Amber Chamberlin
I've always found it so funny how feelings and perspectives can change so quickly. You look at people and think, gosh how can they be so naïve, but you never really know what it's like to feel like that until you've experienced it. I was one of those people who judged people quickly on how naïve they where and I now know how wrong I was to do that. Once you've been through something like that, you never want to go through it again, but you end up doing so anyway. Feelings can be hurt so easily but you still love the person who crushed them anyway because you loved them too much. You couldn't explain it but it was undeniable.
"Amber quickly! We're going to end up missing the train if you don't hurry up!" My older sister, Jenna, cried as we weaved in and out of people in Kings Cross Station on the first of September 2020.
"She's always slow Jen, there's no hurrying her up." My older brother, Greg rolled his eyes as he practically bolted over a ticket barrier that you're supposed to walk through. We'd have security running after us if we weren't careful.
"I am hurrying up!" I sighed. It was hard to keep up with Jenna and Greg because they were both so sporty and I....well I wasn't.
September the first 2020 was the day that marked the start of my sixth year at Hogwarts School Of WitchCraft and Wizardry. I loved Hogwarts and I always looked forward to going back every year. Most kids would be thankful for the summer holidays but I never was. I hated going home because all I'd do was sit in our massive family mansion and do nothing for the whole summer.
My parent's, Daniel and Tamara Chamberlin, where really strict with all three of us. None of us were allowed out in the summer holidays. However, Jenna snuck out at night to meet her boyfriend, Matt and Greg always snuck out to go merlin knows where. I could never go and visit my friends because they lived to far away and we were still underage witches. I hated being at home.
It was always a relief to go back to Hogwarts and I counted down the days to September the first.
We finally made it to the wall between Platform's nine and ten with three minutes to go until the train left the station. Thankfully Greg and Jenna let me go through first so that I wouldn't end up banging into the wall just as the barrier closed at eleven o'clock.
I finally made it through and had no time to take in the beautiful sight of the Hogwarts Express because Jenna came running through seconds later, meaning that I had to quickly pull myself and my trolley out of the way so that she wouldn't crash into me.
"Come on Amber, what are you waiting for?!" Jenna called, ushering me over to where two wizards were loading the remaining luggage of students on to the train. We quickly gave them our luggage with Greg quickly following and forced ourselves through the door just as the train began to move.
"Few, we made it." Greg grinned, wiping his hand across his forehead in mock relief.
"It was your fault that we were rushing in the first place Greg." I rolled my eyes as we made our way down the train looking in each compartment to find our separate friendship groups.
"I was not, I was merely sorting out my hair- oh hey Kye!" Greg called to his friend before dashing up the train to sit in a compartment with his seventh year friends.
"Oh bye Gregory." Jenna rolled her eyes and we carried on making our way down the train. Even though Greg and Jenna where twins, they hardly ever got on. It was strange.
Jenna left me soon after to sit with her friends, Kathrine, Reeva and Helena in a Ravenclaw compartment. Jenna had always been the cleverest one in the family whereas myself and Greg lagged behind a little.
"AMBER!" The extremely loud voice of one of my best friends, Nadia Lovera cried from down the train. I rolled my eyes and slowly made my way over to her.
"Merlin Nadia, do you have to be so loud?" I laughed as I finally reached her.
"Of course I do, you know me. We're sat in here, we've been waiting for you!" Nadia grabbed my arm and pulled me inside the compartment where the rest of my friends where sat talking. Cassidy, or Cassie Harris was sat next the window having a heated discussion with my other best friend Kieran Miles who was sat across from her.
"Amber! Where have you been?!" Cassie cried, quickly pulling me into a tight hug. Cassie was just as bubbly as Nadia, but she also had a very sensible side and she was pretty clever. She had bright blonde hair which matched mine and beautiful blue eyes. Cassie was extremely pretty and everybody knew it. She always had a long line of boys crawling at her feet.
"Greg was taking his time again and we nearly missed the train." I rolled my eyes as I took a seat next to Kieran.
"Your brother is so stupid, but hot." She winked at me.
"Ew, please don't." I wrinkled my nose up in disgust.
"I'm not going to disagree with her there." Nadia shrugged, closing the compartment door.
"I will, don't worry." Kieran patted my shoulder.
"How are you best friend?" I turned to Kieran.
"I'm great thank you best friend how are you?" He grinned.
"I'm absolutely brilliant thank you." I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder for a while and then sitting back up again.
"I feel like we're missing someone." Cassie looked at the three of us with her eyebrows furrowed.
"That's because we are. Tanner, James and Fred aren't here yet." Nadia told her.
"Oh no." I groaned. Tanner Jordan, James Potter and Fred Weasley were the most annoying and troublesome boys in the whole of Gryffindor House. They were always causing trouble and they annoyed me all the time. I was glad to have a little bit of piece and quiet from them but they were everywhere.
Unfortunately they were really good friends with Kieran so they were part of our friendship group. I had to see them everyday of the year except from during the holidays.
