"Bye, see you tomorrow," I waived at the boys in the common room. It was around 10pm, on a Friday night, and I was tired. "Don't forget to wake up early! It's the finals in the Quidditch Cup!" Flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, exclaimed.

Over these past two months, I had met and befriended a lot of people. Mostly thanks to Draco and Filius. The said blonde loved Quidditch and everything that had to do with it, not to mention being a Malfoy granted him a sort of popularity within the house. Thanks to this, and to the fact that I never really leave his side much, I've made friends within the Slytherins.

Filius, on the other hand, has helped me make friends on other houses. Since he sleeps in the Gryffindor dormitories, he introduced me to Percy Weasley, who, may I add, was just as the others had said, Luna Lovegood, a nice Ravenclaw with her head in the clouds, and the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team.

During this time, I was able to hang around George Weasley more often, along with his twin, Fred. They are great people: geniuses with too much time on their hands. During a weekend, they decided to take me on a tour through all the secret passages around Hogwarts. Probably the most exciting thing I have done during my time here.

And let's not forget my flying lessons with George. Professor Mcgonagall had told me I needed to take flying lessons, since last semester all the others took them, and Filius had learned to fly all on his own. Draco volunteered to teach me, but she appointed him instead. "He's more qualified and fit for the job. I would've appointed Oliver Wood, but he's far too busy being team captain," she had said.

That is something else I had noticed during my time here. The professors acted rather odd around me. Professor Quirrell would often loose track of his sentences looking at me, and would often only call me out to answer in class. The rest of the professors, except for Snape, often appointed me partners usually from the Gryffindor house. For transfiguration I was made Ron Weasley's partner, to "help him with his technique", even though he was originally partnered with Granger, for Charms I was placed with Potter, which Draco fought about, and so on.

I made it up to my dorm, pushing all my thoughts aside and letting my brown hair loose from the ponytail it had been tied up in. I let out a sigh, sitting on an arm chair that was placed aside my window. My dorm was just above the lake's surface, which was beautiful and calming to fall asleep listening to the ripples of water. It was currently February 21st, and I had promised to be there for George during his match against Hufflepuff, so I climbed into bed, having to wake up early the next day, and closed my eyes.

The room was dark and humid, with seemingly one light illuminating me. There was a thick fog around me, and an eco resounded as I called for help. I was barefoot, with a green dress that reached down to my calves, bandaging on the bed I had gotten in earlier. I was cold, and I could see my breath in front of me as it blended with the fog. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I sat up, looking around. After a few seconds, a voice spoke.

It was like sweet, melting chocolate. A deep voice, soothing and hypnotizing. "My dear Alya, I'm here for you. No need to be scared," he said. For some reason I felt calm, and a wave of heat washed over my chest. "Who are you?" I asked, and soon a tall figure appeared in front of my bed through the mist. "I am your other half, my dear. You are my queen," he spoke, and as he did, the myst seemed to disperse around his body. I was completely entranced.

He was a tall boy with pale skin. His eyes were a beautiful dark brown, and his hair looked like neatly combed chocolate. He looked just a few tears older than I, and very handsome. He wore a black suit with a velvet green tie. "Your queen?" I asked, leaning closer to where he was. "Are you a prince?" He smiled, and I melted instantly. "You're mine, Alya Gaunt. You're mine and only mine. Destiny has intertwined our lives," he said. He grew closer, as to touch my face, but I heard it then.

A ripple in the water.

I awoke with a start, only to find the most distorted face looking at me directly. At least, I thought it was a face. I yelled at the top of my lungs and started crying, fearing the person had touched me or something while I slept, and tried to reach for my wand. The door opened abruptly, and in came Draco and Pansy. They managed to see the person and tried to stop them, but it was already too late. They had gotten out through the window and climbed to the roof.

I was sobbing out of my mind. The image of the face I'd seen was forever engraved in my memory, and repeated itself over and over in my head. The tears kept falling down my cheeks and my hands were shaking. No wonder I couldn't hold my wand. "Hey, hey, Alya, Aly, it's okay. It'll be okay." Draco hugged me and sat aside me. Pansy had left the room, only to come back a few minutes later with Snape and Argus Filch.

I was still crying, now hyperventilating. It felt as though I couldn't breathe in the room, like the air was squeezing out of my lungs. Draco let me go, looking at Snape for instructions. I saw Pansy and the rest of the girls standing by the door. Snape moved Draco out of the way, and knelt in front of me, making me sit at the edge of the bed. He took both of my hands and held them tightly.  "Alya, breathe with me," he instructed, and started on a set of exercises. I inhaled and exhaled at his rythm, until I was able to breathe again. I still cried and shook.

"Now, tell me what happened," he demanded, in that weird tone of voice he always has. "T-t-there..." I inhaled and tried to calm down my sobs. "T-there was a m-man l-looking at me when I w-woke up." He nodded and I moved my head towards the window. "H-he..." I tried to hold backthe tears, "H-he left through it-the window..." Snape nodded and stood up, saying something to Mister Filch. Snape and Draco later walked me to the infirmary, where Snape thought I'd felt safer.

Madam Pomfrey prepared me a soothing tonic and ordered me to drink it, later handing me and Draco a cup of tea. "It's alright, Aly. I'm here to protect you now," he said with a smile. I tried to smiled back. "Thank y-you." He took my cup from me, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke, startled by the image of the person's face coming to mind suddenly. My head hurt, and my face felt swollen. Draco was asleep next to me, on his chair. I decided not to wake him, and I moved my head towards the nearest window. It was still dark outside, and I was tired. However, I didn't want to fall asleep. The image kept playing over and over in my head until I started to over think. What if the creature comes back? Was it all even real? What if I'm crazy? What did it do to me while I slept? I fell asleep just asking myself unsolvable questions.

