The trunks were so big. I found myself walking in a dimly lit forest. There were roots that were twice my height, emerging from the ground as if they wanted to embrace the earth and the sky at once. The trees stretched up from the giant roots farther than I could see. My fingers trailed against the roots, and my bare feet skimmed across the leaves and underbrush, but they didn't hurt. It felt like sand around my toes. It must have been night time. Even an overcast wouldn't make a forest this dark. Unless I was shielded from any light by the arching trees. The thought made me shudder. I glanced over my shoulder carefully, even though I knew I was alone. I picked my steps carefully, gracing my way through the forest for a very long time. I did not tire of it, I felt at peace. A flash of green caught my eye. My head reflexively turned towards the flash, and my heartbeat followed. There was nothing out of the ordinary where my head had turned, but suddenly I knew I was no longer alone. My pace quickened away from the light, and I started to feel the underbrush tear at my feet. I saw green flashing once more. When I turned to look this time, I did not slow down, but once again when I looked, nothing was there. I started to see flashes from both sides, and a whisper accompanying the flashes. I couldn't make out what it was saying, and that scared me even more. I felt cold sweat dripping down my spine. I quickened to a run, and my feet were screaming in pain. My calves begged for rest, but adrenaline began to take its course. I pushed further and further as the whispers grew to shouts of anger and spell casting. The green light looked so familiar, but I didn't know why. All I knew was that I had to run.

Suddenly there was a flash in front of me. My heart stopped and I stumbled over myself, catching my fall by grabbing onto a large root. My cheek dug into the bark of the root, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the flash. This one was gold. And it was no longer a flash. It was a small gold ball with intricate carvings and little wings. My fear was still burning hot. And while I knew this ball wouldn't cause me harm, I knew I needed to avoid it. Still, my arm reached towards the little ball. My heartbeat quickened once more, and I felt beads of sweat on the inside of my elbows. I tried to pull my arm away, but I was no longer in control. I was horrified as I watched myself reach for the little ball. I hadn't realized the shouting had stopped until it started again, my fingers touching the ball.

I woke up on the floor, wrapped in three blankets.

"Jesus Tris!" I heard a voice. My head popped out of my blanket burrito and I made eye contact with Christina. "You just gave me a heart attack! Are you alright?" She leaned down, helping me untangle myself from the bed.

"Sorry," I muttered, "must have been a bad dream." Christina was alone. Apparently the other girls decided to take the bathroom first and let me sleep. The steam filling the room as the door opened signaled me to take my turn.

A shower was just what I needed. The hot water – Wow, real hot water! – washed away any of the bad thoughts I had. By the time I finished, I couldn't remember my bad dream. I finished before Christina was done brushing her teeth, and as she finished rinsing she shook her head at me.

"We're gonna have to teach you how to enjoy the little luxuries." She winked at me, stepping into the shower and tossing her robe onto the floor.

The classes here were nothing like classes at home. I had Potions first period with Christina, and the boy Will from the day before. We sat together, and Professor Snape told us that the next day, those would be the groups we worked with. Another boy had sat with us, his name was Albert. He seemed very reserved, but Christina made him smile as we all walked to lunch. He told us to call him Al.

Lunch was just as extravagant as dinner the night before, except this time, the windows were open. I didn't know why until I heard flapping. I was transported back to my long dinner table, with my father's stern mouth, and the Owls flapping around the windows. I blinked the daydream away as Owls started swooping to our tables, delivering letters. I didn't have any, of course, but I wasn't sad at all. Christina got a box of candy from her mother that she called Sugar Quills. She gave me one and told me that if you suck on it in class, it just makes it look as if you're thinking of what to write next! Al had to go to the bathroom then, but Will didn't know where it was, so Christina had to take them. I stayed back to finish my vegetables. I had been talking so much that I had forgotten to eat! Mother would have been furious. I felt a pang and missed her.

Walking down a hall, I finally decided that I had no idea where I was going. I took some of the moving stairs around, and ended up walking like that in circles for a while. Eventually found myself looking silly as the crowd moving to classes started to thin out. I hadn't seen any first years that I recognized in this area for a while. My feet planted me at the top of a stair case as it moved. Looking to where it was taking me, I found myself trying to catch my breath. It was the boy, Four, from the train. As the stairs neared him, he was smirking. They happened to place me right in front of him, and that smirk looked even more stupid up close.

"Lost?" He asked me, stepping onto the stairs with me. It would have forced me to take a step down, but he went past me, taking two steps below me. It almost put us at eye level. And I'd already had my growth spurt! Damn it.

"No!" I scoffed and crossed my arms. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, then you won't mind me walking with you to class." He grinned. My jaw clenched in frustration.

"I don't want to be walked to class," I turned my head. Stop smiling so much, you look silly!

