Chapter Twenty- Ally

A/N:: Uhmm.. Hi? I'm sorry I've been gone for such a long time- I've been so focused on my studies since this is my last year in high school. This chapter has been half-done ages ago and I only had the time yesterday to finally finish it. I'm not pretty sure if it's the best but hopefully you guy will like it. Read. Enjoy. Review :3

PS: I created a facebook account so to those who want to add me, feel free :) I will be posting update dates and my upcoming stories there. You can also give me your suggestions there and maybe make fan fic requests :). Or if you wanna be my friend, add me and we'll talk. I swear, I'm no baddie hiding behind a computer- just a frustrated writer ;).

Facebook account: www. facebook. c o m missbookish07 (just delete the spaces and place a slash between the word com and my penname ) The name on my account is Chrissie Arem by the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter :(

Dedications: Tina, Angel, Nightmare, Mimie and all unsigned reviewers. I love you all, and I really wanted to reply, but I can't. So this chapter's for all of you :*

::::::::::::::::::::

By the time Hermione reached Clariton, she was mad. "An hour of my lunch which could've been spent on revising my essay, wasted on that stupid git," she muttered as she stepped off the cab. She entered the main building, which was deserted, since most of the students were taking their lunch. The only thing that made her feel a bit better was when she remembered that she had free period after lunch. I can spend that period revising my essay. I could find Alaysha and grab a bite with her before she goes to class, she thought happily. She rummaged through her bag, looking for her phone to call Alaysha. Suddenly, a recognizable voice echoed through the almost empty hallway.

"HERMIONE!"

Hermione turned to see a very flustered Alaysha running towards her. Behind Alaysha were equally flustered Ron and Harry.

"Hey guys," Hermione greeted her friends as they reached her.

"Where have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere!" Ron exclaimed, panting.

"Err… I was at lunch," she answered feebly.

"Where? In bloody Mars? We didn't know where you are! You weren't in the cafeteria," Harry snapped.

"Well I'm sorry. You don't need to snap at me, you know. It's not like I went off with a serial killer," Hermione snapped back.

"In all seriousness Hermione, where were you?" Alaysha interjected.

"I had lunch with this uhm… new student," Hermione said carefully. She wasn't quite ready to tell Harry that his archenemy was now going to Clariton with them.

"New student huh? Tell me is he blond and extremely arrogant with the initials of DM?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Hermione sighed before answering, "Yes Harry. It was Draco Malfoy."

"Why in the world did you eat lunch with him?" Harry exploded, "Did you forget what he did to you back in London? He's rude, arrogant and he's a no good bloody—"

"For Pete's sake Harry! Stop for a minute!" Hermione shouted.

Harry shut his mouth, and stared at Hermione. They were both staring at each other when Alaysha stepped in between them and said, "Woah. Stop for a minute and breathe."

They were still glaring at each other so Alaysha continued, "Clearly both of you aren't willing to settle this like normal, civil people. So I suggest you move your discussion to a private place, so you won't cause a commotion and attract another hoard of gossipers. The last thing we need, especially you Hermione, is another gossip."

Hermione sighed deeply, before nodding. She said, "Alaysha's right."

Harry just folded his arms across his chest, and nodded. Alaysha sighed in relief and said, "So, we'll leave you both to talk."

With that, she grabbed Ron by his arm and walked away, leaving Harry and Hermione standing awkwardly.

After what seemed like ages, Hermione finally spoke up, saying, "We both have History after free period right?"

Harry nodded.

"How about… we talk in the Secret Garden? That way, no one can hear or see us."

Harry once again opted to answer with a nod. With another heavy sigh, Hermione started walking while turning her head subtly once in a while, to check if Harry was following her. What had gotten him so riled up? I mean, I know he despised Draco but I didn't know he despised him that much, Hermione thought.

::::::::::::::::::::

Harry was having a conflict inside his mind. The logical side of his brain was reprimanding him for being too aggressive with Hermione. However, the other side was actually saying that what he did was just right—Draco Malfoy was a git, and Hermione can't trust him.

