'Congratulations, little brother!' Jane located Frankie at the Hufflepuff table the next morning. 'How was your first night? You've made some friends?' she indicated the two boys Frankie was sitting with.

'Yeah,' he nodded. 'This is Kallon and Vorn. Guys, this is my sister, Jane.'

'Hey,' she greeted, trying to learn their faces, before leaning over Frankie's shoulder to snag a bagel.

'Are you really glad I got Hufflepuff?' he asked her quietly. 'Or are you just being nice?'

'Are you kidding? Course I'm glad; this is a great place to be. I'm especially stoked you're not over there,' she inclined her head towards the Slytherin table. 'Have you seen those Avery twins? They couldn't look any more sour if they tried.'

Frankie looked over his shoulder and quickly located the pair in question: a boy and girl, both with long black hair; his in a ponytail, and hers loose. Each of them were glaring at their plates, which contained half eaten pieces of toast. 'I guess you're right,' he laughed, turning back around.

'Oh, hey,' Jane struggled to swallow a mouthful of bagel as she searched in her skirt pocket. 'I wrote a little note to Ma and Pop to let them know we arrived safely,' she produced a crinkled piece of parchment and a quill that had definitely seen better days. 'Do you want to add something? Let Ma know you're alive and being fed, and got Sorted, and stuff? Don't sound too happy, though,' she warned, her voice dropping an octave as Frankie took the proffered items. 'In case Tommy gets hold of it and reads we're enjoying ourselves, Merlin forbid.'

'Yeah, okay,' Frankie agreed. 'I'll keep it simple.'

'Cool. Hold onto it when you're done, and I'll show you where the owlery is next time we run into each other. Have fun today!' she left Frankie to continue breakfasting with his new Hufflepuff friends as she saw Frost enter the Great Hall. She raised her arm in greeting until he noticed and came to meet her.

'Where do you wanna sit?' Frost asked, yawning, as they met near the end of the Ravenclaw table.

'Wherever there's coffee and pancakes,' Jane started scanning the table.

They located a spot abundant in both prerequisites, and she and Frost plopped down on the bench, reaching simultaneously for the coffee pot. Jane got to the handle first, though, and poured herself a gobletful.

'Hello,' she whispered to it, closing her eyes and smiling briefly before taking a sip.

'Did you just greet your coffee?' Frost asked, half asleep, but still amused.

'Yup. Sorry, Frost. I'm happier to see the coffee than you this morning. Ma won't let me drink it at home.'

'Tough break,' Frost sympathised, taking his own first sip. 'My mum's cool with it. She makes it a hell of a lot better than this, though.'

'Instant is better than non-existent,' Jane murmured, still with her eyes closed.

'Hey, did you bring your timetable down?' Frost asked suddenly. Student schedules had appeared in each of the four common rooms sometime overnight, for the students to collect on their way to breakfast.

'Oh, yeah,' Jane dug another crinkled piece of parchment out of her other skirt pocket, and tried in vain to smooth out the creases on the table top.

Frost produced a neatly folded piece of parchment from his own pocket, and they compared classes.

'We've got Potions together,' Frost noted, pointing.

'And Herbology,' Jane nodded. 'And… oh, no. Nevermind. Wait, you're taking Arithmancy?!'

'Yeah,' Frost defended. 'I'm good with numbers. What're you taking?' he examined her schedule. 'Oh, Jane, really? Muggle Studies?'

'I heard it was an easy pass,' she shrugged. 'It's better than Divination, at least. Ma said if I get three overall Outstandings this year, she'll trade in my racing broom for a better model and pay the difference.'

'Wicked,' Frost piled a stack of pancakes on his plate and started to drown them in maple syrup. 'What's wrong with your Cleansweep though? I thought you said it was really fast.'

'Oh, there's nothing wrong with the speed; it's still going really well for a Cleansweep Twelve. The agility's getting pretty poor, though. The broom was a hand-me-down from the Gilbertis, I think I told you about them? Family friends who fix up magical transportation?'

Frost nodded. Many of Jane's summer tales involved one of the Gilberti boys, Giovanni. He was three or four years older than them, and had just dropped out of his school in Italy to join his father in running the family business.

'I just really want a new broom,' she continued, also transferring pancakes to her plate. 'I'm thinking about trying out for the Quidditch team this year. And if I make Beater, then I'm probably going to want a Comet 360 because it has the best stability on the market right now. Apart from the Lightningbolt of course, but I think Ma would faint if I told her how much that cost.'

