"But where exactly are we going?" I asked James.

"You'll see! Come on, Rosebud!"

I sighed. It was tough to get anything out of James when he put his mind to it. He'd cornered me in the Owlery, where I'd just sent Bonnie off with my weekly letter home. As soon as we were out of the building he grabbed my hand and started running, pulling me along behind him, not considering the fact that I had Hogwarts, A History in my hand.

"For Merlin's sake, will you tell -" I suddenly caught sight of what was ahead. "Why are we going to the Quidditch pitch, James?"

"You'll see!" I could hear the grin in his voice.

I slowed down visibly. The Quidditch pitch was a place I never wanted to step foot in ever again. Last Thursday was our first flying lesson – needless to say it went badly.

The day was going perfectly well – I made a dozen buttons out of beetles in Transfiguration, Potions went well, and we didn't get assigned any work for the weekend and the pot roast at lunch reminded me of Mum's. Then we came out to the pitch (James was literally bouncing) and started the lesson. It was all fine until I kicked off the ground – next to me, James and Sirius were already in the air. As soon as I was two feet in the air, the broom zoomed away from beneath me and I hit the ground with a giant thud, flat on my face.

"I am not getting on a broom again!" I hissed. I saw my hair turn red and I'm pretty sure my eyes flashed as well, since James let go of my hand.

"Okay, listen, that broom was faulty – it's a miracle you let go, otherwise you'd have been on it when it went mad."

"You're saying it's a good thing I fell flat on my face?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yes!" James insisted. "You could have been seriously hurt! And just because the first time went badly, doesn't mean you should give up. Everyone should learn how to fly. It's one of the great joys of the world," he said, a look of serenity on his face.

"Like you know all about the joys of life at age eleven."

"Those were my dad's words," he smiled. I hadn't realised but he'd steered me into the pitch, where Sirius was waiting with a reluctant looking Remus and Peter.

"Did they rope you in as well?" Remus asked of me. I nodded sadly.

"I've learnt not to underestimate the powers of persuasion of these two. Only two days back I vowed I'd never step onto the pitch ever again."

"Well, after our lessons, you'll never want to get off a broom ever again!" Sirius said.

"I find that highly unlikely," Remus said flatly. He himself got hit on the head with his own broom before he even mounted it, while Peter did fairly well. "How are you going to give us lessons? On those rickety old school brooms again? I am not getting on one."

"Neither am I."

"Why do you guys worry so much?" James asked. "We've got everything worked out to the T! Look over there." He pointed a few feet away, where the Gryffindor changing rooms were located. The door was unlocked.

"I talked to Penelope, so she and the rest of the team left their brooms here for us. We have an hour before they start practice."

So we went and got ourselves game quality brooms and James and Sirius showed us how to get on them. They kicked off themselves, slowly, to show us how to do it.

"You see? All you need to do is give yourself an upwards boost," James said, hovering at eye level. "It's perfectly safe. Come on, give it a try!"

Remus was still shaking his head as I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Are you a Gryffindor or not?

And suddenly my feet were not on the ground anymore. I looked down in panic – I was four feet above the ground.

"Umm, guys?" I was shocked to hear my voice so squeaky.

"I'm right next to you," James assured me. I threw a sideways glance – he was smiling. "You're doing well. Now, lean forward just a little to move. Hold on tight!"

I leaned forward as he instructed, and started moving slowly. This wasn't half bad. I wanted to move faster, so I leaned even further, and shot away.

"Woah!" I skidded to a stop when I straightened. James zoomed up to me, grinning wildly.

"That was awesome! I didn't tell you how to stop, you did it yourself!"

"I dunno how I knew, I just did it!"

"Wanna go higher?" James raised his eyebrows a while later after he showed me how to turn and fly in a circle.

"Uh, okay?"

So over the next ten minutes James slowly convinced me to go higher and higher until we were in the same level as the tallest hoop.

"This is amazing!" I exclaimed looking down, where Peter was finding it difficult to fly ten feet off the ground and Remus had already given up and was sitting with his head in a book. My heart was pounding away as I took in the sight of the entire pitch, the castle beyond it, the gamekeeper's hut a tiny speck in the distance.

"You want to fly around the pitch? There's an amazing view of the Lake from the other side," James said.

So we flew around the pitch, not just once but five times before Sirius joined us. The Great Lake, it seemed, was appropriately named. The serenity of it all caught my breath every time I passed it.

"Looks like Rosebud is the only one who likes our lessons, James," Sirius sighed.

"That's because I was teaching her," James smirked. That made Sirius fly after James, leaving me alone in the middle of the pitch. I followed them, not wanting to be left behind just in case, catching up quickly.

They stopped abruptly, making me shoot forward a few feet before I skidded to a halt and turned to see their open mouths. "What's up?"

"That was some acceleration!" Sirius said.

"What, me?"

"Yeah, you!" James said. He thought for a moment before he said, "Race with me."

"Race with you?" I asked incredulously. "I don't think so."

"You just flew on your own. It's not that hard!"

"Yeah, but you're… you. How can I race with you when I've been on a broom a total of thirty minutes?"

