"A/N - Hello loves! In this is chapter you will be seeing Kiara's journey as she navigates through this new life with her friends by her side. This was written by @obsessedwithrandomthings with inputs and a lot of support from stufferknee [@firewhisky-kisses] @kalimagik dandelionandburdock [@iliveiloveiwrite] and @heloisedaphnebrightmore (me)" - Tumblr

Kiara tossed and turned in her bed as the sun peeked through the window as she finally felt like she could sleep. Night at Grimmauld Place was rather creepy; noises from portraits, creaking floors and doors. Something she wasn't used to. She was used to falling asleep to the sound of a train and rain forest mixed together on an app on her phone, but sadly she didn't have that here. So, she waited for the sun to come up, and when it finally did, someone banged on her bedroom door.

"I'm sleeping, come back later." Kiara called out, as she pulled the duvet over her face, hoping they would go away.

Instead, the door opened as Tonks walked in, "Remus wants you ready for school in 30 minutes, love. Hurry up." And with that she slammed the door shut.

Kiara groaned into her pillow as she got up and got ready. She put her robes on, still convincing herself that this was all a dream and she'd wake up, back in her bedroom very soon.

She walked downstairs as she heard people talking - Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Des were all sitting and having breakfast.

Remus looked at Kiara and smiled, "breakfast? Come sit down, and then Tonks, you and I can head to Hogwarts."

"I don't eat breakfast, also - isn't it a little too early? School doesn't start for another two hours or something?" Kiara asked, looking at Remus.

Remus nodded as he stood up, "that is correct. However, since it's your first day - you're coming with us and I'll walk you to your class, have a word with your professor."

Kiara looked at him confused, and then she looked at Des and Sirius, who shrugged, "well, isn't Des coming with me?"

Sirius spoke up from beside her, "she's my responsibility, she can skip it if she likes." He said with a laugh.

Des looked at Kiara and mouthed a quick apology.

Kiara then turned to face Remus again, "I'm not a child, you don't have to walk me to class and all that - it's embarrassing."

Tonks looked at Kiara, "I've already argued with him about this, it's pointless." She then turned to Remus, "shall we go, love?"

Remus nodded, as he and Tonks stood near the fireplace with floo powder in their hands. Kiara rolled her eyes as she stood next to them, grabbing some.

"I'll go first, just do what I did, and then Remus will come after you." Tonks explained and Kiara nodded quickly.

"I'll see you in class, I promise I'm not skipping." Des called out from beside Sirius, but by then they had already left.

–

Kiara landed face first at Hogwarts, yet again. She coughed up dust and she attempted to fix her robes. She turned to face the couple who were kissing each other goodbye. Even though she was terribly annoyed at him, she had to admit the fact that he was a great husband to Tonks, and incredibly kind. Kiara waved at Tonks as she walked away and Remus looked at her timetable,

"Looks like you have herbology with Professor Longbottom – brilliant. He must be at the Greenhouse preparing for class – I'll take you there."

Kiara stopped in her tracks and looked at him, "look – you've got me here and I can't thank you enough for it, really." She admitted, sarcasm in her tone which Remus had caught on to the first time he met her. She sighed and continued, "but please – please don't walk me to his class."

Remus shook his head, "well – I suppose I won't have to because here he is." He gestured towards the hallway and Neville walked towards them, shaking Remus' hand firmly and then turning his gaze to Kiara who suddenly felt shy under his gaze.

"Miss Jones – it's nice to have you here." Neville said, extending his hand forward which she politely took, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

She nodded, "thank you – professor?"

Neither of them let go of their hands, as they continued to look at each other – until Remus cleared his throat, making them pull their hands away, clearly very embarrassed.

"Right – so I shall leave now, I suppose she is in good hands." Remus said, looking at Neville who nodded quickly,

"She most definitely is."

Kiara stood there awkwardly as her mind wandered to places, while Remus and Neville said their goodbyes. After Remus finally left, Neville and Kiara silently walked towards the Greenhouse, unable to ignore the butterflies they both felt every time their hands brushed against each other.

–

Neville flipped through the pages of his book as the girls stood in front of him, "right – so I will be teaching you all the basics. Harmful plants, plants that have healing powers and all that." He said, looking at them – trying his very best not to look at one of them particularly.

However, Kiara had other plans. As soon he finished the sentence, her hand shot up in the air, "professor – I was just wondering if we would be doing the fun, practical – more hands on stuff?"

Neville cleared his throat, "we will Miss Jones, as long as you – you all are careful, that's all." He kept reminding himself that she is his student, even though she was probably the same age as him, but more importantly, Remus was rather protective of her.

Des looked between them and then at Neville, "if you both are done – could we started maybe?"

