Breakfast was usually a very loud affair, especially amongst Valentine's friends. Leah, Olivia and Liam were all morning people and had no problem getting up with a smile. Valentine, Draco and Blaze weren't nearly so cheerful as the other three. Valentine and Draco could deal with it, even if the world was annoyingly bright and the other students annoyingly alive. Lucius had never allowed them to form the habit of sleeping in after all. But again, Blaze was unlucky and it was normal practice for him to fall asleep at the table on occasion. Today wasn't one of those days.

After Valentine had snapped at Blaze, things had been a little tense for a day or two but that had since faded. So, Leah was supposed to be balancing toast on her head and Olivia was supposed to be warning her about all the crumbs she was getting in her hair and Liam and Draco were supposed to poking Blaze every few minutes to keep him awake. And yet that wasn't what she was seeing this morning, what she had come to expect.

She had never seen them all so utterly nervous. Leah was trying to tell Olivia about her dream from last night and kept losing track and drifting off. Liam was poking at his food instead of Blaze and Blaze himself was wide awake and concerningly so. Then Draco reached for the salt and knocked over the pepper absently.

I know they're all little strange on a good day but this is ridiculous. Did what happen last night really put them so far on edge? This is the kind of thing we use for a conversation topic. There should have been at least five jokes about stiff cats made by now!

Leah had trailed off again, stabbing her egg with a fork.

Valentine sat back and looked at them all, Leah, Olivia and Liam to one side of the table, herself, Draco and Blaze to the other.

"You're all mercifully quiet this morning."

"I'm tired." Both Draco and Blaze answered as if on cue.

"What about the rest of you then?" Valentine arched a brow.

"I think we're all just a little tired this morning." Olivia smiled meekly.

"Yeah." Leah nodded and yawned dramatically.

Yes, so very convincing you are.

Valentine dropped her fork to the tabletop and every single one of them flinched.

"Did a little blood and a kitty cat really scare you so badly?" She stared at them incredulously.

"It's nothing, really." Liam tried to give her that easy smile like he had forgotten who she was.

"Right. Nothing. That's why you're all just crapped yourselves."

"It really is nothing." He said.

"Don't lie to me." Her face changed so suddenly yet so subtly and Liam's smile faltered.

"We should just ask her," Leah muttered under her breath, egg thoroughly destroyed by now.

"Leah!" Said Blaze.

"Shhh!" Olivia urged her.

"Ask me what, Leah?" Valentine pinned her with that glowing blue gaze.

Leah seemed to shrink, pulling her shoulders and head down impossibly low.

"Leah." Valentine ground out her name in a way that always made her listen.

"Val," Draco spoke up.

"Oi." Blaze hissed at him.

"Shut up." Draco jabbed him with his elbow. "She's going to find out anyway."

"I'm waiting." Valentine rapped her fingers on the tabletop.

"Come on." Draco stood and started going for the door.

Valentine gave the others one last meaningful glance before following.

Draco lead her through the Great Hall entrance and into the court. This was the way the older students typically came and went from Hogsmead but today they were alone save for a few students who could see them from inside as they passed.

"Well?" Valentine prompted.

Draco was avoiding her gaze and chewing on his lip.

"It is about last night."

"Obviously." Valentine drawled coldly, "I'm not an idiot."

"I know," Draco nodded. "That's why I'm surprised they were going to bother and try and hide it. Especially Leah. But they were just worried."

"About?"

Draco seemed to battle with himself for a second both his raised his pale eyes to look at her.

"There are these rumours going around about what happened last night."

"Draco, either tell it to me straight or I will find another way to get it out of you."

"Val," Draco swallowed, "people have been saying that you did it. You weren't at dinner last night and Leah and Olivia said they stayed up for hours and they still didn't see you come in."

Valentine sighed and rolled her eyes heavily.

"Val," Draco said earnestly, "we don't care you if did do it. I applaud you for scaring the hell out of everyone, but if we know whats going on then we can help you keep your cover."

