A/N: You're never going to believe how sorry I am for such a dreadfully long wait. I actually had started writing this chapter but it all of a sudden DISAPPEARED. It was blank. And I was like, "What the fuuuuuuuuuuck?" I literally screamed. I wanted to murder my dinosaur of a laptop. And then even worse, my O key broke. And don't think perverted like you dirty people, I'm actually talking about the O key on my keyboard. My idiot friend yanked it off (but I still love her). Soooo anyways, R&R! Hope you guys love it!

I opened my eyes and everything is in black and white. And I'm serious, not a single thing was in color. White clouds stretched across the off-white sky; the grass was dark gray; I raised my hand in front of me and gazed curiously at my light gray skin. I looked ahead and saw a narrow path stretch in front of me.

Without realizing it, I started walking forward. Further and further done the path I went. So far, nothing was to be seen; all except for charcoal trees that gracefully yet mysteriously swayed in the silent wind. What was the point of walking? Apparently my legs thought otherwise, because they continued to move forward. It was as if they had a mind of their own.

Suddenly a house appeared at the end of the path. It was odd though; it didn't appear from behind a hill or from behind a patch of trees, it just popped out of nowhere. From the looks of the outside of it, it seemed abandoned. All of the windows were broken and had black shutters dangling from their rusty hindges. The creme colored paint had already started pealing from wood. Just looking at the house caused a disturbing chill to run up and down my spine. I didn't want to go in, but for some reason I was walking up the porch steps to open the front door.

The wood creaked with age as I walked up each step. The wood of the door was splintered and cracked; it looked like it would collapse with a single touch. I noticed it was slightly opened. With a small tap, the door swung open. Dark shadows swarmed the inside with the dust and smell of age. I walked in cautiously, looking suspiciously at every corner that was in my sight.

A hallway stood before me. At the end of it was a door. Light spilled out from where it was slightly opened. I walked down the hall, slowly inching closer and closer to the door. Once I reached it, I had trouble deciding whether to go in or not; but I did anyway. It was a bright, white kitchen...and it was covered in blood. I knew it was blood, because where it was splattered, it was bright red. It was everywhere; on the counter, the table, the floor, the cabinets, everywhere. It flowed on the tiled floor in rivers with occasional puddles from where it dripped from the edge of the table. I felt nauseous from looking at it. Fear rattled bone-deep within me. That was when I heard a growl.

It was low, deep, and strained; it almost reminded me of a monster in pain. The growl was coming from somewhere in the room. It wasn't long until I realized it was from under the table. I was too scared to look underneath it to see what was there, but that source of the growl sadly made it easier for me. A rotting, fleshy, pealing arm flung out from under the table and grabbed onto my ankle. I screamed and managed to pull away from its grasp.

I ran towards the end of the hall and started to pull the door opened, but it was locked. I tugged and twisted the doorknob but it still wouldn't budge. My fear increased along with my heartbeat. The uneven beat of footsteps started to echo in the house, the monster was coming closer. The growl became louder, with more anger and hunger. I wanted to escape, I wanted to get the hell out of here, but it was too late. I was going to die here.

The monster was right behind me. Its foul breath hit my skin, making the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A pair of grotesque, bony hands gripped onto my arms. I screamed loudly and shut my eyes tightly. I just hoped that whatever this thing, this beast was going to do to me would be over quick. I wanted to die and die soon.

"Wake up!" a deep, demonic voice yelled at me.

I didn't respond. I didn't open my eyes. I just kept screaming.

"Wake up!" it repeated, "Wake up!"

"Wake up, Aaralyn!" a softer, familiar voice then spoke.

I was still screaming, my eyes were still closed, and that voice was still yelling at me.

"Aaralyn, wake up!" it said again. I started to realize that I knew that voice. At that moment, my screaming stopped and I finally opened my eyes. George was standing over me, grasping onto my shoulders tightly. Sweat broke onto his forehead, worry was drowning in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I remained silent. I didn't want to bother him again with another nightmare. For the past four nights it had been nothing but nightmares. And after every nightmare, I woke up screaming. I couldn't go on like this. But I couldn't stop it, because I didn't know why this was happening. So how could I tell George that I was okay when I didn't even know what was wrong?

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Are you sure?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I'll just go back to sleep."

"You sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," I lied again.

"You don't need me to stay with you?" he asked.

"No," I said, lying back down.

George sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked back at me with the same expression he had when he first came in. My lying wasn't convincing him, but instead of confronting me about it, he just kissed my forehead and walked out of the room. Maybe he thought that I would hopefully fall asleep like I promised, but like I said before, I was lying.

So I didn't go back to sleep. I stayed curled up in my bed and gazed out the window. Several stars poked through the black clouds that surround the midnight sky. And slowly I watched the midnight sky turn into the pinks, oranges, yellows, purples and blues of dawn. The sun slowly rose from behind the buildings of Diagon Alley. The birds started to sing at the sign that it was morning. Soon everyone else would wake up, and not from the horrible nightmares that I have had to deal with every night.

