So sorry this one took so long to get out. Its just a lot has been going on right now. I promise the 3 one will be much quicker.

lol, I forgot the disclaimer last time. Here it is (incase ya'll missed it) ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except Jamie and all of her little friends) yet…………. Mwahahahahahaha, Mwhahahahahahaha!! Mwa.. *cough* *hack* *cough* Just read the story!

A/N: I decided to put those little stars there, to separate scenes, you know, to make it easier J Tell me if you want them or not.

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The Song in the Locket

Chapter 2: The Locket and the Potions Assignment

Jamie woke up early the next morning. She slowly got out of bed and walked to the window. It was dawn, and the sun was just rising. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange and yellow, with a hint of purple mixed in. Everything was so tranquil and calm. For a minute Jamie was speechless as she stared off into the horizon.

Then memories of the night before came flooding back to her…everything that had happened in the Great Hall, the talk with Harry, and the eerie blank expression on Neville's face.

"Neville," Jamie whispered. She remembered what had happened last night in the common room, how he had called her over. The vision was still vivid in her memory.

"Jamie, I want to give you something" he had said. But the voice was cold, not the warm, often forgetful voice Neville usually had.

"Why?" Jamie remembered asking.

"Just look" He urged her, and pulled a silver locket out of his pocket.

Jamie had to admit, it was beautiful, especially the way it glistened in the firelight. It seemed to be giving off its own iridescent glow. It was perfect. There was a shimmering ruby in the center of the locket, and there didn't seem to be any flaws at all. It was truly a piece of art.

But Jamie felt a coldness about it. Something evil. Yet she couldn't resist. She felt her hand go forward involuntarily, without her consent. She wanted to stop it, to ask some questions, but she couldn't open her mouth. Her resistance was futile. All that she could move was her hand. Then she grasped the locket and quickly put it around her neck.

Everything that happened last night seemed so surreal. She didn't even know how she had gotten into bed. The last thing she remembered was hearing muffled cries coming from the boys' Dormitory.

Jamie put her hand around her neck as she stared out into the forbidden forest. The sun was almost up now. She felt the thin silver chain. She ran her fingers down the chain, till she came to the locket itself. It was ice cold. And yet, it also felt smooth and perfect to Jamie, despite the shiver that ran down her spine as she touched it. And that red ruby! Jamie stared at it, transfixed. She couldn't pull her eyes away, but she didn't really want to. She was lost inside that ruby.

I wonder what's inside of it, thought Jamie, almost falling into a trance. She reached toward the clasp when a small, tired voice rose up.

"Jamie, what are you doing up so early?" It was Ginny Weasly.

"Oh, nothing" responded Jamie, quickly hiding the locket under her nightgown. "Just watching the sunrise."

"You're crazy" Ginny muttered sleepily. About five seconds later Jamie heard Ginny's soft snoring. Jamie decided to get back into bed.

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The next time Jamie awoke, she realized she had overslept. All of the other girls were out of the dormitory. They had gone down to breakfast, and Jamie was all alone.

Smart move--and on the first day of school!, Jamie thought to herself as she hurriedly put her clothes on and rushed down the stairs and out of the common room.

"You know you are late!" called the fat lady in the portrait.

"Don't remind me" yelled Jamie as she turned the corner. The locket was still around her neck.

Jamie charged blindly down the stairs, skipping a few steps every so often. She had been down this passage so many times she could make it to the Great Hall blindfolded.

The paintings were all in place. Many of them stared at Jamie with a disapproving look on their faces. It was as if they were saying, Look at that little girl! She is late, on the first day of school!

She tried her best to ignore them. Almost there, she thought as she reached the final flight of steps. Then one picture caught her eye. It was a picture of a graveyard, in the middle of a forest, and if you looked really hard, you could see a person in the background, a girl. Jamie stopped for a second and stared. She had never seen this one before. Then the girl walked forward, and pulled out a locket, and opened it. A blinding light filled the picture. Jamie put her hands over her eyes. The light was so bright she couldn't see, and backed down the stars, not looking where she was going. "UGGGG!!" Screamed Jamie. She had fallen right into a trick step. "Now you will miss breakfast for sure!" she yelled at herself, and tried to yank her leg out of the floor.

It was no use, no matter how hard Jamie tried, her leg wouldn't budge.

"Hmmm, interesting place Snow has gotten herself into," a voice snickered. It was Draco, and the smirk on his face was huge.

"How very kind of you, can you at least help me out?!" yelled Jamie, her temper rising.

"Why should I? It's very amusing just to watch you," Draco laughed. "If only the whole school were her to see you!"

"Malfoy!" Jamie screamed, completely losing it. No matter how handsome he was, he was still a total jerk. "Just help me out!"

"What's in it for me?" asked Draco, absolutely loving the situation.

"You know what? I don't need your help! I can get out myself!" Jamie yelled. She wasn't going to put up with his bullshit anymore, and she wasn't going to give him anything.

Draco just leaned against the wall smirking, seeming to enjoy Jamie's suffering.

