Being at school was different from how she had expected it to be. For one, she had assumed that she would do as Ron had done and make a new best friend on her first day who she would then spend all her time with, but that had not happened. Cho always waved to her when they met in the corridor and sometimes they would walk together and talk if they were going in the same direction, but she wouldn't go as far as referring to the two of them as friends. Addie, on the other hand, was her friend and always seemed to be pleased to see her, but they couldn't see each other all the time like Ginny wanted. They weren't in the same house or the same year so they were in none of the same classes. Addie and Cho also had other friends who wanted to spend time with them so couldn't spend all their time just with Ginny.

Luna often wanted to talk to her and make sure she was alright even though she was so busy making sure the thestrals were fed, but – and she had to make sure she was constantly reminding herself of this – she was not as good a friend as her new friend. She was never lonely as he always wanted to write back to her and never delayed.

Dear Tom,

Thank you for listening to what I told you about my brothers. I understand what you mean about appreciating them while I have them, and that being an only child would probably be even lonelier, but that doesn't stop them from getting on my nerves. Percy says I seem different now I'm at Hogwarts. I suppose it's just the new environment. Lots has been changing for me recently after all.

Thank you for reassuring me about the paint. It makes complete sense that I must have fallen over and put my hands out to stop myself from breaking my nose resulting in my hands getting paint on them. It's just a shame that I missed the feast though. Fred and George say that it was a banger and that I would have enjoyed it if I had gone. I assume they pulled a prank or something.

You asked about Addie? Well she's…

Ginny felt a tap on her shoulder. "Do you have time to go over your history homework now?" Addie asked her, sitting down beside her.

"Just a moment," she said, "I just have a little bit more to write in my diary. A lot has happened recently."

She tilted her diary so that Addie couldn't read it before continuing.

You asked me about my friend, Addie? Well she's just about to help me with my history homework. She's so clever, and she never makes me feel as though I'm stupid which Percy always did when he would try and help me understand things during the holidays. She's not as clever as you though so I'll talk to you soon.

"Done?" Addie asked, as she set her quill down and put her diary away. "I could work on something else if you need more time."

"It's alright. I just had another couple of sentences left to do. Now, that essay I mentioned…"

They went for a walk after around the grounds with Addie's friend Neville. Neville had previously been someone that Ginny would call her acquaintance, in part due to them having shared a hiding place to keep away from Ron during childhood, but they had drifted apart since he had gone to Hogwarts. She could completely understand why. There was no conceivable reason why he would write letters to his acquaintance once he had all the wonders of Hogwarts to be occupied with. Regardless, it was nice to see him again.

"How's Trevor?" she asked Neville, trying to be conversational. She had briefly met Trevor when Neville and his grandmother had come round once shortly before Ron's first year. Ron had been incredibly jealous that even Neville (whatever that meant) had a pet, while he didn't have anything at all. That was how he had ended up landed with Scabbers.

"Adjusting," Neville answered, "he took ages to get used to the climate last year. I'm trying not to worry though as it happened eventually last time."

"You two used to spend a lot of time together when you were younger," Addie stated, clearly having ascertained this very obvious fact for herself.

"Gran used to worry about me not having any friends so asked Mrs Weasley if Ron and I could have play dates when we were younger."

"Were any of them ever successful?" Ginny asked curiously. To her, it seemed as though Neville had been coming for visits forever, but she supposed there were probably meetings that had happened before her memory started.

"Once," Neville said. "We ate chocolate frogs and then Mrs Weasley took us to a muggle play park. It was really fun. The next time, though, Ron threw a rock at a plant and I cried. My gran had to come and pick me up."

"You are nothing if not consistent," Addie joked.

"Not quite as consistent as my disagreements with Ron from that moment on. He hasn't ever been anything other than a bully to me and..."

He glanced at her awkwardly.

"You can go ahead and say it. I doubt that it's something I haven't thought before."

