A/N: I've been working on this chapter for ages and it has gone through more drafts that you can possibly imagine! I'm still not sure if I got the tone I was going for, but Nightcrawler, the world's greatest beta reader, liked it and thought you will too, so I though I'd upload it as is.

Ernie: We. Would. Like. To. Thank...

Yes, we would Ernie. There's some very faithful reviewers out there, without whose encouragement and kind words, I'm pretty sure this story wouldn't be what it is.

Ernie: Winter Blaze

The Plot thickens. Yes, I thought it's about time Voldie got involved. Annoying little prat.

Ernie: Nexos23

Damn you're good! Yes, that's where I got the inspiration for Talia's 'haunting'. You're the only one to have picked it up, though I thought the-ghostly-hand-travelling-up-one-naked thigh-lifting-the-nightdress-slightly-up-thing, was a dead give away. Not even the ever watchful Nightcrawlerpicked that one up!Which is why I'm dedicating this next chapter to... you! Hope you like it!

Ernie: Bob-the-bear

/shrieks in pure joy/ My head cheerleader's back!! Pom-poms, tripping over chairs, and everything! /kneels down and kow-tows in total supplication/ I am not worthy!

I am so glad you've enjoyed the Sev / Talia sparring. /blushes furiously/ You guys know how much I love action. It was bound to crop up somewhere! I think it's pretty obvious that Talia's not a regular teenager. Likewise, Severus Snape is not a regular teacher. I naturally see her attracted (personality-wise at least) to the only dark character around at Hogwarts. She finds his darkness familiar and his presence comforting, as comforting as the presence of one Severus Snape can be.

Which brings me to one question I'd like to answer here. There's nothing sordid about the Sev/Talia connection, as one disgusted reviewer suggested. Talia's a natural flirt. Of course she would tease and banter! But even if that chapter had signified the start of romance, I don't see much wrong with it. According to Rowling, Snape's not that old at 35 and in my story at least, in a pretty good shape. In the Underworld, age is definitely not a concern in relationships. Not when you've got hundred year demons walking around, looking not a day over forty! But it would never occur to Snape to think of Talia romantically. And he's currently way too busy with what's going on in the wizarding world to think of relationships. And Talia is not one for 'relationships' to begin with

Ernie: Charmedfanatic3000

You love my story, and I love your compliments. Keep on reading! You ain't seen nothing yet.

Ernie: Svata2004

You want more? Ask and ye shall receive my Queen. Here's more!

Ernie: Mixer

You are a wonderful, wonderful person and you're enjoying this story. That's all that matters! I'm not going to chew your head off if you don't find the time to review a chapter!

Though I do get excited seeing your name on my reviews...

My heart starts racing, my palms start sweating, and for some strange reason, I can't seem to get rid of the ridiculous grin on my face. You always have the best comments, compliments and observations! And you remember to thank Ernie for his input.

Ernie: My. One. And. Only. Fan. /mechanical sob/ You. Honour. Me. Sir.

Get back to the thank yous Ernie!

Ernie: Ori

Good Lord! You're like the energizer bunny, the compliments just never stop coming from you! You really are wonderful, Ori, and I don't know how I would've ever gotten so far in this story without you! I can completely relate with computer withdrawal. Two weeks holiday without Ernie to keep me company, had me dangerously swaying back towards books. Go figure!

What do I think of the new season? Good question. Very good question. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't seen the new season yet Ori. It is rather shameful, isn't it. I'm stuck in my crummy student hall in London, with no television, and no way to watch my favourite show. The latest episode I've seen was the Camelot one. But I know I can't keep writing this without keeping up to date with what's going on in the Charmed world. When I get the time, I intend to read the episode summaries on the internet.

Saying that I made your day complete was lovely. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Ernie: Charmed148

Yeah, I tend to be side tracked. Harry and the rest of the gang will be coming to Hogwarts soon, I promise. Just not quite yet.

...please don't kill me! Glad you liked the chapter.

Ernie: My. Oh. My. My. Personal. Fans. Are. Increasing. I. Don't. Know. What. To. Say. I'd. Like. To. Thank. My. Mother. My father. The. Academy.

