As Julia Weaver and her friends, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, made their way through the bowels of Hogwarts toward an unknown destiny, she thought back upon the 1st year of Hogwarts with positively fond memories. Even though this year had been absolutely wild and crazy, she wouldn't have changed it in any way because she had met two of her greatest friends. But even before their 1st year, she had met her best friend in the entire world: Ron Weasley. Ever since they met when they were little, they had been inseparable. Going to Hogwarts with her three best friends had been the highlight of her eleven-year-old life so far.

One memory plagued her brain as she thought back on her year. Well, it wasn't the only memory that was in her brain, but it was the beginning of it all. It was when her and Ron were on the Hogwarts Express, waiting for other people to join them in their compartment. As the many people glanced in and walked away, her heart dropped into her chest. These people probably knew about Ron's humongous family as well as her Muggle one, so they didn't want to be friends with weirdos like them. And that was when Mr. Harry Potter stumbled through the door, a breathless look on his face. 

She didn't know it was Harry Potter at first. His unruly black hair was plastered against his forehead, covering up the lightning bolt scar that he had gained at the hand of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. However, she knew there was something about him that seemed so familiar. That was when Ron figured out who had joined them in their compartment.

"You're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, pointing at the boy sitting across from them. "I can't believe that the Harry Potter is sitting with us!"

"Calm down, Ronald," Julia said with a giggle. She herself was freaking out that the Boy Who Lived was sitting with them, too, but she didn't dare act the way Ron was. It was embarrassing enough that Ron was acting like that; she didn't want to scare Harry Potter away. "It's just one boy."

"One boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"

Harry Potter blinked at them. He didn't seem to even care about what he had done when he was a baby. Julia felt bad for him, so she said, "Ronald, you're scaring him. He's just a regular boy."

"Thank you," Harry Potter said with a warm smile at her. However, the smile fell off his face as he stared at her. "What's your name?"

"Julia Weaver. Nice to meet you."

"And his name?"

"Ronald Weasley," Ron answered, breaking out of his awestruck ways. "But you can call me Ron."

"Julia and Ron." Harry Potter smiled at them. "I feel like we're going to be great friends."

And they were. The three of them spent the whole train ride talking and laughing and eating candy from the trolley. Harry Potter fit right in with her and Ron. It was like fate that they met Harry Potter on the train to Hogwarts. 

Fate seemed to play a hand again that night when Harry Potter, Julia, and Ron all were sorted in Gryffindor, the house for the brave and determined. While enjoying the enormous supper that was provided in the Great Hall, Julia noticed a girl with bushy brown hair sitting all by herself. After a few minutes of talking to Harry Potter and Ron, she finally convinced them to sit next to the lonely girl.

"Hello," Julia said politely. She sat next to the girl while Harry Potter and Ron sat across from them. The girl looked up at her from the book she was furiously reading. "I'm Julia Weaver."

"Can't you see that I'm busy?" the girl asked with a frown at them. 

"Can't you see that Julia is trying to be nice to you?" Ron countered.

"You looked lonely, so we wanted to join you," Harry Potter concluded. "Obviously you're not lonely, so we'll go back to where we were before."

Just as Julia was about to stand up, the girl grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "Wait," she said, her voice softer this time. "Stay, please."

"That's what I thought," Julia muttered to herself. She forced a smile on her face as the girl put the book away. "What's your name?"

"Hermione Granger."

A touch of his hand brought Julia out of her reverie. She glanced to the side and saw a worried look on Ron's face, bringing her back to the present. Yes, her past had been great, but her future was still uncertain, especially since she was spending it with the Boy Who Lived and all his troubles. They had gotten through all the obstacles so far, but there was still a dark shadow hanging above their next obstacles that scared her. 

"Are you alright?" Ron whispered to her, squeezing her hand.

"Not really. What if something terrible happens to us?" she whispered back to him.

"We have Hermione Granger with us. We have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not joking, Ronald."

"I know, Julia."

"What if we get hurt? What if . . . what if one of us dies?"

Ron suddenly pulled her to a stop. She watched as Harry and Hermione disappeared around the corner, out of her sight. Their footsteps softly echoed around her and Ron, telling her that they were still alive and breathing and that they would be okay as long as they stayed together. 

