Chapter 17

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world obviously belongs to JK Rowling and not me. Obviously.

… … … …

Leila lay fast asleep on her bed in the seventh year girls' Slytherin dormitory cuddling with her pillow. The rest of the girls were already awake and getting ready for their last, first day of school. Daphne had just finished changing her earrings when she noticed that Leila was still sleeping. She walked over and gently shook her former best friend. Leila instantly awoke and backed away in fear.

"You're safe, you're at Hogwarts," Daphne whispered.

"What do you want Greengrass?" Leila said hoarsely.

"You need to get up. You have your Heads meeting with Snape before breakfast this morning," Daphne said.

"I don't want to be Head Girl. It should be Hermione," Leila groaned.

"Granger's not here and you are. It only makes sense," Daphne shrugged.

"It's just another way to torture me," Leila muttered.

"Whatever the reason may be, you should still get dressed," Daphne sighed.

Leila plopped back onto her pillows and closed her eyes in attempts to sort through her thoughts. So many things swirled through her head that she wasn't even sure what she was thinking anymore. Grudgingly, Leila stood up and examined herself in the mirror. She decided against bathing, so she moved back to her bed and pulled the trunk out from underneath her bed. Once she opened the trunk, she saw brand-new Slytherin Hogwarts robes backed on the top. She had never been happier to see a pair of pants in her life, even if they were uniform pants. Leila dressed in a pair of uniform pants, white shirt, Slytherin tie, and cardigan. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun and pinned her side-fringe so that no hair was in her face. Moving once more to the mirror, she noticed that she looked very pale and that dark circles surrounded her once shimmering emerald eyes. Tracey Davis, known for being one of Pansy's close friends, walked by her and smiled. Tracey moved to leave the room, while Millicent, Hestia, and Flora followed her out. Pansy had already left the room before Leila had even woken up. Leila stared at the girls in confusion. Didn't Tracey hate her? She was Pansy's best friend so why was she being nice to her? The only girls in the dormitory were Daphne and Leila. Daphne handed Leila her new book bag before she walked with her to the common room to meet Draco. When they got to the common room, they found Draco leaning against the couch. He was facing them, obviously waiting for Leila. Draco walked to meet them and stopped beside Leila. A wolf-whistle, whom Leila knew belonged to Blaise, silenced the chattering in the common room. Leila scowled and moved to go talk to Blaise but Draco grabbed her hand, causing her to jerk back.

"Save your breath, Blaise is going to be the least of your worries," Draco whispered.

Leila bit her bottom lip in frustration, but she knew Draco was right. With a few exceptions, Pansy and the cold glances from Astoria Greengrass, the Slytherin House hadn't given her too much grief over the announcement of her "engagement" to Draco. She hadn't paid too much attention to the stares and whispers last night in the Great Hall, but now that she thought about it the word engaged had been overheard in many conversations. Had she really been that oblivious last night? Normally she could easily spot those types of things, but last night she hadn't cared because she expected the whispers and stares. She just hadn't realized that they were because of the most recent post in the Daily Prophet. She wanted nothing more than what her life used to be. Well, she had never had much of a normal life. The most "normal" life she had had was before she had found out she was a witch and lived with the Dursleys. Since then, her life had been a whirlwind and now it seemed to be spiraling even farther downward.

"Snape is waiting for us," Draco said.

Draco reached for Leila's hand, but she immediately withdrew it.

"Leila," Draco groaned.

She rolled her eyes as he reached for her hand once more. With tight a grip on Leila's hand, Draco led her through the common room and exited into the corridor. Leila could feel the gazes from those in the common room. She wanted nothing more than to tell them that she and Draco weren't really engaged, that it was all a scam; but she couldn't. She didn't have the fight in her to take on that many people. The pair dropped each other's hand once they were out of sight from anyone. Leila folded her arms across her chest, to make it harder for Draco to try and grab her hand again. The pair remained silent as Leila followed Draco to the Headmaster's office. They came to the stone gargoyle and Leila was flooded with memories of when Dumbledore had occupied this office. Draco stopped and waited for her to climb the staircase, but Leila hesitated.

"Go on," Draco said.

Leila shook her head no. But at that moment Snape walked down the stairs as if he had expected Leila's reaction. Professor Snape put his hand on her back to escort her up the stairs with Draco trailing behind. Leila's breathing became heavier with every stair she climbed. She didn't want to see what Snape had done to Professor Dumbledore's office. She wanted to preserve what she remembered the office to look like under Dumbledore's regime. Those memories reminded her of better times and for all she knew Snape could have portraits of Voldemort hung throughout the room with Dark artifacts to accentuate the office. Snape opened the door and silently motioned for her to enter.

