I do not own the rights to Harry Potter. If I did, the epilogue would be longer.
Trios
"As you can see here, it's going to be-"
Click.
"-was found alive, but unconscious, bringing the total-"
Click.
"What a deal! You can have all this, only for-"
Click.
"We are the knights who-"
Click.
"Just pick a channel all ready!" cried Nick.
Emmy's reply was chucking the remote at Nick, hitting him in the chest. "Hey! What was that for?"
When Emmy still didn't answer, Ash looked up from the book she was reading. "What's wrong with you? Ever since we've returned, you've been mopier than Moaning Myrtle."
"Who?" asked Nick as he rubbed his chest gingerly. He debated whether or not the remote left a bruise.
"Moaning Myrtle, ghost who haunts the girls' bathrooms at Hogwarts," replied Ash. "And you still haven't answered the question, Emmy."
Crossing her arms, Emmy glared at Ash and Nick. "You lied to me. I saw you two coming out of the Leaky Cauldron a day before you were suppose to be back in London."
Ash and Nick traded quick, conspiratorial glances. A sigh escaped from Ash's mouth. "Emmy, we didn't lie, not exactly. I had some stuff to pick up from home, and I showed Nick where I lived and he met my parents. Since I'm a Squib, having a Muggle as a son-in-law is not as big as a deal than if I were a witch."
"And since my brother is a wizard, they didn't have to worry about Ash breaking the Statute of Secrecy," added Nick.
Tilting her head thoughtfully, Ash said, "Actually, they were quite pleased with Nick having a Muggle-born wizard in the family. If we were to get married and have kids, they could possibly inherit magic from both sides of the family."
"So see, we never lied to you, family was involved," pointed out Nick.
"So why didn't you tell me the truth from the start?" asked Emmy, who was still pouting. She had yet to uncross her arms or wipe the glare from her face. She was even sitting lower in her green armchair, the fluffy pillows on either side nearly engulfing her completely.
"Because we didn't want you to feel left out," responded Ash. "We didn't want you to feel like a third beater." A puzzled look crossed Nick's face at the last line, until he realized that a third beater was the wizard equivalent of a third wheel.
Meanwhile, Emmy had sat up a little straighter in her chair, putting herself on top of the fat pillows. "And the Leaky Cauldron?"
"We used Floo Powder to get there and back. Once we got back, we visited Nick's family."
That did agree with the footage from Argus. If Ash and Nick had lied to her, Emmy had been ready to confront them with the evidence from the Eyes of Argus. Curious as to what else they could be lying about, Emmy had run their faces through Argus's facial recognition software to see what would come up for the past week. The results showed them going into the Leaky Cauldron about a week ago, and finally exiting on the day Emmy saw them. From there they had gotten on the tube and visited a neighborhood outside London, before returning the next day to the flat.
One more question crossed Emmy's mind. "Wait, aren't you two suppose to be at school?"
"Spring break," replied Nick.
Feeling like a fool for being suspicious, Emmy nodded. Their story made sense, and Emmy knew as a couple they would have to start doing couple things like meeting each other's parents, but that still didn't make it hurt any less. She was so used to it just being Emmy, Nick, and Ash, that the idea of just Ash and Nick felt like a stake through the heart. In that moment, the possibility of ending up alone seemed so much more real than ever before.
As if she sensed what Emmy was thinking, Ash stood up and sat on the arm of Emmy's chair. She put her hand into Emmy's and said, "Just because we're together, doesn't mean we've stopped being your friend too."
"I know that," muttered Emmy. Hearing Ash say the words was still comforting,
Then it was Ash's turn to ask a question. "What were you doing by the Leaky Cauldron anyway? Ever since breaking into the Prophet, you've tried to stay away from Diagon Alley as much as possible."
Emmy squirmed in her chair. She had yet to tell Ash and Nick of her friendship with Louis. Every time she was with him, Nick and Ash had been away, or just too busy with each other to notice Emmy's absence. Emmy was well aware of Ash's disgust with Louis based on their first meeting, adding to the list of reasons for not telling them about Louis.
"I have friends..." responded Emmy. It wasn't too convincing for Nick couldn't suppress a laugh, and Ash rolled her eyes.
"Like who?" she asked.
It looked like the time for keeping Louis a secret was over. "Like Louis Longbottom."
Nick's laughter filled the room, and Ash was aghast. "Louis? You're seeing Louis Longbottom?"
Shrugging nonchalantly, Emmy nodded. "He's not that bad once you get to know him. We ran into each other over the Holidays."
"Oh Emmy, I know we've been leaving you alone a lot, but to think it made you desperate enough to want to hang out with Louis..." she shuddered. "What do you say about the three of us hanging out together, just like the old days?"
"It has been a while since the three of us did anything not Order-related," admitted Nick.
"True, and there is a place I want to check out for the training that's coming up," said Emmy.
Nick blinked a couple times. "You do understand the 'not Order-related' part, right?"
"Of course, just because it's for the Order, doesn't mean we won't have fun. Just promise me you two won't do anything gross like snogging in front of me. I might just die of embarrassment."
Ash pulled out one of the pillows that was wedged between Emmy and the arm of her chair. Emmy put up her arms in defense as Ash used the pillow to swat at Emmy playfully. "Can't be any more embarrassing than being caught out in public with Louis Longbottom."
