THE DAYS WERE growing cold and it did nothing to ease Luxanna's haunted mind… The drop to flood the proverbial cup—or in this case, Luxanna's very real and overboiling temper—had been the champion selection that took place just a few hours prior, where Harry Potter's name had emerged from the Goblet of Fire in all its triumph. After that evening's patrol duties, Luxanna, tasked with a tedious Transfiguration essay which was already long overdue, sought refuge within the dark, slick walls of the underground chamber.

Following the events of 1992, she religiously frequented the place, and had even gone so far as to decorate it with bits and bobs she had discovered around the school; in the evenings, Luxanna would finish up her assignments in front of a large mahogany desk lit by floating candles. A large pewter cauldron, books, and parchment covered in notes and diagrams were arranged next to the desk on a woven mat, along with various jars containing tinctures and herbs. The spotlight, however, was reserved for the skeletal structure that still lay sprawled over the slick marble floor; the great beast of Slytherin never ceased occupying these halls, its lance-like fangs frozen in an endless scream.

And though her decorative efforts did little to divert one's attention from the threatening atmosphere, Luxanna did not mind. It had become her sanctuary; a place where nobody could question, mock or try and pull a childish prank on her.

"He cheated." She plopped down into the chair and let out a long sigh. "He must have."

"Unlikely," said Frost, uncoiling from Luxanna's neck.

"Everyone certainly seems to believe so."

Luxanna grabbed one of the empty jars from the floor and lit a bright green flame inside it for warmth. All the decorations in the world could not stifle the chill of this place.

"And are you everyone?" asked Frost.

"What?"

"Are you a sheep?"

"No."

"No," repeated Frost. "You're a snake, be one."

"If only! Wouldn't it be so much simpler if I were a snake! You have it so easy, did you know that? I am the one bearing all the consequences, every… single… day… Do you have any idea how much trouble I would be in if anybody found out about you? And yet you continue to run your mouth with impunity, instructing me like some puppet!"

"Luksss..."

"How could he… No, how did he do it? Potter…" Luxanna slammed her fists down on the table, letting out a long frustrated groan. "It's not fair!"

"Ah, but the universsse has proven to usss that it iss rarely fair," Frost mused.

"Frost! I am not in the mood," Luxanna retorted, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Listen to me, child... Thisss… this is Voldemort's doing."

"Don't—say his name!" Luxanna's voice echoed in the vast space, reverberating through the hollow pipes.

"Can't you dissscern the pattern? Year after year Voldemort has pursued that boy. This year is much the sssame, and if you do not side with me, then you are very well siding with him."

"The only pattern I see here are Harry Potter's yearly escapades and the ineptitude of the staff to recognise them for what they are."

"Harry Potter is as much a victim in this as you are."

"Harry Potter is a fraud and I'm going to prove it."

Alex was nowhere to be found the next morning. In fact, she didn't remember even seeing him come in, despite having stayed up late the previous night, troubled by her own mind. And it was for the best, because Luxanna was feeling even less social than usual. She had left Frost in the Dormitory and camped out in the Common Room, refusing to speak a word to her. It was like listening to her mother, for Merlin's sake.

So, Luxanna stuffed some pastries into a napkin and hurried off into the courtyard, where she could eat her breakfast in peace and mull things over.

The moment she settled down on one of the benches, she spotted Potter coming out of the doors, accompanied by a swarm of chattering Gryffindors, who cheered incessantly as he walked through the courtyard, patting him on the back and swooning over him.

"Potter!"

Their smiles faded as soon as she approached, and rightfully so, because her temper was on the brink of boiling over.

"Enjoying yourself, huh?" she asked, her lips trembling with anger. "Enjoying your precious victory?"

"What's your problem?"

"You!" she declared. The crowd gaped. "You're my problem!"

"Oh, yeah?" he replied casually. "Well, I can't help it if you're jealous, can I?" A pair of flustered looking girls giggled behind Potter's shoulder at this.

"Jealous? Jealous?" Luxanna gasped. "What, of your filthy little tricks?"

"Maybe you could've bought your way in!" added one of the boys from the back.

"Yeah, Harry got chosen!" yelled another.

Potter simply raised his eyebrows at her in a taunting fashion, allowing the others to speak for him.

