Sorry for the wait! I'm actually just terrible at posting chapters. I'll post chapter 6 shortly after this, since you've waited for so long.

Leave reviews, it's nice to know you're all still alive.

It was finally August 14 and we all took the floo to Stein Zauberei. All together it was Brook (the secretary sister), Chadwick, Cenek, Dominik, Deepak, Flick, Erikk, Jaelah, myself, the Headmaster, and the Headmistress. Upon arrival, we were all instructed to go to our individual commons area.

Dominik and Deepak went off to Topas, Flick went to Saphir, Chadwick and Erikk went to Rubin, and Cenek, Jaelah, and I went to Smaragd.

Once Cenek, Jaelah, and I reached the Smaragd commons, Cenek stopped and turned, "Don't be surprised if you see things you aren't expecting from these people. Some of them, well, they didn't have as nice of a Summer as they should have had. Don't stare, but don't avoid eye contact. It's a balance that you'll learn over time. The good news is that you're not the only new ones here. There are 8 first year students too."

We nodded, then Cenek opened the door. We walked into a room that had a circle of beanbag chairs in it. With a quick count, I realized there were 18 people there so far, 21 now. The house could have up to 56 people. Either a lot of people had died or we weren't the last ones to arrive.

Cenek waved us to follow him, and we sat down in the circle, but away from the others that were sitting already. "Once the others from your year get here, I'll introduce you. They'll be the ones you see the most anyways."

He put his hands under his chin and didn't say anything. I wondered why he didn't go and try talking to anyone. There were several conversations going on between the other students, but Cenek seemed more content to just not talk to anyone. He was much more silent than he had been when he was at home. I couldn't help but wonder why he shut down so much when we arrived into the commons area.

I sat down next to him, very awkwardly, since it was difficult to sit down or stand straight up with my braces on. I put my hand on his shoulder, "Cenek, are you okay?"

He nodded, "I'm fine, Vespera." I could feel a nudging from his brain, his emotions taking over. I was sucked into his memories.

Cenek sat in the commons area, a younger Cenek, maybe his first year. He looked around and tried to talk to the ones around him but they ignored him.

Cenek's memories flew. The start of another year, more people ignoring him.

A third year, a fourth year, his memories stopped on the fifth year.

A girl stopped and sat next to him. Her face was scarred with circular burn marks. She held out her hand and her sleeve rose to see scars from cuts. She smiled at him, "You looked lonely. You shouldn't be lonely. I'm Nova, it's nice to meet you."

He smiled back at her, "Cenek," he took her hand and shook it. "Would you care to sit with me?"

She nodded, "Of course." She sat down next to him and many students snubbed her for doing so, "Why is it everyone seems to dislike you, Cenek?"

He frowned, "I'm the headmaster's son and as such they think I don't fit in. How could someone who has such a loving father and mother really fit into this house?"

She stared at him, "I can tell you fit in. Your scars just aren't out here, they're in here," she put her finger on his forehead. "It'll just take a while for anyone else to see it."

Memories flooded by of Cenek and Nova until they stopped again. Cenek was standing outside of the girls' 2nd year room. Nova was late. All the other girls had left already. Hayley said she was running late this morning, but she couldn't wait for her any longer.

Cenek had found friends in Nova and Hayley. They were two years younger than him, but they accepted him.

Cenek took out his wand and tapped it on the wall. Classes would start in 5 minutes. He knocked on the door, "Nova, come on. It's almost time for classes!"

He put his ear to the door and didn't hear any motions. He opened the door and walked in.

I was suddenly shoved out and physically fell against Jaelah. Thankfully we were both sitting down.

"Those are my memories. It's better not to pry little snake," Cenek glared at me. "Keep your abilities to yourself or next time you're getting cursed."

I nodded, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I once again leaned forward and put my hand on his shoulder, "I'm truly sorry, Cenek. They meant a lot to you. We can't replace them, but you have friends in us. Or at least in me. I don't know what Jaelah is doing." I smiled at him, "You're going to make it through this year."

He shook his head and went back into silent mode.

Jaelah looked at me, "Did you just do what I think you did?"

I smiled sheepishly, "I didn't mean to. Professor Snape never had a chance to fully tutor me how to control it."

She rolled her eyes, "What am I going to do with you?" Just then, Jaelah's pet snake slithered up behind her and coiled in her lap. "Hey there, Ryan. I didn't know you were a student here too." I looked at her and we both laughed.

"You're going to get in trouble for having him in the commons room during this, Jae." Ryan looked at me and hissed.

"They won't do anything. Thissssss placcccce welcomes all kindsssss of petsssssss and animalsssssss. You sssshould sssssssssee the housssssse animal." Ryan hissed at me and Jaelah looked down at him with a questioning look then back at me.

