Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series whatsoever. The exception is Hayden, as always.

Author's Note:

Helloooooo, everyone!

I am SO SORRY for how long it took for me to get this chapter out. I recently got a new apartment and the moving everything in part took me a very long, very unnecessary amount of time. My other excuse is that my laptop doesn't work without Wi-Fi, which is shit in my opinion, but that's my excuse. Please forgive meeeeee.

You guys. One of my babies - she's a younger student friend from school; I am FAR too young for children being only 19 - started college. I might cry. She's grown so much. Even though she's a little shithead half the time.

The positive feedback that I've been getting for this story lately really humbles me, you guys. You're all literally so kind to me. I am unworthy of your kindness. It is so very much appreciated. *Happy tears*

On a side note, I went to my first concert! It was an Ed Sheeran concert down in Indianapolis at the beginning of September and I must say, I was very impressed. I originally bought the tickets for one of my best girl friends for her 18th birthday cause she is a die hard fan of his, so it came as a surprise to me when she begged ME to go with her instead of any of her other best friends (I secretly think she feels bad that I spent $400 on her for these tickets). And even though I wasn't a favorite of his, I said yes to her. We went and we had a BALL. It was FANTASTIC. Traffic was a BITCH, though. I've never hated Indianapolis more than I did that night.

Anyway! Off topic! Enjoy this new chapter everyone~!

No Promises.

Chapter T.H.R.E.E

_"Restricted"_

"I'm someone who thinks that where there's a void, I need to fill it, but I'm trying to have patience and a little bit of discipline." -Ryan Seacrest

I wonder if it's too late to drop this class already...

God I wished that thought was true and possible. This class would've been off my schedule in a breath if it hadn't been a core class that was mandatory up until the end of fifth year. It would've been off faster than a heartbeat since our teacher was a Ministry lunatic who smiled a bit too sweetly at us for it to be completely genuine.

"Good morning, children," She chirped sweetly, slowly making her way down an aisle with audible heel clicks. It felt like she was stalking through us, like some sort of predator. Her sharp gaze was stabbing as she made eye contact with me. The blond beside me must have felt the same intensity behind that gaze because she was squirming in her seat and looking anywhere but at Professor Umbridge.

"Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations," Professor Umbridge recited punctually with short, precise flicks of her wand. She stopped at the front of the classroom and turned to smile brightly at all of us. "O.W.L.'s. More commonly known as OWL's. Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so and the consequences may be..." She paused for effect before accenting her next word, "severe." Another flick of her wand had the stack of books that rested on the desk behind her rise and move to each desk containing a student. The bland yellow book plopped in front of me with a slam. I arched an eyebrow, completely unimpressed with the cover title.

Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard

Lord please no. I was absolute shit about any form of theory. I could barely tolerate listening to it in Transfiguration. I wouldn't survive reading it.

"What the Hell?" Mumbled the girl next to me. She had already opened the book to the first chapter and was roving over the first couple paragraphs with disbelieving eyes.

"Wands away and quills out, please," Said Professor Umbridge to the extreme displeasure of the students. I was rather disappointed we wouldn't be using magic today, but obligingly put my wand in my pocket and pulled out all of my writing supplies.

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" Professor Umbridge asked rhetorically, the pout on her face so fake I was surprised she could even make such an expression at all. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do no seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L year.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

I could barely focus on the blackboard flipping itself at the tap of her wand and words being scribbled down. Had I really been the only one to latch onto her second to last sentence? My neighbor and Hermione, who sat in front of me and was looking quite tense, had confused expressions on their faces. They had been the only ones to catch it.

"Theory-centered?" I found myself questioning in disbelief. Professor Umbridge's eyes latched onto mine and I pinched myself to hold back a shiver. "What about practicals and—" Professor Umbridge was quick to interrupt me and my temper began to burn as I held back a heavy scowl. If there was one thing I absolutely hated, it was someone interrupting me.

"Students will raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Miss.—?"

"Walters, ma'am." My temper burned worse when she gave me a smile and looked away from my now raised hand. I had to fight to keep a nasty curse from flying out. Mom always said being polite would go miles, but I feel like any ass kissing with this woman wouldn't even make me go an inch.

