Generations Part II: Tales of the Last Stand

Part VII

That evening, Leshia went to bed with a large beaming smile on her face. Draco's suspicion of her suddenly glorious demeanour grew tenfold ensuring that he went to bed that night with a worried frown. The following morning brought Easter Sunday to the Malfoy's door, and after carefully laying out the chocolates on the breakfast table amongst the veritable mountain of food she had prepared, Hermione hailed her family down from their slumber. In her messy room Leshia opened one eye to a crack and squinted against the bright light streaming in through her curtains. The thought of chocolate though, dragged the girl from her bed, and after slipping into her slippers she rushed downstairs, almost colliding with her father at the top of the stairs as she did so.

"Watch yourself Trouble," Draco complained as he carried the large mysterious box from the day before down the stairs. Leshia followed him impatiently, getting frustrated that her father was taking an especially long time to make his way down the stairs (all on purpose of course) and that he was blocking her from getting down. After he had lingered more than ten seconds on the bottom step Leshia made an exasperated sound.

"Dad," she laughed. "Get out of the way!"

"Oh I'm sorry," her father said sounding amused. "Am I in your way?"

"Stop it you two," Hermione's beaming voice came and moments later she had appeared in the kitchen archway, an apron tied round her waist and a smudge of flour on her nose. The sight of her made Draco stare adoringly at her. "Let's see if we can enjoy the day without the two of you accusing each other of goodness knows what eh?"

"He's the one that does all the accusing round here," Leshia grumbled fondly.

"Leshia!" her mother laughed. "Enough. Now come on. I've got breakfast waiting on the table."

"Yes miss," Draco offered obediently, though his face bore a roguish grin. He brought his mysterious box through to the kitchen, where a beautiful spread awaited them; Hermione had evidently been working very hard all morning.

"Mum, this looks brilliant!" Leshia exclaimed happily as her eyes took in the mountains of pancakes with syrup, the platter of scrambled eggs, the bowls full of sausages and bacon, and the pile of fried bread. Her eyes gleamed when she noticed the Easter eggs sprinkled in and amongst the plates, and little swarms of the adorable enchanted chocolate chicks milling across the table, but the pièce de résistance had to be the beautifully crafted large wooden eggs that sat at both Leshia and Draco's seats; inside each egg hundreds of chocolate creations glistened with some from of magic illumination of their own. The very sight of the chocolate fantasy made Leshia's mouth water.

"What's that?" Hermione asked with a wary smile, as her eyes took in the box Draco carried.

"Well I knew you'd leave yourself out," Draco told his wife with a happy smile. "So I completely ignored your orders and got your something anyway." Hermione smiled bashfully.

"Draco you know I can't go eating mountains of chocolate," she laughed fondly.

"Well it's a good thing it's not a mountain then." With this Draco placed the box down by Hermione's place. After placing his wand against the cardboard and uttering a silent incantation the card melted away leaving a chocolate masterpiece in its place. The crowning glory and centrepiece of the chocolate gifts was the beautiful delicate heart made of intertwined shades of chocolate and with a glistening red centre. Tiny enchanted chocolate turtledoves had been magicked into flying round the heart. All in all it was beautiful to behold.

"Oh Draco," Hermione gasped and she turned her adoring eyes on her husband. "Its beautiful."

"Glad you like it," Draco said with a small smile, before he dropped down in his seat. "Now can we eat? This looks far too good to let it go cold."

And so they did eat, and then they ate some more. Two hours passed in which the small family devoured almost the entire spread of food Hermione had been preparing all morning. As noon rolled by the diners finally abandoned the table to go and change; they had an Easter egg hunt to join at the Burrow. It didn't come as a surprise that none of them opted for tight fitting clothes, as they all felt so much rounder thanks to the beautiful breakfast they had just consumed. After picking up a basket of chocolate gifts and the bags of hunting eggs (eggs which when dropped in the garden would seek out their own hiding places and keep doing so until found – it was always possible to lose at least half of the damn things, therefore wizarding parents always seemed to buy them in bulk lest all the little buggers get away) Draco had bought the previous day the Malfoys floo'd their way to the Burrow where the Potters had already spent the morning with the clan of excitable Weasleys.

As soon as the Malfoys' eggs had been dropped outside in the garden and Leshia had joined her friends the hunt was on, and before the blonde girl had had a chance to greet her friends properly, she was dragged out to search for the chocolate bounty.

"Come on, let's go look in the field, we'll catch the runners," Rachel suggested cheerfully, referring fondly to the eggs that seemed to have a mindset of escaping as far as they could from their starting off point – this was usually a pretty profitable strategy for the children as many of the hunting eggs seemed to have the escaping instinct. Soon the girls were cheerfully off scouring the field.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back to school," Katie sighed contentedly.

"Me too," Rachel said quickly, suspecting that Leshia might misconstrue the raven-haired girl's motives for returning to school. In truth Rodeo had very little to do with Katie's desire to return to school, but by the quick look of anger that crossed Leshia's face, it was clear she thought this to be the reason.

"Going back to school means dealing with a lot of stuff," Leshia sighed, forcing away the feelings of jealousy that had rippled up her spine.

"Like Allseyer?" Rachel asked worriedly. Leshia hung her head a little.

"Well yeah, him and my grandfather. I think…maybe it's time I told my parents."

"That is such a good idea Leesh," Katie said firmly, before she suddenly dropped from view and pounced at a wriggling egg that was fast trying to get away. After chucking the egg into her basket the girl straightened out and found Leshia looking a little sad.

"My dad is going to go mad," the girl finally sighed.

"Probably," Rachel said with a wince. "Maybe it's just best to leave it and hope that it doesn't come to anything." Leshia grinned.

"You don't believe that do you? He's been biding his time for six years, I doubt he'd make it this far and then just call it a day."

"I just don't want your dad to kill you that's all," the redhead sighed with a small smile. "I mean it's too late in the year to have to get used to a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and I don't feel like making the trip down to Azkaban three times a week."

"Hah! The cheek of it!" Leshia crowed gleefully and she dropped her basket and pounced at her friend, initiating an amusing wrestling cum tickling match. By the end of the it the girls were lying in the long grass sunning themselves, while Katie dropped to her knees at their feet.

"You fight like a boy," Rachel accused her best friend with a grin.

"I do not," Leshia snorted.

"Yeah you do, you fight dirty. I think you've been taking tips from Rodeo, I've seen him and Parys fight, you're the exact same." Leshia's expression went a little stale.

