- "The essence of brewing the draught of the living dead…" The man at the front of the class started.

-"Huh what did he say?" The girl said.

-"The essence of baking gingerbread ." The boy answered

-"Oh 'kay, thanks. Really, I don't understand a single word coming out of that man's mouth…" Sighing she crossed her last line.

-…"is that the dragon scales must be heated on a steady flame.." The man dais said with a clear voice

-"is that the dragon scales must be heated after the brains ..." The boy said with a clear voice

-"How am I supposed to get brains?!" The girl blinked at her notes

-"Does it look like I care?" The boy raised his eyebrows

-"…the brains." Mumbled the girl

-"At the fair end, you add the feather of a hippogriff…-"

-"At the fair end, you add the bladder of a basilisk…"

-"…bladder of a basilisk.."

-"That way the brewage will turn invisible and inflammable..-"

-"That way the brewage will turn invisible and drinkable.."

-"..invisible and drinkable. I got everything, thanks Devon."

Seeing as the girl was actually believing it, I leaned over to her and said -"Perhaps it'd be better if you'd wear glasses Catelyn. Instead of always copying notes."

She widened her eyes -"What? Have you lost your mind, Betty? Do you think James would ever look twice at a girl with glasses?"

-"He's dating a girl with glasses."

The dark haired boy finally decided to join the conversation "Merlin, he probably needs glasses. Even the thought of dating that scum…"

-"Shut up Porter."

-"You shut up Lestrange. You may not need glasses, but it seems a black eye would surely help you."

-"And it's obvious a toothbrush would surely help you."

-"Watch your steps bitch. Devon, help me out here a little."

- "she is right though Porter, and please, no intruding the personal space man." The fair-haired boy turned his head to Slughorn who was giving the assignment for the coming lesson.

-"…expect an essay of at least 2 feet, next lesson. Subject: the draught of the living dead."

Catelyn threw her quill "Oh no, he didn't. Seriously, that guy hates our guts! Saturday is Peasley Weakley!"

"Come on, don't worry Catelyn. Devon will help you, won't you Devon?"

-"Of course Annabeth, I'll surely help Parkinson over here. We'll even brew it together and test it out on Potter!" Devon said with overdone enthusiasm

-"No, but what if he doesn't like it? Then I'd make him sick just before his next quidditch match!"

At that a silence followed, only erupted by Catelyn running through her notes. Devon and Porter both raised their eyebrows and shot each other an amused look.

-"And how am I supposed to find the bladder of a basilisk?"

And the silence following that last sentence was only being interrupted by Devon slapping the palm of his hand to his forehead, and me softly whispering to Catelyn: "The internet."

-"The internet yes I'll look that up!" Thanks Betty! And I got a free period now, so I can start on the essay and that way I'll have the entire weekend free for Jamesie! Yes!" Catelyn grabbed her bag from under the table and started stuffing her books and notes in it. "Bye everyone!"

And with that Catelyn Parkinson stood up and ran out of the potions classroom, leaving me wondering if she even knew what the internet was, never mind comprehending that we were in an ancient castle.

-"You're really going to help her with the essay, Devon?" I asked.

-"Have you lost your mind? Though perhaps I'll help her brewing it. I'm sure Jamesie would love that."

-"Don't even bother. James Potter accepting a drink from his biggest quidditch rival seems as likely as Porter here kissing Dominique Weasley."

"Hey!'

" You will have to wait until next year to become captain. And I highly doubt that you can change anything about our current Gryffindor status."

"You just wait Beth, after we win the coming match you'll come begging on your knees for me to forgive those words when Gryffindor finally wins the trophy."

"Har har."

Porter snorted " yeah right, you wish. Slytherin hasn't lost in 3 years."

"Nothing says that that cannot be changed, just not without a real team and mutual acceptance between the team players. Instead of the mess we've got now." I said glancing at Devon

"Yeah like you know so much about quidditch"

Raising my eyebrows I said "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Really Porter if you've got nothing better to say then just leave and yet again, mind the personal space." Devon shifted in his chair.

