As always, thanks to my amazing beta, FalconHonour. I think this is the chapter where we reach 100k words so that's super exciting! Read the note at the end of the chapter for some important info. Hope you all enjoy this!

Hermione collapsed back onto the couch in the Slytherin common room and let out a sigh. The others, who were waiting their turns to discuss their electives with Snape, couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm guessing Uncle Severus wouldn't go for it?" Draco asked.

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "He said I couldn't do all of the electives. He said that with scheduling and time constraints, it would be absolutely impossible. He made me stick to three. Which is totally unfair. Why give us all these tempting choices, if they're not going to let us do them all if we want to? I could do it, you know I could!"

"So which ones did you choose, then?" Ginny asked, earning herself a brief, grateful glance from Pansy for heading Hermione off before she could build up a head of steam.

Before Hermione could respond, Daphne nudged her shoulders, "Not Divination, I can tell you that."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I chose Ancient Runes and Arithmancy easily, but I was stuck on my choice for my third elective. I couldn't choose between Muggle Studies or Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione explained. "But then, I remembered that nobody else would be taking Muggle Studies, so since I didn't want to be the only Slytherin in the class, I wound up choosing Care of Magical Creatures. Besides, Cedric says Professor Kettleburn is a really good teacher."

Draco's face turned stony at the mention of Cedric. Hermione looked at him, confused. "Draco, are you okay?"

Draco nodded just a bit too quickly, before offering her a smile. "I would've taken Muggle Studies with you, if you'd asked."

Hermione smiled softly, "Thanks, Draco. But I know you really want to do Care of Magical Creatures. And since our parents want us all to do Arithmancy and Runes, I wasn't going to make you use your only free choice to take Muggle Studies when we all know that you've wanted to learn more about dragons ever since you could talk."

Draco huffed lightly, pretending to be wounded. "They are my namesake, Hermione."

Hermione laughed, "You're named after the star, Draco, not dragons."

Tracey Davis chimed in, "You made the right choice, anyways, Hermione. My mum's Muggleborn, so I was raised partially in the Muggle world, or at least I was very aware of it. I thought about taking Muggle Studies for an easy O, but I looked at the textbook and it's super out of date."

"How so?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well, the unit in medical care is completely wrong," Tracey said, laughing to herself. "It said that we use cocaine and heroin for medical purposes. Cocaine and Heroin are illegal Muggle drugs. They haven't been used by Muggle Healers since the early 1900s, and when they did use them, it was because they didn't really understand medicine. And it completely left out the fact that Muggles have been to the moon."

Ginny sat up abruptly, "You're joking."

"Nope," Tracey said, popping the p. "Just a year and a half ago, Muggle scientists from America got a picture of Jupiter. It was up close and in colour and everything."

"What else does the course not tell you about?" Theo asked, curiously.

"Well," Tracey explained, "I bribed Carrine into showing me one of her old papers. One of the questions asks how Muggles communicate with electronic devices. And the answer it accepts is the telegraph, which is this machine that transmits messages in little patterns of beeps, called Morse Code. But Muggles haven't used that for ages. Modern Muggles talk to each other on a telephone. It's kind of like a Floo-Call, but you don't see the person on the other end, and you can call from a box that you keep in your home. And, they've started coming up with these things called mobile phones, that are about the size of a chocolate bar, and you can carry them around and call anyone from anywhere you like."

"That's wild," Blaise said, in awe. "Why don't we have them, then?"

Tracey shrugged, "I think magic interferes with the electricity and the wiring of it all."

"What are the rest of you doing for your electives?" Ginny asked.

"I'm taking Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes," Daphne said.

"I'm going to take the same as Draco and Hermione," said Theo, "Arithmancy, Runes and COMC."

"I'm only taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Pansy said, "Because unlike you all, my parents aren't pushing me to take three courses, and I'm not about to be a swot if I don't have to.."