Neville nodded as he felt heat rise to his cheeks, "of course, right if you could all open page 20 of your books, we could start there. We're going to start with Dittany."

Mel's hand shot up in the air, "but we already know about that. Can we pot a Mandrake or something like that instead?"

Neville smiled at them as he closed his book, "alright Miss Hunter – but from tomorrow it'll be my way. Since this is your first class, we can pot a Mandrake, even though I didn't have the best experience with it back when I was a student" He paused when the girls nodded understandingly. "Can one of you give me a hand bringing them here?"

All the girls turned to look at Kiara, who looked at Neville, "May I assist you?"

Neville sighed and nodded, he had accepted his fate – there was no avoiding Kiara Jones, no matter how much he possibly tried. However, it was only day one, it couldn't get much worse than this, could it?

Ellie pressed her ear muffs closer to her ears as she held the crying Mandrake and looked at Mel, "why – why would you suggest this?" she then turned towards Neville and looked at him, "will this ever shut up?"

"You just have to pot it quicker, Miss Vienneau – treat it like your friend!" Neville responded as he looked at Kiara who just got bit by it.

"Fuck me – that hurts like a bitch." Kiara yelled as Neville walked towards her. Everyone had finished potting the Mandrake by now, Neville took it from Kiara's hand and potted it for her. She looked at him, "well – I was just going to do that."

"No – you were playing with it and got bit." Neville responded, taking everyone by surprise. However, little did he know, this only made him more attractive to Kiara.

They heard a knock on the door, as Remus walked in with a packet in his hand. He waved at everyone and stopped in front of Kiara who noticed that Neville had stepped far away from her. Remus handed her the packet,

"What's this?" she asked, taking it from him. She was very apprehensive about it, but she also knew that Remus wouldn't give her anything even remotely harmful.

Remus smiled, "well – that is your breakfast – since you didn't have any today also because you didn't sleep last night, you will not be able to function if you don't eat."

"And you couldn't wait until after class to give me this?" Kiara asked, clearly embarrassed. Not because her friends were watching, but because Neville was. He probably looked at her like she was an angry teenager stuck in the body of a 24 year old right now.

Remus shrugs, "I thought I'd come see how everything was going, that's all." He glanced towards the girls, "now – is she always this snappy or is today a special day?"

Ana laughed, "oh – she's often like that, don't worry about it." As soon as Ana completed that sentence, she received a glare from Kiara.

Kiara then looked at Remus and smiled, "well – thank you for this, it was rather kind of you – embarrassing but kind."

Remus nodded happily, he felt like he was finally making some progress with her. He waved goodbye to everyone and along with that one stern look at Neville, which is exactly what Neville needed to snap out of thinking about Kiara.

"Right – so your next class is with Tonks so that surely will be fun and I will see you all tomorrow – good job with the Mandrakes." Neville said, as he began putting them back.

All the girls walked out but Kiara stayed back, Neville looked at her and cleared his throat, "anything I can help you with Miss Jones?"

"You can call me Kiara or Ki, it's more casual." She looked around the mess, "I just thought I'd help you clean up this mess."

"I wouldn't want you being late for your next class, it's important that you don't miss any of these." Neville said, not meeting her eyes as he continued cleaning up, "also – you should eat the food Professor Lupin got you, and sleep too – if not you won't really be able to focus in class."

Kiara grabbed her bag and walked towards the door, "I can think of plenty other reasons to not focus in class."

Neville never got a chance to respond, and he was glad he didn't because there was no way he could have possibly strung a sentence together in response to that.

–

"Alright – spill the tea. I know you girls have been here for like a day, but you've been around good looking men and women – there must be something to tell!" Tonks asked, as she sat on top of her desk, her feet dangling.

Ana nudged Ellie, and when Ellie didn't respond, Ana cleared her throat, "well – Ellie here has a thing for Professor Zabini."

Tonks nodded, "I see it – I do Ellie. Also, I'll be using your first names, it's so much easier and less pressure – you know?"

The girls nodded and Des looked at her, "why doesn't Sirius teach here too?"

Tonks laughed, "oh that man has tried, but year after year Professor McGonagall has said no. She still sees him as the flirty troublemaker he once was – and she's not wrong."

Just then, Kiara walked in and sat down, "what are we chatting about? Didn't sound like transfiguration to me."

Tonks raised an eyebrow at her, "and where have you been? Extra hours with Neville Longbottom, I see." Tonks was that professor at Hogwarts who knew about anything and everything, nothing could possibly stay hidden from her.

Kiara blushed a little, "just don't tell Remus – that's all I ask."

