I would sit down and write all day if I had a day's supply. I would work on an original novel and it would be the best piece of literature in existence because I wrote it under a luck potion! And I might hold on a bit and send a manuscript in to a publisher or something, too.

I'd actually like to share my two favorite answers that you guys gave, because this has received some of the most varied and funny answers of any question I've asked so far. Anyway, here they are:

~~~~

"Astra!"

Fred caught up with me in the hall as I was walking to Arithmancy.

"Astra, hey, I've been looking for you." He glanced around the busy corridor, then at my friends, then at me. "Um... It's kind of bad news, actually..."

"What is it?" I felt the blood drain out of my face. It wasn't Aunt Andromeda, was it? Teddy, Victoire? I'd seen them just last week, when my aunt had marched up to school uninvited because "There is absolutely no way my niece is competing in your tournament, Brutus, and I do not care how much I have to say it." Of course, I still had to compete, because it was a binding magical contract and all that gibberish, but it had been nice to see my family one more time before I potentially died in two weeks. Now, though, I was scared that something might have happened to them before I'd even had a chance to be in danger.

He shook his head, looking grim. "It's Quidditch. Poppy, Grant, Adriana... They say they won't play if you're on the team."

I blinked, then glared at him. "Fred! I thought something was actually wrong!"

"Something is actually wrong!" he exclaimed, glancing to my friends for support. Unfortunately, Colette and Wren didn't care that much about Quidditch and Albus seemed to see my side more, so he got none. "This is Quidditch we're talking about!"

I shook my head, sighing. "So? What are you going to do? Replace them?"

"Well... That's the thing..." He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly very keen on the floor. "No one else from the other Houses wants to play with you, either. And... And I kind of need their support, you know? Hard to play when a third of the stadium is booing you. Not that you'd have trouble playing. Just... Well... I'm going to have to take you off the team..."

I stared at him, not believing my ears. He was replacing me, me, the one he'd sought out before everyone else to start this all star team. Not to be arrogant, but I considered myself a bloody good Seeker, and I certainly wasn't about to get kicked off the team. "You've got to be joking."

"Nope..." He laughed, a strange, high-pitched noise. "For once, I'm as serious as James..."

"That's ridiculous!" Albus exclaimed. "You'll lose without her! Who else can catch a Snitch half as fast as Astra?"

"I don't like this either!" Fred said defensively. "There's nothing I can do! This isn't just a Gryffindor thing, you know!"

I glared at him. I'd been shunned by enough people this week. I'd thought I could at least count on this match, on getting in the air and forgetting everything for a while. Maybe even get back some respect if I caught the Snitch. But now even that was being taken away, all for the stupid Triwizard Tournament. I was more than content to start a pity party, and felt extremely wronged as I said, "Fine. Just let me choose my replacement, then."

Fred's eyebrows rose almost even with his hair, then he grinned. "Sure! Anyone you want! Provided they're good, of course."

"Elcie Malfoy."

He blinked, his smile slowly disappearing. "What?"

"Elcie Malfoy. Replace me with Elcie Malfoy. You know, my cousin? Sorted into Gryffindor this year?"

Fred glanced at Albus. "Isn't she a little... Young? And... A Malfoy?"

"She'll be good." I crossed my arms. I'd seen her play at the Malfoys. Scorpius and Ciara had taught her well. "You're kicking me off the team. The least you can do is replace me with who I want."

Fred sighed. "Fine. Elcie can play. I swear, if that little pureblood brat costs us the match—"

"Don't talk about my family that way!"

Fred narrowed his eyes, but simply walked away. I crossed my arms and walked off in the other direction, ready murder anyone who got in my way. I hadn't been that angry in a long time, but it was mixed with self-pity as well. The worst sort of anger. That kind where you don't take any heed of anyone else's feelings, even your friends, and you feel entitled to act like a prat because recently life's been awful.

"Um... Astra..." Albus was hurrying along at my side. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, perfectly fine," I snapped.

As we kept walking, I was aware of Wren and Albus whispering behind me. Let them whisper, I thought. Probably thinking everyone else is right about me. Well that's perfectly fine. The rest of the world hates me. Why not them, too?

It was safe to say that the past week had been terrible. Not just for me, of course, and in my few moments of clarity I could see that. Unfortunately, I was becoming a little self-absorbed, leaving Wren to fend for herself if Albus and James, especially, weren't there. Colette wasn't much help, because she was constantly attempting to keep the Dubois twins away from James. The first (and so far, only) time they'd met him, they had both squealed and swooned. Seriously. As a safety precaution, we'd all agreed that it might be best not to get a repeat performance.