Ernie!

Ernie: NYCazn7

That's absolutely right! Voldemort is definitely Harry's problem and it'll be Harry who deals with him. Talia does have a tendency to get in the way, but it's only poetic justice for our green-eyed bespectacled boy to get his poetic justice after everything he's been through.

..oo00oo..

Please don't forget to review! That little button with the word 'Go' at the end of the pages isn't just for decorative purposes, you know!

..oo00oo..

Chapter 12: Raising Eyebrows

"Miss Turner?"

"Crushed scarab eyes, sliced mandrake root, water, bubotuber pus, and..." she thought for a moment, certain that there was one more ingredient that she was forgetting, "tears of a Welsh Green dragon," she finished triumphantly.

"That is correct, Miss Turner.

"And Mr. Halliwell, can you describe the use of the Hypnarium Potion?"

"It is a very powerful sleeping draught, Professor."

"That is correct, but there is more to it than that. Miss Turner, care to take a shot at a more specific answer?"

"The Hypniarum potion can be administrated to insomniacs who have built immunity to the Dreamless sleep draught. It also encourages visions in those with the Gift. It is sometimes taken by seers to enhance the abilities of their inner eye. This, however, is heavily discouraged since the potion may be dangerous for the seer. Records show that use of the Hypnarium potion has resulted in serious mental injury, coma and even death."

"You always were better than me in Potions," sighed Wyatt next to her, slumping in his chair in defeat.

"Yeah, but you're better with spells," consoled Talia.

"Yeah, but how come you get the talent in Potions, when it's my mother who taught us?"

She scowled.

"She's not just your mother, remember? She's my aunt!"

"So... Potion making's in the genes?" Wyatt asked interestedly.

Talia shrugged.

The two teenagers turned to the Potion Master for an answer.

Snape's face remained impassive, but the fact that the two cousins seemed to still have absolutely no fear of him, was as irritating as hell! He was beginning to think he was losing his touch.

"If you're quite finished..." he said dryly and with a scowl.

But before Professor Snape managed to finish what he had been about to say, their lesson was interrupted once again, this time, by a rather demanding knock on the classroom door.

The three occupants of the room tuned as one to see the two elegant, richly-dressed, blond men, standing at the door.

"Severus...?" enquired the eldest of the two men. "I didn't know that you taught... summer school...?" Lucius Malfoy smirked.

"Lucius, Draco," Snape said coldly, "come in."

The two men were obviously, father and son. They had the same platinum blond hair, the same stormy grey eyes and the same cold, hardened look about them. The young man seemed to be about their age. He smirked at them. Wyatt glared at him while Talia simply smirked back.

"Allow me to introduce to you Hogwarts' newest students," said Professor Snape gesturing towards Talia and Wyatt.

Talia stood up from her seat politely, and Wyatt followed suit.

"Miss Turner, this is Mr. Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco. Lucius, Draco, This is Miss Talia Turner."

Lucius Malfoy took in the graceful appearance of the slight girl before him and immediately recognised her as the young woman from Knockturn Alley. He raised an eyebrow in surprise. His interest was instantly peaked. There was something about her...

Her eyes sparkled and she held herself like a queen. Like that day in the alley, he could feel the power almost crackling around her. There was something about this girl that called to the dark side of his soul. She extended a hand for him to take. He took it in his and slowly raised it to his lips.

If Talia was surprised by his action, she didn't show it. Professor Snape's and Draco's left eyebrows, however, rose almost at the same instant in a manner Wyatt would have found hilarious, if he hadn't been equally surprised by the older man's gesture.

Professor Snape scowled. Lucius rarely, if ever, showed anyone any respect. Arrogance was a given for a Malfoy. To do so to a young girl of almost seventeen was beyond strange. It implied one of two things. Either Lucius had felt the girl's magical powers and seen her as someone to watch, or he knew something that Snape didn't. The professor fervently hoped it was the former rather than the latter.

