Disclaimer: We don't own Mary Poppins or the Harry Potter universe.

A/N: Thanks Akalei! We had finished this story before we posted the first chapter. We try to update every day.


FFF

11. – Unholy Alliances

Harry and Ginny walked listlessly towards Gryffindor Tower. Virtually all of the castle, excepting the great hall, appeared to be deserted. There was no sign of Peeves, Mrs Norris, or any of the other creatures that usually haunted the corridors at night. They were all at the Halloween ball. That was why, when Harry and Ginny reached the entrance hall, the sound of two people talking made them stop abruptly in their tracks.

If they were surprised, then Malfoy and Kya seemed equally so.

"Potter!" said Malfoy, before anyone else had time to speak. "Had a fight with your little girlfriend?"

Harry just looked at him.

"Honestly Malfoy, that's not even particularly insulting," said Ginny. "Are you afraid of letting on to your girlfriend who you really are?"

"Oh, give him a break," said Kya. "Your always badmouthing him and he's never talked to me about you."

Ginny looked nettled.

"Well, he wouldn't, seeing as you hang out with us. He wants to gain your trust," said Harry, trying to sound logical and failing miserably.

Malfoy looked on the verge of sticking his tongue out at him, but Kya interrupted the two before they could really get into a fight.

"Please don't argue," she said, her voice quivering. "I want us all to be friends. Can't you do that for me?" Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. One single droplet escaped, making its glimmering way down her smooth alabaster cheek.

Harry and Malfoy glared at each other for a moment. Then Malfoy nodded stiffly. Harry shrugged. Kya looked immeasurably relieved, and she gave them each a friendly, platonic hug.

Seeing the look Harry gave Kya, Ginny felt a deep sadness well up inside her. Without a second thought, she turned on her heel and walked to her dormitory, as fast as she could. She didn't say a word, because she felt sure that if she tried to talk, her voice would fail her.

She had of course noticed before how Harry, along with all the other males at Hogwarts, fawned over Kya. She couldn't say that she blamed him for it. Kya seemed to be practically perfect in every way, and Ginny herself idolised the older girl. Still, she couldn't help but feel a bit… unworthy when she was in her company. Like she could never be as clever, beautiful, charming, or good at Quidditch - which had always been her forte - as her. And now Kya had got Harry to form a truce with Malfoy.

Ginny had really started to believe that Harry liked her better. That she was special to him, in spite of Kya's specialness in general. That just maybe she had something Kya didn't.

When she went into her dormitory, she knew she would be awake for a long time, wondering what could have happened if Kya and Malfoy hadn't arrived.


In the great hall, Hermione was the belle of the ball after Kya had left. She happily danced the night away with a Ravenclaw boy dressed up as Prince Charming, who considered himself very lucky. Since she had magically altered her dress so that it wouldn't hinder her dancing, she had been able to do it very well, after a while. In fact, she danced better than everyone else.

Serves them right for not learning how to make their costumes more practical, she thought, snottily.

In between the dances she looked for her friends. First she was worried, and then she became angry with them for having made her worried. It was just typical of them to leave so early, and not see how all her work was paying off.

Then she went back to being worried again.

But surely they would understand if she didn't go looking for them. She couldn't leave the ball. Not right then, when everything was going so well…


Meanwhile, one of the deserted classrooms was deserted no more.

"Why did you want to talk to me, Weasley?" said Snape. He was obviously intensely bored.

Ron gritted his teeth. He had to face facts. He was sure that Snape hadn't fallen for Kya's act, but he might just be the only one who hadn't.

"It's about Kya Morris," he said.

"What about her?" said Snape, and he strode over to the window.

"Well," said Ron. "I'm not sure she's right in the head. Um… since you seem to hate her, I thought you might have noticed it too…?"

Snape directed his most intimidating gaze at him. Ron consequently felt very nervous, as well as more than a little offended. He had to keep repeating to himself that hexing Snape was not the answer. He knew this was going to be very difficult, but he was determined to gain his professor's co-operation.

"I would not be discussing this with you, only Harry's head's in the clouds, Ginny's depressed and Hermione's acting wrong," Ron summarised. "Besides, she's going out with Malfoy."

"Hermione?" said Snape, startled for once.

Ron gave him a look of pure disgust.

"No, Kya. Malfoy's hardly insulted us all week, either," he said, before realizing that slandering Snape's favourite student was probably a bad idea.

"Well, you are all in the middle of puberty, you know," said Snape, condescendingly. "That does tend to change people's attitudes."

Ron felt heat rise to his ears. Snape took no notice of it.

"What I'm worried about," he continued, "is the professors."

"The professors," said Ron, momentarily forgetting how incredibly annoyed he was. Now what was he going on about?

"Especially Dumbledore," said Snape.

"Dumbledore!" Ron exclaimed. It was as if somebody had said Lumos in his brain."Why isn't he doing anything about this… thing?"

"Like what?" Snape sneered. "Just because your friends are acting slightly out of character? Do you realize she hasn't actually done anything yet? He has more urgent troubles to deal with."

"Such as?"

Snape looked pityingly at him.

"I'm sorry, Weasley. Just because you are perceptive about your female friends, I should never have assumed you hadn't forgotten about him, like everybody else seems to have."

Ron chose to ignore the slur.

"Let me clarify a couple of things for you," Snape continued in the same vein. "The Dark Lord is still very much alive, and gaining strength with every passing day. That he hasn't made a major move, signifies that he is planning something big. As of yet, Dumbledore is the greatest obstacle standing in his way. The ministry may have opened its eyes, but it is still an ineffective force."

Well, at least Ron could agree with that.

"The Dark Lord has managed to infiltrate the school before, right under Dumbledore's nose. This makes it not only possible, but likely, that even if he can't be here himself, he's got one or more of his minions on the job. Dumbledore has told me to keep a lookout, and so I have. Who do you think is the probable spy?"

The new student, Ron immediately thought.

"Exactly," said Snape.

Ron jumped.

"Perhaps you should take an occlumency course this year, Weasley," said Snape, threateningly. "Your mind is ridiculously open to probing, which is why I am surprised that you haven't fallen under her spell. Be so sure, I'll figure out why that is. However, since it seems you have escaped it, you should try to act like you have fallen for her, if it isn't beyond your capacity. That way, we might get a hint of her plan, before she does away with you."

Ron shivered.

"Meet me here in a week, at midnight, and tell me how bad it is. Now you must go back to your common room, before she notices you are away."

Swallowing his irritation at being ordered around like a five year-old, Ron simply nodded, and turned to leave.

"By the way," said Snape. "Avoid eye contact with her at all costs."

"Yeah, like that's going to be easy," Ron muttered to himself, after having exited the classroom.

He had a lot to think about on his way back. He had never suspected things were this serious, but Snape was obviously worried. Much as he might dislike his teacher, he couldn't deny that if anyone would recognise a spy, it would be Snape. Besides, he had no choice but to work with him. He had nobody else to turn to. He didn't know who he could trust. The question was; would he be able to keep his sanity, with no one but his potions master to confide in?

One thing was clear to Ron by the time he entered the dormitory that night. He had to shake some sense into his friends.