Man, y'all reviewed your FACES off for the last chapter! And congrats to Spobyistruelove, Ally, and Bagilia for getting the reference last chapter!

"Spencer, I know who you are. You don't ever have to say you're sorry." A Spoby scene from 3x12, back when he was sweet adorable Toby and we DIDN'T know he was A and "The Backpack Song" started playing in the background and they hugged/kissed and she touched his chin and laughed and it's all too perfect. FEEELLLLSSSSSS!

Ahem. Okay, now for your lovely reviews:

TotalCowGirl: You will find out this chapter what happened to her, and then you'll find out the reason much later! Thank you for sticking with me :)
Silver-Infinite: It's a very Nate thing for him to do, isn't it? Ugh, I couldn't STAND that guy!
Sarah: Ezra is basically a little puppy dog. WHO IS THAT ATTRACTIVE AND ADORABLE?! And it's always a good day when the Liars put on their sleuthing hats. And I'm gonna slip in a small teaser for you: coming up in this story, you won't just see the LIARS with their sleuthing hats on, but EVERYONE with their sleuthing hats on! And your description of Spencer's wardrobe made me DIE, so accurate and hilarious. Don't forget Country Bumpkin meets Audrey Hepburn! And heh, sorry about Maya :/ you'll find out soon, though! Thank you for being so fab in your reviews, I appreciate it/look forward to it more than you know!
Forever Courage: Indeed, Maya has bitten the dust. And interesting that you thought Aria was going to be petrified. As much of a twist as that would've been, I couldn't. This story wouldn't survive without everyone's favorite bug-eyed pixie! And A could be anyone. Keep your eyes open! ;)
Ayoungnovelist: HAHAHA, truer words have never been spoken.
Sgdp1261: Don't feel bad about missing a chapter! I won't hold it against you. And haha, everyone seems to love that line! Alright, I'll go along with it. And well, then I guess I can say "GOTCHA!" As much as I didn't want Maya to go, it is significant to this story :( And indeed, no one is safe at Hogwarts at the moment. NO ONE! And yes, you can expect MAJOR sleuthing coming up, so hold onto your socks!
Spobyistruelove: I hope Myrtle tells the girls, too! She holds some valuable information, but she's just too damn stubborn! Thanks for your review :)
Titanium Wolf: Haha, no worries, I'm used to it by now. And I'm gonna be honest, after this next chapter I'm gonna get a LOT of comments like that...
Ally: I love them as a couple, too! Well, excluding season 4, that is. And aww, thank you so much! I love writing for your reading pleasure :)
foreverawildandbeautifulmess: Glad you liked the Spoby moment! And I love writing for Spezra because Ezra is just this adorable little Hufflepuff that can't handle Spencer's intensity, no matter how hard he tries. It's entertaining :) Thanks again for your fabulous reviews!
Ava B: I was so surprised, too! It's my favorite movie. And Harry is unaware at the moment. The staff is refusing to send out information to any parents because they want to look like they're handling it. And Harry really does have the worst luck, doesn't he?
hufflepuffhaleb: You'll see! And hmm, I hadn't written for the Yule Ball, but maybe I'll add that in at some point! That's a good idea :) And me? A genius? NAH! Haha, but thank you so much, your reviews mean the world to me! XD
PrettyWitchyVamp: I remember when I used to like Toby, too! Good times, man, good times. And haha, bad move Fitz. He just doesn't know how to handle Spencer! Then again, who does? (Aria. Aria does. Because Team Sparia. DUH.)
Bagilia: I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR CAPS! Haha, yes, I was surprised you missed that reference! I thought EVERYONE would get it! And haha, my friends either call me a pygmy tarsier or a bush baby because of my large eyes (another nickname. Looks like I forgot that one haha) so I felt the need to include that somewhere in this story! And you can't just TEACH someone Parseltongue! Harry didn't even know he was speaking it! And I believe I might've fit in a cameo from them at some point during this story ;) you just need to stay with me!

Alright, before I start this chapter, I want to apologize, because it is my LEAST favorite chapter in this entire story. Some of you WILL want to do bad things to me after this, but I am begging you to 1) Not, because I don't like bad things happening to me, and 2) STAY WITH ME! It'll get better, I promise!


