Lounging on the couch in front of the fire he propped his feet up on the table as he flipped through the pages of his potions book.  Yes, he, Luca Lestrange was actually studying.  The world must be coming to an end.  Surely that was what it must have looked like to anyone else.  

It wasn't a rarity to see him with a book as he was more studious and more conscious of his grades than Leyton it was just that he often studied late at night after a good majority of his own retired to bed.  Late at night, with the silence and the only disturbance coming from the fireplace was when he did his best work.

Glancing up as a few people passed by the end of the couch he slowly lowered his gaze back down to his book, only once he was sure there was no chance of them joining him in the area and disturbing his peace and quiet.  He had a good idea most of his house was out and exploring the castle, trying to put the pieces together from what had happened at the ball but he was not stressing over it.  Every thing he was sure would be revealed in due time and he wasn't going to worry about things he had no control over.  He had enough on his plate without adding another thing to it.

Finally he finished the chapter and knowing he should push on to the next he reached up running his fingers over his eyes.  As he glanced back up he was surprised to find someone standing there staring down at him.  "Excuse me, do I have something that belongs to you," he shot off not in the mood for nonsense.

Many a thing had come to pass lately, but none of it had kept the girl from gloating over her triumph in scarring Riddle for life. Oh, Pansy knew the scars were still there. She had heard from a few fifth year Slytherins who shared classes with the younger girl that they were there. It hadn't taken long for the entire house to learn of them, and Pansy had looked smug ever since.

It served the little freak right for messing everything up for Pansy. She had taken Draco from her, and then turned him onto his cousin when she tossed him aside and went for Potter. Potter! It was a betrayal not only to the Malfoy heir who was pureblood perfection but to their very house and every one of it's members. The younger snake should pay for her betrayals, and Pansy was beyond overconfident by then. Her little trick with her dagger had made her certain that the fear she had seen in those sickening purple eyes would be there whenever the younger witch saw her, and the lack of lash back only reinforced that.

The sixth year was actually surprised that there hadn't been one yet, especially from Potter, who had always taken it upon himself to go after any snake who messed with anyone he cared about. As if those few were somehow above everyone else and deserved to be treated any more special. Pansy laughed at the very idea. But it was the lack of response from Draco that interested her more, and had her thinking that he really was done with the younger girl. She had thought so, until she had seen him pull Riddle into an empty classroom. Having been in that position with the blonde boy herself a few times left Pansy with no doubts as to why he had, or what the two were up to.

So her focus switched slightly from finding ways to destroy Riddle in every way possible to finding a way to get back all that she had lost. Which wasn't much she had to admit. So far Pansy had continued to keep her position of rule in the house of snakes, but the younger witch was rapidly gaining support in their house, as well as the others, and it was no weaklings that she got it from either. That would have to be dealer with, and soon, but first she needed her Ice Prince back on her side. And for that, she needed his cousin.

The eldest of the Lestrange clan was a strange snake indeed. Quiet and reserved, but still charming and very handsome. Rumor had it that he had eyes, no matter how subtly, on odd-eyed fifth year as well. The fact that so many of the greatest young wizards in the school were being drawn to the younger witch like moths to a flame was sickening and a huge blow to Pansy's ego, and probably to every other witch's as well, but she pushed that aside for the time being before it could have her losing her patience and her focus on the more important thing. Which was driving Draco away from Riddle again and back into her own arms.

Pansy had no doubt Luca could help her in this newest plot of hers. He had it all. Charm, looks, money, power. She might have tried to tempt him herself if she wasn't so set on having the Malfoy heir who had practically been promised to her since she was a child. Draco was the best, and Pansy had grown up being told she deserved such, so she wasn't going to stand aside and let some American stomp in and snatch it from her. This was her chance to strike, and all she needed to do was convince the older boy that it was his chance to get what he wanted as well.

The girl couldn't have found a more perfect time to attempt to sucker him into her plan than the current moment as he lounged on the couch in front of the fire with only a book for company and the common room nearly deserted. Perfect. Now she would approach the older snake, and reel him in by dangling what he wanted in front of him. She had no doubt that together the pair of them could drive a wedge big enough between the pair of Slytherin lovers that would have them both end up with the one they wanted. Add in the fact that she knew for a fact there was no love lost between the older boy and Draco and there was no real loyalty between the two that should get in the way.

