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"Theo?"

"Yeah?" Theo looked up from his book. He had made himself comfortable in front of the fireplace in the Slytherin common room but had not made it past the first chapter yet. "Can I help you, Millicent?"

"I- uhm- no. I'm sorry I bothered you."

"No, wait! You aren't bothering me." He put aside the book, wondering what this was about.

"I-" she sat down next to him and looked around. Not a lot of people were in the common room and none of the ones that were seemed to pay them any mind. "I think being a pureblood should mean something."

"Uhm- okay?" A weird thing to say, but Millicent did not seem hostile. And the other day, when Astoria had impersonated Pansy and started a bit of a riot in the Slytherin common room, she had seemed to agree with what the fake Pansy had said.

"I think we should honor our traditions. I don't much care for muggles… but I don't want to torture people."

"Ah." The purpose of her little speech became clearer now. "You agree with You-Know-Who's ideals but not with his methods?"

Millicent moved a little closer and whispered, "I'm not even sure I agree with his ideals-" She cut herself off, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. She looked around the room, before she lowered her hands, "You are not going to tell anyone, are you?"

He was rather certain that he would tell Daphne, Astoria, and Neville about it, whatever it was, but he nodded his head. "Your secrets are safe with me."

"I used to agree with him when all of this was still very… abstract. When we just joked about Dumbledore being an old coot, Gryffindor being full of reckless idiots, and mudbloods… But I never wanted anyone to die. I never wanted to see anyone tortured. I never wanted to be the one to torture."

Theo nodded his head and motioned her to continue.

"If I could, I wouldn't choose a side at all. But these days it seems like you have to. And I'm not sure if I've chosen the right one. I thought I'd be safe, throwing my lot in with them, being a pureblood and what not. I know it's cowardly, but I never thought I'd have to get involved in any of this. But now we are all involved. We torture or we get tortured. Being a pureblooded Slytherin did not keep Pansy safe from them. And I'm starting to think… maybe you are right. If the Carrows torture their own supporters, then maybe the Dark Lord does the same. And if he tortures them, maybe he kills them, too… Maybe… maybe it wasn't that Auror who killed Cassius after all…"

Theo nodded empathetically, although he had a hard time suppressing the grin that wanted to form on his face. Astoria's plan had worked!

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to get into trouble. I don't want to betray my parents and my friends… I would have talked to Daphne, but she…"

"Can be intimidating?" offered Theo.

"Yeah. And I thought you would understand."

Theo really did not. He had chosen the side he had because he knew that his father's side was morally wrong, not because he had been scared. He had chosen the difficult path; Millicent was looking for the easy one. But he had been scared, too. To that, he could relate. "I understand that you are scared. But you are right. There is no staying out of this. No matter what you do, you are choosing a side. And on both sides, you will face danger. I cannot promise you safety, nor can You-Know-Who. All I can promise you is that should you choose our side, you will not be alone… I wish I could give you more, but that's all I can offer."

Millicent sighed. "At least it's the truth. I didn't expect you to have any solutions… And I feel better already, just having told someone how I feel."

Theo smiled at her. "It's hard sometimes, being in Slytherin."

Millicent laughed. "You are good listener, has anyone ever told you that?"

Theo shrugged. Johanna had told him that once. He should send her a letter. "You can talk to me anytime you like. Daphne, too. I know she doesn't always seem approachable, but she understands the struggle, too."

Millicent smiled at him, but did not say any more, so Theo continued reading his book. He could not introduce her to their group yet. As long as she remained on the fence, knowing who was a part of their group could be dangerous for them. But he'd keep an eye on her, listen to her when she wanted to talk, and maybe that would be enough to draw her to their side.

Astoria hurried out of the Great Hall. She had slept in on purpose, hoping to avoid seeing Draco while she had breakfast. But he had been waiting for her. She knew he had been waiting because his plate had already been empty when she arrived. She had felt him staring at her throughout breakfast, trying to catch her eye. At some point, Goyle had arrived, drawing Draco into a conversation. She had used the chance to escape the Great Hall but could already hear hurried footsteps behind her.