Over the past week, Ciara and Nico had grown wildly popular among the Slytherins, because most of them realized that what they were saying now was what the two prats had always been saying about me. They had used their new popularity to make life hell for Wren and me. It had started with the owls. Whenever either of us went outside, we were dive bombed by about a hundred owls who all seemed to have bowel problems (not that I could actually trace that back to Ciara, but during Care of Magical Creatures, after it had happened the first time, she sweetly asked me if I'd gotten any mail today). Wren was normally able to cast a spell over herself before anything hit her, but I had taken to bringing an umbrella with me anytime I had to go outside.

Inside there were different terrors. Groups of older Slytherins would "accidentally" bump through our group in the corridors, separating us. They normally surrounded Wren, throwing hexes and curses until a professor noticed the disturbance, James has showed up and cursed them all so badly they ended up in the hospital wing for a week, or Colette, Albus, and I had managed to cast the Bubble Wand spell on all of them.

I never got that treatment, probably because they knew I would take it much better. Wren had tried to fight back at first, but that had only fueled their bullying. I wouldn't have stopped, and Ciara knew it. No, what happened to me was, at least in my opinion, a bit worse.

Two Slytherins would manage to squeeze themselves in front of me. Then, with their voices magnified by a spell, they would shout for everyone to make way for the great Astra, for everyone to give me the attention and glory I so obviously deserved, just for the very act of breathing or walking or whatever bologna they came up with at the time. Most people would make way, too, which made it so much worse. I hated having everyone laughing at me. I would much rather you try to hex me than try to humiliate me. Only one I can truly retaliate to without being laughed at further.

And that was only the Slytherins. Eris Prince had a whole different agenda. The day after I'd met her, she'd walked into breakfast and ripped Elcie's banner down. My cousin almost cried, and I was ready to beat up Eris until she begged for mercy. However, when I stomped over to her, all she did was smile sweetly and say, "I think you've sort of wrecked the whole 'unified' thing, wouldn't you say?" and walked away. And I couldn't do much because, of course, we were standing right in front of the staff table.

That, along with several other small things, made me hate Eris Prince almost as much as I hated Ciara and Nico. Of course, she never really targeted Wren, and that's why it was almost as much, but still, the very sight of her made me angry in a unexplainable, almost illogical way.

I moped my way through Arthimancy, not paying a bit of attention to anything but my sorrows. It was bad enough everyone hated me. Bad enough I was being forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Bad enough I was probably going to die next week, as everyone kept reminding me. Now I couldn't even play Quidditch. Life wasn't fair.

You sound like a self-absorbed prat, my brain told me. I glared at nothing in particular and shoved that thought out of my head. I had a right to this, after everything I'd been through. No one else understood.

"I hope you're not planning on borrowing my notes," Colette said, nudging me with her Arithmancy book. I looked around. Class had ended, and I hadn't even noticed. Most of my peers were gathering their books and quills and heading for the door, but Wren, Colette, and Albus were all standing around me.

"You can borrow mine," Albus said, rolling his eyes. "Not that they're any good, even though I did copy off Wren the whole time..." He grinned, and I could tell he was trying to make me laugh, but I wasn't in the mood. He seemed to lose a bit of his cheer. "Astra, if you're not okay—"

"I'm fine," I said, starting to stuff my blank parchment and quills into my bag.

"Are... Are you sure you're all right?" Wren asked, slowly closing my book for me. "You... You kind of seem... Out of it, I guess."

"I'm fine, just leave me alone about it!" I snapped. Instantly, I felt bad. Wren flinched, quickly pulling her hand back from my book and turning her gaze to the floor. I saw Colette glare at me, and Albus looked shocked. I wasn't supposed to get mad at her. Though it was getting easier to forget now, Wren still struggled with... Well, the closest thing I could think of was PTSD, though it wasn't that bad. Still, if anyone yelled at her, or even sounded angry, she quickly pulled back into her shell, and it could take a whole afternoon to coax her back out.

As I looked at my friend, my self-pity melted away, and I quickly slid out of my seat and hugged her. Wren flinched again as I did that, but she didn't pull away, which was good. "I'm sorry," I said quietly, "I didn't mean to snap at you. Or Albus, for that matter."

I met his eyes over her head, and he just shrugged, smiling. "It's all right. This has to be hard..."

I quickly gathered my things. "We're going to be late for Charms, aren't we?"

