A/N: Hello to everyone. First of all thank you very much for taking time and reading this fic. Also, thanks to everyone who have added the fic to their following/favourite story. It means a lot. Here is the next chapter for you awesome guys. I hope you all enjoy it! Happy reading.

I don't own Harry Potter, it solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!

A/N: 'Bold and italics' is conversation in parseltongue.

CHAPTER 9

Harriet followed Lucius in the direction he had gone a few moments ago. The sudden attack at his best friend and then the headmaster's obvious injustice had taken quite a toll on the silver-haired boy. Harriet was going after Heir Malfoy because she understood very well as to how utterly useless and defeated one felt when they couldn't even protect their loved ones and family. It was an emotional roller coaster ride, Harriet personally experienced, whenever Ron and Hermione put their lives in danger because of her. Plus, Harriet wanted to understand the snakes of the prestigious Slytherin house. In her heart, she was coming to terms that she hadn't treated them well either, and if she wanted this mission of hers to be successful, Harriet would have to befriend them and understand their point of view too.

After all, no judgement can pass by hearing only one side of the verdict.

Harriet reached the doors to one of the empty classrooms, from where a fancy string of curses could be distinctly heard. Cautiously approaching, she pushed the door ajar enough for her to see the mess Lucius had made. The whole classroom was in shackles and destroyed - the desks and chairs were now just pieces of splintered wood, and the windows were shattered as the broken pieces of glass lay askew on the floor. There were scorch marks on the walls, clearly indicating of the heavy curses used on them. Lucius was facing away from Harriet so she couldn't see the thundering rage on his face. She, however, saw his body shaking and his head bowed in shame upon the fact that he couldn't help his friend and housemate in any way, and instead stood like a mute witness.

She slowly pushed the door open, and its creaking sound caught Lucius' attention, causing him to whirl around and see who his intruder was.

"Destroying school property or breaking things isn't going solve your problems. Nor is it going to help Mr Snape, in any way, at the moment." Harrie spoke clearly as she carefully stepped further into the room. Lucius' rage and obvious dislike at her interruption could easily be read in the hard glare he was sending her way.

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed venomously.

"I only came here to help," she said as she simultaneously raised her hands, showing Heir Malfoy that she held no wand and thus meant no harm to him, whatsoever.

"I don't need your help, you filthy little mudblood! Who do you think you are!" Lucius raised his voice as he pulled out his wand and pointed it straight at her. Harriet pulled out her own, loyal Holly wand, in defence.

"Don't you dare call me a 'mudblood', Mr Malfoy. And don't you dare point your wand at me," she warned him, but something in her tone must have irked the Malfoy boy because the next thing she knew was that he'd casted a powerful curse at her.

"Reducto!"

"Protego." Harriet put a shielding charm without a second thought.

"Diffindo!" Lucius shouted, but Harriet easily side-stepped making the silver-haired boy snarl.

"Protego! Levicorpus!" Harriet shouted. Lucius, however, ducked and got out of the way with immense ease. From the way he was battling, it seemed that he had much more experience in duelling, as she had predicted or anticipated.

"SILENCIO! EXPELLIARMUS! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" He was good, but alas, not the quickest because Harriet instantly threw hexes at him, one after the other, and had him lying on the ground with his body bound and his wand in Harriet's hand.

By the time their unnecessary duel was over, Harriet was breathing heavily while the boy on the ground, was probably thinking of various ways wherein he could murder Harriet with ease. She walked over to him and cancelled the silencing charm, but not the body-binding curse, because she wasn't sure as to what Lucius' reaction would be to losing against her. Perhaps she was expecting him to verbally lash out at her, but unexpectedly, he didn't say anything. He just lay there, glaring daggers at her.

"I didn't come here to fight you, Mr Malfoy. I came here to help you as I previously stated. But insult me or my blood-status or try to attack me in possible future again, and I assure you, that you won't like the consequences to cross me," Harriet stated with such pride and dignity lacing her words, that Heir Malfoy was forced to lower his eyes. It didn't mean, however, that her intrusion and sneaking up on him was forgiven and forgotten.

"Why are you really here?" he whispered.

"To assist, help you," Harriet too said calmly.

"I don't believe you," Lucius said as a matter of factly, "not in the least."

