This is one in a series of books all taking place at the same time but from different POV's.

Disclaimer: Obviously not JKR.


"That street two streets I see you and me/ Hanging on the empty swings"

- Don't Stop (Color On the Walls), Foster The People

The tips of Celeste's blonde hair barely touched the ground as she hung upside down on the monkey bars. "Have you ever noticed how boring the end of summer is?" Celeste asked as she swung back and forth.

"No," Amber said as she stared idly at the daisy in her hand.

"Well, it is boring," Celeste stated crossing her arms. "Everyone just sits there until it's the last day."

"Which happens to be today," Amber said blandly.

"Do you want to go up to the castle?" I asked.

"Ewww." Amber made a face and looked up to where you could see the castle ruins in the distance.

"We've been up there too many times this summer," Celeste said, "Plus, Amber hates the tourists."

"They're just so, needy."

I rolled my eyes. "I figure you're never traveling anywhere in your life."

Amber grinned at me. "You just know me so well. I'm never going to leave Fram."

"An awful choice if you ask me," Celeste muttered.

"Well I like Fram," Amber said.

"It is the number one small town in England," I said. Celeste and Amber stared at me. "What?" I asked. "That's what my dad tells me whenever I ask him why we live here."

Celeste laughed. "Only your dad would know that."

"Yes," Amber said as she started ripping petals of her daisy. "your dad does seem to know a lot of random things. Remember the time he told me that if you drink unicorn blood you wouldn't die, even if you were seconds away from death."

Celeste laughed. "I remember that! He also told me that a boggart is a creature that morphs into whatever you fear the most."

"Well that's my dad for you," I said with a shrug, then quickly changed topics. "So do you guys want to go down to the market? They're no tourists down there."

"Plus Amber can flirt with Chris." Celeste smiled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Both Celeste and I turned towards Amber. She smiled, "Okay, we can go."

I laughed and pushed myself off the swings. We made our way across town and into the small square that held the Framlingham market. There were rows upon rows of stalls, each one holding a different item than the other: popcorn, clothes, jewelry, more things than you can possibly imagine.

"Which booth should we go to first?" Celeste asked.

"We could go and see Mrs. Handon," Amber suggested.

"Nah," I said, "we already have enough earrings to last us a lifetime."

"How can you have enough earrings to last a lifetime?" Celeste asked.

I shrugged. "I just think we should go to a different stall this time, mix things up a bit."

Amber nodded. "We could go up to the camera booth."

"You just want to see Chris again," Celeste deadpanned.

"So what if I do?"

"Well," Celeste said, "for one thing, I'm pretty sure Chris knows that you know absolutely nothing about cameras."

Amber turned towards me smiling. I groaned. "No."

"But Scarlett," Amber pleaded, "Chris is like the only guy in our class that wants to stay in Fram!"
"There will be more."

"And everyone knows you're like the camera whisperer!"

"Curse my hobby."

"And this is like the only day I haven't seen you with a camera so it's perfect!"

"No."

"Pleeeeaaaaassssseeee," She pleaded.

"Fine."

Amber grabbed my hand and dragged me through the stalls. We passed half of the market before she finally stopped a couple stalls down from a bright white one. "Okay," Amber said, "just act natural."

"What does natural look like?" Celeste asked.

"Just go," Amber said pushing us towards the stall.

We all walked up to the bright white stall that had the words "Delilah's Camera's" painted in a black loopy print on the sign. The booth itself was pretty small. It had three foldable tables with sheets over them set up in a U formation, and they were all filled with different camera lenses, bodies, and straps.

"What do we do now?" Celeste asked.

"Just wait for him to come over here," Amber whispered.

"We can go over there and talk to him," I suggested.

"No, he has to come over here," Amber said. "and he is now! Hurry, don't look."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Celeste muttered.

Amber hit her on the shoulder as Chris came over. "Hey," He said, smiling as he saw Amber.

"Hi," Amber said, blushing. I rolled my eyes.

"So what brings you lot here?" Chris asked.

"Oh you know, I was thinking about buying a new camera body," I said.

"I thought so," Chris said with a smile. "So what were you thinking about buying?"

"Maybe a Nikon FE2 or a Canon A-13," I said. "I'm leaning towards the Canon A-13."

"We might have one of those," Chris said. "I'll go and check. Be right back."

Chris got off the table and then went over to his aunt. Celeste and Amber turned towards me. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Celeste asked.

"It's like you're speaking a different language," Amber said. "What the heck is a Canon A-13?"

"It's the body of the camera, and Canon's just the brand," I explained. "You have to buy the lens and body of the camera separate. The Canon A-13 is actually a really good camera to start out with."

Amber and Celeste stared at me blankly.

"You know," I said to Amber. "If you want to date Chris, you should at least try and understand cameras."

"Can't you just go on the dates with me and hold up cue cards behind him or something?"

