Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all heading over to the Owlery before the Top Secret Surprise Party the Gryffindors had planned for Harry's victory. He'd written a letter for Sirius, letting him know how the first task had gone. The giddiness from his winning high hadn't worn off yet, however, he had been hit with an insane amount of hunger.

"I need to let Sirius know," Harry said with a grin as soon as the stands were cleared out and he was left alone with the three of them. Hermione and Ron had cast quick glances between Harry and Marissa but realised he must've told her about his fugitive godfather or she should have been screaming for dementors back up to the castle. Hermione and Ron were still rather wary discussing the "Sirius Situation" with an outsider as Hermione had ineloquently put it, but Marissa seemed unfazed and continued on with the group.

"I'd like to meet him," Marissa said quietly, "One day maybe." She smiled.

"Why?" Hermione turned to face the girl. She had a slightly hostile attitude to Marissa, maybe a lack of trust or maybe something else, but whatever it was, it didn't have an effect on the Slytherin.

"Why not?" she said with a laugh, "He sounds interesting enough, my curiosity has been piqued." They continued walking to the castle, Harry letting them know another piece of information Sirius had given him specifically about Karkaroff.

"A death eater? No wonder he's so close to the Malfoys, now we know how they met. I bet it was him that put your name in the Goblet, bet he feels foolish now. You've come out without a scratch," Ron said as they headed up. He stopped a little, looking like he wanted to say something else, but felt like he couldn't.

"No, Ronald." Marissa had stopped walking. "Before you suggest it, no. Draco is not a death eater, and he's barely like his father. People's upbringing affects them immensely, but we forge our own paths." Ron and Hermione exchanged an uncomfortable glance, Harry unsure of what to do or say. "I'll leave. I wouldn't want to inhibit your conversations any further. I'll take Cleo from you now, Harry." They hadn't wanted to subject the snake to the roaring noise of a Gryffindor House Party and had agreed she would spend the night in Marissa's dorm. She stepped up to Harry, holding onto his arm allowing Cleo to slide onto hers. "You don't have to go, Mary," Harry said, his mood slightly dampened.

"It's ok, I had things to do anyway," she said, the same smile never faltering. "I'll catch you later," and with that, she headed towards the dungeons.

The party had been amazing. It had to be at least 2 am and Harry lay in bed utterly exhausted. While he'd had an incredibly good time, other than the screeches of his egg, his mind kept wandering back to Marissa. He felt bad for her. She'd approached him when he had no one, she'd been there for him, and he could tell she was afraid of losing their friendship. Hermione and Ron's distrust, while somewhat understandable, couldn't be helping. He would never claim to be as close to Draco as he was to her and he would never claim to be as close to her and she was to Draco. But that was probably why it upset her all the more to hear the way Harry and his friends were used to talking about him. He resolved to apologise in the morning when he got Cleo back.

Hermione had once again got riled up about the House Elf Liberation Front as she now called. Marissa had tried talking some sense into her before, letting her know as best she could that house-elves are far happier working and forced freedom is the worst fate they could imagine. At most she could advocate for them to receive better treatment but total freedom would be hell to them. While Hermione's stubbornness could often be one of her best characteristics, there was the worry that she was going to end up doing more harm than good. Fred and George's prank snacks had been brilliant. The Canary Cremes had been hilarious and clearly took some serious work from the twins. It had been an overall good night Harry thought to himself as he rolled into his bed.

Marissa herself was now sat in the Slytherin Common Room. She enjoyed nighttime. Quiet and comforting. She could think here, sat on the windowsill, without worrying about any interruption. "Can't sleep?" Any interruption, most of the time. She turned to see Draco coming down from the boys' dorm, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Won't sleep." She turned back to face the window. He pulled up a stool and sat beside her. There was silence, for a while. "I'm sorry, tomorrow won't be easy," he said, staring up at her as she looked away.

"You don't have to be. It never is."

"You'll get through it, you always do. And no matter what, I'm always here."
"I know. Thank you." More silence. The emptiness heavy. "I'll head to bed now," she turned back to face him.

"Ok, I'll see you in a few days?"

"You can be sure of it," she smiled, handing the sleeping Cleo over to him who had been resting lazily on her arms, before heading upstairs to lie in bed for a sleepless night.

"Harry you have to be prepared," an exasperated Hermione said as they sat at breakfast.

"Come on Hermione, he beat a dragon yesterday, how hard is the next task supposed to be?" Ron said, clearly far more relaxed.

"I don't know Ronald, maybe it could be two dragons, or three, or something worse."

"Well, he can at least take a break today, right Harry?" Harry looked up, still exhausted from last night, he'd barely been listening, "Right, yeah, I'll break today," and then upon seeing Hermione's face, "I'll be back on it tomorrow Hermione, I promise."

He noticed Draco heading to their table, Crabbe, and Goyle tagging along behind. He held out his arm to Harry.

"Your snake." Harry held his arm out to take hold of Cleo slightly confused. "Where's Mary?" Draco shrugged.

"She's taking some time off, she'll be back soon." Hermione and Ron's face couldn't hide how guilty they looked. "Don't think of yourselves as so important, she's not left because of your lack of subtlety." Draco gave a slight nod to Harry and headed back over to the Slytherin Table to have his own lunch. The three of them sat in silence for a few moments until Cleo's quiet hissing could be heard. He means it. She's not upset by your friends, she's not surprised they don't trust her and the boy, something else was stressing her out.

"Do you know what?" Harry said concerned. No, you would have to ask her yourself.

Harry wouldn't get the chance to, not for another week. He'd been getting on with his lessons, somewhat. Mostly just relaxing through Divination while Trelawney predicted his death and messing around with Ron in everything else. Hermione was endlessly trying to get him to figure out the egg, and though he had assured her that he was working on it, he could not figure it out at all. Opening it just led to an insane level of screeching and he had no idea what to do with it. The thought of where Marissa could have been for the whole week was constantly on his mind, until Thursday afternoon in Transfiguration.

They were around nearly done with the lesson, Ron and Harry already having transfigured their guinea fowls into guinea pigs and had begun copying down the homework from the whiteboard. The door creaked open and Marissa walked in, with hair noticeably shorter. Where before it had reached down to her waist, she had cut it to just below her shoulders. Expecting her to receive a boatload of admonition for arriving so late and for missing so many lessons, it surprised Harry to see the Professor simply allow Marissa to take a seat at the back of the classroom. Before he could find a way of asking where she was and how she'd been, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "I need everyone's attention now, please. The Yule Ball-"

Please follow, vote and comment, I really enjoy reading your guys' comments and they honestly do keep me motivated to keep going. I'm trying to stick to the timeline of Goblet of Fire as much as I can so I hope the story isn't moving too slowly!