Professor McGonagall knocked on the door, which opened silently.

"Wait here," said McGonagall, and left the two of them there in the office, alone.

Samantha could recall the last time she was up there. Two years ago, now, when she had called Snape "Snivelllus." That had been a rather lighthearted visit. No one had been Petrified. Now, though, Samantha wasn't sure she wanted to be there. No, she was quite sure she didn't want to be there.

She watched Harry look around the room, taking in the strange objects on shelves.

He seemed to focus on something Samantha hadn't even laid an eye on last time she was there. The Sorting Hat.

"Want to be re-sorted?" Samantha teased.

Harry looked at his feet. "Can you keep a secret?" he finally asked.

Concerned, Samantha nodded.

"The Sorting Hat considered Slytherin for me," Harry said softly. "It only put me in Gryffindor because I said 'not Slytherin'."

Samantha was silent for a moment. "Oh," she said finally. "Try it on again. It can't hurt."

Harry picked up the hat and set it on his head.

A few minutes later, he yanked it off. "You're wrong," he said, stuffing it back on the shelf.

Samantha winced. "Slytherin?" she asked.

Sadly, Harry nodded. "Please, don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to know," he said.

Samantha nodded. "Of course I won't tell anyone, Harry. Not even Max or Leslie," she promised.

Harry smiled softly. Then, from behind them came a strange gagging sound, making the siblings whirl around.

Sitting in a cage behind them and looking extremely sick was a bird Samantha immediately recognized as a phoenix from her Care of Magical Creatures lessons.

"Looks like we aren't alone after all," Samantha said delicately as she walked to the bird's cage.

Just as she was about to reach out her hand to touch it, the bird burst into flames. Harry yelled and Samantha heard him take a few steps backwards. Samantha, meanwhile, just watched the bird in wonder.

It became a ball of fire before emitting a loud shriek and dissolving into a pile of ash.

"What happened?" Harry exclaimed, looking between Samantha and the pile of ash that had been a bird only seconds ago.

Before Samantha had a chance to explain, Dumbledore stepped out of his office.

"Professor-" Harry stuttered nervously. "Your bird just- there was nothing- he was on fire-"

Dumbledore smiled, as did Samantha.

"About time too," said Dumbledore. "He's been looking dreadful for days. I've been telling him to get a move on."

Harry gaped.

"Harry, it's a phoenix. They burst into flames and die before being reborn from the ashes," Samantha explained.

"Ah, I see someone has been paying attention in Care of Magical Creatures," Dumbledore commented. Samantha grinned. "Yes, Fawkes is a phoenix. Watch him."

The three of them viewed as a tiny, newborn bird emerged from the ashes of Fawkes. Samantha thought he looked quite ugly, but then again, he had just died and come back to life, which had to be tough.

"It's a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day." Dumbledore took a seat at his desk. "He's really quite handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes."

"Yeah, they can carry insanely heavy loads and their tears have healing powers," Samantha said eagerly, making Dumbledore chuckle.

"And they make highly faithful pets," Dumbledore added. He looked into Harry's eyes, who seemed to remember why the two of them were there.

"Professor, Harry didn't do it. I was with him right before, in the library," Samantha said. "He didn't have time to do it."

"I do not think Harry did it, Samantha," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Oh," said Samantha, settling back into her seat.

"You don't think it was me?" Harry asked.

"No," Dumbledore answered. "However, I would like to ask if either of you have anything you would like to tell me."

Samantha thought for a moment, of the Polyjuice potion brewing in the bathroom, of the mysterious voice Harry had heard, of the accusations she had heard against Harry in the library a few minutes prior, and then thought back to Occlumency. If Snape could read minds, Dumbledore surely could.

She once again visualized shoving someone out of a room, but instead of Snape, it was Dumbledore. Once the door in her mind was safely closed, she met Dumbledore's blue eyes.

"No, sir," she answered.

His eyes lingered on Samantha for another moment before turning to Harry. "Harry?"

"No," Harry answered. "There isn't anything, Professor."

Dumbledore sighed. "You may go," he said.

Samantha walked out of his office without another glance at him.

As she and Harry walked down the halls to Gryffindor Common Room, Harry asked, "Do you think we should've told him?"

"About what?" Samantha replied.

"I don't know… not the potion, for sure. Maybe the voice, or Malfoy shouting 'You'll be next, Mudbloods'," said Harry.

Samantha thought a moment. "No," she said.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked anxiously.

Samantha turned to face her brother, meeting his stunningly green eyes. "Do you trust me, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Then you have to believe me that not telling him was right," said Samantha.

The news of the triple attack spread quickly. Everyone was wondering what could possibly have done that to a ghost. Even more seats were booked on the Hogwarts Express, but surprisingly, Bella and Damon remained.