"Well, I was getting worried about that," Colette said, frowning at me. "I vote for just skipping Charms altoge—"

"No!" Albus exclaimed. "Haverna would give us detention for a month!"

"It's a double period, though..." Colette sighed. "It's not like we learn anything there. I'd much rather practice the Patronus charm or work on a new spell..."

"We've got to go to Charms," I said, sighing. "I can't afford to get into any trouble at the moment."

So go to Charms we did, though Colette grumbled about it most of the way there. Wren was hugging her books to her chest tightly, her face pale, though I couldn't tell if it was because we were going to Charms or because I'd lashed out at her. Either was a likely option. Charms had been horrendous since Halloween, and that was saying something.

Luckily, we weren't late. Colette and Albus took two seats directly in front of Wren and me. Haverna was at her desk, going through parchments, but within a minute, she stood up, used magic to close the door, and smiled at the class. Her smile looked a bit like she was a vulture, ready to eat us as soon as we'd died, but biding her time for now. That could have just been my imagination, though.

"Good morning, class," she said. She got a few weak smiles from some Ravenclaws, but most people kept a stony look on their face throughout Charms these days. Luna Scamander seemed about the only person who genuinely didn't care, but she floated through her days in her own world. The thought made me smile a bit before I remembered where I was.

"Today we're going to be learning about the Summoning Charm. Can anyone tell me what this does?"

Rose raised her hand, though we all knew there wasn't any point to that. Haverna didn't particularly like Rose's parents either, and made a point of it by ignoring her. She glanced around the room until a Ravenclaw raised her hand. "It... It summons... Objects..."

"That is correct, thank you Miss Finch-Fletchley." Haverna wrote the spell on the blackboard, Accio. "Does anyone know the history of this charm, and why it would be useful?"

After twenty minutes of a boring lecture (with several jabs at Wren and me, not that I paid attention to that), she finally allowed us to try the spell. There was a line of cushions across the room. She had us line up facing them, so we could practice summoning them across the room. After a demonstration, she stepped back and told us to try.

"Accio," I said. Mr. Potter had taught me this spell last year. I caught my cushion as it soared across the room to me, aware that several people were staring. I pretended not to notice until I realized Haverna had stopped right behind me.

"Miss Lestrange, how have you already mastered the spell?" she asked, frowning at me.

"I learned it last year." I shrugged and tossed the cushion back across the room. "It's not like it's hard. You just have to concentrate."

"I wasn't aware you had the mental capacity to concentrate," she said venomously, glaring at the cushion. "Where did you learn it?"

"Um..." I didn't exactly want to tell her, because she tended to go yell at Mr. Potter when I reminded her that he thought I could learn spells beyond my year. However, I knew better than to just not answer. "Um... Mr. Potter..."

"Of course." Her expression was like she'd just eaten a lemon. "I should have known." She shook her head. "Astra Lestrange, the perfect student, ahead of her years and special beyond belief, so special she can enter the Triwizard Tournament underage and get away with it."

The class had stopped to watch. I wasn't planning on giving them much to watch, of course. I didn't mind Haverna so much as long as she left Wren alone. "I didn't enter. Professor Pouri believes me."

"Professor Pouri is under the same delusion Harry is regarding you," Haverna spit back. "I'm not fooled. You're just an arrogant little girl who thinks she is above the rules. Well, not in my classroom, you're not."

"What rules has she even broken?" Albus retorted, stepped up to my side.

"Disrespect," Haverna said quietly. "Both of you can serve a detention tonight." She turned to face Albus. He'd grown a bit over the summer; they were now almost the same height. "You want to know what rules she's broken?" Haverna asked, in the same whisper that was more frightening then her yelling. "Entering the Triwizard Tournament is a big one. Sneaking out at night the hunt down a murderer, perhaps." Haverna smiled as Albus glanced at me ever so slightly. "I suppose you'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Albus, I wouldn't act so defensive of your friends. You haven't chosen especially innocent ones, now, have you?" Though I could tell she tried hard not to, her eyes flickered to Wren for just a second.

"I'll defend the ones who need defending," Albus said staunchly. "My friends didn't do anything wrong."

"Perhaps not all of them. Perhaps even Lestrange is better than I've given her credit for. But when your circle includes a criminal, I don't think you have much license to talk about right and wrong." Haverna turned to the rest of the class abruptly. "Back to work! What are you staring at?"

The students quickly turned back to the cushions, trying to summon them. Haverna turned back to Albus. "I think we can make that a week of detentions, actually, Potter."

