"Thanks," Hugo said after a long silence and Ayla glanced at him, pausing in her steps as they walked along the side of the road. "For getting me to talk to him."

Ayla smiled supportively and kept walking.

"And for what you said to him inside," Hugo added quietly and Ayla pivoted to face him. "I know you talked to him. And I appreciate it."

"I just helped him surface his thoughts; I didn't do anything," she assured him modestly.

Hugo smiled at her. "Okay, I think I'm calm enough to apparate now."

Ayla grabbed his arm and apparated them back to the Cade household. They stepped through the front door and Jake called them back into the living room. They sat back down, grinning sheepishly.

"So, if you guys are going to keep dating—" he began to Brad and Ayla, but was cut off by sputtering from both of them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about dating?" Brad demanded.

"Yeah, dating's a little strong, don't you think, Jake?" Ayla laughed nervously.

"Wait, Brad, I thought you said you were in love!" Liam protested.

"You knew they were together?" Hugo demanded of Liam, who slunk down in his seat.

Jake discreetly fist-bumped Brad as the attention turned momentarily to Liam.

"Yeah, I, uh…that speech was just a bunch of shit I've heard Albus say about Ayla. Or some variation of it, you know?" Brad explained and Ayla looked down.

"Who's Albus?" Danny questioned, confused.

"Ayla's boyfriend," Liam replied.

"I thought—" Danny began, gesturing to Brad.

"Ex-boyfriend," Ayla interjected.

"And I'm not her boyfriend," Brad snapped at his older brother.

"Teenagers…" Danny muttered, standing up. "Let's have a party."

"It's nine o'clock in the morning," José pointed out.

"I meant tonight!" Danny insisted.

"No," Colin stated firmly. "I'm not allowing you to trash the house."

"You don't allow me to do anything," Danny sneered defiantly. "I'll do whatever the hell I want and I want to throw a party."

"No. I will stand guard at the door to ensure that nobody enters our home if I have to—I won't let this happen," Colin disagreed calmly.

"Please, Colin?" Svetlana begged persuasively, tightening his tie. He sighed after several moments of behavior that made the rest of the group look away uncomfortably.

"Yeah, bro, listen to the slut!" Danny exclaimed and Svetlana whirled to face him, her mouth open, clearly offended. "I was referring to Ayla," he covered, kicking her lightly to get her to stand from her chair.

"Hey!" Ayla cried, but Danny shot her a pleading look. "Alright, Colin, I'll make sure the party doesn't get out of control," she promised and Bradley snorted so she pinched the pressure point on his neck until he whimpered.

"Alright, fine, you seem responsible," Colin relented and Brad stifled his laugh with his fist, and Ayla dug her nails in harder to keep him from laughing out loud.

Danny shot his fist in the air and lifted Ayla in victory with one muscular arm. She shrieked until he tossed her onto the couch, where she landed on Bradley's lap.

"Sure, throw gasoline on the fire; why don't you?" Jake snapped sarcastically, yanking Ayla off of Bradley's legs. "We don't need them hooking up on the couch too."

"Dude, you're just bitter because you haven't gotten any like the rest of us did," Danny said, clapping his brother on the back. "But don't worry; we'll fix that tonight. Guys, invite all of your Hogwarts friends," he instructed, tossing Brad his wand. "I know a great spell to make mass announcements to people…" He guided Bradley out of the room by the shoulder.

Colin watched the others in the room, shaking his head slowly in dread for the inevitable.

X

"Alright, so we've got Colin and Svetlana out of the house?" Danny queried.

"Check," Brad replied.

"Food?"

"Check."

"Booze?"

"Check."

"Then we're good!" Danny announced, tucking his wand into his pocket. The doorbell rang right on cue and he jogged over to answer it, letting in a crowd and leaving the door wide open for others. "Pizza's in the living room, booze is in the kitchen!" he called to the group, following them into the kitchen and grabbing a beer bottle. A massive stream of Hogwarts students flowed in next, grabbing their drinks and dancing in the living room.

"Damn, they didn't party like this when we were in Hogwarts, did they?" Danny asked and Jake shook his head, eyes widening at the screaming crowd.

"Definitely not," he agreed and Danny clapped his hand on his shoulder.

