It had been two weeks since Lorelai had last spoken to Draco in the Potions dungeon. Quidditch had been called back on in an effort to boost moral, and it had worked. The castle was alive again with energy that seemed to vibrate the very floors. And since there hadn’t been playing all school year, they had to catch up rather quickly in order to have the Quidditch cup final before school got out.

It seemed that Draco had been surrounding himself with people from Slytherin house since Lorelai had talked to him last. She hadn’t seen him without Crabbe and Goyle, and though that was usual, she had also seen Pansy and her gang around, as well as Morag McDougall and a few other members of the Slytherin House Team. He had barely looked in her direction since.

Lorelai however, felt oddly eased by this. Not worrying about Draco, and not having him approach her whenever he thought she was ripe for a teasing had been nice. He hadn’t bothered Harry or Ron, or Hermione or Joan either. Life at Hogwarts was oddly still. And that’s why Lorelai hated it.

Hermione had started studying for her finals, though they were an entire term away. At night, usually until the Library was closed, Lorelai and Hermione were to be found in the quiet, secluded part of the library, on the second floor, in the farthest reading room. They always had it to themselves.

Thursday night, however, Hermione had decided to stay in the Common room to work on a paper due for Potions the next morning. She had finished it two days after it was assigned, but thought she better run through it one more time before she handed it in to Snape. So Lorelai was left to study on her own in the Library. However, she hadn’t been studying, exactly.

Lorelai was all alone in the Library, as hardly any students were there past six. She had simply set all her things down on the table in the middle of the biography section, and continued to work from there. She was currently rifling through the card index, a small piece of parchment in between her fingers, and a muggle pencil twisted into the top half of her hair, keeping it up in a bun.

The Hogwarts card index was so large, as the Library was so large, that an entire room was devoted to it. The gray lady was a frequent haunt, though she didn’t help at all, as she never spoke. Lorelai had taken off her school robes, and left them with her bag and the only other two books she had found. She heard footsteps approaching, and was oddly grateful, as she found it easier to study when there was a little bit of noise in the room.

Lorelai had been looking through the card index for more than twenty minutes. She had already pulled ‘Modern Aurors’ and ‘Aurors Through The Centuries: Volume 15’ off their shelves, but she hadn’t yet looked through them. She heard the stifled sounds of Madam Pince speaking to whoever had entered the Library, and heard them set their books down. Within a minute, Draco Malfoy stepped into the card index room.

“Fancy running into you.” He said. Lorelai turned around, her reading glasses balanced on the end of her nose. She managed a small smile to him.

“Oh, hi Draco.” She quickly replied, and turned back to the card index drawer. She had been looking for ‘Bones’ for quite some time, but there were over fifty drawer dedicated to the letter ‘B’, and more than 15 just to ‘Bo’. Lorelai didn’t realize what a common wizard name ‘Bones’ was, though what she could gather from the cards was that most of the line had died out around the beginning of the 1500’s.

“‘Hi Draco?’” He asked, leaning against the wall of drawers, “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, staring at her intently.

“What is what, supposed to mean?” Lorelai asked, thoroughly distracted, flipping through a few more cards quickly.

Draco rolled his eyes, then shook his head slightly and sighed, “Never mind.” He watched her flip through a few more cards, before his curiosity got the better of him. “What are you looking for?” he asked, leaning in and looking over her shoulder.

“Jossalin Bones.” Lorelai said mindlessly, continuing through. Draco stood up slightly, his posture improving a little bit, and he looked at the side of her head.

“Jossalin Bones? What do you need to know about her?” he asked.

“Well, I saw a picture of her with my uncle over Christmas, and it just got me very interested in her.” She explained, before stopping her fingers immediately, and turning back a few cards. “Ah HA!” she shouted. “God, I’ve been looking for nearly half an hour. Do you have any idea how many ‘Bones’ there are?” Lorelai looked at Draco. He had never seen her before in her glasses.

“Ya, quite a lot.” He said, trying to hide a smile.

“Oh no, but there’s two! How on earth are there two Jossalin Bones?” Lorelai asked, flipping back and forth between the two cards. “I thought I would lose my mind in the ‘J. Bones’ section, but none of their years matched up, and here they are, two cards without years on them!”

