As the summer sun beat down on their backs in the garden of Bellglade Manor, Avalon and her friends were plotting something. The four children were huddled in ornate lawn chairs, around a table and a tray of tiny cucumber sandwiches and chocolate frogs, whispering in low tones so the adults in the house couldn't hear what was being discussed.

It had been only three days since the Hogwarts Express had brought them back to King's Cross Station. During the first hour of her return, Avalon's father had asked her if she was feeling better, to which she responded, 'yes.' She hadn't seen him since. On the flip side, the visit of Avalon's friends had been the first time Isla had left her younger daughter alone since they crossed the threshold of Bellglade Manor. Mrs. Steele also invited the other children out of sympathy, because Avalon had just received news that she didn't like at all.

"It's only going to be for a few days, Avalon," said Blaise, forever the voice of reason to the others, even when the reason wasn't wanted. "And besides, your cousins aren't that bad. Sure, they're a little weird, From what I remember, Estella was kind of cute."

"She's a pureblood girl with a pulse, of course you find her cute," Daphne responded.

Avalon rolled her eyes and took a sip from the glass of lemonade that Tinkle had brought out to her only moments earlier. "Somehow, 'attractiveness' wasn't really one of the categories that I considered for the 'world's best cousin' award. It didn't come up."

They all turned to Theo's chair, expecting him to have a funny remark, but he had vanished. He was walking in the direction of the house, kicking the grass up and clutching an empty cup in his hand. Theo vanishing to get a refill of his food or drink wasn't an uncommon occurrence, but he usually said something to the others to let them know he was leaving.

"What's his problem?" Avalon asked.

"Who knows?" Daphne and Blaise responded in unison.

As the remaining friends went back to discussing the problem at hand—Estella and Eustace Steele, who were scheduled to arrive any moment—they also found themselved wondering what the upcoming term at Hogwarts was going to hold. It would have to be something extremely impressive to top their first two years, which included a professor who sported the Dark Lord on the back of his head under his turban, and a creature that traveled through the school and pretrified students, including Avalon.

She couldn't remember anything from the attack, but it had left her extremely confused. She had spent two years actively hating Seamus, and he had done the same for her. And yet, he'd written her a heartfelt note and left little doodles for her to wake up to. They'd even hugged at the feast, which made Avalon's face burn to think about (only because of Neville's shy teasing, not because of the moment Seamus himself). Suddenly she was calling him Seamus? It was different than her apologizing to Weasley the previous summer. She didn't feel pressure to be rude to him in front of her friends, either. Third year was going to be weird.

"Avalon!" Isla's voice floated out from the Manor, and the three children immediately froze. This had to be the cousins. "Come say hello to Draco!"

The large sigh of relief could be heard for miles, as Avalon got up and went inside to do as she was told, Blaise and Daphne trailing behind her. In the foyer, Theo and Draco were chatting, and they could hear the retreating voices of Edgar and Lucius as the two men retreated to his study to have a conversation in hushed tones.

Blaise clapped Draco on the back. "Mate, what a surprise!"

The other boy nodded. "Father needed to talk to Mr. Steele and I decided to come along. I didn't realize…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Blaise, Daphne, and Theo. Although he didn't continue, they knew what he was saying. He didn't realize they had been hanging out without him. Then, as quickly as the falter had appeared, Draco's mask of arrogance was back in place.

"My parents are in Germany with Astoria," Daphne said after a moment, trying to make up for Draco's exclusion. "It's the international Gobstones Competition Finals this week, and I've been staying here while they're gone. Blaise and Theo just popped over for lunch. We didn't even invite them. I think Blaise fancies Avalon's cousin."

Draco laughed. Blaise opened his mouth to protest this, and Theo opened his mouth to stuff more cucumber sandwiches inside. He had no shame about coming for lunch, even though they had been invited to visit Avalon.

"We're glad to have you, Draco," said Avalon's mother, finally, placing a warm hand on the boy's shoulder. Her words were cut off as the fireplace flashed green, and out stepped two teens.

They were the exact same height, both with piercing eyes and perfectly styled hair. Neither spoke as they entered the room, the girl wearing a white blouse and plaid pinafore jumper under her robe, the boy sporting a crisp button down shirt and slacks under his. Avalon quickly took a step back and looked pained at the new arrivals.