"Now, let's find you a pretty lady." Jake shoved his brother off of him jokingly and Danny put him in a headlock. "Oh, what about her?" he suggested after a moment, releasing his brother, who scrambled up and fixed his mussed hair.

He followed his brother's gaze to see an attractive darker-skinned woman with shockingly green eyes who was entering the room with a firewhiskey in hand.

"Yes," Jake agreed, clapping his brother on the back in thanks and approaching the girl. "Hey," he greeted her and she looked at him appraisingly, smirking and meeting his eyes. She grinned after a moment and followed him up the stairs. Danny shot his brother a thumbs-up as he passed, smacking him on the shoulder.

Ayla and Bradley were amidst the Hogwarts crowd in the living room, both drinking from their own bottles of firewhiskeys, Ayla dancing on Bradley as he gulped down his drink and gazed at her. Liam was across the room kissing Sophia in the corner.

After several songs, Brad guided Ayla upstairs by the hand, kissing her as they approached his bedroom. He opened the door behind his back and slipped inside, pressing Ayla back against the wall. She shrieked after a moment and Brad whirled to see that there were two figures in his bed. The male bolted upright, scrambling to cover himself with the sheets.

"Jake!" Brad cried. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"Some random couple was in my room," Jake explained frantically. The girl slowly emerged from the covers and Ayla clapped her hands over her mouth. Brad's jaw dropped.

"Natasha?" Ayla demanded incredulously. Brad shot a furious look at his brother and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Jake looked worriedly at Ayla, clearly unsure of what to do. "Go, dumbass!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the door. He yanked his boxers back on and chased after his younger brother. Ayla shut the door behind him as Natasha redressed. She folded her arms and waited.

"I don't get it," Natasha said slowly, her voice sounding hoarse. "Brad's dating you now…so why is he acting like he's not over me all of the sudden? I know he's over me; he's got you now." Before Ayla could interrupt, Natasha shot her a look. "Oh, please, you two were so obvious back there on the dance floor." Ayla blushed but Natasha ignored her and continued. "So why does Brad care if I hook up with someone else?"

It seemed like an obvious answer to Ayla, but a thought suddenly occurred to her—a key piece of information that Natasha might not know. "Wait—you know who Jake is, right?"

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked, zipping her dress.

"He's Brad's brother," Ayla told her and Natasha's mouth slowly formed a soft O shape.

"Oh, crap…" she said slowly, running a hand through her hair, and Ayla nodded.

"Yeah…" Ayla said uncomfortably.

"Can you, uh…" Natasha began awkwardly. "You're, um, you're standing on my underwear."

Ayla sighed, stepping to the side.

"What am I gonna do?" Natasha wondered helplessly, running her hands over her face. "Look, I know this seems like something I would do just to cause trouble and get a rise out of everyone, but I swear I really didn't know."

Ayla sighed, unfolding her arms. "Alright, just get out of here before Jake tells everyone; I'll talk Brad off the ledge." She held the door open.

"Thank you," Natasha said genuinely, stepping through the door and squeezing Ayla's arm gratefully. Ayla made sure she left out the front door before finding Bradley and Jake down the hall.

"Brad, calm down," she pleaded as she interrupted his bellowing towards Jake.

"I didn't know she was your ex, Brad, she was just a hot girl that walked through!" Jake shouted back.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be hooking up with seventeen-year-olds!" Brad raged, veins bulging.

"Maybe she shouldn't have been sleeping with her ex-boyfriend's brother!" Jake argued defensively.

"She didn't know who he was, Brad," Ayla cut in on Natasha's behalf.

"Well that's rich coming from the skank who routinely sleeps with both Potter brothers," Brad snapped and Ayla stepped back.

"I can't believe you're bringing that up now," Ayla said dully, backing away from him.

"Is there anyone you haven't been with?" Jake demanded, eyebrows raised. "Because I know about—"

Ayla cut him off by glaring at Brad and darting down the steps.

X

Albus rolled over in bed, feeling himself awakening slowly. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, reaching for the glasses that he wore only at night, resting next to his contact case. His hands fumbled around the nightstand, as it was still dark in the room. He owed his horrible vision to his father, but had chosen contact lenses as a child since he already looked enough like his father to begin with.

He placed his glasses on his face and flicked on the lamp to see his roommate smirking at him.

