Aurors

Dinner had been a peaceful event up until the point where a loud shout from the Saviour came from the Gryffindor table.

"Shut up, Ginny!"

Artemis, together with the rest of the Slytherin table turned to face their neighbouring table with interest and surprise. They watched as the boy wonder got up from his seat and started to storm towards the big doors but seemed to change his mind before he got all the way there, instead, he turned and walked up to where Artemis was sitting. She studied him as he simply stood there quiet, trying to keep his rage in check.

"Something I can do for you, Mr Potter?" He tried to open his mouth several times but didn't seem to get the words out.

"Spit it out already, Potter." Draco's slightly harsh tone snapped him out of whatever he was debating and his eyes cleared up somewhat as he pointed to the seat next to her.

"Mind if I take a seat? I didn't get to finish my dinner." The entire Great Hall held its breath in anticipation for what the answer was going to be and Artemis took a peek over to the Gryffindor table. The expressions of Potter's friends' faces was enough to almost make her want to start laughing like a maniac and she pushed Zacharias who was sitting to her right to move aside.

"Have a seat, Mr Potter." Potter gave her a thankful expression as he sat down between her and Zacharias. Around them, the students started to talk over themselves and from the little Artemis could pick up rumours were already starting to flow. The dark Auror patted him on the shoulder as he grinned at him.

"Welcome to the snake pit, Mr Potter! Trouble in paradise?" Someone kicked him underneath the table and the man winced, the ravenhead only laughed slightly as his unfinished dinner plate showed up before him.

"You could say that. The duel you had today was really impressive Auror Zabini. How did you manage to sneak in the spell like that?" It looked like her friend was about to question the young wizard further about his girl problems so she sent a silent stinging hex at his back and got a scowl in return. She smiled innocently at him. Zacharias cleared his throat before he answered.

"Well, me and Blackmoore know each other quite well so I know some of her weaknesses. Then again she didn't cheat this time so that helps." He smirked at her but the brunette just rolled her eyes. "But it is all about studying your opponent as much as you can before going in for the kill. Of course, you can get lucky and get a direct hit early but never count on luck if your life is at stake."

Artemis tuned out the rest of his explanation as she had heard it hundreds of times before and focused on eating her dinner instead. Severus's voice was still clear in her mind, all she had to do was work up the courage to tell Draco the message. The dream she had was slowly coming back to her but bits and pieces were still missing. It was clear that the witch had asked him straight out why he had given the order to Orion to not tell her about his death but she could not remember what he had answered. She had therefore decided that she would not confront Orion about anything until she remembered that part clearly. Besides, it was the whole thing with Burns that was bugging her. Had he really gone to her office to have sex with the most despicable woman in the whole country when she was in a coma? It was hard to believe. She was brought out of her thoughts by someone poking her on the shoulder and she looked at Draco on her left, the boy was giving her a worried look.

"You alright, Auror Blackmoore?" She smiled at him in return.

"Yes, a lot on my mind, but I'm fine. I assume you are going back to the Slytherin dorm now?" It looked like the young Malfoy didn't believe her but instead of pointing it out he only nodded.

"I promised Pansy to help her with potions after dinner." Potter leaned closer to Artemis to look past her then and looked at Draco with pleading eyes.

"Can you go to the library for that? The homework we got from Slughorn makes no sense to me and I really don't want to ask Hermione right now. Besides, you owe me Malfoy." The brunette looked between the two boys amused as they stared each other down in challenge until Draco let out a dramatic sigh.

"Fine, Pansy is that okay?" The girl in question grinned at him while she nodded.

"Let's make it a study date then! I know some of the Hufflepuffs needed help with that homework too." The ravenhead looked at the witch dumbstruck.

"When did you make friends with the Hufflepuffs, Parkinson?" The girl simply shrugged and didn't comment any further on it.

"I'll follow you all over to the library then I am sure you can take care of yourselves for a while, hm? Sadly I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on." Artemis thought about the pile of papers that had built up on her desk the last week and sighed to herself. Draco looked at her with yet another worried look but didn't protest.

"I can escort them, I need some new reading material anyway, you can go straight to the office." Septimus sent her an understanding smile from the other side of the table and she gave him a smile in return.

"Alright, I'll leave them in your hands. I will see you all later then." Artemis pushed her half-finished dinner away from her as she got up and she could feel Orion's gaze on her from the teacher's table.

