Harry Potter & the Heir of Darkness

CHAPTER 7 – “Come into my parlor…”

Draco paced around the library awaiting Dylan’s arrival. Pansy had dragged him to Quidditch try-outs yesterday, which had gone terribly, so Draco was forced to leave a message with Madam Pomfrey. I bet the old witch never delivered it.

He checked his watch and groaned impatiently. “Where the hell is she?” he mumbled. Dylan was already twenty minutes late, and if she didn’t hurry up Draco would be kicked out of the library. Madam Pince glared at him disapprovingly. The library wouldn’t close for another thirty minutes; however Draco had been pacing around there all day.

It wasn’t just because he was meeting Dylan alone in the common room to ask about the previous day’s events; Draco couldn’t stand listening to Pansy any longer. She was beginning to be a handful. Just think I’ll be married to her at the end of the school year.

He lowered himself into a chair and ran a hand through his hair. Where the hell is she? I bet she’s not coming, he thought angrily. How dare she stand me up!

Draco pulled a thick book towards him. Thankfully he had chosen the table farthest from the door, that way the nosey librarian couldn’t glare at him over her glasses. He sighed heavily. I’ll wait until the library closes before I leave.

He flicked through the pages angrily. The Quidditch team this year definitely wasn’t an amazing one with skill coming out of their ears. Draco smirked, far from it. Unfortunately all the students seemed to be incompetent when it came to flying. Not that it surprised him, while they claimed to be pureblood Draco knew for a fact that the majority weren’t.

He picked up a good keeper though. Draco chose him not only because he was the only one to try out, but he was pretty sure every other student at the school was petrified of him. Alec Tragyze was the tallest student at the school, not too mention one of the meanest. Thankfully he was a Slytherin, and since Draco had a few connections, he and Alec never really had any problems with each other.

Crabbe and Goyle had received their beater clubs, and had proceeded to chase those who didn’t make the team around the pitch. Malfoy hadn’t really been impressed by the selection this year. However he knew Crabbe and Goyle would make good beaters. They had the strength and he was pretty sure they could take a good couple of hits to the head and still be able to play.

Draco flicked through another text, beginning to get rather agitated. At least I don’t have to worry about Pansy. That was the only consolation. He had wasted an entire day getting ready for this meeting. He had made sure he looked nice, for the Malfoy name of course. Draco had even dragged several books onto his table so he could have a little privacy, and perhaps make it seem like he wasn’t waiting around for her.

He could have been devising Quidditch tactics. Instead he had lazed around the library, hadn’t given any thought to the mountains of homework that was due that week, and waited for Dylan Thompson to show up. When I see her next, I’m going to…

“Draco?” a soft voice murmured.

Draco’s head shot up suddenly and he couldn’t help but stare. Dylan was standing beside him, looking as though she had just come from the Hospital wing. “Hi,” he muttered. “How long have you been standing there?”

Dylan gave him an awkward smile. “A few minutes, I did try to talk to you but you must have been caught up in your reading.” She shrugged and lowered herself into the chair beside him. “What did you want to see me about?”

Draco had to mentally kick himself to answer her question. “I just wanted to see how you were, after yesterday.”

He stared at her pale face and her clear blue eyes. She didn’t look well at all. “I’m fine,” she said softly. “Are you all right?” Dylan stared back at him in confusion. “You are acting a little strange.”

“I want to know exactly what happened in Divination. Why did you faint after Potter? Why Madam Pomfrey had to do that weird… thing,” he shook his head. “Twice,” he added.

Dylan sighed. “Well, you know everything else about me, so why wouldn’t you want to know about that.” Draco realized she was speaking more to herself than addressing him.

“I do not know everything about you,” he countered. “Just because I happen to know you are related to the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Potions Master at said school and the Minister for Magic, does not mean I know everything.”

Dylan stared at him in horror before glancing around the empty library. “Will you shut up!” she spat. “Perhaps you have forgotten our little agreement.”

Draco smirked. “As if, I kind of like having you around. You provide light entertainment for my otherwise boring day. Well you and Potter provide my daily amusement.”

