Everyone get ready for the second chapter! Our friends are about to experience something quite different when they journey back to Hogwarts.

Let's read and discover what happens ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 2 – Unforgettable Train Ride

"So...that happened."

Rachele looked at Harry from where she was sitting on his bed. "What happened?"

After the two had settled in their rooms and organised their belongings (Rachele had met a disgruntled Tiger in her room and had to spend fifteen minutes explaining her disappearance from their house) Rachele had come back into Harry's room to keep him company. She was currently sitting in the middle of his bed while he stared at the outside world.

"All this...one moment I'm with the Dursleys, next thing I know I'm here with you at the Leaky Cauldron. It all happened to so fast."

Rachele smiled and shrugged. "Just be glad you're out of that hell hole."

He laughed. "Too right."

A gnarling sound suddenly caught their attention. "What was that?" Rachele asked nervously, crawling to the edge of the bed.

"I don't know, came from the pile of books." Harry walked over to the school books and picked up a large one that looked particularly frightening. The cover felt somewhat fuzzy with the title 'The Monster Book of Monsters' in bold letters. There was a thick belt tied around the middle, which Harry untied curiously.

Rachele eyes widened. "Uh...Harry maybe you shouldn't-"

The book suddenly jumped up and attempted to snap ferociously at Harry's face. Harry dropped it like it was on fire, backed away fervently from its jaws and jumped onto the bed with Rachele. The book continued on its path and disappeared underneath the bed.

"What in the hell?"

Rachele joined him at the end and they both cautiously peered over the edge. "Monster Book...horrible little buggers."

"Do you know how to stop it?"

"Yeah but we have to catch it first."

Harry pressed his lips together in thought before an idea struck him. "I got it, gimme a sec."

Rachele watched with a raised eyebrow as he untied his laces and took off one of his shoes. He stood up and dangled it above the ground for a few seconds before letting go. As soon as it hit the floor, the monster book charged out and clamped its jaw on the sneaker. Harry jumped off the bed and landed hard on the book, successfully trapping it with his feet and squishing a surrendering squeal out of it.

Rachele laughed. "Awesome Harry! Now quick pass it over before it goes nuts again."

He tossed it to her; she caught it and quickly ran her fingers down the spine in one fluid motion. The struggling book calmed and relaxed in her arms, and she opened up to a random page.

"Sweet Merlin there are some extravagant creatures in here, I wonder who in the world is teaching us this year?"

Harry shrugged. "Who knows? Someone who's good with animals?"

Rachele turned to him with a grin. "Well that's obvious; who do we know has an obsession with exotic creatures?"

Harry smacked his forehead. "Of course...Hagrid!...Wait." He looked up in alarm. "Hagrid's teaching this year? What happened to Professor Kettleburn?"

Rachele shrugged. "Who knows, but I reckon it'll be more awesome with Hagrid teaching."

Harry grinned. "Totally I can't wait."

Rachele suddenly turned her head to the door and listened carefully. Harry stared quizzically at her.

"Rachele what are you-?"

"Shh! Do you hear that?"

Harry listened as well for a moment. "I don't hear anything."

She grinned at him. "There're voices downstairs!"

He stared. "So?"

She leapt off the bed and pulled his arm. "Come on! It means people! And people means we need to go and socialize!"

Harry groaned, letting her drag him towards the door. "Aw come on, the only type of people that come here are the shifty ones you don't want to get mixed up with."

Rachele rolled her eyes. "Oh hush, stop being so anti-social." She opened the door and led them out but staggered backwards when a rat zipped past being chased closely by a fluffy ginger cat.

"Holy hell! What was that?"

Harry stared after the animals. "Hey that looked like Ron's rat Scabbers."

Rachele grinned. "Maybe he's here then!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him again. "Come on let's go!"

As they hurried downstairs, they picked up on a couple of familiar voices bickering loudly.

"I'm warning you Hermione! Keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cozy!"

"He's a cat Ronald! What'd you expect? It's in his nature!"

Rachele grinned at the sight of Ron and Hermione scowling at each other, each holding onto their specific pet.

"A cat! Is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me."

"That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush! It's alright Crookshanks." Hermione began soothing the orange cat. "You just ignore the mean little boy."

Ron had then noticed they had an audience and smiled up at their two friends. "Harry! Rachele!"