As she continued to outline the different attributes and drawbacks of each kind of racing model she'd been considering to Frost, she didn't notice the girl with the golden brown hair and the beautiful face enter the Great Hall.

Maura was wearing her hair down today, wavy from the French plait she'd left in overnight. She'd been pleasantly surprised to wake up and find her robes were now lined with blue, and three bronze and blue striped ties were lying neatly folded atop her trunk. She had risen fairly early; all but one of the other beds in her dormitory still had their drapes pulled, housing a snoozing occupant. Only two other girls were in the bathroom, and so she'd had no trouble procuring a shower cubicle. By the time she had washed and dressed in her new Ravenclaw attire, deciding to forgo her robes today due to the summer heat, more than half of the beds in the dorm were empty, and the common room was quite busy. She had gone immediately to the arched windows, to get her first glimpse of the grounds in daylight. She'd had to stop herself from audibly gasping; the grounds were beautifully manicured, and far more extensive than she'd been expecting. Ravenclaw Tower gave her an incredible view of the Black Lake, the Quidditch pitch, and the Forbidden Forest, which were partially framed by a distant backdrop of majestic mountains. What had really taken her breath away though, was just how open everything was. They'd had powerful concealment charms upon Fort Acton of course, but the school was in an arboretum, so there had been trees everywhere. Leaving a building at the Fort meant you almost invariably found yourself standing under a leaf canopy, and with the exception of the Quidditch pitch, there weren't any open spaces. While the chances that Muggles would happen upon the school by accident were very slim, it had always felt to Maura as though they were hiding. Hogwarts, by contrast, was full of unapologetic green space. They weren't hiding, they weren't under cover. Maura couldn't wait to explore it, and she couldn't help but symbolise her new surroundings as newfound freedom, and perhaps the chance to reinvent herself.

On a table in the corridor leading to the door with the bronze eagle knocker, there were a couple of hundred envelopes left, arranged in seven columns for year group, and then ordered alphabetically. She had located hers and opened it on the way down the spiral staircase. In it she had found her timetable and a schedule for today only that listed times for her preliminary classes. She tucked it neatly into her satchel, which also contained an assortment of new quills, parchment, a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and a personal copy of Numerology and Grammatica, to get a head start at her Arithmancy studies. Navigating her way to the Great Hall hadn't been as difficult as she'd thought. At the termination of the spiral staircase, she had stood contemplating which way to go, when a knight suddenly galloped into a painting nearby.

'Fair maiden!' the knight had cried. 'It appears as though you are lost! Which rogue has abandoned you? I shall fight him! Fight him to the death, I say!'

'Oh, I assure you that won't be necessary!' Maura cried. 'I haven't been abandoned; I'm simply new here and have yet to get my bearings.'

'Indeed! In that case, allow me to introduce myself,' the knight said somewhat excitedly, immediately dismounting from his horse and bowing deeply. 'I am Sir Cadogan, Knight of the Round Table, and this is my valiant steed.'

'Maura Isles,' she had replied with a frown, thinking it would be wise to refrain from commenting on the "steed", which more closely resembled a fat pony. 'I'm trying to get to the Great Hall, might you point me in the direction of the main staircases?'

'The Great Hall? A worthy destination!' Sir Cadogan had replied heartily, mounting his horse once again. 'I shall accompany you as far as the portrait of the grizzly bear, but after that you must journey on alone, for I may go no further without risking mortal peril!'

The route to the main staircases proved to be surprisingly uncomplicated. Sir Cadogan had galloped through the successive portraits of two long corridors, challenging other wizards to duels along the way, which led them away from Ravenclaw Tower and towards the castle's core. The familiar chatter of students slowly came into range, and she followed the knight out to a landing that had a staircase leading up to the next floor, but no staircase descending to the floor below. What's more, where there should have been steps, there wasn't even a barrier! If she was to step off this slab of stone, she would have surely fallen to her death.

'Halt!' the knight cried, his fat pony rearing up with the abrupt lack of speed.

The knight seemed to be waiting for something, and so Maura stood patiently on the landing. About twenty seconds later, a staircase came swinging around towards them, and the knight galloped on. Maura followed suit, and looked down over the bannister. Many of the staircases were behaving in this manner; pivoting about one landing in order to supply two or more others.

