New Beginning-Ben's Story

by JennTH

Continuing on from my first story, New Beginning. It's been a year since the war, and Ben is about to start his second year. Goes from Second year until he is grown up. An OC, so you likely won't like.

7. More Drama

By the time we got back to Hogwarts, both Michael and I felt relaxed. Brenda had given us some practice papers for OWLs. I appreciated and I was sure Ashley would want some too. I grabbed some for Ellen too. I wasn't sure if she would want them or not. She knew the exams were serious, but at times she still had her same attitude when it came to school work. Michael was eager for them, and he'd even started working on them right away.

When we found Ashley and Ellen, it was to find them a lot more relaxed as well. Apparently they'd decided to make use of the weekend and have a good time as well. There had been a big party in the common room after the Hogsmeade trip and the girls had gotten drunk. People were ready to tell me tales of Ashley drinking and singing in the common room. I was pleased to hear that she had fun and she didn't mope about the wedding.

"Good to know you can still have fun without me," I said to her after a few days of hearing about what she did.

"You know I can," she answered. "The hangover the next day was awful though. I threw up all day. I'm glad Jess and Erica put the bin beside my bed."

"Too bad. I have some of my hang over potions," I said to her. "You could have used one of them."

Ashley shrugged. "I don't care. It was worth it. I told Ellen about Diagon Alley and Hermione. She thinks it's suspicious too."

"Everyone thinks it's suspicious," I told her. "Speaking of which, Hermione was at Barry's wedding. I talked to her and I thanked her for helping you out."

"She got back to me with her number," Ashley told me. "I made my appointment with her to go to the Ministry on August fourth. She never mentioned anything about you."

I shrugged. "Well that's not why I am mentioning it. She danced with me and then Michael. They talked about you as well, and she told him about your Diagon Alley meeting. He wants to know why you didn't tell him about it. I'm sure he'll be bringing it up to you eventually," I told her.

Ashley paled a little. "Is he angry with me?"

"Nope, he took offense to it," I told her. "You know how he gets when he thinks he is being left out of things. I told him you'd talk to him about it."

"You didn't tell him why I kept it secret at least?" She asked.

"No because I don't think I should have to speak for you," I told her. "You should have told him and Ellen about it as well right away."

Ashley sighed. "Well I'll talk to him later. Tell me more about the wedding though. What else did Hermione say?"

Michael confronted Ashley about it later that day. Ellen wasn't around, but I'd noticed since Sunday that she was disappearing again. Perhaps she had another secret boyfriend, I hoped she did. I wasn't sure where she was at the moment. Michael had gone off to spend some time with Sarah. He was gazing at Ashley as he took a seat at our table.

"So why is it that I have to hear from Hermione Weasley that you'd had a confrontation with Don Zent and Xavier Opress in Diagon Alley," he said. "You promised me that you weren't going to leave me out of things anymore Ashley. Why is it that Ben and Ellen always still hear things first before me?"

"I only just told Ellen on Saturday in Hogsmeade," Ashley told him. "I wasn't sure if it was that important to tell you two, but Ben believed it was. It was also because Harry Potter took me home. I was planning to tell you, but we haven't really talked alone since you came back."

"Of course it's important enough for us to hear," Michael told her. "Those two are bad news. You know they are, and obviously if you were too scared to let them take you home, you know that. It's almost two months later, and I am just hearing about it now. It should have been you I heard it from, not Hermione."

"Look I'm sorry Michael," Ashley said. "You're right. I should have told you and Ellen as well. I told Ben I'd tell you after you got back from the wedding, and that was the plan," and then she smirked. "You know as angry as you seem, I'm surprised you held back."

"I'm not angry with you," Michael said. "And I haven't had time to talk to you until now. I've been spending time with Sarah and doing school work. I asked Ben about it and he wouldn't tell me anything on the weekend. Besides," he added as he now looked at me. "I heard Ben telling you that I knew," and then he looked back at her. "You said you were keeping it a secret from me. So it's obviously not just because you didn't feel it wasn't important enough."

"Because," she answered as she set her quill down, "Harry Potter took me home."

"So?" Michael asked.

"I didn't want you to get upset that Harry took me home," she said.

Michael stared at her. It was hard to tell by his expression what he was thinking but then he burst into laughter.

"Seriously Ash?" He asked and put an arm around her. "I was an idiot in first year. I thought we were past that. If you talk to Harry Potter than by all means tell me. I'm not going to get angry with you about it again. I'm glad you ran into him. He's an Auror and I'm sure it scared those idiots. Don't be afraid that you're going to upset me. Also, it's great that Hermione is helping you out with the school as well."

She smiled back at him. "I'm sorry Michael," she said.

Michael just gave a small shrug. "Well I've been a prat to you in the past. I guess I just have to continue to prove myself to you. But wait, how did Don and Xavier react to this? They can't be too happy with you at the moment, and now their parents know too."

"They haven't said anything to me," she said. "They give the usual dirty looks but that is it."

"Well just be careful around them," Michael said. "They've always fought with me, and you don't want them to hex you. I know my defensive spells, but you've always been average in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and you aren't the best dueller. Let us know if they say anything to you."

"I will," she said.

I was glad to see what I thought was a potential argument was resolved right away. Things really had changed between Ashley and Michael. If it had been a couple of years ago, they would be at each others throats but they were now smiling at each other with mutual respect. Michael had even been mature about it when he'd brought it up to her. Perhaps my friends were finally growing up. I didn't think any of us were the same as we had been four years ago.

The weeks after that were spent working harder on our school work. The teachers seemed to want to pile it on even more before Easter break started. Many of them told us that after our break, everything would be review. When we had time, we used it to work on the practice sheets that Brenda had given us. Just as I'd suspected, Ellen wanted nothing to do with the sheets. I'd tried to explain to her that they would actually help us out, but she didn't want to hear it.

Michael and Ashley were already organizing their notes by first to fifth year. I understood why they did it, but for me it was easier to do it by the hardest subjects through the hardest years. Third and fifth year for me were the hardest years while fourth and second were easier and obviously first year was the easiest. Ashley seemed confused when I tried to explain it to her, and I didn't get what was so complicated about it. It made sense to me.

Ellen's attitude about it all annoyed me. She was going to end up repeating her fifth year. I didn't want to see her in that situation, but she refused to listen to any of us. All the fifth year Hufflepuff's sat together working hard. We always chose a subject to work on together, or else we'd divide people up to work with the ones who were better in one subject than the other. Ashley was always the one who tutored people in Charms, while Michael helped people out in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

It was getting warmer out and I envied the people who out enjoying it. It had been such a cold and stormy winter. We'd gotten more snow than we usually did. Now most of it was melted and we didn't even have to wear coats to go out anymore. Even though she was being stupid, I even felt jealous of Ellen.

One evening, we all watched as she walked past everyone to go out flying. She looked defiant as she carried her broomstick past us.

"Well hopefully she'll take the exams seriously after the Easter holidays," I said as we watched her go.

"Ellen's convinced that she's going to be a professional Quidditch player," Michael said. "She doesn't think she needs a lot of OWLs for it."

"I'm not denying that she's good," I said to him. I knew she was good enough. I was sure that the scouts were watching her. Every year they sent them to watch at the end of the school year. They'd been watching her since second year. They likely would want her to play professionally. "Anyone who has watched her since second year knows she is good enough," I continued. "We don't know if she'll be drafted though. She also needs something for after. She can't be a professional Quidditch player for the rest of her life."

"She said she'll worry about it then," Michael said and he put down his quill to look at me. "Look mate, I know you're worried about her but you can't keep bothering her about it. She can make her own choices in life. She'll decide what she wants to do. If she doesn't want to study, then she doesn't want to."

"I'm almost jealous of how carefree she is about it," Ashley said and I raised my eyebrows at her in surprise. If she was going to pull an Ellen attitude, I definitely would have something to say about it. I'd told her in first year I wouldn't let her fail. "Not that I am going to do, but look at her. She's not stressed at all about it. The rest of us have spent most of this year stressed by everything we have to do. The Andrew twins have already had break downs, so has Melanie. This time of year is when fifth and seventh years have to be given calming draughts. Ellen isn't letting any of it affect her."

"And you'll see what that does when she does her exams later," I told Ashley in case she was still thinking about it.

"She'll do well in the classes that she wants to do well in," Michael said. "I'm only worried about the classes I need to be an Auror for."

I shook my head. I guess some things about my friends would never change. I didn't understand that attitude. Prospective employers would be impressed with all OWLs, even if they didn't need it. Aurors would be impressed knowing that he knew Arithmancy. Even if he didn't plan on taking it in NEWT level, they could use his expertise in some situations. Sure it was great that he was good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, but there were other things they needed to know as well.

I knew there was no point in arguing though, so I just kept my mouth shut. Both Michael and Ellen would finally understand it when we did our exams and they got their results. I told myself not to worry about them anymore. I was just going to concern myself with my own exams and Ashley's.

When the Easter holidays started, I realized why Michael loved staying at the school for the holidays. Not too many people stayed and the common room was actually peaceful. All the younger students were gone so we didn't have too much noise. We also liked to sit around and drink as well late into the evenings.

The fifth years who had remained there often joined us in the library or outside. I was surprised to see Tara even help out Ashley. The girls disliked each other, but they seemed to forget about their differences as Tara helped Ashley with Arithmancy and Ashley helped her with Charms. I loved the study sessions out by the lake. It was so relaxing to gaze across the lake at the mountains. Ellen was certainly missing out on a good time. I knew she was grounded as well because she'd tried to pretend that her parents had given her permission to go to Barry's wedding. When they'd found out, her mother had told her she was going home and she'd be grounded for the holidays.

I couldn't imagine what she'd do anyway. None of us were around, and we usually got together for the holidays. I didn't imagine she could do much with only Timmy around for company. I hoped her mother was forcing her to at least study.

By the end of holidays, I felt confident that I would do well in my exams. When term started, there were pamphlets from the ministry left out for the fifth and seventh year. I automatically read through the ones about Healing. It turned out that St. Mungos wasn't the only place a person could work as a Healer. It was the place that I wanted to go to, but it was good to know that St. Mungos wasn't my only option.

Everyone else was looking through other career options, but I had my mind made up about Healing. I didn't want to do anything else, and so I ignored the other pamphlets, even when Michael and Ashley tried to show me other ones that might interest me.

"But what if you're not accepted?" Michael asked me. "You're the one always telling us to keep our options open. Maybe you should look into other things as well. You're planning to keep most of your classes. So you'll be qualified for most careers."

"Or you might want to give up on Healing later on," Ashley said to me.

"I want to be a Healer," I insisted.

One good thing was that Ellen seemed to be more serious about her exams now. The rest of us were relaxed but she was extremely stressed. She was reading through most of the pamphlets in a frenzy, even ones such as being a curse breaker. I stared at her as picked up one about working in the Department of Mysteries.

Every night she went to bed late and she'd be up earlier than everyone else. She looked tired, and she looked as if she was starting to lose weight again. I offered her the practice sheets again but all she did was glare at me before walking off.

"I wonder if something happened at home," I said as I watched her go. "I'm glad to see her taking these exams seriously, but not to the point she's stressed."

"I don't think so," Ashley said. "She wrote to me quite a bit over the Easter holidays. She said she got her work done early, and she hung out with Timmy a lot. I think she's just realizing that the exams are almost here."

"It's scary," Michael said. "I'm feeling better about some of my classes, but these exams are going to determine the rest of our lives."

I rolled my eyes, I'd been telling him that for years and even more that year. It wasn't long after that when we started to meet with our Heads of Houses for our careers consultations. I had to meet up with Professor Sprout during Transfiguration. I was disappointed by this because I didn't want to miss any class, but definitely not Transfiguration. My friends all assured me that they would take notes for me. It was just a review day but I still wanted to be there.

Professor Sprout already had my file out when I sat down in her office.

"Mr. Hoofer," she said happily. "I've been very pleased with your work so far this year. I've always been happy with your school work, but this year you've exceeded my expectations. Not only do you have Prefect duties, which you excel at but you have Quidditch as well. With all you've had to do, your marks have not suffered at all. I think you'll do well as Head Boy in your seventh year. You are most certainly a candidate."

"About that," I said uncomfortably. "I don't know if I want to be Head Boy. I want to focus on my NEWTs. I want to be a Healer and I'll need to spend all my time studying."

"Well don't make that decision quite yet," Professor Sprout told me. "Next year we can talk about that again. For now, lets talk about your career. You say that you want to be a Healer? Well, I can honestly say that I don't think you'll have a problem. You've always excelled with your spell work and your potions. It will be hard work Ben," she said using my first name now, which was rare for her. "I believe you could be accepted but you should know what you're getting into first. The hours are long, and it's shift work. They may even keep you longer than your shift, and you won't always have weekends."

I nodded. I already knew all of this. I'd read up about Healing enough to know. I understood the hours and I knew I could handle it.

"I can handle all that," I told her.

"Even if you have a family?" She asked me. "Healers don't often see their families. You and Ms. Dunning may not see each other enough, and if you two have children you may not see them enough."

"We'd make it work," I told her surprised that she was bringing up our relationship and even more surprised that she could see us together after Hogwarts. "It almost sounds as if you're trying to discourage me."

"Not at all Ben," she said. "It's my job to give you the pros and cons of each profession. I just want you to understand the hard work that will go with it. I sincerely believe that you can do it, but I just hope it's not a choice you'll grow to regret. I've had former students grow to resent their jobs because they never have time and they never see their families. So even though I can see that you're set on becoming one, I want you to look into other options as well, just in case. That's all I'll say on the matter. Now, to be accepted into training you'll need OWLs and NEWTs in Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. They prefer it if you get Outstanding but they'll take students with Exceeds Expectations too."

"I was planning on keeping those classes anyway," I informed her. "I want to keep Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as well."

"Well you're doing well in all of those classes," Professor Sprout told me. "The only class you seem to be struggling with is Charms. Right now you are averaging between Acceptable and Exceeds Expectations. The rest of them you have Exceeds Expectations or Outstandings in. I believe you can get OWLs in all your classes."

"Thanks," I said to her. "And I read that Healer training is four years, but that sometimes it can be less if a student does well enough."

"Yes, sometimes if a student works hard enough, they can do two years simultaneously," Professor Sprout said. "You are a hard enough worker and you learn very quickly, but I wouldn't push yourself too hard Ben. If you can't do it, it's okay as well. I know you've always wanted to prove yourself. You are a wonderful student and I hope you won't feel like a failure if you can't do it. It's why I am not so sure about you giving up on Head Boy."

