Chapter 4: Ten

Luna arrived in the Great Hall late for breakfast, and she slid into the empty seat next to Anne. She picked up a couple pieces of toast. "Glad to see you finally join us," Chloe said as she passed the jam.

"If they wanted us to be at breakfast early, they wouldn't schedule Astronomy to start at midnight. Besides, Professor Sinistra asked to talk to me after class. I didn't get back to the room until you lot were all asleep," Luna replied.

"Is Becca up yet?"

"She was starting to move when I left. Hopefully she'll be down before breakfast is over."

"It's a good thing we don't have class this morning. That class was pretty exhausting."

"You do realize we should have had class last week, but it got canceled because of the weather," Anne cut in.

"One of the many advantages of a class dependent on the sky," Luna replied, "Although now that I think of it, it was a bit surprising that as a magical society no one has developed any methods for controlling weather on a large scale…"

"Luna."

"… Actually, if the Great Hall ceiling can mimic the sky above, why can't we just have Astronomy in a room with a similar enchantment to show us the sky above the cloud line …"

"Luna."

"… Then again, we could just enchant the room to show the night sky somewhere else in the world. It has to be night somewhere…"

"Luna. You're rambling."

"Oh. Sorry. What were we talking about?"

"I give up," Anne sighed, "What are you thinking of doing this morning Chloe?"

"Not sure. I finished all my homework already, and we don't have any classes until double Potions after lunch."

"We could go down to the lake and look for the Giant Squid," Luna suggested.

"Or we could go back to sleep?" A very tired Becca suggested as she sat down next to Olivia.

"If you are so tired, why are you up?" Olivia asked.

"Food," Becca groaned as she filled a bowl with porridge.

"We could head to the library to finish the Charms essay for next week," Anne suggested.

"Or we could go down to the lake and look for the Giant Squid," Luna repeated.

"Not sure about the squid, but the lake sounds nice," Chloe said. "Yeah, let's go to the lake. You can bring your essay Anne, Becca can take a nap, and Luna can go squid hunting. Are we all agreed? Good. I want to go grab some books from the room, so I'll meet you down there in say half an hour."

They continued to eat for a few minutes before Luna also stood up. "I need to go deliver this letter. You want to come Anne?"

"Sorry. I'm going to grab Pumpernickel. He hasn't been to the lake yet."

"Okay. See you there," Luna replied, and she walked out to the owlery to send her weekly letter back home to her father.


The five girls spent a pleasant morning on the lake. The air was still wonderfully warm despite the seasons beginning to change. Olivia read a novel while Anne, Chloe, and Luna showed Pumpernickel the lake. Becca joined them to skip rocks after her nap. Luna never did convince anyone to go squid hunting, or rather squid searching as she didn't intend on hurting the squid after all. She still was able to catch a glimpse of out in the middle of the lake. In all it was a pleasant morning, and the friends went inside after a wave of clouds moved to block out the sun. After lunch, they dispersed to get their materials for the double potions with the Hufflepuffs.

Luna and Anne arrived at the class a few minutes early and went to their usual places in the front of the class. Luna took out her potions kit and set up her cauldron. While Professor Snape had yet to make an appearance and the blackboard was still blank, he had warned them they would be brewing Calming Draughts during class. Besides, the double potions were always used for brewing. Luna glanced through her textbook to review the recipe. Professor Snape usually gave a few points to students who correctly guessed the ingredients or instructions, and there was a friendly competition among the Ravenclaws as to who would get the points. Well, relatively friendly. Liam did tease her when she was able to guess toadstool last class and some of the others laughed, but her friends still congratulated her. That's it. Always focus on the positive, Luna. Besides, no matter who guessed it, the points went to Ravenclaw. The Hufflepuffs rarely answered any questions, but that may be because Professor Snape seemed to hate them. Well, not hate, but at least distrust. He usually hovered in the back of the class where they sat, watching their cauldrons and ensuring nothing exploded. Some people may consider that a bit intimidating, but Luna thought it was nice that their teacher was so obviously concerned about their safety.

