Hi everyone!

I don't own anything you recognise- all Harry Potter references in this story remain the property of J. K. Rowling and co.

This chapter doesn't have too much action in it per se; I hope it doesn't come across as weird. The ending is a little abrupt so let me know if I should fix it- I was hoping it would lead into the next chapter but I don't know if it was too cut off. I also had to think of the potion name at the top of my head so will fix any inaccuracies later, and I really hope the characters are still…well…in character. Just a reminder that I am still working on changing the dates in the first chapters- I just need to figure out which document I saved as the final edit.

Anyways, as usual, a BIG thank you to every reader and reviewer, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

The weak morning sunlight filtered through the Great Hall as sleep-deprived students attempted to avoid placing their heads in their food. Many were taking small bites out of toast whilst others tried in vain to fix their loose ties and swap shoes to the correct foot. Barely anyone was talking, save for the students who were flipping through The Daily Prophet and distracting their peers with idle gossip. One thing was clear: exam time at Hogwarts was fast approaching.

Jennifer, her hair tousled from a lack of sleep, though for reasons other than study, smiled as she watched the Weasley twins enter the hall, skipping with joy after having presumably played another successful prank. She found it funny how they managed to wake up the students slouched over, causing them to jump and look around. Unfortunately for Neville, this meant receiving a face full of porridge as his hands fumbled with the bowl in front of him causing it to fly upward as he jerked awake. Stifling a giggle, she grabbed the nearest napkin on the table and helped him wipe it off, as did Katie who was next to her.

"I don't know how those boys can be so happy now," she groaned, shoving the napkin they were using at a flustered Neville, "they're a year above me and yet I'm the one finding it difficult to find time to study with all the homework Snape's giving us and extended Quidditch practices."

"I think it's nice, those two can certainly make anyone happy when they're together." Jennifer smiled, indicating a third year Slytherin on the opposite side of the hall who was trying to stop the grin from spreading further across her face.

Katie smiled, "Yea, those two are a classic case of 'can't live with them, can't live without them'". Anyways, count yourself lucky, not only do first years get it easy but you have a friend who will get you organised no problem."

"I have to disagree with you there. Firstly, unlike every first year I'm going to receive a tonne of homework from Australia. Secondly, as much as she has helped, Hermione had even gone so far as to schedule toilet breaks!" It was true; every 3 minutes between classes a purple block was highlighted in neat writing, allocated for a quick bathroom break to maximise study potential. "She made one for Lavender, but she threw it out because she wasn't given time to fix her hair in the mirror."

Katie shook her head, probably glad that she was allowed to go to the bathroom at her own will.

Exams weren't scheduled for a week or so, yet the entire castle seemed to turn into a bunch of Ravenclaws. The library had been full the previous few weekends, forcing the younger years to retreat to the grounds whilst the more 'important' year groups spread themselves around the room. As a result, Jennifer had not only been subjected to Hermione's constant complaining about the interruption to her schedule, but had missed out on the opportunity to speak with Daphne.

Speaking of the blonde, Jennifer craned her neck to see if she was still in the hall. She had spotted her earlier coming in with Tracey, yet hadn't approached her when she sat at the Slytherin table near Malfoy and his crew. She noticed that there were quite a few blondes lingering by the table as she scanned its length; unfortunately, her eyes met with Nott's as he put down his paper and shook his head.

Jennifer turned back to her food, leaving her own toast untouched. He hadn't said anything else to her since the Quidditch match, yet whenever she happened to glance his way, he would look down at her in mock pity and shake his head at her like she was a foolish child. She wouldn't have been surprised if he patted her on the shoulder and sighed sympathetically; in fact, if it wasn't for the figurative 'Gryffindor/ Slytherin boundary line' established in shared classrooms, she was sure he would have actually done that in the Monday morning Potions lesson. It irritated her to no end and he knew it. She was just thankful that he hadn't mentioned anything to Malfoy, and hoped Daphne wouldn't do the same, as she finally spotted the girl standing by the doors.

