"Crucio!"
"AAARGH! Please. I don't know!" breathed a panting female voice.
"Well then, you are of no other use to us. Kill her." Replied a cold, heartless voice.
"Yes my Lord," a reluctant yet well-spoken voice came, "Avada Kedavra!"
"ARRGGHH!" Amelia screamed as she woke up from her nightmare.
Her head had fallen against the cool window, making her rebound at its icy touch.
Looking round to see if anyone had heard her scream, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The carriage was empty; Cassidy must have gone to the toilet.
Just at that moment, the door from her compartment clicked open, making Amelia jump.
"Oh, its you." She said as she saw her best friend Cassidy standing at the door, looking very confused.
"You fell asleep," Cassidy said making her way to her seat opposite her friend,
"so I went to find out how long we still had left until we got to Hogwarts. But I see you woke up. Are you alright?" Cassidy's searching eyes embarrassed Amelia, making her look down.
"Yeah. You just scared me, that's all. So how long do we have left?" Amelia said, changing the subject.
Cassidy wasn't convinced but decided that now was not a good time to be asking questions.
"Um, well, I couldn't find Professor Snape at first, so I asked Malfoy, who I passed in the corridor, and he said still a good two and a half hours."
"Great," sighed Amelia turning to look at the gloomy countryside passing her at a slow speed.
A small section of the dirty window fogged over as she breathed, reminding her of the need of her school jumper and her cloak for when she changed into her school uniform.
"He said he was on his way to see you actually; Malfoy." Said Cassidy lightly, her dark waves gently parting as she suppressed a smile.
Amelia's face stiffened.
She knew that she was going to get asked by Cassidy at some point.
She knew that she was going to have to tell her about what happened this summer.
About why every muscle in her body tightened at the mention of a Malfoy.
"Amelia? Are you sure you're alright?" Magnolia who had been sleeping next to Amelia got up and walked over to her, sensing the hurt in her owners body.
"Yeah, and Malfoy can get stuffed."
"I thought you were good friends?" Cassidy said, shocked by her friend's reaction.
"But I take it he didn't come by then? He must have seen you were asleep and didn't want to wake you."
"Oh how nice of him." Said Amelia, sarcastically.
"C'mon Mia, why are you slagging him off? Just a few months ago you two were friends. We all know he's a bit of a dick but as you've said lots of times "he's just mistaken, you know, putting on a mask" or whatever you say,"
Cassidy could see Amelia rolling her eyes, "Besides he looks quite alright this year, done a bit of growing up I think over the summer and worked out by the looks of it."
A cheeky grin spread across Cassidy's face, making Amelia cringe.
"Well, at least one of us is going to enjoy him this year." Amelia said flatly while still gazing of out the window.
"Don't be such a downer Mia, all I'm saying is this year, maybe give the poor boy a chance." Cassidy got out today's Daily Prophet from her shoulder bag and unfolded it on the first page.
"Yeah, I'll die first." Amelia's eyes never left the lonely looking pigeon sitting on a signpost as the train sped past it, wondering whether it had a family to go back to when the night would creep up later.
With his heart now thundering in his ears, Draco Malfoy backed away from Amelia's carriage, leaning against the wall to steady himself.
His mind replaying what Amelia had said; "I'll die first."
His father had warned him that Amelia had gone through some difficult things this summer but not that she now hated him.
What the hell have I done now?
Malfoy was used to people not liking him, especially when it came to Harry potter and his stupid friends, but not Amelia.
They had been friends for years, due mostly to their parents, but friends none the less. Mostly all holidays were spent at either the Lovell's house or his own, it what was his house this Christmas.
Maybe it's just girl problems, Draco thought.
He knew all about them having Pansy Parkinson around him all the time.
While walking along the narrow hallway of the Hogwarts Express to his own carriage, Amelia's words hammered against Draco's skull.
When Draco Malfoy arrived at his compartment, he saw Pansy sitting next to Blaise whispering in his ear.
However, at the click of the carriage door opening her head flung round and lit up at the sight of a preoccupied Draco Malfoy.
"There you are. Blaise said you went for a walk, no doubt looking for me." Pansy said standing up with a smile spreading across her pug-like face.
"Surprisingly, I just wanted some alone time before I have to spend an entire year with you following my every move." Draco replied harshly.
Pansy's face dropped and turned scarlet, before she sat down and turned back to Blaise.
Draco took the other available window seat and propped his elbow against the rusty frame, leaning his pale face against the cold window for comfort and staring meekly at the bleak surroundings, wondering why three words meant so little but hurt so much.