My answer to the last chapter's question: Snape did not deserve that. After Umbridge and Voldemort and the obvious ones, Snape is my least favorite character. Why? Well, that is a very long explanation, so if you'd like to know, I'll put it in the comments. However, I'm sure you're rather just read on!

Before you do, though, can I suggest a book you should read? The Four Marauders by Zoe-Books is really good, and you should all go check it out!

Long pre-chapter note, but I'll make up for it by an abnormally long chapter!

~~~~

I didn't want to open my eyes. Pain was pounding through my head, and I just wanted to sink back into sleep, make the pain fade away again. Unfortunately, my brain went into overdrive trying to remember what had happened.

I remembered being on the Quidditch field. I was chasing the Snitch... And I think I caught it, then everything went black.

All right, if I couldn't remember what happened, maybe I could figure out where I was. It was quiet; the only sound was lowered voices. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but that wasn't important. Whatever I was lying on was soft. I slowly opened my eyes, cringing at the light.

"She's awake!"

"Shut up! You'll scare her!"

I blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision, which only worked a little bit, and saw Albus and James leaning over me. I recognized the ceiling, which was probably a testament to how much I got hurt. I was in the hospital wing.

I smiled a little, and tried to sit up. Immediately, both boys pushed me back on the bed.

"Whoa, whoa, Madam Pomfrey said to lie down," James said.

"You might a concussion," Albus said softly.

"I...what happened?"

James's smile was replaced by a grim frown. "Caleb Goyle, that's what happened. He hit the Bludger at you with way too much force. He knew it wouldn't hit you till you'd reached the Snitch, too!"

"He's in trouble," Albus said seriously. "You almost died from the fall!"

"I did?"

"Yeah. James caught you, though."

I looked up at him and smiled. James shrugged. "You feel okay?"

"Yeah... My vision's a little blurry, though..."

"Madam Pomfrey said that might happen. She says if you feel well in an hour you can sit up, but you have to spend the night here."

I frowned up at the ceiling. I hated spending the night at the hospital. I decided not to think about it. "We won, right?"

Albus and James exchanged a grin. "Yeah!" Albus exclaimed. "You caught the Snitch just before the Bludger hit you!"

"Ciara was throwing a tantrum afterwards," James added. "It was hilarious."

"They were all so mad!"

"Yeah, everyone was, really. We were upset because Goyle'd just almost killed our star player, and they were mad because they went to all that trouble and still lost!"

"We were really worried about you."

"I gave Goyle a black eye! And Fred gave him another."

I grinned at my two friends. It was nice to know I still had them, no matter what happened. No matter what girls James decided to chase. Nope, didn't need to think about that.

After James and Albus vividly described what went on after the match, it had been almost an hour. I was feeling fine, so Madam Pomfrey let me sit up and have some more visitors.

"Wait, if she didn't let me have visitors until now, why are you two here?"

"You're practically our sister, Astra," James said, rolling his eyes. "Everyone knows it."

"Except the idiots who started those rumors..."

"Al!" James smacked his brother on the head.

"Hey!"

"Don't even mention those!"

I was spared listening to them fight by Rose, Scorpius, and Arthur running up to my bed. Rose looked like she'd been crying. And her scarf was the wrong color...

"Astra, thank goodness you're alive! We thought you were going to die!"

"We did not!" Arthur said, rolling his eyes at Rose. "Madam Pomfrey said you'd be fine."

"No, Madam Pomfrey said, 'If she wakes up soon, she will be fine.' She didn't say what would happen if Astra didn't wake up soon!"

"Because Astra was going to wake up anyway!"

"Shut up or Pomfrey'll get onto us!" James said.

Rose blinked, then nodded. "S-sorry. I was just worried..."

"You're fine," I said quickly, smiling.

"How do you feel?" Scorpius asked kindly.

"Pretty good." The dull pain in the back of my head had increased a little since I'd woken up. It was manageable, though.

"That Slytherin Beater almost wound up in here, too," Arthur said. He sighed. "I wish he had!"

"Scorp, what happened? Did you ever know about it?"