Rosaline's POV

It seemed like I never had any free time anymore. Even Hagrid was assigning essays that had to be as long as my arm. Every free period I had, I was always doing homework. So here I was now, sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione, Harry, and Ron, working on our Potions assignment. Luckily I was almost finished with the assignment. Hermione was already finished and was already halfway through her Ancient Runes homework. Ron and, surprisingly, Harry were still struggling.

"Why is Slughorn making us write a 12-inch-essay?" Harry whined.

"Well, look at this, Hermione," I teased, "Harry Potter, Slughorn's top student, actually doesn't want to do the Potions homework."

"Huh, well fancy that," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Sod off," Harry mumbled.

"Come on, Harry," I giggled, "We're only joking. But seriously, how are passing this class without cheating off of Hermione?"

"I guess Slughorn is a better teacher," he shrugged.

"Not even," Ron said. "Even I don't think Slughorn is a better teacher."

"Ok, fine," Harry sighed. "The truth is, I've been getting help."

"You don't say?" I asked sarcastically.

"Do you want to hear this or not?" he frowned.

"Ok, ok," I said, "Continue."

"It's the textbook."

"As in, your actually reading it this year?" I asked.

"No," Harry glared at me. "The previous owner left edits and answers in the margins."

"So you have been cheating," Ron said.

"Not exactly," Harry said. "But that's basically why I'm passing this class."

He pulled out his second-hand book. He flipped through the pages, showing us the ink scratched into the margins, just like he said.

"Do you know who the last owner was?" Hermione asked.

"No idea," he shrugged, "It's says 'Property of the Half-Blood Prince,' but that's it. Look, here are directions for this one spell that looks like he made up himself."

"Or herself," Hermione said irritably. "It might have been a girl. I think the handwriting looks more like a girl's than a boy's."

"He was called the Half-Blood Prince," Harry said. "How many girls have been Princes?"

Hermione didn't dignify his question with a response. She just continued writing the last sentences of her Ancient Runes essay and then let the ink dry. Harry than looked at his watch and hurriedly put the old book back into his bag.

"It's five to eight, I'd better go, I'll be late for Dumbledore."

"Oh!" Hermione gasped excitedly. "Good luck! We'll wait up, we want to hear what he teaches you!"

"Hope it goes okay," Ron said, then we watched Harry exit through the portrait hole.

"What do you think he'll teach him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Maybe he'll teach him all of his tricks of being a great wizard."

"Maybe he'll teach him how to manipulate others," Ron said. "You know, kinda like how Aaralyn does it. That would be so cool."

"Oh, that reminds me," I gasped. I pulled out a piece of parchment and started to write. "I need to write a letter to Aaralyn."

"Tell her we say hi," Ron said.

"Tell her I said I'm still wishing she didn't drop out of Hogwarts," Hermione sighed.

"Oh, and tell her that Snape is the Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher this year," Ron added. "And that Harry has book owned by the Half-Blood Prince. And -"

"Hold your damn horses," I interrupted. "Can you just let me write?"

"Sorry," Ron said.

I sighed and continued to write.

I was walking towards the Ravenclaw common room, when I saw a Ravenclaw first year getting bullied by whoelse but Draco Malfoy. I groaned inwardly; could my day be any worse? Well now was the time to live up to my promise to Aaralyn.

"Seriously, Malfoy?" I asked, making them stop.

"Well if it isn't, Moriali," Malfoy smirked.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way," I shrugged. "You could just come out and say it and all of your troubles will go away."

"What are you talking about?" he frowned.

"You know what," I smirked.

"What?" he asked.

"Your in the closet," I said, "Which explains all of your anger. But don't worry, just because your gay, it doesn't mean that your not human. You don't have to bottle things up. It's unhealthy."

Crabbe, Goyle, and the first year Ravenclaw all started to chuckle. Malfoy stared at me with wide eyes and disbelief.

"Shut up!" he said towards them. He then turned back to me. "I'm not gay!"

"Right," I said sarcastically.

"I'm not," he glared.

"Then explain why you never have a girlfriend," I said. "Oh wait, I can explain that for you: NO ONE LIKES YOU. You know what, maybe you really aren't gay."

I then stared to walk away.

"Hold it right there, Moriali," Malfoy spat.

I turned around to find him right of me. His cold, gray eyes burned into mine. No one could probably see this, but I was a little scared. I didn't have Aaralyn's courage or her cleverness. I didn't know how to get out of this situation.

"Take it back," he growled.

I gulped deeply, swallowing down the thick, lump that was clogging my throat with fear.

"No," I said.

"No?" he repeated.

"Yeah, no," I said. "As in the opposite of yes."

He glared at me even more. And when I thought the worst was going to happen, he just walked past me. He didn't say anything, no response. He just...left. What the hell? But I did feel a slight relief from it. I turned back to see the first year Ravenclaw staring at me with amazement.

"That was epic!" he said.

I giggled slightly. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"Alibastor," he said. "But my friends call me Bas."

