The group had all settled into the compartment pretty quickly and it was soon filled with laughter and chatter as the friends greeted each other after the summer apart. The last time they had all seen each other had been at St Mungo's when Mia had been injured and, seeing as that had not been the best time to catch up, they chatted about their summers now.

As Mia entered, she overheard a particularly funny story Filius was telling and she listened in absentmindedly as she looked around for a spare seat. Feeling a tug on her sleeve, she looked down from where she was stood to see Charlus gesturing to the seat beside him and she flushed a little bit before plonking down next to him.

The seat that Euphemia found herself in meant that she was sat near the door, right next to Charlus who made sure to ask her whether she was okay in a very concerned tone that sent weird feelings through Mia's stomach, twirling around and twisting at her insides. Florean was seated by the window, he was leaning with his legs stretched out as he had his eyes closed, obviously trying to get a few hours of rest - the boy had been up all night, worrying and stressing about his mixed up feelings. Not that any of his friends knew that, of course, they just assumed he was tired from staying up all night voluntarily,

Pomona and Filius were playing a game of Exploding Snap just opposite him and the pack of cards exploded with a bang suddenly, sending sparks and the scent of gunpowder into the air, making Florean jump a mile from where he had been lounging quite peacefully and the rest of the compartment to descended into uncontrollable laughter at his expense whilst he grumbled and brushed bits of gunpowder out of his dark blonde hair.

Eugenia was sat on the floor of the compartment, her back leaning against one of the seats with her knees drawn to her chest whilst Minerva braided her hair, the two of them chatting quietly in the other corner of the compartment. Alastor and Lyall were sat opposite Charlus and Euphemia, the three lads talking about Quidditch and upcoming matches and fixtures around her as Mia attempted (and failed) to understand what they were on about.

The sense of peace that had been so absent to Mia recently had returned now and she was able to cross her legs on the seat, she was able to relax and enjoy the company of her friends, listen to their banter and jokes mingled in with the different types of laughter. A small smile settled on her face as she took in the crowded compartment, marvelling at how they had all managed to cram into the enclosed space. There was something much better about them all being pressed together though, she thought, because she felt it brought them a little closer together in more ways than one. Which, essentially, it did.

"What are you thinking about?" Lyall's soft voice suddenly appeared in her ear and Euphemia realised with a jolt that he had swapped places with Charlus so that the boy could talk over fixtures with Alastor for the next game without leaning across Lyall. A strange disappointment and sinking feeling settled in Mia's stomach and the smile slipped from her face for a second until she spotted Charlus' eyes flicking over to her momentarily and she felt the warmth return.

"Nothing much, really," Euphemia replied honestly, "Just about how happy I am right now," she added with a little smile, seeing Lyall beam back at her. "I'm glad you're happy. May I ask what's making you so happy?" Lyall asked with a gentle tone and Mia looked at him a little uncertainly, suddenly aware that he was sat a little closer than expected and she felt a unwelcome lurch in her stomach, uncertainty resting there.

"This," Euphemia gestured to the compartment that was filled with joy and funny stories. She couldn't help but let her eyes flicker to Charlus, noting how he was talking passionately about something to Alastor, using his hands to emphasise his point as the blonde listened to his enthusiastic best mate with a grin. Charlus looked up and met her eyes, smiling at her and she felt her cheeks warm before she turned back to Lyall, who was looking rather downcast and dejected now, having watched her slight interaction with Charlus in a melancholy fashion.

"What's wrong?" Mia questioned him and Lyall shrugged with a sheepish grin, his eyes not quite meeting Euphemia's as he muttered 'nothing.' She raised an eyebrow at him and tilted his chin up so that he had to look her right in the face, unaware that both Minnie and Charlus were watching the two intently now. "Can we go for a walk? It's too crowded and loud in here," Lyall asked her quietly and a flame of curiosity burned furiously in Mia so she nodded, standing up and beckoning to Lyall to follow her to outside of the compartment.

"Where are you two off to?" Charlus suddenly asked, his tone much lighter and more strained than usual and Euphemia could've sworn she saw a flash of jealousy in his hazel eyes but it was gone as soon as it came. Charlus' question had attracted the attention of everyone else in the compartment now and everyone shifted from where they were sat, socialising, to take note of what was going on.

