Hi folks!

Wow, I think it has been two weeks since I've updated. So sorry for the delay; AP testing caught up with me. So, thanks for the patience.

Reviews make the sun shine brighter.

-Sixth Year-

The Slytherin common room was in chaos.

Loud, booming music filled the room around them. Some students were in the corners, snogging the life out of their romantic partners. Some were dancing wildly on top of the furniture. Some were laughing hysterically with bottles of firewhiskey and wine in their hands.

Pansy was experienced in this sort of thing; she'd probably cast a very powerful silencing charm around the dungeons. Snape had ignored these gatherings before; Blaise never understood why.

Blaise felt a hand on his shoulder as it slid down to his chest. He turned around, startled. "Blaise!" a seventh-year Ravenclaw slurred, nearly falling over herself. "Do you want to get out of here? Go somewhere a little… quieter?"

He shook her hand off, pushing his way through the crowd. He was surprised she'd invited anyone from the other houses. He was even more surprised none of the other teachers had noticed.

"Pansy!" he shouted over the music.

She was running her fingers through her hair as she sat close with another Slytherin boy. Her head turned towards Blaise as a grin broke out across her face. "Darling!" she trilled. She stumbled a little as she pulled herself up off of the couch. "Where have you been? The party has been going on for hours!"

He watched the Slytherin boy's eyes trail down to her arse behind her. He couldn't believe this. He caught Pansy snogging Hannah Abbot in their dorm last week and made her explain everything.

He stared at her. "Studying. Our N.E.W.T's are in two weeks, Pansy."

She rolled her eyes. "Who knows if those silly little tests are going to matter next year, anyway? Let's just enjoy ourselves!"

And that was when she noticed the fear in her eyes. They were bloodshot and nervous, darting behind him as if she was afraid someone was watching them.

"Pansy…"

"Besides, I threw this lovely gathering for Draco. Look how much fun he's having!"

Blaise suddenly noticed Draco down a shot of alcohol, smirking as a girl started kissing his neck. He guessed it wasn't his first.

"What the fuck are you thinking? You think getting him drunk is going to help anything?" Blaise demanded angrily.

Pansy raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes. What better way to make him feel better than with alcohol?" She laughed. "You need to loosen up, darling."

He shook his head. He should have known she'd do this. She'd found out yesterday what Draco faced when he went back to the Manor, and she'd looked incredibly, shockingly sober. "The Dark Lord did this to you?" she'd asked, quietly, and Draco hadn't answered.

"Pansy, he was Crucio'd for hours this weekend."

She automatically flinched, but covered it with a grand smile. "It's nothing a little party can't fix."

Obviously she wasn't going to listen to reason. "Last week you tell me you like girls. Now you're flirting with some bloke?" he asked, quietly. Quite frankly, he was worried about her. Pansy was the type that couldn't handle failure, and she told him once that she considered being bent a weakness.

Her eyes hardened, and she lost the carefree edge the alcohol gave her. "I don't have to be bent if I don't want to be, love."

It was no use. There was no point talking to her when she was like this. He stormed over to where Draco was furiously snogging the Slytherin girl and took the bottle of firewhiskey out of his hands. Draco broke away, leaping up and trying to grab the bottle back. "What the…"

"You need to stop drinking," Blaise said.

Draco laughed disbelievingly. "That's funny, mate. Now give it to me."

"You've been doing this all year. It's getting ridiculous."

"Why do you care?" Draco slurred defensively. "Oh, I get it. You're mad that I didn't tell you about the party."

Blaise's jaw dropped.

"Sorry, mate, but I thought you would put a damper on things." He smirked, sitting back down on the couch and looping his arm around the Slytherin girl.

"You know what? Go fuck yourself, you self-centered asshole," Blaise spat. He was through with Draco's self-destructive behavior. He was done listening to him lash out.

Draco Malfoy was on his own from now on.

I slowly drifted back into consciousness.

