A/N: Apparently at least one person didn't get an email alert for the last chapter. Hopefully that didn't happen with too many other people, and also hopefully has now fixed the glitch, but if you're reading this and didn't get an email when you should have, could you please let me know maybe? Not sure what I'd be able to do about it (nothing probably) but I'd like to be aware!


The end of term raced towards Hogwarts. Sleety rain fell and then froze in puddles, turning the grounds into an icy, muddy marsh. Inside, the school hummed with preparations for the Yule Ball.

Issie, wrestling her clothes on as quickly as possible after a cold, damp Quidditch practise, was thinking neither about the ball nor even about her team's tactics. Instead, her mind was on the news that had been in the Prophet that morning. Jasper Parker was dead. There had been no details, except that it was being investigated as a murder by the Auror Department. That was the second murder this term that the Auror Department had taken over, and everyone was whispering that it was the work of the League.

Issie had vivid memories of Parker; he'd knocked her off her broom after she caught the Snitch in her very first Quidditch match. But still, for him to be murdered was a horrible thought. She wondered why it had happened. If it was an Auror investigation, that meant they thought it wasn't just some personal motive. He'd been killed for a reason, and that reason had something to do with the Dark League. Had Parker been a member? Issie wouldn't put it past him.

And she couldn't help wondering whether there was any connection with the fact that this was the week a number of the original League leaders were being released from Azkaban. She hoped not, for the sake of Weylin and Addy and others like them, but it seemed horribly likely. Issie had vivid memories of Mr and Mrs Nott too—and she wasn't convinced that a spell in prison would have done much to change their attitudes about anything.

'Hey, Is, you got a date for the ball?' Robyn asked across the changing room.

Issie pulled her thoughts away from the League. Why did everyone keep asking her about dates to the ball? Was it so weird that there was simply nobody she'd be interested in going with?

'Nope,' she said. 'And I'm not planning on getting one either.'

'Why not, though? I mean, there are plenty of guys who'd go with you!'

'Pretty sure that's not true, since none of them have asked me,' Issie said, from inside the Gryffindor jumper she'd just pulled over her head.

Robyn sighed. 'Yeah, because you're you. You've got the whole, fierce, 'I'm-the-Quidditch-Captain, don't-come-near-me-or-I'll-hit-you-with-my-broom' thing going on. They'd be too scared to ask.'

Issie tugged the jumper down and shook the static out of her hair, laughing. 'Robyn, that's the biggest bullshit I've ever heard. Since when am I scary? Have you seen me? The only person on this team shorter than me is Sandy, and he'll only need a bit of a growth spurt to overtake me!'

'It's not about size,' Robyn told her. 'It's that glare you've got.'

'She's got a point,' Sam said, with a grin, sitting on the bench beside Issie to put her shoes on.

'No, she doesn't. That's ridiculous,' Issie protested.

'I was scared of you, until I got to know you,' Melissa put in, unhelpfully. 'I mean, not in a bad way, like I didn't think you were mean or anything. But I'd never have dared to come up and start talking to you.'

Issie stared at them. They appeared to be serious, but what they were saying was nonsense. She was about the least intimidating person around. Anyway, the idea that it was the reason nobody had asked her to the ball was just stupid.

'Come on, Issie!' Robyn said. 'Who'd you go with, if you could?'

'Merlin! There's nobody—seriously. I am totally fine without a date. I'm going with my friends.'

It wasn't that she was uninterested in all that sort of thing in general—she wasn't Lucy. It was just that dates and boyfriends weren't things Issie wanted complicating her life at the moment. She'd had a date for the last ball, two years before, and it had been very awkward—not least because he'd wanted to keep seeing her afterwards, and she'd spent the next few weeks trying and failing to be as much into it as he was. It just didn't seem worth the effort.

Robyn looked at her, disappointment plain in her face.

'There must be somebody.'

'Well, there isn't.' Issie collected up her things, and spoke as firmly as she could. ' I don't care why nobody's asked me. I just hope they keep on not asking!'


