Hi, you guys! This is the first chapter of fifth year. As you can see the old format is back again, I've decided I like this one slightly better. The story sets off in the summer of fifth year at Sirius' place, but don't worry last year's events will be a major theme in this chapter. Please let me know what you think in a review!

CH. 1 Grimmauld Place

POV CLAIRE GIBBS:

I hadn't really slept since that day. That summer day of the Final Task. When Harry returned with the Triwizard Cup in his hands at Cedric at his feet.

The rest seemed to have happened so fast. I froze up entirely, since I was the first in the audience to catch up on what was going on. The rest was still cheering. I barely registered Lexie's hand clutching mine, or Bella's 'oh please no'.

Amos Diggory had been seated to my right, he too had been clapping at first. He saw, too, the inescapable truth. Cedric was dead, gone, never coming back.

I have a photographic memory. Every detail, every word of the evening is set as stone in my memory. Whenever I think about that evening, the events of the funeral follow immediately after.

Amanda Diggory had left the house for the first time since her husband had been buried. Janice was awfully quiet, wanting to remain out of sight as much as possible. I'd written a speech, but the words wouldn't come so Bella and Lexie read it together.

I vividly recall Mr. Diggory, standing in front of his son's coffin, all alone. These memories plague me every day and every night.

My friends had expected me to sulk. They had expected me to starve myself again, like I did after I found my father. They may have also expected me to throw myself on my studies. I did none of those things.

I ate, I tried to do things that made me feel better. I had hardly touched my school books, merely to skim through. I knew he would want me to be happy and strong. I don't think I believe in heaven, Walhalla or any other sort of afterlife, but I do believe he would have hated for me to go to that dark place again.

I'm not happy, and I'm certainly not strong, but I'm trying for him. He made my life so much better when he was with me. I don't want that to be for nothing.

When I heard about the Order of the Phoenix, I wanted to do my part. I'm no good in a fight, but I am persistent. I don't give up. I wanted to honour Cedric's memory, and I thought being part of an alliance against the thing that killed him was a fine way to do that besides taking care of myself.

And for the record, yes, I do believe Harry's story. People who claim otherwise defile Cedric's memory.

That summer, my friends and I ended up staying at Sirius' house. I shared the biggest room with Bella, Lexie and Janice. Hermione and Ginny were staying in the room across the hallway, and Ron and the twins slightly further down.

Mrs. Weasley was, not surprisingly, always fussing about everyone. She had decided I needed fussing about the most.

"You've been through too much for your age, dear," she said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

My mother was never quite such a mother hen, so Mrs. Weasley's behaviour was endearing but also slightly getting on my nerves.

"How've you been getting on with that letter for the Prophet?" Bella asked at breakfast.

I'd been writing to see if the statements about Cedric's death could be rectified. The Prophet had proceeded to call me 'mad with grief'.

"I'm telling you, next time you should send a bloody Howler," said Ron. "They can't keep ignoring you."

"Not that I don't think they deserve it, Ron," said Lexie, "but nothing screams crazy like sending a Howler..."

"We believe you, in any case," said Hermione. "Both of you."

Harry was an even bigger target than I was, not to speak of Dumbledore.

"How is Harry, anyway?" Janice asked, turning her eyes to Lexie.

"What are you looking at me for?" she asked curiously.

"I just figured, since you send out a letter every day-"

Lexie's expression remained neutral, before saying, "Oh, you know, the usual. Dursleys are doing his head in, he wants to get back to Hogwarts... and he misses us."

There was something off about the way she said it, but I decided not to get into it right now.

Sirius came into the living room, with a letter in his hand. He looked distressed.

"You won't believe this! They tried to expel Harry!"

"What?" Bella said. "Why? What happened?"

"He used a Patronus Charm, according to Dumbledore there were Dementors involved," said Sirius. "Anyway, they've made an appeal, Dumbledore won't let the Ministry expel him."

"Did you say Dementors?" said Lexie. "In Little Whinging?"

"Last time, You-Know-Who had Dementors, too," I said, having done my research.

It was unnerving to know what we were up against, but I would rather be prepared. Everything had changed. All the innocence I had left was gone, in the split second of losing Cedric, I had grown up.

POV JANICE DIGGORY:

Monster.

It was all I saw in the mirror. I finally looked the part.

I realized far too late, I've always been too gullible. I was always so convinced of my own innocence.

Any smarter person would have known. All the blackouts, switches in my personality, when I was so aggressive to Professor Snape... Any other person would have put two and two together.

Obvious side-effects of repeatedly being Obliviated. I had seen Crouch Jr., I had caught him, multiple times. When Snape accused me of stealing the Polyjuice ingredients, the memories came back to me.

When I was in the hospital wing, he came to take some lotion because his prosthetic hurt. It hurt because it didn't fit properly when the potion started to wear off. All these little things triggered the memories to come back.

I was the only one that knew the Triwizard Tournament had been tampered with, that it was a trap. I'd let my cousin walk into that trap and I will never be able to forgive myself.

