The air in the Evans' households was always stagnant, tracing back to my great-grandfather's personal vendetta against ceiling fans when they first became popular in the late nineteenth century – his story varied as he aged, but from what I could piece together, his ideas were stolen by some young American who introduced to the public the first electric ceiling fan. We haven't been allowed fans in our rooms since his first visit twelve years ago.

The rest of our time together was less dramatic than I'd envisioned in those first few moments of disbelief. (He'd start tormenting me ... my hair would end up crispy ... Dumbledore would walk in on us in some compromising but completely innocent situation and my cheekbones would be devoured in flames of discomposure ... we'd end up with new respect for each other ... we'd become good friends but would understand that nothing could really put the past behind us ... he'd still be goofy but I wouldn't mind it ... )

Potter was the sort of boy who would sit in the front of every classroom, despite what you might expect. The more I got to know of him, the less it made any sense. His trouble making tendencies made the back of a classroom ideal for hiding mischief, but perhaps he had figured out that those who sit in the front get less scrutinized – still, he was one to stick to conventions and I doubted the whole keeping-your-enemies-closer thing ever appealed to him. Like most guys, he was fairly simple and straightforward.

The first Hogsmeade trip of the year was soon upon us, though the concerns over Montrose were never far from my mind. If Muggle relatives were being targeted ... But I couldn't think like that, and it didn't make sense anyway, because I could be sure that there were more important wizards to go after before myself.

The end of term quickly approached. I had to admit that I was excited for the next Quidditch match by the time it came around three weeks later; I couldn't explain it, but somehow it felt as if winning the Cup would be tantamount to regaining our youth and declaring that we wouldn't be giving up quite that easily, thank you very much. And in my newfound sense of house pride, I found myself rooting for Hufflepuff to not lose all that terribly if they could possibly help it, as Ravenclaw would be our biggest threat and a strong victory would not bode well for us.

Before I could catch my breath after the last class of term ended, I was already packing up to go home. Irene would be going to visit her uncle and I my family. Several half-blood students were staying over the break, as their parents thought it safest, but Muggle parents had no concept of danger and pure-blood parents had no concept of fear. The Grumman sisters would be staying, so early that morning we all said goodbye to Betty and Corrine and took the carriages to the train. It was an awkward ride, to say the least.

I was getting more and more anxious about my career, and it pushed any worries I had about my family momentarily out of my mind – there was nothing I could do for them from school but get a good education and find a job to support myself. There were still so many options, and Annalise's words about the Ministry had got me to thinking whether or not that was somewhere I wanted to work; maybe, like her, I could hold out until Voldemort had fallen – but how long would that be?

The table tensed but I just didn't care anymore, about any of it: I was in school to get my N.E.W.T.s and get a job and maybe vanquish evil, not appease people who had no hold over me.

I might have talked over pros and cons with Irene were we on speaking terms, or even written about it to my mother, since even though I could be absentminded, I imagined that she would want to hear about romantic developments. But without these confidantes, I turned internally and tossed and turned quite a bit before sleeping.

“I don't think of them as different worlds ... ” It was a difficult topic and I considered it for several moments; he looked hooked on my words. “It's really come to where I separate family and friends. Family – no magic, everything takes longer, everyone knows just how embarrassing I looked as a baby. Friends – well, you know that story. Top of the class, terrible flier, not so good with creatures.”

But as for myself, I still had one task left before I could say that I was successful in my school endeavors, and that was the smooth passing of graduation.