Chapter Notes: Okay, because I love my reviewers SO SO much, I'm going to give you the next chapter in this epic! So bow down to your queen, and worship her…

OW! That hurt!

Okay, sorry about that. My normally dormant ego just kicked in there, ignore her, she's crazy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I look forward to your reviews.


Running Into Trouble
Draco came back into the fray of school on Thursday morning, where Pansy openly fawned on him, and practically forced everyone to help him carry his books, while Crabbe and Goyle made sure everyone else was just out of the way of their little caravan. I think they were just happy to have their 'fearless' leader back.

I, on the other hand, was just glad that I didn't have to help him at all. I hadn't any classes with him, and Pansy never bothered to ask me (or demand me) to help. Being in the year below him did have its advantages.

But a few weeks later, when Draco was still playing the pity card, and Pansy was eating it up for all that she was worth, something happened that changed the rather quiet way things had been running.

I was so distracted that particular morning, making sure I had everything in my bag, that I didn't see trouble coming until I ran into it. Literally.

"Oof!" I heard as I rammed straight into a taller male body. I stumbled back a bit, but the other person caught me by the arm.

"Oh! Sorry!" I mumbled, looking up into jade-coloured eyes framed with black. "Harry!" I exclaimed. I looked over his shoulder to see Ron and Hermione, who looked confused, like they were wondering why we were all still standing there, and not quickly moving on.

Harry was holding his stomach, rubbing it slightly. "Hi, Raven," he said, still holding onto my arm. I could feel the atmosphere charge with confusion and tension. It was almost easy to forget that Hermione and Ron didn't know that Harry and I were friends.

We looked at each other for a moment; I think both realising at the same time that we needed to walk away from each other before anyone caught on that we knew each other better than we did. It felt like we had been standing there looking at each other for an eternity, but I'm sure it was only a few seconds, before a voice cut through.

"What's going on here?" Oh no.

Harry's eyes looked past me, and I saw them harden, before I also turned around to face Draco. Why he was by himself all of a sudden, I'll never know. Maybe he had had to go to the loo…or he finally found a way to fend everyone off for a moment, although why he'd do something like that when he had half of his year waiting on him hand and foot is a mystery to me.

I felt Harry's grip on my upper arm tighten slightly. "Nothing, Malfoy," he responded, his voice hard.

Draco just stood there with a cold sneer. His grip on his shoulder bag was tight-I could see his knuckles turning white. "Raven, what are you doing?"

But Harry spoke before I could utter a word. "Is it really any of your business what she does, Malfoy?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Hermione spoke up. "You don't own her, Malfoy. She can do what she wants to."

"Not if it involves you, Mudblood." Draco spat. "C'mon, Raven. I don't want you hanging around with this Gryffindor trash." And he moved forward to take me by the other arm and drag me away. But Harry pulled me closer to him.

"Back off, Malfoy. She can talk to who she wants to."

Draco took me by the arm and shook me a little. "Is that what you were doing? Talking to Potter?" He asked, his cold grey eyes boring into me.

If I wasn't already frowning, I was now. "No. I just bumped into him, that's all."

He glared at me a moment, trying to discern if I was lying. Then he stepped back, pulling me with him, "Come on, Raven. We're leaving." But Harry kept a firm grip on my arm. I glanced back at Harry, trying to tell him with my eyes to just let me go, but he wasn't looking at me. He was glaring at Draco as the blonde turned away. When Draco met resistance, he turned back around. "Potter, let her go."

"You can't just order people around, Malfoy."

"Raven understands her place, Potter. She knows not to hang around with people like you." He moved his gaze down to mine. "It would be unbecoming of a Slytherin otherwise," he said, his lips barely moving, speaking in a soft tone really only meant for me. I gazed silently back. I knew he was reminding me of my precarious position within Slytherin House. Even if we were the only two Slytherins that knew about it.

"Maybe she wasn't going in that direction, Malfoy," Harry tried, pulling me towards him.

"So what? Either way, I'm walking her to class." And Draco tugged me back towards him.

"Well, maybe she doesn't want you to," Harry retorted, pulling on my other side. My arms were starting to get sore from where the boys had their hold on me. I think they forgot that they were grasping onto a person, and just kept gripping harder.