"Trust me, I have not been taking tips from him."

"There's no need to be so hostile Leshia, he hasn't done anything wrong." Both Rachel and Leshia sat up at the same time and stared at Katie, the former dumfounded and wide-eyed, and the latter looking borderline angry.

"Really?" Leshia questioned icily.

"Yes, I mean you did tell him it was okay for him to ask me out," Katie complained grumpily.

"That's not why I'm angry with him," Leshia spat, revealing her jealousy and contradicting her statement.

"It's okay to be jealous," Katie said softly.

"I'm not jealous," Leshia countered furiously. "I'm angry because I thought he was my friend, but instead of supporting me, he told me off." Katie rolled her eyes petulantly and looked away. "No Katie, don't go thinking that I'm harbouring this insane jealousy for you and Rodeo, because I'm not." Katie sighed exasperatedly, but her rebuttal never came as Rachel suddenly darted between her friends.

"This is stupid, since when did a boy get in the way of our friendship?" the redhead asked desperately with a nervous laugh.

"Since Leshia couldn't get the chip off her shoulder," Katie grumbled.

"What?" the blonde girl demanded angrily.

"Well face it Leesh, you think I stole him from you, which is completely stupid because he's not even talking to me anymore anyway." Katie seemed so miserable that Leshia cooled down and looked away. Yes, what Katie had said stung like mad, but she was not proud enough to place her own pride in front of her friend's feelings, and Katie seemed to be entirely distressed.

"He's a stupid boy," Leshia sighed. "Ignore what he thinks." Rachel beamed at Leshia and even Katie managed a small smile. "Now come on, unless we get a move on, then all the eggs will be gone, or we'll end up walking past Hogwarts to catch the runners."

XXX

Hogwarts was a slight exaggeration, but the girls did find an egg in the neighbouring field. The rest of Easter Sunday went by without so much as an angry word. The girls had the last week of their holidays to grow incredibly tired of chocolate and grow tired they did; so much so that by the time the trolley came round on the Hogwarts Express the girls declined, instead opting for their packed lunches of savoury snacks and sandwiches. Mostly, their attention was otherwise detained by the exuberant game of wizarding chess that had sprung up. All in all, the journey was all rather normal, until Leshia went to the toilet and on her return journey bumped into none other than Julius Black right outside their compartment. They exchanged a cool look ripe with hidden contempt.

"Would I be forgetting who my enemies are if I asked you to pass a message on to Allseyer?" Leshia asked petulantly. Julius raised his eyebrows, and this it would seem, was the only response she was going to get out of the elusive boy. "Good," Leshia said lightly and she stepped inside the compartment. "Would you please tell him this?" With this she slammed the compartment door right in Julius' face, before she pulled the curtains across and sat down with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Leesh that was brilliant," Rachel cheered.

"Let's just hope that rat Allseyer gets the message eh?" Leshia said cheerfully. Later that night over dinner Leshia's question was answered. Damian Allseyer spent the entire evening glancing half anxiously and half furiously across the great hall at Leshia. Every time she caught his eyes she cast him her most devious and cruel glare letting him know that after two terms' abuse, she had finally accepted his challenge. Following dinner Leshia and her friends joined the throng of Gryffindors returning to their dormitories where the girl was instantly pulled into the crook of Ryan Lofting's arm.

"Quidditch training starts on Tuesday Malfoy," the seventh year told the girl cheerfully. "So if you could perhaps stay out of trouble so that you might actually attend a practice, then I'd much appreciate it."

"Oh give over Lofting, I'm not that bad," Leshia countered happily.

"No," the seventh year said happily as they reached the portrait hole and started filing in after everyone else. "You're much worse!"

"What are you so worried about anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, starting practice so early, don't we normally get a week to settle in?"

"Ah," Ryan said sounding matter-of-factly. "Normally, but this term we face Hufflepuff." Leshia frowned as she and her captain came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs.

"And?" the girl asked with a cocky grin. Ryan Lofting rolled his eyes and lifted his hands to the sky.

"Do you ever read that book we got you?" he asked her fondly. Leshia grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. Her captain was referring to the book the seventh years had given her the year before for her birthday, which contained a running commentary and a history of Hogwarts' quidditch matches. It magically updated itself, and this year Leshia had not been such an avid follower of it's updates as she had been the previous year.

"From time to time," she said impishly.

"Well, go and read what it says about Hufflepuff," Ryan suggested. "They're tough, they've won both their matches too." Leshia furrowed her brow a little worriedly.

"Could we lose?" Ryan grinned dashingly and shook his head.

"With you? Never," he told her adoringly, before he reached out and ruffled the girl's hair. "I'm going to miss you shorty," he managed gruffly before he darted up the stairs towards the boys' dormitories. His display of emotion reminded Leshia that this was Ryan Lofting and his friends' last year, and with this thought came the realisation that she too would miss them terribly. Feeling grave Leshia rushed to catch up with her friends, who had already gone ahead and were changing for bed.

"You okay Leesh?" Rachel asked seeing the despondent expression on her friend's face. Leshia forced a smile and nodded jerkily.

"Great," she lied before she quickly changed into her pyjamas before she rushed over to Rachel's bed and dropped down beside her friend, ready for a night's gossiping with Ashley and Nicola; two girls blessed with the uncanny ability to know every single little shred of gossip circulating Hogwarts lofty halls. The pair of them were at it now, and had already lured Katie in with their fascinating social commentary on the romantic status of every boy in the year.

"Smelly Henry's got a girlfriend," Rachel whispered to her best friend the moment the girl touched down beside her.

"No," Leshia exclaimed with a big grin. "Who?"

"Lucy Leech, you know, the beanpole in Ravenclaw?" Leshia frowned, thinking hard of all the girls in their year. The moment she remembered whom this Lucy Leech girl was she started laughing so wildly that tears were streaming down her face. It seemed rather comical (and appropriate) to the girl that Smelly Henry ought to find a girlfriend who had knocked out her own sense of smell with a disastrous potion accident in first year. More laughter was to come as the girls gossiped and giggled into the wee hours of the morning. It was invigorating for each of them to be returned to this place and in the company of good friends, and as such, the first yawn only came around at four in the morning. The girl responsible was Rachel, who quite unceremoniously turfed Leshia off the bed, before shutting the curtains. Leshia grinned and nodded to the others before she too retired to her bed.

