Chapter 100: Daniel Smith

Daniel had thoroughly enjoyed his evening. Between practicing draws with his wrist holster (he'd gotten pretty good at it), kicking the soccer ball around the dorm with Dean, and exploring new Quidditch plays with his enchanted board, the evening had passed quickly. It was past his usual bedtime by the time he was properly settled. He was glad that he wouldn't have to be up at his usual time next morning.

He was not a light sleeper by nature, but he had learned to sleep with one ear open at Morning Sun, and it was a habit that he had yet to completely break. So, when Harry came racing into the room, he was awake even before Ron was. "Ron, you've got to see this," Harry was insisting.

As Ron got up, he indicated the other occupied bed. "Going to wake Dan up, too?"

"No," Harry whispered. "He's in enough trouble already. If we got caught, McGonagall would probably expel him."

"You're probably right," Ron said.

As soon as the two of them left, covered by Harry's Invisibility Cloak, Daniel sprang out of bed. Whatever they were going to see sounded exciting. And he was pretty good at stealth: at Morning Sun, he had periodically gone to the kitchen at night to swipe some food. Bad enough to be unable to sleep because you were on the floor, but worse to be sleepless and hungry.

Following Ron and Harry by sound alone was not difficult; the sound of their trainers on the cold stone was easy to detect. He remained in stocking feet, which was far quieter. Colder on the tootsies, though.

The two of them suddenly stopped. Daniel figured that they had seen someone coming. Sure enough, he heard Filtch muttering and Mrs. Norris meowing. He looked for a place to hide, and quickly slipped behind a suit of armour. The bulky metal suit hid him easily. He waited until Filch had gone by, then resumed his stealthy pursuit.

He had gotten another twenty yards when he realized that he had lost Ron and Harry. Either they had stopped, or had fled, or were moving silently now. He wondered what to do. Filch was now between him and Gryffindor, so he could not safely head back. At least not yet. But out here, he was vulnerable. If McGonagall caught him...

The thunder of footsteps erupted behind him. Filch was returning, and coming fast. And Daniel was out in the open. No armour, no furniture, nowhere to hide, no place to go. The caretaker had him dead to rights. Must have been that stupid cat smelling him.

A hand slapped rudely over his mouth and pulled him straight back, and something silvery fell over him. He instinctively struggled. "Shhh! Cut it out, mate!" a voice hissed in his ear. "It's just us!"

Daniel froze, realizing that he was under the invisibility cloak. He nodded, and Ron let him go. The three boys stood together, not daring to breathe, as Filch stopped where Daniel had been, then looked around. "Could've sworn I saw one of the little buggers," he muttered. "No matter. Come along, my sweet."

Ron waited a couple of minutes, then rounded on him. "What were you thinking! You're already in enough trouble."

"What were you guys thinking?" Daniel countered. "Looking to chop wood alongside me? Or maybe mop out the johns?"

"Johns?"

"Toilets," Daniel clarified. Bathroom detail was another of McGonagall's favourite detentions.

"Come on," Harry said. "He can't go back. Filch is there."

The three of them headed deeper into the castle, until Harry finally led them into a chamber that had seen very little use. An ornate-looking mirror stood in the center of it. Daniel tried to sound out the inscription on it. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube... what the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know, but look," Harry said, standing in front of it.

Daniel looked, but saw only Harry in it. Harry, however, insisted that he saw his family there, with his dead parents prominent among them. Ron couldn't see them either. However, when he stood in front of the mirror, he saw something different: himself, as both Head Boy and Quidditch captain. Neither Harry nor Dan could see him thus; whether the angle was wrong or if it was part of the charm, neither knew.

Then, it was Dan's turn. He stepped to the mirror. And while he did not understand what it was that he saw, it fit. He was overwhelmed with a desire to walk through the mirror and to the other side, so that what he saw could be forever true.

His reverie was interrupted by a strange sensation. He turned away from the mirror and peered worriedly at the entrance.

"Dan?" Harry said. "What happened? What did you see?"

"Shhh," he said. "Something's wrong."

"What?" Ron wanted to know.

"I dunno," Daniel said. "I just have a feeling that we're being watched."

Chapter 101: Cassandra Serenity & Magenta Coldren

It had been a long day, even for Christmas, when Magenta and Cassandra finally made their way upstairs that night. Both were tired and happy from a wonderful day spent with friends. Lying on their beds, which happened to be right next to each other, they talked quietly about the day, their presents, and how Magenta's holidays were going before coming back to Hogwarts. They had been talking for while when Magenta finally questioned Cass about the common room surprise.

"So, how often do you go out with the twins?" Magenta asked with her eyebrows raised.

The question had caught Cassandra off guard and she wondered if it had any hidden meaning to it. "Er, I don't know. I mean this was really the first time I helped them with anything." Cassandra managed to mumble as her mind drifted back to the fun of the night before and the surprise she felt when she awoke that morning.

"You ok Cass?" Magenta questioned while looking over at her friend. "You got a funny look on your face."

"I'm fine" Cass replied while giving Magenta a soft smile of reassurance.

"Will you be going out with the twins again then?" Magenta was smiling to herself now.

"I think so, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to try out a new spell I've learned." Cass said a bit absent mindedly.

"Oh? A new spell?" Magenta had her eyebrows raised again in her normal questioning glance. "And what does it do?"

Cassandra beamed proudly as she told Magenta all about the Disillusionment spell. How it was mostly used to hide the magical nature of things like Hippogriffs, but could also be used to make oneself into a chameleon of sorts. Not really invisible, but you could blend into the background like you weren't there.

"Really!" Magenta squealed with delight as Cassandra finished telling her about it. "We have to try it out!"

"I was planning on showing it to the twins soon" Cassandra said while lightly biting her lower lip.

"Why let them have all the fun with it?" Magenta started. "We should have some fun ourselves, just us girls. Come on Cass, it will be an adventure!"

Chewing on her bottom lip a moment longer Cass nodded. "Ok, I'll do it."

Pulling out her wand, Cassandra had Magenta stand quite still in the center of the room while she cast the spell on her. Then before Cassandra's eyes Magenta slowly shifted out of sight. Next it was her own turn and Cassandra raised her wand to herself. Intoning the spell she felt like a cold egg had just been dropped on her head. The cold feeling slipping down over her until it reached the tips of her toes.

"You there Cass?" The invisible Magenta questioned.

"I'm here" replied the also invisible Cassandra. "What should be do?"

"Don't know, but lets head down stairs and see if we can come up with something." Magenta said.

The two walked down the stairs into the empty common room. They had been there only a short time when they heard the portal open and close though no one was coming in or going out. Neither had seen anyone, but both of them could hear the footsteps of someone moving through the common room.

"What was that?" Cassandra asked out loud.

"Not sure, but it sounded like someone coming through the common room." Magenta supplied. "Anyone else know that spell of yours?"

"I don't know, it's a bit advanced really. I'm surprised I could even do it." Cassandra was chewing on her bottom lip again, though of course no one could see her.

"By the way Cass, how long does this spell last for? I mean I don't want to be outside when it just stops working."

"It can last for hours and even days really. The worst that could happen is that we die and no one knows for a few days until our bodies reappear" Cassandra commented offhandedly.

"Comforting thought" Magenta responded.

The two were quiet for a moment when they realized that they were both hearing the sounds of footsteps again. This time many more than just one set. A moment later the portal door opened and closed again without anyone to be seen.

"Ok, now I know something is going on," remarked Magenta.

Cassandra was cut short of agreeing when she heard more footsteps coming from the stairs. This time they could see who was making though. It was Daniel. Awake, out of bed, and heading out the portal door.

"Let's follow him," Magenta said in a very excited voice.

"Alright, sounds like fun. We can keep an eye on him even if he can't see us."

The two girls followed their good friend out of the Gryffindor portal and down the hallway. Daniel would stop every now and then to listen, when he did both girls stopped dead in their tracks. Both of them knew he would be able to hear them even if he couldn't see them.

After a quick scare when they had to press up against the wall to get out of the way of Filch. The girls were amazed to see Daniel pulled away into nothingness. He hadn't faded away as both of them had done, but was just gone.

"Where'd he go?" Magenta whispered.

"Don't know, but listen. More footsteps." Cassandra whispered back.

"Let's follow them. I bet Daniel was listening to those earlier."

Just a few feet more and the footsteps stopped while a door to an abandon door opened by itself.

