The flames roared in the fireplace, the emerald curtains gleamed ethereally in the eerie light. The Slytherin common room was almost empty, owing to the fact that the inhabitants were in their dormitories getting ready for the Yule Ball.

"Malfoy you need to get your facts right," Blaise muttered, running a hand through his hair, in front of the mirror trying to style it.

"What is it now?" Draco groaned, fixing his black dress robes.

"You said Daphne was going with Theo. She wasn't going with anyone," Blaise grumbled

"Right, let's inform the Daily Prophet," Draco grumbled

Blaise sighed. Draco had been on edge for the whole day. And Blaise thought he knew why. He would have made a comment about the situation, but he wished to have his head on his neck for a few more years.

"You look brilliant, Pansy," Draco said, as Pansy came over, looking stunning in a pink, frilled dress that hugged her figure.

"I know," Pansy said, holding Draco's outstretched arm, and they went up to the Entrance Hall.

The champions led the way into the Great Hall. Draco's and Pansy's jaw dropped when they saw Krum walk past with Granger. Pansy looked around at him, eyes wide, saying "Did you see that?!" 

Then came Delacour with a Ravenclaw bloke he didn't know. Followed by Diggory and Clarke. Potter walked past looking extremely nervous as he walked hand in hand with Patil.

Blaise couldn't help but look at Draco and Pansy who were dancing nearby. As much as he wanted to focus on himself and his date, he happened to be friends with an idiot who sometimes couldn't tell his own hands apart.

"Stop that," Pansy snapped

"What?" Draco asked as they spun around

"Staring at them," she said nodding discretely at Diggory and Clarke.  Blaise sighed silently.

"Why? Are you jealous?" Draco asked smirking, trying to avoid the topic.

"I'll take my heels and shove it up your ass! Jealous...As if!" Pansy scoffed as she stopped dancing and let go of him.

"Where are you going?" Draco said going after her. Pansy didn't answer. She just went to the drinks table and took a glass of butterbeer and sipped it.

"Where's mine?" Draco asked

"Get it yourself," Pansy said. Draco rolled his eyes.

Pansy sat down near a table.

"My legs need rest. It's a long night of dancing coming up" Pansy said.

"Whatever," Draco said dismissively.  Potter had stopped dancing and was talking to that Weasley...what was his name? Peter?....Percy! Yes, Percy Weasley. The fact that Potter looked distressed satisfied him.

Just then a student from Durmstrang came over and asked Pansy for a dance, to which she happily obliged.

"Hey! You are supposed to be my partner," Draco said indignantly.

"I am supposed to be the partner of someone who treats me right," Pansy said as she smiled at the boy from Durmstrang.

"Now you are free to drool at Clarke," she said as she walked away.

"I wasn't!" Draco called after her, but she just waved it off.

"Why hello, there Draco," Blaise said fairly as he came over and sat down at the table, with two drinks.

"Look at you! Sitting all alone, miserably. Your date left you too. How pitiful," Blaise said happily as he sipped on a glass.

"Sod off, Zabini," Draco snapped reaching for the other glass, but Blaise pulled it away.

"Oooh, Cranky. I would stay, but I have a someone to be with," Blaise said getting up and walking away but not before calling, "Unlike somebody" and ran away before Draco could whip out his wand and hex him. Draco watched Blaise hand the other glass to Daphne, smiling.

He groaned. He reluctantly got up and brought a glass of butterbeer. He looked around lazily. Then Clarke caught his eye. She was rushing through the crowd towards Granger who looked angry. Draco raised his eyebrows. Wonder what was going to happen next? Clarke spoke with Granger for less than a minute, before rushing away. That was unusual...Ah. Diggory. Of course. Draco scoffed. He sat there, sipping his drink. His eyes following Clarke. He didn't want to see her, it was just that she was there in his line of sight. 

He watched Clarke go over with Diggory to a group of Hufflepuff. 

"Can't believe she chose a Hufflepuff," He scoffed. "Better than Potter, I guess,"

He didn't know why, but he was glad that Clarke looked uncomfortable there.

Wait. What was he doing? He shook his head and went over to Blaise and pulled him aside.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Blaise asked annoyed

"There's something I need to ask," Draco said simply.

"You interrupted my date because you are feeling lonely?!" Blaise snapped.

"I am not lonely," Draco said.

"To hell with you, Malfoy," Blaise said as he shook Draco's hand off and walked off, grumbling

"Don't you walk away from me...Zabini!"

