Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I only own the OCs I created for this story

AN: I'm back and totally ready to go! I spent last night getting ready for year 2; watched the second movie ran through my ideas, and oh the ideas I have! I hope everyone can be patient with me because even though I have some great ideas for the characters this is my least favorite book in the series and because of that I've been struggling a bit to write this. I was able to through in a clue about what might be happening with Ren later in the story! Foreshadowing is so much fun!

By the way I'm a bit stuck on the title and suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks!
MischievousAngel


Serenity lay lazily in the sun as she watched a few ducklings play in the pond in front of her. Her whole summer had been like this thus far. Oh, she read a few books here and there, helped Emma plant a new herb garden in her backyard, went over to Juliet's for Transfiguration tutoring, and in the late of the evenings she and her Uncle would often sit out by their pound and roast marshmallows over a small fire; a favorite memory he had as a child and one he passed on to her; but honestly Serenity found herself mostly laying in this spot and thinking of her friends that she had not seen over the summer, well Hermione and Harry that is.

She had visited the Weasleys a few times, Emma had kept her plans with Mrs. Weasley and had brought Serenity over for dinner and though Weasleys had been disappointed that er Uncle Remus couldn't make it, they did understand; he had after all been; "away on business."

What was funny, was that though Ron had been happy to have a friend over, it was Ginny who craved her attention and begged her mother to allow Ren to spend the weekends with her. Not that she minded at all, Ginny was without a doubt a blast; the fiery little red head amused her to no end and together they rivaled the twins' mischievous nature, much to Mrs. Weasley's dismay.

But Ron and his family were the only ones she had seen. Despite their promise to each other she hadn't been able to visit Hermione at all. That surprise her parents had told her about at the train station was a summer cruise, so the girls' hopes to see each other during the summer had been slightly crushed, though they had kept in touch through detailed letters.

Then there was Harry. Oh that boy! The thought of Harry upset her to no end. That stupid boy never even replied to any of her, Ron, or Hermione's letters; and to think after everything they did for him! She even had gotten him a gift for his birthday, not that she would even send it to him now! Of course that didn't mean it wasn't in her overnight bag, the one she used when she would visit Ron and Ginny, you know…just in case.

The sound of the back door shutting jarred Ren from her musings, she glanced over to see her Uncle as he walked towards her. Ren turned her attention back to the ducklings and listened as he sat down at the base of the tree that had been providing her shade.

Remus tilted his head back against the tree trunk and sighed, for the past week Ren had been restless and a little upset; it had begun to worry him, "What has been troubling you munchkin?" he asked as he gazed up into the sky.

Serenity pushed off of the ground and moved to sit next to her Uncle, "Harry's been ignoring all our letters all summer! If he didn't want to be my friend he should've... he should've just said so!" she mumbled angrily.

Remus wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close; when he had first heard of her friendship with Harry Potter he had been shocked to say the least, then a bit, for lack of a better word, concerned. The stories she had told of her new friends reminded him so much of his own adventures with her and Harry's fathers. He wasn't sure how to feel of the second generation being as close as the first, and so he hoped and prayed to any gods or goddesses listening that he had raised Ren right and that she wouldn't make the same mistakes her father did.

That thought itself made him pull the girl in closer to him and kiss her brow; "you know he lives with strict muggles Ren" he began when she interrupted with a snort; in a flash, Remus moved his other arm over and pinched her side which made her yelp and glare a little before she allowed him to continue, "it's very possible that he just hasn't been allowed to answer, it doesn't mean that he doesn't miss you."

She paused at his suggestion, that actually had sounded very likely and suddenly she wondered why she hadn't thought that before, hadn't he told her about what his home life was like, she should have suspected the idea first before she jumped into any sort of conclusion.

Ren grinned and smiled at her Uncle as she kissed his cheek, "Thanks Uncle Remus, I should have thought of that earlier" she frowned a little, "I really need to learn not to jump to conclusions."

He rolled his eyes lightly and gave a chuckle, "Well now that I solved that issue, don't you have some packing to do? If I remember correctly you promised a certain young witch you'd be at her house today by dinner."