"In there" said Cassandra as she hurried to the open door, slipping in before it was closed. "You there Magenta?" Cass whispered barely above the sound of her breath.

"Yeah" responded the still invisible Magenta.

It was then that the three boys stepped out from under their invisible cover. Harry, Ron, and Daniel had all been hiding under what Cassandra could now see was an invisibility cloak. She didn't know whose it was, though it did appear to belong to Harry.

Harry looked as though he was about to jump out of his skin as he showed the two other boys the large mirror which stood alone in the room. It was a beautiful mirror with a gilded frame and elaborate carvings. An inscription at the top read "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi", but what that meant Cassandra was at a loss for.

Harry explained that when he stood in front of the mirror he would see his family, even though they had dead many years ago. He wanted desperately to show his two comrades what he saw, but neither of them could see anything except for Harry.

Ron was next to try the mirror, but when he looked into it he saw himself as both Quidditch captain and Head Boy. He was also holding onto the house cup he explained with much joy.

When it was Daniel's turn to look into the mirror he didn't tell what he saw. Cassandra had hoped to hear what she had figured out was the viewer's hearts desire. It might have showed her a greater look at who her friend really was.

Inwardly Cassandra was longing to look into the mirror and see what her own heart was dreaming of. However, at the same time she was very afraid of what she might see. The power of what Harry had seen had caused him to run all the way back up to the Gryffindor common room. What she might see could be just as powerful.

Daniel was the first to notice them. He had always been good to listening and watching. Even though the girls were both blending into the background there was still sometimes a small distortion in the image behind them. Just enough to give off where they were or that something was there at all. Daniel quickly grabbed the other two boys and with a pained expression on his face Harry threw his cloak over them.

Once the boys had left for the night Cassandra reversed the Disillusionment spell on Magenta and then herself. A feeling of tricking warmth flowed over each of them as Cassandra tapped her wand to their heads. This had been only the second time Cassandra had used the charm and it still felt rather odd to her.

Both of the girls wandered into the center of the abandon room. Only the large gilded mirror was present with them now. Mysterious writing etched above the mirrored pane could be seen and know Cassandra couldn't read it, she felt as though she knew what it said.

They had watched as each of the boys had taken turns to look into the mirror. It seemed simple enough Cassandra thought to herself. However, there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind. What will I see in there? she questioned herself.

Magenta seemed a bit apprehensive about the mirror as well. The two girls continued to look at the massive mirror; both pondering what was in store for them if they looked into its reflective surface. Finally it was Magenta that broke the silence.

"Well we're either going to look or not" she stated very matter-of-factly. "And I'm not going back to the common room without seeing what this thing has to show me."

With that the beautiful raven haired girl stood directly in front of the mirror and watched her reflection shift and change. Maggie watched her self slowly fade from the mirror to be replaced by a tall, lovely woman in blue robes with long black hair. A man stood beside her, his arm around her waist, with light brown hair and eyes like her own. Magenta knew who these people were, though she hardly knew them.

The woman was Magenta's mother, Larrisa. She was smiling radiantly. The man was her father, Robert. He had left her mother before Magenta was born, but he occasionally would send her a card or some other small token.

Her eyes were slowly beginning to well up as she stared at her parents, who had hated each other at the end of a two year marriage, now so happy and carefree in each others presence. She placed a hand to her heart and closed her eyes. This, this scene before her, it had been stolen from her, by the fates. She wished she could sink into the mirror and join her happy parents, but she couldn't.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned to see a concerned Cassandra gazing at her. Magenta looked to her quiet friend as tears spilled down her cheeks. The two girls shared a moment of silence, Magenta knew that Cassandra had seen guessed it, so she turned and let Cassandra have her go.

When it was Cassandra's turn to step in front of the mirror she thought her legs might give out on her. Why am I so afraid? she asked inwardly. There was no answer to this unrelenting question.

Taking a deep calming breath she took the few steps that would put her directly in front of the mirror. Standing there she saw herself as she was now. Her scarlet red hair pulled back in a very fine French braid. Her school robes pulled over the soft blue dress her Grandmum had sent her that day for Christmas. The new silver locket with bright blue sapphires embedded around it lying over her heart. Everything else was dark.

Then she saw it, moving up from behind her a mirror image of herself. Wait no, this mirror was taller and looked older as well. Yet, it had the same scarlet red hair, the same bright blue eyes and the same pale ivory colored skin.

Finally, coming up just behind Cassandra, the reflection showed two figures, a girl and a woman. Both looked identical, though the woman behind Cassandra had laughter in her eyes. Reaching her arms around Cassandra the mysterious woman held her tightly.

It was then that Cassandra realized who the woman was, this was her mother. Not the lifeless vessel that was left of her now, but the loving and carefree woman her Grandmum had always told her about. She was there with her now, laughing and smiling, but most of all holding her.

Cassandra could never remember a time when her own mother had held her. Juliet was alive, healthy some might even say, but she was dead as well. Her life had ended many years ago when the war was finally over. Now she was little more then a vessel.

Her once bright blue eyes were dull and pale, no life shown behind them. Her soft pink lips had become hard and dry, losing all colour and blush of health from them. Even her once beautiful ivory skin was now deathly pale and hung from her like lose clothing.

No she was nothing like the image reflected to Cassandra now. This image was of the past, a past Cassandra had never gotten to see. She had never seen the laugher in her mother's eyes. Nor the bright smile which lighted up her whole face. Most of all she had even been held like this before by her mother.

It was almost too much to bear to see this vibrant image of her mother. However, Cassandra couldn't look away. Her mother was here, in front of her, smiling, laughing, hold her like never before, and Cassandra knew she would never see this again.

Standing there in the empty room with Magenta watching her, Cassandra tried to be strong and fight back her tears. It had been years since she had cried. Not that she wasn't allowed to and not because she had been taught not too. Actually, her Grandmum had always told her a good cry could help at times, but because she didn't want too.

Her father wouldn't have cried at such small things and if he wouldn't have then neither would she. He had been a strong, true Gryffindor in his time. Even with him gone though Cassandra still thought about how he would have liked to have seen her live and she knew that he would not like to see her crying her life away.

Still the tears pulled at her eyes as she watched her mother's image hold her and laugh a jovial laugh. Maybe it would be alright to cry, maybe just this once she told herself. With that the walls were gone and she was sobbing openly.

Magenta ran to her side and held her quivering friend as Cassandra continued to cry. Letting out all of the love and fear over her mother, Cassandra couldn't stop the damns once they were broken. She cried rivers of tears that night over a woman who was always there, but never really with her.

Chapter 102: Rachael Jones

Ray left Severus' office with a small amount of trepidation late Christmas evening, she wasn't sure what the few Slytherin's that were left would say, they had avoided her at dinner.

She was however surprised at Dan's approach. It was all right for him to be seen with her in the mornings with no one around, but for him to come up to her in the great hall… well she was shocked to say the least.

She had spent the rest of the day in the potion labs with Severus; he had wanted to experiment with some of the ingredience she had given him for Christmas. He wouldn't let her do anything but prepare the ingredience but it had been a fun day all in all.

Now she was back in the common room, sitting in front of the fire reading. Well she had the pretence of reading, but she was actually miles away, thinking of Christmas' at home in Australia, thinking of what she would be doing if she was at home.

Christmas morning, she would get up early, and open one present, then she would go and wake up her mum, who would make them breakfast, and then together, they would open the rest, her mum acting all surprised and shocked when she opened her present from Ray, even though she already knew what it was, because she had brought it…

Then they would pack the car up, normally consisting of all of Ray's presents, and then they would be off to whichever Aunt's house Christmas lunch was being held at. There they would open even more presents, and compare presents between cousins; Ray had six cousins on her mums side, and they were all really close.

Around two in the afternoon, Christmas lunch would be served, every family member would add something to the meal; Ray always made the Gingerbread house, while her mum made the adults Christmas Pudding.

After lunch, the kids normally played in whichever family's swimming pool, whilst the adults sat around talking and sunbaking. Around six pm, everyone would start leaving, not before taking with them lots of left overs, and an early night would follow.

During this musing, Sebastian Stirling, the only other first year that stayed for Christmas, came over to her…

"Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, nodding to the couch opposite her, she nodded in affirmation.

"I'm Sebastian, but you can call me Seb," he said, trying to make conversation.

