Tatianna's summer had been decent. She spent most of her time reading in her room or drifting through the large family gardens. She attended the parties that her parents hosted although she was very careful to avoid Draco. He now knew that she was a part of his house, she didn't want him to start actively searching her out at these parties to get her to become a part of his group. Her visits to see Neville and his grandmother were probably her favorite part of the break. They would spend hours talking about nothing; the house he lived in was homely and warm a stark contrast to the cold and daunting feel that was always present in the mansion. She was always reluctant to leave and had even spent a few nights sleeping in their spare room, unwilling to go back to the mansion. Her parents never mentioned anything to her about her visits and she wondered if they even realized that she was gone at all.

Soon enough however it came time for everyone to return to school. She bought her new robes before heading to the bookstore. She was unhappy to find that it was filled with loud chatty people who would probably never enter the library normally. She saw the sign advertising a book signing by Gilderoy Lockhart. His fans were people who were not usually found in bookstores and had probably only ever read Lockhart's books. She found them obnoxiously loud and she wished that the narcissistic author had chosen some other day to boost his ego. She weaved and bobbed her way through the crowd until she found her usual nook that she always visited while in the shop. It was the part of the store that held the books that didn't belong in any specific category or genre. She had resolved to buy one odd book each year along with her school books. The first book she had bought was about failed potions and what they were meant to do. It was a somewhat useless book but she read it anyway. She found that no matter how senseless or random it was it still deserved to be read at least once. In a sense that was her way of being sporadic, it didn't fit in with her plans at all and yet she couldn't dream of going through the years without doing it. She grabbed a book that was titled Mythical Myths about Mythical Creatures myths about the myths of mythical creatures. She then proceeded to grab all the books required for her second year at Hogwarts before quickly heading to the checkout, she wasn't going to spend any more time in the crowded place than need be.

She got onto the train and quickly sought out the compartment holding Neville. She soon found him; he was sitting with a pretty blonde first year named Luna Lovegood. She was a bright girl if not a bit strange and Tatianna found her odd mannerisms endearing. She had no doubt that Luna would end up changing the world. They spent the ride talking and laughing, Luna regaled them with tails of her father's may-haps and there were a few jokes made at Neville's expense. The three split up when the train arrived at Hogwarts, Neville and Tatianna heading to the self-pulled carriages and Luna following the other first years to the boats.

Upon entering the great hall Tatianna split off from Neville to find an empty spot at the end of the Slytherin table where she could watch the sorting ceremony in peace. She clapped when Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and for everyone that joined Slytherin as was expected. Her dinner was a quiet one; she had sat far away from Draco and his group of followers and as such didn't have to hear all the shallow gossip that was being thrown around. They were only thirteen and yet scandals and outrageous acts seemed to be running rampant around them, no one was safe from the plague and it was practically social suicide if you crossed one of the group. The first years seemed to revere Draco as a god all vying for his attention. She almost burst out laughing as one of the new girls tried to catch his eye by "subtly" pulling down her shirt in an attempt to show off her cleavage. Pansy was quick to put her in her place though latching onto Draco's arm like a leach and making a comment about how anyone who needed to showcase their breasts to get males to notice them were sluts. It was ironic considering how revealing most of Pansy's cloths were, not that anyone would call her on it. After the feast Tatianna headed straight up to bed wanting to have a good night's sleep behind her when she faced her classes the next day.

The school year was dragging on like it had the year before. Nothing truly interesting occurred. As it turned out Gilderoy Lockhart was their new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts and while he kept the attention of most of the females in the class he wasn't very good at teaching anything. In fact, if she had to venture a guess, Tatianna would bet that he didn't know half of the things he was supposed to be teaching them. Instead of paying attention to him ramble during class she elected to read from the text book instead finding that it taught her more than he did. She didn't go to any of the quidditch games so she didn't know which teams were winning. She only knew when Slytherin won a game because Draco would obnoxiously brag about it at every meal for the next week. She would often spend her down time in the library where she would sometimes be joined by Luna, Neville, or on occasion both. She wished, not for the first time, that she had had the guts to ask the sorting hat to put her in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw instead. Even if her parents hated or even disowned her at least she would be surrounded by her friends all the time.

The year passed on and if she was honest with herself she didn't remember half of it. She went about as if in a daze, only coming back down to earth when the first attack was made…

Thanks to AWriterInTrying, CurLy QueEn SwiRl, Dhruvi Patel, and Scribhneoir2264 for following my story. I would also like to give a special thanks to camierose and Dhruvi Patel for reviewing this story.

To camierose- I can tell you that it's going to be awkward and slightly painful for Tatianna.

To Dhruvi Patel- I'll try to split my story up into paragraphs I just have a tendency to clump everything together. As for your question, her relationship with Neville is public but since no one in Slytherin really knows her and her parents never really pay attention to her they don't know that she's friends with a Gryffindor. Even when she visited his house over the summer they never really bothered to ask her where she had gotten off to…

So the Basilisk is starting to attack its victims, should Tatianna become petrified, find someone who is, or be completely out of the loop? I would love to hear your Ideas, either post your preference in a review or send me a private message. Thanks again to everyone who's read this, I love you all!

-Ambercat999