UPDATE: Sorry about not updating last month (September.) I'm currently pre-occupied with an original novella that is getting to the stage where I just have to write. My characters and the world I've made are demanding all my attention. Hopefully I'll be able to finish my first draft of the novella and start writing more Slytherin Stand this month and the next chapter will be up either late this month or early November. At the moment my Harry Potter fanfic output is at a halt until I get a draft of this original story finished, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my fans here. Also, my other fic - Scorpius Malfoy and the House of Gambaru - will continue to be updated, purely because I was smart enough to write seven chapters before uploading. Once I finish my novella and get back to writing Slytherin Stand, I will attempt to write a few advanced chapters so as to avoid another hiatus.

Thank you again to all my followers, and I promise to get back to you all with the next chapter as soon as possible.

Chapter 22: Slytherin vs. Slytherin

Despite giving up Gryffindor's only Quidditch training session for the week, Harry still found himself rather busy. The DA book was filling up quickly and he spent a lot of time with Professor Zabini planning his lessons.

"I don't want you to make me obsolete Harry" she had said. "And I know it must be hard accepting my meddling, but you'll have a greater range of age and skill among your students. Plus a lot more of them too."

"It's fine professor" Harry said. "It'll be good having help from a former auror. Plus, since you are teaching defensive magic, I thought it would be more useful to have other kinds of lessons too. Like, teaching people reasons why the Death Eaters and that whole philosophy are so bad. Since there are some people who just don't seem to get it."

"I can provide that" she said. "Growing up in that sort of family, having to kill to get out of it, and seeing its effect on other people. Yes, I can help you there as well."

"Thank you Professor."

There was also an awkward moment that Tuesday when Professor Zabini drew Hermione and Lavender's names out of her hat for the weekly dual. Hermione managed to disarm and stun Lavender quickly, but not before a number of nasty hexes were sent her way. Harry had to admit he had been frightened for Hermione when he saw the rage in Lavender's eyes.

On Wednesday Snape gave the class the results of their Healing Potion assessment. Snape gave high praise to Lilith Moon, much to Harry's chagrin. When it came to Potions, Moon seemed lost during most of the Study Group sessions; however she managed to produce flawless Potions in class. All this despite the fact that - judging from the ratty condition of her Potions book - she had not received a new book when Harry and Ron had.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Snape gave him his results. He had just managed to scrap through to get on 'Outstanding'. He would be able to stay in Snape's horrible class and keep working towards being an auror.

Snape left Ron until last, and then gave him the results with a sneer.

"Well Mr. Weasley, it seems that you truly did take this class just to waste mine and Professor Zabini's time. A 'Poor', Weasley? After you begged to stay in my class, after you were told you needed to lift your game to stay here, you still give me a 'P'? Even Potter managed to scrape an 'O' for this assessment."

"Yeah, but Potter had Nott telling him what to do."

"And you had Professor Zabini to tutor you" Snape said. "Potter was smart enough to pick up his game when needed. Even if he still needed to ride the coat-tails of someone more capable."

"Whoa" Blaise whispered to Harry. "Did Snape just praise you?"

"Yeah he um, kinda did" Harry said. "I think."

"This is amazing" Blaise said.

"Now Weasley, it seems there is no way I can possibly get anything through that thick skull of yours. I don't see the point of you continuing this class."

"You know what, neither do I" Ron said.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for backtalk Weasley. Now get out of here. Now! You've wasted enough of my time."

Ron packed up and left without another word. At lunch Harry tracked him down to see if he was alright. Unfortunately, he was with Lavender at the time. Lavender immediately told Harry to "piss off; Ron doesn't need to hear you gloat" and then Ron agreed with her and walked off before Harry could say another word.

The next morning, Harry received a pile of letters at breakfast. Most were from the Weasleys; Harry had thought about sending Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a letter, but he hadn't been able to word it right. However, it seemed that Ginny had already told her family about their conversation.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both let him know that he was still part of their family, and that they would write to Ron about the situation. Fred and George had also written him a letter, saying not to worry if Ron was being a git. The only mention of Hermione was from Mrs. Weasley, who had written that "it's quite noble of you to stand by that other boy if you think that Ron crossed the line with him. Even after what happened with Hermione."

Harry was reminded of Mrs. Weasley's cold treatment of Hermione after Rita Skeeter's articles in the Witch Weekly. He groaned; this whole situation was getting blown way out of proportion, but if Ron wouldn't talk to him what else could be done?

