Disclaimer: I do not own the World of Harry Potter.

A/N: Whoo! So the characters kind of took over in this one. Priya, especially, proofing to be braver and more outspoken now that she has the support of all her friends and the prospect of love in front of her. I love her but she wore me out this chapter. Hope you like it!


Heaving a sigh, Priya continued down the hallway, coming from the library. She wasn't as tired as she had been but catching up with the work she had missed was proofing taxing. She had stayed in the hospital for three days, Madam Pomfrey continually giving her potion after potion. By the second day, she admitted that she felt better than she had since the funeral. She honestly hadn't realized how much sleep she had been losing or how many meals she had skipped. Her friends did come to visit and, surprisingly, they weren't as angry as she had thought they would be.

"We were just really worried about you," Stella told her, holding her hand.

"I know," Priya responded. "I'm sorry. I – I didn't handle it well."

"No one expected you to handle anything," Eloise muttered. "Not by yourself at least."

"You're not allowed to run off anymore," Muni scolded.

Guinn waggled her eyebrows. "We can just sic Potter on her if she does."

This, of course, led into a round of teasing that Priya found didn't bug her as much as it used to. Perhaps they understood how much she wanted things to be normal. They admitted they had been walking on eggshells a bit, which Priya knew they had only because of how much they cared. Her four friends promised not to treat her like porcelain if she promised to let them know how she felt, or when she needed to be alone. They spent the rest of that visit crying together. Priya realized that, yes, she had lost her mother but, in a way, after so many sleepovers, so many visits, so had they.

Blaise came in later that day after the girls had left, taking a seat at the end of her bed. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Priya watching Blaise while he stared out a window. He took a deep breath. "I'm glad I got to meet her, even if it was a short visit."

Priya smiled softly, reaching forward to grab Blaise's hand. When the girls were there earlier, she realized that in trying to keep things 'normal' she hadn't given anyone a chance to properly mourn her mum. That hadn't been fair of her. "She liked you a lot."

"Yea, she told me," Blaise responded with his trademark smirk. It widened slightly as another thought seemed to come to mind. "I'm glad Potter found you. I asked him to keep an eye out for you. I didn't know he was going to lead the search party."

"You talked to Harry?" Priya asked incredulously.

"Desperate times." Blaise cast Priya a glance out the corner of his eye. "He dashed off nearly right away too. Like some sort of knight in a fairy tale."

Priya rolled her eyes, ignoring how hot her face got. "You're as bad as the girls."

Blaise shrugged. "He's not my cup of tea but I'll admit he has his charms I suppose. Those green eyes are enchanting."

"You're not – you don't think it's weird? That I like him?"

"Do you think it's weird?"

"I mean, sort of, I did, a little."

"I think you may have always liked him a little," Blaise responded, checking his cuticles. "Maybe you just disguised it as hate. Now, you've gotten to know him a bit more and you must have found that there's something there worthy of your time. What?" he asked, when he realized Priya was staring.

"My mum said something similar," Priya responded. She hesitated. "I, er, I asked him to Hogsmeade next Saturday."

"Well look at you, all grown up. Too bad it got cancelled."

"Wait, what?" Priya sat up straight in her bed. "Since when?"

"Since yesterday. They figured what with that Bell girl still at St. Mungo's it doesn't make sense to risk it."

"Hmph. So much for that plan."

"So make a new one. The niffler's out of the bag now, isn't it?" Blaise asked. "You asked him out, on a date. He must realize that, if nothing else, you're at least interested. Though he does seem rather daft, sometimes."

"Be nice."

"That was me being nice. . . . When are you getting out of this dump?"

It hadn't been too bad staying in the Hospital. A warm feeling had settled in Priya's stomach as she thought about all the flowers and candy she received while she was in the hospital; not just from her friends but from a lot of Dumbledore's army. Not to mention Harry did come visit her and they talked for a little over an hour. . . . She definitely felt cared for.

Priya rounded a corner, pausing when she saw someone's black shoes sticking out from behind a suit of armor. Gripping the strap of her bag and adjusting her Prefect Badge, she moved closer slowly. When she realized who it was, a smile came to her face. "Are you comfortable down there?"

Harry jumped in shock, scattering some of his papers. "Merlin, where'd you come from?"

This was the first time she had seen Harry being still in a while. He was still always in a hurry in between classes, rushing off for some excuse or another. March 1st came and went, along with what would have been their date. Not to mention poor Ron somehow getting poisoned. When they did get a chance to talk finally, they talked about Ron and other things over their missed date.

Still . . .

That didn't stop shy glances or smiles in the hallways or in class.

"The Library," she answered, getting on her knees to help pick up papers for him. She noted the Maurader's Map, quickly passing it back to him. "Which is apparently too comfortable for you."

