Midnight Grace

Chapter Summary: Jo instantly regrets her intimacy with thane, meanwhile Draco berates the boy for his prank on Pansy the night before, not knowing Pansy is already planning something that would not only get back at Thane but ultimately hurt Tia, Jo and Draco in the process, despite Jo’s continued instance to Tia that she despises Thane, even as she’s revealing what happened between them. Tia is also living in a world of denial, insisting she and Draco are only having fun, despite the feelings welling up inside her.


Chapter Seven: Plans and Consequences
 
Jo marched from the room and ran for her dormitory, stopping to gather her bath things before heading to the shower room and taking a long hot bath, cursing Thane the entire time, and berating herself. What the hell had she been thinking? How was giving Thane what he wanted getting back at him? How was that even a plausible idea? Punishing him by giving him his own way? No, she knew it wasn’t, and so did he. Now he’d only gloat all the more! Well, let him! Let him gloat and sneer! If he didn’t think she was going to make remarks behind his back then he was wrong! Maybe she should find Tia and tell her how SHE’D used Thane – ha! That would fix him, wouldn’t it?
 
As she scrubbed herself with the soap, trying to get Thane’s intoxicating scent off of her skin, she realized what a pathetic plan that was. He wouldn’t care, and she’d only look like an idiot. No, he’d used her – twice no less – and she had no one to blame but herself.
 
She climbed from the shower finally, drying off and wiping stray tears from her face. He’d said no one knew yet and that he wasn’t planning on telling anyone, but she didn’t believe it. She was sure Draco already knew or would soon. She imagined the pair sitting in Potions class, having a good laugh about it over their cauldron, and suddenly she worried what Tia’s opinion would be. And then she wondered why she cared. After all, she scarcely knew the Canadian transfer student, yet she didn’t want the red head to think badly of her.
 
The biggest question at the moment, though, was WHY had she fallen for it again? The answer completely eluded her, despite the fact it was the one she wanted to find the most. She’d been angry, she’d wanted to hurt him, and then… Then he’d kissed her, and when his lips had claimed hers she’d just melted. A rush of impatience and disgust filled her, but it wasn’t aimed at him anymore - rather at herself.  She should have been stronger than that, she shouldn’t have failed. But he’d sent fire racing through her veins like no one else ever had, not even Drenkan.
 
She reminded herself that he could do it so well because he’d had so much practice, and brushed the thoughts away quickly. She finished dressing and stopped at her dorm room once again to drop off her things, wondering for a moment what everyone would make of the pile of discarded bedding she’d left in the shower room, but deciding she didn’t care. Let the creepy house elves puzzle over it when they cleaned.
 
Jo made her way through the common room and down corridors until she reached the third floor classroom she’d secretly claimed. She spent the first two hours of classes hiding in her sanctuary, pouring over her latest book, or trying to at least. Her mind kept wandering away and making her cheeks flush with embarrassment and her arms prickle with goose bumps as she pictured Thane Purefoy as he’d been this morning, his breath hot against her ear as he’d murmured her name, “Iosifina.”
 
 
 
When the bell sounded to end second period she slammed her book closed and gathered her things before heading to Care of Magical Creatures. She hoped Purefoy had decided not to take the class again this year; she really didn’t want to see him unless she had to.
 
As Jo scrambled out of her abandoned room, Draco and Thane were leaving Potions followed closely by Laelonatia and Liz.
 
SMACK!
 
“What was that for?” yelped Thane, rubbing the back of his head where Malfoy had just hit him.
 
“That’s for being late,” growled the white-haired prefect before smacking Thane again in the same spot.  “And THAT’S for what you did to Parkinson!”  He scowled nastily at the taller boy.  “Snape already called me into his office.  Not exactly how I wanted to start off my seventh year.”
 
“And why do you think I had anything to do with it?” asked Thane, a wounded look on his face.
 
“Who else would have given her a tail?” whispered Malfoy through gritted teeth.  He looked behind him to make sure Tia didn’t hear what he was saying.  He was met with a questioning gaze from the redhead.
 
“And you automatically think of me?” Thane demanded, offense clear in his voice.
 
“And exactly who else would have THAT kind of precision and accuracy?” Malfoy asked Thane with a suspicious eyebrow raised.
 
Draco’s question was only met with silence, the obvious answer being no one.
 