"Oh, hey, Carter," he murmured, his voice croaky. "Why are you still up?"

"It's hard to get any rest while you're yelling out in your sleep," his roommate, Carter, replied, struggling to keep a straight face.

"What was I saying?" Al wondered and Carter raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh," Al groaned, burying his face in the pillow. "Sorry…" he added awkwardly as he sat up.

"Nah, it's cool. So this Ayla girl you were dreaming about…is she the one who broke your heart?" Carter inquired as Albus stood and crossed the room, scratching his shirtless chest with one hand and running the other over his messy bedhead.

"Go back to sleep, man," Albus croaked tiredly. "I'll try to keep my sex dreams to a minimum," he added and Carter laughed.

"Night, mate," Carter said as he ducked back under the covers. Albus held eye contact with his reflection until he heard Carter begin to softly snore. He sighed and climbed tiredly into bed, wishing he could hold Ayla in his arms.

X

"Whoa, Ayla, slow down!" Lily called, chasing Ayla out the front door. "What happened?"

"Why am I dating Brad? He is such an ass!" Ayla cried out furiously.

"What did he say?" Lily demanded.

"He pointed out how slutty I was for dating both Albus and James. Except he just pointed out that I had slept with both of them, completely ignoring the fact that it was in a long-term relationship; it's not like I just had a one-night stand with each of them!" Ayla sat down on the bench in the garden. "Sorry, you don't want to hear this."

"No, it's fine, really. This is about Brad being a jackass, and I could talk about that for days," Lily laughed, sitting down next to her. Ayla cracked a smile, bumping her best friend playfully with her shoulder. "So, how'd it come up, anyway?" Lily asked.

"Jake slept with somebody that Brad had also slept with," Ayla explained carefully, not lying but not revealing the fact that it was Natasha.

"Oh, what a shock," Lily said sarcastically, chuckling. "Those two idiots have slept with everyone; they had to know there would be some overlap at some point."

Ayla laughed. "Good point," she agreed, standing up and pulling Lily to her feet. "I guess I should go mediate that argument up there."

"Careful," Lily warned. "Jake and Brad have some explosive tempers."

Ayla laughed. "I'll do what I can before they wind up burning down the house." She stepped through the door and jogged up the steps. Brad caught her on the landing.

"Hey, Ayla, I'm sorry, I—"

"Whatever; where's Jake?" Ayla dismissed him.

"He left to go find Natasha and explain that he didn't know who she was," Brad spat, shaking his head angrily.

"Good luck with that; she's probably apparated to a different country by now," Ayla scoffed.

"Wow, leaving the country after sleeping with someone puts a whole new perspective towards my whole 'sleeping with someone and never calling them' thing," Brad joked and Ayla glared at him, but slowly broke into a smile.

"You're an idiot," she laughed, shaking her head. He grinned and took her hand, pulling her back to the dance floor.

X

James rubbed his eyes exhaustedly as he looked at the blurry labels on the shelf in front of them. He blinked until his tired eyes focused on the price tag. He placed several cans in his cart and moved along, leaning on the handle of the shopping cart. His heavy eyes began to shut slowly as he aimlessly pushed his cart along. He jolted awake at the sound of a loud crash.

"My bad," he murmured thickly.

"Are you okay?" came a high but quiet voice and James's eyes popped, suddenly very awake.

"Cindy," he breathed and the girl looked up, her face falling.

"I didn't realize it was you…" Cindy mumbled, picking up the belongings she had dropped. James knelt to help her, gathering the items that were scattered across the floor. He paused as he picked up a sheet of birth control pills that had spilled out of her purse. Cindy blushed and took them from his hand, placing them back in her bag.

"Where's Leah?" James asked dully, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"With my mom," Cindy replied, realizing how far she was standing from him.

James nodded slowly. "Right, well, um, I have some stuff to do, so…" James told her, stepping away and turning his cart.

"Okay. It was…it was good to see you, James," Cindy said quietly and James nodded politely. When he was out of Cindy's sight, he abandoned his cart and darted out of the store, yanking his muggle cell phone from his pocket.

X

Ayla felt Brad's hands on her as they danced, her hand reaching the back of his neck as he stood behind her. She felt her phone vibrate and glanced at the screen, squealing when she caught sight of the caller ID.

