Chapter Eight- Decisions, Decisions

Two Years After the Concert- Tess' P.O.V.

I woke up that unusual morning to the sound of tapping on my window. I jumped out of bed, expecting to find Remus' or Sirius' owl, seeing as I hadn't heard from either of them in months, but instead I found two owls, both of whom were unfamiliar, and both of whom had letters sticking out of their beaks. Unsure of how long they had been waiting out there, I opened the window for them, and they both flew straight to my bed.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that neither owl looked even remotely like the other, so they couldn't have been from the same person or place. Rather strange if you asked me.

I took the letters from them and saw that they were bother addressed to me, one in royal blue ink that I found to be quite pretty, and the other in a very dark green ink, almost black.

I got a much better feeling from the one written in the pretty blue ink, so I decided to read that one first. It read:

Dear Miss Miller,

I do not mean to alarm you, quite the opposite in fact, but I have been watching you and your progress in magic for the last two years. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the Headmaster or Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The reason why I have sent this letter is that I would like to request a meeting with you at your home. I would like to discuss your future schooling with you, seeing as you are only a year away from going to a formalized school to hone your skills in witchcraft, and would like to see if you would be interested in attending Hogwarts next year.

I would also like to warn you of a few things, Miss Miller; there are dark forces out there that are preparing to use you for your magical abilities, and they will stop at nothing to secure them. I would not usually tell someone this for fear of causing panic, but I know that you are much more mature than one would think, and know that you will take this warning into intense consideration in the near future.

Once you have decided on a time for me to visit, just simply write me a letter with the date and time and send it back with my owl.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

For some reason beyond any and all explanation, I felt like I could trust this Dumbledore person. Despite the fact that he has apparently been watching me for the past two years as he had said in his letter, I felt that he truly had my best interest at heart, and as he said I would, I began to think very hard on his warning to me.

And that was when I felt it.

This strange feeling of knowing that, beyond any shadow of a doubt, he was telling the truth, and that the other letter I had received was from the dark forces trying to use me, and that everyone around me could be in some serious danger if I were to make any wrong decisions based on the information I now had.

I looked at the other letter, the one written in the dark, almost black ink, and made a decision most ten-year-olds would not have made. I decided to read the other, more sinister looking letter, instead of running to Gran or Aunt Shoog as any other child my age and in my position would have done, just to make sure I was making an informed and unprejudiced decision.

I could feel the dark energy rolling off of the other letter, but despite that, I opened it and began to read.

Dear Penny,

My name is Tom Riddle. Please don't think me too blunt, but from what I have gathered about you, you are quite the bright, special young girl. That is why I would like to talk a little business with you.

The reason why I write you now is, you intrigue me. You are so young, and yet so undeniably talented.

I feel that you, in your current setting, are not receiving the proper magical teachings you should though, which is why I would like to offer you something very special indeed. You see, I am the greatest wizard in the world, and I would like to teach you all about magic. Things your family could not teach you on their own. That is why I would like to arrange a meeting with you and your relatives, one where we could all discuss the offer I have made. You are at a very crucial age Penny, one that can either make or break a young witch like yourself. Please do consider my offer carefully before replying

Your friend,

Tom

Well, that was certainly interesting. I still knew that whoever this Tom Riddle was was up to no good, but he didn't know that. So, I decided to reply to Mr. Riddle first, just to make sure that I kept up my appearance of ignorance as to what he was really planning for me. I made a mental note to thank Mr. Dumbledore for his advice in his letter whenever I wrote him back.

I went over to my dresser and got a piece of paper and a pen, my favorite pen actually. It was silver- which reminded me of Sirius on a daily basis- with a little blue stone on the end of it. It was clearly a fake stone, but for whatever reason, I found it quite charming.

I sat back down on my bed and began to write:

Dear Mr. Riddle,

I would be delighted to have a meeting arranged between you and my family. You seem like a truly magnificent wizard, and to be taught by you, I'm sure, would be excellent for my magical education. If you would be so kind as to let me know when the meeting might be most convenient for you, I would be ever appreciative.

Sincerely,

Tess Miller

Short, sweet, and to the point in the most southern way possible. Gran would be most proud. I fed Tom's owl before sending it off with my reply. Now came the hard part; getting Gran to agree to letting me invite Mr. Riddle down for the visit he requested, all while letting the rest of the family in on my freshly brewing plan.

Remus' P.O.V.

Things were going quite well for me for a change.

Lucy and I kept our promises and wrote to each other all the time, never once losing touch over the last two years. I know it sounds beyond corny, but with every letter she writes me, I grow to love her more. Terrible words to be coming from an eleven year old, aren't they? Oh well, they're true, and that's all that matters.

I just started school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Mum and Dad are absolutely beside themselves. The Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had come to them on the first day of summer and talked to them about my future schooling, and told them his plan of what to do for me on the full moon, should my parents say yes to letting me go to school there.

