Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the books, characters, anything like that, etc. My story does take place in the same time as the books though, so I do reference events in the books, or in some cases use parts of the book. The parts of my story that come directly from the book will be underlined so there is no confusion. For the current part of my story the underlined portions will be coming from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I DO NOT OWN THESE PARTS! The underlined portion comes from the book, and I don't own that. No copyright infringement is intended. Credit for the books, and everything else Harry Potter, goes to their respective owners.

A/N: OK, here's the second chapter. Enjoy!

Back to School

"OK, do we have everything?" Sidney questioned as her and Charlie were looking over their trunks one last time.

"Uh...books?"

"Check."

"Quills, parchment, and any and all other school supplies?"

"Check."

"Robes?"

"Check."

"Toiletries?"

"Check."

"Clothes?"

"Check."

"UNDERWEAR?" Sidney scowled halfheartedly at Charlie.

"You had your caffeine this morning didn't you?" Charlie grinned like a Cheshire cat. "How on earth did you get caffeine? We've been trying to get you off this addiction of yours." Charlie rolled her eyes.

"You act like I don't have my own stash hidden away."

"Where?"

"Forget it. Now do we have underwear? And bras?" Sidney rolled her eyes.

"YES!" Charlie cleared her throat and gave Sidney a pointed look. Sidney sighed dramatically. "Check."

"Great. Well, I think we have everything. Actually, I know we're not forgetting anything, considering we double, triple, and quadruple checked ever day for the past week. You just wanted to be OCD this morning."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Di-"

"GIRLS!" Tracy called up the stairs.

"Coming!"

-X-

"Here we are..." Charlie sighed happily as they got onto the crowded platform. Sidney smiled at her best friend.

"Ready for another year?" Charlie looked over and grinned mischievously.

"Hell yeah." Sidney chuckled.

They loaded their trunks and went to go say goodbye.

"You've got everything, you're not forgetting anything?" Tracy asked worriedly. Charlie smirked.

"Yes Mum, we've got everything," Sidney assured her.

"Oh all right...I'm gonna miss you two!" She pulled both girls into a tight hug.

"Need -"

"To -"

"Breathe -"

"Mum."

"Right, sorry," Tracy mumbled as she released them. Charlie smiled at her.

"We'll miss you too Mrs. E," she assured her, giving her a hug. Tracy smiled.

They said their goodbyes, hugged, and waved one last time before boarding the train.

-X-

As they were making their way through the corridor, the girls ran into a couple boys their age.

"Hey guys," Charlie greeted cheerfully, wrapping an arm around each to give them a quick hug.

"Well, aren't we lucky to run into two beautiful ladies such as yourselves," one of the boys drawled. Sidney rolled her eyes, and Charlie smacked him in the gut playfully.

"Cut it out Greg!"

"Good luck with that," the other boy told Charlie, who was now leaning on Greg, who had his hand on the small of her back. The other boy turned to Sidney. "Hi Sidney. Have a good summer?" Sidney grinned.

"Hey Martin. Yeah, we did. Did you?" He nodded.

"Yeah, not too bad."

"So, you girls have a compartment yet?" Greg inquired.

"No, and we're not sharing with you guys either," Charlie answered. Greg pretended to look offended, while Sidney and Martin chuckled.

"Aw...Why not?" Greg pouted. Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Because... You can't keep your hands to yourself," she retorted. Then turned to Martin, and added, "Don't worry, I'm not including you in that. You're a total gentleman." Charlie winked at Sidney, who blushed, but tried to hide it behind her hair. Martin grinned sheepishly.

"Thanks Charlie."

-X-

"Why did you do that?" Sidney demanded when her and Charlie entered their compartment. Charlie rolled her eyes.

"You two like each other! Stop trying to deny that, and just go for it." Sidney sighed as they sat down across from each other.

"It's not that simple Charlie."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not you." Charlie pursed her lips.

"I know that! But you and Martin have known each other since first year, you get along great, and you like each other, like like like." Sidney sighed.

