A somber melancholy had fallen over the school in the following days; Mrs. Norris and who was next was all anyone talked about. The excitement of a good quidditch match was a much needed distraction. Every student and teacher filled the stands, most staying to their respective houses filling their rows with their house colors. But there was a small section with each house color scattered about.

It was here Clione shivered in the coming winter air decked in green. She and Cassius were the only Slytherins in that section, and he'd grumbled the whole morning after she asked if he wanted to keep her company. "I'm surprised you aren't cheering for Gryffindor," Cedric yelled over the noise of the day.

"Marcus said I couldn't."

He laughed at her dry voice. "How'd Oliver take it?"

"He made me leave as soon he saw me," she answered, hearing him still laughing. "I feel bad though with him and the twins, and Harry too. And I think I'm friends with Angelina now." It was technically her first game, or at least the first one she planned to watch the entirety of. It was the perfect time to sneak into the restricted section of the library. She'd learned a lot of things she wasn't supposed to in those afternoons.

His laughter had faded to a short jolting chuckle. "You know, I remember this quiet mean girl my first year who insisted she didn't have time for friends. Now I think she's got about ten friends."

"Fifteen," Clione corrected. "And counting," she added with a dramatic groan as she shoved Cassius. He elbowed her back lightly not taking his eyes off the sky. Some days she hardly recognized herself, though it wasn't until living with the Weasley's that she began to like who she was.

For most of the match Clione stood with her hands pressed to her mouth and her wide eyes darting between players, following the point of Cassius' finger as he excitedly explained all of Slytherin's moves. Bludgers were knocked at each other, one chased Harry for most of it, they tried taking swings at the opposite teams, nearly knocking each other from their brooms trying to score, a bludger caught Oliver's broom sending him hurtling to the sand pit, poor Draco came flying out of the rafters and landed hard in a split, and then Harry fell from his broom and slid along the ground to a stop. But a mighty cheer erupted from everyone but the Slytherins when Harry held the snitch high above his head.

It wasn't until after, as the three girls traveled through the halls of the castle towards the hospital wing, that Gail noticed how quiet Clione was. "Penny for your thoughts?" she offered with a gentle sweetness that had Clione stopping.

Her mouth opened to spill everything she'd been holding in the past couple of weeks but her brain caught up too quickly and she sighed. "I'd like to be more sure before I say it aloud."

Gail took her hand and squeezed it. "As long as you need," she told her.

"I'm," she reached a hand to her shoulder as though to fix her head scarf. But she'd worn a turtle neck so there was no scarf, just a fitted cap covering her hair. A force of habit. "I'm gonna head to the library, catch up on some work. I'll see you both at dinner."

She didn't wait for either Gail or Noemi to say anything before she left them there. She did want to see Harry but the whole team was there and if she had to talk about quidditch she honestly thought she'd be sick. So she went to the library, she went to dinner, and she waved at Gail from afar because her best friend would try to force it out of her so she could go about fixing it. And Clione knew how to fix it, she just wasn't ready to.

It was late when Clione decided to visit Harry, late enough that most students were already tucked in their beds if not on their way. Late enough no one else should be in the infirmary so she could ask Harry about the night Mrs. Norris was attacked. She rounded a corner and a small body crashed into her and fell to the cold ground.

"Sorry," an even smaller voice was quick to say.

She bent down to help the small blonde boy back to his feet. He wore a bright infectious smile and a camera around his neck. "You alright, dear?"

He nodded quickly. "Sure am. I'm Colin Creevey," he said sticking his small hand out for her to shake. "Are you going to see Harry Potter too?" He talked quickly like he was used to being talked over.

"Yes," Clione answered seeing the way he brightened at that, "but you're not." She placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him around facing the way she'd come from. "Let's get you back to Gryffindor Tower. We can see him in the morning."

He'd heard awful things about Slytherin and so far they'd mostly been mean to him. One boy had even thrown his camera on the ground cracking the lens. Colin had been near tears until Fred fixed it and told him there was only one good Slytherin. Colin thought it had to be this one. "What's that?" he asked raising his camera to his eye as a shadow moved thinking it was a ghost. He'd been trying to catch one on camera since his first day.

