"Promise that you'll visit sometime this summer you guys

"Promise that you'll visit sometime this summer you guys. You have no idea how boring it is to be home for two months." Sera stated, starting to hug her friend's goodbye once they had all gathered their trunks from the train.

"Mum says that you're all welcome over to the burrow before we have to go to, well, you know." Said Ron, and there was no question to what he was referring too.

Sera's(Pronounced see-ra) parents had been in the Order years before she was even born, but within the week that she took her first breath, they had drawn their last at the hands of Death Eaters.

Harry merely nodded at all that was being said, and she could tell that he wasn't even fully there with them. He was still with his godfather, and was mourning in his own way. A way that involved pushing everyone out. She feared that soon he would eventually push her away too.

Ron and Hermione had left them briefly to say a private good bye, more like Ron had to apologize for something he said on the train about House elves.

"Harry?" She asked, trying to see behind his eyes, into what was really going on with him. "Please talk to me." She immediately hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head on his chest. At first she couldn't even tell if he was going to respond, but he did, gripping her as though the earth was going to open up between them and split them apart. His head was at the perfect height to rest his chin on the top of hers. She knew that he needed someone, and that he desperately didn't want to go back to the Dursleys.

"If you need anything, you know how to find me." He nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Serella! Serella! Come on, say good bye to your boyfriend already and let's go!" She ignored her older sisters, twins at that. They had graduated a few years ago, still jobless and living at home, and still trying to impose their beliefs on their little sister.

Sible was tapping her foot and twirling her bottle blonde hair between her perfect manicured figures. Sarah on the other hand, was flirting, with none other than Malfoy. He was a good six years younger than her, but she was desperate after Bill Wesley dumped her.

"When are they ever going to realize that we're just friends?" She sighed, pulling away slightly but not letting go. She always felt safe around him, always knew that nothing could hurt her while she was with him.

"I think you'd better go before she and Malfoy get any friendlier and start snogging, ruining all our lunches." He mused slightly, but his laugh wasn't genuine, it wasn't with the joke.

"Promise me you'll keep in touch until mid July when we go to the Burrow?" She asked, needing to here it for some reason before she left.

"I promise. But Ser (pronounced sir) do you think you could make me some of those, what do you call them, umm,"

"Preacher cookies."

"Yeah, those things, they're bloody good."

"Of course. Bye Harry." She gave him another brief hug before grabbing the end of her trolley and heading off to her sisters.

She stopped, only feet from them just into to see him and Ron talking. "And Harry!" He glanced in her direction. "Don't dwell." With those last words, she and Sible dragged Sarah out of the platform, having to endure the final good bye name she was so often given by the Slytherins and their prince, "Blood traitor."

Of course that wasn't aimed at the perfectly presented twins, they were in Syltherin and we're considered mudblood lovers, or blood traitors.

It was hard for Serella to keep up with her sisters, they were both a great deal taller and wearing stripy heals that only increased their leg span as they walked.

"I swear, you and that Potter boy are too close for your own good." Rambled on Sarah. "Now, someone like Draco, you should defiantly find the time to invest in. Good blood." She sighed and started fluffing her hair as a young engineer walked past.

"By blood, you mean his bank account right?" She asked under her breath, but not loud enough for the blonde Barbie's to hear her.

"Oh, Sere, grandma and grandpapa moved your bedroom. Apparently an old friend is moving in this weekend and since they lack a guest bedroom, they moved you into the attic, after redecorating a bit so you don't get rained on." Said Sible simply, still holding a somewhat cheery tone in her voice as they neared the car.

"What do you mean the attic? There are rats and bats, and all kinds of creatures up there." She argued, silently wishing that this was all just a joke that they were going to laugh about once they got home.

"They moved all your furniture and your belongings into the attic. Like Sible said, they thought it necessary to fix it up so don't worry." Said Sarah, starting the car and placing her huge, bug eyed sun glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Well who is this guest that's going to be staying? Is it anyone that we know?" She asked, rolling down the window and taking in the sweet sent of her home town.

"Someone we all know very well, Severus Snape, on orders from Dumbledore." Said Sible.

"Snape! What? Why is he staying with us?" She was absolutely horrified, Snape was the only professor at Hogwarts who hated her and wouldn't give her the marks that she earned.

"Calm down, that was a joke." Replied Sarah, as she and her twin both shared in a bone chilling high pitched laugh. "We don't know who is staying with us, it's just some family friend that's down on their luck."

She couldn't decide on being angry or relived that it wasn't true, but came up with the compromise of keeping quiet during the twenty minute drive to their small house in the hills of northern London.

"Serella!" She could recognize that voice anywhere. As most would describe it, the perfect angelic voice. Her grandmother, a woman only in her fifties was waving out of the attic window.

