Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters.

Note: This next few chapters are going to be going on in a batch so I won't include notes. But to sum it up... twins=America. lol. Enjoy!

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

"Hey, I just wanted to say thanks" I said as I emerged from the bathroom. Amber nodded as she glanced out the window.

"So, how come you guys didn't just come back like you went the first time?" she asked. I looked out the window too, watching my blinkers flash.

"It would have to go through the Ministry and we're trying to do this all under the radar. It's not something we're supposed to doing" I commented.

"But Melinda comes back every summer" she reminded me.

"Yeah, but she has permission and that's all arranged. None of this is planned…" I told her as I folded my arms over my chest.

"Oh, well, I hope you make it there safely, those two don't seem to be of any help" Amber said with a laugh as the lights continued to flash. "So, what one are you dating?" she asked with a sly smile. I looked at her surprise; I hadn't told her I was dating either twin. I also assumed something about her would change, perhaps she'd become a little more attentive. But she looked and acted the same. She was still the chubby, outspoken dirty blonde haired girl I knew before Hogwarts.

"The one they call Fred" I told her. "Oh, here" I said pulling out my money bag. In addition to having the gallons converted, twice, I added a hefty amount to my American savings and also for Amber as a thanks. She took the money but didn't say anything, like the twins she needed it more than I did. The other amount I had tucked away in the car for Melinda, in case I had to bribe her. "I should get going. Thanks, again, I owe you" I told her as I started for the door.

"Just to let you know, she really likes the Houston guy, they've been together since she got back. And she seems really happy here…don't push her…" I was amazed to hear Amber sound so firm and sure; especially something like this with someone like Melinda. Generally, she didn't care or managed to turn the situation around so the focus was back on her.

"Yeah, well, we miss her too, I know it's gonna take a lot to convince her, but, I think she'll come around" I said though I didn't sound nearly as firm as Amber. She raised an eyebrow, as if catching my uncertainty.

"I don't know how willing she's gonna be to part with Houston though, she really likes him Tam." I shifted on my feet. I never liked when Amber sounded serious but was still grinning. I knew she missed Melinda more than me, and if she could find any way to get Melinda to stay she'd shove it in my face.

"It's always worth a shot" I said as I looked back at the window, thankfully my car was still. Almost too still. "I'll be right back…" I said running out the door. I started to panic and call for the twins but I spotted them a few feet away from my car playing with a little boy who had a little green can of bubbles. Much to the little boy's surprise he was showing the twins how to blow bubbles.

"Hello" I said to the little boy. He looked about six or seven. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to get going, and my friends here" I paused to motion at the twins. "Have to come with me, but it was really nice of you to keep them company" I told the boy as I dug into my bag for candy. "Here you are, it's called a licorice wand, it's really good" I told him, handing him a replica of a wand, which of course was made out of licorice.

"Thanks!" he said excitedly as he started to venture off but then stopped, running back over, nearly smacking into Fred. "Here, you can keep this, I like you" he said handing Fred the bottle of bubbles.

"What about me mate?" George asked, looking extremely disappointed that he didn't get anything. The kid thought for a moment and then looked down in his small bag. Finally, he smiled and reached inside, pulling up a windup toy.

"You'll like this" he told George as he wound it up and set on the ground. Indeed George did like it. I shook my head as I watched the three boys play for another few minutes and then reminded them we had to get going.

"Alright, thank you" I said nodding at the twins who reluctantly got up and followed me back to the car. "Honestly, you're both eighteen years old and you're playing with bubbles…" I said glancing over my shoulder at Fred was reading the labels on the can of bubbles.

"That kid says the stick thing is called a wand" George said looking at the bottle too. I laughed at their expressions, still in complete shock that anything that tiny could produce any type of magic.

"It's sort of like magic though…" I said as I walked over, unscrewed the cap, dipped the wand a few times and blew some bubbles in Fred's face. He attempted to catch the last few in his mouth. "Don't do that, it's basically soap" I told him, slapping the bubbles away.

"C'mon, before he gets the idea to drink them and produce bubbles other ways" George said with a smirk. Fred didn't seem to have that kind of idea at all until George mentioned it, and he was looking at the bottle with a little more curiosity. I shook my head and snatched the bottle as I lead them back into Amber's house. Both the twins had made every attempt to talk with Amber the first few weeks, they thought she was wickedly funny and hadn't known why I didn't mention her more often. A few weeks ago they made every attempt to avoid her. She may have been right up their ally in terms of crude humor and inappropriate jokes but George was the first to become annoyed by her persistent conversations about various guys. Fred gave up the moment I told him when we were leaving and since then they spent most of their time outside or in the makeshift guest room with the door locked where they talked to their best mate Lee Jordan about the shop.

Either Amber didn't mind or didn't care because when we came in she acted just as happy to see them as she did the moment they stepped foot into her house. "Oh, Tammie, did I tell you what John said to me yesterday" Amber started as she set down her cell phone. I glanced over at the twins; George seemed to become set on making the most of his toy while Fred continued to sit on the arm of the couch closes to me while his eyes simply glazed over.

"Too bad you wouldn't let us bring Ginny, she would've loved all this gossip" George said as he wound his toy up again. Amber paused to look at him, I looked at him too, but my look was one of pleading to get him to stop talking.

"Who's Ginny" Amber asked, her tone a bit sharp, as if feeling betrayed that George didn't mention he had a girlfriend.

"Ginny's our younger sister; she doesn't get a lot of girly gossip around the house with six brothers" I held back a sigh as I looked at Amber who seemed delighted to hear this news.

"Six?" she asked, her eyes getting a bit bigger, her tone more sweet and her general expression one of complete attentiveness and interest.

"Well, I mean, Bill is really old and Charlie works with D—disturbed individuals who need a lot of attention and care, though, honestly, most of 'em are just in sore moods." I looked over at George; I never knew he paid attention to anything his siblings did. "And then Percy, he's kinda high-strung and a pain in the ass and he talks way too much about politics."

"Then there's us, he's Fred, I'm George" Fred said nudging me as he pointed over George who gave Amber a more than friendly smile.

"Actually—" I started, but Fred just nudged me again.

"And then there's Ron, he's the youngest and he's oblivious to everything and everyone so no one really pays any attention to him either" George said. "And…" he counted off on his fingers. "That's all of them" he said smiling again at Amber who blushed just a bit.

"Guys, we need to go" I said pulling Fred to his knees. "Amber, I can't thank you enough, we really do appreciate it. And I'm sorry you won't remember any of this" I said pulling George's wand out of my bag and handing it to him.

"Wait, what?" Amber asked taking a step back.

"It won't hurt, promise" George said pointing his wand at Amber. He didn't even mumble as I watched Amber's face disappear of all recent knowledge of events, for a moment she just stared as if she was daydreaming. George stepped back, handed me his wand and pretended to wipe his hands. "I'll wait in the car; I think it will be too much if both of us stayed" he whispered.

"Actually, both of you go ahead, I'll be right there" I told him as I walked over to Amber. Just as the door shut she seemed to be coming to attention, she blinked a few times and shook her head.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, as if seeing me for the first time in ages. I smiled with relief; George had only adjusted her memory, though I doubted any part from the last month would come back to her anytime soon.

"Your grandma let me in, she just went to the store for a bit. You feel asleep but I guess you woke up" I said, as if it were an actual true story.

"God, I swear I don't get enough sleep. Hey, did I tell you what John said yesterday?" she asked, this time I laughed for real. She went over to her phone and fiddled through the messages as I patiently waited thinking how much I was going to miss her. At that moment I heard the door, but then heard a few voices and then a few seconds later the door opened, Amber's grandmother came in. "Grandma what are you doing?" she asked as her grandmother set a bag of groceries on the floor and took out her car keys.

"I don't know…" she said as she looked at her keys and then bag.

"Alright, I should get going, thank you again Amber" I said giving her a warm smile before running out, looking back at the house once again before heading to the car where the twins were waiting. I was glad neither of them had started playing around, I suddenly wasn't in any mood to have them annoy me.

"I'll have to write her" I said as I started up the car, sniffing hard to avoid any potential tears. Fred climbed into the passenger's seat while George climbed in back; both of them fell silent as I took a moment to gather myself together. "I'm okay, at least I got to see her" I said with a smile as I pulled out of the driveway. This was the one part about coming back I didn't like. Knowing I had to leave again. Only this time it wasn't a mysterious absence that Mr. Barrass and parents could explain away, it wasn't sudden or unexpected. This time I knew exactly what I was doing. But as much as I was going to miss everything about my friends, family and the American life there was no real possibility I was going to come back to live.

My main reason being the person who had suddenly fallen asleep next to me. I smiled as I quickly turned to look back George who was sleep too. None of us had managed to get much sleep while staying the guest room. We took turns sharing the bed and air mattress, though I was more than reluctant to listen to the twins joke about me sleeping with George or them sleeping together. I hardly slept with Fred, it was too hot when he tried to hold me and the house didn't have air condition, needless to say, we all sleep pretty lousy. I was certainly going to let Melinda drive back to the airport so I could get some sleep too. Then again, it was a new car, and I wasn't really going to get the chance to drive again once I went back so I'd probably drive to the airport.

The half an hour drive to Melinda's house seemed to take longer than usual. Though I did decide to stop a store for a few things. It took the twins forever to get back and I kept yelling at them as if they were little kids. It certainly looked weird, but personally I don't think any of us would've wanted it any other way. "Oy, don't be so angry, you're going to run over something" Fred said as I rolled my eye as I backed out of the space. I looked out my side mirror, a cat some distance behind. Another stray, this one grey, perfectly perched between the parking spaces, I thought as I glanced back at it, noticing how still it looked, watching me with full interest. No, I shook my head, cats didn't watch people.