The end of the year feast had arrived, and this time it was worth celebrating. Harry had kept good on his word to Arden that he would bring down the Basilisk terrorizing the school, though Arden would never know that the real reason the Basilisk was after them in the first place was because of Lord Voldemort - in the guise of Tom Riddle - was the owner of the diary. Harry thought that was information that Arden didn't need in her life. Besides, Tom Riddle was gone and so was the Basilisk. Ginny Weasley, who turned out to have been under control by Tom Riddle, was safely returned to normal and was once more happy as could be, especially since those who were petrified were being revived that night.

Arden would spend a whole night of anguish wondering what the hell it was that Harry would be doing to get Romina (and everyone else who'd been petrified) back.

"Arden, what did you do with the scrap of paper?" Angel asked her in the evening at dinner.

Arden chewed on her bottom lip. She could already feel Draco's burning eyes on her warning her to keep quiet. Under no circumstances did he want anyone else finding out he had to go up and near Hermione Granger.

"I, um, gave it to the rightful owner," Arden said in the end.

"What do you expect Potter to do with it?"

"I don't know, something at least? All I know is that last year, Harry was able to discover that a longtime professor was really working for You-Know-Who so I'm hoping he'll have the same luck and bring Romina back to us. Or, at least he'll put a stop to whatever did that to her."

"Why are you so interested in it now?" Theo asked Angel afterwards and brought on a whole new conversation. "We're leaving tomorrow and so far, I don't really see anyone being unpetrified, do you?"

"Madame Pomfrey said that the antidote would be ready tonight," Daphne chimed in with a smile from ear to ear. "I'm hoping Romina can come downstairs tonight. I really miss her, doesn't anyone else?"

"Debatable," Blaise said, causing Theo to snicker, "I mean, it has been quieter lately, really."

"Blaise, don't even start," Angel said, shaking his head. "What happened was horrible. Nobody should be petrified."

"Oh calm down everyone," Draco cut in, rolling his eyes. He could already see Carolinha's face growing red from alarm at the conversation. The girl really was too squeaky for his taste, or anyone's taste for that matter. "The antidote is working so like it or not," he glanced at Blaise who was eating with a smirk on his face, "Oswell will be back tonight."

Blaise looked up from his plate and, still smirking, looked at Draco. "You excited too?"

"Maybe," Draco's casual answer brought on the shocked faces of his friends until he added: "If only to see you have a meltdown."

Blaise's smirk vanished as the rest of their friends began to laugh.

~ 0 ~

It was strange being petrified. One moment, she was looking at a horrible creature in a compact mirror and the next thing she saw was that the night wing ceiling could definitely use some new paint. It was almost like she had gone through a period of time at light speed...but almost.

Romina found it strange that even though she was not awake, and she could not speak, she could still hear every now and then. Granted, it was warped and mostly chipped and no doubt distorted, but she could hear sounds. It was not comforting at all. Being not awake but almost awake is about the worst kind of torture in her opinion. When Madame Pomfrey and Professor Sprout gave her an antidote, Romina actually felt like everything was too loud. Madame Pomfrey assured her that her sensibility to hearing was completely normal given the situation and that it would go away in a few days.

Hermione, on the other hand, woke up completely fine. "I told you it was a Basilisk!"

Romina winced with Hermione's voice. She brought her hands to her ears for a moment. "Could you please not yell."

"I'm not yelling," Hermione said as she hopped off her bed. "I would never yell that I knew exactly what kind of secret creature lay in a secret chamber." She was, in fact, keeping her voice very hushed. She cocked her head to the side. "Are you alright?"

"No," Romina said sharply, bringing her hands down on her lap. "It feels like everyone is yelling."

Hermione's brows knitted together as she looked around the night wing. There was commotion, yes, as the rest of the petrified were being given the antidotes but nothing out of this world. "I promise you that no one is yelling."

"I bet," Romina sighed. "Do you think they solved the mystery, though?"

"Only one way to find out," Hermione grinned. "You think you can manage leaving the night wing altogether?"

Romina would love to say 'no' but since she spent way too much time in the night wing, it felt like she needed to get away. She slipped out of bed and very slowly tried to keep her hands on her sides.

"Girls, you can stay as long as you need to," Madame Pomfrey said when she saw Romina struggling to walk with Hermione.

"I'm okay," Romina nodded, making sure that her hands did not move from her sides at all.

Madame Pomfrey didn't seem so convinced. She told the girls that it was the last day before students were to return home. The Great Hall was filled with loud commotion that certain ears would be sensible to. Romina acknowledged the warning as she walked out with Hermione.

The two girls hurried down the stairs, reaching the Great Hall in just minutes. Hermione was all for running in and seeing her friends but she stopped at the doors when she noticed Romina was still at the steps, covering her ears.