Daphne shoved Pansy lightly on the shoulder.

"Blaise?" Ginny asked.

"Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies," said Blaise. "I thought they'd be the easiest, or at least the ones with the least amount of work. Plus, one of my mother's husbands claimed to be descended from some great Seer, so maybe that's passed onto me."

"How would that even work?" Pansy asked, rolling her eyes.

Blaise shrugged, "I don't know, but it's worth a shot. Trelawney will eat it up, you know what the older years say about her."

The months passed and the temperature warmed, and there were no more attacks. Slowly, everyone started to relax. The tension and fear that surrounded Potter dissipated slightly, although he was still something of a social pariah.

In response to the letter about Potter and the book, Draco had received a very brief but vague reply, saying that the adults back home were 'looking into it' and telling them to 'not go digging around' for any answers. While frustrating, the group couldn't help but be just the tiniest bit relieved they weren't expected to do anything. Besides, Hermione reasoned, perhaps they would be told more when summer break came.

Before they knew it, May rolled around, and the school year began to wrap up. Hermione, Ginny, Daphne, Hannah and Pansy all stood in their dormitory's bathroom, getting ready for the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match. Pansy, who wore a yellow and black scrunchie as a bracelet on one of her wrists, was carefully applying yellow and black paint in a swirl of dots over Hannah's face. Daphne was applying Hufflepuff coloured eye-shadow, and Ginny was braiding a yellow ribbon into her hair. They wouldn't normally have been so blatant in their support of the Puffs- they were loyal to their House, after all - the way the numbers stood, if Hufflepuff won this match, the House Cup was theirs. Hermione pulled Cedric's jersey out from the drawer she had been keeping it in ever since Cedric had given it to her.

"Merlin!" Daphne exclaimed. "Is that what I think it is?" Hermione blushed as her twin pulled the jersey from her hands and held it up, exposing the back, which read 'Diggory'.

Hannah's jaw dropped open, "Did you forget to mention something, Hermione, when you told us about that kiss over Yule? Are you guys going out?"

"No," Hermione said quickly, blushing. "I told him I didn't think I'd be ready for anything official until third year. But he asked me to wear his jersey for him, and I said I would."

"Draco's not going to be happy," Pansy said, under her breath.

"Why?" Hermione asked, knitting her brow. "It's not like if Hufflepuff wins, they'd win the cup. Don't we want them to win the match, so Slytherin wins the cup?"

Pansy looked like she was about to say something, but Daphne nudged her, and Pansy swiftly changed tack. "Of course," Pansy nodded, "You'll just look like a bloody Badger-no offense, Hannah."

"Language!" Hermione and Hannah scolded simultaneously.

"Buggering shit," Pansy cursed, as she misplaced a dot on Hannah's face.

"Language-"

"Oh shut up, I need help fixing this. Save your lecture for later."

Ten minutes later, they came out into the common room where the boys were waiting. Draco's face fell about a mile when he caught sight of what Hermione was wearing, and Theo and Blaise shot him sympathetic looks.

"I don't think I'll go to the match today," Draco said, turning red.

"What?" Hermione asked, "You always go to the Quidditch matches. And this one tells us if you guys win the cup or not!"

"I'm not feeling well," Draco said quickly. "Think I might have a cold or something."

"Oh," Hermione frowned. "Well, go and ask Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up and then come and join us?"

Draco nodded, "Sure," though the other boys could tell he wouldn't. As the rest of the Slytherins left, Hermione turned around and looked back at Draco, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Feel better, Draco," she said, offering him a smile, before running off to catch up with the rest of the group.

The moment the door closed, and the common room was empty, Draco flung himself onto one of the couches.

Struck by a brilliant idea, Draco sat straight up, and dashed out of the common room. A few moments later, he was in Professor Snape's office. "Dunderhead," he said confidently, watching the door unlock and open. He looked around the study for his godfather, but he was nowhere to be found.

