Chapter 3- September 1st

Avril stared unseeing up at her ceiling, something she had been doing a lot that summer, but perhaps more so since Carter had taken her to The Graveyard. It had been bright and sunny and it had all seemed so wrong when to her The Graveyard should be in eternal darkness with rain and grey skies as its only weather. It should be cold and unfeeling, just like all the corpses buried afoot their gravestones. But it wasn't. No, the sun demanded she face her bad dreams in the light of good ones.

She hadn't quite forgiven Carter for taking her there and refusing to take her away before she had even visited Amelia's grave. But she knew he had had good intentions, even if a few of them were selfish. He had needed to see it just as much as she had. As if to remind themselves of what they lost.

Though she had not seen him, she knew Death had been there. His presence was obvious to her; she had felt his cold comfort. The aura that she sat beside for so many days as they watched her body dying, her family weeping over it, and the friends saying their last goodbyes. It would be impossible to forget what he felt like.

The summer had gone so slowly but all too quickly since then. She tried to waste time by studying her textbooks to the point of obsession. She had redone her homework several times over and she would be damned if they didn't score anything less than perfect. And she had continued to ignore the letters that had been sent her way. She had answered them in the beginning, but her willpower to do so had faded over the summer and so they piled up unread in the corner of her room.

The following day, if they had not already passed midnight, was the 1st September and she would be departing her godfather's home for Hogwarts.

She would admit that she was anxious on the thought.

The teachers would undoubtedly know of her true parentage, or at least the parents listed on her birth certificate. They would undoubtedly try to call her by that name. But she didn't want to know. And would they remember that? Could she stop them in time?

Her friends would want answers. Why had their letters been neglected? Was she okay? Was she still living with Remus? Would she continue living with him? What about Cedric? Were they still not talking?

And then there would Cedric.

Her brother, as there was no other way that she could think of him- even after everything she had so brutally discovered- would want to know how she was holding up. Want to be there for her. Would be watching her eating habits.

…To see if she had kept her promise and not turned to alcohol.

They had spoken. Of course. And she had bit by bit let him in. But there was still a wall. And both could feel it- no matter how small it was.

She sighed and rolled over, curling up into a ball.

Things would get better. They had to.

.

Platform 9 ¾ was exactly the same as it was last year. The crowds were compact and loud as parents waved goodbye to their children till Christmas or longer. Friends greeted each other with laughter and hugs, acting as though it had been years since they had last seen each other. The train rested proud on the tracks, steam billowing up from its funnel as it patiently waited for the students to board and for 11 o'clock to arrive so that it could depart the polluted city and move on to the Scottish countryside.

Avril navigated it alone- having said her goodbyes before Flooing direct to the platform- her trunk spelled feather-light so she would not have to struggle with it. She did not bother looking for her friends, instead choosing to board the train straight away, and find a compartment in which she could settle.

It was alone in a compartment with a book that her friends found her. Draco, Blaise and Theo entered, not even bothering to ask if they could sit there. All three had a calculating glint in their eyes when they looked at her, and she knew that they saw right through her, regardless of if they mentioned it.

"Please, sit down," she muttered.

Draco smirked. "We will."

Avril sighed, pointedly ignoring her cousin, and turning to Blaise and Theo. "How were your summers?"

"It was alright," Blaise said, shrugging slightly. "Mother and I spent it in Italy with her new husband. I was left to my own for the most part."

"Father started taking me to the Wizengamot meetings," Theo admitted softly, "It could've been worse."

Draco grimaced. "How bad is it? Father said he's going to start taking me next year."

"Some parts were interesting, but most of it was just childish squabbling," Theo said honestly, "I don't look forward to taking over when I'm Lord Nott."

Blaise smirked. "I've never been more glad not to be set to inherit a Lordship."

"No, you're set to be a model after all," Avril teased, and Blaise shot her a traitorous glare.

Draco choked. "A model?"

"My grandmother owns a popular designer company," Blaise explained tightly, "She's been trying to get me to model for her."

Theo smirked, "I take it it's not your style, Blaise?"

Blaise shot him a look. "I'll be the one laughing when you're stuck in a room with stuffy old men arguing over cauldron thicknesses."

Theo and Draco immediately sobered.

.

