Draco, Braxton, and Cameron walked out onto the pitch with their brooms over their shoulders and their quidditch robes billowing out behind them in the cool September air. They joined the rest of the team as they waited for their captain to make an appearance. Cameron glanced up into the stands and saw Kit, Lilia, and Nia talking excitedly about something while Ashton and Blaise sat off to the side.

When Thomas finally arrived he immediately led them through one of the most grueling practices they'd had in all Cameron's years on the team. By the end of the first hour, all the boys were feeling the effects. Their arms were achy and stiff while their legs were sore and rubbery from gripping their brooms so tightly. Cameron was so busy with practice he didn't notice Kit and the others disappear from the stands until Thomas finally ended the torture session an hour and a half later.

Draco and Braxton landed on either side of Cameron as he scanned the stands over and over again.

"They're gone." He said, feeling his chest contract with fear. Draco and Braxton looked around as well.

"There they are." Draco said, pointing towards the opposite end of the pitch where Kit, Lilia and Nia were running towards them.

"Look Cameron!" Kit cried excitedly, turning her hair in the fading light. Her raven black hair was now streaked with bright blue highlights to match the bright green streaks in Nia's hair.

Cameron took several seconds to calm himself before he nodded.

"That's nice." He said, looking over his sister's head at Nia who was silently apologizing repeatedly. Cameron gave her a sharp look before looking closer at his sister's hair since he noticed she looked disappointed by his reaction to her new look. He gently pulled a piece of Kit's blue hair away from her head as if trying to pull out a fake strand of hair.

"I like it. Is it permanent?" Cameron asked.

Kit quickly shook her head, pulling the strand out of her brother's fingers.

"No, it will wash out but Nia knows a charm to make it permanent." She said. Her eyes shone with excitement.

"But she said she'd only show it to me if I asked you first." She said incredulously.

Cameron glanced at Nia who nodded nervously.

"Sure, why not?" he said. Nia smiled and Kit turned to her positively beaming.

"Do it! Do it!" she squealed excitedly. Nia chuckled before pulling out her wand and muttering a short spell.

"There it is. Now if you ever want the color to come out all you have to do is say the spell again. Got it?"

Kit nodded and quickly pulled the older girl into a tight hug.

"Oh thank you thank you! This is great!" she cried. Lilia giggled.

"The blue is so cool in your hair Kit, I'm so jealous." She admitted, fingering her own bright red hair.

"Hey, I know the spells for a lot of colors. Why don't we go experiment and see what we can come up with for you?" Nia offered. Lilia beamed.

"You mean it?"

Nia nodded.

"Sure it'll be fun! Is it alright if I take them for a while Cameron?" she asked.

Cameron nodded.

"Sure, I'm exhausted." He said. "Good night Kit, bye Lilia."

Kit said goodbye to her brother and followed Nia back towards the castle. Cameron turned around to head towards the Slytherin locker rooms and found Draco and Braxton waiting for him.

"Nia seems to be having fun." Braxton said.

Draco nodded.

"She's always wanted a little sister."

Braxton and Cameron glanced at each other and then at the blonde.

"How do you know that?" Braxton asked.

Draco shrugged.

"We talk sometimes." He said easily but suddenly his eyes popped a little and he glared at each of his friends.

"Don't start." He said firmly.

"Don't start on what?" Cameron asked innocently.

"You know what." Draco said.

"Mmm, no I don't believe I do. Braxton, do you have any idea what Draco could possibly be referring to?"

Braxton put on an expression of feigned thoughtfulness.

"Why no Cameron, I don't believe I do. Unless…no it couldn't be…" he said.

"What is it?" Cameron asked, continuing to sound innocently confused. Braxton shook his head dramatically.

"Alas, it is too unbelievable to speak aloud but I'll do it anyway because I do believe Draco fancies Nia!"

Cameron laughed openly as he pulled open the locker room door and Draco walked by, glaring at him.

"You two are bloody idiots." Draco snapped. Cameron and Blaise laughed even more.

"It's not as much fun to be on that side of things is it?" Cameron challenged lightly. Draco cracked a grin but quickly wiped it away.

