I haven't updated in so long and this chapter is so short... I wish I could write more but with the real life Dave just asking to be pummeled to near death with all the emails he's sending me and making me respond to (competition; he wants to win) I can't write as much as I want.

"Adrian formerly Potter! Hell-O!"

"What?" she mumbled softly, lightly flickering her hazel eyes which were nearly identical to James'.

"Can you help me find someone?" I asked sweetly. She looked up at me. (Yes, up. She might be over a year older than me but she's still so petite she could pass for a First year.)

"Well…"

"It's Jaq."

"I don't see why not," she said slowly, closing her eyes. With her eyes still closed, she walked forward, straight into a wall. Some Gryffindor laughed.

"Stupid Slythies," she cackled to her friend. I glared at them, my eyes glittering with menace.

"And you two," I hissed, manipulating seeping in, "are incapable of having a positive IQ." They stared blankly at me. "Hello?"

"They are incapable of having positive IQs, remember?" asked Adrian. "They are incapable of answering."

"What?"

"You didn't manipulate them?"

"If I did, I didn't notice."

"I'm not surprised." And then she walked straight into the wall again.

"Uh…"

"I can sense the unseen soul, not the in-clear-sight wall," she said irritably. "Guide me?"

"How?"

"Just sort of tug me one way or another if I'm about to crash into something." So I did. And I was pretty good at guiding her around, too. Well, I did admittedly let her crash into a suit of armor once…and she did trip over Mrs. Norris, which made Filch very angry.

"You're going to hurt her!" exclaimed Zohra as she yanked Adrian sharply to avoid narrowly tumbling down when the staircases changed suddenly. I smiled sheepishly.

"Oops…"

"That way." Adrian pointed in the general direction of 'that way'.

"Could you be less specific?" I muttered sarcastically.

"I can sense an unseen soul…in a place I've never been before."

"Huh?"

"It's part of the castle, but it's walled off. I've never been there before, nor can I understand how anyone was to get there. A ghost, perhaps, might be able to get there. They have souls, even if they are mostly unseen."

"Oh, I get it," I said. Zohra looked at me strangely. Even Adrian opened her eyes to shoot me a curious look. "Never mind. Thanks anyways." I waved goodbye to them while I walked away. They just kept looking at me.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Zohra once I rounded the corner.

"Nope."

"Jaq Gibbons!" I demanded. "Where are you?" My voiced bounced off the walls of the walled garden. Birds chirped cheerfully around and I slouched over to the gazebo. This was the only walled in area I ever found. So where was he?

"Who are you looking for?"

"Jaq Gibbons."

"Why would he be here?"

"How would I know?" I asked stressfully. "I just know that he's supposed to be here."

"You sound frustrated," said Fang quietly.

"No duh. I'm looking for him."

"He is hard to find, isn't he?" Fang mused. "I'll keep an eye out for him." I reluctantly watched him leave and then sat down. Jaq had been so terribly unstable for a while now. One of these days, he was just going to die or something terrible and we'd wonder what went wrong.

No. We wouldn't wonder. We would know. His littlest sister was mauled by a werewolf, Tarlyn was pretty much gone, his other little sister, Halo, was still going through mental problems caused by shock; who wouldn't be affected by stuff like this? My dad maybe. No…he had been affected by stuff much worse, which was why he was, as some might say, mad. He killed his own sister. He married the girl of his dreams who died when his daughter, I, was born. And the rest of his family was dead or like Feylor, in ghost form. It was awful.

"What do you want?" whispered a voice.

"Hi Jaq! I heard from–"

"I don't want to hear from her."

"Huh?"

"Tarlyn. I don't want to hear from her."

"What? Why?"

"She left me," he said bitterly. "So this is her punishment." And he walked silently to the wall with roses climbing up it. Paying no attention to the thorns, he gripped onto the twisting vines and pulled himself up and over the walls.

"I haven't heard a Howler in far too long," said Zohra thoughtfully at breakfast.

"Obviously not," muttered CaraLena as she recovered from the shock she had received when the little First year sitting next to her opened the dreaded red envelope only to hear his mother's furious voice. The poor little kid had fainted from shock and had to be brought to the hospital wing. "What was it about? Something involving him losing his sister or something?"

