"Astoria!" Daphne gasped, falling into the blood by her sister's side.

Astoria was up against the Slytherin common room wall, gripping her stomach as blood continuously oozed from it. She looked pale, but a bit green in the face, as if she was about to vomit.

"Holy…" Draco whispered in awe, though he looked disturbed by the sight.

"Help her, please! Get help!" Daphne cried. She placed her hands over Astoria's gushing wound, painting her hands the same color as the floor.

"Go! Get Professor Snape!" Harrison told his friends and they rushed to get back to the Great Hall. Harrison carefully removed Daphne's blood soaked hands, and even more carefully removed Astoria's even bloodier hands away from the wound.

A knife had slashed her across her stomach and went pretty deep. Harrison muttered many indications under his breath and the blood had started to stop flowing. Astoria would be okay until someone got here.

"Who did this to you, Astoria?" Daphne asked quietly to her little sister. Daphne held onto Astoria's hand tightly, "I'll kill them for you. Who did it?"

"M-man… Azkaban… Black. Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black? He did this?" Harrison asked, glancing around the corridor.

"Yes," Astoria gasped, the wound obviously causing pain. She shut her eyes tight, grinding her teeth together. "H-he asked for the p-password to get in. I tried t-to run, but he caught m-me and brought me here… I-I forgot what it w-was, he didn't believe me… he got angry a-and slashed me-"

"Stop talking Astoria. It hurts doesn't it?" Astoria nodded slowly, "then stop. I-I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Astoria nodded again, her eyes blinking very slowly, as if she was on her way to sleep. "Am I going to die?" she asked clearly.

"No. You won't die," Harrison told her firmly, glancing at Daphne.

Astoria was unresponsive after that, and when Harrison looked back at her, her eyes were closed.

"S-she's okay, right? She's not dead, right Harrison?" Daphne asked, starting to go into a panic.

"She's fine… she probably fell asleep from exhaustion and losing… so much blood." Harrison explained. He wondered how much longer it would take for his friends to come back with help, maybe he should take Astoria to the Hospital Wing himself.

But as he was contemplating the thought, he heard the clacking of many footsteps echo all the way to them and soon Snape, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore appeared with his friends.

"Move, move," Snape ordered, and Daphne and Harrison scurried out of the way. They stood, the blood they soaked up from Astoria dripped on the floor.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Sirius Black attacked my sister!"

Dumbledore's reassuring smile faded at once and his eyes narrowed on Harrison.

"How can you be sure?" McGonagall asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Astoria said it before she passed out. It was him! He tried killing her!"

After a very long silence, the voices of the arriving Slytherins filled the corridor. Dumbeldore rushed down, his voice booming. "Back to the Great Hall," he ordered, making everyone shush. "Now!"

There was silence only for a few seconds and even though Harrison couldn't see the Slytherins, he suspected they listened and turned back around the way they came.

"Take Greengrass to the Hospital Wing, Severus. You five to the Great Hall with everyone else," Dumbledore ordered, pointing at each one of them.

"Let me go with my sister, Professor. Please. She's sick and she might not-'' Daphne cut herself off, covering her mouth with her bloody hand.

"Headmaster, we can't possibly allow Greengrass in the Great Hall with the blood on her. It would frighten other students," McGonagall told him, pointing to Daphne's robes that had soaked in Astoria's blood.

"Yes, I see now," Dumbledore murmured, stroking his beard. "Greengrass and Riddle, come along — Minerva alert the staff and tell them to bring all the students to the Great Hall."

Daphne and Harrison followed Severus and Dumbledore up to the Hospital Wing. They passed a group of Ravenclaws who got a good look at the three Slytherins and ran off to the Great Hall.

In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey pulled the curtains around Astoria's bed as she worked on her in silence. Dumbledore and Snape told Harrison and Daphne to stay there until Madam Pomfrey gave them robes to change into.

Daphne was a crying mess, crying about how she was certain Astoria would die. Harrison had done his best to assure her she wasn't.

"Why would he attack her?" Daphne sobbed into Harrison's chest. "She… she hasn't done anything wrong! She doesn't deserve this, Harrison!"

"I know Daphne…" Harrison murmured in her ear. Daphne rested her head on his shoulder as they waited patiently for Madam Pomfrey to finish dealing with Astoria.

Maybe it had been an hour or so, Harrison didn't know. Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the curtains covering Astoria's bed and had a frown on her face.

