So…I lied again. lol I know I said that spring break was going to be next but then I started writing this one and it went in another direction. The next chapter will be about spring break and should be exciting (at least I think it is!) I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! I love constructive criticism :) Enjoy! and thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I appreciate is soooo much! :D

Albus was exhausted. For the past three nights he hadn't been able to sleep. It had started at breakfast one day when Albus drank some of his pumpkin juice. It had tasted weird but Albus dismissed this as the juice being old or a funky batch. That night, he'd woken up sweating from a nightmare. He'd tried going back to sleep but an hour later, he was woken up again by a similar nightmare. By the third nightmare in one night, Albus knew something was wrong. By this time, Scor had also been woken up and had come over to see what was wrong. Albus had sent him back to bed and stayed up reading about nightmares. He hadn't found anything when morning rolled around but later that day he found the problem. There was a potion that gave someone nightmares every time they fell asleep. The nightmares differed but would prey on the victim's greatest fear. That would explain why Albus' nightmares had varied from creepy toys to dark figures grabbing him in the night.

Albus had looked for an antidote but found that there was no antidote and he'd just have to wait for the potion to wear off. The potion lasted for a week. Albus lay in his bed looking up at his canopy, trying to calm his heart down. The nightmare he'd just had was about the dark figure with black eyes chasing him through the woods. In his dream, Albus had tripped and the figure loomed over him. Albus had looked into the figures black eyes and then woke up panting.

"Al? You alright?" Scor's groggy voice came from the other side of the room.

"Yeah," Albus said but it came out as a squeak. Albus closed his eyes, hating the fact he was being weak. He was just so tired. Tired and scared and angry and tired. Albus got up and dressed for the day, yawning more times than he could count. Albus could hear Scor snoring again and Albus chuckled. Scor slept through most anything. Albus ran his hands through his hair and looked in the mirror. He was startled by what he saw in the mirror. He had big purple bags under his eyes and his shoulders drooped. Albus splashed water on his face. Just two more days and then the potion would wear off. Albus gripped the sink in anger. This was Ryan's doing. It had to be. How he'd slipped the potion in the drink, Albus didn't know but he knew it was Ryan. Taking a book from his bedside table, Albus went down to the common room. Rhyleigh was curled up in a chair by the fire, reading the small book about spells. She looked up when he came in the room and Albus tried to smile at her. Her eyes narrowed and she put down the book. She didn't say anything as she stood and grabbed his hand.

"Rhyleigh?" Albus asked as she pulled him out into the hallway. She didn't say anything but continued to pull him along. She finally stopped outside an empty classroom and dragged him inside. She closed the door and Albus heard the door click. Albus looked at her questioningly and she crossed her arms.

"Sleep," she commanded. Albus' eyes widened and he took a step back.

"What-"

"Sleep Albus. You're exhausted and you look awful. You need to sleep." Albus looked down and aways. He hadn't told anyone about the nightmares, he didn't want them to worry about him and he wanted to handle this Ryan thing by himself. That pride will land you in Slytherin, he remembered Rhyleigh saying that to James. He did have pride, a lot of pride.

"I'm fine-"

"No you're not!" Rhyleigh said, stomping her foot. Albus looked up and saw both anger and concern in Rhyleigh's gaze.

"Albus, we're all worried about you. We know Ryan's bugging you but you won't let us help you."

"And you won't let us help you," Albus retorted, "I know the girls in your dorm are giving you a hard time but you haven't done anything either." They glared at each other for a while until Rhyleigh sighed and looked down.

"I'll tell you my problems after you've told me what's wrong with you," Rhyleigh said. Albus frowned and scuffed his foot against the ground. His pride was screaming at him not to tell people he didn't know what to do but his mind was saying the opposite. Albus sighed and gave into the rationality of his mind.

"Ryan put a potion into my drink that gives me nightmares. The potion wears off in about a week so I have two more days before they stop. Until then, I have nightmares whenever is sleep," Albus explained, looking at the floor. There's silence for a moment as Rhyleigh digests what Albus said.

"I don't get it," Rhyleigh said. Albus looked up, confused.

"What do you mean? I have night-"

"Not the nightmares. Why is Ryan doing this?" Albus shrugged.

"Because he doesn't like me?"

"It's gotta be more than that." Albus crossed his arms in thought. His brain hurt, he was so tired.

"I don't know Rhyleigh, maybe my family?" Albus said shaking his head, trying to get rid of the tiredness from his brain.

"Albus, sleep," Rhyleigh interrupted his next thought. Albus closed his mouth and fidgets.

"I can't," he whispered. Rhyleigh put her hand on his shoulder making Albus look up.

"Try, I'll stay with you," Rhyleigh encouraged. Albus sighed looked around the room. He found an old plush chair in the corner and sank into it. Immediately his eyes began to droop and he was asleep before he could say anything. However, an hour later his eyes snapped open and he gasped in terror. He looked around frantically and saw Rhyleigh sitting in another chair, looking up from her book. Albus closed his eyes and put his face in his hands.

