A/N: YES! FINALLY! IT'S FINALLY DONE! Goddamn that took bloody long to finish. I would like to say that I am TERRIBLY sorry for the ginormous delay in this chapter. My classes are a lot more work than they were last year. And then I started taking up bass, so that decreased the amount of time I had to write. But I already planned out a special schedule for myself so that I manage to get the chapters done faster. And my dad finally got internet so I can post chapters over there, too! So anyways, R&R!

Rosaline's POV

The train ride felt like it stretched on for years. But that was only because Hermione and Ron were off on prefect duties and Harry was invited to sit with the "Slug Club." It sounds so repulsive, but it's supposed to be a club for special and interesting people. Ginny had been chosen to sit with them as well; all because Slughorn caught her hexing Zacharias Smith. Even Neville Longbottom got in! I was left in an empty compartment for most of the ride. Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Neville did end up coming back, but Harry didn't. And when the train stopped at Hogwarts, he still didn't show up. I didn't even see him get off the train.

"Where did Harry go?" I asked Ginny.

"I don't know," she frowned, "He's probably went ahead of everyone else."

Hopefully, I thought as I nodded. When everyone was loading onto to the carriages, I still couldn't find him. And then when we reached Hogwarts and everyone walked into the Great Hall, I still didn't see him. Right now everyone was settling in and enjoying their dinner while I anxiously scanned the room for Harry. It wasn't until then that I noticed that Luna wasn't here either.

"Who are you looking for?" someone asked me.

I jumped in my seat, startled at the sudden voice. I turned to see Luna was sitting next to me.

"Are you secretly a ninja or something?" I asked, "Because you are a really quiet walker."

Luna narrowed her eyes curiously at me and tilted her head to the side. She looked at me as if I said something incredibly weird and unheard of; yeah, Loony Lovegood was looking at me like that.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Oh, never mind," I sighed, "It's a muggle thing."

She shrugged and continued to eat. I glanced over at the Gryffindor table, hoping to find Harry sitting with Hermione and Ron, but he wasn't. Hermione was currently glaring at Ron anxiously when she suddenly smacked Ron's shoulder repeatedly with her book. He defended himself and nodded his head toward the doors. I turned my head with them and saw Harry, with blood running from his nose. What the hell happened to him?

I suddenly had an odd feeling that someone was watching me. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw Malfoy staring at me. His eyes shifted away towards Harry and he smirked. My eyes widened when I realized, he broke Harry's nose.

That low, dirty, foul, slimy, no-good...

"...son of a bitch," I finished my thought.

"Hm?" Luna said.

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked.

"I believe so," she said, "What for?"

"Nothing," I shook my head. "Just thinking about someone," I added as I glared at Malfoy one last time.

Suddenly the entire room went quiet. I looked up towards the staff table and saw that Dumbledore was ready to make an announcement.

"The very best of evenings to you!" he smiled as he opened his arms wide. By doing that, he made it very noticeable that his right hand was blackened and withered like a dying plant. I wasn't the only one to notice, because several whispers started to echo in the room. Dumbledore seemed to notice as well, so he gracefully covered his injured hand with a shake of his long sleeve.

"Nothing to worry about," he said airily. "Now...to our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you..."

"What do you think happened to his hand?" Luna whispered.

"Maybe he burned it," I shrugged, "Or...that was all I could think of."

"...and Mr. Filch, our caretaker," Dumbledore continued, "has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

Aw, poor Aaralyn, George and Fred are going to be really disappointed when they find this out. And I was looking forward to pranking Filch!

"Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member to staff this year. Professor Slughorn is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."

"Potions?" I whispered to myself. "Did I hear that right?"

"Professor Snape, meanwhile," Dumbledore added, "will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"What?" I whispered/yelled.

"No!" Harry yelled quite loudly, causing plenty of heads to turn towards him. An immediate eruption of talking spread through the great hall.

"Is he insane?" I asked Luna. "Hiring Snape as the Defense Against the Dark Arts master is like putting a monkey in a room full of dynamite and handing him a match."

"What?" Luna asked confused.

"It should be discouraged," I explained.

Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly, causing us to turn back to him.

"Now," he said as the room was quiet again, "as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength."

