The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower

Blaise didn't sleep at all, so she was extremely tired by the time the sun rose. She decided to go down to breakfast early, as she wouldn't be getting any more sleep. Before leaving her dormitory, she picked up the list of things to do, which was on her night-stand. The first item on the list was: Dump Terry; Terry had been fun, but he was getting boring, so it had to be done. Item number two was: Eat breakfast. The third thing to do was: Prefects' meeting; this was the last thing she wanted to do, he would be there, and after last night's dream, she wouldn't be able to be in the same room as him. There was just no way.

She sighed, stood up, and changed into her robes. She ran a comb through her hair, and then headed to breakfast.

There was only one other person in the Great Hall that morning, Pansy Parkinson. Blaise had noticed she wasn't in the dormitory, and thought she'd be here.

"You look horrid!" said Pansy, in way of greeting.

"I look better than you did at the ball," said Blaise, smirking.

Pansy scowled. "Let me guess, you couldn't sleep, you were thinking about Potter."

Blaise shot Pansy a questioning look.

"I read your diary," said Pansy.

"I don't have a diary," Blaise shot back.

"Well, whatever it is that you call that book," said Pansy, rolling her eyes. "It said stuff about the Dark Lord, and Potter, and Mudbloods."

Blaise sighed. "Now I'll have to kill you," she said. "That wasn't meant for your eyes."

"But I'm a pureblood," said Pansy. "You can't kill me, it's not the way the Dark Lord intended it."

"Who says I'm following Voldemort's will?" asked Blaise. "I could kill you right here, but Professor Snape would give me another detention, and I hate cleaning the potions dungeon, really dull work."

***

Ginny awoke earlier than she would have liked, but she decided that since she was up, she may as well have breakfast. She still had to prepare for the Prefects' meeting. Cho was notorious for calling meetings on such short notice.

When Ginny entered the Great Hall, there were only two other pupils there; Pansy Parkinson and Blaise. They seemed to be deep in conversation, so Ginny sat down at the Gryffindor table and poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

***

Ginny didn't bother stopping to talk to Blaise after breakfast because; Blaise seemed to be a little preoccupied with Terry Boot, so instead, she went back up to her dormitory. She'd finally decided to begin reading her book, rather than just staring at the pictures.

When she got to the Gryffindor common room, everything seemed to be back to normal; Ron and Hermione were sitting together by the window, Harry wasn't there yet, Dean and Seamus were sitting in front of the fire talking about Quidditch vs. Football, Lavender and Parvati giggling in a corner, Colin snapping away with his camera, Denis tagging along...

Ginny jogged up the stairs to her dormitory, where the other fifth year girls were still asleep. She quietly opened her trunk and picked up Dragons, Dungeons, and Dark Arts. She opened the book to the first page. Dragons: Creatures of Darkness, it said.

 Creatures of Slytherin? Ginny wondered. She read on.

Dragons, creatures of the Dark Lord, it said. Fire breathing, winged serpents which dwell in most regions of the world, but are out-lawed everywhere, and kept a secret from Muggles, who believe that dragons are fictional creatures.

The dragon is the Dark Lord's second favourite creature, and second in command in the dark world. The serpent rules all, but after the serpent is gone, the dragon will be the ruler of darkness.

Oh my, whoever wrote this needs serious help, thought Ginny. She flipped through a few pages and stopped on one that caught her eye.

Draco, it said, in big bold letters at the top of the page. The ultimate sacrifice from the Lord's most trusty servant. The Lord's apprentice, named after the Lord's creature, Draco.

Ginny stopped reading for a moment. She was infecting her mind reading this junk. Just as she was about to close the book, a picture caught her eye. It was a boy of about sixteen, he looked strangely like Draco, with the silver-blonde hair and grey eyes, but that was about it, all of his other features were quite unlike Draco. I'm losing my sanity, thought Ginny, slamming the book shut. This was a stupid action, as all the other girls in the dormitory gasped and sat up suddenly.

"Sorry," Ginny whispered.

***

Blaise walked up the last flight of stairs to the Prefects' meeting room. "Bullweasel," she muttered password to get through the painting of the four founders of Hogwarts.

All of the other prefects were already sitting around the rectangular table. He was there. Cho Chang and Andrew Smith, being head boy and girl, were seated in the middle of the table. Twenty-three heads turned to look at Blaise, as always. She smirked and took her seat between Terry Boot and Draco. Terry was acting coolly toward Blaise, as she had completed the task of dumping him, and Draco seemed to be in an unusual mood today.

"Right, now that we're all here," said Cho, "we can begin."

There was a shuffle of parchment and all eyes were on Cho.

"I didn't call this meeting just to check up on everything," she continued. "Professor Dumbledore's just informed me of something that will be happening this February, and this meeting is to prepare for that event."

"What's the event?" Draco muttered, tonelessly.

"Well, why don't you take a guess?" said Cho, in a voice that was disgustingly cheerful. "It's in the month of February."

"Can't you see?" said Blaise, shouting a little. "Not all of us are in your overly happy mood, so stop acting so damn cheerful, as though life is just dandy."

Draco cleared his throat. "Dandy? Blaise, what the Hell's gotten into you? Dandy? Since when do you use that word? And why are you in such a horrible mood?"

"I've really got to go," said Blaise. "I'm... er... I'll just go." She got up and left through the portrait hole. She ran down the stairs and didn't stop running until she reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

She sat down on the floor of the bathroom, tears streaming down her face. Blaise couldn't recall the last time she had cried. In fact, she didn't think she had ever cried before.

Suddenly, Myrtle came floating out of her toilet. "Oooooh!" she squealed. "Was it Harry? I told him you know, I heard you telling someone what you did, and then I told Harry."

Blaise looked up, maliciously. "What?" she said, her voice surprisingly even.

"I told him how you tried to break up him and his girlfriend," said Myrtle, looking pleased. "And he was so angry!"

Blaise stared at the ugly ghost. "Why would you do something that stupid?"

"Because I'm a ghost, and if I can't have him, I don't think you should get him," Myrtle replied. "And who said it was a stupid thing to do?"

"First of all, who said I want him?" Blaise said. "And it was a stupid thing to do. Do you know what it's like to be murdered when you're already dead?"

"Ooh, should I be scared?" said Myrtle.

"Oh yes," said Blaise, pulling out her wand. She wasn't certain whether Cruccio worked on ghosts, but it was worth a shot. She pointed her wand at Myrtle and muttered, "Cruccio."

The effect was amazing. The spell had actually worked, and Myrtle was in more pain than she had ever been in. Blaise smiled. She had never thought it would work, but apparently, she had been wrong. She stood up and left the bathroom, in a considerably better mood.