Albus was in a state of shock. "How is this possible?"

"Apparently, you're hot stuff with the girls of Hogwarts." Atria shrugged. They were in the library studying one last time for their DADA exam which was tomorrow. It was the last exam of the week and Atria felt so unprepared. Potions had been a breeze, charms was easy, and Care of Magical creatures was fun, but DADA was dreadful.

Atria had been trained in the Dark Arts, not Defense Against the Dark art. And it was getting more and more difficult to hide this from everyone, as the death eaters, her mother, had been very active these past few months. Everyone was speculating about what they wanted and who they followed, what their goal was, but Attie knew the truth… that they simply wanted things to go back to the way they were. Purebloods in charge, they only wanted power.

And she wasn't even sure that was what her mother wanted. Atria was sure her mother wanted what she had once wanted, her mother's approval. She wanted to feel some connection to Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I can't believe I beat James thought." He shook his head. Atria had been sorta surprised as well, but there it was. "And Scorpius is the most eligible bachelor in Hogwarts." This time he had to laugh.

"So is Rose." Atria picked at her nails.

"Yea, but that's not a surprise."

"No?"

"Nah, lots of guys think she's fit."

"Lot's of girls think Scorpius is fit."

"And then there's you and me, resting at number four."

"I'm surprised I was that high on the list." Atria admitted. Albus was shocked at the humility in her voice.

"You don't think you're pretty?" Because Al thought she was gorgeous, so uniquely beautiful.

"It's not that. It's just I know I can be a little… overbearing." She shrugged and caught sight of Jenny, Scorpius's ex, sneaking looks at Albus. Seriously? She was checking out her ex's best friends, how low could you get? It made Atria extremely happy when Jenny had been bumped from number eight to number fourteen.

Even Lily beat her and Lily was a fourth year. Amanda was number nine, which surprised me because I had always considered her to be better than me in the bloke department.

"Who are you glaring at?" Albus turned around and Jenny quickly looked away, pretending to study. "She studies?" The genuine surprise in his voice made me laugh.

"No. She pretends to study so she can covertly check out fit boys." Duh.

"She was looking at me?" His cheeks flushed a bit.

"Yea, and you should see how girls have been treating Scorpius. Do guys put as much stock in the list as girls seem to?" Atria wondered what would happen to Rose if that was true.

"I don't know. I don't help with creating the list."

"You don't?" Atria demanded.

"Nope, I leave that to the others. Freddie doesn't either."

"Oh." Jenny was back to staring at Al, now that he had turned his back again. "Seriously, she graduates in two days, what does she think is going to happen in two days.?"

"I don't think a has full romantic episode in mind." Albus whispered and Atria giggled. "More like a short episode in a broom closet." She ducked her head to hide her laughter and Al shook his head.

"There's like… fifty other guys that she could go for. Why does it have to be her ex's best friend?"

"Because I'm number four." He said smugly.

"And she dated number one." Atria countered and smirked when he frowned.

"Do you think Scorpius is the most attractive bloke in school?" Albus looked up at her through his eyelashes. The were leaning together slightly, and the textbook in her lap seemed so uncomfortable now, like it was getting in the way of something.

"He's attractive." Attie shrugged. "But I'm not into blondes." Her voice dropped to that of a whisper and she felt as though something was pulling her forward. His eyes, maybe. They were so green. She wasn't sure she could achieve that green even with her metamorphing.

"And what are you into?" He whispered back and was it her imagination or was he leaning closer as well? "Blue hair, purple eyes?" He was mocking her.

"No," She replied breathlessly. "And what about you? What do you find attractive?" Their noses were only a few inches apart now and he seemed to be tilting his head unconsciously. Or maybe he was doing it consciously. Was he going to-

"Hey Albus!" The spell was broke and Albus glared up at Jenny, who was standing there with a fake smile and her hands clasped in front of her innocently. "Can I interrupt?"

"Actually-"

"I was just leaving." Atria cut off Albus, who gave her a look. Like you're throwing me to the wolves?, that kind of look. Atria hid a grin.

"I'll see you later." Albus demanded and she could imagine the words he would have for her. She put away her books and shouldered her bag and left the library. She could feel Albus's gaze on her back and she resisted the urge to turn around.

Later, Albus found her and chewed her out. She had been on the way to the Astronomy Tower while everyone else was at dinner, to study one last time.

"How could you leave me like that?" He demanded, blocking her way down the stairs. With hi two steps bellow her, she was looking down on him. His head was tilted back, so his hair wasn't in his eyes. Rose thought he need a haircut, but Atria though it looked better grown out.

