Remember I update by the year but it has multiple parts, so be checking what chapter you're on so you don't lose your place. Please, please, please drop a comment on what you think. Thanks guys!

I managed to grab a couple muffins in the nearly empty Great Hall, sliding into my desk in Charms right as the bell rang and Professor Flitwick started the lesson. I split ways with Keeli at lunch to return to the tower to deal with my potion. Now that it'd matured I labeled it carefully into a dozen little phials for our inevitable future use. It only took me about ten minutes and I quickly cleaned up and rushed out the door to get to lunch, only to get nearly knocked over by someone coming around the corner of the corridor.

"Hey!" I shouted, rubbing my arm where they'd ran into me.

"Amelia!" Cad sighed. "Thank God. I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

"One of the Gryffindors got poisoned and we need you to give him an antidote."

"Poisoned? By what?"

"No time. Get your potions things and come with me."

"But-"

"There's no time!" he shouted again.

"Fine." I grit my teeth, turning around and having him follow me to my dorm. I grabbed my cauldron and my potion's kit, making sure I had every potion's book I owned. He carried my cauldron as I shoved some phials into my bag and we darted back out of the common room. I checked in the hallway for Eleanor before we scurried through the hallways, heading across the staircase to the other side of the floor.

"Care to at least tell me why he doesn't just go to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Well, he may have, uh, gotten into something he shouldn't have. He's worried he'll get in trouble if he goes to the Hospital Wing."

"Since when has Madame Pomfrey ever gotten anyone in trouble?"

"Look, it's his choice alright, and he said no."

"Care to tell me what he got poisoned by?"

"Not here." he just shook his head.

We arrived at the Gryffindor painting and he said 'Patronus' before holding the door open for me. He rushed me up a set of stairs past a couple doors before pushing open what I presumed to be his dorm room. I saw his friend from the Quidditch match, Charlie, bent over the bed farthest from the door. Another Gryffindor boy was lying on the bed covered in sweat, his right arm looking a sickly shade of purple-blue.

"What in Merlin's name?!" I set my things on the floor, rushing over to get a closer look.

It was swollen slightly and the bruise seemed to be centered around four puncture marks, two sets, near his wrist. His breathing was shallow and his eyes closed, clearly in a lot of pain even though he was passed out.

"Cadacues Mervin, you tell me what this is about." I scowled at him as I held my fingers to the boy's throat to feel his heartbeat.

"Well you see, little Ollie here as a proclivity for exotic animals. He may have perhaps managed to get a hold of one only for it to, uh, get ahold of him back."

I examined the marks again, seeing the four distinct holes and running all I knew about bites through my head.

"Is this a snake bite?" I glared at him.

"Wow, she is good." Charlie tried to smile, clearly still worried about his mate. "Yeah, he got bitten by a Runespoor."

"A Runespoor? Where did he even get one?! They're from Africa! Cad, he needs to see Madame Pomfrey."

"Look, he said no."

"And I'm sure he'll forgive you when he doesn't die."

Cad lost his playful smile, looking directly into my eyes. "He made me promise, Aims."

"I understand Cad, but this is-"

"No, Amelia. You don't understand. I gave him my word."

I sighed, looking back to the boy on the bed. "What are you going to do if I say no?"

"Go find someone else who might be able to save him, but to be honest I don't know who'd I'd start with. You're the only person I know who might be able to help him." both Cad and Charlie's faces were dead serious, and I'd never seen either of them go so long without cracking a smile.

"On one condition. If I try, you have to promise me if things get worse and I can't help him, I can get Madame Pomfrey."

Cad pursed his lips and I knew it was difficult, giving his word to two people that directly contrasted with each other, but he was saved from having to decide by Charlie putting his hand out to me.

"Deal."

I shook on it, bending down to get my things. "First thing I'll need is the snake."

"The what now?"

"The Runespoor, the thing that bit him? I'll need it."

"Funny story." Cad rubbed the back of his neck. "We lost it."

"You lost it?!"

"It ran off into the woods, and we were more worried about taking care of Oliver than catching the bloody thing." Cad defended.

