*I uploaded this early just because someone kept asking :) Anyway enjoy \(^-^)/*

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"I can't believe him!" I whispered roughly to myself. I knew that Draco said hurtful things when he was angry but I never thought he'd say that. It wasn't my brother's fault he fell in love with a muggle. And so what if he did, that didn't make him a traitor…

After a while I wasn't even angry anymore, just sad. Draco knew how much my brother meant to me yet he still called him a blood traitor. He knew that I cared about Hermione too and yet he still said it was a shame she hadn't died. My guess was he had been saying that just to bother Harry and Ron but he still shouldn't have said it. I was beginning to think that Draco didn't care about me as much as he used to. I knew he thought these things but before he would at least wait until I wasn't around before. Maybe we're growing apart…

It was hard making my way around the castle this time of night. There appeared to be teachers at all corners of the halls. It was really hard to avoid them and I almost got caught quite a few times. It was a good thing I was friends with Fred and George as they taught me a few things that came in handy. Being the troublemakers that they are they knew many secret passages or elaborate hiding places that saved me from getting caught outside my dorm.

I hadn't thought this out very well. Blinded by my anger it really didn't occur to me how much trouble I could get into if caught. It wasn't as if I was out for a midnight stroll on a regular day. Because of the attacks, seeing me out this late might cause some of the teachers to think that I'm the Heir of Slytherin. Especially because, well, I am in Slytherin. The truth is I couldn't go back to the common room, not easily anyway. Trying to avoid the professors, I had accidentally made my way up to third floor, near the Clock Tower Entrance. I knew a shortcut to get to the common room but I still had to make my way down some floors, closer to the dungeon.

I didn't hear any footsteps so I leaned against a wall, catching my breath. For the moment I was alone. I looked at my surroundings, a little surprised at what I saw. I'd never been out this late at night and everything looked different somehow. Without the usual morning light the castle was frightening. Or maybe that was due to the fact that the attacker still hadn't been found. Even as a pureblood I didn't believe I was completely safe.

There was a window near me and I looked outside, thinking the same thing I had been about the castle. It was just as terrifying if not more so. There weren't teachers outside, from what I could see at least. They probably thought that nobody would make their way there this time of night. That or they thought they could catch them before they reached the doors. Either way someone must be pretty stupid to go out there this late at night I thought just before I saw it

"Please let me I'm imagining this" I groaned to myself. I wasn't. Outside, near the Forbidden Forest, there was a figure moving about. It looked like that of a boy, one with flaming red hair. I only knew two redheads who would willingly be out this late at night, despite everything that was happening

I hastily made my way downstairs, careful not to make too much noise. What were Fred and George thinking? If they got caught they could get in serious trouble. And what could they possibly need from the Forbidden Forest that they would sneak out in the middle of the night for? It's like they don't think! I paused and tried to calm myself. Apparently I still had some left over anger that I didn't know about. It wouldn't be fair to take it out on them; they had nothing to do with this. Before I realized, I was at the Entrance Hall.

I made sure there was no one around before opening the door. Quickly I ran over to where I had seen the twins, hoping no one would see me in the open space. Normally I wouldn't be doing something so dangerous and reckless but I really cared about those boys. I hadn't known them for very long but they were different. I had learned to recognize false smiles and fake people and knew that those two were genuine. Fred and George really were great guys. That's why I wanted to keep them out of trouble.

However, when I reached the gatekeeper's hut, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, I got a little surprised. Instead of the two identical boys I had expected I found Ron, along with Harry, standing by the pumpkin patch. They were talking about something and didn't notice me. As I got closer I noticed Ron was shivering.