"We haven't even gotten through a whole period with her and I'm already dreading future classes," Snarled the blond girl. I couldn't help but agree with her there. Defense was normally one of my favorite subjects to learn, but if this was how the class was going to be taught, I'd rather sit through two extra periods with Snape. And that man was a complete nightmare to be with for just one period, let alone two more.

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.

"I think we'll try that again," Professor Umbridge simpered in a disappointed tone. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' Now, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang throughout the room.

"Good," She said, pleased. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, Basics for Beginners. There will be no need to talk."

Discreetly rolling my eyes, I opened the hideous murky yellow book to the first chapter. I immediately saw what had caused the girl beside me to curse like she had when she had opened the book.

"What is this shit?" I whispered incredulously, flipping to the next page. "Wand placement? Spell definitions and pronunciations? Roots? What are we, first years? This isn't something we should even be reading right now."

What was in front of me right now was something I had barely learned my first year when Quirrel had been around, considering the man and his stuttering made it difficult to understand him ninety-five percent of the time, but it had still been taught and I had passed that exam with pretty good marks that spring. All of us should have passed this at one point. Why make us read all of it again?

"She must think we're stupid or something," the blond muttered to me. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. She was eyeballing the mousy Professor with a look of contempt on her face. "This isn't what fifth years should be going over right now if we want to pass our O.W.L.'s this year."

Maybe that's what she wants...

Looking forward, Hermione seemed to be on the same mindset as us. She hadn't even opened her book yet. She was staring fixedly at our Professor with her hand high in the air. I couldn't remember a time where Hermione had ever neglected to read a book when instructed to, but it was hard to fault her. The book was a joke to those of us who had been playing with Dark Magic since first year. I cradled my cheek in my palm and waited.

After several minutes, more than half the class was more interested in watching Hermione rather than reading their books. Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the situation no longer.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" She asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her.

"Not about the chapter, no," Hermione said.

"Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small, pointed teeth. It was a scary smile. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," Hermione pressed, nodding at the blackboard. I dully realized that I hadn't copied them down and found that I didn't really care if I did or not at the moment.

Professor Umbridge's eyebrows rose. "And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss. Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," Professor Umbridge said with determined sweetness. Ouch. That was a blow towards Hermione's intelligence if I've ever heard one before. Said girl gave a barely there bristle at the jab.

"Well, I don't," She said bluntly, brown eyes blazing. "There's nothing written up there or in this book about using defensive spells."

Many of the students actually looked back to the board and frowned when they realized how right Hermione was. I rolled my eyes. Idiots, the whole lot.

"Using spells?" Professor Umbridge gave a short, girlish laugh. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use defensive spells in my classroom."

There was a deafening silence as we all registered her words. I almost fell out of my hand in surprise, blinking rapidly. Did I zone out and imagine her saying that? She couldn't be serious.

"We're not going to use magic in here?" Exclaimed the girl beside me, eyes wide in disbelief as if she had misheard her.

"Hand, Miss.—?"

"Terra Blanc." Professor Umbridge smiled and turned away from her. Terra's lips curled into a silent snarl and she gave a huff, slouching back into her chair with crossed arms and glaring eyes. Professor Umbridge addressed Hermione, ignoring Harry's raised hand.

"Yes, Miss. Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

The smile she was given was frosty. "Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss. Granger?"

Hermione looked abashed, but ploughed forward. "Well, no, but—"

"Then I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is." Hermione flinched back a bit at the reprimand. "Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way—"

"What use is that?" Harry interrupted loudly. "If we're gonna be attacked, it won't be risk-free."

"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class," Professor Umbridge said rather sharply, turning to face away from Harry. Ron gave Harry a surprised look, one that the black-haired boy was quick to reciprocate.

"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge asked Dean, who had his hand up.

"Dean Thomas. It's like Harry said, isn't it?" He asked. "If we're going to be attacked, then it won't—"

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but—"

She was quick to talk over him. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," She said with an unconvincing smile. I snorted, not believing her at all, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed— not to mention," here she gave a nasty laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."