The sheets were very inviting and warm, and the girl felt she could fall asleep the instant she had settled down into a comfortable position, but this wasn't to be. Snaking her hands under her pillow in order to support her head Leshia's long fingers found a piece of parchment where there ought to be none. In a jerk she was wide-awake and she sat up in bed, taking her wand and uttering,

"Lumos." Light filled her closed bed and within moments the girl had wished she could have kept herself in the dark. Staring up at her from the scrap of dirty parchment was a scrawl she knew well:

Your time is up

I hope you enjoyed your last holiday at home

With a trembling lower lip Leshia put out her wand, before she climbed off her bed again. The other girls were still chatting, but when they saw Leshia they fell silent.

"Are you okay Leesh?" Ashley asked worriedly.

"You've gone really pale," Nicola added. Leshia nodded jerkily to them, before she looked to Katie, hoping to convey how urgent the situation was. Katie furrowed her brow worriedly and climbed to her feet as Leshia clambered through Rachel's curtains, to be greeted with a muffled,

"No way is it time to get up, I just shut my eyes!" from the sleepy redhead.

"No," Leshia whispered as Katie joined them inside Rachel's curtains. "Look what I just found under my pillow. Once more she performed the Lumos charm, casting light on the nightmarish script. Its words sent a shiver down her friends' spines and they looked on Leshia with wide eyes. "I know," the blonde girl sighed.

"You were saying last week, you know, about telling your parents. Well…did you?" Rachel managed. Leshia cast her a grim look.

"There never seemed to be a right time to do it."

"Well," Katie said softly and she looked down at the note. "I think the right time has come."

XXX

The following morning Leshia had gathered her wits about herself once more, and though still keen to tell her parents, she no longer felt the need to sprint off to their side and babble out the whole sordid story. No, this would require careful priming and planning. The immediate fear of what Lucius was planning dissipated too; it was hard to feel scared sat amongst the nosy Hogwarts diners on that Monday morning in the great hall. Gryffindor's table was awash with noisy chatter as the children filled each other in on their holiday antics.

The first lesson of the day, Charms, went swimmingly, and Professor Flitwick had soon gathered the easily wandering attentions of his second year pupils by teaching them the cheating charm. Following this fun-filled lesson Defence Against the Dark Arts was to come, as was Leshia's first encounter with Allseyer. She had quite been looking forward to it, and was rather disappointed to see that the boy wasn't waiting outside the classroom as he normally was. His friends had gathered, as had that dreadful Julius Black boy, but there was no sign of Leshia's pointy-faced nemesis.

The boy appeared only moments before their teacher did, and had Leshia not been sure the boy was too proud to show cowardice, then she might have wondered if he had timed his entrance to coincide with Draco's. Her father's impending presence meant all Leshia could deliver to Allseyer was a filthy glare, which he returned furiously, before the girl turned back once more and ensured her shirt was tucked in neatly. Draco seemed back to his old self, with a dangerously amused expression on his face that didn't seem right as his eyes were cold and narrowed as though daring the children to step out of line.

"In," he said simply as he held the door open, allowing the second years to pass. They quickly took their seats, their eyes drifting to the front of the class where a pile of scrolls was lying on Draco's desk. Each and every one of them knew what those scrolls contained, and as one their faces paled: their Widgling projects had been marked. Without a word to his pupils Draco aimed his wand at the scrolls and uttered a silent incantation, which sent the scrolls flying to their respective owners. Leshia took her time, while her friends hurried to the last pages of their projects; she did after all know what her mark was due to some holiday snooping. Finally she reached the last page and sure enough, there stood her bright O, though underneath her father had scrawled:

Either Tally has become fascinated with your marks, or you were in my study little one. The next time I won't be so lenient, you're lucky this project was too superior to mark down

Leshia rolled her eyes and grinned, before she briefly caught her father's eye and hoped she could convey to him that he ought to know what she was like so he couldn't in all fairness be angry with her. He would have done the same thing after all. Draco returned her look with a somewhat fond, and yet entirely tired expression, but didn't say a word as the class took in his remarks on their projects.

"Your projects were overall very pleasing," he told the class once he felt they had had adequate time to digest what he had said. "Most of you grasped the concept very well and even though you had limited success in trying to socialise your widglings, you tackled the question of their nature very well in your essays. You ought to feel proud of yourselves." The teacher moved over to his desk and leant back against it. "Most of you believed the creatures were beyond redemption; that they are purely born to be nasty and devious little creatures. However, it would seem that this isn't entirely true. Four of you had a resounding success in treating the widglings with so much care and attention that they could in fact make passable pets. Of these two groups Mr Black and Miss Malfoy wrote two astounding reports, so I would like to ask the pair of you to present your findings to the class next Monday." Leshia's lips parted in disgusted surprise. Spend another week alone with that Julius boy?

'Not on your life,' she thought angrily.

"No," the girl uttered quickly. Everyone in the class turned to stare at her; Draco with an extremely affronted expression.

"No?" he repeated and Leshia nodded, her cold eyes meeting her father's. "Well I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Unless you would like me to deduct marks, then I would comply if I were you." Leshia furrowed her brow angrily and looked across the classroom to where Julius Black was looking at her with a somewhat amused expression. Not wanting him to think he had ruffled her feathers too much, the girl adopted a lofty expression.

"Fine," she said and she held her head high.

"Good," Draco said firmly, giving her a look of warning, daring her to act up again. "Very well, this term we tackle a rather nasty branch of curses called the Mutilator Family of Curses…" And off he went, thrilling the children with pictures of gruesome curses and the varying successes of the various countercurses that had been developed for them. By the time the bell went, each and every one of the children wanted desperately to go out and test these new curses, but luckily for Draco (and the victims the children had intended to practice on), the magic was far too advanced for their years and they would never be able to pull them off. As he gave the children leave to go Leshia remained behind.

"I'm not changing my mind," Draco told her firmly when he saw his daughter heading towards him with a determined look.

"It's not about that," his daughter countered lightly.

"Oh…really?" He didn't look so sure.

"Can I have dinner with you and mum on Saturday? I want to talk to you about something." Draco frowned curiously, but nodded all the same.

"Of course. You can't tell me now?"

"No," his daughter sighed; before she beamed at her father and turned on heal to meet her friends at the door.

"Leshia?" Draco called after her, and the girl spun around and looked to him expectantly. "Watch your back okay?" There was concern in her father's face, so Leshia grinned and nodded, before she rushed off with her friends.

