I apologize for the long break, however when I was going to post, crashed. The next weekend, my chapter wouldn't upload. So here I am trying again.

Also I have been struck with an idea for another story. I will be posting the first chapter today or tomorrow, so check it out.

Chapter 19

"Jem, could you come down here, please?"

Jem sighed. Could Lily be more annoying? She had been trying to concentrate, meditate on her old life. She had been trying to focus on what her father looked like, but she found that the memory was starting to fade. He seemed fuzzy and shorter than she thought he actually was. It was making her brain hurt. If I have to stay in this place any longer, she thought, I'm going to go insane.

She wanted to break down the protective barrier between her thoughts and his, but knew that she would probably go more insane if she did that.

"Jem, if you don't come down here I'm going to call you by your real name!" Lily shouted.

Jem sighed and slowly walked downstairs. Her "parents" were sitting in the living room with Oliver.

"Are you ready to go?" James asked. Jem didn't respond and Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Yes, she's ready, let's go," he said, marching over to the fireplace.

"We're going by portkey, Oliver," Lily explained.

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"Becau-" James started.

"Because it's too easy for me to go somewhere else if we go by floo," Jem said, wondering how her brother had passed the first few years of Hogwarts.

"Where would you go?" asked Oliver, puzzled.

They all stared at him. James and Lily were saved from explaining when the portkey turned blue. James glanced at Jem suspiciously.

"Three..two..." And they whirled away.

"Ah, James, Lily, Oliver, Alex-" Dumbledore started to greet the Potter family before he was cut off by a growl.

"Um, Oliver, I think it's time for you to go down to Charms," Lilly instructed. Oliver got the hint and left after saying goodbye to everyone.

Jem tuned out after Dumbledore started drowning on and on about her tests, her schedule, her Sorting, and other stuff she didn't care about.

"So what would you like to start with?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Jem didn't answer. "The Sorting, then," he continued with a smile. He grabbed an old had off the shelf. "Erm… I don't really have to wear this, do I?" Jem asked, eyeing the dust crusted around the brim.

"Every Hogwarts student does," Dumbledore chuckled. "Don't worry, it doesn't bite… usually."

Not bothering to hide her look of disgust, Jem grabbed the hat and gingerly placed it upon her head. A small voice issued from above the brim.

"Ah, another Potter, I see…" it mused. "Or not," it added quickly. "Definitely not… Well, this is going to be easy." Jem felt the hat straighten, take in a breath (did the hat have lungs?) and scream, "SLYTHERIN!"

Jem smirked, gently put it on the desk, and folded her arms.

"She can't go to Slytherin," James protested.

"I agree," Dumbledore said.

"The sorting hat put me there-" Jem argued.

"You and everyone in this room knows that you would be out of here by tomorrow morning if we placed you with the Slytherins," Dumbledore stated bluntly.

Ouch, Jem thought, I'm sure that I could get out of here in an hour. He has no faith in my abilities.

"You'll be going to Gryffindor," he continued, "and you will have your father escorting you to your classes for a few weeks."

"He's my babysitter?" she asked.

"No, I'm extra protection," James clarified.

"For who?" she asked snarkily.

James sighed.

"Perhaps we should do the placement tests," suggested Dumbledore. "Could you please cast an Unlocking Charm?"

"I don't have a wand," Jem deadpanned.

"Ah well, yes, but..." Dumbledore looked to James and Lily.

"You may have your wand only during class. It will be taken away in an instant if you try anything." James handed over the wand, his expression dark.

Dumbledore conjured a small door. Jem made a big show of readying her wand. Then, she smirked and set it down. All they heard was a small click and the door swung open.

"Well, I think we can all agree that for the wand subjects you can be with your age group," Dumbledore stated a bit shakily.

There was a knock on the door. Snape opened it, and Jem raised one eyebrow.

"Ah, Severus, I was just about to call for you," Dumbledore chuckled.

"For what?" he sneered.

"I was hoping you could test young Ms. Potter to see if she could TAKE POTIONS WITH HER AGE GROUP!" Dumbledore was forced to raise his voice, as Jem had started growling very loudly.

"I can assure you that she is much above a fifth-year level," Snape said. He looked at Jem, and Jem momentarily wondered where his loyalties truly lie. She had always suspected that he secretly belonged to Dumbledore, but it seemed that there was something behind his black eyes that made her think otherwise.

"And you would know this how?" James asked suspiciously. Everyone in the room gave him a look that said, really. "Ah yes," he said sheepishly.

"Alright, I think that based on these tests, its safe to say that you probably have an acceptable understanding of most of the subjects. If you need to, we can arrange a tutor for you," Dumbledore explained, although everyone knew that would never happen.

Snape turned to Lily, "Do you know when you can take over your classes again?"

"I could teach a few while Ale-... erm, she gets a tour of the castle," Lily said, and Snape nodded before swooping out of the room.

"Speaking of which, perhaps you should get started," Dumbledore suggested.

James and Lily nodded, and the group of three headed down the spiral staircase.

"I think it's lunchtime," Lily remarked after approaching the Great Hall that was filled with chattering noise.

"-she like?"

"Is she n-"

"-will she start?"

"-house is she in?"

They passed the doorway and saw Oliver, surrounded by people of all houses asking questions. They all went quiet when they saw who was standing in the doorway.

"So this is the Great Hall..." James said, so quietly that only Jem could hear.

Jem wasn't paying attention. She was surveying the hall without moving her head. She found the Slytherin table and locked eyes with a specific blonde. He gave a curt nod, a signal that they would talk later. Jem looked at each of her friends in turn, making sure that they were all there.

James was oblivious and continued talking about when she'd be using the Great Hall and for what she would be using it for.

He ushered her on through the Entrance Hall to the staircases. Three hours later they were done, and Jem knew more about Hogwarts than she had ever wanted to. They headed back up to the headmaster's office and used Floo Powder to return home.

The next few days dragged by. Everyday Jem would wake up, make her own breakfast, go to the library, make lunch, go to her room, make supper, go to her room and sleep. The whole time she refused to talk to her parents. In the afternoon, Lily had classes that she had to teach, and in the morning she had to help Severus.

It was the most boring week of her life, and that was saying a lot because her father had once locked her in a room for a week to test her patience. The only thing that got her mildly excited was on Tuesday morning when they went to Diagon Alley. They had gotten all of her Hogwarts supplies, along with some more clothes, and Jem had some fun freaking out James by talking to the snakes in the pet store.

Sunday night finally arrived, and James called Jem down to the living room.

"Are you all packed?" James asked, hoping against all hope that his daughter would answer.

"Yes."

James blinked in shock. "Er alright, so we'll leave early tomorrow morning, most likely around eight because you have a free period first hour to get settled in." He started to ramble on about what classes she had tomorrow.

"Anyways, you should probably get to bed," James suggested.

Jem turned and went up to her room, barely containing her excitement at getting out of the Potter house.

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