The teacher for this year’s Defense Against Dark Arts was Gilderoy Lockhart. They had heard of him before when someone asked Tifa if she was related to him. Now though, they were face to face with the man himself.

Why did they dislike him? The man was a buffoon, though, and though. He claimed that what he wrote were true stories, yet first-year students were better than him in magic.

If that wasn’t enough, he started a rumor that he might have a father, Tifa, after seeing her play in the Quidditch match. However, he’d never accept that, seeing how he used Harry Potter to further flame his face. It wasn’t hard to guess that he thought Tifa would be Magical World Famous in the future, and these rumors would do him good.

As much as they disliked him, they decided to avoid him and not ruin their mood, but they were also forced to attend his classes. Once they were over, and the others were too, they made their way to the hall to eat lunch since they were starving.

The three gulped down food as fast as possible to satiate their hunger.

“Someone’s hungry,” Angelina chuckled, watching them drown in food.

“I think I overate,” Tifa held her stomach, leaning forward on the table.

Lee raised his eyebrows, “It’s better than these guys who have lost their appetite.”

“Who has lost their appetite?” Aerith blinked, following Jordon’s eyes to Fred and George, who were sulking.

Cloud nudged them, “What happened? Angelina rejected both of you?”

“Ouch,” Fred placed his hand over his heart, and George shook his head.

“We are worried about Ginny,” George sighed, “Not that the Chambers of Secrets thing is helping. She must be terrified of all these rumors.”

“What happened to her?” Aerith wondered since they hadn’t had the time of the day to themselves, let alone others. They attended classes, and when they were done with those or had a break, one, two, or more, they found their way to Shetland.

It wasn’t until recently or today that they had time to sit down and have lunch. As much as they wanted to rest, this was the first time they had seen these two be so downcast.

“We don’t know that’s the problem. That is the big problem. We tried to find you since the two of you are her friends, but you two don’t come back to Dorms anymore, so it never seemed like a good time.”

“Sorry,” Tifa pressed her lips, looking at both sides, “Where is Ginny? We’ll go see her.”

“Maybe in her room? She wasn’t feeling well today,” Fred shrugged, “Let’s go find her.”

“No, stay here,” Aerith stood up, “We’ll find her.”

“Cloud?”

“Can’t hear you.”

“Come on,” Tifa pulled his hand, “Don’t you like Ginny too?”

“No,” Cloud said, even though he got pulled forward by her, looking at his so-called friends who looked the other way. He sighed, walking behind her as the two pulled him to Common Room.

“Aren’t you tired? We don’t even know what is going on with her. Do you want to get in this mess?” Cloud looked at them with worry.

The three have been busy for months with little time to breathe. Aerith seemed to be used to it.

She had memories from the Previous Timeline in their world when they lived on the road and had to camp many times. Be careful of the monsters and the Shinra Co.

On the other hand, Tifa possessed Supernatural Strength because of her Martial Arts. It could be said her strength was on par with his Enhanced Strength. It made him curious as to why Martial Arts died down.

The only thing that could explain it was that everyone could learn it, but only a few were as talented as Tifa Lockhart. She might very well be the prodigy of the century, if not the millennia.

Even so, the mental toll these past few months took was massive, even though he felt he was on his last legs.

“I am,” Tifa nodded, holding the palm of his hand, looking down, “But Cloud…I might be able to fall asleep…but I won’t be able to rest if I am not that she’s alright. The thought…of me stopping...and someone else getting hurt…scares me.”

“You worry too much.”

Aerith pushed his forward, “Please. Don’t pretend like you aren’t worried! Let’s see how she’s doing, and then we could go to sleep.”

“Fine,” Cloud sighed, “Let’s be smart about it. You check on First Years’ room, and I will go get Marauder’s Map.”

“Good, do that,” Aerith clapped her hands together, “Make Haste.”

“Will do,” Cloud went towards his room while the two of them went to check Ginny’s. He moved a few things, looking under the bed, stuck by a tape, the Marauder’s Map.

He hesitantly chanted as it reminded him of the time the three of them were kissing on the bed. He shook his head, “Whatever.”

He chanted, and the map opened before him, showing him where everyone was. He spread the map over the bed, “Ginny…Ginny…Ginny….”

