Oliver was watching Hermione wipe the foam from her butterbeer with her sleeve when he caught Draco and Mary leaving the Three Broomsticks out of the corner of his eye. He was curious as to why they came in and didn't even sit down to order a drink.

"Hey, Ollie," Eliza said, nudging him with her arm.

Oliver jumped out of his thoughts and turned to Eliza. "What?"

"Who do you think is right?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Right about what?"

Eliza rolled her eyes. "About Nargles. You know, those things Luna Lovegood talks about."

Jake let out a scoff, rolling his eyes. "There's a chance they could be real."

"Why? Your grandfather told you that?" Violet spoke up.

"I haven't asked him about it yet, but I know he'll say they're real," Jake said.

"How did this conversation even come up?" Oliver asked.

"Weren't you listening to us?" Violet questioned.

"Yes...no...sort of..."

Violet looked to her right and then rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. Hermione's sitting over there. I guess you were fawning over her again..."

A man came by their table with four butterbeers on a tray, handing a glass to Oliver, then Eliza, then Jake, and finally Violet. The four bid him thanks and the man left them alone. "I wasn't fawning over her," Oliver protested, taking a sip of his drink, feeling the sweet beverage fizzle in his mouth. "Besides, I was also watching Malfoy leave with Mary."

Eliza snorted. "What, they're already a thing?" She shook her head, gulping down some of her butterbeer.

"I dunno, but does it matter?" Oliver retorted.

Jacob shrugged his shoulders, twirling his glass on the table. "I mean, I wonder if she really thought it through. You know how Malfoy is."

"Oh, yeah? Did you and him have a little fling?" Eliza joked, grinning.

Jacob pursed his lips in annoyance. "Yes, and he's a bloody good kisser," he replied in a sarcastic tone.

Oliver watched as Harry, Ron, and Hermione got up from their table and put on their winter attire, leaving the Three Broomsticks. He looked back at his friends, sighing. "Well, we don't know Malfoy romantically."

"That sounded gross just hearing that," Violet said in disgust.

Oliver thought about it, then nodded his head quickly. "Yeah, it kind of does. My bad."

"How about we just mind our own business?" Jacob suggested. "Let's make a toast to the fact that so far nothing bad has happened this year."

"I can agree with that," Eliza agreed, raising her glass. "A toast to a peaceful year."

The other three joined in, the glasses hitting against each other. They all finished what was left of their drinks and decided to leave the Three Broomsticks. The four of them figured Andrew was getting bored without them already.

They headed back out into the cold, the snow hitting all of them, stinging their faces. With the wind blowing harder and harder, the urge to go back to Hogwarts was getting stronger. As Oliver and his friends were heading back for the castle, having a little bit more to go, they all heard a scream.

"What was that?" Violet inquired.

Then, all of a sudden, a girl in the distance with a red coat went flying into the air, her arms spread out. She let out a demonic yell, screeching their ears. Then, she collapsed back to the ground.

"That was Katie Bell," Eliza said. "What the hell happened to her?"

"Let's go find out," Violet suggested, heading towards where Katie was at, followed by the others. Hagrid already had Katie in his arms when the four arrived. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne, a Hufflepuff Jacob recognized, were on the ground, looking at something. The four approached them and scanned their eyes down to an opened box, a piece of cloth, and a necklace on top of each other.

"What's going on?" Eliza asked.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. "We're not sure. It all just happened all of a sudden. It's almost like she was possessed or something."

Jacob huffed a sigh, throwing his arms in the air out of defeat. "Well, I think we spoke too soon on that toast."

Oliver nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, so much for a peaceful year."

*******

Everyone headed back to Hogwarts as fast as they could. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape wanted to speak with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne first. Oliver and his friends were waiting outside McGonagall's office, hoping their interrogation wouldn't last long.

"Do you guys think Katie will be okay?" Violet asked the others in a worried tone.

"Let's hope so. Whatever happened to her..." Eliza trailed off, letting out a shaky breath. "It was scary to look at Katie in that state."

Oliver felt the same way. The echoes of Katie's scream was haunting him the more he thought about it. Jacob had a concerned look on his face as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

Leanne was the first to leave, then Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed suit a couple of minutes later. Professor McGonagall called the others into her office, their hearts beating rapidly as they entered inside. They all went to the table where the necklace was sitting in its original box.

Professor McGonagall sighed and looked at the four students in front of her. "Well, I'm sure all four of you are just as shocked as us. Of course, I've already gotten the details of this incident from the others, so there's really no point in asking what you all saw."

"What happened to Katie, Professor?" Eliza spoke up.

"Well, she was cursed by the necklace," she replied. "She's in the hospital wing at this very moment."

"Will she be okay?" Jacob asked.

"Miss Bell will be fine," Professor Snape intervened. "Now, Professor McGonagall and I suggest that none of you mention this to anyone else. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," they all mumbled.

"Well, you four better get on with the rest of your day and try to occupy yourselves," Professor McGonagall stated, motioning them to leave.

The four exited out and back into the corridor. Oliver felt some worry come off his shoulders, but he still thought about Katie and what horrible pain she was in right now.

"You really think Katie will be fine?" Violet asked the others as they walked down the hall.

"Well, yeah. I mean, Snape said she would be okay," Oliver said.

"Right, Snape said that," Jacob pointed out, rolling his eyes. "For all we know, he could be covering up some Slytherins that caused all of this."

"Like Malfoy and Mary?" Oliver implied, raising his eyebrows.

"Maybe," he replied.

Violet snorted. "You're mad for even thinking that, Jake."

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "I could be right."

"Doubtful," Eliza stated, grinning at Violet, who let out a smirk back.

Jacob rolled his eyes in response. "Let's go find Andy and let him tell you that I could be right about this."

"You don't need to find me," Andrew said as he came around the corner, somewhat startling his friends.

"Wow. You sure found us quickly," Oliver commented.

"I'm just good like that," he replied, smirking. "I was actually walking around when I heard you lot. Now, what the hell is going on?"

Violet sighed, taking his hand and leading him and the others down the corridor. "Come on. We've got something crazy to tell you."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, here it is.

Sorry for the long wait. With school and no time or inspiration, it's just been crazy, ya know?

Song above is Madness by Ruelle.

Comment, vote, more to come!

-A