"I'll keep all your secrets, don't you worry. Even yours Des!" Tonks said, as she shot a wink her way. Des raised an eyebrow as she leaned back,

"I have no idea what you're on about, Tonks." Des admitted as the girls looked at her curiously, clearly wanting all the tea possible.

"Oh – the lingering touches while passing breakfast, I notice everything Des – I do."

Des bites her lower lip as she shakes her head no, "I still don't know what you're talking about Tonks." But of course she knew, and she hoped Sirius had taken notice of it too. However, she tried her best not to read in to it too much, lingering touches probably weren't an indication of anything.

Kiara's hand shot up, "what's the teacher – student dating policy at Hogwarts? Especially if the student isn't really a student, and is the same age as the teacher."

"It's still a big no. As soon as this course is done – Ellie and you can do what you like, with whoever you like." Tonks explained, hoping neither of these five girls would get into a lot of trouble but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be long until they cause havoc.

Once the class ended, the girls waited in the Great Hall for their families to come pick them up. From a distance, Kiara saw Remus talk to Neville, who nodded at everything that was told to him. She could only hope that they weren't talking about her.

Kiara nudged Sirius, who was busy talking to Des, he turned around to look at her, "can you please go find out what Remus and Neville are talking about?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her, "why do you want to know? Oh – you have a thing for a professor. That will not go down well with Remus – but I wish you luck." He ruffled her hair, as he turned around and started talking to Des again.

Kiara was growing impatient at their never ending conversation, and decided to intervene. From a distance Neville saw her coming towards them, and he hoped that Remus wouldn't notice the obvious tension between them.

"Remus – I was just wondering when we were going home? I'm really exhausted and just want to go to bed." Kiara said, not looking at Neville. As much as she enjoyed leaving him flustered, she knew better than to do so in front of Remus.

Remus nodded, "I am ready to go. Professor Longbottom was just telling me how well you did in his class today, maybe Herbology could be your thing."

Kiara smiled at him, "maybe yes." She looked towards Neville, "you were really good today – the girls really enjoyed your class."

Neville pursed his lips and nodded, "thank you Miss Jones – that's very kind of you."

Sirius, Des and Tonks joined them, as they all went back to Grimmauld Place. Kiara had cereal for dinner and quickly went to bed. The creaking house still scared her; the absence of her phone by her side still made it difficult, but she managed to fall asleep thinking about her interactions with Neville.

–

The next week flew by faster than any of them expected it to. Remus and Tonks still made sure Kiara left for Hogwarts with them, while Des came at her own sweet time, never missing her morning coffee with Sirius. Des and Ki had settled in fairly easily at the Grimmauld Place. Kiara had finally started sleeping better, hence resulting in a better mood, which Remus was more than grateful for.

Kiara, Des, Ana, Ellie and Mel sat at the great hall as they ate their lunch together, which was an hour after all the other students.

"How's everyone holding up? I mean – like I know this is all fun, and we're living the life we've always dreamed of, but does anyone miss life back home?" Ana asked, sighing a little.

They did miss home, however none of them had spoken about it. This new life had been forced upon them, but they didn't hate it. In fact, they were all happy.

Kiara shrugged, "I'm trying not to think too much about it, I suppose? Sometimes I know this is all happening but sometimes I think this is all just a weird dream, live it till you can."

Ellie pinched Kiara from beside her and shook her head, "see Ki – it's not a dream. We're all actually here – maybe this is our new reality?"

"Whatever it is, I'm just glad we're all together. I think I would have lost my mind if I didn't have you four here with me." Mel admitted, as she smiled at all her friends.

Des smiled, "that is true. There's no else I'd rather do this with." She held up her glass of pumpkin juice, "to us – living our best witch lives?"

The girls all laughed as they clinked their glasses together. Just then, Neville and Blaise walked into the Great Hall, as Blaise took Ellie's glass from her and sniffed it,

"Just checking – no alcohol on school premises." Blaise said, and then looked at Ellie, "don't want you girls getting into trouble." He said with a wink, as Ellie felt heat rise to her cheeks.

Kiara rolled her eyes, "trouble? Us? Never!" she then turned her gaze towards Neville, who was wearing a black shirt, with the sleeves rolled up till his arms, "don't you look nice, Professor Longbottom – what's the special occasion? Date with your girlfriend?"

Neville was a confident bloke after he left Hogwarts, or so he thought. All his confidence was out of the window every time Kiara spoke. Blaise noticed his silence so he decided to save his friend,

"I'll have you know Neville here is single, and looking for the right girl."

Before they could continue their conversation, Professor McGonagall interrupted them,

"You girls have a class with Professor Lupin and are incredibly late."

All the girls got up, picking up their bags as they rushed for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class as they prepared themselves for another long day at Hogwarts.

Notes: If you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to like and comment. Thank you :)