Hermione whipped around and beamed at them. "Harry! Rachele!"

Rachele shot down the stairs to greet them, firstly wrapping Hermione up in a tight hug! "I missed you guys!" She squealed, giving Ron a quick hug as well. "Is your sister here Ron? I wanna say hi to her too."

Ron grinned. "Yeah she's over there with Mum and Dad." He nodded over near the counter where Ginny was seated in between her parents.

Rachele smiled and rushed over. "Hey Ginny!"

The young redhead turned at her name and her face lit up. "Rachele! Hey!" She jumped off her stool to share a hug with the older girl. "How are you?"

Rachele backed away with a grin. "I'm doing alright, you? How was your summer?"

An excited grin broke out on Ginny's face. "We went to Egypt!"

Rachele's eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

"Our family won a holiday to Egypt for the summer! Here take a look." She grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet off the table and flashed the front cover to her. There was the entire Weasley family waving at the camera with desert and pyramids in the background.

Rachele gawked. "Wow that's amazing! Did you see lots of exciting stuff?"

Ginny nodded. "Loads! Mummies in tomes, Scarab beetles, the works!"

Rachele grinned. "Nice, that sounds awesome."

The girls continued chatting for a few minutes, with Ginny filling her in with every detail of her exotic trip, until Rachele spotted Harry being pulled into a corner by Mr Weasley. She politely excused herself, promising Ginny she would talk more later before quietly following the pair to a dark corner. She hid behind a wall, being careful to obscure herself from view from the two men.

"What do you know of Sirius Black Harry?"

"Only that he escaped from Azkaban."

"Do you know why?"

There was silence before Mr Weasley spoke again.

"Thirteen years ago when you stopped..."

"Voldemort."

"Don't say his name!"

"Sorry."

"When you stopped...You-Know-You...Black lost everything. But to this day, he still remains a faithful servant. In his mind, only you stand in the way of You-Know-You returning to power. That's why he's broken out of Azkaban; to find you..."

"...And kill me." Harry finished.

Rachele sighed from where she was standing. She couldn't believe the amount of people who succumbed to the ridiculous lies the Ministry was feeding them. One article and the entire wizarding world already hated him. She felt like she was the only person that knew Sirius Black was completely innocent.

"Harry I want you to promise me..." Mr Weasley's voice brought her back to reality. "...that you won't go looking for Black."

"Mr Weasley." Harry's spoke shakily. "Why would I go looking for someone who wants to kill me?"

Rachele shook her head and walked away, not being able to hear anymore. She scanned the room and spotted Hermione sitting by herself whispering to the fluffy ginger cat she held protectively in her arms. She made a beeline over and plonked herself across from her friend.

"Hey there Hermione!"

Hermione looked up and grinned. "Oh hey Rach...have I shown you my new cat?"

Rachele stared at the fuzzy mass in her arms. "No, I don't believe you have."

"This is Crookshanks!." Rachele didn't think she'd ever seen her friend so excited. "I found him at the pet store in Diagon Alley. He was all by himself and no one wanted him, I couldn't resist!"

Rachele smiled and held out her hand for the cat to sniff. Crookshanks eyed it warily for a moment before rubbing his head against her and purring loudly. Rachele responded by softly stroking the cat's head.

"Aaww he's a sweetie, a real softie at heart really. Don't know what Ron's problem is."

Hermione stared amazed. "How do you do that?"

Rachele looked up at her. "Do what?"

Hermione gestured to where her cat was now licking Rachele's hand. "Get animals to like you so quickly. You have some sort of gift. Crookshanks doesn't like anyone; it took him several days to go near my parents."

Rachele shrugged. "I've always been a big animal person. I need to be to have someone like Tiger around."

Hermione beamed. "Now Tiger will have a friend!"

Rachele laughed. "Can't wait to see what'll happen when these two will meet."

Hermione smiled. "Gonna be another fun year."

Rachele grinned. "Yup! This year is gonna be different somehow. I can feel it."

The next morning the friends unfortunately slept in which resulted in a mad rush to reach the platform in time. They were lucky to jump onto the train minutes before its departure and were even luckier to find one vacant compartment. Well mostly vacant save for a sleeping figure slumped in the corner using a thick jacket for a blanket.

"Aaaww" Rachele whined. "That's where I sit."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Just sit somewhere else."

