Hocus Pocus

The second of September did not come around quick enough for me. I was ready to return to Hogwarts weeks ago. To me, the Vaisey home felt like a personal Hell on Earth. All summer it was the same old thing: “You don’t understand, you’re just a Hufflepuff” or “I can’t believe you’re not a Slytherin”. My personal favorite was “You disappoint me, but we still love you.”

Taking a deep breath, I turned to face my parents. My father was tall with dark hair and green eyes, his facial features strong and masculine; handsome. My mother had long black hair and her eyes a shade of dark blue, her features gentle and still youthful; womanly. I smiled at them, the expression still filled with unconditional love, despite the harsh words I endured from them.

“Mum, Papa, I love you,” I said, leaning in to kiss my mother’s cheek.

My mother frowned and tapped my nose. “I do wish you’d take that metal out of your face.”

“She likes it. Let her do what she will Catherine,” came my father’s dry reply. I hugged my father tightly. Sighing, he pressed his lips sweetly to the crown of my head before stepping away. “Study hard Aubrey.”

“And write when you have the time,” my mother added.

“I will. Good-bye.” Blowing them a kiss, I quickly turned around and dashed off onto the train, rolling my black trunk behind me. Blinking back the tears, I put a smile on my face for everyone to see. There wasn’t a need for people snooping in my personal life.

Wandering down the locomotive, I found the two I had been looking for: Lorcan and Lysander Scamander. Before the school year ended, I had asked the rambunctious Ravenclaw twins for their help in taking care of my cat, Magic, for the summer; the reason for this was that my mother was deathly allergic. Knocking gently on the door, I smiled at them before entering the compartment.

“Vaisey, my dear, dear daisy! How was your summer holiday?” The one I knew to be Lysander spoke.

“We missed you quite a bit, but I’m sure Magic may have just missed you a smidge more.” Lorcan grinned, holding up the cat. I quickly gathered Magic into my arms, nuzzling my face into Magic’s soft fur.

Sitting there grinning, Lorcan sat and watched me while Lysander lifted my trunk and tucked it away for my. That was the biggest difference between the two. Lorcan was feisty and carefree whereas Lysander calm and more considerate. Now if you were to get romantically involved, Lorcan would be the heat-of-the-moment type, while Lysander was the romantic wine-and-dine type.

“You two never change. For once I’d like to see you help me with my luggage Lor,” I said, frowning at him. I took my seat across from the duo.

“And for once I’d like to see you in something less,” he replied, not missing a beat. My face flushed red at that comment and I rolled my eyes, looking out the window.

Lysander laughed and thumped his brother on the head, “In your dreams.”

A knocking on the door interrupted our laughter. Turning to the sliding door, a sea of varying red shades could be seen.

“The Clan,” we said in unison, laughing.

Sliding the door open, none-other-than Rose Weasley and Lily Potter poked their heads in.

“Hey you three! Mind if we joined you?” Rose asked before going ahead and taking a seat between the twins. Sighing, I shook my head and went back to staring out the window. Ever since Rose had her first kiss years ago during our first year, she has been boy crazy.

“Hi Aubrey,” Lily said smiling.

“Hello,” I breathed back in reply. This would be a long journey.



Somewhere between the twins’ bickering and Rose droning on about her new boyfriend to Lily, I had fallen asleep. It was not until Magic viciously clawed herself from my arms did I wake.

“Cat! Ouch.” At the sound of thunder, I looked to see that the rare sunny day had disappeared and turned into a storm. “Oh this is horrible, I don’t have my cloak or anything for this weather. My uniform will get soaked.”

“Did you leave it at home?”

I looked up and saw it was Lorcan. I nodded. “I got a new one over the summer and my mother’s sending it to the school when it arrives at my house.”

“Not to worry. I’ll make sure you stay dry,” Lorcan said, turning the page of a comic book. The entire compartment was empty aside from the two of us, Lorcan already dressed in his school robes. “You should get dressed while you’re up. I was going to wake you up soon anyway.”

Offering a faint smile at Lorcan’s rare generosity, I reached up into my trunk and pulled out the uniform. Looking at past photos of my parents and grandparents in their Hogwarts uniforms, I happy that Hogwarts found a new sense of style and that my uniform is not like theirs. I managed to find a scarf in the trunk and pulled that out too. When I came back from changing, I saw a new crowd of people in the compartment.

