"You upset her!" Pansy glared, looking at the door Leah just walked out of.

"I upset her? You played a part in this as well," Draco sneered.

"Time is up, bottle your potions," Snape called from the front of the room.

"She has to be lying," Blaise rolled his eyes.

"I've known her my entire life. If she was lying she has a damn good reason," Pansy crossed her arms.

"Maybe she has a crush on you, Pans," Draco smirked.

"Draco, shut the fuck up, it isn't funny."

"He could be right, Pansy," Blaise shrugged.

"Leah doesn't like anybody. She's never shown real interest in someone before. If she's ever flirted it's fake; she flirts to get what she wants. There's no way she's crushing on me, of all people."

"Maybe that's why she didn't smell anything," Blaise looked at Draco.

"No. Everyone should smell something regardless of whether or not they've liked someone before."

"She smelled a hint of something," Pansy reminded them.

"So she's a freak," Blaise shrugged and Pansy turned red. Before she could say anything, however, a shadow fell over them.

"I suggest you all head to your next class and stop concerning yourselves over something that was obviously a failed potion," Snape said, looking down at them.

"Yes professor," Draco said smoothly, grabbing his bag and heading out the door. Blaise shrugged and followed suit while Pansy angrily gathered her things.

"Miss Parkinson you would do well to drop the subject," Snape said just before she left. She looked over her shoulder with a frown but nodded. Snape looked down at the potion vial Leah turned in as Pansy left and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

***

"So, how are we getting Fenrir the potion?" Pansy asked, sitting next to me in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I looked over at her, scanning her expression for any sign that she would bring up me not being able to smell the potion. She didn't seem like she was going to.

"I'm not sure," I shrugged after a few moments.

"Well, your parents used to be Death Eaters. I'm sure you have a connection somewhere," she said.

"I only know of the Malfoy's and Severus," I shrugged. I knew, however, that I could persuade Barty to give Fenrir the potion.

"Leah," someone cleared their throat and I looked away from Pansy to see Potter standing in front of us with his two side kicks.

"Hey Harry," I smiled warmly and Pansy wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, yeah, thank you," I nodded.

"And Claire?" he asked.

"She's holding up. Might need a friend to talk to in the common room though," I smiled sadly.

"Hermione would be good at that," Potter looked over at her and she nodded slowly.

"I don't mind speaking to her if she needs someone to confide in," she said.

"Thanks guys," I said and they smiled, heading over to their seats after saying their goodbyes.

"I cannot believe you got them to trust you so quickly," Pansy shook her head.

"I got Potter to trust me. That's enough to get the other two to hop on board."

"Still, Potter trusting a Slytherin so quickly is bizarre."

"I'll say. The amount of trouble we've given him means we thought he'd never trust one of us in a million years," Blaise grinned, taking his seat. Draco sat down beside him.

"He trusts Leah because she smiles sweetly and bats her eyes to get what she wants. Something none of us have ever done, nor will we," Draco smirked at me.

"Well, then maybe you should since it obviously works," I quipped back. He was going to retort when the doors slammed open and Moody walked in.

"You can put those away, those books. You won't need them," he muttered, looking around with that creepy mechanical eye. I slipped my book into my bag and leaned back, wondering what "Moody" would be teaching us.

"Right then, I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures- you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?" he asked. Who the fuck is Lupin? I looked around with raised eyebrows as the class nodded hesitantly, clearly intimidated.

"But you're behind, very behind, on dealing with curses. So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark magic. So, straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until your sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But, Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he recons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to be nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful," He said, looking around the room at us.

"So...do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" A couple people raised their hands, including Draco. Moody looked at me expectantly, but called on the Weasel.

"Err, my dad told me about one...the Imperius curse or something," he said.

"Right, now...Miss Loveland," his gaze landed on me and I fought the urge to groan.

"Would you like to demonstrate for us?" he asked me. Did he mean he would curse me, or did he want me to curse someone else?

"Professor?" I asked in confusion.

"Let's see if you can resist, come up here," Moody urged. I sighed and walked to the front of the room. Hermione watched me with a frown. Draco, Pansy, and Blaise were on the edge of their seats.

"Imperio," Barty said, pointing his wand at me. I felt the sensation of a dream world float over me but I brushed it off like Sev had taught me. I heard Moody's voice telling me to do a cartwheel but I just crossed my arms.

"Loveland, spin around three times," he said aloud.

"No," I rolled my eyes with a sigh. He looked at me in surprise and I felt the dream sensation go away.

"Very good job, Miss Loveland," he said, clapping his hands. The class joined in and I saw Pansy high five Draco.

"Can I sit down now?" I asked with a scowl.

"No, stay here for a moment, if you don't mind," he said. I watched as Moody took out a jar of spiders and I inched away as he pulled out the biggest one.

