Welcome back! Thanks for the sweet reviews, you guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter... ;)

It's not Christmas yet but I guess I will not have the time to update any chapter until thursday... so Merry Christmas!

I've got a question for you: Who's death in Harry Potter was the most devastating for you? Honestly, Fred's death crushed me! I'll never get over it :( The fact that George was left behind all on his own... one of the things I hated about the last book. I must say that I also didn't like the epilogue. It felt like a bad fanfiction. (Albus Severus, Lily Luna and James Sirius... I mean, come on! Also I never understood why out of all people Harry named his son after Snape. He. hated. Snape. Snape is a great character but a horrible person. Just my opinion, so don't hate on me!)

Let me know what you think about the girls in this chapter. I really like the dynamic...

But without further ado... chapter 7:

Left strand over middle strand. Right strand over left strand.

"You need to calm down, Elain," Mildred said, rolling her eyes.

Middle strand over left strand. Right strand over middle strand.

"But I can't. The very thought... horrible!", Elain moaned aloud and fell onto her bed with a plop. She grabbed her pillow and pressed it to her face. Another frustrated groan, this time muffled by the pillow, escaped her.

I really wasn't able to stand by and watch it any longer. She had nothing to fear, after all... so I paused in my movement and briefly disengaged my fingers from Millie's hair.

"Elain, he..."

I was quickly interrupted as Elain ripped the pillow from her face, stood up and began to curse, "Jessica Blair! With all the witches in the world, he fell in love with Jessica Blair of all people!" Elain cringed and titled her head back. "Not that I have anything against her, but a Slytherin! Really?"

"Elain...", I tried again, but Millie got ahead of me.

"His brother is a Slytherin. So why wouldn't he be with a Slytherin? That whole house feud is really water under the bridge now." Millie shook her head, actually managing to undo half of the plait I had carefully braided. I nimbly grabbed the strands before they could unravel any further.

She had a point. By now it didn't matter so much if you were a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. But one also had to face the truth: Slytherin was still the most unpopular house. It was not uncommon for first-years to be disappointed about being in Slytherin. The House of the Serpent simply had too much... history. For better or worse, Slytherin would always be in bad odour. Even though everyone tried hard to look past the label, it didn't come easy to lots of people; Krista was the perfect example. And Aggie and Krista were the perfect example of the fact that the house feud wasn't just all water under the bridge, probably never would be.

"I know that... But Jessica Blair! The gossip of the school! What on earth does he see in her?"

"Elain...", I tried one last time. Again I was cut short, so I decided to give it up. I pressed my lips together and silently resumed my work.

Where was I? Left section over right section? No, left section over middle section.

I often braided Millie's hair. It was soothing. And Millie seemed to love the result. She had thick, bushy hair and she liked it when I braided it because I "cleaned up the mess". The funny thing was that it helped cleaning up my mess as well. Whenever I braided Millie's hair, or Krista's or Elain's, the mess inside my head also got sorted out. I cleared up my confusion, so to speak. My thoughts became clearer. Braiding hair had a calming effect. I didn't know why, it just was that way.

Right now, I was plaiting a braid that I would later attach to Millie's head with some fancy-looking barrettes... Well, Mildred would have to sit still for once. Otherwise the braid would turn out all crooked and lopsided.

"Well, Jessica Blair isn't bad looking. Her brother wasn't bad looking either. Too bad he's out of school already. What do you think he's doing now? Do you think he's become a potionist? Slughorn adored him so dearly," Millie muttered, turning jerkily to her right to get a better look at Elain, who was giving her pillow a good smack while sitting on the bed next to mine.

Millie sat on the floor in front of my bed. It was the most comfortable positon for the both of us. I sat cross-legged and her head laid in my lap so I could work on her hair without having to stretch my neck. Mildred was quite a bit taller than me.

"How's that of any importance right now?" exclaimed Elain, jumping up from her bed. After taking two big steps she stood in front of Mildred's outstretched legs and squatted down. Her face hovered a few inches from Mildred's. "Do you think Jessica is prettier than me?" asked Elain, dead serious. Millie couldn't help but giggle.

"Well, you do have quite a crooked nose," Millie asserted with effortless composure after examining Elain. The latter did not find this at all funny and took a strong swing at Millie's arm. Millie hissed loudly and rubbed the sore spot. She leaned forward and looked at Elain in a huff. Unfortunately, a strand slipped out of Mildred's plait. Oh dear, couldn't she hold still at last? "Ouch, no need to hit me! Say something, Lou! I'm getting half beaten up here right now!"

