"So you've finally figured it out, then?" Hermione nodded, a heavy sigh leaving her mouth as her shoulders drooped.
"You knew?!" Amisty exclaimed, whirling around to face Hermione head on, eyes wide.
"Amisty, those letters just made you so happy I didn't want to ruin them for you. I found out last year... he was writing one in the library but he doesn't know that I saw him. I'm sorry," Hermione replied, looking distressed.
"How come you didn't you tell me?" She asked accusingly, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"It's just that... every time you got a letter you just, you were so happy, I didn't want to ruin that. I'm so so sorry," Hermione wrung her hands.
Amisty stared at her, the combined shock of Hermione's concealment and the writer of the letters rendering her speechless.
"You need to tell me these things, Hermione," Amisty groaned, running her hands through her hair. "Don't apologize again."
"I will, I promise. But now that you know, what're you going to do?" The brunette asked.
"Talk to him, ask him why he did it... Or just pretend that I never found out. I don't know!" She fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"You've got to talk to him, he's going to find out you know eventually. Better sooner than later," Hermione replied honestly.
"What about Harry and Ron. They'd kill me if they found out," She protested, slamming her hands down on the sheets.
"They don't know yet, and aren't you going to stop writing to him now that you know who he is?" Hermione laid down next to her, turning her head so she could look at the raven-haired girl.
"I don't -- " She started, covering her face with a choked groan. "I don't know, Hermione. I don't know."
Her mind was flooded with memories of the letters.
Of waiting impatiently after she replied, of writing out her own letters as quickly as she could, of being cheered up by them even if her friends couldn't do it.
And not to mention Echo's connection with the owl. They were almost inseparable when they were together, at least from Amisty's perspective.
"Talk to him, work this out. From what I've read off of your letters, he pretends more around you than you think," Hermione moved her hands away from her face, looking into Amisty's green eyes with her own brown ones.
"When will I ever get a chance to speak with him?" Amisty asked, slowly nodding as she agreed with Hermione's plan.
"The train. He always comes to our compartment, right? For once you can be the one who starts the conversation," Hermione replied.
"Okay, I will. What're we going to tell Harry and Ron?" She asked as the two of them sat up properly.
"They're used to you disappearing by now, and with Malfoy there as well they're probably thinking you went to go chew him out," Hermione answered.
"Alright... thank you, Hermione. Honestly," Amisty sighed, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"No problem. I'm just surprised you haven't put it all together yet," She laughed light-heartedly.
"Okay, well, you were the one who saw him in the library!" Amisty argued, crossing her arms jokingly.
"I knew before that, it just confirmed my suspicions," Hermione grinned back, rolling her eyes.
The two shared a laugh, and the topic drifted away from the topic of the letters to many other things.
-=+=-
Dinner rolled around and Tom pushed together three tables.
Amisty scarfed down all of the five courses, making up for the lost food during the summer.
"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" Fred asked, sticking his spoon into his pudding, the final course.
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," Mr. Weasley replied casually, digging in as well.
Everyone's heads lifted up.
"Why?" Percy asked the overhanging question everyone else wanted to hear the answer to.
"It's because of you, Perce. And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them -- " George started, very seriously.
" -- for Humongous Bighead," Fred finished in the same serious tone.
Amisty choked on a spoonful of pudding, relieved to see she wasn't the only one.
Percy and Mrs. Weasley were the only ones who hadn't.
"Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked the question more directly now, ignoring Fred and George's teasing.
"Well, as we haven't got one anymore-- and as I work there, they're doing me a favor -- " Mr. Weasley replied.
"Good thing, too. Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground... You are all packed, aren't you?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet. He dumped them on my bed," Percy replied, rather overdramatically.
"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley scolded.
Ron glared at Percy. As they finished their dinner, Amisty dragged her steps all the way up the steps, dreading what was to come tomorrow on the train.
Hermione was already up there waiting, putting a few of her last minute items in her trunk, and closing Amisty's trunk with her foot.
"Did you pack mine for me?" Amisty asked disbelievingly, her gaze traveling between Hermione and her trunk.
"Yeah, give you one less thing to worry about for tomorrow," Hermione shrugged, giving her a small smile.
She laughed, picking up her pajamas from the foot of the bed and changing. Hermione had just reached over to turn off the light when they jumped at an angry shout.
Predictably, it came from Ron and Percy's shared room.
"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing -- " That was Percy, no doubt talking about his Head Boy badge.
"I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron yelled back, sounding very much frustrated and angry with his older brother.
"What's up?" Seems like Harry's decided to join the battle of brothers.
Not a very wise decision.
"My Head Boy badge is gone," Percy explained, his voice still strained and very loud.
It was a wonder anyone else was still asleep, but then again, they were probably used to the noise.
"So's Scabber's rat tonic. I think I might've left it in the bar -- " Ron started, his own voice followed by the sound of items being thrown to the ground.
He was probably dismantling his trunk in search for the tiny red bottle.
"You're not going anywhere till you've found my badge!" Percy roared, the sound of his foot stomping against the floor accenting his words.
"I'll get Scabber's stuff, I'm packed," Harry was very calm compared to the two of them, and then she heard footsteps clomping down the stairs.
