Hello again.

So, as you can see this is a rather fast update and not really a long chapter, but it's fine.

NB: I'm going to be fast forwarding a little bit from here, otherwise this is going to take a while to get to the juicy bits, which should start happening from the next two updates.

NB: I wrote this chapter to show everyone's reaction to there being a Black( when there hasnt been a single word of them for the past twenty years) , so it's understandable. But please keep in mind again that Aurora isn't used to having people stare AT her, let alone people talk ABOUT her. She's pretty used to the 'normal'life she had with the Potters and isn't used to publicity the same way the Potter/ Weasleys are.

OH! AND THERE IS SOME JUICY AMANDA VERSE AURORA in this chapter.

( Thanks for the emails and review * cough* *cough*)

leggo

CHAPTER

I let out a sigh, stabbing away at my bacon with frustration. Counting down the time until I actually snapped, which I could confidently say was probably within the next twenty seconds. I looked up and with synchronization everyone looked away, I rolled my eyes: subtle guys, very subtle. I caught Rose's gaze and rolled my eyes, she just sighed and turned her attention back to her book.

I looked past Rose's head to the Gryffindor table across from me, only to see that when I made eye contact with half of them they just waved and grinned nonchalantly, unfazed by fact that I had caught them staring and talking. The Slytherins on the other hand just smirked or shot me looks as though I was yelling blasphemy, the Hufflepuffs – well... They just looked ashamed.

I let out another sigh and I saw Rose's fingers ,twitch she threw me an annoyed look, I shrugged, "What?"

"Stop sighing, it's annoying." She said, lowering her voice.

I rolled my eyes, "I will, as soon as they stop gossiping about me."

She put her book down and that's when I knew she was serious, " Look, ignore it, don't fuel them anymore than you have-"

"How did I fuel them-"I interrupted, raising my voice. She pressed her lips together and threw me That Look , or most commonly known as You-Know-What-I'm-Referring-To look, and obviously it dawned on me, "Oh... Oh. Merlin! They're still talking about that."

Rose smirked, "Well, what do you expect? I don't think anyone has ever been late to their own Sort Ceremony."

My face turned red and I moaned, "I tripped-"

"You were late."

"Then I got lost."

You were late."

"I got there."

"You were still-"

"Yeah, I know, late." I huffed.

I looked up and down the table, "It's still annoying though."

She shrugged, probably used to it, " At least the girls in our dorm are okay about it."

I looked at her incredulously, "They interrogated me for like six hours-"

"It was two!"Rose corrected.

"I know, but I'm trying to make a point. And speaking of points. When do we go to class?"I asked, getting agitated with all the stares.

"That has nothing to do with making a point-"

"When , women?" I took a look at her face, and shrunk into my bench, " B-by women, I meant Rose, Rose The Great and Lovely and Merciful and -"

She threw me a lopsided smile ( ONE THAT I COULD NEVER MANAGE- BUT WHO CARES! me) , "That's what I thought." She looked over my shoulder, "And there's your answer."

I turned around to where she was looking and noticed a familiar looking young-ish person ( which is a word, I looked it up so you wont have too. I know. I'm kind. Don't even think about opening that dictionary in your hands.) My frown deepened until the realization slapped me through the face, left, right and center. I gave a loud-ish ( again it's a word, person) yelp and jumped in my seat, turning to Rose and whispered, "What is SHE doing here?"I asked frantically/ hysterically.

" Mrs. Hugh? She teaches-" Rose started but I interrupted with pure misery, "teaches Transfiguration."

Rose frowned at my reaction, "She's really nice."

"Compared to who? Voldemort?" I asked incredulously. Rose pressed her lips together, but I carried on, " Do you know what she did during my exam when I turned my wand invisible-"

"You turned your wand-"

I shook my head impatiently ( THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANT MY INTELLIGENCE REMEMBERED FOR), "Yes, invisible. Anyway, while I spent a half an hour looking for it, she could have easily said Accio Wacky Wand-"

"Wacky Wand?"She asked, now heavily confused.

I rolled my eyes, "YES! Wacky Wand! The one that whacked Amanda over the head," Realization washed over her, " And yeah, one quick Accio Wacky Wand and we would've been on our merry way, but no,Ms. Lemon Face did -"

" Morning Professor!"Rose said suddenly, looking over shoulder, but I could see the panic in her eyes as she looked frantically between me and Mrs. Lemon Face.

