Answer to last chapter's question: I was 15, because it was this summer (2015). It took 15 days! Lots of 15s... Anyway, I've heard that's really fast, even for these amazingly awesome books. Is it?

Everyone give a big round of applause to liefshannah for making the last chapter the most commented on chapter in the series to date! 179 comments, over a hundred of a which are hers! Thanks, Hannah! I love when you all comment, and Hannah never fails to!

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It turned out that James hadn't told Mackenzie a thing. Which was good. It meant he still trusted Al and I more than anyone. And who could blame him for that? After what we'd been through last year, it made sense.

The day after Halloween, Scorpius, with Rose in tow, ran up to the three of us. We were outside, pretending to study, but really just brainstorming ideas on how to get revenge on Colette. It was definitely getting serious if she used the Imperius Curse, and we didn't doubt she knew it, considering all those books she had.

"I talked to Ciara," Scorpius called as he came to a halt next to Albus. He dropped to his knees, and Rose sat down next to him. "About what happened to Astra, with the Bludger."

"What'd she say?" James asked eagerly.

"She said she hadn't known anything about it at all." He rolled his eyes. "Very likely."

"Well, we can't really do anything about it," Rose said, shrugging. "She's one of the ones with detention."

Scorpius sighed. "I'm really sorry, Astra."

"It's okay," I said quickly. "I'm fine."

"At least she has detention," Albus said. Scorpius nodded.

"I asked Goyle about it, too," Scorpius said after a minute. "He wouldn't tell me anything, but I got the feeling they did it because they were afraid Ciara wouldn't be able to catch the Snitch before you."

James started laughing, and soon Albus and I were laughing as well. Imagine that. No wonder she told Scorpius she hadn't known about it. Who would want to admit to that?

I didn't know what to say after that, and apparently no one else did, either. We sat in silence for a while after we calmed down, before James glanced at his watch and announced it was time for dinner.

November plodded on. This time last year, Wren had been making Albus and I study for our exams every spare moment. Now, I tried to focus on that, but it was hard. So many other things were fighting for my attention - Quidditch, Mackenzie and James, revenge on Colette, frequent fights with Ciara and Nico. Also, studying was boring. In Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, I felt very prepared, and didn't need to spend much time studying. My other classes were an entirely different story.

One day, as I was trying my hardest to focus on the proper recipe for a Swelling Solution for an essay, I noticed one of the first years sitting alone in one of the window seats. Happy for any distraction, I got up and walked over.

The boy was curled up against the wall, staring out at the rainy landscape. It took me a second to remember his name; I hadn't spoken to him since the Sorting, to my knowledge. Dean. Dean Malfoy. He looked a little...dismal. The window was cold, but his forehead was pressed against it. I slowly sat down on the other end of the seat.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He nodded, still staring out at the dreary scene outside. The rain was just drizzling, and it was cold gray and slightly foggy outside. The perfect day to curl up next to fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. I looked out the window, not sure what to say. Dean didn't look okay.

Dean suddenly stirred and turned to me. "Astra, you don't think I'm a Death Eater, do you?"

I tilted my head a little, surprised at the suddenness. "Of course not. Did someone say you were?"

"Yeah..."

"Who?"

"Um..."

"You can tell me. I won't tell anyone else."

He took a deep breath, then said, "Caleb Goldstein and Mitch Schreider. They're in my year. They said I didn't belong in Gryffindor because I was a Malfoy. I'm not even one of the bad Malfoys!"

"Don't listen to them," I said, frowning. How could they say that?  "They're idiots. Being a Malfoy doesn't make you bad, obviously. I mean, look at Scorpius."

He smiled a little. "I'm not even descended from Death Eaters."

"That's right," I said, smiling. "Anyway, it wouldn't matter if you were, right? It doesn't matter who you are, just what you do."

Dean nodded, thinking about that. "You know, the hat wanted to put me here, but at first I didn't want it to. I asked for Slytherin. That's what all Malfoys are."

"Not anymore. And that's good," I said, grinning. "Anyway, just forget about Mitch and Caleb. If you want a friend, go hang out with Cedric. I promise, he won't care what your name is."

