A few days passed by with nothing out of the ordinary happening. The students were still rather excitable, especially the younger ones, but the atmosphere had certainly calmed down from the riotous happiness that had been shown right after Professor Clearwater's announcement. There had, of course, been no further attacks, and the rules about sticking together had been lifted. Hogwarts was back to the way it had been before the attacks, and it was pleasing to everybody.

It was a Friday afternoon, after classes had let out, and Rose was hurrying into the library. She had stopped by Ravenclaw Tower to drop off some of her books, so that she wasn't carrying around a completely filled bag - the chances that she would get any studying done were minimal, anyway. She slid into her seat at the table where she, Al, Leda, and Scorpius had sat every single time they had come to the library, ignoring the fact that Leda was smirking at Al, who was sulking. It was obvious they had been bickering before she arrived, but she decided to ignore that fact.

"Lily wrote to me today," she said instead, causing a change in both of their demeanors. Both Leda's smirking, smug expression and Al's sulky one morphed into interest, and Scorpius leaned forward as well, raising his eyebrows.

"Have you read it?" he asked before the other two could get a chance.

"No," Rose replied. "I didn't want to at the breakfast table, because Nina was in a very nosy mood. She was trying to read Allison's letter, and I was scared she would read mine, too. And I really don't want any of Lily's...escapades...to get out."

"Good point," Leda said. "She's already going to be talked about enough when she becomes the first Potter-Weasley in Slytherin."

Scorpius chuckled, but Al made a face at the Lestrange girl. "Lily will not be in Slytherin with you. You'd corrupt her."

"I'd corrupt her?" Leda laughed. "I'm not the one who's snuck into the Ministry of Magic in the dead of night. I'm not the one who copies official Auror files, which probably isn't completely legal. Hell, I'd like to learn some things from her."

Al looked as though he was going to return to his sulking expression, but Rose waved the letter around. "When you two are done," she said, "maybe we could see what's inside here?"

"I'm done if she's done," Al muttered.

"All right then," Rose answered, rolling her eyes at the pair of them as she opened the letter. In the back of her mind, she was remembering stories about her own parents, and how they had grown up bickering and fighting all the time before realizing that they loved each other. She couldn't help comparing the first part of those stories to Leda and Al - wouldn't it be hilarious, she thought, if the two of them ended up together? She suppressed a smile and slid the letter to the center of the table, and they all crowded around to read it.

Dear Rose,

I heard that Hogwarts isn't going to close - Roxanne wrote and told me. I'd been giving her a few ideas about how to make a grand exit, since you completely ignored that part of my letter to you. And I heard that it was your plan that saved the school, which is, to put it simply, awesome. It's like you're our parents, Rose, coming up with these great plans to save everything. Fantastic job.

Anyway, I've been keeping in touch with Molly as well, and she told me that the person who'd been attacking everybody is a girl named Ava Greenwood. I was bored last night, so I decided to go into Dad's office again and see if I could find any information on Ava Greenwood. And I did! I thought you might be interested, since you're the one who caught her and all that, so I copied some of the more interesting parts of her file down for you.

The plan to attack Hogwarts students was a plan from the Circle of Darkness. They wanted to attack enough students to have Hogwarts shut down - then they'd swoop in and reopen it, except they'd make it exclusively for purebloods and half-bloods. But none of the teachers there were on their side, so they had to rely on a student. Joseph Thewlitt volunteered his sister Rachel, a seventh year Slytherin, but Rachel didn't want to be the one behind the attacks because she felt it would have been obvious. So Rachel then volunteered her friend Ava, who had always been interested in the Dark Arts.

Ava was more than happy to attack students, because she fully believed in the Circle's mindset of 'purebloods are awesome, Muggle-borns suck, let's use Dark magic against them'. The Circle of Darkness told her that she didn't have to be picky, as long as all the attacked students were either Muggle-borns or blood-traitors. She got to attack whoever she wanted, within those rules, and she did. I know she attacked Dominique because Ava didn't particularly like her, and she attacked Teresa Vane-MacDougal because she didn't like Professor MacDougal. I think most of the others were just random, though - students who had been alone when she was nearby, or something like that.

Anyway, she's facing time in Azkaban, certainly. I don't know how much, but she is technically overage, so she'll be tried like an adult. And to think, Rose, you were the one behind this...it's just kind of impressive. It really is like something that would have happened while our parents were at Hogwarts.