"Imperio," he said, making the spider do flips in his hand. It scurried around the room, jumping from head to head, and everyone was laughing. All but Moody and I. He looked at me as he made the spider tap dance, and then he turned back to the class.

"Think its funny, do you? You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?" he asked and the class quieted down.

"What else should I make it do? Jump out the window...drown itself?" he asked.

"The imperious curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Better avoid being hit with it if you can. Constant vigilance!" he shouted, and everyone jumped. Jesus Christ, it's like listening to my parents.

"Another illegal curse?" He asked, staring around the room. Longbottom raised his hand, looking nervous.

"The Cruciatus Curse," he gulped. I held back a smile; after all, it was my favorite.

"Miss Loveland," Moody started, looking at me. Was he going to use the curse on me?

"Would you care to try it out?" he asked gesturing to the spider.

"You mean cast the curse on the spider?" I asked feeling relieved. He nodded and I took out my wand. I heard gasps form around the room and saw the trio looking at me with wide eyes.

"I don't know if I can," I lied. I scanned the room and looked at my Slytherin trio. Draco and Blaise were frowning, but Pansy's known me all my life. She knows I could do it if I wanted to.

"Try," Moody growled. I wanted to snap at Moody for being on such a power trip, but I controlled myself. I took a deep breath and locked eyes with the ugly little creature. The spider, I mean.

"Crucio!" I said and I watched the spider crumple and twitch. It rolled around and I could hear it faintly screeching. Its body jerked and convulsed, but I wasn't letting up.

"Leah, stop!" Granger screeched. I looked at her, and then at the twitching spider. I cleared my throat and took off the curse. The spider sagged but was still twitching. The whole class was wide eyed, and Longbottom was pure white. I frowned and put my wand away.

"Pain, you don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse, very good first try, Loveland," he said softly.

"And the last unforgivable curse?" he asked, and I looked away.

"Miss Granger?"

"The killing curse," she whispered.

"Ah yes, the killing curse...the worst of all," Moody placed the spider on the table and held it with his wand.

"Leah?" he asked. Fucking what does he think he's doing? I'm not going to show the whole class that I can successfully cast the killing curse.

"No," I shook my head, looking away from the spider. He looked at me for a few moments and then nodded. He raised his wand and I looked at the floor.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted and a flash of green light filled the room.

"There's only one person to have survived it, and he's sitting right in this room," Moody said and all eyes turned to Harry. I slipped back to my seat, getting Moody's approval and looked at Pansy.

"Jesus Christ."

"That was unconventional," she laughed slightly.

"That was insane," Blaise turned around, whispering to us with a smile.

"Did you know she could do that?" Draco looked at Pansy.

"I figured she could," Pansy shrugged as Moody dismissed us. I waved the other three on and went up to speak with Moody.

"Are you trying to blow my cover?" I whispered ferociously.

"We need to make sure you stay on top of your game," he took a swig from his flask of polyjuice potion.

"That was highly unnecessary," I hissed.

"Why didn't you kill it?" he asked. I looked him in the eyes and sneered.

"Why would a fourth year know that spell?" I angrily spat. He sighed and shook his head.

"Why would a fourth year know the Cruciatus Curse?" he countered.

"It's one thing to torture something, it's another thing to kill it."

"Your morals are flawed," he grinned.

"And yours aren't?" I scoffed.

"Get to your next class and stop being a nuisance," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," I laughed, heading out of the room. Pansy, Blaise, Draco, and the trio were waiting. Draco was sneering at Potter while Blaise ignored everyone and Pansy made snippy comments at Granger.

"Pans," I scolded and she rolled her eyes.

"Leah how'd you know the Cruciatus Curse?" Potter asked immediately.

"Harry," Granger scolded softly.

"What he means is...well...Leah did you parents use that spell on you? They were Death Eaters, after all," she shifted. I saw an opportunity. I immediately made myself flush, thanking Merlin for my metamorphagus abilities, and looked down.

"I..."

Pansy straightened and looked murderously at Granger. She picked up on my lie.

"You can't ask someone that, Granger!"

"Oh, Leah. That could have lasting effects, you really should see a doctor about it!" Granger said in outrage.

"Stay out of Pureblood business," Pansy snapped.

"You can't cover up parents torturing their children! What about Claire?" Potter asked fiercely.

"They're dead, Potter. What more do you want?" Draco asked coolly.

"You should see a doctor," Granger insisted.

"Better to be safe than sorry," Weasley shrugged.

"You know what? Thanks you guys, maybe I will some time. Pans, Draco, Blaise? Let's head to Divination," I said, sending the trio a warm smile. As we walked away Pansy looked at me slyly.

"Potter likes you."

"What the fuck brought you to that conclusion?"

"The way he looks at you! Didn't you see it?" she asked.

"No."

"Draco, Blaise, back me up."

"He does," Blaise had a shit eating grin on his face.

"I'd say so," Draco nodded with a smirk and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, let's just get to class," I insisted as Pansy giggled.

***