Over the last five years, Casey had grown to love Hogwarts as much as she dreamed she would. She grew close to the Weasley twins and Lee, spending every day with them planning pranks and inventing new potions, spells, and her favorite, prank-sweets. Fred and George were most often the masterminds behind their pranks and future products for the joke shop, both of the twins easily admitted that without Ms. Casey Volkova, they wouldn't have much of a joke-empire on Hogwarts. Casey was much more studious than the twins, and therefore had plenty of information on what was needed to form these products.

By her third year, both she and the Weasley twins tried out for the Quidditch team and made it-Casey as a Chaser and Fred and George as beaters. Lee, who wasn't much of a flier, became the commentator for the matches, giving their quad a sort of empire on quidditch at Hogwarts. Casey was the top of her class in potions and transfiguration, but much to her dismay, as she was incredibly competitive, she was only average at Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and had to struggle to achieve passing marks in Herbology, due to her staggering disinterest in the subject. Her nearly failing in herbology was a favorite topic of her twin sister, Alex, who achieved perfect marks in every class except Divination because "it's not an exact magic, you know. It's ridiculous."

Casey started off her second year (and third year and fourth year) with a staggering crush on Oliver Wood, though he never took much of interest in her. George, on the other hand, was absolutely smitten with Casey, but she never seemed to catch on, and George was forced to give up when she began dating a fifth-year Ravenclaw, Kiran Singh.

Casey's relationship with Kiran lasted for a year until he broke up with her a week before her O.W.L.s, claiming that it just wasn't working for him, and that he wanted to be single.

Of course, this left her heartbroken, and so she turned back to her friendship with Fred, George, and Lee.

Now nearing her sixth year, Casey woke in her home in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, annoyed by the calls of her quetzal bird, Fernando.

"I'm up," she muttered, throwing her blankets to the side and sat up. His chirps sounded like the whimpers of a small puppy, high pitched and repetitive.

"Cállate, Fernando." She snapped, walking over to the windowsill where he was perched. "What do you want?" Fernando held out his foot and tied to it was a Daily Prophet.

"A Prophet? How'd you get that?" She opened it up to read the giant headline, 'Scenes of Terror at the Quidditch World Cup'

"What?" Casey shouted, startling Fernando. "Death Eaters?" She got almost halfway through the article before she saw a clumsy scrawl of handwriting above the headline.

We're fine. We knew if we didn't let you know, you'd do more harm than any Death Eater would. The match was brilliant, wish you had been there. See you tomorrow. -Fred.

Casey shook her head with a slight smile. Fred was right, she would have been furious had they not told her that they were fine and found out about the attacks later on. She set the paper down and immediately went to go tell her grandfather the news.

Though they had always been close, Fred and Casey had grown significantly closer after her breakup with Kiran. In fact, over the summer she and Fred wrote each other multiple times a week, so much so that George stopped writing his portions of the letters. At the beginning of the summer, Casey started to wonder if maybe her feelings for Fred were a little too warm and a little less friendly, but she dismissed the thought, attributing her crush on Fred to be an after-effect of her breakup and nothing more.

"Death Eaters?" Casey's grandfather asked. "There could not have been Death Eaters!"

"It's what the Prophet said, Grandpa," Casey told her grandfather, sitting down next to him for a breakfast of toast. He sipped his coffee and fervently shook his head. As he was a brother to one of the very first Death Eaters, Casey had always wanted to hear about the Death Eaters and the first wizarding war from her grandfather. Each time it was brought up, however, he more or less refused the subject.

"I left that bloody country for a reason." He would state, and either change the subject or leave the room altogether.

"It says they were wearing the masks and hoods and terrorizing muggles," Alex said as she read the paper next to them. "That doesn't mean they were necessarily Death Eaters."

"And even if they were," Their grandfather stabbed, pointing at them with a piece of toast. "They have no power anymore. They're finished."

"How do you know that, though, Grandpa?" Casey continued despite the sharp kick from Alex under the table. "Just because they haven't been out and about killing people doesn't mean they're finished. Dumbledore says-"

"You-know-who is finished and so are the Death Eaters," Their grandfather shook his head. "I left that bloody country to get away from that war, I'm not going to let it bother me after it's over." And at that, he rose from his chair and staggered out of the kitchen, toast still in his hand.

"Good going," Alex muttered. "Like he needs to be riled up any more."

Their grandfather's health was beginning to deteriorate in his old age. He was getting so bad that he had to hire a neighbor to come over and help him take care of himself when Casey and Alex were gone at Hogwarts. There were some days when what he said didn't make much sense or got upset for almost no reason.

