Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter in the story - please enjoy!

(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)

Chapter 11:

Help From Above

"What looked like a fat little monk was saying: 'Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -'
'My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost…'"

The Hufflepuff common room was miserable over Christmas break, just like it had been ever since that dreadful Saturday. As happy as Stella tried to be, it seemed as though nothing would cheer up anyone in the House. And she tried everything - playing pranks on some of the boys, making friends with a third-year named Cedric Diggory (knowing what would happen later on but never giving away the kids' secret), and singing all of In the Heights - in order, all at once - but nothing worked. The pranks just made the boys more miserable, seeing Cedric reminded Stella of Madison's fate, and if every song in In the Heights was to be sung, "Alabanza" had to happen sometime.

On Christmas Day, Stella was sitting in the common room, rereading one of the Land of Stories books, when another kid came into the room and sat down next to her - Ernie Macmillan, she thought.

"How you doin'?" she asked, not looking up from her book.

He shrugged. "It's been a tough week or so."

She nodded, going back to her book. After a few seconds, she looked up.

"How do they do it?" she asked.

"Who?" Ernie responded.

"All the teachers," she said. "We've become miserable, yet they just keep on going."

Ernie nodded. "And the kids who left school for the winter - they're fine."

"But poor Jonah," Stella said. "He's stuck in his common room for the whole break."

"Well, I wouldn't say poor Jonah," Ernie replied, rolling his eyes. "He was the one who -"

"Don't say it!" Stella cried, her voice rising. Ernie jumped in his chair.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "It's just that...well, after Madison..uh...died, I wouldn't have thought that you would be defending the boy who -"

"It wasn't him," Stella said. "He never would've cast that spell of his own accord - this is all my fault...if I just hadn't told Ava to send him…"

"How do you know?"

The question hit Stella like a brick. How could Ernie not trust Jonah? It was obvious that he was being honest to Dumbledore - he wouldn't lie if he was already in trouble.

Finally, she made up her mind on how to put it - and in true Stella fashion, it was a reference.

"He was being truthful," Stella said. "Dumbledore trusts him, and if I can't trust Dumbledore, I can't trust anyone."

Ernie nodded.

"It's almost time for lunch," he said.

Stella stood up. "Great. Food always helps."

She and Ernie giggled as they walked out of the common room.

"Usnavi, come on," she said as she began to walk out. Usually, now would be the time she would hear the pitter-patter of footsteps as Usnavi joined her on her way to lunch.

She couldn't hear them.

"Usnavi?" she said, looking back behind her.

He wasn't there.

"USNAVI!" she cried. "NOT AGAIN - THIS ALREADY HAPPENED!"

"Oh, yeah - I'd forgotten about the train," Ernie said. "Who was in here last - before me?"

Stella pursed her lips as she thought. "I think it was a Slytherin - IT'S DRACO!"

She sprinted away from the common room door, running as fast as she could towards the Slytherin dorms. After what felt like only a few seconds, she was at the front.

Sure enough, Draco was climbing inside, Usnavi asleep in his arms.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM, YOU MONSTER?" she screamed as she grabbed Usnavi's unconscious body and attempted to tug it away from Draco.

He had an extremely good grip.

"UNHAND HIM AT ONCE, YOU PETULANT PRICK!" she yelled, tugging again, trying to pry his fingers off of Usnavi's fur. By now, Usnavi had woken up and yawned, unimpressed with the drama that was unfolding.

"I'm not taking him forever," Draco said, his voice strained from the effort to keep Usnavi in his grip. "Just for a little bit - to keep you from taking him for granted -"

"WELL, YOU SURE AREN'T!" she screamed. "YOU'RE JUST TAKING HIM! PERIOD! NOTHING ELSE TO SAY!"

Suddenly, Draco stopped moving. Something above him was distracting him. Something - on his head - not that Stella could figure out exactly what it was.

Mainly because whatever it was that was distracting him was invisible.

"Get off me," he said calmly, but with a stern edge.

Pause.

"I said, get off me!" he said again, his voice raising.