She hastily got up, giving Katie the excuse that she was late for lessons. On her part, Katie didn't even bat an eyelid as she began reading through her Charm's textbook, muttering to herself about the different incantations she didn't understand. She didn't give Daphne the chance to give her the slip and ran straight for her little group, ignoring the bewildered looks of students who couldn't fathom why someone else had energy that morning, let alone the fact the that the twins were still able to laugh loudly.

"Daphne! Wait," she panted slightly, glad she had covered quite a distance in a matter of seconds.

Tracey and Millicent stopped whatever they were saying and glared at her, Millicent clenching her jaw.

"Oh, hi Jen. Pleasant morning?"

"Yea, good, uh, can I talk to you?"

"Um, sure. Just a minute," Daphne turned to her friends, telling them that she would catch up. Tracey rolled her eyes before grabbing Millicent by the crook of her rather large arm and pulling her towards the staircase. Just before they began their ascent, she turned back and rolled her eyes, aiming a rude hand gesture towards her. "Ignore them. Ok, so what's the matter?"

Jennifer had gone to return the signal but realised that it probably would not help her convince Daphne to help her.

"Ah, well, you know that thing I asked you to do before?"

Daphne paused in thought, clearly trying to recall the many favours Jennifer had asked in the last week, from everything to picking out the perfect gift for Lavender's upcoming birthday to helping her catch up on Potions. She obviously came to the right memory when she rolled her eyes and sighed drastically.

"You don't mean the part where you have asked me to spy on Draco, do you?"

"Points for guessing correctly?"

"No, absolutely not. I have not changed my mind on that matter."

"Please reconsider! You know I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. All I need is for you to keep an eye on him and tell me if he does anything…strange."

"What is it exactly that you think he's up to?"

"Nothing, I just, ah, am curious," she really hoped this sounded convincing, but by the way Daphne was eyeing her impatiently, she knew it wasn't. "Pretty please?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I told you before; he hasn't done anything bad at all. Sure he doesn't like your house mates, but you don't like him or his friends either, do you?"

"Well…"

"Exactly," Daphne smirked knowingly, not at all offended by the expected prejudice. "Whatever you think he's done, I don't think he has. You can't blame him for being angry the other week either; he could've gotten into a lot of trouble if your friend told a professor."

"Yea, but-"

"I'm sorry, but my answer is still no. I can't go against my own house anyway."

Jennifer thought for a moment, before she rubbed her arm; the same arm Malfoy had grabbed before. It was a minute before she was rewarded as Daphne once again sighed impatiently, watching her knowingly.

"Ok, fine, fine, you can stop that. If I see him do anything concerning, I will tell you, OK? And that's only IF I think it's truly bad or suspicious," Daphne shrugged her book bag up on to her shoulder, ready to leave, before she added, "And please don't try any more schemes. You weren't placed in Slytherin for a reason."

Jennifer smiled, not caring that her friend had seen right through her little ploy. It would be much easier to have someone on the inside, so to speak, and she trusted the girl despite her Slytherin status. She was also happy that she didn't have to resort to Plan B in appealing to Daphne's more cunning nature by tempting her with the chance to discover Malfoy's secrets. She skipped off to her next class, ready to tell Hermione the news.

Oddly enough, it was Neville who first approached her about Malfoy's misdeeds that afternoon. He had only gotten out of the Hospital Wing the day before, finally having regained consciousness from the Quidditch fight; the same could not be said about Ron, however, who had turned up not long after Neville with a swollen ankle and an infection from some animal's bite. His round face was reddened, and he puffed as he ran to up her as Transfiguration ended.

"Hi, Jennifer, uh, um, hi."

"Oh, hi Neville," Jennifer replied, a little confused at his sudden appearance at her side, though happy to see that he had finally removed the last of his breakfast from his hair. "I'm glad to see you are well."

