Stuff happens in this chapter. Surprising stuff. Prepare for a twist.

Elizabeth woke up the next morning wearily. The party yesterday had gone on for hours. She had no choice but to stay awake for the whole time since Lee Jordan was blasting music loud enough for her to hear even in her dorm room. And it had been too late in the night to go to Minerva's quarters to sleep, so she made the most of her time at the party. She had danced with Neville for a little while during a wild dance where partners swung each other back and forth to fast-paced music. He was certainly improving with his dancing, though he said he was better at the slow kind.

Harry had been the person of honor at the party and was carried on several people's shoulders throughout the night. At one point in the party, he had confided in Elizabeth that he didn't like it much after a while as she was getting a cup of Butterbeer from Fred and George's secret stash they supplied for the festivities.

"That's the price of fame, I'm afraid. Just be glad that Colin and Dennis can't carry you on their shoulders. I swear they'd do it if they could." She told him. Harry was just barely able to fit in a laugh before they got swept into Fred and George's conga line.

As Elizabeth got out of bed and collected her clothes for the day, she noted that her roommates were all still asleep. Well, except for Olivia. But she had always been an early riser. Ginny was so asleep she was snoring, just a little. Elizabeth chuckled when she saw some of her bright red hair being blown a little bit in the air as she snored.

Elizabeth got dressed in casual clothing since it was a Sunday, and she had no lessons. She had begun to swap her two usual braids to several thin ones throughout her hair, which she usually left down. Minerva said it made her look mature. She did like the style, and it still gave her a reminder of her dear mother.

She walked down to breakfast and found that much of the Great Hall was empty. At the table for staff, only Karkaroff and Professor Sinistra were present. Students were scattered about their tables, which wasn't very surprising. Most liked having a lie-in on weekends, and it'd be a miracle if the majority of the Gryffindors were awake before lunch. There had been some Firewhiskey bottles floating around amongst the seventh years last night. Elizabeth had steered clear of them. Minerva would kill her if she had found out.

Elizabeth was helping herself to some french toast when Julia walked in. Matthew was accompanying her, the two seemed to be closer this year. Perhaps the young wizard was getting what he had wanted since his first year, and they were finally something more.

She forced herself to finish her meal before going to confront Julia. She wasn't going to let this make her nervous, it was going to be a simple talk. Of course, things with Julia were never very simple, but no matter. When she completed her toast, she stood up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

You are a Gryffindor. You are strong, brave, and courageous.

She approached Julia and Matthew, who were sitting side by side and reading The Daily Prophet. They didn't notice her arrival.

"Ahem," she said. Matthew raised his head and looked surprised to see her. He nudged Julia with his elbow, and when she saw her, Julia looked annoyed.

"What do you want?" she barked. Elizabeth looked her in the eye. She'd been taught as a child that was a way of showing sincerity and seriousness in your words. That was very important in this conversation.

"I want to talk to you. Alone." Elizabeth said firmly.

"Why?" Julia asked.

"You'll know if you agree to talk." Elizabeth replied. She wasn't going to let Julia rattle her.

Julia sighed, and said, "Let's get this over with." Matthew looked at Elizabeth with an annoyed glare matching Julia's.

"She'll be back in one piece, I promise." Elizabeth promised her classmate.

Julia accompanied her out of the Great Hall and into the empty Charms classroom.

"What are we doing here? If Flitwick walks in and sees us in his classroom without his permission, he'll be very cross." Julia said as they entered.

"He won't come. I know for a fact that he spends his Sunday mornings in his private quarters. He won't emerge until lunchtime." Elizabeth explained as she shut the door for privacy.

"How would you know a thing like that?" Julia asked, crossing her arms.

"He told me so two summers ago when I was here studying the first-year curriculum. Every Sunday morning he'd drink tea and read for pleasure." Elizabeth said.

Julia rolled her eyes. "You're such a freak."

Now was her chance. "And why is that, Julia? Because I was born in the year nine eighty-eight? Or that I was placed under a sleeping enchantment for roughly a thousand years? Or that I'm an orphan? Sure, all these things make me different from your typical person, but why does that make me a freak in your mind?" She asked.

Julia looked surprised by Elizabeth's rather bold statement. And, a little caught off guard. Then, she regained her composure and smirked. "Is this about the note from yesterday? Are you really that babyish?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm not babyish. Not at all, Julia. I've seen things and gone through things you haven't the faintest clue about! Things no one here knows of because of the darkness to them. I may be a person you find freakish, you can dislike me all you like, but I'm tired of you going out of your way to bother me," Elizabeth paused in her speech to study Julia's facial expression and reaction to her words. She didn't look cruel, in fact, she seemed to be paying her attention.

"It doesn't make much sense, either. You act as if I've done something to you personally. And as far as I know, I haven't. So, why? Why do you set your sights on trying to hurt me?" Elizabeth asked.

Julia looked away. Elizabeth could see her bite her lip. Her eyes moved just slightly, looking back to Elizabeth. Elizabeth only looked back at her, unsure of what to do or say. This action caused Julia to huff.