Remus watched Ren as she nodded her head, reluctantly got up and walked back towards their cottage. He sighed as he gazed up once again into the clouds and wondered of he had become so old, and how fast his little witch seemed to be growing up.


Serenity grabbed her overnight bag as Remus pulled her into a warm hug, "I want you to have fun this weekend, alright munchkin?"

She nodded her head and kissed her Uncle on his cheek, "promise, Uncle Remus. I'll see you tomorrow!" she replied with an excited grin as she stepped into the fireplace, she could see him smile softly and waved one last time before she called out her destination, "The Burrow!"

As always the sudden rushing jolt of Floo powder made Ren want to squirm but she had learned a long time ago that doing such a thing could, well, you just could end up in the wrong fireplace. She soon spotted the exit she wanted to enter and quickly took a step through. She smiled as she gazed around the cluttered room; as much as she loved her own home the Weasley house was always full of the most amusing trinkets.

"Ren! You're here!" called out a red headed blur that rushed down the stairs of her home and into the older girl's arms.

"Hey, Gin! How was your week?"

"Oh! It was alright I…." but before the girl could even begin to tell her anything a stampede of noise raced down the steps, "Oy, Ginny!" she heard Ron call out, "is that Ren?" Ginny shared a grin with the older girl as Ron and twins hurried into the room.

"Ren! You'll never believe what our dad found out this morning!" Ron said as he grabbed her bag away from her and set it on the couch.

Fred nodded his head seriously, which was really odd to see, "yeah, turns out that friend of yours? The one who hasn't been writing to you? He got a warning from the Ministry about using magic out of school and in front of muggles."

Her eyes widened, "Harry used magic outside of school? No way!" she said with a shake of her head, there was no way she could see Harry doing anything that could get him expelled from the place he called home.

George nodded in amusement, "yeah! Apparently he used the Hover Charm."

Ron, who had sat down on the couch, frowned a little and shook his head, "what I want to know is why he hadn't answered our letters. Do you know I wrote to him twelve times and not a single reply back?"

Serenity rolled her eyes in annoyance; she did know. It was something they had talked about the last time she was here and for some reason he seemd to forget that Harry hadn't written to her either, "You know my Uncle Remus suggested maybe he isn't allowed to answer. I know he's told you what his home life is like Ron."

"You really think that muggles would be able to stop him from getting our post?"

"Really Ron? Their muggles not stupid, of course they could find a way! Maybe what we need to do is go ask him in person! Besides what if something is really wrong?"

Ron still looked a bit skeptical but nodded his head, "Fine, let's do this, how are we going to get him out?"

They heard throats clearing from behind them and glanced at the twins who stood beside Ginny with their well known mischievous grins on their faces, "We could take dad's car" Fred suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

Ren, for once was really confused, "what car?"

Fred and George shared a look with Ron, "It's out in the shed" George said with a grin.

Fred smirked, "A Ford Anglia"

They threw an arm over each other's shoulders and at the same time stated proudly, "A car that Dad just so happened to enchant to make it fly!"

Ren's confusion instantly turned into excitement, "that's perfect; we could fly over to his home and find out what's going on! We'll have to leave late tonight and get back before anyone notices" she thought out loud.

Ron nodded his head in agreement with the plan, when suddenly Ginny, who had been silent this whole time, spoke up determinedly, "I want to go too!"

All three boys shook their heads, "No way Gin, we're already probably gonna get in major trouble. If we take you along then mum will have our heads!" Ron cried out.

Ginny glared angrily at her brothers before she looked towards Ren for support. Serenity sighed, as much as she loved Ginny, Ron was right, but she also knew how that sneaky mind of hers worked. She silently groaned as she shook her head and suggested the only thing she knew would keep Gin's silence, "Gin, your brother's are right, " she ignored Ginny's glare and cry of protest as she continued with her suggestion. "Look, it wouldn't be smart for me to go as well, your mother will figure it out for sure. So Ginny and I'll distract the family for as long as possible, you guys go ahead and get Harry."