I sighed, closing my eyes as my mind worked a mile a minute. "Okay, I have another solution, but it's tricky and might not even work."

"Anything." they said immediately.

"I need Runespoor venom, and if we can't find the snake then we'll need some from somewhere else. I know Professor Slughorn has a small amount in his personal store, but I doubt he'd part with it willingly."

"We'll nick it then." Cad resolved.

"Only because it's an emergency, and you're buying him some more."

"Where is Professor Slughorn's private stores?" Charlie was already heading towards the door.

"Easy now." I gestured him to my bag as I rummaged for a couple phials. "You have to make sure it's two headed Runespoor venom, not three headed."

"What does it matter how many heads it had?" Charlie scowled, but Cad saved me from explaining.

"Runespoors usually bite off the rightmost head because it criticizes them both."

I nodded. "Venom from a whole Runespoor will be useless here, and might kill him. He only has four puncture marks, which meant his was only two headed."

"Okay, two headed snake venom. Got it." Cad nodded as I handed him two phials.

"There, that's some invisibility potion to get down there. Professor Slughorn should be in lunch right now, but he has a double class with the seventh years right after so you'll have to move. He keeps his special supplies in a standing case in his office, usually in the middle of the sitting room or pushed in the back corner near the dining table."

"You really did call in the cavalry." Charlie smirked. "Alright. Dungeons, last door on the right, case in the middle of the floor or by the dining table."

I nodded. "And hurry."

"Be back in a dash." Cad smirked as they both left the room.

I sighed and uttered a few choice words at my most careless friend, turning to his housemate. My first action was fish two phials out of my bag before angling his head and managing to get them to slide down his throat. I then propped his head up with a pillow and placed a cold rag on his head while my cauldron warmed up the water I'd filled it with. I washed off the arm that had the bite, reaching in the bottom of my bag for a tin container holding green ointment I spread over the puncture wounds.

Once I was sure he was as stable as I could get him I started on the potion, propping open my Magical Drafts and Potions book as I worked. I prepared all I could, having to delve into some of my rarer ingredients I'd gotten from Louk last Christmas.

About twenty minutes after they'd left, Cad and Charlie burst back through the door impressing even me. They were thoroughly out of breath but Cad bore a tiny bottle with a flourish of pride. I immediately took it from him and bent over my tools while they checked on their friend.

"How is he?" Charlie asked.

"Hard to say, but I did what I could. I gave him a Girding Potion and a Pain Potion for when he wakes up. I put some Star Grass Salve on his bites to keep infection off until I can deal with it a little more later."

After they were certain Oliver wasn't going to kick the bucket in the next ten seconds they each bent over me, watching me mix unicorn blood with the poison they'd brought me, feeding it to a mass of hungry leeches wriggling around in hunger. It didn't take the creatures long to consume their favorite food before I transferred them to a large glass container where I poured a light green fluid over them.

"What in the bloody hell." Charlie groaned as the leeches started dissolving, releasing a less than pleasant smell.

"It's them, or your mate." I shrugged, pulling up the scarf I had around my neck before dropping in two drops of Bloodroot solution to speed the process up. "Once they're dissolved I can start on the antidote proper. Here Cad, hold this and swirl it around."

I handed it to Cad who grimaced but obeyed as I mashed Vivacious Violetberries and herring oil together in a small wooden bowl. After two minutes I set my mash down, taking the beaker from Cad and pouring it into the simmering water of my cauldron. Once everything was heated I added the berry and oil mixture. The second the potion turned a rich red color I tipped in powdered Dragon horn, stirring constantly as I waited to see a change in color and white, rolling smoke.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Charlie asked, looking over at Oliver who was grimacing in his sleep.

"No, because I've never done this before. I've only brewed antidotes to poisons, not venoms. If after a few minutes he's the same I'm taking him to Madame Pomfrey and I'd like to see you stop me." I cast Cad a daring glance.

"Thank you." he mouthed silently.

"Your welcome." I mouthed back.

