Disclaimer: Am not J.K. Rowling. Shocking, no?

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Ron, Hermione, and Harry just stared.

"I know, shocking, eh?" Lijara said, smiling. "The amazing two-foot tall woman! Except I'm not really human. But that's not important. You must be her brother, Ron, right?"

Ron's mouth was hanging open, and he closed it. He attempted to speak, and then nodded. Hermione muttered the counterspell, but Ron remained mute.

"And you must be Harry. And Hermione. I've heard loads about you throughout the years. Anyways, I'm sure you all must be hungry, so let's go down to breakfast, hmm?"

But Ron had regained his voice, and he now looked at Blaise with a mix of disgust and anger on his face. "Stay away from my sister," he spat.

Blaise sneered. "Only if she tells me to, Weasel. Besides, I think she rather likes it," he said suggestively.

"Blaise, Ron, shove it," Ginny snapped.

"Why're you calling him Blaise, Ginny?" Harry said, an odd expression on his face.

"Because we're friends. Please, can we just go to breakfast?"

"I think not. I don't like how cozy you are with him," Harry said, the same odd expression on his face.

Ginny threw her hands up. "That is it! Blaise and I are going to breakfast! You three are welcome to camp out here, but stay away from me until you grow up!" Her eyes glittered dangerously as she grabbed Blaise's hand and dragged him down the hallway. Blaise smirked at the Dream Team over his shoulder.

Once there was a safe distance between them and the three Gryffindors, Ginny rounded on Blaise. "And who do you think you are, being so rude to them?"

"I'm a Slytherin! My parents are Deatheaters!" he hissed. "I'm supposed to get off on that sort of thing."

"You aren't a Slytherin," she reminded him. "And your parents aren't here. You'll be of legal age soon, if you aren't yet, and that means it's time you start taking responsibility for yourself! So what if you get disowned? It's better than supporting some asshole supremacist."

"You don't get it, do you? They'll kill me if they find out I don't agree with them. And I think you have this idea that I'm some fucking goody two-shoes. I'm not. I like the Dark Arts. I'm cunning, two-faced, and ultimately here for my own good."

Ginny looked at him for a moment sadly. "Blaise, you are a good person. You went against your upbringing to see the truth of the world. You've just had it drilled into your head that you're supposed to be bad that you've come to believe it. But you've got a new start ahead of you. You're a Lijanhorn now, and our job is to unite the school against a common enemy. It's a new start."

Blaise said nothing for a long time. "Just…just bear with me. This is going to take some adjusting to. And…and I can't leave the school once my parents find out. They won't just disown me, they'll try to kill me. Fucking kill me. Okay?"

Ginny smiled. "Yeah. C'mon, let's go deal with the nasty Slytherins now."

There was a fifth table set up in the Great Hall now, one that flanked the opposite end of the hall from the teachers' table. The two Lijanhorns made they're way to the table amidst the stares from their classmates. No sooner had they sat down than a snotty first-year Slytherin appeared.

"Malfoy wants to see you, Zabini," the tiny kid said, looking down his nose at Blaise.

"Then tell Draco he can come here and see me, fuckface. And don't go disrespecting your elders like that. It's enough to get you killed, in our world." Blaise watched the kid head back to the Slytherin table with a look of sadness on his face. "Poor kid. Member of the MacFusty clan, and he has no idea what he's getting into."

A few minutes later, Draco arrived at their table. "Anyone else, Zabini…"

"But you love me," Blaise said.

"Explain. Now."

"Ginny chose me as a member of Lijanhorn. This is Lijara." Blaise shrugged as Draco gave Lijara an appraising glance. "We're supposed to unite the school against a common enemy. Three guesses as to who that is. Could you say no to her face?" Blaise was being very blasé about this, as if he hadn't recently been upset about it.

"I see." Draco nodded, and then looked at Lijara, who stared calmly back.

"Mr. Malfoy, you are not terribly frightening," Lijara said. "I do hope you won't cause trouble as we attempt to unite the school. It shall be difficult enough as it is." Lijara's tone implied that the words she was saying didn't matter, that there was some deeper message she was trying to convey. Whatever it was, Ginny couldn't understand it, but it seemed that Draco did.