Scorpius frowned. "Of course I didn't. It was obviously planned, though, and without Benjamin Flemings' knowledge. I'm going to ask Ciara about it later."

"Rose, why is your scarf green?"

At Albus's comment, everyone directed their attention to the girl, whose cheeks were becoming as red as her hair. She quickly pulled the scarf off and shoved it at Scorpius. "I... It was cold..."

"I let her borrow my scarf because she forgot hers," Scorpius said, shrugging. "She forgot to take it off, I guess, with everything that happened."

Rose nodded. She looked incredibly embarrassed, and excused herself as soon as possible. Scorpius left soon after to find his sister. Arthur wandered off with him, leaving me alone with the Potter boys for all of two seconds before more people started coming in.

First, Jaycee led the entire Quidditch team in, carrying the Snitch. She placed it carefully in my hand, grinning. Apparently, Drake Wood had been parading the Snitch around the Great Hall for an hour, mainly over by the Slytherins, before Jaycee found him and dragged him up here.

The team looked a little beat up. Fred had a black eye, Drake had had a bloody nose, it seemed, and Caroline Long's arm was bandaged. Apparently, they had been the ones to start the fist fight. They all claimed it was worth it, though.

After the team left, River, Adalyn, and a new friend of theirs, Brigitte Myers, came to see me. I really needed to talk to River about her choice of friends. So far, they were all Slytherins. Adalyn was as annoying as usual, and this time it was much worse, because she was freaking out about how terrible her Housemates were. River finally had to steer her out, followed by a highly unamused Brigitte. Apparently, Adalyn had been acting like that for some time.

"Hello, Astra," another visitor said, smiling at me as she walked in. Luna acted perfectly normal (for her), though her companion was staring at me with big eyes, looking worried.

"Hey, Luna."

James frowned. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Bethany Dove. She's very nice."

We all said hi, and Bethany smiled shyly and waved at us slightly.

Luna smiled at me. "Your head hurts, doesn't it?"

I blinked. "Well, a little..."

"What? We should tell Madam Pomfrey," James said. "I bet she has some potions for that."

"She has a potion for everything." Al said.

"Except curing Humpledips of Jurikitus," Luna said, then sighed.

"Curing Humple... What?"

"Oh, it's a new type of creature my mother found this summer," Luna said, her eyes glowing with excitement. "It's so very interesting. They're very good pets. If only we could have them at school... Well, goodbye!" Luna waved, then turned and walked out, followed closely by her friend, Bethany.

After another hour, Madam Pomfrey shooed James and Albus out and down to dinner, claiming I needed rest. I probably did need rest, but I really didn't want them to go, and leave me alone. There wasn't anyone else in the hospital wing, and I felt very small as the sun set outside the window and the light grew dimmer in the large room. Madam Pomfrey bustled in and out occasionally, but other than that, I was alone. There was a pile of books sitting on the table next to me, but none of them looked incredibly interesting to me.

The sound of the huge door creaking open and closed was like gunfire in the silent room. Startled, I quickly turned my head in the direction of the footsteps. I did my best to keep my face neutral as I watched the girl approach my bed.

Mackenzie looked a little uncomfortable as she sat down. "Hello," she said in a small voice.

"Hi, Mackenzie," I said slowly, frowning. After that, I just stared at her. She came here, she could keep the conversation going.

Mackenzie fidgeted nervously, then smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Same as earlier," I said, shrugging. Get to the point! I knew she had to have a reason for coming here.

"That's good, I guess," she said. Another uncomfortable silence.

"Mackenzie, what do you want?"

She seemed startled. "W-what do you mean?"

"Well, you came earlier, and it's not like we're particularly great friends. You must want something."

Mackenzie took a deep breath. "Well... I was wondering...if...well, if you liked James. As more than a friend, you know? Because, sometimes it seems like you do, and I don't want to come in and ruin you friendship with him, but of course if you don't, that's all right, too; it's just that if you do, I don't want to take him away or anything, and-"

I had been staring at her, a little shocked, through all of that. Finally, I interrupted her. If I hadn't, she probably would have gone on rambling for an hour. "No, I don't like him. He's like my brother." That lie might have actually pained me. Or maybe it was just my head killing me like it had been all afternoon.