Porter stood up and after disbelievingly looking down, and saying "I'll save a buster for you." He also left.

"Not that this wasn't very refreshing" Gathering his stuff Devon looked around at the almost empty classroom. "There are other Slytherin puppies and maybe a few gryffindors I have to kick and make them cry."

Grabbing my bag, I followed him out of the classroom "You know, sometimes I wonder how you ever made it into Gryffindor. You'd be a great hufflepuff."

The corridor was full of students making their way to the great hall "Was that sarcasm Beth? Cause I have been asking myself the same question ever since I found the kitchens are directly next to the hufflepuff common room."

Same black hats and uniforms flashed in front of my eyes until a green tied figure passed by, pushing me out of my way.

"Seeing you in Gryffindor also surprised me. As did many, of course. I mean" With a high pitch voice he said "The daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange! A Gryffindor! What's next, dementors as snogbudies?"

"Please, let me repeat for only the billionth time that my father is Rabastan Lestrange, my mother isn't Bellatrix Lestrange, since she was DEAD before I was even in the making-"

"Not me who doesn't listen. I certainly believe daddy dearest wasn't busy doing naughty things with auntie dearest-"

"Eww Devon" He raised his hands up in mock surrender. His light green eyes wide

"Never mind questioning the time of the making of one Annabeth Le-"

"You know I'd ask him but since I never see him."

"Ask mommy dearest!" The guy was actually serious, or maybe he actually wasn't. It was always hard to tell with Devon Hillard.

"Yes of course!" Gesturing wildly with my hands I almost hit a first year on her way to the great hall. "I'll say: mother! Long time no see! You know who we also haven't seen in a long time? I think you know. I was just wondering when the making of me was starting to progress, since there's this annoying kid who-"

I was silenced by Devon who held his hand out "I get the point."

We reached the first floor. I could just make out the curly hair of Catelyn and the dark frizzy hair of Porter before turning a corner. For 5 years now Catelyn Park, Peter Porter, Devon Hillard and I have been following the same potions class but since all the gryffindors wanted to sit with gryffindors and all the slytherins with slytherins, we kind of fell out and were stuck sitting at the same table. For 5 years now.

You'd think that by then we would've changed seats or at least tried to get along... That didn't really happen. Still it could always be worse. That's a reassurance.

We finally reached the great hall and my eyes automatically searched for the bushy red hair that belonged to Rose Weasley.

"Hey, mind if I go to Rose? She's over there with-" Pointing at a few figures further down the Gryffindor table, Devon interrupted "I see Richard, you know, that monkey with glasses that apparently shares genes with me and that other twin and they're both waving, now why let those suckers down?" "And how shocking it Is that one of them shares genes with you."

Mumbling "Details" Devon made his way down the table, me following him and sitting next to the blond boy while Devon greeted the black haired one with glasses

"Hey Rich"

"Hey Poor!"

"hilarious really, even after 100 times" Richard apparently misunderstood his eye roll and cheerfully said:

"I know right!"

"Beth Beth Beth guess what!" Lorcan looked as if he could hardly keep himself from jumping up and down on his chair "Guess who's got a letter from T.W. Ivords asking to meet him!" I gasped "Me?"

Smacking his fork down the table he raised his eyebrows.

"Uhm" Devon said "Not to interrupt or something but who or what is T.W. Ivords?" With a jolt Lorcan turned to him.

