Ginny woke the next morning and readied for breakfast, thinking of meeting Pansy. Ginny wondered what she wanted, and hoped that Pansy wouldn't be a brat like she usually was to the Gryffindors.

But she's my first cousin, Ginny thought to herself with a giggle. That's crazy: Ron would flip if he knew about this. It's a good thing that he doesn't know, and that most people don't know.

Quickly gathering her books, Ginny put them in her bookbag and skipped down to breakfast, avoiding the bathroom because she knew Marlene and Marianne were there. She changed her hair black and her crest to the Slytherin crest, stepping out of the empty classroom into the corridor and hurrying toward the Great Hall.

Entering the Great Hall, she glanced around and found Fred and George looking at her carefully, both looking a bit concerned. Percy looked up and grinned at her secretly. She didn't respond, turning away. As she approached the Slytherin House table, she saw that Pansy had reserved her a seat right next to her. Estella sat next to Pansy without saying a word and began to put food on her plate.

Pansy turned and carefully looked over Estella. "My parents have asked about you," she said calmly. "They are your aunt and uncle, you remember."

"Certainly," Estella replied. "And what did they ask about me?"

"Several things," Pansy answered vaguely. "You and I will be hunting together during Search and Curse tonight."

Estella frowned. "I'm sticking with the twins," she objected.

Pansy scowled at her. "You are not. Four is too many to hunt together, and you and I will be hunting together. I've already set it up with the twins and the prefects."

"So how will we be playing tonight?" Estella asked. "I've heard that there are several versions of the game."

The older girl nodded. "The rules will be told when we meet in the Common Room," she told Estella. "That's all."

Estella nodded slightly and hurried to finish eating before she ran off to Potions. She took the secret passageway, of course, and changed her appearance on the way.

When she stepped into the classroom, she found that Beatrix and Flora were already there with some of their other friends. "Woah," she said, grinning at them. "I didn't expect you to be here already!"

"Thanks to you, we know how to get down here now," Beatrix said with a grin, winking at Ginny. The Hufflepuff girl beckoned her to come on over, so Ginny went over and sat down by Beatrix. "What do you think will happen to those of us whose potions were ruined last class?" she asked Ginny.

"I don't know," Ginny replied. "You might have to start it over and stay later to finish it. You might even have to stay through lunch."

Flora put her head in her hands. "I couldn't," she groaned. "I missed breakfast and I don't want to miss lunch!"

Ginny shrugged. "Then whatever you're supposed to do, do it as quickly as you can without screwing up your potion," she told Flora.

Marlene and Marianne walked in, sitting in the very back. Snape looked directly at them and sneered, "You will not be sitting together in my class anymore. Heark, up here right in front of my desk."

The Gryffindor paled and moved quickly without saying a word. Beatrix giggled, "Hot seat, Heark? Bet you still won't stay out of trouble!"

The others in the room burst out laughing, and Marlene turned and glared at Ginny and the two Hufflepuffs. Ginny didn't say a word, just grinning at her angry dorm mate. "You stupid Hufflepuff," Marlene snarled at Beatrix. "I'll kill you."

Flora scowled at Marlene on her friend's behalf. "You will not," she snapped.

Ginny pulled out a piece of paper. "Death threats," she said, pretending to take notes. "But she's bluffing. I doubt she could pull it off."

"Shut up!" Marlene snarled, much to the amusement of most of those in the room.

"You shut your mouth or I'll remove it from your face," Beatrix promised her with a grin. "Maybe permanently. And you'll have to learn all your spells non-verbally."

Marlene growled at her but said no words, and the three on the Hufflepuff side exchanged silent high-fives. Snape did not even look at them, but Ginny was almost certain that he was amused by their arguements.

Class was called to order, and Snape informed them that the ones whose potions were simmering should finish them. He added, "Those of you who failed to even begin the potion last class will be doing the entire potion today. I suggest you begin immediately if you want to attend any of your other classes today."

Ginny and the two or three others who had partially finished potions quickly went to their cauldrons and began preparing their last few ingredients. Unsealing her cauldron, Ginny was pleased to find it smooth and calm. She carefully poured her acid into her cauldron, stirring the potion continuously. She didn't say much to any other student, wanting to make sure she made her potion correctly so she didn't get censured by Professor Snape.

When she was finished, she didn't say a word, but allowed her mind to loudly wonder what she should do since she was done with her potion. After several minutes in which she studied her textbook, Snape looked up, glaring at her. Ginny felt his eyes on her, but did not look up.

"Ms. Weasley, you may bottle up your potion and bring it here...although I expect I shall have to throw it out," sneered Snape.

Ginny looked up at him finally, wanting to stick out her tongue or glare at him. She did neither, but replied, "Wouldn't you rather check the potion before I bottle it?"

"I do not repeat myself, Ms. Weasley," he snarled at her, and she barely stopped herself from shrugging.

After several minutes, she took the bottles up to Snape's desk and placed them to the side, waiting for further instructions. Ginny had already taken the initiative to clean out her cauldron and prepare it in case he told her to begin another potion.

Without looking at her or her bottled potion, he said, "You may leave."

Ginny was surprised, but turned around, gathered her supplies, and left the room without looking at any of the other students. She went to the library to work on her reading assignment for Transfiguration, hoping that she wouldn't be accosted because she wasn't in class.

After reading the pages and attempting the Transfiguration spell, Ginny put the book back on the shelf and hurried up to her room to put her books back. She had several hours to spare before lunch, so she pulled out her DADA textbook and began reading ahead. Ginny thought that she might be able to find a couple ideas for Search and Curse before she was in the middle of the game!