"I know, and maybe we will get together this year...but I don't want you butting in!" Charlie shrugged.

"OK," she agreed, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

-X-

"So, when am I going to get to hear that one?" Charlie looked up from her notebook.

"When do I get to read your diary?" she shot back. Sidney rolled her eyes.

"End of the week, as always," she grumbled. Charlie looked back down at her notebook.

"And you'll get to read over this one when I'm finished writing it, as always." Sidney smirked, and looked out the window at the raging storm.

After a few minutes, they both looked at each other curiously.

The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows.

The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage at fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.

"OK, what's going on?"

"I dunno Sid, you're the one who was looking out the window. Did you see anything?"

"No, just the storm."

"Maybe we broke down?"

"Do you really believe that?" Sidney asked skeptically.

"No. It sounded like we stopped on purpose."

"And it's too early to be there."

"This can't be good," Charlie muttered. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, me too."

They didn't have to wait too long until the compartment door slid open. A cloaked figure was standing in the doorway.

Sidney looked on the verge of tears, and Charlie was pale and had pulled her knees to her chest, hugging tightly.

Within a few minutes the figure was gone, the lights came back on, and the train began moving again.

"You okay?" Sidney's voice was shaky. Charlie nodded.

"I'm fine." Sidney and Charlie stared at each other for a minute before Charlie reached into her carpetbag. "Here." She tossed Sidney a candy bar.

"Thanks." Sidney took a bite of the chocolate as Charlie began eating one of her own. "I hate dementors." Charlie nodded.

"Me too."

The compartment door opened, causing both girls to jump, and Greg and Martin walked in.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Martin told them. The girls shrugged.

"Don't worry about it."

"What are you guys doing in here?"

"We came to make sure you guys are okay," Greg answered as he and Martin sat down.

"How chivalrous of you," Charlie said sarcastically. Martin snickered, and Greg rolled his eyes.

"You must be fine if you still have your sarcasm." Charlie grinned, though only halfheartedly. Sidney just shook her head. "So, wonder what dementors were doing on the train?" Greg mused.

"Isn't it obvious? They were looking for Sirius Black," Sidney pointed out.

"Which is crazy, because honestly...he'd have to be seriously stupid to get on a train full of kids." Charlie had kept a straight face, until Sidney looked at her, and they both bust out laughing. The boys looked at each other, then back at the girls, and shook their heads but joined in the laughter anyway.

-X-

"Come on Sidney! We wanna get there before the feast is over," Charlie joked as she and Sidney made their way to the carriages.

"Oof! Why did you stop? Oh." Sidney had followed Charlie's gaze to the front of the carriage, and sighed. "Come on Charlie..."

Charlie looked over at Sidney, nodded slowly, and they both got into the carriage.

-X-

"We're back," Sidney whispered happily to Charlie as they took their seats at the Ravenclaw house table in the Great Hall. Charlie smiled brightly back at her.

They watched and listened to all the commotion as the students made their way to their respective house tables. Charlie waved at a couple redheads over at the Gryffindor table. Sidney smirked at her.

"Are you going to tease them all year again?" Charlie chuckled.

"No! Only most of it." Sidney chuckled too, shaking her head. "Hey look, Flitwick's doing the sorting this year."

"Wonder where McGonagall is?"

"Dunno."

The sorting started, though the girls were whispering between themselves.

"Hey, check out the new Defense professor." Sidney looked up to the staff table and noticed who Charlie was talking about. He looked rather shabby, especially next to the other teachers. "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Uh..." Sidney looked at the new professor closer. "Yeah, he kinda does. Wonder why?..."

"Dunno. He looks kinda sick though."

"Charlie!"

"What? I was just making an observation." Sidney rolled her eyes.

"Well, have some respect."

"Oh, I definitely have respect for him now." Sidney turned to look at Charlie, who was grinning mischievously. "Look at Snape's face." Sidney turned her attention back toward the staff table, and noticed the look on Snape's face as he stared at the new professor.