“Aubrey! It’s good to see you.” I peered over someone’s red head and saw that it was Roxanne Weasley. She occupied the spot I’d been sitting in and her brother Fred stood, leaning against the window. Squeezing through, I saw it had been Hugo Weasley blocking my way. I gave Roxanne a hug.

“It’s good to see you too Roxanne,” I smiled. She never liked it when anyone called her Roxy; she personally felt it was a hooker’s name. It didn’t help that boys used to tease her and call her Foxy Roxy whenever they saw her.

“Here Aubrey, sit here,” said Lysander from behind me. He stood and moved aside to lean against the window with Fred.

Sitting, I looked around. Beside Lorcan, Lysander, Hugo, Roxanne, Fred, and myself, Louis and Dominique Weasley were here as well. I noticed two particular Weasley girls weren’t here. “Where are Molly and Lucy?”

“They ran off with Lily and Rose to sit with Albus and James,” Louis drawled, rolling his eyes. I frowned at him. He and his sister Dominique were attractive, they both knew it, and they acted snobbishly at times. Roxanne always complained how Dom was a maneater and it wasn’t fair how she got all the boys. Glancing over, I almost laughed at Fred who rolled his eyes at Louis.



“Lorcan I’m getting wet!”

“Well stop running faster than me!”

I laughed as Lorcan and I quickly got into a carriage, Lorcan using the leather jacket he had as an umbrella for the both of us. Cuddling to his body, I laughed, seeing his dripping face.

“You two are useless.”

Looking around Lorcan, I saw the ever-handsome trio Holden Macmillan, Isaac Corner, and Matthew Nott standing under black umbrellas. Holden and Isaac were Hufflepuffs like me, but Matthew was a Slytherin, though I’m fairly certain Holden and Matthew were meant to be in Ravenclaw; they were geniuses.

“Do you honestly believe that coat is going to work?” Isaac laughed, climbing up to sit with us; Holden followed after with Matthew bringing up the rear.

“Hold this a minute, mate,” Isaac asked Holden, handing the boy an umbrella. Isaac slipped his cloak off and leaned forward, getting a bit wet, and wrapped the cloak around my figure, pulling the hood up over my head for me. It positively made me warmer.

“Hey Nott, share your umbrella with me.” Holden looked over to the man beside him. Matthew rolled his eyes and shifted the umbrella to hover over the two of them while Holden gave Lorcan his umbrella.

“Thank you boys,” Lorcan grinned, holding the umbrella above the two of us.

The carriage jerked forward, starting towards the castle and picking up pace.

“Wait! Where’s Lysander?”

“I’m here! Slow the carriage!” The lanky figure of Lysander flailed wildly as he ran towards our carriage, umbrella in hand.

“Hurry up Ly! Just jump the fuck in will you?! You’re going to be left behind,” Lorcan yelled at his twin, reaching his arm out for his brother. Grabbing Lysander’s wrist, he pulled him into the carriage, his body sprawled at our feet. “Get up, enough of your fuckery for the day.” Lorcan nudged his double with his foot.

“Hey! I was trying to get you an umbrella so you can shut up.”

Here we go again. They always bickered.



“Why Elizah! What a lovely shade of slut you’re wearing today.”

A group of Gryffindor boys cat-called from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall as Elizah Higgs and her best friends Leila Goyle and Annie Goldstein strutted their way past towards the Slytherin table.

Elizah stopped, batting her eyelashes. “No need to get upset you can’t have this, James Potter.” Laughing, she walked on, her nose high in the air as she slid into her spot beside Scorpius Malfoy, who she wrapped her arms around and kissed.

“Seriously? They’re not even dating.” I rolled my eyes and looked over at Holden who was busy drooling over Sophie Wood at the Gryffindor table. I turned to my friend Aimee Macmillan, Holden’s little sister.

Aimee shrugged, smiling. “Well, are you going to be the one to make that clear?” She laughed. “I don’t think it matters to either Scorpius or Elizah if they’re official or not. They just get what they want from each other and that’s all they care about.”

“Besides,” Isaac joined in, “I heard from Nott that Malfoy’s definitely not interested in anything more from her.”

