AN: You know, I'm rather proud of myself. We're only nine days into June and I've already update like three times or something crazy like that. I'm pretty sure that's an awesome feat! Anyway, I know I said I wouldn't update because of finals and everything, but I was actually given a pass for a final and allowed to go to the library during the exam (gosh, I love math class). I was supposed to study for any other exam, but this was much more entertaining. There's a bit of swearing so be warned, and also, Amy may seem a bit out-of-character perhaps, but I think it's just that she has so many emotions rushing through her. Plus, since she is an original character, I guess she can't really be out-of-character... Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Dedication: Me-Shell: I love you so much chickieboo, but I swear if you ever pull a stunt like your character in this chapter... well... let's just say that you should watch your back... LOVE YOU!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

Michelle had the decency to look ashamed as Amy looked at her in shock. The much shorter girl (she was probably barely five foot) ran a hand through her hair, glancing from side to side in an attempt to avoid Amy's look.

"Michelle," Amy began, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the trio. The others waited in an awkward silence while Amy gathered her thoughts. "It's so great to see you!" Charlie looked up in surprise. He had thought at first that Amy was angry, but this idea was thrown out the window as his witch stepped forward, pulling the shorter woman into a tight embrace. Michelle hesistated for a moment, looking briefly over her shoulder before whole-heartedly hugging Amy. The two women rocked saide to side for a moment before Amy finally detached herself from her friend's arms. She surveyed the girl, her eyes bright with happiness.

Charlie now realized where he knew Michelle from. She had been in the second picture he had looked at on the wall of the Wyman house. She was obviously very close to Amy, and now that he thought about it, he was sure Amy had mentioned a Michelle more than once during their time together. Yet, something that Charlie found off was that even though the two friends had probably not seen each other since the the end of July of last year, Amy appeared to be much more excited to see her friend than Michelle.

"Oh, Shelly," Amy started, "You have no idea how much I have missed you. Life has been…" Amy trailed off, obviously searching for the right word. "Crazy, to say the least," she finished firmly. Michelle smile weakly at her friend. Again, the shorter woman ran a hand through her hair, something Charlie was beginning to assume to be a nervous trait. She opened her mouth to say something, but Amy cut her off, staring intently at Michelle's neck.

"Is that a hickey?" Amy demanded, her eyes wide with curiosity and laughter. Charlie peeked carefully at Michelle's neck, and sure enough, at the base of her throat, where her neck met her shoulder, was a dark red mark. Michelle immediately raised a hand to her neck, her fingers gliding over the mark. A bright flush began to spread up her neck and face, and she pulled at the collar of her shirt in an attempt to cover up the bite.

"No! No!" Michelle protested, her eyes wide in desperation. Her eyes darted side to side. "God no! Gosh, Amy, maybe your brain has been addled from being in England so long! Why would I have a hickey?" She laughed as though the idea were absurdly ridculous, but Amy, who had been Michelle's friend since she was seven knew better, and the witch's smile slid slowly from her face. Amy's eyebrows furrowed together, and she cocked her head slightly as she looked down at Michelle.

"Michelle," Amy spoke softly and with great dictation, "what exactly are you doing here? I thought my dad was only taking immediate family visitors." Michelle's eyes grew wide once more as she stared at her best friend.

"Um, he is!" Michelle proclaimed, nodding her head furiously. The girl's short hair flipped back and forth. "But, uh, I was visiting my own dad, you know." Amy nodded slowly, remembering that Michelle's dad did in fact work as a hospital researcher. "And I thought, since I'm here you know, I should drop in and say hi!" The girl bit her lip nervously as Amy looked at her. Slowly, a smile began to reform on Amy's face and Michelle's shoulders relaxed in visible relief.

"Of course," Amy laughed, her voice breathy. "How could I be so silly! You came to visit your dad! Duh!" The two women laughed, Michelle obviously overly relieved. The laughter slowly died down and the two friends simply smiled at each other. Amy paused for a moment, licking her lips.

