A/N: Okay! Finally chap ten is up! I decided to do it a little differently this time and have it from Paige's point of view. It buys me a little time to think about how I'm going to weave this story into the storyline of HBP. I know it's short but I'm not really in the mood for writing right now. Please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP

Chapter 10 – A different point of view

The last few days have been some of the hardest I've ever had to face before in my life. First my two best friends were attacked by Death Eaters and one of them was seriously injured, but then Ari told us she was leaving Australia so she could go to England and live with her long lost father. We were forbidden to tell anyone, of course, because as far as the Ministry for Magic is concerned, Sirius Black is still a dangerous criminal on the run from the law. Neither of my parents know. It was a stretch for them to let me keep being friends with Ari after the truth about her parentage leaked out; I'd hate to see what they'd do if they knew that Ari was currently living with her dad. Probably tip off every country's ministry between here and Antarctica. My dad would probably leave it at that but then my mum would probably force feed me and Kayla veritiserum to make sure that we had know idea where Sirius Black was hiding. Okay, probably not anything that drastic but seriously, I wouldn't put it past her.

Kayla's taken the loss of her best friend pretty hard, though she absolutely refuses to admit it. She just keeps putting on these huge fake smiles and going about as if nothing is wrong, but I know her better than that. When Kayla gets frustrated, she throws all her energy into two things.

Kayla is captain of our house quiditch team. According to her team mates, (I'm not on the team) she is usually a very agreeable captain, but lately, she has been drilling everybody for top-notch performances and gets really angry every time somebody makes the slightest mistake. Whenever she's not out on the quiditch pitch, Kay is pranking Malfoy with all her might. It's gotten to the point where I've actually started to feel sorry for the girl.

It's really strange with Ari gone. We've always been a threesome, since we were about five years old. Kayla and Ari always knew they were witches, having grown up in wizarding house-holds, but even though my mum is a witch, my parents decided not to say anything until I got my Holcroft letter. Even when Ari and Kay thought I was a muggle, we were still the best of friends. A lot of people thought it was strange that we were so close seeing as we were all so different. Kayla, the daughter of two successful Aurors, was pretty, popular, athletic intelligent and charming. Everybody loved her. Then there was Ari, the strange little kid with the shady background no-one really knew anything about. She was always in trouble for one thing or another and it took very little to provoke her into a screaming match, even with the teachers. Despite this, Ari shared many of the same characteristics as Kayla. She was drop-dead gorgeous and had half the guys in our school after her, though she never even gave them the time of day. She was also quick-witted and charming, which resulted in everybody loving her, even if she'd just finished screaming at them. And then there's me. The quiet little half-blood who could basically recite every book in the school library. I didn't play sports, there was nothing special about her bloodline, I wasn't exceptionally pretty… I guess for some reason or another I've always been pushed to the side while the other two were in the spotlight. I don't really mind that much, I still get a fair amount of attention just for my part in pranking Malfoy, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

'…over the next year. You will be able to select the country you will visit.' I blearily lifted my head off the desk and started to listen to what Rafferty was telling us.

'…America, England, New Caledonia…' that's when it hit me. An exchange program! Professor Rafferty was talking about an exchange program, for a country of our choice! I kicked Kayla under the table and her head shot upwards.

'Damn!' She screeched out loud, 'Mum, why the hell did you wake me up? I have at least ten more… Oh! Hello Professor!' She finished sheepishly as she realised that she was in fact, half way through her charms lesson; A lesson she was actually supposed to be paying attention in. Rafferty fixed her with a piercing glare before returning to her announcement.

'For those of you, who were paying attention, if you wish to sign up for the program, give your name to me before the end of the week.'

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'Okay, Paige, you better have a good excuse for waking me up! I am in detention for a month for that little escapade.' Kayla glowered at her friend as they sat down at their usual lunch table after class had finished.

'I do. And I think I had a very good reason for waking you up. Rafferty was talking about an exchange trip to the country of our choice.' Kayla raised her eyebrows.

'That's all? Another one of Rafferty's little projects? You woke me up for that?' Paige looked at her friend exasperatedly, waiting for what she'd said to register. A look of understanding dawned on Kayla's face.

'England.' She whispered, 'Ari! We're going to see Ari! This confirms it, Paige! You are almost as brilliant as me!' Paige rolled her eyes at the typical Kayla comment and stood up.

'Come on. I only heard snippets of Rafferty's speech so we still don't know much about it. We better go talk to her.'