Clione stared down the hall watching the shadows take horrifying shape and her face slackened with terror as it slithered closer. Her hand tightened on Colin's shoulder feeling him grow still as a statue beside her as its yellow eyes gleamed. She stared unblinking as the large serpentine beast towered over her, peering down at her thoughtfully before slithering past.

A few moments later quiet footsteps crept down the hall. "What'd I tell you Georgie, I think we've been a bad," Fred's voice died when he caught sight of Colin. Still and pale as death. He turned forcing the map into George's hands. "Get Madame Pomfrey."

He charged forward taking Clione's wet face in his hands and let ago of a heavy breath when her wet eyes found his. Her chest jolted at her ragged breathing, her mouth opened and closed as she tried to explain what she'd seen. That she'd been right. But she couldn't catch her breath and shadows were filling in the corners of her vision.

"You're okay," he told her, feeling her trembling against him. "Clio." His voice sharpened enough to get her attention, to cut through her panic so she could hear him. Her wide scared eyes looked up at him and blinked, like she was only now seeing this wasn't just help. It was him.

Air whooshed from her lungs and she paused before sucking in more, and then she let out another long breath and paused again before taking another. Her breathing leveled and color returned to her cheeks as she looked up at Fred's serious face as he waited for her to calm down. "Thank you for coming," she told him still sounding breathless.

"Always," he swore, seeing relief flood her eyes.

They stood off to the side as Madame Pomfrey hurried around the corner with Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore close at her heels. "Oh dear," Madame Pomfrey said at the sight of young Colin.

George moved to where Clione stood with her arms wrapped tight around her middle and one of Fred's hands trapped in hers, watching them load Colin onto a stretcher. The thick black cloth of Snape's cloak hid the boy from view as he stood in front of the three who'd found the second victim. "Professor Snape will escort you three back to your dormitories," Dumbledore told them, his sharp eyes lingering on Clione's still pale face.

Fred stepped forward bringing Clione with him, and she held fast to his hand all the way to Gryffindor Tower. Reluctantly she let him go and clasped her hands together to give herself something to hold on to as Snape led her back to her own house.

"Professor," she started softly.

He turned reaching a hand to her shoulder quieting her. "Miss Ayad, I cannot stress to you the importance of leaving this alone." He held her young, scared, gaze until she nodded.

Her hands were still shaking when she got to her room. The other two girls in her year were fast asleep and Clione sat on the edge of her bed wringing her hands together as her mind turned in on itself over and again.

Come morning the twins entered the Great Hall casting their eyes about the tables until they found Gail sitting across from Noemi. With Cedric filling the empty seat in their group, Fred and George piled as much food on two plates as they could fit before scurrying off.

"Just as I suspected," Fred said upon finding Clione hidden in the farthest corner of the library slumped over one of the tables.

The dull knock of gold on the table had Clione shooting upright and she squinted against the bright light at the breakfast they'd brought her. She rubbed her tired eyes and sat back in the chair groaning at the crick in her neck. A gentle hand on her arm had her turning to George to see him offering a toothbrush.

With her mouth and the plant she'd spit in now minty fresh, she took a gulp of water and spit it in the plant as well. "Sorry," she told it quietly, because Gail had somehow convinced her plants had feelings.

She sat with them on either side of her and she pulled the book she'd fallen asleep on away from Fred so she could continue reading. "Not so fast, Clio."

George continued, "you've got an hour before we're going to Hogsmeade."

"Non-negotiable," Fred was quick to add at the way her mouth opened.

"And you have to get dressed."

"Lovely as you always are."

George rolled his eyes before continuing. "So really you've got a half hour to finish before we take you to the dungeons."

Clione sat with her arms folded over the edge of the table waiting for them to be done. When neither said anything else she opened her mouth again to decline. That's when Fred placed a flyer on the book in front of her. Her mouth snapped shut and a heavy breath left her nose. "Dueling club," she read. "With Lockheart? Oh no, boys, he's useless."

