Disclaimer: I only own the original characters/places/whatever in this story. If something sounds familiar, it probably belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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As the days turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months, and the months turned to years, Amanda Higgs began to forget about Scorpius Malfoy. She rarely saw him anymore—the only times they met each other after the party were those few times when they'd pass in Diagon Alley while shopping with their mothers and the one instance, a week after the party, when Mrs. Malfoy dropped by the Higgs's because she had forgotten her handbag at the party and brought her son with her. No longer did Amanda think of Scorpius every day, wishing they could meet again, and no longer did the vision of him soaring through the air gracefully appear in her mind when she saw her father's broomstick. She was growing up, and seemed to be outgrowing her childhood crush.

:::

One day, nearly a month after her eleventh birthday, Amanda was found sitting at the long dining room table, eating her breakfast alone. She looked up as Mitzy the house-elf came into the room, feather duster in hand.

"Miss Amanda, Master Terence would like to speak with miss, please," she said. Amanda put her fork down on the plate and stood, following Mitzy up the stairs. They stopped halfway down the hall; Mitzy knocked on the door of Mr. Higgs's study and pushed it open. Amanda stepped into the room and closed the door after her father thanked Mitzy, who bowed and walked away.

"Yes, Daddy?" Amanda said.

"Come here, Amanda, I want to show you something."

Amanda crossed the room and stood behind the desk next to where her father was seated. He picked up a piece of parchment from the desk and held it up to her. It was a letter. She took it and read the address, which was written in green ink:

Ms. Amanda Higgs
479 Rowling Road
Bridgwater,Somerset

Amanda looked up at her father. She had never gotten mail before, except on her birthdays. Her father nodded encouragingly and said, "Open it."

She turned over the letter and barely noticed the red sealing as she ripped it open. Inside the envelope were two pieces of parchment. She pulled open the first one and saw that it was written in the same green ink as before.

HOGWARTSSCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall
(Order of Merlin, Second Class)

Dear Ms. Higgs,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Horace Slughorn
Deputy Headmaster

A huge smile appeared on Amanda's face as she looked up from the letter; her father was beaming, as well. "Congratulations, darling," he said. "We'll go shopping for your supplies later this week. Can I see that?" She handed him the letter. "Oh, old McGonagall's still there, is she? She never quits… and Slughorn? Oh, he was my favorite! I can't believe he's still there…"

Amanda read and re-read her letter over and over again for the next few days, the same grin re-appearing on her face each time. For years, she had been excitedly awaiting her Hogwarts acceptance letter, and now she had it. Soon, she would be leaving this big, lonely house to go to Hogwarts, where she could stop being bored and do something real.

:::

Amanda had been to Diagon Alley plenty of times before, but never at this time of year. She had expected it to be more crowded than usual because of the new term starting soon, but the alley almost looked like a completely different place.

There were people everywhere—witches and wizards pushing and shoving to get into stores and to keep up with their friends packed the street, making the area feel rather crowded. Every store had extra banners in their windows and signs above their doors, advertising sales and new products to sell to the shoppers. And there were at least two times the usual amount of street vendors and stalls out on the pavement, selling sweets and various supplies for cheap prices.

"Well, I suppose I need to get some money first," said Mr. Higgs, who was walking alongside Amanda, holding his wife's hand. He nodded towards Gringotts Bank, which was coming up on their left, towering over them in all its golden and marble glory.

"Oh, can I come with you, Dad?" Amanda said, grinning. She'd only been to Gringotts once before, a long time ago, and she'd loved it—especially the wild cart ride down to her family's vault. "Please?"

"No, Amanda, I think I'll just run in," he replied, letting go of Mrs. Higgs's hand. Amanda frowned. "I'll meet you two in the robe shop."

"Let's go," Mrs. Higgs said, and led the way to Madam Malkin's.

Amanda followed her mother into the shop. Luckily, there was only one other person in line, and Amanda was able to be fitted almost right away. She hopped up on the stool when it was her turn and stood still as Miss Malkin draped a long, black cloth over her shoulders and started pinning. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the reddish-brown-haired boy on the stool next to her. Mrs. Malkin, the old woman who was working on him, had just finished pinning his cloak; he hopped down, dropping coins into her hand and giving her a smile.

"Come on, Fred, Dad wants us back at the shop!" said a girl's voice from the back. The boy turned and ran out of the shop, saying something about nagging.