“Really? That’s so sad,” Aimee replied, turning and having a conversation with Isaac about how it wasn’t sad and just a part of life.

I shook my head at the two. Isaac and Aimee have been the closest pair I’ve ever met. Personally, I believe the two of them have been in love since they first saw each other on the playground in primary school. They’ve always been inseparable, told each other every single thing that happens to them daily, and have sleepovers all the time; neither of them dates anyone the other wouldn’t approve of, except for fourth year.

During our fourth year when everyone thought that Isaac was going to finally ask Aimee out, he and Elizah Higgs got into some relationship together. It totally broke her heart, even though she tried her best to hide it. Holden finally gave Isaac an earful when he couldn’t stand sitting up with her at night anymore. Following that, Elizah left Isaac to be Scorpius’s… whatever she is currently. Since then, everyone has just been waiting to see how long it takes Isaac to admit to Aimee that he loves her and vice versa. They’re a complicated duo.

“Hey did you guys hear about Nebulas?” I looked behind me to see Casper Pritchard – Ravenclaw – bent over, hands on his knees, panting.

“Casp, have some water.” Holden held out the glass to him. “Now what’d you hear?”

“Professor Nebulas retired last minute and Ted Lupin’s taken over the Defense Against Dark Arts position!”

Squinting at him, I tried to see if he was pulling one over our heads. “Who’d you hear this from?”

“Louis Weasley was bragging at the Gryffindor table about getting high marks this semester in DADA and Beau McLaggen told him to sod off, so you know how Louis gets. He placed a bet for 75 galleons that Teddy Lupin would be the professor and that idiot took the bet.” Frowning, I nodded. I knew first hand that Louis only made bets when he knew he’d win.

Isaac grinned and leaned over, patting Casper on the back. “Nice! Thanks for the heads up.”

After chatting with us for a few more minutes about the excursion Casper and his family took to Mexico, he left us with a few souvenirs of knitted Inca hats. Mine and Holden’s had fur while Isaac and Aimee’s where more traditional, though Aimee’s had a cute knit ball at the top of hers. Aimee was excited about the hat and put it on, grinning, and after some convincing, got Isaac put his on long enough for a photo. It was probably to put in their photo album; did I forget to mention they have photo albums dedicated to the two of them and their adventures? Yeah, I think it’s cute too.

Eventually the sorting of first years began and the beginning of term speech was said, introducing Ted Lupin and stressing the importance of avoiding the fifth floor women’s lavatory, steering clear of the Forbidden Forest, and the dangers of swimming in the Black Lake. No one followed those rules these days. It was common to see older students walking about in their swimwear, or lack-there-of, by the lake, or the delinquents running off into the forest to use illegal substances.

We ate up the food, it was always so delicious; better than your grandmother’s cooking even. Mid-dinner, our table was approached by James Potter.

“Oh happy day! Our Hogwarts King has graced our presence! To what do we Hufflepuffs owe this pleasure?” Colin Livesay grinned, standing up and giving James a hug. Instead of hearing what James had to say, Colin plopped himself back down and went back to starting the small food fight between him and his friends. Holden, of course, got involved when a roll almost hit him in the eye.

Picking up a clean plate, I held it up as a shield for my head. “Hi James, how can we help you?”

“Well, Miss Vaisey, I was wondering if you all were good to go for our secret start of term fête.” He crouched down so that he didn’t stand out too much to the entire Great Hall.

“It’s tradition James, we have to,” Aimee replied for us, smiling, gathering some potatoes onto her fork. “It’d only be right.”

“There you have it. Where are we meeting?” Isaac asked, chugging his bubble juice.

Aimee frowned at him. “I don’t understand how you can just drink that bubbly water plain. It makes me sick. Why don’t you ever add anything to it?”

I tuned out the rest of their conversation, focusing on James. “How about we meet at the bottom steps of the Chamber of Reception?”

“Sounds like a good plan, Aubrey. See you there,” he said, smiling. “You have party punch ready, right?”

“Of course I do. I promised didn’t I?”

“I can always rely on you.” Giving me a wink, he tailed it back to his table.



