*Fred's POV*

My shoulder smarted as I watched the two girls from afar, panting. I reached a hand up to it, scowling, and rubbed at it. 

That asshole. She probably didn't see that it was me, but still. The fact that Kylie Ford, thief of my girl, got me with her jinx and injured me, really was a blow to my masculinity. 

And it's nothing to do with Ford being female. It's everything to do with her being my competitor, my rival, my nemesis. And now she's beaten me. She had what I always wanted, and she barely had to compete with me for it. 

AND she got me with a jinx that I don't even know. Seriously, how am I supposed to feel about that? 

Daisy giggled, and Kylie leaned in close. Next second, the two were making out, Kylie backing Daisy into the wall. 

The knot in my chest twisted tighter. There's no way Daisy could ever be mine now. Ford is a band member of the Weird Sisters, super famous, mega rich, super ripped from being a drummer. I'm none of those things. Plus, look at this wedding. If Ford can provide her with this, I doubt Daisy'd ever want a future with me instead of her. Daisy's the kind of girl better suited for this kind of fairytale wedding, rather than a back garden Weasley wedding... 

My vision blurred. I blinked, hard. 

CLICK! 

I jumped, whirling around. Some guy was standing a few metres away from me, half hidden in the shadows from the trees, a camera up to his face, pointed straight at Daisy and Ford - 

"Hey!" I stepped forward, my wand out. The guy turned, his camera still smoking from the last picture he had taken. "What do you think you're doing?" 

The guy smirked. "Getting the story of the year, kiddo. Now run along." 

I raised my wand. "No, you. Get out of here, git!" 

"Fred?" Bill's voice came from behind the same bushes I was in a minute ago, and he strode into view with Emily and Lupin. 

Seeing that he was outnumbered, the photographer turned and fled. The three Order members glanced from where he disappeared into the night to me, their wands uncertainly at their waists. 

"Just some stupid paparazzo." I said, feeling defeated. 

"You okay?" My older brother asked me, moving closer. "You don't look so good. Why were you distracted?" 

I turned back to the pavilion. Daisy and Ford were gone. But a second later, my eyes were drawn to movement at the huge window showing the entirety of the grand staircase inside, and I spotted Ford dragging Daisy by the hand up the stairs, Daisy giggling madly, Ford smirking back at her. My heart dropped as they reached the landing, almost out of sight, and Ford caught Daisy in her arms, sweeping her up, spinning her around as the curly-haired girl laughed, and the two disappeared out of view just as Kylie bent her head closer to Daisy's, their eyes fluttering closed. 

I felt sick to my stomach, knowing exactly where they were going and what they were going to do. 

"They seem like they're having fun." Lupin commented. "It's good for her to get out and enjoy a normal life with her friends rather than thinking about being hunted." 

Friends. Ha. I wish. 

Bill and Emily seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me. Bill looked at me in concern as Emily said, "I don't know, Moony... they seemed to be acting more than friends to me." 

"Listen, our shift is nearly over." Bill said, after an awkward silence. "Look, there's the night crew; Moody's coming over. You okay to go, Fred?" 

I nodded, scuffing my feet on the ground. Maybe pressuring my dad to let me join the Order members in patrolling this stupid hotel was a bad idea. I just wanted to protect Daisy (and maybe spy on her a bit) but the heartbreak I had just experienced made me question whether it was worth it. After all, she had my brother and the other Order members to look after her... 

"Why are YOU so miserable?" George's greeting reached my ears as I opened the door to the Insurgents' bedroom. "You look like someone's just died." 

"I didn't think Softpaw just going to a wedding as Kylie's plus one would get you down THIS bad..." Terry frowned. 

I sighed, collapsing onto my bed. "You'll see tomorrow, I guess." 

The two boys glanced at each other from their beds. I ignored them, turning onto my side, and plugged in my earphones, turning on my angsty playlist. 

'I don't wanna be your lover

I don't wanna be your fool

Pick me up whenever you want it

Throw me down when you're through...' 

I could hear George and Terry muttering across the room to each other. I turned up the volume, thinking about Daisy's answer to that question, thinking about her kissing my competitor, thinking about her being whisked away to somewhere private where her clothes would be taken off... 