"Next!" called Mrs. Malkin in her shaky, old voice, and smiled as a younger, blonde girl—probably her own age—climbed onto the other stool. "Hello, dear. What's your name?" Mrs. Malkin said as she started to work.

"Diana Stebbins," said the girl in an overly-cheerful voice.

Why does that name sound familiar? Amanda thought. Then she remembered—the party, all those years ago, in her backyard, with Scorpius Malfoy and the broomstick and the pink dress…

"Well, you're all finished, hon," Miss Malkin said to Amanda, pulling out the last pin from the newly fitted robes. Amanda turned quickly and jumped down from the stool, careful not to show her face to Diana Stebbins as her mother paid Miss Malkin and thanked her.

"Let's go, Mum!" Amanda said, rushing to the door and startling her father, who had been about to enter as she pushed the glass door open and nearly hit him before he jumped out of the way.

"Sorry, Dad," she muttered, walking quickly out into the street.

"What was that all about?" Mrs. Higgs said as she came out of the shop and gave Amanda a weird look.

"Nothing. Where to next?" she asked, knowing that her mother would probably chastise her for not wanting to be friends with such a sweet and well-behaved girl as Diana Stebbins.

Her mother pursed her lips and pulled out Amanda's supply list from her handbag. She unfolded it and said, "Course books are next."

"That's Flourish and Blotts," said Mr. Higgs.

Amanda always loved going to Flourish and Blotts. She didn't read much, but there was always something interesting about Quidditch or dragons or whatever other topic she was interested in at the time she visited the bookstore. She happily led her family down the street until they reached the storefront, which displayed signs advertising latest releases and upcoming book signings.

The store was packed. Wizards and witches of all ages crowded the long walls of bookshelves, and there was a long line beginning at the front desk and wrapping around the whole shop.

Amanda and her parents split up to look for the books on the list and meet back up at the front of the store. She climbed the staircase on the left, passing a boy with blue hair poring over an old history book. She reached the top, crossing the less-crowded upstairs floor to a bookshelf labeled POTIONS. As she walked slowly down the aisle, scanning the titles, she overheard a conversation on the other side.

"…Ooh, mum, look at this one!" said another girl's voice. A book from the other side of the shelf was removed, and Amanda caught a fleeting glimpse of a girl's excited face before she turned to face her mother. "Can I get it? Please?"

"I don't think so, darling. It's very expensive. Maybe next time."

"All right," the girl said. She replaced the book and walked away. Amanda looked at her as she came around the bookshelf, heading with her mother towards the stairs. She had very long, black hair, which was braided into two pigtails that swayed with every step she took.

Amanda finally found the book she was looking for—Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger—and pulled it off the shelf. Then, curious, she stepped around the shelf and found the book that the other girl had been looking at. It was a book about dragons, entitled From Egg to Inferno: A Dragon Keeper's Guide. Flipping through it, Amanda grinned and realized why that other girl had wanted to buy it. It was full of elaborate drawings of every breed of dragon in existence, complete with descriptions. She closed the book tucked it under Magical Drafts and Potions. She found the rest of her books and returned to the first level of the store to find her parents.

She was glad that her parents didn't notice the dragon book, which she had slipped into the stack of course books as her father piled them onto the front desk to purchase them. She knew her mother would have something to say, such as how dragons are not something that a young lady should be concerned about.

They fought their way out of Flourish and Blotts and further down the alley. They soon had not only Amanda's robes and books, but a telescope, various potion ingredients, and a size 2 pewter cauldron to put it all in. They only had two more stores on the list to visit when another, more appealing shop caught Amanda's eye.

"Wow," she said as she gazed up at the exciting display of the shop. Above the front door, which bore a sign that read WEASLEYS' WIZARD WHEEZES was a huge, red W that lit up in different colors and patterns every few seconds, sometimes even emitting sparks that fell down onto the street as confetti. Looking through the windows, she saw that the inside was even more interesting—boxes of all sizes lined the walls behind displays of games, candies, fireworks, and all sorts of tricks and joke products. "Oh, can we—"

"No," Mrs. Higgs said. "We're here for your school supplies, Amanda, not for some silly joke shop."

Amanda frowned and looked at her father for help, but his expression was unreadable. "You never let me do anything," Amanda grumbled, but walked away from the joke shop with her parents.

