As Oliver headed back to the Ravenclaw Tower, he thought about Mary and her calm persona. He didn't think she had what it took to be a Death Eater, just by how nice she was to him in the Owlery.

Was that all an act? Oliver thought. He shook his head at the thought. No. That had to be the real her.

She was stuck in his head on his walk back to the tower, wondering how Draco and his other Slytherin friends were treating her. Hopefully, she was able to hold her own when it came to them.

When he got to the Ravenclaw Tower, he answered a riddle, then entered inside. Not to his surprise, Violet was sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"You didn't have to wait up for me," he told Violet.

She looked up from her book, closing it. "I didn't, actually. I wanted to get some reading done before I turn in for the night."

"Oh. Okay, then," Oliver said, plopping down next to his friend. "So, how was your walk?"

Violet closed her book, sighing. "The same as every walk. Liza didn't stay long, so it was just Jake and I."

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "Just you two? Alone?"

She shot him a warning look. "Don't you dare make any assumptions, Oliver."

"I'm not!" he protested, grinning and putting his hands up in defense.

"You better not," Violet warned him. "Jake's a great friend, but that's all he is to me. I don't think he and I could ever...you know..."

"Date?"

"Yes. Date." She paused, fixing her hair. "Jake is reckless at times, you have to admit."

"Aren't we all reckless to an extent?" Oliver pointed out.

She thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah, I suppose we are."

Oliver remained silent for a moment, then spoke up again. "You know, if you and Jake decided to date, I'd be okay with it."

Violet scoffed. "Yeah, you and Liza would, but Andy? No way. He's very close with Jake and he'll think I'm getting in the way of their 'brotherly bond' or whatever, if he even calls it that..."

"But it's yours and Jake's happiness that matters," Oliver stated. "Don't worry about Andy. He'd come around."

She gave her friend a small smile. "Would you really accept us? I mean, wouldn't it be weird for you?"

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, we've seen and been through weirder things here at Hogwarts."

Violet giggled. "That is true." She paused and then stood up. "Well, I'm glad we had this talk, even though it wasn't necessary to have it..."

"Goodnight, Vi," Oliver chuckled.

"Goodnight, Ollie." She headed for the stairs, then turned back around. "You know, you deserve to be happy with someone as well."

Oliver couldn't do much else but sigh. "Just give me some time. I'll find the right one."

"Are you sure you haven't already but won't ask her out because you're too scared?" she inquired, raising her eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes. "It's the whole thing with Hermione again, isn't it?"

"Goodnight, Ollie!" she repeated, quickly ascending the stairs.

He shook his head and felt his heart beating as Hermione Granger began to take over his thoughts.

*******

Mary,

I hope you're adjusting to Hogwarts well. I know it's all different, almost like a whole new world compared to Ilvermorny. Nevertheless, knowing you, it's all going well.

Anyway, I heard about your failed attempt with the necklace today. I hate to say it, but Mom, Dad, and I expected better from you. This mission could affect our future with the Dark Lord and making careless mistakes is not an option. The little duel you took part in was already a bad move, so you're really pushing your luck. You need to step in and help Draco with this. Otherwise, this move would've been for nothing.

If you fail, this could cost our family everything.

See you at Christmas.

Tobias

Mary placed the letter in her lap, letting the words of her brother sink into her brain. This was what her and Draco were worried about, screwing up. Of course, the last thing they wanted was a letter explaining how stupid and reckless they were being about all of this. They couldn't help it. This was all new to both of them. Did their families really expect them to get this finished and right the first time?

If you fail, this could cost our family everything.

She could hear her brother saying that sentence to her at this moment. It made her head hurt a bit.

Mary headed out of the Owlery with her letter in hand. She gripped it so tight that she could feel the parchment crumbling up in her grasp. She felt so angry at Tobias for sending her this, at Draco for being so stupid with the package, and at herself for trusting him to take care of it.

If anyone has been stupid, it's me, she thought.

The corridors were practically empty as she strolled back to the Slytherin Dungeons. Before she got too far, a hand pulled her up the stairs. "What the--"

"Relax, it's just me," the sound of Draco's voice told her. "We're going to the Room of Requirement."

"What for?"

"So we can talk."

"Can't we talk in the Slytherin Common Room?"

"In private, I mean."

Mary nodded her head, understanding the sudden urge to get alone. He took her to the seventh floor, where it didn't take them long to enter the place they had been sneaking off to for quite some time now. Heading deep inside, Draco finally let go of her hand and sighed. "How bad was your letter?"

"Tobias is pissed with me," she stated bluntly. "Apparently, if I don't get my act together and take this seriously, then it's my fault we practically gave up our lives in America to move here."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Well, mine was a bit nicer, considering my mum was the one that wrote to me." He looked down at his letter. "She just wants us to make sure we're having time to do schoolwork while doing our mission as well."

Mary couldn't help but laugh. "A simple 'keep trying and study hard' would've been fine with me."

Draco scoffed. "They've got to be harsh on us. You know, they want to push us to work even harder to get this done."

"I know," she said. "Say we fail this mission. What happens to us?"

The blond remained silent, pacing around. Mary could tell how uneasy he was becoming. He swallowed hard. "He'll kill us, Mary."

Mary felt her heart drop. "Kill us?"

"What do you expect? We're doing a job for one of the darkest wizards of all time."

"I know, but..." she trailed off, shaking her head, feeling a lump in her throat.

"But what?"

"I just..." her voice cracked. "I just can't believe our parents would agree to that."

"Yeah, our parents definitely love us, don't they?" Draco let out a nervous chuckle.

Mary felt a few tears form in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, not wanting Draco to see. "We better step it up, then, for their sake."

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head. "But for now let's not worry about it." He looked at her with sad eyes. "Let's be each other's distractions."

Mary raised her eyebrows. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

Draco had a small smirk on his face as he took Mary's hand again and was leading her out of the Room of Requirement. "Come on. Let's get out of the castle for a while."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Oh, look, an update!

I'm sorry I've taken so long to update this story! I know it's been a year, but I'm getting back to it!

Song above is All My Friends by Madeon. I know it seems like none of my song choices make sense, but I've listened to the lyrics enough to relate it back to the chapter. Lol.

Comment, vote, more to come soon (I promise)!

-A