XXX

The first day back was rather glorious overall. It was easy to forget about the threat of Lucius or the impeding fiasco of getting Allseyer back. The girls were all in thoroughly good moods. So much so, that not even Julius Black suggesting he and Leshia meet up after dinner in the library managed to put a damper on their moods. After the last lesson of the day, Leshia and her friends ran out into the gardens of the school to enjoy the sunshine. They were instantly roped into a muggle football game by the boys, and Leshia's mood increased tenfold when she saw Rodeo was ignoring Katie. It would seem that for now, the romance department had taken a backseat and Leshia couldn't be happier. Romance was far too confusing and complicated to get involved in in her opinion.

After dinner Leshia didn't even manage a grumble as she parted with her friends at the library doors – they had insisted on escorting her to them. Her mood was far too good to be ruined by a meeting with some Slytherin, even if this Slytherin was a boy she felt hurt and betrayed by. Julius Black was already seated with his report and his notes spread out over the table, and once Leshia had joined him he dived right into a description of what he felt would be apt to put in the presentation. Small talk was evidently the last thing on his mind.

By the time curfew was nearing the pair of youngsters had sorted out the bulk of their presentation. Each had their own section to complete and agreed it would be best if they worked out their own spiels and then briefly met up before the day to see how they fit together. This strategy involved the least amount of contact, something both parties were happy with.

"Thank you for managing to be civil," Julius said softly as he packed away his things.

"What do you mean civil? When am I ever not civil?" Leshia demanded tetchily; they had had such a productive session, why did the boy have to go and ruin it?

"When you're slamming doors in my face," the dark-haired boy remarked lightly, before turning his pale eyes on Leshia. Had the girl known him better she might have recognised the amusement that lay there, though all she could see was mocking contempt.

"You deserved it," she retorted coolly. "Did Allseyer get the message?"

"I believe so. Tell me Malfoy, when have I ever been rude to you?" Leshia scrunched up her face in annoyance.

"Is that even relevant?"

"Well, when I have behaved in nothing but a well-mannered fashion, I find it insulting and against your usual nature for you to suddenly start slamming doors in my face that's all." Leshia narrowed her eyes.

"You know nothing of my usual nature," she growled. Julius Black returned her glare with a self-satisfied smile.

"Don't I?"

"No! Why does everyone assume I'm this goody two-shoes, just because my parents are teachers? I mean come off it, I'm a Malfoy! Doesn't that mean anything to you people? My father and his father before him, and his father before him, they've all grown up in a world far darker than the one we live in now! Everybody assumes that just because I'm in Gryffindor none of that dark lineage has rubbed off on me, I hate it! People have to stop presuming things about me."

"How do you know what I presume about you?" Black asked, seeming suspicious of the girl's outburst.

"Because it's obvious, and everyone's the same. You all act surprised when I step out of line, but for God's sake, none of you have seen half of what I'm capable of." The two children held each other's cold gaze, until finally Black frowned angrily and looked away in thought.

"You're planning something aren't you?" he finally demanded and he looked back to the girl with a suspicious glare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leshia countered lightly and she turned to her notes and started folding them up. Julius Black gave her a filthy glare before he climbed to his feet and picked up his satchel. Without another word he stalked off leaving Leshia watching after him worriedly. He was onto her, and he was smart. Silently, Leshia counted out a minute, watching the library door, but Julius Black didn't return. After glancing about herself to notice that no one was watching her she reached into her breast pocket and pulled out the strange oblong object, which held five buttons. Two of these buttons were glowing brightly…two voices had been stolen.

XXX

Over the following days Leshia was aware that Julius Black was watching her every move. Granted, the boy was very good at masking his eagle-like watch of her, but Leshia knew all the same. It irked her, and as such she hadn't allowed her friends to open the chamber yet (as they were desperate to do) in case Black was right behind them. She told them they had to bide their time, and that Sunday – the day they had appointed to their 'get Allseyer back' plan – would be the day they opened the chamber and set it up for their plan.

Whether or not Julius Black had warned Damian Allseyer was another question, as the boy had started to look incredibly worried whenever he caught Leshia staring at him, and would often turn up to lessons late in order to avoid running into the girl. This was annoying the blonde girl more than she would have liked, as she wished dearly to deliver her threat in person.

Thursday's Muggle Studies class offered Leshia the opportunity she had been longing for all week. Professor Ramble was late and as the classroom was locked the Gryffindor and Slytherins were waiting outside in the corridor, most of them exuberantly reliving what they had got up to at break. Leshia remained silent with a big smile on her face when she noticed Damian Allseyer approaching with his cronies. They seemed putout that everybody was still waiting outside noisily.

"Now's our chance," Leshia whispered to her friends and they moved to block the corridor in front of Allseyer. The class fell silent and watched curiously – though some, including Rodeo and Julius, looked as though they wanted to intervene.

"Get out of the way Malfoy," Allseyer hissed. Leshia grinned in response and shook her head.

"Why Allseyer, what are you going to do?" The girl's smug smirk was so incredibly mocking, the pointy-featured boy had to restrain himself severely from laying into her once more.

"I'm warning you…"

"No," Leshia interrupted firmly, her expression mutinous. "I'm warning you. You've messed with me one too many times Allseyer and I've had enough. Your days are numbered," she hissed. "You've been warned." With this Leshia stepped back and let the Slytherin ringleader pass. His face had paled, but he looked furious with the blood-traitor. Her message delivered, Leshia felt indescribably uplifted and confidant about the plot she and her friends had crafted together. This uplifted feeling was about to diminish however as Ramble's bemused face suddenly slid into view. How long had she been standing in the shadows?

"Miss Malfoy, this school doesn't abide with threatening behaviour. For that little display you can join me in my office Sunday lunch time," the teacher exclaimed as she marched over to the door and pointed her wand at it to unlock it.

"Sunday miss?" Leshia repeated sounding putout. "But I can't!"

"Oh no? You have other plans?" Ramble asked sounding borderline angry. Katie and Rachel spun around and stared their ringleader down, reminding her not to blow it.

"Well…not exactly…" Leshia fumbled.

"Very well then, Sunday it is." With this Ramble pushed open the door to her classroom and flounced in leaving Leshia chewing on her lower lip agitatedly. The Gryffindors filed in looking a little downtrodden, leaving their Slytherin counterparts to follow. Most of these looked smug at Leshia's trouncing, but only one bore a serious pensive expression: Julius Black was onto something.