Harry also felt his stomach lurch as he read the last paragraph in Mr. Weasley's letter. "We were planning on having Christmas at the Burrow," he wrote. "However if you and Ron are still fighting during the holidays that might be a bit awkward. how do you feel about Christmas at Grimmauld Place? Do you think you'll be alright going back there so soon?"

Grimmauld Place or The Burrow with Ron. Neither option appealed to Harry; but if he just stayed at Hogwarts and didn't spend Christmas with the Weasleys, then would they think he didn't want to be with them anymore?

The third letter was from Blaise's sister. She mentioned that Blaise and her mother seemed to be trying to match her up with him, and that she would love a chance to come to Hogwarts for the Newt Ball if Harry wanted her for a date.

This one wasn't too hard for Harry; he had no other girls in mind for the Ball, and frankly didn't want to find a date. There was no reason why he couldn't make all the Zabinis happy, so he quickly wrote back that he would be happy to take Camille to the Newt Ball, and sent her owl back with his reply.

The last letter in his pile made him wonder if he had made the best decision.

To Harry Potter

I understand that my daughter has asked you to the Hogwarts Newt Ball. I just want to let you know that if you do take Camille, I'll also be at the Ball, and I'll be watching you like a hawk. Do not think you'll be getting up to any hanky-panky with her. And if you hurt her in any way, I will make you pay.

Of course, Blaise and Mary both assure me that you are a real gentleman, so I'll trust you for now. I'll try and not be so scary and over-protective when we meet.

~ Mr. Luigi Zabini

How closely would Mr. Zabini be watching him? What if he saw that Harry had a thing for Ginny? Harry had to wonder just what he had gotten himself into.

:Meanwhile:

Lucius found Gabriella in his study. Or, it had once been his study, but now his wife had completely taken over. Ever since the wedding, she had been ordering documents from Australia and doing research. Lucius hadn't asked her what she was doing; apart from when they were with the Dark Lord or in bed, he had no contact with his new wife. Worry about Draco had also been distracting him, but as he heard Gabriella laughing like a maniac, he had decided that now he should see what she was up to.

"Oh, you do still live here" Gabriella asked. She kept her back to him as she spoke, and concentrated more on sealing a large envelope. Lucius studied his former study: one side had family trees of notable Irish and Australian Pureblood families hung on the walls, as well as Australian birth records and some scrolls of parchment from the Ngama Sorcery School scattered around. On the other side were numerous transfiguration books, and a large painting of a jackal covering the wall. On the desk Lucius saw that his favourite photo of him with Narcissa and Draco had been replaced with a solemn one of Theodora Nott.

"Yes I still live here" Lucius said. "And don't worry, I won't intrude upon you enough for that to become obvious. I just heard you laughing and decided to see what was so funny."

"I see. Well you should have come up before I sealed the envelope. I'm sure you'd appreciate seeing the evidence first-hand."

"Evidence for what?"

"That Harper is a filthy Half-Blood! And Estelle knows it!"

"The Harper family can trace their history back two hundred - "

"His mother is a Mudblood! Carol Noonan isn't an orphaned daughter from an Australian branch of the Noonan family; she's a Mudblood whose lying to everyone; even her own husband and children. And her parents are alive; they found Henry and Estelle during their Outback honeymoon."

"The muggles found them?"

"They sure did. And Estelle just buried her head in the sand, pretended it never happened, and went along and get pregnant with an impure child."

"I don't see what else she could have done. She'd already married him."

"She could have divorced him... she could have killed him! And if she couldn't face the shame then she could have kept the secret and not brought a filthy child into the world!"

"It's not that bad. Harper may be a Half-Blood, but he seems to be one of the better ones. He may not be the most ideal husband for a Nott daughter, but he isn't a mugglelover."

"His been writing to them."

"Who?"

"His muggle grandparents. His been writing to them for the past two years."

"How do you know that?"

"Easy. Once I found the muggles, I wrote to them, saying I was Estelle's estranged sister and a good friend of Henry's. They told me everything."

"So now what are you going to do? Confront Estelle over it?"

"Now what's the point of doing that? She's perfectly aware of her treachery. No Lucius, this envelope is going to someone who wants revenge against her. It's going to the only person who could possibly be more angered by this than me."

"The Dark Lord?"

"No silly. My litter brother Theodore."

"Your little brother? But why would he be angry at Estelle for having a Half-Blood husband? His a Blood-Traitor himself; he was disowned for abandoning his ailing father for a Half-blood."

"Yes... and guess who disowned him?"

"His father."

"No Lucius. It was Estelle."

"Estelle? But what right did she have to disown him?"