"I'm Rachael, but I only like being called Ray," she answered quietly, "You may not want to be seen with me thought, I'm only a half blood," she stated.

They sat in silence for awhile before Seb answered.

"Look I really don't care, my best friend is a Muggleborn and a Gryffindor, but because of family stuff, I have to keep away from her," he said, "my father is big into the whole 'Purity of Blood' act,"

"My dad, he is a pureblood Gryffindor, when he found out I was in Slytherin, he rejected me," she said softly, "look you're Malfoy's friend, if he finds out you have been talking to me, your life, and mine wont be worth living," she added growing louder with every word. Seb nodded as if agreeing with her, but he went on to add.

"Let me deal with Malfoy, there are only 2 other Slytherin's here, and there both caught up in each other, they wont notice a thing, I'm not saying lets be 'best friends' I'm just asking if we can call a truce for at least the rest of the holidays?" he asked.

"Sure," she answered, they lapsed into silence, sitting there working on homework for the rest of the evening, every now and then asking the other a question they weren't sure of.

Chapter 103: Holly Ethers

Holly sat straight up in bed. Something's wrong, she thought. She threw off the covers of her bed and pulled on the grey bathrobe her father made her wear. She opened the door to her room and crept out of her room. She didn't smell any smoke, so there probably wasn't any fire. I should wake up Grandmamma. She went down to the end of the hall and went into her grandmother's room.

"Grandmamma," Holly called, and went to her bed. She put her hand on Grandmamma's hand to wake
her up. The hand was cold.

"Grandmamma?" Holly asked again, already knowing what had happened. Holly ran out of Grandmamma's room down to Father's.

"Father! Father!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs. She could hear the servants waking up. As she turned into the hall were Father's room was, the door opened and Father stormed out.

"Holly! What are you yelling for! It's 5 in the morning!" he yelled.

"Grandmamma's dead!" Holly cried, finally letting reality sink in.

"What are you talking. . ." Father trailed off and headed towards Grandmamma's room. Holly watched him, when a thought occurred to her.

Why is he already wearing his robes?

She followed Father back down to Grandmamma's room. Father felt Grandmamma's hand just once and rang the bell for the servants.

"Marie is dead. Contact the Ministry and inform them, get the will read, and get the funeral ready before Holly goes back to Hogwarts," Father informed the servant, Katlin, before turning to Holly. "Holly. Because Marie died I won't punish you, but next time, try not to wake us all up at 5 in the morning." Father said.

"Ye-yes Father." Holly stuttered, in shock at what had happened and at what Father had just said.
Father gave her a pat on the back then walked out of the room.

Katlin came back in the room. "Miss, it's time for your breakfast." Holly nodded and Katlin went out again.

Chapter 104: Cassandra Serenity

The night sky was beautiful and bright as the full moon's light shown down from above. The stars each twinkling brightly against the black backdrop of the heavens. On occasion a cloud would slip over the moon and cover everything in darkness.

Darkness, that was what stood before her now as Cassandra looked forward. There was an edge of darkness that continued in both directions as far as she could see. Complete darkness that showed not a single sign of light within its depths.

Fear started to rise in Cassandra has she looked at the darkness. Something was in that black, something she did not want to face. Yet, she felt herself being pulled towards it. She couldn't escape the pull of the black mass and was soon just outside of it. Closing her soft blue eyes tightly she held her breath, feeling the icy touch of the black void wash over her she knew she was inside of it now.

Slowly and tentatively opening her eyes she found only black all around her. So dark was it that she could not even see her own hand in front of her. It was like being trapped inside of an ink well, darkness all around and air thick with tension.

A scream broke the silence that threatened to deafen Cassandra. She turned quickly in the direct it had come, but still saw nothing. Unsure of what else to do she began to take small steps towards the noise. She wasn't sure she was actually going anywhere until she saw the dim light up ahead.

That dim light looked as blinding as the sun in this pitch-black world. Still Cassandra ran towards it, seeking its comfort. Finally stepping into the light she felt safe; having escaped the black world of shadows she felt she could breath easier now. That was not the case, however.

There in the center of the light was a cloaked figure. Hanging low to the ground Cassandra thought it a shadow at first until she realized that nothing in the light was casting the shadow. Seeming to sense her thoughts the figure began to move closer. Gliding across the ground like mist taken solid form. A scream frozen in her mouth as the figure continued to drawn near.

It was now almost upon her and she knew what it wanted, it wanted to kill. It wanted to taste blood and feel power. Closer still and the fear within Cassandra would not allow her move. Slowly it grew to the height of a man and all Cassandra could see were two red orbs glowing from inside of the shadows black depths. Laughter, high pitched laughter assaulted all of her senses at once and then…

Cassandra's eyes snapped open and her heart pounded within her chest. The blankets of her bed were wrapped around her tightly, almost smothering her with their warmth and darkness. Though it was still night the room was dim with some light filtering in through the windowpanes. Thankful to have not awoken in pure black Cassandra tried to calm herself.

Taking slow deep breaths to calm the pounding of her heart, Cassandra feared to close her eyes again. The figure had returned and this time had come so close to her. That laughter, those eyes, the fear that engulfed her being when it was near, this creature was beyond anything Cassandra had dreamed about before. Though she could not prove it, she knew this creature was real and waiting for her somewhere out in the darkness.

Climbing from her bed after her heart had stopped it thunderous pounding, Cassandra grabbed her bed robe and descended the steps from the girl's dormitories. The common room was quiet because of the late hour. It was still the holidays, as well which meant there was less of a likelihood that anyone would wake soon.

Fear from the nightmare was still racing through Cassandra as she sat by the fire. No matter what she thought of or did she could not shake the feeling of dread that was overwhelming her. She needed something that would only bring her good thoughts and after a moment or two of thought she knew what that was.

Pulling out her wand Cassandra cast the Disillusionment charm on herself. That same feeling of having an egg cracked over her head spread over the young first year. With that now familiar feeling of cold came the ability to skulk along the shadows and hide among the corners. Yes, Cassandra knew where she could find only happy thoughts, but it wasn't here in the common room. Instead it was hidden away in an unused room of the castle.

Slipping out the portal door Cassandra kept to the walls and the shadows, allowing the Disillusionment charm to hide her like a chameleon. Stepping carefully and quietly as not to make any noise nor attract any attention to herself. Cassandra made her way down to the abandon room, which housed the mirror.

Finally she reached the door to the forgotten room and pulled at its handle lightly. From inside Cassandra heard a noise; freezing in place she listened hard, but heard nothing again. Pulling the door open a bit more she slipped inside the room and shut the door behind her. No one was there, at least no one she could see.

Both Cassandra and Magenta had watched the boys use Harry's invisibility cloak to leave this very room before. With that knowledge Cassandra knew that she was not alone, but at the same time didn't know which of the boys were here with her now. Taking a few more steps into the room, but still remaining in the shadows Cassandra spoke out in a hushed voice.

"Who's here?" her voice whispered. Silence was her only answer.

"I know it's one of the boys" she continued, determined to find out who was here with her. Again only deafen silence lingered in the air.

"Harry? Ron? Daniel?" she questioned. "It's me, Cass" she finally added, hoping to ease their fears about who she might be.

Upon hearing her name Harry's head mystical appeared, his body still covered by the cloak. "Cass?" he questioned looking around the room. "Where are you?"

With that Cassandra cast the reversal spell and slowly became visible, materializing out of thin air before Harry's very eyes. A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he watched her appear. Her returning the smile, but hiding a soft giggle as that he was still only a floating head to her.

"That was brilliant" Harry chimed as he removed the invisibility cloak from his shoulders.

"Yours was nice as well" Cassandra commented while making a motion towards Harry's cloak.

A sheepish grin spread across Harry's face as he blushed slightly. "It was a Christmas present" he said in a soft tone. "But how did you learn" he started to question.

"We girls have our secrets too" Cass replied with a soft giggle.

A new expression moved across Harry's features as he looked over towards Cassandra. "But why are you here?"

"Same reason you are I'd wager." With that Cassandra motioned towards the large mirror in the center of the room.

"You've seen it too?" Harry seemed taken back that someone else had been in this room and looking at this mirror.

Cassandra only nodded a reply, her soft blue eyes fixed on the large mirror. Taking tentative steps she moved closer to the mirror. When she was close enough she let her slender fingers move over the delicate features of the mirror's frame. Breathing out a deep breath which she had been holding since she was back in her dorm room, Cassandra felt the last affects of the nightmare start to drain away from her.