"As much as I would love to hear them bickering all night, we do have to sleep eventually so..." Hermione joked.
"May I do the honors?" Amisty asked, raising her eyebrows with the hint of a smirk on her face.
"Feel free," She waved her hand calmly, laughing quietly.
The raven-haired girl leaped to her feet and poked her head out the door.
"Ron! Percy! How lovely it is to see you two again, even though I just saw you a few minutes ago at dinner. Anyways, you see, Hermione and I would like to go to sleep so if you could kindly keep the bickering to a minimum that would be wonderful," She smiled brightly at the brothers, who looked very embarrassed. "If not, well, I would make sure to lock your door, I'll be living with you for a whole school year, after all."
And she closed the door with a soft click, laughed along with Hermione, and flicked off the light.
The room darkened, the only light coming from the curtained window. At Amisty's request, it stayed open, which Hermione was perfectly comfortable with. She had said it would be nice sleeping with natural wind in the room for once.
They both drifted off quickly, thankfully for Percy, who had started tearing his room apart in search for his badge.
-=+=-
Amisty woke the next morning at the usual time, creeping around the room as quietly as she could muster so Hermione could sleep in longer.
She changed into her normal clothes and crept down the stairs, taking care to close the door softly behind her.
When she reached the main floor, Mrs. Weasley was already awake, bustling around quietly as she got ready for their departure.
"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley," Amisty smiled from the foot of the stairs, not quite knowing what she should be doing.
"Oh, good morning, Amisty! Did you sleep well?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her voice wide awake and loving as usual.
"Yes, thank you. Is there anything I could help with?" Amisty replied, nodding at the kindness that radiated from the woman.
"No, no, dear, that won't be necessary. But... if you could wake everyone else, that would be wonderful," Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly at her.
"That I can do," She laughed, turning on her heel and walking up the steps much louder than before.
There was, after all, no reason for her to be quiet. She knocked on her own door first, opening it to find a very sleepy looking Hermione rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning, ready to go?" Amisty grinned, pulling the curtains around the window open so that the sunlight filtered in.
"Of course I am," Hermione nodded, reaching up to the ceiling to stretch. "Is breakfast ready yet?"
"Almost. I'll meet you down there, Mrs. Weasley wanted me to wake everyone up," Amisty replied, walking out the door and over to Ginny's room.
She repeated the same thing she did with Hermione with everyone else, earning a tired "'morning," from Ginny, getting her hair mussed up by the twins, a thump from Percy and Ron's room as Ron rolled off the bed and a dignified "good morning," from Percy, and a "thank you," from Mr. Weasley.
When she reached Harry's room she wasn't very surprised to hear the voices of both Harry and Ron.
Knocking before walking in, she entered to find a very peeved looking Ron and a stressed looking Harry.
"Is something the matter?" She asked tentatively, walking over and drawing the curtains around Harry's window as well.
"I've got something to tell you -- " Harry started to talk, his words being cut off as the twins barged into the Ron, clapping Ron and the back for his success in annoying Percy.
Amisty rolled her eyes, brotherly love at its finest.
They walked down to breakfast, her joining Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny, while Harry and Ron sat down at the table.
Mrs. Weasley was in the middle of a story about a love potion she had made when she was younger, and it was entertaining, to say the least. By the end of it, they were all giggling as they ate their breakfast.
It was chaotic when they were getting ready to go, however.
Dragging their trunks down the stairs proved to be easier said than done. But they did it, and by the end of it all, they had all three owls lying on top of the stack of trunks. Crookshanks's basket was lying beside it, and he was hissing very violently inside it.
"It's all right, Crookshanks. I'll let you out on the train," Hermione leaned down to his basket, her voice gentle and sweet.
"You won't. What about poor Scabbers, eh?" Ron snapped, pointing at his chest pocket where Scabbers was lying.
"They're here. Harry, come on," Mr. Weasley peeked his head out through the door of the inn, he had been waiting for the Ministry cars outside.
Harry followed after him, and then the rest of them were close behind.
"In you get, Harry," Mr. Weasley ushered him into the car, and after Hermione and Ron, Amisty got in as well, being followed by Percy.
Ron wasn't very happy about that.
The trip to Kings Cross was very calm and relaxed, the Ministry's cars seeming to slip through the traffic easily without too much disturbance.
They got to the station twenty minutes early, a new record, and the drivers got them their trolleys, loaded their trunks, and then left with a tip of their hats.
Harry and Mr. Weasley went through the barrier first, leaning against it casually before falling through the wall and disappearing into platform nine and three-quarters.
Ginny and Percy followed, running toward it and disappearing into the wall as well. After Amisty and Hermione traded glances, they walked over as casually as they could, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then walked through the barrier.
Percy had already left, joining a long-haired Ravenclaw toward the side of the station. That must've been Penelope, his new girlfriend.
Amisty looked up, still awestruck by the scarlet steam engine puffing silvery-white smoke into the air.
It was still gleaming as brightly as it had in her first year, so whoever took care of it did a very good job.
Harry and Ron were the ones to lead the way to an empty carriage, where all of them dropped off their trunks at the luggage rack in an empty carriage and then left the train to say their goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Hogwarts was just around the corner.