"Exactly. She said since Father wasn't completely sane, she could act for him. She was desperate to make me understand that when she told me... not that I disapprove of her decisions; Theodore was just like Alice, something had to be done. But imagine what it must have been like for him; Being told he can't go to Hogwarts anymore because his father needs someone to stay at home and look after him. So like a good little Pureblood son, Theodore doesn't get on the Hogwarts Express for his Third Year of Hogwarts, but instead stays home to clean up after Daddy's long sessions with the muggle booze."

"Your father answered the call when the Dark Lord came back, and seemed pretty sharp until he got injured in the Department of Mysteries."

"Yes, I imagine he managed to not starve or kill himself for a while, and then improved greatly when the Dark Lord came back into his life. I heard it got so bad without the Dark Lord or Mother that he needed someone to take care of him. Theodore ended up being that someone, and you know how Father repaid him? Do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"He got drunk on a bottle of that horrible muggle rum, and then attacked Theodore with the broken bottle. Left a huge gash in his arm I heard; could have killed him."

"That... that's terrible." Lucius said, an image of Draco being hurt coming to mind. "How could someone do that to their own child?"

"My father was sick!" Gabriella said. "He needed Theodore to stand by him, even in the bad times. Though, I can't really blame little Theo; he was always too weak. I don't think he'd ever seen Father's violent side either. But you know what he did after he'd stopped his arm bleeding?"

"Sent a letter to Hogwarts?"

"Yes... he sent a letter to his Half-Blooded friend at Hogwarts. The little Halfblood told Flitwick, and then the two of them came to Nott Cottage - along with the friend's blood-traitor mother and muggle father. An actual muggle! They arrived at around the same time as Estelle was visiting. They fixed up Theodore's cut, fussed over him, and then asked him if he wanted to leave with them. And Theodore said yes. He abandoned his family for them."

"You can't honestly expect a thirteen-year-old to stay and look after someone who attacks them can you?"

"He could have stopped Father from drinking. It's Theodore's fault Father was in such a way in the first place. If he was too weak to do that, he could have at least gone with Estelle. But once she saw the muggle that had come to get him, she began yelling at him. Estelle called Theodore a blood-traitor, a mugglelover, she threw every insult she could at him, just because he wanted to get away from Father. Now do you see why I'm sending this envelope to Theodore? After what Estelle did to him, after what she said to the Half-Blood friend that rescued him... can you imagine how angry he'll be when he finds out she married a Half-Blood? Theodore may be weak, but I hear his still a Slytherin. Estelle's hypocrisy will get to him. He'll want revenge."

"He'd want revenge on you too" Lucius said. "Especially after what you did to his sister. I assume the letters you got from Harper's grandparents are in that envelope; he'll know your free."

"Yes, he will" Gabriella said. "And that will be his punishment!"

:Later at Hogwarts:

The Pure Slytherins had charmed all the silver out of their clothes and flags. Greg and the rest of the Pure Slytherin team were playing today, and they were wearing Quidditch robes of solid green.

Greg felt confident; Vaisey was a good Captain, and had been working them hard all week. Not only that, but she had brought together a good team. Harper had been given his rightful place as Seeker, and Urquhart and Bletcherly had been replaced by Lilith and Deschamps respectively.

Greg was so glad to be on the same team as Lilith; and she really was a better Chaser than Seeker anyway. Vaisey had been impressed enough with her flying at the tryouts, and had tested her out in formations the first chance they had the Quidditch Pitch. Of course, Vaisey had expressed some doubts upon finding out that Lilith's father was a muggle, but Greg had assured her everything would be good.

Greg examined the rest of the Great Hall. Very few people were wearing green; the Traitor team wore robes of what was meant to be silver, but that looked more like grey to Greg. Most of the school were wearing grey scarfs and had grey banners... but they didn't look dreary; they looked ready to kick some serious arse.

Especially the Traitor Slytherin team. Urquhart's team was made up of an odd bunch of students; some Greg knew were good flyers, others he had no idea about. Daphne's little sister Astoria was a Chaser, and Greg knew she had some skill. Tara McDuffie had made the team as a Beater, and Greg had seen her hits enough to know she could be a serious hassle for him and Vince.

The other two flyers were unknowns to Greg. Paige Puckle was a small Second Year who was taking up the Chaser position, while the other Beater was Robert Parkinson; a Fifth Year second-cousin of Pansy's whom Pansy didn't like talking about due to his Mudblood mother.

Breakfast was a blur to Greg; he remembered eating a lot, and telling Lilith she didn't have anything to worry about a lot too. Then he was walking out of the castle with his team mates, and all too soon he was walking onto the pitch with his heart beating at double speed.

