Chapter 4: First Day Back

"Chastity…Chastity…CHASTITY!"

"Wha…" I didn't have a clue who would be trying to wake me up. I wasn't used to this… "Who…"

"Honestly Chastity, if you don't get up soon we'll be late for breakfast!"

We… Now I knew I was still dreaming. "Very funny"

"I'm not joking…Harry, Ron and I are leaving in 5 minutes with or without you." After a sigh, I heard Hermione walk to the door, and with a snap, shut it as she left. Knowing that if I didn't get up I was going to have to face a very cranky and food-deprived Ron, I slowly got out of bed and started getting ready. After a few minutes, I was finished getting ready, had my bag packed and was on my way down to the common room. Once I reached the landing, I overheard the trio talking quietly as I walked up to them.

"Did you tell Dumbledore? I mean, maybe it wasn't just a trick" I heard Hermione say.

"No I didn't tell him. I was thinking maybe after breakfast…"

"Harry, this could be very important! I mean, what if he really has taken-"

"Hey…" I called, after realising I was being rude by eavesdropping on their conversation. I watched them all jump at the sound of my voice.

"Great, we can go now!" I chuckled as Ron jumped up and started to leave the common room, at a pace just shy of running. Slowly, I started to follow when Harry came up beside me and started walking with me.

"So, have a good sleep?" He asked with a small smirk, remembering my excuse from last night. Giving him a small smile I told him that I had had better. He probably would've asked about my answer, but luckily Ron had decided to tell Harry and me to hurry up. I was grateful, since I really didn't want to start talking about that weird dream I had, and had been having for the past few years now (although the past ones were different, they were still just as odd).

Once we got down to the Great Hall and sat at our house table I just sat there while the others ate. My mind was going back and forth on the idea of sending my parents an owl to know if they were okay or not. I figured I wouldn't know what I would put in it if I did send one. After all, what if they were fine? I had only been gone one night and I didn't want them to think that I was already homesick already; they already felt bad about sending me to a school where I didn't really know anyone. I guess it was noticeable that I had a lot on my mind since I was startled out of my thoughts by Hermione.

"Pardon?" I asked, feeling foolish once I realised that I hadn't been paying attention to what they were talking about.

"I was just wondering what's wrong. You've been really quite this morning…"

How would she know if I was acting any differently? I thought, while pushing food around on my plate.

"Oh, um, I just have a lot on my mind that's all…" I said, trying to get the attention of the group off of me.

"Oh … well if you want to talk about anything…" she replied, trying to get me to tell her what was wrong without coming out and actually asking me. Quickly, I tried to think of something I could tell them that would put an end to their questions when I thought of the perfect thing.

"Okay, well… I was just wondering why you guys wanted to hang out with me. I mean, I'm not complaining but…" I trailed off while looking at my hands. No response from them, perfect. Now they would leave me alone after this and I wouldn't have to think up another excuse to leave so I could owl my parents.

"Well, we just wanted to. After what you told us on the train, we felt bad so we wanted to make up for it."

Damn them and their constant need to be nice. How was I going to get out of this one? I could complain that I didn't want to be their charity case, but part of me did want to hang out with them. I guess they weren't looking for a reply though, because the next thing I knew Professor McGonagall was coming around passing out the times-tables, and then we were all heading off to our first class, charms with Hufflepuff.

The rest of my day was really uneventful. I went to my classes like normal, only this time I had people to sit with. I received a lot of looks from the other students, since it was hard not to be noticed hanging out with the trio.

They included me in everything they did too. I don't think I laughed this much at school since the Weasly twins were here, and even then it was only the laugh of a bystander, not the one of somebody who was part of the joke. By the end of the day we were all sitting around the fire sharing more stories, and I was really starting to miss my time alone. I had never gone this long without having at least ten minutes to myself to think. So by ten o'clock, I made the excuse that I was exhausted from our first day of class, so I was going to bed. Saying goodnight, I got up off the couch I was sharing with Hermione and was halfway across the common room when Harry called to me.

"See you tomorrow Chastity!"

This was going to take some getting used to.