"Damn you Weasley!" a group of Slytherins cursed as they came gushing out of the Slytherin common room, followed by a cloud of stinking black gas.

Just a minute ago a petite girl with strawberry blond hair had calmly walked out of the wall, straightening her green and silver striped tie. Her black ropes were freshly washed and pressed, settling on her body without a wrinkle. Her white blouse redesigned to fit her body perfectly and showing of her curves, while the uniforms grey skirt - probably shorter then regulation aloud - flowed along her hips with every step she took. Her hair was loosely wrapped around her shoulders and framed her pale, freckled face. Furthermore, it contrasted her bright emerald eyes, that held their typical mischievous glint. A smirk graced her features as she glanced to either side of her, looking at her two best friends.

Her friend on the left wore the same graciously complimenting uniform and held the same mischievous grin. Tucking her long straight black hair behind her ears and trying to hold back laughter.

Her friend on her right towered over the two petite girls and easily held an emotionless face, as he ran his hand over his near to bold hair and waited for the next events to unfold. His chocolate brown eyes glanced at the two girls next to him. He couldn't quiet believe what he had gotten himself into when he became friends with these two good-for-nothing-pranksters, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Suddenly, a loud cracking noise emerged from the wall behind them and the wall opened wide as a mass of outraged, cursing Slytherins emerged. Chuckling silently, the three of them smirked and continued their way towards the Great Hall, where their breakfast awaited.

Two weeks had passed since their game against Hufflepuff and ever since her conversation with Ron it was clear that Ash Weasley was back. The hyperactive, happy-go-lucky prankster queen was once again in her top form and was enjoying her stay at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to her fullest.

"That was a full success, don't you agree?" she asked her comrades as they slowly walked up the stairs of the school into the direction of the dining hall.

"I definitely do believe so," the black haired girl grinned and chuckled as she remembered the faces of her peers. It was already the third prank the three of them had played on the Slytherins this week alone and today Ash was planning a little assault on her potions teacher - as a little thank you for the week of scrubbing trophies.

"So what are we going do after classes?" Blaise asked as they reached their house table and sat down in front of their plates.

"Hmm, I don't know yet..." Ash purred quietly as she let her eyes wonder over the student body that were assembled in the hall. "Any suggestions?" she asked focusing on the other two again.

Blaise looked above his head and watched the artificially created clouds wonder over the ceiling - showing the weather outside the hall. "It looks nice outside, how about we go down to the lake?" he suggested.

Following his gaze into the 'sky', Ash silently agreed with him.

"Sure, sounds fun" Tracy agreed, before getting of the bench. "Well, I'll be going now. Trelawney will have a prophecy of my death again if I'm late!" she told them and walked away, leaving Ash and Blaise alone.

"I still don't understand how anyone can choose to do that class..." Ash muttered, watching her friend leave.

"Well, its supposed to be a very... easy class if your imaginative."

"Haha, no wonder you quit." she joked.

"I am imaginative!"

"Sure you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing..." she hummed quietly, with a joking smile on her face. "Anyway, I'll get going as well. Don't plan on being transformed into a pocket watch by McGonagale... again..." she said and gave Blaise a peck on the cheek before walking out of the Hall, leaving him shocked.

When Ash walked out of the Hall, she smiled as her mind wandered to Blaise. She knew it was mean of her - the little gestures every now and again that she did and which left Blaise speechless and confused. She knew she was playing with the feelings of her best friend, but she couldn't help herself. His shocked state was just tocute funny...

Swiftly she walked down the corridors until she reached her classroom. The majority of the class had already arrived and sat down on their usual places. Walking in herself, she swiftly glanced around the classroom. Her eyes landing on Draco and the vacant seat next to him, and then swiftly strayed to Neville and the vacant seat next to him. Then - like she had done the last few weeks, she went over to Neville.

"Hey Neville."

"Hey Ash, how have you been?"

"Quite good, thank you." she smiled at her newly found friend. Ever since the incident, she had sat beside Neville and they started talking. His gentle yet brave nature impressed her and she easily became friends with him. But today, she wasn't really in the mood for talking, therefore she took out her Transformation book and started to read in it, without asking for his well being, signalling to Neville to not disturb her. Noticing this, he simply nodded to himself and turned around to talk to Ron and Harry.

However, Ash wasn't reading her book. She was watching someone. Someone she knew very well. When she had entered the room her eyes had lingered on his person for a few seconds before moving on, but these few seconds told her that he wasn't well. Eyes cast down on the table, head in his hands, hair dishevelled, shoulders slumped, skin paler then normal... No something was bothering him... something was making him sick.

She knew she shouldn't worry about him but even though she had let go of him and never wanted to have to do something with him again, he was still her fellow class mate, still a fellow Slytherin, still her ex-boyfriend. Her concern bothered her, but the simple fact that she had to be concerned bothered her even more.

Throughout the duration of Transformations she watched the platinum blond boy sulk lonesomely at his table and evaluated every aspect of his being. When class ended, she quickly gathered her stuff and silently followed his form out of the classroom and down the Hallway.