"Would you believe me if I removed the curses from you? Can I expect a civil conversation from your side, without trying to harm me?" She asked. There was a hidden tone of plea in her words which immediately caught his attention. He didn't want to talk to or confront anyone at the moment, much less her, yet he wanted to know as to why she was trying to be his saviour, instead of moving on with her seemingly uninterested life.

So, he just nodded in affirmation and Harriet immediately followed suit as she freed him and handed back his wand. She breathed a sigh of relief only when he put his wand away, and smiled slightly at her small victory.

"I can understand how hopeless and worthless and incompetent you might be feeling that you couldn't help Mr Snape out there," Lucius' head snapped in her direction, but he let her continue anyway, "but as I said, it won't help your friend. You can't just blame yourself for all that happened. It wasn't your fault..." her words halted.

"You think a stranger can just come up here and tell the Heir of the Noble and Ancient House of Malfoy as to what he should and shouldn't do? Do you think that you can lecture me on how I should treat my friends and get away with it? Who gave you that right, Christopher?" Lucius snarled. At that moment, he resembled Draco so vividly, that Harrie was lost in her own thoughts for a second. The same hair, same eyes, same haughtiness lacing his voice, but one thing was different - Harrie hadn't given a chance or thought to understand Draco's feelings or his point of views, ever. She had disregarded his ideas without a second thought. She wasn't going to repeat her mistakes this time. In this situation, Harrie would have to be the more patient one and guide Heir Malfoy.

"No, no! Not in the least. But if he is your 'friend', don't you think you should be in the infirmary with them, instead of trying to burn down the castle? Shouldn't you start taking charge for your housemates, as a Prefect, raise question against the obvious injustice and show others how wrong their perception about the Slytherins' is?" Harriet asked gently causing Lucius to think about everything. Surely the Slytherins have taken appropriate measures for their snakes, but they had never actually tried to make peace with the other houses.

"Sometimes we need to show our friends that we are there for them, take a step forward when the other falls. Sometimes words need to be spoken to make a stronger impact; you can't always expect your peers to understand your thoughts."

"How do you know about such things?" Lucius counter-questioned.

"Believe me when I say that I understand. I have been in your condition, and I have been in Mr Snape's place as well. He needs the support of all his housemates right now. He needs the assurance from you people that everything is going to turn out alright, even if things didn't go in your favour."

By the look on his face, Harriet could say she was able to guide him in a positive direction. He just needed a little more push right now.

"Think about it, Mr Malfoy. All the younger Slytherins look up to you because they believe that you'll protect them and listen to their problems. If any mishappenings take place, you're the first person to be informed in the house, even before Professor Slughorn. Doesn't it mean that you have a responsibility towards them? Isn't it hight time for all of us to come out of Professor Slughorn's shadow and start defending ourselves?" Lucius looked at Harriet and could see the anger behind her subtle mask. Clearly, he wasn't the only one to be affected by today's fight.

She, of course, was right. Horace Slughorn had always been meek and had never been able to speak in his snakes' favour in front of Dumbledore. Today, as well, he had maintained his silence whilst the others had tried to protest.

"What do you reckon we do then?" He asked Harriet suddenly. His eyes were wide in realisation and fear - he looked like a lost child who seemingly didn't have any sense for right or wrong. So, she quickly tried to assure him.

"Right now, you go to the infirmary and check upon how Mr Snape and the others are fairing. I'm gonna go and have a chat with Professor Slughorn," she murmured.

"You're right. I should go," he spoke more to himself than to Harriet. Without wasting any more of the precious time or a glance in her direction, Lucius hurried towards the infirmary. Harriet too quickly followed suit and towards Professor Slughorn's office.

The Dark Lord was growing impatient. His lower minions hadn't been able to get any sort of information Harriet Katherine Christopher. It seemed, as if, she had appeared out of thin air with no traces or strings to her past. There was not a single clue.

On top of that, he felt a constant need to be close to her; like a magnetic pull so powerful that he couldn't resist their irrelevant bond. Whenever she was in nearby proximity, he felt calm and sane.

Making multiple Horcruxes had affected him physically and mentally. The once handsome face of Tom Marvolo Riddle was now etched with worry lines and fine creases. That was the reason he almost always wore his snake-like visage - to hide his disgusting features from the world and himself as well. He was exhausted, in both boys and mind, and Harriet was like a balm to cure all his pains. He felt safe in her proximity, the way he felt safe in the confinements of his own body or when he was close to his treasured pieces of soul.