“Draco,” Tia interrupted, “Liz and I are headed to Care of Magical Creatures.”
 
“Fine,” he said, somewhat distractedly. “I’ll pick you up before lunch,” he added, accepting the quick peck on the cheek before Tia and Liz headed the other direction.
 
“Oh, come off it, Cousin,” said Thane.  “I thought you’d appreciate the sentiment.”
 
“With you creating more trouble than she’s worth in our first week?” asked Draco incredulously.
 
“Well, maybe you should use a bit more discretion with your late night rendezvous than going at the new girl in the corridor,” said Thane.  He was a bit out of sorts and seeing Malfoy and Tia seemingly have a rather decent go at it all, without the littlest sign of trouble, made it worse.
 
 Draco didn’t respond, but merely glared at the dark-haired boy.
 
“It’s not my fault Pansy saw the two of you, Cousin,” said Thane, not really caring what Malfoy thought at this particular moment.
 
“What’s wrong with you?” Malfoy sneered; spotting that the boy had an unusually nasty disposition this morning.  “Did Constantinescu refuse you again?”
 
“It didn’t go how I envisioned, if that’s what you mean,” sighed Thane. His head was still reeling from his early morning encounter with Iosifina, wanting to know why she kept accepting his advances and then storming away as if he’d offended her in some way.  None of it made sense to him.
 
 “You’d think you’d have given up by now,” said Draco flatly, muttering the password and walking into the Slytherin Common Room.
 
Thane only glared at his friend in response, not really having any kind of answer that either of them would want to hear.
 
 
Tia met up with Jo shortly after leaving Malfoy, having lost Liz to Marianna in the corridor.
 
“Where were you at breakfast?” Tia asked the blonde.  “You know they announced our visit to Hogsmeade in October.  You do plan to go don’t you?”
 
“Yeah,” Jo answered, not meeting Tia’s eyes and hugging her book bag closer to herself as the girls headed towards the large door leading outside. “Don’t want to miss a chance to escape this place, even if it’s just for an afternoon.”
 
Tia looked at the girl for a moment, trying to read what was going on in her mind.  “Right,” she said, “Do you want to come with us?”
 
“Who’s ‘us’?” the blonde asked warily, pausing to allow a group of Gryffindors to get in front of them before trudging outside and down the stone steps to the grounds.
 
“Me and Draco, of course,” the redhead answered cavalierly.  “And most likely Thane and Crabbe and Goyle.”  She rolled her eyes at the mention of the two latter boys.
 
“Ah,” was Jo’s immediate response. “Well, as much as I appreciate the offer I think I’ll have to decline politely.”
 
Well, that answered it for Tia.  “What exactly happened between you and Purefoy?” she asked bluntly.  “The only thing he could utter this morning was how he was going to wait for you until you showed up, breakfast or no.”  She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, waiting to see what kind of answer she would come up with.
 
“It’s a long story and we’re walking to class,” Jo pointed out. “That hut right there is where the classes are held.” The blonde raised her hand, pointing to Hagrid’s untidy house, a thin stream of smoke curling up from the cobbled together chimney.
 
Tia’s eyes swept the students already assembled and those coming up behind them. “All right, but at lunch I want some answers! Besides I may need your help.”
 
“Help?” Jo blinked, pausing just on the edge of the crowd and stopping to tug out her thick, fury book that was tied securely shut with a black belt.
 
“I’ll tell you at lunch,” the redhead whispered, glancing around.
 
Hagrid’s voice boomed through the air, jolly as always. “Hullo! Welcome ter care of magical creatures. I think yer all know me, well ‘cept fer one.” He looked straight at the Canadian Transfer student. “I’m Professor Hagrid.”
 
Tia leaned towards Jo and whispered, “He DOES have a thick beard!” Her were eyes wide and her voice held a mix of disgust and awe.
 
 
The double class stretched until lunch, and the girls spent it trying their best not to get maimed by the giant creatures Hagrid affectionately called Doodles and Snuffy. When it ended they trooped back towards the castle, Jo’s robes smoking slightly and her hair disheveled.
 
“Imagine naming an Erumpent Snuffy!” The blonde snorted, waving her wand at her clothing in an effort to put it out.
 
“There should be some kind of a warning on that class,” Tia agreed, shaking her head. “It’s not always that bad, is it?”
 
“If you mean bad as in deadly, then yes, it is,” Jo replied, pausing to repair the fire damage to her robe.
 
