Cornelia's dreams were haunted by the boggart for days after the DADA class, almost as if it had climbed in through her ears and taken home in her head. She supposed it could be empty enough to house a boggart, she had done her best to make sure no lessons penetrated her mind since she'd returned to Hogwarts. She was disturbed by the prominence of Lucius in her nightmares. It was either him looming over her with that dangerous glint in his eyes, or, even more terrifying, she would be lost in an impenetrable darkness that seemed to press in at her from all sides with just his serpent-like voice for company.

There was something different about encountering Lucius from within her own mind in comparison to real life. In real life she could block out his presence or rebel against his control, but in her head there was no escaping. It seemed to her that now he'd found his way in he stuck like glue there on the inside of her skull, so much so that even when she was awake and zoned out for a moment, he'd whisper from his hiding place. It was much more difficult to become enraged by the imaginary Lucius as she would have usually done, and instead she became even more detached and exhausted than she had already been. When Lucius wasn't physically in her thoughts, she thought about why he was there so much.

A new variation of the nightmares occurred a few nights later. It began with the by now familiar scene of Lucius advancing upon her with some promise of violence when slowly and almost imperceptibly he began to warp into Draco. His voice became higher and his features younger, but his eyes still held that icy void of emotion and he never slowed his pace in the punishment he inflicted upon her despite her screams of his name.

But Cornelia's deepest horror was not within the dream, but when she awoke to Pansy hovering over her with a look of deep disgust etched in her round features. With a snarl, Cornelia swung for her with her fist, adrenaline still coursing through her veins from the dream, but she quickly danced out of the way.

"It's me!" She hissed in an attempt to keep the noise down, although a couple of the other girls were beginning to rouse from the disturbance.

"I know!" Cornelia hissed back, her heart pounding in her chest and sweat dripping down her back as she sat up. 'What the hell were you doing?"

"What was I doing? What were you doing you psycho?"

Cornelia could now recognise that there was a hint of fear in amongst the disgust on Pansy's face and her insides flared with embarrassment. Had she cried out from her nightmare?

"Well I was sleeping until your ugly mug woke me up."

"You were laughing like a maniac!" Pansy's voice was raising in indignation until Millicent's grunt cut across them.

"Shut the hell up or I'll punch your lights out."

It was a good thing that Millicent had chosen that moment to intervene as Pansy's last words had left Cornelia speechless. Pansy shot one last glare at her before sauntering back to her own bed, leaving Cornelia staring at the point where she had been stood blankly.

She had been laughing?

Cornelia felt as if she had had next to no sleep as she sat beside Draco at breakfast later that morning. She couldn't remember if she'd spoken to him or not, but she had no plans of ever mentioning the nightmare to him. Although she wondered what his expression would be if she did. She could see the pity now, and she clenched her fist around the spoon she was holding. She didn't register the family owl swoop low enough to drop a letter upon Draco's knee, nor did she hear his exclamation of joy. It wasn't until his bony elbow was dug deep into her ribs did she look at him at all.

He was clasping the letter excitedly and shoving it towards her. "Father's done it again." He said with a grin, but his words didn't match up with his expression in her mind. Whatever could Lucius have done that made anyone look happy?

As if moving through thick mud, Cornelia took the letter and scanned it, but the words were all blurring on the page and the letters jumbling up together. She blinked rapidly at the letter, but it only seemed to make it worse. Plus all she could think about was that Lucius had touched this paper, these words were straight from his mind. With a feeling of mounting chaos within her, Cornelia put the letter back down on the table and stood up quickly.

Draco's eyebrows were furrowed up at her. "What are you doing?" He asked and she just shook her head as if to clear the buzzing sound that was beginning in her ears.

"I'm going to the hospital wing." She tried to say, and unsure whether the words had been delivered or not, she turned away and made her way there.

She wasn't sure what her appearance was like but Madam Pomfrey took one look at her when she entered and ushered her over to a spare bed, Cornelia shaking her hand from her shoulder.

"I feel really weird." Cornelia explained, but the words felt mixed up like they didn't match the meaning they had in her head.

Madam Pomfrey pulled out her wand and Cornelia shrank away automatically. "Well, let's find out what the matter is eh?" She continued in a haughty manner, ignoring Cornelia's reluctance to be close to her wand. "Ah yes, I see, I see."

"What is it?"

"It's just a migraine my dear. And exhaustion – that's plain to see. Now you stay here and I'll go and get what you need."

Cornelia gazed unseeingly at a spot on the neighbouring bed's khaki green curtains until Madam Pomfrey returned armed with a vial of deep purple liquid. Usually Cornelia would have been curious as to what she was ingesting, but she put up no fight as Madam Pomfrey handed her the liquid and told her to drink it all.

