Lauren's eyes fluttered open and she rolled over with a groan. Soon enough the events from the previous night flooded her senses like a torrential river and dread curled in the pit of her stomach like a dead weight. The only thought that screamed in her head like a wailing banshee was how was she going to come out of this tournament alive? Yes, Snape had vowed to help her and protect her, and she also had the support of her two little friends. But she was going to have to heavily rely on skill and a whole lot of luck to defeat the final boss battle that awaited her at the end of this tournament.

Voldemort.

She pushed away the tangled mess of hair from her face and stared up at the canopy of her bed, mulling things over in her head.

A few minutes passed as last night played out in her head like a bad horror film. Aside from the dragons and Voldemort, both of which she knew were not going to be easy feats in themselves, the most difficult task she was currently going to have to face was trying not to kill and dismember Barty Crouch Jr. every time she laid eyes upon him.

Snape's right. I really need to work on my Occlumency and get my emotions under control. I'm going to need a clear and level head to get through all of this.

Draco's words from last night, though said in jest, seemed to ignite a flame within her. The pity party she was throwing herself was getting old. She was Lauren Ward and she was damn well going to act like it! She was not going to go down without a fight.

And I will get through this. I didn't survive getting murdered just to have to die all over again.

Lauren let out a huff and flung back the covers. She sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before glancing around the dorm room, noting that it was currently empty and all beds neatly made. She briefly wondered where Tracey was? Even though it was Sunday, the weekends had never stopped the annoying early bird from rousing Lauren from her sleep. Lauren had to assume that Tracey had taken pity on her and had chosen to let her sleep in. Just this once.

Lauren glanced over at the clock resting on her bedside table and saw that it was a little after nine in the morning, which was still early in her opinion. But right now there were more urgent matters on her mind. Like discovering a way to become barbeque proof.

Soon she was up and dressed in dark jeans, black knee length hunting style boots, and a simple black T-shirt that she paired with a stylish bomber style chocolate brown jacket. She then scooped her wayward waves into a high ponytail, and applied a subtle hint of makeup – just enough to accentuate her features. Makeup to her was like armour; a shield which she could apply and hide behind. It gave her a certain level of confidence, and she was going to need a whole bucket load of confidence to get through the next few days. She stared back at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looked totally kickass. Still short, but a kickass nonetheless. At least in her mind anyway.

Lauren entered the Common Room where a scattered few other Slytherins were milling around doing their own thing. Some turned to look at her, but they mostly offered her silent smiles of support. Draco was right. The Slytherins were supporting one of their own, and thankfully without the chaotic rowdiness that the Gryffindors were so fond of displaying. Her gaze darted around the room and she soon spied Draco and Tracey seated at one of the tables stationed by the floor to ceiling monastery style windows, the murky waters of the Black Lake beyond the only afforded scenery. If one was patient enough they might catch a glimpse of a tentacle or the tail fin of a mermaid passing by. There was something soothing, almost cathartic, about the Lake, and it perfectly suited the decor of the Slytherin Common Room.

Lauren paused, firstly noticing the mountain high pile of books resting on the tables. Her little friends, by the looks of it, had been up bright and early. And they had obviously raided the library.

Tracey means business.

She watched as Draco and Tracey perused the books, their heads almost touching, that's how close they were sitting next to each other. It was an innocent scene, one that offered a glimpse of a blossoming sweetness between these two that they only exhibited towards each other. Draco tilted his head slightly, and it was obvious that he was watching Tracey while she read. His pointed features softened as he observed her, and his eyes seemed to glimmer with an inner light that only peeked through when he was with her. He reached up, almost as though he was going to tuck a strand of hair behind Tracey's ear, but stopped himself at the last moment and quickly dropped his hand. Tracey was completely oblivious.

Then, as though sensing her presence, Tracey glanced up and noticed Lauren standing there. She eagerly waved her over to join them.

"I've found some books that I think might be of some help. Draco and I are reading through them trying to find out what we can about dragons."

"That's, uh, a lot of books," Lauren remarked with a low whistle as she sat down on the opposite side of her two friends.

Draco pushed a plate of toast towards Lauren, each slice spread with thick gooey sticky jam. This was soon followed by a mug of piping hot tea that he had enchanted to stay warm for her. "I thought you might want something to eat. And that you might want to avoid the Great Hall and people in general for a bit."

Lauren picked up a slice, surprised to note that the boy had used her favourite brand of strawberry jam. A lump formed in her throat at how thoughtful and considerate her friends were being towards her in her time of need.

"Thank you," she replied.

Suck on that, Potter, she thought smugly to herself as she took a bite of the toast. I have the bestest friends.

"So, have you managed to find anything useful?" she asked after she had swallowed her mouthful.

"There's the Conjunctivitis Curse," Tracey mused.

"It basically swells the eyes shut. A dragon's weak spot is it eyes," Draco elaborated before reaching over and snatching a slice of toast from Lauren's plate, just narrowly avoiding a slap on the hand from her. His grin grew infuriatingly wide when Lauren practically growled at him as she protectively manoeuvred her plate out of reach.

"Yes, but I'm worried that it's such a volatile spell to use on a dragon. There's no telling how it'll react," Tracey countered.