Sticking out her tongue at Ash, Emmy grabbed the other pillow in the chair and used it to push Ash off of her perch, and onto the ground. Crawling around to the front of the chair, Ash attempted to grab Emmy's ankles to pull her down as well. Emmy used the pillow in her hand to defend herself from Ash's grabby hands, with her knees pulled up into the chair.
Nick watched with interest for a couple minutes. Eventually, Emmy was on the ground with Ash pinning her arms. A triumph smile was on Ash's face. "Admit it," she said, "Admit that Louis Longbottom is actually a flobberworm in disguise!"
"Never!" cried Emmy, who was laughing more than she was fighting. It wasn't the idea of Louis secretly being a flobberworm that had her laughing so hard, but instead was the idea of Ash managing to pin her to the ground. Somebody had taken the self-defense classes seriously. It was also unlike Ash to allow herself to be silly. Perhaps her new relationship with Nick was a good thing, making her more fun and light-hearted.
Adding to the moment though, was the realization that as long as Emmy had Nick and Ash, she'd never be alone, and would never become somebody like Erik. She had friends, for better, or for worse. Maybe someday their little trio could expand to a quartet with Louis. Or maybe she was just laughing too hard and not getting enough oxygen to her brain. Like Ash would ever let that happen. Though if Nick bugged her enough, Ash could give in. Surely Louis was preferable to the Swick brothers.
Once Emmy relented and admitted that Louis was truly a flobberworm who had mistakenly swallowed a polyjuice potion, the true explanation for his Squib status, Ash let Emmy, who was still laughing (it had taken several tries for her to get all the words out) go. Nick picked up the remote Emmy had thrown at him earlier, and for the rest of the night they watched a Dr. Who marathon.
Across the country, another trio was meeting.
It was Harry's and Ginny's turn to host the monthly birthday celebrations for the Weasley family. Between all six children, their spouses, grandchildren, and unofficial members, it had just become easier over the years to have one day per month to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, instead of multiple ones. As more and more grandchildren left for Hogwarts, the gatherings had grown smaller during the months with school in session.
However, there were still a few children that had yet to reach their eleventh year. Among these were Lily Potter, celebrating her eleventh birthday two weeks early. Her uncle, Ron, was celebrating his birthday, the first of March, as well. Other March birthdays included Percy's wife, Audrey, and Hugo, the youngest of the Weasley grandchildren, turning ten.
Huddled in one corner of the room were Harry, Hermione, and Ron. In between bites of cake, Ron asked, "So what are you and Ginny going to do with Lily gone next year?"
"Ron, she has yet to receive her letter, if Hogwarts is even still sending them out," stated Hermione.
"I don't think we have to worry about that. When she was eight, James teased her by using Wingardium Leviosa on her favorite stuffed animal to keep it out of reach. She got so mad, she managed to levitate him in the air and catch the toy as it fell to the ground." Harry smiled fondly at the memory. Lily had been so proud at her first display at magic, and James had never made the mistake of taking Lily's things again.
"See, you have nothing to worry about Hermione, Lily's as good as a witch as the rest of us." Seeing the look on his wife's face, he added, "Not that we'd love her any less for turning out to be a Squib, better that than a Slytherin."
"Ron!"
"I'm just joking, I still talk to Albus after all."
"Only because he's a Cannon's fan," said Harry.
"Shows that it's the Hat with the bad taste. After all these years, the spells on it are wearing off. Flitwick should look into that."
Hermione let out an exasperated sigh, and Harry chuckled. Marriage and children hadn't changed their little trio too much.
"Lily managed to convince Ginny to spend the night before her birthday at the Leaky Cauldron, so they'll already be there first thing in the morning to get her supplies. Never mind the fact that we have Floo Powder and a fireplace."
A frown appeared on Hermione's face. "Is that safe? What about all those underage children who have gone missing, only to turn up comatose?"
"So far they've all been Muggle-borns. It could be a coincidence, or the more likely answer is that they're easier to grab than children surrounded by armed witches and wizards. We don't have much more information than that," responded Harry, talking about his latest case.
"Any chance the Order is behind it?" asked Ron.
"No definite connections, yet. Our best guess is that it's the same individuals responsible for the missing book and quill at Hogwarts. That's the only way they could even know where to find the Muggle-borns."
That was the main theory at the moment, but as to why the children were being taken, or why they were found unconscious, he didn't know. One theory was rogue Death Eaters taking out Muggle-borns before hand. Harry had dismissed this theory early on, Death Eaters wouldn't let the children be found alive. Though, their current condition wasn't much better.
"Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about. You see-"
But whatever Harry was saying was going to have to wait. Hugo and Lily had started to open presents, and Harry didn't want to miss a moment of his daughter's last birthday at home. It was little moments like these that made all the long hours he put into tracking down the Order and his job worthwhile; the knowledge that his children would have the happy and care-free childhood he never did.
**Author's Note**
I'd like to thank Gespenster Jager, LizziePixie-Aiko, and AwkwardedOut for leaving reviews. Reviews are always nice and appreciated. I'd also like to thank everybody who favorited the story or added it to the alerts. I don't I've ever had so many for one single chapter, so it's nice to know that there is a growing audience for this story.
Next chapter will have more training, which will be more exciting than it sounds. Also, Ron's birthday being the first of March is canon. Hugo's, Lily's, and Audrey's being in March I made up.
I would also like to mention that I have the rest of the story figured out, just not written. In the last couple of chapters there will be character deaths. Despite Emmy's good intentions, she is involved in a revolution, and revolutions are typically violent. So just be aware, and don't say I didn't warn you.