Hey, everyone! I just started school this week, and that has already kept me pretty busy, so updates may be a bit slow until I get into the groove of things. But the weekend is coming up, so maybe I can write another chapter. Who knows? Big stuff happens in this chapter, by the way! I'm so excited to write the next few! SO EXCITED!

Summer came to a close with the Weasleys, Moody, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Tonks, Hermione, and the McGonagalls walking through Platform 9 and ¾s to send the children off to school.

Elizabeth's birthday had been the previous week, and she told Minerva that the thing she wanted most was to share Minerva's last name. Their fight and temporary separation had shown Elizabeth just how important Minerva was to her, and how much she loved her. So, for her birthday, she received an updated adoption certificate, now giving her the name Elizabeth Gryffindor-McGonagall. She nearly cried when she got it and hugged her mum immediately.

"Now, have a good term. Write to me often!" Remus said, giving Elizabeth a hug when they were on the other side.

"Oh really? Do you want me to write? I was under the impression that you didn't want me to write." she joked.

Remus frowned, but then realized she was joking. "Yes, well, I still expect to get letters from you, darling. I want to hear everything about this school year, understand?" he asked firmly.

A little taken aback by his tone, Elizabeth agreed. "Oh, okay, of course. I'll tell you everything." she promised.

After a loving goodbye with Harry, Sirius came up to say goodbye to her. "I'm going to miss having you around, kid. Have fun at school, and pull some pranks for me, alright?" He said, offering his hand. "Shake on it." he ordered.

Elizabeth laughed but shook his hand. "I'll miss you, too, Padfoot, though I may leave the pranks up to Fred and George. Mum would kill me if she found out I pulled a prank."

"You make a good point. Boy, having McGonagall as your mum. I'm so sorry." he said with fake sincerity, making himself and Elizabeth laugh. Surprisingly, he hugged her. It was nice, and as they were hugging, Sirius whispered in her ear, "Be careful. Watch out for yourself and your friends. Especially Harry."

They parted, and though Elizabeth did not quite understand what he meant, she nodded a silent promise. Having two slightly cryptic orders from two Order members made her a little uneasy. Did they know something she didn't? Well, they did know several things she didn't, since she wasn't allowed in Order meetings, but still...

Tonks gave her a high five and ordered that she do something about her crush on Neville. (she had found out about him during one of the nights she stayed over. Tonks was practically an older sister, and she had several pieces of… colorful… advice for Elizabeth)

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both a little emotional at her leaving. She, Harry, and Hermione were practically Weasleys by this point, and Elizabeth knew that if something were to happen to Minerva and Malcolm, the Weasleys would be the family she'd go to. Mr. Weasley wished her a good, safe term, while Mrs. Weasley tearfully hugged her and promised to send her a care package soon.

Malcolm was out on a mission for the Order, so he was unfortunately not able to bid her goodbye at the station. But, he had given Elizabeth a start-of-the-school-year gift, that he made her promise to keep secret from Minerva or anyone else: a small compact mirror he said would, "Reveal the truth when you need it."

She and Minerva exchanged a quick goodbye since they'd be seeing each other very soon. And with that, she grabbed her trunk and Novo's carrier and boarded the Hogwarts Express, ready for the year to come.

"It's funny that I used to be afraid of going on a train, but now I'm totally fine with it." Elizabeth remarked as she, Ginny, and Harry walked down the corridor. Harry had joined them because Ron and Hermione were supposed to sit with the Prefects.

"You were afraid of trains?" Harry asked, chuckling.

"Hey, if you had come from a time where broomsticks were a new thing, a train would be terrifying!" Elizabeth defended herself.

"And it's not like you're completely innocent in that aspect, Harry. I remember how anxious you were about trying to Floo somewhere for the first time." Ginny commented, making Elizabeth crack up. After a minute, Harry joined in their laughter. As they walked, he found the Weasley twins' compartment and went in to discuss strategy for Quidditch that coming year.

Finally, they found the train car they were looking for: Luna and Julia's. "Hello!" Elizabeth greeted cheerily, happy to see her friends after a long time apart.

"Hi, Elizabeth!" Julia greeted.

"Hello." was all Luna said.

"How was your summer in Switzerland, Luna?" Ginny asked. Luna had spent her entire summer looking for the Crumple-Headed Snorkack with her father, Xenophillius.

"Oh, it was dazzling. Daddy found a horn this time. It's quite ghastly." Luna told them with a bright smile.

Julia looked unusually uncomfortable, even considering Luna's horn comment. "Is something wrong, Julia?" Elizabeth asked.

Julia looked worried and pulled a copy of The Daily Prophet out of her bag.

"The Daily Prophet, it's, well, erm, oh just read it!" she cried, thrusting the paper at Elizabeth.

"Haven't read one of these all summer." Ginny said.

"Me, too!" Elizabeth agreed, having just realized that as well. Somehow, the Prophet had never found its way to her hands. And now that she thought of it, she barely saw anyone else in Grimmauld Place reading it, aside from the few times she'd seen Remus or Sirius with it.

Elizabeth looked down to the paper to read it, but when she saw the headline, her jaw dropped. "Elizabeth Gryffindor: Girl of Impossibilities, or Girl of Insanity?" She exclaimed in genuine shock.

Ginny bore the same expression. "How could they even write this? What have you done to make them even think that?" She asked, very, very, annoyed.

"Just read the article." Julia said dejectedly. So, the two girls read it at the same time, and it didn't take long for them to be seething.

"Elizabeth?" Luna asked. Elizabeth threw down the paper.

