AN: I'm kinda getting writers block lately... I expect things will kick up at the Halloween party as the story gets deeper into the main plot. If this ends the way I'm planning right now, there will probably be a sequel.

Dear Gwen,

Greetings from Hogwarts! I would have written to you sooner, but I've been busy. You know, this whole trip is turning out to be nice after all. I miss everyone in Salem terribly, but there's a lot to occupy my time here. I was put in the Slytherin house. The headmaster was trying to figure out where to put me on the first night when my potions professor walked in late and suggested it. I'll get more into him later, though. Anyways, there's this to die for hot Slytherin guy named Draco that seems to be interested. He's got that determined and fiery personality that I crave. We were all having a party in the common room last week and things really started heating up. Damn, he's a great kisser. Too bad it was interrupted by one of his friends. I wanted to curse him, but I resisted. I had the worst hangover the next day. Luckily, my head of house found me before I got to the hospital wing and gave me a potion to clear it up. He's the one that got me into Slytherin. For an older guy, he sure looks good. Damn those rules... At least I have Draco to keep me in line with that, but the situation is tempting. There's this little mudblood bitch running around that keeps giving me dirty looks. I wanna get her in a duel so bad. It's witches like her that piss me off. Other than her, the rest of the school seems to welcome me. Sorry to ramble on about nothing like this. I have to get going, but write me back.

Sincerely,

Raven

P.S. I'm also sending you a box of these things called chocolate frogs. I can't believe they don't have them in America. They're the best! Just keep a good hold of them. They like to jump away from you.

Raven put her quill on a table in the common room and closed the bottle of black ink tightly. She rolled the letter up and magically sealed it. It was a letter to her best friend, Gwen. She would be glad to hear that Raven was happy at the castle. Raven sank deeper into the plush chair she was sitting in and stared at the fire and blocked out the voices of the students around her. She found it hard to believe that it was the third week October already. Slytherin had won the Quidditch match against Gryffindor, and much to Draco's delight, Harry Potter and the rest of the Gryffindors seemed more than pissed about the situation. The tension between the rival houses had been a hot topic for awhile. Rumors about fights had spread like wildfire throughout the castle, and a lot of them were true. However, the fights, curses, and foul words between Slytherin and Gryffindor had died down with the anticipation of Halloween coming up. Raven heard that Dumbledore always had a big bash complete with a huge feast, live entertainment, and more. She was as excited as the rest of the students, and was counting down the days till Halloween with noted eagerness. Raven was still staring at the fire thinking when her thoughts were interrupted by a touch on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Draco looking down at her, smiling sexily. He sat down on the arm of the chair.

"Who's this for?" he asked, taking the letter from the table and playfully holding it over head.

"My friend Gwen." Raven replied, reaching for the parchment. Draco only let her hand get as far as an inch from it, then pulled it farther back from her again.

"Really? I wonder what's written in it..." Draco turned around with the letter in his hands, but Raven was too quick for him. She reached over and took it from him and hid it down the front of her shirt.

"Don't think that I won't get that." he said daringly. He reached for the letter, but Raven got up from the chair and turned away from him. He grabbed her from behind and made to reach for the parchment, but Raven turned to face him. She smiled at him then kissed him lightly on the lips to distract him, then pulled away.

"Is that it?" Draco asked, staring back at her.

"For now." Raven replied, teasing him slightly. "I have to get to the Owlery. If I remember right, you're supposed to be my guide..."

"Of course." he said, holding out his hand. Raven took it and picked up the box of chocolate frogs in the other. They headed out of the common room and Draco led her through the winding halls. She hadn't really had time to explore the castle much, but now that she was a bit, she found it charming. As she and Draco walked down the corridors, people in various paintings waved to them and smiled. Suits of armor saluted the couple as they passed. They even got a fairly warm greeting from The Bloody Barron, who was on his way to yell at Pevees for setting off dung bombs in the entrance hall. Raven was just about to ask Draco exactly where the Owlery was (it seemed they had been walking forever), when he lead her up another flight of stairs into a tower. It was filled with owls and other birds sitting on perches or flying around, but no other students.

"You may want to watch where you step..." Draco warned. Raven looked down at the straw that lined the floor and saw that it had random own droppings on it. "Flitch only cleans it once a day, the old git. I swear, you could get sick in here... anyway, where's your owl?" he asked.

"At home. I didn't know how she'd react to the new place." Raven replied honestly, remembering that she had left her large white owl back in Salem.

"Not a problem. You can use my bird of you'd like." Draco led Raven to the other side of the tower, guiding her so she didn't step on anything foul. "Ah... here he is." Raven looked and saw a beautiful eagle resting on a perch above them. When she bird saw Draco, it flew down and landed on his outstretched arm. "His name is Apollo." Raven slowly reached her hand out to pet the bird. To her surprise, the bird seemed to take an instant liking to her.

"Well, that's no shock to me" Draco said, noticing Ravens look. "I often use him to pick up girls." Raven hit him on the arm playfully and laughed. "Well, doesn't it work?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say it was the eagle, but you sure have made an impression." she said smiling.

