Snow was swirling against the icy windows once more; Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had already singlehandedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees to the Great Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs; everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suits of armor and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. 

Large groups of students tended to converge underneath the mistletoe bunches every time I went past, which caused blockages in the corridors; fortunately, however, I had an unusually good knowledge of the castle's secret passageways, so that I was often able, without too much difficulty, to navigate mistletoe-free routes between classes. Terry, Fred, and George simply roared with laughter about it all. 

Fred had found my Blood Quills and snapped them all. He sat me down and told me off after I'd found him doing so in our dorm. 

"I also Googled what Percocet is." Fred said seriously. "Daisy... you've got to stop. You're addicted to drugs, and alcohol, and self-harm... you're fucking yourself up and I hate seeing you like this." 

"It's the only way I can cope." I said quietly. 

"It's not, Daisy, there are other ways." Fred pleaded. "Madam Pomfrey can give you therapy, there are safer medications, you can talk to us..." 

I shook my head. "None of those things can help me forget. I need to forget what he did to me... but I can't unless I forget everything else..." 

"You're hurting yourself in the process!" Fred raised his voice, then lowered it. "Sorry. Sorry... I... I just care about you, so fucking much, Daisy. And I don't want you to damage your health and ruin yourself because of him." 

For Fred, I stopped the self-torture with the Cruciatus Curse and the cutting (though that was because I literally couldn't do it anymore without the Blood Quills). But I kept up the drinking, although I only did this socially with Blaise and Theo now, and the Percocet. Being only sixteen, I'd never done any serious drugs before, and definitely didn't have experience with opioids, so I was hooked fast and took at least one pill a day. I'd meet with Spieler every week and get a fresh packet. I had to hide them from Fred very well, as I knew what he would do to them if he found them. 

And one day, I was snatched as I was darting through an empty corridor, avoiding a large group of, like, twenty boys and three girls underneath the mistletoe. I was dragged into an empty classroom with a hand covering my mouth as I flailed around and tried to yell. 

I was flung into a chair, and all the breath was knocked out of me by the sheer force. Floppy stepped in front of me, grinning wildly. I was about to open my mouth to scoff at him and ask him what the fuck he thought he was doing, when he grabbed my jaw and forced something into my mouth. 

I realised too late that it was a vial, and I choked and spluttered as Floppy pinned me down with one hand, forcefully keeping the vial in my mouth with the other. I struggled fruitlessly, my heart pounding in terror as flashes of Riddle forcing Amortentia into my mouth went through my head. I was shaking violently as I twisted and writhed, starting to feel seriously lightheaded, but Floppy was surprisingly strong, and within moments I slacked back in my chair, my mind fogging. 

Pink clouds were revolving in my head... and as Felix came into view again, pulling the vial out of my mouth, I blinked, feeling a huge smile stretch across my face. 

"Felix..." I sighed, gazing up at him in adoration. "You're so hot..." 

Felix smirked. "I know. Now, come here..." 

He leaned down, his hands snaking around me and lifting me up from the chair. He bent down, connecting his lips with mine, and the pink clouds in my head purred. 

He deepened the kiss, his hands drifting down. He cupped my ass as he lifted me up onto the desk, slipping his tongue into my mouth, and the clouds vibrated in pleasure as our tongues moved together. 

Felix parted from me, panting against my lips. "Ugh... if you weren't having the Dark Lord's baby, I'd want to give you mine right here..." 

"I'm not!" I said brightly, beaming at him. 

Felix's whole expression changed. I thought I saw a glint of fear in his eyes. 

"What?" He said sharply. "What did you say, Weakling?" 

I swooned at his cute nickname for me. The pink clouds throbbed. "I said I'm not having his baby! I'm not pregnant, I got rid of it. I can have yours, now!" 

Felix took a step back. It looked like he was thinking hard. And as he did so, the pink clouds flickered grey in my head. 

What was that about? I stared at him, confused, as he started pacing around the room. 

The longer he paced, the more something tried to break through the clouds. They kept turning grey for a split second, or fading. 

Then, suddenly, Felix whipped around and strode over to me. He grabbed my waist, tugging me down off the desk, and turned me around, slamming me over it. 

"I'm sure he won't complain if it's my baby instead. He'll appreciate a powerful demon-angel hybrid on his side -" 

The pink clouds suddenly went very faint. I bit my lip as terror crept back into my body, the sound of Felix unbuckling his belt and the feeling of his other hand tugging up my skirt only making my heart pound in fear rather than desire. 

I whimpered as the clouds started to break, letting in more fear and adrenaline. I tried to break away from Felix, but he slammed me back down onto the desk, growling. 

