Congrats to Ava B and Sgdp1261 for getting the reference last chapter to Emaya in the pilot: "Does the big jock care if I smoke a little weed?" That's so Maya, am I right?

You all seemed pretty happy about the two chapters. I'm happy to deliver! My brain is still mush after that finale, so sorry if I accidentally snap at any of you or anything like that. Just know that it's all out of love XD Now for your reviews:

Mia: Well, as you just saw, Lily has a bit of a significant role. She's an 'A' suspect in Emily's mind and in Paige's (even if Paige doesn't even know about 'A' yet). But the boys are kind of just guest stars. You're gonna see more of the other characters, though! It's just easier to use characters like McGonagall and Pomphrey, who are actually developed after 7 books and have easily writable personalities.
TotalCowGirl: Oh, me too! I'm a Haleb shipper at heart, but you can't help but feel for poor little Lucas. His balls are as blue as the sky by now! Thanks for the review :)
Sarah: Hanna's got a lot going on, this is true. And haha, that description of Lucas as a puppy is way too accurate! He even kinda LOOKS like a puppy, too! And oh man... that reveal crushed/excited me, but what shocked me the most is how ATTRACTIVE Ezra looks in all black! Like, who does that? WHO?! All of the A-team characters became more attractive when they were fully converted A members, though. But I mean, who doesn't look good in black? ;) And I know, it really doesn't seem like she has parents... when we see them, my jaw is gonna DROP. How much do you wanna bet she was conceived by Zeus and Aphrodite? Seems appropriate since she's GOD. Thanks again for the awesome review!
Sgdp1261: I'm still so hysterical. I'm texting my friends/anyone who will listen to me, and I haven't once not texted in all caps. I'm such a wreck. I KNOW! I've had my suspicions of BOTH of them, but I never thought they'd come TRUE! ESPECIALLY so early. Nevertheless, I hope the writers don't pull a Toby. If this is the storyline they're going with, I hope it sticks. It's interesting! And dude, so many people guessed that it was Ezra all along, some even from season 1! Incredible.
And haha, let's just say Paige is not exactly happy about Maya's return... and you're not alone in that, sweetheart. I'm rewatching ALL of their cutest moments. It's torture. Absolute torture. And reading this chapter might be a little torturous, too, but he's not bad in this story (that you know of... ;))
CalebAndHannaForever: I'm just here to let you know that this is my story and I can do what I want? ;) You do sound a lot like a psychopath, but I'll forgive you since you're reviewing my story :) No worries! There is Haleb to come, and it's gonna knock your socks off, I PROMISE!
WideOpenSpacesGirl045: Haha, I'm really not, it was just conveniently written beforehand. Also, I can't leave you all waiting! That's not nice. And yeah, Haleb is my favorite, too, which is why you're going to get a VERY cute chapter with them very shortly ;) And I KNOW! Especially after Tuesday, I cannot wait until the Halloween episode.
Goldenheart11: I mean, I'm an Ezria shipper, and even
I was suspicious of him. Nevertheless, I never thought the writers would have the guts to go through with it! I'm really excited, though. Heartbroken, but excited. This is gonna make for one hell of a storyline. And I know, they BETTER not pull a Toby, I'll be so very mad. I think the writers know that that's what's gonna happen, because they keep saying "It's not gonna be like last time, we promise!" If they're lying... And you're gonna find out what's going through Hanna's mind in a few chapters! And yep, Maya's back! Buckle your seatbelts, cuz you are in for a RIDE!
PrettyWitchyVamp: My. Emotions. EXACTLY! I really hope this isn't the writers faking us out, because this storyline excites me so much. And when I saw the suits, and Hanna goes, "Is A a guy?" I immediately went to Ezra. Who else could it be? They already did Toby, and Caleb is just fucking CALEB! And I noticed that about Aria, too. I have to give props to Lucy on that. You could literally see the cogs turning in her head, especially when she wandered away from the group to look at the other billboards. You could see her putting the pieces together, and then being in denial, like, "No. It
can't be." And then she was on edge for the rest of the night: with Mrs. Grunwald, with crashing the party... poor thing :( And yes, if Caleb finds out, it's not gonna be pretty. I think I can say with confidence that yes, Caleb WILL find out. If I'm writing about the kiss, obviously I'm gonna do something with it, right? Whether he's gonna react calmly or blow up, that's for you to keep reading ;) thanks once again for your lovely reviews! Yes it's gonna cause trouble, and YES this chapter is Ezria-centric. Apologies! It's cute, though, but it's just... all a lie. All of it. MY HEART!
Titanium Wolf: Well hopefully the last chapter wasn't too lackluster! And this next chapter
definitely won't be :)
Ava B: Lucas made his move! About time, right? And yes, look up his performance. He killed it ;D love me some Bruno! And of course! I remember you liked them (well, I remember
someone liked them, and now I confirmed that that was you), so I put that in as a little shoutout ;) thanks again for your lovely reviews! Keep it up!
Bagilia: Well, good to hear you LIKE me! And yes, get some popcorn, because it's gonna heat up in here really fast. These next few chapters are some of my favorites, so you are in for a RIDE. And someone's going to talk to Myrtle! Much later, though. Something's going to happen to make the girls crack, and Myrtle will be their only hope. How's THAT for a teaser? And oh my gosh, that swivel chair comment made me DIE! So dramatic, so Slytherin.