~~~~

"Albus, I'm sorry, you didn't have to—"

"Wren, don't even start." Albus shook his head. "I don't mind the detentions. What I do mind is that... That vulture's lies."

"I knew wasn't the only one who thought that," I said, smiling, trying to stop Wren from saying anything back. She glanced at me, then Albus, then sighed.

"It doesn't bother me, really. It's fine."

"It looked like it bothered you," Colette said, looking concerned. "You were staring at the floor. And shaking."

Wren glanced around at us again, then shook her head, not answering. As we kept walking, Colette said, "I think you're right, actually. About Haverna. I think she might be the one who did it."

"You do?" I stared at her. "Seriously?"

Colette nodded. "She can't seemed to decide whether she'll blame you or Wren, and it makes me think she's trying to hard to put the blame somewhere else."

Albus grinned. "We finally got her!"

"About time you listened to me," I said, smiling too.

"Well, you were completely wrong last year," she said defensively. "This time it just makes a bit more sense."

"Dad!" Albus shouted suddenly, then dashed off down the hall. I glanced down there and saw Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley being interrupted by Albus joining the circle. I hurried after him, followed by Wren and Colette.

"Any idea who did it yet?" Albus was asking.

Mr. Potter shook his head, looking grave. "We know the two aurors on guard that night had their memories tampered with, but we haven't been able to retrieve the memories. Still no leads." He patted my back. "We'll figure it out, though, right Ron?"

"Of course." Mr. Weasley grinned. "Any of you seen Rose?"

"I think she already went down to lunch," Albus said, shrugging. "She might've gone to find Scorpius, though..."