"Behave now, hm?" The brunette patted both Draco and Potter on the shoulder before leaving the Great Hall.

~ཐིཋྀ~

A few hours into tackling the paperwork that had piled up Artemis found herself pulling on her hair as she read a report that had somehow gotten on her desk instead of someone else back at the Ministry. For the life of her, she did not understand why this had been sent to her when it clearly was meant for someone in the Magical Creature section. Mumbling a curse she charmed it back into an aeroplane and threw it over to the fireplace where it kept flying around in circles patiently waiting for the flames to turn green. When she was on her way to get up she felt something like a needle prick on her brand mark. Puzzled she felt around for Orion and found him on his way in her direction. But the brand had never pricked her that way before. When he had used it to wake her up those weeks ago it was more of a burning pain. Not a little prick.

The witch was still standing behind her desk with a frown on her face when the man in question walked in. He studied her with a raised eyebrow but didn't say anything as he went over to his desk. She looked back at him in visible confusion.

"I just felt like someone was pricking the branding mark with a needle. What did you do?" His expression matched hers then.

"I didn't do anything. Surely you imagined it?" Artemis stood there like a statue and waited, but it did not happen again. Maybe she had just imagined it. The brunette peeked a look at the blond and was surprised he looked so calm. Of course, his emotions were a mess, she could feel that easily. They had not had a real talk since the visit to the hospital and it was clear he was hurt. Sighing she went over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder inside.

"Ministry of Magic." The plane immediately flew through the flames, disappeared and the flames turned their normal orange.

"Sending a message to someone?" Artemis had to bite her lip not to giggle at the poor attempt at the small talk the wizard showed.

"I got a report that was supposed to go to someone in the Magical Creature section by mistake. How on earth that happened only Merlin knows." Orion mumbled something about people being idiots under his breath while she decided to take a chance and sat down on the side of his desk. He looked at her surprised but there were waves of uncertainty that washed over her. Their eyes locked and she simply studied his eyes for a minute without saying anything. The icy blue had not changed during the week she was asleep and she was once again reminded about how different his and Cyril's eyes were.

"Why did you lie?" His eyes grew wide before he looked away.

"Why did you believe Cyril?"

"Did he lie?" Her heart didn't even skip a beat before she answered his question with another question. Two could play that game. It was quiet for a long time before Orion took a deep breath and looked back at her with glossy eyes.

"I thought you were dead." Waves of sorrow and guilt washed over her as she now looked down at a wizard she had never seen before. Orion clearly showed her his sorrow on his face and somehow it made him seem older as his hands were gripping the armrests on his chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The brunette had noticed that he had lost weight during her week of absence and the blond didn't look as pristine as he once did. This incident had clearly taken a toll on him. Her eyes softened and felt some of the anger she had kept vaporise.

"I'm still here, Orion." The blond didn't say anything as he got up from his chair with such force that it clattered to the floor and pulled her into an embrace making them both stand in the progress. Momentarily shocked Artemis stood still while listening to his heartbeat. It was beating wildly and he kept hugging her tighter as he spoke.

"I didn't feel anything. It was like you were never there in the first place. It was only my own emotions and no matter how much I tried I could not reach you. I didn't sleep or eat for three days, I was terrified to leave your side. I don't know what Cyril told you but it's true, I was in Burns's office when you needed help." She was about to struggle herself out of his grip as she felt the anger start to rise again but he tightened his hold on her even more and pushed her up against the desk so she could not go anywhere.

"Please hear me out this time, Artemis. You can try and kill me afterwards if that is what you want." His voice was soft yet demanding at the same time and she stopped struggling instead leaning her head against his chest again. Relaxing slightly he took a deep breath again before continuing.

"I was in Burns' office that day. She told me she had some information about Malfoy that I could not ignore. I soon found myself unable to move and my mind was all muddled. The bitch had a muscle drug potion set up in her office but there was something else in there. When Cyril got me out several hours had already passed and I only got your emotions as a delayed reaction." It was Artemis' turn to look up at him with wide eyes as she felt the rage awaken fully.

"What did she do to you?" He placed his left hand on her cheek then and in too calm of a voice replied.

"She wanted to take advantage of me. She believes that you somehow have me under an Imperius or a love potion." The brunette looked up at him dumbfounded.

"So why haven't you arrested her?! You are a Senior Auror for fucks sake, she can't get away with this!" To her surprise, a deep chuckle came from the wizard and he put his other hand on her other cheek.

