Alyssa watched in the corner of Dumbledore's office as the teachers had their start of term meeting over what would be discussed that year. Although she had been a prefect the year before and had always been one to listen to her superiors, she found herself tuning their voices out. After all, she was dead and since she was no longer a student, their words did not apply to her so much anymore. Plus, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were arguing again.

Dumbledore peered at her through his half moon spectacles, "Miss Clark?"

Alyssa quickly adopted an impressive mask of attention as she realized that Snape and McGonagall had finally fallen silent. "Yes Headmaster?"

"I've heard quite a few of the younger years talking about how you helped them through their fears. Good work."

She lowered her head in a short bow, "Thank you Professor."

"I recommend you continue to keep an eye on Gryffindor house as well as the rest. There are many who end up hiding their fears until they cannot bear it anymore because Gryffindor is known for bravery. Many of them forget the meaning of bravery is not the absence of that fear. In Ravenclaw, they can hide their confusion until it drowns them. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins hide their pain. You know what to do."

She nodded.

Then the wrinkled Headmaster's lips perked in a smile as his eyes twinkled merrily. "Also, if you could keep an eye out for our young Mr. Potter…"

Alyssa smiled, "I'll keep an eye on him, Headmaster."

When they wrapped up the meeting, Professor Sprout gave her a sad smile. "You would have been Head Girl this year had things not gone so horribly wrong for you that night. I'm sorry."

Alyssa gave her favorite Professor a hug. "There's nothing to forgive. I'm sure the current Head Girl is just as deserving of the title as I would have been."

8-8-8-8-8-8

Since Harry Potter had many classes with Susan, it was quite easy to keep an eye on him. He seemed rather overwhelmed by the attention and stares of his classmates and many times looked quite like he'd wish to disappear. Alyssa made a mental note of the students eyeing him in passing so she could bring that fact up to them later as she floated down the hall next to Susan.

Susan was a natural in Charms and Transfiguration as well as Herbology. The only classes where she struggled were History of Magic and Potions, the former only because it was a struggle to remain awake, but then again, that applied to nearly the entirety of the class anyway.

Professor Snape continued to be a biased git in class like he always had been, taking about twenty points from Gryffindor by the end of the period and absolutely none from Slytherin. But that was not what earned him Alyssa's ire. No, the man had decided to single out Harry for no reason whatsoever and give him a pop quiz, using information that was not supposed to be covered until third year in order to humiliate him. The man absolutely abhorred the boy from the moment he opened the door, and she was bound and determined to know why. Harry had been excited to join Potions, coming through the door with a hopeful smile on his face. Now he left with his head held low to hide his angry expression behind his fringe.

Alyssa stayed behind as the other children filled out and distinctly heard Ron call Snape something under his breath that he definitely wouldn't say in front of his mother.

"Honestly Ronald! He's a Professor! He deserves your respect!" Hermione admonished him, her nose in the air.

"He'll only get my respect when he earns it." Harry muttered under his breath so the bossy girl wouldn't hear. Susan joined in, adding her assent. Alyssa entirely agreed. This bitter man needed to be taught a lesson.

She zoomed up to the front of the desk, hands on her hips and eyes blazing dangerously, "Severus Snape, you explain that horrid behavior now or I shall be forced to inform the Headmaster of unfair, biased treatment and bullying."

Snape inspected her translucent form from the end of his nose with his usual sneer. "And on what grounds, Miss Clark? The boy was clearly disrespecting his betters by not listening in class and doodling in his notebook. Lazy and arrogant just like his father…. Needed to be taught a lesson-"

"I saw absolutely no lesson that needed learning, Professor." She spat out the last word like he was a rather disgusting bit of chewing gum that had gotten stuck to the bottom of her trainers. "I've kept a watchful eye on him all day and see absolutely none of those traits that you so claim. The lad is attentive in class and is almost painfully polite to everyone around him."

Snape huffed, his eyes flicking to the ceiling in an eye roll so quick she almost missed it. She pulled in on her magic before slamming her hands onto the desk, sending a large pile of parchment and a bottle of ink crashing to the floor. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Severus Snape!"