"Now I think it's best that you rest here for a while. A potion can only do so much but your body needs sleep. Have you had trouble sleeping lately?"

Cornelia nodded grimly, already feeling the fog of her mind begin to lift.

"Mmhm. Well, we'll wait for that potion to do it's job, although I suspect you're already feeling a little better hmm?" Cornelia nodded obediently again, vaguely wondering if Madam Pomfrey had spiked the potion with veritaserum. "Yes, yes. What was your first lesson? I should let them know you'll be absent."

"Defence Against the Dark Arts." Cornelia replied, her voice beginning to sound a little more connected to her body again.

"Okay. Well. Lie down. I'll be back shortly." Madam Pomfrey cast one more lightly concerned look over her before bustling away.

Cornelia did as she was told, kicking off her shoes and attempting to make herself comfy on the springy mattress and thin pillow. It was like they had tried to make the beds uncomfortable, she noted before closing her eyes and drifting off into a deep and dreamless sleep.

She was awoken by Madam Pomfrey's hand upon her shoulder, gently shaking her. She pushed her hand away before she opened her eyes, which felt like dragging herself up out of a pit. The light streaming through the tall windows of the Hospital Wing felt like it burned her retinas as she struggled to push herself into a seated position.

"I'm afraid I can't let you sleep here all day, now, come on, time to get up." Madam Pomfrey was saying in her usual hurried manner, but when Cornelia managed to blink the sleep from her eyes it wasn't just Madam Pomfrey stood before her.

"How are you feeling Miss Lestrange?" Professor Lupin's voice was deep and rich with good humour and his scarred face was concerned, his eyes warm as they bored into hers.

"What are you doing here?" Was all she could manage in return.

"Well I came to check on you since you weren't in class this morning."

"What time is it?" Cornelia glanced again at the window, the sun seemed to be high in the sky outside.

"It's time for lunch." Madam Pomfrey answered. "As it turns out you didn't need a sleeping draught. Now take this." She held out another vial of potion, this one lightly tinted green, but Cornelia was more suspicious now she had a few hours sleep beneath her belt. "It's to help you get through the afternoon." Madam Pomfrey huffed at her hesitation, thrusting it into her hands before throwing Professor Lupin a meaningful stare and flouncing away.

"Ah." Lupin made an awkward noise as he turned back to Cornelia now it was just the two of them. He pointed at the potion she was still holding gingerly. "I suppose that will be a pick me up potion, just to give you the energy to get through the afternoon's classes."

She drank the potion quickly, which erupted into small bubbles the moment it touched her tongue. It tasted like apple juice.

"How are you feeling?" Lupin asked as she drank.

"Fine." Cornelia was beginning to feel uncomfortable as she placed the empty vial on the bedside table, she had shown true weakness this morning coming here and allowing Madam Pomfrey to steer her around the Hospital Wing like a lost lamb. "I just wanted a nap."

"I can certainly relate to that." Rather than get annoyed at Cornelia's clipped tone, Lupin chuckled. It was true he did look quite haggard with deep almost blue, black circles under his eyes. Cornelia told him as much and he laughed again. "Yes well, sleep comes easy to some and yet it alludes the likes of you and I."

Cornelia wasn't sure what to say or think to that, but she wondered what Lupin thought he knew of her to put them in the same bracket.

"So do you check on everyone that skips your class?" She asked pointedly instead.

"Only the ones that end up in the Hospital Wing."

"Really?"

"Well, no, not everyone." Lupin continued to look at her with eyes that suggested deep understanding. Cornelia wished she could believe them.

"Why me then?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering, as if weighing her up. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a little while now. This seemed as good a chance as any."

Immediately Cornelia felt her defences snap into place. And yet she couldn't deny there was a burning curiosity there too. "Don't you think I'm a bit young for you Professor?" She snapped and to her surprise Lupin erupted into hearty laughter. She tried not to be a little bit offended at how hilarious he'd found the notion. Cornelia was after all filled with the child-like sense that one is much older and wiser than they actually are.

"Oh yes, much too young I'm afraid." He made as if he were going to pat her shoulder and then decided against it. "What did you think of the boggart in our last class?" He then asked in what seemed a very sudden change in direction of conversation. Cornelia eyed him suspiciously, the nightmares and worries she had concerning the boggart flooding her mind.

"I think you thought Harry Potter needed protecting from whatever was going to spring out of that closet." She decided to go straight to the sensitive spot of the subject in the hope that he would sidetrack once more. But Lupin seemed an endless source of surprise and instead he became quite serious, and she got the certain feeling that he was weighing her up now.