She wanted—no, needed—to wipe that smug smirk off his face, to smother that pride, shatter that calm and self-satisfied attitude, to rain fire on the whole lot of idiotic fans who blindly adored that boy— What did they know? It was all a big joke to them, a game, a play, a performance, but she knew the truth. He was a fraud, a liar, and what's worse, he had the gall to be proud of his lies, as if it were a badge of honour to deceive the whole world.

"Anything else to say?" asked Potter.

"I want you to admit it," Luxanna ordered.

"Admit what?"

"Don't play stupid with me," she said viciously. "Don't pretend."

"Piss off, already!" said one of the taller boys.

Luxanna closed the distance between them in a blink, seizing Potter by his collar and slamming him into the pillar behind. "Admit it! Admit it, or so Merlin help me, I'll…"

"Hey, get off!" he yelled, his expression of confidence now replaced with one of actual fear.

One of his defenders had almost grabbed her by the arm in an attempt to pull her away, but Luxanna was quicker at the draw; unsheathing the wand from her sleeve, she shrieked an incantation, and not a moment later the boy was lying with his back to the grass, several feet away from the group. She aimed for Potter next, but quickly withdrew once she realised that the other followers had their wands drawn, too.

Potter instructed them to calm down with a wave of his arm. "Stop! We'll all get in trouble!"

Both parties were now eyeing each other warily, wands still drawn but no longer pointed.

"You? Get in trouble? Don't make me laugh! Now, admit that you cheated before I hex you, Potter!"

"Fine," he said in what he deemed was a casual tone; the panting in his breath gave him away, however. "Sure, if that's what you think."

"Hah!" exclaimed Luxanna. She was breathing heavily, too. "Just wait until I tell the committee! Just wait!"

"You do that."

And with her fist clenched, Luxanna stomped out of the courtyard, up the stone steps and back towards the entrance. Completely consumed by her rage, she failed to notice the pair that was flanking her as she made her way through the doors, until they spoke.

"Aaah, there she is!" the Weasley twins said in unison.

"Shove off, morons."

Luxanna made to brush past them but they quickly blocked her in.

"Tell us."

Her head was throbbing, the last thing she needed that day were Weasley antics. She just wanted to report Potter, finally see him get what he deserved, because much like the two standing right in front of her, he, too, was somehow blissfully immune to repercussions. If she was lucky, one of the committee might recognise her as Cepheus Black's daughter which would give her some leverage.

"What, tell you just how immensely bothersome you are?"

"Well, she's in a mood," commented one of them as she brute-forced her way through.

The other, however, seemed to stop at nothing to torment her. And so he trailed behind Luxanna as she rushed past crowds of glaring students, towards the staircase, suddenly unsure in which direction she was going, tears of fury rising to her eyes.

She could hear the agonising creak of his footsteps behind her; could feel his scrutinising gaze piercing through her back.

The entire world seemed to be against her. When they humiliated her, it was fine—no, it was hilarious. If she fought back, then she was the perpetrator, the enemy. When Harry Potter's name emerged from that goblet; he was a victor, a champion. But her? She was only a problem, a nuisance—an afterthought.

"Hey, I trusted you with that potion!"

Luxanna whipped around, hand instinctively reaching for her wand for the second time that day, and barely containing the jinx that was about to escape her lips.

The redhead stopped in his tracks, several steps below Luxanna, throwing his hands up in feigned surrender.

"Stupid of you to trust a snake," she replied with menace, yet still not entirely sure when the firmness of her voice might waver. "Didn't your mummy and daddy teach you that?"

With her wand pointed towards his face, he gazed at her from below. His eyes had taken on a strange intensity. When he spoke again, it was in a weak, resigned sort of tone.

"For a moment I thought you were alright, you know?"

Luxanna's hand trembled ever so slightly, she opened her mouth to speak and…

"Oooh, lovers quarrel!" The shrill, piercing voice of Triss Selwyn sounded from behind her, followed by a chorus of raucous laughter.

Luxanna spun around, all the fury returning to her in an instant.

"You can spare us the act, love. I saw you the other day," said Selwyn. "Snogging in the broom closet? How tacky!" She smirked at Luxanna's confused face. "But I suppose I wouldn't put it past you… You see, me and the girls thought that you've been a little too… obsessed… with the Weasleys recently, and now… now we know why."

"What?" replied Luxanna, before it dawned on her.

