Chapter 2

Finally we got to the infirmary. Neville waited at the door as Hagrid dropped a fainted Draco off.

"What happened?" Mrs. Pomfry asked

"The Lestrange girl punched him."

"Good for her."

I gigged as I heard this. Neville chuckled and I felt the vibrations trail through my belly and it tickled. Neville then decided I was laughing too much, I was supposed to be in trouble after all, he thrust his shoulder up and I bounced briefly up in the air, being readjusted as he did. I flailed briefly.

"Hey! Not cool!" I whined. He chuckled again. I felt as though I may shiver at that deep rumble. I heard Hagrid walking over, and as he spotted us he started to laugh.

"Could I walk?" I asked finally. Neville and Hagrid shared a great laugh at my misfortune and finally Neville set me down. I sighed as the pressure from my tummy receded. We walked in the direction the Headmistress' office. Once we were out of view of the infirmary my arms were freed.

"You've got detention, tomorrow, with me." Hagrid said in his best teacher voice, then leaned down and whispered. "That was one hell of a shot." He smiled and gave me a giant hug before turning and leaving.

"That's it?" I asked Neville with a disoriented smile. He nodded. I grinned and then yawned.

"Oh hell…" I mumbled.

"What?"

I blushed, I felt dense.

"I dunno where the Slytherin rooms are," I mumbled. He seemed shocked by this. I saw him fidget.

"You could probably stay the night in the Gryffindor rooms tonight," he replied, and then added. "Er- the common room I guess I mean." he blushed.

I smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks," I mused into his ear. He nodded and hugged me back, he didn't feel tense anymore. He did feel really solid though, like he could be a wall. He led me down the hall and walked up to a fat Lady portrait.

He told her the password, something about some plant and she gave him a funny look, and then nodded toward me.

"Who's she?" Instead of answering he smiled and replied.

"She punched Draco Malfoy and broke his nose." The woman's face lit up. And then the whole wall was applauding.

"Wonderful wonderful girl!" she giggled and swung her portrait open. I giggled and walked in. I felt Neville laughing beside me and as we entered the common room the quiet roll of speech there went silent. I felt my cheeks go grey with a blush. Everyone looked from me to Neville. And then he did something that gave me butterflies. He reached down and caught my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. I felt a smile slip onto my face and I blushed.

A tall red haired boy hooted and then laughed. And suddenly to room was full of hooting howling catcalling Gryffindors. And I laughed, to hide my blush I buried my face into Neville's side. He laughed too and the rumble so close was really loud. He led me across the room to the sofa and sat down, I sat down beside him and leaned my head sleepily down on his strong broad shoulder and he wrapped his arm around me and gave my shoulders a squeeze.

At that point it occurred to me that he was probably acting. Yeah, we were friends or whatever but I couldn't see him feeling anymore than that for me. He just wanted them to let me in.

I ignored the thought and wrapped my arms around his middle and cuddled in close to him. I hadn't felt this safe in years.

"She looks like she's going to fall asleep," a female voice mused and I looked up to see a brown haired girl perched on the red haired boy's lap.

"She's tired," Neville shrugged back.

"Is it true then?" Asked a dark haired boy with dashing green eyes. I stared at him in awe. The infamous Harry Potter was talking to me. I felt my father's blood in my veins boil, while I felt only admiration for him.

"Is what true?" I asked sleepily. Harry's face brightened.

"Did you really hit Malfoy?"

I laughed. "Broke the bloody toe-rag's nose," I replied brightly.

"No!" Someone gasped from behind me.

"Yupp," Neville mused back. The room arose with laughter and I giggled. I watched the poofy brunette grin at me and then break out laughing. I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked.

"Come tomorrow I prolly won't be here again, Malfoy'll kill me in my sleep, or tell that Parkinson girl to," I groaned. He squeezed my shoulders reassuringly.

"You can come here any time you want," he responded. I smiled. I had an Idea. I looked to the brunette.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Hermione Granger," she replied.

"Hermione, tomorrow, could I borrow a set of your robes?" I asked with a smile.

"They're Gryffindor," she answered with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly."

"Can you do that?" Hermione asked.

"I'm hell in human form, honey, I think I can do just about anything I want to." We laughed. I felt comfortable here.

"So," the red head asked. "Oh, um, Ron, by the way," he added with a smile. "So, where's she sleeping?"

"Our room," Neville replied. All eyes snapped to his face. "What?"

I twisted to look at him and saw a pale pink rise to his cheeks.

"Umm, isn't that a bit risqué?" Hermione mused. Ron waggled his eyebrows for emphasis.

Neville opened his mouth to speak, and then caught their drift.

"oh- no! I just meant- I didn't- I'm not-" he stammered. I laughed. He looked down at me. "You could sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the floor," he offered.

"Or you could just share my bed with me," a boy I knew as Dean Thomas purred and waggled his eyebrows. I wondered if it was a Gryffindor thing. We laughed.

