With a total of 47 comments so far, the last chapter was officially the one I've gotten the most feedback on. In any of my books.

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I was in a dark room, in a corner, watching several people. One, the smallest, was sitting on a chair in the middle, a candle levitating above her head. A man was pacing in front of her, and against the walls were two or three more people, but I couldn't make them out clearly.

I move closer, trying to see who the girl in the chair was. No one could see me, and apparently no one could feel me because I stepped on one man's foot and he didn't so much as blink.

I crossed the room, so I was looking at her face. Thee face surprised me. It was the one face that I now despised. The face I so recently trusted above all others. The face of Wren. And she looked terrified.

The man pacing in front of her stopped abruptly. "So you didn't get it? You failed?"

She gulped, and nodded, hanging her head.

"Not only that, but you had that Cloak in your possession, but didn't take it?" the man growled, striding forward until his face was inches from hers.

She stared at him, trembling, then nodded once. "I didn't know you wanted it!" As she said that, she started crying.

As much as I hated her now, I couldn't help feeling pity for her. She was only eleven, after all. She didn't deserve this...whatever this was...

The man sighed, and stood up straight, frowning at the sobbing girl as if she was some strange puzzle that he was close to understanding, but not quite there.

"And what did you learn of the girl?"

Wren looked up. "W-who?"

"Who do you think?" he sneered.

She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head stubbornly. "Nothing."

"Nothing? Surely not. You were with her all year," he said patronizingly.

"We weren't friends."

"You were in the same House, the same year," the man said, in the same tone of voice.

"We weren't friends! All I know is she doesn't know who she is!"

My mouth dropped open. Was she talking about me? It couldn't have been Rose, or Lacy, or Iris. Why was she lying? She knew everything there was to know about me. What did she have to gain from lying?

The man's eyes narrowed and he took a swift step towards her. He grabbed her hair and jerked her head backwards. Wren cried out, then bit her lip.

"Tell me what you know," the man whispered menacingly.

"I don't know anything..." Wren said softly, staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly, the scene collapsed into black mist, alerting me to the fact that I was dreaming. The mist pulled towards me as if I was standing in some sort of vacuum. It whirled around, faster and faster and faster...

I woke up with a start. It was a dream. I was safe, in my bed, in Gryffindor tower. It was a dream. It was just what my brain wanted to think...that Wren was redeemable...

Rose sat up sleepily. "What's wrong?" she whispered, pushing her bushy hair out of her face.

"Dream. I'm ok," I whispered, lying back down. After a minute, I heard the small thump of Rose falling back into her pillow. Before I knew it, I was asleep once more.

~~~~

It was the day before we were supposed to leave when James and I finally got a chance to talk through what had happened. We managed to slip away from everyone and settle down against the tree by the lake. The last I'd sat there was with Wren...

For a few minutes, we just stared out at the lake. I didn't know where to start. I doubt James did either, but we needed to talk. We needed to go through it, together. That's what Professor Patil had said, at least.

"So..." James said finally. He didn't seem to know how to go on.

"I can't believe she did that," I whispered, hugging my knees.

"I...I can't either..." James sighed. "She was our friend. It doesn't even make sense."

"She was never our friend," I said bitterly. "She was lying the whole time."

James frowned. "It would be so much easier to believe that... But, she was, really. You saw. She couldn't cast the Crucuatus Curse on me..."

The truth was undeniable. I desperately wanted to hate her. To have her be an evil, deceitful person with no good qualities. That would make this so much easier. But she wasn't that. And I knew it. She was terrible, but she had genuinely not wanted to hurt us.

"She...why...I don't understand..." I couldn't get my thoughts together, so I put my head down on my knees, trying not to cry again. I did enough of that in my pillow at night.

James patted my back. "I don't know. But we'll find out. I know it. I'm sure she had a reason..."

"She said she didn't want to," I said, lifting my head.

James nodded. "Yeah. So, for now we can assume that someone was forcing her." He was trying his hardest to convince both of us, I could tell, but it wasn't working. He didn't believe his words. I didn't believe them.

But neither of us admitted it.

~~~~

Before the End Of Term Feast, Professor McGonagall called us to her office. By "us," I mean James and me.

