Chapter 7 – Shopping Spree

We woke each other up at about noon, went to breakfast, and set our minds on shopping.

"Lets go in that one!" I said, pointing at a store obviously made for gothics.

"hmmm… looks scary, lets go!" said James.

We all piled out of the limo and into the studded store. We started trying on outfits, making fools out of ourselves. (Oliver even put on a skirt!) we were laughing non-stop. As we were looking for something else to wear, I heard someone talking loudly.

"…so would you?" said a very round young woman with short black hair and dark red lipstick looking at Sean.

I saw Sean grab James around the waist and pull him close.

"Sorry, but I'm taken." Sean said, lying his head on James's shoulder.

"Oh, I … I couldn't tell, sorry" she said and walked away. I stared to laugh when James asked Sean where he was buying them a romantic dinner. The only thing that I could suspect was that there was a practical joke going on, or goth shops were popular hook-up places, because the next thing I knew Oliver had pulled me into him and had his hands on my hips.

"Tell him Pookie, tell him I'm straight and one hundred percent yours," he said with begging eyes. So I ran my fingers through his hair and touched his nose lightly.

"of course your mine…and I don't think I could find someone more straight – Honey bear" I said thickly as I looked over at the boy who looked disappointed and watched him slump away. Oliver and I nearly died from laughter.

" Pookie? What was that all about?" I asked, gasping for air.

" Honey bear? Not much better! That guy was hitting on me! Why do guys always think I'm gay? I'm not gay!" he said loudly.

Sean and James must have heard because James came over, nudged Oliver in the ribs, and questioned him-"are you sure?"

" Yea, does this mean last night meant nothing to you" Sean asked, pretending to cry.

You guys are dorks! C'mon, I'm hungry, plus, this place is creepin' me out!" I said as I put my foot out as if to race out of the store. And we did.

After driving around in the limo for some time, we stopped at a small luncheon-type place.

" So… what do you suppose we talk about? Amy, you pick, you're the guest" Sean prodded.

"okay… you guys probably get this a lot, but can we talk about the Harry Potter thing?" I asked meekly.

" yea, sure, whadda you want to know?" Sean replied.

" well, its not that I want to know anything, just discuss it. Like, I think it would be awesome if it was real, you know? I would love to go to Hogwarts, it seems really interesting!" I said excitedly. The three guys smiled at each other slyly.

"for us, it is real. We went to Hogwarts, remember?" James said with a wink. We ordered our food and were still talking about the school and what it would be like if it were all real, and they all seemed sincere in my interest, and kind of surprised.

" you think about this a lot, don'tchew?" Sean asked with a subtle smile.

" oh, yea, all the time. You would be a fifth year, James and Oliver would be a third and me a second year – thank you" I said, thanking the waiter for clearing my dishes. "why?"

"hmm? Oh, no reason," he replies, sending suggestive glances to the twin brothers sitting on the other side of the table. I was genuinely confused.

Chapter 8 – The Truth Comes Out

We all came out of our room and the boys a little less perky this morning. They had been up late arguing all night.

" c'mon guys? What's up?" I asked, looking at them all with a pleading pout.

" 'hold on, love" Sean said to me as he pulled the guys aside and whispered something firmly. "all right, lets go get some chow!" Sean said with a smile spread across his face.

" Shall we?" Oliver and James asked, holding out their arms to me, so I linked arms ith each and we went parading down the hall.

We ended up in IHOP, a little booth in the back.

"We were talking-" said James

"About yesterday-" said Oliver

"And we've decided-"

"To tell you the truth."

" Oh, goodness, your not really gay are you?" I asked Desperately. They both got disgusted looks on their faces and I smiled.

" Thank God" I answered myself.

" No, it's about… Hogwarts and such." Sean broke in seriously. I looked up at him curiously and saw that he looked like he meant it. I looked at Oliver and James and they both nodded in agreement at me.

"Well, what about it? I believed that you knew a lot about it." I said puzzled looking at Sean.

"No, we understand that." Oliver said.

" But it's more than that" James interjected.

" You see, it's…it is all real" Sean said quietly, looking at me like he was scared of what I'd say.

" Oh, yea, I… I get it" I said still confused. All three boys gave me a 'sure you do' look.

" C'mon guys! I'm not that stupid! I know your just joking!" I started laughing but stopped shortly after seeing them serious again. James looked at Oliver.

"Should we?" James asked.

"I don't know, Dad will know immediately" Oliver implied.

"Stupid job! Well?"

"Lets!" they both looked pleadingly at Sean.

" I was going to, you guys know how long it will take to get to my parents." They all turned to me, Oliver and James with playful grins, Sean looking determined.

"Okay" Sean said. "now don't get scared, we just want you to know the truth."

"All ri-" I started to say when I cut myself short, watching Sean pull a long dark wand out from under the table, I'm sure my face expressed the confusion and fright I was feeling, because he set the wand in his lap and held my hand, all while giving me a comforting smile. He pulled out his wand again, muttered something, and I stared amazed as the salt and pepper shakers started to dance.

James and Oliver smiled in amusement and my attention was turned to a plate of scrambled eggs floating off a table onto ours. I giggled, astonished, as the salt and pepper started knocking into each other to get to the plate first.