"What do you mean?" She played with the end of her blue hair and bit her bottom lip.

"You know what I mean." He stepped in her way when she tried to go around him. She went down another step, getting in his personal space. He stretched his arms wide, placing both hands on the banisters, effectively blocking the path. "She is like an octopus, wrapping her tentacles all around her prey, until they suffocate." He shuddered and she had to laugh. He looked at her and then chuckled.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"On my way to the Astronomy Tower to study." She tried to push his chest, but he wouldn't budge. Damnit, she may be a gifted witch, but Al could beat her with brute strength every time.

"Why were you coming from the second corridor?" He asked.

"Had to go to the charms classroom for a moment." Now that she was only one step above him, he was taller than her once again, and they were standing so close together their bodies were practically touching.

Then the staircase shifted. Atria grabbed onto Albus so she wouldn't fall over at the sudden movement. She gripped his biceps and the staircase came to a halt and Al gripped the stone banisters to they both wouldn't tumble over.

"Come on." Albus led her off the stairs before it shifted again.

"I was going to study-"

"We'll study in here." He motioned to an empty classroom down whatever corridor they had landed on.

"You don't have to stay with me." She bit her lip, thinking he couldn't really want to study with her instead of having dinner with his friends.

"You're not the only one who needs to study for the DADA exam tomorrow. It's the only exam I have a possibility of getting an O on." He looked distressed suddenly, a change from his mood a few moments ago. "Not that you would know about that." He muttered, but it wasn't hostile. When had that changed? Once upon a time, everything he said to her was hostile.

"Of course I do." Atria snapped defensively.

"You don't." He chuckled and shook his head. He passed into the empty classroom and I followed. We threw our bags down on a desk. "It's alright. I've accepted it. Although I always wondered how you did it. How do you manage to be the best in our year and only do the bare minimum? How do you beat Rose, who studies for hours, and Scorpius?" He crossed his arms and leaned against a desk, which squeaked under his weight.

There was no easy way to answer that. "I was homeschooled. Most wizards start real school when they're eleven but I started much earlier. You claim I don't study, but once upon a time I did. My parents were strict about my studies. Potions was really the only thing I enjoyed, so I read a lot of books on that. They didn't really consider Care of Magical Creature worthwhile and Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't high on their priorities either." Atria smirked at herself.

"They didn't think defense was important?"

Atria shuffled a bit, standing a few feet in front of him. "Well, I studied a lot of charms." She shrugged. "I don't study now, because I spent years studying. I study the things I don't know, but considering I know a lot, I don't have to study a lot." Atria tried not to sound conceited but it was true.

"Were your parents strict?" Albus looked a bit unsure as if he should ask about her parents.

"Yes, they were. They wanted me to be strong and a brilliant witch. At the time it seemed like hell, and I guess it was, but in the end, it's made me more powerful." Atria flushed at how much she had given away. One look into his eyes and she would have told him anything… well, almost anything.

"How… what happened to them?" He wanted to ask how they died, but thought better of it. It couldn't be easy for her to talk about. She looked at her feet and played with the ends of her hair, now turning a dark blue.

"My father was killed by a Death Eater." She said after a moment.

"Merlin, Attie, I'm sorry, if I had known-"

"It's alright. I know everyone's been really curious as to how your father found me and what I was doing." She took a step closer to him, reaching for his hand. He unfolded his arms and gave it to her.

He opened her hand and turned the palm up and then ran his finger all the way from her wrist to the tip of her middle finger. She especially concentrated on keeping her dark mark hidden. That was not something she ever wanted him to see. She shivered.

"Do you miss them?" He whispered, leaning forward a bit. He continued to massage her hand and it made it difficult for her to concentrate.

"I hardly ever think about them." She exhaled softly as his hand trailed up her arm. It was a struggle to keep her eyes from fluttering closed. "I love your family." She whispered and this time, couldn't keep her eyes from closing as his hand went back down her arm, and up again, this time landing on her cheek.

Atria leaned into hand and reached for his bicep. His head moved closer to her and then he kissed her.

She jerked back, with her eyes wide. Albus's eyes flew open in shock and he looked confused at what had just happened.

"We shouldn't." Atria let out a long breath.

Albus bit the inside of his cheeks. "Of course, I was being stupid-"

"It's not that."

"Then, what?"

"In two days I leave for Romania and I'm not interesting in a quick snog session. And remember what you and Scorpius said? About not wanting to be tied down over summer because you wouldn't see them for two months?" He looked like he want to protest, but Atria just plowed on. "And you were right. I just broke up with Justin-"

"You finally broke up with him?" The surprise in his voice upset her. She pulled away from his reach.

