Class ran smoothly. Everyone was excited about the feast later on tonight. Dravin kept me close throughout the rest of the day. He even introduced me to his snake, Nyx. I found it an ironic name since she was Albino but to each their own. It wasn't until school was over and I had my notes for the day, was I released from third-year custody. I quickly retreated to the Whomping Willow for the next hour. As I sat down after our normal greetings, the Willow picked me up and placed me next to her trunk. I smiled and leaned against her for a moment before diving straight into my homework. The minutes passed without me realizing it. I was so far gone into my work that the Willow had to tap me on the shoulder to get me to look up. Standing just out of the Willow's reach was Draco. I pulled out my right earbud but refused to get up. "What do you want Draco?" I called out to him. "Wouldn't this be easier if you weren't sitting under a killer tree?" he questioned. The Willow didn't take kindly to his words so she whipped a branch at him. Draco flinched but didn't move from his spot. I shook my head at him. I saw rather than heard him sigh. "Lyra, come on. You need to eat. You said so yourself. You have three years worth of school work to do and you're on the Quidditch team. We can't let you get sick," he pleaded. My stomach growled noisily at the mention of food causing Draco to smirk in triumph. I putting my books away and stood up," Fine, but no more salads. I hate salads." Draco eagerly agreed. I thanked the Willow for allowing to sit with her once again. I then followed Draco to the Great Hall. The Feast was brilliant for those who were allowed to enjoy it. I was stuck with a few sandwiches and fruits to make up for missing breakfast and most of lunch.

I laid my head on Theo's shoulder while I waited for the feast to end. I knew it was going to be one of the later dinners because astronomy for the third years had been canceled for today. The Hall was alight with candles and bats soaring about. The students were lively while the Professors were smiling politely at each other. About halfway through the meal, Professor Quirrell burst into the Hall screaming, "Troll! Troll in the Dungeons! There's a troll in the dungeons!" He stopped in the middle of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables and started wobbling. "I thought you'd want to know." He uttered before falling forward, out cold. The entire Great Hall fell silent for a moment before chaos erupted. Draco stood up screaming. He along with a few other first years from other Houses created the perfect cover for me to slip away from the Slytherin table. "Silence!" boomed Dumbledore. Everyone quieted down. "Now Perfects and Head Girl and Boy will lead their Houses to their Dormitories. The Professors and I will go to the dungeons. Off you go now," he stated calmly as he waved his hand dismissively. The Perfects jumped into action and gathered the students up, leading them out of the Great Hall. The Professors filed out of the Great Hall. After about five minutes, the room was empty except for Quirrell and myself. I scanned once more to make sure no one was around before approaching the Professor. I knelt down next to him and placed a hand on the back of his neck. "Poor Professor Quirrell. Running into a troll in the dungeons. Except I can't fathom why he'd be down in the dungeons in the first place," I hissed in hissed in his ear, "Nor can I guess how a troll got into the dungeons in the first place since they don't go as far as the mountains. I really can't answer why Professor Quirrell would run away from the one thing he can actually defeat no problem." I slowly squeezed down onto the sides of his neck. "I can only think of one reason for that. To distract the other Professors from whatever you're trying to do in the meantime. I really should hand you over to Dumbledore. Alas, I still need you to be a pawn. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few certain Gryffindors to save." I pushed myself up from the knees and released my grip on Quirrell's neck. "My lord," I bowed and walked away.