"That's quite the observation."

"It's pretty obvious when you're diving across the room to put yourself in front of him."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong. Although I suppose that's a conversation to be had with Harry himself."

"Go and talk to him then."

"I shall, I shall. But right now I'm talking to you."

"Well, I wish you wouldn't." But actually Cornelia very much wished that he would keep on talking to her and the juxtaposition of her words to her thoughts confused her.

"Perhaps you would prefer to be talking to Draco?" The words were kind and Lupin's eyes softened but they still felt like a punch to her chest. Yes, she should prefer to talk to Draco but there was no one that she would like to talk to less right now. She shrugged in response. "Or perhaps Mr Zabini?" Another punch to the chest. To be honest, she had nobody else to talk to. Not a soul. Not that she was going to tell Lupin that.

"Or Peeves." She spat instead. Lupin's laugh was soft this time.

"He's certainly got some interesting plots up his sleeve. I'd imagine a conversation between you two would spell doom for the rest of us."

Despite her miserable thoughts Cornelia couldn't resist the corners of her mouth turning up at that. Taking heart at her almost smile Lupin continued.

"I remember when I was a student here I had to get my friend out of very watertight contract he'd managed to sign with Peeves to get him to participate in a prank of his."

Cornelia's eyes widened and she was shook almost entirely out of her reverie. "You dealt with Peeves?"

"Well, only right at the end, and it wasn't pleasant."

"Tell me."

Lupin obliged immediately and proceeded to tell the story of how his friend had managed to hire Peeves to daily wreak havoc near Filch's office in order to sneak in and steal from Filch's pile of confiscated items as well as set up some more personal pranks within the office itself.

"Who was your friend?" Cornelia asked and Lupin faltered slightly.

"Ah – it was – it was Peter." He answered before returning to his story.

In order to get Peeves to carry out his daily tasks, Peter had agreed that he would shave his head and run around the entire castle naked. However, after a few days of Peeves holding up his end of the bargain and Peter not doing his, Peeves had begun to catch on. This was when Peter came to Lupin. As it turned out Peter had no intention of carrying out his part of the deal and Lupin had to try and get Peeves off his case.

"He sounds like an idiot." Cornelia scoffed.

"He was just very used to getting his own way." Lupin's eyes sparkled with nostalgia and Cornelia found herself getting sucked more and more into the story.

"And you were left to clean up after him?"

Lupin shrugged with a knowing smile on his face. "Friends don't mind cleaning up each other's messes every now and then." Cornelia blinked as this statement settled into her, her thoughts going to Theodore and Blaise automatically.

Lupin finished up his story with how he had managed to get Peeves to sign a written oath that magically bound Peeves into agreeing that any previous agreements with Peter were null and void and that he was unable to provoke him in any future pranks by telling him that the agreement was in fact for Peter to carry out his end of the task.

"Peeves looked like he was going to implode trying to throw stink bombs at Sirius. Although I'm not too sure that he wouldn't have imploded if he'd managed it." Lupin chuckled as he finished his story, and Cornelia was also smiling by that point, although his final words wiped the smile right off her face.

"Sirius?" She frowned and Lupin looked extremely flustered for a moment.

"Ah yes, I meant Peter."

"Sirius Black?" Cornelia could see the lie clear as day on his face now and continued with her line of questioning. It had been weeks since there'd been any news on Sirius Black, and her previous interest in him had not died at all. In fact, more than ever he seemed like a lifeline in her eyes.

Lupin looked very visibly uncomfortable now. "I did go to school with Sirius Black, yes."

"And you were friends with him?"

Lupin became very still then where he had previously been shifting in his chair and looked closely at Cornelia. "That is not news I would like to be spread Cornelia."

Cornelia waved her hand impatiently. "I won't tell anyone. What was he like?"

The smile was long gone from Lupin's face now, a frown had taken its place. "He certainly wasn't a killer if that's what you're asking." His voice was shades cooler than she had ever heard it, but her excitement was getting the better of her now and it blinded her to the signs of detachment coming from Lupin.

"No, what was he like? Was he like the other Blacks?"

Lupin was frowning deeply now, although confusion flashed across his face at her line of questioning. "I think you'll understand why I don't want to talk about Sirius anymore."

"Wha- oh." All of sudden Cornelia took in Lupin's change in tone and stature and her expression fell. She sat up straight where she had been leaning towards him eagerly.

