A/N: Hey, everyone, this is the second chapter! I know it's been a while, but life has been crazy the past few weeks. Anyways, this chapter, again, is a little slow but it helps set up my character for future chapters. Thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter!

LilMsHungry:Thank you so much for reviewing! I definitely enjoyed reading what you thought of it and it made my day! I know the scene was a little cliché, but I couldn't think of another way to describe how much pain my character is going through and I needed also to show how close of friends Amy and Clarissa are. Thank you again, though, for the review. And, yes, I am American.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I only own the plot and all the characters that you do not recognize.

Chapter 2: Trying to Forget

"Amy? Amy, are you listening? Are you paying attention to me?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Clarissa stared at Amy. She took a deep breath and rubbed her head. "I said that you should be getting more sleep. You have bags under your eyes and, to put it frankly, you look like hell."

"Thanks," Amy grinned slightly as she pushed her eggs around on her plate. Her eyes lowered to her lap before looking back up at her friend.

"I'm serious. It's not healthy for you to be sleeping so little," Clarissa persisted.

"I'm getting the same amount of sleep as I always have," Amy told her, shrugging.

"But you have more on your mind now," Clarissa argued. "Your body can't take it. You need more rest. You're going to end up in the Hospital Wing if you don't sleep more."

"Look, I'm trying to-"

"Good morning, ladies," Amy looked up as her friend, Jake Elwens, joined them at the Ravenclaw house table. He put his books on the floor next to his feet and immediately started piling food on to his plate. After a few moments of silence, he realized something was wrong. He quickly glanced from Clarissa's annoyed expression to Amy's sleep face and frowned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Amy answered offhandedly as she took a sip of her morning juice. Jake turned to Clarissa, eyebrows raised, expecting a better response.

"I was telling Amy that she needed more sleep every night or she'll wear out," Clarissa informed him. Jake studied the dark-haired girl across from him and nodded.

"She's right, Amy. You look like hell."

"So I've been told," Amy stated dryly, sending Clarissa a pointed look. The girl raised her eyebrows and was about to comment when the remaining members of their group of friends sat down at their table, cutting her off with their loud chatter.

"I just need your homework for a quick second," Andrew Wilson begged, setting his book bag on the table with a thump.

"You're a Ravenclaw, Andy. You're supposed to be smart and do your homework," Laura Richards, a tall red-head, told him as she began piling bacon and toast on her empty plate. "You're supposed to be responsible."

"I never claimed to be responsible," Andy stated, his mouth full of food. "But I am smart because I know the correct people to look to in need."

"It's amazing how you got into this house if that's your logic," Jake put in. He grinned as he took a huge bite of his toast. Andy stared at him thoughtfully.

"I was almost placed in Hufflepuff," he informed the group of friends. Everyone around him snorted. "What? What's so funny about that?"

"You? Loyal and kind?" Michael Schaeffer snickered. "You've had more than three girlfriends in a month."

"I can't help the fact that all the ladies like me."

"Sometimes I think you go out with so many girls to the hide the fact that you like men," Amy mumbled. The group, with the exception of Andy, burst into uncontrollable laughter. Instead, he frowned at Amy, forgetting about the current conversation and staring at her in concern.

"Are you alright? You look like-"

"Hell?" Amy cut him off. "Yeah, I know."

"I was going to say like you'd fallen fifty feet off of a broomstick, but hell works too," Andy told her. Amy smiled slightly and took what appeared to be the first bite of eggs she'd had all morning, despite being in the Great Hall for over twenty minutes.

"Are you feeling okay, though?" he continued.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Amy? You look like you could use more sleep," Mike studied her as he pushed a strand of shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes.

"That's what I said earlier," Clarissa shot Amy a triumphant grin but it faded when her friend lowered her eyes. "Maybe you should take some more time off. I'm sure Professor Flitwick would allow you to-"

"I've already missed a week and a half of school. I should have come back sooner," Amy said, putting down her fork.

