The mirror didn't consume my thoughts as much as it had last time. Probably because I'd already had Wren on my mind a lot lately, so it wasn't anything new, really. Sometimes, though, I would feel a deep longing to go find the mirror again and see her.

Really, it was just making me more confused. Over the summer, I'd decided I was mad at her. But, obviously I wasn't, if my deepest desire was to see her again.

I was trying once again to work out how I was feeling in the dorm one night. It had been maybe three days since I'd found the mirror again, and James and Al hadn't left me alone since then. Between Al constantly asking if I was all right, and James trying to casually make sure I wasn't going to sneak out and find it again, the only time I could get to myself was up in my dorm, at night. It was getting annoying. I was starting to feel bad about lying, too, because James hadn't lost that hurt look. He had asked me a few times since then about it, but I kept up the story about my family. I almost wished I'd just told him the truth in the first place, even if it meant I would have started crying then. I couldn't stand looking him in the eyes after I told him that. He looked so hurt, every time.

But I was fine, really. It wasn't a big deal at. James and Al were just being overprotective. Especially since, for the most part, I was perfectly all right.

For the most part.

Now, for instance, I certainly wasn't about to cry. I certainly was paying attention to my book, and I certainly was not letting  my mind wander back to the mirror. And I certainly was not thinking about Wren.

All right, maybe I was. But that was fine, right? As long as I kept my emotions bottled up when I was around others, I could let myself go when I was alone. As long as I didn't cry.

Luckily, Lacy and Iris burst through the door just then. I quickly closed my book and put a smile on my face. I'd gotten better at fake smiling since Thursday, in my opinion. At least my roommates couldn't see through it this year. Maybe that was because Wren was the only person who'd seen through it last year.

Don't think about that!

Lacy and Iris settled themselves on the floor in the middle of the room, and I slipped off my bed to join them. It was easy enough to get your mind off anything when Lacy was involved. She had some sort of gift: the gift of making people laugh. I knew she'd kill me for making the comparison, and that's why I never did, but I thought she was a bit like Luke in that regard.

Eventually, as it got later, Rose came and joined us. Colette also walked into the dorm, but she paid about as much attention to us as I paid to Professor Binns in History of Magic. That was fine by me, though. Colette already had a reputation in Gryffindor Tower, and it wasn't a very good one.

Lacy glanced over at Colette during a break in the conversation. The girl was taking her blue bow out of her hair and gently laying it on the table next to her bed. Lacy's face twisted into a look of confusion. "Why do you always wear that blue bow in your hair?"

Colette tensed up. Slowly, she turned around to face us, her expression emotionless, but her clenched fists were shaking slightly. "What?"

"Why...why do you always wear that bow in your hair...?" Lacy asked, now uncertain.

Colette's emotionless gaze flickered for an instant. Only an instant. Before I could even register what emotion that had been, she snapped, "Why does your hair always look like it's two annoying pom-poms?"

"Excuse you?" Lacy stood up, glaring at Colette. It would have been a little funny, since Colette was almost a head taller than Lacy, if I wasn't so annoyed at Colette. Was that racist? I wasn't quite sure... But Lacy's hair was definitely not a Caucasian trait...

"You heard me," Colette said, crossing her arms. "And don't deny it. You know it's true."

"My hair is perfectly fine, 'pom-pom' or not! At least I have the decency to wear my House's colors, instead of parading around Ravenclaw's!"

"Please stop fighting," Rose said, trying to pull Lacy away. Lacy just shook her away and took a step closer to Colette.

"Oh, of course you don't want us to fight," Colette said, rolling her eyes. "Little Miss Perfect can't even be around other people breaking the rules. Perhaps that's why you are such a suck-up to all the teachers?"

"Hey!" I jumped to my feet, grabbing my wand off the floor as I stood up. Pushing past Lacy, I leveled the wand at Colette.

She glanced down at it in amusement. "What are you going to do? Hex me? I hear you've already gotten in trouble for that this year. Do you really want to lose more points for your precious House?"

"It would be worth it, if I hexed you."

Rose slipped out the door, but I didn't take much notice. I could only hope she wasn't crying.

"Fine," Colette said, picking her own wand up. "If that's how you want to play, so be it."

"You don't scare me." Lying was definitely coming easier to me.

"Likewise, you don't scare me," Colette said calmly.

Before we could actually cast any spells, the door burst open and someone shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Both of our wands flew out of our hands. They landed in the open palm of Victoire Weasley, who was glaring at both of us.

"What is going on?" she asked sternly.

I didn't really have an answer to that. "Colette was being a prat."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "You and Dom are too similar. It doesn't matter if she was. You two can't have duels in your dorm!"

"Would you care to tell us where we could have duels?" Colette asked instantly. I had been on the verge of asking a similar question, but now that she had, I quickly dispelled the thought from my head.

