Lysandra's days were reasonably standard after her visit to Sirius, except that instead of using her free period on Friday mornings to sleep in, the Black Lady was using that time to research the Animagus transformation thoroughly. The books on Animagi she'd gotten for Christmas from Remus and Sirius were full of incredibly helpful handwritten notes.

The days passed fairly quickly now that Lysandra had a project to throw herself into and she barely noticed the thoughtful looks she was getting from Lee as the full moon in April approached. She was tetchier than usual, snapping at him occasionally and her eyes flashing silver at odd moments. Lee noticed the slight change in her expression when someone did something loud and the way her nose pulled her towards different fish or meat dishes.

The dark-skinned teen was working on one of his astronomy assignments while Lysandra was scrawling out an OWL essay for Charms, when he stopped to stare at the moon he was filling stars around. He stayed so absolutely still for such an odd amount of time that Lysandra lifted her head and placed her quill to the side.

"Something wrong, sugar shack?" She purred. Lee blinked and then blinked again.

Almost faster than he could think, Lee jumped up from his seat and dragged Lysandra from her chair. She barely fought his hand on her arm as he pulled her up the stairs to the boy's dorm and pushed her into his room.

"Kenneth, out." He snapped, shoving his third roommate into the hallway half-clothed and throwing up a non-verbal muffling spell.

"Well, if you wanted your wicked way with me-" Lysandra began.

"You're a werewolf."

Lysandra's face drained of the little color she held, and her eyes went silver as she backed away from her friend. Lee's mouth dropped slightly at her silent confession. He watched as she hunched in on herself momentarily, one of her hands twitching towards her back before she threw her shoulders back and her face dropped into a pureblood mask.

"And?" She hissed, moving towards the door. Lee didn't say a word. "I leave you be then."

"Lizzie," He whispered as her hand dropped onto the door handle. She paused, tensing ever so slightly for the rejection she knew was coming. Not everyone was lucky enough to have Sirius Black or James Potter as friends.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you."

The black haired teen whirled to face her friend. "What?"

"It must be so painful," Lee muttered, moving to drag her into his arms. She stared with wide eyes over his shoulder, and it took her several minutes to process what was happening. She pushed herself away from him with a frown.

"Lee, I'm a monster. Why are…. Why are you not more..?" She flailed her hands for lack of the words she wanted.

"Freaked out?" He chuckled, staring her straight in the eye with a small smile. "Lizzie, I'm far more observant then most people think. I commentate Quidditch for Merlin's sake; I pay attention to things. I thought you got so grumpy every month because of your monthly Mother Nature subscription… but I noticed what happened the day after the full moon. It just… took me a while to piece it together. You're still yourself. You just have-"

"A furry little problem." Lysandra chuckled humorlessly.

"Exactly!" He nodded enthusiastically. Lee's handsome face drew into a sad frown. "Can I ask when it happened?"

"Before my third year started. I went on a business trip with my cousin Lazarus to Brazil. On the way back to our hotel, I was attacked by a werejaguar. He didn't bite me, but it's the saliva that carries the virus for lycanthropy. Cats frequently lick their paws clean. The Healers I was taken to cleaned it the best they could, but… I still got partially infected."

"Partially infected?"

Lysandra hummed. "It's not common knowledge, but weres have a fifty percent chance of lycanthropy, forty-two percent chance of death, and an eight percent chance of getting partially infected. I'm in the eight percent. I get moody around the full moons and restless, and every three moons, my body tries to transform into its beast form, but I don't have enough of the virus to do it…. I usually don't remember what happens those moons. Remus says it's a good thing that I don't."

"Professor Lupin was helping you? Does it make it better? To have someone there, I mean." He drew her over to his bed and perched them on the side. She nodded.

"It's always better because instead of mauling ourselves, we play or run together. Or that's the theory at least. Remus had a couple of friends who used to run with him back when he was in school." Lysandra fiddled with the sleeve of her sweater for a moment and then confessed what she'd been researching for so long now. "I've been looking into becoming an Animagus… I thought that, maybe, it would help with the restlessness and the bad moons."