"Good." he replied, moving closer to her and letting the bird off his arm. He leaned in and kissed her softly. He ran his hands through her hair and pressed his lips more firmly against hers as he slipped his tongue into her mouth...

"Honestly, get a room." A female voice said. Raven and Draco parted to see Hermonie Granger staring at them with a scowl on her face. Draco shot her a death glare and walked over to her slowly.

"What's wrong, mudblood? Never see anyone kiss before?" he taunted.

"Maybe she's jealous. I heard about last year..." Raven said, walking up to Draco with a glare for Hermonie that mated his. She didn't know what it was, but she didn't like the girl.

"Get over it. That was last year. I don't know what I was even thinking. Obviously, I wasn't if you're taking her up here to have your way with her." Hermonie shot back, looking at Draco. Raven reached out and smacked hard in the face. Instantly a large red mark appeared.

"You little bitch..." she said coolly. It was taking all her strength not to throw the girl out the window of the tower.

"Nice one, Raven." Draco commented, then turned to Hermonie. "I don't know what you , Potter, and Weasly fancy doing together, but I don't take girls up here to roll around in bird shit." he said with the hateful tone he usually used with the Gryffindor. He called the eagle over to him and tied the box of chocolate frogs to its leg, along with Raven's letter that she handed him. Raven and Draco watched as the eagle flew out the window of the tower and into the afternoon sun. He took Raven's hand and walked with her towards the door. He turned towards Hermonie. "Watch yourself, mudblood." he threatened as he and Raven headed down the stairs.

Severus walked into the great hall for dinner that night with the usual angry look on his face. It had been a long day. A whole group of second years had managed to completely mess up a easy Wart Off potion, and there had been three cauldron explosions. The only thing that managed to get him through the day was the fact that Slytherin was in the lead when it came to house points. He didn't know if it was the fact that Granger couldn't keep her mouth shut or that the teachers gave points to Raven for the littlest thing, but he didn't care. He hadn't beaten Gryffindor in the past six years, but if things kept up the way they were, he was sure he would this time around. He was about to rub it into McGonagall when Albus stood up and started speaking.

"Students, professors, may I please have your attention?" At once, the voices in the great hall quieted and everyone looked at Dumbledore. He smiled and continued. "As you all know, Halloween is coming up. Usually we have a live band play, but this year we have opted for a DJ to accompany the different musical tastes. As usual, there will be food and candy, as well as the usual games and prizes. Classes will let out early to prepare for the festivities. The party will start at 6:30, and end around midnight or so. I expect this will be a fun event for everyone. Also, third years and above will be permitted to visit Hogsmeade this weekend. Professor Snape, Prifessor Sprout, and Professor McGonagall will be attending the visit with the students. That is all." Dumbledore sat down and the students and teachers started eating.

Severus sneered to himself. He wasn't looking forward to babysitting the students while they ran around Hogsmeade. He cut into a piece of meat on his plate and put it in his mouth. One good thing about Hogwarts was the food. The house elves always took great care in their work, no matter what it was. He ate his dinner quietly, not wanting to talk to any of the other professors. Much to his dismay, his plan didn't work. The muggle studies teacher, Professor Biel, started up a conversation.

"Severus, will you be joining in on the Halloween festivities?" he asked in his usual happy tone.

"I will put up with them." Severus said. It wasn't like he didn't like to have fun, but he didn't find prancing around with the students was that entertaining.

"Oh, but you must do more than that! There will be candy, games, contests and dancing! Severus, don't tell me you can't dance. You're free to stop by and view one of my lessons if you'd like. Miss. Stardust is practically teaching the class herself..."

Severus sighed in annoyance and blocked Professor Biel's words out. His eyes traveled to the Slytherin table where Raven was sitting at her usual spot next to Draco. He looked over at the Gryffindor table to see Hermonie glaring at Raven. She had a slight red mark on her face. A slight smile appeared on Severus's face as he wondered how the mark for there. He glanced back at his house's table just in time to see Raven dip a cherry into a small bowl of chocolate sauce. She put it to her mouth in time to catch a drop of chocolate that had escaped from the fruit. Raven looked up at Severus and smiled slyly. She licked a bit of chocolate off the cherry seductively, then put it in her mouth, holding the stem. A second later she slowly pulled the stem on her mouth and put it on her plate. She winked at Severus then turned back to her friends, none of whom had noticed the action. Severus was a bit taken back, but then he remembered her words from when she was in the trance of the truth potion...

"Severus, did you hear me? I was asking if you were going to participate in the costume contest." Professor Biel said, interrupting Severus's thoughts. He looked at professor Biel with the usual hard look on his face.

"No. You know how I feel about those pointless things." Professor Biel opened his mouth to protest, but Severus was too fast for him. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to get going." he got up from the table and walked to the exit of the great hall, taking one last look at Raven before he headed down the stairs to the dungeons.