She didn't really know where she was going. So she was surprised to hear:

 “Hullo, Megan.”

 Megan stopped and looked up.

“Yeh all right?”

“Oh, hello, Hagrid... What's that?”

He was carrying a large balaclava, and a dead rooster. She realised she was halfway to the third floor.

“Second that's been killed this week,” he said, following her gaze. “I need to ask the headmaster's permission to put a protection charm round the coop.”

“Okay...”

Hagrid peered at her.

“Ye' all right? You look all hot and bothered.”

She couldn't tell him. She cared for him a lot but... she just wanted to be alone. She forced a smile and shook her head. And she didn't think she could recount the story again.

"Oh, no it's nothing... Don't worry. I better get going, I... I have homework...”

He didn't seem completely convinced, but he didn't insist.

“See ye' later, then.”

She hurried off. She turned up the stairs and ended in another empty corridor. She reached a turn. And stopped dead. There, a few feet ahead, was the ghostly figure of Nearly Headless Nick, and...

“Justin!”

 She hurried to his side. His eyes were wide and his face was expressionless.

 “Justin, no! No! Justin, come on, wake up...!”

 But it was too late. She looked up at Nick.

 “Nick, go get-”

 But he wasn't looking at Justin. He was looking at the wall ahead. His eyes were wide and empty like Justin's, his head hanging on one side. She got to her feet.

“Nick...!”

Then, she saw a new line of spiders heading for the nearest windows. She got to her feet and took a step forwards when...

"Got you!”

She whipped round.

“Caught red-handed!”

 Filch was glaring at her.

“No, I didn't do this!” she said.

But she knew it was useless.

“Oh, yes you did! You attacked my poor cat and when she wasn't enough, you turned to students!”

“That will do, Argus,” McGonagall said sharply.

Megan looked around and felt a little more hopeful. Surely McGongall would know she was innocent...!

“Professor, you have to believe me, I didn't do anything to them! I swear I-”

“This is out of my hands, Potter...” she said calmly. “Follow me.”

“But professor, she attacked Justin!”

Ernie, who had arrived, was pointing accusingly at Megan. Cedric made to stand by her but Megan held up a hand.

“You're already too involved... don't...” she said.

“Yeah, she already attacked Justin, I wouldn't go near her.”

“What proof do you have of that?” Cedric asked him coolly.

“She was caught on the scene right after the attack!” he said. “What more do you want?”

“This corridor was empty when I came, it could have happened any time!” Megan argued.

“Enough,” McGonagall said loudly. “Potter, follow me. Argus, accompany the students to their house, please.”

Megan exchanged a glance with Cedric, who nodded encouragingly.

“You'll be okay,” he said.

She hoped to whoever was listening he was right, and followed the head of Gryffindor house. Even now, scared and confused, she walked with grace and her head held high. They soon reached another corridor and walked on in silence until they stopped in front of a large stone gargoyle. Megan glanced at McGonagall who stepped forwards.

“Sherbet Lemon,” McGongall said.

The gargoyle turned, revealing a stone staircase. Despite her fear of what was to happen to her, she followed McGonagall up the stairs. They then reached a large ornate door, and Megan had a hunch she knew where she was. Albus Dumbledore's office.

McGonagall knocked on the door, which opened. She led Megan inside and told her to wait before leaving. Megan took a moment to look around. It was an elegant, circular room full of noises and odd gadgets Megan had never seen before. She hadn't yet seen all the teacher's offices, but she felt that this one was by far the most intriguing. Had she not been terrified, she would have been glad to be here. Then, she was surprised to see the Sorting Hat, sitting on a shelf up above her. Of course, she supposed it had to go somewhere after it had done its job at the start of the school year.

“Bee in your bonnet, Potter?”

Megan hesitated and glanced around. Dumbledore wasn't there yet... it couldn't hurt, could it?

“I just... wonder if you put me in the right house... I've been thinking a lot lately.”

The Hat chuckled.

“True, you were particularly difficult to place. And I stand by what I said: you would have done well in Slytherin.”

Megan just couldn't accept the possibility. Her parents had both been Gryffindors! She couldn't be... the Hat had to be mistaken.

“You're wrong,” she said.

Just then, she heard a small sound from behind her. Turning round she saw a tall, flaming red bird. But its head was drooping slightly. It didn't look very well. Megan looked around to see if she could find some way to help it, when it burst into flames right before her eyes! And just as abruptly, it was just a pile of ashes. Megan gasped, jumping backwards in surprise.

“Megan?”

