Withering Chrysanthemums

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Harry Potter
Draco Malfoy/Original Charcter

Chapter One:

Hello, Goodbye[/center]

They wound their way into the station, hands gripped together tightly as they passed the unfamiliar faces. The air was cold, and crisp, the way Caroline liked it best. Her hair was up in a low side ponytail, her Hogwarts robes in her suitcase, which was carried by her father beside her. A red-feathered owl sat perched on a birdswing in a cage, looking around the station with hazel-gold peaked eyes. The cage was carried by the little blonde girl, her hand as tight around the cage as the other was her mother’s hand.

They passed the platforms, with people bustling by, coming and going. They finally reached nine and ten. Priscilla looked over at her husband and quirked an eyebrow. She’d never been here before. He had.

Michael looked both ways, making sure no one was looking before silently guiding his family to the barrier. He made a hand gesture for Caroline to just push the cart forward, but she couldn’t - it was too heavy. Michael stepped forward, making sure Sara was safely with Priscilla before standing behind Caroline and pushing the cart with her. It rolled easily across the stone floor, heaving bumps with slight jerks to the steering.

They began to walk, which turned into a light jog as they neared the brick barrier. Caroline’s eyes squeezed shut and her body tensed in anticipation of the inevitable crash, but it never came. She knew it wouldn’t, but how was she to know if they had or hadn’t had some sort of malfunction with the magic?

Before she knew it, her father had taken over the steering, and her mother and sister were through the barrier, too. They made their way together towards the train, looking through the windows to find an empty compartment. Priscilla found one about halfway up the train. Michael and Priscilla loaded her trunk onto the train, and they were all left to stand there until someone decided to say goodbye.

Caroline was nervous, but she wasn’t going to admit it; she was far too proud (though she’d never admit that out loud, either.) She looked up at her mother before giving her a hesitant hug. She wasn’t really a hugger, or affectionate at all, but her family knew she loved them. They had to, didn’t they?

Priscilla smiled, because this was so rare. “I’d tell you to be good, but I already know you will be.”

Caroline smiled back, laughing softly. “Thanks, Mum.”

Michael picked up Sara, hitching her on his hip, and held his hand out to his daughter. Caroline came up and took it, letting her father pull her into a three sided hug with her sister. When he pulled back, he sighed. “It’s time to go, angel.”

Caroline looked up at the train, which was currently steaming from its smoke stack. She nodded, determined, as she started moving away from her family. “Bye,” she said, tucking her fringes behind her ear. They waved as she hefted herself on board.

Finally in the compartment, Caroline watched as her family became smaller and smaller until they were but little specks, and then – gone.

Caroline sighed and sat long-ways on the bench, leaning her head back against the wall of the train. In her pocket were a few sickles and Knuts, a peppermint candy, and the stub of her ticket. She took out a Knut and played with it in her hands as her eyes drooped tiredly. She hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.

The design on the Knut was especially intriguing to her; it was a much smaller coin than the rest of wizarding money. Sickles were silver and plain; Galleons were gold and flashy. Knuts were simply Knuts. They had ridged edges and swiveled designs. They weren’t dull, but they weren’t shiny, either. They were perfectly in the middle.

Caroline tucked the Knut back into her pocket. Her eyes drifted shut, the sound of the whirring train engine and moving gears lulling her asleep. She dozed for a while until the sound of unoiled wheels met her ears. She shifted awake as a portly old witch opened the compartment door. “Anything off the trolly, dear?” She asked, smiling politely at her.

Caroline looked sleepily at the candies on the shelves in front of her as she stood. She never was one for sweets, but those Pumpkin Pasties looked absolutely delicious, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast much earlier that morning. She gave the old witch seven of her precious Knuts for a pasty, and decided to give her ten for a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Now she had five sickles and only three of her Knuts left. She gave the witch a politely dismissing smile as she closed her compartment door again.

As she sat and slowly ate at her pasty, Caroline thought about Hogwarts. Since sitting on the train, her nerves had dulled until her anxiety was simply an underlying layer that could easily be concealed. Her gaze drifted over to her trunk, then out the window, where the scenery was much more dismal than it had been when they left the station. She should definitely change into her robes soon.

She was about to reach into her trunk to get them when the compartment door slid open, hitting the automatic lock with a bang. Caroline jumped away from her trunk to glare at the offending imposter at the doorway. “What are you doing?” she seethed, because the noise had scared her half to death, though she’d never tell a soul.

“That’s none of your concern.” A blonde boy stood there, looking around as if for something, his hair slicked back. Caroline thought it looked outright horrid because it made his face look loads bigger.

“I think it is, saying as you just tried to break my door off its track,” Caroline snapped, already disliking this boy. He just seemed… bad.

He rolled his eyes at her and said, “You’re a first year, right?”

“What gave you that idea, brilliance?” She rolled her eyes right back at him and sat back in her seat.

“Stop giving me mouth, first year!” He snapped, pointing his wand at her. She eyed it warily before looking coolly back at him.

“Do it. I dare you.” Her eyebrow rose, and his eyes narrowed at her.

“You don’t want an enemy out of me, first year,” He sneered. The boy spun on his heel and left, leaving Caroline confused as to who or what he was looking for in the first place.

“I have a name, you know!” she shouted after him. Caroline huffed and sat back on her seat, robes forgotten. Usually she didn’t get quite so upset over things, but that boy made a bad impression very quickly.

Caroline grabbed her trunk and opened it, calming down quickly. She changed into her robes and sat back down, curling into a ball with her knees to her chest. This is exactly what she needed – an enemy before she was even at school.

“Hello,” said a quiet, kind voice from the doorway. Caroline looked up to see a redheaded girl with big green eyes looking at her. “Are you okay? I heard Draco Malfoy in here earlier, and he has a tendency to make young girls cry.”

Caroline smiled politely at the girl and shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m okay. He only succeeded in annoying me.”

The girl laughed and sat in the seat beside her. Caroline noticed there was a Hufflepuff insignia on the left shoulder, including the badger. “Yeah, he has a tendency to do that, too. Especially today, he’s been looking for Potter everywhere. I reckon he wants to start a row or something.” She paused before looking back at Caroline. “Hey, I’m Viola Renoir. And you are…?” She trailed off at the end and Caroline smiled a little.

“Caroline. Caroline Smith.” Viola grinned.

“I’m a second-year Hufflepuff. I’ll be looking out for you at the sorting ceremony, okay?” She gave Caroline another grin before quietly getting up and gently closing the door behind her.

About thirty minutes later, an announcer told the students on the train that they would be at Hogsmeade Station in five minutes’ time, and that they should get their robes on. As Caroline already had hers on, she just sat back and waited.

Soon the train started to slow as small shops and apartments passed by the train windows. Then, it stopped altogether at a small train station. Caroline heard the sound of compartment doors slamming and sliding open. She stared as people bustled past the windows in the door, hurrying along. Caroline was going to wait until it wasn’t quite so crowded.

Finally there were about half the amount of people in the corridor, so she got out and started walking briskly off the train. She got to the door and looked around, seeing the great pool of first years surrounding the giant gamekeep. The giant, who she’d heard was named Hagrid, caught sight of her and said, “Thas’ the last one, now, hurry along, you all.” He turned slowly around and started leading them down the path. Caroline hurriedly caught up with the end of the group so as not to be left behind.

He finally stopped the group at the edge of a large black lake. “Here we are, no more’n four to a boat,” He called out, and the students started quickly filling up the first round of boats. Hagrid the giant summoned five others with his umbrella, and the last twenty first years climbed into them. Hagrid had a boat to himself. “Keep yer hands an’ feet in the boats, now!” he bellowed, looking around at the students.

The ride to the castle seemed to be an hour long. Caroline fidgeted in her seat as she watched it inching closer. Her nerves were fast returning and she felt as if she were privy to panic attacks. Don’t be nervous, it’ll be much worse if you are, she told herself. But aren’t all kids nervous on their first day of school?

Don’t get me wrong – Caroline was a very bright girl. Her mother taught her the Muggle necessities, such as arithmetic, literature, and science (social and life). She spent the last five years being taught things, and she had a feeling the next seven would be very similar. Good thing, Caroline liked learning.

When the castle came into view, it was a terrific sight. There were towers as tall as the sky with cone-shaped roofs. There was a vast main building with manor proportions, as tall as Caroline’s own house a hundred times over. There was a field in the distance, and five greenhouses lined the grounds around the forest that silhouetted the landscape. A small hut sat apart from it all. (“My humble abode,” Hagrid said proudly, gesturing to the hut.)

The boats floated single-file under a large brick walking bridge, then turned a corner and ended up at a ground-level entrance to the castle. Hagrid got out of the boat and shepherded everyone onto the landing, then raised his voice for everyone to hear. “We mus’ be gettin’ quiet, now, we’re goin’ into the castle.”

Caroline stood solitarily at the end of the line as the rest of the first years chatted nervously amongst themselves. One little blonde boy, who looked spectacularly mousy, kept repeating, “I’m not nervous! I’m going to be in Gryffindor, with Harry Potter!” Caroline rolled her eyes. All this hubbub over a boy who survived, but had no idea what he’d done. She was sure he’d rather not have all this celebrity business about him, anyway. Who wants all that extra attention?

Hagrid led them up a flight of stairs, and on the landing was a tall, strict-looking witch with tightly-bound black hair and emerald robes. “Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall. In just a moment, you will be sorted into your houses. There are four houses to choose from: Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you’re here, your house will be like your family. Any outstanding accomplishments with earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose points. The House with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup. We will be with you shortly. Please, behave yourselves.” She gave them all a very strictly exasperated look, and marched off.

The second she left the room to walk down the adjacent corridor, everybody started talking all at once. There was laughter, talking, and Caroline was sure she saw some girl crying anxiously in a corner. Finally, Professor McGonagall came back, and their chatter was hushed. “Come with me,” she said shortly, her mouth forming an extremely thin line. She looked angered. Caroline made a mental note to never cross her.

Professor McGonagall opened the grand doors that were previously behind her, and Caroline couldn’t help but gasp. The ceiling looked as if it was nothing but the night sky outside. There had to be at least three hundred people in the dining hall. That was the most people Caroline had ever seen together in one room.

Professor McGonagall led them up to the teacher’s table, where there sat at least fifteen teachers, not to mention Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall picked up a ratty old hat on a round barstool and turned to the students, a rolled piece of parchment in hand. She unrolled it and called out names, one-by-one in alphabetical order.

“Aphedelia, Romel,” was the first name called, and Caroline tuned out as “Creevy, Collin,” was sent to a roaring Gryffindor table. This was the sort of thing she didn’t participate in – being in front of a large group of people. She looked around for any friendly face. Maybe Viola? But she didn’t know which Hufflepuff’s table was. She just stared straight at the ground, allowing her hair to cover her face.

Finally, finally, Professor McGonagall called out, “Smith, Caroline,” and years from then she would have sworn an oath to anybody that her stomach and half of her innards exploded at the mere mention of her name. She squeezed her eyes shut for a split second, then opened them and clenched her fists tightly as she started making her way through the sea of eleven-year-olds. She came upon the stool and turned to sit, when she noticed every single face was staring at her.

Suddenly she saw everybody very clearly. There was Viola, smiling encouragingly at her, giving her thumbs up at the table farthest to the left. And there was that boy, Draco Malfoy, at the table farthest to the right, sneering and joking with his friends. He glanced up at her as she finally took her seat and sneered, looking away.

It was then that Professor McGonagall chose to put the Sorting Hat on Caroline Smith’s head.

“Oh, dear, someone’s horribly nervous. I guess Gryffindor is out of the question.” The hat spoke to Caroline in a soothing tone, although Caroline thought it funny it was speaking at all. “You are fierce, but brilliant, no doubt... Hufflepuff!” The Hat shouted to the room, and Viola’s table erupted in the victory of another member.

Caroline couldn’t get off of that stool fast enough. In fact, she got off so fast, she accidentally tripped on one of the legs, and landed on her knees. People laughed, there was no doubt, but one laugh echoed around the room; Caroline need not look up to know it was that dreadful Malfoy. She just hurriedly stood and brushed off her robes, walking as quickly as possible to where Viola had cleared a seat for her, in the farthest corner of the room from him.

“Are you alright?” She asked, obviously concerned. Caroline realized she must not have seen the actual fall. The only thing she probably saw was Caroline’s face suddenly dropping below the heads of the others, a look of shock on her face.

Caroline knew it was meant to be comforting, but Viola’s concern merely made her want to run out of the room and cry. She just wasn’t having a good day, apparently. She’d heard stories of people’s first days at Hogwarts. They were all brilliant and amazing and happy. All hers was turning out to be was a disaster.

Viola must have noticed Caroline’s despair because she didn’t say anything until Dumbledore made the announcements. “Need I remind you all to stay out of the Forbidden Forest; for it is, strictly forbidden.” He smiled and gave a nod to the room and said, “Let the feast begin!”` He clapped his hands and food appeared on the tables. There were very large platters, gold and piled high with turkey, ham, and roast beef, bowls filled with rolls and gravy boats the size of Caroline’s whole hand.

Viola passed the platter of roast beef to Caroline, who gratefully accepted it. “Thanks,” she said quietly, smiling. Viola just smiled back and replaced the roast beef, then turned to the Hufflepuffs sitting closest.

“Caroline, I’d like you to meet Ernie, Justin, Jill, and Alice.” She gestured to each in turn and said, “They’re all second years like me, but that’s all right. They won’t bite. Alice and Jill are my best friends, they’re twins from Dinwiddie. I don’t really know a whole lot about Ernie and Justin, to be honest, but they fancy Alice and Jill so they stick around a lot,” Viola added with a laugh, only for Caroline to hear. “D’you want me to pass the gravy?”

The feast that followed was much grander than even Caroline’s best Christmas dinner, and it definitely lifted her mood. After she’d eaten her fill of roast beef, candied yam casserole, mince meat pie, and foods of so many other varieties, Dumbledore stood and called out, “And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!”

He gave his wand a bit of a wave and a lilac ribbon shot out the end of it, and started forming words. Every so often it changed color.

“Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.”

Caroline herself chose a more upbeat, faster rhythm (so as to get it over with more quickly, honestly), while Viola beside her chose to sing the song to a very slow, melodious tune, with the end result of Viola being one of the last done.

Once everybody’d quieted down, Dumbledore nodded and smiled and said, “Now, off to bed!”

Immediately, everybody stood and started towards the entrance hall. Two older students from each house stood at the end of the table, calling out, “First years! First years!”

Caroline bid adieu with Viola, Alice, Jill, Ernie, and Justin, and started to walk towards the students at her table. “We’re the Hufflepuff prefects, Annabelle and Jordan, so if you’re lost just find one of us and we’ll help you,” said a bubbly-looking girl, much older than Caroline herself. “Is everyone here?” She looked over the heads and nodded, satisfied. “Yup, that’s everyone! Let’s go,” she called out, turning on her heel and starting towards the entrance hall.

It was hard to keep up with the prefects when she was one of the smallest students in the entire school, but Caroline managed to do it by staying close by Annabelle. She was the loudest and most effervescent person she’d ever met. “This way, all!” she cried out, just as the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors went up another staircase.

Annabelle and Jordan led the first years down two flights of stairs before coming to a wall. All of the walls had pictures, frame to frame with each other, so Caroline had to watch closely as Annabelle grinned at the large still-life portrait of a fruitbowl. “Hello, fruits. How was your holiday?”

The portrait, which seemed utterly somber, simply said. “It was all right. Rather boring. Password?”

Annabelle giggled quietly and said, “Oh! Right! The password this week is ‘verde broccolis’. You all’d do best to remember them.”

The portrait’s frame swung away from the wall. “Oh, just get in, you lot.”

Jordan led the way into the tunnel, then into a large, yellow-themed living room. “This is the Hufflepuff common room. You can socialize with the other house members here. And these,” he pointed to two staircases leading down, “are to the dormitories. Girls on the left, boys on the right. You’d do best not to try going into each other’s dormitories. There are charms.”

Jordan and Annabelle left them to socialize as the other Hufflepuffs started to enter the common room through the portrait hole. “Caroline!” She heard her name called and turned around, smiling at Viola. “D’you like it?”

Caroline grinned and nodded. “I do. Could you show me the dormitories?”

And so started a beautiful friendship.

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Once classes started, Caroline was thrown into a whirlwind of activity. She loved the thrill of having loads of work to do, and she definitely was kept busy with her dorm mates during her free time.

Delilah and Marguerite were best friends at first sight (they were both the squealing type). They were inseparable, but neither was really the brainy type, so they constantly asked Caroline to do their homework for them. (She politey refused every time.)

Emily was a quiet girl, not unlike Caroline herself; she studied more than anyone Caroline had ever seen, constantly buried in a book, whether it was school-related or not. She wasn't nearly as small as Caroline, though, and unfortunately that warranted a lot of teasing from other students. On more than one occasion within their first month at Hogwarts, Caroline could remember Emily coming in with tears falling down her cheeks. She would sit on her bed for a while before composing herself. Usually Caroline was the only one in the room when this happened; Emily's best friend, Zena, was usually just not there (which, to Caroline, made absolutely no sense.)

Zena was an athletic girl; she was Muggle-born, brunette, and tan. She used to live in the States, and she said she was the star pitcher on her softball team. (Softball? What is softball, Caroline wondered?) Most of her friends, besides Emily, were guys in the house, so she was rarely anywhere to be found when Emily cried. But, oh, when she was, it was bad.

One such event occurred in mid-September, the night before a Charms essay was due. Caroline was double-checking hers, and she'd agreed to check Delilah and Marguerite's, as well, so she was busy. Zena was lazily lounging on her bed beside Caroline's, picking at her nails. That was when Emily came into the room, rubbing at her eyes and sniffing quietly. Zena immediately sat up and frowned. "Em? What's wrong?"

Emily looked cautiously at Caroline, who'd stopped checking Delilah's essay to play diplomat, if it were ever necessary. Zena's temper had become infamous rather quickly. Emily, having been reassured that nobody would have bodily harm done to them, said, "It's nothing, just some of those Slytherin girls, the third years..." She quietly trailed off, realizing it sounded worse off the more she explained. Zena was a strong upholder of fairness, and a group of third-year Slytherins against one first year Hufflepuff was grossly unfair in her eyes. It should be grossly unfair in anyone's eyes, Caroline thought.

"Was it that girl, Greengrass?" Emily didn't meet her eyes, her nose wrinkling slightly as she sensed Zena's animosity getting the best of her.

"Zena," Caroline said softly. "There's nothing we can do but tell Professor Sprout about this. If you go after them, it'll only serve to get you in trouble. They'll say you attacked them without precedent," Caroline added reasonably, knowing Zena knew she was right.

Zena let out a huge sigh and stood. "Alright. But next time it happens, we're telling Sprout, right?"

Emily nodded vehemently. Zena obviously had a soft spot for the other girl, for they sat on her bed and talked quietly for the rest of the night as Caroline continued checking the essays until Emily claimed tiredness and went to bed. After she was asleep, Zena left and didn't come back for an hour.

Daphne Greengrass didn't bother Emily anymore; in fact, she seemed to stay as far away from her as possible after that. Curious.

*~*

Draco Malfoy somehow made himself a prominent presence in Caroline's days. If he wasn't jeering at her from the other side of hallways between classes, he was making crude faces at her during meals, calling her, "Blondie," (he really had no right) and, "Half-Blood," at every available opportunity.

