"Hey, you ready yet Moony? I thought you were supposed to have left by now."

"I know Padfoot; I'm on my way now."

Sirius grinned at his friend, "you wouldn't want to leave the new first years in suspense now would you? Besides the rest of the students will be here anytime."

"I'm going, I'm going, besides, you need to get yourself to the Great Hall." Remus took off down the hallway, rushing so as not to be late.

Sirius grinned and sauntered off in the other direction. As he entered the Great Hall he couldn't help but be impressed. He thought it always looked magnificent. He leaned his head back to get a better view of the enchanted ceiling and the floating candle sticks. He understood completely how many students were speechless upon entering the Great Hall for the first time. However, the Snape children were being anything but quiet as the waited impatiently on the other side of the room. Sirius laughed, the twins and Kamen had obviously been up to something, Severus was over there now, probably telling them to behave for about the millionth time, Sirius thought wryly.

Kamen smiled roguishly at his sisters, "well, this is it, the end of our freedom for yet another term," he watched as their father walked away, "now we have to make sure we're not caught when we do something."

Serena rolled her eyes, "Kamen, I swear, you look for trouble and then you drag us in with you."

"But it's more fun that way, besides, I like having accomplices who can take the blame." He winked at her.

Serena was about to make an angry retort when the large doors to the Great Hall were thrown open. Dierna let out a squeal as one Gryffindor boy rushed in ahead of the other students and wrapped his arms around her, spinning her around, before kissing her on the cheek; he then repeated the process with Serena.

"And how are my best girls? I missed you ladies this summer."

"Nick, its soooo good to see you!" Dierna grinned widely at her friend as he slipped his arms around her and Serena's shoulders as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Now we can really start having fun."

"I am so ready for you girls this year, I have lots planned already." His joking expression turned serious, "now, I hope that you have been practicing over the summer, I don't like having slackers on my team."

Serena laughed, "Yes captain, we have been practicing."

Nick laughed, unable to keep up the solemn face any longer. He was captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and following in the steps of his father, Oliver Wood, he was the team keeper.

Kamen slid into a seat across from them, with William Darcy next to him. "So Wood got any great plays planned out for us?"

Nick smiled, "yeah, although I should probably wait till a team meeting to talk about them," he paused for a moment, "then again, I have most of my team here don't I?" He grinned, Dierna, Kamen, and William were the team chases, and Serena was one of the beaters, they were only missing two members from their house team.

As Nick turned back to Dierna and Serena, who were busily telling him about what had happened the day before in the forbidden forest, William turned to Kamen, who was his closest friend. "Look at that git, he keeps trying to talk to me, even bought me some new quidditch play books; he's trying to buy me over to his side." He nodded his head towards the head table, glaring at Sirius Black, the fool that was going to marry his mother.

Kamen frowned slightly, he had no problems with Professor Black, but out of loyalty to his friend he would work to distance himself from the offending man. "I'm sure that between the two of us we can avoid him whenever possible, and perhaps prepare a few 'surprises' for him as well."

William shook his head, trying to dispel the angry thoughts that filled his head. His father had been dead for just a couple of years, and yet his mother was already remarrying. And of course she had to choose this fool. He turned to grin at his friend, "Yes, I'm sure we'll be able to manage something."

The chatter in the Great Hall came to a halt when the doors opened again. Remus Lupin was at the head of a scared looking bunch of first years, who were looking around themselves in awe at their impressive surroundings.

Everyone watched as the first years were led to the front of the Great Hall and while Remus produced a three legged stool and brought out the sorting hat. He sat the sorting hat on the stool and everyone watched as the hat began its song.

Dierna leaned over Nick to talk with Serena, "the seventh year boys are having a party tonight, and they wanted to know if we're in or not. They promised to have plenty of 'refreshments'. What do you think?"

Serena shook her head, "probably not a good idea, I have no desire to do anything like that before the first day of classes."

Dierna smiled in relief, "good, I don't particularly feel like going either." She sat back up and smiled when Nick slid an arm around her waist.

"It's good to be back with my girls, my life isn't nearly as much fun when you're not around."