'You don't know love 'til it

Tears up your heart and cuts in it

Leaves you with scars you're still feeling

You don't know love

You don't know love

You don't know love 'til it

Feels like you died when it's missing

It leaves you blind with no vision

You don't know love

You don't know love...'

I buried my head in my pillow, the stinging in my shoulder aching along with the jealousy and hurt pounding in my chest. 

~~~ 

Daisy's arrival the next morning was punctuated by shrieks and claps. I shuffled out of my room, reminded by my aching stomach that I had missed breakfast due to being holed up in my room by misery, and leaned over the railings to see what the ruckus was about. 

Ford was with her, her lips on Daisy's, the two dressed in fluffy white coats. Probably designer, I scoffed to myself, and probably real fur. 

The girls broke apart, cheeks flushed. Daisy beamed around at the group gathered in the hall, her hand linked with Ford's. 

"Kylie and I are together! I'm her girlfriend now." The green-eyed girl said. Harry clapped as Terry squealed loudly, rushing forward to hug Daisy. Draco gasped dramatically, clapping frantically alongside Harry. Ron turned to Harry and started quizzing him on how he felt about it, as Hermione and Ginny congratulated the couple, both looking a bit crestfallen. Sirius clapped Daisy on the shoulder, saying something to her, then turned to Ford, telling her something too. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it seemed scary, as Ford's eyebrows raised and she said something hastily back to him, Daisy laughing. 

However, not everyone seemed to be obsessed with our newest perfect couple. My mum was frowning, whispering something to Dad, and the two started looking around the group. George and Bill were already looking up at me, sympathy etched across their features. I growled to myself. I don't want their pity. 

My mum turned to George, asking him something, and the last thing I saw was my twin pointing up before I stormed back into our room, slamming the door. 

*Daisy's POV*

"I'm going to see how he's feeling." I heard Mrs Weasley whisper to George before she hurried up the staircase. I shrugged, turning back to Draco, telling him in sniggers what my godfather had just said to Kylie. 

"He told her if she broke my heart, he'd make sure she regretted ever being born!" I snickered. Draco laughed. 

"She better watch out! Your dogfather can be quite terrifying." 

"Dogfather, ahahaha! Good one, Dragon!" 

~~~ 

The rest of the holidays went by quite quick, having fun with my friends, with the exception of Fred, who seemed to be moping around quite a lot, and Sirius, who seemed to be doing the same, but for the different reason of us all leaving to go back for school soon. 

The day after Kylie had dropped me back off to Grimmauld Place, the Daily Prophet had been sent to us, the front page covered in photos of the wedding, the two biggest photos being one of the married couple, the other a photo of me and Kylie kissing just after she had asked me to be her girlfriend. 

"Um. How could they have gotten a photo of that?" I said, slightly mortified. We were passionately making out - with TONGUE - AND Kylie's hands were wandering EVERYWHERE - when that photo was taken, and the moving wizarding photograph emphasised that fact greatly. 

Fred coughed loudly, turning to face the wall. 

I flicked through the newspaper. A Witch Weekly magazine fell out of the middle, and I saw yet another photo of us on the front page. I hurriedly turned to the page where it said the article about us was, and my eyes widened. The article was pages long, describing every detail of our relationship thus far, and multiple photos adorned the glossy pages, from Triwizard appearances, to the Yule Ball, to the summer in Little Whinging, to school, to the morning after the wedding, when we had stepped out of the hotel as a couple, our hands joined and our faces pink and beaming. 

"We look good though." I said.

"Hell yeah you do." Terry said. "Queens." 

Then, on the very last day of the holidays, something happened that made me positively dread my return to school.

"Daisy, dear," Mrs Weasley said, poking her head into mine, Fred, George, and Terry's bedroom, where the four of us were playing Exploding Snap, "could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you and Harry." 

My mouth fell open in horror. I looked around at the twins and Terry, all of whom were gaping back at me. Terry slowly set a card on top of the pile, and it exploded in his face. 

"Come on, quickly, dear, he says he can't stay long." 

A minute or two later, I pushed open the kitchen door with Harry to find Sirius and Snape both seated at the long kitchen table, glaring in opposite directions. The silence between them was heavy with mutual dislike. A letter lay open on the table in front of Sirius.

"What's up, my dudes." I said, to announce our presence.

Snape looked around at us, his face framed between curtains of greasy black hair.

"Sit down, Potters." 

