"So why are we all here?" Amanda asked, when she could finally speak again. Her temple pounded in the way that it did after having a cry and she was mortified that for the second time in an hour she had had a breakdown.

Although, better that it happen with her best friends than in front of James.

Merlin, they had almost kissed. In addition to the puffiness from crying, Amanda was sure that she was blushing from the memory. It had felt so nice to have James hold her and she hadn't realized until that moment how much she needed to be held.

"Well, Rose and I were talking about living arrangements." Scorpius said softly as he sat down next to Albus. Thankfully, he seemed to have been shaken out of his stupor a little when Scorpius came in. Amanda was sure it was part of some bloke code that they can't see each other cry.

Albus stiffened. "What about them?"

Rose bit her lip, "We were just talking about what would happen after graduation. I know we all had plans… but I was thinking maybe we could all live together."

Amanda's eyebrows shot up. "Do you mean in the same flat? I thought we agreed to get different flats in the same building. You and Al share and then Rose… and I would share." She almost said Atria and Amanda suddenly got why they were having this talk.

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, well, we thought plans might need to be adjusted."

"And we're all going to be making entry level wages." Rose added and Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"We all have trust funds, this is not about the money."

Amanda folded her arms. "I don't."

Rose shot Scorpius a glare. "And that's why I thought it might be more cost efficient if we all shared and chipped in towards a big flat. Since we're not going to use our trust funds." She said pointed.

"This is about me."

They all looked at Albus.

"You don't want me to be alone."

No one said anything for a moment. Finally Scorpius shook his head. "It's not just about that. You and I always planned to live together-"

"Attie and I talked about living together."

"You did?" Rose asked in surprise.

Albus swallowed thickly and grimaced. "Yea, no plans were made but we talked about living together, even if it wasn't initially." Albus rested his elbows on his knees and looked at the ground.

"It's not just you we're worried about." Amanda said firmly. "Hell, I'm worried about myself. I think it would be a good thing to stick together." Rose looked at her gratefully.

"You know they never found her body." Rose blurted out and then wiped her eyes quickly. Amanda gasped and Scorpius frowned.

"What?" Albus growled.

Rose hesitated, "Apparently Castel Lestrange is completely gone. The barrier no longer exists so the Aurors couldn't get through to check."

Albus breathed heavily. "How do we know she's dead?"

"They say no one could have survived the explosion of magic." Rose said carefully and Amanda couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. Which was a bad thing. It would not end well for them if they got their hopes up.

Albus would be crushed. "But what if she got out before that?" There was a light in his eyes that Amanda hated to see because she knew it would eventually fade. But as she looked at Rose they seemed to reach a silent agreement. They couldn't outright shut his hopes down, but they couldn't encourage them.

"Albus, I didn't tell you so you could waste your life away waiting for her." Rose said.

Albus glared at his cousin. "Then why did you tell me?"

Rose faltered, "I suppose I had to talk to someone about it."

Amanda stood up and put her hands up in a peacekeeping way. "Look, we don't have to figure this out right now. This is going to take a lot of planning and some of us don't even know where we're going to be working."

"Rose and I are working at the Ministry," Scorpius offered.

Albus cleared his throat, "I applied for an internship."

Everyone looked at him surprise.

"Really?" Amanda blurted out.

Albus looked slightly offended. "Yes, with one of the Cevil brothers. You know, the ones who designed half the magical buildings in England?"

Rose was the only one who recognized the name. "That great! I read about them in "Hogwarts, A History."" She said excitedly and for the first time Albus looked slightly animated.

"I haven't been accepted yet, but I think I've got a pretty good shot." He said nervously.

"Of course you do!" Scorpius clapped Al on the shoulder and Albus winced.

Albus smiled softly and then a bad thought seemed to cross his mind because his face fell. Rose immediately prepared for him to say something about Atria and steeled her heart from the pain that Al was about to reveal.

"I told Attie. She was the only one who knew." Albus said. "It made me feel better that she didn't have any plans about her future. For once I seemed to be ahead of her." He chuckled grimly.

"We have to be excited for the future." Rose said with conviction, but there was doubt in her eyes.

Amanda slumped down. "I have no plans."

"Well, what did McGonagall say when you had your meeting in fifth?" Rose asked.

"I didn't know then either, that's why I didn't drop a bunch of subjects. She said it was better to be prepared than drop a sobject and then find out I need it for a job."

Rose bit her lip. "What about Quidditch?"