"It's James!" she cried in shock. "I'll be back!" she dashed out the front door and into the lawn, answering the phone. "Hey, J, what's up?" she asked eagerly and heard no answer. "James?"

"Oh. Sorry. I hit the speed dial before I remembered we're not speaking…" James said awkwardly.

Knowing he was about to hang up, Ayla urgently spoke. "Wait, wait, what were you calling for?" James neglected to answer again and a thought occurred to her. "I'm on your speed dial?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. Forget I called."

"Wait, James, please!" Ayla called into the phone and she heard James sigh. "What happened? If it shook you up enough that you forgot you weren't speaking to me, it must have been important. What happened?"

James groaned quietly and Ayla pictured him sitting down and pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he always did when he was stressed. The thought brought a sad smile to Ayla's face.

"I, uh, I ran into Cindy," James told her, struggling to steady his voice.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry," Ayla breathed. "Did she have the baby with her?"

James shook his head before remembering Ayla couldn't see him. "Uh, no, she didn't. But um…I decided I'm taking the custody agreement to court," he revealed slowly, regretting it as soon as he said it. He didn't want to involve Ayla—he had to stand his ground; he was angry with her.

"Are you sure? What changed?" Ayla questioned, as James had been against the idea of court previously.

"For a while, I've been counting on Cindy and I getting back together and that's why I hadn't already done it. I thought the situation would work itself out because we were still in love and it was only a matter of time before everyone was back to normal. But now…well, her purse kind of spilled and…she had pills."

"She's on drugs?" Ayla demanded, shocked.

"No, no, birth control pills. She's seeing someone. So if I want to see Leah, I have to take it to court," he explained, and Ayla winced at the pain in his voice. "Look, Ayla, don't worry about it. I'm sorry I called you, I didn't even mean for you to find out about this. I just panicked; this doesn't mean we're friends again or anything."

"Y-yeah, I know…" Ayla said truthfully, but hearing it aloud made it hurt even more. "I could help you though. With the trial, I mean. I could help you figure out how to say what you want to say."

"Yeah, okay, I'll think about it," he said dully.

"Okay, James. I'll see you soon, I hope," Ayla said optimistically.

"Bye." He hung up and Ayla sighed.

"It's a step in the right direction," she mumbled to herself. She opened the door to see Bradley waiting with his arms crossed. "Sorry, that was James," she explained.

"So you said," Brad responded coldly.

"Are you okay?" Ayla asked pointedly, raising her eyebrows.

"So you can just run out on me to talk to James?"

"Look, Brad, we haven't spoken in months, I miss him and I thought he needed me so I tried to help him!" Ayla defended herself.

"Oh, because you're such good friends?" he retorted skeptically.

"We are good friends! Or we were until everything fell apart!"

"Friends who slept together," Brad muttered.

"What is your obsession with that?" Ayla demanded, outraged. "You've been with plenty of other girls so why do you care that James and I were together years ago?"

"I'm not still in love with any of the girls I hooked up with!" Brad bellowed back and Ayla froze.

"I'm not in love with James either, Brad," Ayla told him honestly.

"You know I wasn't talking about him," Brad said quietly.

"Albus? No, Brad, believe me, Albus and I are done. That's never going to change; you know what happened."

"Look, I just hate how you're still so close with your ex-boyfriends, it's weird!"

"I never thought you were the jealous type, Bradley," Ayla said, slightly amused.

"Hey, I am not jealous, I just think it's weird," Brad corrected her immediately.

"Sure," Ayla agreed, smirking.

Brad shook his head, breaking into a broad grin. "My god, you can be a pain in the ass," he joked, kissing her.

X

Ayla awoke the next morning, finding herself on the floor of the Cade living room. She sat up slowly, and the sun streaming through the window suddenly had a clear path to her eyes. She gasped and hunched over at the shocking pain in her head.

Her gasp awoke Brad, who seemed to have the same routine. Clutching his head, he untangled himself from the others on the floor, which included Ayla, Lily, Liam, Sophia, Hugo, José, Danny, Jake, and a few people he did not recognize.

"It's so loud," he groaned even though the only noise in the room was the faint ticking of the clock on the mantle. He kicked Jake in the shins, who yelped loudly, causing Brad and Ayla to grasp their heads in pain.