Mackenzie smiled, looking relieved. "Thank goodness..."

Might as well get something out of this. "So I'd thank you if you'd keep the glares to a minimum."

She blushed and looked down at her lap. "Sorry about that..."

"It's okay," I said quickly.

"So, you'd be okay if...James and I were dating?"

"You're dating?"

"No! But...well, it's bound to happen soon, you know?"

I nodded, forcing a smile. "Right. Of course it is. That's fine..."

"He asked if Lillie and I wanted to hang out with him on the Hogsmeade trip next week, actually."

That felt like a knife in my stomach. I hoped my smile didn't look like a grimace. I didn't know why I was upset, really. I didn't have a monopoly on James Potter's time. I shouldn't be upset that he liked someone else. After all, I wasn't entitled to anything.

After an awkward minute, I realized Mackenzie was waiting for me to respond. "That's great!"

She smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you aren't upset or anything. James really looks up to you, you know."

"He does?"

"Yeah. I feel like you and Albus know more about him than anyone else. He's more...open he's around you two." Mackenzie shrugged, and stood up. "Well, I have to go help Roxanne with her Divination essay. Word of advice: whatever you do, don't take that class. See you later!" She waved, then turned walked out. There was a slight bounce in her step.

Once the door had swung closed behind her, I sighed. I should have just told her the truth. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with her.

I drifted off to sleep eventually, and when I woke up in the morning, I felt perfectly fine. Madam Pomfrey decided I was well enough to leave, as long as I took it easy. Completely disregarding that advice, I burst through the hospital wing doors and sprinted all the way to Gryffindor Tower.

I got there just in time to catch Luke on his way out. He informed me that if I didn't hurry up, I'd be late for Potions. That was one class I really didn't need to be late to, so I grabbed my books and ran there, too.

Just as Sulcan was walking in from his office at the back of the class, I slid into the seat next to Albus. The professor frowned disdainfully at me, but didn't say anything. I wasn't technically late, and I had a pretty solid excuse, anyway. According to Jaycee, half the Slytherin team had detention.

"Students, open your books to page 394."

I flipped through the almost-thousand page book to 394. I hated my Potions book. Most of it was references and appendices that we didn't even use.

"Today, we are going to be learning how to make the Swelling Solution. The necessary ingredients are on the board. I will have no talking."

We all sighed. "No talking" meant no asking Rose for help.

Of course, the "no talking" rule only really applied to Gryffindor. Sulcan wouldn't do anything if a Slytherin talked. In fact, Cynthia Smith and Trilia Bones were whispering about something, I think boys, and Sulcan took two points from Gryffindor. Trilia got really quiet, and sent me an apologetic smile. I shrugged back at her. That was a bit much, even for Sulcan.

"Sir?"

He ignored me.

"Professor Sulcan."

"What is it now, Ms. Lewis?"

"Sir, I'm sure you didn't mean to, but you just took points from the wrong House."

I heard Eric sighing, and rolled my eyes. It was true.

Professor Sulcan's eyes narrowed, and he stood up. "Ms. Lewis, what are you talking about?"

"Well, a minute ago, you took points away from Gryffindor, but the people talking were Trilia and Cynthia, and they're in Slytherin," Luke said. A few Gryffindors murmured agreement.

The professor fixed a glare at me, then at Luke, then me again. "Are you questioning my authority?"

I tried to say no, but only got as far as, "Well-"

"Because I can assure you that disrespectfulness like this will not be tolerated in this class, no matter how much of a hero you were last year, Ms. Lewis."

A few of the Slytherins snickered.

"Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I hear you talking again, it'll be detention." He turned back to his desk.

I blinked. The other Gryffindors around me looked just as stunned. I had known Sulcan was bad, but I wasn't even sure he was allowed to do that. Last year, I probably would have complained to the headmistress. However, the last thing I needed was another reason for Professor Pouri to dislike me.

"Stupid Slytherin," Luke muttered.

As soon as class ended, we all started complaining to each other.

"Sulcan is so terrible!" I exclaimed as I followed Eric Finnigan out the door. "He always favors Slytherin! And that's the worst House!"

