Mary:

Getting up turned out to be very pleasant, I had been worried about this moment the night before, but I was happy to find out that everything went better than I had expected. The girls ignored me, and I was able to ignore them. At breakfast our Homeroom teacher handed us our timetables and I was pleased to see, that our first two lessons were transfiguration with the Gryffindors. Like this I had the chance to meet the girl from yesterday and maybe find out something about her or those mysterious friends she had been talking about.

I had been so eager to get some answers that I ended up in the classroom too early. Surprisingly, I wasn't the only Student that was here. A light-haired boy was already sitting at one of the tables. He looked up when I entered the room and I noticed that he was a Slytherin too. I immediately felt insecure, maybe I should just leave again, but then the boy gave me small smile, before turning back around. I was absolutely astonished. He was the first nice Slytherin I've encountered. Slowly I chose a seat not too far away from the boy and sat down on it. After a couple of silent minutes, I had found the courage to say something, but before I had the chance to do so, the door opened again, and a lot of Students came in. Apparently, no one wanted to risk being late. My voice got stuck in my throat the moment I saw Draco and his goons were a part of this group. Sighing I lowered my head and concentrated on the paper in front of me. I had started to draw some random things on it, to keep me occupied. The Students settled down and started chatting. I tried to block their voices out when suddenly everything turned quiet. Wondering about what had happened I looked up and noticed that everyone was staring in the same direction. Following their gaze, I realized why everyone seemed so shocked. The girl from yesterday was sitting next to the friendly Slytherin boy, and from the looks of it, they didn't seem to care about what the others seemed to think. Now, I was no expert on the matter, but this seemed to be out of the ordinary. The Silence was interrupted by the door opening again. More Students entered the room and this time they were Gryffindors. They also saw the unusual pair sitting together, but that didn't stop them from talking. They seemed to be more open about this. How I wished that I was a Gryffindor. Looking around I noticed that suddenly there was a cat sitting on top of the teacher's desk. How odd.

It didn't take much longer for the room to fill itself. Once it was time for the lesson to start, the cat turned into Professor McGonagall. She distributed cups and a book, while explaining what we were going to learn this year. She told us what we needed to write down and then turned back into a cat to show us how it needed to be done. At this moment the door opened again and two Gryffindor boys hurried in, talking about how happy they were that Professor McGonagall, wasn't here. I felt bad for them and at the same time I was very glad that I wasn't in their position. The Professor turned back into her human form and you could just she the shock in the faces of those two. In a strict voice she told them to sit down. I used this moment to turn my attention back to the red-haired Gryffindor girl. Maybe the boy next to her was the one she had been talking about. But why would he help me? So many questions, if only I could get some answers.

"Miss Tepes, please follow the lesson, would you?!"

The girl looked up and I smiled slightly. Her name was a start. I could do some research with that. I wrote it down to make sure that I wouldn't forget it and then brought my attention back to the lesson.

Alice:

I gave Minerva an annoyed look. She knew exactly that I had learned all of that already. Although it wasn't allowed, a lot of the students had taught me a couple of spells. Besides, I had spent a lot of time in the library and read all the books about the basics and some others about more advanced magic..

"Well, now that everyone listens, you can answer my question, Mister Potter." Minerva looked strictly at Harry, who really made an effort to find an answer. Sadly he said something pretty stupid, which wasn't really his mistake since he didn't know any better, but nonetheless Draco and his friends laughed at him. My anger of the previous day resurged and without thinking I crumbled up a little piece of my paper, small enough that Aunt Minerva wouldn't see it and threw it in Draco's direction. The problem was, that Draco chose this moment to turn his head in my direction to say something to the guy next to him. The paper landed in his mouth and from his reaction, it even went in his throat. He began to cough and desperately gasp for air. Shit. His friends started to freak out, it was clear that they didn't know what they should do. One of them was begging my Aunt to do help him. Minerva didn't answer him and instead, looked at me. So she had noticed. Double shit. But she was right, this was my responsibility.

I turned to Draco and his friends. How was it even possible, that not one of them knew what to do? Sighing I got up and ran behind Draco. I grabbed him around the stomach and then squeezed. Draco didn't seem to know what was happening and put his hands on my arm to hold on to something. Being this close, I realized that his lack of air was already quite severe and I felt really bad. I squeezed him a second time, this time a harder than the first. The piece flew out of him, and after a short flight landed in the hair of a dark haired Slytherin girl. I released my hold over Draco but he still held on my arms for support, while he took a few deep breaths.

