I walked towards McGonagall's office to see if Draco was there, but to my surprise I found the trio looking flustered and scared.

 "What happened when Katie touched the necklace?" McGonagall asked.

 "She rose up in the air and then began to scream, and collapsed. Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore please?" Potter asked.

 "The headmaster is away till Monday, Potter," she said in surprise.

 "Away?"

"Yes, Potter, away! But anything you have to say about this horrible business you can say to me, I'm sure!"

Holy shit, Katie got the necklace.

 "I think Draco Malfoy gave Katie that necklace, professor," he said quickly. I nearly gasped, but clamped my lips shut. 

 "That is a very serious accusation, Potter! Do you have proof?"

 "No, but...well we saw him go into Borgin and Burkes and they had this weird conversation..." I zoned out as he relayed the details of our death eater business. This is not good. However, he doesn't suspect me of anything. At least...I don't think he does. He hasn't mentioned me in this conversation what-so-ever, even though I was there. McGonagall's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

 "Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes for repair?" she asked in slight confusion.

 "No, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something. But that's not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time, and I think it was that necklace..."

 "You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?"

 "No, he told Borgin to leave it in the shop for them!"

"But Harry, Borgin asked him if he wanted to take it with him and Leah said no," Granger said.

 "Miss Riddle was involved as well?" McGonagall asked. Damn.

 "Well yes," Potter nodded.

 "Besides, it's probably because they didn't want to touch it!" Potter exclaimed.

 "What he actually said was 'how will we look carrying that down the street?'" Hermione said. They started bickering about carrying the necklace around and this and that, but I was worried about our cover being blown.

 "That's enough!" McGonagall cut off the banter. She lectured about the odds of us buying that necklace and said those seven words that were my lord and savior.

 "Mister Malfoy was not in Hogsmead today," she said.

 "How do you know professor?" Potter gaped.

 "Because he was in detention with me," she said sternly.

 There was a silence before Potter spoke softly, sounding regretful.

 "What if it was Leah?" he asked. I nearly screamed when I heard someone speak behind me.

 "Miss Riddle was with me this afternoon," Severus gently nudged me into the room.

 "You had detention as well?" McGonagall pursed her lips.

 "No, she was merely getting more potions for her depression," Severus lied smoothly.

 "Thanks a lot guys," I said quietly.

"I'm sorry, it was just all so suspicious," Potter looked at the ground.

 "What were you two doing in Borgin and Burkes anyway?" Weasley frowned.

 "What were you three doing spying on the roof?" I snapped as a retort and they looked down in shame.

 "Whoever did it couldn't have thought it out very well though, because it hardly had a chance to make it into the castle. Believe me, we're smarter than that," I rolled my eyes.

 "True," Granger muttered.

 "Since when has Malfoy been the world's greatest thinker?" Weasley snorted.

 "Draco is very intelligent, if you hadn't noticed. He's brilliant in potions, which is more than you three can say," I glared.

 "Harry's wonderful in potions!" Weasley snapped.

 "Oh- so- suddenly, Harry Potter is a brilliant potions master. Don't make me laugh," I spat. I gave a frustrated sigh and remembered I had to keep their trust.

 "Listen, this has all of us on edge. It's not good for our mental health," I said and then bit my tongue. That's much truer than I'd like to believe. Both professors gave me a look and I sighed.

 "I'm sorry, I'm just stressed," I muttered and Severus put a hand on my shoulder.

"About what?" Potter stepped closer, staring at me intently.

 "None of your business," I glared.

 "Is this about what happened in Dumbledore's office?" he urged.

 "What happened in Dumbledore's office?" Granger asked in surprise.

 "Nothing!" I cried and Sev shared a look with McGonagall.

 "You were questioning about insanity running in the family," Potter reminded me.

 "Stop!" I snapped.

 "You were nearly in tears," he stepped forward.

 "Shut up!" I screamed.

 "You're insane," he said with wide eyes.

 "I swear I'll kill you," I yelled, stepping forward as Severus yanked me back.

 "What's going on?" Draco asked, walking up beside me.

 "What the bloody hell are you three doing?" he asked, stepping towards them.

 "I don't need your help," I snapped, pulling him back.

 "Are you alright?" he frowned.

 "I'm fine! This prat over here thinks I'm insane," I glared.

 "Lay off, Potter," Draco narrowed his eyes.

 "What are you even doing here?" Potter asked.

 "Looking for Leah," Draco sneered.