'I must leave you now!' Sir Cadogan called from the wall as Maura made her way to the fourth floor. 'Safe travels, maiden! I look forward to the future crossing of our paths!' He raised a hand, and galloped back the way he had come.

Maura encountered another delay while trying to reach the second floor, when a staircase moved while she was on it. Now she understood why Frost and Anna had taken that shortcut yesterday; if what Frost said about the location of the Gryffindor common room was accurate, that meant at least half the student body was on these stairs yesterday. She almost felt claustrophobic just thinking about it.

She saw Frost sitting at the Ravenclaw table long before he saw her, and so she was allowed several seconds to freeze without detection as she saw who he was deep in conversation with. Jane Rizzoli was gesticulating somewhat enthusiastically, while Frost nodded every few seconds. She felt a small blush creeping across her face as she remembered that Jane had been her last conscious thought before falling asleep the night before. But what did that matter? They'd never even spoken; Jane might not even want anything to do with her. And then, Maura realised, she herself didn't know anything about Jane either. Only that Frankie seemed to adore her, but as far as Maura knew, the approval of younger siblings generally wasn't a prerequisite for girls seeking to be friends with other girls.

Nevertheless, she was very eager to get to know Jane, if only for the sake of curiosity. 'Not to mention the added bonus of physical appeal,' a voice in her head spoke. She coloured again, but went to join them.

'Good morning,' came a chirpy, accented voice. Jane's first instinct was to look up in annoyance at being interrupted, since she was just about to tell Frost the Comet 360 could achieve speeds of up to 92 miles per hour with a decent tailwind. Seeing Elladora Isles sitting opposite her though, the annoyance left her face, and all words fell temporarily out of her brain for a few seconds as it jammed with an onslaught of questions. Why was a first year girl talking to them? Why was she looking at Frost expectantly? Why did Jane get the distinct impression she had dreamed about her? Why was she so chipper at this time of the morning? What was she doing here? What was she doing here? What was she doing here? Why was her smile so lovely? Why w-'

'Hey, Maura,' Frost greeted. 'Did you get down here alright? I only realised about ten minutes ago that you didn't know the main route down from the common room. The shortcut we took yesterday only goes one way.'

'It wasn't too much trouble,' Maura smiled. 'I received some direction from one Sir Cadogan.'

'Oh, that guy's a hoot,' Frost chuckled. 'Did he ask you to duel with him?'

'No, he called me a "fair maiden" and declared he would fight to the death the "rogue" who had abandoned me.'

'You didn't tell him it was me, did you?' Frost asked, worriedly. 'He'll gallop around the castle after me and I'll never hear the end of it!'

'No, I didn't,' Maura laughed. 'I assured him I was on my own, and no duelling was necessary.'

Jane had barely managed to regain her composure when Frost turned back to her. 'Jane this is Maura Isles, she's just transferred here from Boston. Maura, this is Jane Rizzoli, Frankie's sister.'

Jane looked at Maura suspiciously. 'Not a first year?' she clarified.

'No,' Maura shook her head. 'I'm a third year; I turned thirteen a few weeks ago.'

'How d'you know Frankie?'

'We shared a boat coming across the Black Lake,' Maura answered, feeling a little uneasy at Jane's interrogational tone, but not much minding, since Jane's husky voice had induced a cascade of short-lived goose bumps to erupt across her shoulders and down her back.

'Huh,' Jane took a bite of pancake, and dropped her chin into one hand, realising all of a sudden that she was acting far too interested. 'What brings you this side of the world?'

'I think I can safely hold my mother most accountable for our relocation,' Maura answered, pouring herself a bowl of muesli and spooning yoghurt onto it, totally missing Jane's look of revulsion. 'She's a Briton by birth, and I think a gypsy at heart. We'd been in America for six years, so I think she was well overdue for a change of scenery.'

'Where were you before America?' Frost asked, interested. 'Your accent sounds like it has some European in it?'

'Yes, that's right,' Maura nodded, impressed. 'Serbia, from when I was one or two. I was born in England, though. So I suppose you might say I've come home?'

'You know there are pancakes here, right?' Jane asked, watching with a look of horror as Maura spooned the muesli and yoghurt into her mouth.

'Yes,' Maura frowned, confused. 'My eyesight is unimpaired.'

Jane gave a single incredulous laugh at her response. 'I mean, you're eating muesli. When there are pancakes. Like, lots of them. Right here.'