Surprised that they even knew I was still present - after all, they had been ignoring me constantly for the last few minutes - I raised my head. I just sighed and went back to sectioning Millie's hair. Without looking up from what I was doing, I said slowly, "I've been trying to say something this whole time, but you guys wouldn't listen to me."

Millie's head fell onto my lap as she looked at me from below with surprised eyes. She bit her lower lip guiltily before speaking, "Really? I'm sorry, Lou. I really didn't notice you."

I tentatively reached for her head and lifted it. "Don't tilt yout head back, Mildred. You'll ruin your braid," I reprimanded and got right back to work. It was time to finish with Millie's hair. Elain would be next. "And don't worry. I won't hold it against you. But would you please listen to me now?"

"Of course, Lou!" exclaimed Elain, nodding eagerly.

"Good." I remained silent, waiting to see if either of them would interrupt me again. But they didn't show the slightest inclination to make another sound. They probably wanted to prove to me that they could very well listen to me and that my opinion was definitely important to them. "James is not in a relationship with Jessica Blair."

Elain's eyes widened in disbelief. "B-But Jessica said..."

Now it was my turn to interrupt her. "You can't always believe everything you hear," I therefore replied as gently as I could.

"Wait a minute" Mildred shook her head and turned to me with a jerk. I was forced to fully disengage my fingers from her hair because of her constant abrupt movements. Hm, now the braid was all tangled - I gave it up. This wasn't going to work out... the way Millie was looking at me right now, I was going to have a lot of explaining to do. She pointed at me with her index finger, meanwhile squinting her eyes tightly shut. "How do you know those two aren't a couple? No offence, Lou, but you're not exactly an expert on this stuff."

I frowned. "I never said I was."

Elain had obviously lost her patience by now. She dropped down on the bed beside me and reached for my hands.

"Now tell me, Lou! What do you know?"

I chose my words carefully, "You should know that you can't always take Jessica at her word. Don't you remember how she claimed to have heard Aggie speak Parsel last year? She has a tendency to... exaggerate, let's call it that."

Millie - from her place on the carpet - shrugged. "Well, I'd still put it past Hagatha. She is and always will be a sneaky snake," she admitted unconcernedly. At my reproving look, she added, "No offence, Lou. She can be very nice too - when she wants to be, which isn't often..."

I was about to contradict her - Aggie was very much a kind and sweet person, even without me having to force her to be that way - but Elain, still holding my hands in hers, proceeded to shaking my arms frantically to regain my attention.

"Not important!" Elain glared angrily down at Millie as if to say, 'Stop distracting her!' Then she pierced me again with her overanxious gaze. "We were talking about James. That is important. So where did you get your information from?"

"James himself, of course," I said as a matter of fact.

"What?" cried Elain and Millie with one voice.

What did either of them think of me? That I first told them to dicount rumours, only to gain my information second-hand myself. No, of course, I only believed what I had heard James say.

I merely shook my head and frowned as I watched Millie's wild and loose hair fall over her shoulder. The fact that I had been braiding her heair only two minutes ago seemed unbelieveable by then. I would much rather have assumed that a group of pixies had camped on her head.

"Millie, your braid!", I rebuked them, but they ignored my objections - I was used to it, but this time they did it quite deliberately.

Millie snorted in a less than ladylike manner. My mum wouldn't have been too thrilled if she'd seen it. "Who cares about bloody pigtails now?"

"Obviously no one," I said.

Millie nodded vigorously. "Damn right so! When did you talk to James?"

I hesitated. After all, I didn't necessarily want to tell Millie and Elain about my night with Mrs Norris and Myrtle. That would have raised a lot of questions that I wouldn't be able to answer properly without revealing that I was friends with several ghosts.

"Tonight. We ran into each other by chance."

"And that's when he just told you he wasn't dating Jessica Blair, you mean?" demanded Millie, sounding somewhat suspicious.

"No, he just told me that he and Jessica had spent a bit of time together. In a broom closet, casually and no strings attached. To the best of my knowledge, James has no interest in Jessica or in a relationship with her."

"But why would he tell you all of this, just like that and to you of all people? He doesn't even know you!" questioned Elain.

"I can't answer that for you. That's something you'd have to ask him yourself."

Devination might not be my worst subject, but I couldn't read into the future. And I certainly didn't have visions that would tell me what was going on inside of James Sirius Potter's head.

That was just as well. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what a seventeen year old boy was brooding about...