By this point, Alyssa became partially aware of students stopping in the hallway to listen near the open doorway as she chewed into the Professor but paid them no mind. He had this coming to him for years. He had sent far too many students into her arms crying that the dungeon bat had taken too many points, or failed them in class when they clearly had brewed a decent potion. He had caused far too many students to fail to get into the Auror and Healer field because they couldn't get their Potions OWLs, not just the raven-haired boy behind her currently poking his head nervously around the doorway. This was no longer just about Harry. This was about the student body as a whole, so the more people who heard this argument the better.

"Do you know how excited he was walking into your classroom?" She shook her finger at him in a manner that would have made Molly Weasley proud. "Do you know the state that he left it?"

"Excited to prank me or mock me no doubt." He dismissed. "Needed to be brought down a peg in order to know how he must act in school."

"NO!" Alyssa moaned, the echoing quality of her voice increasing to an eerie quality as she grew angrier. "He was excited to learn! And now he will never feel welcome or safe in your classroom ever again, just as all the other non-Slytherin students do when they leave their first potions class!" Alyssa strode to his desk and slammed her hands down on it, her face only a foot from his. "And if you must know, he wasn't doodling, he was writing down every word you said just like you told every student to do once you finished your pathetic tirade anyway!" Alyssa screamed, her ghostly voice reverberating around the classroom and echoing off the walls like a Banshee. She bared her teeth at him, prodding the point of her wand into his chest. "Never! Ever! Blame the child for the sins of the father! Harry Potter could never be James Potter! He. Is. His. Own. Person! Have you no shame?"

Snape met her gaze stonily without saying a word.

"ARG!" Alyssa threw up her arms in frustration before striding to the door, not noticing that the large stack of parchment in the corner of the room had blown over and strewn all over the floor from her ghostly rage. "If I hear that you have bullied a student to tears again by the end of the day, so help me God, I will send both James Lily Potter's ghosts upon you and set you right!"

She stormed out of the room, sending shivers down the spines of the large crowd outside the door as she passed through them. Had she remained in the room, she would not have missed the agonized look on Snape's paling face as she left.

At lunch, Alyssa floated into the Great Hall and settled herself next to Susan, as was customary at this point, with a satisfied smirk. Susan's face slowly turned into a mischievous grin. "What did you do?"

Alyssa smiled benignly down at her as the students around them began leaning in close in interest. "Oh nothing. Just something I've been longing to do for years."

The Weasley twins shot her identical Cheshire grins as they slid onto a bench further down the table, "Yeah! You should've heard her! She tore into that greasy bat even better than Mum does with us!" They howled with laughter, "He's had it coming for ages!"

Angelina Johnson shot them a panicked look, putting a finger to her lips, "Shhhh! I think he heard you."

Alyssa looked up at the head table and sure enough, Snape's eyes were burning holes into the backs of the twins' heads. He seemed to sense her gaze, because he turned to look at her. She smiled and waved innocently and he huffed and returned to his shepherd's pie. Alyssa rolled her eyes and stuck her middle finger in the air while his back was turned before slipping her hands back in her pockets before he could see, sending those around her into poorly stifled giggles.

"Come on Alyssa!" A fourth year whisper shouted, "Don't spare us the details! We wanna know!"

Alyssa was glad to comply and leaned in conspiratorially and told the whole story to the entire Gryffindor house who were all listening with rapt attention. By the end of the day, there was not a single student in Hogwarts who hadn't heard how Snape had gotten his verbal comeuppance.

8-8-8-8-8

By the time October rolled around, every first year had finally settled into their own friend groups. Lavender and Parvati were hardly ever seen out of each other's company, the same could be said for Dean and Seamus. Hannah, Justin, and Ernie were often seen walking through the halls together. Neville had struck up a timid friendship with Harry and Ron that was slowly blossoming, but also hung out with Hannah and Susan. Susan had grown close with Harry and Ron over the course of the past few months, as well as with Hermione, Neville, and many outside her house. She was a very smart and likeable person, so it came as no surprise that she had settled in so easily. But despite this having many friends, she was still most often seen walking side-by-side through the halls of Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, and Neville.