"Well, there's karma for you," Ayla said with a wince. Jake's cry of pain awakened the rest of the group, who all flinched at both the sound and the bright light.

The door burst open suddenly, slamming against the frame and causing all of them to whimper miserably.

"I knew it!" Colin declared loudly.

"Dude, could you just be a little quieter?" Danny mumbled into the rug.

"How's this?" Colin bellowed, punishing all of them for the party by hitting their ears with the deafening noise of his angry voice. "This place is trashed! What happened here last night?"

The group exchanged glances and all looked down quickly.

"Just the usual party stuff…" Ayla lied. "You know, nothing major."

"I want all of this cleaned up within the hour," Colin commanded. "I'll use magic to clean up inside. But some gits put graffiti on the back of our house!"

"Seriously?" Ayla demanded, eyes popping. "What did it say?"

"It was some derogatory comment regarding my two youngest brothers," Colin sneered.

Jake and Brad exchanged a glance and looked down.

"Natasha," Ayla muttered quietly enough for only Brad to hear.

"So you can clean the graffiti by hand," Colin declared, holding up a bucket in each hand. "If it's not gone in two hours, I think mum and dad would be very interested in knowing what happened here last night." He collected all of their wands with a confident smirk on his face. Brad groaned and grabbed one bucket, slamming the door behind him as he walked outside. The rest of the group grabbed sponges as Jake took the other bucket and they followed Brad out the back door, descending the steps of the deck to see that a large section of the brick on their house had been covered in purple profanity.

"Damn, I can't even reach the top of this!" Danny complained, stretching his arm up and gripping the sponge, but still falling short of the top of the profane words.

Danny and Jake crouched down reluctantly.

"Alright, the two lightest—get up here," Jake commanded. "Danny's taller so whichever one of you is shorter, get on his shoulders."

Ayla clambered onto Danny's shoulders and Lily onto Jake's and they began scrubbing at the paint. Liam, Sophia, Hugo, José, and the random other party guests that had been too drunk to leave began working on the rest of the graffiti.

"Dude, your brother is mean," one of the unrecognized boys said to Bradley.

"You said it, mate," Brad grunted, rubbing his yellow sponge against the brick wall to no avail. He groaned and threw down his sponge, slumping onto the ground against the wall.

"Hey—" Jake called him out, snapping his fingers. "Get back up and keep working; I'm not taking the fall for this."

"Well, maybe you should, Jake," Brad snapped. "This wouldn't be here if you hadn't slept with Natasha!"

"Natasha?" Liam demanded and Sophia glanced at him curiously.

"That's who did this," Bradley replied angrily. "Jake slept with her."

"How many times do I have to tell you I didn't know who she was?" Jake bellowed, leaning down to yell over Bradley.

"Whoa," Lily muttered as Jake leaned forward. Ayla and Danny each stuck out a hand to steady her and Danny whacked Jake alongside the head to clue him in.

"My bad," he grumbled to Lily, straightening up.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that you should have at least asked her name first?" Brad shouted back. "What are you doing sleeping with 17-year-olds, anyway? For once, could you just not be a dumbass?"

"Oh, my god, will both of you just shut up?" Ayla roared, shocking herself. "The longer you sit here bitching about who betrayed who, the less we'll get done and then Colin will call your parents so will you both just get over it and wash this off? Sure, Jake shouldn't have been sleeping with her without knowing her name; but, Brad, he didn't do it to hurt you personally! You guys are brothers and you're supposed to stand by each other all the time. Do you know what some people would do for a family like yours? Just move on!"

Danny slowly raised his hand to fist-bump her as the group fell absolutely silent and she reluctantly tapped her knuckles to his, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, guys, I didn't mean to unload like that. I'm just sick of seeing relationships fall apart over stupid little mistakes," Ayla said tiredly. She cleared her throat uncomfortably as the deafening silence remained. "Um, Danny, can you move closer to the wall so I can reach this spot?"

Brad stood up and stepped towards his brother, shaking his hand in a truce. Jake rolled his eyes and pulled his younger brother in for a hug, shaking his head.

"You're an idiot," he told his brother playfully, who took a light jab at his abdomen.

If only every fight could end like that, Ayla thought as she pressed her sponge against the brick wall of the house.

