Halloween was a feast of candy, pumpkin dishes, potato pancakes, colcannon, soul cakes, candies apples, and so much more. It was impossible to be downhearted, and even chatting with Tracey couldn't dim the humour and energy in the air. It was late when the feast ended, and it appeared even the Carrows' glowering and obvious discontent at our pleasure had not put an end to the festivities, and I was pleased about that. Then it was the dance. The theme was a masquerade, and dressed in my fanciest silver dress robes, I danced with my friends, then got handed to Neville, who seemed to have recognised me despite the nightingale mask - I recognised him by his chestnut hair and the scent of pine and earth - then I was passed to Theodore Nott, who was a surprisingly good dancer (I didn't know much about him because, even in Slytherin, he was the ultimate recluse, though I had heard his father was a death eater), and then down to Draco Malfoy, who had arrived at the castle after a short absence (doing the Dark Lord's bidding, no doubt) and then down to Millicent, who grinned as she took the male lead.

"How's the dance been so far?" she asked teasingly.

"Only good once I have shaken off the inhibitions of dancing in front of a crowd," I wrinkled my nose.

She laughed. Her face was only partially covered, hiding her eyes and high cheekbones, but her thickset square jaw was quite visible, and so was the merry smile that curved her red lips. "This is stupid. Want to head off elsewhere?"

"Where to?" I asked, even as she spun me again.

"We were planning to meet in the nearby classroom for our own celebration. Exploding snap, butterbeer, bursting bon bons, lava cake, the works. How about that?"

"Sure," I agreed instantly. One night off couldn't be terrible, could it. After all, we were going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. They wouldn't spike the drinks.

So we left the dance, and headed to the nearby classroom instead. But instead of an after party, there were only a few girls in the room, staring intensely at me.

"Colloportus," Millicent said, shooting the spell at the door, and I knew I was trapped.

Narrowing my eyes, I turned on her. "What is this?"

"We want in," Millicent said with a shrug. "We know you have connections somewhere, somehow. I'm a half-blood, and Rose here is an adopted muggleborn, and Carrie's pureblood but her parents have fallen out of favour. We have nowhere to go. And students have been going missing every day now, and the Carrows have been getting more and more angry. This has something to do with the DA. They are hiding students, protecting them when the death eaters are out to get them. Sooner or later, we three are going to be in trouble. Currently, only my Bulstrode name and my father's sponsoring the potions that the death eaters ingest and use is the only thing protecting us. Soon, once his supplies run out, they'll be after me like they went after Ollivander. We need your help."

I studied all three girls. Rose was only a third year, I remembered. Carrie was in fifth. Millie was in my year, seventh. I wondered if they were the only ones going through this, and whether no one else knew only because of they were Slytherins and assumed to be untouchable, untrustworthy.

If it weren't for the Carrows only picking on me, I'd be the same way, I thought.

I blanked out my face. "Who's the DA?"

Millie glared. "Don't be disingenuous. It doesn't agree with you. I have seen how you come to meals late, and right after they too have arrived late at supper, or Sunday lunch, or whatever. You guys are doing something together. For some reason, they picked you as the only Slytherin. Or maybe it's because you are new, so they don't consider you full Slytherin. Either way, you know something, and that's why the Carrows hate you, and you have to help us."

I looked at them thoughtfully, my eyes sliding over Rose's pleading young face, Carrie's haughty but pale one, Millie's furious, agitated one.

"I don't like being forced into things," I told them curtly. "But I'll check out your assumptions and you may or may not receive my owl."

I strode for the door, drawing a rune with my wand, and the door sprang open. Then I left with my back straight, not bothering to look back.

That evening, knowing that I now had to worry and watch my back for Millicent and Tracey, I packed my things. Previously, I had chosen to stay in my dorm, though like Luna had suggested I had used some rudimentary wards, not enough to be noticed but enough to hold up against attack. But now, with two people watching me... As I was choosing my essentials, Toni entered the room, and raised a brow.

"Code red," I said. "I'm being spied on."

"You're moving where?"