"Hey, everyone!" Selwyn addressed the audience at the foot of the stairs; many students had apparently already tuned in to her and Weasley's shouting match, Luxanna just hadn't noticed. "Our beloved prefect, Luxanna Black here is dating a Gryffindor! And not just any Gryffindor… a Weasley at that! Can you imagine?"

"Rubbish!" yelled Weasley, his face tinged red.

"Is it?" Selwyn raised her eyebrows. "Care to tell me what you were doing there, then?"

Luxanna's eyes darted from Weasley to Selwyn, searching her own mind for what to say. It was a bold and indeed very rash decision, but Luxanna knew she could play this to her advantage. She took a deep breath, mustering up her composure and then turned to address the blushing redhead with a feigned manner of exasperation.

"Oh, come on now, the jig's up—she saw us!" She then turned back towards Selwyn. "You know, that wasn't even the first time!"

"Excuse me?" said Weasley, who sounded as befuddled as Selwyn looked at that moment.

"It happened on Friday evening. George… was helping me with my Transfiguration homework—because I'm so horrible at Transfiguration, as you know." Triss nodded slowly at this, her eyes scanning the two of them. "And then, accidentally his hand brushed up against mine on the parchment, our eyes locked and time stood still and I just knew I had to have him," Luxanna said all of this very quickly, as if to will the sickening words out of her mouth before she might change her mind. "I mean, who could resist his obvious… charm," she concluded, the end result being slightly unconvincing thanks to the strain of having to find a flattering noun.

"What…" Weasley murmured so quietly that the only reason she could hear it was due to the utter silence of the onlookers.

Selwyn opened her mouth and then closed it again, apparently at a loss for words. "So... so... you just... admit it?"

"We were supposed to meet in the prefects' bathroom, see, but when I saw him standing there, all by himself in the corridor that evening…" Luxanna felt the nausea creeping into her stomach at this point, "Well, I just couldn't help myself, could I?"

"Yeah…" Selwyn complied, looking a little nauseated herself.

"Yes. Good eye, Selwyn, really. Stealthy. I can respect that. I was sure we'd been alone but you got us, didn't you?"

"I did..." Selwyn whispered under her breath to herself, impressed at her own accomplishment, like she couldn't quite believe it herself. But Luxanna knew she had taken the bait. Triss Selwyn was too dense of a girl to question anything, especially where scandalous gossip was concerned, and far too vain to turn away from an opportunity to stick her nose into Luxanna's business.

Luxanna tried speaking to Alex in Herbology, just to clear up the confusion before the outburst of fresh rumours seized the entire school, but Professor Sprout had them working in pairs, squeezing and juicing the pimples from the adolescent Mandrakes to be used as an ingredient in a healing draught. Luxanna had been, to her greatest misfortune, paired with none other than Triss Selwyn, who would not, no matter how many times Sprout tried to silence her, stop asking her Weasley related questions.

"How's it feel to snog a Blood traitor, Black? I hear they're usually rather... promiscuous, so he must have had some practice before."

"Great," mumbled Luxanna, trying hard to focus on the task.

"The Weasleys are dead poor, aren't they? Bet George Weasley can't even afford new clothes… Eugh, bet he smells, doesn't he?" Selwyn rambled on. "You're just so... humble, I mean if it were me... I couldn't, I just couldn't."

Luxanna nodded.

"So..."

"So what?"

"Does he smell?"

"I—" Luxanna paused. "No."

"Hmm... So how was it? Did you…"

"None of your business, Selwyn," interrupted Luxanna, a little too loudly, earning her a glance from Professor Sprout and a few of the nearby Durmstrang students, who were straining to listen in on the conversation in hopes of catching a few steamy details.

With the nausea once again creeping up on Luxanna, (and not because Selwyn had exploded multiple pimples on her robes) she would refuse to elaborate any further. By the end of the class, they had both received worse marks than the rest of the students, save for a few Durmstrang boys, who had apparently never seen a Mandrake before.

She tried once again in History of Magic, but Selwyn had positioned herself right behind her desk, constantly craning her neck to read the little notes Luxanna tried passing to Alex. When she tried blocking her out with her shoulder, Selwyn would slowly scoot her entire desk forward, so that at one point, when Luxanna turned around, the obnoxious little tart was just behind her, practically breathing down her neck.

She didn't even dare pass a note in Defense Against the Dark Arts afterwards, Merlin knows Moody could probably read through parchment. But that was fine, lunch was right after, and as soon as the bell rang, Luxanna strode down to the Common Room, settling down on one of the couches in the corner with a long sigh.

