Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: I went and changed some things in this chapter, so if you've read it before, you might want to go back and reread it. I'm also very sorry for disappearing for so long, and I don't have a very good excuse, but I'm going to start trying to write more again. I hope you can find some way to forgive me.

Chapter 4

November was freezing, and Quidditch season had begun. I didn't really mind the cold weather since I was what my foster mother would call 'cold blooded'. I didn't really miss them since they were always gone when I was home.

I was having extra Transfiguration classes every weekend, which was fun. Now I was trying to turn a lamp into a birdhouse. I was having a slightly more difficult time with this than the other things I had done.

On Saturday, Harry would have his first match, Griffondor versus Slytherin, or as I like to call them, the snakes. I was slightly worried. So far, we had been not having the best luck with dangerous things, and right now, this counted as something dangerous.

Snape was mean to Harry, and once I thought we were going to get in big trouble because Hermione, who was starting to break the rules a lot more, had lit a magic fire. I think that Snape didn't see the fire, but he did take five points from Griffondor because of a made up rule that says students aren't supposed to take library books outside. He also took the book. He was limping, we all noticed. I really hoped he was okay, because, like I said, I like Snape even if he doesn't like Harry. I wonder what Harry had done to get on his bad side.

Hermione and I were checking Ron and Harry's Charms homework. I didn't really mind if they copied mine, but Hermione wanted them to learn something and I really wanted them to grow up to become awesome wizards, so we just checked their homework.

Soon Harry stood up and announced he was going to get his book back. "I'll come with you," I said. Ron and Hermione were afraid of Snape, but I wasn't.

Harry and I walked slowly to the staffroom. Harry looked very nervous, but I wasn't too terrified. I knocked and got no answer. Harry and I peered into the dimly lit room.

Snape had his robes hiked up above the knee, revealing a terrible wound on his leg. Filch was bandaging his leg. Snape was muttering about Doggie. Harry and I tried to close the door, but Snape had already noticed us and shouted, "Potter!"

"I was just wondering if I could have my book back," Harry said, managing to keep his face calm. Snape took no notice of me as he shouted, "Get out!"

We both ran upstairs back to the common room. As Harry explained what happened to Hermione and Ron, I thought. Was he the one who released the troll? No, he couldn't have been, he was at dinner. Or did he release it before dinner? Who wasn't at dinner?

"Quirrel," I whispered with horror. No one would believe me if I said it was poor, poor, Professor Quirrel. Ron and Harry thought it was Snape, but Hermione just wouldn't believe a teacher did it. If I told any of them, they wouldn't believe me.

x~x~x

As usual, I had a hard time getting to sleep. When I did go to sleep, I had nightmares. It was a different one than usual. There was a strange man, who had blue eyes and blond hair. He looked absolutely evil. There was Jess, trying to protect a little girl... She looked only five.

Jess shouted out a spell, but I couldn't understand it because of his accent. The evil wizard shouted, "Avada Kedavra," and a green light, the exact same color of my eyes, came out of his wand at Jess. Jess didn't make a sound as he fell to the floor, dead. What had happened to him?

The little girl looked at him in silence. She didn't even glance at Jess. She just looked at the evil wizard with solemn eyes, asking 'Why?' with her eyes. Her brown eyes didn't seem to plea, they just held pity for the man.

The girl walked towards Jess and took his wand. She just waved it as the man shouted the same spell that had killed Jess. The man screamed and disappeared as the girl dropped to the floor, her eyes losing her light and turning the terrible green of the spell. She seemed to see me as she died, and I heard the words, "You'll be able to defeat him and save us all, where as I only made him sleep and lose his power for a little while. You will prevail."

I woke up after that and didn't go to sleep again. My thoughts raced a million miles an hour. Who was the girl and the evil wizard? Why hadn't Jess told me about this? And what was that terrible spell?

x~x~x

It was the Quidditch match today, and Harry wouldn't eat breakfast! I was very annoyed by this because Harry needed his strength to win the game. Of course, if he ate it might come back up in the middle of the game, so maybe it was best that he didn't eat much.

