Author's Notes: Hey everybody! Surprise, I'm updating early this time. Sorry about the review under my name but as I already expalined, my (idiot) friend forgot to log out.

Warning: For those Dumbledore fans out there, he's quite nasty in this chapter, so you're all warned Enjoy!

..~**~..

Chapter 15

"Ginny, I can't take it anymore! He's driving me crazy!" Abigail shouted out in desperation as she strolled down the corridor with her friend. It had been two weeks since she had agreed to be Blaise Zabini's girlfriend again and she was seriously regretting her decision.

"It can't be that bad," Ginny suggested softly.

"Gin, he punched a fifth-year last week because he smiled at me. He's completely nuts and utterly obsessed! He never used to act like this," Abigail continued, making her way through the crowd of students before her.

As she reached their Transfiguration class she lowered her voice. "I even asked Pansy if she'd sleep with him," she said confidentially.

Ginny's eyes shot wide open. "What! Why?"

"'Cause if I catch them out, then I can break up with him for infidelity and he can't get mad in return. I'll have kept my side of the bargain, and he'll keep his. Hopefully! But Parkinslut laughed right in my face and actually refused!" she explained, scowling. "I mean what's wrong with her? Any other day, she would have jumped on the offer; it's like she's suddenly got morals or something."

"Oh Abby, Pansy hasn't suddenly grown a conscience," Ginny explained gently, patting her friend's arm in comfort. "She probably did it to piss you off!"

"Yeah, I know," the Slytherin admitted, looking defeated. She sank down into a chair and sulked.

She was so miserable since she had been seeing Blaise again and, no matter what Ginny said, she knew perfectly well that her Gryffindor friend did not understand her. According to Ginny, Blaise followed right behind Malfoy as the ultimate sex god and so she couldn't understand why Abigail complained about him.

A dark-haired figure suddenly crossed Abigail's mind and she held back a smile. "I talked to Harry again today."

"Oh Merlin, you shouldn't! What if Malfoy or Zabini find out?" Ginny reminded her cautiously, sitting down too and pulling out parchment and a quill from her book bag.

Abigail gave a dry laugh and waved her comment off. "Please, Blaise will never find out and Malfoy – believe me, he wouldn't say anything."

Oh course he wouldn't! I know too much about him and Granger!

"Anyway, Harry seems pretty upset that he can't take part in the match tomorrow against Slytherins. Dumbledore said 'no'," Abigail continued, emphasising the insult on the headmaster.

"Don't call him that," Ginny said hotly, throwing her a look. "Professor Dumbledore is one of the greatest wizards of the world and if it wasn't for him, You Know Who would have already taken over!"

Abigail apologised, realising she had upset her friend, and quickly turned her attention to Professor McGonagall. Like all Gryffindors, Ginny had some sort of blind faith in the headmaster that Abigail just couldn't understand.

The rest of the day passed by rapidly and soon it was night again. Abigail spent most of her night working on her Charms in the Slytherin common room, ignoring Zabini and his not-so-subtle sexual innuendos.

"Hey Abby," he shouted across the room, sitting among his male friends. "Since you like fiddling with your wand so much, come over here and I'll let you play with mine!"

His friends guffawed with laughter as she shot him a dark look and stormed off to her dormitory.

..~**~..

Abigail woke up late the next morning and missed breakfast again. She scolded herself for missing out a meal, again, but she seemed to constantly run out of time whenever it came to eating. As she walked hurriedly to the Great Hall she heard angry voices ahead of her. She slowed down as she turned the corner and saw Malfoy and Granger in front of her. She hesitated and anxiously watched the heated conversation they were engaged in in the hallway.

Abigail had noticed them avoiding each other over the past two weeks. She suspected that this was the first time that they had spoken to each other since the incident next to the Black Knight's painting. Neither of them seemed to notice her loitering in the corridor and so she slipped behind a nearby statue to eavesdrop on their conversation.

" – You hate the fact that every day you look more and more like your father –"

Ouch! That's gotta hurt - Malfoy isn't going to like that!

But something else suddenly caught her attention. A tall, dark-haired figure had also noticed the heated argument from the other side of the corridor and was marching down the corridor towards the couple. Thinking it could be a teacher, Abigail decided to leave quietly before she got into trouble herself, but as she turned away she did a quick double-take as she spotted green eyes.

It was Harry!

Oh Merlin! What on earth is he doing? Trying to get himself killed?

However, her mouth dropped open as she saw Harry stand up to the Slytherin Prince and even taunt him. That was how she remembered Harry from her first four years at Hogwarts and all of a sudden, she was actually glad to see Harry stick up for himself again.

She was happy for him, but at the same time, she noticed Malfoy was holding tightly onto his wand, as if he was about to strike back at the Boy Who Lived. Panicked that such an assault might frighten away all the recently gained confidence from Harry, Abigail did what she thought was best.