That morning, Alyssa was reading an advanced Transfiguration book that had fallen off the shelf in the girl's dormitory when an owl came swooping in. This came as no surprise to any of the girls as today was Susan's birthday. Susan immediately looked up from the book Hermione had gifted her when she heard the familiar screech of her Auntie Amelia's owl. She dashed to the window and let the owl in and it soared gracefully into the room, alighting primly atop Susan's bedpost before holding out its leg to be relieved of its burden. Susan delicately removed the small package and attached letter, opening it and reading it to herself quietly. A smile formed on her face as she read.

Suddenly, a haunting yet beautiful tune began to emanate from within the brown paper package. It was soothing and sweet and could easily have been a lullaby if it weren't so sad.

Parvati and Lavender scooted closer excitedly on Susan's bed, "Ooooo it sounds so pretty!" Lavender squealed, "Hurry Susie! Open it!"

Susan laughed and rolled her eyes, "I thought I told you not to call me Susie."

"But it's cute!" The girl pouted as Susan opened the present.

A beautifully carved mahogany music box fell into her lap. It had a tiny model of a man and woman in the midst of a ballroom dance perched on top where it rotated slowly on its axis. The woman's dress was painted in delicate hues of red and orange, mingling together like a sunset. The man was smiling down at her in dark dress robes that were deep navy blue and sparkled like a cloudless night sky. Susan's breath caught as she looked at the two and melancholy tears began to form in her eyes as Alyssa slowly realized that the figures were painted in the likeness of Susan's parents.

The girls were silent as a tear escaped and trickled down. Then Susan sat up and smiled, pulling herself together. "It's a wonderful gift! I don't think I will be going anywhere without it in my pocket for a while." She placed it on her bedside table and watched the figures spin with a far-off gaze.

Hermione looked at her questioningly as the music box continued to play, "But why did it suddenly start playing like that?" She inspected the music box more closely for a second, "And there's nothing here to wind it either! How does it work?"

Susan grinned as she saw the inquisitive spark in Hermione's eyes and answered, "It's spelled to play when it senses love in the room. It doesn't matter what kind of love it is, be it friendship, family, or that of lovers, the music box will play."

Parvati pressed her hand to her heart as Lavender squealed again. "Aw, that's so sweet."

"That's why it started playing when you smiled after reading your Aunt's letter." Hermione concluded, eyeing the gift with respect. "It truly is a magnificent feat of magic."

That day, Susan was true to her word and took the little box with her everywhere. The box was first heard tinkling from within her cloak pocket in the Great Hall as the hundreds of students greeted one another, the many friendships spurring the little figures to spin. The box remained quiet when classes started, however. Perhaps professional love for one's students didn't count to the box. The fact that the music box was dead quiet in Potions came as surprise to no one regardless.

It did start to slowly play as Ron started playfully telling tales to Harry and Neville in hushed tones to keep from getting bored in History of Magic. Professor Binns continued the lecture unaware of the gentle music. Fred and George swore on good authority that the man was nearly deaf. When asked later that evening, their faces split into identical Cheshire grins as they innocently mentioned how a Filibuster Firework somehow ended up in a student's bag. Binn's only reaction had been to look slowly up from his lecture and ask in his monotone echoing voice, "Did someone say something?" only to be faced with an entire classroom of students trying to keep from laughing as the remainders of the firework sputtered merrily in the ceiling beams, unnoticed.

The table erupted in laughter as Gred and Forge bowed to their fellow Gryffindors. That story had always been a hit.

"I remember that one potion class last year-" Fred said, his hand on his chin.

"The one where the most creative potion would get points?" George clarified

"The same."

"You think that lesson's rigged?"

"Simply preposterous, Gred."

"Slytherin always seems to win-"

"I wonder why?"

"We decided to brew Hair Tonic."

"Figured maybe then Snape might take a hint."

"I think he did, don't you?"

"Indeed brother. Thirty points from Gryffindor-

"-and detention for a month."

"Totally worth it though."

