Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters within this fanfic, but I do own Eileen Pierce and her kneazle Mephistopheles so don't steal them! That is all, you may continue...

Chapter Two

It was 7:05 PM and Eileen was just entering the great hall for dinner when she noticed Snape wasn't at the table. No doubt he was already waiting for her in his office or hadn't bothered to emerge the rest of the day. She stood staring up at his empty chair for a while until a whining voice behind her said, "I can't believe Snape's got me doing detention with Filch! Of all people, why him?"

She turned to see the same redheaded boy that she had run into the previous night, accompanied by a boy with shaggy black hair and round glasses.

"Would you rather have my detention with Lockhart? At least Filch isn't infatuated with you." The black-haired boy said before noticing Eileen. He nudged the other boy and said, "Ron, isn't that the girl that ran into you last night?"

"Yeah, who could forget? It looks like she fell asleep in a tub of bleach." He eyed her and suddenly decided to approach her, saying toughly, "Oi, you still not going to apologize for running into me last night?"

"No." She said sharply, her eyes burning into his and causing him to blink in surprise.

"No? Well, how's that for ya! What do you make of her, Harry?" Ron turned to the boy beside him and Harry shrugged, saying, "Maybe she was in a hurry."

"So what? I oughta..."

"Tell a teacher? Perhaps I'll get another detention." She almost seemed joyful at the prospect of more detention.

Ron frowned, asking, "Another one? What, you've got detention already too? What did you do?"

"Out of bed past curfew, I got lost." She stated simply, seeming intrigued by the fact that they were actually speaking to her.

"You're a 1st year, right? They should have been easier on you." Harry commented, sounding slightly sympathetic.

"Master Snape gave me detention, isn't it wonderful?" Her eyes danced at the mention of his name and Ron looked utterly revolted.

"Master? Blimey, what's wrong with you? You sound like you like Snape!"

"Don't you?" She looked curiously from Ron to Harry and back as they exchanged glances of their own, seeming to be thinking the same thing: she was bonkers.

Finally, and cautiously, Ron said, "We are talking about the same miserable git with greasy black hair and the bedside manner of a troll, aren't we?"

"I suppose. I must hurry and eat, I wouldn't want to make master wait. Enjoy your detentions, Ron and Harry." And with that, she took her jolly time getting to the Slytherin table where yet again there was a void in which she sat and enjoyed her small meal in solace. After swallowing the last drops of pumpkin juice in her glass, she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, dallying out of the room and into the hallway where she found herself at a loss for directions. Looking left then right she pondered over where exactly Snape's office might reside when to her great joy she saw Snape sweeping down a set of stairs leading up to a higher level of the school. He froze when he saw her standing in the middle of the hallway, a look of annoyance on his face as she said, "Master, I'm lost again."

"Are you now...what a pity I had to find you." He sighed, continuing on to the stairs into the dungeon like he hadn't seen her.

Quickly, she hurried after him and strode along side him, seeming to enjoy his glaring as she blinked up at him curiously.

Frowning, he asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're staring at me." She answered simply and truthfully.

"I wasn't staring." He snarled, pulling his robe closer to himself and away from her as she seemed to be growing fond of it flapping against her like a wave in the ocean. He glanced down at her bag and commented, "If you think you'll be reading through detention like you did in my class, you're sorely mistaken."

"Of course not, Master, I dare not leave them in my room."

"Are you afraid they'll miss you too much?"

"No, but they might find themselves in the hands of my fellow Slytherins as they almost did this morning, but Mephistopheles put a stop to that."

"Who's Mephistopheles, your invisible friend?"

"He's my pet." She put it simply, not seeming to want to explain it further as Snape narrowed his eyes.

"I see..." His voice drifted off as they reached his office and he pulled out his wand, tapping the doorknob with it. Something clicked inside and he opened the door, entering the room and leaving the door open for Eileen to follow.

"Shut the door behind you and take a seat." He commanded, not bothering to look at her as he took his own seat behind his desk.

She obeyed promptly and looked inquisitively at the box sitting beside her on the floor filled with various flasks and vials.

"What shall I be punished with?" She asked in an expectant tone, watching the box as she awaited her fate.

"Since you admitted during class today that you have already read all of this years curriculum, I thought you wouldn't have any trouble with identifying the potions inside that box. They are all potions which have been confiscated from students trying to sneak them out of class and I want you to label them for what they are and place them in the empty box beside you when you are done. You will not leave until you have completed the entire box." Snape said coolly and uncaringly, reading over a letter he had picked up off his desk.

She opened the box with an eager air about her as she popped the cork off the first unknown potion. Taking a sniff, she studied it closely before swirling it gently and finally resolving to pour a small amount of it on her arm. Instantly, searing boils erupted on her skin and she seemed quite pleased with the results as she wrote on the sheet of labels "Bulbadox Powder".

