I remember the first time I saw Amber, standing with the other first years as we waited to get sorted. Her dark hair was cut ridiculously short and her gray eyes observing everything. She wasn't much, but I will never forget how she reacted when her name was called to be Sorted. She visibly flinched. It was as if she was expecting judgment to rain down on her from all the other students. It was fascinating. What would cause a seemingly ordinary girl named Amber Halbert to react that way? I had to find out.
I was thrilled when she was Sorted into Gryffindor, especially when I was Sorted into Gryffindor not long after. I had to know what made her tick, she was such an oddity.
My eye's brimmed up with tears. Even at eleven years of age, Amber has caught my fascination, holding it with every fiber of her being without her knowledge. I miss her so damn much.
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George was finishing his usual Tuesday routine when he heard the alarm go off. Wiping away a few stray tears from his eyes, he hurried to the hall to see what the hell was going on.
Everything was deserted, as it well should be hours after school has let out for the day. There was nothing there. Slowly, George walked down the halls, looking for whatever set the alarm off. In the distance, he heard sirens as the fire department raced to the school. Instead of getting out, George continued his search. As long as he had worked there, the fire alarm has never gone off except for drills. Why it would be going off now, he had no idea, especially since he has been through almost the entire school and had yet to find the source of the alarm. When he approached the teacher's meeting room, however, he stopped. There was a light flickering on the other side of the glass.
Carefully, George crept to the door, listening for something beyond the increasingly louder fire truck sirens. Years of habit had George reaching for a wand he no longer owned, and his other hand reached for the doorknob. Just as he was about to fling it open, he paused. He no longer used magic, what was he doing about to open the door on a potentially magical situation? He turned to leave, but stopped when he heard a familiar voice on the other side of the door.
"Bloody hell!" George yelled, flinging open the door to find Ron putting out the fire in the fireplace. "I told Bill to leave me alone! That means you as well."
"Well, sorry, mate, but it was either me or Hermione, and I figured you'd rather face me," Ron mumbled.
"I don't want to face anyone," George said. "Put out that fire. The firemen will be here any minute and they'll have a lot of questions about a green fire."
"Is that what that awful racket is?" Ron asked as he put out the fire.
"How the hell did you get here by Floo Powder anyway, this is a Muggle school," George asked, blatantly ignoring Ron's question. Ron flushed.
"I, um, I had Percy pull some strings for me, you know, because I figured it would be easier for you to come home if, you know, a door was already open…"
"I'm not coming home, Ron." George grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him from the room and down the hall. When they reached an exit, he threw Ron through it before following. "My life is here now."
"Some life." Ron pulled himself from the ground and glared at George. "Bill said you have nothing in that apartment of yours, not even food. And he said it smelled like you haven't cleaned it in centuries."
"What would you have me do, Ron?" Ron flinched. Never before had he seem such wild abandon in George's eyes, and it scared him. "My life is over! Without Fred, I am nothing! My life has no meaning!"
Ron stepped towards George, but stopped before he could touch them. The sirens finally reached the school, and Ron looked around in shock. "Don't make me do this, George." George didn't answer, tears welling in his eyes. Ron stepped back.
"I hate to do this, but desperate times call for desperate measures." And with that, Ron Disapparated as the firefighters rounded the corner.
A/N: Yes, this chapter's shorter. They'll get longer, though, especially once I start getting George out of his slump. Which will start happening next chapter, and will feature a point my friend brought up while I was discussing this with her.