Ginny looked up from her book and realized that she need to get down to the Great Hall for lunch. She wondered how Potions had gone after she'd left and if she should ask one of the Hufflepuff girls. As she walked into the Common Room, she saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville come in through the Portrait Hole.

"Neville, you can't let him frighten you," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "You have to understand that he's just trying to intimidate the students."

"He's just more cranky this year," Ron told Hermione and Neville. "I dunno what his problem is."

Neville was pale and shaking a little. "He just hates me," the boy sighed. "I'm going to lose hundreds of points for Gryffindor this year."

Harry frowned. "That's not true, Neville," he tried to comfort the other boy. "Snape just likes picking on people, especially—" Harry stopped awkwardly, and Ron snorted.

"Yeah, those who won't fight back," said the ginger. "Neville, you should stand up to him."

"—and lose thousands of points for Gryffindor," Neville said glumly. "You know, I already tried standing up to people, and what happened? Hermione hexed me!"

"You weren't supposed to block the Portrait Hole when we were trying to stop You-Know-Who from getting the Immortal Stone," Hermione said pointedly. "This is different!"

Neville shook his head. "Never mind, you three. I know you're just trying to help, but I think I'm beyond help," he told them.

Ron frowned. "No, you're not," he snapped. "Snape is beyond help."

Ginny stepped forward, ready to make a point for Snape when Neville looked up and saw her. "Oh, hello, Ginny," he said. "Are you heading down to lunch?"

"Yes," Ginny replied without looking at Harry and Ron. "Are you coming down?"

"No, he's going to hide in our dorm room for the next three days until he has to go back to class," Ron stated callously.

Ginny scowled at Ron. "I wasn't even talking to you, Ronald," she snapped. "Neville does have a mouth, you know." She turned back to Neville without saying anything else to Ron, who was glaring at her. "Coming?" she asked Neville again.

Neville frowned at Ginny, then grinned and nodded, saying, "Let me take my books up to my room and I'll be right back." He hurried off, and Ginny looked pointedly at Ron, who glared at her.

"This doesn't mean anything," he hissed at her. "You think you're so great, but you're not! Just because you convinced one stupid—"

Ginny was barely able to keep herself from drawing her wand and slamming Ron against the wall. "You sound like Snape—no offense, Professor," she added up at the ceiling. Looking back at Ron, she clenched her fists and scowled. "He's not stupid: he needs encouragement. Not one of his own housemates—dorm mates, no less—calling him names because he doesn't meet your standard."

"Yeah," Harry said to Ron after a moment. "We don't meet Hermione's standard and she doesn't call us stupid."

"Don't," pleaded Hermione. "Don't bring me into this. I'm neutral."

"You are not," Ginny replied. "Neutral gets people killed."

Ron stared. "Ginny, stop it," he growled at her. "You're being a prat!"

"Oh, goodness," Ginny mocked him. "You'd think that was strange for me." Harry snickered and Ron frowned at his friend, who immediately tried to look ashamed. Neville came down the stairs at that moment, and Ginny stepped forward, joining him in walking toward the door. "Be careful with the company you keep, Hermione. I'm sure you can find better than my brother."

"Malfoy told me that first year," Harry said without thinking, then turned red. "I mean—"

"Harry!" cried Ron. "How could you compare Ginny to him?"

"I didn't!" Harry protested as Neville and Ginny escaped the Gryffindor Common Room.

Neville was trying not to laugh as they left, and Ginny said, "Well, now. I've caused a bit of trouble between them!"

The boy shrugged. "They'll be all right," he told Ginny. "They always are. Hermione will keep them from hurting each other too badly." Ginny began laughing, and Neville joined in.

The two of them reached the Entrance Hall fairly quickly, and Neville hesitated. "C'mon," Ginny said, reaching for his hand. He yanked his hand away and frowned at her. Grinning, she motioned him to join her. He stepped beside her, walking into the Great Hall at her side.

Ginny noticed that Meris and Draco were sneering at her, but didn't pay attention to them and made sure that she distracted Neville from noticing. What disturbed Ginny was that Samantha looked furious and Megan was trying to help Brianna calm her down, but it wasn't helping.

Ginny and Neville quickly went to the Gryffindor House table and sat down with their backs to the Slytherins. "Look," said Neville quietly, carefully indicating the Head table. "Snape's not even here yet."

"Nope," Ginny replied with a grin. "And don't worry about it. You don't need to borrow trouble."

"True enough," Neville agreed, reaching for the meat dish. "Here, want some?"

"Sure," Ginny said, and the two began eating.

A few minutes later, there was a commotion at the Slytherin House table, and one of the twins jumped up. Ginny and Neville turned around to watch the angry twin snap at the other twin in a low voice. Neville frowned. "What is her problem?" he asked Ginny. "Isn't that one of your friends?"

Ginny nodded wordlessly, shocked at what she'd seen. Brianna had drawn her wand and pointed it at her twin, and then both of them had run out of the Great Hall.

"What happened? What did the other twin do?" Neville asked her.

"I don't know," Ginny replied quietly. "Samantha just randomly has bad reactions to different things, and there's no telling what could set her off..."

"Ginny Weasley!" Neville's sharp tone broke through her daydreams. "Goodness, when did I lose you?"

"Somewhere between the Entrance Hall and the Gryffindor House table," Ginny replied with a grin. "Come find me!"

Neville frowned at her, then shrugged and continued eating. After a moment, he asked again, "What makes her do that?"

