I showed the article to Lily and she read it with a shocked and confused look. I was worried that she might have an emotional breakdown or something equally horrible. Luckily, she didn't, and kept the article. She quickly dressed into pajamas and went to bed, closing the hangings behind her.

I was really worried about her and I hoped she'd be okay. All the other girls followed after Lily, but I knew they weren't nearly as sad as her. Tina and Cecilia looked behind the door to find a huge bathroom with about ten toilets, tons of sinks, and quite a good bit of showers and bathtubs.

I went to bed just about as quickly as Lily. I felt tired while I was getting my pajamas, but as soon as I lay down, I felt wide-awake. I found this pretty amazing, on account of the huge feast in my stomach, but it was true. I waited until I heard even, slow breathes from the other girls. Once they came I crawled out of bed and onto the hardwood floors.

I crept over to the door and slowly opened it. It didn't creak, or make any loud noises. I wanted to kiss it.

Before I knew it, I was in the common room and then out the portrait hole. The corridors were dark, but my eyes had gotten used to the dark by now. I looked around, and somehow, Hogwarts seemed just as welcoming at night. There were paintings with people and animals and all sorts of things snoozing contently.

I skipped around the corner and before I knew it...WHAM! I ran straight into something and got knocked off my feet and onto the cold ground. I looked up to see what I had solidly collided with.

It was Sirius, he had jumped and turned in surprise. After he got over the initial shock, his face broke into a smile.

"You again!" he whispered.

"Yes," I said and struggled to get up, "Me again. What are you doing out this late?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Sneaking.

"What?"

"You asked me what I was doing so I told you!" He had a puzzled look on his face. "Unlike you, I am willing to freely admit that I am sneaking on account of the fact that I could not fall to sleep!"

"Oh, well, you sound like you're pretty set for yourself. I'll just be going now." He put his hands in the pocket of his jeans and strutted off down the hallway. I looked around, feeling very alone and defeated.

"Wait!" I ran after Sirius until I caught up with him.

"Scared, eh?"

"No, I'm not scared. I was just..."

"Scared?"

"No! You know what? Never mind!" I stormed off in the opposite direction. He thought he was so cool, and brave, did he? Well I'd show him!

I went down, down, down, about three flights of stairs then took a couple of turns. I had no idea where I was going, but I wanted to be as far away as possible from that...dog!

I ended up in front of a painting with a small golden plaque underneath it that said, "Barnabas the Barmy". He was snoozing contently, surrounded by a bunch of what appeared to be trolls in tutus. I started pacing, which was odd, because I don't usually pace. Then I started to think 'Geez, I wish there was a way I could contain my feelings without freaking out like I just did. Gosh I'm such a nerd.'

I stopped pacing and looked up. I looked at the wall opposite the painting and had to do a double take. A door had suddenly appeared. It was carved out of cherry oak and had awe-inspiring, gorgeous, flowing designs. Right near the crack between the floor and the bottom of the door there was a small piece of parchment and I bent over to pick it up. It read: 'Welcome to the Room of Requirement.'

I turned the doorknob and took a step inside. There was a room with hardwood floors and walls painted chartreuse green. There were two big windows on the back wall showing a bright sunny day with a beautiful blue sky. There was a big field below with a tiny stream flowing through it. There were trees all around and little squirrels, gorgeous red birds and butterflies everywhere. It was an illusion, since it was night, but it was a stunning illusion.

Around the other walls, there were oodles of all sorts of guitars. There were acoustic, electric, and bass of every color, size, and shape. There was a small shelf of books in the corner and a closet that opened to reveal a few shelves of cases. One shelf was labeled 'BASS', another 'ACOUSTIC', and 'ELECTRIC'. I closed the closet and picked up a book from the bookshelf. The cover read: 'Basic Chords for Beginning Guitar Players'. I opened it up and looked through the pages. The left page always had a drawing of the six strings and numbers on the strings showing which finger to play and what fret to play it in.

I grabbed a guitar from the wall and sat down in one of many chairs in the middle of the room and put the book on a spindly metal stand. I looked at some diagrams about how to hold the guitar properly and went to the first chord. It was called 'G' and I put my fingers in what I thought were the right frets. Then next chords were 'E minor', 'C', and 'D'. After these, there was a short tune that I thought was pretty nifty. I put the guitar back on the wall and the book back on its shelf.

I left the room with my heart feeling about ten times lighter.