"Your sister will be alright," she announced, and Daphne looked relieved. "But we have to send her to Saint Mungos… the wound with her Blood Curse will leave her weak permanently if she doesn't get proper help."

"When is she going to go?" Daphne asked.

"She'll be gone before morning."

Harrison didn't like the way Madam Pomfrey said that, and by the look on Daphne's face, she didn't like it either.

Madam Pomfrey gave Daphne robes that were too big for her and gave Harrison robes that were too small for him. She said those are the only ones left, so they both felt like a pair of Weasley children, wearing cheap robes that didn't even fit.

When they got down to the Great Hall, everyone was beginning to lie on the floor in sleeping bags. The house tables had disappeared.

"Look!" A Hufflepuff whispered loudly in the silent Great Hall. Everyone looked at the two walking through the doors, looking very excited.

"Over here!" Draco called to them from his sleeping bag. Blaise and Delphi occupied the ones next to him. There were two empty ones, one next to Blaise, the other next Delphi which Harrison assumed was saved for him and Daphne.

"Is Astoria alright?" Delphi asked once Daphne sat down next to her.

"Y-yeah… they're taking her to Saint Mungos though. If she doesn't get there then she might be weak forever." Daphne told them quietly.

"Did Sirus Black actually do that to her?" Blaise asked.

"Well, we have to believe her. No one else was around," Harrison said.

"Lights out everyone! That's enough chattering for one night!" Percy Weasley boomed at everyone. Nobody listened, however and continued their chatting.

"When will she come back?" Draco asked quietly. Like everyone else, he ignored Percy Weasley.

"I don't think she should come back," Daphne said, her voice quivering. "She's sick. The Blood Curse… Madam Pomfrey said if it wasn't for her curse, she wouldn't have to go to Saint Mungos. It's better if she stays home… where she is safe."

No one was able to respond because Emery, the Headgirl's, voice spoke over them.

"Professor Dumbledore has said we all must be asleep by the time he gets back! As Headboy and girl, we must make sure you're all ready for classes tomorrow."

This time everyone was a lot more compliant and Harrison believed it was because Emery had a more charming personality than Percy. He laid down in his sleeping beg, taking off his tight robe so he would just be in his jumper and pants.

He wondered what the morning would have for him.

He drifted off to sleep, but went in and out of consciousness. When he was fully awake, he saw Blaise with his back turned to him, his chest rising and falling. However, he began to hear the light whisper of two men at the foot of his sleeping bag.

He squinted in his eyes to see Dumbledore and Snape peering down at him.

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?" Dumbledore asked Snape.

"All searched…" sighed Snape.

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next… except for one."

"I've told you already that Black that does not work with You-Know-Who in any way."

There was a silent pause and Harrison shut his eyes, afraid that they had seen him peeking.

"Shall I be the one to wake him?" Snape asked.

"He might try to attack me if I were the one."

Snape let out a very long, annoyed sigh and Harrison shut his eyes tightly and pretended he was asleep. He thought Snape was going to shake him awake, like any normal person would, but he got kicked in the back, making him curse very loudly.

"What the hell?" Harrison hissed at Snape.

"Ah, I've awakened him," Snape said in mock relief.

"Come with us, Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said, ignoring Snape's sarcasm.

"What for?" Harrison asked.

"The Ministry is here to see you."

Harrison walked with Professor Dumbledore and Snape, leaving his robes behind because he did not want to endure walking in that thing once more.

Upon entering Dumbledore's office, he found there were a lot more Aurors than usual. Kingsley was there, and the furrow in his eyebrows didn't seem to go away.

"Hello Harrison," Kingsley greeted, sounding very urgent.

"Hi…"

"We need to ask you these questions really fast, alright?"

"Right. What do you want to know?" Harrison asked, sounding more harsh than he intended.

"We asked your father and he says you are very close to the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange: Delphini Lestrange. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Now, do you remember telling her how you planned on celebrating your birthday?"

"I celebrate it every year the same way. At home with my father. She would know what I was doing that day…" Harrison was confused. Why were they asking him about Delphi? Why did his father even mention her to the Aurors?

There was slight murmur between the Aurors, all of them nodding their heads.

"During the day of the attack of Astoria Greengrass, did you see anything that looked even slightly like Sirius Black?"

"No, I did not."

"Thank you, Harrison. We might have an idea who your kidnapper is now."

"But there were multiple," Harrison said.

