Amy's point of view

'Get your hands off me! I'll sue!' I can hear Maddison raging from the back of the train. They've put us in different compartments. Smart. They must know all we need is four minutes together and we'll have escaped and be halfway across the English countryside. Course having the four of us separated will do nothing but agitate us. Damn these intelligent aurors!

'Do you want anything to eat?' the auror sitting across from me asks. I look up at him. He has messy black hair and blue eyes. I keep a blank face and turn my head away. Then my stomach grumbles, but I ignore it, looking out the window.

Two figures appear outside the compartment door. 'Five minutes,' the taller one warns. The comartment door opens and reveals Tessie. She stumbles in and sits beside me.

'Come on, Potter. Out. They need a private moment. It's a girl thing.' the auror woman tells my auror. He leaves reluctantly and I can see them stand outside the closed door.

'How the hell did you get her to let you in?' I don't dare speak above a whisper.

Tessie shrugs.

'I told her I had my period, needed a pad. She didn't have one. All the other aurors are men so I said you had yours and I could get a spare one from you.' she whispers back.

I'm impressed. 'Nice,' I compliment.

'Thanks. Amy, how are we gonna get out of here?' she turns paniced. I pat her shoulder.

'I don't know. We probably won't get an opening until we're at the castle. What is Maddie doing?' I hear another loud bang from the back.

'She's trying to escape. Again. I wonder how many more times she's going to try to run out the door,' Tessie muses. I laugh quietly.

'And Jelly? How's she holdin up?' I ask. Tessie's compartment is closest to theirs. They put me furthest to the top and with the best auror because apparently I'm the 'leader'. So I'm the best dueler. Doesn't mean I'm the leader.

'Well, she keeps going to the toilet. And everytime she checks every nook and cranny with her eyes, trying to find a fault in the train.'

I sigh. 'She can forget that plan, it won't work. There are no faults.'

Tessie sighs too. Then the door slides open and the woman comes in and sits down.

'We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Now, for those last minutes, I'll bring the other two in, but only if there is no trouble.' she warns.

We both nod eagerly. She gives us a kind smile and leaves to get Jelly and Maddie. When they come in they sit down quietly, though Maddie pauses to give a cold glare to a large auror before entering.

'So, what's the plan?' Maddie asks as soon the door closes.

'Shh! They never leave.' Jelly whispers. We all look at the door and sure enough there are four bodies outside in auror stance.

We spend the last ten minutes in silence, holding hands. I'm nervous. We've been gone for two years. We left in third year. It's November now and we should be in Fifth year.

The train stops and we're seperated again. I walk up towards the school beside the auror Potter, at the front of the line again. We are being made walk up the steep hill to the school. The castle still looks beautiful. As we approach the entrance I see the whomping willow and in the distance the forbidden forest. All the memories come rushing back. Good and bad ones.

We're led to the great hall. It must be dinner time. Oh. My. God. Are they going to make us eat with everyone? I can only imagine what our old Ravenclaw classmates will ask. Why did ye leave? What did ye do? How did ye get out?

But I'm stopped outside the doors by Potter. We all stand in a loose circle and Potter speaks.

'Professer Dumbeldore will explain to the other students what's going on. Then you will be sorted into your houses.'

'WHAT? We've already been sorted! Five years ago! We're in Ravenclaw!' Maddie exclaims.

'A lot can change in the two years ,' the woman says solemnly.

I can hear loud, excited, astonished chatter from the hall. Dumbledore must be done.

'Ashton, Maddison,' I recognise Professor McGonagall's voice. The doors open and Maddie is brought to the front of the hall and sat on a chair by her auror. The sorting hat is placed on her head. No one speaks.

'Ravenclaw!' the hat shouts. She jumps up and looks back at us, biting her lip. We give her thumbs up and she walks slowly to the erupting blue table, where everyone is screaming and clapping and welcoming her.

'Green,Jelatha.' Jelly is escorted by her auror to the chair and is given the hat. Straight away it's, 'Ravenclaw!'

'Mackenzie, Teresa,' Tessie sits down. A minute later, the hat shouts, 'Ravenclaw!' The blue table is crazy. Every person is on their feet and screaming.

'Summers, Amy.' It's quiet again as Potter brings me to the chair. I'm not as scared because I know I'll be in Ravenclaw, too.

