Dearest Verity,

Do not send any more letters through the school owls lest there be serious repercussions.

There was a signature this time, of sorts. A violent 'X' had been written across the bottom of the page. Somehow Verity didn't think it stood for 'kisses'.

She sighed and rolled up the parchment.

"Well?" Draco asked, his mouth full of ham.

"He's angry with me," Verity mumbled. "I guess it was stupid of me to send him a return letter... I used a school owl."

Draco choked. "Are you really that stupid?"

"I just wasn't thinking, that's all!"

"Obviously not!"

"Sorry!"

"Don't tell me you're sorry, tell him!" Draco lowered his voice to a hiss. "You'll be lucky if he even gives you a chance to beg for your life. You could have given away his position. In fact, you might have. Disrupting his plans would be deadly. Immediately deadly."

"Sorry," Verity mumbled again, and Draco didn't reply.

At the Ravenclaw table, was the boy with the fancy hair that she had seen in Divination. He flicked his hair off to the side even as she watched, and just as it settled, he ran a hand through it again. She didn't want to stare, so instead she looked wistfully at the Hufflepuff table. They looked so happy over there, laughing and talking to friends they had known for years. Maybe, if her mother had allowed her to go to Hogwarts, she would be sitting beside him... without Voldemort's fury, without this blond-haired jerk beside her, without so much anxiety on her mind.

Maybe, if her mother had let her go to Hogwarts when she should have gone, she would actually have friends.

"Still have that stupid block of wood?" someone sneered.

"Oh, hi, Millicent," Verity murmured. She was sitting in the Slytherin common room now, hastily writing her hideously boring History of Magic homework, with the staff she'd found at her feet. For some odd reason, she didn't like to let it out of her sight; maybe because she subconsciously knew that the other Slytherins would destroy it if she left it unattended for too long.

Same with AM. She was horrified at the thought that they might hurt her poor little fluffy kitten, but she couldn't trust anyone other than Draco. She had the softly snoring cat down the front of her robes, as usual. And as usual, she brought her to breakfast every morning and fed her some kind of meat every day. She didn't seem to be suffering from the diet.

She picked up the staff before Millicent could do anything to it.

"It's idiotic to carry that thing around everywhere," the huge girl growled. Her voice was a rather alarming bass.

Verity shrugged. "I don't know, I don't mind taking it with me. It's pretty, isn't it?"

Millicent grunted something noncommittal, then sat down beside her. "You're still doing your History of Magic homework?"

"Yeah." Verity bit her lip, still writing. She wasn't sure what Millicent wanted, but she had a strong grip on the staff and a hand ready to snatch away her homework in case Millicent reached for it.

Millicent regarded her with something resembling curiosity. Verity was strongly reminded of either a Crabbe or Goyle counterpart. "You're writing that much? I was done with it ages ago. I just wrote a few paragraphs in really huge font."

"Oh..." Verity glanced down at her work. "I just want to put forth my best effort, that's all."

Millicent's deep-set eyes widened. "You're writing more than what he asked for!"

"I know... I'm almost done with it, though."

"You're mad!"

"I guess." Verity finished, rolled up the parchment, and stowed it in her bag. She relaxed a little, but she kept a steady hold on the staff; she pulled it a little closer to her side, tilting the beautiful marble rose towards her face. The Hogwarts seal in its center shone in the greenish light filtering in from the lake.

"That's everything, then?"

"Yeah."

It suddenly struck Verity that Millicent simply wanted to talk.

Verity was more than surprised, and still a little cautious, but she gave Millicent a beaming smile. Verity was always willing to talk to someone who actually liked her. "So, how has your day been?"

"Good," Millicent muttered. "Theo's been avoiding everyone again. You know him, right? Theodore Nott?"

Verity shrugged. "It's only my third day. Who is he, again?"

Millicent nodded in his direction. Across the common room, his face in shadow, a thin, weedy boy was leaning against a sofa, wedged into a corner, reading a book. He had longish dark brown hair and an angular face. He looked wild, cat-like, unapproachable.

It was the book that surprised Verity. She didn't know that any Slytherins were academically inclined. Theodore didn't notice Millicent pointing him out, either; he simply turned a page, wholly engrossed in the book.

"He's kind of... quiet," Millicent finished lamely. "I mean, I know not that many people like you here in Slytherin, but, maybe Theo will. He needs to talk to more people. I was thinking... maybe... would you?"

So Millicent didn't want to talk to her after all. She just wanted to shove Verity off on some poor loner who liked to read books.

But, with a sigh, Verity stood up and gave Millicent a weary smile. "Of course I will. I'd be delighted to."

Still sitting on the sofa, Millicent Bulstrode watched Verity flop down onto Theo's sofa and peer down at him. She shook her head in amazement. It had taken her a few weeks to bring up the nerve to even talk to him. Theo was so smart and interesting... maybe once he and Verity were friends, Theo would include Millicent in his select group too.

But of course Verity wouldn't be afraid of talking to him. She was beautiful. She'd ensnare his heart for certain... yet it was necessary for this to happen.

Yes. Necessary. Once Millicent was friends with them both, she could drive them apart. And any kind of contact with Theo would be good. If she played it out right, she could break their friendship and stay best friends with Theo.

Then her life would be complete.