Bella's eyes flew open, a thick layer of sweat covering every inch of her skin. She took sharp, gasping breaths, willing air back into her lungs. The room was still cloaked in darkness, meaning she hadn't been sleeping long. She pulled back the covers and stood, cringing at the cold beneath her feet. As slowly as she could, she crept out into the dark hallway, closing the bedroom door quietly behind her. The dim light of the burning embers in the common room led Bella down the girls stairway and up the boys until she reached the second year boys dorm. She pushed the door open slowly, listening for the shallow breaths and soft snores indicating they were all asleep. She tiptoed over to Ron's bed and shook his shoulder slightly.

"Wha'samatter" said Ron groggily, turning over to see who had disturbed him.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" asked Bella timidly. "I had a nightmare."

Ron rolled on to his back, pulling the covers open. Bella climbed into the bed beside him, pulling the covers tightly around her shoulders, laying her head against Ron's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He whispered into the darkness.

"Yeah." Bella whispered back, snuggling tighter into Ron's side. "Are you?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"Promise you'll tell me everything tomorrow?" She asked.

"Promise." He replied.

Bella closed her eyes and sighed, she felt better already. Sharing a bedroom at home had meant this was a common occurrence for the twins when one couldn't sleep. They could draw the comfort they needed from one another and Bella knew that no matter what, Ron would always make her feel safe.

Bella screwed her eyes up as the bright light of the morning sun shone through the window a few hours later. She felt Ron wriggling in his sleep beside her and remembered her late night trip to the boys dorm. Bella turned onto her side away from Ron and found Harry awake, laying on his side staring into space.

"Morning Harry." said Bella softly.

"Morning." He replied. "When did you get here?"

"During the night. I couldn't sleep." She sighed.

She pulled the covers away from her body and pushed herself out of bed, trying not to wake Ron. She yawned softly and stretched her arms above her head.

"Will you tell Ron I've gone to get ready, please? I don't want to wake him." asked Bella quietly, turning over her shoulder to look at Ron's sleeping face.

"Yeah of course." replied Harry.

"Between me and you, I like him better when he's sleeping." whispered Bella causing Harry to chuckle.

She sent him a sly grin as she left, creeping quietly back to her dorm. The steady, shallow breaths that reached her ears told her that the girls were all still sleeping as they usually were early in the morning and this morning when Hermione's empty bed caught Bella's eye, she was filled with excitement rather than heartbreak. One quick shower later and Bella was ready for the day, trunk packed and more than a little excited to get home.

Her stomach let out an almighty growl and she groaned along with it. She threw her coat around her shoulders and trudged down the stairs. A few students littered the common room with it still being early and Bella was startled when Harry joined her in the near-empty common room.

"You're up early." She commented, pushing open the portrait and holding it for Harry.

"So are you." He replied with a smirk.

"Touché" She laughed.

The corridors were quiet but the Great Hall was even quieter. Only a handful of students from each house were scattered along each table and Bella easily spotted Draco sat with his two goons at the Slytherin table. Harry sat across from Bella halfway down the Gryffindor table and helped himself to a generous portion. Bella nibbled on a piece of toast, not feeling up to eating anything. Something on the other side of the hall caught her eye and she glanced past Harry, noticing Draco's eyes trained on her. She scrunched her nose in confusion at him and he inclined his head towards the door. She shook her head slightly and he inclined his head once again, forcefully this time. She shook her head again and smiled sweetly at Harry when he caught her eye. Harry turned to look over her shoulder at what she was looking at and she mouthed 'no' at Draco before Harry turned back around, fixing him with a sweet smile again. Harry shook his head and went back to his breakfast. Bella turned again to Draco, he was glaring at her now. He inclined his head once again at the door then stood to his feet, stalking from the Great Hall with a scowl. Bella sighed deeply and stood, pushing the plate of barely eaten toast away from her.

"Where are you going?" asked Harry.

"I'm going to get some air before we go home." She replied.

"But, you haven't eaten your toast." said Harry.

"I'm not really hungry." smiled Bella. "I'll be back soon."

She left the hall hurriedly, hoping to find out what Draco wanted and get back to the hall before Ron and the others arrived. Draco was nowhere to be seen in the Entrance Hall and Bella huffed loudly. Why did he have to be so damn annoying? She walked in the direction of the dungeons and yelped in surprise when an arm shot out from one of the hidden alcoves, pulling her in. Bella's small frame was almost flush with Draco's in the small alcove and his long fingers still gripped her upper arm. She swatted his hand away with a huff of annoyance.

