When Nathan came to, he found he was surrounded by most of the Fateful Eight (thanks to Madam Pomfrey's six-visitors-at-a-time rule, they could not all visit at once).

"Well, wha' happened?" he asked.

"You, er, took a bludger to the head and got knocked out…" Eddie told him nervously.

"Oh, okay." He yawned. "Did we win?"

"Erm…" Eddie began. He turned to Tom, who nodded. Eddie hung his head, as that meant Hufflepuff had lost, but he cared more for the state of his friend than for a Quidditch match. Nathan grinned weakly.

"Ha... we beat you just like the Red Sox… ha…"

Madam Pomfrey, who took this for Nathan muttering gibberish, chivvied the Fateful Eight (minus Sean) out of the wing.

Nathan returned to classes the following Tuesday. Now, with Quidditch out of the way, the Fateful Eight's main goal was to prepare for the next basilisk attack. Eddie voiced his concern about Voldemort targeting them.

"You can't be serious…" Natalie groaned, trying to dispute this.

"No, I think he's got a point," Tom spoke up. "In the books, who did Voldemort attack? The people close to Harry. Now he just wants to attack us. We've essentially replaced Harry. He still wants to come back, he still wants immortality, nothing else has changed…"

"What do we do?" Eddie asked.

"Probably our best course of action would be to watch each other closely." Tom said, "If Voldemort is targeting us, then we'd best keep our eyes open."

They went on with their lives with a much more careful air, and before they knew it, Christmas was upon them. This time, they had done their shopping in Diagon Alley beforehand and were able to get each other actual presents. Eddie got Nathan a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. Nathan, in return, gave Eddie his old copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Eddie had lost his).

Victoria received a small pendant from Nathan. For some reason known to all of the Eight, Nathan was blushing uncontrollably when it was opened. Eddie secretly gifted a large box of chocolates to Hannah Abbott. Sean gave Eddie a pair of thick, woollen socks, with a note that read 'One can never have enough socks.' This made Eddie smile brightly.

They had their second annual snowball fight on the Hogwarts grounds with the rest of Hufflepuff house, and even spotted Luna Lovegood, barefoot, in the snow, sitting by the Black Lake, reading.

Eddie asked Nathan how Luna was being treated in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Well, me and Vic, we've been nice to her, but the rest… not so much. Cho can be quite nasty at times."

"Ah well," Eddie shook his head. He had hoped for a better response. Luna was one of his favorite characters, as they were both outcasts — she for her wild theories and strange habits, and he for his uncanny knowledge of and obsession with Harry Potter.

After the holidays and when term resumed, Eddie held out hope for a basilisk-free year, despite Ginny still possessing the diary. Unfortunately, this was not to be, as shortly after the Christmas holidays, disaster struck. And it wasn't Colin Creevey.

On the third weekend of January, while most of the school was out in Hogsmeade, Claire and Sean were finishing an essay for Professor Binns in the library. It was boring work, and it took them much of the day to complete.

They were on their way back to the common room, with only silence to surround them. But disaster takes no time to strike. Claire turned at a corner, and her tired eyes landed on a shining suit of armor. Reflecting in them, however, were the eyes of death — large, and yellow. Her gasp was stalled at her throat, and Claire did not move. Her legs gave way, and she fell.

Instinctively, in deep shock, Sean almost went forward to aid her. Then he saw her stiff hand, and realisation struck him. He shut his eyes tight, and ran like a madman, opening his eyes only after deciding that a safe distance had been covered. He was shaking all over.

'It can't be Claire,' he chanted over and over, 'It can't be… not her.' It was dread that was building in his chest.

Eddie, Justin, and Ernie were sitting in the nearly empty Great Hall playing chess, when Sean burst in, red-faced, sweating, and seemingly on the verge of tears.

"What's the matter, Stephens?" Justin asked him as he ran in.

"It's —" He choked up. "It's Claire. She's — she's been attacked, but just — just petrified." Without even finishing his turn, Eddie got up and ran out of the hall after Sean. Ernie and Justin followed.