Ginny sighed. "I don't exactly know. Everything they told me is what I told you," she replied. "Well, that's not exactly true...um, I can't betray their trust, but they've had childhood trauma."

"Oh," said Neville finally. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have asked. I didn't know."

"It's okay," Ginny replied. "I would have asked too if I hadn't known." Neville and Ginny quickly finished eating and left the Great Hall together, Meris glancing at them with a frown. Neville turned to Ginny and asked, "Why is he always frowning or glaring at us? He seems angry at one of us."

"Probably me," Ginny replied as they walked. "I always make everyone mad, anyway." She glanced at Neville as they left the Great Hall. "I know a few shortcuts back to Gryffindor, if you'd like to go one of those ways," she told him. "Secret passages and stuff."

Neville frowned at her, and asked, "How dark are they?"

"Um, not too bad," she replied. "Wandlight makes them light enough to see through."

"Okay, I'll try it," he granted reluctantly, following her down the hall as she headed in a different direction.

"Quick, behind this tapestry," she commanded sharply as she heard footsteps. They darted behind it just as the person came into view: Meris Lestrange. Neville's eyes grew wide, and Ginny raised her wand, silencing him and making him glare at her.

Meris looked all three ways, frowning to himself as he thought. His hand moved to his wand pocket, and the boy headed toward the corridor leading up to Gryffindor.

Neville looked at Ginny worriedly, and she took his arm. "Come," she whispered, taking off his Silencing Charm. "Sorry about that, but I didn't want you to say anything to him. I don't want him to catch us on the path to Gryffindor."

"Will he find us?" Neville asked, and Ginny shrugged.

"Dunno," she replied. "If we're fast, maybe not. But we're in a secret passage: how could he find us?"

"He's a Slytherin," pointed out Neville. "Of course he knows where the passages are."

Ginny smiled appreciatively. "I know a few he doesn't," she stated simply. "This is a more common one, though. Lots of Gryffindors have used it in the past. Last year I found a lot of things that had been lost down here."

Neville began to shine his wandlight around curiously, looking at the walls as he and Ginny walked along. Something caught Ginny's eye in the shadows, and she reached for her wand. At that moment, Neville turned to face the tunnel again and shrieked upon finding a person standing in front of them.

Meris Lestrange stood calmly before them, holding his wand pointing across his chest. "My, how you shriek," Meris said to Neville without moving.

"Don't you even start," growled Neville, his wandlight suddenly going out. Ginny held her wand closer to the two boys so they could see each other's faces.

"I didn't start anything," replied the younger boy. "I'm not even here to finish what others have started." Neville's eyes narrowed, but Lestrange continued, "You are a horrible breed of Gryffindor. You haven't got a speck of bravery in you, and you run away from those you haven't met, simply because of a name. I had nothing to do with what happened back then. Get over yourself, Longbottom."

Ginny realized that Neville was trembling and stepped closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Lestrange turned his attention to her and hissed, "Weasley, if you breathe a word of this conversation to anyone, I will find you and give you a cursing you won't forget."

"Do I look like a tattletale?" Ginny spat at him.

He glared at her and moved to walk past her the way they had come. She stuck her tongue out at him, then gently pushed Neville ahead of her up the passageway. After a long silence, Neville croaked, "You said we wouldn't meet him."

"I said I didn't know," she replied. "And I did tell you that this was a more common passage."

Rubbing a hand across his forehead, Neville asked heavily, "Did you plan this, Ginny?"

"Wha—no, Neville! I wouldn't do that to you," she told him. "I didn't know he was going to come after us down here."

"You didn't seem to think of him as an enemy," Neville told her, sounding deep in thought. "You were almost...comfortable with him!"

"That's ridiculous," Ginny said stubbornly. "To think I'd befriend someone that hangs out with Draco Malfoy—"

Neville interrupted her intently. "Ginny, I can feel the wavelengths between different people," he told her. "Some call them 'vibes.' All I know is that your waves and Lestrange's waves were not conflicting. At least, you are not his immediate enemy. Even when he told you to keep your mouth shut, he wasn't really threatening you."

Ginny just stared at the boy. "How many people know that you can do this?" she asked him.

"Just my grandmother," he replied. "And you, I suppose."

"If you know these 'vibes,' or waves, then why are you so afraid of Snape?" Ginny questioned curiously. "Is he hostile toward you?"

"That's just it," Neville said miserably. "I don't pick up anything from him. He doesn't give out any waves. You can't read what's not there."

Nodding thoughtfully, Ginny asked, "So what did you pick up from Meris—I mean, Lestrange?"

He smiled weakly. "I was right, wasn't I?" He didn't wait for an answer, but went on, "He was angry, but he didn't intend harm to me unless I tried to harm him. He was frustrated with me, I guess. I don't know. I guess I never got close enough to him before to understand the waves."

"But you were still badly affected by him," Ginny pointed out.

"Of course," sighed Neville, coming to the end of the passage and turning to Ginny. "I didn't know what was going to happen, and he came upon us in a secret passageway, of all places. When you meet a Lestrange in a secret place no one is supposed to know about, the situation can be very dangerous!"

Ginny giggled and Neville turned to the wall. "How do you get out of here?" he asked.

She stepped up and pressed the rock in the wall without him noticing. "That way," she said. "By pressing the right rock. Now go quickly so that the wall can close behind us."

Neville hurried out of the passageway and waited for Ginny, watching the wall close up behind her. "Hey, do you want to study in the Common Room with me?" Neville asked her.

Ginny shrugged. "Sure, but I'm almost done with mine. I did it in my free time earlier today."

