Hello! There have been a few technical difficulties, and I've been busy, so –sorry! I would like to dedicate this chapter to Lunaly-Lovely who has been undeniably amazing! I hope you like it (:

xx

"So how many of them are there again?" Xavier questioned her as he toyed with the knick knacks that she had collected on her bureau.

Lacey herself was swiftly moving about her room as she got ready for the arrival of the Potter-Weasley clan. She couldn't believe that it was already August, and summer was almost over. As she reflected over summer, she realized that it was probably one of the best summers she had ever had. It was spent at the beach with both her Mom and Dad or with Xavier and Maeve. The trio had also made almost daily trips to the meadow that was in a clearing in the woods behind Lacey's house. They would lie down and talk, or dance and sing, or even reenact the last duel between Harry Potter and Voldemort (Maeve always being Voldemort and Xavier and Lacey always alternated turns in being Harry Potter). Sometimes, they didn't really talk much. They would just lay there until the sun set, and their parents called them home. It was everything she remembered it to be, and wasn't sure how she could bear to leave for Hogwarts once again in September.

"Er-Lacey?" She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard Xavier's voice.

"Oh! Right, sorry Xavier. Um, well the ones that are coming? That would be Lucy, Rosie, Albus, Freddy, Lily, Hugo, and err, uh- and James." She ticked off a finger for every name she said.

He looked at her pointedly before saying, "Alright, cool."

As she was tying her hair up into a high ponytail there was a sound crash that came down stairs followed by another one.

"Get off me, Weasley!" she heard someone scream. She felt her lips curving into a small smile as Xavier peeked his head out of her door in curiousity.

Lacey grabbed Xavier's hand and rushed down to the living room where the floo was.

"What the hell, Luce? You're a Weasley too!" Freddy shouted back.

She saw Freddy and Lucy on opposite ends of the room shooting each other withering glares.

"Yea, well whatever", she huffed. Fred rolled his eyes. Xavier let out a small cough which diverted their attention away from each other. Luce squealed and Freddy mimicked her. He skipped over to Lacey and threw his arms around her.

"Oh Lacey, darling! Have you missed me, Love?" he asked dramatically as he lifted her off her feet and spun around twice before setting her back on the ground.

"Adorable as always!" he said while pinching her cheeks. She rolled her eyes while smiling at him. He looked slightly different. Had he gotten taller? His hair was longer, too.

"Stop hogging her, Fredward. I want to see my Lacey", Lucy said as she shoved Freddy to the side despite his loud protest.

"LACEY! Oh how I've missed you! I've been stuck with this", she gestured wildly towards Freddy, "all summer! How could you do this to me? Oh, no matter. I'm here now", she exclaimed while she hugged her tightly.

"Who's the good looking bloke?" she hissed into Lacey's ear a second before she pulled away. Lacey mentally kicked herself. How could she have forgotten?

"Oh, right!" she walked over to Xavier, "Guys, this is Xavier, Xavier, this is Lucy and Freddy", she introduced.

"Hullo, pleased to meet you!" Luce said pleasantly with a bat of her eyelashes. Xavier smiled nervously at her. Lacey looked at Freddy expecting a just as warm greeting. He was looking Xavier up and down glaring pointedly at Lacey's hands. She looked down and realized that she was holding his hand in hers. She subtly moved her hand away to tuck an imaginary piece of hair behind her ear. She saw Lucy pinch Freddy's arm out of the corner of her eye.

"Hi", he said curtly. Xavier nodded awkwardly and shifted his eyes around the room. Luce rolled her eyes at Freddy.

"You know, Lacey, James said he was really excited to come", Freddy said. This earned a smack from Lucy, an innocent smile from Lacey, and confused silence from Xavier.

"Oh, I'm glad", she answered. She looked around the room trying to convince them that she really did find the wall very interesting.

The silence was broken when another crash sounded through the room. Lacey looked eagerly to the fireplace, not really knowing who she was so excited to see.

"Bloody floo", she heard a familiar voice mutter. She smiled in anticipation at seeing her best guy friend.

"Albus! Watch your mouth", she heard Rosie scold him. Al just continued muttering profanities under his breath. Lucy flicked her eyes over to the fireplace then sat down in one of the loveseats. Freddy joined her. Lacey hugged her curly haired friend while Al cleaned the soot off his glasses.

"Oh, Lacey, how I've missed you! Merlin, you've grown!" she laughed. Lacey smiled brightly.

"Oh, Rosie, I've missed you too! Merlin, you're still pretty short!" Lacey laughed back. Rosie huffed indignantly, but then smiled.

"What am I-chopped liver? Show the love, Lace", Al stated with his hands on his hips. A giggle escaped Lacey as she ran into his arms. When he released her, she reached up to ruffle his already messy hair.

"Ah, I see some things never change", she noted. He smiled warmly before running his hand through his hair-a trait he shared with his dad and brother.

"This is Xavier-Xavier, this is Al and this is Rosie", she introduced quickly. Rosie and Al smiled warmly before saying "Hullo!" in union. Xavier visibly relaxed a little, and smiled.