"Now, I believe lunch will be ending soon. If you hurry you should be able to get to the Great Hall in time for some food." The warmth steadily returned to Lupin's voice but Cornelia had already bristled from his shut down. Without answering she swung her legs off the bed and began to hurriedly put her shoes back on, her face set like stone. "If you ever want to chat about anything else, please feel free to come to my office won't you?" he continued to attempt to get her to speak to him again but it was useless. Cornelia stormed from the Hospital Wing without as much as a glance over her shoulder.

Cornelia had completely forgotten about the interaction with Draco that morning and the letter he had attempted to show her, that was, right up until she walked into the Common Room later that evening. By that point, the potion that Madam Pomfrey had given her was wearing off and the fog from earlier was beginning to descend again. All she wanted to do was to go to bed and put another miserable day behind her. At least Lupin had given her something other than her own nightmares and loneliness to think about.

"Oi, Nelly, over here!" Draco's voice called loud and demanding as she made her way to the dormitory, and it immediately irked her. If she had even an ounce of energy left in her she would have called him right up on talking to her like that, but as it was, it was just easier to go where she was summoned.

She could tell the moment she laid eyes on him that he had been speaking in that loud and grotesquely confident manner for some time, stood in the centre of a ring of seating people, Pansy of course being one of them. All too easily she could see the Draco of her nightmares before her, malicious and cold.

Draco, on his part, didn't seem to notice the darkness beneath her heavily hooded eyes, nor the grim line of her lips, he was too intent on gaining another ear for his story.

"Where were you today?" He did ask her in a hushed voice when she approached, standing awkwardly in the centre with him, uncomfortably aware of everyone's eyes on her. She shrugged in answer to his question. "Oh well, you're the last to hear of father's latest achievement." He continued in his loud and boastful voice.

Cornelia watched his face as he relayed the gory details of Buckbeak's planned execution, the excited flush of his cheeks and how his eyes darted around the room to see who else might be listening. She didn't know whether it was the emotional exhaustion, but she didn't feel as if she recognised him anymore. He had over the years slowly warped into this malicious and selfish creature who cared more about his image than he did about her. Why had it happened? Why had he let it happen? She had always been most important to him.

Familiar bitterness swirled within her, and as occupied as she was with her thoughts, she didn't realise that Draco had stopped talking and was waiting for her reaction.

"Helloooo, earth to Nelly? Are you even listening to me?"

Cornelia blinked slowly and was just about to open her mouth to reply with a dull "yes" when a hand lowered firmly on her shoulder. She flinched automatically away from the unexpected contact, shock flooding her system as it seemed to so easily these days.

"I don't know about Cornelia but I'm completely bored of hearing your voice."

The shock that swam like ants through her veins froze in their tracks when her eyes fell upon Blaise stood just behind her, his hand retreating from her shoulder to fold across his chest. Theodore was rising from his seat beside him, his eyes trained upon her. Was that concern etched into his face? She swayed a little where she stood – was she that tired she was hallucinating? She had been convinced Blaise and Theodore would never bother with her again.

Draco gaped at Blaise before slipping into a familiar smirk. "Sad you don't have the same pull at the ministry Blaise?"

Blaise huffed amusedly. Had he grown in the weeks since Cornelia had stood beside him? "You really want to talk about pulling at the Ministry?"

Theodore was on the other side of Cornelia now. He didn't touch her as Blaise had, but she could feel his focus on her even if his eyes were on Draco now. It was waking something that had been laid dormant inside her, and her heart began to thump a little quicker.

"Well it's true, no-one would be able to beat your slut of a mother, that's for sure."

The atmosphere in the room seemed to tense up, and a quiet descended. Everyone was staring at Blaise and waiting for him to blow up, but surprisingly that amused, if not entirely patronising expression didn't shift from his face. "Ahh Draco, at least my mother doesn't pretend to be otherwise."

Draco on the other hand wasn't able to hide his aggravation at Blaise's words that seemed to slap him around the face.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he growled, taking a step towards Blaise and also Cornelia who remained still as a stone beside him.

A small part of her noticed that this would be where she would usually place a hand on Draco's chest and step between the two or come up with some scathing comment that would bring them both to their knees. But that part of her remained silent, she was simply too drained. Instead she watched the events unfold with the same peculiar curiosity that she had watched Draco with earlier, as if seeing them both for the same time.

"If you don't know already, it's not my place to burst your bubble." Blaise remained unphased by Draco's advance.

"You'd better not be implying what I think you are Zabini, or you're dead."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you'd got it completely wrong to be honest."

"You'd better hope that I have."

"Or what? Who will you cry to then? I don't suppose your mother's got much of a sway anywhere, she's too busy playing the perfect housewife."

Draco's fingers balled into fists by his side and a shudder of rage made its way up his body. Cornelia blinked. "Don't you breathe a word about my mother."