"Romina, are you alright?" Hermione turned away from the doors altogether. "Is it — is the noise too much?"

With a groan, Romina came to take a seat on the last step, covering her ears. "It's alright, Hermione. You can go in. Bet you're hungry. We haven't eaten in ages."

Hermione hurried back to the steps and sat down with Romina. "The same goes for you. Bet your friends are missing you too."

"Mm," Romina scrunched her face. "Maybe. It's complicated, that lot. Most of them aren't exactly the expressive kind. Well, maybe Carolinha but that's only because she can't hide her feelings at all." Hermione gave a light chuckle. "Like I said, you should go."

"I'm not leaving you out here," Hermione motioned to the empty hallway. "We were petrified together. Kind of bonds us for life." This time it was Romina who laughed. "Besides, I think your friends really do miss you. More than you think."

Romina lowered her hands when the noise settled a bit more. "What do you mean?"

Hermione made a face as if she were still debating whether or not she had spoken more than she should have. "When you were petrified, did you hear anything? See anything?"

Romina shrugged. "A little bit of hearing. No sight whatsoever. What I heard were moments of Arden, I think? Angel too. I think they were the ones who came to see me most, if not the only ones."

"They weren't the only ones," Hermione said, swallowing thickly. "I don't even believe it yet."

"What?"

Hermione seemed ready to talk when someone zoomed past them down the stairs.

"Oi! You two!" It was Justin Flint-Fletchley, another fellow petrified student, who stopped a few feet away from the girls. "Aren't you starving!? Being petrified works up an appetite! C'mon!"

The girls exchanged glances and ultimately Romina agreed that she was indeed hungry. They stood up together and headed for the Great Hall. Romina was reluctant to walk in at first, and it took a bit more seconds for Hermione to finally convince her to go in with her.

Celebrations were going everywhere. Romina winced every now and then as some yelling became too much. She didn't notice that Hermione had led her to the Gryffindor table, although it wasn't very surprising. What did she expect? That she be walked to the Slytherin table?

Harry and Ron were excitedly waiting for them and hugged each girl tightly (at the last moment Ron decided to shake hands with Hermione, for some reason), profusely apologizing for what had happened to them.

"If I say it's alright will you stop yelling?" Romina said, once again bringing her hands to her ears.

"Well, that's rude!" Ron exclaimed.

"She's experiencing some sensibility to sound," Hermione explained, "So lighten up already."

"Oh Rom, I'm sorry," Harry made a face. The Great Hall probably sounded like it was exploding in Romina's ears.

"Don't worry about it," Romina waved a hand and slowly lowered the other one from her ear. "I'm just happy you guys did it. Whatever it is that you did."

"It was not easy," Ron made clear to the two. "Nearly died back there. And by the way, Hermione, professor Lockhart was a total farce!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron went into a ramble about how Lockhart had admitted to stealing other people's stories and then obliviating them to keep them quiet.

"It doesn't matter," Romina said in the end, "Like I said, I'm just happy you guys did whatever it is that you did."

"With loads of help from you," Harry said, then added, "And from Arden. She's the one that saw the slip of paper in Hermione's hand."

Hermione looked uncomfortable though, as she was about to add more. She looked at Romina again, wearing the same expression she had when they were outside on the step. "Erm, well, Arden may have seen the paper but it was actually Malfoy who got it out of my hand in the first place."

Ron nearly fell forwards. "What!? I'm thinking that petrifying condition must have confused you, Hermione!"

Even Romina seemed a little surprised. "Seriously?"

Hermione nodded firmly. "I heard Arden, and then I heard a conversation between Malfoy and Angel Paes."

"And what did they say?" asked Romina.

Hermione bit on her bottom lip. The conversation she heard had not been for her ears and because Angel was pretty nice, she didn't think telling his secret was the best way to be a friend to him. "I-I don't remember everything...but I know Malfoy was mad he couldn't get the paper out of my hand at first."

"Interesting," Romina said, a smile growing across her face. "Maybe I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Ron scowled.

"Nothing," Romina said with a wave of her hand. "Let's not worry about the details. I'm hungry. And I would really like to see my other friends now." She gave the Gryffindors each a hug and then hurried towards the Slytherin table. She was subjected into a second round of welcomings from her friends, none stronger than Arden's hugs though. Well, Angel could rival her.

"I have never been so grateful to Harry! He did whatever it is he usually did and got rid of that Basilisk thing!"

Romina laughed and patted Arden's back. "Well, I hope you know that Madame Pomfrey and Professor Sprout told us that Dumbledore has issued 100 points to those who helped Harry and Ron in the first place." And as she spoke these words, she sent Draco a significant look that made his eyes widen in horror. It was clear he didn't want his name anywhere near the spotlight. It confirmed Hermione's story. "Don't worry, I heard he's awarding them in silence."