"Merlin no, here we go again" Richard sighed and Lorcan took a deep breath "T.W. Ivords is the author of probably the best book written by men of all time. He wrote 5 books of a series called 'a shadows path' which tells a story about a wizard and a werewolf in the 18th century when there was no time for…"

Lorcan was in his element and Devon clearly regretted asking who the guy was, but knowing Lorcan he wouldn't stop anytime soon. Lorcan Scamander was probably one of the most interesting people I had ever met. He had the same dirty blond hair his brother had, and the same blue eyes all though maybe a bit lighter. Their personalities were completely different though. Where Lorcan was very energetic and had the oddest sense of humor, Lysander was more calm and collected and let's not forget Lorcan was gryffindor and Lysander a slytherin. Oh and Lorcan had just the slightest obsession with the series 'a shadows path'

-… So the fourth book 'a shadows path to the light' kind of explains what happened in the second book 'a shadows path to the new world' and shows more of the muggle girl's character involving her interests in dark magic and how they manage to contact the abandoned nation and free them from the chain that had cursed them many years ago…" Devon's eyes were wide while Lorcan told the story, complete with hand gestures and overly excited nodding.

"So Beth, is Gryffindor ready to break those filthy snakes neck?" Richard asked stroking his nonexistent beard.

" I don't know why you all assume I should know what Slytherin is planning to do-"

"Haven't I told you to wheedle with the enemy!"

I was starting to get the urge to strangle the boy in front of me, as most people got when talking to one Richard Monroe.

"About that! So I was thinking… How about no."

H flared his nostrils "But I've heard from Rose that James Potter is using a special weapon to finally win from his brother." That seemed to satisfy him more.

"I may hope so" Richard nodded with a hard expression

"Then I'll dance on the grave of their remaining dignity-" His blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses

"And eat those filthy snakes alive!" When he didn't get the reaction he was hoping to get, he looked me up and down, said "with some hot chili and just a flavor of mustard" Then he threw his head in his neck and roared with laughter. After a few seconds he stopped and stared to stare again with a cold glare as a response to my raised eyebrows.

Then he did what he always did; shot me such a dirty look and kept on staring until I laughed. Many times had I tried to resist, but had failed miserably. Eyes narrowed, nostrils wide , mouth half opened in a disgusted sort of way raising one eyebrow while still managing to wrinkle and yet again I found myself laughing at the same expression. Richard Monroe was Devon's cousin although they looked nothing alike. His hair was wavy black and almost fell into his eyes that were hidden behind large glasses. Always wore neat clothing although that didn't change anything about the fact that he assumable was born without the feeling of shame, and being one of the funniest people I had ever met. The 3 of them: Lorcan, Richard and Devon could be found together most of the time, even though their conversations mostly went on with bickering, eating or outsmarting the others (what was usually a fun sight to behold) just like they were dong at the moment.

"What's that piece of shit doing here?" my laughter died and my hands tensed under the table.

"What are you doing here Lestrange, weren't we clear enough last time? Fuck of!" Snapped a voice that was all too familiar.

"Why do you care? It's not like this is your table, go find another place to suck your girlfriends-"

"Jealous of my girlfriend you mean? Not so shocking." Loud laughter erupted on the other side of the table where a ravenclaw boy sat with a 6th year Gryffindor on his lap. The girl seemed busy undoing his blue tie but the boy was looking contemptuous at me. I noticed that the girl was the only Gryffindor amongst them, the others were all ravenclaw boys.

"My presence is wanted, unlike yours you see." The people around them were laughing again, like the situation was funny or somehow amusing. and I clenched my hands into fists.

"Why won't you go to that filthy father of yours-" He didn't have the chance to finish his sentence, cause there was me, standing up abruptly and taking the first thing I could see, a wooden spoon (very Gryffindor I know) and was about to strike if Richard hadn't grabbed my arm and pulled me back while I was looking in the blue eyes of the boy and wished the Gryffindor girl would finally get that she was dating a worthless pig and tighten the tie around his neck.

"Leave it Annabeth, it's not worth it" I heard Lorcan say behind me. The boys surrounding the snogging duo weren't laughing anymore "Don't you even start Scamander, never thought you'd become so pathetic and manage to even get death eater scum to feel sorry for –"

"Shut up!" Richard tightened his arms around me and I heard Devon laugh mockingly, his usually unimpressed self " Says the guy with monkeys as guards just because he himself is to afraid he might break a nail." Richard made a whooping noise "ouch, burn bitch!"

