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so worried!"

Saffron couldn't help but let out a squeak when she heard Hermione's voice for the first time in months. It felt very much so like an out of body experience when she saw Hermione rushing towards her, followed closely by Harry and Ron. Hermione had vanished from their lives for the past several months, so much so that it was normal for her not to be there. But now that she was, Saffron was overwhelmed with too many emotions to count. She merely stared up directly at Hermione with tears stinging her eyes.

"You've been worried?" Saffron scoffed with a chuckle. "It's only been a day, imagine how I've felt about you for months,"

"Harry and Ron told me what happened, how the three of you figured it all out," enthused Hermione, placing her hand into Saffron's and sitting in the seat that Rowan had occupied, who, alongside Maya and Rachel, had gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast. "That was so brave of you, so brave,"

Saffron shook her head from her position on the bed. "We only figured it out only because you figured it out for us,"

"But you actually acted on it, which is a lot more impressive than writing somethings down,"

"Well, all I did was get crushed by Lockhart's faulty spell, that's not very---"

"Okay, you both did great," Ron cut her off, seeing where the conversation was going. "Anyway, I thought you'd want to know that the exams have been called off,"

"Really?" replied Saffron in surprise.

"I know, I was upset about it too," said Hermione solemnly.

"Probably the biggest cheer I've ever heard, meaning everyone except Hermione," said Ron, sending a wink in Saffron's direction, amused at the girl's bemused look at Hermione. Saffron couldn't help but smile at both of them. The Hermione and Ron dynamic was always entertaining, as was Hermione's addiction to her studies, especially considering she literally hadn't been able to do any study for months but yet still wanted to do her exams.

"I'm sure Dumbledore let everybody know what you did, Harry," said Saffron, averting her attention onto Harry, who had been oddly quiet amongst the conversation. "What, did he give you a hundred points this time?"

"Two hundred," replied Harry quietly.

"Two hundred?" Saffron exclaimed loudly in return.

"All four of us got two hundred each," Ron informed her. "Us three for going into the Chamber, and Hermione for figuring it out. Oh, and a special services award to the school, like the one Riddle got,"

"Speaking of Riddle," Hermione turned to Harry suggestingly, and Saffron's eyes narrowed, looking to each of them individually.

"The story everyone knows isn't the full story isn't it?" Saffron suspected.

Harry shook his head and proceeded to account for his version of events. Essentially, Ginny had been possessed by Tom Riddle from within the diary, and not only that, Tom Riddle was Lord Voldemort. But Harry managed to kill that memory of him with a Basilisk fang. Riddle had been behind all the attacks and was trying to fulfil Salazar Slytherin's ancient desire of having a Muggleborn free school.

Saffron couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. The fact that Ginny had been writing such raw and honest explanations of her life to such a monster was a terrifying fact. She couldn't even begin to fathom how much the girl had gone through over the past few months and how much she was going to go through in the aftermath.

"So Riddle was trying to lure you into the Chamber to . . . to kill you?" whispered Saffron.

Harry nodded. "That's what he said to me, and he would have if the sorting hat didn't arrive with the sword of Gryffindor, without that I never would have been able to kill it,"

"That's crazy," said Saffron, wiping a blade of sweat off of her forehead, which spoke to how chilling the tale was. She then turned to Ron. "So what happened with you during all this?"

Ron informed her that Lockhart's spell had backfired and for all intents and purposes the man lost his memory and went categorically insane. But Ron didn't focus his efforts on him, but rather put all his energy in trying to uncover Saffron from the wreckage and managed to do so, only to find that she wasn't moving or breathing.

"I thought you were dead," Ron told her truthfully. "You weren't breathing at all, but I thought that maybe there was a chance that you'd done something magically, just because you didn't look hurt on the outside bar that you weren't breathing. There was no blood or bruises, almost like you were in some sort of shield. Do you know what it was?"

"I have no idea," Saffron said with honesty. She jerked her head towards the matron's office. "But that's what they've been saying happened,"

"Well whatever it was, thank goodness it happened," said Hermione with a sigh of relief. "The way you all described it, it sounds like it could have been fatal,"

"Yeah, it could've been," agreed Saffron with a nod.

"How long've you got to stay in here for?" Ron questioned with curiosity.

Saffron shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure yet, I'm getting tested in an hour or so. I guess I'll know by then," She turned to Hermione. "Enough about me, let's talk about you,"

"About me?" blinked Hermione.

"Yes, you," giggled Saffron. "Who else? I've been with these two the whole time,"

"I mean, what's there to talk about?"

"Being petrified," replied Saffron. "Do you remember anything?"

Hermione shook her head. "That's what I mean by what's there to talk about. All I remember is discovering what I found out in the library, I realised that I had the answers and wanted to tell you all. Then I remember that Harry had heard the voice on the staircase, so I asked Penelope, Penelope Clearwater if she had a mirror. She said she did but asked why, so I explained to her why we needed it. She was going to come with me, and we kept the mirror out in front of us, then I just remember seeing the Basilisks yellow eyes, after all, everything I know happened in the past day," She paused for a breath, "It felt surreal seeing everyone wake up, but it was one of the best feelings I've ever had. Everyone was so lovely too, Penelope wouldn't stop thanking me, Colin and Emilia were both really confused about the whole situation but they seemed lively enough. Justin was really nice about it too,"

"He spoke to me about it last night at dinner," added Harry. "To apologise about accusing me,"

"Yeah," said Hermione in agreement. "And then Olly kept asking for you when he woke up at first, he wondered if you had gotten attacked too. He thought you had gone after them you see, anyway, then he realised how long he had been gone for and he was terrified. He kept mentioning his brother,"

"Yeah, he used to write to him every day," Saffron pouted with pain. She was positively delighted at the fact that Olly Jowett was awake again, however, her heart ached for him and his brother that the Basilisk had created such a divide between them. His brother was only nine or so and may be unable to understand what had happened. Regardless of whether or not he was able to comprehend it, it was undoubtedly immensely painful for him to not spend Christmas with his big brother.

"He looked really upset," nodded Hermione. "I did too, I kept thinking about mum and dad, and how they would never really get what had happened to me. They tried to convince the school to let me come home, but luckily Professor McGonagall managed to talk them out of it," She paused. "So much for a quiet year, right?"

Ron snorted. "I second that, I don't think we should agree on saying next year will be quiet too because look how that turned out; several petrifications, a rogue house elf, all of us nearly dying . . . several times and my worst nightmare coming true of almost getting eaten alive by a spider,"

The four of them laughed, in what was a mix of terror and fondness. What they had gone through was insane, but what was more insane was the fact that they had indeed managed to get through it.

The other three spent another twenty minutes with Saffron, which consisted of Harry telling another story of how Dobby had become free and an unfortunate encounter with Lucius Malfoy. Saffron was predictably shocked by the story, but the shock became subdued because she had gotten used to it. She had gotten used to hearing frightening news and that fact was something that the girl had come to terms with. Her life before Hogwarts had been predictable, excluding the lack of parents aspect, but now, everything had changed. The second year had solidified what the first created; that her time in Hogwarts was bound to be eventful in potentially tragic ways. But what she wasn't sure about was whether it was because of Harry Potter or because of a mysterious ancient blood malediction that existed within her mind called the Grey. And she wasn't sure when or even if she would find that out.