"Glad you agree," Fred said slinging an arm around the back of her chair as he leaned closer to her. He could still see the imprint of the pages on her cheek. "Still non-negotiable." They sat quietly a moment letting her weigh her options against how tired she was until finally she gave a defeated nod. "So what'd you find?"

She moved the flyer out of the way and closed the book. "What I already knew," she admitted grabbing a scone. "It's believed magic originated in Egypt, the first wizards were our gods. Even the muggles know of them." Her voice sounded far away and her eyes filled with melancholy. She missed home.

"How does that explain why you weren't petrified?"

Fred sat with his elbow on the back of her chair and his cheek in hand as he waited for her to swallow the bite she'd taken. His face was serious when she glanced at him; not because he particularly cared about Ancient Egypt, but because he'd realized this was about her family. And she took that very seriously.

"My grandparents always said we were descendants of Apep, but I thought that was a story."

Beside her Fred nodded like he understood, but he asked, "who's that?"

"A demon of chaos that takes the form of a serpent." A symbol of evil, of destruction and darkness; things Clione had fought so hard not to be.

He hummed and pursed his mouth to keep his first thought from coming out. "Fascinating."

"Oh just say it."

"It's very fitting," fell out of his mouth.

"I know that," she grumbled hearing him chuckling beside her. She could feel him breathing against her neck and it nearly made her shiver.

He stared at the side of her face a moment before asking, "do you have snakes for hair? Is that why you hide it?"

She abruptly turned to George on the other side of her and he looked up from the plate he'd been picking clean. "I'll allow it," he told her seriously.

Without warning she whirled on Fred and hammered his chest and arms with open handed smacks until he'd finally been able to catch her wrists. "Don't head-butt me," he warned, knowing her well enough to guess she'd been considering it.

He let her go and they sat back with heavy sighs that dissolved into bubbling laughter as he handed her the other half of his toast. "Come on, you can take the plates back while I get ready."

They dropped her off at the dungeons, returned the plates to the dining hall, and had tossed around no less than three of the fireworks they'd made and she still hadn't come out.

"Think she fell asleep?" George suggested. She had looked really tired.

"No."

"Maybe she ditched us." She hadn't really wanted to go.

But again Fred gave a sure sounding no. "She's such a girl," he muttered himself as their time began to run out. "There she is," he exclaimed when she finally appeared out of the stone door. He opened his mouth to say something biting but it hung partially open as he gaped down at her.

She wore an oversized black sweater tucked into a brown plaid skirt. Under that she wore a white turtleneck and black leggings. And atop her head she wore a neatly wrapped deep green silk scarf. "What were you gonna say?" she asked nudging him with her elbow. "That I look nice?"

"Never."

George leaned around him and told her sweetly, "you look very nice."

"Thanks George," she told him with a wicked grin. She tapped Fred's chest with the back of her hand and told him, "quit blushing and come on, we're gonna be late."

He fell in line beside her. "You were the one that took forever," he reminded her.

"This takes time," she said motioning to herself.

They were still bickering as they made their way to the main hall where a line of students waited excitedly with a lonely looking Filch checking their names against a long list. "How long you reckon that'll take, George?"

"All morning, Fred."

The boys stood in silence as Clione's stare trailed down the corridor and around the corner where even more students were waiting. And they gave her a few moments longer as she considered what she was about to say. It took her time adding up all the pros and cons of every situation, she didn't make an important decision until she'd thought through every possible outcome. So they gave her the time she needed until at last she took a breath as her mouth opened. "If only someone knew a secret way into Honeydukes."

A smile split wide on Fred's face. "What the lady wants," Fred declared.

"The lady gets," George finished.

Fred grabbed her hand and pulled her after him back the way they'd come. They were both grinning as they came to stop in front of the statue of the one-eyed witch. Still holding her hand, Fred pulled out his wand. "Dissendium," he said tapping the witch's stone hunch.

Clione watched a hole open just enough for a person to slip through. Fred let go of her hand and climbed in feet first slipping inside. George came behind her and helped her in, letting her go only when she slid out of reach so she wouldn't hit the bottom too hard. Her boots hit the ground and Fred's arms came around her catching the rest of her.