This conflict went on as he watched Hermione took out the key to the Secret Garden. The greenhouse' key together with her dorm key, was hanging on teddy bear keychain, which he remembered buying for her during the cultural fair a year ago. He smiled at this thought fondly.

"Harry, c'mon," Hermione said softly. When Harry looked up, she was already inside, holding the door for him.

When he was inside, Hermione shut the door, locking it, to ensure that no one will come in to disturb them.

The Secret Garden was an incredible place. Before the holidays, Harry and Hermione paid the caretaker extra money to tend for the garden while they were away. As a result, the garden was in full bloom. There were different types of flowers like roses, daisies and lilies and a few potted plants. At the center of the greenhouse were four white chairs and a matching white table.

They were both silent as they sat down on the chairs across each other. Harry fiddled with a leaf on the table while Hermione shifted on her seat uneasily.

For the first time, he initiated the conversation.

"Why did you go to lunch with him?" he asked suddenly. His voice dripped with jealousy and he tried to hide it, but he was unsuccessful.

It took Hermione a moment to answer him. She said seriously, "Harry, the dean asked me to be his guide for the day, since we all have the same classes. Then he said he wanted to go to lunch so I went with him, since the dean basically entrusted him with me."

She paused to breathe, then continued in an amused voice, "And for the record, he is a git. And a horrible conversationalist—never in my life have I ever been interested in my shoes during a cab ride."

This statement made Harry smile a bit. Without thinking, he said softly, "I told you so."

When he realized what he had said, he immediately berated his self.

Idiot, he scolded, Hermione will be very angry with you.

Instead of a cold reply, he heard laughter. He looked up to see Hermione chuckling heartily.

"Yeah, I guess I should've listened to you, right?"

He nodded in reply, and then went back to staring at the leaf in his hand. Confusing thoughts and feelings ran through his heart and mind, puzzling him. His thoughts went from his jealousy to the thought of how different he and Hermione were now. The situation didn't hit him yet until now… It only came crashing down unto him when they were practically shouting at each other—it was there, in that moment that he realized that everything did change after the wedding.

"Something's bothering you, Harry," he heard Hermione say.

He met her eyes and managed a smile, "You know me all too well Hermione. It's nothing really… Just thinking."

He felt her come nearer.

"Harry."

"Really, I'm fine," he assured her.

There was silence once again. She then said softly, "Harry, I know I haven't been the best friend to you ever since the… you know." He nodded at her implication and she continued, "But always remember that I'm still your best friend no matter what happened and what will happen, okay?"

"I know Hermione," Harry said softly. After another minute of silence, he spoke up again, "I'm really sorry about the gossips, Hermione. I tried to stop them but that bloody website was impossible."

Hermione laughed lightly and said, "Nah, let them be. They'll get tired of us eventually." She then continued in a softer and more serious voice, "Oh, and I'm really sorry about Ron and Alaysha's behavior. What they did to you was uncalled for."

"They only had your best interests at heart," he answered. Unlike me, he thought.

"Still, have they apologized to you?"

"Yep. Right before we started looking for you."

"Brilliant," Hermione said, grinning. Then, she checked her watch and made a face.

"Harry, I hate to do this to you, but I have to go," she said as she gathered her bag, "I still have to finish this essay and maybe grab a bite too."

"I thought you already had lunch," Harry asked, confused.

"Uhm well, let's just say lunch didn't go good because I hated Draco Malfoy's company," she answered sheepishly.

Harry grinned and said, "Sure, don't worry. Go eat lunch and revise your essay."

Hermione's face brightened and she said, "Thank you so much Harry. Do you want to come with me?"

"Nah. I'll just stay here for a while. It's been a long time since I visited anyway."

"Oh… So, I'll see you at History okay?"

"I'll be there," Harry said as he watched Hermione approached the door. Just before she could open it, he called out, "Hey Hermione!"

Hermione turned and tilted her head to the right. "Hmm?"

"About Malfoy… Just stay away from him, okay?"

