"No, I doubt they would be in that part of the castle," I said, frantically shaking my head before slapping Goyle's hand away from the map that was spread across the large wooden table in front of us.

His finger had landed right on the most common entrance to the room of requirements. Though, obviously, it wasn't seen on the map.

It was probably just a coincidence that he landed there, but I didn't want to risk it.

The rest of the Inquisitorials had their eyes on me, waiting for me to give them a different location instead. I thought for a moment, scanning the entire map of the Hogwarts grounds.

"Who said they'd be in the castle, at all?" I asked rhetorically, my finger landing on a stretch of the map that read forbidden forest moments later. "I'd bet my left ear that they meet here. Nobody ever goes into the forbidden forest. It's perfect," I explained, a confident smirk on my face as I tapped my finger on the stretch of land.

I look up from the map, my eyes landing on Draco standing opposite of me. He had a lazy smile on his face, and was shaking his head slightly; to the point where it took me a while to realise he was, at all.

"What are we supposed to do about that? Like you said, nobody is supposed to go in there, stupid," Parkinson screeched, an arrogant tone in her voice as she glared at me.

"Do you think Umbridge would be pleased if we let them continue, even though we know where they are, just because Pansy Parkinson was too scared to check?" I asked sarcastically, a fake-pout on my face as I looked at her.

She groaned, rolling her eyes before looking at Draco.

"You shouldn't be wasting any time," He said quickly, his voice in a demanding tone as he looked around the group. "We'll go in pairs."

He walked around the table, positioning himself next to me while we waited for the rest of them to figure out their partner. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle found each other instantly, while Parkinson looked a little lost the second Draco moved away from her.

But even she found someone.

"I know what you're doing," the blonde whispered in my ear just as we passed Hagrid's hut and the forest appeared in front of us. It was hard to hide the smile that formed on my lips as the words left his mouth.

"Huh?" I asked innocently, smiling up at him with a confused look on my face.

He rolled his eyes with a smirk, making me break the charade when I couldn't help the laugh escaping my mouth. "Well, that was the point in joining, wasn't it?" I asked, eyebrows raised, and he nodded.

"It was," Draco agreed, his voice still low as we came to a halt right in front of the first trees lining up; the students behind us doing the same.

"What are you waiting for? Just make sure you find your way back here, you should know the charm," He hushed, stepping aside so they could follow his command and enter the forest; and they did without another word.

Sometimes the authority he had over everyone at the school scared me a little bit, especially because he was definitely not as tough as they all thought.

"What if they rat me out? It was my idea, after all," I worried out loud, looking after them as they disappeared in between the trees and their voices got fainter.

Brows furrowed, he just shook his head. "They won't, trust me," He laughed lowly, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Why? You'll hex them if they do?" I laughed, but he simply shrugged with a smirk on his lips.

"We're not going in there, are we?" I asked after another moment of silence, and Draco laughed sarcastically.

"Of course not, silly," He joked, looking at me for a second before pulling my body closer to his. "We'll just be waiting here until we're off duty," He smirked, tilting his head a little.

"Oh?" I giggled, my hands finding themselves behind his neck. "What happened to 'Boys and girls are not permitted to be within 8 inches of each other'?" I laughed humorously, making him roll his eyes again.

"Not like it can be enforced here," He muttered lowly before overcoming the few inches between us and pressing his warm lips on mine.

It was already rather cold out, and the sudden warmth radiating from both of our bodies sent goosebumps all over my body.

It almost felt like a deja vu when I noticed him moving us towards the trees behind us before I could feel my back being pressed against one of them, his lips still on mine.

"That's definitely less than 8 inches," I giggled against his lips, making a small smile form on them.

"I know something that's not," he smirked once our lips disconnected, bringing some distance between us before giving me a suggestive wink, a laugh escaping his mouth afterwards.

I immediately rolled my eyes, hitting his shoulder with a snicker which just resulted in both of our laughter echoing through the depths of the forest louder.

To my surprise, the rest of the inquisitorial squad actually didn't rat me out. Even after they found out it was a joke more than anything else, their mouths stayed shut, and they never spoke of it again.

Probably in fear of, one, Umbridge knowing they went into the forbidden forest just because some student told them to, and two, Draco.

And this wasn't the only way we've disturbed their day-to-day surveillances, either. Fever fudge disguised as chocolates, Puking pastilles wrapped in candy, and all sorts of Weasley-inventions came in rather handy. Though, it took a lot of convincing for Draco to take anything from them in the first place; it was worth it.

And, as Christmas approached, I became more and more convinced that Umbridge was about to lose her mind if her precious Inquisitorial Squad messed up just one more time.

Seeing her anticipation-filled face fall, and be replaced by one of rage and hidden disappointment whenever Filch or other members of her squad walk into her office marked by the aftermath of our scheming one after the other; It was nothing but joyful.

All the while she didn't have a clue the blonde and I were behind their failure.