"We'll be fine," Ron told her fiercely. He gripped her hands for a second before pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. She buried her head into his shoulder as tears pricked her eyes. "Julia, I promise that we'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to us, okay?"

Against her better judgement, she believed him. "Okay."

The two of them pulled away from each other. Julia gave him a small smile. "You're welcome," Ron said with a cheeky grin. Her mouth fell open as he laughed. "Julia, quit acting like you're so surprised that I know what you were going to say. We've been friends our whole lives, so I know exactly what you're thinking in any situation."

"Wow, you're good."

"I know."

She rolled her eyes at him before pulling him after Harry and Hermione. They found their two friends standing at the edge of a large Wizard chess board. It was human-size, the chest set was. Her eyes went wide at the sight of what was in front of them.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" she asked her friends. 

"I have no idea," Harry answered her. "We barely got through the last obstacles."

"Well, don't look at me for this one," Julia said, throwing her hands up into the air. "I'm terrible at Wizard chess."

Hermione grumbled to herself, rolling her eyes. "Leave it up to Julia to not know how to do something."

"What do you mean?" Julia snapped at Hermione. 

Ron stepped in between the two girls, holding his hands up at them. "Stop it, you two," he said, his voice low. "You guys are best friends, not enemies. Get it together."

"Whatever."

Ron faced the Wizard chessboard with a contemplative look on his face. "I think we have to play the game," he finally said. "Each of us has to get on the pieces and act like we're the pieces."

"It can't be that simple," Hermione said, shaking her head. "None of the other obstacles have been that simple."

"Well, Wizard chess isn't simple," Julia told her with a smug grin. She was still hurt that Hermione had said that about her. "You didn't win playing against any of us, remember?"

"Yes, I remember."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Harry asked awkwardly. 

"We play," Ron said softly. He nodded, and his voice grew more confident. "I'll guide us along so we can win." He glanced at everyone and then back at the chess pieces. "Harry, you are going to be the black bishop. Hermione, you are the rook. Julia, you are the other rook. And I'll be the knight."

Soon enough, all four of them were situated on the chess pieces like Ron had told them to. He began directing each piece around the chessboard like this was just another regular day playing against his brothers. But it wasn't a regular day, and this wasn't a regular game. The stakes were much higher now. Any one of them could get hurt. Or worse - they could die. 

Julia didn't want to think about that, though. She had to keep a positive head on while doing this. There was no way she could know the outcome of what was going to happen today, so why worry about it? It was useless worrying about things that she had no control over. Either it was going to work, or it wasn't. There was no use in worrying, she kept telling herself.

They were nearing the end of the game when Julia noticed a strange look on Ron's face. His eyes kept darting around like he couldn't figure out his next move. She did a quick scan of the chessboard and gasped in realization.

"Ron!" Julia shouted, knowing full well what he was about to do. "Don't do it!"

Fear raced through her heart at the sight of Ron getting knocked unconscious because the Knight got attacked protecting Julia from the White Queen. He fell to the ground with a loud thud. She wanted to run out to him, but she knew that she would ruin the game. 

"We have to finish the game," Hermione said softly. She looked so incredibly worried about Ron, but how could she say that? This was not as important as Ron was. "Julia, you and me will have to finish the game so Harry can get through."

"No." Harry shook his head urgently. He looked at them from his place on the black bishop piece. "I don't want you two to get hurt, either. I'll complete the game."

"Harry, this is what we have to do," Julia said gently. "We have to take care of this so you can do what you need to do."

"And what is that?"

"Save the world."

"Well, you mean, save Hogwarts," Hermione said pointedly. Julia shot her a glare, so she raised her hands above her in surrender. "Yes, you need to save the world."

"But I never wanted anyone to get hurt because of me," Harry whispered. 

"We'll be fine," Hermione told him. "I promise."

Harry squared his shoulders with a quick nod. "Okay. What do I need to do next?"

Julia coached him through the last few moves of Wizard chess. Before they knew it, Harry had made it through. He glanced back at them one last time before disappearing through the open door. Once he made it through, the door slammed shut behind him, blocking him off from Hermione, Julia, and Ron.

"We need to get him to the Hospital Wing," Julia said immediately. She jumped down from her chess piece and ran toward Ron. He laid in the crumbled remains of the knight. She started throwing pieces off of his chest and body and said, "Hermione, help me!"

