A/n: wow! look at that! this chapter is up heaps earlier than i expected! . Big hugs to my beta!! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!! Read...

CHAPTER: 14 - A not so Secret Secret

The end of first year had come and gone and the yearly exams had been successfully completed with Emma Taylor coming first in the grade. Ravenclaw had won the Quidditch cup and Slytherin had been awarded the house cup. The summer holidays had disappeared much too quickly, much to the dismay of Lily and her fellow Hogswartians.

Lily stood on Platform nine and three quarters awaiting the arrival of her friends. She hadn't seen any of them since the end of first year. She had received many letters though, especially on her birthday.

"Lily!" Lily turned around to face Amber and Sky who quickly engulfed her in a hug. Once Lily was released from the hug she looked at her friends; Amber looked exactly the same and Sky had had her hair cut.

"How was your summer?" Sky asked eagerly.

Lily shrugged, "Quite boring actually." Amber grinned and started telling Lily all about her holidays and how her cousins, Patrick and Lauren, had come to visit. It was fairly amazing how Amber could make even the most boring event sound thrilling and exciting simply by adding a few well placed grins, winks and jokes. Lily was listening attentively to Amber's story of how her cousins had managed to persuade her brother that the Quidditch World Cup wasn't going to be held this year, when a pair of soft-skinned hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" the owner of the two hands said.

"Jo?"guessed Lily as she reached her hands up to her eyes.

The person behind her giggled, "Oh Lily! Do I really sound that different?"

"Miranda?" asked Lily astonished as she discovered the owner of the voice was none other then her best friend Miranda. "Your accent –It's gone!"

Miranda giggled again and removed her hands from Lily's eyes, "I tried not to speak French all summer and it certainly helped."

Sky let out a muffled giggle and said with a smile, "Mmm, now you just sound like an upper-class snob." And was promptly thwacked on the head by Jo, "Miranda and I do not sound like snobs."

"Ow," whined Sky, "That hurt."

"Good. It was supposed to," said Jo as she held her head up high, "Where's Issy?" She was met with shrugs and blank looks.

"Jo-o," whined Sky again, "This really hurts!"

"Oh, quit your whingeing," Jo snapped, "Now where is that girl?"

"She'll be here. Don't worry," comforted Amber, and as if on cue, Issy suddenly appeared from the sea of people on the platform.

"Youse wouldn't happen to be looking for me by any chance?" asked the blonde with a sly grin evident on her perfectly tanned face.

With Jo bragging about her holiday to Spain and Sky still complaining, the girls went in search for a compartment on the rapidly filling train. After a quick search and few 'hello's' to people they knew (or in Jo's case, people she was supposed to know), they collapsed into a compartment that smelt like cheese at the rear of the train.

"I am so getting Papa to put a weightless charm on this next time," grumbled Jo, kicking her trunk in a supposed effort to prove her point, only causing herself severe pain in her right foot.

Ignoring her now infuriated twin, Miranda initiated a conversation, "Does anyone know any of the first years this year?"

"Allysa Matthew's brother, Lee," supplied Amber.

"Allysa Matthews..." Lily echoed while she scratched her nose, "Tall skinny girl with dark brown curly hair, right?"

"Yup," confirmed Amber, "She's a Hufflepuff. Nice girl."

"I could really go for some chips right about now. Nice hot, salty chips," announced Issy.

Amber and Sky glanced at one another, "Okay...."

"Why don't you go find the food trolley, then? You're practically drooling," said Lily with disgust.

Issy snapped out of her dreamy state and said with defiance, "You know what? I think I'll go and do just that. Coming, Jo?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

After the departure of Jo and Issy, the remaining four girls played a few rounds of Exploding Snap before they were interrupted by the intrusion of four boys.

"Can we help you?" inquired Amber as she began dealing out the cards for a new round. Lily was trying her hardest to ignore the presence of a certain someone she had admitted many a time to having a crush on.

"We just wanted to know if something was true," remarked Sirius, crossing his arms across his chest.

Amber paused, obviously waiting for Sirius to continue, "Well?" she asked, after the silence had become too much.

Sirius grinned cheekily and said, "We wanted to confirm that a certain red-head likes Jamsie here." Lily nearly choked on her own saliva as she gave the boys standing in the doorway a bewildered look. Amber meanwhile, was hurriedly dealing out the cards as though she hadn't heard what had just been said.

"W-what?" stammered Lily, which only caused Sirius' grin to grow larger.

"We wanted to confirm that a certain red-head, aka you, likes Jamsie here," Sirius repeated. Lily's head spun around to face Amber who was pretending to be oblivious of the commotion now starting in the compartment. "Amber," growled Lily, but before she could say anything more Sirius let out a triumphant cry, "Aha! So it is true!"

"Who told you?" asked a curious Miranda.

"Well," began Sirius, "I heard from Lucinda, who heard from Emirial, who heard from Allysa, who heard from Amber."

"So Lily," James drawled, a smug grin adorning his face, "Interested in a little date?" Lily was drawn between making a run for it and saying yes. Of course strangling Amber was also another very appealing option, but Lily thought she'd save that for later. Too many witnesses, you know?

Lily replied in a strangled voice, "I, um, yeh, I mean, yes."

"Great," said James, "Meet you in the main entrance at seven on the sixth."

The train eventually arrived at it's destination and the six girls, along with the rest of the student body, got off the train.

"How do you suppose we get to Hogwarts? The boats are only for first years," said Issy questioningly.

Jo shrugged in reply, "Just follow the crowd, I guess."

After a quick walk to the end of the platform, the girls discovered many carriages, a few of them slowly making their way up the hill to Hogwarts. Amber let out a gasp as she turned away from Sky to face the carriages.

Sky looked over at Amber, a concerned look on her oriental features, "What is it?"

Amber just pointed and gaped at the carriages. Her friends looked back and forth between the two. "Can't you see them?" questioned Amber as she frowned her eyebrows in confusion.

"See what?" demanded Jo. Amber opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head and muttering, "never mind."

Issy and Jo, doubting Amber's sanity, quickly hurried forward and claimed a carriage, holding the doors open for the others to climb in. Silence engulfed the carriage as it jerked forward and begun it's bumpy journey up to the castle.

The sorting went quickly and dinner, even quicker. The new head and deputy head students were announced (Holly Andrews and Rupert Cooleria; both siblings of fellow second years and Delta Mamory and Harry Paxton), and all too soon the female Gryffindor second years were back in their dormitory falling asleep one by one. Their second year now begun.

Reviews

Alana-Lou - here's your update, probably my fastest so far! I'm flattered that you're more addicted to my story than the actual books! Thank you for your review.

Runaway6 - thanx for your review!

jennifer - lol.... thanx for your review, hopefully you can get to this chapter! .

Jersey Princess - thanx heaps for your review! and i will KIU, lol. I'll look out for your story!

I'm going away today for a week, and usually when i go there we go once a year a get heaps of writing done, so hopefully when i get back I'll have a nice long chapter, or maybe even two or three! . Review please!

laters

Limbo-gal