"Ravenclaw common room," I answered.

Antoinette sighed, and produced from her locked chest at the end of the bed a thick parcel. "The things you asked for. Be safe."

I pressed a smile on my face, and hugged her. "Meet you tomorrow in the Slytherin common room?"

"Wear something nice," she warned. "What do you want me to tell them?"

"That Professor Snape asked for me," I said with a cheeky grin. "We're doing top secret Alchemy things."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. Now go."

Laughing, I reluctantly wrenched myself out of the dormitory and Disillusioned myself as I headed up to the Ravenclaw door knocker.

"What speeds up and never slows down?" asked the brass eagle knocker when I laid a hand on it.

I pondered for a bit.

"Exponential growth."

"Well, that's a fair answer. You may enter," said the eagle, and sure enough I pushed the door open, and my jaw nearly dropped at the sight of the plush velvet blue seats, the dome-like top where the stars and constellations and the night sky was clearly visible, twinkling away. Luna was seated in an armchair, but she put down the Quibbler the moment the door opened, and stared right at me even though I still had the Disillusionment charm on me.

"Do you have the things you need?" she asked.

"Do you have what I need?" I asked in return.

She chuckled. "Terry! Come over here. And you get rid of that charm." I obliged.

A broad-built boy with a long oval face and pale skin at odds with his broader size came over, and offered a hand. "We met at the meeting. You are a good teacher."

"Thank you," I said. "I hear you're the best at Astronomy?"

"So far, and only in this school." I liked his modesty immediately. "Come on, I'll show you the view."

The balcony was wide and large, with grass growing from the stone floor, somehow, and a beautiful golden telescope that looked up to the heavens.

"Thank you for choosing to come here," said he. "It's more work than you really need to involve yourself with. But we've realised patronuses are a little unsubtle, and they can come at the most inopportune of times. You can do it? What we discussed?"

"Of course," I answered. "What should I start on, then?"

"The radio would be a good place to start," said Terry decisively. "There is a particular broadcasting station that we want access to, and somehow the wards on the castle prevent us from accessing it. You-Know-Who's work, no doubt. You can bypass it?"

I looked at the radio he produced, thought for a bit, and said: "Do you know the wards on the castle? Are they runic, or spellwork."

"I believe they are spellwork," said Terry. "When You-Know-Who was a student, I think amongst his OWLs, Ancient Runes was not one of them."

I nodded. "Let me guess. Neither was Divination, Care, or Muggle Studies."

"Absolutely right," revealed Terry, blue eyes humoured. "He studied Latin instead. At the time, that was an available subject. And students couldn't take more than two optionals."

"Good for us," I said, studying the radio. Thinking quickly, I opened the parcel Toni had given me, retrieved the pure copper wires and lead and lodestone, and began to practice my Alchemy.

At last, I managed to connect it to the planets above, and cut through to the broadcasting station, which I was told was currently somewhere near Ottery St Catchpole, using the movements of the stars that Terry had informed me, as well as the longitude and latitudes he quickly calculated per my advice. Finally, I switched it back on, and after a short fizzing sound, the news was on.

"And today, on Potterwatch, we bring you news of the new movements of the death eaters. Today, in Hampshire, three brave witches attempting to hide a muggleborn child were slaughtered in their own homes. Let us halt our busy schedules and give them our best, and pass on the spirit of kindness that these witches embodied when they were still alive."

There was a short pause, and I glanced at Terry. "This is the news?"

Terry nodded, grinning. "There, all done now. It's late - we can work on the communication mirrors tomorrow. You see that little alcove?You can sleep there - it's too late for you to go travelling up to the Room of Requirement now. Cast some protection spells. The grass should be comfortable enough to be slept on. I'll take the radio with me - we'll leave it in the Room for safekeeping, so anyone up there can listen. Thanks again."

I waved a hand, then took Terry's advice on using repelling charms and a few other spells to warn me of people's presence.