Parvati and Lavender whispered behind her, giggling and pointing at the pair. Jennifer felt a little uncomfortable; sure they were talking about her. Just as this thought came, Parvati pushed past Neville.

"We're going to Potions before Snape gets there. We'll save you a seat Jen."

Neville's face turned a deeper shade of crimson as Seamus clapped him on the back before following the girls. Remembering the twin's recent teasing about her supposed crush on Harry, Jennifer blushed as well. Although she would have been delighted to learn that a boy, any boy, liked her, she did not feel comfortable standing here with him and allowing gossip to fly.

"I'd better go Neville, you know how Snape gets."

She made to leave, pushing down the guilt she felt at dismissing the boy so easily.

"Oh, yea, he stills gives me the creeps. But I need to talk to you."

"Really, Neville, we're going to be late."

"Oh, ok." His looked down abashed.

Jennifer sighed; why did this have to happen to her? She could only imagine what Parvati and Lavender were saying at the moment. She tried to come up with a solution that would allow her to keep whatever small part of her reputation that was good, without upsetting Neville in the process.

"Ok, fine, can you tell me as we walk?"

This seemed to work for Neville's face lit up with a smile. "Sure."

They turned the corner and ran down the staircase before it changed direction.

"Well, you see, I was just in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey said I needed to go back for a quick check up this morning."

"Yes…"

"And well, anyway I was walking outside it."

"Ok…"

"I was thinking to myself that I was really happy that I finally stuck up to Malfoy," He smiled to himself at the memory.

"Go on…" She was happy for him, but it really was taking him a long time to get to the point. If the girls were right, she hoped he would hurry up and tell her his feelings for her so she set him straight. She had to admit that she was definitely new to this situation, and a little worried about how to go about it. She thought about telling him how flattered she was, which was true, but that unfortunately, she liked someone else. She didn't really have a crush on anyone at this point in time, but luckily she wasn't forced to lie.

"Oh, right. Well, um, anyways Malfoy was there and he was holding Ron's books."

She hadn't expected that at all.

"I thought I'd tell you because I was talking to Katie when you left, she's really nice, and she was trying to cheer me up after Crabbe laughed at me because, well, you know, the porridge. Oh, so yea, she was being nice and told me that no one liked them and that you thought Malfoy was up to something and, well, I'm here and telling you," he was rambling, the words tumbling out before he could catch his breath.

The relief she had felt from the realisation that he was not in fact asking her out was quickly replaced by curiosity. She was a little annoyed that Katie had told him about her suspicions, but was glad that Hermione wasn't nearby to say 'I told you so' like she knew she would. Thinking of her brunette friend, she calmed her racing mind.

"Are you positive that he was carrying Ron's books?"

"Oh yea, I would recognise his Herbology book any day; I accidentally spilled some of my potion on it and his Potion's text the other day and the one Malfoy was carrying it had the same stain," he nodded his head, proud to be able to confirm his findings.

"Ok… Did he say what he was doing? Maybe he was just helping him out?" even as she said it she knew it was highly doubtful.

"Well, uh, no, not exactly. He went to hex me but Madame Pomfrey came to see what all the fuss was about. But he was smirking the whole time and I really think he wasn't doing something nice."

"I see. Well, I don't think anything can happen to Ron now, but I'm glad you told me. Hold on for a sec," they had finally reached the dungeons, and Jennifer poked her head around the corner to check that they weren't late. The class were lined up still, and sure enough, Parvati and Lavender were sitting against the cold stone wall talking rapidly and giggling. Perfect. "Ok, I'll make this quick. Neville, I think Malfoy isn't all that…nice. Oh, don't give me that look, you know what I mean. I can trust you, can't I?"

"Of course!"

"Ok, well, I was wondering. Could you, well, this is going to sound weird, but could you keep watch on Malfoy? No, nothing serious, don't worry, I don't mean anything that would get you caught. But could you just keep an eye out on his behaviour?" she watched the boy consider, his face showing a range of emotions from concern to pride as his tongue protruded from his mouth, running over his lips nervously.

