He chuckled. "It gets a bit crowded there too... six boys and a girl then there's myself, and Hermione, and now you and D, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley..." She smiled. "It may be a bit over crowded but their home is large enough, and it's cozy there, it feels like a real home, y'know?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, very proud I'm sure.." She retorted sarcastically and stood up taking another look around. "Hnn... " She picked up a few things and set them down studying a couple objects, pondering a few things, then thinking better of the matter entirely and set them back down.

"I guess with all those people two more isn't a big deal." She nodded a bit and smiled. At least they had somewhere to go when Christmas came around. That was always good. She rubbed her arms a bit and shivered. She looked over at him before she scooted closer trying to steal some of his warmth. "Usually people aren't warmer then me."

"Well if you had us as kids you'd probably be proud if we stopped pranking to get a girlfriend."

"If you didn't guess...she's not the biggest fan of what we do. She's always telling us to knock it off. We've toned it down a little."

"And we'll behave at Christmas. We wouldn't want to thinking all we ever do is prank." He chuckled and pointed over to the cash register. "You know we have a little manual that tells what all the objects do if you ever wanted to read it."

He watched her for a moment and chuckled softly. "If you're cold we could go back in..." he looked over her shoulder towards the castle and stiffened slightly when he felt her lean against him, "or not..." he breathed softly watching her for a moment before clearing his throat and glancing away. "Uh, am I, uh.. warm then...?" If he wasn't he sure felt warm in his face.

She nodded looking back over to the two of them. "I do hope you're not in detention.. all the time..." She smirked and waved her hand, "That'd be a real drag on a relationship... You two, off in detention... me, here.... alone... aside from customers.. what ever will I do if someone makes a pass at me?"

"I'm comfy right here." She smiled to herself before looking over at the castle. She laughed to herself quietly listening to him. "You're warmer then me right now." She looked up at him and blinked. "I'm sorry...would you like me to let go?"

"I'm sure if won't be all the time. We could tone it down so we won't leave you all alone all the time."

"But on the off chance someone does make a pass at you, you could always use whats on the shelf over there..." Fred chuckled pointing over his shoulder.

"... is that a baseball bat with a nail in it...?"

He cleared his throat. "N-no, it's alright..."

"What? Oh...yeah I forget we had that. I meant all the stuff below it...but feel free to you the bat if you want."

"The bat would probably hurt a lot more then anything else in this room."

She smiled nuzzling her head against his shoulder. "Ok." She looked up at him. "We could go inside if you'd like...Sitting in front of the fire would warm us quickly." Gonna cuddle...? Shut up!

She laughed softly. "Well that's good to know..." She smirked, eyeballing the bat, probably her weapon of choice since she wasn't sure how other magical things would affect her or if they'd even work. She'd much rather have something she could use instead of something that wouldn't work.

He chuckled softly watching his breath fog in front of him shivering slightly. "Well that's up to you really... You wanted to go for a walk."

"You can't carry it around during school hours." He raised his eyebrow and shook his head.

"Though could anything in here work on her anyway? I think it would be a bit dangerous to test out."

"I didn't realize it would get this cold." She frowned and shook her head. "Let's go inside before we get sick." She smiled and tugged on his arm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Monday Mel walked with the group down to Care of Magical Creatures class. The only thing she dreaded was the fact that it was outside. She hated the cold weather and was already starting to shiver. She mumbled to herself under her breath before she stopped with the class in an open area in the front of the woods. "I wish we could do this class indoors..." She looked over at D and chuckled. "Which animal do you think is going to listen to you today?" It could have been any animal really. The wind picked up a bit sending a blast of cold air through the group. Mel squirmed slightly before she hide herself behind Harry since he was taller. "It's so cold..." She grumbled resting her forehead on his shoulder.

She smirked. "It'd be really cool if it were dragons.. but I think that's a bit too dangerous, but at least them breathing fire would keep us warm.." She smirked raising an eyebrow as she ducked behind Harry but kept the 'OoooOoo' to herself, thankful no one could read her mind. She continued along making her way to the clearing in the woods, thankful that the trees were dense enough to block most of the wind.

He blinked a bit, somewhat thankful for the chill in the hair, his cheeks already red from the wind. he laughed softly and made his way to the clearing shivering a bit to warm himself as he watched Hagrid with a raised eyebrow. the creatures lounging behind him looks somewhat familiar. Large bird-like creatures cleaned their feathers, sporting light gray to white feathers, some with darker blotches, changing for the winter season. Only large feline lower bodies made it clear that these weren't Hippogriffs. "Griffins?" He tilted his head, pondering if there was a very big difference between the two creatures.

He scoffed slightly eying the beasts warily, last half-bird monster he had to deal with ripped through his arm. He watched the group walk into the clearing and scowled, leering at Harry and Mel. Lucky aren't we...?

She looked from Malfoy to Mel and Harry and then back, raised an eyebrow, shrugged and looked over to one of the Griffins who was tiling it's head curiously. She held out her hand and smiled, puckering her lips, calling it over with a few 'kissy' noises. "Hello sweetheart..."

