A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. You guys are awesome! I was really glad to see that people like my story (even if it's just a few)! I'm really excited, as the number of reviews for this fic is now two digits (I know, kinda pathetic, but oh well)! Someone asked me where the story is taking place. Well, for now it's Amy's house. She lives close to London. As for later, you'll have to wait and see. Again, I'm sorry for the gap between chapters 2 and 3…hopefully that won't happen anymore. If it does, I'll get my friend to whack me on the head.

Oh! Disclaimer: I forgot to put one in the last chapter, so this is for chapters 3 and 4. I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe. Nothing at all. I repeat, nothing at all. I do, however, own Amy, her mother and Tomas, and Tara and her parents, plus anyone else I forgot to mention who is not in Harry Potter.

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One Last Hope

Chapter 4: Doing the Impossible

Amy didn't get any sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning, wondering what was going to happen and worrying about everything. Finally, at five in the morning, she stopped trying to sleep. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and walked downstairs, where she ate cereal and watched Saturday morning cartoons.

Eventually, her mother got up, and then Tomas, who had obviously stayed up all night and therefore slept all morning. They spent the day hanging out and relaxing, except for Amy, who felt uptight all the time. She was quite relieved when four o'clock came, and she could go upstairs and pretend to be packing for her sleepover. The actual packing took about ten minutes. She stuffed all the things she would need into a small bag, which she placed at the front door. Then, pretending to still be in her room, she rushed out to her tree house in the back yard before anyone could see her.

Her tree house was in the biggest tree in the yard. To get to it, Amy had to climb a rope latter. It had been here when they first moved into this house. Tomas never used it; he always played in the one over at Chris's house. It was a fairly big tree house, and Amy loved to spend lazy summer afternoons in it reading books or drawing sketches.

One of the things Amy had found out that no one else knew was that there was a loose floorboard in one corner of the tree house. The floor had actually been built about a foot and a half above the bottom, so this little niche was perfect for anything that she wanted to hide. Best of all was that wind and water could not reach this gap, so everything she placed in it was protected.

She hurriedly stuffed her new school bag with all of her unopened school supplies in it under the loose floorboard. This was a place that she was sure her mother would not find it. Of, course, her mother would figure out what she had done eventually, when she didn't come home, but Amy had to make sure that she was on the train, speeding towards Hogwarts by then.

She had just enough time to sneak back up to her room before she was called down for supper. It was yet another meal where Amy's squirming went unnoticed. It was after Tomas had left the table and she was still finishing her beans that Amy thought she would blow the whole thing, because her mother had just had to bring up the topic of Hogwarts again.

Darn.

"Honey, you've been kind of quiet for the last few days. Are you sure you're okay with not going to Hogwarts? I'm sorry, but I really don't think it's a good idea and I don't want you to go. Can you understand that?"

No, not really, Amy thought. However, what she said was, "Sure. I was kind of mad for a while, but now I'm okay. It does sort of make sense." It was all Amy could do to stop her hand trembling, but somehow, she managed to pull it off.

Her mother sighed. "Oh, I'm so glad. You know I hate it when we fight. But you'll have fun at school with Tara, I promise." A short silence followed these words, in which Amy wished Tara could come along to Hogwarts too. "Well," her mother said at last. "You'd better head off to Tara's if you want to be there for six."

"Okay mom."

Her mother followed her to the door and gave her a hug goodbye. It was then that it occurred to Amy how much she would miss her mom while she was away. But there wasn't really anything she could do about that. She waved goodbye and walked out the door, into the dim light of dusk outside.

"Make sure you get there before dark!" her mother called.

"I will!" Amy called back.

Ten minutes later she was ringing the bell at Tara's house. Tara let her in, and they spent a fun evening eating ice cream and watching movies. For the first time since Diagon Alley, Amy found she was enjoying herself. She always had fun with Tara. The two of them never failed in having an awesome time and inventing a whole bunch of inside jokes.

At ten o'clock they headed up to bed. Or rather, they got ready for bed, had a pillow fight, and stayed up talking. Amy didn't mind that she would be tired for her first day of school; she would never have been able to sleep anyway.

"It's gonna suck so much when you leave," Tara said. "Who will I have pillow fights with?"

Amy hit her over the head with her pillow.

"Ow! Well, it's true. I'm really gonna miss hanging out with you every day."

"I'm going to miss you too. And I'm really sorry that I won't be here for you. It's just that"

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure you write all the time."

Amy got up and hugged her friend. "Of course I will. And I'll come visit you as often as possible."

And as Tara smiled back at her, Amy wondered when would be the next time she saw that smile.

Of course, later that night, as she was lying in her sleeping bag, she began to doubt herself. What if her mother found out what she was up to and kept her from getting on the train? What could I have been thinking? She thought. There's no way I'm going to be able to keep this up. I'm trying to do the impossible. She sighed. Oh well, I can't stop now. And besides, if there's any way I can get to Hogwarts, even if it's just the slightest chance…

I have to try. I just have to.

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The nest morning dawned bright and clear. Amy woke up at six, not able to pretend she was sleeping anymore. She wondered vaguely if she had slept at all last night. Oh, well. What mattered now was that she had to get ready.