My hands were slammed down onto my desk faster than I could stop them as I surged to my feet angrily and snarled, "You are going way too far if you can just insult Professor Lupin for something that he can't—"

"Hand, Miss. Walters! And sit down." I furiously threw myself back into my seat, no longer hiding my glare from this particular woman. She had no right whatsoever to insult Professor Lupin like she was. He had been one of the greatest teachers we had ever had in this room and I'd be damned before I let her continue to sully his name because she was racist against his kind. "As I was saying, you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate for your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day—"

"We have not!" Hermione disagreed with barely concealed vehemence. "We just—"

"Your hand is not up, Miss. Granger!" Professor Umbridge ignored her now raised hand and barely spared her another glance. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you—"

"And look what happened to him then?" I said shortly. "He turned out to be an escaped convict and maniac, but we still learned a lot more from him than—"

"Your hand is not up, Miss. Walters!" I could barely contain my scream of frustration. Terra placed a soothing hand on my shoulder, rubbing circles into the tensed area. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" She smiled at Parvati, who's hand had shot up.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?" Well that was put ever so eloquently.

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," Professor Umbridge reassured rather dismissively.

"She's setting us up for failure," I seethed. Terra nodded in agreement.

"Without ever practicing them before?" Parvati said incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough—"

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry demanded, his fisted hand still high in the air.

"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," She said coldly.

Harry continued to argue, determined. "So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter," Professor Umbridge said with a hint of exasperated impatience in her voice. "Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?"

Harry's reply was rhetorical and completely sarcastic. "Hmm, I don't know. Let me think. Maybe Lord Voldemort?"

Ron gasped. Lavender Brown uttered a little scream. Neville slid sideways off his stool. Terra flinched and shrunk in on herself, looking very small all of a sudden. I rubbed a hand down her arm soothingly. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch or scream or even make any sort of noise. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."

The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Harry or Umbridge. Across from me, I could see Seamus shaking his head with the same exasperation Umbridge had a minute ago.

"Now, let me make this quite plain." The smile she gave us was wary and forced, like she was talking to a bunch of wild, angry animals. She began taking measured steps towards us, making her way past Hermione and towards Harry's desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark Wizard is at large once again." Her next words were focused solely at Harry. "This is a lie."

Harry was almost beside himself with anger, fumbling with his words and struggling to explain accurately. "It is NOT a lie!" He said furiously. "I saw him, I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly, turning and marching back towards the front of the room. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark Wizard. If you are still worried, by all means and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark Wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend." I highly doubted she would ever be my friend at this school. "And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, Basics for Beginners."

Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk again. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked a cross between half-scared, half-fascinated.

"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging on his sleeve, but he jerked his arm out of her reach.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his accord, did he?" He asked, voice shaking with rage.

There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry talk about what happened on the night Cedric had died. They stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," She said coldly.

"It was murder!" Harry exclaimed, still shaking. "Voldemort killed him, and you know it!"

I heard Terra's breath hitch beside me and before I knew it, she, too, was on her feet and slamming her hands down on her desk louder than I had done. Her face was blazing with fury and her lips were pulled into a frightening snarl as she gained the whole classroom's attention.

Do not use Cedric's name just to prove a point, Potter," She said dangerously, voice seeming to echo in the small classroom. "He is not some martyr for you to use whenever you need an excuse and he certainly would not have wanted to be used that way were he alive!" She snatched her bag from the floor and stormed out of the room in a flurry of straw hair and black robes.

"Hey, Terra, wait!" She was already gone before my call could even be finished.

At the front of the room, Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank as she stared at Harry. She looked as if she hadn't even registered one of her students had just left the classroom. For a moment, we all thought she was going to drop her composure and scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."

Harry kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and Hermione, and up to the teacher's desk. She pulled a small roll of pink parchment out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink, and started scribbling. After a minute or so, she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand. It sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him. He took it from her without saying a word, turned on his heel, and left the room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, and slamming the classroom door shut behind him.

"Ms. Walters." I jumped when my name was called. "Should you see Ms. Blanc before I do, please be sure to tell her that she also has detention with me tomorrow night at six."

I guess she did notice Terra leaving.

I mumbled a low "Yes, ma'am" and let out a quiet breath when we were asked, for the third time, to read the first chapter of our book. Defense this year was definitely not going to be fun if all we were going to be doing was reading from a hideous yellow book.

Better start bracing myself.

Terra's angry brown eyes flashed in my mind and as I glanced at the door, I resolved myself to corner Harry later as well. He owed someone an apology, I believe.

The bell rang for class to end an hour later, I was one of the first people out of the room and into the hallway, merging in with the other small crowd of people who had escaped their classrooms first. Behind me, I could hear the whispers of my classmates who had witnessed Harry's shouting match with Umbridge echo in my ears. I knew that rumor would be spread like wildfire throughout the school by the time dinner started.