"At this rate we'll be the only ones left," Ron complained one night. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."

"Do we know who we'll be changing into?" Samantha asked.

"I was thinking Harry and Ron could become Crabbe and Goyle," Hermione explained.

"But what if the real ones show up at the same time?" Leslie asked.

Hermione flashed a mysterious smile. "I think I have an idea," she said.

Samantha met Hermione's eyes and knew immediately what she was thinking. "Clever," she said, smirking.

"Huh?" Ron asked.

"Sleeping Potion," Samantha answered.

"How did you-?" Hermione asked. Samantha shrugged. "Anyways… Sam, do you have an idea of who you'll turn into?"

Samantha took a deep breath. She had thought a lot about that. "I found out Riley's got a cousin in her second year. Pansy Parkinson," she said.

"Oh, she's evil," Hermione said spitefully.

"Yeah, well, she's going home for Christmas. I'm planning on having a conversation with her, seeing if I can read her mind a little to find out just a tiny bit about her, and talk to Riley about her as well," Samantha explained.

"Good plan. Will you be saying you decided to come back?" Hermione asked.

Samantha nodded.

"Well, that fits in with my plan!" Hermione said. When she saw the confused looks on everyone's faces, she added, "Remember Millicent Bullstrode, that girl I was partnered with for the dueling club? Well, when we were wrestling, one of her hairs got on me. I'm planning to pretend that I came back, and now that 'Pansy' will too, I can say we changed our minds together."

"It'll work perfectly," said Samantha.

"I hope so," Leslie said.

The next day was the second Hogsmeade trip of the year, the day before everyone was set to go home. On that trip, their group once again met up after a long day of shopping for Christmas presents. Hogsmeade looked magical with the snow piled on its cottage-like buildings. The butterbeer tasted even better with all of the Christmas decorations hung around the pub, and the scent of gingerbread in the air.

On their way back to Hogwarts, Samantha even got to talk to Riley about Pansy.

"My mom is her dad's brother," Riley explained. "She can be a little annoying at times, but we're very close. I think she has a crush on Draco Malfoy." Riley giggled slightly.

Samantha raised her eyebrows and smirked. This information was all very useful in order to play Pansy effectively. She just had to pretend to hate Muggle borns and flirt with Draco, how hard could it be?

She got a hair from Pansy as she passed her in the hall that day.

"Watch where you're going!" Pansy had told her when Samantha hd purposely bumped into her.

"Sorry," Samantha said, smirking.

That night, Samantha couldn't sleep. Suddenly, an idea came to mind. It was late, and everyone around her was asleep, so she assumed everyone in the boys' dormitory would be as well.

Carefully, she snuck out of bed and down to the Common Room, which was dead silent. From there, she climbed the stairs to Max's dormitory and slipped silently inside. She tiptoed past the first five beds, all the way to the sixth and final one that belonged to Max.

She climbed onto Max's bed and watched him for a moment. He looked very peaceful.

She brushed some of his dark hair out of his face. She noticed for the first time that his hair had gotten longer, and was now just barely past his eyes. Samantha liked it. It suited him, and made him look even more handsome than he already did.

Carefully, she leaned down so her lips were next to his ear. "Wake up, sleepyhead," she whispered softly.

Max opened his eyes and turned to look Samantha in the eye. "What're you doing here?" he asked, yawning.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd pay you a visit," Samantha answered. "Careful, don't wake any of them up."

"I'll try," Max said, grinning. "Here, get under," he said, gesturing to the blankets and pulling them back so Samantha could be covered by them as well.

They adjusted themselves so they were comfortable and facing each other. They shared a soft kiss before just staring into each other's eyes.

"This is nice," Samantha whispered.

"It is, isn't it?" Max replied. "We should do this more."

"Definitely," Samantha agreed. "I'm gonna miss you these two weeks," she said.

Max nodded sadly. "Me too. I wish you could come, but it's more important for you to be here," he said.

"Yeah." Samantha gave a weak smile. "We'll spend every Christmas after this one together."

Max grinned. "That sounds amazing," he said.

"It really does," Samantha said wishfully.

That night, the two fell asleep cuddled in each other's arms. That is, until Samantha was woken by a loud voice.

"Samantha?" someone said, shocked.

"What?" Samantha groaned. She turned over, registering the fact that she was hugging someone.

"What are you doing in here?" Damon asked, watching her.

Samantha sat up quickly and looked around. Damon was standing next to Max's bed. Thankfully, the rest of the boys in the dormitory were still asleep.

"Shit," Samantha whispered softly. She climbed out of bed, delicately moving Max off of her. She brushed her hair out of her face and tried to smooth it down a bit. She then pulled the covers back over Max, who was still sound asleep. "Could you not mention this to anyone?" Samantha asked Damon.

