CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Letter
Amber left dinner early and went back to her common room where she worked on some Transfiguration homework by the fireplace. Soon, other Gryffindors wandered into the common room, coming from dinner. Amber did her best to focus on her homework and ignore the piece of parchment crumpled inside her robe. She lightly hummed an unnamable tune that randomly popped into her head, calming her down as she read over her textbook.
"We wondered where you wandered off to," George said as he popped his head up over the back of the couch.
"We thought you had died some horrible death or was taken captive by a rival house," Fred added.
"Sorry, I guess I just didn't feel like being social earlier," Amber apologized. "It's been kind of an off day for me."
"Amber, there you are," Neville said with a sigh of relief as he, too approached the couch.
"Was everybody looking for me?" Amber asked, shaking her head.
"You're just usually more social and cheery than this, that's all," George commented.
"Well not today," Amber grumbled to herself.
"Something eating at you?" Fred asked.
"Hey, what's wrong?" George asked solemnly as he sat down on the couch beside Amber, looking at her with those piercingly concerned eyes.
Amber sighed and reached into her robes, pulling out a wrinkled letter, and she handed it to George.
"Nova delivered this just before dinner," Amber said quietly.
George carefully opened the letter and skimmed the words.
"My parents are moving again," Amber sighed, spoiling the ending before George could read it.
"Again?" Neville asked nervously.
"We moved around a lot when I was a kid. Derbyshire, Essex, Kent, Yorkshire...we finally settled in the country just outside of London and my dad said we wouldn't need to move again..."
"Why did you move around so much?" George asked.
"I don't know, my father's work, I think. I don't even know why it's bothering me so much. They're just moving. It's not the end of the world..."
But Amber's face did not match the words coming from her mouth, and she couldn't even manage to crack a fake smile.
"I love our current home so much..." she said wistfully. "A cute little cottage in the country side. So beautiful and remote. So many memories. Playing with my father, cooking with my mother, receiving my Hogwarts letter... and I'll never see it again. Now when I go back home after this year is over, it'll be to someplace new."
"Do you know where?" Fred asked.
"No. They haven't told me yet," Amber sighed.
"Maybe it'll be some place nice," Neville encouraged.
"I'm sure it'll be good when you go back home. Besides, you get to spend most of your year here at Hogwarts anyway...with us," George said.
That did make Amber smile.
"From my experience," Neville said, "it doesn't matter where you live if you're with people you care about. Friends and family alike."
"Yeah, filled with all those fun and annoying people you can't live without," Fred said.
Amber gave a small laugh as she shook her head. "Thanks..." she said shyly, her lips curling up slightly.
"What's everyone doing over here?" came Ron's voice as he poked his head over the end of the couch.
"We're trying to cheer up Amber, obviously. Her family's moving and she's getting a bit homesick," Fred said as though it had been obvious.
"That's bloody rotten, I'm sorry," Ron said.
Soon Hermione and Harry walked up behind Ron to also see what was going on.
"What's with the crowd?" Harry asked.
"We're trying to help Amber," Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Oh no, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Why does my sadness appear to be a magnet for crowds all of a sudden?" Amber asked, all the more confused each time someone new came up.
"This is the Gryffindor house," Harry said, grinning, "there's no sadness allowed here."
"Right!" Fred said as an idea popped into his head.
George gave him a questioning look and Fred whispered something into his ear that made him smile. George nodded at his brother and Fred ran off with a determined and excited look on his face.
"What?" Amber asked, wary from the strange grin George gave her.
"You'll see," George said. "Now put that dreadful homework away; you have someplace else you need to be right now."
"I do?" Amber asked, still not in the mood to do much of anything.
George took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Yes, you do," he said with a smile.
Fred ran back and pulled Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Neville aside into a huddle where he began whispering to them as well. They all started to smile, throwing glances at Amber, and then they followed Fred like a group on a mission.
What on earth are they up to? Amber asked herself, her curiosity growing.
"Come on," George said, tugging on her hand, "let's take a walk."
George led Amber down the grand staircase and through a long corridor that took them out to a courtyard. Every time Amber thought they had finally arrived at their destination, George would start walking again, leading her through several turns. Amber felt like they were walking in circles as they ventured outside, around a quad, then back inside through more hallways, and back outside again. His plan was obviously to stall her, though she still didn't have a clue why. Amber thought hard about what they could possibly be planning, but none of her ideas seemed plausible.