"Oh, Ginevra," he said, shaking his head. "You're going to end up like Hermione." He suddenly felt a rush of anger come from her and said, "Oh, sorry. You don't like being compared to her. Didn't mean to upset you."

"How come you don't worry when I'm mad?" she demanded to know.

"Because you're not the off-the-wall, curse-first-ask-questions-later kind of person," Neville replied. "You're more reserved than that, and don't react immediately, except for when you're threatened."

She shook her head. "You're scary," she told him. "Don't let anyone else know about this ability you have. This is power that probably not many have, Neville."

He shrugged and looked down, embarrassed. Then he turned and walked off, Ginny hurrying to catch up with him so they could stay together. "Do you think you could help me with my homework?" he asked. "I mean, if you can and want to."

"Sure," she replied. "Boring waiting around for something to happen until supper." Can't wait for Search and Curse tonight! she thought in excitement, catching a strange look from Neville.

Ginny escaped Neville before supper and went off to check on a few last minute things. She had made up her mind not to sit at the Slytherin House table, and hoped that Brianna had been able to straighten out her twin's issues. Going into the Great Hall, Ginny saw that the girls weren't there yet. She hurried over to Fred and George to sit beside them, becoming just another Weasley.

"How've you been surviving so far?" George asked her with a grin.

"Yeah, Stel, we saw you come into the Great Hall the other day, and—"

"Shut up, do you hear?" Ginny hissed at the twins. "You can't call me that in front of anyone when I look like this. And especially not here at the Gryffindor House table!"

The twins glanced at each other, then began again. "So how are you, other than threatening our ability to draw breath?" Fred asked her.

Ginny growled at him. "I said no such thing," she snapped, then grinned and replied, "I've been having fun in my classes. I've survived Potions pretty well, I think. Tonight I'm meeting some friends to have fun. I'm not sure how that will go. Samantha's mad at me, and I don't know what's going to happen."

"Wonderful," George said with a sideways glance at his twin. "We have about three pieces of information to discuss with you. First, what is wrong with your dorm mates?"

"Marlene hates me because I'm friends with a lot of Slytherins, and Marianne is her best friend and goes along with whatever Marlene says. The other two would rather not get involved, but they're right in the middle of the conflict because, as I told Hermione, neutral gets you killed," Ginny replied.

The twins nodded thoughtfully. "Well, in a couple weeks, we should be finished with what we were working on with the Charlestons over the summer," Fred continued. "We'll give them to you to test on whomever you will."

Ginny giggled and asked, "What is it they do again?"

"These aren't the kangeroos: we're working on shortening the time for those," George added. "These—these are monkeys."

Fred grinned wickedly, and Ginny stared. "Those will be really good for snooping—I mean, climbing," she told Fred with a smirk.

He nodded, then coughed and said quietly, "We saw you come in this morning and sit with Pansy Parkinson. Ginny, limit the time you spend with her. She's nasty."

She frowned at them, seeing they were united in their purpose. "She's my closest real relative here," Ginny told them softly. "I will talk to her, boys. And I know she's nasty—to you all at least—but she's not nice to me, either. She is trying to find out who exactly I am—personality-wise."

"You mean she's stalking you to find out if you'd be a good friend to her?" Fred asked in disbelief.

"No, Fred, she wants to know if Ginny would be a threat to her family if they started a friendship," George said sarcastically. "Of course Parkinson's stalking—"

"That's it," Ginny gasped, then smiled. "George, you might not be far off in your exaggeration!"

The twins were surprised. "What do you mean?"

Ginny sighed and the two leaned closer to her. "My parents are in hiding, of course," she stated. "Pansy might be trying to find if I would put them or her parents at risk by befriending me."

"But her parents were never imprisoned or even accused," protested the twins.

"That doesn't mean anything," Ginny scolded them. "You know very well that the Malfoys got off because they claimed they were under the Imperius. You also know that Dad doesn't believe that they were at all. Just because someone got off doesn't mean they were innocent!"

Fred and George nodded very carefully. "We understand," Fred said, his face sarcastically serious. "Just look at Snape!"

Ginny stared at the twins in horror, then pushed her plate away, stood, and walked out of the Great Hall. George called after her, saying they didn't mean it, but Ginny kept walking. She walked down to the Slytherin Common Room, changing her appearance on the way and making sure that she looked presentable. She'd worn black to be able to hide in the shadows better, and her hair was down, making her skin look very pale against her dark robes and hair.

Upon stepping into the Common Room, Estella found Lauren Avery sitting with one of the Charlestons. "Hello," Estella greeted them, walking in. Realising they were eating, she sat a little way away as Lauren looked up and nodded in greeting.

"I'm Brianna," said the dark-haired girl. "Samantha is up in our dorm room and I'm keeping her up there for a little while."

Estella smiled in amusement. "Did you give her a time-out?"

"That's not even slightly funny," snapped Brianna. "She was furious with you, and Megan and I could barely stop her from coming over to you and cursing you at the Gryffindor House table! Do you have any idea of what seeing you with Longbottom, that pitiful excuse for a wizard, did to her? Do you?"

"I am not responsible for her problems," Estella said shortly, "and I will not tiptoe to keep from upsetting her."

"You're not going to leave your hair down," Lauren informed her, pointing her wand at Estella's head and braiding her hair up in an instant. She put an adhere charm on Estella's hair to keep it in place. "You won't want it hanging down for the game." She motioned to her blonde hair that was tied up in a knot and held with another charm.

Estella smiled. "Thanks," she said after a moment.