“It’s that one.” Draco said, pointing to the second.

“How do you know?” Lorelai asked, looking quizzically.

“It’s Jossalin M Bones, not ‘F’, just trust me.” He said. Lorelai looked at him one more time, then pulled the pencil out of her hair, letting it fall against her back. She was too busy scribbling down book titles and locations to see Draco watching her hair.

“I’ll be right back.” He said, and started towards the door.

“Okay.” Lorelai said distractedly. “Oh hey! Do you know where I’m sitting?” she asked, turning and looking at an empty doorway.

“Yes.” Draco called back, but continued out the door.

Lorelai had already returned to her table, finding one of the books about Jossalin. Draco set down two large books, one with the year 1979 written in gold letters on the front, the other with 1943.

“What are those?” Lorelai asked, motioning towards the large, leather bound books.

“Yearbooks.” Draco said simply.

“Okay, well, I’m glad you’re here, you can help me find all of these.” Lorelai said. As it turned out, her intention of him helping her was carrying the stack of books back to the table. For the higher shelves, Lorelai had used the bottom steps of the ladder, and instead of dropping the books down, and charmed them to make them weightless.

“Dammit, most of these books are on the top most shelves.” Lorelai grumbled, climbing to the top rungs of the ladder. Draco, who was still on the ground below, holding three books, was leaning his head to one side.

“Ya, god dammit.” He agreed, staring up her skirt. Lorelai tapped the tip of her wand on the spine of one of the books, and it stuck to it, until Lorelai guided it off the shelf and gently onto the top of the pile Draco was holding. He had straightened his neck of course, to keep himself from seeming suspicious. As soon as she turned back to look at the shelf, Draco tilted his head again, going back to his viewing pleasures.

“Which title was that again?” Lorelai asked, looking down at him and catching him off guard. He snapped his head back up into its normal upright position, and looked at her, fighting a smile and his eyes wide.

“What?” he asked.

“Hey! Knock it off!” she commanded. Draco simply laughed in reply.

“Since when do you where boy shorts?” he asked.

“Since I’ve been climbing ladders in the Library!” Lorelai answered indignantly, “Since when do you know the difference?” she asked. And unless Draco had ever spied on her, he had never found out what kind of underwear she had normally worn.

“Well…” He sounded like he was trying to answer normally, “Well, never.” He finally said, “You don’t seem the type to wear shorts.”

“Oh really?” Lorelai asked, raising an eyebrow, “And what kind of underwear do you think I normally wear? What type of girl am I, Draco?” she asked impatiently.

He paused, “Well uh… is this my wishful thinking or is there a penalty for getting it wrong?”

“There’s a penalty for opening your mouth again, so shut your pie hole!” Lorelai said firmly, and turned back to the shelf, growling slightly. Draco titled his head to the side again, a delighted smile on his face. Lorelai guided one more book down to him, though reinstalled its original weight to it. She had grabbed another few books off a few of the lower shelves, and they were walking back to their table together.

“I’ve seen you naked you know.” Draco said suddenly, to break the silence.

“What?” Lorelai asked, her voice squeaking as she turned and looked over her shoulder at him. He was carrying six or seven books, she had lost count, and she was only carrying three, so she was able to hold them in one arm.

“I’m just saying you shouldn’t have a problem with me looking up your skirt, since I’ve seen you naked.” Draco shrugged slightly, his voice nonchalant.

Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him, “That is the dumbest reasoning I have ever heard.” She said. He however, smiled abundantly.

“You are so easy, you know that?” he asked. Lorelai shook her head and turned back around. “Too bad it’s not, you know… literal.” Draco said. Lorelai un-charmed the books, and Draco stumbled underneath their weight.

Lorelai and Draco were sitting on opposite sides of the table, both reading quietly, though Draco was flipping through ‘Dark Wizards of the Modern Era.’ Lorelai closed her book, and set down her notes. She was leaning against the table, her elbows spread apart.

“Why are you here?” Lorelai asked. Draco had been eating an apple, but stopped and looked up at her.

“What?” he asked, pulling the apple away from his mouth.

