Frank looked a bit worried but nodded,"Okay." He said, not wanting to cause a problem for his friend. He knew something was a little different but maybe that was just him. Now they were just waiting for Aren to arrive. "I wonder if Aren will join us or sit with the girls." He thought aloud to himself quietly.

Julia smiled and thanked the witch, buying a little of everything. She didnt ppan to go out too much to Hogsmede since this was the last year. She wanted to be sure she finished everything properly.

Caelum's eyes widened and paled when Frank mentioned the possibility of Aren joining the girls in their compartment. "He's going to kill me if he goes in there. I sent the girls sugar quills spelled to taste like carrot juice."

He stood quickly, too quick that Frank flailed his arms as he tipped backwards and fell into the padded seat behind him. "We must make sure that Aren won't go in there or it'll be the end of me!" Caelum rushed out of the compartment and Frank followed. Frank's toad remained on one of the seats.

---

Aren whistled as he walked down the aisle, taking his sweet precious time as he greeted everyone that passed by.

Julia was about to try her quill when she noticed it,"Carrot Juice..." She said,"Caelum sent them as a prank." She put hers to the side and got up, leaving her friends to wonder what was wrong with her. Heck, she didnt know. That prank at least made it seem things were okay but right now she just didnt know. She knew she was over thinking things again and was just being silly, but for now, she just wanted to be alone.

Amira blinked, "She really is worried about him isnt she?" She asked Olivia, who had nodded,"Let's just hope she feels better in little while." Amira put her quill away,"I'll give mine to someone who likes carrot juice."

"Did I just hear carrot juice?" Aren popped his head into the compartment and blinked at Amira who was in the process of putting her sugar quill away.

---

"Yes, yes, I know. But don't you remember how Aren redecorated their garden after he found out that his mother was sent a packet of glitter? I am quite sure that something similar would happen if-" Caelum's words were cut off when he bumped into something, no, someone who started to fall from the impact. He caught her wrist, reflexes honed with years playing quidditch, and steadied her as he prepared an apology.

"Terribly sorry, miss, I wasn't looki-" He paused as his breath quivered. His frantic and energetic eyes, a beautiful façade, disappeared into the depths as a calm surfaced, filled with need and relief. Her name rolled of his tongue like the sweetest ambrosia. "Julia."

"Uh, no not at all, silly." Amira said, the quill out of sight now as Olivia tried not to laugh at the surprised look on her face. Amira got up and hugged Aren tightly, having missed him since their visit that summer,"How was the rest of your summer?" She asked him,"Visiting was so fun I hated having to go home.

Julia hadn't watched where she was going and bumped into someone,"Ahh!" She gasped in surprise as she started to fall, before being caught and helped up. "Oh...Hey, Caelum." She said as she realized it was he she bumped into. She couldn't stop herself from leaning over and hugging him gently.

Caelum held her in his arms as they stood in the middle of the aisle. Any whispers or curious looks were deflected with the serpentine gaze he gave to them as other nearby Slytherins hushed the other students into their own compartments. He placed a light kiss on her head, like a feather's touch on her skin, and held her close as if to tell her that he, truly, was there.

Frank smiled at the two, content with how things turned out and made his way to the girl's compartment, not forgetting about the carrot juice quills. Caelum already had enough on his plate, a fuming Aren would be too much to add.

"Terribly boring without all of you. All Caelum did was wipe the floor with me in the three short matched of chess we had before leaving through the floo." Aren groaned dramatically and leaned further into Amira's embrace.

"Is it silly to admit I had been really worried about you?" Julia asked him quietly, feeling a bit better now that she had seen him and that he was here,"Your mother is doing wonderfully by the way. She and my parents had been out and about a lot over the summer."

Amira smiled and kissed his cheek,"I can understand that. Olivia beats me every time." She looked at her friend,"That and we had been a bit worried about Julia." She gave him a short run through on Julia's worry and how she feels shes overthinking again,"I'm hoping in the morning she'll feel better." Amira concluded.

Olivia smiled at Frank,"Hey, Frank." She said to him,"Did you have a good summer?"

Caelum shook his head as he walked Julia towards his compartment. "Thank you for worrying about me. But I am doing well." He held her hand, his thumb tracing shapes as he listened her talk about his mother. "We still haven't found a counter spell for the effect of the broken time turner. Father's even started making plans, thinking over ways to recapture her heart in case it becomes … permanent." He frowned and his lips thinned as he thought about it. "How am I to make her believe that she has a teenage son with the Corvus Malfoy? Not even I know how he managed to achieve that feat."


Aren went into deep thought as they explained their worry for Julia. "Caelum was acting a little odd, but he does tend behave like that whenever there is a 'Malfoy-issue'. We haven't received news about it, nor has Lord Malfoy visited our home drunk out of his wits, ranting about the Wizengamot, so it's probably not that big of an issue."

"You also know how Caelum's the prince of sulk. All Malfoys are that way most of the time, it seems. I just hope it won't rub off on Julia." Frank added.

Julia thought for a moment,"You might have to show her. Show her pictures of you three together...wedding pictures with your father...her holding you as a baby...Maybe that could help her remember. "

Amira listed quietly before nodding,"As long as things are okay..." she said,"Dating him has made Julia the happiest she and ever been. I dont want anything to ruin that..."

Caelum paused for a moment, contemplative. "We don't have pictures … but we do have a family portrait in one of the rooms. Malfoy tradition and all that. She stood in front of it for a while when she first saw it and I'm still not sure what to make of the expression on her face when she did."


"And dating her has turned him into a living, breathing human. I mean, when was the first time you saw Malfoy smile?" Aren chuckled as he remembered seeing the smile grow on his friend's face when he thought no one was watching.