Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all rights go to J.K. Rowling. I only own my own OCs.

A/N: I feel like a lot of my chapters consist of dialogue and not description. This one is going to be (hopefully) more descriptive and less dialogue. I can't help it sometimes :D. ALSO, I made a tumblr! Go and follow me, it's not strictly about fanfic. It'll be about everything that interests, and my outlet for my uncomfortable living situation currently. TheUncommonBlack is my username. Thanks again for all your support guys! Enjoy chapter 11!

Chapter 11: The Rumor

Hogwarts - a castle made of many walls, many windows, and even more paintings that moved and entertained its students. The sounds and laughs of all the houses varied in ways you wouldn't necessarily think about. If you go near the kitchen, you find the house of Hufflepuff - the loyal and just. When you walk by it, you hear the laughs and the occasional chewing of students dressed in yellow and black. Occasionally you'll find their house ghost, Peeves, playing tricks on the student so that they jump and laugh with him. Their laughs were more like cackles, described as carefree. Most of the time you found students fumbling for their homework as they sped walk to classes, probably because they overslept.

Up in the astronomy tower, you find the house of Ravenclaw - the wise and witty. They often were up earlier than others, preparing and making sure their work was perfected and had all of the bullet points filled in, fixing their navy and bronze ties. They often took over the large table that sat in the middle of the library, studying and helping each other be successful. Their laughs were more like hidden giggles, often confining themselves to what was right (in their minds, at least. Filch was the last person they saw fit to enforce rules).

If you take the revolving staircase to the 5th floor, you find Gryffindor Tower, where students in red and gold shuffled in and out of their common room, most of the time in packs of three or more. Between classes (or sometimes even during), you might find them in the courtyard enjoying each others company. Most of them play gobblestones, others are chatting and telling stories. Their laughs were like chuckles that you could hear even from Hagrid's Hut.

Lastly, down in the dungeons housed the Slytherins, whom most of them were ambitious and resourceful. They knew every secret pathway around the castle so that they could get to classes quicker, and even sometimes took the long way to throw off the first year Hufflepuffs who were running late to class. They often were among their own kind in the common room, where joking around with each other consisted of sarcasm and teasing. However, most knew that it was only a joke and no one was serious, with the exception of a few students who thrived off making others feel worse when they already felt down (we're talking about you, Pansy). Their laughs were more like snickering sounds, smirks following closely behind. Their green and silver ties were tied tight during the day, and once their last classes were dismissed, they were loose and hanging from their 3rd buttons on their shirts.

Sienna had become more aware of her surroundings ever since her episode. She had noticed how everyone walked, talked, and even ate. She became paranoid, almost terrified that Tom would come back and find her. Him being angry is not something she wanted to witness, but suspected it was something that was not meant to be discovered. She had not heard whispers for a couple weeks now, nor had she felt someone was constantly looking at her from behind. However, the paranoia of it coming back made it unbearable to get through the day. During History of Magic, someone's book dropped and she jumped so much out of her chair that she spilled ink all over her parchment. Of course Professor Bins did not pause and kept lecturing, but she was still mortified she had made a mess over nothing.

She looked forward to Potions everyday, feeling more secure in that environment due to her father being present. Most people dreaded Potions because of how tedious the class was, but Sienna was always the first person to arrive, and the last person to leave. On this particular day, she felt more relieved than most days.

She sat on her stool while the rest of the class filed out of the dim-lit room, scribbling in her planner making sure all of her assignments were perfected and right. She already did that three times this week already though, and her father knew it. He watched the girl as he cleaned up his space, along with the rest of the tables. He could tell she had been on edge, but felt better knowing that there had been no recent reports of whispers or the ringing noise. It hindered his sleep a lot more than he could describe, most nights he tossed and turned and would go to bed at 3:00 AM, but then have to be up for classes at 8:00 AM. However, he knew that the diary was gone from her possession.

He heard a sigh come from the girl and noticed that her head was in her hands. He levitated his supplies back onto the table and cleared his throat. "Head hurt?"

She shook her head and groaned, "no, I'm just overwhelmed with work."

"How many assignments are due this week?"

"Four. I have to write two scrolls worth of the Gargoyle Strike of 1911 for Professor Bins, which is almost done, then I have to do your assignment by Thursday. Professor Sprout wants us to watch this bloody-"

"Language." He scowled at her.

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically, "this annoying plant and see what happens within the next few days. Professor Lockhart insists that we all read his book that tells us absolutely nothing about the defense against the dark arts. I feel drained." She put her head on the table and became silent. Snape walked over to the table and sat on the stool across from her.

"Ask Malfoy to help you with my assignment. He's quite gifted. As for your other classes, make sure you save a time for each subject in the evening."

"I know, I do."

"Are you sleeping okay still?"

"Um, I guess." She shrugged.

