Disclaimer: No part of the HPverse is mine. Point blank. That's the way it works. I only own the characters that have never been mentioned in any HP books. Okie-day? Good.

Authoress' Note: I finally got my 1st review! I'm so happy! Manfoot, thank you so much! The positive reinforcements really made my day. You are my favorite person in the entire world! Here's the next installment of my little ongoing soap opera.

The next morning, Ariel rolled over and looked out the window. Wow, she thought, where did the storm come from? From where she was laying, the entire world was dark, the sky almost looking purple. If it wasn't for her alarm clock she would swear it was still night. She was the only one awake in her dorm, which didn't surprise her.

She learned very quickly that her friends were heavy sleepers. The first day back it took her fifteen minutes to get them all up and they almost missed breakfast. She figured out the quickest and easiest way to wake them all up, and proceeded to do just that every morning after she got ready. She got out of bed, opened her trunk to get her robes, ect… and tiptoed to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. She knew she didn't have to be quiet, but she so out of habit anyway.

Once she got out of the shower and got dressed, she braided her hair back and went to find her shoes. She didn't really know why she had let her hair grow so long; it was nothing but a burden to her. The only reason she could possibly fathom was that she wanted to be like her mom. She had died when Ariel was a little girl, but in every picture she had ever seen of her mom she had had hair that was past her waist. She didn't really understand it, but she thought that letting hers get as long as her mom's might make her closer to her, something she had yearned for since she was about ten. The only downside to that was her classes. For potions, herbology, and a few other classes, her hair could present a problem and was constantly getting in her way. Her solution to this was to keep her hair tied back all the time. Only the girls in her dorm and the people she had seen on the train before she changed had seen her hair down. In the grand scheme of things, that was almost an insignificant amount.

When she was finished tying her shoes, she proceeded to wake up the rest of the girls. Once they were awake-grumbling, but awake- she told them she would wait for twenty minutes, then she was going to breakfast, with or without them. She proceeded to the common room to wait. They were insane if they thought she was going to stay on that room with them.

She wasn't in the common room two minutes when Hermione came down the stairs from her dorm. She saw Ariel and came to sit down in the armchair beside her.

"So, did you have fun last night?" Hermione asked teasingly. They laughed and quickly got quiet again, remembering that most of the house was still asleep. Ariel wasn't sure of how to answer.

Finally she looked at Hermione, blushed, and said, "Well, it definitely wasn't boring."

They both giggled at her reply.

"I have to ask you something," Hermione said. "But you have to promise that you won't get mad or whatever."

"Ok," Ariel said.

She wasn't sure where Hermione was going, but she truly doubted that she would get mad. She may have had that terrible Irish temper, but over the years she had learned to control it well.

"Does Oliver kiss as well as everyone thinks he does?" Hermione blurted, blushing just a little. Ariel was caught off guard for a second and then smiled.

"That good and then some," she said.

Hermione grinned at her answer.

"Now I have a question for you," Ariel said. "Why would you think I would get mad at you for asking that?"

Hermione looked down and answered, "Well, I am dating you cousin." Ariel looked at her astonished.

"Is that it?" she asked. "I know damn good and well that you're dating Ron. I also know that the Hermione that Ron loves would have a logical reason for thinking I would get mad at a question like that. Personally, I think it's a completely logical question, plus it's funny."

"Oh," Hermione mumbled. "Well, other people would be pissed that I could ask a question of that type when I was dating their cousin."

"Well sweetheart," Ariel smiled, "I'm definitely not most other people. Ask Ron. He knows that for a fact. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to breakfast. I'm pretty sure that you want to wait for Harry and Ron."

Hermione nodded and Ariel got up and left.

Meanwhile in the Slytherin common room, Draco was still pissed off.

"Why in the hell did they put her in Gryffindor?" he asked angrily to a barely awake Crabbe and Goyle.

Even when they were completely coherent they wouldn't know how to answer, much less now. So they just sat there and let him vent. He didn't need them; he quickly answered his own question.

"She's Weasley's cousin," he said. "I bet that's why. Every damn Weasley has been in Gryffindor for like forever. God, why Weasley's cousin? Of all damn people, why his cousin?"

Just then Pansy came bopping down the stairs, walking over to Draco and settling herself between his legs.

"Hey Draco, baby," she cooed.

She rubbed up against him as she leaned into him to give him a kiss. He didn't kiss her back or put his hands on her hips like she wanted, so she leaned back and pouted.

"What's wrong, Drakey?" she asked. "You're not still mad about that little Gryffindor slut, are you? I'd drop it if I were you. I heard she got kicked out of her old school because she was caught having sex in a closet. Plus she fucked almost half the school, guys and girls."

Draco pushed Pansy off of him and got up.

"Shut up bitch," he said. "She's not you. Don't you dare try to make her out to be like you."

He stormed out of the common room, slamming the portrait on the way.