"I'll think about it," I told her, "but I really don't think I will still be playing Quidditch in seventh year. I just want to get the NEWTs I need, and I don't want anything to stand in my way."

"Well I'll ask you again later," Professor Sprout told me. "I don't want you to have any regrets either."

I felt pleased with my consultation, even if it seemed as if she were trying to warn me against becoming a Healer. I believed I'd be fine. I knew that Ashley and I would work through the hours, and Healers did have to have some time off. I could tell that the consultations had gone well for Michael and Ashley as well. They'd both been pleased when they came back from their meetings. The only one who seemed unhappy was Ellen, and she wouldn't talk about it with us either.

When the exams finally came, people began to have breakdowns. Ellen was among them, and she had more than one. She left Potions in tears when her potion exploded. We were handed our exam schedules, and she tore hers up and left the Great Hall with tears running down her cheeks. Everyone stared after her in shock. Ashley pointed her wand at Ellen's torn schedule and muttered: "reparo," and the shreds of paper connected together. Once she examined it to make sure it was good as new, she put it in her bag and followed Ellen out.

Our first exam was Charms, and no one was more happy about this than Ashley. She was lucky that her last name was in the D's. She didn't have to wait too long when she went in for her practical. They called four students in at a time, and she was examined with Tara, Keith and Maisie. I was sure all of them but Maisie would be fine. Ashley left the Great Hall with a huge grin on her face when she was done.

"I really think I earned an O on that one," she told me and then kissed me. "Good luck Ben, I know you'll be fine. I'm just going to go study the practical. I'll be outside by the lake."

I smiled as she hurried away. I was glad that she was enthusiastic about it. I loved seeing her confident when it came to her school work. I think her happiness seemed to help out the remaining fifth years as well. They had all been watching us since we were all lumped together in the room we'd all waited in before our sorting. A lot of people had looked worried before she'd come back into the room, but some were smiling now, and a few people appeared to be standing up taller. Some of the Ravenclaw girls even had determined looks on their faces.

I was glad when it was finally my turn to go in. I was called in with Michael, Lydia Jewel and Sarah. Michael gave me a nervous thumbs up before heading over to one of the examiners. Some of them were still examining some of the students. I had to wait for Denver to finish his first before I could go over to him. My examiner ended up being an elderly old lady by the name of Griselda Marchbanks. Something about her seemed stern, but she gave me a smile as I took a seat in front of her.

"Your name?" She asked in a scratchy shaky voice.

"Benjamin Hoofer," I said and her face lit up.

"Ah yes a Hoofer boy. I should have known. I remember examining each of your siblings. I saw great things from them. In fact, I remember even examining your father and grandfather as well. I expect to see exceptional spell work from you too," she said with a kind smile. "Now, can you show me how to make this egg do cart wheels?"

By the end of the exam, I felt good. There were a few charms I ended up mixing up but I didn't feel that they would make me fail. It did bother me that I forgot the charm to make steam come out of my wand. It was a second year spell. It was one of the ones I hadn't bothered to study, and I should have. I knew I wouldn't fail but it bothered me that I couldn't remember a simple second year charm. It was one of the charms that built up to learning how to conjure. If I couldn't do a basic conjuring charm, how could I expect to do it in sixth year? In NEWT level we would learn to conjure real objects.

Griselda Marchbanks didn't look disappointed in my however. She congratulated me afterwards, so I felt I must have impressed her anyway. I noticed most people left the Great Hall through the main doors, so I had to wonder why Ashley went back into the other room. I figured she must have just wanted to talk to me. I waited by the doors for Michael to finish, and then the two of us walked out to the lake.

At lunch time, everyone seemed a lot more confident than before. Some people seemed upset that their exams didn't go as well as they'd thought they would, but they seemed a lot happier than before. Ellen hadn't joined us at the lake, even though she'd been watching Ashley and me. She knew we'd been out there. At the table she looked upset as we joined her.

"I think I flunked that," she told us sounding depressed. "I know my charms, but I forgot some and mixed some up. If you were to ask me to do it now I could. I've been colouring my nails since Ashley had taught me in first year, but do you think I could remember how to this time?"

"I know what you mean," Michael told her."Don't feel bad."

I knew he had done okay since he'd been beside me, but he hadn't done as well as he could have. While I had forgotten some, he had forgotten a lot more. He'd mixed up levitation charms with hovering charms. He'd also forgotten how to do flashing charms as well, so I was sure that's what he meant when he said that to Ellen.

"Well Maisie probably did worse," Ashley said to them. "She was beside me and she couldn't do any of it. How did she even manage to get to fifth year?"

"Likely nerves," I answered.

I knew Maisie wasn't bright, but she had to know some things to make it to fifth year.

After Charms, I did feel confident both the practical and written work for the rest of the week. Most of my classes I felt that I likely got Outstandings in them. When I studied for the rest of my class, I made sure to study over even the spells that I knew very well. I didn't want to have another situation where I forgot one I shouldn't. I'd learned my lesson from Charms.

I was worried about Arithmancy because fifth year was complicated, and it was the hardest exam out of all the classes but by the end of it I knew I'd passed. It hadn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Michael seemed happy at his desk, but Ashley looked worried.

"How did it go?" I asked her once she and I left the Great Hall.

She automatically burst into tears. I pulled her into my arms to hug her. I still thought it was admirable that she'd tried, and I didn't understand why she was crying. If she failed then it wouldn't be the end of the world.

"Look, you did your best. I think it's amazing that you stuck with it," I told her once her sobs subsided.

"You're not going to need it anyway," Michael said as he walked over to us. "I don't think I did too well either."

"I just wanted at least an OWL in it," she said. "If I fail it will be like I wasted my time in it. There's still Divination to get through and then I am done."

"I hope you don't plan to keep it," I said.

"I don't know yet," she answered.

I decided now wasn't the time to lecture her about it. I was going to do what I could do make sure she didn't continue with it in sixth year. There was no reason for her to do so. Michael just gave me a small shrug, and then we headed outside. Ellen had told us that she would be by the lake. She still had Divination too, and she'd told us that she was going to take advantage of her day off to just relax. She wasn't even going to study for it, but for once I didn't care. She shouldn't have taken it in the first place.

When the exams were done, the fifth years decided that we should have a party, and the seventh years joined in on this. They had just finished their NEWTs, so they were ready to let their hair down as well. It was also their last year and their last party. Now I understood why the fifth and seventh years were the loudest most of the time. I couldn't help but take a shot the moment Jared offered me one.

I found Ellen and Ashley watching the festivities and walked over to join them. I was already feeling giddy from the one shot, and I wanted them to join as well. They had drinks in their hands, but I was sure it was just pumpkin juice and vodka. Moments later, Michael walked over as well. He already had a drink in his hand as well.

"Just think, next year we'll be sixth years and we'll be seventeen," Ashley said to me with a grin on her face.

"We won't have to be reminded of our OWLs all the time," Ellen said happily. "No more school work until next year!"

"That will be a relief," Michael said.

"You've done well this year mate," I said still looking at the drink in his hand. "You haven't been a prat at all."

"I learned my lesson from last year and last summer," Michael answered. "I lost Anne over it, and I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for that. She was an amazing girlfriend."

"What about Sarah?" Ashley asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"She broke up with me right before our exams," Michael told her. "I didn't tell you guys because I didn't want the pity. She was just tired of the fact that our friends don't get along. Besides, I still miss Anne. I tried making it work with Sarah, but I want Anne back."

I saw Ashley look over at Anne who was with Joey. She looked very happy with him, and I doubted they were going to break up. Michael and Anne had never been a healthy relationship, but I believed Joey and Anne could make it. They weren't on and off again and they seemed to compliment each other. He was quiet and she was loud but it seemed to work for them.

"I know she's with him though," Michael said. "If I have to wait, then I will wait."

"Well just don't wait forever," Ellen said to him.

"I won't," Michael said. "I'm still going to date. I'm not going to sit back be all depressed. I'm going to date other girls, and maybe I'll find another that I really like."

"Same here," Ellen said. "Now that we have this nightmare of year out of the way I am going to start dating again."

"Now we just get to stress on what our OWLs will be," Ashley said. "I hope they don't take too long to come."

"Well, no point in worrying now," I said feeling that the conversation was getting too heavy. "Let's go join the party," and I nodded in the direction of where the fifth years were sitting.

The others seemed more than happy to do so, without another word, they all moved forward simultaneously to join the fifth years. As soon as we all sat down with them, Hank smiled at us.

"The girls have to do shots of firewhiskey!" Hank shouted as he eyed Ashley and Ellen. He handed them each a shot after he poured some firewhiskey into some shot glasses. He then looked at Michael and me. He pointed to the glasses as if to tell us to help ourselves and then he smiled at me. "So Benjamin, are you having an end of summer pool party?" He poured shots for us girls.

"I plan to do it every year. I'll write everyone the date and time again," I said cringing when he called me Benjamin. I hated being called Benjamin as much as I hated being called Benny.

"Every year?" Stan asked. "We only have one year left after this summer don't we?"

"We can have one after seventh year too," I told him. "It will likely be the last one, but it can celebrate that we're done Hogwarts at least."

"Oh let's not think about that yet," Anne said. "I don't want to think about the fact that we only have two years left. Let's just have fun for now."

And so we did. I believed everyone needed to let off some steam. Ashley suddenly nudged Ellen and pointed something out to her. I looked over to see what she was doing, and my mouth actually dropped open. Melanie was actually drinking.

"I knew eventually she would join in," Ellen said.

"Is she seriously doing a shot?" Keith asked. "She is too, it's about time she had some fun."

Everyone stared as Melanie and Sarah did a shot with the sixth year girls. Without a word, Stan suddenly got up and walked over to them. He said something to them, and then turned back to us. Melanie and Sarah followed behind him and actually sat with us. I wasn't sure what to think of this. Melanie had screwed with us in the past, but she did seem different that year. She'd joined us for our study sessions. I wasn't going to say a word against her, but I wasn't fully sure if I could trust her. I hadn't forgotten our relationship or what she'd done to Ashley or how she'd tried to break Claire and me up.

"About time," Stan said. "We're all Hufflepuff's here! We should be celebrating together."

"You guys didn't want me around," Melanie slurred and I knew she was already drunk. I felt a little annoyance that she was putting the blame on us.

"Well you kind of did that to yourself," Hank said. "But we're willing to put that behind us if you are."

Melanie gave a small shrug and threw back another shot.

"You're going to be so hungover tomorrow," Ashley told her with a laugh. I watched as they actually clinked drinks together. Ashley always had been the forgiving type. I sighed and told myself that I had to let go of my resentment. If Ashley could do it, then I should try to, and I did want to have fun that night.

"Well there's a first time for everythin'" Melanie slurred. "I'm sorry Ashley, about Ben and Denver and everythin' and this time I mean it. I don't want people to hate me no more. I just want us all to get along."

I looked over at Ashley who gave a small shrug.

"It's fine Melanie, really," she said. "Just be careful with how much you drink. Believe me, I've been there."

I wondered if I was going to get an apology from her eventually. For the moment she seemed to be ignoring me, and I was fine with that. I wasn't sure if I was ready to forgive her but I didn't want to dwell on it either. So I just continued to do shots with the boys. After a while Jared nudged me and nodded at the boys dorms. I wasn't sure what he wanted, but I followed him and a few of the other boys.

"Why are we going to the bathroom?" I asked.

"Hopefully you're not gonna be goody goody about this," Jared slurred to me. "First time invitin you to do this. If it bothers you just leave. Please don't get all prefecty on us."

"Why?" I asked and I glanced at Michael who didn't look surprised.

He pulled out what looked like a cigarette but as I examined it, I knew exactly what it was. I'd actually always been curious about weed. I didn't believe in smoking it everyday like some people I knew who did, but I didn't see anything wrong with it at a party. I knew Jaime smoked it, and I had to wonder if Ashley did. It was something that had never been brought up between us. Brad, Hank and Stan had joined us and they were eyeing me wearily.

"First time for everything," I finally said. "Geez, did you all think I was going to put you in detention? I've always known you smoked this stuff. I'm surprised you are actually inviting me."

"You've lightened up a lot," Jared said as he lit the joint. He put it in his mouth and took a long drag of it before he handed it to me.

I knew Barry had smoked it a few times too. He didn't see anything wrong with weed. He just didn't want me to try the hardcore stuff. I placed it in my mouth and sucked in. I pulled it out as I started to choke. I handed it off to Michael and began drinking quickly.

"Definitely your first time," Jared said with a laugh.

We continued to pass it around until there was nothing left of it. I was starting to feel light headed after a while, and then everything seemed to be funny. I actually felt good and I understood why people did it.

"So what do you think?" Michael asked me as we all left the bathroom.

"I understand what the fuss is about," I told him. "I was never against weed you know."

"I know, but we never thought you'd smoke it," Michael told me.

"I've got to go find my girlfriend," I said and Jared laughed.

"Gonna shag her stoned are you? That's the best way to do it," he told me with a smirk. "Trust me, it's amazing."

I smiled back at him. A good shag was exactly what I had in mind, but I'd been thinking that since the end of our exams. It had nothing to with the effects of the weed. I just wanted to finally fuck my girlfriend. I hadn't been able to since the beginning of the exams. Jared gave me a wink as I went looking for Ashley. She was with the girls and still drinking.

"Come on," I whispered in her ear. "Lets go to the prefect bathroom."

She smiled at me. She knew exactly what I had on my mind. I wondered if she could tell that I was stoned. I knew I likely smelled like weed. I would tell her the truth if she asked, but as I gazed at her, I could tell she was too drunk to notice.

Fifth year ended and my friends were all happy that we'd have a summer off of homework. We spent the train ride talking excitedly. It started with just the four of us together, but people joined us as the ride went on. Melanie and Sarah even came in to sit with us for a little bit. Melanie ended up beside me and while everyone was into their conversations about summer, she gave me a poke in the shoulder. I turned to look at her.

"I've been meaning to apologize to you for a while," she said. "I wasn't sure if I could, but then Stan invited me to join all of you when we had the party after exams. I've been apologizing to everyone but I still haven't had the chance to talk to you and a couple of others. You and Ashley are the two people who truly do need an apology from me," and she let out a sigh. "I can admit that I acted psycho in second year Ben. I knew it even when I was doing that it was bad, but I let my emotions get ahead of me. It's just that I could see how much you wanted Ashley. I'm not trying not to make too many excuses, but I was thirteen, hormonal and you were my first boyfriend. I should never have been that way with you. I learned my lesson and I haven't been that way with my other boyfriends."

"Well I appreciate the apology," I told her. "What you did to Ashley was disgusting."