A thought seemed to slowly dawn on Millie, as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hey, what were you up to tonight anyway that you could run into James? I mean, you're supposed to be-"

I was more than relieved that Elain was far too impatient to pay attention to Millie's objections. After a few seconds of musing, she excitedly snapped, "If what you're saying is true, then that means that James doesn't have a girlfriend! And that means I could ask him out, right?"

Elain stared questioningly at us. And all I could do was stare back. She'd had a crush on James for years, but she'd never talked about actually acting on it. It surprised me. And it shocked me, because we were talking about James, after all, and James was so incredibly popular at Hogwarts. What if he didn't like Elain? What if he turned her down? That would hurt her so much and of course it wasn't James' fault that he didn't like her, but then it would be my obligation - as Elain's friend - to dislike James. And I wasn't sure I would even be able to do that. Because now that I'd met him a few times, I knew he was a good and likeable person - if a little over-confident and arrogant. I wouldn't be able to hate him, and that would probably hurt Elain even more. And that, I didn't want. She didn't deserve it.

"I'm not sure if that's..." I began, almost in a whisper. But Elain, as quietly as I had spoken, had not heard me and groaned dejectedly.

"But let's face it, he would never be interested in someone like me."

"You can't know that," I objected. Because here's the thing: Elain might not have been Aadhya Brown. She wasn't considered an "exotic school beauty", but she was incredibly sweet and funny. Someone like Elain was everyone's type, because what was wrong with sweet and funny?

Exactly. Nothing at all.

Millie obviously agreed with me, because within a few seconds she had risen from the floor and stood up to her full height, her arms on her hips.

Elain was her best friend and Millie didn't like it one bit when someone - especially she, Elain, herself - spoke badly about her best friend. Millie was very protective of her friends, but Elain received special attention, simply because she could occasionally be a little self-conscious.

"What's that supposed to mean, Elain? You're a great girl. Any boy would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend."

Elain was still sitting right next to me on my bed, so this time it was up to me to reach for her hands and give them a tentative squeeze. I smiled at her encouragingly. "That's right. You're pretty, funny, kind and sweet. And most of all, you're a wonderful friend."

Elain seemed quite overwhelmed with all this display of affection, and before we knew it, she had grabbed Millie by the hand and pulled her onto the bed with her. Then she wrapped one arm around my shoulder and the other around Millie's to hold us close. She grinned happily and my heart lightened. I didn't like seeing my friends unhappy.

"Oh, I love you guys so much! You're the best!" exclaimed Elain. If it was possible she hugged us even harder. "But I think I'm still too shy to talk to James."

Millie, who seemed to have a few strands of Elain's hair in her mouth, carefully released her grip and then patted her on the shoulder. "You've still got more than six months to go. We'll get it sorted out by then. Won't we, Lou?"

"A lot can happen in six months," I agreed.

As it turned out, Elain was a big fan of hugs today. Even though Millie had just wriggled out of the last hug, Elain pulled her back towards her to put her arm around her again. Well, I didn't mind the occasional group hug, and this one didn't last too long either...

"What's going on?"

Krista stood in the doorway, looking quite befuddled. She had dyed her hair yesterday. She had chosen a rather inconspicuous colour by her standards, a dark brown. And by means of a hair-growth-potion, her hair reached a long way down her back. I found the brown hair to look even better on her than the purple hair had - better than the green hair colour anyway.

Krista held a tall stack of reams in her arms. One of the books had a golden cover, and if I wasn't mistaken, it was humming a happy tune. On top of the stack were two parchment scrolls, presumably the essay for Slughorn, which we would have to hand in next week.

Millie ducked under Elain's arm and jumped off the bed to smooth her black jumper.

"Elain has terrible mood swings. One moment she's trying to kill me and the next she's declaring her love for me! Maybe she fell on her head this morning or something?", Millie added.

Elain snorted indignantly, also rising from my bed and elbowing Millie in the ribs.

Millie groaned dramatically, suddenly bearing a strong resemblance to Myrtle. Oh dear, if she could read minds, she would probably terminate my friendship for that thought.

"Ouch, again! See?"

Meanwhile, I eyed Krista and her tall stack of reams. She was so laden with books that I sauntered up to her, took the top three books from her and then carried them to her desk.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the library," I asked over my shoulder.

"That's where I was." Krista placed the remaining books with great care next to the ones I had been carrying, almost as if they were precious but fragile treasures. "For an hour."