Caroline had just about had enough of him, to be honest. He was simply the most annoying little prat she'd ever met, and it annoyed her even more that he actually got to her. His stupid Malfoy smirk, his stupid Mafloy eyes and hair, and his stupid Malfoy attitude.

"Hey, Blondie," he called one morning at breakfast, coming up and sliding into the seat beside Caroline. "Would you mind telling your friend something for me?"

"What, Draco?" Caroline asked tiredly, having not had much sleep the night before (notice a pattern?) and being annoyed by this git was not high up on her list of things to do today.

The use of his first name threw him off-track for a minute (was he not used to people using it?), but he continued, unfazed. "Well, see, she scared my friend Greengrass out of her head. She's under the impression that a little bitty first year Hufflepuff'll curse her into oblivion if she speaks to a certain other Hufflepuff…any idea who that might be?"

"Sure. But it's not me, if that's what you think."

"Please. You can obvious only hold your own in an argument as long as it's all rainbows and sunflowers." Caroline could remember several occasions in which she won arguments with this boy when they were most definitely not just rainbows and sunflowers, but Draco chortled with his lackeys as if it were the funniest damn joke in the world. "Anyway, my point is that she was completely humiliated."

"That may be your point, Draco, but my little bitty first-year Hufflepuff brain can't seem to process it very well. What do you want me to do about it? Throw a ruddy tea party?" Caroline rolled her eyes as an eavesdropping Viola started laughing. Caroline couldn't help but smirk as well.

Draco rolled his eyes and hissed, his eyes narrowed, "Honestly, I don't see why they bother with people like you." His stupid Malfoy sneer made an unwelcome reappearance upon his face. "Filthy half-bloods. They're glorified Mudbloods," he muttered under his breath, knocking Caroline's bag over with his foot as he turned to leave. "Oops," he said facetiously, shrugging.

Caroline jumped up, pointing her wand at him. "Don't you dare call me a Mudblood, because I'm not. As a matter of fact, don't call anyone a Mudblood because it's a right foul thing to say!" Caroline snapped, nearly jabbing her wand into his jaw. "And pick up my bloody bag!" She gestured to it, obviously expecting him to actually get it. Another jab at his jaw motivated him, though, and soon it was sitting nice and neatly on the floor beside where Caroline was sitting.

"I swear to whatever deity will listen to your spineless whining that if I hear you call another person a Mudblood, this wand won't just be a poking stick." She narrowed her eyes at him and spun around, stalking back to her seat.

"Fine. But tell your friend to watch who she's smart with, Blondie. She doesn't want to mess with Slytherin."

"Whatever, Blondie," Caroline mocked, rolling her eyes at Draco as she sat down across from Viola. Scattered applause sounded from the other tables; other than Slytherin, of course. (Crabbe and Goyle tried clapping along but Draco reached up and slapped the back of their heads so they stopped. "Who's Draco?" Crabbe asked thickly as they walked away, warranting another head-slap from the namesake.)

Viola just grinned and shook her head, her mirth still lingering on her face. "Caroline. Screw Harry Potter. You're my new hero."

As for Viola and Caroline's friendship, it was harder to uphold than that of her fellow first-years. As Caroline and Viola were both fairly serious about their studies, they had barely two hours a day to talk at night for they had to go to bed at a respectable hour. But they sat together at meals, and they spent their weekends with Alice and Jill, by the lake or taking turns flying around the Quidditch pitch on Alice's Cleansweep. (Caroline couldn't fly yet, and Jill and Viola assured her it was best to learn from Madam Hooch rather than Alice, who was a beginner herself.)

*~*

Caroline was in a line of the ten first years in Hufflepuff, across from the ten from Ravenclaw. Madam Hooch stood at the head of the group, her expression hard and determined. It was a crisp morning in early October, mid-morning so the light from the early sun was still soft and made the whole outside world seem so much more beautiful. "Alright, all. To get started, hold your right hand over your broom and simply say, 'Up,'" Madam Hooch instructed.

Caroline held her hand levelly above the broom, saying, "Up," as clearly as possible. It took her a few tries before it finally started shuddering ominously, and then shot straight up to be held tightly in her hand. Caroline grinned and looked around at the other first years; she was one of the first ones with their broom in their hand. Not surprisingly, Zena was one of the others. Emily and Delilah seemed to be struggling, but Marguerite was practically turning red and yelling at her broom within the first five minutes.

"Alright," Madam Hooch said after everyone got their brooms, having shown them how to properly mount them as well. "Now, when I blow my whistle, I want you all to kick off from the ground, hard. But only on my whistle," she added fervently, her eyes glazing over as if remembering a certain time in which someone certainly did not wait until her whistle. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet into the air, and then lean forward slightly to touch back down. Now, on my whistle – Three, two, one- Go."

Caroline kicked up hard with the rest of her housemates and the Ravenclaws, floating levelly about six feet above the ground. Most of the others were probably within a foot or so higher, or lower. The heights varied because obviously some of these kids were too anxious and kicked up too hard, or were too scared to kick up hard and, in a sense, "under-kicked."

In any case, Caroline, along with the others (and a quietly swearing Marguerite), leaned forward ever-so-slightly, and the broom started the slow descent back to the ground. Caroline's heart was beating quickly because she'd never, ever ridden on a broom before. (Michael was a tad hesitant to teach her – he wasn't the best flyer, himself.) It was a magnificent rush, and Caroline couldn't remember the last time she'd felt any such excitement as she did from that little display.

There was a little blonde girl (not unlike Caroline in looks, admittedly) straight across from Caroline, who waved when she caught her eye. "Hi! I'm-" But there wasn't time for introductions as Madam Hooch had instructed them to kick off again, but stay in the air for a minute before tilting their broom and flying in a synchronized circle.

Before they even started, Caroline knew this was going to be disastrous. There were twenty eleven-year-olds present, and this woman honestly wanted them to fly in a synchronized circle? Just give these kids flying instruments and they go wild. And she wanted them to be orderly?

Caroline knew that she and Emily wouldn't be a threat to disturbing the orderliness of the synchronized circle. Emily wasn't one for pandemonium, and Caroline was just a tad uptight for it. (There – we said it. We know you all were thinking it.) But it was the boys and, unfortunately, the other first year girls in Hufflepuff, that Caroline didn't completely trust to behave themselves. She didn't know the Ravenclaw girls very well, but the boys and her roommates were a bit unruly, especially when put together.

When the whistle was blown, everybody shot into the air as they had before; the whistle blew again and Caroline tilted her broom like everybody else. This is where the chaos started; some of them titled too far and ended up upside down, arms and legs looped onto the broom for dear life while they laughed their heads silly. Some shot too far out in one direction and ended up about twenty feet away from the others; Caroline and Emily shared a look as they hovered remotely, watching the complete dis-orderliness unfold before them.

It took Madam Hooch about ten minutes to get everyone settled and back on the ground again. When she was done yelling and lecturing and blew her whistle again (oh-so-sharply, this time), everybody boredly shot back up and started flying in a synchronized circle, as the instructor had, well, instructed.

For the next hour, Madam Hooch taught them how to land gracefully (without ringing your head on the not-so-soft ground) and speed up (without increasing your speed too much and flying straight into the school's Womping Willow). She taught them how to quickly weave in-and-out of other riders (as one would in Quidditch). The last thing she taught, however, was hand-eye-coordination while on a broom.

"This is a quaffle, I'm sure you all know." Oh, they did. All besides the Muggle-borns, anyway, but they'd learn fast enough. "It's the main ball used in Quidditch, the wizarding game. There are three chasers on a Quidditch team, and you see those hoops over there?" She pointed to the three goal posts on their side of the Quidditch pitch. "The chasers steal the quaffle from the other team's chasers and make goals in those hoops. There's also a keeper, a seeker, and two beaters, but we're not talking about gold mimzies and bloody mental iron-balls today, no, sir, we're talking about the quaffle. If you fall off your broom while you're flying to your Aunt Desiree's house because of your luggage strapped to the back, you would be hurt if you didn't know how to properly redirect yourself. And I can assure you that if you dropped that quaffle during a high-pressure game of Quidditch, you would have let your team down. Now, I have two quaffles. Each House will take turns being the chasers, and you have to get past me, as keeper, to score. I won't be hard on you all, you're just learning, and the point here is not to win, it's to not fall off your broom while you're holding a melon-sized ball that could easily fall out of your grip. Now, Hufflepuffs here, Ravenclaws there." She pointed to her left and her right then split each house in two again so there were two teams per house. She had the Hufflepuffs fly up first, and tossed the quaffle out to them. Caroline couldn't help but see the ball coming straight at her. She flew towards it, holding out her hand-

And nothing. It flew past her head and Marguerite caught it, frowning a little at Caroline, and started moving her broom towards the goal posts. Public humiliation, that's what that was. Caroline slunk off to the back of the group and didn't try catching the quaffle again.

*~*

"It was a bleeding disaster!" Caroline cried to Viola, who was listening intently to her story of the near-catch of the quaffle earlier that day. "I mean, I really thought I was going to get it, but it just flew straight over my head! And then, Marguerite obviously had to be the one to catch it. It was horrid, Vi! I'll never hear the end of it from them!"

Viola put a comforting arm around Caroline's shoulders, which is something she would definitely not have allowed under different circumstances, but she was distraught. She'd loved flying, oh-so-much, but then she just had to screw up playing anything related to it! "Now, come on, it was your first time! Not everybody's perfect, Care, and if you want to be able to catch the quaffle, you have to try at it, first."

This made up Caroline's mind; with the help of Jill, Viola, and Alice (with her Cleansweep), the next day, they headed straight for the Quidditch pitch after breakfast. It was a sunny, cool Sunday morning and there really wasn't much else to be doing (being inside seemed such a waste of the weather), and Jill and Alice were all on board for helping Caroline "be a bloody brilliant chaser," as Viola put it.

They started out on the ground, Jill tossing spare quaffles from the locker rooms at her. She caught those quite well, so they came to the realization that it was simply the air-based hand-eye coordination that was sorely lacking.

They got three of the school's brooms (Alice used her Cleansweep, since it was a step up from the Comets the school offered) and flew into the air, Jill and Alice at the goals, and Caroline and Viola being the makeshift chasers. Viola tossed the ball towards Caroline, and she went after it, fast; she caught it, held it tight in her arms, but she spun around from the quick movement, ending up upside down and hugging her broom to her like the kids from yesterday's flying lesson. She let out a heavy, frustrated breath as Viola came to her and grabbed the quaffle so she could right herself on her broom (it's not as easy as it looks).

They didn't get a good catch until the fifth time, but guess who decided to show up then? You guessed it. Draco Malfoy.

Viola tossed the quaffle, and it arched perfectly as Caroline dove to catch it. But just then the ruddy thing froze as Caroline caught it, falling off her broom, and held onto the quaffle for dear life because it was the only thing keeping her from falling dozens of feet to the ground. She started screaming, looking over at Viola, completely panicked. But Viola was not looking at Caroline. She was looking at the ground, at a little blonde speck Caroline had to crane her neck to see. "Draco Lucius Malfoy! Get me down from here, you insufferable git!"

She could even hear his snickers so far in the air. "As you wish." The quaffle started plummeting to the ground, and the scream coming from Caroline's mouth was completely silent. Her stomach rose to her throat and her heart fell down to her knees as she continued to fall.

"Stop it!" She finally screamed, panting as the quaffle jolted to a stop, winding her as it pushed into her stomach. Caroline groaned, looking down, noticing she was halfway between Viola and the ground…but, no. Viola wasn't in the air anymore. She and Jill were on the ground, yelling at Draco as Alice tried to get to Caroline before he tried anything else with the quaffle.

But, no. That's not all.

As everything around her went on, Caroline was trying to get her head back on straight. She was dizzy. Really, really dizzy.

And then everything went black.

Viola Renior looked up in horror as she heard Alice screaming her name. Her eyes widened as she saw one of her best friends faint, and start slipping off of the quaffle. She was going to fall to the ground. "Malfoy, you insolent-" Jill shouted, but she was interrupted by the sound of an enraged Professor McGonagall shouting, "Penna Onnus!"

Caroline's limp body slowed as it fell, like a feather.

McGonagall and Viola both ran to Caroline's body as it reached the ground, her head to the side. She was so pale. Viola spun around, narrowing her eyes at Malfoy. "What were you thinking? She could have died, you bleeding little-" Oh, he'll be bleeding, in a minute.

"Ms. Renior, calm yourself. Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes to infinite proportions, "You will go to my office. Not only will fifty points be taken from Slytherin for this little act of foolishness, but your parents will be notified, and you'll have detention for a month, if I have any say about it," she snapped, "But first, you will help us carry Ms. Smith back to the hospital wing."

Viola nearly, very nearly, protested to this – but the look on McGonagall's face and the fact that her friend lay, unconscious, on the ground and needed medical attention made her mind up for her and she grabbed Caroline's arm, while Jill and Alice took her legs, and Malfoy took her other arm. Professor McGonagall was holding her head up, since they didn't know if she had a concussion or not.

Her body was still eerily lightweight from Professor McGonagall's charm, which added to the uneasiness of Malfoy helping carry her. He shouldn't help carry her. What if he tried hexing her, even if McGonagall was right there?

"Ms. Renior, I would appreciate it if you tried not to run Ms. Smith into people," Professor McGonagall said chidingly as Viola accidentally bumped into Ernie McMillan. He gaped at Caroline and frowned and said, "What happened?" Jill just shook her head and mouthed, "Later."

Finally, they reached the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey led them to a bed in the back. She fretted and told everybody she needed space to work, so we back away. Professor pulled Malfoy away by the ear and left Jill, Alice, and Viola to watch as Madam Pomfrey brought a frothing cup of something green and put it to Caroline's lips ("It helps the charm wear off more quickly. We can't have her floating all about the place, can we?" Madam Pomfrey explained), making her drink it. She sat it on the bedside table and they waited for her to wake up.

It was three hours before Caroline opened her eyes to see a hovering Madam Pomfrey and Viola. She blinked her eyes and frowned and said, "Wuddappened?" thickly.

Viola laughed and hugged her and said, "That prat Malfoy confounded the quaffle, and when you caught it-"

Caroline shook her head and interrupted her. "I mean, what happened? I remember falling, then stopping, then nothing."

Viola sighed and shook her head. "You fainted, and started falling off the quaffle, but Professor McGonagall came up and did some serious wicked Flitwick stuff and you just kind of floated down. She deducted fifty points from Slytherin for it, too! And he's got, like, four detentions."

The satisfaction from that news was short-lived as Professor McGonagall came into the hospital wing with Professor Sprout in tow. The latter was fretting and flustered. "One of my own, Minerva! They're unruly little-"

"Pomona, if you please," chided Madam Pomfrey with raised eyebrows as she helped Caroline back on her feet.

"Where're Jill and Alice?" Caroline asked Viola slowly, still reorienting herself.

"They went to lunch. They said they'd bring back some roast beef sandwiches." Viola and Caroline smiled. Roast beef was their favorite.

"Is she okay to go?" Professor Sprout asked, having recovered a bit from the shock of one of her house members being nearly injured.

Madam Pomfrey nodded shortly. "Yes. Don't get to worked up for the next few hours, though, and I wouldn't recommend flying for a couple of days," she added briskly.

So off Caroline and Viola went to the Great Hall, for some pumpkin juice and roast beef sandwiches.

[grey scale:]

The next morning, Monday, Caroline and Jill were in the Great Hall eating breakfast alone. Viola and Alice hadn't finished their potions essays, so Jill had fun jabbing at them as she pulled Caroline along for breakfast. "Have fun in the library, girls!" She'd called, with the response of agitated mutters from the other two.

So there they were, minding their own business, when Draco Malfoy came up. (He never leaves her alone, does he?) He didn't look his usual smug self; maybe that month's worth of detentions had something to do with that? "Blondie," he said slowly. Caroline didn't look at him, or stop eating. In fact, she completely disregarded the fact that he was there. (Jill wasn't being so tactful; she was glaring openly at him, presumably thinking of a thousand painful ways to torture him.)

"Smith," he tried again, leaning back on the table with his elbows behind him. "C'mon. Don't be like that."

Caroline blinked, and put down her toast to look at him. Her face was expressionless as she asked, "What do you want, Malfoy?" He winced as she used his last name, shifting uncomfortably under her stare.

"I came to apologize." People from the table around them, and the Gryffindor table next over, stared. For one thing, Draco Malfoy never apologized to anybody. And for another, he was apologizing to a Hufflepuff.

"Consider it unaccepted."

Draco narrowed his eyes for a fraction of a second before taking a deep breath and looking off. "I'm sorry I almost broke your neck."

"I don't care how you phrase it, Draco, but I'm not going to forgive you. It was immature." Caroline just sighed and shook her head as she stood, looking around. "I'm going to go get my Charms homework. Tell Viola and Alice I'll see you guys at lunch?" Jill simply nodded her head as Caroline turned and left.

Caroline could have sworn she heard Jill snap at Draco, "Get lost, idiot," as she walked away.

The next morning at breakfast, Jill, Alice, Viola, and Caroline were all sitting around, talking about the fast-approaching first Quidditch match of the year. The flutter of wings alerted everyone of the arrival of the day's mail. Caroline wasn't expecting anything; she'd sent her mother a letter the day before using her red owl, Allitrya. But a snow white owl landed in front of her that morning, laying a bouquet of flowers and a parcel in front of her. Caroline frowned, because she honestly couldn't think of someone who would send her flowers. And another thing: why did they send her flowers?

Upon closer inspection of the bouquet, Jill noticed a little piece of bent parchment with the words I'm sorry written on it in scratchy, untidy handwriting. She rolled her eyes. "Absolutely pathetic."

But they were blue chrysanthemums; they were Caroline's favorites. How did he know?

Caroline was unnerved by this. "Did any of you guys talk to him about these?"

They all vehemently shook their heads, until finally Alice got an, "Oh!" expression on her face, then blushed wildly. "I'm so sorry! He was talking to me in Herbology yesterday, and I guess the conversation just kind of got onto flowers. I might have mentioned you liked blue chrysanthemums. But I'm sure he dragged it out of me!" She added with a tentative smile. Was Caroline mad at her? No. But she was annoyed with Draco.

"What's in the package?" Viola asked, frowning because she obviously suspected it was cursed or something. Caroline shrugged and picked it up, sliding her finger under a corner fold. Should she open it? She would be lying if she said she wasn't quite wary of it, being from Draco and all. She looked up for a minute, looking to see if he was in the Hall. He was there, all right, but he was making a point of not looking at the Hufflepuff table, talking vehemently with Crabbe and Goyle (who obviously had no idea what he was talking about, the poor blokes.)

She narrowed her eyes, determined, and opened one end of the parcel neatly, leaving the paper in one piece (a habit of hers). She slid out a little box. It was white and was gilded in spiral designs all over.

She didn't want to open it. Not here, with everyone watching. (Some eavesdroppers were picking up on the conversation.) She slid the box into her bag and shook her head to the other girls. She would open it in her dormitory later, alone.

That night, Caroline did all of her homework while resting on her bed. Emily stayed in the room for an hour or two after classes were over, making sparks fly out of her wand boredly. A little after that, Marguerite and Delilah brought some third-year girls into the dormitory to gossip in private, but they didn't stay long. (Thank God.) Zena managed to stay out of the dormitory all day, as per usual, so when she was done with her homework and everyone had vacated the room, she picked her bag up and curled up on her bed, digging for the box.

It was beautiful, really. It was shaped like a miniature chest, with a curved top, and tiny metal hinges for opening and closing. Caroline smiled a little just looking at it. She tried to flip the clasp with her thumb, but it didn't open. She tried again for a few minutes, but the clasp didn't budge. What was he playing at, anyway?