She looked up. At the top of a golden staircase, was Dumbledore.

“Professor...! Your bird... it just... caught fire, there was nothing I could do...”

“Ah. It was about time, too. He was looking dreadful. It is a shame you had to meet him on that day. Fawkes is a phoenix, you see.”

 “A phoenix?”

 Yes. And a very noble animal it is too.”

“But it...”

“A phoenix returns to life from the ashes of its death.”

“So it'll be okay?” Megan asked.

“See for yourself.”

Indeed, a tiny little head appeared from the pile of ashes. It was indeed much cuter than the other had been. Megan smiled. Things like these could only cheer one up.

“They can carry immensely heavy loads,” Dumbledore went on. “their tears have healing powers, and they are very faithful. They sometimes remind me of some people. The kind who even if they have nothing going for them, keep going and getting back on their feet.”

Megan looked at the baby phoenix. It was looking up at her.

“He's... so small...”

“Yes, but he'll grow tall and beautiful. Small things often become great. You'll have to come see him then.”

Megan looked up at Dumbledore. Just then, the door flew open and Hagrid boomed in:

“Professor Dumbledore!”

He charged forwards.

“Professor, it wasn't Megan! I know it wasn't! She was with me just a few seconds before they found those poor blokes. She couldn't 'ave done it!”

“Hagrid-”

“I'm ready to swear to it in front of the Ministry of Magic!”

“Hagrid!” Dumbledore called. “Relax. I don't think she did it.”

Hagrid sighed with relief.

“Okay. Uh... I'll wait outside.”

He nodded and left. Megan turned to Dumbledore.

“You don't think it was me, sir?” she asked.

“No, Megan. I do not believe you are responsible.” he said calmly. “However, I wish to speak with you.”

“... What about, sir?” she asked.

“I would like to ask you... is there anything troubling you,” he said softly. “Anything you want to tell me?”

Megan's first thought was “Oh, if you only knew...”, thinking of Malfoy, and his blood racism, and the pain of seeing everyone around her fear her or hate her when she had done nothing wrong... Then, there was the voice, and her friends telling her that was a bad sign, her fear of being linked in some way to Slytherin... but she just said:

“No, sir... nothing.”

The new situation turned uneasiness to panic. It was, oddly enough, Nick's fate that was worrying people most of all. After all, Justin and Colin would be fine. But they had never thought a ghost would be a victim... What could be so terrible it could harm someone alreadydead? Megan had to confess she was a little worried about it too. With the Christmas holidays coming up, the amount of people going home increased exponentially.

“At this rate it'll be just us and the Malfoy gang...” Ron said. “Great...”

Megan almost agreed with him. But she would have meant it. She was tired of people staring at her or running away. Fred and George were the only ones who found it funny. If they hadn't been a family of wizards, she would have been worried about them.

“Make way for the heir of Slytherin! Be careful! Seriously evil witch coming through!”

Megan didn't mind. She was glad at least someone in school believed her... Percy, however, was not amused at all.

“Enough! You're upsetting Ginny!” he said angrily one day.

It was true. She was very shaken by the situation. Megan would have taken the time to help her, if she hadn't been too busy finishing up the potion with the others. Another person who didn't like Fred and George's jokes, was Malfoy.

“That's because he's burning to tell everyone he is the heir.” Ron said confidently when they voiced the issue. “You know he hates being surpassed in anything.”

“Well, in any case we'll know before too long.” Hermione said. “The Polyjuice will be ready soon.”

 “Are you sure you want me to leave?”

Megan had joined Cedric on the platform. It was cold and windy. Most of the students were already in the train. Several were peeking out, waiting for Megan to attack him, probably. But she ignored them. She could never hurt Cedric.

“Yes.” she said confidently. ”I want to know you're safe. I care about you.”

“I care about you,” he said. “And you're in danger, too.”

“I'll be in less trouble knowing I won't need to worry about you.”

He sighed.

“Send me an owl, okay?”

“I will.”

They hugged and Megan kissed his cheek.

“Go, you'll get the train late.”

He kissed her forehead.

“Be safe.”

“I will.”

They parted and Megan watched as the train left. That was that many Muggle-borns that would not be attacked... she thought, relieved.

