Chapter Two

"Oi," Ron said, turning to look at Harry. "I've enough homework already to last me for the next week alone. I don't see how I'm going to get it all done and still have time for Prefect patrols."

Hermione tsked. "We adapt, Ron. We did last year."

"But every class!" Ron complained, his footsteps falling just a little heavier on the stone floor. "Perhaps I just ought to cut out sleeping. It seems to work for you, Hermione."

"I do not cut out sleeping," she returned. "I just use my time efficiently, is all. I sleep when it's appropriate, and I get up before noon on Saturdays. It's not hard."

"It is if you want to sleep," Harry mused helpfully, drawing a smile from Ron. "Besides, tomorrow, we have Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, and he shouldn't give us much homework. He usually doesn't anyway."

"Well, if you want to pass your NEWTs at the end of the year, you ought to hope the teachers are a little tougher on us. There's still a lot to learn." Hermione did have a point, thought it was slightly annoying to hear about it all the same. At least she wasn't being condescending. Her tone was almost conversational. "You can do a little work. It won't kill you."

"I don't know," Ron said, checking his watch. "Some of the things here are pretty harmful. Speaking of which, we're to endure Malfoy in the Prefects' dinner meeting in a half hour; we should probably get going, Hermione."

The two of them peeled away from their friend at the next junction, heading to the lounge area where the Prefects usually all met. Ron turned around to look over his shoulder as they went. "We'll meet you back in the Common Room, Harry."

He waved, offering a last smile before he allowed himself to relax, slouching just slightly now as he went. It was funny how the phrase, 'carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders' actually seemed to apply recently. At the end of the day, he felt run down, and there didn't seem to be any way around that. It didn't feel quite as bad today... Harry earnestly hoped that the stress he'd been feeling since last June was starting to dissipate a bit. Perhaps returning to his friends was a good thing... Out of all the years not to be removed from the Dursley's house early, the previous summer was probably the worst, given the situation. If only he could have stayed with Ron's family, or even Hermione's. Now sheltered within Hogwarts' walls, though, Harry felt the return to a normal routine, and always, there came that glimmer of hope.

Dinner would be in a little over a half hour, so the halls were pretty noisy with all the students packed into them. It got like this every year around this time, given the excitement of new studies and new experiences. It always interested Harry to observe the first years, especially the Muggleborn ones who never seemed to quite fit in right at the start. Hermione had been the exception. Then again, for something to phase Hermione, it had to be something exceptional, and that only happened once in a great while. Not everyone possessed her mettle.

In any case, the crowded corridors weren't helping the young Gryffindor's mood, and so he felt it best to perhaps head off in another direction. It would take longer to reach the dormitories to drop off his things, but a little bit of a walk never hurt anyone, and besides, it occupied his time well enough to justify it. He turned down a slanting corridor, which almost instantly changed direction, and just around the corner, he nearly ran right through a ghost.

Neither the victim nor the ghost tended to like that very much. Besides that, it was a little embarrassing. Stepping back, Harry ducked his head, excused himself, and continued on his way.

He'd gotten a couple steps when the ghost called his name. The voice was familiar, and when he turned around, he could see why.

Harry took a step toward her, trying to get a better look, but it was hard, given the fact that she was pretty translucent now. "Amber?" he asked. She looked up from the floor, a bit of a cocky smile on her face, and nodded. It was at this point Harry felt the bottom sort of drop out of his stomach, and he experienced a brief feeling of dizzying vertigo before he managed to find himself again. Though he'd never really been frightened of the castle's ghosts before, this definitely came as a surprise.

It was eerie, how she didn't show any sign as to how she'd died, though as she approached him, she walked with a limp. Harry glanced at the side that seemed injured, but there was nothing; he couldn't understand why she'd walk like that. "I was trying to listen to everyone talking," she said, tucking a few strands of long, silvery hair back over her shoulder.

"Dumbledore said..." Harry began, but he couldn't help just sorta staring at her.