"Y- you didn't… have… you know-" he asked awkwardly, staring at Samantha.

"Oh- no, of course not," Samantha answered. "So, can you not tell anyone about this?" she asked again.

"Yeah…" Damon said slowly.

Samantha smiled. "Thanks!" she said cheerfully. "Well, I'll see you at breakfast. Bye, Damon."

"Bye, Sam…" Damon replied. Once she was far enough away, Damon shook Max awake.

"What's going on?" Max groaned.

"Why was Samantha in your bed?" Damon asked.

"Hm?" Max asked, before remembering the previous night's events. "Oh, you saw her? You can't tell anyone-"

"Relax, I already promised Samantha I wouldn't," Damon said."Why was she in your bed, though?"

"She couldn't sleep, so she came here," Max replied.

"Are you guys a couple or something?"

Max shrugged. "You could say that," he said.

"How'd you get her to like you? I mean, she's gorgeous. She's the best looking girl in our year, maybe even in the whole school," Damon ranted.

"Do you have a crush on her or something?" Max asked coolly.

Damon looked embarrassed. "I wouldn't say crush, I just appreciate her beauty-"

Max raised his eyebrows. "Right…" he said skeptically. "Anyways, I've got no clue. We were just super close friends, and then slowly- well, actually pretty quickly- we became even closer. We didn't even really consider ourselves dating until this year."

"Hang on, how long has this been going on?" Damon asked.

"Since first year," Max answered casually.

"Wha- how did you not tell me?"

"We wanted to keep it more private. I mean, last year we kissed in front of a few people, so I guess they know, but really, we didn't want to make a big deal of it," Max explained.

Damon shook his head. "I can't believe you didn't tell me," he said.

"It's not that big of a deal," Max said. "Just don't tell anyone, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Damon agreed.

Samantha said goodbye to her friends, holding onto Max the longest before he got on the train. As he pulled away, Samantha made a rash decision and kissed him. Max, though surprised for a moment, kissed back, enjoying the taste of her lips.

"Um… what just happened?" Elias asked, looking at the two of them.

"We're dating, by the way," Samantha said casually. "Now, get on the train before you miss it and you're stuck here for Christmas!"

"Now they're gonna be asking about us the whole ride, thanks," Max whispered sarcastically while everyone walked on.

"You're welcome. Have a good Christmas!" Samantha replied as Max stepped on.

"You too, Sammy," Max said.

The next morning, Samantha realized she had left her sweater in Max's room, and darted in there to get it.

"Hey," she said casually to Damon as she walked to Max's closet.

"Why're you here?" Damon asked.

"I left my sweater here the other night," Samantha replied.

"Oh," Damon replied. He watched Samantha look for it. Her hair was down and brushed to the side, and she was wearing a tank top and black leggings. "Here, I'll help."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Ah, found it," Samantha said, picking it up. "Well, I'll be going now-"

"Your hair is really soft," Damon blurted out quickly.

Samantha knit her eyebrows together. "What?" she asked, even though she had heard him.

"Your- your hair is really soft," Damon repeated sheepishly, getting quieter as he went on.

"Thanks, I guess…" Samantha said, examining him curiously.

"You should wear it down more. It's pretty," Damon added, working up his courage.

Samantha smiled awkwardly at him. "Thanks," she said, and rushed out of the room.

Damon sat on the bed, putting his head in his hands. "Why did I do that?" he asked himself.

The first few days of break were rather fun, Samantha had to admit. She noticed Lauren and Ginny conversing quietly in a corner, and thought back to the last conversation she and Lauren had. It felt so long ago now. But Samantha was certain that once she solved the mystery of who was opening the Chamber, Lauren would speak to her once again.

Even that, however, slipped her mind the first couple days. She had loads of fun with the Weasley's, Damon, Harry, and Hermione, practicing random spells and playing Exploding Snap.

Damon seemed to be avoiding being alone with Samantha, but she didn't think much of this.

Samantha knew she was pretty. She saw the way boys looked at her as she walked down the halls. This was only something she had started noticing that year. She had begun to have her hair flipped to the side, being able to run her fingers through it when she was anxious or simply bored. She had begun wearing makeup she purchased in Hogsmeade. She had been trying to convince Leslie to pierce her ears again, much to Leslie's dismay, as she had hated doing it the first time and was not eager to do it again.

Christmas morning came, and Samantha woke up in her empty dormitory once more. She sighed, looking at the stack of presents at the foot of her bed. She wished it could be like last Christmas or the one before, where she and Leslie had talked the whole time they had opened presents, and then met the boys in their dormitory, and had laughed all day, enjoying each other's company.

As she began to get out of bed, Hermione came rushing in.

"Oh, hello," Samantha said.

"The potion is ready," Hemione said. "We can do it today."