Two girls walked out of the Great Hall and saw them. They quickly turned around, whispering to one another.

"You can't be serious?" Valentine curled her lip. "Why the hell would you think I would waste my time petrifying cats and finger painting?"

"I just...Honestly, I'm not sure what to think. But creating an unforeseen reign of terror? That's not exactly too far off your daily routine."

I mean. He's not wrong.

Now there was a decent stream off students leaving the Great Hall and so obviously just to take a gawk at them.

"I'll only say this once, Draco. I wasn't me." Valentine cast a glare over at the students. "But if everyone is going to make assumptions then maybe I should be petrifying students! I think I'll start with the Muggle Borns and gossip mongers!"

"Val, what are you doing?" Draco quickly stepped in front of her, wide-eyed.

"I don't care what people have to say about me. They can believe whatever the hell they want, but I won't put up with the others acting like a bunch of fools." She shoved past him. "You tell them that. I'm off to go write some haikus in my own blood."

Valentine, in truth, wasn't mad with any of them, to say the least. In fact, this all worked perfectly for her. If everyone believed that she was behind it all then it would take suspicion off Harry and after that little display, everyone was sure to nod towards her as the culprit. She could take the whispers and the rumours, they seemed to follow her either way. As long as she knew what was being said, she could use it to her advantage.

-----Pretending To Hate-----

Valentine found that being surrounded by students that thought she was a monster wasn't all that different from her everyday life. The stares could be either ignored or met with a writhing glare and that was that. It wasn't as though anyone would have ever approached her with an accusation.

Since that morning after breakfast, her friends had immediately perked up. She assumed that Draco had told them everything she said. The only thing more baffling then her friends being so subdued was that they unconsciously rallied around her like a band of bodyguards encase anyone dared to start anything. Valentine wondered if they realised how much more guilty that made her appear. She just called them idiots and continued on with her day.

Flitwick and Sprout had both handed out hefty assignments on the same day and Trelawney had tripped over the hem of her long skirt and knocked over a table. Other than that, the day was largely no different from any other.

By the time their afternoon session of Transfigurations rolled around, Leah was completely back to normal and freaking out about all the animals she was now surrounded by.

Valentine took one glance at the blackboard and quickly figured what they would be doing today. Each desk had on it some kind of animal. Toads, lizards, mice, small owls, turtles. Only one desk in the entire class had a small carpet python, clearly a baby, that had curled itself around a branch. Naturally, Valentine wouldn't have sat anywhere else.

Beside her, Draco had a bearded dragon that was eyeing him cautiously and behind them, Valentine could hear Leah speaking to toad as if it was a baby.

Where did they even get all these?

"That's a funky looking lizard, mate." Said Liam.

"Oi!" Blaze snapped at him, clearly offended. "Don't talk him like that when he's right here."

"Did you miss the part where I said lizard? I don't think he's going to care."

"That doesn't mean you can just say things like that. Seriously, you're so insensitive. Pay attention to your own animal."

"It's a turtle."

"So?"

"Something tells me it's not going anywhere fast."

"Awe, Olivia!" Leah was cooing. "A got a little mousie! It's so dang cute!"

"Lovat," McGonagall sternly said as she passed. "Lower your voice."

"Sorry, Professor. But look at it. Freaking look at it, Professor."

"If you will, please remove the toad from my face, Miss Lovat."

"Oops. Sorry."

Valentine watched the snake on her desk staring out at the world boredly like it had much better places to be. It was still young, only a little thicker than Valentine's thumb. It seemed to finally notice her moved itself head slightly towards her almost like a greeting.

Well, how do you do?

Several students were arguing over where to sit. Not everyone wanted a toad after all. McGonagall scolded then and seat them all herself so they could start the class.

"Today, we will be turning animals into water goblets." She said. There was a large black and white tropical bird perched upon a stand. She readied her wand. "Like so. One, two, three. Vera Verto."