I woke up abruptly again, with the image flashing in and out of my memory. It was truly disturbing. I rubbed my eyes, and when I opened them, I saw professor Dumbledore standing far to the left, speaking with Snape and Madam Pomfrey. Draco was awake, and sat at my right side. "Alya, how do you feel?" He asked, handing me a glass of water.

"Not that great," I responded, taking a sip from the cup. Madam Pomfrey approached me and handed me a mug with something else inside. "Drink up, dear. It's an anti trauma potion." I nodded and drank the thing. It was horrible. Dumbledore and Snape approached us while I handed Draco the empty mug.

"Miss Gaunt," Dumbledore started, "I am very sorry for what happened last night. Your guardian has been notified and your room has been protected with a shield charm. I'm trying my best to identify the person that snuck into Hogwarts. Now, I must take my leave. There is a Quidditch match today. I hope to see you both there." And with that he just... left.

I looked at Draco, who just raised his shoulders. "Miss Gaunt, if something out of the ordinary is to happen again, do not hesitate to tell me," Snape said before taking his leave. "You know, I kinda trust Snape more than Dumbledore," I commented at Draco, getting up from the bed. "Tell me about it."

I went back to the common room and changed from my night gown into a pair of brown overalls with a light brown sweater underneath, brown boots and light knee-high socks. I looked all over my luggage and clothes, but wasn't able to find my scarf, and it was cold outside. I decided to just bare it and went down to meet Draco. We walked together to breakfast.

The news had spread fast. As soon as I entered, the mess hall filled with stares and whispers directed at me. I took small steps towards our table, where I sat aside Pansy. "Your face is still swollen," she said, handing me a napkin dipped in cold water to pass on my face. "Thanks, Pansy," I said as I took it. Filius didn't dare to ask what happened, but he was eager to. He sat across from me, silent, with his foot moving up and down. He was anxious.

"I'm okay, Fil," I said, taking a bite of a muffin. "He's dead. Utterly dead," he murmured, angrily eating his eggs. I smiled at his over protectiveness and joked with the others on the table, trying to forget about the events. I saw the Weasley twins enter the hall, and I waved at them. Fred smiled while Geroge waived, going to sit at their usual spot in the Gryffindor table. It was all noise until a familiar voice screamed "She wHAT?!"

Everyone turned to look at George, who just dismissed everyone away. The Quidditch team players left early to get ready for the game soon after, and everyone slowly left too. "Where's your scarf, Alya?" Asked Blaize as we all stood to head to the stadium. "It's cold out today," he finished. "Oh, I forgot to pack it. I don't have one for now," I replied. I then felt something around my neck, and I looked down to see Draco's slytherin scarf around me. I looked at him, "Won't you get cold?" He shook his head. "Nah. My sweater is really thick," he proceeded to show off his green sweater, which was under his coat.

Draco's warmth calmed me to an extent not even I know. His scarf had his perfume, which oddly smelled like a mixture of mint and plums. I fixed the green and silver cloth around my neck as everyone stood from their seats, and walked beside Filius and Pansy to the stadium outside. While the others were busy talking and messing around, Filius started, "Is what I heard right? Alya, did it really happen?" "Depends on what you heard, Filly," Pansy smirked, crossing her arms.

I fidgeted with the hem of my sweater sleeves, "Someone came into my room last night." I held a straight face. I was trying my best to not cry, but the anti trauma potion I drank earlier was still in effect. Recalling the incident wouldn't let me feel anything thanks to it. Filius growled, and angrily put his hands inside his jacket's pockets. "I'm gonna kill him." Pansy chuckled. "You don't even know who it was. No one knows! Not even Aly." We continued to walk, finding seats together.

"That means it was someone from the inside. If there hasn't been a big fuzz about it, it means the person is in Hogwarts." Filius said, angrily staring ahead at nothing. The subject was quickly dropped as the match begun. I was cheering for Gryffindor, and so were the other Slytherins, believe it or not. What I'd noticed about them, was that Slytherins hate to loose, even on bets, so even if their sworn rival was Gryffindor House, they cheered for the house with the highest probability in winning, and that was precisely the red and gold house.

The match ended really soon, since with Harry Potter as their seeker anything was possible. George and Fred scored a lot of points, too. The twins flew above us once they won, and George stopped for a while and smiled at us. The game helped me clear my head for a little while, but then it was time to get back to the common room.

There was nothing much fun to do after the game, other than crash the Gryffindor party in their common room, but we knew some Slytherins weren't welcomed, specifically Draco and Pansy. We played some board games with some third years, as well with Filius, who didn't want to go to the party, up until dinner time. We went up to eat, and soon came down again to the dorms to prepare to sleep.

I took a long, hot shower. For a while, I just stood with the water pressure hitting my chest, but as the anti trauma potion lost it's effect, I felt myself leaning in until I stood under the water. I cried. For no reason and yet for every single reason I started to cry. Not wanting to disturb or alarm any of the other girls, I sustained my sobs by biting my lower lip.

I thought about everything as the water rippled down my body. I wanted it to wash everything. Wash away the images and the dreams and the memories I had of the peculiar night. I stood under there for fifteen minutes, until I calmed down. I turned off the faucet and dried myself with a towel, dressing in my nightgown. I walked to see myself in the mirror.

My eyes weren't as puffy as I'd thought they'd be. I looked tired: with dark circles under my eyes, my skin paler then usual, my lips dry. I took a deep breath and walked up to my room. I looked around as I entered, to see the window now had some iron bars in an interesting design, which most likely contained the shield charm. Everything else was completely still and the same. I climbed into bed, but couldn't fall asleep. The events from the night before were still much too vivid in my head. Upon the breaking of dawn was when I found my dream, and fell into a restless sleep.