"What on earth are you doing?" Snape jumped up instantly upon seeing her arm swelling with boils, startling her slightly as she looked up from her work.

"Testing the potion?" Her eyes sparkled inquiringly as he hurried around the desk and pulled a random potion off one of the many shelves around the room.

He uncorked it and quickly let a drop of it hit the boils, making them magically disappear.

She stared at her arm for a moment before saying, "Why did you do that? I thought this was suppose to be punishment."

"You aren't suppose to test them on yourself! You don't even know if they were brewed properly, you could kill yourself and I don't want to be responsible for causing a students death!" He bellowed, looking appalled by her means of discerning the contents of each phial.

"I am sorry, Master, I won't do it again." She said, casting her eyes to the empty box as she leaned over to set the newly labeled phial within it.

Snape frowned and returned to his desk, resigning to keep a closer eye on her as she worked on her detention. 3 hours later, Eileen labeled the final phial and set it triumphantly into the box, carefully closing it and sitting with her hands folded in her lap.

"I'm done, Master. Do you wish to give me more work?" Eileen implored, her eyes pleading for another assignment of some sort.

"No, it's late and I wish to go to bed. You're free to go, perhaps this will have taught you not to disobey the rules again." He stood and crossed the room, opening the door to his office, waiting for her to gather her bag and hurry out in front of him. He walked out and shut the door behind him, locking it with another inaudible spell before turning and seeing Eileen standing patiently as if waiting for something.

She bowed and said softly, "Thank you for my punishment, Master. Pleasant dreams and restful sleep to you." She turned to go and Snape called after her, "Miss Pierce."

"Yes, Master?"

"Why do you keep calling me Master? Professor or sir are more preferable for a student to address a teacher."

"If you wish for me to call you such, I will, Ma - professor, sir." She bowed her head and looked ashamed by slipping up.

Frowning, Snape said quietly, "That'll do, Miss Pierce."

"Yes, sir. Goodnight, sir."

When she finally returned to her room, she found Mephistopheles sitting proudly in his basket, a swatch of black fabric hanging from his mouth as he purred and twitched his tail happily.

"I see they still haven't learned to keep to themselves. Good boy, Mephi."

"He attacked my older sister, she wasn't even trying to steal anything from you!" The small-frightened girl was sitting on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, glaring at the kneazle with loathing disgust.

"Wasn't she now..." Eileen didn't seem to believe her as she began to change into her nightgown.

"She said shes going to report you to the head of the house in the morning! He'll be rid of that thing, it's a menace!"

"I look forward to his decision." She did not smile for she never smiled, even though her eyes were happy enough to make her look rightfully insane. Climbing into bed, she pulled the covers over herself and let Mephistopheles join her on her pillow this time. With a flick of her wand, the desk lamp went out and she whispered a goodnight to her pet who purred in return.

What an exciting day, Eileen thought to herself, I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow, but I hope he doesn't take Mephi away...he's my only friend. Perhaps I can convince him to punish me instead...yes, that seems in good order.

Her thoughts drifted off into a restless sleep filled with nightmares that did not allow her to wake and rid them from her mind until dawn broke and Mephistopheles was hissing at a figure approaching from across the room.

"Rictusempra!" Eileen swiftly pulled her wand out from under the pillow where she had been holding it all night and hit the mysterious invader square in the chest, causing them to double over with laughter. She leapt out of her bed and approached the figure rolling with mirth across the floor, unable to cease their hoots and giggles, and said sternly, "If you think you can sneak up on me while I'm asleep, you're wrong. Why must you persist in making off with my things?" She looked closer at the figure and muttered "lumos", filling the room with a soft glow and revealing the perpetrator to be the same girl with short black hair that had yelled at her on her first day at Hogwarts.

"Oh, it's you..." She muttered the counter curse and the girl struggled to her feet, glaring fiercely at her as she said, "How...how dare you attack me!"

"Hasn't anyone taught you not to sneak up on others while they're asleep? One can't be responsible for how they react."

"We'll see what Snape has to say about this! You're going to wish you'd shown a little more respect toward your superiors before blasting them with hexes and setting that beast loose!" She screeched pompously, tossing her hair and glaring at her.

"I was unaware that I had shown any of my superiors disrespect, to whom do you refer?" Eileen had an air of defiance in her voice and locked gazes with the girl as if they were throwing invisible darts at each other and wishing great harm to come to them.