"Hmmm, it'll probably send it on a rampage," Lauren said, recalling that Krum had used this particular curse on his dragon. "I know that's what I would do if someone fired that hex at me and swelled my eyes shut. I can't imagine it's very pleasant."

"Lauren, you'd go on a rampage regardless of whichever hex someone fires at you," Tracey deadpanned. "You don't need an excuse for that."

Draco snorted out loud, trying (and failing) to smother his laugh. Lauren secretly hoped he chocked on his stolen slice of toast.

Turning to Tracey she stated, "Gee, I'm glad you think so highly of me."

Tracey ignored her and continued, "You could use the Stunning Spell, but that requires a whole bunch of witches and wizards firing that spell at the dragon at the same time in order for it to work."

"Well, that's not an option then. It's just going to be me and Potter in the arena. Two underage kids going up against a full grown dragon."

Tracey and Draco shared a look. Then Tracey turned her attention back to Lauren. She chewed on her bottom lip as she asked, "Are you going to talk to Harry soon?"

"Why would I do that?" Lauren asked as she licked off some sticky jam that had gotten on her finger.

"Because he's your partner. You two are supposed to work together."

Lauren sighed and placed her half eaten toast back on her plate. "I will."

"When?"

"When I feel like it."

Tracey shook her head. "You two are supposed to work together. You need to be a team. You have to formulate a plan of action in order of having any chance of getting through this."

"I hate to point it out to you, but I think Harry wants to work with me just about as much as I want to work with him. He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you."

"Okay, maybe not me personally -."

"He will once he's forced to work with you," Draco butted in.

Lauren ignored the jibe (mainly because it was the truth) and continued, "Potter hates me purely because I'm a Slytherin, which automatically makes me his enemy in his eyes."

Not to mention that we are both stubborn and hot headed, and it won't be long before I'm tempted to force feed him to a dragon when he starts acting like a prat, Lauren thought, but she didn't dare say this out loud to Tracey.

"Well, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to show him that not all Slytherins are bad."

Lauren sighed, but there was no derision in her tone when she replied, "I wish I had your optimistic outlook on life, Tracey."

Tracey gave a nod of her head. She knew Potter was not going to be easy to deal with, given the long standing feud between the Slytherins and Gryffindors over the countless years. "You have to at least try, Lauren."

Lauren was starting to feel some empathy towards Snape and all the difficult times she had given him over the years. "Fine. I promise to make a concerted effort to play nice with Potter and work with him as a team. But I'm telling you now it's going to be for nothing."

"Care to make it an Unbreakable Vow," Draco asked slyly as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes twinkled with mischief. "Because I know that's one vow you cannot keep."

"Hey! I can play nice."

Both Tracey and Draco shared a look and then burst out laughing.

It was Lauren's turn to cross her arms and pout. "Your faith in me is astounding, the both of you," she grumbled. This only made her two friends laugh even more. Once their laughter had died down, Lauren turned to Draco. "By the way, have you heard anything from your father?"

"Not yet," he replied, his demeanour sobering. "I sent an owl to him early this morning."

Lauren deflated a bit. She had been holding on to a sliver of hope that Pimp Stick Malfoy would become her saviour and manage to weasel her out of the Triwizard tournament.

Draco reached over and patted her hand. "He'll reply. But until then we'll try to get as much information as we can to help you through this."

Lauren gave a nod of her head. She wasn't giving up just yet. The following few hours were spent poring over the multitude of books, all basically reiterating the same information about how to defeat a dragon.

"That might work," Tracey mused as she pointed out the Bewitched Sleep spell. "You'd need a lot of practise with it, though. It's not a spell that we're familiar with, and it is quite an advanced piece of magic...But if you can get the hang of it, it will be the least risky option."

Lauren turned to Draco, a megawatt smile plastered on her face as she withdrew her wand from her jacket sleeve. "Your turn to shine, Guinea Pig. Now go and stand over there so that I can start practising on you."

Draco stared at the wand, then glanced over at her before rolling his eyes, obviously not threatened. Lauren briefly wondered if she was starting to lose her touch. "I think I'll pass and go and grab some lunch. Coming?"

The mention of food made all other thoughts instantly vanish from her mind, and she eagerly rose from her seat and resheathed her wand. "You bet."

Draco, much to Tracey's surprise, extended his hand to help her up from her seat in an act of chivalry.

Lauren so badly wanted to give Tracey two big thumbs up; the gesture accompanied by a huge Cheshire grin. But she managed to restrain herself.

Tracey recovered from her surprise and slipped her hand into Draco's. It did not escape Lauren's attention that they continued holding hands while they made their way to the Great Hall.

Those two are so darn cute together. And Draco treats her so well.

It was reassuring to know that Draco would never intentionally hurt Tracey, or abandon her, or make her cry. He would protect her, and honour her, and do everything in his power to make her happy.

Hermione should take notes, Lauren thought. Even after all these years, she still could not comprehend how Hermione and Ron had ended up together, especially when he had treated her like crap over the years.

But who am I to judge? My last boyfriend literally killed me...It's not exactly like I have a good track record when it comes to men...

A traitorous thought slithered into her mind like a tendril of wispy smoke. What about Severus Snape...