“And no one complains?” the redhead asked incredulously.
 
“Those who have enough pull to complain pretty much quit taking the class as soon as it wasn’t a requirement anymore. It’s mainly us nobodies now,” she grinned at her handiwork and the pair started forward once again. “What did you need my help with?”
 
“Actually, I need you to put something on my back, if you wouldn’t mind?” Tia asked with trepidation.  She liked Jo, but wasn’t sure she’d agree.
 
“Something?”  Jo’s eyebrows shot up. “Interesting.”
 
“Erm… yeah.  A healing cream.  I have some – well… will you do it or not?” said Tia with a hopeful look. “There’s an interesting story behind it, but it’s not the kind of conversation to have just anywhere.”
 
“Alright,” Jo answered, eyes alight. “But I want full details when I do.”
 
*****
 
Thane fell onto his bed, a ball of blue light dancing across the backs of his fingers as he continued his dreadful conversation with Malfoy.  He had spent the last hour listening to Draco drone on about the importance of keeping Parkinson’s nose out of their business and how he was sure something important was going to happen before Christmas.
 
“You know, I thought that tail rather suited her,” said Thane, referring to Pansy.  The ball of light now rested in his palm, and it pulsed and glowed as it rolled over his skin.  He was tiring of Draco’s scathing dissertation.  “Perhaps if you’d given her some fourth year she wouldn’t be tailing you THIS year.”
 
At this, Thane sent the glowing blue ball sailing toward Malfoy’s head, watching with extreme amusement as it nestled itself in the boy’s blonde hair, blowing it out in all directions as it dissipated with an obnoxious poof!
 
Draco growled in annoyance and moved to his mirror, immediately righting the serious wrong that had just been committed against his hair.
 
“Nice, I’m sure your father would be proud with what you’ve accomplished with your abilities,” Draco drawled.  After fussing for some time with his now untidy hair, he glared at Thane through his mirror.  “Do you think it’s too much to ask that we make it through the last year at this dreadful school in one piece?”
 
“It might be, Cousin,” he said, producing another ball of light in his left hand.  “As I see it,” Thane continued, ignoring Draco’s expression, “Potter’s already eyeing you for whatever reason, the Dark Lord clearly has plans for you, and Pansy is out to make your life a living hell.  Did I miss anything?”
 
“Apparently you have a better grasp of my life than I do,” he answered, rolling his eyes. 
 
“Do you plan on telling me exactly what was in that letter or are you going to make me keep guessing?” asked Thane.  “It’s obvious that you received some sort of news that you weren’t expecting.”
 
“It was about my father…”
 
The statement hung heavy in the air, Thane not sure how to read the boy’s expression.  Was it good news, or bad?  This wasn’t an area one treaded on heavily.
 
“And?” he finally asked, gauging the boy’s reactions carefully.
 
“Mother thinks he’s still alive,” said Draco, his eyes lost somewhere on the wall behind his mirror.  “I’m supposed to get more information in Hogsmeade.”
 
“Hogsmeade?” Thane questioned.  “And who’s going to be there?”
 
“I don’t know.  They’ll send word to me before then.  But, I’m not sure what the news will be.”  Draco stalled for a moment, steeling his nerves against the emotion that was welling inside him.  Thane was his most trusted friend, his ONLY friend some would say, but showing this kind of vulnerability wasn’t acceptable, even to someone he considered a brother.
 
“But, we’ll see once I get there,” said Draco, awakening from his introspection and straightening his robes in the mirror.  “I expect you’ll want to celebrate your birthday while we’re there?”
 
“Of course,” said Thane easily.  “I expect the accustomed lunch with firewhiskey will do.”
 
“I’m sure you won’t mind if Tia accompanies us?”
 
Thane thought about that for a moment before answering.  It had always been customary for the two boys to sneak off to the Hog’s Head for a round of firewhiskey and ill-mannered frivolity away from prying eyes.  He really shouldn’t have been so surprised, judging by the amount of time Tia and Draco had spent together this first week, but still, it all seemed to be rather sudden.
 
“As long as you provide a token for me as well,” said Thane finally.
 
“Token?”
 
“Something to occupy my time while yours is occupied with our new transfer student,” he said, smiling.
 
“Her name is Tia.”
 
“Actually, her name is Laelonatia Gaia Volusia, if I remember correctly.”
 