Her shared childhood with Ron hadn't been the best. An embarrassment relating to siblings was – she gathered – fairly common, but her other brothers who were all older than him and substantially cooler (especially Charlie and Bill) had always treated her with kindness and tried to encourage her. Fred and George were three years older than her and consistently embarrassed by various family members, but even throughout the awkward years of early Hogwarts they had even gone so far as to write letters to her. To Ron, however, there was something awful about even having a sister.

"Well, he's your brother..." Neville said, fidgeting with his sleeve. "I know I don't know him as well as you do. I'm sure that he's great, really."

"No he's not," Ginny complained. "Even Percy is better than him."

"How are you doing with making friends by the way?" Addie asked, moving over to what was clearly a pressing concern to her. "Luna says you are often too busy to hang out with her, so I wondered if you have made a new friend or joined a club or something."

"Just not the Gobstones club," Neville said. "It may look fun but that's how they get you into it. Violence is never the answer."

"I've made another friend," Ginny said quickly, "and I haven't joined the Gobstones club. That would be embarrassing. You wouldn't know him, but he doesn't really have any other friends so I feel like I should make sure he doesn't get lonely."

"Talking to just one person most of the time sounds like it must be lonely," Neville said. "I used to just talk to Hermione and that was not great for me because we don't have many of the same interests."

"Well I talk to you sometimes," Ginny said indigently. "Not everyone I know needs to be my best friend."

"That's true," Addie agreed.

Neville and Addie exchanged a look, and Ginny had a sudden feeling that she wasn't being included in something. She didn't like it.

"Well, what is it?" she asked, wanting to be involved in whatever they seemed to be wordlessly discussing.

"Oh, it's nothing," Addie insisted.

"We'll tell you if anything comes of it," Neville said at almost exactly the same time.

Ginny couldn't bear the idea of them wanting to exclude her from something and not even wanting to tell her the truth about it. If they had told the consistent truth and simply told her that it was not anything to do with her, then perhaps she wouldn't feel so upset, but there was something about being excluded from something that felt really really bad.

Dear Tom,

Maybe you're right and I shouldn't have any other friends. I know if I told them the truth about you, they would probably judge me and try and make me tell a teacher. Mum says I shouldn't trust something if I can't see where it stores its brain, but sometimes I feel like I can see your soul so I think I can trust you.

Dear Ginny,

When I was at school I didn't really have many friends either. There were people around me, but they didn't really know me. That's how I wanted it. Telling people about your feelings is a weakness. They will come to exploit you. I won't exploit you though. You can tell me about your feelings. You can tell me about anything and I will try and help you. Who are these people who have treated you unkindly?

"Ginny," Addie said to her later in the library when they were doing work again. "We weren't trying to keep a secret from you, honestly. We just hated to hear you talking about only really spending time with this new friend of yours, and wondered whether we could ask our other friends who we meet for lunch sometimes whether we could invite you to come along. That's all it was."

"Really?" Ginny asked, relief coursing through her at the idea that there was not some grand scheme that they were consciously trying to exclude her from. She tried to not show it on her face though as Tom was right. Sharing her feelings was a weakness.

"Yes," Addie reiterated, "and they both say that you can come along if you want. Adrian says that he'll mention it to Professor Sprout, and she's almost certain to allow you to come along. She's very good about these things, even if she's not able to actually come along herself because of the Gobstones Club. She said it was fine if Luna came along, and she does sometimes now. She usually doesn't say much and just sits and eats her lunch and makes earrings out of fruit, but it's nice to know she's not always alone."

"Ok then!" Ginny said enthusiastically. "Just tell me when and where it is, and I'll be there."

She felt a twinge of guilt at having agreed to do something that would mean spending less time talking to Tom, but it would probably get them off her back if she agreed to talk to them. She would ask Tom later what he thought.

She showed up for lunch club as directed, and met Neville and Addie's friends. She had met Cho on the train and had heard mention of 'Adrian' from Addie herself, but up until the moment that she saw the five of them together (including Luna who was tying dried fruit onto a necklace), she didn't quite understand what it was that had drawn them together. They were all from different houses and none of them had a particularly similar childhood to another.