"Merlin Malfoy, was that really necessary?" she cried.

"Malfoy now, is it?" He smirked.

"What do you want?" asked Bella, arms crossed over her chest. They were close enough in the small space that her folded arms psuhed against his chest.

"In a rush, are we?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Hermione gets out of the Hospital Wing today." She replied.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." replied Draco.

"Oh." Bella quirked her eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. I wanted to apologise - for what I said about Granger. I know you were angry with me."

"Well yeah, I was angry with you. It wasn't a nice thing to say, but Draco, that was ages ago." replied Bella.

"I know but still, I'm sorry." Draco smiled timidly.

"Thank you." replied Bella, smiling back at him.

They stood in the dimly lit alcove, close enough to feel each others warm breath on their faces, staring at each other for a few seconds before they both turned away quickly, Draco coughing awkwardly.

"Well, I better - get back to the Great Hall." said Bella, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Y-Yeah." stuttered Draco.

Bella left the alcove without another word, walking as fast as she could without running, back to the Great Hall. Harry was still the only one of her friends sat at the Gryffindor table and she dropped into her seat opposite him, trying her hardest to contain the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Is it cold out?" asked Harry.

"Huh?" Bella scrunched her nose in confusion at his question.

"Your cheeks are red." said Harry, pointing to her reddening cheeks.

"Oh, yeah, it's quite chilly." said Bella, staring at her plate so Harry wouldn't see her cheeks getting redder.

Ron arrived shortly after with Seamus and Dean, Freya and Emily not long after them. The group chatted amongst themselves while they waited for Hermione to arrive. They didn't have to wait long before Hermione's curly head arrived amongst the other petrified students. She ran down the hall and threw her arms around Harry.

"You solved it! You solved it!" She cried, jumping up and down with her arms still wrapped around Harry's neck.

Hermione and Ron stood awkwardly staring at each other as Ron scratched the back of his neck. Bella elbowed him out of the way and threw herself on Hermione holding tightly to her. Freya and Emily too wrapped their arms around the pair and the four girls stood crying into each others arms.

Hagrid arrived shortly after, clapping Ron, Harry, Freya and Emily on the back as he passed, a beaming smile on his face. McGonagall announced with a bright smile that, due to the eight hundred points accumulated by their efforts in the chamber, Gryffindor had won the house cup for the second time in a row.

Sooner than they would have liked, the new third years were locked away in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express, rolling through the Scottish Highlands on their way back to England.

"I'm going to miss you." Seamus whispered quietly to Bella as she leant against his shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you too." smiled Bella, turning her head up to look at him.

Seamus leant forward and Bella leant up, their lips meeting for a short chaste kiss.

"Ugh, get a room."

Bella rolled her eyes at Ron's disgust and settled back against the seat, snuggling further into Seamus. As the vast fields bled into the smoky scenery of the bustling London streets, Bella remembered something that had been bothering her for a while.

"Ginny - what did you see Percy doing that he didn't want anyone to know?"

"Oh that -" laughed Ginny. "Percy's got a girlfriend."

Bella leapt forward and slapped Ron's arm hard.

"No way." He cried.

"Yes way." replied Ginny. "It's Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect. I saw them kissing in a classroom one day and he was ever so embarassed. That's why he was so upset when - you know. You won't tell him will you?"

"We would never." replied Bella, sharing a wicked look with Ron. If anyone needed to know it was Fred and George and who was she to deny them such knowledge?

The Hogwarts Express slowed to a stop and Harry pulled his quill and parchment from his back, scribbling quickly.

"This is a telephone number." He said to Bella and Ron, handing a piece of parchment to each of them, Hermione, Freya and Emily. "I taught your dad to use a telephone last summer."

"Please call me at the Dursleys, I can't stand two months with only Dudley's company." He directed to the five of them.

"They'll be proud thought, won't they?" asked Ron. "Your aunt and uncle."

"When they hear about everything that happened this year?" added Hermione.

"You're kidding right?" laughed Harry.

"Surely they will?" asked Freya.

"Furious more like, all those times I could've died and didn't?" said Harry.

"Oh Harry don't say that." gasped Emily.

"It's true." He replied.

As they passed through the barrier to the muggle world, Bella couldn't help but smile. She had her friends, brother and boyfriend all around her once again and she was looking forward to the summer ahead, not so much to the new school year though.