“What are you doing here. You’re not working on homework, you’re not helping me, really, and you pulled that book out of your bag.” Lorelai listed.

“Is it a crime to read in the Library?” he asked.

“No, it’s just, you could have read that in your common room, why here?” Lorelai asked, sliding her glasses off.

“It was too noisy in the common room. No one would leave me alone.” Draco said, and turned back to his book. Lorelai continued to stare at him. He could obviously feel her eyes burning into him still, because not even thirty seconds later, he turned back to her.

“What?” he asked, sounding annoyed.

“You’re voice has lowered again.” Lorelai said, staring at him with her eyes slightly narrowed. He stopped chewing his piece of apple, and looked down her shirt. She was bending forward, with her hands folded on the table and her chest pressing up against her arms, the top two buttons of her uniform shirt undone.

“Well, you’re boobs have gotten bigger since October, but I wasn’t going to say anything.” He said indifferently, and turned back to his books. Lorelai shook her head slightly and picked her book back up. After about half a minute, Draco sighed loudly and dramatically.

“Fine, I’ll help you.” He said, closing his book noisily and setting his apple down on the table. He turned in his seat, taking his feet off the table and standing up, walking around the table to sit next to Lorelai. She moved her chair a little to make room for him.

Draco grabbed the large, leather bound year book that read 1979 on it, and pried open the cover, going immediately to the very back. He flipped to the second page of the index, running his finger quickly down a long list of names. Lorelai could help but watch him, and was thoroughly distracted from her book.

“There.” He said, pointing to her name, “Jossalin M Bones, told you so.”

“Oh shut it.” Lorelai said, she had been leaning in to look at the page, writing down page numbers rather quickly. Draco, of course, had not slid the book closer to her, which meant she had to lean in next to him to see the numbers.

Lorelai sat back upright in her seat, and slid the piece of parchment from the card index room into the book she had been reading. Draco reached for the second year book, just as Lorelai slid the first closer to her. He deftly flipped through these pages as well, though he had no need to consult the pages in the back.

“So what do you know about Jossalin Bones?” Draco asked slyly, turning a page casually and looking at Lorelai.

“All I’ve found out so far is that she’s the eldest daughter of a squib and a muggle. She had one older brother, but he was non magical, and moved in with his muggle grandmother when he found out that the rest of his six siblings were magical.” Lorelai said, then licked her lips to continue. “I know the obvious, about how she was an Auror, one of the rare few Aurors that have been able to start their training while still at Hogwarts.”

“Did it happen to mention in there that she had blue eyes, and all of her siblings had brown?” Draco asked. Lorelai looked a little puzzled at him.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked.

“Nothing, I just thought it was odd.” Draco smirked at her, then shrugged playfully and looked back at his year book. “What else?” he asked.

“She died with her sisters, when Voldemort killed her two weeks before Halloween.” Lorelai said, “Her sisters were still in school, and they had both been accepted into the Auror training program, though they probably would not have been let in while still in school if it hadn’t been for Jossalin. It says in this book,” Lorelai tapped one she had already read through quickly, “That she was had a ‘talent for persuasion, and abundant charm.’” Lorelai quoted.

She turned and looked at Draco suspiciously, “How do you know so much about her anyway?” she asked.

“It’s not a crime to read is it?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“I’m not persecuting you, stop saying that.” Lorelai said, turning and looking at the book she had open in front of her. It was a picture of the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. Jossalin was standing on one end, her blond, shoulder length hair braided into pigtails. Standing next to her was Sirius, he too had shoulder length hair, though his was black, and layered, feathered away from his face. Lorelai couldn’t help but laugh.

“Bloody hell, he does look like his father.” Draco said, pointing to James Potter, Quidditch Captain, kneeling in the front row with the other two chasers.

“He’s got his mum’s eyes though, that’s what everyone says.” Lorelai said, looking at the picture still. Draco, however, sat up, doing his best to hide a smile, and failed in the end, but looked at her a little strangely.

“Did you just say ‘mum’?” he asked, chuckling a bit.

Lorelai grinned and quickly punched him in the arm, “Shut up, I’ve been here for eight months.” She said, her American accent suddenly very strong and very clear, even though a few of her words had been getting a faint accent.

