Unofficial Portkey Archive

(a/n: thanks to everyone for reviewing, I appreciate it!)

Chapter Thirteen

Monday, Sept. 16

Ginevra woke up, an unfamiliar weight on her body. She yawned slightly and rolled over to see Draco in the bed beside her, his arm around her. She smiled and got out of bed, careful not to wake him.

"I'm already awake," Draco muttered, yawning a bit as he sat up.

"I tried not to wake you," Ginevra said apologetically.

"You didn't. I woke up a few minutes before you. I don't need much sleep any more, remember?" he said with a smirk.

"All right, you Full Blooded Veelan," Ginevra replied, rolling her eyes.

"Since you're back to being a Vampiress, does it mean that jerk Alexander is back too?" Draco asked, spitting out the Protector's name.

"I would think so," Ginevra said, shrugging lightly. "I wonder how everyone in the Forest is doing. It feels like I haven't seen them for a lifetime," she said.

"You could go see them after classes today," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Would you come with me?" Ginevra asked.

"All right... I'd better leave before Pansy wakes up," Draco said smirking. "The Gods know she'll want the lovely details, then kill me for not giving her any," he said with a wink, leaving the room.

Ginevra just shook her head, knowing that Pansy was already awake and waiting in the corridor for them. She changed quickly and hurried out to see Pansy glaring at Draco angrily.

"Is what he saying true?" Pansy asked, not even turning to look at Ginevra.

"What, that Draco and I were in the same room for the entire night and nothing happened?" she replied, grinning.

"That's bloody impossible!" Pansy said in shock.

"Should I be insulted?" Draco mused, smirking at Ginevra.

"No idea... I'm going to head down to the Great Hall now, I'm really hungry," she muttered, rubbing her sore stomach.

"We're coming!" Gregory and Vincent called immediately, rushing out of their room while buttoning their shirts and trying to put their shoes on at the same time.

Pansy just rolled her eyes and shook her head as they fell over. Muttering, she helped them stand up.

"You two can help me get the others," Pansy said.

Gregory and Vincent sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"We're going to head to the Great Hall now, okay?" Ginevra said, going to the corridor with Draco.

"All right. See you there," Pansy said, guiding her boyfriends down the hallway to the twins' room.

Draco shook his head and opened the door for Ginevra. She grinned at him and hurried down the corridor.

"Don't even think about having tea this morning, Ginevra," Draco said with a smirk.

"Don't worry... I'm not going to erase everyone's memories again," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Well, just to be on the safe side, I'm not letting you near any tea," he answered.

"And if I sit at the Gryffindor table?" Ginevra asked, smirking at him as she left the corridor.

Draco followed her out, dusting off his robes before they headed down to the Great Hall.

"I'll have to tempt you to sit at my table then."

"Is that so?" she said, smirking at him again.

Draco took her hand, grazing it against his lips before turning it over and licking her wrist lightly. Ginevra shivered, her eyes turning red as she heard his blood pump faster.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Ron yelled loudly from down the corridor.

"Always on time to spoil the moment," Ginevra muttered.

Draco smirked down at her, releasing her hand as Ron charged at him.

"Let me handle this," she said, stepping between them before Draco could react.

Ron slammed into Ginevra with force, but she barely moved and he slumped down to the ground, holding his bleeding nose, not expecting the sudden impact. Ginevra calmly took the spell off her rock feet and looked down at Ron. She forced herself to look away from the blood pouring from his nose and used a small spell to stop the bleeding, for all of their sakes.

"You are going to listen to me, Ronald. Draco is not going to stay away from me just because you yell at him. I am not staying away from him just because you yell at me. Is that understood?" she asked, looking down at him.

"But ... he was ..."

"I am quite aware of what Draco was doing to me, Ronald. I was enjoying it too, until you showed up," she muttered.

"You... What?" Ron stammered, staring at her in disbelief.

"You know what I am... You probably knew that I was a Vampiress the last two days too, or didn't Lavender tell you?" Ginevra asked, looking over at Lavender with contempt.

"It was a test, I'm sure you know that by now," Lavender drawled, referring to her arm being cut. "And I didn't tell poor Ronnie anything about you. I assure you that he was just as ignorant as the rest of them," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You obviously don't have any self constraint, do you? My brother wasn't good enough for you, so you had to have Dean too, right?" Ginevra sneered.

"What?! You were with Dean? When?" Ron yelled at Lavender, glaring at her.

"That wasn't very fair of you, Ginny," Lavender drawled. "I'm not very good at Obliviate spells, but I suppose practise makes perfect..." she said, then turned to Ron, hitting him with said spell as he kept yelling at her, demanding answers.

Ginevra watched as her brother hit the ground with a small thump.

"She bothering you, Lav?" Dean asked, coming over once he was sure Ron was out cold.

"Stay out of it," Ginevra hissed at him.

Lavender gave a nod and he stepped back, glaring at Ginevra.

"Children! Why aren't you in the Great Hall?" McGonagall asked, hurrying over to them.

She stopped a few metres away, not only seeing who it was, but also feeling the tension pushing against her like a solid wall. McGonagall tried to get the suffocating feeling away by breathing deeply, but then it thankfully disappeared when both girls turned to her, cheerful smiles on their faces.

"We were just heading there now, Professor," Ginevra said sweetly. "Isn't that right, Lavender?"

"That's right, Professor," Lavender said with a nod, looking and sounding just as sweet and innocent as her nemesis.

"Very well," Minerva said stiffly, not believing either of them, not their words, nor their faces.

She watched the girls go to the Great Hall, frowning after them. They were complete opposites, as different as the two sides of a Galleon. The hate they had for each other, combined with magic, would have catastrophic results, that much was obvious, even at a glance.

Lavender reluctantly put one arm around Ron, Dean helping her take him to the Great Hall. She muttered obscenities under her breath the whole way, cursing the fact that McGonagall had arrived.

"We have to talk to Rion again," she muttered to Dean, who just nodded in agreement.

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Ginevra sat at the Gryffindor table, well away from Lavender, Ron and Dean. She watched them while she talked to Colin, Seamus and Neville every so often. She watched as Ron woke up, looking around in surprise. Lavender smiled at him, kissed his forehead and started to spin lies. Ron's face hardened, and Ginevra knew that Lavender had told him that she'd hexed him. Ginevra shook her head and looked away from her brother, his girlfriend and her lover.

"I'm going to head to class early, okay? I'll see you later," she said quietly, leaving the Great Hall.

The three boys glanced at each other for a moment, then watched her leave. Luna sat beside them, cheerfully taking a piece of toast and pouring some pumpkin juice into a glass.

"She'll be fine... Ginevra's just worried and upset that she's lost her brother to Lavender's lies and deception. She's upset that he'll believe the worst of her so easily and not even question something Lavender says, just because he thinks they're sleeping together," Luna said, taking a bite out of her toast.

"He thinks they're sleeping together? How could he not know?" Neville asked with a frown.

"Lavender slept with him once and now, she just recreates the memory in his mind, changing a few things each time," Luna said with a shrug.

"You make it sound so easy," Colin muttered.

"For her it is, because I am almost positive that she has no heart," Luna said, cocking her head to the side and grinning at her boyfriend.

"Where'd Ginevra go?" Blaise asked, sitting in between Neville and Seamus, putting his arms around their waists.

Seamus grinned foolishly, then continued to eat his breakfast, the tip of his ears the only sign that he felt like blushing.

"She went to Transfiguration early," Neville replied, leaning into him. "Told you so," he whispered with a smirk.

"We're heading up there now... I can only take so much of having to see Brown eat Ronnie-kins face, and once is far too much to witness their display," Padma said in disgust.

"Don't remind me..." Parvati said with a shudder.

"We might as well come too," Colin said, getting up with Luna.

Blaise muttered about bad timing, but stood with a sigh, helping Neville and Seamus up. He kissed them both, then put his arms around them again and they went to head out of the Great Hall, stares and stunned silence following them.

"That was definitely an interesting reaction," Blaise surmised with a smirk. "Now do you think it's because they're shocked or jealous?" he asked them with a grin.

"Probably jealousy," Parvati and Padma replied, grinning at the three boys.

"Do you have a class this way too?" Seamus asked Colin and Luna, frowning.

"Yes," Luna said, smiling at Colin and turning into the Transfiguration classroom with him.

The others frowned at each other, then hurried in after Luna and Colin quickly, wondering what was going on. They went to their seats, and watched Luna and Colin quietly.

Everyone became quiet as they arrived in the room to see two sixth years standing beside McGonagall. In a few minutes, the entire class was seated and waiting expectantly for McGonagall to tell them what was happening.

"Mr. Creevey and Miss Lovegood have been Advanced into all of your classes," Minerva said, her tone making sure there were no room for questions.

"Shouldn't Loon... I mean, shouldn't Luna be in a Ravenclaw class then?" Lavender whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ginevra glared over at Lavender, wishing that looks could kill.

"That, Miss Brown, is up to the Headmaster. If you would like to raise that point with him, by all means, go ahead and do so. In your own time," McGonagall said with an icy glare. "You two may now go sit down," she said to Colin and Luna, smiling at them kindly.

Luna and Colin nodded to her, then went to their seats in front of Padma and Parvati. Ginevra looked at them, but Luna gave a small shake of her head and returned her attention to McGonagall.

"Today's class you will be reading the chapters on animals that Muggles are not used to seeing. It is a very useful chapter, so read it thoroughly," McGonagall said sternly, looking at all of them intensely.

There was a knock at the door, and McGonagall waved her wand, impatient at having her stare interrupted. The door opened immediately, Albus standing there with a bemused look on his face.

"Hello Minerva. Thank you for being so kind as to open the door for this old man," he said, winking at the class.

"You're welcome, Albus. What can I do for you?" Minerva asked.

"I need to speak with a few students, if you please," he said, walking in to the room.

"Very well... Who are they?" Minerva asked with a sigh.

She really should remember to have her coffee before class... A mug in between classes just wasn't good enough any more!

"Ginevra, Draco, Luna, Colin, Pansy..." Dumbledore began to say, then shook his head, sighing. "There's too many to say out loud... You all know who you are... Bring your bags and please follow me," he said, leaving the classroom.

All fourteen followed him outside, wondering what was so urgent that they had to be pulled out of class. After a few minutes of walking behind Albus around the castle and whispering to each other, Ginevra started to get impatient.

"Exactly where are we going, Albus?" Ginevra asked, frowning at him.

"Patience, Ginevra... We will arrive to our destination shortly," Albus said smiling at her with twinkling eyes.

"Doesn't answer the question," Ginevra muttered, crossing her arms.

Albus stopped in front of the Room of Requirement and smiled at them all, opening the blood red door.

"Inside, all of you. Hurry now," he said, ushered them inside quickly.

"Hello, Ginevra. Draconius, a pleasure meeting you again," Xavier said with a smile. "I do apologise for interrupting your classes, but I have been quite eager to meet the ones who will have such an effect on their lives," he said indicating to Draco and Ginevra.

"Lord Xavier, I beg your pardon, but I must leave you now. Students... Be on your best behaviour," Albus said, leaving the Room of Requirement quickly.

"Yes, Father! Would you like me to get the Prophet for you too?" Pansy muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, so The Daily Prophet is still running, is it?" Xavier asked curiously. "I must say I'm surprised at that, after all of the false allegations they made back in my day," he said, sounding surprised.

"Your day?" Colin asked, intrigued.