Tension thickened in the air as many of the students shivered at the sound of Voldemort's name. If Dumbledore had said this last year, very few of the students would have believed him. But a lot had changed over that year.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them - in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours, I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

He looked over all of us once more before he smiled once again.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip, pip!"

At that note, all of the students stood from their seats and hurried out of the Great Hall. I got up to leave with them when Professor McGonagall called me back.

"Miss Moriali," she said, "I'd like to see you for a moment."

I nervously walked over, hoping I wasn't in trouble already (which, when you think about it, is physically impossible).

"Yes, Professor?" I asked.

"This is for you," she said, handing me a folded piece of paper. "Now go follow your classmates."

"Yes, Professor," I nodded and walked away.

I opened the folded paper to see it was a note from Dumbledore.

Dear Rosaline,

I would like for you to see me in my office tomorrow before classes at 6 a.m. I

hope you enjoy your 6th year at Hogwarts.

Yours Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

P.S. I enjoy Acid Pops.

I didn't exactly understand what this was for. And whatever it was, what did Acid Pops have to do with it?

Aaralyn's POV

I couldn't sleep. It wasn't because I wasn't tired, because trust me, after working all day, I definitely was. Something just felt...unsettling, odd, and not normal. I couldn't put my finger on it though; that's what kept me up. I finally was tired of tossing and turning in my bed and got up to go to the kitchen. I stepped into the hall and quietly tip-toed in the dark. Suddenly I heard a voice, it was soft and melodic. It didn't sound like George or Fred, or anyone I knew. I thought the voice came from behind me, but I didn't see anything when I turned around. Then again, it was practically pitch black, so it would be hard to see anything.

Things started to become clearer in front of me; not because my eyes were adjusting to the darkness, because a light was slowly growing at the end of the hall from behind me. I turned back around and saw a door, a door I had never seen before. It was cracked open, letting a white light pour out from the opening. I was curious to know what was behind it. I slowly walked towards it, the closer I got, the clearer the voice was. It was a woman's voice.

I brought my hand forward and gently pushed the door open. It gracefully swung back and light stretched out beyond the mysterious room. It cleared, and showed what was definitely not a regular room. I was outside, in a garden. A tiny pond was in the center with several small lily pads sitting on the surface. Next to the pond was an oak tree. Its branches stretched out far and grew vibrant green leaves, and its trunk twisted with age. A swing was tied onto one of the bigger branches. It was a simple swing made out of rope and a plank of wood. You could tell that it had been there for a while, since there were vines wrapping around the top of the rope. I smiled at how beautiful the place was. But I was still confused on how all of this could fit in one room. I watched as a butterfly fluttered over the wild flowers. Its velvet black wings softly flapped and stretched gracefully. There wasn't any distinctive color in its wings; it was all a deathly black.

A sudden giggle interrupted my thoughts. I turned towards the swing, and saw her. She was sitting on the swing, softly swaying back and forth, her long dark curls flying behind her. Her brown eyes glittered happily as she smiled brightly at the feeling of what almost felt like flying. She looked over at me and smiled even brighter.

"Mom?" I whispered.

"Aaralyn," a voice said, "Aaralyn."

I snapped back to reality and looked over to see George staring at me.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, "It's 3 in the morning."

I looked around me and noticed I was standing in the living room. I didn't remember coming in here, but I did remember being in a garden. It should have been right where I was standing right now, but it wasn't. I looked around confused and somewhat lost.

"I don't know," I whispered.

George looked at me worried and then grabbed my hand. He gently tugged me away from the living room and led me back to my room. He kissed my forehead and whispered good night to me and then went back to his room. I sighed and slipped back under the covers.

"It was nothing," I said to myself, "I was just sleep walking."

I slowly closed my eyes and sighed away into a deep sleep. I could hear my own voice echoing in my head, telling me everything was fine and nothing bad would happen. But lying to yourself just makes things worse.

Rosaline's POV

I woke up early so that I could see Dumbledore on time. There's no need to be late on your first day. Not that many people were up this early, so I had the common room to myself until it was time to leave. I loved wearing my Hogwarts uniform once again. I know, most people don't usually say those words, but it reminds me of better days.