Ron stared at the stranger. "Who do you reckon he is?"

"Professor R. J. Lupin." Hermione replied instantly.

Ron gave her a bewildered look. "She knows everything! How is it you know everything?"

Hermione sighed and pointed towards the rack where the man's luggage was. "It's on his suitcase Ronald."

"Oh..."

Rachele sniggered. "Yeah come on Ron, it's so obvious."

Ron glared at her. "Shut up."

Harry too was staring at the stranger. "Do you really think he's asleep?"

"Seems to be." Hermione said. "Why?"

Harry stood up to make sure their compartment door was fully closed before sitting down again. "I need to tell you something."

Harry proceeded to confide in them about his conversation with Mr Weasley regarding Sirius Black. Next to him, Rachele remained quiet, not willing to voice her honest opinions on the matter. Once he had finished explaining, Ron and Hermione both looked rather fear-stricken.

"Let me get this straight." Ron gulped. "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after you?"

"Yeah..." Harry sighed.

"But they'll catch Black won't they?" Hermione asked. "I mean everyone's looking for him."

"Sure!" Ron assured her. "Of course no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a raving, murderous lunatic."

"Gee Ron." Rachele spoke up. "Way to make him feel better."

Just then, they felt the train lurch as it began to slow down. The compartment rattled and the lights began flickering. Hermione slid across and pinned Ron against the window; they exchanged an awkward glance before Hermione scooted back to the other end. She looked down at her watch and frowned.

"Why're we stopping? We can't be there yet."

Rachele immediately sensed something was wrong and was the first to spot the frost crackling across their window. Next moment a chill shot down her spine and all blood drained from her face. She knew exactly who...or more accurately...what was coming. She gave the others a quick glance, opened the compartment door and shot off down the train with her friends yelling after her.

Hermione watched flabbergasted as her best friend bolted down the train. "Wonder what's wrong with her? I've never seen her so spooked."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it was like shining a light on a cockroach."

Hermione glared at him. "Thank you Ronald."

The lights flickered faster before they died one by one, leaving them sitting in darkness.

"What's going on?" Ron squeaked

Harry frowned. "Dunno, maybe we've broken down."

"Ouch!" Hermione hissed. "Ron, that was my foot!"

But Ron wasn't listening. He stared unmoving with a pale face as a dark silhouette brushed past their window. "There's something moving out there."

Hermione glanced nervously towards the compartment door. "Where did Rachele go? I hope she's okay."

"Bloody hell!" Ron shrieked when their car jerked violently. "What's happening?"

Suddenly a dark shape appeared in front of their door as it used a bony, slimy hand to push it aside. They were met with a towering, cloaked figure with its' face hidden beneath a black hood. They all shrunk back in fear and both Crookshanks and Tiger hissed at the frightening intruder. The creature paid them no mind while it scanned the few occupants of the car. It halted on Harry and focused all attention on him. They watched in horror as the creature closed in on him and Harry rasped out heavily as though his air was being sucked out of him. But before anyone could say or do anything more to help, a bright light engulfed the train and an angelic voice could be heard.

'Creatures of the night; be gone from my sight!'

'Take with you your fear, YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE!'

The light magnified and pulsated through the train like a sonic wave. The hooded figure shrieked in fright and fled the scene; the frost finally subsided and the lights came back on. Hermione and Ron were breathing heavily, glancing around the car with wide eyes. The sleeping figure was now awake and watching them with concern.

"Are you two alright?"

They nodded but then Hermione noticed Harry, who was unconscious, on the floor. "Harry!" She fell down beside him and gentle shook his shoulder. "Harry! Harry!" The boy stirred and sat up with a groan. Hermione helped him sit back on the chair. "Are you alright?"

Ron held out his glasses which Harry took. "Thanks." He looked at the three faces staring at him. "W...what was that- that thing?"

The now awake stranger spoke. "It was a Dementor. One of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now, it was searching the train for Sirius Black."

Hermione turned to him. "But that light...surely that wasn't..."

The man shook his head. "No, it was too powerful to be a Patronus Charm. Whatever it was that scared the Dementor, it's far more powerful than any of us can fathom."

Harry frowned. "Patronus Charm?"

The man looked back at him. "A spell harnessed by happy memories which then produces a light magic that Dementors are terrified of. That particular charm may have been able to chase it away, but that magic just now easily had the ability to scare hundreds, maybe even thousands of them."

