As Amy and Claudia walked in to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast

that evening, they began looking around for Hermione. After standing

there for a few minutes, they decided to ask about her.

"Hey, Ron, isn't it," asked Claudia as a red-haired boy walked in the

door, "Have you seen Hermione since you insulted her this morning?"

Ron frowned and replied, "No, I haven't. What would a couple of

Slytherins like you want with her, anyway?"

That set Amy off. "Alright, you bloody git! If you really must know,

Hermione is our best friend. What I want to know is, why you people

think you're so much better than us? Yes, many people that most would

call 'bad' came from our house, but what about Gryffindor? Last I heard, Sirius Black was in Gryffindor. And you call yourselves

good people! Good people don't discriminate against anyone, including

one of their housemates!"

Just then, Harry walked up beside Ron. "What's up," he asked?

"Harry, isn't it," asked Amy? "Well, I would think that a person with

such a history with people as yourself would choose better friends! Or

are you a git yourself, now that you've found out about your parents'

abilities? You used to be nice." Amy then stormed off, Claudia not far

behind.

As they reached the table and sat down, Amy muttered, "Why do I keep

over-reacting like this?" Claudia grinned and replied, "PMS?" They

both broke out in giggles.

Just then, they were approached by Draco. The funny thing was, there

was no Crabbe or Goyle with him. Just Draco. "Hey, Amy, can I talk

with you for a minute? Alone?"

"Um... Sure. Claude, save my seat, and one more in case Hermione comes

back, okay?" Taking Claudia's nod, she walked out of the hall behind

her cousin. Draco led her into and empty classroom and had her sit

down.

"Look, Amy, I know this is going to be hard, but you have to listen to

me, alright?" Amy nodded, bracing herself. "Good." Draco took a deep

breath. "You know that little sister of yours, not Brittany, but the

other one?"

"Tammy?"

"Yes, her. You know how you have those woods surrounding your house?"

Amy nodded once again. "Well, it seems that a train runs right through

there, and we both know how daring Tamara is . . ." Amy's eyes

widened, filling with tears.

"Well," Draco continued, "Apparently, your sister and her friends were playing around those train tracks, and heard a train coming. One of her friends dared Tammy to run in front of the train, then dodge out of the way when it was almost there. She got her foot caught in the railing, and couldn't get away in time. The train's conductor used the emergency stop, but it was too late. She'd already died."

Amy listened, staring at some invisible spot on the wall behind Draco, letting it all sink in. Her sister, her best friend, the only person before then that she'd ever really been able to talk to was . . . dead. A few seconds after she heard Draco finish, Amy began to cry. Silently at first, then big, choking sobs that echoed about the empty classroom. Draco hugged his cousin, awkwardly waiting for her to stop crying.

Amy stopped crying after a few minutes, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. She pulled away from her cousin and stood, straightening her robes.

"We should get back to the feast," she said, her voice still wavering a little, and began walking out of the room.

"Amy," Draco called after her, She stopped. "Are you alright?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? If was a funny time for this to happen

though, right? On Halloween... It'd seem almost typical." She cocked her head and offered a weak

smile. "Aren't you coming?" Draco nodded again and stood up. Amy

leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Hey," he said, "Chin up. You wouldn't want to worry anyone, would

you?" Amy laughed, and Draco smiled. "That's better."

By the time they got back to the Great Hall, both had regained their

composure. Before he went to sit down with his friends, though, Draco

made sure she was okay. Snape caught Amy's eye and nodded. Amy

smiled, and mouthed a quick "Thank you," then turned to Claudia, who by now was sick with worry for her friend, and filled her in, eating very little.

Just then, Professor Quirrel (who, although nearly no-one noticed, had

been missing the entire time), burst in the door, running and

shouting, "TRO~~~LL! IN THE DUNGEONS!" He stopped in front of

Dumbledore's chair, then said, "Thought you might want to know." Then

he fainted.

"He probably did it," Claudia commented as the Hall went into an

uproar. Dumbledore got everyone quiet, then instructed the prefects to

lead the students to their respective houses. The two girls saw Snape

run out of a door to head the troll off.

Following the rest of her house, Amy and Claudia saw a large

monstrosity running up the stairs toward the bathroom where Hermione

was, and had yet to leave. When they reached the dungeons, the girls

saw Snape, and shouted: "Professor! It's up on the second floor!"

Snape nodded and began sprinting toward the stairs.

After they got to the common room, Amy, Claudia, and Draco went

straight to bed; that evening had been too eventful for them to bear

the crowded common room.

As Amy dropped off, she sent her thoughts toward her little sister,

and spent the night remembering curious little Tamara and all the

trouble she got herself into.