We filed up the staircase and into the openness of the circular office. It was a lot more familiar to me than any of the other first years, most likely. Professor McGonagall motioned to two chairs, and we sat down.

"You two have saved the school quite a bit of trouble," she said, smiling kindly. "You've stopped several attacks from reaching a dangerous level, and you managed to flush out our criminal. The school would like to thank you."

I glanced over at James, who looked pleasantly surprised. We hadn't actually done much, except break a lot of rules and recklessly throw ourselves into dangerous situations, but if they wanted to reward us, that was fine with me.

"You will both be awarded Special Awards for Services to the School, tonight, after the feast."

James grinned. "I am honored. I'll try to break even more rules next year, then maybe I can get another."

Professor McGonagall sighed.

"So..." I said, frowning as I realized something. "That means you'll tell everyone what happened? Even about Wren?"

The headmistress nodded briskly. "Of course."

James raised his eyebrows. "Professor, we don't really know that Wren did it because she wa-"

Professor McGonagall cut him off. "My dear, we believe Ms. Predatel was under the Imperious Curse."

I blinked, then frowned at James, who looked just as confused as me. She was definitely not under the Imperious Curse. If she had been, she would have been able to torture James, because she wouldn't have been in control of her actions or feelings. Before either of us could argue, though, the headmistress cut us off.

"That is the official story, and I would be glad if you didn't change it."

"But why?" James asked. "I don't think she was under it..."

Professor McGonagall frowned. "The Ministry of Magic and other magical governments across the world have been enforcing stricter laws about the Dark Arts in recent years. Considering Ms. Predatel's age, she was likely forced into doing it, and taught the spell by a more capable dark wizard or witch. However, the Ministry of Magic, and the Magical Congress of the United States of America, don't consider age when punishing wizards and witches for the Unforgivable Curses. Unless a person is under the Imperious Curse themselves, they are responsible for whatever they cast. And though we don't believe your friend did this of her own accord, no court of magical law will listen unless we tell them that she was under the Imperius Curse."

I stared at the professor, open mouthed. She was lying? Bending the rules? Shocking!

"But...you think she was..." James trailed off.

"She was forced into it?" I asked. "Why didn't she tell someone? Get help?"

"That, I don't know," Professor McGonagall said wearily. "Perhaps she thought we wouldn't believe her."

I looked down. That didn't make sense...did it? Surely Wren had known I had trusted her. I would have believed her... Albus would have...

But then again, maybe she chose to do it, and chose to be taught the curse. Maybe I was just filling myself with useless, desperate hope.

James was the one who asked, "Professor, do you know what she was looking for?" I had completely forgotten that part.

Professor McGonagall shook her head. "We may never know."

"Professor," I said slowly, "what if the attacks were some sort of blackmail? Against the parents? Like, 'Tell me where it is, or I'll torture your children'?"

"We thought of that. Professor Potter and Professor Longbottom believe that is the most logical thing. Apparently, though, whoever it was aimed at never gave in."

James glanced at me, smiling grimly. At least we had that comfort.

Later that night, at the feast, Professor McGonagall stood to make the annual speech. She awarded the House Cup (to Hufflepuff, though I wasn't in the mood to celebrate with them), and gave out general information like when the Hogwarts Express would be leaving in the morning.

"Now, students, I'm sure you've all been hearing rumors about the events of last week."

At that, all whispers and chatter that had been going on during the boring part of the speech came to a halt. The Great Hall was dead silent, hanging on her every word.

"Two young Gryffindors managed to unmask the attacker and chase her away last week. Those two were James Potter and Astra Lewis."

The Gryfflepuff table erupted into cheers, and soon most of the students had joined. The sound was deafening as Professor McGonagall beckoned us up to the front.

When the noise finally calmed down, Professor McGonagall resumed her speech. "These two students showed tremendous bravery in standing up to the attacker in multiple occasions, and shortening the length of many attacks by startling the attacker. For that, the school has decided to give each of them a Special Award for Services to the School."

Once again, cheers and clapping filled the Hall, and Gryfflepuff table started chanting our names, and pounding the table, and soon the other two tables joined. I felt my face heat up, probably turning red. I'd never gotten this much attention, especially for something I hadn't meant to do in the first place.