"Well I was twenty-five when I was Turned in 1563..."

"You definitely look good for your age," Pansy said with a smirk, making Gregory and Vincent glare.

"Thank you," Xavier said with a smile. "The allegations they made in the seventeenth century were mostly ridiculous, but I suppose that people needed something to believe during the plague and witch trials," he said, trailing off momentarily.

They all saw the horror in his eyes, and were glad that they had not lived during that time.

He coughed, quickly doing a small Glamour to hide his tears, before turning his gaze to them.

"How will we affect their lives in such a way that you needed to meet with us?" Blaise asked with a grin.

Xavier gave a slight nod, thanking him for changing the subject to its original topic.

"Some of the ways will seem small, but they will impact them nevertheless. Other ways are large and you will know of it immediately," Xavier said.

"Like what?" Gregory asked.

"I can show you, if you would like to See it," Xavier offered with a smile.

Curious, they all nodded, Ginevra and Draco included.

"Very well... Sit down and close your eyes," he instructed.

They did as he said, listening as he murmured a few words in Latin. Colours exploded into their minds and they began to See what Xavier was Showing them...

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All of the wars were in full scale. It seemed that every wizard or witch alive was fighting for one of the sides. In a war that had more than two sides, it was easy to forget who you were originally fighting and for what cause...

Ginevra looked at the battlefield feeling ashamed, disgusted and sad at the waste of lives. She closed the window abruptly, locking it before blacking the window with her wand. She turned to the others and sat next to her husband with a sigh.

"She got another one..." Seamus said as he entered the room, looking at a parchment. He sat between Neville and Blaise, wishing the parchment had been something positive for them.

"That's three in the last two months," Colin said, shaking his head.

"If we don't get something, she'll have all five within two months," Luna said, her eyes darkened from lack of sleep.

"We have to stop her. If we don't, we might as well kiss goodbye any chance we have of winning this war," Pansy said.

"We all know that, Pansy! We are trying, but we don't have all of the ingredients to make the amount of protection charms we need!" Millicent said with a sigh.

"Then we need to get them! Can't Isaac get anything?" Pansy asked Ginevra and Draco.

"He's already given us everything he has," Draco said shaking his head.

"What about you two?" Gregory asked Fred and George.

"We get everything through Isaac. He gets it through other people, so not even he knows where they are," they replied.

"Then who does Isaac get it from? Can't we ask them?" Vincent asked.

"Apparently, Isaac doesn't know..." Draco said.

"How can he not know who he gets his own supplies from?" Neville asked with a frown.

"He just places the order, send it via owl and by the next week they're in his shop," Ginevra replied.

"Can't we just follow the owl then?" Parvati and Padma asked.

"If you give me a specific description of the owl, I should be able to get a general direction in which it flies," Theodore offered.

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Xavier murmured again as the vision faded. He finished saying the spell and another vision appeared in their minds...

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Theodore stood in front of the iceberg, tapping on it with his wand. He hurried inside as the hole appeared, grateful to be out of the cold wind. He walked along passages with ease, knowing exactly where he was going. Stopping in one room, he looked at his wife with a smile. Theodore walked over to her quietly, kissing her head softly.

"You scared me, Theo!" she said with a yelp.

Theodore just grinned at her and winked.

"How is she?" Millicent asked quietly, a sad look on her face.

"I'm just going to check now. She's been doing really well, considering everything they did to her, but she's still not letting anyone inside her mind," Theodore said with a small shake of his head.

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Blaise smirked at Neville and Seamus. He watched them sleeping, their bodies entwined gracefully. With a sigh, he left the room quietly, walking down a long dimly lit corridor.

Opening a door to the side, he walked out to the garden, heading to the forest. Changing as he walked along, Blaise began to gallop quickly, trying to run away from his worries.

Neville and Seamus pulled clothes on quickly, hurrying out to the forest. They felt Blaise's pain and wanted to help him forget what was happening to their best friend...

Holding Seamus' hand, Neville closed his eyes momentarily, a path appearing before them. They ran along it, meeting up with Blaise quickly. He was slumped against a tree, weeping softly.

"Love... Don't cry," Seamus whispered, kneeling beside him. He took Blaise's face in his hands, kissing him softly. "She will be fine. Theodore is looking after her," he murmured, holding him tightly.

Without so much as a blink, vines lifted both of them to Neville's arms. Blaise gave a short laugh, kissing his neck.

"Lazy," he said.

"No, just worried for you, and wanting my two lovers to be closer to me," Neville replied, kissing both of them in turn.

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"Can't we do anything else?" Fred and George asked, feeling useless.

"Short of getting your Medi licences, not at the moment... These ingredients are greatly needed for her recovery. You're already helping her by getting these for us," a nurse replied.

Padma and Parvati led their husbands away, all four uncharacteristically silent.

"We could do it you know," George said to Fred.

"We could, if they would let us in without finishing school," Fred agreed.

Parvati looked at Padma, their surprised expressions reflected in the other's face.

"You two aren't seriously thinking about..." Parvati began.

"Getting your Medi licences, are you?" Padma finished.

"If it helps her, we want to do it," Fred and George said adamantly. "She saved our lives, now we want to save hers."

"We want to help too," Padma and Parvati said, their faces set in determination.

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Luna and Colin Apparated to the Ministry, going over to the telephone box and pressing in keys. After giving their names, the telephone box plunged into the ground, stopping at the Ministry entrance.

"Mr. and Mrs. Creevey! You didn't tell us that you were coming!" a witch at the front desk babbled nervously.

"We need an invitation now, do we?" Colin/Apollo asked.

"N-no... I... Minister..." the witch stammered.

"Calm down, Talia," Luna said with an amused smile.

The witch gave a nod, and took a few deep breaths.

"Please tell the Minister that we are here. We need to talk to him straight away, is that understood?" Luna said.

Talia nodded again, then hurried off quickly.

"Apollo, dearest... You must not do that to the poor mortals. It scares them," Cassandra said with a smile.

"You said nothing about it the other day," Apollo said and Cassandra's face went stern and hard, making her look scarier than a Basilisk.

"They deserved it. What they did to her was inexcusable, and they are lucky we had to stop from killing them," Cassandra snarled.

The witch returned with the Minister of Magic, who led them back to his office quickly.

"I was not aware that you were coming today, so we have limited time to talk. What would you like?"

"We know exactly how much time you have, Rufus..." Luna said. "That is why we came. Now, as to what we want..." she said, pulling out a parchment from her pocket. "You will sign this."

"What is it?" Rufus asked as he took the parchment, and started to read it.

"Merely a contract for your most trusted doctors to come with us and heal our very dear friend," Colin said.

"I see that you have everything worked out," Rufus said, noting the professionalism of the contract.

"Mrs. Nott drew it up for us as soon as we asked for it. We have thought of everything possible, Rufus. There are no loopholes this time, so you can sign it and we will be out of your hair," Luna said sternly, producing a quill for him.

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Draco looked at Ginevra in concern. She was still pale and shaking, even after all of this time.

"Ginevra? You need to calm down," he said softly.

"Who the hell can calm down after this has happened?" Vincent growled.

"We're going to find them and rip them to fucking pieces for doing this!" Gregory snarled.

Ginevra sank into the chair, staring at Pansy. Her body was cleaner now than it had been hours before, but that only meant her bruises and broken body showed more clearly...

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"Pansy!" Gregory and Vincent called as she fainted.

The connection broke and Xavier opened his eyes to see everyone crowded around Pansy, all of them looking shocked and pale.

"Why did you have to Show us that?" Ginevra said angrily.

"My apologies," Xavier said with a slight bow. "I have only just started to See properly in block amounts, and I am afraid that I do not have full control over it."

"It is quite all right, Lord Xavier. They will recover soon enough," Luna said with a comforting smile.

There was a knock at the door and Albus walked in, smiling. His smile faded as he saw Pansy lying there unconscious on the floor. He hurried over and looked to Xavier for an explanation.

"They Saw something before I had time to stop it," he said.

Albus gave a brief nod, then waved his wand over Pansy. She took a shuddering breath and sat up quickly.

"I think we should go to our next class," Luna said quietly.

Albus nodded and the door opened for them. They hurried out, Gregory and Vincent supporting Pansy, all three still looking pale and shocked.

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As they all arrived at the bottom of the Divination Tower, they heard voices floating down the trapdoor.

"I can't believe they let Loony into our class! She should at least be in the Ravenclaw class if she's been Advanced!" Lavender said with a sniff.

"How the hell did she get Advanced anyway? She's nothing special! She never beats anyone at tests or anything," Ron's voice followed.

"Colin's never done anything either! He barely passed last year," Dean muttered.

The voices faded and hooves were heard; Firenze had entered the classroom through his door...

"I'm going to kill them," Colin muttered, starting up the ladder quickly.

"Colin, you are over reacting," Luna said calmly, following him up. "We knew it was going to happen, so do not worry over it. I am fine," she said.

Colin muttered a few things, but his pace slowed down slightly.

"Fine... I won't kill them then. I'll just torture them slowly," he muttered angrily.

"I think that still counts as over reacting, Colin," Ginevra said as she started up the ladder too.

"Who said it was Colin?" Apollo answered with a smirk.

"Insulting a god's lover probably isn't one of the best things they've done," Padma said to Parvati, who just shook her head in agreement, smirking.

"Uh... Apollo? I think it would be best if you turned back into Colin some time soon... Most of the idiots up there aren't used to seeing a half-naked god," Millicent said with a smirk.

All of the girls immediately looked up to see that she was right. Colin/Apollo was wearing nothing but a pair of very short denim shorts. The Patil twins started giggling softly, Parvati going bright red. Pansy soon joined in, as did Millicent, Luna and Ginevra.

"Control yourselves, would you?" Draco said smirking at them.

"There you are... I hope you have a reason for your tardiness," Firenze said, opening the trapdoor.

The class inside gasped at the bright golden light that came into the room as the door opened. The light faded and Colin jumped up into the room. He glared at Lavender, Ron and Dean, all three shrinking back into their seats, more than uncomfortable at his look.

Luna entered the room, shook her head at the look Colin was giving them, then took his hand and led him to a nearby table. Ginevra followed them over, with Draco not far behind. Pansy, Gregory and Vincent went to the next table, while the Patil twins sat with Millicent and Theodore. Neville and Blaise sat with Pansy, Gregory and Vincent.

"You do have a reason for your tardiness, do you not?" Firenze asked with a smile.

"We were with Professor Dumbledore and Lord Xavier," Ginevra replied.

"Very well," Firenze said with a nod, turning to the fireplace.

"That's it? You're just going to believe them because she said they were there?" Lavender asked indignantly.

"Not at all, Miss Brown," Firenze said calmly, giving her a slightly annoyed look. "I was just about to confirm this with Albus Dumbledore myself," he said, throwing a small handful of Floo Powder into the fire.

The flames changed into a bright green colour, then Albus' head appeared in the fire.

"Hello Firenze. Is something the matter?" Albus asked.

"I would just like to confirm that Ginevra and her fellow class mates were in the Room of Requirement with you?" Firenze asked politely.

"Yes, they were. Miss Parkinson may need to go to the hospital wing if she is still feeling ill," Albus replied.

The entire class looked at Pansy, only just realising that she was pale and trembling slightly. She drew herself up and glared at them all.

"I'm fine," she muttered.

