All right, I had someone review me a question (thanks, Griffin), so I'll answer that here.

Why did Damien pick orange for Aly? Is it symbolic or was it just some random thing that won't be brought up again?

Okay, it's kind of symbolic. Remember the orange pins- the jewel pins Damien gave each of his followers at the beginning of the story? Orange is Damien's favorite color, so he wants every one of his followers to wear it to represent their loyalty to him.

"Aly, Aly. You're thrashing. Wake up."

"Ow!"

My eyes fluttered open and the first sight that registered was Millie looking concerned, standing by my bedside with her hands dangling in the air above me. The second thing I saw was Helen standing at the foot of my bed, clutching her face. As she took her hands down, I saw her nose was bright red. "I think you broke it," she said in a muffled voice as blood began to seep from her left nostril.

Lanie stumbled yawning into view, pushing aside my bed curtains with a tired sweep of her hand. "Who broke what?"

"Aly kicked my nose in her sleep," my cousin complained.

"Sorry," I squeaked.

Lanie slung an arm around Helen- only, she was about eight inches shorter, so she more slung an arm around Helen's back. "I'll fix your nose, Helen, and then we can open presents."

Millie helped me sit up and then perched on the edge of my bed, pushing aside the rumpled covers. "Aly, you were screaming in your sleep. Woke us all up- one of the fifth-years from next door actually came over to ask if anyone was being murdered. When we found out you were the one who was screaming and we tried to wake you up, you stopped screaming and started thrashing- you kicked Helen in the face. Are you all right?"

I felt the strong urge to fury my face in my pillow, but managed to resist. "Yes," I lied. "I'm fine. Really. It was just a nightmare."

She didn't look convinced. "Aly-"

"Did someone say presents?" I interrupted, springing out of bed with faux energy. "Awesome!"

Instead of having gifts piled at the foot of our beds, everyone had kept the Christmas presents we had made or gotten for others. The seven of us Ravenclaw girls sat in a circle on the floor of our dormitory, with pillows behind us to prop us up and blankets spread over our laps and a little fire in a jar in the center to keep us warm, and exchanged gifts. Like the birthday presents I had made for Brooklyn and Lyndsay, all of the Christmas gifts I had created for my friends were knit. For Lynne, who was a very dainty kind of person and froze easily, I had knitted a light brown muffler; for Millie, whose dark tanned skin and streaky dark hair always made her look like an angel in white, I made a white hat.

I was the first to distribute my presents, and as I dropped off the creations (including a black cap for Shawnee and a pair of grey mittens for Polly) squeals met the gifts.

Lynne held the muffler to her face. "Ooh, it's so warm and soft," she enthused. "Thanks, Aly!"

Lanie compared her blue scarf to Helen's leg warmers of the same shade, and Polly rose her eyes up to meet mine and smiled. She'd been even quieter and more solemn than normal after the deaths of Lindsey, Sophie and Carter. "Thanks," she whispered simply.

Then, going counterclockwise around the circle, Helen handed out three Chocolate Frogs each (apparently she kept a large stash somewhere); Lanie gifted small cakes that she must have taken from the Great Hall ("I'm sorry," she apologized, "I couldn't get anything else and I've been so scatterbrained lately-"); Millie made us all everlasting hair clips out of flowers she'd found around the grounds; Shawnee piled her well-worn collection of Muggle books in the center of the room and told us each to pick one (I grabbed Jane Eyre- I'm not quite sure how to pronounce that- by Charlotte Brontë). Polly was really the only one who had obviously been planning her Christmas gifts since summer. We all received new quills (mine was a sleek silver and came with a small pot of black ink).

Not much else happened that morning. Brooklyn dragged Rossalene over and made a seventh-year Ravenclaw from the hall fetch me so we could all exchange gifts- I felt bad giving Brooklyn another knit creation, but she assured me that she loved the black beret with forest green trim as she pulled it over her large mane of wavy hair. Rossalene too pulled her bright yellow, cheery bag over her shoulder and gave me a long bear hug. "I love it!" she gushed. "It's just so me!"

Rossalene skipped off through the halls, and suddenly Brooklyn's cheerful façade dropped from her face. She seized my arm and I realized that I hadn't been alone with her since that day in November when when Carter, Lindsey and Sophie had died, since I'd yelled "I'll talk to you later" and run off to find Peggy. I thought I had made up with her during my speech that night, but in that moment I knew I was wrong.

"Tell me," she whispered, tears suddenly glistening in her huge dark eyes. "Tell me why you joined Headmaster Damien's forces."

"I can explain," I stammered, caught off guard. Brooklyn was the strongest person I'd ever known, and she never ever cried. "Trust me-"

"That's what you said last time," my cousin sighed. "What will you have to go run off to do this time?"

"Brooklyn, listen."

She shut up and listened.

I pulled her into one of the many nooks lining the hallway and glared her down. "I'm not. I thought Lanie had told you. That list- the know that got Lindsey and Sophie and Carter killed- you carried it once, right?"