"You know," Sirius said loudly, leaning back on his rear chair legs and speaking to the ceiling, "I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see." 

I snorted. An ugly flush suffused Snape's pallid face. I sat down in a chair beside Sirius, facing Snape across the table, and Harry sat beside me. I kicked my feet up onto the table, grinning at Snape. 

"I was supposed to see you alone, Potters," Snape said, the familiar sneer curling his mouth, "but Black -" 

"I'm their godfather." Sirius said, louder than ever.

"I am here on Dumbledore's orders." Snape said, whose voice, by contrast, was becoming more and more quietly waspish. "But by all means stay, Black, I know you like to feel... involved." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius said, letting his chair fall back on to all four legs with a loud bang.

"Merely that I am sure you must feel - ah - frustrated by the fact that you can do nothing useful," Snape laid a delicate stress on the word, "for the Order." 

It was Sirius's turn to flush. Snape's lip curled in triumph as he turned to me and Harry.

"Sirius can do plenty of useful things for the Order. He can do at least one thing better than you." I said. 

Snape's eyes glittered. "And what's that, Miss Potter?" 

"Showering." I said. 

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. Harry determinedly looked away from me, his mouth twitching. Snape's ugly flush got darker. 

"The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Mr and Miss Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term." 

"Study what?" Harry said blankly.

Snape's sneer became more pronounced.

"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defence of the mind against external penetration." (I sniggered loudly.) "An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one." 

Defence against external penetration? But I was not being possessed, we had all agreed on that...

"Why do we have to study Occlu-thing?" Harry blurted out.

"Because the Headmaster thinks it a good idea." Snape said smoothly. "You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?" 

"Yes." Harry said, as I said, "I guess." 

"Who's going to be teaching us?" Harry asked. 

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"I am." He said.

"Fuck sake." I said. I looked round at Sirius for support.

"Why can't Dumbledore teach the twins?" Sirius asked aggressively. "Why you?" 

"I suppose because it is a headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks." Snape said silkily. "I assure you I did not beg for the job." He got to his feet. "I will expect you at six o'clock on Monday evening, Potters. My office. If anybody asks, Mr Potter is taking remedial Potions, and Miss Potter is taking extra credit. Nobody who has seen Mr Potter in my classes could deny he needs them." 

He turned to leave, his black travelling cloak billowing behind him.

"Wait a moment." Sirius said, sitting up straighter in his chair.

Snape turned back to face us, sneering.

"I am in rather a hurry, Black. Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time." 

"I'll get to the point, then." Sirius said, standing up. He was rather taller than Snape who, I noticed, balled his fist in the pocket of his cloak over what I was sure was the handle of his wand. "If I hear you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Daisy and Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to." 

"How touching." Snape sneered. "But surely you have noticed that Miss Potter is very like her father?" 

"Yes, I have." Sirius said proudly.

"Well then, you'll know she's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off her." Snape said sleekly.

"Thank you!" I said, putting a hand to my heart. 

Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode around the table towards Snape, pulling out his wand as he went. Snape whipped out his own. They were squaring up to each other, Sirius looking livid, Snape calculating, his eyes darting from Sirius's wand-tip to his face.

"Sirius!" Harry said loudly, but Sirius appeared not to hear him.

"Get him, Padfoot!" I grinned. 

"I've warned you, Snivellus." Sirius said, his face barely a foot from Snape's. "I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better -" 

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" Snape whispered. "Or are you afraid he might not take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?" 

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?" 

"Speaking of dogs," said Snape softly, "did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform... gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it?" 

Sirius raised his wand.

"NO!" Harry yelled, vaulting over the table and trying to get in between them. "Sirius, don't!" 

"Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius roared, trying to push Harry out of the way, but Harry would not budge. 

"Why, yes, I suppose I am." Snape said.

"You're an asshole. Take it back, fucker!" I said, leaping up, my wand out, pointed directly at Snape. 

The kitchen door opened and the entire Weasley family, plus Terry, Draco, and Hermione, came inside, all looking very happy, with Mr Weasley walking proudly in their midst dressed in a pair of striped pyjamas covered by a mackintosh.

"Cured!" He announced brightly to the kitchen at large. "Completely cured!" 