Standing in front of him the sixth year witch waited patiently for him take notice of her, and when he did she ignored his clearly not-in-the-mood-to-be-bothered tone. "On the contrary Luca, I think I have a plan to get you something that you want to belong to you. A certain American something." Now was the time to see if he would bite, and she hoped he did. Otherwise it was back to the drawing board as far as plans went, and this one really was perfect. If only she could get him to agree to help her with it.

This year was starting to turn into the year from hell and he was beginning to wonder at this rate how he was going to make it still intact until the end of the year. Things were starting to get out of hand and this week had never made things so apparent. The events at the ball had proven strange even for him and he was not looking forward to what could possibly be coming next. Everything in his world was turning upside down and he wanted nothing better than to turn them straight again. He wanted normal, but in his world the chances of that happening were slim to none.

He had broken Leyton's spirit even more but his brother had needed to know the truth. He was sick of the lies, sick of the posturing, and sick of the man who was Draco Malfoy. Draco had taken his place when they were little and then something had happened to drive the two apart. Luca had thought this meant he would get his brother back but it had only driven a wedge further between them. His brother, his twin was supposed to be his best friend but they were more like strangers than ever before.

For this Draco deserved to pay, to lose the things he still had in his life that he held dear. There was a time and a place for everything though and right now he had much bigger things to focus on than revenge plots against his own family. Staring up at Pansy with a look of boredom he raised a brow. Or maybe this was exactly what he needed, he thought to himself as she spoke. Luca knew immediately of what she spoke. The damn loon wanted his cousin back and would stop at nothing to get him.

That was all well and good but his eyes no longer rested that way on the young Slytherin that had set their house in an uproar, or so it seemed. "Pansy I have no idea where you get your information but such childish things are beneath me. I have no interest in the Riddle girl. I know what your end goal is though. You want Draco for your own and will stop at nothing to get him. Though you have been going about it all wrong. Now unless you have come up with a more stellar plan I am not interested."

Clapping the book closed he continued to stare up at her interested in what her angle was.

Ugh. The older slytherin was going to ruin her entire plan before she could even get it into play the way this was going. She might have been crestfallen and maybe even disappointed, if it weren't for the fact that Pansy was a slytherin as well, and for good reason. Now either Luca was pretending he had no interest in the freak to try and throw her off course because he didn't want anyone to know about it, or he was saying it to try and get her to reveal more of her plot than she normally would.

Why couldn't he just agree like he was supposed to? Pansy knew that there was bad enough blood between him and Draco to have the older boy jumping at a chance for revenge, and she knew enough about Luca to know he didn't actually care about people that often. So if he had grown to care for the stupid sloppy American then he couldn't be over it already no matter what he said. He could have been, of course, but she wasn't convinced of that yet. Maybe he had just given up, seen it as a lost cause. Maybe he just needed a little reminding of what he really wanted.

"Oh come on Luca. I've seen the looks. The way your eyes follow her. But don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." Pansy winked at him, smirking as she moved around to the back of the couch and rested her hands on his shoulders, leaning forward to whisper in his ear as her hands began to massage his shoulders slowly. "I bet you still think about what it would be like to touch her the way you want, hold her the way you want. To kiss her the way you want."

Pansy was like the devil on the shoulder, whispering things into his ear to convince him to take a course that wasn't really on the good side of things. "I'll bet you would love nothing more than to make her forget all about your cousin. I can help you get what you want. You can help me get what I want. All it takes is a little polyjuice potion and few bits of hair and you can have your little purple eyed princess in your grasp Luca."

She tried hard not to spit out the word princess, but saying it in reference to the freak left a very bad taste in her mouth. "Which one do you think is more unforgiving these days to cheating?" The slytherin witch walked back around the couch to slide easily into the seat next to him on the couch, her plan almost fully revealed now as long as he had the brains to comprehend what she was saying and read between the lines. She was sure he could, and Pansy hoped that he was only feigning disinterest in Riddle at first, because he really had been the perfect candidate as far as a partner in her plan went.

