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It wasn't long at all before Kim was on the Quidditch Pitch for the Gryffindor Team try-outs. Since Harry and Ron were the only ones on the team, there were quite a lot of people that were trying out.

Ginny was there as well, planning to try-out for a Chaser position. She was the first one called up to try and score. She did very well and seemed to be a natural flyer.

Kim began to shake in anticipation. As Ginny's turn ended, several other Gryffindors flew around in turn, trying to score at Ron. Ginny, however, was clearly going to make the team, as was Orlando Gardner, who had outstanding skill.

When Harry called out for the Gryffindors who were trying for the Beater position to come over, she stepped nervously forward, as did three other people. All three were boys, and one happened to be James Livingston.

No, she moaned silently, anything but him!

But she had to admit that James was a superb Beater. She was the last person called up to try-out, and by the time it was her turn, she was shaking with such nervousness that she was surprised she didn't fall over from the sheer force of it.

When it was her turn, she flew into the air with the bat. A rush of happiness overwhelmed her, as well as a lovely sense of power. As a Bludger headed for her, she nearly lost her nerve.

But, she reminded herself, I was the one who chose to do this in the first place.

The Bludger was too close. At the last moment, she swung her bat at it with all her strength. It went whizzing to the other side of the field from the impact. The other headed for her, and she swung at that one too, beginning to feel in control.

She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body as both Bludgers rushed for her at once. She took them head on and swung with all her might one way and then the other way as the other closed in toward her. She chased after one of them and hit it with an immense power that she didn't even know she possessed. The first Bludger rushed for Ron, so she sped after it and beat it out of the way before it hit him.

"All right, you can come down now, Kim!" Harry called from the ground. She landed, giving him a look of question as to whether she'd done well.

He smiled back a little, but enough to be very conspicuous. She sighed in relief and happiness: she had done well. That was all that mattered to her. She looked over at James, who seemed to be watching her. She gave him a look, but he just sneered back.

Ginny gave her a thumbs-up and Kim began to glow. She had really done well, then. She was quite proud of herself.

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The next week, there was a small crowd of people gathered around the Gryffindor House's announcement board. It occurred to Kim that it was probably the Quidditch try-out results.

"Well, Barkley," said a voice behind her as she turned to look at who it was… James. "It looks like we'll be Beaters together, then."

"Wha-?"

He smirked, "You've made the Beater position. So have I." He rumpled up his hair, messy as it was.

For the first time, Kim noticed that he was rather good-looking. His hair was handsomely messy, falling nicely in his face, and a beautiful hue of chestnut brown. His sapphire eyes were staring at her through the hair that was falling in his face.

Snapping out of her little moment, which disturbed her greatly, she came up with a reply, "Too bad," and stalked off before she had to talk to Orlando, too, who was coming over.

She looked over at Orlando for a minute, inspecting him, the way she had done to James. He wasn't quite so good-looking, but was nonetheless, attractive. His dirty-blonde hair was flopping in his face much in the same way that James's was. He had brown eyes that were laughing at James in a sparkling sensation.

She tore her eyes away from them and saw that Ginny was looking at the board, so she went over and joined her there. She looked at the list of names listed for new Quidditch Players:

Chasers: Ginny Weasley, Orlando Gardner, and Evan Youngblood.

Beaters: James Livingston and Kim Barkley.

The sight made her smile. She turned to Ginny and congratulated her. Ginny smiled, too and shook her hand.

"Congratulations to you, too, Kim!" Ginny exclaimed. "Think about it! We get to get completely muddy and bloody and whatnot together!"

Kim grinned as Ginny went off to go congratulate James, Orlando and a second year named Even Youngblood, whom Kim had never noticed before.

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Before Kim knew it, Christmas Break was rounding the bend and she found herself facing three weeks of wintry break with Draco Malfoy.

Natalie approached her earlier that week and asked about the situation. Not liking to lie to Natalie much, she told the truth and said that Draco had offered her to go to his mansion and that her father wouldn't have appreciated company anyway and that she was sorry. Natalie cast her an accusing look and then started chatting on about something completely irrelevant that Kim wasn't paying attention to in the slightest.

During this chat, Kim noticed that her eyes strayed over to Harry every so often… she had been spending a lot of time with him lately… but this went with the fact that she was spying on him, so she did not let it trouble her.