However, at the final drama club rehearsal, while Tilly briefed some new recruits—including Addy and Felicity, Issie had been pleased to see, although Addy looked about as enthusiastic as Addy usually looked about anything—she sat down next to Titus. It was no use asking Alice and Jake. They wouldn't have any kind of useful perspective.

'Titus, am I scary?' she demanded.

'Bloody terrifying,' Titus said, promptly. 'It's the yellow eyes, and the big spike at the end of your tail. Oh no, sorry, that's a Hungarian Horntail…' He ducked the quill she threw at him, and broke off, chuckling.

'I'm being serious! Well, sort of. Robyn was trying to tell me the other day that I'm intimidating to people who don't know me or something.'

Titus leaned on the desk, and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

'Hm. Well, I don't know if I'd challenge you to a duel, if that's what you mean. I think you could be pretty lethal.'

'Would you ask me to the ball?' Issie said, bluntly.

He looked startled, then worried.

'Me, personally? Is that a trick question?'

'No. Merlin. I mean, theoretically, if you were a random guy and I was a random girl, would you be too intimidated to ask me?'

'I don't know!' He spread his arms helplessly. 'What kind of fucking question's that? I thought you didn't want a date!'

'I don't.' Issie sighed. 'Never mind. Forget it.'

'Issie,' he said, more seriously, 'stop worrying about it. I mean, none of us are scared of you, are we? If there are some stupid fuckers who think they couldn't handle you, they're probably right, so you wouldn't want their limp little dicks anywhere near you anyway. If they're scared of you—and I have no clue if that's true or not—let them be scared, and hold out for the person who isn't, you know?'

Issie groaned, then laughed. 'Titus, you're gross, but I love you,' she said. 'Thank you—I think.'

'Any time.' He grinned, and then looked doubtfully at her, his grin fading. When he went on, it was in a lower voice, with a quick glance around him to check that nobody else was listening. 'Um, also. I wouldn't ask you to the ball, because I'm gay. Just so you know.'

Issie's laughter died on her lips, and she stared at him. 'Wait, what? Are you serious?'

'Yeah.' He looked at her, his brow creasing. 'It's not… I mean, I don't want to make a big thing of it, but I haven't told anyone except Weylin and Oscar yet, so like…'

'I won't tell anyone. Of course I won't.'

He looked more nervous and vulnerable than Issie had ever seen Titus look, and her heart went out to him. She leaned over and hugged him hard.

'Thank you for trusting me. And whenever you do tell anyone else, I'll be right here to support you. Just so you know.'


The ball itself was well under way when Issie slid into the seat beside Alice, and looked at her for a moment. Alice looked lovely as usual, in her red dress and her hair in curls over one shoulder, but what she didn't look was happy. Given Alice's normal cheerfulness, and the fact that up until the last few days, Issie thought she'd been looking forward to the ball, it suggested to Issie that something was wrong.

She leaned towards Alice. 'What's the matter with you?'

Alice turned and stared at her, wide-eyed. 'Nothing! What's meant to be wrong with me?'

'Well, all I know is, until about two weeks ago, you were the one telling me that this ball was going to be loads of fun, and I should just lighten up and look forward to it. And now it's like you don't want to be here.'

'That's not true!' Alice protested. 'I do want to be here—and I am having fun! Aren't you?'

'Earlier, when we were getting ready, you just stood there looking at yourself in the mirror and sighing,' Issie went on, ruthlessly. 'Now you're sitting over here while most of our friends are dancing. When you're talking to anyone, you start smiling and acting happy, but whenever you think nobody's looking, you go all frowny and sad. So what's the matter?'

Alice's shoulders tensed.

'It's nothing, Is. Seriously. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? I just wanted a rest, that's all!'

'Alice, you're probably the worst liar I know, and I've got a five-year-old brother.'

For a moment, it looked like Alice was going to keep arguing. Then she sighed and slumped back in her chair.

'I told you, it's nothing. It's stupid. But it's just our last ball, you know? They're only every two years, so we'll have left by the time there's another one. And I didn't have a date for the last one, and I don't have a date now, and it just… Well, it would have been nice, you know?'

Issie stared at her, startled.