"You thought I would… do all that, if I still had a boyfriend?" She glared at him and took a few more steps back. He followed her.

"No, of course not," He shook his head, "I didn't think. I just didn't know it was official. James and Amanda have been speaking about you wanting to do it for a while."

"Well, I did it. I'm surprised you haven't heard James singing about it in the hallways." She laughed without humor. "I did it because I didn't want to put in the effort over the summer. We would be apart a lot and I didn't care about him enough to try. I suppose I followed Scorpius's advice."

"But I'm not Justin." Albus argued, like he was willing her to believe him.

"I know." She smiled sadly. "You should go. I don't think I'll get any studying done if you're here." He nodded, looking rather dejected. He took a step closer and she crossed her arms and turned her head away.

"I'll see you at graduation I suppose."

"Yea."

Graduation was boring, per usual. Atria had gone to other graduations and it was basically a speech from the Heads, the headmistress, the heads of houses, and then announcing every seventh year's name. Parents were there, all seated in lines of white chairs. Atria sat with the Wotters, as far away from Albus as she could sit, and they all jumped up when James and Freddie's names were called.

"Oh darling, we are so proud of you." Ginny threw her arms around James. Families everywhere were hugging their children and celebrating.

"Pay up." Lily held her hand out to Hugo, who forfeited some of his money. Hermione frowned. Lily answered her unspoken question. "Hugo bet me that they wouldn't both graduate." She said cheekily.

"Thanks mate." Freddie glared at his younger cousin.

"I'm surprised as well." George muttered and received a backhand from Angelina.

"Honestly," huffed James.

"So do you think we'll all graduate," He whose name she did not want to say said. And of course he had to ruffle his hair.

"I don't know." Lily looked thoughtful. "I'm sure you all will. You guys are boring." She complained.

"Ahhhh!" An awful shriek came from a nearby mum. She was pointing at the castle, a look of sheer terror on her face. Everyone followed her finger and saw…

The Dark Mark. It was over the castle and that meant… someone had been killed.

"Harry," Ron gripped his wand.

"Let's go." Harry Potter growled and charged off to the castle.

"Oh, Hermione," McGonagall made her way through the throng of terrified people. "We need to get everyone into the castle."

"The castle might not be the best place right now, professor." Ginny said. "Considering there's a Dark ,Mark over it and all."

"Where else shall everyone go?"

"Hogsmeade." James suggested. "From there everyone can go home."

"No." McGonagall shook her head. "We need everyone to remain here until we get to the bottom of this."

"The Room of Requirement. We could fit the whole school in there, if that's what we need." Rose offered. "But we do have to go into the castle. And the students in the castle might not know." She bit her lip and wrung her hands, similar to what Hermione was doing.

"We'll just have to make do." McGonagall pulled out her wand and put it to her throat. "If everyone could please move towards the castle we will gather all the students and guests. Please followed us." Her voice boomed over all the squabbling people. "There is a safe room in the castle." She added, when people made protests about going towards the castle.

"Why don't you and Atria go around back and make sure we don't lose anyone." Hermione told her daughter, then turned to James and Albus. "You go somewhere in the middle of the pack, try to connect with the heads. Or perhaps, Attie, you should talk with Justin-"

"No, that's okay." Atria said quickly and pulled Rose away. Hermione looked at Al and James.

"They had a bit of a falling out." James said cheerfully. Albus couldn't help but think about what occurred two nights ago. They had kissed, for about a half of a second, and everything seemed right. It was difficult to believe that something so horrific could happen after something so amazing. But it had only been about two minutes of amazing and then Atria ruined it anyways.

"James, it's not appropriate to be grinning while there is a Dark Mark over the school." Albus hissed, taking his brother's arm.

"Freddie you stay here." McGonagall told him and Hermione nodded.

Once they were behind the mob of people, Atria's brain started cranking. It wasn't possible that Death Eaters could have gotten in the school. At least, not without help. Which meant a student or teacher had to be helping Death Eaters.

And the number one suspect would be Atria if they ever figured out who she was. "Bloody hell." She muttered and Rose nodded, not knowing what she was thinking. The snake moved through the mouth of the skull. Atria remember the day she learned how to conjure the Dark Mark. It was around the same time when she got her Dark Mark.

Yeah, this was definitely not good. And it made her glad that she never revealed her identity to anyone.