 "Oh, you mean your accomplice? You two cursed Katie Belle and you know it!" Potter raised his voice.

 "That is enough!" McGonagall said loudly as Draco and I fumed.
 

 "Miss Riddle I suggest you go to your common room, and here," McGonagall handed me a letter and I nodded stiffly, turning on my heel. Draco and I walked in silence as I read the letter from Dumbledore telling me to come to our meeting Monday night. We reached the common room and Draco whirled around in a panic.

 "I cursed Katie Belle! That wasn't supposed to happen!" he cried and I turned into the Dark Lady I was supposed to be.

 "That was a poorly thought out plan. That was never going to work!" I said coldly.

 "You could've helped!" he snapped.

 "I am not here to do your work for you! You are to get them in the castle, and I am here to do a few helpful things along the way! I get what's needed and curse whoever is required; you answer to me!" I said, my voice loud but not at a yell. It wasn't calm and eerie like my father, but it was intimidating.

 "Yes, My Lady," he grit out and I flashed him a look.

 "You have one more chance before I step in and take over this little operation," I said as Pansy and the others walked in.

 "Whoa, tension," she said and we dropped the glares. Just like that we were on good terms.

 "Everything's fine."

 "Right...well here is your tea. Hear about what happened to Katie?" she asked and Thane shook his head.

 "I felt the darkness in the air," he shuddered.

 "Hm, it is rather odd," I played it cool.

 "Whatever, it doesn't matter now," Blaise shrugged.

 "Leah, I wanted to talk to you. I gave you a look at breakfast earlier, which should've been a good enough hint but I guess not," Pansy smirked just as I sat down with Draco. I groaned and stood up, following her upstairs.

 "What?" I asked.

 "When are you two going to do the deed?" she complained and I snorted.

 "Go away," I said.

 "Seriously though, it's been forever," she whined.

 "Your point?"

"It's about time! You're stalling."

 "Pans, why does it matter? Leave it alone," I laughed and then walked back downstairs. She did get me thinking, though. Did I even want to?

***

 I walked up to Dumbledore's office and almost died. I'm so tired I nearly fell down the stairs. This is just ridiculous.

"Please have a seat," Dumbledore opened the door before I could knock. Or maybe I did knock...good lord I don't even know. I've been up for the past few nights worrying about every little thing. My mind has been turning and I don't even know why. I sat down in a huff and then looked up to see Dumbledore looking at me expectantly.

 "What?" I asked, coming to my senses.

"I asked how you were," he smirked.

 "Oh...I'm alright," I shrugged.

"So to review, insanity does indeed run in the family. We're holding off the asylum as long as we can. At least until the end of this year," he looked at me over his spectacles and I felt nerves knot themselves into the inner workings of my stomach.

 "Right," I nodded. He held my gaze and I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up, but I said nothing.

 "That is the best we can do," he finally said, leaning back and breaking my gaze. You mean after you die and everything falls to hell?

 "I understand," I nodded.

 "Good, now how's the phoenix?" he asked and I sighed.

 "Not even a shimmer of it. My depression isn't too bad, but it's still there," I said.

 "And the insanity?" he asked. I stayed silent.

 "I see, that bad?" he asked and took my slightly narrowed eyes as an answer.

 "You've come to terms with the fact that you are certifiable, then?" he asked and I groaned before resting my cheek in my palm.

 "Yes," I nodded.

 "Good, good," he smiled as another knock sounded on the door. I felt my eyes close and then sensed a presence next to me. I looked over to see Potter's gaze resting on me and I rolled my eyes.

 "Have a seat," Dumbledore smiled.

 "Great, Leah's joining us," Potter said dully. 

 "Get over it," I said, lolling my head to the side and gazing out the window.

 "Now, now, let's settle down. We're all very tired," Dumbledore said calmly.

 "You have had a busy time while I was away. I believe you witnessed Katie's accident, Harry?"

 "Yes sir, how is she?" Potter asked.

 "Still very unwell, though she is lucky; only the tiniest piece of skin brushed the necklace," Dumbledore said.

 "I was also informed of your suspicions," Dumbledore peered over at Potter.

 "Leah couldn't have done it, I was being stupid," Potter whispered and Dumbledore moved his gaze over to me.

 "I wasn't even in Hogsmead," I muttered, not looking at either one of them.