Draco turned and glared back at Thane.  “Her name is Tia.”
 
“Fine, just make sure Tia brings someone with her,” he said flippantly.
 
“As you wish, Almighty-Slayer-of-Women,” said Draco.  He had finally decided his appearance was satisfactory and moved away from his mirror.  “I’m sure something can be arranged.”
 
“Good.  I expect a rather pleasant eighteenth birthday present,” said Thane, letting the light he’d been playing with extinguish on his fingertips.
 
Thane flopped back on his bed after producing his flask from inside his robes.  He was just about to unscrew the lid when it went flying from his hand into Malfoy’s.
 
“Starting a bit early on this thing aren’t you?” asked Draco condescendingly, dangling the black container in front of him.
 
Thane only scowled in return.  But, his sneer quickly turned into grin watching Malfoy drop his flask as it turned into a large, rather creepy looking bug.
 
“Come on,” said Draco, exasperated, “we’re going to be late.”
 
 
Jo led Tia to her third floor classroom, and once the door was safely closed the blonde did a series of complicated charms on the door to lock it and make it sound proof while Tia looked around.
 
“It’s interesting,” the redhead commented, waving her wand and removing most of the dust.
 
“It’s quiet.” Jo shrugged, finishing the routine her grandmother had taught her long ago and heading across the room, to drop her book bag on one of the old desks.
 
“I can imagine,” was Tia’s only response as she pulled out a small brown glass jar, dropping her bag to the floor.
 
“What’s that?” the blonde asked curiously as Tia slowly took off the lid, a strong herbal scent filling the room slowly.
 
“It’s a cream my grandmother makes,” she explained, handing the jar to Jo. 
 
“You’re grandmother?”
 
“She has a way with herbs,” said Tia.
 
“Oh,” said Jo, holding the jar to her nose and sniffing.  “It smells good anyway.  So, where are these so-called wounds you’ve been fussing about all day?”
 
“Well, actually,” she began and started to lift the back of her shirt, “they’re right here.”
 
“Oh my – what happened?” asked Jo, looking at Tia’s back.  There were bright red marks and scratches all up and down the other girl’s back.  It looked like someone had dragged her by her feet across the entire length of the dungeon.
 
“Well, that’s the good part, really,” she said, a small grin on her lips.  “Just a word of caution, don’t have sex while pinned against a dungeon wall.”
 
Jo’s blue eyes went wide her mouth fell open, half in surprise and half smiling.  “Well, you didn’t waste any time did you?” she asked, laughing.
 
“It wasn’t me,” Tia defended.  “He was the one who basically attacked me.”
 
“And you had nothing to do with it?”
 
“Of course I did,” the redhead said.  “I couldn’t help myself.  But, I certainly wasn’t planning on such a public display of affection.”
 
“Draco initiated it?  Draco Malfoy?” asked Jo incredulously.
 
“Why is that so hard to believe?” Tia countered, her expression unsure.
 
“Draco doesn’t initiate anything with anyone,” Jo stated flatly.  “Least of all girls.  At least from what I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
 
“It’s nothing serious anyway,” said Tia, waving off Jo’s statement and turning so the other girl could apply the cream to her back. “We’re just having a bit of fun. Oh, that’s cold!”
 
“This is fun?” she asked while spreading the green-tinted cream evenly over the scratches, Tia’s skin breaking out in goose-flesh under her fingers.
 
Tia waited until Jo was done and lowered her shirt gingerly over the wounds.  She tried desperately not to think Draco had treated her any differently than he did anyone else.  That kind of hope could be dangerous.  After all, it was only her second day.
 
“How long does this take to work?” the blonde asked.
 
“They should be gone by next hour,” said Tia, putting on her school robes again.
 
Jo’s eyes looked at the cream in the jar and her hand unconsciously went to her shoulder where Thane had bitten her just this morning. “Does it work on any kind of injury?”
 
Tia raised her eyebrows in an unspoken question. “Yes, it should. Why?”
 
The blonde glanced around out of habit and nervousness. She hadn’t intended to tell anyone about what had happened between her and Thane, but the bite mark had been throbbing all morning. She’d used a simple pain killing charm earlier, but it hadn’t been very effective at dealing with the issue. She knew if Tia saw the teeth marks she’d ask questions, and since it was her cream she’d have a right to some kind of answer.
 