Rubbing his temples he looked up at the girl before him. He could hear what she was saying, he could truly but the way he had watched his cousin and Riddle sneak around behind his back had left a bad taste in his mouth. He was speaking truthfully when he said that he had lost interest in the Riddle girl but that did not mean that he did not still harbor an ill will towards his cousin. The boy who had stolen his brother way and turned him into the man he didn't know today.

Letting out a deep breath he dropped his fingers to his book, stroking the spine of it lightly. As his shoulders rose and fell it appeared as if he were merely weighing his otions but the moment she moved around to the back of the chair and place her hands on his shoulders he visibly stiffened. Reaching up with both hands he picked her fingers up and moved them backwards with a harsh thrust.

"Do not touch me Parkinson, I do not know where your fingers have been. Do not mistake me as someone that you can work your snake charm on me. I'm not my cousin."

Shaking his head he dusted off his shoulders and watched her come back around and drop down next to him and it took every thing he had to not want to wrap his fingers around her neck and just squeeze. He had no idea what Draco had once seen in her but now she was even more stark raving mad than his Aunt Bella.

"Those two are attached at the hip Parkinson, I've seen them sneaking around here. This place is full of cheaters it seems so you will have to be just a bit more specific. I will help you, possibly. I would love nothing better than to get back at Draco. But if you cause any more physical harm to Riddle I will personally see that you receive the same matching treatment. Do I make myself clear?"

Luca had no problem getting his hand dirty when the situation called for it, and he would certainly make good on his threat if she took it upon herself to lash out at Skyler again. The girl did not deserve Parkinson's wrath, no matter what she had done.

Lessons had ended for the day, and not a moment too soon, because he wasn't sure he could handle another moment of the professor's pretending nothing had changed. Who were they trying to fool and what were they trying to play at? Everything had changed, and only the foolish would attempt to ignore that. It was a worthless attempt on their part, and his contempt for his professors and authority as a whole followed him to the library, where he made a stop to pick up a few books he would need to complete the work he had been assigned.

Thankfully, Blaise seemed to have gotten to the literature he required before the hyped up mudblood got there and checked them all out. If ever there was a person who tested his patience, it was Granger, with her know-it-all ways, speaking down to everyone as if she alone knew the answers to the questions posed. If only she knew that more than half the time any one Slytherin could recite an answer just as well as she could if they really wanted. Well, perhaps not Crabbe and Goyle, or Bultrode, but those three didn't really count as people so much as they counted as miniature trolls.

Now, as he entered the common room, thinking he might actually get some of the work that seemed a waste of time at the moment done, he found himself overhearing part of a conversation taking place he had no real desire to overhear. The dark-skinned wizard was the neutral of the house, rarely getting involved in the constant quarrels and plays for power the others chewed each other up and spat each other out over, and his arrogance and disdain for others ensured he had few acquaintances, much less any friends. But if he did count anyone in that category, it would be Draco.

Him and the Malfoy heir went back to before they had even stepped foot in the castle known as Hogwarts, as a lot of pureblooded children did. Blaise himself had never understood why the blonde had carried on with Pansy for so long the way he did. They had always known she was a few stones short of a full set of Gobstones if you knew what he meant. Now it seemed the witch who had always been hard to stomach for more than a few minutes at a time wasn't about to cut her losses as easily as Draco did, and now she was even actively enlisting help with whatever crazy scheme she had devised this time. Because knifing someone in the gut apparently didn't give her enough blood to really soothe her ego apparently.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Draco really should have played this one better. Now not only was the rest of the house getting sucked into the mess him and Pansy had created, but innocents like Riddle were paying the price for Draco's stupidity and Pansy's insaneness. And not only that, but they would all pay for it when the Dark Lord found out not only what Pansy had done, but that no one had stopped her from doing it. Like a true Slytherin, his getting involved now had more to do with his own sense of self preservation than any loyalty he felt towards Draco, but it still couldn't be missed that he was intervening on behalf of the blonde boy who was the closest thing to a friend Blaise had, and Riddle, who was an asset to heir house more than a hindrance.