Love, Lily

Rose and the others looked up from the letter within seconds of one another, and she slid it back into her bag. "So that's why Ava did the things she did," Rose muttered, zipping it closed.

"And like Lily said, you came up with the plan that caught her." Al traced the carved initials on the desk. It seemed like so long ago that Leda had done that, although it really wasn't. They still remained, the LL, AP, RW, and SM, just as noticeable as they had been the first day. Obviously, either no teachers paid attention to this desk, or it was minor enough that nobody cared.

"It was a clever plan," Leda admitted, twisting a lock of dark hair around her finger. "Worthy of a Ravenclaw, certainly. Didn't I say, on the train coming here for the first time, that you're such a Ravenclaw?"

"Yeah," Rose answered. "Merlin, that seems like forever ago, but it's barely been a year."

"I can't believe we're leaving here soon," Scorpius contributed, looking around the library. "You know, we should get together over the summer sometime. You three could always come to my house - there's certainly more than enough room. I can never remember how many guest rooms there are...at least ten, though."

Al and Rose exchanged a look. "You do realize," Al began slowly, "that Rose's parents and mine don't actually know we're friends with a Malfoy and a Lestrange?"

Leda nodded. "My mum and dad don't know I'm friends with a Weasley and a Potter, so I guess we're even." She nodded at Scorpius. "You, they'd approve of. Do your parents know about anything, either?"

"My mum does," Scorpius answered. "She doesn't care about who's pureblood and things like that. She even fought against Death Eaters at the Battle of Hogwarts. I thought it was safe to tell her that I'm friends with Rose Weasley and Al Potter, and she was fine with it. Haven't told Dad, though...he hates your parents, no offense."

"We'll have to tell them at some point," Rose said, visualizing herself telling her father that she was friends with Scorpius Malfoy and Leda Lestrange. Oh well, she thought, at least she knew that her mother would stick up for her. Mum had said, after all, not to turn Scorpius and Rose against one another before they even met. Hopefully she still had that mindset. "After all, it would be great to get together. Maybe you two could come over, too, and join one of our Weasley-Potter family gatherings. They are...interesting."

"I think," Al answered, choosing his words carefully, "that if Lily and Leda ever got together for an extended period of time, that they would cause chaos."

"Good," Leda said. "I like the idea of causing chaos with your awesome Slytherin sister."

"Lily is not in Slytherin!"

"Yet."

Rose exchanged a glance with Scorpius, who, like her, seemed to have the same amused mindset to the whole thing. While Leda and Al continued to bicker about Lily's Slytherin behavior, and it quickly changed to their usual quarreling - 'At least my family isn't in Azkaban' 'At least my name isn't Albus Severus' - Rose leaned over so that her mouth was right next to Scorpius's ear.

"My parents used to act just like this," she whispered, "and they ended up married."

Scorpius laughed, looking from Leda to Al and then back again. "I think," he murmured so they wouldn't hear, "that when we're older, they'll become the type of people that others take bets on. You know, betting they'll get together by a certain date or something like that? Because it's obvious to everybody but them?"

Rose snorted. "They'll totally become that pair, definitely."

He grinned in response. "I've always known that Hogwarts was interesting. But I never expected...any of this. Becoming friends with the people I least expected, then everything with Ava Greenwood and the Circle, and Lily's...antics...this really was a thrilling year."

"Agreed. If this was just the beginning...I can't wait to see what the rest of it brings." She half-expected Leda or Al to jump into the conversation, but the two of them were still caught up in bickering with one another. It seemed as though they actually enjoyed it - or at least, Leda certainly did. Even Al had a certain gleam in his eye that showed he knew he was baiting her, just as she was to him. "Merlin," she muttered, more to herself than to Scorpius, "I'm really looking forward to my next years here."

It was nice to know that now, she would be returning for those next years. There was nothing stopping her now - Ava Greenwood was expelled - thus unable to take N.E.W.T.s - and now facing time in Azkaban. Rose would come back, and so would Al and Leda and Scorpius. So would her roommates, and her cousins, and they would be able to do the things they had been waiting for all their childhood.

Hogwarts, she mused, really was one of the best places in the world.

I just adore writing Leda and Al bickering...it amuses me. Plus I kind of ship them, too, so it's even more fun. I definitely see a bit of a Ron/Hermione dynamic with them. And of course, since I'm me, Slytherin!Lily is basically implied. I seriously can't write Next-Gen without writing her in Slytherin.

Anyway, thanks for reading! It's not over yet, by the way, I'll make sure to let you know when it is.