X

Ayla leapt over the back of the couch onto Brad's lap, her violet eyes bright and wide below the Santa hat she wore with her black shorts, green Christmas t-shirt, and high Christmas socks. She sipped her eggnog and reached forward to grab a box from the pile in front of them. She passed it to Lily, grinning.

Liam had invited Sophia, and Colin had invited Svetlana to join the rest of the group and Brad's brothers for their Christmas celebrations. Danny had invited Mark, who had of course attempted to confiscate all of their drinks. However, Danny had given him enough rum that he forgot the others were underage. They had all been invited to Ron and Hermione's house for dinner, but they had declined to allow Hugo to spend quality time with his parents, taking the bold step of inviting José.

Danny and Jake were lounging on the floor digging through presents, Ayla and Brad sat on the couch next to Lily who was next to Hugo and José, Liam shared a chair with Sophia, and Colin and Svetlana relaxed on the recliner next to them. Mark was sitting on the mantle, fiddling with the wrapping paper of one of the previously opened gifts.

Before Lily could finish opening her present, the doorbell rang unexpectedly.

"I'll get it!" Ayla volunteered cheerfully, setting down her mug and bouncing over to the door, her mood soaring. She opened the door to see Lily's father looking very somber. "Harry!" she greeted him brightly. "How are you? Come on in; Lily's inside!"

Hearing an adult at the door, Danny and Jake discreetly moved their kegs behind the couch.

"Actually, I'd like to speak to Hugo and Lily in private if that's alright," Harry said quietly.

"Of course!" Ayla replied, gesturing towards the den off the grand foyer. "The rest of us are in the family room if you need us; you guys can shut this door if you need the privacy. Lily? Hugo?" she sang and the two red-haired teens entered the room.

"Dad!" Lily exclaimed in shock.

"Is everything okay, Uncle Harry?" Hugo asked cautiously as he noticed Harry's lack of a response.

"I'll leave you to it," Ayla said quietly, dancing out of the room as Harry stepped into the den with his daughter and nephew, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, what's up?" Brad asked, nodding towards the door.

"Harry's here," Ayla told him, surprised. "I'm not sure what's going on."

"Is he cool?" Jake wondered cautiously.

"He's not going to have you arrested for serving minors, Jake, I don't think that's why he's here," Ayla replied wryly, glancing anxiously at the closed door to the den. Lily and Hugo emerged after a few moments and Ayla saw Harry exit out the front door.

"What's going on?" Ayla asked immediately, rising from Bradley's lap and approaching the two.

"Our great-grandma died," Hugo said quietly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ayla apologized deeply, her face falling as she hugged both of them.

"It's so hectic at home because of it; I don't know if we should go now or just wait until the funeral, or…" Lily said helplessly.

"Worry about what's going to make you feel best, okay? If you want to keep your mind off of it and stay, then do that, but if you want to be around your family, that's perfectly fine too," Ayla assured them. "It's not going to be a burden for them to have you there no matter how crowded it is, don't worry about that."

Hugo nodded in thanks. "The funeral is tomorrow, so I think I'll just stay here if that's alright."

"Yeah, of course, man," Brad responded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "As long as you need."

"Now here's what you really need," Danny said, passing each of them a drink. Lily shook her head, laughing without humor, but her eyes filled with tears.

"Ayla, can we…?" she squeaked and Ayla put her arm around her best friend, guiding her up the steps into the room they were staying in together.

"I guess we knew it was coming," Lily admitted as Ayla closed the door, sitting on the bed in front of Lily. "Remember when my Great Grandpa Septimus died? This was his wife."

"Is there anything I can do? Absolutely anything, just name it," Ayla offered, rubbing her friend's back soothingly.

"Ayla…I feel awful saying this, but…" she looked down, twisting her hands nervously. "With everything that's going on with Albus and James…"

"You don't want me to come to the funeral and make things awkward," Ayla concluded, nodding understandingly.

"Ayla, I'm sorry, I—" Lily began, teary eyes widening.

"No, Lily, no, it's fine! Whatever you need, okay?" Lily nodded and Ayla hugged her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this happened and I'm sorry that I messed everything with Albus and James up so badly that the situation is like this."

