I'm trying to get a bit more done before the people I baby-sit for get home :-)

Catteni- it should stay like this for a while, but who knows ;-)

Kawaii Tenshi- I liked having Malfoy get kneed, too. ::smacks self:: That's why I put it in. I'll keep them together 'till the end... of me wanting to keep them together. :-D I'm also happy you're satisfied with the pairing.

DreamBlaze- I know a lot of people like Draco better, but I was going for something a bit… different. And I like Wood the best (especially after the movie). But I'm glad you like it anyway!

…- I'm glad you love it.

Kalliza- lot's of people prefer Harry/Usagi, but I'm going for something a little different… we can just pretend they're closer in age, ne? and remember Mamoru/Usagi, that's an even bigger difference.

Lunis- you're welcome… I'm ecstatic that you like the pairing! (sorry, I was getting tired of using glad & happy, so I used the good ol' thesaurus)

Bunni V- I'm not turning into Voldemort ::tear:: it might get better for you, though

Aidenn Legacy- Well, most of the Gryffindors seem to think so, so it might be ;-)

Cheska- you ARE getting a bit ahead… I'm going to kinda skim through the second year (once I get there) so everything will come together… er… eventually.

Nicole- I'm sorry you feel that way… what I usually find works best is when you just forget about ages and stuff and go with the story. That's basically what I did when writing it. And it isn't child molesting, he's technically a child, too (14/15). Don't forget the Mamoru/Usagi thing. How old is he? 19-21ish? And Usagi is only 14. That's a five year dif. (at the least) and I only have a four year dif.

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Usagi's eyes widened when she saw the huge layout of food, but Oliver insisted that she dance with him, first.
After several dances, he walked her over to the food, and chuckled to himself as he saw her tuck in. "Don't forget there's a feast later, Usagi," he said.

"I know," Usagi said, still eating. After about five minutes of this, he dragged her away to dance some more.

Although Usagi was Oliver's date (and girlfriend), many people asked her to dance, and she was too kind-hearted to turn them down. Oliver understood perfectly, however, because several girls also waited to claim his attention.

After a very fast dance with both Fred and George at the same time, Usagi was surprised that she had survived. Both of them were very energetic, and they'd twirl her around like the little slip of a thing she was. She looked around for Oliver, but he was dancing with a third-year Ravenclaw. As her eyes roved the rest of the crowd for the face of one of her friends, however, her eyes settled on Harry, standing in a corner and sipping punch.

"May I have this dance?" Usagi asked, bowing dramatically until most of her hair was on the floor, and then straightening. She grinned as she noticed that it was in the same state it had been in months before when she'd landed on the floor in his hall.

"Sure," said Harry distantly, shrugging. After Usagi had straightened her hair out, they began to dance to what promised to be a great fast song. As songs often do, though, it changed into a slow song. Usagi was a bit uncomfortable at this, but Harry had already put his hands on her hips, so she clasped hers lightly behind his neck.

I can't believe she's actually dancing with me... Harry thought happily. His joyous thoughts were cut off quickly, however, when an icy voice said, "May I cut in?"

The owner of the voice didn't wait for a response. He shoved Harry aside, and Usagi found herself dancing with none other than Draco Malfoy.

Moving casually across the floor, Draco was inches from the door. He grabbed Usagi and dragged her out into the hall, leaving her no time to shout for a friend to help.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Malfoy spat at her. "First you make friends with Potter, then you hurt your own housemates, and then you go out with Wood!"

"What, are you jealous of me now? Jealous because I finally have FRIENDS in this place after you all made sure I wouldn't have any?" Usagi said nastily, her anger colouring her face pink.

"No. I'm angry because you betrayed your whole house!" Malfoy nearly screamed at her

"For your information, I haven't betrayed my house! I am a GRYFFINDOR, not a stupid Slytherin. I've never been a Slytherin. The hat might have said I was, but I never had friends there, I never fit in there, so I was never a Slytherin," Usagi was getting angrier at his words.

"Well, didn't you notice how you only got your friends after you hurt me? They only like you because they don't like me-" if Malfoy was going to say anything else, he never did, because Usagi smacked him soundly on the cheek a stormed back into the Great Hall.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

After Usagi had told a few of her friends about what had happened, she wasn't left alone for a single second during the rest of the dance. Oliver would allow no one else to dance with her, and would hover around her protectively when she stopped and began to eat.

The promised feast was interrupted, however, by Professor Quirrel sprinting into the Great Hall, screaming, "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" then stopping short and saying faintly, "Thought you ought to know…" before fainting. They were all sent back to their dormitories, but Usagi noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione were missing.

When she showed her concern over this to Oliver, he said, "They'll be fine, I know it."

When the three showed up, Usagi dashed over to them and demanded to know where they had been.

Ron and Hermione blushed and said that they were famished, but Harry told the (shortened) story. "Well, Hermione got upset and hid in the bathroom, but we had to tell her about the troll, so we went to warn her but the troll was in there. Ron and I confused it a bit, and then Ron made it hit itself with the club. We only got five points for knocking it out, though," he added disappointedly.

"You're worried about only five points when you could have been killed?!" Usagi shrieked at him. Then she grinned and said, "Good job. I'm hungry, let's go get food."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The rest of the time before the holidays passed in an exciting enough fashion. Gryffindor won in their first Quidditch match, and Usagi signed up to stay at Hogwarts. Harry, Hermione, and all the Weasleys were also staying, but everyone else from their house was returning home.