She placed the box on her bed and huffed at it, frustrated. How was she supposed to open the bloody thing if she couldn't?

Then she got an idea. She dug once more in her bag and pulled out her wand, and picked up the box. "Alohamora," she said quietly, pointing the tip of her wand at the tiny clasp. It popped off of the hook on the box and Caroline smiled. "Yes."

She hesitated before opening it. Did she really, really want to know what was inside? Was it worth it?

Yes, she decided. It was.

*~*

Caroline walked into the Great Hall yet the next morning wearing the bracelet, for two reasons. For one, it was signifying that she forgave Draco for his idiocy. (She wasn't able to be easily bought, and it wasn't the obvious amount of money put into the gift that made her forgive him; it was the fact he wanted to not be hated so much that he spent however-many galleons on a bracelet for her.) On the other hand, the thing was just plain gorgeous.

It was a plain, thin silver chain. (She never said it was extravagant, but it was pretty.) It had little, nearly microscopic, teardrop diamonds dangling from the chains every few inches around. Each teardrop had a small emerald inside it.

Viola noticed it right away, but she didn't say anything until Alice and Jill had left to get their Defense Against the Dark Arts essays. "The box? Is that what was in it?" She pointed to the bracelet as Caroline fingered one of the teardrops and nodded.

"Yeah, I opened it last night. It's gorgeous," she added, biting her lip.

Viola just laughed. "It is. It's nice to know you've got Prince Slytherin fancying you already."

Caroline's eyes widened. "What?" she squeaked disbelievingly. "No, no, it's not like that!"

"Blondie?" Caroline looked up to see Draco standing there. She really hated that nickname.

"Why do you call me that? I could just as easily call you Blondie."

"Then why don't you?" He quirked an eyebrow and sat beside her on the bench, leaning against the table as he always did.

"Because I'm nicer than you."

Draco laughed, loudly enough that people from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables turned to see what was so funny. Slytherin table remained as stoic and unresponsive as usual. "I would hardly call you nice."

"I never said I was nice. I said I was nicer than you. There's a difference." Viola chuckled quietly at this and took a drink of her milk, so as not to interrupt their banter anymore. Caroline just broke off a piece of bacon and ate it slowly, waiting for a response.

"That could be true."

"Could?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly and he sighed.

"Fine, will you allow me to apologize properly now?"

"You already did."

"I said, properly. Being interrupted doesn't count. Neither do notes."

"Fine, then. Apologize away," She waved it off and shrugged, looking over at him for the first time. He looked like his usual self again.

"I'm sorry I nearly broke your neck." He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. "And I see you're wearing the bracelet I sent you."

Caroline looked down at the bracelet and bit her bottom lip so as not to smile. She still felt the urge to not give him the satisfaction of knowing she liked it. "Yes. You think you can buy my forgiveness?"

Draco frowned. "I don't see what you're saying."

Caroline sighed and rolled her eyes, looking at Viola exasperatedly. Viola returned the look half-heartedly before turning to Draco. "You bought her an undoubtedly expensive bracelet because you thought that would make her forgive you."

He blanched. "So you still don't?"

Caroline laughed quietly and shook her head, standing. She ruffled his slicked-back (ew) hair as she passed. "I do, but only because you're trying so hard. It's amusing."

He was left sitting at the Hufflepuff table, gaping and alone, as Caroline left the room, wiping his styling gel off her her hand.

*~*

The weeks passed quickly, and as they did, Caroline got more and more into a routine. On schooldays, Viola, Jill, Alice, and she would eat breakfast together in the Great Hall. They would separate and go to their respective classes. Whenever Caroline passed Draco in the hallways (it wasn't often, really), she just looked over at him in acknowledgement, and he did the same. (He's met his match.) When lunch came around, she would still sit with Viola, Jill, and Alice, but sometimes Emily, Ernie, or Justin joined them because some of their friends had lunch sports practice. Then they would go back to classes until five o'clock, they would eat dinner, and then they would sit in the common room, doing homework together and talking.

On weekends, they still went out and practiced on the Quidditch pitch (Caroline was a lot more cautious now), but sometimes they just sat by the lake and watched the clouds. They learned a charm from Professor Flitwick that enabled them to tilt their wands up and change the shapes of clouds, which they did quite often.

Halloween fast approached. Before Caroline knew it, she was sitting with her friends in the extravagantly decorated Great Hall, eating roast beef (of course) and turkey and chicken, and pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes and gravy. Caroline had never had such a wonderful holiday before.

The feast was over all too soon. Dumbledore bid everyone adieu and goodnight, and everyone started back to their respective dormitories.

All of the students stopped in their tracks when they saw the Potter boy with his friends in front of the dead-hanging Mrs. Norris. Viola gasped, and Caroline knew it was because she had a cat, Gerna, and she would be horrified if that happened to her. But Caroline was just disgusted. Who would do that to Mrs. Norris? To Filch, even? Sure, all the students hated them, but was that warrant to kill the poor cat?

There was a puddle of water on the ground, and it seemed to be coming from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "Myrtle," Caroline whispered to Viola, who'd just noticed the water, too. "D'you think she had something to do with this?"

Viola shook her head. "How could she have?"

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Caroline looked up as she heard his voice, narrowing her eyes angrily. Why would Draco say something like that? There was obviously something quite dangerous loose, and he wanted to scare everybody? "Shut up, Draco," Caroline warned under her breath, noticing for the first time the writing on the wall.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.

"What's going on here? What's going on?"Argus Filch pushed his way through the students, knocking Caroline into a second-year Gryffindor boy (she hastily apologized to him). When Filch saw Mrs. Norris he clutched at his face, fingernails clawing at his skin. Caroline winced just watching. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked, looking wildly at the students gathered in the corridor as if they were all responsible.

His eyes fell on Harry Potter. "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"

Professor Dumbledore followed the noise of Filch's screeching. "Argus!" The rest of the faculty followed after him as he made his way hastily through the crowd of students. He swept past Harry Potter and his friends to detach Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket from which she hung. "Come with me, Argus. You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger."

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free-" Professor Lockhart (if you could even call him such a thing) stepped forward eagerly, smiling his Witch Weekly smile.

"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said calmly, leading Mr. Filch, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Professors Lockhart, McGonagall, and Snape through the sea of students to go to Professor Lockhart's office.

It was amazing how, the second they'd gone up the stairs, everybody came alive once more, talking excitedly and sacredly. A first year girl from Gryffindor started crying, saying Mrs. Norris had seemed like such a nice cat (only in death), and why would somebody do something to her? Caroline simply raised her eyebrows. The air in the corridor seemed so thick, the tension was flowing so greatly, that Caroline felt completely claustrophobic. She muttered to Viola that she was going back to the common room, and started down the corridor, down the stairs, and to the still-life of the fruitbowl. "Valde fidelitas."

"Good for you." The portrait swung open, revealing the yellow-filled common room. It was completely empty.

Caroline quickly went down the left set of stairs. (Being alone in the Hufflepuff Basement at night on Halloween was very, very unnerving.) She opened the circular door to the dormitory and got inside, lighting the candles with a flick of her wand and a muttered, "Luminarium." She sighed and changed into her sleeping gown and grabbed a Muggle fiction book, curling up at the window seat looking out over the underground stalactite cave. She watched the stalactites glisten with the lights from the windows of the Hufflepuff dormitories. It was beautiful.

Caroline sighed and looked down at the bracelet. It was hard to believe that just barely an hour before she'd been eating in the Great Hall with Viola, Jill, and Alice, finishing up their feast. But it seemed as if that were days ago, maybe, but not just earlier that night.

How was Allitrya, she wondered? If someone was going about, killing people's pets, shouldn't she go see if she was alright? She was her owl, after all. Caroline decided to go make a visit to the owlery. She put her book back in the trunk and slipped her robes on over her sleeping gown. She slipped on some sandals and out the door she went.

She passed Zena and a silently crying Emily on the staircase, just giving them a mute, somber nod as she briskly passed them. Viola and Jill sat by each other in two of the many large armchairs by the hearth, as Alice sat on the floor in front of them, all three deeply in conversation. None of the Hufflepuffs noticed as she slipped out of the common room.

The walk to the owlery was silent, cold, and nearly as unnerving as being alone in Hufflepuff Basement at night, what with the recent happenings. The corridors were completely empty, with only the occasional vermin to make even a noise. Caroline couldn't help but feel a little scared, you know.

Finally she reached the stairs to the owelry, taking them quickly one-at-a-time. The tower was quite tall, considering the vast number of owls living within its walls. Caroline walked slowly into the large, hollow tower, looking around. This was her first time in the owlery at night, after all.

Caroline sat in the center of the cold stone floor, which was surprisingly spotless. For all the nerves she'd had walking up here, being in the owlery calmed her, although the birds seemed quite restless. They fluttered from side to side of the tower, rustling their wings and making that high-pitched caw that only an owl can manage.

Within minutes her rust-colored owl arrived and perched herself on Caroline's knee, nipping at her robes affectionately. Caroline smiled; Allitrya was her oldest friend. She got her when she was six, and she was the closest thing she'd had to a best friend till she came to Hogwarts. "I'm afraid I've been inadvertently ignoring you, Ally, dear," Caroline said softly, stroking the bird's headfeathers.

They sat in what could only be described as a companionable silence as they both watched as the other birds flitted and flew every which way. "Ally, dear, you've made some new friends, haven't you? I can't have you all alone up here while I'm in the castle, you know. I'm sorry I haven't come to visit sooner." The owl's amber eyes seemed to dance happily and she cawed at Caroline. She laughed. "Oh, dear, Ally, I've missed you," Caroline said quietly. "But I must get back. Good night, love." She kissed the owl on the head and stood, brushing off her robes. "Come visit me in the Great Hall, some morning at mail, alright?" The bird cawed happily at Caroline again and she laughed. "Alright. Well, bye."

And so she started back to the Hufflepuff basement, to say goodnight to the night which started it all.

[grey scale:]

The morning of the first Quidditch game of the season was a muggy one, the air humid and alive with the promise of a late afternoon storm. The game was Gyffindor against Slytherin; Caroline had heard that Draco was Slytherin's new seeker. The part of Caroline that had truced with Draco wanted Slytherin to win just for the sake of him not being in bad humors, but the part of Caroline that strongly disliked the rest of Slytherin house wanted Gryffindor to win, oh-so-badly. The two battled inside her, until she finally decided she was neutral on the matter; after all, it wasn't even her house playing.

Caroline, Viola, Jill, and Alice made their way through the sea of students to the Quidditch pitch that Saturday morning, the latter two talking excitedly about Harry Potter and his inexplicably fascinating seeker abilities. (Caroline didn't know she'd find it so transfixing, so she tuned out after the first few minutes.) The entrance to the pitch was crowded as students and teachers wove into the arena, some yelling at others to get their attention, others simply trying to get to their seats in one piece.

The girls found seats in the topmost row of the stadium seats, sitting with their scarves and woolen hats keeping them warm. The sky was a deep grey-blue color, a color Caroline refused to associate with a certain Slytherin's eyes. Large, bumpy clouds filled the sky in all directions, leaving the location of the sun to only be guessed.

Overall, Caroline was happy with the natural state of things that day.

Of course, everybody thought this odd; most were complaining loudly about how the weather was going to ruin the Quidditch match. But, no, that's not what Caroline saw when she looked at the dark grey clouds floating but mere miles away. She saw something alive, a force, an entity of its own coming towards them, all flashes of brilliant light and swirls of raindrops and loud claps of thunder.

Caroline lived for storms like these.

She wouldn't call herself a fanatic, per se, but there was just something about the atmosphere, the pure electricity running through the air that made her stand outside in the downpour, just enjoying the feeling of soaked clothes and squishy shoes before being ordered inside. Stringy hair in wet clumps as the rain fell in erratic patterns around her. Wind going faster than her mind ever dreamed of. Grass that somehow seemed just that much greener by the time the storm was over and done with. That's what she loved.

The Quidditch match started promptly, the captains shaking hands before everyone flew up on their broomsticks. Caroline felt another twinge of brunt pride as she remembered Marguerite catching that Quaffle instead of her. But there was time to brood on her improving chaser skills later; now, there was a Quidditch match to watch.

"Alright there, Scarhead?" Caroline barely heard Malfoy yell at Harry Potter, and narrowed her eyes. Honestly. When was he going to just grow up already?

A bludger came and whizzed right by Harry Potter's head at that instant. Caroline frowned and looked around at the Slytherin beaters, who were both on the other side of the pitch. She knew Fred and George Weasley would never purposefully hit a bludger at their friend, but you never knew with those two. Things went awry quite often. She spotted them, one of them, really, who hit the bludger away from Harry after it passed. "Close one, Harry!" He yelled, hitting the bludger towards Adrian Pucey, but it merely boomeranged and headed straight toward Harry again. Caroline's frown deepened. Something was wrong here. That bludger had been tampered with, she was sure of it.

The Weasley boy hit the bludger at Malfoy before it got to Harry (did Caroline have the right as an acquaintance to be offended?), but it swerved once more, and aimed itself at Harry Potter again.

Harry sped as fast as he could to the other side of the pitch, the bludger following closely behind. What the bloody hell was going on here? The other Weasley twin (or was it the same one? She could never tell) was waiting for the bludger at the other end, swinging at it exuberantly. He yelled something excitedly (Caroline couldn't hear what - they were on the other side of the pitch, after all), but Caroline tsked as the bludger just turned around again. What was going on with this bludger? Harry was forced to fly off at full speed.

It was then that the afternoon rain Caroline had predicted made a premature arrival. Caroline pushed her damp hair away from her face worriedly, trying to see what was happening. Was Harry going to get hurt by this bludger? How would they be able to stop it? Would they ever be able to? Was he going to have to fly about the pitch for the rest of his life, for fear of getting pummeled by a twenty-pound flying ball of iron and pent-up magical energy?

While Caroline was busy watching Harry Potter fly for his life, everyone else was keeping one eye on the Slytherin chasers, who were taking advantage of the distraction and getting goals as Oliver Wood looked worriedly at his star seeker. Slytherin had already racked up thirty points.

The Weasley twins were both flanking Harry as he flew in circles to lose the bludger, whacking it away when it got too close. One of them signaled to the Captain, Oliver Wood, for a time-out. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and all three, Harry and the Weasleys, made a dive for the ground, still swerving to avoid the bludger.

Slytherins jeered loudly as the Gryffindor team huddled together in the middle of the field. "What d'you think's going on?" Viola asked absently, biting her lip worriedly. Viola was definitely a worrier.

"I think someone's cursed it," Caroline said quietly, looking at the bludger, which was flying in circles about thirty feet above the ground with the other bludger, making odd, erratic dives and occasionally hitting each other.

"Really? You think it's been fixed? Maybe Slytherin did it?" Alice looked like she did whenever something potentially gossip-worthy was mentioned, and Slytherin fixing a bludger to win the first match of the season was definitely gossip-worthy to her. "Who d'you think they sent to do it? Malfoy?"

"No," Caroline answered quickly, blushing when they all three looked at her oddly. "What I mean is, I don't think even Draco would go as low as to fix a bludger that could potentially kill someone."

"Yeah, well, he tried to break your neck," Jill muttered ill-humoredly, scowling at the blonde speck on the field. Caroline sighed.

"I don't hold that against him anymore." Caroline shook her head defiantly. They could think it was because he bought her a pretty diamond bracelet all they wanted, because she knew better, and she suspected Viola did, too, because she knew more of the story. She only forgave him because she's not that great at holding grudges in the first place, and he was just so pathetic, and trying so hard, and she practically had to forgive him. "He apologized, I forgave, and we moved on."

Nobody said anything more until Madam Hooch blew the whistle again, and the game resumed. The rain pounded onto their shoulders as they watched as best they could, worrying for the outcome of the match and for Harry Potter's safety. The only thing they could see was the outline of Harry Potter and his broom, flying around wildly, trying to outfly the rogue bludger. Jill and Alice giggled with some of the other girls, because it was admittedly funny, but Caroline and Viola stayed straight-faced all the same.

"Training for the ballet, Potter?" Draco, who was about fifteen feet above the stands where Caroline and her friends sat, shouted with an audible sneer to a frenzied Harry as he spun on his broom to avoid the bludger again.

And then it happened. He sped off a few feet away from Draco, but something made him stop and stare at him long enough for his arm to be broken by the bludger. His expression was complete shock, because he obviously wasn't expecting that. He started to slide sideways off his broom. The girls were all yelling at him to hold on.

"Harry! Harry! Keep onto your broom, Harry!"

"Don't fall off and die!"

"Keep holding on, Harry, you can do it!"

Caroline was the only one staying silent the entire time, looking around the scene with a suspicious look. Something else was going on here. Why had he stopped? All game, he'd been twisting and twirling to get away from this thing, and then he just stops? It made no sense to her.

That's when Harry reached out and caught the Snitch, which was literally under Draco's nose. He started to slowly slip off of his broom, and fell to the muddy ground below as everybody yelled his name.

*~*

"Hello. My name is Luna Lovegood." Caroline was at breakfast one morning, quickly filling up a roll of parchment for their Charms essay she'd forgotten was due today when this girl came up to her. She was short for their age, with long dirty-blonde hair and bright blue-grey eyes. (Again, Caroline refuses to connect that color to any other person who might just happen to be in Slytherin.) She sat in the seat across form her, even though she wasn't a Hufflepuff, and said, "I think you're interesting. Want to be friends?"

Caroline was dumbstruck. She'd heard about 'Loony Lovegood' (though she never called her that, herself) and her antics, and wasn't surprised about her coming up to her so suddenly. What surprised her was the bluntness, yet totally airy disposition, of her words. "Um, sure," Caroline said with a smile, rolling up her newly-finished essay and slipping it into her bag. "How did you come about finding me interesting?"

Luna shrugged and took a piece of bacon from the stack three platters away, nibbling on it. "I guess it was because you were different. Most find you boring because you don't talk a lot, but I can tell it's just because you think a lot, whereas they rarely think at all, you know."

Caroline laughed lightly at that, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Well, thank you, Luna. I happen to think you're interesting as well. Maybe that'll work out for us." Caroline stood and put her bag over her shoulder. "You have Charms next, too, right?"

The girls walked to their class, blissfully unaware of the panicked rumor spreading like a viral infection through the students in the corridors.

"Colin Creevy? Isn't he that first year Gryffindor, the one with the camera?"

"How? What? When did this happen?"

"After the Qudditch match? After Gryffindor won, against Slytherin? Don't you think that's a tad suspicious?"

Finally, when they were nearly to Professor Flitwick's classroom, they heard a few first-year Slytherins, a group of girls, talking in hushed tones. "Yes! They said McGonagall and Dumbledore brought him up at, like, midnight! Harry Potter was there!"

"He was there? Like, he was the one who attacked him?"

"No! He was in the hospital wing! 'Cause, you know, Professor Lockhart accidentally took his bones out of his arm, remember? That was so funny."

Caroline frowned as she and Luna entered the classroom and found seats towards the middle of the room. Colin Creevy was attacked? How? Did someone injure him or something?

"Luna," Caroline said quietly, leaning towards the other girl so as not to be overheard by anybody around them. "Do you know anything about this Colin Creevy business?"

"Well, yes, I do, actually. My friend Ginny's with him in Gryffindor." Luna distractedly twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, chewing on her bottom lip. "It seems he was Petrified. Like Mrs. Norris, the cat? Did you hear about her?"