Okay... I just want you all to prepare yourself for this chapter... I wrote it before the finale. Like, WAY before. It's very sweet, but it's probably gonna make some of you emotional after what went down on Tuesday. I know it's making ME emotional ;( but anyway, I still really hope you enjoy. AND that you review your faces off, because it just makes me so happy when you do!


Aria padded softly down the corridor, her Invisibility Cloak concealing her small frame from sight. She held it up and over her as she continued walking, trying to take shallow breaths as she looked left and right. It was late at night, and if she ever got caught, she'd be dead meat, for more reasons than one.

Finally, she rounded a corner, reaching the destination she had in mind. It was a secluded area in the castle, closed off from the main corridors. It was safe now for her to rip off her cloak.

As she revealed herself, a dark male figure came out from behind a large stone pillar, a hood up and over his head to hide his face. He slowly lifted his head like a marionette, each vertebra stacking on top of each other as he revealed his face to Aria, taking off his hood as he flashed his famous boyish grin.

Aria broke into a wide smile as she raced forward, leaping into Ezra's arms. Ezra caught her, wrapping his arms around her as he spun her, before stopping mid spin to lock her into a long, passionate kiss, which she gratefully leaned into as well. After a minute, they finally broke apart, and he set her down gently on the ground.

He looked at her adoringly, love swimming in his blue eyes. "It's been way too long."

"I'll take the blame for that," Aria said sheepishly as she walked over to one of the stone pillars, only to slide down it into a sitting position with Ezra joining her. "I've had way too much going on lately."

Ezra bowed his head as he took her hand in his. "I'm so sorry that Mike isn't getting better, Aria."

Aria just shook her head at this. "We don't need to talk about that," she said softly. She didn't know what they'd talk about in place of that, since it had been the only thing on her mind for weeks, but she would leave the substance of the conversation to Ezra.

"Of course not," he said understandingly as he held her hand up to his lips to give it a calming kiss. "We can talk about the Halloween ball coming up! I'll be going to it, too."

"You will?" Aria's eyes lit up. "That's great! What will you be going as?"

"It's a surprise," Ezra said coyly as he put a finger to her lips. Aria playfully smacked his hand away. "C'mon, Ezra, just tell me!"

"Nope!" he said finally. "Besides, if I tell you, I know you're going to subconsciously try to match our costumes. Do you know how many eyebrows that would raise?"

Aria thought about this, and then slouched defeatedly. "I guess you're right," she said with a sigh, but then perked up again. "But that doesn't matter to me. As long as I get to see you there."

Ezra broke into a smile as he leaned in to kiss Aria again. For the first time, Aria was finally able to take her mind off of everything going on around her, and it felt so nice.

