"Mr Slytherin?"

"Issss that you, Misssss Lestrange?"

Crucie cast a lumos and lit up the room. In the evening the secluded and half blocked room became earthly dark… Next time she should bring a few candles.

"It's me. How are you tonight, Mr Slytherin?"

"Alwaysss the polite lady, aren't you? Your parentssss taught you well…"

Crucie smiled sadly.

"Most of it was taught to me by my aunt and uncle, the Malfoys. They're very polite and very neat."

"Tssssss…. Sssso, what bringssss you here this evening?"

Crucie caught how easily the founder had dodged her question. She sighed.

"If you have to lie to your friends to maintain the friendship… are they really your friends?"

Salazar looked very thoroughly at Crucie… in the light of the lumos spell he looked pretty creepy.

"Dependssss, Misss Lestrange, on the ssssituation. Rowena tellssss Helga for centuriessss already that she hasssss the perfect figure… It'ssss a token of friendship, not meant to hurt or truly deceive… What liesssss have you told?"

Again Crucie felt she would have to speak the truth.

"I… It may seem strange, but I can cast a wandless cruciatus curse just like that. It doesn't even cost me a lot of effort or concentration. It's been like that since I was little. I… sometimes I lose my patience though and then I curse someone I shouldn't. I cursed my cousin during flying class, and this girl who I hope to make my friend asked if I cast a cruciatus. I said I didn't, and as proof I told her I didn't have my wand with me. It was a lie, but… also not really, you see? And I don't know why I feel bad about it, but for some reason it just doesn't feel like a good way to make real friends."

"Well, well… that isssss a peculiar ssssituation. A girl of many talentssss you are, Misss Lestrange... Your lie wassss protective, not deceptive… If you intend to tell the truth at sssome point… it is not detrimental to friendsssship."

Crucie smiled at that.

"Thank you very much. I… I guess I just needed to hear that."

"You're welcome, Missss Lestrange."

"So… Any gossip I should hear?"

"We Sssslytherins don't gossssip, Miss Lestrange… We exchange crucial informationssss."

That sentence made Crucie laugh again.

"I should remember that one… Do I have permission to quote you, Mr Slytherin?"

The portrait tried to look strict, but it didn't work too well. Salazar rolled his eyes –very uncharacteristically- and simply ignored the question… again. Instead he decided to pass on a little gossip anyway.

"Gideon hassss a bet with Lord Palinode… And they're going to have a sssswordfight in that painting of the picnicking witchessss on the fourth floor…"

"Oh dear… That doesn't sound like a good idea… Poor witches…"

"Once a Gryffindor, alwayssss an unthinking brash fool…"

Crucie chuckled, and meanwhile decided not to tell the portrait what house her new friend was in…

(Pagebreak)

"I tell you, you're crazy."

"And I tell you, you shouldn't be so narrow-minded, Ron. She's a girl like every other."

"She tortured Draco."

"Correction. He panicked because he has fear of heights, and started screaming. He just blamed it on her to spare himself the humiliation. And it's not as if you like that guy so much anyway. Why are you even defending him, even if she did curse him she did us a favour!"

"How on earth does she know about his fear of heights? She could be making it up, you know…"

"He's family, they've known each other since they were little. It seems possible to me."

"Weird. And still suspicious."

"You're just paranoid."

They met Harry in the corridor, when he just left McGonagall's office. The black haired boy looked both dumbstruck and excited as he practically jumped them.

"It's official guys. She gave me a broom. I'm going to be a seeker!"

Ron squeaked in delight.

"Merlin's Pants! How!?"

Harry grinned.

"She said I'm talented…"

"We're gonna be late for potions…"

"Mione, come on! We have to celebrate this! Harry is going to be the youngest Seeker EVER! This is Quidditch history in the making!"

"If you two are late again you'll be celebrating in detention, while chopping bat spleens for Snape."

The sound of despair the twosome made at that spoke volumes… Hermione heard Ron whisper.

"Gosh, way to ruin the fun… Why are we even friends with her?"

Angrily, Hermione wondered the same.

In class they had to form pairs as usual… But because both Angelica Johnson and Millicent Bulstrode were sick with wizard flu, the numbers were uneven. Crucie was still standing, as she was always the last one to be paired up, and realized the only other person left was Neville Longbottom. Snape groaned audibly.

"Miss Black, Mr Longbottom, sit down. Working two hours with someone of another house won't kill you."