"One of them," Kingsley corrected himself, smiling slightly. He looked away from Harrison and gave Dumbledore a nod he didn't return. Harrison felt like he had said something that he wasn't supposed to.

"We'll meet Mad Eye there, and we need to get there fast before they hurt anymore muggles. Come along." Kingsley ordered the other Aurors. Like every other time, they exited Dumbledore's office by the fireplace.

"What was that about?" Harrison asked, to neither Dumbledore or Snape in particular.

Dumbledore didn't answer, he merely frowned and swept towards his desk, petting his Phoenix before he sat down.

Harrison didn't expect an answer out of Dumbledore and he didn't want an answer out of Snape. He was too tired to deal with the sarcastic remarks.

"Come on, Mr. Riddle," Snape said, ushering the boy forward. He looked pleased and a bit relieved.

The boy and Professor walked back down to the Great Hall in a tense silence, not even sparing each other a look.

"I suggest you sleep well tonight Harrison," Snape said as they approached the Great Hall doors. "The morning will definitely be a lot to handle."

"What do you mean?"

But before he could even finish his sentence, Snape walked back the way they came, not answering Harrison's question.

Everyone was being insanely vague that night and it did not help Harrison fall asleep at all. He stayed up all night thinking about Kingsley and his odd questions about Delphi; Dumbledore ignoring him; and Severus telling him to sleep well to handle what the morning would bring.

Harrison had been the first to 'wake up' and Delphi woke up not very long after him. She was silent though, not muttering a word to Harrison. He didn't mention the meeting to her because he didn't want her to worry the same way he was worrying.

Percy and Emery woke everyone up with the help of Peeves who somehow found tambourines and started smashing them together, jumping on sleeping student's head, causing a ruckus as always.

For the beginning of breakfast, everyone was talking about Black, Astoria and Harrison. He had been asked too many times if he had seen Sirius yesterday.

"My mother and father wrote me," Daphne said, holding up the letter her owl brought to her as everyone was waking up. "They said Astoria is recovering in St.Mungos and the Healers say she will be fine by the end of the month. They said they don't want to send her back though."

"Why not? By the time she gets back, Sirius Black will be caught." Draco told her, sounding outraged.

"Because she's sick, Draco," Delphi sighed, idly stabbing her food. She looked as tired as Harrison did. "Imagine if you got stabbed in the gut while you were suffering from some deadly disease."

"But she'll be fine, right?" Draco asked and Daphne nodded.

Soon the owls came fluttering into the Great Hall and Delphi's Daily Prophet fell in her cup. She cussed the owls out under her breath, while she went to dry her Prophet.

Harrison was going to ignore his' as usual, but he couldn't help but get a glimpse at the front page and the awfully familiar face that was not his own, printed on it.

Hesitantly, Harrison took the Prophet and he had this very uncomfortable feeling travel throughout his body, making him feel very nervous.

On the front page was Aunt Bella — Bellatrix Lestrange — Delphi's mum.

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE CAPTURED AND

SIRIUS BLACK STILL AT LARGE

On November 1st, today, Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) was captured in a Death Eater raid and exposed as one of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers. The Ministry has been investigating her for just some time and last night confirmed that she is one of the many Death Eaters that were involved in the kidnapping of thirteen-year-old, Harrison Riddle, on July Thirty-First. The Auror department used Veritaserum on her (a truth potion) and she confirmed her status and loyalty to You-Know-Who and other Death Eaters who helped with the kidnapping. The Ministry also discloses that she is the other Death Eater responsible for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom, two very well respected Aurors that suffered a gruesome fate. Minister Fudge says, "As these days of war continue, more people like Lestrange will be put in Azkaban. And very very soon You-Know-Who will be no more." Regardless of this major win for the Auror department and the Wizarding World itself, the Minister is still facing backlash for the escape of Lestrange's cousin, Sirius Black. "We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm." Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Confederation of Wizards for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis…

Harrison's hands were almost ripping the Prophet apart. It was his fault. It all made sense now.

Kingsley had asked about Delphi because she could've told Bellatrix where Harrison was going to be on his birthday. Bellatrix could've told Voldemort which led to his kidnapping. How could he not notice? Why was he so stupid?

Harrison looked up from his Prophet to see Delphi reading her own. She was shaking fiercely, her eyes scanning the page up and down as if searching for something. As if she was searching the page for some sort of deception, some sort of prank that had been against her.