Anne leaned over her and whispered, "Have you tried to talk to Ginny again?"

"What?" Luna jumped and knocked into her cauldron, almost toppling it over.

"Luna. Back to earth. Potions is probably the last place you should be daydreaming."

"Well, there are no fires going yet. In fact, class hasn't even started. Most of the other students aren't even here yet," Luna insisted.

"I asked you if you tried to talk to Ginny again."

"Not yet."

Their conversation was interrupted as Olivia sat down next to Luna. It looked Like she would be sharing the table with Olivia today. Usually Olivia, the girl who struggled most with potions, would sit next to Becca or Anne, the girls best at potions, but it looked like those seats were taken. Luna mentally shrugged. It looked like Chloe was sitting with Becca today, and the seat next to Anne was filled with potions equipment. When had that happened? Luna looked around the room in surprise. All of the other students were already there. Even Liam and Evan were in their usual seats, directly behind Luna, ready to laugh at everything she said. It was all a bit unnerving. Maybe she really should focus a bit more.

Professor Snape entered the classroom from the storage room with a tray of something bright yellow. He set it on his desk and the entire room fell silent. "Today we will be preparing Stasis Solutions," Professor Snape quietly announced. "Can anyone tell me the conceptual similarity between a Stasis Solution and a Calming Draught?"

Anne's hand shot into the air. The professor pointed at her and she said, "They both slow the object they are applied to. Calming Draughts suppress brain activity and reduce the heart rate. Stasis solutions freezes the object permanently."

"Correct. Five points to Ravenclaw. A Stasis Solution can be treated as a much more potent version of a Calming Draught. Functionally, they both relax the system onto which they are applied. In fact, just like overdosing on Calming Draught can place a person in a coma, so too can ingesting a weakened Stasis Solution. Stasis Solutions are usually applied to an object, preserving it for long periods of time.

"Stasis Solutions have several advantages over the stasis charm," Professor Snape continued. "They provide a more perfect protection against decay, are not removable by a simple counter curse, and last indefinitely. If you wish to ever preserve an object against the passage of time, it would be necessary to use a Stasis Solution. Luckily for you, Stasis Solutions also have the added benefit of being almost impossible to overboil. As soon as the potion is ready, it turns a bright gold and is, for all intents and purposes, unalterable. I expect even the least competent of you to be able to brew a satisfactory potion today. As the true measure of a potion is how it performs, I will be testing each of your potions on the plants sitting next to Ms. Palmer. I will be very disappointed in anyone whose plant does not look exactly the same in a week. Instructions are on the board. Your samples of amber are on my desk. Please proceed."

Luna flipped to the page and looked over the ingredients. Satisfied the instructions were identical to those written on the chalkboard, she walked over to the tap to fill the cauldron with water and began chopping the daisy roots. She would need to add them with the crocodile heart as soon as the water started to boil.

"You never answered my question," Anne whispered to her over her simmering cauldron.

"What question."

"What you are going to do about Ginny."

"Really? You're asking me during class?" Luna replied.

"Yeah. Snape is already in the back hovering by Janice. As long as we are working, we won't get in trouble. Besides, it matters."

"I don't know."

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know," Luna whispered furiously. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're my friend, and Ginny is your friend. You need to reconnect with her."

Luna added her herbs and thought for a moment, "I must have made her angry at me somehow. I just don't know what. I was thinking of maybe trying to give her a peace offering… She is kind of obsessed with chocolate. Maybe she would like that?"

"I guess. Why don't you try it?"

"Well first I don't have any…"

"Bad excuse Luna. I know a fourth year who is willing to pick up candy from Hogsmead for those of use who still can't go."

"Maybe, but what would I say? I don't even know what I did."