Draco sighed heavily, before his eyes landed on the fireplace. Hopefully Uncle Severus wouldn't kill him for this. Grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, he called out for "Malfoy Manor, Sirius's room!" and stuck his head through the fireplace.

He heard a startled yelp, and Sirius came into his line of vision. "Draco, you shouldn't pop in randomly without warning."

"Are you seriously getting mad at me for Floo Calling you without permission?" Draco asked, drawn aback, "Because I know for a fact you've done so much worse in school."

"No-I just-forget it," Sirius said quickly. "What's up?"

Draco sighed heavily. "My life is over."

"What's happened? I'm sure it can't be that bad," Sirius reasoned. "As long as nobody's dead, and even then, with the Malfoy money, I'm sure your parents could cover it up," he joked.

"No," Draco said seriously, "It's worse! Hermione is wearing Cedric Diggory's jersey for the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game!"

Sirius's head quickly ducked out from the fireplace, and Draco heard a muffled noise come from the other side before Sirius stuck his head back in. "It's going to be okay, Draco, I promise. How did this happen, though?"

Draco frowned, "We played a game of spin the bottle when we went out on the beach. When I spun it, it landed on Hermione, and we kissed and it was amazing. It was the best kiss of my life." Admittedly, it was the only kiss of his life, but Draco was certain that it was still an amazing kiss. "And then, when she spun the bottle, it landed on Blaise, who had a crush on her last year, but that kind of died out a bit ago. When they kissed, they said it was like a brother and sister kissing, and there wasn't a spark. So, I thought everything was good and fine! I mean, I knew that she thought Diggory was cute, but we had just kissed, right, so as long as they didn't kiss, it would be fine, right? But then when Diggory got the bottle, it landed on Hermione and he full on snogged her. And then, what's even worse, is that well, afterwards, they were talking on the beach and-" Draco went red, "Well, I was listening in, and-"

Sirius smirked, "Don't worry about it, we've all done it before. And my friends and I did far worse. We'd sneak up the girl's stairs in animagus form, and listen in on their sleepover nights. A LOT of valuable information was learned that way. Like that apparently the Prewett twins had freckles everywhere."

Draco drew back. "Gross. Well, anyways, they were talking and they said that they liked each other like a lot. They decided that he was going to ask her out officially once we start third year and she turns thirteen. And now she's wearing his jersey!"

"Oh, Draco," Sirius said, offering him a sympathetic smile. "It's not as bad as you're making it out to be."

"But it is," Draco cried, "They're going to go out and then they're going to get married and I'll never even get a chance with Hermione!"

"Hey," Sirius said, "Just because they might start dating doesn't mean that they're going to get married. You're skipping quite a few steps, there. And you're all very young, anyways. Relationships don't necessarily always last."

"Yeah, but Slytherin ones usually do," Draco moaned, "I mean, I get why he likes Mia. I mean, who doesn't like Mia?" he sighed, "I'm screwed. Diggory's older than me, and he's the Seeker for the Hufflepuff team, and he's probably going to be Captain and Prefect next year, and he's the most popular boy in school. All of the girls think he's handsome! How can I compete with that?"

"Okay, Draco," Sirius said, "Take a deep breath. Do you remember me telling you about James Potter and Lily Evans, and how you reminded me of him?"

Draco nodded, "Yeah? What does this have to do with anything?"

"Because Lily dated three or four other guys before she went out with James," Sirius explained. "See, sometimes things take a little while to get started. And, hear me out, even if Hermione ends up with someone else, there's someone out there for you, who is just as wonderful as Hermione is."

Draco scoffed in disbelief, "No, Hermione's the one for me."

"Even so," Sirius said, placatingly, "Don't count yourself out before everything is over. If I've learned anything from the romance books that your mother reads, it's that it's not over until they're married. And even then, things happen. Not that that's something you'd want to happen, but I'm just saying to not wallow over something that hasn't even happened yet."