"Just you shut up and stay down. I'm going to take you, and you're going to like it -" 

"NO!" 

There were no more clouds; my hands were bright white, and Floppy was blasted off me, crashing into the wall opposite and yelling. I looked down at my shaking hands, fear pounding through me at the light that was steadily growing brighter. 

"I need to go..." I muttered to myself, and I sprinted out of the room, ignoring Floppy's groans behind me. 

~~~ 

Understandably, Fred, George, and Terry were incredibly pissed off when I told them about what had happened, and immediately started plotting cruel pranks to pull against him. Terry was very curious about my Grace pulling through to save me in a moment of need, and they all congratulated me on my resistance to the love potion, all admiring me on how strong I was. 

I didn't feel particularly strong. The second encounter with someone drugging me with a love potion had severely shaken me. 

Later that night, I had to bite my pillow as my scar seared with pain the likes of which I'd only felt before under the Cruciatus Curse; I knew by the random sudden rage erupting in the pit of my stomach that Floppy was telling Riddle that I was no longer pregnant with his baby. 

The next day was the day of Slughorn's Christmas party, and the four of us were going as a friend group instead of taking dates. We met Ginny and Luna on our way to Slughorn's office, the boys in their suits and me in a short puffy orange dress. 

"Did you hear, there's supposed to be a vampire coming?" I said excitedly to the group. 

"Rufus Scrimgeour?" Luna asked. 

"I - what?" I said, disconcerted. "You mean the Minister of Magic?"

"Yes, he's a vampire." Luna said matter-of-factly. "Father wrote a very long article about it when Scrimgeour first took over from Cornelius Fudge, but he was forced not to publish by somebody from the Ministry. Obviously, they didn't want the truth to get out!"

Fred and I burst out laughing as Terry, George, and Ginny determinedly avoided each other's eyes. We were already approaching Slughorn's office and the sounds of laughter, music, and loud conversation were growing louder with every step we took.

Whether it had been built that way, or because he had used magical trickery to make it so, Slughorn's office was much larger than the usual teacher's study. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so that it looked as though we were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

"Daisy, m'girl!" Slughorn boomed, almost as soon as we had squeezed in through the door. "Come in, come in, so many people I'd like you to meet!"

Slughorn was wearing a tasseled velvet hat to match his smoking jacket. Gripping my arm so tightly he might have been hoping to Disapparate with me, Slughorn led me purposefully into the party; I seized Fred's hand and dragged him along with me, who in turn dragged the others in a long line.

"Daisy, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires - and, of course, his friend Sanguini."

Worple, who was a small, stout, bespectacled man, grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and black-haired with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

"Daisy Potter, I am simply delighted!" Worple said, peering short-sightedly up into my face. "I was saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, 'where is the biography of Daisy Potter for which we have all been waiting?'"

"Oh, interesting. Never thought about that." I pondered, stroking my non-existent beard. 

"Just as modest as Horace described!" Worple said. "But seriously -" His manner changed; it became suddenly business-like, "I would be delighted to write it myself - people are craving to know more about you, dear girl, CRAVING! If you were prepared to grant me a few interviews, say in four or five hour sessions, why, we could have the book finished within months. And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you - ask Sanguini here if it isn't quite - Sanguini, stay here!" Worple added, suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. "Here, have a pasty." Worple said, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini's hand before turning his attention back to me.

"My dear girl, the gold you could make, you have no idea -" 

"Sounds excellent, mate, get Sluggy to send me your details!" I said, grabbing the attractive vampire's arm and dragging him away through the crowd. I tugged him out of the party and into the broom cupboard across the hall. 

"You can bite me if you want." I said flirtatiously as Sanguini's dark eyes stared down into mine, his pupils dilated. "I'll just heal anyway." 

Our lips crashed together, and ten minutes later I was stumbling out of the broom cupboard and back into the party, tugging my dress back down, limping slightly, and with two throbbing bite marks on my neck. 

"Jesus Christ Softpaw, what happened to you?" George said in concern as I rejoined them. 

"Nothing." I said dismissively. "Where you guys headed?" 

"I dunno, away from McLaggen, just." Terry said, sending me a sideways glance as I watched Fred scowl. For some reason, Ginny and Luna were still tagging along with us. I could feel Ginny's eyes on me as the six of us made our way over to the other side of the room, scooping up goblets of mead on the way, realising too late that Professor Trelawney was standing there alone. I sniffed at my mead, holding it away from my mouth for the time being. 

"Hello." Luna said politely to Professor Trelawney.

"Good evening, my dear." Professor Trelawney said, focusing upon Luna with some difficulty. I could smell cooking sherry. "I haven't seen you in my classes lately..."