"Well everyone knows you fancy Ashton. It's obvious. I do not think of Nia that way. She talks too much, and she's always so bloody upbeat and…"

"Aaaand..you love it!" Braxton exclaimed as he began pulling off his Quidditch robes. Cameron laughed some more. Draco shook his head in distress.

"You don't know what you're talking about, all we do is talk!"

"Cameron and I didn't know Nia wanted a little sister. She only told you so that means she trusts you." Braxton said knowingly.

"Oh yes it's something truly special when a blabbermouth like Nia shares something." Draco said snidely. He, Braxton, and Cameron each claimed their own shower stall but continued talking over the tops of the dividing walls.

"I suppose I'm not the only one that needs glasses then." Cameron said.

"This conversation is over." Draco snapped.

Cameron and Braxton shrugged.

"If you say so mate." Cameron said.

"Yeah but I thought people in love were supposed to be nice….ow!"

Cameron dissolved into laughter. Draco had just thrown his bar of soap directly at Braxton's head, hitting the teen in the side of the face with a dull 'thud'.

Cameron, Draco, and Braxton entered the Slytherin common room feeling extremely sore and tired. All their energy was spent and they could only imagine falling into bed and sleeping for the rest of the year. They spotted Ashton and Blaise sitting on the couch in front of the fire. A few other students littered the rest of the common room as well. The exhausted trio sank into the comfortable arm chairs and shifted them so they were facing the sofa.

"How was practice?" Blaise asked.

"Hell." Draco and Blaise said together.

"But the worst bit was right at the end when I looked around for my friends who were supposed to be watching my sister and not seeing them anywhere." Cameron said sharply.

"Don't blame us; Nia said she was going to be back before practice was over." Ashton said.

"And it was getting cold out there just sitting." Blaise added.

"A little notice would be nice next time." Cameron said.

Blaise and Ashton nodded.

"It's a good thing you took Kit and Lilia anyway." Blaise said.

"Why?" Draco asked.

"The Ravenclaws finally got attacked." Ashton informed her friends. "They all received some sort of message from Flitwick asking them to meet in the common room. When all of them were in enormous amounts of water just came out of nowhere. Apparently their statue got stuck and the common room just filled right up."

"If the sixth and seventh years hadn't been able to cast bubble head charms on everyone, they probably would have drowned because it took a while for anyone to get through the statue."
"Even Dumbledore couldn't get through?" Braxton asked incredulously.

"I dunno the story behind that but here's where it gets bad." Ashton said. "The water had some sort of potion in it that was absorbed into the Ravenclaw's skin. When the professors finally got them all out every one of the students was bright yellow, puffy, and oozing puss."

"All that happened while we were at Quidditch?" Draco said incredulously.

Ashton and Blaise nodded.

"We were surprised that no one went out to stop your practice."

Cameron suddenly slapped the arms of his chair.

"That's why Thomas wanted the pitch tonight! If we hadn't taken it the Ravenclaws would have had practice and since some of their house goes out to watch, that would have taken a load of students out of the attack."

"That's true." Draco said thoughtfully. "We should tell Sev." He said with a pointed look at Ashton, Blaise and Braxton. Cameron was too worried to notice. He stood suddenly.

"I don't want Kit or Lilia going back to their house tonight. Madame Pomfrey would let them stay in the hospital wing right?"

"Probably." Ashton said.

Cameron nodded.

"Alright, where's Nia taken them?"

"They're in the prefect bathroom." Blaise informed his friend. Cameron thanked him and set off to find his sister.

Once he was gone Draco moved closer to his friends.

"Cameron was right. It's too big of a coincidence that the attack happened on the same night Thomas stole the pitch. We've got to tell Dumbledore and Sev." He said softly.

"Yeah, it'll be something of a start. Obviously it had to be someone in Ravenclaw because no one else knows the password!" Braxton whispered. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Alright I'll go tell him. Be sure you've got your coin in case we have a meeting." Draco said; standing and leaving the common room.

Braxton rubbed the top of his head.

"Bloody hell, I think I liked it better when it was Potter dealing with the school crisis."

Sure enough the special galleon in the pockets of select students began to burn the next day after dinner. Cameron didn't ask where all his friends had to go but asked if they would meet him in the library when they were done. Draco and the others agreed and promised that they shouldn't be gone long.