"Are you going to keep leading me in circles?" Amber asked, one eyebrow raised.
"What? I would never," George said humorously as he put a hand to his chest, pretending to look innocent. "We're just taking a nice walk, like I said."
"Riiiight." Amber rolled her eyes with a smile.
George continued to lead her through a seemingly random maze throughout the castle when he finally led her determinedly through a more specific set of corridors until he pushed open a door and led her onto a large field-like stadium surrounded by large bleachers. She spotted several poles on either side of the field with large rings atop them. Amber looked further out onto the pitch and saw her friends there, giggling amongst themselves. Amber looked at George.
"What is this?" she asked as he continued to lead her over to the small group.
"You are standing on Hogwart's Quidditch pitch," George announced.
"And today, you're going to learn to how play," Fred said gleefully as he walked up to them.
"Really?" Amber asked, taken aback as one side of her mouth curled into a confused smile.
"We promised you we would," George said.
"Plus the timing is perfect," Fred added. "There's no one else around, no teams clambering for practice time on the quad, no crowds, no onlookers. Just your friends."
Amber looked behind Fred and saw Neville, Ron, Hermione, and Harry walking toward her with brooms in their hands.
"You guys really want to help me learn Quidditch?" Amber asked. "Do you even know how to play?" Amber asked.
"I'm willing to learn," Hermione said with a hopeful shrug.
"I could use the practice," Harry smiled.
"I'm already an expert," Ron said proudly, making everyone laugh. "But I'd never turn down an opportunity to play Quidditch."
"I—I guess I could try," Neville said nervously. But he still wore a shy smile as he looked at Amber.
"Besides," Fred said as he jumped in, "it'll be fun."
"So what do you say?" George asked Amber.
Amber looked around at all the smiling faces gazing at her and realized she had a lot more friends than she even realized. She thought back to the mirror in that secret room, and remembered being surrounded by several friendly faces. She had never known so much kindness before, and she knew that these people were like a second family to her already, and that Hogwarts truly was like a second home. A grin spread across her face.
"I say you'd better prepare to have your butts whooped at Quidditch!" Amber said enthusiastically, oozing her sassy confidence.
The group cheered and started to set up. Fred and George explained the rules and the concept of the game.
"You're team captain one," Fred said to Amber, "and I'm team captain two. You get one beater, one chaser, one seeker, and one keeper. And since you're team captain, you get to choose what position you'd like to play."
"So what'll it be?" George asked. "A tough and ruthless beater to distract and protect other players? A fast and strategic chaser to score those goals? A quick responding keeper to block the rings? Or a sharp eyed seeker to spot and catch the golden snitch?"
"I want to try being a...chaser," Amber said, her lips curling up as excitement filled her chest.
"A chaser it is," George said proudly. "Now it's time to choose the rest of your team. Since you're new to this, you get first pick."
"Okay..." Amber said, turning to look over her friends, who were all standing in a line, with the exception of Fred, who was standing beside her. "
George," she finally said, who smiled and walked over to her.
"Ahh, pitting my own brother against me," Fred said. "Your tactics won't work on me. Harry!"
Harry ran over to Fred's side, and Ron looked greatly offended that he hadn't been picked by his own brother first.
"Neville," Amber said, smiling at her nervous friend.
"Are you sure?" he whispered as he stood next to her.
"Positive," Amber said softly, smiling back.
"Ron!" Fred said, and his brother ran over to him, thankful not to be the last one picked.
Amber smiled at Hermione, who now stood alone, and then it dawned on her that they didn't have enough players. If she chose Hermione, then Fred's team would be short one player.
"What are you waiting for?" Fred asked.
"But wait, we're missing someone," Amber said, confused.
Just then Amber heard footsteps walking up behind her, and turned to see Rose walking up with two familiar brooms within her grip.
"You were saying?" Rose smiled as she cocked her head to the side.
"Rose!" Amber ran up and hugged her friend tightly, so glad that Rose was here to complete the picture.
"Fred found me and told me everything," Rose whispered, still in Amber's embrace. "I'm so sorry you're family is moving. I completely understand what you're going through. We'll talk about it later."