'Good luck,' Potter murmurs as he places the hat on my head. He winks and then stands behind me.

Welcome back, ms. Summers. Have a nice holiday?

Brilliant, I think dryly.

I remember when you first sat in this chair. How nervous you were. You had a brilliant mind then, as do you now, but- Ah. There is something else there now. Something you didn't have as much of then. Yes it's certainly grown. It shapes who you are, who you will be. Do you know what it is, Amy? It's courage. Loyalty . And strength. And so there is only one place for you.

'GRYFFINDOR!' the hat screams.

'WHAT?' I scream so loudly Potter jumps behind me. I jump off the chair. I take the hat off and hold it in front of me.

'Are you serious!' I shout.

'Yes,' it replies.

'You're wrong,' I tell it angrily.

'No, I'm not. I never am,' it says haughtily.

I look to the headmaster and McGonagall. They look confused.

'Well, it is never wrong.' Dumbledore says solemnly.

'Join your table, then, Ms, Summers.' McGonagall says.

I just look at the hat . There is a shocked silence. Jelly, Tessie, and Maddie leave the Ravenclaw table and stand beside me. Tessie takes my hand and says' There has to have been a mistake. Amy is one of the smartest people I know.'

'No one is questioning her intelligence. She's just changed. She is more suited to the Gryffindor house now,' the hat says sternly.

From the look on the professor's faces I know there is no changing it. I sink onto the chair and drop my face into my hands. I don't cry- no way. I imagine what school will be like without my best friends. Being in a house where I have no friends. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up at Potter.

'Come on,' he says softly.

I get up and hug my friends. Jelly is crying. 'I'll miss you,' she whispers as she squeezes me.

'Ill miss you, too. I'll miss you all.' We do a big group hug and then we're separated by the woman auror. Her face is compassionate and to my surprise she hugs me.

'If you ever need anything, write to me,' she says, handing me a card with her name and address.

'Thanks Jasmine.' I say.

Then Potter takes my arm and walks me to the Gryffindor table. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. Before I sit Potter says, ' don't worry. You'll be fine. You're a Gryffindor, after all.' He squeezes my arm and nods to a group of boys across from my seat. I sit and avoid everyone's eyes.

'Alright, welcome back to our old students. Good luck with the rest of your future. Now. Enjoy the feast,' Dumbledore claps his hands and the food appears.

I don't think I can eat anything.

Everyone is staring at me. Aw yeesh. I put my chin in my hand and stare over at the Ravenclaw table. The girls are getting a hero's welcome. All I'm getting are stares and whispers. Then Matthew Jones, a gorgeous mixed race boy from Ravenclaw seventh year comes over to me and kneels down beside me. We used to be sorta friends, back in the day.

'Hey, Amy! It sucks so bad you're not with us! We're really going to miss you. But hey, at least you're not a Slytherin,' he says the last part darkly.

I groan and put my head on the table. 'This is terrible. There's no 'at least', this is the worst it can get,' I whine.

He strokes hair my comfortingly.

You don't look like you've that changed that much to me,' he admits. 'Same long blond hair, same blue eyes. Maybe a little taller,' he allows.

'A little? I've grown loads in the last two years!' I exclaim.

He chuckles. 'Yeah, you did. I just was hoping I'd get to see you smile...' he trails off. I blush and look away from his green eyes.

'Please?' he does a puppy dog face, and I can't resist. I smile at him shyly.

' Yes! My goal in life has been reached! You should eat something. I know you're hungry.'

I am. I scan the table, seeing what's on offer. I notice four boys gawking at me. They're the ones Potter had greeted. One of them looked considerably like him. His son, maybe? Another was chubbier than the others. I recognised Remus Lupin from my third year herbology. He smiled at me. The boy next to Remus was looking at me in a different way than the others. They were awed and impressed. He was watching me intensly. He had messy black hair and stormy grey eyes. He was very handsome. Better looking than Matthew even! As our eyes meet he winks at me and you won't believe what I do! I wink back! I don't blush or anything! Wow! Maybe I am brave.

I look away as he starts smiling and load my plate with spaghetti. Yum! I feel more relaxed now that everyone has gone back to speaking. I pretend that every conversation isn't about me and turn to Matthew.

