Ami typically enjoyed her train rides with her close friend Amber Duncan; but since she was a prefect, Ami had decided to find an empty compartment for the two of them. She usually didn't mind sitting alone to begin with; for she would just read until her loud friend returned.

There were no empty compartments available, to Ami's dismay; so she decided to sit in a compartment with a fellow Slytherin student in her year: Tom Riddle.

The red head always found him to be a quiet boy who would glare in anybody's direction if they weren't a pure blood. Granted, Ami didn't know that Tom was a half blood; but she thought it was okay for him to glare rather than to say some awful slur to the others like other Slytherins would.

She skid open the compartment door, which caused the boy to look up from the window. "Mind if I join you in here, Tom?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Go ahead, Maurice."

"I told you, Tom, call me Ami. It's weird being called by your last name. You were given your first name for a reason!" She added jokingly, but Tom's small smile disappeared into a deep frown.

"Sorry," she said, taking the seat across from him, "didn't meant to offend you."

"'S okay." He continued to stare out the window at the many hills of Scotland's countryside. Knowing the conversation ended on a bad note, Ami chose to leave Tom in his own little fantasy as she pulled out her book.

An hour or so passed after the slightly awkward conversation; and it was only after Tom Riddle waved his hand in front of the book Ami was reading that she realized he had been trying to get her attention. A blush creeped on her cheeks as she apologized.

"Don't apologize, Ami. Reading is important. I was just wondering what you were reading."

"It's about the evolution of magic and its expansion of spells. I only just started reading it but it seems to be really promising." He smiled.

"That honestly does sound fascinating. What era does it start explaining magic's evolution?"

"The book claims that it begins around 5500 b.c.e., but I think it's more around 3000. I've read books like this before and they usually start around the same time. It sounds like this Lockhart man really enjoys telling tall tales about him and his son," Ami noticed Tom smiling amusedly, "I'm rambling, aren't I?" Her blush deepened.

"Just a tad," he grinned, "but it was cute so I'll let it slip."

"You're quite cheeky, Tom." Ami teased her new friend, trying to ignore her sudden anxiousness. His grin merely widened to reveal his white teeth even the next generation Lockhart would be jealous of; and his smile grew even more as he finally noticed her blush.

"Well I should be, seeing I have four." She laughed as she turned to see who had opened the compartment door. It was the trolley woman.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"No." The students said in unison.

When the woman shut the door and continued on her way, Ami spoke up. "You know, Tom, I think you're quite sweet. I think you should talk more." Now it was her turn to smile as she noticed him shift awkwardly.

"It's just hard to talk to stupid people and those not worthy." A brief silence fell upon the duo until Ami asked him a serious question.

"What do you believe, about all of those muggle-borns?"

He gave her a quizzical look and then replied. "I believe in the status of pure bloods. I hate Mudbloods."

Ami cringed at the slur, which made Tom's voice show a tiny bit of anger. "Are you offended that I called them that, Maurice?"

Shocked by his sudden anger, she quickly shook her head no. "It's just.... it's jus-"

"Just what?" He interrupted, and Ami quickly became frightened of the cute and quiet boy.

She sighed heavily. "It's just that I hate slurs. I mean I hear enough of them as it is because of my mothers."

Silence fell upon the Slytherins once more. Ami hung her head because she didn't want to look into the blazing eyes of Tom Riddle, whose eyes softened as she said that.

"I didn't mean to offend you with your mothers, Ami." Tom said softly. Ami looked up to not see Tom across from her, but beside her. He was startled when she leaned into him, and awkwardly put his arm around the girl, not knowing in the slightest of what to do.

"It's okay, Tom. I understand your anger. Personally, I feel like we should not blame the kid for being born. We should blame the parents for deciding to venture out of the circle. If we don't keep magic within borders, I believe all hell could break loose." She lazily tossed her book to the opposite side of where she was sitting.

"That's a valid point, Ami," Tom began softly, which sent a shiver up her spine as she felt his breath tickle her exposed neck, "but the parents could have raised their child away from magic so they wouldn't be ashamed of their heritage." Something about his tone of voice made Ami question his status; but she didn't care in that moment as the door opened to reveal the questioning eyes of Amber.

"Having a slumber party without me, huh?" She joked. Ami felt Tom's arm quickly remove itself from her back as Amber plopped on the seat across from them.

"Yeah. Unfortunately you ruined it." She grabbed the boy's arm and draped it back across her back as she felt his hand on her waist, and leaned back into him.

"How did I ruin it?"

"You walked in here."

"It's not my fault the meeting ended on time-"

"For once." Ami muttered under her breath.

"Well I also kind of sprinted here to tell you and Tom, who is now a part of this new posse, to change as we would be there shortly. However, now that I know you're both changed and ready to go, I'm going to sleep." With the small speech said, Amber draped herself on the opposing bench and fell asleep.

"Wow," Tom whispered, "she falls asleep fast."

"It's a gift of hers."