"But Michelle," Amy said slowly, "technicians don't work on weekends." Michelle laughed again, before she realized what her friend had said, and her smile dropped from her face, anxiousness reappearing. Amy crossed her arms over her chest tightly, raising her eyebrow as her smile slipped away too.

"Oh, well," Michelle began, obviously attempting to grasp any lie she could, "Well, you see, I, what I mean is-"

"What are you really doing here, Michelle?" Amy demanded, all laughter gone from her eyes. "There's no way in hell you would be allowed in there without a visitors badge, and since you obviously have one-" Amy pointed to the bright yellow badge with the number 721 written on it "-and while we might see you as family, the hospital sure as hell doesn't, so you either lied and told the secretary that you were family or-"

"I'm dating Rich," Michelle interrupted. She shut her eyes and flinched as though she expected to get hit. Precariously, she opened her eyes to look at Amy, who in turn, was staring at the shorter woman, her mouth dangling open and her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Y-You're what?" Amy stammered, her eyes surveying Michelle's face for any hint that she may be lying. There was none.

Michelle took a deep breath, swallowing heavily. "I am dating Richard," she enunciated slowly, her eyes never straying from Amy's. "Since November now. We were going to tell you at Christmas but you didn't come back for break." The witch blinked several times as she tried to take this information in.

"You're dating Richard," Amy repeated, her eyes dropping away from Michelle's. "You're dating my brother." Charlie wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that he heard a hint of betrayal in Amy's voice, and his hand immediately moved to her back in an attempt to provide her with support. Amy didn't notice as she continued to maul over the idea of one of her best friends dating her own brother. Michelle nodded hesitantly.

From the corner of his eye, Charlie saw Amy straighten her shoulders, clench her jaw. The witch sniffed delicately, a mask falling over her face, and in a flash, all emotion fell from her face.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, isn't it?" Amy drawled, refusing to look Michelle in the eye. The short woman's face crumpled at Amy's cold tone. "Now, if you excuse me." Amy pulled away from Charlie's hand and brushed past her friend.

"Amy, please!" Michelle cried, turning to face her friend. "Just listen to me! Please!" Amy froze, and Charlie could have sworn he saw a shudder run through Amy. The witch's thoughts immediately flew back to the winter night years ago, when the very girl in front of her had… she trembled slightly. Michelle took no notice of this however. "You have to understand-"

Amy flipped around, her eyes blazing and Michelle stammered to a halt. "I understand perfectly, Michelle," Amy hissed, again every emotion from the past few days soaring through her. "I understand that my family and my friends, who are practically my sisters, have been lying and keeping secrets from me. I get that."

"But your Mom-"

"I don't care what my Mom said," Amy uttered, her voice low and cold. "You shouldn't have listened to her. You should have told me. You should have told me everything." Amy's voice cracked slightly as she realized that she too had been keeping secrets from her family as well. Her eyes flicked to Charlie briefly before back to Michelle. But that was different. They had a real, important reason to not telling anyone about their relationship. Michelle… Michelle had merely been afraid.

The shorter woman breathed deeply, looking hesitantly at Amy's infuriated face, before she quickly dropped her eyes away from her friend. Amy set her jaw, biting the inside of her cheek, as she tried to refrain herself from lashing out any further. Her eyes moved away from Michelle's now and onto Charlie. Her heart fluttered slightly as she realized that he wasn't looking at her with disdain for her outburst, but instead his eyes were filled with compassion and empathy. He understood that she was filling so completely overwhelmed and that this was merely an eruption of days, weeks, even months of pent-up aggression. She swallowed harshly, her eyes softening ever so slightly as she looked at the wizard.

"Give me a few mintues," she whispered over Michelle's head. Charlie nodded once, flashing the witch a small smile. She attempted to send him a smile in return, but she could not bring herself to do so.

Slowly, she turned away from the despondent Michelle and Charlie. She placed her hand on the door, pausing for a moment as she tried to gather whatever courage she could. Breathing deeply, Amy slid the door open, stepping around the curtain, and shutting the door behind her.