"It is not!"

I turned around to see Ciara behind me, looking offended.

"Oh, it isn't? Remind me again what House Voldemort came from?"

That caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered. "Slytherin was also Merlin's House. He was the greatest wizard the world has ever seen!"

"That doesn't outweigh all the Death Eaters," Eric said hotly.

"It at least outweighs you!" Nico yelled, drawing his wand and pointing it at Eric's chest. In half a second, both Eric's and mine were pointing at Nico's face. Ciara's was trained at my nose.

Before we had a chance to hex him, Professor Sulcan emerged from his classroom. "What in the name of Merlin is all this noise?"

Nico quickly dropped his wand. "They were trying to attack us, professor!" he said, sounding very victimized. I rolled my eyes. Ciara was too startled to lower her wand, though, so at least she'd get in trouble, too.

The professor glared at us, and we slowly lowered our wands. "You three, come with me." I trudged into the classroom again, followed by Eric and Ciara. It seemed Ciara and I were always getting in trouble together. I was the only one being a "problem in the school," though, according to our most revered headmaster.

"Fighting in the halls is not allowed," Sulcan growled. "All three of you will be losing five points for your House." I sighed. If it was possible to have negative numbers, I'd probably get us there.

After a lengthy lecture about the merits of controlling your emotions, Professor Sulcan let us go, with a warning that if we put a toe out of line, we'd all be in detention. I somehow think he meant that more for Eric and me than for Ciara.

That night, Rose made sure I went to bed early so that I didn't get overly tired. I felt fine, really. If this was a concussion, and I didn't think it was, I could definitely live with it.

The next morning, I was wide awake when I went to breakfast. Everything was fine, it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and nothing could ruin how great I felt. Except, perhaps, Lacy complaining about how she wished she could go to Hogsmeade.

I'd forgotten about the Hogsmeade trip today. James was sitting farther along the table with Mackenzie and Lillie, and I suddenly wished I was a third year, too, if only for the fact that I could spy on them. Maybe something could ruin my good mood - and it was James flirting with Mackenzie.

I quickly looked around for something to distract. Anna Longbottom was sitting alone near the end of the table, so I picked up my plate and walked down to join her.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hi, Astra," she said quietly.

"You okay?"

She nodded, and started eating. A minute later, River sat down across the table from her. "Good morning!"

"River!" I'd been meaning to talk to her about her friend choices ever since she showed up with two Slytherins to see me in the hospital wing. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said, piling plate up with scrambled eggs. Anna watched us, interested.

"Why are you only hanging out with Slytherins?" I asked.

Immediately defensive, River said, "Is that a problem? I was under the impression that we could choose anyone to be our friend."

"Yes, you can, but...well, River, you're a Gryffindor, and we don't really get along with Slytherins..."

"What about Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Well-"

"And I was friends with Adalyn before she got sorted. Am I supposed to just drop her when we get sorted into rival Houses? That's a terrible idea. Then I'd only be furthering the stereotypes and not helping anything at all."

"What?"

River rolled her eyes. "The point is, Adalyn and Brigitte are my friends. I have friends if Gryffindor, too, if that helps you sleep at night. Right, Anna?" Anna nodded. "Cedric, Ivory, Anna, Dean, Elodie, and basically everyone else in first year."

I sighed. "All right, sorry. Adalyn and Brigitte are fine, I guess." River grinned at me, and I smiled back.

"Oh, hey, by the way," River said after a minute, "can I ask you something?"

"It's only fair," I said, shrugging. "Sure."

"Do you like James Potter?"

Well, I wasn't exactly expecting that question. "Um..."

"I've seen the way you look at him. Especially when that Mackenzie girl is around. So, do you? I won't tell. Anna won't either, right?"

"Of course not..."

I sighed. "Well, I suppose I do-"

"That's great!" River said loudly. When she noticed other people staring, she lowered her voice. "I'm a love expert, you know."

"You're a love expert," I repeated, rolling my eyes.

"Yep."

"You're eleven."

"I need to think of a ship name!"

"Oh my gosh, don't bring that shipping stuff here, River," I pleaded.