"Nice to meet you", he said politely.

"I guess we can just hang out until the rest of the family gets here. It's a long floo from home, you know!" Rosie said. Lacey nodded and everyone sat on the floor or on a couch.

"Where are your Mum and Dad?" Rosie asked as she slapped Al's hand that was toying with the tassel of the throw pillow.

"They're out shopping at the grocery store, but they should be home soon", Lacey answered absentmindedly. Just then, the door opened with a loud bang, but it wasn't Lacey's parents.

"Why on earth, did you not wake me up! I wake up only to find that you are not home! You can't expect me to miss out on all the-oh! Hello, I'm Maeve", she said with her hands on her tiny hips in a stance Lacey had seen only one other eleven year old use. Lucy started to giggle as she probably noted the similarities between Maeve and her cousin. All attention was diverted to the fireplace when they all heard another crash ring throughout the house.

"For Merlin's sake, Father, I am perfectly capable of flooing by myself!" they heard a loud voice huff. Think of the devil and he shall appear.

Lily Potter appeared in all her spit fire glory. Al groaned at the sight of his little sister. She was standing in the same stance as Maeve-hands on hips, weight shifted to her left foot, and chin raised defiantly.

Harry rolled his eyes at her and grinned before ruffling her hair. "Whatever you say, kiddo", he said as she "humph'ed" at him. She notice Maeve standing across the room, and eyed her up and down before slinking away to figure what she was all about.

"Hullo, all! Why Miss. Wood, it's a pleasure to see you. You're looking dashing as always", Harry said with his nose in the air. Lacey giggled and gave him a small curtsy. Just then the door opened for a second time and Lacey knew that it had to be her parents.

"Lacey? Where are you- oh, hello", her Mom said brightly. She smiled at the room's content and then went over to Harry and shook his hand as her dad entered the room. Her Parents and Harry were laughing amiably about something when another crash came from the fireplace. Lacey felt her heartbeat quicken. She knew this had to be James. Wait, why was she so nervous? James' arrival meant nothing more than Freddy's or Al's.

She looked over to the fireplace slightly disappointed that she didn't pick up James' voice. Instead, Hugo and Ginny were dusting themselves off.

"Oh, Hullo Lacey, dear", she said warmly as she gave her a side hug. She was going over to talk to Mrs. Wood and to catch up with Mr. Wood when she turned and called over her shoulder to the kids, "By the way, Fred, James loved the little present you left him this morning. I think blue works for him, but don't tell him I said that. Anyways, he's been trying to rinse it out since he ate lunch, so he may be a little late on the floo", she winked before sitting down.

"Freddy", Rose groaned, "What did you do?"

"I am highly offended that you would accuse me of doing anything to my dearest James. But if you must know, I just steered him in the right direction of hair color selection-oh, and scent selection too", he grinned mischievously. Lucy smacked him with the back of her hand.

Lacey smiled. She missed them. The weird thing was that she seldom thought of them during the summer, she was occupied with her old friends. It was odd how one could notice all the little things about people in just a few moments, even when they've known them for a long while. Lacey's eyes jumped from each of her friends, drinking them in and all the usual habits that they do. Al would run a hand through his hair every few minutes, Freddy would toy with something-anything he could get his hands on, Rose would smack Freddy when he did so, and Luce would gaze around the room with large eyes and then smile to herself, or maybe even let out a little giggle. She smiled at her friends.

"Okay, so why don't we head to the beach?" Lacey's Dad roared getting chants and cheers from the kids.

"Lacey, would you mind waiting for James? I don't want him to come into an empty house not know where everyone is or where to go", her Mom asked oblivious to Lacey's clenched jaw or strained smile and forced nod.

"TO THE BEACH!" Freddy chanted. They all scampered out the door.

"I could stay with you if you wanted", Lacey heard a voice say. She turned to see Xavier standing in the doorway through which everyone just left.

"No, no-go have fun", she encouraged him. He looked torn, but smiled at her and said alright.

Once he left, Lacey self consciously went to go check her reflection in the mirror. She tugged on her ponytail to loosen it and readjusted the straps of her bathing suit. Puberty wasn't all that bad.

She sat down on one of the armchairs lopsidedly, her feet dangling off on one end, and her head dangling off the other arm. She tugged her hair out of its ponytail, and let it fall over the side of the chair. She wiggled around trying to get it to touch the floor. When it didn't, she huffed and craned her neck farther to no avail. She stubbornly arched her back and wiggled some more. When her hair finally touched the floor, she let out a loud whoop of victory. She continued to run her hands through her hair for what seemed like hours. When she was about to get up and fetch a glass of water, a loud thump echoed through the house. The noise was followed by numerous profanities being whisper-shouted.

Lacey, who was just about to get up, fell off her chair in surprise just as James Potter was crawling out of the fireplace. She shut her eyes tightly willing the 'floor' to stop being as warm and uneven as she last remembered it. Daring to be brave, she opened one eye, and shut it just as quickly.

"It seems we always meet this way", said an amused voice.