As you can see, they gave their consent, and I've been having the best time of my life. Best of all, I made friends on the first day.

"Bye sweetheart, make sure to write often so we can know how you're doing." Mum said, hugging me to the point that I could hardly breathe while she cried into my hair.

"Yes Remus, write to us, and remember, if you feel like this is not for you, just let Professor Dumbledore know and we'll come get you as soon as we can." Dad told me, only patting my back because Mum was taking up the rest of my body with her bone crushing hug.

"Sure thing Dad." I wheezed.

"For heaven's sake! You're suffocating the poor boy!" he said when my face started to change from red to purple.

Mum let me go very reluctantly and began to ask, "Do you have all your books? Toothbrush? Uniform? Regular clothes? The bars of chocolate we got you on the way here? Your wand? Your-"

"Darling, if you continue to interrogate him, he'll never make it onto the train in time. He has all he needs, and you know that." Dad said, giving her a gentle but firm look.

Mum sighed and defended, "Just making sure." She then turned back to me and said, "We love you Remus. And remember, don't study so hard that you have no time for fun and friends."

I smiled at them before taking my trolly and heading over to the train, giving it to the porter before getting on, all the while trying not to blush in embarrassment at how my mother was now wailing so loudly that the muggles on the other side of the barrier could probably hear her.

After getting my nerves under control, I began the search for a compartment. All of them seemed to be completely packed, until I came across one that only had two boys who looked to be around my age in it, one of whom had the messiest black hair I had ever seen, glasses, and a Chudley Cannons Quidditch jersey on. The other had shaggy black hair and seemed vaguely familiar to me for some odd reason.

Another boy, apparently also looking for a compartment, came to a stop beside me, seeming to also be looking for a place to stay during the trip to Hogwarts. He was rather greasy, as rude as the sounds, and had a large nose, but as Mum always said, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Besides, who was I to judge? Once a month I change into a half-human-half-wolf that could kill every person on this train.

He made no move to knock on or even open the door, so I took the initiative and opened it for the both of us.

Both boys looked up and I asked, "Is this compartment taken, or can we sit here?"

"Have a seat. I'm James Potter." the boy with the glasses and messy hair said with a gesture to the seat across from him.

"Thanks. I'm Remus Lupin-"

"And I am Severus Snape." the greasy haired boy cut me off with his own introduction, "And you are?"

The question was directed at the boy who looked too old to be wearing First Year robes, who still seemed familiar.

"I'm Sirius Black, pleasure to meet you all." he proudly responded.

Severus and I sat down, and James, Sirius, and I started a conversation on what houses we wanted to be in. I could tell right then that James, Sirius, and I were going to be good friends. Severus, not so much.

"I wanna be in Gryffindor, where the brave at heart dwell, just like my dad." James said with pride.

"I think I'd be a good Ravenclaw," I said, "What about you Sirius?"

"I don't care what house I'm in, just as long as it's not Slytherin."

"Bite your tongue," Severus rudely interrupted, "Only a fool wouldn't want to be in Slytherin."

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked sarcastically, "Why don't you explain your reasoning to the rest of the class then, hm?"

James and I laughed when Sirius went so far as to lean toward Severus in mock interest.

"For one, it's the most exclusive house in the whole school, meaning that there is obviously some kind of power to be gained by being in said house. And besides, it's almost all Purebloods, so clearly there's a lot of money invested in such an elite house, and everything to be gained by being there."

"Says the halfer." Sirius scoffed. I took a small amount of offense at the insult, being half wizard half muggle myself, but quickly got over it at the sight of the comically shocked look on Severus' face.

"How did you-"

"Snape isn't a Pureblood name mate," James interrupted him, "Anyone with a trained eye could see that you're a half-blood. No offense, Remus."

"None taken." I shrugged. At least they were honest.

"At least I'm not a Blood Traitor like you two are. Do you know what I, or anyone for that matter, would give to have what you two have and so carelessly throw away?" he asked them in a venomous growl.

"Half of that giant shnoz of yours? It would be a win-win. You'd be a Pureblood, and also have a normal sized nose." Sirius grinned at Severus as he delivered the insult. James and I couldn't help but snigger behind our hands, not only because it was hilarious, but also because he had a point, as mean as that sounds.

Severus understandably left shortly after that, seething to the point that he was almost frothing at the mouth.

After that we all talked and laughed together for about an hour, and found that we all have a lot in common,but the fun didn't last for very long. It was interrupted by a rather girlish scream, and a loud, horrid cackling.

James, Sirius, and I all stuck our heads out of the compartment to see what the ruckus was about, and were met with a terrible, yet hilarious sight.

