AUTHOR'S NOTE Not much to note on…there are only about four chapters after this, as we are nearing the end of the Chamber of Secrets canon year. Big thanks to Emica and Lauren as usual for their beta-ing!

DISCLAIMER Broken record time! I do not own Rowling's characters, but I do own characters of my own creation.

A loud and surprised gasp woke Michelle up the next morning. She blinked a few times and sat up. The sun was brilliant outside. A bright beam of light shone through the partially open curtains and fell on the rich maroon carpet. A dark-skinned boy was standing in the doorway of the airy open room.

"Who are you?" he asked, confused. "Where's George?"

Hearing his name, George stirred and sat up from his place on the floor between the two beds. "Oh. Morning Lee."

Lee just looked from Michelle to George. "Morning? That's all you have to say?"

"Huh?"

Just then, Fred appeared behind Lee in the doorway. "Oh good, you two are awake," he said to his twin.

Lee turned to Fred, thoroughly confused. "You knew she was here? Who is this girl?"

"Bloody Hell Lee, keep your voice down!" Fred muttered as he pulled the other fourth year into the bedroom and shut the door. "Do you want to wake up Percy?"

Lee wandered over to his bed, still eyeing Michelle suspiciously. George stretched his arms and yawned. He looked up at Michelle.

"Did you sleep all right?"

Michelle nodded. "Thanks," she said with a smile. George noticed that for the past few days, she had been smiling for real – not the forced or fake smiles he'd seen when they had first met.

Lee was watching the exchange with increasing disbelief. "George? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Hmm?"

"Well the least you could have done is find somewhere private to have your fun. But with your brother right here?" Lee looked aghast at Fred. "I know you two do everything together, but that's going way too far!"

Fred and George just stared at Lee for a moment, before bursting into laughter. The gist of what Lee was suggesting hit Michelle and her jaw dropped in embarrassed shock.

"She's a friend, Lee," George finally managed to say. "We were playing Wizard's Chess and she couldn't get back to her own dorm after the curfew. Don't we have a dirty mind this morning!"

Michelle blushed bright red, as did Lee. "Well it doesn't look all that innocent, does it?" He turned to Michelle. "Sorry about that," he said humbly. "I'm Lee," he said.

"Michelle," she replied. Then, looking around the room, she asked, "What time is it?"

"About 9:30," Fred replied.

Michelle sighed. "I should go back to – " She broke off as she glanced at Lee. "To…studying. I have really hard finals coming up."

George caught on. "Right. So you should go study."

Lee yawned. "I think I'm going back to bed. That's what Sundays are for!"

Fred smirked. "See, to go back to bed, one must have gone to bed in the first place. I seem to remember you going to the broom closet."

With a look mixed of embarrassment and a little pride, Lee kicked his shoes off and pulled the blankets over his head. As soon as Lee sounded asleep, Fred and George opened the door to scout out how empty the hallway was.

"Totally empty!" Fred whispered. Michelle followed the twins out and down the stairs into the Common Room. They tiptoed past one or two students asleep on textbooks and out the portrait hole.

"That was easy!" Michelle breathed gratefully when the portrait slid closed again.

"Eh. Sneaking out is nothing!" Fred said with a wave of his hand. "Well, since we're up, what about breakfast?"

George nodded, but Michelle hesitated. "What if – "

"Don't worry," George cut her off. "None of us are in full uniform. It doesn't matter anyway, no normal people are up at this hour on a Sunday."

"But everyone knows you two!" Michelle continued. The twins looked proud. "And what if Draco's there? Or Crabbe or Goyle?"

"Michelle, you know as well as we do that Oliver Wood will quit Quidditch before Crabbe, Goyle, or especially Malfoy wake up on a Sunday before noon!" Fred said, giving her a look.

Michelle giggled. "Well, okay. But then I really should go back to the Slytherin dorm."