"She's right, James," Sirius said. "Give her a few days to get more comfortable."

So we landed on the pitch with a slightly pouting James five minutes later when the Gryffindor team turned up for their practice.

"So – Ayesha, was it? – do you see now how you can balance on a broom? How was it?" Penelope asked.

I looked at James and Sirius before grinning. "Exhilarating."

The Halloween feast at Hogwarts was unparalleled. Even though there was no trick or treating at the school, the food pretty much made up for it. Giant pumpkins littered the Hall and the grounds for days, and some were even hollowed out; five first years could curl up comfortably inside one for a few hours, which led to us meeting Hagrid, the gamekeeper, when he found us there after curfew and took us up to the tower so we wouldn't get into trouble.

He invited us to tea the weekend after Halloween and we learnt an important lesson – never to turn up with an empty stomach at Hagrid's.

The next day, we decided to stay in after classes, since Remus looked quite unwell – "Maybe it was those rocky rock cakes from yesterday," Sirius reasoned. He said he'd received news of his mother's health worsening and had to leave for the night. So after dinner, while James, Sirius, Peter and I set up a table (as close as possible to the roaring fire as the older students would let us) to finish the Charms assignment, Remus went upstairs to pack a bag.

"So, Rosebud, how exactly did you get the feather flying so fast?"

"James, for the millionth time, I don't know! It just happened, okay?" It was just then that Lily, Alice and Mary decided to walk past us. Lily hardly even looked our way, but Alice and Mary smiled sadly at me.

"Lily's still not talking to you?" Peter asked.

"No, and the others are taking her side, so I don't really have anyone to talk to in the dorm…" I trailed off, staring into the distance. It wasn't like taking sides really. Lily wouldn't talk to me, so she'd talk to Alice; Mary and Caroline would simply join them for homework and continue the conversations till late at night. Me, on the other hand, I'd spend time outside the dorm with the guys, so I'd automatically be excluded.

I saw James and Sirius exchange a look. "You know, we can spend as long as you want out here in the common room," Sirius said.

"All the way up to midnight, because that's when Sirius starts to babble about sleep."

"I do not!"

"Do too!" James and Peter shot back.

"Thanks guys," I said over Sirius. "That means a lot."

"Hey guys," Remus said, walking towards us from the dorms with a rucksack over his shoulder. "I'm leaving now."

"Hope your mum feels better!"

"See ya later, then."

I just smiled at him. "Don't trip on your dog again."

James, Sirius and Peter laughed, but I could see Remus's eyes tightening before he smiled - or tried to.

"I'll watch out for him."

He left and we sighed together and started with our homework.

"Guys," Remus came up behind us.

Sirius yelped. "We've been doing this assignment for the whole night! Remus is already back and we haven't written five words!"

"Wonderful observational skills, Sirius," Remus said sarcastically. "It's been exactly fifty seconds. James, could you keep this in my desk for me?" He held something out in his hand.

"But, you never take this off!" James said, taking it from him.

"I'll explain later," Remus called over his shoulder, already running back out the portrait hole.

"That was weird," Peter said after a moment.

"I'll say," James said. "And his chain is even more so." He was peering at a locket on the chain. I'd noticed Remus wearing it before but never thought to ask him about it.

"How so?" I frowned.

"This is a ring," he said slowly. "With an inscription."

"What does it say?" Sirius sat up, excited. Before James could reply, Sirius snagged the ring.

"Hey!"

"You're taking too long," he muttered. "It says Forever, S." He looked up. "Looks like Remus has a childhood sweetheart!"

James and Peter laughed, causing me - and half the common room - to stare at them.

"It's not funny, it's sweet!"

"Yeah, right!"

"Anyway," I said, rolling my eyes. "Lemme see it."

Sirius handed it over.

The ring was made of white metal. The words were inscribed in neat cursive letters.

Something about this seemed familiar, but what?

"He never talks about any S," James was saying.

"And there's no girl who's name starts with S in our year," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Who said it's a witch? Or even a girl?" Peter countered. "It could be Sirius. His name starts with an S."

James and I stared at him, and then looked at Sirius. He was gaping, like Peter had just said Snivellus was washing his hair.

"It most certainly is not me!" he said indignantly. "I, for one, have never - "

"Relax mate," James was trying to smother a laugh. "We know it's not you."

"Thank Merlin."

"Or, it could be Snivellus," James said seriously, before we all started laughing.

"Okay, no more guessing. Can you tell how old it is, Rosebud?"

"And how should I do that?" I asked.

"Well," James back-tracked. "Your mum is a jewellery shop owner..."

"So?"

"And you wear that charm bracelet all the time, and it looks like it's got some ancient ones…"

"They're not ancient!"

"Okay," he murmured.

I turned the ring around in my hand. Why was this so familiar?

The chain caught around a charm in my bracelet, which was – contrary to what I told James – quite old. The bracelet had been with me since my sixth birthday, and I had started adding charms with Isabelle's help ever since. I even had one of a castle, a gift from her before I started Hogwarts. My whole life – all eleven and three quarter years of it - was symbolised on this tiny little thing.