"Please keep moving forward!" Roe shouted as people were hesitant to go into the castle.

Harry and Ron came out of the castle a moment later and quickly went to Hermione. There were quick words exchanged and then George Weasley joined them, along with Roxanne and Angelina. They had gotten lost in the chaos of screaming people.

It was sort of a blur, going through hallways, nervous parents clutching their children, other students joining us, and then the mysterious door opening to a room large enough to hold every.

"Dad, what happened?" Al asked his father, and there was a tone of despair that made Atria's heart wrench.

"There's a body in the second corridor on the third floor." Harry told them.

"Who is it?" Hermione whispered, gripping Ron's hand, with her arm wrapped around Hugo. Scorpius was standing next to Rose, who was gripping his forearm.

Harry just shook his head.

"We don't know, Mione." Ron said sullenly.

"What do you mean?" George hissed, and Atria couldn't remember the last time he had sounded so serious.

"The body was sort of… mangled." Harry choked out. "It was a younger student, given the size though." McGonagall's lips thinned out and her hands shook.

"How did this happen?" Scorpius asked what everyone was thinking. "Death Eaters couldn't have gotten into the castle - not without help."

"So we have a traitor amongst us." James hissed.

"I can't think of any student or teacher who be working with the Death Eaters." Rose shook her head. But Atria could.

Salvatore. He arrive shortly after the attacks started and he had been "homeschooled," like her. Of course, she could hardly voice her suspicions without revealing herself. No one else would be suspicious of him, because the only reason she was, was because his background that was similar to her's.

And Rose would never forgive her if she turned out to be wrong.

"Scorpius your father is coming to look at the body, he'll want to speak with you." Harry told him. There seemed to be a vacuum in the room that was sucking out all the life. Scorpius barely moved and everyone else seemed to be lacking in emotion. Like it was all too much so their brains stopped processing.

"How long are we staying here for?" Atria asked, biting her thumb nail.

"I don't know." Harry shook his head. "Until we take a head count, and make sure the place is secure." Speaking of doing a head count, Atria didn't see Amanda standing with the rest of the sixth year Slytherin girls. She looked around hoping to see the familiar head of brown hair, but nope, Atria couldn't find her.

"Bloody hell!" She whipped around frantically, trying to see through the mass of people.

"What?" George was the only one who seemed to hear her.

"Where's Amanda? I can't see Amanda." Her voice grew panicked. She couldn't think about what would happen if her mother, or any other Death Eaters, got their hands on Amanda.

"I don't see her." James looked as if death had washed over if. He was the tallest and if he couldn't see her, that meant that she probably wasn't in the room.

"Dad!" Rose cried panickedly.

"We'll find her." He told his daughter.

"If they've hurt her…" Atria trailed off and she could feel her eyes going black and her hair going red. "I will kill them." She finished, her words spoken so coldly, that Albus had to take a step back from her. Everyone was a bit shocked by her words.

"We'll find her." Harry said in response.

"I'm coming." Jame said fiercely.

"No, you're not."

"Dad, I'm seventeen and I just graduated. There is nothing you can do to stop me." James told him and then walked towards the door without looking back.

"We're coming as well." Scorpius said and Rose nodded.

"Absolutely not." Ron snapped. "You may be seventeen but you haven't graduated yet and... I'm your father." He added to Rose.

"Not my father," Scorpius muttered as Ron and Harry rushed after James.

"Exactly. We might let our children go, but we've got no right to let you go as well." Hermione glared at him.

"Then I'm going." Atria whipped her wand out.

"No, you're not." Ginny scoffed.

"You can't stop me. I'm seventeen."

"You live under my roof…" Ginny said.

"I don't have to."

No one said anything. Albus didn't think she was serious. She couldn't be. Where else would she go?

"Atria." Ginny groaned and buried her face in her palms. "Alright."

"What?" McGonagall, Rose, Scorpius, and Albus exclaimed.

"She's right. I've got no right to keep her here. She's not my child and she's seventeen." Ginny said heatedly, like she wasn't happy about it.

"Then I'm going as well." Scorpius demanded and strutted after Atria, who was in the process of leaving the Room of Requirement.

"They let you go?" Atria raised her eyebrows.

"They didn't have a choice." He replied darkly as they stalked into the hallway. "Where would she be?"

"I don't know." Atria shook her head. The hall was empty and she hadn't seen where James, Harry, or Ron had went. "Not the library. Not any classroom, I think."

"The Great Hall, for lunch." Scorpius suggested.

"No, it's too late for lunch." Atria bit her lip. "Maybe the kitchens!"