I refused to open my eyes. I wanted to get some reading for the location before I let her know I was awake. The floor was cold beneath me, and I was lying on my side. It felt like tile. I tested moving every muscle-my toes, my arms, and my hands through minute movements. No binding charms. I hummed low in my throat. No silencing charms.

Soft piano music wafted through the air. It sounded like Debussy, but then again, I wasn't clear on my Impressionist musicians.

I heard the clacking of shoes on the floor approaching me. And it was then that I finally opened my eyes.

She was dressed as she was when she'd Stupefied me. She bent down to my level, but I refused to look at her.

"Hermione," she said softly. "You're awake."

And then an elegant smile spread across her face. She laughed lightly. "Goodness, I've been such a bad hostess. Please, come sit on the couch."

Still, I wouldn't acknowledge her. I wasn't going to play her little game.

After a moment of silence, she sighed. "Well, fine. I suppose I can't begrudge you if you decide to sit on the floor. Would you like some wine?"

This time, she didn't wait for an answer before she poured herself a glass and took a sip. Her immaculate red lipstick left a ring around the edge of the glass. She perched herself on the loveseat so she was facing me. "I thought we'd just have a little chat, you and I," she said nonchalantly. "You must be dying to ask me a few questions."

I still wouldn't answer. She shrugged. "Well, then, I suppose I'll just start at the beginning." She cleared her throat, crossing one leg over the other. "I've wanted to tell this story for so long, yet I knew no one would appreciate my incredibly brilliant plan like you would."

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

"I got into Quidditch in my second year," she continued. "Gods, I was great. I flied circles around those other Chasers. Mother kept pushing me to try out for a professional team. I finally tried out for the Canons in sixth year. I was shocked when they told me that once I finished school, they would put me on the team." She smiled nostalgically. "I had it all mapped out. Once my N.E.W.T's were finished, I would breeze my way into the career I'd always dreamed of."

A pit formed in my stomach.

"And then I touched that little opal necklace." She paused, her breath catching in her throat. "My whole world exploded in pain. I'd never felt anything like it." She swirled the wine in her glass. "I don't remember much of it, but I do remember waking up in the hospital wing."

She pursed her lips. "Six months. Six months I would be recovering. And," she added, smiling bitterly, "permanent damage to my joints. The Healers politely informed me that I would never be able to play Quidditch again."

I swallowed.

She took a deep breath. "But, of course, I moved on. I figured out a new career path. It would make me loads of money, and I could be as ruthless as I wanted. Business." She held up her wine glass as if she was toasting her own success. "I did some jobs for a few consulting firms, and I decided to start up my own firm."

"That was when you went after Pansy," I murmured.

She looked at me, surprised I had answered. "I didn't go after her, my dear. Pansy was the one who flirted with me. And I knew her family was very wealthy, so I figured I would take advantage of her interest."

"She spent millions of galleons to start your firm."

"Yes!" she replied, excited, placing her wine glass down on the table in front of us. "Yes. I needed Malfoy to suffer, you see. I figured I would dispose of the people he cared about. His wife was, logically, my first choice."

"But you didn't have an affair with her. Ginny did."

"Ginny wanted Potter. I promised her I would take care of his fiancée so that he could fall into Ginny's arms for comfort." She rolled her eyes. "The bint was pathetic. But she seduced Astoria; she was a natural born actress, made her believe that she loved her. By the time Astoria had fallen for it and filed for divorce, I obliviated her to cover my tracks. I kept my promise, of course; I was so sure that Alex would be dead in a month at most."

She shook her head. "I didn't expect her to give you the antidote. Luckily, my own private collection of potions had a few drops of Polyjuice. I had a tracking charm on her, and I assumed the only reason she'd be alone at your flat, at night, was to confess. I tracked her down to St. Mungo's to see if I'd have to dispose of her as well." She sighed. "And of course, I did."

A shiver ran up my spine.