"You hush, I didn't ask you." I stuck my tongue out at the serpent and looked back at Jaelah.

"Relax, Ves. No one is going to say anything. I saw one person earlier with a wolf in their dorm."

"That is utterly insane." I looked around as more people had trickled in, and finally the door shut on its own. I counted the heads. 43 of us all together. Out of the group that was here, they had lost 15 people already.

I looked across the circle and my eyes opened wide in shock. There was a girl, around my age, who was very familiar. She hadn't seen me yet, but I knew that face. It was Bailey, my old muggle friend.

Except, maybe she wasn't as muggle as I thought she was.

Suddenly, a ghost appeared in the middle of the floor. She couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 years old when she died. She was a little on the tall side, no more than five foot nine. She had long hair, down to the middle of her torso. It was a nice burgundy color. Her posture was impeccably wonderful. In her eyes, she looked as though she had seen some terrible things before she died. Her clothes were modern, so I assumed that she passed recently but the reflection in her eyes said something completely different. Looking closer, it seemed as if she had seen horror and agony in her waking life but there hasn't been anything like that in Germany since-

"Welcome to Smaragd, new and old students. I am the head of Smaragd, Seele Krüger." My inner babbling and evaluating of the girl standing before me stopped as her melodic voice came over us.

She continued, "You may call me Seele. As I'm sure you can tell, you have all gathered here for the first of many Smaragd class. Attendance is mandatory and your grade is based off attendance alone. You do not have to speak up, you simply just have to listen to others and be aware of the students. While other houses will have different classes, our class is used to help our biggest weakness; being hurt. I'm about to bore the ones of you who have been here before, but this will help the new members of Smaragd to understand why I am here. and what this class is for." Seele began floating around the circle, looking at each one of us, "I first attended Stein Zauberei in 1940. The second World War was going strong. I was placed into Smaragd because I had a hardship like so many others. My father had been sent off to fight. My mother was killed many years before, when birthing my younger sister. My younger sister and myself were in hiding. Many of our neighbors had been stolen from their houses at night. One night, the week before I was meant to go to Stein, soldiers burst into my house. My younger sister was on the floor below me. She hadn't made it up the stairs yet. She screamed and yelled but never gave away that I was upstairs. I could see her the entire time. I quietly scurried to the fire place. I had to get away, but how? The embers were still burning in the mantel, but I climbed. I climbed up the chimney as well as I could." She paused, staring at Cenek, then continued, "A wizard appeared in the fireplace with me. He held onto my cloak, threw down floo powder, and we were here. I spent my first few years recovering from that experience, but my time here helped that. How did I die though? Not everyone that was at Stein was safe. A boy came up to me one day. It was 1945, I was in my sixth year of Stein. He told me who he was and that he knew of my past. He then killed me. I woke up hours later as a ghost. I continued my studies here and then became a professor here. I've been through hardships and I'm willing to help any of you. If you even just need help with a relationship, I will be here." She smiled at us, "Now it's your turn to share, if you do so please. At least introduce yourself, with your name and year. Seventh years first."

After that long spiel, one by one, a student would stand up, say their name, and a few would speak up. Cenek was the second to go up. He only said his name and that he was in his seventh year. Together there were 2 seventh years, 4 sixth years, 5 fifth years, 8 fourth years, then it was the third years' time.

One girl stood up and announced she was Morganthe, a third year, and sat back down.

Then, the long-awaited Bailey stood up and spoke softly; softer than I had ever heard her. "My name is Bailey and I am a third-year student here at Stein Zauberei." She moved, as if she wasn't going to say anything else, however she continued, "I grew up in Wales and was a part of the high society. Being rich doesn't mean you're okay though. I was never happy at home. Always ignored by my parents. If I did well in school and extracurriculars, I was perfect to them. The nanny and tutors were all I had. When I was 8, I convinced my nanny, who convinced my parents, that going to an actual school was a good choice for me. I went to the school and met a girl. She was absolutely perfect. She was always smiling and had the perfect hair and eyes. I was jealous of her. One day, she told me a secret though. Her mom didn't listen to her very much either. We became best friends, or so I thought. One day, she just disappeared. I tried calling her, I waited for her at school, and finally, I went to her house. Her mom said she was sent off to a boarding school and was disowned. My heart broke. My only friend was gone forever and I had no way of finding her. The next day, I received my 2 days notice that I was a witch and was offered to attend Stein Zauberei. Classes starting the next 2 days. I told my parents, my nanny, my tutors, and left. I had no reason to stay there because as far as I knew my only friend was gone." She paused and looked at Seele, who was nodding, as if she had heard all of this before. Bailey began sobbing, "I saw her this summer she looked so happy and alive. It hurts me that she moved away and had forgotten all about me. She found new friends and I'll never pass through her head again. She probably forgot about me the second her Malfoy brother walked in. I don't know what happened to her but she had been hurt because she had something weird going on with her legs. I don't know what to do anymore with her being alive."