Maya was sprawled across the ground, a hunted look in her now glassy eyes and her wand on the floor directly beside her. When the girls heard Emily scream, they, along with the rest of the student body, came running, and found Emily sobbing over Maya's now unconscious body.

Spencer was now holding on tightly to Emily as her body shook with sobs, and Madam Pomfrey began yet another examination on yet another student.

"It's okay, Em," Spencer whispered soothingly as she, Hanna, and Aria all rubbed calming circles on Emily's back, trying to comfort her, while also wondering what the hell happened.

"I finished the dance, but I was w-w-worried about Maya going off on her own," Emily explained, stuttering. "I mean she was drunk! I couldn't just leave her."

"And then what?" Hanna asked softly.

Emily let out a shaky breath as she buried her head into Spencer's shoulder. "I came out here looking for her, and... and..."

Aria's eyes widened, shining with sadness, as well as understanding. "Emily, I'm so sorry."

Emily just continued to cry while they took Maya away to the Infirmary, and as more and more students started crowding around the scene of the crime. The girls continued to comfort Emily, who was a basket case by this point, but suddenly Hanna stopped rubbing her back. Instead, she started tapping Emily repeatedly to get her attention.

Confused, Emily sat up, and Hanna pointed ahead.

Standing before the four girls was a very hurt Paige McCullers.

Emily froze. "Paige..."

But Paige didn't want to hear it. She bowed her head, tears steadily filling her eyes, as she darted off in a different direction. Emily immediately shot out of Spencer's arms to go after Paige, pushing her way through the crowd of people to get to her.

Hanna looked unsurely at the other two. "Should we..."

"No." Aria shook her head. "It's her relationship, we should let her deal with it."

Spencer nodded her head in agreement, until she saw Wren start walking toward her.

"Umm I'll be right back you guys," she said as she stood up to go talk to him.

"I was hoping I'd run into you," Wren said as soon as Spencer had reached him. They both walked over to the side of the corridor.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"We still don't know," he said, shaking his head in shame. "Obviously these all have something to do with the Chamber, but we can't figure out what. After all, the Basilisk is dead. It just doesn't make sense."

Spencer crossed her arms protectively over herself. She did not like the sound of anything that was spewing out of his mouth. Wren reached for her arm.

"Moving on to something similar: you asked me about fangs earlier," he said inquisitively. "I've been meaning to ask you... why would you ask me that?"

Spencer opened her mouth to answer, but immediately found that she couldn't. Wren squeezed her arm gently, and she looked up into his brown eyes to see a world of care and concern in them. "Spencer, is someone harassing you with fangs of some sort?"

Spencer gulped. "Umm..."

"If they are, you can tell me," he said earnestly. "For one, we can figure out if these fangs do lead to some sort of beast, and go from there on what is causing these falling stars. And also..." He then bowed his head. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"But... you don't even know me," Spencer said in confusion.

"I know enough," Wren said as he stepped forward. "You can trust me, Spencer."

Maybe it was the loving way he was looking at her, or maybe it was someone approaching her with open arms, but Spencer finally cracked. A lone tear spilled down the frame of her face as she whispered, "I'm scared."

Wren's eyes widened in shock. "Hey, it's okay!" he said hastily as he wrapped her in a hug, and she continued to sob into his pirate costume.

"What's going on here?"

Spencer immediately shot out of Wren's arms. "Toby!"

"Hey, mate, how are you?" Wren said warily, reaching his arm backward to cup the back of his neck in unease.

Toby looked at the pair in suspicion. Spencer briskly walked over to Toby and linked arms with him, drying her eyes with her other hand. "Toby, this is Wren, the nurse who's working for Madam Pomfrey during this time. Wren, this is Toby... my boyfriend."

The way the light disappeared from Wren's eyes and his shoulders slumped ever so slightly told Toby enough.


"Paige, slow down!" Emily called as she stalked down the hall after her girlfriend, trying her hardest not to trip on her billowing cloak. "Paige!"

Finally, Paige slowed down to a stop before whipping around to face Emily, fury and sadness crystal clear in her brown eyes. "Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for me?"

"Paige - "

"I love you, Emily." She enunciated each word carefully, her tongue clicking against her teeth in anger and her body shaking vigorously. "You know that, I know that, the entire school knows that!"

"Paige - "

"And you know what else the entire school knows now?" Paige shouted. "They know that you don't love me back!"