Steam started rolling off the surface of the potion so I took it off the heat, setting it aside to cool. I instructed the two Gryffindors to sit their friend up and get ready to help me force it down his throat as soon as it was cool enough. I stirred it slowly, dipping my finger in every few seconds until it was of a decent temperature. I deployed the ladle I'd been given way back in first year that would never spill, slowly working down roughly a Runespoor's weight in potion before finally sitting back with a sigh.

"He has fifteen minutes. If he's still like this then we're going to the Hospital Wing." I decided, turning to clean up my considerable mess.

"How will we know it's working?" Charlie asked.

I pulled my book closer, scanning the page again. "Swelling should go down in five minutes, and he should be conscious within the hour."

"Ugh, I hate waiting." Cad scowled, standing to pace his dorm room.

I Vanished my cauldron's contents and cleaned my tools, safely packing them in my bag again before sitting on Cad's bed to wait with them. Lunch had come and gone, and I knew the others would be curious when Cad and I were absent at Care of Magical Creatures, but there was no way at the moment to give them a message and it was considerably farther back in my mind than the concern I'd murdered a classmate. At eight minutes I was already preparing my speech about taking him to the Hospital Wing when he started to stir, his eyes moving quickly under his eyelids.

We all stood up and went over to him, and I checked his wound while the others tried calling his name. The swelling had gone down considerably and the skin was regaining it's natural pink flush instead of the bruised blue it'd been earlier. His fingers also seemed to flex a little easier as he twitched around, finally opening his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted.

"I'd say so." Cad's smile was a mile wide. "Welcome back to the land of the living, mate."

"My head feels like it's going to explode." he groaned, guarding his eyes from the sunlight streaming in the window.

"Amelia, you're bloody brilliant." Cad crushed me in a hug, and I'd barely escaped his crushing arms before Charlie was likewise trying to squeeze the breath out of me.

"We owe you big, Hales. I swear, you can call on us anytime."

"Let's slow down now." I pushed both of them away. "We're not out of the woods yet. Just because he's not dead doesn't mean I'm done here."

"What else is there to do?" Charlie looked confusingly at his grimacing friend.

"I neutralized the venom, but that doesn't fix any problems the venom caused while it was in him. Not to mention Blood Sickness, or general infection."

"Look, he's up and about isn't he? I'd say that's good enough." Cad shrugged, Charlie nodding in agreement.

"You wanted my help, and you're getting it. Unless you two know how to cure Blood Poisoning then I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, how long do you have to wait around for that?" Charlie seemed bothered at the prospect.

"A few hours at least, preferably overnight."

"Do you have to be here for that? Let's remember your Head Girl has your number." Cad crossed his arms.

"I don't have to be here to see it happening, but it sets in quick and the cure needs to be administered within a minute of adverse side effects. And besides, who are you to say? You're the one who's been sneaking me out all term."

"Yeah, well, that was different, wasn't it?" his confidence waned and he ran his hands through his hair.

"Can you lot quiet down?" Oliver grimaced.

"Sorry." I whispered, reaching into my potion's case again and pulling another phial out. "Here, this is another pain potion. It should help while you get back to normal."

He just nodded, taking it without any questions and drinking it.

"Charlie, could you get him some water? We need to keep him hydrated. Cad, would you mind getting him something to eat? Preferable plain and easy to handle."

He walked over and started rummaging in his trunk. "Uh, I have some Chocolate Frogs."

I pursed my lips but seeing as no one had anything else I finally gave a heavy sigh and handed him a small piece. Oliver seemed to be doing better by the minute, sitting up in bed and joking with his housemates not two hours after he'd been a foot from death. I pulled out my cauldron again and started on another potion, the three of them settling on a game of Gobstones while I worked. Finally just an hour before dinner started it was finished, and I set a filled flask on the nightstand.

"You're coming around nicely, so I think you're in the clear. This is a Blood Poisoning cure. If he starts getting redness in his eyes, nosebleeds that won't stop, aggressiveness, or convulsions; give him this whole thing and get me immediately."

"You got it." Charlie saluted me.

"Why don't I walk you to your common room?" Cad offered, and I saw his friends exchange a smirk with each other.

"I'll be alright Cad." I tried to head off their teasing, but he just jumped off the bed with a grin.