"What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?" he said sounding frightened

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," Harry replied getting out a large cloak to cover him and Ron. Just as he was about to throw it over their shoulders he spotted me. They both froze when they saw me. It was obvious they didn't trust me as much as Hermione had and it didn't help that I had caught them here, out in the middle of the night, near the Forbidden Forest. I knew that they wouldn't be doing something bad but this was still a bad situation to be in. Nobody spoke

"So, are you going to tell me what you're doing out here?" I spoke first. At my words they frowned

"We could ask you the same question" Ron said in an angry tone. I was surprised as I looked at their faces more closely. Neither was happy to see me, not that I expected they would be, but there was something else. I realized then they didn't have the same confidence in me as I did in them. "Why are you out here so late at night?"

"You can't be serious" I said guessing what they were both thinking. They both gave me serious looks, confirming my suspicions. I ignored them. "Why are you in the Forbidden Forest? And why were you talking about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"That doesn't concern you" Harry replied looking bothered. I knew I wasn't their favorite person in the world but they should know I wasn't involved in this. Not in that way at least

"You guys can trust me, Hermione does…"

"Well she's not here is she?" Ron said sounding hurt at her loss. "Why should we tell you anything? For all we know…" He didn't finish his sentence but I knew what he was implying.

"Do you- Do you think I'm the Heir of Slytherin?" Shockingly they didn't deny it. Both had scowls on their faces now. I couldn't believe them.

"How else do you explain why you're out here? You are a Slytherin, after all! I bet that's why you helped us with the polyjuice potion; so we wouldn't suspect you." We were starting to get loud and I looked back at the castle. I wanted to clear this up but if we stayed out here too long someone might spot us like I did them.

"Why don't we talk in there" I said looking over at the hut. Neither seemed thrilled about the idea. "If someone catches us we'll all be in trouble, okay. Let's just go inside."

They looked hesitant but agreed. We all walked into the little cabin so as not to draw attention to ourselves. Out of the corner of my eye I saw both of them carefully take their wands out, just to be safe. I figured it would only make me look guilty if I did the same so I didn't.

"Why should we believe you're not the Heir?" Harry asked once we were safely inside the gamekeeper's hut.

"I would never hurt Hermione!" I yelled, not believing they would actually say such a thing

"Explain yourself then!" he yelled back. He looked like he really believed I did have something to do with her attack and was angry about it. Having had more than enough yelling for one day I decided to take a more rational approach. I calmed myself down and explained myself.

"I had a fight with… someone in my house. I just couldn't be in there anymore so I came out here…" I stopped to make sure they were actually listening and not just pretending to be. I wanted them to realize I wouldn't have done this to Hermione and they did seem to be listening. Well Harry did, Ron not so much. I continued anyway.

"I got stuck upstairs trying to avoid the professors and I saw Ron out one of the windows. I thought it was Fred or George getting things for some prank of theirs and I came down here to tell them to go back. When I got down here I saw it was actually you two and I heard what you were saying so I thought I'd ask. That's all." I didn't expect them to say they believed me but they didn't say anything. It worried me a little that they weren't speaking but what could I do. Ron certainly didn't like me and I was sure Harry didn't trust me. They looked at each other, deciding whether to believe me or not.

I took in the silence, looking around the little cabin. It was a small place, hard to believe such a large man used to live here. In the corner I saw a big dog looking at us from under a blanket. He looked scared and was shaking a little from what I could see. I smiled a little as I thought about Lev. Here was this big scary dog cowering in the corner where as my little puppy dog had no problem standing up to powerful wizards like my father for a piece of toast. I took a deep breath and turned back to the Gryffindor boys.

"Alright, fine. We believe you" Ron said grudgingly

"Hermione trusted you so we're going to trust you too," Harry said slowly, as if it were a warning. "If we find out you are the heir…"

"I'm not, I swear. I know this is hard to believe, considering I am in Slytherin, but I don't hate muggles. She's my friend and if I knew who the heir was I would tell you," I added just to be safe. They nodded. I knew my thoughts were heresy to those of Slytherin but that was just me. I said goodbye to them and headed towards the door. As I was about to leave I saw Harry pull out the large cloak again. I didn't understand how that would keep them from getting caught but I just shrugged it off. Thankful that they believed me I hurried back to the dungeon for some much needed rest