Half an hour later she came down to breakfast with Tara, where Tara's mother treated them to pancakes. Another hour later and she was ready to go, with her trunk at the door and everything. Amy couldn't exactly remember what had happened then. She suspected she had watched Tara play video games. At eight thirty they piled into the car and headed of to King's Cross so that Amy would get there half an hour before the train left. She and Tara played car games the whole way there. Amy made sure that there was never a silence, because whenever there was, she found that she began to wonder if her mom knew where she was. It was a good thing that her mom and Tara's parents didn't need to talk to each other about their children's plans, because they trusted them so much.

Well, they sure won't after this, Amy thought.

Finally, the car pulled into the parking lot at King's Cross station, and everyone inside it climbed out. They walked over to a space near the platforms, and Tara's parents helped Amy put her luggage onto a trolley.

"Got your ticket? Know which platform you're on?" asked Tara's mother.

"Yep. Thanks Anne." Amy was over at Tara's so often that she was on first name terms with Tara's parents.

"So, you're all set?" asked Tara's dad.

"Yeah, Dave. Thanks for everything, you guys."

"Oh, you're quite welcome, dear," replied Anne, fussing over Amy's luggage. "Are you sure you can't fit this into your trunk?" she asked, indicating to the bag which concealed Amy's owl in her cage.

"Oh, no, it's okay, I've got it," she said quickly.

"Would you like us to see you to your train?" asked Dave.

"Oh no, you've done so much already. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Amy nodded.

"Well, in that case, have a great term!" said Anne, hugging Amy tightly.

"Yes. And good luck at your new school!" said Dave, hugging her as well.

"Thank you so much!" replied Amy, smiling. Then she turned to her friend.

She hugged Tara tightly, and Tara hugged her back. Amy wondered, probably for the hundredth time, when she would get the chance to see her again.

"I'll miss you so much," she said, breaking away.

"Same to you," said Tara. She was smiling, but Amy saw a hint of tears in her clear blue eyes as the wind whipped her dark hair around her face.

"Bye," they said in union. Then her parents led Tara back to the car, and they waved a final goodbye to Amy before getting in. Tara looked at Amy one more time, and then got in as well. Amy waved as she watched them pull out of the parking lot and drive away. Now she felt really alone. She was going to a new place, where she didn't know anyone, without the support of her family, and without being able to tell her best friend.

Right, well, here goes nothing.

Amy turned around and wheeled her trolley up to the barrier between platforms nine and ten. She checked her watch. Twenty minutes to eleven.

I just hope mom doesn't find out I'm gone until then.

She looked at the barrier. It looked pretty solid. Okay, let's go. I just hope this doesn't hurt, she thought. Pushing her trolley in front of her, she began to walk quickly towards the barrier. She went faster and faster, until she broke into a run. The barrier got closer and closer until…there was no barrier anymore. Instead she found herself on a crowded platform next to a scarlet steam engine. Looking back, she saw an archway instead of the barrier, which bore a sign reading, "Platform 9 ¾".

Wow, cool! I wonder if mom, being a muggle, would be able to come through the barrier and catch me? Deciding it was a possibility, she promptly pushed into the crowd, which was so thick that anyone would have a hard time finding anyone else.

Soon, though, all thoughts of her mother were wiped from her mind as she looked around at the other students. Some of them were already wearing their uniforms. Others were tending to their pets, or else showing each other neat things they had gotten over the summer. Some of these were things such as a new set of what Amy believed to be Gobstones (from what she had seen in Diagon Alley), while others were as impressive as a new broomstick.

Shaking herself, she went off to find a compartment. She found an empty one at the end of the train, and heaved her trunk into it. It was a very difficult task, as the trunk was so heavy, but somehow, Amy managed it (she suspected some of her magical powers might have kicked in and helped). Once her trunk was secure in the overhead compartment, Amy went to the door and slid it open. Looking up and down the hall, she saw students everywhere greeting each other and finding spaces for their trunks. She leaned back into the compartment just in time as a very tall girl went running past. Closing the door again, she sat down on the seat and looked out the window.

Outside, students were all boarding the train and saying goodbye to their parents. Amy wished more than ever that her mother had been there to say goodbye, instead of forbidding her to come at all. But her stomach also twisted into a knot of worry. She could still come, she thought, horrified. She could still come and stop me from going. For five minutes (although it seemed like hours to Amy), all she could do was worry, hoping desperately that her mother still had no clue what she was doing.

Suddenly, the train whistle sounded, making Amy jump. Then, slowly, the train started to move. Heart still pounding, Amy looked out the window. The platform was sliding steadily away. The train began to pick up speed, and soon it rounded a corner and the platform was gone.

I did it, thought Amy. I actually did it. I'm going to Hogwarts!

And although she was still nervous about going to a new place, although she was worried about what her mom would say when she found out, although she felt incredibly guilty for going against her mother, Amy smiled.

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A/N: Yay! That was a really quick update! Consider it as a way of making up for the lateness of chapter 3. So, finally, Amy is going to Hogwarts. I think the story will be more fun to write now, and hopefully more fun to read! So please, tell me what you thought by reviewing! It would really make my day!