"Wow...I don't think I've ever seen him hate anyone that much before."

"Except the Potter kid."

"Oh, yeah. But still...he looks like he loathes the new teacher."

"Well, they probably went to school together, they look about the same age. So, whatever the reason, might have something to do with that." Sidney smirked at Charlie.

"And you still wonder how you got into Ravenclaw?" Charlie quickly put a hand over her mouth, but her stifled laugh could still be heard, though it sounded more like a cough. The girls grinned innocently at their fellow Ravenclaws, who had given them curious looks, except for Greg and Martin, they had just smirked. When the other students turned their attention back to the sorting, Charlie looked back at Sidney.

"That's why I still wonder how I got into Ravenclaw." The girls exchanged smirks, and were shaking with silent laughter.

"Oh, shh..." Charlie sobered up when she followed Sidney's gaze, and noticed the sorting had ended and the headmaster had stood up.

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast...."

Sidney and Charlie exchanged wary glances.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

Charlie groaned quietly, and Sidney gave her a sympathetic look.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly. "It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," he said.

Sidney and Charlie looked at each other, then back up at the headmaster. Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound.

"On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year.

"First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher."

There was some scattered, rather unenthusiastic applause. Sidney and Charlie clapped a little harder though, and noticed some of the Gryffindors did too.

"Does that name sound familiar?" Sidney sighed.

"No, Charlie, it doesn't." Charlie furrowed her brows. "You're not gonna let it go are you?"

"No! It's gonna bug me until I figure it out." Sidney chuckled lightly.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs."

"Thank God!" Sidney smacked Charlie on the arm.

"Charlie!" Charlie just shrugged.

"Well..." Sidney shook her head.

"However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

Sidney and Charlie looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces, and both mouthed, "Hagrid?" But they did join in the applause anyway.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"

The golden plates and goblets before them filled suddenly with food and drink.

"Great! I'm starving."

"You're always starving Charlie."

"So?" Sidney just laughed as they dug in.

-X-

As Sidney and Charlie reached their dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower, they both just plopped down onto their beds.

"Phew...I'm exhausted." Charlie chuckled as she sat up.

"I'm wired."

"No you're not. You'll be out as soon as your head hits the pillow." Charlie shrugged as she got up and started looking through her trunk.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the twin freaks," a girl taunted as she entered the room with two other girls. Sidney sighed as she sat up on her bed, but Charlie kept looking through her trunk.

"I'm sure you can do better than that, Alison. Otherwise, I don't know how you got into Ravenclaw," Charlie retorted. Sidney snickered as she too got up and started looking through her trunk. Alison looked furious.

"Just stay out of my way Timmins," she warned. "You and Porter just mind your own business!" Sidney snorted.

"Don't we always?"

"Watch the tone Porter."

"Just shut up Alison! You and Caroline and Felicia just go about your normal routine and stay the hell out of our business!" Charlie growled. Alison huffed, but she and the other girls went to their beds and started getting ready for bed. Sidney and Charlie shared an annoyed look before changing into their pajamas and getting in bed.

"Night Sid."

"Night Char."

-----

Dear Diary...

FINALLY! WE'RE BACK! Yes, I'm very excited to be back at Hogwarts. I can't help it. I just love it here, this is like my home, my real home.

Well, the day started off hectic. (As is usual when coming back to school.). Me and Charlie have had our stuff packed, and rechecking it, for a week, but we, I, wanted to make sure we weren't forgetting anything. I'd hate for Mum to have to send something we forgot, especially if it's something we don't want her seeing. I won't go into detail on that. But, to make the day even crazier, Charlie had also, somehow, managed to get her caffeine in. (She has an addiction to caffeine, and every time she gets it she starts bouncing off the walls, sometimes literally.). So, yeah...the morning was interesting.

Then on the platform...I THOUGHT MUM WAS GONNA STRANGLE US! I mean, I know she misses us when we're at school, but...come on, was that really necessary? I still love her though!