Amber smirked, automatically reaching out a hand to playfully bat at Harry's shoulder. For a moment, she looked horrified when it went right through. Harry himself winced at the chill feeling he got from it, as it was distinctly uncomfortable. Recovering, Amber replied, "I was there, in the Great Hall. I heard him. I guess I'm the peculiar face."

"...Hi," Harry said, following the Headmaster's advice to offer a greeting. He wasn't sure what else to say, given that he was looking right at the ghost of someone he'd known when she was alive. Amber noticed the apparent discomfort, and frowned.

"Look, it's not so bad. I don't have to go to class." She shrugged. "It's just that I can't really... do much of anything else, either."

Harry finally threw off his astonishment, nodding for Amber to walk along with him down the corridor toward his House. Sometimes it just helped to ponder on the move, at least for Harry. He wasn't a pacer by nature, but in this case, the thought of putting one foot in front of the other for a while just to do it seemed like the best idea he could come up with. She followed after, silent footsteps falling in just beside his own. He looked over at her, finding that she stared straight ahead as they walked, hardly wavering at all. Finding the need to say something, Harry finally remarked, "You stayed."

She nodded, but didn't offer any explanation, so Harry prompted, "Do you know why?" When she bowed her head, Harry was acutely aware of the fact that she was trying to be cheery in the face of something that really bothered her, and she was thinking about pushing the conversation aside. He could almost see the wheels turning, but he wasn't going to stop her if she didn't want to talk about it.

"I guess I did," she said, without offering any other explanation. She bowed her head again, looking at the floor, which could be seen right through her feet. It seemed as if she was forcing a smile, trying to be cheerful despite the fact that this really bothered her. Was she going to push the conversation aside? Harry could see the wheels turning as she searched for something to say, and he decided that he wasn't going to complain if Amber chose not to talk about her condition.

"I don't know why." Amber finally spoke, eyes fixing on Harry's. "Professor Dumbledore told me that he'd talk to me about it when I was ready. I keep hoping, you know, that there's a way..." She trailed off. "I just remember thinking that I didn't want to die... I didn't want to die. Over and over. Didn't think that this would happen. I guess in a way, I chose it, but I didn't mean to. Had I been in a proper state of mind... I don't think I would have..." She pause, shaking her head and switching topics. "When I first woke up, I went through all the books in the library, trying to figure out if there was anything I could do. There wasn't. It's so weird, Harry, once I figured out how to read them. I can actually go right through the pages. It doesn't take that long at all."

Okay, so she was a smart ghost. He offered her a bit of a smile, and they walked on in silence for a while. She stepped heavily next to him, but her footsteps still made no sound at all. In comparison, his shoes scraped against the floor with every step. It didn't seem right, but Amber didn't seem to notice. "Amber, I want to say that I'm sorry." It was a rare opportunity to apologize to the person that died under your care. He almost wished it were Sirius walking next to him in the corridor, but at least it was someone. At least there was one person to which he could apologize.

"You know," she put her hands into the pockets of her robe. "At first, I wanted someone to blame. That thought stayed stuck in my mind for a long time. I guess it happens to a lot of ghosts. Time moves slower. A lot slower. It's..." She paused. "Anyway, I talked to Myrtle, and I talked to the Friar... They told me some things, though Myrtle mostly just seemed glad for the company. Had an odd way of showing it, though... Kinda cried the whole time.

"I was confused. I don't think the way I used to. I'm still myself," she added quickly for clarification. "I still have all my memories, but I don't forget anything anymore. Once I grab on to something, I can't let it go." She looked rather severely at Harry. "The thing I remember most was... When I died, I was bound to Hogwarts. I woke up, and I was scared, and I thought you should know that I don't think it's your fault."

Harry nodded. "But you did."

"I did."

He sighed. "I probably should have sent you all back. I thought it was a trap or something."

"Did you find out what happened?" she asked.

