A/N: You guys still here?? *Breaths sigh of relief*

Disclaimer: I only own Liliana Grey, her family, and some of the plot. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this and have no intention of doing so. Just for fun. :-)

*Chapter Six*

"I will ask you once more… What are the properties of powdered root of asphodel? This is a review question, and if I am forced to repeat myself I will not hesitate to take points away from both Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"Powdered asphodel root is responsible for…" began Hermione loudly. She had had her hand up since the moment Snape asked the question and he had purposely refused to call on her.

"I will not tolerate your sudden outbursts Miss. Granger! Five points from Gryffindor!"

Millicent Bulstrode scanned the pages of her textbook while Snape addressed Hermione and raised her hand. "Five points to Slytherin for that well thought out answer Miss. Bulstrode," he said proudly, after she'd recited what she read.

Hermione mumbled under her breath from the time the three left the classroom to the time they reached the Gryffindor Commons room. At that point, she muttered something to the boys and ran up to her room. Liliana lay on her stomach in her bed, making use of several muggle devices to add color to her fingernails.

"You know you could do so much faster with magic?" Hermione said quietly, as she threw her bag on the floor and flopped onto her bed. 

"I know," Liliana began without looking up, "but I find this really relaxing…" she glanced briefly at Hermione and smiled.

Hermione didn't return the smile however; she simply sat up and spoke quietly,  "Look… whatever Malfoy said earlier… I apologize for it."

"He didn't say anything."

"He didn't?" asked Hermione, trying her hardest to hide her relief.

"He was going to… but then he got other ideas I suppose."

"What happened? I didn't see that part."

Liliana bit her lip. She had come close to telling Hermione that she seemed to have a strange habit of choosing what she saw to fit her mood, but Liliana knew that she was just trying to be kind. "You didn't?" was all that she finally managed to say.

Hermione shook her head.

"When he came over to Ron and I, he told me that you'd asked him to deliver a message to me. So I followed him to…Oops!" she exclaimed, as she knocked over a bottle of nail varnish. After a quick cleaning spell, she continued. "So I was saying that I didn't know him and if you had anything to say to me, you'd tell me yourself. That's when he got in my face… like he was going to whisper something, but I just repeated what I said and I pushed him away. He hadn't been expecting it, so he sort of tripped. And when he did he called me a… well… something pretty mean, and that's when the crowd formed."

"Oh."

"Yep," she said, holding her hand out in front of her to admire her work. "It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself."

Hermione laughed.

"I shouldn't have started anything though," she said suddenly.

"Why not?"

"I should have just let it pass. I have a horrible temper. And if you guys weren't there, and you didn't do the expelliarmus…" she trailed off.

"I doubt that Malfoy would've done anything too serious."

"I don't know. And besides, I haven't even been sorted and I've already got a detention."

"That's perfectly fine. You wouldn't believe how many detentions Ron, Harry, and I have racked up over the years," she said wistfully. "And you do know that Ron's not my boyfriend, right?" she added.

"No, I didn't know that," Liliana looked back to her nails, "but he's cute, don't tell me that you've never considered it," she finished playfully.

"When I look at Ron, it's hard to think attractive. I see him, and I think of a somewhat annoying brother."

It was Liliana's turn to laugh. "What class do you have now?"

Hermione thought for a moment, "Ancient Runes and Transfiguration…"

"At the same time?"

"Yes…" answered Hermione, a bit sheepishly.

"Timeturner?" asked Liliana, as though it were the common solution.

"How'd you know?"  asked Hermione, more shocked than anything else.

"Just a lucky guess, which one are you going to first?"

"I'll probably go with you and the boys to Transfiguration. And speaking of Ron and Harry, they'll probably want a full account of everything that happened in the dungeons."

"Hold on then," said Liliana, as she carefully picked up her wand and performed a drying spell.

*~*~*

Transfiguration passed rather uneventfully. The students were supposed to be reviewing the chapter on beginner's human Transfiguration while Professor McGonagall gave pairs practical quizzes in her office.