"I know," she said. "Even though I've hated her for years, I did feel bad about that. And then this year I started to really reflect on things even more. I feel embarrassed about everything and terrible as well. If it wasn't enough, I went after you and Claire too."

"Melanie, as long as you're done being a bitch than we are fine," I told her. "We all do stupid things when we were kids. Lord knows I did and so did Michael. I don't know if I trust you yet, but I'm willing to be friendly with you. I think it's big of you to apologize."

She smiled at me. "You and Ashley do make a cute couple you know. So how do you think you did on your OWLs? You probably got all O's didn't you?"

"I don't know about that, but I hope so," I said. "I don't think I did in Charms."

"I think I only got an A in Charms," she told me. "I don't get how Ashley is so good in them. She just seems to know the spell instantly."

The conversation between us was a good one for the rest of the train ride. I really didn't know if I could trust her, but if she was making an effort than I wouldn't say anything against it. I didn't want her to feel that she should try, and she would if people were rude to her about it. I believed all the Hufflepuff's felt this way. They were all being nice to her.

Michael managed to get me a job with him at The Leaky Cauldron. All we did was wash dishes, but it was good enough for me. I did want to make money myself. At first my parents didn't want us working down there, but Hannah had assured them personally that we would be fine. They were already distracted as it was because Tasha would be having the baby soon. She and Barry had moved back in temporarily until she had the baby. Barry didn't want her left alone and pregnant and he had long hours at work.

I couldn't wait for my little niece or nephew to arrive. I was going to try and spend as much time with the new baby as I could that summer as well. I could understand how Ashley felt when it came to Hayden now. I wanted the baby to know me and I worried with my time at Hogwarts that he or she wouldn't. As Rachel suspected, Hayden was magical and I kind of wondered about introducing him to my niece or nephew in a few years. It would be nice for him to know some magical kids. Perhaps the school would be open in time. They would be in the same year.

Everyday we would rush home to see if she'd gone into labour yet, or if our results had come in. I was anxious for both. Finally though, one Saturday morning our results finally arrived. We had the day off and we were just eating at the kitchen table when the owls flew in. Since no one really wrote to us using owls anymore, Michael and I both knew right away what they were. So did everyone else at the table.

No one said a word as we ripped into the envelopes. I pulled out my results and sighed with relief as I read through them. I'd gotten O's in most of my classes. In Charms, History of Magic and Arithmancy I got E's. I was disappointed about Arithmancy, I'd been hoping for an O in it. I thought I had done better than that on my exams.

"How did you do?" Mum asked.

"O's in everything except for History of Magic, Charms and Arithmancy," I told her with some disappointment.

"That's still amazing," Tasha told me. "I can't believe you're actually disappointed."

"I wanted an O in Arithmancy," I said.

"You did better than I did," Barry told me. "I mostly got E's."

"What about you Michael?" Mum asked.

"Mostly E's he told her. I got A's Arithmancy and History of Magic but I don't care about those classes anyway. I got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts," he answered happily. "I did a lot better than I thought I would."

"We all knew you'd get an O in Defense," Barry told him. "Congratulations mate."

"Thanks," Michael said happily.

"Later we can celebrate," dad said. "You can invite your friends if you want."

"I wonder how the girls did," Michael said.

"I'll find out," I said as I got up.

I headed out to the living room where I had left my message parchment. Barry followed me.

"Ben I just wanted to tell you that you need to relax," he said to me.

"Relax?" I asked as I unrolled my parchment. "What do you mean?"

"You're disappointed with your OWLs," he answered. "Look, I know you've always felt the need to prove yourself but you don't have to. You got ten OWLs and Exceeds Expectations is brilliant for Arithmancy. I only got an A in it. Brenda actually failed it. The only person I know of who actually got an O in it is Hermione Weasley. I'm sure others did as well, but it doesn't mean you're a failure."

"I know it doesn't," I said as I gazed down at my parchment to find some writing on it. "Oh you've got to be kidding me."

"What?"

"Ellen got mostly T's on her OWLs," I said to Barry, "and somehow it's my fault."

I re-read her message again and my anger grew even more.

Have you gotten your results back yet Ben? I did and I got T's! I failed most of my OWLs. I only got them in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology. This is all your fault you know.

"You know that Ellen gets emotional sometimes," Barry said to me. "I'm sure she knows it isn't your fault."

"I'd like to know how it's my fault. I spent all year trying to get her to study. I've been trying to get her to work harder since first year!" I said angrily. "Why is it always me that she does this to?"

Angrily I set my message parchment on the table and grabbed a quill. I wiped her message away and asked her exactly how it was my fault.

Because you are dating Ashley! It's me that you should be with and you should accept that already. It's because of you that I am in an emotional mess. You don't understand how hard it was for me to see you two together all year. I am just not okay with it because I know we are meant to be together, and you know it too! I've been waiting for you to see it, but you just won't. I know you don't want to hurt Ashley, but she is strong. She won't react the way she did in second year. I'm sure she even knows it's you and I that should be together. I've been patient all year. I've been waiting for the two of you to get it out of your systems but I can't take it anymore. I want you to break it off with her. We'll both stay single for a little bit just to give her some time. We owe her that at least. She'll understand after a few months. I know we can't jump right into a relationship. So I think maybe we can wait until at least October or November. I've been understanding mostly for her sake all this time, but my patience is running thin. I told her to go for you because you'd rejected me but I knew soon enough that you'd come to your senses. That time is now Ben. Do Ashley a favour and break up with her. You don't want her to be too hurt when we finally get together.

"That stupid fucking bitch!" I yelled as I stared down at her response.

It had been a long time since I'd lost my temper enough to lose control of my magic, but it happened right at that moment. Mum had a bunch of figurines in the living room. Back in the day there used to be protective charms on them, but she'd taken them off years ago. One by one each exploded. It wasn't only the figurines, but some other glass ornaments as well. The table top was made of glass and it shattered as well.

Barry stared at me in shock but I continued to yell.

"She's actually blaming me for her failing because I am dating Ashley! She wants me to dump Ashley for her," I yelled at him.

I saw Barry waving his hands at the doorway and I looked up to see Mum and dad backing out again. They had likely come in to see what all the noise was about. Later I would feel bad for ruining mum's possessions but at the moment all I could think about was my anger. I continued to yell with fury to the point that I was insulting her with any name I could come up with. Barry grabbed the parchment which had fallen on the floor when the table shattered. He read through it quickly before he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Benny, calm down. Losing your temper like this isn't going to help matters," he told me. "You need to relax and write back to her."

"Write back to her?" I asked. "I never want to talk to the bloody slag again. I am so sick and tired her and this bullshit Barry."

"You need to tell her that she must understand it will never happen between the two of you," Barry said and he pulled out his wand to repair the table. "I'll even write for you. Just sit down and take some deep breaths. What do you want me to say to her."

I sat down and I glared at him. "Tell her she's nothing but a dirty slag."

"Ben," Barry said.

"Tell her that nothing is ever going to happen between us, especially now. Tell her that even if Ashley and me did break up, I wouldn't go for her because I am tired of her trying to get with me. Tell her that this is the last time that she can tell me that if she wants to salvage our friendship and her friendship with Ashley at all. Tell her she'd better be truthful with Ashley about it this time too. She has the right to know," I said angrily.

Barry scribbled quickly on the message parchment and after a few moments, his message disappeared and a new one appeared.

"She's saying that you're a fool for not realizing it," Barry said. "I never really thought that Ellen was this delusional.

"Tell her I guess I am a fool then, but if she keeps it up then her and I are done as friends because I am fed up. I am not taking it anymore. I am sick of the staring and the subtle hints. She hasn't really said anything since Hogsmeade but she most certainly hints at it. This is going way too far. She's had time to get over it, and if she tries to wreck my friendship than we're done," I told him.

Barry began writing again and then he shook his head.

"She's begging you not to tell Ashley," he said to me.

"Tell her I won't, but she will and if I find out that she hasn't than I will," I said.

After a few minutes Barry handed me the parchment.

Fine I will tell her in my own way Ben. I guess I'll just leave you alone for now. I'll see you at the pool party.

"I don't want her at the pool party," I said and I quickly wrote back to her.

Ellen I think it's best if we just don't talk to each other at all for the rest of the summer. I don't want you there. I'll see you in September. Have a good summer, and remember what I said. Never bring it up again!

Fair enough Ben.

"She gave up quicker than I thought she would," I said.

"I used a few choice words," Barry said. "I've always liked her but I'm just as pissed as you are with her-" and he gazed around the room. "Well, perhaps I'm not as angry as you are."

I looked around the room as well and instantly felt guilt but I also felt scared as well. Would I get expelled from Hogwarts? I'd just used underaged magic, even if it had been just my temper.

"I'm sure this can all be fixed," Barry told me and with a wave of his wand, I watched as the figurines repaired themselves. "I never thought you'd have an explosive temper like that."

"I didn't know I was capable of that anymore. I thought it was just little kids," I said.

"Even adult wizards can do that," Barry told me and he clapped me on the shoulder. "We all lose our tempers at times, and I can fully understand why you did."

Moments later, mum entered the room.

"Is it safe to enter yet?" She asked.

"I'm sorry I blew up your figurines," I told her.

"Oh it's okay dear, it's not the first time they've been blown up. It's why I used to put charms on them. I'm sure you had a reason to lose your temper," she told me as she walked over to sit beside me. She gave me a hug. "What happened dear?"

"Ellen!" I said furiously and I explained everything to her.

"Oh dear," she said. "Well perhaps you're right. A summer away from her may be good for the both of you. She'll understand eventually. I don't know if the magic registered or not, but your father went to the Ministry to explain anyway."

"Well why wouldn't it?" I asked her. "I'm underage."

"There are so many adult wizards around, so they might not know who did it. They'd only know if you did it if we weren't around, or if muggles were around," mum said to me. "Now I am going to make you a cup of tea. Why don't you sit back and relax. Maybe you can invite Ashley over later. We'll have a nice dinner maybe."

I nodded and I glanced down at my parchment. There were no more messages on it, so Ellen must have given up on it.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Barry asked me with a smile. "Do I need to put a cheering charm on you? I can whip you up a calming solution."

"I'm fine," I told him. "I'm just going to write to Ashley."

Barry nodded and left the room.

I wrote down Ashley's number and quickly told her how I did. I was so tempted to tell her about Ellen, but I decided for now to leave it. Ellen could tell Ashley. As angry as I was with her, I knew how Ashley felt about her. I didn't want to be the one to put a wedge in their friendship. As long as Ellen was honest enough with her, I was fine with whatever it was that she told her. For now I just wanted to be in a good mood. I wasn't going to think about it unless I had to.

It was about fifteen minutes before I got response back from her. She'd gotten mostly E's in her classes as well. She only failed one which was Arithmancy. She got A's in Astronomy and History of Magic and of course an O in Charms. I felt proud of her. I knew she'd do well, and I knew she was planning on keeping any classes she got an OWL in. With Astronomy and History of Magic all she needed to do was get an A and the teachers would let her stay. I think Professor Binns would let someone with a T continue.

I smiled as I wrote back to her.

Good for you, you did really well. Has Ellen told you her results yet? Don't worry about Arithmancy. It's better if you don't continue with it anyway. You should be proud that you did take it in the first place.

Ellen hasn't written to me. I'm actually relieved that I won't be taking it again, but I do feel as if I wasted my time with it. What about Michael? Did he get his results yet?

Michael did really well. He got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts of course, and E's in the rest of the classes except for History of Magic and Arithmancy. He got A's in those classes. I honestly don't believe it was a waste of time. You put an effort in the class, and that's better then what a lot of people can say. I believe you could have done better if you hadn't been so nervous about it. You only just failed it. At least you didn't get a T like some people.

Why who got a T in it?

I'm not sure if anyone got a T in Arithmancy but Ellen did get T's in some of her classes. I'm surprised she hasn't told you yet. According to her, it's all my fault that she failed. She told me I should have looked out for her better.

Ellen got T's? How is it your fault? Any time you tried to get her to do any of her school work, she got angry with you.

It's almost first year all over again. I'm sure she'll get over it. She knows it's her own fault. I'm just surprised. I thought she would fail, but I wasn't expecting a T. She is a smart girl. I thought she'd at least get P's and A's. I thought maybe at least one D, but definitely not any T's. She got an O in Herbology though.

I can't believe she let herself fail. I know she hates to study, but she knew how important these exams were. So many OWLs did she get?

I'll let her tell you. Anyway, when are you coming over to visit? You said you'd come over more this year. I miss you already.

I could probably come over later. I'll check with mum, but I don't think she'll mind. She said I can go over to yours or Ellen's place any time I want this summer as long as it doesn't interfere with my baby-sitting.

Well let me know if you can come then. We'll be swimming in the pool.

Talk to you later.

I hadn't planned to tell Ashley about Ellen, but I couldn't help myself. I didn't tell her what else she'd said but I didn't see a problem with sharing her grades. I actually felt good telling Ashley that Ellen had failed. I'd come close to telling her why she blamed me, but I'd promised I wouldn't. I didn't actually know if she got an O in Herbology but I figured it was a safe assumption that she had. She'd been convinced after our exam that she had.

I rolled up the parchment and got up. I still felt embarrassed about what had happened. I was going to have to ask my family not to mention it around Ashley. I didn't want her to know that anything was off. I was going to talk to Michael about it as well. I just wanted us to have a fun night together. I hadn't seen her since the end of the school year, and I didn't want anything to ruin it.

I found Michael up in my room.

"Let's go swimming mate," I said to him.

"What happened?" He asked me. "We heard you flipping out and then there was some explosions. We looked in and you're face was so red. You shattered the table! I didn't know people our age could cause explosions like that."

"I don't want to talk about it," I told him. "I don't want Ashley knowing either."

"It's something about Ellen isn't it?" Michael asked me.

"She blamed me for her grades and she said some other nonsense. Ashley knows about that, but I don't want her knowing about what happened today," I said. "I just want us to have a good night. There's no need to bring any negativity to it."

"Well I plan to go to Jared's later anyway," Michael said. "So you two will have the night to yourself again. Why does Ellen think it's your fault?"

"Why does she blame me for anything Michael?" I asked. "She's always been a bitch when it comes to me. Come on, let's just go swimming until you leave. No more talk about Ellen."

"Fine, I just wanted to know what happened," Michael said to me. "I've never seen you that angry before. Barry seemed worried because Tasha is about to have the baby anytime. Underage magic can't hurt the baby can it?"