Rose pulled away and smiled, handing Amber her reddish-brown broom from the vanishing room. "I think you'll be needing this."
Amber smiled as she took her broom, incredibly grateful. They both walked back up to the group, still anxiously awaiting the final picks for the teams.
"Glad you finally made it," Fred smirked at Rose. "You almost missed the team pick."
"Then I'd say my timing is just perfect," Rose said sassily as she smiled back. Her smile fell when she saw Hermione. Rose awkwardly walked up beside her, trying not to look at her or Ron.
Amber could tell Ron wanted to say something, but Fred gave him a threatening nudge as though to tell him not to cause any problems. Ron sighed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he tried to avoid looking at Rose.
"Still your turn to choose," Fred said to Amber.
"I choose Rose," Amber grinned, bringing the smile back to Rose's face as she hurried over to Amber's side and looked at her team. Rose looked grateful to be on a team with people who actually liked her.
"Then I choose Hermione," Fred said.
Ron seemed grateful to be on a different team from Rose. Hermione as well. And their disgruntled attitudes soon disappeared as they got over the fact that Rose was playing with them. (Ron actually seemed to be more excited to be playing against Rose in the game).
"Do you know how to play?" Amber whispered to Rose, realizing she had missed the orientation.
"Fred explained it to me earlier," Rose nodded.
Fred took his team off to the side and started assigning Quidditch positions to his team. Amber waved her own team into a huddle.
"All right, I'm the chaser," Amber said to her team. "George, you're our beater. Rose, you're our seeker. And Neville, you're our keeper."
Neville gulped. "Are...are you sure?" he asked, his voice higher than usual.
"You can do this Neville. Just get out there and stop those balls with your clumsiness like the expert you are," Amber said encouragingly.
Neville smiled at the inside joke and nodded, trying to find his confidence.
Amber directed her attention to Rose. "Rose, you're using your odd broom. It might take some time to get used to again, but you should have time to get accustomed with it before you even spot the snitch. Until you do, focus on gaining control above all else."
"Right," Rose nodded.
"George," Amber said, "just do what you're good at. And keep Fred from knocking me off my broom if at all possible."
"Roger," he responded.
"All right," Amber smiled, "then let's get out there and play us some Quidditch!"
Her team broke the huddle and Amber looked out at the other team as they got prepared, Fred as their beater, Hermione as their chaser, Harry as their seeker, and Ron as their keeper.
Amber smiled to herself, believing she had the better team. She had never seen George and Fred play but could only assume they were equal in their beating skills. She knew that with her skills on a broom, Hermione would be no match against her. And although Neville and Rose had little experience, she believed in them as well. She was actually grateful for half of the group's inexperience. It would keep the game from becoming too competitive so it could really just be fun. Though now that she thought about it, she was a bit worried about how the trio would react now that Rose was in the picture. She truly did wish they could all just get along, and she hoped playing together would help in that regard.
"Sorry you came in late, Rose," Fred jeered playfully, "I would have chosen you to be on my team. Ah well, can't get upset over the past. It's all probably for the best, I hear you're a rather clumsy flyer. You ready to lose, now?" Fred laughed, and Amber saw Rose smile.
Amber chuckled, thinking that those two had such a strange relationship, teasing each other all the time.
"I don't know how I'm going to win," Rose shrugged smugly, making Fred laugh, "I just know I'm not going to lose." Her eyes narrowed in and a confident smile slipped across her lips.
"Ooh, I love a good challenge. Or a hilarious display of failure. Either one really," Fred joked. "To your positions!"
Amber and George got on their brooms and pushed up from the ground, hovering up above the Quidditch pitch. Amber looked below her and saw her fellow teammates still on the ground.
Rose got on her broom nervously, not having flown on it since that first experience. Rose glanced over at Neville, who looked just as nervous.
"You must be more nervous than I am," Amber heard Rose say to Neville.
"Yeah," Neville responded, trying not to shake. "I haven't been on a broom since...since I fell. And that was the most flying training I ever got."
Oh no, how could I forget! Amber panicked to herself.
"Oh...then...why are you doing this?" Rose asked.
"Why are you?" Neville said. He didn't wait for her to respond. "I'm doing this for Amber. She needs to be with her friends tonight and feel at home here. I'm not going to let my fear of flying ruin that."
