A/N: It's here, hurray! I hope you like this one, it starts showing some things that hint at my evil plot twists. Any complaints about the psycho-ness of the plot shall be directed to Marille Earen and the psycho/evil plot bunnies Evil P., Plot and Bunny. Seriously, they will. :crickets chirp: I'm just going to let you get to the chapter now. Heh.

Bold italics are Railane's intros, italics are thoughts, and anything in bold is a diary entry.

Chapter three: A change for Draco

After their first night at their double room, Harry and Draco seemed to be honoring their truce. The next morning they walked in at the same time and smiled slightly at each other, shocking everyone from teachers to students. Except for Dumbledore, that is. I swear, that man and his ever-present infernal twinkle. I'm sure so much twinkling has to cause brain damage or something. And then Draco told me about his time with Harry and my jaw dropped further. Dumbledore will never cease to amaze me. In Ron's eternal words: the man is off his rocker.

Harry opened his eyes and put on his glasses immediately, his eyes exploring the unfamiliar surroundings. The night before he really hadn't had a chance to look around his new room, but now in the morning he felt refreshed and ready to explore. Walking around the room, he noticed the décor had been made in the Gryffindor red and gold coloring, and a giant lion tapestry hung from the back of the door.

Sitting on the bed, he ruffled his ever untidy hair, sighing. He was seriously worried that Draco had agreed to a truce far too easily, and what bothered him the most was the fact that he had felt safe last night. And feeling safe around someone like Draco Malfoy was something he could not allow himself, regardless of how much Railane defended him and assured them that he was actually nice. Sure, Harry believed in giving everyone a chance, but he knew better than to trust him completely without proof that he'd changed.

Harry took a quick shower and pulled on his clothes hastily. Knocking before walking into Draco's room, he found Draco sitting on the bed fully clothed, looking as if he'd been waiting. "I thought I might have to rescue you, Potter," he drawled.

Harry scoffed. "From what, the shower from doom?"

Draco shrugged. "Hey, you can drown in two inches of water."

Harry didn't know if he should laugh or not, seeing as Draco looked so serious, but suddenly Draco himself cracked into laughter and Harry laughed along. "Say, Draco, I'd never heard you really laugh before."

Draco sobered immediately. "And you never called me by my first name before."

"I guess that now that we're in this truce I think of you differently," Harry mused, and Draco gave him a half smile.

"This might just work out yet," he told Harry, walking towards the door. Harry followed silently and they began their descent towards the Great Hall. As they got closer, Harry worked up the courage to ask something Liana had been wondering.

"Hey, Draco, what do you think about Railane?"

Dracon answered without a second thought. "Lesperance's alright. Stubborn and pushy and bossy, but she's okay. Why do you ask?"

Harry chuckled at Draco's description. "You two seem to be becoming friends, is all, and she's not like your usual crowd, so I guess I got curious."

"I'd ask about that friend of hers, but your answer's pretty much obvious," Draco told him an taunting tone.

"Oh, is it?" Harry asked with feigned indifference.

Draco smirked. "You fancy her, and it's no secret she fancies you. You should make your move."

Harry sputtered before recovering. "Have you gone mad? We've known each other for less than a week!"

"That and your experience with Chang scarred you for life," Draco replied tiredly, making Harry turn a bright shade of red.

"You seem to think you know a lot," Harry muttered, and Draco smirked even wider.

"Roger Davies' girlfriend told a lot of people, Harry. It's a legend now."

"Lemme guess," Harry muttered bitterly, "first I kill her boyfriend and then I cheat on her and make her cry publicly at Madam Puddifoot's, is that it?"

"Close," Draco replied, his smirk still in place. "Mine's good, but yours sounds oh-so-much-juicier." Harry shot him a look and Draco shook his head. "Relax. Now that everyone knows you were right about the Death Eaters and Voldemort, they think of you as the eternal goody-goody again. Everyone thinks Cho's just looking for a rebound and you were unlucky."

"That's nice to know," Harry muttered sarcastically and Draco snorted mirthlessly.

"Seriously, Po- Harry," he amended quickly, "leave the sarcasm and the muttering to me, will you? People will start to think we've switched places."

Harry paled. "I'm starting to think we've switched placed. What has happened to you?"

Draco stopped, making Harry realize that they were already in front of the doors that led to the Great Hall. "I realized I don't have enough energy to waste it all on making your life miserable, basically."

