It is around three a.m. and I'm walking around the castle aimlessly. I have tried to sleep, but it slithers away. I know how easily it is for me to take a drink of Dreamless Sleep in order to allow myself the rest I need. However, I stubbornly refuse to take it. After all, walks have always worked before.

I find myself slowly walking up the narrow black spiral staircase. I sigh heavily, but continue. Perhaps staring at the night sky will allow me to drift into utter bliss. I quietly walk across towards the balcony. The minute the breeze hits me I sigh. It is positively peaceful up here.

However, I hear quiet ruffling noises coming from one of the dark areas of the room. The sounds are no doubt coming from a couple of students snogging. I growl quietly. This is supposed to be my place. Wait…why did I just say that? The Astronomy Tower is most definitely not my place. I am beyond flustered now. I whirl around and stalk towards the staircase. I will leave Aurora to deal with them. After all, she has more creative ways of punishment than I do.

My feet lead me outside rather quickly. That is thanks to the secret passageways. The cool air quickly surrounds me as I head towards the Forbidden Forest. I know not why I head there, but I do. Perhaps the darkness is what draws me in. I shake my head at the thought. It does not matter the reason. The only thing that matters is that I am heading into it.

I quickly walk through the dense undergrowth as I go deeper into the forest. Every now and then, I glance upwards to the sky. It is a beautiful night. At least ten minutes later, I find the spot that I am looking for. I sit on the rock that is just at the edge of the backwaters of Black Lake. There is a bubbling brook off somewhere on my right, but I do not care for that. I glance upwards again and sigh. The stars are twinkling gracefully in the night sky. The moon bathes me in its light. I watch at least a dozen falling stars as they streak across the sky. I can see why Sinistra loves the stars. There is a sort of peace that comes with gazing at them.

"That's not the only reason, Severus," a soft voice whispers behind me.

"If one didn't know any better, one would think you are stalking me, Sinistra." She quietly laughs as she walks towards the water's edge.

"And one might also think that you enjoy being stalked, Severus," she replies before glancing at me. Her dark eyes glisten in the moonlight before she glances away. "You are worried that he might choose Gryffindor."

"It has crossed my mind, yes," I admit quietly.

"Ah, yes, well, I can see why you wish him to be in Slytherin. I apologize for insinuating before that you did not have his best intentions in mind. I see I was mistaken."

I glance at her, but say nothing. I watch her for a few moments as she allows the silence to settle around us. She is like a child in some respects. That is if you do not take into consideration her wicked side. She casts off her boots, rolls up her pant legs, and quietly walks into the water. I stare at her unable to speak. The water has to be freezing. However, when I find her eyes on me, I notice that she is daring me to speak. I sigh but lean back and stare up at the night sky. If she thinks that I am going to break first, then she has another thing coming.

"They say Gryffindors are loyal at heart. I must say that I believe it considering how Gryffindor has shown their colors when dealing with the dilemma concerning Harry."

I groan and slowly sit back up to stare at her. She is at least waist deep now in the freezing water. I am biting my inside cheek horribly now. If that witch wishes to drown herself then I am not going to stop her. I allow myself to fall back down on the rock and stare up.

"However, I doubt Gryffindor is excellent with secrets like we are, Severus." I continue to stare up at the stars. "After all, we Slytherins are not known for doing the right thing." I instantly sit up and look at her as the words echo in my head. "Gryffindor: House to the brave. I wonder what we are if we are the opposites of them." She then feigns thinking of the antonym for a moment. However, she has once again done it. The word echoes around my mind. I stare at her barely breathing. "That would make us cowards, wouldn't it, Severus? Hmm…I too if given the choice might not have chosen Slytherin had I known that." Again, that pleasant smile of hers flashes at me. However, I am not noticing the smile. Instead, I am noticing the intense shivering she is doing. I quietly growl before pushing myself up off my rock and towards her.

"Get out of the damn water, Sinistra!" She folds her arms in defiance to me, though. "You are being utterly ridiculous. Do you know that?" I watch her foolishly take a step backwards. The water is now to her collarbone. "Get out of the damn water…NOW!" I yell. Only she can upset me this much. Sometimes I think she enjoys riling me up. It is as if it is a game to her.

"If I started to drown, Severus, would you save me?"

"If you even try it—" I growl.

"You'll cast an Unforgivable?" she says attempting to finish my sentence. "Hmm…" She then takes another step backwards disappearing into the water. Ripples make their way to the water's edge.

I glare where she was last with my ebony wand drawn. The moment she comes up to breathe is when I'm hexing her for her foolishness. However, I do not see her come up for air. I wait a few more moments before I can't anymore. Growling and snarling as if a vicious animal, I go in after her. The water instantly chills me to the bone, but I ignore it to the best of my ability. The anger is the only thing that is keeping me warm because I know that when I get a hold of that witch she is going to regret—

Suddenly something grabs my ankle and yanks me underwater. I immediately cast the Bubbling charm on myself so that I can breathe properly as I'm being pulled Merlin knows where. My blood instantly boils when I see Sinistra's hand reaching towards my sleeve. She must have noticed my anger because she rolls her eyes before swimming to the surface again. By my estimate, we have to be near the boathouse. My guess proves to be correct when we come up.

I instantly latch onto her wrist so that she cannot get away from me. However, she responds by placing a finger to my lips. This immediately shuts me up before I can even snarl my first insult. I stare at her trying to figure out why I am unable to speak. She should not affect me this much, yet she does. She then points to the boathouse. I growl but glance towards it anyway. My eyes catch the three silhouettes immediately.

"Seems as if you weren't the only one who couldn't sleep, Severus," she whispers near my ear.

However, my focus is on what I believe to be Harry, Granger, and Weasley. I can only make out partly what they are saying to each other, but I catch the ending. The cold does not even register now.