'Oh. Wow. I didn't realise… I mean, you're not really upset by it, are you? It's just a ball, Alice. It's only one night. You have literally every other night of the year to go on dates—in better places than the bloody school hall!'

Alice sighed. 'I know—I know! I told you it was stupid. Just ignore me. It doesn't matter.'

Issie looked closely at Alice's round face. Where was this coming from? It wasn't as if Alice had never been on a date before—she'd had a couple of boyfriends, and they'd both lasted longer than any relationship Issie had had. Why the sudden fuss over the ball?

'Alice, is there someone… specific you wanted to ask you?'

'No!' Alice turned pink, her eyes avoiding Issie's. 'No. Definitely not.'

Issie narrowed her eyes.

'Alice…'

'Merlin, what happened to the teachers and all their rules about appropriate behaviour?' Tilly huffed, planting herself down in the seat on the other side of Alice, clutching a cup of non-alcoholic punch. 'I've just had to witness my little brother with his tongue down a girl's throat, and I think I'm scarred for life.'

Alice turned to her with obvious relief, and laughed. 'Really? Solly's with a girl? Bless him.'

'Bless him?' Tilly shook her head. 'I am not blessing him. That's like the opposite of what I'm doing. I can't believe he even had the guts to ask anyone to the ball—or the brains to do it in a way they'd say yes to.'

Issie shot a look at Alice, but allowed herself to be diverted—for now. Instead, she grinned at Tilly. ''He didn't. He's with Ruby Yeung—you know, she's one of our Chasers?—and she asked him. She told me.'

'Merlin, she needs to re-examine her life choices.' Tilly leaned back in her chair. 'Alice, you're a prefect—go and tell them they're breaking the rules.'

'No!' Alice protested. 'That's just mean.'

'Yeah, leave them alone, Tilly,' Artemis put in, from where she was sitting on Pádraig's knee across the table. 'Stop being such a grandma, and let the poor kids enjoy themselves.'

'I am not being a grandma!' Tilly said. 'I just don't appreciate having to see it.'

'So look the other way,' Pádraig added with a grin. 'It's literally the only way to do it. Like I did the other day, when Nessa was seeing how far she could slide down the banisters on the main staircase before it moved and made a gap.'

'She was what?' Alice stared at him, eyes wide. 'Pádraig! She could have been really hurt! That staircase goes down miles.'

'Sure, but the point is, me telling her not to do it would only have made her do it more,' Pádraig said, waving a hand. 'You've got to be chill about this stuff, Tilly. Anyway, Solly's not risking any broken necks with what he's doing, unless he's doing it really wrong.'

He took a drink from the glass that Artemis was holding, which had two straws in it and which they seemed to be sharing. Issie could see what Tilly had meant the other week, about Pádraig and Artemis acting like a couple; there was no reason for Artemis to be sitting on his knee at all, since there were several empty seats around them.

'I'm going for a drink,' Alice said, getting up. 'Anyone else want one?'

'We've got one, thanks,' Artemis said, waving the cup in her hand.

'Yeah, me too,' Tilly added.

'I'll have one,' Issie said. 'But it's okay, I'll come and get it…'

'No, it's fine.' Alice gestured her to stay sitting down. 'I'll bring them.'

She disappeared, and Issie watched her cross the room, suspecting that Alice's sudden desire for a drink might have had something to do with getting away from Issie and her questions. Well. That was interesting. However, there wasn't much she could do about it right now. She'd have to get it out of Alice later, when they were by themselves. Issie turned her eyes to the crowd on the dance floor instead.

Titus was there, with Lucy and some of the others, and Issie watched him for a moment or two, wondering whether she should have realised about him. Max, who was with them too, had come out two years ago (though Issie thought he might have told Lucy and the others before that), and nobody had been surprised. Although she didn't want to start thinking in stereotypes, Max was much more obviously gay than Titus. For example, tonight, he was wearing eyeliner and nail varnish. But she shouldn't have made assumptions about Titus just because he wasn't like that. Anyone could be gay.

Still, it seemed like her friends were determined to surprise her at the moment.

'Hey, is this seat spare?' a voice said beside her, and she glanced up to find Eris standing beside her.