Theoretically she had Herbology with Tracy now, but something told her to skip the class and see what the boy with the icy eyes was up to. So she followed him. Slowly walking 100 paces behind him, never loosing site of him. He walked up the stairs, down hallways, turned corners and once even slipped through a 'window' that allowed students to cross onto another staircase - although technically the was forbidden.

Finally, the boy reached the seventh floor and walked into an direction that she knew all to well. He was going to the Room of Requirements.

There she watched him walk passed the wall three times, muttering something indecipherable at the distance between them before a door appeared and he vanished inside. As soon as the door closed behind him, the door to the room vanished once again and Ash was left alone in the silent corridor.

Quickly she ran over to the wall and starred at it intently, as if it would open for her again and let her enter.

"Which room did he ask you to open?" she asked the wall, but it stayed silent as she continued studying it.

Finally she gave up and let her forehead rest on the cold stone wall, "What are you getting yourself into, Draco?" she asked before turning around and walking away, hurrying to Herbology - maybe she'd still make it in time.

When Ash reached her classroom, she was surprisingly fussed about instead of scolded. Apparently Tracy had noticed that she wasn't there yet and therefore described the most gruesome pains that a girl could have without currently giving birth in order to excuse her. Now, only being late half an hour Professor Sprout didn't want to believe that she was already fine and was currently making her chew heaps of leaves that where supposed helpful in these situations.

When the professor finally thought she did enough to help her brilliant student, she let her join the class again.

"You are so dead," Ash harshly whispered at Tracy with a glare, who was trying to hold back laughter.

"Its your own fault for coming late. Where were you any ways?"

"I tried to figure out what Draco is up to. He doesn't look all to well."

"Yeah, I saw that as well... Did you find anything?"

"Not really... he locked himself in the Room of Requirements. But I have no idea which room he needed," Ash said quietly and pretended to take notes. She already knew most of the stuff Sprout was talking about.

"Did you get a glance inside it?"

"Inside it? Um... no not really, but maybe I can follow him gain and get a little peak," Ash decided.

"Or you can just ask him."

"Ask him? Do you really think that he would tell me something like that?"

"Sure. He loved you, did he not?"

Ash let out a short burst of an unbelieving chuckle, before shaking her head and turning her attention back at the plant in front of her - that was currently trying to eat her hair. Silently she fought her hair back and thought about Draco and the Room of Requirements.

After all her classes ended and she and her friends passed some time at the lake, Ash was sitting with them in the Slytherin common room and was waiting.

Just sitting on one of the couches that faced the entrance Ash pulled out an book and started reading it, as her friends finally went to bed and left her alone in the common room.

Curfew came and went and soon she was really the only person in the whole house to still be awake. Reading her book and carefully watching the door. Finally at around 2 o'clock in the morning the wall opened and revealed an tired Draco Malfoy.

Ash didn't say a word as she watched him enter the common room blindly, heading straight for the dorm rooms. Just before he reached the door Ash let her book slap together, startling Draco. Swiftly he turned around and she saw his eyes widen as he saw her sitting on the couch, waiting.

"What are you doing here?" he asked frantically.

"I'm concerned."

"Concerned?"

"About you."

Draco's eyes sprinted from one side of the room to the other, not knowing what to do.

"You look like death." Ash continued and simply pointed towards another couch across from her. Taking the hint, Draco's shoulders slumped a bit more and he obediently sat down on his designated spot. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you vanish towards the Room of Requirements every day. You only come back at 2 in the morning and every free period is also spent in that room. Furthermore, it seems as if you haven't slept in the last 2 months. Also your idea about making you leave the Quidditch team... It's not like you"

"And what does it concern you? Its not like your my girlfriend any more," Draco snapped at her.

Ash looked at him with a frown. "Yes, I ain't. But that doesn't mean that I can't be concerned about you, as a friend. I know you... very well and your not yourself any more."

"You have no idea what your talking about," Draco growled and stood up to leave.

When he had taken a couple of steps, Ash asked, "Does it have anything to do with the Vanishing Cabinet from Borgin and Burkes." When the words reached him, she saw Draco stiffen and turn around as if he had seen a ghost... or well... as if he had seen a fire demon. His face was even paler then it was normally and his eyes where the side of platters, the dark circles under then made him look haunted.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you in winter, when you looked at that black Cabinet. Its a Vanishing Cabinet, correct? I recognized it in one of our history books."

"And what should it have to do with what I'm doing?"

"Harry went into the Room of Hidden Things last year... he described a cabinet just like an Vanishing Cabinet that was standing in there. Now I'm guessing that you want to interli-" but she wasn't able to finish her sentence. Draco had starred at her in shock as she told him what she had puzzled herself together, but before she was able to finish he had pulled out his wand and let a spell hit her, making her fly against the wall behind her with full force.

Her back hit the wall behind her painfully and air escaped from her lungs at the impact, making it hard to breath. Next her head came in contact with the wall, making her dizzy and gave her a terrible headache.