Immediately, faint beeps and an odd pumping noise reached Amy's ears. A boxy television was on in the corner of the room, but Amy's attention moved to the hospital bed which was surrounded by a group of people. They all had their backs to her, but Amy knew immediately that it was her brothers and mother around her father's hosptial bed.

None of them took notice of Amy's entrance. Instead, they were laughing and talking amongst themselves. The witch observed that her mother had her hand wrapped tightly around her father's, while Rich and Eric were fighting over the remote to the television, shoving each other this way and that as they tried to gain control over the other, laughing the entire time.

"Well, aren't I excited to have been invited to this family gathering," Amy broke in over the laughing voices. Her family turned to her, their eyes wide and silence falling over them. "Or did you forget, I am still part of this family." Though there was a smile on her face, the witch's voice was sardonic and cold. The remote slipped from her brothers' hands and Amy's mom, Ann, stood up, dropping her husband's hand.

"Amy!" Ann proclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in her youngest. "What are you doing here?" Amy refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Oh you know, just visiting my sick dad while he's in the hospital," Amy droned, the expression on her face cold. "No biggy." Ann looked over her shoulder at her sons who were looking sheepishly between each other, running a hand through their shaggy hair, before at her husband who pulled a rather comical face.

"Amy," the witch's mother began, "we would have told you eventually-"

"Oh Merlin," Amy exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "I'm so sick and tired of that!" Ann looked astonished to have been interrupted by her normally respectful daughter. "All this bullshit on telling me eventually and how I am too fragile to be told, I mean really? Really?" Amy's eyes were blazing now. "I'm not ten years old anymore, mother. I think I can handle a bit of bad news."

Ann straightened her shoulders, trying to gain some height. Unfortunately, the mother was the shortest in the family if you didn't couldn't Ollie the cat. "Obviously, you can't handle this if you're reacting in such a poor manner!" Amy snorted, crossing her hands over her chest.

"No, Mom, the reason I'm reacting like this is because my family has been keeping secrets from me," Amy scoffed. "Secrets about my father's freakin' well being. I mean, the only reason I even know about all of this is because of Georgie! First off, Georgie? Georgie knows before I do? And second, would I have ever found out about this if Georgie hadn't told me? Or would it have been a secret that you all buried in the closet."

"Amy," Rich broke in, "you're acting like a bitch, calm down." Amy whipped around to face her brother.

"You don't get to say anything, Richard," Amy hissed, glaring at her brother who looked at her with apprehension. She shook her head slightly, rolling her eyes now. "Got that?"

"Oh, stop being so pretentious!" Rich argued, standing up and moving around the hospital bed to face his younger sister. "Just because you've got all these magical powers doesn't mean you get to know everything!"

"No shit," Amy sneered, "but I think there's a difference between wanting to know a bit of family gossip and wanting to know if my father's in the hospital!" The two were almost nose to nose, despite the fact that Rich was seven inches taller than her.

"Amy," a new voice entered the fray, drawing the attention of the room. Her father was looking at her. He attempted to push himself into a sitting position. Ann made so as to help him, but he waved his wife off, struggling for a few minutes more, before he was able to sit straight up. Amy's breath caught in her throat as she realized just how pale and weak her father looked, and her eyes watered a bit at the thought of her father, someone who Amy had always thought of as being a hero, looking so frail. Out of everyone in her family, Alan was the one person Amy could always turn to. Every time she came back from break, he was the one to pick her up from the station. He was the one who demanded to know everything about every class and teacher. The two had spent numerous nights simply sitting on the couch talking about various Magical topics. Politics, sports, academics, anything and everything. He was the one person whose love Amy never doubted.

Her father looked at her from over the rim of his glasses, raising an eyebrow at his youngest. "Does it really matter as long as you're here?" his question was simple enough, and she sighed softly. She looked down at the ground before back up at her father who was still looking at her questioningly.