"She goes to that special boarding school in Wales tomorrow," Celeste said.

"Oh yah. Do you have to go?" Amber asked. "Can't you just go to Thomas Mills High School with us? You know Sophomore year won't be the same without you."

"It's too late. My parents have already bought me all my school supplies and a train ticket. Plus the school is expecting me to be there and you've survived without me since 6th grade."

"I guess you're right," Celeste said with a sigh.

I smiled sadly at them. "But I'll always be here for the summer and sometimes winter break."

"Sometimes?" Amber questioned.

"It's just that the courses there are really challenging and I wouldn't be surprised if I had to stay over break to study. This year we're taking some really tough exams."

"It's like this every year," Amber said. "We never see you. Would you really rather spend your break studying than hanging out with us?"

"Well, no," I said slowly.

"Plus we can help you study," Celeste said. "I'm sure whatever you're studying in school will be in our textbooks."

Not likely.

"But it's not like we would actually study and I just think that I might need to stay at the school over winter break," I said nervously.

"Why are you so determined to stay at school?" Amber asked.

"It's complicated."

"What's so complicated about it? You come home during winter break and go back once it's over."

"It's j-"

"I checked with my aunt and she says we don't have any of the camera bodies you were looking for."

I let out a sigh of relief as Chris came back. Amber just gave me one of those we're-not-done-talking-about-this glares.

"That's fine," I told Chris.

He looked between Amber, Celeste, and I. "Am I missing something?" He asked.

"It's nothing," I told him. "but we really should be going now."

"Um okay," He said. "Bye."

"Bye," I said with a wave before Amber, Celeste, and I left the stall.

"So where should we go now?" I asked as we walked away.

Silence.

You're not seriously going to give me the silent treatment are you?" I asked.

Silence.

"Oh come on. If I could explain I would!"

Suddenly Celeste snapped towards me. "Are you a spy?"

"No."

"The President of the United States daughter?"

"No."

"Part of the Royal Family?"

"No."

"Then what can be so important that you can not tell us?" Celeste asked.

She looked livid.

"It's complicated," I said lamely.

"Of course it is," Celeste said. She and Amber turned away from me.

I sighed and stopped walking. "I'm going to go to Jack's early if you guys are going to continue to give me the silent treatment."

They didn't even look back.

"Bye," I said. "You can send letters to the school if you want."

They showed no signs of hearing me.

Great.

I turned around and started walking back to my house, defeated. It was only a short walk from the secret market of Framlingham, and today I made it back there in record time. The house was cold and empty as I made my way up to my bedroom. My room was pretty big, with a large bay window and window seat that looked over the cobblestone street. The light blue walls were covered in pictures ripped out from magazines, newspaper clippings, and photos I had taken myself and above that I had hung up a string of white lights. My queen sized bed was pushed up against the right wall and I had a vanity up against the left wall that filled with makeup, cameras, lenses, straps, a camera maintaining kit, a typewriter, various magazines, and the Daily Prophet.
I stepped into the room and sighed. Today was not turning out to be the best day.

I made my way back down the stairs and into the living room where there was a large fireplace. A small antique blue bowl lay on the mantle and I took a handful of the floo powder that lay inside of it. Then in one fluid moment I stepped inside the fireplace and dropped the powder yelling, "Diana Bowling's residence."

The next thing I knew, I was falling onto the floor in a small room. It took me a moment to realize it was a small dark room. Diana must not be here. Of course she wasn't, she was family, and to be a Wolfe, you had to never be around. I was use to this constant loneliness, so when the familiar emotion came, I lifted myself off the floor and brushed myself off. I quickly walked through the house and locked the door behind me as I left.

I took the familiar route through the village of Kettleburgh and pretty soon I found myself in front of a small shop at the corner of a quiet road. I pushed through the door and heard the familiar chime of the bell and smell of old books.

The bookshelves in front of me were empty of anyone and the small counter to my left was also abandoned. "Hello," I called out into the store, "Jack? Landon? I came early, I hope that's okay."

"Scarlett."

I screamed and quickly spun around to find Jack and Landon. Landon was smiling at me while Jack, who was standing in front of him, was chuckling. "You almost killed me from fright!" I said lightly punching Jack on the arm.

"Well you should know not to trust us anymore," Jack said.

"One day you'll get a pie to the face and I'll be there laughing at you," I told him.

"What would you say to that?" Jack asked Landon cheekily.

Landon turned towards Jack smiling and pretended to think hard about it. "I would say that's extremely muggle of you."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's rich coming from a wizard who listens to old muggle music."

"What's wrong with that?" Landon asked.

"You have your own record machine and listen to the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver, Messenger Service, and other bands."

Landon turned towards Jack. "She's right Mate," Jack said. "as much as I hate to admit it, she's right."

"How could you turn on me!" Landon said. He waved his arms in the air a bit for emphasis before they landed above his heart.