I quietly slipped out of the common room so I wouldn't wake anyone. I walked down the empty hallways until I finally reached the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office; which unfortunately reminded me that you needed the password in order to get in. Why didn't he put that in the note?

"Crap," I sighed quietly, "Uh...is it lemon drops? No, he's already used that. Pumpkin pasties?...No...Wait..."

I pulled the note out from my pocket and re-read it.

"Oh," I said, "Acid Pops."

The gargoyle jumped from its post and the door opened. I walked in and then knocked on the door that opened to his office.

"Enter," his ancient voice called from the other side.

I opened the door, and there he was, sitting at his desk as usual. His vibrant red phoenix sat on it's stand beside Dumbledore's chair.

"Have a seat, Miss Moriali," he said.

I sat down in the seat that was placed in front of his desk. I still didn't know what I was here for.

"I can tell that you're confused about your purpose of being called," he said calmly, "Since it is usually your friend, Miss White, who gets called to the headmaster."

I only nodded. If I said something, or should I say tried to say something I'd fail.

"Would you feel better if I told you that you weren't in trouble?" he asked.

"Oh thank God," I sighed in relief, which caused Dumbledore to chuckle lightly.

"Since you were here for the O.W.L.s," he explained, "And since you have no magical talent, I will assign your classes."

I didn't if that was a good thing or a bad thing; in some ways it's good...but most of the non-magic classes can be dull.

"You will be taking Care of Magical Creatures," he listed, "Herbology, Potions, Divination, and History of Magic."

Great, I have to take History of Magic. I hated that class. Who could like that class? Well the bright side is I didn't have a class with Snape. He still disturbs. And I have Hagrid! So maybe it won't be that bad.

"If there is any difficulty in your classes, you can visit me," Dumbledore suggested, "Or do what your friends do, see Miss Granger."

"Thank you, Professor," I smiled, "Is that all?"

"Yes you may leave," he said, "Everyone should be in the Great Hall now."

I stood up and started to walk to the door when he called me again.

"You're safe now," his eyes twinkled as he smiled, "Chances are small that you will be found again."

"Thank you," I said once again, "For everything. This is coming from me and Aaralyn."

"It's my pleasure," he said.

I then left and headed towards the Great Hall. My stomach kept quietly growling at me to fill it. I was surprised I managed to keep it under control when talking to Dumbledore. I walked into the Great Hall and sat next to Luna.

"You missed the announcement," Luna said.

"What was it about?" I asked.

"After breakfast we are to see our Heads of Houses to arrange our schedules," she said. "What did you apply for?"

"Apply?" I frowned, "Uh - I mean, I applied for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Herbology, Divination and History of Magic."

"Really?" she asked, "It's a shame you can't take any classes with magic involved, considering your...situation."

"Right," I nodded, "How about we don't talk about it in public places; such as...here. Anywhere else really, just not here."

"Alright," she said. "Well I'm finished. Let's go, people are already leaving."

We both got up and followed all of the Ravenclaws to Professor Flitwick's office. We all waited outside until Flitwick came out and called a student. One by one a student went in, got a schedule and then left. There was no point in being here since I already had my schedule. So I made an excuse of needing to go to the bathroom just so I could leave. I had some time to kill until actual classes started.

"Rosaline!" someone shouted at me.

I turned around and saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

"You already got you're schedule?" Ron asked, "So did we. What do you have?"

Before I could answer, he took my schedule.

"You're taking History of Magic? And Divination?" Ron gasped. "Are you bloody mad?"

"It's not like I had a choice," I said. "There aren't that many non-magic-using classes that aren't boring."

"Well at least we have Potions together," Harry said. "Hey, you're taking Care of Magical Creatures."

"You guys aren't?" I frowned.

"We kind of...didn't want to," Hermione admitted. "Hagrid is a good teacher, but the animals aren't that pleasant."

"It's not that bad," I shrugged. "And he might do better this year."

"That's as likely as me becoming the Minister of Magic," Ron scoffed.

"Even Neville Longbottom has a better chance than you at becoming the Minister of Magic," I snapped.

Hermione and Harry giggled as Ron scowled at me.

"I'm gonna head back to the common room," I said, "I'll see you guys later."

