Chapter 3: Do You Normally Kidnap People?

'Amy!' Bethany waved her arms frantically to get her friends attention. 'Amy! Over here!'

Amy turned round and slowly pulled her trunk over to the bottom of the stairs where Bethany promptly threw her arms around her.

'How was your Christmas?' Without waiting for an answer Bethany carried on talking enthusiastically. 'The Yule Ball was fabulous! Rupert looked so handsome and when he saw me he gave me a red rose! The food was great and then we danced all night! It was just so much fun! It's such a shame you missed it! Did you get my owl?'

Amy opened her mouth to reply but Bethany didn't give her a chance.

'Can you believe that Granger girl went to the Ball with Viktor? I just don't understand what he sees in her. Sure she looked pretty that night but she just seems so boring and her hair is always frizzy! Oh, thanks for your present by the way! That poster of Viktor is just fantastic! He looks so good in it… So how was your Christmas?'

Bethany grinned at Amy expecting a just as enthusiastic response, but all her friend did was look at her.

'Oh Merlin's pants Amy!' Bethany's hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes widened as she realized her faux pas. 'I'm so sorry! I forgot!'

'Lucky you.' Amy muttered.

There was a pause.

'So how was it?' Bethany asked softly.

'Terrible.' Amy said shortly.

She pointed her wand at her trunk and levitated it before turning to go up the marble staircase.

'See you at dinner.'

It was a week after the start of the spring term and Amy was in the library, doing her homework. Bethany had apologized for her memory lapse, and she in turn had apologized for being so rude, but things were still a bit tense between them, so Amy had taken to finishing all her work in the silent and solitary library.

She was also now back on at least one book a day, and two if she didn't have much homework.

'No such luck today though…' Amy thought glumly.

She finished writing, dropped her quill onto the desk and stretched, yawning. She then sighed and quickly re-read what she had written. She was still a few inches short.

Wearily she picked up her quill and started doodling idly on a piece of spare parchment, trying to think of what to write.

As she drew, her mind started to wander, and, slowly, it drifted back to Christmas.

Everyone says that the first Christmas after a death is the first one. Amy had decided after one day at home that whoever had come up with that was not wrong.

In the past, Amy had arrived home from school to find her mother cooking some form of Christmas pastries and sweets. Sweet mince pies, succulent turkey, crispy roast potatoes and rich Christmas cake had been Amy's favourite food.

This year, though, she and her father had taken a Portkey (authorised of course) to the South of France and spent Christmas with her dad's family: her uncle Morathy, her aunt Sylvie, her thirteen year-old cousin Edward and his seven year-old brother David.

Amy had had to endure watching her aunt cook exactly the same things as her mother and the pain of realizing that she'd never again taste her mother's Christmas cooking had sent her scurrying straight back to her books.

On the day itself, Amy's pain had increased watching how her aunt opened her sons' Christmas present and then attacked them with hugs and kisses, something Edward had desperately tried to escape, being at the age where kisses (especially from parents) are uncool.

Amy's eyes had filled up with tears watching this intimate scene. She had found herself wishing with all her heart that she could have one more moment like that one with her own mother, and had had to excuse herself when she realized the was seconds from bursting into tears.

Her father had been upset by this scene as well, though not as much as Amy.

'His senses were probably blurred by alcohol by that point…' Amy thought bitterly.

He had sent an owl, just hours before they were to leave for France, saying that he was going to be tied up at work for a few more days and he would join them a few days later. He had finally turned up on Christmas Eve, but had left on Boxing Day, claiming work duties. Amy wasn't sure how much work he was going to be able to do though, considering the amount of Firewhisky he had drunk the day before.

His behaviour had upset her, though she hadn't let him realize this. She was suffering as much pain as he was, and she had had to endure the main brunt of it alone.