McGonagall tapped the bird lightly three times and with an elegant wave, it transformed into a clear crystal goblet.

The students stared on in raw amazement.

"Now, it's your turn." McGonagall smiled thinly. "Who would like to go first. Ah, Mr Weasley?"

Ron's shoulders seemed to slump a bit but he cleared his voice and raised his wand.

"One, two, three. Vera Verto." McGonagall repeated.

Uh...? Hasn't his wand been producing nothing but sluggish disasters as of late?

"Vera Verto." Ron cast firmly, but instead of a clear crystal glass, the rat transformed into bizarre caught halfway between. Shaped very much like a furry brown goblet with a flickering tail.

Laughter arose about the class. Harry in particular thought it was utterly hilarious.

Didn't see that one coming at all.

"Stupid ginger." Draco snickered under his breath.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr Weasley." Said, McGonagall.

You don't say?

Then the familiar sight of Hermione hand in the air could be seen.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Professor," Hermione steeled herself with a tilt of her chin. "I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Of course. Of freaking course. They just can't leave things be can they? They don't just poke the sleeping bear, the kick it in the face and insult its mother.

The class grew silent, every student waiting for answers to the question they all shared. McGonagall looked around at the class and it almost seemed as if she had no choice.

And of course, she's going to tell them!

For all her disgruntlement, Valentine could see where she was coming from. If there was truly something dangerous happening at Hogwarts then it was better they be aware of it. But Valentine was almost imagining Harry and his friends conducting their own searching and getting in a world of trouble in the process.

"Very well," McGonagall said resignedly. "You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not."

"Three guesses who?" Ron grumbled to Harry.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, Pure Bloods."

Valentine caught Hermione's glare sent her way and returned it with a cold tilt of her mouth.

"Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school." McGonagall continued, "according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber of
Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle Borns," Hermione said quietly.

"Yes." McGonagall nodded. "Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has ever been found."

"Professor," Hermione spoke again, "what exactly does legend tell us lies within the chamber?"

"The chamber is said to be home to something which the heir of Slytherin alone can control." A flicker of fear shone in the witches eyes as she spoke. "It is said to be
the home of a monster."

The class fell back into silence and Ron twisted around in his chair to stare Valentine dead in the face, horror-stricken.

"Problem, Weasley?" She rose her brows causally.

She glanced down at the snake in front of her and back up at Ron. Now Harry was staring as well, but his gaze was anchored on the snake, wide and incredulously.

"What do you want, Potter?" Draco curled his lip at the other.

Harry sent the snake and Valentine one last look before turning back to the front.

What was that?

-----Pretending To Hate-----

"Okay, now once we've sliced the valerian root, we add four to the cauldron." Olivia read from the textbook.

"No problem!" Leah picked up the knife with a large grin.

"Nope." Liam turned around from he and Blaze's table to nick the knife from her hand and give it to Olivia.

"Hey!"

"No offence, Leah. But you should never be trusted with sharp objects."

"But why?" she whined.

"Would you like the reasons in chronological order or alphabetical?" Said Draco.

"You don't even know what chronological means!"

"Do you?"

"Yes! It means...it means, ah..."

"How does your foot taste?" He snickered. "Bitter?"

"Olivia, give me that knife so I can stab Draco!"

"Leah." Olivia shook her head softly. "We still have to finish the potion. You can stab him later."

"Really?" Leah's face lit up.

"Um. No. That was a joke to get you to calm down. Did it work?" Olivia asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Now I'm just disappointed."

"Well, I feel safe." Draco huffed.

"Shouldn't you be doing your own work?" Leah pursed her lips.

Draco looked over at Valentine who was adding a Sopophorous bean to the cauldron.

"Touch anything and your hand goes in next." She said.

"I think Val's got it covered."

"Lucky." Liam groaned, watching Blaze crushing the Wormwood with much more concentration than one would reasonably need. "Why do I always have to partner with Blaze?"