"Come on, now, we've got to get your wand," her mother said, consulting the list.

Ollivander's was just across the street from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. There was a long line, and it was very crowded in the small shop. The old, white-haired man at the counter looked tired, but cheerful. After moving about halfway through the waiting line, Amanda's mother seemed to grow impatient and said, "You know, I just remembered that I need to pick up a few things from Madam Primpernelle's." She turned and pushed her way out of the shop, saying that she'd meet them there when they were done.

They finally got to the front of the line, found Amanda's wand—made of birch with a fairy wing core, springy—and left the shop after paying. She dropped her wand in the cauldron gently.

"All right, we're almost done, then?" her father said, looking at his watch. Amanda nodded.

"But you need a pet, don't you?" he asked, and Amanda grinned. She followed him down to the Magical Menagerie. This shop was less crowded, and Amanda gave her cauldron full of supplies to her father while she looked around.

She walked past shelves stocked with cages with owls, rats, ferrets and gerbils, rabbits, and tanks with fish, snakes, turtles, and toads. Amanda was watching a man feeding a mouse to a large, red snake, when she spotted a girl with familiar-looking braided hair over by the owls.

"Are you buying an owl?" she asked as she approached the girl, who was staring up at a snowy owl on the top shelf.

The girl turned and seemed almost surprised to see that someone was speaking to her when she saw Amanda. She hesitated, and said, "Oh, probably not. My mum says Hogwarts has owls anyway." She blushed then, her already somewhat dark complexion reddening in her face, as if she thought she had said too much.

"Oh," Amanda replied. "So you're starting Hogwarts too, then?" The girl nodded. Amanda smiled. "I'm Amanda, by the way."

"I'm Clarissa. Nice to meet you," she said. "I'd better go…" She smiled and waved at Amanda and turned away, heading towards the door.

Amanda suddenly felt a pinch on her leg. "Ouch!" she said quietly, and turned to see what had poked her.

A tiny, black kitten had jumped up to the top of its cage and was reaching out its paw to try and grab Amanda. Amanda grinned and bent down to peer into the cage, which contained about ten cats, including the little black one. She reached over to pat its small head; it purred, closing its bright, yellow eyes.

"Ah, that's Joanne," said a voice behind her. She looked up to see the owner of the store standing there, smiling and gesturing at the kitten. "She likes to play. Do you like her?"

Amanda nodded.

"Well, she's only five Galleons. Shall I get a cage for you?"

Amanda rushed back to the front of the store, where her father was waiting, still holding the cauldron. "Daddy, can I get a kitten?" she asked excitedly. "I promise I'll feed her and take care of her and everything."

Mr. Higgs hesitated, then nodded and gave her a few Galleons. She walked back to the man and gave him five golden coins; he grabbed a small box from the counter beside him and put Joanne the black cat into it.

"Have a nice day!" the owner called as Amanda and her father left the store.

:::

When Amanda, her parents, and her new kitten arrived home, Amanda ran up the steps with all her things (with some help from Mitzy) to her bedroom. She tossed her cauldron on the bed and opened the cage door, releasing Joanne, who walked out tentatively and looked around the room, familiarizing herself with the new surroundings. Amanda giggled and walked to the wall, where a calendar was mounted. She picked up the quill from the table beneath the calendar and drew an X over the day—August 10th. Less than a month remained until she would leave for Hogwarts.

Later that night, she lay in bed, the moon shining in through the open window, petting a purring Joanne, who sat on her stomach. Amanda looked back on the day, and one particular image stuck out in her mind—Diana Stebbins. But it wasn't really Diana Stebbins that she was thinking about—it was the memory that Diana Stebbins brought to her mind: her mother's dinner party, four years ago. Her backyard, the Cirrus broomstick, and, especially, Scorpius Malfoy.


Author's Note: Why, hello there! I'm so proud of myself for updating so soon... This must be a personal record! xD Anyway, I apologize for the lack of Scorpius in this chapter. But I PROMISE that there will be much more of him in the chapters to come. Cross my heart, hope to die. (Well, I don't actually hope to die, but you know what I mean.)

As always, please review! I know this was not a very exciting chapter, but I hope you caught some of the references I made... Brownie points to whoever can find them! :D Thanks to all who reviewed and added this to their story alerts. It means a lot. Hugs and butterfly kisses!