She glared at him. “Will you please stop talking about me as if I’m some sort of one-man circus?” Dylan pulled a book towards her and opened to a random page.

“I wouldn’t put it past you. You are crazy enough to pull that off.” Draco moved his chair closer to hers. “Why did you leave Beauxbatons?” he whispered.

Dylan gasped. “How did you?”

“It wasn’t very hard to figure out. After the filthy language coming out of your mouth the past few days, I couldn’t help but add one and one together. I’m assuming I guessed correctly then?”

Draco tried to catch her gaze but she turned her head away. “I left because I wanted to, end of story.”

He couldn’t help but laugh softly. “You’ll have to come up with a better excuse than that.” Draco put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet his. “Can I make an educated guess?” Without waiting for Dylan’s reply he continued. “Perhaps a boy broke your heart.”

Dylan shook her head. “Wrong,” she muttered.

He grinned at her. “All right, how about… you had an affair with a teacher?” Draco laughed at Dylan’s look of outrage. “Sorry. Deranged psychotic killer? Sold into slavery? Your pet cat had kittens? Stop me if I guess correctly.”

Dylan just stared at him blankly. “Why do you always think the worst?” she asked curiously. “Couldn’t I have thought that perhaps I needed a place closer to my family? Or perhaps Hogwarts is a better school?”

“That may be true,” he whispered. “It is a little bit disappointing. Someone such as yourself should have a harrowing past, shrouded in mystery.”

He stared into her eyes, daring her to say otherwise. “You live in a fantasy world, Draco Malfoy. That only happens in the movies,” she mumbled. Dylan stood slowly and made her way out of the library.

“Next time,” he called after her.

Draco stacked the books neatly into a pile and picked up his bag. Dinner will be ready soon. He turned ready to leave as something caught his eye behind one of the bookshelves.

Pretending he hadn’t seen anything, he began to make his way towards the exit before turning suddenly. “Pansy?” he whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I had come to see you. This was the last place I thought I would find you, yet here you are.” She smiled at him sweetly. “Why was that girl here?” she asked as she fell into step beside him.

“No reason,” he mumbled. Draco stopped dead in his tracks. “Pansy?” his mind began reeling with strange thoughts. “How long were you behind that shelf?”

Pansy smiled back at him. “Does it matter, dearest? I’ll see you at dinner.”

As she ran ahead of him, Draco couldn’t help but panic. Did Pansy hear something? He shook his head trying desperately to banish the thought from his mind. I hope not.

***

Dylan sat in the empty common room. Choosing her favorite armchair she watched the flames dance merrily in the fireplace. She sighed heavily. After finally being let out of the hospital wing she had raced to see Travien.

Granted, she was supposed to meet Draco in the library though she didn’t give a damn. He hadn’t bothered to wait around and ask her himself. He had just told the matron to let her know that ‘he would be waiting for her’. As if Dylan was meant to obediently go to him like his kept-woman.

Damn him! Travien had mentioned he’d wait for her tonight. Her training couldn’t continue to be moved back, they had to start as soon as possible. Unfortunately she only had a few minutes before she had to leave. At least I get a rest.

Travien hadn’t shown any compassion towards her, even after she reminded him that she had just been released from the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had explicitly told her to take things easy, and training with Travien would be anything but easy.

She had walked slowly from his office to the library to meet Draco, making sure to arrive late. He had chosen a table at the back of the library and had immersed himself in a rather large book.

Even after she had stood there trying to gain his attention he had still continued to read. Finally, she succeeded and he had then proceeded to annoy her. I don’t know why I even went, she thought angrily.

All he had wanted to do was talk about her, Dylan’s least favorite topic. Thankfully she had side-stepped the question about the Divination lesson, however he had decided her relations was a fine topic to discuss.

Dylan had then made her way to dinner, and a very lonely one at that. She had been right at believing if Harry ignored her, the rest of Gryffindor would. Dylan had been treated as though she was a piece of garbage, nobody talked to her, only a few spared a second glance.