"I'm hiding, actually, and it would have taken me too long to get there."

"Hiding from who?"

"Lavendar and McLaggen." Harry took a deep breath, running his hands down his face. "Apparently, Ron's been 'asleep' every time she's gone to the hospital and McLaggen wants to keep giving me strategies. I find it's easier to just make a quick getaway."

"How long can you keep that up?" Priya asked, amused.

He looked up at her with a grin. "Well the game is this Saturday so, at least till then. Once Ron's out of the Hospital wing, I can give McLaggen the boot and maybe Ron will finally have the courage to give Lavender the boot as well."

"How is Ron doing?"

"Loads better, thanks."

"It doesn't feel like much of an accident," Priya muttered as she settled down next to her friend.

"What do you mean?"

Priya smoothed her skirt out, crossing her legs at the ankle. She shrugged. "I mean, first Katie Bell gets cursed by a necklace that clearly wasn't meant for her. Now, Ron gets poisoned by wine that wasn't meant for him. . . . So who were they meant for? What?" Priya asked when she realized that Harry was staring at her.

He shook his head. "It's scary how clever you are sometimes."

A shy smile came to Priya's face and she looked away. "I'll take the compliment. . . ."

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"One day at a time," Priya assured him. "But I'm okay, really. Thank you for asking. . . . Did I interrupt you looking for someone?"

"Oh." Harry looked down at the Maurder's Map. He looked back up at her and she could practically see the conflict in his eyes. "I wasn't . . . it's complicated."

"Hmmm." Priya recognized this as something Harry wasn't ready to share with her yet. "I've realized 'complicated' is a word that's synonymous with your name. Secret meetings with professors, dangerous adventures nearly every year."

"I think I lead a simple life in some ways," Harry argued.

"Do you?"

"Yes. I like Quidditch and good conversations with good friends," he listed. He looked her in the eye, swallowing before he continued. "Sitting in the hallways with someone for hours at a time –"

"Do you do that often?"

"No," he said sincerely, his gaze softening.

Priya bit her lip, looking off down the other corridor. "How much longer are you going to be sitting here?"

"Maybe ten more minutes?"

"Okay." Priya reached into her bag and pulled out her Charms book, settling in. She thought she felt Harry watching her for a moment before he turned back to the Map. Their shoulders were touching as they sat on that cold floor, each occupied by their own thoughts. For some reason, the smells of the Amortentia from the beginning of the year drifted to Priya's memory.

Fresh ink. . . .

The smell of a new book. . . . .

And something that she now realized was uniquely Harry. . . .


School continued on as normal. The Quidditch match was dreadful, especially considering poor Harry ended up in the hospital after that idiot McLaggen hit him in the head with a Bludger. Priya had tried to stall after the game was over but she still managed to get up to the Hospital Wing before the rest of Harry's team. Ron had been pleasantly surprised to see her and had promised to tell Harry she stopped by. She managed to escape the hospital wing with only Ginny seeing her (the younger girl seeming very amused that she had been there).

After getting healed up, Harry seemed even more preoccupied than before. Priya tried not to worry about what was bothering him and decided to focus on her work. She still had moments where doing anything was hard. Thoughts of her mum, an ache to just lie in bed, often made her want to hide, but, true to her word, she made sure that she let her friends know when those feelings surfaced. That helped a lot, sitting with her friends when she was sad and remembering the good things about her mother.

Outside of Hogwarts, things didn't look much better. Security had tightened around their school, the Prefects being sent on extra patrols, though for good reason. People were being attacked outside of their school. The Montgomery sisters had just lost their little brother to a werewolf attacked. Rumors abounded about everything and everyone. Blaise was in a foul mood more often than not because of how Slytherins were getting the brunt of the abuse.

"I get it," Blaise muttered to Priya one afternoon when they escaped to the Library. "A lot of Slytherins here have parents that may be Death Eaters or ties to the bloody bastards in one way or another but that's not all of us. Some of us could care less about this stupid war."

Priya didn't know what to say to that. She adored Blaise, but his 'allegiance' was always such a sore subject. Over the year they had known each other, she had seen him loosen up a bit. He was polite or cordial to Hermione and Muni and she hadn't heard him use the words blood-traitor or Mudblood . . . but she didn't know (or want to know) what he said in front of the other Slytherins.

The day of the Apparation test dawned and Priya found herself in Potions class with just Harry, Malfoy, and Ernie Macmillian. Muni and Guinn, who both took Potions with Priya, had turned seventeen before Christmas. Slughorn seemed in good spirits and he set them off on a task to make 'something amusing'.