"No Dad," she admitted softly, her eyes losing much of their fire as her hazel eyes met her father's clear blue ones. He nodded once, a smile tugging at his lips. He raising his arms, several tubes attached to various places of his arm, gesturing for his daughter to come towards him. She hesistated for a moment, before launching herself at her father, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She blinked back tears as her father squeezed her tightly, patting her gently on the back. She swallowed the lump in her throat, refusing to cry after she had already had such a torrent of emotions. She would retain whatever diginity she had left.

She finally pulled back and held her dad at arms length. "Are you sure you're okay?" Amy asked softly, surveying her father's tired face.

"Never better," he announced. He placed a hand over his heart, patting it gently. "My ticker's doing great." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "And so am I now that you're here." Amy smiled faintly before releasing her father from her tight grip. Alan looked at the res of his family. "Now that that's over." She looked over her shoulder at her mother and brothers who were observing the seen between father and daughter. She gave them a careful smile, before settling herself into a sitting position next to her father.

Ann cautiously approached her youngest before pulling the witch into a hug. It was tense for a moment or so before Amy burrowed her head into her mother's neck, inhaling the woman's comforting scent. When they finally released each other, Amy took a deep breath before looking at her brothers. Rich still looked a little peeved at his only younger sibling, but Eric simply swept Amy into a hug, nearly lifting her off the ground. She giggled quietly as he released her.

From the corner of her eye, Amy saw movement from behind the curtain of the door, and she remembered that Charlie was still out there. 'Well,' Amy thought desperately, glancing around the room at her family once more. 'There's no time like the present, is there?'

"I uh," Amy began thickly. She coughed to clear her throat as the eyes of her family landed on her. "I want to introduce you to someone." She swallowed heavily at the looks she received from her family as she crossed the room to the door.

She pulled the door open, peaking her head around the curtain to find Charlie waiting alone outside the door. She noted that Michelle was no longer out there, and she assumed that she had gone to use the restroom or grab a bite to eat. He turned to face her, his red hair shining in the yellow light of the hospital hallway, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Is it time for my funeral?" he asked her blatantly, blinking several times. A passing family glared at him as they entered room next to 721, and Charlie pulled a face. "Kidding," he stage-whispered over his shoulder. Amy saw the one of the visitors shoot him a dirty look as he closed the door to the patient's room, and Charlie looked at her sheepishly. Amy shook her head softly, before holding out a hand to the man.

"Come on," she urged, "before someone calls security for a suspicious man making crude comments on death." Charlie took her hand, allowing his witch to pull him into the hospital room where he was sure he was going to meet his death. He was almost regreting agreeing to come to meet the Wymans, but he figured that since Amy had to deal with his mother on an almost daily basis, he may as well suffer at the hand of her own family.

The eyes of everyone in the room shot up to look at the couple as the entered the room hand in hand. Ann's eyes opened wide while Amy's brothers eye Charlie uneasily. Alan was the only one who didn't seem too perturbed by the appearance of the young man.

"Family," Amy began, and though she started formally, Charlie could hear the light undertone in her voice, "this is Charlie Weasley. Charlie this is family." There was a moment of silence before Amy's dad held out a hand to the man. Charlie spared Amy no glance before stepping forward to shake the man's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Charlie," Alan greeted, shaking the wizard's hand firmly. Charlie nodded, a slight smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wyman," Charlie answered, his British accent sounding very odd in the American filled room. Amy noted that her mother's eyebrows raised at the sound of the wizard's deep voice, before turning to Amy to nod approvingly.

Alan waved him off dismissively as he released his hand. "It's Alan." Charlie nodded once, before moving back a few steps. "Sorry that I'm not in my better hospital gown." Charlie chuckled softly.

"No judgement, sir," the wizard assured the father. Amy's mother moved forward now, holding out a hand to the redhead.

