be sneaking off to the dungeon in the middle of the night, just because Draco Malfoy told me I left something in Snape's classroom.

I know for a fact I didn't leave anything, because I never had anything missing, and the sly look on his face was too obvious to imply this was nothing but another one of his clever ploys.

As the heel of my shoes clicked against the marble floor, I twisted the ring on my thumb nervously. I liked his ring. It made me feel just a little bit closer to him, if not just like him, and that left a drifting thought on my mind.

"Okay, then," I said, coming to a stop, "I'm here."

And I was there.

In front of Snape's classroom—which was locked, by the way—alone in an empty corridor, well past curfew. Draco was nowhere to be found, neither was anyone else, and I suppose my brain disappeared with them.

Why am I here?

Why did I think this was a good idea?

Why did I expect something—

"To your left," a voice hissed, knocking my soul out of me for a moment, "down the hallway, and towardsss the fountain."

Spinning around, I noticed that I was still alone. The voice seemed to have come from somewhere in the walls, which was a terrifying thought considering the last time something like that happened, but the worst part was that it sounded like a....snake.

"To your left," the voice said again, "go to your left."

Welcome back to another episode of 'me about to die'.

It was a completely stupid decision, but I decided to follow the instructions of the snake voice, striding silently down the hallway. Maybe I should have done it cautiously, but I was too jumbled by nerves to care.

Turning down the stone hallway, I began to approach a pool of water, a fountain spitting out clear liquid from it's spout. Behind the structure was a giant metal door, a multi-headed snake clasped over the lock.

So...I had been led to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Oh," the voice said abruptly, "another one of Mr. Malfoy's , issss it?"

This time I realized the voice was coming from the door itself. The metal hydra was speaking, like a tiny version of the basilisk from second-year. Totally not horrifying.

I blinked, "another?"

The snake let out another hissing noise, breaking away from the door to jab it's neck in the direction of my hand. I turned down, staring at the flashy silver band I was wearing.

"Did you really ttthink you were the only one to use that ring?" It hissed, letting out a cackle, "how foolishhh could one be?"

I furrowed my brows in disrespect, taking a step away from the snake. He was implying something I didn't expect, something I didn't want to expect, and I was questioning my reason for coming here a whole lot more than before.

But before I could respond, the sound of someone's leather shoes hitting the floor came springing up from behind me.

"Piss off, Pureblood," the voice said, growing louder by the second, "just let her in."

I knew it was Draco, but I was too concerned at the Snake's previous remark to turn my head. Maybe I was also annoyed. According to the snake, I wasn't the first girl who was given the ring, and that feeling of pride washed away as quickly as it had come.

The boy came to a stop next to me, his hands clasped behind his back. I felt him turn his head to stare at me, but I didn't stare back.

"She's not allowed in here," the serpent, who's name I knew now to be Pureblood, hissed, "it's against the rulesss."

Draco rolled his eyes, "why not?"

"She'sss a mudblood."

I'd heard the term before, but I'd never heard it used so harshly as the snake said it. I felt like I was stabbed in the heart, spit on, and smeared with the blood I didn't choose to be born with. What a horrible word.

Draco noticed me flinch.

"And you're a piece of old metal," the boy shot back, "just shut up and do your job, Pureblood."

The door let out a hissing sound, steam seeping out from the bottom as it creaked open, a cold rush of air hitting against my skin. I felt Draco's hand press gently against my upper back, pushing me into the one place I never thought I'd ever be able to go into.

And...wow.

It was like stepping into a different world, a different place, and a different class. The entire place reeked of wealth, emerald crested lamps on the mahogany tables, black leather couches at the foot of the smoky fireplace, and a green-tinted glow seeping in from the lake outside.

It was empty, considering how late it was into the night, but Draco kept a protective hand on me as he led me down the stone stairs.

"Sorry about him," the boy muttered, his voice hushed, "he's not supposed to talk to you in that way."

I narrowed my eyes, "was he supposed to talk to me at all?"

"No, he wasn't."

I was suspicious.

Just because I was amazed by the Slytherin elements of the room, didn't mean I had forgotten about what Pureblood said to me. Not about my bloodline, but about...the other thing.

"Why did I need the ring?" I asked, coming to a stop in front of a giant door.

He had led me into a corridor, a line of uniform doors on each side, but Draco seemed only interested in one. Unlike the other mahogany entrance (which only had a Slytherin crest in the middle), the one we had stopped at had thin markings carved into the wood. It spelled:

Knowing him and his family, he probably paid off his assigned roommates to get the whole room to himself, or just kicked them out without an explanation. His chicken scratch handwriting didn't seem to fit the classy aspect of the common room.

"Girls aren't allowed in the boy's corridor," the boy explained, pushing open his door lightly, "I bribed Pureblood with it so he'd make an exception for anyone who had it."

