A/N: Ok. I know I've been confusing a lot of people with my chapters. Heck I even confused myself! The thing is, my sister and mom don't know anything about computers and they would've done way worse than me. Lol. Then there's a problem with my reviews. I'M NOT GETTING ANY! Well I have but I have to wait a while before a lot show up.  I can see people have me on their favorite stories but they aren't reviewing. I need to know how my story is! PLEASE review!

Chapter 9: NEW PEOPLE

Hermione spun around so fast she almost lost her balance. She pushed her friends behind her dropping to the floor at her master's feet.

"Telling anyone else about me lately?" he hissed menacingly saying it so low Harry almost thought he spoke parseltongue!

"Get off the floor!" he barked.

She stood trembling like a leaf with her eyes averted to the ground. Harry could tell she was very scared and trying with all her might not to show it.

"What is the meaning of this!" he asked his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I-I'm sorry master. He would have found out soon. He was already suspicious!" she said terror in every syllable.

Harry looked sideways at Neville to see how he was taking it. Neville looked confused and scared.

His eyes were wide with fright but you could see his brows knit together as if trying to make sense of the scene.

"I don't care! You could have easily done something about that! Erased his memory, thrown him off track!" He yelled.

He raised his hand and smacked her across the face on the left side where the bruise was.

She yelped in pain. It took all of Harry's willpower to keep from attacking the man.

Ron and Ginny seemed to sense this and they grabbed his arms holding him back. Ron shot him a look and Harry relaxed.

The three looked at Neville who looked plain angry now.

"W-who do y-you think you are!" he squeaked hoping this looked brave. He didn't feel an ounce of bravery but he knew this was wrong.

Lucius turned to look at him with Icy Blue eyes and Neville stood his ground. Every instinct told Neville to run for his life but he stood.

Harry looked at Neville in shock. Neville liked the feeling of doing the right thing so he kept going.

"You leave her alone!" he said feeling courage he didn't know he had flooding in him.

"Um… Neville… I think you should just be quiet." Harry said nervously eyeing Lucius's wand.

"Hermione is being hurt and you want me to back down? I say this man here is a bully and a coward!" Neville said not taking his eyes of Lucius.

Harry paled as he saw Neville go flying into the wall.

Hermione looked at Neville's unconscious body and felt tears blur her vision.

Hermione turned back to Lucius and saw something in his eyes that scared her deeply. She had never seen him that angry before. Not a good sign.

She decided she would not question him at all during this talk. She bit back what she had been planning to say.

He turned to look at her. "Anything you want to say? How I was unfair and that he didn't know anything? Well?" he asked his voice carefully controlled.

She shook her head. "No my Lord." She said.

Before she knew what had happened she found herself lying on her back a throbbing pain in the back of her head where it had hit the floor.

Before she could blink she felt like her bones were on fire and the floor drop out from under her.

A pain like no other filled her. She may have screamed but she didn't know.

Harry watched as Hermione shrieked in pain. He lunged at Lucius but Ginny and Ron held him back. He shook himself free and launched himself at Lucius.

Lucius broke the spell and turned to face Harry.

Harry was blasted back by the impact of a spell but years of Quidditch training got him on his feet in seconds.

He blasted a few spells at Lucius who dodged them.

It turned into a nasty duel but neither seemed to give up.

Finally, there was a cloud of green smoke and when it cleared Lucius was gone.

Hermione shakily walked over to Harry. "You shouldn't have done that," she whispered.

"I couldn't just stand there and watch you get tortured!" Harry said firmly.

"Hello!" Ginny said. "What are we going to do about Neville?"

They turned to his limp body on the ground. Harry walked over to him. "Enervate!" he said.

Neville jumped up. "I-I still don't get it. What was all that about? Why did you call him master Hermione? And how come you just stood there and didn't fight back?" he asked confused.

Hermione took a deep breath. "This is what I was going to tell you about Neville. I guess right now is best but I still don't know what he is going to do." She trembled in fright.