"Ann," the short haired woman proclaimed, taking Charlie's hand in hers. When Charlie released her hand, she moved to gesture to Amy's brothers. "These are my sons, Richard and Eric."

Eric stood to shake the wizard's hand but Rich sat down in a huff upon a hard back chair, crossing his arms over his chest very similarly to the way his sister had.

"Don't mind Rich," Eric informed the wizard, "He can be a bit of a teenage girl at times." Rich scowled at his family who were all laughing under their breath.

"Right," he scoffed, "I'm the teenage girl." He rolled his eyes. "Wasn't Amy the one who came in here acting like a five year old ten minutes ago?"

Amy snorted. "Rich, be quiet."

"Why should I?" Amy raised an eyebrow precariously.

"I'm sorry, who's dating my best friend?" She pretended to contemplate this for a moment, enjoying the red that was rushing up her brother's face. "Oh right. You are." Her voice had a colder edge to this, and Charlie could tell that she was still put out that her best friend had been holding back the fact that she was dating her brother. He stepped back from Eric, enveloping her hand in his as inconspicously as possible, yet everyone seemed to notice how Amy's entire body relaxed the second their fingers became entwined. The all turned away as though they had not noticed a thing, but every Wyman in the room knew that there was something certainly… special about this redheaded wizard.

…..

The rest of the day was spent getting to know Charlie or, in Charlie's case, getting to know the Wymans. Jokes and taunts were thrown back and forth between the siblings, and Charlie soon found that he was pulled into this, when Eric made a comment about his hair. Amy's oldest brother quickly shut up when Charlie told him that his beard looked like he had a cat glued to his face. Sometime during the conversation, Michelle reentered the room. She glanced briefly at Amy before taking a seat next to Rich. Amy's stomach clenched rather unpleasantly when the two joined hands, but she turned away, refocusing on the conversation Charlie and Eric were having about the Muggle and Magical politics.

Sometime around five, Rose and Dave returned to the hospital room, tallying the head count of the room up to nine. Each seat was filled and the side tables were taken to be used as stools for the standing. Someone was able to find a deck of cards hidden away in a pocket and soon a full-blown game of Go Fish was under way, Alan's legs being used as a table.

The conversation died down a bit as the players surveyed their cards before looking up to decide who they wanted to pick on.

"So, Amy," Rose broke in, as she fingered the edge of her cards carefully. Amy looked up from over her cards at her sister who was seated on the opposite side of the room, her husband Dave seated at her feet. Though he was over six foot, his head barely cleared the edge of the bed and he looked very much like a little boy with his blonde hair and blue eyes. "How did you get off of work? I mean, does Pigfarts have a lot of substitutes hanging around?"

Amy nearly cut her finger on her playing card. She swallowed heavily, sparing at look a Charlie, who looked back at her.

"Hogwarts, Rosie. Hogwarts," Amy started, scratching her forehead. It had to be the fiftieth time that she had corrected her sister. "And as for getting some time off work, that's actually kind of a funny story." The witch paused as she looked over at Richard. "Jacks please." Rich scowled before handing her a Jack from his hand. She pulled out her own Jack, setting them down. She counted her cards once more, before looking up at her sister, gathering her courage to announce what she was sure would cause an uproar. "I got fired."

Ann sputtered on her drink, coughing as everyone in the room looked up at her in shock, their jaws hanging open.

"You what?" the witch's mother demanded, staring at her youngest daughter. She wiped at her mouth swiftly.

"I got fired," Amy repated carefully before peaking over the edge of the bed at Dave. "Eights?" No one moved, and Amy realized that this was going exactly the way she thought it would. Badly.

"What on earth for?" Alan demanded, setting his cards down my his pillow as he stared intently at his daughter. Amy sighed setting her cards down as well.

"First off, I can honestly say that it was not my fault," Amy assured her family, looking from one to the other.

"Yeah, it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that you insulted the Minister or punched Umbridge," Charlie muttered under his breath. Every one know turned to look at the wizard. He looked up to see everyone's eyes on him, and he turned red under their scrutiny.

