The Slytherin Prince and the Gryffindor Goddess::Part 21

TSP&&GG21: Rhea peeked her head through the portrait, seeing if anyone was in the Common Room. It seemed empty, or so she thought. She walked into the Common Room as quietly as she could.

"Rhea!" Hermione screamed, hugging her best friend as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room. "You've been discharged!"

"H..ey...Her..mione," Rhea struggled to breath and smile at the same time.

"Let go of her!" Coop cried, "She’s turning red!"

Rhea laughed when Hermione let go. "Boy, you're hugs are one-of-a-kind." Madame Pomfrey discharged shortly after she woke up, and the first place she wanted to go was the Gryffindor Common Room, knowing that if she was in the Hospital Wing, the Golden Trio and Coop would surely be worrying about her.

"Where's mine then?" Coop opened his arms.

Rhea smiled, hugging her sandy-haired friend. "You can’t have missed me that much," she smiled, taking a seat. "I was only gone for the night."

Hermione scoffed. "Trust me, Rhea," she looked at her, "I missed you."

Rhea glanced at Coop for further explanation, but received a shrug. "Ginny hasn’t been around lately. She was stuck with us the whole of last night."

Hermione shook her head at the memory, making Rhea laugh. "That meeting is tonight, by the way," she looked up. "The one for the carnival?"

"We have Carnival?" asked Ron, coming downstairs. Harry walked behind him, fixing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, Ron. That's the poster I asked you to put up last night, remember--"

"Rhea!" Ron jumped. Harry looked up suddenly. "You're back!" he hugged her.

"Yeah, I am," Rhea smiled as Harry moved to hug her. "I heard you guys drove Hermione crazy last night."

"Not crazy," Coop said thoughtfully. "Maybe on the brink of mental-retardation," he leaned against the table Rhea was sitting in front of.

Hermione pushed him playfully. "So, are you coming?" she asked.

"Of course," Rhea nodded. "I told you. I don’t have anything better to do."

"Except get hospitalized," Coop added cheekily. Rhea punched him playfully on the arm.

Rhea stood up. "I've got to get ready for classes. See you guys at breakfast?" she asked before leaving the Common Room. "You coming, Coop?"

"Nah, I got my stuff set up here," he explained, nodding his head towards the Boys Common Room.

She shrugged. "Alright, see you then," she waved, exiting the room.

They nodded and waved. Rhea walked towards the Prefect's Common Room.

"I thought you were going to ask her, Harry," Ron nudged his friend as the portrait closed.

Harry sighed. "I haven’t quite got a plan to ask her. I mean, it's not something you just pull up in a conversation."

"At least Harry knows how to ask a girl," Hermione stood up eyeing Ron playfully.

Ron feigned being offended. "And I don’t?"

Hermione made her way to the stairs. Ron sped towards her and hugged her from behind, around the waist. "Ron!" Hermione screamed happily.

"This is the consequence for telling me I don’t know how to ask a girl," Ron hugged her.

Coop and Harry grinned at their friend's couple-like show. It surprised them at how they had gone to fighting every moment they could, to this.

He planted a kiss on her cheek and finally let her get away. Ron watched her until she disappeared into the Girl's Dormitory. Harry and Coop looked at each other before Ron turned around. They looked at Ron with an amused face.

Ron shrugged. "What? Is it a crime to do that with my girlfriend?" Coop opened his mouth to talk. Ron raised a hand to stop him. "Dont even start, Coop."

***

Rhea jogged up the stairs and turned the doorknob to her and Coop's room.

"You're back."

She turned around just before entering the room. "Uh, yeah," she smiled. "You were with me when I woke up this morning, remember?" she laughed.

Rhea had woken up to Draco's sleeping face as he used her bedside table as a pillow. He had explain what had happend the night before, but other than that, nothing else.

Draco rolled his eyes, leaning against the rail in front of the door. "Yeah, I remember," he said. "But you dont remember anything you said last night, do you?" he smirked. When he explained what had happend the night before, he left out the part of her practically confessing her feelings for him. This gave him the exact confidence boost he had been needing since his mistake a week ago.

Rhea glared at him playfully. After he had explained to her what had happened, she had softened up to him. "What exactly did I say?"

He shrugged indifferently. "That's classified information," he pushed himself off the rail. "You'll have to pay a price to get that knowledge," he walked up to Rhea.

"No, thanks," she backed away. "I've been there once before. I dont think I'll be going back anytime soon."

"So the deal's over, is it?" Draco asked. Rhea nodded.

"Exactly," Rhea smiled apoligetically. "Sorry, but, I'm not just going to start up the deal after what you did to me AND after last night."

"What I did wasnt because I wanted to--" Draco started to explain. (He hasnt told Rhea that he was under a love-potion.)

Rhea sighed. "You dont exactly have a reputation for telling the truth. How do I know you're not lying?"

Draco became quiet. He scanned his brain for any possibility to get him another chance with her. "How do you know I'm not?" he retorted.