"No, don't be," Lily sniffled, pulling back and wiping her nose. "Thanks, Ayla. I, um, I'm just going to hang out in here for a bit. Can you ask Hugo to come up?"

"Yeah, of course," Ayla said softly, hugging her friend once more before heading downstairs. She crouched next to Hugo's spot on the couch.

"Lily needs you upstairs," she whispered and he nodded, releasing José's hand and ascending the steps wearily.

Ayla curled up next to Brad and he put his arm around her.

"Poor Lily and Hugo," Ayla said sadly.

"Kind of puts a damper on the whole Christmas thing," Brad observed and Ayla sighed.

"Hey, Ayla, can we talk?" José demanded, nodding toward the doorway. Ayla stood again and followed him into the den where Harry had talked to Lily and Hugo. He pulled a pamphlet from his back pocket. "Hugo just showed me the funeral announcement," he told her, handing her the paper with trembling hands. She looked for a moment, face contorted in confusion, before she clapped both hands to her mouth and the pamphlet fluttered to the ground. "Recognize her?" José asked dryly.

"Cedrella was Hugo and Lily's great grandmother?" Ayla hissed in shock.

Suddenly, the door opened and Lily stood in the doorway. "Sorry I left my—what's going on?"

"Nothing," Ayla replied, hiding the pamphlet behind her back hastily.

"Why do you have one of the funeral announcements my dad brought?" Lily queried, cocking her head curiously.

Ayla sighed, drawing it from behind her back. "Alright, um…we both knew her. She volunteered at Sunnydale for a few years—she was the only genuinely nice person there."

"Oh, Ayla, now I feel terrible for asking you not to come to the funeral!" Lily cried, her face ashen. "I'm so sorry, Ayla, I didn't realize—"

"No, Lily, it's okay, I'm sure she doesn't remember me," Ayla assured her. "Really, it's fine, I was just surprised because I had no idea she was your grandmother. Small world, that's all."

"You're sure?" Lily asked cautiously, looking warily at her best friend.

"I am positive; don't worry about it," Ayla pleaded, hugging her again. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"I'm going to go back upstairs; I just left the rest of the announcements in here," Lily said, reaching for the stack of pamphlets on the table. She closed the door behind her and Ayla widened her eyes at José.

"I can't believe that all this time, Cedrella was my best friend's great grandmother and I didn't know about it," Ayla said softly. "She used to help me sneak out to play Quidditch in the middle of the night. I still remember the last thing she said to me before I left Sunnydale for good: 'sweetie, sometimes it's the darkest clouds that cover the brightest sky.' It was storming that day, but obviously she wasn't just talking about the weather; she was talking about my life."

"Did she do that little wink after that she always did when she said stuff like that?" José asked and Ayla laughed sadly.

"Yeah, she sure did," Ayla said sentimentally. "I feel so bad for Lily and Hugo; Cedrella was such a great woman. I can't even imagine."

"Yeah, Hugo told me they were close," José replied, folding his arms sadly. "She worked at Sunnydale back when she thought it was a home to take care of wizards who had been kicked out by their muggle families. She left when she found out how they really treated us. She tried for years to shut the place down; in fact, I'm pretty sure she never stopped working towards that."

"Are you going to the funeral?" Ayla asked and José shrugged helplessly.

"I'm not good at goodbyes; you know that," he said stiffly, avoiding eye contact. Ayla hugged him tightly, her eyes filling with tears.

"I love the Potters so much; all of them. Why does all of this crap happen to them?" Ayla murmured into his shoulder. "I want to fix all of this. But I just can't."

X

"That was a beautiful service," Molly Weasley said softly, putting her arm around Arthur's shoulders, who patted her hand gently. He picked up the parchment in front of him.

"Kids, Gran loved you all very much," Arthur said to his extended family—all of his sons and his daughter, plus all of their spouses and their children. "She's left a note to each of you great grandkids, asking me to read them aloud." He shuffled through a pile of papers. "Alright, Victoire," he said, looking up at her. The beautiful woman was standing with Teddy, their hands intertwined gently over her swollen stomach.

"Victoire, my mother may not be part Veela, but one day I was young and beautiful like you, sweetie. Take care of yourself and stay beautiful; I expect you to carry on my reputation! Stay classy, my lovely girl," he read. By the end, Victoire was laughing until tears came to her eyes.