"And here we are folks, back again to see Slytherin verses, Slytherin" Zacharies Smith was commentating again. Greg wondered if he could get away with sending a Bludger his way. "Why they're making the whole school watch this inner house squabble I have no idea. It's not like the rest of us all care about Slytherin."

There were huge boos from the crowd, and not just from Slytherins. Greg took his place on the pitch; standing next to Vince and staring down at McDuffie.

"Well, fine, you do care, I get it" Smith said. "No idea why. Anyway, representing Slytherin - Green Slytherin that is - Vaisey, Selwyn, Moon, Crabbe, Goyle, Harper, and Deschamps! Representing Grey Slytherin - sorry Prof. McGonagall, Silver Slytherin... but those robes still look grey to me - Urquhart, Greengrass, Puckle, McDuffie, Parkinson, Powers, and Bletcherly! Okay, now the Captains are shaking hands -"

It was without a doubt the most reluctant handshake Greg had ever seen on a Quidditch Pitch. Urquhart and Vaisey both had looks of total disgust on their faces and their hands were going white. Madam Hooch actually looked kind of afraid for the two Captains.

"I want a nice clean game" Hooch said. Vince snorted, as did Powers. It took Greg only a moment to catch on; a clean game with two Slytherin teams? As if.

The Snitch was released, followed by the Bludgers. Finally, the Quaffle was released and the teams were off.

And the carnage had begun.

Greg raced towards the nearest Bludger; McDuffie was on his tail, but there was no way her Cleansweep would catch up with his Nimbus 2002. Meanwhile he was aware of the Chasers in an all-out brawl for the Quaffle. Just as he got in range of the Bludger, the Chasers dispersed and Puckle emerged with the Quaffle. Greg had to give her credit; she may be small and young, but she was tough.

Greg sent the Bludger flying in her direction. It was a perfect hit; she dropped the Quaffle, Vaisey caught it... and then Vaisey was knocked in the gut by the other Bludger. Damn Parkinson had good anticipation.

Urquhart gained possession, and with his Firebolt he quickly out speed the rest of the Chasers. Of course, if Greg could send a Bludger his way, that speed made changes in direction a bit harder... but McDuffie beat him to the position, and sent one behind Urquhart to slow down the Chasers following him.

Now Urquhart was at the hoops. He shot for goal, and was blocked by Deschamps.

"And Urquhart misses the first goal attempt of the game" Smith said. "Now, remembering how half the Chasers on the Pitch performed the other week, that's no big surprise. Okay, now Selwyn in possession, passes to Moon, Oh, good shot by McDuffie, but an even better dodge by Moon. She's approaching the Silver goalposts, oh, almost got blocked by Urquhart, and now she glides past Puckle, and... oh, good save by Bletcherly. Now it's Greengrass in possession..."

Vince and McDuffie were sending Bludgers back and forth across the pitch so fast, that Greg rarely got to send off any shots. Of course, when he did he proved slightly more accurate than Vince or McDuffie; he even managed to knock Urquhart around a bit. But it was a somewhat quiet first hour for Greg, and as such he managed to get a pretty good look at the crowd.

The most obvious was the sea of grey - sorry, silver - that filled the stands. The second was the banner.

UNLEASH SUPERPOWERS!

Greg didn't get it, but for some reason he wasn't surprised to see the Creevey brothers holding it up.

"Harper's moving!" Smith screamed. "Has he found the Snitch? Powers is following... oh, wait, his just darting across the field to cut off Urquhart. Smart move... but not very effective. Now Urquhart passes to - whoa, that Bludger just hit the Quaffle out of the sky! Who hit that? Goyle? Wow, good shot... but why - oh."

Greg knew it was a big risk, but when he had seen that shot line up, he couldn't resist. He had been in front of Urquhart and Astoria, and just as he saw that Urquhart was going to pass, he saw Lilith. She had fallen back after getting winded by a Bludger from McDuffie, and was now right by the Silver posts and in the path of his shot. And now the Quaffle was heading her way... if only she could catch it and dodge the Bludger.

She could! Lilith caught the Quaffle with her fingertips while swerving out of the path of the Bludger. It was the most beautiful movement Greg had ever seen on a broomstick! And so fast. She covered the short distance to the posts before Bletchery knew what was going on.

"That was AWESOME!" Smith said. "Who'd have thought - now Moon takes the shot, it's wide open and... oh god."

Bletchery had is whole body stretched out and his broom completely vertical attempting to block the shot, but it made no difference; the Quaffle hit the inner edge of the hoop, bounced up... and away from the hoop. It almost fell into Bletcherly's outstretched hand.

