Well? What do you think?

I like it. Finally, I'm cool. But I still think you should have found a way to bring Sirius back.

I couldn't you know that. J.K either killed him or has some plan I don't wanna mess that up.

::wails:: But he was so hot!

I thought you loved Harry.

Just because I'm in love doesn't mean I can't window shop.

True. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this chapter is dedicated to searching4romeo for getting my butt into gear and making me write. See! I got it out a whole two days after your review! And I wrote it from scratch! Where's my piece of fanfiction?? ::pouts::

Chapter 12

Lucius swept into Severus's office, dragging Draco along behind him. "Sit." He snarled.

"What's the reason for this outburst, Lucius?" Severus asked, his silky voice full of amusement.

"Why did you not tell me my son was enamoured with a Gryffindor?" Lucius growled.

"Because I didn;t think it was particularly important. The mudblood loves Draco and since she started being seen with him she's stopped talking to the rest of the Gryffindors. Tainted as her blood probably is, it would be useful to have a spy who can report to us Potter's every move. Draco has done a wonderful service for our lord." Severus bestowed a proud smile upon Draco. "So please, Lucius, sit down. There's no need for you to be pacing like a lion whose pride has been threatened."

Lucius took a seat in one of the green leather and mahogany chairs. "Well," he said calmly, "that's an entirely different kettle of fish. Draco, you should have said something. If you were truly serving Lord Voldemort then I am very proud of you."

Draco smirked. "Father, dear Father," he said, "when was there any doubt?"

Aine stepped out of the shower, twisting a towel around her hair and wrapping another around her body.

"Aine!" Ginny exclaimed, "just the person I was looking for."

The brunette raised an eyebrow and continued to towel dry her hair. "Ye ken I was 'ere, Ginny. We just 'ad Quidditch practice, remember?"

Ginny shrugged out of her uniform and turned on one of the showers, yelping when she realised the water was still cold.

"It takes a while 'fore the water gets 'ot, ye should know tha' by now." Aine teased.

"Hey, I was only a reserve last year. But anyhow, I wanted to talk to you. You weren't at lunch today, how come?"

"I was in the Library with Draco." Aine pulled on her grey school skirt and a purple silk singlet top, pinning her dark hair on top of her head so the curls accented her delicate face.

"Oh? How come?" The scent of Ginny's strawberry shampoo filled the air.

"Because we're goin' out." Aine leant close to the mirror, appliying pale lavender eye-makeup.

"Cool. Draco's a hotty." Ginny stepped out of the shower. "Just be careful of his dad. Lucius Malfoy works for Voldemort."

"I ken tha'. I'll be careful, you do na 'ave te worry."

Ginny wriggled into her jeans and a fire-engine red halter top. "You look nice," she said, "going somewhere special?"

"Aye. Draco's da decided te visit an' 'es invited Draco an' I te go te dinner with 'im."

Ginny turned to look at Aine, her chocolatey eyes full of concern. "I meant what I said about bieng careful." She warned. "Here," she took an old-fashioned gold locket from around her neck and slipped the chain around Aine's neck. "It's a portkey. It'll take you back to the fifth-year girl's dorm. In case of an emergency, just squeeze it and say 'Abra Cadabra'. For some reason Harry programmed that as the password."

Aine touched the locket gently. "Thank ye, Ginny." She said, hugging the shorter girl, "I really appreciate this."

Ginny hugged her back. "No problem. Me and the others...we care about you, Aine. We don't want you to get hurt. And no I'd better be going. Harry and I are gonna have a picnic on the other side of the lake."

" 'Ave fun." Aine said, smiling. Giving her one last hug, Ginny left, and Aine chuckled to herself as she turned back to the mirror, only to gasp at the person she saw there.

"Was Draco the only reason for this little visit, Lucius?" Severus asked idly, as a house-elf poured tea for both of them.

"No." Lucius replied. "Narcissa got herself pregnant again, the silly fool. I need a potion to get rid of it."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Taking too many doses of the Abortis Potion will render her infertile, Lucius."

"I know that." Lucius snapped, downing all his scalding tea in one go. "The silly fool didn't protect herself properly."

"I think it would be prudent to let her keep this one. After all, another heir would be a good idea in case of an accident." Severus snapped his fingers and the house elf quickly refilled Lucius's cup.

"Are you implying something, Severus?" Lucius queried mock-politely. "The brat's not mine."

"Narcissa is having an affair?" Severus was surprised, Lucius noted with some satisfaction.

"Of course. Narcissa has been having affairs since the day we got engaged. Our relationship is purely business. She married me for the prestige of being a Malfoy, and to get out from under her family's thumb. I married her because of her excellent bloodlines and the fact that she could give me the heir I needed." Lucius sipped his new cup of tea. "It had nothing to do with love or money, although that was a nice bonus. As long as we're both discreet we see no reason to confine ourselves to a monogamous relationship. This way, we each have our pleasure, and each other as well." Lucius said carelessly.