"I don't think so," I said with a shrug as I headed to my dresser to find my swimming trunks. "I don't know much about pregnant women and magic to be honest with you. I think it's just the stress he's worried about. Tasha loves me, and I know it would bother her to see me that upset. I heard Barry reassuring her when I came up."

"She was worried," Michael told me. "We could all tell something was going on with you. Why would you get that angry about her blaming you? Maybe something is going on at home again. She did that to you after first year too."

"This time was worse than first year," I said to him. "There was more to it than the grades. Michael, I really don't want to talk about it. I just want to have a good summer. I want to have a good night with Ashley, and I don't want to be in a bad mood when she comes over. Can we please just drop it?"

"Fine, I just hate being left out every time," Michael said.

"You're not being left out of anything," I said. "This is between Ellen and me. Ashley isn't even getting involved with it."

And without another word, I went into my bathroom to change.

When Ashley arrived later on, I was in a much better mood than I had been. Michael, Barry and I had gone swimming for a while. Michael ended up leaving around lunch time and then Barry and I went up to my room to talk for a little bit. He was on edge because Tasha was about to go at any time, but I could also tell he was concerned about me. Another message had appeared from Ellen, but I'd ignored it.

Thanks for telling Ashley about my grades. I wanted to be the one to tell her and Michael. I guess you can't keep your mouth shut though. I hope you didn't tell her anything else. I plan to go to her place to talk to her about it. I know she's going to your place tonight, so even though you're angry with me, the least you could do is keep it to yourself. You are the one who led me on again

I didn't understand how I supposedly led her on. Perhaps I had in fourth year. I didn't know for sure if I had, but even to this day she insisted that I'd made her believe I wanted her. I couldn't think of what I'd done back then, but I'd give that one to her. She had been quite hurt when I rejected her. However, this time I didn't see it at all. She knew I was with Ashley and I'd told everyone that I loved Ashley. So how could I have possibly led her on?

"When someone is in love with someone, they look for signs," Barry told me. "She's likely still been hopeful about it, and she probably saw something because she wanted to. I highly doubt you did anything."

"She's just being crazy now," I told Barry. "I never thought I'd think of Ellen as psycho, but that's exactly how she is acting."

"I never thought she would be that way either," Barry said. "I thought she was one of the good ones. I never would have thought she was capable until I read that message from her."

A new message appeared on my parchment.

Ben, I am leaving now. I'll take the Knight Bus so I should be there soon.

"Can you go get Ashley?" I asked Barry as I read the message. "She said she's taking the Knight Bus, but I just want her here now. I think I'll forget all about Ellen once Ashley gets here."

"Sure. It's behind that school right?" Barry asked me.

"Yes," I said. "In the wooded lot by the school."

I quickly wrote to Ashley that Barry would meet her. He disapparated but I didn't get another message from her, so I was assuming she was walking to the school. They probably wouldn't be back here for at least ten or fifteen minutes. I pulled a practice Arithmancy sheet towards me to continue to work on. Professor Vector had handed them out to anyone who'd wanted them. They were to prepare us for the work we'd have to do in the sixth year. Michael had found it funny that I was working on it, but I knew NEWT level Arithmancy would be very advanced. I'd struggled with just the practice sheets.

"Ben, where is Barry?" Mum asked as she suddenly appeared in my doorway.

"He went to go get Ashley, why?" I asked.

"Tasha believes she is in labour, so we want to take her to St. Mungos," she answered. "Tell Barry to come downstairs as soon as they get here."

I felt excited about this. I could be an uncle that very day. I planned to spoil my little niece or nephew as much as I could. I already had a few presents for the baby. Tasha had her baby shower while we were in school, but I'd bought a few things down in Diagon Alley after work. I planned to give them to her when she and the baby came home from the hospital.

About five minutes later, there was a loud pop and Ashley and Barry appeared. I got up instantly. I'd missed her over the last couple of weeks, but the moment I saw her, I realized just how much I did miss her.

"Hey hon," I said when I reached her. I kissed her cheek before turning to Barry. "Tasha thinks she might be in labour."

Barry walked out of the room, but he moved so fast that he could have apparated. I smiled at Ashley and then pulled her back over to my desk. I sat down and pulled her down on my lap. The moment I had her in my arms, I could forget all drama related to Ellen.

"So what have you been up to?" I asked her.

"Same as usual," she answered. "I'm just baby-sitting. I kind of miss baby-sitting Louie and Dwayne though. The other kids are well behaved but I've been baby-sitting those two for years. Louie has a bit of an attitude now though, so I am glad I don't have to deal with that."

It was actually hard for me to imagine that Dwayne was old enough to baby-sit now. I knew the previous summer she had let him be her helper when it came to baby-sitting all the kids she had to look after. It was just hard for me not to imagine him as eight, but he was going to be thirteen in December. It was odd for me to think of him as a teenager, just as I couldn't believe that little Timmy was starting Hogwarts that year. I could understand why some people had a hard time believing that I was older. I was feeling the same way about Dwayne and Timmy.

I glanced at Ashley to see that she looking at my Arithmancy practice sheets. She looked over at me with amusement.

"We don't even have any homework this year," she said.

"Professor Vector did hand out practice sheets for what we'd be working on in sixth year," I told her. "I'm just preparing myself."

She looked over at my sheet again and shook her head.

"I am so glad I am not taking it next year," she said. "Don't tell me that this is what you've been working on all summer."

"Of course not," I grinned at her. It was so typical of my friends to think that. Even Michael thought I was insane. "I've just worked on it in my free time. I decided to look over it while I was waiting for you to come. I think it looks exciting."

"You would," she said. "Where's Michael?"

"Jared's for the night," I told her and kissed her. "I wanted a night for just the two of us."

Of course that was Michael's idea, but she didn't have to know that. I doubted she even cared whose idea it had been. I knew she was just glad that we were spending time together. Every night we would tell each other about our days, and how much we missed each other.

"We really do need to get together more over the summer," she said now. "There really isn't a reason why we shouldn't. Our parents let us come and go when we want now."

"Yeah I know," I said even though this wasn't entire true. Mum still got a little overprotective, but that was only when it came to Diagon Alley. She didn't care if I went, but she never wanted me there by myself. If I had to go, I needed at least a friend with me. I knew Denver still hung out down there. As I thought about Denver, I remembered the year before when she'd followed Ashley and Denver everywhere. "Is your mum going to follow us around everywhere if I visit?" I asked.

She shook my head. "I don't know if she'll let us share a room, but she has eased up a lot since last summer. She's also thrilled that it's you I am dating. She has always liked Denver, but as I said she's like everyone else who says they always knew we'd end up together."

Dad suddenly appeared in my doorway. He smiled at Ashley before saying:

"Barry has taken Tasha to St. Mungos and we're on our way. You two are on your own for the day unless you want to come wait with us."

"There isn't much we can do there but sit in the waiting room," I said. "We'll just wait here. We'll come visit when she has the baby."

I also knew that we'd basically have the house to ourselves as well. Brenda was around, but she only ever stayed in her room. She never came out, and she most certainly wouldn't bother Ashley and me. I didn't understand how she could live that kind of life. When I was her age, there was no way I would still be living at home. She was twenty-one years old now, and I expected to be married with my career going. Perhaps we'd have our first child by that point. I knew she just wanted to stay home until she got her trust fund though.

"That's what I thought," dad said. "Babies can take a while; she may be in labour for a while. I have my message parchment," he added as he tapped his pocket. "So I'll let you know what is going on."

"I'm actually looking forward to being an uncle. I know I won't see much of my niece or nephew for the next couple of years, but the baby won't remember much of me anyway. Once I'm out of school he or she will be older," I said to Ashley once dad had left.

"That's what I keep saying about Hayden," Ashley said. "I feel guilty that I'll be at Hogwarts for the first few years of his life, but he won't remember much now anyway. Besides, I'll be able to baby-sit in the summers."

"Until we're done anyway," I reminded her. "You only really have one summer left after this one. Then you'll be working."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that," Ashley said.

I had to wonder what that was about. She seemed a little nervous about whatever it was that she had to say to me.

"I want to travel around a bit after we're done school, kind of like Breanne is doing. It doesn't have to be a year, but I would like to do a bit. I was thinking I would baby-sit for the summer again to earn some money and then leave in September and visit Canada. My mum has some relatives there. From there, I am not sure where I want to go but I'd like to go visit somewhere warm in the winter for a bit. I was kind of thinking about coming back in the spring and seeing what I can do to start my career," she told me.

That actually wasn't a bad idea at all, and I had to wonder why it made her nervous to bring it up with me. Did she really think that I wouldn't want to go with her for it? Perhaps she believed that I would hold her back from her travels. I saw absolutely nothing wrong with going. I remembered how jealous that I had felt when Barry and Tasha had gone to Cuba. I loved Hogwarts, but I couldn't wait until we were done so that I could do what I wanted. The idea of just going off on a trip when I wanted sounded great. Healer training could wait, because I knew that once I became a Healer, I wouldn't have much time.

"That's not a bad idea at all," I told Ashley and she looked shocked. I smiled at her. "Did you think I wouldn't want to go along with it?"

She nodded. "I thought for sure you'd want to start your training as soon we were done. I know it takes years."

"It does take years," I answered. I remembered how Professor Sprout had told me that I wouldn't have time once I was accepted. So once we were done Hogwarts would be the time to do it. After seven years of studying, and especially after having to go through fifth to seventh year we would need a break. At times I felt overwhelmed with the fact that I still had four years after Hogwarts to go, and it would be more complicated than anything I learned at Hogwarts. "That's why we should. A lot of people travel after Hogwarts before they get into their careers. Healer training will always be there, but we might not always have the opportunity to travel for as long as we want to. I know we can always take trips when we have holidays, but it's not the same."

"Do you think Ellen and Michael would want to go to?" Ashley asked me.

The last thing I was I wanted to do was go anywhere with Ellen. I was sure if she knew the truth, she wouldn't want Ellen to go with us either. I was so tempted to tell her, but I didn't want our night ruined. It had been two weeks since we'd seen each other. I also knew how much Ellen meant to Ashley. So I was going to trust that Ellen would talk to her about it. So I just shrugged.

"They might want to, I'm not sure." I answered her. " We can ask them later, but I know for that is what I want to do. What do you say we go out to Diagon Alley for a date? We're not going to hear from dad for a while. We'll have to take the Knight Bus though. I can't wait until I can apparate."

"We'll be able to this time next year," Ashley said happily and got up.

"I know," I said. That year we would finally learn how to apparate and we'd be of age in September.

It ended up being a good time in Diagon Alley for the most part. We ended up buying our school supplies while we were there. We didn't have our book lists yet, but I'd had three siblings who'd been in sixth year already. I'd always been there when they had bought their books, and I knew what I was keeping, and what Ashley was keeping. I managed to convince her not to keep Divination. I didn't think she should keep History of Magic or Astronomy either, but I could handle it if she at least dropped Divination.

After a while we ended up in the joke shop where Ashley mentioned the 'what if' potions. I'd never had the chance to use them, but I did plan to. They seemed kind of neat. Ashley explained to me what she'd seen when she'd used them. Apparently she'd wanted to see what it would have been like if she hadn't gone to Hogwarts, and what she'd seen had kind of disturbed her. She'd been unhappy in her secondary school and had very few friends. I really wasn't surprised. I remembered how she'd been in first year, and I'd met the people in her town.

"I don't know how they work exactly," I told her. "I think some of it might be accurate because the Weasley's are really good at this stuff, but I don't think those girls are real. I think you know that you'd have some friends. We also both know that unfortunately you probably wouldn't have had an easy time in school. I think that part was accurate, and you used to exaggerate things all the time you know. You also have lied about things."

"I'm not as bad as I used to be, but it did show that my room was messy. When I was younger I was a slob. That part was accurate and my mum was also kind of bitter," she continued. "I was going to use another one to see what would have happened if we hadn't got together."

"Ashley, I think we would have ended up together either way," I said to her as I grabbed some of the potions. I was curious about a few things myself, and I wanted more of the potions. I did truly believe we would have ended up together either way. She had always been closer to me than Michael or Ellen. It had always been her who I put first. "Even if we hadn't last year, I think we would have in time. We've always been very close."

"Except maybe our first year, we didn't get along then," she said to me.

I didn't think that was really the case. Even though I hadn't been the nicest to her about certain things, I'd always put her first anyway. When it had come to school work, I'd done what I could to help her out. Sure I'd definitely been a prat to her, but that was it. I wouldn't say we hadn't gotten along.

"I was a prat in our first year though," I said to her with a shrug.

"I didn't help matters," Ashley said with a grin. "I can't believe you all put up with it. Remember when you finally told me off for it?"

I laughed as I thought back to that day. She'd gotten up and left and hadn't said a word to me in days. We'd both been stubborn back then. It had been something that she's needed to hear, and I had felt I shouldn't have had to apologize but I did anyway. "And you didn't speak to me for days. You only spoke to me again when I told you that I didn't want you angry with me on my birthday."

"And then New Years," she added.

"And Valentines Day. I guess your romance with Denver wouldn't have started if I had just taken you," I said as I laughed. She'd only gone with Denver to annoy me.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said. "I can't believe how long ago it seems. I've always wondered though, how did it change for you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked with confusion.

"Well think about how complicated our friendship was in our first year. You told me in second year that you felt closer to me then you did Ellen and Michael. So how did it change?" She asked.

I'd felt that we'd had this conversation before, but maybe I hadn't explained myself well enough to her. I knew Michael and Ellen had asked this as well. Ellen had pretty much been heartbroken when she found out that I was closer to Ashley than her. She'd brought it up back in second year. I hadn't really understood why she'd been so upset about it back then, but now I knew.

I tried to remember my conversation with Ashley. I remembered I told her that I'd talked to Brianne and Barry, so I figured I'd start there.

"I told you about how I talked to Breanne and Barry over our Easter holidays that year right?" I asked her and she nodded. "Well it was then that I realized just how rude I'd been to you. I think I've told you that before, so I wanted to do everything I could to make it up to you. So I did my best but it wasn't just that. It was Michael and Ellen as well. Remember how moody they'd been? You and I seemed to share a mutual bond then because of it, and I guess all that brought us closer. It was around then when I started feeling closer to you and it hasn't changed. I honestly think there has always been something between us, but we were so young then that we didn't realize it. It's why we did have a complicated friendship at first."

"There was a time in our third and fourth year when I was sure you'd end up with Ellen," she said to me."I saw the way you two were with Quidditch."

I thought back to what Ellen had said about Quidditch and how I'd lead her on. Perhaps I truly had if even Ashley had seen it. I knew even if something had happened, it wouldn't have lasted. We would have fought too much, especially during fifth year with OWLs.

