A few days after, I had successfully put the images in the mirror out of my mind.

Almost.

Sometimes, if my mind wandered during class, I would find myself daydreaming about them. I would be cooking with my mother, or raking leaves in the garden with my dad. Or maybe I'd be playing tag with my brother, or reading to my sister.

Whenever that happened, I would quickly try to focus on the professor again. I couldn't obsess over this. Like James said, they might not even be real.

One day, I was sitting in Potions class, trying my best to copy Wren as she deftly chopped her dittany and measured it out. I might not have been skilled with a knife, but at least I could understand what I was doing. At the table in front of me, Luke and Albus were obviously struggling. Wren kept hissing instructions at them under the cover of searching for a better knife.

Luke clicked his pen whenever he needed help. Everyone in first year seemed mystified by the pen, a muggle contraption that they'd apparently never set eyes on before. Because of that, Luke made a point to use it whenever possible. I think it might have been his most prized possession.

Professor Sulcan prowled the room, breathing down everyone's necks, frowning whenever Luke's pen clicked but apparently unable to locate the source of the mysterious ticking noise. He seemed to always pay particular attention to the Gryffindors, making us more clumsy and nervous than we would have been with a different teacher. I doubt the clicking pen helped.

The worst part about him was that he refused to allow Rose and Scorpius to be partners. Scorpius was assigned a seat next to an ugly Slytherin boy named Atticus Calrone, and Rose was stuck with Henry Tinter, a Gryffindor who always managed to make his potions explode.

Suddenly, Albus and Luke yelled and jumped backwards, knocking over the table Wren and I had been working on. It fell into one of the shelves containing extra Potions books and supplies, knocking everything on the floor and creating a huge mess. Before I had time to yell at them, Luke's cauldron burst into flames, melting his cauldron and setting the table on fire. Students were screaming, and Professor Sulcan hastily put out the fire, before turning on the two boys.

Albus stared at the mess with wide, shocked eyes. Slowly, he turned his gaze to look at Luke, completely calm in the chaos.

"What," hissed Professor Sulcan, "was that?" He glanced back and forth between the two potentially guilty parties before deciding on the more obvious one. "Luke!"

"I am your father!" Luke shouted, then resumed his smirk. Everyone stared at him in shock, except me. It was too much. Luke standing there, serene and unmoved, in the midst of the remains of his potion, yelling back a Star Wars quote at Professor Sulcan. I doubled over laughing.

"W-what?" asked the professor, slightly taken aback.

"Search your feelings!" Luke said boldly. "You know it to be true!"

Wren frowned at me as I sat down on the floor, trying to hold in my giggles. The last thing I wanted was for Professor Sulcan to notice me.

Professor Sulcan frowned at Luke. "Young man, I do not appreciate being made a joke of." He indicated me with his head.

Luke wasn't done, though. He jumped up onto one of the upright tables and quoted, very dramatically, "You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny! Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son! Come with me. It is the only way." He struck a pose and stared off into the distance.

Everyone stared at him, blinking in surprise. Even I was shocked. I mean, it was Luke, but did he know that movie by heart or something? And was her completely stupid? It was incredibly funny, but Professor Sulcan might not have been the best target.

Professor Sulcan broke the silence by barking, "That is enough! Detention for you tonight, and twenty points from Gryffindor for disrupting class!"

"Totally worth it," Luke whispered to me on the way out of class. He gave me a high five and ran off.

"What on earth was that?" Wren asked as we mounted the stairs out of the dungeons.

"Oh, you know, Star Wars."

"Star Wars?" Albus asked in confusion.

"It's this really old movie from the seventies or something."

"Oh, a movie..." Wren nodded. "I've heard of those. They're like wizarding pictures, kind of...right? But longer, and a story?"

I nodded. "I guess so. Sort of. They've got sound, too, and it's really cool."

"Cool," Albus said. "I think my dad's seen one before. He was raised by Muggles."

I rolled my eyes. "This summer, we're going to watch a movie, ok?"

"All right!" Albus said enthusiastically.