'Oh, no thank you. I make an effort to only indulge in refined sugar on weekends. Muesli is very good for you; it has a low glycaemic index, which helps for the maintenance of concentration throughout the day.'

Frost, having spent the previous evening at the Feast with Maura, had already come to expect these kinds of answers from her. He chuckled at Jane's expression as he continued to raise forkfuls of pancake into his mouth, and picked up a copy of The Daily Prophet.

Jane, for her part, was feeling quite sure that every snap judgement she'd made about Elladora, or Maura as it transpired, the night before had been quite thoroughly false. This girl was most definitely not one of the popular kids. She was pretty enough to be one, nobody was questioning that. But for every ounce of intelligence she possessed, she seemed to lack two ounces of social prowess. No way was she making the "in crowd" if she insisted on discussing gigantic indexes over breakfast.

Jane laughed after a few seconds of pause. Not in ridicule, but almost in relief. She had felt inferior under Maura's gaze the night before, expecting to be judged. She hadn't liked that it seemed as though Frankie had made friends with someone who was almost certainly an enemy. But Maura wasn't threatening. She was weird with a capital W, and once the surprise wore off, it was kind of awesome.

'Could you pass the tomato juice, please?' Maura indicated a decanter to Jane's right.

'Yeah,' Jane grinned. 'Let me guess? You don't drink coffee either?'

'On the contrary, I enjoy coffee very much. Just… not instant,' she regarded the coffee pot with disdain.

'Girl's got taste,' Frost commented, not looking up from his newspaper. 'Hey, have either of you heard of Tommy O'Rourke?'

Maura shook her head, while Jane frowned. 'Rings a bell. A dark wizard? In Azkaban?'

'Not anymore. He's to be released this morning,' Frost began to read. '"Thomas "Tommy" O'Rourke, dark wizard affiliated with the Irish mobsters of 1998-2000 led by Patrick Doyle Snr, is to be released from Azkaban at 11am this morning, having served13 years in prison. The Irish mob committed crimes including bribery, corruption, theft, arson, the trade of illicit substances, and are believed to be responsible for four murders in the months and years after Voldemort's Last Stand on May 2nd, 1998. Taking advantage of a country ripped apart by fear and tainted by pure-blood propaganda, the Irish mob unscrupulously preyed on the vulnerable for unnecessary personal gain. They severely violated the International Statute of Secrecy, and hordes of Ministry of Magic representatives were required to conceal our world from the Muggles, at enormous financial cost. Not all of the Irishmen were brought to justice. While Patrick Doyle Snr, Tommy O'Rourke, Mickey O'Donnell, and Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill gang were brought before the Wizengamot and found guilty, Patrick Doyle Jnr, Kevin Brennan, and Danny "Boy" Flannigan were never caught, and remain at large to this very day."'

'Why the heck are they letting him out?' Jane cried out, as though she had personally fallen victim to their crimes. 'My Pop's told me stories about those Irish mobsters. The Ministry was up to their ears trying to repair all the damage Voldemort caused. And then these assholes came out of the woodwork and tried to make some fast galleons. A heap of people thought they were Death Eaters who had evaded the Ministry and were on some tribute killing spree. The Loony Bin at St Mungo's was packed, because so many people just went out of their minds with fright. Why's O'Rourke the only one being let out?'

'It says here that he was only ever proven guilty of theft. They managed to convict him for thirteen years for consorting with known dark wizards, but that was all they got him on.'

'Bastard,' Jane muttered, stabbing at her pancake with unnecessary force.

'Is Voldemort well known in America, Maura?' Frost asked.

'Oh, yes,' Maura nodded. 'We were assigned several readings on the subject for my History of Magic class. I sourced some extra texts, for interest, and if I recall correctly, half of this room was all but destroyed in the Final Battle.'

'Yeah, the ceiling got blown open and everything. There's plenty of stuff in the library,' Frost answered. 'Our History of Magic curriculum used to mainly be goblin rebellions; total snoozefest. It was kinda nice to get to research something else, even if it was Voldemort.'

'I'm going to start getting The Daily Prophet,' Jane declared suddenly. 'I've got a bad feeling about this O'Rourke dude.'

'You're an Auror in the making, Jane,' Frost laughed.

'Is that what you want to do when you leave Hogwarts?' Maura asked, interestedly.

'No,' Jane answered immediately. 'I want to be a Beater for the Holyhead Harpies. Do you have your timetable? Are you taking Muggle Studies?'