"Thanks, but I don't want to be a nuisance, I can sleep out here," I offered with a smile. People just nodded, Neville shrugged and let me cuddle closer to him. He was so warm.

So much unlike all those people Tom had tried to get me together with. They were all so much older, he'd tried to pawn me off on Lucius although he already had Narcissa, I dared not tell Draco that was how I knew him. He'd tried to push me in with Severus Snape, the potions teacher whom had been resurrected from near death by the powerful Minerva McGonagall. Tom had even tried to get me to spread for Peter Pettigrew, which was how I'd learned to punch, the man wasn't very fierce, but he was pretty sure if he taught me something I'd let him up my skirt. I didn't, his was the first nose to be broken by me.

I shook away the images of the horny old men, well mostly, Severus was a total gentleman and accepted my decline to his mild advances.

I watched the fire for some time, people were all so close, until at last the room was nearly empty, Me, Neville, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and a younger red head I came to know as Ginny sat watching the fire.

Eventually the others slipped out, Neville first and then the rest. Hermione summoned me a warm red and gold blanket and a pillow before walking away.

The fire went out eventually, and I cuddled up in the darkness of the common room and tried to catch some sleep.

I awoke at about two thirty in the morning with a start. I could still see my mother's snarling smile in my mind's eye. I gasped as I found myself curled on a thick carpet before a once again roaring fire. I felt a pair of strong arms around my middle; I shifted to see a comfortably sleeping Neville. I smiled, cuddled back into him and dozed off again, watching the fire dance with a lethal brilliance that reminded me in some ways of my mother. I ignored that thought and instead let my mind wrap itself around the strong young man wrapped around me.

"Hey… hey wake up." It was Hermione shaking me gently.

"Hmmm?" I mumbled. I felt a little disappointed when I felt the lack of cradling arms around me.

"Come on up to the dormitories with me so you can change, unless you want to change down here," she mused. I glanced around, seeing a decent amount of Gryffindor already mulling around. I got up and followed Hermione to the stairs. I went to follow her up, but found the stairs below me sunk to the ground until I realized there was no way I could get into that dorm.

"No Slytherins allowed," a voice growled from a painting on the wall. "No exceptions."

I frowned. And retreated to the flat of the common room.

"What's wrong?" asked a sleepy eyed Harry, Neville behind him,

"The dorms won't let her in, and she can't go out like that," she responded. She was right, my clothes were wrinkled from sleeping and, I blushed as I realized what nobody else seemed to notice, smelled of Neville.

"Here," Neville mused. He retrieved the blanket from the floor, led me to a corner without windows outside and smiled. "I'll hold this up, you change behind it, like a curtain," he explained. I nodded, blushing just a little. Hermione shrugged, handed me the clothes and the fresh robes, and Neville held up my makeshift curtain, modestly, around my eyelevel, or else it would have been too high up. HE blushed as he realized he could see me and stared down at the floor on his side of the blanket. I sighed, and proceeded to pull out of my clothes. Abandoning the green trimmed robes on the floor, and then my muggle clothes from beneath, remaining of course in underwear and a bra, I could deal with wearing them again. I picked up the clothes Hermione had brought and though they may have been rather modest on her, I was taller than she was. I pulled on the skirt first, letting it ride low on my hips at least covering what it needed to, and then pulled on the shirt. I realized she had an extremely small frame. While I wasn't fat, I wasn't tiny and had modest shape, so her shirt was tight, the neck too much in fact and I had to unbutton the top two so I could breath correctly, leaving some flesh revealed. I tapped Neville's hand to let him know I was decent and as he pulled away the blanket, people who hadn't been staring before were suddenly gawking. I blushed a bit and then pulled the red and gold trimmed robes on. I wrapped the tie around my neck and when I finished tying it looked up to Neville, Ron, Hermione, and Harry for approval. They smiled.

I pulled my shoes on and found my wand on the table nearby. I cast a cleanliness spell, deciding I'd bathe soon. I glanced at the window catching a shadowed reflection and smiled in approval, I looked Gryffindor enough.

I felt Neville's eyes bearing into me and I looked up at him. "How do I look?" I asked him with a smile, I wanted his approval.

"Nice," he replied with a sleepy smile.

"Time for the big unveiling," Ron teased sarcastically as he walked to the exit. I followed him and Hermione, Neville behind me and Harry at the rear. I summoned my bag and its contents and then we walked down to the dungeon for potions. I entered the room behind the rest and my two former suitors stood there, talking to each other. Severus looked as tall and proud as ever, Lucius was still luscious but seemed gentler somehow.

"Dad! See, there, that's her!" Draco whined pointing at me and jumping up and down briefly. Lucius turned, clearly prepared to give the student hell, but his eyes fell upon my smirking face and he gaped.

"Morning Luce, long-time no see," I purred, and Severus froze and looked to me too. "Severus, it's been too long," I added for his benefit.

Draco was dumbfounded; he and his father looked like mirror images.

"What'd she call you?" Draco asked.

