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wrong,"

Saffron had regrouped with Hermione after her conversation and together they set off towards the Gryffindor common room. The question of where Harry and Ron were first foremost and secondly, what had happened to them were still at the fore of many peoples minds. When Saffron allowed herself to focus on it too, she too felt as though something was off. With Harry, in particular, it felt like that quite a lot. But those feelings had ultimately translated into an encountered with one of the most notorious wizards of all time, so considering she was feeling it again, Saffron felt like she was justified to feel like something terrible could have happened.

"I'm sure they're fine," replied Saffron, before letting out a squeal when Hermione threw her hand out to stop her from stepping on the vanishing stair. It hit her like a clothesline but Saffron was grateful for it because the sinking feeling one felt when stepping on the stair was awful. "Thanks, anyway, like I said, I'm sure they're fine. Ron's brothers didn't seem too worried about it,"

"Fred and George wouldn't be worried if Ron was locked in the dungeons by himself, they'd probably find it funny,"

"I meant Percy more than the twins," Saffron said with a small smile. She was trying to assure Hermione that it was going to be alright in spite of feeling like it might not be alright. "Whatever happened to them couldn't be as bad as the end of last year, right? So it should be fine then,"

"You saw how Professor McGonagall looked when they left the hall," said Hermione, as they continued their trek up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Right after the sorting ceremony, a very disconcerted Professor McGonagall left the hall in the company of Professor Dumbledore. That hadn't happened the year previous, and according to the older students, they had never seen it happen before either. "Dumbledore was harder to read, but McGonagall's face told me that something awful had happened,"

"But they came back, though," Saffron reminded Hermione thoughtfully. "If they were dead or something they wouldn't have come back, don't you think?"

"Dying isn't the worst thing that could happen," said Hermione briskly, making Saffron's eyes bulge in a mixture of amusement and shock. "What if they got expelled?"

"Do you hear yourself?" responded Saffron through a laugh. "Dying is better than getting expelled, Merlin,"

"You know what I mean," Hermione said swiftly. "There are other things that might've happened to them, it's unbelievable, the school year hasn't even started and they've already got themselves caught in something! If they think for two seconds they can drag me into it . . . they've got another thing coming,"

"Me too," agreed Saffron. She backed what Hermione said there completely. After the events of last year, there was no way that she was going to involve herself in anything out of the normal in Hogwarts. She had been too close for comfort at the end of the school year. "I don't want another year like last year,"

"Definitely not," nodded Hermione in agreement. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, as upon reaching the hallway leading to the portrait hole of the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were stood waiting outside of it. "There are you! Where on earth have you two been? People have been saying the most ridiculous things about the two of you!"

"Some people were saying you were dead," Saffron said to them with a relieved smile on her face.

"Well, we're here," replied Harry, looking from him to Ron.

"Others thought you were expelled, which I guess isn't true either,"

"No," Ron answered this time.

"So what happened?" demanded Hermione.

"We flew here---" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off.

"You did not!" exclaimed Hermione authorially, staring at Harry then at Ron. Neither of them seemed intimidated by the stern gaze, in fact, they seemed rather pleased with themselves. Saffron figured it must be because they narrowly evaded expulsion.

"We did," confirmed Ron pointedly, turning away from them and facing the Fat Lady again. "Can you just say the password? I'm not in the mood for a lecture, I've already had my share of them today,"

"It's wattlebird," Hermione told them, but instantly regretted doing so. "But that's not the point--"

The regret of saying the password was as a result of the roar of applause and cheering that greeted Harry and Ron when they entered the common room. Hermione never got to explain what the point was due to this. The common room was full of the vast majority of the students, all of whom were desperate to find out whether or not the rumours were true about Harry and Ron. The rumours had actually turned into the truth, as everybody seemed to know about the flying car.

Not only did they fly a car, however, but they had also managed to somehow fly it into the Whomping Willow of all things. Saffron and Hermione exchanged a worried glance upon hearing this. Harry had likely barely escaped yet another near-death scenario, what a perfect start to the year for him. Hopefully, the rest of the year won't follow suit.

"Come on," said Hermione bitterly, throwing a disproving look across the room at how excited people were at what had occurred. "Let's go to bed,"

Saffron would have liked to have stayed in the common room for a bit longer to hear more details about what happened. But she could always hear them tomorrow. So, she took Hermione's open hand and the pair headed up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

Their room had a new sign stating that they were second years, and when Saffron opened the door, she was surprised to see that not only were Lavender and Parvati present but so was their self-proclaimed designated Prefect Alannah. Looking cheerful as ever, Alannah turned to Saffron and Hermione excitedly when they entered the room.

"Yay, if it isn't my favourite group of girls. Perfect! I was hoping to get the four of you together," When none of the four second-year Gryffindors said anything in return, Alannah took it upon herself to continue. "I just wanted to check in on the four of you, to let you know that I'm still here if you need anything, anything at all,"

"Sounds great," smiled Lavender.

"Um-hm," nodded Alannah. "This year will be a decisive one for the four of you, you'll have new subjects to choose at the end of the year, bigger exams too, as well as another stepping stone on the way to your OWLs, so if you never need to talk to anyone about any of that, you know where to find me,"

"Thank you, Alannah," nodded Saffron, before accidentally letting out a yawn. She immediately felt rude after she did so as she actually really did appreciate Alannah's efforts, especially considering she didn't have to give it to them. Sure, she could be a bit much at times, but that was probably part of her niceness.

"No bother, and I'll leave the four of you to it," Alannah told them. "I'm exhausted too. Have a good night,"

The four girls thanked Alannah again and once the door closed Lavender and Parvati rounded on the other two girls.

"Did you hear about Harry and Ron?" they squealed in harmony.

"Oh, I heard about it alright," answered Hermione, still annoyed at the worshipping going on downstairs.

"Yes," Hermione sniffed.

"I can't believe they actually flew here," piped up Parvati.

"And flew into the Whomping Willow, that must have been so scary," exclaimed Lavender loudly. "I can't believe they're still here, I thought they'd either die or get expelled, but I suppose since Harry was there that wouldn't happen,"

Saffron usually would have liked to stand up for her friend. But she couldn't, as when she thought about it, the underlying message behind Lavender's words was true. If that had of been Ron and another student, it seemed very likely that they would have suffered much bigger consequences. Harry being as famous as he was probably shielded himself and Ron by virtue of this, from the severest of punishments.

"Probably," was all Saffron said to that point, but she continued to try and shift the conversation in a different direction. "But at least they're okay, I'm sure they'll explain it all tomorrow. Are you two excited for Professor Lockhart?"

"Um, who isn't?" Lavender giggled in glee. She, however, seemed to doubt whether or not Hermione was, as she looked in her direction. "Are you, Hermione?"

"Of course I am," Hermione rushed her sentence. "He's done so much, it's going to be a great opportunity to learn from him,"

"Stare at him, more like," burst out Parvati, laughing alongside Lavender. Saffron grinned. She felt similarly.

"I actually need to get my beauty sleep so I can look at him without feeling tired tomorrow," said Lavender, letting out a yawn. "Goodnight,"

The other girls all said their goodnights too, agreeing with Lavender. And so Saffron slipped into her nightgown pondering over how exactly and why exactly Harry and Ron flew all the way to Hogwarts the next morning. For, if this was how the year was going to start, it seemed as though they were destined to have an even more eventful year ahead of them.