That night, when all the other girls went to bed, Susan flipped through her photo album, letting her love for her parents fill her. The music box began its slow chime and she slid out of bed, beckoning Alyssa close and held out her arms. She brushed the ghost's arm with her fingers, stopping just before they went through, holding the air. Then she stood up on her toes and slowly began to step about the room, mimicking the figures atop the box and bringing Alyssa in a slow partner dance like two ghostly ballerinas.

8-8-8-8-8-8-8

The next day began as normal. Alyssa followed Susan downstairs with her friends as they chatted about the ay before and Susan thanked each of them for the birthday presents. Alyssa then went about her daily routine of popping in on classes after Susan's group went to morning lessons. She barely concealed her laugher as a third year boy got the Color Changing spell mixed up with the Multiplying spell during Transfiguration, causing his hedgehog to turn into a very prickly pile of ten hedgehogs that overflowed into his lap, instead of turning it blue. She corrected him on the spell and offered the pronunciation of the right one while Professor McGonagall swept by and vanished the spiny puff balls that had gotten their spines stuck in the unfortunate boy's shirt and pant legs.

When she floated through the walls of the Charms classroom to see how Harry, Ron, Neville, and Susan were doing, she could see that the minute professor was giving a lecture on the Levitation spell.

"-and wand movement is a swish and flick like so." Professor Flitwick swished his wand through the air as the students watched. "Follow along so you can get the movement right before adding the words."

As the students began practicing, Alyssa floated down beside Flitwick. "Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning Miss Clark!" squeaked the professor. "How are our students doing today?"

"I've checked in all the classrooms and everyone seems to be doing quite well so far this year." Alyssa smiled, watching the students wave their wands about. She giggled when Ron waved his wand a little too jerkily and poked Neville in the eye, causing him to begin apologizing profusely. "Although when I came into Herbology, a Slytherin second year hadn't put on her earmuffs tightly enough while potting Mandrake seedlings and, well…."

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "Oh dear."

By this time, many of the students had stopped and were now waiting for instruction.

"The charm is as follows: Wingardium Leviosa. Be sure to enunciate and use a gentle wrist movement. We want to cast spells, not accidentally throw our wands across the room."

Alyssa floated to a spot behind Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, and Seamus to watch their progress.

"Wingardium Levposta!" Ron was saying. He began flicking his wand more vigorously when it didn't work. Neville edged away a little to avoid being poked again. Alyssa was about to correct him, but Hermione got there first. "No stop it! You're going to take Neville's eyes out."

Ron winced at Neville apologetically; the other boy quickly assuring him it was fine.

"And anyway, you're saying it wrong." She continued. "It's Wingardium Leviosa not Wingardium Leviposta. Make sure to make the 'gar' longer too."

Alyssa could see that Hermione was just trying to help, but the tone that she used was a bit too bossy for most to take as one who was merely giving constructive criticism, so it was no surprise when Ron shot back that she was a no-it-all and to "try it yourself if you're so clever."

Of course, the girl got it on her first try, only fueling the redhead's anger.

"Wingardleviosa… Wingardleviosa!" Seamus tried, clearly having not listened to a word Hermione had just said.

Knowing what would happen next, Alyssa shouted, "Wait-!"

BOOM!

Seamus coughed, black in the face, as his feather and desk were reduced to cinders.

"I-I think we're going to need another feather over here Professor." Harry managed to stammer out, a shell-shocked expression on his face, soot marking his left cheek. Alyssa made sure to cast a quick Aguamenti and Reparo on his desk as the Ravenclaw half of the class and part of the Gryffindors began to laugh at the two soot-covered boys.

8-8-8-8-8

Alyssa floated behind the group as they went towards the Great Hall.

"It's Leviooooosa not Leviposa." Ron mocked in a high voice as they walked down to lunch, "Honestly! I would've figured it out on my own eventually without her bossing me around!"

"Well at least you didn't get laughed at after getting covered in soot." Harry shot back darkly. Seamus walked by with his hair still smoking and Ron snorted, causing Neville to elbow him in the ribs.

"I'm pretty sure that was just all in good fun, Harry. They weren't really mocking you." Susan reassured him.

"-She's a nightmare, that one is!" Ron went on. "No wonder she hasn't found any friends!"