She would have infinitely have preferred spending Christmas at Hogwarts, at least there the Yule Ball would have kept her mind entertained and occupied. But after telling her that Christmas was family time and basically ordering her home for the holidays, Amy thought he could at least have shared the pain of seeing her aunt take on the role her mother had always played at Christmas. He could at least have shown some form of affection for his daughter. But as Amy had observed in the summer, he was doing his best to pretend that she didn't exist.

'What are you doing Mr Weasley?'

Amy jumped out of her thoughts and re-joined the present. Looking up, she saw the librarian, Madam Pince, standing over someone who was bent almost double apparently looking for something.

The person straightened up and Amy realized it was one of the Weasley twins. As always, which one it was, was a mystery.

'Looking for a book Madam Pince.' Twin X said innocently.

'And since when are you interested in Muggle illnesses Mr Weasley?' Madam Pince may have had her back to Amy but she could just tell her eyebrows were as narrowed as the tone of her voice.

'I'm doing an essay on Muggle illnesses Madam Pince.' Twin X said. He caught Amy's eye and winked.

She thought he sounded innocent enough, but years of trouble-making students had obviously sharpened her hearing.

'Out Mr Weasley.' She pointed to the door firmly. 'I will not have you using my books for whatever it is you are planning!'

'But Madam Pince-'

'Out!'

Amy snorted at the sight of Twin X running from the library chased by a couple of quills and an ink-bottle.

Shaking her head, she turned back to her essay.

…

…

…

…

…

It was no good, she decided a few minutes later. She just couldn't concentrate.

She slammed her books shut and, after a glare from Madam Pince, proceeded to stuff them into her bag, along with her quill and ink.

She quickly slipped out her copy of Peter Pan from the side pocket and decided to go and read by the lake for a bit. She still had to do her Ancient Runes translation and write a Potions essay, not to mention finish her Transfiguration one, but right now all she felt in the mood to do was read about Peter, Wendy and the Lost Boys.

Homework could wait.

Amy had barely shut the door of the library when she felt someone grab her elbow and steer behind a tapestry.

'Hey! Let go of me!' Amy snatched her arm back and turned to her attacker. It was Twin X.

'What do you want?' She said shortly, readjusting the bag on her shoulder.

'I need a favour.' He replied just as shortly.

'And is this normally how you ask for favours from people?' Amy said sarcastically. 'By kidnapping them?'

'Actually this is a tactic I've never tried before.' He grinned suddenly. 'Feedback on how it's working would be useful.'

Amy sighed.

'What sort of favour?'

'That book I was trying to reach in the library…'

'Yes…' Amy said suspiciously.

'I really need it.'

A pause.

That seemed to be it.

'And…' Amy didn't understand.

'And Madam Pince just kicked me out.'

'So you want me to get it for you.' Amy suddenly understood.

'Yes please.' He was looking at her hopefully.

'Any particular reason why you're asking a complete stranger instead of your brother or a friend?'

'Look, I'm in a hurry. If you don't want to do it could you just tell me?'

'What would you do if I said no?' Amy asked interestedly.

'My next option is dropping a dung bomb in the doorway.' He said in a matter of fact way. 'So yes or no?'

Amy sighed again.

'Why not?'

'You'll do it?' He asked relieved.

'Which one is it?' She asked, moving her bag on to her other shoulder.

'Muggle Afflictions and Remedies'

'Give me five minutes.'

'There you go.' Amy handed him the heavy book.

'Excellent.' He examined it and grinned. 'Thanks.'

'No problem.' Amy said vaguely. She was calculating how much time she could conceivably dedicate to Peter Pan before returning to her essays.

'Listen', Twin X dropped the book into his bag. 'what's your name?'

'What?' Amy shook her head. 'Oh, sorry. Er…Amy Cassidy.'

'I owe you one, big time.'

Amy shrugged.

'It's no problem.' She repeated. She turned and walked away. Suddenly a thought struck her and she turned round.

'Hey what's your-' She stopped. Twin X had vanished. '-name…'

'Daisy…' Amy looked up from her half-finished Potions essay.

'Hang on.' Daisy frowned.

Amy waited.