"Thanks, Sirius," Draco said, his mood finally starting to clear. "I think I'll get going to the Quidditch match that's going on, but I'll see you in a month or so. And you guys are going to tell us about the weird black book that I wrote home about when we get back, right?"

Sirius looked a little guilty. "Can't make any promises there. That's kind of up to your parents. But, tell you what, I'll try and get them to tell you at least the bare bones of it."

"Thanks, Sirius," Draco said, before pulling out of the fireplace. He dusted himself off, and walked towards the door, when it swung open. Draco jumped back abruptly.

Professor Snape came walking in, and stopped short when he saw Draco. "Draco, what are you doing in here?" Draco's eyes widened, as he started trying to think up a lie. "And please, don't lie. I've known your tells since you were seven."

Draco reddened, then straightened his back. Looks like it would be the truth. "Hermione's wearing Cedric Diggory's jersey to the game-"

Snape's face softened, "Oh, Draco."

Draco threw his hands in the air. "Does everybody know about my crush on Hermione?"

Snape smirked, "Draco, you don't exactly hide it. The only reason she hasn't realised is because she's thirteen. Are you all right?"

Draco huffed, still not over the fact that his crush was such an open secret. "Yeah. But anyways, I came in here to talk to you, but you were already gone. So I floo-called Sirius. And I'm better now. Why are you in here right now, anyways? I thought you'd be at the Quidditch match. Did they catch the snitch already? Did we get the cup?"

Snape's mouth set into a grim line. "The match, and Quidditch in general has been cancelled."

"What?"

"We found two students petrified by the library - Lisa Turpin and Penelope Clearwater."

Draco's face fell. "Merlin! Was it Potter? Did you catch him? Did he-"

"Draco, Potter was out on the Quidditch Pitch at the time."

"But still, he could've ordered the monster to attack while he was out! Clearing him of suspicion!"

"Draco," Professor Snape said, "We are not discussing any of this now. We're going to go back to the Slytherin common room and there will be an emergency house meeting."

"But-"

"Now."

For once, Gryffindor Tower was utterly silent. At night, there would be rustling and last minute essay writing, but right now, there was none of that.

Fred and George exchanged nervous glances. Ever since McGonagall came running out on the field to cancel the match, they had felt something in their stomachs sink. McGonagall was just as much of a Quidditch fanatic as Oliver Wood - if she was prepared to cancel the match that would determine if the cup went to Gryffindor or Slytherin, there had to be something seriously wrong.

McGonagall climbed through the portrait hole, her face unusually pale and grim. "Two more students have been Petrified. They were both Ravenclaws, by the names of Penelope Clearwater and Lisa Turpin. So, the following adjustments must be made, in the name of safety." She unrolled a scroll, and began to read it aloud. "All students will return to their House common rooms by seven o'clock each evening. No student is to leave the Tower after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

The students all exchanged wary glances, and McGonagall rolled up the scroll. "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."

She climbed out of the portrait hole, closing it behind her and the crowd burst into chatter. Fred looked around for Percy-wouldn't he have something to say about this? Something Prefect-y that would calm everyone down? But Percy was sitting slumped over in a chair by the fireplace, staring vacantly at the ground as his hands shook uncontrollably. Fred swallowed. He had never seen his older brother look so nervous. Percy was always so certain of himself-whether he was right or wrong- that to see him so shaken was unnerving.

Lee Jordan cleared his throat and began to yell out, "That's one Gryffindor down, not counting Nearly-Headless-Nick, two Ravenclaws, and one Hufflepuff. Haven't any of the teachers noticed Slytherin hasn't been touched? Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin — why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" He was met by scattered applause and roars of approval, and Fred felt his heart clench.

"Wait a minute," Fred called out, "We shouldn't jump to judge them all. Sure, the Petrified students are all from other Houses but maybe it's just pure luck that Slytherin hasn't been caught."