"Why not? Let's see.... Astrames?"

"That sounds like 'ash trays.'"

"Well sorry, I can't think of a good name in two seconds!" She grinned. "Maybe Astes? Or Jametra... Or maybe just Jamtra..."

I rolled my eyes.

Just then, someone hugged Anna from the back. I turned around to see her double standing there, laughing. "Hey Anna! Oh, hi, Astra! This is Rosemary Smith." Alyssa motioned to the black-haired girl next to her, who smiled a big smile and said hello.

"How're you doing, Anna? Do you like Gryffindor now? I still can't believe you got put in, of all people," Alyssa said, and laughed.

"Neither can I," Anna said, smiling weakly. "I wanted Hufflepuff..."

"Oh, Hufflepuff," Rosemary said, grinning at Alyssa. "Sounds kind of loopy, wouldn't you say?" Both girls burst into laughter. River, Anna, and I looked on in confusion.

"Sorry, inside joke," Alyssa said, noticing our confused stares. "Anyway, nice to see you, sis! Bye!" She and Rosemary walked off, arm in arm.

"Well, that was lovely," River said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to go find Luke." She stood up, then froze.

"What's wrong?"

"I just thought of the perfect one! Jastra!"

She turned and ran off, hopefully not to tell everyone about "Jastra." I sighed.

One glance at Anna wiped all those thoughts from my head. She was on the verge of tears. "Anna, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

"You're about to cry."

She looked down. "It's... It's just... I can't believe she replaced me..."

I blinked. Poor Anna... Quickly, I pulled her into a hug. "She didn't replace you," I whispered.

"She did!" Anna was trying hard not to cry, I could tell, but she couldn't stop the tears.

"It's okay," I said quietly, patting her back. What was I supposed to do?

After a few minutes, Anna stood up, slightly calmer. I watched her walk out the door, then sighed. That wasn't a success. I got up and walked over to Albus again.

He was almost done eating, so I sat down next to him and let myself get lost in my thoughts. Poor Anna. I definitely could sympathize with her. I knew what it was like to be betrayed, and though Alyssa hadn't done what Wren had, it could seem that way to her twin, especially when they were as inseparable as Arthur always said.

Al nudged my arm as he stood up, and I shook my head to clear my thoughts. We were about to walk out the doors to go back to the common room when James rushed up to us.

"Hey, take care of this while I'm gone, all right?" He shoved a bag into my hands. "It's the Cloak, and the Map. I don't really want to lose them or anything, and they could get stolen at Hogsmeade."

"Wow, James, when's you get so cautious?" Albus asked curiously. "I thought that was my job."

The crowd of third through sevenths years was starting to move towards the door, and Mackenzie and Lillie were waiting for James. "Just don't lose these, okay?" he said, glancing over his shoulder.

"How irresponsible so you think I am?" I asked innocently, taking the bag.

James frowned at me. "You're right." He took the bag from me, and gave it to Albus. "There, much better."

"Hey!"

"I wouldn't trust me with this, do I wouldn't trust you, Astra," he said, grinning. He started to turn around, then quickly gave both me and Albus a hug. I have a feeling it was due to the excitement, since I don't think he would ever hug his brother in public if he could help it, but that didn't stop the tingling feeling in my stomach as he pulled away and ran over to his friends.

"Your cheeks are red," Albus pointed out.

"Are not," I said absently. I didn't really care.

"Oh, guess what River told me?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't even want to know." I caught sight of Alyssa, and remembered Anna. A plan was forming in my mind. "I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Before Albus could even respond, I'd slipped into the crowd.

It only took a me few minutes to find Luna at the Ravenclaw table. Bethany was sitting next to her, so I sat down across from them. "Luna, I need your help."

"Oh?" Luna smiled at me. "With what?"

"Do you know Alyssa Longbottom?"

"She's Arthur's sister?"

"Yeah."

"Of course I do."

"Think you could help me, then?" I quickly explained my plan to Bethany and Luna. After a minute, we split up to search for Anna.

I looked everywhere I could think of, but apparently I didn't think hard enough. There was no sign of Anna that I could detect. I soon started looking for Luna and Bethany instead, to see if they'd found her.