Lauren gnawed at her bottom lip. Snape was not without flaws and could often times be described as downright cruel. But over the course of getting to know him better over the years, where trust and friendship had gradually developed between them and had formed a solid foundation between them, she had glimpsed another side of the Potion Master that he kept very well hidden from everyone through deceit and an unpleasant persona. But one fact remained clear: Snape was a man who did not give his heart easily. But when he did, he loved with a fiery all-encompassing loyalty that would carry throughout all of time and space. He would protect the one he loved with every fibre of his being. His love was a deep-rooted seed that transgressed all other love stories ever told.

Wait...Didn't he vow to protect me?

Lauren shook her head. Yes, Snape had vowed to do everything in his power to keep her alive, but that was because he cared for her. As a friend. It didn't mean that he loved her. Snape was not a man to simply fall in love. He was too guarded and jaded for that. And so was she. Lauren could not comprehend willing giving all of herself completely to another. She had been hurt too many times in the past for that. And so had Snape.

"You're lost in thought?" Tracey mused, interrupting Lauren's train of thought.

Lauren glanced up, realizing that they were nearly to the entrance of the Great Hall. "Just thinking," she said with a shrug of her shoulders before thrusting her hands into her jacket pockets.

Tracey eyed her. "Don't pay any attention to those idiots in there," she instructed, misunderstanding Lauren's sudden pensive mood.

"Oh, I really don't care about them," Lauren stated, squaring her shoulders. She was Lauren Ward. She didn't give two sweet fucks what anyone thought of her.

Draco smiled approvingly. "Atta girl, Ward. Hex those idiots into oblivion if they dare say a word to you."

Lauren grinned widely at her friend. "You shouldn't be encouraging me."

Tracey leaned in towards her and mock whispered, "Be sure to focus most of those hexes on Pansy."

Draco approved of her line of think, if his goofy grin was anything to go by. "You keep this up Tracey and I might just ask you to marry me."

Tracey laughed out loud, mistaking his words as a joke. Lauren wasn't so sure the boy was joking though.

They entered the Great Hall which was bustling with hungry students digging in to their lunch and, predictably, a good majority of heads swivelled in their direction. Lauren plastered a dark scowl on her face as they stared at her. The students who possessed a semblance of common sense hastily glanced away, knowing Lauren's reputation all too well. The more suicidal ones openly stared back at her, not bothering to hide their, for lack of a word, stupidity.

Oh somebody please say something. I'm just itching for a fight.

As they made their way to the Slytherin table, Lauren's gaze was drawn to the staff table. Mad-Eye Moody was silently watching her, both eyes observing every move, every emotion that she displayed. Lauren forced herself to look away and she mentally erected those Occlumency shields, which helped tamper down those homicidal thoughts towards Barty Crouch Jr. She chanced a glance at Snape, but his head was bent making his inky black hair fall around his features like a gossamer curtain, hiding him from the rest world as he silently sipped on his coffee. Outwardly, the acerbic Potion Master was ignoring everyone and everything around him.

But he sees and hears everything...

Lauren tore her gaze away and followed behind her two friends, noting that Tracey and Draco were still holding hands.

Lauren wasn't the only one to notice this latest development between the two. Pansy's eyes flickered down to their entwined fingers and her features darkened like a brewing storm over the horizon. And even though she made no remark as the three friends seated themselves on the bench and dished up some lunch for themselves, Lauren had a sneaky suspicion that the vile girl was hatching a plan to destroy what was developing between Draco and Tracey.

I had better keep an eye on her.

Lauren absently bit into her chicken sandwich, her gaze drifting around the room while she chewed. She caught quite a few students staring at her before they hastily glanced away and whispered among themselves. She could only imagine the things being said about her.

Whatever.

She also noticed that the Golden Trio were absent from the Gryffindor table.

Oh yeah. Ron's acting like a jealous little prat and Harry's hiding. Good. Now I won't be forced to go and talk to him and play nice like Tracey wants.

Just then a Great Horned owl swooped into the Hall and glided gracefully over their heads before circling once and coming to land on Draco's shoulder with aplomb. The boy offered the owl the crusts from his sandwich in exchange for the letter attached to its legs. Once Draco had retrieved the parchment, the owl ruffled its feathers, snatched Draco's half eaten sandwich from his hand and launched back into the air, sandwich firmly clutched in its beak.

Both Tracey and Lauren, who were seated on either side of Draco, leaned in for a better look at the letter as Draco unrolled it.

"It's from my father."

"Yes, yes. What does it say?" Lauren asked impatiently.

"If you let me finish reading it, I'll tell you."

"Then hurry up."

Draco rolled those baby blues skywards but then skimmed over the letter. His frown became more pronounced the more he read. He glanced over at Lauren and said, "My father says there is nothing he can do to get you out of the tournament. He's made some inquiries, and even using his position of power in the Ministry can't free you from the tournament. You are bound by the magical contract of the Goblet of Fire, and you cannot be unbound from it."

Tracey looked as crestfallen as she felt. "Oh no. I was really hoping he was going to be able to help."

"Me too," Draco stated. He glanced back down at the letter. "But he has given us a piece of useful information. He's says that the first task will require you to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon nest, which is going to be guarded by a dragon."

"You don't say," Lauren muttered.