'Oh, well, Alice was sitting there, but go for it.' Issie waved at the chair. 'There are plenty of seats.'

'What have you done with all the rest of the Slytherins?' Tilly asked, as Eris sat down.

'Well, Lilith and Oscar both went and got themselves dates. Titus is there, making a prat of himself.' Eris gestured at the dancefloor. 'And I was hanging around with Weylin, but he went to get a drink, so I said I'd meet him over here with you guys. I'm assuming those are the ones you meant, not that you're expecting me to be responsible for my entire house.'

Well, at least Eris could be relied on to be predictably sarcastic. However, Issie glanced over to where Weylin was standing by the drinks table, talking to Alice. He was another one who hadn't been very happy recently, although there was no mystery there about why. In two days, Weylin was going home to see the parents he hadn't seen—aside from the odd visit he'd presumably paid them in prison—for six years. Parents who had been responsible for starting the organisation that was now causing so much trouble, the organisation that might have killed Jasper Parker.

'How's he doing?' Tilly asked, her voice a little lowered, voicing what was in Issie's head.

Eris shrugged. 'No idea. You know what he's like—he won't talk about any of it. At least, not to me. Oscar and Titus'd be better people to ask.'

Or Alice. Issie didn't say it, but she couldn't help wondering whether Alice maybe knew more than any of them about what was going on in Weylin's head. He'd never exactly been easy to read, but Alice, with her open, unthinking kindness, had a knack for getting in close to people. Still, if Weylin had chosen not to share things with the rest of them, that was his choice, wasn't it?

'Hey, why don't we all get together and do some stuff over Christmas some time,' Artemis suggested. 'I mean, most of us are seventeen now—we could go for drinks somewhere. And it would get him out the house, right?'

'Without looking like we're feeling sorry for him or whatever,' Tilly agreed. 'Good idea. Are you guys up for it?' she asked Issie and Eris. 'I mean, I know you're seventeen, but you won't have passed your Apparition tests yet, have you?'

'There's still the Floo Network,' Issie pointed out. 'Jake's house isn't on it, but one of you could Apparate and fetch him or something.'

'Must be shit being a Muggleborn in the holidays,' Eris said. 'You'd never get to see anyone.'

'Well, Jake only lives about an hour out of London, so his mum used to bring him up to Alice's pretty often, before he was old enough to get the train by himself,' Issie said. 'But I s'pose it must suck a bit, when the rest of us can just jump in the fireplace.'

'Still, he can get to the Leaky without too much bother, right?' Pádraig asked.

'I s'pose, though going for a drink in the Leaky Cauldron'll be a bit awkward.' Issie grinned. 'Alice isn't seventeen yet, and her mum owns the place.'

'Well then, Alice can drink pumpkin juice,' Artemis declared.

'Or we can go somewhere else,' Tilly put in. 'Anyway…'

She was interrupted by a shriek from Artemis.

'Oh! I love this song! Come on, let's dance!' She launched herself off Pádraig's knee, pulling him up with her.

'Seriously?' Eris rolled her eyes. 'This song is shit.'

Artemis swung around, looking outraged. 'Eris Montague, this is classic Weird Sisters!'

'Old. Overplayed. Bad lyrics. And the Weird Sisters are completely overrated.' Eris lifted one shoulder in a shrug, a smirk playing around the corner of her mouth.

'Whatever! Fuck off with your boring-ass music then,' Artemis declared, although she was laughing. 'Come on, you two!'

She hauled a mildly-protesting Tilly up, grabbed Pádraig by the hand, and towed them off towards the dance floor.

Issie turned to Eris, her arms folded over her chest.

'I know you listen to the Weird Sisters.'

Eris raised her eyebrows. 'I do not listen to them.'

'Liar.' Issie hadn't been intending to dance, but suddenly she'd changed her mind, and jumped to her feet. 'Come on—stop pretending to be a music snob, and come and dance.'

'I'm not a snob—I just have taste!' Eris protested. 'Anyway, I'm waiting for Weylin to bring me a drink.'