Just then, Samantha came down the girls' dorm stairs, looking very peaceful. Estella frowned, wondering how the girl seemed so happy if she'd been so upset earlier. "What did you do to her?"

Some of the other Slytherins that had come in gave Estella disgusted looks, and Meris said, "You mean you don't know? Poor child, you've certainly lived a sheltered life!"

"Not so sheltered that I can't curse you," Estella said, turning away from him. "But no longer," Samantha said coldly, glaring over at Estella. "You're here to get a very Slytherin awakening. Why in Merlin's name did you walk into the Great Hall with and eat with Neville Longbottom?"

Estella regarded her cousin carefully, Brianna looking at her carefully and making her realise that Samantha's manner had completely changed. "I rescued him from the Golden Trio," she said with a deep frown, trying to figure out what Brianna had done to her twin. "They were badgering him about classes and things, and so I rescued him. He's desperately afraid of Snape, and wasn't even going to go to lunch, but I made him go. He asked me why Meris was always glaring at or watching us."

"He never looked over at me," Meris said incredulously. "How would he know if I was watching him?"

"He's special, I guess," Estella began, and those standing around burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

Meris stopped laughing enough to say, "You asked me to tell you the story of the Lestranges vs. The Longbottoms, and I thought you were just playing around. But now I realize that you have no idea what really happened to Neville's parents, do you?"

Estella shrugged. "I know they're insane, and in St. Mungo's, but that's it. Mum—Mrs. Weasley—wouldn't let anyone talk about it in front of me."

"Protected!" chirped Flavius, making everyone laugh again. "But do you think Longbottom was just paranoid that you were watching him, Lestrange?"

"I don't know," Meris replied. "He didn't seem too worried, but Estella was trying to keep him from noticing what was going on at the Slytherin House table."

"Oh, yes," Estella scoffed. "I was trying to keep him from noticing that my own cousin wanted to come over and take off my head, and maybe curse him too. And I was trying to keep him from realising that Lestrange, who Neville is quite wary of, was also watching him! And he noticed anyway! He definitely knew something was up, even if he didn't look at you, Meris!"

Lauren frowned. "Estella, what do you know about how he knew?"

Estella shrugged. "You know how sometimes people talk about having sixth senses? Neville's are especially acute, and he can feel relationships between people. He was a little freaked out by some things he felt from me." Estella grinned.

"He sounds a bit off," commented Pansy. "Of course, he always has been—"

"He was dead on with what he read from me," Estella said with a shrug. "Even if he appears not to know which end of his wand to hold, this special sense of his could be very dangerous."

Theo shrugged. "We're around him all the time, and I'm amazed he doesn't sit in the corner and suck his thumb."

Estella giggled, then shrugged. "Maybe it's because he knows what you all are up to."

The Slytherins looked at each other. "Nah," said several of them. "Say, where's Draco? He's about as slow as Crabbe and Goyle!"

Lauren scowled at them. "Would you like to say that to his face?" she snapped.

The younger students glanced at each other, and one said, "She's his closest relative here in school."

"And don't cross her," Theodore said with a straight face, glancing at Samantha.

"Why are you looking at me?" Samantha growled. "Go away."

Estella scooted over next to her cousin. "I didn't mean to upset you at lunch, you know, but I'm really good at acting first and thinking later."

Samantha looked at her and grinned. "You won't become best friends with Longbottom, will you?"

"Probably not," Estella reassured her. "He's a little paranoid and too afraid of everything and everyone to suit me. And his special senses/powers thing make me quite wary of being around him more than I have to."

"Good," said Samantha. "If you started hanging out all the time with an Auror's brat, I'd curse you to kingdom come. I did try, you know."

Estella burst out laughing. "Yes, I do know," she giggled. "Brianna stopped you, and thank goodness, because most of the Gryffindors would have been watching us. And I really don't want to hurt you."

Lauren frowned at the three dark-haired girls. "Then be careful whom you curse tonight, for you won't be hunting together. Pansy, would you come over here a minute? You have your orders, I know. We're waiting on Draco and some of the prefects to arrive before we tell out the rules and go on out."

Pansy came over and said, "Estella is hunting with me, and we'll be heading out very quickly. I hope you're not too slow." Pansy directed the last part at Estella.

"No slower than a flobberworm," Estella replied.

The twins snickered. "Parkington," Pansy said in annoyance, "I mean it. If you can't keep up, I'm going to leave you behind to fend for yourself, and I'm not going to come visit you in the Hospital Wing if you get yourself cursed."

The door opened quickly and Draco strode in, followed by Crabbe and Goyle and several of the prefects. "Parkington—" he began with a sneer, and she scowled at him.

"Shut up, Malfoy," she snapped.

Everyone watched the two in unabashed curiosity. Draco's face did not change. "You'd better not stay around Longbottom too much. His stupidity could rub off on you!"

"Why—" she replied with a sweet smile "—I've always wanted to be as intelligent as you, Draco." His eyes narrowed as the others laughed at his expense, and Estella smiled in satisfaction.

The prefects called for silence and Draco motioned a first year to get up, sinking onto a couch. Estella nearly made a face at him, but caught herself just in time. As soon as everyone was quiet, Owen Pritchard, the fifth year boys' prefect, began to explain the rules of this coming round of Search and Curse.

"We are holding this game in the Forest," Pritchard was saying. "Any curse is allowed, but we don't want any fatalities, and don't use Crucio on the same person more than three times. That means, Draco, that any one person can only be Cruciated three times altogether, no matter what." He frowned over at the blonde boy, who was smirking. "If any of you use Dark Arts, make sure you can clean up after yourself: we are not sending anyone to the Hospital Wing."