Dierna leaned her head against his shoulder; she loved having Nick as a best friend. They were very loyal to each other. Nick even went so far as to ward of any guys who took an interest in Dierna, he said that it was because he had to make sure Stefan didn't end up with any competition.

The sorting hat had finished its song and now Remus had pulled out a list with the names of all the first years on it.

As he started to go through the names Morgan leaned in close to Severus, "so, want to place any bets this year on where children of alumni get sorted?"

"No, I find it absolutely disgraceful that you would even suggest something of that nature," he frowned at her.

Morgan winked at him, "that's just because you lost last year."

"That is beside the point."

Morgan grinned unrepentantly, "you know you want to smile... you want to. Come one Sev, drop the stern teacher act and smile for me."

"Stop it Morgan," he growled at her.

"You're no fun when you act like a teacher."

"I'm trying to learn the names of students I will have in class, would you leave me alone."

Morgan tried desperately not to laugh; he was so much fun to tease. She knew that she would hear about this later, not that she minded. She enjoyed seeing her husband drop the teacher act and transform into the man that she desperately loved.

She was about to try start bothering him again when a name caught her attention.

"Potter, Brandon," she heard Remus call out.

She noticed that Harry, who was on her other side leaned forward slightly, impatiently waiting to see where his son would be placed.

"Slytherin!" the sorting hat cried out.

Harry felt his jaw drop; he quickly collected himself enough to clap as his son made his way to the Slytherin table.

Severus nearly chocked as he tried to hold back his laughter. The look on Potter's face had been priceless.

"Stop that," Morgan hissed as she pinched her husband's arm, "honestly Sev, control yourself."

Severus leaned over his wife, "well Potter now you have some vague idea of how I feel. Don't worry; I'm sure that your son will be very happy in my house."

Harry ran a hand through his messy hair, "well, I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting that." He grinned wryly, "but I guess the sorting hat knows what its doing."

Morgan smiled and placed her hand over Harry's, "don't let Sev get to you, just be warned, he's not going to drop this anytime soon."

Morgan watched the rest of the sorting ceremony in silence, smiling broadly when Lori was sorted into Gryffindor. Her smile only widened when Severus made a low comment about having another "damnable Gryffindor" in the family.

Before the feast began Professor McGonagall made several start of term announcements, stressing the fact that the forbidden forest was still of limits, her gaze lingering on the Gryffindor table as she made that announcement. After the incidents of the day before the staff had had an urgent meeting concerning the safety of the school. However, since that attack had occurred off of the school grounds where there were no protections in use they could do nothing else for the time being. But, the Ministry had been alerted and Minerva could only hope that any further attacks could be prevented.

At what felt like way too early to most of the students the next morning, the Great Hall began to fill has everyone headed down for breakfast. Kamen and William groggily made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down near Nick, Dierna, and Serena, who were already become inseparable again. Nimue and Ophelia were sitting together a little further down the table chatting happily.

Kamen buried his head in his arms when he sat down at the table, "remind me never to throw a party like that on a school night again."

Serena grinned wickedly, "last night a bit rough?"

William answered when he saw that Kamen had fallen asleep, "lets put it this way, we didn't get to bed till around 4:30."

Professor Lupin came by at that moment with their schedules; he tapped Kamen on the shoulder, "alright sleeping beauty, time to wake up and make sure you get to bed at a decent time tonight, I don't want you falling asleep in my class tomorrow."

"Yeah, alright, I'm up, I'm awake, leave me alone," Kamen took his schedule and groaned when he looked at it, "I should just go back to bed. This is too cruel; I have potions first this morning. Having Dad first thing on a Monday morning is never a good thing."

"We've got you beat," Severna sighed as she skimmed her schedule, "we have potions Friday afternoon. All of his other classes will have already had time to piss him off by the time we get to him."

Ginny rushed to answer the door, "Meg, I'm so glad you were able to make it.

She embraced her sister-in-law warmly. For as long as their husbands had been teachers Ginny and Meg had made sure to get together at least once a week to visit over tea. The two women smiled as Lily rushed in to drag two of Meg's children off to play, eight year old Kassandra and 6 year old Diana, who both had their father's red hair and soft brown eyes.