Fleek squawked and tilted his head the other way before running at her, skidding to a halt in front of her and nuzzling her cheek, a bit more weight then needed.

She yelped and laughed softly patting the side of his neck. "Can we not headbutt my face?"

He snorted softly and shifted back sitting in front of her, looking down at her with wide sad eyes.

She sighed softly and stroked his beak. "I didn't say stop, you just have to be a bit more gentle is all..."

Fred and George had a free period this class so the two decided to go bother they're girlfriend in class. The two made their way into the group before they looked at each other then to the griffin. "I'm starting to think she's easily going to get an A in this class."

"I don't know how she does it...but it seems like cheating." The two laughed for a moment. "How do you do that? Make all those animals like you?"

"I'd be perfectly happy with dragons~" Mel watched the griffin run over. She chuckled and shook her head. "I guess it was a griffin now. It's so cute. Such pretty creatures..." She raised her eyebrow. "Doesn't need to take her head off though..." She smiled listening to Hagrid go on about them. Mel shivered more before she hid under her scarf a bit. She yawned a bit and wrapped her arms around his. Thankfully due to her...ability she could finish her homework rather quickly so she could spend more time in front of the fire. As she watched the birds she wonder if they would get to rid them. She'd rather fly herself but she probably shouldn't do that in front of everyone.

Lilly sat quietly on the small stone wall that was near the group. Her ears twitched watching the large birds. Her fur kept her warm so she didn't have to worry about freezing.

She looked to the twins and rolled her eyes turning back to Fleek and stroking his neck. "Same way I tamed both of you..?" She smirked looking over her shoulder before nodding to Mel.

He cooed softly and nuzzled against Mel stretching out one of his wings, shielding her from the wind. Her rather enjoyed it, the coolness felt nice.

He laughed softly and blinked a bit stepping out of the way of Fleek after being nudged out of the way. he wasn't about to argue with him and simply got on Mel's other side, thankful for the wind shield as well.

He leered again, grumbling something to himself.

They weren't exactly sure if they were tamed but anything to get them on her good side for later wasn't a bad thing.

"Well hopefully you don't pass it around or our mother will like to know how you did it and we certainly wouldn't want that."

"You're a handsome fellow aren't you?" She smiled and petted him for a bit. "Thanks..very sweet of you blocking the wind for me." She nodded and placed a kiss on his beak.

His feathers shuddered as he closed his eyes letting rip a loud though slightly awkward sounding purr.

She giggled softly. "Reminds me of Roxie..." She looked at the twins and waved her hand. "Our little secret...." She smiled softly. "So long as you promise no more pranks.. at least until after Christmas break..."

He smirked raising an eyebrow at the twins. He wouldn't exactly call that being 'trained' more like black mail and bribery, though he supposed that was one way to train a person.

"No more pranks until after Christmas?"

"I hope we can handle that much responsibility. Are you sure you can trust us to do that?"

"I can only imagine how happy Mum will be. Not quite sure if anyone will believe us."

"Probably expect some giant prank after...not that it wouldn't be a bad idea..."

"We should start planning that now then."

"I don't think they can..." She whispered shaking her head. She placed her hands back at her sides and glanced around the group before she spotted Malfoy. She raised her eyebrow before she turned her attention back to the large griffin in front of her. Mel rubbed his neck before she yawned a bit. She listened to the girls chat in her head as she rested her head against his shoulder again.

He continued to glare, tensing his fists. I'll get them back for this, no one is going to make a fool out of me. I'm a Malfoy, I always get what I want.... I will get what I want....

She giggled leaning over to Mel. "You'd be surprised what someone will do to get something they want...." She glanced over at Malfoy, rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Just me or does he seem desperate and devastated, more so then usual...?"

He looked to the twins, then to D and back, smirking to himself, then to Malfoy, to Mel and back, frowning softly. What the heck is his problem...?

He squawked and ruffled his feathers a bit to make himself look bigger glaring at Malfoy who yelped and shrunk back completely behind his lackies. Fleek gave a satisfied snort and nuzzled Mel happily hoping for more affection.

"The glaring is making me uncomfortable." She glanced away not really wanting to make eye contact with him. He kinda seems like the revenge type. That's what we're here for. She wasn't really sure if that made her feel better. "What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned. "He still pissy about the duel? He can suck it up." She watched him quickly hide behind his crew and shook her head looking down at Fleek. "Good boy.." She giggled and stroked his feathers.

"Probably." He shook his head. "And don't forget that fact that he just hates Harry."

"So he has two things to be angry about. Along with most of his life I suppose."

"At least we get a break soon. We can hide in the common room."

"I don't want to stay hidden in the common room because of him...I'll kick his ass..." Mel huffed.

"Mel, would you rather be in the common room where there's a nice hot fire... or wandering around in the drafty hallways like that idiot itching for a fight...?" She rolled her eyes. "You know as well as I do that... inside the castle you can't take him on... you have to keep your secret from the rest of the school... we need to have some kind of ace up our sleeve just in case..."