"Okay. Neville this is how it started. I was walking down the hall to go back to the Common room and…" she continued to tell him the story up to that morning.

At the end, he stared at her in shock. "S-so you are a Death Eater?" he squeaked.

Suddenly his face brightened and he turned to Harry. "But you killed Bella right? Man I wish I could have been the one to do it. She was the one who drove my parents into insanity remember?" his face contorted in pain.

"We should go and get some lunch. We have been in here for that long! Can you believe it?! Oh man we better come up with an excuse to why we missed our classes." Said Ginny.

They smiled at her and walked to the great Hall.

"Too bad we can't talk to Hagrid about any of this." Harry said sadly.

"Talk ter me abou' what?" asked a voice behind them.

They jumped about a foot in the air and they turned around.

Ginny giggled. "Man! Why do we keep letting people sneak up on us?" she asked.

The tension eased as they steered Hagrid away from the dangerous waters by asking him about his lessons.

As they walked, everyone let out breaths of relief.

"Thanks Ginny," Harry whispered. "I would've had another yelling at if that got out of hand." He whispered shivering.

She just smiled at him as they sat down for lunch.

After lunch, the five went down to the lake and sat down under a willow tree. They talked about the excuses they would make up and Harry grinned.

"Professor Binns will believe anything! I bet I could tell him I was celebrating the Giant Squid's birthday with him and he would believe it!" he said.

They all laughed. They came up with wilder excuses until their next class came up. Then they headed back to the castle.

"At least we didn't miss potions." Said Ron.

"No we didn't miss potions." Harry said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"Care to skip the class Ron?" He asked. Ron grinned. "I don't mind," he said.

"Don't you even think about it!" Hermione snapped.

"All right! You're just taking away our fun!" Harry pouted. He stuck his lip out with his eyes screwed shut and put his chin in the air looking very like a spoiled child.

Neville, Ginny, and Ron laughed while Hermione just scowled.

Hermione glared at him. "Fine get in trouble. Don't come to me when Snape makes you sort Flobberworms. Come on Ginny! We don't want to get in trouble," she said grabbing Ginny's arm and pulling her away.

Harry, Neville, & Ron laughed when Ginny rolled her eyes. "What's so funny?" Hermione asked turning around.

"Nothing," Harry said holding in laughter.

Hermione turned back around and dragged Ginny to the castle.

Harry, Neville &Ron looked at each other and shrugged. "Oh well. Come on Ron she is right. I really don't feel like sorting Flobberworms!" Harry said.

Neville and Ron nodded running after Hermione.

*………*

"Densaugeo!" Harry heard a girl's voice yell. He pulled his friends back just in time.

He peeked around the corner only to pull his head back as someone almost saw him.

He grabbed his friends and pulled them down a passageway.

"There are two seventh years who look like they are really fighting!" He said.

They all looked at Hermione and she sighed.

"Fine but you need to back me up! I am NOT going to get turned into jelly!"

They nodded and headed back to the corridor.

As they turned the corner, everyone gasped. The resemblance between the girl and Ginny were remarkable!

The boy looked at them in shock, letting down his guard.

He flew into a wall but just stared from Ginny to the girl and back again.

"Are you new?" Ginny asked them.

The boy nodded and he stood up puffing out his chest. "My name is Zane Zephyr," he said proudly.

The girl who looked like Ginny seemed to notice her for the first time for she had been glaring at Zane. "Is this some kind of joke?" she asked angrily.

Harry shook his head. "No. People say I look a lot like my dad but I'm not sure if it is this much!" Harry said in disbelief.

Up closer, Harry could tell the girl's lips were fuller than Ginny's and her eyes were a slightly darker shade of brown.

"Who are you?" Ron asked.

The girl looked at him. "My name is Lilah Lavinier. What is yours?" she asked curiously.

"The names Ron Weasley,"

"Ginny Weasley,"

"Neville Longbottom,"

"Hermione Granger,"

They looked to Harry who grinned. "Surely you know who I am?" he said.