She walked through the door and was surprised to find that the office looked exactly the same. The same whirring objects were on the tables. The old headmasters' portraits were hung on the walls with no pictures of Voldemort gracing them. A portrait of Dumbledore was hung directly behind what was now Snape's desk. In his portrait, Dumbledore sat on a chair sleeping and slightly snoring. Leila desperately wished that Dumbledore was still alive. If he was still alive, she wouldn't be in this situation. Draco walked past her and sat on one of the chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. Draco. Dumbledore. If Draco had only taken Dumbledore's offer, she wouldn't be in this situation. There were so many places in her past that if one thing hand been done differently she wouldn't be in the situation she was now. It was easier to put the blame onto others, than examine her crumbling self.

"Have a seat, Miss Potter," Snape drawled.

Leila blinked several times as she looked at Professor Snape. She complied with his command and sat on the chair beside Draco. Professor Snape reached on his desk for something and the stepped in front of the desk. He handed Draco something and then turned to Leila. Snape motioned for her to put her hand out, so she did. He placed a Head Girl badge in her hand. She turned it over in her hand and examined it. This didn't feel right. She knew rightfully that she shouldn't be Head Girl. Hermione was the one who practically abided by the rules. Hermione was the better example to the students. What kind of message was Snape making with her a Head Girl? You can get detentions almost weekly and be "engaged" to a Death Eater. Not exactly the example one would want to have younger students model. Granted, she knew her father to have been made Head Boy in his day; but the circumstances were different. Dumbledore had known something good to be in her father, while as far as she knew, Snape was doing this to keep her in closer contact with him.

"As Head Boy and Head Girl, you will find that the responsibilities will have increased from when you were prefects. You are now allowed to hand out detentions as well the continued power to dock House points. Seeing as you both were already prefects, you already know of the prefect's bathroom," Snape said.

"Is there anything else?" Draco questioned.

"You will notice that because of the Dark Lord's decree that all school age witches and wizards, that can prove their blood heritage, are now required to attend Hogwarts. Several older students have been added to each of the Houses, while other students have fled not being able to prove their bloodline," Snape answered.

"What do you want us to do?" Draco asked.

"Just make sure that all students are abiding by our rules, new and old," Snape drawled.

"Very well, sir," Draco muttered.

"I also wanted to let you know that after last year's exam results, you are both at the top of your class. Mister Malfoy, while your grades did suffer at the end of last year, you still finished the year in second place while Miss Potter you moved into first place," Snape said.

"That's not possible, Hermione should be in first," Leila mumbled.

"Miss Granger is no longer in attendance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry therefore forfeiting her class rank," Snape said.

Leila wanted nothing more than to scream that she didn't want to be first in the class nor did she want the Head Girl position. But she knew that throwing a tantrum would get her nowhere. It wouldn't get her out of this living hell. It wouldn't reunite her with her brother. It wouldn't destroy Voldemort. No, it would do nothing; so she did nothing. She turned her head to avoiding looking at Snape when a ruby glint caught her eye. She turned toward the wall where the Sword of Gryffindor was carefully placed; the sword which Dumbledore had left Harry. Placed beside it was the Sorting Hat, which had placed her in Slytherin. She had never told anyone, but the hat had almost placed her in Gryffindor; because of some petty hate for Hermione Granger she had wanted to take her chances and be placed in a House that wasn't with the girl who would year later become her best friend. She had never expected to be placed in Slytherin of all places; but she did possess the qualities of a Slytherin: intelligent, cunning, determined, resourceful, and had a high sense of self-preservation. She always second-guessed everything and could rarely act on impulse. As much as she said she was nothing like her House mates over the years, truth was, she was a lot more like them than she cared to admit.

"Mister Malfoy, if you could step outside for a moment. I need to have a word with Miss Potter, alone," Snape said.

"Certainly, Headmaster," Draco said.

Draco slightly narrowed his eyes at Snape before standing up to exit the room. When the door clicked shut, Snape moved behind his desk and sat on the chair that Dumbledore had once claimed. Leila looked up at the portrait. How could he be sleeping at a time like this? She understood that it was only a portrait of her former headmaster, but couldn't he be doing something? Alerting others that she was being held captive? Surely the portrait of Dumbledore knew that she was being held against her will. Snape cleared his throat and Leila's gaze focused on him once more.

