A/N: Holy crap! People still read this thing. Who knew? THANKS y'all. :huggles:

Anyway, I want to say a specific thanks to Teg. I had no idea I was missing a scene break in Chapter 7. My apologies. I'm intending to go back through the already posted stuff and do a whole bunch of polishing edits, so if anyone else noticed(or notices) anything you think needs fixing please let me know. I write fanfic as a way to improve my writing skills (and because I'm minorly obsessed with certain universes) so I welcome all comments, positive, negative or harsh.

PS: I reposted chapters 7 and 8. 7 has only minor edits and some shuffling of the description, but 8 has a whole knew scene from Draco's POV because I realized that I knew his motivations but I didn't state them in the fic itself.

PPS: This was my first new chapter after not writing this story for 2 years. It's a little rambly. Bear with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own and make no moneys from my babies.

Alex scrubbed her face, uncaring, for once, that she was admitting via non-verbal cues, that she was tired. It wasn't that she hadn't been able to sleep, that wasn't a problem that plagued her often. Even when she didn't want to, when she knew the nightmares were coming, she still fell asleep as if she were an innocent child. No her problem, last night, had been that every time she had fallen asleep she'd begun to dream. And in the dream she was suddenly faced with a younger female housemate that she needed to protect from physical attack on a long term basis. Basically, even asleep her brain kept circling the unpleasantness of last night over and over again. Her body might have rested but mentally, she was exhausted. And it didn't look like she'd be getting much relaxing done today. If she didn't get this problem solved to her own satisfaction, which tended to differ from other peoples levels of satisfaction, she would be bothered by it until she did.

The thing was, the whole thing was complicated. First there was the fact that the Detharts were purebloods. Oh, one of the lesser Houses to be sure, but Pure nonetheless. And thus they were all bound by the Rules by which one member of the Society must interact with another member of Society. Most of which were highly antiquated. So, because Tania was an unmarried, younger female in the Dethart Family, an older male had the right to do pretty much anything he wanted to her. That particular rule didn't apply to Bellmontes, of course, because of their female succession but it wasn't in general use with most anyone else either. Most pureblooded witches just wouldn't put up with it.

Tania, the poor child, didn't seem capable of standing up for herself. Or, also possible, there was a reason she didn't dare hit back. A more powerful figure, like one or both parents, could support the behavior, or Falon could have some sort of control over her, blackmail of some kind.

Second, not one of their Families was closely connected with the Detharts. If, for example, Tania had been from a second or third line in the Zabini Family Alex could very easily step in. The Zabinis and the Bellmontes had been allies for centuries, though it was true that it hadn't generally been because of a close personal relationship like she had with Blaise. Mostly it was because the Lord Zabini, whoever he was at the time, had no trouble working with a dominant female. It was the House least bothered by the reversed gender roles in terms of succession. Oh that wasn't to say that-

Alex shook her head. Merlin, she needed sleep! Okay, first, Tania was technically under Falon's control according to the Rules. Second, there was no inter-House connection for them to exploit. Draco might have a chance talking Falon out of it if he invoked his Father's authority; since Lord Dethart was a known Malfoy wanna-be. But that would be tipping quite a few of his cards and Alex couldn't honestly see Draco being willing to do so. Not for some barely known entity like Tania.

Hell, Alex wasn't sure she'd be willing to expose that much to save Tania. She wanted the girl safe but she wanted herself safe even more. Stepping out that far on the branch...unless everything went perfectly, and Falon was a bigger moron than anyone Alex had ever met, Draco might as well be baring his throat to the enemy.

No. It wasn't going to happen. They didn't have a leg to stand on in terms of a straight forward approach. They couldn't just blast the little snot into the wall.

"Mores the pity," she muttered.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Miss Bellmonte?"

Alex glanced up at Professor Snape, noted him taking note of her condition. She smiled faintly. Gods she loved to hear him talk in that particularly dry tone. It was so familiar that it was soothing, no matter what the actual words were. She briefly considered casting a spell to help her get to sleep. Just a simple recreation of his voice from memory, playing in a loop over and over. Ten points from Gryffindor, Mister Potter. Ten p-

"Miss Bellmonte? Care to join us back on this planet?"

To her horror she felt herself blush faintly. Sweet Merlin! It wasn't like she'd been having inappropriate thoughts about him or anything. She covered with a brilliant smile and chattered, "So sorry, Professor. I was just trying to recall the exact ingredients in my grandmother's memory potion. It would help keep important things, like the fact that it's Christmas break and thus we aren't in class, from slipping your mind. I understand how, at your age, keeping track of the details might become a challenge."

