When Amanda awoke the next morning she was very confused and a large black something towered over her, licking her face. A gruff voice filled the air.
"You there! What do ye think ye'r doin'?"
"Morning Hagrid," she said brightly, sitting up and shoving an over excited Fang off of her.
"Amy? What're ye' doing out here so early?" She stood up and dusted off her robes as best she could.
"Oh, you know, enjoying the pumpkin patch. I've got to go now, see you later Hagrid!" She called, running away before Hagrid could ask anymore questions.
Amanda sprinted up to the castle as fast as her little legs could carry her and pushed open the doors. Inside was a very surprised looking Slytherin prefect.
"Amy! What have you been doing?"
She held up her violin innocently.
"Practicing?"
Regulus rolled his eyes.
"Is that all?" he asked.
"Tell you over breakfast," she called, already half way up the stairs.
Amanda flew up the many staircases until she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Amanda gasped out the password and ran upstairs to take a quick shower and change. Afterwards she said a quick blessing to Charlie when she found her bag on her bed before shoving the violin into it and running back down the stairs and to the Great Hall.
She paused to catch her breath before slipping into the room as inconspicuously as possible. Her Slytherin group waved her over and Amanda selected a seat between Severus and Regulus. She slipped between the boys, smiling at them both by way of greeting. The prefect turned to look at her as she reached for some toast.
"So what were you doing outside this morning?"
Butter went onto the toast.
"Sleeping."
"Why were you sleeping outside?" Severus asked.
She put the knife down and Rodolphus snickered.
"Who else was there?" he asked. Amanda sneered.
"You'd better be glad I wasn't doing that, it'd be a shame to know a first year Gryffindor got more then you."
The table erupted and she turned back to Regulus and Severus.
"I got distracted in the forest and didn't feel like sneaking back up to the common room."
Regulus asked the next one.
"What were you doing that got you distracted?"
She reached for jam to add to her toast.
"I already told you, practicing."
"Practicing what?" Severus again.
Jam done, she replaced the knife.
"Violin."
Amanda was about to take a bite of her toast when the bell rang, signaling the end of breakfast. She groaned and shoved the piece into her mouth before dragging herself to Potions.
It was much the same as the day before, only this time Steven's sleeve didn't catch fire and they didn't have as much time afterwards to go over the ingredients as a class. This was fine for Steven and Amanda because they went over them all while they worked anyways.
After that Steven and Amanda trudged up to the History of Magic room where he introduced her to a few of his friends. They were all friendly after they got over the fact that she was a Gryffindor and didn't mind chatting quietly while taking notes. Professor Binns had launched right in about the history on goblin wars without even introducing himself. Amanda found herself jerking awake when the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class.
Transfiguration wasn't as interesting as the day before. Charlie and Amanda choose a seat near the back and Professor McGonagall gave them all new safety pins to work with. Amanda flicked her wand and the pin instantly straightened to become the perfect little needle. Charlie's did no such thing.
"I think it's more of a flick in the fingers, not the wrist."
Amanda coached Charlie on the movements and this time it worked, sort of. The pin was a kind of a wiggly line now.
"Excellent, Mr. Weasley!" said Professor McGonagall, appearing seemingly out of thin air and making them jump. "Much better then yesterday."
"Yeah," Charlie said, glancing at Amanda, "but I couldn't have done it if Amy hadn't corrected my hand movements. Look at hers, she's already finished."
Professor McGonagall leaned over to look at Amanda's needle. A moment later she flicked her wand and the needle turned into a matchstick.
"I believe that will provide more of a challenge for you."
With that she walked away, leaving a stunned Charlie behind.
"Well, that's not exactly what I expected," he said.
Amanda shrugged. If her mom wanted her to transform a matchstick she'd do it. They both struggled to fix their objects. The end of class felt like a failure. Charlie's pin was still crocked and Amanda hadn't gotten the head of the match to narrow into a point. They were about to leave for lunch when Amanda was called back.
"Amanda please stay behind, I'd like a word with you." Charlie shrugged and went on ahead. Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed into a thin line.
"When you're friend, Remus, didn't see you at dinner or breakfast he became concerned. He says he left you after class near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I trust you know it's forbidden for a reason?"
"Yes."
"You weren't at dinner either, so where were you?"
"I was practicing," she said, reaching into her bag to show her mother the rock colored violin. "I got a little distracted and missed dinner. But I was at breakfast, Remus must have missed me." McGonagall seemed to think it over.