"Okay, kitten." Lee snickered, flopping boldly onto his lovely friend's body. Lysandra huffed as she was pressed into the mattress and Lee wrapped his arms around her. "You and I will deal with that… after a nap."

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Lee?"

"Nap time? Of course. I'm always up for naps, baby doll."

April's moon was worse than she'd thought it would be. She remembered. For the first time since becoming infected, Lysandra could remember her night on a bad moon. And she was horrified.

The sight of her mangled limbs and the constant excruciating pain had driven her to sobs the second she'd woken in the Hospital Wing. She vaguely remembered the high whines and gentle licks from Padfoot during the night, and his worried grey eyes. She was silently staring at the ceiling, tears still sliding down her cheeks from the nagging after-pain, when Lee appeared beside her bedside, carrying his bag and a sad expression painted across his face.

"I brought chocolate." He whispered, dropping into the seat beside her bed. She managed a weak smile.

"Leave it… on the side.. table." She gasped, wincing. Lee piled several Chocolate Frogs onto her side-table, scooting over several potions bottles. He followed these with a bag of Fudge Flies and a blood lollipop, which surprised her. Lee did pay more attention than she thought. Blood lollipops were an unpopular candy with the Hogwarts population, but not with the various magical beasts that frequented Honeydukes.

"You.. do pay… attention." She hissed, amused and pleased at her friend. Lee grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

"Of course, baby-girl!" He lifted a pile of parchment into her view. "I also brought homework."

"Lee." She whined, earning a boisterous laugh. He lifted them slightly higher.

"I've been researching Animagi." He announced quietly, glancing around for Madam Pomfrey. Lysandra shuffled herself up on her pillows, hissing at the pain that flared in her shoulders. "I think that under the Quidditch pitch's bleachers would be a good place to find untouched dew, and I've sent an owl order for two chrysalides for the potions. And don't ask how I managed, but I snagged two leaves from a mandrake in Herbology."

"Two?"

"I'm going to do it with you! Then I can keep you company, so you don't hurt yourself!"

"Lee…." She sighed.

"And don't tell me not to, because I earned a weeks worth of detention for those leaves." He pointed a finger at her.

"Lee. I could kiss you," She giggled. "Again."

"You are one of my best friends, Lizzie. I won't, can't, let you go through this alone now that I know."

"Thank you." She breathed. She was lucky enough to have her own Sirius Black.

Darling Remus,

Firstly, I love you. More than I will ever be able to express through a letter.

This last moon was terrible. Really terrible, Remus. I remember. I was lucid during it. Remus, I'm so sorry that I didn't know how bad it was. I can't get the sight of my mangled limbs out of my head, and I can only imagine what a sight it must have been for you. Sirius was there, and it helped. He was sweet and so worried for me.

Speaking of, my dearest cousin has given me an idea. And don't scowl like that, I promise it's a good idea. Remus, I'm going to become an Animagus. I've done my research, so don't think I'm going blindly into this. I've been reading about the process for a while, and I've got Sirius' and James Potter's written notes. Everything is gathered. I think the ability to transfigure myself into an animal for the moons will help.

Thirdly, because this is indeed my third point of interest, Lee Jordan knows about my furry little problem. He is, surprisingly, quite okay with the idea. He's decided to be my Sirius, meaning that he's going to attempt to become an Animagus with me, to assist on the moons as your friends did. I didn't know that having friends like him were so… I don't know how to describe it, Remus. I am so lucky to know him. Fleur knows, but Fleur is part-Veela and doesn't count. Lee Jordan is genuinely one-of-a-kind; he's brought me out of my shell. I've had civil conversations with my classmates and Housemates where I hadn't ever before. Draco still hasn't spoken or looked at me since the Ferret Incident, but I find that I… can't bring myself to be overly upset about this.

Remus, I am so glad that you are in my life. Thank you. Truly.

With love, to the stars and beyond,

Your cub

The morning of the thirteenth of May, Lysandra was woken by a folded paper frog loudly croaking in her ear. She bolted upright in her bed, rubbing her ear as though the ringing could be soothed away so quickly. She'd gotten about three hours worth of sleep, having spent the night pacing the stairs with Spells From Around the World. She shot a glare at the paper frog, which opened its mouth to spit out a mandrake leaf onto her pillow and then vanish in a plume of bluebell fire.

She frowned at the faint but terrible scent of the leaf before she lifted it and pressed it to the top of her mouth, gagging as she did so. Already, she could tell that the next month was going to be awful. She slowly slid from her bed and reached for the leggings and large sweater she had set out the day before. After grabbing her wand and pushing it into the wand sheath on her forearm, she trudged down the stairs as she battled with a loose braid for her hair.

Lee had dramatically thrown himself across one of the crimson couches and was miserably whining into a cushion. Johnson and Spinnet gave him concerned looks as they headed for the portrait hole. Lysandra seated herself on the couch between his legs and sprawled in the opposite direction.

"It's nasty," Lee whined, throwing his arms as far above his head as he could while on his stomach. "Why does it have to taste so awful!?"

"Because nothing worth doing is free," Lysandra muttered, anxiously pressing her tongue to the leaf to make sure it stuck. "Food?"

"Nooo."

"Didn't think so," Lysandra grumbled, staring at the dying embers in the fire. "Did you finish your essay for Potions?"

"I don't wanna." Lee rolled onto the floor. Unfortunately, his friend had trapped one of his legs against the back of the sofa, and only half of him was on the floor. The dreadlocked Sixth Year watched as the Weasley Twins strode past, muttering to one another.

"Hi Fred, hi George," Lee called loudly. The twins paused, looking over their shoulders in eerie unison.

"Hi, Lee." They chorused and then headed out the portrait hole.

"How are you, Lee, old buddy old pal?" He grumbled, pulling his legs down. "I'm just great, twinsies, just great. And how are you two fine souls? Dashingly debonair as always, Mister Jordan. Bah!"

He pushed himself to his feet and trudged towards the stairs. "Lizzie, will you look over my essay please?"

"For you, darling? Always." She hurried to her feet and went to grab her homework.

The pair met back in the Common Room with their books and rolls of parchment and secluded themselves in the corner at the choice table for homework. The weather was lovely for May in Scotland, so the majority of the student body was enjoying themselves outside. With the terrible leaf in their mouths, Lee and Lysandra had very little motivation to join their peers and spent the rest of the weekend lazily doing an essay now and then and taking lots of naps. Lee seemed to have a sudden fascination with petting Lysandra's head. Not that she was complaining.

Eventually, the pair braved the Great Hall and managed to eat a croissant each and half a pear. For lunch, on Monday, Lysandra managed a ham sandwich while Lee chugged a bowl of soup.

"If it's liquid, I can hold the leaf in place while I eat it." He whispered when he repeated the meal for the next week. The logic of this sentence proved to be useful… until Lee's leaf turned to mush much faster than hers did. Lysandra spent the week after laughing at the teen when he very slowly and carefully picked at a plate of fruit salad. She got her comeuppance when Lee spent the week after that laughing at her disgusted expression when her leaf started falling apart, and she had trouble stomaching the texture. The pair were careful to hide their endeavors from McGonagall, who everyone knew was an Animagus.

The mood in the castle when June rolled around became excited and tense. Everyone was looking forward to the Third Task, which would take place before the end of the term. From what Cassius and Fleur had told her, the Task seemed to be a maze full of creatures and spells to overcome, and both were spending their free time practicing their hexes and charms. She and Lee joined the champions occasionally, learning several interesting French spells to add to their repertoire, and dueling with Cassius. Lysandra, despite her advances in school, thoroughly got trounced during her duel with her Slytherin friend. Ines and Lee had a good laugh at her until she sent Lee staggering around the room with a sneaky Anteoculatia hex. The youngest of the group ended up with whoever wasn't helping the champion at the time.