"Hey baby doll." The gruff voice of her grandfather greeted from the garage, stepping out into the light to hug his granddaughter. "How was your term?" He asked, helping her take her trunk into the house.

"It was, interesting." She said, and felt bad about being vague with her guardians. But everything that happened these past few months was a secret, Dumbledore's orders unless otherwise instructed. He didn't want anymore cause for panic and reporters bugging his students.

"Good, now Jetta and I want to hear all about it. She's made a delicious dinner, but I'm afraid we moved your room." She braced herself as they made their way up the stairs, all the way to the attic.

She was half expecting to see the rafters, inches apart and showing the evening sky, covered in cobwebs and the home to a dozen rats. But was breathless at the new and improved room.

The roof was fixed and the walls had a fresh coat of paint. The floor no longer creaked when walked on, and the windows clean and clear, perfect to look out on the small pond in the back yard. Her bed was all made up, clean sheets and fluffed pillows, and smelled like lavender. Her desk, dresser, clothes, and muggle belongings as well as wizarding ones were all placed in their proper positions around the room.

"Whoa. Grandma, grandpa, I love it." She exclaimed, dropping her jacket onto her bed and hugging her grandmother tightly.

"Your welcome dearie. Think of it as a congratulations present." She replied, to a very confused girl.

"Congratulations? For what?"

"For starting the tutors sessions for quiditch players that are struggling in classes at Hogwarts."

"Oh, wow, they actually let that pass? It was just an idea that Hermione and I had at the start of term. I didn't think that anyone actually thought it was a good idea."

"Well honey I think it's a great idea. Another letter came just moments before you arrived with the student you're supposed to help over the summer." She handed Sere a cream colored envelope with a crimson Hogwarts seal. "Go ahead and get unpacked and dinner will be ready in about half an hour. I don't know if your sisters told you, but your Uncle Owen is staying with us for a little while."

"Uncle Owen?"

"Yes dear, you probably don't remember him, you only met him when you were a baby, but he was your fathers brother."

"Oh, ok, well, I'll be down in a bit." Jetta quickly left, closing the door behind her and leaving Sere to her own thoughts.

She didn't like thinking about the past, about her parents families other than her grandparents. They were never there when she and her sisters needed them and despite her usual polite appearance, she was having a hard time wanting to go down stairs.

Other than Owen she knew of two other relatives that she had, from her mothers side. Her mothers parents had died way before she was born, but her mother did have one sister, a twin, who had a son. She couldn't remember their names, nor did she want to.

Serella took her time unpacking, it always seemed that whatever she took with her, more than doubled upon her return. Magical gadgets and gizmos that had been supplied by Zonko's, or by the Wesley twins, who let Harry have samples of their work, many samples, that he would share with her and Ron.

She had tossed the letter aside, not really wanting to know the Bludger brained idiot that she would have to spend time with in the upcoming days of the summer holiday and focused on unpacking everything.

The last item at the bottom of her trunk, past all the un used potion ingredients, spell books, and school uniforms, was the most recent thing to come into her possession. It was a black blanket, but it wasn't just a normal blanket. Harry had given it to her back on her birthday, and it could be extended to twice it's size, with a tap of a wand turn into a sleeping bag, and depending on the weather, keep the user cool or warm, and was completely resistant to bad weather. But just looking at it, you couldn't tell that it was anything more than just a simple blanket with her initials sewed in silver in the corner.

He had given it to her that in the hopes that things would get better that she, himself, Ron and Hermione could go camping. She had never been and neither had Hermione, but the boys had been and both swore on the Quiditch season that it was a lot of fun.

A quick glance at her clock only gave her five minutes to finish getting ready for dinner. And a quick glance at her appearance in her full length mirror told her that it would take hours to fix a long days wear on her. Instead, she sunk down onto her feather bed and slowly opened the letter.

Dear Miss Serella Gyles,

I am pleased to inform you that the idea you and Miss Granger presented to your head of house was indeed one of brilliance. Hogwarts values both academics as well as the sport of Quiditch and we would be honored if you would accept the challenge that we are going to place upon you. Three other Ravenclaws have offered to join the tutoring group to tutor those in their house and in Hufflepuff. It may be a burden however to find that no one in your house is in need of a tutor, so you will be assisting Mr. Malfoy of the Slytherin team, on request of his parents.

We sent an owl to his place of residence and will hope that he will send you the days that he will be available to study with you this summer. We are also allowing the tutors and those that they are instructing to use magic outside of school, but be warned, all magic will be tracked and anything outside of what you are teaching will be punishable by the adult wizarding law. With that in mind let me wish you a very pleasant summer holiday and will be seeing you at the summer house.

Albus Dumbledore