Christmas day had been tedious and long, mostly because there were activities for those who had stayed at Hogwarts that were obligatory to attend. Crucie yearned to show her gifts to Salazar and then go read in her newest book, but it was already past curfew when she finally managed to sneak through the corridors with the forbidden book in her bag. In the secluded room Crucie quickly lit all the candles. The portrait frame was empty, but as if he knew she was there the founder suddenly stepped in.

"Tssssss… Passsst curfew, Missss Lestrange…"

Crucie grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Mr Slytherin."

"Of courssssse, it'sssss Chrissstmasss… I knew there wassss a good reassson I avoided everyone today…"

"You don't like Christmas?"

"It's a tediousssss feasssst…"

"I think so too, but getting gifts is always nice, right?"

"Ssssooo… What did you get thissss year?"

Crucie proudly showed the book.

"A gift from Mr Burke, because I used to help him so much in his shop…"

"Resssstricted Ssssection material… Most interessssting…"

Crucie slicked now, hesitating to "give her gift".

"I wanted to let you know that… well, I know it's stupid but if you would ever need something of me, don't hesitate to call in the favour."

Salazar let out a hissing laugh.

"Ssssmart, Missss Lestrange… Very ssssmart…"

Crucie smiled.

"I just wanted to get you a gift, but it's kind of hard to get a gift for a portrait, right?"

The founder nodded.

"You are a mossssst amusssing girl, Missss Lestrange… and I mean that in the besssst possssible manner. You chase the boredom from my daysssss…"

Crucie blushed.

"Thank you…"

"No… Thank you, Missss Lestrange… It issss far lessssss boring here ssssince I know you…"

(Pagebreak)

A little later Crucie left the room, only to see the evil cat Mrs Norris just a little further, and having to hide again. She bumped into something she couldn't see and sort of stumbled into a classroom, just in time to avoid the cat and its owner. She shook her head and looked around, catching sight of… Harry Potter. They stared at each other; both looking shocked, surprised and suspicious. Crucie was the first to break the silence, trying to sound as normal as possible. She had no idea how the boy had gotten there, but she could better attempt to be polite.

"So… Merry Christmas, Potter."

The boy stared at her with unhidden animosity.

"Looking for someone to torture, Black?"

Crucie was too tired for the fuss, really. She shook her head.

"Seriously, I don't like you, you don't like me, we just both happen to be out after curfew and hiding, so could we please be civil to each other for the moment? Please? You can go right back to being a little pest as soon as we're out here."

Harry looked a bit dumbstruck, but nodded. He was obviously tired himself and not in the mood for fighting. He said,

"I heard Filch call for Snape to help patrol the corridor, so we're stuck here for a little longer. What were you doing out here anyway, Black?"

"Looking for a quiet place to read the book I got for Christmas. What were you doing here?"

Harry looked uncertain. Then Crucie noticed a heap of… something… on the floor. She had seen that kind of material at Borgin And Burke's sometimes, it had to be…

"You were testing an invisibility cloak, weren't you?"

"Err…"

"It's lying right there, and yes it's quite visible when rolled on a heap. No use in denying, Potter."

"Yeah… it was a gift."

"You know cool people."

Harry smiled, but it was a sad smile. Not knowing what else to say, Crucie scanned the room again, her eye falling on a pretty big mirror. She walked to it, and got the shock of her life when she looked into it. Instead of just her own reflection she saw her parents, softly smiling behind her, together with the Malfoys, the Carrows, Uncle Rabastan, even professor Snape was somewhere in the group she saw. All the people from the group portrait were there, and even a couple others too. She looked behind her, but of course nothing was there but a confused looking Harry Potter. In the mirror Bellatrix happily waved at her. Crucie couldn't stop herself from touching the glass, softly whispering.

"Mom…"

"Eh, Black… what's going on?"

Crucie ignored him. She just stood there, staring at the illusion of her family in the mirror, silent tears running over her cheeks.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head and asked.

"What do you see?"

Harry looked in the mirror too now, and he got a shock as well. It was probably due to shock that he spoke the truth.

"M-my parents…"

Crucie sat down in front of it, and so did Harry. They both stared at the same mirror, caught in each their own illusion.

"How old were you when…?"

"Four."

"Me too."

"Are they…?"

"They're gone."

Crucie hated herself for crying, but then saw that the boy next to her, the Boy-Who-Lived, the indirect cause of her sadness, was crying too. He too had lost his parents, kind of due to the same thing as she had. It caused her to feel an unusual solidarity with him. Finally she looked away from the mirror; she didn't know how much time had passed.

"I can't look at this anymore… It's too… confronting."

She didn't want to miss them so much. She barely had any memory from them besides some aged photographs… how had the mirror created such a lifelike image? It was as if just a glass plate separated her from them…

"They seem so close, don't they?"