As expected of him, Draco copied his father's actions. His left eyebrow was still raised when he made eye contact with the girl before him as he bent to kiss her hand. Her eyes glittered mischievously. The boy's bemusement and confusion was evident to her expert's eye, though he hid it well, and it was almost too much for her to watch.

"And this is Miss Turner's cousin, Mr. Wyatt Halliwell. Miss Turner and Mr. Halliwell will be starting Hogwarts in September," Professor Snape continued the introductions.

Lucius and Wyatt shook hands and exchanged a long calculating look. There was something about the older man that made Wyatt's skin crawl. And it wasn't irrational. This man seemed to recognise Talia from somewhere. Knowing her past, that was definitely not a good thing.

"Halliwell, you say?" drawled Lucius, his eyes sparkling in triumph. He was getting somewhere. "As in...Penny Halliwell?"

Wyatt was surprised for the second time in minutes and he wasn't the only one. No one in that room, except Lucius of course, had seen that coming.

"Penny Halliwell was my great-grandmother, sir. Did you know her?" Wyatt asked.

Lucius' demeanour went back to seeming slightly bored, but the interest in his eyes betrayed him.

"I believe my father may have mentioned her once," Lucius said nonchalantly.

That was an understatement! He thought back to his father and how he had spent an entire week listening to him cursing that "nosy, interfering, Halliwell woman" after she had apparently been responsible for the ruin of one of his beautifully laid out, schemes. What an American witch was doing in Britain, he didn't know. Lucius smirked. It had been rather amusing to witness one of his father's rare failures. His eyes firmly lodged onto the Halliwell boy. From what little he knew of the Halliwells, he knew that they were a family of Good Wiccans. What would one of them be doing related to such as obviously dark witch as the mysterious Miss Talia Turner?

"I never knew that Hogwarts was open to Wiccans, Severus. And American Wiccans at that..." he drawled looking the young man up and down. His distaste for anything to do with the New World was evident and Wyatt could practically hear the italics in his voice.

Draco's eyes widened slightly at his father's words and flickered back to Talia and Wyatt. Wiccans...?!

"Mr. Halliwell and Miss Turner will be the first in quite some time," answered Snape frostily. He hated being left out of the loop! It was bad enough when Dumbledore did it, but with Lucius Malfoy... When the damn blond bastard stood there, like he was doing now, all proud, smug Malfoy arrogance, it was excruciating! What the hell did he know about the two cousins anyway? "They have been home-schooled until now and Professor Dumbledore has requested that they receive a few lessons during the holidays to prepare them for school in September."

"Capital idea!" said Lucius jovially. "What year will you be in Miss Turner? Mr. Halliwell...?"

"Wyatt will be starting year six and I'll be in year seven, sir," Talia answered confidently for both of them.

She too had recognised Lucius Malfoy as the man from Knockturn Alley. She had been assessing him from the moment he had had walked into the classroom. He was dark energy all over, she decided. An interesting and dangerous man. But she had met many of those before. She noticed with some amusement that he had been pleasantly surprised that she managed to look him in the eye when she spoke to him. He was evidently not used to that. Despite Malfoy's association with Dark magic and his, as yet unexplained, knowledge of Penny Halliwell, he obviously had no idea who she was. She was used to dealing with people a lot worse than him and he didn't scare her, though she was prudent enough to be careful around him.

She turned her deep brown eyes to the blond young man standing next to him. Their eyes met. Lucius Malfoy was nothing compared to his son. It took a lot of effort for Talia to show no reaction to him. There was a lot of potential in Draco Malfoy, and it felt positively tantalizing to her refined taste buds! He was more powerful than his father, and that was certainly saying something. Centuries of pureblood breeding had resulted in quite the magical talent, though she thought she could sense a tendency to under use it. And despite not having quite achieved the amount of darkness his father's soul possessed, there was definitely darkness in him.

But the incredible potential she sensed wasn't all due to magical talent. She thought she could sense an amazing strength of character and forceful personality that thrilled her almost as much as his magic did. Draco Malfoy was powerful in a way even more ancient and inherent than magic, and he didn't even know it! It was in the determined set of his jaw, the shrewd glint in his eye, the proud toss of his head. It was the look of a man born to yielding power. His father had it too, but in a much lesser degree.