Lorelai turned back to the picture, and her eyes went back to her Uncle, then over to a shorter girl standing next to him, whom Lorelai seemed to recognize. Scanning the roster, she discovered it was Arabella Figg, who had played keeper. Next to her was an incredibly tall boy, with hair long past his waist, and farther down than Lorelai could see because of the people in front of him, but he had it loosely pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He was the other beater, and Lorelai recognized him as Joan’s father, Maximus.

“The books all have chapters about Sirius, how he was a bad influence, or people suggest he turned her in somehow, just because they were dating at the time of her death.” Lorelai said, disgust in her voice. Obviously, from the way Lupin had reacted about hiding Jossalin’s pictures at Christmas, it would have hurt Sirius very much to be reminded of her.

“It’s bonkers to think that someone would turn in their own pregnant girlfriend. I think to assume so is ludicrous.” Draco said off handedly.

“What did you say?” Lorelai asked, her mouth hanging open slightly.

“What?” Draco asked, looking at her slyly, it seemed he had been waiting to find an opportunity to tell her that.

“She was pregnant when she was murdered?” Lorelai asked, looking Draco directly in the eye. He smirked to one side.

“By Sirius Black.” He said.

“How do you know that?” Lorelai asked, sounding surprised.

“You know, my father being an original Death Eater does have some advantages.” Draco said, raising his eyebrows. “I get told things that get left out of history books.”

“She was pregnant by my Uncle?” Lorelai asked, “Are you sure?” she asked again.

“Why do you think Voldemort wanted her dead?” Draco asked, lowering his voice and leaning in slightly, “Her sisters were just an added bonus.” He said, meeting her bright blue eyes.

Lorelai looked at him for a minute, then turned back to the year book, flipping through the next few pages. On the following page there was a picture of James Potter and Lily Evans. Lorelai stopped and looked at it.

“I didn’t know they were Head Boy and Head Girl, that’s so cute!” she said, trying to change the subject; lighten the mood.

Draco snorted, “Big deal, happens all the time.” He said. Lorelai turned a few more pages ahead, where she saw the Gryffindor seventh year page, and eight pictures were there; five boys and three girls. Sirius was first, followed by Joan’s father, Maximus, then Professor Lupin, James Potter, and finally, at the end of the row, Peter Pettigrew. Below them were the three girls. Endrea, one of the girls Lorelai recognized from the box of pictures, was at the end, two long chunks of red hair framing her face, though the rest was cut chin length. Lily was in the middle, and there at the beginning, was Jossalin.

“You almost look like her.” Draco said.

“Ya,” Lorelai said, “Weird huh? Well, she would have been my aunt had she survived.” She said. Jossalin was smiling up quite frequently, her blue eyes sparkling.

“Hey look at this.” Draco said, laying the other year book over it. It was the graduating class of 1943, Slytherin House. This page, however, was only boys, and there were 13 boys in Slytherin House for just that year. The girls were on the next page.

“Him.” Draco said, pointing to the last boy in the second row.

“What about him.” Lorelai said scathingly, looking at the boy, a rather good looking young man, with dark black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. He had a very defined jaw, though he looked to be slight, he had certain lines to his forehead and his nose, which were long and straight, and his nose came to a bit of a point. He looked perfectly normal, but there was an underlying personality that was untrustworthy. Especially in the way he kept smirking.

“Look at his eyes.” Draco said.

“Why?” Lorelai asked, refusing to look back at the picture.

“Trust me, just do it. I’m trying to make a point.” Draco said, looking up at Lorelai. She sighed heavily and looked down at the picture.

“Fine. I did.” she said, looking back up impatiently at him.

“Do you know who Tom Riddle is?” Draco asked, leading her on still.

“No, Draco, I’m acting this standoffish for the hell of it.” Lorelai drawled sarcastically.

“Now look at Jossalin again.” He said. Lorelai did as he asked. “Look at her eyes.”

“What’s your point?” she asked.

“They almost look alike, yes?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Her eyes look more like mine than do like his.” Lorelai said edgily. “Just because two people have the same color eyes doesn’t mean anything. What are you trying to get at anyway?” Lorelai asked.