"In case you forgot Malfoy, your family worked for mine for quite some time, or had you forgotten these?" I hissed and I pressed my thumb against my forearm and both Malfoys and Severus jerked. I felt guilty for using it, but the malfoys looked down in shame. Lucius left, giving me an "I'm-sorry-my-son's-face-hit-your-fist" sort of look. I waved as he stepped into his floo fire and was off.

I turned away from the fire, gave Draco a "Don't-get-in-my-way" look and moved to return to my friends, but Severus' eyes caught mine and he was weary. I sighed and walked to his desk.

"I want to clear the air here Severus, I know what side you were on, I always knew and my father didn't. If you don't believe me take a look, you know how as well as my mother did, better even." He just stared at me for the longest time before shaking his head.

"And I thank you for that," he replied shortly and patted my shoulder.

We parted ways and I sat between Neville and a blonde girl with a brilliant smile. She looked over at me and grinned.

"Luna! Luna Lovegood! Hi! You're Baily Lastrange, oh that's so neat! Could I see the mark?" she asked with a brilliant grin. I laughed, I liked Luna immediately. Without any nervousness about her shunning me, I yanked back the fabric of my new Gryffindor robes and lay my arm down, wrist up. She stared.

My mark was different from the rest, instead of black I had turned it into a deep golden color, of which I assured my father was in reference to perfection, but was in fact in reference to the ways things would change. I'd rooted for Harry from day one. She gasped and stared. I left my right arm like that and turned to look at Neville, he was staring at me.

"What is it?" I whispered. He shook his head and looked away. I'd done something wrong. "Really, Neville, please, what did I do?" I pleaded. I couldn't have him mad at me, I just couldn't. I wanted him to like me more than anyone else. I could have lived if he was the only person in the world to ever smile at me. But if he didn't I just couldn't. Again he shook his head and I felt so desperate.

I folded my hands on the desk, Luna having released my arm, and stared at the waiting cauldron before me.

Neville sighed but didn't say anything so I left it alone. My chest felt tight and I wanted to cry but I pushed the urge away and focused on what Severus … er… professor Snape, was saying.

"We will begin this term with a rather complicated elixir, pair up." He looked around at us and I watched dishoriented as everyone found a partner, I wanted to scream and cry at the same time as Neville walked around me and partnered with Luna. I got to my feet, catching the cold shoulder. I brought my bag with me and forced back the tears away. I stood as straight and proud as I could, I walked calmly to the back of the room where one smirking Draco patted the empty chair beside him. I took the seat and sighed.

He smiled, leaned in close to me and purred, "See what happens when you fraternize with wizards like Longbottom?" he hissed. His hand found my knee and he patted it. "You just get hurt."

I looked up at his face and his nose still looked a little pink. I felt the strangest urge to fall into his arms and just be held, even if it was him. So when he inched closer and pulled me flush against his side, I didn't complain.

He made most of the potion, sending me to fetch things every now and then. Pride got the better of me and I didn't even glance at Neville or Luna as I walked to the front to get my ingredients and went back. Hermione tried to stop me three times. Each time I would stop, look at her and assure her I would 'get her clothes back soon'. Draco looked pleased with himself as I sat beside him quietly.

One might think as Voldemort's and Bellatrix LaStrange's daughter, I would be fierce. To most, I was, I was wild, rebellious, and almost rabid. But I'd never been hurt like this before, I wanted to fall into a dark crevasse and just fade away.

Class was awkward, but we aced our potion and I appreciated the grade. Instead of heading outside for our next class, Draco snagged my hand and dragged me down a hall to a wall with a slim slit in it. He purred a password of "Sir Salazar" to it and it slid open with a rough grinding noise.

"Let's get rid of those ruddy colors then hmm?" he purred He led me into the empty common room full of greens and silvers and blacks and I felt him push my robe down off my shoulders and hummed in approval as his eyes fell upon my too small clothes. I fidgeted and moved to walk away from him, but he caught me and pulled me back toward him. He tapped the skirt with his wand and I saw from the lowest part of my eyes as it changed from red and gold to green and silver. He removed my tie which he had pulled the robes from beneath and dropped the lion onto the floor. He pulled off his own robe and draped it over my shoulders, he shrunk it down to my size and then pushed it half closed, leaving the short skirt and gaping neckline visible. He slipped his tie off and wrapped it around my neck, a bit too tight at first, causing me to gasp in shock, and then he moved it under the collar of my plain white shirt and proceeded to tie it for me.

As he fake fumbled with the tie, popping a third button off the shirt in his efforts, I demanded of myself angrily why I was letting him dress me.

I decided I needed the contact, and as that thought settled upon me I pushed forward and threw my arms around Draco's neck. He felt so different, maybe even wrong. He didn't touch my back; he just reached down and cupped my butt to pull me closer. I wanted to punch him again; I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to curse his lower extremity so he'd never reproduce. I let the urge fade away, or, maybe I forced it down like the nausea.

He finally let go and without a word, he walked out. I snatched up the Gryffindor tie and stuffed it into my pocked. When I got out to the hall he had a new set of robes and another tie on. We walked out toward Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures.