Lilith was burrowed nose deep into a book about potions when she spotted a group of girls scattering around the heavy Millicent Bulstrode in a menacing circle. She took a moment to analyse the situation before swishing her hand in an elegant movement.

Their chatter became louder, clearer: "Fat oath," was among many of the other slurs that were being tossed at Millicent. Lilith groaned and rolled her toasted hazelnut eyes.

Strolling over, she shouted at the girls in a casual tone, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

They turned towards her; all at once like a mob of sheep. One of them spoke louder than all the others - she told Lilith, "Mind your own business, orphan."

Lilith debated as to whether or not she should just hex them, but decided on the safer option - she lifted her necklace slightly over her head and within seconds her eyes had turned entirely white. The bullies dispersed, rushing off to different corners of the courtyard.

Pulling the necklace back down to rest on her chest, she headed over to Millicent. The chubby girl had retreated to the floor, sitting down amongst the leaves. She peeked up at Lilith, chunky cheeks flushed and padded fingers wiping away an array of tears.

"You didn't have to," she cried out, her efforts to conceal her sobs failing drastically.

"It's okay, Millicent. You didn't deserve that," Lilith replied as she obtained one of the leaves and, with a tap of her wand, turned it into a tissue. She handed it to Millicent who blew her nose into it in an extremely unfeminine way. Lilith held back a moan of disgust.

"Thank you," the victim muttered before scurrying off to her next class. Lilith twitched passively and headed after her. Eventually, she stumbled into the class of Severus Snape, taking a seat in the middle of the room.

Draco came in and filled the space beside her soon enough. Lilith let her cocoa hair fall over her cheeks in soft, loose waves as she peeked at him. "Hello," she chirped.

"Hi," he responded monotonously.

In all honesty, the pair couldn't be more of a set of polar opposites - without the influence of her father's book, Lilith was self-effacing and sweet, whilst Draco was overly confident and fierce. Parts of Draco's personality were already seeping into Lilith's. They were like midsummer rain and crackling fire. In time, they'd only put each other out - but only if they were involved enough.

Lilith's back formed a gentle arch as she leaned forwards to listen to Snape's explanation of the Cure for Boils. Her face embodied repugnance as he told the students they'd be using Flobberworm Mucus to create the potion, causing Draco to snicker slightly. Professor Snape's coal black eyes snapped to him; the great man shaking his head at the blond boy.

Soon, the lesson came to an end. Pupils filtered out of the class like a swarm of bees; it was a vicious battle. Lilith was one of the last to escape, gathering her neatly executed notes into a pile and clutching them to her chest. The edges crinkled and some of the fresh ink smudged, but she didn't mind. The brunette found she'd been much more relaxed since ridding of her father's cursed book, and despite the loss, she was glad of it.

She was just leaving the class when her cloak was gripped tightly in a small hand. The mystery culprit yanked Lilith's fragile and small body to the side, pulling her behind a tall, stone pillar. Lilith glowered as she spotted the smug and antagonistic girl in front of her. 

"Get lost, Pansy."

"Why should I?" Pansy spluttered back, crossing her arms in an infantile manner. "As far as I know, you're trying to get close to my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Lilith choked, trying to suppress a loud, obnoxious laugh.

"Draco," Pansy emphasised. It was clear by her tone that she was trying to undermine Lilith, but the latter's raised eyebrow rejected this.

Lilith snorted and said, "Bye, Pansy."

Pansy went to grip the girl's hair from behind but Lilith's hand slapped the air with brute force - as it happened, Pansy's body went flying back into the stone pillar. Her back created a sickening crack as she flopped into it. 

Her sobs attacked the walls of the hallway and bounced off of them into the ears of nearby students. None of them bothered to check up on the pathetic girl, laying in agony on the floor. Lilith simply walked away, uninterested in further conversation with Pansy. If her father's words had been true; if her father had really been so concerned about Lilith becoming dark, she ought to be ashamed of herself - instead she reminded herself she was only doing this to protect herself.

Lilith stormed right up to her dorm room during break. She tidied up her side of the room before plonking her suitcase on the end of her recently unused bed. After that, Lilith skipped all the way to Dumbledore's office in pride. 

"Professor," she called as she knocked on the heavy wooden door.

Having been allowed access, Lilith walked into the room. She took a brief look over it to find Dumbledore hobbling away from the Pensieve.

"Professor, it appears I've been kicked out of my dorm room."

"Miss Lovell, when did this happen?" he asked as he shuffled further towards his desk, frowning at a thin pile of paper resting there like dust.

"About a week ago," she gulped. "I've been sleeping in the common room ever since."

"It seems as though you've hit quite a pot of luck, Miss Lovell. There's a spare room at the end of the hall," Dumbledore stated, the corner of his lips pressing downwards in an impressed fashion. "It's all yours."

"Thank you, Professor."

And with that, Lilith's worries of having another nightmare in the common room were gone. If someone were to come down just as she screamed Draco's name, as he bled out... She shivered at the very thought. The ideas people would great were the very ideas that she could not afford for to be spread around. Rumours were blooming at Hogwarts at the very minute, Pansy's 'boyfriend' ordeal perhaps being one of them. Lilith sighed as she left Dumbledore's magnificent office, feeling a strange sense of loss as she considered the thought of Draco preferring Pansy to her - friendship or not.