Caroline nodded. "Yes, I was there." She mulled this new information over in her head. Petrified? What did that entail, really? Was he dead? If he was, what killed him? It definitely wasn't Harry Potter, she knew, because whatever this Petrification was, it seemed to be very advanced.

Besides, he was in the hospital wing at the time. He couldn't have, although she'd heard people whispering about how annoyed he was with Colin.

He wouldn't do that, would he? The "Boy Who Lived" and all that, he wouldn't kill, or Petrify, Creevy just because of a few obnoxious pictures being taken, would he?

Caroline had no way of know, as she didn't know the Potter boy personally, so she tried to push the thought out of her head. Until she remembered something.

Colin Creevy was Muggle-born. And Mrs. Norris was the cat of Argus Filch, who was a squib. Was there a connection?

*~*

By the time November and most of December passed, the older students (mainly the Weasley twins, honestly) had started up a hidden tirade of "good-luck charms" – rotted Newt tails, fake, yet colorful, crystal talismans, and horridly-smelling onions that smelt like something had died inside it.

Caroline passed Emily one day, as she bought a large yellow crystal from Lee Jordan of Gryffindor. "Emily, you know you're a pureblood, right? You haven't got a thing to worry about," Caroline explained her confusion.

Emily simply looked across the room and said, "I know, but Zena's a Muggle-born. We're always together out in the corridors, so if I've got the crystal, she won't be hurt. Right?" Emily looked fiercely at Caroline, her knuckles turning white around the crystal.

Caroline didn't have the heart to tell her the crystal most likely held no more powers beyond being a parchment weight.

*~*

By the second week in December, Professor Sprout went around the common room and collected the names of students staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holiday. Caroline was going home, and she found herself feeling giddy over the idea of seeing her family again. She really, truly missed them. A lot.

Viola said she was going home, too. Her mom was a Muggle, and her dad was a Squib (her grandparents both attended Hogwarts). They both held Muggle positions in society, though – her mother was a doctor, and her father owned a small used bookstore in southeastern London. They lived in a little townhouse with brightly colored windows and doors, with dark red brick and cobblestone front steps. Caroline thought it sounded amazing, and knew from her description that it fit Viola perfectly.

A week later, Viola and Caroline were heading into the Great Hall for dinner when they noticed Professor Lockhart cheerfully pinning something on the notice board. Curiously, Viola led Caroline to the board, reading aloud the inscription. "There is a dueling club meeting to be held in the Great Hall at eight o'clock of this evening. Students of all years, houses, and gender are welcome. The club is to be led by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, and to be assisted by Professor Severus Snape." Viola laughed. "D'you want to go?"

Caroline shrugged. "I dunno. It sounds interesting. I mean, Snape and Lockhart, dueling? We have to see that."

So, after dinner they went back down to the Hufflepuff basement to do homework for the two hours until eight o'clock, when they returned to the Great Hall for the dueling club. The room was packed with students (and teachers watching over them). Caroline and Viola found a spot about twenty feet away from the makeshift stage that had been set up in the middle of the room. They spotted Jill and Alice, who were fighting their way through the crowd towards them. "Didn't think you'd come without us, did ya?" Alice grinned, linking arms with Jill and Viola, making Caroline feel a little left out, but she ignored it. They'd known each other for longer, so she shouldn't be jealous if they were closer.

Her envious thought were interrupted by Professor Lockhart, who marched onto the stage donning deeply plum-colored robes, followed by Professor Snape. Professor Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on several occasions – for full details, see my published works." Caroline rolled her eyes. He was such a pompous arse.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart crowed, grinning widely. (Because nobody in the hall knew their potions master, honestly.) "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your potions master when I'm thorugh with him, never fear!"

Professor Snape looked murderously towards Professor Lockhart, who remained blissfully unawares of Snape's ill-intentions. Caroline smiled and shook her head, not sure why the animosity emanating from Snape seemed comical to her, especially when Lockhart had no clue his untimely death was most likely being plotted.

Professors Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other; Professor Lockhart bowed exuberantly, whereas Professor Snape merely nodded his head curtly, a barely visible vein at his right temple twitching. Caroline giggled quietly. This was fun.

The professors raised their wands like swords in front of them, brandished them, really. "As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combat position," Professor Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

Somehow, Caroline doubted that as she glanced at professor Snape again.

"One – Two – Three -"

They both swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at each other; Snape cried, "Expelliarmus!" There was a bright flash of scarlet-red light, and Lockhart was blasted back to the wall, and slid to the floor. A flustered girl with blonde hair and flushed cheek pushed people out of the way to grab his wand, which had flown out of his hand.

"Is he alright?" Alice gasped behind Caroline, who'd almost forgotten her friends were there with her.

"I dunno. I think so," she replied, standing on the tips of her toes to see over the heads of people she didn't know, but it was a fruitless attempt. She was simply too short.

Some Slytherins cheered on the other side of the room as Professor Snape smirked slightly, one of the few facial expressions he donned that showed any sort of amusement. He spun on his heel and walked back to the edge of the stage and whispered something to Draco as Professor Lockhart righted his robes again, and patted his frayed hair back down.

"Well, there you have it!" Professor Lockhart exclaimed cheerily, making his way back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm – as you see, I've lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown-" The blonde girl handed Professor Lockhart his wand, "Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy – however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"

Professor Snape was looking furious again, his eyes narrowing infinitely. Professor Lockhart glanced nervously at him before calling out, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me-"

They moved through the crowd, teaming up students as they went. Caroline noticed Ernie and Justin for the first time that night as Justin got paired with a round-faced Gryffindor boy, and Ernie was paired with Hannah Abbott. When Lockhart reached her, she was paired with a tall brunette girl with the Ravenclaw insignia on her left shoulder. "Hello," she said confidently, holding out her hand. Caroline shook it warily. "I'm Artemis Scarborough. And you are?"

"Caroline Smith," Caroline said quietly, quite aware that her name was lost in the sea of excited voices. The girl, Artemis, didn't seem to mind, though, as she nodded matter-of-factly and looked off.

Professors Lockhart and Snape were son back on the platform, facing the sea of students. "Face your partners! And bow!"

Caroline nervously bowed, whereas Artemis swiftly ducked her head, then dove back up, her back rim-rod straight.

"Wands at the ready!" Professor Lockhart instructed, puffing out his chest importantly. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents – only to disarm them – we don't want any accidents – one… two… three –"

"Expelliarmus!" both girls cried, and their charms met together in midair before fizzling out sadly. Caroline bit her lip, embarrassed.

"Rictusempra!"

"I said disarm only!" Professor Lockhart yelled, gazing out at the group of students. Most had failed at attempts at the Disarming charm, as Caroline and Artemis had, but some were using non-Disarming Charms. Caroline noted that Draco and Harry Potter were among these.

"Tarantallegra!" Malfoy countered to whatever spell Harry Potter had sent his way, doubled over, laughing.

"Stop! Stop!" Professor Lockhart shouted, but Snape took charge.

"Finite Incantatem!" He shouted; Harry Potter's knees stopped dancing, Draco stopped laughing, and both looked up, catching their breath.

Caroline was finally able to study the scene of the room's state; there was a sort of greenish haze about the place, a result of many spells-gone-wrong. Both the round-faced Gryffindor and Justin were on the ground, panting. Viola and Jill were looking very awry, in the loosest sense of the word, with robes slightly askew as they hurriedly tried to fix their hair, which was sticking out at odd angles.

"Dear, dear," Professor Lockhart said, skittering through the crowd, looking at aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan…Careful there, Miss Fawcett…Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot…"

He made his way back to the platform, gesturing to the sea of students with a grand movement of his arms. "I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Professor Lockhart. He glanced at Professor Snape, whose black eyes glinted dangerously, and quickly turned back to the students. "Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you–"

"A bad idea, Professor," Professor Snape droned boredly, speaking for the first time all night. He suavely made his way over to Professor Lockhart, Justin, and the Longbottom boy. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Caroline looked at the round-faced boy, feeling sorry for him as his little pink face turned just a shade pinker. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" Draco and Harry Potter? Caroline sighed. This was going to be interesting, in any case.

"Excellent idea!" Professor Lockhart exuberantly made his way to the center of the room, moving students back with large hand gestures to make a large clearing, a circle. Harry Potter and Draco made their way the clearing, not speaking.

"Now, Harry," sad Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this." He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Professor Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops – my wand is a little overexcited-"

Professor Snape bent down and whispered something to Malfoy as this display by Professor Lockhart was made. Draco smirked. Harry Potter looked nervously up at Professor Lockhart and asked, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" Caroline heard Draco mutter with another smirk. Harry Potter replied, but she couldn't hear what he said.

"Just do what I did, Harry!" Professor Lockhart said, beaming.

"What, drop my wand?" Professor Lockhart apparently wasn't listening, for he just started counting.

"Three – two – one – go!" He shouted.

Draco instantly raised his wand and shouted, "Serpensortia!" The end of his wand exploded. Caroline watched, awestruck, as a long, thick black snack shot out the end of it, fell heavily onto the floor, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were scattered screams about the room as people quickly moved away from the scene.

"Don't move, Potter," Professor Snape said lazily, clearly enjoying Harry Potter's surprised look. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" Professor Lockhart bellowed, brandishing his wand. There was a loud bang, and the snake flew into the air, and fell back to the floor with a loud thwack. Caroline watched, horrified, as the snake slithered its way, furious, to the nearest student. Justin. Oh, no. It raised itself, its fangs exposed, ready to strike.

Caroline heard Jill gasp behind her. That's right, she fancied him, didn't she? Caroline couldn't remember. Most of this wasn't really registering with her at all. And before she knew it, Harry Potter was walking toward the snake, making hissing noises. The snake backed away and turned its raised head to Harry before slithering off.

Harry Potter looked at Justin, grinning, but Justin certainly wasn't grinning.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and turned, storming out of the hall. Caroline turned in time to see Jill sneak off after him.

Caroline looked back at the scene just as Professor Snape swished his wand, and the snake disappeared in a small puff of black smoke. He was looking at Harry Potter shrewdly, calculatingly. It was unnerving. Everybody started whispering and muttering amongst themselves as Harry Potter was pulled from the room by Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

"Erm, okay, all!" Professor Lockhart said, obviously to distract the students. It hardly worked. The mutters continued on, even as he added, "The dueling club is dismissed, you may all go back to your common rooms!"

The crowd started to thin as students left, making their way back to their respective dormitories. Professors Lockhart and Snape were cleaning up the Great Hall as Caroline blinked, realizing she was one of the last in the room. She glanced around, noticing only a few older Hufflepuff girls in a corner, and , still standing in the place he'd been when the snake was dissolved, Draco. She slowly made her way over.

"It's nice to know you bring out the worst in Potter, isn't it?" She teased lightly, smiling.

Draco blinked and turned to her. "It doesn't take much. He's a bloody menace." He frowned, obviously thinking hard about something. He opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again before speaking. "You don't… You don't suppose he's the heir of Slytherin, do you?"

Caroline shook her head. "I honestly don't. He's in Gryffindor, not Slytherin, to begin with. And, I dunno… I just don't think it's him." Caroline shrugged and looked off. "I'm honestly not sure who it is."

When she looked back at Draco, he was looking at her, and she felt her face flush. She glanced at the corner the older girls had vacated minutes ago, then at Professor Lockhart and Professor Snape, who were summoning the dinner tables back to their original positions. "You made him dance," Caroline suddenly remembered, laughing. The scene of Harry Potter's legs jiggling uncontrollably was, admittedly, humorous.

Draco looked confused for a second before realization donned on his face, and he smirked. "Yeah." He kicked at the ground.

Caroline took a deep breath, hating feeling so awkward, and distinctly wishing she hadn't come over in the first place. "I've got to go. Goodnight, Draco," she said with a small smile as she started towards the Entrance Hall.

"Blo- Erm, I mean, Caroline?" Caroline turned back when he spoke, smiling confusedly. He wanted to drag on the awkwardness? Alright, then. Draco walked forward towards her, but Professor Snape interrupted him before he could even speak.

"You two," he said, looking pointedly at Malfoy, "need to get back to your dormitories."

They each said their, "Yessirs," many times over before the professors left, making sure the two were at least in the Entrance Hall before heading off to their respective offices.

So there they stood, the awkwardness slowly returning. Caroline wanted to know what Draco was about to say before – wanted to know bad.

"D'you want me to walk you back to your common room?" He offered, his hands in his pockets. He looked…sheepish. Caroline held back a giggle and nodded.

"Sure." So they walked in much more companionable silence, up the one flight of stairs, then down the two leading to the kitchens. They stopped in front of the portrait of the fruitbowl. "Goodnight. Again," Caroline added, smiling.

Draco blushed, the edges of his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Caroline knew it was cute, acknowledged it was cute to herself, but knew she was far from admitting it to anyone else (mainly Viola). "Erm, yes, goodnight, Caroline," Draco muttered. Caroline didn't do anything to leave yet, though, because he looked like he was about to say something else.

But, he didn't.

He swiftly leaned forward and kissed her similarly flushed cheek, moving back just as quickly. Caroline bit her lip, still smiling, as she looked away. "Goodnight," he said hurriedly, rushing down the corridor, up the stairs, and out of sight.

Caroline grinned to herself as she struggled to remember the new password. Her brain was slightly flustered. She finally remembered it, quickly muttering, "Caecus amor," before the portrait frame swung from the wall and she staggered inside. She leaned against the wall in the dark hallway as the portrait swung closed again before entering the common room. She had to calm down.

When she collected her nerves, she entered the common room. It was filled to the brim with chattering students. There was Justin and Jill, in a corner, sitting close together and talking quietly. Caroline spotted Viola and Alice, chatting with Ernie about the duels they'd been in.

Caroline just snuck down the stairs, keeping her smiles to herself as she fell asleep that night.

[grey scale:]

The next day it snowed, viciously postponing Viola, Jill, and Alice's Herbology with Gryffindor. Jill was glad. For some reason Caroline couldn't fathom, she kept saying Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin, and that he was evil, and that she never wanted to speak to him again. (For the life of her, Caroline couldn't remember any time Jill had spoken to Harry Potter, but she guessed that was beside the point.) Ernie felt the same way. Viola and Alice, on the other hand, were a bit on the fence about that. Caroline wasn't on the fence. She thought Potter was innocent.

Although their Herbology lesson had been postponed, she still had Transfiguration with Slytherin. So, she packed up her bag, said goodbye to everybody, and headed off to class.

As she walked, she couldn't help but sort of daze off and think about last night. The way Harry Potter had talked, or hissed, really, to that snake. It honestly hadn't looked like he was egging it on – she guessed it was just the fact that Jill fancied Justin and was irrationally overprotective of him that made her think he was a murderer who used snakes as his pawns.

She kept replaying that scene, the one of him hissing to the snake as her Transfiguration lesson wore on. He'd said it angrily – whatever he'd said, she didn't know. But he wasn't happy with the snake's plans on attacking Justin. In her eyes, Harry Potter hadn't done a thing wrong – in fact, she thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd saved Justin from being bitten.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" It was Peeves, yelling at the top of his lungs somewhere off in an adjacent corridor. Professor McGonagall's eyes grew quite wide, and hushed everybody as she told them to follow her. Emily still had black-and-white striped hair, but nobody said anything about it, feeling too panicked, and too overrun with adrenaline for anything much to register. They all came upon the scene of a very crowded corridor, all surrounding a black, smoky Sir Nicholas, and …

Caroline's breath caught in her throat. It was Justin, lying on the cold stone ground, seeming just as cold and made of stone himself. His skin was an odd, translucent white with bluish tints to it, something Caroline wished she'd never seen in her life. It was disturbing – this was someone she knew; albeit, no, she didn't know Justin very well, but they were friends, or so they considered each other. And here he was, lying as if dead on the floor of the east second floor corridor, just corners away from the common room.

Caroline couldn't help but think, poor Jill. She'd be horrified, overrun with emotions Caroline knew she'd never be able to deal with. Jill was sweet, sometimes rude and blunt, but she was kind; most of her friends these days seemed to be. Were people always like this? No, she decided, they weren't. She was just lucky enough to have really great friends. And she would have to be there for Jill, just like Viola and Alice would be.

Teachers hushed students and herded them back into classrooms, which left the Hufflepuffs and the Slytherins, Harry Potter, Professors McGonagall, Sinistra, Lockhart,and Flitwick, and a Petrified Nearly Headless Nick and Justin Finch-Fletchley

Just then, everybody turned to see a large group of older Hufflepuffs, including Ernie, Hannah Abbott, Viola, Jill, Alice, and a few others. They gaped at the scene, then at Harry. "Caught in the act!" Ernie yelled, his face stark white, pointing his finger at Harry dramatically.

"That will do, Macmillan!" Professor McGonagall said sharply, letting out a slightly weary, irritated sigh.

Peeves was bobbing about overhead, grinning wickedly and surveying the scene – drinking in the chaos. As the teachers bent over Justin, Peeves broke into song:

"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done,

You're killing off students, you think it's good fun– "

"That's enough, Peeves!" Professor McGonagall barked, narrowing her eyes as she instructed Professor Lockhart to lead the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, watching everything going on with wide eyes and open mouths, back to her classroom. He happily obliged.

Caroline turned away from the scene, only reluctant because Jill had started crying; her hand was over her mouth, Viola's arm around her shoulders, Alice hugging her as well. Caroline frowned, concern filling her, wishing she could do something, but Professor was already pushing her along. "Come on, now, Miss Smith, no need to tag along all day. It's not good for the mind, to be about a dead body so long -"

"He's not dead," Caroline hissed at him, narrowing her eyes, glaring at the professor. He looked taken aback and quickly walked away, back to the front of the group, which was already in the classroom.

Caroline sat in the back of the class for the rest of the period until the bell rang, and it was time for lunch. When she entered the Great Hall, there wasn't a sign of her friends. She looked in the common room, but they weren't there, either. She tried the bathroom on the first floor, the fourth, then finally found them in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, huddled about the sink, sitting on the floor in a semi circle. When Caroline sat down, the circle was complete.

Jill looked over at her with big, puffy, red eyes, her light brown hair looking disarrayed. She wiped at her eyes frustratedly before saying, "Justin, last night. He said he wanted me to be his girlfriend."

All the other three girls were silent at this news; it wasn't surprising, but it was sobering, because they didn't know when Justin ever would be awake again. This seemed to make Jill tear up again, as they watched her wiped her eyes hurriedly. "I said no. That I was only twelve and I didn't want a boyfriend yet. But, I just –" She broke off, biting her lip so she didn't start another round of full-out sobbing.

"It's fine, Jilly. He'll be awake soon. Sprout said the mandrakes are coming along nicely." Alice cooed quiet little words to her sister as she started to settle down, falling with her head in Alice's lap. "You can talk to him then, alright?"

Jill stayed quiet for a while before asking, "How much longer do we have for lunch?"

Viola just grinned and said, "About half an hour. We can still get some if we hurry."

And so everything was okay, for a little while at least.

*~*

After all the lessons of the day were done, and the girls had eaten dinner, Caroline excused herself to go to the library. She wanted to check out Hogwarts, A History to see if it said anything about the Chamber of Secrets.

Madam Pince, an extremely strict, up-tight woman in her late fifties, was the librarian, and she gave Caroline a withering look when she entered. Caroline gulped slightly and walked as quickly as possible to the reference section of the library.

It was in the very back. There weren't many people in the library right then, as most were probably hiding in their common rooms from Slytherin's monster, so Caroline had some welcomed privacy as she looked down the row of dusted book spines. She didn't find Hogwarts, A History anywhere.