Draco rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "You know, I'm starting to wonder about the logic behind whoever set this whole thing up. A dragon by itself is dangerous enough, but a mother dragon is fiercely protective over her eggs. Sending a kid in to do this task is just plain ridiculous." Draco met Lauren's gaze. "You know, I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for you."

"Nice to know. Be sure to put that in my epitaph."

"Sure thing. Now," Draco said, his eyes back on the letter, "he has also basically listed each of the spells that we've already found on how to defeat the dragons."

"Your dad's being awfully helpful."

Draco flashed her the trademark Malfoy smirk. "I may have hinted that we now have a Slytherin competing in the Triwizard Tournament and wouldn't it be great if a we actually won it? And this would be the perfect opportunity for a Slytherin to upstage Potter. But in order to do so, we would need his help."

"That was really impressive, Draco," Tracey praised. "Really good thinking."

Draco didn't reply, but his cheeks tinged a cute shade of pink.

"Yes, very cunning," Lauren agreed. "You know exactly how to play your father. Has anyone ever told you that you'd make a great Slytherin?"

"Once or twice."

The three friends chuckled.

Draco glanced back down at the letter once more. "He does urge you to use the Bewitched Sleep spell. It's the better option out of the other ways to get around a dragon."

Lauren gave a nod of her head. "Thanks Draco. That was really helpful. Now we just have to figure out how to make me fireproof in case things go south and I can't bewitch the blasted dragon to sleep."

Tracey's eyes lit up as a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute! I think I read about a spell a while back that basically makes fire harmless to a person."

Draco snapped his fingers. "The Flame-Freezing Charm."

"Yes!" Tracey exclaimed, her features alighting with eagerness that Draco knew exactly what she was talking about.

"That's the spell that makes the flames tickle instead of burn?" Lauren asked.

"Yup."

Hope flared within her, but then her brows furrowed down as a thought occurred to her. "Will it be effective against dragon fire?"

Tracey opened her mouth and then closed it as she, too, pondered the question. "I don't know, Lauren. Dragon fire, much like Fiendfyre, is magical in nature, which makes it very powerful and dangerous. I'm not sure a simple spell or charm will be effective against protecting against dragon fire."

Lauren spaced out momentarily at the mention of Fiendfyre. It had been one of the elements that had been capable of destroying a Horcrux! She had no access to Basilisk poison or the sword of Gryffindor, but maybe she could learn to harness Fiendfyre. She could then go Horcrux hunting and destroy the Horcruxes. But Fiendfyre was sentinel in nature, which made it very difficult to control and was extremely volatile. There was a reason it was considered Dark Magic.

She was going to have speak with Severus about it.

The Durmstrang boys entered the Great Hall, decked out all in fur and testosterone, and seated themselves at the Slytherin table. Krum glanced over at her but quickly averted his gaze, focusing on selecting something from the platters before him for lunch.

"At least now you'll be working with your boyfriend," Draco mused, his smug smirk broadening at her responding scowl. "Very romantic."

"He's not my boyfriend. And did you forget, I'll be competing against him," Lauren pointed out.

"Hmmm, yes. That would be a justifiable cause for a breakup, wouldn't it?"

Lauren was about to raise her hands and wrap them securely around his scrawny little neck when she was distracted by the arrival of the Weasley twins, who seated themselves across from her with their usual energetic confidence. They didn't seem to notice the looks they were receiving from the Slytherins. They crossed their arms in front of them on the table and leaned forward, identical grins plastered on their faces.

"So there are stories going around," Fred started (well, she thought it was Fred).

"Some believable and some not so believable," George continued.

"And we are quite well versed with the unbelievable."

"Considering our extensive background in shenanigans and general rule breaking."

"With that in mind."

"We have extensively brainstormed for ways to get past that Age Line."

"None of which worked."

"As you saw for yourself."

"So, we really need to know..."

"How did you do it?" They asked this last question in unison.

Lauren blinked at them, her mind trying to process their rapid fire alternate way of talking.

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet. Neither did Harry," she replied.

"Of course you didn't," George said with a knowing wink.

"But if you feel the need to share a 'theory' or two..."

"We wouldn't tell..."

Lauren was about to tell them (nicely) to bugger off, when a sly grin spread on her face, and she leaned in and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "Do you really want to know how I did it?"

The twins nodded eagerly, oblivious at the fact that Draco and Tracey had shifted a bit further down the bench. They had recognized the look and they knew the danger signs. The twins, unfortunately, did not.

Lauren beckoned for them to lean in closer with a crook of her index finger.

When they were close enough, their features practically beaming like Golden Retrievers, she grabbed their heads and banged them together.

"Ow!"

"What was that for?" Fred groaned as he rubbed the side of his aching head.

Lauren shot to her feet, her midnight blue eyes blazing and her chest heaving. "You two are absolute dunderheads if you think I put my name in that goblet!" She pointed her finger at them as she continued, "Be thankful that I like you two, cause I would have done a whole lots worse than simply banging your heads together in an attempt to split that single brain cell that you are currently sharing in half so that the both of you can have equal turns at it. I heard that there is a universal brain cell that is shared among gingers, each having a turn at it. Unfortunately, it looks like today is not your turn with it." Lauren paused, frowning. "Wait...I think that's a theory that's applicable to ginger cats. My bad." Lauren lifted her head, noting that the entire Hall was now dead silent as they watched her little tirade. "Does anyone else want to step forward and accuse me of putting my name in the Goblet of Fire? Because if you have something to say, come say it to my face. I'll gladly deal with you the same way I dealt with these two idiots!" The Hall remained silent. "God, I'm surrounded by morons!" Lauren snarled.

