My sleep was pretty restful, that is until my dream started. In it I was back at Hogwarts and was walking with my brother and friends and someone who seemed to be my boyfriend judging from the fact that his arm was around my waist. We were all laughing and talking and having a good time together. When I tried to get a closer look as to who it was I was dating all I saw was a blur and the closer I got the more everything around me blurred. I couldn't even tell what house he was in because we were in casual clothes. As we got closer to Hogsmeade I decided to take the chance to lean in really close to see if maybe I could figure out who it was but I just fell right through him and awoke with a start.

Groaning and rolling over I saw that it was half past seven and decided to go ahead and get ready. Dumbledore will be here in a little over an hour. I grabbed a uniform from my trunk and all my shower necessities before dashing to the bathroom. I jumped in the shower and quickly worked my hair up into a nice lather with my favorite strawberry shampoo. I then rinsed and conditioned my hair with the matching strawberry conditioner. Next I quickly shaved and washed my body with my favorite vanilla scented body wash. When I got out of the shower I smelled heavenly and was content with myself.

After getting out of the shower I quickly dried off and set to blow drying my hair. The slow process made me look forward to being able to magic again all the more. Twenty minutes my hair was dry and falling in perfect spiral curls down my back. Then I got dressed slowly, relishing in the fact that I finally get to wear this uniform again. Though unlike most of my female peers I opt to wear my favorite black combat boots instead of mary janes or loafers.

When I'd finished with all my beautifying I still had about twenty minutes until Dumbledore was due to arrive and I decided to go ahead and bring my luggage downstairs. After a bit of a struggle with my trunk, I'll have to remember to cast a feather light charm on it when I get back to school, I had my stuff stacked by the door and still had ten minutes to spare so I grabbed a breakfast bar and a small glass of apple juice to hold me over until lunch.

With five minutes remaining I grabbed my wand from my bag for the first time in almost five months and couldn't hold back the sigh of relief upon feeling my magic surge through me again. I was getting ready to put it back when there was a knock on the door and I jumped. Checking to see who the visitor was through the peephole I threw the door open in glee when I saw that it was Dumbledore and threw myself into his arms. He was shocked but soon patted my back with a chuckle as I laughed at myself.

"It's a pleasure to see you too Miss Potter. Now are you ready to go, or do you have a few last minute things to take care of? An acquaintance perhaps, or a furry little friend?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes before glancing over his shoulder into the woods. Oh yeah! I forgot to say bye to Jake and the guys! I thanked Dumbledore before running into the kitchen and calling Jake, he wasn't there so I just left him a message telling him that I had to leave and that I'd miss him and to give everyone my love. My call completed, I turned to Dumbledore and nodded my head saying I was ready to go.

We made our way out into the middle of the street, where he cast a quick mass obliviate on all of the town who's seen me the past couple months as well as Charlie. He'd already sent my trunk and bag to Hogwarts and now it was just me and him. He offered me his arm which I looked at nervously, I've never really liked apparating because it messes with my stomach but I didn't have much of a choice right now. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before taking ahold of his arm.

Twenty seconds, and a whole lot of discomfort later we landed and I opened my eyes. There was no stopping the loud squeal that escaped my lips as I saw the only place I've ever really considered home. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My emotions were going haywire as we approached the gates surrounding the school, and for once I was glad that Jasper wasn't around because with how ecstatic I was he would've been doing an Irish jig in vampire speed, the image of which caused me to laugh which earned me a quirked eyebrow from the headmaster. When we reached the gates I stopped and grabbed the sleeve of Dumbledore's robes forcing him to stop as well. I had him cast a disillusionment charm on me so that I could make it up to my dorm, which I now only shared with Hermione, so that I could unpack all my stuff and make myself at home while everyone else was in class.

I made it to my dorm room without a hitch and managed to unpack and organize all my stuff with about an hour and a half remaining before dinner. I snuck into my brother's dorm to borrow our dad's old invisibility cloak and then made my way to the headmaster's office so that I could get my schedule, as well as have him lift the spell from me.