Draco decided to take a walk, rather than sitting alone in the Great Hall, like a loser, like Potter...

As he took a long walk along the lake, he noticed a couple dancing near the lake. They seemed to be fifth years. They looked really happy. 

Draco smirked, and pulled out his wand, and send red sparks beside the girl's leg. She yelped and jumped out of the way. Glad that he had disturbed them, Draco walked on, ignoring the couple's glares.

The snow crunched under his feet, and it was freezing. Maybe he should go back in? No, it was too depressing. Draco wasn't really paying attention to where he was going...he was just walking. And he didn't know why...

Draco was near the Astronomy tower, and suddenly, something heavy fell near his feet. He jumped aside, tripped, and fell on the snow. It had just rushed past his ear and fell onto the ground with a slight thump. Looking around to make sure that no one saw him, he got up and looked at whatever it was that had fallen...Glitter? There was a humongous mass of purple glitter on the snow. He looked up... and saw nothing in particular. Was someone throwing things at him? From the Astronomy tower? Who the hell—

He had to jump aside again. This time another huge mass of...leaves? Dried leaves lay in a pile over the glitter. Draco looked up and a few seconds later, a mini-waterfall fell from the sky hit the pile, soaking his shoes and socks.

"That's it! How dare—?!" Draco grumbled as he stomped into the castle, and made his way up the Astronomy tower, his shoes splashing with water, swearing profusely...

As he reached the top, he heard something...giggles. He had found the culprit...Wait, they were saying something...no, singing something...

He walked over and peered through the doorway...and saw nothing. But the sound was still coming!! A girl.

The person sighed...it sounded familiar. 

"Back to witches and wizards and magical beasts~ To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts~ It's all that I love and it's all that I need at Hogwarts~ Hogwarts!~ " 

He knew that voice! He just couldn't pin-point it. Ugh!

The person giggled again. Where was this girl anyway? Was she invisible? Maybe. What should he do? He had his wand on the ready...Should he just hex randomly? It was bound to hit the person...

"Who is there?" he called walking out, a sudden surge of courage taking over him. It was only after he had done it did he realize how stupid it had been. He had given away his position. He wouldn't be surprised if he got hexed right now.

...................

Ashlyn giggled slightly, remembering the AVPM...

"Who is there?" 

Ashlyn jumped slightly. She thought she was alone! Instinctively, her wand was at the ready, pointing at the intruder...

Malfoy? But why was he moving like that? Right, she was invisible...

Ashlyn lowered her wand. She didn't want Malfoy to know she was here. She just wanted to be alone! Maybe if she didn't make a sound, he would go away. So she sat silently, waiting for Malfoy to leave.

But that jackass had no intention of leaving!

Ashlyn watched Malfoy inch around the place, hands outstretched, feeling the air, jumping every now and then, occasionally sending jinxes at random directions. Ashyn was glad he didn't actually point his wand in her direction. A shield charm would have given her position away. 

Malfoy inched over to the side and leaned over the tower railing...Ashlyn pictured herself pushing him off the edge, then her conscience slapped her head, reminding her that it would be murder.

"Answer me! Who's there?!"

Ashlyn sat there contemplating if she should reveal herself. At first, she decided not to, but after seeing Malfoy's pitiful, yet slightly funny attempts to find her, she decided to give in. She sighed and lifted her charm.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy?" Ashlyn said.

Malfoy jumped at least a foot, brandishing his wand at her face.

"Clarke!" he breathed

"Why yes, that is me. And I would like your wand out of my face, thank you very much," she said.

Malfoy slowly lowered his wand.

"What are you doing here?" Ashlyn asked

"What are you doing here?" Malfoy said.

"Having a good time, before you showed up" Ashlyn scoffed.

"To catch the culprit who attacked me. Now I know who it is" Malfoy said, grudgingly

"Attacking you? Who?" Ashlyn scoffed

"You!" Malfoy snapped

"Me?"

"Yes, you,"

"That's ridiculous," Ashlyn scoffed

"You threw a mountain of glitter on me! And leaves! And water!" Malfoy yelled

"Now, that's hard to believe. I don't see you covered in glitter. Or leaves. Or water," Ashlyn said matter-of-factly.

"Because I was fast enough to dodge it," Malfoy snapped.