Just before dinner ended, I signaled over to Aurora Kirke in Ravenclaw. Once she saw me, she gave me a thumbs up and leaned over the table to whisper to her group of friends. Getting up, Holden, Aimee, and Isaac followed me out. Soon, Aurora, Lorcan and Lysander, and Oliver Boot, joined us and we waited for James and his crew to meet us at the Chamber of Reception. Not long after, Matthew showed up to wrap his arms around Aurora. The two of them have been going out since they first laid eyes on each other in first year.

All first years have to take a boat ride to the castle at the beginning of the year instead of taking carriages and as Aurora explained it to us, Hagrid shoved them together into the same boat. Matthew was always the quiet one, but when he opened his mouth, everything he said was straight to the point, so when he saw her, he told her up front that he thought she was beautiful and asked her to be his girlfriend. Obviously, she agreed.

James and his brother Albus showed up with Isabella Finnigan, and Sophie Wood. Standing on my toes I looked around them seeing Roxanne, Rose, and Fred.

I frowned, not seeing two particular Weasley girls. “Hey Rose, where are Molly and Lucy? I feel like I’m never going to see them.”

“Probably never will. Uncle Percy told them off and said that they had to focus more on studying than friends.” Rose rolled her eyes. “I swear if they only learned how to just manage their time. It’s not like they’ve got a huge circle of friends.”

“Shut up Rose. You’re so rude. Rude,” Roxanne said, glaring at her cousin.

James rolled his eyes and pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket. Taking out his wand he tapped it, mumbling something under his breath. “Come on, let’s get to the training grounds.”

Quietly, we walked out of the doors and through the training grounds of the castle. After a few minutes of James leading us this way and that, and backtracking a little bit, we found the entrance to the secret room. The secret room’s entrance was a mosaic window. All you had to do to access it was to walk through the window, but you had to be careful because it was a six-foot drop.

“I’ll go down first,” James said, looking at everyone. He jumped through the window and after a few minutes I stuck my head in. “Hey Aubrey, jump, I’ve got you.” He held his arms open, ready to catch me.

Smiling, I jumped down, clinging onto him. James laughed and spun me around once, twice, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Kissing his cheek, he set me down and I began searching for the candy. We found out that whenever someone enters the secret room, the room rewards them with chocolate frogs and boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. I found the candy stashed away behind one of the many couches we had transfigured up and left here. I set the candy on the large and round coffee table we had. The four couches and two large recliners circled the large round coffee table.

Pulling things from my skirt pocket, I produced a small block. Tapping it, it grew to a large size. I opened the box and took out a large plastic punch bowl that was sealed tightly by a lid. Inside the bowl was the party punch James asked about earlier. I also pulled out bags of plastic cups and sliced fruit. I poured the sliced fruit into the punch and stirred it. Digging through, I found bag of chips and some gummy bears that were scary. They roared like actual bears and they bite.

Looking up, I saw Matthew catch Aurora as she leaped down. Then Isaac hopped down with Aimee on his back; he landed flat on his face and immediately Aimee went to his aid, acting as nurse for him. Aurora pulled Matthew over and began helping set up. Matthew pulled out a pouch and gingerly began placing the tiny bottles inside on the table. Aurora tapped each bottle with her wand and they enlarged.

As everyone made their way in, people helped. Everyone had to bring something to contribute to the gathering. Most of them brought food and drinks. Oliver brought the music, Lorcan and Lysander brought playing cards and other things for drinking games, and Fred and Roxanne brought packs of cigarettes. Sophie and Isabella contributed veggie sticks and a vial of some potion that was supposed to make aches and hangovers disappear.

“Hey Potters, what’ve you two brought?” Lorcan called out, throwing himself across one of the couches. He shuffled the stack of cards in his hands expertly.

“Ah shut up Lor and stop shuffling the self-shuffling cards,” Lysander sighed, throwing Lorcan’s feet off the couch and sitting down. Isabella quickly sat down between the two.

Aurora filled the plastic cups with the punch, while I poured two shots into each. Aimee passed them out to everyone carefully. I took my seat on one of the two recliners. Everyone else followed suit and sat down where ever with their cups in hand.

James grinned and walked over sitting down on the arm of my recliner. “No need to worry. I’ve brought French letters for everyone!” Reaching into his pockets, he threw condoms all over the table, making some laugh and others, like Isabella and Rose whine about it getting all over the food.

