The blackness surrounding her, the wind whistling past her ears, and the familiar sensation of falling into darkness engulfed her. Finally, after months of this, she hit the bottom, landing with a soft thump in a sea of white mist. The dark figure of a person stood before her, and a hand was stretched out towards her, offering to pull her back up, to help her rise. She reached out, wanting to be helped and discover who was saving her from herself.

Muffled cuss words came from Layla's mouth as she pushed her blanket off of her and threw her alarm clock across the room. She blinked, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes, and glanced around the room. Despite the fact that it was only 9am on Sunday, everybody was awake, and the dormitory was empty except for her.

Quickly deciding that she wanted to spend a day acting like Ren yesterday, meaning basically sleeping the day away, she showered and then headed for the Room of Requirements. It had become exactly the recluse in the overly-populated castle that she needed, the link to her past. She whiled away the hours sleeping in her old bed, playing Louis, and writing depressing poems, just like she would have done if it was summertime in France. Layla had enjoyed a brief period of time without feeling homesick, but now it was catching up with her. She didn't even bother to leave her haven for breakfast or lunch, nor did she bother to get the room to conjure up something for her. Though her stomach grumbled angrily at her, she didn't feel hungry, so she didn't bother thinking about food.

At dinner, Layla realized that she should make an appearance, so she finally left the room and went down to get food. Neither Ren nor Skye mentioned anything about her absence, but James shot her worried looks from the Ravenclaw table. She forced herself to eat a muffin, before giving up on the thought of food, muttering a goodbye to her sister, and leaving the Great Hall. At the top of the stairs, she debated whether she should return to the Room of Requirements or Gryffindor Tower. Right after she began heading towards the Tower, James appeared from behind her.

"Are you okay? You weren't at breakfast or lunch, and you didn't look so good at dinner. Actually, you don't look very good now, either… what's wrong?" He didn't bother to hide his concern from his face, and it showed plainly in his dark eyes as well.

"I'm fine… I just feel kind of weird, that's all. It's not important," Layla looked down, unable to hold his piercing gaze.

"Usually when someone says that it's not important, it is. Seriously, what's wrong?"

"I… I'm homesick, I guess. I miss France, my home, my family, my friends, my life… I lost it all at once, and it suddenly hit me how much I miss it."

James looked thoughtful for a moment, before asking, "Why did you leave it so suddenly?" Layla's eyes widened at the question, and James saw the fear and guilt buried in them. "I'm sorry. I understand that you're not ready to say, and-"

He was cut short as Layla threw her arms around his waist, burying her face into the robes covering his chest. Her small frame shook with barely suppressed sobs, and he rubbed her back gently, making soft calming noises.

"I'm sorry… it must have been awful, whatever happened," James whispered, more to himself than to Layla.

"It was… and it's so much scarier, knowing that we're still not safe, even here. If he finds us… oh, what if he hurt Ren? I would never be able to live… not if I lose her, too…" Layla looked up at him, her blue eyes, flecked with red, swimming with tears. "I'm sorry… I… I'm so sorry."

Without really knowing what she was apologizing for, or running from, she turned and dashed towards Gryffindor Tower.

Later that night, Layla sat in a corner of the Common Room, finishing the essay for History of Magic that she had forgotten about. Ren sat beside her, looking up every few minutes at the small group of students playing cards on the other side of the room.

"You know what?" Ren asked quietly in a hollow voice.

Layla glanced up from her homework, then turned back to it. "What?"

"I never realized until today, we never figured out who that was and how they knew. I never thought about it much until today." Ren's voice had instantly become darker, angrier.

Layla froze, and fidgeted nervously when she recovered from the initial shock. "What made today any different?"

"I was talking to Audrey this morning, and she asked why we came here," was the reply, as Ren shifted a little in her chair.

"Oh…" Layla muttered, unable to find anything else to say.

"And I realized, I don't know. I mean, I know, but… you understand what I mean…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry," Ren's voice had lost its anger, and had taken on a softer note. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. I know you don't like thinking about it."

"Mhm…"

Layla bent over her essay, scribbling the last few lines as Ren watched her. A sigh escaped her older sister's lips, as the two sat for a moment without speaking.

"Guess I'm going to bed. Mind you don't stay up too late," Ren said, stifling a yawn and giving her twin a hug.