My schedule was exactly: Free Period, Herbology, Divination, Free Period/Break, Potions, Lunch, Free Period, History of Magic. All the free periods were obviously for homework and studying; I could already tell that I was going to have so much homework. Herbology was as usual, messy. I had Divination with Professor Trelawney. I was actually happy to have her instead of that judgey centaur, what's-his-face. During the next free period I spent writing a 15-inch essay on the Fanged Geranium for Herbology and a 12-inch essay on the proper interpretation of smoke patterns for Divination. I only had 10 minutes left when I started to write a letter to Aaralyn.

And now I was dragging my tired feet to the dungeons to go to Potions. At least I won't be stuck with Lavender Brown in this class, hopefully. A bunch of students were crowded in front of the door, waiting for Professor Slughorn. I managed to find Hermione, Ron and Harry. Unfortunately Ernie Macmillan was with them as well. But then something even worse happened, I saw Draco Malfoy; which meant he was in this class.

The door opened and Slughorn let everyone enter. Surprisingly, the dungeon was filled with a wide variation of fumes. We all sat together at the four-seated table near the gold cauldron. The most attractive smell was floating from the liquid within it. It reminded me of freshly picked strawberries, burning wood, sharpies, and one of my dad's t-shirts. The incredible scent consumed me completely and made feel happy and dazed, maybe almost loving. And whatever it was, it was working on everyone at our table. Harry and Ron both looked like they were on drugs.

"Now then, now then, now then," Slughorn started, "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making..."

"Sir," Harry raised his hand.

"Harry, m'boy?"

"I haven't got a book or scales or anything - nor's Ron - we didn't realize we'd be able to do the N.E.W.T., you see -"

"Ah, yes, Professor McGonagall did mention..." Slughorn sighed, "not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I'm sure we can lend you some scales, and we've got a small stock of old books here, they'll do until you can write to Flourish and Blotts..."

Slughorn handed them the materials they needed, including two extremely battered and aging books and old, tarnished scales. At least they don't have to keep them forever.

"Now then," Slughorn continued, "I've prepared a few potions for you to look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of things you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of 'em, even if you haven't made 'em yet." He then pointed to the cauldron near the table infested with Slytherins, and asked, "Anyone tell me what this one is?"

Hermione's hand instantly shot up in the air, as usual. Then Slughorn pointed at her for her to answer.

"It's Veritaserum," she answered, "a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Very good, very good!" Slughorn smiled, and then continued to the cauldron next to the Ravenclaw table. "Now, this one here is pretty well known...Featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too...Who can-?"

Hermione's hand was already in the air.

"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir," she said.

Harry grimaced when he saw the substance in the cauldron. It was gray and mud-like, rather foul looking. I already knew he had an unsightly experience with that potion. As amusing as it is, it's also gross.

"Excellent," he said. "Now this one here...yes, my dear?" Slughorn pointed to Hermione, again.

"It's Amortentia!"

"It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask, but I assume you know what it does?"
"It's the most powerful love potion in the world."
That was a dumb question. Of course she knew.

"Quite right!" Slughorn said, "You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," Hermione intellectually stated, "and it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mowed grass and new parchment and-"

She stopped herself from finishing her sentence and turned slightly pink. I quietly giggled and playfully glared at me.

"May I ask your name, my dear?" Slughorn asked.

"Hermione Granger," she said.

"Granger? Granger? Can you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

"No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born, you see."

I noticed Malfoy whisper something to another Slytherin, causing them to snigger. I then had the greatest urge to shoot my quill square between his eyes. Where's Aaralyn when you need her? I was too busy glaring at the Slytherin table to notice that Slughorn had asked me something.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"I asked you if you were a Metamorphmagus," he repeated.

"Oh, no, sir," I said, "This is my actual hair. Well - not natural, it just doesn't change color."

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Rosaline Moriali," I said.

"I'm familiar with any Morialis in the wizarding world," he said.

"I'd be surprised if you were," I said, "I'm a Muggle-born as well."

I had expected Malfoy to make another sneer comment to his friends, but he didn't. He just sat there and stared out the window; odd. I didn't care honestly. Anyway, we continued our class. We were to make the Draught of Living Death, which was very difficult. And surprisingly, Harry managed to get it done. He said it was a lucky guess, but it didn't look like he was following the actual directions. The book never said crush sopophorous bean.