"You four go on to lunch as well," Mr. Potter said. "If I find anything, I'll let you know."

~~~~

The morning of the match, the Great Hall was buzzing with excitement. Elcie could hardly eat, and was looking a bit green when she left with James to go down to the pitch. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous of her, though I tried not to show it. I needed to be happy for my cousin.

"I don't like watching Quidditch as much as playing," I said, sighing.

"No one does," Albus answered. "Trust me."

"I would argue with that, but I don't particularly enjoy watching it, either," Colette said, not taking her eyes off the Prophet. "It's a boring game, if you ask me."

"Well, that's why I don't ask you."

Before we could start arguing, the Dubois twins walked up, huge grins on their faces. There were holding a large, rolled up sheet of parchment between the two of them, though I could see them subtly trying to tug it away from one another.

"Good morning!" Amélie said, smiling widely. "It ees a most beautiful day for zis, no?"

"Spectacular," I said, frowning down at my oatmeal.

"Do you zink James will like zis?" Françoise asked. Amélie tapped the parchment with her wand and muttered a spell, causing it to unfurl in the air in front of them.

The banner was much bigger than it looked, it turned out. It was almost enough to put me in a good mood, too. In enormous blue letters, it read, Don't let the Snitches catch us snogging, James! Below, the twins seemed to have had a fight over who would sign the picture. "From the most loving Françoise" and "From your dearest Amélie" were crossed out multiple times and rewritten. They finally seemed to have agreed on "From Framélie."

Albus was too busy muffling his laughs in his cloak to give his opinion, so Françoise turned to me first. "Well?"

I tried not to laugh as well. "It's... It's something, all right." I grinned. James would absolutely hate it. I remembered the many times Elmer Poe had made me a banner during a Quidditch game, and James had mocked me, and I couldn't quite find it in my heart to tell the twins not to use it. "I love it."

Even Colette looked amused. "Oh, yes, that's definitely how you catch a British boy's heart. Public humiliation."

"Humili... What?" Amélie frowned. "Ees zat a good zing?"

"Very good," I assured them quickly. "It's a very good thing."

Albus lifted his head. "Please do it. That's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Wren was the only one who hadn't said anything. She was glancing at us uncertainly. I could tell she didn't want to agree with us, but of course she didn't want to disagree either. "Um..."

"Zat is good!" Françoise exclaimed. "James shall see it, and he shall be in love wiz me!"

"Non, sœur! He shall be in love wiz me!"

"Non!"

"Oui!"

"Just go take the thing out to the pitch," Colette said, cutting them off. "You'll need to find good seats with that thing."

"You will sit wiz us again?"

"Sure," Colette said, rolling her eyes. "We'll meet you out there."

"Adieu!" Amélie said, waving at us. Françoise rolled the parchment back up with magic, and the two of them hurried out the door, arguing in French.

"Wow, not even I would wish that on him," someone behind me said I turned to see Mackenzie Walker, backed up by Lillie Collins and Roxanne. Contrary to what she'd just said, she was smiling, and her eyes danced with amusement. "It's quite funny, though. You're terrible friends."

I shrugged, grinning. "He's made fun of me enough over Elmer."

"And he's my brother, what do you expect?"

Mackenzie laughed. "Point taken. May I?" I scooted over as she, Roxanne, and Lillie squeezed in next to us.

"Are things still awkward with you two?" I asked. Last year, after they'd broken up, Mackenzie and James hadn't talked at all. James had fled the room to avoid her. Partly because Roxanne was apt to slap him whenever she was with Mackenzie and they passed him.

"Oh, no, not really." She shrugged. "I mean, we'll never be close friends, of course, but that's all right. He's asked for help in class a few times."

Albus muttered something about how it was probably more than a few times, knowing James, and Wren glared at him and told him not to talk about his brother like that. Roxanne started laughing.

"It's a sibling thing," she said. "Trust me, Wren, I'm always saying that sort of stuff about Fred. Though he really is an idiot."

"You're lucky you broke up with James last year, Mackenzie," I said, glancing towards the door. "Imagine what a hell the Françoise and Amélie would try to make your life if you two were still dating..."

Mackenzie shook her head, laughing. "They can have him."

"We should go now," Albus said, glancing at his watch. "The match starts in twenty minutes."

Ten minutes later, we were situated in our seats. The twins had enchanted the banner to flutter above our heads, and were standing directly under it, straining for a look at the entrance to the pitch far below, wanting to be the first ones to see James. Colette was reading a book, because, as she said, she did not care about Quidditch at all. Rose and Scorpius were sitting with us, and Scorpius wouldn't shut up about Elcie and how excited he was for her (not that I minded too much, because I was excited for her too). Wren was watching the pitch as well, so I turned to Albus.

"Am I being selfish?"

"What?" We were talking in normal voice, but with all the noise, I didn't think anyone could here us.

"I'm excited for Elcie, but... I still wish I was the one down there..." I sighed. I really didn't want to feel any resentment toward Elcie. She was the sweetest of my cousins, and I wanted to be happy for her, but I couldn't help feeling a little bitter. At Fred, at the school, at my horrible luck, and a tiny bit at Elcie.

Albus frowned, thinking. "I... I think anyone would feel that way, Astra. It's not selfish. It's normal."

I wasn't persuaded, but I smiled anyway. That didn't seem to convince Al that my mind was at ease, based on the way he furrowed his brow, but just then the crowd burst into a loud roar. The players had entered the field.

Elcie looked very small among the older players. We hadn't had anyone younger than fourth year on the team before. My cousin's white-blonde hair whipped around as the team made a practice loop around the field, waving at everyone, thoroughly enjoying the attention. Elcie still looked a little sick, by James was sticking right by her. As they flew towards us, Scoroius and I both stood up to wave and cheer her on. That seemed to give her a bit of a confidence boost.