Lee Jordan frowned, and a fifth year yelled, "You're just defending them because you're shacking up with one of them!"

"No, I'm not!" Fred replied hotly, "I'm defending them because it's the decent thing to do! We shouldn't jump to conclusions-that's what got Sirius Black put in Azkaban for eleven years!"

"But he was a Gryffindor," Lee said, "Not a Slytherin."

"And why does any of that matter?" George asked, "Do the Slytherins seem to be happy? Like they aren't all freaked out either, just as much as us?"

Fred was absolutely shocked, when a nervous, but determined looking Neville Longbottom spoke up next. "I know Hermione Greengrass is just as worried as we are. And she's in Slytherin. She's really nice, she helps me with Potions and everything."

"Great," Cormac McLaggen said, "One decent Slytherin."

Neville turned red at the rebuttal but continued on, "If you all got to know them, you'd know that most of them aren't blood purists, either. No more than what you'd find in the other houses."

"What about Montague?" McLaggen retorted.

"We've got our fair share of unlikeable people too," George pointed out, "Every house does. And McLaggen, have you ever heard of the phrase 'don't throw stones in glass houses'?"

Those who heard him broke into laughter, and some of the tension eased off. "We're not saying that the Heir of Slytherin isn't a Slytherin," Fred said, trying to close out the argument, "Just that they could be anyone. Wouldn't the most Slytherin move be to get sorted into another house, so that they could pull off something like this without suspicion? We don't know anything, so we shouldn't go around hurling accusations or passing judgement. Besides, we still don't know if Harry's the Heir or not," he finished with a grin.

Fred's eyes found Harry in the crowd. The younger boy had gone red, and Fred felt bad for him. He didn't really think Harry was the Heir, even with the Parseltongue taken into account, but he needed to make a point. "I mean, I don't think he's the Heir, but the whole school was convinced that he was three months ago. And well, if he is, and he's pissed at me now for bringing that back up, you'll know who it is when I get Petrified," Fred joked.

The discussion seemed to end, and people started going up into the dorms. Lee turned to Fred and George, a strange look on his face. "I want you guys to be careful, all right?" he said, "I'm not saying that if you lay with the snakes, you're going to get bit, but you guys are my best friends, and I don't want you hurt."

George grinned easily, "Relax, Lee. Remember, Freddie and I were almost put in Slytherin ourselves. Our Weasley blood triumphed in the end, but we could just as easily be the Heir of Slytherin as the next person. And if were, then that would mean Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Ginny would be too. Bill and Charlie aren't here, Ginny's too freaked out over this to be the Heir, Ron wouldn't know what to do if he was the Heir, and Percy would only go after people who didn't listen to him and disrespected his Prefect status. Which would mean Fred and I would've been Petrified the first day of school."

"Right, Perce?" Fred said, nudging Percy, who was still sitting in the chair.

Percy looked up, ashen "R-right."

"Besides," Fred joked, "Next Year's Head Boy would never be the Heir of Slytherin."

I know, poor Draco. But he'll get there, I promise! Although in the meantime, I do love his melodramatic conversations with Sirius.

I'm terribly sorry but I have a lot going on in my life right now, and I've fallen behind in my writing for this fic, so I will be posting this chapter, and then hopefully next chapter next Friday, and then going on a hiatus, so I can catch up on my writing. It shouldn't be too long hopefully, it'll depend on the amount of workload I have in my life and my inspiration, but with any luck, it shouldn't take too long. I just want to get to a point where I've got a comfortable buffer between the chapters I'm posting and the chapters I've written. Right now, unfortunately, I just have a lot on my plate, and I just need a bit of time to move a few things around to make everything balanced and a bit more manageable.

The chapter next Friday should be the end of second year, and I really am looking forward to writing third year. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I've got a lot of things planned for it. Please, continue to leave reviews and love on this fic, because it always gives me so much motivation and puts a smile on my face.