Being away from the sheltered atmosphere of Hogwarts and seeing Diagon Alley was giving Callidus a sense of just how bad the situation was due to the Orange Madness. It was one thing when it was just articles in the news that the students could discuss at the breakfast table. But being in a wizarding community, and seeing the empty streets as people preferred to stay inside, away from all strangers, made Callidus fully aware of just how deep the fear and suspicion ran. It also made him aware of just how frail society could be; a disease could so easily break down social norms and bonds.

He was sitting at the breakfast table, more preoccupied with the plans of what he would be doing in Madam Filodoxos' potion lab, than the food on his plate. Caiside was sleeping in, but even if she had been here, neither of them would discuss Callidus's problems, and Caiside didn't like to talk about her friends, her lessons, or anything personal in front of her mother.

Madam Filodoxos was reading the Daily Prophet, and she seemed even more engrossed in the newspaper than usual. She kept distracting Callidus from his thoughts, by saying things like: "Quite right!" and "It's about time!" Callidus's brows drew together.

"May I see the paper when you're finished with it?" Callidus politely asked.

Madam Filodoxos looked over at him from behind the pages, and gave him a warm smile. "Of course! It's so good to see young people engaged in the world around them. Caiside could learn something from you."

Callidus didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing. He was nearly finished his breakfast (and no longer thinking about the lab), when Madam Filodoxos finally handed over the paper.

"Thank you," he murmured, before looking over the headlines. On the first page, there was a story about how one of the first victims of the Orange Madness was taking a turn for the worse. Being in a coma, magical or not, took a toll on one's health, and the victim's family was frantic with worry. It made Callidus feel cold, thinking about how there were students his age, struck down by the mysterious disease. There were no fatalities yet. Would there be, soon?

But Callidus knew that the front page article wasn't the one that Madam Filodoxos was commenting on. And he couldn't ask her, since Madam Filodoxos had already left the table. He opened to the second page, and another headline caught his eye. He brought the page closer as he read the article. It was about a new bill that the Wizengamot would soon be voting on. A memory tugged at his mind of Draco mentioning something like this long ago, but Draco hadn't said anything since. Of course, Callidus knew Draco didn't really care about politics - not when there was Quidditch to think about.

The surprise of seeing the proposed bill unsettled him. It had felt wrong when Draco brought it up, and it felt wrong now, despite the fact that the Orange Madness only seemed to be getting worse. But to Callidus's disgust, some tiny part of him did wonder: would it keep everyone safe? He shook his head. He wasn't that sort of person, that valued safety so much that it justified stealing away other people's freedoms and rights. And yet, what would he do if people he cared about were struck by the disease? Draco had said that he'd kill anyone who tried to hurt Callidus and Harry. And Callidus had said that he'd immediately immobilize them. Didn't this new bill, about a muggleborn registry, effectively immobilize people?

"What's with that scowl on your face?" Caiside's voice croaked.

Callidus looked up from the paper, and saw Caiside taking a seat next to him. Merlin, didn't that girl bother to clean herself up in the morning? Her hair was a mess of tangled curls, and her eyes were still drooping from tiredness. He blinked and then internally cringed when he realized that he was starting to sound like Draco. When had that happened?

He handed her the newspaper. "See for yourself."

"S'too early to read," Caiside groused. "It's the hols - I don't want to read anything until I go back to Hogwarts!"

Callidus's eyebrows lifted upwards. "How did you manage to befriend Hermione with that attitude?"

"'Mione happens to be nice, unlike some people."

Callidus kept his eyebrows upraised, silently saying: 'And?'

Callidus made an irritated noise and rolled her eyes. "I shoulda known that an appeal to decency wouldn't work on Slytherins. So what's the article about?"

His brows drew together. "They're planning to put a new bill to vote in the upcoming months. For a muggleborn registry."

Caiside gasped, now more fully awake. "A muggleborn registry? No! They couldn't - Hermione has been worried about something like this for weeks - months -"

Callidus frowned. "How did Hermione know?"

Caiside snorted. "It's Hermione. How d'you think."

"I didn't even know about it until Draco mentioned something off-hand."

"Yeah, and Hermione obsessively reads about history - probably moreso since this whole disease thing. That and, according to her, Wizarding society doesn't change as fast as muggle society."

"So she guessed it."

Caiside nodded. "It was a - what does she always call it - educated guess."

Callidus compressed his lips into a line. "How is something like this going to affect her?" He felt a tightness in his chest as he considered the Gryffindor. He was worried. Was Hermione going to be all right?

Caiside sighed. "I don't know. I really don't. Hermione thinks it will be bad." She gave Callidus a troubled look. "She thinks it could affect half-bloods as well. At least, indirectly. Something like this registry would make open discrimination acceptable."