It was then that she felt another presence by her side. Turning away from the mirror Cassandra found she was staring directly into two emerald green eyes. Harry had made his way across the room to the mirror as well and was now standing only a few feet away from both the mirror and Cassandra. His face was soft and his eyes were looking directly at her with questions hiding behind them.

"Wh… What do you see?" Harry asked a bit nervously while folding his hands within one and other.

"My mother" Cassandra replied simply with a soft sigh, her fingers tracing another delicate feature of the mirror's frame.

"Me too" Harry whispered with a far away expression on his face.

Cassandra stopped what she was doing and looked directly at Harry for the first time in a while. Her fingers' stopping their exploration of the frame's surface and falling down to her side. A sad look emanated from behind her blue-grey eyes.

"I'm sorry Harry," she said in a breathless tone.

Cassandra, of course, had known that Harry's parents were dead. She had grown up hearing stories of the boy-who-lived and how their parents had been friends. Still that's all they had been to her, stories.

Now here in front of her was the boy-who-lived, but he was more than a simple story. Harry was a person who never met his parents or heard their laughter. A sweet and kind boy who was a bit shy, but brave as any Gryffindor could be. He was so much more than any story could ever do him justice.

"Harry" Cassandra spoke softly, seeming to pull Harry from his own thoughts.

"Hmmm?" he muttered absently.

There was so much Cassandra wanted to tell him all at once. That he was not alone in his feeling, that their parents had been close friends, that she would always be there for him if he needed her, but she wasn't sure how to say that all without overwhelming them both.

"You're parents would have been proud of you" was all she could manage to say as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

When Harry looked at her, Cassandra could see tears threatening to spill out of his eyes as well, but neither of them said anything. Instead they took turns looking into the mirror and seeing their loved ones. Passing the rest of the night in silence, but never alone.

Chapter 105: Holly Ethers

"Miss." Katlin approached her.

"Yes, Katlin?" Holly replied, turning to face her; then groaning at who she saw was with her.

"Master Ethers says that he would like you to spend the party with young Mr. Malfoy here," Katlin informed her, then inched away to refill the punch bowl.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Holly asked.

"Oh shut up Ethers. It's not like I begged to come," Malfoy said.

"Really? Well, your whining voice certainly fooled me. Idiot." replied Holly.

"Whatever, Ethers. Just because Father told me to hang around you doesn't mean I have to be pleasant about it," said Malfoy.

"Regular little Daddy's boy aren't ya?" Holly shot back.

"It's not like you're not…"

"If I did everything Father said, I wouldn't have ended up in Gryffindor, now would I?" Holly interrupted.

"Oh, you mean you became a disgrace to your family?" Malfoy sneered.

"Well, when your family's a disgrace, you know all about that, Malfoy." Holly replied.

"I... shut up Ethers." Malfoy walked away to badger one of the waiters.

Holly rolled her eyes as one of the servants came up to her. "Miss, the Master says its time for the will reading."

"Oh, ok Mira. Lead the way," Holly replied, standing up and following her. Mira led her to her father's study.

"In here, Miss." Mira opened the door for her, then hurried away. Holly didn't blame her. Father was rather hard on servants.

When Holly walked in, all talking stopped and something was put away. She was used to that.

"Holly, good, you're here. We're about to read Marie's will," Father said. Holly nodded and sat down. "Skip over the technical stuff, otherwise we'll be here all day," Father advised the man who broke the seal on the will.

The man nodded as he read down the will. His brow wrinkled. "Adrian, were you close to this woman?" he asked.

"Yes, why?" Father asked.

"Well, she didn't leave anything to you." The man said, then slowly backed away.

"WHAT!" Holly's father roared.

"She, says, well, that all her belongings her are to be moved to her house. Then, we she reaches 13, your daughter is to have control of, well, everything." the man said, holding out the will before Father mauled him for it.

Father grabbed it and furiously read through it.

"That old bat! She left everything to Holly and nothing to me, who took her in! That-"

"You might want to go, er, Miss." the man said addressing her, and rather looking as though he would like to leave, too.

Holly nodded and quietly left the room. Grandmamma didn't have to do this. But why did she? Holly thought as she slowly walked back to the reception.

Chapter 106: Alondra Bracho

It had been a wonderful and relaxing Holiday vacation. Full of laughter, fun, and much love from her family.

Alondra sighed to herself softly as she stepped off from the Hogwarts Express and pulled her black wizard's robes closer to her for warmth. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and thanked Cedric and his Hufflepuff friends for allowing her to ride with them.

"Are any of your friends here, Allie?" Cedric asked craning his neck to look over a crowd of kids.

"No. They mentioned they'd be busy with some things to do, it's no problem." Alondra replied smiling and gathered her back pack and carry on bag over her shoulders.

"Here let me help you with that," Cedric offered and took both articles from her shoulders and placed them on the nearest trolley along with his things to be transported magically to Hogwarts.

"Awwww, why thank you, Cedric! You really are such a gentleman," Alondra told him sweetly. Cedric grinned handsomely at her and Alondra felt her face flush and she shyly pulled her hair behind her ears. On her right arm, a twinkling noise jingled and something caught the light in a rainbow flash.

"So," Cedric then said and took her arm inspecting it curiously. "Liked my gift, huh?"

Alondra but the inside of her cheek and giggled. "Absolutely! I loved your gift, I am wearing the bangles aren't I?" she replied playfully and pulled her arm out of his gentle touch fearing her face would explode from the deep crimson blush she was wearing.

Cedric laughed. "Well, you're very welcome. I thought they would suit you and I was right."

Alondra looked up to him and smiled brilliantly. "Thank you," she said and reached up to place a soft and quick kiss on his cheek.

Cedric smiled slowly and together they walked into one of the many carriages waiting to take them back to Hogwarts. Justin Finch-Flenchey scooted after them, followed by Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott.

"Would you all like some American sweets?" Alondra piped up, reaching into her robe pockets and revealing two hand fulls of Snickers, Reese's Pieces, Kit Kats, and Charm Lollypops.

Susan and Hannah squealed delightedly and took Reese's and Lollypops, Justin playfully pondered on what and how much to take and then settled with 2 Snickers and 1 Kit Kat. Alondra giggled joyfully and turned to Cedric.

"You don't want any, Ced?" Alondra asked sweetly, and then flinched at the sudden nickname she had given him. Cedric chuckled and nodded, taking 2 Kit Kats.

"Thanks, Allie." Cedric replied and stuffed them in his robes. "And don't worry, I like the nickname," he whispered the last part in her ear.

Alondra bit down on her lip but smiled shyly and turned to rip open a Lollypop. Susan and Hannah were giggling and ravelling at how yummy American candy turned out to be.

"This is really quite, yummy!"

"I'll say! I've never had something so sweet in my life,"

"Can I have some more?" Justin asked playfully and they all laughed. When suddenly a long black mane appeared in the carriage. And a delicate pale face with dark thin eyes smiled to the group shyly.

"Hello, um, may I sit here? Everywhere else is full," she asked softly.

"Certainly, come on in and out of the cold," Alondra piped up sweetly and Cedric, Justin, Hannah and Susan smiled and nodded backing Alondra up on the offer.

"Thank you so much," the girl said and sat next to Susan, flipping her long straight black hair behind her regal shoulders. "I'm Cho Chang, by the way. 2nd year Ravenclaw,"

"Pleasure, Cho. I'm Justin Finch-Flenchey and this is Susan Bones, and Hanna Abbott. We're 1st year Hufflepuffs," Justin said shaking Cho's pale little hand.

"I'm also a Hufflepuff, 4th year. Name's Cedric Diggory," Cedric then said flashing his winning smile, Cho blushed and smiled shyly as he shook her hand gently.

"And I'm Alondra Bracho, 1st year Gryffindor," Alondra added and Cho looked to her kindly and shook her hand enthusiastically.

"Pleasure to meet you all, and thank you for letting me ride with you," Cho replied in her quiet soft voice.

Justin and Susan then began trading a few of their treats with one another and chatting between themselves comfortably. Hannah turned and was quietly pondering to herself while sucking on her lolly. Alondra offered Cho some sweets and she thankfully took a Reese's. Cedric then wrapped his arm around Alondra's shoulders casually and Alondra couldn't help but smile and feel a little flutter in her stomach with giddy nerves at being so close to Cedric. She looked up to him and a dazzling smile graced her pink lips. Cedric grinned handsomely and popped a Reese's into his mouth goofily. Alondra giggled merrily.