I walked out of the Great Hall to see Potter and the younger Weasley boy hide behind a column. Siding out of their sight I followed them until the three of us saw the troll walk into the Girls bathroom. I watched the boys run up and lock the door behind the troll. I was quite proud of them until I realized that Granger wasn't with them. I facepalmed when the boys shouted, 'Hermione!" They immediately reopened the door and rushed in. I left my hiding spot and stood just outside the door. That way I was out of the Gryffindors' sight but the troll stayed in mine. I shot protection charms wordlessly over Granger so she wouldn't get too hurt from the debris falling on her. I kept this up while the boys were living up to their House's reputation. Potter jumped onto the troll's shoulders. Weasley kept throwing rocks at the thing's head. It wasn't until I heard Granger yell, "Swish and Flick!" that I noticed that he had pulled out his wand. Weasley successfully cast the levitation charm on the troll's club causing it to look around confused. When it looked up, I hastily counteracted the spell. The club fell onto the troll's head and knocked it out. As the beast fell forward, it dropped Potter. I cast a cushioning charm on him so he would again be safe. "Is it dead?" Granger asked. Potter pulled his wand out of the beast's nose causing it to growl. "No. I think just knocked out," Potter answered as Weasley paled in disgust at the snot on Potter's wand. I heard footsteps then and turned to see all the Professors running our way, with McGonagall in the lead. I held my breath as they turned into the bathroom door. Everyone except for Severus and Quirrell seemed to be ignoring me. The trio got scolded and points were taken away but giving right back. McGonagall finally caught my eye, barely shook her head, and escorted the Gryffindor first years to bed. But not before Quirrell stuttered something out to them. Severus swished his cape to distract from him pulling me in front of his body as he headed back down to the dungeons. "What were you think?" he hissed when we were safe in his office. I placed my hands in my pockets and leaned against the door. "I was thinking that I hadn't seen Granger since lunch today. Normally she's in the library during breaks. She wasn't today. She also wasn't at dinner," I stated, looking up at the ceiling.

Severus just shook his head. "So you thought it would be okay to go after her? You didn't even know where she was until Potter and Weasley went after her themselves!" he exclaimed. I kept still as I spoke, "Preteen girls are all the same. When they get upset, they go and cry in the girls' bathroom. Even more so when they don't have any friends to comfort them." Severus huffed and sat down behind his desk. "Did you at least help keep them safe?" he asked. "Of course I did. I need them alive or else the plan won't work," I smirked as I lowered my eyes to his, "And I am Slytherin after all." The Potions Professor flinched at my comment. We sat in silence for a few moments. The professor broke first and placed a broom-shaped parcel on his desk, "Here. I spoke to Dumbledore about Potter being able to own his own broom and yet you can't. He agreed to allow you to have one as well." I approached the desk and unwrapped the broom. It was sleek, brand new. On the handle read Nimbus 2000. I sighed in awe as I ran my fingers over it. "And because I know how you are about your brooms." Severus placed a broom cleaning kit in front of me. I grinned. "Thank you, Sev. These are amazing!" I gushed, taking the gifts into my hands. He shooed me off to bed with a smirk of his own. Everyone was waiting for me to get back when I walked through the Door. "Where have you been?" shrieked Theo and Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle came over to me to make sure I was okay. Blaise and Dravin glared at me from over by the fire I normally sit by. Draco seemed to be the only one who noticed the broom in my hand. Before I could explain anything, Draco spoke up, "I see now. You and Potter get special treatment for being some sort of chosen ones. He, the Boy Who Lived. You, the Smartest Student in three years. No wonder You do things on your own instead of with us now." He scoffed then went to his dorm. I stood frozen watching him leave. I suddenly wasn't in the Slytherin Common Room. Instead, I was at the Manor in front of the front door outside. Lucius and Narcissa were standing in front of the door. Lucius had a triumphant smirk on his face. Narcissa's face was blank. Draco was walking back up to his parents. When he turned around he mouthed, "Good luck." Then snow started falling.

I blinked and was back in the Common Room. I shrugged everyone off after that. "I'm sorry I worried you guys but I think I'm going to go to bed now," I whispered, heading to bed as well. I placed my broom and kit on top of my chest. I gathered my toiletries and took a shower before going to bed. My schedule went back to normal the next day. The team freaked out over my new broom. I stayed quiet during classes. I was escorted to all my classes. We lost the first Quidditch game on the 9th. Draco continuously withdrew from me. Soon the others started following suit, starting with Crabbe and Goyle. I started spending more and more time under the Whomping Willow. Blaise, Dravin, and Theo were the only ones who still checked on me when December rolled around. Around the second week of December, things changed. I trekked out to the Willow in the snow like any other day. But instead of her letting me sit by her trunk with a warming charm, the Willow lifted up one of her roots. I didn't think twice as I knelt down and crawled under. To my surprise, there was a tunnel leading away from my darling tree. I cast Lomus and followed it. It was about 20 minutes before I got to the end of the tunnel. I stood up and looked around as I brushed off my hands. I was in some sort of shack. I gathered that it had two stories from the set of stairs off in the corner. The bottom consisted of a kitchen, living room, and dining room with an open floor plan. I carefully walked up the stairs and found a bedroom. Connected to it was a full bathroom. "Well the place is a wreck, but nothing Dobby and I can't fix up," I thought aloud as I wandered back downstairs. I stopped in the middle of the living room. "Dobby could you come here as soon as you can? I'm in no rush," I called.

