I'm sooooo sorry about the wait! Hopefully the next four chapters will be up soon. Yes FOUR chapters!!!!! I hope you enjoy them.


Chapter 38
Down Poison

"All year the teachers have been going on and on about us all needing to be prepared for NEWTs, but it's only just hit me." Frank whispered as he studied with Lily and Remus in the library.

"Yeah, all Kim does is study these days." Lily said, mostly to herself. It was true. Lily, Ebony and Remus had been putting Kim through constant surveillance since they had seen her exchange with Snape and so far they had only witnessed her studying, eating and sleeping. She had spent some time with Sirius, but these short meetings were filled with talk about counter-curses and the amount of Orchanite put into a Sythonea potion. The three now took it in turns to watch her.

"Kim is pretty smart though. She can study by herself. I always have to study with someone else. I have most of my classes with Kirstin so we're helping each other through those and Kim is my brilliant astronomy helper, but Herbology and Divinations are so hard. Sometimes Alice Chapman helps me out with Herbology, but she is really good and most of the things she says go straight over my head." Frank whispered frantically.

"Well Ebony is really good at Herbology and since she's a year younger than you, she should make some more sense." Remus said with a hint of pride.

"Wait…" Lily searched her memory for what she was looking for.

"So, Divinations." Lily commented, looking down at the book entitled Is Knowing the Future a Gift or a Burden?

"Yeah, its pretty boring, really." Kim cleared her throat. "Well, I should go now. Hagrid said he would help me with my Care of Magical Creatures homework."

"Doesn't Kim do Divinations?" Lily asked, remembering the book Kim was reading, the one with the letter from Lucius inside it.

"No." Frank said absently. "She said she considered it, but that she didn't need it and did Care of Magical Creatures instead."

"So she does do Magical Creatures?"

Remus chuckled to himself. "Do Magical Creatures." He continued laughing softly, but stopped when he realised Frank and Lily were staring nervously at him. "Sorry, I've been spending too much time with Sirius and James. They've warped my mind. "What was the point?"

"The point is we have to go meet Ebony." Lily said as she grabbed Remus and pulled him towards the doors.

They ran along the corridor and down a flight of stairs. Soon they arrived at an empty classroom. "She's not there." Remus said as he looked inside. "So Kim's moved somewhere that Ebony couldn't see from here. Let's try the Great Hall. She might have gone for an early dinner."

Ebony was in the Great Hall, but Kim could not be seen. "She noticed me and I didn't want to be obvious so I left, but it looked like she was heading towards the Slytherin Common room."

"Let's go for a walk. Lily has to tell us something." Remus said as he nodded his head towards the Entrance Hall.

"It's too cold outside. Do you want to go to the Wiccapot Room?" Ebony asked.

"Yeah, but we have to hurry. The suspense is killing me." Remus said as he grabbed Ebony's hand and led the way to the Wiccapot room. They had almost reached the room when James stopped them.

"Where are you guys going in such a hurry?" James asked as he joined the group.

"Weren't you going to have Quidditch Practice?" Lily interjected.

"You answer my question and I'll answer yours." James said with a grin.

"Wiccapot room." Ebony said quickly.

"Practice has been moved to tomorrow. Why are you looking so nervous?" James asked, still grinning.

"Do you want to come with us? I think you should hear this too." Lily asked. James nodded and followed them to the Wiccapot room.

"I'm guessing this is about Kim." James said as they entered.

"Yes."

"You know I think she's okay. Sirius wouldn't love her unless she was all right. I trust him and he trusts her…" James started.

"She lies about stupid things, little things. She told me she did Divinations, but she doesn't. Why would she lie about something like that?" Lily interrupted. "I think it all comes down to the fact that she's in Slytherin and Slytherins can't be trusted, and we're fooling ourselves if we think that all this stuff has good reasoning behind it and one day it will all just…fall into place."

"Kim isn't really like all the other Slytherin's." James responded.

"Then why is she in Slytherin?" Lily retorted. "We all know that Slytherins are evil."

"Actually, Slytherins just want power." Remus corrected her.

"Kim doesn't want power." James muttered. "She hates people like that, that think power is everything and all power is good power. She was telling us at lunch a couple of days ago."