Dean smiled, standing up. "Thanks, Astra. I didn't think anyone wanted me here."

"We all want you here," I assured him.

"Thanks," he said again, then walked away, over towards Cedric. I smiled as I watched him sit down slowly next to Clarissa's brother. In two minutes, they were laughing like old friends. Cedric had that effect on people, from what I could tell.

A few minutes later, after I had wandered back to my books, I heard a voice that most certainly didn't belong in this common room. I turned a little so I could see her out of the corner of my eye. River, really? Surely she knew only Gryffindors could come here... Of course, Dominque and Scorpius were in and out all the time. I was beginning to think they knew the password. I watched River and Adalyn walking in, dodging other students who didn't seem to notice or care that someone didn't belong.

"Everything must be so bright up here," Adalyn was saying. "In the Slythrrin common rooms, the windows actually look into the lake, so we don't get sunlight." She stared up at the windows that stretched up to the ceiling.

"It's awesome," River agreed. She saw me and waved, and I acted deeply engrossed in my book, hoping she wouldn't come over here. No such luck.

"Hey, Astra! I'm showing Adalyn around Gryffindor Tower. Wanna come?"

I faked my best smile. "I'd love to, but I've got to-"

"You would?" Adalyn asked, sounding shocked and excited. "Really?"

"Yes, but-"

"Come on, then," River said, grabbing my arm and pulling me to my feet. "Let's go."

Before I could protest, River dragged me away from the table and led us on a tour of the tower. It was the longest half hour of my life, with Adalyn making a "you're so awesome" comment to me every thirty seconds.

"Astra, I wish I was like you," she said, sighing, as we passed Roxanne and Lillie, who said hello to me. "I can't make any friends beyond River and Brigitte."

I frowned. "That stinks. I'm sorry."

"How do you do it?"

I blinked. "Do what?"

"Make friends...?"

"Oh. Oh, that. Well... I don't know... Just talk to them?"

"Make them laugh at your sarcastic sense of humor?" suggested River.

"That, too."

"Oh. I don't have that," Adalyn said with a sigh. "I wish I were as good at that as you..."

It was hard to stop myself from strangling her for saying that for at least the fiftieth time. To distract myself, I bumped into the closest person I could find.

"Oi, Astra, watch it!" Luke said, as he dropped his books. He grinned and rolled his eyes as I quickly dropped down to help him pick everything up.

"Oh, hey, Luke, are we doing the serenading tonight?" River asked.

"What?" I said.

"Of course," Luke answered, then turned to frown at me for several seconds.

"What?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"You wouldn't happen to know a lot of Disney songs, would you?"

"Um... I know a couple... Why-"

"Perfect!" River squealed. "You can help."

"What's Disney?" Adalyn asked.

"I'll explain later," River said. "Anyway, Astra, you're going to help us, okay?"

"Help with what?"

"You'll see!" Luke said. He stood up, winked at me, and walked away. I glanced in confusion at River, who just laughed. She and Adalyn walked off, leaving me alone, finally.

I found out what they meant that night, when they ambushed me before dinner and pulled me over to a fairly secluded alcove.

"What're you-"

"Shh!" River cautioned, glancing over her shoulder. "Just listen."

Luke and River explained exactly what they meant by "serenading." Apparently, they were planning to run around the Great Hall singing Disney songs at people. They'd gotten a few of the muggleborns to pay for them to sing to their friends. Would I be interested in helping?

"Wait, you were doing this and didn't tell me? I would have had you do it to James, and Albus, and Rose..."

"Well, we need you to help, so it doesn't matter," Luke said firmly.

I paused. Singing was not my forte. I wasn't especially sure that I wanted to make a fool of myself in front of everyone, either. I mean, this wasn't even just Gryffindor Tower; this was the whole school! I couldn't do that! I quickly shook my head, my breathing a little faster than normal.

"I can't," I said as calmly as I could. If I started hyperventilating, they'd probably go get a teacher, and I was perfectly fine.

"Oh, come on," River said. "You can!"

I shook my head. "No, no I can't."

"Astra..." Luke pleaded, "We just need you to help sing..."

"No! I can't sing in front of people!"