"Draco will be a seventh year too, in September. Perhaps he can show you the ropes, so to speak...?"

Talia looked back to the blond young man who still regarded her with interest.

"That's very kind of you, sir," she enunciated carefully.

"In fact, why don't you young people go off on your own for a while? Severus and I have some business to discuss, and you can get to know each other."

It was clearly a dismissal and they all knew it.

Wyatt tried to catch Talia's eye as she calmly closed her books and tidied up her desk, but she seemed to be avoiding him. He sighed. He knew only too well what that meant. She was up to something.

Draco Malfoy opened the door for Talia and placed a hand on her lower back to guide her out of the room, leaving Wyatt to follow. Wyatt had to fight off a snigger. The Malfoys had no idea who they were messing with.

..oo00oo..

"So..." started Draco.

Talia and Wyatt did nothing to help him start a conversation. The three of them had left Talia's and Wyatt's books at their rooms and were currently walking the Hogwarts corridors. They had done all this for the most part without talking, and the cousins' silence was seriously getting on the blond wizard's nerves. This was already his fourth or fifth attempt at conversation.

"So, where are you two from? My father mentioned something about America...?"

The younger boy nodded.

"San Francisco."

"You've the accent for it."

The conversation promptly died once again. The young wizard cursed his father for making him escort him to Hogwarts in the middle of his summer holiday!

"But Talia, you don't have the same accent," Draco said in mounting desperation that he refused to show. "You do have an accent of course, but I can't quite place it..."

The young witch spoke as if she had had elocution lessons all her life, thanks to her father's best friend, the man she referred to as Uncle Xander. Xander was British, and having spent quite some time in the past working on a mission involving the British Royal family, he had emphasized to Talia the importance of proper speech. To his dismay, Talia retained a little of the American accent both her parents spoke with, but there was another component in her speech that was uniquely her. It was all together a rather pleasant sound and that had helped placate the perfectionist Xander was.

"I stayed with my father until I was sixteen, before moving to America last year to stay with my mother and aunts," she answered Draco's unspoken question.

"And where was that?" he asked as pleasantly as he could.

Draco felt like he had to drag the information out of them and it was grating on his nerves. Being nice did not come naturally to him, and if he didn't know that his father expected him to be nice to these two, he would have abandoned them ten minutes ago.

Talia and Wyatt shared an amused look. Draco caught them at it and felt the anger building on his frustration.

"Down Under," Talia said convincingly.

If he hadn't caught that look between them, he wouldn't have doubted her. As it was, Draco found himself watching her through narrowed eyes. Were they playing a joke on him? He couldn't see how, or why, but the look on Wyatt's face, was enough to convince him that they were.

They walked in silence for a while.

How dare they make fun of him?! He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake! Draco's temper rose. The only thing that helped him keep it in check was the thought of his father. He comforted himself with the thought that Talia was quite simply the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He smirked wickedly. If he could only get her alone...

"Draco, Talia, you mind if I leave you, do you?," spoke Wyatt, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Hagrid said he'd be bringing Twizzlers at today's lesson and I can't wait to check them out."

Draco looked at the younger boy in surprise. Had he read his mind? One look at the boy's open face convinced him otherwise. It seemed that the vague, unexplained animosity he felt towards Wyatt Halliwell was mutual. Talia's cousin simply felt terribly uncomfortable around him and couldn't wait to get away! Draco did his best to suppress a smug smile that rose to his lips.

"By all means," he said in a rush.

"Of course," said Talia with a smile, and Wyatt made a hasty retreat.

Draco smirked and thanked whichever deity had granted his wish. Talia watched Wyatt walk away while Draco studied the girl next to him. She was beautiful and definitely deserved his attention. Maybe his afternoon could be salvaged after all! Surprisingly, it was Talia who spoke first.

"I'm afraid I haven't had much of a chance to explore the grounds yet," she lied beneath lowered eyelashes. "Would you like to show me around, Draco?"