But she found none.

In seconds, the first tear rolled from Delphi's eye and she stood up, fleeing from the Great Hall before more could fall.

Blaise got up to run after her, Draco and Harrison following. They heard the quiet murmurs and saw the stares as they ran after her.

"Delphi, wait!" Blaise called after her, but she didn't turn back. Her sobs were echoing down the corridors she ran through, and only at the Slytherin entrance did they catch up with her.

"What's the new password?" Delphi asked quietly, hiding her face from them.

"Delphi, let's talk-'' Draco had tried to say, but Delphi cut him off.

"Whats the fucking password?" she asked again.

"Once we get inside we'll talk, Delphi," Blaise said soothingly, reaching for Delphi's hand. She pulled away from him, finally turning to look at the boys.

Harrison thought it was the most peculiar thing he had ever seen. Delphini Lestrange crying.

There were only a few times he remembered her crying; last year when she broke her arm and when she had lost the duel against her mother.

"What is the password, Harrison?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"P-parselmouth," he quavered.

The wall shifted open and Delphi bolted inside, the boys following right after her. She didn't get very far from them though, for she collapsed on the nearby sofa, breaking down into a fit of sobbing.

They let her cry, unsure of what to say or what to do. They couldn't ask what's wrong because they knew exactly what was wrong. They couldn't ask her to stop crying because they didn't want to disturb her.

"Merlin's sake, if you're just going to watch me cry, then leave. I'm embarrassed as it is." Delphi cried to them as she wiped her eyes with her arms.

"I- we didn't want to disturb your… crying," Harrison told her awkwardly, glancing at Draco and Blaise who looked just as lost as he did.

"Lets talk, Delphi," Draco urged her.

"Talk about what, Draco?" Delphi snapped at him. "Talk about how my mother is going to be rotting in the cell for the rest of her life? Or let's talk about how the school will view me as: the daughter of a Death Eater — Merlin, now I know how Theo felt."

"You don't have to be sarcastic about it," Draco snapped back at her. "It's not like she was my aunt too."

"And she was my mother!"

"And I miss her the same way you do!"

"You don't have the mental capacity in your small brain to feel even remotely the same way I do."

Draco scoffed and stormed away, leaving the Slytherin common room so it was now just Blaise and Harrison left to face Delphi.

"Just go and leave me alone," Delphi told them, gesturing towards Draco.

"Why would you want to be alone?" Harrison asked.

"Why do I want to be alone?" Delphi repeated in a scoff, "Why do I want to be alone! It's not like my mother was just sent to Azkaban for life!"

"Voldemort won't have your mother in there forever," Harrison blurted. Even though he had no evidence that Voldemort won't keep her in there, he was certain that Bellatrix wouldn't be in there for her life like all the other Death Eaters.

"She's an important part of the Death Eaters and if she can't escape herself, then my f-father will definitely help her."

Delphi looked at him as if he was crazy, seeing right past his hopeful words. "Nobody escapes from Azkaban, Harrison! Everyone except for that filthy Sirius Black! I bet they only investigated my mother because of him! It's all his fault!"

Harrison frowned. If Delphi had been yelling about Sirius like that for thinking it was his fault, then Harrison didn't want to know how Delphi would yell at him for knowing it was his fault.

"She should've killed him when she had the chance! Before he was locked away, th-then none of this would've happened!"

"You're muttering nonsense, Delphi. Calm down," Blaise told her. He looked very serious, but Harrison could see the tinge of worry in his eyes.

"No I'm not! You know exactly how the Ministry investigates the family members of Death Eaters! With Sirus Black escaping they decided to investigate anyone who is related to him! They probably went after Aunt Cissy too!"

"Lestrange," a very cold voice drawled. Harrison turned and there was Severus watching the scene. Harrison had wondered how long he was standing there.

Delphi didn't answer him.

"The Headmaster would like to see you."

"I don't care."

"I did not ask if you cared."

"I'm not going."

"You don't have a choice."

Delphi stood up and she looked as if she was going to join Snape to leave and go to Dumbledore, but in a second, she was up the staircase leading to the boy's dormitories, disappearing from sight.

"I-I'll go and get her," Blaise said hesitantly. There was an awkward pause before Blaise ran off after Delphi, leaving Harrison and Snape alone.

"You knew," Harrison began before Snape could walk off to follow Blaise. He paused and turned around to look at Harrison, a fake look of confusion on his face.