He coughed slightly, scratching his cheek. The common rooms were much warmer then the halls, and he didn't really want to start anything that would get his house in trouble. he paused for a moment. "Oh, Dumbledore wanted to see us after class didn't he..?" He frowned slightly looking to the others, raising an eyebrow. It'd be stupid of him to ask 'Do you think he knows?' because of course he did.

She nodded, crossing her arms to keep them warm, as she shifted her weight to keep her circulation a bit more constant then it usually was. "He did..." She frowned softly, a bit unsure if they'd be getting reprimanded for their actions or not. She for one wasn't going to let them take the fall for Mel and her own actions if it came to that. "I'm sure it's nothing..." She smiled.

He clicked his tongue and cooed softly, tilting his head and preening the feathers on his chest. Another purr ripped through his chest at the attention he was getting, stomping his feet happily, resisting the urge to roll over on his stomach to get a belly rub.

"As bad as it would be..it would be funny...I already have a few volunteers..." She coughed. "But I guess you're right...I should keep it hidden as long as possible...We'll be good as long as the school isn't threatened." She nodded. "Oh he does?" She blinked looking back at the castle. She did hope they wouldn't get in trouble. At least Harry and them should be safe since they didn't do anything.

"We could be going to get yelled at."

"Not that it's anything new for us but I'm sure neither of you want to get a record."

"I'm sure it's nothing big...but it's going to be about our little adventure I bet."

"He wants to see ALL of us? He should just be yelling at them right..? We just tried to stop them."

She frowned at Ron. Okay, now letting him take the blame for any trouble we get seems like a good idea.. She huffed softly, kicking a pebble at him. "Oi, who said we were going to let him yell at you guys. Who the hell do you take us for anyway?"

He turned his head to Ron to see what had gotten the girl so upset, not really comprehending the situation, but he let out a slow frown, carefully lowering his wings and folding them at his back, turning around and stalking towards him.

She blinked and frowned at Fleek and shook her head.

He straightened out, letting out a whining squawk and snorted through his nostrils before rounding about to Mel's side and nuzzling her cheek.

"Hey I never said you'd be trying to blame us! I'm not that rude geez."

"Alright calm down kids...class is almost over and we can see what he wants." All of them knew already but the rest of the class didn't need to know. Thankfully the class after this was a more magic class so they'd miss out on it.

She huffed softly and tightened her scarf around her neck, . When class was over she shoved her hands in her pockets and made her way up the path with the others. She blinked and turned her head, Watching Fleek look around innocently, ten feet behind them. "Aw come on.. you know you can't come into the castle... Go back to the others..."

He snorted and shook his head continuing to follow her when she continued.

He laughed softly. "If they don't get yelled at for going into the woods, bringing a griffin into the castle will definitely get them something..."

"Does it count if he follows us?" Mel blinked watching Fleek and giggled.

"Well I can't say we know that punishment."

"Never had one follow us to school before."

"Aww come on Fleek. We'll visit you later promise. Right now we have to go to our uncles' office and hopefully not get in trouble." She frowned.

He snorted and looked up at the castle and squawked, scanning the windows, he chirped and flapped his wings taking off into the sky.

"Well that's that, I hope...." She made her way into the castle and up to Dumbledore's office. "Um, you wanted to see us Uncle..?"

"Well, yes, but first... I seem to have a visitor on my balcony." he called from the doors leading out to the balcony.

She smacked her forehead. "Fleek..." She whined watching the griffin prance about the balcony, cooing and chirping.

"Ah, I see you know him... he seems rather fond of you."

"He wanted to follow us into the castle."

"I see.. I'm sure we could make arrangements for him to be kept close by, seeing as he doesn't take no for an answer." he turned away from the window watching the group quietly. "There seems to be one less monster roaming the woods and eating students, I guess I should thank you for that."

"Well Sir, it wasn't us.. It was the girls.. well, Mel really. We only went along with them to try to stop them, but they had decided to go."

Mel watched Fleek leave. "We'll probably see him again." She shook her head and followed the group into the castle. She raised her eyebrow at the window. "Well that was fast..."

"Guess you have another pet now.." He laughed and shook his head.

"He's a little big for the room though."

When he started talking about the monster she thought she would have got in trouble. "Way to throw me under the bus Harry..." She then puffed her cheeks out. "I only did it cause you were so nice to us letting us stay here...I figured I'd be able to at least do that for everyone."

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. he only meant to give her credit, not get her in trouble.

"I see, and how exactly did you manage to accomplish such a task?"

She scratched her cheek and explained Mel's abilities, without going into too much detail of how they came to have their abilities or the extent of them.

He nodded chuckling softly. "I'll have to speak with Lupin about private lessons for the two of you. We can't exactly expose your secrets just yet, and i trust your present company will keep your secrets."

He chirped and let his feathers ruffle, sniffing at Fawks and huffing slightly.

"Oh hush you, Fawks isn't going to follow us to our room."

He nodded and snorted again for good measure.

He chuckled softly and waved his wand. "That should take care of his housing arrangements. A large covered balcony should be enough for now, if you need anything else let me know and I'll send the house elves up to see to it." He looked over to Fleek and smiled. "Now, you cannot wander about the school."

He snorted again and looked around the room innocently.