"Albus, try again," Rhleigh said softly. Albus shook his head but he could already feel his body falling back into sleep. Albus tried to wake up but then he heard a sound. A sound he hadn't heard since two Christmas' ago. Albus wrenched his eyes open and saw Rhyleigh playing the violin with her eyes closed. It was a beautiful soft sound. Rhyleigh was the last thing Albus saw before he fell asleep again.

Albus awoke to silence. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched. He had finally slept. He had finally slept. Albus sat up at the realization and looked around. Rhyleigh was still sitting in her chair, with the violin in her lap, sleeping. How did he not have any nightmares? It wasn't supposed to wear off for two more days. The only thing different was the Rhyleigh had been playing the violin. Albus readjusted in the chair, his limbs protesting painfully. He must've been fast asleep if he hadn't even moved. Rhyleigh stirred from the chair and looked around blearly.

"How did you do it?" Albus blurted. Rhyleigh looked at him and frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she yawned.

"I didn't have any nightmares and the only thing that was different was that you played the violin," Albus stated. Rhyleigh looked down at the violin and then back up at him.

"I-I don't know what I did or if I did anything," Rhyleigh said, "I was just trying to play a lullaby that would keep the nightmares away." Albus scratched his head in thought. Could Rhyleigh infuse her magic into music? He'd heard of it before but it took years of practice and concentration. Rhyleigh, if she'd done it, had done it effortlessly.

"You're pretty amazing you know that?" Albus smiled. Rhyleigh blushed and opened and closed her mouth, unable to say anything.

"Thank you," Albus chuckled. Rhyleigh finally closed her mouth and nodded, looking down at her violin.

"Where did that come from?" Albus asked, pointing to the violin.

"Oh I wear it," Rhyleigh said. Albus looked at her confused and Rhyleigh smiled, turning the scroll. The violin shimmered and then shrunk, growing a long chain. In a matter of seconds the violin had turned into a necklace with a violin charm.

"That's awesome," Albus said as Rhyleigh put the neckalace around her neck, "Where did you get that?"

"An old man I once knew would play the violin for money or food and I would listen to him. He eventually started teaching me the basics. But, one night I found him dying, probably from a stab wound. He took the necklace off and gave it to me," Rhyleigh explained. Albus looked at her dumbfounded. Rhyleigh had been through a lot.

"How old were you?" Albus asked.

"Um…I think I was six or seven," Rhyleigh placed the necklace inside her shirt so it would be hidden from view.

"It's how I survive," Rhyleigh said simply. Albus could only stare at her in stunned amazement. Suddenly a clock in the room chimed and they both jumped. The clock said eight o'clock.

"We've been out all day!?" Albus said jumping up. The looked at each other and then ran out of the room. They ran all the way back to the common room, finding Scor and Tevye by the fire.

"There you guys are!" Tevye said.

"Where have you been?" Scor asked. Albus and Rhyleigh looked at each other and Rhyleigh gave him a look. Albus sighed and sat down next to Tevye.

"I've been having nightmares from a potion Ryan gave me. Rhyleigh took me to a classroom and forced me to sleep," Albus said. Scor and Tevye both made exclamations of "Why didn't you tell us?" and "That bastard!" Eventually they died down and their conversation shifted to what Scor and Tevye had been doing all day.

"Homework," Scor said gloomily.

"He really wanted to practice quidditch today," Tevye said rolling his eyes.

"Oh come off it, you did too!" Scor accused. Tevye opened his mouth to retort when both Rhyleigh and Albus' stomachs growled.

"You guys haven't eaten have you?" Tevye asked. They both shook their heads and Tevye grinned.

"Well then, let's go eat," Tevye sprang up and the other three followed him out of the common room. Tevye lead them down a series of hallways quietly until the came to a portrait of fruit. He tickled the pear and the portrait gave way to a very busy kitchen. Scor, Albus, and Rhyleigh all stared in amazement as Tevye puffed out his chest.

"How did you find this?" Albus asked. Scor saw a plate of chicken and followed after it hungrily.

"I watched some hufflepuffs sneak down here one night so I tried it and found that it leads to the kitchens. This is where they make all the food in the Great Hall!" Tevye gestured around the huge kitchen.

"Can I help you?" a tiny voice squeaked. The three friends looked down at a small, big-eyed creature. Rhyleigh gasped and took a step back.

"Yes, my friends here missed dinner. Could you help them fill their stomachs?" Tevye smiled putting his arms around Albus and Rhyleigh. The house elf smiled and trotted away.

"What is that?" Rhyleigh whispered.

"'ish a 'outh 'ef," Scor said with his mouth full.

"What Scor is trying to say is that my dear Leigh, is a house elf. They used to be servants of the pureblood wizards but now they're just like any other creatures of the work force and are paid for their labor. Don't worry, they're perfectly harmless," Tevye explained. They sat down at a little table some house elves had set up.

"How do you know about house elves?" Albus asked Tevye.

"I read about them in one of the books and there was recently an article in the newspaper about how much things have changed since the War," Tevye said. More conversation was cut off as several house elves set plates down in front of them overflowing with food. For the next couple of hours the friends ate and laughed, Albus completely forgetting about his nightmares.