"It wouldn't have lasted," I assured her. "Even if we had ended up together, it just could not have worked between us," I said and then I thought back to the Christmas holidays. A few days after Christmas, I had seriously considered trying one of the potions to see what would have happened if Ellen and me had ended up together. I still wondered at times. I decided to admit this to her. "You know I did consider trying the potion to see what would have happened, but I felt like it was betraying you somehow."

Ashley gave a small shrug and then smiled at me.

"I considered trying the potion to see if Denver and I would have lasted if I hadn't fallen for you," she admitted. "But I felt the same way."

I smiled back at her. "It wouldn't have lasted."

"Well I'm glad it didn't but I feel guilty sometimes you know. I'm really hoping he meets a girl this year," she said.

We filled up our baskets with the last of our stuff. We didn't say much more to each other, but I was sure she was deep in thought about the conversation we'd just had. My mind was on Ellen. Ashley had bought her and Michael the potions as well. I'd overheard Ellen telling Michael that she'd tried the potion with different scenarios when it came to her and me. None of it worked out for us. If we'd dated in any of the potions, it hadn't lasted for very long. She'd told him that should have told her that we weren't meant to be. So I didn't understand why she was still going on about it. Was it because she just wanted those few months with me?

As we left the shop, Ashley looked at me.

"It's great that we can talk about this without any jealousy," Ashley said to me. "We were talking about those potions with significant people and neither of us got upset."

I gave a small shrug as she brought me out of my thoughts.

"It just shows it's a good relationship. You should be able to trust the person you're with. That's how I knew that Ellen and Stan would never last. Those two were so jealous, especially Stan. He never admitted it, but you could tell he hated it when she hung out with Michael and me, especially Michael," I said to her.

"Michael and Anne got jealous a lot, but I thought they were a good couple," she said. "Where to next?"

"I guess we might as well head back to my place," I said as I noticed that it was slowly getting dark now. I knew labour could take a long time, and I just wanted to relax with her for the night. "We'll just have to wait to hear news there. Anne and Michael wouldn't have lasted," I added, "and I know he wants her back but it just won't work."

"How did you get so knowledgeable about relationships?" she asked. "You kind of remind me of the Andrew twins."

"It's because of the twins that I know so much," I answered "I don't know how those two know so much but they're rarely wrong."

I really didn't know much about relationships but thanks to Barry and the twins, I did know that much. Anyone could tell that Michael and Anne would not last. They were just too off and on. Couples that broke up and got back together that much rarely went anywhere. Eventually they realized that it wasn't meant to be and they moved on.

We headed to the Leaky Cauldron where we would catch the Knight Bus. I preferred just taking the floo network, but my parents didn't want me taking it for some reason. They seemed to believe it couldn't be trusted and I didn't understand why. How could the bus be safer? Dad believed that something could be going on at the Ministry again. So we had to take his word for it. I hated the stupid bus however. I hated getting thrown back every time it stopped.

I noticed Ashley staring at a bar that had opened not too long ago. The Leaky Cauldron wasn't the only bar in Diagon Alley. There were other ones that were geared towards the younger crowds. The Dragons Breath was mainly for people under the age of thirty. Barry and Brianne had been there enough times to know this. I couldn't wait until I was seventeen so I could go there as well.

The line up outside the bar proved this. Everyone there was young. The girls were all wearing revealing clothes. I didn't know how one of the girls dress could even count as a dress. As much as I liked seeing Ashley show skin, I hoped that she would never wear a dress like that. If she had to, I wanted it to be indoors and for my eyes only. It wasn't just that I'd be jealous (and I know I would be, I would hate to see guys looking at her) but I just hated when girls wore those revealing clothes. It just wasn't classy. It was another reason why I would never be able to date Ellen. She loved wearing the most revealing clothes that she could find.

"Barry said it's always so crowded in there that you can barely move," I said to her as she slowed down a bit while she stared.

"I wouldn't mind checking it out when I'm seventeen," she said.

"We will. Next summer we can take Ellen there for her birthday," I said even though I wasn't sure what the next year would bring. Would we even be friends a year from now? "I'm sure she'd like that."

"Maybe we can get some of the other Hufflepuff's to come as well," she said brightly.

Ahead of us I saw two people I had not wanted to encounter that day. Don Zent and Xavier Opress were walking towards us. They wore identical smirks. I hoped they would just ignore us.

"I'm sure we could," I said distractedly.

As they walked past as Don slammed hard into me. Instant anger went through me. All the anger that I'd had from the morning fueled up inside up me as well. I couldn't take it out on Ellen, but I could take it out on Don. Hexing him into oblivion would help with some of the frustration and tension what I was feeling at the moment. So I grabbed my wand and dropped my bags on the ground. I was prepared to fight. There were too many overage wizards around, no one would be able to detect it back to me. I knew now that was why they hadn't detected my underage magic when I'd lost my temper earlier. I was glad mum had explained that to me, now I knew I could get away with it.

Ashley stopped me however. She grabbed my arm but I wasn't going to let her stop me.

"You're still sixteen," she said. "It's not worth it."

I tried to pull out of her grip. I still had too much built up anger at the moment. I didn't want to just blow things up from uncontrolled magic again. I wanted to do the actual magic this time. Ashley wasn't going to let it happen however, she held onto me tighter and then managed to actually get my wand from me. She didn't seem to understand that it didn't matter if I cast a hex or not. No one would know who did it.

"Ben come on, let's just go back to your place," she said as she dropped her shopping bags as well.

Don and Xavier smirked at me and then turned away. I felt fury with Ashley now. I didn't understand why she would stop me. The two of them needed a good hex, especially after what had happened last Christmas. I didn't get why she didn't want to hex them as well. We had the best opportunity to do it now. We didn't have teachers around to stop us, and the Ministry wouldn't know. I didn't say a word to her though. I just grabbed my bags and turned to walk off. I had so much pent up anger, and I had no one to actually take it out on.

We didn't talk as we went through the wall to the Leaky Cauldron, or as we walked through the pub. It wasn't until we were back outside where I turned to her. She still had my wand, so I grabbed it from her and glared at her again. She stared at me defiantly.

"You should have let me hex him," I told her angrily.

"Ben you told me we need to lay low. That's not laying low. Don knew exactly what he was doing by hitting you. He was probably hoping for a fight," she said. "And you know I am right, so there is no sense in getting angry with me about it."

I didn't say a word to her. In a way I knew she was right. Don and Xavier were hoping that we'd have a fight right there and then. I knew that was the main reason she had stopped me. The Ministry might not have been able to detect the magic, but they'd find out who did it anyway. There were many people in Diagon Alley who would have witnessed it. I was sure there were people who would know who we all were, and word would get out about the fight. All four of us were sixteen and we could get in a lot of trouble for fighting. At the moment I was too angry to really realize that she'd done the right thing however.

When we got back to my place, it was as if she understood that I needed to release some tension. The moment we entered my room, she began to kiss me. I wasn't in the mood at first, but as she pushed me down on my bed, and then straddled me all the while she continued to kiss me, I couldn't help but give in. Sex with my girlfriend was another way to release that anger, and it was more fun. I felt myself relax as she pulled my shirt off.

The next day we went to St. Mungos to meet my new niece. Tasha had given birth to her late the previous night. Ashley and I had been listening to a Quidditch game when dad had sent me the message. By that point I'd felt content and I'd realized just how stupid it would have been to attack those idiots. I added that incident to my growing resentment for Ellen. I knew really couldn't blame her for my actions, but I knew that I wouldn't have been so angry if it hadn't been for her. I likely would have just walked away.

For the remainder of the night however, Ashley kept me calmed down and then the birth of my new niece made me forget everything. I couldn't stop smiling as I thought about meeting her for the first time. They'd named her Minnie (for Minerva McGonagall) Allison Hoofer. I was a bit surprised that they had named her after McGonagall. I did know Barry had a lot of respect for her and but I didn't know it was enough that he'd name his first born after her.

The moment I laid eyes on her, it was instant love and I had to wonder how I'd feel when I finally met my own child. I held her in my arms and gazed down at her. She already had a tuft of black hair. I was sure she would look a lot like her mother when she was older. I thought she had Barry's nose, and it was hard to tell with the eyes since they were blue. I knew that all newborns had blue eyes.

"Let Ashley hold her now," Barry told me after I'd held her for about five minutes.

"Oh no I couldn't," Ashley said quickly. "She is so small."

"We all know she's your future niece," Barry insisted and I gently handed Minnie over to Ashley. She seemed nervous which was a surprise. She'd been around little kids most of her life. I knew she had some cousins who were just babies. She'd told me that she'd met her new cousin Frank just recently. She also had Hayden who would be a year in September.

Ashley seemed stiff, but she held onto her for a few minutes before mum walked over to her. She seemed to notice how nervous Ashley was.

"She's so beautiful," Ashley said as mum took her from her. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Barry said with a grin. "You know someday we will probably be visiting the two of you in here."

"Let's not talk about that yet," mum said. "They need to finish school first and start their careers."

I wanted to tell Barry to shut up. I didn't want them to freak her out. I had to admit, I could see myself being here with her. I could imagine it being Ashley in that hospital bed instead of Tasha, and my family visiting us. It was our daughter that mum was holding. I just didn't want to share my thoughts with Ashley quite yet. I knew she loved me, and I knew she worried that we wouldn't be together because of our age, but springing a baby on her was another story. I just wanted my family to lay off the future stuff when she was around. It wasn't that I appreciated that they loved her, and they wanted her to be my wife but they needed to keep some of their comments to themselves.

"We should get going," I finally said as I grabbed Ashley's hand. "Ashley needs to get home soon, but I'll be back later."

"How long do you have to stay here?" Ashley asked Tasha.

"Just until tomorrow, and then I'll be staying at the house for a while," Tasha told her.

I was looking forward to that. When I wasn't working, I was planning on helping out Tasha and Barry when I could. I knew mum was planning the same thing. Minnie was the first grandchild and I knew my parents planned to spoil her as much they could. I wondered how many grandchildren there would be when we finally had ours. I knew we wouldn't have a baby for a long time. We had to finish school first, and then get our careers started. Healer training took years, and we planned to travel a year. I figured it would be another nine or ten years before we finally had a kid.

I was deep in thought about this as we walked to the bus. I could see Ashley shooting me worried looks, and I hoped she wasn't too upset about what had gone on in there.

"Are you going to come by my house later in the week?" She asked as we boarded the bus interrupting my thoughts.

"Likely. I'll let Ellen visit with you for a bit and then I'll come by. I want to help out here with the baby," I told her trying to push away the thoughts of us having our own child someday.

"Is everything okay?" She asked me and she looked worried.

"I'm fine," I told her and she raised an eyebrow. She knew me too well. She knew I was deep in thought about something, but I didn't want to tell her the truth quite yet. "Really, I am fine," I assured her. "It's just so much has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Yesterday Minnie wasn't here and now she is. I've just realized something, that's all."

"Realized what?" She pressed on.

"Just certain things," I told her and I hoped that would be enough. "It's nothing for you to worry about, don't worry. You just enjoy your girl time with Ellen, and I'll see you soon."

I leaned over to give her a kiss. I was worried that she was scared about our relationship. I blamed it on Barry and I was going to have to have a word with him later. She seemed freaked out or she was worried that I was freaked out. As I tried to kiss her however, the bus let out a loud bang and we were thrown backwards.

"Just a couple more months until we're seventeen," I muttered as we got up and set our chairs back up.

"But even then we won't be able to apparate," she said.

"I know, but it's still a step closer," I said.

The bus stopped behind the school next and I leaned over to kiss her again. I knew it was safe this time since it was parked.

"I'll see you soon," I told her. "I love you. I'll write to you later tonight."

"I love you too," she said and she kissed me back.

She got up and I watched as she walked down the aisle and then off the bus. I wanted to wave at her from the bus, but I didn't get the chance. The bus let out a loud bang and we were gone. I let out a sigh as I was thrown back again. I was going to have to have a talk with my parents about this. I didn't want to keep taking the Knight Bus when I was just going home. The floo network couldn't be tampered with yet. They were just paranoid because of everything that had gone on with You-Know-Who but I doubted the Ministry would let it get that far again. Harry Potter wouldn't let it get that far again.

When the bus dropped me off at home, it was to find that Michael was back already. He was sitting up in my room when I arrived.

"So how was your night?" Michael asked when I entered my room. "You seem to be in a better mood than you were yesterday when I left. Did she give you a good shag?"

I smiled as I thought about the fact that we'd had sex not once but two more times after the first time. I didn't give him an answer but he knew.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. "You're in a better mood now after all. Whenever you're in a bad mood I'm just going to tell Ashley to shag you."

"That's not the only reason I am happy," I said to him. "You haven't talked to Brenda or Brianne at all?"

"No I just got back about a half hour ago," Michael answered. "I don't even think Brenda is home. Her door is open and she isn't in her room."

"Tasha had the baby last night," I told him. "They had a little girl."

Michael's face lit up. "Can we go to St. Mungos to meet her?"

"Well I told Barry I'd help set up the crib before tomorrow," I told him. "But you're more than welcome to go over there to see her. They named her Minnie."

"Did you just come back from seeing her?" Michael asked now looking a little annoyed.

"Ashley and I went to the hospital before I took her home," I told him.

"Why didn't anyone tell me then?" He asked. "Why am I always the last one to find out?"

I shrugged. "I'm sorry, I figured dad had written to everyone, even you. I know Ellen knows because she wrote to me to tell me to congratulate Barry for her."

"I didn't get a message at all," Michael said with irritation. "But I am starting to get used to that. It seems even if I am part of this family, I get forgotten."

"Michael, I am sure they didn't mean to forget you," I said. "I was a bit busy last night with Ashley and everything. No one intentionally-"

"No one ever intentionally leaves me out, but they do anyway," Michael said.

"Well you can go meet her," I said to him feeling irritated myself.

I hated it when he got like this. I did have to wonder why dad felt the need to tell Ellen, but not Michael however it wasn't my fault. No one ever meant to leave him out, and I was sorry he felt that way but I hated when he got in these moods. I'd been in a good mood before he started with his depression. A new addition had been added to my family.

"I'll just go when you go later," Michael said. "I'll help you with Minnie's crib. Why didn't they already have this set up?"

"Well they have everything set up at their flat," I told him. "But they decided at the last minute to stay here for the rest of the summer. Barry is going to be at work, and Tasha wants some help with the baby. Mum is going to be home of course, and we'll be around. Brenda might help out as well."

"Is she at the hospital right now?" Michael asked and I shrugged.