"You will report here after your classes," Snape drawled.

For what? Leila thought; but she didn't voice this. Instead, she simply nodded her head.

"You will find that teachers have differentiated their instruction to suit your learning needs," Snape began.

A sharp rap came at the door and without being told to enter the door flung open. Outside, Professor McGonagall was arguing with the Carrows over matters of discipline. From what Leila heard, a student had already been punished and McGonagall didn't approve of their methods. Snape pinched the bridge of his nose before standing up.

"Stay here, Lil—Leila," Snape said.

Snape's cloak billowed behind him as he left the room, closing the door behind him. When the door shut, Leila sighed and placed her head in her hands. It seemed that her suspicion of Snape making her Head Girl was to torture her. She was to be spending quality time with the Headmaster; he would probably try to get everything she knew about Harry out of her.

"So this is where they put you. To think I had thought I was finally rid of you," a voice groaned.

Leila tensed-up at the voice. She looked around the room but no one was there. She looked ahead to Dumbledore's portrait by the man still sat there sleeping.

"And they made you first in your class," the voice scoffed.

She looked at all the former Headmasters and Headmistresses portraits, trying to figure out which one the voice belonged to. She was shocked to find that only one portrait was looking right at her: the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.

"Phineas Nigellus," Leila whispered.

"Took you long enough," Phineas scoffed.

"What do you want? Come to torture me as well?" Leila questioned.

"You have nothing to do with my reason to be here. I only thought to seek some company since my other portraits don't offer much. I tried to refrain from my portrait at Malfoy Manor because you were there and then that filthy Mudblood shoved me in that damn beaded bag of hers, so that left Hogwarts. But now that I know you're here…" Phineas began.

"Whatever," Leila muttered.

Leila put her head back in her hands, but Phineas Nigellus didn't leave as she thought he would. Instead, he stayed to taunt her. Things must be bad if even a portrait can see that one has given up.

"Well, well, Potter. Looks like you've played right into the Dark Lord's plans," Phineas Nigellus chuckled.

"Just leave me alone," Leila hissed.

"Moving you to Hogwarts was very intelligent on his part," Phineas Nigellus commented.

"What do you mean?" Leila asked.

"Don't you see, Potter? It's a perfect trap if you ask me," Phineas Nigellus said.

A perfect trap was right!

"Harry!" Leila gasped.

"Finally catching on I see," Phineas said.

Leila began to quiver as tears welled in her eyes. The prophecy was right. Harry was going to meet his end because she led him to the Dark Lord. As unintentional as this may be, Harry was sure to go to Malfoy Manor. Harry would think that she was at Malfoy Manor and either because he was so pissed-off or because he wanted to rescue her he was going there. Only, he wouldn't find her there because she was here at Hogwarts! There was nothing she could do to stop this. Instead, she was stuck at Hogwarts which was known for being the safest place in the Wizarding world and with Snape's new defenses, it would be impossible for Harry to come anywhere near her even if he somehow figured out the trap. Leila hoped that Hermione knew her well enough to know that this whole ordeal was being distorted and that Hermione could keep Harry from acting irrationally. She didn't even notice that Snape had walked back into the room.

"Mister Malfoy will escort you to the Great Hall," he said stiffly.

She nodded without making eye contact with him and walked out of the room to where Draco was waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase leaning against the ugly stone gargoyle. Her eyes locked with his and he offered her a weak smile, which she didn't return. Harry was going to die and it was going to be her fault. She didn't have the heart to even offer Draco a weak smile. Leila and Draco began their walk down the corridor. Several students noticed them; pointing and whispering about them. Leila's expression was easy to read: hurt so Draco linked his hand with hers once more and led her down to the Great Hall. They walked until they came to an abrupt halt at the entrance doors. Ginny Weasley met up with them at the doors with a scowl on her face. Leila fumbled with the right words to say.

"Ginny," Leila choked.

'How could you?" Ginny questioned.

"I—I," Leila stuttered.

"For years I've been known as a blood-traitor, never thought you'd actually be the traitor," Ginny hissed.

"Weasley, get to your table," Draco said sternly.

"We trusted you! Fred trusted you! Harry, your own brother, trusted you! And you betrayed them. You betrayed all of us," Ginny furthered.

"Detention, Weasley!" Draco shouted.

"You always were one to let others fight your fights for you," Ginny muttered.