"I think it was about being sorted into Slytherin," said Selwyn.

"I wonder if he'll be disowned," Adrian mused thoughtfully.

"Look. Another letter from your father," said Severus, sliding his grubby, potion covered nails under the red wax seal. It came off with a pop. Bella scoffed and I paled.

"Oh great. You know, Max, when you missed DADA last time, I had to be paired up with Sicily Varner. Sicily Varner! I know you guys are allies, but I still hate her, nonetheless," said Bella bitterly.

"How could you hate someone who's helping you that much?" asked Cissy.

"She's not helping me in particular. None of us are friends with her. It's like…it's like how you hate Christiana Rowle." Cissy made a face.

"Never mind."

"She's terrible!" complained the twins. "Sicily Varner is a complete slut!"

"No she's not," I said wearily.

"She is too!" said Jay. "She's awful!"

"Horrendous!"

"Dreadful!"

"Terrible!"

"Horrible!"

"Mind-boggling!"

"Mind-boggling?"

"I couldn't think of anything else to say," said Orin defensively. I rolled my eyes and warily plucked the letter out of Luce's grip and read it.

'You're about, say, eleven. Hunter and Arrow are almost fully trained with their lust of blood. I don't know exactly what happened that night, but I know something did. What was it?' That was all I read before I passed out. The last thing I heard was a voice. It could have been Fangs' and it could have been hers' but I didn't have a chance to find out before I fell into a black, dark, sweet oblivion.

No one could ever deny the fact that my life was joyous and full. My father loved me, the Death Eaters loved me, and I had Hunter and Arrow to keep me company. Then again, no one could ever deny that my life was lonely. Other than the occasional glimpse of the children of other Death Eaters when they came home from vacation, I had no company of someone my age. Unless you counted Luce's mother, there wasn't a single female in the house I had ever spoken to. I yearned for the company of a female. A sister, a friend, and mother, and aunt; anyone would do. Around this time, I found the entrance to the dungeons. I often snuck down there with Hunter and Arrow after placing Silencing Charms on them. Most of the prisoners were male and even if there was a female, she was usually very touchy and defensive and very rude. They weren't good company.

Once, after a raid in the Ministry of Magic, there were many people brought to the dungeons. Samples of their blood were taken so they could be tracked down by my hunters if they escaped. I visited the dungeon after the raid and finally found someone to talk to. Her name was Raven.

Raven Gazelle, with her black hair, eyes, and clothing was dark and mysterious and seemingly untouchable. Unless you were trying to find her or you were a mutant abnormality like I was, you would have never noticed her presence. She looked menacing and evil but once you got her to open up and talk, she was actually very cheerful and very good company.

Raven had this sweet, innocent smile like she knew no evil. We talked about everything. We talked about her mummy, her daddy, and about her pet cats at home named Dadaelya (Da-day-leah) and Kirk. Dadaelya was a girl and Kirk was a boy and they were both a soft golden colour. She loved them dearly. When they had kittens, she was forced to give them away which made her very sad indeed. She also had an older brother named Blake who was a prefect of Ravenclaw and an older sister who she didn't like named Blair who was a cat Animagus.

We talked about how much she hated being the daughter of a high ranking Ministry worker.

I talked about myself too. I talked about how my mummy died when I was young and about Hunter and Arrow. I talked about all the pains I went through to train them and how much I loved them. I talked about Lucius' mum, Auntie Malfoy, who gave me little trinkets whenever she come back from traveling somewhere and about my brother, Lionel, who cared for me greatly. I also talked about Nagini, father's snake who was the other heir to his fortune and immortality, who liked me very much. We often, as I told Raven, spoke in Parseltongue to each other because she had difficulty speaking to anyone else but me and my father and I sought female company which was very hard to attain.

We even once spoke of my father.

Every day, after breakfast, I would come down and talk to her about everything, only leaving for meals and for lessons. For months, I spent every free moment with her just talking just because I could. We shared secrets and fears. We told each other our dreams. After a while, she became the closest thing to a friend I ever had.

Dad got suspicions after a while but said nothing. I knew that he was just glad that I was happy and healthy but he probably knew that there was something not right. He never did anything about it though. When Lionel came back from Hogwarts, things changed. I had to split my time very carefully between Raven and my brother. I think they both knew that there was someone else but other than a few inquiring questions, they never said much about the other.