"Miss Tepes, please proceed with Draco to a nurse. After that please go to Professor Dumbledore." Only now did Draco realize that I was standing next to him. He looked up into my eyes and then quickly pushed me aside. That had been clear... I rolled my eyes but I followed Minerva's orders because I still felt the guilt gnawing at me.

"Come on, I have a meeting with Dumbledore." I grabbed Draco by the arm and we left the room.

"Let go of me, you monster." He yanked his arm away and I didn't try to stop him. There it was again. That word. My guilt almost instantly vanished, but at least I was able to keep my anger in check this time.

"Well, never forget that a 'Monster' just saved your life." I spit and walked in the direction of Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Where are you going? You must bring me to a nurse!" He yelled after me. I turned around with a raised eyebrow.

''I'm pretty sure you're old enough to go there on your own, now please excuse me, princess, I've got a meeting with Dumbledore..." I made a little curtsey before turning back around and walking away.

Mary:

That idiot. Honestly I had to hold back my laugh when the idiot almost suffocated. And I seriously asked myself, why I was in Slytherin?! But it had been pretty funny. Somewhat disappointed, I watched as Alice got up and helped him to spit out whatever was blocking his throat. At noon I went straight towards the library, grabbed a stack of books and began my research. After the fourth book, I finally found a small entry:

Tepes: The Royal vampire Family

The Main House of the Royal Vampire family is located in Romania. The Family dates back to an unknown time. But it's royalty has been established sometime in the 6th century, after Eudaemon Tepes had a hand in the downfall of the western Roman Empire. This earned him the respect and the followers to take over the Vampire leaders in Romania. Since then the Tepes Family has been titled royalty throughout the ages. As of today most members of this famous old vampire family are deceased. The prisoner Vlad Tepes and his daughter Alice Tepes are the only living descendants...

Vampire?! She was a half-vampire?! OK. Now it was clear why Draco had called her a Monster. Her father was described as a criminal, but why was he incarcerated? Putting the bookstacks back, I went through old news articles. Before I could find anything on the Tepes family however another name caught my eye. Mine. 'The horrible descent of Tom Marvolo Riddle.' With a bad feeling in my gut I took it and almost dropped it. The front picture was moving. It changed between a young and rather handsome boy to something that resembled a snakelike person. Although the picture was black and white, the eyes seemed to shine as they looked straight into the camera. Straight at me. This… thing was a Riddle? Shocked I quickly put the paper back and made my way out of the library. Thoughts were running through my mind. Was I related to this person? I needed to know, and only one person would have an answer for me. I decided to write a letter to my grandma. As soon as I had reached my room I grabbed a piece of paper out of my nightstand and wrote down my thoughts.

Hi Grandma

I know that things have been difficult since I got my letter, but I need your help. I came across the name of a former Student, another Riddle. Tom Riddle. Have you ever heard of that name before?

Please answer me.

With love

Mary Riddle

I sealed the letter, searched my owl, and sent her off. Hoping, to get a reply as soon as possible!

Alice:

I walked into Dumbledore's office and looked around. At this moment he was not here yet, but I was sure that he was about to emerge from a dark corner. The Office hadn't changed much, since my last visit. I discovered a small mirror that hadn't been there the last time. I casually walked to the mirror and picked it up. First, it only reflected me, but then my reflection vanished, and I saw my father. He was chained up in a cell. It broke my heart to see him like this, especially because he wasn't alone. With him, there was a dementor. Although I couldn't hear anything, I knew that he was screaming in pain.

"What does this mirror do, Professor?" I asked, while turning around. I was right, Dumbledore had suddenly appeared behind me.

"The mirrors in this house are all extraordinary. They all see everything and yet no mirror shows the same as the others. But this little mirror that you're holding in your hand, will show you those who are thinking about you in this precise instant."

This meant that my father was thinking of me. My father tried to endure this by thinking about me... Tears showed up at the corner of my eyes, but I instantly wiped them away. The picture changed again and suddenly I saw the Slytherin girl that I had helped, sitting in the library. She was reading a book. As I looked closer I was able to read my name in it.

"What is that, Professor?" I looked questioningly at Dumbledore.

"This book is a collection of family trees and their histories and it seems that you have caught her interest..." Dumbledore went over to his desk and sat down.