Unable to take anymore, she made her way out into the grounds, preferring to sit alone around the lake than in the noisy crowds of the great hall with no one talking to her. Dylan had finally made her way back into the castle hours later.

“What are you doing here?” a voice asked from the shadows.

Dylan lowered her head. “Hello to you too, Harry,” she whispered. “You can’t sleep either?”

“Perhaps, but you didn’t answer my question.” Harry’s figure moved towards her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m only here for another two minutes. I’ll be out of your precious tower for the night.” Dylan didn’t have the energy to fight with him. “Go back to bed, Harry. When you awake, I won’t be here again.”

“I told you not to come into this tower.” Harry drew his wand and pointed it at her. “Did Malfoy kick you out? He finally came to his senses about you?”

Dylan looked up at him and smiled sadly. “No,” she muttered. She rolled her eyes over Harry. His hair was tousled slightly and he looked so pale against his plain red pajamas. “Nice P.J.’s, Harry.”

“Shut up,” he spat. “Get out now before I do something I will regret.”

Dylan took a deep breath. “You’re right, I’ll go.” She made to stand but he pushed her back into the chair. “Harry?”

She couldn’t see his face properly but Dylan was pretty sure he wasn’t in a friendly mood. “Don’t you get it? You shouldn’t have been in here, in the first place. You should have gone to Slytherin, that’s where all your pals are.”

Dylan gasped. “You don’t know how right you are.” She tried to keep her voice neutral. “Excuse me, Harry. I must be going now.”

Harry grabbed her shoulders and held her down. “You are such a coward. Why don’t you stay? Fight me?”

If Dylan didn’t know any better she would have bet Harry was dreaming. “Let me go, Harry. I really need to go.” She tried to struggle free but failed.

Before she knew what was happening, Harry leant over and pressed his lips forcefully against hers. Dylan was too shocked to react. One of his hands grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her to her feet.

Dylan’s mind was spinning. What is he doing? She tried to push him away but Harry just grabbed her hips angrily and continued to kiss her.

Finally he let her go, shoving her back into the chair. “Now you can go,” he spat.

Dylan watched him storm up the steps towards the boy’s dormitory and heard the door click shut. She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. What just happened? She ran a finger across her lips and couldn’t help but smile. Harry Potter just kissed me!

She raced out the door and sprinted to Travien’s office. Harry’s kiss had given her enough of a buzz to get through this one session.

Travien opened the door with a sour expression on his face. “About damn time!” he whispered.

He led her through a door at the back of the room and as they descended down several flights of stairs Dylan couldn’t help but wonder what Travien would have in mind for her training.

They stopped outside another door and Travien turned to face her. “Are you ready?” he asked quietly.

Dylan shrugged. “I guess so. We’ll just have to wait and see,” she smiled back at him.

He opened the door for her and she preceded him into the room. The small training room was completely sealed except for the door they just entered. Dylan was pretty sure this was the size of a normal classroom. On one wall there were several different types of weapons, on another wall a cupboard rested.

“What’s in there?” Dylan asked curiously.

“Equipment, safety gear and whatever else we shall need.” He shrugged half-heartedly. “Dumbledore set the majority of it up.”

Dylan nodded as she paced around the room. It was a rather simple room when she thought about it, but then again Travien never used anything fancy when they had trained previously.

“Shall we begin?” he asked. “Would you like to revise, or should we start with something new?”

Dylan shook her head uncertainly. “Travien,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what I can do anymore. I haven’t practiced for years.”

Travien gave a weary sigh. “Very well,” he flicked his wand casually and Dylan was thrown against the nearest wall. “I figured we’d have to start again. Expelliarmus!”

Dylan’s wand flew into the middle of the room. She stared at him in surprise. “That’s a bit basic,” she murmured to herself.

Travien flicked his wand again and Dylan felt her right arm move until it was parallel to the floor. A burning sensation flooded through it and she turned her head just in time to see it sink into the wall. “Travien?” she called uncertainly. “What are you doing?”

“Retrieve your wand,” he replied simply. “When you can do that, we shall move on.”