"I don't even know what they're thinking! I SAVED the safety of Hogwarts by reinstating the wards! Did I look crazy doing it? Probably. But those prats need to understand the full implications of what could have happened! If I hadn't done what I did, Voldemort could have come onto the grounds and killed more people!"

Elizabeth was standing in front of the window, as what the article's meaner points were really saying about her. "Who cares if I was born a thousand years ago? Why does that make me any less than anyone else? Yes, I might do things differently than other people, and maybe my hand magic might get out of control sometimes, but I've never meant to hurt anyone!"

Her voice broke a little as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm a good person, I've just been dealt a hard hand." she said as tears started running down her face. Ginny got up and sat her back down next to her as she started to cry. Julia looked on guiltily, feeling awful for what she did. Luna moved seats so she was now next to Elizabeth as well.

"You may be the one to seek dusk first, but it also means you'll be the first to see the dawn." Luna said, placing an arm on her friend's shoulder.

Elizabeth drew in a shaky breath and nodded. "So, what you're saying is that even though right now that stupid paper is making me look awful and crazy, I might get lucky soon?"

Luna nodded. "I find it to be a very comforting thought."

Elizabeth wiped her tears away. Julia couldn't contain her guilt anymore. "I'm so sorry! I just wanted you to see it because I was afraid you hadn't, and going into the Great Hall underprepared like that could go really bad… I'm so sorry!" she said, bursting into tears, feeling like she was going back to her habits of being a bully.

Elizabeth sniffled and shook her head. "It hurt to read… but I understand that your heart was in the right place. It's okay, Julia." she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. She hugged Julia, who hugged her back.

That was when Luna spoke up, telling her theory. "I think they're trying to put you in a bad light because you have proof that You-Know-Who is back. And, if you speak out, more people will join Professor Dumbledore's side. Which the Ministry doesn't want. So, they try to isolate Harry and make the three of you look untrustworthy, so you don't gain a following that's threatening to them."

They all sat there, digesting what Luna had said.

"So, they don't care who they hurt, they just want to act like it isn't happening at all." Elizabeth stated softly, a few more tears rolling down her face.

Even after all she had done for the school, she was seen as the problem. And that article had made her seem like a bad kid, making it look like she had been the one to enchant the portkey, and made a big deal of fixing it for attention. It painted it as if she was the one in the wrong, the perpetrator all along. She was taking the fall with no say in the matter.

The mood in the car was solemn after that. Julia read from a textbook, Luna was reading The Quibbler upside down, and Ginny had fallen asleep. Elizabeth just stared out the window of the train car, trying to make sense of it all.

Julia had told her that the papers had been doing it all summer. She, Dumbledore, and Harry had been the targets and were written out to be crazy and delusional. Now it made sense that she and none of the other teens in Grimmauld Place were able to read the paper all summer. It would have made Harry feel much worse, and hurt Elizabeth, too.

But now she was left to wonder what would happen in school. Would other people believe what those stupid articles said? Was something as huge as Voldemort coming back really going to be ignored?

After a while, the trolley witch came bearing sweets on her cart. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked. Elizabeth shook her head, not having much of an appetite. Julia bought two licorice wands, one for her, and one for Ginny. Luna bought seven boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, saying that year in Divination they would be studying food and its clairvoyant properties, and that flavored beans would be very helpful in that endeavor.

Ginny woke up later on, and after eating her wand, nudged Elizabeth. "You should go find Neville." she said.

Elizabeth nodded. "I know I should, but what if he agrees with the Prophet?" she asked worriedly.

"Then you'll know he isn't worth liking. No one who believes what that rubbish says is worth you having a crush on them. But, I don't think Neville is like that. The only way to find out is to go talk to him." Ginny persuaded.

Elizabeth sighed, but got up with all her courage, and went to go find Neville.

After wandering the train for a bit, she eventually found Neville sitting on his own in a lone car. She knocked on the window before going in. He looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey, how are you?" Neville asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Julia showed me the Prophet earlier. I haven't seen it all summer. So, that was a fun surprise." she remarked.

He nodded, looking a little downcast. "Yeah. My gran and I read a few of those articles at the beginning of the summer. But she canceled our subscription pretty quickly. She'd always had full trust in Dumbledore. And she says if he's back, he's back."

Elizabeth smiled, grateful he was on her side. She blushed a little, too. Which only reminded her of what she came here for. "Neville, I need to tell you something. It's pretty important," she said.

"Of course, what is it?" He asked curiously. That look in his eyes…

She cleared her throat. "I, erm, well, okay I'm just going to say it: I like you, Neville. A lot. As more than a friend."

Neville just looked at her. Oh no, what have I done? Hermione said I should talk to him, and now look what's happened! Why didn't she warn me? Have I just ruined everything?

Slowly, Neville started to smile. "You like me? Really?"

Cautiously, Elizabeth said yes. Neville smiled even wider.

"This is great! I, I've liked you for a while, but I wasn't sure how to go about it, and I talked to Hermione about it, since she's a girl and friends with you, and she said that I should wait until after the summer because starting something with you right before wouldn't work well, so I waited and I was wondering and I didn't think you would actually like me too…" he trailed off. "Sorry. For the rambling."

Elizabeth giggled. "It's okay. I thought it was sweet. So, you like me too? As more than a friend?"

Neville nodded. "Much more."

Elizabeth couldn't stop smiling. "So, what should we do now?" she asked, a little unsure of what came next.

Neville also looked a little unsure. "Oh, well, do you want to try going on a date? Maybe in Hogsmeade? McGonagall said she'd give me another chance this year. I can actually go now." he offered.

"I can't wait."

Annnnd, the ship has sailed! Please review below! This took a longgg time. More reviews could inspire faster updates!