"You punched someone?" Ann demanded, looking at her daughter in shock. Sure, Amy had been moody and sarcastic as a teen but never violent. She honestly couldn't believe that her daughter would intentionally hurt someone.

Amy held up a hand, a light in her eye. "To be fair, she totally had it coming," Amy argued, her eyes wide so as to convince the group. Charlie nodded in agreement. "She's a total bit-" Amy cut herself off at the look she was receiving from her mother. "-witch. She's a total witch," Amy emphasized, nodding her head hurriedly. "Warts and all."

"That still doesn't give you the right to hit them though!" Ann admonished her daughter loudly. "You know better than that!"

"It's not like I hit her before she fired me!" Amy protested, squirming in her seat from all the looks she was getting. "It's more to do with the fact that she implied that 'my kind-'" she put air-quotations around those words, "- were responsible for her being a wretched person."

"Your kind?" Eric asked, peering curiously at his younger sister. Amy turned to face him, nodding slowly.

"Yes, my kind," she repeated carefully, noting the way the Charlie tensed at her words. Her hand immediately gripped his squeezing it tightly. She had not told her parents anything about what was going on in the Magical world in recent months. Sure, they knew that a student of hers had died the previous year, but they all thought it to be an accident brought on by the Triwizard Tournament. They had no idea that there was someone out there who despised people like, well, people exactly like her. She sighed, knowing that she had backed herself into a corner and the only way to get out would be to explain everything to her family.

"In the Magical world, there are three types of witch or wizard," Amy explained. For a moment, she felt as though she was standing before one of her classes, and she immediately felt any nerves she had slowly fade away. "Purebloods, which is a witch or wizard whose family has always had magic running through their veins, and Muggleborns, which is someone who is born into a nonmagical family with magical powers. Someone like me. The third category is a half-blood which is a witch or wizard descended from a Pureblood or a Muggleborn, or any other combination." Her family was looking at her intently, nodding slowly to show that they did understand was she was saying or at least that they had some semblance of understanding.

"Years ago, ancestry was incredibly important and determined how you were seen by your peers, but in more recent years, blood has nothing to do with anything our world," Amy continued. "Yet, there are still some Pureblooded families who believe themselves to be better or superior for their blood. Other families," she supplied, looking pointedly at Charlie, "couldn't care less if a witch's or wizard's parents were a flobberworm." Charlie snorted.

"That would actually explain a lot about some of my classmates," Charlie broke in quietly, his eyes bright at the prospect of a half-flobberworm peer. Amy shook her head, rolling her eyes, as she turned back to her family.

"Anyway," the witch carried on, "about fifty years ago, a Dark Wizard, named Voldemort, came to power with the intent of purifying the Wizarding race. He gathered a group of Pureblooded supporters and together, they set out to wreak havoc on our world. The fear and panic of witches and wizards everywhere fueled his power and for a long time, people believed that he may in fact take control. That is until Halloween about fifteen years ago, this Dark Wizard made an attempt to kill the Potter family. There had been rumors that the Potter's son, Harry, would have the power to destroy Voldemort, so instead of taking his chances the wizard decided to take things into his own hands and kill the boy himself."

Amy took a deep breath, knowing what was coming next. She had heard this very same story year after year during her time at Salem, and even though she had not known the Potter's herself, it still choked her up to think that such a perfectly happy family had been ripped to shreds by evil. She didn't know if she would have the strength to sacrifice herself in the way that Lily Potter had, and she hoped that she would never have to face the decision.

"He broke into the Potter's house and killed James, the father, before he moved onto Lily, who had attempted to escape with her son. In an attempt to save her son, Lily sacrificed herself and was killed before Voldemort moved onto Harry." Amy paused not sure how to continue in her story. Charlie noticed her hesitation and broke in.