"Very well, five points from Gryffindor. I suggest you find Remus and assure him that you are, in fact, alive." She returned to the papers on her desk. "You may leave now."
Amanda decided Remus was probably in the Great Hall so she went to find him. She wasn't disappointed; he was sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking to his friends.
"I shouldn't have left her there alone, especially not so close to the forest!" He was saying. Sirius sighed.
"I'm sure she's fine Remus. Besides, if she was stupid enough to go into the forest alone then its not you're problem," he said.
Amanda stood behind them now.
"Thank you, Sirius, for those kind words." She turned to Remus. "The next time you go to my mother, could you please make sure I'm dead first?" Remus jumped up and crushed her in hug.
"Where were you? I was so worried!"
"Air Remus, I need air!" He laughed and let go, pulling her down next to him on the bench. Sirius, Peter and James glared but Remus ignored them and looked imploringly at Amanda.
"I went for a walk, started playing some music, got distracted, missed dinner and slept in the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut. Really, nothing to worry about." She turned to Sirius, pointing at his beacon. "Are you going to finish that?" Sirius glared, and, grabbing a fist full of beacon, proceeded to shove it all in his mouth.
"Yeth I ab!" James backed away from him a little before leaning towards Amanda.
"What do you know about Severus Snape?" he asked. It was her turn to glare.
"You mean the boy you snuck up on?"
"He wath athing for ith!" They all looked at Sirius for a moment before continuing.
"He was sitting on the ground reading a book! How is that 'asking for it'?" Amanda asked, exasperated. James leaned forward, getting right in her face.
"He's just not a good person, Amy, and you should stay away from him."
"By the way you were running around with those wands yesterday it looks more like you're the dangerous ones." James sighed and sat back.
"Look, I'm sorry about that. Our tempers just got the better of us. We didn't mean to hurt you."
"Theath for yerseith!" No one knew what he was saying that time, but it didn't sound nice. Amanda got up.
"I've got to go, see you around, Remus." She turned to walk away and saw her Slytherin group waving her over. Bellatrix looked smug.
"It seems like our little Gryffindor is getting under Potters skin." She chuckled evilly as Amanda sat down.
"We don't really see eye to eye."
"How could they?" asked Lucius, "she a foot shorter then him, at least!"
Amanda threw a sausage link at him.
"From the looks of it he was about to attack. Good job." Bellatrix pulled her into a hug. "Now we can annoy him from within his own house!" Lucius and Bellatrix looked like they were having too much fun with this notion and Amanda pulled away.
"I'm not going to do you're dirty work," she snapped. "You're just going to have to let him annoy me on his own before I'll attack." Lucius sighed.
"Oh well, from the sound of things we still won't have to wait very long." Amanda just rolled her eyes, the slimy Slytherin was probably right.
"Poor Sirius didn't look too happy to see you either. You have been busy these last two days." Lucius drawled. "What did you do to make them so angry with you?" Severus froze, a panicked look crossing his face. She shrugged the others off.
"I keep calling him ugly, he should know by now not to ask if he can't stand the answer." Regulus chuckled a bit and Severus looked relived.
"Keep it up. The fool hasn't been this entertaining in years." Amanda scowled angrily and stole some bacon from Bellatrix's plate. Crab and Goyle had wandered over, lumbering like the great big blokes they were. Goyle pointed to her.
"She's a Gryffindor," he said, his voice deep and gravely. She pointed to him and sneered.
"He's a fat boy. See, I can do it too." She could see the gears turning in his head again. The group snickered.
"Did you just insult us?" She mentally slapped herself; there was something wrong with this kid!
"Please, let's not do this again. Just punch him and go sit in a hall," she said, waving at them dismissively and munching on Bellatrix's bacon. Regulus looked up.
"Ah, so that's what happened," he said, turning to Goyle. "Give it up kid; she'll beat you every time." Rodolphus looked curious.
"What do you mean 'that's' what happened?'"
"Yesterday she tricked those two into fighting each other during Transfiguration," he supplied before turning back to Amanda. "And you owe me for not mentioning it to your mother."
"Since Regulus owes me, how about I take that favor off your hands?" Lucius said, his smile now more twisted then ever. The way he said it made Amanda's skin crawl. Severus spoke up.
"Oh yes, because a first year Gryffindor can do so much." Amanda was glad, even if he had insulted her a bit; she didn't like the idea of owing anyone a favor, especially Lucius, he made her skin crawl.