Her friend smiled suddenly, wrote a word onto her parchment and added a full stop. Then she looked up.

'What's up?'

'What do you know about the Weasley twins?' Amy asked, twirling her quill absentmindedly.

Daisy thought for a minute.

'Gryffindor, red hair, big family and troublemakers.' She said finally.

'Hmm…'

'Why?' she asked curiously, looking at her friend. Amy had been acting strange with all of her friends for the past week, not just Bethany. Today was the first day she had started a conversation with Daisy of her own accord.

Amy hesitated and then recounted the episode with Twin X that afternoon.

'Any idea what the book was for?' Daisy asked with a frown.

Amy shook her head.

'Strange…' Said Daisy thoughtfully.

'He did say it was for a Muggle Studies essay,' Amy remembered suddenly. 'But I'm not sure if that's true or not. Probably isn't.'

Daisy's eyes turned to the parchment, books and quills littered around her.

'Talking of essays, we should probably finish this one.' She said pointing to the half-finished Potions essay in front of her.

Amy was staring out the window and didn't hear her.

'Amy?'

She started.

'Yeah.' She nodded, her brain registering what Daisy had said. 'Yeah. When do we add the armadillo bile again?'

The girls worked for a bit longer and then went up to bed. As Amy pulled the sheets up over her, she realized she felt better from her talk with Daisy.

She had always been the nice one of the group. She was tactful, (not like Bethany who's favourite hobby was sticking her foot in her mouth), sensible (not like Kia who enjoyed nothing more than an illicit stroll down the corridors after curfew) and quiet (not like Amy herself, who, before her mother's death had been known to talk a bit too much).

Amy smiled. Daisy may not have intended to make her feel better, she might not even know she'd done it. But in her own tactful, sensible and quiet way, she had managed it.

'Hey, Daisy?'

'Yeah?' Came the whispered reply.

A pause.

'Thanks.'

Daisy smiled into the darkness.

'Anytime Amy.'

'Oi Cassidy!'

Amy whirled round. It was Monday afternoon, three days after her encounter with Twin X, and Amy was on her way to the Ravenclaw common room to dump her bag before dinner.

She caught a sudden glimpse of flaming red hair heading towards and sighed, but waited.

Finally, he caught up with her.

'Hey.' He grinned.

'Hi.' Amy replied. 'What?'

He looked startled.

'Blimey, to the point aren't you?' He commented.

'I'm in a hurry.' She said pointedly.

'I'll be quick then,' he grinned. Amy noticed that he had very nice teeth. They made his smile very…mischievous somehow, though Amy couldn't understand how.

'First of all: thanks for getting the book. I thought you might want it back seeing as you checked it out in your name.'

Amy piled it on top of the Charms book she was already carrying and waited.

'Secondly: I felt a bit guilty, kidnapping you and then basically forcing you to get that book for me-'

'You didn't force me to do anything.' Amy interrupted with a frown.

'I threatened your precious books with death by dung bomb. Same difference.'

He took her silence for consent and grinned again.

'So I thought it would be nice of me to give you a compensation.' He pushed a paper bag into her already laden arms.

She peered in suspiciously.

'What is it?'

'Ton-Tongue toffees and Canary Creams.'

'OK…' Amy said slowly. 'And they are?'

He grinned.

Again.

Amy was starting to get irritated by his shiny white teeth.

'Joke sweets. Try 'em out on your friends and if anyone asks, just say you got them from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

'Er…thanks.' Amy tried to give him back the sweets. 'But all I did was check out a book for you.'

He pushed them back onto her books and looked at her sheepishly.

'I know I didn't have to. But um, well…There's something else.'

'What now?' Amy sighed.

'Well- it's just- OK. We're going to need a few more books from the library.'

'And you want me to get them for you.' Amy guessed shrewdly.

'Er…yeah.'

Amy frowned

'You don't seem in a hurry this time.' She said. 'Why not ask one of your friends to do it?'

'Well my brother and I are obviously not welcome-'

'Obviously.'