"Oh, well," Usagi sighed in mock disappointment. "I suppose we'll have to survive having the whole entire house area to ourselves… what a pity. Too bad, it really- TAG!" she shouted suddenly, smacking Ron on the head and dashing away. Everyone else also recognized the implications of this and scampered.

Percy, who was doing homework, said, "Really! You're all acting quite chilidish!"

Fred, dashing past (he'd just been tagged) said, "Don't blame us, Usagi started it! You're it!" he said joyously as he tapped Percy.

"Oh, now you're going to get it BAD!" Percy hollered, chasing after him.

The days before Christmas passed in much this way, with snowball fights and childish games raging on. Somehow, they also managed to avoid any Slytherins, and hardly ever ran into a single Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Usagi awoke Christmas morning with a large pile of presents at the foot of her bed. She glanced over at Hermione's bed, and seeing the girl STILL asleep, she chucked a pillow at her and yelled, "Wake up, baka! It's Christmas!"

"Wh-wha?" Hermione said groggily, starting up. Her face cleared, and she exclaimed, "Presents!"

They both tore into their gifts. Usagi received some clothes (both muggle and wizard) and money from her parents, a huge, pink stuffed bunny from her brother, and a huge assortment of sweets from Harry, Ron and Hermione. There were still two presents left, one clearly marked from Oliver, the other without any type of tag.

She opened the one from Oliver first. He had had a picture taken of them while they were on the roof, looking out over the lake. It was a very good picture, and everything in it moved. The lake rippled, trees swayed in a slight breeze, and their hair flew a little bit (the picture had been taken from behind, so Usagi wouldn't notice).

She set it down on the bedside table in the frame he'd put it in, and turned to the last gift. Strangely, it was simply a set of instructions. They said:

Go to the top floor, and ask the knight for directions to the Moonlit Lady.

Once there, say, "Kitty stalks by moonlight."

Merry Christmas!

Thinking this was the oddest thing, she obediently followed the instructions. It had taken her nearly five minutes to get the crazy knight to calm down enough to show her to the Moonlit Lady. He left her as soon as he had made sure that that was all she needed.

The Moonlit Lady was a statue of a girl with long hair, and wearing a flowing gown a tiara. Usagi spoke the password (for what else could it be?) and the statue cracked down the side, opening like a standing-up coffin. Usagi stepped in and it snapped closed behind her, but before her lay a flight of stairs. She descended the staircase, and found herself in a beautiful room.

It looked like it must have been a bedroom at one time, for there was an elegant canopy bed in one corner. There were also several chairs in a U-formation around the fireplace. Other than a wardrobe and the aforementioned objects, however, the room was completely empty.

Usagi walked over to the wardrobe and pulled it open. A wrinkled and very old piece of parchment fluttered down to her feet, and she picked it up and flopped onto the bed before she even glanced into the closet. When she did, she gasped. It was filled with beautiful white dresses, just like the one on the statue outside. There were also several pairs of white slippers {A/N: the shoe kind, folks, not fuzzy wear-around-house kind.} and a ratty old box. She didn't get up to look in any of the drawers, but instead glanced back at the note.

If you are reading this, you are my one, true descendant.

There is much you must learn about your past, but just as much about your future and the present. This room, and all it's contents, are yours by right. Much of it is invisible to the human eye, but it is there. Reach out your senses and feel it, and then you will see.

If you have trouble understanding any of this, I want you to go to your half-brother. He knows much about everything you will find.

It is up to you if you wish to keep this room secret, but only one human may come here other than you.

Queen Serenity

Usagi looked up, shocked. Reach out your senses… the words of the note drifted back into her mind. She experimented with this, trying to figure out just what was meant. At last, her mind seemed to collide with something, and she looked up. A huge shelf had appeared, and upon it sat many books. Wanting to know about her half-brother, and also how all this could be hers, she crossed to the shelf and picked up a book that had a title reading My Diary in the same script as was on the note.

She opened it, and flipped through, skimming the pages. Each one was filled with things from this Queen's life, how she had come to Hogwarts and been torn between two people: Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Snape had been a teacher not much older than herself, and Malfoy had been a student the year ahead of her.

Heart pounding, Usagi turned to the last page, and her dream was described in exact detail upon it. It was a memory, she thought frantically; it was this queen's memory. As she read it, she realized something else. It's also a memory of my history… or at least something that affects my life. Slamming the book shut, and flinging the doors to the wardrobe closed, Usagi dashed out of the room. She sprinted down to the Entrance Hall, and raced in the direction of Professor Snape's office.

"OK, Severus," she snapped at the man. "Explain this." She handed the diary to him, and told him, "Last page."

His fingers trembling, he opened to the last page and read it.

"Are you my half-brother?" Usagi demanded. "Am I adopted? Was I given away by my real mother?"

"I don't know… but this was my mother," he said softly, "And she left me when I was a baby. Where did you get this?"

Usagi remained silent for a second, and then said, "I'm not telling you until I know about my past. Can you contact your father? I'd like to speak with him."

Snape simply nodded, still stunned at this girl's outburst, and surprised that she had found his mother's room.

*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I think I'll leave it a little cliffy… not to horribly huge, as you all know who her mother is… or I HOPE you do. ;-)

Oh, and one thing: Lucius is older than Snape in this… I've been trying to figure out how to make that work, and that seems like the best explanation… it never said that Snape and Lucius went to school together :-D

And Usagi might find her powers really early… because I don't want to draw this out too long.

~**Rini**~