Draco shrugged, “I just thought it was peculiar, that’s all.” Draco said, shutting the book. Lorelai narrowed her eyes and growled at him.

“Draco, that was way too detailed to simply be something you noticed. What are you trying to say?” Lorelai asked, “If you’re trying to tell me that they’re related somehow, I think you’re insane. They look nothing alike, except maybe for their eyes, but that’s very vague and far reaching at best. So what was the point of all that?”

“I just thought that you should know what he looked like before he…” Draco trailed off, a strange look behind his eyes. He looked away from Lorelai. “I just wanted you to see that picture, that’s all really.” He said, and then a distracted look came across his face, “I really didn’t mean anything by it, and did you growl at me?” he asked, a slight smile on his face now. Lorelai narrowed her eyes again, and again, growled at him, turning back to her books.

“You did! You growled at me!” Draco laughed.

“Shut up or I’ll hex you.” Lorelai said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

“Damn, you’re sexy when you’re angry!” Draco smiled largely at her. Lorelai looked over at him, trying to pass a closed lipped smile off as irritation.

“I’m closing the Library, children. Time to leave.” Madam Pince said, suddenly behind them. She looked at all of the books that Lorelai had stacked up on the table around her with a sense of foreboding. Lorelai saw this and looked back at her.

“Would I be able to leave those books on the table, just overnight? I’m going to be back first thing in the morning.” Lorelai said standing, so she was eye level with Madam Pince. “That way you won’t have to put the books away, only to have me take them back down tomorrow. And tomorrow I can check them out, and if I don’t it tonight, then we can all go to bed right now. It really saves you a lot of work tonight.”

Madam Pince had been listening intently, as had Draco, though he was looking back and forth between their faces, and had seen the subtle change in Madam Pince’s expression. “Alright dear.” She sighed, “As long as you’re back first thing in the morning.”

“I will be. I promise. I have a lot to finish up.” Lorelai smiled pleasantly, and scooped up her robes in one arm, and her book bag in the other. “Thank you very much.” Lorelai said giving her another smile. Draco had grabbed hold of his things as well, and Madam Pince had returned to the main Library desk.

“Goodnight.” Lorelai said, still smiling, and Draco opened the door for her. “Thanks.” she said quietly to him as they stepped out into the hall.

“You’re good at convincing people.” Draco chuckled slightly.

“I’ve always been good at persuading the people I needed to.” Lorelai smirked, “It’s a gift.” She laughed. They walked together silently for a while until they reached the main staircase. Draco looked at her.

“See you tomorrow.” He said, and turned towards the stairs.

“Hey Draco,” Lorelai stopped him. He turned back to her and stepped closer. “I was kind of rude tonight. I tend to get grumpy when things don’t work the exact way I planned them out.”

“Who doesn’t?” Draco asked with a smile. Lorelai smiled back and looked down bashfully. Draco looked at her for a moment in contemplation, and then licked his lips nervously. “Hey.” He said, and Lorelai looked up at him, “I like spending time with you.” He said, and Lorelai smiled broadly at this.

Draco shifted all of the things he had in his hands to his left arm, and leaned in, not quickly, but still relatively speedy, and put his right hand lightly on her cheek. Lorelai closed her eyes lightly and tilted her head slightly to reach his lips. The kisses quickly followed each other, though individually they were slow. The first few were simply his lips, but by the fourth kiss Draco had ran his tongue against her lips, and Lorelai quickly followed. He shifted his shoulders just slightly, moving in slightly closer to her. Lorelai had all of her things in one hand anyway, and set her right hand on his shoulder.

After half a minute, Lorelai slowed the kiss down, keeping her tongue to herself, and drawing out her cue to move into the next kiss. At the very last, she kissed his lower lip, sucking on it just slightly.

Draco pulled away from her, smiling at her slightly, and giving her a look that suggested he could see right through her. Lorelai was caught in his eyes right then, and thought about kissing him again, but quickly stifled that and every emotion she felt fluttering up with it.

“Good night.” Lorelai said, smiling slightly to one side.

“Yes it is.” Draco said, and looked at her for another moment, then turned and started back down the stair again. Lorelai sighed quietly, watching him for a moment, then turning, and starting back up towards Gryffindor Tower.

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