AN: Me and my Beta are doing another challenge. We made a list of requirements for our next story, and the person who follows the summary best and uses the most extras wins a dessert. Here's hoping I win.

My Beta's story is A Bad FoeMance. Since were both using the same story summary, it'll be interesting to see how different or similar the two stories are!

The infamous Battle of Hogwarts left the ancient Scottish castle battered, scarred, and broken, but with a bit of hard work, determination, and a veritable army of volunteers, the old school was ready to open its doors again by September, 1999. Unfortunately, due to the dictatorial rule of the now dead Dark Lord, Hogwarts was more packed than ever. All the muggle-borns and 'blood-traitors' that had been forbidden from attending a public wizarding school, and all those who choose to stay away from the school during Voldemort's reign, were now returning a year behind their age. As a result, a fifth of every year in every house was being asked to volunteer to join a new club which would serve as a sort of temporary fifth house to keep things from getting too crowded.

Members of the new club known as Everlux would still keep their original alumni, so points and quidditch teams would still be all the same, but Everlux students would sleep, and study with each other to make room for all the extra students in the four main houses. Even the uniforms would remain relatively the same, except that the house crests on their school robes would be replaced by a white phoenix to help give the club some identity and union.

()()()

After the war was over, Ronald Weasley wasn't really interested in going back to school. He had already been offered a job with his brother George to help out with the shop, but Hermione was nothing if not persistent.

Harry wasn't being much of a help either. "It's just one more year, Ron."

"Exactly. We've already come this far. It would be stupid not to finish school now." Hermione was getting increasingly frustrated at Ron's stubbornness, but Ron was just getting angrier.

"Oh, so now I'm stupid?"

"That's not what she meant."

"You so sure about that?"

Harry wasn't sure about anything anymore when it came to Ron and Hermione. Ever since the war ended and Hermione kept making plans for Ron and going on about their future together, the more distant and grumpier Ron became. Nowadays, all they ever seemed to do was fight. "Well, I mean, I don't think so."

"Harry!" Hermione looked deeply offended.

Harry only shrugged.

"I didn't mean it that way. I only meant that we're so close, and a diploma can make a big difference in someone's life."

"Yeah I guess, I dunno. Just let me think about it by myself, ok?"

Hermione sighed, "Alright, common Harry."

But instead of following, Harry lingered by his friend awkwardly. "Actually, there's a little something I needed to talk to Ron about, you know, just us guys."

Even though she rolled her eyes, Hermione left the two boys alone to talk.

Ron looked at Harry suspiciously. "So what's up?"

He ran a hand through his mop of hair. "I afraid I'm gonna have to side with Hermione on this one. I really think you should come back with us and finish school."

"I know." Ron poutingly folded his freckle covered arms. "Don't tell Hermione, but so do I."

Harry could only shake his head and laugh. "Then why have we spent all this time arguing about it?"

"Because I don't want to go back just because Hermione told me to. I'm going mad with her ordering me around all the time. I want to go back to school, but I want to do it on my own terms."

"I completely understand, mate, whatever you decide. Just know that I'm behind you one hundred percent."

Ron could help but smile. "Thanks, mate."

()()()

"I'm not angry that you volunteered to help out the school, I just wish you had told Harry and me so we could have volunteered too." Hermione bounced furiously as she walked, her hair bounding in angry, frizzy curls.

On the outside, Ron was all apologies, but on the inside Ron wasn't sorry at all. He was glad that he would have his own place to hide from Hurricane Hermione when he needed to and really it would be nice to have a change in scenery for once.

As an Everlux Ron would be staying in a new wing of the castle that existed only within the Room of Requirement. Like any of the other houses it had its own common room and two main dormitories: one for the boys, and one for the girls. But much to everyone's surprise, each dorm room was set up so that each of the four four-poster beds were designated for each of the four houses.

"There couldn't possibly be that many Slytherins needing to repeat a year." Ron flopped onto his bed, felling sort of uncomfortable to be sharing a room with people his barely knew.

"Even if there are, I don't think they should have lumped us all together like this." The Hufflepuff Ron was sharing quarters with was fairly short with sandy brown hair. He had a sort of innocent look to him, but Ron had a sneaky suspicion he was tougher than he was letting on.

