Where Your Loyalties Lie

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Finally Some Free Time

A day finally came in January when DA meetings, homework, prefect duties, or Inquisitorial Squad didn't fill up our free time. At breakfast on that day, Claire flew in and gave me a note.

Hey little sister! Fred is spending the day with Maddie so I thought we could hang out. Meet me at the Gryffindor common room after breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~GW

"I got to go. I'll see you later." I told Draco as I got up.

"Wait!" He said. I turned to him. "How about a kiss?" I rolled my eyes before pecking him on the cheek.

George was waiting by the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Hey Kate!" He greeted. "Shall we go in?" I nodded before he gave the password and we went inside to sit on the couches. There were only a few others in the room. Most people were still at breakfast.

"So what do you usually do when Fred is hanging with Maddie?" I asked.

"Well sometimes I tag along, but I usually hang with Lee," he explained.

"Don't you feel like a third wheel when you're with Maddie and Fred?"

"Well...OK yeah, but I rarely tag along so it's fine." I nodded.

"How's WWW coming?"

"Great. We've been paying first years to test out our products. Some people have already bought some."

"That's awesome!"

George and I spent the day playing exploding snap. Over the break, we played a lot of exploding snap at Grimmauld Place.

Sirius seemed to love having every one there. He wasn't allowed to leave the house so he must get pretty lonely. As I waited for George to get back from the bathroom, I went into a flashback from Christmas.

"Breakfast is ready," Mrs. Weasley called up to us. Hermione, Ginny, and I emerged from our room and headed to the kitchen. On our way, Fred and George stepped out of their room in front of us.

"Good morning ladies," the pair greeted, stepping out of the way so we could pass them. As I passed, however, George grabbed my hand and apparated us down to the kitchen, Fred appearing next to us seconds later.

"Hello! Warn a girl before apparating!" I yelled.

"Don't apparate at all would be even better." Mrs. Weasley scolded.

Sirius laughed as I sat down between the twins with him across from me. Mrs. Weasley handed Fred and I letters that arrived this morning. Right away I noticed Draco's neat handwriting.

Dear Katie,

        How is it at your mother's house? I hope you're having a good time. It is very different here without you. Since Weasley is gone, Maddie has been hanging with Blaise and I. Now I know how Blaise feels when he's on the couch alone. Have a good break.

Yours truly,

Draco

I smiled as I folded up the letter and stuck it in my boot. "Your letter is from Maddie, I assume?" I asked Fred. He nodded.

"Was yours from Draco?"

"Yeah," I sighed smiling.

Sirius scoffed. "You're still dating Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Yes, got a problem with that?"

"I'm just surprised is all. I figured you'd have found someone better by now."

I actually laughed. "OK, Sirius, and what do you know about love?"

"Love? More like puppy love. And I'll have you know, I was the ladies' man back in my school days," He laughed.

George came back from the bathroom and I came out of the flashback. I didn't really get what Sirius' point was at all. Looking at the clock, it was mid-afternoon.

"I'm going to go. I'll see you later George."

"OK, bye Kate," He said as I climbed out of the common room through the portrait hole.

After turning a few corners, I came across Draco. "Katie! There you are. I've literally been searching the entire castle for you. You didn't show up to lunch. You had me worried. Where-"

My mind was drawing a blank. I couldn't think of an excuse for being on the seventh floor and disappearing all day, so I kissed him, hoping he'll forget all about asking me where I was. Draco, having been deprived of kissing me due to our busy schedules, instantly kissed back and pushed me against a wall. This gave me the opportunity to slide down, breaking the kiss, and escape.

I got back up and sprinted down the corridor to the nearest set of stairs. As soon as I reached the bottom of the staircase, Draco had reached the top. Fortunately the stairs decided to change before he got on them. He turned around and tried to find a different staircase. A few minutes later I sped into the Slytherin common room and hid behind the couch. I had a few minutes to come up with a reason as to why I was on the seventh floor before Draco got here.

As soon as I finished thinking up my story, Draco came rushing in. Passing the couch, he headed towards the stairs to my dormitory. I jumped out at him, causing him to fall over. Laughing, I walked over and held my hand out to help him up. Draco pulled me to the ground for revenge instead. Both of us laid there laughing for several minutes until Maddie and Blaise came in.

"What are you two doing?" Maddie asked.

"Nothing," I told her once I managed to stop laughing. Draco and I got up and our foursome headed to the couches. "I thought you were hanging with Fred today?" I asked Maddie as I sat down next to Draco. Draco put his arm around me, pulling me closer.

"I was until an hour ago. He had some stuff he needed to get done so I found Blaise to hang out with. Draco could have hung out too, but he wanted to find you."

"Speaking of finding you, where were you?"

"Well I went to talk with Dad for a bit and then I headed to the Astronomy Tower. I fell asleep over lunch time so I couldn't come down to eat."

"You stayed in the Astronomy Tower almost all day?"

"Yes," I said, keeping a straight face. He seemed to believe me and dropped the subject.