OOO

Lucius retreated into his study while his wife whirled about the house, a ball of jitters. The first night Draco went back to Hogwarts after a vacation was always a bit tense. As he sank into his leather of his chair, his eyes drifted to the drawer where he'd placed the birthday present Draco had insisted on him getting so many weeks ago. Idly, he shrugged and pulled it out.

After all, he had promised the boy. And there was nobody there to see. Tossing the bag aside, he opened the book, skimming the text and glancing at the brightly colored pictures.

He froze when he came to a two-page spread in the middle.

There was a shot of a man, laid out on a stretcher, his face bloody and bruised. The opposite page had a series of pictures showing another man bearing down on him, snapping his leg at a ninety-degree angle. The caption beneath the pictures read 'Lawrence Taylor tackles Joe Theisman, resulting in a career ending injury.'

The thought that a leg could be snapped like that was horrific and mildly nauseating. There was blood everywhere, a sense of brutality and ferocity permeating the pictures. It was uncouth. It was disgusting. It was base, it was Muggle, it was…

Invigorating.

Lucius snapped the book shut and tossed it back into the drawer. Even the still shots had been somewhat exciting. It was like seeing someone take a bludger to the face or a seeker getting fooled by a feint and smashing into the ground. There was a gruesome, thrilling sense to it that made him think he should avert his eyes but want to stare all the more.

"Muggle sports," he scoffed. "Disgusting."

He walked away and went to his bedroom, thinking to retire early and trying to squash the sense of curiosity at what a scene of that 'football' would look like played out in life rather than in those stupidly still Muggle pictures.

OOO

As his father drifted into sleep, Draco tossed. Something was wrong. He couldn't tell what, but he felt it and tossed in his bed, trying to figure it out.

"Draco?" Ernie peeked out from his curtains, having changed bedding arrangements so that he would be by Draco instead of Justin. "Draco what are you doing? I can hear you from all the way over here."

"Awake," he whispered.

"Yeah, I am," Ernie muttered. "And I'm not exactly thrilled about it. I'm tired, you know, so it would be great…"

"Not you."

"What?"

"I said, I didn't mean you." Draco tossed aside the covers and sat on the edge of his bed. "Something woke up."

"Draco, it's too late in the night for this…"

"I don't like it Ernie."

The other boy sighed. "Are you sure this wasn't a dream?"

"I'm not dreaming now, am I?" Draco demanded. "I'm telling you, something is wrong!"

Heaving a sigh, Ernie sat up. "And what do you think we can do about it at one in the morning? Tell me that. Besides, you don't even have an idea if anything's really wrong! Something's awake – what does that mean? Something like a teacher? Something out in the forest? Picking up on the giant squid's thoughts now are we?"

"It's not funny!" Draco snapped.

"Then if you're so worried, tell Professor Sprout about it. Or somebody. But saying that something is awake… Draco, I need to get to bed and you should too if you want to be awake for your lessons tomorrow." He buried himself beneath his comforter, drawing his bed's curtains closed to signify that their conversation was at an end.

Still uneasy, Draco went back beneath his covers, though sleep didn't come for at least an hour. When it did, it was filled with dark and damp and the sense of something rising from the depths.

OOO

"I'm telling you, I think I felt something!" Draco persisted to Theo as the other poured a glass of juice.

"Yeah, you and Harry both. Going on about his scar again last night. Fine pair the two of you make."

Draco crossed his arms. "I got the brush off from Ernie last night, not you too!"

"Speaking of Ernie, don't you have a house table to be sitting at?" Theo asked as Draco reached for a muffin.

"Am I bothering you that much? Fine!" He took an impatient bite. "Look, there's Hermione," he gestured, crumbs spilling onto his robe. "I'm sure you'd much rather eat with her. See you in Herbology."

Harry sat down next to Theo moment after Draco walked off. "What was that about?"

"Nothing." Theo shrugged. "He had a bad night too apparently."

"That's weird." Harry frowned. "Maybe I should talk to him about it."

"Probably just back to school jitters," Nott assured him. "So, are you all read for today?"

"Almost." Harry sighed. "I've been looking everywhere for the map."

"The map?"

"You know," he whispered. "Marauder's Map? I was hoping to maybe find a passage or two that would help us to get to our classes faster. But when I looked through my trunk this morning I couldn't find it anywhere. Could have sworn I packed it though. Have you seen it? Did I take it out or something in the common room?"