Cedric, one of the best people I knew was dead. Uncle Amos was left with an agoraphobic sister-in-law and a werewolf niece after losing his brother, wife and son to Voldemort.

Claire had lost two of the most important men in her life in a short amount of time. If that wasn't bad enough, the papers were ridiculing her and Harry. The Ministry was completely opposing Dumbledore who was made out for a 'dangerous' individual.

Claire was coping better than I was, she seemed to brush off our concern as if it was unnecessary. I'd let Lexie and Bella hold me, and try to talk me out of my guilt.

People at school shunned me like the plague with my scars. Most people, anyway. Not my friends. Not Neville. He'd been exceptionally good to me. He didn't care that I was a werewolf. He hadn't cared about Lupin either.

The seed he'd given me had grown into a flower with Hufflepuff colours. It smelled like peaches, and I recalled mentioning to him that peaches were my favourite fruit.

He had written me every week, keeping me up to date about his summer, his grandmother and his parents. It helped to think that maybe I hadn't made things worse for Neville at least. He could trust me, and talk to me and had even asked me to go with him to visit his parents.

Maybe it was a small consolation, when I told Claire this, she said Cedric would've been proud of me. Like I said, he was a better person than I am.

POV LEXIE JONES:

Dear Draco,

Claire seems to be doing better than I expected given the circumstances. Still, I keep wondering whether this tough act is going to last. I'm pleased, but wary. Thanks for understanding my need to stay close to her, and for asking how she's been.
Have you heard from Blaise lately? Something happened in those moments before the Third Task, when I left him with Bella. Both of them were acting... odd. We'll have to corner and question as soon as we see him on the train. Getting a story out of him is tough enough face-to-face, but impossible doing it through letters. What's a schoolyear without a little Gryffindor-Slytherin drama, right?
How are your parents? Have you found the book yet?
I know I've written you every day but it's not the same as seeing you. Why did you have to wait until the end of the year to make it up to me, you idiot? We wasted so much time being angry.

I miss you.

Love,

Lexie.

I'd just finished the letter when I heard noises from the hallway. I could easily distinguish Bella's loud, excited cry.

"Harry!"

Janice and Bella were already choking him in a tight hug, and Ron and Hermione seemed relieved to see him too. When they finally released him, he entered the room.

Harry seemed genuinely pleased to see me. He was the one to initiate the hug for once, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "I heard about what happened-"

"They didn't expel me," he reassured me.

"I'm sorry our letters were so useless, Harry," said Hermione. "We wanted to tell you everything, I swear- but Dumbledore wouldn't let us."

"We really wanted to tell you, mate," said Ron. "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us —"

"— swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said."

"I guess the old man wanted to give you some peace," I said. "Give you a summer away from all this. Not that I agree with him, mind you. You should've been with us. I tried to tell him, but-"

"He seemed to think it was best," said Hermione rather breathlessly.

I touched Harry's shoulder lightly. He seemed a lot less glad to see us, suddenly, he looked like he'd rather be left alone for a while.

"I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles —" Ron began.

"Yeah?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "Have either of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

"That's not his fault," said Janice. "He couldn't have known. He's moved you here now, hasn't he?"

"He's had people of the Order watching you, too," said Bella. "He was furious when he found out When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended."

"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

I'd never been able to agree with Dumbledore on why he kept Harry at the Dursley's house. From what I'd gathered, his treatment at their hands at bordered on abuse. It probably was outright abuse, considering Harry played down the whole situation.

"Where's Claire?" asked Harry.

"Probably downstairs with George," I said. "They've been spending more time together. He makes her laugh, which is good, I guess."

Then Harry's eyes fell on the letter on my bed. I instinctively reached to take it, but the damn Seeker beat me to it. He read the letter, then he froze.

"Why are you writing to Malfoy?"

"You've been writing to Malfoy every day?" Ron gasped. "You said you'd been writing to Harry!"

"I said no such thing," I defended myself. "It's none of your business-"

"Don't tell me you and him are back together?" said Harry.

"Good Godric, Lexie!" said Bella. "You said you wouldn't!"

"He apologized, okay?" I said, trying to remain calm. "He really, really apologized."

"So that makes it all okay?" Harry spat.

He was furious.

"I don't need your blessing, Harry," I replied. "This has nothing to do with any of you."

In a flash, he drew his wand, and I mirrored his movements.

"Harry!" Janice said, exasperated. "You just got into trouble for performing magic! You won't have a valid excuse this time!"

"The Ministry can impossibly track this place with an Fidelius Charm on the property," I said. "If he wants to hurt me, I'd like to see him try. You're such a smug bastard, Potter. You think you know Draco-"

"I thought I knew you!" said Harry, sparks flying from his wand.

He was positively livid by the looks of it. I knew I'd Disarm him before he even had a chance to utter a spell.

"I used to think he had this hold on you, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe you're able to condone all his actions because you're just as bad as him!" yelled Harry.

I gritted my teeth. I wouldn't show it but the comment hurt.

"I spent the entirety of last year holding your hand with the Triwizard Tournament and this is what I get, you ungrateful little-"

We both had our wands at the ready. Bella was frantic.