Unaware to them both, the girl with the long black hair, Cho Chang, was watching them intently, observing how Cedric smiled to Alondra and how Alondra would giggle when he told a joke or said something in her ear. Unaware to them all, Cho had resorted to ride in the carriage because she had noticed the older and handsome Hufflepuff student get in. And somehow she had felt like getting to know him better, but sadly she hadn't been anticipating that a dark haired, dreamy eyed, first year, had already caught his eye.

Alondra sat in her dormitory pondering on all the information she had received over the Holidays from her father regarding her fast developing powers.

It was all so complicated and so confusing. She had been learning to control her telepathy from the words in her great grandmother's diary. Alondra smiled when she pictured what her grandmama had looked like, acted like when she had written those entries long ago. From what she had read, they were very much a like. They seemed to only differ in Houses, her grandmother had been in Ravenclaw and she was in Gryffindor. Alondra softly ran her delicate fingers over the thick leather cover. Engraved in swirly silver writing it read,

Mi Diario
Mariana Dinora Arambula

What intrigued Alondra the most was how even at her grandmother's young age she had such control over her telepathy. Maybe it had been her grandmother's strong and stubborn personality, both of which Alondra lacked. Her favourite entry though, was what her grandmother had written on a day in her 6th year. How in distinct neat writing she had written,

I received another owl from Antonio today. Como lo amo! I love him with all of me! Someday soon, we will get married. He has promised me time and time again when he writes. He plans to propose on my graduation day from Hogwarts! Just to imagine a life with Antonio, makes me feel all warm inside. And then my biggest dream is to have children! No girls though, because I don't want to see them cry over a lost love, bullied around by their brothers or mean boys, or any of the other things girls go through and I know too well. I want a niño! All boys, so they can run and play be care-free and carry on the family name of their father.

Bracho...I already feel like a Bracho! As soon as I am Antonio's bride I will no longer be Mariana Dinora Arambula. I will forget all about my magical gifts, up upbringing, and education. I will live as a muggle with Antonio and indulge in all the wonderful things he has told me of that world. And that way my children, my children's children and their children will never know the evil's the magical world has to offer. Especially the likes of people like Tom Riddle! When I say my vows before God and the church to take Antonio as my husband til death do us part, I will have changed forever. Go from a magical girl to a muggle woman, a woman named Mariana Dinora de Bracho.

Alondra had tears in her eyes as she hugged the diary to her tightly. Her great grandmother had resented the magical world. As if knowing even then how cruel and intolerant of muggles it would always be. And this Tom Riddle reminded Alondra a lot of Draco Malfoy. Her great grandmother had mentioned Riddle several times in her entries. Of how at first she was attracted to him, later how he made her believe he cared for her as well, and later when she confessed her true feelings for him Riddle had ridiculed her for being a mudblood lover, and how she disgraced all purebloods with her actions.

What pained Alondra the most was a specific entry that her grandmother had written during her fourth year.

'I look into Tom Riddle's eyes and know why the devil hasn't rid the world of him, because he is the devil! Diablo, malvado! He's cruel and malicious, just like all his Slytherin companions. All Slytherin's are without a doubt evil by nature! Not one girl or boy in Slytherin could ever be decent. After all, Slytherin's have been known to host all the evil Wizard's since the beginning of this school's history. Damn purebloods!'

Slytherin's were evil by nature. Alondra closed her eyes sadly and two lone tears trailed down her peachy colored cheeks. Sebastian was a Slytherin, he had been cruel to her, but Alondra believed and knew in her heart that Sebastian wouldn't and couldn't ever submit to the evil's of his ancestors.

It was amazing to believe her great-grandmother had actually held that diary in her hands. Looking down at it, Alondra felt a strange feeling wash over her. All sounds suddenly ceased and everything was silent. Her eyes darkened to a dark brown and a scarlet spark appeared in them.

"Once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully..." a feminine voice sang mistily.

"Mariana?" a man called desperately.

"Far away, long ago, Glowing dim as an ember, Things my heart, Used to know, Once upon a December..." the feminine voice began to fade, as if growing weaker.

"Mariana...Mariana!" the man demanded so close to Alondra's ear.

Alondra gasped and suddenly blurted, "Tom! I'm right here!"

Suddenly the sound of bustling students down stairs and the soft music from her radio returned to her. Alondra blinked rapidly, her eyes returning to her dark caramel state, confused by what she had just heard in her mind. The woman's voice sounded so eerily familiar, but the man's voice was a stranger to her.

"So, why did I answer?" Alondra asked herself. "I don't even know what came over me. Who's...Tom?" She breathed in deep, looked down to her great-grandmother's diary and put it aside quickly. Eyeing is curiously, she shook her head and went over to her night stand table. A top it stood the jewellery box, Sebastian, himself had mailed to her for Christmas.

She took the jewellery box into her arms tenderly and opened the lid, the soft melody of 'Once Upon a Dream' filled her ears and brought a smile to her face. It had been a token of friendship, or something like it. A token of a sort of truce that even though would be difficult to act out was there. Alondra softly ran her fingers over the dancing figurine and suddenly laughed softly. She then took out the chandelier crystal earrings Francesca had secretly given her on New Years Eve, for 'good luck' during the New Year.

She then closed the box lid and set it back down on her night stand carefully. She ran to the mirror and slipped the earrings on. She ran her brush through her rich mahogany dark locks, straightened out her trendy and fringy jean skirt, smoothed out her pastel pink top and tied her new black boots laces neatly. Satisfied with her look, she went to take out a small paper bag that had a little freckled boy's face drawn on and read 'Sparky's'. Inside were the sweets she had promised to bring her friends back.

In a happy and care-free mood, pushing the previous strange incident from her mind, she glided out her dormitory room and down the stairs to the bustling Common Room.

"Hey, Kiddo!"

"Oliver, hi!" Alondra greeted her 'older brother' and good friend happily.

"Have a good holiday?"

"The best! And thank you for the gift,"

"I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the book of plays you sent. It'll be a great reference for me,"

"You're welcome! I'll see you later, ok?"

Oliver nodded and smiled. He then hugged her hastily and headed over to his group of friends. Alondra waved happily at Alicia and Angelina. Katie had run over to give her a sisterly embrace and Fred and George had taken some sweets from her bag teasingly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were seated by the fire and waved to her, smiling, as she passed by.

Alondra laughed, thrilled to be back at Hogwarts. As sad as she had been to leave her loving family and joyful home, she was content to be back with her second family and home away from home.

"Alondra!"

Alondra turned and beamed, Magenta, Cassandra, and Daniel were waving at her as they walked over.

"Hi, you guys! I missed you all! How were your holidays? And by that I mean, how many adventures did I miss?" Alondra asked giggling.

Cassandra smiled, Magenta smirked and Daniel shrugged innocently.

"We really don't know what you're talking about, Alondra." Daniel said coolly, his eyes betraying the seriousness of his tone. They were beaming with mischief. Alondra narrowed her eyes playfully at them.

"Honest, Alondra. Not a lot happened," Cassandra then added merrily.

"Whatcha got in the bag?" Magenta asked giddily.

"Uh huh, this conversation is not over. I will get my answers, ladies and sir!" Alondra teased and then opened the bag for them to see.

"Sweets!" Cassandra squealed enthusiastically.

"Hershey's, Sweet Tarts! Oh, jackpot!" Magenta cheered as she reached into the bag first.

"Hey, hey! Back off you two, I believe I'm the one that asked Alondra for these!" Daniel joked as he also dug into the bag greedily.

Alondra grinned joyfully as her friends reached into the bag and began devouring the candy happily.

"It's good to be back," Alondra mumbled to herself content.

Chapter 107: Rachael Jones

It was time for the rest of the school to get back, Ray had spent the last few days mostly in Severus' private lab, working on potions. Even though she was only a first year, with all the time she had spent helping Severus, she was now able to make most of the first and second year potions, with little or no mistakes.

Ray walked into the great hall for the feast, she slipped quietly into her seat that was in the corner. Severus had caught her eye as she had entered, he had been trying to get her to sit in a more open seat, but she wouldn't. He didn't want her to turn into himself.