Theo shook his head. "Haven't laid an eye on it since last semester. You're sure you packed it?"

"I thought I did." He piled his plate high. "I know I did! I mean… dang!"

"To think," Theo said with a roll of his eyes, "we'll have to get to class like everybody else, by knowing the way and using the stairs."

"It's not that I'm worried about!" Harry glared. "That map is important to me! And not just because it helps us to commit pranks. I mean, there is that. But it was a gift from Fred and George. And it… it was my father's and Sirius'. I'd hate to think I lost one of the few things I had that were actually from him."

"It will turn up," Theo assured him with a pat on the back. "It is only paper after all. Perhaps it slid into one or your books."

"Theo, I flipped through them all, practically tore the trunk apart! It wasn't there!"

"These things always turn up when you least expect them. Now hurry up and finish your breakfast or we're going to be late for our first class."

OOO

Lockhart beamed at the gathered Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs as they made their way towards the greenhouses, going on about his experience with exotic plants and Whomping Willows. Draco gritted his teeth; he was annoyed enough by the brush-offs he'd gotten from Ernie and Theo and had been looking forward to a peaceful time with the plants. Of course, that meant the git would show up.

"The Whomping Willow'd probably break your leg and you'd deserve it!" He blurted at Lockhart the moment the man paused to take a breath.

There was an audible gasp from behind him, although Draco was pleased to note that despite the withering glares he was getting from all of the females in the class, Harry and Ernie looked rather amused. Lockhart blinked at him as though he hadn't quite heard but Professor Sprout, looking somewhat disgruntled, merely directed them to proceed to greenhouse three.

"Do you have to be so rude?" Susan snapped at him a few minutes later as they went up to get earmuffs.

"You're lucky that Hufflepuff didn't lose points!" Hannah added.

"I'm lucky I didn't vomit all over my shoes after seeing that lurid turquoise robe of his." Draco spat. "I'd rather be repotting these mandrakes sans earmuffs than have to put up with that moron. I don't know how I'm going to make it through Defense class."

Despite the slight air of animosity, however, the four of them still gathered around a tray to fulfill their assignment. Across the room, Draco noticed that Harry and Theo had been joined by Justin and, to his mild displeasure, Hermione.

Snotty little know-it-all, he thought viciously as he jerked another mandrake up out of its pot. Always answering the questions. Didn't mean she was the best. Theo knew the answers too, but he wasn't about to show-off and make a spectacle of himself, especially when Gryffindor got the points all the same. And all that mooning over Lockhart and what she'd said to Luna…

He wondered how she and Ginny were getting along anyway.

When the class was finally over, he brushed the sweat off his face and began the hike back to the castle.

"Ugh, I need a shower," Susan groaned.

"Eh." Draco shrugged. "The fertilizer doesn't smell that bad."

"Besides," Ernie smirked, "who would we be getting clean for? We don't have Defense until tomorrow."

"Yes, but we might pass him in the hall. And what if he should see us looking like this?" Susan rejoined as if she were pointing out the obvious.

"Hex me now Ernie. Seriously. I mean it. For his safety as much as my own."

"Buck up," Ernie laughed, clapping him on the back. "Can't be any worse than last night, right? That's it!" He snapped his fingers. "Maybe you should tell Lockhart about your unease! If it's anything dark, I'm sure he'll be able to help. He is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, you know. In case you hadn't heard. Very famous. And talented."

"This isn't funny and if you say another word, I'm going to knock your teeth out."

"Lighten up Draco. Come on – let's get cleaned up. And maybe you should put on some cologne." He grinned. "So that we don't pale beside the immaculate Gilderoy Lockhart, wherever he may be."

OOO

"I'm surprised you didn't say anything, Theo," Harry observed as they returned to the dorms from Herbology.

"Say anything about what?"

"Justin going on about Lockhart. I mean, he really seemed taken with the guy and you don't seem to like him too much…"

"Neither do you and you didn't object." Theo shrugged. "Besides, Hermione was right there. Didn't think it wise to start a fight. You know how… enamored the girls have been."

Harry nodded and lowered his voice. "And did you see the looks Draco was giving her? For a moment I thought he was going to blast her earmuffs off just to see what would happen."

"Well that's Draco's problem, isn't it?" Theo replied coldly. "He needs to stop being so touchy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of these robes before this dirt gets smudged on my books."