Natalie seemed to notice that Kim's enthusiasm was very limited and said goodbye. She left haughtily and Kim called back to her as she stalked away, "Happy Christmas!"

She trotted over to the Great Hall, where she sought out Luna and wished her a lovely holiday. She said her good-byes to Hermione and thanked her profusely for helping her get the hang of her homework in her O.W.L. year, and told Eric and Ethan that she'd be seeing them around.

She said good-bye to Ron and Harry, and then to Anna and Lauren. Her eye caught Terry's for a moment. They held what seemed to be a staring contest for a few seconds and then he looked away. Kim was surprised to feel that she didn't care, however, so she bid Michael a "Happy Christmas" as well as a rather stiff one to Orlando (whom she had not spoken to since she realized that he was selling alcohol through a black market) and James. Then she realized she could not put off Ginny's good-bye any longer.

The words from Bellatrix's letter were ringing in her ears: You are not to stay at the Weasleys' under any circumstances! We are planning an attack on their home there and we don't want you to get in the way…

"Ginny," she said, sliding down into the seat next to her at the Gryffindor table.

"Oh, I was wondering when you were going to say good-bye to me. You even said good-bye to my brother before you said anything..." she complained with a small smile.

"Yeah, sorry," Kim replied.

Those words seemed so long ago, but were they really? Time seemed to be flying around without any sense at all. 'You are not to stay at the Weasleys' under any circumstances! We are planning an attack on their home there and we don't want you to get in the way…'

"Something wrong?" Ginny inquired, noticing the faraway frown on Kim's face.

"Yeah, come here," Kim replied through the corner of her mouth.

"Can't I finish dinner?" she asked, looking wistfully at the food lain in front of her.

"No. It's a life-and-death situation. I have to tell you before I loose my nerve."

'…We are planning an attack on their home…'

Ginny moved over closer, abandoning her dinner. "All right."

Kim took a deep breath; her heart was thumping against her chest as though someone was swinging a mallet at it. She took another breath and opened her mouth to speak.

'…We are planning an attack on their home…'

"Okay, this really isn't easy, so you'll have to take my lack of facts or proof without question. Can you do this?" Ginny nodded and Kim took another deep breath, "You can't go home to your house this Christmas Break."

"Why not?" Ginny interrupted, confused.

Kim fought the instinct to run away. She almost told Ginny to forget it and fled, but the realization that she would never see her best friend again if she didn't do this washed over her.

"Please don't interrupt me, Ginny, it's very important," Kim whispered, wildly. "You can see your family, but don't stay at your house! It's not safe. Death Eaters, Ginny… They're coming to your house. It's not safe. You can't stay. They want to kill your whole family. Don't tell anyone I told you…"

Ginny looked alarmed. "How do you know all this?"

"I told you: I can't tell. I'm not supposed to tell you. Just stay safe. I don't want to loose you Ginny. You're one of my best friends. You were one of the first. Please, just stay anywhere else. Somewhere hidden. Stay at Hogwarts and keep Ron here, too, if you have to…"

"Are you-?" Ginny asked, her eyes widening. "You're a-!"

"No, no, no, I'm not!" Kim cried. "Just, please, don't..."

She hurried away without a backward glance, although she could feel Ginny's eyes on her back as she hurried away.

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On the Hogwarts Express that afternoon, Kim sat in the same compartment as Luna, Harry, Ginny, and a Gryffindor in Harry's year named Neville Longbottom. She was almost glad that Ron and Hermione were Prefects and were, therefore, in a different compartment because it was bad enough that Ginny was in the same compartment… add Ron and Kim might at well be sitting with a bunch of irate axe-murderers.

Ginny's eyes were on her, but she refused to turn, or to look at her. Luna sat reading her usual magazine, The Quibbler, which was upside-down. Neville was engrossed in a Herbology book, and Harry was talking to Kim about her newly acquired Beater position.

"...And Ginny told me that you don't really get along with James," Harry was saying and smiling while he said it with a hidden meaning. "I don't blame you: from the looks of him, he's just like my father was."

All eyes turned to him.