"I need to figure out what else was in that room. I could not feel your call for help and I am not letting that happen again. Now I have a question on my own." His hands tightened around her jaw then and his eyes turned hard as ice.

"What did Cyril do when you were alone with him at the hospital?" She didn't really want to tell him but the words fell out of her mouth before she managed to stop it. The jealousy was raging inside her like a storm that just had reached its peak and it was not going to stop without an answer.

"He kissed me." Orion let her go and started to march towards the painting.

"Orion, where are you going?" As he opened the painting he turned around and looked at her with a smirk that sent shivers down her spine.

"To kill him. Stay here." Artemis felt her feet lock in place and felt her own rage rise tenfold as she understood that he had given her a direct order. She might have been able to break it but not without doing great harm to her own body. The brunette summoned a Patronus and gave it a message;

"Orion is coming for you. Be prepared."

~𓅃~

Orion was fuelled by rage and jealousy the second the words  'He kissed me.' left her lips. The one thing he wanted to do was kill Cyril for what he had done. He could live with the constant touching and cheek kisses, but this was a line that now was crossed and Orion would not stand for it. Artemis was his and his alone. Even if he had other lovers in the past at the end of the day it was still her that was on his mind. The emptiness he had felt over the last week was something he refused to go through again. It had crossed his mind plenty of times before that it might be the bond that was making him attracted to her and that he only wanted her for her body but now that he had experienced the silence he knew for sure that that was not the case. His head was still filled with only thoughts of her and it was driving him insane. He would get beaten for giving her an order later but right now he needed her to stay put and not interfere. The blond found his target sitting on a bench in the courtyard and the other Auror stood up and readied his wand when their eyes met.

"Calm down, Orion. I'm not going to fight you among the students. We can talk about this." Without replying Orion sent the first spell at the man who easily shielded against it.

"I have warned you plenty of times to back off Cyril, why are you not listening?" The few students that were outside at this late hour were watching them intensely and some ran to take cover from the spells. It would not take long for a teacher to get the message of the fight that was going on.

"And I have told you plenty of times that it's not happening!" The wizard was not sending any spells back at him but Orion had already decided he would not show mercy this time.

"Alarte Ascendare." The students around them let out loud gasps of horror as Cyril flew high up in the air but seemed to manage to throw a cushioning charm on the ground right before he hit the ground, however, he did not get up and instead threw a shielding charm around himself.

"Th…That's all you got? Cheating is rude you know."

He was 'cheating', Orion knew it but at the moment he was too angry not to tap into the power the bond gave him. A spell was ready on his lips as he pointed the tip directly at the wizard on the ground before his wand flew out of his hand and landed a few meters away from him. Frowning he looked to his right and saw Zacharias step out of the shadows with his wand raised at him.

"Back off, King. I don't want to hex an unarmed wizard." Orion raised his hands and backed away from Cyril who the dark Auror helped to his feet.

"You alright, mate?" The other wizard nodded as he pocketed his wand.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?! Explain yourself!" The blond swallowed back a curse as the Headmistress came running towards them with some scared students on her tail.

"Not to worry, Headmistress it's all taken care of. All of you should go back to whatever you were doing." Zacharias gave his most professional smile to the old witch as he grabbed Orion's arm tightly. The blond did not have to be bonded to the man to feel the rage that was underneath his fingertips.

"I get the message that two of the Aurors are fighting in the courtyard and you tell me not to worry Auror Zabini?" The wizard continued to smile.

"Correct. Now if you would excuse us, Headmistress." Zacharias started to pull Orion after him forcefully and he saw that Cyril picked up his wand quickly before following. The blond noticed that he was limping slightly so he must have hurt his leg when he landed. A slight wave of guilt came over him now that his rage had pulled back slightly. But it was also then he noticed the rage that was not his own and it made him lose his breath for a second, making him cough.

"Feel her fury now, King?" The dark Auror pulled him after him even harder as he set course for what had to be the office as the rage he was feeling was making it harder to breathe for every step they took. The blond could not pull out of his grip now even if he wanted to. The Headmistress was still shouting something after them but it didn't reach Orion's ears as they passed students on their way.

"Where is Artemis?" The blond could not answer the auburn-haired wizard as he was struggling to breathe but Zacharias answered for him.