"So you're saying she doesn't want any power?" Lily asked. A silence followed.

"Well, maybe she has power." Ebony said, breaking the quiet. Remus, James and Lily all stared at her with open mouths. Ebony shrugged. "It was only a suggestion."

"If you weren't a blonde druggo, you could be a genius!" Ebony wasn't sure whether to take James's comment as a complement or an insult.


It was the Friday of many tensions and anxiety. Saturday was the Quidditch cup and Monday was the beginning of exams. Everyone was tense, even Sirius and James were obsessing over every little detail of their game. Remus rushed into the Great Hall and sat next to Ebony.

"I have ten minutes, then I have to get back to studying." He said as he grabbed a fork and ate from her plate.

"I have ten minutes until I take over Lily." Ebony sighed.

Remus grinned. "So together we have twenty minutes?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively. Ebony bit her lip and jumped up, pulling Remus up behind her. The two ran from the room and disappeared, probably to the closest broom closet. James stared after them, but then shrugged and returned to his food. He was soon joined by Kim, Frank, Sirius, Kirstin and later by Lily.

Just as most people were finishing their food, Dumbledore got to his feet and raised his arm. A silence followed immediately, for it was not often Dumbledore spoke to them at meal times and when he did, he always had something exciting or shocking to say.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you from your meals, but I won't take long. I have a few important announcements to make." He started. "First I would like to draw your attention to the seventh years. As you all know, starting on Monday, they will be sitting exams for their NEWTs. They have all been working extremely hard and I have faith that they will all go brilliantly. I know that it is extremely sad to lose these students and the next couple of weeks will be their last and we may not see them again." Kim flinched as she noticed his gaze had rested on her. "So, in celebration of their hard work, we will be holding a farewell party for the seventh years on the last day of term." Cheers and applause broke out. Sirius whistled loudly and put his arm around Kim fondly. Dumbledore raised his arm again and silence soon followed. "You will all be invited and there will also be some ex-Hogwarts students attending." He cleared his throat. "In other news, the potential Head Boys and Girls have been selected for next year. I am proud to say the following students have been selected to possibly represent the school next year. Lily Evans, Amos Diggory, Bartholomew Savagy, Remus Lupin, Elizabeth Key, Josie Duderanch, Billy Martin, Amy Schippers, Archie McDonald, Melanie Gleeson and James Potter." Lily threw her arms around James and grinned at him lovingly. James looked up at Dumbledore, who winked at him and returned to his speech. "I am certain that you are all pleased with these students and will give them your continued support. You may all return to your wonderfully delicious meals. Thank you for listening to my ramblings. Oh, and good luck to the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams tomorrow." He looked back to James again and then turned and left the room.

Excited chatter broke out as the students began discussing the party.

"Should be fun. What do you think Kim?" Sirius said happily.

Kim was staring at the doorway that Dumbledore had disappeared through. "Yeah, great. I've got to go." She stood up and hurried across the room.

Sirius sighed and turned back to James and Lily who were talking excitedly about James's decision. He tried to look happy, but couldn't help wondering what was wrong with Kim this time.


"Professor." Kim gasped when she caught up to Dumbledore.

"Aah, Miss Grima. I was hoping to have a word with you some time soon, and now seems to be the perfect time." He said lightly. He then sighed and his eyes darkened. "It's happened again, hasn't it?"

"Yes. I saw…" Kim started.

"That doesn't matter." Dumbledore interrupted. "Can you change what you saw?"

"You know I can't."

"Can you change the outcome of this without changing what you saw?"

Kim thought for a moment. "You mean, change who…"

"I don't know what I mean." He interrupted again. "But you can stop the worst happening by changing your interpretation?"

"I guess there is a way I can do it." Kim said with a cautious nod.

"Do what?" Dumbledore asked as he cocked his head to the side and stared at her with a confused expression. Kim opened her mouth but he spoke again. "Goodnight."

Kim smiled and watched him walk away, the secretive twinkle in his eye telling her everything she needed to know.


Please review! What is Kim hiding? What does Dumbledore know? What will happen in the next 3 chapters? How will it all end? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS??????
Send me a review to tell me your theories