Dumbledore sat at the head of the table in the Room of Requirement, waiting as the empty spaces were quickly filled. Soon all the students minus the seven Ravenclaws entered the room with their Heads of House leading them. They all sat in silence.

"Thank you all for joining me once again." Dumbledore said. "Tonight some new evidence has surfaced. After hearing it I will ask how all of you plan to handle the situation. The first to share will be Mr. Draco Malfoy."

Draco stood and addressed the entire group.

"Last night Ravenclaw was scheduled to have the Quidditch Pitch for practice but somehow Slytherin ended up with it instead."

Several scoffs shot across the table. Draco shot a deep glare at the offenders but felt Snape squeeze his shoulder from behind and continued.

"We asked Professor Snape if there had been a mistake. He had no idea Slytherin's name had made it onto the schedule and explained that our captain, Thomas Cross, had never been in to speak to him about it. It wasn't until after we found out that Ravenclaw had been attacked that we realized something. If they had kept the pitch, the entire Quidditch team would have been at practice, several others would have been out watching. This would leave very few in the House when it got hit."

Draco allowed the information to set in for a moment before continuing.

"We also believe that whoever attacked Ravenclaw had to have known the password to get past their statue and the spell to lock it in place."

"Only Ravenclaw's know either of those." Hufflepuff Drake Moor pointed out.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"I believe he's saying whoever attacked Ravenclaw must have had inside help." Gryffindor Hermione Granger explained.

Draco nodded and sat down.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Every Ravenclaw is in the hospital wing oozing pus right now, if someone had helped, wouldn't they have gotten themselves out of the House before the attack took place?" Gryffindor Skye Summers pointed out.

"That's true, I think this sounds like a bullocks attempt to cover someone's tracks!" Hufflepuff Vince Tescotte said. There were a few mumbles of agreement but Valaire Tennor who sat beside Vince shook her head.

"Malfoy just gave us the name of someone from his own house as a suspect, how exactly is that covering tracks?" she snapped.

Vince thought about it before huffing and shrugging.

"I dunno." He mumbled.

Valaire just shook her head.

"If that is all you have Mr. Malfoy, there is someone else who would like to share information." Dumbledore said.

Draco nodded stiffly.

"Harry." Dumbledore said with a gesture. The Gryffindor stood.

"After Gryffindor was poisoned, my friends and I went to find out how exactly it happened. One of the house elves told us that the morning of the attack, three people wearing black masks with their school hoods pulled up entered the kitchens and stunned all the house elves who were too surprised to fight back. By the time the spell was ended the food had already been sent up. We asked if any of the house elves had been able to see any part of their attackers. The only thing they saw were two yellow ties and a green one."

"Hufflepuff?" Slytherin Eli Richmond said in surprise. The entire Hufflepuff group stood up in opposition.

"That's impossible! No one from our house would do anything like that!" Angela Kash exclaimed.

"Silence!" Dumbledore demanded. The students fell quiet.

"Is there anything else you have to share Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head.

"No sir, that's all."

Dumbledore nodded and motioned for everyone to sit down.

"Professor, you know Hufflepuffs would never poison someone else's food!" Jordin Erics cried.

The headmaster nodded.

"I would not expect any student at this school to do such a thing but alas it has been done." The man paused for a moment before continuing. "I too have something I would like to share."

The students either sat up straighter in their chairs or leaned forward on the table.

"As all of you undoubtedly know, the Ministry is struggling with seemingly impossible numbers of Death Eaters."

Several nods went around the table. Draco turned to look at Snape who was looking at Dumbledore and seemed to refuse to meet his godson's eyes.

"It was not until recently that we discovered the reason for this. Voldemort-" Dumbledore ignored the shrieks of terror from the group, "-is forcing his followers to choose replacements who shall fill their step if they should be killed or captured."

Draco turned to his friends who were all trying not to look confused or panicked. Only Eli and Jessa-Lynn seemed to still be in the dark.

"In many cases the replacements are the children of Death Eaters and they are referring to themselves as The Circle."

A murmur of realization spread around the table as heads snapped together. Draco immediately spun in his chair so he was facing Snape.

