Author's Note: It's been a while. My main excuse is just being busy…it's not much but at least it's something. Merry Christmas to you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Vienna:

I stormed out of the Great Hall, furious. Those girls were infuriating! I thought back home girls could be rude, but never had they confronted someone in front of everyone in such a condescending way! I wanted revenge though I knew that I couldn't take any. I was here to help these people heal, and so far I hadn't been fulfilling my role very well. Now, now was the time to act. I had to start now, the faster I did this the sooner I got home.

At this moment in time there was nothing more I wanted than to be home, standing in the middle of my father's fields. Looking up at the night sky from in between the two willow trees where I always sat with Miles. How I missed him. How his memories haunted me each night, causing me to cry myself to sleep.

Life just wasn't fair, and now it seemed, I had run out of miracles.

So now, I was going to have to make them happen myself.

I ran out onto the middle of the school's grounds. The stars weren't the same here, it just wasn't the farm. Yet, in a different way they were still just as beautiful. Even now, even here, they still shone as bright as before. This was still the countryside. On this dark night, when all was quiet, they still seemed to sing their wonderful song. It seemed that no matter how bad the situation was, the stars would always be up there, promising me better times.

Knowing that I felt better, stronger. It was like my father had always said, men can take everything from you. They can take your home, your farm, your cloths, your money, your entire life. They can strip away your pride, your future, your dreams, your everything. Man can kill your hope, bury it in a pile of fear. Man can break you until you cannot be broken. But man will never take your strength, so as long as the stars shine in the sky your strength will never waver.

He had said this to me every night for as long as I could remember. The speech was always followed by the same words, drawn out to emphasize their point.

"You're a good daughter, Vienna. You are strong, stronger than I shall ever be. For you have a different kind of strength than most people have. You are country strong. In more ways than one might think."

I would never forget those words. They had been drilled into my head, burned into my heart, and etched into my soul. The very words had come from the man I probably admired most in the world. One year, he had even had the words engraved into my bullet shaped locket, so instead of pictures, I had the most inspiring thing ever. Words, words from my father. With his name etched onto the back of the locket followed by I love you.

When I had worked up enough courage, I had asked him about the locket.

"Vienna," He said to me. "when you were young you always reminded me of a bullet. You whizzed around like one, your were quick like one, you were even hurtful at times like one. But you were in a way, always better than a bullet because you loved. You loved not only me, but your mother, the fields, the animals. You cared, you cared like no one had before, and you were strong, stronger than anyone I had ever known had been before. You were like a bullet because your worked your way into someone's heart and lodged yourself in there. I mean that in a good way."

I knew my dad could come up with better metaphors, but I loved it all the same. From that day on I always wore the locket. It was a reminder of better times, and of worse. I wouldn't take it off for anyone or anything. I even wore it to my mother's funeral, tucked under my dress so no one would see it.

The locket never failed me either, and it helped me through the rough moments after she had gone. It helped me through the death of my best friend, through Mile's deployment. Now, I knew it would help me through this new period of rough times. I knew it would be hard, but with the locket it was as if my father was right next to me, not what seemed like a million miles away.

So now as I stood under the stars I played with the chain around my neck.

"I love you Daddy, you too Mother." I whispered into the wind, which seemed to carry my words all the way back to the states. Somehow, I felt as if my father knew in that moment what I was doing. It was in that moment I knew what I had to do.

"Vienna?" Came a voice from behind me.

My peaceful moment had been disturbed. I tried not to snap.

"Yes?" I asked quietly as I turned around.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." The boy, who I recognized as Harry, said to me.

"I'm fine." I replied even quieter than before.

He seemed to barely catch the words. He only replied with an "ok" and an "if your sure."

I nodded several times and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Just don't worry about anything they said, it was wrong of them." He told me.

"Trust me," I said laughing a little. "worrying is not on my list of top priorities."

He laughed a little too.

"Sounds good to me." He said before bidding me goodnight and returning to the castle.

Once more I looked at the stars. The wind picked up again and seemed to whisper reassuringly, it will be alright. I grasped the locket one more time, because I knew it would be.

X0x0x0x0x0x0x0

The next morning I woke up early and practically ran through the corridors the Headmistress's office. I knocked loudly several times. I heard a huff before the familiar voice called "come in!" So I did.

"Professor!" I called barging into the room.

"Vienna, is that you?" The Professor called back.

I hurried inside quickly to where I found the old Headmistress sitting behind her desk.

"I have to speak to you about something." I spoke urgently.

"What is it?" The Headmistress had dark circles under her eyes and she seemed a lot more stressed than usual.

"I know how I can help," I said quickly. "so tonight I need you to call a last minute assembly in the Great Hall. I will need a podium, that is all. Do not tell the students why."

"Why are you requesting this so suddenly?" The Headmistress asked confused.

"I cannot explain." I told her. "I only ask that you trust me."

The Headmistress took what seemed like hours to answer.

"Fine," She sighed unhappily. "I am warning you though, do not make any mistakes. You have made enough already."

"I understand, Headmistress." I replied quietly.

"Off with you then." She said waving her hand and sinking a little more into her chair.

I ran back to my quarters. I threw things into piles until I found the exact thing I was looking for. The clothing for this even had to be simple, not my usual outstands patriotic clothing.

What I had found was my favorite black dress, the one I had worn to my mother's funeral, I set it aside along with my black flats. I searched through my jewelry box until I found my simple, yet elegant gold earrings and my second favorite necklace. It wasn't much, but it had been a present from my mother. Though I didn't wear it like I did the locket, I always kept it tucked away in a safe place and made sure it shined just like it had the first time I had seen it.

It was a round, pure gold circle with two words etched into it. Country Strong. Was all it said. Nothing else, the words though, were etched with silver so they stood out against the gold.

It was perfect, because if I was going to help these people heal I would need all the strength I could muster.