Tears welled in Leila's eyes, as one of the people she thought could see through the frenzy actually believed her to be a traitor. She couldn't form the right words to say, especially not with Draco here. The only thing she could think to do was bury her face in Draco's sleeve in an attempt to hide her tears from a friend who was once so dear to her. Ginny narrowed her eyes at Leila when Neville walked up to them.

"What's going on here?" Neville asked.

"Just get Weasley out of here, Longbottom," Draco commanded.

"Come on Ginny, the Head Boy wants us out of here," Neville said sarcastically.

"Don't make me give you detention too, Longbottom," Draco hissed.

"We were just leaving, no need to your wand in a knot, Malfoy," Neville commented.

Neville glanced at Leila clinging to Draco's arm before gently placing a hand on Ginny's arm and leading her into the Great Hall. Leila watched as her former friends walked into the Great Hall before releasing Draco's arm and wiping her tears on her own sleeve. She then walked away from Draco and into the Great Hall and over to the Slytherin table. Draco walked closely behind her and Leila could hear the whispers about her and Draco. When she actually was in a relationship with Draco, Hogwarts believed it to be impossible. Now, when it was impossible for her to be in a real relationship with Draco, Hogwarts believed her to be engaged to him. She was almost to the table when Draco grabbed her arm, causing her to jerk back. She turned around and looked right at him. His expression held some concern.

"Leila, are you all right?" Draco asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Leila muttered.

Leila sat down at the Slytherin table beside Daphne, with her back to the other tables. She couldn't take it right now being scrutinized by Hogwarts for something she didn't even do. Draco motioned for Tracey Davis to move a down a little so that he could sit beside Leila. Leila groaned, just what she needed: even more of a reason for everyone to believe that something really was happening between her and Draco. Professor Slughorn waddled down the walkway toward them.

"Mister Malfoy, Miss Potter, allow me to offer my congratulations on the engagement," Professor Slughorn said, clearly not meaning what came out of his mouth.

"Thanks, Professor," Draco said dully.

"Oh, well, the reason I'm here! Your timetables!" Professor Slughorn said.

He handed them their timetables and waddled away. Leila gazed at her timetable, noticing that she had added another class to the already large load she had carried last year.

"Why do I have Muggle Studies?" Leila questioned.

"It's compulsory," Draco whispered in her ear.

Leila looked at him in confusion when Blaise sat down at the table across from them with a grin on his face.

"How's engaged life, Malfoy?' Blaise Zabini chuckled.

"Shut it, Zabini," Draco hissed.

"I was only wondering how you're enjoying it. You've obviously fancied Leila for quite some time," Zabini furthered.

"I'm not discussing my personal affairs in public," Draco sneered.

Pansy slammed her fists against the table causing her bowl of Pixie Puffs to spill onto the table before she stormed out of the Great Hall. It was almost ironic that Pansy and Leila felt the same way about the situation. Neither girl wanted the engagement to be a reality.

"What's got her knickers in such a twist?" Zabini asked.

"As if you don't know," Tracey scoffed.

"She's always known that she was second to him," Zabini shrugged.

"I've lost my appetite. Come on, Leila," Draco said.

Draco stood up from the table and offered his hand to Leila. She didn't want to accept his hand, but she knew that either way she was going to be forced to. So despite the stares, she placed her hand in Draco's and stood up and walked with him out of the Great Hall.

"Where are we going?" Leila asked.

"Class," Draco muttered.

They headed up the grand staircase when they were met my Luna Lovegood coming down. She greeted them both with a smile. This confused Leila. Why would she smile? Shouldn't she be frowning or taunting her like everyone else. Even Neville and Ginny seemed to believe everything the Daily Prophet was printing.

"Good morning, Leila," Luna greeted.

"Luna," Leila said hoarsely.

"I just wanted to tell you that it's hard for most people to see beyond the Wrackspurts; but never fear, my spectacles allow me to see beyond them," Luna smiled.

"Lovegood, don't you have some place you need to be?" Draco sneered.

"You shouldn't fear the Wrackspurts either, Malfoy. In time, others will see what I do," Luna said.

Draco rolled his eyes and continued to pull Leila behind him up the stairs.

"What the hell are Wrackspurts?" Draco muttered.

"Not completely sure," Leila answered.

"Lovegood's fifty kinds of crazy," Draco continued.