"Looking for something?" A voice behind her asked, and she turned around to see Draco. Why did he always happen to arrive at the most inopportune moments? Caroline felt uncomfortable, being alone with him at the very back of the library, undoubtedly far away from Madame Pince.

Caroline couldn't even tell herself she hadn't entertained the idea of Draco being the Heir of Slytherin. He was a proud Slytherin – far too proud, sometimes, in her opinion. And he had such an unwarranted hate for Muggle-borns. Why? Caroline didn't know. She knew the Malfoys were a well-known, wealthy family who'd once been associated with You-Know-Who, but she didn't know whether she believed them to be innocent in their actions, as they pled.

So, adding all that to the fact that she was blushing furiously at the memory of him kissing her cheek (was he just trying to put her off track, so she didn't find him out?) last night, she was quite hesitant to tell him what she was looking for, why, and honestly, to talk to him at all. "Yes. I am looking for a book, Draco. That's usually what people come to libraries in search of."

He made a little face, his nose wrinkling and the topmost tips of his cheeks turning a little pink. Nobody would normally have noticed this, but Caroline knew he was blushing – but why? All she'd said was some rubbish about books, and he blushes? Merlin, she'd tried her best to simply be nonchalant, and he has the bloody nerve to blush? She thought not!

She found herself growing irrationally irritated as he replied. "Well, yes, that's true. What I was wondering, Caroline, is what book inparticular you were looking for. Perhaps I could help you," he said pointedly, and Caroline noticed his ears were slightly pink, too. She sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry, Draco, but you can't help me. What I've come looking for is not here, so, I'll be going." She put her lessons bag over her should and tried to walk past him, but he blocked her way.

"Why are you being like this?" he demanded, leaning back against the bookshelf against the wall once he was assured she wouldn't try and bolt again.

"Being like what?" she snapped, frowning, because she honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

"Well, I dunno…" Draco trailed off for a moment. He wouldn't meet her gaze as he muttered, "You're avoiding me today." His cheeks grew just a shade pinker when Caroline laughed.

"Draco, I've been busy all day. I have classes, none of which include you, so there was never really any point in which I could have avoided you. Besides," she added, leaning against the bookshelf beside him, and they both slid down to the floor, "why would I have wanted to avoid you, anyway?"

The question went unanswered as they sat there for a few silent minutes more, until Caroline couldn't take it any longer – she had to ask. "Draco," she said quietly, biting her lip nervously. She could feel him watching her, even if she kept her eyes obstinately on the bookshelf in front of them. "Do you know who the Heir of Slytherin is?"

There was a very long pause, one of such length that Caroline thought he wouldn't answer. After a while, Draco stood and started walking away. Caroline's jaw dropped, but jumped up and followed him nevertheless. She didn't catch up to him until he was around the corner from the library. "Draco!" she breathed, catching his arm and spinning him around to face her. "What was that? Why'd you leave?"

"Because," he hissed, his eyes narrowed to slits, "you think it's me, don't you? You're no better than everyone else! It's either me or Potter, we're the only bloody choices!"

Caroline was incredulous. He was blowing this completely out of proportion and she was confused as how to handle the situation. But, she wasn't going to lie, either. "Draco, you're being impossible!" she hissed back, her jaw still slack from the nerve he had, acting like this! "I cannot believe you would think I'd just flat-out accuse you of being the Heir of Slytherin!"

His back straightened somewhat, his expression one Caroline had never seen on him – it seemed inhumanly cold and unresponsive. It reminded her, she realized suddenly, of how she'd seen Justin earlier; the only difference was Draco was angrier, not scared or shocked like Justin had been.

"So you did. You thought it was me." His voice was dull, no - carefully devoid of emotion, Caroline amended. His posture radiated withheld animosity Caroline knew he wouldn't act on, and let her also know that no, Draco was not the Heir of Slytherin. She felt regret and dread filling her stomach. What had she just done?

"Draco," she said quietly, reaching a hand out to put on his elbow, but he shrugged it off and shook his head.

"No. I can't be friends with someone who thinks I'm like that."

"Oh, please, Draco," she rolled her eyes. "You'd be thrilled if the entire castle thought you were the Heir of Slytherin. Don't pull that with me."

He shrugged and said, "You don't see me being friends with them, do you?" And then he walked away.

She let him go, sighing as she leaned against the wall and wondered what exactly just happened.

*~*

Jill and Alice were staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas holiday, because their parents were in France visiting relatives. Viola was going home, as was Caroline. She told Caroline stories of a little townhouse in southeastern London with brightly colored shutters, a bright blue door, and dark red brick with cobblestone steps. Her dad was a Squib, her mother a muggle. (Both of her grandparents went to Hogwarts, as well.) She had a little brother Daniel that frequently got on her nerves, but she loved him. At once, Caroline knew that everything she'd been told about Viola's family and home and childhood fit perfectly with the girl she was.

The train ride to King's Cross station was subdued, but festive nonetheless. Caroline and Viola played Exploding Snaps in the compartment they shared alone, and ate Pumpkin Pasties when the old witch who pushed the trolley around came by.

And when the train stopped at the station, Caroline and Viola were both already out in the corridor with their trunks, Caroline with Allitrya, and Viola with her cat, Gerna. They were the first ones off of the train.

Viola found her parents first, dragging Caroline along with her to meet them. Madeleine Renior was a pretty little redhead with a short, petite body like her daughter's. Viola's father, a taller man with thin arms and legs and graying brown hair, stood beside his wife and introduced himself as Brian Renior. "Hello," he smiled a smile that showed straight, near-white teeth, "you must be Caroline. Viola's written about you in some of her letters." Viola just grinned.

"Caroline?" She turned to see her mom and Dad with Sara coming toward them.

"Mom, dad." She grinned and ran at them, hugging Michael around his neck. He laughed and spun her around, then set her on her feet so she could greet Priscilla. She hugged her tightly, too. Priscilla was surprised, because her daughter wasn't always the most affectionate person, but pleased nonetheless. She hugged her back, lifting her off her feet slightly.

When she was released, Caroline ruffled her younger sister's hair and said, "Nice to see you again, Squish." Sara, who was eight, made a face at the nickname but hugged her sister's waist anyway.

"You, too." Sara was just as short as Caroline was for her age, with the same hair, but she had more of their father's green eyes than their mother's blue ones; otherwise, there was nothing distinguishable between them. One would have thought they were twins if they didn't know better.

"Mom, Dad, Sara, this is Viola," Caroline said, gesturing to Viola, who still stood with her family just feet away. Viola grinned and waved exuberantly, walking over and shaking Michael's hand.

"Hello," she said, her smile still intact as she shook hands with Priscilla and hugged Sara. Caroline just laughed.

Viola and Caroline's parents greeted each other as the three girls talked amongst themselves. "Daniel stayed home with my cousin, Jenny. She's visiting from Bristol. I kind of wish you could've met him." Viola looked at Sara. "I think he's a year older than you, Sara. You're eight, right?" Sara nodded disinterestedly.

Michael, Priscilla, Brian, and Madeleine made their way back to their children, smiling as they told them they planned on meeting up in Hyde Park on Christmas Eve. Caroline and Viola each grabbed their trunks and they started off with their families, through the barrier, and parted ways at the gate outside of the station.

The drive to their house was mostly silent, and took quite a while since they lived in a small house twenty minutes outside of London's west limits. Caroline was content, however, because just being inside the familiar blue Veauxhall Ventora made her feel perfectly at home. The brown leather seats were faded from extensive use, there was a permanent smell of ginger and orange (Priscilla had a hobby of making homemade air fresheners, and orange and ginger were her favorites to use), and the clean floorboards were carpeted with thin, soft tan material.

When her father turned the car to the right, and they started down a small dirt road, Caroline started feeling giddy in her seat. He stopped the car in front of their house and Caroline just sat and drank in the sight of her home. It had two stories to it, with little cottage-style architectures very prominent in its structure. It had a brown-shingled roof, with lightly colored brick and natural wood shutters. It wasn't big, no, but it was perfect for their family.

Michael got Caroline's trunk while she and Sara ran inside the house. Sara immediately ran up the stairs, to her bedroom, but Caroline walked around a bit first. It was exactly as she'd left it four months ago – there was homey furniture in the living room, including floral couches and a wooden coffee table, a fireplace in the wall across the room, and a nice, medium-sized Christmas tree decorated to perfection; in the kitchen, there were her mother's paintings (another hobby of hers) on the wall, the white tiled counters and the slightly outdated appliances; the dining room held the same circular table, made of heavy dark wood with four matching chairs. Then, Caroline made her way upstairs. She saw Sara in her room, sitting on the wooden floor and playing with a stuffed teddy bear, as she passed, and a quick glance into her parents' room, across from her own, told her nothing had changed there, either.

Caroline's room was different from the others in the house; it wasn't particularly large, nor was it at all tiny. There was a medium-sized bed in the center of the room against the wall with a calico quilt and pale pink sheets, and two fluffy feather pillows on top. The walls were a light, pleasant yellow, and the floors were a light wood not unlike the rest of the house. There were at least three bookshelves and two trinket cases on each wall, and there was a small balcony with opening doors facing east so she could watch the sunrise every morning. There were a few potted plants her mother had tended to while she was at school she usually nursed herself about the place, nice and green and healthy. Otherwise, the room seemed untouched.

Michael had already brought her trunk up to her room, and Priscilla was downstairs making dinner, so Caroline laid back on her bed and looked out the window. There were translucent white curtains over the panes, but that didn't stop the lights of sunset from the other side of the house, splaying across the sky in all directions, from filtering into her room, getting darker by the minute. Soon, stars were appearing, and Caroline started to feel sleepy, lulled into a fitful nap by the hums of familiarity in her home and the complete safety she felt with it.

*~*

Caroline was awoken by the sound of something pecking at her window. She sat up, sleepily wiped at her eyes, and stood to let it the owl. It was snowy and grey in spots, and Caroline didn't recognize it until it was sitting on the perch beside Allitrya. She frowned, because she was lost on why Draco would be sending her an owl. Hadn't they had a fight?

She moved slowly to the owl, letting it nip her finger affectionately before removing the small roll of parchment attached to its leg. Slowly, she unrolled it and read:

Blondie,

Caroline rolled her eyes and sighed, hoping they'd gotten over that horrible nickname. But, she guessed she deserved it for being so accusatory in the library.

I figured out that it's not Potter. I don't know who it is, but it's not Potter. I mean, he's not even a Slytherin. If it were him, I would be so mad, honestly, because it can't be him!

'Him' was underlined three times.

But, who is it? I'm just going to be honest, not many people in Slytherin are smart enough to be the Heir. Are they not in Slytherin? I doubt it would ever be a Hufflepuff. (No offense or anything.) It might be a Ravenclaw, since they're supposed to be smart.

But it would never, ever be a Gryffindor.

Anyway…I guess I can't really blame you for thinking it was me. I mean, it would just be obvious, right? I hate Mudbloods, and I'm just an overall arse, so yeah, it's me. It's got to be, right?

-Draco

P.S. – I know you didn't mean to accuse me. You're just so clumsy with words around me, I'm that handsome.

Caroline laughed and shook her head, going to her little writing desk and taking a quill and parchment to write a reply.

Draco,

I'm going to start calling you Blondie, too, if you don't stop that.

And I wasn't being clumsy with words! You just automatically assumed I was flat-out accusing you of being the Heir! And, yes, you are an arse, but I'm not sure if that's why everyone thinks it's either you or Harry. Not even everyone does, I don't think, so stop bringing it up.

I find no offense in you saying a Hufflepuff would never be the Heir, thanks.

-Caroline

P.S. Stop being so egotistical and people might not hate you so much.

P.P.S Egotistical means 'Self-centered.'

P.P.P.S. How on Earth did your owl know where to go to get this to me?

Caroline rolled the parchment up tightly and put it in the holster on Draco's owl's leg. He seemed tired, so he rested awhile and ate a little bit of Allitrya's food before flying out through her open window again.

Caroline realized she had no idea what time it was. She opened her bedroom door and padded her way quietly to the living room. Her mother and father were on the couch, watching TV. Sara was probably asleep.

Priscilla noticed Caroline first and smiled, patting the seat between her and Michael. Caroline quickly sat down, feeling that much safer being sandwiched between her parents. "Are you hungry?" Priscilla asked quietly, brushing the hair from her daughter's face. "We've got some food left over from dinner."

"A little bit," Caroline whispered back, her head falling onto Michael's shoulder as her mother stood to get her some food. Michael hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Caroline loved both of her parents, but she had always been closer to Michael. Caroline didn't know if it was because they shared the wizarding world, or if it was because of that special father-daughter bond everyone spoke about.

Priscilla came back with a bowl of stewed vegetables and a slice of bread and cheese on a plate. She placed them on the coffee table and kissed her daughter's forehead. "We're glad you're home, sweetheart." Caroline smiled as she reached for the bowl of stewed vegetables. The house elves at Hogwarts could cook well, it was true; but Caroline always missed her parents' cooking.

There were tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and loads of other vegetables in the stew, and it smelled wonderful. Caroline hadn't even known how hungry she was until she smelled it. "Thanks, mom," she said quietly, starting to eat.

Once she was done, she split the bread and cheese with her parents, and they ate it slowly while watching some game show on the TV. She slowly fell asleep again, her head in Priscilla's lap.

*~*

The days passed slowly, but with a distinct sense of Christmas in the air. On the morning before they were to meet the Reniors in Hyde Park, Caroline awoke to find a fresh blanket of snow on the ground that was sure to carry on to the next day without melting.

Thursday morning, the Smiths all bundled up in jackets, scarves, and warm clothing, got into the Ventora with some extra blankets, and made their way back into the city. The night before, Priscilla had packed a large picnic basket with thermoses of hot tomato soup, small cucumber tea sandwiches, and a spare jug of pumpkin juice Michael kept stored in the pantry for their lunch. The heater in the car worked mercifully well as they rode, filling the space with toasty air that made the pale cheeks of the little girls flush pink.

Michael drove through the streets until finally arriving at the Marlborough Gate. He parked the car a block away and they all made their way into the park, starting towards the nearest refreshment pointe. There stood the Renior family, all bundled up, not unlike the Smiths. Viola spotted them and waved happily, her rosy cheeks nearly matching her hair. Caroline waved back as she and Sara ran up to greet them before their parents.

Daniel Renior looked strikingly like his sister, with the same bright red hair and green eyes that sparkled mischievously. He was tall for nine years, reaching about an inch taller than Caroline. He smiled in greeting and waved, slightly awkward, as they approached.

Michael and Priscilla greeted Madeleine and Brian as their children walked in front of them, chatting excitedly about prospective Christmas presents and friends and family. Viola and Caroline told Sara and Daniel about Hogwarts as they made their way down the park's paths.

Around noon, they stopped at the edge of the Serpentine and put the blankets out to sit on. There were two – one for the adults, one for the children. They ate the hot soup Priscilla made from the thermoses she brought, and they all shared the pumpkin juice and cucumber sandwiches.

When they finished, they put the remains of their meal in the picnic basket and continued walking. About an hour later, they reached the Rose Garden – filled with nameless flowers of yellow, white, purple, and pink. The eight of them walked through it slowly, and Priscilla and Madeleine showed the girls the ones they knew – which included hellebores, viburnum, Winter Sweet, and Witch Hazel.

The garden flew by in a flurry of soft colors and brilliant fragrances, and they all found themselves sad to find the end of the garden looming near. They started to loop around and headed back to Marlbourough Gate.

"I'll see you back at the platform, alright?" Viola said as they stopped at the gate, and they started to say their goodbyes.

Caroline saw Sara and Daniel both blush as they hugged each other goodbye. "Alright," Caroline said, and they hugged goodbye, and then the Renior family was leaving, Viola and Daniel both waving behind them as they started to fade from sight.

The Smiths started walking back to their car, parked in front of a small convenience store named the Village Shop. It had a little blue awning and wrought iron fencing around its little shrubs and flower beds. They got back into the Ventora and drove home.

*~*

Christmas morning came and Caroline awoke to find it snowing yet again. Little crystal flakes fell down to the ground, and Caroline quickly made her bed, then watched through her window as it started to snow more and more heavily. The sun was rising, purples and pinks and yellows and light blues filling the sky in a burst of color. Caroline watched with measured glee, giddiness filling her as she watched the day bloom before her.

And, suddenly, there it – he – was: Draco's owl. It hadn't come back to her since she'd sent it back to him. She jumped up from her floor and slid the window open, allowing the snowy owl to flutter to Allitrya's cage. When she bent to take the rolled parchment from its holster, she noticed a little gold enscripted oval. Litken. "Is that your name? Litken?" She smiled distantly, retrieving the scroll and unrolling it. "That's a nice name…" She trailed off as she started reading.

Fine, then. Caroline,

I wouldn't mind being called Blondie. It has a nice ring to it. And I didn't automatically assume you thought I was the Heir, I could just tell you did. And thank you. I find it surprisingly nice to be called an arse by a first year. A Hufflepuff, no less. By the way, I got your address from your weird little friends. They kept giggling. Don't ask me. And I know what egotistical means. I'm not a brainless, blubbering idiot.

-Draco

P.S. If this gets to you in time, Merry Christmas.

Caroline smiled, noticing for the first time a small little bundle attached to the holster. She plucked it out and sighed. If he didn't stop getting her things…

She bit her lip as the wrapping fell away from the present. It was a small blue glass flower, suspiciously like a single chrysanthemum, with a tiny little emerald leaf. Caroline put it on her dresser, studying it before throwing away the wrapper and tending to Litken before writing an exceptionally short 'Merry Christmas' and letting him fly out the window.

A loud knocking came at her door, and the sound of excited footsteps running down the stairs followed soon after. She ran out to the hallway and followed her sister downstairs to the Christmas tree in the living room. There weren't a lot of presents, really, but there were a fair few. Priscilla and Michael were in the kitchen, making breakfast. Michael made hotcakes while Priscilla mixed some eggnog together, mixing the egg whites and nutmeg with the milk and the cinnamon. She bid each good morning, and then went to the living room to help Sara sort the presents, a Christmas tradition.

After breakfast, Priscilla took out a wrapped stack of gifts. "Can Allitrya send these to the Reniors?"

Caroline agreed to it, as the load was not at all heavy, and took them to her room and strapped them together. "Here you go, girl," she said quietly, smiling at her owl. "These go to Viola, alright?" The red owl chirped cheerfully and stuck out her leg so Caroline could attach them to the holster. Then, Allitrya gave a half-hearted screech and flew out the window.

Caroline re-joined her family in the living room, and they started opening presents. Sara got a collection of Beedle the Bard's books (a latest obsession) and a silver necklace with a group of bright blue teardrop sapphires, and Caroline got a bracelet that matched her sister's necklace, with sapphires shaped into a star, and a Tolstoy novel – Anna Karenina. When Allitrya returned, she brought gifts from the Reniors – a collection of novelty books Priscilla had mentioned she wanted, a Sneakoscope for Michael, a large collection of candies for Sara, and a bright yellow scarf for Caroline. (She laughed at this, noticing the black fringes and commenting on the House colors.)

After they opened presents and cleaned up, they all sort of went their separate ways to put up their things and try them out. Caroline sat in her room and played with the fringes on her scarf when her mother knocked on her door. "Carrie?" She smiled and came into the room, closing the door behind her and sitting on the bed beside her daughter. "How's your Christmas been so far?"

