Author's Note: Thank you Aalyrial for your support! It always is lovely to see your reviews and it gives me more motivation to continue writing chapters as often as I do :)

DISCLAIMER: I only own my characters and my plot. Anything Harry Potter related is property of J. K. Rowling

song of the chapter: Cute without the E- Taking Back Sunday


Lily did not know what to make of Lia when she saw her the next morning. It was as if the whole world became her enemy and she wouldn't even speak to Lily or Severus. It was odd to not have her interact with anyone. Dumbledore had warned them that she would probably become this way. It was a temporary thing but it also scared Lily. What made it worse was that the month long reprieve from James Potter and his friends had ended. 'Speak of the devil' Lily thought as James walked over to them as they sat outside under a tree. Lia hadn't wanted to eat breakfast, she didn't want to sit at that table any longer than she had to. Severus saw James approaching and glared at him, but also looked at Lia to see what she would do. At first she was silent, her eyes staring at the Black Lake.

"Evans, come on you should really go out on a date with me" said James, his cocky smile on his face as Sirius chuckled and agreed with James. Lily narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "My answer will always be the same James, go away" she said as he tried to come closer, only to see Lia sitting there. "Aw look, its the reject Slytherin" sneered James as Lia turned her gaze on him. The fires burning behind them made Peter run away without a second thought. "What? were you picked on by your house? They don't like you? I don't even think any of the boys would even love you" James said, not knowing he was striking a nerve.

"Be quiet" she hissed at him. "You do not know anything about me so how dare you spit insults at me. You are no better than the rest of the Slytherin house with the way you act" Lia snarled as Sirius, James, and Remus took a step back. "Have you ever had to witness your family being killed before your very eyes? Have you ever had to know the pain of the truth that it was someone you loved who did it?" Lia snapped, warm tears of anger flowing down her cheeks. Lily winced as bits of Lia's past came out before her very eyes. She had figured it was bad, but her curious nature had been subdued when she saw how much pain she was in whenever it was mentioned. "I lost my family and a very close friend at the hands of a boy I had fallen in love with. He played me a fool and I know now that he never loved me. He cannot love" Lia said as she wiped her tears away. "He was like you Potter, always thought he was better than someone else. He thought he was entitled to get the things he wanted" Lia said as she rose to her feet.

"I told you to leave Lily alone" she said, changing the topic. Lily smiled at her friend, her concern and her protectiveness making Lily feel safe. Severus rose to his feet to defend Lily as well, for his own private reasons. "You said for a month" James countered, his tone light as if he knew that he had to be careful lest he wanted to anger her once more. "How about for the remainder of the year?" Severus sneered. James met his gaze and they glared at each other, both itching to hex the other into oblivion.

Lia sighed and though her temper did not go away, she tried to quell it. Sirius looked at her with an odd expression but backed off upon seeing her glare. "Potter she doesn't want you" snapped Severus. "Why doesn't she say it herself?" James countered. Lily snorted and stood up as well. "I've been trying to but you don't listen" Lily said as James rolled his eyes. "Just one date" he said. "She owes you nothing" Lia snarled as she dragged her two friends away. Lily then realized what day it was and with an excited grin she looked at her two angry friends. "Today is the Quidditch match against Gryffindor!" she exclaimed as an almost sinister grin formed on Lia's face. "Good. I want to make him pay" she said darkly. Severus rose an eyebrow though his face was impassive. Lily fought back a shudder as they went back inside and Lia retrieved her Slytherin Quidditch robes.

As they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, they saw James' friends staring at them. Peter looked ready to run away from Lia, Remus was staring impassively at them, and Sirius was glaring. "You won't win" he said to Lia as they followed Lily, Lia, and Severus down to the pitch, much to the annoyance of Severus and Lia. "Want to make a bet?" Lia growled at him. Lily grinned as she saw that her friend was holding back her temper just so she can use it on the Quidditch pitch. "Yes actually I do" said Sirius with a grin. "tough luck" Lia said as she went into the Slytherin locker room.

The rest of her team mates were there and Emma sighed with relief at the sight of Lia. "We were nervous you wouldn't show up" she said. "No YOU were nervous" said Regulus as Emma blushed. Lia rose an eyebrow but smiled a bit at their interactions, "Don't worry. I wouldn't miss a chance to put Potter in his place" Lia said as the rest of the team cheered. When they were ready, they headed out onto the field and took their positions. Lia's gaze locked onto James' and she sneered as he did. They were both ready to make the other cry if they had to. James didn't want her embarrassing him again and she wanted him to leave Severus and Lily alone. This time, there was nothing holding her back.