The image disappeared and suddenly I saw this boy. What was his name again? Heath? Henry? No, Harry... exactly, his name was Harry! Sadly, I was really bad with names. Why was he thinking about me? Well never mind... I put the mirror down and followed Dumbledore to his desk.

"You can go." Surprised, I looked at him. But then I caught myself and walked to the exit. I was not about to question his generosity.

"Oh, and Alice ... next time try to keep your anger under control. I know that the young Draco Malfoy may not be the easiest company, but it would be bad if something happened to him.''

Mary:

A wing flapping and a faint clacking awakened me. Sleepily I opened my eyes and saw my owl beside me. I quickly ripped the letter from her beak and read it.

Mary

The answer is quite difficult and at the same time very simple. A letter is not the right way to discuss this, so I am looking forward to seeing you at Christmas. All you need to know for now is that he's not a good person. Listen well Mary, do not mention his name to anyone, it will only cause you trouble.

In love

Grandma

My mouth hung open as I sat on my bed, staring at this letter. My brain was still trying to process this new piece of information. I absolutely needed to talk with Grandma at Christmas! Could it be that I was indeed related to this person? Grandma was already old, maybe she had confused something. But as I was telling this to myself, I knew that I was wrong. My grandmother wasn't senile, she still had all her brain cells. I didn't know what to make of this, but I decided that she was right. I wouldn't mention it to anyone.

Alice:

After my talk with Professor Dumbledore I had followed his advice. I was able to stay out of trouble for the first half of the year. Mainly without incident. There had been a confrontation with a troll on Halloween. I had followed Hermione to one of the bathrooms, after Ron had made a mean comment about her. I comforted her for a while and because of her cries I hadn't heard him. Too late did I realize that a troll entered the bathroom. With a big swing he destroyed the stalls and my head almost with it. Lucky for us, that Harry and Ron showed up to help us beat the troll. It took the four of us to put him down.

After everything went down, Dumbledore and some of the teachers came running in. Minerva immediately threw her arms around me and checked to see if I was alright. She was relieved to see that me and the others were fine. Then her relief faded and made space for another emotion. She scolded the boys for not going straight to their dormitories with the rest of their house, but instead putting themselves in grave danger. Much to everyone's surprise, Hermione lied that she went looking for the troll, as she thought she could handle him. She claimed that the boys and me were looking for her, and she would most likely be dead if we had failed to rescue her. During her explanation, Harry and Ron gave each other meaningful looks after looking at Professor Snape's leg. Again, I had missed something important. Although he was now hiding it, I was able to smell a lot of blood coming from it. A wound like that must hurt and didn't just happen like that. I realized that I had been so focused on staying out of trouble, that I had shut myself off to what was going on. So, like every curious person, I asked the trio what was going on, the second we got back to the dormitory.

They told me a story about how they had met a three-headed dog while hiding from Filch and apparently the dog had protected a trapdoor. They didn't know what it was underneath but they were pretty sure that Professor Snape wanted it. I didn't know what to make of it. I agreed to help them find the answers they were looking for and suggested that we should speak to Hagrid. If anyone knew anything about a three-headed dog, it would be him. For as long as I could remember, Hagrid loved all kind of animals and knew almost everything about them.

Harry wanted to ask Hagrid straight away, but Hermione reminded him about the impending start of the Quidditch season. Up to this point, I had totally forgotten that Harry was part of the Gryffindor-team. Minerva had recruited him in the first week of school, after she had seen him catch a Remembrall while flying for the very first time. Of course, this had been the result of another one of Draco's shabby tricks. Joke's on him though, he practically served Harry the position of Seeker on a silver tablet.

Mary:

My very first Quidditch-match. I didn't know what to expect. The stands were tall and there was a big empty field in the middle. The players were flying on their broomsticks, trying to catch the different balls. Although, the rules had been explained to me, I didn't quite get them. But at this point, that didn't matter, because I had fallen in love with this game already.

,,Here, I brought you some fries.'' I turned my head to the left, where Theo, had just shown up. And indeed, he was holding out a hand with fries in it.

,,Took you quite a while, did you get lost on your way?'', I asked while taking the fries. He shrugged with his shoulders and then gave me a little smile.

,,I met a friend.''