“Shut up Rose. They’re in a wrapper,” Oliver rolled his eyes and laughed. Leaning forward, he reached over and gave a fist tap to James.

“James, you’re so uncouth,” Sophie said, making a face.

James slid down and squeezed himself beneath me, making me sit partially on his lap. I turned and sat sideways, letting my legs lie across his lap and hang over the side. “Come on. I’m Head Boy and I’m the one with the map! Give me a break. Without me, we wouldn’t be doing this.”

“Don’t worry, I brought a bottle of Dragon Whiskey,” Albus said, revealing the bottle. Everyone cheered. This was why we loved Albus.

This was what having friends was about; doing stupid things with fantastic people. Lysander quickly passed out cards and started up a game of Death Eaters, our wizard version of that Muggle game Mafia.



“Peeves! You’re wicked! Absolutely wicked! You’re evil,” I shouted, chasing after that ugly poltergeist. School started perfectly this year, and two weeks later Peeves has to go and ruin it all by stealing my 40-inch essay on the curse Fiendfyer. Professor Lupin assigned everyone in the class a different curse so that no one could copy another’s essay.

“Come and get it, ickle Vaisey! Hee hee hee!” Turning upside down in mid air, he stuck his tongue out at me and blew a raspberry.

Growling, I pulled out my wand and stupefied him. I watched my essay fall to the floor, amazed that my silent spell worked. Quickly I snatched it up and ran to class; if I was late, he wouldn’t take it. I made it just in time; the rotating staircases gave me problem though. I saw my empty seat between Beau McLaggen and Ronnie Glasgow. Sitting down, I whispered a quick hello before pulling out my notebook and quill.

“Hey Beau, can I use your ink today?” I whispered. He shrugged. Typical. Dipping my quill in his ink well, I jotted down the date.

Professor Lupin stood up straight from his previous position of leaning against the front of his desk. Looking at the watch on his wrist, he waved his hand from left to right and the classroom door shut. Many of the girls drooled over him. He definitely was the best-looking professor in this school. Shaking my head, I had a feeling this lesson today would be a long one so I took out my enchanted notebook.

Aimee, Aurora, and I had three notebooks, a bright pink one, a turquoise one, and mine was orange, that we enchanted so that we could instantly communicate with each other by writing in it. This started in our second year after we’d been caught passing notes time after time. After our thirtieth detention, we decided that we had to go about communicating in a different way.

Quickly I scribbled in blue ink: Aimee- I’m so bored! Tell me a joke. I’m dying here.

Staring at the page, I waited for a response. When I didn’t get one, I turned around to see Aimee and Isaac playing tug-o-war with a bright pink notebook. Giggling, I turned back around, trying to pay attention to class. When I next looked down at the notebook I saw there were several messages in pink.

Sorry, Isaac was being a pest. I don’t know a joke!
Aubrey?
Are you there?
):
)’:
D”:

Rolling my eyes, I quickly wrote back: Enough with the sad faces! You were taking too long to answer. Can I borrow your notes after class? I can’t concentrate. Professor Hunky’s distracting me.

Sure, you can. And don’t let the Clan hear you call Lupin a Hunky.

We talked a little longer and made plans to find Aurora and eat lunch together in the Clock Tower Courtyard. At some point we each had to stand one by one and give a short summary of our essays before turning them in. I was told my summary was exceptional and that he couldn’t wait to read it. Aimee, being the overachiever between the two of us, was told that he was delighted to read her paper on Sectumsempra and that the abstract she gave sounded promising and a delight.

When class was dismissed, I bid Ronnie and Beau a quick goodbye and that I’d see them in Herbiology later. I walked over to Aimee and Isaac’s table that they shared with some Gryffindor. Isaac was giving her a hug and kissing her forehead.

“You two make me sick sometimes,” I stated blandly. “If you don’t mind Isaac, we have girly things to do.”

“Lovely to see you as well Aubrey,” he laughed, giving me an air kiss and winking. “I’ll see you tonight then, Aims?”

She nodded her head before skipping off with me. “Aubrey I think he’s going to ask me tonight!” she exclaimed excitedly to me as we headed down the moving staircases.

“Do you know what you’re going to wear?” I asked her. When she didn’t answer, I grinned.