Callidus hummed, a contemplative line appearing between his eyebrows.

After a stretch of silence, Caiside asked: "What are you thinking?"

Callidus looked over at her. "I'm wondering about what we can do."

Caiside shrugged a shoulder. "Hermione says to write letters to the politicians. Though I wonder how seriously they'd take a bunch of first and second years like us." With her elbow on the table, she slumped forward, resting her chin on her palm. "If only this disease were cured. Then people would stop being so afraid."

"Yeah," Callidus quietly agreed.

Despite the absence of Harry and Draco, the holiday seem to fly by. His motivation to work on his magic-sight potion was stronger than ever, and though he didn't openly admit it, he couldn't help but hope that by seeing magic, he'd learn a useful clue about the Orange Madness. Further fueling his enthusiasm, Madam Filodoxos had an array of rare and expensive ingredients that he had never worked with before. But despite having the owl-vision potion as a base, Callidus was slow to make any progress. If anything, all he was doing was making himself dizzy. Very dizzy. It probably wasn't the brightest idea to keep testing the potion on himself, but he always pretested it on rats first, if only to make sure it wasn't poisonous.

The day of the Malfoy fete soon arrived, and though Callidus didn't look forward to the formal event, he was still excited about seeing his friends. But no one's excitement could match Madam Filodoxos. On top of her new dress robes, she had also gone out to have her hair styled, and had taken advantage of a new beauty potion that seemed to make her eyes more striking, and her skin more dewy. It was unsettling to see Madam Filodoxos at her most attractive, not because she was objectively beautiful, but because she didn't look like herself.

"So embarrassing," Caiside had muttered. But Callidus couldn't tell if Caiside was talking about her mother or herself. Unlike Madam Filodoxos, once she was scrubbed up, Caiside was almost kind of pretty. Her red-brown hair formed unusually neat looking ringlets, and her dark eyes were bright. But what prettiness she might have had was marred by the aggravated scowl on her face.

Callidus gave her an amused look. "Excited?"

Caiside crossed her arms. "No."

Callidus chuckled. "But you look nice, all cleaned up."

She gave him a dark glare. "You'd better shut your mouth if you know what's good for you. Or -"

"Or?"

Her eyes lit up triumphantly. "Or I'll hug you!"

The very thought made Callidus pale, in part because he was uncomfortable with affection, but also because he still hadn't fully figured out what the fifth years had done to him, and Caiside's close proximity was something that would have him clenching his teeth and breaking out into a cold sweat.

"Fine," Callidus grumbled. "You don't look nice."

Caiside snorted. "That's not what I meant when I said to shut up, but -" she shrugged. Despite Callidus's unkind words, she appeared more relaxed.

The family flooed over to the Malfoy manor, and Callidus was surprised when they were greeted by a house-elf. Wasn't that supposed to be Draco's job? He'd have to ask Draco about it. The house-elf ushered them towards the entrance hall, informing them that most of the guests would be in the ballroom. Callidus knit his brows. Most of the adults, probably. He, Harry and Draco didn't usually venture into the ballroom during these events.

"I'm going to find Draco and Harry. Will you be all right on your own?" Callidus asked Madam Filodoxos and Segnis.

But Madam Filodoxos barely heard him, and instead, was staring wide-eyed in awe at all the beautifully dressed guests, as if it were the scene of a dream come true. "Hm? Oh. Oh! Yes, I'll be fine Callidus, dear, thank you for asking. Have fun."

Callidus gave her a worried look. Would she really be okay? But then he shrugged. He glanced over at Caiside, and though she stood straight, the tension was evident in her strained expression and fisted hands.

"Come on, Caiside," he said with surprising gentleness. "I'm sure Draco and Harry will be glad to see you."

Caiside's expression was doubtful, but then she nodded, her shoulders relaxing slightly. Callidus pushed through the crowds, at ease around the purebloods, while Caiside followed close behind, as if afraid of losing sight of him. He checked the various rooms, and finally found Harry and Draco in one of the other drawing rooms, with a number of other Slytherins, including Parkinson, Zabini, Greengrass and Nott.

"Cal!" Harry greeted brightly, his face split by a wide grin, as he and Draco made their way towards the door.

"Finally made it, Callidus," Draco said from next to Harry, his lips tilted up in a smile.

Though Callidus tried to hide it (especially with the other Slytherins watching,) he could barely bite back the smile that pulled at his cheeks and made his eyes crinkle. He was really, really glad to see his friends. Time may have passed quickly, but it still felt like ages since he last saw Harry and Draco.

"Good to see you as well," Callidus answered, glad that his voice was at least level. "I'm surprised that you weren't greeting the guests."