Priya tried to catch Harry's eyes but he seemed rather focused. On occasion, she thought she saw him glance at Malfoy every once in a while, a suspicious gleam in gaze. As Priya worked on her Draught of Peace, she couldn't help but glance over at Malfoy as well. She realized, suddenly, that Malfoy had been awfully quiet this year. She couldn't stand the guy and should have been grateful for a quiet year without him strutting around, spouting his Pureblood nonsense but it was strange. No mocking, no taunts, no goading. Even during Patrols, he seemed rather subdued.

Something was trying to click in her mind. Call it intuition inherited from her mother, but there was something there, a puzzle trying to slide together but not quite aligning.

Slughorn praised her potion and she smiled politely, accepting the compliment. He mentioned something about Barnabuss Cuffe mentioning her before he bustled over to Harry's cauldron. Priya took that piece of information with good cheer; the more those two old men spoke of her, the more likely Priya would be able to work her way in to the Daily Prophet at the end of her seventh year.

The bell rung and Ernie and Malfoy left quickly. With that nagging feeling at the back of her mind still, Priya grabbed her bag and hurried out of the room as well. She saw Malfoy turning a corner, shoulders slumped and she tried to lengthen her stride. "Malfoy!"

The boy hesitated before stopping, turning around to face her with a sneer. "What is it, Tollop?"

Priya stopped in front of him, not really knowing what to say. She honestly hadn't expected him to stop. She straightened up. "Are you – alright?"

It was probably stupid of her to ask. The pale boy looked paler than normal and up close, she could see bags under his eyes. She almost felt bad for not noticing how stressed out he looked, especially considering it was nearing April. Malfoy seemed taken aback for a moment before he scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"You don't look well, is all. I was wondering if you were alright."

By the time Priya finished her sentence, Malfoy was glaring at her. He took a step towards her and Priya fought to hold her stance. "What are you up to?"

"What? I –"

"Who put you up to this?"

"No one, I –"

"I don't need your pity, blood-traitor," Malfoy practically hissed in her face. "And I don't appreciate your forced kindness. You might have Blaise fooled into thinking you're so fantastic but everyone else can see right through it. You're fake and that's all you'll ever be. Now, stay. The bloody hell. Away. From. Me."

He maintained his glare for a second longer before he turned and strode away. When he was out of sight, Priya let out the breath she had been holding. Her hands were shaking and she realized one had drifted close to her wand. Malfoy had never, ever frightened her. He had always been this wimp of a boy who cried to daddy or the highest authority when things didn't go his way. This was not the same Malfoy. In that moment, Priya had felt true fear, like he was actually capable of –

It finally clicked.

Priya hurried back down the hallway. Harry was just coming out of the dungeons when she got there. He smiled when he saw her approaching. "Hey, Priya, what's – whoa!"

Harry gripped his bag strap tighter as Priya grabbed his wrist, pulling him down the hallway. When they were out of earshot, she spun around, letting go of his arm and crossing her own. "Tell me what's going on."

"What are you –?"

"You've been acting weird," she started, noticing him fidget. "You're distracted, constantly running off to Merlin knows where, you continuously carry around that Map. . . . And as weird as you're acting, it's no weirder than Malfoy."

"What about Malfoy?" Harry asked, too quickly, which further confirmed Priya's suspicion.

"I just spoke with him and he –"

"Are you okay?" Harry reached out, grabbing her shoulders. "Did he hurt you?"

Priya stared up at Harry in shock. "No . . . though he did scare me a bit. So, that's it, right?" she asked when Harry let go of her. He ran his hands through his hair, turning away from her but she pressed on. "You think he's capable of hurting people. You've been keeping an eye on him."

Harry spun back around, his eyes wide. "Bloody hell, Priya."

"I know we haven't known each other very long," Priya said. "And I know there's secrets you keep between just you, Ron and Hermione and I get it, I really, do. And merlin knows I haven't wanted to be involved before, but Harry, if Malfoy's a danger to this school and to the students, we have to tell someone."

The Gryffindor boy looked down. "I tried. I told McGonagall after Katie got hurt and –"

"He cursed Katie!" Priya muttered.

"I think so. But I don't have proof. I don't have proof about what he's trying to do or about the necklace or the poison. I've been trying to catch him in the act but. . . ." Harry trailed off, meeting Priya's eye again. "You believe me?"

"I believe that Malfoy isn't acting at all like Malfoy," Priya told him. She shivered a bit. "He feels . . . dark."

"I truly believe that he's up to something. Something that involves Lord Vold –"

Priya reached up with wide eyes, pressing her hands to Harry's mouth. No one in her house spoke that name. During their fifth year, she had heard Harry say it frequently during D.A. meetings, and, by their last one, she thought she had gotten used to it. They stood there for a moment before Harry grabbed her wrist gently, pulling her hands down. He looked surprised. "It's just a name, Priya."

She took a shuddering breath, looking down at the ground. "I know . . . old habits. So," she said, finally looking up at Harry again, "what do we do?"