Lauren stood up. "We are setting out in pairs, and will be hunting two by two. We have to draw names to see who is going after whom, and everyone has to put their name in separately. The pairs cannot put their names in together, so each pair will be going after two other teams."

"And of course, if you have a personal vendetta against someone, you can go after them," Corin said, earning a scowl from his cousin. "But you have to make sure you get your targets as well."

"Right," Meris agreed, grinning at Corin. "Look out, Meg."

"Don't call me Meg," she said sharply.

"AHEM!" said Pritchard loudly. "You will all put your names here in this container and one at a time, it will randomly choose the enemies. I suggest you pair up as you come."

Brianna and Samantha moved at the same time Pansy glanced at Estella, moving forward. They put their names in together, stepping back for the others. Estella watched Draco sign his name with his wand and grinned. Megan looked sideways at her and gave her a pointed look.

Lifting her chin, Estella hissed (P), "He'sss all yoursss, cousssin!"

Megan's face turned red as Corin snickered and then burst out laughing. "No worriesss, Megan," he laughed at the two of them (P). "Essstella hasss no designsss on your crush!"

Alvin Nott whirled on the three of them. "You're a Parselmouth, Corin? Damn. How many of you are there this year?"

"At least three of us here," Megan said finally. "But all of us Sages are Parselmouths."

"Honest? How come we never knew before now?" Crabbe asked.

"Because you're stupid," Goyle told him.

"Oh, yeah?" Crabbe retorted. "Then you answer my question!"

Megan rolled her eyes impatiently. "My father, his sister, and his brother all came to Hogwarts, but before them, all of the Sage family attended Durmstrang. Before now, my father, uncle, and aunt were the only Parselmouths, and since they were in the same family, they decided to keep our family secret quiet. Now, we have more than just Sages appearing."

Lauren nodded. "If you have a group of Parselmouths, you're less likely to be singled out as a target. Though Estella only adds one to your group."

"Yes, but one can become several," Megan smiled slightly. "Though our main reason for showing up now is that we have Parselmouths in two families. The Sages won't be targeted alone, and neither will our cousins, the Parkingtons."

"But our parents know each other, right?" Estella asked with a frown.

Megan nodded. "But my father and his brother and sister are a few years older than your father," she answered. "Your father was alone at school, and so were my father and his siblings."

Estella took a second to think that through, then shook her head. "I don't understand how they could keep it a secret," she said. "I'd be too proud."

"Well, none of us have your mother," Megan smirked, and most of the older Slytherins laughed at this. "We tend to be more modest about the family secrets. And there were complications...we had been facing the end of our serpent bloodlines, but by some miracle, we were able to find out what was wrong and our serpents are alive and well today."

Megan looked over at Estella, then said, "I don't know if your father had the same luck, though...most of his serpents died in the war." She shuddered at the thought, then said to the prefects, "Can we just be done with this and get out to the Forest?"

Lauren nodded and motioned for the few around the container to hurry up. They quickly dispersed, and Pritchard raised his wand, charming the container to begin. It began to spit out two papers at a time, and he would pick them up and call out the names.

"Reyallalie Riker, Theodore Nott," Pritchard began. "Lauren Avery, Draco Malfoy. Vincent Crabbe, Estella Parkington. Meris Lestrange, Rishka. Megan Sage, Alvin Nott. Astoria Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson. Owen Pritchard, Millicent Bulstrode." He took a deep breath, and went on.

Estella and Pansy exchanged glances. "Astoria is my prey and Vincent is your prey," Pansy said in disgust. "Vincent is hunting with Draco tonight: you'll be lucky to get near them after you dissed Draco first thing tonight."

She shrugged. "He's okay. I didn't hurt him."

Pansy frowned at her, but did not comment. Pritchard said, "We will all be given five minutes to spread out into the Forest once we all reach the clearing there. Does everyone understand the rules?"

Most everyone nodded and Lauren said, "Very well: everyone out."

Pansy motioned Estella to hurry up and headed toward the door quickly. "There's a secret passageway out to the Forest that everyone uses."

Estella nodded. "I know one that no one uses," she replied. "Let's go, then. Perhaps we can arrive there before many others do."

The two girls hurried along, Pansy leading to and heading on down the passageway. Pushing the layer of earth open, Pansy quickly scampered out. Estella followed her, then looked back and realised that they had come out of the side of a hill!

"Hurry up, Parkington!" Pansy hollered at her. "Do you want to get lost?"

"I won't," Estella called back. "I can always ask the Forest where you are!"

There was no reply, and Estella hurried to catch up with her cousin. Once they arrived at the clearing, they found Corin Sage and Meris Lestrange already there. "Hey, Meris, I know you're after Rishka, but who are you after, Corin?" Estella called to him.

"Guage," said Corin, looking up with a grin. "Megan was displeased that I was chosen to combat her best friend."

"I'm sure," laughed Brianna and Samantha, stepping into the clearing. "When you're hunting her, look out for your dear cousin."

Estella and the boys began to laugh as the rest of the group came into the clearing. "Are we all here?" Pritchard asked.

"Not all of us are all here," quipped Theodore.

"Ha, ha, ha," Pritch said to the younger boy. "If all your pairs are together, then you all have five minutes to split from here. Go get yourselves lost."

The younger ones split immediately, and Pansy wasted no time finding a hiding spot close to where she said most people would come through while searching for others. They waited for about two more minutes, their time limit before they could begin their hunt.

"I'm going up," Estella whispered to Pansy, pointing at the tree above them.

"Wha—no!" protested Pansy as quietly as she could. "You'll be seen!"