"Lovely," Harry replied, and they grinned at each other as they pushed the door open. The entire Hall fell silent at the sight of the two of them. They both sighed before turning to their respective tables with a last look at each other, and the eyes of everyone else in the room followed them until they took their seats. As soon as they both did, conversations everywhere resumed.

Railane smiled knowingly at Draco before taking another bite out of her pancake. He stared at her for few instants before she spoke. "What?"

Draco cringed. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"

She stuck out her tongue at him, showing him a piece of pancake before swallowing and bursting into laughter at the look on his face. "She did, actually, but I don't see her anywhere around here."

Draco groaned loudly. "Seriously, woman, you are incorrigible."

"But you're not, apparently," Blaise interjected, popping a pancake piece into his mouth. "Was it just me or were you getting chummy with Potter?"

"Harry," both Railane and Draco corrected, and Railane's eyes widened.

"Since when are H.J. and you on a first name basis?"

"H.J.?" Draco and Blaise asked.

"Harry James," Railane clarified. "And Draco, my question?"

"Since last night, if you have to know," Draco replied as he piled breakfast on his plate, and Railane snickered.

"Someone got lucky last night! What a way to inaugurate the private room," Blaise remarked with a laugh.

"Oh, there was no inauguration for either one of them," Railane replied with a wide grin before Draco could. "Liana and I were somewhere else."

"Woo-hoo!" Blaise replied, grinning like mad, and Railane winked at Draco, who looked at her with a rather exaggerated expression of horror.

"Look at it on the bright side. Better to be linked to annoying me than to a do-gooder wanker."

"Watch your language, Miss Lesperance!" Blaise told her in an authoritative voice, while Draco shook his head.

"I meant it, woman, there is no hope for you. And something tells me it's better this way."

She laughed. "Amen, Draco, amen."

The clicked goblets and drank, laughing.

As soon as Harry sat down, he was met by Liana's proud look, Ron's open-mouthed shock and Hermione's appraising expression. "I'm impressed," Liana remarked, and Harry grinned.

"Not only did we manage to survive the first night in our rooms, but I also got to ask him your burning question."

Her eyes widened. "You did? What did he say?"

"He said, and I quote, 'Lesperance's alright. Stubborn and pushy and bossy, but she's okay'."

"He's right on all counts," Liana replied with a smile.

Ron finally got over his shock and turned to Hermione. "Will someone please explain whythose two seem to be friends now?"

"Uh, because they're sharing a double room for the rest of the year and have mutual friends?" Liana replied.

"Room thing makes sense. But mutual friends? There's only Railane."

"And me," Liana replied.

"And me, if he'll give me a chance," Hermione told Ron calmly.

Ron looked even more horrified than he had before. "After he called you a you-know-what?"

"Yes," Hermione replied. "Everyone deserves a second chance. I think it's time we leave our childish thinking behind."

"I think we're on the hundredth chance by now, but yeah, I agree," Harry added.

"I cannot believe this," Ron said, drinking his pumpkin juice in an attempt to drown the horror he was feeling. "He's a nasty piece of work, we all know that, so why give him a chance to screw us over?"

"I thought the same thing, Ron," Harry explained patiently, "so I proposed a truce on the off chance that I'd catch him off guard, but he agreed immediately and he was actually nice to me this morning. He even joked."

"I'm not buying this, Harry. I'm sure he has some sort of a hidden agenda."

Liana groaned, rolling her eyes. "Have a little faith, Ron. Let's give the guy a chance. If he proves to be a git again, then we give up and then you win."

Hermione nodded approvingly. "Great idea, Liana."

Liana beamed, pleased with herself, and Harry grinned. "See, Ron? This way, we'll all be happy."

"Oh, all right," Ron replied. "We'll give the guy a chance. Minute he screws up, it's all over."

They went back to their breakfast, Harry catching Liana's eye and giving her a thumbs up before digging in. Liana smiled to herself, winking at Hermione before catching Railane's eye across the room and saluting her with her goblet. Railane saluted her as well, and they drank to their plans.

Both Slytherins and Gryffindors filed in to the dungeons for their Potions class. Even though no Gryffindor was happy with this, at least it was only one hour of Potions instead of the double sessions they had three times a week. Everyone sat down with their partners from the last time, and Snape waved his wand irritably, making their cauldrons reappear.

"Anyone messes anything up this session," he said in a bothered voice, "and not only will I change your partners but I'll fail you in this potion and the next two."