Surprised, I lifted my eyebrows. A friend? I looked back to the match, but somehow I couldn't concentrate on it. Theo didn't have any friends. He had acquaintances. It wasn't like no one wanted to be his friend, rather the opposite. Theo was nice, but distant to our fellow Slytherins. He talked to others and I had seen him joking around with Blaise Zabini once or twice, but to call them friends? And the occasional talks he had with Malfoy, didn't make them friends. It had been hard for me too. At the beginning we only talked form time to time, but it turned out that we had things in common, so over time, we started to study and hang out together. But even like this, I couldn't tell if we were really friends or not.

,,You don't have any friends.'' My lips formed my thoughts.

,,What?''

Shocked I turned my head back to him. He was staring at me. Shit, did I say that aloud? Upon seeing my face, he started to laugh.

,,I am so sorry. I didn't mean it like that.''

,,Oh you totally did, but it's okay. I get it. And you're almost right. I'm not really socializing with most Slytherins, because I'm not really a fan of their ethics.''

That was true, in contrary to me and basically every Slytherin Student here, Theo didn't in any way decorate his face with the colours of our House. I couldn't blame him. He was right. Most Slytherins were very set in their ways and those weren't very nice or open. They made me feel their hostility often enough. And just like that, I felt a bit disgusted at the green and silver colour in my face. Just an hour ago I had asked Theo to draw some things on it, because I had been so excited about my first quidditch match. Now I just wanted to wipe it off my face.

''But I have friends, you know.''

,,Like the Gryffindor girl?'' Theo quickly looked around, to make sure that no one had heard me, before giving me a sheepish smile.

,,Yeah, like Alice, though I have to say, I'm surprised you know about her.''

,,Well, I am a smart girl.'', I said in a sweet tone.

,,Yeah, that's one of the reasons we're friends.'' I started to blush. He considered us friends. Warmth spread in my stomach. He was the first person here, who actually called me a friend and made me feel like I belonged here. I was happy to be his friend. The last couple of months had felt really lonely. I wasn't able to see the friends I've had before finding out that I was a wizard. The separation had been hard and being in Slytherin didn't help.

,,So, what's the story with you and Alice?'' I asked so that my mind would concentrate on something else than my previous friendships.

,,She's my oldest and best friend.'' His response was a bit short, I had expected more, so I dug a bit deeper.

,,So how is it with her being in Gryffindor and you in Slytherin? It must be hard, right?''

,,We manage.'' So, he really didn't want to talk about it. But why? Did they have a fight? Or was it something else? Suddenly I realized that we were still surrounded by fellow Slytherins and that maybe this wasn't the right time or place to talk about his friendship with Alice.

,,Hey now, don't make such a face, we'll talk about it some other time, for now let's stay focused on the match.'', he said with a smile. I hadn't noticed that my face looked a bit grim. I gave him a small smile and turned back to the game while putting a fry in my mouth.

Alice:

I could hear the crowd cheering, from afar. I had the slightest amount of a bad conscience for missing Harry's very first match, but I couldn't bring myself to go watch it. Not because I didn't care about it, or because I didn't want to support Harry. My problem was the noise. The crowd was loud, and my ears couldn't take it. Having an incredibly sensitive and good hearing had advantages and disadvantages. I was quite far away from the stadium and yet, it sounded like the people were talking only a couple of feet away from me. At one point, Theo had come to me, to give me a little company. I had to smile, because he had exactly known where to find me. We talked for a bit, before he went back, because the Slytherin girl was waiting for him. After he left, I laid down on the grass and solely focused on the sounds around me. Listening to the nature here on the grounds of Hogwarts was always interesting, because you never knew what you would hear next. I got lost in the nature and after a while I decided to focus on the match again. In a matter of seconds everything was quiet and then there was a roaring cheer for Gryffindor. We won, Harry had caught the snitch. I was happy and smirked.

Only a couple of minutes later, I met Harry and the other two, accompanied by Hagrid. The half-giant invited us to his hut and we gladly accepted. Of course, Ron immediately told me what had happened. Professor Snape put a hurling hex on Harry's broomstick and Hermione saved him by putting Snape's coat on fire and in the end, Harry had caught the snitch with his mouth. I congratulated Harry at which point he asked where I had been, because he hadn't seen me anywhere. I apologized and said that I had overslept. Harry seemed a bit disappointed but then Hermione changed the subject to a more important one. The search for a reason as to why Snape had put a spell on Harry's broom. To which Hagrid said that this was ridiculous, because Snape wouldn't do something like that. Harry told him about Snape being bitten by the dog. Hagrid who was surprised by that statement, admitted, that Fluffy belonged to him. And that the dog was guarding something did not concern us, as it was a secret known only to Dumbledore and a man named Nicolas Flamel. Of course, he immediately regretted telling us that and threw us out.

