Riley was heading straight for the kitchens, she had no idea what time it was but she assumed it was well into the night. She knew without a doubt Winky would make them sandwiches at the very least.
She tickled the pear in the fruit basket painting, the green handle appeared and they made their way in.
"I've never heard you so quiet in your life, Max." Riley smiled and nudged him.
"Just taking it all in. But now that you have my attention, where are we exactly?" Max asked.
"The corridor leading to the kitchens, I'm feeling peckish." She grinned.
"So he really was just insane?" Elanora asked out loud to no one in particular.
"And evil if you ask me. Stable and evil is scary enough let alone unstable." Max said.
"Do you think the others will be punished?" Teddy asked.
"No idea. McGonagall is pretty stubborn so most likely. I just hope Arlin gets off easy. Speaking of, we need to find him a better lot of friends." Said Riley.
"Yeah and we will make sure to tell him to integrate with other houses. Who would have thought two of my closest friends would be Gryffindorks." Max joked.
"Who would have thought a Gryffindor could murder their own parents." Elanora said quietly.
"Just because he showed traits of bravery doesn't mean he's a good person. Gryffindor and Slytherin are incredibly similar as much as some might not want to admit, most categorize Slytherin as bad and Gryffindor as good but I think those people are dimwitted. Not everything is black and white." Teddy shrugged.
"You think we would have been friends if I got sorted into Slytherin?" Riley asked amused.
"Like you would have let me disown you even if I tried too." Teddy said laughing.
Winky greeted them in the kitchens.
"Friend Riley! What are you doing here at such a late hour?" The elf asked.
"Long night, was after something to eat?" Riley insinuated.
"Of course friend Riley, would you like left overs from dinner or something fresh?" Winky asked excitedly.
"Left overs are fine Winky, thank you." Elanora smiled at the elf.
"Are you sure friend Nora? Winky doesn't mind making something fresh!" The elf smiled proudly.
Elanora smiled at the elf using her girlfriends nickname for her. She really does adore Riley.
"I'm sure Winky, left overs sound great." Elanora said to the elf.
The elf brought them out way more food than necessary which made them all laugh.
"Are you going to help us eat all this, Winky?" Max asked while looking on amused.
Winky looked at Riley, her jaw slightly ajar. A questioning look in her eyes.
"Max." Riley said.
Max thought Riley was talking to him.
"What?" He asked.
Winky moved into his line of view.
"Friend Max." She said whilst bowing.
Winky sat her chair as close to him as possible.
Max looked a bit stunned and turned to Riley.
"What ah, what did I just do?" He asked.
Elanora answered. "You made a new friend." She smiled.
"Well in that case, a toast. To new friends and old." Max raised his mug of hot chocolate. The others followed suit.
Teddy and Riley made their way back to the common room.
"Can I ask you something?" Teddy asked.
"Sure, Ted. What's up?"
"Back in third year, the fight we had over your parents and holidays-" Teddy started.
"I'm sorry about that, honestly. I felt horrible but I was too scared to tell you the truth." Riley said.
"It's not that I just.. well I guess I just want to know if that's the reason why you never visited." Teddy said rather fast.
"Why else would I have blown you off every holiday?" Riley asked.
"I don't know.. I was always worried that you didn't like me enough to visit outside of school. That's why I got so upset. I was being an idiot but I was insecure about it." Teddy admitted.
"You're my best friend, Teddy. I wanted nothing more than to visit, I would have loved to be a part of your family. The only reason was because of my mother, I thought Andromeda would recognise me and hate me. Actually, I still think that." Riley smiled sadly.
"Come visit." Teddy said.
"I ah, I have to ask McGonagall and she probably wouldn't say yes." Riley started to panic.
"McGonagall?" Teddy questioned. It dawned on Riley that Teddy still didn't know the full story. She took a deep breath.
"I came home first year to find my grandmother dead. I splintched myself burying her and I ended up in St Mungos. McGonagall took me in and I've lived here at Hogwarts ever since." Riley shrugged.
Teddy stood staring at her. Completely lost for words.
"I'm so sorry. I wish you could have told me. You don't have to hide anything from me anymore." He squeezed her shoulder.
"Thanks, Ted." Riley gave him a small smile.
"I know why you're afraid to meet my family but I would love for you to meet them, when you're ready." Teddy said quietly.
They were just making there way up to the fat lady portrait to give her the password when she swung her portrait open upon seeing them.
"That's weird. I know she's known us for years but the password is always required." Teddy said.
"During the school year anyway." Riley offered.
They walked into the common room to find the Headmistress waiting for them.
"Ah, I guess here's our reason why." Teddy smiled.