Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

"D a n g e r o u s . S e c r e t s"

B y : T s a v o r i t e

– A n . i n t e r e s t i n g . v i s i t . t o . H o g s me a d e –

The weeks after that went smooth. My privet lessons with Dumbledore went OK, even though I only had had two of them. He had been away most of time and I wasn't the only one that had noticed. The other students did too and in the meantime a lot of stories were spreading around the school from the most unbelievable ones I had ever heard, in which Dumbledore sneaked out of the castle every now and then to escape the tense atmosphere in Scotland and to take a long nice holiday, to more logical explanations which had something to do with the Order of the Phoenix.

Across from the fact that my lessons with Dumbledore went well, my lessons with Snape were a living nightmare. He was trying his best to embarrass me with my own memories. I had been able to hold him off once, which he didn't like that much; it resulted in a very long detention which meant that I had to clean every cauldron from the Potions classroom, both the insides and the outsides.

Luckily Malfoy had stopped skipping his classes. Did I say luckily? Sorry, my fault, I meant unfortunately. I remember telling Harry that I wouldn't try to follow him again, but the feeling was still eating my insides and I just had to know where he was going, although it had to wait a while.

We were now halfway through October already, which meant that our first trip to Hogsmeade was coming soon. I was really glad they didn't call it off because of the increasing security. I was really looking forward to just be able to leave the school grounds for a couple of hours.

On Saturday morning, the day of our trip, I awoke early. That happened to me a lot lately, ever since Pansy found it was funny to put a gigantic spider in my bed while I was asleep.

She had only been in the Hospital wing for a day, to everyone's displeasure, and the first night she was sleeping in our dorm again she had stuffed the animal in my bed. The next morning, I woke up because I felt something tickle on my cheek. The moment I opened my eyes I saw the huge, hairy monster crawling over my face. I had screamed my lungs out and I had tucked it somewhere far away from me.

Thank Merlin that today was a spider free day. I carefully climbed out - my bed may be safe, but you never know what lies on the floor - but everything turned out to be safe and I made my way to the bathroom. I showered and did my morning routine, which consisted of brushing my teeth, putting on my make-up, styling my hair and putting on some warm clothing.

Autumn had finally come and Winter was already peaking from behind a corner. The wind had become wilder and colder and in between the rain showers it already snowed and hailed. We even had had to cancel one of our Quidditch practices because of a hailstorm consisting of hail the size of pebble stones.

I draped the green and silver scarf around my neck and put my beanie over my hair. When I came out of the bathroom I looked at the clock, I noticed it was eight thirty already and I decided to go down for breakfast. But I didn't leave before magically letting a bucket filled with water appear next to Pansy's bed.

Next, I quickly descended the stairs, through the empty Common room and into the cold and drafty hallways. I smiled inwardly, I was glad I had brought my warm scarf with me: it could become extremely cold in the castle.

When I arrived in the Great Hall, it was nearly empty still. I walked towards the Slytherin table, grinning madly and I took a place in the middle of the empty benches. I grabbed some toast while some very noisy first years took place behind the Ravenclaw table. So much for my peace and quiet...

"Jenna, hey!"

I groaned when I heard that voice sounding through the Hall. The Ravenclaws, I could live with but Jo? She was way to active and happy in the morning.

"Hey," I mumbled when she sat down next to me.

"I didn't know you could get up this early! Oh, wait, you're not..." She looked at me with two cocked eyebrows.

"No! And you know that!" I immediately replied.

She kept looking at me without saying something.

"Really! I swear to – to Blaise!" I shouted, with one hand placed above my heart and one hand stuck up in the air.

"Just know that I will be watching you. I would drag you away from him any time!"

I rolled my eyes and took a bite from my toast. This wasn't the first morning she had reacted this way to my strange behaviour, which Pansy was to blame for.

She thought I had to focus on normal things in life, normal meaning everything and everyone except Malfoy. And the truth was I wasn't following him anymore. OK, maybe I had followed him one more time after that one night, but I got caught by Filch, the concierge. Ever since, I had banished him from my mind for as far as that was possible. But Jo, the great friend she is, still thinks I have an obsession which wasn't even there in the first place!

"Morning," sounded a hoarse and low voice from my left.

"Hey Blaise," I mumbled, still pissed off because my total of two whole minutes of peace had been disturbed.

"Shouldn't you be on look-out?" he asked me while he shoved some toast on his plate.

"No," I growled back, afraid Jo was going to get meddled in this again. I really didn't want to speak to her this morning.

"You sure? I heard him get up early this morning and I thought that that might be the reason you're sitting here this early..."

"How early did he leave? Ouch!" Jo had hit me on top of my head when I had asked that.

"Still watching you," she said without taking her eyes from the table while Blaise shrugged.

"Don't know, early, that's for sure."

What would Malfoy be doing on an early Saturday morning? "Is he going to go to Hogsmeade?"

Next to me I heard Jo groan and I caught the word 'obsession'.

"No, he has to do detention with McGonagall," Blaise said, grinning.

I nodded, how could I forget? He had handed in two of his Transfiguration assignments late.