Amanda snorted, "I'm nowhere near good enough to play Quidditch professionally."

Scorpius didn't argue. "Well, what else interests you?"

Amanda shrugged. "I don't know. That's the problem, I feel like there's nothing I really excell at. Most people have something that they're really good at but I don't."

"You're great at Herbology." Albus said.

Amanda sighed, "Yes, but I don't want to be a Herbology teacher or a herbologist. That just seems so boring. I don't know… I'll probably figure it out later."

"When?" Rose asked shrilly, like it was unimaginable not to have a plan. "What jobs have you applied for?" She demanded and Amanda gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Nothing really."

Rose made a pained noise. "Nothing?"

"Well, there's been a lot going on and I don't know what I want to do." Amanda said defensively.

"You still have to apply!"

Amanda groaned and buried her face in her hands. Scorpius put a hand on Rose's shoulder. "Why doesn't everyone calm down." The girls looked at each other guiltily and Amanda sighed.

"Look, I know I haven't exactly been on top of my future… but it's been crazy and we're sort of the opposite. When bad things happen you throw yourself into work… and I throw myself into bed." Amanda admitted. Rose blinked away tears.

"It's none of my business," she sniffed and Scorpius squeezed her shoulder. Rose wrapped her arms around herself.

Amanda shook her head. "You're my friend and you're just worried. Sometimes I need a little push, whether I want it or not."

Albus ruffled his hair. "Maybe we should take a break from talking about serious things." He suggested quietly. Rose had to agree with him, so far this meeting was doing nothing but getting everyone riled up.

"I'm going to the kitchens for a bit," Rose said and made way to the door.

"Me too." Scorpius followed her out. Amanda looked sideways at Albus.

"How are you?"

Albus looked at her, "I don't know. It doesn't seem real, especially since we don't know for sure." Amanda's heart tightened, thinking that he shouldn't hold out hope for Atria to come back. "Can I just be alone for a little while?" Albus bit his lip.

She wanted to argue, but after that little scene, she figured he might need a break.

"Sure, I'll just go… do something," she trailed off and rolled her eyes. Amanda left Albus, thinking maybe she should go find Rose and Scorpius. But instead she wandered around the top floors of the Burrow.

Most of the family was downstairs and she didn't want to get caught in the sea of emotional people. She wondered if Mr. and Mrs. Potter had been back to their house to clean out Atria's room. Merlin, how would Albus ever go in that house again? How would he go in his bathroom?

"Amanda?"

She whipped around and clutched her chest. "Freddie, what the hell!" She gasped and he smirked.

"Did I scare you?"

She lifted her arms for a hug which he easily gave. "Yes, you scared me, you arsehole! What are you doing here?" She pulled back and gripped his shoulders. He hadn't changed much since he had left Hogwarts, his hair was only a little longer and he had stubble gracing his jaw.

"It's my family's house, what are you doing here?"

"Rose wanted to talk." She explained vaguely and Freddie seemed to take that as a reasonable explanation. She dropped her hands from his shoulder and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

He rubbed his jaw. "James said I should come." Amanda ducked her head to avoid showing the blush that appeared. "And speaking of my lovely cousin, why is he stomping around the house like someone kicked his puppy? He wasn't like this yesterday." Freddie gave her a pointed looked and she glanced at the ground.

"One of his best friends just died." She snapped harsher than she meant to.

Freddie looked at his hands, "I think you had something to do with it. He told me you were here, that's why I came looking for you. Only the way he said it made me think you two are fighting."

Amanda's eyes lifted. "What did he say?" She asked accusingly, causing Freddie to lift his hands up in surrender.

"Just that you were here, but it was more the way he said it than what he said."

She folded her arms. "Nothing happened." She said firmly, but he looked down on her and raised an eyebrow. "We were just arguing."

Freddie nodded casually. "People do argue. I mean, look at Al and Attie, they argued for years and… oh wait, they're dating." He grinned and Amanda was too caught up in what he was implying about her and James to correct his use of the present tense.

"Freddie, I don't even know where you're getting this idea." She huffed.

"He mentioned being really pissed of when you didn't write him."

Amanda gasped, "He didn't write me either!" She couldn't believe James had made her out to be the bad guy. Of course he tell Freddie the bits that suited his narrative.

"And how does that make you feel?" Freddie stroked his chin and looked at her knowingly.

She took a deep breath and counted to five. "I will tell you what I told him: We are not friends. Our friends are friends, but we don't mean anything to each other! I had no reason to write him and he had no reason to write me. End of story." She seethed and hadn't realized her fists were clenched until she stopped talking.

