A/N: Thanks DuelJewel for beta-reading. Hope you'll like the next chapter :-)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but you've ever heard of before. crieseyesout

Chapter 7: Upside down

The next morning passed by ever so slowly. Amy sat on a chair by a window in the Hospital Wing. An hour ago she had been down on the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Dumbledore. There the Centaurs had decided on Wolfe's punishment. He had been banned from the Forest and would be brought to a far off forest by Hagrid the same day.

Since she had returned to the Hospital Wing she was lost in her thoughts. You would have thought that her friends would come over to visit. But nobody had been there. Amy missed her best friends Mandy and Sarah, both Gryffindors in her year, and Jennifer, a Hufflepuff who had been appointed Head Girl that summer. She wondered what was wrong with them. They had known each other ever since they had arrived at Hogwarts six years ago and hat lived through a lot ever since. Amy remembered Jennifer's crush on Bill, and a little smile crawled over her face thinking how they now were Head Boy and Head Girl. Or in their second year when Sarah nearly blew up the castle during Potions! They had been like sisters all the time, but where were they now? They knew what had happened sure enough, moreover with Jen being Head Girl. Had they left her alone because of her feelings for Snape? Amy quickly thought of something else. The thought was just too ridiculous. She'd see Mandy and Sarah that night anyway.

Her eyes moved back to the grounds where the first years were learning how to ride a broomstick. She thought of her own Cleansweep that was still lying in her trunk up in the dormitory. Quidditch season was about to start and Amy's heart jumped at the thought of being up above the field again, now that she had permission to train again. She had been Beater for two years now and it definitely was the best way to let off some steam. Just thinking of Quidditch made her feel the air rushing around her, the soft vibration of her broom. That way she dreamed away the day until Madam Pomfrey came in with some dinner and told her that she could return to her house common room after eating. The moment she had left Amy, the young witch changed from her pyjama to her normal robes and quickly ate a bit of the broccoli and potatoes on her plate. She wanted to avoid at least some students tonight, so she left the Hospital Wing and went directly to her common room. The Fat Lady grinned down on her when she finally arrived at the Portrait Hole. She was having tea with her friend Violet.

"Oh look, Vi, it's the teacher's pet!"

Amy instantly went pink. "Oh, stop that. Mandragora!"

"I'm sorry dear. But you should know that some students actually call you like that."

Amy blushed even more.

"Oh, don't worry, 'teacher's pet' is much better than 'fat lady'! And now tell us all about you and Snape. He's got something, you know."

"Of course she knows, she's the one in love with him. I fancied him as well, but as I'm locked up in those silly portraits the thing was pretty hopeless," Violet interfered.

"I'll tell you later, ok?" Amy answered exasperated. "Just let me in ladies, I'm tired and need a shower. I promise to tell you later."

"All right, have a good night then, Amy," the Fat Lady replied, smiling, and swung back.

"Thank you, the same to you, Ma'am," Amy replied and squeezed into the common room.

After checking that everybody was still at dinner, she sat in one of the big armchairs by the crackling fireside. For once she felt safe and comfortable, but the peace was disturbed only five minutes later, when a group of fourth-years entered. Their loud conversation stopped the instant they saw her. They sat down at the other end of the room and started to whisper. The same scene occurred every few minutes from then. As more and more students returned from dinner, the whispers and hushed voices became more and more unbearable for Amy. But what hurt her most was that Mandy and Sarah directly walked off to the dormitory the moment they noticed her.

Amy was already thinking about going to Bill's dormitory where she could be alone when the Portrait Hole opened again and her brothers entered the common room. The smiles on their faces vanished when the saw Amy's miserable face.

"Hey, little sis," Bill said as he hugged her.

"Can we go up to your dorm?" Amy asked quickly after he had finished his sentence.

Charlie put his arm around his twin's shoulder. "Yeah, Bill, let's get out of here."

Up in the Head Boy's dorm Amy dropped down on the bed, hopeless. "They hate me," she muttered.

"No, they don't."

"I feel like some funny animal in the zoo."

Nobody answered, there was no arguing about this. When Amy was sure that everybody in her own dormitory was asleep, she left the boys and silently went to bed.

The next morning was as horrible as the night had been. Though Amy felt a bit better as Bill and Charlie glanced angrily at everybody who whispered too obvious or dared to stare at the Prefect.

First that day was Potions, and the young witch both feared it and looked forward to it. But things were much more difficult with the Slytherins and her in the same room. Snape ignored her all through the class, until she got so nervous from the stares and whispers from the other students, that, for the first time in her life, she completely messed up her potion with a loud bang. Black steam rose from her cauldron. Snape was there in a second, his eyes reduced to slits, his face angry as ever.

"That makes an F, Miss Weasley. Clean that up,"

Amy was so surprised and frightened that she couldn't even reply and silently began to clean. The following classes weren't any better. After her last class of the day, Transfiguration, Amy did not go to dinner, but sat in her empty dormitory, crying her eyes out. She did not understand anything anymore. The world was upside down, she felt all alone. As the clock struck eight she stood up and wiped her eyes. Looking in the little mirror on the cupboard by her bed she straightened her hair and stormed out of her dormitory. Ignoring the curious looks on the other students' faces and the surprised yell of the Fat Lady she walked down the empty corridors towards the dungeons. A strange sort of anger had built up in her heart and the mad hiss from Mrs. Norris only encouraged her. Arriving at the door to the Potions lab she rapped at the door, furious, and entered without waiting for an answer. Snape looked up surprised as she stormed up to his desk and the door fell shut behind her. Before he could say anything, Amy stopped shortly in front of him, anger glinting in her eyes, shouting at him.

"What's up with you? You don't talk to me, don't look at me, simply…" Her voice broke, but only for an instant. "…ignore me! What have I done to deserve this? After everything that happened, after everything you said to me. Once something is said it can't be taken back, can't be forgotten! How dare you say so easily that you love me and then drop me like some bloody old bat!"

Snape stood up, his hands clutching his desk, shaking with anger as well. "Miss Weasley, mind your words! You're not supposed to talk to a teacher in such a way. Professor McGonagall will definitely hear about this. As to your question, thought I see no reason to answer it at all, you're a student, you caught me in a vulnerable moment and all this was just a misunderstanding. I feel nothing for you, be sure about that. If you could leave now, I would rather finish my work than have discussions with silly little girls who think they have a crush."

Amy went pale. Snape's eyes and his voice were cold as ice, emotionless. Amy turned around and started walking towards the door when Snape spoke up again.

"Miss Weasley, take this to your Head of House."

He held up a sealed piece of parchment. Amy took it and stormed out, angry about everything, but most of all angry about herself.