"Coming, coming!"

It took longer than what Julia wanted, but they finally got Ron out from under the remains of the knight. And it took even longer to get out of the bowels of the school to bring Ron to the Hospital Wing. She hated that they couldn't get him to the Hospital Wing right when it happened because she was terrified that he was going to have a concussion or any worse injuries that they didn't know about. 

Finally, they made it to the Hospital Wing. While Hermione knocked on the doors, Julia held Ron up. They had to half drag him, half carry him all the way here, and since it was only Julia holding him up right now, Hermione leaned him against the wall so he wasn't laying on the frigid ground. 

"What is going on out here?" The door was thrown open, revealing Madam Pomfrey. Her hair was up in curlers and a frown was on her face. However, it changed when she saw Ron and Julia. "Bring him in."

Julia and Hermione pulled Ron into the Hospital Wing, and with Madam Pomfrey's help, they got him up in a bed. "What happened to him?" Madam Pomfrey asked the two of them.

Julia glanced at Hermione to find her already looking at her. "He fell down the stairs," Julia quickly said. "They were moving, and he walked right off of them and plummeted down and -"

"It wasn't that far of a drop," Hermione interrupted Julia. "Not bad, but bad enough to knock him out."

It didn't look like Madam Pomfrey believed them, but she turned back to Ron and began taking care of him. That eased the pressure in Julia's chest slightly, but not good enough. She needed to know if Ron was okay, but she knew not to get in the way of Madam Pomfrey when she was taking care of a student.

Hermione took Julia by the arm and pulled her to the side to let Madam Pomfrey work in peace. "I'm sorry," Hermione suddenly said.

Julia glanced at her. "Why?"

"I treated you like rubbish back there."

"Yeah."

"It's just . . . there was so much happening, and I didn't think I could handle much more of it and -"

"I understand, Hermione," Julia said, interrupting her. She offered her a soft smile. "I know how much pressure you put on yourself. But you shouldn't take that out on everyone else around you."

"I know." Hermione stared at Julia for a second longer. "And, don't worry about Ron. He's a fighter."

"How'd you know I was worrying about him?"

"You make it very obvious."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

The two of them fell silent as they watched Madam Pomfrey working on Ron. Her heart hammered against her chest at the sight of him laying on the bed, unconscious. He should have been awake and joking about something, not lying there as quiet as a mouse. It felt like it was taking Madam Pomfrey forever to help him, and she hated it.

"He's waking up now," Madam Pomfrey called quietly to Julia and Hermione. "I will only allow one of you to see him right now for a few minutes since it is the middle of the night."

"You go see him," Hermione whispered to Julia. "I'll go check on Harry."

"Okay. Thank you."

Julia rushed to Ron's side and took his hand in hers. His eyes were half-lidded as he gazed at her. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed at him. "You could've gotten hurt worse than this!"

"I'm fine, Julia." Ron tried to sit up, but he winced in pain. "Okay, I'm not fine."

"This was what I was talking about earlier!" Julia cried. She blinked fast to try to get rid of the tears that were stinging her eyes. "Someone got hurt, and there was nothing I could do to help you."

"You got Harry through, though, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you did everything you could."

Julia shook her head at him. "You're ridiculous," she muttered. "Why am I even friends with you?"

"Because no one else can stand you."

"Um, excuse me, but I have two other friends, too."

Ron laughed while she rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure we're going to go on more adventures as long as we stay friends with Harry," he told her. "He is the Boy Who Lived, after all."

"I don't think I'm ready for another adventure."

"Even if you aren't, promise me something."

"Anything for you."

"Promise me that we will take care of each other, no matter what."

"Of course, Ron. We've been friends since we were babies. I will always take care of you when you fall, and you would do the same for me."

He smiled at her. "Good."

"It's time for you to go, Miss Weaver," Madam Pomfrey said, appearing behind Julia. She touched her arm, pulling her away from Ron. "He needs his rest."

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Julia called to him as Madam Pomfrey pushed her toward the door.

"See you then!"

The doors slammed shut in her face, cutting her off from Ron. However, she didn't feel nervous as she started walking away. She felt ready for whatever life had in store for her and her friends because she knew that they would always take care of each other, no matter what.