"Wait, so Katie Bell was cursed?" Andrew asked his friends again in a hushed tone.

"Andy, that is the millionth time you've asked that bloody question!" Violet hissed.

"I just want to be sure that's what you said," he protested.

The five of them were huddled together in the corner of the library, where no one would be able to bother them. When the others told Andrew about the story of Katie Bell, he was shocked and couldn't believe it happened. So, much to the annoyance of Violet, he kept asking if she really was cursed by the necklace she was carrying.

"So, what happens now?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" Oliver responded in confusion.

"I mean, they don't know who did it, right? So maybe they'll ban future trips to Hogsmeade."

Jacob scoffed. "Why does that matter to you? You've been banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of the year."

"Oh, piss off, Jake."

"Hey, we wouldn't have to leave you here alone if we're not allowed to go back to Hogsmeade," Eliza pointed out.

"Yeah, but going to Hogsmeade is fun, though," Oliver added.

Andrew shot a look at his friend. "I heard that."

"Good," Oliver teased.

"Okay, back to the subject of Katie," Andrew stated. "Who do you think did it?"

Oliver, Eliza, and Violet all looked at Jacob, who raised his eyebrows at them. "He's going to agree with me," he told his friends.

"Agree with you about what?" Andrew asked.

"That Malfoy and his new girlfriend are responsible for what happened to Katie," Jacob said.

Andrew let out a snort. "Oh, yeah, I can agree with you on that."

Jacob looked at the other three. "See? I told you."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Well, let's move on with the subject. My parents wrote to me recently and they wanted to invite you all to stay with us for Christmas."

"It's only October, Vi," Oliver told her.

"They just want to know and plan ahead of time," Violet replied. "Besides, they haven't seen you all in a while and they miss you."

Eliza gave a soft smile. "That's sweet of them. It's very nice of them to invite us," she exclaimed. "I'm sure my parents will let me stay with you, Vi."

"Yeah, I don't think my parents will have a problem with that," Jacob added.

Oliver and Andrew looked at each other with uneasy looks. Both of them knew their parents were not going to let them stay with the Hamilton's, so Oliver and Andrew found the idea of asking them pointless.

"I think we know what our parents will say," Andrew told them.

"Oh, come on, just ask them," Violet said, then looking at Andrew. "Even ask if Sarah can come as well. Annabel would love to have her around."

Andrew huffed a sigh. "Okay, I'll write a letter to them."

"Good," Violet stated, then turning her head towards Oliver. "You gonna try asking your parents as well, Ollie?"

Oliver reluctantly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll write to them as well. I might as well do it now and not in two months."

Violet nodded her head in satisfaction. "Fantastic. Now, let's go to the Great Hall and eat some dinner. I'm starving."

*******

Ever since Draco and Mary got back from Hogsmeade, the two of them did as much as they could in order to occupy themselves from their mission. Draco was wandering around the castle, while Mary stayed in the Slytherin Common Room, doing her homework. As she was finishing up some reading for Transfiguration, she heard someone descending down the stairs. She turned her head to see it was Blaise.

"Doing some homework, huh?" he spoke up, leaning against the wall.

"You're very observant, Blaise," she responded, looking up at him.

He chuckled, letting out a small smirk. "I try to be." He paused for a moment, the smirk fading from his face, then continued on. "I'd actually like to ask you something."

"Sure," she said, putting her books in her bag.

He cleared his throat before we went on. "So, um...you and Draco..."

Mary furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What about us?"

"There's nothing going on between you two, is there?" he blurted out.

The girl widened her eyes. "What? You mean, like, romantically?"

"Well, yeah," Blaise answered, nodding his head.

"I'm not sure why you're even asking me this question," Mary said, standing up from her seat with her bag.

"Because Pansy wanted to know," he stated.

Mary studied his face and knew that there was another reason. "Right, and she was the only one that wanted to know?"

Without hesitation, Blaise nodded his head again. "Yeah."

Even though she was able to see past his lie, she decided to let it go. "Okay, then. Well, to answer your question, no, there's nothing going on between Draco and I."

"Oh, okay," he said, looking a bit relieved.

"Yeah, so you can go tell Pansy that," Mary informed him. "Or I can, if you want."

"No, I'll tell her," Blaise quickly said.

Mary nodded her head. "Okay, sounds good."

Blaise began to shift awkwardly in his place. "Well, I'll see you at dinner, then." With that, Blaise gave her one nervous smile before heading out of the Slytherin Common Room.

Mary shook her head and chuckled at what just happened. "What an idiot," she mumbled as she heard the portrait open up once again. She looked up to see Blaise again, but was surprised when it wasn't him. "Oh, hi, Draco. Where have you been?"

"We need to talk," he responded, ignoring her question, sitting on the couch, a worried expression all over his face.

Surprised, Mary went to the couch and sat down next to him. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Draco huffed a sigh. "I think so."

"Well, are you going to tell me?" Mary asked, trying to not sound annoyed.

"We messed up," he said. "Actually, it's more like I messed up, since I'm the one that dealt with the package."

"What happened?" she asked. Draco didn't respond. "Draco, what did you do?"

He swallowed hard, his hands shaking a bit. "I gave the package to someone and told them to give it to Dumbledore. The girl was cursed by the necklace."

Mary widened her eyes. "What?!"

"I know, I know!" he hissed at her. "Anyway, I've talked to Snape about it. He'll do his best to keep us out of it, but Potter already has his suspicions that it was us."

She let out a groan, opening her eyes and looking at Draco. "You should've been more careful. If anyone finds out it was us--"

"They won't," Draco assured her. "We just have to go on like everything is normal, okay?"

Mary nodded her head. "We're definitely going to get fussed out by our parents, aren't we?"

To Mary's surprise, Draco grabbed her hand. "We can handle them. A couple of Howlers won't be too bad."

She looked at Draco and gave him a small smile. "I'm glad that I'm not alone in this."

"Me, too," Draco agreed, nodding his head. "Honestly, I'm glad it's you and not Blaise or Pansy or one of my other friends. I feel like I can trust you."

Mary didn't expect for Draco to be this comforting or honest with her. It was like he became a whole different person once they got to know each other and also when they spent more time together. This was the side of Draco that Mary preferred.

"It's nice to hear that," she stated. "I feel the same way."

Draco looked down at their hands and awkwardly let go of hers. He cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. "Well, okay, um...I'll see you at dinner."

Marry quickly nodded her head and stood up as well. "Right. See you then."

With that, Draco headed for the stairs with Mary watching him disappear as he ascended the staircase.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Annnnd another chapter!

What do y'all think so far?

Song above is We Must Be Killers by Mikky Ekko.

Comment, vote, <3

-A