Dylan stared back at Travien in confusion. “I have to retrieve my wand, while my arm is stuck in the wall?” Dylan had completed this task before, it had taken her months to do and now she was back to the beginning and would probably be stuck here for the remainder of the school year.

“You’re wasting time,” he muttered. “You’ve done this before, it’s just revision.”

She sighed heavily. Dylan moved her left hand as far as she could in front of her and closed her eyes. Concentrating hard on her wand that lay a mere two meters in front of her, Dylan focused all her energy on retrieving it.

Slowing her breathing down drastically, Dylan opened her eyes and glared at her wand. Travien had conjured himself a chair and sat quietly by the door. He shook his head as Dylan strained to reach the wand.

“It isn’t that difficult. Think back,” Travien’s voice held a hint of impatience.

Dylan leaned against the wall breathing hard. “Give me a break, Travien. I haven’t been without my wand since those days.” She groaned. “My arm is going dead; can you let me go for a moment?”

Travien grinned at her. “When you have your wand, I will let you go.”

She glared at him. “This could take weeks. It took me forever last time.”

“You know as well as I do, this is the hardest part of all your training. Once you master your ability to focus your powers without your wand, everything else is easy.” Travien stood up slowly and walked over to stand in front of her. “Perhaps you need a little help.”

Dylan looked up at him in horror. In Travien’s mind, ‘a little help’ was not what a normal person would expect. “I can do it myself,” she said quickly. “I don’t need any help.”

Travien moved to the other side of the room and drew his wand. “Ten seconds, Dylan. If you haven’t got it by then, I’ll have to give you a little nudge in the right direction.”

Her mind began to race. This wasn’t going to end happily. Dylan pleaded with her mind to get her wand before it was too late. She stared at it, her left hand outstretched in front of her.

“Five seconds left,” he whispered happily.

Dylan hissed in a breath. Please, come on! Please! Her right arm began to sting painfully and she had to shake her head against the desire to stop.

Travien flicked his wand and Dylan’s body began to shudder in pain. She gasped for air, shutting her eyes tightly. Please! Her left palm began to tingle, that’s it… come on!

She had to mentally stop herself from crying out in pain, her entire body trembling from the sudden onslaught of pain. Dylan heard Travien sigh wearily. “Come on, Dylan. This is easy.” He flicked his wand again and the pain doubled.

Dylan muscles began to tense. It was like she was being electrocuted. The pain was so intense her vision began to blur. Closing her eyes once again she tried to keep her mind focused on the task at hand. The room felt as though it was moving rapidly around her.

Dylan’s left hand felt as if it were on fire. Her muscles were pleading with her to stop. She felt one knee give way and she fell to the floor. Dylan had to struggle with her mind to keep her arm up. Please, come on. Come on!

Her lungs were burning painfully and her mind began to shut down. No, don’t do this! Please!

“Travien,” she whispered. “Stop it.”

Dylan knew he couldn’t hear her, her voice was so quiet she could barely hear herself. Her body burned and she felt as though millions of tiny daggers were stabbing her entire body. Her vision grew blurry and she could hardly make out Travien’s figure.

As she closed her eyes wearily she tried desperately to continue breathing. Suddenly her body felt as if she had just been set on fire. Her head pounded and she fell down until she was sitting on both knees.

Dylan’s right shoulder began to sting painfully and the darkness behind her eyes lit up brightly. That’s it; it’s over, she thought angrily.

Just as her mind was about to switch itself off, Dylan felt her left hand curl around something small and solid. She opened her eyes slowly and, sure enough, there was her wand.

Travien lifted his spell and clapped his hands happily. “I told you it was easy,” he muttered as he flicked his wand, releasing her arm from the wall.

Dylan instantly dropped her wand and grabbed her right shoulder. She felt the squishy skin there; however she knew the bone had fallen lower down her arm. “My arm’s dislocated,” she murmured.

Travien gave her an awkward smile. “I had to get you past the first hurdle. Everything will be much simpler now.”

Dylan leant against the wall, cradling her shoulder. As she drew in a deep breath she pushed her arm up and, ignoring the pain, heard it click back into place. Dylan glared back at Travien’s smiling face as she gasped for air.