As such, the boy paused in his walk behind the couch the two sat upon, giving Pansy and Luca both a scornful look as he commented on their lack of good sense. "One would think that with recent events occurring you would find better things to do than plot such worthless plans." He said to the pair, his voice full of derision as he carried on. "And let's not forget just who you are plotting against. Let it go Pans. The rest of the house isn't going to continue sitting by and let you bring hell crashing down on us because you can't deal with being jilted."[/color]

It she were surprised that Luca hadn't fallen for her cheap tricks, she didn't let it show. It was a bit of a let down, considering she had been banking on the fact that he was interested in Riddle as more than a friend, but as he said, he would gladly get back at Draco. Pansy could work with that. So long as they didn't really harm the boy she had loved ever since..well, since forever. She did however spare him a scowl for his comment about where her fingers had been. "Oh please. I am not half the slag the rumors make me out to be. I am definitely no where near the level of slag some of the seventh year girls are. Like LeBeau, and Black."

It were true. Pansy had only ever slept with three boys before. One prior to Draco, Draco, and one after Draco. She really had no idea where the rumors got their information from regarding her sexual life and what she did and who she did it with, but they were hardly fact. Maybe they came from the fact that she wasn't very modest with her body. Either way neither was very good for her reputation or that of her family's. Draco tossing her away like yesterday's garbage only made that worse, and she wouldn't let him get away with shaming her so. He had made a promise to her, and she had taken him at his word. Now he would pay the price for breaking that. If she didn't get the happy ending he had promised her, then he wouldn't get his, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he didn't. But first she was going to do what she could to hold him to his word, even if he weren't exactly willing to do it.

It was why she came to Luca for help. But his inability to grasp her plan made her roll her eyes. Males. They were so stupid. "Polyjuice, Luca. You're his cousin. It shouldn't be too difficult for you to get a few strands of his hair. Then you take the polyjuice, transform into him, and we snog somewhere where Riddle is bound to see us. You get your revenge by taking the one thing he loves most, and I get what I want by separating them. It's a win-win situation for us both." Pansy smirked smugly, confident that her plan was as brilliant as she thought it was and that he would agree to be a part in it.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Blaise happened to come along and ruin everything. She glared coldly at him, annoyed that he would bring up the Dark Lord and throw it in her face like that. He made a point but damn it she wanted all that she was promised and she didn't care that the stupid American was related to him or not! It was Pansy who had ran things in the house for so long, not Riddle! It was her who had stood by Draco's side through all these years, not Riddle! It was her who had supported him in everything, not the stupid freak! Why should she sit back and let the younger witch reap all the benefits from all the hard work she had done? Just because she was the Dark Lord's relative? No! That should only mean she had to work twice as hard to earn what she wanted, and it shouldn't mean she got everything Pansy had worked to keep all these years.

"Shut up Blaise! When I want your opinion I will ask for it. You're being paranoid. No one is stupid enough to risk his wrath by being the messenger, and it would be Draco who would get held accountable anyway since he is the one who promised marriage and then backed out of it. So just shut your mouth and keep it shut." She bit back and narrowed her eyes on the other boy in warning. He should know by now that when she set her mind on something nothing stopped her and her mind was set on this. She deserved to get what she wanted and no American slag was going to stand in her way.

Resting his arm across the back of the couch he rolled his eyes at her coolly as she tried to defend her honor. Poorly but try to defend it she did. "Say what you will about Black but leave LeBeau out of it Parkinson." She could run her mouth all she wanted about the red-headed devil that was Black but LeBeau was off limits and she would make sure the other snake knew it.

Shifting his weight slightly he tried to think about all of the ways that this could go wrong and the list was a mile long. He had nothing to lose though. "You lost me as soon as you said I had to snog you. And do your ears not work as well. I have no interest in taking his precious little Riddle from him. My intentions lie elsewhere. Do not make me repeat myself again, you know how much that annoys me. If I agree to this you will owe me something, something good."

As Luca was focused on Pansy's prattling, he paid no attention to anyone else in the room. Most people were smart enough to keep their distance. Blaise however did whatever he felt like and that was obvious as he came closer and walked behind the couch they were currently seated on. Not bothering with a response towards the other boy he turned his attention back to the girl. As he had told her, this had nothing to do with wanting to help her get Draco, but his part would be all about payback for Draco taking his brother away and helping turn him into the man he did not recognize today.

"Will you two stop, for the love of Merlin." Pushing up off of the couch he shook his head, "I'm going for a walk. Parkinson, you can come with me or we can talk more later." Without another word he strode across the room and out the door.