"You have done something to me personally, Elizabeth! Can't you see that?!" She snapped, staring Elizabeth dead in the eye with sheer frustration.

Elizabeth was surprised. She hadn't been expecting something like this. "No. I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about." She said quietly.

This only made things worse.

"You're sorry? You're sorry?! You don't even know what to be sorry about! You ruined all my hard work last year and didn't even know what you were doing! You've been one-upping me in every way you possibly can since you got here! How did you not know that?!" Julia cried. Her face was flushing red, and, were those tears in her eyes? There couldn't be tears. Julia couldn't be crying.

"How have I been one-upping you? You're the smartest person in our grade, you get great marks in every class! How could I have undone your hard work? You've succeeded at everything you put your mind to." Elizabeth pointed out.

Julia slammed her hands on a desk in frustration. "You don't even realize it! You don't realize all the work I put into being the best. How hard I've always worked to be the best in everything I do! I was the most powerful person in our year until you came along and undid everything I had worked so hard for!"

Elizabeth was stunned at Julia's words, unable to process everything she was saying all at once. Julia went on speaking.

"You, with your amazing family lineage, literally being the daughter of a founder! Having your own way of using magic no one else uses! You can literally have your magic flow from your body like it's nothing! Everyone knows your name! You have everything, and you took away the one thing I worked my whole life to achieve!"

It was at this point Julia turned away from her and walked to the other side of the room. There was silence. Elizabeth could hardly believe what had just happened. Had she really one-upped Julia? She hadn't meant to, she'd known that Julia was one of the best, if not the best, witches in their year. But she hadn't known that Julia was considered the most powerful in their year. Or that she had taken that from her. And what did Julia mean, working her whole life to achieve?

Julia let out a shuddering breath and began to speak in a much shakier voice.

"You don't know how successful my family is. In the last one hundred years, five of my family members were Ministers of Magic. And everyone else has been heads of whatever department they were in or professional quidditch players or bestselling authors or famous potioneers or anything like that. And ever since I was little I've been doing everything I can to live up to the excellency they've all achieved." Julia paused for a moment before continuing,

"My parents never put pressure on me to be like them, but it's always been there! My brother is the Head Boy this year, my parents are famous Healers at St. Mungos, everyone does all these incredible things, and I've studied and worked my whole life to match that! And I had it in my first year, I was the best in our year and made my parents proud! And then you came along! Making newspaper headlines and everyone in our world knows who you are! You have everything I want and need, and you took away all that I had! I feel worthless compared to you!" Julia sobbed. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed into them, her shoulders shaking and tears running down her face and to the floor.

Elizabeth was shocked. She hadn't known what she had been doing to Julia. She hadn't known all this was even happening in the first place and what her classmate was going through.

She walked a little closer to Julia until they were only a few feet apart.

"Julia, I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or make you feel inferior. I promise. And if I had known I was doing it I would have told you right away that I didn't mean to, and that I wouldn't want to hurt you." She apologized. She felt horrible, watching all this happen. Even though Julia had bullied her for months on end, she found no joy in watching this transpire.

Julia raised her head from her hands and looked at Elizabeth.

"Yeah, right. Like you really mean that." she said doubtingly.

"I do." Elizabeth replied honestly.

"How? How could you possibly mean that after all the terrible things I've done to you? I've been a horrible person ever since the first day of our second year. Teasing you about not knowing what a photograph is, ruining your potion in Snape's class just to get you in trouble, turning your hair blue… If I were you I'd hate me." Julia said softly, wiping away the tears on her face.

"I don't hate you, Julia. I never did. Hate is a very powerful, horrid emotion. I don't let it permeate me or my life." Elizabeth said, hoping it would comfort her.

"You don't hate anyone? Even… Salazar Slytherin?" Julia asked in disbelief.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I've thought about it a lot, but I don't hate him. If I did, it would mean I'd hate what he did to me to put me here. Which means I'd have to hate the life I have here. And I don't. I love the life I have now, I have people who care about me and love me. I only despise Slytherin because he stole me from my family, and made them go through a loss that wasn't even true." Elizabeth explained.

Julia looked thoughtful, but also very guilty.

"I never should have made fun of you for what you've been through. Losing your family like that… I can't even imagine how terrible it must have been. I only saw you as a competitor, someone who stole my chances at being the best and going down in history like the rest of my family. I never really considered who you are as a person. I'm so sorry, Elizabeth." She apologized. Tears had once again sprung from her eyes.

Elizabeth felt so awful for what Julia felt because of her, even though she had been unaware of it at the time. She then did something rather unexpected. She hugged Julia. And Julia hugged her back.

"I forgive you. I wish I'd known you've been feeling all of this, I would have helped you. And, it doesn't matter what everyone else in your family does, you should do what makes you happy. Not what everyone expects of you. Your life is yours, not theirs." She said.