Malfoy spent most of the meal bragging about all the expensive gifts he had been given, and every now and then he shot Ray a look of pure hatred, before going back to his bragging.

As soon as the first group of people started leaving the hall, Ray raced out, hoping to get back to her room and into the relative safety of her four-poster bed.

A few minutes later she flopped into her bed, she had quickly changed into her PJ's. Well you couldn't really call them Pyjamas, it was so cold in the dungeons, that she had taken to wearing two pairs of leggings under her normal pyjama pants, and a skivvy under the top. A far cry from the singlet top and shorts she would wear at home.

Cuddled up under her blankets, Ray set about re-reading her Potions assignment. Although she had spent a lot of time helping Severus, he never helped her with homework on the topic. He thought it would give her an even bigger unfair advantage and she would never ask him to check it for the same reasons.

An hour later, she found that she had mis-interpreted part of the question, and she would need a book from the library to fix the problem. She looked at her watch :19.47: the library closed at 8pm, if she left now she may just make it in time.

Pulling her robe over her pyjamas, she donned her slippers, and headed towards the library. She had nearly made it to the entrance hall before she literally ran right into Malfoy.

"Shit" she swore under her breath.

"What were your going you filth mudblood," Malfoy spat, dusting off his robes haughtily. Ray didn't reply, she just got up and tried to continue to the library, Malfoy however had other ideas.

"What you think you're too good to apologize to me do you?" he spat, shoving her against the wall, laughing when she hit her head.

"Leave me alone Malfoy," she attempted to say in a tough voice, but it escaped in more of a whimper.

"Leave me alone Malfoy," Crabbe and Goyle mocked. "Leave me alone."

"Did you miss our little meeting whilst I was away, Mudblood? Did you?" sneered Malfoy, slapping her face, "Did you have fun with your beloved 'Potions' Professor," he added, slapping the other cheek.

All she could do was stand there, in front of her was Malfoy, and to either side was Crabbe and Goyle, and behind her was the wall. No where to run to, no where to hide. Her eyes darted frantically looking for an escape route, if she didn't find one soon, she was in deep deep trouble.

"Don't think you can escape Mudblood, you're mine till I say you're not," Malfoy sneered. He grabbed her wrists, and pulled them above her head, slamming them into the stone, making her yelp in pain. Crabbe and Goyle laughed at her.

"Oh did that hurt, Mudblood," he mocked. "What about this?" he asked, throwing her to the ground. She put her hands down to break her fall, she knew the minute she did this she was in for lots of pain. The loud cracking sound that came from her right wrist assured her that it was now broken.

What she didn't count on was the follow through motion of her body. It kept moving, and she rolled backwards, and whacked her head on the stone ground. She didn't scream in pain, but she did let out an involuntary yelp, which set Malfoy into action again.

From then on things became a little blurry. At some point Malfoy must of ordered Crabbe and Goyle to stand her up again, because she remembered extreme pain through her broken wrist. There were a few more stabs of pain, before she was dropped again, this time really hitting her head hard. The last thing she heard before the world went black was a group of footsteps coming her way.

Chapter 108: Daniel Smith

Although Gryffindor's were not a particularly common sight around the dank, musty tunnel that led to the house of Slytherin, Daniel and the girls he frequently hung out with enjoyed going on occasional exploring jaunts. The discovery of the Room of Requirement had been their lengthiest and most enjoyable adventure, but there had been others. On one occasion, they had discovered a tunnel, discreetly placed in a disused area of the vast castle that led to a small library. The books were old but well preserved. They were otherwise unexceptional, but they had also found a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four school founders. Like many others at Hogwarts, the portrait could speak, and it had revealed that the room had been Rowena's private sanctuary, during the days of feuding that had preceded Salazar Slytherin's departure.

They had also found a room full of portraits of the founders, none of them enchanted: an unwritten castle rule stated that only one animated portrait of any one person ever existed at any one time. Godric, since he had been first among equals, was in Dumbledore's office with the other headmasters, as was Salazar, even though he had left the school only a few years after its formation. Helga, who had preferred the company of her own students, was in Hufflepuff house. Just outside of McGonagall's office, there was a room full of portraits of cats, which meowed and hissed at them when they entered. Whether McGonagall had had anything to do with the display was not known. They found several rooms full of parchment, quills, and other supplies, a few medieval toilets that had fallen into disuse with the introduction of running water, and a room occupied by a ghost who had an unlimited supply of X-rated limericks.

Daniel had already found out that a lone Gryffindor didn't want to be too close to Slytherin, due to the inter-house rivalry, and the fact that while most Slytherin's were decent enough, a few weren't. However, there was safety in numbers, and he had four companions today: Cass and Magenta, who were nearly always with him, and Alondra and Erin, just returned from their Christmas holiday. They were a merry group of youngsters, chatting as they walked along. Cass had just told them about her foray to the kitchens to help Fred and George decorate the Common Room, leaving out the inconvenient fact that she had spent the night in George's arms (Alondra and Magenta noticed his smirk, though, and were pretty sure that he knew something). Before that, Magenta had told of her aunt's recall and her wild bus trip back to Hogwarts. Now, Daniel had begun the story of his Christmas Eve trip to Hogsmeade, which was off-limits to all below third-year, except for certain religious observances, or school functions.

However, his tale was interrupted as the group rounded the corner, and beheld Malfoy and his two thuggish cronies, crouched menacingly over a fallen girl. Daniel's four comrades noticed her Slytherin robes and figured that what was going on was an internal conflict in their rival house, and were momentarily indecisive as to what they should do. Daniel, however, wasn't going to leave it at that. He had, for the most part, been raised to respect the opposite sex, and the idea of three boys attacking one girl utterly outraged him. Furthermore, he recognized Ray and considered her a friend.

As he recognized Ray, he saw her go down, and then he was in motion, charging full-tilt at the group. His wand leaped into his hand as he ran: he had become quite adept with the wrist-holster that Cass had given him. He saw that Malfoy had noticed him and already had his own wand up. "Mobilia andante!" the blond Slytherin shouted.

A blast of blue light shot from Malfoy's wand, which he dodged, then skidded to a stop and cast the defensive spell he knew best. "Expelliarmus!" he barked.

Magenta and Cassandra had been a few feet behind him when the hex hit, and it caught Cass dead in the chest, knocking her back. Magenta ploughed into her, and they both went down hard. The other two hurried over to them. Cassandra was apparently unhurt, but she was apparently talking in gibberish: "Wwwwhhhhhaaaaaat hhhaaaaa. . . ."

The red beam of light that lanced from Daniel's wand was deadly accurate: he had cast the same spell at the shower wall until he knocked a hole in it and McGonagall made him stop. Malfoy's wand went clattering away.

"Crabbe! Goyle!" Malfoy shouted, and the twin behemoths lumbered toward Daniel.

Daniel let them get close, then pointed his wand at Crabbe's feet. "Femur adherus!" he shouted.

The Leg-locking jinx was simple, but effective. Crabbe's feet slammed together like scissors closing. His momentum tipped him over and brought him down hard. Goyle dodged his falling partner and tackled his smaller adversary, throwing him to the ground. His wand flew from his hand as he fell. Unarmed but far from defenceless, Daniel scrambled onto Goyle, crawling over him and locking his arms around his neck, then scissoring his legs around his waist. The hold in question was known as Danny's Death lock at Morning Sun. Once he had it cinched in, it was nearly impossible to break. Goyle's face began to turn red as his air supply was cut off.

Magenta looked at the combatants, momentarily torn. Daniel was outnumbered, but he appeared to be winning. And Cass was still talking in that bizarre manner. And while she was moving, she was very sluggish. Malfoy had hit her with a Slowing spell, so to her, the rest of the world was shooting along like a movie in a VCR set to Fast Forward.

Unfortunately, Daniel had miscalculated the amount of time Malfoy would need to locate his wand. He only required a handful of seconds to find it, and then hit Crabbe with the counter curse. His legs freed, Crabbe raced over and wrenched Daniel off of his friend by his hair.

Daniel knew how to counter this tactic. Anyone at Morning Sun who chose to grow his hair longer than a half-inch had to. He grabbed Crabbe's little finger and gave it a wrench, forcing him to let go, then pounded him under the breastbone with two hard shots, followed by a finger poke to the eye, a rabbit-punch to the base of his throat, and an upward chopping blow to the nose. Crabbe's head snapped back, and Daniel drove a vicious upward elbow smash under his chin. Crabbe sat down hard. Goyle was beginning to recover from oxygen deprivation and had risen partway; Daniel caught him under the chin as well, this time with a knee. Goyle kissed the floor again.