"Thank you," Firenze said and the flames returned to their normal colour. He turned back to the class, smiling at them gently. "Today's lesson was planned to be outside, but as it had been raining, I think it would be best if we were to stay inside today," he said. "You will be learning about water divination today. It is different to tea divination. Water divination is slightly easier to do than other kinds, as it is more connected to the body," Firenze explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Sally-Anne asked with a frown.

"Human bodies are mostly made up of water, so it makes sense that water would be attracted to the mind and body," Firenze replied. "There are other types of Divination, including crystal ball gazing, fire reading, palmistry, tarot, earth and wind reading, numerology, and dreaming."

"Dreaming is divination as well?" Harry asked, confused.

"Of course... It can be interpreted into the future, the past or the present. Deja vu is also a type of divination, although it usually means you have not recognised it until it was too late," Firenze said. "Please get out a parchment and quill. Write down everything you know about any type of divination, other than the ones you have already practised," he added quickly.

Hurrying to do as he had asked, the class was silent in a few seconds, the only sound their quills scratching on the parchment. In less than fifteen minutes, most of the class had finished writing all they knew about a different form of divination. Ginevra heard Ron mutter to Harry 'where was Hermione when you needed her?' and tried not to laugh.

She finished her own writing in a few minutes. Handing the parchment to Firenze, he looked at her for a moment.

Is Pansy all right? he asked in her mind.

I don't know... Gregory and Vincent will help her, I'm sure, Ginevra replied.

What did she See? Did you all See it? he asked.

We all Saw it. I will Show you after class, if you do not mind, Ginevra said, returning to her seat with his permission.

In another ten minutes, everyone had handed up their parchments. With an amused smile, Firenze started to read them out loud.

"Fire divination is when you set someone on fire and see what their ashes say. Thankfully, this is not correct, Mr. Thomas," Firenze said, and Dean paled.

Seamus rolled his eyes at his former-friend's answer, not believing how immature he was.

"Fire divination is actually a very complex process. It requires meditation, focus, determination, the ability to stay awake for a long period of time and most importantly, the ability not to set yourself on fire while in a trance," Firenze said.

He took out a few parchments that 'explained' fire divination, looking at a few class members with a raised eyebrow.

"Mirror divination can only be done while using a mirror with a blackened back. This makes it easier to See without confusing your own reflection with the divination taking place. Sometimes mirror divination can be achieved by simply unfocusing your eyes. Other times a trance must be performed beforehand in order to See properly. Some Muggles use candles in order to do this," Firenze read. "A very good explanation, Miss Lovegood," he said with a nod of his head.

Lavender rolled her eyes and mimicked him under her breath. Firenze didn't see her look, as he was removing other parchments explaining mirror divination. Colin and Apollo, on the other hand, saw her sarcastic look and glared at her angrily. Discreetly, Colin pulled out his wand and pointed it in Lavender's direction.

"Colin," Luna whispered in warning.

"But... She..."

"I know what she did. It does not make you any better by hexing her for it," Luna said.

Colin sighed and put his wand away again.

"Who said I was going to just hex her?" he muttered quietly.

"Tarot cards mostly only give a future that is possible to happen. They are not always correct, and they can often be misinterpreted. Nowadays, tarot cards are mostly used for self-exploration and personal growth," Firenze read. "That is correct, Mr. Finnigan," he said with an encouraging smile.

As Firenze started to read out about crystal divination, the bell rang for recess. Everyone hurried to leave, eager to get food. Gregory and Vincent waited patiently for Pansy to finish getting ready, not trying to rush to the Great Hall as they usually did. This worried Firenze further, and he waited as patiently as he could for Ginevra to Show him what had they Seen.

"I'll be down in a minute. I just need to see Firenze about something," Ginevra said to the others.

Blaise, Neville, Seamus and Draco stayed behind with her, wondering what was going on. Neville whispered quietly to Seamus, then to Blaise. Seamus went red, while Blaise just smirked at Neville and Seamus.

Draco rolled his eyes and moved away slightly as Neville started to kiss Seamus.

"Would you three stop that?" Ginevra yelled at them, wincing as their thoughts bombarded her one after the other. "I'm busy here!" she muttered, turning back to Firenze.

It is good to see so much love between them... Firenze said with a smile.

I wish I didn't have to see it all of the time though! Ginevra muttered, shielding her mind from them.

Firenze gave a sympathetic nod, then took her hands in his own.

Ready? he asked.

Ginevra nodded and closed her eyes.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later, Firenze finished Seeing what had shocked them all so much. He looked pale himself, and had to steady his breathing before he could say anything.

"I had not Seen it in that much detail. Have you Seen anything else in reference to it?" Firenze asked Ginevra.

"I think I have," Ginevra said, giving a slight cough to cover the hitch in her voice. "I found her... She was so ... broken," she said, trying not to cry.

Seamus, Neville and Blaise stopped kissing to look at her, sad looks on their faces. Draco stood beside her, his arm around her shoulder. He didn't know how to deal with a sobbing and hysterical girl now anymore than he did the first time Ginevra had been this way...

"Show me," Firenze said softly, taking her hands again.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Ginevra searched everywhere, unable to find her friend. She called out for her in a loud tone, no longer restraining her voice to whispers. She didn't hear a worded response, but in fact she heard the reply in her mind. Ginny ran, following the instructions of her friend.

Ginevra pushed open the large door and her senses were immediately overloaded with a disgusting foul stench.

"Pansy! Are you in here?" she called, trying to block her nose.

The reply was in the affirmative and Ginevra lit her wand softly. Big mistake... Dead bodies littered the floor and by the smell of them, they seemed to be weeks, even months old.

"Where are you Pansy?" Ginevra asked softly, trying not to breathe in the stench.

She began to move slowly across the floor as per Pansy's instructions. Ginevra arrived at the spot and saw a beaten and bruised body lying in front of her. If not for the sigh of relief that sounded in her mind, Ginevra would not have recognised the person.

"Pansy?" she said quietly. Tears fell from the broken face and Ginevra dropped beside her friend. "Do you think you can Apparate with me?" Ginevra asked; the answer in the affirmative.

She took Pansy's bony hand and held her as close as she could without fear of breaking or hurting her more. With a small breath to calm her racked and shocked nerves, Ginevra Apparated to Antarctica.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh..." was all Firenze could say.

"We can't stop this, can we?" Ginevra asked.

"I am afraid that it is not possible for this to be stopped without something worse happening to her instead," Firenze said, shaking his head sadly.

There was a noise behind her and Ginevra turned to see Pansy standing there.

"Show me what you just showed him," Pansy said, her pale face set in determination.

"Don't ask me to do that, Pansy," Ginevra pleaded.

"I'm not asking you to do it, Ginevra... I'm telling you," Pansy said, moving forward to her. "Show me."

"No," Ginevra said, shaking her head.

In less than a second, Pansy had her wand out and pointed at Ginevra's throat.

"Show me, or I will hex you," Pansy snarled.

"You wouldn't really..." Seamus began to ask.

Neville put a hand on his arm and Seamus looked at him, wondering why he'd stopped him from finishing asking his question. Neville shook his head slightly.

"We should go tell Gregory and Vincent that Pansy's okay... They'll be worried about her," Blaise said, leading his two lovers away quietly.

Draco looked at Pansy and Ginevra, wisely deciding to leave them. Firenze gave a nod and they both stepped back to watch the two girls.

"Show me!" Pansy said again, glaring.

Ginevra nodded briefly and Pansy put her wand in her robe. Taking her hands, Ginevra closed her eyes and Showed the Vision to her. Pansy opened her eyes when it finished and gave a curt nod.

"Well at least I know the spell will work," she muttered, rubbing her temples with a sigh.

"What spell?" Ginevra asked, curious.

"Never mind... We better get to the Great Hall," Pansy said, nodding to Firenze before leaving quickly.

Ginevra frowned after her, then said goodbye to Firenze and left with Draco.

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Draco sat at the Slytherin table, looking over to Pansy, worried for her. Gregory and Vincent weren't eating as much as they usually did, which worried him even further.

"Do you know what spell Pansy was talking about?" Ginevra asked as she sat beside him.

"No, but Luna probably knows," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Have you noticed that Blaise, Neville and Seamus are missing from the Great Hall?" Ginevra asked, smirking at him.

"I am trying to eat," Draco said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, I know," she replied with a grin. "See you in class," Ginevra said, going over to the Gryffindor table.

Tom saw her coming over and smiled, waving at her.

"Hi, Tom. How have you been?" Ginevra asked as she sat beside him.

"Good. The last few days have been a blur though," he replied shaking his head slightly.

"I think that's normal for everyone in the first few weeks," she said, trying not to feel guilty.

"Guess so. How about you? How are you?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, good. Slightly tired from lack of sleep, but I'll live," she said with a grin.

"Lack of sleep, already? It hasn't even been an entire month yet!" Tom said.

"I know... It's really annoying," Ginevra said with a grin. "I might go get something to eat now. I'll talk to you later, all right?"

"Okay," Tom said as she left quickly.

Ginevra sat between Colin and Parvati, looking over at Luna for a moment.

"Yes, I know... No, I'm not going to tell you," Luna said.

"Did we miss something?" Parvati asked Colin, frowning.

"Apparently so," Colin said with a shrug.

Ginevra sighed, then relented and ate her food. She went over to the Slytherin table again, sitting next to Padma.

"I said that I'm all right. It was just a shock, that is all. Now will you leave me alone and eat your food so you don't complain for the rest of the day?" Pansy muttered to her boyfriends.

"How are the twins?" Ginevra asked Padma, watching as Gregory and Vincent ate reluctantly.

"They're fine. We're working on a new product with them," Padma said with a smirk.

"Should I even ask?"

"Probably not," Padma said winking at her.

Ginevra rolled her eyes and groaned as the bell rang.

"Feels like we only just got here and now we have to go," Ginevra muttered, standing and leaving with the others.

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"You do realise that you don't have to be here for this class?" Lupin asked them. "You did the lesson last week," he said, indicating to the Room of Requirement.

"Forgot about that," Pansy muttered.

"Can I do it again?" Ginevra asked.

"You want to do that again? Willingly?" Blaise asked, looking at her in shock.

"I could do with the practise," Ginevra replied with a shrug.

"I'm going in too," Draco said.

"So am I," Neville said bravely.

"We might as well all go in then," Pansy said as Gregory, Vincent and Seamus agreed with them.

"Speak for yourself! I don't want to go back in there with poisonous snakes on the loose," Blaise muttered.

"Can we choose the landscape we want?" Seamus asked Moody. "Instead of beasts, can we be against something else?"

"What did you have in mind?" Moody asked.

"Death Eaters, what else?" Seamus asked with a smirk.

"There are more things that you will have to fight in this world other than Death Eaters," Moody said seriously. "You can all go in together after these three groups are done," he said with a nod.

The door flashed red and Lupin, Moody and Madam Pomfrey hurried inside quickly.

"You still don't want to come in, Blaise?" Neville asked, smirking at him.

"Fine, I'll go in," Blaise said.

The door opened again and a group of students walked out, pale and shocked. One had a twisted ankle, another had scratches all up her arm, and a third had a deep cut on his face.

"Now, it won't scar if you put this cream on it once a night," Pomfrey was instructing the boy, handing him a phial.

He took it, muttered something obscene, then left with the rest of his group.

Ginevra watched as another group walked in, looking nervous.

Ten minutes later, there was a loud scream and the door flashed red. Moody, Lupin and Pomfrey ran in quickly, carrying a student out. There was a bite mark on the girl's arm, and her face had turned pale green.