Around us, people were starting to stare. A fight was always a spectacle to behold here at Hogwarts. Then there was me wondering where the hell the teachers were?

The other boys cracked their knuckles and made faces whereat Richard loosened his grip on me, frowned and with one hand licked his thumb and pinky and went over his eyebrows with them. Another side effect of befriending Richard, laughing at the most inappropriate moments.

"You think this is funny?" Entangling himself from the girl he pushed himself up and I freed myself from Richard, walking straight up at him, hands clenched into fists by my sides.

"Shut up if you know what's good for you." He smirked, making my blood boil. Coming closer he took advantage of his height and looked down at me "You know Lestrange that if you even point a finger at me , I'll break it faster than you can say Azkaban." With that he pushed me against the table and walked past me, his friends that were done glaring at Richard and the Gryffindor girl walking behind him started laughing but that stooped the second I took my wand and with another movement Conan Priam hung upside down in the air.

I had just enough time to insert an evil laugh before I sprinted out of the hall before his friends could chase me. Conan's vague cry of "You're going down bitch!" sounded like music to my ears, just like the shout afterwards "Mister Priam, what's going on?!". Professor McGonagall, always making an entrance at the right time.

When I reached the grounds, the fresh air felt more than good. It was still quite frizzy for the time of the year, but after a while, you got used to the cold. I walked over the damp grass, passed the tree where students could always be found during warm days (doing anything that required doing absolutely nothing which felt absolutely right after OWLS and NEWTS) and a bit passed the black lake. Sadly, there was no squid to be seen.

Following the side of the black lake I made my way further to the forbidden forest. A bit further, hidden behind the pumpkins and trees there was Hagrid's place. No light could be seen so he must've been eating in the great hall.

The road made a bent and there were more and more trees so that the castle couldn't be seen very clear anymore. A small field full with flowers of variating shades and colors came into view, surrounding a large statue of a phoenix with spread wings. Behind it the black lake was smooth with a few leaves that had fallen from trees. I walked to the edge and looked down, a pair of dark eyes looked back. A girl with a bunch of dark hair, dark almond-shaped eyes and a pale skin. A lot of people had told me I looked exactly like my father. That the dark tendencies were typical for the Lestranges. I made a face and seeing my reflection, I wondered if my dad maybe looked like that. If his hair also looked that shaggy, and if he maybe had a moustache. I grabbed a piece of my hair and held it under my nose.

That absolutely looked horrible.

I really should ask more for pictures or my mother could finally tell me about him. But at the moment 'he looked just like you but then more manly' should do.

Rolling up my left sleeve, a scar became visible. Starting from my wrist with a slight curl and forming an almost straight line then stopping a few inches further. Its presence never really bothered me, the cause had been more striking than the keepsake. It reminded me of worse times, some of which I hoped were now in the past. Still, it didn't give me such a bad feeling. It was more some sort of reminder of what was and that was concurred now.

I turned around and walked over to the statue and sat cross legged in front of it. There were names carved in the stone on which the Pheonix was set-up. The name list went on and on and at the top, it said:

"In memory of the ones who died at the battle of Hogwarts

~ They'll be reminded in their acts of bravery and sacrifice. Between these walls that they helped to protect, they will never be forgotten, like they were part of it themselves.~

I drew my finger over a few names:

Dobby The House elf, Dorcas Meadows…

They were people who were reminded, not just as memories, they were legends. Would they know that? Wherever they were now?

Gabe Dawn, Gemma Stone…

Still a piece in people's hearts.

Gerard Goot…

They were fighters.

George Weasley

And they'd have their scars to prove it.

Hey There!

First of all, thank you for reading this ff and just wanted to say that the first chapters may be a bit confusing and are mostly based on new characters but 'round the 4th chapter or so it will be more clear where this story is going and what it is all about

Tell me what you think, any opinion is appreciated :)