"Don't be silly, it's only right. I have to make sure Eleanor doesn't jump you, after all."

"She's going to jump me either way. No doubt she heard I missed class."

"Then what better than to have a friend at your side?" he slung his arm over my shoulders, steering me out of their room.

We caught a few stares from the couple people in the common room, but Cad ushered me out too quickly for most people to even notice. He slowed his pace once we stepped into the corridor however, dropping his arm from my shoulders and getting a serious tone.

"You really saved him Amelia."

"Yeah well, tell him to stay away from venomous snakes for a bit. I don't want to make a habit of it."

"You know I owe you now, right?"

I shrugged. "Let's call it even for you returning all the confiscated items."

"Well, I'd like to make it up to you. There's that Hogsmeade visit in a few weeks. Why don't we go together? I'll let you drag me through the bookstore as long as you want."

"Oh, that's really sweet Cad, but Louk already asked me to go."

"Oh." he put his hands in his pockets.

I tried to think of something to cheer him up. "But I have a batch of Veritaserum that needs maturation in the light of the full moon next week. I wouldn't object to a broom ride."

"Yeah, I can do that." he perked up, smiling as we passed a group of Ravenclaws heading downstairs to dinner. "I like the other night we went out. It'd be nice just to hang out again."

"It's a date then." I nodded, waving as I walked up to my tower door.

I hadn't even fully stepped into the common room after answering the knocker's riddle when Keeli snagged my arm, steering me right back around to head down to dinner away from prying wars.

"Where were you?!" she hissed in worry.

I explained quickly, pawning my cauldron off on her so I could hoist my heavy bag onto my shoulder. The line of worry between her eyes grew heavier by the minute, only relaxing slightly as I told her Oliver would probably be alright.

"You cured Runespoor venom?"

"Maybe." I shrugged. "I didn't make it worse at least."

"Wow." she let out a breath as we sat in dinner. "When both you and Cad missed I thought something awful must have happened."

"Well, something awful did happen, just not to me."

"Still though, I'm glad you're alright."

"Does Eleanor know?"

"I doubt it. The seventh years are preparing for their N.E.W.T.'s, so she's been noticing less and less."

"And we'll be all the better for it." I scowled as the girl in question walked in, sliding on the end of the table away from the others.

"Speaking of finals, are you ready?" she gave a kind of weak smile, already knowing the answer.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." I shrugged, our conversation delving into school as the food appeared on the plates around us.

I felt a prod in my back right as I was digging in, Louk leaning back on his bench to reach me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where were you?"

"I'll tell you later." I gave him a knowing look and he nodded finally.

After dinner we returned to the common room, each wrapped up in our own experiments but working at the same desk. My cauldron was bubbling away and I was writing in my journal about my Runespoor treatment, Keeli next to me waving her wand over a set of earrings she'd been carrying around the past few days. At nine precisely we took a pause in our work as Professor Flitwick walked in. Everyone in the common room mirrored us, slipping in bookmarks or pausing in wand movements as we waited for him to unfurl his list. Eleanor herself came down from the dorms, the bookshelf closest to her immediately flinging its books to the floor but one of the closest sixth years to just waved their wand to restore them with a practiced hand.

"Good evening students. I know you're probably all expecting our usual roll call, but after discussing it with the Headmistress we've decided we can cancel the mandatory attendance for the moment. All of you have exams coming up, some of you your O.W.L.'s or N.E.W.T.'s, and we don't want you to have to be worried about a silly roll call every night. Curfews are still enforced of course and if this nasty habit of you all staying in other dorms returns we won't hesitate to reimplement attendance. Your overall attitude about the whole situation has been quite refreshing, and I'm glad you all took everything in such stride. Fifth years and above, your curfew has been returned to ten o'clock at night. Goodnight." he nodded to us before leaving out the portrait again.

Whispers erupted around the common room, all of us giving not so subtle looks over to Eleanor to see her reaction. An entire group of seventh years got up and walked out of the common room, not even sparing the Head Girl a glance as they left. She just pursed her lips and crossed her arms, heading up to the dorms without another word. Keeli and I were all smiles as we turned back to our work, much more relaxed than before.