"I know. I still remember." With that, Draco walked off.

"What was that about?" Ginny said, looking at Lijara.

Lijara shook her head slowly. "Nothing dear, nothing."

Silence fell on Lijanhorn's mostly empty table until an owl arrived for Ginny with the owl post. Opening it quickly, Ginny found her schedule and a short note. She scanned her schedule before reading the note.

Monday:

Double Charms (Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw)

Double History of Magic (Hufflepuff)

Tuesday:

CoMC (First years, Gryffindor/Slytherin)

CoMC (First years, Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff)

Double Defense Against the Dark Arts (Slytherin/Hufflepuff)

Wednesday:

Double Transfiguration (Gryffindor/Slytherin)

CoMC (Sixth years)

CoMC (Seventh years)

Thursday:

Double Herbology (Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff)

CoMC (First years, Gryffindor/Slytherin)

CoMC (First years, Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff)

Friday:

CoMC (Sixth years)

CoMC (Seventh years)

Double Potions (Ravenclaw)

Dear Miss Weasley,

Your schedule is enclosed. I hope you find it acceptable. Professor Dearborn requested you help with both the advanced and beginning classes, so we planned your schedule around that. You will notice that most of your classes are double blocks. We hope that will create less confusion when it comes to coursework.

Please inform Mr. Zabini that his schedule will remain the same despite his switching houses. I would appreciate it if you, Mr. Zabini, and Miss Lijara would come to my office at some point this morning. I have spoken to Professor Snape, and he has agreed to release Mr. Zabini from his class for the morning.

Welcome back to school,

Albus Dumbledore

"Dumbledore says your schedule will stay the same," Ginny said. "And we're to meet with him this morning. You're excused from class."

"Brilliant," Blaise said.

"And he knew about you." Ginny looked at Lijara. "How did he know about you?"

"Albus is a wise man," Lijara said. "If he weren't so pure of heart, he would be very dangerous. As it is, he remains a danger to those who cross him."

"When do you want to go see him?" Ginny asked.

"Eh. Later. I want to take a shower and read the paper," Blaise said.

"You actually read that trash?"

"'Know thy enemy,'" Blaise quoted. "My parents are a little less influential than the Malfoys, and they trained me to always know what the other side was thinking. It makes sense, so I still do it."

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Standing outside Dumbledore's office, Ginny and Blaise were trying in vain to guess the latest candy keyword. Apparently "lollipop" no longer did the trick. Finally, Dumbledore's voice floated down from his office. "It's 'pickled popping pustules.'"

The passageway opened, and the two Lijanhorns plus Lijara started climbing up. Well, Ginny and Blaise walked, Lijara floated.

"Come in, come in," Dumbledore said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Alby!" Lijara cried, making her way to Dumbledore's desk. "You look…old."

"And you look as you ever have."

"You know him?" Ginny asked.

"Sort of," Lijara said, but didn't elaborate.

"So. I see the time has come for this," Dumbledore said. "As I feel that you are young adults, I will be perfectly frank with you. The balance of a great many things is hanging on your actions over the next year. There are prophesies, predictions, and problems you shall have to deal with. I fear…" He hesitated, and then continued. "I fear that the world may be asking too much of you. Ginny, the weight shall be especially heavy on you as, willing or not, you shall be at the center of this, with two others. There will be tough choices this year, tough choices for every member of Lijanhorn. I will be here to help as much as I can, but there is only so much I can do." He sighed. "Every year, the sacrifices that must be made grow greater. All we can do is hope for a brighter tomorrow."

"Sir?" Ginny was confused.

"Just an old man's ramblings. Pay it no mind." Dumbledore shook his head. "A few words of advice. Never turn your back on a Quintaped. Forgo judgement for love. The past will never go anywhere. Truth can be found in the most unlikely of places. And, above all, nothing is what it appears to be."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "Sir, we'll do our best," Blaise said earnestly.

"I know you will," Dumbledore said. "Now, is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of," Ginny said.

My door is always open, for whatever meager guidance I may provide." The headmaster smiled. "Now, I believe it is nearly time for lunch."