The first half of Aurora's first year passed quickly and it was just after the winter holidays. Aurora and Ginny had become really good friends, and she became prank buddies with Fred and George. The school's Muggle born had been under attack since the first month of school and Ginny had been acting strange about the whole thing. Quite frankly, it worried Aurora because she was a Muggle born and feared that she would be attacked next.

"You don't have anything to worry about, Rora," Fred said as they walked into the Gryffindor Common Room one night. The twins had begun calling her Rora since she pulled an awesome prank on Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson back on Halloween. "Honestly, there has to be a pattern for the attacks."

"You don't have to be worried because you're pure blood," she replied solemnly, looking around the Common Room. "Where's Ginny?"

"I don't know," George replied, plopping down on the couch. "Don't worry, Rora. She'll be here."

"Hmm...I'm going to go look for her."

"Do you want me to go with you, mate," Fred asked, sitting down beside George.

"No, I'll be okay," she replied, retreating from the common room.

She looked up and down the corridors after the painting had shut, wondering where Ginny could be. She walked down the first flight of stairs, being careful of the sounds of Filch and any other teachers. She looked around once she got to the bottom, thinking that she heard someone or something. It was a girl's voice and it wasn't far from where she was standing. She followed the voice, seeing Ginny near the first floor girl's bathroom. She then saw something very big and very snake like. The slithering sounds echoed through the empty corridor as Ginny looked to Aurora's direction, pointing at her. Aurora gasped as the snake came out of the bathroom and she took off in a dead run. She slid down a banister, not looking back as she landed with a thud on the floor.

"Ow..." she grumbled, not really able to move. She heard the slithering sounds and she tried to get up, wincing.

"Shield your eyes!"

She covered her eyes as the voice shouted, "LUMOS MAXIMA!"

A bright light lit up the empty corridor and the slithering noise disappeared. The light dimmed and Aurora uncovered her eyes looking around. A strong hand pulled her up to her feet and soon, she was face to face with Professor Snape.

"What are you doing out of your Common Room this late, Miss Winchester," he demanded, letting her go.

"I was looking for Ginny Weasley, Professor, and I saw her, but she sent this really, really, really big snake after me and I was running from it and --"

"Miss Winchester, you're not making any sense."

"But she is," said a gentle voice, coming down the stairs.

Aurora and Snape looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore gliding down the stairs.

"Headmaster," Snape began, grabbing onto Aurora's arm, which was completely sore and throbbing. "I caught Miss Winchester sliding down the very banister and you have your hand on. She doesn't know the way we do things around her and I believe that a few weeks detention will suffice."

"It would, Severus," Dumbledore replied, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "If she was in your house. Now, if you don't mind, I'll take it from here."

Snape nodded, letting go of Aurora and starting to heading back to his office.

"Oh, and Severus?"

He turned, looking at Dumbledore.

"If you have some in your stock, I need some Vertiserium."

Snape's thin lips curled into a small villainous smile, nodding, going back to his office.

"Look, Professor," Aurora began, looking at Dumbledore as they began to walk. "I was just looking for Ginny and I found her but she wasn't herself and --"

"Let's go to my office," he said, coming to a statue. "Sherbert Lemon."

She watched as the statue began to move up and turn, making itself into a staircase. She followed Dumblebore as he stepped up onto a step. The staircase felt just like an elevator, going up ever so smoothly. Dumbledore opened the door to his study, letting her inside first.

"How's your arm," he asked, closing the door and going to his desk.

"A bit sore, but I'll be okay," she replied, looking around.

He nodded, watching her. "So, what happened?"

"Well, the Weasley twins and I returned from dinner and I had noticed that Ginny wasn't around. We got back to the Common Room and I was worried because she hadn't come back yet. I decided to go look for her and I did find her. She was down by the first floor girls' bathroom, but she wasn't herself. She was speaking an entirely different language. I saw something move. It looked like a very big snake. She turned and pointed to my direction and I just took off. I don't know where she went after I left."

"Hmm...well, I originally went to find you and the Weasley twins had told me that you went to find Miss Weasley, but as I was leaving, she returned and you were no where to be found. You were lucky to have Professor Snape to have found you."

"Hmm, yes, every girl could be so lucky," she said sarcastically. "Sorry, Professor."

"It's all right. Professor Snape is very hard to get along with."

Just as he said that, Professor Snape walked in, carrying a small potion bottle, looking smugly at Aurora.

"Here you are, Headmaster. One bottle of Vertiserum."

"Thank you, Severus."

Snape stood there for a moment, waiting for Dumbledore to offer Aurora some tea until Dumbledore looked up, seeing that Severus was still there.

"That will be all, Severus," he said kindly, nodding.

Snape's lip curled slightly, and then left the room.

"What is that, Professor," Aurora asked, looking at the bottle.

"It's a truth serum. I have to use it on someone later tonight. Now, Percy Wealsey should be waiting for you outside. Go back to your House and get some sleep."

"Yes, Professor," she replied, standing up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Miss Winchester. Oh, and if your arm is still bothering you in the morning, see Madam Pomfrey before breakfast."

"Yes, sir. Goodnight."