Pause.

"GET OFF ME, YOU JITTERY JERK!" he screamed, putting his hands up to his head and messing up his hair. "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE?"

As he put his hands up, Usnavi fell, and Stella grabbed desperately to stop him from hitting the ground. She looked up to see Draco, his arms flailing, his body jerkily dancing, almost like he was Agatha Trunchbull and had just discovered a newt on his body.

She giggled, then punched him in the face. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

She smiled. "That's what you get when you go around stealing from others. Get used to it - there'll be plenty more doing that in the future."

She skipped away - and almost ran right into Ernie.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He had Usnavi," she said, panting. "I got him back - but only because of an invisible...uh, something distracting him."

"What was it?" Ernie asked.

Stella shrugged. "Do you think I have any idea? I can't see something that's INVISIBLE! - well, there's a good possibility that it's Peeves, but…"

Ernie pursed his lips to hide his laughter. Stella smiled.

"Well, I wanted to head to the library, maybe read a bit about Hogwarts or something like that," she said. "Have a good day!"

"You, too," Ernie said. "And Merry Christmas!"

She smiled and turned a corner towards the library.

Stella was in the library, reading the Updated Counter-Curse Handbook, when she heard the screaming she had been hoping for.

She looked over at the Restricted Section. The door was wide open.

After a quick smile, she ran to the corner of the room, where she would be hidden by shadows. Her wand was drawn, and she twirled it around her body.

Almost immediately, the Disillusionment Charm worked. Stella smiled and walked through the door.

It took a second for her to find the door to the Mirror - she only found it because she saw Harry going through it himself. (That was what she was betting on, and it worked like a charm.) Just as she had pictured, the room was empty, except for a large, ornate mirror in the corner. The inscription Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi was printed on the top.

"I show not your face but your heart's desire," Stella muttered, Harry not hearing her.

Harry hadn't seen the Mirror yet, so Stella creeped up and stood in front of it, waiting for something to be seen.

It took a second, as though the Mirror hadn't decided what Stella truly wanted. Finally, a figure appeared behind her - tall, brunette, and female, her face shrouded in shadow.

The figure stepped into the light.

It was Madison.

Stella gasped, looking behind her to make sure that it was an illusion - which it was, although Stella could've sworn she felt a cool breeze blow.

She looked back at the Mirror. She and Madison were no longer alone - Opa had joined them, flying over and landing on Stella's head. More figures began to show themselves in the Mirror - Stella's parents, her three little sisters, her nana - crowding around and smiling in the Mirror.

Now more figures were entering Stella's line of vision. There was Molly, holding a ukulele. There was Jonah, shaking hands with Madison and fiddling with his Rubik's Cube. There was Mackenzie, and Zoë, and Beatrix, and Ava, all crowding around and smiling at Stella.

Stella smiled, entranced by the people surrounding her. She reached out for them -

"Mum? Dad?"

The vision disappeared as she turned to see Harry next to her. Like Stella, his arm was stretched out, grabbing for a vision that wasn't real.

It took a second for Stella to reorient herself. She had no idea that the Mirror entranced people so much.

Before she could fall victim to the Mirror again, she raced out of the room, making sure not to hit anything in the Restricted Section on the way back.

Thanks for reading! Here are this chapter's behind-the-magic fun facts.

1) Stella and Draco's rivalry is definitely going to be continuing throughout the story - although it might be lessened around Year 3 or 4 (she's a huge fan of The Flash).

2) You might remember that "Alabanza" was referenced last chapter, in Stella's speech to Madison's body. I thought it would be good to get a reference in the aftermath as well, as a kind of connection between the immediate grief and the lasting effects.

3) The line "Food always helps" is something that I had heard around school and decided to use with Stella. Her inspiration loved the line.

4) I decided to focus on Stella this chapter as a way to look into the lives of the Hufflepuffs after losing one of their members. I also just enjoy writing for Stella - she's naturally funny while still being emotional, and she's a great place for references.

Feel free to review, but please no reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!