"Relax; I was just going to make sure you continued annoying the fools over there," Regulus said, gesturing to the Gryffindor table. "Besides Lucius, I'm sure you'll owe me again sometime this year." Severus, Bellatrix and even Rodolphus relaxed. Lucius looked disappointed for a moment and it made her a little nervous, she'd have to watch him. She laughed a bit.
"No problem there."
Amanda got up once again and sat by Charlie. He introduced her to his older brother Bill, who was two years ahead of them and a prefect. He had long red hair and towered over her, but he was very kind and respectful to everyone.
Lunch ended and they all separated for their various classes. Defense against the Dark Arts was much the same as the day before. The class read the assigned pages and the Professor assigned them more pages for homework. Amanda found herself wishing they would actually do something other then read.
In Charms they were learning to levitate feathers. Amanda and Charlie had theirs zooming around the room, dive bombing each other viciously. A false swish of the wrist sent Professor Flitwick diving off his stool and made the class burst out laughing.
"Sorry Professor!" He just laughed and climbed back onto his stool, waving them out as the bell rang.
As weeks went by Amanda fell easily into a routine. She'd rotate tables at breakfast, and then head off to Potions with Steven, where Amanda would explain all she knew about the wizarding world and only occasionally did a cauldron blow up. On days when she had History of Magic Amanda would chat quietly with Steven and some of his Ravenclaw friends. Amos and Amelia kept her entertained during Care of Magical Creatures as they somehow managed not to frighten away whatever creature the Professor was trying to show them or scare it so bad it attacked them.
Her mother's behavior in Transfiguration continued to confuse and infuriate Amanda though. The professor continued to praise others work and only criticize hers. When papers were handed back Amanda's looked like it had been mauled by a bear it was covered in so much red. Charlie was just as confused as she was but he stopped mentioning it when he saw how annoyed she was by it.
Amanda spent lunch either in a tree reading or with the Slytherins. They learned a few defensive spells in Defense against the Dark Arts and practiced steadily in Charms. Before dinner Amanda could be found in the library with either the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs doing her homework or just hanging out. But she had the most fun after dinner.
Whenever the weather was good Amanda would sneak out into the forest. Gryis had introduced her to a friend of his, a female centaur named Ash. Her name suited her well for her pelt shifted between various shades of gray. Between the three of them they could harmonize and play music all night long. Sometimes they just walked around in the forest talking.
"Did you hear that?" She asked one night, pausing along the path.
"I hear many things in the forest," Gryis responded, unhelpful in the way only a centaur can be.
Amanda shook her head, listening. She wanted to find the sound quickly before she had to run up to the castle, it was nearly dawn. She heard it again; the sound was pitiful and pulled at her heart.
Gryis carefully led the way towards the sound, pushing through low hanging branches and stepping carefully over thick roots. A small rocky outcropping jutted out from a hillside and at the bottom of the hill was a small golden animal, a unicorn. The creature was writhing on the ground, silver blood gushing from its side. Amanda rushed down the hill and fell to her knees at its side. She looked to Gryis helplessly.
"What do we do?"
Gryis shook his head slowly. Amanda looked back to the poor unicorn, they had to do something!
"What about the castle? Hagrid could do something, or the Care of Magical Creatures teacher!"
"But how would you get it there?"
Gryis had a point, the unicorn was thrashing around violently now, and Amanda had been forced to back away. She pulled out her wand.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The unicorn lifted slowly into the air. It took a lot of concentration to keep him there and Amanda motioned for Gryis to lead the way. They moved as quickly as they could to Hagrid's hut, with the unicorn floating just in front of Amanda and behind Gryis. At the edge of the forest Gryis stopped.
"I must leave you now Amanda, good luck."
Amanda nodded and kept going. The unicorn had stopped thrashing so she was carrying him now and had to kick at the door. Fang could be heard barking from within. A few minutes later Hagrid threw open the door, the light from his hut pooling around her.
"Who's there – Amy?" He looked at the creature in her arms and opened the door, moving out of the way. "Come in."
All the furniture in Hagrid's hut was huge, like him, with a large table taking the majority of the middle of the room. Hagrid took the bleeding unicorn from her hands and set him on the large table, examining the wound quietly. Amanda stood back as Hagrid quickly and efficiently cleaned and bandaged the wound. The unicorn was still unconscious when he finished.
"Stay here with 'em. I have to get the Headmaster."