Wren smiled slightly. "Okay..."

~~~~

All of the Gryffindor first years, and most of the second years, waited anxiously for Luke to return from his detention. As far as we knew, no one had ever done anything like that in Professor Sulcan's class. Most of the older kids, Victoire especially, were grumbling about how stupid it was, we'd lost twenty points! But the first and second years found it highly amusing, especially after Lillie and I had explained Star Wars to them.

It was late when Luke finally stumbled through the portrait hole, and he looked exhausted. However, once he noticed us, he smiled proudly and swaggered over to our group, huddled around the fireplace.

"What happened?" James asked as Luke settled himself in one of the chairs.

"Did he hex you?" asked a horrified Mackenzie.

"Once he made my brother, Elias, clean out all of the cauldrons," Iris said, shuddering.

"Did he make you cut up slugs?" suggested Henry.

"Ew!" Lacy hit Henry with a pillow. "Gross!"

"We thought you'd died, mate," Eric said seriously.

"Why'd it take so long?" I asked.

Luke smiled. "Let me talk!" Instant silence. "It took so long because he made me clean the entire mess I made without magic."

Several people gasped.

"How'd you do it so fast?" Rose asked, awe creeping into her voice.

"Simple. When he wasn't looking, I used magic."

James raised his eyebrows. "Nice. That's almost James-worthy."

Colin Creevey shoved James's shoulder playfully. "Arrogant, much?"

"Really, James," Mackenzie added, laughing.

Luke smirked. "I think it was better than James-worthy. More like Luke-worthy."

James rolled his eyes. "You wish that was a thing." He had to duck when Luke chucked a pillow at him.

Several of the second year girls rolled their eyes and walked away, apparently "too mature" for Luke and James or something.

Eventually, other people drifted off to bed. Soon, Luke got up, as well. As he started walking towards the stairs, he reached into his pocket. Suddenly, he froze.

"What's wrong?" I called.

"My pen! It's gone! I must have left it in Professor Sulcan's office!"

I shrugged. "Get a new one."

"I can't get a new one till summer! My parents refuse to have owls flying around our house!"

I frowned. "Well, I'm sorry..." Suddenly, I got an idea. "You know, I might be able to get it, without being caught..."

Luke looked skeptical. "Oh really?"

"Let me try, ok?"

He shrugged resignedly. "Ok. Maybe if you can't get it, I can get Lillie to get her parents to send me one. I really hate quills." He sighed and trudged towards the stairs.

I didn't waste any time in finding James. He was still sitting by the fire, listening to Lillie describe how Instagram worked. He looked incredibly bored, and was more than happy to let me drag him away from the conversation.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Can I borrow your cloak?"

James frowned. "I'm not supposed to lend it to people, actually. Why?"

"Well, Luke left his pen in Professor Sulcan's office, and he won't be able to get a new one, so..."

With a grin, James said, "Hey, I'll come with you, ok?"

"Really?"

"Anything to get a away from the complex workings of that Insta-gram thing. Let's go."

James and I climbed through the portrait hole before he threw the Cloak over us. We walked through the corridors silently, passing Filch twice and Mrs. Norris once. James hadn't even brought the map. Who needed to know where people were if they couldn't see you?

Slowly, we made our way down to the dungeons. The door to Professor Sulcan's office was locked, but James muttered, "Alohomora," and it sprang open. It always amazed me how simple everything could be in the wizarding world.

Once inside, I closed the door quickly and slipped out from underneath the cloak. We both lit the tips of our wands and scoured the floor for the small, black pen.

It was cold and damp, and I didn't see how anyone could choose to have an office down here. I'd heard that the Slytherin dorms were in the dungeons as well. How could they stand it?

Eventually, James found the pen, and we slipped out of the office and practically ran from the dungeons. The rest of the castle was much warmer.

I don't know if it was the warmth, or the fact that we successfully accomplished what we set out to do, but we got a bit reckless. We didn't both to hide our footsteps. Who cared, anyway? People would think they were hearing things.

Suddenly, a scream rang out through the halls. James glanced at me, and we took off in the direction of the sound.

I didn't bother to pay attention to where we were running. The screams continued for about ten minutes, growing softer gradually, before we finally found the corridor they were coming from.

There, at the other end of the corridor, was the cloaked figure, standing over the lifeless form of a student, casting a curse on her. I assumed the student was unconscious; I didn't want to think about any other possibilities.