"Because you love me and greatly value our friendship?" Blaze pushed the cutting board his way so the Wormwood could be finally added.

"I mean. I guess."

"Wow, I feel so loved and appreciated right now."

"You should." Said Leah. "Because I don't think anyone is going to like you any more than this."

Then it was Blaze reaching for the knife as Liam was barely able to snatch it up.

"No." He said sternly. "What is wrong with you two?"

"Draco says I must have been dropped a lot." Leah shrugged.

"I've probably been traumatized by my wack job family." Said Blaze.

"Whatever," Liam groaned. "Just no more knives, alright?"

"I don't know why you bother." Draco occupied himself flipping through the textbook on the bench. Valentine rarely needed it while brewing as she tended to pre-memorise the ingredients and methods. "I would just let them go for it. Last one standing wins the title of Ultimate Idiot."

"My family doesn't let my aunt near knives either." Said Olivia, stirring her and Leah's potion counterclockwise. "She's really accident-prone. Stubs her toe a lot."

"Yeah, meanwhile these too are just clinically insane." Liam gestured to the two in question.

Valentine added the sprinkle of powdered asphodel petals and from that point, Valentine started to tune out her friend's chatter. Even then, she had only been following vaguely before. Potion brewing was a methodical, step by step process. All one had to do was follow the instructions which always allowed Valentine's mind to wander somewhat, especially with a simple Sleeping Draught like they were brewing today. She found it oddly relaxing despite the cursing from other students and small explosions from the other side of the room.

She looked down into the cauldron, waiting for all the asphodel to dissolve before she could add the essence of nettle. She was fairly certain Snape ever used the potion they brewed for anything in particular. She wondered if she could take some without anyone noticing. It's amazing what one can do in public when everyone around you is distracted. For instance, Harry never seemed to notice that Valentine could see his every move.

She always knew where Harry was from the moment she stepped into the room. She would instinctively make a point to know just where he was and however close the ever so flammable Seamus Finnigan might be. So, when she saw Snape skulking about from the corner of her eye, she knew just where he was going.

"Potter..." He rasped.

"I'm almost finished, sir."

"That's incredibly fast considering your usual slovenly pace. I'm sure you and Mr Weasley blundered your ways through it."

"Well, we'll see won't we?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean..." Harry trailed off although he didn't seem overly concerned with finding an answer. Snape was always breathing down his neck like this, after all.

"Yes, exactly."

Ugh. What an absolute slimeball.

"I think we may have actually gotten it this time, sir." Said Ron meekly.

Snape gave him a sour smirk.

"Well, we'll see won't we?"

God. Doesn't he ever get tired of this day in day out? There's no way he enjoys being hated by literally everyone.

Snape slunk across the room to bother Neville and Hermione with his ever benevolent presence.

Valentine watched Harry repeating Snape's words under his breath in a whiny high pitched tone while Ron pretended to cower behind his chair. She would have laughed had she been able, instead, she stirred the potion four times clockwise and them twice counterclockwise, watching carefully of purple that she need.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" Blaze peeped over her shoulder, jaw dropped wide open. "How are you done already?"

"Because I didn't spend the first fifteen minutes crushing the Wormwood."

"I just wanted it to be perfect, okay?"

"No, you wanted to waste Liam's time to the point where he would get fed up and do it all himself."

"What?" Liam snapped, eyes going dark and cold. "Blaze..."

"Whaaaaaaaat? Nooooo..." Blaze waved a hand flippantly. "I would never."

"Liar, liar pants on fire." Leah sang out.

"Oh, shut up you."

"Make me."

"I will don't test me Lovat."

"Please!" Olivia said urgently. "Not in class. Could we leave the bloodshed for later?"

"Why is everyone ruining my fun today?" Draco grumbled.

"Fine." Leah pouted. "But only because you're so cute."

"Potter...what do