I was feeling grouchy, but when Hermione suggest we make a poster for Harry, I agreed. I helped with it as much as I could, and thought the writing was horrible (it said Potter for President), but overall it went well because of the color charm Hermione put on it (it flashed different colors) and Dean's drawing of a lion.

I was cheering as Griffondor scored when Hagrid came and sat down with us. Suddenly Lee Jordan said, "Was that the snitch?" and Harry took off after it with the snake's seeker neck and neck. Then Flint got in the way.

"Boo!" I shouted. He could've hurt Harry! We got a free shot and made it, but nearly everyone was still angry, me especially.

When Harry dodged the bludger, his broom started acting up. If it had been me on the broom, it might have been normal, but this was Harry, and his broom was new!

Several Griffondors along with Hagrid were talking about reasonable explanations to why his broom was going berserk. Hermione seized Hagrid's binocular and started looking at the crowd with them. It had to be hexed by an adult in the stands or hexed before he got it.

I used my own binoculars and looked. Professor Quirrel and Snape were whispering under their breath. One of them was harming Harry and the other was helping him.

"Snape, look," Hermione said as she passed the binoculars to Ron.

"Not just Snape," I growled. Everyone looked at me. "Look at Quirrel."

"I guess Quirrel's trying to help Harry," Ron said.

I glared at them. "Snape's not hexing the broom, it's Quirrel." They all looked at me blankly, except for Hermione. She was confused.

"All the signs point to Quirrel. I noticed him walking very calmly in the halls when the troll was here, and he looked way too calm to have just seen a troll. He would have seen the troll before I passed him in the halls, and he wouldn't have looked the way he did," I explained.

Hermione looked terrified. "We've been after the wrong person," she murmured.

I was already gone before she could finish her sentence. I walked to where the teachers sat, took out my hand and made it look like I was doing something else, and whispered, "Incendio."

Quirrel hadn't even noticed it was me who did it as I causally walked past Snape, I stopped and turned back. "Why did you try to save him when you act as though you hate him?"

Snape gave me a hard look. "I don't owe you an explanation." I just shrugged and walked back to my seat.

"I still believe it was Snape," Ron muttered as we walked to Hagrid's hut. "I mean, why would he try to go past the dog if it wasn't him?"

"How do you know about Fluffy? Hagrid demanded.

"It's name is Fluffy? I always called it Doggie," I explained. Everyone was looking at me strangely now. "What? I had to call it something."

"You're both nuts," Ron muttered, but Hagrid didn't hear it.

"Snape or Quirrel are trying to steal whatever Fluffy's guarding, so we need to know what it is," Hermione explained.

"I can't tell yeh what he's guarding, it's a secret," Hagrid said worriedly. "Forget that dog an' forget what it's guarding, that's between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel-"

"I'll remember that name then!" I informed Hagrid. Hagrid looked very angry at himself.

'Sorry,' I mouthed at him as we left. I was no good with apologies, and I told myself I would apologize to him properly the next time I saw him.

Soon it was December, and the snow at last had come. The lake was frozen, and of course the Weasly twins and I had detention for enchanting a snow ball to fly at Quirrel's turban. It was just one of my small ways to show that I hated him.

Lucky for me, I got off easy. I helped Hagrid with the owls. Many of them were sick from delivering the mail in a snowstorm. Poor things... I also let Nyx meet the new owls, and she seemed to get along with them well enough.

It was very cold now, but better than the summer, to me. I hate the heat. In the dungeons, we could see our breath. It was pretty cool, and a lot of students crowded the cauldrons for their heat.

Professor McGonagall had went around and had people sign on a sheet if they were staying here for Christmas. I decided to stay because I didn't know how to tell my foster parents that I had gone to Hogwarts without telling them because I was scared. I knew Harry had signed up too because he didn't want to spend Christmas with the Dursleys. Ron and his brothers were also staying because their parents were going to visit Charlie in Romania.

Today we lost five points because Malfoy provoked Ron into trying to fight him. Hagrid was there, so Snape couldn't take more, thank Merlin. After that, we got to see the Great Hall.

It was beautiful. There was holly and mistletoe everywhere along the walls, and there were twelve Christmas trees around the room. Several had sparkling crystal like icicles and some had candles glittering in them. Professor Flitwick was hanging golden bubbles, which were coming from his wand, on the tree.