"Orion here ordered her to stay put in the office. I just happened to come in after he had left. Good thing she can pinpoint you down to the exact location. Made it easy to find you. I'm gonna warn you though, she is bloody angry. But I guess you feel that already." He could see the look of surprise on Cyril's face which quickly turned to disgust. The humorous glint in Zacharias's eyes was also gone.

~𓅃~

They were outside of the painting and the second it opened an air of frost escaped. Artemis was standing in the same place he had left her and Zacharias pushed him through the opening making him stumble and land on all fours in front of her.

"As you ordered, Prince. Mind defrosting my chair? Cyril is hurt." Without having her gaze leave him the frost around the dark Auror desk and chair melted and Cyril sat down with a painful grunt escaping him.

"What did you do to him?" The voice sent shivers down his back and he could tell the other two could also feel it.

"Alarte Ascendare was all I got to do before Zacharias interrupted us." The witch in front of him smiled a cold smile.

"Did he do anything in return?" Orion's eyes met Cyril's for a quick second before sighing deeply.

"No." Her smile grew wider as murder flashed in her eyes.

"Well then." Suddenly, he found himself floating in the air with his face against the floor and before he could understand what was happening he was slammed against the ceiling. White dots were floating in front of his eyes as the floor came closer but before he could hit it he felt himself being pulled back up and slammed against the ceiling a second time.

"Artemis! Stop it!"

"Ey, let him go!" The magic that was holding him up disappeared but luckily for him, Zacharias was quick on his feet and caught him before he hit the ground. Orion was breathing hard and the white dots only became bigger by the second.

"Ey, Orion can you hear me?" He nodded weakly at the face that was swimming in front of him and he was laid down on the ground.

"Try to breathe deeply, mate." He did as he was told and it stung to be lying back down but it didn't feel like anything was broken.

"Release me." Artemis' voice was like a knife through his heart.

"Y… you… c… can… move". Within a second she was leaning over him, her eyes were not as hard but they were still coloured gold and he could tell the room was getting warmer. She tapped his temple gently and her voice could be heard clearly in his head.

 "I kissed him back, idiot. I don't know what I feel about him if anything at all. But that doesn't mean you can try and kill him and give me orders. Remember this next time you feel like going nuts." Confusion and hurt went through him as he continued to take deep breaths. Artemis moved over to where Cyril was sitting and took a look at his injury. When he watched them he could not help but think they did look good together but the jealousy still roared to life like a newly lit flame and he felt like punching something for it.

The dark Auror sat down next to him on the floor and flicked his wand over him a couple of times.

"Nothin' broken. But you are going to be bloody sore in the morning, mate. Should count yourself lucky. It's been a while since I've seen that part of her. Forgot how ruthless she was." Orion sat up carefully and winced when pain shot through his back and for good measure checked if he could feel his toes and breathed a sigh of relief when they moved with no problem.

The room had gotten back to its normal temperature, and the frost had retreated. The blond took another peek over to the other two and found to his surprise that the brunette's eyes were still gold. Cyril didn't seem to be bothered at all as he had an adoring look on his face, not even hiding his emotions anymore. He got distracted by Zacharias getting up and reaching out his hand to him.

"Come on, King. Let's get you to the bedroom so you can lie down better." Orion grabbed his hand and let himself be pulled up and together with the other wizard he walked to the bedroom, regrettably leaving the other two alone.

~𓆗~

Draco looked at the little group that was going together to the library being led by Auror Zouch. After Auror Blackmoore had gone back to the Auror office Pansy had gone over to the Hufflepuff table and started to talk to Abbott and Bones which the blond had raised an eyebrow to. Somehow he missed when the girl had gotten closer to them and it made him happy to see Pansy open up to someone else even if they were Hufflepuffs. When it was obvious that Potter was coming along Lovegood showed up out of thin air as she usually did with Longbottom on her arm. The two Gryffindors had a quiet awkward chat before they both joined the little group. Surprisingly to him, Nott had also decided to come along. Draco hadn't really talked much to him after they had started school again but now it seemed like the other Slytherin had gotten enough courage to approach him again. The blond had welcomed the company since Blaise decided to go back to the common room and study in peace there.

Light small talk filled the air as they walked, it was pleasant but still a little strange when the blond found himself in a conversation with Longbottom about what were the best plants to put in the potion they were currently studying. They were pulled out of their conversation for a minute while Auror Zouch opened the door to the library.

"I will be sitting and reading in the corner so if there is anything do not hesitate to ask me." The dark blond-haired man smiled at the little group before turning to go over to a little reading corner.

