There was silence in the classroom as the potions were being made, except for the occasional bubbling of the solution. Draco watched the porcelain cup from the bottom with his face in his hands resting on the table.

Every few seconds, everyone kept shooting a glance at the partner they hoped to be with.

"Miss Vane, perhaps it would be prudent to look at your potion while it's boiling instead of in Potter's direction." Snape taunted.

Harry looked up and found Romilda looking at him rather awkwardly. He tried to ignore her.

"Be careful, she's trying to brew you up a love potion." I whispered to Harry.

"Miss Malfoy..."

I turned round and found Snape looming over me with his pale face.

"Oh, sorry professor I..."

"Come with me." He said slowly.

Everyone was watching, including Draco. I shrugged.

"How many times have I told you to show distance between you and Potter? At least in front of your brother!?" Snape hissed.

"But there's nothing between us, professor. We're just - friends, and after all, I thought you were the one who..." I stopped abruptly.

He gave me a glaring look.

"If you want your father to find out about your closeness with Potter, be prepared to be an under cover spy like me for the Dark Lord and if you do not wish to do such a major task, then be subtle. Carry out my task but don't do it in front of Draco."

"But - why? He knows that this plan is made to lure Harry into your cave, so it would be easier to kill him and kill the horcrux that's inside of him." I panicked.

"No. He doesn't know that. He thinks we are going to kill him by doing this plan, not save him, and if he blurts this out to his father; I won't be alive much longer to be able to help Harry. It's only you who knows that I'm a death eater spy for Dumbledore. I ask that you do not tell anyone, not even Potter. He should not get suspicious."

"Alright." I sighed and went back.

"What's wrong?" Everyone chimed in as soon as they saw my flabbergasted face.

"Well..." I began.

"As you all may be wondering, being the nosy lot you are, Miss Malfoy has earned the 'Student of the Week' position for this term. Congratulations, Miss Malfoy." Snape said with his usual straight face.

I turned round in surprise at this. I didn't feel happy or proud when everyone cheered for me, I felt like it was just an excuse to try and stop me from informing anybody.

I took the certifying scroll from Snape's hand and the touch of his cold hands reflected the iciness in his eyes which made me zip my mouth immediately.

"Well done, Ida." Everyone congratulated me.

"thanks." I replied in hesitance.

When I turned round to look out for Snape, I noticed he was with McGonagall, looking rather nervous. This was the first time I had seen him this panicked before. I wondered if anything had gone wrong with his spying mission.

"Listen, well done. I have to go now." Harry sped off when he saw the pair talking about something serious.

"Harry! Where are you going? Surely you can't be eavesdropping on them?!" I asked him in shock.

"I have no other option." He said, and ran off, following them.

💓

"So what did they say?" Hermione asked him worriedly.

"I couldn't exactly hear very well, but they were definitely talking about Black and how he may be in the castle apparently."

"Oh no. What if he is?"

"Nonsense, surely he can't be. Hogwarts has excellent security."

"With magic, anything is possible." I reminded him.

Everyone looked at me.

"That sounded so cheesy you don't even know." Ron nudged me with a laugh.

"Seriously, it's not funny. What if he's after Harry?"

Hermione shot me an alarming look, and then I was reminded of the time when she said to not raise the topic about hearing a box drop and those lights.

I improvised what I was going to say next.

"What do you mean he might be after me?"

"No, that was just a suggestion."

"A pretty good one too." He said.

"Huh?"

"They were talking about me occasionally. I heard my name being said straight after Black. Maybe it's something to do with the hexing curse."

I gulped. What if my suspicion was right?

"Harry - what if Sirius meant to hex you the other day, and accidentally did it to Pansy who was following Draco the other day?!" I said in a high pitched voice.

Everyone looked at me in disbelief.

"Ida, maybe you're right." He said quietly.

"Do you think we should tell the professors?"

"No. We can't get them involved."

"How's that going to work? You're only a child. Sirius will be far more experienced than you in spells and charms."

"I'll manage."

"And you really think you're going to manage on your own?!" I shot him a 'are you kidding me' look.

"Course not. We'll help obviously." Ron added.

"Harry - I'm not too sure about this. Your suggestion makes sense, but we can't carry this forward so seriously, that too with just us. It's just an assumption after all."

"Hermione, we can't afford to overthink. Whatever Ida is saying makes 100% sense and of course, why would Black be in Hogwarts for no reason? He's definitely after me. He's going to kill me."

"And you're going to let him kill you? You sound too confident." Hermione said.

"This is ridiculous. How can you keep this hidden from the professors?"

"I don't want to worry them. They might do something which made create a hurdle for me in finding the truth. I want to meet this man. I want to get information from him before he gets sentenced. If we tell them they won't even let me see him. If you guys want to back off, it's your choice." Harry said, getting up and sitting in front of the fire.

"Did you actually think we'll abandon you when you need us the most, Harry? I just mean - be careful. I'm worried for you." Hermione said, joining him.

"Maybe I should share this with professor Lupin. After all, he may be - you know, be able to help me."

We all looked at each other, slightly unsure.

Suddenly, the same sound of a box dropping sounded again.

"It's that! It was that! The same sound!" I cried.

Hermione gulped, while the others looked at me in sheer confusion.