Guessing by their uniforms, a gaggle of what I assumed to be Slytherin students had a rather chubby boy hanging upside down in mid air, making it obvious that he had been the one to make the girlish scream we had heard. Thank goodness he was wearing pants under his robes, but it looked like they were getting ready to tear those off of him to make things even worse.

Sirius pulled a wand out of seemingly nowhere and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

The girl who had apparently been the one to put the spell on the poor boy, and who had also made the cackle we had heard, suddenly had her wand flung out of her hand, which Sirius caught with the speed of someone who had performed such a spell more than once before.

The boy landed face first on the floor in front of us, but quickly collected himself and ran through our open compartment door. The girl looked like she was going to do something unspeakable to Sirius, so we all followed the boy's lead and ran in after him, locking the door behind us.

"You guys saved my life! Thank you!" the boy squeaked, his watery blue eyes shining with gratitude.

"It's not a problem mate. What did you do to tick her off like that anyway?" Sirius asked him, evidently knowing who that awful girl was.

"I don't know, all I remember is that one second I was looking for the bathrooms, and the next I was up in the air."

James laughed after the boy was finished speaking and said, "I hate to be the one to tell you this mate, but the bathrooms are on the other side of the train."

Sirius and I started laughing with him, and only got louder when the poor guy blushed as red as a cherry.

"I'm Sirius Black, and these two are James Potter and Remus Lupin. What's your name?" Sirius asked, still with a grin on his face.

"Peter Pettigrew, and if you'll excuse me, I need to go use the bathroom. Bye!"

He left the compartment in a hurry, almost looking like he was scurrying away, leaving us laughing in his wake.

This is going to be a good year... James, Sirius, and I all unknowingly thought at the same time.

Later that night I was sorted into Gryffindor, and wrote my parents all about my day before going to bed that night. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something, something that I shouldn't have forgotten, but had. What was it?

Sirius' P.O.V.

Life was good.

I was just starting my first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and things were already looking up for me.

The school is divided up into four different houses, and my house, naturally, is the best. It's called Gryffindor, and I've already made some great friends there. I met them all on the train ride up here actually.

"Goodbye Sirius, make us proud for once." were the words of parting from my father. All I did was nod and walk through the barrier that led to platform 9¾, dragging my trolly behind me. Once through, I was met with the sight of hundreds of students of all ages saying their goodbyes to their parents and whoever else was there to see them off before boarding the gigantic, crimson train with the words Hogwarts Express painted on the side of it in big gold lettering.

At the sight of it, I immediately felt calmer, as if though now that I was here and out of the oppressive sight of my parents, I could breathe.

I made my way through the throngs of people toward the train, boarding it after first giving my luggage to one of the porters, and began looking for a place to sit.

I, looking older than the standard eleven year old boy, was invited to sit in several different compartments, all of which housed girls from age eleven to fifteen. I could get used to this. I thought with a smirk that made several girls squeal and sigh as I continued to make my way through the huge train, but feeling gut-renchingly guilty for thinking such a thing immediately after with not even a clue as to why. Why did I feel guilty? It wasn't like I had a girlfriend or anything.

I decided to sit in one of the only empty compartments left, but I wasn't alone for long. Not a moment after sitting down did the compartment door open to reveal a boy with messy black hair, glasses that could have been John Lennon's, and a Chudley Cannons jersey on. Man after my own heart. I thought in approval.

"Can I sit here?" he asked.

"That depends," I replied, "Who's your favorite Chudley Cannons player?"

"Quimbly Marks of course! He's the greatest Seeker in the British league! Shame they've been on such a horrible losing streak though." he answered enthusiastically.

"Good answer," I said with an approving nod, "Take a seat wherever you like."

A moment later the door opened again to reveal not one, but two more boys. The first one I noticed had light brown hair, bags under his eyes, and was wearing his school robe open so I could see the clothes he wore underneath. They looked like they had been torn apart and resown on numerous occasions.

The other one had greasy black hair and a nose that I was trying with all my might not to laugh at. The thing was huge! He could have fit a grown man in each nostril!

"Is this compartment taken, or can we sit here?" the one with the bags under his eyes asked, and I was suddenly hit with a very random notion. He, the boy with the glasses, and I were all going to get along famously. Don't ask me why I suddenly thought that, but it felt right. Definitely couldn't say the same for Greasy McBignose over there though.

"Have a seat. I'm James Potter."

"Thanks. I'm Remus Lupin-"

"And I am Severus Snape." Greasy McBignose interrupted. Oh yeah, we definitely weren't going to get along, not if he was that rude all the time. "And you are?"

The question was directed at me, to which I proudly replied, "I'm Sirius Black."

They sat down and James, Remus, and I started talking about which houses we all wanted to get sorted in to.

"I wanna be in Gryffindor, where the brave at heart dwell, just like my dad." James told us.