He and all the other Weasleys froze on the threshold, gazing at the scene in front of them, which was also suspended in mid-action, both Sirius and Snape looking towards the door with their wands pointing into each other's faces, Harry immobile between them, a hand stretched out to each, trying to force them apart, me in a duelling stance with my wand raised high.

"Merlin's beard," said Mr Weasley, the smile sliding off his face, "what's going on here?" 

Sirius, Snape, and I lowered our wands. Harry looked from one to the other. Each of us wore an expression of utmost contempt, yet the unexpected entrance of so many witnesses seemed to have brought us to our senses. Snape pocketed his wand, turned on his heel, and swept back across the kitchen, passing the Weasleys without comment. At the door he looked back.

"Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potters."

And he was gone. Sirius and I glared after him, our wands at our sides.

"What's been going on?" Mr Weasley asked again.

"Nothing, Arthur." Sirius said, who was breathing heavily as though he had just run a long distance. "Just a friendly little chat between two old school friends." With what looked like an enormous effort, he smiled. "So... you're cured? That's great news, really great." 

"Yes, isn't it?" Mrs Weasley said, leading her husband forward to a chair. "Healer Smethwyck worked his magic in the end, found an antidote to whatever that snake's got in its fangs, and Arthur's learned his lesson about dabbling in Muggle medicine, haven't you, dear?" She added, rather menacingly.

"Yes, Molly dear." Mr Weasley said meekly.

That night's meal should have been a cheerful one, with Mr Weasley back amongst us. I could tell Sirius was trying to make it so, yet when my godfather was not forcing himself to laugh loudly at Fred and George's jokes or offering everyone more food, his face fell back into a moody, brooding expression. Fred was doing the same, his expression dropping after every joke he said. 

~~~

We were to return to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus the following day, escorted once again by Tonks and Lupin, both of whom were eating breakfast in the kitchen when Fred, George, Terry, and I came down next morning. The adults seemed to have been mid-way through a whispered conversation as I opened the door; all of them looked round hastily and fell silent.

After a hurried breakfast, we all pulled on jackets and scarves against the chilly grey January morning. I glanced at Fred anxiously; he was still mostly avoiding me, and when we were together, hanging out, he wouldn't talk to me any deeper than he would to a casual friend he only saw at school. 

Sirius came up to me. 

"I want you to take this." He said quietly, thrusting a badly wrapped package roughly the size of a paperback book into my hands.

"Thanks. What is it?" I asked.

"A way of letting me know if Snape's giving you a hard time. No, don't open it in here!" Sirius said, with a wary look at Mrs Weasley, who was trying to persuade the twins to wear hand-knitted mittens. "I doubt Molly would approve - but I want you to use it if you need me, all right?" 

"Yeah, okay." I said, stowing the package away in the inside pocket of my jacket, making a mental note to open it later. 

"Let's go, then." Sirius said, clapping me on the shoulder and smiling grimly, and before I could say anything else, we were heading upstairs, stopping before the heavily chained and bolted front door, surrounded by Weasleys.

"Goodbye, Daisy, take care." Mrs Weasley said, hugging me.

"See you, Daisy, and keep an eye out for snakes for me!" Mr Weasley said genially, shaking my hand.

"I will." I laughed; I turned, and Sirius gave me a brief, one-armed hug, and said gruffly, "Look after yourself, Daisy." Next moment, I found myself being shunted out into the icy winter air, with Tonks (today heavily disguised as a tall, tweedy woman with iron-grey hair) chivvying me down the steps.

The door of number twelve slammed shut behind us. We followed Lupin down the front steps. As I reached the pavement, I looked round. Number twelve was shrinking rapidly as those on either side of it stretched sideways, squeezing it out of sight. One blink later, it had gone.

"Come on, the quicker we get on the bus the better." Tonks said, and I thought there was nervousness in the glance she threw around the square. Lupin flung out his right arm.

BANG.

A violently purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of thin air in front of us, narrowly avoiding the nearest lamppost, which jumped backwards out of its way.

A thin, pimply, jug-eared youth in a purple uniform leapt down on to the pavement and said, "Welcome to the -" 

"Yes, yes, we know, thank you." Tonks said swiftly. "On, on, get on -" 

And she shoved me forwards towards the steps, past the conductor, who goggled at me as I passed.

"'Ere - it's Daisy -" 

"If you shout her name I will curse you into oblivion." Tonks muttered menacingly, only it made no difference. The second I stepped on the bus, the entire crowd of passengers leaned forward, standing up, raising their heads, all staring at me. There were shouts and yells, and a flurry of flashes started as the passengers rushed forward. 

"Daisy! Daisy!" 

"How does it feel to be dating a Ford?" 

"Has Kylie Ford introduced you to her parents yet?" 

"Daisy, have you two had sex yet?" 

"What the fuck?" I said. 

The twins and Lupin pulled me back off the bus, sending me to the back of the group. Fred stood in front of me protectively as the paparazzi on the bus flashed their cameras at us. 

"Daisy, you'll have to - ugh -" Lupin tugged at his hair. "Daisy, go back inside and explain, you'll have to take a Portkey." 

I stumbled back, rushing up the steps as Tonks tried to restrain the crowd on the bus. The house reappeared, but the passengers clearly couldn't see what I was seeing, as they all stopped, lowering their cameras and looking around in confusion. I watched as Tonks and Lupin pushed the others onto the bus, Harry and Fred looking around anxiously for me; then they were gone. 

