Even though it was the weekend, a chance to sleep in, as well as catch up on all the assignments for yet another tedious potions work, I was laying in my bed, sleepless.

Last night's events, including my first kiss with Sebastian, the boy I found myself falling for as fifth - year passed by, kept me awake all night, daydreaming. As if I haven't gotten enough. Sebastian and I walked back to our dormitory late last night, barely keeping our hands to ourselves. I got to see the side to him that I have never seen before: gentle, playful yet always considerate when it comes down to small things like holding my hand. It was all flawless, to say the least.

Grace was still asleep, the potion mixture definitely having long lasting effects that I was glad I didn't choose to experience. In fact, the entire dormitory was asleep, recovering from the party last night.

The common room was a mess: broken glasses all over the place, with some of the tapestries that once hung up now spread on the ground, torn or stained. It was too dark to really see all the mess that was made when Sebastian and I returned late last night, but seeing the mess in the morning made me wonder just how many House points we were ought to lose.

I haven't seen Sebastian since we parted ways last night, the memory of his hands on my body now engraved in my min. It made me stand in the middle of the mess, in disbelief, wondering if this was all real. I went as far as pinching myself, to see if I was, in fact, standing here, reminiscing about what happened last night.

Brunch was rather empty, and considering majority of the Slytherin table was absent, Headmaster Black didn't want students talking about the party. Sebastian was not present, in fact, not many people were, other than the Gryffindor table.

"I heard the party was so loud that not even Silencio worked," Garreth Weasley, the notorious potion wizard of Gryffindor, was one of the liveliest people at the table. Natty was still waking up, barely sitting still next to me. I wondered what kept her up all night.

"Of course they forbade us from taking part, they know we are the true wild animals when it comes to parties," Leander was oddly loud this morning. He was also rather aggressive in the way he ate and carried himself. I could tell he was bothered by the Quidditch loss, even more so than when he lost Summoners Court to me, a beginner.

"Why won't the Slytherin tell us all about it?"

Garreth redirected the attention onto me, with the students around suddenly noticing my presence. Some rolled their eyes, scoffing, while others, like Nellie Oggspire, leaned in, eager to hear what I had to say:

"Was it as fun as everyone claims it to be? Oh, I am so jealous!"

"Well," I began, unsure what I could even say when I wasn't present for the party myself.

And even when I stopped by, I was too busy tucking Grace in to sleep the mixture off.

It was certainly... uhm... wild?"

Nellie and Garreth stared at me in silence, expecting a lot more than what I said. They looked at each other then, before both of them bursted out, laughing.

"Did she just say it was wild like that was a question?" Leander asked, now just as intrigued.

I felt my face flush out of embarrassment. Memories of the Undercroft, the dim candlelight, Sebastian's shadow towering over mine, before becoming one . The passionate kiss, the way his hands explored my body.

"Alright, you two,"  Natty's voice startled all of us. It was stern, with a hint of seriousness in it, " you are very loud."

It was odd to see Natty react the way she did. Usually, she'd join the laughter, but she had been quiet all morning, up until this point.

"Come on Natty, you know we are only teasing her," Garreth nudged Nellie's side, who, in turn, shot me a glance, "Correct, girls?"

Both Nellie and I nodded, still put off by Natty's stern response.

The rest of the brunch, the four of us sat in silence, occasionally interrupted by Leander, who was still pressed about the outcome of the game yesterday.

"Is everything alright?"

Natty and I were walking out of the Great Hall. She was still pretty quiet, and kept to herself. I knew something was bothering her.

"I must admit, and I did not wish to worry you, Lily," Natty continued to look ahead as we walked.

"Worry me about what? "

There was something about the way Natty phrased that sentence that made me feel off.

"It's about Poppy," she stopped, turning to look at me now, before her hands reached over and took mine, "I fear she may be in some kind of trouble."

My heart was racing, "What do you mean? How do you know?"

"Well, I have not seen her ever since she left the Quidditch match in the middle of the game," Natty went on, "She was cheering for the Gryffindor team with me, since we both knew you would be with Grace, cheering for your House."

"I'm sorry," I felt odd, knowing that we were technically rivals, now that the Quidditch season kicked off, "But where has she gone off to?"

"Do not be sorry, Lily," Natty smiled, "Poppy did not say, but I have a feeling it's to do with the poachers that still remain."

Even though the worst was over, with both Victor Rookwood and Ranrok defeated, there were still many rumors of the goblins and other wizards continuing to rebel, wanting to avenge the deaths of their leaders. Not to mention the continuous danger that the poachers posed to all the animals. Because of the events, students under the age of eighteen were not allowed to wonder into the camps that were spotted in places outside of Hogwarts, especially the forbidden forest. That, of course, did not stop students like Sebastian and I, from demolishing every single camp we stumbled upon.

"I have not seen her since," Natty finished, defeated.