James stared in shock at the scene before us, then suddenly yelled and started sprinting down the hall toward the cloaked figure. As he ran, he threw the cloak back at me.

"James, no!" I started running after him.

By the time we'd reached the student, the figure was gone. James dropped to his knees next to the girl, who I could now see was shaking spastically and whimpering. James rolled her over slightly so we could see her face.

"Clarissa..." I gasped, dropping to my knees next to James.

Before either of us could do anything, Filch limped into the corridor. "Hey, what're you lot doing out of bed?"

James and I shifted so that Clarissa's prostrate form was visible to the old man. His scowl dropped, replaced by a simple frown. "You there, go get the headmistress."

James hopped to his feet and ran off in the direction of McGonagall's office. I didn't move from my spot. Clarissa wasn't even unconscious, really. Her eyes were open, but unfocused. Her whole body shook, and she didn't seem to be able to move at all.

After what seemed like eternity, I heard the footsteps that meant James's return, followed by Professor McGonagall, Professor Potter, and Madam Pomfrey.

"What happened?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.

James glanced at me. "Well, um, we heard screams, so we came to see what was the matter, in case someone was hurt, and we saw the attacker again."

Professor Potter's eyes grew wide. "What did he look like? Which way did he go?"

"Well, he was wearing that cloak again," I said slowly. "He went that way, though." I pointed in the direction the attacker fled.

Professor Potter nodded, and set off. Filch chose that moment to speak up.

"Seems to me that these two kids have a nasty little habit of showing up exactly when these things occur...and isn't it inconvenient that the attacker wears a cloak? Shame..." He smiled meaningfully.

James glared at the man. "If you're accusing us, you're wrong. We would never do something like this."

"And I quite believe you, James," McGonagall said firmly. "Mr. Filch, would you be so kind as to not accuse any students without evidence?"

Filch mumbled something and limped away, grumbling.

"She's not doing well," Madam Pomfrey said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yes, well, before we do anything, these two need to be off to bed. You were very brave tonight, but you need to sleep. Off with you."

James and I slowly stood and trudged away. We didn't even bother with the Invisibility Cloak. It didn't matter now.

"Do you think she'll live?" I whispered.

James sighed. "Probably. I don't think that's what they're worried about."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes, the Cruciatus Curse can drive people insane. If it was used on her long enough, Clarissa might go mad."

My eyes grew wide. That would be terrible. She was a good person, I thought. I didn't know her well, but I did know that Luna thought very highly of her, and Luna tended to be right on things like that.

James laughed bitterly. "You know, Astra, you're the only person I can really trust about this. We both witnessed it together, twice."

"At least you know I'm innocent," I said, smiling sadly.

"Yeah, as if I needed proof. Thinking you did it would be like thinking Albus did it, or Wren, or Mackenzie. You're too good to do something like that, anyway."

I beamed at that. Did he really think that? "So are you."

He smiled at me. "Being friends with you is sort of like having another sister, except one I don't fight with."

I didn't know why those words cut into my heart like a knife, but I laughed and agreed. It made sense that James thought of me like a sister. I thought of him as a brother...

Right?

Once we got back in the common room, we both headed straight to bed. Wren was still awake when I reached the dorm room, but I was in no mood to talk, choosing instead to just lie down and try to sleep.

In the morning, at breakfast, Professor Potter made the announcement about Clarissa. He didn't mention how she was doing, only that her parents had come. One thing he said brought a lot of mixed reactions.

"The Ministry of Magic has appointed several aurors to guard Hogwarts from now on. They will be patrolling the halls, making sure no one else gets hurt. If you find out anything at all, bring it to me, Professor McGonagall, or one of the aurors immediately."

Most of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were excited about that. Aurors at Hogwarts! A few older students looked worried. They probably realized how grave the situation was if the Ministry was calling in extra protection.

After breakfast, Professor MacGonagall had James and I come to the hospital wing. Clarissa's parents smiled gratefully at us as the headmistress explained how we had saved Clarissa from further torment by scaring the attacker off.

Clarissa's mum, a beautiful Asian woman named Cho, teared up as she thanked and hugged us. Her dad was a bit more reserved, shaking our hands.