"And you're already back?" said Millie casually as she pranced towards the corner of her room. On the way there, though, her gaze lingered on the mirror. She grimaced. "Well, that looks silly. Hey, Lou, could you...?"

I nodded and gestured for her to sit back down in front of my bed. I undid the disaster of a braid altogether and began plaiting all over again. And this time, she even held still.

Left strand over middle one. Right strand over left strand.

"Well, it was quite crowded. And I'm already done with all my work. So for the rest of the weekend I can relax."

Millie, obviously sensing her chance, put on her most charming smile and began, "Then you could give me-"

"No, I'm not going to give you any solutions. And no, you can't copy from me either," Krista promptly interrupted her, shaking her head decisively as she defensively stowed her parchment scrolls in her desk drawer.

"Too bad."

Millie shrugged, true to the motto 'It was worth a shot!'

"But I can help you if you want. And if you really do need my help," Krista suggested, peering over at Millie's desk, which was beloaded with her wand, two shoeboxes, a sneakoscope and some bags of chocolate frogs and sweets from the last Hogsmeade trip - anything but a potion essay.

Elain was also back at her desk, digging out a roll of parchment. "Lou, have you finished your potions essay yet?" she asked, resting her chin on her hand and studying her own half-written essay.

"No, not yet."

"Don't tell me you haven't even started?" reprimanded Krista, her eyebrows drawn together sceptically.

"I haven't had any inspiration yet."

"I never do," Millie commented, catching a stern look from Krista in return.

"Inspiration? What does that even mean?" The new-age brunette turned her chair 180 degrees and eyed me closely. I was undeterred by her glare, however, and calmly continued to plait Millie's second braid. In just a moment, I would be ready to attach both braids to her head with some cute barrettes.

"You know, the best ideas just fly by. Just by chance, when I'm out for a walk or something. I'll get an idea eventually," I replied calmly.

It really did me good to braid other people's hair. I immediately felt much more relaxed.

"But you don't have much time left," Krista pressed on.

"It'll be fine. In worst case, I'll just work through the night. But that won't be necessary."

It didn't worry me. I did worry about a lot of things, but certainly not about lack of inspiration. Inspiration always came. But at what exact moment... I never could foresee. Right now, I was in a bottleneck, so to say, but that happened from time to time. So far, I had always come up with a good idea at the right moment. And I liked to rely on the hope that my constant luck in this respect had not suddenly deserted me.

"Done.", I announced and Millie looked at herself contentedly in the mirror. Elain was busy with her essay, so I wouldn't braid her hair until later. Krista was reading one of her books and Millie was busy folding the many clothes on her bed and putting them away in the wardrobe.

I let myself fall back into my pillows, my limbs stretched out. For a few seconds, I closed my eyes and listened to what my friends were doing. I heard Elain humming to herself. Krista turning page after page. Millie opening and closing the wardrobe doors. Then I briefly considered just lying down for a while, but quickly realised that today was not one of my brooding-in-bed days, but one of my brooding-while-walking days. And there was no changing that. I stayed motionless for a few more moments to make sure, but yes, today was a brooding-while-walking day.

"I think I'll go for a walk."

Krista looked up from her book in surprise. "Through the castle, you mean?"

I frowned as I slipped into my brown leather boots. "No, along the lake. The view there is very inspiring."

"It's terribly cold! And it's getting dark," Elain interjected, glancing at her watch.

"It's still light outside. I've got nothing to worry about there," I said, reaching for my coat. "And I like the cold."

"I thought you didn't like it. You always say you're a summer person."

"I am. In the summer. But in winter I like the cold. How weird would winter be if it wasn't cold, don't you think?", I asked, smiling at the absurd thought of going swimming in the Black Lake or eating ice cream outdoors in winter. No, in winter one skated on the icy lake and drank hot chocolate in the cosy, homely common room.

"Hmm, you're right," Elain admitted after a moment's hesitation.

I smiled goodbye to the three of them and was already opening our room door, but I didn't get very far.

"Don't forget your scarf.", Krista called out to me, pointing her index finger at my desk.

So I hurried to the desk and then turned back to the door...

"And your hat.", Elain added and nodded towards the wardrobe.

And I turned around again.

"Gloves.", Millie laughed.

"Oh yeah, thanks.", I said sheepishly as I gathered everything up and waved one last time from the doorway. "See you guys later. Wish me luck."

It was frosty outside and the trees had lost all their leafs, so they couldn't stop the cold wind from stroking my face. It was brisk and I was sure I had quite rosy red cheeks. It was just as well that I had my hat, scarf and gloves with me.