"It doesn't matter what she wants or doesn't want. She's coming with me," Draco said as he pulled me back.

"I don't think she should," Harry said, pulling on me again.

"Harry, mate, I think you're hurting her…" I heard Ron mumble, looking at the situation with wide eyes.

"Harry, we're going to be late for class…" Hermione said in an urgent tone, obviously trying to get out of this situation. I cast her a worried look.

Harry turned to look at Hermione. "This is more important," he almost snarled.

"Why do you care, Potter? You don't even know her!" Draco almost shouted.

Harry's head whipped back around. "Oh, and I suppose you do?"

I could see the startled looks on Ron and Hermione's faces. "Harry…" Hermione warned.

But the boys both ignored her. "I know her a damn lot more than you do, Scarhead." And Draco pulled me to him once again.

But I had had enough. My arms hurt, and I couldn't stand watching Harry and Draco go at it because of me. Although, in retrospect, it seemed like their argument wasn't so much over me as it was over just trying to have one up on the other. So I opened my mouth and screamed, "LET GO OF ME!"

Both of them lost their grips and fell back, as if pushed. Harry knocked into Hermione, who fell into Ron, who struggled to hold the three of them upright. Draco didn't fall, but he definitely staggered back a few steps, looking at me with wide eyes, just like the Griffindors.

"I'm not going with either of you," I spat, twirling around and stomping past all of them, back in the original direction I was going: up the stairs to my charms class.

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard the clap of footsteps behind me. "Raven!"

But I didn't look back. "Go away, Malfoy." But he didn't, and appeared by my side the next second.

"No," he said. "I'm walking you to class."

"I can make it on my own. Besides, because of you, I'm probably already late. As are you. So you might as well just slither off to class, you insufferable moron, who can't tell that he's not wanted."

Draco suddenly moved in front of me, causing me, with my current tunnel vision, to bump into him. He held me by the arms, and I winced as he gripped the bruised flesh.

He didn't notice. "Hey-I did you a favour, Raven. The last thing you need is to have yourself even more tainted by those three."

I pushed him roughly away. "Get off of me, you prat! I don't even know why you care! You hate me, and I hate you! Now leave me the hell alone!" And I moved to walk past him.

But he moved in front of me again. "You're right, I do hate you! But at least I'm thinking about somebody other than myself, here!"

"Oh, that's a change from the norm, isn't it, Malfoy?"

"Just shut up, Raven. Being the Slytherin that you're obviously not, you have no sense whatsoever of propriety. And I'm tired of reminding you that we don't consort with those outside of our house, nor do we sacrifice our house image and pride because of how we may or may not feel about those we don't know. Slytherins hate Gryffindors, Raven. And if you want to live until graduation, then I suggest you do too."

I glared at him. I, at that precise moment, knew that I hated no one as much as I hated Draco Malfoy. He was more than the bane of my existence. He was what made this realm my own personal hell. The tension of hatred built within my belly, and threaded out to the very ends of my nerves.

"You're stupid threats don't scare me, Draco. I think I'll live just fine, if you leave me alone." And with that, I whirled back around, and hurried off to the dungeons, locking myself securely in my dorm for the rest of the day.


I found out the next day that Draco had gone to all of my teachers and told them that I was sick. And not only that, but he missed his first class of the day, to go around and collect my homework assignments. I don't think I'll ever understand how that boy's brain works. One minute he's insulting me and throwing threats in my face, the next minute, he's being 'nice' and even skipping his class to get me my homework. Like my year-mates couldn't do it for me or something.

I was sitting in the library that night, working on finishing the two days of homework I had to do (which Pansy was so kind to give me, along with a winded appraisal of Draco's thoughtfulness), when I suddenly felt an oppressive presence behind me.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" I queried, not looking back. I knew who it was. It was like I could feel his very essence.

"Yeah, well, I've never been that great at listening," he said, moving to sit down in the seat across from me.

"Apparently not." I never looked up at him. After a few moments of silence, I finally looked up and asked, "What?"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me out with something."

"No." I replied curtly, going back to my essay.

"No, you don't mind, or no, you won't help me?"