Amber felt her heart warm as a somber smile crept upon her face. She flew back down to Neville, hovering a foot above the ground.
"Get on your broom and take my hand, Neville," Amber said.
"Do...what?" Neville asked with astonishment.
"I'm going to teach you how to fly. Without falling."
"How-how are you going to do that?"
"Do you remember that balancing spell you used in Herbology to keep the seed pods from falling out?"
"Yeees," Neville said warily.
"I want you to perform it on yourself to help steady yourself on the broom."
"But—but spells aren't allowed in Quidditch matches," Neville countered.
"But as the game keeper here, I get to make the rules. And I'll make an exception, just this once," Amber said with an over exaggerated wink.
Neville smiled confidently and nodded as he breathed nervously and performed the spell on himself, not sure quite what to expect. He climbed on his broom and gripped it tightly with his right hand and placed his other hand in Amber's.
"Okay, now you're going to push off gently, and just try to match my speed as we rise into the air, okay?" Amber instructed carefully.
"Okay..." Neville nodded.
Surprisingly enough, Amber's plan worked. They both took off into the air gently, and the balancing spell helped Neville feel safer on his broom and he was able to focus more on the flying aspect and less about the falling part.
Amber glanced over the field and saw Harry also instructing Hermione how to fly on her broom, and Amber remembered how it had not come quite so naturally to her in flying lessons.
Amber and Neville practiced for a while and then she sent him over to the hoops where he wouldn't have to do too much wild flying.
Fred opened a chest which held some Quidditch balls, and Amber wondered where he had managed to get them, or all their brooms for that matter. He prepared all the pieces, and before she knew it, the game had begun!
Amber started out with the quaffle and did her best to avoid Fred's bludgers with her quick maneuvers. She was certainly a fine flyer, but she quickly discovered that she had yet to perfect her aim when trying to score goals, and Ron was a surprisingly good Keeper. Luckily, Hermione was just as clumsy, still struggling to fly on her broom confidently.
Out of the corner of her eye, Amber saw Rose struggling with her zipping broom as she yelled, "Dang it, why aren't you obeying the laws of physics!?" as she was zoomed clumsily through the air.
Amber also noticed Hermione's difficulty as chaser as the game drew on.
"New rule!" Amber shouted. "Anyone can score a goal, not just a chaser!"
This caught everyone's attention, and George and Fred teasingly glared at one another in what looked to be a challenging gaze.
"Go!"
The game became different as everyone was passed the ball at one point or another. Rose was shocked when the ball came toward her, and she treated it like a hot potato, smacking it through the air. George was quick and snatched it from the air, now headed toward Ron's goal. But Fred was soon between him and the goal, and one thing led to another until it was now Fred who was in possession of the quaffle.
Fred zoomed toward Neville, who hadn't blocked a toss all night. The quaffle soared right at Neville as it left Fred's hands, and frightened of being hit off his broom, Neville quickly turned around as he spun his broom sharply to the right. Without meaning to, Neville's broom smacked the quaffle like a baseball bat and sent it soaring back toward Amber, who caught it. She was determined to make this next shot count, and finally managed to throw the ball between Ron and his hoop.
"New rule!" Amber shouted again. "Everyone must yell some crazy made up word every time they so much as touch a ball or their team loses a point."
Everyone rolled with the new rule, laughing at each new, uttered phrase.
"Catch the Jarklin," Fred yelled as he knocked the quaffle toward Hermione.
Hermione caught it, much to her own surprise, and was so excited, she forgot about the new rule.
"Gotta say something or you lose a point," Fred said, making a tisking sound with his tongue.
Hermione panicked as she started to fly toward Neville and his goal. "Uu-um—" She lined up the goal. "YAPPLE! she shouted as she heaved the quaffle through the air as hard as she could. Her shout had startled Neville, and he wasn't prepared as the quaffle hit him right in the chest, knocking him, his broom, and the quaffle right through the circle.
"I did it! I got a point!" Hermione cheered.
Neville groaned, as he clutched the quaffle to his stomach. "Ouchers," he mumbled.
The hilarious chaos continued. At one point Amber was clutching her stomach and thought she might fall off her broom, she was laughing so hard. She couldn't stop laughing at George and Fred, who were throwing bludgers back and forth at one another, yelling the most obscure gibberish with the most serious tones.