"Let's go."

She was lying in a corridor adjacent to the kitchens. Atria and Scorpius raced over, both falling to their knees over her body.

"Oh Merlin, is she alive?" Scorpius breathed hard and Atria put two fingers to Amanda's throat.

"Barley." Atria whispered and then caught sight of her friends forearm. There were black lines and blood coming from a nasty looking cut that was barely a centimeter longer. It looked like she had just been poked with a knife, which meant it was…

"Poisoned. She's been poisoned." Atria inspected the wound. "Send a patronus to… anyone, really. We need to get her to St. Mungo's. Immediately." She looked at the lines and the blue skin around the cut. "Bloodroot poison. If we don't get an antidote, it will spread through her body, paralyzing as it goes, and when it reaches her heart… she will die." Scorpius had difficulty casting the patronus, given the grave circumstances.

"Hurry." Attie hissed, rummaging through her bag, looking for something that would slow down the effects.

"Not easy to think happy thoughts right now." Scorpius gritted out, but managed to cast his eagle and it went soaring away in a silver mist. "Do you have anything?" He knelt back down, looking at Amanda's blue lips.

"No." Atria shook her head frantically and threw her bag behind her. An idea struck her. "Maybe I can summon the poison out of her." She brushed Amanda's hair out of her face.

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know. Maybe it'll slow down the spread throat the blood veins. The problem is that it's no doubt attached itself to some of her blood. I don't want to risk her losing too much blood. She's weak enough as is." Atria licked her lips and held her wand above the cut. "Accio Bloodroot poison." She said, willing for it to work. Slowly blood started to seep from her cut and it kept coming.

"Did it work?" Scorpius propped Amanda's head in his lap.

"I hope so." Atria muttered. "We need Phoenix tears." She gasped.

"I don't have any lying around." Scorpius said sarcastically. A second later James turned into the corridor.

"Amanda!" He screamed and ran until he slid to his knees. "What… how…" He couldn't complete a sentence.

"Bloodroot poison." Scorpius said shortly, as Harry and Ron arrived. "Atria managed to extract it from the blood stream but…"

"Accio Phoenix tears." Atria hissed and that earned her a few looks. She didn't waste time explaining and after a few seconds Harry opened his mouth. And then there was a whisking sound and a tiny vial flew into her hand.

"You just happen to have Phoenix tears lying around?" Scorpius's jaw was on the floor. Atria tapped the vial over Amanda's wound and two drops came out. The wounds started to sew back together and the little black lines retreated. Her coloring was still of and she still looked on death's doorstep.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Ron asked.

"Because she's weak from the aftereffects of the poison and went I extracted it from her bloodstream, she lost a lot of blood with the poison." Atria said quickly and then began to inspect her friend. "It did work." She assured James, who was still looking very frightened.

"Where did you get the tears?" Harry asked.

"I've had them for a while." Atria said. "Just been waiting for the proper moment."

"You saved her life." Scorpius smiled.

"We'll see. I may have saved her life, but Bloodroot can have permanent effects, depending on how far it spread. Given the length of the black lines spreading from the cut, the poison hadn't gone very far, but it'll be difficult to tell until she wakes up." Atria felt Amanda's pulse and was relieved to find that it had sped up slightly, but it was still beating erratically, no doubt trying to fight off the poison. "She needs to go to Mungo's." She told Harry.

"We'll floo her through McGonagall's fireplace." Harry said and James picked her up.

"Careful." Scorpius muttered. James glared at him.

"I can't possibly leave now." Atria mumbled.

"Amanda wouldn't want you to miss out on the dragons." Scorpius shook his head. "She knows how much you've been wanting this and how long you've waited. Besides, you've done everything you can."

"But how can I leave if we don't even know what's going to happen?"

"We know she's going to live, that's all that matters. Rose and I will owl you if anything changes." Scorpius put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Atria sighed.

"We don't even know who did this."

"The aurors will find them and they will go to Azkaban." Scorpius assured her. "Everytime they do something, they leave behind a clue."

"That means we'll need more bodies turning up before we catch them." Atria snapped and ran her fingers through her red hair. "And we don't even know who the other student is."

"We'll know that within the hour." Harry inserted. Up until then he and Ron had been speaking in low tones.

"I still want to know who did it." Atria argued.

"Well, one thing's for sure… the Death Eaters have an inside man. Someone at Hogwarts who is willing to kill for their cause."

Not much to say other than this all belongs to J.K. Rowling and I think I'm going to ditch the first person with Atria. -Alex