"Oh but I thought we were talking about parents." Blaise said in mock exasperation and Cornelia couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the corner of her lips, she had missed Blaise's biting wit so much.

Draco was at a loss for words then, and instead settled for puffing himself up to his full height which still didn't reach anywhere near Blaise's eye level. He seemed to recognise his disadvantage and his eyes swivelled to Cornelia instead.

"Are you going to let him talk like that about our family?"

The spark of amusement was doused immediately as the crowd's attention turned to her and once again she found herself having to choose between the Malfoys and the Zabinis. It was tempting to bring the shutters back down and retreat as she had made her habit over the last couple of weeks, but something about seeing Blaise and Theodore stood beside her once more gave her strength that hadn't been there before.

"I'm quite enjoying it actually." She finally answered and Draco blinked in surprise, his stance faltering. She noticed something flash through his eyes that resembled her experience earlier, as if he were just seeing her for the first time.

Whatever it was that he saw in her had him retreating quicker than she'd ever known him to before, Draco despised backing down from a fight.

"Whatever." He had spat and waved his hand as if to waft them off like flies before retreating back to the chair he had been lolling in before Cornelia had entered.

Cornelia wondered at the lack of regret that usually spiked through her after an argument with Draco – it was clear she had upset him greatly for him to back down so quickly, but it seemed that it was just one more thing that had clicked into place inside her. Instead, she found she was ballooning with a sort of giddy elation, celebrating her small victory over him and most of all that she had done it beside Blaise.

She turned towards him then and he was already looking at her, a pleased expression on his face. "I need to give you something." He murmured before she could speak, for which she was thankful for because once more she had no idea what to say.

She followed him over to the quietest corner of the common room, Theodore bringing up the rear, and she was aware of all of the eyes that followed their movements. There were no seats, but Blaise leant comfortably against the wall and Cornelia followed suit whilst Theodore took up a position that attempted to block them from view, but he was far too lanky to pull it off.

"I've been wanting to shut up Draco for days now." Blaise once more broke the quiet that stretched between them once they took up their positions, and Cornelia nodded slowly.

"Me too. That was fun."

Blaise held her eyes, he seemed to be looking for something in them.

"Yeah it was."

"We missed you Cornelia." Theodore unexpectedly piped up and Cornelia felt heat rush through her entire body and pool spectacularly in her ears. She scuffed her shoe against the stone flagged floor and dug her nails into her palms. She couldn't let on just how desperately she had missed them both, it would be too pathetic.

"Who can blame you, really?" She mumbled instead, the lack of confidence in her voice contrasting with her words awkwardly.

Blaise laughed a little too fully at her weak joke, it was clear that relief was making him slightly giddy too. Still, she revealed a small amount of just how much she returned his statement in the small private smile she gave Theodore, his gaze softening in response.

"What did you want to give me?" She asked Blaise and he pulled an opened letter from his pocket and handed it discreetly to her.

"I read it." He said sheepishly when Cornelia fingered the broken wax seal that bore the Zabini house crest, a panther's head within a wreath of roses. She was sure the scathing look she sent him was diminished somewhat by her dishevelled appearance. He shrugged. "I wanted to make sure mother wasn't crossing any lines."

Blaise had surprised her once more that evening, and she wondered whether he was looking out for her welfare or his mothers. "And all was clear?"

"A bit grovelly for my taste but you might like it."

"Grovelly?"

He shrugged again and it was his turn to become suddenly interested in the position his shoe was taking upon the floor. "You know, for what happened on the platform."

"She doesn't have anything to be-" But Cornelia stopped herself from finishing that sentence. She wanted to be friends with Blaise again so badly, but she couldn't pretend to be okay with the agenda his mother was attempting to force upon them both. Instead, she slipped the letter in her pocket and let it hang unfinished between them.

"What do you think about Lucius's plans for Buckbeak?" Theodore filled the silence quickly, he seemed as desperate as she felt to keep things pleasant between them all.

"To be honest, I didn't listen to a word he said."

Theodore was quick to fill her in on the basics of Lucius's plans to execute Buckbeak, but Cornelia could hardly find the space to be upset around the overwhelming happiness she was experiencing to be communicating with her two friends again. For the first time since the previous school year, Cornelia went to bed content that night.

Hey pals! It's been such a long time since I updated. To be quite honest I think I became so obsessed with getting a chapter out regularly that I sort of lost steam with the story so I took a good long break. Luckily the plan I have for Cornelia still really interests me and I want to tell this story! I want to do her justice you know? So the updates might not be as regular but I'm reverting back to doing what I love which is character development. Look forward to lots of conversations and soul searching for all characters ahead if that's your cup of tea :)