"Ok..." he began slowly, "I'll help you. You did help me outside the library after all. But I don't want to get into trouble-"

"You won't."

"And if he finds out?"

"Make something up."

"…Alright, I'll do it." His face depicted his determination as he held his chin higher. The effect was only ruined as he stumbled a little, his foot catching on an uplifted stone tile.

"Thank you. I'd better get to the girls, they'll be wondering where I am," she didn't give him the chance to change his mind, and continued her way on to the open classroom. "Oh, and Neville, is that…is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Of course, what else?" at the boy's puzzled expression, Jennifer let herself smile. Unfortunately it was short-lived as she entered the quiet classroom.

"Miss. Gold, Mr. Longbottom, how nice of you to finally grace us with your presence. I trust you will have no difficulty in finding your seats, or can you not perform this simple task without getting lost? Fifteen points from Gryffindor for tardiness," Professor Snape drawled before returning his attention to the class.

Jennifer blushed as the majority of Slytherins snickered. Lavender started making kissing faces, pouting her lips comically, as Neville took his seat between Harry and Seamus. If he hadn't just taken points off them, she would have thanked Snape for slamming Lavender's textbook open, causing her to jump out of her seat.

It wasn't until halfway through making her Wiggenwald potion that she received further information about Malfoy.

She was trying to crush some weird mushroom-looking plant in the pestle as Hermione read from the blackboard. The girl had given up on doing all the work, giving Jennifer what she thought was an easy practical task; apparently, she was mistaken. It was just as Jennifer sprayed her friend in some furry yellow powder that both girls jumped away from their cauldron as something solid hit its metal side.

"That wasn't me."

"No, I don't think it was. Could you please pass me my handkerchief? It's under my textbook," Hermione's nose was crinkled as she tried to clean her uniform. She eventually gave up and opted to use her wand, muttering a simple incantation to lift the stains. When she was finished, she looked up at Jennifer, exasperated. "But I do wish you would be more careful."

"Hey, at least it's not what they're doing," she held her hands up in defeat, before directing a finger to the Slytherins at the back of the room.

It wasn't uncommon for the two houses to use Potions as a battleground of sorts. When Snape would conveniently turn his back on the Slytherins to berate another student, they would take the opportunity to torment the Gryffindors. As of late, their tactic was creating a game of throwing ingredients in to their unattended cauldrons, cheering when they scored high 'points' from the smoky destruction of a potion.

"Just ignore them. We don't have much time and I want to finish this." In truth, they still had fifteen minutes before Snape would check on their 'abysmal' efforts, but Jennifer decided that arguing with Hermione would be pointless.

After another minute of hard work, Hermione stood back, smiling proudly. She lifted the ladle out of the cauldron, examining its lime green colour up close.

"I think it could be a little brighter- ouch!"

Hermione rubbed her head, looking around for the culprit. One of the Slytherins had thrown something at her, but she couldn't figure out whom. Jennifer was more quick on the up-take, however, and found the source of her pain. Lying beside their cauldron was a tiny piece of parchment, crumpled up. As she lifted it, she found another almost identical piece.

"What are they?"

"I dunno," she unfurled the first piece of creamy parchment, revealing nothing more than a small pebble wrapped inside. "Just a rock. You've got to admit, they're getting more determined," she tossed it behind her, not sure if the second would be worth opening.

Curiosity got the better of her, however, when Hermione corked their potion in a vial and was presenting it to Professor Snape. She opened up the parchment, finding it absent of any pebbles.

Instead, inside was a short message, written neatly in familiar cursive. She immediately recognised it as belonging to Daphne; this was despite the heading of the small square of parchment, where the title 'A notice from Miss. Daphne Greengrass' spanned across the top. Evidently she had written the note in a hurry, for the bottom of the page was torn.

Jennifer stared at the note, digesting the information.

'Don't look up. I have news you might want… meet me after dinner.'