"Just think about it," I said playing along with Landon. I walked over to him and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. Which was kinda hard considering I'm a couple inches shorter than him. "how would Andi feel if she knew you were defending me?"

"Oh shut it," Jack said as a blush started creeping up his neck.

"Do you think we should shut it?" I asked turning towards Landon.

He looked right back at me. "I quite like talking and my own Mate did not defend me, so I say that we do not shut it."

"Agreed." I nodded.

Both Landon and I turned back to Jack with smiles on our faces.

"Gits," Jack said.

"Hear that Scarlett," Landon said, "we're gits."

I pouted, "But I'm too lovable to to be a git!"

"Well you're a git now," Jack said.

"Then Landon and I can hangout together without you," I said.

"What!" Jack cried out, "But he's my friend!"

Landon crossed his arms. "You have no claim over me."

"Come on Landon!" I said taking his hand, "Let's run away together!"

I laughed and dragged him through the bookshelves. "So are we just going to hide in the bookshelves all day?" Landon asked.

"I don't see why not," I said.

We stopped running by the fantasy section of the store and I let go of Landon's hand.
"You know I'm still supposed to be working," Landon said.

"And I'm supposed to be packing for Hogwarts but I made plans with Amber and Celeste earlier and I was also crazy enough to agree to come here and hang out with you and Jack," I said.

"Well what do you expect from Muggles, they're so distracting" Landon said cracking a smile.

"You and Jack are more distracting than any Muggle I know!" I exclaimed lightly hitting him in the arm.

"Well then you are free to leave," Landon said motioning to where I guessed the door was.

"I'm not going back to my empty house!"

"Then go see Blythe or Caroline."

"They're in different countries," I said.

"So you drove them away."

I hit him on the arm again. "It's not my fault that Blythe and Caroline always travel during the summer and my parents chose to live in a Muggle town."

"Well it doesn't matter anyway. Tomorrow we'll be off to Hogwarts and studying for out OWLs," Landon said, smiling.

I groaned. "Don't remind me. I am so going to get a T."

"Yah right," Landon said. "You're probably going to get all O's."

I rolled my eyes. "As if."

"You're smart enough to be in Ravenclaw!"

"Good thing I'm not in Ravenclaw though, all that studying. And I've heard you have to answer a question to enter their common room." I leaned against the bookshelf behind me.

"Yah, I heard that a bloke was locked out of the common room for a couple days because he couldn't answer a question."

I laughed. "That's hilarious!"

"I wonder what the other houses say about us," Landon said.

"They probably all talk about that time that the Fat Lady screamed at you and Jack for an hour because you guys somehow managed to chip the side of her portrait."

Landon shuttered. "She glares at me every time I try to enter the common room."
I laughed.

"It's not funny," Landon said, but the corner of his lips were turned upwards. "We should probably go and help Jack with work."

"Do we have to?" I whined.

"Well considering that I'm still on the clock, yes."

"Fine."

ยง

I sighed and folded the last of my clothes before placing it inside my trunk. My parents were gone again, this time leaving a note saying they were doing some wedding planning with Skyler. I was forced to eat dinner alone, for the second week in a row.

It wasn't as bad as other nights though. After Landon, Jack, and I had closed up the bookshop we had gotten some Thai food at a local restaurant and then joked around a little before to come home.

I picked up a couple cameras and carefully placed them in my trunk, between two sweaters. I walked around the room and shuffled through a couple pictures. One of them had been taken today with a wizard camera. In it, Jack was trying to move away from the camera while Landon was laughing.

I moved on to another one, this one showed Caroline, Blythe and me. It was taken with a muggle camera and we all had our arms wrapped around each others shoulders and were smiling like idiots.

I turned to the last one and stared at it for a long time. It had been taken with a muggle camera at the park; Amber was leaning against the swing set, her reddish-brown hair tied in a braid and looking up at Celeste, who was frozen in mid-laugh on the swings. Next to her was Molly. I froze at the sight of her. Her long black hair fell around her and she clutched the chains of the swings with both hands as she laughed along with Celeste. That day seemed so long ago.

I placed the photos in my trunk and sat down at my vanity, picking up my diary and a pen.

Dear Diary,

Celeste and Amber are mad at me. It's because of Hogwarts. And tomorrow I'll be off for school and won't have time to make things up with them. Great.

After my whole fight with Amber and Celeste I saw Jack and Landon and we hung out at the bookshop for the rest of the day. Landon put on some of his old Muggle records again and then made me dance around the store with him. Jack laughed the whole time.

Which brings me to another part of my day. Mom and Dad were gone again planning Skyler's wedding. The hope that someday they will pay attention to me is long gone and I think I might have come to better terms with them paying attention only to Skyler. She does take good pictures, which brings me to another point.

I found that picture of Molly again. I can't believe its been over a year.

- Scarlett