"Wait up!"

Yep, definitely Draco. She walked even faster, pretending not to hear him, but Draco was taller than her and she knew he would catch up unless she broke into a run. Which would be undignified.

"Greengrass, stop running away!"

Astoria stopped and turned around. There was no longer a point in pretending she did not know he was talking to her. "I wasn't running," she said once he was standing next to her.

"Sure you weren't," he replied, rolling his eyes.

She crossed her arms. He was infuriating. But at the same time, she missed him. And she felt sorry for him. And she was still angry because of everything he had not told her. "Can I help you with anything?"

"It was you," he said.

She gulped. He was standing so close, she could feel his warmth, smell his shampoo… but she could not afford to be distracted. "I don't know what you're talking about." She took a step away from him.

"Don't play stupid. I know it was you in the common room, causing the commotion you did."

"There was a commotion in your common room? What was it about?"

He glared at her. "I don't have time for your stupid games. I just want to know… Are you going to tell anyone?"

"What?" she asked, smiling. There was no point in further trying to deny it. "That the one time you find something interesting and likeable about Pansy it wasn't even her at all? Does she know you kissed another girl?"

She could see his cheeks reddening. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Oh, you mean that you agree with us blood-traitors? That torture has no place in a school? That things were better last year? And that the Carrows are the worst teachers the school has ever seen?"

He glared at her. "You're putting words in my mouth. I never said any of that."

"Perhaps. But I shouldn't have to. If that's how you feel you should be allowed to say it. Your friends shouldn't abandon you for sharing how you feel. And if they do, you should find better friends."

"You don't know what you're saying," he hissed.

"Don't tell me I don't know when I'm the one who's tortured during your classes," she hissed back. "I know exactly what admitting how you feel would mean for you. You'd be the one tortured during class. You'd lose those you call friends. Your precious Dark Lord would hunt you. Your family would disown you, which might be the worst consequence for you, considering they might be the only people you actually really like, and who actually really like you. But you know what? All of this has happened to Theo. And if you go back to your dorm and ask him, I'm sure he'll tell you that he doesn't regret a thing."

Draco glowered at her. "Just because I'm not a fan of the Carrows doesn't mean I don't agree with them."

"Do you? Do you agree with them? Or are you just repeating what your parents have taught you? Do you really think Hermione Granger is less of a witch because she was born to muggles? That she is stupid and dirty like Alecto is teaching us? Do you want to torture her? Kill her? What about the Creevey brothers? Do they deserve to die?"

"Stop it!"

"Or Justin Finch-Fletchley? Do you think the Carrows are better than him because of their blood? Do you-"

"Silencio!"

Astoria looked at him, her eyes wide.

"Do you always talk so much?"

She could only glare at him, as no further sound made it past her lips. He waved his wand to release her from the spell. "I can't believe you just did that!"

"And I can't believe you can talk this much without running out of air."

She crossed her arms. "Are you going to answer any of my questions?"

"I don't owe you any answers."

Of course, he wasn't going to answer her. He probably knew himself that he didn't have any good answers. "You are a smart guy, Draco. You can hold your own in a verbal disagreement, which means that when you stop using arguments to fight me it is because you know you don't have any. And you must have realized yourself that what your Dark Lord is saying is complete and utter nonsense... Which means you are supporting him because you are a power-hungry coward."

"I think you're confusing stupidity with bravery and survival with cowardice. That's what you get when you hang around Gryffindors all day. Your side can't win without Dumbledore. The Dark Lord has already taken over the Ministry. And Hogwarts. You are a pureblood; it's not too late for you to switch to the winning side."

She sighed. "Your way of surviving can only be the goal if you want to live in a world run by a sociopath. I don't…"

"I'm-"

"What's going on here?"

Astoria spun around to come face to face with Amycus Carrow.

"Nothing," she replied testily.

"Don't look like nothin' to me!" barked Amycus. He turned towards Draco. "That blood traitor bothering you?"

"Uhm," Draco hesitated, his eyes darting to Astoria and back to Amycus.