"I saw my dad at fifteen in a Pensieve," he went on, aware of his audience. "He was always rumpling his hair, being arrogant. In fact, he was named James as well. He seemed to act the same way... even had a best friend that acting like Orlando, and another friend, who acted like that Michael bloke."

Kim sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I can't stand him. He makes me sick!"

Just as she said that, the compartment swung open and James stood there, framed in the doorway.

"Er, Harry, can I talk to you about-" he stopped and saw Kim there. "Barkley," he acknowledged, his voice very suddenly becoming deeper. "I wanted to talk to our Captain about our dilemma. I really don't know how I'll be able to do my job without having to worry about you getting injured-"

"I can take care of myself, Livingston!" Kim growled.

"Ah, but, Barkley, I have never seen such a klutz before… tsk, tsk, setting pillows on fire and nearly scorching away your flesh…"

"I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, LIVINGSTON!" she bellowed.

"Er, Kim-" Harry was quickly becoming reminded of Snape's Pensieve and his parents' words: "You think you're funny! But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone!" Lily had said, angrily.

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," James had replied, "Go on, go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

To which Lily had replied, "I wouldn't go out with you if it were a choice between you and the giant squid!"

Sirius had butted in at that point and said, "Bad luck, Prongs..."

"You're just arrogant and self-centered and a bully, Livingston!" Kim screeched at James, who had crossed his arms angrily and was beet-red. "You've got no sense, either! Now go away!"

"I will if you go out with me, Barkley," he replied quickly, un-crossing his arms and crossing them again. "Go on... go out with me…"

Harry stared at them, waiting for Kim's answer with anticipation.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it were a choice between you and the Bloody Baron!" she yelled, getting up and stalking past him into another compartment, punching him hard in the stomach as she passed and kicking him in the shins to add to the effect.

"Bad luck, James," Orlando said, coming into the compartment what he was up to. "I suppose you should leave her alone... she's got a bad temper...personally, I don't know what you see in her… she's all looks…"

James began panting from the blow to his stomach as Orlando rattled on.

"What just happened?" Harry asked aloud. It was as though Lily and James had been reincarnated…

"Well, if you ask me," Michael said, rounding the corner with a book about the O.W.L.s in his hands, "it looks like James just got turned down by Kim."

James made a lunge at Michael, who took a step to the side and let James go flying into Orlando, knocking them both to the ground.

"I know, but..." Harry decided he would have to tell Lupin when he got to #12 Grimmauld Place; Ginny had not said why, but they apparently weren't going to the Burrow.

"Well, Kim has been in a bit of a sour mood with James ever since he tried to unbutton her cardigan in the Common Room after Charms-" Michael ducked from James' fist coming at him "-and apparently with Orlando, too, although I've got no clue why…"

"Never mind," Harry muttered, turning to James. "You'll just have to not be so forward. If you start dating in the seventh year, though, tell me: it's too much of a coincidence…"

"What's a coincidence?" Michael asked, curiously, peering over his book as James groaned and massaged his shins, where Kim had kicked him.

"Nothing," Harry replied, smiling to himself. The coincidence between Kim and James and the Lily and James from 30 or so years ago made him happy for some reason.

Kim, however, got off the train in a rather foul mood and snapped at Draco several times for very small things.

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When Kim finally reached Draco's estate, a very unwelcoming person met her at the large, oaken doors.

"Kimberly," a deep voice rumbled. She turned and saw the last person she wanted to meet here: Karl Lestrange. In fact, his parents, Rodolphus and Bellatrix weren't too far away, engaged in conversation with none other than Lucius Malfoy, himself.

"Hello, Karl," she replied, coldly.

"You're different," he said, not noticing – or not caring about – her tone of voice. "You got pretty since we last met."

"Ah, yes," she said with a traditional evil smirk. "You and the entire male population at the age of fifteen at Hogwarts seem to have noticed."

Karl looked at her with annoyingly wide eyes.

"Now if you've got nothing important to say, I'd like to put my trunk somewhere. It's rather heavy." And with that, she moved off to the room she always stayed in when she was at Draco's mansion.

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Later that evening, she, Draco, Lucius, the Lestranges and a man named Walden Macnair, Apparated to the place where Voldemort had called them. Kim was relieved to be able to Apparate illegally again. It was as though not breaking the law had upset her mind in some way and she felt relieved to do it again… like an addiction. In fact, she loved it so much that she decided to Apparate every few feet.

