Emily: oookay, new chapter (at last) and still not getting enough sleep…so once again I must ask you to point out any mistakes my grammar checker missed.

Enjoy the story.

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It was a mad dash that evening for Emily to find last minute presents for her friends, Severus had left to go back to the castle an hour ago and she was starting to wish he had actually told her what he wanted…

I mean…what do you get for someone who you still barely know? And was it too arrogant for her to count him as a friend? There was still plenty of time for her to mess it all up like she always did…

Finding a present for Lunesia had been a lot easier, she had found a small pagan magic shop at the edge of town, she settled on a new pair of earrings and pack of variously coloured candles that were said to bring good luck when you burned them.

The next day dawned cold and crisp. The snow frosting up the window by her bed, she blearily opened her eyes and was met by small assortment of gifts and the end of her bed.

As she was the only one in her dorm over the holidays, she was free to make as much mess and noise as she wanted.

She ripped open the paper on the largest and was met by a brand new leather-bound volume of Advanced Potion Making; the card informed her that it was from Severus.

Her stomach plummeted, she hadn't managed to find anything for Severus in Hogsmead, she had been sure that he would understand, she hadn't expected him to actually get her something…

She reluctantly made her way through the rest of the presents. A new pair of black jeans and a blue turtleneck from her parents, a box of chocolate frogs from Lily Evans-which she promptly threw in the bin-, a collage of muggle photo's from her old school (which she was ultimately shocked by) and to her delight, a beaded necklace with a purple feather dangling from the middle from Lunesia.

She went down to breakfast, proudly wearing her new cloths and jewellery.

The house tables had been replaced by one single table for those staying over the holidays, and Emily was -for the first time- able to sit next to Severus, despite the looks from his fellow Slytherins.

"Did you like the book?" he asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, its great, but I think it's a little to complicated for me. The most advanced potion I'm able to brew is a weak antidote to snake-bite, I've never been very talented with potions…"

There were sniggers from the Slytherins sitting nearby; Emily glared at them, causing them to snigger even more.

"Pray tell," she asked with a forced smile, "What is so funny?"

One of them sneered, "Well, its not surprising really, Mudbloods rarely posses any kind of real magical talent…"

" 'Cept for that Kayden kid, but we all know what happened to 'im…" muttered another.

"Shut the fuck up Avery! You don't even know what you're fucking talking about!" shouted Severus suddenly. He stood up and stormed out of the hall, causing the fragile looking first years to whimper as he strode past.

Emily's brow furrowed in confusion, "What was that about? Who's Kayden?" she was concerned, what on earth would make Severus react like that?

"Get lost, why should we tell you? I hope Severus dumps your ass back in the pit you crawled out of, Mudblood," sneered Avery, a nasty smile plastered across his harsh features.

Emily had had quite enough of this group of bigoted bastards, she stood up and pushed her plate away. She began to walk the way Severus had gone, but she glanced back over her shoulder and called back to Avery, "Yeah? Well I hope you get hit by a fucking bus Avery."

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After a full hour of searching for him, she eventually gave up; she decided that he had probably gone to the Slytherin common room. She sat miserably out side the entrance to the dungeons, hoping to catch him on his way to lunch.

The door opened suddenly, her head snapped up, hoping to see Severus, but her face fell as she saw that it was none other than Mara Angelo.

"Hey newbie, howzit?" asked Mara offhandedly.

"Hello Mara, I'm fine," she greeted her reluctantly, "Have you seen Severus around?" she asked hopefully.

"Matta of fact I 'av," she replied, " 'e passed me as I came out of the 'all, he went down ta 'ogsmead,"

"Great! Thanks," she turned and began to walk towards the entrance hall when Mara called after her.

"Hey! Wait a sec, I'll come with ya, I need ta tell 'im something too," she quicken her pace until she was walking in step with Emily, "We can look for 'im together."

As much as Emily was uncomfortable with being in Mara's quiet yet terrifying company, she dared not object, she didn't like the idea of pissing off a girl who most likely kept a knife and possibly other weapons under her black coat…

They trudged wearily through the snow, neither of them speaking until they had arrived outside the Three Broomsticks, where Mara held out her arm to stop her.

