It was Katherina who took Selena seriously when she voiced her worries about Anna. The girl was no longer herself after they had returned to Hogwarts for their second semester. She was withdrawn and absent-minded, reading Professor Snape's published books at an insane rate, then moving on to Professor Slughorn's publications. She had lost weight which made her seem more like a skeleton than before, as Anna had always been on the slender side. Her cheeks were hollow, her lips pale, her eyes red from fatigue. Draco and Katherina were at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall when he opened the topic unintentionally.

"My father is going to destroy Blackwood," Draco said with a bright smile of victory and pride. His mother had sent him another article from the Daily Prophet that morning, along with freshly baked dark chocolate and raspberry biscuits.

Katherina hummed quietly. "That's good for profit, but... is it really good for everyone?"

"Who cares?" he laughed. "It's good for us!"

The girl shook her head. "Hear me out - Selena is worried about Anna. She's definitely not alright. Now, nobody confirmed this, but I think that it's got to do with her father promising her to Blackwood."

"...So?" he asked without any real interest.

"So, Draco, if your father keeps pushing Blackwood, he will have to find one way or another to secure his position. He's currently one engagement away from becoming one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. However, if your father drove him into poverty, he will lose everything he's been working for years to achieve."

"I still don't see how this should be on my mind - or yours, for that matter."

Katherina leaned closer to him. "I think he will rush to get officially engaged to Anna," she whispered.

"Nothing new under the sun," Draco shrugged. They had just finished their lunch and were enjoying the biscuits they had received.

"Can't you see? If he does, we're going to lose Anna!" the girl whisper-yelled at him.

"I'm not telling my father to slow down on the conquest. What reason could I give him? We're losing a girl who you wanted to act as a spy in Ravenclaw but who's been spending more time studying Snape and Slughorn than actually giving us information? Best case scenario, he's gonna laugh at us - if we catch him on a good day!"

The girl sighed and played with two nails on her lower lip. Draco caught sight of her middle and index fingers digging into her lip, one at a time.

"I'm going to write to your mother," she stated after a few moments of silence. "Certainly, she could talk to your father."

"Why not do it directly?" Draco asked with a mocking half-smirk.

"Because he scares the life out of me," Katherina admitted with a chuckle.

"Because you know you don't have a real argument," Draco rolled his eyes.

"Anna is our friend, Draco. She's a very capable girl, you know that! She's the apprentice of Professor Snape and you know how high he sets the standards for everyone. She memorizes books by heart just by reading the text a few times."

"Yes, alright, but is she loyal?" Draco pointed out. "Look - I understand you care about her, but I think you should let her go. We haven't heard from her for months! Both of us tried to write to her, Selena too. Did we get any answer? No. Did she try to offer some kind of explanation? No. Does she even spend time with us anymore? No!"

Katherina leaned with her head over her hand, her curls falling over her face like curtains. It had grown to reach her shoulders. "I understand what you're saying, it's very logical, but I think we're missing some pieces of the puzzle. Whatever is going on is affecting Anna severely. Let's be those who lend her a hand when everyone doubts her - if I am correct and she is in trouble, she's going to be loyal to us for years to come."

Draco took a moment to think and hum to himself. "I guess we can't lose anything if we do... aside from wasting my father's time and delaying some profits."

The girl looked at him through her hair and grinned victoriously. "You need to trust me more."

"We don't know if you're right yet," Draco defended himself. He pushed a few strands of her hair behind her year and watched her smile soften. "You're gonna owe me if you're wrong," he whispered with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, the smile still on her face. "You're so greedy, Malfoy... But that's fine because I'm right. Are we going to show up at the Slytherin party this evening?"

The boy remembered that some older students said something about having a party in their common room. Apparently, the Prefect had it approved in order for Slytherins from different years to get the chance to bond with one another and so on.

"I get the feeling we're kind of expected. I wonder if there's a hidden reason for this."

She hummed quietly. "My guess exactly, but I can't be certain. Do you remember how Selena had a panic attack and then told us about some visions she's been having about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Draco nodded. "I still can't think of any plausible reason for that, except that perhaps... Salazar may have had more than one heir... But that can't be, can it? She's nothing like the Dark Lord, she's almost too soft to even be in Slytherin, and I doubt she speaks Parseltongue."

"I don't know... Do you think your father could do some digging into her family's history? She seems kind of distressed lately as well. I want to talk to her when I get the chance, could you distract Potter and his group for half a day or something like that?"

"My dad could definitely do that, but you know how old wizarding families are... You can't really trust the official records. Should we tell him about Selena?"

Katherina saw the worry and doubt in his eyes and honestly, she felt the same way. If Selena was related to the Dark Lord, would that endanger Katherina's connection to the Malfoys? Would it put the girl in danger? Would it force Selena into the darkness? They both knew she wouldn't survive it.

"Maybe it's better if we keep it to ourselves," Draco concluded. "Just for now. Blaise also knows about it, as well as Anna. You may trust her, and I may doubt that, but I think we can agree Blaise isn't exactly trustworthy."

The girl nodded. "I think I can deal with Anna and Selena. Blaise is also close to Nott... what was his name?"

"Theodore. Theodore Nott. I'll handle these two," Draco offered. "Be careful with Anna, though. I kind of think she took your orders to get close to the professors a little literally."

The girl rolled her eyes. "It's only Snape. It'll be fine... It's not like she's running around with Flitwick or McGonagall."