"Miss Ward!"

Lauren suddenly found herself face to face with a certain formidable Scottish Professor.

"Care to explain yourself?" McGonagall asked coolly, those steely eyes of hers boring in to Lauren.

"I was trying to knock some common sense into them. They were being bigger morons than usual."

"Man, she's worse than mum," Fred muttered to George from the side.

McGonagall's nostrils flared and then she exhaled. "I know you are under a great deal of stress, Miss Ward, but you cannot go around being physically violent with your fellow students, regardless of whether they deserve it or not. You wouldn't want to get detention, would you?"

"Depends...will it get me disqualified from the tournament?" Lauren asked, hope resonating in her tone. "Because I'll take all the detentions you throw my way until the end of my school days if it'll guarantee me being disqualified from this whole fiasco."

"Oooh, she's really desperate now," one of the twins piped up.

"Shut it before I give you two broken noses to go with those bumps on your head!" Lauren snapped, her ire only causing their grins to grow wider. Nothing phased the twins.

McGonagall ignored the twins and actually peered at Lauren with what only could be described as a sympathetic look. Sometimes it was hard to tell with her. "I doubt whether detention will disqualify you from the tournament, Miss Ward."

Lauren huffed in frustration and placed her hands on her hips. "Of course not. What the hell will get me disqualified then?"

"I'm sorry to say, but short of death, nothing," Minerva stated, not unkindly. "And I would caution you to stop taking your anger out on the other students. Now run along, all of you." She shot the twins a pointed look. They did what they were told, but seemed unbothered as they casually made their way back to the Gryffindor table.

Lauren ran her hand frustratedly through her waves, her gaze wandering before it landed on the staff table. Moody, unsurprisingly, had watched the whole scene with a shrewd look in his eye. Snape, on the other hand, was casually sipping on his coffee and reading over the newspaper, seemingly unbothered or uninterested in what had just happened. He was playing his role in the game. But she knew he had damn well for sure observed everything.

I hope he was amused.

The three friends decided to leave the Hall and take a walk around the castle grounds. The air was crisp and cool, the sky overhead dreary and overcast in a matte grey. But the rain was holding off for now at least.

"Actually, is there a way to get disqualified from the tournament?" Lauren asked.

"I don't think there is. Like McGonagall said, death would probably be the only way out," Tracey replied.

Out of the corner of her eye Lauren saw the girl slip her hand into Draco's.

"Well yay," Lauren muttered sarcastically. "So what happens if I simply choose not to participate?"

"The Goblet is very powerful, Lauren," Tracey explained. "I would wager it has a spell of Compulsion to ensure that you are there for each task. And maybe an Enforcement charm, which will cause something negative to happen to you until you partake."

"Something bad? Like how bad are we talking?"

"I would imagine that it would cause a person a great deal of pain until that person finally joined in the tournament," Draco drawled. "The thing my father impressed upon me the most is that you do not mess with old magic. The results can be quite disastrous. Deadly even."

"Well, that's reassuring." Lauren sighed. "Well, I guess I have no choice but to suck it up and do this. I'm so going to kill the person who put my name in the Goblet."

Paging Barty Crouch Jr.

Draco did not seem surprised by this fierce proclamation and simply turned to Tracey. "I think you'd better start working on those papers?"

Lauren frowned. "Papers? What papers?"

"We were thinking of smuggling you into Mexico," Tracey replied like this was the most reasonable explanation.

"Mexico? Smuggle? What?" Lauren halted in her steps, forcing her two friends to do so as well.

"Well, we kinda guessed you were going to kill whoever put your name in the Goblet. So we figured we'd start working on your passport, visa, and new alias and smuggle you somewhere safe instead of letting you go to Azkaban for murder."

Lauren blinked. And then blinked again. Here she had been worried the whole time about being roasted alive by a dragon. These two, on the other hand, had different priorities and were thinking ahead of the game and trying to protect her. Like trying to keep her out of Azkaban. Oddly enough, there was no talk about trying to stop or deter her from murdering said person who put her name in the Goblet.

She croaked out in a mock show of being highly emotional, "That's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you guys."

Draco shot her a sly smirk. "Don't thank us yet. You don't know what your new alias is."

"And what is my new alias?"

"Emma Roid."

"Emma Roid," Lauren repeated.

"Say it again, but faster this time."

"Emma Roid...Emma Roid...Emma...Why I'm going to kill you, you little prat. I'm not a hemorrhoid!"

"You act like it sometimes."

Lauren went to lunge after him, but Draco was anticipating this and started sprinting away laughing in glee while still holding hands with a giggling Tracey who remained close beside him. Lauren couldn't help but laugh herself as she chased after them. Somehow those two had done the impossible and had managed to make her laugh through this whole ordeal.

Not for the first time she felt thankful that they were both in her life.

~oOo~

The next few days passed by in a blur, with Lauren practising the Enchanted Sleep spell and Flame-Freezing charm whenever she could. They were indeed advanced pieces of magic and it was going to take exceptional concentration and skill on her part to pull it off. She wasn't sure how far she was advancing with progress for she needed a live target to practise on and Draco was not being very cooperative.