'I do,' Maura retrieved her envelope. 'And no, I'm already quite well acquainted with Muggle customs.'

Jane took Maura's parchment without bothering to ask permission, and quickly scanned it. 'Study of Ancient Runes? Introduction to Alchemy? And Arithmancy? Sheesh, I don't know why the Hat took so long to Sort you. You should have made Ravenclaw quicker than Rohan Avery made Slytherin.'

'You watched me being Sorted?' Maura curiously noted the crimson creeping across Jane's face. 'Most of the school seemed to have lost interest by the time we arrived at I.'

'I lost interest before we got to C,' Jane quickly tried to recover some ground. 'It was just um… coincidence I looked up when it was your go.' That was mostly true.

'Is Frankie pleased he made Hufflepuff?'

'Eh, he wanted Gryffindor,' Jane shrugged, grateful for the subject change. 'But he'll be fine.'

'Hufflepuff has turned out some extraordinary witches and wizards,' Maura stated, returning the envelope to her satchel. 'I'd be happy to outline some of them for him if he's ever feeling out of place.'

'Thanks,' Jane stuffed a forkful of pancake into her mouth to keep from snorting. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

'Have you read over your timetable yet?' Frost asked Maura. 'We've got Potions and Herbology with the Gryffindors and our first prelim class is Charms.'

'Yes,' Maura nodded. 'I'm afraid I don't really know where any of my classrooms are, though.'

'Just follow Frost,' Jane spoke with her mouth full. 'And I'm sure there are a bunch of other nerdy Ravenclaws taking Ancient Runes who can show you the way.'

Maura heard Jane calling her nerdy and immediately wanted to be hurt, but recognised no malice in her voice, or her face. This was new: nerd, and bookworm, and geek, and freak, were usually cast at her with the intent of humiliation. Jane said it simply and easily, as though it was just one of those slightly odder facts of life, like having blue eyes, or being left handed.

'I am rather bookish,' Maura admitted. 'Does it bother you?'

'Well, I've spent about… ten minutes with you. So I don't suppose I can say yet...'

Yet. So Jane was expecting to spend more time with her? Maura's heart bounced slightly.

'…But not really. You're a Ravenclaw,' Jane continued. 'So aren't you kind of supposed to be a nerd? It'd be weirder if you didn't have a massive brain.'

'How do you know I've got a massive brain if you've only known me for 600 seconds?' Maura tested Jane on her own logic.

'Because… you know about crap like refined sugar, and you've come from America, but you know more about the history of Hufflepuff House than I do. I get the feeling you're going to kick some serious butt in class.'

'A feeling isn't empirical evidence,' Maura laughed.

Jane crossed her arms and leaned back a little. 'See if I'm wrong,' she grinned, feeling incredibly confident.

'Hi, Barry,' came a voice to Jane's left.

Jane looked over in horror, wondering who dared to call Frost by his first name, and expecting Frost to have a dark look on his face. But he was smiling!

'Hey, Anna,' came his happy reply.

What, what, what? Jane stared at their new company with her mouth agape for the second time that morning. What was going on? Frost had been whining just earlier this year about how stuck up Anna was, and how she barely gave anyone the time of day. Why was she sitting with Frost? Why did he look so happy about it? How had so many new things happened since they had parted ways for the ceremonials last night? They had their heads pressed close together, poring over their timetables. Apparently Anna had signed up for Arithmancy, too.

'Frost,' Jane said, trying to get his attention, but to no avail. 'Frost,' she tried again. 'Ugh. Barry,' she spoke in her best sickly sweet voice, her face a picture of disgust. That got him to look up. 'I'm going to show Frankie where the owlery is. See you in Potions prelim?'

'Yeah, sure,' Frost trailed off, his head already turned back towards Anna.

Jane frowned and stood up abruptly, draining back the last few sips of her coffee before stepping over the bench.

'May I accompany you?' Maura asked suddenly.

'Yeah, if you want,' Jane shrugged, and made her way over to the Hufflepuff table. 'Frankie,' she called. 'I'll take you to the owlery now if you're done with that letter? Your friends can come, too.'

'Yeah, awesome!' Frankie held up the letter, and he and his friends scrambled to catch up with Jane, who had already made to exit the Great Hall, with Maura a step or two behind her. Once in the atrium of the castle, Jane turned to walk straight out the front doors and into the grounds.

