The next day in Potions, Harry tried to catch Reagan's eye with no success. Seeing that his efforts were fruitless, he took his seat between Ron and Hermione, and listened for today's instructions.

"Today, we will be finishing our potions from last time. The instructions are on the board. Get to work," was all Snape said.

"I see we're using the point and grunt method today," Ron joked.

"Wait: why is our potion green? It's supposed to be yellow..."Hermione questioned. "It's impossible...we followed all the instructions. We did add a Veela hair, right Ron?"

"Of course we did...right, Harry?" replied Ron, looking unsurely towards Harry.

"Yes. Right, Hermione?" said Harry, turning questioningly towards Hermione.

"Oh, this is just great. We didn't add the hair. Who's job was that that?" answered Hermione, looking at her list of tasks. "Harry! It was yours! What were you thinking?"

"I don't know...," Harry blushed.

"This is just great: we'll have to come in after dinner, and Ron and I have a Prefects meeting."

"Do you think you could come in and fix it, Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess." Harry replied. He was not looking forward to an evening with Snape.

After dinner, Harry headed straight towards the dungeons. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.


He was about to enter the room when he overheard Snape's voice.

"...I don't why we had to drag my daughter into this, Headmaster."

"Now, Severus, you know exactly why we had to bring Reagan here."

"She's beginning to ask questions-"

"That should have been answered long ago."

Harry could tell by the silence that Snape had no retort.

"I know it's hard on you having your daughter here. But you know the significance this has to Harry's safety."

"Why can't we keep things the way they were before?"

"Because, things are far more dangerous for Harry than they were before. Believe me, Severus, this was the last resort I knew the kind of problems that would arise from bringing Reagan here...but given the choices, I think we are far better off with these problems than with Harry dead."

"I just don't want her or Potter asking any stupid questions that could get the both of them killed."

"I assure you , Severus, that I have taken every precaution in seeing that they are in the dark about the situation. However, those in the dark can only remain in the dark so long before they find the light at the end of the tunnel."

Harry thought about what he had just heard. What situation was he in the dark of, and why was Reagan's presence there so crucial to his saftey?

Harry's head began to hurt, and he doubted that it was from being deep in thought. He was just about to walk away from the classroom, when he was caught.

"Potter! What are you doing here?"

"I came to redo my potion, Professor," Harry replied a little too innocently.

Harry could tell Snape was questioning his true motive for standing outside his classroom, but before he could speak, Dumbledore interrupted.

"His intentions seem admirable enough, Severus. Carry on, Harry."

Not wanting to push his luck, Harry went into the classroom and got down to work. He got discouraged, however, when he read the instructions to make the difficult concoction.

"This is going to take forever to make by myself...," he thought aloud.

"Need help, Harry?" questioned a familiar voice.

He turned to see Reagan, head to toe in workout attire, smiling at him.

"Sure. That'd be great. Thanks."

"Oh, no problem," she replied sweetly.

"So, what's with the sweats?"

"Oh, this?" she asked looking herself over. "I had cheerleading practice."

"Cheerleading?"

"Yeah...they had cheerleading at Durmstrang, and Dumbledore said that I could start a squad here for Slytherin."

"Isn't cheerleading a Muggle sport?"

"Not the way we do it," she laughed. "You chop the ingredients, and I'll measure them out."

"What are you doing in Potions class at night? You gave me quite a start."

"I had nothing to do. Figured I'd stop in on dear-old-Dad."

"Things not good with your Dad, I take it?"

"Never has been...it's like I'm a nuisance. Pass the veela hair, will you? "

"So, why aren't you hanging out with Draco?" asked Harry as he handed her the hair.

"Prefect duty. I swear, I saw him more when we went to different schools."

"I know it's none of my business, but Draco and you...aren't...you know..."

"What? A couple?"

"Well, yeah."

"No...we're just best friends."

Seeing the obvious look of hatred on his face, Reagan responded.

"I assure you, Harry, if you knew Draco the way I do, you'd like him."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Boys. So immature."

"Excuse me, I take offense to that comment."

"I think you just helped to prove my point even more," she replied with a smile. "See, we're already done. That was relatively painless, huh?"

"Are you kidding? It was brutal!" Harry replied sarcastically.

"We make a pretty good team. Why don't we talk more often?"

Harry was about to answer when Harry had an idea.

"Hey, Draco's birthday is in a couple of weeks, and I'd love for you to come to the party...there's rumours that he's getting a car..," she tempted.

"Do you honestly think that Draco would want me at his birthday party?"

"Of course not...but you'd be their as my guest, and any friend of mine is a friend of Dracos. So, will you come?"

"Well,-"

"Great! I'll get you the basic information. See you tomorrow!"

Harry just stood there in awe as Reagan gathered her things and left, waving good-bye as she exited.

There was something about that girl that made him feel like he had known her his own life...it wasn't the way he had felt about Cho, and he wasn't physically attracted to Reagan in any way (though she was a pretty girl), he just...felt comfortable around her.

Harry hurried up and got to bed, not knowing that most of his night would be spent confused.