Jamie tried as hard as she could to get out, glaring at Draco as she pulled clumsily.

"You're pathetic!" sneered Draco as he sauntered over to Jamie. "The trick is to stop struggling."

"Oh" said Jamie, as she stopped trying to pull her leg. The step loosened its grip and Jamie was able to slip her leg out.

"Uh, thank you," said Jamie turning around to face Draco. He is SO good looking, thought Jamie, completely forgetting that five minutes ago he had stood there laughing at her.

What am I thinking! Jamie yelled at herself.

"Yah, right," said Draco as he turned and walked up the stairs, leaving Jamie alone in the hallway. Jamie felt her face heat up again.

Why does he have to be so mean! I don't see why anyone could ever like him. Why do I have to like him! Jamie yelled at herself again. Then she made a pact with herself not to like him anymore. But lasted about one minute.

Jamie was about to go, when all of a sudden, she remembered the picture. She spun around, but was gone! In its place hung a picture of a garden, in which a well dressed gentleman sat drinking tea.

That's funny, thought Jamie as she turned back around. Then she shrugged and headed off to the Great Hall, forgetting the picture and her locket for the time being. Her hunger overwhelmed her sense of curiosity.

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When Jamie entered the Great Hall there was the usual chatter. Good, at least im not late, thought Jamie as she headed in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

Cici, Robbin, and Marisa were sitting on the far end of the table. Might as well patch things up, said Jamie as she headed in their direction.

"Well well, look who's back." said Cici smirking.

"Hey Jamie, care to join us?" added Robbin quickly, feeling the tension build up between Cici and Jamie. Obviously Cici hadn't forgotten about the other day on the train.

"So, what happened last night?" asked Marisa, as Jamie sat down next to them. All of the girls knew Jamie had a crush on Harry. She had since the first year of school. And when they saw that she had gone to sit with him last night, all of them were pretty happy for her, with the exception of Cici of course.

Jamie felt her whole body heat up, as she thought for a second that Marisa was asking about Neville, and the locket.

"I mean with Harry, at dinner," Marisa said, like she was pointing out the obvious.

"Oh" said Jamie, feeling stupid thinking that anyone knew about the locket. After all, I was the only one down there, Jamie reassured herself.

"Nothing. We didn't really talk much. Can we eat please? I'm really hungry," said Jamie trying to get everyone off of the subject.

"What ever you want, my queen" said Cici, through gritted teeth. "Would you like a foot rub with that?"

"Just shut up" said Jamie, and she said no more for the rest of breakfast.

As Jamie was eating she noticed that Neville wasn't down in the Great Hall. That's interesting, she thought. Wait a minute! Why was Draco heading up the stairs? Isn't his common room in the dungeons? The obvious dawned on her, but she was too worried about Neville, and the locket, to think about that much right now. Why wasn't Neville down here?

Suddenly she had a strong urge to grab the locket and open it. Not in front of all of these people! Jamie told herself, trying to fight the urge. Slowly her hand reached down and grabbed the ice cold necklace.

"Well, I'm done with breakfast, what about you guys?" said Cici standing up.

Jamie quickly withdrew her hand. She was saved…for time being.…

"Uh…yeah, I'm done," said Jamie, "Lets go up to our dormitory to get our books, shall we?" Jamie welcomed the diversion. At least now she had something else to think about.

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Her first class, History of Magic, wasn't very interesting. But then again, that class was never interesting. All they did was take notes, and listen to Professor Binn's annoying, and boring lectures.

Jamie looked at her schedule as she was leaving the classroom. Her next class was Potions. Oh great! she thought, as she headed towards the dungeons, Potions with Slytherin, again! All of the Gryffindors had pretty much accepted their fate; they were doomed to have Potions with Slytherin forever, and this year was no different.

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"Welcome back, students," called out Professor Snape coldly as he stood at his desk, waiting for the talk to settle down. His beady eyes darted around the room suspiciously.

Yup, still the same old Snape, Jamie thought as she set her things down. Out of all of her classes, this was Jamie's least favorite. Probably because of Snape and the sour way he treated all of the Gryffindor students, especially Harry.

Jamie had in fact been pretty interested in Potions before she came to Hogwarts. She remembered when she was really young, her father used to make special concoctions with her. He was a scientist, and worked specifically with potions. Jamie always enjoyed spending time with him, but these times were rare. He always seemed to be at work. And when he wasn't working, he was fighting with Jamie's mother. The rare moments that Jamie got to spend with her father were precious, but they never seemed to last very long. Before she knew it he was back at work again, and she was all alone.

Then her parents split up, and this came at a particularly horrible time for Jamie. She was just getting ready for her first year at Hogwarts, and she had a new baby brother as well. Jamie had tried to look at this on the bright side: Now that her parents were separating, she should get to see her father more. And, her parents wouldn't be fighting. That was one of Jamie's gifts, she always seemed to find a way to look on the bright side of things.