Avril looked on blankly as the first years were sorted into their houses the whole time wondering what on earth could possibly have happened to Ron and Harry. Oddly, it was just herself and Hermione who were worried; the rest were just curious. Fred and George just shrugged it off and said they'd probably landed themselves in detention or something. They actually appeared half-jealous that they had broken their record in how early in the year they could get into trouble.

"Weasley, Ginny!" Professor McGonagall cried.

Avril snapped out of her daze and watched as the youngest Weasley shakily walked up the steps towards the rickety stool and talking hat. Like all the Weasleys, Ginny had flaming red hair and soft hazel brown eyes (though Fred, George and Charlie all possessed blue)- not to mention the splash of freckles on her cheekbones from the summer months. She sat on the stool and just as the hat was lowered onto her head the loud barking voice of the hat cried,

"GYRFFINDOR!"

Avril clapped and smiled amongst the rest of her housemates as the relieved little girl scuttled down to the table and sat herself next to an excitable boy called Colin, Creevey (?), or something like that. He kept snapping photographs with this Muggle camera of his so she was sure he would become someone the entire school would eventually know and name. More than once Avril had been blinded by the sudden white flash.

Dumbledore gave his usual speech and then the feast began. Avril had found she had little appetite, suddenly longing the warmth of the kitchen back in the cottage and ridiculous moments she had shared with Lupin and the sudden outbreak of food fights. Beside her, George grinned, mischief glittering in his eyes.

"I know what will cheer you up," he said, winking at her.

He glanced at Fred, nodded, stood up and the twins shouted a battle cry never heard at Hogwarts before.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Immediately food was thrown and a split second later the rest of the Gryffindor House had joined in: Avril included. She narrowly dodged a chicken drumstick before spinning round and seeing the amused faces of Hufflepuff. She grinned a wicked grin and expertly threw a potato at the back of a very familiar Hufflepuff's head. Cedric turned round and she laughed as he caught her eye. In seconds- Hufflepuff had joined in too. And then Ravenclaw and even a few of the stuck up Slytherins joined in when Fred made a well-aimed catapult of baked beans at Marcus Flint's head.

Surprisingly, the teachers didn't object. They just sat at their table, enjoying their meals, perfectly amused at the scene unfolding before them. That was until, the three Professors, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape discreetly left to reprimand two students who had found some other method of travel.

Half an hour later the so beautifully prepared food was scattered about the hall and every last student stood breathlessly panting, coated in a variety of food. In the midst of their fight the dessert had appeared so Avril was amused to find chocolate pudding amongst her curls. The twins grinned at her and she grinned back.

"Better?" they asked in unison.

"Absolutely ecstatic," she laughed. "And in return, I have a plan for tomorrow for good old Goldilocks over there." She nodded in the direction of Lockhart and two wicked gleams spread across the twins' faces.

"Are we involved?" George asked.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, we allowed the whole school to join in with ours," Fred said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Avril smiled, her head truly clear of all the troubles that had been dragging her down. "I have the blueprints already drawn up."

"Excellent," the twins said.

When Dumbledore walked back in he cleared away the mess with a wave of his wand and said to them all that he hoped they had all eaten because there was certainly not any food left. With a quick speech he sent them all off to bed, still covered in souvenirs from the feast.

Just as Avril was about to turn for the staircases, George tugged her down a different corridor.

"Er…guys, the common room is that way," Avril said, sending them a weird glance.

"Yeah, this is a shortcut," Fred said, stopping before a small alcove.

He pulled out his wand and tapped a brick which had been chipped in places. The alcove swung open and they all walked into a dimly lit passage.

"You are going to have to tell me how you find all these secret passages," Avril said, taking out her own wand and using quick cleaning spells on herself and then Fred and George in turn.

"Oh that's easy," George said.

"The Marauders are ever so helpful," Fred added.

The Marauders. Avril blinked. She knew that phrase. When she was little, Lupin used to tell her stories about these four students who used to run around Hogwarts causing mischief. She frowned.

"What? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" she asked.

The two twins looked shocked.

"How did you know?" Fred asked.

Avril shrugged. "Uncle Remus used to tell me stories about them when I was younger. How they used to run round Hogwarts causing all sorts of trouble. But I don't quite get how they've helped you…." Suddenly her eyes went wide. "Unless you've found the Marauders Map!"