"Wait a minute…"I said. The boys stopped laughing and looked at me. So did the salt and pepper (or so it seemed).

"What?" Sean asked, wondering why I'd stopped them.

"Okay, well, this all looks real, but, you guys have a lot of money, you could have set this up right? And underage wizards aren't allowed can't use magic, if this was real, the ministry of ma-" I stopped when I heard screams and looked behind me to see a big bird swoop by our heads.

"Duck!" I cried, burying my face in Sean' chest. I felt him laughing as he wrapped his arms around me. I lifted my eyes to see him smiling down at me.

" What?" I asked, feeling the heat in my cheeks as I returned to my previous upright position. James and Oliver didn't look so happy though.

" Bloody hell" James muttered.

" Oh how wonderful!" Oliver replied.

" What?" I asked, sensing they were distressed. "Oh…oh my…" I said, and realized what they were looking at. I picked up a letter that had been dropped in the eggs to have it gently taken from me by Sean.

" Boys, it's from them." He said, looking disappointed, he passed it to James to read, who passed it to Oliver. Oliver had started to pass the note to me when it blew into hundreds of tiny pieces and disintegrated. They all looked very nervous.

" You believe us now?" James asked, looking at me worriedly.

Chapter 9 – Trip To Hogwarts

"All right, I've had my people call your family, I've arranged for you to stay a little longer" Sean said smiling at me. We had just boarded an emergency train to Hogwarts, because shortly after the first letter came another was dropped about 'exposing muggles to magic' and I was to have my memory modified.

"Will it hurt?" I asked, looking at Sean worried.

" No, no. Not at all. I'm just disappointed you won't remember the fun parts either" he said with a frown.

"Yea…" I sighed. I had wanted to cry. "all the jokes, all the running away…" I laughed beside my sorrow. He came off his seat and sat down next to me and held my hand. I had laid my head on his shoulder when he asked

"Do you want to know more? I mean, if they're going to wipe you clean, you should give them something more than what you know now." I nodded my head.

"What's your name? I mean, is it Sean, or is it Oliver?" I asked quietly.

"Heh, that's… an odd one to explain. Well, you know how my name is Oliver Wood in the movie, and Sean Biggerstaff in real life? Well, in the witchy world, it's the other way around. Sean Biggerstaff is my muggle name, I had to get one because I was in those movies. But all of my Hogwarts friends call me Oliver, that's my real name."

"Hmmm… I like you better as Oliver, it fits you well." Looked up to see him looking at me and he squeezed my hand. I smiled and we stayed like that for the rest of the trip.

" C'mon Amy, time to go" he said as we arrived. He again took my hand, but I was still scared. I stepped off the train to be overtaken with wonder. Hogwarts was gigantic! It was unrealistically huge!

"Amy, heh, come on love, were going to make her mad if were late." Oliver said, pulling me towards the castle.

We walked through a series of hallways and ended up in front of a large door. I heard him gulp as he raised his had to knock. I saw the door pull itself open and a voice from inside.

"Come in, Mr. Wood and company." He let go of my hand only as we passed through the doorway, and I found myself in front of Professor Mcgonagall.

"Come, sit, explain yourself." She said looking sternly at Oliver. We took our seats in front of her desk where she had been sitting. I was so frightened I had barely looked around, all I saw was a giant bronze lion in the corner and the Gryffindor crest on a flag hanging from the impossibly high ceilings. Then she caught my attention again, as her voice was not one to be ignored.

" Tell me, Mr. Wood, just what did you think you were doing? Exposing our world to muggles? You should be ashamed!" she said angrily.

" but ma'am, I didn't show her anything she hadn't believed in, and she knew so much anyways! I didn't think it would do any harm, I'm so sorry" he pleaded.

"as that may be, Rowling wrote it as fiction! Fiction Wood! Even if she did believe, if she thought, thought it Wood, that it was real, there were still many people around you! What would you have done if they had seen? No, she has to have it done, I'm sorry Oliver." she looked at me and I could tell she felt sorry for me. I looked in all directions nervously and stood up. I had thought maybe I could have run, but I just stood there glancing around. I felt like an animal that knew it was going to die.

"Dear, its all right, its not going to hurt." She said trying to comfort me.

" but, what about the time I spent with Oliver? I asked sadly. "and the twins?" I added quickly as I looked at Oliver. He stood up next to me and placed his hands gently on my shoulders, looking me into my eyes.

" we can always make new memories…" he said with a sad smile and misty eyes. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, I wanted to cry. I buried my face in his chest and clung to him.

" I don't want to forget! I won't tell I promise!" I pleaded.

" I'm so sorry Amy, I'm sorry." I heard him whisper in my ear.

" What was your name dear?" I heard Professor Mcgonagall ask. Oliver started to answer for me when I turned to her.

" Amy, Amy Fischer ma'am" I answered. She looked like I'd just slapped her in the face.

" What did you say your name was?" she asked hoarsely, still looking shocked.

"A-Amy Fischer?" I was scared that I had made her angry somehow.

" In relation to Andrew and Emily Fischer?" she asked intently.

" That's my mothers and fathers names." I replied suspiciously.

" That's not your father dear…"she said, looking sadly at me. I looked at Oliver and got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.