"So," she said, after they had all finished having what appeared to be their weekly update in which Cho explained in detail her interest in a very specific, niche star and Adrian shared the comings and goings of the Slytherin quidditch team which had then developed into Cho describing that of the Ravenclaw team which she had recently joined, "how did you all meet?"

"Professor Sprout," Cho said proudly, "she noticed that we were all sad and lonely and decided that we would be friends. She was right."

"She usually is," Neville confirmed, "and she sorted out dealing with my gran for me. I got a new wand and everything."

The entire group nodded in agreement. Ginny wondered if that would end up happening to her if she didn't manage to make any friends. Spending all her time talking to Tom and brief moments with Addie was probably not enough socialisation, or at least people would be likely to think that. To her, Tom felt like a missing piece.

"I was surprised," Ginny admitted, looking around at all of them, "to hear that you all get along so well, considering that you all ended up in different houses."

"The house system means nothing," Addie said. "They're just sleeping arrangements that ended up getting taken too far."

"Merlin knows that there are people in Slytherin who are as cunning and strategic as a doorknob," Adrian scoffed. "If I have to hear that little upstart Malfoy talking about how his family has been in Slytherin for generations again, then I will stick a quill in my eye so I can spend a while in the hospital wing and get a few minutes of peace."

Ginny could honestly say that she hadn't really thought about the house system at Hogwarts before beyond that she would probably end up in Gryffindor like everyone in her family. It was a point of family pride in the Weasley and Prewett families that they had all been in the house for generations. Was there really anything wrong with not breaking the status quo?

"What are the people in your dorm like?" Neville asked.

"Alright, I suppose," Ginny said, thinking about the people who she saw every day in the morning. If one of them were to be replaced in the night, she would never know. Perhaps this was her sign that she should start talking to them a bit more.

"'Alright' is better than Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus," Neville complained. "They once pretended not to know who I was for an entire day."

"Well at least they are all known for their acts of bravery," Cho said sarcastically. "It's not as though they have anything else going for them." She then appeared to remember who Ginny was. "I'm sure Ron is great," she said vaguely.

Ginny couldn't help but notice that they had not bothered to even acknowledge Harry as Addie's brother.

"What do you normally talk about?" she asked, hoping that they weren't going to complain about Neville's dorm mates for the entirety of lunch. She had heard enough about them over the summer.

"Well, last term we were given topics to talk about by Professor Sprout, and then we were pretty much just left to talk about it. We often ended up going in fairly bizarre directions," Cho explained.

"What are we thinking this week?" Adrian asked. "We can talk about anything really."

Neville considered for a minute. "I suppose we should probably talk about what has been on everyone's minds."

"The petrification?" Addie asked, curiously.

Ginny realised there was a subject worse than her brother and his friends, which was really saying something.

"Obviously the petrification," Neville said. "Do any of you feel like it will happen again?"

"Probably not," Cho decided, "the entire school is looking out for the perpetrator now, it would be foolish of them to try again."

"I agree," Adrian said, "if they are from my house, (which the teachers seem to think of as likely considering that they spend quite a lot of time looking suspiciously at our sixth and seventh years) then they won't end up doing the same thing again using the same method."

"I know that the entire 'heir' thing has been decided to mean the 'heir of Slytherin', but I honestly think it could be someone from any house," Addie said deliberatively.

"A vengeful Ravenclaw could achieve anything and probably get away with it," Cho said shuddering. "Bullies in my house are usually not caught."

"Indeed," said Luna from the back of the room.

"And you have no idea of how much rubbish a Hufflepuff can spout if they were raised in a specific way." Adrian agreed. "I was dealing with that nonsense all summer."

Ginny wondered who, but quickly decided that she didn't know him well enough for it to be any of her business.

"There's more blood supremacy in Gryffindor than anyone would like to admit," Neville added.

