Hermione, Ron and I waited by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room.  

30 minutes after classes ended for the day, Harry walked in. 

"How'd that go?" I asked him, as he sat between Ron and Hermione on the couch. 
I sat on the floor at their feet. 

Harry didn't say anything. 

"What happened to your hand?" Hermione asked, as she grabbed his arm. 

"Nothing." Harry quickly pulled his arm away from her? and slid his sleeve over his hand.  

'I must not tell lies' was engraved on his skin. 

"Harry, we have to report this!" Hermione exclaimed. 

"Yeah, she's torturing people as punishment." Ron replied. 

"No, it's only going to give her what she wants if we do." Harry sighed.  

"What are we going to do? She's not letting us prepare for what's coming." Ron slipped back in his chair. 

As they talked all I could think about was Draco. 

I hated how soft his lips looked. 

I hated how my body begged for his. 

I hated how my eyes begged to see his.  

I hated how much I thought about him. 

It's like he was imprinted on every inch of my mind. 

I felt Draco with every bone in my body.

...

They made an alliance team.

They called it Dumbledore's Army, the DA.  

We met at one of the old buildings for the first time.  
With Umbridge getting worse, and setting new rules in place after she had Dumbledore put on temporary leave.... what else were we supposed to do?  

I was glad to see Luna, and Neville there.  

We all signed a paper devoting our loyalty, but we needed to figure out a place where we could meet and practice... without getting caught. 

Neville handled that. 

He found the room of requirement.

It was a mystery room that appeared when you needed it, with everything you needed in it.  

We all checked out the room, it was perfect. 
It was large, and open. 
It even had dummies to practice on. 

"Good, so we will start tomorrow at dusk." Harry announced. 

We all chatted amongst ourselves as we left, and began walking back to our rooms for the night.  

"Courtney!" Luna called out as she ran up to me.  

I stopped and waited for her to catch up, before I continued walking.  

"Yes, Luna?" I smiled at her.  

Luna's presence always brought joy. 

"There's a Ravenclaw party tonight, would you come?" She asked, me in her soft voice. 

"I don't know.... I don't really party anymore...." I trailed off.  

"You're a terrible liar, you can see it in your eyes.  I don't want to go alone." Luna replied. 

She was right, I was a terrible liar.  

Luna was always right, she could see a lot of things that others couldn't.  

She used that to her advantage.  

"Fine, only because it's you who asked me.   I don't plan on staying long." I laughed as we went our separate ways.   

I invited Hermione to the party, but she declined... like always.  

Expesually now, she didn't want to risk getting detention with Umbridge.  

As dusk began to set in, I got ready for the party.  

I straightened my hair, and did a full face of makeup with dark, sparkling eye shadow.  
I put on a black and blue, shimmery cocktail dress, and topped it off with a pair of black shoes.  

I somehow made it too the Ravenclaw commodore, unseen. 

I can be sneaky that way.

As I entered, I noticed someone must have enchanted the walls, making them sound proof.  

Amazing.  

The loud music thumped, and the blue strobe lights flashed too the beat.  
There were people from every house there.  Everyone was packed in, grinding as they danced.  

The head Ravenclaw boy asked me to do the honors, like always, I turned the juice into liquor.  
With the way this school year has gone, everyone needed liquor and a party. 

"Thank you for coming." Luna said softly.  

"Always for you." I replied, as I slammed two drinks.  
I poured myself another cup, and went out on the dance floor. 
Luna sat in the corner, and watched people dance. 

Luna had fun watching other people have fun. 

I danced in the middle of the crowd, moving my body to the beat.  

I danced with random people, as I sipped my drink.  

I didn't have a care in the world, besides having fun... and getting wasted like there was no tomorrow.  

"I'm getting another drink!" I announced to the people I was dancing with.  

I pushed through the crowd of people, and I made my way over too the drink table.  

I used the ladle to fill my cup up, I chugged the drink quickly.  

As I reached for the ladle again, someone's hand met mine at the handle. 

I looked up to see Draco Malfoy, a smirk grew on his face as we both let go of the handle. 

His touch caused sparks to burst in my chest. 

I swallowed hard, as I looked down at the table. 

Draco placed his hands underneath my chin, and lifted my face up to look at his.  

The white tape was no longer on his nose, and it was less swollen now.  

Draco let go, as he looked me up and down, before walking away.  

I quickly filled my drink, and walked fast back to the dance floor. 

Draco's eyes followed me.