'-and our mate Lee Jordan isn't exactly in Madam Pince's good books since he accidentally let his tarantula out in there.'

'Yes, I can see how that would cause a bit of friction.'

'We did think maybe Angelina, Alicia or Katie…But they're a bit annoyed with us at the moment.'

'What'd you do?' Amy asked interestedly.

'Doesn't matter,' Twin X waved it off. 'Point is I doubt they're going to want to cooperate.'

Amy jiggled the books in her arms.

'And you think I would?'

'Hopefully.' He grinned again. Amy was starting to think it was a permanent fixture.

She thought about it.

'All right.' She sighed.

'You'll help us?' He grinned delightedly.

Amy shrugged.

'I have nothing else to do with my life at the moment.'

'Excellent!'

Suddenly a thought struck Amy.

'You'll have to tell me your name.'

He looked surprised.

'Why?'

'Because I like knowing who it is I'm doing favours for.' She retorted.

'Oh.' He still looked surprised. 'Fred Weasley.'

Amy nodded.

'So what do I have to do?'

'Nothing for the moment.' He said. 'I'll send you an owl or something once George and I have figured out what we need.'

'OK.' Amy said. She jiggled her books around again. They were starting to get uncomfortably heavy and the bag of sweets wasn't helping.

'Can I go now?'

'Oh. Yes.' He moved out of the way. 'Sorry.'

'Bye.' Amy said.

She turned her back on him and walked away, leaving him grinning and shaking his head.

Once she reached the empty dormitory, she dumped her bag, books and the heavy paper bag on to her bed and sighed, stretching her arms.

Everyone else had already gone down to dinner, so no one heard Amy sigh out loud.

'What have I let myself into?'

Bethany was smiling.

Daisy was beaming.

Kiandra was grinning.

Even Jacob and Eddie smiled once they realized.

It was the weekend after Amy's second encounter with Fred Weasley and most of the school had descended the wet and slippery path to the village of Hogsmeade.

There were students walking through the village, students piling into the Three Broomsticks for warm Butterbeers, hand-holding teenage couples heading for Madam Puddifoots Teashop, a huge gaggle of students could be seen crowding Zonko's Jokeshop, there were even a few brave students heading over to the Shrieking Shack for a look at the infamous haunted house.

But they didn't notice this.

All they had noticed was that this was the first Hogsmeade trip Amy had joined them on.

Amy had spent the days of Hogsmeade visits locked in the library reading, so when Bethany spotted her coming down the marble staircase and heading towards them, she had automatically presumed that she had just come to see them off.

It wasn't until Daisy noticed that she was wearing her cape, scarf and wooly hat that they realized she was planning on joining them.

'You don't mind do you?' she had asked a bit hesitantly.

'Of course not!' Bethany exclaimed.

'We're just glad to see you finally co-' Kia stopped abruptly after a glare from Daisy.

'I'm glad you're coming with us Amy.' Jacob grinned.

'Me too Amy!' Eddie punched her shoulder with a grin.

Amy had smiled at them all silently.

And now here they were.

Amy glanced around interestedly. It had been almost six months since she'd been here last, but nothing seemed to have changed much. The most notable difference was the absence of Dementors. Amy shivered involuntarily, remembering the cold empty feeling they had given her.

'Shall we go get a Butterbeer?' Kia suggested, shivering.

'Yes please!' Bethany nodded fervently.

They started making their way through the crowd towards the busy pub. On the way, Amy spotted her classmate Cho holding hands with the Hufflepuff champion, Cedric Diggory. She smiled and waved at them, and Cho beamed back at her. Then she saw a few people she knew from Hufflepuff house and after greeting them, Amy found she was having fun.

Her friends were all being very nice to her: though making sure not to mention her prolonged absence from the village, they included her in all their conversations, brining her up to date with all the gossip. Amy was grateful. She knew she hadn't been a great friend to any of them over the past few months but she was glad they still liked her anyway and didn't think too badly of her.