I knew this was not good news. In fact, this meant a risky journey to find where exactly Poppy had gone to. I could only hope she did not decide to go and deal with the poachers all on her own.

"Is there a way to get inside the Hufflepuff common room?"

Natty looked at me with a surprised, yet determined look, nodding, "I may know someone who could help us."

"I believe I missed the part where I get something out of this."

Adelaide Oakes wasn't our ideal option, and even though I helped locate her uncle last year, she was never really all that grateful for all the effort I went through just to get her mind to ease. This was the price to pay for being the heroine, I supposed.

"Our friend may be in danger, and you are looking to gain something out of this?"

I was almost ready to cast Levioso and leave her there, floating helplessly in the air, but Natty was there to make sure that does not happen. We need to to get inside that dormitory, after all.

"We will be in and out, we just need to get into her room. Give us five minutes, and you may copy my potions class assignments for the next week."

That seemed to do the trick, because Adelaide was now intrigued. She considered it for a moment, as if she had other options to weight in on, before nodding in Natty's direction:

"And I want Lily to complete my Alchemy assignment as well, since she is a Keeper, and is the most knowledgeable on that whole... ancient magic subject."

I scoffed, "Not a chance."

But Natty nudged me, "Deal."

"Brilliant!" Adelaide clasped her hands together, "follow me."

I eyed Natty with the nastiest side eye I could give her, "You owe me for that."

Natty giggled, shaking her head, "I got us in, didn't I?"

"At what cost?!"

Our arguing didn't last long, stopping as we approached the large barrel. Adelaide tapped the barrel twice from the bottom, middle and then the second row, with some sort of a rhythm that was unfamiliar to me. The lid of the barrel then swung open, granting us the entrance to a well lit common room. It was quite the opposite of Slytherin's, mesmerizing, in a way.

Adelaide cleared her throat, disturbing the peace, "cast the disillusionment charm, so we can proceed."

Natty and I eyed her, and I couldn't help but run my mouth to counter her outstanding demands, "What? Embarrassed to be seen with your new friends?"

"Lily!" Natty eyed me, casting the spell to mask her appearance, "Let us go already."

I sighed, casting the spell and following the girls inside.

Once we approached the girls side of the dormitory, Adelaide knocked twice on one of the doors that I assumed was Poppy's room, before opening it. The well lit room, surrounded by plants basking under the sunlight, was empty, a good sign.

"You have five minutes!" Adelaide hissed, closing the door behind us.

"I really dislike her,"I took off the disillusionment charm, and began walking around the room, trying to find which side of the room belonged to Poppy.

Natty followed after, also taking the charm off as she giggled, "Your reactions are priceless, you know?"

"Right..." I mumbled, still upset with the fact that now I had to do Adelaide's assignment, too.

"You weren't at that party last night, we're you?"

Natty continued to search for anything that could give us a clue as to where Poppy went off to, but her question caught me off guard.

"How did you know?" I panicked.

"You were daydreaming at the table the entire time," Natty chuckled, "It's not exactly hard. Where did you go?"

"At the table or last night?" I chuckled, looking around.

"Lily, come on."

"I went to find Sebastian."

Natty stopped, and so did I. We eyed each other, standing still for a brief moment.

"Dare I ask how that went?"

I blushed, unsure where to begin, or how much to tell her.

"It went... well!"

We analyzed the room, not touching anything that didn't belong to us. We didn't want to leave evidence behind. We were here simply for Poppy.

"Here is her desk!" Natty whispered, and soon, we were both going through the drawers and letters that were neatly stacked on top, making sure to not leave any mess behind.

"Here, I found something," I analyzed an owl post, addressed from Poppy's gran gran. The date was yesterday:

My dearest Poppy,
Things have gotten worse with the poachers in the area. Today, they threatened to take away our livestock, and rob us of all the vegetation. Everyone is afraid to leave their homes, and we are missing quite a few Puffskeins.
Fret not, my dear child, we will prevail.
Please do not attempt to visit, it is not safe here at the moment. We are putting our hopes in the Ministry.
Gran Gran

Natty and I eyed the letter, realization of where Poppy went off to hitting us both. This is what I was afraid of: Poppy going out to deal with the poachers, all on her own.

"We must get there, before it's too late," I put the letter back down, afraid to think of what this could mean for us.

"Do you think we can handle them all on our own?"

I didn't know for sure, but we had to try. For Poppy.

We opened the door to Adelaide standing there, ready to say something that I sure wasn't going to listen to:

"Your five minutes are up - "

"Thanks!" Both Natty and I rushed out, past the Hufflepuff girl, heading towards the exit in a hurry.

"W - wait now! What about your disillusionment charm?!"

But we were preoccupied with the thought of Poppy being in danger. Nothing else mattered in this moment.

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A little late, got preoccupied with courses. I had this idea in my mind for a while, and after a few rough drafts, I think the next few chapters will be pretty action packed.
With Sebastian making a come back, of course 🤭