James's eyes had alighted upon the sign, and I saw his face slowly turning red. Albus started laughing again as his brother's mouth fell open. The twins were both screaming his name, squealing and trying to catch his attention. He ignored them as best he could, waving specifically in the direction of Wren, Rose, and Scorpius—as far away from the twins and their sign as he could get without hitting a bunch of Hufflepuff second and third years, a group which including Hugo Weasley and Oliver Dursley, but I wasn't sure James was aware of that. He zoomed off as quickly as he could.

Once more standing on the ground of the pitch, the teams faced each other. Françoise shook my shoulder. "Mon frère! My brother! He ees ze Seeker!" She was right, of course. Étienne stood across from Elcie, looking quite tall in comparison. He appeared a bit confused as they stepped forward to shake hands. He almost had to get to his knees to do it. Elcie didn't look daunted by him, especially, to her credit. She kept glancing towards us, and towards the other end of the pitch, where there was a large group of Slytherins that I could only guess contained her sister.

The match began. I have to say, it is much more fun being in the air than being in the stands. I couldn't quite get into the game. I was focused on the Seekers for most of the time, because that's what I'd grown used to so it was that the first time Étienne and Elcie saw the Snitch, I wasn't even sure what the score was.

They didn't catch it that time, and I heard Patrick Shaw and his Durmstrang girlfriend talking about how close the score was, and how this game was really up to the Seekers. I saw Adriana make a spectacular save, almost falling off her broom in the process, and Fred swooping by the help her. Dom, Grant, and Poppy were working very hard at keeping the Quaffle away from the Beauxbatons Chasers, but the teams were pretty evenly matched.

Elcie and Étienne were circling the pitch, on opposite sides from each other. I could only hope Elcie saw the Snitch first, and the broom she was borrowing from one of her siblings was faster than Étienne's.

I saw a flash of gold an instant before both Seekers started streaking towards it. They were two blurs of blue and black. I was worried the wind would blow Elcie off course (a smaller size isn't always an advantage), but she stayed firm. Within seconds, they'd both flown past where the Snitch had been. It was gone, and I wasn't entirely sure who had got it until I spotted Elcie holding her hand in the air, a spark of gold in her palm.

The crowd erupted into screams and cheers, and Scorpius and Rose rushed off to go congratulate Elcie. I would have gone too, but for some reason I felt a empty. Everyone else was happy beyond belief, even Colette had put down her book and was smiling, but I felt a little out of place. So, when Albus, Wren, Colette, and the twins got up to go down to the pitch, I slipped away, heading back to the castle.

Where to go where no one will find you? It seems like an easy question in an enormous castle, but since I didn't necessarily want to talk to ghosts, either (ghosts are huge gossips, if you didn't know), that narrowed my options considerably. Finally I decided to go visit Anastasia in the owlery.

By the time I'd reached the tower, I could look back and see a stream of students walking back to the castle. I could whoops and shouts and chants, and I had a feeling my friends were looking for me, but I wasn't in the mood for celebrating. I wanted to be alone.

Anastasia was happy for the company, luckily. Also luckily, she was actually here for once. Normally I had her taking letters to Teddy or Aunt Andromeda or Victoire, but I hadn't had a reason to write one recently. I didn't want them worrying; they had enough to mull over with the first task happening in just a few days. I steamed Ana's feathers, watching the procession of students trickle to nothing.

It might've been twenty minutes later when I heard footsteps on the stairs up to the owlery. I considered hiding, but looking around I realized there wasn't exactly any place to do that that wasn't covered in bird poop. Maybe, if I simply kept staring out the window, whoever it was would leave me alone.

No such luck. As soon as the person entered the room, I heard her say, "Oh... Um, hello..."

I turned to find Faith, possibly the last person I'd expected or wanted to see. "Hi."

"I didn't think... You know, thought everyone was celebrating..." She held up a letter, smiling weakly. "Thought I'd mail this off now."

"Ok." I tried to smile back, though I'm not sure how well I succeeded.

There was an awkward minute of silence as Faith located her bird and I tried to act like I didn't notice the awkwardness. Finally, Faith tied the parchment to her bird's leg. "Take this home, Linus," she said, taking him over to a window and letting him take off. She stood watching him for a second, then turned to me.

"Um... Listen, Astra, I've really been trying to stop all this hate you've been getting from the Slytherins. It's not right at all. I don't like it."

I blinked. I'd never thought about how Faith fit into all of that. I'd kind of assumed she just went along with it all. "Oh... Oh, it's okay. It's not your fault," I said, glancing down at my shoes. "I mean, Ciara would be acting like that regardless..."

"I know. Just..." She smiled a bit. "I just don't want... It's really not right, the way they're treating you."

"It's all right," I said again. "I know it's not all the Slytherins. Thank, though."

I smiled, and Faith smiled back. After a second, she quietly walked over to the door. Just before she walked through, she turned back. "Good luck. On Tuesday."

"You too."

And she was gone. Perhaps I should've said more. I wasn't sure. But it was nice to know there was someone fighting for me in Slytherins House. Scorpius and Lily and a select few others had been the only ones that I'd known about. It was nice, not being alone.

~~~~

Question of the Day: Would you rather Rowling wrote one more Harry Potter book where Harry dies or that she never write anything in the wizarding world ever again?

Vote and comment!

~Ellie