Eddie's mind was going so fast he could hardly do anything but think. Someone had to go to Dumbledore, but he wanted to first see - to make sure - that his friend was safe. He continued sprinting, and his heart was giving in all its strength: he could feel it pounding against his ribs.

The instant they reached the spot, they saw her petrified body. Her eyes still reflected the ghost of her shock, and her mouth was open. Incredibly out of breath, Eddie then volunteered to summon Dumbledore while Sean and Justin would take her body to the hospital wing. Eddie ran again, towards the Headmaster's office, while Sean and a shocked Justin carefully levitated Claire's petrified body.

When Eddie reached the entrance to the aged Headmaster's office, he met Professor McGonagall walking past.

"Professor!" he blurted out. Taken aback by Eddie's sudden exclamation, McGonagall stuttered for a moment.

"Y-yes, what is it, Pattinson?"

"Professor, I'm terribly sorry, but you see, there's been another attack from the Chamber and I really needed to see Professor Dumble-"

Professor McGonagall cut him short, and her face turned grave, as she rapidly walked over to the gargoyle and gave the password: "Acid Pop." The gargoyles sprang aside and Eddie sprinted up the stairs two at a time to the brass griffin-shaped knocker. He knocked, and received a greeting from the Headmaster as he entered.

"So sorry to bother you, Professor but…" he gave a hurried explanation, still panting. Dumbledore stood up.

"Come with me. We shall head to the hospital wing, since that is where, as you have just mentioned, your kind friends have taken Miss Davidson."

Eddie was stunned by the immense calm portrayed by the Headmaster. He spoke as though they were heading for a cup of tea at Hagrid's. It was almost as if Dumbledore was aware in advance about the occurrences in his school.

They entered the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey looked extremely worried, and approached Dumbledore.

"Another student petrified, Albus." She whispered. Dumbledore nodded. His eyes did not twinkle.

They convinced Madam Pomfrey to allow the last arrival, Tom, to stay as the seventh visitor. Eddie couldn't remember anything from the hospital wing except Claire's stone-like face, frozen indefinitely.

They all left the wing in a rather glum mood.

The Fateful Eight were gathered in the Room of Requirement after, and it was dead silent. The silence threatened to creep into their throats and strangle them.

"So, what're we now?" Nathan joked weakly. "The Fateful Seven?"

"I'm not worried about Claire," said Eddie. "Madam Pomfrey and Sprout are gonna have the mandrake stuff ready to go by the end of the year, it's just... wow. No idea that it was gonna be her."

"I did," Tom spoke up. "Why do you think I had us go in pairs, everywhere?" They looked at him.

"I mean," he gulped, then went on, "we fought Quirrell-mort last year, right?" When no one said anything, he continued. "And… Dumbledore told the school our names."

"But —" Natalie interjected, "Ginny doesn't know we fought Voldemort."

"But Voldemort knows!" Victoria exclaimed immediately, slapping her forehead.

"Yes, that's Tom's point." Eddie said. "That's why Claire got attacked and not Justin or Penelope. We've got to keep looking out for each other."

They all gave their assent.

Fortunately, no one else got attacked, and they were able to reach Valentine's Day still with seven as their number.

Eddie always rolled his eyes whenever he reached this part in the books (who could forget the disastrous love poem Ginny wrote to Harry?). But, he had gradually achieved clarity about his feelings for Hannah Abbott, and he was actually excited for that year's 14th of February. Lily was surprised to see him smiling slightly after Lockhart made the announcement about the Valentine's Day event in the Great Hall, and leaned in to inquire.

Eddie whispered back that he had a crush on Hannah — Lily was the first person he had ever told — and she gave a surprised smile, which turned into a smirk. They turned back to the over-flamboyant professor now elaborating about his Valentine's Day surprise. Eddie skived off Defense Against the Dark Arts completely that day to write his letter in the common room. He could do it during his free period, but he'd rather not listen to Lockhart. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he wrote the letter, and it proved to be impossible to control his blush. He debated for long on whether or not to sign it with his name. It was finally left anonymous, as it would surely be an embarrassment if his name was included. He was also afraid, frankly, about how she might react.