She cursed Malfoy.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she whispered, pulling her wand out.

Instantly, Malfoy froze on the spot as if his body was fully bound. Abigail waited cautiously for Harry and Granger to hurry away from his frozen form before coming out of her hiding place and stepping up to him herself.

She looked directly into his face and grinned at him mischievously.

"I know you can hear me," she said, waving a hand in front of his face and smirking. His eyes, the only part of him that was free, glared at her viciously. "You didn't see that one coming, huh?"

She chuckled to herself, putting her wand back inside her robes. "Oh don't worry, it'll soon wear off. You should know - I'm sure you've used this curse many times as a Death Eater!"

Seeing his grey eyes flickering angrily back at her, Abigail's expression became serious. "Malfoy, I'm only going to warn you once. Stay away from Harry Potter or deal with the wrath of a Serpent! He's only just building his confidence again and I don't want you breaking it up. Not now."

She gazed into his silver eyes, trying to make him understand the severity of the situation. "Harry's the only one who's capable of saving us from Voldemort and I don't care if you're a Death Eater or not; you leave him alone."

She spoke sternly as she threatened him and took pleasure from the fact that Malfoy was still frozen and would remain that way for a little moment still.

"Hum," she thought aloud, a smile grazing her lips, "Now, what on earth am I going to do with you?"

"I was just about to ask the same question," a hoarse voice spoke up behind her.

She whipped around in fright to find Filch and his dreadful cat staring right back at her.

"Shit," she breathed out.

..~**~..

An hour later, after being forced to pay attention to Filch, who continuously threatened her in his office, Abigail looked up the long, narrow staircase, leading up to the headmaster's office nervously. She had already been inside a few times, but it always scared her how Dumbledore behaved around her. He always stared at her from behind his half-moon spectacles as if trying to decipher her inner secrets. It was quite disturbing, especially as he seemed to keep an even closer eye on her this year.

"Ah, Abigail Serpent," he said, lifting a white bushy eyebrow at her. "Mr Filch has reported to me that you have used magic in the corridors against another student - the Head Boy in fact."

Oh crap. I'm done for! Filch surely exaggerated the whole thing times ten.

"You know very well that use of magic on another student is strictly forbidden, but coming from you, that does not surprise me," he continued, sitting behind his desk.

Abigail, who had been avoiding his gaze the whole time, suddenly looked up.

"Err – excuse me?" she dared to ask. Surely she hadn't broken that many rules. Of course, she had had her share of detentions and points taken off her house, but nothing in comparison to the Weasley twins.

"Well your grandmother was a troublemaker too when she was a student here. She looked and behaved just like you actually; always breaking school rules. She also thought that she was better than everybody else because she knew more about magic than the average student."

He looked at her sharply through his spectacles and she felt herself inexplicably drawn in to what he had to say. "Indeed, it comes as no great surprise that she helped Voldemort at his beginnings."

Abigail stared back at him, stunned. Her grandmother had joined forces with Voldemort? What was he going on about, that wasn't true at all!

Lost in her thoughts, she jumped back in surprise, as several of the portraits hung behind her began to stir and mumble.

"Professor Dumbledore," an old lady holding a monocle cried out indignantly. "It is not your place to say such things to the girl –"

"I do not wish to hear your opinion on the matter Calantha," Dumbledore answered sternly, still keeping his gaze fixed on Abigail.

She looked back at him incredulously. "What are you talking about?" Abigail asked, looking quizzical. "My grandmother never joined the dark side, my mother told me that she was a good witch and died saving another witch's life."

She felt her eyes grow wide in astonishment as Dumbledore laughed right back at her with wicked amusement. "She died in battle some twenty years ago, killed by an Auror - Everett Thompson, I believe."

Killed by an Auror -? What?

Abigail's grandmother had died when Abigail was still a baby so she had never met the woman, but her mother had always told her that she was a good witch. Hell, everyone in the Serpent family was good, or at least neutral, since no one could take sides. And yet, as she searched into Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes, somehow she knew that every word he had said was the truth.

The realisation made her feel like someone had just doused her with an enormous bucket of ice-cold water. Her mind suddenly began to spin as thousands of questions shot through it. Why did her mother lie to her? Why had everyone kept it secret? Why and how did her grandmother join forces with Voldemort!

"No, it can't be true! She couldn't have joined sides, she would have lost all of her magic," Abigail explained, feeling her voice becoming overwhelmed with emotion. "Besides Mother wouldn't lie to me - she wouldn't!"

She was speaking more to herself than to Dumbledore, as if trying to reassure herself that it was all a lie.

The headmaster merely shrugged at her words, a quill playing between his fingers. "Well then, your mother must be a formidable liar. She certainly hasn't told you the truth; your grandmother killed many people during her time and died as she deserved to."