Amanda cringed; this would be fun to explain. Hagrid put Fang outside before he left. She walked over to where the unicorn was laying on some cushions on the floor. The poor foal was twitching a bit in his sleep so Amanda sat down next to him and began stroking his fur and murmuring encouragingly. His head moved until it was positioned on her knee and he stared up at her with his striking violet eyes. They stayed there until Hagrid returned, with Dumbledore right behind him.
The foal panicked when it saw them, struggling to its feet and moving closer to the young girl beside it. Amanda moved her arms around him, being mindful of the wound on his side, and held him close.
"Don't worry," she crooned, whispering so only he could hear, "they won't hurt you. My names Amanda and I'll protect you." Hagrid and Dumbledore sat down well away from the two figures huddled on the floor. Dumbledore began the expected interrogation.
"Where did you find him?"
She squirmed a little, not meeting Dumbledore's gaze and instead staring at a spot between the little unicorn's ears.
"He was at the bottom of a hill near the edge of the forest."
"Why were you in the forest?"
Now Dumbledore fixed her with those wonderful blue eyes of his, the ones that made you want to spill out you're guts and tell him everything you knew. She found herself unable to look away and squirmed a bit.
"Gryis and I heard a noise when we were walking."
"Gryis would be?"
"A centaur I met near the lake."
She answered carefully.
Vague but truthful. Dumbledore nodded after a moment. Hagrid tried to take the foal, but it lashed out, kicking and trying to stab him with the horn he didn't have yet. He didn't calm down until Hagrid backed away, leaving only him and the young girl holding him.
"It seems the young foal will allow only our little Amy near him. As today is Friday I think we can excuse you from class to take care of him. If that's alright with you, Amy?"
Amanda was pleasantly surprised, she'd been expecting him to ask her what she'd been doing out so early. She smiled.
"Of course, thank you."
"In that case, I would ask if I can bother you for some tea, Hagrid?"
"Of cour' Headmaster."
Dumbledore glanced at Amanda.
"And I think some milk would be appropriate, if you have any."
Hagrid shuffled around, fixing tea and looking for milk. Amanda stroked the little unicorn happily. A thought came to her.
"What will you tell mom?"
Dumbledore chuckled.
"Have no fear; I'll tell her the truth, you're taking care of something for me."
Amanda narrowed her eyes.
"She's not going to like it."
Dumbledore just laughed as Hagrid tossed Amanda a bag of milk. She caught it, confused.
"Have him suck on the corner."
The little unicorn found the corner and had climbed into her lap before she could even move and began suckling hungrily. Amanda heard her stomach growl loudly and blushed. With a wave of his wand Dumbledore conjured a plate of pancakes from the kitchen. It was tricky to eat pancakes with a wiggling unicorn in her lap, but Amanda did pretty well; Dumbledore had had the foresight not to include syrup with the pancakes.
Amanda and the unicorn snuck out the back while Hagrid brought Fang in, the large dog was too excitable to be around the injured little unicorn.
The little guy was just like a puppy, albeit a golden puppy with hooves instead of paws. He scampered around after thrown sticks and often knocked her over, just to lie on her stomach for a few minutes until she pushed him off so she could breathe. After awhile Amanda lay down on her side to watch him run around and the little guy bounded over, snuggling up against her chest. She put an arm around him protectively and the two soon drifted into sleep peacefully in the shade of Hagrid's hut.
Nearly the whole day went by before Amanda was awakened by the little unicorn trying to get her up. He was butting her arm frantically. She looked around blearily and saw Severus standing nearby; one raised eyebrow giving away the shock he felt at the sight. Amanda sat up and pulled the unicorn into her lap, whispering soothingly as she did so.
"Shhh. Don't worry, its just Severus. He's a good guy."
The Slytherin in question walked over slowly.
"What makes you think I'm a good guy?" She shrugged.
"If I told you, it might make your ego grow, completely ruining you for anyone else."
"Oh yes, because I care so much what a stupid little first year Gryffindor thinks."
"Then you shouldn't have asked." She stuck out her tongue. "And not to be rude, but why are you here?"
He shuffled awkwardly.
"I never thanked you, for the other day."
"That's okay; you tried to stick up for me when Regulus and Lucius pulled the whole 'you owe me' thing, even if you did insult me in the process. And if you weren't don't tell me, 'cause I don't want know."
"You didn't tell them the real reason why Potter and Black don't like you." He pointed out. Amanda thought for a moment, suddenly coming up with an idea.
"Sit down, if you really want to make it up to me I know what you can do." Severus looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before sitting.
"What did you have in mind?"
She pointed to his bag.
"I've been told that you are the best at both Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. As I'm getting nowhere in either could you help me a bit with one?"
