Chapter 23 – unbeta'd

Parkinson Manor

Pansy Parkinson sat contemplating the changes that have been occurring over the summer. Snape was part of the light side, and now that Draco had stepped into the Death Eater ranks he had no more time for her. In fact Draco had made it very clear to her that she was not worthy of a man of his status any longer. He was the only one in their year to already be accepted into the DE ranks, and as such, he was in high demand and had better offers than she had now.

Many of the other Slytherin males while they are acceptable were not even close to the family prestige that Draco would have brought her. She needed someone smart, because let's face it other than Draco, Blaise, and Theo the boys in her year the rest were little to be desired. If only Snape was still on their side. Rumor had it that his son was very handsome and very smart exactly what she was looking for. Suddenly and idea came to her. Pansy went to find Flyyboi her owl she needed to send a message to her Godmother Narcissa she suddenly had a brilliant idea to get Snape's son.

Privet Drive

Now that testing was over for the trio, things relaxed a little around the house. Sloan and Luna took more time to build their relationship. Cassius upped his training regimen, and went to do some local off-season fighting exhibitions to keep up his natural boxing skills, and the female following that was starting to happen. Severus on the other hand was waiting for the ball to drop with Voldemort. He had stepped out of the shadows and was found a traitor to the Dark. Remus on the other hand was devising what was the best way to make the most of the summer after the scores came. While they did not have to study as hard as they had before the exams, he wanted them to continue their summer study sessions.

It was one week to the day of the first day of testing for the trio when during breakfast six owls appeared at the table. The activity stopped as the three teenagers stared at the owls and what they represented. Remus and Severus were the first to come out of their stupor, and accepted the letters. The Hogwarts letters were set aside for the anticipated test results. Luna the one who had a burst of Gryffindor courage tore open her results letters first.

Luna Lovegood – G.E.C.K.O. Results

Divination: Written-O, Practical-O, Overall-O

History of Magic: Written-O, Overall-O

Arithmancy: Written-O, Practical-O, Overall-O

Care of Magical Creatures: Written-E, Practical-O, Overall-O

Potions: Written-O, Practical-E, Overall-O

Ancient Rune: Written-O, Practical-O, Overall-O

Charms: Written-O, Practical-E, Overall-O

Transfiguration: Written-E, Practical-E, Overall-E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Written-O, Practical-O, Overall-O

Herbology: Written-E, Practical-E, Overall-E

Astronomy: Written-O, Practical-E, Overall-E

Congratulations Ms. Lovegood. We here at the examination board agree to the request of your father and headmaster about you advancing a year ahead. Your scores show that you would do well in your N.E.W.T year at Hogwarts. Your scores show that if you took your N.E.W.T.'s this year that you would pass with excellence. Good Luck in your future endeavors.

"Yes, I passed. However, I need to work on a few things. This is great. Whose next? Cassius come on open it up. It can't be that bad."

"Luna, why can't Sloan go first? You would think that as his girlfriend you would be more interested in his scores than mine."

"Nope. I am more concerned about your scores than his. He didn't learn under my tutelage as you did. Come on Cass. Be brave. I know that you did well. You're so smart, and a quick learner."

"Okay, okay." Cassius slowly pealed open the envelope acting like something was going to pop out at him. He glanced over the letter, and was very pleased with his results. Passing them over to Luna he smiled and a new spark of confidence shown from his eyes.

A/N: I am not going to do whole letters for Cassius' and Sloan's results.

Cassius Snape – O.W.L. results

Astronomy: E, E, E

Herbology: E, E, E

Transfiguration: E, O, O

Defense Against the Dark Arts, O, O, O

Charms: O, O, O

History of Magic: O, O

Care of Magical Creatures: O, E, O

Potions: E, O, O

Arithmancy: O, E, E

Mr. Snape in lieu of your past history of now formal training except for tutors this summer since the realization of your wizarding powers due to a learning disability it is our esteemed honor to congratulate you on your outstanding scores. We at the Ministry of Magic feel that you have a very bright future ahead.

"Cassius! Congratulations, your scores are fabulous, and you were worried about them. You even qualified for Potions on your own, and you were worried." Everyone turned to look at Sloan. He didn't even hesitate in opening his results. Quickly reading over them he smirked remarkably like his father. Severus intercepted the pass to Luna wanting to see his son's results for himself.

"All O's," Severus announced looking proudly over at his son. "Well, I will be expecting this from you for the rest of the school year. There will be no more of your lackadaisical attitude young man regarding your schoolwork. In fact, in light of what you all have achieved in such a short amount of time. I will be expecting the same for all of you with Cassius showing some improvement also with the time that a normal school year allows you all to explore into some independent study into the fields that interest you. Cassius and Luna since I am a head of house I will do your career-planning meeting and help you choose your classes for next year. Sloan I believe that we decided that you would work on your masteries through the apprenticeship program. I believe if you ask a certain brave feline she would be happy to take you on as her apprentice for Transfiguration."

Remus beamed at the all and brought out a special dessert to celebrate the good results of all three. Dobby served, and then gave Sloan a hug. "I had Dobby prepare this earlier today, but we weren't going to bring it out until your letters came."

"Treacle tart is my favorite. Thanks you two." Sloan dug into his dessert while the others just smiled at him while partaking of the sugary goodness. After they finished eating, they all opened their Hogwarts letters to find out what supplies they needed for the upcoming year. Even though Dumbledore knew about Sloan for appearance sakes, he received a combination of the first year supply list, and a book list for seventh years. He also had an additional letter from Professor Dumbledore about the D.A., and his plans for the future.

Cassius letter was similar to Sloan's with a brochure about an elite student group that excelled in D.A.D.A. Beaming with pride he showed the brochure to Luna and Sloan to get their opinion about the offer. Luna and Sloan smiled, "You should do it. You are being invited into Sloan's elite army. He started it his 5th year my 4th year. We kept it going last year, as it became an official club in the school. So far, Sloan has used our services when things have gotten a little bit sticky when it comes to Voldemort. This is a great honor to you, because it looks like Professor Dumbledore is doing something different this year."

"Do you think that the group will welcome me?"

"Why wouldn't they it's not like they know a lot about you anyway. Dumbledore obviously wants you close to Sloan and me. We would be there for you, and any of the kids whose parents are in the Order too."

"You mean the Weasley's?"

"Not just them, but you will have to wait until an Order meeting to see. All of us have been in the D. A. since the beginning, and we are all good friends. Sloan's reception might be a little frosty because of his resemblance to Professor Snape, but your new looks are not close enough to cause suspicion."

"I'll try it out, and if it does turn out to be okay, and I am accepted then I'll stay."

"Good."

Sloan got up from the table and headed out of the room. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get parchment and quills so that we can write our response letters to Hogwarts.

"Luna Do you know what courses you need to continue in to reach your career goal?"

"Yep, I made especially sure that I succeeded in Potions. That was the hardest class that I had to qualify for to continue. Seeing how I passed that should not be a problem."

"Really, you need potions for your future career? I didn't know that. Wait a minute. Why would you need potions for being a journalist?

"A journalist… Why in the world would I want to be a journalist? I am surprised you made that assumption Professor."

Sloan had walked in to hear her tell his father that she was not following in her father's footsteps. He too assumed that she would be working for or with her dad after graduation. "What are you going to do then after graduation Luna? I thought that you liked traveling with your dad, and discovering all of those amazing creatures that you find."

"I can still do that when I have time off from being an Auror. My mom started out as an Auror and then became an Unspeakable before she died. If the war doesn't burn me out first. I would love to follow in her foot steps."

"An Auror…I can see you doing that Luna. You are a phenomenal dueler and I think that Unspeakable job in the future is a done deal." Sloan passed out the parchment, and the trio started their list of the classes that they intended to continue in school. All three stayed in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Arithmancy. Cassius and Sloan planned to take Care of Magical Creatures, while Luna continued in Ancient Runes.

Sloan had completed his letter to Professor McGonagall, and Luna was reading over it to check for grammatical errors. His letter was also complete with the classes that he wanted. He was about to leave and get Severus' owl from the owlery to return their letters to the school when he remembered the other letters that came with his yearly Hogwarts letter.

Malfoy Manor

Narcissa could not believe what had been happening recently to her family. Draco was now a Death Eater, and it looked like he would be marrying into a family that was even better ranked than the Parkinson's. He was the only one in his year at Hogwarts who was accepted into the ranks this early. Some of the other families that may not publicly support Voldemort have noticed, and Lucius is sure that Draco's match could be much better than Pansy.

That only left the conflict within her stronger. Pansy was named her goddaughter when she was born, because the families were of the understanding that Draco and Pansy would be married to each other. Now with the way things were turning out her goddaughter was going to be left out in the cold and she could not have that. She needed to figure out someone who was worthy of her bloodline. This deep thought process was interrupted with the tapping of a familiar owl outside her window. "Flyyboi, a letter from Pansy I see. I hope that she is not feeling too bad. Maybe she and I can come up with someone together."

I am completely sorry about the absenteeness of myself the author of this story. My muses temporarily abandoned this story for the purpose of an original that I finally completed. I am still here, and this story still means a whole lot to me. In case, anyone was wondering. This story is not HBP compliant or DH compliant. I will be reading book seven when it comes out, but there will be very little of its influence. Please review. I really enjoy reading them.