"Very clever, Granger," Draco was leaning against the compartment door, a slight smile on his face.
Hermione stared at him suspiciously, peering not-so-secretly over his shoulder for Crabbe and Goyle.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry asked sharply.
He stepped forward and Hermione relaxed slightly, his goons weren't following after him.
"I just wanted a word with Amisty," He replied with a shrug, silver eyes sparkling.
Amisty looked up at him, raising an eyebrow curiously as she leaned forward, "About?"
"Us."
Harry glared at him in obvious distrust.
"I'm not going to hurt her, Potter," Draco rolled his eyes, a trace of annoyance in his voice.
"You've already done so already, what's one more?" Harry countered, getting to his feet.
"That was Pansy," Draco grit out.
"So what if it was? You didn't do anything to try and fix it," Harry snarled back.
Amisty shoved them apart, glaring at the two of them so heatedly they both fell silent, "Shush! Both of you!"
"I was just -- "
"I'm not -- "
"What did I just say?!"
Both of them looked down at the floor of the compartment, muttering half-hearted 'sorry's.
"Draco," She looked over at him, eyes sharp, "just go and wait outside and I'll meet you."
He sighed, turning on his heel to walk out of the compartment when --
"Wait."
Amisty whirled around to face Harry, her eyes blazing. She did not want to deal with their stupid rivalry right now.
"Shh, Am," He smiled faintly, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I have a few words for him myself."
"Then do it calmly, or I'll hex you both," She warned, withdrawing her wand so they knew she was serious.
"Fair enough," Harry nodded, turning toward the scowling blond. "You already know what I'm going to say to you, don't you?"
"I better not dare hurt her again or you'll hit me with every spell, charm, jinx, hex, and curse you know and more?" Draco suggested drily, arms crossed.
It almost seemed as if Harry was going to grin at that, "Glad to see we're on the same page for once."
He took his seat again and Amisty stared at him, fighting down the smile that threatened to spread across her face.
'Thank you,' She mouthed.
'Someone has to do it,' He mouthed back.
She let herself smile, following Draco outside the open door and into the train corridor.
"Quite a protector you've got there," He muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.
"He just cares, Draco," Amisty replied, jabbing him with her elbow a bit harsher than necessary.
"I figured."
"So, what was it that you needed to say?"
He smiled, leaning down a bit so they were eyelevel and brushing a kiss on her cheek. "Stay safe, yeah?"
"I know how to take care of myself," She muttered as her cheeks flushed.
"Of course," He agreed, pulling back so his eyes bored into her own, suddenly serious. "You knew how to take care of yourself in the Muggle world. This is different, and with the Dark Lord roaming around... I don't want to see you -- "
"I know, Draco, I know," She replied, her fingers briefly skimming over her mother's ear cuff as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I'll be extra alert, I promise. Besides, the Weasley's'll come and take me back to the Burrow as soon as they can."
"Good."
And the happy expression was back.
"I'll owl you, okay?"
She nodded and watched with a sleepy smile as he walked down the corridor back to his own compartment.
"Cute," Two voices chorused as one.
Amisty jumped, spinning around to catch sight of Fred and George, the two of them leaning against the wall of the train.
"Shut up," She groaned, burying her head in her hands.
They laughed, ruffling her hair as they stepped inside the compartment.
"Exploding Snap, anyone?" Fred asked, winking at Amisty as she trudged in and slumped into her seat.
"You've gone scarlet," Hermione commented, trying and failing to hide her smile.
"Don't remind me," Amisty muttered, absolutely mortified.
Hermione giggled, patting her shoulder before turning her attention to the game the boys had just started.
About halfway through their fifth game, the conversation turned away from the usual teasing and jokes.
"You going to tell us, then? Who you were blackmailing?" Harry pressed.
"Oh," George scowled, dropping his cards on the table. "That."
"It doesn't matter. It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway," Fred replied, shaking his head and looking thoroughly annoyed.
"We've given up," George shrugged.
"Aw, c'mon!"
"Just tell us!"
"Well, if it's not important then spill!"
"You can't just not tell us!"
"All right, all right, if you really want to know..." Fred rolled his eyes, holding out his hands to cut them off, "it was Ludo Bagman."
"Bagman? Are you saying he was involved -- " Harry exclaimed.
"Nah. Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains," George scowled at the floor.
"Well, what, then?" Ron asked.
"You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?" Fred reminded them.
"Yeah."
"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots," George replied sourly.
"So?"
"So, it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!" Fred growled.
"But -- it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" Hermione gasped.
George laughed, a bitter, resentful laugh, "Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."
"In the end, he turned pretty nasty. Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything," Fred added.
"So we asked for our money back," George glowered.
"He refused, didn't he," Amisty's eyes narrowed.
"Right in one," Fred almost spat out the words.
"But that was all your savings!" Ron protested angrily.
"Tell me about it," George rolled his eyes. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"
"How?"
"He put a bet on you, mate. Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins," Fred replied.
"So that's why he kept trying to help me win! Well -- I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!" Harry insisted.
"Nope," George shook his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it after the third task."
George let out a heavy sigh, and they continued on their games of Exploding Snap.
-=+=-
"You are coming to the Burrow, aren't you?" Hermione accused, her eyes narrowed as they walked off the train.
"Spare me from the rant about it all, if you could," She grinned, crossing her heart. "Not going to die, promise."
"That's not funny, Amisty," Hermione scowled, hitting her shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry," She held up her hands, lowering her head. "That wasn't appropriate, sorry."
Hermione sighed again, clasping their hands, "Be careful, alright? I'll see you then."
"I always am."
The brunette waved before she left the station, disappearing through the magical platform to join her parents waiting on the other side.
"So, I'm living with you all summer," Ron shook his head as he came to her side, giving her a fist bump.
"Excuse me?" She smiled, hands on hips. "I am a delight to live with, for your information."
"Oh, I bet. Just don't shed all over the house" He patted her on the shoulder again, hurrying to go say goodbye to Harry before she slapped him.
Suddenly, her feet left the ground and she looked down at her captors, laughing.
Of course, it was the twins.
"Come to tease me some more?" She accused, squeaking slightly as they dropped her back down between them.
"Not quite," George ruffled her hair.
"Mum wants a word with you," Fred explained.
"We'll have plenty of time to bug you when you end up back home with us," George added, herding her off to where Mrs. Weasley was standing.
"Amisty," Mrs. Weasley wrapped her up in a tight, warm hug, "I'm so glad you decided to go home with us, but if you really do want to go back with Harry I'm sure I can figure something out -- "
"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sure. Really sure. I want to go, I promise," Amisty reassured, smiling up at her.
"Well, alright then," Mrs. Weasley looked relieved, squeezing her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"I'll be back in a second, Gin!" Amisty winked at the redhead, hurrying off to where Harry was waiting.
"You're not -- "
"No! I'm not going back with Harry this year!"
"Hey," Harry smiled.
In the end, he seemed much happier with her decision to go home with the Weasley's instead. "You still keeping your promise?"
"Like I wouldn't. I'm living with Fred and George all summer and you don't think I'm going to be writing you complaining about what their last prank was or laughing about something else?" She grinned, hugging him tightly.
"I'll see you soon, then," He nodded.
"You better."
She pressed a kiss to his cheek before running back to where the Weasley's were waiting.
More Dramisty because I... am weak... and like ships... especially this one. Oh, and Harry and Amisty friendship because their friendship is one of my favorite parts of this story. Originally she was actually going home with Harry first but I changed it for the sake of Harry's shouting fest later on. So if there's a contradiction I missed do tell so I can fix it. Thanks for reading!