The girls separated, and for the first time in the whole conversation, Julia was smiling. "Thank you. I hadn't thought of it like that. My parents haven't intentionally put this pressure on me, they might not even be aware of it. I've just always felt like I had to be something great. And in my first year, I felt like I finally was. I was the best in our year, and most people liked me. But when you came, and everyone was so interested in you and you had your own personal way of being great, I felt like I was falling off my throne. And I was so terrified of that happening, I became awful and cruel."

Elizabeth was a little confused. "Wait, so you were different in your first year?"

Julia nodded. "Not by a lot, I still did some cruel things. People in the older years in Ravenclaw started making fun of Luna, and soon everyone was doing it. So, I started doing it too, because I was afraid I'd be teased and not liked by anyone if I didn't. And it never seemed to bother Luna, so I kept doing it. That made it easier to tease other people. It wasn't so bad in my first year, but everything just snowballed and got worse in my second. And once it started, it was like I couldn't stop. I completely changed and became someone I could barely recognize, let alone like. And every time you brewed the best potion or got the highest score on an Astronomy test, I just felt more and more worthless. So I became meaner, and…"

"The cycle continued?" Elizabeth asked. Julia nodded, feeling very ashamed.

"I never should have done it at all." she said quietly.

Elizabeth was hesitant on what to say next. She wholeheartedly agreed with her statement but didn't want to flat-out say it. Julia seemed like a whole different person now, and she didn't want to spoil that.

"Perhaps you should tell your parents about it? Maybe over the summer, you can explain things to them, that could make you feel better, perhaps? So you don't explode again?" She suggested.

Julia nodded. "I'll have a lot to explain. I never told them any of the things I did, and they never confronted me about any of the incidents, so it'll take a while. I'll be punished, surely."

"Do you truly want to change, Julia?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, I really do. I don't like who I am now at all, but I'm not sure how to go about changing. I've been nasty for so long…" Julia said.

"Well, maybe you can start by getting the other Ravenclaws to stop teasing me, Luna, and the Weasleys? It could make up for what you started, after all. And if you tell your parents that you're also trying to change, and have evidence, they might go a little easier on you." Elizabeth suggested.

Julia grinned and nodded. "It's the least I can do after all the trouble I've caused. Luna always seemed nice, I should have given her more of a chance. Ginny, too."

Elizabeth agreed. "They're wonderful people. Maybe I can bring them here, and you can explain everything? They'd be more inclined to forgive you if they knew the truth."

"Do you really think they'll forgive me?" Julia asked.

"It might take some time, but I think they might. If they know that you're truly trying to change." Elizabeth told her.

Julia nodded. They went to find Luna and Ginny.

"...so, I'm so sorry for everything I did. I was horrible, and you didn't deserve it." Julia ended her apology to Ginny and Luna.

The four girls were sitting in the empty classroom. Luna looked happy with Julia's apology. Ginny looked doubtful.

"How can we be sure that you mean it?" she asked when Julia finished.

"She's trying to change, Gin. I promise, she means it." Elizabeth told her best friend.

"I'd like to hear it from her." Ginny proclaimed.

"That's fair. I can understand your hesitancy to believe me, Ginny. If I were you, I wouldn't believe me either. But I swear, I don't want to bully you or Luna or anyone else anymore. I don't want to be that kind of girl ever again." Julia told the youngest Weasley.

Ginny still looked hesitant. "You believe her?" she asked Elizabeth. Elizabeth nodded. "You know me, Ginny. I put my faith in my friends. And," Elizabeth looked over to Julia. "Julia is my friend now. I believe her, and I want to help her change."

"Do you really mean that?" Julia asked.

"I do." Elizabeth reassured.

Julia rushed over to hug her. "Thank you so much." she said. Elizabeth hugged her back. "You're welcome." she replied.

When they separated, Elizabeth was pleased to see that Ginny had changed her opinion.

"I guess I can give you a chance, too. But if you're doing this to hurt Elizabeth or Luna…" she left her sentence unfinished, most likely to inspire fear.

"I'm not! I promise!" Julia quickly said.

"Shake on it." Ginny requested, extending her hand. Julia shook it. She offered to shake Luna's as well, which she accepted.

"I'm glad you're trying to change." she said.

"I am, too." Julia replied. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"You all are friends with Hagrid, right?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. He's wonderful." Elizabeth confirmed.

Julia paled. "You need to go read the paper. Right now. Something terrible about him was written."

So that happened. Yes, Julia is truly trying to change for the better. I wanted to give her some proper development as a character, and not be a one-note bully. If you're wondering why she just told Elizabeth all that stuff, well, it's been inside her for a while now, and Elizabeth trying to solve the problem but not knowing the full story behind it caused her to break and just tell her everything. And since Elizabeth saw all that happen, she believed Julia a lot easier and knew that she must really want to change for the better. She'll be a bigger character now, and her development will change some things for the other characters. Nothing too major, though.

Chapter question: what do you think was written about Hagrid? Think back to book four...