Oddly, over the next couple weeks, the common room was properly packed with people bent over desks or reading by the fire. Now that we didn't have to be in the tower at a certain time, it was much more relaxing to simply focus on our work rather than being interrupted in the library or kicked out of an empty classroom by a Prefect. By the next Friday when I was getting ready to go out with Cad to mature my potion, I actually had to unlock our dorm window as it hadn't been used by girls of all grades to sneak out through the night. Cad flew by at exactly ten to slide me onto the back of his broom, flying over to the top of one of the stands bordering the Quidditch pitch. It was pretty windy but not unpleasant, and I took the flask of potion out of my bag to set it next to me and bathe in the light of the full moon.

"How long does it need?"

"As long as I can give it." I looked up at potential cloud coverage. "At least the weather is cooperating for now."

"Give it a few seconds, I'm sure it'll take a turn for the worst." he smirked, sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the tall tower. "So how is being free from that stupid roll call every night?"

I shrugged. "Better, but it didn't really stop anyone."

"I thought you all were trying not to antagonize her. How was sneaking out not going to make her mad?"

"We weren't going to seek outright revenge, but we're too busy to worry about a curfew."

"She's lucky she's not a Gryffindor, there would have been outright riots."

"She's gotten better since she's had to focus on her N.E.W.T.s."

"All our seventh years have grown testier about it." Cad groaned. "You can barely smile around them without getting yelled at for being a distraction."

"We don't have to worry about distractions, it's a long standing rule you can never interrupt someone who's working."

"I imagine the Ravenclaw common room is a lot like a whole house of people constantly studying for N.E.W.T.'s and honestly it sounds like hell."

"To some people I'm sure."

We lapsed into silence and Cad looked around a little, glancing down at the expanse of air below us that led down to the pitch.

"Think if I threw my broom down there, then jumped after it, I'd be able to catch up with it before we hit the ground?"

"Probably not, we're not that far up."

"What about off, like, the Astronomy tower?"

"Probably still not, and it sounds really stupid."

"Why?"

"There is about a ninety-nine percent chance you'd fall to your death."

"Guess I'll just have to be that one percent then."

"That's not even remotely how it works."

"I mean, someone has to be the one percent, right?"

"Yeah, but- ugh, nevermind." I shook my head.

He smirked as a loud howling noise erupted from the forest, close enough to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I reached out for Cad's hand, gripping it tightly as both our heads whipped towards the sound. It was probably a few hundred meters away but the mere thought of a werewolf anywhere near us was enough to send my anxiety into overdrive.

"It's alright." he smirked, squeezing my hand. "It's far off, and even if it comes closer we can get away easily if it spots us at all."

"Sorry, the forest really just creeps me out." I sighed, the gentle pressure of his hand soothing my nerves.

"Don't worry, one day we'll go in and you'll see you have no reason to be scared anymore."

"You still want to go in there?" I scooted a little closer to him as the howling sounded again.

"Well yeah. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my promise. But the second we know the Patronus Charm you can bet your hat we're charging in their full pelt. When do we learn that, anyway?"

"Fifth year I think."

"What?" he scowled. "Well that won't do. I don't want to wait that long."

"A promise is a promise."

He paused before sighing. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Even if you do learn the Charm, you know it would take a lot of convincing to get the others in there."

"Oh, I don't know about that." he gave me a sneaky grin. "I think I've worked it all out."

"Oh really?"

"Well, if I go, Amber is guaranteed. So is Matt and Molly, and don't think for a second I couldn't convince you."

"Of course you couldn't!"

He just gave me a condescending look. "Anyways. That just leaves Damian, who is bound to come if Amber does, and Louk who isn't about to let you and Damian out of his sight. That just leaves Keeli but if Matt follows us and she'd be left alone if she stayed, I figure she's guaranteed to as well. So you see, it's all but decided."

"You forget Louk is stubborn as a Hippogriff and if he thinks he's being played he'll refuse on principle."

"Well yeah, but what are his options? Letting you and Damian potentially be eaten alive? He'd let the rest of us burn probably, but not you two."

"That's assuming you could convince me to go in there at all."

