Aly glared up at Damien as he let out a loud snore for the third time. Amanda grinned at Aly. Char had decided to talk with some of his Gryffindor friends and only Aly, Amanda and Damien were left in the compartment.

"How does Char deal with it?" Amanda whispered. "I would've killed him if he were my brother!"

"Like you would want to," Aly grinned. "'Sides, it's not that bad."

Damien snored again and Amanda shoved him, annoyed.

"How different do you think this year is going to be?" Aly asked, relaxing in the seat.

"What d'you mean by that?" Amanda asked.

"Well, we have You-Know-Who possibly lurking around every corner. I bet half of the students are living in fear. Some people aren't even coming back this year," Aly said seriously.

"Who?"

"Joy Thomason, for example," answered Aly. "She told me the week before we left that she wouldn't be coming back because her parents think it's not safe, Hogwarts."

"Really? That's a surprise!" exclaimed Amanda. "I mean, I know it's not 'safe', Hogwarts, but is that really a reason to pull her out?"

"Well, yeah," Aly said, raising an eyebrow. "You've got the Dark Lord lurking around every corner; I'd think you'd want to pull your kid out."

"Good point," Amanda sighed. She flipped back a strand of brown hair and leaned in the seat. "So, what do we do now? Half of our friends are gone and Char's out with his little buddies, Damien's snoring like a pig and for all we know Hayden could be having a snogging session with Kylie."

"I think she wants him back," Aly said, smiling. "She looked like..."

"She wanted him back?"

"Exactly."

"Well, he deserves it. After all, she broke up with him."

"That's right," Aly agreed. She sighed. "Well, I'm sure the lady with the candy will be coming around soon. D'you want to buy some and get fat?"

"Oh, sure," Amanda said sarcastically, "I'm sure Char will love you, then."

"Oh, come on, Mandy," Damien's groggy voice said, as he slowly sat up straight. "Ol' Char would love her no matter what."

"You better believe it," Aly grinned. "Finally up, are we?"

Damien slowly blinked his gray eyes and nodded. "It was a nice little rest. Did I disturb you?"

"Only us and the rest of the train," Amanda teased, rubbing his hair. Damien smiled sleepily and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Did you get a last glance at Michael before you left?" Aly asked absently, staring over the side of the bridge they were crossing.

"No. He was so eager to get to work that he didn't say goodbye," Amanda frowned. "Why?"

"He never told me why he called me Gem," pouted Aly.

"I know why," Damien grinned slowly. "And I'm not telling you."

"Why? Who else knows?" Aly scowled.

"Me, Hayden, Char..."

"You all know?" Amanda exclaimed.

"Yup. And I'm not saying a word," Damien said proudly.

"What will it take to get you to tell her?" Amanda said, glaring down at her boyfriend. "If you don't talk, I'll dump you."

"You're pulling my leg!" Damien exclaimed, sitting up and staring at her. "You wouldn't do that!"

"I wouldn't question her," Aly said casually. "She's more than willing, you know. I suffered six whole years without knowing, and now I think I deserve to know."

"Well, I promised," Damien said, tripping over the words. "We all did."

"Fine, I guess you're single again," Amanda shrugged, winking at Aly.

Damien growled at Amanda and then grinned evilly. He grabbed Amanda's hand and stood up. "Come here, you," he growled. "We're going to have a little chat."

"Aly, help me!" screeched Amanda, but Aly was in a fit of giggles and did not attempt to save her friend.

"Bye, Amanda!"

"Aly, if you don't help me right now, I'll-"

The compartment door slammed shut and Aly chuckled to herself.

"Crazy," she muttered. Then she sighed with relief and turned around to lie down on the seat. She stared up at the ceiling and sighed, then closed her eyes.