The Three Broomsticks was, predictably, very busy. While Kia and the boys went off in search of a table and Bethany went to the ladies, Amy and Daisy offered to go and get the drinks.

As they waited for Madam Rosmerta to take their order, Daisy smiled at Amy and took her hand.

'I'm glad you came Amy.'

Amy smiled back and squeezed her friends' hand.

'So am I.'

'Haven't seen you in here for a long time, Cassidy.' Madam Rosmerta commented, wiping her hands on a tea towel.

'I've been away.' Amy smiled at Daisy. 'I'm back now, though.

Glad to hear it.' Madam Rosmerta smiled. 'What'll it be girls?'

While Daisy ordered their drinks, Amy observed her surroundings. The pub hadn't changed much at all. The matching wooden floors and paneled walls gave the large room a warm, cosy feeling, helped by the big log fire in the corner. It was crammed full of tables, chairs, stools and barrels, all of which were occupied by a large amount of varying customers. Though today it seemed to be full of Hogwarts students, Amy could still see a couple of aged wizards sitting in a corner silently drinking Firewhisky, what looked like a bandaged hag sitting at the bar and even a group of goblins who seemed to be talking seriously to a harassed looking blonde wizard Amy recognized as Ludo Bagman.

'Come on Amy.' Daisy handed her three tankards full to the brim with Butterbeer. As they made their way slowly over to their table, greeting several people on the way, Amy spotted the bushy-haired Granger girl sitting in a corner with what looked like Fred Weasley's younger brother and, remembering that they were Harry Potter's best friends, wondered vaguely where he was.

'Here you are, you lot.' Daisy said, handing Kia and Jacob their drinks and sitting down next to Bethany with her own.

Amy quickly handed Bethany and Eddie theirs and sat down with her back to the wall, so as to be able to see the people in the pub.

'So what do you think the second task is going to be like?' Kia asked taking a sip of her drink.

'I don't know.' Jacob said thoughtfully. 'I heard it had something to do with whatever's in that egg they all got.'

'The gold one?' Amy asked interestedly.

'I heard they might have to battle giants or something!' Eddie said enthusiastically.

'Er…I don't think so.' Daisy laughed. 'Giants live in the mountains, in the north. Remember?'

'Yeah, well Chinese Fireballs, Hungarian Horntails and- what was that one Diggory took on?' Eddie asked.

'Swedish Short-Snout.' Kia said.

'That's it.' Eddie said with a nod. 'Well they're not exactly from around here are they?'

'Good point.' Jacob commented.

'Still, I think giants would be a bit too dangerous for the Triwiz-'

'More dangerous than real, live, fully-grown, fire-breathing dragons?' Kia raised her eyebrows.

Bethany opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again.

'I suppose that would be a bit hard.' She conceded finally.

'I heard a Hufflepuff girl going on hidden treasure.' Amy remembered suddenly. 'That could be it couldn't it?'

'Could be.' Daisy said thoughtfully. 'That would make sense. A map could be what's in those eggs.'

'Where could they have a treasure hunt in Hogwarts though?' Kia pointed out.

'I still say its giants.' Eddie said defiantly.

'Eddie we just exp-'

'Who cares if he's half-giant?'

Amy craned her neck to see who was yelling. A few people moved and she realized it was Potter, he'd appeared and seemed to be yelling at a blonde lady dressed in yellow ('Not her colour is it?' Bethany smirked). There was silence from the watching crowd as Potter continued shouting at the woman. Then, suddenly, Granger joined in.

'You horrible woman.' She said angrily. 'You don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman-'

Amy turned her head, confused, to where she'd last seen Bagman. He wasn't there. The goblins had gone as well.

As she turned back to where Granger was still glaring at the blonde lady, she suddenly spotted two flashes of red hair. Realising it was the Weasley twins, Amy tried to catch one of their eyes, but they both seemed to be staring hard at Potter and his friends as they left the pub.

There was silence for a bit, but then slowly the pub filled up with voices and conversation again.