The next group went in, coming out again in less than five minutes, shaking all over.

Not looking very confident, the last group went inside. Almost twenty minutes later, the door flashed orange. Lupin looked at Moody for a moment, then they waited again. Another five minutes went by and the door flashed green. The door opened and the group walked out, mostly covered in scratches and bruises. Madam Pomfrey immediately set to work on them, healing them in less than ten minutes.

"Congratulations. You passed," Lupin said smiling at them.

"They passed? How?" Pansy asked in amazement.

"You didn't tell us that we had to come back too!" one girl complained to Moody.

"You thought that you wouldn't have to leave the house after finishing your mission?" Moody asked.

"Mission?" Colin echoed.

Remus turned at the sound of his voice, only just noticing that Colin and Luna were part of the group.

"Oh, yes... I had forgotten that you two were transferring into this year. Would you like to join the others now, or go in on your own?" Lupin asked.

"Together," Luna replied.

"Very well," Lupin said, guiding them into the Room. "As before, you need to get up the staircase and to the end room. From there, you will have a mission. Once the mission is completed, then you have to make your way back to the door. This room is now set with Death Eaters. You must remember that they do not work alone. Not only are Death Eaters usually in groups, they also have alliances with others, from Dementors to Basilisks," Lupin warned them.

"You do not have to be in a group this time, but if you do choose to split then you must be on your guard! Keep vigilant. Use whatever powers, weapons or skills you may have to defeat, injure or escape them. Understood?" Moody asked, looking at them with both of his eyes.

"Yes, Moody," they all replied.

"As before, you will have one minute to discuss any strategies before the light turns off," Lupin said and left with Moody.

"What did you do last time?" Pansy asked Ginevra and Draco.

"Stood in each direction and tried to get to the staircase," Ginevra replied.

"That won't work very well this time," Seamus muttered.

"If we walk forward in a line, then we'd be able to get almost anyone in front of us," Neville said.

"Death Eaters can Apparate though. If they see us coming, they'll just go behind us and then we're screwed," Parvati pointed out.

"Half of us could walk backwards and the other half could walk forwards," Colin suggested with a shrug.

"What about trees and other obstacles? They'd fall over," Blaise said.

"That's why we're facing forward, to warn them," Padma drawled.

"It could work, I guess," Millicent said, shrugging.

"Where's the staircase now?" Vincent asked, looking around.

"Can anyone see it?" Gregory asked and the lights went out.

"Typical," Theodore muttered.

Ginevra lit her wand softly, but Pansy put her hand over the tip quickly, taking away any light it provided.

"What did you do that for?" Ginevra hissed.

"You're not the only one with good eyesight. Most Death Eaters are trained to see long distances. Use cat eyes to look around if you have to, not light," Pansy replied softly.

"The staircase is in the back. Over to the right," Draco said.

"I'll face backwards," Colin said softly.

"So will I," Neville said.

"Draco and Ginevra will have to face forward as they have better eyesight," Pansy said.

"We'll face back too," Gregory said for himself and Vincent.

"I will too," Theodore said.

"Fine... Can we get started before we have to go to the next class?" Millicent mumbled.

They quickly organised themselves, walking forwards and backwards towards the staircase.

"Stop," Ginevra hissed, looking at the ground before them.

"Is that a mine?" Pansy asked softly.

"A mine! Are they fucking crazy?" Seamus asked, craning his neck to look.

"Well, they are Death Eaters," Draco muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Is it a mine field? Or just the one?" Luna asked, looking in front of them curiously.

"I hope it's just the one..." Ginevra muttered.

"It's a field," Millicent said, sniffing. "The mines are everywhere..." she said, sniffing again.

"We'll have to follow you around the field then. Unless you can wash them away with rain?" Ginevra asked Theodore.

"It might be possible. It depends on how deep they put them," Theodore said.

"Probably not too deep so they'd still explode with pressure," Draco replied.

"We can follow Millicent," Luna said, standing directly behind Millicent.

"I can fly over and attack any Death Eaters I see," Colin said.

"Okay, do that. We'll follow Millicent," Ginevra said, standing behind Luna.

Everyone stood in a straight line, too nervous to really notice when Colin changed into a dragon and flew into the sky.

Millicent started walking cautiously, sniffing every so often to determine where a mine was. Everyone followed, trying not to get too close in case they tripped and fell on a mine.

No one talked as they walked, but the pounding of their hearts was almost deafening for Ginevra. She could practically hear the beads of sweat falling down their faces as they walked along the earth.

Suddenly, Millicent stopped, frowning at the ground, sniffing again.

"That can't be right," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Pansy hissed at her.

"There aren't any more mines. There's a line on either side, but in front I can't smell any," Millicent replied.

"Maybe that means that the field's finished," Pansy drawled.

Millicent glared back at her, then stepped forward cautiously. Breathing a sigh of relief when nothing happened, she moved forward more still, so the others could spread out. They did so, going back to their original plan, some facing forwards and others facing backwards.

Colin chose to continue in his dragon form and flew above them, watching for any activity.

They walked along again, whispering to each other when bumps and dips were occuring. Every so often, a Death Eater appeared. It was hexed within seconds and most were left on the ground, looking like slugs. Others were hexed so they thought backwards was forwards, and ended up hexing themselves.

After a few minutes, they heard Colin roar above them, swooping down and breathing fire on a large group of Death Eaters nearby.

Suddenly, the terrain disappeared, lights came back on and the door opened. Moody and Lupin walked over to them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but your time is up. Your next lesson will start in a few minutes," Lupin said.

"Good work on getting this far," Moody said.

Colin landed beside them, turning back into his human self.

Everyone left, hurrying over to a tapestry. They went inside, then practically ran down the empty staircase. They managed to reach Hagrid's class with a minute to spare, all fourteen of them puffing from the sudden exercise.

"Fer today's class yer'll be doing work fer yer projects. If yer goin' in ter the Forest, make sure ter let me know first so yer can be assigned a partner," Hagrid said.

"We've got to leave school grounds for our project, Professor Hagrid," Parvati and Padma said, grinning at him.

"All right... Yer can go then," Hagrid said with a nod.

The Patil twins left quickly, heading over to Ginevra's rooms and to the tunnel through to Fred and George's shop.

"I'll be in the lake talking to the squid," Pansy said.

"I'm going into the Forest," Millicent said, Theodore agreeing with her.

"We'll be in there too," Gregory and Vincent said.

"So will I," Ginevra said.

"Does anyone else need ter go in ter the Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid asked.

Draco, Blaise, Neville and Seamus put up their hands, as did Luna and Colin.

"The both of yer have chosen topics fer yer projects?" Hagrid asked the latter two.

"Hippogriffs," Colin said.

"Jobberknoll," Luna replied.

"Yer sure 'bout that one, Luna?" Hagrid asked with a small frown.

"Yes. I'm sure it's really just whispering so low that no one can hear it," she said with a

grin.

"Right... All of yer know what to do if yer in danger?" he asked, everyone nodding. "Off yer go then," he said.

"What are you doing your project on?" Colin asked Ginevra curiously.

"The Gytrash. I didn't know you'd already chosen an animal, Draco," she said, looking to him.

"I was going to do a project on the yeti... If it's still here," he muttered.

"I'll go with you then. I've got to talk to it about our Runes lesson," Ginevra said.

"You're going to tell the yeti off? Is that a wise idea?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably not, but it shouldn't try to eat innocent people," Ginevra said grinning at him.

"You're not going to argue with her on this?" Millicent asked Draco in disbelief.

"She'll be fine... I'll be with her," Draco said, then went into the Forbidden Forest with Ginevra next to him.

Theodore shook his head then left with Millicent, both of them muttering.

When everyone had left to do their projects, Hagrid shook his head and headed into the Forbidden Forest to make sure that the students were safe.

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Ginevra and Draco walked along the path in relative silence, both of them listening out for any sign of the Gytrash.

"Are you really going to scold a yeti, Ginevra?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"Why not?" Ginevra replied, walking into a clearing nearby.

Draco shook his head then hurried after her.

They walked into another clearing, this time finding the Gytrash asleep on the floor, Maden curled up next to Ryder. The dark grey mist that had originally surrounded the dog and horse was now a lighter grey, tinted with red. As Ginevra and Draco walked over to them, the two animals woke up, snarling. They stopped soon enough, recognising who had disturbed their peace.

Ginevra, Draconius... Ryder said, sounding nervous.

"Hello Ryder," Ginevra said to the horse in a reassuring voice. "Hello Maden. I see that you have both changed slightly... Is it for better or worse, I wonder?"

Better! Maden said quickly. We are not using our power to hurt mortals anymore... Muggle or wizard, he added.

"Can you prove that?" Draco asked sternly.

Not at this very moment, but you have our word that we have not hurt anyone! Ryder said.

"That doesn't mean much considering what happened last time you gave us your word," Draco drawled.

We are telling the truth! the Gytrash insisted immediately.

"Very well," Ginevra said, not very eager to fight about it.

Would you like something from us? Maden asked.

"Yes, actually. I would appreciate your assistance on a school project," Ginevra said, sitting in front of them.

You want to do a project on us? the Gytrash asked in disbelief.

"Yes... Is there a problem with this?" she asked with a slight frown.

Not at all! It is just ... we have never been the topic of a project before! We would be honoured, they said happily, bowing to her.

Hagrid grinned as he heard them, then continued on into the forest.

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Wolf-girl... What do you want from us? And why were you foolish enough to bring a mortal to the pack? the alpha male barked at her angrily.

"I am requesting your permission to do a project on the pack, Faolan. I was assigned a partner while in the Forest, and he also happens to be my own, if you don't mind," Millicent said, straining to be polite and not insult the wolf pack's leader.

You have my permission, wolf-girl... My apologies to both of you, Faolan added after a moment.

"Thank you very much. Your apology is accepted," Millicent said with a bow.

Theodore bowed too, hoping it was respectful enough for the pack leader. He didn't want to get Millicent into trouble by not being polite...

What is your name? What project are you doing? Faolan asked Theodore.

"My name is Theodore Nott. I am hoping to do my project on an Erkling, sir," Theodore replied.

They are odd creatures, Erklings. The pack saw one a few days ago with the Queen of All. It did not seem to want to harm her, which we find unusual, Faolan murmured.

"Relo met Ginevra as a child and knew who and what she was going to become," Theodore said. "He would never hurt Ginevra, and no longer has the taste for human children after his grandfather was killed by one..."

You spoke with the Erkling? You know the Queen of All? Faolan asked in surprise.

"Theodore has elf blood, so he can communicate with Relo. We both know Ginevra; we live with her," Millicent replied.

It would be an honour if we could meet her, wolf-girl and elf-boy... Faolan paused for a moment, his ears pricked up.

He howled in response to something too soft for human ears to hear, then turned his attention back to Millicent and Theodore.

I must leave now. You may return to do your project on the pack with the Queen of All... Faolan said, then leapt out of the clearing quickly.

"Yer should probably go ter the castle ter find th' Erklin' now," Hagrid said behind them.

"Good idea," Theodore muttered, leading Millicent out of the clearing before she could start yelling at Hagrid for scaring them.

Hagrid shook his head after them, then continued along to find his students...

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"I don't think it's here, Gregory," Vincent said with a frown.

"It has to be," Gregory muttered, looking up into the trees. "It's just hiding from us, that's all..."

"Maybe if it senses danger, then the Clabbert will glow scarlet and we can find it," Vincent suggested.

"Excellent idea," Gregory said, kissing him quickly. "Do you think Colin would help us? He's part Muggle after all..."

"I think I'm almost offended at that," Colin said with a grin as he walked into the clearing with Luna.

There was a soft scarlet light above them and Gregory hugged Colin quickly, before climbing up the tree.

"Thanks, Colin!" Gregory called as he stopped next to the mottled green Clabbert.

Its horns looked scarlet due to the pustule in the middle of it's forehead, which was still glowing scarlet. The Clabbert grinned at Gregory, razor sharp teeth practically glowing in the eerie light. The Clabbert's arms and legs hung down, making it look like an orang-utan.

"What does you want?" the Clabbert asked.

"Can I do a project on you?" Gregory asked, surprised that the Clabbert was able to talk.

"Why does you want to?"

"I think Clabberts are interesting," Gregory replied.

"Why does you think that?"

"Because of the way you turn scarlet when there's danger nearby. And because I want to know about the way you live. The textbooks didn't have much information about Clabberts, so I thought it best to find one and ask him or her myself," Gregory said.

"Does you think I am a boy or a girl?" the Clabbert asked with another toothy grin.

Gregory considered for a moment. There were no written differences between the male or female of this species, and this was the first Clabbert he'd ever met, so he had nothing to compare against...

"A girl?" he asked.

"Why does you think that?"

"Your skin is bright green. I think the males would be a darker green," Gregory said.

"You is right... I is Chi, what does you get called?" Chi asked, grinning at him.

"My name is Gregory. Nice to meet you Chi," he said.

"What's going on, Greg?" Vincent called up the tree.

Chi swung down to lower branches and peered at Vincent. Gregory quickly climbed down the tree and stood next to Vincent. Luna and Colin walked over and looked at the Clabbert in interest.

"Vince, this is Chi. Chi, this is Vincent. This is Luna and Colin," Gregory introduced.

"Chi? Does this means Clabberts talk, or you named it?" Vincent asked in a quiet tone.

"I does talk! I named myself!" Chi said, swinging on the tree's lowest branch and looking at them, her legs dangling.

"Wow! Can I take a picture of you, Chi?" Colin asked enthusiastically.

"Muggle is danger!" Chi said, quickly swinging over to Gregory and wrapping her arms around his neck so she hung down his back.

"Colin's all right, Chi. He's a friend," Gregory said.

"Muggle is friend?" Chi asked, frowning.

"This one is, yes," Gregory said with a nod.

"Can Chi bite Muggle to see?" Chi asked, dropping to the ground and crawling over to Colin awkwardly.

"Why do you need to bite me?" Colin asked suspiciously.

"To see if you tastes like danger," Chi replied simply.

"All right..." Colin said, offering her his left hand with a shake of his head.

Chi stood carefully and took his hand in hers before biting his fingers hard. Colin gritted his teeth and tried not to scream out in pain. Slowly, the scarlet colour faded from the pustule on Chi's forehead and she released Colin's fingers from her mouth. Colin cradled them to his chest, trying not to let his eyes water anymore than they already were.

"Chi is sorry for Colin's pain... Chi will help take pain away," Chi said, holding out her hands.

Wary, Colin gave her his hand again. Chi grinned happily, then took his hand and put it on her pustule. It started to glow a softer scarlet colour and Colin watched in surprise as the red marks disappeared and his pain subsided.

"Thank you..." Colin said.

"How did you do that?" Gregory asked.

"That was amazing," Vincent said with a grin.

"Chi just does it," she said with a shrug.

"We had better go find a Jobberknoll now," Luna said. "I will see you all later," she said with a smile.

"Thanks again, Chi. See you later!" Colin said, leaving with Luna.

"Have yer found a Jobberknkoll yet?" Hagrid asked as they left the clearing.

"Not yet. Do you have any idea of where on would be?" Luna asked with a smile.

"There was one over there a few weeks ago, Migh' still be there," Hagrid said, pointing to a different clearing.

"Thank you, Professor," Luna said. "Blaise, Neville and Seamus are in the clearing after that one," she said, indicating to the right direction.

Hagrid gave her a nod of thanks, then continued on.

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Blaise, Neville and Seamus stopped in the middle of the path, waiting for a centaur to pass. They couldn't go to the clearings, since the centaurs all avoided them. Soon enough, Bane arrived, his bow aimed at them. Seeing who it was, he lowered the bow to the ground and glared at Blaise angrily.

"What are you doing here, and with two mortals?" Bane hissed at Blaise. "You should not have brought them here!"

"I am here to ask your permission for something. I brought Neville and Seamus with me because I needed partners while in the Forest, and I wanted them to come with me," Blaise drawled, ignoring Bane's tone.

"What do you need permission for?" Bane asked curiously, choosing to ignore his rudeness.

"I want to do a project on the centaurs for my Care of Magical Creatures class," Blaise replied.

"A project? You just want our secrets told to everyone!" Bane hissed angrily, raising a hand to hit Blaise for his traitorous attitude.

"Leave him alone!" Seamus yelled, both himself and Neville standing in front of Blaise protectively.

Vines slithered onto the path at a rapid rate, twisting around Bane's hooves, stopping him from moving. Neville looked at Seamus in surprise.

"I didn't know you knew how to do that, Seamus," he said with a grin.

"Either did I," Seamus said in surprise.

"We should go... I'll do my project on something else," Blaise muttered.

"Firenze'll be more than happy ter help yer," Hagrid said quietly when the three of them walked down the path.

"All right. Thanks, Hagrid," Blaise said.

"Isn't that horklump over there, Nev?" Seamus said, indicating over to a large tree that had a pink mushroom-like thing with black bristles growing next to it.

Neville hurried over to it, looking at the animal-classified fungi.

"There's a jarvey a few metres tha' way," Hagrid said to Seamus, indicating the direction.

"Thanks. We'll be back in a minute, okay?" Seamus said to Neville, hurrying off with Blaise.

Hagrid stayed with Neville, not sure how long those plants would stay around Bane's legs.

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Ginevra and Draco went along the path, keeping an ear and eye out for any signs of the yeti. They'd had some help from a few creatures to get this far, as the yeti hadn't been on the same path as when they were in Runes. Now, there were no creatures around at all, which meant the yeti had scared them all off and was close by.

"You think if we started calling it, it'd come out?" Ginevra asked.

"We're just going to say 'here, yeti, yeti, yeti', are we?" Draco drawled, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I was actually going to suggest that you call it with your Veelan powers, but if you'd rather try calling it that way..." Ginevra said with a smirk, laughing at him.

Draco gave her a glare, then with a mere blink, his Veelan side was revealed.

"Yeti!" he called. "I need to speak with you," Draco called.

After he used more power and called a few more times, the yeti left the concealment of the trees and stood in front of them. Draco slowly released his hold on the yeti, who tried to leave quickly, but Ginevra stopped him, calling him with her own powers.

"Please stay," Ginevra said.

"We just want to talk to you," Draco said, his Veelan side returned.

They both kept the yeti in front of them and calm. As Draco explained why he wanted to talk to the yeti, both he and Ginevra noticed that the yeti was calming down, and they both slowly released their hold on him.

"Why do you want me to be in your project?" the yeti asked Draco, who looked to Ginevra for a translation, having heard nothing but a few growls.

"He wants to know why you want him to be in your project," Ginevra said.

"Because there's never been a yeti at Hogwarts before and I want my assignment to be original," Draco said.

"Fine. Just stay away with your fire sticks," the yeti responded.

"He said fine, as long as you don't come near him with fire sticks... I think he means your wand," Ginevra said. "Or matches, or actual sticks that are on fire," she added with a shrug.

"Thanks for that. Wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me," Draco drawled sarcastically.

"Glad to be of help!" Ginevra said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah... Can I set up a time and place to meet with you?" he asked, turning back to the yeti.

"Tomorrow afternoon at this time. We can meet here, King of All," the yeti replied.

Ginevra laughed softly at that, then looked at Draco, who had his eyebrow raised at her.

"Tomorrow afternoon, same place. He called you King of All," Ginevra said, laughing again.

Draco glared at her and grounded his teeth, then bowed to the yeti before leaving.

Ginevra gave her own bow, then hurried after Draco, still laughing at him.

"You're the Queen of All, what are you laughing at?" he muttered.

"Sod off," Ginevra muttered, no longer laughing, crossing her arms.

"Aw... Is the little Weaselette all upset about being called a Queen?" Draco taunted, smirking at her.

"I am not little! Don't call me Weaselette, or Queen either for that matter!" Ginevra said glaring at him.

Draco just smirked at her then they left to her rooms.

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"Ginevra! Draco! Are you two finished already?" Theodore asked as he and Millicent met up with them.

"We set up meetings with the animals for tomorrow during class," Draco said.

"We should probably get questions ready then," Ginevra mused.

"What about you?" Draco asked.

"I've finished meeting with Faolan, the wolf pack leader," Millicent added at Ginevra's look. "He wants to meet you before he will let me do my project," Millicent said to her.

"I guess I can meet him tomorrow before I go to meet the Gytrash," Ginevra said with a shrug.

"I'm just going to talk to Relo now," Theodore said as they entered Ginevra's rooms.

Relo came running out to meet them, immediately attaching himself to Ginevra's leg.

"We are glad to see you!" Relo said with a big smile, hugging her leg tightly.

"I'm glad to see you too, Relo," Ginevra replied smiling in return.

"Elf boy!" Relo exclaimed, hugging Theodore's leg too.

"Hi, Relo... Would you like to help me with a project?" Theodore asked him, grinning.

"Oh! You want fishies and birdies for it?" Relo asked.

"Uh... No. I wanted to do my project on you," he replied with another grin.

Relo's eyes widened and filled with tears. He sniffed happily and squeezed Theodore's leg tighter.

"Really?" he asked happily, now crying.

"Don't cry, Relo..." Theodore said, unsure what to do.

"I will be your project!" Relo said, pulling Theodore down his room to talk.

"That's the happiest I've seen Relo in a long time," Bexley commented as he floated out of Ginevra.

"I wonder how everyone else is going?" Ginevra pondered, going to the meeting room with Millicent and Draco to write out their questions.

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"Have you found one yet? We've been looking for ten minutes!" Gregory muttered.

"We looked for the Clabbert for longer!" Vincent muttered. "You just have to be quiet! It will appear sooner or later!"

"Later is more probable than sooner," Gregory muttered, sitting on a rock.

Sighing softly, he rested his head on his hand and looked around, watching his boyfriend search for a moke. It was going to be impossible. Silver-green lizards, Mokes were able to shrink at will and therefore, it was never going to show up while they were looking for it... He sighed again, then held his breath as he noticed something next to him.

"Vince," he whispered. "There's a freaking Moke next to me," Gregory said, staring at the lizard in shock.

"What?" Vincent said in surprise, hurrying over, being as quiet as he possibly could.

They both looked at the Moke, watching as it regarded them suspiciously.

Are you going to skin me? the Moke asked, blinking one eye.

"Oh, no! I just wanted to do a project on you!" Vincent said, trying to keep his voice quiet in case he scared the Moke away.

The Moke looked at Vincent again, blinking slowly. It stretched slightly on the sunny rock, then flicked its tongue out before replying.

Very well. You may take me with you, the Moke replied.

"Thanks... I'm Vincent," he said.

Micah, the Moke said.

"Nice to meet you," Vincent said. He held out a hand for Micah, who climbed on and up to Vincent's neck, wrapping his long tail around him carefully.

"Gregory! Where is you?" they heard Chi calling.

"I'm here, Chi!" Gregory called out.

In a few seconds, the Clabbert appeared in the tree-tops above them, an arrow flying past her. The arrow landed at Gregory's feet.

He growled angrily, then his body started to change. He started to grow taller and broadened out until he was almost four metres tall. A club appeared in his hands, the thicker end of it spiking into a mace-like tip. His hair shortened slightly, sticking up from his head, green and brown infusing into his usually brown hair.

Chi jumped from the tree onto Gregory's shoulder as another arrow whirled through the air.

"Leave her alone!" Gregory roared, smashing through the trees to where the armed centaurs were still firing arrows.

On seeing the large troll before them, most of the centaurs galloped off. A few of the more foolish ones stayed, attempting to pierce the troll with their arrows. The arrows did nothing to Gregory, except anger him further. Most of them were embedded into his club. A few managed to strike him, but immediately bounced off his thick skin. Seeing that they were doing nothing but anger the troll, the remaining centaurs left before it decided to eat them.

Gregory returned to his human form with a shudder, Chi still wrapped around his neck.

"We should get back now. Can you walk?" Vincent asked Gregory in concern.

Gregory just nodded, then they left quickly, the Clabbert and Moke with them.

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"Leggo of me, ye ugly brat!" the Jarvey yelled at Seamus.

Seamus just smirked at it and shook his head, almost in disappointment.

"I've heard worse from me mam," he muttered.

The Jarvey grinned, then started swearing at Seamus even more, saying some of the foulest things he'd ever heard.

"Me cousin's got worse language then you do, and she's only five!" Seamus said, sounding bored and not insulted at all.

This confused the Jarvey, who was used to being thrown after a few well chosen insults. He liked being thrown away, because then he could yell a few more insults before going underground to hunt for gnomes and voles again. Old ladies were usually the best ones to insult, but sometimes they got insulted before he even started swearing and just threw him away with more force than they should have in the first place.

"Yer boyfriend here's getting jealous!" the Jarvey said, knowing that should offend him.

"Oh, so you know about my boyfriend, do you?" Seamus asked cheerfully.

"Fer gods' sakes! Lemme go!" the Jarvey said, struggling again.

Seamus gripped the Jarvey around the neck and watched as he squirmed, unsuccessfully getting out of his grip.

"You finished yet?" Seamus asked with a yawn as the Jarvey stopped to take a breath.

"You really shouldn't tease him like that," Neville said from the edge of the clearing.

"I'm not teasing the Jarvey, I'm trying to talk to it," Seamus said.

"I didn't mean the Jarvey, love," Neville said, winking at him.

Blaise scowled at both of them, going a slight shade of red.

"Hurry up and get this over with, would you?" he muttered.

"I doubt it's going to cooperate anytime soon. I might as well choose another animals for me project," Seamus said, putting the Jarvey on the ground with a shrug.

"Ye want to do a project on me? Why the hell didn't ye say so?" the Jarvey said, scurrying up Seamus' pants and body, before resting on his shoulder. "Well, come on then! Yer slower than a bloody turtle!" he muttered.

"Uh... Okay," Seamus said, shaking his head in some surprise.

They left the clearing, Neville talking animatedly to Blaise about the Horklump.

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Luna looked at the small blue-speckled bird that was perched on the tree, her ear right next to its beak.

"I think I can hear something," she whispered to Colin, grinning.

"I think that's just the Jobberknoll breathing," he whispered in return.

Luna shook her head slightly, then returned her attention to the small bird, listening intently again.

Colin grinned and shook his head. Sitting on a nearby tree trunk, he watched as Luna tried to tickle the Jobberknoll into saying something.

After at least ten minutes of waiting, tickling, poking and stroking, Luna finally stopped, determined to think of something else for tomorrow's lesson.

"We better go to Hagrid's hut now so you can do your project on the Hippogriff," she said, leaving the clearing with him.

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Gregory and Vincent walked into Ginevra's rooms with Blaise, Seamus and Neville behind them. Coming out of the meeting room, Millicent, Ginevra and Draco stared as they walked past, the three animals on their shoulders.

"Have I started up an animal shelter and not realised it?" Ginevra whispered to Draco, a frown on her face.

"Not that I know of," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Okay. Just checking," Ginevra said, shaking her head before following the boys.

"Can Chi stay with us? She's not safe in the Forest. The centaurs are attacking her," Gregory said, anger filling his face as Chi whimpered and clung to him.

"They are? For what reason?" Ginevra asked Chi.

"I speaked with Gregory, Queen of All," Chi said, whimpering again.

"Call me Ginevra," she said, trying to soothe the Clabbert.

Chi just gave a nod, wrapping herself around Gregory's neck again.

"I'll deal with the centaurs later," Ginevra said with a sigh.

"Micah just wanted to come with me," Vincent said, shrugging slightly.

I was eager to meet the new Queen, Micah said respectfully, giving her an odd bow.

"Thank you, Micah. You can call me Ginevra too," she said.

Thank you, Ginevra, Micah said.

"Hello again, Jarvey," Ginevra said, smirking at the Jarvey wrapped around Seamus' neck.

"Queen... Ginevra," he said nervously.

"Are you going to be respectful while in my house?" Ginevra asked sternly.

"O' 'course! I'm not that bloody stupid!" the Jarvey said. "Sorry..." he muttered at her glare. "I will be respectful, Ginevra," the Jarvey said.

"What is your name?" Ginevra asked.

"Don't got one," the Jarvey said with a shrug. He scurried off Seamus and down to the floor, dodging Relo, who was running down the hallway quickly. "Be careful ye bloody dolt!" the Jarvey said. "Ye almost ran me over!"

"You dodged him pretty good," Seamus said with a grin. "Why not call yourself Dodger?"

"Dodger? Sounds good enough," the Jarvey said with a shrug, before chasing after Relo and biting at his heels.

"Ginevra!" Relo cried, running over to her.

Dodger stopped short, then scurried back to Seamus quickly before Ginevra could do anything to him.

"Dodger is not being respectful," Chi said, frowning at Gregory. "You should turn to a troll again and teach him lessons!"

"You turned into a troll?" Pansy said from the doorway, her hair dripping. "I leave you in the Forest not even for an hour and you go turning into a troll!" she muttered, glaring at him.

"The centaurs were trying to hurt Chi," Gregory said, coaxing Chi out from behind his back. "Pansy, this is Chi. Chi, this is my girlfriend, Pansy," he introduced.

"Oh... Hi Chi," Pansy said, going red slightly, embarrassed.

"Gregory is dating two peoples?" Chi asked, frowning at Pansy, then at Vincent.

"Yes. It's not that uncommon," Gregory said.

"I'll say! Can't even insult someone about it anymore!" Dodger complained, Seamus, Blaise and Neville smirking at him.

The bell rang loudly just as the Patil twins walked into the room.

"Did we miss something?" they asked in surprise, seeing all of the animals around.

Sram flew over to Ginevra, bowing to her before bowing to Draco and sitting on his shoulder.

"Great... All we need is Magnus Cauda-cattus, Lady Evita, Volatil, Fligard and Leo-Bestia-Famulus in here and we've practically got the whole wizarding animal kingdom," Ginevra muttered as Lyra flew overhead, landing on Colin's shoulder as he and Luna walked in.

"We're off to lunch!" Gregory and Vincent called, already going through the door.

Pansy pulled them back inside.

"I don't think Chi and the Moke would appreciate being scared by all of the students so soon," Pansy said.

My name is Micah, the Moke said with a smile. I appreciate your concern. I happen to agree with Pansy. It would be a much for us and the other students to see so many animals while they are trying to eat.

Chi gave a nod, then swung off Gregory and up to the beam above them.

"We stays here with them!" Relo said, nodding in agreement with himself.

"Are you sure that you want to stay here with Dodger?" Bexley asked, floating out of Ginevra.

"I'll be on me best behaviour!" Dodger said. "What the hell are ye anyways?" he asked, jumping up to Bexley.

"A Boggart," Bexley replied.

"So what's me worst fear?" Dodger asked, smirking at him.

Bexley sighed softly, then turned into a bird large enough to eat the Jarvey. Dodger yelped, then scurried behind Relo.

"All right... I believe ye," Dodger said as Bexley returned to his mist-form.

Vincent put Micah on the table carefully.

"Make sure you don't go shrinking where people could sit on you, okay Micah?" he warned.

I know. Thank you, Vincent, Micah said, smiling at being treated like he was still a child.

They closed the door on the animals, feeling guilty about leaving them behind. Hurrying to the Great Hall, Ginevra talked with Luna about the Jobberknoll.

"I gave a dead one to Snape a few days ago. He might let you look at it, if you think that'll help your assignment," Ginevra said to Luna.

"All right. I'll ask him later in class," Luna said with a smile.

Lunch went by without much incident. Ron, Lavender and Dean were at the other end of the Great Hall, so far away that not even they could be bothered trying to get at Ginevra and her friends.

They bell went far too soon for Gregory and Vincent's liking, but they hurried along with the others to Ginevra's room anyway and got their things ready.

"We'll see you in Potions, Neville. Have fun in Herbology!" Ginevra said, hugging him.

"You're acting like you're not going to see me for weeks on end," Neville drawled, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hours are weeks without you!" Ginevra exclaimed, laughing at his expression.

"Shall we let her be crazy on her own, or join in?" Blaise asked Seamus, who smirked.

"Join in, of course!" he said, winking.

"Hours are years without you, love!" Blaise exclaimed, pulling Neville down to him and kissing him hard.

"Hours are centuries without you!" Seamus said, pulling Neville up to him and repeating Blaise's action.

"Well... Hours are definitely going suck if I have to be away from both of you," Neville said.

"We're going to Herbology too," Colin muttered to Luna, feeling left out.

"If you're done playing the tragic lovers, we want to get to class sometime soon!" Millicent said, making them aware that they were blocking the corridor.

Laughing, Ginevra pulled the three boys through the doorway and pushed them to start them walking. Draco took Ginevra's hand in his own, winking when she looked at him in surprise.

"Gods, they're holding hands now..." Pansy said, pretending to be sick.

Vincent and Gregory smirked at each other, grabbing her hands in their own.

Theodore grabbed Millicent's hand with a wink and Padma laughed softly.

"Now I feel lonely!" Padma exclaimed theatrically.

Parvati took her sister's hand with a laugh, then they hurried after the others. Colin grinned at Luna, then took her offered hand and ran after them too.

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"Today you will be finishing your Rune bags. Those of you who forgot to bring yours, please get a pass before you go get them," Yepir said.

A few people grabbed passes then left quickly to get their materials.

"Those of you who brought yours, please get started," she said, sitting down at her desk. "I will be marking papers, but if anyone has questions, then just ask me," Yepir said.

Ginevra took out her red and maroon pieces of cloth, then started to sew from where she had left off in the last lesson.

When the others had returned with their unfinished bags, Yepir got everyone's attention.

"If everyone finishes sewing with enough time left, we will go into the Forbidden Forest to choose the wood for your Runes," she said. "This does not mean that you should try to hurry up your sewing. The quality of your bag is just as important as the rest of the process, as it shows what kind of person you are," Yepir said seriously.

"Do you have a Rune bag, Professor?" Hermione asked, raising her hand slightly.

"Of course," Yepir said with a smile, opening a drawer in her desk.

