(A/N): Hi, everyone! I just finished another chapter. Thank you, HPsibunaSara and "Love it" for the reviews! You all get virtual cake! *gives cake*

An hour before swim practice stated on the first day of school, Emily's boyfriend, Ben, climbed through the portrait hole.

"Ben!" exclaimed Emily, getting up from the couch where she was sitting with a couple of her swimming friends. "Hey...how'd you get in here?" Ben was a Gryffindor, and therefore shouldn't know the Hufflepuff password.

"Oh, I have my ways," Ben said, wrapping his arm around her waist. Emily absentmindedly linked her hand with his, intertwining their fingers together.

"Where were you the other day?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Emily asked blankly.

"At Diagon Alley. Weren't you supposed to go there early?"

"Oh...no," Emily said, remembering how she had planned to meet up with Ben but spent most of her time with Maya instead, purposely avoiding the typical

Hogwarts hangouts in Diagon Alley. "My parents dropped me off late."

"That's too bad." Ben said, reaching forward to kiss Emily on the mouth. She struggled to kiss him back as he slid his tongue into her mouth. He pushed her up against the wall and ran his hand along her muscular thigh. "Hey, lovebirds, get a room!" someone shouted, and Emily was jerked back to her senses. She opened her eyes in self-conscious panic, pushing Ben away.

"I-I gotta go," Emily muttered.

"Where? We only have half an hour before practice!" Ben pointed out.

"I know...But I promised this girl, you know, the new girl, Maya?"

"The black American one?"

"Yes. I promised I'd show her around."

Ben folded his arms. "Do you really have to?"

"Yeah...I'll probably be too busy after practice, with homework and all."

"Funny, some new girl shows up and you decide you're her personal tour guide."

Emily sighed. "I'm just trying to be nice."

Suddenly Emily saw a thin girl in shorts and a low-cut tank emerge from the dormitory. Her bare limbs were a glowing mahogany color, so different from the mostly-white skin Emily was used to seeing at Hogwarts. Even out of the corner of her eye, Emilly knew it was Maya.

Maya strutted up to them. "He-ey, Emily!" she said in her accent, a strong American one that reminded Emily vaguely of some American movie star. She turned to Ben and looked him up and down from his dark mop of hair to his "lucky" Champion sweat pants. "Who's this?"

Emily realized she should probably introduce them, "This is my boyfriend, Ben. Ben, this is Maya.'

"Hey," said Maya, smiling.

"Hey," replied Ben, standing up. "I'll leave you two to your 'grand tour." He headed over to the other couch and sat down next to one of his swim-mates.

Emily gulped. "Don't mind him." She grabbed Maya's wrist, then dropped it, wondering if Maya felt awkward touching her.

Maya thrust her chin towards the door, smiling with one side of her mouth. "Lead the way."

Emily led them out of the common room and down the corridor. There wasn't much to show Maya, other than the talking pictures, the different classrooms, and the occasional not-so-secret passageway.

They walked down the hallway, their arms brushing against each other. It was shadowy-dark, but Emily was too distracted to be worried about who -or what- might be hiding in the darkness. "Erm...This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

"Moaning what?"

"Moaning Myrtle. She's a ghost. She's really depressed..."

Maya shook her head and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Emily joked, hoping she didn't sound like an idiot.

"Nothing, I just thought of something..."

"What?"

"It's perverted."

Emily cocked her eyebrows. "Tell me...!"

"Well, I just wondered why she was moaning...if you catch my drift." Maya grinned at Emily.

Emily stared at her. Wait...what?, she thought.

Then it dawned on her. "Oh." People moaned when they had sex, right? Not that Emily would know. She was still a virgin- she had never even touched herself! Emily wondered whether Maya was a virgin. No, she decided. Maya was sassy and totally sexy- of course she'd gotten laid!

Maya smiled cheekily. "You get it?"

Emily giggled. "Yeah, but...she moans because she's really depressed and stuff."

The black girl smirked. "Emo ghosts. You've just gotta love this place, right?"

"Yes," Emily smiled. "Yes, you do."

The two of them continued walking. Emily was mostly quiet, but Maya began chatting in a lively way, asking her what she thought of certain people in their grade. After a few minutes, Emily glanced at her watch.

"Oh, crud!" she exclaimed. She'd always been afraid to say the word crap for fear that someone might think that she was the kind of girl who threw around swear words like it didn't mean anything.

Maya glanced questioningly at her. "What is it?"

"I have swimming practice in five minutes!"

"And you came with me anyway?"

Emily nodded.

She put her hands on her hips and swayed them slightly, shaking her head. "You are so cute."

She giggled, not sure what to say. No one, not even Ben, had ever called her cute before.

"Well, you should probably go," she said. "Don't want to keep your coach waiting." Maya leaned forward and hugged her. Emily put her arms around the smaller girl, smelling a faint hint of banana gum.

"Let's be French!" exclaimed Maya as she planted a kiss on Emily's cheek. Emily cursed her pale skin because she was sure she was blushing, though she didn't know why.

Emily turned her face and kissed Maya on the cheek in return. "I-I'll be French, too!"

Maya laughed, breaking away from her. "Bye!"

"Bye!" said Emily. "See you tomorrow!"

"See ya!"

OoOoO

After swim practice, Emily returned to her dormitory, her hair and skin still damp and fishy-smelling from swimming in the murky lake. She noticed a small white card sitting on her bed. Emily flipped it over.

Sob! I see you've found another friend to kiss! -A

That A could only stand for one person. The one other girl Emily had kissed, a month before she disappeared.

Ali.