'Well, I was waiting for Alice to bring me one too. They can either come and find us, or they can keep each other company over here.' Issie cast her eyes over to the drinks table, where she had last seen them, but there was no sign of either of them. 'I think they've got lost anyway. So are you coming, or are you staying here by yourself?'

Eris scowled. 'Merlin. I thought you didn't even want to come to the ball, Malfoy.'

Issie grinned. Titus always called her Malfoy as a jokey habit, but Eris only did it when she was on the defensive, which meant that Issie was winning.

'Well, I didn't, really, but now I'm here, I'm not going to sit and be bored in the corner, and neither are you. Come on, Montague—we're going to groove to the Weird Sisters.'

She pulled Eris up by the elbow, and steered her towards the others. Maybe, after all, in the company of her friends instead of some awkward boy she hardly knew, this party could even be some fun.


Felicity perched on top of the toilet, the lid closed, a furrow in her brow as she scribbled furiously.

I'm writing this in the toilets. All the others are asleep, and I should be too, but I can't let Beatrice find out about my diary. I know she'd read it and it's got all my most secret things in it. Beatrice hates me now. I thought she did before, but now it's worse, ever since I said I didn't want to be friends with her. Yesterday she put frogspawn in my bed.

But I don't care because the day after tomorrow I'm going home! I'm going to see Mum and Nan, and I don't have to see Beatrice or Thalia or any of the others for two whole weeks! I feel so excited I might be sick, like the night before my birthday or something.

I need to buy a lot of new pens at home because this is my last biro and I think it's going to run out soon. They only have quills here, and I use those in lessons to save my pens but they're way harder to write with. It's so stupid, I don't know why they don't just have pens.

At least there's no risk I'm going to get caught out of bed by a prefect tonight—they're all at some Christmas ball. I like Hogwarts best like this—when it's all empty and there's nobody except me. Nobody really uses these toilets I don't think, so they're a good place to hide. I'm getting good at finding hiding places. Sometimes Addy comes with me and hides too, but I think she's asleep.

She paused, lifting her eyes from the page as she considered what to write next, and almost jumped out of her skin. Through the open door of the cubicle she was in, a girl was watching her. Except that girl wasn't really the right word. She was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, and she was pale grey and semi-transparent. Felicity took a deep breath. She'd got used to ghosts. There were plenty of them at Hogwarts, and she'd learnt that they weren't anything to be scared of. This, though, wasn't one she'd seen before.

'Who… who are you?' she asked, clutching her diary to her chest.

To her surprise and dismay, the ghost girl's eyes filled with tears.

'Nobody remembers me,' she said. 'Nobody knows who I am. They all remember all those people who died in that silly battle, but nobody remembers Myrtle!'

'I'm sorry,' Felicity said, hastily. What was she meant to say to a crying ghost? 'I… it's probably just me, you know. I'm Muggleborn, and I only started this year—I don't know anything! Are you… is Myrtle your name?'

The girl sniffed, but seemed slightly comforted.

'Yes, of course it is. Who are you?' She moved closer to Felicity, moving through the air without uncrossing her legs.

Felicity resisted the urge to lean backwards. 'I'm… I'm Felicity.'

'Felicity.' Myrtle didn't sound impressed. 'Do you know who used to come in here and talk to me? Harry Potter.' She giggled, an unexpected sound. 'He was very sweet. I think he liked me.'

'Oh. Wow.' Even Felicity knew who Harry Potter was. But… 'Why would Harry Potter come in here? This is the girls' toilets.'

Myrtle's eyes slid sideways behind her glasses. 'Not supposed to tell,' she muttered.

Felicity tiled her head to one side. She was curious now.

'Not supposed to tell what?'

Myrtle swooped away out of the cubicle, with a gurgling noise.

'Secrets!' she called from outside. 'Can't tell you!'

Felicity scrambled off the toilet, and followed the ghost out. Myrtle was hovering up near the ceiling, by some pipes. She should probably go back to the common room and go to bed, before anyone checked on them and realised she wasn't there. She wasn't sure what time it was, or how much longer the ball would be going on for. But secrets had always intrigued Felicity. For a moment, she stared at Myrtle, thinking hard, then she smiled in as friendly a way as she could.