River and Luke exchanged a look. Finally, Luke sighed. "Fine. We'll do it ourselves." He grinned, then shooed me off to go sit down so they could get ready.

It was one of the weirdest and funniest things I'd ever seen in my life. All the muggleborns could hardly eat, they were laughing so hard. River and Luke sang the reindeer song from Frozen to a fifth year Slytherin boy, who looked like he would be pounding them into mush if the whole hall wasn't watching. Lillie had gotten them to sing something to just about everyone she knew, including "Under the Sea" to Roxanne, who had "fallen" in the lake earlier that week. I highly suspected either James or Fred pushed her.

Overall, it was the best night that whole term. Most purebloods and halfbloods had no idea what was going on, which made it all the more funnier. River and Luke had outdone themselves.

I was still smiling as we climbed the stairs to our dorm. River and Luke had sung "Mother Knows Best" to Iris, and Colette was sitting near her. She actually got up and walked out, which was an added bonus.

It was late by the time we finally turned out the light and went to bed. Colette wasn't in the dorm, or the common room, so we assumed she wouldn't need the light and blew it out. It wasn't long before I fell asleep, in spite of Lacy and Iris's whispers and giggles.

I was following a short, grumbling man down a damp, cramped passage. The Hogwarts dungeons? No, too dark. At least the ones at school had torches every few feet. Here, the only light came from somewhere behind me, and was bobbing along like someone was holding it. I glanced over my shoulder and saw an old woman following me, carrying a candle and looking upset. Behind her was a shadow that seemed to be another person, though I couldn't see them.

I turned around as I passed right through the man, who had stopped at a door and had a large key in hand. He stuck it into the keyhole, and quickly turned it. I followed him inside, curious. A minute later, I gasped and almost fell backward through the partially closed door.

Inside the room, which was surprisingly dry, was a girl, dressed in rags. She was thinner than I thought possible for a human, and she obviously hadn't been able to brush her hair or clean herself up in a while. She was incredibly pale and looked very weak and sickly. It was quite appalling. The worst part was when she looked up. I recognized that face. I knew those eyes. What had happened to my friend?

The man roughly grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet. Wren didn't even protest. She looked frightened, though.

"Oh, relax," the man said. "If you obey, he won't hurt you this time. Come on." He dragged her out the door, and I followed, scared of what we'd meet.

The old woman with the candle had moved away from the door. In her place stood another man, this one tall and probably handsome, if he hadn't had a sadistic smile on his face.

Wren cowered away from him as the shorter man pushed her forward. The other man stood with his arms crossed, drumming his fingers against his arms. After a few agonizingly long minutes, he cleared his throat.

"Whether or not you are ready to talk, you will have to act, and now." Wren stared at the floor and didn't answer.

With one step, the man was in front of her. He grabbed her chin and forced her head up so that he could look in her eyes. "If you choose to not do what I say, your mother and father will not live to finish their assignment. They will follow in the footsteps of your precious grandfather."

Wren's eyes widened, and she looked terrified. "No..." Her voice sounded raw and scratchy, like she hadn't used it recently.

"Then I expect to have no trouble, understood? Come." He whirled around and started off down the passageway, the way we'd come. The old woman threw a worried smile in Wren's direction, then quickly followed. The short man prodded Wren in the back, and she followed as well.

I tried to run after them, but suddenly it seemed like I was running through water. I tried to call out, but my voice didn't work. Suddenly, I was whirled through nothing, and I was surrounded by the most eerie and insane laughter I'd heard in my life.

I sat up, gasping for breath and crying. Rose was at my side, looking terrified. "What was it this time?" she whispered.

"Wren..." I managed to pant out. "She was... I couldn't..."

Rose quickly ran over to her trunk and pulled a pad of paper out. "Tell me everything you can remember."

So I did, starting with walking down the passage. This was the most vivid dream I'd had in a long time, and it scared me. Had this really happened? Surely that was just my imagination, taking the worst case scenario and turning it into a nightmare.

Rose looked spooked as she put the notepad down at the end. "That's really creepy..."

"I suppose it was my imagination," I said, shrugging. I was feeling a lot calmer now that I'd related the dream to someone.