'What was that about?' Eddie asked bemused.

'Didn't you read the Daily Prophet today?' Kiandra asked quietly.

'I just looked at the front page.' Daisy said.

'I only checked the Quidditch scores.' Jacob added.

'Why?' Amy asked curiously.

'There was an article in there written by a Ms Rita Skeeter, who I'm guessing is banana lady.'

'About Potter?' Eddie asked interestedly.

'Or Granger?' Bethany asked hopefully. 'Maybe she's dumped Viktor…'

Kia shook her head and Daisy rolled her eyes.

'About Hagrid. Apparently he's half-giant.'

There was silence.

'Half-giant?' Bethany squeaked.

'His mum was one apparently.' Kia said, nodding.

'I always thought maybe he'd been hit by an engorgement charm or something…'

'Nah,' Amy shook her head. 'I thought it was pretty obvious he had some sort of giant blood in him I mean-'

'But- but…' Bethany interrupted with a stutter. 'How can he be a teacher if he's half-giant? How can Dumble-'

'Bethany, he's half giant. Not half Death Eater.' Amy said sharply.

'Yeah, but still-'

'I've heard about Rita Skeeter from my dad.' Amy said with a scowl. 'She's a half-rate journalist for the Daily Prophet who gets her kicks by digging out horrible stories, exaggerating the facts, and destroying people's reputation. Granger's right. She would do anything for a story.'

'Yeah,' Daisy added. 'don't you remember that article she did after the Goblet incident? Where she made out Harry Potter was the only Hogwarts champion and basically made it into an in-depth interview on his life?'

'I remember that.' Jacob nodded.

'Trust me, if Rita Skeeter says Hagrid is half-giant, he probably is. But then he's also as dangerous as a fluffy cushion, so does it matter?' Amy asked, directing her question at Bethany.

Bethany didn't look convinced.

Amy,

Could you please get us "Advanced Herbology and Healing" from the

library and meet me next to the tapestry of

Ugbert the Ugly on the fourth floor at six o'clock?

FW

It was now twenty minutes past six and Amy was getting irritated. She hadn't got much homework that day and had been hoping to spend an hour by the lake, reading. She had about seventy pages left to finish The Diary of Anne Frank and wanted to finish it already. Since she had started socializing a bit more, she had found herself with barely any time to read and had set aside this hour on purpose, so as to be able to finish it. But unless Weasley hurried up and got here soon she was going to have to give it a miss, and that was not going to make her very happy.

It was the last week of January and Amy had been checking out books for the Weasley's for almost two weeks. Every three or four days she'd get an owl from Weasley, telling her the title of the book she was to get, and where and when to meet him. Then she would give him the new book and he would hand back the other one. She would go to the library and give back the old book, and then the cycle would begin again. Every now and again Weasley gave her a bag of trick sweets as payment, he called it. But Amy just chucked them into her trunk and left them there. She had no intention of using the products on her friends when she had no idea what they would happen to them.

'Amy!'

Amy crossed her arms as she saw Weasley running towards her, out of breath. She looked at her watch pointedly.

'Finally.'

'Yeah, yeah, sorry.' Fred said, bending over to catch his breath. 'George and Lee and me were brainstorming.'

He straightened up and grinned at Amy. She, in turn, found herself grinding her own teeth in irritation.

'Here's the book.' She said, throwing it into his unsuspecting arms. He, startled, nearly dropped it but managed to hold on to it.

'Quidditch reflexes.' He grinned at her again and Amy felt her patience end.

'Could we please just get on with this?' She snapped. 'I have better things to do than wait around for you to remember that I'm doing you a favour.'

'Sorry.' He said, taken aback. 'I just didn't realize the time and-'

'Well if you want me to keep doing this for you and your friends I suggest you try and remember when your order me to meet you somewhere OK?'

'OK, OK, I'm sorry.' He still looked taken-aback. 'I didn't realize it was such a big deal.'

