Amelia's POV

Harry and I woke up; Remus gave Harry and me chocolate, saying that it would help. Hermione and Remus explained to us what had just attacked us.

"A Dementor?" I asked.

Yes, it's supposed to be guarding the prisoners in Azkaban, but it came on the Hogwarts Express to find Sirius Black," Hermione explained.

"If it's supposed to be looking for Black, then why did it come and attack Amelia and me?" Harry asked.

Remus answered, "You guys have dark pasts; the Dementor feeds on that darkness."

"That's not dark at all." Leo added.

Remus stood up "I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..." He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor.

Leo looked at me anxiously and asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Amelia?"

"Aw, you're concerned, I'm flattered!"

"You're annoying."

"I'm annoying! You're Leo Gillingham, you're the exact definition of annoying." I said laughing, Leo joined in.

A few minutes later, Remus, no, Professor Lupin returned.

Professor Lupin said, "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes."

"Are you both all right, Harry and Amelia?"

Harry didn't ask how Professor Lupin knew his name.

"Fine," we muttered in unison. I could tell that Harry was embarrassed; a flush of red came to his face when Professor Lupin asked him.

We didn't talk much during the remainder of the journey. At long last, the train stopped at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville's pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform, rain was driving down in icy sheets. "Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Leo, and I turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake. "All righ', you five?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. We waved at him but had no chance to speak to him because the mass of people around us were shunting us away along the platform. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Leo, and I followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled, probably, by an invisible horse, because when we climbed inside and shut the door, the coach set off all by itself, bumping and swaying in procession. As the carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, I saw two more towering, hooded dementors, standing guard on either side. A wave of cold sickness threatened to engulf me again; I leaned back into the lumpy seat and closed my eyes until we had passed the gates. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione was leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and Hermione, Leo, and Ron got out.

As Harry and I stepped down, a drawling, delighted voice sounded in my ear.

"You two fainted?" said Malfoy, his voice sounding like a knife running across a glass bottle," Are the rumors true? You guys actually fainted?"

Malfoy elbowed past Hermione to block our way up the stone steps to the castle, his face gleeful and his pale eyes glinting maliciously.

"Go away, Malfoy." Leo said.

"Did you faint too, Gillingham? Was the dementor that frightening?"

"Is there a problem here?" Professor Lupin stepped out of the next carriage

With a tiny hint of sarcasm, Malfoy replied "Oh, no - er - Professor" Then he smirked at Crabbe and Goyle beckoning them up the steps.

"Hey, Amelia," said Professor Lupin as Malfoy and his minions walked through the doors of the castle, "May I have a word with you, for a second?"

"Er," I hesitated, "Yeah, sure. I guess I'll meet you guys inside, 'kay?" I told my friends

"Yeah, see ya."

Professor Lupin walked me to the edge of the gates, not too close to the dementors so that I wouldn't faint again, but close enough that I get a bit nauseous.

"What do you want, Remus?" I asked, trying to hide my nervousness.

"Why'd you run?"

"I-" I sighed "I couldn't take it anymore,"

"Take what?"

"The stress! The stress of being your perfect little girl! The stress of hiding from a werewolf, every full moon! The overprotectiveness!" I answered exasperated.

"One of my best friends died, and I was there protecting their child!"

"I was only seven years old, dammit! I couldn't handle it!"

"So you didn't think to tell me?"

"No, because I was seven years old! Won't you just shut up once and listen!"

Silence. Complete silence.

"I-" he hesitated, " I thought I killed you. When I woke up the morning after the full moon, you were gone. No note, no card, no nothing, except for the bracelet I got you a few years earlier, on the floor, covered in blood."

I looked back at Remus, I never thought of it like that before. I was just heated at the moment, back then. I was irrational, I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Did I bite you?" he asked, truly sounding concerned.

"No, you just scratched me on the arm, ripping the bracelet off." I showed him the scratch marks.

"Where did you run to? Were you okay-"

"Remus, I'm fine." I cut him off, knowing that if I didn't there would be a million follow-up questions, "The Knight Bus picked me up, and I've been sleeping there, ever since I ran away."

He sighed in relief, knowing I wasn't completely homeless and unsupervised those six years.

"Uhm, Remus?"

"Yes?"

"I -er- I never told Harry I'm his sister,"

"What?" Remus answered, utterly baffled.

"No one but you and Sirius knows I'm a Potter."

"Are you planning on telling anyone?"

"I just, I don't want people treating me differently just because I'm a Potter. I don't want the attention."

"You've never wanted the attention."

"Exactly," I answered, finally getting someone to talk about this with.

"Look, Amelia, you don't need to tell the world, just Harry. He deserves to know."

"I don't want that to ruin our friendship. I've been lying to him for three years, he's gonna hate me." I said, wiping away tears on my face with the sleeves of my robes.

"I'm sure he'll understand, Amelia. And you don't need to tell him now. Tell him when the time feels right for you." Remus answered. He always seems to know what to say. I really don't know how he does it.

"Okay," I replied, "Let's get back to the castle, now. I'm starving."

We walked back to the castle. After all those years of secret-keeping, I felt so relieved to talk about my past with someone. Even if we screamed at each other, it felt nice to talk to someone who gets me, who's known me most of my life.