I waited a few minutes to see if he was going to show up right then. When he didn't, I went around fixing things that I could. Mending the couch. Waving the dust away. I cleaned the Kitchen counter and placed my bag on it. I rummaged through the stacks of books and withdrew my speaker. Placing the speaker next to my bag, I connected my iPod and turned on Rock Show by Halestorm. As I jammed out for the next hour or so, I cleaned and fixed what I could. "I'm so glad today is Sunday. No one bothers me on Sunday," I mused aloud. A sudden loud POP alerted me to Dobby appearing in the Shack. "Mistress called for Dobby?" he asked shaking. I smiled and hugged the poor elf. "Yes, Dobby I did. As you can see, I've found a small space that I would like to call my own. However, It's a bit of a wreck. Would you mind helping me?" I waved my hand to the room around us. Dobby tapped his chin, "What would Mistress like for the house?" I thought for a moment. "We're going to need running water, electricity, a workable kitchen, I'm thinking about turning the dining room into the living room and the living room into a study area. Upstairs is going to stay the bedroom and bathroom. Everything is going to need to be redecorated," I stated. Dobby nodded and Popped away. I frowned but waited. A few moments later multiple elves appeared. "Dobby to the liberty of retrieving help, Mistress. We'll have everything ready for dinner." Dobby proclaimed. There were approving shouts then everyone got to work. I worked right along with them. I explained how I wanted everything in each room and then helped place them. True to their word we had everything done by dinner. I grinned as I viewed the new house. The main colors were bronze and purple. The floors, cabinets, and bookshelves were a deep mahogany. The counters in both the kitchen and bathroom were a beautiful Sandstone. The furniture was different shades of the dark metal. The entire house had working outlets and running water. I could cook in the kitchen in case I missed a meal. I was quite happy with it.

However, it was time for dinner. I thanked the House Elves and sent the mon their way. "Dobby made sure to stock the kitchen with plenty of food for Mistress Lyra," Dobby stated before disappearing. I smiled at the spot he was at a moment ago. I then sighed and went to the do the door that leads to the Castle grounds with my bag. I opened the door to find that the House Elves made the tunnel large enough for me to walk instead of crawl. It also had magic torched that lit as I approached. Because I could now walk it only took 15 minutes to get to the Willow's roots. I slid out from under the root with ease. "Thank you for showing me a place that I could be myself," I said as I hugged the trunk. I then ran to dinner as to not make too much a fuss over where I've been. Sadly Theo caught me coming in. He stood up and made a show of walking toward where I had sat down at the far end of the Slytherin Table. I no longer sat with the rest of them after Blaise yelled at me for skipping breakfast to turn in my homework one too many times. Theo stood over me with his arms crossed, "Where were you today? Because Dravin and I searched everywhere. You weren't in the library nor the common room. Please don't tell me you were stupid enough to go outside in the snow." I looked up at him only to see the duty of an Heir glaring at me from his eyes. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. By the end of Christmas break, I won't be a problem for you six anymore," I said looking back down at my plate. I no longer had an appetite so I stood up again and left the Hall without a backward glance.

I wanted to go back to my new space, but I went to the Slytherin common room instead. Collapsing on the couch in front of my fireplace, I stared into the flames. I should've been doing the homework that was due on Wednesday but I didn't have the motivation. Instead, I turned on Havana by Camila Cabello (ft. Young Thug) and sang softly along. I laid my head back on the back of the seat, closed my eyes, and got lost in the music. I don't know how long I sat like that. Just singing and not caring who walked in to hear. After Fairy Queen by Blackmore's Night, I was startled by applause. I jumped and drew my wand ready to hex whoever was behind me. When I finally focused, I saw the entire Slytherin House looking at me in awe. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked not lowering my wand. Someone said, "How long have you been able to sing like that?" I stayed silent because no one answered my question. Dravin appeared next to me and placed Nyx on my arm. I put away my wand and cradled the reptile. "We've been listening to you since the one about trying," he replied. I sighed as I petted Nyx. "To answer the 'how long' question. Just recently but not for the lack of trying. I've been singing since I was little," I said with my head held high. There were murmurs amongst the crowd. "Wait you're not a perfect know it all, able to do everything on the first try?" someone from the back yelled. I chuckled. Goyle didn't think I knew his voice it seemed. "No, I'm not. I work just as hard as everyone else to get my spells and potions to work properly," I answered. "Do you think you could sing some more?" asked Flint. I was shocked by the request.

