars that she had doubled over because the next thing she felt was the wall explode around her.

Skyler ended up with her hands over her head to protect it from the falling pieces of wall and gritting her teeth against the onslaught of pain in her eyes as she yelled out in anger. "Malfoy! Control your damn girlfriend and hope I don't get my eyesight back or I'll kill her!" By this time she had her wand in her hand but knew it would be unwise to use it when she couldn't see. She could hit the Malfoy boy, who was currently the only one there who could help her to the hospital wing, or she could cast a spell only to have it rebound back at herself.

All in all, Skyler had not pictured her first night in the castle this way.

All hell was breaking loose and Draco didn’t know what to do anymore. One moment he was offering the new prefect his hand and the next Parkinson was shooting curses at the girl and sounding like a damn lunatic. She hit the younger girl with a conjunctivitis curse and the blonde nearly cried out when he heard her in pain. He wanted to hold her close, take her in his arms and carry her to the hospital wing right away, but of course it wasn’t that easy. The crazed Sllytherin was still flailing about with her wand, going so far as to explode the dungeon wall.

It was a sure thing that someone would notice the explosion soon and come to investigate. Draco really didn’t want to be there when that happened, since he didn’t want any extra attention, so he was desperate to escape the wrath of his crazy ex-girlfriend. “She is not my girlfriend!” He yelled at the petite brunette, brandishing his wand and throwing a disarming spell at the pug. “And is that a promise? Cause if so, I desperately wish for you to regain your sight.”

The blonde was having trouble keeping track of where the other sixth year was, so he wasn’t even sure if she still had her wand on her. Just in case she did, he threw himself in front of the younger girl, calling out “protego” as he did. He cast the shield above and around them, creating a sort of bubble about the pair. If nothing else, this would at least buy them a bit of time.

“The shield is all around us so we shouldn’t get hit by any more curses, at least for the moment,” he muttered, reaching his left hand out to grasp the girl’s arm, letting her know he was close and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Or at least, he wouldn’t let anything else happen to her. “Any clever ideas on how to get us the hell out of here so I can get you to the hospital wing? I don’t exactly know how to fix your eyes, and I wouldn’t want to deprive you of seeing my handsome face every day.”

Oh, how he hoped she had some sort of plan. He wanted her to come up with a way to get Pansy out of his life for good, really. This psychotic behavior was already on his nerves, and it was only the first day of term! Draco didn’t think he could possibly survive a whole year of this, and he knew he couldn’t do it alone. If Parkinson ruined this budding, dare he say it, relationship for him, he didn’t know what he would do. It hurt his chest just to think of it. Yes, this new Slytherin really needed to have some amazing plan.

The conjunctivitus curse hit the girl in the face exactly how she had hoped but Pansy barely had any time to be triumphant because as soon as the second spell she shot hit the wall the thing exploded and showered them all with pieces of stone. Pansy screamed and flailed in the falling stone and that's when her wand went flying out of her hand.

Looking up Pansy saw Draco rush to the other girl's side and a stab of jealousy flowed through her. She quickly located her wand and just as she grabbed it and aimed to take another shot in her violent rage she heard footsteps. Thinking it might be Professor Snape who everyone knew patrolled these corridors and her instincts told her to flee. "This isn't over Draco." She told him with a glare making it sound like a promise and then turned tail and ran.

Despite the situation, Skyler couldn't contain the snort of laughter that bubbled out of her at his words. Beyond all pain and rational thought, atleast she still had her sense of humor and it seemed like he did too. Feeling his grip on her arm, Skyler knew he was rather close to her bit for the first time that night she was actually thankful for it. She nodded to him to show she heard him in regards to the shield, but she couldn't be sure he saw it because she couldn't freakin' see!

Not to mention the hit to the head she had taken by a relatively mean piece of wall. She was sure that would leave a mark. More than the pain in her eyes though, Skyler was pissed off. Pissed off because she had actually shown mercy to the girl who had done this to her. And pissed because she felt so helpless now without her eyesight. She swore to herself then and there that she would get her revenge for this one way or the other, but at the moment the most important thing seemed to be getting the hell out of there.

Skyler had heard the girl's parting words and a small growl ripped through her throat, but the approaching footsteps were the biggest concern. Being caught under a blown up wall wasn't exactly the best first impression on any professor. Not to mention she didn't want to get the boy in trouble. Now it was just a matter of timing. She clumsily pulled herself upright and as much as it pained her to do it, she slipped her hand into his and gripped it tightly. "You're going to have to lead me. There's no time to argue or we'll get caught for your girlfriend's rampage. Now let's go before I get expelled before making it to my first class."

It was the worst possible situation for her. Skyler hated to be vulnerable in any way, and right now she was completely vulnerable even if she did have her wand. And she was forced to put her complete trust and faith in a boy who she hadn't even known a full two hours. It was nothing personal against him. He had already earned a certain amount of trust from her. But to have to rely on anyone so fully didn't sit right with the brunette and left a bad taste in her mouth. She detested feeling helpless. She would definitely be paying the other girl back for this.

Parkinson actually ran away! Draco couldn’t believe the girl turned tail and ran like the dog she was. The footsteps were rather unnerving, and for all he knew the blonde’s godfather could be the one behind them and that would be the worst possible situation to ever have to explain. First of all he’d have to tell the one man who knew him best that he didn’t know him nearly as well as he thought, and then he’d have to admit that Parkinson had nearly managed to kill the girl he was protecting. Yeah. Somehow that didn’t seem like it would go over so well.

He sighed, though a smile formed when the girl took his hand so strongly. He could definitely get used to this. “Right. This way, then,” he said simply, tugging her through a nearby tapestry that hid a stairwell that would avoid most of the dungeon corridors. It would have taken them a while to get back to the main hall and out to the stairs to the entrance way. This way, they would get straight to the corridor outside the great hall and take it from there. That meant that the two would be far from the wreckage, and closer to the Hospital wing, which the girl clearly needed rather badly.

Unfortunately, they would still need to deal with a few staircases, and she was obviously going to have some issues with those at the moment, since she couldn’t see to place her feet properly. Somehow Draco knew she’d hate him for this, but they needed to move fast and he really didn’t want to drag her while she knocked her shins and knees on the stone steps. It was just too painful.

“Before I do this, let me tell you that no one is around and I will stop if anyone comes near. So it’ll be our secret. And It can’t be avoided, so don’t argue. Like you said, we don’t have time for that.” With that, he picked the girl up, placing one arm behind her shoulders and the other under her knees so that he could get them to the hospital before the curse could do much more to her eyes. He wasn’t sure if it could do lasting damage or not, plus he thought she might be bleeding from a cut on her forehead after getting hit with some rubble. For that matter, he might be a bit injured from the explosion himself, but he couldn’t tell. Draco was running on adrenaline and he couldn’t afford to lose it until his little snake was safe in the Hospital wing in Madame Pomfrey’s care.

He wasn’t sure when he’d started thinking of her as ‘his’, but he wasn’t in a hurry to fix it. “If you don’t knock me out for this I’ll let you forget about the kiss question,” he said, trying to keep the mood light. Inside, his nerves were shot. He’d never been as scared as when she’d nearly been exploded. He’d also never had such a ridiculous train of thought. What was this girl doing to him? “I should probably know a name other than ‘little snake’ to tell the nurse, by the way,” he muttered, rounding the corner on the first floor having ran all the way there without even losing his breathe. The boy was determined to play the hero. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be Potter every day.