"Can I hold him?"

"Of course," Meg handed a sleeping Alan over to Ginny, who cradled the infant lovingly as they made their way into the living room. Meg sat down on the couch, helping her three year old twins, Bran and Branwen up beside her. With their curly blond hair and large bright blue eyes the toddles strongly resembled their mother in looks.

Ginny took a seat in a chair across from Meg, she gazed down at the tiny infant in her arms, who was waking up, "he's so adorable Meg. With that red hair and your beautiful blue eyes, but I think he's going to look just like his daddy when he gets older." She smiled a git sadly, "it's been a long time since I've had one this small."

Meg grinned and winked at her friend, "well you're welcome to one of mine if you want. Charlie can only make it home on the weekends and handling the five of them on my own during the week is going to get old real fast."

Ginny laughed, "I can only imagine. My Lily is such a sweetheart, but she can be a real handful sometimes. I only wish Harry would consider coming home on the weekends..." she sighed.

"Oh Ginny, are things still going that bad?"

Ginny nodded miserably, "I just don't know what to do anymore. The first few years were amazing; we were so in love with each other. Then, I don't know what happened. Harry started becoming distant. I tried for so long, I tried so many ways. I'm ready to just give up."

Meg stood up and embraced Ginny, "Have you discussed your options yet?"

Ginny shook her head, "not yet, we're planning on making a decision over Christmas break."

"What do you want?"

"I want this marriage to work, but I just don't think it will. I love him Meg; I love him more than I can say. But, I'm tired; I'm tired of living my life for someone who doesn't appreciate me. I can't even remember the last time he told me that he loved me. When he stopped saying it I did too. I know this isn't all his fault, I know I'm partly to blame. I don't think it would be right for us to stay together if our only reason to is the children, that's not good enough for me."

"Ginny, listen to me," Meg gently took place her hands on either side of Ginny's face, "you will get through this, no matter what happens to your marriage you will get through this. And me and Charlie will be there for you, I promise. You don't have to go through this alone."

Dierna, Serena, and Nick walked quickly along the hall. They had loitered around after their History of Magic class and now had to rush if they were going to make it to Transfiguration on time.

Serena fell back slightly, there was a large group of Slytherins coming from the opposite direction and taking up most of the hallway. One tall blond haired Slytherin boy ran into Serena, knocking both of their books to the ground. "Watch where you're going Gryffindor," his voice was laced with malice.

Serena knelt down to pick up her books as the Slytherin boy knelt down very close to her, gathering his belongings. "Meet me tonight at 8?" He whispered for her ears only.

Serena shook her head, "no, make it 9, I can't get out before then."

"Same place?"

She nodded silently.

They both stood up, "try to be more careful next time Gryffindor," he stressed the name, making it sound like an insult.

Serena quickly hurried to catch up with Dierna and Nick who were waiting for her further up the hallway, a small smile played at her lips. She was playing with fire and she liked it.

"I can't believe we have homework after only one day back," Dierna groaned as she opened her transfiguration book. "This is cruel; we shouldn't have to do any work on during the first week back.

Serena merely mumbled an absent reply; she was too busy watching the clock. It was getting very close to 9. "I think I left something in the library, I'll be back later." Serena got up and quickly left the Gryffindor common room through the portrait hole.

Dierna shook her head; they hadn't been in the library at all. But she smiled; she knew exactly where her sister was going and loved it. It was all very secretive and romantic to her mind.

Serena quickly made her way down a long deserted corridor and slipped outside using a secret passage way. She moved along the wall of the school, glancing up at the dark sky. The twilight was very beautiful. She felt a slight shiver run up her back as she finally reached the greenhouses; she ducked behind the farthest one and waited.

She tensed, holding her breath when she heard footsteps coming in her direction but sighed when Mark came around the corner. She smiled at him in the dark, with his golden blond hair and deep grey eyes she thought he was one of the most dashing guys she had ever seen.