“You would’ve killed me,” she said quietly.

“Never,” he laughed. “I was only giving you enough to force your mind to remember.” Travien walked over and knelt beside her. “Here, have a drink.”

Dylan took the goblet gratefully. “Thanks,” she whispered before taking a huge gulp of the water. “What’s next?”

“I think we’ll leave it here for tonight.” He brushed her hair out of her face. “That took a fair bit out of you. I should have waited until you were fully recovered.” He smiled kindly at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay?”

She nodded and stood up carefully. Her body was still shaking though Dylan knew if she didn’t leave now Travien would change his mind. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

Dylan sat in the armchair in front of the fire still holding her arm. “Damn Travien,” she muttered into the dark. “What was he thinking?”

She stared into the flames and massaged her shoulder absently. “Hello again,” a voice muttered. “Well, so much for not coming back into the tower.”

Dylan sighed. “Harry, having trouble sleeping again?” she didn’t bother looking up at the boy.

“Dylan, why are you here? Have you forgotten what I told you?” Harry sat down in the armchair beside her and ran a hand through his hair. “What am I going to do with you?”

“You could do nothing,” she supplied jokingly.

Harry glared at her. “That was a rhetorical question. It didn’t call for an answer.”

Dylan watched him for a moment, unable to really see much due to the darkness. However, the flickering light from the flames gave her a small idea of how Harry was feeling. He was staring at her in confusion, a scowl on his face and a curious gleam in his eyes.

He is really cute, she thought sadly. Dylan turned her face away and stared back into the fire.

“Why are you back again, Dylan?” Harry asked finally. “You have no place here.”

She nodded. “Believe me, I know.” Dylan thought back to the warning the sorting hat had given her on her first night at Hogwarts.

“You should leave. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you stay I don’t think I could stop myself.” The words seemed to have been dragged from his throat. “Please just leave.”

Dylan felt as though her heart would break in two. “Of course,” she whispered softly. “Good night, Harry.”

She turned to leave, willing herself to walk gracefully out of the common room, her mind frantically trying to figure out where she could go.

“Dylan,” Harry’s hoarse voice called to her, freezing her to the spot. “What happened in Divination?”

Dylan sighed heavily and turned back to face him. “Does it matter?” she whispered.

“Of course it does!” he closed the space between them in seconds. “Tell me, what happened.” Harry’s hands grabbed her shoulders and she closed her eyes in pain.

Dylan stared into his hard eyes. “I’m not quite sure, Harry. I remember you fainted and I went to help you, but I couldn’t help since you were in mid-vision. I couldn’t touch you at all. Ron was trying to figure out something to do, and that damn Professor Trelawney – she was no help at all.” Dylan shook her head angrily. “Someone fell on me and pushed me onto you, and… then I woke up in hospital.”

Harry stared at her curiously. “Why?”

She shrugged, however as she noticed the disbelieving expression on Harry’s face she decided to tell him the truth. “They call it I.V. or O.I.V. that is, Involuntary Vision, or Outside Influenced Vision. Basically if I touch someone who is mid-way through a vision or premonition or whatever, I get sucked into it.”

Dylan turned away from him and walked over to the fireplace. She could feel Harry’s eyes on her, willing her to go on. “I can see everything that goes on in the vision clearly. Sometimes it’s rather disturbing. Madam Pomfrey had to help me out of it. I can’t seem to pull myself out of the visions.” She gave an involuntary shudder. “Believe me; it can get rather painful.”

She looked over her shoulder at Harry; however he had his back to her. “Why does it happen?” she heard him ask quietly.

“I wouldn’t have a clue,” she muttered simply. “I had better go, Harry.”

Harry spun around to face her. “No, you don’t have to go.”

Dylan shook her head. “I don’t want your pity, Harry,” she whispered as she walked towards the door. “I’ll see you in class.”

“Dylan?” Harry’s voice once again stopped her. “Did you-” he faltered. “Did you happen to see what my vision was about?”

