You do realize what day it is,”  Victoire said flatly, shaking her head so that her mane of blonde hair shook.

    “It's Friday, and I always stay late to brew on Fridays,”  I replied.

    Victoire groaned.  “That's not what I meant.  I meant it's October 27th!  It's your birthday for Merlin's sake!  Can't you put aside brewing for one measly day?  I mean, you only turn 30 once.”

“You know you could've gone to Matt's and gotten the spare key.  You didn't have to wait outside.”

    “I did,”  Victoire replied as we walked inside,  “He wasn't home.  Neither was Albus.”

    “Albus had to leave again today,”  I said,  “Oh, right, Matt had to work late tonight.”

“Have you got any pickles?”  Victoire asked as we were cleaning up the kitchen.

    “Pickles?”  I stared at her,  “Er, possibly in the fridge, but why?”

    “I just feel like a pickle,”  Victoire shrugged as she looked in the fridge. “Excellent,”  she grinned as she pulled out a jar.

“Hello?”  I called out as I let myself in. 

    “Amy?”  Mum replied from the living room.  “I didn't think you were coming over today.  Is everything all right?”

    “Fine,”  I said as I walked into the living room.  “I've got news, though.”

“What about everyone else?”  I asked.  “Are they all excited?”

    “Of course, they're Weasleys!”  Victoire laughed.  “That's what we do, have kids.  My grandma cried, too.  She's so excited about having another great-grandchild.”

    “I think kids that are born into the Weasley clan are possibly the luckiest kids in Britain, possibly the whole world,”  I said.

“Morris,”  I said as he set a chart down on Natalie's desk and then picked up another.  “How is Matt doing?”

    Morris paused and set the chart back down again.  “Cancel my five o'clock,” he said to Natalie, who immediately got up and left, presumably to find Morris's five o'clock. 

“You are a godsend,”  I said as I grabbed the dress and walked back into the bathroom.  “Where did you get it?”

    “My closet,”  she shouted through the door.  “Another one of those things I actually thought I might be able to fit into again after having Sophie but now have no hope whatsoever since having twins will surely be twice as bad for my body.”

    “Well, my wardrobe has certainly benefited from your pregnancies,”  I replied.

I can count on one hand the number of people in my life who can actually cook well. My mother, Victoire, Victoire's grandmother, Kaden Dursley, and now Dillan are the only people I know who can cook. And by cook I mean more than just boiling water for pasta or cooking eggs.

Dillan met me outside the hospital at six. I was only fifteen minutes late which must have been some sort of record for getting out of work. He was wearing an unusually large grin on his face and holding up a set of gleaming silver keys in his left hand.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that call. Mum set the mobile down and went immediately up to her bedroom. Dad followed. I sat for hours in the living room, unsure of what to do, unsure of what to feel. Sadness, of course. But what else?

“Some of my earliest memories involve my grandmother,” I began. “My family spent Christmas with her and my grandfather every year for as long as I can remember. One of the first things I remember her telling me was 'Don't call me Grandma. It makes me feel old'."

The evening was wonderful. We had dinner and then strolled down the streets of London, ignoring everyone else, and catching each other up on our lives.

Everyone was looking up at me expectantly and it struck me how much these kids trusted me and relied on me. Even Liane, who had been reading the entire hour, now looked up from her book.

“Teddy?” I asked. “You realize it's six in the morning?”

“I haven't been asleep at this hour in three weeks,” Teddy said. “But yeah, I realize it.”

“What's wrong?” I replied, kneeling down next to the floo.

I'd just walked out of my study when I saw Rose hurrying up the corridor, a stack of parchment in her arms. She looked slightly shocked, which piqued my curiosity.

“Rose, what is it?” I asked as she reached me. I gestured her into my study.

“I've been trying to find you all day,” she said as I shut the door behind us. Rose set the parchment down on my desk and began pacing the room. “It's the results.”

“What is it?” Matt asked as he sat down in one of the red leather chairs.

“Don't be upset I didn't tell you about this earlier,” I said. “But it had to be kept quiet due to the research and stuff.” I took a deep breath. “You know how it's really rare that we know who bit you, right?”

“Yeah... What's that got to do with anything?” Matt asked.

I told my parents about the breakup during the full moon. In retrospect that was probably a bad idea. Mum took it poorly. I suspected she thought Dillan and I would get married and give her grandchildren, despite the fact that Mum had never voiced her desire for grandchildren before.

“This has been bugging me all day,” he said. “You look so familiar.”

“So do you,” I said. “But why weren't you at the rehearsal dinner?”

“Couldn't get off work,” he muttered. “If I'm wrong about this, I'm going to get into so much trouble.... Honestly, I must be wrong. You're Kenzie's friend from England and I know there's no way Kenzie can have a friend who's a-”

“Did you know that February in 1865 is the only recorded month without a full moon?” I said after a few minutes of silence.

“Er, no,” Dillan said. “That was random. Why are you here, Amy? I miss you. God, do I miss you, but I made myself clear.”

“I want to explain something to you,” I said. “If you'll listen.”

I took the box and untied the ribbon. It was a a small jewelry box, like the type a necklace would come in. I opened it and saw a gold necklace with two charms. One was a crescent moon and the other was a very tiny wolf.

“It's not a regular wolf. It's a werewolf,” Dillan said. “Look closely.”