taking control

Chapter 13:Queen of the Jungle

A/N: Well here it finally is, chapter 13. This chapter was a right pain in the arse at times, let me tell you. A lot of parts were written and rewritten several times over before things started shaping up. I of course owe a lot of thanks to Ruby who was working with me on it every step of the way. She probably literally has close to 20 versions of this chapter by now. She has been keeping me on task and motivated and is a well-spring of ideas, and I cannot give her enough credit for all that she does for me.

I also have a new addition to the ranks for this update. Christine (chreechree to those of you at SIYE) has kindly offered to proof-read the final drafts for me before they go live. I'm sure you'll begin to notice that the chapters will be a little more polished and mistake-free from here on in. My thanks go out to her as well.

I'd also like to thank all of you have been kind enough to leave me reviews for the story. I can't respond to every single one without it eating up way too much of my time, which I'm sure you'd rather me spend writing anyway, but just know that I really do appreciate each and every review that is given. So thank you.

And now, without further ado, I give you chapter 13. Happy reading!

Chapter 13:Queen of the Jungle

Following the success of their first prank, Harry and Ginny, along with the majority of the school, were in high spirits for the next few days. The pranks on Malfoy and, even better, his reactions to them were the talk of the school.

Harry and Ginny caught themselves rushing to Harry's office several times each day to see which of the pranks would be triggered next. Malfoy had triggered several of the smaller pranks since then. To date his skin had changed coulors multiple times, and his hair had been Slytherin green for an afternoon. Harry had wanted to turn it Gryffindor colours, but Ginny had nixed the idea saying it would point suspicion onto their house. Harry could not help but agree with that logic.

There was one other prank that they did not actually get to witness, thankfully, but the map told them it had taken effect. This particular prank had been, in Harry's opinion, a work of evil genius on Ginny's part. Once the prank activated, it would cause Malfoy's underwear to shrink at a gradual pace. He would not notice much at first, but after five or ten minutes, it would become rather restrictive. Given more time, Harry imagined it would grow to be quite painful. The two shared a good laugh over that one.

On Thursday after Transfiguration, operation "Make Malfoy's life Hell" had landed a surprisingly successful blow when Malfoy triggered another one of their pranks. This one caused his robes to rapidly deteriorate until they were more worn and torn than any of the robes found in the second hand shops. It actually would not have been too terrible if Malfoy had not called so much attention to himself. He threw a tantrum the likes of which a two year old would be hard pressed to match in the middle of the Entrance Hall demanding to know who dared to play these pranks on him.

In doing so he caused everyone in the hallway to stop and stare at him. When Malfoy stopped screeching, Seamus loudly commented, "You'd think with all his money he could afford some decent robes. Or maybe when they threw his daddy in prison, they took all his wealth away as well."

Malfoy threw a hex at Seamus. The boy was able to block it with his own shield, though it would not have mattered since Harry had thrown a shield in front of him as well. The icing on the cake was the fact that Professor McGonagall had just arrived on the scene to investigate what the commotion was about and gave Malfoy detention for a full week for attacking another student. The incident had many of the students, Harry and Ginny definitely included, in good spirits for the rest of the day.

It was now Friday, the day before the last Hogsmeade trip of the term, and Harry was just entering the Common Room after spending some time in his office reading, when he noticed Ron approaching him somewhat nervously. "Err - could I talk to you for a minute, Harry?"