XXX

Over the next few days Leshia and her friends would go to bed each night with their minds reeling. Every night they would discuss the finer details of their plans until the wee hours of the morning, and even once they had turned in for the night, they couldn't get their minds to stop going over the details. On Saturday morning the girls could have collectively made up a bag of nerves; Leshia worried over how she was going to explain to her father that her grandfather had been stalking her all year, Katie was worried sick that their plan was going to fail and they'd all be expelled, and Rachel feared over what Draco was going to do to Leshia when he found out about all the lies.

The trio remained very silent over breakfast while all around them their fellow pupils chatted excitedly over their weekend plans. The weather was after all quite glorious, which would ensure most of the youngsters would be wiling away their free time in the sunshine – all the better for Leshia's plan to come to fruition. For the most part the girls kept themselves occupied throughout the day with their homework, making a point not to discuss the plan as it would either attract too much attention and they were sick to death of discussing it. As soon as the sun started to dip beyond the mountains in the west, Leshia climbed to her feet in order to make her way to her parents' chambers.

"Leesh, are you sure that this is such a good idea?" Katie blurted out.

"Come on Katie, this isn't the time to be getting cold feet," Leshia urged reassuringly, hoping the raven-haired girl wouldn't let her down.

"I'm not…I just have a terrible feeling about all this," the girl sighed heavily. 'A terrible feeling' was putting it lightly; a more accurate description would be that every time she closed her eyes she envisioned a waving flashing neon sign blaring out 'stop what you are doing right now'. She daren't tell the other two about the dreams she'd been having…dreams that always had very nasty consequences for her blonde friend, lest they think she was going soft.

"Don't worry, it's all going to be okay. I mean, what could go wrong?" Leshia countered in her most easy-going of tones. "We've planned for every eventuality haven't we?"

"I just…" Katie trailed off and forced a bright smile onto her face. "Ignore me, I'm just being a worrywart."

"Okay. Well I'll see you two back in the common room," Leshia told her friends cheerfully and she started heading back to the castle, before she stopped and called over her shoulder, "Let's hope I'm all in one piece!"

XXX

Dinner was absolutely wonderful as usual. Hermione truly was a fabulous cook, and she never ceased to increase her talents by trying the most exotic of dishes. Leshia's parents seemed in two very agreeable moods and all in all, the relaxing atmosphere and her parents' demeanour began to relax Leshia's nerves. Perhaps Draco wouldn't react as badly as she had supposed…perhaps everything was going to be fine.

After dinner Hermione excused herself in order to go and do some quick research in the library, leaving Leshia with her father cleaning up the dishes. Draco waited a mere minute before he turned on his daughter with raised eyebrows.

"And, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Leshia inhaled slowly and nodded, but her nerves had suddenly resurrected themselves and seemed to be trying to tie a knot in her tongue making speech impossible. "Well are you going to tell me, or would you like me to guess?" her father chuckled.

"It's about my grandfather," Leshia finally blurted out, before she focused with all her might on drying the plate in her hands. Her father was staring at her with a dark expression.

"I hope you mean Grandpa Granger," he eventually uttered sounding dangerous. The blonde girl shook her head jerkily.

"No, I mean your father." Expecting a violent explosion of emotion, Leshia was quite surprised when Draco suddenly darted from her side to the liquor cabinet, scrabbling to find his soothing bottle of whiskey and a tumbler; he knew there was no heading Leshia off when she had something on her mind, and he also knew that what she had on her mind on this particular occasion was going to test his nerves. The moment he had downed a tumbler full of the soothing liquid Draco dropped down at the cleared dining table, looking down at his empty tumbler with a somewhat confused, somewhat furious expression. Leshia's instincts were yelling at her to run away, and fast, but she had to persevere. She'd made her bed, now she was going to have to lie in it.

"Dad don't be mad," she said nervously and after she had dried the plate she was holding she dropped down beside her father at the table. Draco glanced up at her with a worried frown; whenever Leshia told him not to get mad he always, invariably did.

"What have you done?" he asked softly. Leshia frowned worriedly and shook her head.

"Well nothing, but…I want to know why you lied to me, why you told me he was dead."

"He is dead," Draco countered gruffly, causing a wounded look to materialise on his daughter's face.

"No he's not dad, I remember the day he came round our house. I remember it!" Draco looked away furiously, quickly refilling his tumbler.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. He came round and blasted that crack above the kitchen door, and the crack in the tile by the stairs? That was me, I remember it all dad! Your spell didn't work."

"What?" Draco demanded looking genuinely confused for a moment.

"You did a memory charm, you must of done! Well it didn't work."

"No I didn't," her father said firmly and he downed the rest of his drink.

"I think your lying." Draco winced angrily and slammed the tumbler back down on the table.

"You listen to me," he said furiously. "If I would have done a memory charm on you, which for starters I would never do, but if I had? Then you had better believe it would work my girl!" Leshia looked away tetchily. "I don't know where you've fabricated this little story from, but your grandfather is dead."

"I know for a fact he's not," Leshia countered angrily. Draco snapped his eyes onto her, suddenly suspicious.

"Do you?"

"I found a note, saying he was still alive! It was written in your handwriting." Draco narrowed his eyes so severely Leshia was sure he oughtn't to have been able to see.

"You're mistaken."

"No I'm not, it said that he was still alive and the only chance to bring Voldemort back."

"No," Draco repeated, shaking his head firmly. "That's not possible."

"Well what are you saying dad? That I'm insane?" For a moment Draco sized the girl up and down, wondering if perhaps this might be the case. "Dad!" Leshia cried out indignantly.

"No, of course not," Draco complained, before he turned suspicious once more. "This is not a matter for children Leshia, I don't want you to bring this up again." Leshia's jaw dropped and she exhaled exasperatedly. How dare her father dismiss her! How dare he call her a liar worthy of psychiatric care!

"If I'm lying, then how do you explain these?" she finally demanded, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out the collection of notes she had received from her grandfather over the last two terms. It took Draco a long time to bring himself to look at the notes, and when he did he felt his skin crawl as he took in his father's handwriting. Slowly he leafed through the notes, his expression darkening with each one he turned, until finally Leshia could have sworn he was about to lose it. Once he had reread each threatening note Draco lifted his eyes to his daughter, almost shaking with anger and worry. Leshia had never seen him look so dangerous before and for the briefest of moments wished she could be anywhere but here; even in the clutches of her grandfather seemed a safer place to be. Her father opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find the words and promptly shut it again. It would seem Leshia was going to have to do all the talking.