He furrowed his brows since he couldn’t find her anywhere when he passed a name, “Weasley?”

“Ginerva Weasley…. Her name is not Ginny?” He closed the map with the chant, clearing his throat, “I knew that.”

He made his way back to the Common Room, near the entrance, sending a message to Tifa and Aerith while he was on the way there. It didn’t take long after he arrived for them to arrive.

“Where?”

“Second Floor. Girls Lavatory.”

“Isn’t that?” Tifa’s footstep froze. She was great with Ghosts, even though she lived in a school infested with them.

“You are not backing out now,” Cloud raised his eyebrows, “Now I am interested in what she is doing there.”

“I’ll wait here?”

“Hehe, no,” Aerith giggled, dragging Tifa forward with Cloud’s help.

By the time they reached Lavatory, Ginny had already left, though the sound of crying echoed in the bathroom.

“You deal with it,” Cloud gestured to Aerith, who breathed in, nodding.

“I wonder where she is,” Tifa turned back, looking as far as her eyes could, trying to find Ginny as far as she could see, as high as she could see.

“Who?”

Cloud abruptly jumped back when a head came out of his chest, looking at the girl with glasses. The crying that had been coming from behind had stopped.

“Oh my, it’s you! The beautiful boy that everyone talks about. I am a big fan,” The girl blushed, covering her face, grinning underneath.

“Right?” Cloud looked towards the bathroom, wondering when Aerith would come out of it. He turned his eyes back towards the girl, “Who are you?”

“I am…I am?! Moaning Myrtle!!” She screamed, going back inside the bathroom to hide in one of the stalls.

Cloud tilted his head, confused; he exchanged a loot with Tifa, wondering if she understood what just happened.

Tifa shrugged, chuckling to herself when the two heard Aerith’s voice, more grave than they had ever heard before.

“Tifa, Cloud. We need to find Ginny.”

“What happened?”

“I found this,” Aerith put a black diary in front of them, leaving them confused. But when he gave the diary another look, his eyes stayed fixed.

He took the diary, turning the pages only to find them empty when Aerith narrowed her eyes.

“Use Consciousness Scan.”

“Hey, that’s….” Tifa was uncomfortable knowing that was Jenova’s powers. She didn’t like seeing him; it wasn’t good for him.

“Trust me. This is something you want to use it on,” Aerith slowly blinked, asking them to trust her.

“Ok. Later,” Cloud kept the diary in his robes, “I am too tired. It would be far too risky. Ginny threw it?”

“Yes,” Aerith pressed her lips, “And that means…she’s….”

“Oh no,” Tifa held her head, “We must find her. What the poor thing must be going through.”

Cloud didn’t know what the diary was, but it was apparent this thing had a soul inside of it. He might have missed it the first time and probably wouldn’t have sensed carefully if Aerith hadn’t made such a grave face. But when he did, it was apparent.

“She should be going back to her room. After all, that is her safe place,” Aerith guessed, looking up at the two of them, “Want to Apparate?”

“No. No need to make a bigger mess.”

The three of them slowly made their way to Ginny’s room, though when they were climbing the stairs, the stairs turned into a slide, causing them to start falling backward.

Cloud put his feet down on the slide, hurled himself forward, and caught Aerith mid-air, jumping from one wall to the next before stopping at the top.

“You could have saved me too,” Tifa muttered, landing behind him.

“I doubt you needed it,” Cloud said, looking towards Aerith, who was watching him starry-eyed.

“Thank you,” Aerith smiled sweetly and gently put her down.

“He didn’t drop you this time….”

Aerith blinked, turning to look towards the girl who said that. She was sitting on the bed, her eyes swollen.

“Ginny,” Aerith whispered her name, “Right, he didn’t throw me this time.”

Ginny softly smiled, parting her lips, trembling when the two of them walked over to the girl, hugging her and bursting out in tears.

Cloud watched them, hearing her sob before he walked over, sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed on her right. Tifa and Aerith whispered to Ginny; though they didn’t say anything about Dairy, they talked about most other things.

Where they were busy, and how she was in Hogwarts too, he heard them whisper, and without realizing it, he slowly dozed off. He didn’t know how long he slept but doubted that it was for more than an hour.

“Mmp,” He slowly opened his eyes, blinking, realizing that there were two, three, many faces in front of him. He ran his eyes over everyone from the first year and realized they were all watching him.