Immediately, Draco received two very unholy images in his mind. He cringed, feeling a shiver of disgust shaking him. "God, no! Ew! Why'd you have to say that?"

"...Not what I meant!" the girl cringed as well. "Can you just make it theoretical?"

"I just lost my appetite..." the boy whined.

"Me too." Katherina sighed. "Just tell me when you are ready to set things in motion."

Draco nodded. "Come to my room around seven."

The two Slytherins went on their separate ways. Draco had Quidditch practice and Katherina wanted to write to Narcissa before her music class with Flitwick. The party in their common room was rumored to begin sometime around eight. Much to their surprise, Katherina had been approached by Michael Corner who asked to be invited to the gathering. Feeling that there was more to this than just the desire to be among her housemates, the girl agreed.

After some more plotting and scheming, the royal couple of the house decided to make an entrance about half an hour late. Katherina had Michael wait outside for almost an hour by that point, and she was pleased to see him still standing there. It was humiliating, of course, but also a test of loyalty. The Ravenclaw was looking for Anna and he had been trying to ask a few Slytherins about her, but the snakes were silent. Even those who knew something refused to give it away to a half-blood outsider Ravenclaw.

All hell broke loose though when they began playing Truth or Dare. There was no such thing as innocent requests or questions, but at some point, it was Pansy's turn and she chose Draco.

"I dare you to kiss me," she said with a brave smile on her face.

Plenty of students who knew the entire Slytherin soap opera between the three of them began cheering and laughing. Draco nearly choked as he felt all eyes on him and for once, he didn't want that. Katherina eyed Pansy as she felt her self control slipping. If she had known the Cruciatus Curse, that girl would have gotten it. Her bright smile was melting away as Katherina bit her inner lower lip in a last attempt to remain quiet and save herself the embarrassment of appearing desperate.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the crowd began cheering.

Pansy didn't take her eyes off Draco the entire time. She saw him standing motionless with a look of superiority on his face when inside, the boy felt a whirlwind of emotions. Why did it have to happen to him, again?

"You're not afraid of her, are you? Coward," Pansy mocked him as she threw Katherina a nod.

Finding himself under pressure, Draco took a few steps towards Pansy as Slytherins began whispering to each other if he was going to do it or not. He looked like he was about to give Pansy a well-deserved slap and call her stupid. Instead, he gripped her shoulder hard and pulled her close to him, leaning towards her ear.

"You're going to regret this," he hissed. Before Pansy had time to say anything else, he kissed her as briefly as humanly possible and pushed her away. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

After a round of cheers and laughter, people remembered Katherina was there.

"My...! You're still a frog! Guess that must be your true form, then," the red-head spoke towards Pansy who had fallen back into one of the sofas.

As people caught the reference, they began laughing at Pansy. One even told her to start brewing a love potion. People were throwing it back from Draco's break up speech, heard by a good number of Slytherins.

All that made her storm out of their common room. On her way out, she had time to catch a glimpse of Draco kissing Katherina and walking her backward into the nearest wall, his hands going all over her waist and back. She was boiling with rage! So, she went to the one man who she knew would put a stop to this.

She knocked on his door a few times, but nothing happened, so she went to knock again, right as the door opened and her hand went through the air. She caught it before it reached his robes.

"Professor, I know the party was approved and everything-"

"...What party?" Snape interrupted her as he raised an eyebrow.

"The, um, the one in our common room?" Before her phrase was over, Snape pushed her out of his way and locked the door to his office. Pansy ran to catch up with him as they were headed straight for the Slytherin common room. "Caesarius and Malfoy are making out."

"For how long has this party been going on?" the man questioned her.

"Two or three hours, I think," Pansy tried her best to reply. She hadn't been there from the beginning, she didn't know if they started early or not.

"Yet, you only thought to mention it now!" He glared at her before entering the common room.

Taken by surprise, the students saw their common room doors flung open to reveal their Head of House. Pansy was behind him, grinning like a little maniac. In less than a second, they ran into their corridors or wherever they could. A few older Slytherins disapparated, taking their friends with them. Katherina and Draco followed the flood towards the boys' corridor, but right as Snape went to grab the Prefect, they made a run towards the exit.

"Malfoy, if you wish to be expelled, by all means, leave the room!" the professor's voice echoed through the establishment like thunder, while he held the trembling Prefect by his collar.

He and Katherina froze and exchanged a glance of pure horror. Did this man have eyes on the back of his head? They could have sworn he didn't see them attempting to flee!

"Who's going to regret what, Draco?" Parkinson smirked at them from the middle of the room.

Snape threw the Prefect towards the door. "In my office, all four of you!"

Pansy's smirk dropped. "But Professor, I-!"

"You only thought to report this after two or three hours, Parkinson!" he mocked her imprecise words.

"He said it was approved!" the girl quickly pointed her finger at the Prefect.

"You told me you took it to Dumbledore and he approved!" the boy defended himself.

Snape was surprised to hear something even worse than an unauthorized party and two students displaying inappropriate behavior in public. Katherina and Draco suddenly got the feeling that they were relatively safe, as Pansy seemed to have done much worse than either of them.


Author's notes:

I've been gone for a while, I know. I'm still in exam season, but I'm editing some of what I wrote earlier. Here's a double update for you, chapters 29 & 30.

Please let me know what you think in a review.