In reality, Sienna had not been sleeping well at all. Just like her father, she tossed and turned. It was mostly because of the nightmares she was having. She dreamt that a teenager, tall, pale, with nicely combed brown hair and dark brown eyes, stood in front of her smirking at her in a malicious way. It happened almost every night. If it wasn't that dream, it would be another dream of her running away in a dark, cold cave with marble stone floors and water leaking everywhere. She didn't want to worry her parents any further, so she kept the dreams to herself.

Snape raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you need more Sleep Draught?"

She hesitated, nodding her head slowly. "If you don't mind."

He nodded at her and found the ingredients for the potion. "Stop by before bed. I will have it ready for you then."

She smiled softly at her dad, "thank you."

"Go eat." His smile reflecting her own.

She nodded, gathering her things. "See you later." She slung her bag over her shoulder, and exited the classroom.

The corridors consisted of not many students. A few Gryffindor third years were gossiping in the corner. She walked past them, eyes down to avoid any interaction, but overheard a few sentences from the group.

"Did you hear that Potter tried to have a snake attack a Hufflepuff?"

"What? No way. He would never…"

"My sister told me that Malfoy used a spell to make the snake appear, and then Potter turned it on him. Maybe they're working together."

"Malfoy and Potter hate each other. Why would that be?"

"Who knows. It is a Hufflepuff."

Sienna lost her footing and stumbled a bit. She looked up to find the group looking at her. "Uh, sorry."

The Gryffindors sneered at her. "Move along, Snape."

She scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes. When she turned back around, she found none other than the boy who always seems to show up least expected. His cold grey eyes were hard and cold, sending glares to the group. "I wouldn't talk like that to her if I were you, Gryffindors."

They rolled their eyes at him and walked away with no further interaction. Draco stared at them to make sure they didn't look anymore at her nor speak upon her. He turned back towards Sienna, eyes softening and glare no longer existing. "Everything alright, Snape?"

She nodded, "I just overheard their conversation about you and Harry, that's all."

"Ah about DADA today, you mean? Lockhart had us dueling, and your father nominated me to duel Saint Potter." He spat that name, yet again. Sienna has learned to ignore him when he acts like that. "He tried to sick the poor snake at a second year Hufflepuff. Shame I didn't think of it myself." He looked at Sienna, to find her not interested in his comment. His eyes softened and he cleared his throat. "He wasn't speaking English - it was parseltongue."

Sienna's eyebrow raised, "what's that? I've never heard of it."

"It's when you can talk to snakes. It's not common, at all."

"Harry was talking to snakes? That's bizarre."

Draco nodded, agreeing with her. "There's a legend that has been told to me by my old nanny - she said that the Heir of Slytherin himself could talk to snakes, but he wasn't a good man. My speculation is, if Saint Potter can talk to snakes, maybe he is the descendant of the Heir."

Sienna's face turned confused, "Who was the Heir of Slytherin?"

Draco swallowed hard, and looked around to make sure that no one was around. He took a couple steps closer to the girl, his voice low and quiet. "The Dark Lord… You-Know-Who."

Sienna's eyes widened. There's no way Harry could be the Heir of Slytherin. That's just not possible! She took a step back, "I don't believe that!"

Draco exchanged his own look of confusion. "It makes sense. Why don't believe me?"

"Because...Harry… after all he's been through with him. How could he be related to that man?"

Draco shrugged. "Maybe, for once, Saint Potter isn't a saint." He tossed his head towards the other side of the corridor. "C'mon, let's go eat."

She nodded at him, slowly following him to the Great Hall. The walk started off quiet and calm, then all of a sudden she heard a hiss to her left and she stopped in her tracks, whipping her head towards the sound.

"Kill...mudbloods…"

Sienna started to panic internally, frozen in her spot. Draco noticed he didn't hear footsteps beside him anymore, so he stopped and turned. He found Sienna's face to be something out of a book - eyes wide, breathing sped up, and face paled. "Sienna." This wasn't a questioning concern anymore, this was a real concern. "Hey, look at me." Her eyes were glued to the wall.

"Kill…"

"Sienna!" Draco began to panic himself. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders. "Hey! Look at me, Snape!" He did not want a repeat of a few weeks ago. He shook her shoulders a bit, trying to grab her attention. Sweat appeared on her forehead again. Now he was really panicking. He shook her a little harder. "C'mon, Sea! Listen!"

"Kill...them...all..."

"SIENNA!"

Sienna snapped out of her trance and looked at the boy in front of her. His concerned eyes stared into her scared ones. Trying to catch her breath, her eyes started to gloss over with fresh new tears. "Draco… what's happening to me?"

The boys eyes turned from concerned to sad for her. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Sienna, no longer able to hold her tears back, cried into his chest and wrapped her own arms around his torso. Draco let the girl cry softly, while he rubbed her back and soothed her. "Everything's okay, Sea."

That was the first time Sienna noticed him call her that. And that was the first time she felt safe that whole month.

Draco Malfoy had moved into her heart, and he was there to stay.