But then one day, a couple of months after they split up, Jamie's father disappeared without a trace. Jamie shuddered remembering. Some of the best witches and wizards had joined the hunt to find him, but with no success. Jamie was devastated. Now she would never get to spend time with her father. But she still believed that he was out there somewhere, and that one day he would come home. That had happened almost 5 years ago…

"Are we finished, Ms. Snow? Or would you like us to wait a little longer for you?" came the cold, taunting voice of Professor Snape. Jamie snapped back to reality with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Perhaps we should return our thoughts to the lesson?" sneered Snape, his dark eyes glittering. Obviously Jamie was his first victim of the day, and he was getting much enjoyment out of the situation.

"Yes Professor," Jamie said through gritted teeth. Man! Not even a little sympathy from this guy! she thought as she returned her attention to the front of the class.

"Before I was interrupted…" Snape began, turning his gaze to the blonde haired girl sitting in the back of the class. Jamie blushed, she was not one who liked to be noticed, especially by a classroom full of her peers, "…I was going to tell you about a project I am assigning." Snape took a second to glower around the room at the unhappy faces of his students. "I thought it would be a nice way to start off the new year" he sneered, smiling crookedly.

"Now, this will be a big research project, and I will pair each of you up. You will find all of the information you need outside of class, and I will provide some ingredients for you to make your potions. The rest, you must find on you own."

Jamie groaned. Already she had a big project to do, on the first day of school!

"You will first make a growing potion. After that is done you will make a shrinking one. The third potion you will make is a transforming potion. If made properly, this will cause you to turn into the animal of your choice" Snape immediately turned his gaze to Neville.

It wasn't until now that Jamie realized Neville was in the room. She didn't even notice him in the History of Magic class. He looked pale and skinny, and very tired. He also looked like he hadn't had anything to eat in a while. He was sitting quietly in the back of the room tying not to be noticed, or, it seemed to Jamie, trying not to be noticed by her. He was avoiding her as much as possible. Neville kept his gaze low, on the floor. It seemed like he was hiding something.

"After your potions are properly brewed, you will combine two of them together (which two, I will not tell you) to create a levitating potion. When you are finished with the project, you will test the combined potion on yourself. I suggest that you get the combination correct the first time. I would rather not discuss the horrible outcomes I have seen because of people mixing the wrong potions together," said Snape gleefully.

Snape then took out a piece of parchment and looked at it. "I will now assign your partners. These pairings are final"

A dead silence filled the room as Snape began reading off the names.

"Hermione Granger with Pansy Parkinson" Snape began.

Hermione looked horrified. Then she suddenly raised her hands. Jamie didn't know where Hermione's burst of bravery had come from, but it was certainly there, and at a bad time too.

"What is it Ms. Granger?" Snape snapped, looking very annoyed.

"Don't you think there's been a mistake?" Hermione asked bravely. "Shouldn't I be paired with a Gryffindor or something?"

"No Ms. Granger, there is no mistake. Weren't you listening before? I said that the partners are final. Is there anything else you wish to waste class time with?" retorted Snape. He didn't wait for a reply, because he was sure he was going to get one. Instead he looked back at the list and read off a couple more names.

"Harry Potter with Lavender Brown" Snape read out loud.

Jamie didn't look too happy. This would have been a perfect opportunity to spend time alone with Harry.

A few more names were read, but Jamie didn't pay much attention. After a little while she heard her name and perked up her ears so she could here her partner.

"Jamie Snow with Draco Malfoy." The words echoed and reverberated off of the walls, and for the first few seconds Jamie was silent, letting them repeat over and over in her head. Then she came to, with the shocking realization:

I am partnered with Draco Malfoy?!!!

A/N: I think I have a thing for cliffies. Sorry :p. So what did you think? Sorry again for how long it took me to come out with this. The 3rd one will be much quicker, seeing as I already have most of it written down. I worked on the dialogue didn't I. Please tell me if I did a better job.

Bassplayi: that was very nice, thank you so much, you are too kind. I'll try to do more of those sudden endings for ya ;)

Excillian: I worked on the dialogue this chapter. J Thanks for the tip. Also, I mentioned before that Jamie and Harry had talked a little in the previous years. So they are on friendly terms. But who knows…. He may have a little thing for her. Lets see how this turns out shall we? :p. Glad you could finally read it, I was waiting for your response.

Ducklinghead: Wow, im very flattered J . I daresay I don't deserve it. I could never match J.K. Rowling's skills, but thank you so much! And you should try reading the books, please don't judge the story by the movie, the movies are horrible! You will see, if you read the books…

Angel Graphite: Glad you like Jamie, and my original characters. I worked hard to make them seem as real as I could. Its nice to know that I did a good job. O, I didn't really tell you, I could change the plot at any second : ). So you actually never know what is coming next. Great site btw ;)

Thanks to all of my reviewers, and I hope to have plenty more in the future. Now, you see that little box down there? Yah, the one that says submit review? Well, you need to click on it, then, tell me what you think! Isn't that great! I know it is. I love reviews!