Harry nodded and went to pull out his own clean robe, taking a moment to search once more for the map. He remembered packing it, knew that he had – something like that wasn't easy to forget, no more than his invisibility cloak would be! Frustrated, he looked under the bed again, in all of the sheets, in the pockets of his clothing, everywhere he could think of – and he still turned up empty-handed.

On their way down to Transfiguration, he vented again to Nott.

"I mean, I should be able to find it!" He murmured.

"You should stop talking about it if you don't want other people to wise up to it," Nott replied. "Keep going on like this and McGonagall or somebody else will figure out what you're discussing."

"This is important though!" Harry pulled him aside by the shoulder. "Theo – what if it's been stolen?"

The other boy sighed as if Harry was being unreasonable. "Harry, who would steal it? Who would have reason to? Only a few people know about it and if Draco or I wanted it we could just ask and Fred and George probably have the whole thing memorized. If it was in your trunk then it went right up to your room and only Gryffindors can get in there. Again, who could possibly have taken in that would have a reason to? Either you've dropped it somewhere or you left it at home, either at Draco's or at the Weasley's."

"I know I packed it though!" His eyes lit up. "What about the train?"

"What about it?"

"Things were busy on the Hogwarts Express! Somebody could have seen my trunk, opened it really quickly and made off with it before I noticed what was happening!"

"Harry, if you're that oblivious you deserve to have your stuff pinched. Really, though, I think you need to calm down." He pushed the classroom door open and they found a set of seats in the back. "It's going to turn up in a day or two and you're going to think it was silly to get so worked up over it in the first place."

Still looking doubtful, Harry sat down with a sigh and tried to forget about the map and focus on transfiguring the beetle into a button. Normally Hermione was fairly skilled at such tasks and while he was busy sending his insect scuttling, she did manage to make a black coat button.

Not, however, before Theodore managed to change his into an elaborate metal button, getting points and a rather satisfied smile from McGonagall. Even if it wasn't him who'd done it, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit proud with his friend.

"Good job. Brilliant even."

"I've been keeping up with my studies," Nott smiled.

"Well I wish your skill was contagious." He tossed his wand aside at the end of the lesson, still no closer to working a change in his beetle. "And I'm absolutely exhausted. Let's go get lunch, fortify ourselves for the next class."

"Oh. That's right." Theo frowned.

"Lockhart," they moaned in unison.

OOO

It was only the first day, but already Ginny was having misgivings, wondering if she was really cut out to be a Ravenclaw after all. It had been nice to have somebody to automatically partner up with in classes. But she'd nearly been late to Potions, of all things, after forgetting her textbook and being unable to answer the riddle to get back in until a fourth year came her way.

Everybody else seemed much quicker on the uptake. Even Luna, in her own roundabout way, seemed to be absorbing information much faster than Ginny, though musing about it in ways that made the other students glare at the duo.

"I don't know, Luna," she sighed as they left the dungeon and went out to sit by the lake. "Maybe I'm not smart enough to be here."

"The hat puts you where you should be," Luna assured her.

"That's the problem, though." Ginny blushed. "I kinda… I kinda asked the hat to be here. In Ravenclaw."

Luna looked at her, but her eyes betrayed no emotion. "I see."

"I mean, I thought it was the right thing to do. But now – I mean, I don't know if I can handle it." Ginny drew her knees up to her chest and looked out at the rippling surface of the water. "Maybe I overestimated me. Wit beyond measure…" She scoffed. "What was I thinking?"

"You mean you don't know your own thoughts?"

"I know what I was thinking! I just… oh, never mind. Let's get some lunch."

As they reached the courtyard, Ginny noticed a crowd gathering with Harry, Lockhart and an eager boy with a camera in the middle of it. There were a few flashes and Harry pointed towards them, managing to wriggle out of Lockhart's grasp in the process.

"Thank goodness," he puffed when he reached them. "That boy…"

"Colin Creevey," Luna told him.

"Yeah, him. Wanted a picture. Autographed. So then Lockhart overhears and starts going on about a double picture then tried to pull me aside and give me some lecture about fame and the responsible handing of fans and all this other rubbish!" His face flushed. "Can you believe it!"

Ginny laughed. "Maybe you should have taken him up on it." She flicked his mess of hair. "Famous Harry Potter."

"You know I'm not into that!" He frowned. "It was an ambush!"

"Well for those of us who've not spent so many hours around you, you cut quite the impressive figure." Ginny winked at Luna. "Of course those of us who know you, we know better."