"No, I would not, because that place doesn't exist here. You can't have duels period. Especially not in your dorm!" Victoire glared at both of us. "Okay?"

"Okay," I muttered, glaring at Colette. Victoire handed us our wands back and I climbed into bed. She closed the door after she'd made certain that we were calm.

Rose smiled weakly at me from her bed. "Sorry, but at least you didn't lose any more points."

I nodded. "Yeah, seriously. Rose, you didn't need to get Victoire..."

"Yes, I did! You were going to fight her!"

I sighed. That was true enough. "Fine. Good night."

"Night." Rose pointed her wand at the light in the middle of the room and muttered a spell, and the light turned off.

Sleep came quickly, which was good. The last thing I needed was hours to reflect on everything that had happened recently.

Of course, sleep also brings dreams.

Two teens who looked fairly familiar were walking along a sidewalk. It was snowing, and all the businesses with light streaming out of the windows looked warm and inviting, not that I could feel the cold. I floated along next to the boy and the girl.

The boy poked the girl's side, smiling. "Hey!" The girl shrieked. She giggled and leaned against him as they walked.

"Hey yourself," he said, laughing. He put his arm around her. "You sure you aren't cold?"

Something was off about their voices, but I could tell what it was now. They weren't British. They sounded American.

"Well, maybe I am," the girl said, shrugging.

The boy thought a minute, then said, "Want a butterbeer?"

"Of course!"

"All right, come on!" He grabbed her hand and ran down the street toward a large building. They slipped through the door and brushed the snow off each other, then the girl went to sit down as the boy walked over to the counter to order their drinks. After a minute, he joined her, bearing two filled-to-the-brim glasses of butterbeer.

"This is so nice," the girl said, smiling across the table at him. "We should do this more often."

"If we can convince your parents. I can tell they don't like me, Kat. Especially after they heard what happened to mine."

"Don't be silly. They just need to get to know you, that's all. Trust me, if they spent a day with you, they'd just adore you, Isaac."

I blinked, and suddenly I was back in the dorm. Everyone around me was sleeping peacefully, but I could feel my breathing quickening. Isaac? Kat? Those names...

I disentangled myself from my blankets and rolled out of bed. "Rose!" I hissed, trying not to wake anyone else up. I shook her lightly. "Rose, I need you!"

Rose woke up with a start. She blinked, then yawned. "What is it?"

"Rose, I had a dream."

"Oh, that's nice."

She started to roll over again, and I quickly added, "I think it was about the Predatel's."

"What?"

"Exactly. Listen." I quickly explained it all. As I did, I remembered my dream from a few weeks ago. The crazy, sporadic one. It had ended with a scene I could have sworn was about the same two teenagers. I couldn't remember it well, but what I did remember, I told Rose about.

By the time I'd finished, Rose was thoroughly awake. She lit the tip of her wand dimly and fumbled around in trunk for something as she said, "That's crazy! What does it mean?"

"I don't know!"

"I've got an idea. Let's write down everything, and maybe Professor Firenze will be able to tell us if it means anything later."

I hadn't even thought about that, throughout the whole time I'd been at Hogwarts. It was a good idea, though. If my dreams were anything more than dreams, the Divination teacher would be able to tell.

Rose had me repeat everything, including every detail I could remember, and she jotted down notes about it. Before she let me go back to sleep, she made me promise to wake her up if I had anymore weird dreams.

I didn't, though, which was good, because I'd found that you don't sleep well while you're in the midst of those dreams. The rest of the night was spent resting peacefully.

We didn't get a chance to speak with Professor Firenze the next day. Part of me was glad. After all, it was a good idea, but the professor was a centaur. Scary.

So, instead of being productive, Rose and I spent that afternoon after classes outside in one of the courtyards, with several other Gryffindors. Luke and River were singing a song and dancing together, which everyone around me thought was completely amazing. How did they know it without rehearsing? I didn't ruin the act by telling everyone that the dance was off a popular YouTube video.

Suddenly, Al nudged me in the side. I glanced at him and saw that he was pointing towards a girl walking through the large doors of the castle, towards us. Unfortunately, I recognized her.

"Hide me!" I hissed to Albus. I wasn't in the mood right now to talk to Adalyn (as if I ever was). Al stepped in front of me, trying to block me from her view, but it must have been too late. Adalyn made a beeline towards us.

"Hi!" she said breathlessly, standing a little too close to me. I took a step back.

"Hi, Adalyn."

"Brigitte said you hexed Ciara Malfoy! Did you really?"

"Yeah."

"That's so... So brave, and awesome, and amazing! How'd you do it?"

"Oh, you know," I said, flicking my wand absently. "I just... Said the word... I guess..."

"I wish I was brave enough to do that. I don't like Ciara. She's mean."

"Good taste."

"She's always talking about how much she hates you."

"That's nice." I wasn't really paying attention at this point. I was hoping Adalyn would take a hint and leave me alone.