The girl before him was a far cry from the girl he had used to know. Pansy had always been on the annoying side, yes, but this year she was taking it to the extreme, and she was going to get herself killed while she was at it. She was most likely going to bring the wrath of the Dark Lord on them all if she kept up on the path she had started down, and no one seemed to be doing anything to stop her from doing it. Not even Draco, and it was his fault the witch was this enraged and insane in the first place. The blonde should have known better than to promise marriage so carelessly, especially to a pureblood witch.

Agreements like that were taken very seriously, and whether Draco had meant it or not, Pansy had taken him at his word. The witch was a social climbing demon, and had always set her aim high. Draco was high as anyone could get, which meant he had the pick of the litter when it came to females and a future wife. Pansy didn't have that luxury, and had put all her eggs in one basket only to lose them all at the last moment. Understandably she would be out for blood, but this was pushing things too far. Blaise had known both her and Draco longer than the rest, and at one point in their young lives, they had been something akin to friends, the three of them. One false promise of marriage and a yank later and now look where they were.

The fact of the matter was that they all had better and more important things to be worried about than Pansy going after things that had never been hers to begin with, and doing whatever it took to get it. Blaise was only involving himself now because one, he did not want to end up in the Dark Lord's sights, and Panys's actions were sure to bring his gaze upon the whole of Slytherin house if someone didn't step in. And second, because of his loyalty to the Malfoy heir. Draco had bigger fish to fry, and it was in those times where those like Blaise stepped in for him to deal with things like the Pansy situation.

"Pans, you are going to get yourself and your family killed if you keep this up. One way or the other, the Dark Lord will find out what you have done, and you will pay severely for it. It is only a matter of time, and you should count your blessings that Riddle and Draco haven't said a word of this lunacy to him. Lose your delusions of being Lady Malfoy and think about how much longer you want to stay alive, because it won't be for long if you don't cut your losses now." Blaise ignored Luca for the most part and only shot the older boy a cold look, sparing the same look for Pansy before he strolled off to the sixth year boy's dorm room with every intention of giving warning to Draco about the new development between his estranged older cousin and his ex girlfriend.

It was clear now that her plan had the very big capability of backfiring on her, since Luca had up and lost his interest in Riddle, which was something she had been banking on. What was worse was that the older boy seemed to have some kind of loyalty or other to the yank, because he had warned her from doing further damage to the younger girl who was pulling Pansy's life apart by the seams. Now both Luca and Blaise knew she was planning something, Luca knew the intricate details, and either could run off to Draco or Riddle and share the knowledge.

They all made her want to scream her frustration, and both boys walked off in separate directions, each with parting words. They left her at a crossroads, one with the vague chance of helping her gain back all she desired and had lost, the other steering her towards forfeiting and doing what she could at this point to stay alive. Pansy had done a bang up job of looking like a fool this year. Psychopathic fool at that. But she had enough sense to know that Blaise was right. She had known that before she had even started this war with Riddle, but had continued on in her path that she had tricked herself into thinking would lead to revenge and everything else she had wanted.

Except it had gotten her absolutely no where! This used to be her house! They used to follow her every order! Hang on her every word! All that had been lost and her reputation hung in tatters because of..she forced herself to admit to herself it was because of herself. She had been too rash in her decisions and had lost more than she had bargained for and if her parents found out she would be doomed. Blaise was right. This was not the smartest way to go about things. Her father would ring her neck himself, and that was assuming he didn't die first at the hands of the Dark Lord for her actions.

That was something though. Surely if the Dark Lord knew what she had done there would have been consequences by now, no matter who paid them. But her last letter from home had been just the day before and her mother had said all was well. In her lust for revenge and blood Pansy had completely lost sight of the fact that her actions would no doubt shame her family, who were complete supporters of the Dark Lord. And if they found out what she been doing, and just who she had spent her time cutting into...

She had dug herself a grave and now it was going to take every brain cell she had to get herself back out of it. Was she giving up on her thirst for revenge? Not in the slightest. But it had to be put aside so she could focus on making sure none of this brought the axe down on herself or her parents. Self preservation trumped revenge. Now she just had to figure out how to save her arse. Only one idea came to mind, and it was the last thing she wanted to do and the last person she wanted to have to face when she did it. She needed to wave the white flag of surrender. To Riddle.