'Anyway, I'm really glad you're back and don't worry. You'll be fine! I have to go back to my table. Bye,' he says. He gives me a hug and leaves.

'How did you do it?' I look across at the boy with glasses and black hair.

'Excuse me?' I ask around a mouth of spagetti.

'How did you bust out?' he asks eagerly.

I take a drink and shrug. 'How do you know Potter?' I ask.

'He's my dad. I'm James. This is Peter, Sirius and Remus,' he introduces.

'Welcome back Amy. You'll have to excuse James, he's just in awe,' Remus says, smiling warmly.

'Of course I'm in awe. Whose idea was it?' he asks.

I take another mouthful and say slowly, 'mine and Tessie's.'

'You two must be genius',' the handsome boy Sirius says.

I laugh bleakly. 'Yeah. Two bad we didn't both stay that way,' I mutter.

'You're still smart, Amy. And hey, Gryffindor is great.' Sirius said earnestly.

I just shrug and say, 'I know it is. It'd be better if I had friends though.'

'We're your friends, right guys?' The three nod and make sounds of agreement. Sirius looks at me.

'Thanks.' Then a fiery redhead comes down the aisle and sits beside me.

''Hi, I'm Lily. Welcome to Gryffindor.' She shakes my hand.

'Hey, Evans, what you doing down our end of the table?' James' voice becomes deeper and he leans back on the bench, trying to look cool.

'If you don't want me here, Potter, I can leave. I just came to save Amy from 'Pigs Descend'.'

'No! Don't leave! I mean, I promise not to 'descend' in public,' James says, while the others laugh at his rude joke.

And suddenly Potter is toppling off the bench. Lily and I laugh. She has kicked him off under the table.

'Come on, Amy, come sit with my friends.' Lily says, standing up.

'Is that what you call MacLaggen, then? A 'friend'?' he asks sarcastically.

'I'd call him a gentleman! Come on, Amy.' She pulls me from the table and drags me with her.

I look back and say,' See ye later, guys!' They smile and wave. James looks pissed off and Sirius looks disappointed, while the other two are watching them with amusement.

I sit with Lily and her friends Alice and Molly. Shane MacLaggen watches Lily with goo goo eyes, while she mostly ignores him. I guess she's just trying to make James jealous. It's clear there's something there.

After dinner we all sit in the common room. It's my first time in the Gryffindor common room. It's not that different from the Ravenclaw one. Just the colours and password instead of a riddle. I guess that will be a little easier. Being able to say 'Nargle Juice' instead of having to think of an answer. I'm on the couch next to Lily when James and the rest of the boys come in.

'Hey, Evans! Amy,' He nods to me and squeezes his way into the middle of us.

'Ugh, Potter, go away!' she shouts, frustrated.

'Will you go out with me?' he asks hopefully. He looks cute with his pleading hazel eyes and messy black hair.

'NO!' Lily shoves his head away and jumps up, stomping angrily up the stairs to the girl's dorm.

I sigh and get up to follow her.

'Don't go! She's fine,' Sirius says quickly. He dumps James off the couch and sits beside me. Poor James. He's lying on the floor looking defeated. I wonder why Lily won't go out with him. He's cute, and he seems to really like her.

'I should probably go see-'

'Trust me, this is nothing new. This happens everyday.' Sirius assures me.

'Several times a day, really,' Remus pipes in tiredly.

'I don't get it,' James moaned. He rolls onto his stomach and gazes dreamily at the girls' stairs. 'Why. Won't. She. Just. Say. YES! What's wrong with me?' He drops his head to the floor with a not-so-gentle bang.

'This part is standard too,' Peter says in his squeaky voice.

I look down at James thoughtfully. He seems a pretty nice guy. I could probably fix him up with Lily. I'll have to learn all the things she hates about him first, of course. But right now, let's work with the things I know.

'You're glasses are lopsided. You're nose is a little on the long side. You've got awfully big feet. You seem a little pushy. And you're lying on the ground with you're butt in the air.' I make my list aloud accidentally. I'm only alerted when I see all of their stares. I'm going to have to go talk to Lily. I get up and when I get to the foot of the stairs I look back for a far away point of view.

'And by the way, you're zip's open. G'night!' With that I bound up the stairs.