"While we're 'ere, I'll buy ya a drink, just ta warm us up." She grabbed a hold of Emily's jumper and all but dragged her through the doors and into a booth right at the back.

"Wait 'ere," she ordered and stomped off in the direction of the bar. While she was gone Emily took the time to rub the sore spots on her arms where Mara had grabbed her, either she didn't know her own strength or she just enjoyed hurting people…

Mara eventually returned with a butter beer and a bottle of firewhiskey, which she promptly popped the cap off with her bare hands and began swigging from with much vigour.

"Right, now newbie, there's something I need ta talk to ya's about-"

Emily blinked, suddenly all the pieces fell into place in her mind, "Severus didn't go into Hogsmead did he?" she asked glaring at Mara with intense irritation, all she had wanted was to talk to Severus. Now she had no idea what was going to happen…

Mara smirked and toyed with the firewhiskey bottle, "Naw, 'e didn't, I wanted to tell ya somethin', and ah figured that was tha only way you'd speak ta me…"

"So you dragged me into here to tell me something you probably could have told me any time, when I could be trying to work out why Sev is acting so strangely-"

"Now wait a bleedin' minute newbie! 'e wasn't gonna talk to ya's anyway! 'e ran up to 'is dorm and refused to come out." Emily scowled and turned away, Mara was beginning to piss her off considerably and she was tempted to just storm back to the castle and ignore her the rest of the time.

"Look, just please 'ear me out 'kay? Its important…" Emily turned back to see there was now a strange change in Mara's expression, she was no longer glaring and she seemed genuinely sad, she could even push it far enough to say she even looked vulnerable…

"Fine," she crossed her arms and looked at Mara expectantly, "What is it?"

A miniscule smile graced Mara's face, "You remember ah was really sharp with ya when ya asked 'bout how me an' Sev met?" Emily nodded, "Well ah'm gonna tell ya's how we met, through who we met tah be precise, ya might want to make yaself comfortable," she stretched her arms out in front of her, "this may take a while…"

Emily raised her eyebrows; this didn't seem to be that important…She had all but forgotten about Mara being snappy with her when they first met, she hadn't considered it of any significance…

"But jus remember this eh Newbie, ah'm only telling ya's this coz ah think you can be trusted, Sev aint supposed ta know ah told ya's 'kay? 'e don' like ta talk about it," Emily nodded once again, Mara smiled, "Good,"

She took a deep breath and began to speak, the first thing that hit Emily was the fact that Mara had now totally lost her Londoners accent; she actually sounded a lot like Emily. This was to be one of the many things about Mara Angelo she had not known, her accent was fake…

"When Sev first came to Hogwarts he was immensely unhappy, his parents were constantly fighting, he was bullied, he generally hated it here. There were many times when I would here sobbing in the middle of the night and I'd walk down to the common room to find him crying the corner, what they did to him was unforgivable, but no-one was prepared to stop them, not the teachers or prefects, not anyone.

This changed when a boy called Kayden Summers arrived late in the summer term.

Kayden was amazing; he was one of the few people who ever stuck up for Severus, because he knew what it felt like to be in that position. Of course his boldness cost him as he became the Marauders next target." Mara sighed.

"Shortly after he arrived he and Sev became inseparable, they worked together and fought together. James Potter hated Kayden. He hated him because he wasn't afraid. To him the only good Slytherin was one who was submissive and pathetic. So he decided to get rid of him."

Emily sat up with a jolt, "What? You mean Potter got him thrown out of Hogwarts?"

Mara's lips curled in a snarl, "No, he did far worse than that." Her expression showed nothing but hate and revulsion; her hatred glowed in every inch of her face.

Except her eyes. Her eyes were watering and pitifully unhappy, a single tear rolled down her cheek like rain on a windowpane, she dashed it away and tried to compose herself.

"No," she said again, her eyes now filled with hardened resolve, "James Potter killed Kayden Summers."