Jo looked up into Tia’s green eyes and she suddenly had a longing to tell someone about it all.  She recalled the giggling girls in the shower room last night, discussing boys and talking to each other like normal people, and suddenly that’s what she wanted. She wanted someone to confide in that she could trust. The question was: could she trust Tia? She barely knew the girl, but then again Malfoy had taken a shine to her almost immediately, and Jo couldn’t imagine Draco going for a girl who couldn’t keep her mouth firmly shut.
 
Without a word Jo reached up and slid her school robe off her shoulder and then unfastened the top button of her shirt until she eased it down enough to reveal the red bite mark in her pale flesh.
 
“Where did that come from?” Tia asked, taking a step closer.
 
Jo sighed heavily. “All right, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even Draco. Though I’m sure Draco already knows….” She trailed off uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure anymore how to begin telling someone something. “It’s kind of a long story.” She stopped, changing her mind. “Actually it’s a short story, I guess, unless you want details.”
 
“I’m gathering he bit you?” Tia replied wryly.
 
“Yeah,” she said and wiped her palms on her school robe, feeling nervous suddenly. “You won’t tell anyone?”
 
“I won’t tell anyone,” the redhead assured her. “Now what happened?”
 
Taking a deep breath Jo recounted the events to Tia, who was slowly applying salve to the wounded shoulder. Jo started with the conversation in the great Hall the first night back, described briefly the encounter last night, and finished up by explaining the activities during breakfast that had resulted in this bite mark.
 
“You’ve actually slept with him TWICE since last night!?” Tia demanded, her emerald eyes wide.
 
“Not on purpose!” Jo cried.
 
“How exactly do you sleep with someone ‘not on purpose’?” Tia asked Jo incredulously.  “You had SOME say in the matter I expect!” 
 
The blonde sighed, her shoulders sagging further. “I mean I didn’t PLAN on it! I know you’re new, so you’ve missed it all, but once he beds a girl and tosses them aside the rumors that spread are really nasty, you know? I’ve heard the jokes they make about them, talking about their knockers and exactly where he had his tongue and… I’m sure you can imagine. I just don’t want people saying that stuff about me. I don’t want to listen to the rude remarks. I spent all last year avoiding him carefully, and he left me alone, so it was fine. Then all of a sudden we get back from summer vacation and he’s saying all this mumbo jumbo about being attracted to me! And even when I SAID I wouldn’t fall for it, that I didn’t want involved I still ended up right where he wanted me! One minute I’m telling him to leave me alone and the next I’m picking up my clothes!”
 
Tia watched silently as the confession poured from Jo.  She was somewhat at a loss for words.  The blonde was right, she didn’t have any knowledge about Purefoy or his ways, but somehow she didn’t think it was quite as bad as Jo thought it was.  Still, she couldn’t say for sure and Draco didn’t exactly give a stellar review of the boy’s record either.
 
“I don’t know,” Tia shrugged. “From what you say, I don’t think he’d be coming back for seconds if he wasn’t truly interested.” Tia put the lid back on the salve. “There that should feel better.”
 
Jo nodded absently to Tia’s last statement. “I’ve thought about it, and I always come to the same conclusion. This is just the kind of mess I’m trying to avoid being caught up in. Sure, he’s charming and he’s good looking, but he’s only interested in one thing, and I’m just stupid to have fallen for it, even if only for a minute.”
 
“Maybe it’s not that you’re stupid, just a bit jaded by his reputation,” said Tia.  She really did like Jo, but she was already becoming taxing.
 
Jo sat down on the edge of one of the desks, her hands lying loosely in her lap. “I can’t risk it,” she whispered. “I got thrown out of my other school in America for… romantic entanglements, and I can’t risk another mess.” She looked up at Tia, hoping the girl understood. “Let’s say I fell for his game. Let’s say I threw myself at him and cried out ‘Oh, Thane Purefoy, I love you’, and let’s even pretend, just for fun, that he actually showed an interest in me. That interest would be fleeting, and eventually I’d get tossed to the wayside. I know myself, I have a temper, and the WHAM! Repeat of St. Benidictus’s and back I go to Aldrions for another three months.”
 
Tia absorbed the large amount of half hinted information before speaking. “You’re really the-glass-is-half-empty type of girl, aren’t you?” Tia asked rhetorically.  “And who says it has to be fleeting?  I’m not talking about marriage, but why kill it before it’s born?”
 
