A/N: Hello, and welcome to story number four in my Harry Potter series. For anyone new, you should probably go back to the beginning and read through the first three installments, as I have written this one assuming that anyone reading has read the others. The first story is called This is Home.

There are a whopping 25 chapters in this story, so I hope you're ready for a bit of a longer ride than the first three stories. I will still be uploading on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and this story is rated T again, mostly for language.

I hope you enjoy this next chapter in Lucy's life! Away we go!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

'Cause I still find inside
There's something braver
And I, I won't be
The silent damnation

Dangerous by Shinedown

Chapter 1 – Staying at the Burrow

Lucy Jones was excited. Her summer vacation was finally beginning; she had just finished her third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and now she was going to be spending the entire holiday with her favorite family in the whole world—the Weasleys.

Lucy had grown up nearly her whole life in America with her adoptive parents, Dan and Sue Jones. She had known from a very young age that she was adopted, but she had never known anything about her birth parents. Because of where she lived, she had assumed that she would go to witch school at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the American school of magic.

However, three summers earlier, Lucy had found out that her birth parents had lived in England, and that she'd been born there, too. Therefore, her name had been registered for Hogwarts as soon as she'd been born. Dan and Sue had given her the option to go to Hogwarts instead of Ilvermorny, and Lucy jumped at the opportunity.

So, she had traveled to England and stayed with the Weasleys, who had graciously opened their home up to Lucy while she was in the country. After spending the second half of that summer with the Weasleys, Lucy went on to her first year of Hogwarts. Her first two years had been full of excitement, learning, and making new friends.

Then, a few months into her third year, she found out who her birth parents had been. She had overheard Albus Dumbledore—headmaster of Hogwarts—talking about them with Remus Lupin—the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lucy confronted the professors, and they told her who her birth parents had been: James and Lily Potter.

This meant that Lucy's twin brother was Harry Potter—who, when he was only a baby, had managed to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort. Lucy had been sent away from her family before You-Know-Who had found them, and so her identity had remained a secret. Nobody knew who Lucy was besides herself, Remus, Dumbledore, and her godfather Sirius Black.

After everything that Lucy had found out during her third year, she was glad that the summer holidays were finally here. She was also delighted to be staying in England for the entire summer, although it meant that she wouldn't be seeing her adoptive parents at all.

~LJ:D~

Molly and Arthur Weasley had come to the train station to pick up their children and Lucy from the Hogwarts Express. From King's Cross, they got into an old, beat up car that Mr. Weasley had acquired for the occasion, and they drove through the countryside to their home, which was called the Burrow.

Lucy was glad to get out of the car when they arrived at the house. After spending a good portion of the day on the train and then in a car, it was nice to stretch her legs. She breathed in deeply, savoring the fresh air filling her lungs.

"Come along," Mrs. Weasley said, ushering her children forward. "I want you to take your things straight up to your bedrooms before you do anything else! Dinner will be ready soon."

"I hate not being able to do magic," Ron, who was the same age as Lucy, grumbled. His bedroom was on the top floor of the home, which meant he had to drag his trunk all the way up the stairs.

"You can do it, Ron," Lucy said. "It'll help you build some character."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered. "You only have to go up to Ginny's room."

"No need to sound so bitter, Ronald," Ginny, Ron's younger sister, said smugly. "Come on, Lucy. Let's leave Ron to his whining."

Ron shot a rude hand gesture at Ginny, who just laughed.

Lucy and Ginny dragged their trunks into the house and started up the stairs. Luckily, Ginny's bedroom was on the first floor, so they didn't have to go very far. Once they reached the room, Lucy was surprised to find that, instead of the usual cot that she had slept on the other two times she'd stayed at the Burrow, there was another bed jammed next to Ginny's.

"It looks like I'm being upgraded," Lucy joked. "I get an actual bed now."

"It's about time," Ginny said with a giggle. She pushed her trunk into the corner of the room and flopped backwards onto her own bed. "It'll be so good to be home for a little while."

Lucy, grinning, set her cat carrier down on her bed. Then she opened the door, and her black cat Evie stepped out. The cat stretched slowly before jumping down and sniffing around Ginny's room.

"This summer is going to be great," Lucy said, pushing her trunk off to the side next to her bed. "It's just—It's a little weird. I'm so used to going back to the States over the summer."