Railane raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't want to get into his path today," she muttered, checking her textbook to make sure the potion had progressed properly.

"He was called by Voldemort today," Draco whispered in her ear. "He was rubbing the Mark when he came in."

Railane turned to him, eyes wide. "Does Dumbledore know?"

Draco nodded. "Yes. He feeds information to the Order. Or so I've gathered."

"Does your father know about this?" she asked gently.

He shook his head softly. "No, because I won't tell him. I won't help Voldemort no matter how much power he offers me." Lest it sound too noble, he added, "a Malfoy bows down to no one."

She smiled at him, letting her fingers glide over his brow softly. "I'm glad to hear that. I'd hate for us to be on opposite sides."

He took the book from her gently and then fixed his eyes on hers. "I'll never go over. I've seen and heard what they do, and I will never let myself hurt people like they have. Like they like to do. Seeing what I was going to become made me rethink things."

She gave his hand a quick squeeze before leaning in to read the book, and Draco followed suit. After adding the two ingredients that were left to the potion, Railane waved her wand so their cauldron would stir itself and then turned to Liana, fixing her eyes on her. Liana felt she was being watched and looked at Railane, who looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched before mouthing at her. "Meet me by the oak again after lunch. Bring the others."

Liana nodded almost imperceptibly before turning back to Harry and passing on the message. Class went by very slowly, mostly because of Snape's foul mood, and when the bell rang, every single student sighed in relief and filed out quietly. Slytherins divided, some heading for Astronomy, some for Divination. All Gryffindors filed towards Herbology.

Upon arriving, Liana noticed that they were taking Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and groaned softly. Hermione and her eternal perfection were irritating enough at times, but having Hermione and Ernie together in one class was sure to prove excruciating. As if fate would have it, she ended up sitting between the two of them. Harry and Ron threw her sympathetic looks, and Liana adopted a pained expression before putting her head in her hands.

Minutes later Professor Sprout walked in, pulling a cart filled with encaged plants. Harry, Ron and Hermione recognized it instantly as Devil's Snare. Professor Sprout distributed the plants among the students before walking to the front. "All right, students, today we will be studying Devil's Snare. I am well aware that some of you have already have some encounters, so to say, with the plant." The trio grinned at each other. "What we will be learning today is how to control the plant long enough to pull the roots out. In the places where the roots hold on, they deposit small blue spheres that contain a substance very powerful and rare; a substance you will be needing for your Potions class this year.

In order to keep the tendrils from wrapping around your body, you must use the 'Incendio' spell, but you must keep the fire on the tip of your wands in order to use your other hand to pick the plant up. Once the roots are out, your partner will use his or her wand to levitate the spheres out. Points will be given to the people who do it fast without harming the plant in any way. Therefore, points will be subtracted it the flames touch the plant. You may begin."

Liana ended up partnering with Ernie, and he agreed to hold the plant while she levitated the spheres out. They performed every part perfectly, and both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were awarded five points each. Hermione and Hannah Abott were the second ones to finish and they got five points each, too. As Liana watched Ron and Harry struggle to keep the flame on the tip of the wand, she wondered how things were going for Railane at Divination.

Railane yawned, her eyes close to glazing over as Professor Trelawney droned on. She'd thought taking Divination would keep her from having to study too much for Astronomy, but she hadn't realized just how incredibly boring Divination could be when you realized that deep down it was all a load of rubbish.

Sure, in her family three witches out of five had the sight to some degree, but reading tea leaves? This was absurd. Firenze agreed with Railane on that count, and insisted that the best way to predict anything was looking at the skies, but Professor Trelawney, deprived of her tower and her sweet-smelling fumes, insisted that anyone who wanted to look at the sky should just go to Astronomy. Judging by the look on half the students' faces, they'd rather take Astronomy and Arithmancy than sit and suffer while she insisted on the tea leaves' magical properties.

Railane walked over to Firenze, teacup in hand. He immediately turned to look at her, and she took a deep breath before speaking. "Excuse me, but I have a question about the position of the planets during this week."

Firenze tilted his head to the side, studying her. "What have you seen, Miss Lesperance?"

She lowered her voice. "Mars is still unusually bright, and the angle it's making with Saturn and Venus signals the slow simmering of a conflict. Is that referring to the upcoming battle with Lord Voldemort?"

Firenze smiled his unusual smile at her. "Yes, it is. I am glad you noticed. You come from a line of seers, and I expected no less of you. You need not waste your time in the useless human arts for prediction, because you can sense things. A rare gift you possess."