Emily closed her eyes, several tears escaping them. "That's not true."

"Em, you broke down two seconds ago when your old girlfriend was found lying on the ground, unconscious!" Paige cried. "You clearly still have feelings for her!"

"I don't, Paige!" Emily said desperately. "I love you!"

"Could've fooled me," Paige spat, and the harshness in her tone was enough to make Emily flinch. Paige just shook her head. "Look, I get it, okay? She was your first. Those feelings just don't go away."

"I care about Maya, but I don't feel the same way about her that I feel about you."

"You're right," Paige deadpanned, and it was clear the her heart was breaking with the words she was about to say. "Your feelings for her are much greater."

With that, Paige dashed off, running down the hall as quickly as her legs would carry her, amazingly managing not to trip on her dementor cloak. Emily tried to catch up, but someone pulled on her arm, holding her back.

Emily whipped around. "Hanna, let go!" Emily growled, but Hanna wouldn't back down.

"It's no use, Emily," she said softly, trying to get through to her. "Just give her some space - "

"I said let go!" Emily snapped, finally pulling herself out of Hanna's grasp. Hanna stood back, blinking in surprise. Emily had hardly ever even raised her voice before; this was a huge step up.

Finally, Emily couldn't take it. All of her anger vanished as she collapsed in a heap on the floor, completely overwhelmed with the recent events. Hanna sighed sadly as she crouched down with Emily, holding her friend as she cried. She had just gotten Maya back, only to lose her again, and along with Maya she had lost Paige, the one she could count on through anything.

Hanna continued to hug Emily, calming her down. "I can't even imagine what you're going through - "

She didn't finish her sentence. Up ahead of her was a sight that rendered her speechless, and practically stopped all of the blood flow in her body.

Caleb was standing up ahead, a broken expression on his face as he held up an incriminating picture.

The picture was a close-up of Lucas and Hanna. Kissing.


"Toby, I can explain - "

"What's to explain, Spencer?" Toby scowled, turning around to face her. "For months now, I've felt like... I only exist in part of your life! And now it's all making sense."

"What's all making sense?"

"You and... that doctor," he spat. "There's something going on between you two, isn't there?"

"No, there's not!" Spencer pleaded. "He was just being nice! I'm going through a rough time, and - "

"If you were going through a rough time, why didn't you come to me?!" Toby shouted, and Spencer stopped dead in her tracks. She saw why this all looked bad; she didn't care about Wren in the same way she did Toby, which was why she didn't feel bad letting him in on what was going on.

But Toby didn't know that.

"More silence," Toby muttered. "Great."

"Toby, please," Spencer whispered hoarsely, not able to utter out another sound. "You just have to trust me."

"Trust you?" he echoed, his voice cracking. Clearly he'd done some crying of his own. "I did trust you; you were the one person I could trust, the one reason I thought I'd be okay in Slytherin, that I'd be okay in a house I didn't really belong in, because I had YOU!"

Spencer felt like she was going to throw up. She had given him hope, and then just promptly thrown it away. Just like that.

Toby bowed his head. "I can't help but feel like there's nothing left."

"There is, Toby, there is."

"No there's not," he said softly. "I'm... I'm done, Spencer."

Spencer's heart stopped. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Are you breaking up with me?" She forced the words out of her mouth as though she were trying to swallow something that didn't taste very good. Toby just raised his head as he turned away from her.

"You're not giving me much of a choice, are you?"


"What I don't understand is that you felt like you had to lie to me," Caleb spat, his voice cracking as tears met the front of his eyes. Hanna stepped back, at a loss for words. She had only seen Caleb cry a select few times before, and it had never had anything to do with her.

"Caleb, you don't understand - "

"Is this the REAL reason you've been so distant?" he asked, his brown eyes wide with plea. "Did it ever have anything to do with - "

"Caleb of COURSE it had to do with the fangs," Hanna interrupted. "Lucas had nothing to do with that!"

"Right." Caleb crumpled the picture in his hand into a small ball, and chucked it straight into the brick wall to his right. It hit the wall with a satisfying SMACK, and then scuttled down to the floor. "Lucas was just someone you thought you could kiss behind my back. Forget about the fact that I've been doing everything in my power to keep you safe, to check up on you, to keep our relationship going strong. Forget ALL of that!"