"To be honest, I haven't seen her since breakfast yesterday. I don't know where she is. She wasn't there when Ashley and I went, but she might be there now. Brianne and Nick weren't there either, but Barry said they would be later," I told him.

"Well let's just go help set up the bedroom then," Michael said. "They're going to sleep in Barry's old room aren't they?"

"Obviously, where else would they sleep?" I asked.

"Why are you in such a mood?" Michael asked. "You were happy moments ago, and now you're in a bad mood."

"Because of you!" I said irritated. "You always act as if we leave you out on purpose but we don't. I don't know why dad told Ellen but not you."

"Wait? Your dad told Ellen?" Michael asked. "I thought your family was angry with her for what happened yesterday?"

"They are," I answered as I turned to leave my room. I knew where this was going and I wished I hadn't brought it up.

"That's what I mean," Michael said. "I know that no one ever leaves me out intentionally, but that does actually bother me more. I know you had things going on with Ashley last night, so I can't blame you too much. I just don't think you realize how much I feel left out sometimes. Your parents told me that I am part of this family now and yet I'm just hearing about Minnie. I'm sorry to put you in a mood, but it's bloody frustrating, especially now that I know Ellen knows. You aren't speaking to her, and yet she knows about Minnie before me. Your dad was even telling your mother that maybe you should drop your friendship with her for a while and-"

"Michael, I am sorry you're the last to know. Maybe you should take it up with dad then. I don't know what to tell you, but I don't see why you're working yourself up. The fact that my parents are your guardians should show you that they care about you," I said. "So can we just drop it?"

"Fine," Michael said. "But I do wish I could stop being left out all the time."

I saw him shoot me a glare as we walked down the hall, but he didn't say anything else on the topic and I was glad. We were going to have to stop leaving him out because I was tired of his complaining.

When I wasn't working that summer, I spent my time with Minnie. Michael spent a lot of time with her as well, but it seemed after a while that he was tired of being around a baby. I believed he was still annoyed with my parents and me as well. He didn't say anything else on the matter, not even to my dad but I could tell. I knew he didn't want a fight with anyone, so he kept his comments to himself.

On the fourth Ashley went to have her meeting with the Minister for Magic about her school. I was surprised and proud of her. In the past, I never would have believed that she'd show that kind of initiative. However, she seemed very serious about this school. I knew Hermione was a big part of it. If it hadn't been for her, Ashley wouldn't be having the meeting at all, but Ashley took the time to prepare. I knew she was nervous about it, so I wished her good luck.

Later that day when I was done work, I went home to see Minnie. Michael had that day off and he came downstairs where I was feeding her.

"Ashley's written to us on the parchments," he told me. "She just let us know what happened with the meeting. I figured I'd let you know you can back to her when you're done with Minnie. She was asking about you."

"She doesn't think I am ignoring her does she?" I asked.

"No," he told me. "She just asked if you had looked at your parchment. I think she knows you'd never ignore her for no reason. It sounds like her meeting went really well though."

"I'll check in a little bit," I said as I gazed down at Minnie.

"You're going to make a good father one of these days," Michael said. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd spend all your time with a baby."

"Why not?" I asked feeling a little insulted by this. I'd never been rude to the younger years the way he had. Even if I wasn't a prefect, I would still help them out if they asked. I was always good with the kids who Ashley baby-sat.

"It wasn't meant as an insult," Michael said as if realizing that I'd annoyed him. "You're good with kids, but you've never gone out of your way to spend time with them. You'll help them if you need to, but you've never been one to seek them out the way Ashley does. If you're this way with your niece, I just imagine you'll be an amazing father with your own."

"I just want her to know me," I said. "She's still quite small but I want my nieces and nephews to want to come to my place. With my aunts and uncles, they were always so stern and formal with us. I've never asked mum and dad to go to their places. Usually Sam came here when we were kids. If we went to visit our aunts or uncles, they invited us. I want Minnie to know me, and to want to visit. I want to be the kind of adults that my parents are. I always looked up to Barry, and I want his daughter to see me the same way. I know she isn't even a month old yet so she doesn't know me, but I just want to start early. I understand now how Ashley feels when it comes to Hayden."

"I'm sure they will," Michael told me. "I can actually picture you and Ashley being the same as your parents. I'd bet ten galleons that your house will be the party house for your kids."

"Maybe," I said as I looked down at Minnie again.

I had to wonder what kind of life she would have. She had her whole life ahead of her. In eleven years she would be getting ready to start her life at Hogwarts with Hayden. Would they be good friends? Would she turn out like Brenda? Would she have little brothers and sisters to look after? Would she even be magical? I hoped she would have a different childhood then we had. I was worried that the people who were trying to take over would succeed, and she would have to live in hiding too. I didn't want her, Hayden or our children to grow up in that kind of world. I wanted them to have a happy childhood.

"Speaking of Ashley," Michael said interrupting my thoughts. "I am going to her place now. I haven't seen her all summer, and I know her parents want to see me too. Her mum has written to ask if I am coming soon, and that they have my room set up for me. So I am going to go over today. I already talked to your parents about it. You should come too for a few days."

"I will," I said to him. "I know she wants me to spend some weekends there. I'll go over in a few days. I promised I'd help out around here though."

Michael grinned at me. "You're a changed man Hoofer. You'd rather spend time with a baby instead of getting shagged."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't think that will ever happen. Ashley and me have things figured out. You just worry about getting shagged yourself."

"Does that mean you're giving me permission to shag Ashley?" He asked with a wink.

I stared at him with some shock. I wasn't even annoyed even though I probably should have been. However, Jared still joked with her about that, but I knew nothing would happen from it. I should have gotten annoyed with Jared but I never did. Perhaps it was because I trusted them, and for Michael I was just surprised. I never thought he'd joke with me about her that way. He didn't like to even admit that he'd want to shag her let alone joke about it. I wasn't even sure what to say to that.

"You're a git," I finally said not knowing what else to say to him. "I can't believe you would even joke about that. Apparently I'm not the only one who has changed."

"I can't believe you didn't get angry over that," Michael said. "Sometimes you can be jealous when it comes to her."

"Well I know you don't mean it, and Jared jokes about it with her, and I'm fine with it," I said. "He did shag her, so if I don't get angry with him, I doubt I will with you."

Michael grinned. "I'm just going to go up and pack now. Let us know when you want to visit. We're all allowed to travel on our own now. I figured this summer would be when we'd all see each other more. I know the Knight Bus sucks, but I can live with it. Besides, Barry said he'd side-a-long us if we asked."

"I know, and Ashley and me promised each other the same thing," I said. "It's not just Minnie. I just think Ellen is going to go over there more, and I just don't want to see her. I'm giving Ashley the time to see her."

"But all you have to do is write to her. The days of owls are over," Michael said to me. "You'll know if Ellen is going to be there."

"I know," I said. "I plan to see her when I can. I probably will this weekend. We saw each other a few days ago you know. If we could see each other every day I'd be happy. With both of us working, Minnie and the fact that mum and dad want to see me often too, it's not possible. Also, as I said it's hard with Ellen as well."

"Well let us know when you plan to visit," Michael told me. "I just wish that whatever is going on with Ellen could end soon. It's a shame that all four of us can't hang out together."

"I don't want to talk to her," I said firmly.

"What are you going to do when school starts?" Michael asked. "The two of you can't avoid each other forever."

Michael seemed to sense that I was getting angry. Ellen was the last person I wanted to talk to or about. I knew he didn't know exactly what she did so of course he didn't understand. He just gave a small shrug.

"Look I am going to go pack," he finally said. "I don't feel like having an unnecessary argument. I'll talk to you later."

"Bring my message parchment when you come back down," I called after him as he left the room.

I didn't believe that Ellen had even told Ashley about what happened. Ashley was forgiving, but I knew she'd be angry about what she'd said to me. That wasn't something she'd just let go. I knew she would have brought it up to me by this point. Ellen just didn't want to fight with Ashley, and I was sure she was going to pretend our talk had never happened. So I was going to have to talk to tell Ashley about it soon enough. I was just worried about bringing it up as well. I had a feeling she'd be angry with me for not telling her sooner. I knew I was being a coward about it, but the last thing I wanted was a fight with my girlfriend. Perhaps Ellen and I had more in common than I realized.

When Michael left, I felt lonely without him being around. I was so used to his presence now and I found myself going over to Ashley's more than before. I always wrote first to make sure that Ellen wasn't around. I had to wonder why I wanted to hang out more after Michael left than before. I loved spending time with Ashley alone, so I couldn't explain it.

One evening, midway through August, I received a message from Ashley. I was busy working on some of my practice sheets when the message appeared.

I want you to be honest with me. When Ellen wrote you, did she tell that she was still in love with you? Did she tell you to break up with me for her?

I felt instant dread because I knew Ashley was angry. I had to wonder who it was who told her. I'd never told Michael everything but I had a feeling he knew a bit more than he let on. After all, my family had been at the door when I'd flipped out. Not only that, but Brenda had told me that Michael had tried listening in with an extendible ear, but she'd stopped him. I didn't think he really knew everything because he'd asked several times after that day what had happened. However, he might have told her something had happened that day. It had to either be him, or Ellen had finally confessed.

So I had to ask her who told her first.

Who told you about that? Ellen or Michael?

The message disappeared and new one appeared.

Does it matter? It was Michael, but it shouldn't matter because it should have been you who told me.

I knew in that instant that she was indeed angry with me. I just had to wonder how angry she was.

Just how angry with me are you? I wrote.

Not as angry I've calmed down. I'm sure you kept it from me to protect me or something like that. I'm angrier with Ellen.

I decided to needed to see her then. We needed to talk so she could get my side of the story about it. Michael probably hadn't explained well enough, and I just wanted her to forgive me. I didn't want her to be upset for hiding it. I knew I'd be angry if it were me, and I understood why she was upset. I'd known for a while that this day was going to happen. Now I had to smooth things over. I just hoped I could get Barry to take me there.

Then I am coming over. I'm going to see if Barry will apparate me there. Can you wait for me outside or meet me halfway?

Sure. What? Were you worried I was going to hurt you or something?

I laughed when that message appeared. I knew she would never hit me. I didn't know if it was a joke or if she was genuinely worried so I decided to try and joke back with her.

Well you can't hex me but I do rather like my nose.

My message disappeared.

I would never hit you.

As soon as I saw that message, I called for Barry. I believed he was just down the hall with Minnie but I wasn't sure. I hoped I wouldn't have to go looking for him. However, he appeared in my door way rather quickly. I had to wonder if he had been in the hallway.

"What's going on little brother? Minnie just fell asleep, and I'd rather she stay that way," he said to me.

I rolled my eyes at that. "That baby sleeps through everything," I said to him. "You knocked over that vase and she didn't even flinch when it crashed on the floor."

"Still, I can only be lucky for so long," Barry said to me. "So what's going on? You look a little worried."

I explained everything as quick as I could. Barry gave a small shrug.

"No problem. I don't get why she is just finding this out now. You should have told her right away," he said to me. "I don't know why you trusted Ellen would say anything. She can be a coward at times. Look at how long she let things go on with Michael."

"I'm not really any better," I said. "All four of us seem to have that problem."

"Well you should learn to communicate with each other better," he said. "You've been friends since first year. If you didn't end your friendship after that fight in your second year, I doubt you will now. You have too much history now. I guarantee you will make up with Ellen eventually even though I'm not sure that's wise."

"I know," I said. "So can we go over? I really want to talk to her."

"Are you going to stay the night?" Barry asked and I shook my head. "Then just let me know when you want me to come back."

I quickly turned to write to Ashley.

Barry is going to bring me over. I'll see you in a few minutes.

Okay, I am going downstairs.

Once I saw her message, I quickly pocketed my parchment.

"Can you let mum and dad know where I went," I asked as he took a hold of my arm.

"Sure, but I doubt they care. They told you that you don't need permission anymore. As long as you're home by twelve they'll be fine. Actually I doubt you even have a curfew anymore, I didn't when I was your age," he said.

"At sixteen you did because of you-know-who, but you're right, mum and dad told me I don't have to be home at a certain time. I just have to let them know where I am," I said.

"Technically I didn't as long as they knew I was somewhere safe," Barry told me. "I just wasn't allowed to take the Knight Bus."

And without another word, he turned on the spot. I hated when he didn't warn me that he was going to apparate. When our feet hit pavement I was coughing.

"Can't you at least warn me?" I asked him.

We were now in the woods by Ashley's old school.

"It doesn't change how it feels," he said. "Anyway, write to me when you're ready to come home."

And without another word, he disappeared. I shook my head and then began walking to Ashley's place. I had made this trip so many times so that even though it was dark out, I could still find my way to her place no problem. At this time of year, a lot of teenagers hung out at the school for some reason. I supposed it was because they smoked drugs or drank there. No one ever thought to check there, and it was likely why Ashley had chosen the spot for the Knight Bus or to apparate to. It was always so dark back there at this time of night. The school didn't even have any lights outside of it. I could barely make out the people that were sitting on the swings and talking.

"Want a toke mate!" Someone called out but I ignored them.

The voice actually sounded familiar and I had to wonder if it was one of the guys Michael hung out with sometimes. He had made friends with a group of teenagers and I knew he smoked and drank with them. Perhaps he was even with them at the moment. It was dark enough that he wouldn't recognise me from the distance. I continued on. I needed to talk to Ashley.

Once I left the school, I was out on the streets where they were brightly lit. From the distance, I could see Ashley and she was running towards me. I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. She could be running to me because she was happy to see me, or she was running because she was angry and she wanted to yell at me. As soon as we were close to each other, I called out:

"I hope you're not running to hit me!"

I thought I saw a smile appear on her face. She kept running however. Once she reached me, she threw her arms around me and smiled up at me.

"I don't think I'd ever hit you even if I were angry enough, I just don't understand why you didn't tell me," she told me.

"At first Ellen told me she'd tell you. She asked me not to say anything until she did, so I didn't. I wanted to so many times that night you came over, but I have to admit I had my own selfish reasons for not saying anything, it was the first time we'd seen each other in two weeks. I didn't want us to be in a bad mood while we finally had time to ourselves. Also Tasha went into labour with Minnie and it just didn't feel right. It wasn't something I could tell you on our message parchments," I explained.

She nodded.

"Understandable, Michael said you were flipping out about it though," she told me.

She pulled away from me and then took my hand to lead me to her place.

"I don't even know how he knew, I didn't tell him," I said but more to myself. I had my suspicions and I knew he had seen my flipping out. He must have heard more than I'd realized.