They both sat down, not really daring to look at each other. The recipe for Forgetfulness Potion was lying between them; the ingredients were spread over the table. Crucie stretched out to take something on Neville's side, and the boy cringed as if she would beat him. She dropped the ingredient in the pot and said.

"Neville, what the heck is wrong? Did I do something? Could you please cut this root really finely?"

Neville cut, nervously, almost chopping his fingers together with the root, while he stuttered.

"Y-you… you torture p-people."

"Innocent until proven guilty, maybe?"

Crucie cut the roughly cut pieces again and added them to the mixture. She didn't like potions but she had a mediocre skill at them. Neville clearly didn't.

"Mix it, twice left, twice right, in that order."

"Y-you don't fool me. I… I know t-the others don't believe it… b-but I know the curse you are n-named after very well."

Neville mixed, and Crucie almost grabbed his hand to make the movement more steady, but realized that would be a very bad idea.

"How so?"

"Personal e-experience."

Crucie raised her eyebrows.

"You've been tortured? Wait! Add just two drops of Lethe river water, not a whole spoon!"

She corrected the ingredient and Neville said.

"Not me, but… people I know. And I've read about it."

"You do know I didn't have a wand, right?"

Neville looked at her, and Crucie was surprised that such a chubby, expressionless face could hold such feisty eyes.

"For some reason… I don't think that s-stopped you."

Crucie felt both cornered and sad.

"You have no proof."

"But I'm right, isn't it? Y-you don't need a wand."

Crucie sighed. She remembered their short conversations on the train, and realized he must have somehow put the pieces together.

"I don't know if they told you, but… I just wanted him to give your Remembrall back, or avenge him breaking it. No evil intent."

"How d-did it work then? I thought it needed evil intent."

"I was pissed enough. Any emotion will do the trick, you just have to mean it."

There hung a silence. A silence in which neither was looking at the forgetfulness potion…

"How did you do it?"

"I was born with it. A gift and a curse, I think I told you on the train. It comes as naturally as breathing."

Neville slicked audibly.

"I'm… I'm not comfortable with torture. Like, really not."

"I'm more than that particular talent, Neville, despite what my name makes people think. I'm a person too."

It somehow felt insulting that she had to remind people of that.

"How can you use it? How do you not feel disgusted with yourself?"

Crucie suddenly felt depressed, because she remembered Professor Snape's words, about how the modern wizarding world wasn't tolerant towards talents like hers. It made her sad to see his words proved.

"I don't expect you to understand it. But… could we just act like normal people around each other? It sort of gets on my nerves that you think you need to run and hide from me. I don't curse people for no reason…" At least not in school, Crucie silently added to that.

"I don't know, it's really…" Neville looked at their cauldron and paled a bit more. "Err… I think something is wrong with the potion…"

They looked at the brew, that now was bright purple and swelling like a balloon out of the cauldron, and Crucie immediately understood. In a moment she had ducked under the table. Neville was less agile, and when the brew exploded he got quite a bit in his face. From under the table Crucie could hear how Snape yelled things, the other students yelled too, there was purple smoke (and she was smart enough not to inhale it) and eventually everyone had left the potions classroom. At least, she thought so. Just as she wanted to relax and come out of hiding, she caught sight of a pair of sensible black shoes sticking from under a black robe, standing right in front of the table.

"I can see you, Miss Black. You can come from under that table."

Embarrassed, Crucie got up and faced Professor Snape. Strangely enough the grumpy professor didn't look angry, rather inquisitive.

"I should not do this, but… am I wrong, if I think that the fact Mr Longbottom won't remember the last six hours is rather fortunate for you, Miss Black?"

Crucie shook her head.

"You are not, professor. He found out, I think, put the pieces together."

"Well then. 20 points to Slytherin, for cunning display of house qualities. But if you ever do that again I will have you scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the year!"

Crucie couldn't believe it, when she walked out of the potions classroom, that she had gotten off so easily, even gotten a reward for it! Snape had obviously thought she made the potion explode on purpose… well, there was no harm in letting him think that, she decided.

(Author's Notes)

So, Crucie consults Salazar Slytherin -seriously, that she thinks he doesn't already know Hermione is a Gryffindor... Tssss- and then accidentally "obligates" Neville. I think Snape just wanted an excuse to give points to his own house...

Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! I need your reviews, every chapter is a bit of a bet for me, and I'm always uncertain whether or not I totally ruined the story. I love and cherish EVERY SINGLE ONE of you people who take the effort to leave a little note! Critics, compliments, comments, or just a little acknowledgement that you read it, it all makes me happy! Cookies for reviewers!