"How.. how... how the fuck did she miss that? Oh, sorry Professor, it won't happen again. But seriously... it was wide open, she was at a perfect angle... how could you have MISSED! Especially after such an AWESOME play. Who'd have thought Goyle was smart enough to come up with that little play... and he HIT THE QUAFFLE! Is, is that even possible? That was so perfect; is that even legal? How could you fu... mess that up?"

There was no mention of Lilith's beautiful catch, and Greg hated Smith for bagging Lilith out about the miss. Especially since he could see how upset Lilith was. But still... no-one had called him awesome before. In fact, no-one had ever treated him like he had any talent before; except Lilith. It was a pretty good feeling.

But still, when play resumed Greg made sure to find Lilith.

"That was a beautiful catch" Greg said as they raced down the pitch. "Don't listen to Smith."

"Thanks Greg" Lilith said. "But this isn't a good time. I need to score now!"

The first score came ten minutes later; the players were getting weary after an hour-a-half straight flying, and after one rough play Vaisey elbowed Urquhart in the ribs. Astoria took the penalty shot, and she got past Deschamps. After that the floodgates were opened, and the Traitors scored twice more before they hit the break at the two hour mark.

"How could you miss that shot?" Vaisey said to Lilith once they were in the dressing rooms. "He was on the other side of the hoops!"

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again" Lilith said.

"It better not" Vaisey said. "Why the hell did I think having a Half-Blood on the team after the schism was a good idea?"

"That's stupid" Greg said. "Slytherin has won plenty of Quidditch Cups with Half-Bloods on the team, and Lilith made an absolutely perfect catch while dodging that Bludger. You should all know that bad shots happen."

"Don't tell any of us how to do our job" Vaisey said. "We don't tell you how to swing your club around? Although, I do want to make it clear to you that this game isn't the time for showing off."

There was a knock on the door, and Hermione Granger strolled in wearing her light green medic robes, offering to patch them up.

"Piss off Granger" Vince said.

"It's my job to patch you up" Granger said. "Though if it was my choice... well, it's not."

"We don't need any patching up" Vaisey said. It was obvious even to Greg that she was lying; all three Chaser's were battered, bruised and bloody.

"We'll be at a disadvantage if she patches up the Traitors and not us" Greg said. Mudblood or not, he couldn't understand why his team would put themselves at a disadvantage by not seeking Granger's help. They wanted to win right? And Granger was talented enough to make them feel as good as new.

"We don't need to be patched up by a Mudblood!" Vaisey said. "Get out of here Granger; before I hex you into oblivion!"

"Fine" Granger said. "But don't say I didn't make the offer."

Granger was gone, and in no time at all the team was ready for action. They flew out onto the pitch for the second time, and in barely anytime at all Selwyn had scored the team's first goal.

After that, the game started getting really violent. Chasers were hitting each other, Bludgers were being shot at Keepers, and both Seekers kept cutting across the pitch. Powers even deliberately rammed Vaisey. Penalty shots were given everywhere... but even though the Silver Slytherins were causing just as many fouls, they were blocking more goals, meaning that after three hours the score was 70-40 to the Silver team.

"Powers is diving!" Smith said. "Oh, I see it... his seen the Snitch. Seen it for real this time!"

Powers was making a sharp dive, and there was no way for Harper to catch up. Greg sprang to action, sending as many Bludgers as he could towards Powers. but somewhere in the melee McDuffie got a hit in, and managed to almost knock Harper off his broom. Greg kept trying to hit Powers, but he knew it was already too late. There was no way Harper could catch up, and Powers was too nimble to be knocked off course. The Mudblood got the snitch and the sea of grey in the stands cheered.

The Traitors had won 220 - 40. They were the new Slytherin team. And Greg, the whole Pure side...

"We lost" Greg said to himself, fuming as Powers and the traitors descended to the ground and got mobbed by excited fans. Smith was saying something, but all Greg could hear was that roar of the crowd, and that little voice of doubt telling him that this was all his fault.

He flew to the sidelines and walked towards the dressing rooms in a daze. He was soon joined by the rest of his team, and they made their way to the dressing rooms in silence.

Once the door was slammed shut behind them, the silence ended and the accusations started.

"How the hell did we lose that?" Vaisey said. "We were just slaughtered by Half-Bloods and Traitors and, and, a MUDBLOOD!"

"We all had trouble getting past Bletchery" Lilith said. "And in the end Powers was just too nimble."