"He's here, he's been following me since September," she said softly. "And I met him, at Christmas time down Knockturn Alley. I managed to get away from him." Draco shut his eyes tightly, and Leshia watched as before her eyes the colour drained from his face. "Dad I'm sorry…" Her father's face slowly contorted to intense distress and without warning he reached out and arm and pulled the girl to his side with such force it knocked the wind out of her.

"He's not going to get you," the young man said passionately. "He's not." For a few moments Draco continued to shake with anger and concern, until finally he calmed down. "I didn't change your memories," he finally said softly. "I'd never…It was the trauma of it all, it made you forget."

"But why didn't you tell me he was after me?"

"I didn't want to frighten you."

"But…"

"Leshia don't," Draco complained and he reached out with his free hand to examine the notes once more. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this sooner. I just…can't…"

"I didn't want to be lied to again. Dad…are you mad?"

"Extremely," Draco replied darkly. "But right now there's more important things to worry about." In a flurry of action he was on his feet having scooped up the notes into his hand. "I'm taking you back to your common room, and you will stay there until morning do you understand me?" Leshia nodded quickly.

"What are you going to do?"

"That is not your concern," her father replied bluntly and started guiding the girl towards the door. Leshia bit her tongue, fighting the urge to tell her father that actually, yes it was her concern as Lucius was after her. However, the fact that she was still standing in one piece was a small miracle, so she didn't want to push it. Draco led his daughter through the castle in silence, his mind whirring with the plans he had made back when Lucius had threatened his daughter's safety. As they reached the portrait hole and Leshia uttered the password Draco hugged her firmly.

"I'm furious with you," he said angrily. "When this is sorted out we are going to have a long talk about your behaviour." Leshia nodded grimly.

"Tomorrow," she said softly. "Can I still, you know…leave the common room?" Draco stood back and looked thoughtful.

"Yes," he finally replied and inwardly Leshia sighed with relief. "Just don't do anything foolish." The girl nodded firmly and hugged her father once more, feeling relief flooding over her. It felt so good not to have to worry about her grandfather, and knowing her father was going to protect her.

"I'm sorry." Draco remained silent, still too furious to let everything be all right.

"Go to bed," he said gruffly and he stepped back letting Leshia climb into the portrait hole. As soon as the door started swinging shut he turned on heel and started rushing back down the corridor; there was so much to organise and very little time to do it in. Feeling a little abandoned by her father Leshia made her way through the busy common room to her dormitory where she found Katie and Rachel sat by one of the windows looking anxious.

"Miss me?" the girl called out cheerfully.

"Leshia!" her friends cried out.

"You're okay," Katie exclaimed gleefully.

"Scrap that," Rachel complained. "You're alive!" Leshia laughed and joined them by the window, where she was suddenly enveloped in two massive hugs.

"Easy," she chuckled and extricated herself from her friends' arms. "I was having dinner with my parents, not going into the dragon's den."

"Did you, you know, tell your dad?" Katie asked anxiously. Leshia grinned and nodded. "And?"

"He's sorting it," the blonde girl explained. "At least…I think he is. He was pretty mad."

"Pretty mad? God, I was expecting him to explode!" Rachel exclaimed with wide eyes causing Leshia to laugh raucously.

"He very nearly did, I'm sure of it. He's so cross with me, but at the moment all he cares about is finding Lucius. He's off making arrangements or something or other."

"I wouldn't want to be in your grandfather's shoes right now…"

XXX

The following morning the girls felt invigorated by the previous night's events. Even Katie felt sure nothing could go wrong, and all three were rather looking forward to seeing the look on Allseyer's face when he realised he was in for it. Over breakfast Leshia was aware that Julius Black was watching her, and this irked her. How were they going to get away with their plan with him stalking them? Another thing that was slightly off putting were the several absences at the main table; Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Leshia's own parents were all absent from their usual positions. Catching Lucius evidently concerned more people than Leshia had imagined.

As soon as the girls had finished breakfast they spent the next hour trying to shake off Julius Black, who had taken to stalking them. Eventually they succeeded in doing so (at least, they were sure they had succeeded in doing so) and they rushed to the girl's toilets on the second floor to see whether after all this Moaning Myrtle's information had been reliable. Would they be able to get into the chamber of secrets? The bathroom was as usual deserted (as was the entire floor, it would seem everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather). Even Myrtle was absent from her usual perch on the windowsill. Happy for the miserable ghost's absence the girls marched straight over to the sink they had found before Easter.

"What now?" Rachel asked as Leshia attached the speech stealer to her throat, making sure she pressed the first flashing button in order to enable the parseltongue voice they had stolen from Harry during Easter.

"Well, let's see if this thing works," she said cheerfully before she switched the magical device on. What followed was a series of snake commands coming from Leshia's mouth. On her fourth go a strange guttural sound escape the drains and the sinks suddenly started parting. The girls jumped back and Leshia pulled the speech stealer from her throat to watch in wonder as the entrance to the chamber of secrets appeared before them.

"Woah," all three girls exclaimed the moment the sinks had stopped shifting to reveal a dank and dreary looking sewer. The grey slimy walls faded into blackness and for a moment the girls felt wary to continue.

"Well go on then Leesh, after you," Rachel said with a grim expression. Leshia gave her a sarcastic smile, and was about to step forward and take the plunge when suddenly an elaborate shriek and a splash announced the arrival of Moaning Myrtle.

"Who's there?" the petulant demand came and after rolling her eyes at her friends Leshia stepped towards the pipe once more, all set on ignoring the vile girl. Evidently not amused with being ignored the ghostly girl floated out to see who had invaded her slumber in the U-bend. "Oh, it's you," she complained sounding putout, but then her eyes drifted towards the opened entrance and her jaw dropped. "How did you do that you vile little children?"

"Oh shut up Myrtle," Rachel grumbled.

"Yeah, you had your chance to be nice to us, but instead you acted like a pain in the arse, so if you don't mind," Leshia added and she peered down into the pipe.

"You'll break your neck if you fall," Myrtle sang cruelly and for a moment Rachel and Katie looked alarmed. Leshia however, was glaring at the girl once more.

"I highly doubt that."

"There's a nasty great big snake down there that will eat you alive," the ghost now shrieked viciously.

"It's dead." Evidently not amused that her taunts had amounted to nothing, Myrtle shrieked dramatically once more before she threw herself to her window perch. The girls watched her with wrinkled brows of slightly disgust, wondering if she had fallen silent at last. Their wish was granted. "Thank you," Leshia uttered under her breath and after inhaling slowly and counting to three, the girl stepped out and jumped.