Dylan gave a small gasp. “No,” she lied. “I didn’t see a thing.”

She walked out into the corridor and slowly made her way towards the Great hall. Dylan wasn’t sure where she would sleep tonight. While she knew she could sneak into the tower again, surprisingly she didn’t want to. Harry was prepared to let her join the ranks of the other Gryffindor’s again, however knowing that he was only doing it out of pity for her made her feel worse.

As she wandered through the castle, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself. Talk about biting off your own nose to spite your face, she thought bitterly. This is entirely your fault, there’s no point moping around. You could have stayed.

Dylan gave a deep sigh. How could I let this happen? She stared around the girl’s toilets helplessly. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going. “Great,” she mumbled.

Glaring at her reflection in the mirror she couldn’t help but feel a hint of resentment towards Harry. Why hadn’t he tried harder to stop me? He could have grabbed me and not let me go!

She frowned. Who am I kidding? I would have left anyway…

Dylan left the bathroom feeling even more miserable than before. She turned into a corridor that would take her to the Great hall when she bumped into a rather solid object and fell awkwardly onto the floor. She had been so immersed in her thoughts that she had not seen where she was going.

“Watch it,” a voice drawled from above her. “Curfew time has well and truly passed, so why are you-” the voice trailed off.

Dylan stared up into the face of a rather shocked looking Draco Malfoy. Shit, she thought angrily. This is just not my evening.

Draco held his hand out to her, a smile playing around his lips. “Why, hello,” he muttered softly. “What brings you here?”

“None of your damn business, Malfoy,” Dylan really couldn’t be bothered putting up with his arrogance tonight. Nor did she feel like explaining to him that she had no place to go. “If you’ll excuse me,” she whispered.

As she made to move his hand shot out to stop her. “Not so fast,” he said as he spun her around to face him. “I should take points off you for being out so late. How do I know you’re not up to mischief?”

“Why would I want to put Peeves out of a job?” she replied. “Take points off if you must. I’m not in the mood to fight you tonight.”

“What’s happened?” he asked curiously. Dylan tried hard not to look at him. “Has Potter abandoned you again?” Draco laughed.

“No,” she said flatly. “If you’ll excuse me,” she made to leave again. This time Draco merely fell into step beside her. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Making sure you don’t get into trouble,” he mumbled.

Dylan shot a glance his way and was surprised to find his usual cocky self had slightly disappeared replaced by a strangely calm one. “You don’t need to follow me around. I am simply heading for a walk, that’s all.”

“Sure,” he muttered. “I don’t know that for sure, and since I am Head Boy, and would be blamed for such acts, I shall have to follow you around.” Draco sighed for a moment. “I am getting rather tired however, so if you could hurry your walk up I would greatly appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you just go to bed? I don’t need a babysitter and I’m going to be a while,” Dylan mumbled as they walked into the Great hall. Just leave me alone!

She sat down at the closest table and laid her head down on it. It’s not very comfortable, she thought sadly. It will have to do for tonight.

“What are you doing?” she heard Draco ask from beside her. “You haven’t fully recovered. Why don’t you head back to Gryffindor tower?”

Dylan lifted her head and stared at him. Her face completely drained. “I can’t,” she whispered dully. She hung her head as she bit back a sob. This isn’t the time to be crying!

She didn’t particularly wish to break out into tears in front of Draco Malfoy. That had happened one too many times already. Dylan shuddered as she remembered back to the hospital wing, when Draco had kissed her cheek. She shook her head trying to rid herself of the feeling.

I’m just tired, she thought. My body is just exhausted, that’s all.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t’?” he asked softly. “Oh, that’s right. Is Harry still mad at you?”

Draco had put a finger under Dylan’s chin and made her look at him. “Of course he is,” she whispered harshly. “No thanks to you. Now I don’t have anywhere to go!” Dylan pushed his hand away and put her head back on the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I am trying to sleep.”

Dylan shut her eyes and willed him to go away. She felt him leave her side and heard him take a few steps. She sighed slowly, thank goodness! Just as she began to relax she felt two arms grab her around the waist and lift her easily off the chair.