She looked down at the teacup with a slight smile. "I can read the leaves, though. Professor Trelawney is going to trip over Millicent's chair and she'll knock Blaise down." Firenze raised an eyebrow, challenging, and Railane simply grinned. Instants later, she leaned forward to scold Blaise for misreading his leaves when she tripped with Millicent's chair and fell to the ground on top of Blaise.

Railane laughed with everyone else, winking at Firenze before going back to her table. Firenze realized that, if Railane hadn't been talking to him, she too, would be on the floor with Trelawney and Blaise, and he allowed himself another smile. "A rare gift, indeed."

Liana arrived at the oak instants after Draco, Blaise and Railane had seated, and right behind her were Harry, Ron and Hermione. They all sat and after Railane made sure no one was listening in she began to speak. "Okay, I assume you all know that Professor Snape used to be a Death Eater." Everyone except Liana, whose eyes widened, nodded. "Well, he was being summoned today. Repeatedly. Which makes me think something big's about to happen. I sent an owl to my mother during the day, and she replied immediately. Apparently the Ministry of Magic has a reunion today to reinstall Professor Dumbledore as Wizengamot, and all the important dignitaries of the Ministry will be there. Mom thinks it's a good opportunity for him to attack. She also offered to fly us there."

"Maybe we should tell Tonks first," Hermione reasoned.

Draco nodded. "That would be a good idea. I'd like to go with you, but my father will probably be there and I don't want him to know yet. Rebelling against my father is a dangerous step."

"It's okay, Draco," Railane replied, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I agree. I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't feel out of the loop."

"I appreciate that," he replied with a faint smile.

Liana sighed. "I'm going to sound like my mother, but I really don't think it's a good idea to escape in our first week here. Especially to go and get ourselves in danger."

"I have to agree with that," Ron said quietly. "Hermione and I are prefects now, and we could get in worse trouble than anyone else."

"We'll talk to Professor Tonks, then?" Blaise asked.

Everyone nodded except Harry, who was as impassive as he had been before. Railane noticed and looked at him. "Harry, is everything okay?"

"It's just that, since Sirius almost died because of my stupidity last year, I keep wondering whether every plan of Voldemort's is just a bluff to get me or someone else killed."

"This one's not," Railane told him with a kind smile. "I have reliable sources. Now let's go talk to Tonks and get it off our minds."

The seven walked into the castle and towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but they ran into Tonks halfway. Explaining their suspicions hurriedly, they kept making sure no one was listening in. Tonks smiled when they finished. "I appreciate the concern and the plan, but the meeting was canceled fifteen minutes ago when Severus explained that he was being summoned constantly."

"So we were right," Railane stated.

"Yes, you were. But I'd appreciate it if you'd be discreet about these matters."

Harry understood instantly. "Railane reckons we can trust him, and I believe her. Besides, he's been acting different lately."

Railane had been ready to defend Draco, but when Harry had done so her jaw dropped. And so did everyone else's, apparently. Even Draco himself was stunned. Harry simply shrugged it off, but Railane could tell Draco had been touched by the gesture. As they walked towards their afternoon class, double History of Magic, Railane smiled to herself, glad that Harry and Draco were already on good terms.

She was thinking about just that when she collided into someone. Muttering about her own clumsiness, she was surprised when he knelt to help her stuff everything into her bag again. She looked up and found herself gazing into a pair of eyes as dark as hers. He smiled sweetly at her as they both rose. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Oliver."

She smiled, tilting her head up so she could keep looking into his eyes. "I know who you are. I'm Railane."

He bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you. And I'm sorry about that, I was thinking about something."

"That makes two of us," Railane assured him. "I've got to get to class, but we'll see each other around, Professor Wood."

He shook his head. "As long as we're out of class, it's Oliver."

She grinned. "All right, I'll see you later, Oliver."

"Likewise, Railane."

They each went their own ways and Railane chuckled quietly. Who would've thought she'd be so impressed by him? Sure, he was tall, well-built, and he had the most beautiful dark eyes she'd ever seen. And he was a Gryffindor and a famous man. But she considered her own eyes to be beautiful as well, and he wasn't the most handsome man she'd met, but for some reason she couldn't get his smile off her mind.

A/N: So this is it. Hope you like. Please review so I get inspiration and write fast, okay? Oh, and Marille? I got you new crickets!