All these new emotions and stupid feelings were making him furious. He was more agitated with the fact that a mere slip of a girl was making the most feared wizard, behave in such an eerie way. He needed to find about the mysterious girl soon or else he'd probably kill someone.

Currently, he was sitting in his manor's office with pending paperwork scattered on the large mahogany desk, while his mind was still stuck on the raven-haired, green-eyed girl residing at Hogwarts. It was the weekend, so he'd decided to have a meeting with the Death Eaters. Thankfully, the usually nosy headmaster didn't raise any questions or suspicions.

A voice of something slithering across the office caught his ears, and he smiled - a rare but genuine one.

"Hello Tommy, how are you?" Nagini hissed as she slithered further into the room. She had been his only friend and constant companion ever since he'd started building the foundation of his empire. She understood him and cared for him. He cared for her deeply too, enough that she could call him by the ghastly and offending name.

"Hello, Nagini. I'm well. I hope that in my absence you haven't scared of my poor servants."

"Those servants you call 'Death Eaters' are stupid, Tommy. Anyone can smell the fear rolling off of them. I love to intervene between their conversations and terrify them." She gave of what could be described as a hissy laugh, making Voldemort sigh. She was now resting on his shoulders.

Sounds of multiple apparitions informed him about the arrival of his minions. Putting on his snake-like visage he left the office and strolled straight to the throne room. He smirked widely when he heard several gasps of surprise; it always amused him how afraid and petrified they were of Nagini.

Once he was seated comfortably on his throne, the death eaters rose from their kneeling position - good, their place would always be beneath him.

"Welcome, Death Eaters. I want to hear reports of the tasks assigned to you." The meeting started as it usually did. All his plannings were going brilliantly. The Ministry Of Magic was too afraid to act or take action against him, as of now. The Wizarding British Ministry had been unsuccessful in stopping any of the Dark Lord's raids.

There were also reports of some young children and students who wanted to be branded with the dark mark by Yuletide. Everything was boring until one Death Eater from the upper tier kneeled, "My Lord, the Ministry is trying to keep this information under wraps, but have failed to do so. They have a suspicion that there may have been some sort of time-travel accident. They aren't sure of it, but they have evidence of abrupt instances and sort of time manipulation occurrences in a deserted alley in Muggle London, two weeks ago."

The news was unexpected but not unwelcomed. If the Ministry's doubt proved correct then how beneficial would the time-traveller be to the Dark Lord? Suddenly, a thought struck in his mind, but he needed a solid proof to confirm his suspicions.

"I'll hear the rest of the reports later. But I want you to keep an eye on the Ministry and what they are planning ahead. If there is actually a time-traveller, I want my hands on them before the aurors does. Everyone to leave, except Abraxas. Dismissed."

The others scurried away quickly leaving the duo to their tasks.

"What information, Abraxas?" He came straight to the point.

"There isn't much information or data, my Lord, but as she claimed to be moving from America, I still checked. There isn't any record or information about her birth or her family and parents at MACUSA. I also know for a fact that the manager of Gringotts had exclusively helped her." The Malfoy head spoke in a firm tone, and Voldemort's eyes narrow at this.

"The goblins don't help anyone like that -especially not the wand users." Voldemort was thinking really hard. He had doubted that she was lying from the go. The official story he heard was that she moved from America after her parents' death - muggleborn parents who had homeschooled her and were apparently aurors. This piece of information wasn't fitting. From what he had observed at Hogwarts, she wasn't that paranoid about her parents' sudden demise, nor did she have an accent. She was acutely aware of her surroundings - always in a position to defend herself, is attacked. It wasn't natural behaviour. The kind of instincts she had came from years of experience and seeing them in a seventeen-year-old wasn't a common sight.

"That's what I thought too. My theory is that either she at Hogwarts under a false identity or she's someone belonging to an ancient and wealthy house. In both cases, one thing is clear - if she's an enemy then she needs to be dealt with soon." Abraxas said and Voldemort couldn't help but agree.

"Although I'm at Hogwarts, tell your son to keep an eye on the new girl too. The more insight we get on her personal life, the better." The Dark Lord ordered.

"As you say, my Lord." Abraxas bowed before leaving.

"I have to leave now, my dear." He hissed to Nagini bidding his farewell.

Dropping his snakelike glamour and becoming Professor Grey again, he flooed to his Hogwarts' office. A much-required chat with Miss Christopher was definitely in tow.