Well here's the third chapter =)

Not much to say yet again.

The remaining days of summer stretched on as Ayla awaited September 1st. She felt as though the days got longer and longer and that there was nothing left for her to do. She made a checklist of all she needed for school, packed and unpacked several times, and practiced wand movements (never doing any actual magic, of course). Now she lay, head dangling off the end of her bed, arms and legs sprawled across the remaining space, thinking about which house she will be sorted into.

I suppose Ravenclaw would be second best, next to Gryffindor of course… She contemplated while watching her ceiling fan spin round and round. I could live with Hufflepuff. I guess if you want to be in Slytherin you will be… That's how it seems to work, right? Well, I don't want to be in Syltherin, I want to be in Gryffindor with Caile! The fan spun round and round, making Ayla slightly dizzy but she continued to stare. …If I were in Slytherin I would transfer to… to… Bulgaria! Or France or North America… But… I can't run away from my fate, once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin, no matter which country I'm in…

Someone was walking up the stairs. Gryffindor's colors are red and gold. Do you think they would be mad that my favourite color's blue? Is that a contributing factor? The footsteps got louder as they approached Ayla's bedroom door. Well, if it is, I'll be in Ravenclaw for sure. Ha! Take that Slytherin! Her bedroom doorknob was turning. I wonder what the food will be like…

"Ayla!" came a child-like voice from the doorway. Ayla lifted her head.

"Thomas!" Thomas Joyce was the scrawny and shy kid who lived next door (Well, as close to next door as you can get in the country) to Ayla. They had been friends since the day Ayla discovered Thomas building a tree house in the weeping willow that marked the end of her home and the beginning of his.

"What are you doing?" Asked a six-year-old Ayla.

"Building stuff…" Answered a timid voice from the tree branches.

"What are you building?"

"A fort…"

"Can I help?"

"No, you're a girl. You're not good at things like this…"

"How would you know? You never let me try!"

"I just know…"

Ayla became very upset at these words, folded her arms in front of her and sat cross-legged at the foot of the tree, "I hate boys." She said, just loud enough that the boy in the tree could hear her.

"I'm not a big fan of you girls either." He said, barely audible.

"Hmph!" Ayla pouted, "Well… Do you want to be friends?"

"Not really, you are a girl after all…"

'Hmph! Fine then!"

"But… If you can beat me to the pond…"

Ayla's eyes lit up with hope, "Alright, get down here!" She said, standing up.

The boy swung down from the branch he was perched on and stood beside Ayla, "On three. One, Two… THREE!"

Ayla ran faster than she had ever ran before, the boy was always a few steps ahead of her. When the boy looked back to mock Ayla he tripped over his own feet and fell face-first. By the time the boy had composed himself, Ayla had already won the race.

"You're pretty fast… For a girl." Said the boy, out of breath.

"And you're… a boy." Said Ayla at a loss of what to say, "Friends?"

"Friends." Said the boy, shaking Ayla's hand, "I'm Thomas."

"I'm Ayla!" Said Ayla cheerfully.

From that moment on, the two were inseperable.

"Did you get your letter?" Thomas asked, waving his around.

"Yeah, we went shopping a week ago, now I have NOTHING to do!" She shouted flopping over, burying her face in her pillow. "Mmmmhph?" Ayla's words came out garbled.

"What?" Thomas cocked his head to one side, studying Ayla.

Instead of lifting her head she simply shouted a little louder, "MMMMHPH?"

"Ayla, I have no idea what you're saying!"

Finally, she lifted her head, looked at Thomas and said, very clearly (A little too cleary), "I said… Where have you been this last week?"

"Oh… Uhm… I was at home?" He replied but Ayla could tell that's not where he was at all. She decided not to question it, shrugged, and plopped down into the pillow again, "Is this your owl?" He said, clearly trying to change the subject.

Ayla lifted her head, "No, Thomas. I'm just holding it for a friend, of course it's my owl!" She said with obvious annoyance at her friend.

"Don't be like that… What's it's name?"

"He doesn't have one."

"Well you should give him one."

"I was planning on it, thanks." Ayla said quietly, "What do you suggest?" "Oh… I don't know… I think Hermes would suit him…" Of course Thomas would think that Hermes, the god of travel and messengers, would suit him.

"That's very appropriate…" If there was one Ayla didn't like about Thomas it was his love of order. Everything had it's place, "I'll take it into consideration."

"Okay… Well, we're on our way to Diagon Alley. I was going to invite you but, seeing as you've already gone… I'll see you later Ayla." He said cheerfully as he walked out of the room.

Ayla sighed and turned her head to stare at the wall. Thomas will be in Ravenclaw… I'd bet on that… Maybe, MAYBE Hufflepuff… She sighed again and flipped over to face the other wall.

There was a knock at her door.

"Come on in…" Ayla said just loud enough so that the person at the door, whoever it was, would hear.

"Hey Ay!" Came her brother's cheerful voice though there was a hint of sadness to it, "I need to talk to you real quick."

Ayla sat up, "What's up?"

"Mom and dad are kinda flipping out downstairs. You remember Heath Findley?" He asked casually.

"Sure, he's the one that always sends us a case of chocolate frogs each for Christmas."

"Ayla, he's dead." Straight to the point, as always. Caile was never one to linger on anything.

"What?"

"He and Adrian Apollo were found dead in Ela Vale last week. Apparently the Prophet just got news of this now…"

"Did they find the murderer?"

"No… But all fingers are pointing to Harry Potter."

"It wasn't him…"

"How do you know that for sure Ayla?" Ayla opened her mouth to speak but was cut off, "I'm not saying it is him, I'm not saying it isn't. All I'm saying is… Listen, this isn't what I came here to talk to you about…" Ayla tried to talk but was cut off again, "Ayla, mom and dad don't want us to go to Hogwarts."

Straight to the point, as always.

Sorry that not much happened in this chapter, it was basically so that you all could get to know Ayla better and so that I could introduce Thomas.

Some more information:

Just to clarify a few things, Harry Potter has retired from the ministry so he is now an ex-auror, Ayla's father is NOT Dean Thomas, I didn't even realize that there was a connection there until now, Ayla's father is Dean Lauring, a completely different person.

Reviews and favorites are always appreciated!