Soon, after boarding the thestral-led carriages, during the start-of-term feast, Dumbledore addressed them.

"Welcome!" He smiled at them all. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few notices to give out, and I think it's best to get them out first, before this excellent feast can be served, as one of them is very, very serious."

"As all of you were made aware during a search in the Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts will be playing host to the dementors of Azkaban. This of course, as many of you are aware, is due to the escape of Peter Pettigrew."

Eddie was in shock. Of course… Why had they not realized on the train? Sirius was free! Nobody else should have been able to escape Azkaban… but Pettigrew did. How, though?

And why? What was his motive? Sirius' motive had been to kill Pettigrew… but Sirius was not at Hogwarts for Peter to return the favor…

Eddie slipped into another one of his deep, musing thoughts for a long while until Lily snapped her fingers in his face. Dumbledore's speech was over.

Eddie sighed and got up, still shaken by that news.

The following afternoon, it was time for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, which was their last class of the day.

Eddie was excited, but then he remembered as soon as he walked in.

They would be having the class with the Slytherins. The lesson was on boggarts. Malfoy would be able to see his worst fear and exploit it. He became very, very silent.

Meanwhile, Lupin introduced himself to the class at large, and requested them to put their wands back in their bags, as they would not be needing them. With some forewarning on what was to come, Eddie had not bothered to take his out to begin with.

Eddie was momentarily distracted when they rounded a corner and they found Peeves, who was currently stuffing a keyhole with gum.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Peeves," Lupin said pleasantly, like a parent who wanted to yell but was a very mild-mannered person. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get to his brooms."

This was, of course, ignored by the poltergeist, so Lupin drew his wand, pointed it at Peeves, and said, "Waddiwasi!" The gum zoomed up, and into Peeves' nose. He floated away, snarling.

When they reached the staffroom Lupin proceeded to talk about the boggart and what it did, and fear slipped over Eddie again. He took a few quick glances first at Malfoy, who was paying Lupin no attention whatsoever and was instead locked in a conversation with Crabbe and Goyle, then at Hannah, who was listening attentively. He shivered.

Soon, they all got into line. Eddie shot for the back at first, but curiosity got the better of him and he was able to shunt himself forward a few places. Lily was at the front with Claire, and Sean all the way in the back.

Lily was the first of the four to go, and her boggart was - interesting to say the least. A mirror had appeared and in it, different sports stadiums could be reflected, but they were empty.

"A world without sports…" she muttered to herself, and stood there, frozen for a second, but she drew her wand, and bellowed- Riddiklus! And so it changed, into pictures of vibrant, happy, stadium crowds.

Claire was next, and her boggart was simply a rat. Claire changed it to a dog, which barked. Interesting, Eddie thought, considering that one had just escaped. He chuckled to himself. A brief moment of respite for what was to come.

One by one, they proceeded through the line, until it reached Eddie. Nervously, he stepped forward.

He stared into the eyes of Susan's boggart (a zombie which was doing a tap dance) and took a deep breath. The boggart changed, Eddie closed his eyes, gathering himself….

It was Hannah. Eddie was confused, why would he be scared of her? His question was answered when a second figure materialized behind her - Malfoy… of course. Of course. Out of all the boggarts in the world… but that wasn't even the worst part of it.

Boggart-Malfoy pulled Boggart-Hannah towards him, and the two kissed, inflaming Eddie, but at the same time, he wanted to curl up and disappear. He could only imagine what Hannah thought right now, and his heart sank lower. He mustered up the courage, and cried- Riddikulus! Boggart-Malfoy slipped and fell, which made some of the class laugh and the boggart changed. He stepped aside, but then froze.

Hannah was very red, and Malfoy had doubled over laughing. He took one look at the pair of them, and did the only thing he could think of. He ran. Ran as far away as he could, to the common room, which was thankfully empty, and threw himself face first into the couch, crying.

He sat up and took a deep breath. He'd embarrassed himself. Is that what he was? A coward?

Meanwhile, back in the staffroom, the class was in a state of total shock.

"Erm- Professor?" Hannah piped up, very weakly and very flustered. "Is it all right if I go look for him?" Lupin, very sympathetically, let Hannah go, and the class proceeded to rifle through the remaining boggarts.

"Yeah, that's right, Abbott." Malfoy muttered low enough for Hannah to hear but not Lupin, "Go look for your boyfriend," he leered.

"Oh, shove off, Malfoy," she snapped at him, and she stormed out of the staffroom.

When Hannah entered the common room, she found Eddie with his head in his hands. She quietly sat next to him and bit her lip, waiting for him to notice her.

Eventually, Eddie sat up. Still not looking at Hannah, he croaked, "What?"

"Oh-nothing," she said quickly, "Are you all right?"

Eddie nodded. "Well, now you know."

"Know what?" asked Hannah, confused.

"That it was me who wrote the letter," Eddie explained.

"Ohh…" There was a very awkward pause. "Well, I had a feeling it might be you."

"Really?" Eddie looked up. "I - didn't know I was that obvious…"

"Well, you weren't… mostly. Remember when I got the letter, you wouldn't look at me."

"Ohh yeah…" he shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, it was nice, what you wrote…"

"Oh - thanks."

They both sat there in silence, with nothing but the fire crackling and the occasional bird twittering.

"Well- you're not- are you upset?" Eddie asked with some hesitation.

Hannah blushed. "Well - Malfoy was a git - but, no, I'm not upset."

Then, really quickly- "Quitetheopposite-"

Eddie was confused. "What?"

Hannah sighed- "Well, I like you too… Susan'll tell you."

Eddie blinked. "Really? I mean - if you're only lying to make me feel better -"

"I'm not," Hannah said quickly. "You know what - how about first Hogsmeade weekend we go together?"

"You mean it?" Eddie asked, overjoyed.

"Of course I mean it!" Hannah said, and smiled. "Now - we gotta go back to class."

Eddie nodded, stood up, and the two of them walked out hand in hand.