"No, I've got Firenze this year." Luna said. 

"Oh, of course." Professor Trelawney said with an angry, drunken titter. "Or Dobbin, as I prefer to think of him." 

Fred, George, Terry, and I all snorted loudly. 

"Daisy Potter!" Professor Trelawney said in deep, vibrant tones, noticing me for the first time.

"Oh, hey." I said unenthusiastically.

"My dear girl!" She said in a very carrying whisper. "The rumours! The stories! The Chosen One! Of course, I have known for a very long time... the omens were never good, Daisy... but why have you not returned to Divination? For you, of all people, the subject is of the utmost importance!" 

"It did have a lot of banter, to be fair." I admitted. 

"Ah, Sybill, we all think our subject's most important!" A loud voice said, and Slughorn appeared at Professor Trelawney's other side, his face very red, his velvet hat a little askew, a glass of mead in one hand and an enormous mince pie in the other. "But I don't think I've ever known such a natural at Potions!" Slughorn said, regarding me with a fond, if bloodshot, eye. "Instinctive, you know - like her mother! I've only ever taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that, Sybill - why even Severus -" 

And to my horror, Slughorn threw out an arm and seemed to scoop Snape out of thin air toward us.

"Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!" Slughorn hiccuped happily. "I was just talking about Daisy's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught her for five years!"

Trapped, with Slughorn's arm around his shoulders, Snape looked down his hooked nose at me, his black eyes narrowed.

"Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Miss Potter anything at all."

I scoffed, staring back into his eyes confidently. 

"Well, then, it's natural ability!" Slughorn shouted. "You should have seen what she gave me, first lesson, Draught of Living Death - never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, I don't think even you, Severus -" 

"Really?" Snape said quietly, his eyes still boring into me, who felt a certain disquiet. Ugh. He better not start questioning me on my newfound genius. 

"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Daisy?" Slughorn asked. 

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology..."

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror." Snape said with the faintest sneer.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do if I don't become a professional Quidditch player." I said defiantly.

"And a great one you'll make, too!" Slughorn boomed.

"I don't think you should be an Auror, Daisy." Luna said unexpectedly. Everybody looked at her. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're planning to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."

Fred inhaled half his mead up his nose as he started to laugh along with me, George, and Terry. Really, it had been worth hanging around Luna just for this. As Fred emerged from his goblet, coughing, sopping wet but still grinning, I saw Floppy being dragged by the ear toward us by Filch.

"Professor Slughorn," wheezed Filch, his jowls aquiver and the maniacal light of mischief-detection in his bulging eyes, "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

Floppy pulled himself free of Filch's grip, looking furious.

"All right, I wasn't invited!" He said angrily. "I was trying to gatecrash, happy?"

"No, I'm not!" Filch said, a statement at complete odds with the glee on his face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time prowling is out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right." Slughorn said, waving a hand. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Felix."

Filch turned and shuffled away, muttering under his breath; Floppy had composed his face into a smile and was thanking Slughorn for his generosity. Fred, George, and Terry were glaring at him, their faces furious. 

"It's nothing, nothing." Slughorn said, waving away Floppy's thanks. "I did know your grandfather, after all..." 

"He always spoke very highly of you, sir." Floppy said quickly. "Said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known..."

I thought I heard Luna, as the twins, Terry, and I hurried off into the crowd away from Floppy, resume the subject of the Rotfang Conspiracy with Professor Trelawney, who seemed sincerely interested. 

"Let's get far, far away from him so he doesn't spike your drink." Terry muttered to me as Fred scowled deeply, his fists clenching. 

The rest of the night was spent having banter with my three friends, pranking the party-goers and scoffing all the food. Fred helped me out by taking sips of any drinks I was handed before I took any sip, showing me that they were safe. All throughout the night, Floppy tried to get close to me, but the twins and Terry would steer me away or close in around me like a barricade, and Ginny's eyes were on me constantly from across the room. 

At the end of the night, I stalked over to her and grabbed her hand. I led her out of the office and up to the Room of Requirement, not speaking a word the whole way. I pushed her down onto the bed there, connecting my lips with hers passionately. Ginny moaned into my mouth, grabbing me and pulling me down on top of her. We made out furiously, tongues meeting and moving together, hands moving all over each other's bodies, ripping each other's clothes off as Ginny rolled us over and kissed down my body. 

And I sighed in pleasure as Ginny's tongue made contact in between my legs, arching my back as my fingers tangled in her hair...