A/N: Hi all, this is just a quick not to say I have made a slight adjustment to the introduction below. This was to correct some grammatical errors that were only noticed during a recent retelling of this story to my two little boys (the ones I originally wrote this collection of stories for). I also made a slight adjustment to allow for some non family members to contribute to those chapters that cover some of the Auror related 'events'.

I also need to say thank you for those of you who have been reading my story. I do hope you are enjoying it as much as my little boys have. I am working as hard as I can to get all the rest of the story(s) written out as well. Please review if you are enjoying this story as it is always great to hear feedback on it (well apart from the endless list of ideas from my two little ones that is.).

Once more I do hope that you all enjoy this story and thanks for reading it and sharing this journey with us.


It is often said that Friends are Merlin's apology for your family. But sometimes you're the family that needs apologising for.

Family. It is a strange word with as many different meanings as there are people on this planet. To some it only means a group of people related by Blood or connected by Marriage. To yet others it is a group of people who will love and support each other through both the very best and worst that life has to offer.

To a very lucky few it is both of these.

Family can also have a way of sneaking up on you, in both time and place. Sometimes it even pops up at your front door without either of you knowing it.

We are all born into some sort of family. For some it is very large, for others it can be quite small. As we grow up with our family we share a belief in ourselves. That we know our family and that we are a good family. However we often don't know our family (or families) as well as we like.

This journal is my attempt to record for the family (both the one I know and the one I didn't) how we came to learn about each other. Most of that initial interaction between our two families was centred on one particular young man. So many of these early stories will be around him and his interactions with us all. To answer the (incessant) questions from certain members of this family, yes the 'fashion' related incidents that you have heard about over the years will be discussed in this journal. But please don't skip direct to those particular chapters. Leave the poor young man in question his dignity for just a little while longer while you read the earlier chapters. After all the story of the 'Paris Incident' has now been recorded for posterity and enough copies have been made to ensure that he can't destroy them all.

I will be joined on this journey by various members of my family (old and new) as well as some dear friends as well. As they all share their experiences of this remarkable episode in our lives.

While the journey was equal parts, wild, frightening, exciting, joyful and sorrowful I don't think any of us would have changed it given the result we are now enjoying.

It is my hope to have this journal completed in time to present it to the newest family pair within our family on their special day.

I hope you enjoy this attempt to bring together all the different stories from the family into one (hopefully) cohesive tale of the discovery of a lifetime.

Molly Weasley