When the match began, she flew forwards to grab the Quaffle. She could faintly hear James' growl behind her as she took off towards the goal. When she got closer to the goals, she threw it through the lower right goal, a smirk forming on her face as it went it. Lia could hear her team cheering for her as she moved away from the goal. Briefly scanning the crowd she saw Lily and Severus watching her, Lily screaming and cheering loudly for her while Severus smiled softly at the red head. Lia smirked when she saw the faint blush on his face before he turned to her and nodded. When she turned around, she narrowly avoided a Bludger and glared at the Gryffindor Beater who was smirking at her. James had the Quaffle and Lia grinned wickedly before flying up towards him. She flew above him and hung upside down on her broom with her legs wrapped around the stick of her broom. The crowd gasped and murmured about her actions but when James realized it was too late: She had stolen the Quaffle from him.

With a laugh, she flung it towards the other Chaser on her team who nodded as she rectified herself on the broom and followed her team mate to the goals again. He faked a throw into the goal before giving it to Lia who threw it in the now unguarded top goal. The keeper growled and she smiled at him before moving away from the goals. The rest of the match was like that, Lia deliberately showing off in order to show up James. And finally Regulus had seen the Snitch when a Bludger slammed into her back and knocked her off her broom. Lia plummeted down nearly a hundred feet as her team stared in horror and James laughed at her. Before she hit the ground, she was caught by Regulus who also had the Snitch in his hand. They had won the match as the Slytherin team and crowd cheered and the Gryffindors booed angrily.

Regulus laid Lia onto the grass as the team flew down to meet them and Lily and Severus rushed towards her. Her back was in immense pain, she was seeing stars and when she tried to move it felt like something was definitely broken. Hissing in pain, she turned to her friends and tried to smile. "You are idiotic Lia" said Severus as he stared at her. Lia chuckled and shook her head. "I know, but it was worth it. Plus my anger is out now" she said as everyone laughed. "Shall we call you the Slytherin's Princess of Wrath now?" Regulus joked and Lia's face became solemn. Everyone stared at her as she nodded after a moment of silence. "Sure" she said as Lily picked her up off the ground as Severus helped. "We'll bring her back" said Severus as the trio left.

Another moment of silence fell over them before Lily broke it. "When they mentioned that nickname, you got upset. Why?" she asked quietly. "My friends used to call me that" Lia said. Severus just listened to the conversation, not really caring about it. "Oh I'm sorry" said Lily as she thought Lia's friends had died. "It's ok. I'm fine now" said Lia. "You are a terrible liar Lia" said Severus. "Sev!" cried Lily as Lia shook her head. "No he's right. I am" Lia said with a small chuckle. They finally made it to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey began to panic. "Oh good heavens! What happened?" she asked. "Bludger hit her in the back, knocked her off her broom" said Severus. "I think...something is broken Madam Pomfrey" said Lia as she was laid upon a bed. "You are quite certainly right about that! You could have been paralyzed! Someone must be looking out for you dear" said Madam Pomfrey as she as she administered Skele-gro to Lia, who sipped it and spat some back out. "That's disgusting!" she exclaimed. Madam Pomfrey looked at her with an incredulous look. "What were you expecting, Pumpkin Juice?" she asked. Lia chuckled and forced herself to drink the rest.

Severus and Lily stayed with her until they were kicked out by Madam Pomfrey, leaving Lia there to lie in bed and think. Lia hated thinking, it always brought back the past. She could still feel the presence of Tom Riddle sitting beside her from her first time through Hogwarts. That memory pained her as she was asleep, but she knew he had often came to see her. Ashley had told her. As Lia cried, she tried to dispel the images of Tom but found she clung to them tighter and more desperately. Then a soothing presence washed over her but she knew that no one was there.

"I'm coming for you" said a voice in the confides of her mind. Eyes widened as fear caused her heart to race, she knew that voice. But there was something odd about the voice. It was almost caring, soothing, and relaxing. It conveyed emotions that she knew the owner of the voice could not feel. Lia fell asleep that night, her heart being pulled back towards the darkness.


Author's Note: thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!