Eugenia had turned from where one half of her head was braided, moving the remaining half of her hair from out of her vision as it had been draped over her face because Minerva had been focusing on the other plait. Alastor had already been watching the scenario with an interested gleam in his eyes and now Pomona was looking over at them whilst Filius muttered something to an intrigued Florean, who had given up on getting any rest whatsoever - there was no chance in such a loud and noise filled compartment.

"We're going on a walk," Lyall answered calmly and, before anyone could comment, he ushered a flustered Mia out of the door. There was silence for a second before all pairs of eyes found themselves glancing at Charlus who defensively snapped, "What? Why should I care?" to which Minnie simply responded with an irritated mumble of "Boys!" before she resumed the braiding of Eugenia's long, blonde locks. Alastor and Florean exchanged exasperated but amused looks and Filius sighed heavily and returned to the game of Exploding Snap with Pomona, who's eyebrows had furrowed in curiosity at the situation.

Meanwhile, out in the corridor, Lyall was digging his nails into his palm as he thought about what he wanted to say to Mia. She was looking at him expectantly and Lyall felt his heart hammer faster and faster in his chest. The only way was to spit it out but the way Euphemia had been looking at Charlus in the compartment had really unnerved him and deterred him from what he had originally been going to say.

What if she liked Charlus? It was known to practically everyone in their group that Charlus liked Mia by now and Lyall definitely didn't want to upset his mate but he also longed to tell Euphemia because it was driving him crazy. However, if she liked Charlus back then it would all be ruined...

"I think you're really great, you know," he suddenly blurted out and Mia glanced over at him in mild amusement and surprise, brushing a bit of her dark hair out of her face to look at him properly. "Thanks, I guess?" she laughed before she grabbed his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "I think you're really great too," Euphemia smiled at him before dropping his hand and carrying on down the corridor.

Mia had no idea what was going on but Lyall was acting really weird which kind of made her want to get back to the compartment. However, she didn't want to abandon Lyall as something seemed to really be on his chest and she figured it would do him some good to talk about it.

Euphemia span back around from where she had been walking down the train corridor to face Lyall, "What's wrong?" she asked gently and Lyall smiled nervously, opened his mouth and was about to say something when his smile slipped off his face as his eyes were fixed on something behind Mia.

Curious, Euphemia looked over her shoulder and saw that Minerva and Florean were walking towards to them with purposeful expressions, making Lyall's heart sink. Naturally, Mia was oblivious as ever and didn't see his downcast eyes but simply embraced both Minnie and Florean with delighted greetings to the two.

"We fancied a walk as well," Minerva explained to Euphemia and she left out the fact that she and Florean had actually set out on a walk to make sure that Lyall and Mia didn't do anything that would stop their mission of 'Get Charlus and Euphemia together' from happening.

Florean sent an apologetic look to Lyall, who simply shrugged in resignation as Minnie hooked her arm through Mia's and the two skipped away down the corridor. "You really like her, don't you, mate?" Florean suddenly asked and Lyall flushed a little but wrinkled his nose in indifference, shrugging again.

"She's pretty, I guess. But it's just a little crush, I dare say I'll get over it," Lyall muttered, suddenly extremely interested in his shoes and he fixed his eyes on them, avoiding eye contact with Florean who was feeling bad that they had split the moment up but it had to be done as part of his and Minnie's 'Matchmaker' mission. Minerva had claimed Lyall was a 'spanner in the works' and so had dragged Florean out of the compartment to stop anything from happening that might prevent Charlus and Mia getting together.

Typical Minerva: always doing and never thinking, it was a common trait of Gryffidnors whereas Hufflepuffs like Florean did actually think about the emotions of the people involved. Because of this, he felt extremely sorry for Lyall but it had to be done.

Personally, Florean wanted Euphemia and Charlus to take their time and get together when it best suited them because he didn't want them to rush into anything then regret it after but he also wanted them together as much as Minnie did. As much as the entire group did, to be honest. Everyone was just waiting, watching and waiting for something to happen. Anything.