"Indeed we have young apprentice," Fred asked. "We were still in our innocence when we found it…."

"In Filch's office, in a draw labelled dangerous and confiscated…" George continued.

"So naturally…" Fred said.

"We just had to open it…" George said.

"And the first thing we pulled out was this," Fred finished, brandishing a large piece of what just looked like scrap parchment.

"How does it work?" Avril asked, as they hanged a left.

"We'll show you later," Fred said.

"Because we're already here," George said pushing what looked like a door but was actually a painting.

They came out in the middle of the corridor where the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room was found. They literally took three steps before facing the Fat Lady.

"Password," she said bored.

The three of them looked at each other.

"Do you know it?" Fred asked George.

"Nope. Avril?"

"Haven't the foggiest."

They paused for a moment. Avril bit her lip, trying to think of the most likely password. They were always outlandish and had nothing to do with anything, so she often believed that it was Professor Dumbledore who was responsible for them.

"Er…is it a bird?" she asked.

The Fat Lady nodded slowly. Then it came to her.

"Aha!" she cried, jumping a mile. "Wattlebird!"

The Fat Lady swung open and the three walked into the Gryffindor Common Room that looked just as it always had- but lacking the usual day's mess. The fire was flickering golden warmth and the fiery room was lit up by flowing candles positioned strategically around the common room. It was in unison that they breathed in the familiar scent of their home away from home. Flopping onto the plush sofa, they relaxed in its comfort.

"How did you guess the password?" George asked.

Avril shrugged. "I don't know. I just got lucky. Besides, I heard pratface Percy muttering something about a bird to that girlfriend of his."

"But she's a Ravenclaw!" the twins said aghast. "She's the enemy." There was a pause in which they put on an over the top look of horror. "Pratface is a traitor!"

Avril laughed. "Apparently so."

Just then the portrait swung open and a rush of very messy Gryffindors walked through, a few of the older ones using similar spells to Avril in attempt to get gravy stains out of their shirts. Hermione walked over to them and sat in an armchair opposite.

"How did you get here so quickly?" she asked suspiciously.

"Dearest Hermione," Avril said in a patronising voice. "Ask us no questions…"

"And we'll tell you no lies," the twins said, with equally as patronising tones.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Separately I can cope," she said. "But together, you're a nightmare."

Avril leapt up and threw herself in a hug at her friend. Hermione shrieked and pushed her off looking rather flustered.

"Hermione," Avril said with mock flattery. "Never hast thou complimented me so!"

There was a stretch of silence before Hermione burst into laughter that was soon added to by Avril, Fred and George. All four basked into the comfort of being back again, amongst friends.

"Er, what are you laughing about?" a voice said.

They all turned, slightly breathless, to see a rather battered looking Harry and Ron. Their laughter fading away they scrutinized the two boys; Ron's hair had become a whirlwind mass whilst Harry's had collected some pine and gave off the impression that there should be some birds nesting inside of it.

"Where have you been?" Hermione shrieked at them.

Avril picked up a copy of The Night Prophet off of the table before the sofa, frowning slightly at the headline. She held it up. "Let me guess, you drove a flying car to school."

The two boys nodded, smiles playing on their faces.

"Shame," George sighed. "You missed the food fight."

"What food fight?" Harry frowned, looking slightly bewildered at the thought.

"Oh you know," Avril grinned. "The one that just took place in the Great Hall. The one which the whole school took part in. Did you not see Seamus? He looked like he'd taken a dip in Horseradish."

The two boys heaved sighs and sat down.

"Seriously?" Ron said. "We drive a flying car, get seen by muggles, get attacked by a tree, get a lifetime's worth of detentions and we miss the food fight? So not fair!"

"Oh don't worry Ronniekins," Fred said. "Just think of the Howler you'll get from mum tomorrow."

Ron groaned. "I'm going to bed."

From there the common room slowly emptied, the Gryffindors filtering as the night went on until it was just, Avril, Fred and George left. The second year looked up at the two elder boys, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.

"I'll go and get the plans."

A/N- Apologies for the delay, my only excuse is that I have been extremely busy with school.

And the response to Chapter 2's single reviewer:

KijoKuroi: Well, that was the idea, but I'm glad to hear you liked it. Thank you for reviewing.

-HazelVex