She nodded wordlessly

"Did you ever read it?" I pressed.

She nodded shakily; a tear spilled from her overflowing left eye. "We all did."

"And did you ever see my name on that list of Damien's troops?"

Brooklyn got a faraway look on her face, like she was thinking hard. "N- no, no, I didn't! But I thought Lanie just knew- we all just knew- we didn't need any reminders that you were a t- a tra-" She gulped and whispered, "Traitor."

"Do you really distrust me that much?" I asked, my own eyes spilling over.

And then we were both sobbing and hugging, and Brooklyn was pulling out a handkerchief but it was soaked in moments, and she knew I'd been a double agent all along, and I knew she'd always trusted me. Brooklyn would never doubt me, of course, or I her. We each knew the other too well to ever think each other's reasons wrong.

When we had each blubbered enough, Brooklyn glanced at me and grinned. "Aly, we have to tell the others. Leja, Nicole, Kayla, Ana, Nick, Lyndsay- they all loathe you, think you're a traitor."

"But Lyndsay was so happy when I gave her the headband!" I cried, shock hitting me like a Cruciatus Curse to the gut.

"And have you ever seen her wearing it?" Brooklyn countered. "They think you're taunting them or bribing them, it depends on who you ask. Listen, Aly, we have to tell people because-"

The words flew from my mouth before they had even fully registered in my mind. "Brooklyn, we can't."

She stopped babbling and eyed me, hurt. "Why not?"

"There are spies everywhere," I explained softly. "Not even people who necessarily like Headmaster Damien, but people who are willing to sell others out to save their own lives."

"Polly," Brooklyn grumbled.

I laughed. I actually laughed, for the first time in a while. "Brooklyn, that whole fiasco was two years ago! You can trust Polly. I do."

She wrinkled her nose- then broke out into a grin.

"What?" I asked.

"I just realized," she answered happily. "You called him Headmaster, not Commander."

"He'd make a rubbish commander," I snarked, elbowing her.

"We have to tell them," she repeated in reply.

Before I could argue more, we both heard someone call my name. "Aly! Aly!"

It was Katy, and after a moment Maile joined in. "Aly!"

Brooklyn seized my wrist, fear in her eyes. Actually, was it fear- or anger- or desperation? "I have to go. But meet me here half an hour after dinner ends on Sunday night." And then my cousin was gone, disappearing into the shadows and running silently down a nearby corridor.

"Well, don't you look happy!" Katy sniggered when I joined her and Maile outside of the spiral staircase that led up to the Ravenclaw commons. "Where were you? We looked everywhere."

"Out and about," I said vaguely.

Maile raised an eyebrow. "With a boy?"

"What?"

"You look happy and won't tell us where you've been," Maile listed, raising one eyebrow and poking me suggestively in the ribs. "Come on, we're your best friends, you can tell us! Who was it- Finley? Eli? Ivan?"

"Finley likes you, I'm sure of it," Katy chimed in, a bit more perkily than necessary.

I gagged in disgust. "Finley Denton? He's a seventh-year! That would be disgusting!" But besides the overwhelming sensation of repugnance, there was something nagging at me, something that didn't add up...

"You two would be the ultimate power couple, though," Maile cooed.

"Like Lachlan and Sara!" Katy swooned. "I heard he asked her to the ball this morning. It's quite romantic."

I stared at her, scandalized. "Sara's a second-year. She's barely even thirteen!"

"So? You only turn fifteen in May," Maile pointed out.

"Yes, and Finley's eighteen in April," I countered. Then I knew what had been bothering me. "Wait. Why would you guess Eli Lupin?"

The two blonde Slytherin girls- one tall and slim, one short and stocky, as different as could be- exchanged identical sly grins. "Headmaster Damien didn't tell you?"

"No," I replied slowly.

"We'll keep it a secret, then," Maile mumbled. "Maybe he means it as a surprise."

By now I was tired of Headmaster Damien's 'surprises'. "Means what?" I pestered.

Katy just looped her arm through mine, "Anyway, we came and found you to see if you'd like to get ready in our dormitory. We made the four other girls in our dorm- you know, Brooklyn, Leja, Cher and Grace- go find other places to get ready. Sami's going to come over, and Eve-Charlotte, and Peggy too! It'll be heaps of fun. Are you in?"

"Definitely," I said putting as much excitement as I could muster into my voice.

"Great!" Maile chirped. "Why don't you and Peggy meet us out here at three? Bring everything you'll need to get ready. It'll be like a little party!"

"Do we really need three entire hours to get ready?" I criticized.

"No," Katy replied, "but remember, we have to be there at five to help set up." She blushed beetroot red. "Oops- I forgot to write that on your invitation, Aly."

"Lucky you came along, then," I murmured. "Want to go to lunch?"

Yay! Another chapter done. I know it was a little short, so I'll probably post another one soon. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are American!

~atrfla