Chapter Six:

Luke shakes his head. "Sorry, mate. I sort of already made plans."

"With Mariah?"

"No. Actually, with Vincent, Indina, and Jonah," he says, referring to three other Hufflepuffs. "Mariah is helping her older brother move into his new house."

"And you're not rushing over there to help her carry heavy boxes?" I ask, surprised. He would normally do that sort of thing.

"She's seventeen now; she can use magic. And she asked me if I'd get her everything she needed for school at Diagon Alley."

"Ah," I say. "Well, how about you come with us to the Leaky Cauldron and you can meet up Vince and Indina and Jonah."

"All right," says Luke. He suddenly smiles. "You know… Indina broke things off with Jason Ritter last week. I live across the street from her and I could hear her yelling. It sounded like she caught him on snogging Emilia Geller."

Oh no. My "Luke's uncontrollable instinct to try to make everyone around him happy" warning system is going off. Nonononononono!

"Maybe you two…" he trails away. "She's gorgeous. Probably one of the best looking girls at school. And she's really sweet."

"Hell no," I say before I can stop myself. "Have you ever had a conversation with her? It's like talking to a goldfish. It hears you, there's a small chance it understands you, but it forgets what you said three seconds later."

"She's not that scatterbrained," says Luke defensively. "And she's the only one besides you that goes to every DA meeting. So you have that in common."

"I go every week because I'm going to be an Auror. She has to go every week because she forgets everything she learned and has to start over."

"I think it's much more likely that her biggest flaw for you is that her name isn't 'Lysandra.'"

I shrug. "So what if it is? If I don't like Indina that way, then it's terrible to lead her on. Despite her um…" I search for a kinder way to phrase it, "lack of memory, she is a nice person. It wouldn't be fair."

Luke shrugs. "You have a point, I guess."

Chapter Seven:

When we finally get to the Leaky Cauldron, I find Nick and Ricia right away. They smile and wave politely. I can tell they were sort of confused about my invitation, though. We never really did spend a lot of time together, except in first year when we didn't know anyone else and our numbers where much smaller without the Muggle Born students.

We also bump into Luke, Indina, Vince, and Jonah and we decided it would be more fun if we all stayed together.

We got through all morning and even half an hour after lunch before we run into Lysandra and Tyson. I can't be around them—I seriously can't! I've been preparing myself to be around them at Hogwarts, but I can't deal with it now. It's summer, for Merlin's sake!

I greet them as quickly and as warmly as I can before I shout that I forgot something important and I'll meet Nick and Ricia back at the Leaky Cauldron at five thirty.

I run and make my escape to the first building I see- Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Perfect. That's practically my home away from home, anyway. And it has proven a worthy sanctuary in the past.

Once inside, I see my friend Melissa, who is also in Gryffindor, attempting to reach a Skiving Snack Box from a top shelf.

"Need help?" I ask.

She turns and smiles up at me. "Oh, hi, Ross. And yeah, please. Sometimes History of Magic is too much for me. Thank you, HB."

"Haha," is my only response to her use of my nickname. It's all right, though. I know Melissa doesn't mean it in a bad way. I grab the box with ease and hand it to her. Being oddly gangly does have a few advantages. "I hate History of Magic. I'm so glad I don't have to take it anymore."

"Yeah. Lucky you. Unfortunately, I'm still behind."

Stupid Death Eaters. I'm not that much different than a Muggle born. What makes my blood purer than hers?

"Anyway, so how's your summer?" Melissa asks, taking the Skiving Snack Box from me.

"It's been fine," I say. "You?"

Melissa shrugs. "Not bad. I had to take a Care of Magical Creatures course. Hagrid showed us Thestrals, supposedly. None of us could see them."

"You don't want to," I tell her.

Chapter Eight:

Before Melissa can respond, I'm greeted enthusiastically by George Weasley. "Ross Warren!" he beams. "I was beginning to think that one of my best customers wasn't going to show up before he went back to school."

"Sorry," I say as Melissa waves goodbye and heads over to the counter so she can pay for her Skiving Snack Box. "I've been busy." I wave goodbye to Melissa and turn back to George.

George grins broadly. "I've heard from a very reliable source that back in May, you pushed Mrs. Norris into that bit of swamp that my brother and I created." Something flickers in George's eyes. It's been six years since his twin brother Fred died, but I can tell it still hurts him to think about.

I laugh, feeling a little proud of myself even though I know my actions were kind of despicable. It's not like I really kicked Filch's cat. Just gave her a little nudge. And the little bit of swamp in the corridor is only a few inches deep. It was just enough to ruin her fur and make her smell bad for awhile. And to make Filch's eyes bug out. And inspire Peeves the poltergeist to sing a song in my honor.

Who am I kidding, even with detention it was still a good day.

George seems proud of me to, as if I am a younger brother carrying on a family tradition. He has a bit of an evil smile across his face. I should probably be concerned, but I lack the energy.

"I've got something to show you in the back room," says George. "Follow me."

I sigh. This is nothing new. Almost every time he develops a new product, it seems like I am always the first non-family member he sells it to. I can't blame him because I've literally bought almost every product in the store at least once, not counting the Wonder Witch line of stuff. And that's probably only because I'm not a girl.

We make our way through the crowd and I say hello to some people I know from school. They say hi back but are otherwise too busy crowding over Headless Hats and Canary Creams to bother talking to me. I snag one of my personal favorite Weasley products- a KhaosKit (which is the ultimate Weasley boxset. It contains Skiving Snackboxes, Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs, and a trick wand)- when George isn't looking.

When we make our way to the back of the store, George opens the supply closet with the sign that says, "Employees Only." He told me a few years ago I was allowed to ignore the sign if I wanted.

George glances around the room to make sure that no else is around before ushering me inside and slamming the door shut.

George looks positively gleeful as he pulls out a blank piece of parchment from his pocket. "You will definitely appreciate this, Ross. No one deserves this more than you. I'll let you have this- no charge. However, you have to swear to guard this with your life and promise you will give it back when you leave school."