"Help Dan!" Alondra shouted to Magenta. "I'll handle this." Magenta nodded and charged. Behind her, Alondra aimed her wand at Cass and shouted, "Allegro!"

Daniel turned to face Crabbe, who was determinedly rising again, but in doing so, he turned his back on Malfoy, not realizing that the latter had drawn a bead on him with his wand. Waving the weapon, Malfoy shouted, "Tintinabulatia!"

The beam of light caught Daniel behind the ear, and the effect as as if a huge church bell had been chimed next to it. It nearly ruptured his eardrums, and stunned him for several seconds. Grinning, a bloody-nosed Crabbe grabbed him and threw him against the unyielding castle wall, and began pummelling him. He didn't have Daniel's pound-for-pound punching power, but he had a lot more pounds to line behind each punch. Moreover, Daniel's slighter frame was more vulnerable to damage. Goyle shook his head to clear it, then scrambled up and joined him.

Daniel was tough, but Crabbe and Goyle both out massed him by fifty pounds. There was no way even he could hope to take them both at once. Had their dual assault continued, he might have been badly hurt. However, he had not come alone. His friends had decided to leave the fighting to him as long as it appeared he could take his adversaries. But clearly, that was not the case now. Magenta entered the fray, piling onto one of them and then the other with punches and kicks. Malfoy tried to hex her, but he was too late. Alondra's counter curse had been effective: Cassandra, now restored to normal, saw what he was going to do, and she was quicker with her wand than he. "Pili extractus!" she shouted.

Malfoy shrieked as every hair on his head (and being a natural blond, he had about 140,000 of them) was simultaneously yanked out. He fell to the ground, nursing his stinging scalp.

Neither Erin nor Alondra had any desire to join the fighting. They followed Cass over to where Ray was lying and quickly began tending to her. The ugly purpleness and swelling indicated a badly broken wrist, and other bruises were rising as well. Cassandra kept her wand levelled squarely at Malfoy's nose, just in case he tried anything, but he was in too much pain to be a threat. This was fortunate for him, Cass was just looking for a reason to hex him again.

Magenta, of course, could no more fight both Crabbe and Goyle at once than Daniel could, but there was no need. Crabbe charged toward her, fists flying, while Goyle turned back to Daniel, grabbing him and throwing him at one of the suits of armour. The metal suit disintegrated into breastplate and gauntlets and boots and helmet. It also dropped the vicious-looking mace it was carrying as a weapon. Goyle scooped it up and charged at Daniel, swinging the weapon two-handed.

The spikes weren't sharp, but it was still a three-pound iron-headed club. Daniel, realizing the danger, tried to fall back. Had he been at full strength, he could have evaded the assault easily. However, he had just taken a severe pummelling, and his ears were still ringing, so the mace smashed into his left arm, breaking it with a sickening crunch.

Cass heard his howl of pain and raised her wand to help. Before she could, however, a male voice shouted something, and her wand was snatched away from her, as though by a giant invisible hand.

Daniel staggered back, teeth gritted in agony. Grinning, Goyle lunged forward, swinging the weapon again. Daniel whipped aside and countered with a low sidekick, right in the knee. Goyle moaned, but swung again. Daniel ducked, then darted in and fired a hard elbow-smash to the ribs, then stepped to the rear and rammed home a second side kick, this one right in the kidneys. Goyle turned white and dropped to all fours. Daniel stepped forward, ready to kick his head like a soccer ball and end the fight, but before he could, a powerful talon like hand grabbed him by the neck, jerking him back. "Enough!" shouted a familiar voice: Professor Severus Snape. Two wands, presumably Cassandra's and Magenta's, were clutched in his other hand.

Daniel looked around. Magenta had not needed to resort to her wand, but she had anyway: in addition to a bloody nose and split lip, Crabbe had a nice collection of hex-marks. He was squirming on the floor, unable to rise. Malfoy was still clutching his bald, bright pink head and whimpering. And Goyle had seen the arrival of his head of house and quickly dropped the mace and tried to look innocent. The threat, both to Dan himself and to Ray, was resolved. He allowed himself to relax, despite a nasty cold feeling in his guts. He had survived the fight, but now he would have to deal with the fallout.

Chapter 109: Alondra Bracho

"Pili extractus!" she shouted.

Malfoy shrieked as every hair on his head was simultaneously yanked out. He fell to the ground, nursing his stinging scalp.

Alondra stifled a loud laugh and put a hand over her mouth to keep her cool. Erin was ahead of her though and giggled lightly. Cassandra narrowed her blue orbs at him and stalked over to him. Keeping her wand levelled squarely at Malfoy's nose, just in case he tried anything, but he was in too much pain to be a threat.

Alondra then noticed how Daniel and Magenta were carrying on with Crabbe and Goyle. They were hurt badly, and Alondra was going to go and try to help when Erin stopped her.

"Alondra, no. They can handle it. We need to take care of this girl, look at her!" Erin pointed frowning as she and Alondra knelt by the pale red-haired girl's side. The ugly purpleness and swelling indicated a badly broken wrist, and other bruises were rising as well.

Alondra bit her lip and nodded, she remembered reading in a book once not to move a hurt person too suddenly, but they had to get her off the cold floor for better tending. "Madame Pomfrey's! We have to take her to Madame Pomfrey's," Alondra stated, panicked out of her mind. The girl seemed really pale and her cheek was bruised and lip bleeding.

"Ok, but how? We could carry her or-"

"Wingradium Leviosa!" Alondra called while pointing her wand at the girl's form. As she slowly rose to the air, Alondra reached into her robes and pulled out some tissue and pressed it to her bleeding lip for pressure and to stop the small steady flow of blood.

"Her wrist looks bad and it looks like she hurt her head as well," Erin piped up, writhing her hands nervously.

Alondra exhaled and nodded, she then aimed her wand to begin their trip to Madame Pomfrey's, Erin close by. Alondra turned back to see her friends struggling still and frowned. "Sorry guys," she breathed, but she knew they would've wanted her to help out the poor girl.

As Alondra and Erin hurried to Madame Pomfrey's, Alondra suddenly stopped.

'What is that ruckus, and at this time of night...oh no.' "Enough!" shouted a familiar voice, Professor Severus Snape.

Erin flinched as she managed to hear Professor Snape's loud roar. "Oh no,"

"Oh no, is right. We're all in so much trouble," Alondra sighed as they arrived at the infirmary and Madame Pomfrey shrieked as she noticed them.

"Miss Bracho, Miss Stephens, what is the meaning of this?" she asked as she floated the Slytherin girl's body to a bed.

"Madame Pomfrey, she was in a fight. They outnumbered her," Erin piped up, and Alondra nodded rapidly.

"We think she broke her wrist, and she's got a cut lip, a bad bump to the head and other bruises. Will she be ok?" Alondra added, taking close note as to what Madame Pomfrey was doing.

"Yes, yes I think she will be." Madame Pomfrey replied, gently inspecting the girl's wrist and the girl's head. She then turned to the two girl's next to her. Erin seemed a little queasy, and shaken up. But Alondra was closely watching her, intrigued and interested at her mending techniques. Madame Pomfrey smiled, ever since she had attended Alondra earlier that year she had noticed the girl's interest in the craft of Healing.

"Miss Stephens, would you like to perhaps sit and have some pumpkin juice?" Madame Pomfrey offered, with a snap of her fingers a chair slid up behind Erin and a glass of pumpkin juice floated above her.

Erin numbly sat and nodded as she drank her glass of pumpkin juice. Alondra turned to Madame Pomfrey.

"Madame Pomfrey, I want to help! Please let me help you," Alondra asked hopefully. Madame Pomfrey turned to the dark haired girl and smiled softly.

"Yes, you may Miss Bracho. You see those that tray of hot water and linen strips, please fetch them for me," Madame Pomfrey requested as she closed the drapes around the injured girl's bed and changed her into a hospital robe for better assistance.

Alondra rushed over to the table where the tray of hot water and linen strips appeared, she levitated the hot water over to where Madame Pomfrey stood and she took the strips in her arms. "Here they are, Madame Pomfrey. What can I help you with now?" Alondra then asked, handing the strips to the elder woman.