But there was still something tugging at the back of her brain, and she knew it wasn't a good time to bring it up, but there was no other way. In the middle of the kiss, she halted. Ezra, noticing, pulled back. "Why'd you stop?"

Aria paused, trying to find her words, but her usually quick tongue was failing her tonight. Yet somewhere along the way, she had regained the feeling in her tongue, and managed to form her next words. "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ezra blinked, slightly taken aback by her question. "The Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yeah," Aria continued, feeling a little more confident in her approach. "Wasn't it part of the curriculum you had to study when you applied for a teaching position?"

"It was," Ezra said warily, unsure of where Aria was going with this. He then thought back to his conversation with McGonagall the other day, and his jaw slackened as he snapped his fingers at the realization. "That was you who was eavesdropping?"

"I was not eavesdropping!" Aria said defensively. "I came to see you, but McGonagall was in your classroom, so I waited patiently outside!"

"Right, patiently," Ezra teased, only to earn a powerful, yet playful, punch in the arm from Aria. Ezra winced as he rubbed his arm, surprised at Aria's strength. But then he thought more about what Aria was asking, and turned to her to look at her more closely. "Why do you want to know?"

Aria chewed on her bottom lip, afraid to respond. She didn't want Ezra to get involved in what was going on, especially seeing how Caleb even getting close to figuring it out was affecting his relationship with Hanna, yet she needed to get information out of Ezra for the girls. She hated using him like this, but it had to be done.

When Aria didn't respond, Ezra took it as his cue to intervene. "Is this about Mike?"

That caught Aria's attention. "Why would it have anything to do with Mike? Could it be the reason he's not waking up?"

Ezra thought about this for a minute, before standing up from the ground. He walked over to the stone pillar near the entrance to their hiding spot, peeked around it to make sure that absolutely no one was around the corner, before turning back to Aria. "That's what McGonagall thinks."

"What?" Aria whispered hastily as she scrambled to her feet. "What did she say?"

"There's something you need to know first," Ezra whispered back as he walked toward her. "A while ago, before you and even I were students here, the teaching staff made the decision not to teach about the Chamber of Secrets in History of Magic, or in any course."

"How come?" Aria asked.

"Because McGonagall and past headmasters didn't want students feeling that Hogwarts was once an unsafe environment," Ezra said sadly.

"But that doesn't make sense," Aria said, confused. "We know about the Battle of Hogwarts, and that proved that Hogwarts has the potential to be unsafe."

"Ever notice that we never learned that in school?" Ezra pointed out, giving her a knowing look. "Our parents just told us about it, or in your case you'd probably heard around."

"Yeah, I did," Aria mumbled. "But... what even is the Chamber of Secrets?"

"The Chamber was made when Hogwarts was first founded," Ezra explained. "Salazar Slytherin wanted the student body to be strictly pure blooded, but the others disagreed. So he built the Chamber of Secrets, where he kept a Basilisk, whose sole purpose was to purge the school of all muggle-borns."

Aria could feel her skin start to crawl. "So Mike was petrified because he - "

"No!" Ezra interrupted. "At least, I don't think so. There's a couple flaws in McGonagall's logic."

"Flaws?"

"It can't have to do with the fact that he's muggle born," Ezra said reasonably. "Scorpius Malfoy got petrified as well, and both of his parents are wizards."

"Then why did he get petrified?"

"McGonagall doesn't know," Ezra said with a shrug as he sat down on one of the stone kiosks nearby. Aria joined him as he kept talking. "She also doesn't know how."

"How?"

"Aria, the petrifaction is a result of looking the Basilisk in the face," Ezra whispered, and Aria could pinpoint a hint of fear in his voice. "Not directly, because that results in death. But through the reflection in a mirror, a puddle, whatever."

"So is that what Mike did?"

Ezra avoided Aria's gaze when she said this, clearly holding back on something, and Aria could easily tell. "Ezra, please."

"It's unlikely," he said quietly, "because the Basilisk was killed nearly 30 years ago when the Chamber was opened again."