We ran into Greg and Martin on the train. Of course, Charlie and Greg were having their usual flirty banter. (She says he's just her boy toy, personally I think she like likes him. I know he's crushing on her, though most guys are anyway.). Martin was so cute today... OK, yes, I have a crush on him. I'll admit it. The thing is, though, that I'm scared to take it anywhere. He's one of my few friends, and I'd hate to lose that if we didn't work out as a couple. Oh well, not gonna dwell on that now.

Those dementors on the train...gives me chills just remembering it. I know they were just making sure that Sirius Black wasn't on the train, (Why he'd come to Hogwarts after escaping Azkaban, I have no clue.), but I still hate them! I know Charlie hates them too. Thankfully, we know about them, so it's not like we were unprepared, but we still had to be around them. They make you remember, more like relive actually, your worst memories. For me, that's when Charlie was having a really hard time at home, during second year, and I found her bleeding in the bathroom. She used to cut herself, because she said she'd become so numb to her stepdad beating her that she just wanted to feel something again, make sure she was still alive and not a ghost. It was horrible. Though, thankfully, I convinced her to quit (though she still has to wear long sleeves or arm warmers to cover the scars), and the summer after that her stepdad went to jail (though the why was the hard part, I honestly wasn't sure if Charlie would make it through that). Hence Charlie's worst memory...she remembers the why her stepdad went to jail. Unfortunately, the why was that her little brother, Scotty, died from internal bleeding because their stepdad had beaten him so badly. (that's why Charlie can see the threstrals that pull the carriages) Charlie doesn't like to deal with that, she still feels responsible. I honestly don't know what to do... Hopefully, she won't have to be around the dementors very often. She's been able to move on, and be really happy since then, but I'm afraid that with the dementors making her relive that... I'm not gonna go there. She's strong. And hopefully the dementors will be gone soon. (fingers crossed)

It felt so good to get back inside the castle again! I don't know if it's the atmosphere, the time we were away, or just because it's home, but me and Charlie both feel so much more at ease now that we're back. Unfortunately, we still have to share a room with Alison, Caroline, and Felicia, but they'll usually leave us alone if we leave them alone. Me and Charlie don't have that many friends here at Hogwarts. We're friends with Greg and Martin, and Charlie is friendly with the Weasley twins (they're in Gryffindor though, so we don't see them too much), but other than that we don't really have any friends. We're sort of the outcasts. Me...well, anyone can see how I got into Ravenclaw, I'm a bookworm and love to study and love school. Charlie...well, let's just say most people are still scratching their heads over how she got into Ravenclaw. I know it's because she's smart, and really witty, and whether she admits it or not she loves school too. But I'm shy, and she was my first and pretty much only friend, so when I started hanging out with her, I was grouped with her in the "freaks" category. But it doesn't matter. She's my best friend, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks, except for me. She's also got a very charismatic personality that makes her hard to ignore, that plus her gorgeous Spanish looks makes most of the guys drool over her. Though, while she is a flirt and a bit of a slut sometimes, she mainly just teases them. One thing I admire about her when it comes to relationships is that she won't even think about dating a guy unless he likes her for her personality, not just her looks. Anyway...

So, Hagrid is a teacher...all I can say about that is...wow. Yeah, that's it. It should be interesting though. And the new DADA professor...Charlie was right, there is something REALLY familiar about him. Too bad neither of us have figured out what that is yet. Maybe we'll figure it out in class...

Oh well, I should get to sleep. I wanna be awake during classes tomorrow. Yep, like I suspected, Charlie's already out cold. The thing with her is that a lot of times, when she does get her caffeine, she wears herself down to the point that she'll just collapse. I do that during exam time too. Which I feel sorry for anyone who tries to wake us up. We don't have a very people-friendly attitude when we first wake up. Anyway...Goodnight!

Sidney

A/N: Well, I hope you liked that chapter! Yes, Lupin is going to be a major character in this story, and you'll start seeing him more, starting in the next chapter. Anyway, I'll try to update as soon as I can. Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! I love getting feedback.