There was a quiet sob behind them and a brown blur darted past and down the hall.

"I think she heard you." Harry said sadly.

Susan rounded on the other boy. "Ron! That was horribly mean! See? You made her cry!" She crossed her arms and huffed out an angry breath, "And anyway, she's got friends! I hang out with her in the library all the time! You better apologize to her by the end of the day!"

Ron looked thoroughly abashed. "Sorry…"

Susan sighed. "It's not me you should be saying sorry to." She set the strap of her bag more comfortably on her shoulder before reiterating. "So you better apologize to her by the end of the day, got it?"

"Yes mum." Ron muttered.

Susan growled and flicked his forehead before stalking away to talk with Hannah instead.

Ron scowled. "Sometimes she reminds me of Granger. And not in a good way either."

Harry shrugged. "Say what you want. I like her. Plus, Hermione might turn out to be nice if you just give her a chance."

Ron scoffed. "Her? No way!"

Harry looked confused. "But you just told Susan you would apologize to her later."

Ron continued walking without looking back. "I obviously told her that in order to get her off my case, mate. I'm not going within ten feet of that no-it-all unless absolutely necessary."

Harry smirked. "Well, good luck in Potions later then, because I'm pretty sure Susan's going to partner up with Neville and now you're without a partner."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, well Neville needs all the help he can get in that department. He melted the cauldron that first class, remember?"

Neville gave him a look.

"-No offence there mate." The redhead added quickly.

He shrugged. "It's fine. Professor Snape scares me, so it's hard for me to think straight with your worst nightmare breathing down your neck."

Ron winced. "Ouch, sorry Nev. I didn't know you were that scared of him. Pretty much everyone is, but damn you have it bad."

Neville smiled dreamily, the rest of the sentence barely registering in his ears. It was the first time anyone had ever given him a nickname. "Mm hmm."

8-8-8-8-8-8

When dinner rolled around, the Halloween feast was in full swing. Ron was stuffing his face with apple turnovers with Alyssa looking longingly over his shoulder, hoping to somehow absorb the taste of her favorite dessert through some form of osmosis, when Harry looked up. "Hey, have you guys seen Hermione? I haven't seen her at all since Charms. I don't think she even went to Transfiguration."

"I heard from Parvati that she wouldn't come out of the girl's bathroom." Neville said, looking at Ron pointedly as he added. "She's been in there all day, crying."

Ron set down his goblet of Pumpkin Juice looking guilty.

Susan gave him a glare from across the table that would've made Molly Weasley proud. "I told you to apologize to her. When were you planning on doing that?"

Ron began to look very small in his seat.

Alyssa had been very close to admonishing the boy herself, but decided that Susan had that handled on her own. She was just about to sweep out of the hall to go check on Hermione when-

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"

Professor Quirrell came dashing through the double doors, his turban all askew, his eyes wide and frantic.

"T-Troll in the dungeons…" He puffed, reaching the head table and grasping the edge of it for support, his already pale face going grey. "Thought you ought to know…"

And with that, he crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

The Hall immediately descended into pandemonium as frightened children began screaming and running for the doors. Malfoy looked like he might have wet himself.

Dumbledore set off several fireworks for silence. "Prefects, please lead the students back to the dormitories. Teachers, please follow me to the dungeons."

Alyssa's eyes widened in shock at Dumbledore as the Slytherins began to follow their Prefects. "Headmaster wait! Slytherin's common room is in the dungeons!"

Dumbledore's eyes widened marginally, betraying his alarm at his grave mistake, and inclined his head. "Indeed Miss Clark, my apologies for forgetting. Slytherin house, please remain in the Great Hall. All Slytherin Prefects watch the doors after everyone has left to make sure the Troll does not get in should it choose to change direction."

Alyssa brought up the rear of the sea of students to make sure none wandered off, practically steaming. How could Dumbledore forget such a crucial thing? Slytherin house makes up a quarter of the student body! If I hadn't caught the mistake, they might have been in great danger. Perhaps like Muggles, Dumbledore forgets things now because he's getting old. Alyssa continued to mull over the thought, trying to reassure herself but vowing to take Dumbledore's decisions with a grain of salt from now on as students filed out of the Great Hall.