Caroline smiled and replied, "It's been great, Mom. Thanks for Anna Karenina. I've wanted it for a while."

Priscilla smiled and nodded. "I know." She eyed Caroline's wrist for a minute; the one not donning the one from her grandparents. "So… Where'd you get that bracelet?"

Caroline's eyes grew wide and she looked down at the bracelet Draco had given her. "It's an, uh, Christmas present from a friend from school." She knew she was a terrible liar; besides, she was blushing terribly. She just didn't know how her mother would react when she found out Draco Malfoy gave her daughter an inexplicitly expensive bracelet for seemingly no reason. It's nice to know you've got Prince Slytherin fancying you already. Viola's words struck her again, but she shook them away and looked at her mother, who looked at her studiously.

"Is it a boy?" Priscilla asked, smiling mischievously. She lay back at the foot of Caroline's bed. Caroline joined her, and they lay elbow-to-elbow.

"Yes," Caroline answered honestly, looking at her mother. She never really had much to talk to her mother about, but now, she realized, she did. "Yes. It was a boy."

"Oooh, really?" Priscilla grinned and looked sideways at Caroline. "What's his name?"

"Draco," Caroline muttered, not surprised when her mother asked her to repeat herself. "Draco Malfoy," she said a little bit louder, biting her lip nervously.

"Malfoy? You mean the ones your father's always talking about, strutting about the Alley like they own the place? That explains the handiwork," she murmured, lifting her daughter's wrist to examine the bracelet. "It is rather beautiful."

Caroline smiled a little and fingered it. "It is."

They lay there in silence for a while, until Michael knocked on the door to tell them lunch was ready. As they got up to leave, Caroline and Priscilla shared a little smile that Michael didn't notice, one that signified their little secret.

The rest of their Christmas vacation was spent playing games while Michael was at work, watching the television, and playing in Priscilla's vegetable garden behind the house.

And, finally, the day came for Caroline to pack her bags yet again and the Smiths returned to King's Cross station. They said their goodbyes right as the Reniors found them. Viola and Caroline put their things back on the train, and waved to their families as they were carried away, back to the place in which things were going terribly, terribly wrong.

[grey scale:]

January's term started, and the panic that had filled the school before the winter holidays was barely dissipated. Caroline was busy, studying for exams (even if they were months away) and trying to keep up with her friends, while not looking like a sleep-deprived banshee all day. The last of her conditions was often subtly overlooked.

One morning in the second week of January, Caroline was hurrying to her Charms lesson with Ravenclaw. She need not worry about finding a seat – she knew Luna would save her one, as always – but she had overslept and missed breakfast, in any case. She had few precious minutes before class began.

In her rush, she accidentally collided with a similarly flustered someone, with sandy brown-blond hair and blue green eyes. A red-and-gold insignia sat proudly on his chest as he tried apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry – I didn't see you – I'm almost late for Transfiguration – Merlin, McGonagall's going to kill me –" The boy groaned and seemed to see Caroline for the first time, bent on her knees as she straightened both their things up. "I'm so sorry," he said again, taking his own things and shoving them back in his bag. His ink bottle had a crack in it, but it wasn't leaking. They boy looked up as Caroline closed the clasp on her bag and stood, smiling sheepishly as he rose as well. He held out his hand. "I'm Seamus Finnegan. I think we've seen each other about some, I'm a second year Gryffindor?" Caroline nodded politely, giving him a carefully measured smile as she tried to think back – Was he the boy she'd run into the night of Mrs. Norris's attack? No, she chastised herself, that was the Longbottom boy. As far as she knew, she'd never met Seamus Finnegan, albeit he looked familiar.

"I'm Caroline. Smith," she added quickly, feeling far too formal, and slightly awkward; she was never very good at introductions. She and the Finnegan boy stood there for a bit longer until they both realized they were dangerously close to being late for their respective classes. They said their goodbyes and hurried off.

That Saturday, Caroline and Viola were on their way from breakfast to meet Jill and Alice on the Quidditch pitch when Seamus and a couple of his friends made reappearances. "Hey," he said, grinning as recognition crossed Caroline's face, and she smiled. "Glad we aren't on opposite sides of the corridor today, eh?" His accent was strong Irish, but not overbearing of any pronunciations. He wasn't hard to understand, as some were, in any case.

Caroline laughed at his comment as Viola looked on, slightly confused, but she greeted Seamus and his friends all the same. "Hey, Seamus, Dean, Neville," she said quietly, raising an eyebrow at Caroline, who simply shrugged indifferently.

Caroline turned back to the Gryffindors as they passed through the front doors of the castle. "D'you guys want to come with us? We're going to practice Quidditch," she clarified their plans, and while Seamus and Dean seemed all for it, Neville seemed hesitant.

"I'm not too good on a broom," he said nervously, which made Viola smile.

"I'm not either, really. We could just watch, if you want?"

Finally, Neville agreed and the five of them made their way to the pitch. Caroline's abilities as a makeshift Chaser had improved, but she still wasn't the best there ever was. She was just proud of herself for being able to catch the huge Quaffle without falling off her broom – in her defense, she had very short arms, and small hands, so the blasted thing fell out quite easily.

They must have spent at least three hours outside in the crisp, cold winter morning. Viola and Neville sat in the stands, cheering them on and booing whenever someone dropped the ball. Seamus was a very good chaser, and he was a fair keeper as well, but Caroline found it hardest to keep up with Dean. He seemed to be really, really good, considering.

They took a break and the seven of them trekked back to the castle for lunch. They sat at their respective tables when the lunch crowd started pouring in. "So, how's Neville doing?" Jill asked shortly. She still hadn't given up her grudge against Harry Potter, and apparently anyone in Gryffindor was now suspect for being the Heir of Slytherin.

Viola looked at them and shrugged. "We didn't really talk all that much, really. He's pretty quiet, shy."

Caroline knew how that was, and didn't press the matter at all, albeit Jill and Alice looked very interested in the lack of conversation.

"Really? He seems a little less shy than you let on," Alice tried baiting her, making Caroline and Viola simultaneously roll their eyes.

"No. He's really that shy," she insisted, then quickly changed the subject. "So, Caroline. Seamus says you're starting to get really good at chasing."

Caroline's cheeks flushed, because she was insinuating the same with Seamus as Jill and Alice had with Neville. "Viola," she chastised, sighed and shaking her head. She looked around the room, feeling giddy with the smell of still-fresh winter air in the Great Hall. She inconspicuously looked down the Slytherin table, finding the now familiar bleach-blonde head bent over his plate. He was ignoring everyone around him, but he must have sensed her looking at him, inasmuch as he looked up slowly and saw her. She gave him a small smile and a wave, but he just gave a stiff nod in acknowledgement. He wasn't still on about that fight in the library, was he? She'd thought they'd gotten over that.

After lunch the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs met up by the Black Lake, and spent the afternoon lazily chatting and watching the clouds. Caroline, however, was a little disconnected, unnerved by the lack of enthusiasm from Draco earlier. Sure, she didn't expect him to jump when she said jump or be on cloud nine whenever she was around, but she considered them friends – and if not, acquaintances – and to her, that was not how friends acted.

Caroline had to apologetically excuse herself because Seamus and Dean kept trying to engage her in conversation, and she was afraid her heart simply wasn't in it. Why was this bothering her so much? She gave them yet another apologetic smile as she made her way back to the castle.

Humming quietly to herself, Caroline found herself just roaming the castle – exploring, if you will. She found parts of the castle entirely fascinating – the old, sturdy stone walls; the animated, spirited paintings; and her favorites, the twisting corridors, the secret passageways that were rumored to be somewhere about the place, and just the pure vast size of the place.

She was walking along the fifth floor-west-wing corridor when she heard footsteps behind her. She frowned, because most of the students were outside, having snowball fights and just being. She didn't want to be nosy and follow whoever this was, so she simply stayed her course and ran her fingers along the cool stone walls, wrapping her robes more tightly around herself as the air got colder the farther up she got.

By the time she was in the east wing, fourth-floor, the footsteps returned, and Caroline finally got fed up and stood there in the corridor until the footsteps came closer and closer, then stopped when their owner came into view.

The object of her mental discomfort stood at the end of the corridor, looking confused as he watched Caroline leaning against the wall expectantly. She looked over at him and raised her eyebrows. "Are you following me?" she asked bluntly, frowning as he came nearer and stood in front of her with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Why on earth would I be following you, Caroline?" he asked with a frown not unlike her own, his head tilting sideways a little. It was a little cute, endearing – But, no. Caroline shook those thoughts out of her head.

"Well, were you not in the west wing earlier? I heard someone following me then, too," she explained her suspicions, making Draco laugh.

"I had to check on something about an Astronomy essay with Professor Sinistra," he said, rolling his eyes at Caroline half-heartedly, a smile forming on his face. He didn't laugh often, but when he did Caroline thought it was a welcome difference from his usual countenance.

"And just now? What are you doing on the fourth floor of the east wing, Draco?" Caroline couldn't help but smile as she asked, and he shrugged, his ears turning pink like they had the few times she'd seen him "blush."

"I was just wandering around, Caroline. It was a bit too cold for me outside," he replied, eyeing the robes wrapped tightly around Caroline's body. "Apparently, it's too cold you for you, anyway. Are you alright?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, Draco, I'm fine." She bit her lip, worrying for no reason, before quietly saying, "Can I ask you something?"

He raised his eyebrows and they both slid down the wall, Caroline's slightly oversized robes bunched up around her waist, keeping her arms and stockinged legs warm, or as warm as she could. "Yes," Draco answered slowly. "Even though, I find myself growing rather wary when someone asks permission to ask a question."

Caroline laughed at this, and shook her head. "It's really not all that bad. It's just…" she sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing. Nevermind."

Draco looked dubious, and curious, but Caroline was embarrassed enough even thinking the question, nonetheless being about to voice it. Why did he ignore her around his Slytherin friends? "Are you sure?" His frown deepened as she vehemently shook her head.

"It's nothing, Draco, forget it." Caroline shook her head and looked pleadingly at him, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Thank you, for the crystal flower. It was beautiful," she divulged, smiling faintly as the tips of his ears turned a light pink again. "But, I'm afraid if you continue with these expensive gifts, I must start returning the favor."

Draco rolled his eyes and looked off, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing a furious, albeit very well hidden, blush. "Yeah, well, that's what most people do for Christmas, Caroline," he said gruffly, which sounded so un-Draco-like that Caroline laughed.

"But I hadn't time to get you a present, Draco! Besides, I thought you were mad at me," she explained her lack of gift-giving with a frown and a bit of a deflated humor, feeling wrongly for having received a gift that had not been reciprocated properly. "But thank you, anyway. I love it."

Draco's blush seemed to have subsided somewhat, and he looked at Caroline now. "I don't mind not having gotten a present, Caroline," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I get plenty from other people."

"But that's not the point!" she exclaimed, feeling her cheeks flush slightly as she tried to find a way to explain her predicament. "You see, I'm not used to getting things and giving nothing in return! When is your birthday?"

Draco laughed and shook his head at her, the back of his head hitting the wall behind him gently. "I shall not tell you, because I don't want you to feel obliged."

Caroline hmphed frustratedly and petulantly looked off, her arms crossed over her chest. Draco simply laughed again and they sat in companionable silence, until Caroline finally broke it. "So, when exactly is your birthday?"

Draco looked at her exasperatedly, and rolled his eyes. "I swear, Caroline, if you're still on about getting me a – "

" – I'm not – "

"Well, fine then!" he said, throwing his hands into the air out of frustration at Caroline's persistence. "My birthday, Caroline, is June fifth. Are you happy now?"

She grinned at him and nodded sarcastically. "Just peachy."

Draco simply sighed at her, and shook his head for the umpteenth time today. "You confuse me, Caroline Smith," he admitted in a mutter after a while. Caroline studied him, how he sat with his back rim-rod straight against the wall, one leg crooked on the stone ground, the other propping up his arm, his eyes watching her as well.

" – besides, Professor, the fruit of the Olea europaea is much more suited for this particular concoction than the leaf vein of the Urtica unens – " The annoying pitch of Professor Lockhart's voice echoed down the hallway, followed by an incoherent drone that was distinctly Professor Snape.

Caroline and Draco looked at each other, then down the corridor, then back at each other, jumping up from the floor. They started down the corridor, away from the voices, but they seemed to be coming closer. The students both paused and turned around, and ran down the other side of the corridor, laughing silently as they rounded the corner. Draco kept a hold on Caroline's arm, because she was shorter, and slower, so she didn't get left behind.

They didn't stop running until they'd gotten quite far away from the voices of the professors, probably somewhere about the third floor, west wing corridor. They collapsed against the wall, dissolved in giggles and laughter. I like this, Caroline thought, being able to have fun without worrying about pretenses and other people. Being able to laugh without worrying about there being something appropriate to laugh at. Being able to laugh with someone else at all.

Once their mirth had subsided a bit, they started to walk back down the corridor, hand-in-hand, because neither of them wished to change a thing.

*~*

January melted into February, which brought with it a kind of weak, new hopefulness for the students and faculty of Hogwarts. There hadn't been another attack since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick's, which brought up a brand new wave of gloating for Professor Lockhart. "I don't think there'll be any more trouble, Minerva. I think the Chamber has been locked for good this time. The culprit must have known there was only a matter of time before I caught him. Rather sensible to stop now, before I came down hard on him," he said cheerfully, tapping his nose inconspicuously as he spoke to Professor McGonagall, smiling dumbly.

Caroline spent more time than she'd anticipated with the Gryffindor boys; they actually spent most Saturdays together. With the help of Seamus and Dean, she was quickly becoming better at chasing. They'd even persuaded Neville to come out and try being a keeper. (He really wasn't at all good on a broom; Caroline wondered if there was a thing he wasn't at all completely nervous about.)

Sometimes, when the seven of them were all together, Seamus and Dean would migrate toward Caroline and spend the entire day talking to her, leaving Neville, Jill, Alice, and Viola to fend for themselves in conversation. Sometimes Ernie would join them (no doubt driven by jealousy for Alice), or Hannah Abbott or Susan Bones. They usually had quite a crowd on the weekends.

When the fourteenth of February came around, all of the students were in the great Hall, enjoying a perfectly normal breakfast (other than the flying cherubs, the floating paper hearts, and the sickly pink décor) when Professor Lockhart, consumed with himself in lurid pink robes, waved for silence, his Witch Weekly smile bright upon his face. The other teachers looked severely annoyed, slightly nauseous, and seemed as if they would rather be anywhere but there at that precise moment. Professor Snape, in particular, seemed especially livid, a little red vein popping against his otherwise pale face.

"Happy Valentine's Day! And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all – and it doesn't end here!" Professor Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall march a dozen surly-looking dwarves. But – not just any dwarves. These had golden wings on their short little backs, and carried golden harps in their pudgy hands.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" Lockhart beamed, albeit his cupids seemed far less than friendly. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter in the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion!" Caroline could think of many reasons why she should never do just that – one being the expression on Professor Snape's face. "And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!" Professor Flitwick covered his face with his hands as Ravenclaws giggled quietly – apparently they enjoyed the public humiliation of their Head – and Professor Snape continued glaring at Professor Lockhart until Caroline feared he would spontaneously combust.

The day passed slowly, and all too eventfully. Viola got at least three or four Valentines from someone who kept putting "Anonymous" on them – Jill and Alice teased her frightfully about this – and Alice got loads of them from Ernie (not that she wasn't expecting them). Jill, however, didn't get any, which seemed to put the girl in even worse spirits, because Justin Finch-Fletchley was still stuck, completely Petrified, in the hospital wing.

When Caroline walked with Luna to Herbology, a little mean-looking dwarf came up and tossed a couple of Valentines at the both of them. "Caroline Smit'? Lu'a Lovegood? There have you," he grunted as he pattered away, leaving the girls to collect the papers so they didn't fly off.

Luna had two Valentines, one from Neville (which Caroline did think was odd, because she hadn't known they were acquainted) and one from her friend Ginny, whom she'd heard Luna talk about frequently.

Caroline herself had three – one was signed, "Seamus," the other, "Dean," but the third had a fancily-scrawled, "Anonymous," on the cover. Yes, it seemed it was anonymous, but Caroline knew who it was, and smiled. She slid the three Valentines into her bag and the girls continued walking to Greenhouse One for their lesson.

That afternoon, Caroline was on her way to Transfiguration with Gryffindor when a loud commotion sounded, and she accidentally collided with a small red-haired girl in front of her. She recognized her as Luna's friend, Ginny, inasmuch as she'd been pointed out to her before. They both stood on tip-toes to see what was going on.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter! I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," a gravely vice spoke, and the sharp twang of what could only be a harp sounded.

When they saw Harry Potter being attacked by a feisty little dwarf, Ginny's face turned a spectacular scarlet color, one Caroline thought quite impressive and near impossible for anyone to imitate, and tried her best to pry herself away from the sea of first years, trying to get away from the scene as fast as possible. ("Stay still," groaned the dwarf, but Harry was putting up a rather spirited fight, and could not be contained. "Let me go!")But, alas, the corridor was quite crowded, as people tried to give the pair wrestling on the ground enough kicking room.

With a loud splitting noise, Harry's bag split in two, and its contents spilled all over the floor.

"What's going on here?" The voice that had become rather familiar to Caroline came from the other side of the corridor, where she could barely see his face among the others. Draco.

"What's all this commotion?" A prefect, a Gryffindor one, came upon the scene next, frowning severely in a way Caroline imagined only an overly-pompous prefect could.

"Right!" the dwarf exclaimed, "Here is your singing Valentine."

Ginny Weasley groaned quietly and dropped to her knees, hiding rather effectively, as the dwarf started singing:

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he's really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

Caroline watched, incredulous, as the Gryffindor prefect started dispersing the mirthful crowd, seeming to grow more and more stern by the second. "Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago, off to class now," He said, shooing the first years away. "And you, Malfoy –"

There was an exchange between Harry Potter and Draco that Caroline couldn't see, courtesy to the prefect's tall, wiry frame, but she did hear Harry Potter yell, "Expelliarmus!" and the prefect threatened having to report the incident.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine much!"Draco yelled at Ginny, who promptly covered her face with her hands and rand into the classroom. That was when he noticed Caroline right behind her, glaring at him profusely, as she walked coldly away from him, and moved to comfort Ginny.

Draco was a pompous idiot, she seethed to herself, vowing to be angry with him for quite a while.

[grey scale:]

February blended into March, which blended into April, which brought about the much-welcomed Easter holidays. The girls stayed in the common rooms during the days, or out by the lake, enjoying the newly warm weather. Their nights were spent taking hour-long ventures through the castle (Caroline couldn't help but admit it wasn't nearly as fun as running through the corridors with Draco had been), or playing wizard's chess with Ernie and his board. It was the most time Caroline had spent with the girls; they were together nearly every waking moment.

Caroline's anger over Draco's spite of Ginny had passed long ago, but they still weren't talking. Neither of them, she guessed, was willing to be the bigger person and make the first move toward any sort of reconciliation. Reconciliation? Is that what it would be, should they finally speak to each other again, a reconciliation? It seemed a word that insinuated far too serious happenings to concern their petty silence toward one another.

In any case, they seemed indifferent toward each other by the time their next big school break came around, deliberately ignoring each other in the corridors and going to great lengths to keep conversation going at their own tables in the Great Hall so they weren't tempted to glance around – just maybe, accidentally look at the other and break their will.

Neither would be broken. Neither was willing to lose.