"I'll ward myself in," Ginny replied. "An Invisibility Ward. I won't be seen. And I'll have a better view."

Pansy grabbed her sleeve. "I won't be able to see you!"

Estella frowned. "Is that a problem?" She then grinned and said, "I'll make the ward special so that only you can see me." Pulling away from Pansy, she quickly climbed up the tree, slipping on several damp branches. "Why are these wet?" she muttered to herself in annoyance. "This will be terrible when I come back down!"

She quickly arranged herself on a branch almost right over the slight path through the woods, making sure she could see Pansy from where she was. Drawing her wand, Ginny raised it and put a Protectionary Ward over herself just as Tom had taught her. When she glanced over at Pansy and the girl met her eyes, Estella knew that she had done the ward correctly.

After several minutes, the two heard voices and became very quiet, Pansy retreating into hiding. Lauren Avery and Alvin Nott came into view, stalking in the shadows, but still in view. Pansy looked up at Estella and shook her head warningly. The last thing Pansy wanted to do was to make Lauren Avery angry at her. Besides, they weren't hunting for either of those two.

Ginny scowled at Pansy and mouthed, "I know!" then continued watching the two head on through the shadows. A few other pairs came through, one of them talking about each other's girlfriend, and Ginny's face turned bright red, making Pansy bite down on her sleeve to keep from laughing out loud.

When they had passed, Pansy's giggling could be heard for a long way around them. Ginny dropped the ward and slid down the tree to her. "Oh, hush," she told Pansy. "I bet you knew all that nonsense they were talking about anyway." Giggling, Pansy nodded, and Ginny rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, two burst from behind several bushes, and Ginny realized that it was Astoria Greengrass and Flavius Corbin. "Corroso!" shouted Astoria, pointing her wand at Pansy.

Pansy raised her wand just in time to block the curse and return another curse, the spell going right through Astoria's shield spell. The first year collapsed to the ground and her partner groaned.

"We brought down Warrington easily, but can she shield a simple curse?" Flavius ranted in annoyance. "NO!"

Estella began giggling, and Pansy joined in. "Flavi, do you want help getting her back to the clearing?" Ginny asked.

Pansy looked horrified, but Flavius shook his head. "I'll levitate her—although she might hit a few trees on the way there..."

Giggling, Pansy and Ginny walked off together. "We won't find Draco and Vincent around here; Draco never comes this way. Come to think of it, neither does Lauren. I guess she came this way because of Alvin. Anyway, I think I know where Draco should be now."

"How would you know where he is?" Ginny asked, receiving a frown from Pansy.

"Draco and I have known each other for several years, and I know that he doesn't like much-traveled paths," she answered finally. "Hurry up. And for Merlin's sake, don't make too much noise!"

"I never make noise," Ginny replied indignantly, walking quietly after Pansy.

After several minutes of sneaking through the woods, Pansy stopped her, and the two hid behind some large forest ferns. "It's so dark here," Ginny said in wonder, and Pansy scowled at her, motioning her to be quiet. No wonder Draco likes it, Ginny thought to herself.

Crabbe's voice was heard clearly. "Where did they go? I know they were somewhere around here!"

"Yes, and they can hardly help hearing you, as much noise as you're making," Draco sneered. "They are probably just waiting for you to find them so the Gryff can curse you."

Ginny's face reddened in fury. "How dare he!" she hissed under her breath. "He doesn't even think I can curse his little bodyguard!"

Pansy pinched Ginny's side and gave her a firm look. They moved out stealthily and began to creep up on the two boys. Both of the boys had their wands out and were carefully watching their backs to see what would happen. Ginny began to sneak closer to them, and she suddenly jumped out from behind the ferns. "Ruisae!" Ginny shouted, pointing her wand firmly at Crabbe.

"Hey!" he cried, then shouted a shielding spell. Her curse cracked his shield, but did not go through it. He dropped his shield and immediately cast a curse at her.

"Impedimenta!" Ginny shouted, and her shield held. She immediately cast three curses in a row, the second cracking his shield and the third completely shattering it. "Vermus Nez!" she shouted, her eyes wide with excitement as he stared at her, horrified.

The hex hit him, knocking him to the ground. She sighed as she watched him struggle, howling. "Oh, well," she said. "Our team is finished with our hunting."

"We are to go back to the clearing now," Pansy told her. "But don't turn your back on Draco as you leave."

Laughing, Ginny deliberately turned her back on Draco and walked away, making sure that she was careful to listen if he cast as spell at her. He did not. Pansy caught up with her a few feet away. "Why did you deliberately walk away from him like that?" she demanded. "He could have cursed you badly!"

"He didn't," Ginny replied. "He has no reason to."

"No reason?" Pansy said sarcastically. "Oh, yes. You were raised as a Weasley, and you have no idea how to act around Slytherins at all. You don't know your place among us here."

Estella turned on Pansy, her eyes narrowing. "I have been trying to find it, and I believe I will yet," she told her cousin. "But having you yell at me won't help. And just remember that because of what I've always been taught, I won't be near as cold and calloused as the Slytherins who have grown up as such normally are."

Pansy frowned. "You're a weakling."

"No, I'm not," Ginny snapped, glaring at the older girl. "But Fred and George were right; you are a horrid little bitch!" Pansy just smirked as they walked along. Ginny did not say a word until the arrived back in the clearing, when she began talking to Brianna and Samantha.

"So how did it go for you?" Ginny asked them.

