A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, here is the next chapter. ;) It's getting better....I hope....at least, things are getting a bit more interesting. Hope you like it, and I wanted to do personal notes for everyone who took the trouble to review, so here they are.

Hagrid - yeah, I think I was on a bit of a high when I wrote that. ^_^; Sying Kei-Rane - Well, I wouldn't be so sure about Lystra being harmless to HH relationships... PEZ - Thanks so much for always reviewing, I remember you from HBD! It does wonders for my ego. ;) Davita - Just wait... Unfortunately I have a penchant for happy endings...so it kind of spoils the suspense. ;) Sweet Angel - Here it is! hermione potter - The "Chocolat" fic is in the works.... it's kind of cute but I want to do a bit more work on it before I post it. Brent! - Okay! ;) Nightfall - hope Lystra is evil enough for you. anya - Harry can't get the dream yet! It's a major plot device! Jess - Sorry this took so long but I hope you like it! Rooty Beer - interesting name, and here it is! Kiara Ananda - Ack! Plot hole! Plot hole! HELP!! I need a beta-reader! Eugenia - Flattery! Ack! ;) Junho - I'm glad you think it's fun, I was afraid it was getting boring.

On with the story! ~CM

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The next morning, Hermione brushed her hair as usual and showered before she came out, her hair dripping wet, and saw Lystra on the edge of her bed, and remembered with a jolt the events of the day before.

"Morning," Lystra said unemotionally. She was already dressed and her hair perfectly braided into a coil around her head.

"Uh, hi," Hermione said. "Listen, uh, I don't mean to pry, but do you have a boyfriend?"

"What?" said Lystra sharply, looking up at her.

"You know," said Hermione, feeling foolish, "a boyfriend. It just seems weird that a girl like you doesn't have one."

Lystra was silent for a long while. "A boy," she said, "my first love, was named Riddle. I took his name when he died, for we were to have been married."

"Oh," Hermione said, startled. "Do you mind telling me how he died?"

"Voldemort."

Hermione stared at her. The only other person, besides Harry and Dumbledore, she'd heard say the Dark Lord's name.

"Oh," she said again at last, and started to dress.

Parvati came in, her hair already up in a ponytail. "Lystra, you got any makeup?" she yawned. "I left mine at home."

Lystra silently reached under her bed, came out with a large box and handed it to Parvati, who yawned again and began to search through the various bottles.

"Let's see .. ooh, nice eyeshadow color, I gotta get the store where you got it from you sometime .. Hey, you haven't got any lipstick!"

Lystra shrugged. She got up and left.

Hermione headed down to breakfast a short time later, still mulling over what Lystra had said. Had she really been engaged to a boy named Riddle? Was it a coincidence that the boy had the same last name as Voldemort?

When she came down to the Gryffindor table, Lystra was sitting and flirting with half the Gryffindor boys and a fair amount of the boys in other Houses. Some grieving widow, thought Hermione grumpily as she sat down near Harry.

"So what's up?" said Harry, watching her eat.

"Lystra," she answered through a mouthful. "I don't think she's exactly who she says she is. I mean, she told me this morning that she was engaged to a boy who was killed by You-Know-Who and that she took his name when he died. Riddle. But she's not exactly acting like a lovestruck widow, is she?" Hermione said, gesturing at Lystra, who was smiling dazzingly at Ernie MacMillian and tickling Seamus Finnigan's chin at the same time.

"Aw, lay off her, Hermione," Harry said. "Why do you always have to be so suspicious?"

"I'm not, that's the point!" Hermione cried, exasperated. "I'm usually NOT suspicious! But Lystra - well, she just gives me the creeps!"

"That's ridiculous - how can she give you the creeps? She's just a normal witch - except she's beautiful. Is that what's bothering you? That she's prettier than you?"

Hermione gaped at him. "Harry - how can you be so insensitive? That's not the reason at all!"

"Sure." Harry grabbed his plate angrily and went to sit at the other end of the table, with Ron and Lavender.

Hermione sat there, feeling anger coursing through her. There WAS something screwy about Lystra - why couldn't anyone see it?? Harry was normally a very reasonable person! It was like Lystra cast a cloud over everyone.

Lystra got up. She was wearing a very sheer blouse and thigh-length skirt. Hermione became suddenly aware of the fact that she was in an old pair of faded jeans and tye-dyed T-shirt her cousin had made in second grade. Lystra's hair was perfect, her hair was perfect, her mannerism was perfect .. it wasn't right, somehow.

Am I really just jealous? Hermione wondered as Lystra passed her without a glance.

*



Lystra's eyes glowed as she looked into the black pearl ring. "My Lord, I have done it," she whispered gleefully. "Potter and Granger were mad at each other this morning at breakfast. I saw them argue and Potter left to sit with another friend."

Voldemort's face, miniature but powerful, darkened. "Lystra," he said ominously, "have I not taught you about caution? If you go immediately after Potter, Granger will become suspicious. From our contact within the school, we know she is too smart for her own good."

Lystra was silent, chastened and red as a beet.

"Go after someone else," Voldemort said as his voice faded. "Master your control upon the school. Then go after Potter."

Voldemort's face dissolved from the pearl as the door to the girl's dormitory was flung open and Lavender, Hermione, and Parvati came in together. Lystra eyed them sullenly from the bed, still smarting from Lord Voldemort's sharp disapproval.

"What's up with you?" Lavender said as they came in. "You look like you just lost your best friend. Not that a girl like you needs one, with all the boys she can get."