"Alice!" I looked up and realized that I had been lost in my thoughts while watching the snow fall down. Hermione came up to me in quick steps.

"Oh, hello Hermione, are you ready to spend Christmas with your parents?"

Because of Christmas, most of the students went home, which meant that the school would be as good as empty.

"Yes, I'm really looking forward to see my family again. Are you going home too over Christmas? ", She asked me excited.

"I'm already home. But maybe I'll be able to see my father."

"I'm sure he will be glad to see you. And if you get bored, Harry and Ron will both stay here too. I'll see you after the holidays!" Hermione waved me goodbye and went away.

I sighed and then made my way in the direction from which I heard Harry and Ron's voices. I wasn't going to see my father. I couldn't. But a girl could dream, right?

Mary:

I sat in front of the cozy fireplace of my grandmother, staring into the flames. An hour ago I arrived here and waited for my Grandma with Pa to come home.

Ever since they left, I tried to have a dialogue in my brain. I wanted to talk with my family about my ancestry. As the door clicked open, I straightened up and looked at my family come in.

Father had gotten more wrinkles than he already used to have, and he looked pretty exhausted. When my father saw me, the exhaustion fell completely away from him and he walked with long strides and with a happy smile to me, spread his arms and pulled me in a hug.

"My Mary! My little one, I am glad to be able to take you in my arms again.'' He murmured in my ear.

"I'm glad to see you again Pa!" I said softly, and pressed him to me.

"Well my girl. How's it going at school?" Asked Grandma and dropped into the rocking chair. I didn't think that she would ask me that question.

"Well. It is difficult. I landed in the wrong house. A Muggle as I am would have fit into Hufflepuff, not in Slytherin." I hissed furiously and looked into the flames.

"So you're in Slytherin." My father noticed and looked at me thoughtfully. ''I'm sure it can't be that bad. There's nice people everywhere, I mean look at you! You're a kind girl, so others must be nice too.''

I didn't want to contradict my dad, by telling him that most people there didn't seem nice. Then I thought about Theo, he had been nice to me and he was friends with Alice. So maybe with time I would meet more nice people.

''Come now my boy, how about you bring your mother and daughter some warm chocolate milk while we sit down.'' My grandma said while giving my dad a smile. Once alone she gave me the sign to go over to her. So I did. ''Listen my sweet girl. You need to stop looking into this other boy. It's dangerous.''

''I don't understand grandma. Who was he?'' I asked worried.

''He's the one wo killed my father and my grandparents.'' Shocked, I leaned back. I had never known that people of our family had been murdered. The thought scared me.

''B-but why? I mean, what…''

''I can't give you all the answers. But I will explain what I can. Before my father met my mother, he had been with another woman. My father scarcely talked about this time, all he ever said was that it had felt like a bad fever dream. Sometimes my parents argued about it, and that is when I found out, that he had a son with this woman. That boy, my half-brother, is Tom Riddle. So yes, you are related to him, but only barely.''

Tom Riddle had killed his own father and grandparents? How could someone do that. This was horrifying.

''Grandma… where is he now? Can he still hurt us?''

''You are still a bit young to hear about everything that has happened, but what you do need to know is that people who associated with him are bad people who did terrible things. He is gone now, but some of those other people are still out there, which is why you need to be careful of who you let around you.''

Alice:

''Harry! Alice! Come down quickly!" I heard Ron call from the common room and ran out of the dorm.

Below I saw Ron stand near the Christmas tree. All the Gryffindors who stayed here over Christmas had helped to decorate the tree. On the floor next to Ron were many gifts.

The door from the boys' dormitory opened and Harry came running out of it. His eyes widened when he saw all the presents.

"You're pretty slow Harry!" I shouted at him, laughing and jumped down the stairs to Ron. He wore a horrible homemade sweater.

"There is one for you too, Harry!" Ron held another sweater in the air, which was just as awful.

I walked slowly around the tree and looked at the gifts. I spotted one with Harry's name on it and picked it up. I finished my round and discovered another gift, but this time my name was on it. I picked it up and went back to the boys.