"If there was one thing Gran knew for sure, it was class," Victoire chuckled. "I just wish she'd stuck around long enough to lecture this little one," she said, rubbing her pregnant belly. Teddy wrapped his arm around her and kissed the side of her head, stroking her shoulder.

Arthur picked up the next note. "James, I know you will be a wonderful dad when your lovely girlfriend finally pops out that kid—" Arthur stopped as James looked down uncomfortably. "James, you have to understand, her memory was starting to go towards the end—"

"She doesn't remember Leah," James said dully. "And Leah won't remember her either. Hell, I'm lucky if Leah even remembers me," he muttered, running his hand over his face.

Arthur cleared his throat and selected the next slip of paper from the pile. "Albus," he began and Albus shifted in his seat, eyes widening. "Albus, I've always admired how you've been so kind to everyone. You always put others first and I've always wished I was more like you. But you need to let go sometimes and take a leap of faith. My dear Albus, if you have the courage I know you have, you'll follow my next request."

Albus leaned forward, brow furrowing in anticipation as Arthur continued reading.

"Back when I volunteered at a wizard home, before I found out what they were really about, I met the most darling little girl named Ayla. Ayla Torres, I believe."

Lily clapped her hands over her mouth, tears rushing to her eyes and warmth filling her heart as her grandfather continued to read.

"I got to know her well over the year—between when she was staying there and when she came back to visit. Anyway, she could certainly use someone like you to make her a little less broken every day. I haven't seen a couple so destined for each other since the day I met my Septimus. Find her, Albus. Do whatever it takes to make this work because, believe me, it is meant to. I'm not saying it will be easy, but I'm saying it will be worth it."

Albus stood shakily, meeting the teary eyes of his family members around him. "Excuse me," he murmured, picking up the note and stepping past his older brother into the hallway, cutting through the house to the front door and closing it behind him with a shaking hand. He apparated to his favorite spot on the dock—the place he had always gone to vent, the place he had danced with Ayla before he had left, the place that he finally felt a little bit at peace. He sat down on the edge of the dock, his feet dangling in the water, instantly making him flash back to Ted and Victoire's wedding, when he was wading through the water and Ayla approached him.

He pulled the note from his pocket, struggling to focus on the text as his hand trembled. Albus closed his fist around the parchment, and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath.

"Hey, Gran," he said quietly, feeling stupid as he did. "Um, I got your letter," he continued, holding it up. "And, uh…I have met Ayla. She's the love of my life." He looked down, smiling sadly. "You sure know how to pick 'em, gran," he managed, his voice breaking. His eyes slowly filled with tears and he took a shaky breath with his fist over his mouth. "God, I miss her," he breathed. "B-but she lied and that means I can't trust her now, right? Right, Gran?" he waited a moment in silence, feeling like an idiot for even remotely expecting any sort of response. "I really wish you could talk to me right now, Gran. I really need some advice right now and you were the wisest person I've ever known. So, if it was Great Pop-Pop, would you have forgiven him?" Albus waited silently. Upon hearing no answer, he gripped the edges of the dock and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force his tears back into his eyes.

"How much did you really care about her?" came a slow voice that was aged but steady.

"Gran?" Albus whispered in amazement, opening his eyes widely. Sure enough, in front of him was the short woman, standing at 5'3, her white hair curled to ear-length, her white capri pants below her pink shirt rolled so as not to get wet with the water. She drew her floral shawl over her shoulders as she stepped closer to Albus, the water seeming to pass directly through her thin ankles.

"Well?" she asked expectantly, as if the idea of a dead person walking should raise no concerns. "How much?"

"She was the love of my life, Gran," Albus said helplessly.

"Was?" she repeated, contorting her face in disbelief. "Your life isn't over, Albus."

"Without her it is," Albus said quietly, looking into the distance instead of at her, knowing that if he did he would know she wasn't real.

"I guess you have your answer, then," she concluded, slowly fading away.

"N-no, Gran, I don't!" he called, but the vision had already faded, leaving just the stream in front of him. "Do I?" he murmured to himself, the sun finally revealing itself from behind the clouds.

X

I know that Cedrella would not have been alive at this time but I just needed it for the storyline! Hope this doesn't upset anyone!