There were a lot of hushed murmurs that followed in her wake each day, though no one dared say anything to her face. This was quickly put to a stop, though, when she set fire to a third year Hufflepuff's pants who was being a bit too loud with his mutterings.

"See, I managed to use that drying spell," Lauren gloated to Draco.

Draco glanced back at the boy who was frantically putting out the fire to his pants, and then back at Lauren. "Yes..." he drawled, "his pants are definitely dry now."

"I don't think that was a drying spell you just used, but it was quite an impressive spell nonetheless," Tracey added with an approving smirk. She, too, was getting a tad bit annoyed with the stupidity of the Hogwarts students.

Soon they had Care of Magical Creatures, a lesson that was going to be shared with the Gryffindors.

"Now's your chance to speak to Harry. You two really need to start working together," Tracey urged as they made their way down to Hagrid's hut.

Lauren was about to make some snarky comment, but Hagrid rounded his hut carrying a teetering tower of crates at that moment.

"Oh no," Lauren groaned out loud. "It's the Skrewts. What does he have planned for us today?"

"Nothing good by the looks of it," Draco replied, appearing just as horror stricken as what she was.

Their trepidation morphed into sheer terror when Hagrid instructed each group to take their Blast-Ended Skrewt for a walk.

"What? Like a dog?" Lauren asked as she glanced from the leash in her hand to the crate entombing the dreaded creature that had been assigned to their group. She distinctly heard a muffled loud bang from within and took a hasty step back. She looked over at Draco and thrust the leash in his hands. "Here. It's all yours."

Draco, for a brief moment, looked like someone who had been deeply betrayed. Then he looked over at the Skrewts, his sharp mind calculating and analyzing. Then he turned to Hagrid. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the stinger, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," Hagrid explained as he stared to demonstrate with his own Skrewt. "Er, yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution..." Hagrid trailed off as he summoned Harry over to help him demonstrate with his own Skrewt.

Lauren on the other hand was eyeing the dragon-hide gloves that had been issued to the class. "Dragon-hide gloves..." She glanced up at Tracey, who was following her same line of thought.

"That will protect you from dragon fire!"

Lauren grinned. "I think we found the answer to keep me fireproof. Now it's time to go do some shopping."

"We can request some catalogues and order an outfit for you," Tracey enthused.

"But which store sells dragon-hide clothing?" Lauren had never before needed such clothing before, and she was clueless as to where to go to get some.

"I happen to know a place where you can purchase them from," Draco stated. Lauren opened her mouth to thank him profusely, but he held up the leash in the air with a pointed look. "My information does not come freely, Ward."

Lauren eyed the leash, then the crate housing the Skrewt, and then finally back at Draco. The little twerp was playing dirty, even for a Slytherin. Did she really need the dragon-hide clothing that badly? Yes, yes she did. With a heartfelt curse she snatched the leash out of his hand and stormed over to the crate.

An hour later Lauren was the worse for wear, her waves a tangled mess with leaves and twigs embedded in the ratted mass. She was covered in mud, sweat, and admittedly tears, and her temper was at an all time high as she slammed the lid down on the crate after managing to wrestle that blasted thing back inside of it.

"I think now would be a perfect time to talk to Harry," Tracey whispered. "He's alone."

Lauren glanced over at the boy in question. His little redheaded sidekick was very much absent from his side, as was Hermione. Tracey was right, now was the perfect opportunity to go and talk to him. And as much as she did not particularly like Potter, she could not put this off any longer. "Fine."

"Try not to kill him," Draco called out after her.

"I can't make any promises," Lauren called back over her shoulder.

Harry stilled when he noticed Lauren making her way over to him. His glass-rimmed gaze shot up to the various twigs sticking out of her hair.

"We need to talk," she said in way of greeting.

"Now?" Harry already had his guard up and was not trying to hide his suspicion of her.

Lauren sighed. "Look, we're supposed to be partners, and we have to work together. So yeah, I think we need to talk now and figure out a way to work together."

Harry narrowed his eyes fractionally. "Did you do it?"

Lauren scowled at him. The boy was innocent and knew what it felt like to have nobody believe him. Yet here he was doing the same thing to her. "Don't be a twat. I think I already established that I did not put my name in the cup when I was trying with everything I had to get our names withdrawn from the tournament. You, I should point out, remained absolutely silent throughout the whole discussion that took place. So maybe I should ask you whether you put our names in there?"

"No, of course not," Harry stated, his features flushing red at her calling him out on his hypocrisy.

"And I believe you. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's put aside all childish differences and work together to get through this. Preferably alive. Because nobody in power is going to save our asses."

"Hermione saw you cross over the Age Line." Harry wasn't obviously listening, instead holding on to his suspicions of her.

Lauren stared at him for a moment and then replied without missing a beat, "No, she didn't."

"Yes she did."

"She thought she saw me cross the Age Line."

Harry scowled. He could see that Lauren was going to argue him blue in the face on this. "You also knew about the Basilisk."

"So? I figured it out. Just like Hermione did. And I should point out that I got petrified along with her. What's your point?"

Harry crossed his arms over his chest, those green eyes glaring at her. "How did you know about Sirius being an Animagus?" he challenged.