XXX

Damian Allseyer had been enjoying a carefree morning. That filthy little blood-traitor seemed to have vanished into thin air and all in all the boy was in a glorious mood. After wiling away most of the morning outside, he finally ventured indoors, knowing that that ghastly Malfoy girl had detention with Ramble and that he'd have free-run of the castle. Not that he had been staying outside because he believed her to be indoors, no, who could come up with such a ludicrous suggestion? It had been a nice day, that's all. Yet still, the boy considered, it was nice to know his nemesis was otherwise detained.

Leshia's detention ensured Allseyer had ditched the company of his oafish friends. Having them personally escorting him absolutely everywhere all week had been extremely tiresome and it was very enjoyable to get away from them for a bit. As the castle corridors were virtually deserted, young Damian Allseyer decided he'd stretch his legs and take a walk, to see what sort of havoc he could play while no one was watching. Perhaps he could even pin something on that Malfoy girl and have her expelled. With these jubilant thoughts he set off, ambling round the corridors at a leisurely pace.

"Pssst, Allseyer," a voice came from a darkened classroom.

"Who's there?" the pointy-faced boy demanded.

"It's me Black, come here, I want to show you something." Feeling intrigued and also flattered that the elusive Julius Black had chosen to share something with him, Damian Allseyer strode into the classroom.

"Where are you?" he whispered into the gloom. Quite suddenly, and before the startled cry had escaped his lips, a strange silky material was thrown over his entire body, in the same instant that his wand was taken and a strip of material stuffed into his mouth. Before he could struggle away a Julius Black uttered,

"Petrificus totalis." And that was it, Damian Allseyer had been captured, and there was very little he could do about it. For several moments the boy wondered furiously what he had done to warrant such an attack. Was Black working alongside the blood-traitor? Surely not, he'd heard the things Julius Black had said about Leshia. It seemed to be that Black hated her more than anyone. "Wingardium leviosa," was uttered next into the dark and the next moment Allseyer found himself hovering towards the door. As he was guided into the light he recognised the material that had been thrown over himself, it was an invisibility cloak. In the next moment he realised the trap he'd walked into as Rachel and Katie stepped in front of him and started rushing down the corridor. The boy couldn't turn around, but he didn't need to to know who had him at her mercy; it would seem that the revenge the boy had been dreading, the revenge he couldn't accept Leshia was due, had begun. They traversed the corridors for only a few yards; all the while Allseyer hoping a teacher would come along and find Leshia, who surely ought to be in lots of trouble for missing her detention? His wish was not answered, and before too long the girls had darted into a girls' toilets.

Allseyer stared in shock at the strange manifestation in the middle of the room where the sinks ought to be, and for a ridiculous moment he wondered if all girls' bathrooms had such strange plumbing. The moment Katie and Rachel jumped down the pipe in the middle of the room however, Allseyer began to think otherwise. The blood-traitor guided him towards the pipes and then slowly turned him around, before she released the levitation spell on the boy, letting him drop to his feet. She reached out and arm to steady him.

"Hello Damian," she said darkly, her eyes twinkling with devious mischief. "I gave you fair warning." With this she quickly uttered the counterspell to her body-binding curse that held Allseyer incapacitated, before she pushed him with all her might. The boy was helpless but to fall down the strange network of pipes. As he appeared on a strange bed of old moss and small animal bones he found himself to be held at wand-point by the blood-traitor's friends.

"Don't move if you know what's good for you," Rachel called out to the boy, though she looked a little worried. Now the plan was in full swing the redhead was feeling quite guilty at the look of fear on Allseyer's face. She tried to remind herself of all the pain he had caused her friends, but it didn't work: Rachel didn't have a cruel bone in her body and she was hating every minute of this torture. This was nothing compared to the agony going on within Katie's mind. She too was finding it incredibly difficult to watch Allseyer's terrified expression. Why oh why had she agreed to take part in this plan?

After a few moments Leshia had slid down the pipes and arrived at the boy's side. Without a word she shoved him firmly towards the series of underground tunnels hewed into the rock beneath the castle.

"Move," she ordered.

"You're not going to get away with this blood-traitor," Allseyer scowled. The girls ignored him. "I'm telling you, you're going to regret this."

"The question is Allseyer, is whether you're regretting yet," Leshia said lightly. "You see, none of this has to happen if you repent for what you did to me."

"Never!" Allseyer cried out furiously. "You deserved what you got you filthy blood-traitor. I'm only sad because we didn't manage to finish you off."

"Fine," Leshia said lightly and she gave the boy a shove once more, pushing him down the tunnels. "I don't suppose," she carried on in that same preciously innocent tone of voice. "You've heard of the chamber of secrets." Silence. "Oh, well let me tell you. To cut a very long story short Salazar Slytherin built this big secret chamber years ago under the school to house a monster. Apparently only his true heir would be capable of opening it and releasing this horrible monster, but since his departure two have managed…well three really. It would seem old Slytherin was a little presumptuous, assuming that only his heirs would be blessed with the skills needed to open the door. Well, either we're all heirs of Mr Slytherin, or we're more powerful than he gave everyone credit for, but we've worked it out Allseyer. Would you like to see it?"

"No!" the boy yelped sounding scared for the first time.

"Oh, that is a shame," Leshia said sounding regrettable.

"I'm warning you Malfoy…" the boy began sounding borderline terrified and yet also so entirely furious.

"No!" Leshia snapped angrily, getting annoyed with the boy's nerve. He was in no position to be making demands. "I warned you! You had a chance to tell me that you were sorry for what you did. You had a chance to make it all better, but you didn't! Do you think you can just go around beating the stuffing out of people until they're near dead and not have any repercussions at all? That's not the way the world works Allseyer, especially when you're dealing with a Malfoy."

"You're not a Malfoy," Allseyer growled. "You don't deserve the name."

"Oh, of course, and you do?" Leshia countered lightly and she smiled. "Tell me, when you met my grandfather down Knockturn Alley, how was it you reacted? Oh yeah, you ran away snivelling like the coward you are."

"Your grandfather? You're a liar, he's dead!"

"Yes, that's what I thought too, till I bumped into him." Allseyer's counterattack never came, as the girls had now led him to the flattened dried up remains of a giant snakeskin. It had decomposed to near nothingness in the years since it had last been stumbled upon, but its form was still distinguishable from the filthy ground.