"Amelia," Jake stated, using her full name to get her attention as he placed his hand over hers. "No one expects you to bounce back immediately. You only lost your parents a week and half ago and their funeral was only a few days ago. Everyone would understand if you needed more time."

"But I don't need more time," she disagreed. "I need school and the routine it offers so that I can have at least some of my life back."

"It won't ever be the same, though, Amy," Laura told her sympathetically.

"You think I don't know that?" she whispered, tears spilling over unexpectedly. "You think that I'll get back into my studies and forget that they're gone. I won't forget. I can't forget. Ever. But I wish and I could and…"moaning, she ripped her hands from Jake's grip and buried her face in them.

"We're here for you, Amy," Mike whispered as he ran a soothing hand over her back. "You can always come to us." Amy didn't say anything as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be comforted. Silently, her friends gave ach other looks of helplessness as they watched Amy battle the hurt inside her.

"Is…is there anything we can do to help you?" Laura asked gently from diagonal of her. Her eyes saddened as she watched Amy shook her head, though she had known that there was nothing she could do. Running her hands thorugh her strawberry blonde hair, Clarissa met her gaze and exchanged a sorrowful glance.

A minute later, Amy raised her head from her hands and wiped the tears off of her cheeks. She whispered a quiet 'thank you' when Laura materialized a tissue and handed it to her. She took a look around her, studying the pitying faces of her friends and sighed internally. She rubbed her eyes, more in pure exhaustion than in emotional pain, and shakily stood up.

"I'm going to take a walk," Amy mumbled. Mike stood up at once, eyeing her in concern.

"Do you want anyone to come with you?" he asked gently.

"No," she shook her head. "That's okay. I just need to be alone for a little while."

"Amelia," Jake began patiently. He was the only one who ever called her that. For a split second, her lips twisted into a small smile, but it vanished quickly. "You've been alone for a while now. Don't you want some friends with you?"

"I appreciate your help, you guys, I really do. But I still need some time. Thank you though."

"Alright," Clarissa said skeptically. "But remember that class starts in less than twenty minutes, okay?"

"We have charms first," Andy put in.

"Yes, I know," Amy grinned slightly as her eyes rested on Andy. "Though I am surprised that you managed to remember that with your not-so-Ravenclaw brain. Besides, I thought you needed to finish your paper for that this morning?"

"Bloody hell," was all she heard as she began walking out of the Great Hall. Smiling, truly smiling, for the first time in almost two weeks, Amy turned left down the long corridor that eventually led to the library. As she made her way down the dimly lit corridors, she found herself thinking about the circumstances of her parents' death, as she often had in the time since she had gotten news about it.

Both her parents were muggles. That fact alone made some witches and wizards think they had the right to kill them. And though they hadn't been killed due to Voldemort's direct orders, it had been his Death Eaters who had taken them from her in a moment of boredom. And because she knew Voldemort, still known as You-Know-Who among her more magically-ingrained friends, often instigated the killings of muggles, and those who had contact with muggles, she felt the blame rested solely on his shoulders. But she knew he wouldn't care.

And as a muggleborn, she had always been discriminated against by other students, especially Slytherins. Despite this, she knew she was better off than Hermione Granger, the most known muggleborn of the school due to her friendship with the Harry Potter and, of course, her unparalleled knowledge. She knew the Gryffindor, only a year higher than herself, had been picked on quite badly due to Malfoy's instigation. However, in her own six years at Hogwarts, she had suffered a far amount of bullying herself.

She had been teased, pranked, and pushed around, especially during her first few years at Hogwarts. However, once she had begun to develop her magical abilities- though, while great, would never match Hermione Granger's intelligence or talent- people had begun to leave her alone, only picking on her every once and a while. She knew that the reduced amount of bullying had been also thanks to the influence of her friends. Jake was the only pureblood amongst them, but the other four all came from a long line of wizards and witches with a family name that was well respected. And though Slytherins hated everyone, they could admire the cleverness of a Ravenclaw.

"Hey! Hey, Amy! Wait up!" the dark haired girl was pulled out of her musings as a know voice called to her. Turning she saw her friend, Ginny Weasley, a sixth year Gryffindor, running after her. Once she had caught her breath, Ginny stared at her in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Amy immediately responded to the familiar question. "Why?"