"You remembered it so clearly," Rose said, apparently thinking out loud. She didn't continue, though. A minute later, she snapped out of it. "I think we should talk to Firenze in the morning."

I sighed. "Rose, we don't need to do that."

"We should, just in case."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever makes you feel better. I promise, it was just a nightmare. They happen a lot."

Rose didn't seem convinced, but lay down and went to sleep anyway. I didn't sleep well after that. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw that man's sadistic smile.

~~~~

"Professor, we were wondering if we might have a word with you."

The centaur frowned at Rose. "And what would this 'word' be about?"

Rose glanced at me nervously, then said, "Could we close the door, at least?"

We were in Professor Firenze's classroom. It was the strangest one in the school, as far as I was concerned - it was exactly like a forest clearing. The floor was moss and dirt, and there were trees throughout the room. Several rocks were gathered in a semicircle in the middle of the room, and I guessed that was where the class sat. I was staring around, trying to take it all in, and didn't even notice when Rose told him what we were there for. I came back to reality when Firenze asked me to recount my dream, and any others I remembered, if I could.

Strangely enough, I remembered it all almost exactly as it had happened. It was a bit surreal, being in a classroom forest, talking to a centaur, and remembering a dream perfectly. The others were harder to remember, but I told him everything I could.

He frowned after I'd explained it all. The silence stretched out for several minutes, and it was starting to get uncomfortable. Finally, he sighed.

"I have never heard of a phenomenon like this before now. To have dreams that seem to relay what is happening? Or has happened? I do not know what it could mean. I can study the stars, but that will not render much help unless this will greatly affect the course of the earth."

I sighed. Firenze dropped down on his knees and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I am deeply sorry I could help you more. It is very intriguing, but I do not know what it means."

Rose nodded. "Thanks, anyway, Professor." We waved goodbye and walked out. It was a little disappointing, but only reaffirmed my belief that it was a nightmare. I didn't want to entertain any other options.

We headed off to History of Magic, and I decided to be productive. I certainly wasn't going to pay attention to Professor Binns' lecture, and I didn't want my thoughts wandering to the dream, but maybe I could work on something else.

I put my book squarely in the center of my desk, and pointed my wand at it. I blocked all other thoughts. Winguardium Leviosa. Over and over, that one thought circulated through my head. Until the book flew up, hit the ceiling at an angle, and fell straight down through the professor's ghostly head.

Everyone was staring at me. Even Professor Binns stopped his lecture, blinking. A minute later, he started up again, but no one was listening.

"Astra, how'd you do that?" Albus whispered.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Nonverbal magic," Henry Tinter whispered in awe. "My cousin can't even do that, and he's a sixth year!"

Colette was staring at me in shock. I smiled sweetly at her. That's right, that was me. I was a more powerful witch than her, it seemed, even with all of her books.

By then, everyone was clamoring for me to do it again. I tried, but only got it a few inches off the table. It was so much harder with eight people staring at me.

Word quickly spread through the school, though most people didn't believe it. I normally didn't have the time to prove it, or people didn't have the patience to wait ten minutes for it to work. I'd have to work on timing. Otherwise, I was doing pretty well for a second year.

November gave way to December, and I passed my exams. They weren't as hard as I'd been anticipating. Albus and I spent the last few days before the holidays making snowballs with magic and throwing them at our friends. It would have been more fun if it had actually snowed, but that didn't happen.

One thing everything was looking forward to was Christmas. Mr. Potter had invited me to stay with them over the holidays again, and it was sure to be as crazy and fun as the year before. I could hardly wait.

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This is the halfway point in this book! I have 27 chapters lined out, and unless I get major inspiration to change everything, this chapter marks halfway through Saving Star! That's exciting! And really encouraging for me because that means the plot is about to get a lot more interesting (and thus easier) to write.

Question of the day: What do you guys think about Dolores Umbridge? Anyone here like her? Whether you do or don't, explain why in the comments!

Love you guys! Keep commenting and voting and making my day absolutely amazing! The days just after I post a chapter are always my favorites, because I've spent anywhere from two days to a week working on the chapter, and I finally get to see how you guys like it!

~Ellie