"Harry, I know Snape will protect you. I mean, you should have seen him yesterday. He seemed to be genuinely concerned about you."

"So you think I should do it then, Hermione?"

"Yes," Granger responds quietly. Weasley instantly mutters something before he glares at her. "I mean, of course I don't want you to be in Slytherin, but if it keeps you safe, then yes I want you to do it. Harry, Snape knows more about everything than we do. We all saw that at the duel with Professor Lockhart. He is an extremely powerful wizard and an excellent duelist. He can protect you if…You-Know-Who comes back."

"The slimy git tried to kill Harry last year. Maybe you're forgetting that, Hermione?"

"Honestly, Ronald, when will you learn to pay attention?" Hermione drawls. "Professor Snape told both of us that he has a role to play. I doubt very much that he ever would intentionally try to kill Harry. After all, didn't you hear what Harry said? Professor Snape promised on his life that he'd protect him. Well, it wouldn't make much sense now would it if he only meant to kill Harry in the end anyway? You said it yourself, Ronald. It takes a serious caster to ensure the Vow works. That must count for something in your book," she says.

"Yeah, well, how about how he's treated Harry like garbage ever since we got here?"

"Again, his role that he must play," Granger replies. "Honestly, Ronald, must I repeat myself?"

"But what if that was all a lie?" Weasley asks. He then glances towards Harry. "I don't like it, mate. I mean, sure you need an adult looking out for you, but McGonagall can do that."

"Oh, you mean like last year? She didn't even listen to us when we warned her about the stone. At least, we'd know Professor Snape would listen."

"Yeah, and take points for our stupidity," Weasley mutters. "I'd rather stick with McGonagall." He then sighs heavily before glancing towards Harry who is looking off towards the horizon. "You're thinking about taking him up on it, aren't you?"

"It's not that I don't want to be in Gryffindor with you guys, Ron, but—"

"You realize all of Slytherin will try to kill you again?"

"Snape says—"

"Since when do you listen to a thing that greasy git says, Harry?" Weasley snarls.

"I don't know how to describe it, Ron, but everything points to me being in Slytherin. Hermione couldn't find a single Parselmouth that was in Gryffindor. Then you add in that the Sorting Hat tried to sort me there first-year… Ron, it just feels like I'm supposed to be in Slytherin. I mean, the only two reasons I wanted to be in Gryffindor was how Draco treated you and how you told me Slytherin's full of dark wizards. I didn't know then that my parents were Gryffindors."

"But you know it now, Harry," Weasley replies. "How'd you reckon your dad and mum would take it if they were alive today?"

"Yeah, well, that's not the case is it, Ron? I'm not like you. I don't have anyone." Harry then sighs heavily before hanging his head. "I hate that we're fighting like this."

"Yeah," Weasley quietly says. "You know I'll always consider you my brother, right, Harry? Even if you do go over to Slytherin," he adds. "After all, somebody has to keep you from going dark."

"Thanks, Ron." Harry closes his eyes and sighs. "I could be wrong, but I think Sinistra knows."

"Knows what, Harry?" Granger asks quietly.

"About the Dursleys," Harry responds. "She brought it up and practically tried to goad me into telling. I couldn't, though." He then sighs. "She thinks if I tell then I'll get the family I want, but I don't see how that's possible."

"Maybe you should tell him, Harry. Right now, he's operating blind because he doesn't know what the Dursleys are doing. Even we don't know because you won't tell us, but maybe you should tell him. He seems to have experience in these situations. At least that's what Fred and George claim."

"Well, it wouldn't be that wrong of thinking, Hermione. I overheard Mum and Dad arguing once about a boy who died. Mum was practically calling for the parents' heads because they had beaten him. Dad only stated that was how things were in pureblood households and that he and Mum couldn't change the world."

"Oh, that's awful," cries Hermione.

"Yeah, but Dad's right. You can't change the world. I'm just lucky my parents don't follow the old ways. Could explain why a lot of wizards go dark over there, though," Weasley states.

"Can…can we talk about something else, guys?"

"Yeah, sure, mate. So how about that Quidditch match the other day, guys?"

"Oh, honestly, Ronald," Granger drawls before laughing. "We should head back before they realize we're missing."

"Yeah, cause if Harry actually goes to Slytherin, Gryffindor might win the House Cup again," replies Weasley grinning. He then laughs when Harry playfully shoves him. "You'll always be a Weasley, Harry. Trust me. Once had a cousin in Slytherin actually," he says seriously.

"What happened to your cousin?"

"Don't actually know, but Dad told me once." The trio then sets off towards the castle.

"Still want to use an Unforgiveable, Severus?" Aurora says next to me.

My anger has left me, which allows the freezing cold water to seep into my body. Her lips are blue and her face is nearly translucent. I can only guess that I share a similar look. We have to have been in the water for nearly a half-hour. How we haven't succumbed to hypothermia yet is beyond me.

"No," I sigh before slowly getting out of the water. I instantly cast a warming spell along with a drying spell on the both of us as she joins me. We walk in silence to the castle. In my mind, I am making a mental note of all the potions we will need to ingest to ensure we don't die of pneumonia. I believe I have everything already brewed, which makes me sigh contently. I then glance towards her and notice her staring up at the sky. "Perhaps we should head to the Infirmary so Pomfrey can examine you for mental illnesses." She glances and smiles at me.

"If you wish, but she'll find none. I'm no crazier than you are, Severus."

"Then why must you change personalities and attempt those ridiculous stunts of yours?"

"As you of all people should know, Severus, we all wear masks. I just like changing mine to make you wonder which my real mask is, and we all need a little excitement in our lives." She then softly laughs before slipping her arm around mine. "Your quarters or mine?" she asks and I roll my eyes.