A feral grin stretched over his handsome features. Now this was more like it!

"Sounds like a good idea. Shall we?" he offered her his arm and she threaded her own through. He brought his other hand to cover hers in a possessive gesture he had seen his father use. She smiled seductively up at him and moved closer.

"Lead the way."

..oo00oo..

"Valencia," whispered Talia, cupping the soft petals of the flower.

Standing behind her, Draco looked at her in surprise.

"You know your roses..." he said somewhere near her ear. She didn't turn to face him, studying the flower her fingers were still curled against instead.

The rose was a very beautiful, very pale, almost-white, yellow colour. It was a sharp contrast against her tanned fingers. It looked almost as if it were made of moonlight; ethereal, unreal...

"So do you," she said, raising an eyebrow, though he couldn't see it. "I have an uncle who has a thing for them," Talia confessed, thinking back to 'uncle' Xander.

Funny how the Source's right hand man loved something so pure, so innocent... so unattainable for someone like him. Not many knew of course, but Talia had caught him once with a single red rose, staring at it, deep in thought.

'Forgive me,' she had heard him whisper, when he had thought no one was watching or listening

Last year, she had found out why.

"Roses are his hobby. He grows them and made sure I knew their proper names, their colours..."

"My mother grows roses."

She finally turned her head to face him and found him closer to her than she had expected.

It all happened so fast!

Their eyes locked. Suddenly, sexual tension was palpable in the little garden. Their lips were mere inches apart and their breaths hitched in their throats. Neither of them dared move.

"So then you know what I'm talking about," she said, and her eyes slipped momentarily to his lips, before moving back up to those smoky greys that had her captivated.

He nodded slowly.

"When I shall lie beneath my tomb,Oh do not grave it with my nameBut let one rose-bush o'er me bloom, And heedless of my shame,With velvet shade and loving laugh,In petals write my epitaph," he drawled. His eyes never left hers. "Robert Service," she breathed on reflex. It was a game she used to play with her father. One of them would quote literature or poetry, and the other would try to guess the poet or author who wrote it. But Draco was pleasantly surprised. A classical education before ever attending Hogwarts was a requisite to being a Malfoy, but the girls of his own age that he knew, knew nothing of poetry. His eyes slipped of their own accord to her parted lips, and he couldn't help but wonder if they really were as soft as they looked.

"Which one's your favourite?" he asked in a voice purposefully low and Talia didn't have to think very hard to guess exactly what it was that he was attempting.

She suppressed a smirk that threatened to rise to the surface. So, he wanted to play, did he? Unbeknownst to him, Draco was trying to seduce the seductress. It was only one of the skills she had learnt in the Underworld, and she had used it equally for business and pleasure, to her father's despair. Not that the seductress in this case, was averse to being seduced. But Talia didn't intend on making it any easier for him.

"They're just flowers. They're only alive for a few days at most, and then they turn ugly and die. What makes you think I like them enough to have a favourite?" she said coyly.

He looked at her with a cool, sly look in his eyes.

"You're a girl. Girls love flowers, especially roses. And every girl has a favourite."

She smiled wryly.

"Black jade," she breathed, while gracing him with a heated look.

They were so close he could feel her breath on his lips. It was getting harder and harder to keep thinking of roses. He searched his memory for the name she baited him with.

"Deep red, nearly black in colour," he finally said, his own warm breath caressing her face, "velvety texture with a bold, sweet, scent." He smiled mischievously. "Very sensual..." he teased.

Had he expected her to blush at his last comment? Instead, Talia smiled again and Draco fought the urge to turn the slight upward quirk of his lips into a smug smirk. He made a mental note to be nice to his mother when he got back to the Manor. He licked his lips, ready for victory.

"You really do know your roses, don't you?" she said unnecessarily.

He leaned in to kiss her

"Which one's your favourite?"

He was so close! He fought the urge to frown. When was he going to get his kiss? Wasn't knowing her damned rose good enough? He focused on her question and thought for a while.

"Sterling silver."

It was her turn to show off, she decided.

