Chapter 15

Almost in shock, I returned myself to my body and hurried upstairs. So what if I didn't have my work. It was probably on my bed anyway.

I ran through the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room and threw myself onto a chair, almost crying. I was just a plaything for the Hogwarts teachers. A bomb that could go off any moment on either side of Good or Evil. I was just an object to be controlled by one of the sides. I half wished that I was still a muggle, at home in my muggle house with my muggle problems and my muggle life. Why did I have to be some kind of freak? I sobbed into my hands as quietly as I could.

"Ashley?" asked a voice from behind me. Without turning, I knew it was Sorina. She came and sat down next to me. I told her what I had heard, in whispers just in case another student was down here. She patted my back sympathetically. I felt like such a baby, crying my eyes out. I wiped my tears off my face and stood up.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"It's okay." She replied. "C'mon. Let's go to bed. It's already 10:00. You can do your work tomorrow." We went upstairs, both thinking the same thing. "What have I gotten myself into?"

The next day, we both acted as if nothing had happened. Stella obnoxiously asked us why we hadn't been in bed when we were supposed to. I told her to bug off and Nicole giggled.

We all talked like crazy about everything we could ever want to. It was like I finally had friends again. I didn't tell Stella and Nicole anything about my portal powers, but I did explain some other stuff about myself. Like the fact that I thought Harry was a hot teacher. Nicole and Stella, giggling some more, agreed. Sorina, however, frowned.

Later she said to me, "It seems weird that you have a crush on Professor Potter. I mean, he's a TEACHER! He even saved the world. You can't just have a crush on him. Besides, I think he's engaged already." She finished desperately.

I was a bit surprised to hear that. "To who?" I asked. It was a thing that any Harry Potter fan would love to know. Harry and Ginny? Harry and Hermione? Harry and Luna? WHO!

Sorina shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't really listen to those kinds of things."

I rolled my eyes.

We walked down to breakfast. At the Gryffindor table we sat, impatient for the food to appear. We were somewhat early, but not early enough to be there before the teachers, who were usually there before the students so that they could finish with enough time to prepare for their lessons. I scanned the teachers table and whispered to Sorina, "Look. Professor Potter isn't there. I wonder where he is."

Sorina gave an exasperated sigh. "It doesn't matter, Ashley. Just forget it." We waited for a while until the other students had mostly all trickled in and the food had appeared. I had glanced up at the teachers table a few times and Potter still wasn't there. Was he skipping breakfast or something?

Suddenly, the owls began to fly in through the windows. Everyday since my first day there, this had always made me jump. One of the owls. A magnificent white one, flew down and landed in front of me. It ruffled its beautiful feathers impatiently. I gasped at it's amazing looks.

Sorina nudged me. "Aren't you going to take the letter?" Snapping back to attention, I released the owl from it's package. It flew away and back outside. I opened the letter carefully. It was a short note saying:

"Ashley,

Meet me in the room again tonight. I want to explore something else with your magic. Hopefully Emma will be there this time.

Professor Potter"

I folded up the note and tucked it safely away into my bag. Later tonight I could handle. We had finished the potions essay (it had been on my bed the whole time) so that was one less thing to worry about. Since it was a Saturday, I could finish any homework I had left from this past week tomorrow.

Sorina and I spent the day lounging by the lake, finishing some small homework assignments, and looking wishfully at the quidditch field. While I had never actually had the chance to ride a broomstick yet, I couldn't wait until Wednesday, out first Quidditch lesson. It happened to be with the Slytherins (some things never change), but they weren't as bad as they had been in the Harry Potter books. True, Flora Marigold still was stuck up and acted like I had stolen her owl, but overall it wasn't so bad. The Ravenclaw quidditch team had been practicing. We decided to go over and watch them for a bit. They were good. They made incredibly sharp turns and flew to amazing heights. I wanted so much to fly like them some day.

That evening, I returned to the room where I usually had my portal lessons. Potter was there, and this time so was Emma.

"What do you mean, you forgot!" Potter yelled at Emma.

Emma blushed. "I'm sorry. I was on a date and…, well, it lasted longer then I thought it would and…sorry."

"You missed something incredibly important, you…," his face was turning red now. He turned sharply and saw me standing in the doorway. He relaxed. "I'm sorry Ashley. I was just telling Emma that she shouldn't have skipped last night. Now, let's return to…" Just then, Rowling poked her head in the door.

"Harry, I'd like to have a word with you. It'll be quick." She said. Harry nodded and walked out with her.

Emma sighed. "Sorry I forgot about last night. I was on a date."

"I heard," I replied, grinning. "With who?"

Emma began to blush and a smile appeared mischievously on her face. "Ron Weasley." She giggled.

My jaw must've dropped. I was smiling and thinking "OH MY GOD!", but that didn't matter. Emma just looked at me and began laughing at the look on my face. Just then, Potter reentered the room looking furious.

"YOU WENT OUT WITH RON?" he shouted.

Emma winced. "Yep."

Potter stood there, speechless. I looked at them both and burst into laughter. What an evening this would be.