~~~

I spent most of the next day dreading the evening. My morning double-Potions lesson did nothing to dispel my trepidation, as Snape was as unpleasant as ever. My mood was further lowered by the DA members constantly approaching me in the corridors between classes, asking hopefully if there would be a meeting that night.

"I'll let you know in the usual way when the next one is." I said over and over again. "But, dude, I can't do it tonight, I've got to go to fuckin' extra credit Potions." 

"You take extra credit for Potions?" Zacharias Smith asked superciliously, having cornered me in the Entrance Hall after lunch. "Are you sure you're not just avoiding it to have some 'fun' with Kylie Ford?" 

As Smith smirked at me, then strode away in an annoyingly buoyant fashion, Fred glared after him.

"Shall I jinx him? I can still get him from here." He said, raising his wand and taking aim between Smith's shoulder blades.

"Forget it." I said dismally. "It's what everyone's going to think, isn't it? That Kylie's just constantly fuck-" 

"Hey, babe." A voice behind me said. I turned round and found Kylie standing there.

"Oh." I said as my stomach leapt. "Hey, hottie." 

"We'll be in the common room, Softpaw." George said firmly as he seized Fred above the elbow and dragged him off towards the marble staircase.

"There's another Hogsmeade trip next month, did you see the notice?" Kylie said. 

"Oh, I haven't checked the noticeboard since I got back." I said, feeling my face flush as she got closer to me. 

"Yes, it's on Valentine's Day..." 

The stream of students moving in the Hall had stopped, and everyone was watching us, giggling and whispering. 

"Do you want to come with me?" Kylie said smoothly. 