Now, Caroline was a headstrong sort of girl – she was stubborn, sometimes, worse than she believed Draco could ever be. (Maybe she was wrong?) She fought horrid flushes when the thought of giving in to him even dared to entertain her – the thought absolutely repulsed her to no relieving end – and the slightest of proximity to the boy gave her a fresh wave of petulance and mulish pigheadedness.

So they obstinately abstained from each other. Stupid kids.

*~*

"Seamus, Dean? What's going on?" Viola and Caroline were being dragged down a corridor in the east wing by the two boys, entirely confused. They'd been innocently enjoying the fine Wednesday morning, reveling in the mid-Easter-break sun with Jill and Alice when Ernie and Hannah Abbott had made a bit of a random appearance. They stayed for a while, but Alice was becoming increasingly annoyed, so she and Jill went off to an early lunch; Ernie and Hannah immediately scampered off elsewhere. Soon after, the two boys had come up and dragged them away. Seamus's hand cut into Caroline's wrist a bit too much, and she twisted out of his grip.

"Honestly! What are you two up to?" she cried, rubbing her wrist as she attempted to examine it while keeping up with the other three. Dean let go of Viola as they continued at a hurried pace down the corridor. Caroline sighed exasperatedly as she determined that yes, there would, most likely, be a bruise the tomorrow.

"You know the Weasley twins, they're in Gryffindor with us?" When Caroline and Viola both nodded, Dean continued. "Well, they told us about a secret passage that goes to Honeyduke's – that's a candy store in Hogsmeade – and we thought we'd go today. D'you wanna go with us?" Their eyes were bright with mischievous excitement as they expectantly stared at the girls, obviously waiting for a reaction similar to their own.

They found no such thing. "What are you two blubbering idiots talking about?" Caroline asked, her voice growing higher to a shrill pitch. "We can't go to Hogsmeade, we'll be in detention for a year!" Viola nodded in agreement with Caroline, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, then, we'll go without you," Dean said, looking highly offended. Seamus was just standing there, looking dumbfounded, as if why someone wouldn't want to sneak out of the castle just to get a sticky caramel they didn't want anyway was beyond him. "C'mon, Seamus." Dean started to grab his friend's elbow before turning back to the girls. "You can't tell anyone, you hear? If you do, we'll –"

"Don't threaten them. Let's just go," Seamus snapped, scowling at his best friend as he pushed his shoulders forward to get him moving. Dean went without argument.

The girls stood there and looked at each other for a while, then started laughing rather suddenly. "Filch is so going to catch them!" Viola gasped as their mirth settled down, resilient chuckles the only remaining sounds of laughter.

Caroline nodded in agreement with her friend. "Want to go to lunch now?" She patted her stomach, while growled hungrily at her. "I'm a bit hungry."

"Sure," Viola said, still chuckling. They walked down the corridor for just a few feet before her hand flew to her mouth and she said, "Oh, I dropped my necklace! I'll meet you there in a few, okay?" She hurriedly stuffed her necklace into her collar before Caroline could see it.

"Okay," Caroline said hesitantly. "You don't want me to help you look?"

"No, no, it's alright, it's probably just in this corridor," She waved off her best friend and shrugged. "It'll only be a few minutes, I promise."

Caroline nodded rather reluctantly and left down the corridor once more, her fingers fidgeting nervously at her sides. Viola watched her leave, and waited until she'd turned around the corner to spin on her heel and study the corridor. "I saw you following us earlier. Where have you hidden?" No answer came to her as she silently waited. "Alright, then. I'll find you myself." She searched behind every suit of armor on the corridor, behind every hanging tapestry. Finally, a fidgeting of nervous feet caught her eye from much farther down the corridor. She silently crept her way to the tapestry behind which it came.

"Hufflepuffs are rather good finders," she said quietly as she moved it away to reveal the petulant, pallid face of the blond boy. "Haven't you ever heard?"

Draco's chin jutted up and he glared at the Renior girl, feeling absolutely humiliated and embarrassed for being caught. "No, I haven't heard anything about any bloody Hufflepuffs," he snarled, pushing her out of his way and charging back down the corridor, with plans of withdrawing to his dormitory and isolating himself for the day to brood over how much these ruddy Hufflepuffs annoyed him.

"Be careful around her, Malfoy. She likes you," Viola called after him, making him stop in his tracks. When he spun around to look at her, she made large strides to stand in front of him. "But I don't. If you hurt her, in any way, you won't be able to hide from it."

She glared at him for a moment before noticing that he actually looked ashen and scared. "That's why I'm not talking to her," he said quietly, and turned on his heel and ran. Viola simply watched him, shrugged, and dug her necklace from her collar so she could go have her lunch.

*~*

The next morning at lunch, Seamus and Dean came up to Viola and Caroline after Jill and Alice left to go to the pitch. "Filch caught us," Dean said forlornly, making a face as he sat across from the girls. "He was waiting for us when we got back. He even took our candy."

The popular term "as easy as taking candy from a child" came to mind, but Caroline bit back any related comments.

Viola shared an amused glance with Caroline before replying. "Well, I hope you've learned your lesson," she said, a bit unnecessarily loud. She searched the table beside them and gave someone a "look", but Caroline didn't particularly care enough to see who it was.

"Yeah, yeah," Seamus muttered, looking somewhat ashamedly at Caroline from under his lashes. She wasn't paying attention, of course, because she was too busy zoning out and feeling, overall, rather annoyed. The thing that was annoying her, however, was growing in annoyance because she didn't know what was annoying her.

Caroline sighed exasperatedly and frowned. "I'm going to go outside," she announced quietly, standing. Seamus looked up hopefully at her, but she shook her head absently and strolled off, in no sort of mind to properly entertain any kind of company.

Out to the grounds she went, then, entirely by herself. She thought about possibly going to the pitch to fly around on one of the school brooms, but she felt in a particularly lazy mood, and didn't feel like doing anything remotely physically demanding. So, she elected to sit by the lake and gaze at the sky for a while.

The day was a bit duller than the rest of the prior week had been, the clouds gray instead of white, the sky a murky sort of blue rather than the general baby blue they'd been graced with recently. There weren't many students out of doors as a result, because they would rather sit by a warm fire than run the risk of getting rained on outside on a dreary day. Caroline didn't mind, however – you might have remembered she rather liked these days, in fact – and lay back on the dewy grass beside the still, glass-like waters of the Black Lake.

Closing her eyes, she sighed deeply just to smell the scent of damp grass and fresh air that she loved so much. Her hands subconsciously picked at the prickly blades that rested beneath her as she felt the dew trickle into her sweater. Her eyes opened to study the gray, bulbous clouds that hung in the sky precariously, as if the slightest inclination would send them tumbling to the ground in an everlasting sheet of rain.

She heard slow, tentative footsteps coming up behind her, and quickly sat up. Her actions obviously startled whoever it was, because she heard a yelp, and they slid on a patch of mud, landing just beside Caroline. She put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing once she realized who it was.

"Draco, what on earth are you doing?" Her giggles were quickly drowned out as Draco groaned uncomfortably, sitting up. He had mud on his shoes and slacks.

"I was coming to talk to you!" He groaned again, glaring menacingly at the offending mud on his pants' leg. "And then this!" He gestured to his leg extravagantly, which caused Caroline to start giggling all over again. "Fine, laugh at me," he muttered petulantly, looking away from her.

Her laughter had put her in a bit of a better mood, and she stood. "Oh, Draco, come on! I was simply having a laugh." She held out her hand to help him off of the muddy ground he sat on.

"At my expense," he replied irritably, taking her hand nonetheless and standing. "I can't even get this off properly without getting all…mucky," he said disdainfully, wrinkling his nose at the slimy mud on his leg.

"Oh, just come inside, would you?" Caroline rolled her eyes and grabbed Draco's hand, glancing skyward as little droplets of rain started to fall. Apparently their little spat had come to a relieving end. "We'll find some way to get you cleaned up."

"I just need to go get some spare slacks," he said, almost uncomfortably, as Caroline continued leading him thorugh the thinning sea of people in the entrance hall. She glanced behind herself at him and frowned.

"Why do you not like to be seen with me, Draco? You had no issues when you had to grovel for my forgiveness for nearly breaking my neck," she queried nonchalantly, or seemingly so. In truth, she was nervous, because she might not want to know.

At least he was tactful enough to wait for her to turn onto an empty corridor before he answered. "You're a Hufflepuff, and a Half-Blood. People expect me to be around 'better than the likes of you,'" he admitted, and it almost seemed as if he were quoting someone, but she didn't push any further on the matter. She released his hand and looked off; when she looked back, he was watching her precariously, gauging her reaction to what he'd said.

"Well, are you going to go, or what?" Caroline asked, a bit more harshly than she'd intended.

Draco looked shocked. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I don't know where the Slytherin common room is, genius, you'll have to go before me. I'm so glad they don't sort Slytherins on their brains," she muttered as an afterthought, hoping he couldn't hear.

He did hear, but a large portion of his conscience told him, rather sternly, that he thoroughly deserved it. Just because she was a Hufflepuff didn't mean he had to hate her. Just because she was a Half-Blood didn't mean he was better than her in every way. She was smarter than him. Nicer than him. She had more actual friends than him. He didn't doubt her family was loads more functional than his own. In fact, she was probably better than him in almost every way. Draco Malfoy was finally starting to see holes and cracks of mere blind prejudice in the way he'd been taught to think by his father.

Draco led the way to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. It was just a space of wall, and Draco sighed before muttering the password. "Memento mori," he muttered, making a face at the dark-spirited words. He remembered how just yesterday he'd been joking with Crabbe and Zabini about them, but saying the words, 'Remember you will die,' in Latin in front of Caroline just seemed unutterably wrong.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said to Caroline, who still looked thoroughly downcast, leaning against the damp walls and refusing to look at him. He internally sighed and made his way through the passage that had opened when he uttered the password. The common room was as it always was, but the low-backed couches and overall green glow of the room just seemed sickly and nauseating to him now. He'd upset her again. He hadn't really meant to, but as he took the stairs two-at-a-time down to the dormitories, ignoring anyone he passed, all he could think about was how stupid he was to just bluntly tell her why he was reluctant to be seen with her. It wasn't the other houses – he knew that, when it boiled down to what they really thought about Draco, they thought he was nothing but a spoiled brat (which he had been most of his life, admittedly) and a friendship with a Half-Blood Hufflepuff was hardly going to change that.

But, no. He knew she would only hate him even more if he'd lied or pretended not to know what she was talking about. This was best. Maybe she'd try to disengage in any affiliation she'd had with him, and their brief friendship would be forgotten like so many others. But Draco didn't want that; he knew if she tried to ignore him for no reason, or a reason he didn't know of, he'd continuously seek her out until she told him the reason. He was stubborn. Draco Lucius Malfoy got what he wanted, and damn anyone who stood in his way.

He came to his dormitory door and opened it. Zabini was stretched across his bed, snoring softly, but nobody else was in the room. He made no attempt at quietness as he went to his trunk and dug out another pair of slacks. Quickly, he changed and threw the muddied ones in the laundry basket at the foot of his bed. Zabini was still out cold. Draco left.

When he came out of the passage again and it closed up behind him, he didn't see Caroline, and started to panic. He looked both ways, chastising himself when he saw her sitting boredly a few feet away, where she'd initially been out of his sight. Her bright blue eyes looked up at him and he gave her a half smile. The Malfoy smirk was retired for the day.

Draco did a turnaround for her, showing her his dirt-less leg. Caroline smiled halfheartedly and stood, dusting off her jeans. Draco sighed and grabbed her arm before she could storm off or something. "We need to talk," he said, and promptly dragged her down the hallway. She followed, mostly because her wrist was in (yet another) death grip and she didn't want to trip or fall, and partially because she was definitely not used to him being so forward. Usually, she was the one to initiate contact – probably because of this thing with her being a Hufflepuff and a Half-Blood – and he just followed along aimlessly.

Draco pulled her into an empty classroom and closed the door. With a bit of dim recognition, she realized they were in the Charms classroom. "Okay, so…" she started, encouraging him to say whatever he had to say. Draco didn't speak immediately, however, and simply paced the floor for a few minutes while Caroline watched on boredly.

Finally, he stopped pacing and turned to her. "I want you to know that," he started to say, biting the inside of his cheek. He had to word this correctly. "I want you to know that I don't… I don't pedestal myself above you?" His voice ended on a somewhat uncertain note, which, if she had not been so keenly listening to what he'd been saying, would have made her laugh.

"I didn't think you did," she said, smirking slightly. "I've outwitted you far too many times for that ludicrous idea to still be in your head."

Draco smiled and sat on a tabletop. Oh, he loved it when she got sarcastic. "I think you may be giving yourself far too much credit there, Caroline Smith."

Caroline sighed heavily and sat on the other side of the table. "And you, Draco Malfoy, are trying to degrade my sarcastic abilities." Her head rolled slightly to the side and she looked at him, not surprised he was doing nearly the same. They smiled at each other, and started laughing.

"So you aren't mad? About me not, you know…" For some reason, he couldn't finish his sentence this time.

"No, I'm not. I'm confused about that, yes, but I'm not mad. It's just…how you grew up, I guess," she said quietly, repressing a sigh.

Draco knew this wasn't the end of the conversation; no, there would definitely be times in the future when the subject of their somewhat, mostly-hidden friendship would come back, and they'd fight about it, then they'd make up as if it hadn't happened to begin with. This seemed to be a recurring cycle in their relationship.

But for right now, he needed to make it mostly okay, as much as he could. He smiled again and reached over and took her hand, and she smiled back. Draco slid off of the desk, and Caroline followed suit. Their hands squeezed together a little bit, and Caroline laughed, the sound echoing around the empty room. It was a wonderful, wonderful sound.

They left the classroom, still hand in hand. The corridors were colder inside today, but they didn't particularly mind. Sometimes, Caroline felt the urge to start skipping, pulling Draco helplessly behind her as she happily spun in circles and spins on the smooth stone floors. Watching her like this was different than when she was around everyone else – they made her guarded and quiet. Here, she was just being an eleven-year-old-girl with absolutely nothing on her mind but enjoying herself. Sometimes he had to pull her back down to earth, bringing her back to his side so they could walk for a short time while she regained her breath.

It was during one of these times, when he was trying his best to keep up with her and calm her down after a particularly lengthy bout of spinning so she could keep her head, that he saw it on her wrist. A little, purplish-blue mark about the size of a raisin or so stood out against her pale white skin as he abruptly stopped walking. She looked at him, obviously confused, and stopped her spinning. "Draco?" she queried softly, taking a step closer.

Draco pulled her sleeve to her elbow and sighed in relief. There were only two bruises on her wrist, with none elsewhere. Nobody had purposefully harmed her. Though why someone would want to hurt Caroline was entirely beyond him – as far as he could tell, she was quickly gaining popularity. "Where'd you get these?" he asked as nonchalantly as possible to the bruises on the wrist in his hand.

She bent to study her wrist, frowning. "Hm. I must've gotten that yesterday. I didn't realize it looked so terrible. Funny, I can't feel a thing," she muttered curiously, experimentally poking the bruise on the side of her wrist bone. "It might've been Seamus, I dunno."

The thought of Seamus bruising her made his blood boil, but Draco restrained himself before she noticed, and shrugged.

He didn't let go of her hand for the rest of the day. She didn't ask him to.

*~*

The morning of Hufflepuff's next Quidditch match came on a morning that was bright and clear, with only a slight breeze blowing. It was amazing Quidditch conditions, Caroline thought as she, Viola, and Alice made their way to the pitch. Jill hadn't been feeling well, so she stayed behind.

The girls found seats near their usual area in the Hufflepuff box, huddling together so they could hear each other over the bubble of noise the crowd was generating. The excitement was tangible, even if Caroline wasn't exactly partaking in it today.

The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams walked onto the field to tumultuous applause, which the girls all fairly partook in. Caroline laughed as Alice started singing, at the top of their lungs, a Hufflepuff chant. "Those Hufflepuffs, they've got their heads about 'em! They know where to find –" They broke off mid-chant as Professor marched furiously to center of the pitch, nearly tripping over her own feet in her haste. The girls huddled together as people noticed she was carrying the huge purple megaphone she used to relay important announcements.

"This match has been cancelled," she called through the purple megaphone, addressing the entire stadium, which now filled with angry students and teachers. Boos and shouts echoed from the students' mouths, but Caroline shushed those around her so they could hear the rest of McGonagall's announcement:

"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

Caroline's brow furrowed, but she had enough sense about her to grab Alice's and Viola's wrists, and started pulling them down the aisle seats. Some students were resolutely staying in their seats, not willing to comply with Professor McGonagall's instructions, while some were worriedly pushing their way through clumps of people.

*~*

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No students is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities." Professor Sprout rolled up the scroll of parchment and looked somberly around the packed common room. Jill, who hadn't been at the match, had been caught up as much as the girls could have under their limited knowledge and was currently sitting with the other three, huddled worriedly.

"Needless to say, children, we are very worried about the condition of our school's reputation, but more importantly, we are worried for your safety," Professor Sprout said, her bottom lip wavering ever so slightly. Annabelle, the girl prefect, came up to the professor and put a comforting arm around her, rubbing her arm soothingly. "I'm afraid the school might be closed down soon if we cannot find the culprit. If anyone knows anything of the attacks, I must ask you to come forward now."

There were a few prolonged moments of awkward, tense silence as everyone looked around the common room at their Housemates. They all knew a Hufflepuff was the very least likely to be the cause of these happenings – besides, half of the students thought it was Harry Potter because of what happened to Justin, anyway.

But the glances and stares and fleeting looks were bestowed on one person most often, and she most certainly didn't miss it. Caroline was nervous. Did they think it was her? Really, how could they? She caught the eyes of some of the older students – the third year girls who Marguerite and Delilah were always around, the sixth year boys who always seemed to be hanging around and laughing at everybody, and the prefects who Caroline had been sure weren't possibly capable of such premature judgment – and realized they all thought she was involved in this.

"Why are they looking at me like that?" Caroline whispered to Viola, pulling her knees to her chest and withdrawing slightly.

Viola looked at her friend and sighed, putting her arm around her shoulders and giving her a reassuring squeeze. She paused before replying. "I think," she said, before pausing again, "I think it may have something to do with Malfoy."

"Draco," Caroline corrected absent-mindedly as her mind spun and Viola rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "But he's not done anything! He's not the cause of this."Caroline paused for this to sink in; she sounded so positive that Viola couldn't help but believe her. "In any case, why would they suspect me, if they think it's him?"

"I think they think you're involved because, you know… You're involved with him," Viola whispered as the students started talking amongst themselves, ignoring Caroline for the time being. Jill and Alice tuned into their conversation interestedly.

"Involved with who?" Jill asked, putting her arms on the seat of Caroline's chair.

"Um…" Caroline didn't know if she should tell them she was friends with Draco or not. Apparently most of the House already knew – but they still didn't, and they truly hated the poor boy. Would they insist she stop being friends with him? Or, possibly worse, would they stop being friends with her? The consequences weighed on Caroline's mind uncomfortably as she scrambled for an answer. She turned to Viola desperately.

Viola knew the girls better than Caroline; she knew Jill would freak out, but Alice would get over the initial shock rather quickly and start digging for details. Jill would get over it eventually, too, but it would take a rather significant amount of time – possibly weeks under normal circumstances. "It's, well, it's Draco," Viola said hesitantly, giving them a slightly forced smile. "Draco Malfoy."