'Yeah, well you wouldn't.' She retorted.

He silently handed over Basic Healing and looked at her strangely.

'Are you OK?'

'I'm fine.' She answered shortly. 'I just don't like people using up my reading time. See you later.'

She turned and left, leaving him looking after her bemusedly.

"…Last night when I came down from the attic, I noticed, the moment I entered the room, that the lovely vase of carnations had fallen over. Mother was down on her hands and knees mopping up water and Margot was fishing my papers from off the floor. 'What happened?' I asked with anxious foreboding, and before they could reply, I assessed the damage from across the room. My entire genealogy folder my exer-…"

'There you are. We were looking for you Cassidy.'

'What is it with people today?' Amy thought irritably, closing her eyes. Why couldn't they just let her read in peace?

She looked up and groaned. This was all she needed: Montague and his cronies harassing her.

'I'm really not in the mood for this Montague.'

'Yeah?' He smirked. 'Well we are.'

Amy glanced over the other Slytherins with him. Three boys with big heads, big parents and a bit of a big BO problem, Amy thought as she scrunched up her nose in disgust. What did they sleep in? Pig manure?

She turned away from them and faced Montague again.

'Remember what happened last time Montague?' she said with a sweet smile.

He turned slightly pale at this but the smirk didn't fade. Amy realized why.

'Oh.' She laughed. 'Now I understand. That's why you've brought friends this time right? Very brave.'

'Shut it Cassidy.' He growled.

'Look Montague. All I want to do right now is read my book. Now I know that might be a hard concept for you to understand, so I'll make it a bit clearer.' Amy lowered her eyes back to her book. 'Go away.'

'I don't think so Cassidy.' Amy could tell by his voice that he was smirking. Merlin, didn't he realize that reading was hard when people were talking to you?

'Me and my friends have decided that we really cannot allow you to read that Muggle trash. So…' Amy suddenly felt the book yanked from her hands. She jumped up outraged, just in time to see Montague dump her levitated book in the lake.

She narrowed her eyes.

Right.

'Verto Sus!'

Amy grinned satisfied.

'You know.' She commented thoughtfully. 'I'm really not that good at Transfiguration. But I think that went quite well.'

She frowned.

'I think we need a little extra touch though…' She grinned. 'Albastru Tergum!'

She smiled, satisfied.

'Yes, I think that's better.'

She looked at her watch and realizing it was time for dinner, collected her bag from where she'd left it, under the tree. She then trudged slowly up the bank to where a path led to the front doors. Once she'd reached them, she turned back to where a group of four blue pigs were running around.

'Have fun boys!'

She grinned and entered the building, leaving the Slytherin pigs (literally) to run around and try and get help.

Amy,

I am really sorry for being late the other day. George and Lee say sorry too for letting me forget. Are you still OK with getting the books? Because I'll understand if you don't.

FW

Fred,

Tell George and Lee I forgive them. You too. Sorry I blew up at you. Yes I'm still OK with getting the books. Awaiting orders.

AC

Amy,

Glad to hear you're OK again. Could you possibly please bring us Recovering Remedies from the library and meet me by the statue of Merlin on the fifth floor? I'll be there at a quarter to eight.

Fred,

See you there.

'So are you going to tell me what all these books on illnesses and remedies are for?' Amy asked as she handed over the book.

He grinned as he stowed it away. Amy thought how strange it was that the week before his grin had annoyed the pants off her, and this week all she could think about was how shiny his teeth were and how…mischievous his smile was. She was starting to like it actually.

'Maybe another day, once we've finished.'

'Finished what?'

He just grinned.

Merlin, she was really starting to like his smile.

'I have to go.' He said suddenly. 'McGonagall wanted to talk to George and me at eight.'

'Ah.' She smiled. 'I wondered why it was quarter to eight and not just eight.'

'Yeah.' He grinned one last time before turning and heading down the corridor. 'Thanks again Amy!'

'Amy shook her head bemusedly.

His grin wasn't annoying her.

Weird.