"I've been calling your name for a couple of minutes while trying to catch up with you. You looked like you were lost in space."

"Oh," Amy blushed suddenly. "I was thinking…"

"About what?"

"My parents and being a muggleborn." The reply was out before Amy could stop herself.

"Oh," Ginny smiled sympathetically, and somewhat awkwardly.

"Yeah," Laughing nervously, Amy ran her fingers through her hair and decided to change the subject. "Still no new from your brother and his friends?" Ginny frowned and lowered her eyes.

"No. It's been almost eight months, but, hey," she shrugged her shoulders. "They're in hiding. Got more important things to do that writing to me. And I understand that."

"Still stuck on Harry, aren't you?" Amy asked quietly. Ginny whipped her head back up and shook it quickly, her eyes wide.

"No. That was a while ago. Besides, it was probably just a crush. Even when we were going out."

"Ginny," Amy began, resting a hand on her the red-head's shoulder. "A crush is what I and the rest of the Hogwarts female population once had on Cedric Diggory. What you guys had was more. You can't honestly believe that he ended it because he decided he didn't like you anymore?"

"No, but still…"

"Harry wants you safe and he believed that by ending it you'll be okay."

"But what about Ron and Hermione? I don't think he wants them in danger either!" Ginny suddenly burst out. Unexpectedly, tears began forming in her eyes.

"I think he understands that they have to be with him. And besides, it's different with them. They're his best friends. And though that doesn't mean he wants them in danger or cares less for them, it's just different. Make sense?"

"Kind of," Ginny sniffed, then giggled a little. "Look at me. I came here to make sure you're okay and you end up comforting me. Thank you, though. It helped. Having some one listen, you know?"

"Yeah," Amy agreed. "You don't always have to be so strong, Ginny. You have friends who care."

"I know," Ginny sighed. "It's just that being the youngest of seven children, and a girl at that. I've always felt like I have something to prove. I've always had to be a lot tougher. But then Bill was attacked and George got hurt. And I now that one day soon, things are going to get worse. I have to hold up."

"I understand," Amy whispered.

"Of course you do," Ginny replied, regret and sympathy written on her face and seen in her eyes. "You understand me more than most. I wish the world worked differently, but I know you and other muggleborns have it hard. You deserve to be all the more respected for it."

"Thank you," Amy said quietly, lowering her eyes as they teared up slightly.

"Anytime. Listen, why don't-" but she cut herself off when Ginny looked at the wall and saw the time on the magical clock. "Merlin's beard! Class starts in three minutes and I have Divination first! Damn! I'm sorry, Amy. We'll finish this conversation another time, yeah?"

"Yeah," Amy sighed. "I'll see you later, Ginny."

"Bye!" the red-head shouted while already rushing down the corridor. She waited until the girl had turned the corner before making her way in the opposite direction to the Charms classroom. 'So much for going to the library before class,' she thought regretfully. Sighing, Amy continued on her way and adjusted the strap of her book bag. However, her hand slipped and two books slipped out of the bag and landed with a loud 'thump' that echoed off of the large deserted hallway.

With an aggravated growl, Amy immediately bent down to pick them up. After placing the first book in her bag, she reached out to grab her charms book. However, out of nowhere, she saw two hands speeding towards her. With a shriek, Amy fell backwards from the force of the push.

"Take that, Mudblood!" the attacker's deep voice rang harshly in her ears as she lost her footing and fell down the large staircase. The last thing she was a bright, sudden flash of light before she crashed on to the stone floor below.

Well, that's it! Thank you so much for reading the second chapter. I know, I know, there isn't much action in it, but it was needed to show more personality of my character. And I also know that the Ginny portion might have been a little out of character, but I've always thought of Ginny being a strong character and I think that even she broke down a little sometimes. Anyways, Amy will be back in time in the next chapter so if you want me to continue, please review! I do not tolerate any flames but any constructive criticism is well appreciated! Thanks again!