November ended quickly and so did October. December came as snow did too. The weather became much colder. Amelia spent more time with Draco in the Room of Requirement; Isabell and Olivia were extremely suspicious.

‘I really want to know what she’s up to,’ said Isabell to Olivia and Albert as Amelia passed them in the corridor.

‘Probably something to do with Draco’s “mission” I suppose! I don’t understand why she likes him! He’s rude, mean, cruel, vile and he doesn’t even like her!’ said Olivia furiously. 

‘How do you know he doesn’t like her?’ asked Albert, raising his eyebrows.

‘I-I- he was mean to her for the past five years!’ Olivia yelled as Isabell rolled her eyes.

‘HELLO DEAR CHILDREN!’ a voice boomed. 

It was Professor Slughorn, his large belly maybe bigger than before. Isabell groaned.

‘You’re invited to my christmas party today at 8 o’clock, girls! You can bring one person to come with you! I’ve also invited Amelia! Have a nice day!’

He walked away, swaying from side to side.

‘Ugh! Do we have to come?’ asked Isabell, disgusted. ‘I hate parties.’ 

‘Yes. And there will probably be lots of food so you must come,’ said Olivia, grinning. ‘I know I said it’s pointless but I’m looking forward to it, since it’s a party.’

‘I’m not invited, so I better be off,’ said Albert angrily. 

‘Hey! Don’t be like that!’ said Olivia, clenching her fists.

‘Yeah? Well go ahead and enjoy the party with someone else while I go and study for any tests coming up!’ 

Albert’s ears were slowly turning red. 

‘Fine, if that’s what you want! I already knew about the Christmas party yesterday (Isabell raised her eyebrows) and I was going to invite you, but as you want me to go with someone else, then that be it.’ 

Albert looked embarrassed and Isabell smirked. She was trying to hold her laughter.

‘R-really?’ Albert asked as he cleared his throat. 

Olivia nodded stiffly. 

‘W-well in that case…’ 

‘I’m inviting you,’ said Olivia indifferently. ‘But if you want me to invite a troll I’m fine with that. What do you say?’

‘I- uh-,’ said Albert, smiling slightly.

‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Olivia said, straightening her skirt slightly.

‘Who do you think Amelia’s going with?’ asked Isabell, trying to lead them away from their previous conversation. 

‘Draco probably,’ said Olivia, getting angry again.

‘Give him a rest!’ said Isabell, equally angry.  ‘Even if his mission is for evil or whatever, our friend likes him, so don’t make a big deal out of things that are not worth making a big deal out of!’

Olivia looked as though she was about to say something but stopped under the stern look Isabell gave her. 

‘You-you’re right. I-I should be less harsh on Malfoy. Sorry,’ said Olivia ironically. 

‘You should be.’

Isabell and Olivia glared at each other.

‘It’s time for Herbology guys!’ said Albert in a sing-song voice, interrupting the glaring. 

‘Oh yeah, let’s go. And your singing voice is horrible, just to say,’ Isabell said. 

Albert gasped, offended. Isabell, Olivia and Albert ran to the greenhouses. 

‘I hope my hair doesn’t get munched on by Mandrakes whatever we took in our third year,’ laughed Isabell. 

‘We took Mandrakes in our first year not third and-’ 

‘Quit talking over there!’ Professor Sprout yelled as she wore dragonskin gloves. 

They saw that Amelia was still not here, making Isabell worry about her. 

‘She’s with Draco,’ said Olivia as Isabell told them about her worries. 

After five minutes, Amelia was rushing to them, panting and breathing heavily. She sat next to Isabell. Olivia avoided eye contact with her. 

‘Had fun with your boyfriend?’

‘Huh?’

Olivia cleared her throat.

‘Boyfriend.’

She smirked as Isabell gaped at her in surprise. 

‘What’s with her?’ Amelia asked Isabell loudly, to make sure Olivia would hear it. 

‘Shush girls! Focus on your herbology work! Neville’s already taken out the first thorn!’ 

They saw that Neville Longbottom had several scars and that in front of him, was a giant brown thorn. He used a spell on it to make it calm down and stop fidgeting about. 

Olivia muttered something unclear and put her hand through the soil. Albert and Isbell did the same thing while Amelia just looked at them, as if unsure what to do right now.

‘What is really going on with her?’ whispered Amelia to Isabell. 

But Isabell was too busy looking for a thorn. She got one that was slightly bigger than Neville’s. She used the same spell and the thorn calmed down. 

‘What did you say?’ asked Isabell, her hand still in the soil.

‘Whatever.’

Amelia sighed and wore her dragon skin gloves, then started placing both of her hands in the soil, looking for a thorn to get out.

‘Alright everyone, time’s up. Homework is very simple. Write a page about these beauties we learned about today, due next lesson! Now off you go!’ Professor Sprout yelled as students started packing up. 

‘Isabell, dear. Who are you inviting for the Christmas party that Professor Slughorn will be hosting?’ Olivia asked sweetly.

‘When you use the word “dear”... It’s a bad thing,’ Isabell said seriously. 

‘Nevermind that, dear. Who are you inviting?’ 

Isabell scratched her head and didn’t reply. 

‘What about you Amelia, dear?’ 

Amelia was surprised that Olivia had spoken to her. She was stammering slightly. 

‘D-dunno… Look, I have to go.’ 

Amelia hurried off. 

‘Your plan didn’t work, did it?’ asked Isabell furiously. 

‘No, it didn’t. But I have another one which will make Amelia hate Draco.’

‘You’re trying to make Amelia hate Draco when they have been friends since they were about toddlers or something?’ Albert said, arching his eyebrows.

Olivia nodded swiftly. They then headed for their Common Room. 

‘We need to get prepared for the Christmas party first, then for my plan.’

‘You think I’m going to help you make Amelia hate Draco?’ asked Isabell sharply.

‘He is making her think that- well…’ Olivia looked down. 

‘What?’

‘I overheard Snape and Dumbledore… D-Draco’s mission is to…’

‘What?’ Albert repeated, now looking worried. 

‘Kill Dumbledore.’ 

Isabell and Albert looked petrified. Albert looked like he was about to faint and Isabell looked like she was slapped in the face.

‘I’m in,’ said Isabell, shaking her head. 

‘His mission is to kill D-Dumbledore?’

Olivia nodded. Albert shook his head in disbelief.

‘It’s very true, so here’s the plan: One of us follows them wherever they go. That person will take that Snakeskin cloak that Amelia has. We first have to find out what they are doing so that we know the perfect plan.’

Isabell and Albert nodded, agreeing to the plan. 

‘Maybe I should sneak after them,’ Isabell said confidently. 

‘Ok, and after that, we need to make Amelia think Draco is trying to kill her,’ Albert said.

Isabell and Olivia gaped at him.

‘And how do we do that?’

‘We have to get them in a romantic position then hurt Amelia but not kill her as she’s our friend obviously,’ replied Albert, flushing slightly.  

‘Why in the world would we think of killing Amelia-’ began Isabell. 

‘I love this plan! It’s perfect!’ said Olivia. 

‘Thank you.’ 

‘Right, the Christmas party,’ Olivia groaned. 

‘I thought you were looking forward to it?’

‘With our planning, I totally forgot about it! I thought maybe we could have sneaked after them today! They would probably skip the Christmas party.’

They all got up and dressed for the upcoming party.