Lee greeted his female friend on the Fifth with a loud chorus of 'Happy Birthday', and an explosion of gold glitter that stuck all over her. She got several amused looks from the professors throughout the day as she shed glitter all over the school. Somehow, she managed to wrestle the mess into a bun for Potions and didn't get any in her cauldron. At dinner, Lee dropped a present in front of her before she managed to reach for cake. The box came apart easy enough, and Lee grinned at her amused face. Inside the box was a simple silver ring shaped like the ears and tail of a cat. Her friend eagerly showed her the matching one he was sporting.

When the thirteenth of June came around, Lysandra was practically bouncing on her toes by the portrait as she waited for Lee. Occasionally, her silver eyes drifted over to the large full moon outside, and she narrowly avoided the prefect headed out for rounds by ducking behind one of the overstuffed chairs. Lee appeared behind her as the portrait hole shut, grinning ear to ear and carrying a small bag in his hand.

He gestured for her to follow him through the castle, ducking into several secret passages as they headed for the Quidditch Pitch. Lee very nearly barreled into a corridor manned by Cedric Diggory, one of the Hufflepuff prefects, and was yanked back by his friend at the last second. The pair of Gryffindors managed to make it out to the pitch without further incident thankfully and crawled as far beneath the Quidditch stands as they could to gather a silver teaspoon – produced from Lee's little bag – of untouched dew to go into their moon-struck crystal phial with a Death's Head moth chrysalis. And finally, after a torturous month, they spat out the Mandrake leaf. They added a hair to the phial and tucked it back into the drawstring pouch Lee had brought with the spoon, which he handed over to Lysandra, as the more responsible of the two.

The next time they saw those phials would be during an electrical storm. At sunrise, the alarm spells the pair had managed to remember setting shrilled, and both sat up and muttered, "Amato Animo Animato Animagus."

Lee, of course, went back to sleep until the Weasley Twins woke him for class.

Breakfast was a boisterous affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the Third Task. The post owls brought the usual rush of Daily Prophet subscriptions, and with its arrival brought her twin's taunting.

"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? Are you feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?" he shouted from across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table. Students up and down the Slytherin table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Potter's reaction.

Lysandra leaned over Lee's shoulder to see what the fuss was about when he borrowed someone's copy.

Harry Potter: Disturbed and Dangerous

The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.

Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (a relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.

'It is possible,' say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, 'that Potter's brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You-Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.'

'He might even be pretending,' said one specialist. 'This could be a plea for attention.'

The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.

'Potter can speak Parseltongue,' reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. 'There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. My sister was attacked too, and everyone knows that Potter doesn't like me. It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think he'd do anything for a bit of power.'

Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art. Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defence League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers. Similarly, anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."

Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might want to resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the Tournament, the Third Task of which takes place this evening.

"Well, an honorable mention for me." She scoffed, returning to her breakfast of bacon and eggs. Lee tossed the paper back onto the table and reached for the stack of parchments in his bag. He shuffled through his notes and held out the crammed page for Charms.

"Quiz me before my exam?" he pleaded, earning an amused look from Lysandra, who spent the rest of breakfast quizzing the Sixth Year for Charms.

She hurried out of the Great Hall ten minutes before her History of Magic exam, breezing past her brother, who glanced at her as she strode by. The room set aside for the fourth year exam was on the first floor, just past the grand staircase. She was one of the last to arrive, taking her seat at the front this year, instead of the middle. 'B' came before 'M' in the alphabet, after all. Once she was given an Anti-Cheating quill and the latecomers had been accommodated, the examiners gave them all permission to start, and Lysandra set her quill to the paper. This was her last exam for the year, and then she was home-free. Already her mind was churning with ideas for Grimmauld Place's renovations.

Lysandra was quite pleased with how her exam had turned out when she sat for lunch, absentmindedly, closer to the end of the table than usual. Lee's exam was scheduled to go half-way through lunch, unfortunately for him, so she was on her own.

"Mum – Bill!" Weasley exclaimed from behind her, his heavy footsteps coming closer to the table. "What're you doing here?"

"Come to watch Harry in the last task!" Mother Weasley chirped from the other side of the table, startling Lysandra into dropping her strawberry. She hadn't sat this close to Weasleys in a while, and they were louder than she remembered. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh… okay." Weasley said, swinging his leg over the bench. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right; they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."

A glance had her noting that Potter was with the Weasley Clan, and the Twins and Littlest Weasley came to join them when they arrived from their exams. The Littlest Weasley managed a small smile for the former-Malfoy, which was returned warmly. Lysandra had forgiven the poor ginger girl ages ago for the Basilisk Incident, but she could see how unpleasant remembering such an ordeal might be.

Lee dropped into the empty spot on her left with great enthusiasm, eagerly reaching for a pastry. Mother Weasley noticed his dramatic appearance and turned to greet him.

"Lee! How are you dear?!"

He looked startled for a moment, and Lysandra used his distraction to guide his hand to the fruit bowl next to the desserts. The Twins shared a glance and looked a bit sheepish.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley." He replied, snatching an apple up and taking a large bite from it without noticing. Mother Weasley nodded happily.

"Will you be visiting this summer again?"

"No. I don't think so." Lee murmured slowly, shooting a look at the twins. Mother Weasley hardly noticed the silent conversation going on between the three boys, but the oldest Weasley child present leaned to whisper to Lysandra, much to her surprise.

"What's the story there? Those three were practically attached at the hip, last I heard." He said. She turned her grey eyes up to his face. This Weasley had long hair and a dragon-fang earring.

"They ditched him for some reason. Lee's been hanging with me instead."

He looked surprised and then glanced at his brothers. "Something was distracting them; Lee's practically their triplet."

"Hn," Lysandra replied, spearing a piece of potato onto her fork.

"Bill, the badass Weasley." He said, offering his large hand. She blinked at it in surprise and placed her own in his.

"Lysandra Black." His hands were calloused against her own smooth hands.

"Nice to meet you." He grinned widely, turning to answer a question from his sister.

"Well, I've already got plans, Mrs. Weasley." Lee was saying as Lysandra turned back to her friend's conversation. "I'm going to Lysandra's for the part of the summer."

"Who?"

"Me." She jumped in, smirking at Lee. "He's coming to mine. We're renovating see, and he's offering to help."

"How nice." Mother Weasley gave a thin smile, looking over the aristocratic features on the young teen beside her boys' friend. "Who did you say you were?"

"I didn't, Mrs. Weasley." She smirked, gathering her bag from beside her. She stood, and then glanced down at Lee, who was happily enjoying his lunch. "Lee, darling, I'm headed up for a nap. Join me when you're done."

"Sure thing, lovebug." He mumbled around his mouthful of chips. Mother Weasley looked between them oddly and turned back to her brood.

It was chaos.

Students cried loudly to each other, stunned whispers flew to friends, and the colorful confetti that had burst from someone's wand in celebration fluttered sadly to the ground.

It was chaos.

"He's dead!"

"He's dead!"

"Cassius Warrington! Dead!"

"Cas! Cas! Get up! Cas, please!" Eyes turned to the pretty brunette in the front row, clutching the railing with white-knuckled hands. She was dressed in a green Quidditch jersey, the name Warrington starkly printed on the back above the number five. They knew who she was; everyone in the school did.

Ines Edgecombe was the only one screaming for the dead champion.

Another girl appeared at Ines' shoulder; her long black hair pulled into a ferociously tight ponytail tied with a green ribbon. She placed one of her hands on the young woman's shoulder and staggered as Ines threw herself into the younger girl's arms.

Potter was clutching his fellow champions' shirt. Dumbledore was trying to pry him off, gently, but sternly. The Minister hovered by the pair.

Teachers flooded the open area where the champions had stood. Potter swayed, looking pale and tortured.

"What's happened?"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Warrington's dead!"

"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" The Minister called loudly, staring at Potter. "He's ill; he's injured – Dumbledore, Warrington's parents….they're here, aren't they? In the stands?"

Eyes turned to where the parents had been waiting. There was no one flashing a green scarf — no stocky man with Cassius's nose, and no slim woman with his eyes.

Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically.

Ines was running to her boyfriend; hand clutched firmly in her friend's tight grip.

Potter vanished.

Johnny watched it all numbly, his arm clutched by Helen, who was sobbing into his shoulder. He remembered the warning he'd heard at the beginning of the year. Death toll, the Headmaster had announced.

Death toll, indeed.

The halls were tense, students grouped in huddles, whispering to one another and shooting concerned looks at their friends. The Slytherins had an underlying look of horror in their eyes and never traveled anywhere alone. Nobody looked at Potter, who slunk through the corridors pale-faced and melancholy. Ines could hardly get out of bed, sobbing into her pillow, clutching one of Cassius' sweaters to her chest.

Lysandra hovered by the Ravenclaw Tower, stoic and blank, but her hand always tightly in Lee's. He occasionally vanished, always returning with something to eat. More often than not, it went uneaten. It was Polly that appeared in front of the Gryffindor pair, her eyes rimmed with red and shaking hands. She didn't say a word, but Lysandra followed her into the Ravenclaw Tower. Lee watched her go with a sad smile.

No one protested as the Fourth Year Gryffindor entered the Ravenclaw Common Room, but their eyes followed her. Polly led her up the stairs on the right, opening the door decorated with a bronze number seven. Already, Lysandra's sensitive ears could hear the breathless sobs of her friend. Polly closed the door behind the younger girl.

Ines was in her bed; the covers were drawn up to her shoulders and her legs to her chest. She was still wearing his Quidditch jersey. Lysandra sat beside her older friend, not saying a word, but providing a steady presence as best she could.

It was midnight when Ines turned over to look at the were-jaguar. Lysandra's pale eyes flitted from the wall to the bedraggled young woman. The brunette stared for a while, and then dropped her head onto Lysandra's thigh, wrapping her hand around the Gryffindor's.

The girls sat together on Ines' bed, no words exchanged, but hands clutching each other.

"I.." Ines croaked. "I loved him."

"Me too. Like a big brother." Lysandra replied, squeezing the brunette's hand. Ines' bloodshot brown eyes dropped from Lizzie's silver. "He loved you."

"I know." Ines stared at the wall, her right hand clenching in the sweater she'd been clutching.

"I miss him." She whispered after a while.

"Me too."

Ines sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into Lysandra's thigh. Polly crept into the dorm sometime in the morning, after the sun had risen, with two glasses of orange juice and a plate of sliced apple. She smiled sadly at the sleeping pair on the bed, setting the light meal on Ines' bedside table, and set herself to tidying up Ines' belongings.

Lysandra woke before the grieving seventeen-year-old, silently watching as Polly puttered about the dorm, carefully packing away all of Ines' things into her trunk. The other Ravenclaw managed a small smile, nodding to the orange juice and apples.

Ines woke about noon, looking tired, but she nibbled on the food.

"The Leaving Feast is today." Polly murmured, perching on the end of the bed. "Come down for it Ines. Please?"

Ines nodded slowly, and Lysandra helped her out of bed. Polly hurried over to their bathroom, and by the sound of the rushing water, was filling their friend a bath.

"Go pack, Liz." The brunette sighed, shuffling over to the bathroom where steam was already wafting out. "Polly's got me."

"I'll wait for you by the stairs." She assured the older teen. Ines nodded, watching her Gryffindor friend hurry away.

Lee was waiting at the bottom of the Ravenclaw Tower, and he offered a jam sandwich to his best friend. She took it gratefully, and the pair strode towards the Gryffindor Tower. Lee had already packed, but he regaled her with the gossip of the last few days. Slytherins were seeking help from students in other Houses, asking to visit over the summer. Lee had been approached by a pair of Slytherin first years, both in tears, and he'd sent them in the direction of Madam Pomfrey for Calming Draughts. And also, the Mad-Eye Moody who had been teaching them all year was Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr under Polyjuice Potion.