"Extendible ears," Ashley said as if to confirm this. "Brenda stopped him. He told me he got the gist of it though."

"So why did he tell you?" I had to ask. "It should have been me or Ellen."

I did have to wonder how that came up in conversation. Was he tired of the fighting between Ellen and me? I'd never told him not to tell her, so I couldn't be upset but perhaps I should have mentioned it to him. Perhaps he was trying to fish for information from Ashley. He did hate to be left out of things, and I knew he did want to know exactly what had happened that morning.

"We were talking about how there is tension between all of us again," Ashley told me. "Michael is worried that we will all fight again. I think he blurted again, kind of like that time when he told Stan that Ellen asked you out So why didn't you tell me when it seemed she hadn't? You should have known that she hadn't yet."

She sounded annoyed when she added the last bit, but not as furious as I originally thought she would be. She was right however. I'd known that Ellen hadn't told her the truth. I decided to be honest though. Barry had said we needed to communicate better with each other.

"I don't know," I admitted. "You're right that I should have. It's just she kept telling me she was eventually going to tell you. I can't really explain Ash. I guess I was scared after a while as well. I knew you were going to be angry with me for keeping it from you as time passed. I was a coward, and I kept hoping she'd say something because she told me she would. I knew this could potentially ruin your friendship with her. I know how much she means to you. She means a lot to me as well, but not enough that if it wrecked our relationship I could keep talking to her."

"I just can't believe she would do that," she said and I could tell by her tone that she was definitely angry now, but I knew the anger was for Ellen. "What exactly did she say to you? You told me she got upset about her grades."

I thought back to that day. I couldn't remember exactly everything but some things did still stand out for me. So I recounted it for her.

"She told me that she would have passed her OWLs if I would have just accepted that she and I were meant to be together. She said I shouldn't have been with you and that I should have focused all my time on her and helping her instead of you. She said that she's been waiting for me to see it, but I just haven't yet. She told me that I should just do you a favour and break up with you before I hurt you too bad when I realized how I felt about her. She said we could both be single for a while before we got together. She said you'd understand just as she'd understood but she was running out of patience," I said believing that was most of it.

I saw Ashley shaking her head with fury.

"I can't understand it. I just can't. Perhaps if in the future it didn't work out because we didn't get along and you two fell for each other, then maybe yes. This is something I don't understand though. I don't understand how she can go behind my back and tell you to dump me. Just how many times since Hogsmeade has she said something to you?"

"Too many," I answered although technically she hadn't said anything. However, she still stared at me and gave me the puppy dogs eyes. Her body language had shown that she still wanted me when we were alone. I could still see it at Quidditch practice. So even though she hadn't actually said the words. I was still counting those times. "She knows now though. I told her if she said something to me again then she and I were done. I felt bad when she first confessed to me about how she felt, and it was you I wanted. I even felt bad when I realized that you felt the same way. When we first got together I did worry about her quite a bit. I was pissed about Hogsmeade though. You and I were on our first date and she tried to ruin it. I felt bad when she went through her depression but I'm done now. I've run out of sympathy for her. You and I will be together a year in September. She's had a year to get over it. She's had more than that since it was in fourth year when she confessed how she felt. I can't deal with it for much longer."

I was starting to get upset again too at that moment. Just remembering that day still bothered me. I wondered if I should tell Ashley it was the reason why I'd wanted to fight Don and Xavier so bad that day. I decided against it though. Perhaps I'd bring it up some other time, but it seemed irrelevant for this conversation.

"She's going to hear it from me," Ashley said even angrier now. In the street lights I could see that her face was red. "I'm inviting her over, and I am telling her exactly how I feel. She lied to me. She told me she still had feelings for you, and she told me she wasn't okay with you and me being together but she was going to get over."

"I'm sure she felt that was her way of telling you," I said with a nod. It didn't surprise me that she'd leave out our conversation completely. She was trying to save herself a fight with Ashley and to move on from me. "I think that her way of moving on from me because she knows I won't tolerate it anymore. I told her as much," I added.

"She still needs to hear it from me," Ashley answered. "That explains why the two of you haven't wanted to be around each other lately. I felt bad when she confessed to me that she wasn't okay with us and I felt like a bad friend but what she did was worse, ten times worse. It's just as when she confessed to you how she felt. She was willing to break up with Stan for you just as she thought you should break up with me for her."

"Not going to happen," I told her quickly. "Ever since Minnie was born- well I've always loved you. You know that, but when Barry made those comments about you and me being there someday I could actually see it. It kind of scared me because we're still so young, you know? That's why I got so quiet. I could tell you were worried. I didn't want you to be freaked out, I know I was feeling freaked out."

"I felt the same way," she sighed. "I was scared that Barry's comment made you uncomfortable."

"It did, just in a different way," I explained. "I'm with you for as long as you want me to be."

"I guess we're stuck with each other then," she responded.

We were close to her house now. She stopped and turned to me. She stood on her tip toes to kiss me. I leaned down and our lips met. I didn't think I'd ever get bored of kissing her. It still felt like the first time each time we did it. I never wanted to stop. Even though I was only sixteen, I was ready to get an engagement ring for her. Minnie's birth had confirmed that for me. We didn't have to marry right away. We could wait years, but I just wanted to put a ring on her finger. I wanted us engaged because I knew she was the one for me and it didn't matter that we were still in school. I wasn't going to wait years like Barry had.

Someone let out a whistle that made us break apart. Michael was grinning at us from her fence.

"I can see you two made up," he said and then glanced at me."Are you staying a while?"

I gave a small shrug. I had my message parchment and Barry was right. "I don't see why not. I do wish you could have warned me though mate," I added to Michael but he just raised his eyebrows at me.

"Sorry mate," Michael said. "She did have the right to know though. I'm sorry I told her, but at the same time I'm not. I had to calm her down. She was pissed."

"I still am, but I am with Ellen," she said. "I'm going to tell her that though. Let's go inside."

We walked up the sidewalk and entered the front door. I could hear the television once we were inside so I assumed her parents were watching it. She led us upstairs to her room.

"Do you two want to be alone for ten minutes or so?" Michael joked.

"We'll need longer than that," I told him.

"Not with my parents downstairs," she said with a grin and a wink. "No, we'll just hang out for the night. "I don't want to talk about Ellen for the rest of the night. I just want us to have fun. I'll write to her tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," I said. "I'll be happy if we don't talk about her until we go back to school."

Ashley entered her room and turned on her radio before she sat down on her bed. I shut the door behind her and instead we discussed the pool party. It was a nice relaxing night, but I always felt relaxed when I was at her place. If it could just be the three of us in our group, I'd be fine with that at the moment.

The next day, I went to work and all day I was curious about how things would go between Ashley and Ellen. I planned to write her when I got home to find out how it went, so I checked my parchment as soon as I entered my room. One thing that I hated about the parchments was that you had to go through each message before you could write back to someone. You also had to read them in order from the last person who sent them, to the first person. They weren't the only ones who had written to me, the rest were messages from various Hogwarts students asking about my party, so I had to go through each of them. I wrote down each person's name until I got to a message from Ellen.

Thanks a lot for telling Ashley. I was planning to tell her everything, but I guess you wanted your revenge on me. I know you're angry with me Ben, but that was no reason to betray me. We've been friends for almost six years. I was your very first friend at Hogwarts, and yet you continue to put her first. If it hadn't been for me, you two would not be friends. You two would not be dating right now if it hadn't been for me. I'm the one who really put the group together, and all three of you seem to be betraying me.

I hated it when she threw the: 'we were friends first' in my face. I didn't understand how that was relevant. Sure we'd been friends since we'd met on the train, but that didn't mean anything. I didn't understand why that meant I should be more loyal to her, or why it meant we should be dating. I planned to write back to her, but I knew I still had some messages to get through. The next one was from Ashley who left a long message about how the fight had gone. After her message was just some random ones again. I was glad when I finally got through all of them. I decided to write Ellen first before I talked to Ashley.

Quit bringing up the fact that we were friends first. None of that even matters. The four of us have been friends since first year. We have friends outside of our group. I'm loyal to anyone who I am friends with. You aren't number one in my life just because we met on the train. I put Ashley first because she is my GIRLFRIEND. You know that she was also my BEST FRIEND before that. It wasn't because of when we met, but because of how I felt about her. It doesn't mean that I liked you any less. I just saw you as my friend Ellen.

I also did not betray you. You promised you would talk to her but I think you were just going to put it behind us. You gave her some bullshit story about how you're in love with me, but you were going to move on. You didn't bother to tell her about the rest of our conversation, and she had the right to know. She's supposed to be YOUR best friend. You were ready to betray your best friend to be with me, just as you were ready to dump Stan for me. You never stop Ellen. You don't care who you hurt as long as you can be with me, and that's why you are not a good friend or a good girlfriend. You have some growing up to do before you get in a relationship.

You are just disloyal bitch and I don't get how you were sorted into Hufflepuff. You talk about how Melanie should never have been sorted there, but I think the two of you are cut from the same cloth. Sometimes I think you would have been better off in Slytherin, and we should have had Claire instead of you. She fits into our house better than you do. I'd even take TARA over you. You once told me that the Ravenclaws are backstabbers, and if it weren't fact that you're stupid, I think you could have been sorted there. You'd get along well with girls such as Lydia, Tara and Natalie.

A lot of what I wrote to her was just to hurt her again. I did truly believe that she wasn't a Hufflepuff. I just wasn't sure which house she could belong in except Slytherin. It wasn't that I still believed the old stereotypes but Slytherins did look after themselves first before others. It's exactly what Ellen did. She didn't care if she hurt Stan or Ashley, all she cared about was getting me. She also was not a hard-worker either.

My message disappeared from the parchment so I knew she'd gotten it and that she must have been writing back.

Yeah right Ben. I know what you're doing. It's what you did that day in Hogsmeade but I don't believe it this time. You're pissed off at me, and maybe you have the right to be but I don't believe you'd take Tara over me. I also know that you don't think I am stupid. You've been telling me since first year that I am very smart. I guess you're not trying too hard to hurt me this time, it doesn't seem as if your heart is in it. I still think you're just denying how you feel about me. I get it. You don't want to hurt Ashley, and neither do I but it's you who said it yourself. Sometimes you have to follow your heart, and that's what I am doing and it's what you should do.

No, I did follow my heart Ellen. I am with Ashley, and I told you already to stop bringing it up. I guess it's another thing I will have tell Ashley since you won't. You're just a coward. By the way, it wasn't me who told Ashley, but Michael. He knew how angry I'd been and he felt she had the right to know since you didn't want her to know.

Ha ha I am the coward? Right. You didn't tell her either Ben. You just wanted to sweep it under the rug.

I think that's the other way around Ellen. You didn't want a conflict with Ashley. You told me not to tell her. Are you forgetting that part? Are you forgetting why you messaged me today in the first place? According to you, I am betraying you because you thought I'd told her. Now apparently I am a coward because I didn't tell her. Ellen, you can be too much sometimes. You are just upset because she now knows, and you're taking it out on her and me. She hasn't done anything wrong. You were the one who wanted who wanted to sweep things under the rug.

She hasn't done anything wrong? She went for you when she knew I wanted you! She is the one who betrayed me first!

Ellen, we aren't having that conversation again. Look I am done talking to you. All I have to say is that you should take a good look in the mirror Ellen. Everything that you accuse Ashley, me or even Michael of are things you do yourself. I'm done talking to you now.

Yeah well I am still going to your pool party. Your mum and dad personally invited me.

No you're not. My parents don't want you here either. If you show up here, I will get one of my sisters or Barry to disapparate you home. I told you already; I don't want to see you until we go back to school. Now after this conversation, and the fight you had with Ashley, I don't even want to talk to you at school. Find someone else to hang out with because none of us want anything to do with you anymore.

I don't want to talk to the three of you either. You, Ashley and Michael all betrayed me. Michael had no right to tell her, and I don't get why you had to tell him. If you want to talk about someone not belonging in Hufflepuff, maybe you yourself should take a good look in the mirror. You're ending a five year friendship for your girlfriend. You always said you wouldn't pick a girl over your friends, but I guess you lied about that one.

I shook my head at the last message, but I didn't answer her back. I'd already talked to her longer than I'd wanted to. I just cleared her message away to talk to Ashley. I wished there was a way to block certain people from contacting you. I remembered Ashley telling me that you could block people from calling you or emailing you. I believed it was something they should look into.

I wrote to Ashley to tell her the gist of the conversation between Ellen and me. She didn't seem too surprised, but she seemed upset that their friendship was basically over. Ellen had been her first friend after all, and her best friend. It bothered me as well but not as much as it would have been if I'd lost Ashley instead. I did hate the fact that our group had come to this. My siblings had warned me that this could happen when you hung out with people of the opposite sex.

At nights I did lay awake feeling bad that a five year friendship had ended. I did care about Ellen a lot, even if she didn't see it that way. I was very angry with her, and I didn't know when or if I'd talk to her again, but that didn't mean I didn't feel terrible. I felt that this time it was her move. Usually one of us went to her, but she had to apologize this time. It was something I would have to talk to Ashley about as well. I knew she'd want to talk to her, but she couldn't. If she did, it would just show Ellen that she was right and we were in the wrong. This time it was all Ellen.

I worried that she would still show up on the day of my pool party. As I had the year before, I planned to have it a birthday party for Ashley as well. It was her seventeenth birthday in a week after all. She was the first of us to come of age. It had been a day we'd all be talking about since first year. At the end of September, I'd be of age. During the Christmas holidays, we'd be able to do magic when we wanted. I just wished we could learn to apparate during first term, but Barry had told us it was second term when we would learn. I found that to be rather useless.

When I complained about this to Barry out on our patio, he just gave a small shrug.

"It happens to the best of little brother. Tasha didn't even get to learn until our seventh year. Think about it, she had to be in hiding and she couldn't do any magic or anything to hide," Barry told me.

"But she stayed with cousin Martin, and he protected her well enough," I said. "You know, I always wondered how she was able to do seventh year when she missed sixth year."

"She knew the subjects," Barry told me. "She studied while she stayed with him. She was able to do sixth and seventh year simultaneously. Anyway, you'll be able to apparate soon enough on your own. It's only Christmas that you can't apparate home. By Easter you can come home on your own and next summer you can. It could be worse, Ellen has to wait until August doesn't she?"

"I don't want to talk about Ellen," I said angrily.

"I'm just trying to point out that you really don't have much to complain about. In a little more than a month you'll finally be seventeen. Quit your complaining. Now lets get this pool party ready. Your friends will be here soon enough."

