"I'm having second thoughts about this."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "This was your idea."

"I know," Morgana admitted, "but what if I really hurt you?"

"You're not going to hurt me, Morgana," Merlin insisted.

"But-"

"Morgana, you are not going to hurt me." Merlin stretched his arms and back. "Now give me your best shot."

Morgana sighed deeply and held up her hands. "Get ready."

"Born ready," he smarted off.

The next thing he knew, Merlin was flying five feet backwards and landed on his back. There was a loud snap and he was certain his spine was broken.

"Merlin!" Morgana rushed to his side. "Are you okay?"

He tried to move his toes and found they were working properly. "Well, I'm not paralyzed," he joked.

She slapped his arm. "I told you to get ready!"

"You could have given me a countdown or something," he laughed.

"Merlin," she started, "if we're supposed to be practicing defensive magic, why wouldn't you already have your defenses up?"

Merlin opened his mouth to answer but stopped when he heard someone running right towards them. He got to his feet quickly and really did put up his defenses.

Mordred burst into the clearing and came to a stop next to Morgana.

"What's going on?" Merlin asked.

"Shutdown," Mordred panted. "Game…cancelled."

Merlin and Morgana shared a quick look.

"Slow down," Morgana soothed. "Catch your breath."

"There's no time," Mordred insisted. "We have to get back. They're locking down the school."

Merlin frowned. "For what?"

Mordred took a deep breath. "There's no time. We have to get back right now."

The three of them bolted out of the forest and towards the Quidditch Pitch. They got separated in the crowded confusion and Merlin couldn't find them anywhere. A hand grabbed him and pulled him along.

It was Padma. "Where have you been?"

"I was with Morgana," he answered. "What happened?"

"There were more attacks," she explained. "Someone said Penelope and Hermione got petrified."

"What?" Merlin frowned and searched the crowd again, as if the two girls would just appear.

Padma nodded as they were herded towards Ravenclaw Tower. "They were in the library."

Despite the circumstances, Merlin smirked. "Of course Hermione was in the library."

The students gathered in the common room, trading rumors that they heard on the way to their dorms. The majority of the stories sounded the same; Hermione and Penelope were found near the library petrified, Granger with a mirror in her hand.

"What I don't understand," Anthony said to Merlin, "is why she would be alone at a time like this anyway."

"She wasn't alone," Merlin said. "Penelope was with her."

"No, I mean why would her friends let her wander around alone?" Anthony asked. "If someone was attacking Purebloods, I'm sure you wouldn't just let Morgana walk around the school by herself."

Merlin nodded slowly in understanding. Potter had a game, sure, but where was Weasley?

News of Hagrid's arrest and Dumbledore's suspension quickly spread throughout the school. Muggleborn's began wearing talismans to ward off evil and students had to be escorted to their classes by a teacher.

Draco, of course, seemed to enjoy the tension surrounding the school. He strutted around as if he owned the whole castle.

"I always thought father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said loudly in Potions one day. "Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now."

He went on to suck up to Professor Snape and Morgana forced herself to smile in order to suppress her gag reflex.

She wasn't the only one tired of Malfoy's mouth. Mordred had been devastated to hear Hermione had been petrified. He'd been unusually quiet until Draco mouthed off in the common room.

"Someone's bound to die next," he drawled loudly. "Pity it wasn't Granger."

Mordred jumped out of his seat and Morgana had to use her magic to force him back down.

"But he said-"

Morgana held up her hand to stop him. "I know what he said. Be calm."

While watching her friend beat Draco to his senses would be highly enjoyable, it would do nothing to help the situation.

On top of everything else, when she was finally able to sleep, Morgana kept having the same nightmares over and over again. She dreaded sleep and couldn't look at her bed without cringing. Her lack of sleep had also caused a massive headache that stayed with her for days.

"You should see Madam Pomfrey," Daphne suggested.

"She's got better things to worry about," Morgana said, rubbing her temples.

Daphne rolled her eyes at her friend. "If you say so."

The more she went on without sleep, the worse her headaches got. She didn't have much of an appetite anymore and it was getting harder and harder for her to retain information.

"You're pale," Merlin observed one day.

"I've always been pale," she retorted.

"You look sickly pale," he said. "I'm worried about you."

Morgana brushed off everyone's concern, insisting that she was fine. Daphne, however, was not convinced and took matters into her own hands by telling Professor Snape of Morgana's state after their Potions class.

Thoroughly irritated with her friend, Morgana walked with Professor Snape as he escorted her to the hospital wing. When they arrived, he took her to Madam Pomfrey and politely excused himself.

Morgana stood still as Pomfrey examined her.

"How have you been sleeping?" Pomfrey asked.

"Uh, I haven't," Morgana answered honestly.

"You haven't been sleeping at all?"

Morgana shrugged. "A few hours every now and then." She wasn't going to tell Pomfrey that every now and then really meant every few days.

Pomfrey went to one of the cabinets, mumbling to herself. Morgana took the time to glance around the hospital wing. Partitions were put up around the petrified victims but Morgana could see Hermione's shoes from where she was sitting.

Quietly, Morgana made her way to Hermione's bedside. Her eyes were wide open and her face was locked in a shocked expression. Morgana reached forward to touch Hermione's hand when Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat.

"Miss LeFay."