Lilah's jaw dropped. "You're Harry Potter!" she shrieked.

"That's what they tell me!" he said with a grin.

"Just make sure not to be friends with that git!" Lilah said pointing at Zane.

"Oh come on Lavinier! You know you can't resist me!" he said cockily.

"Just go out with me to Hogsmeade please," he said.

"I will never go out with you Zephyr! Get it through that thick skull of yours already! UGH!" she said stomping off.

Zane watched her walk off with sadness in his eyes. He sighed.

Harry studied him. "What?" Zane asked

"You might want to try turning down your ego a bit. And how many times have you asked Lilah out?" Harry asked.

Zane thought for a minute. "Too many times to count. It always ends with 'I'd as soon go out with the Giant Squid than you!" he said putting on an uncanny imitation of her voice.

Harry smiled as he remembered his parents had acted just like this.

Zane started to say something when Snape came around the corner. "Who are you?" Zane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I am Professor Snape." He said curtly.

Zane had a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oi! I've heard of you!" he said.

Snape cocked a brow.

"I heard your nickname used to be Snivellus! Did you cry all the time or something?" he asked innocently.

Snape's eyes flashed.

Everyone stifled laughs except Hermione who was glaring at everyone.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" he snapped turning to the rest of the class.

"Get out your ingredients for the truth potion NOW!" he barked.

"Can we leave to go to Professor Dumbledore? Can Lilah go too?" Harry asked.

Snape turned to him.

"Sir," Snape corrected.

"There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor," Harry said before he could stop himself.

Snape's eyes flashed dangerously but Harry just grinned wider.

"Detention Potter at seven! And get out of my face!" he yelled.

Harry grinned and strode out followed by Zane, Lilah, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Ginny.

"So have you two been sorted yet?" Ginny asked.

They shook their heads.

"We didn't have time to do it after we arrived and we didn't really know where to go. We walked around and got lost. We found this classroom and decided to wait for someone to show up." Lilah said.

Harry laughed and everyone looked at him confused. "Snape said twenty points from Gryffindor but he can't do that because you haven't been sorted yet!" he said.

Everyone laughed.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "To Dumbledore's!" they said thrusting their fists in the air and racing each other down the hall.

Hermione and Lilah shook their heads amusedly while everyone else laughed silently. "Well we should go so you can be sorted," Hermione said as she followed Harry and Ron.

They caught up to Harry and Ron near the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office.

Ron let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" Zane asked. "We don't know the password!" Ron said.

Lilah perked up. "Ooh! Can I help guess? I'm really good at it!" she said.

"Sure. He usually picks a kind of candy. So think of different kinds of candy and just say them." Neville said.

"Fizzing Whizbee," Hermione guessed.

"Canary Custards," guessed Ginny

"Acid Pops," Said Zane

"Toffee Éclairs," Harry said

"Ugh! This is ridiculous!" Ron said kicking the gargoyle.

"Oww!" he yelped. Lilah laughed and he glared at her.

"You try it then!" he snapped.

"Okay," she said. Lilah looked at the gargoyle for a moment and Harry could almost see the gears in her head turning.

"Lemon Drop!" She said suddenly.

The gargoyle jumped aside. "Aha!" Lilah yelled in triumph.

Everyone stared at her. "How did you know?" Neville asked amazed.

Lilah just smiled. "Every girl has their secrets," she said slyly.

Ron shook his head and walked up the stairs. "I'll never understand girls," he muttered to Harry who grinned.

Harry knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Dumbledore's cheery voice.

They walked in to see Dumbledore petting his familiar, Fawkes.

"Wow! Is that a Phoenix?" Lilah asked.

Dumbledore looked at her for a few seconds before answering. "Yes it is. His name is Fawkes but I believe that is not the only introduction here is it?" he asked. "You seem to have quite the fan club!" he said a twinkle in his eyes.