"What?!" Aria widened her eyes in fear. "But that's not - "

"Possible?" Ezra finished, turning back to her now as he raised his eyebrows. "I know. Which is why McGonagall is confused. Clearly the Chamber has been opened based on the message on the wall yesterday, but it should be ineffective."

Aria let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. She felt like everything that was going on - Mike, the Chamber of Secrets, and those "A" fangs - was somehow connected, but there was still so much that didn't make sense.

"Aria, are you okay?" Ezra asked worriedly. "You look kind of pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, brushing off his comment by waving her hand through the air. She then scooted closer to him on the kiosk. "Besides, I'm the one who didn't wanna talk about it. This is about just us now."

She then pressed her lips against his, and he complied for a while, but the kiss felt off. Forced. Aria was clearly very tense, and he could tell just by her mannerisms. Slowly, gradually, he pulled away.

"Ezra..." she complained.

"Aria, we can do this another time," he offered up warmly.

"But when do we ever have time anymore? I want to spend time with you while I still have it."

"We will have it," Ezra reassured, looking her in the eyes as he kissed her chastely on the lips one last time. "I promise you, I will not let anything happen to you. Whatever happens, you'll be safe as long as I see to it."

"How?" she asked timidly.

"I just will," he said determinedly. He then stood up, and offered her his hand for her to stand up as well. "I'll be on the lookout, and if I think anything will hurt you, I'll stop it."

Well something is hurting me right now, Aria thought morbidly, but didn't say out loud. She already felt skittish about Ezra pledging to protect her while he didn't know about the fangs; if he knew, she couldn't even imagine the danger it'd put him in.

But she didn't tell him this. Instead, she stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you."

Once she was back on her feet, she turned around and started to walk away.

"Aria?"

Aria spun around to face her blue-eyed soulmate once more. "Yes?"

"The Halloween ball," he said simply, putting his hands into the pockets of his robes, an old habit of his. "Meet me here. We'll be away from everyone, but not far enough away that we can't hear the music."

"What are you saying?" Aria asked, unable to help the smile that was creeping up on her face. She was able to get a good idea of what he was talking about.

He just flashed another charming smile; the one he knew made her go weak at the knees. "I'm saying I think it's about time for our first dance."

Her smile just kept growing and growing. "Does midnight work for you?"

"You always were a fan of those well plotted love stories," he teased, taking step toward her. Aria rolled her eyes; at this rate, they'd be here all night.

"There's always just been something so romantic about midnight," she said dreamily as he continued to walk toward her. "I would know from all those sappy muggle movies my mother made me watch with her."

"Please, I know you," Ezra snorted, now an inch away from Aria's face. "You probably loved all those sappy muggle movies."

Aria moved in even closer. "Every single one," she whispered sexily as she kissed him one more time. He smiled into the kiss, before pulling away. "Midnight it is."

She reached up to ruffle his hair lovingly before finally draping the Invisibility Cloak back around her and exiting the secluded hall, with a much lighter heart than she had first entering the hall.

However, her light heart skipped a beat when she had exited the hall completely; in her peripheral vision, she saw a tall, dark figure walking toward her. Forgetting for a second that she was wearing her Invisibility Cloak, she darted behind a pillar, making sure she was well hidden, as the figure walked past. She couldn't make out who it was in the darkness, until they lifted their hood and looked to their right, straight in her direction. His long, brown hair came into view, as did his concerned brown eyes and his chiseled cheekbones.

It was Caleb.


Side Note: So thanks to the wonderfulness that IS Ezra Fitz (*tear*), Aria now knows about the Chamber. And now it looks like all of the spouses are aware that SOMETHING is going on with the girls, and are vouching to protect their loved ones. And there's no way Aria is passing up a slow dance at midnight; she's ARIA. And this is EZRIA. At least, the Ezria that ISN'T a fucking lie... But yeah. Dancing. It's basically a must at this point! Also, what is CALEB up to? So many questions. So many ANSWERS next chapter!