"Luna, you are her friend. You have known each other for ages. Just talk to her. Be honest."

"I guess," Luna stared at the blue smoke rising from her simmering cauldron. The wisps of smoke curling in the air as they rose from the light blue liquid. It was probably time to add the crushed beetles.

"Hmm… This looks about ready," Anne said. Her cauldron had already turned teal. "I'm going to get the amber. Do you want me to get it for you to?"

"Sure. Thank you."

"What about you Olivia?"

"Yes," Olivia responded. She pressed down her knife, but the beetle bounced away again. "Seriously. Why do we even need to add five beetles? Its not like a beetle is a unit of measurement."

"We don't need a measurement of beetles. The magic is tied to their life force, not their mass. Sort of like how the size of a person does not change their ability to perform magic, or how Klepskies turn anything they bite invisible, no matter how big," Luna replied. Behind her, Liam chuckled. She turned around and saw him whispering to Evan while staring at her. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," He replied with a smirk on his face, "Your explanation is hilarious. What on earth is a Klepsky?"

"Actually, she's right," Max cut in, "I mean, I have no idea if Klepskies or whatever you called them exist, but the potions and magic parts were correct. Magic is often separate from physical mass, especially with living things."

Liam grumbled in reply and left to get his amber. Luna looked back at Max and whispered, "Why did you stand up for me?"

He shrugged, "I could honestly care less if you are insane or a conspiracy theorist or whatever. I just hate misinformation, and people claiming to know things they have no idea about gets on my nerves."

"Is there a problem here?" Anne asked as returned with the potion supplies.

"No," Max replied as he turned back to his potion.

"Luna?"

"Really, everything is fine. Thanks for picking this up for us," Luna said, holding up the amber. Maybe all the boys didn't think she was crazy. Not that it really mattered. Sanity was overrated. She broke her chunk into quarters and added them individually to the cauldron, stirring six times after each one.

"Oh… dang," Olivia growled next to her. She had dropped her amber and two of its chunks had caught fire and melted.

"Here. Take mine. I'm not at that step yet anyways," Chloe reached over and handed Olivia her chunk of amber. "I'll go ask Professor Snape for another one."

Chloe walked to the back of the class, and a few seconds later she walked into the storeroom to return with a bright red chunk. Luna turned to look back at the chalkboard in the front of the room and reached down to stir her cauldron a few more times. The initial blue color had all boiled off, leaving behind a mellow orange. She had to stir for a few more minutes and then she could add the chopped sunflower petals. The blue steam from all the cauldrons had accumulated in the room, almost like a fog, swirling behind any motion. Almost ready.

A voice broke her out of her reverie. Luna turned to Olivia and asked, "What?"

"I asked how long I should stir after adding the amber."

"Until the blue smoke stops rising," Luna replied. She turned to look at Olivia, but something else caught her eye. It was a cauldron that was boiling viciously. Unlike the blues, oranges, and yellows of the correct potion, this was a deep angry red. A sense of dread fell on Luna. She had seen this before. She knew what she had to do. Adrenalin flooded her system, and she grabbed Olivia's arm and pulled her under the table.

"What… Let go," Olivia complained. She tried to pull away, but Luna held her arm tight. There was no time.

She could hear her heart beating in her chest. Ba Bump. Ba Bump. It was a wonder it didn't explode.

Liam saw her and tapped Evan on the shoulder, laughing. It didn't matter. This was what she had to do.

Ba Bump.

Olivia was trying to pull away again, but Luna gripped even harder. It was for her own good.

Ba Bump.

Some of the other students had started noticing and giggling.

Ba Bump.

Max looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. She could hear Anne asking her something.

Ba Bump.

Max looked over the table and saw the potion. His eyes widened.

Ba Bump.

He started to speak, but Professor Snape was still by the Hufflepuffs. There wasn't enough time. "Professor…"

BOOM!