"Oooh, yes!" I said, blushing crimson and beaming at her.

~~~

By six o'clock that evening, however, even the glow of being asked on a date could not lighten the ominous feelings that intensified with every step I took towards Snape's office with Harry.

We paused outside the door when we reached it. 

'I wish I was almost anywhere else.' Harry sent to me. 

'I feel ya, brother.' I sent back. 

Then, taking a deep breath, Harry knocked and we entered.

"Shut the door behind you, Potters." 

Harry did as he was told. Snape had moved into the light and was pointing silently at the chairs opposite his desk. We all sat down, Snape's cold black eyes fixed unblinkingly upon me and my brother, dislike etched in every line of his face.

"Well, Potters, you know why you are here." He said. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency. I can only hope that you prove more adept at it than at Potions, Mr Potter." 

We quizzed him on Occlumency. Apparently it was protection from Legilimency, a form of mind reading, though Snape apparently very much disliked using that 'Muggle' term. According to him, Riddle had learned of the connection between our minds, and could see into ours just like we could see into his. 

"And he might try and make us do things?" Harry asked. "Sir?" He added hurriedly.

"He might." Snape said, sounding cold and unconcerned. "Which brings us back to Occlumency." 

Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket of his robes and raised it to his temple; placing its tip into the greasy roots of his hair. When he withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from it and fell gracefully into a weird bowl on his desk, where it swirled silvery-white, neither gas nor liquid. Twice more, Snape raised the wand to his temple and deposited the silvery substance into the stone basin, then, without offering any explanation of his behaviour, he picked up the bowl carefully, removed it to a shelf out of our way, and returned to face us with his wand held at the ready.

"Miss Potter, you first. Stand up and take out your wand." 

I got to my feet. We faced each other with the desk between us.

"You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of." Snape said.

"And what are you going to do?" I asked, eyeing Snape's wand apprehensively.

"I am about to attempt to break into your mind." Snape said softly. "We are going to see how well you resist. I have been told that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will find that similar powers are needed for this... brace yourself, now. Legilimens!"

Snape had struck before I was ready, before I had even begun to summon any force of resistance. The office swam in front of my eyes and vanished; image after image was racing through my mind like a flickering film so vivid it blinded me to my surroundings.

I was five, racing Dudley, riding a new red bicycle... I was nine, and Harry, Dudley, and I were wrestling on the Dursleys' lawn, laughing... I was in the hut where Hagrid had first found us before first year, telling him that I could hurt others who were mean to me... Suzanne, Shannon, Amy, and I were giggling in the Shrieking Shack... a hundred Dementors were closing in on me beside the dark lake... Riddle was bending over me in the Chamber of Secrets with glowing red eyes... Fred was above me with his hands in my hair, looking down at me... 

No, said a voice inside my head, as the memory of Fred pushed me towards his crotch, you're not watching that, you're not watching it, it's private - 

I felt a sharp pain in my knee. Snape's office had come back into view and I realised that I had fallen to the floor; one of my knees had collided painfully with the leg of Snape's desk. Harry helped me up, his expression worried. I looked up at Snape, who had lowered his wand and was rubbing his wrist. There was an angry weal there, like a scorch mark.

"Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?" Snape asked coolly.

"No." I said bitterly. 

"I thought not." Snape said, watching me closely. "You let me get in too far. You lost control." 

"Did you see everything I saw?" I asked, glancing at Harry. 

"Flashes of it." Snape said, his lip curling. "When were you in the Shrieking Shack with Amy Rolfing?" 

"First year." I muttered, hating Snape.

"Well, for a first attempt that was not as poor as it might have been." Snape said, raising his wand once more. "You managed to stop me eventually, though you wasted time and energy shouting. You must remain focused. Repel me with your brain and you will not need to resort to your wand." 

"I'm trying," I said angrily, "but you're not fucking telling me how!" 

"Manners, Potter." Snape said dangerously. "Now, I want you to close your eyes." 

I threw him a filthy look before doing as I was told. I didn't like the idea of standing there with my eyes shut while Snape faced me, carrying a wand. Harry didn't seem to either, as he glanced between us with his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Clear your mind, Potter." Snape's cold voice said. "Let go of all emotion..." 

But my anger at Snape continued to pound through my veins like venom. Let go of my anger? I could as easily detach my fucking legs...

"You're not doing it, Potter... you will need more discipline than this... focus, now..." 

I tried to empty my mind, tried not to think, or remember, or feel...

"Let's go again... on the count of three... one - two - three - Legilimens!" 

Kylie was dancing with me at the fifth year ball... my father and mother were waving at me out of an enchanted mirror... Floppy was holding me down in a broom cupboard, forcing his mouth onto mine... Amy was lying on the ground with blank eyes staring at me...