Mark wrapped his arms around Serena and kissed her deeply, delighting in the way she responded to his touch. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her into him, before dipping his head to nuzzle her neck. "I missed you this summer."

Serena sighed, "I missed you too."

"Do we want to continue keeping this a secret?"

"Yes, you know what my dad would be like if he found out I had a boyfriend. The two of us would never get any peace. We would be watched constantly," she buried her face in his chest.

"I know, besides the thought of the crap we would have to put up from our houses doesn't sound very appealing."

"This is ridiculous. Why can't they just let us have a normal relationship?"

Mark laughed softly as he quoted, "two houses, both alike in dignity..."

Serena laughed too, "that is so true, but don't get any crazy ideas about me sacrificing myself for you." She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him.

"You're cute when you do that," he tapped her on the nose with one finger. Serena wrinkled her nose in disgust when he did that, which only made him laugh harder. "I love you."

Serena wrapped her arms around him again, "love you too."

"How long should we stay out here?"

She sighed, "Probably not too much longer, Dierna can only cover for me for so long. Besides, I have homework to work on."

Mark rolled his eyes at her, "come on, I'm much more important than any homework you have."

"I should go...

"No, stay with me."

"I can't, and you know that."

Mark kissed her again, gently cradling her face between his hands. He deepened the kiss when her hands began to wander.

Serena pulled away, "I need to go."

"Meet me tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Stefan pulled the long black cloak around him, hardly aware of the warm night breeze. He felt very cold inside. He raised his hand and knocked on the old wooden door and felt his heart clutch in terror when it slowly swung open.

Gathering all of the courage he could while facing Walden Macnair, who had his wand aimed at him, Stefan dove right in, "I've come in response to the letter you sent me. I wish to join your forces."

Macnair kept the want trained on Stefan; ready in case the younger man should try anything, "why the sudden change of heart MacNeill?"

"I feel that it is my duty. I intend to carry on the family tradition."

"Ah yes, your uncle was a very valuable asset to Lord Voldemort years ago. You wish to follow his example?"

"I wish to do what is required of me, what will serve my best interests," Stefan neatly avoided the question.

Macnair observed the young man in front of him and slowly lowered his wand, "join us," he took a step backwards allowing Stefan to enter the old house.

Stefan glanced around his surroundings, his eyes lingering for a moment on the body of a young man who lay on his back, eyes glazed over and with a terrified and pained expression on his face, he was very obviously dead.

Macnair followed the direction of Stefan's gaze, "a filthy mudblood, got a little too close to our encampment here. He provided us with several hours of entertainment before we let him die." A smile slowly spread across Macnair's face.

Stefan worked hard to suppress a shudder, he was treading a very fine line here and the message was obvious. Make one false step and that muggle's fate would become his own. "What do you wish of me? I want to serve the ways of the dark lord to the best of my capability." He made his voice hard and unemotional as he turned away from the corpse.

Macnair nodded sharply, "we can use you, you have certain... connections that will be valuable to us."

"I'm afraid I don't understand sir, my position at the Ministry isn't high enough for me to have any influence," Stefan knew that Macnair didn't care about his job at the Ministry, he had a very bad feeling he knew exactly what connections the older man was referring to. He just wanted to hear the other man say it to confirm his suspicions.

"You fool! We have already infiltrated nearly every level of the Ministry in every department. That is not why you are valuable you arrogant idiot. One of our main goals is to exact revenge against traitors, those who turned on Voldemort when he needed his loyal followers the most. No, it is not your Ministry connections that interest me. I am more concerned with your connections to the Snape family."

Stefan visibly paled at that announcement, "would you hurt Dierna?"

"That is not my concern, we will do as we are commanded and you would do well to remember that.

Stefan quickly tried to cover himself; he had to be more careful. He couldn't let his emotions get in the way; he had a job to do. "I will do what is asked of me, I am sorry if I offended you in any way sir."

Macnair brushed it off, "I am not concerned with that now. However, we have a more pressing matter to take care of now. There is currently a prisoner being held in Azkaban that will be of great use to use. We are going to get him out. You will aid us with the rescue mission; it will be your first test of loyalty to our master."