"White. Sometimes tinged with the palest of pinks. Rarely has a scent, and when it does, it's been described as very light and delicate. Considered by experts, to be one of the most flawlessly beautiful rose varieties in current existence," she purred.

Touché, he thought.

"Very innocent," he drawled, his eyes boring into hers. He raised an eyebrow in baiting, "almost virginal really."

Talia's eyes twinkled. Was he going to get his kiss now?

"Really? I've never liked roses without a scent," she said huskily. "No matter how beautiful they are." She threw him another heated look under heavy-lidded eyes. "They just seem so... empty." She moved ever so slightly closer to him. The tension between them seemed to increase tenfold. "And white, far from looking innocent as so many claim, has always seemed to me rather..." Draco didn't even dare breathe and her voice dropped even further, "bland; expressionless;" she resisted the urge to smirk as she delivered the punch-line in a suddenly too-dry tone, "frigid." She pulled back leaving a startled Draco looking back at her in mild surprise. Talia shrugged, and something in the casual manner with which she did it, completely shattered the spell that seemed to have settled on them for the past few minutes. "Sterling silver may look pretty on the outside, but it's just not quite... substantial... enough, to attract me. Sorry!" she finished with a smirk that showed she was anything but.

Draco frowned. What the hell had just happened?! He felt disappointed of course, but also, at the same time, strangely insulted! And what's worse, he didn't know why!!

"Shall we sit down for a bit?" she asked smoothly, once again cutting his train of thought and giving him no time to analyse her words. She gestured to the wrought iron bench between the rosebushes, finally breaking their eye-contact, and moving on.

How did she do that?! Here they were, talking about roses of all things, the mood suitably romantic for a good old fashioned snog session amidst the rose bushes, and... He had been about to make his move, when she slipped right through his fingers!

He scowled but followed her to the bench and they sat down.

Talia was thoroughly enjoying herself, toying with Draco. She had been on her best behaviour all throughout the summer and it was finally getting to her! Other than her sparring with Wyatt, occasionally Snape, and one or two secret visits to Hogsmeade, she really hadn't allowed the bad girl within, to surface for a long time.

And now she had a very handsome, very willing, young man to play with...

She looked at the beautiful garden around them. It was bathed in the harsh light of the summer afternoon sun, the chirruping of birds filled the silence around them.

Talia was bored. She looked at the blond next to her.

"How long do think your father and Professor Snape will be busy for?"

He raised an eyebrow at her question.

"A long time. They always are," whenever they have Death Eater business to discuss, he added to himself, "It'll probably take them all day. Probably half the night too," he drawled. He picked up on her mischievous little smile and for the second time in minutes, he suddenly felt that this afternoon might not be a total loss after all. "Why?" he asked slyly, "did you have something in mind?"

This was perfect, Talia thought. She was supposed to work on her Ancient Runes studies after Potions and then she was finished for the day. But as luck would have it, she had no real teacher for Ancient Runes. Professor Leontes had been unable to tutor her that summer. Dumbledore had attempted to fill in, but it was soon obvious that Runes weren't Dumbledore's specialty. It was equally obvious that due to Talia's thorough knowledge of languages such as Greek, Latin and even ancient Hebrew, courtesy of Cole and the best demon-tutors the Source could find, she would be better off studying the subject on her own out of books she found in the school library. Better yet, she was already ahead of schedule in terms of material covered. She could afford to give herself the afternoon off, she decided.

"How did you get here?" she asked Draco thoughtfully.

"Hogwarts?"

She nodded.

"Carriage."

She grimaced. That wouldn't work. She was hoping for brooms. Wyatt and Talia had been learning how to fly that summer.

"I was hoping for brooms. I thought I might go to Hogsmeade this afternoon. I've got no more lessons for today. You're welcome to join me..." she suggested coyly.

As if he would turn her down...! Draco's smirk widened. She was playing a game with him, leading him on... and he liked it!

"We could take the school brooms...?"

There was a wicked gleam in Talia's eyes and Draco finally saw the dangerous dark creature his father had first seen in Knockturn Alley.

"Let's get out of here!"

..oo00oo..