The younger girl stared at her suspiciously before she nodded her consent. Her brothers let out a breath and each shot Ren a thankful smile. Gin rolled her eyes again at all of them, she sighed and glanced up at her friend, "How are we going to distract mum Ren?" she asked.

"I dunno, I was thinking we could sleep out in the living room, that way if the boys make a racket we can say it was us, but that's as far as I got."

"I think we can work with that, we can still paint our nails right?" Ren giggled and nodded; ever since she had shown Ginny how muggles painted their nails the little girl had been fascinated.


With their plan in place the group of them decided that their best bet would be to wait for their mother to go to bed, of course that meant they had to get through dinner without raising any suspicion, though Ren doubted they suceeded there. Not only did they all fidget nervously while they ate, but the twins were on their best behavior, which really had Mrs. Weasley eyeing them suspiciously.

Ginny waited for her father to leave before asking her mother if she and Ren could sleep on in the Living Room. Now that had been an interesting conversation, including when Mrs. Weasley had asked why they would want to sleep their when Ginny had a perfectly good room to use. Ren had almost freaked out when Ginny began to stutter unsure how to respond.

Quickly thinking on her feet Ren had grabbed out the bag of marshmallows she had stuffed in her bag and showed them to Gin's mother. "It's a muggle tradition my Uncle and I share," she began, "we roast them over a fire" she paused, widened her eyes a little and begged, "Please Mrs. Weasley."

Eventually Mrs. Weasley agreed and walked away to do some more house chores all the while mumbling something about how muggle obsessed her family was, and how muggles did the oddest things, which only caused Ginny and Ren to collapse into a heap of giggles.

By 9:30pm Mrs. Weasley had gone to bed. Serenity was in the middle of painting Ginny's nails a glittery blue when the boys began to creep down the stairs. The girls paused with what they were doing and watched them as clumsily hurried through their cluttered Living Room.

"Be careful!" Ren whispered harshly as she watched Ron almost knock over a lamp.

George snickered and pulled his younger brother up by the scruff of his collar, "we'll be back around two okay?" he whispered to them.

The girls nodded and wished the brothers luck as they excited the house and hurried to the car. "Think they'll make it?" Ginny asked as she watched her brother's fly away in the car, the car dropped a few feet and sputtered a bit before flying up again, hitting the tops of some trees along the way.

Ren frowned at the scene, "I hope so," she said with a sigh and turned away to sit back down and waited for Ginny to do the same. Serenity pulled the glittery nail polish she had been using and started to paint Gin's nails again.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Ginny spoke again, "Ren?"

"hmm?"

"What if no one likes me?"

Serenity's head shot up and gazed at the younger witch with curiousity. She thought back to earlier in the summer when they had discussed how hard First Year could be. Ren hadn't held anything back, she didn't want Ginny to enter Hogwarts feeling as lost as she had. But this was the first time Gin had truly expressed her concern.

Serenity gave the girl a comforting smile,"there is no way no one would like you Gin, and besides you can always come talk to me about anything alright?"

The younger girl looked at her thoughtfully and grinned, "Promise?"

"Promise" Ren said and they both shared a grin.

A few hours later, Serenity sat on the couch closest to the front window as she tried to read the Transfiguration book Jules had given her for the summer, but it was no use; she was just too nervous. She sighed as she closed her book and glanced down at her watch, half past two in the morning, where were they?

At least the rest of the house was still silent; even Ginny who had been adamant on staying up until Harry arrived had eventually fallen asleep. The only thing that could be heard was the faint rattle of the ghoul in the attic and the ticking of her watch.

Groaning, Ren put her book down and climbed into her sleeping bag next to Gin. Hopefully she would wake up when they arrived; she so did want to see Harry.


A low rumble of a car and a soft screech awoke her, the sun was shining and she could smell bacon cooking. Her eyes widened, if she could smell that heavenly scent it meant one thing and one thing only; Mrs. Weasley was up and the boys were so busted!

Ren leaned up on the couch and peaked out the window, she could see four very familiar boys as they climbed out of the old car. Quickly and silently as she could, Ren grabbed her sneakers and threw them on before she raced out the front door hoping to warn them before she saw them.