"Astoria was easier to kill," she said dismissively. "I just fed her an instantly fatal poison. She managed to apparate away, but I knew there was no chance of her surviving long."

"You wanted to frame Pansy for it because you already had her money."

"Well, what else would I need her around for?" she asked. "I thought it was rather brilliant, planting that necklace and those letters." She cocked her head to the side. "Pansy told me about the memory from Malfoy's pensieve. I created a replica of the locket based on her description."

That didn't make any sense. If she was the one that killed Lucius and cursed Narcissa, why would she have to create a replica of the locket? She must have had the necklace for it to be in the Narcissa's memory.

What the hell was going on?

She must have seen the confusion on my face. "It'll all become clear in a moment, Hermione. I wanted to wait for a moment before your boyfriend comes to explain. I thought I'd entertain you like a good hostess."

"You're a murderer," I said, quietly. "You started a vendetta against him over Quidditch."

And then my head snapped back as I felt her backhand me across the face. Her long nails scratched my cheek, and when I reached my hand up to gauge the damage, my fingers came away bright red with blood.

"It was my life!" she screeched, bending over me, grabbing my wrist in her hand and squeezing hard, pulling me to my feet. "It was my dream and he RUINED IT! HE RUINED ME!"

And then she seemed to come back to herself, her face going blank. She straightened up the tiniest bit, but she was still bent over me, considerably taller. Her hand was still gripping my arm.

That was when I started to act.

I elbowed her in the face and twisted my arm sharply, her wrist twisting with it. She screamed out in pain, letting go of me immediately.

And then I felt it: my nose felt like it had been snapped in half, and my wrist felt like it was breaking underneath my skin. I stumbled back, shocked.

She started laughing hysterically, blood dripping from her nose as she let her wrist hang down. "I forgot to mention that, love!" She giggled, the edges of her white dress staining quickly around her neckline. "Anything that happens to me happens to you. It's a nifty little charm. So I wouldn't recommend you try to escape by force."

My wrist was still incredibly sore. It felt like I'd broken it, which meant I'd broken hers. Our left hands were completely useless. I only glared at her.

And then I saw him: Draco, in the corner, pointing his wand at Katie's head. He'd clearly just apparated in.

"Draco!" Katie trilled. "I'm so glad you responded to my little note. Hermione here must be so happy to see you!"

"Let her go," he said, his voice tightly controlled. "Let her go, or I will kill you in your own home."

"Didn't you hear?" she asked, a mock-confused look on her face. "If you cast that curse, she dies along with me."

"Take off the curse or I will make sure I'll get around it."

"Sorry, Malfoy, but I've got a better idea." She placed her fingers in her mouth and pulled out a tiny white capsule. "Do you know what this is?" She didn't even wait for an answer. "It's something muggles call a cyanide pill. Incredibly lethal. If I swallow it, it'll kill the both of us before you can mutter an Expelliarmus. And trust me, I have plenty."

Draco lowered his wand, slowly. "What do you want?"

I saw an ecstatic gleam in her eyes. "I want you to tell her the truth. I want you to watch the hope in her eyes turn to hate."

He raised an eyebrow. "I am not playing your game."

"If you don't do it, I'll swallow that pill and you'll have to watch her die. In either outcomes, I win and you lose." She paused. "Now tell her."

He didn't answer.

She turned to me. "Guess what, Hermione? I cursed Narcissa. I wanted her to die. I killed Ginny and I killed Astoria. But I never touched Lucius, not when I knew how much Draco hated him." She twisted her head towards him. "It was your precious little boyfriend who killed him." She grinned wildly. "Well? Admit it."

"Tell me that's not true, Draco," I said, quietly.

He didn't answer.

"TELL ME SHE'S LYING!" I screamed.

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Hermione," he replied flatly. "But I'm afraid that she's telling the truth."

And all I could hear was her twisted laughter, distantly, as my throat closed.