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "It's just…she's a friend."

"Yes, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley were here not too long ago." Pomfrey handed Morgana a vial of purple liquid. "I think your headaches are from stress and lack of sleep. Put a drop in some pumpkin juice at dinner. You won't like the taste of it in water."

Professor McGonagall's voice rang throughout the hospital wing.

"All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

Madam Pomfrey and Morgana shared worried glances before leaving the hospital wing.

"Straight to your dorm," Pomfrey reminded Morgana as they separated. "Don't dally."

Morgana entered the Slytherin common room and froze when she realized everyone was staring at her.

"Uh, is there something I can help you all with?"

Daphne emerged from the crowd, pulled Morgana into a secluded corner and hugged her tight. "They said to come here and you weren't here and I didn't know where you were and I'm sorry I said something to Snape."

Morgana stood there awkwardly, looking around the room for some help. Mordred appeared with a sad smile on his face.

"She thought something happened to you when we realized you weren't here yet," he said quietly.

Morgana patted Daphne's back. "I'm fine. Promise. What's going on?"

Professor Snape entered at that very moment. There was a somber look on his face and he kept clenching and unclenching his jaw.

"Slytherin's monster has taken a student into the Chamber of Secrets."

Murmurs broke out around the room.

"The Hogwarts Express," he continued, "will be here first thing in the morning to take you home. I suggest you pack."

The room filled with murmurs again and Morgana pushed her way towards their Head of House. He had his back to them as he made to leave.

"Professor," Morgana said gently, making him stop. "Please, who was taken?"

Snape glanced at her before saying "Ginerva Weasley" and taking his leave.

Morgana felt her stomach drop. She was slightly relieved that it wasn't any of her friends but immediately felt awful for the Weasley family.

"…but…isn't she Pureblood?" Mordred asked.

"Pureblood? Her and her family are a bunch of Mudblood loving traitors," Draco said loudly. "Good riddance."

Mordred was on him so fast that Morgana couldn't stop him even if she wanted to. They hit the floor hard and rolled around, trading punches and harsh words. Crabbe and Goyle rushed forward to grab Mordred but Daphne stood between them, her wand raised.

"Back off," she said dangerously.

Morgana grabbed Mordred by his robes and pulled him off Draco, who was still swinging.

"Enough!" she shouted. "Mordred. Dorm. Now. And you," she pointed at Draco, "you will shut up about the Weasleys."

He opened his mouth to speak but Morgana cut him off. "They may lose one of their own and you have the nerve to call them blood traitors? At a time like this? You absolutely disgust me. For once in your life, have some decency."

Morgana stormed off to her own dorm, leaving the rest of the Slytherin's gaping after her.

Morgana felt as if the world was shaking and she woke with a start.

"It's me," Daphne said softly. "Calm down."

Morgana sat up slowly. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. "What's going on?" she slurred.

"They saved her," Daphne said. "Potter and Weasley got her out."

Morgana sighed in relief and lay back down. "Of course they did," she laughed. "That's what they do."

"There's more," Daphne said with a grin.

Morgana raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Mmhm," Daphne nodded. "They handed out the Mandrake juice and I think there's going to be a feast or something."

Food was the last thing on Morgana's mind. Nevertheless, she enjoyed the feast. Hermione had burst into the Great Hall and tackle-hugged Harry, shouting something that sounded like "You solved it!" Mordred visibly relaxed at the sight of his favorite Gryffindor and both Morgana and Daphne laughed at him. Exams were cancelled as a school treat and it was announced that Lockhart wouldn't be returning to teach the next year. Everyone, especially the teachers, cheered at that.

The feast lasted all night and Morgana had never been in a room so full of excitement before. When it was finally over and everyone returned to their houses, adrenaline was still high. So the celebration continued in the common room.

They stayed up until sunrise. When Morgana finally did go to bed, she fell asleep with no issues but her potion was left forgotten on the bedside table.

Terrified, she ran through the forest. Something was coming after her but she didn't know what it was. She turned to look behind her but saw nothing there. She kept running.

It suddenly got cold and dark. Dread filled her and she forgot what the sun felt like on her skin. She tripped in the darkness and fell. She got to her feet as fast as she could, trying to find what it was she fell over.

It was a tombstone. She tried to read the name on it but she couldn't make out the words. A hand grabbed her and put her on her feet. She spun to see who it was.

"Draco?"

His smile disappeared and turned into a look of terror. "RUN!"

Morgana took off again, running from the voices that were behind her. She could barely see in front of her and fell off the side of a cliff into nothing but darkness. The longer she fell, the louder the voices got.

"You lied to me!"

"I'll go with you."

"Always."

The one voice that stood out among the rest sounded like her own.

"Don't leave me," she cried. "You promised you wouldn't leave. You promised!"

Morgana sat straight up, gasping for air. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She quietly tried to calm down, saying over and over again that what she saw was a dream and nothing else.

Was it? A small voice in her head asked.

Morgana glanced at the potion that Pomfrey had given her. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and gulped down half. It tasted awful, but already she could feel herself relax.

Morgana rested her head on her pillow and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chamber of Secrets: Done. Prisoner of Azkaban should be posted (seperately) no later than February. Work is kicking my butt and I'm moving at the end of January. February is the best I can do. Thanks for reading and reviewing!