The twins conceded. The three crept quietly through the castle, the twins every once and a while consulting an old piece of parchment that they kept carefully hidden from Michelle's view. There were few people in the Great Hall this early and no one bothered Michelle or the twins while they ate.

It wasn't long before Michelle stood up. "I should go back. Not that anyone will notice I was gone all night but…"

George sighed. "I understand."

"We understand," Fred corrected.

Michelle smiled. The twins always amused her. She walked to the entrance of the Great Hall, where the Fat Friar stood guard. "Where are you going, little one?" he asked jovially.

"Back to the Slytherin dorm, Friar."

"Oh!" The ghost looked startled. "I'll have to get the Bloody Baron to escort you!"

Michelle nodded nervously. The Bloody Baron frightened her. She followed the silver bloodstained ghost timidly through the school. She was never so glad to see the Slytherin dorm's secret entrance.

"Pure-blood," she said and the hidden door opened. The Baron left her and she heaved a sigh of relief. As the twins had predicted, no one was awake and Michelle was able to reach her room hassle-free.

Moona mewed with relief when she saw Michelle. The girl almost laughed – the cat had never looked so happy.

"Oh Moona!" Michelle cried as she scooped up the kitten and jumped onto the bed. Pulling out her wand, she put her usual Silencing and Locking charm on the bed curtains. It had become a habit when her roommates were home.

Moona wriggled out of Michelle's grasp and looked at the girl in confusion. She cocked her head to one side, mewing inquiringly.

Michelle just lay on her back and sighed happily. "Moona, this year isn't all bad after all!"

Unfortunately, Michelle's happiness was very short-lived. The entire school was called to the Great Hall that Monday. The students were excited, as all classes were cancelled, but when Professor McGonagall stepped up to address everyone, Michelle knew something was wrong.

"Attention students! Could I please have your attention?"

Everyone must have known something was up. The Great Hall became silent. Michelle looked around. Draco had a look of sick pleasure on his face. She saw Harry Potter and his friend, George's brother. Both looked distressed.

"I regret to inform all of you," Professor McGonagall began, "that Professor Dumbledore has stepped down from his position as Headmaster."

The Hall stayed silent. No one knew what to say. Dumbledore was gone? In the face of all these attacks, he just left? Michelle was in shock.

A Gryffindor girl who Michelle recognized as one of the Quidditch chasers raised her hand. Professor McGonagall looked at her. "Yes, Miss Johnson?"

"Why Professor?" was all she could say.

Michelle saw the woman glance coldly at Draco. But she limited her explanation to simply, "Administrative differences."

The shock seemed to suddenly wear off of the students. The Great Hall erupted into confused babble. Michelle looked questiongly at Diana, who just shrugged looking completely lost.

"Students! Please settle down!" Professor McGonagall had to magically amplify her voice to make herself heard. The babble died down again after a moment. "I know that this must come as a shock to all of you, but classes will continue as usual. I, as Deputy Headmistress, will become the Interim Headmistress until the end of the year. I will perform all of Professor Dumbledore's duties."

Still no one knew what to say. Professor McGonagall dismissed everyone from the Hall after a silent moment. There was nothing else to be said.

As everyone was sullenly led back to their dorms, Michelle tried to figure out what would happen to Hogwarts. A Hogwarts without Dumbledore was unthinkable! How could Hogwarts stay Hogwarts?

But more than anything, she wondered what the Heir of Slytherin would do to Hogwarts next.

Sanjana I'm not sure if it ever states specifically that Draco and Pansy are engaged, but at least in fanfiction, it's an accepted fact.

Preciousonee Yeah, it's been busy around here too. Not to mention that one of my betas lives down where I go to school and I'm home now and the other one is working all the time. That makes it difficult to get the okay on every chapter. But there are only four or five chapters after this, so hopefully it'll be finished soon. Although that's kinda sad…

The Rave Raven I'm glad you like it!

Galadwen Well, "radiant maiden" is pretty close to "maiden of light" anyway. But I do like the name. I'll try not to make you cry, lol.