"But who could harness such amazing power?" Hermione asked.

The man shrugged. "Who knows, but we should be thankful they were around."

The door suddenly wrenched open to reveal a breathless and dishevelled Rachele. She panted heavily and looked around at her friends with round eyes.

"Are you guys okay? Is anyone hurt?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her. "No we're fine. And where were you?"

Rachele looked away. "Oh uh...nowhere, I got scared I guess..." She then looked at the new stranger and beamed. "Remus! So you were the sleepy face hiding under that jacket!"

The man named Remus smiled at her. "It's been a few years Miss Sullivan."

She waved her hand. "Oh good grief, drop the formalities. Rachele's fine."

Remus nodded. "Of course, old habits die hard. And you know you..." He stopped suddenly, looking upon her as if coming to a revolutionary conclusion. "Rachele...may I speak with you privately?"

Rachele looked suspicious for a moment before nodding. "Alright, let's talk out here." She led them out into the corridor, sliding the door shut once they were both outside. Once their privacy was sealed, Remus immediately turned on her.

"That was you wasn't it?"

Rachele smiled innocently at him. "Whatever do you mean?"

Remus gave her a pointed look. "Don't play games with me missy. I may not have seen you in a long while, but I'm not unaware of what you're capable of."

Rachele folded her arms. "And what exactly do you know?"

He laughed. "You're gonna make me say it out right aren't you?"

Rachele sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just...not many people know the whole truth and it's not something I forwardly admit." She smiled grimly at him. "Besides it wasn't me that told you everything was it?"

Remus shook his head. "No, Albus told me. And I'm sorry I know it's not his information to share."

Rachele smiled and shrugged. "It's okay Remus, I trust you."

Remus smiled. "Well I'll give you kids your space." He said turning around. "I'm sure I can find another compartment where I can finish my nap."

"Remus." She called. When he looked at her she winked. "It was me."

He laughed. "I figured, see you round Rachele."

"Bye." She gave him a wave before sliding back into the car with her friends. She was met with three pairs of eyes staring at her.

"What?"

"You know that guy?" Hermione asked.

She grinned. "Oh yeah, that's Remus Lupin. Just another friend I met through Dumbledore." She flopped down on the seat near the window, now that it was free for the taking, and sighed. "Well that was a bit of an adventure wasn't it?"

Harry frowned. "It wasn't fun Rach."

Rachele nudged him. "Lighten up, Harry I'm just kidding around. Are you okay though? You don't look so good." She leaned in to get a close look at him.

"I'm fine." He said leaning back.

Hermione snorted. "Like hell you are." She looked at Rachele. "One of those things attacked him and he passed out. He looked like death itself."

Rachele looked at Harry with worry shining in her eyes. "A Dementor got you? Did you see or hear anything?"

Harry looked away. "I heard a woman screaming, but Ron and Hermione told me they didn't hear anyone."

Rachele gave him a soft smile and patted his hand. "Don't fret on it, Dementors feed off fear so you probably heard something that's buried deep in your conscience. Something you most likely don't remember."

Harry stared at her. "How do you know so much?"

Rachele grinned. "I have my secrets. But hey..." She patted his hand again. "...let's not think about it too much. The Dementors are gone now, so let's just relax we'll be at the school soon."

Her friends nodded and soon they were absorbed in light chatter again, the brief encounter with the dark creatures pushed to the back of their minds. But even so, Rachele couldn't help but feel nervous about the upcoming year. If there's one thing she knew, Dementors were never a good sign.

The remaining trip to Hogwarts was a blur for Rachele. The train pulled into the station as usual. They jumped onto the platform, collected their luggage and rode the carriages up to the school. As they filed into the Great Hall, Rachele spotted Robert Kordellus making his way over to the Slytherin table and a cheeky grin stretched on her face. She informed her friends she'd meet them at their table and zipped off to the other end of the room. She ducked down and crept up behind the unsuspecting boy, and as she reached him she dug her fingers into his ribs, making him jump with a not-very-masculine yelp. He turned with a glare to face his attacker but raised a surprised eyebrow when he saw Rachele bent over in stitches and clutching her stomach as she laughed loudly at him.

"Oh my gosh...-gasp-...that was hysterical...you scream like a girl!"

