Scarlet Darkbloom and the Secret Tower

Chapter 11: Into the Woods

I shook my head in wonder. "This is just crazy," I told Layla, sitting at one of the comfy chairs in the secret tower. She shrugged. "For some reason, you're the person that's going to change things around here. Hermione knew this whole time."

I nodded. "Well, I believe that. I had no idea she was learning this much out of Hogwarts' classes. I do hope you believe that I am very excited about meeting your mother and Narcissa. I'm interested to know the full story."

Layla turned back to me. "Hopefully," She said with a sad smile, "We'll find more people to trust. It takes a village to stop someone who's turned dark. I know most of our friends are getting tired of whatever Serena's trying to pull, but we really have to help her before she follows in her mother's footsteps. Nevermind help my mom and her sister."

I agreed with her, standing up. "Unfortunately we haven't gotten to the point of trusting them with our secret. For now, let's get to dinner. We can't save the world in a day." I nod towards the door, and we slowly walk down towards dinner both thinking about the huge world around us.

Arriving at dinner, the warm atmosphere was contagious the second we arrived. Watching our friends from farther away as we walked to our houses' table had made me nostalgic and feel very, very lucky. Almost like I had taken a tiny sip of Felix Felicis. Sliding my leg up and over the bench, I slid in next to Riley. Pierre seemed to be very riled up.

"Pierre! My goodness, what ever is making you so crazy?" I half yelled over his loud voice. He turned to my side of the table, a fire within his eyes. "Are you crazy?" He boomed. "It's Friday, tomorrow's the first weekend, we're able to use the school brooms if we pass Professor Bletchley's test, and we can spend the rest of the days exploring!" Grabbing his goblet, he clunked it against mine.

"Cheers!" He bubbled, turning towards his other guy friends we were yet to meet and to the rest of the people surrounding us. I turned to Riley, clinking my glass with a giggle. Finally, turning to Layla, I take on a serious face and tap mine against hers.

"Cheers," I reiterated, taking a large sip of my pumpkin juice. Layla laughed and turned back to her treacle pie, peace in the air and relaxation coursing through our bodies.

The rest of the night went by quick; though the Weasley twins were long out of Hogwarts, their store in Diagon Alley was doing better than ever, selling still to all of the students at Hogwarts still today. To the new caretaker, Percy Sheppard's dismay, the rules of them being banned throughout the castle were quite, well, not there. No one seemed to want to follow the rules and because the teachers always got a laugh out of them, they weren't enforced.

We stayed up all night playing all sorts of Weasley and wizard games and to my surprise, I wasn't that bad at wizard chess - I suppose my practice with the Muggle version had helped a bit. It was also the first night that I got to try all sorts of candies that wizard born students had grown up knowing. I discovered my favorite were the Fudge Flies and the Chocolate Frogs - I prefer chocolate over sour candy any day!

Pierre, being the life of the party, kept everyone going until at least one in the morning, when Layla got out of bed to pull me to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

"Thank you," I had murmured to her as she practically dragged me up the stairs to our dormitory. I had crashed the second I left the common room.

Right after I had left, I heard that Professor Crowley, the Ravenclaw Head teacher, (who also teaches Muggle Studies, Magic in Cooking, and Magic in Art) came in and insist everyone sleep. I had never even an idea that the shy Pierre I had known before could have such a wild side.

Rolling over in my bed, I observed Riley and her hair in aluminum foil to apparently dye her hair a purple grey tone. I had noticed the curiosity of the wizard borns as she was putting on the formula from a Muggle hair mixture in the sink. Oh, how funny it was to see their faces when they realized she was doing the Muggle version of dyeing her hair crazy colors. I figured, though she was wizard born, her family was well associated with muggles and their ways. I loved, unlike the Muggle world, how wizards loved individuality. It took a long time in Muggle school for most people to realize they should be whoever they want to be and not whoever they needed to be just to fit in.