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The second the doors to the Great Hall had shut, all hell broke lose. There was a burst of noise from every single student that had been at breakfast, and those who arrived late were quickly informed of what had just happened. Students rushed to the owlery to tell their parents, other students were quick to share stories about Buffy, most of them grossly exaggerated.

The teachers also seemed to be rather shaken up by that particular announcement. Snape had somehow managed to go even paler, McGonagall looked as though she was about to faint. Trewlawny, who had pulled herself away from her tower for the morning was looking around gravely, telling any teacher who would listen that she had known that this would happen all along.

Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived to breakfast late and were quickly informed by about five different people before they’d even managed to get to their seats. They exchanged worried glances, wondering how everyone knew. Neville explained to them what Fudge had said. He was definitely having difficulty coming to terms with the truth about Buffy. He didn’t want to believe that she was evil.

“She was so helpful though,” Neville said quietly.

Harry put a comforting hand on the boys shoulder and sat down beside him.

“She is.”

“But…she was so nice. She can’t be…how can someone that nice be evil?”

“She’s not evil,” Hermione answered.

Fred and George moved down the table to join them, followed by Lee Jordan.

“Nice friend you got, Ron,” Fred said sarcastically. “What’s next, you gonna invite You-Know-Who home for dinner?”

Ron glared at his older brother. This seemed so surreal. Now everyone knew, and Ron wanted nothing more than to protect his friend from the whispers and the gossip that was now circulating the Hall. Yesterday he probably would have joined them in their rumour swapping.

“They’re not really gonna let her stay here, are they?” Lee Jordan asked.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Ron replied. “She’s been here since September and they knew who she was.”

“The teachers didn’t,” George said, pointing towards the Professors Table. “Look at ‘em, they’re as worried as us.”

“Dumbledore trusts her,” Harry said firmly. “And that’s good enough for me.”

“What about Fudge though?” Lee asked.

“Fudge is an incompetent idiot who’s in denial,” Hermione answered. “That man wouldn’t know evil if it crept us and bit his arse.”

Fred and George turned to look at the usually passive girl in shock.

“You’re actually standing up for her?” George asked incredulously.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Hermione asked. “Who her parents are doesn’t matter.”

“It does if they’re Dark Lords!” Fred and George cried out simultaneously.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, not wanting to be in the Hall any longer. Harry and Ron followed her example and the trio left the Great Hall, which was still in shambles.

“Where do you think they took her?” Ron asked.

“Dumbledore’s office,” Harry and Hermione replied together.

Ron nodded and the three of them began walking towards the Headmaster’s office.

“D’you reckon the attack on the girls’ room was to do with her?” Ron asked.

“Yeah,” Harry replied tiredly. “You were just lucky you were up early this morning Hermione.”

Hermione nodded, knowing very well how lucky she’d been that morning. The fifth years girls room had been turned upside down on Buffy’s side. That had been at about six in the morning, and Hermione, who hadn’t been able to sleep, had gone to have a shower.

“I wonder who it was,” Hermione pondered. “And how they got in.”

“The same way they got in the other night when Buffy disappeared the first time,” Harry said. “Our passwords wouldn’t be that hard to discover if you waited long enough for a student to go into the Common Room.”

“Wouldn’t someone have noticed?” Ron asked. “I mean, they did put up a lot more security. How would they have got in?”

“Secret passages,” Harry suggested. “Invisibility cloaks. And now we know it’s not impossible to apparate into Hogwarts. You just have to be powerful enough.”

Hermione shook her head. “I don’t think even Dumbledore can apparate into Hogwarts.”

“Wait, you’re saying that Buffy is more powerful than Dumbledore?” Ron asked incredulously.

“Don’t you remember Sirius saying that whoever it was would be powerful?” Harry asked. “He said that they’d be more powerful than Voldemort.”

“Yeah, but Dumbledore’s always been more powerful than Voldemort,” Ron said. “Imagine being sixteen and being more powerful than Dumbledore!”

“It must be frightening,” Hermione said quietly.

Harry nodded, he too knowing the surprise of being handed an enormous amount of power and not really knowing what to do with it. People heard his name and trembled in awe of his powers, but he knew that he wasn’t really anything special. There was nothing about him that was anymore special than anyone else. It was his mother’s love for him that had ultimately been the downfall of Voldemort, only Harry was the one who took the credit for it, because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

“And now everyone knows,” Hermione continued.

Harry had had a taste of the fear of the entire school when they’d thought that he was the Heir of Slytherin. It had lasted for only a few months, and it had been the worst few months of his life, not counting the time he’d spent fighting with Ron just before the Tri-Wizard Tournament. But the fear towards Buffy that was now circulating throughout Hogwarts was never going to go away. She was the Heir of Slytherin and the daughter of Voldemort, and that combination was not going to win her any friends, except within the Slytherins.

Harry scowled at the thought of one particular Slytherin Fifth-Year student.

“What do you think is going on between Buffy and Malfoy?” Harry asked.

Hermione looked at Harry intently, trying to read the expression on his face. She couldn’t tell if it was jealousy or worry that was tinging his features.

“Professor Giles said that Malfoy had put himself at risk for her,” Hermione said, a thoughtful expression on her face. “And he seemed to be genuinely worried about her when she went missing the other day.”

“Not to mention the fact that she was wearing one of his sweaters this morning,” Ron added.

Hermione glared at her boyfriend who had the grace to look embarrassed.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the ‘not to mention’ part, huh?”

Hermione just nodded before she turned back to Harry.

“Harry, they’re just friends. She wouldn’t be leading you on like that,” Hermione assured him. At Harry’s sceptical look, she sighed and plunged ahead. “Do you trust her?”

Harry swallowed hard and looked up at his friend. “I don’t know if I can anymore,” Harry whispered. “She lied to us about too many things. I mean, I know why she lied, it’s not that hard to figure out why she did it, but…”

“Harry, you yourself said that she tried to tell you who her parents were,” Hermione said. “She wanted things out in the open between the two of you. She wanted to explain it before you had to hear it from someone else. Things just spiralled out of control far too fast.”

“I want to trust her,” Harry admitted. “I want to desperately.”

Ron debated with himself for a few moments before he too decided to shoot a gentle question at Harry. “Do you love her?”

Harry sighed and nodded. “Like I’ve never loved anyone else before in my life. Even after all this, I still…”

“Then you need to talk to her. You need to ask her what’s happening. You need to learn to trust her again and she needs to learn to trust you,” Hermione said.

Harry sighed and stood up. “I have to see her. Now.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Ron stated. “You saw how angry Fudge was.”

“Then she’ll probably need a friendly face in there with her.”

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