Jolene was laughing out loud. "His own fault, not even Malfoy is going to get away with that."

In the mean time it was getting more crowded in the Great Hall and I saw Harry and Ron walk in. They both gave me a smile and the slumped in their usual seats next to Hermione. Ron immediately started an enthusiastic story with wild gestures while Hermione was leafing through a book, obviously irritated by Ron's story and presence.

"Are you guys going to go to Hogsmeade?" Blaise asked suddenly and I nodded.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss it for anything in the world!"

He grinned and nodded. "So, you're coming with us then?"

"Who is us?" I asked suspiciously and Blaise motioned towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle walked in listlessly and they sauntered in our direction.

"They're just like two outgrown and lost toddlers," Jo remarked and I chuckled.

"Without Malfoy they don't have anyone to follow around all the time, so they come to me," Blaise said proudly when they both took a seat across from us.

"And that's something to be proud of?" Jo asked, but Blaise ignored her.

"Nott is coming too."

"Then I'm not!" Jo said quickly and she crossed her arms determinedly.

Goyle snickered and he filled his plate with almost everything on the table, just like Crabbe.

"Why won't you come if -"

"He tried something on her last year which still gives her nightmares," Blaise said chuckling and Jo shivered, just the thought of it made her sick.

"Please let us stop talking about that!"

"Jo, you have to go! If you don't then I'll be alone with those, those..."

"Boys?" She said is like it was an evil word and she looked at Crabbe and Goyle when she said it.

"Hey!" Blaise looked up from his plate. "They're not that bad," he defended his mates. "Those two can be very useful when we walk into some very annoying Gryffindors."

I cocked my eyebrows. "Blaise! If there's one House that's annoying it's you!"

"Us? And what about you?" Goyle chuckled and he looked at me, from above his mountain of food.

"I'm new, you can't count me in yet," I said curtly and he shrugged.

"Please Jo? I f he tries something I promise I will curse him to Hell and back," I said while focussing in Jolene again.

She seemed to think for a while before she eventually sighed a 'yes' I almost couldn't hear.

"Thank you!" I squealed and I gave her a hug.

"Yeah, just keep him out of my way!" She looked at Blaise who quickly nodded.

After breakfast, which didn't end before nine thirty thanks to Crabbe and Goyle, the six of us walked to the great oak front doors of the school. Nott had joined us and we joined in the back of the waiting line of students.

"What's he doing?" I asked and I stood on my tiptoes to look over the heads of the other students to watch Filch. He was checking bags and students with some strange device before they were allowed to leave the castle.

"He thinks it's necessary to control all of us for Dark objects," Nott snickered and I shook my head.

"What does it matter if we smuggle Dark objects OUT of the school?" I heard Ron ask when he was being checked. "Don't you think it's better to check what we bring BACK?"

Crabbe chuckled when Ron received some extra pokes with the device before he was able to leave.

"Weasel is right though," Blaise muttered when it was our turn, finally.

Crabbe and Goyle both received and extensive check and it was nearly fifteens minutes later when we walked outside.

"Finally," I sighed and I walked towards the carriages which were already waiting for us. The wind was cold and it was snowing pretty hard, we had only taken a couple of steps and we were already soaked to the bone. I wiped my wet hair out of my face and I followed Blaise into a still empty carriage.

"Did you get your shrunken head back yet?" Goyle asked Crabbe, but he shook his head.

"No, he still has it. Probably never going to give it back, but I'll get myself a new one." They chuckled and they got in the carriage behind me and Blaise.

"Jenna!"

I looked outside and I saw Jo standing next to a smirking Nott.

"Blaise, would you like to wait for another carriage with Nott?"

"Huh? But..." he staggered and he looked at his feet. "Can't one of those two switch with Nott?" He pointed to Crabbe and Goyle who, it didn't surprise me one bit, had continued eating.

"No, I'll switch. See you guys in Hogsmeade!" I said and before Blaise could protest I had already gotten out of the carriage and I had pushed Nott in.

Jo just looked at me with a face engulfed in anger when I walked up to her.

"I saved you, so you can't stay mad at me!" I said and I hopped in the next carriage, followed closely by Jo. A couple of minutes later the carriages left with some abrupt jerks.

"You do know why Blaise wanted to stay with you in the carriage, don't you?" Jo asked when we got off at the edge of the wizarding village. The boys were standing a couple of feet away, waiting for us in the fresh amounts of snow.

"No..." I answered carefully and Jo started grinning.

"Forget what I told you!" she whispered when we were walking closer to the boys.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" I asked but she didn't answer me. In stead, she walked up to Crabbe and Goyle and she snaked her arms around their shoulders, though she only came halfway because of their seizes.

"Did you guys miss me?"

They grumbled something and they escaped from her arms. Crabbe was mumbling something like "Now I know why Malfoy hates her..."

"I did," Nott started, but for that remark he ended up with Jolene's fist in his stomach.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"OK, where are we going?" I asked quickly, before anyone could get seriously wounded. "I want to see everything, so were do we start?"

"Honeydukes!" Crabbe and Goyle exclaimed at the same time.

"OK, Honeydukes it is, and after that Zonko's!" Blaise said and we all nodded.