Much to her delight, Alex caught sight of those two tiny creases on the corners of his eyes and the faint twitch of his lips. "When you've succeeded in recalling the specifics of the potion, create a report and have it on my desk by the time we resume classes." It was said as if he were punishing her for her impertinence...but if he'd been Blaise he would've winked at her.

Alex nodded sharply, dimpling. "Yes, sir, Professor Snape."

Without another word he turned and headed out of the Great Hall. As if being hit in the back of the head by a flying broom, Alex suddenly realized she was being stupid.

"Wait! Professor!" she all but tumbled out of her seat and, leaving her books, dashed to catch up to him. He paused and turned, with an air of bare sufferance. She looked up at him. "Professor, I need to show someone the error of his ways, but I can't just tell him he's being a moron and blast him into a wall."

"I assume we aren't talking about, Mister Malfoy."

Alex snorted. "Him I can call an idiot and blast into walls...with all due respect. Professor."

Instead of reacting like she expected Snape just looked down at her and shook his head as if she were suddenly a very slow student. "Then remove all opportunity for him to repeat the error, Miss Bellmonte."

For a single, brief, instant Alex wanted to whine, "But that's hard Professor!" Fortunately for her, Snape was well out the door before that desire became fully formed. She ruthlessly quashed the feeling. Even if he had still been standing there, it wouldn't have helped to say it. The best outcome she could hope for would be a slightly sympathetic, disgusted stare. More likely would be a completely vicious tongue lashing, involving the words "Hufflepuff" "Gryffindor" "fool" and the phrase "status in life" at least twice and then he'd start getting mean.

Alex grinned just imagining it...mostly because she wasn't having to experience it. She waved a hand behind her, the books she hadn't been paying any attention to obediently forming into a pile. A single sharp motion of her wand, a word, and they dashed across the room into her book bag. She shouldered it and considered levitating it behind her. Alex shrugged it higher instead and started walking. One indulgence led to two which led to weakness in the long run.

"Hey, Bellmonte! Have you seen Blaise?"

"Nope," she called in response, not even bothering to glance and see who had asked. If she had to take a guess she'd say he was in his room, probably passed out drunk trying to block out dreams brought on by last night's drama.

She frowned. What was wrong with her? It felt like her brain was in a million places. Why couldn't she concentrate? This was important! Alex grabbed a hank of hair and pulled on it, hard enough to hurt but just shy of actually pulling out hair. Physical pain was one of the things that was always, always real and it gave her a tangible focus.

"Alright. Make it so that Falon can't hurt Tania anymore even if he wants to." she muttered, her pace unconsciously speeding up in time with her narrow flow of thoughts. "So when and why would be exert control over himself? Why would he not hurt her?"

She wrapped the strand of hair around one finger, still pulling. "Well, when Professors are around. He knows that physical abuse, whether it's his sister or not is against the rules, and he has to abide by the rules of the school if he wants to graduate. Apple Cider."

Alex felt a wave of heat wash over her as she stepped, unseeing into the Slytherin Common Room. Clearly someone had been messing with the temperature controls, but she didn't care. Alex much preferred to be warm.

"Hey, Alex."

"But it's not like I can sew the hems of their robes together. Not and live to tell about it. Hell, I don't even think Snape would be my main concern if it came down to it."

A large, human type shape was suddenly in her path and she only had time to start registering that fact before she barreled into it.

"Hi, Alex."

A large hand easily lifted her overstuffed book bag from her shoulder. Alex glanced back and Vince winked at her. In front of her Greg bowed slightly. "Won't you join us?"

She wrinkled her nose, tugging on the lock of hair. "I'm trying to think about something right now boys..."

"Ah, thinking. A rather odious task last I heard." the words dropped out of Vince's mouth like a well used reply, which it probably was.

She looked down at her books bag, which he was swinging lazily in one hand. "I'm not getting that back unless I let you bother me am I?"

Vince paused, as if he actually hadn't considered that angle before. In a sweeping motion Greg grabbed the bag and held it out. "Of course you can...but come on, two brains are better than one."

Hands closing around soft leather straps Alex considered. "There are three of us you know," she commented neutrally.

Greg glanced at Vince, then back at her and grinned. "Would you like the big chair or the sofa?"

She glanced at both options and decided the matter by simply dropping onto the couch. A soft blanket was draped over the back and she tucked it around her legs at the boys sat themselves.

"Alex, it has got to be 80 degrees in here!"

She waved a finger. "It is winter, Vince. Cold, nasty winter."

"Bringing us back to a common point of conversation," Greg interjected.

"Alright." Alex felt some of her revived spirits start to fade. "So, Professor Snape, no details involved, says that the best thing to do is to remove all opportunities for Falon to get to her. And you know he wouldn't do a damn thing around a Professor but..." she sighed.

"Ah!Now the robes comment makes sense. Funny too even." Vince said with a half smirk. "But you're right. We were thinking, yeah, yeah I know it hurt, but we were thinking about the same thing, just substitute you and Draco for the Professors. But that's probably a worse prospect."

"Why?"

"Well, unless by some fluke all the class times and locations match up..."

"Which we can't know until we get a hold of Tania's class schedule somehow."

Alex scowled. "Now see. I knew this was going to be harder than Snape made it sound. Is Hunter still upstairs?"

A boy who was a bare few inches shy of six feet at fourteen was impressively tall. A boy of that height and age with enough meat on his bones to qualify for heavy weight wrestling was down right intimidating. Two of them put together...well sometimes they made small children cry. But Greg and Vince had been friends too long, and had the muscle too long not to realize how they made other people feel and they generally made an effort to tone down the effect.

Not, of course, when they were running around playing "Draco's Brute Squad", but most of the rest of the time. It was for the same reason that Draco didn't use his Malfoy Ice Prince aura all the time. That kind of power was necessary only at certain times. It was unintelligent and unSlytherin to use their brute force to gain them every little thing they wanted. Mostly they just kept people thinking they were pea brained brutes because it suited them. No one would ever suspect them for being behind their more subtle work if no one thought they were mentally capable of it. Of course that idiocy did not translate into the classroom.

"She is not quiet, you know?" Greg said beneath the clatter of Alex's heels on the stone stairs.

"I honestly can't believe they made it out of Moody's house alive if those are her sneaking abilities."

"I know. I'm surprised-" He stopped as he heard a very faint sound, like cloth over stone and turned.

Tania Dethart was twisted on the stair two above them, clearly attempting to make a break for it back up to the girl's dorms.

"Nowshe is quiet," Vince muttered.

"Wait," Greg held up his hands flat and empty in front of his chest. "We're friends. Of Alex and Hunter. They asked us to hang around near you if you go outside Common Room."

That was what they'd worked up together as their opening line. One person doing all the talking to help her forget that there were two of them. For some reason Vince seemed to think that Greg was "less threatening". Weird. Slowly, very very slowly Tania's look of Cornered Prey faded and finally she sighed very softly in what sounded like relief.

"Why?" she asked slowly.

Greg met Vince's gaze. That was an interesting question considering their opening statement. But it made some sense that she'd know they weren't that close to either Alex or Hunter.

"Frankly," he said, taking the chance of looking her straight in the eye. "We don't like your brother. Falon Dethart is one of those sickly throwbacks that should be pruned from the family tree."

"Not to mention he's annoying," Vince added. "You, on the other hand have yet to annoy me, at least not enough that I remember it. That's good enough for me."

"Besides," Greg let a tiny bit of humor show in his face. "We were hoping you were hungry, which would be a perfectly good excuse to have a second breakfast."

Greg might, might have seen a flash of amusement slide into her eyes before she ducked her head and nodded. "I...I'd like breakfast."

"Your wish, m'Lady," Vince murmured with a bow, crossing the room ahead of them and opening the portrait door. He was going to walk ahead and keep an eye out for Falon, hopefully heading him off before Tania even saw him, while Greg settled in a couple of paces behind her, or possibly next to her, depending on what she was comfortable with.

"What he said," Greg commented ingeniously, stepping back so she wouldn't feel crowded, or like she had to go past him in order to get down the stairs.

Again he might have heard a very tiny snort, but with her hair concealing her face, and muffling any sounds it was near impossible to tell.

In the end the Plan was a lot simpler on its face than it would be in practice. But then, it would be a lot simpler in practice than it was going to be to convince everyone of what should happen. Alex pondered whether a little snack break right now would be a bad thing.

"Oh no you don't," Blaise said grumpily from his spot in the corner. He and Draco had both been sound asleep...read as "passed out"...when Alex had invaded, dragging Hunter and his gang of miscreants behind her. Greg and Vince, having already agreed to their part of the Plan were currently escorting a pale, shaky Tania down to the kitchens for some early afternoon breakfast.

Draco glanced over at him. "No what?"

"She had her mad-dash-for-freedom look on her face. And if I have to be awake with this hangover then you have to say whatever it is you don't want to say."

"Damn! Is he going to whine all day?" Charlie asked drawing his wand. Reaching out he whacked Blaise over the top of the head with it. Blaise winced, then his face and eyes cleared rapidly. He pulled himself up straighter.

"You have got to teach me that."

"Enough!" Hunter jerked up off the wall, which he had been steadily supporting since he'd come in. "Right now my sister is being watched over by two potentially trustworthy cronies and you're wasting time withhangover cures?!"

"Get used to it!" Alex snapped, cutting off both Charlie's annoyed retort and Draco's defense of his best friends.

"What?"

"Well shut up for a second and I'll tell you." she sighed. "It's not like I've spent all morning working on this with Greg and Vince and, anonymously, Professor Snape."

After another minute of useless commentary and grumbling the boys sorted themselves out."Now, to get all the dirty work out of the way, gentlemen," Alex waved a hand at Hunter and his surround of friends. "you all are useless for this. For whatever reason, His Odiousness is not afraid of you Hunter."

"I have theories on that," Blaise muttered.

Alex shot him a glare, but he was too busy eyeing Hunter to notice. "Good for you," she snapped instead, before firmly taking herself in hand. "Therefore it stands to reason that he wouldn't be entirely concerned about your companions. Not, that is, as afraid as he would be of us." She pointed to herself, then Draco, Blaise and Greg and Vince's empty beds. "You see, we can't force him to stop hurting Tania. As usual there's no straightforward route on this one. So, instead we have to force him to control himself. He doesn't care about the good opinion of Hunter's friends because he already considers then off limits. But he's rather desperate to cultivate good relations between his Oh So Wonderful self and those of his peers with better connections or more power than him."

"Damn obviously desperate," Draco sneered, making a tiny flicking motion with his finger as if he were removing a bug from his person. "When I consider the list of things he's overtly and covertly offered to do for me..."

The look on Draco's face made Alex wince. "Ew. Ew. Eeeew. Do not finish that sentence, Malfoy."

"So, you think he'll control himself if one of you three, or five, is around?" Charlie asked, looking sideways at Hunter for confirmation.

The older boy took a deep breath. "In all honesty, it could work. He would barely even notice her standing there if he was busy trying to impress one of you. But it's not a long term solution."

"It's not meant to be," Alex tried not to feel defensive as she pointed it out. "It's supposed to be our very best option right now, considering the limited time we have to come up with a solution."

"Besides," Blaise drawled before anyone could reply, "while we're spending all this time with Tania, using our glorious selves to shield her one or more of us can be forming friendships with her. Once she's the close personal friend to the Heir of the Zabini House and Line..." He paused and shrugged. "Well there's your direct route of intimidation."

Alex let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "That'sgenius. Blaise, darling, marry me!"

"Alas my sweet I have but one love, and if Draco won't have me then I shall have no one. Even your vibrant energy is no match for his pale beauty." Blaise collapsed onto the mussed sheets as if love sick.

Draco lifted an eyebrow but held his peace. Apparently this was not the first time Blaise had made that type of declaration to him.

"Vibrant energy, huh?" Alex twirled a strand of hair around her first finger. "You know, if I didn't love you I'd kill you for that."

"My sweet, if you didn't love me I'd have killed myself a long time ago."

"Oh don't be morbid," she commanded, charming Draco's pillows to whack continually at Blaise.

"Hey!" the boys both protested at once.

"Hmph," she scoffed wordlessly and began to fluff her hair as if there wasn't another single thing in the room to occupy her attention.

"Children!" Hunter's voice cracked out harshly.

They all paused mid-motion, though Alex's pillows kept swooping at Blaise. "What?" Draco asked for them all.

"How do you expect to protect my sister if you can't even stay on topic for two minutes?" he all but snarled.

Blaise glanced at Alex who shrugged and answered in a faintly insulted tone, "What's the point? There's nothing else to do until Greg and Vince get back with Tania. Then we can all discuss schedules, paths to and from class etc. We can't do anything now."

Hunter looked like he was holding in some serious anger, but somehow, at the same time, he looked like a balloon someone had stuck with a pin. Deflated. He waved a hand as if dismissing them all.
"Come on boys," Mark shrugged off his wall and waved open the door. "Let's not ruin Miss Bellmonte's reputation."

With only minor grumbling, after all why had they all needed to get up early in order to hear that they were useless and unneeded, the older boys filed off, dragging Hunter along with them through sheer momentum.

"Yeah like you all are the people I'd have an orgy with," Alex muttered, only realizing she'd said it out loud when Mark threw her a wink. Fortunately this time, unlike earlier with Snape, she didn't blush. Instead she put on her best devil-may-care grin and winked back.

"Alex?"

"Hmm?"

There was a significant silence, or at least significant enough to make her turn around. "What Blaise?"

"Would you quit it with the damn pillows?!"

"Awww! Big strong manly man's afraid of some pillows?"

Blaise grabbed one of the unensorcelled ones and hurled it at her. Alex ducked and started to stick her tongue out at him.

Draco's pillow didn't miss.