Maybe I don't want to

Chapter 3

Harry sat on the red couch, legs propped up on a table, and a cat purring softly in his lap. He stroked the cat's silky white fur as he read through his transfiguration text. Ginny was leaning up against him, lost in her own book. Papers and assignments littered the table where Hermione was scratching away like mad on a roll of parchment. Ron was snoring on the floor beside her, having fallen asleep within an hour of their study session.

"Harry, do you know this spell?" Ginny asked pointing to a passage in her book.

He looked over, "Yeah, that's an old shield charm. No one really uses it anymore though. It takes too long to cast."

"Which one?" Hermione asked. Ginny handed her the book. "Oh yeah I know that one."

"I think I'm going to use it for my DADA essay. What else do you have on it?"

Hermione rummaged through a stack of books beside her. Flipping through an old one she handed it over. "This should give you some background. Harry has my other book on outdated spells."

Harry snatched it from the pile beside him and handed it over. "No idea what chapter you'd need though."

Hermione was about to answer when a loud thump interrupted them. Neville had tripped over Ron's sprawled out form and dropped his armful of books and papers. The room fell silent until Ron's sputtering sent everyone into laughter. Ron stumbled off to his room, presumably to sleep more and Neville gathered up his things before flopping onto the couch across from them looking exhausted.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked.

Neville nodded, "I barely escaped Pansy Parkinson."

"What'd she do?" Harry asked, suddenly a bit worried. There'd been no problems with the Slytherin group all term, aside from Malfoy spying on practice but he wouldn't learn anything useful that way, so Harry never bothered to do anything about it.

"Nothing, she gave me this. Said everyone would be getting one." He handed over a bit of parchment. Hermione took it and read it aloud.

"You are cordially invited to attend the Halloween Gala on the evening of All Hallows Eve, hosted by yours truly, Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy. Costumes and masks required. 10 PM in the South Side Dungeons. Invitation needed to gain entrance."

"I heard a few fifth year Slytherins talking about that this morning." Ginny said once Hermione had fallen silent. "Apparently it's only fifth years and up, but I guess all houses are being invited."

"Think they're up to something?" Neville asked.

"No, I think it's supposed to be a good faith type of thing. To show that they're not as bad as they used to be."

"How could you possibly know that, Harry?" Ginny asked with an exasperated look.

He shrugged, "Just a feeling. Are you and Dean going?"

"Oh no! Dean! I was supposed to meet him ages ago!" Ginny hurried to gather her things and rushed off.

Harry stood up, stretching. "Oh not you too, Harry."

"Sorry Mione," He smiled at the girl surrounded by papers. "I need a break."

"But what about your transfiguration essay?"

"It's not due for a week, Mione. I've got plenty of time." Harry dropped his things in his room and grabbed his leather jacket, meaning to go on a late night stroll. The school hadn't seen it necessary to enact a curfew for the eighth years seeing as they were adults and all, not to mention that most of them had played major parts in the war. He made it to the edge of the lake before a soft sound reached his ears. Following it, he made his way to a rocky beach where he found none other than Draco Malfoy angrily kicking at the rocks. Harry settled himself on an old log of drift wood to watch.

Malfoy was grumbling under his breath as he chucked rocks into the black water, large ripples extending out of sight. As he watched, Malfoy pulled a letter from his pocket, levitating it above the water before lighting it on fire. The blonde was silent as he watched the parchment burn until there was nothing but ashes left on the surface of the water. Before long those too crumbled and sank. Malfoy sank down onto the ground, once again chucking rocks out over the water but with less force and frequency.

"You're going to piss off the Giant Squid." The words surprised them both. Harry hadn't meant to speak.

Malfoy sprang up, whirling around to glare. "What is it with you and sneaking up on people?"

Harry shrugged, "Habit, I suppose. What's got your panties in a twist?"

"Piss off, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes. He was trying not to look too closely at the frazzled blonde before him. His face was flushed with irritation. "What's with the party you and Parkinson are having?"

Draco let out a slight growl. "She handed out invitations, didn't she?"

Harry nodded, "Some of em, anyway. Your name's on it."

"Of course it is." Draco flipped his hair out of his eyes and groaned. He looked almost like he wanted to say something, but instead he turned and just walked off. Harry remained sitting, looking out over the water and toying with his lip ring with his tongue. It was hours later before he finally walked back to the castle. A few of the ghosts were wondering the halls, but other than that he didn't see anyone else on his way back to the dorms. The little white cat met him at the door when he unlocked it. One of Parkinson's invitations had been slipped under the door. He tossed it on the desk.

"What's your name, little one?" He asked, scooping up the cat who'd slept nearly every night curled up beside him. "How about Belladonna? I like that, I'll call you Bella for short." The cat simply purred as he settled her on the bed. After the first week, he'd charmed the door so she could enter and exit as she pleased.

Harry changed into sleep pants and settled at his desk. He wrote out a long letter to Andromeda, telling her what worked best with Teddy when he was teething and wouldn't stop fussing. He told her that he'd be visiting soon, McGonagall had given him a few days off to go see Teddy, and some things he was thinking of getting the boy for Christmas. Sealing the letter with wax, harry headed off to sleep.