"NOOOOOOO!" 

I was on my knees again, my face buried in my hands, my brain aching as though someone had been trying to pull it from my skull.

"Get up!" Snape said sharply. "Get up! You are not trying, you are making no effort." 

"Leave her alone!" Harry said in frustration. 

"You are allowing me access to memories you fear, handing me weapons!" 

I stood up again, my heart thumping wildly as though I had really just seen Amy dead in the graveyard. Snape looked paler than usual, and angrier, though not nearly as angry as I was.

"I am making a fucking effort!" I said through clenched teeth.

"I told you to empty yourself of emotion!" 

"Yeah, SIR? Well, I'm finding that hard at the moment, for some unknown reason." I snarled.

"Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!" Snape said savagely. "Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked so easily - weak people, in other words - they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!" 

"I am not. Fucking. Weak." I said in a low voice, fury now pumping through me. I honestly might attack Snape in a moment.

"Then prove it! Master yourself!" Snape spat. "Control your anger, discipline your mind! We shall try again! Get ready, now! Legilimens!" 

I was watching Uncle Vernon hammering the letterbox shut... a hundred Dementors were drifting across the lake in the grounds towards me... Riddle was torturing me with the Cruciatus Curse in Floppy's manor, my wings out and dripping with blood... my dad was cuddling me with his wings in Hell... I was running along a windowless passage with Harry and Mr Weasley... we were drawing nearer to the plain black door at the end of the corridor... I expected to go through it... but Mr Weasley led us off to the left, down a flight of stone steps...

"I KNOW! I KNOW!" 

I was on all fours again on Snape's office floor, my scar was prickling unpleasantly, but the voice that had just issued from my mouth was triumphant. I pushed myself up again to find Snape and Harry staring at me, Snape's wand raised. It looked as though, this time, Snape had lifted the spell before I had even tried to fight back.

"What happened then, Miss Potter?" He asked, eyeing me intently.

"I saw - I remembered." I panted, turning to Harry. "I've just realised..." 

"Realised what?" Snape asked sharply.

I didn't answer at once; I was still savouring the moment of blinding realisation as I rubbed my forehead...

I had been dreaming about that windowless corridor ending in a locked door for months, without once realising that it was a real place. Now, seeing the memory again... all along I had been dreaming about the corridor down which Harry and I had run with Mr Weasley on the twelfth of August as we hurried to the courtrooms in the Ministry; it was the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries and Mr Weasley had been there the night that he had been attacked by Voldemort's snake.

I looked up at Snape.

"What's in the Department of Mysteries?" 

"What did you say?" Snape asked quietly and I saw, with deep satisfaction, that Snape was unnerved.

"I said, what's in the Department of Mysteries, sir?" I said.

"And why," said Snape slowly, "would you ask such a thing?" 

"Because," I said, watching Snape's face closely, "that corridor I've just seen - I've been dreaming about it for months - I've just recognised it - it leads to the Department of Mysteries... and Voldemort wants something from -" 

"I have told you not to say the Dark Lord's name!" 

We glared at each other. My scar seared again, but I did not care. Snape looked agitated; but when he spoke again he sounded as though he was trying to appear cool and unconcerned.

"There are many things in the Department of Mysteries, Miss Potter, few of which you would understand and none of which concern you. Do I make myself plain?" 

"Whatever." I said, still rubbing my prickling scar, which was becoming more painful.

"You may be excused, Miss Potter. Mr Potter and I will continue on. I want you back here same time on Wednesday. We will continue work then." 

"Fine." I said. I glanced at Harry, who nodded at me, taking my hand and squeezing it. 

"You are to rid your mind of all emotion every night before sleep; empty it, make it blank and calm, you understand?" 

"Sure." I said, barely listening.

"And be warned, Potter... I shall know if you have not practised..." 

"Right." I mumbled. I picked up my schoolbag, swung it over my shoulder, and hurried towards the office door. "See you later, Harry." 

I found Terry and Draco in the library, where they were making spit-balls and shooting them at other people. Other students, nearly all of them fifth-years, sat at lamp-lit tables nearby, noses close to books, quills scratching feverishly, while the sky outside the mullioned windows grew steadily blacker. The only other sounds were Terry and Draco 'phut'ing the spit-balls at the fifth years, and the slight squeaking of one of Madam Pince's shoes as the librarian prowled the aisles menacingly, breathing down the necks of those touching her precious books. Terry hurriedly hid his growing pile of spit-balls as she walked past, shoving a pile of textbooks in front of them as Draco slipped the straw into his robe pocket. 

I felt shivery; my scar was still aching, I felt almost feverish.

When I sat down opposite Terry and Draco, I caught sight of myself in the window opposite; I was very white and my scar seemed to be showing up more clearly than usual.

"How did it go with the greasy fuck?" Terry whispered, and then, looking concerned, said, "Are you all right, Softpaw?" 