"If they strike again, I think I might be at risk," Addie said, stunning Ginny completely.

"No, Adelaide," Adrian insisted. "They say that it is only muggleborns who have to be concerned."

"If whoever this is has attacked before on the basis of something so inconsequential as blood purity then I am pretty sure anyone is probably at risk. If they end up widening their search, they'll probably come to me first. You haven't seen how the teachers have started looking at me," Addie said falteringly. "I'm so terrible at magic, that they're wondering how I got in."

"Did you look into getting a new wand?" Neville wondered. "You know how much better I'm doing now!"

"I can't exactly go to London over the holidays," she continued, "so I'm just going to have to wait until I'm back with my relatives over the summer."

"Maybe something will come up," Cho said optimistically.

"Oh I doubt it," Addie said.

"Oh Ginny, I just realised that we haven't been including you at all," Cho suddenly said turning to her.

"It's alright, really."

"What do you think?"

Ginny wasn't sure of how to answer this question. What she was really thinking was that she didn't know what she was thinking, but that didn't seem like a particularly complete answer to her. Perhaps a hint of the truth was the best policy.

"I don't know," she eventually decided on, "but I hope that Mrs Norris will be ok soon."

"Do you think that cats in general are at risk?" Addie asked. "I've been running up to my dorm at breaks because I've been so worried about Tabby. Maybe they'll go looking for me and end up petrifying my cat! I am responsible for her. If she gets petrified or even killed then it will be all my fault."

"I don't see any conceivable reason why cats in general would be targeted. I'm sure that Tabby will be safe." Cho decided logically. "If they do end up petrifying Tabby," Adrian gave her a warning look, "I would sooner blame the person who is petrifying cats than the person who keeps owl ordering that furball treats and toys like every day's her birthday."

"Yeah," Ginny quickly agreed. "It wouldn't be your fault."

At the end of lunch, Addie walked out of the art room with her.

"It's not always like that, I promise. Usually we talk about less miserable stuff, but I suppose that everyone in the castle is just thinking about Halloween."

"I think everyone's great," Ginny said truthfully.

"You can come along another time if you'd like. We're here every Tuesday lunchtime in the same place. We also have study group on Thursdays. I'm sure you'd be welcome to come along to that as well."

"I'll think about it. Thank you for inviting me along."

Addie smiled at her.

Ginny came to not far from the Gryffindor common room and looked at her watch. It was not long until curfew. She picked herself up and sped along the corridor in the hopes of not getting her first detention. Percy was there at the entrance to scold her for being out too late.

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time."

"Well don't do it again. I want at least one of my siblings to avoid detentions."

"Yes Percy," she said appeasingly, trying to get away from him so that she could go back to her dorm and write to Tom about this.

When she got to her dorm, she sat down on her bed and started to write.

Dear Tom,

I don't know where my afternoon went. I was planning on doing my herbology homework in the library, but it seems like I completely lost track of time.

The reply came back instantly, as it always did.

Ginny,

You are at a new school with new people. That can be very tiring. You should try and get more sleep at night. Clearly you are falling asleep during the day and not realising it. Go to sleep, we'll talk more tomorrow.

The news of Colin Creevey spread through the school the next day like wildfire.

Addie sat next to her in the library, like usual.

"Have you given much more thought to coming to lunch club sometimes?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ginny said, thinking about how much she wanted to spend time with Addie and her friends. However, that could never be. She had no idea what she was capable of. "I would love to..." Addie's face brightened, "But I think I'm a bit too busy at the moment. I'm still adjusting to being here, and I need to get more sleep."

"I completely understand," Addie said understandingly albeit disappointedly. "You can always change your mind if you want to. Have you been keeping up with writing in your diary and talking to your new friend, whoever they are?"

"Yeah, why?" Ginny snapped, her mood changing in an instant.

"No reason," Addie said. Ginny walked away from her, her eyes smarting with tears. "Just making conversation," she heard Addie saying dejectedly behind her.