Robert frowned, unamused. "It wasn't funny."

Rachele breathed heavily, doing her best to calm down. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I just came over to say hi."

Robert huffed. "Well hello to you too."

Rachele couldn't help but notice the wonky tones as the boy spoke. "Your voice sounds funny there buddy, is it finally breaking?"

Robert turned away from her. "None of your business." He said, the 'ness' ending in a high squeak. Mortified, he clamped a hand over his mouth.

Rachele giggled. "Aaww don't be so embarrassed it's only natural!" She patted his shoulder. "Well I have to head back now; Hermione's saving me a seat. I'll see you round!" She flashed him a bright smile and turned to head back to her respected table. Along the way she roughly bumped shoulders with Draco Malfoy who sneered as she walked past him.

"Keep your filthy germs to yourself Mudblood!" He snarled.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "What'd ya gonna do Malfoy? Go cry to mummy? Grow up ya spineless twit."

Malfoy gaped after her, not expecting that sort of comeback. He didn't notice the proud smirk on Roberts' face as he watched Rachele walk off with her head held high. 'Man nothing gets to her, she can take anything."

Rachele easily found her friends, said a hello to Ginny who had decided to sit with them and plonked down at her usual spot next to Hermione, who gestured behind her towards the still dumbstruck Slytherin.

"What was that all about?"

Rachele grinned. "Malfoy can't take it when someone throws a good insult back at him."

Hermione laughed and gave her a high five. "Nice one. That boy needs to be put in his place."

Rachele bowed. "Thank you, I am here to serve."

The clinking of a glass caught their attention and the students were ordered to their seats. Instead of Dumbledore beginning with his routine start-of-year speech, a select few students were summoned to the front and assembled into four neat rows; the front row each holding a large toad. Their Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, came forward and stood on a stool facing the group with his wand raised.

"Oh great..." Rachele groaned. "It's the choir...who decided the year had to start with them?"

Hermione nudged her. "Shush you're just anxious for dinner."

"Well excuse me for being hungry."

Hermione nudged her again. "Quiet they're starting."

Rachele sighed and leant her cheek on her hand as the choir began their song. It was in tune, and they sang harmoniously although the nature of the music seemed rather obscure and dark in some areas. Which seemed rather fitting when they ended it with; 'something wicked this way comes.'

Rachele snorted. "Truer words have never been spoken." She remarked as she politely clapped with everyone else. As the students returned to their seats, Dumbledore finally rose from his chair and stood at the podium.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now before we begin our magnificent feast I would like to introduce two new Professors who will be teaching this year. First allow me to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin who has kindly consented to fill the post as our Defence again the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck Professor!"

Rachele smiled and clapped happily as Remus stood up and gave a modest bow. She was most definitely delightfully anticipating what her friend had in store for them.

"As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I am delighted to announce this place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!"

Hagrid stood up awkwardly, knocking the table and causing all the water goblets to waver dangerously. The whole Gryffindor table roared with applause and Rachele reached over to nudge Harry. "I told you it was him!" He grinned back and nodded gleefully.

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence them before continuing. "Finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts - at the request of the Ministry of Magic – will until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban."

Rachele visibly shivered but shook her head when Hermione shot her a concerned look. "I'm fine." She whispered.

"The Dementors will be stationed at the entrance of the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving."

Rachele glanced at Harry and noticed he seemed rather pale. It seemed she wasn't the only one nervous about crossing paths with the cloaked figures.

After concluding with that rather morose message, Dumbledore waved his hands and food appeared on the tables. After filling themselves to their hearts content, the students all filed out of the hall and split ways to retire for the night. Rachele scanned the crowds searching for a pair of pigtails and a Hufflepuff uniform but was unsuccessful. She followed her friends to Gryffindor tower, deciding she'd track down the younger girl later. As they approached the entrance to their common room on the seventh floor, they noticed a crowd had gathered around the portrait hole. They walked up to their housemate, Seamus, who was frustratingly barking the password to the Fat Lady. The Fat Lady was openly ignoring him and attempting to sing with deafening shrills.

Cringing, Rachele tapped Seamus on the shoulder. "What's going on? What in the blazes is she doing?"

He shrugged. "Haven't the bloodiest, but she won't let us in."

Rachele turned to the painting and tried for herself. "Fortuna Major."