"Knew what?" Snape asked.

"You knew what was going to happen! And you did not even warn me!"

"I was instructed not to and newsflash, Harrison; I value my life."

"Not even a hint towards what they were planning? How sick are you, Snape?"

"Last time I checked my temperature was fine-"

Harrison drew his wand and at the same time, so did Snape. Snape tried to disarm him, but Harrison casted a shield and paused before he sent a spell at Snape.

"I suggest you put your wand back, Riddle," Snape said carefully, pointing his wand at Harrison's hand.

Harrison didn't put his wand away though, thoroughly contemplating the thought of if he should duel Severus. However, his musing was cut short when the heavy stomps of Blaise running down the stairs met his ears and he appeared at the bottom, panting heavily.

"She's… she's invisible," he panted, pointing aimlessly in front of him. "Delphi, she took your Invisibility cloak."

Harrison spun around when he heard the common room wall shift open, but no one in sight entered or exited. It must've been Delphi.

Snape muttered a line of curse words as he rushed after the invisible Delphi.

It was a particularly long day that day. Delphi was absent from every class, every meal and every break. Harrison, like everyone else, had been worried for her — which had been a stretch because only the Slytherins were worried for her, almost everyone in the other houses was glad she was gone.

Not even when Dumbledore searched for her did they have any luck. That was when Harrison had started to get worried she had done something to herself. Draco and Blaise seemed just as paranoid too as neither of the boys got any sleep that night.

In the morning at breakfast, they saw a very drowsy Delphi sit down at the table next to them, as if nothing had happened the day prior. All the boys were in too much shock to say anything for a good while, but Blaise was the first to speak up.

"Where were you?"

"Hiding…" she yawned, leaning onto her shoulder.

"Where exactly?"

Delphi didn't answer as she thought about her answer. "Somewhere on the seventh floor."

"Dumbledore himself looked for you, exactly where the bloody hell were you hiding? The cracks in the floor?" Draco asked her, keeping his voice down to an angry whisper.

"I told you, somewhere on the seventh floor," Delphi repeated firmly this time. "It was some little hiding place with only a sofa. And that's it."

They didn't pester Delphi about her brilliant hiding spot any longer, afraid she would run off to the hiding place again if they pissed her off.


The Professors were very keen on separating Harrison and Delphi in class. In Ancient Runes, when Harrison and Delphi usually worked together, Professor Bathsheda Babbling had partnered Delphi with Hermione and Harrison got paired with Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw.

"No, no," Hermione chided, taking up Delphi's translation of her runes. "This one means 'great ease,'" she said, pointing to the rune Delphi had written. "And this one is ocean."

"I thought I told you, keep your filthy hands off of my paper!" Delphi hissed at her, snatching the paper back. It wasn't hard to hear their conversation since Harrison was at the table next to them.

"Riddle, what's this one?" Terry asked, pointing at one of the Runes on his paper. He seemed too focused to notice the girls bickering across from them.

"It's 'relief,'" Harrison said idly after only taking a quick glance at Terry's paper.

"I don't want a low grade because you refuse to pay attention," Hermione countered.

"And I don't want you talking to me."

"Professor Bathsheda Babbling said we have to work together."

"And I don't give a damn, Granger," Delphi groaned. "Just shut up and let me work."

The two girls were silent for just a bit, but Hermione's eyes kept trailing back over to Delphi's work.

"That one is wrong-"

Delphi's patience was snapped like a twig, and she stood from her table, the sound of her chair scraping across the floor startled everyone.

"Professor, I cannot work with her!"

"I… what is the matter?" Professor Bathsheda Babbling asked.

"She keeps bugging me about my work every five seconds and her grimy hands keep dirtying it!"

"It's not my fault you don't know how to do simple Runes."

"Maybe if you weren't criticizing me for writing my name too small, or my D being sloppy," Terry snickered beside Harrison, "then I could actually focus on my work!"

"I don't think it's because you can't focus, I think it's just your lack of understanding-"

Delphi reached for her wand, but Harrison reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping Delphi from hexing Hermione or worst.

Professor Bathsheda Babbling definitely learned not to pair the two girls together ever again after that incident. They ended up working by themselves, on different sides of the room.

After class, Delphi was in a bad mood, which Harrison had thought would affect their Quidditch practice very soon. As they walked out the class, they passed two people who weren't supposed to be there.