I groaned and moaned and soaned ( again that's a word, PERSON! PUT THAT DICTIONARY DOWN BEFORE I ( Insert appropriate threat here)) mentally, wishing I could get hit by lighting- but not die or anything cause that's relatively permanent, but like, disappear for a while. An awkward silence followed and all I could think was:

Don't greet her.

Really don't greet her.

Don't even think of- OH SCREW IT!

"Morning Professor!'I said, with way to much enthusiasm seeing as Rose groaned. And just because of the even more awkward silence ( caused by , ooh, I don't know who) that followed, I had to add, "Lovely morning, isn't it? Best one yet, I say-"

Mrs. Hughs interrupted me and kept her attention on Rose, " Time Tables." and she handing them to Rose who said thank you. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as she walked away, she probably heard( or smelt) my relief and turned back to face us.

"And Black," She said, I turned to her in surprise, she looked at me with a sneer, " Try not to be late."

And with that she moved on, I groaned and had a feeling that that was going to be the joke of the day. I turned to Rose and said, "She really is lovely."

Rose just pursed her lip and whispered something.

"Excuse me?" I asked, leaning forward.

Rose kept her gaze on her Time Table and barely said audibly, " She's also our Head of House."

...

...

...

Don't over react, I repeated over and over, Take this as a good sign. Now she doesn't onlyhate you, she can also expel you.

Yay.

I let out a sigh, "I bet someone out there's having a really good laugh about my life."

Rose just gave me a small smile and tossed my Time Table at me, "Potions first-"

I looked at her incredulously, "REALLY? Is this not my day! Potions first-"

Rose interrupted with a reassuring smile, "With the Slytherins or rather Al and Scorpius at least."

Oh, in that case- Forward March!

I grinned happily, picking up my bag and timetable- Well, let's go.

_( After the excruciatingly long walk to Potions) _

I tried to remember the way to the Dungeons, but after the moving stairs ( they only moved to the side, and to my disappointment not up or down), the moving portraits who actually moved to different portraits ( I learnt this the hard way when my theory of there being seven Lady of The Shrubs and Pillows was denied by Rose) and well, I would just like to add that it is a relatively large castle too.

We walked down the stairs( blugh stair) into a dimly lit corridor were students were waiting, two students in particular filled me with relief and excitement, the infamous Scropius Malfoy and Albus Potter.

"Is that Aurora I see being on time?"Scorpius said loudly as we made our way to them, the few people who were there already turned around to watch. Albus laughed.

My permanently red face flushed, I threw him and Albus a sarcastic look, " Scorpius, you're a little late with that joke."

Albus grinned, "At least no one can say that you don't know how to make an entrance."

I felt something flutter in my stomach and I grinned, " Why thank you, it's nice to know my talent isn't wasted on everyone."

Before he could open his mouth to reply, I heard a voice of demons laugh out, " Talent? What talent could you possibly have?"

And that my people, is how the spawn of Hell arrived- not to sound overly dramatic. Amanda arrived and I noticed how Al subtly straightened his posture and I felt that flutter in my stomach die down.

She looked at all of us, until her eyes fell on Al and said sweetly, "I'm joking."

She walked to his side and held his hand, sending us all a What- Are-You-Still-Doing-Here smile.

No one laughed, which ( I know is mean), but made me feel giddy in side, I looked at her with what I hoped was the look of an angle and said, "I only hope to be as good at telling jokes as you are one day."

And yes, I know that was a little harsh, but I really didn't like that flutter feeling dying down. I heard a couple of students chuckle from behind me and I noticed Rose's lips twitch before being pushed down into a straight thin line and even Scorpius tried to cover he's as a cough. Only Al and Amanda didn't find it that amusing as they threw me disgusted ( and in Amanda's case hateful) glares.

Woops.

Before anyone could say anything the door opened and Mr. Birch stood in the doorway , making no introductions just sizing us all as though we were cattle being sent to a slaughter house.

"Before you enter the class, I'll be putting you into groups for today's assignment in which we will be brewing a Shrinking Potion."He said and I let out a sigh of relief, having read through it previously. "Now who can tell me the five main properties of a Shrinking Potion?"He asked.