The room erupted into a flash of light. The ground shook. There was a ringing in Luna's ear. She could smell the smoke. She could see the fire. She could feel the heat. She couldn't breathe. The smoke was suffocating. The world was collapsing around her.

No, she was at Hogwarts. This was Potions. She took a breath of air. It didn't taste like smoke. Instead, it had a metallic smell. Breathe in, breath out. Breathe in, breath out. Luna opened her eyes, and let the world back in.

Only seconds had passed.

She saw Professor Snape sweep by, his wand out. He crouched down, and Luna caught a glimpse of a silver creature standing there for an instant before it vanished. She could hear the professor casting charm after charm, but he was still out of her view. Olivia was crouched next to her under the table. She was in shock but looked physically unhurt. That was good. Luna had acted in time. She had gotten Olivia out of the way.

The rest of the room was in disarray. Many of the students had fallen from their chairs from the explosion. As she looked, she could see the fires under each cauldron disappear. Professor Snape calmly spoke, "Everyone, please remain calm. One of your classmates had an accident with their potion. Everything will be fine. Remain where you are, and I will escort you all out shortly."

Luna could hear another person enter the room. The footsteps were fast and stopped by the professor. She could hear the whispering, but she could not identify the voice. There was some more movement, and Luna could hear a groan before the steps started again, this time leaving the room. Someone must have been hurt. Who could it be?

"Everyone stand up, leave your belongings behind, and calmly exit the classroom. Wait for me in the corridor. Now!" Professor Snape said, snapping the class out of its daze.

Luna stood up and looked around the room. Unlike her initial assumption, there was in fact a lot of smoke. It just was not thick by the ground, but it obscured the forms of the other dazed students. She couldn't make out any of their faces, and she wondered who had been hurt. Her table and the table behind hers had some scorch marks from the blast. Anne tapped her on her shoulder and whispered, "Come on Luna. We need to head outside."

Luna only took a few steps forward before she froze. Olivia's cauldron was laying on the ground tipped over, but otherwise completely intact. Next to it, however, was a small crater with the remains of another cauldron. Surrounding it were shards of metal from the explosion and a pool of blood. No! She had made a terrible mistake! It wasn't Olivia's cauldron that had exploded.

It was Chloe's.

Anne guided her out of the smoke-filled room into the hallway to the remaining Ravenclaw girls. A quick glance confirmed it. Chloe wasn't there. The rest of the class stood completely silent, still shocked. Professor Snape started talking again, but the words didn't register. All that shrapnel. All that blood. She could have done something else. She should have.

Professor Snape returned to the hallway, levitating all the students' books and bags behind him. "The rest of the period is canceled. Instead of completing this potion, you will all write a foot on proper safety practices for class on Friday. Please take your supplies, and then you are dismissed," Professor Snape announced. "Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Meadows, remain behind."

The rest of the class started to clear out. Anne and Becca gave them sympathetic looks before they too left. They were probably heading up to the hospital wing to check up on Chloe. It really was a miracle that no one else had been severely hurt.

"Ms. Meadows, I find it unusual that as the person sitting next to Ms. Jenkins you were completely unharmed. Do you care to explain?"

"Luna pulled me underneath the table," Olivia mumbled, "I would have been hurt if not for her. Is Chloe okay?"

Professor Snape ignored the question, and instead turned to Luna and asked, "Any explanation for your actions Ms. Lovegood?"

"What?" Luna replied. She had not really been paying attention to the conversation, the events of that afternoon playing over and over in her head.

"While it was fortunate for you to pull Ms. Meadows out of the way, that indicates you knew of the danger in advance. Care to explain?"

"Um… I guessed?" Luna suggested. She could not tell him about the dream. She would not. She promised. She could never tell anyone.

"How did you guess, Ms. Lovegood?"

"I don't know, sir. I just did, so I pulled Olivia under the table with me."

"Really Ms. Lovegood? If you felt there was a risk to the class, why didn't you inform me?"