"No, I won't help you."

"Look, Raven. I'm not going to apologise for yesterday. I was doing it for your own good. I can tell that you would probably become friends with them, if you had the chance. I remember you and Granger on the train last year."

"What do you know, Draco? And what makes you think that they'd want to be friends with me?"

"It doesn't matter. I was doing you a favour."

"Some favour." I scoffed.

He sighed heavily. "I just need some help getting back to the common room, alright?"

I glanced up. "Why?"

"I've checked out quite a few books, and I need help carrying a few back. They all won't fit in my bag, and my arm is still injured."

"Can't you get someone else?"

"You're the only other Slytherin here."

"So? Why'd you have to check out so many books that you couldn't carry them all?"

"An extra credit project. Because I missed class yesterday morning."

I unexpectedly felt a pang of guilt shoot through me, but I quickly squashed it. "You're just trying to guilt me into helping you, Draco. You didn't have to miss your class. I didn't need you to go get all of my homework for me." I paused, as a thought passed through me. "By the way…how did you know that I wouldn't just skip one class?"

He shrugged. "Just a hunch."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a lame excuse, Malfoy."

He waved me off. "Either way…will you help me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have no reason to, that's why. And I'm still finishing up homework."

"I'll wait for you."

"I don't want you to. Go away."

"Well, I don't want to. You're going to have to leave the library before it closes, anyway."

I closed my eyes in exasperation, taking a deep breath. If it'll make him leave me alone… "Fine. I'll help you. But only this once. After that, you're on your own. I just want you to leave me alone, and let me go to school in peace."

"You promise not to consort with anyone outside our house?"

My head snapped up. "What?"

"You heard me."

I stared at him for a moment, stunned by his audacity. But I rolled my eyes and said, "God dammit, Draco. Fine. Yes, I will, if it'll make your sorry arse happy."

His eyes sparkled slightly and he smirked. "Ooh, mild profanities…I should rile you up more often."

"Draco…" I warned.

"I'm only joking. Get a decent sense of humour, why don't you."

I rolled my eyes, and continued on with my essay, although I found myself distracted by Draco's presence. Finally, after a few minutes, I snapped the book shut that I had been using as a reference, causing a bit of dust to puff out.

"Done?"

"No, but now I can't concentrate. Let's just go."

He beamed, although I'm sure it was only because he had won, in some sardonic kind of way. "Alright."

I returned the books I wouldn't be taking with me, and shoved everything else in my bag. Then I followed Draco over to his own table, where he had a huge pile of books waiting for us. I looked to his bag, which was seated on the chair, stuffed full with books already. Then I turned to Draco.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"No, I'm not. I need all of these."

I sighed, readjusted my shoulder bag, and grabbed most of the books, leaving the rest and the bag for Draco to carry.

"Is that all you can carry?" I turned slowly to look at him, peeking over the stack of tomes in my arms.

"What do you think? My arms are about to fall off as it is, and we haven't even left the library."

But he only rolled his eyes in response and slipped his bag on his shoulder, gingerly lifting the other books. We set off to the dungeons, slowly creeping down the steps so as not to trip, and just as we breached through the first set of passages in the darkened underground, I slowed to a stop.

"I need to rest my arms. They're killing me." I bent down and carefully set the books down on the ground, resting my bag next to them so I could massage my aching shoulder.

"But we're almost there."

"It's just for a minute, Draco. Besides, I thought you were still having problems with your arm?"

A look seemed to pass through his eyes, which I took as confirmation that he had forgotten he had told me that. It only affirmed what I had thought all along; that Draco had been faking it for quite a while.

With a huff, he bent and set his own stack of books next to mine, as well as his bag. "Ok, fine. You've caught me. My arm's fine. Are you satisfied now?"

I smiled, still rubbing my shoulder. "For now." Standing there, in the corridor, feeling the rather light-heartedness between the two of us, I suddenly realised that no matter how much I swore I hated him the night before (and believe me, I'm pretty sure I could feel nothing else) I now felt like that strong feeling had abated somewhat. I really couldn't describe it then, but the feeling had still affected me, and I almost sighed in resignation; I could never really hate anyone. Even Draco. And in some ways, that made me mad. Why couldn't I hate him? He really hadn't done a whole lot to look like a saint in my eyes; threatening me at every turn, making my life a living hell…and he obviously didn't like me anymore than I liked him. So why couldn't he leave me alone and let us just ignore each other, and get on peacefully with our lives?