"I'm sure you will get over it, mate," Florean affirmed with a clap on Lyall's shoulder (which he immediately regretted because his hand tingled from the touch) and the smaller boy slunk back down the corridor to the compartment as Florean sighed and leaned against the wall. He couldn't help but wish that some other things were as easy to get over as a silly crush. However, all these strange feelings inside Florean were not going to go away as quick as Lyall's little crush on Euphemia.

Trust me to be the complicated one Florean thought with another sigh and he ran his hands over his face, gripping at his temple as if he was trying to prise the 'unnatural' thoughts out of his brain. Why did he have to be so confused about who he liked all the time? It had to either be girls or boys, there was no in between....surely?

~~~

Euphemia didn't know how she did it but she somehow managed to get through the first few weeks of fourth year without creating any problems for herself. Orion and Druella were keeping their distance, they seemed to be regarding her with caution as if they had been scolded for injuring her and Eileen proved to be a good ally. Mia vowed to herself and to Eileen that she would not treat the girl as she had in the past but Eileen seemed content with being a little guard of sorts.

Whenever Walburga, Heather and Mary would start any trouble or problems, the usually weak and timid Eileen would help Euphemia out, either by dragging her out of the situation or standing up for her if anything got too toxic. But that was all it was, toxic - it was simply words that the girls threw at Mia and she could take that, she was well accustomed to it from her parents. Cruel words simply bounced off her; it was like she was immune to insults or something.

Fourth year started and proceeded like any other year, with lessons taking up Euphemia's time and she found herself being buried in studying and homework within the first few weeks and yet she still managed to leave lots of time to hang out with her friends. They were all incredibly supporting of her, though Charlus and Lyall had both been rather protective over her about the whole Eileen ordeal - the former had warned her to be careful and the latter had told her to use Eileen to her advantage again and not to trust the girl.

For some reason, Mia found that Charlus' advice was a bit more sound and sensible and she followed his, treating Eileen as an equal and as a friend but also keeping her a little at arms length so that she would still be careful and not expose too many of her secrets to Eileen. The trust between them had been broken and was beyond repair but the two were still friends and Euphemia was grateful for Eileen's company when she needed it. Slytherin House was a very lonely place to be if you didn't have any friends and made many enemies.

Florean and Minnie were acting rather strange around her the majority of the time, the two seemed to have little private chats a lot but Pomona reassured Mia that it would probably be nothing. It didn't stop the girl from worrying though but when she asked Minerva about it in Transfiguration, her best friend told her 'not to worry,' which just made the girl worry even more. What on earth could they be up to?

Lyall was acting oddly around her as well, his awkwardly sweet demeanour from the train seemed to have vanished, much to Euphemia's disappointment. He stumbled over his words around her and avoided her as much as possible which only left the girl to be extremely and utterly confused. However, he also seemed to be talking to Minnie and Florean a lot and Mia got a sneaking suspicion that they were up to something, but she didn't know what and it really irritated her.

"I don't get what's going on, to be honest," Mia sighed during one lunchtime when she was holed up in the tapestry room, along with Alastor who had offered to keep her company. Alastor simply raised an eyebrow and tried to conceal his amusement at Euphemia's obliviousness but failed and, as a result, became a victim of one of Mia's famous death stares.

"Sorry," he laughed, holding his hands up in surrender, "It's just funny that you have no clue what's going on - it's pretty damn obvious," Alastor told her and Euphemia felt even more stupid as she stared at him, dumbfounded. Alastor facepalmed and shook his shoulder length blonde hair out of his face, giving her a placid look that only confused Mia further.

"You have to win the award for the most oblivious girl on the planet, Euphemia Black. Can't you see what's going on around you?" With that, Alastor winked and walked out of the tapestry room, leaving Mia alone with her thoughts as Minnie and Florean conferred in whispers about their matchmaker plans just outside of the entrance to the passage.

It's much shorter than usual (or so I think, anyway) and for that, I apologise. I've had a hectic few weeks recently and I've also had serious writer's block for this chapter, I just couldn't get it right and the amount of drafts of this chapter that got deleted en masse were crazy.

Thanks for sticking with this story and I hope you liked this chapter (even though it's a little shorter). Sorry again for the long wait!