"I don't know sir," Luna replied. She flinched as Professor Snape stared at her. It was almost like he was weighing her honesty. What did he think she did? Did he think it was not an accident? Could he think she caused it?

"Do you wish to share anything else with me?"

"Not really, sir."

"Detention, Ms. Lovegood. I expect you back here tonight at eight. If I find you had anything to do with the incident this afternoon, the consequences will be much more severe," Professor Snape said. He turned away and swept into the classroom. The door banged shut behind him, and the corridor was silent.


Luna and Olivia went directly from Potions to the hospital wing and met Anne and Becca standing outside. Madam Pomfrey had refused them access, claiming Chloe would be fine and now just needed sleep. The Ravenclaws then returned disappointed to their common room, where they were able to ambush a fourth-year boy that Anne believed sold candy and collectively purchased a few packages of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and some Licorice Wands for Chloe. Luna also got a couple Chocolate Frogs for Ginny, which she stashed in an unused broom closet. Their room had a strict no chocolate policy as Pumpernickel was still too little to be trusted not to eat anything left around. That and Luna was taking no chances with her dream, but only Anne knew about that aspect.

Of course, Potions was not the only class they had that afternoon, so the Ravenclaws soon found themselves trudging back out onto the grounds for flying lessons. After all, school must go on, traumatic injury or not.


The girls returned to the hospital wing later in the day, but Chloe was still unable to have visitors. They were able to leave the candy behind for her when she woke up.

Dinner was a sullen affair, and too soon Luna had to return to the dungeons for her detention. At that hour, the dungeon was completely deserted, the only sound coming from the clicking of Luna's shoes on the stone floor. It felt like she was the only person alive in the entire castle, and Luna was a bit relieved when Professor Snape opened the door and let her into the Potion's classroom.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me," he asked.

Luna shook her head.

"Very well. As the class left in a hurry this afternoon, you will be cleaning up all of their workstations," Professor Snape instructed her. "You may leave when you are finished."

Luna looked around the classroom. While the fires under the cauldrons were out and the potions had been vanished, the room was still in complete disarray. The chairs were left overturned where they fell, and potions ingredients and equipment were left sitting on the benches. To her great relief, the blood had already been cleaned up.

She decided to start in the back of the room. She stood up the fallen chair and looked over the contents of the table. Some of the ingredients were still completely intact, and she returned them to the student's stores. The others were disposed of. She filled a bucket with some soapy water and used it to clean the knives and wipe down the surface. She glanced up and saw Professor Snape sitting at his desk, grading. Figuring it was clean enough, she moved on to the next table. One down, nineteen more to go.

The work was repetitive, and Luna quickly lost track of how long she had worked. By the time she finished the last desk, her eyes were tired, her back was sore, and her hands were wrinkly from the water. She turned to Professor Snape, still busily working at his desk, and asked, "Is there anything else?"

He looked up and swept his gaze over the room. Appearing satisfied with her work, he replied, "No. You may go."

Luna nodded and started to leave. When she reached the door, she turned around and said, "Professor…"

"Yes, Ms. Lovegood," Professor Snape sighed.

"Um… Did you figure out what happened this afternoon by any chance?"

"It appears that Ms. Jenkins had her flame much too high and added red amber instead of yellow amber. As such, the explosion appears to have been an accident."

"Then why…"

"Why did I still give you a detention?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ms. Lovegood, somehow you knew about the danger in advance and your inaction directly caused serious harm to another student. You then proceeded to lie about how you came by that information. Be glad I let you off with only a detention."

Luna nodded and left the room. The door slammed shut behind her.


Luna was ambushed by Becca when she returned to the dorm room. "What happened?"

Luna looked around the room. Anne and Olivia were both sitting on their beds, but Chloe's was still conspicuously empty. "What do you mean?"

"Your detention…"

"He had me clean up the room," Luna replied as she drifted back to her bed, dropping her school bag on the floor.

