I managed to catch up to Harry just as he was heading out the doors of the Great Hall.

About to open my mouth to speak, someone's voice spoke very loudly over mine and right in mine and Harry's ears.

"As your Slytherin Prefect, I will be watching each of you for any unnecessary conduct!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Draco Malfoy's blond hair bobbing in pride right behind us.

"He would know about unnecessary conduct.." I whispered to Harry.

"What a despicable surprise to see you here, Harry. I'm sure all the girls love a bad boy now, huh? Maybe we should tell them about The Dementors in third year." Draco made sure to comment, as he passed us along with Crabbe and Goyle.

I inconspicuously snatched my wand from inside my robe and pointed it at the back of Malfoy's head and whispered an enchantment.

Instantly, the hair on the back of his head started turning pink.

"Looks like he mistook the bleach this year," I snickered, putting my wand back in my pocket.

"Draco, your hair!" I heard a Slytherin girl go up to him.

But Harry and I had reached the stairs to the Gryffindor dormitory as Malfoy turned around to see who had done it.

Harry's stifled laughter exploded as we entered the common room.

As we entered, the room went drop dead silent.

I noticed that everyone's eyes weren't on me but on Harry next to me. Almost afraid in a way, I stepped to the side, distancing myself from him.

"Goold holiday?" Harry asked one of the boys sitting in a chair with a group of Gryffindors.

"Alright. Better than Seamus'." The boy, as I saw Seamus toss down a paper and stand up in perplexion.

I had noticed he was on edge in the Great Hall, but now it seemed to be revealing itself more.

"Me mum din't want me tuh come ba' this year." Seamus said, with a look of disgust on his face.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

I cringed, fearing the fight that was about to break loose.

"Let me see, eh, because of you. The Daily Prophet's been sayin' alot of things about yah, Harry. Und about Dumbledore as well-"

"And your mum believes them?"

"Well, nobody was dere de night Cedric died."

"Well, I guess you should read the Prophet then, like your stupid mother. It'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Don't you dare talk about me muther like that!"

"I'll have a go anyone that calls me a liar!"

"What's going on?" An innocent Ron came in.

"He's mad is what's going on!" Seamus pointed a finger to Harry. "Do you believe the rubbish that is coming out about You-Know-Who?"

"Yeah, I do." Ron stood closer to Harry than I had even before I distanced myself. "Has anyone else got a problem with Harry?"

And with that, Harry stormed out of the room, Ron to follow.

I awkwardly made my way across the room to the girl's dormitory. All eyes were fixed with fury. I was trying to avoid getting into the mix of anything.

In my opinion, they were acting like third years trying to sort out their problems through emotions. If they took the time to hear each other out, maybe they wouldn't have had a huge fight in front of the entire Gryffindor house!

I threw my suitcase onto my bed in frustration at the situation.

"Dumb boys.." I muttered to myself, starting to fling my packed suitcase all over my bed.

"He has gotten fit! Have you seen him!?" I heard the voice of one of my roommates making their way towards our dormitory.

"His hair is like a fiery mane. His eyes piercing. And now, his muscles are so defined. And who knew, coming from a Weasley." One of my three roommates, Lavender Brown, plopped her suitcase down onto her bed, obviously the one completely engrossed into her conversation with our other roommate Parvati Patil.

"Ronald Weasley?" I glanced over to Lavender in disbelief, rolling my eyes. "Since when were you interested in any Weasley?"

"Don't worry, Everly," She took a seat on my bed next to my suitcase. "I won't disturb your precious Fred."

I scoffed. "Precious Fred?" I raised an eyebrow at Lavender. "He's anything but precious, and he's anything but mine."

"Maybe you should tell him that," Lavender stood up from my bed, winking in my direction.

I rolled my eyes once more. She had no idea what she was talking about. Fred was a great friend, almost like a brother. And while, I wouldn't be completely against the idea of casually dating him, it would be completely out of the ordinary to even go on a casual date. We mostly just goofed off together. If there was one thing I know for sure, it's that I was completely myself when I was with him.

Well, almost completely myself.

Lavender and Parvati continued their conversation about boys and non-academic related topics as I unpacked the rest of my suitcase. I clutched my invisibility cloak, hiding it under my covers.

"Too busy for me?"Hermione plopped down on my bed, messing the sheets up once again.

"You scared me, and no, I just zoned out for a second." After my sarcastic comments, I broke out into a huge smile. "When did you get here?" I hugged one of my best friends around her neck.

"Like ten seconds ago actually. I was checking up on the two troublemakers. You were in the common room tonight, weren't you?" Hermione asked in her usual inquisitive tone.

"Saw the whole thing," I nodded.

"I'm kicking myself for not standing up for them.."

"Hermione, it's not your duty to represent them. They can take care of themselves."

"Barely," She giggled.

"You've done your part," I patted her on her back.

She stood up, getting off my bed. Lavender and Parvati were still into their own conversation.

"He really has gotten dreamy," Lavender went on, probably still about Ron.

Hermione crawled into her bed and looked at me with a puke face.

I rolled my eyes at all their immaturity and flipped over to face the wall.

I clutched the invisibility cloak tightly to my chest.

Soon, I heard the snores of my three roommates. Actually, just the snore of Lavender. I would know if Parvati or Hermione were awake because they would be yelling at her to shut up.

I slowly wrapped the invisibility cloak around me and fluffed my pillows so that it appeared as if I was still in bed.

I slowly shut the door behind me and headed out of the Gryiffindor tower.

FLASHBACK

Blood curdling scream.

That's what noise escaped from me in Potions class my first week at Hogwarts.

It was so loud that no one even noticed Seamus coughing next to me from the smoke that poofed from our cauldron.

"My God, Everly." Ron said from behind me.

We barely knew each other at the time, but I expected no less already from the outspoken Weasley.

I heard Draco Malfoy's taunting laughter come from the table beside mine.

"If she were any closer, her bird's nest might have gone up in flames!"

So I wasn't only self-conscious of my awful potion making skills, but now about my bush of hair on top of my head as well.

Standing up, I grabbed my cauldron which was overflowing with whatever-the-heck kind of potion Seamus and I had concocted. Swinging it, I flung what was left of the gooey mixture onto Draco and his partner.

And Ron thought I screamed loud.

And I'm sure it would've been louder if Draco's partner hadn't passed out. He fell colder than the dungeon's stone floors.

I watched as Snape ran over to Draco to shut him up, which in Snape's own way was doing it was wrapping an arm around the boy's mouth and dragging him out of the classroom.

My classmates all around me were chuckling and making slurs towards the Slytherins. Most of them anyways, besides Pansy Parkinson and a few other Slytherins that were damned to be in potions class with a bunch of Gryffindors.

Before scurrying out the door, Snape turned in my direction and motioned for me to follow him quickly.

I sighed, knowing that I would probably hear a lot about this later.

Five years later, and he never mentioned a thing about the incident. He merely pulled me aside to set up tutoring sessions after class.

That is where I learned everything.