I realised much later in life, that it was the same reason he couldn't ever leave Harry alone.

He was bored.

He was a pompous git who had a perfect and spoiled little upbringing, and even though he wasn't completely oblivious to his family's acquaintances, he, at the time of his youth, didn't seem to care much about the grand scheme of things; only wanting to be satisfied in the here and now. And being satisfied meant being on the top of everything, like a king of sorts, in control of docile subjects. But he also loved a challenge. And there were always those few 'commoners' that like to bring trouble…and being the puppeteer he was, Draco knew that he could have a lot more fun playing with everyone rather than just getting them all out of the way. Not that he would have hurt or killed us, if he thought the other way. Hopefully.

But I hadn't figured this out yet, in my twelve-year-old innocence, which still wanted to think that there was some good in everybody. And so when he made a sudden barb about my mother, I tried to take it in stride.

"So is your mother still doing menial labour to make ends meet?" He said in a conversational tone, like he had just asked me how my classes were.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked about your mother. Is she well?"

"Why do you care?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just curious."

But I was sceptical. "No you're not. Why would you need to know about my mother?" A flash of thought, regarding my father's demise at the hands of Draco's father, flickered though me. Before he could speak, though, more almost panicked words tumbled from my mouth. "Is it your father? Does he want to know?"

Draco gazed at me evenly. "Perhaps."

But that vague answer only sparked anger. "I'm not telling you anything, Draco. I don't care what your father wants, he can't have my mother."

"I never said he wanted her, now did I? I think you're putting words in my mouth."

"Then what is it?" I said crossly, putting my hands on my hips. "Or is this just you playing grown-up? I bet you want to be just like your father."

"What, you mean a proud and powerful man, who has half of the ministry at his fingertips?"

"Well, besides the fact that your father probably isn't in the good graces of the ministry right now, considering what he did last year, I'd say no. I meant a murderer." I said the word in a cold and dangerous voice, laced with the passion of hatred that was building back up in me again.

Draco's eyes widened for a second before they narrowed in scorn, while his upper lip curled in a menacing scowl. "Take that back," he snarled.

"No. You're just like everyone else in Slytherin, Malfoy. Always trying to live up to Daddy's expectations, but never quite reaching them. All you want is to be just like Daddy. A bloody murderer, someone who kills others and destroys people's lives."

Draco retaliated my words by letting out a snarl and leaping at me, his cool, slim and pale hands slipping around my neck. His body weight forced me to stumble, falling on my back and allowing him to land on my chest, knocking the wind out of me. My arms were trapped by his legs, and he was slightly shaking me with his hold on my neck.

"Don't you ever talk about my father again! You understand? I hate you! I hate you! I hate the way you look! I hate the way you think! I hate everything about you! You disgust me! You hear that? You're disgusting!"

And I could hear him, but just barely. The ringing in my ears was growing louder by the second, and the pounding of my heart was like a bass drum in my ear. Since my breath was already gone, my lungs burned with no oxygen, and my throat was bruising from the grip Draco had on my neck. Distantly, I could feel the sore spot on the back of my head where it hit the rough stone floor. The pain of not being able to breathe had set my body on fire, and tears leaked out of my eyes, burning freezing paths onto my hot cheeks.

The darkness was creeping into my vision, and when I think about it now, I realise that my life was completely in the hands of another. I had no control, no say. Fate, destiny…they were nothing. I could not control any of it. I was going to die at the hands of another. Life was so fragile…it was slowly slipping away from me, and I was too weak to grasp onto it. Although I know now, my soul was always strong. It was just my body that was too weak.

Then, just as suddenly as it happened, Draco's dark and stormy eyes, which were almost black, cleared. His hold loosened on my neck and immediately, I started gagging, trying to heave air into my lungs, but Draco was still weighing down my chest.

