Disclaimer: I dun own Harry Potter nor any of the relating characters.

~*~*~Chapter Ten: The First Defense Against the Dark Arts Lesson~*~*~

Larisa swung the door to the dungeons open and began to rush down the spiral staircase. She didn't know how to feel, because deep down, she knew Ron was right. She stormed past Snape's office and down a long, twisting passage, her mind completely muddled as if someone had cast a jelly-brain jinx on her. Angrily, she came up to a stone wall, which was completely blocking the passage.

"Pureblood." She muttered angrily, and then a door showed up in the wall. She pushed it open, and stormed into the common room, which was completely empty. Tears began to stream down her face as she began up the stairs to her dormitory. She opened the door to her room and flung herself down on her four-poster bed, sobbing into her pillow. Perhaps this was why she was living with the Malfoy's? She wanted someone to hold her and tell her Ron was wrong, but that wasn't happening anytime soon.

A tapping at the door jarred her from her thoughts, and somehow, all of her wishes were granted. Slowly, she got up and opened the door to see Pansy Parkinson standing there. Pansy blinked, then grabbed Larisa and pulled her into a hug.

"I overheard Weasley complaining about how you had hit him at dinner. Granger was scolding him for something he said that made you cry, and then your owl showed up." Pansy let go of Larisa and handed her a letter, and the familiar handwriting made Larisa smile weakly.

"Thank God..." Larisa choked, grabbing the letter. Pansy backed up slowly, then closed the door while Larisa rolled open the parchment.

Dear Lari,

For your sake, I only shot your father a deadly

look. I'm noticing the Dark Mark on my arm seems to

look much clearer now. The Dark Lord is getting

stronger. Don't fret yourself over that, though. You're

a pureblood, so you'll be safe. Tell me, how did your

first day at Hogwarts go?

Lots of love,

Bellatrix

Larisa looked at the letter, then folded it up again and tucked it between the pages of a muggle notebook she kept letters in.

~*~*~*~*~

"I'm in no particular hurry to get there, Lari." Draco said in an annoyed tone as they climbed the grand staircase to get to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

"Nor am I, Draco. We're sharing with the Gryffindor's, and you know how I can't stand them."

"I was talking about Professor Moody. My arm still hurts from the ferret incident."

"So does my soul. I told you how Weasley reduced me to tears, and I don't cry much."

"I swear you must be related to my aunt or something. You both have pretty much the same personality." Draco said.

"Impossible. I look nothing like her. Except for my left eye, but that's it."

"Well then." Draco snapped, when Larisa started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"We're arguing about something totally irrelevant to the present situation." Larisa said in a sophisticated tone.

"Let's just worry about getting to Defense Against the Dark Arts, shall we?"

"That's what I said..." They continued up the steps, then finally arrived outside the classroom. Ron looked at Larisa, then dove behind Harry and Hermione in a desperate attempt to hide. Larisa and Draco glared at Harry and Hermione, when Hermione came over to Larisa.

"Ron says he's sorry, and that he didn't mean to insult you like that." She stated calmly. Draco opened his mouth, when Larisa elbowed him.

"You know, Granger, I don't 'forgive and forget'. Ron wants to apologize, he shouldn't treat his friends like owls. But, I won't forgive him." She turned her back on Hermione, who turned and marched away. Larisa stood still with her arms folded across her chest, when there was a clunking noise coming down the hall. Quickly, people began to scurry into the room, Larisa and Draco finding seats in the front of the room. Larisa pulled her book and wand out and set them neatly on her desk, then put her elbows on top and held her head up.

"Something wrong, Lari?" Draco asked quietly.

"No, I'm just really tired. I need to send my reply to Bellatrix, and I'm trying to formulate how to tell her all that's happened." Just after Larisa said this, the door swung open, and Professor Moody came limping in.

"Put your books away. You won't be needing them." He growled. Larisa quickly tucked her book in her bag. Professor Moody took roll, then began to talk about the class. "Seems this class is pretty well versed with Dark creatures under the guidance of Professor Lupin-" Larisa looked at Draco with a quizzical look. "-but you are all behind. Far behind on dealing with curses." Larisa, being a transfer from Durmstrang, had to fight off the urge to laugh. Durmstrang students pretty much studied curses nonstop. "I've gt one year to each you-"

"Aren't you staying?" Ron asked. Larisa mentally punched him. Professor Moody smiled, which made him look quite demented.

"Dumbledore brought me out of retirement for this year, then I return to my quiet life." He laughed, then clapped his hands together. "Curses. I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. You aren't supposed to know illegal curses until sixth year." Larisa rolled her eyes. She was fourteen and could do all three Unforgivable Curses AND their countercurses. "Dumbledore says you have to know, though. How can you defend yourself against something you never knew of? Dark wizards aren't going to tell you what they're going to do." His blue eye swiveled around the room, fixed on Larisa's eyes, then shot toward one of the Gryiffindors. "Put that away, Miss Brown."

Lavender Brown jumped. Larisa had to again fight off the urge to laugh.

"Does anyone know which curses are punished most heavily by wizarding law?" Moody barked. Larisa's hand shot up into the air. Moody turned to look at her. "Yes, Miss Rei?"

"The Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and Avada Kedavra." She said. Heads started to turn to look at her. Moody's blue eye fixed on her, then he nodded.

"Smart little girl, aren't you?" He barked. "Where'd you learn them all?" Larisa turned pink slightly. She didn't quite want to mention that her parents had been Death Eaters, her best friend was a Death Eater, she was constantly being told to become a Death Eater, that she was living with Death Eaters, and her old Headmaster had been a Death Eater. She decided to go the easy way out.

"I learned them when I went to Durmstrang, but I'm disgusted that I know them." That was the best she could think of. Moody looked at her again, then noticed her two different colored eyes.

"I remember putting your father in Azkaban." He said, looking at her. Larisa felt relieved.

"And thank God that you did." If Moody was expecting her to say something, it sure wasn't that. He looked rather taken aback for a minute, but continued on with the lesson. He performed the Imperius Curse on a spider, then he took out another spider.

"Engorgio." He muttered. Larisa watched as Ron tried to get as far back from Moody's desk as possible. Moody raised his wand and pointed it at the spider. "Crucio!" He exclaimed. The spider began to jerk around, and Larisa could tell it was in pain. She felt herself go even paler than she normally was, and she gripped the edges of the desk, wanting the demonstration to be over.

"Stop it!" Hermione said in a very shrill voice, and Larisa looked to see Hermione staring right at Neville Longbottom, who was also clutching his desk like Larisa. Larisa and Neville made eye contact, and Larisa remembered the name; Longbottom. His parents had been tortured by Bellatrix. Now Larisa had met their son, (Sort of) she felt sorry for him. Hermione's eye traveled over to Larisa, and Larisa realized she was still clinging onto her desk with a death grip, and she was still inhumanly pale. Larisa felt Draco's gaze, and she turned to look him in the eye. She felt as though she would faint. Slowly, she turned to look back at Professor Moody, who had taken out a third spider, and was pointing his wand at it. Larisa knew what was coming. She braced herself, and waited.

"Avada Kedavra!" Professor Moody roared. There was a burst of green light and a rushing sound, and the spider rolled onto it's back, completely and totally dead.

Something seemed to grab a hold of Larisa, and she felt herself fall out of her chair and onto the floor, as if she had been hit with the curse. She heard a rush of voices, and then everything went silent. The smell of the classroom left her and then there was nothing. Nothing at all.

CLIFFIE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry this is late, it would have been up earlier, but Star Wars was on, and, well...And don't worry, Larisa doesn't die!