Arden, thinking Romina was still speaking just to her, laughed and said she didn't care about the points. Romina shot Draco a knowing smile and started to eat.

"What was it like?" Daphne asked her out of sheer curiosity. "Being petrified?"

Romina was piling on dinner on her plate pretty fast. "I mean, at times I could hear things. Actually, my hearing's a bit sensible right now. It's like being in slow-mo for ages. My ears have to catch up to real time now."

"Really? You could hear at times?" Draco drawled suddenly, meeting Angel's gaze with a smirk. The brunette stiffened in his spot. "Did you happen to hear anything interesting?"

Romina was none the wiser about their little secret. "Not really. The pieces that I did hear were just that: pieces. Everything was kind of slowed down, you know? Hard to make out a conversation."

Angel visibly relaxed but his sister shot him an odd side-glance. "Well, we're just really glad that you're back, Romina," he said.

Romina briefly paused to smile in his way. "Me too."

"But you know," Pansy started and it wasn't far fetched to believe that the next thing that would come out of her mouth was a sort of 'I told you so', "I bet if you hadn't been with Granger, you wouldn't have been petrified in the first place."

"Wow, the first time Parkinson said something smart," Blaise said, "But if you wanna keep hanging out with her and getting into all sorts of situations like that, by all means go for it."

Romina shot the boy in question a sour smile. "I missed you too, Blaise."

"No, but I think Pansy might have a point there," Daphne spoke up, "You should stay clear of her and Harry and Ron. You don't want to get into more trouble like that."

"I have known Harry my entire life," Romina said, "So has Arden. We're not splitting up for anything. And besides, it wasn't Harry's fault."

"No, it was probably your fault for sticking your nose where it didn't belong, huh?" Draco asked her.

"I missed you too, Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Sarcasm was not missed. And I'm telling the truth, aren't I? Tell us right now that you didn't get yourself petrified because you were doing something you shouldn't have been doing?"

Romina put her fork down on her plate and turned her body in Draco's direction. "You know, that's a lot of talk for someone who always sticks their nose where it doesn't belong. I had to learn it from somewhere, didn't I? What, with it coming with the 'pureblood' label, right?"

"Yeah, things are definitely back to normal," Arden said with a beam on her face. Meanwhile, Romina and Draco were stuck in a glare-off.

McGonagall interrupted them shortly afterwards to gather their attention at the front table. Dumbledore rose from his centered seat and began addressing them. "Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madame Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified."

Of course everyone gave an applause.

"Also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled."

The entire room burst into a new sense of applause.

The front door burst open to reveal Hagrid coming in. Everyone silenced but Hagrid sheepishly smiled. "Sorry I'm late. The owl deliverin' my release papers got all lost 'n confused. Some ruddy bird named Errol."

Romina giggled remembering the old owl Ron was always embarrassed over. Soon, however, they were drowned out on account of almost the entire school clapping and cheering for the return of Hagrid. Needless to say, the night was full of joy and lots and lots of food.

~0~

When it came time to leave for the Hogwarts Express, no student was left in deception. With no work and all friends returned, who could bother to be sad? All the way back on the express, talking was incessant. Among the topics was being petrified. Hermione surprised Romina with the information that she heard a lot more than Romina had for some reason. That was how Romina found out who had given her the secret Valentine day card.

"That was sweet of him," Romina said with a small smile. Apparently, she was the only one out of everyone who didn't get the memo about Angel's crush. Hermione didn't have the courage to tell her at that moment either.

"Okay, guys," Harry suddenly changed topics and had taken out a quill and parchment. Hermione and Romina recognized a number, more importantly that it was Harry's phone number.

"This is called a telephone number," Harry said for Ron's benefit. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer — he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to. . . ."

"Hey, thanks," Romina sarcastically waved a hand.

"You know what I mean," Harry said as he handed his number to Ron and Hermione.

"Well, in that case, I'll give my number to Hermione and Ron, and not you," Romina stuck her tongue out at Harry.

"Rom, I already have your number."

"Shut up, Harry."

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" Hermione asked when they got off the train and spotted the Dursleys with their grim faces. It was nothing compared to Romina's cheerful grandparents waiting just behind them.

Harry snorted. "Proud? Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious!"

"What a lovely world it is at the Dursleys'," Romina apologetically patted Harry on the back. "Don't worry, Arden and I can keep you company. Speaking of, I should probably go find her. I can't trust that she and Pansy won't try to kill each other by the end of the train ride. How they manage to survive without me is beyond me."

"You're like the peace mediator, then?" Harry mused. He knew Romina all too well. She had a kind heart but could also be a bit of an instigator as well. It was all fun when she did it to Dudley - hilarious, actually.

Romina's smirk was promising. "Something like that."

A/N:

End of Book 2! Once again, Book 3 will continue within the same story ;)

P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"