Draco scoffed. "I only have to do that if I'm the one hosting the party. But in this case, it's my parents. And they only personally greet the people they think are most important. If they had to greet everyone, they'd be stuck by the door or fireplace all night."

Harry snorted. "I can imagine your mum being polite enough to do that, but I think that by the end of the night, I'd be scared to be near your dad."

Draco answered with an uncomfortable look, somewhere between amused and disturbed. "Be glad you've never seen my father when he's mad."

"So how have you been?" Harry asked Callidus, despite the fact that the trio wrote each other regularly. "And hi, Caiside. No one else with you?"

Caiside shook her head. "It's just me."

Draco scrunched up his face gave Harry a look. "Ginny might be all right, but anymore Weasleys than that would ruin the whole party. And Hermione - well -"

The group fell into an awkward silence.

"Come sit with us," Harry urged. "Have you met everyone else, Caiside?"

"Ah yes, introductions. I apologize for my poor manners," Draco added, politely putting on his polished, pureblood mask for Caiside's sake.

After everyone was introduced (and Caiside was readily accepted since she actually was a pureblood, even if the Filodoxos weren't especially 'important' ones), the group fell into an easy conversation about their holidays, as well as speculations about the Orange Madness.

Eventually, Parkinson declared that she wanted to people-watch for a while, and Zabini, Greengrass and Nott decided to join her. Only the trio and Caiside remained.

Without the other Slytherins pulling at his attention, Callidus finally took a closer look at Harry. He blinked, and leaned slightly towards his friend. "Something is different about you -"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Oh, now you notice? Very observant, Callidus."

Callidus's eyes widened. "Your hair! It's - tame!"

Harry flushed, and reached a self-conscious hand towards his hair, just as Draco exclaimed: "Ah! Don't you dare touch it! Not after I spent hours trying to get it to stay down."

Harry winced. "In case you've forgotten, I was there, Draco."

Draco harrumphed. "Well, leave your hair alone. It finally looks almost decent. For once."

Callidus grinned and shook his head. "I don't envy you," he told Harry with sympathy.

Harry gave him a pained look. "At least all you need for your hair is one potion and it looks all right. My hair - uugh - I don't even want to think about my hair." He looked over at Caiside. "I promise we don't usually talk about hair. I swear!"

Caiside gave him a cheeky grin in reply. "Right."

"So what have you done over your break other than working on a potion to try and see magic?" Harry questioned, desperate to change the topic.

Callidus lips twitched with amusement, but he decided to be merciful and let Harry direct the conversation away from his hair. "Not much. Progress is slow. And that owl-sight potion does weird things to your vision when you add other ingredients to it. In one instance, it made everything look - hmm - disturbingly pink."

Harry and Draco snorted. "Pink?"

Callidus nodded. "Yes. Suffice to say, I'm glad that I don't happen to actually have anything in my possession that's pink. I'd be glad to never see the colour again."

"Your potions aren't the only thing you've been working on," Caiside cut in.

Callidus pursed his lips. "Well - there's homework -"

Caiside shook her head. "What about that other thing? With the fifth years?"

"Fifth years?" Draco echoed, looking between Callidus and Caiside.

Caiside gave Callidus a puzzled look. "Haven't you told them about it?"

Callidus's expression turned sullen. "What's there to tell? We haven't even figured anything out."

"It takes time - and as you said, Hermione can't do much when she doesn't have access to a magical library," Caiside replied in a reasonable tone.

"What haven't you figured out?" Harry wondered. "What are you two talking about?"

Callidus sighed heavily. "I - we -" he shook his head. "Do you remember that time I told you that those fifth years cornered me?"

Harry and Draco nodded. "Did something happen?" Harry asked, clearly worried.

"It's pathetic that fifth years would attack one of us," Draco spat out. "They don't deserve to be called Slytherins."

"They didn't do anything new," Callidus reassured them. "But that spell they cast on me. I think it did more than I thought."

Harry's eyes widened. "You felt the effects of the spell? What happened?"

Callidus drew into himself as he told the story, embarrassed by his own actions, and his own ignorance. "It has made me react - strangely, to Caiside. And presumably Hermione and Ginny as well, though I am not entirely certain."

"Strangely how?" Draco wondered.

Callidus couldn't meet Harry's and Draco's eyes. "It made me feel - uncomfortable around Caiside. Nauseated." He glanced over at Caiside. "Not that I felt disgusted with her. But -" he didn't want to say 'afraid.' He didn't want to admit such a thing. "Uncomfortable," he repeated, awkwardly. "It's difficult to be near her."