"You can sit with us, Sir. We won't mind. Right?" Abbott looked at everyone else in confirmation and the older wizard smiled at them in return when none protested.

"Fine then, I will find my book and join you. How about a table in the back? The risk of staring goes down immensely that way." The Auror winked at Draco before going further into the library and disappearing behind some shelves. Pansy started to drag him towards the little nook at the far back of the room. Luckily there were just enough chairs for all of them, including the Auror and they sat down quickly. The blond raised an eyebrow at Potter when he sat down next to him with a grin on his face.

"It's easier to sit next to you if you're gonna help me, yeah?" Draco rolled his eyes at him while he took his book and parchment out of his bag.

"Alright, who needs help with the potion essay?" Everyone raised their hands and looked at him like puppies wanting a snack. He sighed loudly.

"Surely some of you have the brains to figure it out on your own?" Pansy who was sitting opposite him kicked him in the shin making him glare in her direction.

"Come on, Drakey. You are good at teaching potions, unlike our own Professor. We will listen to your every word. Right girls?" Abbott, Bones and Lovegood all nodded at him.

"You are the best in the class, Draco. Except for maybe Hermione but she is occupied with calming down Ginny at the moment. It wasn't very nice of you to say that to her Harry." Everyone looked to The Saviour in question as he glared at the Ravenclaw.

"Not the time, Luna." The blond could see the mischievous spark that flashed over Pansy's eyes and hoped that the Auror would soon join them at the table.

"Having a lover's spat, Potter? Who knew you could be mean to a Weasley."

"Shut it, Parkinson." Everyone's attention was suddenly brought to Nott who was sitting on one of the ends of the table and he was busy flipping the pages of his potion book.

"Thought we were doing potions not discussing Potter's love life." He looked up from his book and caught Draco's eyes.

"What is the use for this potion anyway? Why would anyone want to become insane?" The table was quiet for a second before the blond pulled himself back to reality and focused on the task at hand.

"It started as a failed replica of Felix Felicis. Someone tried to make it more powerful but used cheaper ingredients and as a result, they got Essence of Insanity instead." His fellow students started to take notes as he started to talk and he noticed that Auror Zouch now sat down silently on the opposite end from Nott giving him a clear view of the door. Auror habit he reasoned.

"But why would they use it then? Why not throw it away?" Bones asked him honestly albeit a little carefully, like she was scared to make him angry. If he remembered correctly both Bones and Abbott were half-bloods so potion could be a subject they struggled to understand depending on how they grew up. Clearing his throat he continued.

"They found other uses for it in the medical field. When the potion is administered to someone who is already insane it kind of 'unscrambles' their brains. Making them think more clearly for a few minutes at a time. Even so, it is a highly dangerous potion to brew if you don't know what you are doing. It can be deadly given the wrong dose." Potter tapped him carefully on the shoulder and the ravenhead looked like he had a stroke of genius.

"So it's like anti-depressants then?" The others looked at him confused as he looked at them the same way before facepalming.

"Right, none of you probably know what that is. It's a medicine that is given to people who are depressed. With it, their brains are kind of forced to think happy thoughts I guess? So this kind of works the same way but more deadly." Draco thought about it for a second and it seemed to make sense to him.

"Seems correct, yes." Everyone had been working quietly on their essays for a little while before a chuckle came out of the Auror and Draco turned to look at him. The wizard looked at him with an apologetic look.

"I am sorry, Mr Malfoy. This book is simply too far-fetched." The blond took a peek at its cover and frowned when he saw what it was called.

"' Dementors: Misunderstood or underestimated?' Isn't that by the same person who wrote 'Polyjuice 101: A Day in the Shoes of My Mother'?" The Auror laughed again.

"Correct. Simply hogwash but a peculiar read if you find yourself bored. Horben Mosstap really was a wizard with a different mind." Longbottom looked up from his essay and studied the older wizard and it was clear he had a question burning on his tongue.

"What is it, Longbottom?" The wizard in question jumped slightly when Draco talked to him and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. The man had killed Nagini but was unable to talk to him without looking like he wanted to run away.

"Ah um, sorry, Malfoy but it wasn't you I wanted to ask something. Can I ask you a question, Sir?" Auror Zouch held his finger up for a few seconds before he flipped the page and put the book down on his knee.