"What's the matter with Selwyn?" asked Alex, who had followed her down. "And what was all that nonsense she kept asking you about George Weasley?"

But it was Maisie Spinster, sitting straight across from the pair and hiding her inquisitive face and wide eyes behind the pages of Witch Weekly, who answered his question.

"Didn't you hear? Black and Weasley have been seen kissing in a broom closet on Saturday evening."

Alex's eyebrows immediately shot up, and he turned to Luxanna, awaiting her rebuttal. But Luxanna, feeling exasperated and outraged by all of the events that had transpired since Saturday, only shrugged indifferently, too irritated to speak.

Misinterpreting her silence as embarrassment, Spinster continued, "Yeah, they were all sweaty when they got out, all red in the face, you know?"

Luxanna felt herself sink deeper into the sofa, wishing it would swallow her and end her misery. But Spinster just giggled, twirling her ginger locks around her finger and giving them the full picture. "I happen to know that that particular broom closet is a rather famous rendezvous spot. I'm sure at least a few buttons must've come undone… maybe even a zipper… And it was a secret for a while, you know, but I heard from Selwyn that they had the most horrible row just this morning, 'cause Weasley swore up and down that it was all a lie, but Black here, well, she…"

"Come Crabbe, Goyle. Let's show the others!" Draco Malfoy's voice echoed from the corridor as he entered the room, followed by his admirers; a sight reminiscent of Potter and his own band earlier that day. During the brief window of opportunity where Spinster's attention had diverted away from their conversation, Luxanna mouthed to Alex, "I'll explain later…"

All three were sporting badges much like the one Luxanna wore on her own chest, only instead of the usual 'P,' they had been enchanted to read, 'Potter Stinks' in blaring green letters.

It attracted the attention of several students, who all gawked in amazement, particularly Pansy Parkinson, a Fourth Year who practically leapt from her seat, squealing with delight and praising the boy for his cleverness. Malfoy distributed the badges, smirking as people snatched them out of the bag.

"Can't wait to see Potter's face when the entire school's wearing these."

Luxanna silently agreed; it was, in fact, a clever idea, but Alex didn't seem to share the sentiment.

"The entire school?" he asked from his seat. "That's a bit harsh, I'd say…"

Malfoy's narrow eyes were fixed on their group momentarily. "Nobody cares what you have to say, Mudblood."

Luxanna got to her feet, locking eyes with the younger boy. "Take it back."

Malfoy glared back, the grey of his eyes blazing. "Or what? You'll dock points from me? From your own house?" He crossed his arms over his chest, glancing behind his shoulder for his cronies to back him up, but Crabbe and Goyle looked as likely to come to his defence as they were to leave a dinner plate unattended.

"Leave Draco alone!" Parkinson interjected. "He can say whatever he wants, his father practically owns this school, in case you forgot."

"And I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear about this most sophisticated exchange today."

Malfoy wrenched his elbow away from the younger girl's grip. "Leave it alone, Pansy, this doesn't concern you." His lip twitched slightly in response to the taunting raise of Luxanna's eyebrows. "I don't even understand why you'd want to be friends with him… You know, Slytherin never wanted Mud"—he hesitated under Luxanna's glare—"Muggleborns inside Hogwarts."

"As if you'd know a thing about Slytherin," said Luxanna in response. She then crossed over to him, to the gaze of a dozen pairs of eyes. "Picking on one of your own? I thought the Malfoys were smarter than that… But…" She lowered her tone to a threatening degree, and each word that she spoke was underlined with vice. "I suppose not… I suppose you all have… little more intellectual capacity than… say… a ferret."

"Enough of that! I know what you're doing…" he said, his voice cracking as the memory came resurfacing. "They should fire the crooked bastard for what he did…"

Luxanna raised her eyebrows.

"If you threaten me again I'll—"

"You'll tell your father? Go ahead. I'll tell mine, too."

It was the combination of those words and the persistence of her glare that acted as a Silencing Charm upon Malfoy, so that all the boy could do was frown at his older classmate, his eyes darting side to side in search of reinforcements that would never come.

"Seems like you got one thing right, though." Luxanna gestured with her eyes at the bag of badges, then selected one and proudly pinned it to her chest. "Consider yourself lucky, Malfoy. You'll be the first to see Potter's reaction."