"I'm Rosaline," I smiled.

"Do you know how to get to the Ravenclaw common room from here?" he asked.

"Sure," I said. "I'll walk you there."

"Thanks," Bas smiled, showing his braces. He must have been a muggle-born.

"So where are you from?" I asked.

"Israel," he said. "They don't wizarding schools there. Where are you from"

"America orginally," I said, "But I grew up in Hong-Kong."

"You've been to China?" Bas gasped. "Lucky!"

I laughed lightly. I could already see the budding of a new friendship.

It was still morning when the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs were held. Hermione, Bas, and I were sitting together in the stands of the Quidditch pitch. There was still a morning mist in the air. As expected, the trials took up most of the morning. It looked like half of the Gryffindor House was on the field.

"I wish I could try out," Bas sighed.

"Can't you try out for Ravenclaw?" I asked.

"But Harry Potter isn't on that team," he said. "Come on, it's Harry-freakin'-Potter!"

Hermione and I started to laugh. Bas seemed to humor me every day.

"Where did you say you met this boy?" Hermione whispered.

Harry started the try-outs with some basic tests. The first five groups that tried out were terrible. And they weren't even in the Gryffindor house. Finally Harry got frustrated.

"If there's anyone else here who's not from Gryffindor, leave now please!" he roared.

Immediately several Ravenclaw first year girls left the stands giggling madly. Hermione, Bas, and I started to roll our eyes in annoyance. But lucky Hermione doesn't have to hear them giggling even more about it the common room.

After two hours of watching the try-outs, Harry finally got three Chasers; Katie Bell, Demelza Robins, and Ginny. Ginny was surprisingly really talented. She outflew everyone and scored seventeen goals. Finding Beaters was difficult since Fred and George were now gone. But he did get some decent choices; Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote.

Now it was time for Keepers to try out. We were all nervous for Ron to get in. Even Harry had a small bit of hope that Ron would do the best. I especially didn't want Cocky Cormac McLaggen to be the Keeper; mostly because I just didn't like him. Fourth year, he called me a neon alley-rat. So in return, Aaralyn helped me dye his hair neon green, which lasted a whole week. Ever since, we've always passed each other in the halls with glares and shoves.

Unfortunately Cormac's try-out wasn't that bad. He blocked 4 out of 5 goals. Oddly, on the fifth one, he went completely the other direction which caused the crowd to boo and laugh. Even I had a good share of chuckles. I especially loved it when he flew back to the ground angry, grinding his teeth and muttering to himself.

Then it's was Ron's turn. He shot up into the air on his Cleansweep Eleven. Someone in the crowd shouted "Good luck!"; it was Lavender Brown. She smiled brightly at him and then hid her face shyly in her gloved hands. Since when did she have the hots for Ron? Yeah, I said "have the hots", so sue me. Surprisingly, Ron blocked them all. Five in a row! The whole crowd started to cheer. Ron was going to be Keeper. McLaggen was red as a tomato.

"His sister didn't really try," McLaggen said. "She gave him an easy save."

"Rubbish," Harry said coldly. "That was the one he nearly missed."

"Give me another go," McLaggen ordered.

"No," Harry said. "You've had your go. You saved four. Ron saved five. Ron's Keeper, he won it fair and square. Get out of my way."

McLaggen then stormed off. Bas and I snickered madly. Sucks for him. Hermione jumped up from her seat and ran over to run.

"You did brilliantly, Ron!" she said.

"I thought I was going to miss that fourth penalty," Ron said happily. "Tricky shot from Demelza, did you see, had a bit of a spin on it -"

"Yes, yes, you were magnificent," Hermione said, looking amused.

"So are we heading back to the common room?" I asked. "Maybe have a victory party for Ron?"

"Ron, Hermione, and I are going to visit Hagrid," Harry said.

"Alright, well Bas and I are gonna head back," I said. "We'll see you guys later."

We walked back to the school before classes started. Luckily I had a free period for my first class. We walked to the common room to see the same Ravenclaw first year girls crowding around the entrance. They probably couldn't get the password right. One of them saw Bas and sighed in relief.

"Bas, you better know the answer to this riddle," she sighed.

"Oh, you know I do, girlfriend!" Bas said fake sassy-like.

Bas faced the golden raven head hanging on the wall.

"An apple begins with me and age too," the raven said. "I am in the midst of a man and foremost in every apprehension. You will find me in everyday and see me in all Autumns. It's a pity that you cannot see me in the air and yet it's so wonderful to be a part of the great Atlantic ocean! Guess what am I?"

"The letter A," Bas shrugged.

"Correct," the raven said. And then the entrance opened.

"Oooooooh," all the Ravenclaw girls said in realization.

"Seriously?" Bas asked. "How could you not get that? Y'all so duuuuuuumb." He then snapped his fingers in a sassy, ghetto way, which made me loose it. I busted out laughing and walked into the common room almost crying. Aaralyn is definitely missing out on the world's best first year.