“Aurora,” we said in unison.

We found the girl as she was leaving Potions, holding hands with Matthew. He was whispering to her and she was smiling and blushing madly. We could only imagine what he was telling her. Matthew looked up and stopped his whispers. She looked up at him and he nodded his head at us. Giving her a short sweet kiss, he gave us a wave and walked the other way. Quickly, Aurora dashed over to us.

Aimee, being the most naïve of us all, asked, “What was he saying to you?”

Blushing madly, Aurora shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”

“Eww, now I know,” I cried, slapping my right hand over my eyes. Sighing, I let my hand drop to my side. “Look, Aimee’s got a hot date with Corner and she need help picking out what to wear. Care to grab a bite and look through her wardrobe? We can get food for our movie night too.”

“Of course! Any day.”

We dashed down to the Great Hall and each picked up a plate. I piled a few sandwiches onto my plate, Aimee put fruit and veggie sticks with some dip on her plate, and Aurora grabbed as many desserts as she could fit. I grabbed a pitcher of some juice and we snuck out of the Great Hall, avoiding professors.

“You know, I’m sure everyone thinks we’re fatties,” I replied, sighing as we walked down to the basement. A group of kids younger than us stared wide-eyed at our stash of food. We stopped outside a statue of a wizard near the fruit painting that led to the kitchens. To the left of him was a portrait of a few animals grazing

“Hello darlings, welcome home,” the statue spoke, recognizing us. Eying our Ravenclaw friend, he lifted the portrait and the girls and I ducked into the hole, Aurora going in first. We learned that if we let her go in last that the statue would shut the portrait on her for being a Ravenclaw.

“This is why I like Hufflepuff Basement. You don’t have to remember a password. He just opens the entrance for you when he sees you,” Aurora complained, walking the tunnel to the girl’s dorms.

Aimee shook her head. “At least you don’t have to go crawling through a tunnel to get to your dorm room.” Aimee pushed hard on the round barrel door above us and used the wooden planks along the wall to climb up it. “Ouch!” Quickly Aurora and I went up to see Aimee staring at her finger, frowning.

“What happened?” I asked, putting the food down on the desk beside my bed and rushed to her side.

“Splinter.”

Aurora pulled out her wand and tapped the injury, “Episky.”

“Thank you!”

“Well, come on now, show us your clothes!” Taking my shoes off, I sat on my bed nearest the desk and began eating the sandwich. Aurora sat down on my desk seat and helped herself as well. After seven outfits, Aurora finally gave up and went through Aimee’s clothes and picked an outfit for her.

“Put this on. This is the one,” Aurora said, sitting back down.

Turning her back to us, she started changing. “Aubrey, Aurora… I have a question.”

“What is it?” I took a big bite of my second sandwich. Goodness, I was starving today.

“Sex.” Aurora and I choked and began a coughing fit.

Aurora was the first to compose herself. “Aimee,” she coughed, “Don’t you think that’s really soon to think about it?” Her face was red from that momentary lack of oxygen.

“Yes, but Elizah-”

I interrupted her. “-Elizah Higgs is a huge slut. You’re not like her at all and Isaac knows that. When the time comes for it, you’ll just automatically know what to do, right Aurora?” From no response, I turned and looked at my friend. “Rora?”

“Don’t ask me. I wouldn’t know.”

I gave her a look. “What do you mean?”

“Guys! I can’t wear this! I don’t have a chest. You both know I’m not much up here,” Aimee cried, looking at herself in the mirror.

“Stop complaining. It looks great. If you pulled it down a little instead of trying to be Miss Conservative about everything you wear, you’d see it poofs a little and gives you some volume,” Aurora sighed, getting up and adjusting the outfit for Aimee. “And Aubrey, to answer your question, Matthew wants to wait until we’ve graduated before we have sex.”

“Seriously?” I grabbed a pumpkin pasty, going over to look through Aimee’s jewelry. I found a few pieces and set them out for her while Aurora looked at her shoes.

“Seriously. And don’t you dare tell anyone, especially Rose, Lorcan, or James. He’ll never forgive me.”

I waved her off. “Right, right. Not to worry.” Glancing down at the clock on my desk, I frowned. Looking at my wrist watch I swore silently. “Come on you two, we’re going to be late for Ancient Runes.”



