Castle of Secrets

Chapter 1 ; Autumn

"Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested."

I got off the train, with a strong need to escape the loud excitement of the 1st year students arriving. This year I will definitely find some answers. I will find out what everyone is trying to hide from me. I WILL find out who took my mother, my only family, from me. I hurriedly found my way to the dorm upon arrival at the castle. Not long after I could hear people talking and greeting each other outside in the common room and halls. I quickly settled my things in their place in my dresser just in time for Luna to come running in. "Autumn, Autumn! There you are, where have you been? How was your summer, did you go anywhere fun. Did you meet a guy?" She threw out questions, left to right, along with answering some of them herself, not leaving a second for me to even answer. I grabbed her shoulders, and looked her in the eyes "Lu, breathe for Merlin's sake." I ordered her. "Calm down, I'm not timing you." I laughed at her innocent excitement.

I helped her unpack her luggage while we caught up with each other. Mostly being me doing the work while she told the long tale of her summer break, it was hard to believe so many things could happen in such a short time, but then again her excitement made the smallest of happenings sound like a great adventure. After unpacking we made our way towards the great hall for the first feast of the year. On the way we saw a few of our friends from the other houses, such as Neville and Ginny. Not feeling as big a need to catch up with Ginny, after spending half of the Summer at the Burrow, I turned towards Neville while Luna ran up to catch up with Ginny.

"Willy!" I called out as I closed in on him.

His head shut off from whatever interesting thing was happening down by the floor. He showed a small smile as he saw me approach.

But the smile quickly disappeared as he's eyes found something unpleasant behind me. I turned my head to see what it was, but didn't see anything other than students catching up while entering the hall. I turned back to him "What's up buddy? How was your break?"

We talked a bit before heading into the hall and heading our separate ways as we were in different houses. I found Luna along with the other 4th year Ravenclaws towards the middle of the long table. I greeted the others as I took a seat, beside Lu. Shortly after Ms. McGonagall entered with the first years, for the sorting ceremony. The entire hall filled with cheers from the different houses as they welcomed their juniors. After the many sortings and hatstalls we were presented with a majestic feast. Suddenly during our chat I felt eyes burning into the back of my skull, I looked over my shoulder with no luck in identifying the burning stare. Throughout the evening I kept getting the feeling someone was watching me. It was starting to feel burdensome. I excused myself from the table and headed out to the courtyard to get some air. I breathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the calm of the night. Sitting down on a wall I stretched my back before swinging my feet up as well and layed down to admire the stars. Not long after I started to feel eyes on me again. I turned my head towards the entrance to see if somebody had come out, but nothing. I was still alone. Feeling a little uneasy, I sat up and looked around, not seeing a soul. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. But I panicked when I heard a twig snap. "Haha funny, You can come out now!" I called thinking it was one of my annoying cousins. "Seriously, mate! Cut it out, I'm not in the mood." I tried to plead. Before jumping off the wall and heading towards the entrance of the castle. Looking over my shoulder I picked up my pace. Just as I passed the great hall I bumped into someone, sending me to the floor. Immediately apologizing only to hear a scuff followed by "Watch where you're going Summer." I heard the menacing voice of Draco Malfoy.

Oh great, just what I needed. I had managed to stay off the Slytherin radar the entirety of the last 2 years, but I had a feeling that was about to change. "It's Autumn." I muttered sternly as I got up from the cold stone floor, brushing the dust off of my clothes. I looked past him to see both, Fred & George talking to some fellow Gryffindors. I looked back to the courtyard not understanding how they would have passed me, concluding they must have used some kind of passage way or some stupid trick to mess with me. I pushed past Malfoy and walked up to them and gave them a slap in the chest. "That's a good one guys, I totally fell for it."

"Fell for what?" George asked. While they both continued to focus on their parchment, I could only assume it would be the plan for their next big prank.

Seeing how focused they were, I guess it wasn't a prank, not by them at least. I looked back into the black night, wondering what was going on, I must be losing my mind. I shook it off and excused myself from the group "See you around lads." Before rushing off to the dormitory, they waved me off with an absent minded wave. I threw myself on my bed and grabbed a book to take my mind off of the terrible feeling brewing in my stomach. 

I woke up to Luna running around the room, getting dressed and ready for the day. Turning in my bed I noticed she had also put up a bunch of pictures of her family and the prior years here at Hogwarts. "Morning." I greeted her with a smile.

"Autumn, good morning!" She greeted me cheerfully. "Hurry up and get ready, it's our first day back!" she screamed in glee.

I slowly got out of bed and went to grab a pair of sweatpants pulling them up my legs, not really bothering to dress up for breakfast. She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the dormitory. We sat down with our friends at the table and talked about the schedule of the day. I looked up from the table to catch that Malfoy guy staring at me. Great, I had gotten on his radar. I let out a sigh of annoyance and got up from the table to go get ready for the day. Passing my cousin Ron and his friends by the stairs. He looked at me with a worried glare, and I brushed him off with a jolly smile. I really couldn't be bothered with the Weasley interrogation right now. Don't get me wrong, I love my family , they have always been there for me and mom. They are just so close and loud, not to mention nosy.

After a long day of lessons, Luna and I decided to go to Hogsmeade with some of our classmates to celebrate the new year.