Still hanging in the air, back pressed against the wall, Ash starred at Draco in shock. Quickly she tried to grab her own wand, but before she could reach for it, she was thrown across the room once again and the wand was ripped out of her hands. Hitting the Wall with her face first, she could feel her nose crunch at the impact and as she fell to the floor, with her back first she could feel vomit erupt from her stomach.

"Draco!" she gasped as some air returned to her body. But her body was thrown through the air again before she could say anything else. This time hitting the low ceiling with her left side, again she heard a crack and felt a sharp pain shoot through her body.

"Stop it!" she cried next before her body flew through the air one again Again, but this time she didn't come into contact with stone, instead she came to a stop right before Draco.

"You have no idea what your talking about!" he screamed at her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her body thoroughly.

"Please," she slurred, her eyes closed in pain, but quickly she forced them open to stare at Draco's intense blue eyes. "Tell me about it" she slurred putting all the force she could manage into the words and forbidding any tears to slip out of her eyes.

Shocked, Draco stepped backwards and let her skid along the floor, where she finally hit the chimney frame with her back and spat blood and vomit. Looking to the side, she saw her wand, not to far away from her and scrambled to reach it, but Draco didn't let her. Quickly he summoned it towards him and left Ash lay on the floor helplessly in pain.

Letting herself roll onto her back in defeat Ash starred at the ceiling, tears finally running loosely over her cheeks.

After a few minutes a guilty looking Draco appeared in her peripheral vision and grew sharper as he leaned over her and stroked away a bloody hair strand from her face. Slowly he took out an handkerchief and started wiping away a few tears and the blood on her face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly. "I just panicked because you know too much."

"What are you going to do now?" Ash asked shakily, pain ripping through her body with every word.

"Don't worry, I wont hurt you," he sighed and when he finished cleaning her face, he gave her a small peck in the lips before picking her up bridal style and carried her towards the common room exit and through the corridors of her school.

Just before Ash lost her concious, she could vaguely make out her potions professor hurriedly walk up to them.

Images flashed in front of her in a constant rhythm.

Shadows swam around her blocking the lights now and then, blackouts followed her constantly.

Nothing made sense.

A sharp pain.

A soft throbbing.

A sickening darkness.

Icy landscapes looking at her in concern and guilt.

Darkness.

Bats swooshing around her.

Then in a ocean of darkness, there was only one face to be seen, sharper then she ever saw before. A thin face with sallow skin and a large, hooked nose, shoulder-length, greasy black hair framed the face in curtains. His cold, black eyes resembled dark tunnels sucking her into darkness. Thin lips, a normally sneering mouth, formed softly spoken words.

Darkness again...

"Ouch!" Ash cursed as her body hit the floor, ripping her out of her sleep. Sitting up slowly, rubbing her back, she looked to the black leather couch she had just fallen off from. "Urgh, stupid couch," she muttered as she stood up. Every muscle in her body hurt as she slowly stretched her body and then walked towards the dorm room.

"Argh, I guess the weights and then sleeping on the couch were a bit to much for my body..." she muttered as she walked down the corridor and opened the door, walking into her dorm room where Tracy, Pansy and Daphne were just getting ready for school.

"Ash!" Tracy said shocked when she saw her friend. "I thought you were already gone! Where were you?"

"It seems I fell asleep on the couch," Ash smiled at her friend, still trying to loosen her stiff and hurting muscles by stretching.

"Sounds uncomfortable."

"It is, my whole body is hurting as it I had been thrown around the common room the whole night long" she joked, "I never want to do that again!"

Quickly she walked into the bathroom, craving a hot shower. Slowly she stepped out of her clothes and looked towards her reflection in the body length mirror and frowned.

Swiftly she ran up to the mirror, turning to her side to look at her left hip. Yesterday she had gotten a bruise at Quidditch practice as a Bludger had escaped her notice... The bruise was gone.

Still frowning Ash shook her head and sighed. "Weird... well I guess it was more superficial then expected," she muttered before walking into the shower and letting the hot water rush over her body and comfort her muscles.

All to soon she had to get out of the shower and get ready for another day at school.

Rushing to the Great Hall together with Tracy at her side, they quickly reached Blaise who was already waiting for them at the table.

"And? How did it go?" he asked, coming right to the point.

"How did what go?" Ash asked, slightly confused.

"The thing you wanted to talk to Draco about," Blaise said rolling his eyes.

Ash looked at him confused, she remembered that she wanted to talk to Draco, but had no idea why... "Not so well, I seem to have fallen asleep before he came," Ash pouted. Blaise and Tracy frowned as well.

"Well that sucks, will you try today again?" Blaise asked carefully and starred at his former friend, who had just entered the Great Hall - looking even worse then ever before.

"I don't know, maybe I should just leave him alone. Its not like I really care any more," Ash answered, following his gaze and seeing Draco. He was starring at her with a scared face, as if he expected her to jump up and curse him or as if he feared some kind of reaction in her seeing him. Ash gave him a small smile, hoping it would lighten his mood a bit, but then turned back to look at her friends.

Blaise and Tracy frowned at their friend, but shrugged it off. "Its your decision," Tracy told her before stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth.