Starts With a Spin

Chapter 1

His mother wasn't dealing with anything much better than Draco was. While she was his mother, her maternal instinct left a lot to be desired, and it didn't help that over the past five years Draco had been away from home more than he'd actually been at home. Their relationship had become desperately bland, and Narcissa had spent most of her summer shut up in her bedroom, or out gallivanting between formal dinner parties and get togethers to try and dig the Malfoy name out of the sludge it had fallen into.

Despite his confusion, Draco actions regarding Potter and his two sidekicks hadn't much changed. Things had continued much the same way that they had the years before, if only growing more intense as the boys discovered how benefiting fist fighting could be. Something about a bloodied face and having real evidence that they were physically destroying something just added fuel to the fire.

So when Draco got word of the combined House party, he wasn't about to not attend.

* * *

Sometime after the Slytherins had arrived, bringing with them complaints about how boring the party was, things started to pick up a bit.

It was Pansy who suggested Spin the Bottle. Apparently parties weren't complete without a little action going on.

Which was how Harry found himself in his current position, several weeks later.

It had started out innocently enough. Seamus had to kiss Susan Bones, Parvati kissed Blaise Zabini, Hermione kissed Terry Boot... Then somewhere along the line, Lavender spun and the bottle landed on Padma...and everyone paused.

"What happens now?" Lavender asked, glancing nervously at Padma out of the corner of her eye.

"Kiss the boy nearest to her right," Morag MacDougal offered. Lavender nodded and was turning towards Dean when Pansy cut in.

"No! No, where's the fun in that?" the black-haired girl said, lips curving into a smirk. "The rules were that you had to kiss whomever the bottle landed on. We didn't say to do anything different when it happens to be a member of the same sex."

Lavender blinked, her mouth forming a small 'o' as Padma's cheeks colored slightly. "A-alright, then," she said softly, and crawled the remaining distance towards the other girl.

"Well I have to admit, I thought there'd be a bit more protesting," Pansy said, laughing shortly. She arched a single eyebrow at the girl.

"Well I'm a Gryffindor, aren't I?" Lavender said airily. "Known for being brave and all that. Can't refuse a simple kiss."

"Touché!" Pansy grinned generously. Next to her, Draco scoffed.

"Pansy, stop making friends with the Gryffindors," he muttered, and Pansy smacked him on the shoulder.

"Shove off, Draco, I can be as friendly as I want."

"Oy, a bit whipped, aren't you, Malfoy?" Ron quipped, eyes never leaving the two girls in the circle who shared a nervous peck on the lips before scuttling back to their seats. "I can't believe you'd let a girl talk to you like that," he said, laughing scornfully.

"At least I can get a girl to talk to me, Weasel!" Malfoy snapped back, turning cold grey eyes on the redhead.

"Don't start!" Hermione spoke, before Ron could reply. "No, don't you dare. I don't want to deal with that tonight." Next to her, Harry turned bored green eyes onto his friend, trying to smother an amused grin.

"Heh, talk about being whipped," Malfoy smirked. Harry's head snapped around, and he glared at the blond.

"Shut it, Malfoy!"