Hanging out with Fred, even if it was just for those ten minutes of interchanging books and banter, was fun.

That was even weirder.

Amy hadn't found anything really fun since before her mum had died.

Maybe it was time she tried out those joke sweets…

After all, they couldn't do anything that bad.

'Hi Amy!'

'Hey!'

'Hey Amy.' Daisy smiled.

Amy smiled back. Praying her innocent look still worked after so much time in disuse, she sat down and waited.

'I'm hungry.' She announced after a few minutes.

'You just had dinner.' Jacob commented. He was sitting on one of the sofas with his arm around Kia and talking to Eddie.

'Like that's ever stopped you.' She retorted.

'She's got you there mate.' Eddie grinned. Jacob reached out with his other arm to cuff Eddie but he dodged it and moved chair, over to the other side of the fire.

Amy rolled her eyes.

'I'm still hungry.' She pointed out.

'Don't you have any sweets or anything left over from Honeydukes?' Daisy asked distractedly.

Amy pretended to think a minute.

'Actually I do!'

She jumped up and bounded up the staircase to collect one of the bag of sweets Fred had given her.

'Toffees!' She exclaimed enthusiastically, as she re-joined them. 'And I found some biscuits I had forgotten I brought with me from Christmas…Anyone want one?'

As expected, the boys jumped at the offer of free food.

'What is it with boys and food?' Amy thought, watching as Eddie unwrapped a toffee and Jacob bit into a biscuit. 'You stick anything edible in front of them and they eat it. And they never get fat. I suppose there had to be some perks about being a boy…'

Just then, Jacob turned into a canary.

Amy observed her friends reactions interestedly. Kia shrieked. Bethany looked up and promptly dropped the book she was holding. Daisy looked up from her essay and gaped at the giant yellow bird in front of her. Other people in the common room were staring silently. Some were actually laughing.

And Eddie?

Well Eddie was having trouble reacting to Jacob the Canary due to the sudden purple sausage that seemed to be growing out of his mouth.

'Interesting effect.' Thought Amy with a grin as people began shouting when they noticed Eddie's state.

Jacob was starting to moult already. Bright yellow feathers were falling hard and fast on to the blue-carpeted floor. But Eddie didn't seem to be doing too good.

'Reducio.' Amy said, pointing her wand at Eddie's tongue.

There was silence for a minute as everyone just stood watching Eddie and Jacob with open mouths. Then, as one, Amy's friends all turned to her. They looked shocked.

'Amy-'

'You- You just-'

'Sorry guys.' Amy said sheepishly. 'I didn't know they were going to do that.'

'You just-' Jacob paused. 'You just turned me into a canary!'

'Yeah, and like I said I'm s-'

'And it was the sweets right?' Eddie asked. Amy glanced around her friends. Bethany, Daisy and Kia all seemed incapable of talking, and the boys couldn't seem to grasp anything.

'Er…yeah.' Amy said bemusedly. 'Canary Creams and Ton-Tongue Toffees. Weasley gave them to me.'

She glanced around her friends once more and her confusion grew. They were all staring at her as if she'd just announced she was a Death Eater.

'What is it?' she asked.

Silence.

'What?'

Finally, Daisy spoke.

'You- you just-' She said in a hushed voice. 'You just played a prank on us.'

The next thing Amy knew, she was being held in a huge bear-hug with five people she was starting to suspect were slightly insane.

'You people are weird…' she said with a laugh before hugging them back.

AUTHORS NOTE: I'm baaaaack!! The weather was horrible in France so I took the time I had intended to spend surfing, writing. I'll have Chapter 4 soon! (I hope...S)

Thanks to all my reviewers, and I APOLOGISE as much as I can. I don't know how much of my replies you might have understood so I'll just say that I was using a computer in an internet café and their keyboard was both French and weird. All the keys were in the wrong places. So of course my fingers were typing the wrong things. SORRY!!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing that isn't mine

REVIEW!!!! (pretty please with sugar lumps?)