This obsession was also a good thing for her, because Karl kept trying to corner her. He almost seemed to give up on her, when she began Apparating so many times. Once, however, he caught her off guard and snaked an arm around her waist, making her squeal in surprise.

"You're sick. Go away. Leave me alone, Karl," she spat at him before Disapparating several feet ahead of him.

"Having fun with Lestrange?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"You almost wish," she hissed at him. "If we were allowed to do magic outside of school, I'd hex him where he stands."

Merlin, she thought. She had quite forgotten how tough you had to appear to be a Death Eater. You had to endure a lot more than creeps like Karl. I'm going to have to work extra-hard at this, she decided. Hogwarts had, undoubtedly, made her go soft…

"Yeah, well, just make sure that he won't distract you from our mission together," he whispered. "Let him into your skirts if you need to-"

"Never," she hissed so forcefully that Draco looked stunned at her for a moment.

"Oh, I get it," he said, brightly. "You're saving that for your Ravenclaw boyfriend… What? You didn't think I'd find out? Well, I have."

"It's not my fault," she replied in an undertone, realizing that she had to lie. "It's not like I actually liked him… I was only in it to hurt the dirty Mudblood. I happen to like breaking hearts, thank-you very much."

Draco snorted: he clearly didn't believe her. "You can work on Potter, then."

"I'd never... But I... Do you... I can't... Do you realize what the Dark Lord would say to that?" she spluttered.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, falling silent, when he saw Kim's father approach. "And my last words to you for the evening will be this: Hogwarts is permitting students to use spells outside of school now that the Dark Lord has returned."

Kim almost blew up in his face, but he smirked and Disapparated away so suddenly that Kim was left to take it out on her father.

"Kimberly," Wormtail greeted as Draco left her there. "It's been very quiet without you…"

"Well I'm glad to know my presence has been missed," she replied coldly.

"I expect the young Malfoy has told you of the plan?" he asked, wringing his hands.

"Yes, he has. I'm ready for it," she said, not paying him much attention as she examined her fingernails.

"Good, good," he murmured. "Is it... is it true that you got into Gryffindor?"

"Yes," she replied, stiffly, as though she had been displeased with the placement.

He looked at her for a moment as though he was seeing himself all over again. "You know, I was a Gryffindor when I was in Hogwarts. I turned to the Dark Side after I'd graduated…"

"Why didn't you tell me that?" she hissed venomously. "It would have saved a lot of thinking when the Sorting Hat told me it had put me in the same house as my traitor father."

He seemed to almost be afraid of her now. "You've become powerful," he commented.

"Yeah, but lately I've been venting my anger on the Bludgers ever since I made the house Quidditch Team. But it hasn't been enough. I need more power. I want to finish my Animagus training, father. I'm so close to becoming one that I can almost taste it."

"Have you chosen your animal?" he inquired meekly, clearly aware that she was in charge now.

Kim hesitated, "I'm still thinking."

"I can't teach you without you knowing what animal you want to become," he told her timidly. "You've completed everything else."

"Fine. I'll think up my animal, then," she retorted in the same venomous tone that she was suddenly accustomed to using.

"Tut, tut, family squabble?" said a greasy voice behind Kim's ear that sounded horribly familiar. She turned around... right into the face of Severus Snape.

"Snape," said Wormtail in a pathetically weak voice. "I believe you haven't really met my daughter, Kimberly?"

Snape said nothing and stared at Kim, as though searching her mind.

"Oh, please, Snape, it's rude to stare," she hissed, coming to her senses. "Used to seeing me in Hogwarts uniform, I suppose? Hanging around with my Gryffindor pals, perhaps? Learning to call me 'Pettigrew' instead of the usual 'Barkley' that you always yell at me before docking points from my house for no reason at all might be difficult, will it not?"

"You need to learn some respect," he hissed back at her, his pallid face tinged crimson.

"And you need to wash your hair," she spat and Apparated from sight, fed up with all of the creeps she'd been forced to deal with in such a short period of time.

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"Malfoy... Pettigrew..." a voice said angrily at the door.

Kim and Draco both turned toward the doorway to see a Death Eater named Jugson standing in the doorway.