I ran into them near the Great Hall. "Did you find her?"

"Yes," Luna said, then walked past me into the Great Hall.

"Where was she?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I started to follow Luna when a quiet voice answered.

"She was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

I turned around, startled. "I didn't know you could talk."

Bethany shrugged. "Of course I can."

"What's Moaning Myrtle?"

"She's one of the ghosts, of course. She haunts one of the girls' bathrooms."

"Lovely," I said sarcastically. "Where'd Luna go?"

"To get Alyssa, of course."

"Oh." Well, that made sense. I followed Bethany into the Great Hall, and she led me over to the Ravenclaw table where Luna and Alyssa were apparently arguing.

"Why should I?"

"It's important," Luna said, her voice sounding stiffer than normal.

"But why?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," she said, sounding dead serious. I could tell  she was kidding, in her own strange way, but Alyssa seemed completely creeped out.

I quickly ran up. "Alyssa, just come on, okay?"

She completely switched gears when I joined the conversation. "Oh. Okay." She stood up. "I'll be back in a minute, Rosemary."

Rosemary nodded, staring at me with big eyes. Bethany and Luna led the way to Myrtle's bathroom. I didn't know what to expect from a ghost named "Moaning Myrtle." Maybe she wouldn't be there.

The only "moaning" I heard when we walked in was quiet crying, presumably Anna's. Alyssa frowned at me in confusion as Bethany and Luna slipped out the door.

"Why are we here? This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I promise, she's not the one crying, though."

Alyssa frowned at me in confusion, then started walking towards where the sound had been coming from. It had stopped as soon as Alyssa had started speaking, but we could tell which stall it had been coming from.

When Alyssa reached the door, she looked back at me. I mimed knocking, and she knocked. When no one answered, she timidly said, "Hello?"

After a minute, she gently pushed the unlocked door open, then gasped. "Anna?" I couldn't see much of what was happening, but I saw Alyssa drop to her knees, and soon heard whispering. Quietly, I backed out of the room. They could handle it from there.

The hallway was deserted when I walked out, so I hurried up to Gryffindor Tower to find Albus. It had been more than a few minutes, so he must have been wondering about me by now.

He was playing wizard chess with Cedric when I walked up, and gladly took the excuse to leave the game. Albus was one of the best wizard chess players I knew, and Cedric was possibly the only wizard alive who could beat him.

"Want to go to the library?" he asked. "We have that History of Magic essay due tomorrow, and Rose said that under no circumstances would she help us again when we 'are more than capable of doing it' on our own."

I sighed. "Sure thing. Let me grab my books."

I ran up the steps to my dorm, and found it empty except for Colette, who was searching through her trunk. As soon as she saw me, she quickly closed the lid. I made a point of watching her as I crossed the room to grab my books and a quill, then as I walked out. Her eyes never left mine. It was kind of creepy.

I quickly forgot it, though, as Albus and I sank deep into the ever-interesting world of the founding of Gringotts bank. I had barely half a page when we stopped for lunch around noon. When we got back, Colette was reading at the table we'd been at. I knew that there was no way she could have known we were sitting there, but it annoyed me just the same. Albus and I sat a few tables away and got to work again.

As the quiet of the library infected my brain, it seemed to help me focus. I finished the essay much faster than I would have in the common room, which meant I was free to spend two hours helping Albus. Try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to make the boring events stretch into three parchments.

It was almost five when we were finally done, and James would be back any second. We decided to go wait for him downstairs. Both of us were dying to know how his "date" went, if for different reasons. We ran down to the Great Hall, reaching it just as they started trickling back.

James was surprisingly one of the first. He looked pretty shaken, and wasn't even walking with Mackenzie and Lillie. Lillie was wrapped in a blanket, and looked like she'd been crying. Professor Potter was with them, looking very worried. He led Mackenzie and Lillie off towards the hospital wing, as James walked over to us, lacking his usual grin.

"What happened?" I asked immediately.

"Long story. I don't really want to tell it here," he said, glancing around at the incoming students. "Come on."

