A/N: You know, after 6 months of so-called 'editing' I have finally decided to get my bum in gear and re-post this again. Re-reading it now, I realize how much I sucked at writing and how I really have no idea what orphanages are like. I'm too lazy to re-write it, though, so I'll just re-post it here again so those people reading the sequel have an idea of what the heck is going on.

In my opinion, the sequel is written better, so hurry up and finish this story so you can go on to the next more exciting part.

So, I hope you have a nice time reading what I wrote like, what was it? 2 years ago? Must've been 1 1/2. Something like that. Anyway, I do expect reviews, so, enjoy!

Aimee Rettop woke up and looked around. She smiled and jumped out of bed, the thin sheets falling off her. The rest of the dormitory was sleeping. The orphanage in which she had lived all her life was peaceful, but only when at rest.

The kids here picked on her, since she was the youngest in their group, but not today… no way anybody was going to make her angry or sad this oh-so-special day, so glorious, so perfect. She would have done the happy dance if it wasn't for the fact that she could wake somebody up.

She got in the shower and didn't even wince at the cold water that suddenly poured over her body. Aimee quickly scrubbed herself with a small, used soap, but she didn't care. She applied a small quantity of shampoo to her black, wavy hair, and as silently as possible, she reached out to the conditioner, they never let her use it.

Within five minutes, Aimee was out of the shower and dressing herself with the comfiest, prettiest clothes she could find: faded, baggy jeans and a purple, small t-shirt, with a sweater that she was glad to find it was perfect for her.

Next, Aimee brushed her hair with the brush every girl in the orphanage used. Carefully she made it a half-pony tail, which wasn't a very easy feat as her hair was crazy wavy, from the top of her head to her shoulders. But she liked it, she thought it made her look original.

Although the other girls told her she looked like a lion with that 'horrible hair'.

With her towel, she dried the floor of the shower and the walls, hiding every bit of evidence she had showered she could find. Then Aimee cleaned up after herself in the bathroom, not minding at all because she was happy it had finally arrived. Today. Her birthday. Not only her birthday, her sweet sixteenth birthday. At least it was in the summer. Having to go to her awful public school, with girls threatening to stick her head in the toilet… Not a very nice thought.

In the summer, at least they took the orphans out to the beach sometimes. Sometimes they went on her birthday, she had gone last year, she had explored a cave a way from the beach and dipped her feet in the ocean. Maybe she'd get a chance this year.

Now that she was ready, she plopped on her bed and advanced on the package; her birthday present. Aimee had no idea who sent them, nor did the rest of her roommates… not that they knew about the present… or her birthday…

Every single year, she'd wake up and there'd be a package waiting for her on the foot of the bed, and it started ever since she was 11.

The note was always the same; 'Happy Birthday, and I hope you like it!' They never had a name. She refused to let herself believe it was her parents, she didn't want to get her hopes up. It was just someone who took a liking in an orphaned girl.

After all, her parents had died in a fire that had destroyed her home. Well, that was what they told her. Then she was delivered here, and stayed here ever since. And nobody had wanted to adopt her. She had been close twice, when she was four, and when she was 11, but then, they just stopped visiting her and she lost contact with her would-be parents. Then, she just got older and older, and the parents seemed to want younger ad younger children. She contented herself that in 2 years she'd be outta here and stepping out into the real world. She'd get a job, a flat, maybe fall in love…

But that didn't matter now. Aimee took out an old school bag from under her bed and dumped out the contents. Five books fell out. Quickly and silently as possible, she arranged them in order and smiled.

Aimee pulled the brown package toward her, and, not paying attention to the world around her, she ripped it open. A few girls stirred.

"Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince…" She whispered, running her hand through the drawing on the title. How she had waited for it to come out…!

Aimee looked at all the other titles: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone… Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets… Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban… Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire… Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix… They were all there.

Every birthday, Aimee would get a book of the Harry Potter series. She would read all day, first in bed, then went outside, sat on a rock , and read, and read all day, all she wanted… nobody could stop her. Once a year she could forget her worries and sadness of having no friends, once a year she would be welcomed in the world of Harry Potter, once a year she could read and forget, forget herself and her horrid world, and remember what she had longed for ever since she was eleven… To be a witch. TO know how to do magic. That with one wand she could do magic…

Aimee sighted. How long had she waited for that letter, to take her away and never ever come back… When young, she thought the scar on her wrist, just below the palm of her hand, meant something…How she had cried on September 1, when she knew the Hogwarts students would be getting on the train… without her. She had waited the next year, and the next, and the next, but it never came. Nobody came to take her away from this black, sorrowful place. Deep down in her heart, she knew it was impossible…

Aimee opened the book on the first page. A picture clipped to it was hiding something from behind. It was a picture of a woman… She was blond, and looked to be around 30-40…Aimee took off the picture and gasped.

A swirl of colors stood before her. It was small, no bigger than the page itself, but it looked deep and mysterious. Aimee bit her lip and looked around. Her gasp hadn't woken up anybody. Quickly she packed the books in her bag and dropped the picture of a woman in it. Clutching the bag to her chest, she touched with one finger the circle, but slapped it to herself almost instantly. It felt as if it tried to suck her like a black hole.

Gathering all the courage she had, she introduced her whole finger in the book, and immediately felt the pull taking her where she had always dreamed of.

A/N: Ick, I read my A/N from before and it was SO LAME. God. I'm so bitter I actually even critisize my own writing. It's pathetic, really, but it would make me so happy to hear from you guys.

PS: Yeah, I know. 6 months of waiting for this to be reposted and it's THE SAME THING? I know, I know. I suck. You don't have to remind me about it. But it would be nice if you'd review and tell me I'm great so I could be happy.