Disclaimer: I own nobody but Dani, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Allison and Amy. So no suing

" original speech

thoughts

The sun finally set and the students gathered outside the doors of the great hall. The doors opened and everyone rushed in, in awe of the decorations. The TA's had taken the task of decorating; the ceiling was bewitched black dotted with thousands of stars. Added to it, was a mirror ball. A giant tower stood in the corner where a huge ball waited to fall to mark the beginning of the new year.

"It's beautiful." Ginny gasped to Hermione. She had a swan mask while Hermione's resembled a fox.

"There's Ron and Harry." Hermione pointed out two boys, one adorning a coyote mask and the other a stag.

"Hey girls." Harry said.

"I like your mask." Ginny replied.

"Yes. Like father, like son." Sirius said from behind him. He was of course wearing a dog mask and was joined by Dumbledore, an owl, and McGonagall, a cat.

"Good evening Professors." Hermione said, when she noticed someone standing by the tower. "I'll be back."

"Ok." said Ginny, confused as she watched Hermione walk over to the boy by the tower.

As Hermione neared the tower, she noticed the boy was in a black shirt with black dress pants. He wore a silver mask shaped like a serpent. Will he ever change Hermione thought as she got closer to Draco.

"Lost, Malfoy?"

"Funny, Granger. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see why you're here alone."

"Nosiness doesn't become you."

"You act differently. Muggle plays, less insults. What going on?"

"My father doesn't control my life anymore."

She was about to ask him what he meant when Oliver interrupted.

"Attention." Oliver yelled. Everyone stopped. He was in a dragonfly mask and was standing next to a girl in a pheasant mask. "Katie Bell has just agreed to marry me." Applause rang throughout the hall.

"Awww." Hermione said.

"Girls." Draco muttered.

A quick second later, the doors blasted open and a group of people stepped through.

"Isn't this sweet?" one of them mocked.

"Death Eaters." Draco said, then his father walked through the door.

"You're supposed to be in Azkaban!" Harry shouted.

"Yes. I never thanked you for that, Potter. Maybe it's time to show you my affection." Lucius raised his wand when Draco shouted "No!"

Lucius turned to him. "You dare defy me? He made a mockery of our family."

"No. You did when you decided to follow that idiot."

"CRUCIO!" Draco braced himself, but the curse never hit him.

"God, are you okay?" Hermione cried.

"What happened?" They both realized, then, that someone was standing in front of them.

"So, Lucius Malfoy has escaped from Azkaban." the person said. It was a girl. She had brown hair and her face was hidden by a butterfly mask. She held no wand and was dressed in dark jeans and a lilac tank top that showed off a tattoo of a lion.

"Who are you?" Lucius yelled.

The girl looked shocked. "You don't remember me? My pride is hurt."

"I'll kill you if you don't get out of my way."

"You can try."

He cast the killing curse only to be picked up off the ground and thrown against the wall. He looked at the girl in horror. Wandless magic?

"We're leaving." he yelled at the rest of the Death Eaters. This was no time to fight a powerful witch, especially unknown. "But we'll be back." he vowed.

"I'll be waiting." the girl promised. Harry, Ron and Ginny rushed over.

"God. Are you ok?" Ron asked.

"Fine." Draco replied.

"We weren't talking to you." Harry snapped.

"They'll be fine." the girl told him. He just stared back trying to figure why he felt he knew this girl.

"Who are you?" Dumbledore demanded.

"You're supposed to be a wise wizard, Dumbledore. Figure it out." and the girl swept out of the hall. No one even noticed the ball drop behind them, marking the new year.

"Look over that class list, Severus." Dumbledore said.

"Of course." and he and all the students left to their respective dormitories.

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The next day, Evelyn came into work and Dani immediately said, "So, what happened?"

"He's out."

"No."

"Yep. As if this wasn't hard enough already."

"Lucius Malfoy escaped? Damn. By the way, I was in Diagon Alley, picking up some more fabric. Guess who made front page of the Daily Prophet?"

"Great. Just what I needed."

"Face it. Dumbledore will catch on. You can't run forever."

"Potters don't run."

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Back at Hogwarts, Snape ran up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

"Headmaster, I think I know who the masked girl is."

"You found something? May I have the list?" Snape handed it over.

"Tonica Joseph, Kathryn McCutcheon, Jennifer Alsop, Kyle Compton, Evelyn Potter. . . Evelyn Potter."

"I didn't believe it either until I saw a picture." Snape also handed it to Dumbledore.

"She has his eyes." Dumbledore said. "Alert the staff and the Order of the Phoenix. It's time we had a meeting." Snape left right away to see to the task. Dumbledore looked at the picture again.

So you have returned

I took the liberty of finding the meanings behind the animal masks to fit the characters. Review and let me know if I portrayed them correctly.

Harry: Stag - pride, independence

Ron: Coyote - prankster, clowning and humor, perhaps sarcastic.

Hermione: Fox - cunning, provider, intelligence, feminine magic.

Oliver: Dragonfly –carefree, swift

Draco: Serpent - rebirth, resurrection, wisdom, passion, healing, malice

Sirius: Dog - guidance, protection, loyalty, faithfulness, watchfulness

Katie: Pheasant-warning, concealment

P. Dumbledore: Owl - wisdom, truth, patience, clairvoyant and mystic.

P. McGonagall: Cat - guardianship, stealth, liberty, magic,

Evelyn: Butterfly - metamorphosis, rebirth, resurrection, soul

Ginny: Swan - grace, balance, innocence, faithfulness, sincerity.