"We know who Draco is!" Jill snapped pushing herself away from the chair and leaning back on the palms of her hands. "Why are you involved with Draco Malfoy?" She raised an eyebrow. "And how?"

Caroline felt her mouth drop open incredulously. "It's not like that!" she cried quietly, glancing around to make sure nobody else heard. "We're only friends. We…talk sometimes," she explained in a murmur. Alice was paying attention, but Jill seemed too annoyed to be bothered.

"But – that's – That's Draco Malfoy, Caroline!" Jill frantically turned to face her. "Especially right now, you know he's bad news!"

Caroline stared at her for a minute. "What do you mean, especially right now?"

Alice nudged Jill, trying to hush her, but her twin did not react accordingly. "He's a Slytherin. He could be…" She trailed off, noticing the look on Caroline's face. Caroline was of two minds – her more realistic side knew this was a natural reaction to the recent attacks on the school's 'impure' blood population. Draco didn't like anything without pure blood – why he continued to talk to Caroline was beyond her – which was openly known amongst everybody at Hogwarts. But Caroline knew Draco. Albeit, they had their ups and downs (obviously) but she knew he wouldn't go so far as to Petrify Muggle borns and Squibs' animal companions. Besides, when she'd even insinuated such as him being the Heir, if you can recall, he simply flew into an irrational rage and left her there by herself.

So Caroline was rather quick to defend him. "He's not the one doing all of this!" she snapped, standing from her chair and maneuvering herself through the sea of Hufflepuffs until she found the girls' dormitory staircase. The stairs were taken two at a time in an effort to calm the poor girl down. She knew they had no reason to think he wasn't the Heir – he was "Prince Slytherin", after all – but Caroline still felt a hollow ache in the pit of her stomach. It was injustice, that's what it was. They had jumped to conclusions, and Caroline had tried her best to remedy their partial judgment as quickly as possible.

She felt her long, angry stride slow until she was walking at a pace even slower than her normal one, taking the stairs one at a time at a leisurely pace. When she arrived at her dormitory, she opened the door and flicked her wand to light the candles, muttering, "Luminarium," as she went. The candles flickered lazily to life, their small, yellow-gold flames licking the walls and candle wax like flowing, burning-hot water. Caroline contented herself with watching the candles for a small time as she lay on her bed, but she soon sat up and started changing into her pajamas.

The Quidditch match had been just this morning, and although they'd been told to go to their common rooms immediately, Professor Sprout hadn't come back until seven o'clock that night. The Hufflepuffs were beginning to go stir crazy by the time she arrived to announce the new rules. "No students is to leave the common room after six o'clock in the evening," Caroline muttered to herself, making a face at the window looking out on the stalactites. Curling her feet under herself, she sat at the widow seat and looked out at the hollow cave and the luminescent stalactites that hung from the stone walls. The dripstones were either glowing green or a rust-colored, diaphanous amber, and glittered under the lights that emanated from the Hufflepuff basement.

It was a beautiful sight, admittedly.

Sighing, Caroline stood. Restlessness was not a common thing for her, she admitted to herself, and admitted one more thing. She was disturbed. For one thing, why did everyone assume Draco Malfoy was evil? He really wasn't. Sure, he wasn't going to let anyone see a nice side of his multi-faceted personality. Caroline knew that she herself had been lucky enough to see it just a few times. Usually the boy was nothing but sarcastic, though. Sarcastic and cruel.

Why was he different, she wondered. She often got caught up in the psyche in a person, wondering how they thought and why they thought what they did, what led them to assumptions that would undoubtedly bring them to their downfall in some aspect. For instance, the general psychosomatic assumption everyone had made that Draco was the Heir. What made them think it was him? Caroline counted reasons on her slim fingers, chapped from the cold air coming through the cracks of the windows.

One: He was a pure blood, and proud of it. His family had innumerable connections in very high places, which may have led people to believe he had enough power to go offing Muggle-borns and Mrs. Norris. This way of logic made no sense to Caroline, of course, because none of the Malfoys' connection were at Hogwarts, as far as she knew. Dumbledore was too steeped in his own connections, in his own power of all sorts, to be affected directly by the Malfoys'. So this was not a good reason, Caroline decided.

Two: He seemed to truly hate everything that wasn't pureblood. But Caroline didn't think this was necessarily his fault. Draco grew up in an old money, old magical family, and grew up with their morals ground into him from birth. She could imagine him having constantly being scolded for glancing politely at an obviously Muggle-born child in Diagon Alley, or maybe waving at a Muggle itself as his mother took him out for a day. Caroline thought this grievously unfair; he hadn't had a chance to form his own opinions about things. Pity washed over her, but she quelled it easily. Draco would hate her pity, and she knew it.

Three: Draco had his own sort of power. People loved him. A few teachers were dubious of his 'innocence' in certain cases regarding any mischievous activity (mostly Professor McGonagall, but there were a few more.) He was the other Golden Boy – it was always him and Harry Potter. The two rivals, the two perfect travesties.

Caroline sighed and laid her chin on her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs to keep them close to her chest. When she took a deep breath, the air came out in swirls of cold, visible puffs, which made her smile happily. "Oh, Draco," she muttered. "You've been getting me into trouble without even meaning to, you idiot."

But as the night wore on, Caroline felt absolutely no want for retribution for the scorned looks she'd received on the behalf of an innocent boy.

*~*

Within the next few days, a rumor passed quickly through the halls of Hogwarts, instilling fear in the hearts of students and teachers alike. Dumblore, the one thing sure to have been the protection of everybody involved, had been suspended, and Hagrid, the caretaker, had been taken to Azkaban under suspicion.

Caroline now had a permanent sense of emptiness in the pit of her stomach. Nothing felt right anymore. As teachers led them to and from classes, students huddled together in clusters, as if the Monster of Slytherin would not dare to approach an entire group of mere students.

For the first time, Caroline was truly scared for her, and her friends.

Viola was basically Muggle-born, although her proper 'blood status' was Half-Blood. The twins really were Muggle-born – both of their parents shared ownership of a small bookstore in a small town named Dinwiddie – and Caroline found herself worrying about them the worst, albeit Jill was still sore about the Draco issue. When she spoke to Caroline, it was in clipped answers, and only when she was directly spoken to.

Caroline was in her own personal hell.

For some reason, Draco was acting snobbishly. He didn't talk to her – even in private, and he strutted around the castle as if the cowering first years were at his mercy, and not the Heir of Slytherin's. Jill gave Caroline looks frequently, obviously relaying her message. You stood up for him, and he repays you like this? Maybe you should rethink this. Caroline was almost having doubts of his innocence. Had he tricked her into believing him? The thought of her being gullible enough to be tricked by any boy had her face flush angrily. His haughty ignorance was met with her angry one.

Viola alone kept faithfully by her side, which she was exceptionally grateful for. She still studied with her, even when people were still wary of her and her possible connection to the Heir. But soon, very soon, people forgot about Caroline and started worrying about themselves.

One good thing came of Hermione Granger's Petrification, although Caroline wouldn't call it good – it shouldn't have needed to happen, in any case. Ernie and Jill backed off of Harry Potter. They knew he wouldn't Petrify one of his best friends. "I feel badly for yelling at him after Justin…well, you know," he said one night in the common room, stretched out on one of the comfy yellow chairs with Alice on the floor in front of him, engaged in a glare war with someone across the room. Caroline, half-interested, glanced behind her and saw Hannah Abbott with a similar expression. She sighed as Jill nodded in agreement.

"I told you he was innocent," Caroline muttered, trying not to sound self-righteous, but she had been right, after all.

Her comment was ignored, which was not uncommon recently. Caroline sighed again and looked off, wishing this new shunning would end. It was quickly becoming a tiring thing.

Viola sympathized with her friend and lightly patted her hand, turning to Jill. "Why don't you let up on Caroline? It's not like she did anything wrong."

Jill huffed exasperatedly, crossing her arms and legs and staring at the flaming hearth. "Because, Viola, she was still fraternizing with the common enemy. Now that Potter has been eliminated from the suspect list, Malfoy's the only one left. It's got to be him."

The thing that made Caroline feel even worse was that she couldn't even properly argue.

Despite the recent goings-on at Hogwarts, exams were still scheduled. Three days before their first, which was Potions for Caroline, Professor McGonagall stepped in front of the teacher's table at breakfast, her hands clasped together in front of her as she faced the students. Morning conversation slipped into a bubbling silence, echoing waves of worry and unease throughout the huge room. Had there been another attack?

On the contrary, Professor McGonagall's face showed small signs of happiness – her thin lips were slightly upturned at the corners, and her eyes seemed brighter than the usual green. Her smile widened somewhat as she called out, "I have good news."

The Hall erupted into a flurry of excitement. Students called out prospective hopes that this news could be.

"Dumbledore's coming back!"

"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!"

"Quidditch is back on!"

Professor McGonagall shushed the students quickly, and continued once they were considerably quieter. "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those poor people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with us catching the culprit." The professor smiled wanly one last time at the explosion of cheering in the Hall, and walked away to her seat beside the empty Head for her own breakfast.

Caroline looked around the room as the students cheered. She was smiling happily, for she was. But when she glanced the Slytherin table instinctively, she noticed Draco wasn't looking all too happy. Hm. Interesting. She was pulled back to her more immediate surroundings when Jill hugged her. "Oh, Caroline! They'll have Justin back! I'll have him back!" she was squealing ecstatically, nearly jumping out of her skin with joy and excitement. Caroline smiled widely back at her, saying nothing as she continued eating her breakfast. Maybe things were getting better. Maybe they would catch the culprit.

*~*

Caroline was in Transfiguration with Luna when Professor Flitwick hurried into the room, hastily ushering an annoyed McGonagall out to the hallway. Upon her return, Caroline noticed she was considerably paler, and looked stricken. Her forcefulness, however, has not been affected. "I will escort you to your House common rooms," she said, her voice wavering only ever so slightly. "You are not to leave, under any circumstances."

And so she rushed the group of first years to their common rooms. She dropped the Hufflepuffs off last, reminding them once again not to leave. And then she was gone, trotting down the corridor with Flitwick struggling to keep pace with her.

The Hufflepuffs stayed in the common room alone, awkwardly silent, for a few immeasurable moments before Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified, echoed around them. "All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please." Caroline exchanged nervous looks with the other first years. What on earth was going on?

It seemed like only seconds later that the first years heard the stampeding of hundreds of feet, all leaving their classrooms for their House common room. All the Hufflepuffs filed into the room at once.

It was hard to find a suitable place to sit, with so many people awkwardly keeping silent. Some murmured amongst themselves, creating a general hum, but Caroline was wrapped In her own little world.

"Hufflepuffs!" Professor Sprout called. She entered the common room and stared at the ashen faces of her students. "I have some very terrible, terrible news."

The Hufflepuffs collectively caught their breaths, a huge intake of breath that was plainly audible. Professor Sprout didn't seem to have the gall to be amused. "A girl…" She broke off, covering her mouth with her hand. "A girl has been taken by the Monster." A moment of silence passed before Annabelle, the girl Prefect, stood and put a comforting arm around Professor Sprout, who started to loudly sob. Annabelle whispered something Caroline couldn't hear, but she could guess well enough when Professor Sprout stuttered, "G-G-Ginny Weas-Weasley!"

Oh, poor Luna. She remembered they'd been great friends, from what she could properly recall. She remembered the embarrassment Ginny had shown when the dwarf had fought for Harry Potter to listen to her musical Valentine. She remembered the happy smile on Luna's face when she showed the hand-made, obviously special Valentine to Caroline, the one Ginny'd sent. She felt her face fall into a miserable frown. And that girl would not be able to made another hand-made Valentine for her friends again.

While she thought this, Caroline did not notice the reactions of her fellow Hufflepuffs. Girls shrieked and started crying, "She was only a first year!" over and over, and boys sat sallow-faced, bent over their knees as if they were about to be sick. When she finally noticed, Caroline was appalled to realize their reactions nearly sickened her.

Caroline hadn't known the girl well, but she knew her well enough to know she'd been a true Gryffindor. Ginny Weasley would not, without a doubt, go down without a fight. She didn't need their pale faces and useless cries. She needed a miracle. And Caroline prayed with all she had to whatever deity was listening that she would find it, and find it fast.

Caroline found sitting in the common room with her silent, brooding Housemates completely boring by dusk, and instead made her way to her dormitory. She pushed the door open with the toe of her shoe, quickly changed into her nightclothes, and sat on her bed. Drawing the curtains on the four-poster, Caroline thought deeply, still sending every ounce of good luck and fortune she could to Ginny Weasley. Maybe the monster hadn't killed her yet. Maybe she still had a chance.

Caroline curled under the covers of her bed, staring at the canary yellow-painted ceiling of the dormitory. Ginny Weasley, she thought fiercely, be okay.The next thing Caroline knew, she was being rudely awoken by Emily. "Carline," she breathed, and Caroline's groggy eyes adjusted to consciousness. "Caroline, wake up!"

*~*

Caroline sat up to see the dormitory fluttering with activity. Delilah and Marguerite were talking excitedly; Zena was stretching silently, her mouth open in a half-awake yawn. Annabelle, the prefect, was at the open, rounded door, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Sprout came up just now," she announced to the girls. "She said Harry Potter got the Monster. Ginny Weasley's safe!"

Caroline was wide-awake now. Standing, she pulled on her plain black robe to cover her nightdress and followed Annabelle to the rest of the dormitories. Jill, Alice, and Viola were among the group of Hufflepuff girls behind her, pushing their way to the front. "C'mon," Viola cried as the girls flooded down the remainder of the staircase to the common room and grabbed her arm so they wouldn't be separated. The boys were all already crowded together, waiting in the center of the round room. Jordan was the tallest of these, standing and laughing with a group of the oldest boys. Together, Annabelle and Jordan led the group of Hufflepuffs down the corridor and to the Great Hall.

Most of the other Houses were already seated at their respective tables, talking excitedly. Jill, Alice, Viola, and Caroline sat together at the Hufflepuff table, unable to talk because of nerves and sheer anticipation.

Sure enough, after a very long ten minutes of sitting and waiting, the Great Hall's doors opened wide, and in walked Harry Potter and Dumbledore. It was a grand entrance at worst, the light from the Entrance Hall framing the pair as if they were gods. Slowly, Dumbledore made his way to his rightful place at head of the teacher's table while Harry Potter bashfully sat at the one of Gryffindors.

"I want to announce," Dumbledore said before officially starting the feast, "a great feat on behalf of one of our students." His voice was scratchy, and caught on emotion halfway through his speech. "Harry Potter was worried about his best friend's youngest sibling – and Ginny Weasley is alive now because of it. It took great courage to seek out the Chamber of Secrets, and even greater courage still to fight the Monster and Heir of Slytherin – which, not to our surprise, was Lord Voldemort." A collective gasp rang throughout the room as he said the name. Caroline felt an uncomfortable pressure in the center of her chest as she heard it, fighting mental images of poor, dead wizards and a cold, unresponsive face that was the cause. You-Know-Who was not Caroline's favorite person. "The Monster of Slytherin was a basilisk – a large snake. The young ones whom were Petrified only saw the reflection of this basilisk. If they had looked it directly in the eye, alas, they would have perished immediately.

"Ginny Weasley was alive, but only just, when Harry arrived. I will spare the gory details, but in short, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley have been awarded with a Special Services to the School award." Professor Dumbledore paused to let the information he'd revealed sink in. "For now, though, we will revel in our good fortune, and have a feast. Professors Sprout and Snape will join us shortly, along with our newly Awakened students." A loud, booming cheer echoed off the walls at this, and Dumbledore smiled happily and clapped his hands. Food appeared on the tables in huge, wonderful quantities.

The girls started to eat happily, but Jill seemed unable to touch the food. Her hands were in her lap, and she seemed to be jumping slightly. Caroline had a feeling she knew why, smiling secretly when Jill jumped up excitedly as the huge double-doors opened widely. "Justin," she breathed happily, clapping her hands together silently.

The Great Hall was silent as the four previously Petrified students walked down the center of the aisles, going directly to their friends, who hugged them enthusiastically. Then there was a huge, deafening round of applause. Hermione Granger ran to Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, screaming, "You solved it! You solved it!" She hugged them both proudly before the trio sat together. Caroline smiled.

Justin Finch-Fletchley ran down the table. The first he came to was a wall of older Hufflepuffs, who greeted him happily, but quickly let him pass to Ernie, and finally Jill, who stood impatiently until he came up and hugged her. She whispered something in his ear, which made him grin and hug her tighter. Jill laughed, and the pair sat across from Alice, Viola and Caroline.

Well into the morning the feast went on. About half past three, Hagrid the caretaker bounded into the room, grinning with eyes nearly streaming tears. He cuffed Ronald and Harry on their shoulders, knocking them into their desert plates, but they didn't seem to mind. About a half-hour later, Dumbledore stood and gave them another short speech about how he was rewarding Harry and Ronald each two hundred points, securing Gryffindor's place for the winner of the House Cup. He clapped his old hands, and the tapestries and wall decorations turned to those of Red and Gold. Not much later on, Professor McGonagall stood and announced that, as a school treat, exams for the final term had been cancelled. Everybody cheered at that.

Before dismissing the students to have a nice daytime nap, Dumbledore stood to give the students one last proclamation. "Unfortunately, Professor Lockhart will not be returning next year to Hogwarts. He must go away and get his memory back." The teachers, all of them, stood and clapped wildly at that, making the students laugh and clap along. Dumbledore smiled amiably, and continued, "While I regret having awoken you all so early in the morning and disrupting your sporadic slumbers, I do not regret having this celebratory feast. But, alas, all good things must come to an end, and I admit I am rather sleepy." He yawned for emphasis, allowing some students to laugh quietly at their beloved Headmaster's silliness. "Off to a nice, comfortable bed, you all! I expect you to sleep well into the afternoon!"

Young and old witches and wizards alike stood all at once and poured through the huge double doors to the entrance hall. Slytherins went one way, to the dungeons, and Hufflepuffs went another, in the general direction of the kitchens. Caroline would have followed her own like, but a slender-fingered hand caught at her elbow and held her back while the majority of the school's population passed. Soon, there was no one in the hall but the two of them, and Caroline was finally able to look back at Draco. "Yes?" She asked expectantly, raising an eyebrow because, honestly, his grip on her arm was tightening and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Caroline." His grip loosened as he sighed and seemingly refused to meet her eye. She moved her arm out of his grip rather easily and turned to face him.

"Draco," she said, in a similar tone and manner, which made him smirk. "Is there something you need? There's no one here so you don't have to be worried about anyone seeing it."

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "I knew you were upset about that! You said you weren't, but I knew you were!"

Of course, Caroline was only teasing, so she laughed and rolled her own eyes. "Goodness, Draco, you're so easy to goad." He looked up at her, seeming partially embarrassed for having taken her seriously, but smiled regardless.

"I wanted to apologize. I've been a bit…"

"Loutish? Inconsiderate? Boorish?" Caroline suggested, but she smiled to let him know she didn't hold him entirely accountable. Laughing quietly, she shook her head. "It's fine, Draco. There's not really a need to apologize." She glanced at the sun rising thorugh the huge, open double doors leading to the grounds. "Good morning."

She gave him a wan smile, and turned on her heel to go back to the Hufflepuff common room, where she would go straight back to her bed, slip off her covering robe, and crawl into bed. She would probably only think of Draco, despite the recent goings-on. And for the first time all year, she was going to let her dreams flow freely, uncontrolled, and she would dream of Draco, Hogwarts, and the summer to come.

And Draco? Well, he just watched her go. It was all he could do.