"Caleb..." Hanna could feel tears in her own eyes now. Emily was not far behind her, at the other end of the hall, watching this all take place. Hanna willed herself not to cry; she wouldn't let Emily see her like this. "You have to understand it meant nothing! He kissed ME!"

"I want to believe that," he said, his voice shaking as he took a step toward Hanna. "But the fact that you hid this from me... that doesn't reassure me."

"Please, just try to listen - "

"I have done nothing BUT listen, Hanna!" he shouted. "I've been nothing but patient with you these past 2 months, and for what? For you to treat me like this?!"

Hanna froze. As his words hit her, like someone flicking water on her after they'd just washed their hands, she winced. He was absolutely right. He was just trying to be a good boyfriend, and she had done nothing but push him away.

It didn't matter if she hadn't initiated the kiss. What mattered was how she treated Caleb. Kiss or no kiss, she had been a pretty bad girlfriend this entire time.

"I'm sorry," was the only thing she could think of to say, and the only thing she managed to squeak out of her mouth at the moment.

Caleb's face didn't soften. If anything it just hardened even further.

"Yeah," he whispered. "Me too." And with that, he walked away, as Hanna's tears finally broke free and Emily ran up to her to encase her in a hug as she fell to the ground, tears encompassing her entire frame.


After the scene where Maya was found had calmed down significantly and most people had either returned to the party or to their dorms, Aria was going somewhere completely different. She made her way down the corridor and turned the corner at the very end, into a not-too-well-known spot that held a special place in her heart. Once she walked past the stone pillar and into the dark, decrepit area, she found herself standing across from the person she expected to be standing across from. He was wearing a completely blank expression on his face, absent of all emotion.

It was 12:52.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Something came up, and - "

"Aria, I'm not mad at you for skipping out on me," Ezra said as he took off his ratty brown wig and held it in his hands. "I was there, too."

"Oh," Aria said, shocked. All this time she spent feeling horrible for nothing.

But then Ezra lowered his head. "I'm just upset that you lied to me."

"Lied to you?" Aria repeated. "What do you - "

"The Chamber of Secrets, Aria." Ezra's voice was sharp. Clearly this was killing him. "Did you know that Spencer took my books to study the Chamber?"

"She took books from you?" Aria was speechless. "She never told me that! I just thought she was using the books that I took from the restricted section."

Ezra's eyes widened, and Aria immediately realized her mistake. "You did what?"

Aria bit her tongue. "You weren't supposed to know that."

"Yeah, looks like there's a whole lot of stuff I'm not supposed to know!" Ezra threw his arms up in the air as he started pacing around the concrete. "Aria, I don't like you keeping secrets from me, especially on something as dangerous as this. What is going on that you guys need to dig deeper into something that's already being taken care of?"

Aria just looked at him, wishing more than ever that she could just tell him everything, but she couldn't. Not if that meant putting him in danger. Aria simply turned her back to him. "You wouldn't understand," she said softly, her voice trembling.

"Why?" he said from behind her. "Because I'm too old?"

Aria felt her blood run cold, and she immediately spun around. "That's not what I said at all."

"But it's what you meant, wasn't it?"

"Not really!" Aria said, appalled at his suggestion. It really wasn't what she meant; when she and Ezra were together, the only thing reminding them of their age differences was the fact that they had to keep sneaking around. She meant that he wouldn't understand what she and her friends had been going through for the past 2 months, or at least she didn't want him to understand because she wanted him out of it.

"Aria, I saw you with Noel," Ezra said obviously.

"That was just a - "

"Cover?" he finished. "I figured that, but I also figured how much more sense it would make. Seeing you with Noel got me thinking of how hard this relationship is; always having to sneak around - "

"I don't mind that."

"Well I do!" Ezra blurted out. "For your sake, I do. We've been going out for a few years now, and... I feel like I'm ruining your years here!"

"Ezra, don't be ridicul - "

"I don't want any complications for you, Aria," he interrupted, running over her attempt at arguing. "I love you too much for that. I just want you to be happy!"

"I'm happy with you!"

"Are you?" Ezra challenged, and immediately Aria knew what she was hinting at; her always being distant, not answering when he pried her about what was wrong... she could see why all of that looked bad.

"You deserve to be with someone your own age, and be a normal teenage wizard!"