Jolene grumpily followed Crabbe and Goyle to the store, walking next to Nott who was still holding his stomach with two hands.

I walked next to Blaise and I gaped at the beautiful scenery before me. The little village was amazing, with all the pointy roofs covered under a thick layer of snow which had fallen last night. The High Street was also covered with snow and we plodded through it with some difficulties, against the wind. But despite of the fairytale appearance, the village was far from one. Just like Diagon Alley, the shop windows and the walls were filled with posters from the Ministry.

Honeydukes was overcrowded, but with Crabbe and Goyle, who were walking in the front, it didn't cost us that much trouble entering the store. They both refilled their candy supplies and we left quickly, because of all the people inside.

"Next stop, Zonko's!" Blaise shouted and he put a hand on my shoulder with which he gently guided me in the right direction.

But Zonko's Joke Shop was closed and from the looks of it, it had been closed for a while now.

"Lets just go to the Three Broomsticks," Nott suggested. "At least it's warm in there."

I nodded my head and I shivered while I pulled my scarf in front of my face, against the cold winds.

"You cold?" Blaise asked and I slowly nodded.

Jolene winked at me when Blaise put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.

That's how we walked towards the pub which was in the other direction, Blaise with his arm around my shoulder and me snuggled up against his warm side. When we finally arrived, we got inside quickly and I happily welcomed the warmth.

"It's full!" Jolene shouted frustrated while the boys entered behind us. "We made our way through all that snow just so we can stand?"

"Just wait," Nott mumbled and Crabbe and Goyle walked up to a table with clenched fists. Before Jolene or I could protest they had already pulled the first boy from his chair.

Blaise and Nott snickered when the rest of the frightened third years left.

Crabbe and Goyle slumped down in the now free seats with a satisfied smirk on their faces, while Blaise went to order our drinks.

"You guys just gave those poor boys a terrible nightmare about their first visit to Hogsmeade..." Jo mumbled and she squeezed herself in between Crabbe and Goyle, just so she didn't had to sit next to Nott.

"Sometimes I really wonder why you ended up in Slytherin," Nott said and he slid down on the bench next to Goyle.

"This is why," Jo said and she kicked him against his shin under the table.

Nott growled something under his breath when Blaise returned with his arm filled with Butterbeers. He sat down next to me and he eagerly took a couple of sips from his own drink.

"So, Tate, what exactly happened between you and Malfoy?" Crabbe, who was sitting on my left, asked me.

"Malfoy?" I had already forgotten about him! I heard Jo groan, followed by a thud which her head made when she hit the table.

"We, euh, had an unpleasant encounter in Diagon Alley. And on the train," I added quickly.

"Malfoy has unpleasant encounters with everybody," Nott muttered and Crabbe chuckled, to which he almost choked on his Butterbeer. Jo had to dive away before he coughed it all over her.

"Do you guys remember when that Mudblood Granger hit him in his face and broke his nose?" Nott laughed again and Blaise grinned.

"Or that one time when Moody transfigured him into a ferret!" Jolene said in a fit of laughter and Goyle was laughing with her.

"And don't forget the time he was so stupid to insult a Hippogriff," Blaise sighed and Nott nodded.

I looked at the boys, one by one. Crabbe was grinning insanely while Blaise kept on telling Malfoy's embarrassing moments, Goyle just nodded, Nott almost couldn't breathe anymore from laughing and Blaise just went on with the famous Slytherin smirk plastered on his face. If Malfoy had been here, they would be sitting here quietly, listen to him insulting probably Gryffindors and me. Despite of his father being sent to Azkaban, they were still very much afraid of him when he was around.

Noon came closer and it surprised me that Crabbe and Goyle turned out to be totally different from what I had heard from everyone else. I was told that they were Malfoy's stupid and brainless slaves, who did everything he said because they couldn't make any choices for themselves. This turned out to be complete bullocks. They weren't the smartest, sure, but they had enough brains to realize Malfoy was just using them. They had rejected him lots of times but what I suspected turned out to be true: they were terrified of his father and their own. Their parents were close friends with Lucius.

Suddenly, Blaise stretched his arms in the air and he was about to drape one of his arms around me when some loud voices rang through the small pub. He got up in the middle of our conversation and he walked in the direction of the bar. He sneaked behind a pillar and turned his head so he could listen into another conversation.

I looked around and I saw him eavesdropping on Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were talking intensely, but then they noticed Blaise and left again. Blaise returned to our table and he sat down again.

"What did they say?" Crabbe asked and Goyle looked up.

"Not here," Blaise mumbled and he motioned his head in the direction of me and Jo.

Nott nodded understandingly and they dropped the conversation.

I looked from Crabbe to Blaise, but it was clear they weren't going to tell me anything. "Lets go back, shall we? Before we have to walk back in the middle of a blizzard..." I mumbled and Blaise and I got up.

We pulled our robes back on and closed them tightly before we stepped into the cold Autumn weather again. The happy atmosphere we had been in when we sat in the pub, had changed into an uncomfortable silence. All the way back to the castle, in the carriages, the boys stayed quiet and didn't speak to each other.