He re-read the letter one last time:

Dear Hannah,

When I met you last year I had no idea I'd have the feelings for you I do now. The way your blonde hair whips around in the wind, that radiant smile of yours, your bright, blue eyes, and your fantastic personality are irresistible. I think you're absolutely brilliant and I love you.

- An admirer

Having finalised the letter, he rolled it up, still blushing, and made his way out of the common room to find one of Lockhart's cupids. He handed the scroll to the cupid, and mentioned that it was to reach Hannah Abbott. He wished his stomach could stop lurching.

After strolling across the grounds for the greater part of an hour (for it was really a nice day for February), he made for the Great Hall, as it was time for lunch.

"Where've you been?" Hannah asked. "You weren't in Lockhart's this morning."

Before Eddie could answer, the cupid whooshed over his head, making his face tinge red. The cupid dropped the letter on Hannah's plate and flew off, obviously to find more cards. Eddie sat down and stared hard at his plate of beef, not looking at Hannah, nor at anyone else as she opened the card and scanned the writing. She blushed and put the card down without a word. Several tense seconds passed in silence before she slowly struck up a debate with Susan, wondering who this "admirer" could be. Eddie caught Lily's eyes for a fraction of a moment and nodded. She raised her eyebrows at him, smirked, and winked.

Eddie finished his lunch quickly and tried to escape unnoticed — but Susan stopped him.

"Oh hey there Eddie, I'm sorry I didn't notice you here — where were you all morning?"

"Er…" he thought for a few seconds — this, he later reflected, may have made it a little obvious that he had written the letter. "Uh… I skived off Defence Against the Dark Arts because let's — let's be honest, no one wants to hear him elaborate about Valentine's Day…"

Susan giggled. He then strode out of the hall, unsure what Hannah had thought of his note, but relieved nonetheless.

Over the following few days, Eddie overheard some conversations in which Hannah was still trying to figure out this mysterious letter-writer. It had sounded, to Eddie's happiness, that Hannah had taken the note as a compliment. He'd also heard his name come up a few times. Eddie was on the fence of telling her that he had written it, but at the same time, he was too shy to do so.

A tinge of excited anticipation followed when Eddie remembered that his birthday, the 24th of February, was approaching. He shared it with the legendary Newt Scamander, a character with whom he believed to relate at a spiritual level. Eddie had been overjoyed to learn this fact, back in his older days spent browsing through Pottermore relentlessly for information.

Living in the magical world of Harry Potter, something he thought would forever remain a childish dream, and having his new family around him — the Fateful Eight — along with his burgeoning crush on Hannah, he doubted if he would ever return to the 'real world'. Eddie Pattinson did miss his old family, and his old life. He was linked to them only by his memories. But the world he was in then is the dream of millions of Potterheads, along with him. Stepping into the Wizarding World, he underwent many changes: while actually he was fifteen, here he was only twelve. Along with his age, the Bringer had also altered his physiology.

The rest of the group was fairing well, with one notable exception — Sean. He faced hard prejudice for being a part of the House of green and silver, amidst rising rumours regarding the Heir of Slytherin. He was somewhat spared after Claire's attack, except occasional taunts from a few Gryffindors. When that occurred, Sean (still much disturbed post witnessing Claire's attack) would lunge mindlessly at his jeerers. The onus to restrain Sean would then be on those accompanying him. This rarely happened in Potions, however, due to one afternoon's incident.

Seamus Finnigan, being the brash loudmouth he was, muttered on that day, "At least it was a Slytherin that got attacked."