"Waiting for Granger, Longbottom?" Delphi mocked, tilting her head at him. Longbottom looked up, his face expressing an anger Harrison had never seen before. Weasley was also with him, looking very uncomfortable. Hermione stepped out of the room, her face hardening at the sight of Delphi.

"Delphi, you know how he feels about your mother," Harrison whispered to her, "let's get ready for practice-"

"No, I was waiting to see if the Aurors came and arrested you during class," Longbottom responded, giving Delphi a death stare that Harrison thought wasn't possible for him to do. "I don't know why they haven't hauled you off to Azkaban with your dirty mother!"

"My mother is not dirty!" Delphi snapped at him, taking a dangerous step towards the boy who usually cowered in fear in front of her; he stood his ground, however. "At least mine's hasn't lost her mind and is probably babbling nonsense to herself in a Hospital Bed!"

"And whose fault is that? Huh? Your mother's!"

"And you think I give shit, Lardass? I could care less that you grew up parentless! That you grew up without your own mother and father!"

"At least I'm able to see them! Your father is dead and your mother is in the middle of nowhere, rotting in a cell like she's supposed to."

The mention of her father made her eyes freeze over with hatred and disgust directed at Longbottom. "Talk about my father once more Longbottom they'll have no choice, but to take me to Azkaban." she threatened him, her hand laying close to her wand.

"Go away Lestrange." Weasley finally snapped at her.

"Gladly — tell mum and dad I said hi, Neville."

Neville tried to jump at her, but Weasley and Granger had grabbed his arms, pulling him back. Delphi hadn't even flinched and she looked him up and down before she dragged Harrison away with her.

Now she was even more pissed than she was leaving Ancient Runes which seemed to rub off with their Quidditch practice. That wasn't good because Slytherin was going against Gryffindor for the first Quidditch match of the year soon.

Marcus was extremely smug about it, he kept gloating about how they would win so easily against the other houses. Of course they were receiving mocks of Delphi casting the Dark Mark in the sky during the game, or she would kill one of the Gryffindor Chasers after they made a shot. She was obviously not doing her best at ignoring it since she kept throwing insults back at them.

"You're here, you're here," Marcus said idly, pointing at everyone as he went down a mental list. He seemed to do a double take and recounted them again. "Where's Emery?" he finally asked.

Everyone shrugged in sync. Emery was rarely late to practice, even with the Head Girl responsibilities on her shoulders.

"I guess we can start without her — Actually, since she's not here, I can tell you all what I've overheard Wood talk about with his team." Marcus said, smirking as he gathered his team around.

By the time Marcus had finished retelling his dishonest spying story of the Gryffindors team, Emery had arrived.

"Look who decides to join us," Delphi announced bitterly. Everyone turned their attention to Emery who had just joined the team.

"S-sorry… I got caught up in something… what are we doing?"

"We were discussing the game on Saturday. Nothing really important," Marcus assured her, casually lying because he knew she would get angry if she found out he was spying. "C'mon, up in the air."

Delphi switched brooms with Marcus so he could properly evade Harrison as the latter tried to catch up to him. Nathan had been trying to hit Harrison with the Bludger, while Warrington had been trying to hit Marcus.

Adrian and Emery were trying to score against Delphi, who had been performing a lot worse than other practices. She had let at least ten get past her.

"Watch where you're hitting that Quaffle, Rettop!" Delphi complained to her, gripping Marcus' Nimbus Two Thousand and One. The Quaffle almost struck the back of the broom.

"It's impossible," Emery hit the Quaffle that had been sent back to her by Delphi, "not to see where I'm hitting it!"

"Real funny, smart ass!"

Harrison frowned and because he was distracted by Delphi and Emery, he didn't hear the whistle of the Bludger coming towards him, and got hit in the back, throwing him forward a bit. It circled back and tried to hit Harrison again, but he ducked under it.

"Ugh," Harrison groaned as he took off after Marcus again.

The next day at practice they were doing flying drills, they all had to dodge incoming obstacles as they raced to the other side of the field. It was fun, Harrison had to admit, but Delphi and Emery seemed to be going at it with each other.

Delphi had been hitting the obstacles (which were a collection of random objects such as musical instruments, broken desks and even plates) towards Emery, hitting her about every time.

Emery was obviously getting annoyed, especially when she heard Delphi's laughter after she got bludgeoned with the objects.

When practice was done and over, Emery had more bruises than any of them, and Delphi seemed in a better mood than she has been in the past week.