Hm.

"So you've brought more than one girl here, obviously," I said, narrowing my eyes.

Draco blinked, "are you getting jealous, [y/n]?"

I don't know why that felt like a slap in the face, because I knew I couldn't control what he did with his life before he met me, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Maybe it was because I was thrown off with the fact that he's reserved in his love life, and yet seems to have no trouble bringing other girls into the boy's corridor.

I hesitated to walk into his room, "define jealousy."

"The look on your face right now."

"That's not jealousy, it's judgment."

"Don't be judgemental then," he laughed softly, "the only girls who have used that ring were off to see Blaise. I've never used it for my own reasons until now."

Oh?

Oh.

Hehe.

I smirked, taking this information in with a newfound pride. Now that I wasn't threatened by the possibility of there being other girls, I took the opportunity to walk through the boy's door and into his room.

Wow, that was weird to say.

"Who would have thought?" I teased, clasping my hands behind my back, "the first girl Draco Malfoy brought back was a Gryffindor! How does it feel?"

He stopped, his hands grasped onto the metal handle of the door, shutting it with a soft click. He chuckled, turning around to look at me. There was a glint in his eyes.

"Feels I'm betraying years of house legacy and pride," he said with a smile, "but since it's you, I'll let it slide."

I never understood the rivalry between our two houses, but I suppose it had everything to do with the egos of our founding fathers. It passed on for generations, and generations, and generations, spitting out ideas of incompatibility and hate.

But I didn't hate Draco, and he didn't hate me.

"Why have you brought me here?" I questioned, gazing around his room.

He was a very well-kept person, his clothes seemingly tucked away in a drawer in the corner, and a properly made bed with drapes hanging over the beams. There was something oddly warm about his room, the tones of green seemingly lighter than the ones outside, as if he was purposely trying to separate himself from the rest of his house.

I didn't want to read too much into it, but the repainted walls and covers made it seem like he was slowly breaking away from the traditional Slytherin attire. He wouldn't have gone through the trouble of fixing it up if he wasn't.

"No direct reason," he shrugged, kicking off his leather shoes, "just to talk."

I tilted my head, "to talk?"

"Well, I can't talk to you anywhere else due to Potter's prissy little ego, so I had to find somewhere."

"The Room of Requirement always works."

"Do you really want to stay in that stuffy old room all night?"

Of all the things he's said to me before, that was the one that caught me the most off guard. If his words were a person, it would probably shove me off my feet and down the stairs. That's how taken aback I was.

"I'm sorry," I blinked, stammering, "all night?"

"Why?" Draco smirked, "scared to be alone with me for more than an hour?"

Yes.

Yes, I am.

Rolling my eyes, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my robes, "no funny business, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he huffed, "I'm not that kind of person, you know?"

"I find it hard believing that."

Draco snatched one of his silk pillows off of his bed, chucking at me with a laugh. I ducked, but it managed to whack me softly in the shoulder. I stumbled backwards.

"I was raised with normal respect and decency, okay?" He stated, watching as I picked up the thrown pillow, "your body is your body, and it's not mine to touch."

Heck yeah!

Apparently he wasn't finished, because he mumbled another snarky comment under his breath: "I know you like it when I do, though."

I tried to hide my growing smile, "oh, piss off."

"Only stating the facts"

"Then I'm adding another rule, then," I shrugged, rocking back and forth on my toes, "Draco Malfoy needs to shut the hell up."

The boy laughed, sliding back onto his feet and stalking over to his silver drawer. He glanced at my uniform robes briefly, before popping open the dresser to dig through it.

"Since you'll be staying the night, you'll need something to wear," he mumbled, pulling out one of his emerald shirts, "you can sleep in this."

He tossed it to me with a smile, watching as I caught it with a fumbled look. The fabric felt expensive, thick, soft, and probably dry-cleaned every 5-10 business days, but other than that...there was something wrong.

I blinked, holding the shirt up to my shoulder, "this won't....this won't fit.."

He shut his drawer with a thud, glancing at me. "It won't?"

"Well, I don't have any shorts to wear, and the t-shirt isn't—"

Draco didn't even let me finish before he slid his wand out of his pocket, flicking his wrist sharply. I was almost so impressed with his ability to enact a non-verbal spell, that I didn't realize the shirt was shifting in my hands.

Draco put his wand away with a grin, pushing his hair out of his face. He was also impressed with himself.

"Now it fits perfectly," he said, heading towards the door, "nothing a bit of magic couldn't solve."

I almost melted, "thank you."

I watched as he placed his hand on the handle again, pushing it open with a quick shove, and stepping out into the empty hallway.

"I'll leave so you can get changed," he said, letting go of the door,"and then we'll talk."