The Spirited 13 Days of Halloween

A/N: Cookies to all the readers who didn't review. I still love all of you for reading this!!

...*nudge*reviewsaregood*cough!*...

Review responses:

thrnbrook, paigeey07: thanks dears!

aya-chan: one chapter per day...in the end there will be "13" chapters :D

blackpadfoot: ah...i guess O.o so long as you know what's going on, thats all that matters dear. maybe though a better word would be a "tick" (i.e. eye twitching.)?

hieisdragoness18: and that dear is only the start of it!! i don't write the quiditch scenes very well :( but i put a bit of it in the begining of this chapter but only because i'm introducing the final player into the love connections/triangles i'm building up!!

A/N: oh yeah...warning!! before anyone gets further into this story, i'm putting this out now: even though i didn't intend to for this to happen, there is one of the pranks that turns the school into an almost musical and there is a day where draco cross-dresses. so if anyone doesn't like that, stop reading now before you get sucked into the plot. not that i didn't have fun with those pranks...they were actually my favorites to write!!

And now, without further ado, prank day three!!

20 October, Day Two

Blaise Zabini was not a fan of Quiditch. He was half Italian and preferred to spend his days sunbathing, preferably in the south of Italy on the private beach his mother had inherited. However, seeing as how he attended school in Scotland, it was rather cold to be sunbathing in October. Nevertheless, he decided to enjoy the shining sun, even if he couldn't be nude doing it.

Hence, his attendance to the mock Quiditch matches being held by the house teams.

He was glad he had. He smiled as he watched the little intrighi forming as he watched. It was another trait he had inherited from him mother, the ability to see where the political connections were made. Truthfully, none of the family knew it was because of their magic or just an ablity but it was rather useful. The Medici family in its height in the Renaissance had taken advantage of this fact as had several reigns of Italian families.

Oh, and how he loved these intrighi.

He saw Cormac Mclaggen scowl from the sidelines. He had an obvious problem, wanting to be on the Gryffindor team but unable to; Blaise, though, could agree with Potter. Weasley, when concentrating, was the better keeper overall. In addition, Blaise could see that every once in a while, Mclaggen's eyes strayed over to Ginevera Weasley. Interesting.

The youngest and only female child of the Weasleys was even easier to figure out. She was the fill in seeker but also played the chaser position and while her heart was in the game, she was nearly too busy watching Harry Potter. Blaise wondered if she would ever realize that Potter was not meant for her. They did make a cute couple and Blaise was sure friendship would see them through a marriage.

That did not mean that Blaise believed they should be getting married. No, he was certain that his best friend, Draco Malfoy, was better suited to Potter. Blaise was also certain that Draco had a card up his sleeve for these spirited 13 days of Halloween. As Blaise watched the blond wizard fly against the Ravenclaw team, he could see the plot forming inside that clever head.

This was the moment that Blaise was certain he did have an extra sight gifted to him by magic. He could see, almost in a vivid purple colour, the relationship connection between Potter and Draco. It flared every now and then, usually when one caught sight of the other. It was a connection coloured by intense emotion but the purple colour signified passion of l'amour.

Blaise smiled to himself. He was a Slytherin, after all, and he, too, was able to craft a cunning plan as well as any other proper Slytherin. He leaned back and watched the figure of Ginevera Weasley. This intrighi needed just one more player, one who was able to sufficiently distract a certain red-head. Cormac Mclaggen had a very slim chance before but now, it was all gone.

21 October, Day Three

Harry Potter yawned as he was sitting in Charms class and waited for Hermione to chastise him again. His team had won against the Slytherins yesterday and the house had organized a party to celebrate. He had stayed up later than he should have, talking with Dean and Seamus about the match. He was woken by an irate Hermione Granger, thankfully before breakfast was done. He was luckier than Ron.

Who just happened to stumble into class at that moment.

Professor Flitwick stopped his lecture on the usefulness of household charms--it was mandatory for the seventh years--and raised an eyebrow. Though he was still one of their friendliest and favorite teachers, he was rather scary if upset. Harry didn't envy Ron one bit at the moment. (If it had been Harry, he would have skipped the class all together.)

"Well, now, it seems Mr. Weasley has decided to join us," Flitwick said, "And your excuse?"

Ron straightened his robes and licked his lips. He was clearly wasting time trying to think of a good one. In the end, he sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I overslept, sir."

Flitwick smiled. "Which is why we choose not to let students leave early. Allows them to do activites that spend too much time. Sit, Mr. Weasley. Now, as I was saying..."

Harry smirked at Ron who glared at him. He choose to sit next to Harry, knowing that if he sat next to Hermione he would get an earful. Harry got a piece of scrap paper and wrote a quick note:

Should've stayed in until next period

Ron rolled his eyes and wrote his response.

Nevermind that. Wanted to ask about you and Malfoy. Hermione said something yesterday. You and him in the hallway.

Now Harry rolled his eyes.

It's nothing. Just don't want to fight anymore.

I understand that. But he'll never change. Why bother?

Bother with what?

Being nice to him.

So I should've started a fight yesterday?

Well, I don't know.

Harry sighed and shoved the paper away. He knew that Ron wouldn't understand but to suggest that Harry not be friendly? Besides, there was something about Malfoy...Harry was begining to understand what Hermione had meant when she had given him that look yesterday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny knew that she should've gone to bed earlier last night but Cormac just had to offer a glass of firewhiskey. She sighed. Now, in addition to getting and keeping Harry, she had to find a way to get Cormac off her back. He was a nice boy but too nice. Certainly nothing to get her going.