"No one's really sure what happened next, although I'm sure many have their theories," the wizard explained. He was leaning forward, his forearms braced against his thighs and his hands clasped together. "What is known is that when You-Know-Who turned his wand onto Harry, the spell rebounded and He was destroyed. Harry survived and was moved to live with Lily's sister until he reached the appropriate age to enter Hogwarts.

"In his first year, Harry was confronted by a fragmented piece of You-Know-Who's soul which had taken over the body of a professor at Hogwarts, and during his second year, it was discovered that You-Know-Who was the last descendant of one of the founders of Hogwarts and had been unleashing the wrath of Slytherin's monster upon the students." Charlie gulped remembering what came next. "You-Know-Who used a diary of his to possess my sister Ginny so that he could perform his deeds in secret. It's because of Harry that she was saved, and it was becoming evident to those involved with these incidents that Voldemort was slowly regaining his power."

"Which became evident last year," Amy broke in, taking a hold of the story again. "Harry's name was entered into the Triwizard Tournament, and during the Final Task, Harry and one of his competitors, C-Cedric, were taken from the maze." Amy swallowed remembering the feeling of dread that had built up within her during the time of the two's disappearance. "Cedric was murdered and Voldemort rose again." There was a sharp intake of breath from the residents of the room, and goosebumps popped up on Amy's skin as she remembered the scene of chaos and despair when Harry had returned to the grounds with a dead Cedric in his arms.

"The Ministry however refused to acknowledge this, despite evidence," Amy continued harshly, her brow furrowed in frustration. "And they decided that it was in the 'best interest of Hogwarts' to instate this awful toad of a woman as a professor. She's been acting as the Ministry's in for months now, and about a week or two ago, she overthrew the headmaster, Dumbledore, and two days later, she fired me."

Amy shook her head angrily, her curls falling in front of her face, before she looked up at her family, who were staring wide-eyed at her and Charlie, not completely believing everything which they had just heard.

"So what does it mean now that this wizard's back?" Rose asked, her blue eyes wide and questioning. "What's going to happen?"

Amy and Charlie looked at eachother, not really knowing what to say. Sure, they knew there was likely to be a war, in fact it was impossible for there not to be a war, but they weren't exactly sure how to tell that to Amy's family.

"We don't really know what is going to happen," Charlie answered slowly, turning to look back at Amy's sister. "There are organizations were are being set up to work against You-Know-Who, but as for right now, all we can really do is wait until the Ministry acknowledges that He is back."

Silence fell over the family, broken only by the insistent beeping of the monitors. No one looked at each other, instead focusing on the playing cards which had been forgotten about during the story. Amy looked down at her own hand, flicking a corner of one of the cards absentmindedly. She had hoped to never have to explain to her family the destruction and racism of her world, and now that she had, the witch was even more fearful over the lives of her family and friends.

The silence was broken only by Alan's yawn, and the family turned to look at the patriarch. He waved them off, yet they all noted the bags under his eyes and that he looked much more somber than he had an hour ago. Ann took one look at her husband, and she gripped his hand tightly in hers before turning back to her kids.

"I think we should call it a night," Ann announced, sparing a glance at her watch. "Visiting hours will be over soon, and it's been a long day, so we should probably start heading out. Your dad has an appointment with the doctors tomorrow morning to talk about what's going to happen in the next few weeks, and he should be well rested, especially because he's going to whine and complain the entire time." Ann smiled fondly at her husband as she said this, while he merely pouted in response.

One by one everyone got up, giving Alan hugs and telling him they would be back tomorrow, until only Amy and Charlie were left behind. Amy hugged her dad tightly, closing her eyes as she practically fell into the embrace, while behind her Charlie was clearing up the cards from the end of the bed.

"Love you, dad," Amy whispered, her eyes watery.

"Love you too, Amy-Boo," Alan replied, squeezing his daughter again. Amy pulled back, flashing her dad a somewhat watery smile before turning to face Charlie and her mother. Amy moved next to Charlie, taking his hand in hers.

"We'll see you back at the house," Amy told her mom who had seated herself at Alan's bedside once more. Ann nodded once, waving good-bye as the witch and wizard exited the room.