Five days had passed since the uncomfortable conversation that the twins had in the Common Room. Once again, it was a little after midnight, and the two were sitting in their corner. This time, though, it was empty; all of the other students had gone up to bed hours ago. Layla knew this might be the only chance she would have any time soon to really talk to her sister, so she grabbed the opportunity.

"You know, I've been a bit worried about you. You haven't been eating or anything; you've been sick a lot recently," she said, her voice full of concern.

"Yeah, about that…" Ren twirled a few strands of her dark hair around her finger, looking nervous. Her eyes darted around the room, as if reassuring herself that it was really empty. "I've been having these really weird thoughts lately, like the past few months…"

"Like what?" Layla inquired, relieved that Ren was opening up so much more easily than Layla had thought she would.

"Like… thoughts on girls. I mean… I think I like girls…" Ren's hands were clenched tightly in her lap, and her skin seemed paler than usual. Layla noticed that she was holding her breath as if expecting a bomb to go off at any second, and her lips curled into a slight grin without her noticing it.

"You're kidding." Even as she said this, Layla's mind was turning this knowledge over in her mind. Her sister had seemed very confused and stressed recently, as if making discoveries about herself.

"No, I'm not. I've honestly been thinking seriously about this, and I really do think I like girls," Ren said, sounding hurt.

"I see…" Layla paused, mentally sliding her mask over her face to hide her thoughts and emotions from her sister's piercing gaze. She tried to think of why she hadn't noticed this before, why she was obviously such a bad sister. Suddenly, she remembered the waves of fierce protectiveness that flooded her whenever Audrey and Ren were together. "Would I be wrong in assuming you wouldn't tell me who it is?"

"I never said there was a person involved with this. All I'm trying to say is, I'm thinking I like girls, and that's all," Ren's cheeks developed a slight pink tint to them.

"Oh," Layla paused for a moment again. "Come on. Who is it?"

"No," Ren said, though her voice was teasing. She had relaxed considerably, though Layla noticed that she still trembled every few moments. "I'm going to bed."

"Bonne nuit," Layla whispered, too lost in thought to really register what her sister had just said. She felt bad, as if she was a bad sister because she hadn't really noticed this.

"Layla…?"

"Yeah?" She looked up, meeting her sister's gaze.

"Thanks… for not freaking out or anything," Ren said, blushing again.

"It's not a big deal. You're my sister. I'd always support you. You know that."

"I know… but thanks, all the same."

Ren walked slowly up the stairs to the dormitory, and Layla watched her go, feeling as if her sister was growing up too fast, and not even noticing that both of them had already grown up long ago.

Another few days passed, and Layla was now becoming extremely stressed. She was arguing with herself about how she felt about James, yelling at herself for everything that had happened with Jeff, and feeling very guilty for not only keeping secrets from her twin sister, but for also not being able to help her with the transition as she came to grip with her new feelings. So, Layla spent a lot of time teasing her sister about the "mystery person" that Ren had a crush on. She couldn't help but find it cute that her older sister would always blush and smile every time that topic of conversation came up, and it was the only way that Layla knew how to make Ren smile anymore.

Finally, Ren seemed to crack; either Layla was driving her insane, or she just wanted to open up. They were in the middle of a Potions lesson, preparing the ingredients for the potion that they were supposed to make that day.

"Come on, Ren, I won't tell, who is it?" Layla asked playfully.

"Guess," Ren said as she barely suppressed a grin.

"I'm assuming I know them," Layla said, thoughtfully, afraid to come right out and say her guess on the off-chance that she was wrong.

"Yeah…"

"Our age, or older?"

"… older…"

"Tell me."

"Who do you think it is?"

She hesitated, afraid that she was going to be wrong and Ren would be angry, but decided to just go for it. "Is it… is it Audrey?"

Ren stiffened up momentarily, pausing in her cutting of rat tails. She nodded slowly, blushing and smiling like she always did whenever Layla made her think of her crush. "Is it obvious?"

"Only because I know you so well," Layla assured her.

"Good."

The two fell silent again, before Layla decided to ask the question that had been lingering at the back of her mind. "Are you going to tell her?"

"No," Ren said firmly, fervently chopping rat tails again.