"That sounds like detention for you, missy. My Monday class needs someone to practice on…"

"No, wait," Draco replied. "She didn't do anything. We just finished breakfast at the same time."

"Oh, I'm sure that's what she wants ya to believe. I'm smarter than that, though. And I've been told to keep an eye out for ya."

"But she really didn't do anything!"

Amycus glowered at him. "What's it to ya if she got detention or not?"

"I- ehm- shouldn't detention serve a purpose?"

"Are you criticizin' me?"

"I- uhm-"

"No, he isn't," replied Astoria. "Leave it be," she hissed in Draco's direction. "Detention, Monday, got it. I'll be there." With that she turned around and stalked away from them.

Draco hurried after her but didn't say anything.

"Thanks for trying," Astoria said eventually once she was sure Amycus could no longer hear them, "but there is no reasoning with them. If you start an argument with them, you'll just end up in detention as well."

"You're thanking me? It was my fault that you got detention!"

Astoria laughed bitterly. "You didn't do anything wrong. They are just looking for reasons to torture us, and if they don't find any, they'll make something up…"

"I… I thought the people who got detention…"

"Deserved it?"

"Well, yeah."

"Maybe detentions were fair last year. This year you only need to be a half-blood or a blood traitor… And why are you so surprised? You follow You-Know-Who. It hasn't even been ten minutes since you said you agree with their beliefs. And don't try to lie about it, their beliefs are that being anything less than a devoted, pure-blooded follower is a crime in and of itself. So why shouldn't we be punished for that?"

Draco did not say anything, so Astoria continued, "It's easier, isn't it? Telling yourself that we deserve it when you torture us? But the truth is that the kids you are torturing in class have done absolutely nothing wrong." They had reached the staircase, meaning their shared journey had come to an end. Astoria thought back on why Draco had approached her in the first place. "Look, Draco, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine… No one needs to know what really happened in the dungeons yesterday."

Draco sighed in relief and nodded briefly.

"Oh, and Draco? Don't you ever dare hex me again," with those parting words, she hurried up the staircase, leaving Draco behind.

Theo's reading session was soon interrupted again. He'd managed to read the first two chapters, when, out of the corner of his eye, he could feel someone staring at him. He did not have a bookmark, so he turned the book over and placed it on the sofa beside him. He looked up and saw Draco standing on the other side of the room. "Anything I can do for you?"

Draco hesitated, but ultimately moved closer and sat down next to him. "You switched sides and your father disowned you."

"That would be correct." What a weird day this was. "Where are you going with this?"

Draco stared at him for a while longer, before he said, "Astoria said you don't regret it. I wanted to know if that's true. If you had the chance to do it all again – would you?"

"Without a doubt," Theo replied, not missing a beat.

"But… you betrayed your family."

Theo closed his eyes and tried to quench the feelings that that particular accusation brought forth. "So have they. Family is supposed to be there for each other. The love between family members should be unconditional… it's hard, but I've learned that in my family it is not."

Draco let out a laugh. "It never is. Do you think the Weasel would still be welcome in his dump heap of a home if he decided to no longer support Potter and Dumbledore?"

"Fair enough," agreed Theo, choosing to ignore all the disparaging jabs at Ron. "But I am reasonably certain that they would not disown him, even if he were to become a Death Eater. They might no longer get along, they might no longer spend time with each other, but they'd still love him. They wouldn't torture him, like my father did when I prevented him from torturing and killing innocent people."

Draco shook his head. "My parents wouldn't do that."

"Perhaps they wouldn't," Theo agreed. When Draco had done the same thing at the Quidditch Cup, Draco's father had been angry, but he had still tried to stop the others from attacking him, although with very little success. "Can you honestly say, though, that your father would not kick you out and disown you if you did what I did." More or less a rhetorical question. Theo knew, even if Draco didn't, that Lucius Malfoy would throw his son out if he joined their side, that he had done so already.

"Irrelevant," Draco replied, "as I am not planning on being so disloyal."