I was looking desperately around for the straw blond that had been my seatmate, but I knew I wouldn't find her out here. She had been out for too long and was long into hiding by this point. I contemplated asking around to see if anyone had seen her, but I paused. Despite my inability to interact well with others, I knew or had heard of every single Gryffindor in our House, minus the first years, who I had yet to interact with. Whether it be by name or by face didn't matter to me. I still knew them somehow. Terra, however, was different. Today had been my first time ever meeting her.

Terra wasn't a Gryffindor. Of that I was sure.

So then what House is she?

Catching sight of twin heads of red amongst the sea of brown and blond, I quickened my footsteps, calling," Fred! George!"

If anyone could help me, it would definitely be the Twins.

Both simultaneously turned and grinned widely at me. "Hayden!" They called, waving over the heads of the other students. I almost laughed when they almost hit the head of a small Hufflepuff boy, who gave them a dirty look as he ducked under their waving arms. "Heading down to dinner, are you?" They asked, settling their arms around my shoulders. I didn't bother trying to shrug them off this time, knowing they'd just put their arms right back.

"I don't have a constant need to eat like you two," I commented drily, leading them to the wall to get out of the way of the moving masses. Just the thought of going to go eat right now was making my stomach roll. The Twins had done exactly what they had done last night at lunch this afternoon and shoved as much food as they could onto my plate and mean-bugged me the whole time until I ate to their satisfaction. I was still feeling pretty full. "I actually need help looking for someone." I paused. "Well, two people technically."

Fred cocked his head at me. "Oh?"

George mirrored him. "Who are you looking for?"

"Have either of you seen Harry?" They both brightened at the mention of the boy who was practically an Honorary Weasley.

"He was on his way to the Great Hall. Looked like he was coming from McGonagall's office," George supplied.

Fred snickered. "He looked mighty pissed off, too, if the wrinkles on his forehead and the glare on his face was anything to go by." They both perked up at my sudden displeased expression. "You know why he's angry?"

"Do tell," George pressed, him and Fred both leaning closer to me. My stomach did a small flip at their proximity, but I gave them a brief summary of what had happened in Defense with Umbridge and the argument that had quickly escalated between her and Harry.

Fred pulled away, scowling. "Dad has been saying that the Ministry has fallen a ways lately, but we didn't think it was this bad."

"The Ministry is going against Dumbledore," George said, looking to his brother. "Dad says Fudge has lost his marbles lately with all his efforts being put into maintaining a normal cover for the community instead of coming clean that You-Know-Who has come back."

"You two believe he's back?" I asked surprised, though I immediately felt stupid for even asking considering Harry was one of theirs and the Weasleys have always believed that the Dark Lord would return one day.

"Course we do," They chorused. "Don't you?"

I visibly hesitated to answer. This was a topic I tried to avoid talking to with anyone, considering I was wholly uninformed when it came to what happened almost two decades ago with the Dark Lord and it was embarrassing that I knew so little about what was even going on. The Twins gave me concerned looks.

"Hayden?"

"I do," I said unconvincingly before talking over their opened mouths. "There's someone else I need help finding." They frowned at me, but nodded their heads for me to continue. I mentally apologized to them. "A girl named Terra Blanc." I was disappointed at the immediate frowns on their faces as they looked at each other over my head in confusion. "You don't know her?"

"We know of the Blanc family," George assured me. "They're a Pureblood family that is almost as old as ours."

"I feel like there's a but in that sentence."

"Well," Fred hesitated, unsure. "They're kind of disgraced right now." I blinked in surprise and Fred hurriedly said, "Somewhere down the line, one of their own married a Muggle and tainted their bloodline. That's a big taboo among the older Pureblood families." I immediately thought of Malfoy and his family, whom were influentially powerful and, despite their prejudice and racist words, were quite popular in the Wizarding world at large. "It was pretty recent, so this Terra could be a cousin or something from this couple, but we're sorry to say—"

"—that we don't know anyone named Terra amongst our long list of informants." George gave me such a sad look that I wanted to desperately say something to make him smile again. Seeing either of the Twins sad was wrong on their normally laughing faces. "We weren't even aware that a member of the Blanc family was even here at Hogwarts right now. Most of the children from that family go to Beauxbatons since they're mainly in France and not here in Scotland."