Before Sean could react instinctively, Snape non-verbally immobilized him. The class fell dead silent. Snape strode steadily to Seamus, his eyes reflecting terror. Seamus gulped, and his face slowly was turning pale. Snape halted, his black eyes looking directly into those of Seamus, and spoke barely above a whisper:

"You shall serve detention, Mr. Finnigan, and you have lost fifty points for Gryffindor. If I ever see you employing your crooked mind to ridicule the well-being of a student, you have my word, I shall see to it," he paused, "that you are expelled."

With a swish of his robes, he walked back, leaving Seamus white as a sheet.

Seamus dared not open his mouth, even after the lesson. Sean remained quiet too. Following that, Sean began frequently spending time beside the petrified Claire in the hospital wing.

By then, Eddie had told the rest of the group about his letter to Hannah. As expected, the girls were overly critical about the drafting of the letter, while the boys — at least Nathan and Sean — were congratulating him. They were middle-schoolers, after all.

Then the day arrived. It was finally Eddie's birthday. There was also a Quidditch match that afternoon — Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin. Following breakfast was the traditional Fateful Eight birthday party, which was always arranged in the Room of Requirement for the birthday of each member. It was a tradition that they had begun that year, featuring a cake (requested by the honoree's housemate) with eight candles, and the table decked in their house colors. And so they fooled around for a few hours until the game, which was scheduled to start at three o'clock.

Sean was to be playing against Nathan. The previous year, Slytherin had won the contest against Ravenclaw, knocking it out of the running for the Quidditch Cup. However, with Ravenclaw's win over Hufflepuff in the first match that year, and Slytherin's win over Gryffindor (owing to Lucius Malfoy's great wealth and "generosity"), the two houses were tied at one win and no losses. Interestingly, Malfoy had made the Slytherin team as a Chaser.

Whoever won the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match the following week would knock the other out, assuming that no one got attacked and the season would continue as scheduled.

The match commenced. Slytherin was subject to much animosity in the stands, particularly among the Gryffindors. This was a new perspective for Eddie. Given that the books were written from the perspective of a Gryffindor, it was odd to see the Slytherins getting bullied for a change.

The taunts and boos had definitely lit a fire under Sean. He was scanning feverishly for the Snitch. Each time he would see even the faintest glint of gold, he would race halfway across the pitch, but the little Snitch would defy him. At one point he nearly knocked Cho off her broom, inciting jeers from the Ravenclaws. Eddie remembered a line from The Prisoner of Azkaban: "Knock her off her broom if you have to!" It was Oliver Wood shouting at Harry for trying to be a gentleman. Eddie thought Sean might have taken it a little too much to heart.

The score climbed higher and higher as Sean and Cho failed time and again to catch the elusive, pesky Snitch. Both teams passed two hundred points, then three hundred, then four hundred. According to Lily's statistics, it was the highest score in a Hogwarts Quidditch match in two hundred and seventy seven years.

While Eddie was sitting with five other Fateful Eight members who were neither petrified, nor playing, watching the scoring bonanza unfold in front of them, he heard a very familiar Irish accent behind them snicker: "Shame his girlfriend isn't here to see this."

He turned, and sure enough, Seamus was sitting there, with Dean.

Tom, who usually was more about schoolwork than jokes or Quidditch (boy-Hermione indeed), wittily quipped, "Oi, Seamus, how did it feel having to organize all of Snape's detention files?"

Seamus didn't say anything for a long while after that, and silently watched the historic match with a scowl. However, when Sean missed the Snitch yet again (and Eddie joked to himself that this match for Sean was like the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match for Ron when he let in fourteen goals) Seamus opened his mouth again.

"Honestly, anyone else could play Seeker for this team. I'd do it myself, if it weren't for the fact I'd have to be in stinking Slytherin."

"Hey, you want to just shut up?" Eddie snapped.

"Yeah, you're being quite rude," Lily added.

Seamus would regret the next two words he uttered:

"Make me."