"Lumos." A bright pale light sprung out of the tip of his wand illuminating their flushed faces. Before either one of them could say something, George had slid down joining them.

This time it was Clione reaching for Fred's hand and he squeezed hers before leading her down the dark forgotten passage. When they got to the cellar door she and George waited as Fred checked to make sure the coast was clear, then he reached down for Clione and helped her up into Honeydukes.

While Clione stepped away from the cellar to peer into the busy shop, George was still in the passage holding his hands out to Fred. "Oh Freddie, give me a hand," he snickered quietly so she wouldn't hear. "I can't climb out unless you're holding me."

"Shut up," Fred whispered.

George climbed out and laughed silently at finding they still hadn't let go of each other. "Better head to Zonko's before all the good stuff clears out."

They stepped out into the main store blending in with the rest of the Hogwarts students. "I'll meet you there," she told them. Fred was shaking his head but she beat him to it. "I've got to get something for Ron and Ginny. And Harry and Hermione. And Draco of course. And maybe Cassius, I think he's finally warming up to me." Their faces still didn't change. "Five minutes."

The two boys turned to each other; Fred's brow rose and George shrugged. Fred turned to her and said, "five minutes."

"And not a second longer," George added.

It wasn't until she made her way to the shelves of sweets with the boys close at her heels that she realized they'd decided to stay with her. She gathered everyone's favorites with a chocolate frog for each, and it was all packed into a bag that somehow Fred ended up holding.

"Clione?"

George heard Fred sigh at that familiar voice, knowing she was going to leave them. They turned to where Gail hurried towards them, Noemi had stayed behind at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop where they'd planned yesterday to meet. But that was before Colin, before Fred and George had so wonderfully given up their day with their friends to make sure she was okay.

"I didn't see you three leave."

George pulled Fred back and told the girls, "we'll meet up with you later." He'd never seen his brother so down as they wandered around Zonko's, nothing George showed him did anything to lift his spirits.

It wasn't until they were standing at the bin of Hiccough Sweets that a quiet voice asked from behind them, "why are you getting those?"

Fred turned to Clione surprised not just that she'd come after them but that she'd done it alone. "Never tried one? Gets you out of an exam in a pinch."

"No, I know that," she said with a laugh. "The ones you two made are better." George was the one that told her thanks while Fred turned a bit pink; Fred got so stupid around her. She lifted the small packaged gift she was holding; it was a little flower pot that came with a real rain cloud to water it. "Thought Ginny might like it, she's been acting a bit down."

She followed them around as George showed her all of their favorites, Lee Jordan found them and distracted George long enough for Fred to steer her away. "What happened with Gail?"

Clione was pretending to be interested in the sugar quills, it gave her a reason not to have to look at him. "I've been feeling like a third wheel between her and Noemi lately. Besides, I was having a good time," she answered quietly.

"Me too," he told her even quieter. He met her shy eye with a lopsided grin, and though it was hard to tell beneath her golden skin he swore she was blushing. When she looked up at him again he could practically see the question threatening to jump out of her mouth. "Yes, Clio, we can go to Tomes and Scrolls. But it's gonna cost you a butterbeer after."

"Deal."

She went to the front to pay for the gift she'd found Ginny while Fred went to the back where George and Lee were counting their money. "Meet us at as the Three Broomsticks," he said adding his few coins in with their lot.

He met Clione back at the front and let her slip her gift into the bag he was still holding for her. They walked back onto the street arm in arm as they headed for the bookshop. His eyes passed over the Tea Shop and its frilly pink décor and moony-eyed couples inside. It's where Oliver had taken Clione before Halloween, it was a place he and George often laughed about and once had sent a dungbomb inside for fun. But now he walked down the snowy street with a girl he really wanted to take there.

Clione didn't seem to notice as she walked straight for the bookshop, her eyes and her mind already running through the shelves trying to guess the section most likely to have books on Ancient Egypt. Fred stood next to her rifling through the books until he found one with hieroglyphics on the spine. As soon as he held it out to her Clione put down the book she'd been flipping through; he liked how serious she took him.