The boy stared at her for a moment, thinking, he really had no patience for people, but the girl seemed smart enough… for a Gryffindor.
"Fine, and since you can't really stand up to practice defensive spells we'll work on potions."
He pulled out his potions book and they set to work.
Learning with Severus was so much better then the actual class, he knew the real properties to ingredients, the reasons they did what they did and how different ingredients interacted with each other, the stuff not mentioned in their schoolbooks.
He'd originally intended to just go over the basics with her, to skip all that other stuff, but Amanda asked too many of the right questions, and before he knew it Snape was explaining why a sleeping potion that was green could usually be fixed with a sprinkle of aconite and a few counter-clockwise turns. The only thing that brought him out of his explanation was a pulling at his textbook, the unicorn was eating it.
Amanda giggled at his expression and pulled the little guy away. She let him go so he could run and turned back to Severus waiting for him to continue.
"Where were you earlier?" he asked.
"I was abducted by aliens for experimentation." He smirked.
"That would explain a lot."
"Hey! I'm just as normal as the next abnormal girl." Severus chuckled.
"I don't think that even makes sense."
"Sure it did, you understood it. Or maybe it didn't, maybe you're just as strange as I am." In the distance a bell rang, signaling the start of dinner. Severus stood up.
"Are you coming?" he asked, when she didn't get up.
She scowled.
"Call me a coward, but I think I'll stay here and avoid the annoyance that can only be Sirius Black." Severus chuckled again.
"That's not a bad idea," he said, his tone turning teasing, "which is weird coming from a stupid little first year Gryffindor."
She stuck her tongue out.
"Hey, I am a stupid little first year Gryffindor girl. AndI'll thank you to get it right."
She mock glared at him for as long as she could before they both burst out laughing. Severus turned to leave.
"See you around Amy. Don't think you're done learning about potions, there's still plenty left to learn."
"That's okay; I'm not out of questions yet!"
He groaned loudly before walking out of earshot. Amanda giggled again. She was glad he was still going to teach her, she had a plan to make her mother praise her, and she'd need all the help she could get to make it work. She lay back in thought.
After awhile the little unicorn butted her arm to attract her attention. She patted his head.
"I'll bet you're hungry, I know I am."
"Then I have good timing." Dumbledore must have been psychic because there he was, with a tray and a bag of milk levitating next to him. The unicorn stood in front of her protectively, head down and ready to charge. Amanda giggled and pulled him into her lap again.
"Again, don't worry, its only Dumbledore, another good person."
With a flick of his wand Dumbledore conjured an armchair and sat down. A sandwich floated over to Amanda. She had to stifle a giggle; Dumbledore just looked so out of place, sitting in a large purple armchair next to a pumpkin patch in his sparkling robes.
"Would you care for some pumpkin juice?"
"Yes please. Is dinner already over?" A glass floated off to her right; ready should she like to take a drink.
"When I didn't see you I thought you might enjoy something to eat and perhaps some company."
"Yes thank you. This little guy isn't much of a talker."
The little unicorn glared at her, as if sensing she was talking about him. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled before a sad look flashed through them.
"He seems quite taken with you." Amanda rubbed his neck and he went back to suckling on the bag of milk. Dumbledore continued.
"He's looking better then he was earlier." Amanda sighed.
"I know he'll have to go back soon. Please don't warn me not to get attached, because I already am."
The little guy made small noises in the back of his throat and Amanda hugged him tighter, burying her face in his soft golden fur.
"I know, you were already attached the moment you brought him to Hagrid's hut." He sipped his drink thoughtfully and studied her with his old blue eyes. "Amanda, I must ask that you do not go into the forest anymore; it isn't safe. And there is a good reason it's called 'Forbidden.'" Amanda sighed.
"Can I still walk by the lake?" Dumbledore nodded.
"At appropriate times," he cautioned.
"Where will he sleep tonight?"
"Where did you sleep on the nights you spent in the forest?" Amanda cringed, it seemed Dumbledore knew everything.
"Pumpkin patch." she whispered.
"I'm sure Hagrid wouldn't mind giving up an armchair for the evening. I do believe one will suffice for the two of you." It wasn't long before Dumbledore had to go back to the castle and the girl and unicorn went inside.
Yay! Another chapter done. Seriously people, let me know what you think, I live to serve. I don't own anything you recognize… not even the idea of a disclaimer! I'm so unoriginal, anyways, I'll put more up after I get a few more reviews and come up with some more ideas. Later gaters!