The Fat Lady held up her hand. "Wait wait! Watch this!" She turned back to her other hand which held an empty champagne glass. She opened her mouth and released a sound that resembled more of a scream than a musical note. Everyone covered their ears in horror as she dragged on before she deliberately smashed the glass on the wall behind her.

"Amazing!" She laughed in delight. "Top of my voice!"

"Fortuna Major!" Rachele snapped.

The Fat Lady's good mood disappeared instantly and she glared at the teenagers. "Yes alright." She snipped, swinging the door open. "Go in."

Rachele rolled her eyes at her as the Gryffindors piled into the common room. "Thank you." She leaned over to Hermione. "Good grief the woman can't even sing."

"I heard that!"

Rachele jumped and quickly scrambled inside to avoid the Fat Lady's wrath with Hermiones giggles trailing behind her. Everyone headed straight for the stairs to retire to their dorms, exchanging greetings along the way. Rachele laughed when a distracted Dean Thomas yelped loudly as he accidently walked through a ghost that just happened to be passing through the common room. Her amusement, however, came and bit back at her when the same ghost also decided to whiz through her as well, turning her giggle into a startled squeal. Everyone in the room laughed at her expense while she pouted.

"That's what you get for making fun." Hermione said smirking. Next to her, Ginny, Harry and Ron were howling with laughter.

Rachele glared at them. "I hate you all." She stalked up the stairs with a huff, her still laughing friends stepping behind her. She, Hermione and Ginny entered the girls's dorms and went to the beds that held each of their belongings. Rachele smiled when she saw Tiger curled up and waiting for her near the end of her bed.

"Hey there Pusscat."

The tabby lifted his head and perked up when he saw his owner. "Hello Mistress, welcome back."

She sat next to him and gentle stroked him behind the ears. Ginny wandered over and sat on the floor in front of them, gazing curiously at the purring cat.

"You know, Ron told me about you owning a talking cat. I thought he was barking mad but I see now he was telling the truth." She reached up and gave the tabby a soft pat as well. "I think it's amazing."

Tiger bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to finally officially meet you Miss Weasley."

Ginny shot a bewildered look towards Rachele who sniggered. "He can't help being formal, it's just how he is."

Ginny nodded. "I guess it'll take some getting used to."

"That's what I said." Hermione said as she joined the red-head on the floor.

Rachele stared down at her friends. "What'd you wackos doing down there? Come up here where it's more comfy."

The girls grinned and jumped up to join Rachele on her bed. Soon enough they were all sitting cross-legged in a circle and filling the room with laughter as they chatted away. They were in the middle of giggling at a joke from Rachele when they heard what sounded like an elephant-like trumpet coming from the boys dorms.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "What in the heck was that?"

Rachele rolled her eyes. "Just the boys being morons I guess."

Ginny giggles. "Well sure but that sounded like a real elephant."

Hermione gave her a look. "We're in the wizarding world Gin, anything is possible. And I for one don't wanna know how they came up it."

Rachele grinned. "As the saying goes, 'ignorance is bliss.'"

Hermione laughed. "True story."

"Amen to that." Ginny agreed.

Ignorance, however, proved difficult when all different kinds of animal noises blasted from their male neighbours. The girls could only sit in stunned silence as they listened, but when it finally became silent again, all three burst into simultaneous giggles.

"Dude they're such idiots!" Rachele gasped as she fell on her side, landing on Hermione's lap.

Hermione giggled. "I wonder if they realize how loud they are."

Ginny snorted. "Oh please, my brother is among them. That only adds to the idiocy."

Ginny's comment didn't help and Rachele only laughed harder, causing the red-head to grin smugly. The girls continued to talk into the night, occasionally coming back to mock the boys and over-all just having fun. Eventually they retired to their beds, deciding they needed some sleep for classes the next day. Rachele bid good night to her two friends, gave one last pat to the tabby next to her and finally drifted off into a dream-filled sleep.

End of Chapter

Nasty creepy buggers those Dementors. They have natural dark energy seeping off them, that's why Rachele can't stand the feeling of them.

Didn't I say she'd have a nice friendship with Ginny? I always thought the poor girl was shoved in the background and I've always loved her strong sense of character. So I'll be paying a lot more attention to her than the movies ever did.

Okay so we're officially back at school now :3 Onwards to the next chapter!

See ya all then!