"No,no-that goes there!"

"Nu-hun, it's pointing the other way!"

"You guysssss, I can't find any more head pieces!"

"Find them? At least you have pieces put together-I can't match anything! 

"Artemis, this is clearly her shadow, not the sleeve!" 

"No, it's not! It has a bit of her skin, see?"

"That's her ankle!" 

"Is not."

"The eyes don't connect!" 

"I swear there are like literally no matching ones of the diadem!"

"This is so stupid," Scarlet moaned, flopping back onto the couch. "The puzzle hates us!"

 "It hates you," Alura corrected, snapping yet another piece of the Rowena Ravenclaw puzzle into place. "I'm doing great. Expect there are no head pieces left." 

"And the eyes don't fit together," Scarlet reminded her. 

"That too." 

"Clover- Clover? Are you looking?" Artemis waved her hands in front of my face. "Look!" and she slipped Ravenclaw's shadow onto her sleeve. 

"Fine," I grumbled. "You were right."

"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure," Artemis said proudly, brushing her long dark hair back.  

"Uh, yeah, don't you think that we should do our homework? Catch up on that wit some of us are lacking?" Alura asked with a smirk. 

"NOPE," Scarlet and Artemis said at the same time. 

I shrugged. "It's the weekend...."

And indeed it was. The sun was casting a golden light on the lake outside,  the grass damp from Friday's rain and sparkling where the light caught it, the day sunny and warm and...lazy. Happy shouts echoed from outside where people were lounging in the warmth. And us oddballs were lounging in the Common Room, because, you know, there are people outside. 

But more importantly, there were people inside. Not, like, amazing ones, but good, better than the other people here. Although I suppose hanging at with me takes a certain amount of many good qualities, such as patience. It's nice, sometimes, to talk to people, even if the effort is exhausting. But I'm glad that they, at least, are not messed up and still have the kindness to let someone like me tag along for a bit.  

Unfortunately, I still had a tiny bit of homework. Several essays for Transfiguration and  Herbology and Potions and Charms...okay, fine, I have homework. 

I sighed. "I guess." I bent down out began to rummage through my bag for my ink-

-a pale hand was thrust into my way. "Oh no," Alura laughed, like I just said something funny. She still scares me. "You can't study on an empty stomach- everyone knows that."  

"Uhhhh...." I stared. The one time I want to do homework, and someone gets in the way! 

Artemis pouted and it's the most adorable thing ever. "I wanna come too!" 

"We can finish the puzzle and then start on homework," Scarlet pointed out, at the same time Alura said, "Suck it up."

"Besides, they won the piggy back race." 

"Besides, you know we can't be suspicious," Alura smiled, tying her long dirty blonde hair in a bun. "Come on, Clover- we need a nickname for you, by the way- let's go." 

More confused than ever, I followed her. "Where are we going? And I'll have you know by name is perfectly..um, fine. No, that sound lame. Good? Yeah, my name is good." 

But Alura just smiled- in front of me. Someone smiled in my company!- and stopped in front of a huge painting of a castle. She pushed it open, revealing a long tunnel.

"Uh, you're not making me go down there, are you? 'Cuz that looks pretty...iffy." I have had my fair share of dark tunnels, and even a special chute down and back up to the Room of Requirement, aka my number one hiding place. But unknown dark tunnels with people I've certainly been annoying the hell out of....I'm good. 

Alura sighed. "Oh, the newbies are so innocent." Which wasn't concerning at all. 

And then she pushed me into the darkness. It was not a hall like I expected, but a drop to nothingness. 

Aaaaand I'm still falling. Down, down, down...The Room of Requirement passage goes up. Will this one? 

"AHHHH!" Fuck. My body slammed onto the stone ground. I guess that was a no. Slowly, I got up, rubbing my jaw, which was sore after its introduction with the ground. 

"Alura?" I called. "Where are you, I need to murder you!" I was only joking a little. A death would solve this whole friendship problem- I still had no idea how I was going to get out! 

"Up here!" I look up to see the soles of Alura's shoes descending gracefully down the shaft. "You really shouldn't go head first," she frowned. "If you put your arms out, it triggers a spell that slows you down."

"You could have told me that before!"

She shrugged. I remember why I'm scared of her. 

"Anyway, where are we?" 

To answer my own question, we were in a huge room. It was golden and gleaming, with fireplaces in every wall and four long tables that looked kinda like the house ones upstairs. Thousands of tiny little fleshy blobs, about two feet tall, were scuttling around, carrying dishes. "Where are we?"

Alura gave her famous smirk again. "This, my dear is the kitchens."

"The kitchens! In all my years actively trying to get expelled, I've never discovered this!"

Alura giggled, and I feel slightly less worried about if she's going to murder me or not. One of the fleshy blobs came up and I realized it wasn't a blob but a house-elf, with a long, pointy nose and tennis-ball shaped eyes. "Miss Alura! What a pleasure it is to see Miss again! What can Shergin get for Miss today? And who is new Miss?" 

Alura smiled. "Shergin, this is Clover. We'll have the usual plus one of everything, thanks." 

The house-elf, Shergin, beamed and bowed. "Miss Clover! What an honor, a joy for Shergin to meet!"

Within seconds, a team of house-elves came pittering up, carrying a huge canvas bag between them.

"Thanks," Alura said, and they bowed and scuttled away. She opened the bag.  "Five vanilla- pumpkin spice lattes, five teas, a platter of tarts- oh, I love that cake, thanks Shergin- and cherry pie." 

I stared. "Do you do this regularly?"

Alura just grinned and pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhh." 

She walked back to the fireplace we came out of.  "I'm going to levitate you up. Can you get me and the bag up?"

I grinned. At least when they eventually abandon me, I won't have all the benefits taken away, too. "I have now found the proper way to study." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A blurry shape of a woman leaned next to the girl, trying to grab her arm, but she yanked free, sprinting to the woods, full of fear and anger. Hurt clouded the figures' eyes.  With a crack, a figure in a dark cloak appeared- the girl screamed in terror- with a flash of blinding green light, the first figure crumpled to the earth. The girl shrieked and trashed from her bed. A broken, ragged cry escaped from her lips. "Mom!!" 

My eyes flew open. It takes me a second to realize that my mouth is still in the horrified shape of a scream. 

I can feel tears welling up and yank my covers over me. Biting my lip so hard I taste blood, smeared down my chin, it takes everything I have to stop the torrent of tears that so desperately want to be let out. 

I take a huge, shaking breath out into my knees. 

I haven't had this nightmare since I was eleven years old, when I first came to Hogwarts, and now I had had it twice in a row. I never dreamed my terrifying past would be brought here, the one space free of those many nights I spent staring at a spot on the wall, scared to go to sleep, of waking up screaming in the middle of the night. 

Get it together, Clover, I snarled at myself, and I hate that feeling of being broken- up yelling at yourself, of constantly re-thinking everything because some part of you isn't convinced that's right. 

I let out another pathetic whimper when I hear a rustle. Can they hear me? For the small moment, I think of them wanting to hear me- but no- I made a promise. 

I can't- I just refuse- to hurt anyone else. 

Hello everyone! I want it to be noted that while I made the mood board at the top for Alura, none of the pictures/drawings are mine in any way, shape, or form.