"I have Care of Magical Creatures next, it's on the way. It's the least I can do before we break you guys in." His eyes flash with some emotion I don't recognize. But his language reminds me of the chores we had to do in Abnegation. If you were assigned hard labor often, they called you "broken in". Since I was a girl who had the misfortune of being small, I never got to do the fun stuff like that. Only cleaning and cooking.

The stairs jolted to a start again underneath my feet and I gasped, clutching at the railing. I ignored the smirk lighting up Four's face. He started walking as soon as it stopped, and once I regained myself, I had to jog a little to catch up.

"How old are you anyways?" I asked, half panting. My legs were much shorter than his, and he seemed like he was in really good shape compared to me.

"I'm a Third year," He turned his head towards me as he walked. He seemed to know his way around really well. I did not, and as if accentuating my thoughts, I tripped over the corner of a column. I tensed for the fall, but warm arms caught me first. The heat radiated to my cheeks, and I looked up, breathless, to see that it was Four who caught me. Before I could catch his reaction to the event, I scrambled up, straightening my skirt and walking forward with purpose. All I could think about was that I needed to get away from him. Nobody had ever made me feel that way just by touching me. It made me uncomfortable. I briefly considered how I would get to class without his help, when I saw my friends in a circle far ahead. A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath.

"You're welcome!" Four yelled at my back. I ignored him and walked past my friends into class.

At the third day of classes, we all walked to the fields after lunch. Christina bounced around, trying to pump us up. "Flying lessons!" She laughed, shaking Will's head, "We finally get to learn how to fly!" She pretended to be on a broom, zooming around us. She mimed a club hitting Lynn, and she flinched in time.

"She's hit the bludger!" Will announced. Lynn proceeded to run into Al, knocking him to the ground, "And it's taken down poor Albert, what a shot!" We all laughed, and I offered a hand to Al. Of course I was too small to help him up, but he took my hand anyways to balance himself. I don't think he enjoyed the joking as much as we did, but he didn't voice a complaint.

We found ourselves lined up next to brooms on the ground. A short woman bobbed between the lines, giving instructions. It felt like my feet were vibrating. My insides felt like Christina looked. She was visibly bouncing with excitement. When we finally got the whistle to begin, I saw something fall out of the corner of my eye. The whistle had apparently frightened Al so much that he had fallen to the ground. There was an eruption of giggles, but they subsided quickly in the anticipation of riding brooms. I closed my eyes, and felt my hand move over the broom. I visualized my will for the broom to come to me. It came from my stomach, and moved up to my chest. The command came from me, "Up!" And the handle hit my hand a little too roughly. My eyes shot open, and I leaned backwards with the weight of the force. I didn't realize how wide my grin was until I found Christina's smile, and we had both gotten our brooms. We had done it on the first try! Everyone else followed shortly after.

Our next assignment was to fly low over the fields. We were separated into groups of ten to make sure we didn't all run into each other. I ended up in a group with Al and Will. Will started off before me, shaky at first, but quickly finding his balance. When it was my turn, I felt my nerves, familiar now, bursting in my chest. I swung my leg over the broom, hyperaware now of my skirt. My broom took off much faster than I expected, and my neck flung back. I couldn't help a laugh that escaped my lips, and I headed farther from the ground by accident. I quickly found my balance, and where I needed to lean to go down. Returning to the height we were asked to be, my broom seemed to be parallel with someone else's. I risked a glance to the side to see Will grinning at me.

"You're really good!" He shouted. I gave him a thumbs-up back. "Wanna go higher?" He raised an eyebrow. In reply, I leaned back, forcing my broom upward. He followed close behind, and we flew vertically together, shouting our excitement. We finally leveled off, and I noticed a slight buzzing sound from my broom.

"That doesn't sound good," I turned to Will. He shrugged.

"Used equipment will do that sometimes," He replied, "We should head down quickly!" And he was out of my sight. I looked all around, trying to figure out where he had gone, until I heard his whooping from below me. I leaned forward, heading straight towards the ground behind him. I understood now why he was yelling, this was terrifying! We pulled back right before we hit the ground, and landed safely.

"That was reckless!" Our instructor came running over to us. I flinched, wondering how punishment was dealt with here. Apparently not well, because she knocked our heads together and grinned. "I'll have to let Eric and Four know, they'll be pleased!"

My eyes narrowed. Why did Four have to know? "I would love to work under such great captains!" Will shook her hand, answering my question.

"But Four is only a third year, he can't possibly be a captain?" I spat, glancing from our instructor to Will.

"Wait 'till you see him fly." Our instructor grinned back at me.

Author's Note: Hope this is much better than the last ones! Please review, I love them! I've been finding my rhythm at work, but it's been giving me more time to think about what to do with this plot. Hope you like what I'm going to do with it!