She sighed but said, "I'll try to Harry, but I can't promise anything."

He nodded and she got outside. Harry stared at the door wistfully, before turning his attention back to the leaf he was holding. He just made up with Hermione. Their friendship was back on track. But why did he felt as if something was missing, that something still wasn't right?

::::::::::::::::::::

Draco was fuming as he stepped off the cab. I cannot believe that Hermione Granger has the decency to slap me in front of those people, he thought darkly as he checked his watch. It read 1:15, which means his next class would be in 45 minutes. And he wanted to spend those 45 minutes and have a word with that bloody bushy haired freak. With that in his mind, he started looking for Hermione. He was in a foul mood, and anyone who dared to look at him all received a piercing glare that made them run away from him. As he rounded in a corner, he almost ran over Mr. Reynolds.

"Oh, good afternoon Mr. Malfoy. Eager to start classes are we?" he said, smiling widely.

Draco forced back a smile and said, "Yes sir. I have my next class in 30 minutes."

"What do you think of Clariton so far?"

"It's great actually. Classes are interesting and slightly different with my old university, but still great," he replied, trying to sound eager.

"How about Ms. Granger? Is she with you?"

"Not really… She err… she went to have lunch with her friends and I didn't want to come," Draco lied. He didn't really want her to get in trouble with the dean—he'd rather make her pay with his own methods.

"What are you up to now?"

"Uh… I was just looking for my dorms. I figured it would probably be good if I already know my room," he said.

"Oh, silly me! I forgot to tell your assigned dorm. Your dorm is Dorm 13. The dorms are located just outside this building—you can't miss it. Boys' dorms are on the right wing. Your roommate is— ah! Jasper Kingsbury," the dean said. As if on cue, a guy with a mop of disheveled strawberry blond hair who was walking passed them stop and said, "What's up dean?"

Draco realized that this must be Jasper Kingsbury. Jasper was as tall as he was, maybe even taller and has a mischievous glint in his blue eyes, making Draco assume that Jasper was a troublemaker.

"Mr. Kingsbury, this is Draco Malfoy. He's your roommate."

"Oh! So you're that guy! Jasper Kingsbury, though the dean just mentioned it," Jasper said goofily and stuck his hand out. Draco shook his hand politely and nodded while saying, "Nice to meet you."

"I'm off to the dorm, wanna come with?" Jasper asked.

"That's great. Thank you for your help Mr. Reynolds," Draco said and he followed Jasper. They walked quietly until they got out of the school building.

"So, you're Draco Malfoy," Jasper stated as they went down the stairs.

"Yes," Draco replied curtly.

"You really don't talk much do ya?"

"I don't."

Draco heard Jasper snicker but he chose to ignore the guy. Their dorm room was on the first floor, so it was easy to locate. "Fair warning man. I used to live alone and I totally forgot that my new roommate was arriving today so," Jasper trailed off as he opened the door. The dorm spoke for Jasper. It was a typical boy's room—it's typical if you weren't Draco Malfoy, who was raised with the idea of perfection. For Draco, the room was a mess. Chinese food containers and pizza boxes littered the floor. Thrown across the floor were dirty socks and a pair of yellow track shoes.

"How can you live here?" Draco asked, crinkling his nose in disgust.

"I just do," Jasper said, grinning, "C'mon in!"

Draco warily stepped inside and surveyed the room. Not an inch of it could even be considered remotely clean.

"So! You'll be taking the top bunk because I usually fall off the bed since I'm still use to my bed back home," Jasper said conversationally as he picked the food containers up and disposed them inside a garbage bag. "I forgot to clean the room, but the closet's pretty empty, since I took home my clothes during the break. Feel free to occupy more than half of the closet—I'm not really a clothe guy. Just leave some space for my track stuff."

Draco just nodded. Jasper produced a key from his grey hoodie and handed it to him then headed out. He checked his watch and noted that he still had fifteen minutes before History starts. "This is gonna be worse than I imagined," he said, massaging the bridge of his nose. He started having regrets over his plan—would it really be worth all the trouble?