Al and I followed silently as James led us up several flights of steps. I had no idea where we were going, though it seemed familiar. Finally, he stopped in front of a wall.

"Where are-"

"Shh!" He started pacing, frowning at the floor. After a few seconds, a door slowly appeared in the wall. I stared, with wide eyes. That door... Why had James brought us here of all places?

When James pushed the door open, though, there was no sign of a fireplace or a chandelier. Instead, there were three large, comfortable-looking armchairs around a table with three steaming cups of hot chocolate. The room was even smaller than it had been.

Al and I stood in the doorway for a second as James walked over and dropped on one of the chairs. After a minute, I slowly walked over and sank into a chair, and Albus did the same.

"Now tell us what happened."

James sighed. "It was so strange. Lillie and Mackenzie and I were just walking around, and Mackenzie suggested we go get some butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks. I was telling them about Padfoot and Prongs and all that, and so of course they wanted to go see the Shrieking Shack.

"Before we left, Lillie went and used the bathroom, and she looked a little strange when she came back, but we didn't think about it much and just left. So, at the Shrieking Shack, I was just about to throw a rock through the window when Lillie started trying to stupefy us! She scared this huge flock of birds away, she was being so loud. I disarmed her, but it was so forceful it knocked her back, and I think she hit her head. Anyway, she wasn't moving, so I had Mackenzie go get Dad, and I stayed with her.

"Turns out she was under the Imperius Curse. She didn't see who cast it on her, either. Dad asked. So it could have been Colette, I guess."

"That doesn't make sense..." I said, frowning. "She was in the library all afternoon. We were there."

"Did you watch her the whole time?"

"Well...no..." Albus admitted.

"Well then, it could have easily been her. She could have snuck off and come back without you noticing."

"How?"

"Using the passage to Honeyduke's basement, of course."

"What?"

"Hand me the Map," he said, sighing in exasperation. "I'll show you."

Albus pulled the Marauder's Map out of his bag and handed it to his brother. James opened the Map on the table, and pointed to a passageway that apparently led off the grounds. "That. I know where it goes because I did some exploring last week in case I got in trouble and Dad didn't sign my permission form. She could have used it."

"Did you tell your dad?"

"Of course not! We need solid evidence first, or he won't believe us."

Albus sighed. "Where will we get that?"

"I don't know yet."

"Well, come on. The Halloween feats will be starting soon," I said, standing up. "Let's go."

The Potter boys stood up as well, and we all walked down to the Great Hall. A few people gave James odd looks, but he ignored them. Mackenzie and Lillie weren't there, which was no surprise. I wondered if James had told Mackenzie about our suspicions of Colette. Hopefully not. I couldn't be grudged wanting one secret between me, James, and Albus only.

~~~~

Credit to hannahsue-- for all those non-Jastra ship names! I stole them from her Ships that I Ship book!

When I stopped the last chapter on a cliffhanger, a lot of you jumped to the conclusion that, based on the chapter's name (Love is Like a Bludger to the Head), that James hit a Bludger at Astra. I thought that was hilarious! Why would he ever do that? I hadn't even meant for that to be a cliffhanger, actually. It just...happened.

Anyway, actual important announcement: it's taking me longer to write chapters now. I haven't had as much time recently as I used to (the curse of high school!) and when I do write, it's normally in short segments in the mornings or at night, and I only get about 300-500 words down each time. So, updates might be more sporadic now. Once a week, for sure, and twice if I have time, but I can't promise any set dates. I honestly can't even remember what day of the week it is.

I just realized something strange.

I am most likely the same age as Victoire Weasley.

It's most likely that she was born in 2000, and we know her birthday is May 2 (oh my gosh, she was born on the same day as my friend). Why is it most likely that she was born in 2000? Because if she wasn't, Teddy and Victoire being together is awkward at best and pedophilia at worst. I mean, that's already a 2 year age gap. She can't have been born in 1999, because then Teddy wouldn't have been snogging her on the platform as a goodbye, as she wouldn't be at Hogwarts anymore. So, I'm the same age as Victoire Weasley. And that is totally awesome!

Question of the day: How old were you when you first read Harry Potter?

Love you guys! Comment and vote and send in questions!

~Ellie