A/N: edbjkwelgbgjkw. I am SO sorry! I already wrote the next chapter, so I'll post it after this! nzsbfskjvkut. Please forgive me! R&R?

Disclaimer: I own zip.

Chapter 5

"MELAINA CHANG! HURRY YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" I sighed and threw on my jacket.

I ran down the stairs, into the common room. "Calm down!" I said.

Now, if you're wondering why the Head Dorms lead to the Gryffindor common, they don't.

Well, they do, but only this year, unless the 2 Heads next year are also Gryffindors.

It's pretty fascinating. Dumbledore chooses the Head Boy and Girl, and then the Dorms move to another place more appealing for the Heads.

For example, this year, we have 2 Gryffindors as Heads. So, the stairs to and from the Dorms start and go to the common room. If the Heads are from different Houses, the Dorm transports itself to an area between the two commons.

Audrey stood at the bottom of the stairs, her hands on her hips. "Finally! You take decades!"

"Audrey, you've gone to Hogsmeade millions of times. And I only took 10 minutes, not 10 years!"

"Yeah, well—"

"Ronald! Hurry up? Aren't you excited to see the ancient village and famous buildings? Oh, and the Shrieking Shack!"

"I'm excited to get some Flying Whizbees and Licorice Wands and Chocolate Frogs! Bloody hell, Hermione, so you want to go sight-seeing?"

"Yes! The village of Hogsmeade is historical! Haven't you read the History of Magic book? It says Hogsmeade was—"

"Hermione, do you want to go or sit here and talk about how wonderful books are?"

"Hurry down then, Ronald!"

"My name is Ron, and I am coming!"

"Wow," I said, turning to Audrey. "You could be a Hermione."

"Did someone say my name?" Hermione walked over.

"Oh, it was nothing. So, you're going to Hogsmeade for the first time?"

"Yeah. Is it your first, as well?"

"Oh, no. I've gone a couple of times."

She looked suspiciously at me. "When?"

"Over the summer..." She was catching on. I guess they don't call her the brightest witch of her time for nothing.

"Come on, Hermione, let's go!"

Ron had finally come out, taking Hermione's attention.

"Let's go then!" They both ran out of the common room, and Audrey and I were left standing.

"Let's go, too. I ran out of treats for Helia," I said.

She agreed, and we ran all the way there.

"I," Breathe. "Am," Breathe. "So," Breathe. "Tired!"

Audrey, being athletic, wasn't even a little tired. Agh, I'm too old for this.'

"Did you get money?"

I blanched. I didn't remember to get any money from Gringotts. What if she follows me?

"Er. No, I didn't."

"Oh. I'll wait at The Three Broomsticks for you."

THANK MERLIN. I nodded and went into Ollivander's. The other entrance/exit led to Diagon Alley, where Gringotts was located.

"Key?" One of the goblins asked.

I fumbled with my purse and finally extracted my small gold vault key.

"Ah, Miss Jang, follow me."

I grabbed a few Galleons, a couple of Sickles, and plenty of Knuts.

Going back through Ollivander's, he said,"Ash and Unicorn Hair, 13 inches, Hard, am I not correct?"

"Yeah, that's my wand," I said. "I have to get going, bye!"

"Ah, yes, good bye."

I walked into The Three Broomsticks, seeing Audrey eating a Cheese Cauldron. "Sorry for being so slow!" I said, joining her at the table.

"It's alright. Want some?" She gestured at the food.

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

I ordered a butterbeer and waited for her to finish.

"Okay, let's go to Honeydukes!" I said.

We bought tons of candy. You'd think being 21 would give me some self-restraint.

"Can we go to Eeylops Owl Emporium? I need to get owl treats."

"Right, right. I do, too."

The place had a musky scent. Frogs ribbited, and cats yowled. The owls let out quiet "hoo"s as they slept. We went through rows of cats, frogs, and owls until we got to the treats. There were flies, dead and still whizzing around. There were different flavored cat nibbles.