To say I was disappointed was a complete understatement. If anyone knew everyone, Fred or George would've been the best options out of everyone in this castle excluding the teachers. They were both very popular students and were well-liked by the general population, so I knew they had quite a few friends. For them to not know about Terra at all was...disappointing. I knew I could always ask my Head of House, but I still had to find Harry and find out if Terra was alright. I would just have to make do without.

"Well, thanks, anyway, you two," I said, smiling good-naturedly at them. Noticing the double upset looks, I quickly said, "It's fine, you guys. Really, it's not a big deal. I'll find her eventually! It's not something to be upset about if you don't know someone."

"But still," Fred started, looking to his Twin for help, but I cut him off.

"It's fine," I insisted, subconsciously reaching out and grabbing one of his hands. It was much larger than mine and was burning hot. I almost released it, but resisted the urge. Mom and I did this a lot to Dad or Hailey since we were the most touchy feely out of our small family of four and it brought us a feeling of reassurance. Doing this to Fred was no different than doing this to Mom.

Keep telling yourself that.

"Don't be too upset about it." I reached up to tug at a side of Fred's mouth with a pointer finger, tugging it up into a forced smile. "You two helped me at least locate Harry. That's half of my work load taken care of." I let go of his hand and pulled my finger away from his mouth. "Speaking of Harry, I need to go catch him before he disappears again."

The two redheads nodded in understanding. "Just look for Ron or Hermione," Fred advised, his familiar grin making an appearance. "Wherever they are, Harry won't be far."

"It helps that he has quite a few enemies now that his name is practically mud," George teased.

I laughed. "Neither of you are wrong there."

On top of the Ministry dragging Harry down, now that Umbridge was here, The Boy Who Lived was quickly becoming The Boy Who Lies to the entire student body who were Ministry supporters, specifically the Pureblooded children. So long as Umbridge remained, his fifth year was not going to go smoothly, which really sucked since it was our O.W.L year and he should be worrying more about those tests than a Ministry Official terrorizing him in class.

I wonder...

"You know, Georgie, I've never seen her smile like that before," Fred commented, eyes sparkling.

George nodded approvingly. "I agree. That's the look of a plan being born, Freddie. Care to share, Hayden dear?"

I struggled not to visibly react to that particular endearment. "I have some ideas," I said slowly, thoughts swirling in circles around my head, "but I need time to think. I promise to get back to you both on what I have in mind."

"We'll hold you to that," Fred vowed, holding up his pinky. Knowing a universal sign when I see one, I linked my pinky around his and copied the action with George when he held his own pinky up.

"I won't forget," I promised. I choked a bit on saliva when they both lunged towards me and wrapped their arms across my shoulders to hug me to both of their chests. Hands ruffled my hair roughly and I shoved them both away with a mock snarl and took off down the hall to the Great Hall, their laughter echoing behind me in the now empty hall.

True to their words, Harry was quickly spotted beside Ron and Hermione with a clenched jaw and a knife and fork fisted tightly in both his hands. If it had been anyone else, I would've been wondering if they were plotting some sort of murder with that tight of a grip, but since it was Harry and he was a known bleeding heart, I wasn't too concerned for anyone's safety. I could understand his anger, though, as the showdown between him and Umbridge had already travelled among the students quite fast even for Hogwarts standards.

Through the bewitched ceiling, I could see that it was raining harshly outside. Puddles of water had been trudged in from those who had Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Filch was nearby grumbling and growling under his breath, furiously mopping up the puddles with Mrs. Norris sitting contently a few feet away.

Hermione noticed my approaching form and nudged Harry, who turned to face me with a hearty scowl on his face.

"Don't give me attitude, Harry," I warned, arching an eyebrow challengingly. "That will be the last thing you will ever do to me."

He took a deep visible breath and asked calmly, "What do you need, Hayden?"

I nodded in approval. "Thank you. I want to talk to you about Defense." The scowl was back. "It's not what you're probably thinking. I already told you that I'm not here for a fight."

"What other reason could you possibly be here for then?" Ron asked rudely. Hermione glared and slapped him on the back roughly.

"I think you were out of line bringing Cedric up like you did," I said bluntly. Harry's eyes furrowed, confused. "I don't know if you realized this or not, but Cedric is still a sore spot for some people. Particularly the girl who I sat beside today. You bringing him up like you had against someone like Umbridge wasn't the smartest move on your part."