She buried her face in her hands and Seele wrapped her ghost arms around her, which looked odd. "It will be okay, my child. You will make new friends even with her still dear to your heart. Maybe one day your fate will have you cross paths again."

Bailey nodded and went back to her seat. Meanwhile, Jaelah and Cenek were both giving me a very odd look. I was the only person that had a Malfoy brother that they knew of.

Seele turned and nodded to me. It was my turn to speak up. Cenek stood up in front of me and held out his hands. I gratefully took them and stood up.

Cenek sat back down and I looked around at everyone, most of whom were staring at me, except for Bailey, who was still sobbing into her hands.

I swallowed then spoke softly, "My name is Vespera Salazar-Malfoy. I'm a third-year transfer student from Hogwarts."

Upon saying my name, half of the room began whispering about the events of me in Azkaban, of me with the last name Malfoy and Bailey's story, while the other half just looked half asleep with all the other stories.

Bailey looked up at me, her crying stopping. She whispered, "You're a witch?"

"My adoptive mother disowned me when she found out I was a witch, and I moved into a family of wizards who loved me against all odds. I went to Hogwarts, as a Slytherin. Just like all of you, I've had hard times, but I don't particularly want to share them." Cenek stood up and smiled at me. He then held my arms as I sat back down, before sitting back down himself.

Jaelah stood up next, "I'm Jaelah Phantomhive and I'm a third-year transfer from Hogwarts as well. I was in Slytherin, and quite honestly, I'm trying to figure out why in the world I was placed here anyways. I'm fine." She then sat back down and I looked up at her. Never had Jaelah been so short about anything. Looking into her eyes, I could tell something was off. I had known Jaelah for all of my wizarding world experience and I had never seen this look on her. She was hiding something. I tried to read her thoughts, but she was singing Satellites Act III by Crown the Empire mentally. I made a note to ask her about it later as they continued with the 4 third year guys, the 8 second years, and the 8 first years.

"Thank you everyone for sharing. Remember, we will meet every day this first week and after that we will meet for 3 hours on Fridays until time for exams. At that point, we will meet again every day. I am always here if you need me and so are your fellow Smaragd residents. Never be afraid to talk to someone," Seele finished. She then smiled and floated out of the room. Slowly all the students stood up and went about their business.

Bailey walked over to me, "You're a witch, huh? Why didn't you tell me?"

I smiled at her, "You're a witch too. You weren't in a rush to tell me, now were you? It's all in the secrecy. Most witches and wizards know my name because of the incident with Azkaban last year. I assume if someone is magic, they'd let me know."

She shook her head, "I don't read the news and gossip isn't a top priority on my list. I guess we'll be able to play sports together again, right? You'll play quidditch with us?"

I shook my head and pointed to my legs, "I'm accident prone. I've been banned from playing Quidditch."

Cenek turned his head and had a look of shock, "You can't play Quidditch?!"

It was Bailey's turn to speak, "You have a voice again?!"

Jaelah and I just looked very confused and in the silence, I decided to answer. "I can play quidditch, I was okay at it."

"Okay? She was fabulous. She was the seeker of our team! At least until the incident... She's a phenomenal player!" Jaelah beamed.

"You're in Germany now. Surely your parents won't know if you've played a little pickup game?" Cenek nudged me, "Come on, I must see how good you actually are at my favorite sport!"

Bailey continued to stare at Cenek and I smiled at him, "Sure, maybe once I can stand on my own without these braces. They'll affect how I fly."

Bailey spoke up again, "You're better, aren't you?"

Cenek looked at her and nodded, "I'm doing better. It's hard not to be a bit cheerful when you have these two picking at you." He messed up my hair and I glared at him. "I realized. Sorry Vespera, that I was moping around, when I could be worse off. I could be in Vespera's state, without being able to walk well. I can walk, I'm alive. I should use that to my advantage. Maybe graduate. I've been thinking going into therapy so I can help others like Nova and Hayley. Maybe do them a little proud of me."

Bailey smiled, "I'm sure they would have liked that." She looked down at Jaelah and myself, "Well, come on then. We'll get you two all settled into the dorm then we'll eat dinner. You don't mind if I steal them do you, Cenek?"

He shook his head, "Be my guest." He stood up at the same time as Jaelah and then held his arms out to me. I took them and pulled myself up. He kissed my forehead, "Be safe, Vespera."

I smiled at him, "I'll try. Thank you, Cenek."

He then walked off and Jaelah turned to me, "What the heck was that?"