"We'll see," he told his self and locked the room before heading off to his History class.

::::::::::::::::::::

Draco spent History at the back of the room, enduring glares from Potter. The raven-haired man was sitting beside Hermione and when he spotted Draco, he immediately sent the blond a withering glare. Draco just rolled his eyes and focused on the task on hand: getting Hermione to like him.

Clearly, shamelessly flirting with her won't work, so he needed a new master plan.

What is the way to a woman's heart? Scratch that. What is the way to Hermione Granger's heart?

He started scribbling ideas on his notebook when the door flew open and in came Jasper.

"Mr. Kingsbury. Nice of you to join us," their professor said as Jasper scanned the room for an empty seat.

"Sorry Professor," Jasper said, grinning goofily and walked beside Draco.

"Mind if sit beside you?" Jasper asked Draco. But before Draco could even answer, Jasper already sat down. "I didn't know you were in this class," Jasper said cheerily, "We could've gone together you know?"

"I know my way around here. I'm not an idiot," Draco replied coldly.

Jasper shrugged and Draco went back to jotting ideas… Until his notebook was rudely grabbed from him.

"What's this?" Jasper asked.

"It's called none of your business," Draco replied as he tried to grab his notebook back but Jasper turned and started browsing it.

"Expensive flowers. Expensive chocolates. Expensive clothes. Expensive jewelry—hey are you listing things to buy for your girlfriend?" Jasper asked loudly. This resulted to the whole class looking at them, including the professor.

The professor then gave them a pointed look before calling the other students' attention to the lesson.

"It's. None. Of. Your. Bloody. Business," Draco whispered angrily and snatched his notebook back. Jasper grinned and continued to poke fun at him. I could just punch the living daylights out of this annoying git, Draco thought and started taking down notes in an attempt to ward off Jasper. As he looked up to the blackboard, he caught sight of Potter staring at him.

Honestly, doesn't he ever get tired of this, Draco thought as Harry's stare immediately morphed into a sharp glare. In return, Draco icily glared back and turned his attention to his notes.

::::::::::::::::::::

The moment the professor dismissed class, Draco flew out of the room, not giving Jasper or Harry even get the chance to talk to him. He was convinced that talking to either of these guys would probably result to an early flight back to London—and he certainly didn't want that. It wasn't only about the plan… He was actually glad to escape from his old life in London. As he walked down the halls of Clariton, he remembered how he felt the moment his plane landed in New York. He felt a sense of freedom—freedom from his demanding parents and from those people he consider as 'friends'. Well that freedom will disappear once you get expelled from beating the hell out of the energizer bunny (Jasper) and/or that four-eyed git (Potter), he thought, shaking his head. He opened his binder to check his timetable for his next class which would be…

"Malfoy."

Draco turned around, startled and was greeted by the sight he loathe the most: Harry Potter.

"Potter," he greeted curtly.

"I'll just shoot straight alright? What in the world are you doing here?" Potter asked.

"And you're the third person to ask me that," Draco answered rather bored, "I'll give you the answer I gave out earlier: I'm studying here now."

"Why? Last time I checked, you were studying in a fancy university in London."

"I just felt the need for a change of scenery. London was getting boring and when I heard you and Weasel moved in New York I told myself, 'Why can't I?' and here I am," Draco explained with a fake smile, "Can I go now? My next class is in 15 minutes and I don't like being late."

He watched as Harry's eyes flashed dangerously at him. "I really don't care why you're here Malfoy. Just stay away from Hermione," Harry warned him.

"Really? You don't own her Potter," Draco said, smiling menacingly.

"I know I don't. But she's my best friend and if you by any means touch her—I will kill you," Harry said, his fists clenched.

"You know what, I hardly remember you actually threatening guys to piss off when they come close to Loony or Weaslette," Draco countered, referring to Luna and Ginny respectively who became Harry's two closest female friends.

Harry made an irritated noise and ran his fingers through his hair. He opened his mouth to retort something but before he could make a sound, a very familiar voice interrupted them.