Harry was silent for a long while, watching me warily. "What are you trying to ask me?" I smiled. At least he got the underlying message I was sending him.

"I want you to apologize to her." He opened his mouth. "You might not think you did anything wrong, but I think Terra was really close to Cedric and you greatly offended her with how you were stomping on Cedric's name like you were. You don't need anymore enemies right now, Harry. I think it would be in your best interest to find her and apologize and just talk to her. She seems like a good person to have on your side right now especially with all of this drama going on."

Terra was still a mystery to me. All I had on her is that she once came from a Pureblood family that was now disgraced thanks to a decision one of her aunts made in the past, which still left much to be discovered about her. I didn't even know what House she belonged to since I had already figured out that she wasn't a Gryffindor. Such little information to me meant that she shouldn't be trusted until I was more familiar with her and she more familiar with me, but something in my gut was telling me that Terra would be a valuable asset in the future. I couldn't explain this feeling, but I felt like Terra knew things. Like how a mother seemed to always know things her child would try and keep from her.

I decided to trust that gut feeling, seeing as how it had hardly ever led me wrong before. I could thank Mom again for that mentality as she followed the same belief.

I turned to Hermione, the voice of reason in this group. "Please make sure he at least makes an attempt." My eyes narrowed. "Be assured that I will find out if you have or haven't talked to her within the next day or two. I hear and see everything that goes on in Gryffindor Tower better than Lavender does."

Threat delivered, I marched back out of the Great Hall with one final destination in mind before the night ended.

I wasn't going to go into great detail how it was that I had come across the kitchens back in my second year. It wasn't some grand big adventure nor was it the biggest discovery I had ever made here at Hogwarts. It had actually been quite an accident.

I remember one night during my second year I had been coming back inside from an evening Herbology lesson, covered completely in dirt from mandrakes that were completely against being put back into soil and who also disapproved of being uprooted so harshly like we had been doing that day. Ironically, it was Fred and George who had unknowingly passed on the secret to me. I had accidentally overheard them talking about getting food and drinks for the small party they had been planning for that night, watching as they disappeared down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff Common Room. In a spur of the moment, I let curiosity rule me and snuck down after them. It was then that I figured out the door that would lead me to the kitchens.

After passing several fruit pictures, I came to a stop before an even bigger portrait. This one showed a magnificent looking fruit bowl. Smiling, I stretched up onto my tiptoes to reach the pear in the fruit bowl, crooking a finger and tickling the fruit. The pear gave a small giggle, twitching and wiggling, before a green doorknob appeared in front of me. I pulled it open and stepped inside.

The kitchen was a very warm room, partly thanks to the gigantic brick fireplace in one corner of the room and the countless ovens that were always being used to prep food. The high-ceilinged room was littered with rows upon rows of brass pots and pans. Magic was constantly being used in here, as many pans were being levitated back up into place or being pulled down with the snap of a finger from the three and a half foot tall magical creatures that controlled this area of the castle.

"Ah!" A squeaky voice exclaimed from the masses who were beginning to realize a student was now among them. Huge blue eyes and flappy ears rushed towards me, a beaming smile on their face as they presented me with an armful of some of my favorite green apples. "Hello, Miss. Hayden!" The House Elf squeaked out. The pitch was high-pitched, undoubtedly female. "Letty has been eagerly waiting for yous to come by, she has! She has many of these to share with Miss. Hayden now!"

Smiling down at one of the sweetest House Elves here, I squatted down and gratefully took all of the apples from her arms. "Thank you, Letty," I said happily, admiring the ripe apples. She never fails to get me some of the best apples Hogwarts can provide. "That's so sweet of you. I really appreciate it."

Letty beamed, eyes crinkling shut and bat-like ears flapping. "It is nothings, Miss. Hayden! Letty is happy to help!" Some of the other House Elves called out agreements, cheering and chattering as some went back to their work and others came towards me with drinks and food in their arms.

"Miss. Hayden hasn't eaten dinner tonight," Letty admonished, wagging a finger at me when I told the House Elves I wasn't hungry. She looked very disapproving. "Miss. Hayden must keep up her strength! It is a very important year this year, it is!" She sounded a lot like the Twins right now. And my Mom. Heaving a mock sigh, I accepted the food that the House Elves had so kindly placed in a basket for me, promising Letty that I'd eat it later.