She showed them all a navy bag with thin white stitches. On the bottom right corner was a Norse pattern, stitched in yellow cotton.

"I stitched the pattern by hand and I also made it into a drawstring bag, so I wouldn't lose any of the runes," Yepir said. "You can add your own pattern once you've made the actual runes," she said, encouraging them to continue sewing.

Everyone continued sewing, almost disappointed when they finished. One by one, everyone in the class finished sewing their bags. They finished so that there was still twenty minutes before the Potions class.

"I doubt there's enough time to get the Runes today. You can choose the type of wood you would like to use for your Runes, so that you know for tomorrow's lesson," Yepir said, books appearing on her desk with a flick of her wand.

The class rushed to grab a book, flipping through the pages to see information about runes and the types of runes that could be made. Sitting at her desk, Ginevra looked at the introduction of her book: Why is wood the medium of choice?

"A tree is the most perfect of spiritual beings, with its roots buried alive in Mother Earth and its limbs alive and growing in Father Sky.

According to the Song of the Sybil, when the earth was young, Odin and his two brothers found two trees: an ash tree and an elm, faint, feeble, with no fate assigned to them. Breath they had not, nor blood, nor senses, nor language possessed, nor life-hue. Odin gave them breath. Hoenir gave them senses (shape). Blood and life-hue was given by Lothur.

We are the forbears of the trees. One does not just carve runes, one recreates this ritual. By chanting the name of the the rune, one give the rune breath, the energy of its name. By carving it, one gives the rune senses (shape). By coloring the rune red (blood is optional), one gives it life's hue.

When you carve runes you create life."

Reading this alone helped Ginevra make her decision. She wanted her runes to be made from an ash tree. It was merely a coincidence that her wand was made from an elm tree. Wasn't it?

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Snape looked at the class sternly, his eyes falling on Ron, then on Lavender, who both went pale quickly.

"Today you will be making a Memory Potion. This means that you will be using Jobberknoll feathers, which also means that you will have to be extremely careful and not waste any of them. If you waste any of these feathers, I will personally put you in detention for a month, however horrendous it may be to myself," Snape muttered under his breath, Ginevra and Draco stifling their laughter.

Hermione's hand shot up quickly.

"What is it, Miss Granger?" Snape drawled, rolling his eyes.

"Are we making a potion to restore or erase memories, sir?" she asked, trying not to seem too excited.

"That will be up to you. There are not enough ingredients for the entire class to make the same one, so tell me which potion you will be making with your group before you retrieve the ingredients," Snape said. "Talk quietly! You two can go with Miss Brown and Mr. Thomas," Severus said to Luna and Colin, sounding apologetic.

"That's all right. Thank you, Professor," Luna said with a smile as she sat next to Lavender.

"Which potion's easier?" Neville asked Ginevra softly as the rest of the class started talking.

"They're pretty much at the same level. The memory restoration potion takes three days to complete, but the memory loss one takes a lot of work in a short amount of time," Ginevra replied.

"I can handle a lot of work, especially if it means I get out of here quicker," Blaise said, winking at Neville.

"That's not fair to me," Seamus hissed at them, trying to make it look like he was still talking with Pansy, Vincent and Gregory. "Why do I have to be here when you two are off by yourselves?" he asked with a sexy pout.

"They'll be busy helping prepare for this afternoon," Ginevra said quietly.

"This after... Oh," Seamus said, realising what she meant then nodded. "Fine then... Do what you want," he said with a bright grin, turning back to his group.

"Are you willing to work hard, Draco?" Blaise asked him, smirking.

"Yeah. If it gets me out early, then why not?" Draco replied.

"I'll go get the ingredients while you get the cauldron ready," Ginevra said, leaving the table.

"You have chosen your potion?" Snape asked.

"Memory loss potion, Professor," Ginevra replied.

"Very well. Get your ingredients," Severus said, putting a tally mark under 'memory loss' on the board.

Ginevra placed everything on a tray, then walked back to the table carefully. Putting on her gloves, she passed the Jobberknoll feathers to Neville.

"These go in first. They need to boil with the water in order for the potion to take full effect," she said.

Neville nodded, dropping the feathers into the cauldron.

"While that's boiling, we should prepare everything. Four newt eyes need to be stirred in with the robin egg," Ginevra said, passing the small tube of eyes and egg to Draco in a bowl.

He grimaced, but rolled his sleeves up all the same and cracked the egg into the bowl.

"Do I add the shell to it?" Draco asked, seeing it in the instructions.

"Yes. This potion we follow to the letter," Ginevra said. "I haven't had a chance to play with it yet," she said with a smirk.

"You couldn't get newt eyes?" Blaise taunted, smirking back at her.

"Oh, I got those fine. The Jobberknoll feathers on the other hand, are very hard to come by, even in Knockturn Alley," Ginevra replied with a shrug. "Neville, can you mix the extract of boomslang with the castor oil seeds. The seeds are very poisonous, so be careful and put on your gloves," Ginevra instructed.

Neville nodded and quickly put his gloves on before mixing the two ingredients.

"Blaise, put in the rosemary flowers, violet petals and rue petals," Ginevra instructed. "Stir three times to the right, then two to the left. Rue petals are the yellow ones," she added.

Blaise nodded then did as she said quickly.

"Neville, add those in when Blaise is finished," Draco said, reading from the book.

"Draco, stir the cauldron clockwise, then counter clockwise when Neville's done, then put your mixture in when the water's boiled," Ginevra said, finishing mixing her own ingredients - frankincence and lemon rind - into a paste.

"Those of you doing the memory loss potion will have enough time over to do an extra potion. Some of you will need this chance in order to get your grades to a satisfactory standard," Snape said, looking straight at Lavender, then to Ron.

Parvati and Padma glared at Ron.

"You better not muck up our grades, Weasley. We haven't worked this hard to fail just because of you," Padma hissed at him. "Oh, stop looking at me like that, Perks," she added, glaring at the younger girl.

Sally-Anne's eyes widened and she nodded, quickly returning to mixing the boomslang and castor oil seeds.

Parvati smirked at her twin, then continued mixing the rosemary flowers, and violet and rue petals together.

Draco stirred the potion, then waited for the water to boil. After a few minutes of waiting impatiently, the water boiled over the cauldron. Making the fire a little less hot, Draco watched as the water stopped bubbling, then added in the newt eyes that he'd mixed with the robin's egg and shell.

"Move back as soon as you've stirred that two times counter clockwise," Ginevra instructed.

Draco nodded, then stirred the potion as instructed, moving back quickly. With a small poof a cloud of smoke rose above the cauldron, before getting sucked back into the potion.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Neville asked with a frown, looking down into the cauldron.

Ginevra pulled him out of the way and another cloud rose out of the cauldron, getting sucked back in just as quickly.

"It does it one more time, so I wouldn't lean over the cauldron," she warned.

Blaise moved back and sat on his stool, reading the instructions.

Once more, a cloud of smoke rose out of the cauldron, but this time it wasn't pulled back in, instead, it just evaporated into thin air.

"Okay. Now we check to see what colour the potion is. It should be a light blue colour," Blaise read.

Grabbing a test tube with a pair of tongs, Draco dipped it into the cauldron.

"How light does it need to be? This is sky blue," he said. "Wait... It's changing," Draco said. "Okay, it's a lighter blue now," he said after a few seconds.

"You need to add in yours now, Ginevra. Then stir once to the left and twice to the right," Blaise instructed.

Ginevra did as he said, watching the potion carefully.

"What colour is it now?" Blaise asked.

Draco used another test tube to check, replying that it was a light green colour.

"Good. Leave it for five minutes and then we can hand it up," Blaise said with a nod.

"We should start to clean this up while we're waiting," Neville said.

Draco groaned in annoyance, but went quiet and started to clean when both Blaise and Neville looked at him with their eyebrows raised.

They finished cleaning within five minutes, then checked the potion once more before handing it up to Professor Snape.

"If you four want to do another potion, you may, however it is not necessary for your scores," Snape said.

"We'll leave, thanks anyway!" Ginevra said, hurrying to the table to pack her things.

Severus looked at the folded parchment Ginevra had placed on his desk. He sat down and read it discreetly as the four students passed by his table to leave, hiding the fact that he was reading the note to the rest of the class.

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Draco, Ginevra, Blaise and Neville hurried down to Ginevra's room.

"I hope Snape does what we asked," Neville said with a frown.

"Of course he will. He's a Slytherin, after all," Blaise said, winking at him.

"But he doesn't like surprises," Neville pointed out. "He might want to spoil the surprise or something."

"He shouldn't do that," Blaise said, not as confident now.

"Well, either way, we've barely got half an hour to get everything ready for Theodore's birthday party," Ginevra said. "Did you get everyone to sign his card yet?" she asked as they hurried down the corridor.

"Just you and Draco left now," Blaise said with a nod.

"Okay. We'll sign it when we get in," Draco said. "Did your brothers get started on the decorating?" he asked as Ginevra opened the door cautiously.

"Yes..." Ginevra said, sighing in relief. "You better not have done anything to the food!" she said, seeing Fred and George waiting for them.

"No trust in us at all, Forge!" George said, shaking his head.

"None at all, Gred! I'm so disappointed!" Fred said with a sigh.

"Very funny," Ginevra drawled.

Fred and George smirked, then gave her a low bow, winking as they straightened properly.

"We were able to get Oliver to look after the shop earlier than we thought, so we managed to get more done," they said, walking to the meeting room, the others behind them.

Ginevra rolled her eyes slightly as they did an exaggerated drum roll before opening the doors.

"This is great! Where'd you get that sign from?" Neville asked in shock, seeing the huge 'Happy 18th Birthday' sign hanging on the end wall.

"Muggle party store. We just did a few adjustments to it," the twins replied with winks.

Underneath the sign was a table filled with various food and drinks. Another table was piled with presents.

"By the way, Ginevra... You could have told us that you'd gone and got a whole heap of animals! We were about to start calling the Ministry Animal Protection Department!" Fred and George said.

"Not MAPD!" Colin drawled sarcastically. "I really hope that Brown gets what she bloody deserves. Oh, Dean! Luna's putting a curse on me! She looked at me twice without blinking! Dean, do this! Dean, do that! Stop looking at me like that! Why's Creevey glowing red and breathing flames?" Colin mimicked.

Luna shook her head slightly, then conjured up a pillow for him. Colin thanked her, then screamed his lungs out into it.

"I pity the pillow," Parvati and Padma drawled as they walked in.

"Next time, someone else has to go with them, or I will kill them," Colin snarled.

"Oh, pick me!" Millicent said with a grin. "I'll be your alibi if you want," she said winking at him.

"You're finished already? Does that mean Theodore will be here soon?" Ginevra asked.

"Relax! Theodore was chosen to clean everything, then Snape said he wanted to see him after class. Guess your note worked," Millicent replied.

"Did Pomfrey agree to give Theo the night off?" Draco asked.

Millicent nodded. "She told him to have the night off for working so hard in the last few weeks. She got him a present too," she said, going to her room and returning with a thin package.

Fred and George took it from her, floating it in turns to the top of presents.

"We'll finish decorating the room. Did you get the balloons?" Ginevra asked Fred and George.

"Yes ma'am! Don't worry... There's no exploding ones," they replied.

"Unfortunate that," Padma said to Fred, who nodded in agreement.

"Definitely," Fred said with a sigh.

Ginevra shook her head, then opened the packet of balloons. She started to blow up some, the others taking their own balloons and blowing them up.