"How can you say that?" Abigail cried out, feeling tears sting her eyes. Several other portraits, now all awoken, whispered in agreement behind her.

Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes snapped back up at her and he slowly got to his feet, frowning deeply. "Because your grandmother taught Lord Voldemort part of her knowledge, because she was the reason why he became so strong, because she helped him kill -"

"Okay, enough!" Abigail cut him off, shaking her head as tears flowed down her face. "I believe you."

He sat back down, ruffling through some papers. He obviously had no sympathy for her and regarded her with contempt. Abigail was stunned – she had never thought he could be so harsh to one of his students! She had never seen or heard him like this before.

"Now, I must also advise you not to approach Harry Potter again. Do I make myself clear?"

"What? Not see Harry again?" she echoed, briefly thrown off by the change of subject. "But why?"

"Because you are a Serpent and as all Serpents, you are dangerous. You are a bad influence on him and I will not see you in his company again," he steamed from behind his desk.

She felt the air being sucked out of her lungs as she took in his words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could Dumbledore say that to her? She had never known that he hated her family so much.

"But this is ridiculous!" she retorted, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Whatever my grandmother did, my mother is a good woman and I'm a good person too. You know very well that the Serpent family can't choose sides on this war. And - I want to help Harry! He lost all confidence in himself last year and he needs someone to help him, Professor!"

The room became deathly silent after she had finished shouting. Abigail gulped unconsciously as Dumbledore looked back at her angrily.

"Considering what happened two summers ago, I do not believe you to be a good person, therefore I shall ask you once again to leave Harry alone."

Abigail jumped back at his words. How does he know about that? How does he know that I used magic on a Muggle?

"What? But you can't judge me on that!" she glowered, balling her hands into fists. "That man had violated some Muggle friends of mine and he deserved what he got. The Ministry agreed that it was self-defence, I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

"Miss Serpent, you used magic on a Muggle!" he responded gravely, making her step back in fear. "It is strictly against the Ministry of Magic's laws."

"I –" Abigail choked, but he cut her off.

"You use magic for your own benefit, you cannot deny it, and that makes you no more worthy than Lord Voldemort," he concluded in a very flat, very cold and very final voice.

Panic rose in Abigail's throat and the room began to spin around her as she felt hot tears touch her cheeks.

"Albus!" an old man dressed in bright robes cried out. "For Merlin's sake, think about what you are saying!"

"You are no good for Harry, you are no good to anybody," Dumbledore continued harshly. "Look at what happened to your mother, she has been driven mad because of her thirst for power and it will be your destiny some day too, Miss Serpent!"

Abigail was frozen on the spot, unable to speak. Normally, she would have fought back, she would have screamed, but Dumbledore's words about her mother and even about herself held some truth and they hurt. Her mother had obviously lied to her – she had always been thirsty for knowledge and now she had gone insane and Abigail would surely follow. Numerous questions rattled her mind and Abigail couldn't hear herself think, she couldn't even speak – she was just so confused!

Several portraits continued to cry out their protests, but Abigail did not hear them in her own confusion and Dumbledore purposely ignored them as he opened some files before him.

"I think that will be all for now."

She turned away, still speechless, as her headmaster's words sunk in. However, as she reached the door, she turned back to face him.

"Did you – did you ask the Hat to put me in Slytherin?" she finally whispered.

Dumbledore looked up at her and smiled. "Of course not Miss Serpent, you belong there."

Abigail rushed out of his office; she couldn't bear to hear anymore. She continued to run down the staircase and down the corridor to the Great Hall, stopping only to catch her breath. It had all been a lie! How her grandmother had heroically died to save the life of another, how her mother had constantly assured her that the Serpent family could not take sides in wars, how she was supposed to keep holding the family honour when Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of their time, loathed it!

It had all been a lie! Her own mother had lied to her!

Abigail thought she might lose her mind. She had never known about her grandmother, she had no idea that she had played a part in the First War by helping Voldemort. How was she supposed to face Harry or Ginny now, knowing what she knew? How could she face anyone knowing what a monster her grandmother had been?

Abigail leant against the nearest stonewall and closed her eyes, praying that it was all just a dream, which would come to an end, but it wasn't. Her body suddenly began to ache and the truth finally sunk in.

Oh Mother, why didn't you tell me? How could you keep this from me?

Her heartbeat increased rapidly and the walls around her began to spin faster. She thought her head was swimming in nothingness and she tried to take deep breaths, but it only made things worse. Her vision blurred and her legs buckled underneath her.

All of a sudden, Abigail felt tired, so tired, as if she had not slept for days. She tried stumbling across the hallway, but the dizziness overtook her and she blacked out.

She did not see Harry, running towards her down the hall as she collapsed to the ground.

..~**~..

Please, please, please review! I need your thoughts and suggestions to carry on...

Next chapter, Draco's POV.