Summer had turned out to be very interesting. For one, living in Grimmauld Place was interesting in and of itself. It being the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix made it a very lively, busy, and secretive place.

People came and went at all times of the day, and Elizabeth met several new people. A few Ministry workers that always seemed on edge, several Aurors, a few potions brewers, and other miscellaneous people.

The most interesting thing was certainly Elizabeth being allowed to be a part of the Order. Somewhat. As much as Minerva allowed, anyways. She was never allowed in any meetings, or even in the same room when the darker points of the present were being discussed. That seemed to be her mum's and Remus's goal.

The only way she could be involved was to offer any relevant information she could from the time she was born into. Moody had pointed out that she was the only one who ever used rhyme spells, and had suggested she write down as many as she could, and try her best to teach the skill of hand magic to some members of the Order. Unfortunately, she was unable to actually do any magic to demonstrate, since she was underage and out of school for the summer. But, she was willing to do whatever she could to help.

So, she wrote spell after spell down, even ones she didn't think would be useful. Then, when she ran out of spells she could remember, Hermione came up with an interesting solution.

Elizabeth and Ginny had been on a couch in one of the upstairs rooms on a very rainy afternoon, both their legs sprawled out on opposite sides as they discussed the problem. Ginny would ask if she remembered a certain spell Ginny had seen her do, and every time Elizabeth would say yes. That was when Hermione came in with a solution.

"How about a word association game?" she offered.

"What's that?" Ginny and Elizabeth asked at the same time.

"I read about it in muggle psychology books when I was younger. If I say a word, maybe that could help you remember a spell you forgot. It can be any word at all." she explained.

"Does it really work?" Elizabeth asked, cautiously excited.

"It has in past cases. There's a good chance, depending on how many spells you know but can't remember." Hermione verified.

Elizabeth looked over to Ginny to get her opinion, and the redhead just shrugged.

"Alright, let's give it a try." Elizabeth said.

"Okay. Light?"

Elizabeth pondered it, but nothing came to mind. "Already got the light-based ones down." she said, gesturing to the stack of parchment.

"Besides, we have Lumos anyways." Ginny pointed out.

"Air?"

"...Nothing."

"Fire?"

That made something arise in Elizabeth's mind. "Oh!"

Hastily, she scrambled to get to the parchment and find her quill. She wrote the spell down as fast as she could, desperate not to forget it.

"Extinguish a fire one raised, begone this fiery blaze!" she said aloud as she wrote it down.

"Oh, it worked! Thank you, Hermione!" Elizabeth exclaimed with gratefulness, hugging Hermione tightly.

"Of course, Elizabeth! Even if we aren't allowed in the meetings, it feels good to be helpful to the cause." Hermione replied, smiling widely.

They continued the game, and Elizabeth remembered a few more spells, but nothing as important as the extinguishing spell.

"Hey, how about instead of remembering spells, Hermione says a word and we see what the first word that pops into our heads is?" Ginny suggested, having grown bored.

"That does sound fun." Elizabeth said, having moved to the floor to continue writing. She too was growing bored with the tedious task of trying to remember things she didn't even remember forgetting.

"Shouldn't we keep working?" Hermione asked.

"C'mon, Hermione. It'll be more fun than this." Ginny pointed out.

"Yeah, and summer is for having fun." Elizabeth said, egging it on.

Hermione sighed but relented. "Oh, alright."

And thus the game began.

"Hmmm, Sirius," Hermione said.

"Protective," Elizabeth said, remembering how he blocked a werewolfied Remus from attacking her and their friends.

"Funny," Ginny said, referencing the man's many jokes.

"Rain." was Hermione's next word.

"Refreshing." was Ginny's reply.

"Cozy," Elizabeth answered.

The game continued for a while longer, and included many laughs and teasing, until Hermione said, "Romance."

Ginny said Micheal but after a moment's hesitation. They turned to Elizabeth, who was blushing. Ginny shot up.

"Do you like someone?" she asked, Hermione was also very interested in the topic.

Elizabeth began to blush even more. "I think I might. But I'm not sure."

"Who is it?!" Hermione and Ginny asked.

Elizabeth looked up at them and smiled. "Neville."

They both gasped. "I KNEW it! I knew it, Hermione! I told you they were going to end up liking each other!" Ginny exclaimed, standing up excitedly.

Hermione was laughing and nodded. "Fine. You were right."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. "You both knew?" she asked.

"I've been suspecting it since the Yule Ball. Ever since then, you and Neville were talking all the time, and he came to check on you after the whole ward thing, you two would make so much sense!" Ginny said, sitting down next to her best friend.

"So this whole time I was oblivious? Really?" Elizabeth asked, giggling.

"Well, maybe Neville doesn't know it yet, so maybe you aren't that oblivious." Ginny said.

Hermione was smiling, a little too wide.

"Hermione?" Ginny and Elizabeth asked at the same time.

