The weeks passed by quickly now that we were used to the routine of classes. Draco was no longer actively scowling at me anymore, but we weren't exactly on friendly terms either. I'd almost call it a respectful dislike of each other. And since the incident with Longbottom's remembrall even the Gryffindors have been sociable to me. Susan though has been acting a little strange. It seems like ever since the first dueling club session she's been trying to find reasons to spend time with me. I've even caught her staring at me a few times from across the Great Hall during meals, which always makes her look away quickly and blush. I've never been attracted to anyone really, and I've never really thought about my sexuality. I've always imagined what it would be like to fall in love and get married, but growing up without any friends, there has never been any real emotion behind it. One thing's for sure though, I'm very confused about how I should be feeling about her. Worst part is I don't even know who to talk to about it. 

Halloween is finally here. The feast tonight has pretty much been the talk of the entire school for the last week, and now it's finally here. The decorations were great, and the food was good as usual, but to be honest I miss the muggle tradition of dressing up. We were just getting to dessert when Professor Quirrell came in screaming there was a troll loose in the dungeon. Dumbledore told everyone to go to our respective common rooms and we had a mass Exodus of the Great Hall. 

We made it back to the Slytherin common room without incident, when I noticed Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all duck behind a corner. "Shit. He's going after the troll. They're gonna get themselves killed." I thought to myself. Pansy and Tracy were too far away to get their attention, and I didn't trust the others enough to not try and stop me, so I quickly ducked down the same corridor as Draco. I stepped quietly as I could so as not to alert the group ahead of me.

I was close enough to them to hear what they said, but too far away to tell who said what.

"Come on, my wands pointing this way."

"I don't like this. We should head back."

"Don't be a baby. Just think of the house points we'll get for killing a troll."

"But it's a troll. Even Quirrell seemed like he was gonna piss himself."

"That blubbering idiot. My dad taught me some dueling spells. I could beat him with my eyes closed."

"Yeah, but you still got your but kicked by a half-blood girl."

"Shut up! You too weren't much good either."

"Maybe we shouldn't have pissed her off. She's a really good fighter.

"She's kinda cute too."

"She's still a half blood though."

"Shut up! I think it's just around the corner."

I heard them all cast spells. Then I heard the troll roar. Then I heard them scream, and the sound of stone being broken. I ran as fast as I could and rounded the corner to see Draco held upside down by his foot, while Crabbe and Goyle cast useless stunners against the troll. I rolled my eyes at their idiocy and for a brief moment wondered why I didn't just let them run off to get killed.

I pulled my wand and cast Incarcerous. The ropes wrapped around the troll pinning it's club against its chest. This made him let go of Draco so it could use both hands to break the rope. A quick Carpe Retractum pulled Draco away from the troll. By this time the troll broke free of my ropes. And was extremely angry. "Get clear!" I shouted at the three of them. "I've been wanting to try this one." I said aloud to myself. I summoned all the power I could and focused it into a single strike. "Bombarda! Maxima!" I screamed with all the hate and pain and loneliness I've felt my entire life up to recently. There was an explosion. The troll flew backwards, crashing through a wall and covered in rubble, the walls on either side of where the troll was standing were now gone. The troll wasn't moving. That's good. "Your welcome, everyone." I said as my vision faded. I felt myself falling. 

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed. Snape was standing over me with a woman I hadn't seen before, but from her clothes anyone could tell that she must be the school nurse. I sat up slowly, my body was weak and my muscles didn't want to cooperate. 

Madam Pomfrey said, "Welcome back, Miss Potter. I'm Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse. Tell me the last thing you remember."

"I was fighting the troll. I sent him flying into a wall, then everything went black."

"Good. No apparent memory loss." She continued talking as she waved strange devices around me, "You overdid yourself there young lady. You're suffering from magical exhaustion. You should be fine come the morning, but you'll need to take it easy for a few days."

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"A little over an hour." She answered while she walked to a cabinet and put away her instruments and grabbed something from her desk. When she came back to me she said, "Miss Potter, I have a few questions for you."

That didn't sound good. "I'll answer what I can Madam."

"First, according to your file, you have green eyes, straight black hair, and olive skin tone."

"That's me." I responded.

"Can you explain this then?" She asked as she handed me a mirror.

The girl staring back at me is like something from a dream. It's like my face was transformed from classic cute girl, to elegant young woman. It was still me, but subtly different. The first thing I noticed of course were my eyes, back to the beautiful violet that they sometimes change to. Next thing I noticed is that my skin now has a more flawless porcelain look to it, and my cheek bones look a little more defined. Last is my hair. While it had always been straight, it now had a bit of a curl to it.

"My eyes have changed a few times before, but they've always changed back after a few minutes. The rest is new though."

"I see. I'd like to draw some blood, and run some tests if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

After Pomfrey drew some blood she said to Snape, 

"She's all yours, professor."

Professor Snape took his chance to talk to me without hesitation. His voice was that tone of his between mad and homicidal when he said, "Miss Potter, I have heard one story already, but I find that one a little hard to believe. Do you mind telling me why you ignored explicit instructions from the headmaster, risked your life, and then decided to do some demolition of the dungeons?"

"It was Draco, sir. He and his friends went looking for the troll. They said they wanted the house points."

"And you followed them, instead of telling one of the prefects. Why?"

"They would have been long gone before I could have gotten a prefect. And is there anyone else in Slytherin that could have or would have done what I did?"

"And what did you do exactly, Miss Potter?"

"Stunners didn't work on it. I used Incarcerous to distract it and make him drop Draco, Carpe Retractum to get Draco out of the way, then…" I paused and gave him my most innocent look possible, "Bombarda Maxima."

"That explains the damage then." I swear he almost smiled.

"Professor, the troll. I didn't kill it did I?"

He regained whatever composure he had lost. "No. The troll is alive... barely."

"How did it even get in here?"

"That is being looked into." His expression changed a bit to a more disappointed look. "Although you handled the situation, the manner in which you conducted yourself was not acceptable. Minus 20 points each for you, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle for disregarding the headmaster. And another 20 for you using an unauthorized spell without supervision." My face was in shock. That's 100 points from Slytherin, and almost half of that is 'my fault'.

He turned and walked out of the room but paused at the door. "And Miss Potter, plus 50 points to you for putting fellow students before yourself, and another 50 points for sheer dumb luck."