"So it didn't exactly hit you, did it," Ashlyn said

"So you are confessing that it was you who dropped things on me from the Astronomy Tower?" Malfoy said

"I didn't say that" Ashlyn retorted

"You as good as did," Malfoy said cockily.

"Oh screw you, Malfoy" Ashlyn grumbled. "Now if you will be kind enough to leave. I was having a good time for the first time in days, and then you show up. I should've known. It was too good to be true. Relaxation? Ha! As if!" Ashlyn ranted, her headache seemed to be coming back.

"You get relaxation by freezing yourself to death?" Malfoy scoffed

"Death, now doesn't that sound inviting," Ashlyn said dreamily.

"You've lost your marbles, Clarke" Malfoy said

Ashlyn sighed.

"Always that disappointed sigh," Malfoy muttered. 

He watched her stretch her feet towards her heels, which were on the snow, then she gave up and levitated them, and slipped her feet into them, then slid down from where ever she was sitting on. Now that he noticed, she wasn't sitting anywhere, she was just hanging in mid-air. Was she levitating herself?

Draco watched her slide her wand from below her waist, and then it vanished!

"What the—?"

Ashlyn noticed where he was looking and with a huge grin said

"It's got pockets! I charmed two pockets on either side," she said slipping her hands into the pockets on her dress. Malfoy gaped, as her hands vanished halfway.

"I just disillusioned them and made them a bit large...extra large. I mean it can hold three butterbeer bottles and it doesn't show any difference! Large pockets on a dress!" she said excitedly, walking towards the railing where Malfoy was standing and looked down. She couldn't see anything.

Malfoy who had regained from the initial shock of watching her hands disappear said, "They are only pockets. I don't see what's so exciting about them," 

Why in the name of Merlin would someone be so excited about pockets?

"Are you crazy? They are pockets, dude. Pockets! Do you have any idea how important pockets are?! LARGE POCKETS ON DRESSES! That's like every girl's dream"  Ashlyn ranted. 

"We either get these little, tinnie-tiny pockets, which won't even fit two fingers, or no pockets at all. Like we don't prefer carrying a handbag all the time, give us some godddamn useful pockets! We own like so many things to carry, and where do we put them? On our heads? Pockets are like absolutely necessary. I don't see why people didn't get it. It's just..." Ashlyn trailed off. 

She had just noticed, Malfoy hadn't made a sound, or said anything all the while. He was just staring at her with wide eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"You are talking to me," he said surprised.

"No, I'm talking to the ghost of Dora the Explorer. Of course, I'm talking to you, dummy," Ashlyn sassed

"Why?" he asked dazedly.

"What do you mean why?" Ashlyn said simply. "You are the only one here. And I am educating you about the importance of large pockets,"

"But you hate me," Malfoy said

"I don't hate you. I'm just not necessarily excited about your existence," Ashlyn said.

 A voice in her head said, 'Yet', and she couldn't help but agree. Two more years and she would have to focus on Malfoy—Ashlyn Clarke and the year when shit hits the ceiling and breaks the roof.

"Why?" Malfoy asked.

"Really, Malfoy. I don't see why not. I mean, you haven't been an asshole so far. No snarky comments, or cheap insults. And your communication so far has been, let's say, civil," Ashlyn said dismissively

"Plus, my hate list is reserved for certain muthafuckas. Like Umbridge. And that Skeeter woman. Let's see, who else. Oh, only those  two!"

"You don't hate Snape? I thought all the Gryffindors do," Malfoy said.

"No, I don't hate Snape, I don't exactly like him too much either. I guess he's in neutral zone. He's a strong wizard, respectable. But not exactly pleasant and a bit immature. I mean who carries a grudge on a prank when he was fifteen? And so he hates on his student who happens to be his bully's son! Okay, I get it. You don't have to be nice to your bullies. But why their kids? Isn't that just the same? He's bullying them too," she said

"...What about the Dark Lord?"  Malfoy asked

"Voldemort? Well, I dislike him. And a bit afraid too. He's really powerful. But I don't hate him," Ashlyn said. 

Draco had only frowned when he heard Clarke say the name. She had always been a bit...brazen when it came to it. She had no problem in saying You-Know-Who's name. He remembered her saying at Flourish and Blotts, 'Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself'.

"You are really weird, Clarke," Malfoy said smirking

"Weird is a side effect of awesome, bruh," Ashlyn said.  "And what did you mean by attacking you?" she continued

"As I said, you threw glitter on me," Malfoy said

"Oh, don't be stupid. You are not covered in glitter!" Ashlyn said

"I told you, I dodged it," Malfoy said. 