"Why would Dumbledore tell everyone that?" Draco hissed.

"He believes this group must know." Snape answered looking almost as unhappy with the choice as Draco was.

"This is not going to end well." Draco whispered. Snape didn't respond.

Dumbledore was slowly forcing silence onto the room once again.

"I must implore that this information does not leave this room." He said firmly. "Lives could be counting on this secret."

"Like ours! How could we not know that a bunch of…of…mini Death Eaters are in the castle!" Gryffindor Seamus Finnegan demanded. His face paled several shades and his eyes shifted around the room nervously as if he expected someone to leap up and announce that they were Death Eaters.

"As I said before, this information did not even come to our attention until recently."

"So you think these people are the ones responsible for attacking the different Houses?" Hermione asked.

"Now it's really no surprise Slytherin hasn't been hit yet!" Dean Thomas cried.

Draco, Blaise, Braxton, and Eli all shot up in their chairs. At this Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean all jumped up as well. Dumbledore stood and held up his hand.

"Enough!" he bellowed. Silence fell but the dark glares between the two Houses continued.

"Mr. Thomas comments like that will not be tolerated." Dumbledore said sharply. "Sit down, all of you."

There was a tense moment of hesitation before Harry and Draco sat down, leading their friends to do the same as well.

"The members of The Circle are not only from the Slytherin House. As Harry explained, one of the house elves expressly identified Hufflepuff ties as well as one from Slytherin. If we are to make any progress whatsoever, these differences must be set aside." Dumbledore looked at each student individually before sighing inwardly. "Perhaps this is too much to ask of you. I had hoped brining students such as you into this; we might find a solution to this catastrophic problem. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case."

An uncomfortable hush fell over the group as the members glanced at each other guiltily but when their eyes landed on a member of another house their eyes narrowed automatically.

"This problem will only get worse and if we do not find a way to solve it Hogwarts will close its doors forever." Dumbledore explained. "This is a threat we have heard many times over the years and each time it came I have witnessed students rise to the occasion to prevent it. The only difference between then and now is I have offered you more help. This group is not merely meant to collect within this room. You must work together outside. You must form a plan to get the information needed to bring this terror to an end before it escalates. I cannot force you to work together. I have done what I can; the rest is up to you."

The professors watched their students' reactions to this speech. Draco motioned for his friends to gather closer to him. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff broke away from the table as well, bending their heads towards the center of a small circle.

"I say we forget the rest of them." Nia said, showing uncharacteristic hostility. "We know more about the situation than they do anyway."

Draco nodded but it was Jessa-Lynn who spoke next.

"I hate to admit it but I agree with Dumbledore." She said. "No matter what we think we know, we won't get very far with just us, especially if The Circle members are in the other houses as well."

"I agree." Ashton admitted.

"Yeah." Blaise said.

"I suppose." Eli confirmed. "But if anyone makes another comment about the fact that Slytherin hasn't been attacked yet because we're the ones causing it…." He slammed his right fist into his left palm.

Draco nodded.

"Braxton?" he asked.

The teen shrugged.

"I was just wondering what happens to the members we do catch?"

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group. Draco felt a cool chill shoot down his back.

"That is an excellent question." Jessa-Lynn said, missing the nervous glances shared between the rest of the group-excluding Eli.

"I suppose we'll handle that when the time comes." Nia said with a shrug. Draco nodded.

"Alright then."

The Slytherins returned to their original places around the table and waited as the other houses did the same.

"What have you decided?" Dumbledore asked.

Angela Kash stood.

"We want to make it work. Hogwarts is important to us and this is our chance to help defend it for a change."

Skye Summers rose next.

"We will make it work. We've managed to keep Hogwarts open through a lot over the years. There's no reason to stop now."

Jessa-Lynn stood up.

"We want this to work. None of us could get very far in this on our own whether we wanted to or not."

Dumbledore nodded and the trio sat down.

"Thank you all. I understand that this was very difficult for all of you to do and I appreciate the effort." He paused for a moment before continuing. "The information given tonight included; Thomas Cross stole the Quidditch Pitch and effectively ruined the plans of many Ravenclaws, and a house elf identified two house colors on the ties worn by the ones guilty of poisoning the breakfast food. What do you intend to do with this information?"