"Oh my god," he choked out, springing up from me and stumbling away. Instantly, I was rolling over, coughing violently, dry heaving, and finally sucking sweet, sweet oxygen into my burning lungs. I heard the quick clacking of heels on stone and when my eyes stopped stinging with tears long enough to see, I looked down the hall to see Draco disappear around a corner.

Rolling onto my back, I lay there for a long moment, dragging in deep breaths, and forcing my lungs to stop burning. I coughed a little, massaging my bruised throat. I swallowed a few times to make sure my throat still worked; I was in desperate need of some water to cool the bruised muscles in my oesophagus. But my body ached as though I had just been through a rigorous workout, and for the life of me, I didn't feel like moving. Not yet. What must have been a minute later, although it felt like an hour, I heard the clacking of running heels on the stone again. I felt too sleepy to move my head up and see who it was, but I prayed that it wasn't Draco.

My prayers were answered.

"Raven! Oh my god, what happened!" A sweet, but terrified voice filled my ears and a beautiful face filled my vision. It was Harry. His arms immediately snuck under me and cradled me to his chest. I opened my mouth to say, 'You really shouldn't be here…we can't be seen together…' but all that came out was a feeble croak.

"Shh…don't talk. It'll be ok. I'm here now." Merlin, he looked so worried… All I really remember focusing on was his eyes. They were so much like mine it was uncanny. "It was Malfoy, wasn't it?" he asked quietly, looking at me with a mixture of agony and anger. Agony at the situation, anger at Draco.

And I couldn't answer him. I just felt so relieved that Harry was there…my secret friend…my best friend…my Harry…

"Raven? Raven!"


Harry shook Raven slightly, trying to keep her awake, but the stress of whatever had happened had made her pass out. Harry shifted slightly, trying to pull the girl up a bit more so he stand, but her dead weight was just too much for the thirteen–year-old muscle.

Glancing around, he spotted the books and bags that were piled off to the side. He grabbed one of the bags to rest Raven's head on. Gingerly laying her down, he then noticed the purplish bruises forming on the skin of her neck. What the hell? Hot anger flared in him and he quickly came to the realisation of what must have happened, going off of physical evidence as much as the psychic alarm that pierced his brain about ten minutes ago when he had been returning to Gryffindor tower.

But he didn't have the time to dwell on the reason behind what drew him to Raven. He had to go get help. And since he couldn't carry her, and he didn't know the proper spell to lift something as heavy as her, he'd just have to go find help by himself and leave her here, which was against his better judgement. He checked to make sure her breathing was regular, and brushed her hair out of her face.

"I'll be right back, I promise." He whispered. He stood and made a flash decision that Snape was the closest to the both of them, as well as being her head of house. Maybe Malfoy would finally get what he deserved.

Giving the sleeping girl one last glance, he quickly started manoeuvring through the dank dungeons, in search of Snape's quarters.


A/N: Ooh…what's going to happen to Raven? Is Malfoy finally going to get it? Well, you'll just have to wait, because the next chapter's going to take a while. At least a week. Heh heh heh. I'm so evil.

Review Responses:

DarkKestrelArwenSilkeQueen: I'm glad you like it so much! I hope you liked this chapter…I know you're probably going to be mad that you have to wait. I'm not doing it on purpose. I swear.

Okay, that was a blatant lie. LoL. I am doing it on purpose, but I also know that the next chapter has to be written just right, or everything after that gets all messed up. Anyway, to your comment about Jesse…he looks relieved for the same reason Blaise would. I'll let you sort out the rest. :D

SmileyFace3: Oh, I'm glad you saw the subtleness there. Yes, yes…The four other second-years aren't completely out of the picture. Raven spends more time with them than the others…but the others are so much more interesting… ;D

And those are good guesses about Raven's past…but no, Raven wasn't adopted, but her mum isn't telling her everything, either…

And as to your other guesses, about the connection…you were sort of right. It'll develop more within the next few chapters/years, so you'll just have to wait and see exactly what this connection holds. God, that sounds all mysterious, but it's not really.

And…to be honest, I haven't even thought about how Raven will react to Lupin…and as for Harry falling off his broom…well, that'll be coming up shortly, so just sit tight.

Thank you all, and please review!