"Shut up!" Vaisey said. "You had trouble getting the easiest possible goal past Bletcherly, and just like a typical Half-Blood your trying to shift the blame to your Pureblood superiors. Are you saying it's Deschamp's fault because he got harder to block shots than Bletcherly? Or that it's Harper's fault because inadequate Beater support stopped him catching up to The Mudblood?"

"Well no but -"

"No buts Moon! We would have won if you weren't dragging us down!"

"Don't pick on Lilith" Greg said. "We all made mistakes. Deschamps let in some pretty easy penalties, All the Chasers got some stupid fouls, Harper was no-where near Powers when the Snitch showed up, and even Vince couldn't get as much Bludger possession as Parkinson."

"Oh, and you didn't let McDuffie get some crucial shots in either Greg?" Vince said. "You may have looked all flashy hitting the Quaffle, but that doesn't give you the right to blame us for everything and pretend you and your little girlfriend are all perfect. Hell Greg, what is it with you and her? You're going to be engaged to my sister one day."

"We're friends" Lilith said. "And Greg isn't trying to act all haughty on you, his just calling it as he sees it."

"Well, I guess we can't really blame this entirely on one person" Selwyn said. "But Moon, can you honestly say to us that you tried as hard as you could in that game? Even though we were playing against your own people?"

"My people?" Lilith asked.

"Well you are a Half-Blood" Selwyn said. "You must have some loyalty to them."

"That's absurd!" Lilith said. "I know first-hand how terrible muggles are; I hate everything those Blood-Traitors stand for!"

"Half-Blood isn't really that much better than Mudblood as far as I'm concerned" Harper said. "I mean, can you imagine actually having a living muggle in your family tree? You could never be rid of that influence."

"I'm on your side!" Lilith said.

"No you're not" Vaisey said. "Someone like you can never truly be on our side! You just stay with us because you recognize your superiors, but I know your type; deep down you think you're an equal with us. You think your just as smart, just as beautiful, and just as magically talented as us. Well guess what... you're not! And because you'll never accept how useless and stupid and ugly you really are, you'll never be on our side!"

Lilith's eyes were tearing up now, and her mouth was opening and closing without making any sound. Greg had never felt as angry as he did now; and that rage was directed straight at Vaisey. He stepped forward, not sure whether he wanted to comfort Lilith or attack Vaisey.

Vaisey snorted. "Well Moon, it seems you're just as weak as a muggle after all. Why don't you go cry your eyes out for your muggle daddy... you ugly bitch!"

Lilith bolted out of the room. Greg began to follow her; he got to the door, opened it, and -

"Where are you going Greg?" Vince asked, smug amusement smeared across his face.

"The Dark Lord is a Half-Blood too" Greg said. "Do any of you think he isn't on our side?"

"Potter says the Dark Lord is a Half-blood" Vince said. "Are you honestly stupid enough to believe that?"

"I'm smart enough to know that Lilith makes Vaisey and Selwyn look like gorillas in wigs; and that I'm not the only one in this room that thinks that."

Greg slammed the door on Vaisey's profanity-filled response, and ran off in the direction that Lilith had gone. He ran down the corridor, and eventually came to the bathrooms. He couldn't see where else Lilith could have run off to, so he opened the door to the girl's lavatory and walked inside.

Contrary to rumours he had heard, the girl's bathroom wasn't any more clean than the boy's bathrooms. The only differences he could sense were the lack of urinals on the walls and a lack of that strong pee smell he was used to.

He heard Lilith's sobs echoing through the room, approached the stall with the closed door, and gently knocked.

"Go away" Lilith said.

"It's just me; Greg" Greg said.

"Go away Greg."

"Okay, but first, I just want to let you know that they're all full of shit. You're more than equal to Vaisey. In fact, you're better than her, and just about any Pureblood I can think of."

"Greg, my father is a muggle."

"Well you know what? I don't care. You're obviously nothing like him; you're smart, and kind, and you're the only person who has ever like, listened to me, and not just well, ignored me because I'm a dumbass.

"Lilith, you haven't got any muggle psycho-evil in you. And you certainly don't look or smell dirty. Hell, I think you're the most beautiful witch in this whole school. And you're smart, and, and you stick by your friends... and you're like, ambitious and all those other things Slytherins are meant to be. Not to mention that you're a very good Quidditch Player; don't let them tear you up over that missed goal; the catch was amazing enough."

Lilith was silent for a while, but at least her crying had subsided. The door creaked, and slowly it was pushed open and Lilith's face appeared. It was red and wet, but still beautiful.