"Ooo! You'll rue the day you messed with Pansy Parkinson!" The girl bellowed in a high pitched voice, stalking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

Scoffing, Eileen turned back to her feline who had been enjoying the battle and muttered, "Pansy? I guess that explains her response to my attack..." Mephistopheles mewed his agreement with his mistress as she got dressed and headed down to breakfast. There she found the entire Slytherin table whispering harshly, even as she approached to find a seat they continued to gossip about the happenings of that morning. Suddenly, as she reached the front of the table and tried to sit, the same bleach blond she knew as "Malfoy" stood and sized her up, saying with a glare, "You're not welcome at this table, perhaps you may do well to join another House from now on."

"But I was placed in Slytherin, one would assume I should sit with them as well." She responded, wondering why he was so foul this morning.

"Mutineers aren't welcomed at our table, ghost, be gone!" He waved his hand at her and the table burst out laughing. She didn't let her blank expression falter as she stared deeply into his equally cold gray eyes and watched him. He frowned and recoiled from her as he said, "Ugh, you are creepy! Hey, I wonder if you have the consistency of a ghost as well." He poked her sharply in the forehead and said with a smirk, "Nope, sadly solid."

By now the rest of the hall had taken notice of this miniature fight and was watching intently to see what she would do in response. She did not remove her gaze from his, staring coldly and cruelly as she muttered, "I warn you, I am a skilled duelist, it would be unwise to challenge me."

"Challenge you? Why would I want to do anything with you? You've been tormenting my girlfriend and I've had just about enough of your ugly face. But I guess you can't help it if your mother looked like that." He had barely gotten this insult out of his mouth when her entire body seemed to seethe with hatred, the hair on her head prickling and her eyes flashing violently.

With the reflexes of a snake striking its prey, she whipped her tiny hand across his cheek with a sickening slap, causing him to stumble backward into some students.

"Draco Malfoy, I challenge you to a duel of magic, wands only! Accept!" Eileen bellowed, her normally soft and airy voice now resounding around the expanse of the hall, bringing everything to a sudden silent standstill.

By now the teachers had been wary of the potential conflict and Snape decided it was about time he took control of the situation within his house, lest he be subjected to further embarrassment. Moving swiftly to the quarreling students, he hissed, "How dare you two disgrace my house!"

"Do you accept or are you a dishonorable coward?" Eileen dared Malfoy, not seeming to notice Snape's towering figure looming over them.

"This is ridiculous - " Snape rolled his eyes before Malfoy shouted, "No one calls me a coward! I accept your challenge, name your game!"

"What do you think you're - " Snape tried to interject but Eileen cut him off.

"The lake, duel until the other is incapable of continuing or concedes to defeat." She said, seeming to be quite thrilled at the aspect of dueling someone, drawing herself up to full height - she barely came up to Malfoy's chin even when standing up straight. He snorted and said with a laugh in his voice, "How are we suppose to duel on the lake? That's impossible!"

"For the feeble-minded, yes, but a mere freezing spell shall solve that problem easily! So what say you? Do you accept my terms?"

He seemed to be considering this when Snape finally said, "I will not allow two of my students to do battle!"

"Oh, why not, Snape? It sounds like a splendid idea! What a perfect way to demonstrate how things are done in the real world! I wish I had thought of it myself" The flamboyant wizard who had been speaking to Snape the other day had strode over to them with a great broad grin plastered on his face, his sparkly robes flowing around him like he was a float in a parade.

"Yeah, you'd love to take credit for this, wouldn't you, Lockhart..." Snape muttered under his breath as the man approached and clapped a hand on his back.

"What do you think, Dumbledore? Should we let the two duke it out? With our proper supervision, of course!" He added as the headmaster seemed to think as much of this as Snape had.

Everyone fell silent and waited for his decision when finally, he stood and said in a clearly amused voice, "Why not? I haven't seen a friendly duel in ages and would like to see this myself."

"Wha - headmaster, I don't think - " Snape stammered, turning his attention to Dumbledore who was beaming almost as much as Lockhart.

"It's settled then! We'll take care of preparing the battleground while you two prepare for the duel! What's say, oh5:45 PM this very evening? Yes, right after class, that should be a fine time to have a duel! Not too hot so the ice should last longer." Lockhart mused almost to himself.

"Then I accept! I'll see you at the bottom of the lake, ghost." Malfoy hissed, storming off with a herd of his groupies in tow.
Snape looked sharply down at her and hissed in a tone only heard by her, "How dare you. Attacking a student in the dorms and now challenging another to battle? Detention for a week!"

"Splendid, I look forward to it." She sounded almost business-like as she said this, startling Snape into silence as she leaned over and grabbed a croissant off the table and a hard-boiled egg. Turning, she swept from the room and left the entire breakfast occupants in a frenzied uproar over this sudden tournament to look forward to.