"Maybe Red is the Rose by the High Kings?" Pansy followed up as she appeared on my other side. I turned and smiled at her. I knew it was her favorite song. She knew I would never deny her a chance to hear it. "Sure, I sing Red is the Rose for you Pansy." I hugged her as everyone cheered. The Slytherin House found seats and patiently waited for me to begin. I took a breath and focused on Pansy alone. Then I started to sing, "Come over the hills, my bonny Irish lass." In the original song, the bard describes his love with golden hair. I changed the color to raven, so it would match Pansy's hair color. I saw her smile for the first time in weeks causing my heart to soar. Though the group focused on Draco's and I's needs on the surface. We all knew that Pansy had the worst house out of all of us. Her mother wouldn't accept that Pansy just didn't like boys, But Pansy knew even at our age that she would never be able to marry Draco. So I sang her song whenever she asked. At the end of the song, tears were falling down her cheeks and the room erupted into applause. Requests started to get thrown at me. Dravin jumped in and handled that as I watched Pansy go back to Draco and the group. She fell into Blaise's arms. He comforted her without looking at me. I turned to Draco and he nodded his thanks. I settled then. They weren't mad at me for the song causing her to cry.

Dravin grabbed my attention once again. He gave me the songs casing me to smile. They followed Irish songs with a few hip-hop and punk thrown in. We spent the rest of the night in music. I found that many of the fifth years could play instruments when they joined me in songs that they knew. To close the night, I sang a song that I wanted. I cleared my throat and starting singing Pretending by Alec Benjamin acapella. I watched Draco and Theo look at each other then back at me. I knew they saw the pain in my eyes because Theo stood up and went to the piano. He didn't sit down, but he did start playing the notes. I closed my eyes in relief when he did. I hoped it was their way of telling me it was okay. That through the distance between us, everything was going to be okay. When the song came to an end, everyone cheered. I bowed with a smile then yawned. We dispersed and went to bed. I was the last to leave the Common room. I wanted to make sure Pansy was asleep before I went to bed. I opened the door and she was sitting on my bed. "Pansy it's late. You need to sleep," I said softly as I closed the door. "You're leaving aren't you?" She asked point blank. I couldn't hide my shame so I nodded. "Lucius is going to disown me over the course of Christmas Break," I explained sitting down next to her. "I don't know if Narcissa will follow after him yet. However, I'm still a Slytherin. I'll still be your roommate until we find out what my aunt does. We'll still have classes together. I'll still be here to sing to you. Even if I'm not in the Common Room or here in this room. Just ask and I'll sing for you okay?" Pansy nodded her head as she leaned against me. I rubbed her shoulder, "why don't we sleep together tonight?" "Okay," she answered. I urged her to get ready for bed as I did the same. We then curled up together in my bed. I rubbed her back and kissed her temple once she was settled. Then I sang softly in her ear until she was fast asleep. I watched her breath for a few moments before I pulled into another Vision. We were still in bed. Pansy was asleep in my arms but her hair was touching her mid back. I looked at my left arm and flinched. This was after fourth year because I had the Dark Mark on my forearm. I tried to look around but instead, I felt myself shift out from under Pansy. I watched as I got dressed in a solid black long sleeved tee and jeans. I slid black socks and combat boots onto my feet. I rolled my shoulders and looked back at the room behind me. I saw Pansy asleep on the bed, but I just noticed that Blaise and Theo were also sharing the King sized bed with us. I turned to the door to see a tired, scared Draco. He was dressed like me with a serious look on his face. "Ready?" he asked. As I went to answer, I was brought back to the present. I held Pansy tight to me as I used her to anchor myself. I didn't sleep that night. Nor did I much after until winter break.