My breath rose in frozen clouds in front of my face. It wasn't magic but it sure felt that way. I blew out some air and watched the frozen clouds until they disappeared. Magic, dad always said, was everywhere, in every object, in every living being. Yes, even the Muggles had magic within them. It was a different kind of magic from that of us wizards and witches, but at moments like this the magic showed itself. On magically beautiful winter days like this one, when the little things were given attention and love.

I rubbed my gloved hands as I let my eyes wander over the lake. I would write a letter to my mom tonight and ask her to buy me a new pair of gloves, preferably magically prepared ones that retained heat better so my fingers wouldn't freeze off anymore.

It wasn't yet cold enough to make the surface of the Black Lake freeze completely. Skating would probably have to wait at least another week, because the ice was not yet solid or thick enough to bear the weight of several students.

I strolled up to the shore and bent over the thin ice. Shifting my weight carefully on one foot and taking a cautious half-step onto the ice, I tested out how long it would take before I would have ask Mom for my skates as well. Not long, I decided, and took my foot off the ice with satisfaction.

So I continued my walk. It was winter, therefore it was getting dark earlier and soon it would be time to head back. But I didn't really fancy turning around yet. What a beautiful day, although it was very cloudy, or perhaps because it was so cloudy? It was quiet, and since the sun wasn't shining, no one dared to come out due to the cold and-

"What are you doing?" The voice came from a distance and yet I was almost scared out of my wits because I thought someone had been bawling me out. I turned around, however, no one was there.

"No, left." It was the same voice and it sounded highly annoyed. "Left I said!"

I followed it quietly, for it sounded immensely familiar, although I didn't know where to place it. That was precisely why I approached the voice, to find out who it belonged to.

"Your left or my left?" asked a second voice. This one seemed very familiar as well.

"My left, of course," the first voice hissed back.

I arrived at a patch of forest, and behind some tall bushes I caught sight of two figures wrestling with each other. Wait, this wasn't wrestling. Were they dancing?

Indeed, Fred Weasley and Reuben Davies were dancing together in a snow-covered meadow, hidden behind bushes and fir trees that hadn't lost their leaves over the last weeks. I recognised the steps they were trying to dance, a fast waltz. Although I wasn't exactly talented, I could dance quite well. Mom had put me in dance classes when I was young, so I also recognised immediately that Reuben was a miserable dancer.

"Right, then." he clarified for good measure and Fred Weasleys nodded in agreement.

"All right, you take a step to the right then." said Fred, taking a step to the left. "Then why are you going left now? We agreed on right!"

Fred and Reuben were well wrapped up, as was I, to protect themselves from the cold. Reuben was wearing a long coat and a thick hat, and Fred a warm jacket with his gryffindor scarf.

"Unlike you two, I've just never been to a fancy dance before. Sorry I'm such a terrible dancer!"

That made me straighten my back. You two he had said? I leaned a little to my right, over the bush, and that's when I spotted him, James Sirius Potter. He was squatting in the snow a metre or two away from his dancing friends, leaning against the trunk of a thick fir tree with an amused smile on his lips. James was also dressed in the colours of his house - gold and red: the scarf gave it away.

"Yeah, as you should be," Fred grumbled, taking a step back from Reuben. With his thumb, he pointed at the Ravenclaw. "Your turn, James. I can barely walk after the number of times that git stepped on my toes."

James nimbly scrambled to his feet as said 'git' demonstratively stepped on Fred's foot once more. Fred, however, just grinned and, shrugging his shoulders, walked towards the fir tree where James had just been crouching. He leaned against the tree so that he could watch his two friends dancing.

James grabbed Reuben's arms and thus placed himself directly in front of the Ravenclaw. It made sense that James and Fred were good dancers. As often as their family was invited to galas and balls, they probably had had a lot of practice. But why on Merlin's pants were they teaching Reuben how to dance in late november, right at the Black Lake?

"Why didn't you ask Aadhya to teach you how to dance? She'd have more fun doing it than us," James asked. It looked funny how the two boys were spinning in circles. Poor Reuben looked a little awkward.

"Because she's already my date. She can't be my dance teacher too."

Of course. The Yule Ball.

Every three years, the Yule Ball was held, a feast that only the last three years of Hogwarts were allowed to attend: that is, the fifth, sixth, and seventh graders. This tradition went back a long way, to the first Triwizard Tournament. In the meantime, the Triwizard Tournament had been banned - and rightly so: it was ridiculous how carelessly students had been put in danger at these games in the past - but some traditions should not die out, namely the beautiful and above all unthreatening ones. And so the school councillors had decided to organise the Yule Ball every three years, so that every student at Hogwarts would have the opportunity to attend a real ball once in their school career.