"Are you homesick?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Lucy replied. "Not really. I'm not sad that I won't be going back, but I am a little upset that I won't be seeing my parents."

"I'm sure you could convince them to come and visit at least once," Ginny reasoned. "Mum and Dad wouldn't mind having them come and stay for a few days."

Lucy nodded. "I'm sure everything will work itself out," she agreed.

~LJ:D~

Once the holidays officially started, Lucy's parents were driven from her mind. She was having so much fun; more fun than she ever had when she was back in the States. Her adoptive parents couldn't have children of their own, and Lucy was their only adopted child. Living at the Burrow with the Weasleys gave Lucy an idea of what having siblings would be like.

Lucy and Ginny spent all their time with Ron and the twins, Fred and George, who were two years older than Lucy and Ron. Sometimes they would play Exploding Snap or Gobstones; occasionally, they would walk into the nearby Muggle village, although Mrs. Weasley was very strict about how long they could be there.

They also spent a lot of time flying in the Weasleys' paddock. Ginny never joined them for this, however. Lucy found it very odd, and eventually she asked the other girl about it.

"Well, they never wanted me to fly with them when I was younger," Ginny explained. "They thought I just got in the way. I eventually learned to stop asking if I could play with them. Instead, when I was about six, I started to take their brooms out one at a time to practice with when they weren't around."

"Devious… but genius," Lucy said, impressed.

Lucy was also constantly asking Mrs. Weasley if she needed help around the house. She figured that it was the least she could do since Mrs. Weasley and her husband were letting her stay for the summer.

Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley was going to work regularly, and often when he came home, he'd have stories about what had happened at the Ministry. He worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, and Lucy would look forward to hearing what bewitched Muggle objects he had come across.

The only one of the Weasleys that Lucy didn't spend much time with was Percy. He was the third eldest son, and the oldest one still living at the house. Having just graduated from Hogwarts, he was on the job hunt. However, he couldn't start working until he received his N.E.W.T. exam results, which weren't scheduled to arrive until the middle of July.

~LJ:D~

About a week after they had been at the Burrow, a letter arrived from one of Lucy's and Ron's best friends—and Lucy's secret twin brother—Harry Potter. His owl Hedwig arrived at breakfast, and Ron opened the letter and read it aloud.

Ron and Lucy,

Hope your summer has been going well. Mine has just taken a turn for the worse.

Dudley came home from school with a letter from the nurse that said he's far too overweight. They've suggested putting him on a diet. It took a few days for Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon to agree, but now they're insisting that the entire house participate in the diet. I feel like I'm hardly getting any food these days.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Harry

"Oh, that poor boy," Mrs. Weasley said. "He's skinny enough at is it! I'll see what I can do about sending him some food.…" She stood up and bustled into the kitchen, even though she was only halfway done with her dinner.

The next day, Mrs. Weasley sent Hedwig back off to Harry. Hedwig was carrying a couple packages of food, including one that Lucy and Ron had put together that was made up of only candy. Lucy hoped that it would hold Harry over, at least for a little while.

~LJ:D~

A week later, three owls arrived at the Burrow over breakfast. They were carrying Percy's, Fred's, and George's exam results. Percy had taken his N.E.W.T.s that spring, while Fred and George had just taken their O.W.L. exams.

"Well, let's see how you did!" Mrs. Weasley gushed, looking excited. "Percy, you first!"

Percy opened his envelope obediently and pulled out the parchment inside. After reading over his grades, he presented them proudly to the rest of his family.

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

Percy had received perfect marks in all the subjects he had taken. Lucy was fairly impressed, but she knew that Percy had worked very hard to achieve those scores.

"Thank you, Mother," Percy said. "Now that I have my grades, I'll be able to accept a job and start working at the Ministry."

"I am so proud of you!" Mrs. Weasley said, beaming. Then she turned to the twins and said, "How did you two do? Let's see those O.W.L.s!"

Fred and George opened their envelopes and pulled out their grades. "How'd you do?" Fred asked. George showed him the parchment, and Fred added, "Nice."

"Let me see!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly.

Fred and George exchanged a look before holding out their papers. Mrs. Weasley took them and read over their grades. The smile slipped from her face, and a look of horrified anger appeared.

"Why don't the rest of you go outside or up to your rooms," Mr. Weasley suggested, sounding cautious.

Lucy, Ron, Ginny, and Percy stood up immediately. Percy took the stairs up to his room, while the other three hurried out the back door and into the garden.