“I don’t know,” Jo muttered. “I just can’t take being laughed at again, not for someone who just wants a few good rolls in the bedding.” She looked back at her feet. “It’s just easier if I avoid him for now. I just wish I knew what prompted this whole thing! He didn’t even know I was alive last year, and all of a sudden he’s my most ardent admirer? I don’t get it!” She shook her head. “But enough of all that. Lunch is almost over.”
 
 
Meanwhile Pansy sat at the Slytherin table, eyes sweeping the assemblage and smirking when she didn’t see a certain redheaded Canadian slut. She did, however, see Thane Purefoy, and she sent him one of her nastiest scowls.
 
She’d discovered the tail last night when Lana had pointed to her and shrieked, “Merlin’s ghost, what is that!?”  She’d then been rushed to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey had removed it, saying something about Transfiguration and asking who had done it.
 
She’d been SO tempted to tell the healer exactly who had given her the fury appendage, but instead she denied any knowledge of her attacker’s identity.  Saying it could have been anyone in Slytherin house. She’d even denied it to Snape, trying her hardest to be charming as she pouted about how mean all the underclassmen were to their prefects.
 
Glancing back at the end of the table where Draco sat she glared once more at Thane. No, she knew damn well who had done it; that git Purefoy, who thought he was the greatest thing to grace the earth. He was going to get his, and so was Volusia!
 
Food appeared on the table and Pansy went through the motions of filling her plate, all the while remembering the little scene in the corridor last night, Draco’s lips meshed with Tia’s, his hands roaming freely over the girl.  Pansy’s stomach clenched, but she reminded herself that once her plan went into action it would all be fine. Of course, the plan might muck up Constantinescu’s budding romance, but that was just collateral damage. Besides, the yank was so annoying she deserved something just because of her stupidity.  The accent alone was reason enough to let her have it, not to mention her argumentative attitude.
 
Pansy had let Lana in on the plan, but no one else. She couldn’t risk stupidity, and Lana was the smartest of the three girls with whom Pansy spent her time. Glancing at the redhead sitting next to her she murmured, “Did you get the order form sent off?”
 
Lana nodded her head, her fork stopping halfway to her mouth. “It’s supposed to come disguised as cough potion,” she whispered.
 
“Good, I was worried about it coming in the mail,” Pansy whispered back. “How long did it say?”
 
“Three to five weeks,” Lana hissed back softly. “You didn’t give me enough money for the express shipping.”
 
“No matter,” Pansy purred, a smile creeping across her lips. “I can wait three to five weeks.” She glanced once more at the white-haired boy and his entourage. Yes, she could wait, after all, she’d waited nearly seven years for her turn, and that Canadian wasn’t going to ruin her chances. No, she was going to help- albeit unwittingly! Soon Draco would see what a slut Volusia was and how untrustworthy his best friend could be. And when he was all alone and betrayed, who would be there to comfort him and help him deal with the pain? Who would faithfully hold his hand and tell him it was all right? Who would hold him and tell him how wonderful he was and how he deserved so much better?
 
“Pansy?” Susan spoke up from across the table, interrupting her friend’s thoughts.
 
“What?” the brunette snarled, irritated at being taken from her peaceful reverie.
 
“You’re staring at him,” Lana whispered. “And it looks like he’s sending Goyle down here!”
 
Pansy’s head snapped around and she stared at Draco, who was whispering in Goyle’s ear and pointing to Pansy, a sneer on his perfect features.
 
“Let him,” the female prefect replied, folding her hands in her lap demurely. She was going to have to spend the next few weeks acting out the part of the humble, cooperative, caring girl. Yes, it was going to be hard, but once that bottle arrived it would be worth it! “I’m not afraid of Goyle!”
 
“I’m afraid he’ll try to eat me,” Lana muttered. “He’ll eat anything!”
 
Goyle straightened up, but instead of coming down the table to the girls he headed for the large double doors leading to the corridor.
 
“I guess he isn’t coming to thump your head in, after all,” Susan giggled. “I really thought he would, especially considering the look on Malfoy’s face!”
 
“You just wait,” Pansy murmured, her eyes shining. “Soon that look is going to be directed at a certain piece of redheaded rubbish!”
 
Susan raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Lana before shrugging her shoulders. “If you say so,” she murmured.
 
“Trust me,” Pansy smiled. “It will be perfect.”