Soon, Amber wasn't the only one shouting out new rules, and eventually, it wasn't even the same game. Everyone just silently agreed that any "new rule" spoken must be adhered to and automatically became sanctioned in the game. And soon they were all shouting out random, new rules to benefit them in their game or to add to the hilarious fun.
"New rule! Extra points to keepers who block with their eyes closed!"
"New rule! No one may hold a ball for longer than 5 seconds! Dang it George, what did I just say?"
"New rule! Anyone by the name of Fred Weasley must now fly their broom backwards for being such a git!"
"New rule! You get double the points if you can knock RON into the hoop!"
The game went on until everyone was laughing and they had all forgotten their troubles and separations. Even Ron had forgotten to loathe Rose in the amusement of the game.
Rose finally squealed as she spotted the golden snitch, though it was so dark Amber wondered how that was even possible. Rose struggled to order her broom to take her to it and Harry spotted it, too, well on his way. Rose breathed and finally managed to get on the same page as her broom, and soon had control again.
They both soared toward the snitch when Rose glanced up, realizing it had gotten dark without her even noticing. A grin spread across her face as she became captivated by the starry sky.
Distracted, with her neck craning up, Rose wasn't watching where she was going and flew right into Fred! The two of them tumbled down from the sky, their intertwined brooms spinning about as they both lost control. They crashed to the ground, entangled with each other and their brooms.
"I knew it!" Amber laughed, knowing Rose would run into something one of these days because of those silly stars.
"Foul! Foul!" Fred shouted. "I've been attacked by a Rose!"
He sounded more ridiculous than he looked and Amber couldn't stop laughing. With Rose out of the running, Harry had managed to catch the golden snitch and Ron was cheering. They all flew to the ground and landed near Rose and Fred, who were laughing. They kept pushing each other over as they tried to stand up.
"I knew those stars would get you into trouble," Amber laughed.
"It wasn't my fault," Rose defended. "Can I be blamed if I was captured by the beauty of the night sky so fervently? I would have been fine if this clumsy oaf had had enough sense to move from my path," she jeered.
"Me?" Fred said, trying to push Rose's broom off of himself. "I was attacked, I tell you!"
Rose smiled and pushed him down again. She clicked her tongue disappointedly. "You can't even move out of the way now, poor thing," Rose teased. "Ah, it must be a sickness. Always in the way. Drawn to the line of fire. You should get that checked out."
"Oh yeah, yeah?" Fred taunted, untangling himself from the brooms again.
"Oh yeah," Rose smirked.
Fred tossed Rose's broom right at her, knocking her over, and she burst into laughter.
"You are a cruel tease," Fred said as he got up. He moved quickly to Rose, kicked her broom away to her right, and stood over her, his feet pinning her waist so she couldn't get up. He twirled his broom around, gripped the pole with two hands, and pinned the end of it to her chest like a sword.
Rose tried not laugh, but her lips deceived her. She had never had a man stand above her like this. She felt like she was in a fantasy novel. The rogue damsel vs the rebel fighter.
"Do you yield, defeated maiden?" Fred demanded.
"What will you give me if I do?" Rose said, smiling at him deviously.
That threw Fred off as he stammered for a response.
Rose took this opportunity; she grabbed the pole pointed at her heart, and pushed her chest off the ground, nudging the pole back at Fred. He quickly recovered from the surprise, and used his strength to pull the pole back from her hand and then push it back down onto Rose's chest. But she was faster than him. As the pole came down, she pulled her torso to the right. And as Fred's broom smacked into the ground where her heart had been, Rose stretched far to her right and managed to grip her broom in her hand. Fred swung his broom toward her to pin her again, but she rolled over, swinging her broom with her as it clanked into Fred's.
"Ah, you are no ordinary maiden," Fred said.
"I prefer the term extraordinary," Rose countered.
Fred grinned slyly as Rose gripped her broom with both hands and pushed it against Fred's. She lunged up, pushing all her weight into her broom, and Fred toppled over, his legs having been pinned too far up on her waist to recover his balance.
Rose was quick to her feat as she now stood above Fred, who was lying in the dirt. She took her broom and tossed it over her right shoulder, holding her left arm out to him.
Fred chuckled and took Rose's hand. "We shall duel again, mysterious maiden. Mark my words."