She blushed. "Zane and I are new and they just happened to run into us." She said.

"Professor. We brought them because they said they hadn't been sorted." Neville piped up.

"Well then I guess we have to sort them now don't we? If you will step forward please Miss…" he said looking at Lilah and plucking the hat from the shelf.

"Lilah Lavinier," she said stepping forward.

"Lavinier. I've heard that name before," he said thinking.

Lilah shrugged and took the hat.

Everyone waited. Hermione watched as Lilah started to look uneasy. It took almost a full minute before it chose.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled.

Dumbledore took the hat from Lilah who walked over to Hermione.

"My name is Zane," he said before Dumbledore could ask. "Just call me Zane," he said.

"If you please will come forward Zane,"

The hat barely touched Zane's head before it yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" and went limp.

"So… Lilah," Zane began

Harry shot him a warning glance and Zane changed his tactic.

"Um do you want me to carry your books for you?" he asked looking at Lilah hopefully.

Everyone smiled and Lilah raised an eyebrow in surprise.

What in the world is he up to now? He has never done this before! Lilah thought.

Lilah looked at him suspiciously then shoved her books at him. "Fine!" she said.

Zane wasn't quite sure but he could've sworn he saw kindness in her eyes.

He grinned at his new friends as he followed her out the door.

"We better go before they get lost again," Ginny said rolling her eyes.

She grumbled something that sounded like "Gryffindors sometimes are too sure of themselves." as she walked out the door.

The other four walked out the door with a "Goodbye Professor,".

"Oi! Lilah, Zane, Ginny wait!" yelled Ron. The three kids stopped and waited for Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville to catch up.

"So are we skipping potions today too?" Harry asked grinning.

Hermione and Lilah looked at him disapprovingly.

"What? We have an excuse and Snape won't let me go in so there." Harry said stubbornly.

"Besides I don't think you want to go do you?" Ron asked looking at Hermione.

Hermione carefully avoided his eyes.

Ron and Harry's jaws dropped. "You want to go?" Ron asked amazed. "Well…" Hermione started slowly.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed shocked. "How can you want to go? Remember in third year when he called you an insufferable know- it- all and took away five points just because you knew a good spell?" she asked.

"Well he has saved me a few times!" Hermione snapped.

"Saved you from what?" Lilah asked curiously.

"Oh nothing too dangerous just from a Grindylow when she was too entranced by it." Harry said.

"I'll do anything to get out of Snape's class," Neville said shivering.

"Why?" asked Zane.

"His biggest fear is Snape," Ron blurted. He blushed when Neville glared at him.

"You should have seen what Neville did to the Boggart Snape in 3rd year," Harry said laughing.

"What did he do?" Lilah asked curiously, as they walked into an empty classroom.

Suddenly a rattling sound came from a desk drawer.

"Looks like we can show you," Harry said

"But-" said Neville.

"Come on Neville. Please?" asked Lilah.

Ginny stood next to Lilah. "Please?" they said together.

"That was weird," Ron said. "It's bad enough having one Ginny,"

"Shut up Ron!" they shouted.

Ron closed his mouth dumbstruck and Harry tried not to laugh at the look on Ron's face.

Hermione pushed Neville forward. "Get ready Neville."

Everyone backed up as Neville hesitantly took out his wand and pointed it at the drawer, Hermione doing the same.

"One, two, three!" Hermione said flicking her wand.

The Boggart flew out of the drawer turning into Snape. "Riddikulus!" Neville yelled as Snape approached menacingly.

Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

Everyone roared with laughter and the Boggart exploded into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke.

"Can we find another so I can try?" asked Lilah.

"I don't know where to find one but we can ask Professor Lupin." Harry replied.

"Who is Professor Lupin?" asked Zane.

"Come on and we'll introduce you!" Ginny said with a weird look on her face.

"Ginny? Are you alright?" Harry asked her.

"Huh? What?" Ginny asked shaking herself.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked again.

"Fine." She said and walked out the door.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!!