"Does it make a difference? You know that their love is conditional. And wouldn't you rather be loved for who you are instead of who you pretend to be? But we weren't talking about you, anyhow, were we? You were asking about me and whether I regret what I did. The answer is simple – I don't. I have a clear conscience. I have friends who like me for who I am. I have found a new family. Was it easy? No, of course not. But that is, again, not what you were asking."

Draco leaned back into the sofa, thinking this over.

"Anything else I can help you with?" Theo asked. He was looking forward to telling the others about today's developments. First Millicent, then Draco. Not that they had switched sides, but they certainly seemed to weigh their options.

"Uhm- yeah, actually… about Asto-"

"No!"

"What? You don't even-"

"No. Whatever it is you are thinking – no. Get Astoria out of your head. She's been through enough. Just stay away from her. Don't insult her. Don't talk to her. Don't think about asking her out on a date-"

"Woah! Who's been talking about dating? You are weird. I've already got a girlfriend, one who isn't a blood traitor."

"Don't call her that," barked Theo. He had always felt rather protective of the youngest member of their group. And Draco had broken her heart even before he had lost his memories. Astoria had been an absolute mess at the end of the last school year. And he knew, even if she did not show it, that the situation was particularly hard on her. "She's one of the kindest, smartest and bravest people I know, and she doesn't need you dragging her down."

"What's that supposed to mean?" barked Draco, jumping up and turning towards Theo. "I'm not dragging anyone down!"

Theo took a deep breath, reviewing what he had said in his mind. Perhaps that last comment had been a bit harsh, even though he thought that Draco had called her far worse. "Okay, maybe I've been overreacting a bit. It's just that she is a very kind person who always wants to help others. If you give her the impression that you aren't as devoted a Death Eater as everyone seems to think you are, then she'll try to help you-"

"I am devoted," hissed Draco, "and I am not giving anyone any wrong impressions. I don't know where you and your weirdo blood traitor friends have gotten the idea that I want to be on your side or that I want to be your friend – but this has to stop. I am not your friend, and I don't want to be." With that he stalked away.

Theo sighed. "That could have gone better…"

"A bit of an understatement," laughed someone from behind him. Theo looked over his shoulder and saw Daphne enter the common room. He looked around some more, but no one else seemed to have been there to witness that confrontation. On weekends, hardly anyone was ever in the common room before noon.

"Well, you weren't here for all of it, the beginning went alright. I think."

"Hmm… you can tell me all about it later. Neville wants us in the Room of Requirement as soon as possible."

"Huh? Why?"

Daphne shrugged. "Beats me. He sounded very agitated, so let's go!"

"Finally, everyone's here," was the greeting they received from Fred Weasley.

Daphne looked around the room. Besides her and Theo, there were the twins, Luna, Ginny, Astoria, and Neville.

"So… what's up, Nev?" asked George.

"I have… or rather, we have received a letter." Now that he said it, Daphne did notice him holding some parchment in his hands.

"Who is it from?" asked Fred.

"I don't know," replied Neville.

"What's it say?" asked George.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" the twins asked in unison.

"Oh my- stop pestering him like that!" ordered Ginny. "Neville, what happened?"

Neville smiled at Ginny. "When I ate breakfast this morning, an owl delivered this letter," at that he waved the parchment in front of them. "I opened it and only found an empty piece of parchment. Only then did I check the addressee and realized that it was addressed to all of us." He passed on the parchment and the envelope to Daphne.

She first looked at the envelope, which indeed had all of their names on it. She did not recognize the handwriting. She then took a look at the parchment. She turned it over and held it against the light. It was empty on both sides. She shook her head and passed it along to Fred.

"George?" asked Fred, as he examined the empty parchment.

"Yeah?" asked George, looking over Fred's shoulder at the letter.

"Do you think what I'm thinking?"

They both grinned. George took out is wand and lightly touched the parchment with it. Then they both shouted in unison, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

Meeting at the Hog's Head. First day of Christmas holidays. 10am.

TBC

AN: Hmm… I wonder who could have sent this letter? What do you think?

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. As a teacher, I have a couple of days of Easter break and finally found some time to write again.