"Yeah, I mean, no offence to the two of you, but they should have kept the houses together." The third boy, who Ron couldn't remember ever seeing before, was a Ravenclaw with chocolate brown skin and an almost pompous air about him.

Ron nodded. "I agree."

"Me too."

"Same here."

No one had expected a fourth voice to sound off, and everyone turned to see which of the slimy Slytherins they had been stuck with.

Draco Malfoy stood proud and tall in the doorway of the little room, completely unfazed by the reception of heated glares.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ron was absolutely livid. What was the point of getting away from Hermione if he was going to be forced to share a room with Malfoy?

"The same thing you're doing, Weasley, trying to finish my education." Draco tried his best to remain calm in spite of his uncomfortable circumstances and walked over to his trunk to make sure no one had tried to open it.

The Ravenclaw, whose name Ron still didn't know, folded his arms skeptically. "I never would have thought you would have volunteered to join Everlux."

"I didn't, none of the Slytherins did, but since no one volunteered the Headmistress was forced to pull out students at random, supposedly, and I was one of the names she pulled."

"Well you're not staying here."

Draco glared, losing some of his precious composure the way he usually did around Ron. "It's out of my hands, Wea-" Then a flash of light streaked through the open doorway and sent Malfoy flying threw the curtain of his bed.

Standing just outside the bedroom was a furious looking Everlux-Gryffindor whom Ron knew had fought and lost his best friend in the last battle with Voldemort. "That was from Neal Randall, and this," he raised his wand again, "this is from me."

Draco bounded back to his feet and drew his wand just in time to reflect the oncoming curse. The duel between the two eighth years was sudden and fierce forcing the room's other residence to duck and cover.

Ron however, not being one to lie down in a fight, decided to help out his fellow Gryffindor. Besides, watching Malfoy get pummeled would be a great way to start the year. "Expelliarmus!" But to Ron's surprise, Malfoy managed to hold on to his wand despite his arm being yanked back from the force of the spell.

Draco barely managed to swing his arm back to block the next hex against him, but when Ron tried disarming him again he almost lost his wand. "Stop doing that!" Unfortunately, Draco's break of concentration left him unguarded, and the boy from the doorway landed another devastating blow.

Ron watched as Malfoy fell to the floor with an agonizing shriek. The pure-blood's skin gradually turned a rosy shade of red while little white bumps began blossoming all over his face and hands. At first Ron thought it was one of those spells only first years used in fights that covered their victims in large, hideous pimples, but as Draco's skin continued to darken and even began to split, Ron realized he wasn't breaking out in pimples at all. He was being burned.

"Merlin, Jack, stop it!" Ron knew the Gryffindor, albeit not well, but he never thought one of his own could hurt somebody like that. Even if that somebody was Malfoy.

Jack looked up, but his wand didn't waiver as Draco writhed under his power and instead of looking ashamed of what he was doing, he grinned.

Suddenly Ron didn't care who was hurting who anymore. He wasn't about to stand by and let someone get tortured like that, so he raised his wand again and blasted the other Gryffindor out of the room. Then he turned to his roommates and pointed authoritatively at the Hufflepuff. "You go fetch Madam Pomfrey, and you go get Professor McGonagall. She needs to know about what's happened."

The Hufflepuff looked glad to help out and ran out of the room, but the Ravenclaw only frowned, arms still folded. "Why should I? Malfoy deserved what he got."

"Just do it." Ron's patience was running out faster by the minute.

The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes, "Fine" but wandered out of the room to go and fetch the Headmistress.

()()()

After about a week, Malfoy was released from the hospital wing with only small patches of red irritated skin remaining from his injuries. Jack, the vengeful Gryffindor, was expelled for the attack, and the rest of the student body was impressively threatened by McGonagall that worse things would happen to anyone who tried to repeat the incident.

What surprised Ron most, however, was how Malfoy reacted to the whole thing. From what he could tell, Draco never wrote his father about what happened, and ignored the obvious soreness in his hands when he worked. Considering how Draco used to turn a splinter into a mountain of pity, it was a fairly impressive show of how much Draco had really changed.

Maybe, Ron thought as the platinum haired git slept in the four-poster beside his, if they could just ignore each other for the rest of the year, it wouldn't be so bad sharing a room with a Slytherin after all.