Lauren shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Sirius was on the loose. A dog shows up at Hogwarts with a keen interest in you. Not hard put two and two together and figure out it was him," she lied smoothly.

Harry didn't look convinced. "You knew Lupin was a werewolf. You showed up that night almost as though you knew what was going to happen."

"Almost everyone with half a brain cell figured out that he's a werewolf...Snape gave us clues about him being one, remember? And need I remind you that if I hadn't shown up when I did, you lot would probably be dead. You're very welcome, by the way."

Harry barrelled on. "How did you know where we were? How did you know what was going to happen? How did you know when to show up at exactly that time? You seem to know a lot a things that you shouldn't. You gave Hermione the advice to use the Hippogriff to help with Sirius' escape. The Dementors are drawn to you almost as much as they are to me. What aren't you're telling me? What are you hiding?"

Lauren's features had morphed in a careful mask of neutrality as she drew heavily on her Occlumency shields in a bid not to chew the boy's head off. "Maybe I have the gift of Foresight."

Harry on the other hand was not as adept at controlling his emotions, and she could practically see him seething with rage at her blase reply.

Lauren drew in a deep breath through her nose and mentally counted to ten. It didn't help. She still had the urge to cause him great physical harm. "It doesn't matter how I know certain things." Harry opened his mouth to protest but Lauren cut him off. "And it really is none of your business. Now, we have to work together as partners. Believe me, I'm relishing the thought of it just about as much as you are. But we don't have a choice in the matter."

"How do I know you're not behind all of this?"

"I thought I already established that I had nothing to do with our names being drawn. I value my life and I want to live," she snapped. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?"

Harry shook his head and persisted. "I don't trust you."

Lauren was suddenly in his face, her reflexes shockingly fast after all those duelling lessons with Snape. Harry, too, was surprised, if his suddenly wide eyes were anything to go by.

"I'm not your enemy, Harry. If I wanted you dead I would have left you to Lupin. He would still be chewing on your bones about now like a good little werewolf. Stop being a stupid little boy." Lauren's temper was simmering just below the surface like a pot waiting to boil over. She was starting to lose patience with the boy. He had an infuriating habit of thinking he was right when, in fact, he knew shit.

"How can I trust you when you won't even tell me the truth?! You're nothing but a conniving Slytherin."

Lauren's eyes narrowed. "And you're nothing more than a stupid little boy with your head so far up your ass I wonder how you manage to breathe. I highly doubt you would be half suspicious of me if I were a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw. But because I'm a Slytherin you automatically assume I'm the bad guy," she snarled before turning on her heels. "Good luck surviving the tournament. Don't say I didn't try to help to help you."

With that parting remark she stormed up the hill where Draco and Tracey were waiting for her by the bridge.

"Well, he's still alive, so I guess it went better than expected," Draco drawled amusedly, his ice blue eyes watching the silhouette of Potter still standing by Hagrid's hut.

"Lauren, what happened?" Tracey asked.

"He basically doesn't trust me and called me a conniving Slytherin. And I called him a stupid little boy."

"Wow, you let him off easy," Draco whistled. "I'm impressed."

Tracey sighed. "Well he's being an idiot. He doesn't want your help and that's his choice. But you tried. I say forget about him and we'll concentrate on getting you through the tournament. Now let's go order some dragon-hide clothing for you."

Lauren suddenly remembered her deal with Draco. "Time to pay up and give us the info, Blondie. I didn't wrestle that damn Blast-Ended Skrewt for nothing."

Draco smirked. "You do realize I would have given you the information of that clothing store anyway."

Lauren's right eye twitched.

"Draco," Tracey cautioned, her lips twitching as she tried not to laugh out loud. "Run!"

Draco didn't need to be told twice and sprinted off, Lauren chasing closely behind the gleefully cackling boy all the way back to the castle.

~oOo~

A couple of days passed and soon it was Friday, which meant a double potions lesson with the Gryffindors.

When Lauren, Draco, and Tracey arrived at the Potion's classroom they found a good majority of the Slytherins already waiting outside in the hallway. Pansy and her gang were standing near the front of the line. The girl's dark gaze flickered to Draco and Tracey, then down to their entwined hands.

She pushed away from the wall and stalked towards them, her eyes glinting with rage.

"Draco, do you honestly think your father would approve of this?" she snarled.

Draco positioned himself so that he was standing in front of Tracey and shielding her from the other girl. He glared back at Pansy as he replied, "I think that's none of your business."

Just then the thunderous sound of many stomping feet heralded the arrival of the boisterous Gryffindors.

Pansy look back at Draco, malice and contempt written all over her features. "Maybe I should tell him..."

Lauren decided to intervene. "Maybe I should slip something into your drink, you foul little girl. I thought I warned you already not to mess with my friends."

Pansy eyed her as though she were a bug that she longed to squish. "Go ahead, Ward. Do it and get yourself expelled. Then you won't be around to protect your little Mud-pie friend."

Lauren frowned in confusion. Mudblood was considered a horrible slur used for a witch or wizard whose parents were Muggles. Mud-pie was a slang she hadn't heard of before, but she would wager that it was a slur and had something to do with mixed blood heritage.

"What did you just say?" Draco asked, his voice low and dark, and almost a growl.