A few weeks after school began again for Lionel, Raven managed to escape from her cell. I was shocked and sad. I guess she wanted to escape and go home, but I wanted her company too. So when I selfishly reported Raven missing, it was one of the biggest mistakes I had ever made.

"Father. There's a girl who was here. Her name is Raven. She has escaped from the dungeon."

"Is that so?" he asked softly. She turned to our butler. "Reau, go get the blood sample from this girl Raven." Reau returned to the room in a few minutes. Hunter and Arrow were whimpering, squirming around my feet with anticipation. Reau handed my father the vial of blood.

"You aren't going to hunt her, are you?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course," he said. I waited for him to say 'not', but he never did. Rather, he asked for Abraxas, Luce's father and the only Death Eater who ever thought of my hunters as more than just devices, to bring them out to hunt Raven.

"Oh, I want to do it," I said quickly. Both men looked at me in surprise.

"Max, it's late," said my father quietly.

"I haven't brought them out hunting in such a long time," I lied. I had brought them out last night.

"Very well, Max," he said reluctantly. "As you wish."

The air was cool and crisp with the leaves of autumn tumbling down. Hunter and Arrow sped as silently as possible through the forest surrounding the manor and beyond; very difficult seeing as the leaves crunched noisily with each step we took. Eventually, I started to fly above them as to make less noise. Before long, my hunters found her. Bloodlust over came them, and they attacked her.

"Get off!" I screamed, trying desperately to call them off. They tore through her, sinking their teeth into her flesh and ripping her into ribbons while her sharp screams shattered the other wisely peaceful night. Blood sprayed everywhere. "Get off!" I cried. "Stop!" Nothing stopped them, not even when Raven's cries of help ceased with a gurgle of blood and the life seeped out of her eyes. "Stop…"

She was gone, and I had to acknowledge that. All my secrets that I told died with her that day. There was one saying that ran through my head a lot after she had died.

'Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.'

I was glad that my secrets were safe, but I'd trade them all for Raven's life.

"Max? Hello? You're starting to look like Feylor." I blinked a few times and the memory cleared, my eyes showing me the concerned faces of my friends.

"She does not," scoffed my aunt in a soft yet haughty voice. "I look much more translucent than her!"

"Are you okay?" asked Cissy. I nodded unconvincingly.

"Yes…I am fine," I whispered hoarsely.

"No, you are not. Where is he?"

"Who?

"Oh, you know, Max," said Feylor. "That dark mysterious boy that made you better the other time. Fang." I blushed.

"Ooh, what's going on between you and Fang?" asked Nudge eagerly.

"I'll tell you when I want the school to know, gossip queen," I said sharply, making her flinch in verbal pain. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said without looking at me.

"Alright. I have to go to class now. Coming, Bella?"

"Yeah, sure. Let me finish my cup of tea." She downed it and took a chocolate chip muffin too while she was at it and came with me to DADA. "We're doing Patronuses," she added in between bites of a muffin as we both climbed up the winding stairs to the new DADA room. Something happened to the old one. (Okay, okay, so CaraLena and Selwyn tricked Dave into eating really hot jalapeño hot sauce and he couldn't taste anything because he had a cold. A while later in DADA, he sneezed. Being a dragon and all, flames naturally came out. With the hot sauce? Try a wall of flames. The place is practically burned up. On the bright side, Professor Sparrow was convinced that someone slipped up o the spell we were practicing and said Incendio so no one found out about Dave's being a part dragon mutation.)

"Fun. What's yours?"

"A hyena. At least I think it is. It sounds like one anyways. So far, that's the animal closest to what it looks like. It's really cool. What about you?" I frowned.

"I'm not sure. I haven't cast a Patronus in a long time. I'm pretty sure it's a hawk or something. I know it has wings." Bella laughed.

"It fits you. And maybe it'll be clearer this time and you'll find out what it is," she said brightly.

DADA was simple and easy as usual with Professor Sparrow who, as I heard, was the only teacher to come back for a second year in a very long time. (Apparently, this job position's cursed.) We went through a quick run through of what happened while I was gone which was, fortunately, stuff I had already learned from my days of being homeschooled. We soon got to practice casting out Patronuses with a partner. Naturally, I tried to team up with Bella. Naturally, that failed and I got put with Fang.