Halfway into class, Parvati Patil, who had been reciting noisily the whole time, inadvertently said an incantation while waving her wand. Thereby causing Ron to grow a rat's tail and whiskers. What was funniest though, was when Ron got up and turned to face Parvati, accidentally swinging his tail 'round, knocking Liliana clean off her chair and to the ground.

"Are you alright?" asked Ron of Liliana for what seemed like the hundredth time after class.    

"Ron, I'm fine, my bum's a bit sore from the fall… but I'm fine. How are you?"

"Same. My bum is throbbing and my face still itches," he laughed, rubbing his cheeks where the whiskers had been minutes earlier.

"Sorry Ron," said Parvati quietly from behind him, where she had arrived seconds earlier. "I just wanted to apologize again," she said, touching his face gently. "And I wanted to let you know that McGonagall only took away five points. But she gave five back because Hermione knew the reversal spell. Well. Er, I have to go, but I'll see you later?" she asked awkwardly.

"Sure, I mean, I guess," said Ron, as Parvati touched his shoulder, smiling before turning back to her friends.

"I'd say that she fancies you Ron," said Harry casually, as the three made their way to the Great Hall.

"You think so?" he asked.

"I agree Ron, and I don't even know her," added Liliana teasingly.

"Are you sitting with us for dinner?" asked Ron, as they entered the Great Hall.

"I guess it wouldn't kill me," she smirked.

"If you're lucky," remarked Harry lightly.

"Alright then," she said cautiously.

"I'm only playing," he said, but it didn't seem like he really meant it.

"What's Ancient Runes like, Hermione?" asked Liliana during dinner, once the latter had met up with them after her class.

"It's quite interesting really," she said, before launching into a full account of everything that they'd covered in class that day.

"Thanks," said Liliana, after Hermione had finished.

"Thanks for what?" she quest.

"Thanks for reminding me why I didn't take that class," she laughed.


Hermione, however, saw this as an opportunity for her to explain all the positives about the class. She didn't stop until they reached the Commons Room and Ron raised his hand. "Excuse me Miss.," he said.

"Oh. Sorry Ron, I didn't realise how much I was talking…" she blushed.

"I just wondering, Liliana, where are you going to sleep?"

"Dumbledore already has a bed up there for her," answered Hermione with a wave of her hand. 

"Yeah, but I don't really want to think about sleep now. I've got an hour to kill before I go to detention, and I want to enjoy it."

"That's true, so, do you play Wizard's Chess?" asked Ron.

"No."

"Exploding snap?" ventured Harry.

"Nope, sorry."

"Then what do you do?"

"Hold on. I've got this thing. I don't know if you'll want to play it or not, but my sister and I do all the time."

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"It's in my bag. Come with me?" asked Liliana, excited by the prospect of sharing her game with them. She and Hermione came down the staircase after a few minutes. When they reached the couches where the boys, with the addition of Neville Longbottom sat, Liliana held out a small, orange, velvet satchel.

"The concept is quite simple. You reach your hand into the bag and an object will appear. Once you pull it out, you'll be the only one able to see it. You have to make everyone else guess what it is you've got. And you have two minutes. Oh, and you can't use obvious words… like if it's a ball, you can't say round, bouncy, things like that, or, well, I'll explain what happens if it happens," when she finished, she passed the bag to Neville and sat down. "Go first."

Neville reached into the bag, felt around for a bit, and then pulled his hand out. His fingers were curled around something, but apparently only he could see it.

"It's something we use everyday," he said.

"A wand?" guessed Hermione.

"No. It's something you drink from, in the Great Hall…" slowly a goblet began to materialize in Neville's hand.

"You shouldn't have said that," warned Liliana.

"Why not?"

"Go on and try to put the goblet down," she dared.

Neville began to panic as he tried to shake it off of his hand. He yelled a bit when he realised that it was stuck there. "How do I get it off?"

"You've got to make us guess another one."

Thirty minutes and five objects later, Neville had managed to get a bowler hat, a spoon, a picture frame, a chicken leg, and a quill all stuck to him. Between fits of laughter, Liliana excused herself for detention.

"Wait, Liliana," called Neville as she made for the portrait hole, "what happens if I never make them guess one?"

"Honestly, I don't know. They'll probably fall off eventually," she shook her head in faux sympathy at him and left.