Though on my way to his office I made a slight detour when I saw a certain white blonde head of hair in the crowd heading towards where I was standing. When I saw him I realized just how much I've missed him, Draco Malfoy, my brother's arch rival and my long time crush. I've liked him since I first saw him with Harry in Madame Malkin's before we started our first year. As I watched him draw nearer a brilliant idea struck me. When he passed right by me I leaned over and whispered "I'm back Draco" in his ear and leaned back to see what his reaction would be.

It was not what I was expecting in the slightest. His entire body froze as his head whipped around in search of where my voice came from. When he didn't see anything I watched as his face practically crumbled it fell so hard. He looked so crushed and I wanted to do nothing more than to reach out and wrap my arms around him in comfort but I couldn't. He's my enemy, we're never to be and it hurts that I can't tell him. Not even my friends know about my feelings and I trust them with my life. I had to watch as he sulked away to his next class and every dragged step further made my heart ache a little more than the last.

After finally making it to the headmaster's office I couldn't help but slap my forehead in frustration at my own stupidity. I'd never asked him for the password and now I'm stuck down here until he comes down for dinner. I was only pacing back and forth for about thirty minutes before the griffin sprang to life and the staircase started moving downwards. When Dumbledore stepped off the bottom step I tapped him on the shoulder to let him know of my presence and he lifted the spell, having a nice little laugh when he saw the look of frustration on my face.

"Now Miss Potter, if I were you I wouldn't have such a sour look on my face if I were about to see all of my friends after five months of no contact. Now hurry along, it's time for dinner." I smiled brightly up at him and gasped when I remembered my plan for my entrance and quickly told him about it before we reached the great hall. He agreed to go along with my plan and even added a few adjustments of his own to make it flow more smoothly.

Throwing the cloak over myself I followed Dumbledore through the back door to the teacher's table and stood behind him as he sat down and started the feast. I watched as all my friends started talking and eating, and I couldn't help but notice that Dumbledore wasn't lying when he said that the gryffindors weren't as lively as they usually are, even the Weasely twins weren't being their rambunctious selves. After a few minutes I tapped the headmaster's shoulder letting him know I was ready and he enacted the beginning of the plan. As I transformed myself into a clone of him, he stood from his seat and got the attention from everyone in the hall as he started to make an announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to make an announcement, I would li-" and he sneezed which with a little bit of magic caused the hall to become encompassed in darkness and he cast a disillusionment charm on himself and we quickly switched spots before he returned the light to the room. I smiled at everyone sheepishly before imitating the headmaster before making my presence known. "Sorry everyone, I forget how powerful a little sneeze can be sometimes.." and I allowed everyone to chuckle along with me for a second before I cleared my throat.

"Now as I was saying, I have an announcement to make…." And with that I transformed back into myself with gasps erupting from all over the hall. "I'm back Witches! Who missed me?" and everyone started screaming at once as I laughed and jumped off the platform and made my way to my friends and brother who were jumping in their seats in excitement.

I was jumped when I finally reached them and was suddenly tangled up in a mass of arms as they all hugged me and jumped around in their excitement and I could hear the twins chanting loudly above everything else, "Ash is back! Ash is back! ASH IS BACK!" I couldn't help but laugh at everyone's enthusiasm and feel touched seeing how much they really missed me while I was gone even though it was only a couple months.

After several more minutes of hugging and exclamations everyone released me and we sat down to eat. I'd really missed the food and had some of everything in front of me, catching up with my friends. During dinner Harry, Ron and Hermione questioned me about what happened while I was gone and I answered the questions vaguely promising to go into more detail later when we couldn't be overheard by nosy ears. I couldn't shake a feeling I was being watched throughout all of dinner and when I turned around as desert took the main course's place I froze, as hazel met stormy silver.