"Hey Potter," Jasper said, snagging Harry's attention, "Hermione Granger's looking for you by the fountain."

Harry glared at Jasper, but Jasper just shrugged. In the end, Harry left Draco and Jasper and made his way to the drinking fountain. As Harry disappeared around the corner, Jasper let out a huge sigh. "Man, I thought he was gonna kill both of us," he said, and then chuckled heartily, "So, how come the mighty Potter's mad at ya?"

"None of your bloody business," Draco repeated and walked away.

"Hey c'mon! I practically saved your life! You owe me!" Jasper called as he caught up with Draco. He then grabbed Draco by the shoulder and said, "You fugging owe me, man," Jasper repeated.

"Listen you annoying git, I don't owe you anything," Draco said glaring at Jasper. "So leave me alone, or I will kill you."

Jasper chuckled once again and said, "I'm not really scared of you. I've already been threatened a million of times."

"Figures," Draco muttered face palmed.

"You better tell me the reason why Potter's mad at ya, or I won't leave you alone then you'll get full of me, but I still won't leave you and then the next thing you'll ever know is you've gone insane," Jasper said innocently then added, "I'm pretty serious you know. And, I'll tell Potter you're planning on snagging Hermione from him."

Draco sighed. He was torn: should he risk telling Jasper about his plan?

"Fine. But you have to swear on your soul to never tell anyone—or else I really WILL kill you," Draco said, resignation evident in his voice.

Jasper whooped in delight and replied eagerly, "C'mon! Let's cut classes!"

::::::::::::::::::::

"…So that's everything you have to know," Draco said as he sipped his iced tea. He mentally cursed at how sweet the iced tea tasted as he set the cup down far from him, repulsed. He and Jasper were currently sitting inside the cafeteria. Jasper sat across Draco with a greasy burger and a tall cup of soda. He ate with much gusto that Draco thought he hasn't eaten in weeks.

He waited for Jasper to say something and when Jasper did, he was surprised. "That's a brilliant plan!" Jasper exclaimed as he set his burger down. "That's treacherous and pretty evil, don't you think?"

When Draco didn't answer, Jasper continued talking. "It's too much of a brilliant plan, that I can't not join."

"What?" Draco asked. Once again, Jasper Kingsbury had surprised him. "It's not a silly prank Kingsbury. If one thing gets messed, I'm dead," Draco said, emphasizing the word 'dead'.

Jasper waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "I know that. And that's why you need me. Plus, you wouldn't know how to get Hermione even if you try."

"Are you saying that I can't get a girl?" Draco asked, insulted.

"But Hermione's not just a girl. She's Potter's girl," Jasper pointed out.

"Why would you want to help me anyway? You've just met me, you don't know me and I don't like you," Draco retorted.

"Well, I guess we share something in common: we both hate Potter and Weasley's guts."

"You do? Why?" Draco asked, his interest piqued. Not many people manage to hate Harry and Ron—they were saints in everyone's eyes, saved from few students from the Slytherin Class.

"I dunno. Maybe I'm ticked off by how they think they're better than me 'cause they're football players. I also hate the fact that they have girls fawning over them and think they're gifts from Aphrodite," Jasper said rolling his eyes. And for the first time since Draco met Jasper, he smirked.

He finally found an ally.

"So, is that a deal Malfoy?" Jasper asked.

"What can I say? I do need an ally," Draco said, still smirking, "It' a deal Kingsbury."

"Awesome," Jasper said, smiling widely, "First order of business… You need to be close with Hermione."

"And how can I do that Kingsbury? Haven't you heard what I told you earlier? She hates me after what I told her."

"It's easy. First of all, you have to show her that you want to be friends with her," Jasper explained patiently, "As in platonic friends, no-strings-attached kind of friends."

"Why do I have to do that? I want her to be my girlfriend, not my best friend, "Draco retorted.

"Ever heard of the cliché ' Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'? That's exactly what you have to do my friend," Jasper said, his eyes gleaming with mischief.