A moment of silence followed this question until Vicktor Mank stood from the Hufflepuff group.

"We should watch." He said thickly. "The attacks seem to be happening right under our noses. There's got to be a way to figure out where things are happening."

"But how do we do that exactly?" Blaise asked.

The next several hours were spent discussing possible ideas and plans to monitor the entire castle.

Draco told Ashton, Braxton, Blaise, and Nia that he'd promised to meet Cameron after the meeting. They were all tired after the long meeting but followed the blonde to the library. The group found Cameron sleeping with his head resting on his arms while Kit and Lilia quizzed each other using books from the stacks piled on the table in front of them.

Kit paused in questioning Lilia and set her book down gently on the table with a heavy sigh.

"Hi everyone." She said quietly, trying not to disturb her sleeping brother. The Slytherins all greeted her in return.

"How long has he been asleep?" Nia asked.

"Pretty much since we got in here, he was trying awful hard to stay awake but…" Lilia explained as she thumbed through another book.

Draco carefully shook his friend's shoulder. Cameron's head shot up sharply and his arms flailed out, sending books crashing to the floor. His face flushed in embarrassment.

"Oops." He mumbled as he bent to pick up the mess.

"Hey mate Sev wants to talk to you." Draco said.

Cameron glanced up at his friend.

"Why?"

Draco shrugged.

"I dunno." He said honestly.

"I can't, I've got to take Kit and Lilia back…"

"We'll take care of it." Blaise said. "You go talk with Snape and get some sleep."

Cameron looked at his sister who seemed to be struggling not to snap at being referred to as an 'it'. Kit noticed the look and grinned.

"We'll be fine. I dunno why I've had to be glued to your hips all day anyway." She said with a shrug.

"I told you I'd explain…"

"…someday." Kit finished for her brother. "Yeah I remember. That's not very specific."

"Well it's the best I can do right now." Cameron admitted. He set the last book on the table and turned to his friends. "Are you sure you don't know why Snape needs to talk to me?"

Everyone shrugged except Ashton. Cameron looked into her eyes, searching for some clue even though he knew she wouldn't tell him. He sighed and nodded.

"Alright." He walked around the table and ruffled his sister's hair fondly.

"Goodnight Kit."

The Ravenclaw giggled lightly and smoothed her hair back down.

"Night."

Cameron bid the rest of his friends goodnight as well before leaving the library.

Snape looked up from the work on his desk as the door to his classroom creaked open. An exhausted looking Cameron entered cautiously.

"Draco said you needed to speak with me sir?"

"Yes, please sit." Snape gestured to the table directly in front of his desk and laid down his quill. Cameron sat in silence.

"Today is the last day to answer your call." Snape said bluntly. Cameron nodded stiffly.

"Yes sir, I know."

"What do you plan to do?"

Cameron didn't answer right away. He realized then why Ashton hadn't said anything in the library.

"I will do whatever I have to do to keep Kit safe."

Snape seemed unsurprised by this answer.

"Your loyalty to your sister is admirable but…"

"I don't mean any disrespect sir but this isn't something I am willing to negotiate on. If there is any attack or attempt against Kit, any at all, I will fill my father's position."

"The training is almost impossibly difficult Cameron. Bellatrix Lestrange will be your trainer and she will take no sign of weakness." Snape's eyes bore into Cameron's. "If you go into this you will not come out the same. Do you understand me?"

Cameron nodded.

"And you are willing to take this risk? You will sacrifice your friends, your future, and your entire life?"

"For my sister, yes. We are all each other has right now…"

"She will not have you for long if you join this program." Snape said sharply. Cameron wasn't sure how to react to this. He hadn't thought about what would happen to Kit if he didn't make it long enough to find a way out of being a Death Eater. Snape noted the hesitation.

"If you join this program you will be treated as an adult, not as a school boy. I will not even be there to help you because I am not authorized to meet with or even see the trainees. They are kept strictly separate from everyone except the Dark Lord and Lestrange. Normally I am not even the one to deliver the news to the new potentials. I was only chosen to tell you and Draco because the Dark Lord wanted me to."