Hermione elbowed Lavender warningly. "We're here to find out more about her, remember," she whispered, "not to start chewing at her!"

"Right," Lavender whispered back.

"Seriously," said Parvati warmly, sitting down next to Lystra. "What's up?"

"Nothing that would interest you." Lystra looked coldly at Parvati.

"Sheesh, Ice Queen," Lavender said, sitting down on Lystra's other side. "Warm up a little. You're gonna be stuck with us for a while. What's eatin' you?"

You have no idea, Lystra thought sourly.

"Hey, it's not like we're strangers to hurt," Hermione encouraged. "Just this morning Harry and I fought." It stabbed her sharply to mention it so casually. Their first fight .. and it had hurt. Harry had come up to her afterward and apologized - that was so like Harry - and they were friends again, but the knowledge that something could come between them so easily - Hermione broke off her train of thought and looked at Lystra.

"It is not important," Lystra said after a moment. "Don't we have classes to go to?"

"Uh, yeah," Parvati said, "but it's not like it's a big deal to miss Potions - yeah. Great way to start off Lystra."

"Potions?"

"One word. Snape. He'll make your life miserable and beyond."

Snape. The word cut through Lystra's thoughts and focused them sharply on Parvati next to her. Snape, the one living delinquent Death Eater .. Karkaroff was dead, of course .. and that only left Snape. Voldemort hated that man.

"All right," Lystra said, standing up. "Let's go. You can show me the way."

So they followed her up and out the door. As they left, Lavender shot Hermione a 'we-tried' look. Hermione shrugged. "Next time," she mouthed.

Ten minutes later, they were outside Snape's dungeon. Lystra looked around. "Pleasant place." She meant it for real, but the girls took it for sarcasm.

"Yeah, I know," Lavender giggled. "It weirds me out every time I see it, what with all the things floating in jars.."

They followed Lystra into the dungeon and sat down beside her as she took a seat at the front of the class. "Are you sure you want to sit here?" Parvati warned. "With Snape - it's best for Gryffindors to sit at the back of the class."

Lystra gave her a puzzled look as Snape came in. "Whyever would that be?" In truth, she wanted to get a better look at Snape, the traitor who had betrayed so many Death Eaters and lived to tell.

Snape came in, frowning at a sheet in his hands. "Well, well. Once again, we have Potions together, Gryffindors. And who is this?" he caught sight of Lystra. "Our new Gry-"

But suddenly, his mouth went slack and he froze, staring at Lystra in shock. On her left hand was a small black pearl ring - the symbol of Voldemort's most elite female followers, Death Angels.

He gaped at the ring and the class gaped at him. Never before had he done such a thing for a Gryffindor, not even for Harry Potter.

Lystra stared coolly back at him.

Snape shook his head abruptly. It couldn't be - it couldn't be. Not here, in this school. What would a Death Angel be doing here in Potions? The girl must've gotten the black pearl ring from some Muggle shop. He cleared his throat and continued. "Your name would be Lystra Riddle?"

"Yes," said Lystra.

"And how far were you in Potions at Durmstrang?"

"Highest level, sir. Potions is my best subject." Lystra smiled to herself. It was only stretching the truth a little. Her major had been in Poisons, not Potions.

"Very well. Then you'd know the ingredients to a Shattering Solution?"

Nice try, Snape. "Bison tail hair, Invisible Chokevines, four pints of toad mucus, and ground dragon's teeth."

Snape was wordless for a moment. Then abruptly, he snapped his mouth shut. "All right then, you should be prepared to make it! Get out your cauldrons, all of you, and begin immediately. The ingredients are set out at the back table." There were groans, but Snape did not hear them, as he was sweeping off to the headmaster's office.

Dumbledore looked up as he entered. "Problems, Severus?" he asked pleasantly, scribbling at something in a thick old book.

Snape hesitated. He felt kind of stupid, but .. "I think the new transfer student may be affiliated with Voldemort."

Dumbledore stopped scribbling and looked at him over the tops of his glasses. "And what makes you think that?"

"She - well, she wears a ring in the traditional style of a Death Angel."

"Pray explain what a Death Angel is, Mr. Snape."

Snape sighed and sat down on one of the chairs. "Not many know about the Death Angels. They were the elite female squad of Voldemort's creation. He created them himself, in experiments with life and death, and they are all consequently both beautiful and deadly. Each has been trained profusely in killing and secrecy."

Dumbledore frowned and tapped the quill on his chin, causing ink spots to splatter onto his beard, but he didn't seem to notice.

"And you think Lystra Riddle is one?"

"Yes. She wears a ring on her left hand that is the mark of a Death Angel - a black pearl. It's supposed to have some sort of power, but we Death Eaters never knew much about them."

The headmaster looked down at the huge old book he was reading and sighed. "I want to believe you, Severus, but I can't throw her out because of vague suspicions."

Snape sighed. I didn't think he was going to believe me. "Just - keep an extra eye on her, all right?"

Dumbledore nodded.

As Snape got up to leave, he paused and turned at the door. "And," he said pointedly, "if she really does turn out to be a Death Angel, she will be in the same dormitory as Harry Potter."

He left.

Dumbledore sighed and put his head down on his desk.

Fawkes piped a single soft, mournful note.

*

A/N: Is the font more readable? Have you lost the plot? Is it moving too slowly? Does it seem confusing? And above all, ARE THERE ANY PLOT HOLES? ;) I seriously need a beta reader. Toodle-oo! ~CM (P.S.: As advertised above, reviews mean the world to me.....AND you get a personal note on the next one!