Chapter Six

Blackness enclosed her. She could hear nothing, and smell nothing. She saw a small light in the far end – it was bright and flickering with furious rage. She wanted to touch it, but somehow she could not.

That's when she heard it. "Hermione…"

Fear circling in her heart, Hermione wanted to wake up and scream. But her eyelids refused to work. Hermione had never felt this scared before.

"Hermione…" the voice whispered again.

"Who's there?" shouted Hermione.

A blurry figure came into her vision. "You have a decision to make…"

"A decision?" Hermione echoed, with fear. Her pounding heart hurt her eardrums.

"A decision…"

That's when the light flickered out.

000

Bridget Arms was woken up by screams. She was the misfit –that was what people called her- of Gryffindor. She was a seventh year, and very bright, too. She was ignored, a shadow to the House. They knew Clover, Sandie, and of course Lily Evans, but not her.

"NO!" the girl screamed. "NO!"

The scream came from the bed next to hers – which belonged to Pertida Hart, already known as: 'beautiful and talented.' The students knew more about the new girl than they knew about her.

Bridget sighed, a sigh filled with so much despair. Her life at Hogwarts had been a lonely life, much lonelier than when she had been at home. Her parents hated her. She had no friends. What was the point of continuing her life?

She looked down at her pasty palms, her eyes filled with tears. She was a nuisance to everyone. A burden, her Mother liked to call her.

Pertida continued to scream louder, which, of course made Bridget mad. It was a Saturday, a day where there should be peace and quiet. Sandie and Clover seemed to be in deep sleep, as neither of them had woken up.

"A decision?" Pertida howled. Bridget's hands curled into balls. She had a very short-temper, and even someone saying she had a rubbish mark on her homework got her annoyed.

She got up out of her four-poster bed, and faced Pertida's bed. She was debating whether to leave her alone or interfere. She chose the latter.

Bridget ripped open the curtain, and was shocked at what she saw. There lay Pertida in her bed, her face as ashen as the moon. She was trembling, as if something in her dreams scared her. Sweat poured down from her face, faster and larger then Bridget had ever seen.

She stood still for a few seconds until she snapped into action. Bridget shook Pertida, which made Pertida's curls fly all over the place.

"WAKE UP!" Bridget bellowed, her face brick red. She hated to hear the sound of her own voice. She feared it was too manly.

Tears trickled down Pertida's eyes. Finally, they fluttered open. Brown met green, searchingly.

"You…you were shouting," Bridget informed her, quietly. Pertida nodded her head.

"What's your name?" she asked. That caught Bridget off-guard. In all her life, rarely did fellow pupils bother to ask her her name.

"Bridget…Bridget Arms."

000

Hermione stared up at Bridget. She was very interesting to look at: with short, cropped brown hair, with a few strands of pale blonde. Her green eyes were dull, filled with sadness and loneliness.

"No one told me that you were in Gryffindor seventh year."

Bridget gave her a twisted smile. "Well no-one would if I'm the 'misfit.'" And then she left.

000

Later on in the day, Sirius and James sat next to the lake underneath the tree. As usual, they were discussing girls, Quidditch, girls, and more Quidditch.

"So, have you got over your feelings for Lily Evans?" Sirius said, with curiosity. James had been asking out Lily Evans for the last couple of years, and her answer was always a slap on the face, or a few good insults.

"No," James replied. He was staring down at the vast lake, emotions playing around his hazel eyes.

James glanced at Sirius. "What about you and Pertida? You seem a little bit…too friendly, if you get my meaning."

Sirius' eyebrows rose to the heavens. "Don't be such a hypocrite! When you two came back from the Quidditch Pitch, I thought you were together!"

"You know my heart is saved for Lily," James told him, softly. But there wasn't as much confidence as he had a year ago.

"Yeah, right. As if I'm going to believe that."

"It's just that," began James, ignoring Sirius' snide comment. "It's hard to trust Pertida, if you know what I mean."

"She obviously has some secrets. And dark ones, I must add." Sirius agreed. "I remember when Remus said she wasn't Bulgarian. You weren't there, James. And why transfer into Seventh year? The year when you start N.E.W.Ts?"

James shrugged. "Aye, these questions are doing my head in. Lets play some Quidditch, instead."

000

Lily and Sandie met up, as usual, in the Library. They were plotting their revenge (as always), but they couldn't find the right spell (typical).

"This is hard, Lily; hard," commented Sandie, idly looking through A Book Of The Greatest Spells.

"Yes, I know," Lily, admitted, but she was unwilling to give in.

"Didn't you know that my sister is friendly with Pertida?"

That's when an idea flashed through Lily's mind. "Oh gawd, Sandie, I've just thought of the most: awe-striking, fabulous, amazing plan!"

Sandie regretted ever mentioning her sister. "Well, I just hope it involves chocolate chip-cookies; I'm starving."

She narrowly missed a slap from Lily.

"Think again!"

A/n: OVER 3000 HITS! sorry it was a kinda long wait… but here it is! Feel free to give me any: tips/praise/ideas, in a…REVIEW!

Thanks to:

The Gryffindor Drummer: lol…thanks…childoftheorient: thanks for the encouragement xx BloodyCrayon: yeah…I will :) padfootsbabellia: yeah…I guess…Aussie Trebs: here it is! Alis Black: gosh…that review certainly brightened my day! alex: yep and thanks Padfoots Sidekick: lol…profet: lol…well, whenever I decide ;) RainynDawn: yeah, I guess that makes more sense. But, as I've saved this, I'm not going to bother to make a new account. Thanks, anyway! Rinnya: yeah, I really hate those fics that it's hard to imagine…if you know what I mean…Gryffindorchic: pretty sad, I guess enchantedlight: thanks TeoBlaise: thanks a lot :) Bexylou: the chapter (finally!) is here! DarkPegasiKnight: yeah, I guess I should ghilliekitten: poor Mione… little mimi: yeah, I love the flashbacks, too :) CrystalShard: I definitely will ;) Jacc: here it is! to lazy to log inFoggotenIce: I will :) Lennexa: yey! Thanks XXX