A/N This chapter is a bit abrupt after the last one. The only information that had happened between the two is that Silver did a bit of research and was thinking on her nightmares possibly being visions of the future. As such, I didn't think I'd have to add more to this chapter. Also this one's significantly shorter than the last.

Let me know what you think of either of these two chapters. I wrote them both in one go, and I love reviews. Thanks for reading. And, as always, I do not own Harry Potter.

"Have you heard about Lockhart's Duelling Club? I've been thinking of going, but if it's run by him it'll probably be a joke," Pansy asked at dinner one night.

"Professor Snape will be joining Lockhart, so it's likely not to be a complete waste of my time," Draco cut in.

"Professor Snape, huh? It'd be interesting to see him put Lockhart in his place. Personally, I think Snape would make a much better Defense teacher than the two goofs we've had so far," Silver responded.

"Really? I thought you would have wanted your little lion friends to be favored, which they clearly wouldn't be if Snape was our teacher," Draco replied.

Silver just shrugged and stood up to leave; she had plans to meet Luna before bedtime.

As she was leaving the Great Hall, she ran into a red-headed first year. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the younger girl by the arm to prevent her from falling over. Upon righting the girl, Silver stated, "Hey, you're that girl from the train. The one who was sharing with the Weasley twins? What's your name?"

The girl timidly said, "Ginny W-Weasley."

"I'm Silver Sullivan. Pleasure to meet you, Ginny," Silver replied with a smile, holding her hand out for Ginny to take. Ginny carefully shook her hand, as if expecting Silver to do something dangerous. Silver took note of this, theorizing that she'd been told all Slytherins were dark and dangerous.

"Well, I'm off to meet my friend Luna. Maybe I'll see you again soon. Try not to run into any more big bad Slytherins on your way to the common room, ok?" Ginny nodded her head, and then they both went their separate ways.

Silver didn't see that Ginny was looking after her curiously, but no longer in fear.

The day of the Dueling Club came. Silver ended up standing by Neville, figuring that they could be paired together. She had the niggling suspicion that they'd be paired off with opposing houses. This theory was proved correct when Harry was paired with Draco, Hermione was paired with Millicent, and Silver was paired with Ron instead of Neville. Neville had been paired with a Hufflepuff named Justin. Shortly after the pairing off though, Lockhart and Snape wanted Draco and Harry to demonstrate how to do a wizard's duel. They bowed to each other, then exchanged spells. Silver had pushed to the front, displacing Justin from his position. He grumbled in displeasure, but moved aside. Near the end of the boys' duel, Draco summoned a viper. Lockhart attempted to get rid of it, but all he succeeded in doing was making it fly through the air, where it landed in front of Silver. No one moved except the viper, as it slowly made its way towards Silver. Then, a strange hissing sound could be heard coming from Harry. Almost everyone immediately stared at him in amazed horror, but Silver was watching the viper. She noticed that it was hesitating in striking, seemingly because of Harry's hissing. Calmly, she lifted her wand slowly and muttered "Vipera Evanesca," which made the viper disappear in a puff of smoke. When it was gone, she looked up at Harry and smiled. Everyone else was still staring at him until Lockhart dismissed them all. Silver ran up to Harry as soon as she got free of the crowd and hugged him. He was so startled, he fell over with Silver crashing on top of him. Silver immediately got to her feet and pulled him up, blushing. Harry was staring at her, as he'd never seen her blush before, as he asked, "What in the world was that for?"

"You tried to stop the snake from attacking me. Thank you," she replied, smiling brightly at him.

"But all we heard was hissing. It sounded like he was egging it on, not trying to stop it. Where'd you get that idea, Sullivan?" a sulky Ron asked.

"The snake would have attacked me long ago if Harry hadn't talked to it. That's a very rare ability, being able to talk to snakes. Have you always been able to do it?" she asked Harry.

"Well, I once accidently set one on my cousin Dudley," Harry replied. "I was just trying to free it, but Dudley got trapped in its cage. That's before I found out I was a wizard."

"Huh," Silver replied, "You truly are a Gryffindor, Harry. It's ridiculous that anyone would think you're a dark wizard, even if you are a Parseltongue."

"A Parseltongue is the name of the ability to talk to snakes," Hermione replied to the boys' confused looks. "The ability is mostly associated with dark witches and wizards, including You-Know-Who," she concluded.

Both boys looked grim at the news, Harry more so than Ron. Silver gave Hermione a goodbye hug and waved to the boys as she left the Hall, heading for her dorms.