"Can anyone tie these up?" Ginevra asked, holding the shimmering silver balloon tightly.

"We know the spell to do it," Fred and George volunteered.

In seconds, everyone was standing in front of them, offering their balloons.

"You don't mean that none of you can tie balloons?" they asked, incredulous.

Colin tried tying his green balloon. It slipped through his fingers, whizzing around the room loudly.

"Take that as a no and start tying!" Ginevra said.

Fred and George sighed, then started to tie the offered balloons.

In minutes, the room was filled with green and silver shimmering balloons.

"Where is everyone?" Theodore called as he walked into the rooms.

They all went quiet quickly, nudging Millicent.

"We're doing homework in the meeting room!" she called, trying to make sure she didn't start laughing

Theodore sighed in disappointment. It seemed that they'd really forgotten about his birthday this year. Not even Gregory and Vincent kept up the pretense this long! He dropped his bag off in his room, then trudged up to the meeting room with his homework in hand. Opening the door, Theodore dropped his stuff in shock, staring at the meeting room.

"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled, Draco included.

"Bloody hell," Theodore muttered, still shocked.

"Happy birthday!" Ginevra said, hugging him.

Millicent smirked at her boyfriend.

"Thought we forgot, did you?" she asked, kissing him.

"Happy birthday, mate," Gregory and Vincent said, clapping him on the back.

Once Theodore had gotten over his shock and everyone had finished saying 'happy birthday' to him, he looked around at all of the balloons, presents and food.

"Thanks," he said, trying not to get teary eyed.

"No problem! Do you want presents or cake first?" Fred and George asked, smirking at him.

"Well... I'll torture you all since you did that to me all day, and go with presents first," Theodore said, smirking when Gregory and Vincent groaned in annoyance. "How long have you been planning this?" he asked.

Parvati and Padma led him to a chair in the middle of the room and sat him on it.

"Since you mentioned it was your birthday," Ginevra replied, giving him her present.

Theodore grinned and opened the present eagerly. A Healer's guide to Herbology.

"If you don't like it, you can exchange it..." she said when he didn't say anything.

"What? Don't be stupid! I love it! Thanks," Theodore said, hugging her tightly.

Draco gave him a pair of Healer robes and was surprised when Theodore hugged him too.

"Okay... You can let go now," Draco said, patting his back after a few moments.

Blaise, Neville and Seamus had all pitched in to buy Theodore two pairs of Chaser gloves for the new Quidditch season.

Parvati and Padma bought him 'A Healer's guide to wandless spells: useful for battles, wars and backyards!', while Fred and George bought a gift 'to open later', according to their small card.

"Millicent will love it," they whispered with identical winks.

"Very. Bad. Images..." Ginevra groaned, shaking her head.

Draco kissed her forehead to comfort her, then went red. Malfoy's weren't supposed to be tender...

"Thanks, Draco," she said with a smile.

Luna and Colin had bought him an expensive wand belt, customising it to also fit other medical necessities, including bandages and a stethoscope.

Pansy, Gregory and Vincent had bought separate presents for him: a book about weather elves, a large block of health chocolate, and a quick-quill set from Flourish and Blotts for 'writing diagnoses'.

Millicent was red when she gave Theodore her present: a small book of vouchers. Theodore flipped through them, grinning and eventually turning red when the vouchers became more private.

"Can we see?" Fred and George teased, pretending to read over his shoulder.

Theodore's eyes went wide and he shut the vouchers, pushing the twins away. He pulled Millicent down onto his lap, kissing her before whispering in her ear.

Ginevra and Draco shut their eyes tightly, and she grabbed his hand in an attempt to take their minds off what Theodore was whispering.

Millicent was bright red by the time he finished whispering to her. She stood up, hoping she hadn't hurt his legs, but Theodore seemed fine and just grinned at her.

"Can we eat now?" Vincent whined.

"I don't think I have an appetite anymore," Ginevra muttered.

"More for us!" Gregory and Vincent said, grinning at her.

They went to Theodore, asking and begging for him to cut the cake.

"All right, I'll cut the damned cake!" Theodore relented, after being bugged by them for two minutes flat.

"Yay!" Gregory and Vincent said, Pansy shaking her head at them.

"Sometimes I swear you're both really five-year-olds just pretending to be seventeen," she drawled.

"Sometimes we would agree with you!" they replied, grabbing plates and eagerly standing next to Theodore.

"You can't cut it yet!" Ginevra, Fred and George exclaimed as Theodore grabbed the knife.

"Why?" Theodore asked with a frown, Gregory and Vincent agreeing.

"We have to sing happy birthday!" the twins said, as if it was obvious.

"Really?"

"Of course! Now sit down on your chair!" Fred and George said, pushing him into it.

They went over to the cake, placing two candles on it, on shaped as a one, the other as an eight. As the twins lit the candles, Ginevra dimmed the lights and started singing happy birthday, her brothers joining immediately.

A second later, Colin, Luna and Neville were singing. Seamus started singing, as did Parvati. Shrugging to himself, Blaise joined in too, Padma not too far behind. Eager to get to the actual cake, Vincent and Gregory sang, Pansy joining in. Grinning at hr boyfriend, Millicent started singing too. After a lot of nudging from Ginevra, Draco finally joined in.

In order to get everyone to sing together, Fred and George started up the song again, Theodore laughing as Gregory and Vincent almost started crying.

Eventually, the song finished, the candles were blown out and the cake was cut, much to Gregory and Vincent's relief.

"This present is from Madam Pomfrey," Fred and George said, giving the present to him, almost having forgot about it.

"Oh... I better thank it for her tomorrow," Theodore said, opening the package.

Millicent frowned as Theodore paled, staring at the parchment he'd pulled out.

"What's wrong?" she asked, going over to him. "Bloody hell!" Millicent exclaimed, reading it over his shoulder.

"What is it? Read it out to everyone!" Parvati and Padma said, wondering what it was.

"Dear Mr. Nott. You have been accepted into the St. Mungo's Healer training program, at the insistence of Madam Poppy Pomfrey. A test will be required in order for you to be successfully enrolled, however we are confident that you will pass. Madam Pomfrey has requested that the test be undertaken while you are still at Hogwarts, and we have agreed to this term. We look forward to seeing you in the future! Kindest regards, St. Mungo's Healers," Millicent read out, Theodore in too much shock to read it out loud.

"That's really good right? I heard that they rarely take healers straight out of school. Pomfrey must have passed with flying colours to have that much influence," Pansy said.

Theodore just stared at the parchment.

"It's the real thing, all right. That's their seal of approval, and I know Healer Wright's handwriting," Neville said, looking at the parchment over Theodore's shoulder.

"Congratulations!" Gregory said, hugging him.

"Thanks," Theodore said, staring at the parchment again. "I can't believe it... It's so hard to get in there," he muttered. "Some people have to wait months before they'll even have an interview with them!"

"Shows how good of a healer you are," Millicent said with a grin. "Pomfrey says that all the time!"

"I thought she was just being nice because I was a Slytherin," Theodore muttered, shaking his head.

"That's usually a reason for people not to be nice," Fred and George pointed out.

Ginevra glared at them, then started to tell them off, sounding a lot like Molly.

"I'm going to St. Mungo's on the next Hogsmeade break if you want to come with me," Neville said quietly to Theodore.

"Apparently they want to set up an interview with me," Theodore said, looking at the second piece of parchment.

"You can take us with you, Neville," Blaise said, Seamus nodding in agreement.

"We want to meet your folks," Seamus said grinning at him.

"Really?" Neville asked, seeming surprised.

"Of course," Blaise said, Seamus wrapping an arm around Neville's waist.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he whispered, kissing him tenderly.

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"I'm exhausted," Ginevra said with a yawn.

"Seems Fred and George got to sleeping before you did," Draco said, nodding over to the twins, who were sleeping underneath the table, snoring softly.

"Where'd all the animals go?" Ginevra wondered, not having heard anything for a while.

"Lyra's sleeping in Colin and Luna's room. Chi and Micah are sleeping in Pansy, Gregory and Vincent's room. Dodger managed to get into Seamus' room. The last I saw of him, he was attempting to climb the bed curtains," Bexley said with a slight smirk. "Relo is sleeping in your room because Theodore and Millicent will most likely want some privacy tonight," he added, grinning now. "Sram fell asleep when the twins did, but he's using the birthday sign as a hammock," Bexley said, nodding over to the sleeping pixie who was swinging softly in an invisible breeze.

"Right... Well, I'm going to drag myself to bed," Ginevra said with another yawn.

"I'll carry you," Draco offered.

"After the amount of Butterbeer you had, I'm surprised you can still stand," she muttered, but not complaining as he picked her up.

Snuggling into Draco's chest, Ginevra was lulled to sleep by the sound of his heartbeat, and was snoring softly by the time he made it to her room. Shaking his head at her, Draco stepped over a snoring Relo, and gently placed Ginevra on the desk chair as he pulled back her bed covers.

Over the night, clothing had been shed due to the rising body heat from the excessive Butterbeers consumed. Draco hadn't taken off much, due to being a Full Blooded Veelan. This meant that the heat and cold didn't affect him unless he wanted it to, or it was very extreme conditions.

Luckily for him, Ginevra had already taken off her robe, jumper, shoes and stockings. He could leave her as she was, or undress her... Shaking his head, Draco put her in the bed then put the covers over her tenderly. On an impulse, he kissed her forehead. He left before he would do anything else to her...

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Draco smirked at Ginevra, kissing her temple lightly.

"I love you, Ginevra," he whispered.

Ginevra rolled over to look at him, smiling genuinely.

"I love you too," she replied, kissing him before letting her lips kiss a trail across his jawbone, resting on his neck.

Draco moaned as her fangs pierced him, his own fangs pushing out. He licked her neck lightly before biting her too, Ginevra's moan the same lust-filled one as his had been.

They Drank from each other eagerly, then made love on the soft cushions surrounding them.

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Ginevra smiled in her sleep, as she rolled over and continued to dream, her sleep uninterrupted until the morning light broke through her window...

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(a/n: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!

In the Runes class, Ginevra reads the introduction - why is wood the medium of choice? This part was taken from: www (dot) sunnyway (dot) com / runes / runeset (dot) html

The present Millicent gives Theodore is a book of vouchers from her to him - eg. one back massage, and other cute stuff like that. She did it for him because she knew he'd like it and he's cute too!

Okay... Due to Real Life being hectic, I am now going to update with one day... This means that the timeline won't be continuing on this way (eg. Sept 15, 16, 17, 18...). It doesn't mean that I won't keep it in chronological order though! Days will be labelled appropriately, so read that carefully! I won't start jumping months or anything like that yet - I'll do a day or two at first, so you can see what that's like... I know some people won't be happy, but at least the chapters will be out a little quicker! Hopefully...

This might not start happening until a few more chapters are out though, so don't start worrying now!

Just a quick note to say that you are now up to date! This site now has the same amount of chapters as my fanfiction one does! This also means that you'll have to wait as long as they do for the next chapter...

Now, for other news... I am starting up a world domination RPG / community on my Live Journal. If anyone is interested, the details to apply are on my fanfiction (dot) net profile (link is on my profile here).

I have written detailed descriptions of the characters in this story, if anyone wants to draw pictures of them... (HINT!) It will be posted in my forum in the topic 'The Vampiress and Veelan' ... Also on fanfiction (dot) net.

Thanks again for reading!)