Freddie looked at her sadly. "You shouldn't push him away." He said finally.

Amanda pointed a finger at his chest. "I'm not, but I'm not going to encourage him either. I can't be friends with someone like him-especially when he gets so upset about me not writing."

"I think he's more upset about you writing me."

Amanda threw her hands in the air. "Why? Why should it matter to him?"

He gave her a level look. "You know why."

She shot a look back at him. "Did you see the article in the Prophet about him and that girl?" Freddie snorted and rolled his eyes.

"She was no one."

"Still. He's a professional Quidditch player and I'm a student. Let's just stop talking about this-it's hardly the most important thing right now."

"You have limited time left as a student. Only three days to go and then you'll be going back to Hogwarts for the last time." He teased.

Amanda burst into sobs, putting a hand over her mouth to try and hide the horrifying noise. She wasn't even crying really, just hyperventilating and for the third time today she was having a breakdown! She was so embarrassed as she felt Freddie's arms come around her, her arms crushed between their bodies.

She never thought that Atria wouldn't be there for their final ride back to Hogwarts. It hadn't occurred to her that Atria wouldn't graduate. She wouldn't be coming home with them on the train. Amanda wouldn't have someone to lean on when she was jobless and living in her parents flat.

Atria was the only one who understood being lazy and just having fun.

And suddenly, all the potential seemed to be sucked out of the world. There were things Amanda hadn't even thought about doing, little things, but now they were all she could focus on because Atria wouldn't get to do them with her.

Freddie stroked a hand up her back and patted her soothingly. Except it wasn't soothing and all she could think of was that she wanted James's arms around her again. Or better yet…

She wanted to hug Attie one last time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albus felt like everyone on the platform was staring at him. Or maybe they were staring at entire family. Harry Potter had taken in the granddaughter of the most notorious Death Eater and hadn't even known.

The past week felt like time was frozen and it was all somehow a nightmare. Reality seemed to hit each of them at different points. It was hitting Albus now, as he realized that there would be no playful arguments. It would just be him and Amanda after Rose and Scorpius went to the prefect's carriage.

"Albus," his father cleared his throat and Albus stiffened. It was same cautious tone that everyone had been giving him.

"Dad, I'll be fine." He said impatiently. Rose had already left to find Scorpius and Amanda. Albus just wanted to lock himself in the compartment and hide from onlookers.

His dad rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, write to your mum and me."

Albus gave him a small smile. "I will."

They hugged briefly and then his mum smothered him and Lily. "Write every week."

Lily scoffed. "Please mum, I have a life." She said with a flourish and then sauntered off. Albus gave one last look at his parents and then walked to the train with his head down. As he walked through the carriages he could hear the whispers around him.

Atria would have told them all off.

Amanda, Rose and Scorpius were waiting in their usual compartment.

"Hey mate," Scorpius looked at him steadily.

Al rolled his eyes. "Stop staring at me like that."

Rose starting writing her hands. "I'm so nervous. Merlin, I haven't been this nervous since first year."

Amanda coughed and Rose looked at worriedly.

"You should see Madam Pomfrey when we get to Hogwarts. You look so pale." Rose pressed the back of her hand to Amanda's cheek.

Albus did notice that Amanda was much paler than normal, her normally tan skin seemed a sickly grey color and her eyes looked bloodshot. Amanda coughed throatily again, sounding like she was about to cough up a lung.

"I'll be fine."

Scorpius shook his head. "Have you been sleeping?"

Amanda opened her mouth and then paused, like she had to think about that. "It's been hard." She said finally and Albus knew what she meant. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her.

"You should rest now," Rose told her. Amanda didn't respond, but a moment later she leaned back into the seat and her eyes drifted shut.

A little while later, Rose and Scorpius announced that they had to go to the prefect's carriage. As they were leaving Rose hesitated, looking at Amanda who was sleeping.

"She'll be alright." Albus said, giving Rose what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Rose nodded. "I know." She closed her eyes briefly and then looked at him sadly. "But what about you?"

And the truth was he had no idea. For the past week he had been preaching that he was fine, but that was the biggest lie he ever told, followed shortly by all the lies he had told himself over the years.

Hey everyone! So as we're coming to a close to the story I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews! I plan on doing some editing in the near future, so go back and leave some reviews on the early chapters so I know what you all liked and didn't like, and leave a review for this chapter. - Alex