Term ended a lot less cheerfully than it would have ordinarily. The silence and tension were as thick as the snow outside. And even its whiteness had a sort of coldness about it, not the usual peaceful beauty Megan saw in it. Proof enough that circumstances could change things dramatically about how one saw things around them. That and the fact that the number of people leaving for the holidays had rocketed in the couple of weeks between Justin and Nick’s attack and the end of term. Even at night, the castle had never felt so empty to Megan. She wasn't bothered, too happy to have a break from all the suspicious looks for a change, and nor were the others, even if it felt a little strange. She, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had the whole common room to themselves. Ginny and the twins were staying instead of going to see Bill in Egypt. As for Percy, he claimed it was his duty as Prefect to give the teachers his support. Megan wasn't too comfortable knowing they were around, but she was pretty sure they would be safe. They had wizard blood for as far as they could tell. They were pretty much safe from harm for the time being. All in all, Christmas Eve was a lot quieter than Megan had known last year. But in a more or less comfortable way. One the one hand, she was surrounded by people she knew she could trust, rely on, even if she worried about them, and missed Cedric (who she knew wouldn’t have been able to be there with them anyway). But the twins went out of their way to cheer everyone up, and Megan agreed that there was no point in dreading the worse, when you could profit of the best while you had it.

That night, Megan had one of her worse nightmares yet. She was in a dark room lit with just a few torches. She then saw Cedric, standing a few feet away with her back to her and frowned, confused. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be back home in Norwich! She called his name but he didn’t appear to hear her. And why was she so cold, all of a sudden? She wrapped her arms around herself, but it didn’t make much difference. Just then, she heard a low hiss she knew only too well.

Rip… tear… kill…

Her heart hammering, feeling colder than ever, she looked around wildly. The hissing continued, gradually coming closer, and eventually the black snake Malfoy had conjured appeared by her feet. She leapt backwards and watched it. To her horror it advanced towards Cedric who hadn’t moved. She tried to run forwards but found herself frozen in place, unable to move!

“Cedric!” she called. “Cedric, look out!”

But he still didn’t hear her. She watched in powerless horror as the snake quintupled in size and width, and still advanced. Only when the snake was right above him did Cedric turn around. Megan saw the terror in his eyes as they widened. He backed away, but it was too late. The snake coiled around him faster than a rabbit plunging into its hole, and Cedric’s screams sent daggers and red hot shards into Megan’s heart. She tried, fruitlessly, to move again, and could only watch in desperation as the snake lifted Cedric upwards.

“Megan!”

Her eyes snapped open. Hermione was leaning over her, looking concerned.

“Are you okay? You were thrashing around like you wouldn’t believe…”

“Uh… it’s… it’s okay… I… just a bad dream.”

“Oh, don’t give me that.” Hermione said. “You seemed like you were dying or something.”

“… Not me…”

She told her about the dream. Hermione sighed.

“Well, it’s perfectly explainable.” She said reasonably. “You care about Cedric, and we know he was nearer the snake than any of us that day… and he’s part Muggle born, so you’re worried whatever attacked Colin and Justin might try him.”

“… I guess…”

“And the snake’s just a symbol of Slytherin, since one of them conjured it, and whatever is doing this clearly works in his name too.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right.”

 “Come on, we need to finish the potion.”

 It was still dark in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Hermione, her nose buried in her notes (they’d given the book back after a week, so they wouldn’t be suspected of actually brewing the potion… even if that was exactly what they were doing).

 “… Hermione? Why d’you think my mind chose Cedric in that dream?” Megan asked.
“Well, because he was nearer the snake, like I said,” Hermione said. “Pass me that vial, would you?”

“Here… Yes, but… why would I have that dream at all? I mean, he’s safe, why would I dream about him in that kind of position…? You don’t think it’s some kind of premonition, do you?”

“Oh, I don’t really know. I don’t think so. I think the answer’s much simpler.”

“Oh?”

“Well, you’re pretty close, aren’t you?”

“… He’s always there for me, and I try to be for him…” she said thoughtfully. “So I guess so…”

“When you like someone, you pretty much can’t stop thinking about them.”

Megan flushed. Had she been that obvious?

“He’s easy to like. He’s smart, funny, friendly…” Hermione said.

Megan suddenly had a horrible doubt. Hermione seemed to sense it too.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in him that way. But I wouldn't be surprised if other girls were, so if you have any feelings for him, you should tell him.”

Hermione turned to the cauldron. Megan was about to answer that she couldn't tell him anything like that, because for all their complicity, he would never be interested in her, that he'd probably always see her as little more than a good friend, maybe a sister... and his friendship was important to her, and she didn't want to risk loosing it for smething that would never happen.

“Well, it looks exactly like the book... and all the ingredients are in it...”

She looked at Megan again.

“Time to get the boys. It's ready.”