When the small group of friends had eaten as many sandwiches as they could (the plate kept refilling itself) they rose and left the office. Lyla waved the two Gryffindors as they ascended the steps, and soon, Ron and Arabella were treading the familiar path to the Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last, they reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said as they approached.

"Er —" said Ron uncertainly.

They didn't know the new year's password, not having met a Gryffindor Prefect yet, but help came almost immediately; they heard hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward them.

"There you are! Where have you been? The most ridiculous rumors — someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying car!"

"Well, we haven't been expelled," Ron said, assuring her.

"You're not telling me you did fly here?" asked Hermione, sounding almost as severe as McGonagall.

"Skip the lecture," whined Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password."

"It's 'wattlebird,'" snapped Hermione angrily, "but that's not the point —"

Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of cheers and clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Arabella and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them.

"Absolutely Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years —"

"Good for you," said a fifth year Arabella had never spoken to; someone was patting Ron on the back as though he'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"

Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Arabella was able to see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off. She nudged Ron hard in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once.

"Got to get upstairs— a bit tired," she said, and the two of them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories.

After saying a quick goodnight to Ron, Arabella and Hermione climbed the staircase, Hermione glowering as deeply as Percy. They hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of their old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. They entered the familiar, circular room, with its four four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up for them and stood at the ends of their beds.

Arabella grinned guiltily at Hermione.

"I know I shouldn't have enjoyed that or anything, but—"

The dormitory door flew open and in came the other second-year Gryffindor girls, Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil came storming in.

"Unbelievable!" squealed Lavender with awe.

"Amazing!" laughed Parvati with starstruck eyes.

Unable to keep the laughter any longer, Arabella gave Hermione a little nudge of excitement before jumping into her bed, spread out like a starfish. The night had been fantastic, thrilling, and a wonderful start to her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Lyla stared at the entrance to the Slytherin common room, her mind numb.

"The password," she muttered, feeling a new wave of embarrassment flush her cheeks. She didn't know the new year's password, not having met a Prefect yet, and the prospect of having to spend the rest of the night in the damp dungeons made her groan. She tried knocking on the door, wondering if sound traveled through the thick stone walls. Was there perhaps a secret way into the common room? She crouched down and scanned where she knew the doorway would slide away, fingers scrabbling to find something to grab ahold of. After ten minutes of examining the wall, Lyla groaned and slumped against the separate wall in defeat. As she sat with her knees to her chest fearful of what would happen next, she heard faint footsteps steadily grow louder.

"It's the legend herself!"

Lyla glanced up to see a grinning Theodore Not, fellow Slytherin second year who was a good friend. Behind him was another Blaise Zabini, who only glowered when his gaze met the redheads.

"Is it true you flew a flying car right into the Whomping Willow?! The whole school's been talking about it!"

"It isn't really something to be amazed over," said Lyla, blushing.

"It isn't," agreed Blaise with a raised brow of disapproval, "you could have gotten severely injured. I swear, whenever you're with Weasley, you're always getting battered around."

"Yeah, well…" Lyla looked down and felt her cheeks grow even warmer if possible. "Let's skip the lecture for now, shall we? Do you know the password to get in?"

"Clarissimi serpentes," replied Blaise in a low whisper.

And just like that, the doorway that had moments ago been difficult to spot, slid away to reveal a dark hole. As it slid slowly open, a sudden shock of noise exploded from within, and it seemed that the majority of Slytherin House was awake. A multitude of arms reached through the portrait hole to tug Lyla through, leaving Blaise and Theo to follow.

"You're absolutely insane, Potter!" shouted Adrian Pucey, fellow Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, "what a mad entrance! And only in your second year?! Magnificent!"

"Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, amazing and completely unheard of—" added a fourth-year girl she'd never spoken to before.

Other Slytherins clapped Lyla on the back as if she'd just won the House Championship, while others whistled their approval loudly. While the majority seemed overall cheery, Lyl could easily see the shadow of Pansy Parkinson and her ghoulish gang, heads bent low and faces splotchy with irritation.

Daphne came charging from the crowd and flung her arms around the surprised girl, beaming from ear to ear.

"You're alive!" she yelled with laughter. "Watching Professor Snape storm out of the Great Hall was terrifying! Once the rumors started to spread, I really thought you were done for."

Behind her, quite Astoria trailed behind her sister, sneaking a glance at Lyla before shuffling back.

"Are you okay?" asked the first year, her voice barely heard over the excitement of the chamber.

"She's bleeding," Blaise said darkly, gesturing to her head. "You should go to the hospital wing and have that checked out. If it gets infected—"

"It's only a scratch," Lyla said quickly, "honestly, it's nothing. Thank you for your concern, but I'm a bit tired, actually."

Her friends nodded and began to push their way towards the staircase that led to the dormitories. After quickly bidding her friends goodnight.

"It's good to see you in Slytherin," Lyla said, turning to Astoria with a kind smile. "Are you excited for classes to start tomorrow?"

Astoria only shrugged.

"Well, goodnight you little ghoul," said Daphne as she patted her sister's mess of dark hair. "Whether you're excited or not, you still need a good night's rest."

Moments later, the two second-years opened the door to their dormitory.

P.S. If you could, if one has the time, please leave:

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