"As of right now, nothing in my life is normal, Ezra. And I doubt it'll be getting back to that place anytime soon!"

"Yeah it will," Ezra said simply as he started walking toward the exit. "With me out of it."

And just like that, he was gone. Aria could feel her limbs shaking. She couldn't believe it. She and Ezra were actually broken up.

Out of the shadows, right before Aria's eyes, a cloak swept through the air. Aria blinked, and sure enough, before her were her three best friends. They had seen all of it.

Spencer stepped forward tentatively, before widening her arms. "C'mere."

Aria slowly walked forward with small steps, about ready to faint, until she collapsed into Spencer's arms. Spencer just kept hugging Aria as she cried, thinking over and over to herself how everything had finally just fallen completely apart.

"Wh-what are you guys doing here?" Aria squeaked.

"This whole thing was a setup," Hanna spoke, her voice much more calm and serious than it usually was. "This A person somehow set us up so that we'd keep this thing a secret until finally..."

"It just blew up," Emily finished. "And all on the same night."

Aria swallowed loudly, still encased in Spencer's arms. "You guys think - "

"I've been thinking about this for the majority of the evening," Spencer interjected. "The way all of us were dumped, it's the only explanation."

"And it all leads back to Maya getting petrified," Emily said morbidly. "When that happened, everything went down south for all of us. I lost Paige, it gave this... person the chance to slip Caleb the picture of Hanna and Lucas, Spencer was caught talking to Wren in front of Toby, and it led to Ezra getting frustrated and left out from all the secrets!"

Aria let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding as she turned to the other girls. "That's... brilliant."

Hanna huffed in the background. "I'm starting to think that bitch has superpowers."

"How do we even know if it's a girl?" Spencer argued.

"It's always felt like a 'she', hasn't it?" Hanna said, newfound wisdom present in her tone.

Aria sniffled loudly. "Great, so 'A' has taken away the people we love, and basically single-handedly ruined everything."

"And we still have the whole year left to deal with them," Emily added on.

"Unless we stop them." This addition came from Spencer, who was wearing her "Spencer" face as she pondered over the different ways she could destroy this 'A' person, the opener of the Chamber of Secrets, whoever they were, and stop them from hurting her and her friends once and for all.

Unfortunately, Hanna was not quite into this plan. She let out a loud yawn. "Well, can we do this in the morning? I'm exhausted."

"I don't wanna go back to my dorm, though," Emily said grimly. "Paige is up there."

"Ugh you're right; Lucas is gonna be up there waiting for me," Hanna moaned. "I won't be able to hear the end of it now that Caleb and I are broken up."

"Then let's postpone those interactions for now," Spencer said determinedly. She walked over to the center of the concrete, took off her robe, and set it down on the ground. "We'll just camp out here tonight."

"Yeah right," Hanna scoffed. "We'll freeze to death!"

"No we won't! I can sneak into the Hospital Wing and get some blankets from there."

"Spencer," Emily began in a grounded voice, "I see what you're trying to do, but - "

"Just this one time, guys," Spencer begged. "We won't get caught, I promise! Would you rather be all warm and cozy with the people you're trying to avoid, or in a risky situation with the people you really wanna be with?"

All of the girls pondered over this; Spencer had a point. When they stuck together, things seemed to shape out much better than when they were separated. Right now they were all tired and miserable, but if they were together for the rest of the night maybe things would get better.

Finally, all of the girls agreed; this would be where they would sleep for the night. This would be where they tried to forget about the events of the evening, and tried to forget that the loves of their lives were gone; maybe for now, or maybe for good.

All they had was each other, so they would stick by each other through the rest of it.


Annnddddd cue the wrath.

I hate having to break the relationships up, but I had to in order for the plot to move forward. However, I don't regret the ending; the ultimate ship on this show is the four main girls, and they know that when they're together things become automatically better. Moving on: Now the girls are more determined than ever since A basically destroyed their love lives, and things from here are gonna start picking up :) PLEASE do not stop reading here just because your favorite couples broke up, PLEASE keep reading! It's just starting to get good!

ALSO, keep in mind, each couple is endgame, so a reunion IS inevitable, AND the four spouses are going to get involved like they've never gotten involved before. This breakup is just gonna make them realize how much they love the girls, and how much they wanna protect each of them! So stay tuned, and, even if it's filled with curse words and wrath toward me, DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!