James Potter was the worst out of the three of them. I could mostly tolerate Tanner and Fred, but James was a different story. He bugged me all the time and never left me alone. Nadia and Cassie would tell me all the time that he had a crush on me, but I never believed it. Why would James have a crush on me? He lived to annoy me! He was also one of the best looking boys in our year, although I'd never tell him that. It'd make his ego much bigger.
"Never fear, Tanner is here!" Tanner suddenly pulled open the compartment door and posed in the doorway.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I muttered under my breath.
"Nice to see you too Amber." He winked at me and took the seat beside me.
"Always a pleasure Tanner." I rolled my eyes.
"Why where you talking about me?" He asked, leaning back against the seat.
"I wasn't Cassie was." I shrugged.
"I love you too Cassie." He winked. Tanner was such a flirt. He flirted with every girl but Cassie had always had a soft spot for him. She'd never admit it, but she blushed when Tanner was around.
"Whatever Tanner." She rolled her eyes, but not without blushing a little.
"Where are your two cronies?" Nadia asked him.
"I think they're sat with Al and Lily." Tanner shrugged. Albus and Lily Potter where James' younger siblings and he annoyed them just as much as he annoyed me. I felt deeply sorry for them both because they had to live with him.
Seconds later James Potter and Fred Weasley came bursting through the door. Literally. The two of them went flying to the ground, landing on top of each other and on our feet.
"Oh there they are." Tanner rolled his eyes and pulled his feet out from under the two of them.
"Ouch Fred, will you please get off of me! You're so heavy!" We could hear James muffled voice from under Fred.
"Sorry mate." Fred quickly climbed off of him and took a seat next to Nadia.
"What happened?" Kieran asked, looking very amused at the two of them.
"Fred tripped outside the compartment and because he was behind me, he landed on me. I grabbed the door handle but it slid open and we landed in here." James shrugged, brushing himself off as he stood up.
"It's a good job you were all in here because we could have been mobbed." Fred shrugged.
"Mobbed? I doubt it. Maybe if you fell into a Slytherin compartment yes." Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Can I sit right here, thanks." James squeezed himself between myself and Tanner so that we were all sat really close together.
"Or even better Potter, you could sit on the floor." I shrugged, moving closer to Kieran so that I wasn't sat so close to him.
"Aw don't be like that Chamberlin, I missed you over the summer." He batted his eyelashes at me and stuck his bottom lip out.
"Can you please not call me that." I gritted my teeth.
"But you call me Potter." He shrugged.
"Fine James." I rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat.
"Fine Amber." He replied. I sighed and looked over at Nadia and Cassie who were grinning at each other.
"You four look so squished on there, it's like an Amber sandwich because she's the only girl." Nadia chuckled.
Suddenly James and Tanner turned to look at each other grinning. Kieran suddenly grinned as well and they all shared a look of evil.
"Oh no. What are you planning, I don't like that look." I looked at the three of them warily.
"AMBER SANDWICH!!!" Suddenly the three of them pushed their bodies right against mine so that I was squashed in the middle of James and Kieran.
"OUCH GET OFF!" I cried, struggling to break free from them all. I'd never been sat so close to them all. It was horrific.
"Woah woah! Boys, get away from my sister." Greg and his best friend Kye had stuck their heads around the door.
The three of them quickly jumped away from me and sat back in their own seats. I could finally breath right again. Greg was HeadBoy this year at Hogwarts but most boys were also quite wary of him after he beat up Oliver Thomas, one of my ex boyfriends, in my fourth year because he cheated on me with some blonde Hufflepuff girl.
"We were only making an Amber sandwich Greg, nothing more. However I wasn't watching where James was putting his hands so....." Tanner trailed off with a shrug. Tanner Jordan, causing trouble since 2004.
"Shut up Tanner." James mumbled, blushing bright red, which was a first.
"No touching my sister Potter." Greg warned him before closing the compartment door and walking away again with Kye. He was so protective and it got a bit annoying sometimes. Although he didn't have to worry, there was no way that James Potter could like me and I most certainly didn't like him.
"James Potter, are you blushing?" I leant forward and looked at his face.
"No." He mumbled.
"James I've never seen you blush before!" Cassie cried with a laugh.
"I'm not blushing!" He cried, turning away and resting his face on Tanner's shoulder so that we couldn't see him.
"Aw Jamesie, blushing because of Amber." Nadia grinned.
"I don't think I've ever seen him blush in his life! Wait until I tell Aunt Ginny!" Fred laughed, talking about James' Mother.
"No! Don't tell her anything." James groaned.
"I will." Fred shrugged with a smirk on his face.
"Alright guys, stop bullying my poor James!" Tanner cried, stroking James' face jokingly.
"It's fun." I grinned. I finally had an advantage over James Potter and it was brilliant.
"Go away." James pushed my face away with his hand. I laughed and rolled my eyes, sitting back in my seat.
"So, what did you all do this summer?" Kieran changed the subject, obviously trying to help save James' dignity.
For the rest of the journey, we all chatted about our summer's and caught up with each other's new's. Tanner, Fred and James messed around as usual, but what was new there? It was great having so many friends because I had a different kind of relationship with all of them. They were all different in their own way.
I couldn't wait to see what our year at Hogwarts had coming for us.
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