"But who would let a Troll in?" Neville asked Hannah as the Hufflepuff passed him.

She shrugged her head in the direction of two distinct heads of red hair. "Probably the twins. Trolls aren't very bright so they probably did it as a Halloween prank."

"Excuse us Miss Abbot but-" Fred peered over his shoulder.

"-there is a big difference between pranks-" George continued.

"-and child endangerment." They finished, insulted.

All of a sudden, Harry came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway, causing Ron to bump into him and Neville to stumble on Ron's robes and crash to the floor.

"Oi!" Ron yelled, "What-"

"Hermione!" Harry cried. "She doesn't know the Troll got in!"

Susan helped Neville to his feet as a horrified look came across all their faces. "What do we do?"

"Get her out of there obviously!" Harry yelled, already pelting down the hallway towards the girl's bathroom. The rest shared a collected look before following him as the rest of the Gryffindors continued up the staircase without realizing that four of their number were missing.

Alyssa floated worriedly behind them, her silvery body bobbing along the deserted corridor like some bizarre lantern. "We really shouldn't be heading away from the group like this, guys. If we end up running into the Troll, I can't do anything to help! I'm a ghost!"

Neville shivered nervously, but kept running after Harry all the same, sending him a questioning look.

Susan looked behind her at Alyssa comfortingly, "Then if we find it by mistake, we run like hell and you find a teacher to get us. But we're not leaving Hermione behind."

Alyssa sighed. "There's no talking you lot out of this, is there?"

"Nope." The quartet responded in unison.

Reluctantly, she nodded. "I'll go get a teacher. Good luck. I love all of you, so for your sakes I don't want you all to be joining me in haunting the hallways." With that she turned about and floated through the floor down towards the dungeons.

8-8-8-8-8

Alyssa floated back towards the bathroom after alerting the Professors just in time to hear a resounding THUNK as the Troll's club came crashing down onto its head. She stood in the doorway looking out over the group. Harry and Susan were standing in front of Hermione to make sure she didn't get hurt, Neville, who had been on the Troll's shoulders trying to distract it, barely managed to keep from getting squashed as both he and the beast came tumbling to the floor, and Ron had his wand aloft.

Alyssa sighed with relief. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for a well executed Wingardium Leviosa, but five points from Gryffindor for scaring me."

The five students jumped in unison, not realizing she had entered the room. Alyssa chuckled at their reaction, raising her hands reassuringly. "I will try to lessen the blow from Professor Snape, but if any other teachers take points for putting yourselves in danger, I won't stop them. You scared me."

Ron groaned. "Oh come off it!"

Susan shrugged. "Well, we did break the rules by going off by ourselves. She is- well, was, a prefect, she's not supposed to encourage that kind of behavior."

Ron sighed, "Damn. I hope McGonagall doesn't write home to our parents about this. Mum would kill me."

As if on cue, Professors Snape, Quirrell, and McGonagall came bursting through the door. Upon seeing the sight before him, Quirrell moaned softly and sat down on one of the toilets that had not been demolished. McGonagall clutched at her chest in alarm and Snape stared at the downed Troll in astonishment.

"Oh-oh Merlin…" McGonagall murmured. "Thank goodness you five are all right. I thought we would not arrive in time." She then took a deep breath and drew herself up. "However, running off like that was very irresponsible of you. Explain yourselves."

The five children told their tale, with Hermione telling the truth and McGonagall glaring at Ron and opening her mouth to give detention, but Hermione quickly broke in and told her she forgave him because he saved her life. Harry and Neville had tried to distract the beast by throwing wood and bits of broken pipe and porcelain, Susan had thrust herself in front of Hermione to keep her from harm, and Ron managed to master the Levitation spell just in time to knock the beast out before it could hit either of the girls.

In the end, McGonagall only gave them five points each for sheer dumb luck and took ten for deliberately placing themselves in such a dangerous situation. But the loss of points didn't matter to the children at all. The four friends had become five, and it was quite clear to Alyssa that they were going to hold fast to that friendship and never let go.