"I'm nothing if not persuasive." he winked at me.

I just rolled my eyes, dropping his hand. "So you think."

"We'll see, won't we?" he laid back, putting his hands behind his head as he looked up at the stars.

I laid back with him, and we switched topics to the much more tame subject of plans over the summer. He told me all about a trip to France his Dad was planning, and I in turn prattled on about the potions I wanted to brew over holiday where I could give them more attention. We stayed out for longer than we probably should have, but I was so paranoid my potion wouldn't get the moonlight exposure it needed which would greatly impact its potency. Cad returned me to my window just a mere two hours before the bell with a huge yawn. I apologetically handed him two phials filled with purple potion.

"Sorry to keep you out so late."

"Hey, what else was I going to do? Sleep?" he scoffed, slipping them into his robes. "I'd much rather spend a night talking with you."

"Don't get eaten by any werewolves on your way back." I tried to joke, glancing over at the forest.

"I'll do my best. Goodnig- er, morning."

I waved as he flew off, closing the window behind me and sitting on my bed to read for the next hour before the others woke up. An hour nap would be useless, and the Wide Eye potion would be more than enough to get me through the day, so I spent the time in relative peace scribbling in my notebooks about antivenoms as the sunlight slowly started to fill the dorm.

May presented itself in a torrent of rain, and most days were spent more often than not sitting in the second floor corridor bent over homework. The last Hogsmeade visit of the year came up much faster than anyone was ready for, and the entire castle was buzzing as people made plans for the last real breath of fresh air before exams. We didn't get to wait in line together, so Louk and I didn't meet up until after we'd passed through Filch's inspection. He was standing in the sunshine right outside the castle's East exit.

"You ready?" he was in black pants and a loose grey shirt, a muggle jacket pulled over it all to keep off the slight chill of the morning.

"Sure am." I smiled, smoothing down the skirt I was now glad Keeli had made me wear, falling into step next to him as we set on the path to the village. "Anything specific?"

"No, I figured we'd keep it shorter than last time. I know you probably want to get back to studying."

"For all the good it will do." I shrugged, sighing. "I doubt I'm ever going to get a decent grade in anything except potions."

"I can tutor you if you want, in DADA I mean."

I shook my head. "No, I think I'm just going to have to accept that I'm as good as I'm going to get."

"There's nothing wrong with doing your best."

"I know, I guess I just feel like I should be getting better grades. Everyone thinks since I'm in Ravenclaw I have to be good at every subject ever invented."

"I don't think that." he said simply.

"That's because you know I'm bad at most subjects. It would take you about two seconds to jinx me into a puddle of goo." I teased, but he didn't return my smile.

"You know I'd never jinx you."

I thought for a second. "I think you would, if you had to."

"Would you jinx me?"

"Anyone would do just about anything given the right circumstances." I pointed out. "Never is a frequently hyperbolic word we use too much."

"I guess. I wouldn't like it if I ever had to jinx you though."

"Now that I believe." I smiled, trying to steer the conversation to something lighter. "Lucky for you we get to test it today. I'm gonna have to drag you through the apothecary to get a few things."

"Well, I figured that." he smirked. "It's where you usually drag me first."

"You love it." I stuck out my tongue.

True to his word he complained minimally as I spent thirty minutes weighing out my purchases of everything from leeches to Wiggenweld Tree bark. I tried to make it short since he was being so docile, and we were in the Dark Arts section of the bookstore as quickly as I could manage. I let him talk to me about countercurses and Dark creatures while he flipped through a few books, finally selecting ones on Dark creatures from North America. He leaned against a bookshelf and started on it as I went through the mountain of fiction books I wanted.

After a quick stroll through the potions section we headed to the repair shop to have one of the technicians look at my set of scales I'd accidentally spilled acid on. We were told to come back in thirty minutes so we went for a walk around town, finally getting a chance to talk about Cad's friend's poisoning and the finer details of everything that had happened during Eleanor's reign of terror. It was nice just to get to talk for a while, debating the finer points of venomous versus poisonous creatures and the different measures of concealment in rank of effectiveness. After my scales were repaired we went to the Three Broomsticks to get a drink, continuing our discussion as rain started to tap against the windows. We reluctantly put the hoods on our coats up to walk back to the castle but it petered off just as we arrived, so we decided to go for a long walk around the grounds since it'd been so long since we'd caught up. Finally an hour before dinner I said I had to go and we stepped back into the castle to say our goodbyes at the bottom of the stairs.