This made Rhea smirk slightly (she's been around Draco too much!). "Touche," she nodded. "But, until you can prove to me that you're not lying," she started, "the only thing we are, is friends." She walked into the room, closing the door.

She stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. After that morning, it felt as though things were brighter, just like before Draco did what he did. She leaned against the door. It was as if things were back to normal, as normal as it got, that is. Draco felt the exact same way.

Maybe it was the fact that they could talk to each other freely. Maybe it was the fact that the first face Rhea had seen was Draco's. Maybe it was because...it was just better to hide their feelings, even though it was completely obvious.

She slipped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower.

After her refreshing shower, one which made her almost run out of the bathroom after seeing the blood residue in her hair, she wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the room, rubbing her hair between another towel, humming to herself.

"How long does it take you to shower?" Draco asked, getting up from her bed.

Rhea jumped, throwing the towel in her hands up slightly. "Wh--Malfoy!" she turned around. "What are you doing in here?"

He looked at her up and down. She gripped onto her towel tightly. "Waiting for you, as if that weren’t obvious enough."

Rhea placed her hands on her hips. "Oh?" she raised an eyebrow. "You're not just here to catch me in my towel?"

"How was I supposed to know you were coming out with just a towel?" he smirked, his eyes still trailing up and down. Her towel was a bit short, so one wrong move and Draco would have a front row seat to the show 'Birthday Suit' starring herself. “Although, I must say, it’s a nice surprise—“

"Get out," she threw the towel at his head.

He pulled off the towel off his head as he got up from the bed, revealing his dashing smile. She smiled back at him, shaking her head and then went back to finding her clothes as he left the room. He looked back at her, smiling softly as he saw her twitch her nose side to side. He knew she only did that when she was thinking about something. He shut the door behind him.

***

"Students!" Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you for volunteering to work at Hogwart's October Fall for All Festival." The students whispered to each other excitedly. "It will be held at the Quidditch Field on Halloween. I must inform you that everyone must dress up in order to attend. Any costumes are welcome, but you must not show anything...private," he glanced at a few girls from Slytherin. "Now, Ms. Granger will inform you of all other information."

Hermione stood up, "Good evening, everybody. As you all know, you are here to sign up for working and helping out during the festival. We need about half of you to work at booths and half to help with the food. Teacher's will also help with this affair, as well as supervising.

"What booths are there?" Ginny asked, raising her hand.

Hermione looked through her clipboard. "There is going to be a list of booths at the table near the door," she explained, holding up a paper, "which you can sign before leaving today."

Rhea entered the classroom, taking a seat beside Coop. "What'd I miss?" she whispered.

"Not much. It's on Halloween. You have to dress-up. And you can sign up for a booth before leaving," Coop informed her. Rhea nodded him thanks and looked up at Hermione.

"Now, there is a lot that's going to be happening during that day," Hermione said. "And I must ask everyone to keep quiet about what we are going to talk about tonight. I want the Festival to be under wraps."

She went on to continue what other events would happen during that day. By the end of the meeting, everyone was excited for it. Halloween was coming up in a week and there was a lot to be done.

Hermione glanced at the clock. "Well, we've finished earlier than I expected, so we can talk about the booths," she nodded. Everyone began talking at once as Hermione walked around with the sign-up sheet.

Rhea nudged Coop. "What booth are you working for?"

Coop smiled. "Not sure yet. You?"

"Same," Rhea answered. "But all this has gotten me so excited," she confessed.

Hermione walked up to them. "What would you two like to sign up for?" she showed the list cheerily.

Rhea scanned the list with Coop. "Found one!" Coop said, as Hermione handed him a quill.

"Got one too," Rhea smiled, taking the quill from Coop. Hermione held onto the board as she signed her name.

Hermione glanced at the sheet. "Oh, thank goodness you chose that one, Rhea," Hermione placed a hand on her elbow. "Everyone who’s tried to sign up for that didn’t qualify."

Rhea smiled. "No problem." Hermione smiled back and walked to another group. "Signed up for the singing booth," Rhea told Coop.

"Signed up for the Dunker," Coop rubbed his hands together as the exited the classroom.

Rhea laughed. "You headed up to bed?" Rhea asked, stopping at the Prefect's Common Room.

"Nope," Coop answered. "I'm staying with Ron and Harry," he explained. "You gunna be alright?"

"Of course," Rhea nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Just dont get hospitalized again!" Coop waved. "Night!"

Alrighty,so!That'spart21.Maan.Thingsaregettingalittleexciting,arentthey?!:DHahaha.Keepreading,thingsalsogetalittleSTEAMYtoo.Notjustwith---

Ahh!ThoughtIwasgunnasaysomething,huh?Well,I'mnot.Ifyouwantthesteamyscenes--RatedPG-13--andtheexcitingpartstoo!

YouknowIlaveeyah!XOXO--Shortiee(: