The stars twinkled like scattered moondust in the sky. Lingering remnants of crimson and violet, faded into the darkness that engulfed the backdrop of Lia's lantern-lit room, as she stared down at the charmed piece of parchment she held in her hands.

A message was scrawled on the paper in hasty script:

"Meet me in front of the marble staircase. Near the dungeon. Urgent."

She moaned. The sun had set already, and she'd just wriggled into her pyjamas, ready to slip into her bed, with an enlightening book of charms and a smoking cup of hot chocolate, when she'd found that the page that lay by her bedside drawer was now decorated with Harry's messy handwriting.

She wore an oversized singlet, a bright yellow rubber duck printed smack bang in the middle, above the animal, the words 'Ducky Time' blared out in hot pink. In pair with her top, she was sporting her blue and orange pineapple shorts.

It was a rotten sight.

For a minute she contemplated changing, but her laziness overpowered her self-consciousness. Besides, at night, the corridor outside was practically deserted, the students all too scared that they'd be attacked.

Flinging a cloak-like robe around her shoulders, Lia slipped her feet into her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Tracey asked.

"Harry calls. Duty awaits. If anyone asks where I am, make it up okay? Tell them … uh just tell them we're doing some sort of Heir of Slytherin crap together!"

"Have fun." Davis turned around, her attention drifting back to composing a letter to her parents.

As Lia opened Slytherin common room's door, Flint asked her curiously, "Where are you off to?"

"Don't waste Salazar's Heir's time with stupid questions," Lia said snootily. "I have things to do. People to hurt." She walked briskly out of the common room, unaware that a certain blonde shadow dawdled after her.

As she approached the marble stairs, she squinted around, discovering that the room was completely empty, except for two large, round boys standing in the centre, with watchful eyes.

"Crabbe? Goyle?" Lia asked, scrunching up her face. "What are you two doing here? Where's your master?"

Goyle reached out an arm and pulled Lia closer, dropping his lips down to her ear, as if he were preparing to whisper out a secret.

Unfortunately, Lia took him to be planning to kiss her on the temple.

"Crap!" she yelled. "Bloody hell, let go of me, fatass. I know you don't get many girls but I didn't think you were this despera-"

"Shut up," he hissed. "I'm H-"

But Lia didn't get to hear what he was. She hoped it wasn't horny. Ron's brother, Percy, was walking towards them in a poised manner. Goyle immediately closed his mouth. He let go of Lia's arm.

"What are you doing down here?" Crabbe asked, in a voice that sounded weird to her. Lia realised that it was because it lacked its usual encompassing tone of stupidity.

"That's none of your business," Percy said in a stiff tone. "Crabbe is it?"

"Wha – oh, yeah."

Well, there was the Crabbe she knew and did not love again. He was dumb enough to forget his own name. Lia still narrowed her eyes. Something told her that they were both acting suspicious and unlike themselves.

"Well," Percy said. "Get off to your dormitory now. It isn't safe in the corridors at this time of night."

"Don't stress, Perce," Lia said. For the sake of the lie she'd told Slytherin house, she needed to keep up appearances in front of Crabbe and Goyle. "I don't think I need to worry about being attacked."

She sent an evil grin at the two Slytherins, expecting them to smirk back at her. They didn't return her gesture though. Instead both looked exceedingly confused. Which made Lia confused as well. Those two were being … strange again.

Percy straightened up, and pulled at his robes, so that the badge hanging off it gleamed in the light. He looked insulted. "I am a prefect. I have permission to patrol corridors at night."

Malfoy then appeared out of nowhere. "Crabbe. Goyle. There you are," he droned. "What were you two doing? Pigging out in the Great Hall?"

He spotted Percy and sneered, "And what are you doing here, Weasley?

This of course, enraged the bigheaded Percy. "You should show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he barked out. "I don't like your attitude!"

"I don't think you'll find a person alive who likes Malfoy's attitude," said Lia. "Sorry about him. His mother dropped him on the head a lot when he was a baby."

Percy gave Malfoy one last scalding look and stalked off.

"Let's go," Malfoy said, motioning for them to follow. "Move, Lia. Don't just stand there like a halfwit."

"I'm waiting for Harry." The words slipped out of Lia's mouth before she realised that it would sound suspicious to Malfoy.

"Harry? Why?"

Lia thought fast. "Um … We're planning our next attack."

Malfoy jeered. "Yeah right, you are. You might've convinced the rest of the house, but I don't believe for one second that you two are what you claim to be. What are you really doing here, Agorios?"

"The question is, what are you doing, Malfoy? You were about to go up to bed, last I saw. Did you follow me here?" she was frustrated.

"No," said Malfoy, but he averted his eyes.

"Liar. So you're still obsessed then? Still want to date me?"

"Date you?" Goyle burst out.

"What attack?" asked Crabbe.

Lia looked at them oddly. "Did someone sneak an amnesia potion into your cupcakes? Or did you finally lose your marbles?" The two boys gulped. "Don't you remember?" When they didn't reply, she kept speaking.

"I swear you two need to buy yourselves a Pensieve then. How can anyone's memory be that bad? It was only a few weeks ago, when lovely Malfoy here decided to grace me with the fact that I was finally worthy of his fancy. I declined of course. I'm not really into chickens myself, thank you very much."

Malfoy scowled. "It wasn't like that! I told you, it was logic, not emotion. I'm not obsessed! And you're an idiot for declining. You won't get that sort of compliment again from anyone. More to the point though, I just wanted to talk to you. Privately."

"About what?"

"About how you're not the Heir of Slytherin."

Lia looked in alarm at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both looking shocked. At least that was how she expected they would react. "I thought you said privately? What … So you've changed your mind about me and the Chamber of Secrets? Does this mind work any better?"

"I didn't change my mind, because I never believed it was you who unleashed that monster. I just pretended to. Didn't want to blow your cover. And you don't need to worry about Crabbe and Goyle - they already know and they won't say anything. I just want to know why you're lying. What you're hiding."

"I'm not hidi –" She stopped mid-sentence and gaped at Goyle. "Are you … Are you wearing glasses Goyle?"

He scrambled a hand at his face, his hand latching up, and touching the glasses. "I was reading."

"Reading?" Lia wrinkled her nose. "I didn't know you could read!"

Goyle swallowed nervously. Lia took a step forward, so that she could examine him closely. "I suppose those are nice glasses though," she said. "Here pass them over. I want a look." He shoved him into his robe pockets, but not before Lia was able to scrutinize the spectacles.

She realised why she'd liked them so much. Of course she would, considering that she had picked them out herself!

But then … that had to mean that this was …

Goyle gave her a small, barely identifiable nod. Her brother's eyes said wordlessly to her, "You're in trouble."

Lia sent him a silent stare back as well, hoping that it communicated, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Lia?" Malfoy asked. "Why have you gone white? And why are looking at Goyle like that? You look like you've just seen a dead body. Either that, or you're constipated."

She thought fast. "Stomach ache," she groaned out. "I ate one of those cupcakes that Crabbe and Goyle had before. I think the cream was off. Those two probably have tougher stomachs than me," she added as an afterthought.

"You ate something they gave you?" Malfoy looked incredulous. "Just last week Goyle picked his nose and ate the booger. I didn't think that you'd touch, let alone eat, anything they'd already laid their hands on. Ever."

Harry looked at his hand – Goyle's hand – as if he wanted to chop it off.

"It was a mistake," muttered Lia. "Lets just go to the common room, okay? Its cold." She paused. "Har … I mean Goyle, and Crabbe, are you coming?"

Goyle – well it was really Harry - nodded at her.

The underground room was empty when they arrived back, although the fire still flickered beneath the mantelpiece. Lia waited for 'Crabbe', 'Goyle' and Malfoy to seat themselves in empty chairs first. She flopped herself on one as well.

"What are you doing now?" Malfoy asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. "You've never willingly sat with me before."

The real answer was because Lia knew that she'd have to obliviate Malfoy if anything went wrong and he realised who Goyle really was. But she couldn't very well tell him that. "Didn't you say you wanted to ask me questions?" she said simply.

Malfoy, who still looked skeptical, said, "Wait here, then. I'll go and show you two," he motioned to Crabbe and Goyle, "- something funny that my father's sent me."

It turned out to be a newspaper article talking about how Lucius thought that Mr. Weasley should be fired.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," Malfoy said scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Crabbe's face immediately flushed red with fury.

"So that must be Ron then," Lia thought. Where was Hermione? She suspected that it was her who had prepared the polyjuice potion. Harry and Ron weren't really up to it.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy, seeing the boy's expression.

"Stomachache," Ron grunted. "Ate the cupcakes, like Lia."

"You know what you should do then? Go and run up to the hospital wing, and give all those petrified Mudbloods a kick from me. It's a wonder the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place."

"You're wrong!" Harry suddenly shouted, and Lia did a mental face palm. There was her noble brother again.

Malfoy was scowling. He stood up. "Wrong? Wrong am I? You think there's someone worse than Dumbledore?"

"Well, isn't there?" said Lia, thinking quickly. "For you three at least. You're always droning on and on and on about how much you hate Harry Potter. Honestly, I wished you used the time that you spent complaining, and actually learned how to grow a brain. Maybe I'd be able to stand you then."

Malfoy shrugged off her words, he seemed vexed, now that she had mentioned Harry's name. "Saint Potter, the Mudblood's friend-"

"Don't you dare call her a Mudblood!" said Lia angrily.

"- He must have no dignity at all, or he wouldn't hang around with that mud …" He looked at Lia and frowned. "… vile Granger girl." He glared at Lia. "And people think that you're the Heir of Slytherin, and Potter's your second in charge or something."

Malfoy then said in a cross tone. "I wish I knew who it was. I could help them."

"You?" Lia snorted. "Help? Don't make me laugh. Malfoy, your hollow head is the reason why we have to put directions on shampoo."

He wasn't able to snap back at her, 'Goyle' had said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all …"

Ah. So that was it. Harry and Ron must have thought that Malfoy had something to do with the Chamber of Secrets. They couldn't possibly think that he was the heir, could they?

Lia didn't think that Malfoy was neither smart, or brave enough. And to try to kill people? His father, she could believe. But Malfoy? He just … he was prejudiced sure, but she'd noticed how he hadn't ended up calling Granger a 'Mudblood' the second time round … he'd been avoiding that word around her a lot lately. She didn't think he actually wanted the muggle-borns to die.

"You know I haven't!" Malfoy barked. "How many times do I need to tell you? Father did say this much though The Chamber hasn't been opened for fifty years. He wouldn't say who it was last time round, just that they got expelled and sent to Azkaban. But he did tell me this … the last time the Heir of Slytherin let out the monster? A mud … muggle-born was killed. It's only a matter of time before another one's killed this time. Personally, I hope it's Granger."

Maybe Lia was wrong then. But still, she wasn't convinced that Malfoy could murder anyone. It was coming from the same part of her, that same gut instinct, that had told her that Snape was innocent in her first year.

Ron's fists were clenching together. Lia knew that she had to act, before he gave it away and started hitting Malfoy.

"You know what I hope, Malfoy?" she said. "I hope that you're adopted, and that your mother didn't commit the foulest crime in wizarding history by messing up her birth-control spell. You'd be next then. Even the Heir of Slytherin can't be able to bare your aggravating face."

"Ho!" Ron said suddenly.

Lia looked at him and saw in horror that his hair had the faintest trace of red, and that Harry's scar was starting to resurface. She leapt up and tried to shield them from Malfoy's view.

"Need to get medicine," Ron grunted, "for my stomach". Harry and Ron sprinted away.

"Was it just me," Malfoy said slowly. "Or were those two acting very strange?"

"I didn't see anything strange," Lia said quickly. She winced, trying to think of a way to change the subject. "Malfoy! Let's have another lesson now."

Malfoy's calculating expression dissolved into aloofness. "No."

"C'mon … How good was last time?"

"I still feel dizzy thinking about it." He was indeed looking a bit green at the mere memory of when Lia had used a spell to pass on a fully-immersive, memory like vision of riding on a racecar to Malfoy.

"Oh, come off it. I know you liked that car. Even if you kept screaming when it accelerated. God, I wish the Dursleys would take me someday."

"What?" smirked Malfoy. "Are you thinking of becoming a racecar driver?"

"No, an auror actually," Lia said, lost in thought. "What should we do tonight? I was -"

"Lia," Malfoy interrupted her, taking in her outfit. The fire had been so warm that Lia had slid off her cloak, revealing the pyjamas underneath. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Didn't you know?" Lia said with sarcasm, trying to shove down her humiliation. "It's the latest fashion from Chanel."

"Cha-what?"

"Don't worry, muggle brand. Anyway, that reminds me. What are we doing? I'm thinking either skydiving –"

"Skydiving? What's that? … How can the sky dive at you? Sounds painful."

"It sounds quite fun actually. It's this muggle thing you do. You sort of. Urgh? I guess you jump out of a plane?"

"Why would people willingly kill themselves?"

"No! Not like that. You have a parachute, so it slows you down. It's like … if we leapt out of the tip of the North Tower, but someone used 'Aresto Momentum' for us."

"It sounds pointless."

"It's exhilarating! For one moment, you just feel free you know? Boundless. Like you're actually flying."

"Have you tried before?" Malfoy rolled his eyes at her.

"No, but –"

"Then, how do you know it's exhilarating?"

"I just do, alright? A girl at school was talking about when she went with her older sister once, and she made it sound like the best thing ever. I've always wanted to go but …" She cleared her throat. "Alright we'll go with something else."

"How do you feel about zip lining? Or surfing? Oooh. A rollercoaster would be run!"

Malfoy groaned and buried his face in a pillow.