"I called her a Mud-pie. Your father will not approve of you dating someone like her, a filthy Mud-pie-."

Both Lauren and Draco instantly had their wands out, but Pansy had been anticipating this as she, too, had her own wand out and pointed. Daphne and Millicent followed suit.

"Go ahead," Pansy taunted.

"Lauren, Draco. No!" Tracey pleaded from behind them, but her words fell on deaf ears. All Lauren could see was red as she stared at Pansy standing in front of her.

A few seconds stretched out like a collective breath being drawn in, and then all hell broke loose. Spells were being flung left, right, and centre. Lauren managed to dodge them, her duelling sessions with Snape paying off as she moved with stealth and speed, deflecting any spells that came her way.

Screams echoed all around the hall, and Lauren was vaguely aware of the Slytherins and Gryffindors scattering and making a run for it while nasty hexes were flying all around the hall. She was so focused on Pansy and her gang that she did not notice two spells collide midair, which caused a rogue hex to form and shoot towards her, hitting her square in the back. She was sent flying into the wall, crumpling to the stone floor in a dazed heap.

Suddenly the Potion classroom door flung open.

"What is going on here?!" Snape's sharp tone barked, causing instant ceasefire.

"She started it!" Pansy wailed, pointing a finger at Lauren who was groggily trying rise to her feet.

"I swear to God when I find the person who fired that hex at me I'm going to skin them alive!" Lauren snarled, flinging her wild mass of waves from her face.

A dead hush descended upon the hallway. Even Snape was staring at her, his dark eyes widening a fraction in absolute astonishment. For a rare moment he seemed at a loss for words.

Lauren spun around. "Who did it?"

Everyone remained silent, each face staring at her as though she were some alien creature.

Tracey stepped forward. She, too, was looking at Lauren in awe. "Lauren..."

"What?" Lauren snapped, still trying to figure out why everyone was acting so odd.

"I think you should take a look at yourself."

"Why? Do I have something in my teeth?"

Tracey shook her head and hastily glanced around, finally snatching a notebook from a student's hand. She placed it on the floor and transfigured it into a cheval mirror.

Lauren shot Tracey a questioning look but stepped forward. And then she froze.

Before her now stood the adult version of herself. Her cheeks were no longer plump and rounded with rosy youthfulness. In its place were high sculpted cheekbones and a defined delicate jawline. The lankiness of adolescence was now also gone and in its place was the slim soft curves of her womanly body. Even her mass of waves were sleek and luscious, reaching down to her waist. Looking at her reflection there was no denying that she was now very much a woman. She even held herself with a certain quality of confidence that came with being an adult.

And it floored her how much she looked exactly like her mother.

"I'm...a woman," she stated. Even her voice sounded huskier. Lauren spun around to face Snape, hope radiating across her face. "I'm an adult!" she giggled giddily. "Is it permanent?"

Snape just stared at her, flickerings of unidentifiable emotions flitting through those dark eyes of his. He blinked once, and seemed to come to his senses.

"Miss Ward, go into my office now."

"But -."

"Now."

There was no arguing with him. She pushed past him and opened the door to the Potion classroom when she heard Ron call out, "Sir, Hermione is hurt."

Lauren didn't wait around and made her way to the other end of the classroom, where she entered his study. She tried to ignore how short and tight her uniform was currently on her.

She paused, her mind whirring. She was back to being an adult! She couldn't believe her luck. Lauren pointed her wand at one of the chairs opposite Snape's desk and transfigured it into a mirror, staring at her reflection for the longest while. She really truly was an adult.

Finally the door opened and Snape entered the room, his features surly as he slammed the door firmly behind him. Lauren noted that he would not meet her gaze as he made his way round his desk.

"Please tell me this is permanent?" Lauren blurted out, unable to mask her excitement.

Snape stared at the surface of his desk for the longest while and finally lifted his gaze. When their eyes finally met something in her chest constricted and her breath caught in her throat as the moment stretched out between them. Something foreign seemed to shift in the air between them; something that hinted at being dark and dangerous. And very alluring. Lauren felt almost a primal reaction at how he was staring at her, almost like a predator that was eyeing something that was forbidden.

What's wrong with him? Lauren thought. She took a step towards him and the Potion Master visibly stiffened.

What? Oh...

Sudden realization dawned on her. Snape, it would seem, was most definitely attracted to her in her adult form. But he was trying very hard to hide it.

Before Lauren could wrap her head around this latest revelation, her clothes started to loosen and feel more comfortable. She turned towards the mirror and watched with despair as she morphed once more into a child. Well, a teenager. But the fact remained she was no longer an adult.

Lauren turned around to find the Potion Master watching her, but it appeared that those professional walls and boundaries were firmly in place once more and he was no longer viewing her as a forbidden fruit. Even the tension that had threatened to suffocate them had now dissipated and it was easier to breathe.

"I'm a child again," she said forlornly.

"It would seem so," he enunciated, his words drawn out. Something flickered in those fathomless dark eyes and he swallowed down the lump in his throat before saying, "I think you had better join your friends. The lesson is about to begin."

Lauren could have been imagining it, but she could have sworn that there had been an underlay of disappointment when she had transformed back into a teenager.

He's not the only one, she thought as she exited the office.