The Hogsmeade trip was rather unpleasant. Millie was cold towards me, and I towards her. Tracey was trying to be friendly, but I was wary around her. Toni and Daphne were left to keep peace, but I knew even they were losing their temper with me, and in the end, I left Hogsmeade early to return to the castle.

On Monday, things had mostly returned to normal. I had talked to Neville and Ginny and Luna, who had discussed it with the rest of the D.A., and they unwillingly agreed to let the Slytherins in. Millicent unwillingly apologised for lying to me and locking me in a room, and I warned her to never do it again. Vaisey conducted our first training session, and I was pleased to see how all of us flew superbly together. As I had expected, the thickset beater (who was named Konrad Haverford) and Ulysses were made beaters, and I'd like to think their shots were even better once equipped with the new bats. Apart from Vaisey, a quick girl named Jennifer Vengal was made chaser, as well as Octavius Thurkell. The keeper Jason Hawthorne, and his relief, Alton Macnair, were also fantastic, and got on very well. Even Vaisey seemed heartened at the end of the training, and we all traipsed back into the changing room before the rain could get heavier.

Sopping wet but feeling happy about the training, I headed back down to my dorm, eager to get that nice, welcoming, warming shower, only to feel the whoosh of a spell that just narrowly missed me. Feeling suddenly extremely frustrated and sick of being attacked round every corner, I turned around and waited for her wand to sneak around the corner and used a rope to lasso her wand toward me.

She relinquished hold of her wand too late, and by then I had already had her trussed up like a Christmas turkey, wrapped neatly in the incarcerous I had casted.

"This needs to stop," I told her flatly, tapping my glasses with my wand to get rid of the mud and rain so that I could see her clearly. "You have no idea what it's like to have been living like the hunted Christmas turkey for the past two weeks."

Tracey winced, and tears pricked at her eyes, glittering under the light.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "I really am. I just...my father..."

"It's no excuse to ruin someone else's life," I told her coldly. "I have a father too, and I know he would be horrified if I were given to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord preys on us by forcing us to fight one another. Me, for your father. Then my father will go after you, for me. And someone else who knows you well and cares about you will go after him. It'll never stop. This is the vicious cycle we have all been captured in, and, like the fly trapped in a spider's web, you're just trying to get me to go down with you. That won't stop the Dark Lord. That won't stop the dark lord from getting someone else's father, and forcing their daughter to do terrible deeds to yet another person. Are you really going to continue this?"

Tracey was sobbing by this point. "What else can I do? They threatened...they threatened his life."

"The Carrows can do nothing," I spat, coldly. "They're figureheads, dumb blocks that the Dark Lord placed at Hogwarts to distract them and prevent them from doing damage to the rest of the Wizarding world. If the Dark Lord has your father, the Carrows cannot influence what he does with your father. If your father is still alive, he has been useful to the Dark Lord. Pray that he remains so. The Carrows' protection means nothing once he's outlived his purpose for the Dark Lord."

Tracey was weeping now.

"There's another alternative," I said, evenly.

Tracey stopped. "What?"

"I keep you someplace safe. I know you have healing abilities. You will remain hidden, I'll provide you with food, and you can live there, and heal the people I need your help to heal. Then, once out of the Carrows jurisdiction, there is nothing the Dark Lord and his death eaters can do to harm your father. I can't get your father out, because I have no idea where he is, but I can prevent them from using you to get to your father. Do you understand?"

Tracey sniffled. "You would do that. For me?"

"As long as you promise to stop hexing me 'round corridors," I said wryly, but I smiled a little to let her know I was joking.

Tracey nodded, making a watery smile. "My things?"

"Pack your essentials, but leave the rest. Make it seem like you're coming back, even though you're not. Do not bring your trunk - that would be too obvious. I would advise using an undetectable extension charm on your schoolbag, to make it seem like you're just doing some revision. Meet me on the fourth floor outside of the History classroom in half an hour."

She nodded, and I removed the ropes and returned her the wand.

"Go, quickly," I said, and Tracey raced off. With a sigh, I sent a non-corporeal patronus to Neville and Luna and Ginny with a message, and headed up to the History classroom. The shower would have to wait, then.