"What's that?" Allseyer asked in a strangled tone.

"Glad you asked," Leshia replied with a smile. "That most likely belonged to the monster you're about to get very acquainted with."

"You're mad if you think this is going to work Malfoy!" Allseyer spat viciously, though the fear in his eyes was clear.

"Well if it doesn't and you still feel that this little grudge match ought to continue, then it was nice knowing you," Leshia said with a small grin as they reached a cave in of rubble. The girl's had spent the better part of an hour clearing a big enough gap to force their captive through, but it still turned out to be trickier than they would have liked. In the moment of temporary confusion Allseyer took his chance and started running once he had climbed through the opening in the rocks.

"Petrificus totalis," Leshia cried after him and he fell still, dropping to the ground as stiff as a plank. "Oh come on Allseyer," she crowed triumphantly. "You're hurting my feelings, after I've gone through all this effort to get the chamber ready for you." Leshia proceeded to unbind the boy and force him towards the door that was looming at the end of the corridor, while her friends hung back a little and exchanged agonising expressions. None of this was right. They oughtn't to be doing this.

Leshia too seemed to be struggling with the cruelty of it when she saw the terror in Allseyer's face, but as they reached the door all the pain and the fear of being dragged out of Hogwarts came flooding back. If she didn't make this boy learn his lesson, then she would either end up buried six feet under, or she'd spend the rest of her life barred indoors in a makeshift house arrest. Even though her conscience was telling her this was so wrong, she had to continue. The girl, still wearing the speech stealer under her shirt, uttered the command as she had done earlier that day and the door swung open squeakily. The hiss of the dozens of snakes they had materialised there suddenly met their ears and Allseyer started to panic, struggling madly to get away. Leshia dove to his side and for the next five minutes the pair battled it out angrily.

"No!" Leshia screamed finally and she gave the boy and almighty shove causing him to fall backwards into the chamber. "I'm not letting you out until you tell me you're sorry." With this she slammed the door shut on the boy to the chorus of his screams. As soon as the door had clicked shut Leshia dropped her head against the cool metal, shutting her eyes tightly, trying to drown out his agonising shrieking.

"Leesh," Katie whispered desperately and she had tears streaming down her face. "This isn't right."

"And what he did to me was?" Leshia demanded and she finally lifted her own face, revealing eyes that were glassy from tears. A muffled 'help' could be discerned from the yelling beyond and Leshia shut her eyes once more. "There's nothing in there that can actually hurt him! We told those snakes not to hurt him, so they won't. The only thing dangerous in there is his own imagination." If she had been trying to make herself feel better she failed, because even Leshia hadn't the evilness to feel joy in another's suffering, even if that other was Damian Allseyer.

"Leshia please?" Rachel whispered and she too had tears coursing down her cheeks.

"Oh don't!" Leshia complained. "If the pair of you aren't going to back me up then just go." The cousins exchanged a glance that said very clearly they would love nothing more than to rush back to the safety of the school, but they were too far submerged in this sordid plan to back away now.

"Wait what was that?" Katie suddenly whispered urgently. The girl's strained their ears, and sure enough they could all make out the boy yelling that he was sorry.

"Do you mean it?" Leshia yelled back. "Do you promise this stupid grudge battle will end?" The boy managed to yell his affirmative response, and Leshia turned on her friends with a smile. "See? I told you it would work." Her friends however, were merely looking relieved.

"Well go on then, open the door and let him out." Leshia grinned and reached to her neck to activate the speech stealer.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked softly, her eyes going wide as she took in Leshia's expression. The girl had gone white and she looked horrified.

"It's gone," Leshia whispered, before she dropped to her knees and scoured the bone littered floor. "He must have pulled it off when we were fighting. I can't open the door." The girl's exchanged a terrified expression while all the while Allseyer screamed to high heaven beyond the door.

"Leshia, do something!" Katie yelped.

"What can I do?" Leshia returned sounding terrified and she turned on the door and started hammering. "Open up!"

"Oh this is all wrong," Rachel uttered and she turned from her friends with her hands over her ears and her eyes tightly shut.

"Leshia!" Katie cried accusingly and the tears were streaming down her face once more.

"Allseyer!" Leshia yelled out, but the boy was too busy screaming to hear her. "You're the only one that can open the door! Allseyer!"

"It's no use Leshia," Katie cried. "He doesn't know what a speech stealer is. What have you done?" The screaming stopped, and for a moment the girls stared wide-eyed at the door. Leshia looked to Katie with tears in her eyes and shook her head. What had she done?

"That's enough Malfoy, let him out!" The girls turned around in horror to find a tall boy approaching them from the rubble of the cave in. He had dark hair and the unmistakable silhouette of Julius Black.

"You," Leshia gasped.

"He's paid his price now let him go," Julius told them as he reached their side and looked up at the door in awe, as though he had been waiting a very long time to cast his eyes on it.

"We…" Leshia began, but she trailed off and looked to the ground feeling ashamed. Julius Black looked to her with a furrowed brow, before he deciphered the situation and nodded. What happened next begged belief. The boy opened his mouth to speak and spoke forth the snake language of parseltongue. His neck was free of any magic device to aid him in speaking the language. He was a true parseltongue.

The girls stared at him in horror as the door swung open revealing a collapsed Allseyer. Julius Black stepped in quickly and dragged the boy out onto the dirty bone littered ground and checked him over for injury. There wasn't a scratch on him, he had evidently fainted.

"He'll live," Julius told the girls.

"Is that all?" Leshia demands and everyone looked on her to see her shaking, with tears of anger and confusion streaming down her face. "After everything he's done to me? And there's not even a mark on him?" Something snapped deep within the girl and she rushed forward seemingly wanting to strangle the unconscious boy. Black was by her side within moments and he took hold of her arms and forced her back. Leshia's anger and grief was so much it aided her in fighting against the boy that stood in her way of getting to Allseyer and they battled it out. Eventually Julius Black pinned her arms to her side.

"Don't make me hurt you Malfoy, I don't have any quarrel with you."

"Why not?" Leshia cried out distressingly. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of rubble cascading made all the children turn towards the cave in, where the silhouette of a man with long hair stood tall.

"Because of me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

End of Part VII

Sorry it isn't as long this time round, I had my chapter plan and it didn't fill a full 18000 words like I expected

Keep up the great reviewing. Thanks Kas and Betsy for being such great fans of the series :)