"No. Why did he give you the detention?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," Becca insisted, taking a deep breath. "Olivia said you pulled her out of the way. You knew about what was about to happen. How?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Luna," Anne cut in, "Talk to us. Please."

"I just don't have anything to say. I had a hunch."

"Do you have anything to add?" Becca asked Olivia.

"Not really. I already said what I saw," Olivia replied. "I really appreciate how you pulled me out of the way, but the entire thing was weird."

"I just had a feeling," Luna insisted.

"I don't believe you. If you just had a hunch, why didn't you tell anyone?" Becca insisted. "We have a right to know."

"No, you don't."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"You did something. Professor Snape knows you did. That's why he gave you a detention. We just need to know why? Why would you hurt Chloe?"

"I didn't."

"Maybe we should wait. We're all exhausted and not in a good frame of mind. You can continue this conversation tomorrow," Anne suggested.

"And give her time to get her story straight," Becca replied. "No way. Tell us your side of the story."

"I don't have one."

"So then what are we supposed to think?"

"I don't care. I had nothing to do with this. If you don't believe me, then screw you. I'm done," Luna said and pulled the curtains around her bed.

"Fine. Be that way." Luna could still hear Becca's voice through the curtain. "Don't tell me you believe her?"

"I don't think Luna would try to hurt anyone," Anne's voice replied. "I think that this is all a big misunderstanding that we are just making worse."

"Chloe is in the hospital Anne. This is more than just a misunderstanding."


When the girls stopped by the hospital wing the following morning and settled down in the hallway, Madam Pomfrey, realizing they were not planning on leaving, agreed to let them in. However, Chloe's bed remained partitioned off in the corner. Eventually they had to leave for class but made sure to keep someone there at all other times – except for curfew – in case Chloe woke up.

It was the third day after the accident when Olivia came running into the common room shortly after lunch and said, "She's awake!"

All three dropped their books and followed Olivia back to the hospital wing where they finally spotted Chloe sitting up in her bed taking a drink from a tall glass of water. Her left arm was still in a sling, and she had large bandages wrapped around her head and stomach. However, she looked okay, or, at least, like she would be. Luna felt a weight lift off her shoulders. While she had been told repetitively that Chloe would make a full recovery, seeing it with her own eyes was much more reassuring.

Chloe looked up to find the source of the commotion, and her face brightened as she spotted her friends. Becca leaned over to give her a hug, but Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to leave her office and told her off. Instead, Anne and Olivia pulled chairs around the bed, and they all sat down to talk.

Chloe's eyes swept over the group and her gaze landed on Luna. Her eyes narrowed, her face darkened, and she scowled, "What is she doing here?"

"What…" Luna stuttered. She glanced around and all the others looked just as confused.

"Get out," Chloe growled.

"But…"

"Luna," Anne cut her off, "Just go."

Luna was confused and hurt. Stood up and walked to the door. She glanced behind her and saw Chloe glaring at her. She let the door close behind her.

Luna reached up and brushed a stray hair behind her ear. Her mind was spinning. What had just happened? Why did Chloe hate her all of a sudden? She knew that Luna had not caused the explosion. She had been there.

Luna walked down the hall to a window looking out on the castle grounds. The view was quite impressive, but it was not a pleasant day outside. The sky was dark, and a light rain was spraying. A thick mist hovered over the lake and spread into the forest. Any hope Luna had started to fade. Maybe it was her fault. She had known, after all. She tried to help but misread the situation. Maybe there had been time for Professor Snape to stop the accident. If she had reacted differently, everything would be alright.

Maybe her dream caused the explosion.

A door creaked behind her, and Luna turned to see Anne walking up to her. "What's going on?"

Anne sighed. "Chloe thinks you did something to her cauldron to make it explode."

"But I didn't!" Luna protested.