Isla smiled broadly. "Eustace, Estella, you remember Avalon. These are her friends, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy. Children, these are Avalon's cousins, Eustace and Estella Steele. You met briefly at Avalon's tenth birthday party. Except for you Draco, I don't believe you were there."

He scowled.

The boy, identified as Eustace, stepped forward and hugged Avalon's mother, kissing both her cheeks. His sister did the same, accompanied with a musical laugh as she held her aunt's hands in her own.. "Bonjour tante. C'est bon de te voir."

"Estella, you aren't fooling anyone. We all know you both can speak perfect English, and none of us speak French," Avalon said, not even bothering to hide her scowl.

"Actually, Stepdad Number Two was the nephew of the previous French Minister of Magic," Blaise said. He raised his eyebrows at Estella. "I'm fluent."

Daphne elbowed him in the ribs—hard—and Avalon shot him a death glare. Estella simply quirked an eyebrow in response. She either didn't realize this was Blaise's attempt at flirting, or couldn't bring herself to be bothered. Avalon hoped it was the latter as she tried not to retch.

"Help the twins get settled Avalon," said Isla, which she knew to mean 'take their bags upstairs and make sure you don't exclude them.'

Doing as she was told, Avalon led her friends up the winding staircase, Blaise carrying Estella's trunk for her. Daphne leaned toward him and whispered, "Can you actually speak French or did you make that up for girl-twin?"

"Oui, oui, biensûr," he responded with a grin.

Four days later, it was the morning of Avalon's birthday party, and she was running around the manor with Tinkle trying to make sure that everything was perfect. It would be the first real interraction with her father since her return home. Any sign of trouble and he would make an excuse to leave. As a result of this, Neville and Seamus hadn't been invited, but they had both promised to send her birthday letters and at King's Cross Station, Neville's Gran had invited her to visit for tea the following weekend to celebrate.

She hadn't received anything from them, but wasn't worried.

"Miss please! Please put on your party dress! The guests will be here any minute!" Tinkle cried, running down the hall of the East Wing behind Avalon. The latter was slipping around the corridor in her socks and an oversized robe.

"I can't! If I get dressed before I'm done overlooking set up, something could spill on it!"

"Tinkle can get out any spill in a moment."

"Please get dressed," Misty added, trailing behind Tinkle and practically wheezing. Not wanting to cause the house elves pain, Avalon allowed herself to be gently pulled back to her room, where a dark green summer dress was laid out across the bed.

With a snap of her fingers, a clipboard appeared in Misty's hands, and she huddled over the checklist with Tinkle. "The tent is in the backyard and set up. About an hour ago, the fairies were delivered for the fairy light display. We've finished the food. All of your favorites, and some of Master Steele's favorites as well to make sure he sticks around. The Weird Sisters are warming up in Lucy's room. Lucy is in a guest bedroom in the east wing, she got in this morning. The tables are set up with linens and centerpieces, and everything is ready for the games."

"What about the cake?"

"Iced and waiting in the kitchen."

"The twins from Hell?"

Tinkle sighed. "Eustace and Estella are reading letters in the library right now. We'll make sure they stay out of trouble."

"Thanks," Avalon breathed. She let Misty zip up her dress and help her into her silver flats. Tinkle gently picked up a colorful box with a box from the bedside table.

"A gift from your mother," she said. Inside was a beautiful necklace that sat in the hollow of her throat. After fastening it around Avalon's neck, the two house elves led her out to the garden for the celebration.

Daphne was greeting the guests, in a party dress of her own. Her parents were still in Germany, and she was playing the role of hostess. Blaise, his mother, and Stepdad Number Four were the first to arrive. At least, Avalon believed it was Number Four. Next to come was Tracey Greengrass, accompanied by her parents. They weren't close friends, but got along well enough as roommates for Avalon to invite her. Avalon's grandparents apparated to the front gates of the Manor, and caught the eye of the twins in the guest room window overlooking the garden. When Theo and his parents showed, his mother carrying Theo's four-month-old brother, the teens were beginning to congregate by the chocolate fountain and Avalon made to join them.

