Kora had taken Hermione's advice of starting to unpack. She opened her trunk and took out her throw blanket and whipped it in the air, in attempt to straighten it out. A little orange bottle flew out from the folds of the blanket, hitting the wall opposite her.

"Shit .." she muttered to herself, thankful that she was the only one in the room. She scurried over and picked it up, checking to make sure nothing had fallen out. After carefully making sure the bottle was tucked safely back into her trunk, she decided to go down to dinner; she was already late.

-

After scrambling through the corridors, Kora had finally managed to find the Great Hall. It's doors were left open and she could see the whole school eating their food, talking merrily amongst themselves. As soon as she took a single step inside, everything stopped. Nobody spoke a word, moved a muscle, and all eyes were on her. She looked around the hall, rooted to her spot for a couple seconds, until her eyes fell upon Dumbledore at the head table, who was giving her an encouraging smile. Kora responded to him, a quick smile appearing on her face, and then disappearing just as quickly. All eyes followed her and her echoing footsteps all the way to the Gryffindor Table, where she sat down a few seats away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Kora took one last look around the hall before piling food onto her golden plate.

Peeking over at the Slytherin table, she saw the egotistic Malfoy boy smirking along with his cronies. It sickened Kora, so she turned away, grimacing. She returned her attention back to her plate and slowly, the sound started coming back in the Great Hall. Only whispers at first, but then it was back to normal.

"Hey Kora .." came a voice from across the table. She lifted her head, only to come face to face with Harry Potter.

"Hey .." she greeted, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Erm .. I just wanted to say welcome back, we've really missed you –" Kora snorted.

"Yeah right. Missed making fun of me maybe." She sneered.

"No, really. Kora, I –"

"Save it, Potter, just go back to your friends. I'm sure they want to talk to you more than I do." Harry opened his mouth to say something, however Kora interrupted,

"Please, Harry. Just go." Harry let out a defeated sigh, nodded, and then went back to Hermione and Ron, who immediately started asking him questions. No doubt about Kora.

Dinner had ended quickly enough, seeing as Kora had arrived almost 20 minutes late, and she soon found herself being bustled around by the other students in attempt to leave the Great Hall and head back to the dormitories.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Lovel freak." Came a cold drawl from behind Kora, making her stop in her tracks, clenching her fists so tightly that her nails made imprints against her palms.

"What do you want Malfoy?"

"Oh, boys, she still remembers me even after a year in rehab. How touching." He smirked his vicious smirk, leaving Kora groping for her wand, only to find she had left it in her dormitory. She closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, which was enough to let Draco know the predicament she was in.

"Forgotten your wand, have you? Not a very smart thing to do." His crystal blue eyes flashing as he raised a satisfied eyebrow.

"Bug off Malfoy." She said, trying to turn around.

"Oh no. Where do you think you're going?" he asked, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder, making her freeze. Her eyes floated to his hand, glaring at it's pale skin.

"She's coming with us, that's where." Both Draco and Kora both snapped around, only to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing right in front of them. Draco let go of his grasp on Kora, and she quickly made a run for it, all the way up to the Gryffindor Tower, plopping down on one of the cushy armchairs.

Minutes later, Harry and his gang returned, all laughing.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Ron practically yelled through his laughter. As soon as Kora heard them, she jumped up from her seat and ran to the girl's dormitories, ignoring the calls of "Kora! Wait! Come back!"

She made a beeline for her bed, shoving her face into her pillow and screaming. Hermione didn't immediately come up, either did anyone else, for that matter. Kora guessed that Harry had somehow persuaded them not to bother her. But why? Why would he care? Why was he being so unnaturally nice to her?

Immediately the answer came to her; Harry was the one who had found her in that empty classroom. He was the only one who actually knew exactly what had happened that night. Unless .. unless he told someone.

'Shit ..' she thought. 'Now everyone knows exactly why I went to St. Mungo's." She knew Dumbledore wouldnt've told the school why she actually had to leave. If he had, he would've told her. Right?

Kora lifted her body from her bed, shuffling over to her trunk. She dug through it for a couple seconds before pulling out a clean pair of pajamas and some slippers to change into. After pulling on her red Gryffindor sleepwear, she slowly made her way down the stairs to the Common Room, sort of hoping that Harry wasn't down there. Good. He wasn't. Ron and Hermione, however, were. She glanced over at them briefly before walking off to a seat by the fire. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth sink into her body. She pulled her knees up to her chin, hugging them to her chest. Setting her chin on top of her knees, she closed her eyes, putting into her own little conscious dreamland. She jumped, and nearly fell out of her seat when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kora." Laughed Harry, "Mind if I sit with you?" Not waiting for an answer, he took the empty seat next to her.

"Umm .. sure. I guess, What for though?" she inquired, looking at him curiously.

"Well I just wanted to say welcome back, and that .. er .. if you ever needed anything, I'm willing to help."

"Err .. umm .. thanks Harry. Really." She said, trying to sound friendly, "I'll .. umm .. I'll let you know if I ever need anything. I've gotta go now though, okay?" And with those parting words, Kora stood up and reluctantly left her warm seat by the fire.

She climbed back up the stairs to her dormitory, only to find that the rest of the girls were now in there.

'Oh great.' She thought to herself.

She quickly scrambled over to her bed and climbed into it, cuddling into the covers. Within 5 minutes she heard a chorus of "Good night Hermione." "Good night Lavender." And "Good night Parvati", until every girl in the dorm had spoken. Then, to Kora's surprise, she heard a "Good night Kora" coming from who she thought was Hermione. She dismissed it without a word, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.