~*~*~

 It was bitterly cold in the dungeons. Liliana folded her arms and sighed, she should have brought her heavy cloak.

"Cold?" called a voice from behind her. Draco Malfoy was walking briskly toward her, no doubt headed for detention as well.

"Just a little," she said sarcastically.

"Well now you know to bring a cloak when you're down here the next time, which will be sometime tomorrow, correct?"

"Yeah."

Draco smirked as he walked alongside her and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. Liliana was sure that she heard him say something about being toasty. "Where'd you get that cloak?" she asked after a few moments.

"It's by Hide & Black," he said nonchalantly, as though owning a cloak by such an expensive designer were commonplace.

"I thought so, I have the same one," she said, erasing the smug look on Draco's face.

"I doubt it's the exact one," he mused, showing her his initials embroidered elaborately just below his left breast.

"You're right," she said smiling, "mine says Liliana on it."

"It's a shame you don't have it then."

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" she asked later.

"I think you should be."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand.

He stopped to look at her. He chuckled emotionlessly before meeting her hand with his own. "The pleasure's all mine."

When they reached Snape's door, Liliana began to knock, but Draco just smirked and pushed it open.

"With seconds to spare," scoffed Snape when they walked in. "Since you missed class today, I think it best that you help me grade the concoctions that your classmates brewed. Draco, you will be testing the Slytherin potions, and you," he said, pointing to Liliana, "can test the Gryffindor's."

"My name is Liliana, thought you might want to know," she said, looking Snape in the eye.

"Sit." She and Draco obeyed. "These potions are supposed to change the color of one's eyes, but some of them," he said, casting a glance at a sickeningly orange one, "well, I am not sure what they'll do."  He pushed the orange one at Liliana, "Ronald Weasley."

She took the stopper off of the vile and poured some of the liquid into the goblet that Snape had provided. She closed her eyes and drank it. It was awful. She pulled a face as it hit her stomach.

"Pitiful," said Snape as he scribbled something down on a piece of parchment.

"What did it do?" she asked. Draco conjured a mirror and gave it to her. It took all of her dignity to stop her from screaming when she saw her reflection. Her nose had turned bright red and her eyebrows were gone.  

"Eat one of these after each potion," he said, sliding a plate of biscuits over to her. "I have other things to do, so as you test each one, be sure to record the effects and the name of the person responsible for the atrocity." With that, he stood and left.

"He can't make us do this can he?" asked Liliana as she bit into the biscuit.

"Yes, he can. But this isn't too bad compared to some of the stuff that they make us do here."

"That's just great. But couldn't we just make up the results?"

"No. He'd know the difference. So I suggest you get to it."

She sighed as she pulled a teal potion over to her and uncapped it.

"You might want to clean out your goblet before you pour anything else in there. You do know how don't you?"

"Yes," she said, taking her wand out.

Draco conjured a mirror for himself and poured a normal looking potion into his cup. He looked at his mirror and scoffed, "brown."

After a few more potions, Liliana's eyes had been black, blue, and yellow. She had also developed freckles that wouldn't go away even after she'd eaten three biscuits. In an hour, she'd finished all of the Gryffindor potions. She turned to Draco who was busy staring at his reflection.

"What's the matter?"

"None of your business."

"Ha!" she exclaimed when he put down the mirror. "That's pathetic." Draco's once silvery eyes were now an ugly greenish brown.

"Shut up," he snapped. "Do you think those freckles do anything for you?"

"I'll figure out what to do with them in the morning. I can't be bothered now," she said, stifling a yawn.

"You know, this is your fault."

"It's always my fault."

"No really. This is your fault."

"How is that?"

"It is. You know it is."

"What are you going to do about it?" He didn't respond. "Are we supposed to wait for him to get back?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Look," he said, pointing to two slips of paper on Snape's desk.

"Oh," she said, grabbing one of the notes and walking out. "Goodbye then."

"Do try and keep warm," he said mockingly, as he closed the door behind him.

*The End Of Chapter Six*

A/N: Good? I hope so. Stay tuned for Chapter Seven, it should be up soon, it's somewhat done.