"What is your problem, Lestrange?" Emery hissed at her, making sure to keep her volume down. Harrison pretended he didn't hear and drunk from his water bottle.

"Not a clue what you're talking about," Delphi answered nonchalantly. She shrugged her shoulders as if she was clueless.

"Is this because of yesterday?" Emery asked, her glaring face settled down to a frown.

"No. If you truly want to know my problem, I don't appreciate having to play on the same team with someone who has muggle blood."

"Delphi!" Harrison snapped at her.

"I actually believed you weren't as bad as people say you are, but it seems since your mother's secret is out you're showing how true you are to your colors," Emery snapped at her.

"You're statement wasn't as smart as it seems."

"It's true though — you're a Pureblood Supremacist."

Delphi had a blank face as she stared at Emery before she broke out to a grin, chuckling soon after. "You hear that, Harrison," Delphi asked him, "I'm a Pureblood Supremacist!"

"Delphi, let's just head back-" Harrison tried to say, but was cut off by Emery.

"And you're laughing about it!"

"Do you really think all the Purebloods on this team like you, or do you think they just tolerate you, Emery-"

"Hey, let's just-" Marcus tried to cut in.

"Don't try to bring everyone else into this."

"Can't accept the truth, can you?"

None of the boys said anything.

"I'm not going to argue with a thirteen year old."

"The less I have to talk to filth like you, I'm happier."

"Ten points from Slytherin. Keep it up, Lestrange, it'll be more."

"Is that so, you filthy —"

"Ten points from Slytherin —"

"Disgusting —"

"Ten points from Slytherin —"

"Halfblood!"

"What did you say?" A new voice asked.

Harrison looked up and Antonin Junior was there, glaring down at Delphi.

"Look at that, Rettop. Your boyfriend has come to defend you."

"Watch your mouth Lestrange or you'll be missing by the end of the week," Antonin warned, aiming his wand dangerously at Delphi.

"And I'll tell your father who you've taken interest in!" Delphi countered, standing up to meet his eyes. "Which one is it?"

"Stop it!" Harrison snapped at them. "Nobody is going missing and nobody is telling on anyone."

Antonin hesitated before lowering his wand. "Sorry," he apologized to Harrison, but it was clear he wasn't talking to Delphi. "Practice is over, isn't it, Emery? Lets go."

Emery got to her feet and with one last glance at Delphi, she left the field with her boyfriend.

The team dispersed and didn't mutter a word about the argument to each other. When Harrison and Delphi were alone in the changing rooms, he spoke.

"What the hell was that about?" Harrison asked her, as calmly as he could.

Delphi didn't respond. He couldn't see her because her locker door was blocking her from view.

"Delphini…"

"It's Delphi," she told him harshly.

"Then answer me-"

"I don't know!" Delphi slammed her locker shut, her glaring eyes meeting Harrison's angry ones. "I hate her, alright? She's dirty."

"And you didn't have to snap at Emery like that. I know you don't like muggle bloods, but we're on the same team. You can tolerate her like everyone else."

"That's the problem! Nobody tolerates her!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't pay attention to her status just because she's Headgirl and nice and not annoying like every other Witch of her kind! You don't tolerate her, you treat her as if she's one of us! Pureblood!"

Harrison didn't have an argument. Delphi was right. Harrison never thought about Emery's blood status unless it was brought up, it had almost slipped his mind she was a Halfblood.

"What if You-Know-Who finds out-"

"I don't give a damn about him," Harrison snapped quietly.

"There's no point in talking to you about this. In a month you'll be gone and Blood won't matter to you anymore."

"Delphi, I-"

But Delphi had already left, she stormed away without a word to spare. Harrison sighed and waited a while before leaving the locker room. He just hoped Delphi wouldn't run off again.


Delphi didn't run off again — no, she ran off to someone else. Theodore Nott and his two goons. Everytime Draco, Blaise or Harrison tried to get near, she would avoid them with the help of Theo, Crabbe and Goyle. They made it obvious they weren't comfortable doing it, but like most, they had a fear of Delphi.

And not only did Delphi desert the boys, she didn't come for Quidditch practice for the rest of the week. Marcus was worried about whether she would show up for the game against Gryffindor or not, so he decided to forfeit the match with the excuse that Harrison has some sort of trauma problems. Now instead of Slytherin playing Gryffindor, it would be Gryffindor playing Hufflepuff.