I hesitated before putting up my hand, I looked around and noticed that Rose , Al and ( to my utter surprise ) Amanda had their hands up too. He's eyes scanned over us four and he held his gaze with me a second or two longer, giving me a cold stare and I braced myself for another of those 'LATE' jokes that everyone seems to associate with my face. But he moved on and looked behind me.

" Ms. Meadows?" He answered and I frowned, removing my hand slowly. Right, well, I see some injustice in on the rise. What's up with people hating me this morning? Half of Hogwarts ( but at least that's because they think I'm a fraud) , Mrs. Hugh ( But that's probably because, well, I don't know. We've never really discussed the dislike in that relationship. Although, it could be because of many contributing factors) , Amanda ( But we've never really gotten on like Jam and peanut butter- if you catch my drift) and then Mr. Birch ( Who I just think is in cahoots with Mrs. Hugh), you see it's a rather lengthy list and I haven't even had lunch yet.

I refrained from clapping out of surprise when she answered them all right, I felt slightly worried that I might have to place her in to a different category if she continued acting clever.

"Well done. Ten points to Slytherin."Mr. Birch said and gave an Almost-Smile – MAYBE HE HAS A THING FOR BLONDES! And I don't mean that in a pedophilic way, cause that would be disturbing and I don't do disturbing at nine thirty in the morning. " You will not swap partners and you shall not help partners from another group , if I catch any of you doing so, your potion will be disposed of , giving most of you your first Zero of the year, understood?"We all gave a little nod. And with that he started calling out the groups, Albus got Scorp ( they both grinned and did this odd fist pound action which baffled me) , Rose caught my eye and grinned confidently and so did I hoping we would be together, only to have that destroyed when she was partnered with a lanky Slytherin who didn't bother even looking up from his shoes when Birch called out his name. That's when I started stressing, looking at the handful of Ravenclaws left, trying to remember their names.

"Black and Meadows."he said clearly , before moving on. I felt my jaw drop.

OH MERLIN NO!

I opened my mouth to argue, but felt someone squeeze my hand tightly.

"Don't argue, you'll make it worse." Scorp whispered into my ear. I turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

Worse?

How could this get any worse?

But I kept my mouth closed. There was no way I was going to be the only Ravenclaw getting a zero. I looked over at Amanda and although she didn't seem pleased at first when she met my gaze she gave me a smirk and I knew that she was up to something. Which I didn't mind, seeing as I've spent a lot of time with James and trouble seems etched in to my blood, but that didn't make me think any less of her seeing as she must have gotten in to Slytherin for something.

"You may begin."Mr. Birch said and glided back into his hole- I mean classroom. I followed in shortly and let out a silent whistle as I surveyed the dungeon. It was a large, circular room with dull lighting and it's stoned walls were lined with jars filled with dissected creatures and , I'm pretty sure with this theory, missing students. I felt a shudder make it's way up my back and let an uneven breath.

I followed Amanda to a table in the front and heard Rose whisper to Albus, " They're going to murder each other."

Amanda looked up and smirked, probably at the prospect of me having followed her to the desk. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and rather put on a fake smile.

"I'll go get the ingredients, you set up okay?"I said, trying to sound tolerant and lovely and shut up, this is going to work. We're going to work, at least for this hour.

"Fine."she said, looking down at her textbook.

I made my way to the ingredients cupboard at the back of the class, pulling out the ingredients according to the textbook. I was reaching( well struggling to reach) for a flask of leech juice when Rose's hand arrived out of nowhere and her being like, a fraction taller than me, grabbed two flasks and handed it to me. She whispered, "Just a little extra information about Her Highness over there , Mr. Birch is her godfather. So don't do anything you'll regret." And with that she swaggered off to the grumpy Slytherin.

I frowned slightly, but decided not to worry about it. Nothing was going to happen, I was going to keep my temper in check and then even if she was planning something it wouldn't work.

COOL, CALM, COLLECTED. I repeated that all the way back to my desk where I saw her adding

minced daisy roots to the cauldron. I stopped in my tracks in front of my-our desk and looked at her, unable to believe my eyes.

"What are you doing?"I asked in disbelief.

She didn't look at me , but smirked, "Adding minced daisy roots . I thought you would've read the instructions at least."She let out a sigh and looked at me, annoyed and said loud enough that people three desks away could hear, "I've got a feeling I'm going to be doing this all by myself."

I clenched my fists, trying to keep my voice calm, " I know what you're doing,I just want to know where you got those ingredients from?"