Harry spotted her before the others did; he squinted to be sure and grinned as he realized it was indeed Serenity. She threw her arms around him and gave him tight hug before she instantly let him go, reeled back and slugged him in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Harry cried out as rubbed his arm in hopes to ease the pain.

"Why didn't answer our letters, you git!" she cried out.

"It wasn't my fault Ren I promise…" he trailed off as she had suddenly dropped her accusing glare and widened her eyes fearfully towards the brothers, "you were supposed to be here hours ago! Now she's awake!"

All three Weasley boys' eyes widened and a fearful look that reflected Ren's appeared on their faces. "She's awake?" Ron squeaked out as his face turned green.

The hair on the back of Harry's neck began to rise; obviously the four of them were scared, and he was certainly afraid to find out who they were scared of.

"Oh dear" George said.

Harry and Ren both looked to see Mrs. Weasley as she marched towards them and came to a screeching halt, "Beds empty-no note-car gone! You could have crashed! You could have been seen!" their mother bellowed before she turned to Harry, "Not that I blame you dear."

Ren's watched in amusement as Mrs. Weasley continued her rant at her sons and every once in a while reassure Harry that she didn't blame him in the least, she desperately tried to hold back her laughter but a small snort slipped out.

Her eyes widened as the angry mother turned her attention on to her, "Don't you dare think I don't know you and Ginny had a part of this Serenity Black! Now all of you march back up to the house and get to the table, you're going to eat breakfast and then you're going to de-gnome the garden! Except you Harry dear, you can go back to bed if you like."

Harry quickly shook his head, "I'll help Ron if it's alright, Mrs. Weasley."

The angered women's eyes softened and she gave him a small smile before she turned angrily at the others, "Get to the table now! March!" she practically screeched as she pointed to her home.

The Weasley brothers and Ren hurried in as fast as they could and sat down at the kitchen table where Percy was already eating. Ginny hurried in from upstairs and made to sit down next to Ren when she spotted Harry, she suddenly gave a small squeak and bolted towards her room.

Harry glanced around at the amusement on everyones face, "what just happened?" he asked in confusion. The brothers snorted into their foods as Ren rolled her eyes at their childish attitude. "Gin has a slight...crush on you, you know hero of the world and all" she admitted with a grin.

Harry's eyes widened, he didn't know how to respond to that at all, instead he ignored the brothers snickering and the tell tale sign of embarrassment as it crawled up his neck and dug into his breakfast, savoring the first full meal he had in a while.

The rest of the day went by relatively quickly, as they completed their punishment for conspiracy and sneaking out. Soon it was time for Serenity to go home, Ginny had walked her friend to the fireplace excitedly talking about plans for their shopping trip for school supplies when Harry and Ron hurried into the Living Room to say goodbye to Ren before she left.

At the sight of Harry, Ginny gave the older girl a quick hug and dashed away, much to the older girl's amusement.

Ron rolled his eyes as his little sister vanished form sight, "we'll see you next week Ren" he said with a grin.

Serenity smiled at Ron and stepped into the fireplace before she suddenly stopped and began to dig into her bag and pulled out a wrapped package. She hurried out of the fireplace and handed the gift to Harry, "Here Harry, before I forget. Happy Belated Birthday!" she said with a smile.

With that, she reached up and gave him a swift kiss on his cheek before she turned around and hurried into the fireplace.

"Oakwood Cottage!" she called out loudly, she disapeared in a flash of emarld green fire, leaving a blushing Harry and a very shocked Ron behind.


Psychoyoshi79- Oh! Don't worry I have that all planned out. I actually am a bit tired of the "date the first, love the second" formula that is always used, and I too find it annoying when the main character has like four relationships before the "real deal" so I'm going a slightly more…limited path. I don't want to give it all away but the main plan is to keep her "relationship" with just Harry. I have more important issues for them to deal with that affect their relationship, so adding any real complications such as additional people would probably make it a little messy and give me a terrible headache! Lol!

Ps. let me know what you think of the ending, I have this awkward feeling about it so I need your opinion :)