Disclaimer: All that is not JKR's is mine-and that mainly consists in the human character of Nagini and the influence she exerts on the magical world.

Chapter 17: Halloween

Tracey was avoiding her; Nagini was sure of it. She didn't join them in the library last night for the fourth time, and she didn't give Nagini any explanation when she returned to the dorm room. And this morning, she was extremely quiet, offering noncommittal shrugs in response to Nagini's questions.

In the face of the silent treatment, Nagini had stormed out of the dorm and through the common room. She walked to the Great Hall, seething at Parkinson all the while, for she was sure that it all came down to whatever pug-girl had told Tracey. Still scowling, Nagini dropped her bag beside the bench and sat across from Theo and Blaise.

"Good morning, sunshine," cried Theo cheerfully, and Nagini glared at him. "What's put you in such a foul mood at this early hour?" he asked.

Nagini opened her mouth to respond, but just then Blaise and Theo were distracted by something behind her. Blaise raised his eyebrows, and Theo's jaw dropped. Nagini turned around to look. Pansy and her gang had just entered the hall, but they weren't alone. Tracey was with them, walking just behind Daphne.

"Did I miss something?" asked Theo quietly. "What happened to Pansy making Tracey miserable? Why on earth is she with them?""

"She still looks miserable," Blaise pointed out, and Nagini agreed.

"Maybe she just happened to leave the dorm at the same time as them," offered Nagini weakly, not believing it herself.

"Maybe," conceded Theo, "but—"

"I doubt it," finished Blaise, and Nagini sighed.

Any remaining doubts vanished when Pansy and her gang sat down, and Tracey sat next to Daphne. Tracey avoided looking at the three Slytherin first years who were staring incredulously at her, but Pansy turned toward them and smirked. The three of them scowled back at her before turning away.

They sat in shocked silence for a moment before Theo said what was on everyone's mind. "Well, that was completely unexpected." Nagini and Blaise nodded. Nagini bit her lip and looked down at her plate. She felt stabbed in the heart. Tracey was her friend, her first friend. Nagini had stood by her all this time, did her best to protect her, and in return Tracey joined Pansy Parkinson's gang without a word of warning.

"What happened, Nagini?" Theo asked. Nagini sighed and looked over at the two boys.

She shook her head. "I'm not exactly sure. Tracey was always more affected by Pansy than I am, but she never said anything about it. In fact," she continued, a sneaking suspicion developing in her mind, "she stopped saying much of anything to me. Pansy would corner her and whisper things to her, but Tracey never told me what they said. . ."

"And she stopped coming to the library," added Blaise quietly.

Nagini nodded. "And she never explained why either." She sighed. "She's gone," she told the other two in a final voice. "We won't be able to convince her to come back. She's too scared of Pansy right now."

"She'll come around eventually," said Theo optimistically.

"Once she realizes that Pansy won't let up on her now that she's in her gang," added Blaise darkly.

Nagini just shook her head. Pansy had Tracey right where she wanted her, and she would never let her go without a fight. And Tracey was too weak and too scared to resist.

I'm sorry.

Nagini glanced down at the parchment that landed on her desk then looked to her left. Tracey was staring pointedly at the front of the room at Professor Quirrell, who was muttering about the differences between ghosts and ghouls. Nagini also glanced at him before quickly writing a response.

For what?

Nagini heard a small sigh and then the scratching of a quill.

For being so weak. I couldn't stand up to her. Not like you could.

Nagini slowly read the note. Oh, Tracey, she thought sadly. You're right: you couldn''t, you never could, but I hope that you can someday.

You don't need to be sorry for that.

She sent the note back and stared at the blackboard, resting her head on her chin. She heard a quill and looked over to see Tracey writing furiously.

But I abandoned you, Nagini. You were my first friend, and I left you for them. I've ignored you, and when you tried to help, I pushed you away. I joined her gang. There's no turning back for me.

I don't blame you, Tracey. I won't try to change your mind if you don't want me to, but I want you to know that I''ll always be there for you. I'll still be your friend even if you're with Pansy.

Nagini sent the note back and sighed. She felt sorry for Tracey, but there wasn't anything she could do. If Tracey wanted to be friends with Nagini, she could. She'd just have to suffer the additional abuse from Pansy. Something poked her elbow, and Nagini looked down. Tracey had already sent the note back.

Really?

Nagini smiled. Tracey really was sweet even if her timid demeanor could be a bit irritating sometimes.

Really. I'll stand by you no matter what you decide, and I'm sure Theo and Blaise will as well. If you ever decide to come back, we''ll be waiting with open arms, but if not, I'll still be there for you whenever you need me. Parkinson or no Parkinson.

Nagini sent the note back to Tracey and looked over at her. The smaller girl smiled slightly at the note. She turned to Nagini, and Nagini saw tears forming in her eyes.

"Thanks, Nagini," she whispered.

Nagini smiled back, and Tracey turned back to the board, resuming her note taking. Nagini also faced the board and tried to refocus her attention on the lesson at hand. It seemed, however, that she wasn't the only one distracted. Professor Quirrell was still discussing the differences between ghouls and ghosts.

"G-ghosts are," he stammered, "the imprint of a d-departed s-soul, but g-ghouls are th-the r-remnants of c-curses gone awry." Nagini glanced down at her notes. He had already told them this at the beginning of the lesson. The class began to whisper amongst itself, ignoring him; Quirrell didn't seem to notice. Nagini looked back up at him. He was fidgeting, and his eyes kept darting around the room, as if looking for an escape. He also kept glancing at the clock. Wishing it would speed up or slow down? wondered Nagini. What in Merlin's name was wrong with him? For some reason, he seemed on edge and was much more nervous than usual.