Lysandra shook her head at the news, observing the quiet chaos of the corridors. The students were indeed more subdued than usual. It didn't take her that long to pack her trunk, a simple spell doing the work for her, and she dressed in a clean set of robes before she and Lee hurried to meet Ines and Polly at the seventh-floor stairs to head to the Leaving Feast.

The Great Hall was usually decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table and hanging where the House banners normal resided.

The real Mad-Eye Moody sat at the staff table, extremely twitchy, and he jumped every time someone spoke to him. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Ines sat behind Lysandra at the Ravenclaw table, her year mates surrounding her in a wall of comfort. Madam Maxime was seated beside Hagrid, speaking to him quietly. Once everyone had seated themselves, Professor Dumbledore stood from the staff table. The Great Hall, subdued as it was, went very silent.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking at the four tables. "Of another year. There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight, but I must first acknowledge the loss of a wonderful person, who should be sitting here, enjoying the feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cassius Warrington."

Ines let out a quiet sob behind Lysandra, but rose to her feet, clutching her goblet with shaky hands. The Slytherins were pale-faced and all leaning on the pureblood mask they had all been taught. Polly caught Ines' hand in hers. Cassius' name rumbled through the students, and everyone sat.

"Cassius was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Slytherin House." Dumbledore continued. "He was a cunning competitor, an ambitious student. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about. Cassius Warrington was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

"No!" Someone shrieked from the Slytherin table. A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People stared at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked calm, and then Lysandra turned in her seat to find her brother. Draco was staring at the Headmaster with wide grey eyes, his mouth slightly agape, and he looked as though he was going to throw up.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued. "Does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so- either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cassius died as the result of an accident, or some blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened eyes were fixated on their Headmaster. Draco's eyes sought his sister's, and for the first time in months, the twins stared at each other like they needed to be near the other.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection to Cassius' death. I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter. Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to returned Cassius' body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the kind of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."

He raised his glass to Potter, and most of the hall followed suit, mumbling the Boy-Wonder's name. Lysandra did not touch her goblet, neither did Ines, neither did Polly, neither did the Slytherins.

When everyone had set their goblets down, Dumbledore picked up his speech again. "The Triwizard Tournament aimed to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened – of Lord Voldemort's return – such ties are more important than ever before."

Someone cleared their throat, and the sound of a bench scraping slightly came from further up the Gryffindor table. Lysandra turned to stare at Weasley, who looked uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the entire school, plus their foreign guests.

"Professor," He called, his ears bright red. "I need to say something important."

Dumbledore gestured that Weasley had the floor, folding his hands over his beard.

"Er… right. I-I didn't know Warrington particularly well," He started, scratching the back of his head. "But I know how Warrington and Harry played. They were always rooting for each other. Hogwarts win, you know. They both wanted to win, but neither of them was willing to undercut the other by doing anything underhanded. I think – I think it's important everyone should know he died as what a champion should be. Because he could have abandoned Harry, and instead he stood up with him to play the Tournament the honest way, and he died for it. And – And Slytherin House should be proud, and we should all be proud because Warrington was a good bloke."

He dropped back into his seat, completely flustered and leaving the Great Hall speechless. He hadn't given the impression that he was particularly kind or eloquent. Someone stood at the Slytherin table, raising their goblet. Slowly, the entire House followed suit. Ines stood, lifting her cup with a ferocious expression on her pale face. Lysandra rose to her feet, toasting in the direction of the Slytherin table. First years stood at the Hufflepuff table, raising goblets high. Ravenclaws stood, Hufflepuffs jumped up, Gryffindors rose slowly. The Durmstrang students rose to their feet and pounded a fist to their chest, the Beauxbatons students raised their wands, shooting silver stars from the ends, crying openly for the poor Slytherin teen.

"Every guest in this Hall," Dumbledore spoke quietly into the Hall, bringing the masses to seat themselves again. "Will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again – in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief – and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cassius. Remember, if the time should come when you have to choose between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cassius Warrington."