Cameron felt his heart beat pick up.

"Sir, I don't really know…."

The potions classroom burst open and Blaise fell through the doorway. He sported a huge scratch over his left eye and a bruise on his right cheek.

"Cameron!" he cried. "Cameron!"

"What?" Cameron jumped from his chair and ran to his friend's side. Blaise's eyes were wide with terror. He was blubbering apology after desperate apology.

"They came out of nowhere! We…we…we didn't have a chance!"

Cameron's heart froze.

"We were walking Kit and Lilia back and…." Blaise started.

Cameron didn't need to hear anymore he jumped to his feet and set off at a dead sprint through the corridors.

"Scott!" Snape called but his student ignored him entirely.

Cameron sprinted towards the Ravenclaw house. He found Ashton, Draco, Nia, Braxton, and Lilia standing as if waiting for him. They all bore signs of a short battle. Ropes and obvious signs of a struggle littered the ground. Cameron's entire body trembled as he stared at the drag marks leading away from the corridor they were standing in. He looked at Draco, unable to speak. The blonde immediately stepped in front of his friend.

"We'll get her back. I swear…"

"What happened?" Cameron hissed. His voice was low and almost dangerous.

"They came out of nowhere." Braxton explained quickly. "They attacked us and we tried…we really did but there were so many."

"Who?" Cameron snapped.

"We dunno. They wore masks…"

Snape and Blaise appeared in the corridor.

"Where did they take her?" Cameron demanded, ignoring the pair behind him.

Braxton glanced at the others uncertainly. Draco looked down and Nia covered her face with her hands as her eyes filled with tears. Lilia had her arms wrapped around her trembling body and tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

"WHERE DID THEY TAKE MY SISTER!" Cameron bellowed, color shooting to his face and his eyes burning with fury.

"T-they're gone." Blaise offered quietly. Cameron spun sharply and Blaise hesitated before continuing.

"They…they said there was…"

"Blaise." Draco said warningly.

Cameron spun on his friend.

"What?" he demanded. "Why did you stop him?"

"Cameron there is another way to get Kit back."

A growl erupted violently from Cameron's throat as he jumped at Draco, shoving the blonde roughly against the nearest wall and pinning him there.

"Scott!" Snape bellowed.

"You said you would watch her!" Cameron cried. Mere inches separated the enraged teen from his friend.

"We did what we could!" Draco said evenly.

Cameron shook his head.

"Well it wasn't good enough! She's gone! Tell me where she is!"

"There's a portkey!" Blaise cried, terrified by the fury from the usually calm teen.

Cameron turned but didn't release his grip on Draco.

"Where?" he demanded.

"Just outside the gates." Blaise said.

Cameron pushed away from Draco but Snape grabbed him sharply by one arm.

"Let me go!" Fury and panic for his sister fueled Cameron's strength. He ripped his arm away from Snape and sprinted down the corridor. Draco, Nia, Braxton, Blaise, Snape, and Lilia stared after him. Ashton walked silently in the opposite direction.

Draco turned to Snape.

"We have to go after him!" he exclaimed.

Snape shook his head firmly, still staring after Cameron's retreating form.

"He understands the risks and refuses to listen to reason."

Draco sighed heavily and shook his head.

"I said I wouldn't let him down." He said softly. "I told him everything was going be alright and Kit would be safe."

"It is not your fault Draco." Snape said firmly.

Nia finally wiped away the last of her tears and went to kneel beside Lilia who was sitting on the ground, rocking herself gently. The older girl wrapped her arms around the young Ravenclaw. Lilia's bottom lip trembled for a moment before she dissolved into Nia's embrace as she broke down in body racking sobs. Nia rubbed her back comfortingly and whispered softly in her ear.

Braxton looked down the corridor in the direction Ashton had disappeared. He sighed heavily.

"What do we do now?"

Cameron sprinted across Hogwart's grounds. The cool night air attacked his burning face and hands but he ignored it. His chest heaved as his lungs ached for air but he pressed on. When he could finally see the gates Cameron forced himself to move faster. His stomach seized and his heart skipped at seeing his sister's wand lying in the grass just outside the gates of Hogwarts. Cameron lifted it without another moment of hesitation.