He was afraid for a moment that Caiside would give him away - would say the words he didn't dare to say. But clearly, he hadn't given her enough credit because she stayed silent, respecting the fact that he needed to be the one to tell his friends what had happened.

"That's weird," Harry murmured. "Even after spending the hols with her?"

Callidus nodded. "Even now. But if I can keep my mind still and calm, it helps. Doesn't bother me as much."

Draco's lips turned downwards. "I don't think I've ever heard of any sort of magic like that."

"Why didn't you mention anything before?" Harry wondered, and although Callidus wasn't entirely sure, he almost thought that Harry looked hurt.

"To be honest, I didn't know."

Harry and Draco's eyes widened. "You didn't know?" Harry echoed.

Callidus shook his head. "Even with my reaction to Caiside, I was still -"

"In denial?" Caiside finished.

"Yeah," Callidus quietly admitted. "In denial."

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the group was lost in their own thoughts.

"So - you haven't been able to figure anything out yet?" Harry finally asked.

Callidus sighed. "Unfortunately not."

"Oh. Well. We'll help you, right Draco?"

"Naturally," Draco answered. "We're not going to let a bunch of spineless fifth years get away with this. We'll sort this out."

Callidus gave his friends a grateful look. But just when he thought that the matter was over with, Caiside piped up.

"None of you think you should at least tell your Head of House about this?"

The trio gave her blank looks. Harry pursed his lips. "I can't imagine Slughorn doing much of anything."

Draco snorted. "Yeah. The old Head of House - Snape - he could apparently be counted on, but Slughorn's old and fat and soft. He'd probably make things worse. Besides, this is a Slytherin matter. We can take care of things. We have resources."

"Hmm. Right," Caiside answered sceptically, but she didn't push the matter.

The rest of the evening passed quickly. Callidus asked about Yule celebrations, and Harry and Draco regaled him with tales of the traditional Yule celebration they had had, complete with magical bonfires and evergreens, holiday breads, and all manner of other magical confections that Callidus couldn't wrap his head around. He had heard a little about it in his friends' letters, but clearly, they had left a lot out. Briefly, he felt an uncomfortable pressure in his chest as he wished he had been there.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened for the rest of the night, until Draco decided he had better do his duty as a pureblood son, and mingle with the guests.

"We should say 'hello' to my parents," Draco said as he remembered his responsibilities. "My mother will be upset if you didn't come by to greet her, Callidus."

Callidus nodded. He wasn't comfortable around Lucius, but Narcissa Malfoy had always done her best to make Draco's friends feel welcome (and he had even received a box of a expensive treats from her for Yule.) As the four of them made their way past the guests (many of which commented on how handsome and tall Draco was growing up to be, while Draco asked about their families or jobs or accomplishments), they finally caught sight of the adult Malfoys, near the staircase of the ballroom.

Narcissa spotted them first, and then Lucius, but instead of the polite smiles that Callidus was expecting, they were looking at him with open surprise. The look perturbed him, and he felt a tight twisting sensation in his guts. Something was wrong. And judging by the direction of the Malfoy's looks, something was wrong with him. But what?

Callidus didn't want to take another step forward, but Draco and Harry were already ahead of him, and the Malfoys had already seen him. He couldn't justify turning around and slipping away. Instead, he resolutely step forward, but to what, he didn't know.

The elder Malfoys had managed to school their reactions into a semblance of polite neutrality, but Callidus was aware of the heaviness of Lucius's speculative gaze. What was going on? Would they say something so he could finally understand what was wrong?

As Draco spoke to his parents, it felt like a lifetime was sliding past him. Narcissa and Draco did most of the speaking, and when Narcissa asked Callidus if he was enjoying the party, Callidus almost failed to answer.

"It's lovely," he eventually said, when Draco elbowed him in the side. "Better than last year."

"Thank you, Callidus," Narcissa answered graciously. And though Callidus tried to catch some sort of hint in her tone, he couldn't detect anything out of the usual. Was he making something out of nothing? Or were the Malfoys really acting hyper-aware of him?

He was relieved when the Malfoys finally waved the group off, with Narcissa telling them to enjoy themselves at the rest of the fete. And though Callidus wanted to mull over the Malfoy's strange behaviour, there was no time to think about it with Harry and Draco chattering in his ear.

It wasn't until Callidus was back on the Hogwarts Express (and halfway between London and Hogsmeade) that it finally hit him. He had forgotten to wear his disguise ring this year. To the elder Malfoy's, Callidus's face would have looked drastically different. To them, he would have looked like a young Severus Snape.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews :) They often help to keep me on track. When I write at a pace of a chapter a week (I wish I could write faster, but after a day of school work, I'm often brain dead), I end up forgetting details sometimes, and the comments will remind me to cover them