"What marks do you think they got?" Ron asked.

"Not good ones, judging by your mom's reaction," Lucy replied, feeling a little bit anxious for the twins.

"Maybe they didn't get any O.W.L.s," Ginny added.

"They're not stupid, though," Ron said with a frown. "They've always gotten good marks in the past. Why would they suddenly get bad grades?"

"Maybe they did it on purpose," Ginny suggested, "so they wouldn't have to take as many classes their last two years."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Lucy said, glancing back towards the house.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, Fred and George marched out into the yard.

"What happened?" Lucy asked, rushing over to them. "How many O.W.L.s did you get?"

"Three," Fred answered.

Lucy exchanged confused looks with Ginny and Ron.

"Only three?" Ginny asked.

"Three each," George said. "Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration."

"How did you only get three O.W.L.s?" Ron questioned.

"Listen, little brother," Fred said. "We have many more aspirations outside of academics. We decided which classes would most benefit us while giving us plenty of free time to pursue our… other goals."

"So you decided to fail some of your exams?" Ginny asked.

"We had better things to do than study," George replied with a shrug. "We studied for the three exams we passed, and spent the rest of our time doing other things."

"Is there any point in asking you what the other things are?" Lucy asked, smirking.

George threw his arm around her shoulders. "When it's ready, you'll see it," he said. He winked, and Lucy giggled.

~LJ:D~

However, they all found out what Fred and George were hiding just a few days later. Mrs. Weasley, who was still upset with the number of O.W.L.s the twins had received, decided to go snooping in their room.

Lucy was sitting with Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny in the living room that afternoon. It was rainy out, so they were playing Exploding Snap on the floor. Mrs. Weasley came stomping into the room, looking furious. She had a stack of parchments in her arms.

"What is this?" she demanded, brandishing the papers at Fred and George. They looked confused, and Mrs. Weasley continued, "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes? What is that supposed to be?"

Fred said, "Ah—"

"This is what you were doing when you should have been studying?" Mrs. Weasley questioned. "Do you know how dangerous some of these things are?"

"Don't worry, Mum," George said quickly. "We've been testing them—"

"You are children," Mrs. Weasley hissed. "Children who can't even scrape more than three O.W.L.s each! I expected better from both of you! You are going to get rid of it; all of it. If you don't—I will!" She turned around and swept from the room.

"Mum, wait!" Fred said, scrambling to his feet. "What are you doing?" He ran after his mother, George hot on his heels.

There was a moment of silence.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked.

"No idea," Ginny said.

A few minutes later, Fred and George slumped into the living room. "Gone," Fred said. "She's burned them all. We spent months working on those—"

"Working on what?" Ron asked, sounding a bit impatient.

"Stuff for our future joke shop," George answered simply.

Lucy and Ginny exchanged a glance.

"We had a whole list of products that we've been making and testing for ages," Fred went on. "All kinds of joke items: sweets, fake wands—"

"We were going to try and sell some of it at Hogwarts this year," George explained. "We wanted to try and make some money, 0so that in a few years, once we're done with school, we'll be able to afford a place to open a shop."

"I didn't know you two were interested in actually opening a shop of your own," Ginny said.

"Yeah, that sounds brilliant," Lucy added. "No wonder you didn't care about passing all of your O.W.L.s."

"So, what was all that parchment that Mum found?" Ron asked.

"Order forms and price lists," Fred answered. "Now we'll have to make new ones, but we're going to wait until we get back to Hogwarts. If Mum finds any of our actual products, there'll be hell to pay."

~LJ:D~

That night, when Mr. Weasley came home, Mrs. Weasley wasted no time in telling him about what she'd found. Lucy, Ron, and Ginny retreated up to Ron's room to get away from all the yelling.

When they entered the room, Ron's new little owl hooted happily and started to fly around their heads.

"He is far more energetic than I expected an owl of his size to be," Lucy commented.

"That's why he's up here with me," Ron grumbled. "I tried to leave him downstairs, but the other owls weren't happy with that. Stupid bird. Some nights he makes such a racket that I can hardly sleep."

"Did you name him yet?" Ginny asked, looking fondly at the small owl.

"I haven't thought about it much," Ron replied. "Why? Did you have an idea?"

"How about… Pigwidgeon?" Ginny suggested.

