I watched as Harry made his way to the stage.

This was impossible; he was too young for the age limit. What was this madness? I shared a confused look with Hermione before Harry dissapeared. 

There was silence in the Great Hall. Dumbledore stood among the other Headmasters' glares. He excused us to go off to bed. 

I made my way back to the common room alone. Great. just when I make a friend, something crazy happens. All of the other students still viewed me as a freak because I didn't want to talk. 

I waited in the common room. Everyone else went off to bed-I'm not sure why. 

Harry clambered through the portrait hole, a troubled look on his face. As soon as he saw me, he trudged over. I was glad we were alone; it would have been awkward otherwise. 

"Hey," he said heavily, plopping into the armchair next to me. 

"Hey. What was that?" 

Harry sighed. "I have to compete, and personally I don't need any more danger in my life," he said.

 I gave him a shrug. "Trust me, I know."

He held my gaze for a second too long. "Yeah," he said, dropping his dazzling green eyes. 

I gulped. "You know you can come to me whenever you need anything, right?" I said. 

Harry nodded. I may have known him for only a short while, but I felt a true spark of friendship; he could definetly trust me, and I could trust him. "Hey, Amanda," he said, turning to meet my gaze again. "Last year, when I was in the Shrieking Shack, you heard about the rat, right?"

I nodded. Even though I was always silent, I knew more about the Gyffindors than I should have. 

"Well," harry continued. "Erm, that rat, Peter Pettigrew, he kept saying your name. Amanda. When he pleaded for my help to spare him, he said that- that-" He broke off. Finally he wound words to continue. "Er, he said that you were his daughter."

I shook my head. "No he wasn't." I scoffed. My dad had died, therefore he couldn't be alive. He had been in the army. 

Harry nodded, unconvinced. He decided to drop the subject, which I was kind of happy about. 

Silence fell across the room. The only things that could be heard were the cackling of the fire and the soft snoring of the portraits on the walls. 

Harry scratched the back of his neck. He seemed uncomfortable with the silence. 

Finally, he broke the silence. It wasn't like I was going to. "Well, er, yeah." 

Great job Harry. Awesome conversation starter.

Luckily, he kept talking. "I was wondering, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me, Hermione, and Ron?"

I nodded happily. "Yeah, of course!" I said. "That'd be awesome."

Harry let out a small sigh. I wasn't sure why. "Great. It'll be so fun to have you there." 

I flashed him a smile. "Thanks. You know, I never really thanked you," I said. 

"For what?"

"For talking to me. I'm glad I have a friend."

This seemed to surprise Harry, but he sheepishly grinned at me nonetheless. His jet-black hair was untidy and his glasses were rather crooked on his nose. I laughed. "Well, I'd better get to bed, Harry," I said. I thought I saw a flash of dissapointment in his eyes, but a moment later it was gone. I was sure I'd imagined it. 

"Yeah," he said. "'Night, Amanda."

I smiled. "Goodnight, Mr. Potter," I said in my best Snape voice. He laughed. "Oh, and Harry?" I said in my normal voice, looking back at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Fix your glasses." I said. "You look so dishevled." And I trotted off to bed. 

---

The next morning, Harry arrived at the Gryffindor table with his glasses straight and his hair combed. As he sat down next to me, I laughed. "Made an effort, then?" I said. 

Hermione gave me a questioning look, but I gave her my I'll-tell-you-later look and she shrugged it off. 

Harry nodded. "Well, you did tell me to," he reasoned. 

"True," I said. "But why listen?"

Harry laughed. "Maybe because I take my friend's opinions into account," he said. 

My heart lodged in my throat. I still found it hard to believe I had friends. 

"You don't all the time," Hermione pointed out. "Remember a couple weeks ago when I told you to-"

"Mostly I do," Harry waved it off, but I could swear I saw a light pink on his cheeks. 

I decided to forget about it. 

I noticed Ron had a steely glare on his face. He was looking at Harry. 

Ah, great, I thought. Drama. 

Hermione saw the look on my face and grabbed my hand, pulling me up. "I'm going to take a walk with Amanda," she said, looking at me then tugging on my arm. I caught on. 

"Yeah," I said, smiling and getting up. "see you guys later."

I followed Hermione out the door, unsure why we were leaving. 

Hope it's not death-inducing, I thought as Hermione led me out. That kind of thing always seems to happen with these three.