She tickled the pear at the entrance to the kitchens and smiled at the house elves. She was sure Harry would never think about getting one of them and Hermione would throw a fit but Ginny would like to own a house elf one day. She wouldn't be like her mother and stay in the kitchen for most of her life. And naturally, she would only have a few children.

Ginny shivered. She loved her mother but she didn't want to become her mother. She wanted to keep her figure as much as she could while giving Harry the family he wanted. And, she also wanted a career. Maybe in a gossip column. That was fun, learning about gossip and she found she was rather good at absorbing the information.

She sighed. She knew, truthfully, that the perfect future she had planned might very well not come to frutition. Harry might want different things. She might decide to do something else.

Well, first things first. She smiled at Dobby, knowing that he was the most likely elf to help her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Gin," Ron greeted as his sister sat down with him and Harry. Hermione was off to the library or something. All Ron knew was that his girlfriend was off studying somewhere.

"Hey, Ron," Ginny smiled. She picked some food from the lunch table and began to eat.

"Aha!" Ron loudly said. He looked at Harry while pointing a piece of chicken at Ginny. "I wasn't the only one who missed breakfast!"

Harry shook his head. "Whatever, Ron." He was still upset over what Ron had said in Charms. His eyes naturally found the Slytherin table--a habit he didn't think he was ever going to break--and found the one in particular who had been as much part of his years at Hogwarts as Ron and Hermione. Malfoy was laughing over something Zabini had said and then he turned back to his plate. But, he had caught Harry's eye and something was shared between them.

Harry felt something stir in him, like when he had first realized he like Ginny. It seemed that Malfoy felt something, too, because the blond blushed and quickly looked down.

Harry smiled into his goblet. Whatever was going was something good and definitely something that Ron wasn't going to look. But, Harry decided he was going to go with it. Go after Malfoy. Draco. That...sounded good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginny hid her smile as she watched Harry take a drink of the pumpkin juice. She knew the other students were drinking it too but she was after Harry. She knew the cheering potion was going to distract Harry and that it was going to be her chance. It would also keep Ron at bay until she had Harry.

She had considered something more distracting or darker but she figured simplier was better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco Malfoy looked up again at Harry to see if the other boy was still looking but he wasn't. The male Weasley said something to Harry and that brought Draco's eyes to the red head and his sister. Being observant--he had been a double spy like his mentor--Draco noted that something was off.

That was when he realized the pumpkin juice was off.

His eyes widened as he looked again at Ginny Weasley.

Was this a prank of hers?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry couldn't stop smiling, now. Thing was, though, was that he couldn't stop. He looked over at Ron who looked the same way and he noted that a lot of the other students were the same way. And it looked like it was affecting the teachers as well.

Ron started laughing. "Well, here's another prank! This is a good one."

Harry shrugged and decided to go along with it. He had managed to brew this one successfully in potion's class and it had been awesome to experience. So he put his head on his folded arms to wait it out. The counter potion after all would take longer to brew than it would to wear off and he was sure Snape didn't have enough counter for the entire school.

Dumbledore--who didn't look like the potion had affected him but who knew with the headmaster?--stood up and again called afternoon classes off. The professors had to be upset but no one really knew because of the potion. And, after all, it would be really hard to concentrate because of the effects.

As the students left, Harry found himself wandering aimlessly. He had the map on him so he wasn't worried about getting lost and why not? He hadn't enjoyed a stroll in the castle in some time.

"Harry?"

He turned to see Ginny standing behind him. Somehow, the sight of her made him feel less cheery. Hmm. Maybe he should mention this later to Snape.

"Yes?"

She smiled and batted her eyelashes. Harry wanted to roll his eyes. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me sometime?"

Harry sighed. "I'd really rather not."

Her eyes flared angry for a moment but then she calmed some. "Well, maybe we can study together sometime?"

Harry again sighed. He really wanted to enjoy this potion and Ginny was ruining it. "Ginny, what we had is over. All right?"

She huffed. "No, it's not. We were perfect together, Harry. What happened?"

He pinched his nose between his fingers. "I changed, Ginny. The war changed me. I'm not the same person."

"But what does that have to do with me?" She pouted.

He couldn't fully express it but then, he wasn't the most eloquent person. "You're...not the one I want anymore, Gin."

She recoiled as if he had slapped her. He continued. "And you deserve someone who will give you everything. There are parts of me that I need to take care of and I can't give you what you need and deserve. I...need a partnership. You...need...a prince."

She swallowed hard and tears started to run down her face. She slapped him and ran off. Harry sighed. It seemed that because of the "argument", the potion had worn off. And he had so looked forward to wandering aimlessly.

"Trouble in paradise?" a soft voice asked.

Harry turned and saw Draco. He knew that the sentence was not mocking. "Not anymore."

Draco looked in the direction Ginny had run and then back. "Is that...good?"

Harry smiled. "It is." He looked out to the lake where a lot of the students had decided to wile away the afternoon and potion. "Want to go out to the lake?"

Draco smiled. "Sure."

TBC...

Translation:
intrighi: italian for intrigues
l'amour: italian for the love (duh, i know x.x)