His eyes went crossed page after page full of symbols he didn't understand in a language he didn't know. But he recognized a few of the shapes to be similar to the ones carved on Clione's wand. "What's that?" he asked pointing to a very old drawing of a tree.

"Acacia, the tree of life," she answered. "They say the gods were born under it. It's what my wand's made out of."

He watched her flip through the pages knowing this was the book she'd be getting; of course it'd be the only one in Arabic. "What was it like, where you're from?" He knew how homesick she was.

She closed the book and held it to her chest. "It was magic," she told him, her voice a soft breath and her eyes alight. "It was so old where we lived. They disguised our city as ruins to hide it from muggles. Anyone non-magic is driven out by plagues."

He was still holding her bag and she was still hugging the book as they made their way to the Three Broomsticks Inn. She was describing the drawings still visible on the stone there, depictions of muggles worshipping the first witches and wizards and calling them gods. When she'd finished he asked her another question, any question it didn't matter. He liked the way she paused before answering, that she felt like what he'd asked was important enough to think it through first. For the first time in his life he was just Fred, and when she looked at him it was only at him.

They'd spent too much time at the bookshop, George and Lee had picked up Angelina and were not only almost done with their drinks but it was almost time to go back. So Fred and Clione shared a butterbeer. He sorted through what they'd gotten from Zonko's and Clione and Angelina gossiped about two Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls that'd been seen holding hands at the Tea Shop.

"Who's getting the last sip?" Fred asked as they got ready to leave.

Clione didn't really care but she could see he wanted it and was still planning to give it to her. She wasn't ready for that. "I did buy it."

"And I'm the one who found the book," he reminded her.

She was quiet a moment as she thought. He waited her out wondering what retort she'd come up with; he liked bickering with her. But she took a breath and said the worst thing, "guess George gets it then."

"Gladly," George said grabbing their mug and downing it in one gulp.

One look at Fred's horrified face and Clione collapsed in a fit of giggles with Angelina before they gathered their things. The girls took the lead with the three boys trailing after them. "Your hair looks nice down," Clione told Angelina. Most of the time she had her braids pulled out of her face, but today she'd put a little more thought into her appearance.

"Thanks," Angelina told her with a grin. "You look very pretty today. What'd your boyfriend think?" She watched Clione's face fall with the sudden realization Clione had forgotten about him. "You sure that book's not too heavy, my purse is big enough to hold it?"

Fred suddenly appeared before Clione could tell her no. "Allow me," he offered with faux grandiose. It had Clione rolling her eyes but she handed him the book.

As they started chatting away about another invention the twins were trying to get to work, Angelina fell back several steps so she was walking beside George. "You were right," she whispered, "she does like him." George and Lee shared a conspiring grin, because they'd been watching Fred pine after her the last two years. But Angelina gave a quiet, "it's gonna crush Oliver."

It was something Clione was trying not to think about when they came upon him and Cedric discussing the quidditch cup. His sweet brown eyes brightened when he caught sight of her and his smile grew when he really took her in. "Look at you," he softly said taking her hand.

Fred fell back a step and she turned looking for him. The sight of his face had her turning back around, feeling a knot winding itself in her stomach. She walked beside Oliver with her hand held loosely in his as he continued talking to Cedric about whatever team and whichever player they really liked. And she found herself wanting to go back to that bookshop where Fred kept holding up the most ridiculous books to show her that inevitably made her laugh.

Their group parted when they got to the castle. Oliver walked her about halfway to the dungeons so they could both change for dinner. He left her with a kiss to her cheek and a promise to go easy on her at the dueling club later.

Her face fell to one of a despair once he turned the corner out of sight. "Oh, Clione," Gail sighed at finally understanding.

But Clione squared her shoulders and met her best friend with a smile. "Last night was rough, I'm just tired," she said waving her concerns away. Before Gail could say anything further, Clione told her and Noemi, "I need to get changed for dinner." She left them both there and retreated to the Slytherin common room. It was cold and dark there, she felt like herself there. That it was okay to be herself there.