I didn't say anything because I knew Barry was right. Complaining about it wasn't going to help matters, and there really was no point in doing so. I was just in a mood, but I cheered up as soon he mentioned the party. My family knew that I was dedicating it to Ashley's seventeenth. They had even bought her gifts, including Brenda. Whenever someone turned seventeen, they were showered with gifts.

"By the way, your Hogwarts letter came today," Barry told me as we worked in silence out on the patio. "I was nosy and I noticed you were made Quidditch captain."

"Wait what?" I asked as I dropped a pot of flowers that my mother insisted we hang up.

I watched as it crashed to the ground but with a wave of his wand, Barry was able to repair it. He levitated to hang up on the hanger I'd tried to put it on.

"I can't be Quidditch captain," I said. "Ellen is ten times better than I am. Professor Sprout even knows that. I am just a good player, but I couldn't tell you anything about Quidditch moves or plays. She's the one who has been reading up on everything since even first year!"

"Well they look into your school work too," Barry told me. "Ellen failed most of her OWLs and she's never been a good student."

"I don't want to be Quidditch captain," I muttered and I had to see if there was a way for Professor Sprout to give it to Ellen.

Most people on the team would give anything to be the captain, but I wasn't. When I was younger, it had been kind of a fantasy to not only be prefect and Head Boy but Quidditch captain as well. I'd never expected it to happen and by fifth year, I hadn't wanted it to happen. Being a captain would only take my concentration away from my school work. For the next two years, I had to have the best marks. I didn't even care that much about beating Tara anymore, it was just about getting the NEWTs I needed to be a Healer.

"Do you know how many people would want that badge?" Barry asked me incredulously.

"I know but I need top marks. I don't even know if I plan to keep playing Quidditch. Fun time is over now Barry. I need to get into Healer training, and this badge could prevent that," I told him.

"Ben, I told you this in second year and I am going to tell you again. You need to try and have fun as well. I know that you want to be a Healer but you also know how hard it's going to be when you do become one. Now is the time to have your fun before you're tied down to you career. That is going to happen you know," he told me.

"I plan to still have fun," I told Barry. "That's what I mean though. Quidditch is just fun to me, and now I have this badge. It's now become serious. As angry as I am with her, I want Ellen to have the badge. I'm talking to Professor Sprout about it when I can. She deserves it more than I do."

"Problem solved then Ben," Barry told me.

Shortly after that, my guests began to show up. My parents, sisters and Tasha had been working hard in the kitchen in preparation. Brenda wasn't happy about this but she liked Ashley well enough that she sucked it up. Ashley and Michael were one of the first to show up, and then the Hufflepuff's. The three third years showed up early on.

Rory and Derek spent a good part of the day following Michael around. I couldn't believe how much they looked up to him after the incident in their first year. Of course he'd apologized long ago, but they almost seemed to worship him. It was the same way that Alana looked up to Ashley. I felt a little jealous that I didn't have the same ramport with the younger students that they did. I was a prefect after all.

Ashley brought up the one topic that I didn't want to talk about. The fight with Ellen. Even though I didn't want to discuss it with her, I indulged her anyway. We hadn't really been able to talk about it much outside the parchments and some things were better to talk about in person.

"You know of course she still wanted to come over for the pool party?" I told her.

"Even though she's angry with you as well?" Ashley asked with raised eyebrows.

"She messaged me right after the fight and told me I betrayed her by telling you. I told her it wasn't me, but Michael. So of course now she's upset with him," I told her.

"I know," she responded. "She told him off as well. It looks like she won't be talking to us when we go back to school."

"Well I didn't want her to ruin today," I said and then I tried to change the subject. "I'm sure you already know that we plan to celebrate your birthday as well. You're going to be seventeen. You're the first one of us come of age."

"It's hard to believe," she said smiling. "Soon I'll be able to do magic outside of school. As angry with her as I am, it is awful she won't be here to celebrate it with us. I always thought we'd all celebrate our seventeenth birthdays together."

I sighed. Of course it had to go back to Ellen. I had hoped she would notice the subtle change in the subject, but apparently not. She seemed keen on discussing it still.

"Maybe you'll make up before your birthday," I said though I doubted it. "Don't dwell on that today though, let's just have fun. I doubt either one of you is ready to throw away a five year friendship."

"What about you?" She asked. "The two of you have been friends for just as long."

"I'm fine as long as she accepts that nothing will ever happen between us. You know she threw that in my face too? I forgot to tell you. She told me that she and I had been friends first and so it wasn't fair that I cared more about you. She and I had been friends for one day longer," I told her

"It shouldn't matter how long the friendship is anyway," she said. "You wouldn't be saying that if Denver and I were still together."

Ashley and Denver was another conversation I wanted to avoid. He was there of course, and he still stared at her all the time. In fact as my eyes fell on him, I saw that he was watching us that very moment. The second he saw me glance at him however, he turned back to his conversation with Morgan. I looked back at Ashley who was oblivious to all this. I tried to think about the right thing to say about Ellen that would hopefully turn the conversation away from her. So I decided to say what I had been thinking all along about her.

"I think Ellen is just reaching. In the end she is just very hurt, and you know it. As angry as both are about it, that's all it is. She just likes me as much as we like each other," I finally said. "I wish things wouldn't be this way and I'd hoped by now she'd move on. She needs to meet someone else. Maybe it's better if we take a break from her for a while. It will give her time to move on."

"Ben the last time that happened she got depressed and stayed in bed for a long time," she said to me looking worried.

"I know," I said. "But I don't know what else to do."

Thankfully more people arrived to distract us from the conversation and soon enough the patio, the pool and the backyard were full of my school mates. The youngest being the third years and the oldest some seventh years. I'd never dreamed one day that I would have a party this big, and with people from different years. It was amazing to see, but I had to admit, it was odd that Ellen wasn't around.

Ashley went off to talk to Alana. I decided to let them have their talk and I went around to talk to my guests. Some fourth year girls tried to flirt with me, so I moved away from them quickly to join the Hufflepuff boys. I had to wonder where they got the firewhiskey from and I suspected that Jared had brought it. I didn't understand how he managed to get a hold of them, but he always had a bottle.

"Are you going to drink or will mummy and daddy stop you?" Jared asked as he held up the bottle of golden liquid.

"You know my parents don't care anymore," I told him. "Just don't let anyone under sixth year have any." I glanced at Rory and Derek who were standing on either side of Michael.

"Oh come on," Derek said.

"No," I said firmly. "We've told you this before. Your parents trust us when they let you come over to our places. We aren't going to betray that trust by letting you drink here."

"You don't care when we drink in the common room," Rory said.

"It's different there," I said. "Since when do you two drink anyway?"

"Since the end of last year," Derek spoke up. "We've never tried firewhiskey before. Come on, one shot won't hurt."

"No," Jared said. "You don't have enough experience with alcohol to be drinking and swimming."

"And my parents are responsible for you. I just think any guest here who is under sixteen should not be drinking, and I stand by that. I am sorry," I told them.

"Fine but we're trying it when we go back to school," Rory said and the two boys walked off.

"Anyway," Hank said. "Let's do some shots Hoofer."

I did a couple shots of firewhiskey with them. It gave me a warm buzzed feeling. I wasn't planning to get drunk, but I loved the feeling a bit of the alcohol gave me. I forgot about my problems for the day and just enjoyed the party. After a while, I announced Ashley's birthday as I did the year before. In a way I wished I'd waited to surprise her this year but it was still a good day overall.

We had fireworks for her this year that Nick set to go off by the pool. Ashley seemed shocked that we'd all gone all out for her. She didn't seem to understand how much my family loved her though. They'd all wanted her party to go well. The cake was even bigger than the one from the year before and this time it had sparklers on it.

"You only turn seventeen once babe," I told her before I gave her a kiss. People began to whistle at us, but I didn't care. Normally I wasn't one for public displays of affection but I didn't care that day.

Everyone scrambled out of the pool to line up and get a piece of cake all the while wishing her a happy birthday.

"It's not that exciting," Jared said and then he put an arm around Ashley and pulled her close. "Now eighteen is exciting. I'm going to be of age in both the wizarding world and the muggle world. I can get into muggle bars now."

I knew he was now single. I didn't know exactly what had happened with him and his ex-girlfriend. I couldn't even remember what her name was, but I knew it had been over for a while. I knew he'd been trying to find other girls to shag.

"And then you can pick up some muggle girls," I said to him with amusement. I could honestly see him doing that. I knew he did it at the Dragons Breath. "I've seen that you haven't had a girlfriend since what's her name dumped you."

"Jolene was too intense anyway," Jared said. "She was too jealous of my past. She hated when I talked to Ashley even though she knew we didn't like each other like that. She knew that Ashley and Ben were dating."

I was surprised by this. I didn't even get jealous of their past and I was sure he was in love with her. I also knew he'd never do anything. He respected both Ashley and me too much to do that. However, I guessed perhaps Jolene didn't know him as well as we did.

"She was jealous of us?" Ashley asked him. "Out of all the girls you slept with it was me she hated you talking to. Doesn't she remember when we hated each other?"

"We hated each other in the first year and second year." Jared laughed. "I hardly doubt that's relevant. Anyway it wasn't just you. It was Melanie too of all people. Melanie and I only just started talking."

"Okay explain that one," I said. I was still shocked about that revelation. "I never understood that one. How did you two even hook up?"

"She caught me out after curfew. I told her jokingly that I could make it worth her while if she didn't rat me out to a prefect like she wanted. She actually took me up on my offer. I thought for sure that would make her angrier. It didn't, and she wanted more after that night," Jared answered with a shrug. "She was a rat at the time, but she's hot. How could I not?"

I started to laugh as I shook my head. "Maybe you should take her out again," I suggested. "She seems a lot better than she used to be."

He glanced over at Melanie who was invited to her first party. She was eating a slice of cake and laughing with Sarah and a few of the Ravenclaw girls.

"If she wants it," he said. "You know me."

"Yes we do," I said and then turned to Ashley. We still hadn't had any cake yet. "Come on we'd better get some cake before there isn't any left."

"You know, Sarah's birthday is on the sixth," Ashley told me. "She'll be seventeen too. I wish we'd thought of that."

"I forgot," I said and I truly felt bad about that. I liked Sarah well enough, and we could have done a joint party for them. So I called out to everyone: "I just remembered. Sarah's birthday is a day after Ashley's! Be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday as well everyone! She'll be seventeen as well."

Everyone began to sing to Sarah as well. As we got our cake, she walked over to us blushing furiously. She wasn't a shy girl, but I guessed she hadn't expected this.

"I really wish you hadn't done that," she said but she was smiling.

"Ashley reminded me," I told her before looking at my girlfriend with a smile.

"It's only right," Ashley said. "I don't think it's right for your birthday to be ignored when it's just a day after mine. If we're celebrating mine than we should be celebrating yours as well! We've never had a joint birthday party. We should have this year."

"Well this is the first time you're speaking to me in years," Melanie said as she joined us."But next year we should do that."

"I can't believe next year will be our last year," Ashley said.

"Oh lets not think about that yet," Sarah said. "Let's just have fun today."

So that's what we did. As the day went on, we learned that Ellen had tried to turn some of the Hufflepuff's against us. I was sure she likely tried it with the other houses too. Perhaps she would get Tara to join in on her 'I hate Ashley' compaign.

"She told us that she'd probably be hanging out with us a lot when we got back to school," Jess told Ashley "I asked her why and she told me. I told her not to bother because we're on yours and Ben's side. I also told her that she can't always use us like that. I mean we all get along so well in Hufflepuff, but we all have our best friends. She can't just decide that we'll be her best friends just because she isn't speaking to you, Ben or Michael. She's not speaking to us now."

"Hopefully she comes around," Ashley said. "This isn't like her."

"Are you kidding?" I asked with shock. After five years how could she not know that this was exactly the way Ellen was. "She's always been like this. Anyone who takes our side she is going to get angry with. Who knows, maybe we'll see her talking to Tara in the new term."

"I can't see that," Melanie said. "I've talked to Tara, and she hates her. She hates all of you… well except Ben of course. Tara wouldn't talk to her even if she begged."

"I don't even know how you could hang out with her," Ashley said to her.

"I've never liked her that much but she had her uses. I always like Lydia and Natalie. The only thing I didn't like about them was the fact that they followed Tara around everywhere. I was hated by everyone in Hufflepuff though, so I needed more friends besides Sarah somewhere. Anyway, she always bad mouthed you and Ellen so much," Melanie told her.

"I'm guessing you did as well," I spoke up. I knew she had. Tara had been more than happy to tell me tales about Melanie. "Don't even deny it."

"I was an idiot," Melanie admitted. "I was a jealous idiot. I can't explain it. I guess last year I had a bit of a wakeup call that's all. All summer I've regretted the last few years. I'm glad everyone can forgive me. I always felt awful when I saw everyone together and having fun. I didn't even care that you guys were drinking, I just wanted to be part of it. Last year at the end of the party I decided to just take my chances. You guys brought me over though."

"It's just nice to see Hufflepuff united again," Anne said. "It's about time; I mean all this petty fighting is ridiculous when you think about it. Now Ellen isn't talking to us."

"Ellen will come around," I said. "She always does. She'll have her tantrum but she'll talk to us again."

"I wonder if she'll try talking to us," Sarah said to Melanie.

"Well I don't want her hanging out with us if she is just going to bad mouth Ben, Michael and Ashley," Melanie said. "I'm done with the fights. I want us all to be friends. I refuse to be part of any of it. I don't want to be rude to her, but I'm taking her side either."

"I'm sure she will try to talk to you," Erica said. "After everything that happened she probably thinks you'll be on her side."

"Nope," Melanie said. "I hate to take sides at all, but this is ridiculous. I might have been excluded from the Hufflepuff group, but I know that she told Ashley to go for Ben. I know everything that happened and afterwards. Everyone does. This is awful though. I just wanted the next two years for everyone to get along. We're not going to see much of each after Hogwarts. I've already wasted the last few years. I refuse to have anything ruin that."

"Don't worry about it Melanie," I told her. "This is between Ashley, Me and Ellen. Perhaps even Michael. It doesn't need to involve anyone else."

"Well it kind of involves us now too," Anne said. "As much as we don't want it to, it does."

"Let's just worry about that when we go back to school," Ashley said. "There's no need to ruin today over it."

I was glad to hear her say it. I was so tired of the Ellen talk, although I knew this wasn't the last we would talk about her. Either she would come around or she wouldn't. I believed eventually she would as I had said, but I just had to do everything I could to make sure Ashley did not talk to her. I would worry about that when we were on our own though. For the moment, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a kiss. I just wanted to enjoy the day as she said we should.