"Do you really mean all that Greg?" Lilith asked. "Or are you just being nice to me because I'm your friend."

"I'm your friend because of all those things" Greg said. "So well, I guess both answers work."

"You're not a dumbass Greg" Lilith said. "You may be a slow learner, but I think you have a lot more insight than most wizards in this school. And you can be quite witty at times."

"What does witty mean?" Greg asked. "Isn't it like, that Ravenclaw thing."

"Wit means you're able to say things that are cleaver and funny; and I think you're as witty as any Ravenclaw but without all that stuffiness."

"I don't say any cleaver things"

"You don't say much of anything out aloud. But I know you better than most people."

"Well, if you say so. Thanks Lil. And you know what, I think you're much kinder than any Hufflepuff... but without any of their lameness."

"Thanks Greg. I'm glad you're my friend; when I'm with you, it doesn't matter that you're a Pureblood and I'm a Half-Blood. You make me feel like well, we're equal."

"You know what Lilith?"

"What?"

"I'm not so sure about all this blood purity stuff."

"What?"

"There is no way in hell your inferior to me; you're so smart, and so good at magic, I don't think it makes any difference at all that you have a muggle father."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew my father. He and my step-brothers, and his friends... their beasts! They've always hit me and mother... and done... terrible things. I wish there were no muggles. I wish they would all just die!"

"You're not a muggle Lilith! And it's disgusting that people treat you like one. Hell, even Granger and Powers seem sane and talented enough to warrant being treated as people."

"That's a pretty dangerous slippery-slope. If we start treating Mudbloods as people, we have to tolerate all that muggle-rights crap. Even a Half-Blood like me - "

"You're a witch Lilith. And a bloody good one at that."

"Thanks Greg. That really means a lot to me."

"Lilith?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to go to the Newt Ball with me?"

Lilith burst into tears again. Greg held her, trying to figure out just what he had said that was so wrong.

"Greg..." she said, "... your betrothed to Eugenie Crabbe."

"She's only just turned fourteen" Greg said. "We aren't engaged yet... it's just in the planning stage. And well, I don't think she wants to be engaged to me. I don't really want to be engaged to her. And she's smart, so maybe the engagement will be broken off and she'll find someone else anyway."

"But Greg... I know that, but even though you're kind and reasonable, the rest of our House isn't. I can't be seen to be breaking up an engagement between two Purebloods; they'll never let me get away with it. I can't go to the Ball with you Greg... even though, I really want to. I'm sorry I'm not as Pure as Eugenie."

"Actually, I'm glad you're not my cousin" Greg said, his chin quivering. "I've always felt weird about being matched to Eugenie... and I guess I'd feel weird about well, feeling for you if you were related to me."

"I know Greg... I just wish... I wish I could go to the Ball with you. That would make me so happy. I'm so sorry I can't go with you."

"It's okay. I know, what about a dance?"

"Huh?"

"We'll have one dance together. People do that at Balls right? We should be able to get away with that."

"Alright, one dance. One dance that makes up for me not being well, a suitable partner for you."

:Later:

Theo didn't think there had ever been a Quidditch victory party in the Great Hall before, but the Pure-Freak Slytherins had retreated back to the common Room and students from all the Houses wanted to celebrate the victory. It felt like the four tables were no-longer House tables, and students darted back and forth at will. Even the teachers seemed to be enjoying themselves; though Theo doubted anyone would get a smile out of Snape tonight.

Theo was sitting down to dinner at the Slytherin table with Hermione. They had talked a lot about the game... which was strange for Hermione, but it was a good strange. Not so good was when the conversation shifted to the Newt Ball, and they fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Hermione had said it would be a really fun night, and he had agreed. Then she had gone silent; whether she was waiting for him to say something else or was psyching herself up to say something he couldn't tell. He wondered if he should tell her how he felt; after all, they were going to the Ball together, and they were getting along really well. But then again, that was all the more reason not to tell her.

They had a good friendship, and Hermione was probably so eager to go to the Newt Ball with him because of the Yule Ball fiasco. There was no way he could risk making things awkward between them again; he couldn't let her know how he felt unless he was sure she felt the same way.

"Hey, why aren't you two joining the party?" Blaise said as he grabbed their shoulders from behind. He had a big grin on his face, and Xanthe was right behind him.

"You know we're not party people" Theo said. "And anyway, we were both hungry. Hey where's Harry?"

"Oh bull, you can eat and mingle" Blaise said. "Harry's just chilling with Urquhart. They're talking Quidditch too fast for me to keep up."

"You know Blaise, it's really good seeing you so happy" Hermione said. "You've seemed pretty down lately."