"They thought I'd stay to defend the castle. They were trying to lure everyone else away. It didn't work like they thought it would work, and in the end..."

She shook her head. "It was an accident. I was just in the wrong place." They turned another corner, and Harry started up the steps that would end at the landing to the Gryffindor tower. Amber looked around for a moment, and, deciding that the hallway was still devoid of a lot of people, started up after him. It was at this point that she started floating, just a couple inches off the steps next to Harry. It was very strange to see it, but at the same time, he had to be glad on some level that she was adapting. She noted him watching her, and smiled. "Neat trick, isn't it? I don't even really think about it anymore."

Harry nodded a bit, turning his attention to the paintings on the landing above them. "It might have been, but you're not going to get another chance, are you?"

It was a moment later when she was still silent that Harry realized that what he'd said was probably hurtful. It wasn't good to remind a sick person that they were sick, and it went without saying that reminding a dead person that they were dead was also a bad idea. "Amber, I'm sorry."

She never was one to dwell on things. Harry didn't really know her that well, though they'd become friends the year prior, but one thing he did know is that the Hufflepuff tended to shrug things off rather readily. It was an admirable quality. She nodded, the corners of her mouth turning upward just a little. "I suppose I ought to get used to it," she said. "I'm dead, after all. There's no used denying it, is there? Other people won't be as nice as you are. I'm almost afraid to hear what the Slytherins have to say."

"Have you been to your House yet?" Harry asked. She shook her head, and he continued, "Are you going to?"

"The Friar thinks I should," she replied. "He thinks it'll be easier to deal with. I guess he's right. I talked to Zacharias, actually, and he was a bit surprised, but we talked about Quidditch for a while. Made me sad, a bit."

"Sad?" Harry inquired, before realizing why. Instantly, he looked from her back to the paintings.

"I have forever to know I won't be able to play anymore," she replied, her voice cracking just the slightest bit. "I can watch the games... I can go anywhere, as long as I return here. I could even go to the World Cup. Watch it free. Best seats in the house, too, if I wanted."

Harry couldn't say he knew how she felt. He'd been banned once, and it was torture. He remembered when he was facing a lifetime ban, and he thought for a while that he'd never live again. This was a lot different, though, and he was starting to feel bad all over again. Not only had he failed to save Amber's life, but she wasn't even in a better place. Or, at least, this part of her wasn't. She was stuck on earth as a ghost, and he wondered how long it would be before she just gave in to misery.

"I'm going to help you," he finally said.

Amber looked at him, blue eyes narrowing. "What?"

"I'm going to help you," he repeated. "There has to be a way. If there wasn't..." He paused, trying to think of the ending to that statement. He came up with something on the fly. "If there wasn't, there would be a lot more ghosts, wouldn't there?"

She arched her eyebrows. "If there was something, don't you think the others would have... You know... Done it? It's all right at first, I guess, but... Harry, you'll be an old man, and I'll still look like I'm seventeen. It's just the way things are."

He had to admit, she definitely had him there. Sir Nicholas tended to put on a happy front, but there were times he longed for something else. Times he distinctly came across as miserable. Harry imagined that if he had the chance to leave, he would have.

They continued up the steps in silence until they reached a point where Amber wouldn't follow. There were quite a few people milling about ahead... They could both hear them. The ghost stopped, and a few paces later, so did Harry. He turned back toward her.

"Amber, I'll find a way to do... Something, all right?"

"If it'll make you feel better," she said, snickering a little. "But really, Harry. I'll be all right. I mean, there are other ghosts in the castle, and I'll still have a talk with Professor Dumbledore..."

"It'll make me feel better. Just... Where can I find you?"

She looked surprised, though appreciative. "I don't know. I don't stay in once place long."

"I'm going to talk to Ron and Hermione. I'll look for you in a few days, all right?"

Amber nodded. "It's not like I'm going anywhere," she said, as she turned and limped away.