Pulling the robe tightly around her, Kriss managed to push through the crowd heading towards the door. She uttered the password, then rushed in and headed up to the girl's dorms. She reached her room and there was no one else there yet. She breathed a sigh of relief. Kriss suddenly felt the need for a shower. She got undressed, carefully stashed the robe under her bedclothes again then switched on the magical shower with tap of her wand. She stepped in and as the hot water flowed down her body, tears welled up inside her again. She bowed her head forwards as if to cry, but would not let them come. She reached for the soap and tried to wash the feel of Caesius's hands off her, but kriss knew only time could really do that. After awhile she felt she could get no cleaner and turning the shower off she stepped out and reached for towels, wrapping one around her body and one around her head.

Not long after there was the sound of talking and laughter coming from the dorm room. Her friends had returned. They would want to know where she had been, why she hadn't met them in the great hall as usual. Why, as she saw to her horror in the mirror, she had bruises down both arms. Only Madame Pomfrey could get rid of those and there was no way of getting to the hospital now. Kriss knew there was nothing for it but to tell the girls about the attack. She would leave out the part about kissing Snape and just say she was on her way back from her walk, when it happened.

She entered the room, all eyes looked towards her. "Kriss! Where did you get to?" Lucinda asked

Then Claudette noticed first, "Kriss! Where did those bruises come from!" Claudette nearly screamed out.

"Ohh!" The other girls said in unison and started to crowd around her, looking at and stroking her arms.

"Was it?" Caudette gestured with her eyes, as if to indicate the person Kriss had gone to see. Kriss looked at Claudette directly and shook her head. "It was a group of three, they were wearing masks and it was dark, but I think I know who it was"

"Who? Why? What happened?" They all asked at once.

Kriss began to explain "I'd been a bit longer than I intended on my walk and I felt tired so I thought I'd just head straight up to the dorm. As I was coming close to the alcove I saw some people dressed up like deatheaters.."

Xanthe interrupted her and said fearfully "Deatheaters here, in Hogwarts? How did they get in?"

Then Lucinda chipped in "My uncle was a deatheater – he went to Askaban" She shuddered at this word.

"So what happened next?" Prompted Claudette, looking concerned. They had all sat down on Kriss's bed now, Claudette laying her hand comfortingly on top of Kriss's lower arm.

"They just surrounded me, I didn't stand a chance. Two of them grabbed me and gave me these" She indicated the bruises. "Then the third one made it quite clear what he wanted. He said he was going to take me to a place 'where no one could disturb us'." They all looked at each other in complete shock at this.

"Who was do you think it was?" Asked Claudette curiously

"Caecius Fervitch and two of his friends, I recognised his voice, I'd swear it was him" Replied Kriss, knowing that this revelation would shock them. It did, they all gasped and looked at each other then back to her.

"Oh Kriss, you have to report this" Xanthe said looking at Kriss anxiously.

"Yes, you can't let them get away with it Kriss!" Said Lucinda "I knew Caesius was a scumbag, after all I went out with him last year didn't I? But this, that even he would stoop so low!"

"Look, guys, I don't have any proof. I didn't see who was behind the masks and there were no other witnesses" Kriss said looking at her hands, she didn't want to mention Professor Snape, though he hadn't seen the attack anyway.

"You have to tell Dumbledore at least. He's very understanding" said Xanthe sympathetically

"Look, I just want to forget about it, ok! I don't want to go reporting it and risk the whole school knowing about it!" Snapped Kriss

"Kriss! You can't just forget about this! You'll see him every day and he'll be free to try again!" Lucinda said angrily

"It's my choice, I mean could you imagine me trying to take him to court anyway? He's got family connections at the ministry and can afford the best defender possible, probably even pay people to lie for him. I mean all he really did was put his hands on me, even if I could prove it was him he could just say it was all a misunderstanding or something. It's not easy to accuse rich and powerful people like him. I can just imagine what the Daily Prophet would say about me!" Kriss explained

"I suppose so, but if he ever comes near you again we'll be there!" said Lucinda protectively

"I still think you should at least tell Professor Snape" said Xanthe

"Him! As if he'd care! He'd tell her not to be such a silly girl and to go away and get over it!" retorted Lucinda. All the girls looked at Kriss sympathetically for a moment.

"I swear though, if he comes near you again I will personally separate his 'balls' from his body – with my bare hands if need be. I don't care how powerful he is!" said Lucinda angrily, showing the action with her hands. Kriss smiled at this. Lucinda could be a terrible gossip and a little two-faced but when her friends were in trouble, she'd be the first in line to defend them. She also had a terrible temper, which often got her into trouble.

"I know what, we'll be your minders Kriss, everywhere you go, we will too. If you are never alone he can't get to you, can he?" Claudette said resolutely

"Yes – we'll walk with you to your lessons and we'll come and collect you at break times" Added Lucinda

"So we are all agreed then?" questioned Claudette. "Any one wants to mess with her, they have to get through us" A resounding yes came from the group. Suddenly they all realized it was getting really late and as they had classes in the morning, everyone went to bed. Kriss went to sleep straight away, as she felt exhausted, though she slept fitfully, dreaming of hands coming out of the darkness, touching her all over and laughter echoing all around.

Suddenly Kriss woke up and screamed, making everyone else jump awake. "It's okay guys, it was just a bad dream" Kriss reassured them, but the dream still lingered on her mind making her pull the bedclothes protectively around herself.

After much cajoling from her friends, Kriss relented and went to see Madam Pomfrey about her bruises. Madam Pomfrey wanted to know how she had got them. But all Kriss would say, was, was that she had fallen. Kriss knew she didn't believe her but she didn't care, just getting rid of them made her feel a little better. There was now less of a reminder.

The next few weeks passed in a kind of haze. Luckily Quidditch season had started, so Caecius spent a lot of his time at practice. Even though he kept casting glances towards her occasionally, smirking in a way that made Kriss want to turn him into a slug or worse. This meant Kriss could relax a little, as she didn't always have to keep trying to avoid him. Her friends still kept true to their words though, they went everywhere with her. If they couldn't all be there, then at least two of them would be. Kriss didn't mind at first, it made her feel safe, but now, after a month she was tired of it and told them so.

"But Kriss, he still could get you, we're not going to stop until we find a way to prove it was him that attacted you, or at least get him back!" Lucinda had retorted.

Much to Kriss's disappointment Professor Snape had gone cold on her after that night. He refused to look her in the eye, something he was never afraid to do with anyone, or even speak to her. Classes were the worst, he would go out of his way to avoid her and when she gave an answer to a question, he barely acknowledged it or ignored her completely. She didn't know if he was trying to go 'cold turkey' or if he really no longer cared for her. Whenever she tried to engage him in conversation to ask him, he would tell her he was too busy to talk and walk away. She kept thinking about that night when he had kissed her replaying it over and over, trying not to think about the events afterwards. She thought about going and seeing him in his office in the evening. But knew that at the moment it was impossible, what with her 'minders' insisting on being with her all the time. So she decided to concentrate all her efforts into her studies. Spending most of her free time in the library with her friends, scouring the shelves for information to help them with their vast amounts of homework.