After lunch that day, she set about packing for the Burrow, where she had agreed to spend the last week before school. As she busied herself packing, her sister Alex called from her room.

"Did you get the Hogwarts letters?"

"Yeah, why?" Casey said, looking up from her trunk. "Didn't you?"

"I did." Alex said, coming in with a piece of parchment. "But it says we need dress robes. Why would we need dress robes? We've never needed them before." Casey took a second look at the Hogwarts letter.

"Huh. Beats me." She shrugged. "I don't even think I'm going to get them, honestly."

"Casey, it says they're required." Alex reminded her, but Casey shook her head.

"I'm trying to save money, okay? I'm not getting them unless I need them."

"Come on!" Alex said huffily. "You have plenty of money. And even if you didn't, we come from one of the richest wizarding families in Britain, Grandpa would give you money." Casey just shook her head.

"I don't need them! And if it turns out I do, I'll get them in Hogsmeade or something. I already have my books ordered, I'm not going to go to Diagon Alley for dress robes."

The truth was that Casey had been saving her galleons for a few years to help Fred and George with the joke shop. Money was always a sensitive matter between them, especially since the Weasleys were poor and Casey came from a very rich family.

Casey finished packing and got ready to use the Floo Network to get to the Burrow.

"Goodbye, Grandpa!" She said as she kissed her grandfather on the cheek. "I promise I'll be home for Christmas this year."

"Oh, don't count your owls before they're delivered!" Her grandfather chirped, winking. "You may not want to leave Hogwarts this year!"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't say!" He smiled again. "Just enjoy yourself. I'll see you soon enough!" Confused, Casey turned to her sister. As she gave her a hug goodbye she whispered into her ear, "Make sure he's all right."

"I will." Alex reassured her. "I'll see you in a while! Tell the twins I say hi!"

Before she knew it, she was standing in the Weasley's fireplace and the sky was that of a sunset rather than a sunny noon.

"Hello, Weasleys!" She called to the seemingly empty house. Soon enough, however, Mrs. Weasley bustled around the corner with a basket of clothes in her arms.

"Casey, darling!" She set down the clothing and pulled her into her patented Mother-Weasley hugs. "How have you been?"

"I'm good, Mrs. Weasley! How are you?"

"Fine, darling. Fine!" She chirped. "The boys are out back playing quidditch with Ginny before dinner. They've been waiting for you, so I expect they'll be excited to see you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley!" Casey rushed out to the gardens, but found that the twins were all running around and chasing the gnomes instead of playing quidditch. George was facing her, and his face lit up with delight when he saw her, but she held her finger to mouth, gesturing for him to keep quiet. George caught the hint and immediately went back to chasing a troll, watching Casey out of the corner of his eye.

Never the mastermind of pranks, Casey wasn't quite sure what to do to Fred. Here, she found herself with a perfect opportunity to prank Fred, and nothing to prank him with. Desperately, she looked around, but there was no use. She'd just have to use magic. She wouldn't be 17 until November, but she knew one spell wouldn't b e much harm in a house full of witches and wizards. For all the ministry knew, it could be Mrs. Weasley performing the spell. She hastily pulled out her wand as Fred picked up a struggling gnome. As he flung the gnome,aiming to get it over the garden fence, she pointed her wand to the top of the garden fence where the gnome would go over and whispered "Protego."

The gnome hit the invisible barrier and bounced back into the garden, quickly scrambling to its feet and scurrying away into the bushes.

"What in the bloody hell," Fred muttered, stepping forward to see what had blocked the gnome.

"Looks like you've lost your touch, Freddie." Casey said. Fred wheeled around and beamed at Casey.

"Casey! I should have known." He bounded forward and scooped her into a hug. "It's great to see you!"

"I would say the same," Casey said. "But now that I've seen how lousy you are at throwing gnomes, I've reconsidered. You're a weakling."

"Oh, come now, don't you have anything better than to insult my masculinity?" Fred said, pulling away from her but still not quite letting her go.

"Shh," Casey hushed him, pushing him away. "Give me to the more manly twin." She hugged George, but noticed that George did not hang on like Fred did.

"How was the match?" Casey asked. "Crazy, what happened, huh? What was it like?"

"It was weird." George said, looking shiftily at Fred.

"Yeah, it was kind of scary. There was a Dark Mark and everything." Fred nodded, but there was something strange about his tone. Casey, having spent so much time with them over the years could sense the change in atmosphere.