Nagini walked into the Great Hall for dinner with Theo and Blaise and gasped. Thousands of bats flew throughout the room. The usual candles were replaced with ones that glowed deep violet, throwing the room into shadows. In the corners and along the walls, giant pumpkins glowed brightly, their faces carved into grotesque expressions.

They sat down, and Theo whistled in appreciation. "Nice," he muttered. Even Blaise, the boy who remained ever-passive, looked impressed.

"It is pretty amazing," Nagini agreed.

They sat down, and a feast appeared on the golden dishes before them. Nagini was just reaching for the jug of pumpkin juice when Quirrell ran into the hall, looking even more frantic than he had been in class, if that was possible. He ran past the students staring and whispering at him and headed straight for Dumbledore.

He collapsed against the table. "Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know," he gasped then fainted.

The hall burst into a loud roar. Everyone was shouting, not able to hear each other over everyone else. Dumbledore shot several purple firecrackers into the air from his wand to regain silence. "Prefects!" he called over the heads of the students, ""lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately. Teachers, follow me to the dungeons."

There was chaos as everyone rushed to the doors. The girl with braided brown hair that led them to the dormitories the first night came over to them. She was accompanied again by the darker-haired boy. "Alright, everybody," she called over the table. ""I want all the first through third years to follow me. Everyone else, follow the other prefects." She pointed at four other students standing toward the back of the table. "C''mon now, stick together."

Everyone scrambled to follow her, and Nagini darted to the girl's side and placed a hand on her arm. "What?" asked the girl crossly.

"Our common room's in the dungeons," began Nagini, and the girl nodded impatiently. "And the troll. . ." she continued.

The girl's eyes widened. ". . . is in the dungeons," she finished. "Wait here!" she called to the Slytherins and sprinted to the head table. After quickly glancing around for Snape, their Head of House, and not finding him, the girl turned to McGonagall and had a quick whispered conversation with her.

After a moment, the girl sprinted back and announced, "Alright, everyone, change of plans. Since our common room is in the dungeons, all Slytherins are to stay in the Great Hall until further notice."

She glanced over at Nagini. "Thanks," she said quietly. Nagini nodded and rejoined Theo and Blaise.

"Well, that would have been a problem," said Theo, stating the obvious. "Why didn't the teachers think of this themselves?" he asked.

Nagini shrugged. "Don't know, but they would have realized pretty quickly when they saw a horde of Slytherins following them to the dungeons."

Blaise snorted. "But even then, some of them probably still wouldn't have noticed."

Nagini laughed. "Why are we waiting here?" called a voice. Pansy. "Shouldn't we go to our dormitories like he said? Isn't that safer than standing around here waiting for the troll to come get us?"

Laughing to herself, Nagini turned to Parkinson. "Why, Pansy?" she asked, feigning concern. "Are you scared?"

"Of course not," the girl scoffed. "You should be though," she added quickly. "Trolls especially like to eat people with dirty blood." Despite her shaking, Tracey managed sent Nagini a sympathetic smile from her place between Daphne and Millicent.

Nagini, however, rolled her eyes at Pansy. "Like trolls can even tell the difference. And in answer to your earlier question, we're not going to our dormitories because our dormitories are in the dungeons." She paused waiting for Pansy to understand.

"So?"

Nagini let out a long-suffering sigh. "Are you really that thick, Pansy? Quirrell said the troll was in the dungeons. The teachers want to keep the students away from the troll, so why would they send us toward it?"

Nagini watched as Pansy's eyes widened. Finally, the penny had dropped. Behind Parkinson, Tracey stood trembling. Nagini smiled gently at her before turning back to Theo and Blaise.

"How did a troll get in here in the first place?" asked Theo. "They're really stupid, and the castle's protected."

Blaise shrugged, but Nagini paused. How did the troll get in? And what was Quirrell even doing in the dungeons in the first place, she thought suddenly. His classroom's on the fourth floor. He has no business in the dungeons. Was this why he was so nervous in class, she wondered. Because he knew what was going to happen?

With these thoughts swirling in her head, Nagini followed Theo and Blaise as they made their way over to a group of the giant pumpkins and sat down on top of them. With nothing else to do, they speculated about how a troll could get in and what it was doing in Hogwarts in the first place. Every so often, Theo tossed a piece of candy he had snagged from the table in his mouth. Nagini rolled her eyes. It was one thing to not worry because there wasn''t anything they could do anyways, but quite another to be absolutely careless. The prefects stood guard by the doors, wands raised in expectation, and Nagini placed her hand on her left arm, where her wand rested in its sheath under her robes.

She didn't know what she was expecting exactly, but there was something suspicious about what had happened. She wondered briefly what her father would have to say about it when she told him. He would be shocked, she was sure, but he would also have some sort of idea of what was going on.

Within the hour, a few teachers returned and, after talking to the prefects guarding the door, headed over to where the Slytherins stood waiting. "It's over," Professor Sprout told them. "The troll is being disposed of, and you should all return to your dormitories. Prefects," she added looking at them, "please lead your house to common room. Food will be sent down, so you can finish dinner."

The Slytherins silently filed out of the Great Hall and headed to the dungeon. As Professor Sprout had said, food was there waiting for them to finish the interrupted feast. While most people headed straight toward the food or sat down on the couches and chairs to discuss what happened, Nagini slipped around the edge of the crowd and headed to her dormitory.

None of them knew what had happened, of course, so there was no point staying and listening to people say the same things over and over again. Instead, she wanted to sleep, or rather, she wanted to dream because she somehow knew that her father would be able to shed light on events. At any rate, he had wanted her to keep him informed on events that occurred at Hogwarts, and she intended to do just that.

~Kasyntra