"I've cast a few of these before," he said quietly. I glanced over at Bella who was paired up with Lissa. I shot her a pitiful look while Lissa mentally shot daggers at me. Ouch. Fang muttered the incarnation, Expecto Patronum, and something with wings sprouted out. It looked large and vicious, like a crow. No; it looked more like a hawk than mine ever did.

"Expecto Patronum," I whispered and like his, something with wings came out except I knew exactly what it was. It wasn't a hawk, even if it could have been easily mistaken for one from far away or at a quick glance. It was a raven.

"You seem well," whispered a soft voice from behind me. Jaq. I just stared at him. He had a cold, stony face on, very similar to Fang's when he was being distant. There was no expression on it but his eyes seemed sad and depressed, like something awful had happened.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. He shrugged.

"Yes. I suppose."

"You sure? You seemed really mad back there…" His eyes suddenly glittered with a flash of anger that disappeared before I could confirm it.

"I still am. At her." No need to ask who 'her' was.

"Why are you mad at her?" I demanded. He looked away.

"She deserves this," he spat bitterly.

"She does not!" I snapped viciously. "Really, Jaq; what's going on?"

"Nothing." I simply looked him straight in the eye for a second. Two seconds. Three. Four…

"No, really."

"I'm fine!" he hissed. And then I saw the blood.

"You didn't…" pale faced, I grabbed his left arm and yanked the sleeve back. Angry red cuts spiraled around. Droplets of blood beaded. I glared at him. "Jaq…"

"I fell," he said lamely.

"Let me guess. It was a pool of knives? A crazy cat lady starter kit? (A/N When I'm old enough, I'm going to see if I can get one for one of my friends.) A bucket of thorny roses?" I was screeching by the end of my rant.

"Shut up," he snarled at me. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?" I demanded. "Give me a reason why I wouldn't understand."

"Everything she does," he screamed. "Everything she does, it's for the greater good! She can give up everything just to make sure the world is a better place! She'll sacrifice everything for it. Even her life. And I can't stand that." I froze, watching silent tears run down his face. "I can't live a life without her. I can't. So what can I do? Just let it tear me apart? Max, if I can't make myself hate her for leaving, hate her for doing this to me," he gestured to the cuts on his arms, "I can't do anything."

"…and then he freaks out on me, saying that it's because he can't stand all this stuff."

"Uh huh. Poor guy."

"My thoughts exactly!" I was pacing around the walled garden and talking to Fang who, surprisingly, wasn't as much of an ass as he typically was. He'd been a lot nicer since I had my break down a while back. "It's like he wants to hate her, like he wants to tear her out of his life."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Fang admitted. "He's suffering like I did when…" He didn't need to say the words out loud; we both knew.

"I just wish…that there was something I could do for him."

"There's not a whole lot you can do," Fang admitted. "Unless you want to fly over to France and get my little sister back."

"I thought she's the older one."

"Nope," he said, flashing me one of those rare grins that just makes the world spin faster. "It's the same with me as with Selwyn. She's still the little one."

"Ooh, she's going to throw a hissy fit when she hears that you've called her your little sister," I said, smirking. He shrugged.

"She won't do a whole lot."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. Hey, Max?"

"Hmm?"

"We're friends, right?"

"Of course," I said quickly. No need to tell him what Nudge and Iggy forced out of me.

"Okay. Then this is just as a friend." He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Instantly, I felt a blush creeping up my face. "It's getting dark out. We should go," he said softly. Then he got up and disappeared through the shadows. I stayed there for a little while longer, my hand on the place where he kissed me, waiting for my blush to disappear. Then I smiled to myself and left.

Anyone ever go on Mni? Mugglenet Interactive? Because we're playing monopoly and we need a larger fan club. ;)

And like I said, I am so, so, SO sorry for not updating sooner not to mention how short this chapter was! I feel like such a failure. (cries to herself in self pity) It's hard to balance all these stories along with school, extracurricular activities, and getting a stomach ache for two weeks. (It still hurts!) Not to mention (glares evilly) the real life Dave that's been a giant (insert swear of your choice here).

By the way, do you guys want frequent, short updates or long, not so frequent updates?