Harry mumbled. He hadn't looked away from the mirror a single time. On a whim Crucie put a hand on his shoulder.

"They do. But they're… It makes them feel even further away too."

Harry finally looked away, catching her eyes.

"Why are you this friendly?"

"For one we agreed on civility, and being polite is a part of that…" Harry wanted to turn back to the mirror. "But also because we have both lost our parents, around the same time, and I understand, I think. How it is to want them back more than anything and to be confronted everyday with the realization that they're really gone, out of reach most likely forever."

Now she had the boy's attention. He dried his eyes and turned away from the mirror, reluctantly. He sighed.

"This is so odd."

"I know. I still don't like you, you know."

"Neither do I. You hexed Ron, probably Draco too, god knows how many people!"

"Since I started counting, about 643, accidents not included."

Harry's eyes widened a bit.

"And all of those were done without…"

Crucie nodded. She had no idea why she was telling this to Harry Potter of all people… perhaps Snape was right and did she indeed lacked all sense of self-preservation. Ah well, it wasn't as if he didn't know already, he had seen her torture that troll after all. She noticed Potter shoved a bit aside.

"It's not contagious."

"Have you ever killed someone?"

Crucie shook her head.

"Never. Didn't have a wand and such."

Wrong answer. Harry looked at her with unhidden disgust.

"You would have killed someone if you had had a wand?"

Crucie shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. I'm a bit curious after it."

"It's so wrong… Like, wrong on so many levels! I'm not Hermione, but even I can see that is such a flawed reasoning!"

"What is the flaw? It's a contradiction. Not all contradictions are flaws."

"You are crazy."

"Perhaps I am. Runs in the family."

"If you kill someone you take away someone who has a family and friends who will miss him. How can you feel so sad over your parents and still think of randomly killing people?"

Crucie thought about it.

"I just said I'm curious after it, not that I would randomly kill people. I'm good with how things are now, I don't necessarily need to have killed someone…"

Harry shook his head.

"You are a seriously disturbed person, Black." Despite that statement he did look curious. "How do you do it?"

"What, the torture? I don't really know. It just comes naturally… I don't even have to think about it anymore. Had a lot of practice, of course."

"Practice?"

"I helped out at this shop, specialized in buying and selling magical objects. Not all our clients were as benevolent, or as willing to part with their heirlooms as we would have liked, and that's where I came in."

"That's…"

"It was a pretty cool job; I didn't have anything else to do anyway. My uncle was always out for work so I had to entertain myself."

"With torture."

"Yeah. Why not? If you know what you're doing there's no permanent damage, you know. And I'm good at it."

"I'm… uncomfortable with torture."

"Funny. That's what Neville said as well, right before our cauldron blew up. Strange how you people put it. Uncomfortable. I guess that's the idea of torture, isn't it?"

"You make me feel uncomfortable too."

"What are you going to do now? Report me? It's not as if you didn't know about this before..."

Harry looked a bit taken aback.

"I should, actually."

"I can always convince you not to, of course."

"The screaming would attract Snape and Filch."

"Ever heard of a silencing spell?"

"Right. This was a bad idea."

"Not if you don't tell anyone. Look, tonight was an exception. I'm not going to tell anyone about your invisibility cloak or that you cried over your parents either."

"But…"

"No buts. What good does it do you if you get me expelled? It's not as if the professors don't know already."

"They KNOW?"

"Sssh. Snape does, Dumbledore does, and McGonagall does maybe…"

"Fine. But if I ever hear or see you torture someone, I report it."

"So as long as you don't know about it…"

"Don't make me sound like a hypocrite."

"No, I make you sound clever. Very Slytherin of you, Potter. If I were Snape I would give you points."

Harry stared at his shoes.

"The Hat almost put me in Slytherin."

"I'll tell you another secret. The Hat almost put ME in Gryffindor."

Hary stared at Crucie, blinking a few times.

"You? In Gryffindor?"

"Think what you want, I asked to be put in Slytherin and I was. You asked for Gryffindor and you were put there. It could have been the other way round too."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence a little longer, until they were certain the corridors were safe again. Crucie hurried back to the dungeons and Harry made his way to the Gryffindor tower. They were both tired and very confused…

(Author's Notes)

Yay, new chapter! I got the advice that perhaps Crucie needed a bit of a lesson in ethics... (thank you Vivien Lestrange) So in comes Harry Potter! Now, I know Harry is all against torture and all against the dark arts, but... I don't like him to be so black and white. That's more Ron's shtick, really. Hope you guys don't mind; after all the Hat DID want to put him in Slytherin first. I hope I still made him a clearly Light wizard ;)

Please review. PLEASE! As you can see I actually listen to the advice I get, so please share some with me? Comments, Critics, Compliments; I love them all! Cookies for all my reviewers!

PS: Did anyone notice the title is a "Star Trek: Enterprise" reference?