She cocked her head. "Miss. Hayden didn't come down here for foods?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I didn't." I was appalled when tears almost instantly flooded Letty's eyes. I had forgotten how quick to tears Letty was since it had been so long since I had last seen her cry.

"Letty is so sorries, Miss. Walters!" She wailed. "Letty should not have assumed you is here for food when dinner is still goings on upstairs! Letty will shut her earsies in the ovens later as punishment!" Some of the House Elves winced, spindly fingers reaching up to feel the bandages that were wrapped around their own ears.

"No, no! Don't be sorry, Letty!" I quickly assured her, gently stopping her from running to the nearest oven. Blue eyes looked up at me tearfully. "I am sorry that I didn't immediately tell you what it was that I was here for! It's not your fault at all." I smiled reassuringly at her, which seemed to work as Letty began slowly wiping her eyes.

"Miss has a question for Letty?" She asked unsure.

I nodded. "I do. I was hoping you'd be able to help me since I'm at a loss of what to do right now."

"Letty will do her very best to be of much helps to Miss as she can!" Letty promised.

"I am looking for someone," I said slowly, phrasing my words carefully. "A girl who is in my Defense class. I have never seen her before and she's not in my House, so I'm struggling trying to figure out where I can go to find her."

The House Elves were the ones in the castle who did all of the dirty laundry for us and the ones who tidied our beds and made sure they were nice and warm during the winter when it got cold. I figured that since this was their job, maybe they had seen what House Terra was in seeing as how they had to have some sort of naming system or a system in general to keep track of whose clothes were whose.

Letty tilted her head to the side. "A someones?"

"Yes," I nodded. "Her name is Terra Blanc?"

Letty immediately smiled and I felt hope rise in me. "Oh yes! Letty knows Miss. Blanc! Miss. Blanc is always so kind to us Elvsies and sometimes, she will come down to visit us! She loves to talks and share stories with us and is so helpful to us Elvsies!"

The feeling that Terra knew things most others didn't returned. Not many people knew where the kitchens were and the few that did certainly didn't go around advertising that they knew where one had to go to find it.

"Can you tell me what House she is in, Letty?"

Letty hesitated, but the honest look on my face must have encouraged her to share it with me. "Miss. Blanc is a Ravenclaw, Miss!"

Thank God. I don't know what I would've done if she had been in Slytherin. There's only so much Malfoy I can handle in one day.

"Thank you so much for your help, Letty," I said, rising. "And thank you for all of the food!" This was said to the whole room at large. Squeaky voices happily called back to me. Waving goodbye, I left the kitchens with my armful of food and the new knowledge of the now identified Ravenclaw.

Author's Note:

You guys, I am soooo sorry once again how late this is. I almost cried when I saw how long had passed since I had last updated. *Tears* Rest assured that I am finally going to go and see what I can do about Wi-Fi this week! Hopefully it will be manageable with my already tight ass budget.

This concludes the third chapter! I'm sorry for the slight shortness of this chapter. It's like 700 words short of 8000 and that makes me terribly sad, but I did add an extra 1500 more words than what I had first ended with, so that does appease me a bit.

Lots of hearts and appreciation to:

Satu-Ryuu: I HOPE TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED! Thank you for giving this story a chance! It is so very much appreciated! *Hearts*

ElementalGirl1: Like I promised, here is this new chapter! It's a couple days later than what I had promised you in that PM, but here it is at last! I vowed to myself to not be one of those authors. I get so sad when I read a bomb ass first chapter and then realize that it hasn't been continued in over a year and it just brings tears to my eyes.

OUCH! Don't do that. xD I shouldn't talk. I do that on a daily basis anyway. xD

SalvatoreChick: I have to agree with your choices! Lupin and McGonagall are VERY good choices and I definitely approve!

End of Responses!

Last chapter's answer: I'm gonna be a bit stereotypical here and say that Severus Snape is my favorite Professor. Mainly because he is a secret Teddy Bear at heart, but underneath that crabbiness and general hatred of the human race, he is quite the amazing wizard!

Question for this chapter: Who is your least favorite Hogwarts Professor, and why?

See you all in the next chapter (HOPEFULLY SOONER THAN THIS ONE)! Thank you for reading!

~OQ