'This isn't the fastest way to the owlery,' she explained when her little tour group had caught up. 'But the grounds are nicest this time of year, and it'll help you get your bearings. There's the Black Lake, that you came across last night,' she walked briskly. 'You docked over there, and entered the castle through that door, I think,' she pointed to a wooden door that was now shut fast as they rounded a turret. 'Forbidden Forest pretty much marks the bounds of the west side of the grounds. I don't recommend exploring it.'

'What kind of things are in there?' Vorn asked hesitantly.

'Ah, centaurs, werewolves, unicorns, hippogriffs, thestrals, forest trolls…' Jane began

'I read there was an Acromantula colony,' Maura added.

'An Acro-whatnow?' Jane turned around, frowning.

'Giant spiders that enjoy the taste of… human flesh,' Maura slowed her explanation as mixed looks of horror and disgust appeared on all four faces in her company.

'And on that happy note,' Jane continued walking. 'The Quidditch pitch. Land of a thousand joys and frustrations. Up there is Ravenclaw Tower. And the owlery is in the West Tower, which is just around this corner.'

They eventually reached the small tower Jane had promised, and climbed the stone steps into a perfectly circular room at the very top that housed at least a hundred owls.

'These owls are student pets,' Jane indicated the birds on one half of the room. 'And it's really hard to get them to deliver your mail unless they know you. So don't try it, or else you'll probably get bitten. These owls,' she indicated the other half, 'are the Hogwarts owls, and anyone can use them. They're a bit older and scruffier than that other lot, and sometimes they take a bit longer to get your mail where it needs to go, but they're reliable. Hagrid takes care of them. Pick an owl, Frankie.'

Frankie walked along the rows of owls with the addressed envelope Jane had given him. 'How about this one?' he pointed to a snowy owl.

'Sure,' Jane shrugged. 'Remember what it looks like, because sometimes Professor Korsak has owl treats you can give the birds to say thanks when they get back from a delivery.'

Frankie offered the envelope to the owl, who took it into its beak and immediately soared off out the window.

'It's pretty clean in here now,' Jane looked around. 'Because it's the start of the school year. But give it a week and this place is going to reek of owl crap.'

She turned to go back down the stairs, and the small group followed her. 'Jane?' Maura asked suddenly. 'What happens to owls that deliver post here after a long journey?'

'They come here to rest,' Jane answered, as they continued down the steps. 'You don't really have to do anything, because they take off back to where they've come from when they've had a sleep and something to eat. Our family owl's ancient though, so I usually come up here and check he's still alive when Ma sends a package.'

'Pop reckons a new owl is an unnecessary expense,' Frankie added.

'Pop reckons everything except Quidditch paraphernalia is an unnecessary expense,' Jane rolled her eyes. 'Ma keeps spending all the gold on new kitchen equipment. Self-stirring pots and all that,' she told Maura.

'Jane, where do we go for our Flying class?' Frankie interrupted.

'Oh, you probably won't be doing any actual flying today,' Jane crushed his hopes before he'd even voiced them. 'Just down there, not far from the Quidditch pitch, there's a shed full of equipment for teaching flying. Go wait around there, Professor Sutton probably won't be too far away.'

'Do you know where my Charms class is?' Maura asked Jane hopefully as the three boys parted from their company.

'Yeah, I can drop you off on my way to Transfiguration,' Jane nodded.

They were early for class, but four third year Ravenclaw boys and two Hufflepuff girls were already waiting in the corridor. Jane escorted Maura right up to the classroom door and made sure she had her bearings. 'Just follow the other Ravenclaws, okay? You'll be with most of them all day. Are any of you taking Ancient Runes?' she asked the Ravenclaws who had beat them there. All four of them nodded. 'Of course you are. This is Maura, she's new. Make sure she's tagging along when you go for your Runes prelim, okay?'

Without waiting for an answer, Jane turned to leave, but Maura stopped her.

'Jane?' she asked, almost timidly. 'May I sit with you again at lunch?'

Jane raised her eyebrows and exhaled with a laugh, waiting to see if she was serious. Serious as an Unforgiveable Curse, it seemed. 'Yeah,' she chuckled. 'You can sit with me at lunch. You don't have to ask.'

Jane left to go to her Transfiguration class on the next floor, still shaking her head in disbelief. That Maura Isles sure was a strange one. A very, very pretty strange one. Jane was uncharacteristically interested to learn more about her. Frost had been her go-to friend almost exclusively for the past two years. But maybe it was about time they added a third to their twosome?