Leila looked behind her as Luna skipped down the stairs. What had Luna meant? Was it some secret message that she was supposed to understand in code so that Draco wouldn't? But knowing Luna, she usually spoke oddly so that it was hard for Leila to understand her. She continued to follow as Draco led her up the stairs. They suddenly veered off into a corridor and eventually entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They were the only ones in the classroom. Draco ushered her into a desk and sat beside her. The pair sat there in silence until Leila's stomach growled.

"I completely forgot that you hadn't eaten," Draco said.

Leila shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe we can go to the kitchen," Draco suggested.

But just as Draco suggested it, students began to enter the classroom. Looking at her timetable, she noticed that there wouldn't be a good time to eat until lunch, so she'd just have to suffer through her hunger. Leila tried to avoid looking at her classmates as they entered. She didn't want to be hurt anymore by their looks of betrayal. Luckily, her Housemates sat in the desks surrounding the one she shared with Draco. They seemed to be protecting her, but she couldn't escape all the looks. She noticed Seamus glaring at her from the seat he shared with Neville; but Neville slapped his arm when Carrow entered the room.

"Eyes on me, seventh years. This class will no longer be run the way you were used to. For years you had teachers incapable of teaching Dark Arts and the Dark Lord felt it best for your education to have someone who can teach you properly," Amycus said. "You will learn and perfect many Dark curses through the year. We only have one year to get you through the curriculum from first year all the way through seventh, so you will need to be ready to move at a fast pace or face the consequences."

All eyes were focused intently onto their new professor.

"We're starting simple today. Today, we'll work on the blasting curse. What is this curses name?" Carrow continued.

For once, Crabbe and Goyle raised their hands. She supposed that this would become their new favorite class and one they were actually good at.

"Crabbe," Carrow called-on.

"Erm—uh—Confringo!" Crabbe answered.

"Everyone partner up. I have piles of those utter rubbish Defense books that you will be blasting. Everyone except, Miss Potter. You can come up here," Carrow said.

Leila inhaled sharply. Draco nudged her forward as the class began to slowly partner up. She walked up the aisle of the classroom that had once belonged to her godfather. What was he going to do to her? Was he going to curse her? Carrow motioned for her to sit at a desk at the front.

"Seeing as you're not allowed your wand I've had to alter some of my lessons. Read up," Carrow said.

The book placed in front of her she had seen before. It looked like one of the books Hermione had in her beaded bag that contained something on Horcruxes. She and Hermione had split the books and the ones she had taken were still safely in her own beaded bag. She cracked open the book and pretended to start reading, but every once and a while glanced up to her fellow classmates. On one of the glances, she noticed that Neville was refusing to perform any spells causing Carrow to become madder and madder.

"Longbottom! Perform the damn spell!" Carrow shouted.

"I already know it, so I don't see a point," Neville retorted.

"Do it now or you'll force me to use the Cruciatus on you," Carrow hissed.

Neville crossed his arms, refusing to do the spell.

"I already told you that I know how to do it. I'm not going to waste my time on you," Neville said.

Leila cringed as Carrow's face contorted in anger. He angrily shot a Cruciatus curse at Neville causing her classmate to fall to the floor. Neville held back his pain through his clenched teeth. The whole class gasped and backed away from Neville. Carrow released the curse and spat on Neville.

"Don't any of you think that I won't hesitate to do the same to you," Carrow hissed.

Carrow walked away toward the Slytherins who were continuing to blast the Defense books. Hannah Abbott kneeled on the floor to make sure Neville was all right, but Carrow yelled at her to get back to practicing. She instantly backed away and walked back to her partner to work on blasting the books. Leila shook her head. Neville just should've done the curse. It wasn't even that Dark of a curse; but it was a spell in Voldemort's arsenal. Neville slowly sat up and moved to a desk to sit. Carrow narrowed his eyes at him, but let him sit there. The bell finally rang and the class packed up their books and Draco led her to their next class: Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall eyed her as she walked into the classroom beside Draco. Leila noticed that seated in the corner of her classroom was Alecto Carrow. McGonagall was known to side with the Light, so this was probably one of the reinforcements that Snape had to make for her to be at Hogwarts. Hogwarts, where she was "safe" and Harry was in danger. Draco showed her to a seat at the back of McGonagall's classroom. He probably figured the least amount of contact she had with McGonagall, the better. McGonagall began her lecture about the grueling seventh year class to come to prepare them for their N.E.W.T.'s. Leila zoned out during the lecture and noticed that Neville Longbottom was seated in the front. This puzzled her. Neville hadn't taken Transfiguration last year, because his score on his O.W.L.'s was too low. Why was he in the class? Leila liked Neville, but he wasn't known for being too good at Transfiguration and now he was going to be a year behind. Why would McGonagall allow this?

"Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall said.

"Yes?" Leila asked.

"You need to pay attention when I'm lecturing," McGonagall reprimanded.

Leila blushed and tried to shield herself from the looks from her classmates. She was only two classes into the school year and she already hated it. When Transfiguration finished, they headed for Muggle Studies. Leila had never taken Muggle Studies, but from what Draco had told her it was now mandatory for everyone to take it. She didn't really know what to expect, other than probably something terrible. Alecto had walked with them from McGonagall's classroom to hers. As Leila walked through the door, she noted that the only time she had ever been into this classroom was last year.

~*Flashback to 6th year*~

It was the middle of March, and Draco and Leila hadn't been able to spend much alone time together lately. They both had been rather busy with "extra-curricular's" not to mention that Leila was slightly avoiding Draco so that Harry wouldn't become too suspicious. Leila had just finished eating breakfast on a Saturday morning and was climbing the Grand staircase to head for the library. She knew that's where she'd find Hermione. They had been looking for books on Horcruxes every Saturday after breakfast, trying to find out as much as they could about them. Leila had just reached the first floor when she noticed Draco too began to climb the stairs. With a mischievous grin on her face, Leila hid behind a pillar waiting for him. It had been far too long since they had any significant amount of time together. Draco was about to round the stairs to go to the next floor when Leila yanked on the sleeve of his arm pulling him closer to her.

"What the hell," Draco hissed.

"Sh!" Leila shushed.

She placed her hand on his mouth and grinned at him. She then slowly removed her hand from his mouth and moved it to his hand. With her fingers entwined in his, Leila slowly led him down the empty corridor. He looked at her in confusion, but followed after her. Leila giggled in delight, she loved spending time with him and she already knew how she was going to spend this time with him. They came to a classroom, when Leila gently dropped his hand and opened the door. She looked inside to make sure that it was empty before she grabbed Draco by his tie and yanked him into the classroom. With his back, Draco shut the door as Leila flung herself into his arms. Her lips met his in a hurry. Draco chuckled at Leila's sense of urgency, but responded to her kisses.

"Merlin, I've missed this," Draco groaned.

"Mmm…so good idea then?" Leila said between kisses.

"Best idea," Draco mumbled against her lips.

Both teenagers breathed heavily as Leila moved her lips to Draco's neck, placing kisses up his neck and to his jaw.

"What room is this?" Draco asked hoarsely.

"You're more concerned about what classroom we're in than snogging your own girlfriend?" Leila questioned.

"No, I don't mean it like that," Draco groaned.

"I think we're in the Muggle Studies classroom. Can we continue now?" Leila questioned.

"On one condition," Draco chuckled.

"What's that?" Leila asked.

"We do this my way," Draco said lowly.

Draco pushed Leila so that she was against the door and began to press kisses up her neck and jaw just as she had done to him.

"Stop teasing me," Leila panted.

Draco smirked before hungrily pressing his lips against Leila. He made sure that he was the one leading this time and Leila all-too-eagerly followed.

~*End Flashback*~

Leila could feel the blush running up her neck as she walked further into the classroom. She could almost feel where Draco's lips had grazed against her neck. She refused to look at Draco, lest he say something about the last time they had been in this classroom. She saw that the seat next to Daphne was open and right now that seemed the better option than Draco, so she sat next to her former best friend.

"Leila, are you okay. You look flushed," Daphne whispered.

In embarrassment, Leila buried her face I her hands. She could already tell that his was going to be a long class period. Alecto Carrow cleared her throat with a hem hem that could rival Umbridge's and the class turned toward her.

"If you're supposed to be in Muggle Studies, you're in the right place. If not, then you're as dumb as those filthy Muggles and should get out of this room," Alecto hissed.

No one in the class moved. Leila turned and noticed that no one left the class.

"In this class you'll learn about how stupid and dirty those animals are that people kindly call Muggles. I'm here to tell you how that scum led wizard-kind into hiding because they were vicious and jealous of our magic. I'm here to help restore the natural order of things by teaching you the rightful place of those animals," Carrow continued.

This class was going to be just as bad as Dark Arts. Leila looked out the window of the classroom and noticed an owl swooping over the forest. She wished that she was that owl, so that she could be free and not trapped; but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. She was stuck here in hell until something gave, and if what Phineas Nigellus' portrait suggested, Harry would be dead before she was free.