The hottest summer England had ever seen was finally coming to a close. It was a good 100 degrees outside, but inside Grace Murphy's summer mansion it was a cool 68. The house staff was dressed in their winter uniform, and the pets had all their fur still on. Grace had been up since 6 that morning, packing all of her things that she would need for her sixth year at Hogwarts. She hated sleep, it scared her. Just laying there for hours doing absolutely nothing was the exact opposite of her always energetic personality. I start my sixth year today, crazy. Grace thought to herself. She was amazed that her friends had made it that far. They were young, and had tried a lot of things. Drugs, drinking, sex, it was all apart of their life now. They had been through everything together; divorces, eating disorders, cutting, it was a crazy life, but Grace wouldn't have it any other way.

She made her way throughout the empty house taking it all in. She loved the last day of summer. It meant that she would soon be going home, to the place where she was actually loved and felt protected. Here, in this house, was more like a place to sleep and be waited on by people who were paid to love you. She hadn't seen her mother in about three months, and her father had dropped the occasional owl with some money which she really didn't need. That was her parents' way of showing their love… money. Grace had everything that anyone could want. Her bedroom was about the size of five rooms put together; her closet was the old dining room along with the walk in that was in her room. She hadn't gotten a pony when she turned six, she got nine of them. Grace had never wanted for anything, well almost anything. She looked out the window and sighed, the one thing she had ever wanted was for someone to give her a hug and say that they loved her, and mean it. She had heard it from boyfriends who just wanted to get into bed with her, and from the kids at school who just wanted to be seen with her. It wasn't enough though; there was an empty whole in her heart where family love was supposed to be. As she approached her bedroom door three hours later, she felt a warm feeling starting to stir in her stomach. There was a family that was trying to fill that hole, her best friends.

She opened the double French doors that led to her bedroom and laughed at the sight before her. Bella DeLuca was sprawled out across the king sized bed in the corner of the room with drool pouring out of her mouth. Bella had a very rough night, the girls hadn't gotten home from James Potter's annual end of summer bash until around 4 that morning, and Grace was guessing that she was still feeling the affects of the excessive drinking that had gone on. There had been a 35 cup beiruit tournament and Grace and Bella had run the table. Grace walked over to Bella with a cup of coffee and was about to wake her when she saw the massive hickey on Bella's neck, and squealed a very loud girly squeal.

"Oui Grace what the hell," Bella mumbled as she buried her head into her pillow. "Close the damn shades."

"I would but then I wouldn't be able to see the massive hickey that is forming on your neck mate. Who'd you snog behind my back last night?" Grace laughed as the words hickey and snog sunk into her friends mind. Bella jumped up, a little to fast for her body since she had to grab onto the bed side table to balance her self, and ran over to the mirror.

"Oh my God! It's huge! What the hell. You were supposed to watch me last night." Bella turned around as she screamed at Grace. Grace laughed taking in her friend. Bella, whose real name was Isabella, was about 5'5, skinny with tan skin, brown eyes, and deep brown hair. She was basically the mirror image of Grace and her three friends except for the fact that they all had a different hair color. "On second thought, I don't really care, just enough yelling" Bella said, mainly to herself because Grace hadn't said a word since Bella had woken up. Grace silently handed Bella her coffee and began to make her bed.

"You know that is what a maid is for right?" Bella asked in a snobbish tone that she never meant to come out, but it usually did.

"She didn't sleep in it did she? I told them to take a few hours off since we woke them all up so early this morning. How you feeling anyway? We got a train to catch in about two hours so you'd better hurry up and pack."

Bella ignored the first comment about the maids. She never really understood how Grace was so nice to them, even the house elves at school. Bella was raised to think that the paid help was to be seen not heard, and that you were their masters, they did what you told them to, but not Gracie. Bella gave her friend the same up and down look that she had just received. "You had more to drink than I did last night, and don't think I didn't see that coke in your nose. How the hell do you manage to look like that?" Bella couldn't believe that her friend who was lighter and shorter than all of the others who had attended James' bash last night, could out drink and basically out party anyone there, and still look perfect the next morning. But that was Grace. Bella had decided that Graces new nickname was going to be little miss sunshine, because really she was. Grace had so many inner demons, but she never let them show. No one could really understand how a 5'1 person could have so much personality. She was easily one of the two most talented witches at Hogwarts, (only matched by her best mate Lily Evans) and came from the wealthiest family in all of Europe, but she didn't parade it around the way Bella and some of the others did. Always talking and bouncy, Grace knew how to put people in a good mood. Guys couldn't get enough of her, and most girls couldn't either. She was beautiful, inside and out. She was a model and had the model body, but was an athlete and didn't mind having a few muscles. Blonde hair, blue and green eyes, tan skin, every guy wanted her, and every girl wanted to be her. It was a stupid cliché Bella thought, but it was one that fit Grace perfectly. She had her secrets though, some that not even Bella knew. Bella knew about the eating disorder and the drug habits, along with the drinking. But she was sure that almost everyone knew about the last two. People expected that kind of rebellious behavior from rich kids, how else were they supposed to be noticed?