I disentangled the chain from the charm - a small heart, which opened so you could keep photographs inside. The outside had the word 'Mine' inscribed on it.

"No... It can't be."

I opened the latch to the charm, revealing a picture of a small boy and girl on one side. The other side contained a paper, with the letter 'R'.

"Rosebud?"

I looked up. All three of them were staring at me, concerned. They had probably called my name more than once.

"You ok? Or just dreaming again?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

They nodded. Sirius smirked.

We put Remus's locket aside and upon finishing our assignment, we realised there was nothing else to do and it was past eleven already.

"I'm going to bed," I announced.

"Okay," James said. "Tonight is officially the most boring night in the history of Hogwarts."

"How would you know? You never pay attention in History of Magic!" I asked.

The boys groaned in unison.

When I went up to the dorm, everybody else was already asleep. I quietly creeped into my bed and pulled the curtains around me.

"Lumos," I whispered.

In the faint light of my wand, I opened the heart shaped charm again. The picture in it showed a girl, around four years old, with blue eyes and short black hair. That was me.

With me was a boy with sandy hair. His blue eyes were full of laughter.

I looked back at the ring again. Could it be the same?

No... Of course not.

I fell asleep with the ring in my hand.

"Rez! I found you!"

The little boy groaned. He was hiding behind a tree, which was unfortunately not wide enough.

The girl was laughing and pointing at him, having spotted him.

"I win! I win!"

"Fine! But you have to catch me first!"

The boy ran back to the house, leaving the girl stumped for a second.

"Hey no fair!" she yelled as she ran after him.

"Fair!" He'd reached the door, and turned around to grin at her.

"No fair!"

"Fair!"

"No fair!"

"Fair!"

"No fair!"

"No fair!"

"Fair!"

"Aha! It's fair!" the boy broke into a dance.

The girl's mouth opened in disbelief, and she turned around. She walked back to the little gate and crossed the fence.

"Shaz!" the boy ran after her. Being faster, he caught her quickly. "Shaz! You can have my chocolate!"

She smiled. "Okay."

"Wanna play again?"

"Yeah!"

"Kids! Dinner time!"

The two kids looked at each other. They were climbing a tree, the boy on a higher branch than the girl. She smiled and made her way down quickly.

"Last one there's a rotten egg, Rez!"

"No fair, Shaz! You're supposed to wait for me!"

Rez jumped after her, running quickly to overcome the distance.

"Yay! I won!"

Rez grumbled.

They walked into the kitchen, where Rez's mum was setting the table. She looked at the children.

"Who won today?"

"Me!" Shaz said happily.

The elder woman smiled. Once the kids were seated, another woman came into the kitchen, carrying a large dish.

"El, just put that here."

"Thanks, Hope," El replied, placing the dish at the centre of the table.

The four ate lunch together. The kids were laughing, the previous argument apparently forgotten. The women, best friends as they were, chatted about everything, starting from their jobs to their husbands. When they turned to the kids, amazed that they were silent for so long, they found them sleeping at the table.

"Mum! When are we going home?"

Shaz was bored. Her parents had taken her to visit her grandmother, and even though Shaz loved her Nana, she wanted to go back, so she could play with Rez.

"We're leaving tomorrow, Ayesha."

"Rez!"

Shaz ran out of the car, not towards her own home, but the one next to it. She ran the doorbell, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Puzzled, she rang it again, fiercely. And again.

When she didn't get a response, she cried out, running back up the path and into her own house. She flew through the rooms, out the kitchen into the backyard. She crossed the fence, went to the kitchen door, trying to let herself in. When it didn't open, she knocked.

"Rez! Open the door!"

Her mom came out, looking at the little girl. She went to her and picked her up.

"Sweetie... They've probably gone out..."

"But Rez knew I was coming today!" She had started crying.

"They'll be back, Ayesha..."

"I'm sorry I can't explain, Sam, Eliza... But this has all been sudden and necessary..."

Shaz woke up. She had refused to move from her place near the window, where she could see exactly when Rez would come back. She had fallen asleep after a few hours, but was now awoken by a new voice.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her mum and dad were there, looking upset. And beside them... was Rez's dad.

"Mr. L! Where's Rez!"

He looked at her unhappily, not wanting to say the words which followed. "I'm sorry, Ayesha... He's not coming back."

"What? Why?"

"We had to move away... It's a long way from here..."

"But then Rez can stay with us!"

"I'm sorry, honey, it's not possible."

Ayesha had cried for the past hour. She couldn't believe she wouldn't see her friend anymore. His dad was leaving in a few minutes, to wherever Rez was now.

"Mr. L... Will you give Rez something?"

He looked at the little girl. "Of course, Ayesha... Anything."

"Mum, can I have one of those rings?"

Her mum knew which rings Ayesha was talking about, and she brought them down. Ayesha picked out a small ring, which had the word 'Forever' written on it. "Tell him I'll always remember him," she said, handing over the ring.

He took the ring, and took out a picture from his pocket.

"You can keep this, Ayesha."

The picture was of them playing in the backyard, in the shade of the apple tree.

I woke up shaking, drenched in sweat.

"Remus."