"I, uh, I have something for you. To keep in touch over summer break." Louk reached into his bag, handing me a plain brown journal.

"I doubt Matilda could carry this." I smirked, taking it carefully and flipping through the blank pages.

"Well, it's something I've been working on." he shifted around on his feet, not looking directly at me. "It's part of a pair, and I have the other one, which can copy each other."

"So if I write in this, you'll see it on yours?"

"Pretty much." he nodded. "It's fine if you don't want to use it. I know it's kind of stupid, but-"

I cut off his rambling with a hug. "Thanks, I love it."

"Really?"

"Of course. Now we can talk to each other all summer without having to worry about my Mom banning owls from the kitchen."

"That was the idea. I know things are going to be awkward when you go home, and I figured sometimes you might just need someone to talk to." he shrugged nonchalantly but his smile gave him away. "Anyways, I just wanted to give it to you now so I don't forget about it with exams and all. If you wouldn't mind, could we keep this between us? If the others know they'll all want one and I'm not about to make six more of those."

"It'll be our little secret." I nodded, making his smile grow wider.

"Well alright then." he nodded before turning to head to his dorm.

I barely had a chance to put my things away before Keeli roped me into the study session with her, Dorothy, and Eunice had been wrapped in all day. I quizzed them on potion ingredients all through dinner and we even touched on Charms before eventually nodding off on our beds from the excitement of the day.

With Hogsmeade come and gone, exams seemed to be about two days instead of two weeks later. I wasn't so much anxious during most of them as just depressed, knowing no matter how hard I worked my scores would be abysmal. I tried my hardest on the non-wand exams, and I felt I at least had done well in Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures in which I probably hadn't studied as diligently as I should have. Of course potions went smoothly, as well as Herbology, and I accepted to take what I could get. With History we were finally able to put away our textbooks for another holiday, spending the last two weeks at Hogwarts lounging about the sunny grounds having fun. With the Quidditch cup over the pitch was now empty most days, and it was a favourite of the others to challenge each other to impromptu games. Keeli, Matt, and I would always sit in the stands reading or talking while they bumbled about, but it was good fun to watch them take turns at trying to Keep and failing spectacularly.

Finally it was time for the train ride home. The boys helped us load our trunks onto the luggage racks, making sure our various owl cages were securely strapped down before we took our seats. Keeli and I played with the Reusable Hangman with the Slytherins, seeing who could stump the others for the longest. As we passed the landmarks nearing London my anxieties grew stronger, eventually making me duck out of the game and stare out the window biting my lip. All too soon Molly was placing my trunk on the platform and we'd said our goodbyes, dispersing to our separate families. I took a deep breath before walking up to my Mum who was hugging my younger sisters.

"Hey Mum." I bit my lip as a silence settled over our group.

"It's so good to see you, Amelia." she smiled and stepped forward, wrapping me in a hug.

I hugged back but we broke apart quickly, trying to clear space on the platform for the multitude of families around us. We divided ourselves into two groups and I chose to stay with my Dad as my Mum Apparated with my three younger sisters from the large roped off area on the side of the platform. My Slytherin sister and I grabbed his arm tightly while trying to make sure we were holding our luggage securely.

Despite our warm reunion, the divide between us was evident. We still cooked together but there was far less pleasant conversation, and I felt more reluctant to tell her of the trouble I got in through the year. I knew it hurt her, but every time I thought of what she said over winter holiday the hard seed of anger in my chest tightened. I went with my Dad nearly every day to Diagon Alley, and spent most of my time at the Mervin's with Tempy or walking around with Cad. At nights, sometimes even so late as early morning, Louk and I would write to each other in his special journal. Despite his animated vocabulary, I had the feeling he wasn't too fond of summer holidays.

Unfortunately, I found myself starting to agree with him.