"The best time to make friends is before you need them."
-Ethel Barrymore

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Walking over to the Gryffindor table, Joey managed to glance over at the Hufflepuff table and make eye contact with Amos. He smiled broadly at her, waved her down as she took her seat, and then went strutting over to her. Joey had to keep herself from rolling her eyes to the ceiling when she saw Amos strut.

She smiled sweetly as he approached. Amos grinned around at all the people at her table, trying really hard to be friendly. Joey could hear a lot of the girls giggle as he did this. Then Amos bent down into a squatting position, and looked up into her pretty jade-blue eyes. They were shining as they caught the glare issuing from the dining hall's candles.

"You look absolutely breathtaking this morning," Amos practically whispered. "I hope I can have a little private chat with you after you eat?" Joey tried to smile without showing that she was feeling a little light-headed. Closing her eyes lightly, she barely nodded a response.

"Good!" Amos exclaimed as he stood back up, kissed her heavily on the cheek, and walked back over to his table.

Joey turned back around to her breakfast. Looking down at her food, she could feel the entire Gryffindor table looking over at her. Glancing up, she suddenly saw a bunch of retreating faces look back down at the plates in front of them.

"He is so sweet!" Lily said once Amos was out of ear-shot.

"What was that all about?" said Sirius, soundly rather annoyed.

"You haven't heard?" asked James with a surprised tone.

"Heard what?"

"That Amos is going to say he loves her!" Peter butted in, failing in his effort to whisper. Remus gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs as the chubby boy yelped in pain.

All traces of emotion left Sirius' face immediately. He whipped his head around to make eye contact with Joey, who had been sitting right next to him. He looked as though he was trying to read her thoughts, but Joey seemed to be resisting showing any emotion. She gave him a quick smile -one that she hoped looked believable- and turned back to her plate.

She looked down at the eggs on her plate. How could she be hungry, now? Being very aware of all the stares she was getting from her friends, she picked up a piece of toast and bit into it. Her mouth was too dry to even chew. This morning was turning out terribly, she thought to herself. Well. . .maybe not that terribly. . . after all, what's better than seeing Sirius Black in a towel? With this thought on her mind, she took a big sip of her pumpkin juice, and began eating her eggs a little easier.

Breakfast seemed to pass by all too quickly for Joey's liking. It meant that she was going to have to go and have a 'talk' with Amos. As she walked with her friends out of the dining hall, they all noticed him waiting by the stone staircase. Sadly, she watched Flam ditch her as he flew over onto Sirius' shoulder. She gave him a small smile and turned away. She walked over to Diggory and waved good bye to her gang as they continued towards the Gryffindor tower. Amos took her hand in his and led her down the hall towards the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room. They stopped just out side the entrance. The corridor seemed pretty empty, considering a lot of the students were outside on the nice Sunday afternoon.

"So, Joey," Amos began. "As you probably don't know, I've been planning on talking to you for a while now. . . I mean. . . talk to you about this." He looked down into her face that had so often before been rosy and full of life. But now, she was pale and looked rather ill. Joey didn't only look ill, but she felt ill too. Now she was trying to ignore the fact that she felt like passing out.

Amos continued on with his speech, "Joey. . . I-" his face looked so melodramatic, "love you." He practically spouted out. Joey felt sick. She did, however, know that she needed to give an answer the poor guy who was waiting, in anxiety, for her reaction.

"Amos. . ." she managed to breathe out. "I'm really flattered-" she was making a huge effort not to stutter as she said what she needed to say, "I'm not sure what to say. . ."

"Well, generally what someone tells you they love you, you're supposed to-" he protested.

"But how can you?" Joey interrupted. "You don't even know me that well. . ."she almost hesitated with saying that, but she knew it was important that he hear it.

"Joanne, how can you say that? No body knows you better than I do!"

"Amos, I just don't want to deal with this right now. . ."

"Deal with this!" Amos practically shouted. "Joey, look at who you're talking to! I just told you I love you! Every girl in this school would want to be in your position right now!"

Joey's face scrunched up with incredulity. Was he always this arrogant?

"Look, Amos. . . maybe we should just-"

"This is about Sirius, isn't it?"

"What!" Joey shouted in disbelief. That certainly came out of left field. "Amos, what are you talking about? I never-"

"He's turned you against me, Joey! Don't you see what's happening here!"

"Amos, just calm down. This is getting ridiculous."

"I don't want you hanging around that jerk anymore!"

"What! Amos! You can't dictate who I can and cannot talk to! Who the hell do you think you are?" Joey was now turning a shade of red darker than scarlet as she screamed at Diggory. She was feeling sicker than ever and her head was hurting so badly now, it felt like her brain was pounding against the side of her scull.

"I am your boyfriend, damn it! And I will tell you to do exactly what I feel like telling you to do! Now, I said I loved you and you don't even return the compliment!"

"Is that really just how you see it! AS A COMLIMENT? Telling someone you love them isn't supposed to be a compliment you idiot! It's a promise of enduring affection for a person that you really care about! You make it sound like something you come up with off the top of your head when you can't think of anything else to say!"

Amos looked furious. He grabbed Joey shoulders forcefully and abruptly shook her. "What is wrong with you!" he bellowed in her face.

Joey shoved his arms away and slapped him across the face. He looked even more enraged and held up his arm as if he were about to strike her. Joey turned away quickly and began crying in great sobs. She was so frightened!

Amos heard her loud weeping and lowered his arm immediately. He took a step closer to her and tried to wrap his arms around her. She twisted away from him and he tried again to clasp her shoulders.

"No!" she shouted at him with a great big gasp of air.

"Joey, please," he whispered. She was crying so hard she felt nauseous. Amos managed to turn her around so she was facing him, but her hands were still up covering her face. Neither of them heard the footsteps come around the corner.

Amos tried to hug her again but she swung out her arms in a pathetic attempt to bat him away. One very confused James Potter was standing about twenty yards away. When he first found the couple, he started to turn away, thinking that they wanted privacy. It was then that he noticed Joey's very red face and all of the tears that were falling down her cheek. Something wasn't right.

"Hey!" he shouted at Amos.

James' face looked very concerned as he quickly advanced towards Amos.

"Not you," Amos grumbled. "Just get out of here, Potter!" he shouted.

"What's going on over here?" James snapped, completely ignoring Amos' demand. He looked at Joey for an answer, but she didn't respond. She just looked so helpless standing there, James didn't know what to think.

"Just leave us alone," Amos grumbled as he turned back to Joey and made another effort to put an arm around her. She flinched away, which gave James the answer he was looking for.

"Hey, you get away from her!" he shouted and made a grab from the side of Amos' collar. Amos was a bit too quick for him and shoved his arm away. James then shoved Diggory back hard against the stone wall. He let out a loud grunt and punched James in the lower left jaw. Joey immediately snapped to her senses and started shouting at both boys to stop at once. She was, of course, ignored.

James lunged for Amos who tried to move out of the way at the same time. In effect, he slammed back into Joey, causing her to hit the back of her head against the stone wall and fall to the ground unconscious. Though Amos had succeeded in stepping out of the way of James, the other boy still managed to grab onto his cloak and they both went tumbling to the ground, fists flying everywhere.

The boys rolled around for a bit when James finally got the upper hand. He sat up on his knees and slammed Diggory's head against the adjacent, stone wall. The boy went limp, immediately unconscious.

James stood up at once and ran to where Joey was a heap on the floor. He picked her up with both arms and suddenly realized he was standing in an abandoned corridor with no one around to help him.

Please review! Love, SJ