'I bet you must know loads of secrets,' she said. 'How long have you been here? In Hogwarts, I mean.'

Myrtle floated a little closer again.

'I know more secrets than anyone.' she said, smugly. 'Nobody ever thinks I know anything, but they should hear what I could tell if I wanted to.'

'Really?' Felicity widened her eyes. She felt a tiny bit guilty for trying to manipulate secrets out of Myrtle, but it wasn't as if she was lying, or just pretending to be interested. 'Like what?'

Myrtle's eyes narrowed. 'I'm not supposed to tell,' she repeated, but she came closer still, leaning towards Felicity. 'But I know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is.'

The Chamber of Secrets. Felicity had heard of that too, and vaguely knew the story about it. In fact, she thought whoever had told her the story had mentioned that the entrance was in a bathroom, so she wasn't sure how much of a big secret it was. But Myrtle was clearly expecting her to be impressed, so Felicity put an impressed expression on her face.

'Wow, you do?' she said. 'Is it here?'

She looked around them. There was no obvious place that could be an entrance. But the monster from the Chamber was supposed to have been killed by Harry Potter, so it would explain what he'd been doing in here.

Myrtle giggled. 'It's somewhere. But you can't get in. Nobody can get in. Only if you can talk to the snake.' She laughed again, seeming delighted by the impossible challenge.

But Felicity was rooted to the spot, her heart suddenly racing. Talk to the snakes? But she was the only one, wasn't she? That was her skill, the one thing she could do that nobody else could. Did Myrtle know? Was this somehow her way of telling Felicity that she knew her secret?

No. Myrtle was humming to herself up by the pipes. She had no idea.

Could it be true? Did Felicity hold the key to getting into the famous chamber? She'd had no interest in it before now, but it would be amazing if she could. If she, a Muggleborn in the house of Purebloods, was the person who could unlock this secret.

But what snake did Myrtle mean? There was no real snake in here, or anywhere inside the castle.

'What snake?' she demanded.

Myrtle looked down at her.

'See, I told you I knew more than anyone. Nobody knows about the snake. You haven't noticed it, even though it's right in front of you.'

Right in front of her. Felicity stared straight ahead, but there was only the sink. She stepped up to it, and examined it. There was no sign of any snake.

Myrtle giggled.

'You're warm!' she said, in a sing-song voice. 'Warm, but not quite hot yet!'

Felicity glanced to either side of her. There was a whole row of sinks against the wall. She moved sideways towards the next one.

'Colder!' Myrtle sang out delightedly.

Felicity stepped the other way. She wasn't sure what she was doing, playing Hot or Cold with a ghost, to find an entrance that might or might not be here, depending on whether Myrtle was lying or not. But as she reached the next sink, and Myrtle called, 'Hot! You're boiling!', Felicity saw it. The little shape of a snake carved into the side of one of the taps.

'I've got it!' she said triumphantly, bending down to it.

Myrtle giggled. 'Clever, clever! But not clever enough to know how to open it! Not like Harry Potter.'

Felicity was hardly listening any more. She reached out a finger, and touched the snake. Was it her imagination, or had it moved?

'Can you hear me?' she whispered, in the snake language.

From behind her, Myrtle's voice rose.

'What are you doing? What are you saying? Stop it, you're not allowed…'

Felicity took no notice. The snake was definitely moving now. Her heart beat almost painfully against her ribs. But what should she say to reveal the entrance? Was there some sort of password? Or was it all just a stupid story?

'Do you... Can you open for me?' she asked.

And as she said the word 'open', there was a click and a shift, and a hissing sound. Felicity jerked backwards as the sink moved, dropping smoothly away into the ground. And behind it, in the space revealed, was a big, dark hole.

Felicity stared into it. Could she...? Did she even want to? She leaned forwards, peering into it. It was hard to see much, but the hole seemed to lead downwards. It was very cold inside, with a breeze blowing upwards into her face, smelling of damp and something rotten. Felicity shivered and drew back. She wasn't going down there by herself, no way. But she'd done it. She'd found the Chamber of Secrets.