Aly grinned at Amanda as she opened the door. She stepped inside of the house, looking surprised to see the boys already there.
"Hello," Amanda said, surprised. She dropped her bags. "What're you lot doing here so early?"
Damien grimaced, turning around. Damien, Hayden and Char were all sitting on the couch, hands clasped anxiously.
"There was a bit of an early end to the party," Damien frowned.
"Like what?" Aly asked, taking off her coat. They walked over to the couch and sat down on the ground.
"Some blundering idiot said You-Know-Who's name," Hayden spat. "The idiot."
"What? Haven't they gotten notices?" Amanda exclaimed. "I thought it was safer up here."
"It was," Char said bitterly. "A death eater just apparated into the house. Lucky for us, we were prepared."
"Who was it?" Aly asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I dunno. Some stupid fifth year who snuck into the party. I think he was a bit tipsy," Char grinned, "But that's besides the point."
Aly shook her head, rolling her eyes. "D'you think they'll be infiltrating here anytime soon? I mean, Hogwarts is a good distance from here, but think of what apparating can do. D'you think they'll start coming in here?"
"I doubt it," Damien shrugged, looking down at her. "That was a one time deal, I hope."
Hayden sighed, looking over at their bags. "So, what'd you do? How was girls' night?"
"Hilarious," Amanda grinned instantly. "Let me tell you. We were in this shop, and some employee comes up."
"Blond hair, blue eyes, earrings, the works. In other words, your average gorgeous Muggle," Aly added.
"So he comes up, completely calls us cute to our faces, touches Aly, and offer to help her put on a sweater in the dressing room."
"And what did you do?" Hayden grinned.
"Made a scene, of course," Aly grinned. "We stormed out of the store, and the owner fired the employee. He gave us fifty percent off everything in the store in retribution."
"Nice," Char grinned. "What'd you buy?"
"Just sweaters, pants, a few little trinkets," Amanda shrugged. "Nothing fancy. We just needed some warmer clothes."
"Glad you had fun," Damien nodded.
Aly smiled at Hayden, and then turned around when she heard a hoot behind her.
Hayden's jaw dropped. "An owl? For who?"
The barn owl hooted again and dropped a letter, took off and flew out of the window. Aly stared at the letter in disbelief. It was...
"A howler?!" Char exclaimed.
Aly walked over to it and picked it up slowly and sat back down. "Who's it for?"
The letter started to shake.
"Open it!" Damien said urgently. "Or it'll explode!"
Aly hastily ripped the letter open and jumped back when the howler rose into the air. The letter opened and Aly stared in astonishment as the howler had formed a mouth.
"Hey, you lot." Aly gaped in disbelief at the sound of Adam's voice coming from the howler.
"Adam?" Damien exclaimed, peering down at it.
Adam's voice was urgent. "It's Adam. Listen...I need Hayden, Aly and Amanda down in London whenever you can get here.. It's about your parents. No, they're not kidnapped, but I think they've figured out that Hayden and Amanda aren't at the Boyles' because they've heard about Mrs. Boyle's capture. You don't need to come down anytime soon. They just want to see you by the time the year ends. Sometime around Christmas, preferably. I'm sure your dad won't mind, Aly. Come down to the lake and we'll take you there. I've got to go. Bye!"
The letter suddenly ripped itself up into shreds, scattering itself on the floor.
Silence, then Hayden looked down at Aly in horror. "They've found out!"
"What can they do?" Amanda asked skeptically. "Mrs. Boyle's gone and there's not a place we can go."
"What if they want you back?" Aly hissed, aware that Darien could be listening by the stairs.
"Then we won't go," Amanda shrugged. "I'm too comfortable up here and I'm not going back to London that's dangerous and full of death eaters. They can yell at me all they like."
"Yeah, but Joy knows where we are," Damien frowned. "She could easily take your parents up there and take you back."
"Then we'll hide," Amanda said simply. She glared at the letter. "I'm simply not going back. End of story."
"When shall we go?" Aly asked.
"Hello?"
Everyone turned to look at Damien and Char, who were smirking. "Remember Darien? And do you really think we're going to let you lot go without us?"
"Of course!" Aly looked appalled. "You have to stay. He asked for us. Besides, if we all leave, he'll get suspicious."
Damien and Char looked at each other reluctantly. "Darien won't let you go. He always makes us do our homework first."
"You're forgetting one thing," Amanda smirked. "By the time Christmas rolls around, the dorms will be up. Which means we can go anywhere without his permission."
Aly smiled as she understood the loophole. "Don't even try to contradict, that Char."
Char growled, looking away.
Aly stood up, smiling. "I think I'll go hang up my clothes."
Amanda stood up. "And I'll help you."
"And I'll glare at you angrily," Char said cheerfully. He glared at them.