"Happy birthday Avalon," came an unfamiliar voice.

She turned around and came face to face with an all-too-familiar face. Charlie Weasley. Before Avalon could muster up something to pass for a polite greeting, Lucy waltzed out from under the the tent and joined them, hugging her sister before linking her arm through Charlie's and greeting him with a kiss. The younger girl couldn't hide her grimace.

"Is it okay that I brought him as my plus one?" Lucy asked, a large smile on her face as she glanced at Charlie. Then she reached out her hands and clasped Avalon's. "Please say yes because he's already here and he brought you a gift. And because you love me and promised you'd give Charlie a chance."

"That's a lot of reasons," Avalon said. She put on a smile and gingerly took Charlie's present from him, before shaking it next to her ear. It didn't sound completely awful.

"We're going to go mingle, while avoiding Gramps and Gran. Happy birthday, Ava!"

Left alone, Avalon glanced in the direction of Tinkle and Misty, who were organizing the drink table and cleverly avoiding eye contact. They had known ahead of time that there would be a "party crasher."

It was suddenly 1987 again. Avalon felt like she was seven years old watching her sister chose Charlie over her once more.

As the Malfoys arrived to the party fashionably late, as they liked to arrive to functions, Avalon ran inside to wait out the tears threatening to spill. She quickly locked herself in one of the Manor's many bathrooms, fingers anxiously gripping the sink as she stared at her blotchy-faced reflection.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5

Once she had calmed herself, Avalon exited the bathroom and walked down the hall towards the grand staircase. Passing the guest room housing the twins, she could hear their whispers. They're so odd, she thought to herself. The door was cracked.

"Look at this one," Eustace was saying as he stretcehd out across his bed and read from a piece of parchment. "'Dear Avalon, Gran wants to know what day you'll be coming around for tea. Neville.' What do you think?"

"I've got one from someone named Molly Weasley. 'Charlie mentioned that it was your birthday, so I made you one of my sweaters and also included some homemade fudge. It's too hot to wear now, but you can match with your sister when the weather changes,'" Estella said. She grimaced. "Look at this awful jumper! I think I'm going to retch. I'll keep the fudge, though."

Eustace sighed and swiped a piece from his sister. "There's nothing here he'd be interested in. The other ones were so boring that I just got rid of them."

Avalon finally pushed open the door all the way. "What are you doing? Are you going through my mail?"

"No."

"Yes."

She stormed over to them and snatched the letters from her cousins. She had known that they were up to no good from their initial arrival, but she hadn't expected Owl Post Mail Fraud.

Usually whenever they visited they mostly went into the woods behind Bellglade Manor and hexed any deer or rabbits they came across, listening to them scream. She had been around her father enough to recognize the curse they always used. It wasn't forbidden, but Merlin's beard, it should have been. Avalon didn't think any behaviors of theirs could have made her more upset than they, but suddenly she was boiling with rage.

"Get out," she snarled, even though it wasn't her bedroom or her house and she should have been downstairs with her party guests anyway. "Don't go down to my party, but when I come back up here later, I don't want to see either of you."

Estella stepped up to her cousin and brandished a wand. "Is that a threat?"

"Interpret it however you want."

Trying to compose herself, Avalon exited the room and stuffed her letters into a trunk at the foot of her own bed. Her mother—always paranoid around Edgar—had placed a charm on it. Not only was there an undetectable extension on the trunk, but only Avalon herself could reach inside. Anyone else just felt an empty trunk meet their fingers.

Why had they been going through her mail?

She knew she needed to get back outside before someone worried about her, and could deal with this situation later. Inviting them to her house had been a bad idea on her parents' part.

A/N: First things first- I don't own Harry Potter (duh). So the only things I've created are the Steeles, everyone else belongs to J.K. Rowling herself. Sorry for the brief (nearly a month long) hiatus. This chapter was originally completely different, with Lucy and Avalon going to France and visiting their grandparents/cousins, but I completely restarted it from the original idea. Anyway, there will be one more summer chapter and then they are off to Hogwarts again! Third year will be relatively short, because fourth year will have the majority of the action. The earlier years have just been building up to what's to come. Stay tuned!