"If you off each other, I'll bloody kill you!"

There was a flash of light, and in a split second Bella had thrown herself in between, unclear who she was trying to protect.

What had we done?

POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:

"Tell me I'm not seeing this," said Ron.

My head hurt. I could hardly open my eyes.

"Hermione, please tell me I'm hallucinating," Ron continued.

The door opened.

"What the-"

That was Sirius' voice.

"I don't know what happened," said Lexie. "This shouldn't be magically possible. She must have gotten hit by both spells at once."

"How did that happen?" Sirius asked. "You two aren't supposed to use magic."

"Bella will be okay, right?" said Janice.

I finally managed to open my eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked.

My eyes widened and I grasped at my throat. Something was all wrong here. My voice sounded so heavy.

"What's happened?" I asked.

Same weird voice.

"Don't panic," said Sirius, "but you might want a mirror."

Something was very, very wrong here. As expected, I did start to panic but I couldn't bring myself to talk anymore. When Janice handed me a mirror, I dropped it almost instantly.

"You don't even look that bad," Hermione said.

My hands, bigger than usual, I noticed, grabbed the mirror again. What I saw were my features, mostly. Red hair. Green eyes. The familiar freckles. But they were plastered on a completely different face. Angular jawline, short hair, boyish features. All the cursewords I knew left my mouth.

"Bella!" Janice and Hermione gasped in unison.

"Am I even allowed to be called that anymore?" I snapped. "It's not just my face either, is it? What would your reaction be if you got turned into a dude!"

"It's been known that being hit by two curses at once can have strange effects, but this-" Sirius began, but he didn't know what to say.

"So you can't fix it?" I asked. "Brilliant! I can't go to school like this!"

"You could pass for a Weasley," Ron offered immediately. "There's a whole bunch of cousins up in Scotland-"

"Do I sound like I can I pull off a Scottish accent for an entire year?!"

"Just for the time being, it'll have to make do," said Lexie. "We'll find a way to reverse it, I swear."

"I guess that depends on what curse you were going to use," Sirius noted.

"Something dark, I'd wager," Harry spat.

"Salazar, not this again," she uttered.

Harry seemed ready to make a retort, but Sirius touched his arm lightly, shaking his head.

"Not you, too," said Harry.

He looked angrier than I'd ever seen him.

"So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?" Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. "Did any of you — er — bother to ask him at all? Does he think I can't be trusted?"

"Don't be thick," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.

"Or that I can't take care of myself —"

"Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously.

"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you two get to join in everything that's going on here?" said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. "How come you two are allowed to know everything that's going on — ?"

"We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young —"

But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS? WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"

All of us were a little shaky from that entire speech except for Lexie, who wouldn't have any of it anymore.

"Take this up with Dumbledore and not us, why don't you?" said Lexie coolly. "C'mon, Bells, we'll get you some other clothes, you've torn out of your tank top and those boyfriend jeans are skinny on you now."

"There's some in my old room," Sirius offered, and I beamed gratefully.

Lexie's hand felt small around mine, as she led me to Sirius room.

"Harry actually scared me a little back there," I said. "Although I understand he's angry."

"I'd be angry too," she replied softly. "He's being irrational. He only took it out on me because he found out about Draco..."

"I believe he apologized, you know," I said. "I don't see it but there must be something about him you like."

"I've been able to talk to him about Claire, too, you know," she told me. "He does care. I know he can be a bigot, but it's how he's raised. He's just trapped in this toxic culture of pureblood supremacy. Sometimes, so am I. Not everyone's as brave as you, Bells."

I nodded.

"I wasn't going to give you trouble, but that doesn't mean I have to like him, does it?"

"I wasn't expecting a miracle, trust me," she said, smiling a little.

She was going through Sirius' old clothes.

"What size do you think you are, anyway?"

"My brother's a medium, is all I know," I sighed. "I should be roughly his size now, right?"

She handed me a pile of clothes and smiled sadly. "I'm really, really sorry."

"Not even you could have predicted this," I said, making her laugh.

I removed what was left of my favourite black tank top and I saw Lexie blink.

"I should turn around, shouldn't I? I'll leave the room."

I heard her giggle.

"It's so weird to see you in a bra like this."

I felt myself flushing, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't worry," she said, cupping my face, "you're quite handsome."

I laughed sheepishly. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"I told you, those Gryffindor instincts will land you in weird places, Bells."

1. I'm sorry about Cedric guys, but I was always planning for him to die. Some of my major plot points are connected with him dying, so, it had to happen. Are you surprised about Claire's behaviour? Do you think it will last?

2. I hope Janice's story made sense. I foreshadowed as much as I could in Lost Minds, but now you know the whole thing. What do you think will happen with her in the next year?

3. Lexie and Draco are officially back together. How do you feel about that? And about Harry's and Bella's reactions?

4. Bella's storyline might seem a little crazy right now, but things will get more and more interesting later. How do you think this will affect her thing with Blaise, for example?

Please leave a review, see you next chapter :)