I had never been to the Yule Ball, of course, but I had heard a lot about it. The school choir sang and the food was supposed to be fantastic, which by Hogwarts' standards probably meant that the food was more than superb! All the guests wore pretty dresses or fancy robes. And there was a lot of dancing.

It was a bit like one of those school balls in the muggle films, only a lot more elegant and well... magical.

The Great Hall was festively decorated. Snow was falling from the ceiling. The ice sculptures were supposed to be able to move and converse with the guests. And the orchestra played all by itself, only the director was a real wizard who waved his wand and thus kept the instruments under his control.

Apparently the infamous trio was practising dancing for the Yule Ball. Or rather, Reuben was practising while the rest of them were trying to stop him from stepping on their toes all the time.

I didn't quite understand though why Reuben hadn't just signed up for the dance club. For all the students who didn't really know how to waltz, the dance club was created. Professor McGonagall personally supervised it and was there to give helpful advice. I didn't go because I already knew how to dance, Aggie likewise, and Krista simply refused to participate. So only Elain and Millie had been going to the weekly practice since october, but according to their reports it was a great deal of fun.

"Why not? Aadhya can dance really well."

"Exactly, I'd make a fool of myself." Reuben shuddered. "Even before our actual date takes place."

"You've got a point there. That's hardly dancing you're doing. Looks more like troll hopping to me.", Fred commented and James laughed.

"Well thanks a lot!", Reuben groaned, but didn't contradict him. Fred's words might not have been the friendliest, but unfortunately there was some truth to the assumption: Reuben's movements really did remind me slightly of those of traditional mountain troll dances.

"And why do we have to practice out here, of all places? It's freezing as hell." Fred, now that he was no longer dancing, rubbed his hands together. The way I saw it, by now he was regretting not taking gloves with him. By Helga, I was lucky to have such attentive roommates.

"Because no one will see us here, for sure. And that saves me the embarrassment of someone watching me troll-hop."

"No one would have seen us inside either. We have the map, remember?", James reminded him.

The map? What was that supposed to mean? And I was told I spoke gibberish...

Reuben grumbled, looking down at his feet intently, as if he had to plan his every next step carefully.

And suddenly it struck me what I was actually doing here. I was eavesdropping on a private conversation and observing a scene that was not at all meant for my eyes. That was out of place! My parents would have been upset if they had been able to see me... I bit my lower lip and immediately turned away from the trio to sneak away again unobtrusively. Slowly, I took one step at a time. I was good at sneaking away and I had practice at doing it silently and unnoticed.

But not so today. Before I knew it, my arm had grazed the bush next to me and a soft rustling sounded.

"Did you hear that?" asked Reuben behind me.

I held my breath.

"No. Now concentrate or I'll step on your foot."

Merlin, I really was a lucky person.

"But I think-" Reuben began, but James quickly interrupted him.

"I think you're being paranoid. Don't worry. Aadhya won't be jumping out from behind the next bush anytime soon."

"That's not what worries me. I just thought I heard something."

"Enough thinking and pay attention." James demanded and I heard him clap his hands. "Now we'll show you how to do the spin."

I exhaled with relief and hurried back to the lakeside before I actually got caught, and from there back to the castle. I made my way back to the common room, feeling much more calm by then, mainly because it immediately become much warmer. Due to the excitement, I had completely forgotten what a low temperature it was outside in November. Now, however, I was protected from the cool wind by the thick walls of the castle.

"And have you found your inspiration?" inquired Krista after I had closed our room door behind me. She was by now sitting cross-legged on her bed, apparently still reading. Elain continued to work diligently on her essay and Millie was taking a little nap; she was wrapped in cosy blankets and kept her eyes tightly shut.

Have I found any inspiration, she asked? Hardly.

Instead, I had eavesdropped on three boys, one of them being James Sirius Potter, who Elain had a bit of a crush on. I didn't normally get involved in things that were none of my business. It was way too much work for me to do so, and I was lazy. I wasn't a ravenclaw, my thirst for knowledge had its limits. So why should I care much about the affairs of my fellow students?

Well, today had been an exception, today I had indulged my new found and surprising curiosity, but now that we had cleared that up, I could go back to my old ways, starting tomorrow.

"No" I shrugged, "but I'll go for another walk tomorrow in the morning. It'll be fine."