((As always, reviews are very much appreciated :3))

The members of Gryffindor house were chattering as they exited the hall, split between gossip and excitement. Fred and George were already planning some grand surprise for Harry, whispering excitedly with Lee ahead of them. "It's ridiculous, how'd he even get his name in?" Angelina was complaining to Marina as they walked, obviously sore from another student being picked instead of her unfairly. "Who knows, this is weird." "It's always weird here." Josie added with a smile, the girls all laughing at her comment. They paused as the students parted ways to their houses, waiting for traffic to clear. Josie had been surprisingly calm through all this, she thought she would surely have had some nervousness but hardly any had come upon her.

A small cough from behind her turned her head, and her heart sunk a bit when she came face to face with a small crowd of students in powder blue uniforms. She had jinxed herself. The student at the front was someone that Josie had enjoyed talking to in many of her classes, another one a past roommate, another one of the few that had picked on her for her weight, all of them familiar faces. She felt her chest tighten, vaguely hearing Marina call the twin's names over the ringing that went through her ears.

"Hello." She said, her voice soft and falling back into her French easily. The girl in front smiled at her, pearly white teeth shining. "It's so good to see you, I was afraid you wouldn't recognize us." She said, looking at the girls around her. Josie felt her hands begin to shake, forcing a smile. Daphne, the girls name was Daphne she remembered. "Of course, you were in so many of my classes Daphne how could I forget? How are you all?" She hoped her voice wasn't shaking, she hoped her hands weren't shaking. Daphne lit up that her name was remembered, talking quickly. "We're all wonderful, I saw you the night we got here and I couldn't believe it. You disappeared; no one told us that you had transferred." "It was a quick family decision; I thought someone would have said something. At least to my roommates, and then it would have spread."

She looked at her past roommate, whose name she believed as Angelica. It felt like ages since she had seen any of them even though it had only been about a year. They all looked about the same to her memory, beautiful, dainty; perfect. Not like her. She felt her mouth going dry, swallowing hard. "You look wonderful; you seem to be very happy here." Angelica spoke up, bright blonde curls bouncing from her pony tail. The others chimed in.

"You look better; this castle has done some good."

"Yes, you've lost weight it seems."

"And gained it back in better places."

She wanted to throw up, she wanted to run. They probably weren't trying to be cruel, most of them at least, but it still was opening up the hole in her heart. Feeling the sweat run down her spine her throat began to close up, her eyes brimming with tears as they looked at her. Josie screamed in her mind for someone to help, because she was rooted to her spot with her stomach in her shoes and her muscles tense. Stuttering over her words she felt them staring at her and their gaze felt like fire, ice, swords and beaters clubs all at once. Where were Fred and George when she needed them?

"Josie, McGonagall wants to see you. You know how impatient she is, better come on." Marina's voice broke through the ringing, the touch on her arm jolting her out of her daze but pulling her dangerously closer to her imminent breakdown. "I'm sorry, we have to go." "Nice seeing you." Josie was surprised she could speak, letting Marina drag her away from her past and pull her stumbling up the stairs. They were in the midst of the stragglers, the last of all houses falling behind the rest. Josie still felt sick, the room spinning around her, her feet hitting the steps by memory as Marina almost pulled her arm off to get her up the staircase.

"Lee Jordan!" Marina yelled next to her, her voice echoing up the walls as paintings turned in Josie's peripheral vision to watch what was passing them. She vaguely became aware of Lee's voice yelling back down at her, Marina calling up to him in return as they neared the Gryffindor common room. Josie was amazed her feet were moving and that she was standing with how badly she was shaking, her breath coming in gasps and tears beginning to roll down her face. Marina was saying something about the twins to Lee, her voice getting louder as she became more irritable. Josie couldn't see anymore, but the addition of more stairs made her think that they were going up to one of the dorms.

Her breaking came when she hit a bed, Marina taking her hands in front of her and crouching to look up at Josie as she began to sob. She could hardly hear Marina as she talked to someone else in the room, her own cracking cries and the ringing in her ears drowning them out. Josie wanted to form words, wanted to vocalize what was wrong, but she was having a hard enough time taking breaths. Calming herself wasn't working; her knee's pulling up to her chest as she ripped off her robe when she realized she felt like she was on fire. Rocking back and forth her hyperventilating only got worse, the lack of air getting into her lunges worsening her attack as she feared she would pass out. Absent mindedly she fell onto her back, more to stop her shaking than anything, but it opened her lungs enough to break her rapid breathing and allow her to begin her frenzied explanation.

"I'm sorry I-"

"It just happened-"

"I can't hel- I'm sorry."

She stuttered, never able to form a sentence as she talked quickly, falling into a broken mix of French and English as she rambled. Marina appeared over her, crouching on the bed and taking Josie's face between her hands as Josie continued on. The upside down expression she bore was soft, determination lining sea foam eyes. "Josie, breathe. Its fine, you're fine. No one is judging you for your feelings, you're up here safe with us, and nothing can hurt you. Breathe, please, you don't need to apologize." Josie's eyes were overflowing with tears as she spoke, her hands shaking by her head. Gripping onto Marina's arms, she fell into the rhythm of breathing her friend was leading for her.