For owls, they had an assortment of flavors. Mice(most popular), original(bland but cheap), bug(Helia rather liked the crickets), and bacon.

I stared at the bag, trying to see if my eyes were fooling me or not. 'Bacon? What the hell?' I wondered if it sincerely tasted like bacon and shuddered when I tried to imagine eating it.

I just grabbed 2 bags of mice flavored, and Audrey grabbed 3.

"Seranie goes through them fast."

We took a butterbeer each and went to see the Shrieking Shack. I had seen it and heard the story before, but I let Audrey tell it again.

The shack was dirty, to be blunt. It was dilapidated, moss starting to creep up in the cracks of the door. The door was moldy and could be easily kicked open, if the door wasn't already ajar. We tentatively walked in. The old, faded out , red carpet was shredded. The Shrieking Shack smelled like the forest, earthy. Some of the glassware was shattered, others precariously hanging off the edge. The small, wooden table was on its side, almost broken in half. The lone chair was also broken, three of its legs snapped. We carefully advanced through and went inside the bedroom.

The bed's sheets were torn in many places. It looked like someone had gripped the sheets and shredded the blankets into pieces. The headboard was snapped in half. It looked like the house had survived many ghosts, but I knew that it could easily fall. Hit one weak point, and it would fall... Like dominoes.

A shiver went down my spine. Audrey had separated from me. I heard her scream, and my hand flew to my wand. "Audrey!" I ran to the source of the sound, the kitchen. I saw her sprawled on the moldy floor.

"Oh, hi. Mind helping me here?" I stared blankly at her until I realized she had her foot stuck in a floorboard.

"Oh! Diffindo!" I made the hole bigger, and she crawled out. "Let's go back to the castle. The feast will begin soon."

After tucking in, all the Gryffindors headed to the commonroom. The moving crowd suddenly stopped, and I almost crashed into someone. "Audrey, I'm going to go see what's going on, okay?"

She nodded and tried to peer over some people's heads."Excuse me," I said.

I saw Percy threading throught the crowd. I finally made it to the portrait.

"Oh my gods," I breathed out. I gulped and turned. "Someone get Dumbledore," I said, forgetting to address him properly.

"Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

In a matter of minutes, Dumbledore was walking swiftly to the torn portrait. Strips of the garden in the canvas was scattered on the floor. The Fat Lady had probably fled, seeing as she was not in the destroyed pieces. McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurried to Dumbledore.

"We need to find her." Dumbledore instructed Professor McGonagall to tell Filch to search all the paintings for her.

The giggling voice of Peeves sounded. "You'll be lucky!"

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore's voice was calm.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful." He was giggling, until he saw the stern look on Dumbledores face. "Poor thing."

"Did she say who did it?"

"Oh, yes, Professorhead. He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

My face blanched, my heart dropping. Sirius Black is in Hogwarts.

All the houses were led to the Great Hall. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall, and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately. Send word with one of the ghosts." Dumbledore was half-way out the doors when he said,"Oh, yes, you'll be needing..." With a flick of his wand, the four long tables were leaned against the wall and hundreds of soft, purple sleeping bags appeared. "Sleep well."

Dumbledore left, and the chatter immediately started. "Everyone in their sleeping bags! Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!" Everyone began to get his or her purple sleeping bag and picked a spot with their friends.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. The hall had quieted down to audible whispers.

Once in a while, a few teachers would check in on us. I walked in between the sleeping bags. A 1st year Hufflepuff was frightened by the stories she heard about Sirius Black being in the castle. I awkwardly patted her back and comforted her.

I leaned against a wall, exhausted. A hand touched my shoulder, and I whipped around, pointing my wand at the person's throat. I realized it was Professor Dumbledore.

"Holy crap, I'm so sorry Professor!"

"It is alright, Melaina." He nodded at me and went to the group of teachers a little off.

"I saw that."

I turned around, seeing Lupin with a smile that never reached his eyes.

"Bleh," I said. He gave a small laugh and went to join the Headmaster.

A/N: Remember Melaina Chang is an alias for Celestia Jang.