"This one's for you Harry." I gave him his gift and turned my attention to my own. I opened it and found a picture of me as a child with my father. I sat on a swing and he pushed me. I had to smile and hold back the tears.

"The picture is sweet." Ron was suddenly beside me.

"And? How does it look?" We both turned to Harry and we only saw his head.

"H-Harry..." Ron stuttered.

"What?" Harry looked down and realized that he, or rather his body had dissolved.

"What the..." Harry took off his coat again.

They read the letter which came with it and then put the cloak away for now. Harry took a small blue box out of his pocket and held it out to me.

"What's that?" I asked him curiously.

"Well, I've noticed that you're often alone and I thought that maybe you'd appreciate a gift." He looked into my eyes and smiled sweetly.

I took the little box and opened it. In it there was a chain with a beautiful pendant.

"Thank you, Harry... it's beautiful!"

He took the chain and put it around my neck. That was the first gift that a friend had ever given to me. Thus, this was the most beautiful Christmas I had in years, unfortunately, the holidays were over far too quickly and the school began again.

Mary:

Sighing, I packed my suitcase and placed it in front of the fireplace.

"So. See you again in the summer." I muttered, hugged my father and gave Grandma a kiss. I shot the bought flea powder bought in the fireplace and shouted: "Hogwarts!"

I took shape in the office of Professor Snape.

"Miss Riddle good to see you." Snape greeted me.

"Thanks," I mumbled, confused and went on to the Slytherin common room. As usual nobody noticed me and I was honestly happy.

After two weeks, the Quidditch season finally began and for Slytherin it started rather badly. Thanks to Potter. For me, this was actually an advantage, because Malfoy's clique was now fixed on Potter and left me alone.

At the end of the year Dumbledore announced the best house. Slytherin.

"I still have to award some more points. 50 to Mary Riddle who has written the best exam this year. Congratulations."

My house looked at me dumbfounded. Then after a minute of silence they suddenly broke into applause. Some congratulated me, while others just kept quiet. Nott, Daphne and Blaise came to me.

"Cool Mary. Thanks to you we got more points." Daphne did indeed seem happy.

"Eh..." I mumbled, frowning.

"I know we were totally shit to you. Will you forgive us?" A hopeful smile spread across her face.

I was skeptical. "Maybe after the summer holidays. Give me some time!"

She nodded understandingly and sat down next to me.

"Quiet! I must distribute a few more points. Alice Tepes, you get 100 points for saving the young Malfoy... " The rest was drowned because of the laughter of the Gryffindors. I turned my gaze to Malfoy. He was as red as a tomato... maybe even redder. And that's how Gryffindor won the House cup.

Alice:

I was quite surprised to hear that I got points because I had saved the life of this imbecile. Mainly because I was the reason that he had nearly died. Dumbledore gave out some more points to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville, and just like that we had won.

After I left the Great Hall, I heard him coming even before he was in front of me.

"Hey, you monster!" Malfoy grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him.

"Don't believe that anything has changed, just because you apparently saved me!" He was still red with anger.

"That wasn't apparently. As a matter of fact, I saved your life. And of course, nothing really changes Malfoy, after all, I'm responsible for what happened. I just had the grace to not really let you die, because even if you are a repulsive boy and magician, you did not deserve to die. I'm sure that one day you'll do the right thing. Until then, I'll have to put up with you as you are, somehow I get the feeling that this is going to be quite entertaining." I tore myself away and left him standing there silently.

As I entered the Gryffindor room I saw how most of the students said goodbye to each other. All except Harry looked kind of glad that they could go back home.

"Are you ready, Harry?"

He looked at me and made me a place on the couch. "I'll never be ready to go there." He said, shaking his head.

I let myself down on the couch next to him and looked at the fire. "You could just stay here, you know that, right?"

"I can't stay... Those people raised me." He whispered sadly.

"Hey, don't be sad, the holidays are 2 months long, and then you're back here. If it cheers you up, I promise that I'll write you every day.''

Harry smiled at that and so we made the promise to write each other. Later that night, as I was sitting in my empty bedroom I got a letter from the ministry. It was informing me of my visitation rights with my father. Defeated by the oppressing silence that felt like a stranger to me now, after having so many people around me the whole year, I laid down on my bed and hoped that the summer would go by as fast as possible.