"What?" Casey stepped closer to them. "What happened? Why are you acting weird?" The twins exchanged grim looks and looked back at Casey, neither one of them wanting to say.

"What?" Casey asked again. "Why won't you tell me? Is everything okay?"

"Of course everything is okay." Fred reassured her.

"It's not a big deal," George said. "It's just that..."

"We bet all our money on the match." Fred finished.

"Aw, guys, come on!" Casey scolded them. They had been saving for the joke shop, but the twins were never quite good at doing their saving, but stubbornly refused to let Casey pay for things or lend them money. "You bet all of it? Were you really that sure that you'd win?"

"No, listen, we bet that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the snitch."

"Are you kidding me?" Casey shouted, startling a few gnomes. "How could you honestly think that would happen, and be so sure that you bet all of your money?"

"Didn't you hear?" Fred asked. "That's what happened! Krum got the snitch but Ireland still won, 170 to 160."

"Really? That's insane!" Casey said. "Then what's the problem?"

"It's the bloke who took our money." George explained. "Ludo Bagman. He conned us. He gave us Leprechaun gold after the match and it disappeared."

"We thought it was just a mistake at first," Fred said. "But he ignored us when we tried to tell him that night, and now he won't answer our letter."

By now it had gotten dark, and Mrs. Weasley was calling them inside to have dinner.

"How much did you bet, then?" Casey asked Fred as they headed inside.

"37 galleons, 15 sickles, and 3 knuts." Fred sighed. "Plus a joke wand."

"It could be worse." Casey said brightly, giving Fred a nudge on the arm.

"For you, maybe." Fred said without looking at her. Casey opened her mouth to respond, but they were hurried inside and to the dinner table by Mrs. Weasley.

After enjoying a great dinner with the Weasley family, Harry, and Hermione, everyone headed up to bed.

"Are you coming to bed, Casey?" Hermione asked. She usually slept in Ginny's room with Ginny and Hermione.

"I will soon." Casey answered her. "It's still afternoon in my brain. Floo-network lag, you could call it."

"I'll stay up with you." Fred offered. "We can catch up."

"Catch up?" Casey laughed. "Fred, we wrote each other every week this summer. What on earth do we need to catch up on?"

"All right, you got me." Fred admitted sarcastically. "I just needed to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't rob the house and murder the family."

"You called my long-con, then?" Casey teased back.

"Oh, yes." Fred laughed as they sat down on the couch in the Burrow's family room. "I knew there was no way that someone like you would actually want to spend so much time with George and I. Obviously you have ulterior motives. I've got to keep an eye on you while I still can."

"Whatever, Fred." The two of them continued to talk about various topics until Fred's eyes began to droop.

"You can go to sleep, Fred." Casey reminded him. "I'll probably try and get some sleep soon, too."

"What? And let you have the freedom to destroy the house?" Fred shook his head to wake himself up. "Not a chance, Volkova."

"All right." Casey said. "Fred, you know I'll lend you and George that 37 galleons, at le-"

"No." Fred said curtly.

"Come on, Fred." Casey reasoned. "Only until you guys can pay me back. I really don't mind. So then you can use it for the joke shop."

"No, Casey." Fred repeated. "We've had this argument before. You can help out with your share, and that's fine, but you're not allowed to pay for our portion."

"It's only 37 galleons!" Casey said, but when Fred raised his eyebrows she stopped. "I just mean in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter if I lend you-"

"That's the point, Casey. It's only 37 galleons." Fred snapped, a little harshly. "That was our entire savings. To you, it's only 37 galleons. It's different for you. But we need to earn this money. We need to earn our joke shop." Fred explained. He was lightly scowling but he remained close to Casey, maybe even a little closer than usual.

"I'm sorry, Fred." Casey backed off. "I understand. I just want to help."

"I know you do," Fred said. "But, honestly, who knows if we can even make the joke shop happen?"

"What are you even saying?"

"I mean, Mum found all our Ton-Toffees and our order forms and she destroyed them." Fred said. "She really doesn't want this to happen, and if we keep having setbacks like this, it may never happen. It might just be a stupid idea."

"Fred Weasley." Casey said sternly. "It's not a stupid idea. It's a great idea. You two have wanted this forever and you're good at it! You can't give up because of a few setbacks. Besides, I'm a part of this now, too, and I say you're not allowed to give up on this." Fred smiled and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"I knew there was a reason we kept you around."

"Other than the fact that I'm the brains of the operation?" Casey rested her head on Fred's shoulder.

"Yeah, other than that." Fred muttered softly as he let his head fall onto hers.