I have a terrible habit of letting things slip out of my mouth at bad times. "Is she going to be okay?" Instantly, I regretted asking.

During the night, it seemed, Clarissa had either fallen asleep or had been put to sleep. She moved restlessly, moaning and whimpering, and thrashing about on the bed. Madam Pomfrey hovered over her, trying spell after spell to ward off the nightmares. She only briefly looked up to tell me that it was too early to know. Soon, she shooed James and I out.

"What connection does Clarissa have to Andrew and Rose?" I asked as we walked through the deserted halls. Most people were outside, enjoying a lovely day and getting away from the gloom of another attack. Somehow, I didn't feel like being outside. It didn't seem right to enjoy the fresh air and nice day when poor Clarissa was losing her mind in the hospital wing.

James frowned. "I've told you about Dumbledore's Army, right?" I nodded. "Well, Clarissa's mum was in it, too, along with Rose's dad and mum, and Andrew's."

"But why would someone be attacking them?" I asked. "Do you think the attacker asked Clarissa the same questions?"

"Probably." James sighed. "Why can't this just be simple?"

I shrugged and changed the subject. "Who else here is descended from Dumbledore's Army members?"

"A lot of people. There's list of all the members in the library, I think."

We ran all the way there, only stopping when we almost knocked over a Ravenclaw girl carrying a huge pile of books taller than me. James scanned the shelves and pulled out a book entitled, The Fall of Lord Voldemort. He flipped through the pages until he found a picture of a parchment with about twenty names signed on it.

"Let's see...Well, Roxanne and Fred, their parents were both in it." He said after a minute. "And Robby Thomas, he's a Hufflepuff."

"Colin Creevey, of course," I added.

"Jaycee Bell's aunt was in it."

"Iris and her brother, their aunt was in it, too."

"Eric, his dad and mum were both in it," James said.

"Lacy and her sister. Their dad was Ernie Macmillian, right?"

"Yeah. And Elizabeth Finch-Fletchley, Ravenclaw in your year."

"Obviously Luna and her brothers," I added.

"Oh, and me and Albus. And Arthur, I guess."

"And...wait a second, Trilia Bones?"

James frowned. "Who?"

"She's one of Ciara and Nico's tag-alongs. But apparently her mum, or aunt, I suppose, was in Dumbledore's Army. Susan Bones." I pointed to the name.

James shrugged. "Well, I guess she was, then. Now we just have to figure out who'll be next."

We spent hours pouring over the list, trying to find out who the next victim was, and brainstorming what the attacker might be looking for. There were too many people to narrow it down to find out who might be attacked next. Even if we cut out the ones who weren't directly descended from a member, that still left about fifteen people.

"Maybe we're just completely wrong," I said after a few hours, sighing in defeat. "Was Mrs. Rogers connected to Professor Longbottom and your aunt and uncle at all?"

"She dated my dad for a while," James said, shrugging. "I don't think that'd help us much, though."

"Great."

Finally, we had to call it a day. We had found absolutely nothing, and we had skipped lunch, too. I was starving as we walked down to the Great Hall.

"Where've you been all day?" Wren asked as I sat down next to her.

"Library."

Arthur, Wren, Albus, and Luna all stared at me.

"No way," Wren said finally.

"You spent all day in the library?" Arthur asked, shocked.

"Was James there to?" I nodded. "You're lying then!" Albus said triumphantly. "He's never spend all day in the library!"

"She's not lying..." Wren said, frowning. "What were you doing, though?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, really. Research. Trying to figure out why the attacker is attacking, but we couldn't find anything."

"Oh," Albus said. "Well, I guess James could spend all day doing that."

At that moment, someone started yelling, and soon everything was quiet except for one Ravenclaw girl, shouting at one of her Housemates.

Dominque Weasley stomped her foot. "I don't care if I'm not supposed to sit over there! That's where my whole family is! That's where all my real friends are!" I swear, the whole hall gasped when she said that. Dominque proudly marched over to the Gryfflepuff table and sat down between Victoire and Andrew. As soon as she was seated, whispers began running rampant.

"I wonder what happened..."  Arthur said, staring at his brother, who Dominique was flirting with.

"She's been like this for days," Luna said serenely. "I was wondering when she'd do it. I suppose the Wackspurts in her brain finally left and let her clear her thoughts."

I glanced at Wren. "Right..." Wren looked just as confused as me.

~~~~

Another attack! This is getting serious, too! I wonder if poor Clarissa will lose her mind...

Well, anyway, vote please! Comment! Make a running commentary, cause that'd be totally awesome!

*waits for everyone to start making AVPM references*

No?

All right...

~Ellie