"Sex on tap." Severus sneered.

"Precisely. The potion?"

Severus nodded, rubbing his forehead. "I'll get you one from my store."

"Such a sweet little scene." The purple-eyed, dark-haired Vampiress sneered. "I think you gave me cavities, darling."

"Cleo de Duclair." Aine acknowledged. "Wish I could say I'm glad te see ye 'gain."

"Meow." Cleo laughed. "What are you doing here, Meryll? Surely seducing school students isn't such a challenge that you must masquerade as one of their own to achieve it. All I have to do is snap my fingers. Teenage boys are walking hard-ons I've found."

"I'm 'ere te get rid o' my immortality, Cleo." Aine said wearily.

"Are you still harping on about that? Darling, give it up. If Tom can't do anything about it what makes you think anyone here can? You're wasting your immortality, darling. Come with me. Tom'll forgive you. And I know how voracious you were when it came to the eradication of these stupid mortals. Goddess, I've never seen a more imaginative assassin."

Aine winced. "Voldemort may forgive me, Cleo, but I shall never forgive myself. Nor 'im fer takin' advantage o' me in my darkest 'our." The one good thing about those times was that as a Changeling, she could not be branded, so there was no physical evidence of her greatest mistake.

"You feel guilty, how precious!" Cleo's laughter ran through the stone girls' change rooms. "Darling, they were mortal. They had to die sometime."

"But na righ' then." Aine retorted. "None o' those people deserved te die."

"So one little girl said she forgave you for killing her mummy. Big deal."

"Tha' little girl brought te my attention what I was doin'. Tell Voldemort 'e can fuck 'is little blood war. If I fight in it at all, it'll be on the other side." Aine snarled.

"Your loss, darling. Ta ta..." She disappeared, leaving Aine staring at her own reflection. Shivering, though the air was quite warm, Aine left the change rooms quickly.

Aine met Draco in the Entrance Hall at promptly six o'clock. He was talking to a first-year Ravenclaw who seemed rather familiar to her.

"Aine!" Draco said, grinning, "hi! I'd like you to meet my cousin, Andromeda Tonks. She's coming to dinner too."

Aine smiled at the little girl kindly. "Nice te meet ye, Andromeda."

"Call me Annie." Annie flashed a gap-toothed grin.

"Ok, Annie. So ye're in yer firs' year at 'Ogwarts, then?"

Annie nodded. "Yep. I love it. It's sooo cool here, I'm having so much fun! And I get to see Draco all the time!"

Now Aine knew where she'd seen the girl. She was always following Draco around like a little puppy dog and the affection between the two was obvious.

"You're all here?" Lucius said, appearing as if by magic, "good. I apologise for my lateness, I was discussing some business with Severus. We'll go, shall we? I assume you've met Andromeda, Aine?"

Aine nodded. "Aye, Mr. Malfoy. Draco introduced us."

Lucius smiled. "Good, good, let's go then."

"Where're we going, Uncle Lucius?" Annie asked, skipping along.

"There's a new restaurant in Hogsmeade which I've heard is rather good. I thought we'd have dinner there." Lucius led them to a green and black carriage drawn by Thestrals. Aine shrank away from them, remembering the days when she'd ridden those monsters for fun. "I believe I knew your mother, Aine," Lucius commented idly. "You look exactly like her."

"My aunt." Aine corrected, the lie coming easily. During the first Wizarding War against Voldemort she'd gone by the psuedonym of Meryll. "Ye're righ', though, ye did know 'er. She told me abou' ye when I was little."

"Nothing bad, I hope." Lucius said with a thin smile.

"Oh no, she was nothin' but complimentary abou' ye." Aine fibbed, climbing into the carriage, Draco and Annie following.

The trip to Hogsmeade was filled with light meaningless chatter provided by Annie, and they reached the Wizarding Town all too soon.

Ginny gnawed on her lower lip, wondering it Aine was alright.

"Ginny? Ginny?" Harry snapped his fingers in front of her face.

Startled, Ginny blinked.

"You weren't listening to me, were you." Harry stated, smiling.

The red-haired girl shook her head. "No, sorry. I was thinking."

"About what?"

"Aine."

"So you and I are on a date - our first date I might add - and you spend it ignoring me and thinking about another girl. This is a punishment for something, right?" Harry's voice was light and teasing.

"I'm sorry, Harry. It's just...she's gone out to dinner tonight with Draco and his father. I don't want her to get hurt."

"Well I can understand why you might worry. Do you want to go back? We can do this another time, when one of our friends isn't having a dinner date with two of our worst enemies." Harry offered.

Ginny smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Harry."
searching4romeo: Once again you have made me feel so fuzzy with your review. Thanks.

zenni: Thanks for reviewing, here's the next bit of the story.