"I believe you," Anne replied, "But Chloe has just woken up, and she blames you. She saw you pull Olivia out of the way. We all did…"

"I told you. I thought you believed me," Luna whispered.

"Really Luna? I know you better than that. There is no way you just had a hunch. You saw something. I just can't figure out what. What really happened? Who are you trying to cover for?"

"I didn't do anything. No one did anything. I told you already. Professor Snape even agreed it was an accident."

"That's not what I asked, and you know it," Anne sighed. "Look. I trust you. Whatever you are not telling us… Well I know you must have a good reason, and I'm okay with that. But Chloe got seriously hurt. Can you really blame her for being upset? Can you blame Becca? What if the roles were reversed and I was the one in the hospital and Chloe did something suspicious right before? You would react the same way."

"She seemed a bit more than just upset," Luna mumbled.

"Just give her some time. I'm sure she knows you wouldn't want to hurt her. It's just… She just needs someone to blame. Try to give her some space. I'm sure she will get over it in a few days."

"I hope you are right," Luna whispered as Anne turned and walked back into the hospital wing.


Ginny… are you still there?

Yes… I'm here… Sorry. Percy just had a question for me. He wanted to make sure I was adjusting well.

What did you tell him?

I said of course. I even made a new friend.

Who? You made a new friend without telling me!

I meant you, silly. What was it you wanted to tell me?

Ah yes… Well if you recall our conversation last week about shield charms, I was struggling to properly describe wand motions. It was difficult for me to correct your motions without seeing it myself, and I had an idea. Would you be able to go up to your dorm room and pull the hangings closed?

Sure. Just give me a sec… Okay. I'm in bed. Now what?

Let me show you.

Between the pages of the diary, the binding started to glow. First it was just a pinpoint of light, but it grew wider and wider. Suddenly, Ginny was falling down through the pages of the diary. Shapes whipped past in the darkness until she hit the ground. Around her, the world started to coalesce. She was standing in a staircase. It had an almost incomplete feeling, like a picture instead of a real object. She placed her hand on the stone wall. It felt solid enough. Confused, Ginny started to walk down the staircase until she reached a larger room.

The room was round and brightly lit by a roaring fire in the fireplace. In fact, the room looked vaguely like the Gryffindor common room. That table was a bit too wide and the color of the hangings was a bit too dark, but the resemblance was uncanny. Ginny looked around the room until she saw the back of a head sticking up over one of the chairs by the fire. She approached the chair slowly. There was a boy sitting in it with his fingers steepled and eyes closed in concentration. He was wearing Hogwarts robes with a Slytherin house badge and looked to be in his mid to late teens.

Suddenly his eyes opened and met her gaze, brown eyes meeting brown eyes. A broad, satisfied smile crossed his face so it positively glowed. "Hello Ginerva. It is wonderful to finally meet you in person."

"Tom… but how?"

"This was the idea I had," Tom said as he stood up from the chair. "Your body is lying asleep in bed while your mind can visit me, here in my diary. I wanted to construct a place where I could actually see you and we could interact face to face. This way I can help you with your spell work and if you ever need a place to escape to or someone to actually talk to, I could bring you here for a visit."

"Tom…"

"I tried to reconstruct the Gryffindor common room based on your vivid descriptions, but some of the details may be a bit off. I have never been there in person, you see. If you would like me to change the setting, I could try another place instead."

"No… Tom, this is incredible!" Ginny lunged forward and pulled Tom into a tight hug.

"I am glad you like it."

"I love it," Ginny replied. She started to walk around the room, touching the objects. It felt so real. "So, all of this in your head."

"Well, it's a bit more complicated. It is more in a shared space between your mind and my presence in the diary, but I am the one maintaining it."

"I don't know how to thank you."

"If you come and visit me sometimes, that would be all the thanks I need."

"Why are you doing all of this for me Tom?"

"Because you are my friend Ginerva, right?"

"Of course I am Tom, and you are my best friend too."