"She is hurt badly. I need to inspect her wound in the back of her head. Miss Bracho, will you watch her wrists, please. It appears both are injured, one twisted, the other broken." Madame Pomfrey piped up and as she slowly and carefully went to turn the girl over slightly. A soft moan escaped the girl's lips.

"Oh dear, she probably has a few bruised ribs as well," Madame Pomfrey breathed, as she hastily, tidied up the cut and bruise on the back of the girl's head with her wand, linen strips and warm water.

"By the Fates! Just what else did this poor girl stand?" Alondra sighed sadly, as she did as Madame Pomfrey instructed her to, but kept a close watch as to what spells or enchantments Madame Pomfrey was using.

"A slight concussion, and a punch or slap in her face it appears," Madame Pomfrey answered Alondra as they laid the girl back down on her back gently.

"We need to get her hair out of her wound's way. Miss Bracho, I need more strips, will you stay with her? I'll be right back." The nurse said and went into her back room.

Alondra bit the inside of her cheek and looked to the fragile girl before her. She was really pretty, with pale colored skin sprinkled with golden freckles and long auburn hair. Alondra frowned, she looked like a sweet girl and Draco Malfoy had beat her only because she was muggle.

Sighing, an idea occurred to Alondra as she waited for Madame Pomfrey. She walked over to the table beside the girl's bed and reached for a wrapped, disposable comb that sat there. She went back to the girl's side and removed one of her new lavender hair tie's and began to softly brush the girl's hair about her shoulders. With the utmost care, Alondra braided the girl's auburn locks into two braids, making sure no hair got in the way of where Madame Pomfrey had bandaged her injury. She then managed to pull both braids behind the girl's back and tie them together at the ends.

"Thank you," she heard a soft voice whisper. Alondra gasped and pulled back to see two hazel green eyes looking to her shyly.

"Oh, you're very welcome. How are you feeling?" Alondra asked her softly.

The girl furrowed her brows painfully. "I hurt..."

"I can imagine, I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm Alondra Bracho by the way, what's your name?" Alondra then asked, remembering that she didn't even know who this girl was.

The girl managed a half smile and then whispered, "Please let Sev know," and she closed her eyes slipping into unconsciousness once more.

Alondra frowned and then patted the girl's cold and pale hand lightly. "I'll let 'Sev' know. As soon as I find out who he is,"

"Oh wonderful, you braided her hair! Thank you, dear. Now, take a hold of this bottle and glass...and I will be mending her wrists now."

"Madame Pomfrey, who is this girl? I'm afraid I've never seen her before tonight,"

"Oh, well, this is Rachael Jones from Slytherin-"

"S-Slytherin?"

"Yes... Why the pale face so suddenly, dear?"

"Be-because! I mean, How could he attack her then! She's a Slytherin, too!"

"Miss Bracho, what are you talking about?"

"Well, who attacked her-"

"Yes, do you know who did this?" Madame Pomfrey then demanded hastily as she turned her attention to Alondra.

Alondra swallowed hard. "Um..."

"Madame Pomfrey," a familiar dark voice said behind them and Alondra turned.

Professor Snape stood there in his black billowing robes, his pale face neutral with a slight tinge of worry. Daniel next to him looking badgered and nursing, what looked like, a broken arm.

"Professor Snape? Daniel, Oh my goodness, your arm!" Alondra gasped as she walked up to him.

"Yea, looks like peanut brittle, huh?" Daniel piped up quietly.

Alondra bit her lip and nodded. "Well, come on let's get you on a bed so Madame Pomfrey can take a look at you too,"

Alondra lead Daniel to the bed opposite Rachael's bed and she helped as best she could for him to not move his arm too much as he settled into the bed comfortably.

"Thanks. How's Ray?" Daniel piped up wincing slightly as he readjusted his weight on the bed.

"She's going to be fine, I think. Madame Pomfrey has been tending to her. She has a broken and sprained wrist, and a few bruised ribs. As well as a cut in the back of her head and a slap or punch in her face," Alondra told him sadly as she noticed Professor Snape talking in hushed tones to Madame Pomfrey.

Alondra then furrowed her brows and turned to Daniel who was dozing off from exhaustion. "Hey, I didn't know that you knew Rachael. I was surprised to learn she was in Slytherin. How could Malfoy attack one of his own house mates?"

Daniel looked at her through one open eye. "Because he's a pathetic twit."

"Well, I knew that already, but it's still so strange," Alondra mumbled and then sighed as Madame Pomfrey seemed to finish tidying up Ray and bid farewell to a very stricken looking Professor Snape.

Alondra smirked. "Figures, Snape would only be that worried for his own students." She breathed and shook her head, then went to get a few linen strips and returned with them and a tray of warm water to at least dab a couple of Daniel's bruises and cut's while Madame Pomfrey came to attend him.

As she reached towards him to begin her task, she flinched as she heard a familiar voice enter her head.

'Ray, I'm so sorry. I should've seen this coming. Draco Malfoy needs to be taught a lesson,'

"Professor Snape?" Alondra mumbled. But then she lost the last trail of thought as Daniel squirmed in the bed suddenly.

"Ouch!"

"Oh! Sorry," Alondra quickly said as she realized she had almost poked Daniel's eye out.

"Trying to blind me now too," Daniel joked.

Alondra laughed. "Of course not, you got enough on your plate. I was just distracted for a while,"

She then turned and noticed a nasty looking cut by Daniel's ear and she slowly pressed the warm wet linen to it.

"Where is everyone anyway?" Alondra asked.

"On there way, Magenta's kinda beaten up. And well, the Malfreak and his cronies...let's not go there," Daniel answered grinning proudly.

Alondra smiled and shook her head as Madame Pomfrey approached them and looked to Alondra sweetly.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Bracho. You were most helpful tonight, but I can take it from here,"

Alondra nodded and smiled. She turned to Daniel and gave him a thumbs up. "See you later, Daniel."

"Mr. Smith, I believe that arm looks broken," Madame Pomfrey piped up as she immediately went to work. Drawing her wand from her robe pocket, began to administer a few enchantments on Daniel's arm with her wand and then proceeding to his other injuries.

Alondra then remembered she had completely forgotten about Erin. She then turned to where she last saw her and noticed that the chair was empty. "Erin?"

A rumbling in one of the nearby beds made her look up. There lay a sleeping Erin, peacefully unaware of her surroundings. Alondra giggled and shook her head as she went to draw the covers over her.

"What a ruckus tonight turned out to be," Alondra breathed lightly.

Chapter 110: Cassandra Serenity

Magenta watched as the curse hit Cassandra straight in the chest, knocking her to the ground. Alondra and Erin caught her just in time though, and she was fine, all except the fact that she was suddenly in slow motion.

Magenta also as watched as Daniel had charged forward into the row. Watching her friends get hurt, she felt anger rise within in, and before she even thought about it, she had charged as well.

Putting her two fingers in her mouth, she whistled and, hearing her, Crabbe turned around just in time to see her fist before it connected with his forehead.

He swayed on the spot for a moment, then realized what had happen and swung at her hard. He hit her squarely on her left cheekbone and she was sure she heard something crack. She was on the ground now, and Crabbe was leering over her, laughing apishly. She slitted her eyes at him and quickly drove her foot into the tender flesh below his knee.

He fell to the floor with a crash, and Magenta once again regained her feet. Behind her, she heard Daniel's struggling; he seemed to be injured badly as well. She could feel her cheek swelling, and the pain was almost blinding, but there was no time to think on that, for, as she turned, she saw Malfoy with his wand pointed at her. But, Cassandra had recovered form her incident and counterattacked him.

The pain in her cheek was become evermore intense, and blackness was creeping it's way into her vision. Slowly, her consciousness was drifting away. But, no time to pass out, she was reawakened by a loud clash, making her head hurt more.

When she turned to look though, her gaze was met by something unexpected.

One of Crabbe's fists collided with her nose and already injured cheek as the other hit her squarely in then stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Through only partially opened eyes, she sunk to the floor and saw Professor Snape out a hand on Dan's shoulder, calling out something the injured girl couldn't decipher.

Before the sweet, painless darkness consumed her, Cassandra called out her name. Magenta felt her friend's soft hands on her shoulders as the smaller girl amazingly got her to her feet. She helped quickly led the near delirious Magenta to the hospital wing where the girl woke up much later, with Madame Pomfrey tending to her.