I could hear the others talking to Hagrid about Flamel. Hagrid seemed very annoyed by the fact that we just couldn't quit. I just ignored them and stared at the decorations.

We had already looked through many books for Flamel, and while we looked for him, I looked for Jess, the little girl, and the evil wizard in my dream. I was starting to look for my parents in the books too as I had recently remembered my foster parents', Amanda and John's, conversation. My parents had been murdered if the rumors were true. I wondered why though. Why had they been murdered? What had they done to get on Voldemort, or as I like to call him Baldie Voldie's, hit list?

I could hear Hermione and Ron talking as I read a book, looking for Flamel or anything useful I could find. They were having a very funny conversation.

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is. It'd be safe to ask them, Ron said. I burst out laughing.

Hermione open her mouth but I shook my head with a grin. "He'll figure it out," I stated with a tiny smirk. Ron still had the clueless look on his face. "Or maybe not," I added.

"Aren't Hermione's parents...?" Harry trailed off with a glance at Ron. He just shook his head and shrugged. Hermione's parents were Muggles. If I remember correctly, they were dentist which was why she was careful when she ate candy.

x~x~x

Now that the holidays had started, Ron had time to teach Harry and me wizard chess. I had never learned how to play Muggle chess, but Ron told me it was exactly like Muggle chess except for the figures are alive in wizard chess. I was terrible at it. Ron and Harry could beat me every time! It was infuriating.

When Christmas Eve arrived, I knew Harry wasn't going to get any presents from the Dursleys. Hermione and I both decided to buy him candy. Hermione gave him Chocolate Frogs and I gave him and Ron Every Flavor Beans. I decided to give Hermione one of my old novels that I had brought with me.

I had no idea what I would get, as Amanda and John would have no clue where to send a present to. I knew Hermione would get something for me, and that made me happier than anything else could do. I wasn't so sure about Ron and Harry, but I knew they would appreciate my gifts.

On Christmas, there was a pile of packages at the end of my bed. I grabbed all of them and went to open them with Ron and Harry.

Harry got a flute from Hagrid and a fifty-pence piece from his aunt and uncle. Harry gave it to Ron since he was fascinated by it. We all got a sweater from Mrs. Weasly. Ron's was maroon, Harry's was emerald green, and mine was crimson.

Harry and I both got Chocalate Frogs from Hermione while Ron got Every Flavor Beans. They open my present next and both looked happy about it. Harry had one parcel left. He opened it and a silvery cloak slid out.

I knew what it was immediately since I read as much as Hermione. "It's an invisibility cloak," I said, beating Ron to it.

"I actually knew what it was," Ron stated with shock and wonder as he stared at it. "Go on. Try it on, Harry!"

Harry threw the cloak over his shoulders. Where the cloak was, you could see through Harry and the cloak. It looked as though his head was suspended. "Look down at your legs, Harry or your legs," I said with a smile. As Harry ran to the mirror, a note fell out of the cloak.

I went and picked the note off the ground as Ron told Harry about the note. I read it over Harry's shoulder, standing on my tip toes as Harry was taller than me.

You're father left this in my possession before

he died. It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

Ron admired the cloak while I thought about who could have given it to Harry. Harry seemed to be thinking too, but at that moment, Fred and George burst into the room. Harry quickly hid the cloak as the twins shouted, "Merry Christmas!"

"Everyone has Weasley sweaters," I said, looking at the sweet and thoughtful gift from Mrs. Weasley. Soon we were all talking about the sweaters. Ron obviously didn't like his, which made me faintly annoyed because his mother had to care if she made him a sweater every year.

Percy suddenly came in, complaining about the noise. The twins and I put his sweater on for him. He didn't get his arms through, so he looked really funny.

Christmas was great. It was very funny to watch the teachers and we got the most delicious food I've ever eaten in my life. We went outside after dinner and through snowballs at each other. Fred, George, and I then stole Percy's prefect badge, so he chased us all around the Griffondor tower.

We never did get caught, but I had a bad feeling Percy was going to get back at us. I could deal with it though. I then went to bed, but I couldn't go to sleep so I went to the common room to study for a little bit and hope that made me fall asleep.