And that was Eddie's green light. His mother had always lectured him to wait for the first punch, but his mother wasn't here, and he wasn't having it. His first punch knocked Seamus into a somersault, tumbling backward over his seat. Chaos ensued, with Tom and Dean getting involved. Fortunately for Seamus, the teachers were still engrossed in the match. The scrapple ended about five minutes later with all four boys sporting bleeding lips or swollen eyes. Meanwhile, Lavender, Parvati, Hannah, Lily, and Susan were eyeing them quite nervously. Panting, Eddie decided the best course of action would be to presently remove himself from the situation. He dusted himself, got up, and settled elsewhere to spectate the match.

The score wound up to be four hundred and thirty to four hundred and ten when Cho caught the Snitch amid roars and cheers. When Sean touched down, he chucked his broom about sixty feet away, and stormed off for the common room without talking to anyone. He didn't even bother changing out of his Quidditch robes or picking up his broom.

The following day, Eddie found Sean and tried his best to console him, though he was largely unsuccessful.

He sat down at the Slytherin table. "Hey, Sean."

He had his face in his hands, only his brown hair visible.

"What do you want?" Sean grumbled, not looking at him.

Eddie put a hand on Sean's shoulder.

"Hey. I know you're struggling, all right? And I've told Ernie and the others not to bug you. Well," he paused for a second and looked over at them, "it's not like they did anyway."

Sean's fist clenched. "I don't care. Nobody cares. If anyone had a brain, they'd know I would never consider attacking Claire. And all this 'at least it was a Slytherin' crap - I'm sick and tired of hearing that nonsense. I know everyone hates Slytherin, but this — I almost can't take this. It disgusts me. Just leave me alone, all right?"

Eddie nodded, and walked away, not fully understanding, but knowing the pain Sean felt. And as he fired Quaffle after Quaffle into the Quidditch hoops in the Room of Requirement later that evening, thoughts flashed through his head, pounding his skull. Claire, Hannah, the basilisk, Sean, his upcoming Quidditch match with Gryffindor, the fight with Seamus…

He found Sean the following day in a better mood.

"Hey, Eddie, what happened to your eye?" he asked. "I saw Tom with a right shiner too, did you guys get into a fight or something?"

Eddie remembered that Sean wasn't looking at him the previous day. "Yeah."

"With who?"

"Seamus and Dean."

Sean nodded.

"They were joking about me, right?"

"Yeah." Eddie nodded sadly. "No idea they'd be such jerks."

Eddie visited Madam Pomfrey to mend his eye — he'd honestly forgotten about it. She inquired about its cause, considering he was the fourth student to approach her for a black eye or a bleeding lip in two days. Eddie betrayed no information about the fight, instead saying that he had poked himself with a broom, not wanting to get into trouble. She was definitely not convinced, but she proceeded to heal the black eye anyway.

Eddie's match was on the first day of March, since the attack on Claire had caused the Quidditch matches to be preponed by a week. Much to his irritation, he overslept that day. Throwing himself out of bed, he sprinted for breakfast. He was determined not to miss his own Quidditch match, as that would be rather embarrassing. He had a hasty breakfast and was almost outside when he realized that he had left his broom up in his dormitory. Groaning, he dashed towards the common room.

While taking a turn, he wasn't careful enough — and he slipped. Swearing under his breath, he was hastening to get up, when he heard a noise.

'The basilisk,' he thought. Fear flooded him, rooting him to the spot, as though he was already petrified. He always spoke about the basilisk in an off-handed manner, but things were different when it was this close — he was mortally terrified. He dared not move.

The following few seconds were filled with the sound of his own breathing — fast and shallow. Since he was running, his heart was racing, and he was panting. He closed his eyes, and tried to calm himself, to act rationally. If he could calmly use his wits, he could escape. Quidditch was the least of his concerns then. It took time for his fear to be replaced by some calm, though he could still feel his heart pounding.

He ventured to slowly get up, facing the ground, to evade the basilisk's eyes. His hand touched something wet — he realised it was water he had slipped on — and it was just then that he opened his eyes. He found himself staring into a large pool of water, right at the reflection of a monstrous basilisk, and a pair of yellow eyes…

He was frozen instantly, and spoke no more, not even a whisper escaping his lips.