"The first year wouldn't have been so bad, but Lockhart was there, acting like some sort of crazed mentor. And I have him for class next and he's probably going to bring it up… oh, and to top everything off, your brother was there to give me more grief about being famous for a stupid scar. He's part of what drew Lockhart over to the commotion in the first place."

"Should have hexed him. I would have."

"Personally, I'd like to avoid detention if I could. Don't want an earful from Theo about damaging the house."

"Speaking of Theo, where is he?" Ginny looked about. "I was hoping to see him sometime today."

Harry shrugged. "Maybe he got caught up in the crowd after the whole photo mess?"

"Theo seems to be gone," Luna murmured.

"He'll be in class though. Which reminds me – can't be late. See you guys later!"

OOO

It was Theo who got detention that day, however.

As soon as they'd gotten into his class, Lockhart had, still beaming at Harry every so often, passed out a quiz over his life, as told in his books. While the other students began looking over questions and scribbling down answers, however, Nott waved his wand and sent the packet of papers flying into the brightly-clad wizard's face.

"Mr. Nott?" He checked the roll and looked up, flustered. "Something wrong with your quiz?"

"This is rubbish," he drawled. "And I'm not taking it. You can fail me if you like, but I truly don't care much. This entire exercise is an idiotic and foolish waste of my time. It teaches nothing about what we're supposed to be learning. And if I might go further, it is in fact about a subject that's totally pointless."

The boys had snickered and Nott barely shrugged as Lockhart tried to regain his composure and look suitably offended.

"I had heard you were rather intelligent Mr. Nott, but I find you to be surprisingly closed-minded and ill-tempered!" His face only grew redder as Nott rolled his eyes. "You leave me no choice then! Detention. And five… no, ten points from Gryffindor!"

"Whatever," he snapped.

The lesson proceeded with Hermione diving her time between glaring at Theodore and practically salivating over Lockhart, while Theo ignored everything and all the others looked practically bored to tears. Following the quiz, Lockhart had very quickly abandoned them to the pixies, doing nothing to improve Harry's mood.

"What was that about?" He demanded of Nott when they had finished shoving them back into their cages.

"What was what?"

"All that with Lockhart! Weren't you the one saying earlier in Herbology that we shouldn't start any fights? And now you have detention!"

Theo shrugged. "He got on my nerves." He sighed. "I suppose if I have detention though I had better get a head-start on my homework so that I won't get behind."

"Oh. Well, alright." Harry watched him duck off in the direction of the library before heading back to the tower.

He had to find that map or he wouldn't be able to get any sleep for thinking about it.

When he reached his room, however, the problem only compounded as he realized he couldn't find his father's invisibility cloak either.

OOO

Now that Peter was no longer roaming the halls, much to Sirius' delight, he was permitted to go outside without worrying about being spotted. Draco had made an arrangement with Hagrid to let him spend some time outside by the hut, provided that he didn't go into the forest. It had been a rather enjoyable day, actually, getting fresh air and spending some time with Draco whenever the boy had a chance between classes.

The sun was going down, though, and he supposed he ought to be getting back. Then from behind him, there came a sharp, strange scent – human, but masked with something else to obscure it – and the found of a footfall. He turned, wondering if it was Draco who'd managed to get himself sprayed with something.

Instead of finding Draco, however, a damp cloth was pressed into his muzzle and everything around him went dark.

OOO

As the sun slipped downwards, Draco whistled, ambling towards Hagrid's hut. It was the best part of the day, he thought, the twilight where the sun touched the night.

Then he smelled the tang of blood on the air and the peace was shattered.

Dashing up to find Sirius, he came upon the dog stretched out and unconscious. He shook him to rouse him, but to no avail. Looking about, he tried to see what might have caused it, if Sirius might have eaten something that would have been poisonous. That was when he noticed the rooster. Bloody and mangled, the dead animal brought back memories to Draco that nearly made him ill. Fast on his feet, he pounded against the door of the hut.

"Hagrid!" He shouted. "Hagrid, open up!"

The door swung open a moment later and Hagrid loomed inside the frame, looking down at the panicking boy.

"Wha's th' matter?"

"Hagrid, something hurt my dog and killed the rooster!" He pointed. "I think… I don't know!"

Following him outside, Hagrid took a moment to survey the scene then nodded and scooped up Dragon.

"Let's go ter see th' Headmaster."

OOO

A/N: So already the ball gets rolling with the Chamber. Won't be long before there's a victim. ;) As to how it will all play out – wait and asee and I'll do my best to keep the action going.