As the Slytherins arrived to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class (most of the Slytherins) they noticed things were very different. The setting of the classroom was off, and Harrison could tell just by one step through the door.

It didn't take him long to see the black-cloaked Professor Snape standing in the front of the room, his dark eyes glinty with some sort of anger as his eyes landed on Harrison.

"Where's Professor Lupin?" Harrison asked immediately as he walked to his seat.

Snape didn't respond though and he watched as the Slytherins sat down, one empty seat next to Theo was the only one that wasn't occupied.

"Professor Lupin is feeling ill and cannot teach today," Snape finally said, once everyone was settled in their seats. "The night had a toll on him."

"When is he coming back?"

"Want to get rid of me already, Riddle? The class has barely started."

"No, sir, I just want to get taught by a Professor that hasn't been rejected for their original position."

There were quite a few gasps, but no one dared to laugh as they watched Snape and Harrison, wondering what would happen next. It wasn't like Harrsion to insult a teacher, he was supposed to be the nice, humble student.

"Five points from Slytherin, Riddle, for your comment. If you have anymore brilliant thoughts, share them with the class, but be assured that you'll end up closer to the negatives-"

"For the sake of your pride, I'll keep quiet because I know winning the House Cup is one of the only things that keeps you going-"

"Ten points from Slytherin, Riddle."

Blaise kicked him under the table and he sighed, leaning back into his seat.

"Good choice," Snape said, looking in between Harrison and Blaise.

"Today we'll be going over," Snape pointed his wand at the board and the words: Werewolf, appeared. "Werewolves."

"We haven't covered Werewolves yet," Daphne said.

"But your teacher was incapable of leaving anything behind on what you covered, so we'll be discussing something that is in your range — unless your minds are too thick to process something as simple as Werewolves." Severus looked around the room and the Slytherins shook their heads, no. Harrison just sat there with glowering eyes.

"As I expected from you all. Turn to page 394."

"Where do you think Delphi is?" Draco asked as he began to flip the pages of his book. Blaise and Harrison shrugged.

"Theo!" Blaise hissed to the boy a few desks away. He looked up and raised his eyebrow at them.

"Where's Delphi?" Harrison mouthed to him. Theo shrugged, glancing at the empty seat next to him.

"Page 394," Snape repeated, and Harrison saw that he was looking at Harrison's unopened book. With wandless magic, the page opened exactly to page three-hundred-ninety-four with one flip.

"Now who can tell me —"

The door opened and Snape paused, looking about ready to kill whoever interrupted him. His glare softened slightly when he saw Delphi in the door, looking very tired.

"Nice for you to finally join us, Ms. Lestrange," Snape said thinly.

Delphi murmured a response Harrison couldn't hear as she stalked to her seat next to Theo, slumping into her chair.

"As I was saying, who can tell me the difference between a Wolf and a Werewolf?"

Nobody raised their hand. Harrison knew the differences, Voldemort worked with Werewolves and it was easy once you saw one for yourself.

"I am very disappointed, not even Riddle has raised his hand."

"I know," Delphi said suddenly. "Their snouts are different. And Werewolves still look human a bit, if you know someone well enough you can recognize their eyes in their Werewolf form."

"Thank you, Lestrange. At least one of you has the base of what a Werewolf is. It would do you well too because as you know a certain Dark Wizard is using many Werewolves to aid him in this war, so it's there's a possibility that you might run across one and think it is a wolf and tried to ward it off, without realizing its someone with Lycanthropy."

"How would you know?" Blaise asked.

"How would you know what, Zabini?"

"How would you know someone is a Wolf?" Blaise repeated more clearly this time.

"We're going to cover that Zabini — but I must say sudden disappearances on a full moon night is a way to identify one," Snape said, his eyes lingering on Harrison as he spoke.

"Nott, read for us."

Harrison hated Defense Against the Dark Arts. He wanted to leave as soon as possible, to get away from Snape. He was glad they were learning about something interesting, but Harrison would've preferred it was Lupin teaching him.

"I want an essay on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want one roll of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. You are dismissed."

The Slytherins filed out of the classroom, almost all of them were in a good mood about Snape teaching them, Harrison however was bummed out.

"So you really do hate Snape?" Draco asked Harrison once they made it to the courtyard. They sat down in a dry patch of grass that hadn't been soaked by the rain.

"I thought it was obvious," Harrison murmured.