Xaden Riorson stared at the castle before him. He was a fifth-year student and one of the few Slytherins to believe Harry Potter when he said Voldemort was back. It wasn't that he believed him because he was on his side; quite the contrary. Xaden didn't want Voldemort to be back. He had murdered his parents. Killed them in cold blood because they had dared to defy him. He supposed he and Harry Potter had that in common but that was where the similarities stopped.

Voldemort hadn't tried to kill him. Not in the way he had tried to kill Harry Potter because of the prophecy. Yes, he knew about the prophecy. Lucius Malfoy had told his son, who then told Xaden. Oh, they hadn't heard it, of course. That was the whole purpose of this year. Voldemort wanted to break into the Department of Mysteries. Wanted to hear the prophecy for himself. They just all knew that it was there. That it existed.

Just then, Violet Sorrengail walked past him, stretching out her fingers. He watched on in apt fascination. He had been in love with her since second year and had a crush on her since first year. He knew he didn't have a chance with her, come hell or highwater, but he loved the Ravenclaw. Another reason that he knew he didn't belong in Slytherin.

Well, that may not be the exact truth. He was cunning. Would do whatever it took to get the things he wanted accomplished. His dragon, Sgaeyl, would attest to that. And the problem with Sgaeyl, he thought to himself, was the fact that she was mated to Tairn. Tairn was one of Violet's dragons. And his dragon's mate. And she hated him. It was complicated, okay?

He expelled a soft sigh, following closely to Violet so his shadows could penetrate the shield she put up. He knew she was skilled at the Protego charm, but it was so much more than that. Since finding out who her dragon was, and who her dragon was mated to, Violet had been blocking him out. Not that he could complain. He hadn't ever told her how he felt about her. But Tairn talked to Sgaeyl, which therefore meant Sgaeyl talked to him.

Violet dealt with chronic pain. Something to do with the fact that her mother was so sick during her pregnancy with her. Her joints popped out of socket on a regular basis. She broke bones. She sprained ankles with just the slightest twist. It was definitely a challenge to try and keep her alive. And he did. Try and keep her alive, that is. Voldemort didn't know that he was in love with a Ravenclaw or he would have snuffed out her life like a light. Voldemort also didn't know that he wasn't on his side. Not truly. Since the murder of his parents when he was five, he had sworn to fight on the right side just out of spite. It was enough to piss off Voldemort when he found out.

Then there was the whole debacle with the Triwizard Tournament last year. Harry Potter had been hand selected by Barty Crouch Jr. for the tournament. Of course, he had been under disguise. No one knew that he was a spy for Voldemort and thought he was Mad-Eye Moody instead. Even Xaden. He hadn't been privy to the knowledge that he was a spy. None of the children of the Death Eaters had.

And, Xaden got treated like shit by the fellow students because his parents had been death eaters. No one knew the truth of the matter: that they had willingly gone back to the right side after Voldemort killed the Potters. And of course, his parents hadn't been murdered by Voldemort himself, but on his orders. He had been hiding out in – Xaden paused, thinking about it for a minute – Albany at that point, and had hired someone to kill them. He didn't think they would have been important enough for Voldemort to murder himself. Not when he had no body and he was trying to bring himself back from the edge of death.

Just then, Violet Sorrengail tripped, stumbling into him, and he jerked out gentle hands, trying to steady her. "Sorrengail, do watch where you're going."

"Shut it, Riorson," she snapped, jerking her body away from his. He saw the minute something popped – a joint – because her eyes flared and she breathed deeply. He waited to see what she needed from him, but of course, she turned on her heel and limped towards Rhiannon and Ridioc. Xaden sighed. He hated it when she denied help, which was every day of her life.

He continued making his way from the Thestrals and towards the castle. He was one of the few who could see Thestrals because he had seen death. His parents were murdered right in front of him at five years old. Not something he recommended and he doubted even Harry Potter had horrific memories of his own parents being murdered. Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he headed into the Great Hall with the rest of the student body.

Sitting down at the Slytherin table, Xaden's eyes travelled across the expanse of the Great Hall. He saw Violet Sorrengail sitting down in her seat, wincing at what was undoubtedly pain. He felt an inkling of sympathy towards her. Then he watched as her older sister stood up from the Gryffindor table and went to go say something to her. Turning from the conversation to give them a modicum of privacy, he spotted Malfoy sitting down. "Expected you to wait for me, Riorson."

Yeah, well, when hell freezes over. He offered Malfoy a grunt, ignoring him other than that, which he knew pissed off the blonde to no end. Fucking bloke. He sighed softly, waiting for the rest of the students to gather into the hall. Then Dumbledore was standing to his feet, commanding the attention of everyone in the way only the older wizard knew how. "Welcome back to another year. We've got new faculty with us this year." Xaden narrowed his eyes on a truly toadish looking woman in horrible pink. He snorted. Fanfuckingtastic.

She got up, interrupting Dumbledore, and began to give a speech. A speech that Xaden promptly tuned out as he looked back around the room. Violet and Rhiannon were paying attention to the toad, and he wasn't surprised. They always paid attention. Rumor had it, Rhiannon had been made Prefect and Xaden wasn't surprised by that, either. He knew that girl had perfect leadership abilities.

Just then, Violet looked up, searching the crowd, and her eyes landed on him. She narrowed them at him and he winked at her. She rolled her eyes in disgust and looked away as toad lady sat back down. Dumbledore took to the stand once more and then Xaden was paying attention. "Students. I must beseech each and every one of you that you keep yourselves amongst your peers this year. As we know, Lord Voldemort reigns once more. We've got to do whatever it takes to remain united and strong against him."

Xaden looked around.

Half the school believed Harry Potter and the other half thought he was a nutter.

Good luck with that, Dumbledore.