His lips parted in wonder if he should say something, but it ended with him looking away, turning his face to the side, and sighing, “Hah.”

A few squealed, and others backed away when he got on his feet. He looked towards Ginny’s bed, realizing that she was asleep, and so were Tifa and Aerith. It put him in a dilemma about whether he should go or not.

As uncomfortable as he felt, he sat back down, looking up at the girls, “If you don’t mind…I want to stay a bit longer.”

He closed his eyes, ignoring them, but this time he was too aware of their eyes, their whispers to asleep. If it weren’t for Tifa and Aerith being here, he wouldn’t have stayed here for a moment.

After the ten minutes that seemed like days, they had left for the classes, and he got enough peace to fall asleep again.

It was a good sleep, a long one, probably the best one he had had in months or the only one. He slowly opened his eyes, realizing there was someone else beside him, making him look at the girl with brown hair.

He rested his head against her, “Awake?”

“No…you can kiss me, and I wouldn’t know….”

Cloud gently smiled, raising her chin and planting a kiss on her lips. She raised her hand, stroking his hair, kissing him back, and opening her green eyes.

The two of them tilted their heads, kissing each other, pulling close to each other. He pulled her towards him, and she sat down on his lap, wrapping her hands around his neck and kissing him fervently.

Cloud cupped her cheek, and she sat down on him; looking into his eyes, she said, “It’s been a while since we got to do that.”

“Mm,” Cloud stroked her waist, running his eyes over her body. When they had come to this world, their bodies had reverted to eleven, reaching twelve.

Now, their bodies had reached sixteen age, and the chubby fat on Aerith’s cheeks that made her look cute had retreated. Now, she was starting to look more mature for her age and beauty. It was good enough for him as long as he didn’t feel like kissing a child.

“Get a room, you two.”

Aerith breathed out, turning in his arms, sitting down with her back resting on his chest, tilting her head towards Ginny, “You should rest more.”

Cloud stood up, picking her up in his arms, placing Aerith on the next bed, saying, “I’ll be taking my leave. It won’t be long before Professor McGonagall calls for us.”

“We did miss our classes,” Tifa gently stroked Ginny’s head, lying behind her.

“Right…you guys saw Hermione?”

“Not yet. We didn’t have the time.”

Ginny looked toward Aerith and Cloud, “Are the rumors true? You tree have found a way to go out of School?”

“No, it’s not true,” Aerith blinked, “We were….”

“In our rooms,” Cloud leaned forward, “What happened to Hermione?”

“Well, there are rumors…but it seems to be a Transfiguration gone wrong.”

“Transfiguration? In the first year? Potion one? As expected of Hermione. You say it went wrong?”

“Yes…if you get time, then you should see her. She’s in Madam Pomfrey’s care.”

Cloud signed, “What is wrong with these new students? Years in Hogwarts used to be simple and peaceful.”

Tifa chuckled, sighing, “That they were.”

“Sorry,” Ginny looked down, closing her eyes.

“Hey, don’t apologize,” Aerith grinned, “It’s good that you are all so lively. Your brothers, all of them…did anyone?”

“No, strangely, none of them got in more trouble than me,” Ginny buried her face in her arms, “I am sorry.”

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing that we can’t deal with,” Cloud crossed his arms, leaning against the bed, “The Chamber of Secrets…I wonder what’s inside. Something that could petrify people….”

“I can’t open it…that diary…that is what makes me open it….”

“Some mind control? Right,” Cloud took out the diary, and Ginny could swear that his eyes changed for a moment, becoming cat-like, “Right up my alley.”

“Um…excuse me?”

Cloud put the diary back down in his robes, looking towards the gate, at the girl hiding at the room’s entrance. She trembled when his eyes met her but spoke up, “Professor McGonagall is asking of you.”

Tifa sat up, stretching her body, causing her breasts to bounce, before rubbing her face and eyes, “Ok. Thank you, sweety.”

Cloud patted Aerith’s cheeks, stroking them until she opened her eyes, “Don’t act like you are asleep. Let’s go.”

“Pfff…” Aerith muttered, “Don’t wanna.”

“Come on,” Cloud helped her to her feet, resting his hand on her back, “We are in trouble.”