"I think I'd be a good Ravenclaw. What about you Sirius?" Remus asked me.

"I don't care what house I'm in, just as long as it's not Slytherin."

"Bite your tongue." Snape interrupted me. I was seriously starting to think that he made interrupting people a hobby of his. "Only a fool wouldn't want to be in Slytherin."

"Oh, really? Why don't you explain your reasoning to the class then, hm?" I asked, feigning interest by leaning forward to hear him better, making James and Remus laugh.

"For one," Snape started self righteously, "it's the most exclusive house in the whole school, meaning that there is obviously some kind of power to be gained by being in said house. And besides, it's almost all Purebloods, so clearly there's a lot of money invested in such an elite house, and everything to be gained by being there."

"Says the halfer." I scoffed in irritation. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in Slytherin, he certainly was annoying enough to be there, half-blood or not. The look of utter shock on his face was quite amusing though.

"How did you-"

"Snape isn't a Pureblood name mate," James explained for me. "No offense, Remus." he added.

"None taken." Remus shrugged.

"At least I'm not a Blood Traitor like you two are," Snape snapped at James and I, "Do you know what I, or anyone for that matter, would give to have what you two have and so carelessly throw away?"

The first thing I could think of to say was, "Half of that giant shnoz of yours? It would be a win-win. You'd be a Pureblood, and also have a normal sized nose." I hadn't noticed it until I had finished speaking, but I had been grinning as I blatantly insulted my newest acquaintance.

James and Remus were sniggering and snorting behind their hands at what I'd said, and with their laughter brought a now absolutely livid Snape to leave the compartment.

After James and Remus calmed down, we all began talking again, sharing jokes and learning a lot about each other. But of course, something just had to interrupt my fun, just as things usually went for me.

Outside in the hall we all heard a very loud, very girlish scream, and a cackle that I knew all too well.

Bellatrix. I thought with a cringe.

We all got up and looked outside, and sure enough, my dearest cousin had some poor kid hanging upside down in mid air. I was just thankful that the guy had pants on under his robe, he was rather large for a boy our age, and I don't mean tall, and I really wasn't in the mood to be mentally scarred at the moment.

Knowing I had to do something to stop my cousin and her gang of what could only be described as ugly thugs, I pulled my wand out of my jean pocket and said the only spell I knew and was actually good at. "Expelliarmus!"

Bellatrix's wand flew out of her hand, and I caught it just as I always did whenever she tried to duel me.

The boy who had been floating upside down fell flat on his face, but quickly got up again and ran into our compartment, which we had left open by accident.

Bellatrix looked like she was going to perform an Unforgivable Curse on me at any moment, and with that terrifying thought in apparently all our minds, James, Remus, and I all high-tailed it back into the compartment, locking the door safely behind us.

We turned to the now safe boy just as he said, or more rather squeaked, "You guys saved my life! Thank you!"

"It's not a problem mate." I replied, "What did you you do to tick her off like that anyway?" Knowing Bella, it couldn't have been something serious. She probably thought he breathed the wrong way, the crazy bitch, and decided to teach him a lesson for it.

"I don't know, all I remember is that one second I was looking for the bathrooms, and the next I was up in the air."

James started laughing after the boy was finished recounting what had happened and said, "I hate to be the one to tell you this mate, but the bathrooms are on the other side of the train."

Remus and I burst out laughing, and only got worse as the poor kid turned bright red.

"I'm Sirius Black, and these two are James Potter and Remus Lupin." I introduced after we settled down. "What's your name?"

"Peter Pettigrew, and if you'll excuse me, I need to go use the bathroom. Bye!"

With that, Peter left not a minute later, inducing more laughter from the rest of us as he scurried like a scared mouse out of the compartment.

This is going to be a good year... James, Remus, and I all thought simultaneously.

Mum and Dad almost disowned me when they heard I was sorted into Gryffindor later that night. Uncle Alphard couldn't have been more proud of me, even though in his school days he had been in Slytherin like the rest of the family. He was just happy I'd found a way to "dishonor" and "shame" my family further while being so far away from home.

No, wait, that place wasn't a home. It was a place where I was forced to dwell until further notice. Yes, I liked that much better than calling it an actual home. It suited the circumstances.

I just couldn't help but feel I was forgetting something though, something big, something that one would think I would always remember. I had never felt this way about forgetting something before, and it was really bothering me. What the bloody hell was it?

Oh well, I would sort it out later. Besides, it couldn't have been that important if I'd so easily forgotten about it, right?

Right...?

A/N: I know, I know, I'm the worst author in the world for not updating sooner, and I'm sorry. In my defense, I just moved from Alaska to Pennsylvania, and have been trying to write this chapter the best I can for months. So just know that even if I don't update for months on end, I haven't forgotten this story or you readers, and do intend to finish it eventually. So, please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!