AND FINALLY IT ARRIVED! The next chapter is here at last and I'm sorry it took so long. I'm pretty sure the next one will be a lot quicker. It's quite a big one and a very exciting one in all kinds of ways.

Aella dear,

Although I am inclined to lie about this, I figure you probably already heard. Bewitching Hall's Crackling College for girls in Athens has officially kicked me out. Father is set to visit tonight, to try and smooth things over, but I hope he will not be able to. I am telling you this in confidence and as my sister I trust you to keep this secret and protect it with your life. It was not an accident. I actually tried to get kicked out.

I know, it was slightly foolish and a bit reckless, but Mother would not listen and Father would not talk to me about it so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I suppose it was a bit much, but I felt like I had to. I was completely isolated. At first I liked it here but after a while you wish you could just speak plain old English again and Grandmother is not a particular pleasant person and having to dine with her every Saturday night is just tedious.

I burned down the Ghostly Wing of the Faculty of Spirited Sciences and even though I made sure beforehand there were no people left inside, they are making a rather big deal out of it. It was the ugliest building on the grounds so in all honesty I did them all a great favour.

Headmistress Gupta not only expelled me but also insists I will talk to a Head Healer and when I told her I already did (for my nightmares, you must remember) she looked at me like I was a crazy person. I think she wonders how they ever let me into the school.

Well, it is their loss if they do not want me. I do not want to be there anyway. Grandmother does not care. She says that in her days girls did not go to school and that I should not be forced to either. But British law does not listen to Grandmother Echo Eurydice. I even looked up the exact paragraph to show her but she did not want to read it.

"Every child under seventeen of age and above six years of age has to go to school or has to be home-schooled by an acknowledged home-schooler unless said child is already in possession of an academic diploma of level EC lvlM 5."

The Ministry should perhaps invest in better readable law-books. They are the boringest things you will ever read.

How is Hogwarts? I did not think I would ever miss that place, but I just cannot bare Greece anymore. I have had enough of it.

All my love,

Andromeda Eurydice

I laid down her letter. She was such a disaster.

I stood up from my chair in the Great Hall, careful not to make the wood of the furniture and floor creak too much and put the letter in my bag, hoisting it over my shoulder. I couldn't blame her entirely. She had no one over there. Grandmother Echo was indeed not the most enjoyable person, especially towards Andro who she thought to be a failure and a disgrace.

I walked up the stairs towards the library. I had always quite liked the library but never had spent so much time in it as I had for the past year and it was starting to become a less and less soothing place to be. It was not like I had much other places to go. My broomcloset I avoided rather than use it for recreational purposes, the common room was pretty much a prohibited area and I didn't want to make it even more obvious for the teachers, and Professor Snape in particular, that I was without friends by spending time in the Great Hall. Also, I didn't play quidditch, didn't like playing an instrument in the musicroom and there are only so many walks around the lake you can take.

When I came into the library I turned around immediately though. It was too late. Potter, Granger and Weasley had already seen me. 'Hey, Aella!' Granger called, waving. I breathed in deeply, turning back towards the library and putting on an ugly smile.

The three of them came walking towards me and Granger said; 'I've been wanting to talk to you all week, it's about Fred and George and I'm afraid they weren't entirely honest when they..-'

'-What in Merlin's name do you want?' I interrupted her rudely. I didn't really feel like dealing with any of them now. Weasley opened his mouth to, according to his angry face, call me bad names but Granger was first.

'I just wanted you to know that Fred and George made you think that..-' I again interrupted her by saying; '-Do not tell me anything about those two. I want to figure it out myself and I will not take kindly to a couple of oversized garden gnomes that ruin it for me. Like you have not ruined enough already.'

Granger looked a bit hurt and then a bit mad. 'Okay, never mind then, figure it out and don't expect any help from me.' I huffed, sticking my nose in the air. 'Exactly like I asked, yes.'

Granger stamped back to the table the three of them were previously sitting at, reaching for the nearest book and opening it so roughly that a page flew out. She shrieked when the book began to yell uncontrollably (every library book is charmed against violations) and Madam Pince was with her in a nanosecond. 'And from you even, miss Granger! How could you!'

I rolled my eyes and focused my attention on the two boys that were still in front of me. Weasley had his hands in his pockets, glaring at me from underneath his lashes. Potter seemed a bit more relaxed. 'How is your "punishment" going?' He asked, sceptically. I raised my one eyebrow, smiling half a smile. 'Very well, thank you. I am just laying low.'

'Laying low?' Potter asked. 'You used to fight back! What happened to that?' I frowned. 'What do you mean?' I asked. 'You told us how you transfigured cups into spiders and shampoo into hair dye and stuff like that. Don't you do that stuff anymore?'