"Is it time?" Draco asked excitedly. A maniac glint of sick amusement was shining in his eyes. He began toying apprehensively with his traditional, black Death Eater's robes.

"Yeah, the Dark Lord says you need to go now," Jugson replied. "I'm going with you to make sure you do it, and to teach you how to cast the Dark Mark after you're done."

He did not seem pleased, but more as though he would not being doing so if it were not under his master's orders.

"I thought Bornin and Travers were coming as well," he said, frowning from the lack of audience for his first kill.

"They have better things to do then to watch us kill the Weasleys," Kim said in a monotone.

"Very good," Jugson said, irritably, "at least one of you has some sense. Now come on and let's leave."

Draco shot Kim an evil look, which she did not return, before following Jugson out of the door and almost knocking Snape over as he excited with an angry flash.

"Watch it, Malfoy," Snape said, icily and watched Kim as she exited behind him.

"Soon-to-be-Death-Eaters on their first kill, eh, Jugson?" Dolohov asked, striding by, as Snape watched them leave with a strange look upon his face.

"Get lost, Dolohov," Jugson spat, "I didn't volunteer to baby-sit the kiddies."

"Shame. It would seem that you'd have something better to do..."

"Crabbe and Goyle weren't here," Jugson said, gripping his wand and grinding his teeth.

"Are you really that low on the chart?" Dolohov asked lazily, clearly enjoying making Jugson steam. "Because I personally-"

It happened in a flash and a yell from Jugson, and before anyone would figure out what had happened, both Jugson and Dolohov were unconscious on the floor.

"Damned prats," Rookwood said from the corner where he was comparing something Kim suspected was illegal on a slip of parchment with Rosier. He let out a stream of swears. "Snape, Mulciber! Get these two beslubbering, loggerheaded, boil-brained, fool-born, foot-licking clotpoles out of my sight. I'll take Malfoy and Pettigrew to the Weasleys. Hell itself knows, I'd like to see my cousins writhe in pain," he said with a harsh laugh. Kim gave him full points for the original swears.

"We can do it ourselves," Draco hissed under his breath.

"Too bad," Rookwood snapped, before opening the door and Disapparating. Draco swore and Disapparated as well.

Kim stood there for a few seconds watching Travis Mulciber heave Jugson to his feet. Snape was using a levitation charm on the unconscious Dolohov. She tore her eyes away and looked up at the moon. It was full. She realized that somewhere, wherever Natalie was, her father was a werewolf. She whispered a small prayer that Ginny and her family had cleared out. Then she Disapparated.

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The Weasleys' house was run-down and must have been held together by magic. There were several chickens in the front yard and three pigs in a muddy pen. The garden was overgrown and the house looked as though it might look nicer if it had been destroyed. A gnome quizzically popped its head out of a hole in the garden.

Draco snorted from Kim's right, clearly unimpressed. "Even I expected better than this," he said with a laugh under his breath.

Kim felt her hand clench in her robes. It wasn't for Draco to decide that the Weasleys were beneath him, just because they were poorer than he was. Still, she was here to kill them, so she doubted it mattered. She could only hope that Ginny had persuaded her family to take her advice...

"Most of the lights are off," Rookwood muttered. "Good... they're sleeping. Now which one did you want to kill, Malfoy?"

Draco smiled and said, "Ronald. I'll pick him out."

"Good, good, you can do things yourself, then," Rookwood muttered. "Pettigrew, who first?"

"I'm going to start with the pigs and chickens," she said, pretending to be excited, "I might as well make a thorough job of it."

Rookwood smirked, "Precisely. Alright, then… go on…"

"Avada Kedavra," Kim muttered, breathlessly.

Without a single squawk, the chickens became lifeless and limp.

"Avada Kedavra," she muttered again, feeling the adrenaline surge through her veins like poison.

Without a single squeal, the pigs died and flopped dejectedly into the mud.

"Nice performance. Now, let's go inside. You'll be practicing stealth now, so shut-up, no talking, and if either of you dares to trip over anything…"

Rookwood had clearly taught soon-to-be-Death-Eaters before, Kim realized. He was an excellent teacher.

All right, Ginny, Kim thought to herself, I sure hope you've cleared out, because here we come!