They made their way in silence back down the hall to the elevator. The floor was much quieter than it had been when they first arrived, and Amy was beginning to feel rather drowsy. It had been a long day for her. She could barely believe that it had been earlier that day that she had been arguing with Molly Weasley over the Twins. She could feel her eyes growing heavy as the two boarded the elevator, and the witch practically collapsed against Charlie, leaning her head on his shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her to support her. She sighed deeply as the elevator made its way back down the building.

"Thank you for coming with me," Amy murmured, her voice low and soft. Charlie tightened his grip on the witch before resting his head against hers.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," he whispered back as the doors to the elevator opened. Slowly, the couple exited the elevator, the doors sliding shut behind them, before they made their way back down the hall to the secretary's desk. The same blonde from before was there, though it appeared as though she was getting ready to leave. When she saw Charlie approaching, she immediately flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled brightly, despite the fact that Charlie's arm was still wrapped tightly around Amy. After unclipping the visitor's badges from their clothes, the secretary gingerly took the badges from them, making sure that her fingers lingered ontop of Charlie's for a moment too long. Charlie seemed to think nothing of this, merely thanking the woman, but inside, Amy could feel her drowsiness slowly fade away and jealousy burned within her.

It wasn't until they were at the end of the hall that Amy turned to Charlie. He looked down at her curiously and opened his mouth to ask her what was up, when the witch gripped the lapels of his jacket, pulling him down to meet her lips. He was surprised at first that Amy had sprung such a public display of affection towards him, but he eventually gave into the passionate movements of her lips and kissed the witch back. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her close and practically off her feet, while her fingers continued to grip his coat with a fiery intensity. Eventually, the two pulled a way with a slight smack. Charlie stared down at the woman whose eyes were lidded with contentedness and desire.

"What on earth was that for?" Charlie whispered, his voice breathy. Amy smiled softly, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Just because," she answered, hugging him tightly. Charlie's forehead wrinkled together a bit, but a smile crossed his face nonetheless. He shrugged before looping an arm around her waist and leading her down the hall. Before the turned the corner to go back in the lobby though, Amy looked over her shoulder at the secretary who was gapping at them, having seen their entire display. The blonde's mouth was dangling open and she looked frustrated. Amy merely waved a hand, her smile turning triumphant.

Very triumphant, indeed.

…..

After arriving home to a quiet house, Amy and Charlie quickly retired to Amy's bedroom. While Amy went to change and brush her teeth in the bathroom, Charlie took a quick look around her room, examining every book, every photo, and every memory. At first glance, it appeared to look like any other normal nerdy girl's room, but upon closer inspection, Charlie was able to find little hints of Amy's magic smattered about the room. Moving photos and Charms textbooks not to mention the occasional American Zonko's toy all displayed the fact that Amy was anything but ordinary.

She was extraordinary.

When Amy came back from washing up, the two climbed into the bed, ignoring the psychedelic patterns of her comforter and the fact that the bed itself was certainly only made for one person. Instead, the two huddled together closely, their arms wrapped tightly around each other. The lights were off and the didn't speak, yet the two were content to merely lay there in the other's arms, as sleep overcame them.

…..

AN: There you go! The whole Michelle/Richard thing is based off of a comment that friend made to me once. I was probably in seventh grade or something, and I had rehearsal for this musical and it ran late, so I got a ride home. Anyway, at the next rehearsal two of my cast members (including the girl who Michelle is based upon) came up to me and said:

"Who was that guy that picked you up last rehearsal? He's sooo hot! Is he your boyfriend?"

I think they realized how absurd this idea was after I nearly passed out, and I had to explain to them that the "hot guy" who picked me was in fact my brother and not a boyfriend. Yeah... so...yeah...

Please feel free to review and PM me! I know that there are readers out there, but I would really like to hear what you guys think of the last couple of chapters, so let me know!

Signing off,

WiseGirl