James and I walked back to our seats after a minute. I could feel people staring at me, and tried to ignore it as Professor McGonagall began speaking once again.

"Students, I'm sure you're all wondering who was behind all this. Unfortunately, we still do not know. The attacker was a first year Gryffindor named Wren Predatel-"

The headmistress was cut off by an outburst of whispering. She paused, and the whispers finally sank into silence once more.

"She was under the Imperius Curse."

I could feel the sigh of relief from my friends around me.

"Thank goodness," Iris whispered. "We all assumed, after she disappeared-" One glare from me stopped her short. "Well, I never believed it. I'm glad she didn't know what she was doing, honestly, though I feel bad for her."

Lacy nodded eagerly. "Poor Wren... She was so nice and sweet.. At least if you're going to use someone for that, use someone like Ciara Malfoy."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

Professor McGonagall obviously wasn't done speaking. She clapped her hands for attention. "Students, I have one more announcement, if you'd settle down, please!"

It took longer to attain silence, and the headmistress finally resorted to glaring us into silence, which worked surprisingly well.

"Thank you. Now, my final announcement is...that I am retiring."

For a shocked second, everyone stared at her, then all the students began whispering and talking and asking questions. The most common one was, "Why?"

Professor McGonagall waited until we were silent and still again.

"As some of you know, I am a very old woman. I love being the headmistress here, but I'm afraid I'm getting too old for this. I don't know who the new headmaster will be, but I expect you all to act with the utmost respect and courtesy, and reflect well on your school.

"Have a safe summer, children! Now, time for the feast!"

After a few seconds, the food appeared on the golden plates, and everyone began eating. James and I were bombarded with questions, but we didn't answer. I remained silent throughout the meal.

I was in a bit of a daze afterwards, and all sorts of people were coming up and congratulating me. I couldn't handle it at all, and I was in very real danger of bursting into tears because of all the pressure when Rose helped me up to the dormitories. I packed my trunk (by just shoving everything into it) and flopped onto my bed. Eventually, Iris or Rose turned the lights out, and I fell asleep.

The next morning was a blur. I didn't have time to sit down until we were seated on the train, with my trunk in the luggage rack and Anastasia's cage on the floor by my feet.

The ride back to King's Cross Station was a quiet one. James, Albus, Luna, and I were left alone, which was perfectly fine with me. Before we left, Professor Potter told me that I would indeed be going back to the Lewis's, for at least a month. I didn't know how I felt about that, though all the time I'd get to myself would give me time to process everything and figure out exactly how I felt about Wren and what had happened. At the moment, I was going through phases of pure hatred for that traitor and overwhelming hope for her redeemablity because surely it was her fault.

The train finally pulled into Platform 9 3/4. Most people dashed off the train and into the loving arms for their parents and siblings. I didn't expect a welcome like that, so it was a surprise when a tiny ball of red hair came flying at me at me. After a second, Lily Luna extracted herself and hugged her brothers, who both made gagging noises but hugged her back.

The Potters stayed with me until the frowning face of Mr. Lewis was visible. He was waiting for me outside the station, glaring at me as I dragged my trunk over.

Professor Potter walked over to speak to him before he drove away, though they spoke in hushed tones so I couldn't hear. Judging by the scowl on Mr. Lewis's face as he climbed into the car, it was probably something along the lines of "Don't be a terrible parent or I'm calling BAAF." That's one threat I'd found worked surprisingly well.

I waved goodbye to my friends through the back window as he pulled out of the parking lot. It was sad, really. But I was also excited. A month wouldn't be that long. And then I'd be back with my closest friend again, and we'd have the whole rest of summer to hang out. Then back to Hogwarts. Back to being the Star of Gryffindor.

For now, I could handle the Lewises.

~~~~

Last chapter...

This was the hardest to write, to be honest. The first and last are always the hardest. You have to grab the reader's attention at the first, and you have to finish strong at the last. It's hard, really.

Is it weird to fangirl over the things you guys comment? Because I do that.

Question: Do you guys think Astra's dreams mean anything? Or are they just dreams?

Obviously, I know, but I'd like to see what you guys think.

Vote and comment please!

~Ellie