"Yeah... fine... I dunno." I said impatiently, wincing as pain shot through my scar again. "Listen, you guys... I've just realised something..." 

And I told them what I had just seen and deduced.

"So... so are you saying..." Draco whispered, as Madam Pince swept past again, squeaking slightly, "that the thing You-Know-Who's after - is in the Ministry of Magic?" 

"In the Department of Mysteries, it's got to be." I whispered. "I saw that door when I went down to the courtrooms for my hearing and it's definitely the same one Fred and George's dad was guarding when the snake bit him." 

Terry let out a long, slow sigh.

"Of course." He breathed.

"Of course what?" I said rather impatiently.

"Softpaw, think about it... that Podmore dude was trying to get through a door at the Ministry of Magic... it must have been that one, it's too much of a coincidence otherwise!" 

"How come Podmore was trying to break in when he's on our side?" Draco said.

"Well, I don't know." Terry admitted. "That is a bit odd..."

"Daze, are you sure you're all right?" Draco said. 

For I had just run both my hands hard over my forehead as though trying to iron it.

"Yeah... fine..." I said, lowering my hands, which were trembling. "I just feel a bit... I don't like Occlumency much." 

"I expect anyone would feel shaky if they'd had their mind attacked over and over again." Terry said sympathetically. "Look, let's take you to your common room, you'll be a bit more comfortable there." 

Terry and Draco dropped me off at the Fat Lady and went further down the corridor to make out. The common room was packed and full of shrieks of laughter and excitement; Fred and George were demonstrating our latest bit of joke shop merchandise.

"Headless Hats!" George shouted, as Fred waved a pointed hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather at the watching students. "Two Galleons each, watch Fred, now!" 

Fred swept the hat on to his head, beaming. For a second he merely looked rather stupid; then both hat and head vanished.

Several girls screamed, but everyone else was roaring with laughter.

"And off again!" George shouted, and Fred's hand groped for a moment in what seemed to be thin air over his shoulder; then his head reappeared as he swept the pink-feathered hat from it.

"How do those hats work, then?" Hermione said at the table beside me, distracted from her homework and watching Fred and George closely. "I mean, obviously it's some kind of Invisibility Spell, but it's rather clever to have extended the field of invisibility beyond the boundaries of the charmed object... I'd imagine the charm wouldn't have a very long life though." 

"Hey, Daisy, Kylie's in her dorm, I think she's just changing into her pyjamas!" Lavender called, a sly smile on her face as Parvati giggled, batting her eyelashes. 

"Thanks, Lav, just not in the mood for sexy time right now." I replied, feeling weak. 

As much as I loved laughter and loudness, I was feeling too vulnerable to deal with it right now. I walked across the common room, dodging George, who tried to put a Headless Hat on me, and reached the peace and cool of the stone staircase to the boys' dormitories. I was feeling sick again, just as I had the night I had had the vision of the snake, but if I could just lie down for a while I would be all right.

I opened the door of my dormitory and was one step inside it when I experienced pain so severe I thought that someone must have sliced into the top of my head. I didn't know where I was, whether I was standing or lying down, I did not even know my own name.

Maniacal laughter was ringing in my ears... I was happier than I had been in a very long time... jubilant, ecstatic, triumphant... a wonderful, wonderful thing had happened...

"Daisy? DAISY!" 

Someone had whacked me. The insane laughter was punctuated with a cry of pain. The happiness was draining out of me, but the laughter continued...

I opened my eyes and, as I did so, became aware that the wild laughter was coming out of my own mouth. The moment I realised this, it died away; I lay panting on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, the scar on my forehead throbbing horribly. Fred and George were bending over me, looking very worried.

"What happened?" Fred said.

"I... dunno..." I gasped, sitting up again. "He's really happy... really happy..." 

"You-Know-Poo is?" 

"Something good's happened." I mumbled. I was shaking as badly as I had done after seeing the snake attack Mr Weasley and felt very sick. "Something he's been hoping for." 

The words came, just as they had back in the Gryffindor changing room, as though a stranger was speaking them through my mouth, yet I knew they were true. I took deep breaths, willing myself not to vomit all over the twins. I was very glad that Lee was not here to watch this time, as much as I loved the dude.

"Hopper texted us and told us to come and check on you." George said in a low voice, helping me to his feet. "He says your defences will be low at the moment, after Snape's been fiddling around with your mind... still, I suppose it'll help in the long run, won't it?" He looked doubtfully at me as he helped me towards my bed. I nodded without any conviction and slumped back on my pillows, aching all over from having fallen to the floor so often that evening, my scar still prickling painfully. I could not help feeling that my first foray into Occlumency had weakened my mind's resistance rather than strengthening it, and I wondered, with a feeling of great trepidation, what had happened to make Lord Voldemort the happiest he had been in fourteen years.