"Al, got them for me."She said nonchalantly.

Of course he did.

"Did you not hear me when I said that I would go fetch the ingredients?" I asked.

"I did."She said coolly.

"The why did Alb-"I started to ask, but she interrupted me raising her voice a little "Because, Black. He's. My .boyfriend . And if I want to ask him to bring me ingredients, I don't see how it's any of your business."

Cool, Calm, collected.

"Fine."I spat, handing her the basket of ingredients to her, "Now take these back."

If she wanted to ruin my time to actually get to learn things for a change, so be it, I'll ruin her time too. She wasn't going to play the victim in whatever story she was busy playing.

Her eyes widened, "Don't you dare tell me what to do."

She stood up, glaring at me with a hateful gaze.

I straightened my back and stared at her with a hard gaze, "I will. Because like all dogs, you only do what you're what you're told. Now take the ingredients back and stop wasting my time."

And with that I sat down and added a dash of leech juice to the potion, ignoring her glare and the stares of others.

Rose was right, we're probably going to kill each other before the hour was up.

To say things got better after that would be a lie, if anything it just got worse. A lot worse.

Oh! Things went fine for the first half an hour, but towards the end I think fate was pushing it when the said 'a whole hour'. It started with subtle, nasty comments , then a bump, then a complaint and the silence. She sent me look before looking away to write something in her textbook.

I frowned , "Yes?"

She shrugged, " Nothing."
"Fine."I said, taking the flask of green liquid, "I'm going to go hand ours in."

She didn't say anything. I handed ours in, not getting so much as a look or a wince from Mr. Birch. I didn't mind, I was just happy this lesson was going to end. So, of course something horrible just had to happen.

It all started while we were cleaning up our table.

" I was just thinking- "Amanda started wiping the desks counter top off.

"It hurt ,didn't it?" I interrupted.

She threw me a disgusted looked , but carried on, " That Sirius Black never married."

Not this again.

I rolled my eyes, " How long did it take you to think of that again?"

She carrier on, " Which means that his child was born of of wedlock."Now I was frowning, but she smirked and lowered her voice, "Which means you're a bastard."

I blinked, losing grip of the flask I was holding. "Excuse me?" I asked in a low voice.

She grinned with hard eyes, "You're a bastard and your grandmother was a slut."

I stood up, my chair scraping loudly against the stone floor, "Say that one more time and you'll-"

And before I could stop her or do anything, she moved the cauldron in a way that it toppled all over and let out a screech. And in that moment I remembered the warning in the textbook.

Contact of the Shrinking potion on skin is highly painful. In which blotches of skin becomes irrated, swollen and , in most cases open up to form wounds.

Half the class was there before I could even realize what she had done and with the next second Mr Birch was making his way through the crowd, a scowl on his usually emotionless face.

"Make way, make way." He said, pushing people out of the way as Amanda's hand

started swelling up and turned red and her face became alive with tears. Mr. Birch took one look at her then turned to me.

"I didn't do anything!"I said loudly, looking at everyone.

Mr. Birch looked back to Amanda and back to me, his expression now vivid, " Ms. Black-"

"I didn't do anything!"I said again.

He turned back to Amanda who's arms were also swelling to an impressive size , her head on Albus's shoulder, sobbing, "Ms. Meadow, how did this happen?"

Please don't say me.

Please don't say me.

She raised her hand and gave me a shaking point.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"I said loudly, looking between my friends, Birch and Amanda. "She's lying!"

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw!"Mr. Birch said loudly.

"Please sir!"Rose said and I felt my heart give a slight lurch,"I was watching! Aurora's arms were folded, she couldn't have-"

"SH-She threatened me!"Amanda sobbed, "and the next thing I knew-"

"She provoked me."I argued, glaring at her, "She called me bastard and my grandmother a slut."

This information didn't help and actually made things a lot worse. Mr. Birch's face turned an even darker shade of Crimson.

"Swearing and lying to a teacher! Another twenty points gone and detention, Friday." He said loudly, spitting on my face. Then raised and eyebrow, " Do you have anything to add?"

I knew from the expression on Rose's face that I should of just shook my head or say 'Nothing sir', but one look at Amanda and I knew she won this round and that was a little hard on my ego already.

Screw it-

I took one look at him and I knew there was no point trying to convince him of my innocence. I stared at him blankly, " At least the potion works."