Finally she regained control of her breathing, her sobs still coming like hiccups. She sat up, wiping the running mascara from her face and straitening her hair as her hands finally stopped shaking. Josie felt like she was going to be sick, her throat raw and her head throbbing. Looking around she saw Lee standing with his back to the door, looking awkward in the situation. Marina was behind her, hesitantly touching her back and rubbing her shoulders when Josie didn't complain of being touched. They were in Lee and the twin's dorm, they had to be because of Lee's presence, but she saw George's homework strewn across the floor at her feet and smiled to herself.

"Where'd they go?" She asked, her voice cracking. "Rounding up snacks and people to throw Harry a party, they took off ahead of me up the stairs." Lee answered. "They're getting an earful from me. I ca-" "No, leave them alone. They didn't know." Josie cut Marina off, shaking her head. "Don't tell them, they're in their element right now. Its fine, it's done. I'm sure it will happen again eventually; let them be there for that one." Josie turned to look at Marina, smiling weakly. "I'm glad that you were there." Marina smiled, pouncing on her with a hug and planting a bright red kiss on her cheek. "Always."

She stood when Marina finally let go, fixing her robes and hair before walking to the door. "I'm going to go to bed, if they ask about me tell them I don't feel well." She said, looking at Lee and Marina. "No way, if you're hiding in our dorm I'm coming with you and we're eating sweets while we gossip." Josie smiled at Marina's ever abrasive personality, nodding her head. "Then it's on you Lee, is that okay?" Lee's concerned face broke out into a grin, nodding. "Yeah, it's not really lying so they shouldn't be able to see through me."

"You're awful at lying."

"I'm awful at lying." Lee agreed with Marina, the three of them crumbling into laughter. Before Josie could walk out Lee pulled her to him, wrapping arms around her shoulders and closing her in a hug that crushed her. Laughing she hugged him back, patting his back and almost falling off balance when he slung her back and forth overzealously. "You're gonna be alright, right?" he asked, letting her go out of the embrace but still holding her by the shoulders to look at her. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me." She replied, smiling when he broke out into a grin.

"Not a chance."

Back in their room, Josie changed into her pajamas and fell into bed. Marina made tea and dragged the large bag of sweets she had been sent from her parents from under her bed. They spread out the stash between the two of them on the bed, sipping their drinks and sorting through the pile. "You're prettier than them, all of them, even the veela." Marina said, breaking the silence. "Especially the veela." She finished. Josie smiled, shaking her head at the comment. "No, they're all very pretty. I just don't fit in with them." "You fit in here, with us. You're a hooligan; it's in your blood." Marina joked, earning a piece of candy thrown her way.

"It's true! It's why you can keep up with those two." "I wouldn't say I can keep up with them." Josie replied. "Alright, it's the reason you can PUT up with them then." Marina smiled, opening up pieces of taffy before popping them into her mouth. "Have you heard the news about your Slytherin friend?" she asked moments later, Josie shaking her head through a mouthful of caramel. "Rumor is she and Malfoy are skirting around liking each other." "What do you mean?" Josie asked as she swallowed, laughing as she talked through sticky teeth.

"I heard Seraphina talking about how pathetic it was that, Charlie right?" Josie nodded. "That Charlie has a crush on Malfoy, rambling about how he was too good for her and so on, calling her a disgrace to purebloods, unsophisticated, fat, ugly, a ton of garbage." Anger bubbled in her chest, feeling a bit protective for her younger friend even though Josie knew Charlie could hold her own. "Did you say anything?" "I told her to stop being sore that even 4th year boys like Zambini and Malfoy won't fall for her tricks." "Especially with that bald spot." Josie added, covering her mouth as they both fell into laughter.

"I've also heard that he likes her." Marina added, finishing her tea and setting her mug on the floor. Josie raised a brow, a bit shocked. "Really? They seem to hate each other from when I've seen them interact." "How so?" "They're constantly teasing and poking fun at each other, they seem like they can't stand to be near each other." "It's probably how they flirt; I'll keep my eye on this." Josie looked at Marina with a raised brow, unwrapping her chocolate slowly. "Why?" Marina grinned widely, tilting her head back and forth in mock thought before answering.

"Because it's fun, and she's your friend. So I need to get dirt on her."

Josie shook her head at her, lying back on her pillow and finishing her tea. She fell into silence, worry that their relationship had changed due to Marina witnessing her attack beginning to gnaw at her mind. It was a big step forward, but she wasn't sure in what direction. The only other people to ever see her like that were her parents and the twins. She also worried about Lee, wondering if witnessing her attack had made his opinion of her change.

"Josie." She looked up from her fingers, finding Marina staring at her. "Are you going to be okay? I've never seen you like that." Sighing, she nodded after a moment. "I'll be fine, it was just so sudden and I didn't feel like I had any control." "I'll still throttle the twins if you want me to." Josie snorted, shaking her head as her hair bounced nearer to her shoulders than usual. "No, they mean well. It's fine." They fell silent, sitting in the darkness and listening to the noise downstairs.

"Boys are idiots."

Marina and Josie shared a look, silence between them quickly broken as they both broke down laughing into the sheets. Josie was glad she had Marina, she was glad she had Lee as well, but she was thankful for the peculiar girl that had wormed her way into her life in the form of a cat. As wild as she was and as much as her antics embarrassed Josie, Marina was exactly what Josie needed at times.

After all, everyone needs a best friend.