 "Yes, well you will remember, of course, that we left off at Voldemort's beginnings, where his father abandoned his mother, Merope. She was left alone in London, expecting her child which will become Lord Voldemort," he said. We moved over to the pensive and watched as Caractacus Burke swirled into focus.

 "Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances. It was brought in by a young witch just before Christmas, oh, many years ago now. She said she needed the gold badly, well, that much was obvious. Covered in rags and pretty far along...going to have a baby, see. She said the locket had been Slytherin's. Well, we hear that sorta thing all the time, 'Oh this was Merlin's, this was, his favorite tea pot,' but when I looked at it, it had all his marks all right, and a few simple spells were enough to tell me the truth. Of course, that made it near enough priceless. She didn't seem to have any idea how much it was worth. Happy to get ten galleons for it. Best bargain we ever made!"

The memory ended and I crossed my arms.

"That belongs in the family!" I protested.

 "He only gave her ten galleons?" Potter asked.

 "Burke was not famous for his generosity. So we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession, the locket that was one of Marvolo's treasured family heirlooms," Dumbledore said.

 "But she could do magic! She could have got food and everything for herself by magic, couldn't she?" Potter asked.

 "Maybe her powers were dulled," I said, glaring out the window.

 "What?" Potter asked as if I were an idiot.

 "It's possible," I shrugged.

 "Indeed it is," Dumbledore nodded.

 "Leah is under a different circumstance!" Potter frowned.

 "She went through an awful heartbreak, and that alone is enough. Tom left her; she's on her own," I said.

 "Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her life," Dumbledore nodded.

 "She couldn't even stay alive for her own son?" Potter asked.

 "My dad's an orphan," I whispered.

 "Could you be feeling sorry for Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked us.

 "Yes," I said.

 "No!" Potter said quickly.

 "But she had a choice...not like my mother," Potter said, glancing at me. As if it's my fault; I was only one when his parents died.

 "Your mother had a choice, too.  Just like my mother had a choice; she left me," I snapped.

 "I spent my whole life with Clementine and Lamoure, thinking I had those two idiots as my parents. Then when I found my dad, you can't even imagine how happy I was because I finally had a father who wasn't afraid of me. Of course after that I found out my mother gave birth to me and ran off with Frank, having Pansy nine months later. She didn't want me, but she wanted Pansy. First slap in the face. The second slap in the face? When my mother left me for months because she was disgusted by me. She hated me for being like my father, but that wasn't my fault. Maybe if she bothered to stay with me I would've turned out different. So, you can stop complaining about your family life because at least you didn't get to know your family before you were thrown around and hated. My adoptive parents hated and feared me, my dad has tried killing me, and my mother is nearly disgusted by who I am. You're always talking about your parents and how they had no choice and how they were murdered, but guess what? At least they died loving you. Who do I have? A dad that would rather conquer the world than care for his own daughter, and a mother who loves Pansy and Mikey more than she loves me. She doesn't say anything about it, but I can see it. So stop," I ranted.

I'd always had all of this hovering over my head, but you know what, I'm tired of everyone's crap. Potter thinks his life is so awful, but he doesn't know what I've been through.

"It isn't all about you," Potter snapped.

 "You think I don't know that?" I snarled.

 "You have no idea what I've been through or how I feel. You think that I have a perfect little life, living as the Dark Lords daughter and being treated like a queen. That's not the case! Have you ever thought that this isn't what I want? I'm trying to find a way out! Meanwhile, you're acting like you have the worst life in the world! You don't, okay! You haven't had to watch your fiancée die because a girl you used to loathe murdered him! You haven't had to fight for your life every single day, just because you lost some of your magic! You know what else? You don't have two groups of people who are ready to kill you if you chose to fight for the other side. You don't have the risk of dying every time you take a breath," I finished my little yelling session, to which there was silence.

 "Leah...I didn't know," Potter whispered.

 "Yeah, I know you didn't," I glared.

 "I'm so sorry. I'll help you, in any way I can. I can see you're incredibly stressed out," he said and I sighed. He's back on my side. Part of that rant was actually true, but I still hate the aurors so I'm still relatively on father's side. Relatively.

"Now, are we all alright?" Dumbledore asked, watching me carefully.

"I'm kind of disappointed now. The least the Phoenix could do is come back when I get angry," I scowled and Dumbledore chuckled.

 "All in good time, my dear. Now, if you will stand," Dumbledore gestured to the pensive as we both stood.

 "We are now going to enter my memory," he smiled and I shared a look with Potter before bending over the pensive.

***

-Shay