"Oh my, now don't that sound like a load of bullshit," Ashlyn sassed.

"Even if you did, why would I throw glitter on you? Hell, if I had to throw something at you, it would be bat droppings," she said.

Draco glared at her. But then he thought of something. Why didn't he think of it before?

"Maybe you don't know you are doing it!" he said

"Huh?" Ashlyn said confused

"Accidental magic! Like in Potions," Malfoy said

"Right. I should've known. I'm not exactly relaxed and happy now, am I?" she said mostly to herself.

"What exactly did I do?" she asked looking up at Malfoy.

"I told you!" Malfoy said exasperatedly.

"Describe it, you idiot!" Ashlyn snapped

"It was a mountain-load of purple glitter, then leaves and then water"

"Does it even make sense?" Ashlyn said disbelievingly

"Go down and check if you want," Malfoy said

"You want me to go all the way down to check with this dress and heels? Not happening," Ashlyn huffed

"Then maybe I can just push you from the edge," Malfoy said sardonically

"You don't want to try that" Ashlyn said smirking, "One weight-reducing charm on you and I can probably fling you right over to the Forbidden Forest. And if I am feeling particularly sadistic then I'll aim at the Whomping Willow. I would so like to see you get thrashed by that tree" 

Malfoy scoffed.

Ashlyn was thinking of ways to check if she had actually done all the bizarre things Malfoy had said, without actually going all the way down. Maybe she should just ignore it. She could always think of stopping it, and it usually stops. So that would be it, right? She hoped so, at least.

Draco was watching her. She would lean slightly over the railing, then straighten, thinking. He knew she was thinking because her lips were pursed, and she was blinking very slowly. She always did this in class, especially while taking notes. Clarke wrapped her arms around herself. And that's when Draco remembered that it was cold. She must be freezing in that dress. He was cold in his dress robes too. Should he just give her his cloak? No, that would be too much, besides it was a fashion statement. But she's freezing! But so was he! This was no time to be a gentleman. It was her fault for coming out unprepared...He could just offer to go back inside...

Draco sighed, as he slipped his cloak off, and pushed it in front of Clarke.

"Hmm?" she stared at the heavy black cloak confusedly, then she cracked a crooked smile, and then began chuckling.

"Are you giving me your cloak?" Ashlyn asked chuckling. To be honest, she was taken aback by the action. Not even in her wildest dreams would she have imagined Draco Malfoy giving her his cloak. She was cold, but this was just so unusual.

"You looked cold," Malfoy mumbled.

"And so you are giving me your cloak...What a gentleman," Ashlyn said, smirking

"Just take the bloody cloak already," Malfoy grumbled. Ashlyn just stared at him with an eyebrow raised, a small smile on her lips.

Malfoy huffed and walked towards her. He threw the cloak over her shoulders and backed away, with a slightly satisfied look. 

It took a few seconds for Ashlyn to realize what had actually happened. She blinked. Then she laughed, as she shrugged the cloak off. 

"No, you take it. It's yours," Ashlyn said as she moved towards Malfoy. She had to stand on tip-toes to place his cloak over his shoulders. Did he have to be so tall? Four years back he was hardly as tall as her.

"You'll freeze" Malfoy protested, trying to shrug the cloak off, but Ashlyn held it firmly in place, glaring at him.

"So will you," Ashlyn said

There was a pink tinge on Malfoy's face when she pulled back. Ashlyn shook her head, smiling.

"Malfoy, I am a witch," she said incredulously. "Even if you wish to believe otherwise,"

"The cold never bothered me anyway~" Ashlyn sang, then giggled, as she pulled out her wand and conjured up a large glass jar. Then she conjured large blue flames and closed it in the jar.

"It is really cold and I don't want to get sick. I don't want you to get sick either. That's the last thing I want on my conscience right now," Ashlyn said.

She moved away from the railing and went back to her disillusioned bench. She had to wave her hands around to find it, but she did fairly quickly. Maybe because it was so big. 

She placed the jar on it and tried to pushed herself onto the seat, but she couldn't because of her height and her frickin' dress and heels. Huffing, she lowered the seat, and sat down, then elevated it again.

Then she noticed, Malfoy staring at her antics. She decided not to be a douchebag, patted the place beside her. Malfoy looked at her