"What do you mean I've been down?" Blaise said.

"See Blaise, it's not just your mother that has seen it" Xanthe said. "You were pretty down for a while."

"No I wasn't, I've been fine."

"Blaise, we could all see it. Though, I guess if you don't want to talk about it... huh? Is that an owl?"

"Yeah, it is" Blaise said. "Looks a bit like Malfoy's owl."

"Is Malfoy's owl still here?" Hermione asked.

"No idea" Theo said. "All his stuff just got packed up and sent away when he went off to St. Mungos. Not sure what happened to his owl."

"Well, it looks like that owl is flying towards us" Blaise said.

Sure enough, the large eagle owl did come straight to them. It landed right in front of Theo and dropped a large brown envelope in front of him. Theo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up; there seemed to be something sinister about the envelope, with his name written across it in red ink. Or maybe it was just the way the owl was looking at him, and how similar it looked to Malfoy's owl.

The owl took off, and Theo slowly opened the envelope. Inside was another envelope, and a loose letter. He unfolded the letter and began to read.

Dear Theodore

It's been a long time since the two of us had any contact with each other. Maybe that's for the best; I hear you've grown up to be a perfect little blood-traitor. I can't believe you choose those Zabinis over your own family. Your father needed you... though I guess I can understand why you left; you were always weak, and it must have been really scary to learn that the harmless old man was crazy and could kill you.

Anyway, I heard about the way Estelle handled the situation. She sure was angry at you for going off with your Half-Blood friend. She really hated the fact that you had anything to do with such filth didn't she? Well, I bet you'd be interesting in knowing just what a hypocrite she is.

In the other envelope you'll find some interesting information about Estelle and her husband. I don't care what you do with it Theodore, but remember how much she hurt you. Remember that she wanted you to stay with your crazy father and never go to Hogwarts, and remember how much she hated your Half-Blood pet.

I heard you made it into Slytherin dear brother. Congratulations. Now here's your chance to show you deserve to be there; go and get your revenge on Estelle.

Oh, and on the topic of revenge, I'm free now. What are you going to do about it little brother? Are you man enough to come after me? Just a little hint; I have powerful friends. You'll need some serious dark magic to get me.

Signed, your sister,

Gabriella.

Gabriella.

Theo was shaking as he got to the end of the letter. Gabriella was back, and she knew what had been happening in his life. For a moment Theo felt more anger than he had ever felt before in his life; Gabriella was meant to be in Azkaban for life! She had used an unforgivable on a muggle, she had killed Alice... Alice was dead forever. It wasn't fair, Gabriella shouldn't be out. She shouldn't be free, not while Alice was still dead.

"Theo, are you alright?" Hermione asked, gently putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Gabriella" he said, his anger suddenly giving way as helplessness washed over him. Gabriella was free, she could come after him... and there was nothing he could do. Images from the day Alice died flashed before him, feeling as vivid as reality. He could feel a panic attack coming on, and what was the point in fighting it? After all, Gabriella was free.

"Theo!" Hermione said, shaking him now. "Theo what's wrong, say something!"

It's not real He thought to himself, trying to shake the memories of Alice's murder out of his head. It's over, Alice is long dead and Gabriella isn't here right now. Hermione is though. Hermione is here, and she cares about me.

Before he knew what he was happening, he had grabbed Hermione and was sobbing into her shoulder. He felt Blaise's reassuring hand on his back, and slowly the panic began to ease.

"Gabriella's free" Theo said. "She sent me.. that."

"It's alright Theo" Hermione said. "She isn't here now."

"And if she was, she'd get mowed down and sent back to Azkaban before you even got a good look at her" Blaise said.

"Thanks guys" Theo said, slowly removing himself from Hermione and wishing his tears would stop. He didn't want to let go of her, but the panic had subsided enough for him to realise how awkward he was making things. Fortunately Hermione didn't completely let go of him, and kept a firm grip on his hand.

"Do you want to go see Madam Pomfrey?" She asked.

"I... I think I'll be alright" Theo said.

"What about later tonight?" Blaise said. "Want to go see her and get some Dreamless Sleep Potion?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea" Theo said.

"Okay" said Hermione, getting up and pulling him to his feet. "Let's go now."

"Wait" Xanthe said, picking up the envelope and letter. "What do we do with these?"

Theo felt sick just looking at the envelope. Gabriella was back and Alice was still dead.

"I don't care just get it away from me!" He said. Xanthe nodded and put it into her bottle-cap covered shoulder bag, and the four of them left for the Hospital Wing.