I looked at him blankly. Now he said so, I realized that I did used to defend myself quite a bit. Had I grown tired? Couldn't my brain handle anything else than quiet avoidance anymore? 'I guess I don't..' I answered Potter.

'You should though.' Weasley suddenly said. 'The only person I hate more than you is Malfoy and we had that in common. Don't ruin that.' I laughed. 'Oh thanks, Weasley, you are ever so kind!' I chuckled and Potter laughed too. Weasley's ears just went a bit red. 'Don't mention it.' He said, but I saw that the corners of his mouth were beginning to give as well.

I quickly moved on to spare him any embarrassment. 'You better help your friend out.' I said, nodding my head in the direction of Granger and Madam Pince who were pulling on both ends of a book, apparently not able to decide who could take it for now.

I made my escape when they hurried towards the squabblers and made myself through the corridors of the fourth floor.

They were right, I hadn't fought back since before Christmas. I suddenly felt ashamed of acting so pathetic. You'll have to do something. Something big, to show that git that he's not in charge and that I won't be so easily dealt with.

But.. I thought, hesitantly.. He isn't so bad to me lately.. I thought back to the night of our arrival and we kissed in the library. And this time it wasn't him who started it. What was I even thinking? And why did he invite me to doing the rounds with him?

I shook my head, quickly ridding it of all the confusing thoughts and sped up my pace, finding that I had come to the stairways to the fifth floor.

No, I had to do something quickly. I wasn't here to make nice with him and he should understand that as soon as possible. But what could I possibly think off that, one, wouldn't take too long in organizing and, two, was horrible enough to humiliate him in front of everyone.

I stopped short while on my way to the stairways up to the sixth floor. I would do it tomorrow morning in the Great Hall, on the busiest point of breakfast, when absolutely every student is there and every teacher is present. I wasn't quite sure what it was yet, but as long as everyone would be able to see it, it would be awful. Solely for him of course.

I had to think of something and fast.

Draco Malfoy P.O.V.

'Thank you all for making it here on this hour!' Theodore called out to the room with eager looking Slytherins. 'For the sake of continuing the debate of last week, we felt it had to be done under the watchful eyes of our fellow Royal Slytherins. Our dear Daphne insisted on the Board to come forward on the topic of Aella Eurydice's ban to help the Court decide, before we can even dare and discuss Blaise's. Do you want to start, Daphne?'

I rolled my eyes annoyed when Daphne stood up confidently. I know she saw because her eyes narrowed. 'Aella Eurydice has always been a very potential young lady so it was a surprise to all of us when she was put in a ban. However, we all accepted it without question. I'm here to now finally question it and ask Draco, who insisted on this ridiculous ban; why?'

The room turned towards me and I yawned in boredom. 'Because she disobeyed me.' The room turned back to Daphne. Daphne looked impatient. 'Yes, we heard that part before. In what exactly did she disobey you?' The room turned back towards me. I felt impatient as well and sat up straighter in annoyance. 'No one needs to know that. As Head of the Court of Royal Slytherins, disobeying me means disobeying the Court, we've been over this already!'

'Yes, we have!' Daphne said, raising her voice 'but it only adds up if she was disobeying you over strictly Court related business and we can only assume that it was Court related business if you do not tell us about it! We have to blindly trust you on this matter, but what if we don't want to be kept in the dark?'

'Don't be so bloody dramatic, Daphne, for Merlin's sake control yourself.' I said, in order to control myself as well because I felt mad. She was nosing in affairs she didn't have anything to do with. Well, technically she did, but I couldn't care. Aella deserved that ban. She needed to learn to respect me, but as I thought about it I realized it was not working in the least. It had been months and she hadn't start to even be the slightest bit respectful towards me. And did I even want her to?

I shook my head. 'Do we want a girl in our mid that does not know how to respect her superiors?' I asked the room. Daphne huffed. 'She is Potential, Draco, the Eurydice family has been an influential family for centuries and belongs to the richest in the world. You are not that superior to her.' A scandalous Oooh went through the room and I felt my cheeks heat up just slightly. I quickly swallowed the feeling of humiliation.

'So, what would you propose we do then? Just call it a mistake and release her from it? We will be ridiculed!' I said, ignoring the look of smugness on her face. 'And ridicule is worse than the weight of unfairness? We will keep a girl of good history under punishment for something that is not her doing and that, I think, reflects badly on the Court and the Board as well. Besides, we can still call it a fair judgement if you would tell us what she did that was so incredibly wrong.'

I thought about Aella and her face of disgust when I tried to kiss her that very first time. The throbbing pain in my cheek when she slapped me and then I thought back to all those times she called me out on my faults and mistakes before that day and the annoyance I felt when she would open her mouth. And I thought back to last time we were alone and she slammed the carriage door before me and called me childish and I felt so alone right there. Abandoned as she rode off back to Hogwarts and I looked back at the Manor, my home, dreading to go back.

'Absolutely not. I will not tell you.' I told Daphne. Daphne smiled triumphantly and with a feeling of embarrassment I realized she had won. 'That's all we need to know then.' Daphne said and I closed my eyes tiredly. 'Aella P. Eurydice is no longer under a ban and will no longer be treated as such. If anyone is caught treating her like such, her or she will be punished. Is the Court in favour?' I looked around and after a hesitant second every member of the Court raised their hands. Daphne raised her hand as well, looking at me. 'And you Draco? We do not really need your vote anymore, but I would like to have it still.'

I narrowed my eyes at her, but after a few moments raised my hand too. 'Good game, Daphne.' I said to her and although I had lost, I smiled at her. She couldn't have looked more smug.

Voldemort P.O.V.

'Lucius, I'm sure you understand that I'm disappointed with the way you've treated my possession, a possession I trusted you to protect with your own life. Instead you put it in the cauldron of a little filthy bloodtraitor.'

Before me the blond man was on his knees and although I could not see his face, I saw him shaking with fear of what I could and probably would do to him. 'You betrayed my trust, Lucius, that's a very serious crime.'

Lucius Malfoy now did look up and fright was in his eyes as he could not bring himself to look at my face but instead looked at my chest. 'Yes my Lord.' He answered me, his voice surprisingly steady. It annoyed me. 'How severely should I punish you, Lucius, what do you think I should do?'

Now he did look at my face and his scared eyes were now coloured with confusion. 'Are you.. Asking for my opinion, my Lord?'

I sat down at the chair behind me, smiling a wicked smile. 'I believe I am, Lucius. What is your opinion?'

He looked dumbfounded, dumbfounded enough that the fright left him completely for a moment. 'Not at all is not an acceptable answer I imagine.' He said and although I chuckled I said nothing.

In the corner of the room I saw Bellatrix looking sourly at her brother-in-law and I suspected she hoped she got to help out with the punishment. Next to her was her sister who watched her husband decide with tensely hunched shoulders, where she normally would stand tall and graceful. The only other person in the room was Wormtail, but he was so useless that I couldn't care less as to how he felt about the situation.

I looked back at Lucius and I saw that the seriousness of the situation had finally settled in and his eyes shifted around the room, looking for a way out of it. 'What if..' he began and my eyebrows lifted themselves in curiosity 'I could fix the artefact, your possession..?' I leaned forward. 'That would be very useful.' I said and Lucius tried not to look too eager. 'Because I am sure it's possible. The memory inside it was killed, but a bit of the girl's memory was put in as well. Maybe we can revive it using her.' I narrowed my eyes in thought and then nodded. 'Your punishment will be decidedly less painful if you can make it happen. But you better make it happen.'

Lucius quickly nodded and scrambled to his feet, hasting himself towards his wife. They held each other and I rolled my eyes irritated by the show of intimacy in my presence and I waved my hand, making the double doors bang open, hissing 'Be gone!'

Everyone quickly got out and with a thoughtless wave of my wand I closed the doors behind them. I stood up and went to the window. I looked out over the grounds. Snow was still laying, but it was slowly melting as we got further into January and the temperatures raised slightly over zero.

I thought about Lucius' words. When he mentioned the girl I had envisioned a redheaded eleven year old and it surprised me. I knew the Weasley's were known for being ginger haired but I had never seen any of the Weasley family, let alone their youngest member.

I turned around, walking back towards the high-backed chair, tracing the wall with my thin, pale fingers.

But I was wrong. I had met her. Another piece of my soul had, years ago. Was it possible that this piece of my soul remembered the other piece's memories? There was hardly reference material, I was a revolutionary, no one had ever gone as far as I had. Just one of the examples as to why I was the greatest wizard to have lived. I would've written it all down if I hadn't intended to live forever. I am immortal.

I sat down pensively. There was only one way to find out and I couldn't find out if Lucius didn't fulfil his task. I would make sure he would.

HARRY&CO is not mine.

THE BAN IS LIFTED! WHOOHOOH! Don't we all just love Daphne?

I also feel like I should defend and/or explain my choice of making Voldemort Tom-like again. I just always felt that Voldemort was a lot scarier when he still looked human. It also makes a later part of the story a bit better I think, but you don't have to worry about that just yet.

I'm of course hoping for reviews. I'm very inconsistent in updating, but (believe it or not) reviews make me a lot more motivated for updating.

See you next chapter! (which will be a bit sillier and less serious and gloomy than this one.)