That night around eleven, Aurora, Matthew, Holden, and I had our movie night. It started out in the Hufflepuff’s commons, but people kept interrupting by walking in front of the projector or just talking loudly, so we snuck out and moved it to the secret chamber behind the portrait of Mopsus, though it took us forever to figure out the password. We set up our theater in there and watched three Muggle films that Holden and Aimee owned: Some Kind of Wonderful, Batman and Robin, and I Spit On Your Grave. I Spit On Your Grave horrified me. I didn’t settle well with movies like that one. Holden laughed at me, and for the first time, after seeing Aurora safely hiding her face in Matthew’s arms, I wanted a boyfriend to hold onto me like that when I was scared.

After that horror film, Aurora and I decided we couldn’t sit for another movie, so the four of us snuck back into the Hufflepuff Basement, took showers, changed into pajamas and met back in the commons to play some cards. Matthew was staying with Holden for the night and Aurora was spending the night in Aimee and I’s room. I have a feeling it’ll be Matthew and Aurora sleeping in Holden’s bed, and Holden sleeping Aimee’s bed, and Aimee and I sharing a bed.

“So how do you think Aimee’s date’s going?” Holden asked, watching the cards shuffle on their own. We sat around the coffee table in front of the fireplace.

I shrugged. “She’s not back yet and it’s already two in the morning. Who knows? Aurora and I promised to wait up for her.”

“I’m sure Isaac’s treating her properly, Holden – we’re playing Old Maid – you don’t need to worry.” Aurora picked up the cards and began distributing them, placing one of the cards face down on the table.

“Aubrey, it’s been two weeks into the semester. Have you found anyone of interest this year?” Matthew didn’t bother to look at me while he discarded his pairs.

“Why are you asking that?” I began pairing and discarding cards as well.

He shrugged and leaned back on his elbows, waiting for everyone to finish discarding. “It just seems that you’ll be the next to get into a relationship.”

“I highly doubt it. Boys weren’t interested in me before and they aren’t now. A few months of not seeing me hasn’t changed anything,” I replied. “Aurora you start.”

Aurora plucked one of Holden’s cards and discarded it with a pair. “Don’t get yourself down like that. There are quite a few boys who like you.”

“Name them,” I mumbled, letting Holden pick one of mine; he didn’t discard them.

“Well I heard Lorcan and Lysander had a thing for you during your second year and our third,” Holden replied, referring to when he and the twins were third years.

“No way! They never said anything,” I cried, pulling a card and discarding my match.

Matthew smirked while he pulled a card from Aurora. “It was painfully obvious. When you didn’t make a move for either of them, everyone just assumed you were a tease and a prude.”

“Well who else was there?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know.

“Emery Towler and Pierce Carmicheal in our fifth year,” Aurora quipped.

“Noah Ackerly-” Matthew began but I cut him off.

“He liked Aimee!”

“Jeremiah Belby and Trent Davies,” Matthew finished.

I frowned, glaring at my cards. “I can’t believe this.”

“That’s only because you only ever liked two guys,” Aurora said.

“Who?” Holden asked, looking up.

“Don’t you-” I was cut off.

“Maxim and Scorpius.” Aurora winked at me and my face paled considerably.

“I can’t believe you just ratted me out like that.” I pulled another card from Matthew and discarded it.

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Aubrey, look. Matthew’s friends with both of them. Maybe he can help.” She looked at Matthew who was deciding which card he wanted from Aurora’s hand. “Matthew, you’ll throw in a good word for Aubrey won’t you?”

He shrugged and plucked a card, discarding the match. “Sure.”

“You’re only doing it because Aurora’s asking you,” Holden pointed out.

“If you call it asking. I’ll tell them tomorrow over breakfast or during Potions in the morning,” Matthew replied.

“Don’t! Not during Potions!” I cried out quickly. Holden pulled a card from my hand and discarded it.

Matthew raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because Hufflepuffs and Slytherins have double Potions together,” I said, my voice filled with worry.

“I’ll tell them in Arithmancy,” he settled.

“Good,” I said.

Soon it was down to just Matthew and I. I had two cards and he had one. Smirking, he plucked a card from my hand and discarded them both.

Queen of Hearts.

I was the Old Maid.