Rose pulled on his hand, and he stood clumsily, his face just a few inches from hers.
"Looking forward to it," Rose said softly with a wink.
Fred's face changed, becoming a bit softer and his head tilted to the side as he looked at Rose, who was rejoining the rest of the group who were all laughing as they recounted the funniest moments of the night.
Fred shook his body, confused by these sudden, new sensations that were leaking inside. He moved to the group and stood right next to Rose.
A hollow feeling began to swirl in his gut as questions flooded his brain. He suddenly wanted to know this person that he was standing next to much, much better. See her duel with real swords. Watch her fly into the stars. Watch her jump into the black lake to wrestle the giant squid. He wanted to see what she would do next.
Fred had been so preoccupied, he completely forgot the others were all still talking. The group laughed, though Fred had missed the punch line. He glanced at Rose, and her bright smile warmed the empty feeling in his gut somehow.
The group once again became lost in conversation when Amber noticed the large clock tower from a distance. Suddenly she realized where she was and looked up at the dark sky.
"What's wrong?" George asked, noticing her strange expression.
"Curfew," Amber said worriedly.
Everyone's faces went blank with the same realization.
They had all but forgotten the time, and had not even noticed the clock tower's chimes, which were warning everyone to be in their beds. And when it had gotten dark, they had played right on through it by the light of the moon and the torches around the pitch.
Amber thought they would all panic, but she cracked a smile, and couldn't help but chuckle. This certainly wasn't a laughing matter, and she didn't know what she found so funny, but soon she couldn't help herself, and she was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking. Soon, George and Fred joined her until they all started laughing, even Hermione, though no one really knew why. When they had all finished, Amber sighed, wiping a tear from her eye.
"We'd better get back to our common rooms quick and hope no on ntices us gone," Amber said.
"Please," George and Fred said together, sharing a look with one another.
"We happen to be experts at sneaking back into the common room," George said.
"Sorry, Rose, looks like you're on your own," Fred teased. "Have fun in detention."
"Ha. Ha," Rose smirked. "You forget I'm an expert actress. I can talk my way out of anything."
"Is that so—"
"We'd better get going now," George interrupted, "or they'll be doing this all night." Everyone laughed and headed silently back into the castle through a lesser known side entrance. Fred stashed their brooms somewhere, saying he'd get them in the morning. Rose and Amber hugged as they parted ways in Entrance Hall, and Ron and Hermione seemed to have slipped back to their standoffish attitude toward Rose. Harry was strangely neutral regarding Rose, but Amber was glad that they had all at least been able to play with one another without letting their resentments get in the way.
Amber and her small Gryffindor group traveled through the castle up some small back staircases to get to Gryffindor tower as slyly as possible. Amber heaved out a heavy breath as they finally climbed back into the common room.
"Have a good night, Amber," Hermione said. "Don't worry, life here at Hogwarts is worth the changes that happen back home."
"I hope your new home is even better than the last," Harry smiled comfortingly, knowing all too well what it felt like to live in a bad home.
"Did it work?" Ron asked her.
"Did what work?" Amber asked, not quite sure what he was referring to.
"Did tonight cheer you up?"
"Oh." Amber smiled widely, and it felt like her whole body was aglow with the joy from this evening. She nodded. "Very much so, thank you."
"Good. Like Harry said earlier. No one's allowed to be sad here. Not when you've got friends to talk to and fellow Gryffindors who always have your back."
Amber actually felt endeared by Ron's words. True, he could be a little punk sometimes, especially when it dealt with people he didn't know or understand. But he did try his best to be a great friend to those he cared about, which Amber appreciated.
The trio yawned and waved as they headed up to their rooms.
"Thank you so much for arranging this tonight," Amber said to the twins.
"Twas nothing," Fred bragged, pretending to admire his nails, which made Amber laugh.
George didn't say anything, but gently smiled at Amber with his soft eyes, which warmed her somewhere inside.
Fred tugged on his brother's arm, forcing him to leave Amber's side and go up to their room. Then Amber noticed Neville start to turn away.
"Hey Neville," Amber said, drawing him back around to face her.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"Me?"
"Yes. For helping me realize that I have a home and family right here."
Amber hugged Neville and then ran to the stairs leading to her dormitory, leaving him flushed and red before he, too, retired to bed.