Starts With a Spin

Chapter 2

"Now that's just silly," said Hermione. She paused for a second, quill hovering above her parchment, before jotting down a title for whatever essay she was working on. Harry frowned at her and then shoved all his books back into his bag.

"I can't do any homework right now," he grumbled, standing and shouldering his bag.

"Harry, that Potions essay is due tomorrow! Fourteen inches-"

"I'll do it later, I can't concentrate right now," Harry broke in, cutting Hermione off. "I'll see you guys later." As he clambered up the stairs, Ron sighed and gave Hermione a look.

"This is your fault, you know." Hermione 'hmphed' before turning back to her essay.

"Harry's a big boy; I'm sure he'll be able to deal with it."

* * *

Saturday morning dawned, bringing with it jittery feelings for many of Hogwarts' sixth year students. Most, actually, were just excited, waiting in giddy anticipation for the night's events. A few others were dreading the night, lumps of lead forming in their stomachs as the day dragged on. It took Draco an extra half hour to catch the snitch at Slytherins' Quidditch practice that morning, because he simply couldn't concentrate. The later the hour grew, the more sly glances he received from the students in his year.

Walking down to the Great Hall for dinner, he caught Terry Boot smirking at him. When he passed the Hufflepuff table on his way back out, Zacharias Smith actually snorted into his drink, clearly hiding a grin. It all annoyed Draco to no end. In the years past, no one would have dared to laugh at him like that. But after his father had been arrested and the Malfoy name shamed, things had changed. Draco had done a remarkable job holding his spot in his house and even among the other students, but it was obvious that people were much less intimidated by him.

Really, he thought, you'd think people would be more afraid because his father was a Death Eater. Get in Draco's way and he could sic the Dark Lord on you, type of thing.

That presented Draco with a rather amusing image of Voldemort on a leash, chasing after a rubber ball.

Feeling slightly better, he continued on his way back to the common room, almost managing to ignore Mandy Brocklehurst's face lighting up in a dreamy smile when he walked past her.

* * *

Harry had done his best to remain hopeful throughout the day. He figured that at some point people would have to get tired of watching him and Draco. Really, it wasn't like they were the only interesting people to watch, or that they were even that interesting at all. Harry certainly hadn't minded watching Pansy flash them all last week. Maybe something like that would happen again and people would forget about him.

It did happen again, but in an odd combination, it had been Justin who dared Hermione to do it, so Harry hadn't watched out of embarrassment for his friend. Though really, he noticed, she didn't seem to mind so much. It was almost like being at these parties allowed everyone to show a side of themselves that was usually hidden away. Like they were in a world all their own and could act however they wanted to.

Harry had turned to ask Ron what he thought about this, but the redheaded boy was still staring completely slack jawed at Hermione, who was busy buttoning her shirt back up again as a carefree smile lit up her face and her cheeks blushed a pretty rosy color. Harry grinned and turned back to the circle, once again thinking that maybe this night wouldn't be so bad.

Therefore, he was quite disappointed and more than a little surprised by several things throughout the night.

The first surprise came from Hannah Abbot. Shy, quiet, sweet Hannah Abbot, who Harry didn't know very well but had always thought was cute. She'd actually called on Draco, and the blond boy had taken one look at her, raised an amused eyebrow, and chosen dare.