Brianna rolled her eyes. "Samantha was sooo jumpy about every little shadow that I thought we would never be able to track anyone quietly," she complained to Ginny. "Behind every bush hid a person trying to kill her—or so she thought. It wasn't fair."

Samantha shuddered. "I could feel hostility. And I remembered. Oh..." her shuddering breath gave proof to the horror she felt.

Her twin squeezed her hand. "It'll be okay, but unless this gets better, I'm not sure I should bring you out here again," she said. "You seem to be much worse this year, and I don't know why. Thank goodness you didn't take it into your head to attack Estella again. I don't know if I could have stopped you without Megan being there. I need to figure something else out...I'll talk to Cherea about it."

"We were hiding when you and Pansy came through to find Draco and Vincent," Samantha replied with a grin. "Brianna gave me this death glare and told me that I'd better not move from my hiding place. I didn't."

Brianna shook her head and sighed. "At least we completed our objectives. Both of us were set against first years. Not very much fun, actually. Thing was, Samantha's opponent was very quick and knew more curses than we expected him to know. But he failed because there were two of us and he couldn't tell us apart."

Samantha smiled, then jerked suddenly as two people stumbled into the clearing, having been running for a little while. Ginny recognized Rishka and another older girl. "Something wrong?" Ginny called out to them.

The other girl didn't answer, trying to catch her breath, but Rishka turned and glared at Estella. "That stupid contraption that the Weasleys enchanted chased us," she snapped at the girl.

Ginny was stunned, then began to giggle, realizing that Rishka must be talking about Arthur Weasley's car! "It chased you?" Ginny laughed. "I guess he enchanted it well!"

"I knew that you couldn't possibly be anything that you told me last year," Rishka snarled in a deadly voice. "You weren't a Ravenclaw, like you said, and you weren't anything you said you were!"

"Do you think I could have told you what I was? You never would have believed me!" Estella retorted.

"I'm not given to believe you when I knew that you weren't supposed to be down in the Slytherin dorm anyways!" Rishka shouted, half-blinded by fury. "Crucio!"

Ginny stared at Rishka, not even raising her wand to try to block the Curse. It knocked her to the ground, and beyond the agonising pain, Ginny felt as if she couldn't breath. Don't panic, Ginny told herself, panicking. You can breath. This will be over soon. Besides, if you couldn't breath, you wouldn't even have shrieked the few times you did!

Once Ginny felt the intrusive magic of the Curse leave her alone with her pain, she opened her eyes and looked up, seeing several Slytherins watching to see what she would do. Estella sat up slowly and rasped, "Aw, you don't like me." Raising her wand and feeling rage course through her entire body, Estella hissed, "Afflictio!"

The Dark Curse smashed through Rishka's Testudo and knocked her backward across the clearing into a tree, making her scream out in pain. Estella lowered her wand and took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very tired.

"What curse was that?" she heard Draco ask Lauren.

"I don't know," Lauren replied. "I've never seen it before."

Brianna and Samantha stared at their cousin in shock, not sure what to do. Everyone looked over at Rishka, none wanting to go to her and all afraid to do so. The prefect stirred, but moaned in pain and froze once more. The others watched as she managed to pull herself to her knees, but did not get up.

Ginny stood up shakily and looked over at Rishka, still kneeling on the ground. "You're a baby when it comes to pain, aren't you?" she spat.

Draco stepped forward next to Ginny and asked, "What was the incantation of that curse?"

"Afflictio," Ginny replied. "'I inflict,' I guess it means."

"What all do you know about it? Where did you learn it?" Lauren asked. "I've studied curses for a long time, but I have never heard of that one."

"I learned it first year," Ginny said dully. "Tom told me he created it himself."

Draco smirked. "The Dark Lord taught it to you?"

Ginny scowled. "He performed it on me, then ordered me to go traipsing around the school after lights-out with a basilisk to attack the Mudbloods—without taking the sodding curse off," she snapped at the blonde boy. "That's how I know it."

"So is that all you know about it? What is its purpose?" questioned a seventh year.

"The point of the spell is to make the victim feel as if they have been Cruciated several times," Ginny explained with a huff of annoyance.

"So it's really a shortcut to a torture session?" Meris asked without hesitation.

Ginny glanced over at him and nodded. "Tom also told me that—well, he taught this curse to your dear Auntie Bellatrix. He also said that not very many people outside the First Wizarding War would have any idea what this curse is."

One of the sixth years looked at Estella in amazement. "You got to see the Dark Lord do this spell first hand!" he said, impressed.

"Yeah," said Ginny darkly. "Lucky me."

"Take it off," whimpered Rishka, gasping in pain. "Please!"

Corin and Meris looked at her in disgust. "Hey, Parkington," Corin said, "better listen up! This one doesn't beg very often!"

Estella barely flicked her wrist and wand at Rishka and the girl fell face-first into the dirt, the curse releasing her. "Don't ever become a Death Eater, because you couldn't handle it."

Rishka gingerly got to her feet, then glared at Ginny and snarled, "Just watch your back."

"I'd watch my own back if I were you," Samantha told her with a smirk. "Her curse went right through your Testudo. My Ravenclaw cousin would advise you to get with someone who can help you strengthen your sappy shield."

Furious, Rishka stormed out of the clearing, heading back up to the castle. "I hope to goodness Percy finds her on his rounds tonight," Ginny said to no one in particular.

Brianna and Samantha snickered, and Pansy motioned for Ginny to come along. "We can head back up to the Common Room for the party," she told Ginny. "We should go quickly."

"Still think she's weak?" Brianna asked, laughing.

Pansy frowned at the Charleston twins, then walked off, leaving Estella to hurry after her.