The owl hooted and landed on her shoulder.

"Pigwidgeon?" Ron repeated, sounding disgruntled. "What the hell kind of a name is that?"

"I think it's sweet," Ginny said, holding her finger up to the owl, and the bird nipped affectionately at it.

"I just—really?" Ron said. "I don't think I'm going to call him that. I'm sure I can come up with something better."

Ginny scowled at her brother. "Fine," she said, "but until you do, I'm calling him Pigwidgeon."

~LJ:D~

About a week later was Lucy's fourteenth birthday. That morning, she awoke to a voice calling her name. She opened her eyes a little. "Mom?" she asked, confused. The voice sounded like her mother, but there was no way that she could be at the Burrow.

Lucy opened her eyes fully and saw, to her surprise, Dan and Sue standing at the end of her bed. "Mom!" she repeated. "Dad!" She sat up quickly.

"Happy birthday, darling," Sue said, looking fondly at her daughter.

Lucy scrambled out of her bed and launched herself into her parents' arms. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"We arrived last night after you'd gone to sleep," Dan replied. "We wanted to surprise you!"

"Well, consider me surprised!" Lucy said.

"Get dressed and come downstairs," Sue said. "I'm making breakfast for everyone!"

"Mrs. Weasley is letting you use her kitchen?" Lucy asked jokingly.

Sue chuckled, "Well, she is going to help with something, of course."

"Of course," Lucy said, shaking her head. "All right, I'll be down in a few minutes. I need to change out of my pajamas."

Dan and Sue left the room, and Lucy quickly changed into some regular clothes. Then, when she looked presentable, she hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Happy birthday!" a chorus of voices said when she entered the room.

Lucy grinned, noting the small pile of parcels on the table.

"The mail's just arrived," Mr. Weasley explained, noticing where she was looking. "Your Hogwarts letters are here, as well."

"Sit down, Lucy, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "Go ahead and open your letters. Breakfast is almost ready."

Lucy did as she was told, flopping down into the chair between Fred and George. She pulled the letters to herself first and began reading through them.

There were letters from her friends Harry; Hermione Granger, who was Lucy's other best friend; Sally-Anne Perks, her fellow fourth-year Gryffindor; Noelle Watson, the daughter of Dan's and Sue's old school friends; and Jeremy Whitlock, a fourth-year Slytherin that Lucy had befriended in her first year. Lucy found herself very giddy when she got to Jeremy's letter. There was also a short note from Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, and another from Remus Lupin.

Next, Lucy moved onto the packages. After opening them all, she expressed her gratitude to the Weasleys and her parents for the presents that were from them.

"Breakfast's ready," Sue said, carrying a large plate full of French toast over to the table.

Lucy smiled happily; she always had French toast on her birthday, and she was so grateful that her mother had made some for them.

~LJ:D~

After breakfast, the Hogwarts-aged kids opened their welcome letters. They all looked over their equipment lists, and Ginny waved her permission form to visit the village of Hogsmeade in her parents' faces.

"Dress robes?" Fred said, frowning at his list. "Since when have we ever needed dress robes?"

"I expect you'll find out when you get back to school," Mrs. Weasley said loftily.

Fred and George narrowed their eyes at their mother suspiciously. "What's this all about?" George asked.

"Never you mind," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Does this mean that we'll get to go to Diagon Alley to get our things?" Lucy asked, looking up at her mom and dad.

"We can go to Diagon Alley if you like," Sue replied, and Lucy grinned.

They were interrupted then by an owl arriving. It swooped into the window and dropped a letter onto Percy's lap. He opened the envelope and pulled out the parchment from inside. "Good news," he said after he'd finished reading it. "I've been offered a job in the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"That's wonderful, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley said, clapping her hands. "When do you start?"

"Tomorrow," Percy reported.

"That's Barty Crouch's department," Mr. Weasley commented. "I hope you're prepared for that."

"I'm sure Percy will manage just fine," Mrs. Weasley said, beaming at her son.

~LJ:D~

After lunch, Lucy left the Burrow with Dan and Sue to spend some time as a family. Dan and Sue were going home the next day, so Lucy wanted to spend as much time with them as she could.

They decided to go to Diagon Alley and buy Lucy's new school things. First, they stopped in at Gringotts bank, so Lucy could get some more spending money out of her vault. Then they went to the bookstore to pick up any new textbooks Lucy needed. They also went into other various shops to refill Lucy's potions ingredients, ink, and parchment.

The last thing on the list to get was a set of dress robes. Dan decided to go and buy them all some ice creams while Sue accompanied Lucy into Madam Malkin's robe shop.

"Good afternoon, ladies," Madam Malkin greeted, smiling at Lucy and Sue. "What can I help you with today?"

"I need to get some dress robes," Lucy replied. She hadn't owned a set of dress robes in years, and she was excited to see what Madam Malkin had in her shop.

"Right this way," Madam Malkin said, leading Lucy and Sue to a corner of the shop.

There were multiple racks of dress robes hanging against the walls, and Lucy began to look through them. About halfway through one of the racks, Lucy paused. She lifted a hanger off the rail and held the dress up for her mother to see.

"What do you think?" Lucy asked. It had silver straps and a silver bodice, and it faded into a deep purple in the skirt.

"Why don't you try it on?" Sue suggested.

Madam Malkin stepped forward and took the dress from Lucy before directing her to a fitting platform. Then Madam Malkin helped to slip the dress on over Lucy's head.

"How does it look?" Lucy asked, looking at Sue.

"Well, you look beautiful, of course," Sue replied. "It goes so nicely with your eyes."

Madam Malkin, meanwhile, waved her wand and conjured a full-length mirror in front of Lucy so she could see for herself.

"Wow," Lucy breathed, swishing the skirt back and forth. It seemed to shimmer and glow. "I think I want these," she added, looking up at Madam Malkin.

"Very well," the shop keeper said. "Just let me make a few adjustments.…"

She pulled out her wand and began to tweak the hem and and the straps. When she was finished, she helped Lucy pull the dress off and folded it up.

"I should probably get some shoes to go with it," Lucy said when Madam Malkin handed her a bag with her new dress inside. Lucy paid for the dress, and she and Sue exited the shop.

"Did you find something good?" Dan asked. He was waiting outside, holding two ice cream cones for Lucy and Sue.

The witches took the treats from Dan and started to lick them.

"She looks beautiful," Sue repeated. "We're going to have to stop into one more store to get her some shoes that will match, but let's finish our ice cream first."

Lucy agreed, and the three of them took a break to eat their snack.

Once they were finished, they found a shoe shop. Lucy and Sue searched for a short time before finding a pair of silver shoes with a very slight heel that would go well with Lucy's dress. Lucy paid for them, and then the Joneses decided that it was time to head back to the Burrow.

~LJ:D~

Mrs. Weasley had prepared a small feast for Lucy's birthday. The meal was very nice, and for dessert, Mrs. Weasley brought out a small chocolate cake.

At the end of the night, Lucy went up to Ginny's room and was surprised to see an owl sitting on her bed. It held its leg out, and Lucy took the letter from it. It turned and flew out the window again.

Lucy ripped open the envelope and saw that the letter was from Sirius. Sirius had been in Azkaban for twelve years, having been wrongly imprisoned for betraying Lucy's parents to You-Know-Who and murdering an entire street full of Muggles. The year before, he had escaped from the prison, and now he was on the run. Only Lucy, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Dumbledore knew that he was innocent.

Lucy read through the letter, smiling. She hoped that he was staying safe and out of sight, but she was grateful that he had thought about her enough to send her a birthday message.

Since nobody knew that Sirius was Lucy's godfather, she immediately hid the letter inside her trunk, so nobody else could find it. Then she started to get ready for bed. It had been a very nice birthday.

~LJ:D~

A/N: I feel like the explanation/summary at the beginning gets longer and longer in every story. lol.

So, as you can see, Lucy's relationship with her parents is morphing from parent-child into a more guardian-child. Lucy loves Dan and Sue, and she's very grateful that they took her in and brought her up, but she's growing up and finding that she doesn't miss them as much when they're not around.

The reason I picked Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration for Fred and George is simple enough. Charms: in book 5, one of them mentions watching Flitwick get inspected by Umbridge. Transfiguration: later in book 4, one of them gets told to continue doing his Transfiguration work by McGonagall when he asks how the champions are chosen. That left one more to choose. They do mention something about selling products before Herbology in book 5, but I don't think that necessarily means that they're in that class. I ended up choosing Defense Against the Dark Arts, because that just seems like a class that they would want to take.

The stage is set! Now, marching on, to the Quidditch World Cup!