"No, it's not!" Adalyn crossed her arms and frowned at me.

"Oh, then that's terrible."

"Do you think you could teach me some spells?"

"I don't know... I'm kinda busy... Quidditch, and all..." Why couldn't Quidditch practice be today? I'd have an excuse to leave, at least.

Al glanced at me. "Adalyn, you'll learn everything Astra knows by June..."

"That can't be true!" Adalyn said indignantly. "She wouldn't have been able to save the school if she only knew first year spells!"

I sighed. "You'd be surprised..."

"The girl who did it, wasn't she your friend?"

There it was. I didn't know how to answer that. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone, but especially not her. Couldn't Adalyn just leave? By now people had noticed her, and were watching us. Of course, they would want to hear how I felt about Wren, too.

"Let's talk about something els-"

"It's so cool that you were brave enough to scare her away, even though she was your friend," Adalyn said, looking up at me in awe. I wanted to melt into the pavement.

"What is this?" The crowd parted, and the last person I wanted to see stepped towards me. Colette smirked as she continued, "A meeting of your fan club? Of course you'd be a member. How ridiculous."

Adalyn looked surprised. As annoying as she was, I didn't want Colette to hurt her feelings. And Colette always seemed to know how to get under people's skin.

"I don't have a fan club, you idiot," I said, rolling my eyes. "I have friends, though, which is more than you have." I saw Adalyn's surprised look turn to shocked and happy as I put my arm around her shoulder and smiled haughtily at Colette.

"I don't need friends. They have a tendency of betraying you, do they not? You would know all about that."

If there had been no one around, I would have hexed her into oblivion right then. Luckily, I didn't have to.

James stepped up next to me. "What did you say?"

"Oh, yes, you would know what I'm talking about too, wouldn't you?" Colette smiled, sickly sweet.

"You better watch what you say, or I'll-"

"Or you'll what? Hex me? Oh yes, I am just so scared of Harry Potter's poster child son!" Colette said spitefully.

That did it. I knew that the one thing James wanted more than anything else was to finally step out of his father's shadow. He'd managed to do it for a while, too, last year. But calling him a "poster child" was the most terrible thing Colette could have done. And judging by the smirk on her face, she knew it.

There was absolute silence from my classmates. The only sound was a lone bird flying away. James appeared shocked for a minute. Slowly, shock turned into a glare and he pulled his wand out. "Take that back!"

Colette smiled sweetly. "Make me." Then, she simply turned and walked away.

Everyone around us was too stunned to speak. Quickly, James turned and ran off in the opposite direction. I took off after him, with Al at my heels.

We followed him to the Quidditch pitch. A few seconds after Al and I caught up to him, Mackenzie Walker joined us. I was less than thrilled about that, though I didn't know why. She would probably help a lot.

"James?" Al said. James had sunk to his knees on the grass. "James, are you okay?"

I got to my knees in front of him. "James, listen, what she said isn't true."

"Not at all," Mackenzie echoed, sitting beside me.

"You don't understand," he said, shaking his head. "It is true. That's all I'll ever be. Harry Potter's son."

"No, you won't!" I said, desperate to make him see this. He was so much more than simply Harry Potter's son. "You'll be James Sirius Potter, the one who saved the school in his second year!"

"That's not so special when your dad did it before you, not to mention all the other times he did it," James muttered.

Mackenzie put her hand on James's. "James, look at me." He looked up. "You were never just Harry Potter's son to me. You never will be. And you never will be to Astra or Albus or anyone of your friends, either. We love you because you're you. Not because you're Harry Potter's son."

"Think about it: I didn't even know who your dad was until after I'd already become your friend," I added.

"If anyone's going to end up just being 'Harry Potter's son,' it's me," Albus said, smiling. "You're the bravest person I know, James."

"Anyway," I said firmly, "Colette is the biggest prat I've ever met. You can't believe anything she says."

James sighed. He glanced around at us, then smiled. "Thanks. And sorry, too."

"It's okay!" Mackenzie said, smiling brightly. "I'm just glad you know that's not true!"

Could she not see the doubt in his face? We may have partly convinced him, but he wasn't assured that we were right. It was obvious.

James smiled (it seemed fake) before I could say anything. "Yeah, of course it isn't. Let's go inside."

We all stood up and walked up to the castle together. Al and I walked behind Mackenzie and James, who were shoulder to shoulder and laughing. It was annoying, really. And the lump in my throat had absolutely nothing to do with it.

~~~~

So, I'm finally able to say this, but shoutout to Bananabrains13! She's been reading Star of Gryffindor, and from the very beginning, she's been blaming Wren. It's been pretty funny! And I can finally post this without spoiling anything because she finally got to that part in the book! So, thanks Bananabrains13 for reading and making my day with your comments! And thanks to all of you, really, who I don't thank nearly enough. You are all so amazing!

So comment, please!! Vote, as well! Thanks!

Love you guys!

~Ellie