“What are you doing?” she cried. “Put me down.” Dylan stared at the ground realizing Draco had slung her over his shoulder and was making his way back to wherever. “I don’t need your pity, let me go!”

She kicked the air and hit him non-too-gently on his back. However he only laughed at her pitiful struggles. “Shut up,” he whispered to her. “You’ll get us both in trouble.” Dylan only struggled harder. “Parseltongue,” he mumbled and continued walking.

Dylan realized the cold corridor had changed to a warm room with green leather couches, a blazing fireplace and several portraits of elderly wizards. “Where are you taking me?” she whispered fearfully.

Draco merely shook his head and continued walking. “I’m giving you a place to stay,” he replied simply. “It’s up to you if you want to leave and sleep on that uncomfortable table.” He stopped suddenly and put her back onto the floor. “Draco Malfoy,” he said without glancing at her.

She watched on as the wall opened up in front of her revealing a large room decorated in green, black and silver. Dylan gasped softly as Draco propelled her into the room. “Draco?” she whispered uncertainly.

“Don’t panic, I’m not going to sleep with you,” his glance raked over her in what looked like disgust. “This is my Head Boy room. You may have it for the time being. I will return to my other dormitory.”

Dylan stared around the room. There was a large mirror on one side of the room, the other held an enormous bookshelf and a desk littered with ink pots and parchment. However, it was when her gaze fell onto the large bed that she took several steps back until she was leaning against the wall.

She felt like a caged animal and almost screamed as Draco removed his shirt. “What are you doing?” she whispered fearfully.

Draco turned his head and gave her a big smile. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he gave a seductive wink. “I’m getting ready for bed.”

“I thought you were sleeping in another room?” she mumbled.

He chuckled. “I will be. All my clothes are in here, so you’ll have to excuse me while I get dressed.” She gasped and spun around instantly as Draco’s hands began to unbuckle his belt. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to watch me undress?” he laughed.

“What in the world gave you that idea? Just hurry up and leave. I appreciate your offer of the room. However I really don’t need it.” Dylan bit her lip. What am I saying? Of course I need the room.

She felt Draco’s gaze on her back and she shut her eyes tightly. “Well if that’s the way you feel, I’ll let you out now, and you can go back to your beautiful house table in the Great hall.”

Dylan’s body tensed as his hands touched her shoulders gently. Please, just leave me alone! She could feel his body’s warmth radiating from him. “Are you done?” she asked angrily.

“Sure, why not,” he spat. “Do you want the room or not?”

Dylan sighed. “Yes, please.” She clenched her fists willing him to leave.

“Well, goodnight then,” he whispered mockingly in her ear. “Sweet dreams.”

She shut her eyes tightly as he walked out of the room, Dylan wasn’t quite sure she wanted to see him in his pajamas. Only when she heard the wall slide back into place did she open her eyes and breathe.

Climbing into the large bed she stared up at the canopy. Just think, he could be doing the exact thing right now... Dylan almost screamed at her mind. It’s just the room, that’s all it is. His belongings, his room…

Dylan rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. As she breathed in she couldn’t help but groan. All she could smell was him, the faint scent of him had soaked into his pillows. Damn it, she cursed.

A burning sensation ran through her body as she tried to breathe again. The cool, spicy scent of the night was causing her mind to fog over. Dylan tried to forget the fact that Draco Malfoy had probably slept in this bed every night since the school year had started. She desperately tried to keep her mind in check, though every now and again an image of him would creep into her mind.

Dylan tried hard to keep the shirtless image of him away from her. All her thoughts seemed to center around him and then a bizarre question popped into her mind. Does he wear boxers to bed, or does he sleep naked?

Dylan couldn’t believe she had thought that. How dare he invade my thoughts! She shut her mind off to the prospect of Draco’s naked body between the green satin sheets, frantically trying to get some sleep.

I hate you, Draco Malfoy.

She got out of the bed and lay down on the floor. This will have to do until morning, she thought desperately. “I’m not sleeping here again,” she whispered into the dark room.