"Of course, Mr Longbottom. I am no Potion Master, sadly, but I can try to answer to the best of my abilities." Longbottom was shifting around in his chair looking uncomfortable for a second before finally getting the courage to speak up.

"I'm sorry Sir, but why do you speak so weird?" Draco looked at the Gryffindor dumbfounded before looking over to the Auror. He had to agree with him that he did speak in a very peculiar way but it would never have crossed his mind to ask the wizard himself about it.

Auror Zouch looked at Longbottom surprised before he chuckled.

"I am 1/8 vampire but not to worry, I have no blood-sucking abilities. My speech pattern simply comes from that, hard to get rid of I am afraid. The way I speak is nothing compared to my Mother, however, she speaks like she is still stuck in the 1800s." Everyone was quiet for a long time, surprisingly even Potter was stunned to silence as the wizard in front of them sat there with a smile on his face. The reason for him now telling the wizard everything without him thinking much about it became clearer now, the Auror clearly had some vampire abilities to make people confess things to him Draco thought. Pansy suddenly gave out a squeal of glee.

"Oh. my. Salazar! That is so cool! Can you do anything else?" The wizard's sky-blue eyes looked at them with a mischievous glint to them.

"That is a secret, Miss Parkinson." Draco put a finger in each ear expecting the squeal to become even louder and of course, he was right. A strict hush came from Madam Pince over at the front desk and they looked over at her with guilty looks. Pansy leaned over the table to get closer to the Auror now.

"Tell me, Sir is it true that Auror Blackmoore has had a relationship with all of you?" The blond wanted to kick his friend under the table for her stupid questions as they had nothing to do with any of what they had previously talked about. The glint in the older wizard's eye became even brighter now as he leaned forward and automatically the rest of the table leaned in as well.

"There have been a few drunken instances between us and I am certain that you saw my two colleagues under the tree by the lake, no? But you did not hear that from me, hm?" Pansy was about to burst from excitement, that much was clear as the wizard leaned back into his chair again.

"You should get back to your studying, hm? You do not have long left before you have to go back to your common rooms." Draco was too stunned by what he heard from the older wizard to think clearly. All he saw was Auror Blackmoore in bed with Auror Zouch and he wondered if he had yet another competitor to worry about. But from the way he spoke, it seemed like it was all in the past and didn't mean much. Potter on his right poked him on the shoulder again as he pointed to his parchment and at the bottom, the ravenhead had written 'Don't worry, I doubt there is anything between them.' The blond shrugged in return before he asked.

"Anyone else need help?" Luna raised her hand diligently when he asked and he pointed to her.

"What kinds of hair potions do you use, Draco? I've been meaning to ask you for a long time. My father's hair turns itself into knots when he works in the garden you see and I thought I would ask you about it." The Slytherin looked to the Ravenclaw where she sat and looked at him like she had asked him what day it was, next to him Potter was sniggering and failing badly at keeping it unknown.

"I meant about the homework, Luna. I'll give you the directions on how to brew one for your father later if you wish." The girl's face lit up in happiness as she nodded.

"Oh, I have no further questions about it. Thank you." Potter could not hold it in anymore as he burst out laughing, tears were even running down his cheeks as Madam Pince came marching over to them.

"Mr Zouch if you could take these students out of my library that would not be unwelcome. This is a place of silence!" The others seemed to have been smitten by the ravenhead's laugh as giggling could be heard around the table. Auror Zouch was obviously keeping his grin in check as he looked up at the woman with a sorry look.

"I am so sorry, Madam. I will take the students back to their common room. Come now everyone, pack your bags." The little group quickly did as they were told and soon enough they found themselves on the other side of the closed library door. The ravenhead leaned on Draco as he clutched his stomach while laughing and the blond soon found himself laughing with him. The blond wiped a tear from his eyes as Abbott and Bones stood before him, both looking up at him with grateful expressions.

"Thank you for your help today, Malfoy. Let's have a study group again one day, maybe?" Abbott smiled at him while Bones nodded. He smiled at them politely and nodded back.

"You're welcome and that would be great." The girls giggled at him before waving to the others and going in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.

"Popular with the ladies as always heh, Malfoy?" Nott patted him on the shoulder while he grinned widely at him. The blond snorted at him in return. Auror Zouch cleared his throat at them all.

"Alright, I will have to follow the Slytherins back to their common room as of my job, the rest of you can get back alright I assume?" The rest of them nodded eagerly at him and with some last waves of goodbye, they started to walk in the directions of their own common rooms.