"I shouldn't say anything. He came to me in confidence." Hermione said, sitting on her hands as if that would keep her from spilling her secret.

"What did he say?!" Elizabeth asked, now very curious and wanting to know what Neville had told her, and have a sneaking suspicion of what it was.

"Let's just say you both need to talk when we get back to school." Hermione said. And that was all.

Though what Neville had told Hermione was still kept a secret, Elizabeth and Ginny suspected it was a good thing. And on top of that, even more good news reached Grimmauld Place: Hermione and Ron were made Prefects!

Mrs. Weasley was ecstatic. She hugged so tight he struggled to breathe, but the redheaded boy was so proud and happy he didn't care. Harry felt a little miffed about the situation but was happy for his friend. He and Elizabeth had a talk about it.

"It's great that Ron's a Prefect, really, it is. I just thought…" Harry trailed off.

"You thought it was going to be you?" Elizabeth asked. She was sitting on Harry's bed as he paced around his and Ron's room.

"Yeah." Harry admitted.

"Well, think about it. Ron's done great things, but this is an accomplishment that's entirely his. That can't be a coincidence." Elizabeth said, petting Novo, who was in her lap.

"You think Dumbledore knows about Ron feeling like he's in my shadow or his brothers?" Harry asked.

Elizabeth smiled. "He's the wisest and most powerful wizard of the age, Harry. And, he's Headmaster of Hogwarts. I'd be surprised if he didn't. This generation of Weasleys has been coming to Hogwarts for years, too." she pointed out.

"I guess you're right," Harry said, sitting on the bed.

"Are you alright, Harry? Are you feeling any better about Cedric?" Elizabeth asked, noticing how weary her friend looked.

"I'm fine." Harry lied.

Elizabeth pursed her lips. "Harry, I can see the bags under your eyes. You've been having nightmares, haven't you?" she asked.

He looked down and nodded. "How'd you know?"

"I've been having them a lot this summer, too." Elizabeth confessed.

"Oh, right, of course." Harry replied, looking a little embarrassed.

"It's okay. I know how easy it is to get caught up in your own stuff that it's hard to notice other people's struggles." Elizabeth said, remembering her awful fight with Minerva.

"I, I just feel like I should deal with this on my own. I was the one in the graveyard that night. I don't want to burden anyone else." Harry said.

"Harry Potter! You can't be serious! You aren't going to go through this alone, there are way too many people who care about you to let that happen! True, no one else can understand what it was like exactly, but Ginny knows what it's like to be tortured by Voldemort, half of the people in this house have had to battle him before, Sirius knows better than anyone what it's like to go through darkness alone, and even the people here that can't really relate care about you and don't you to deal with this on your own!" Elizabeth scolded him, looking at him angrily.

"Harry, I know it's hard, okay? But I'm here for you. I am holding out my hand to help you and I won't let it go. Do you know why? Because we're friends. And I'm going to let you fall."

Harry went from looking depressed to starting to cry. Elizabeth scooted closer and hugged him. He cried into her shoulder, and she rubbed his back supportively. They stayed like that for a little bit, neither talking. Elizabeth understood he didn't feel like it, and she knew not to pry.

When they separated, Harry wiped his eyes and said, "Sorry about all that."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Don't apologize. My shoulders are strong, and are always here for you to cry on."

"You were right. It has been really hard, and I've been feeling really alone. But I'm not. There are a lot of people that care about me here, and some of them understand it. That's more than I can ask for." Harry said.

Elizabeth smiled, knowing she had gotten through to her friend. But Harry had more to say.

"But, I think you were wrong. We're not just friends. We're more than that. You're one of my best friends, Elizabeth. And probably my best confidant."

Elizabeth could practically feel herself glowing. "I'm honored. And, I'd consider you one of my best friends, too."

The summer came to a close, with Harry's hearing taking place in the middle of August, a week before Elizabeth's birthday. He, Sirius, and Mr. Weasley left for the Ministry of Magic very early in the morning, when Elizabeth and the rest of the house were still sleeping.

They spent their day worrying about the results and trying to fill the time. Fred and George tried to get a group game of Exploding Snap going, bets included, but no one could focus enough to win any of the money, including the twins.

They settled for trying to clean up the rest of the house. Somehow, Ron had gotten his hands on a record and record player, old muggle music, and started to play it. "Maybe it'll lighten the mood."

There was only one song on it, oddly enough. After a few listens, Elizabeth had it memorized, and she started to hum it under her breath. Then, she started to sing it. At some point, she noticed the song had stopped, and her friends were looking at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, someone's got a little songbird voice." Fred remarked.

"Really and truly, Freddie. Really and truly." George replied.

Elizabeth blushed. "I'm not that good. It's just a hobby. I had to do something to entertain myself when I was little." she joked. That got some laughter from her friends, and just as they were stopping, Mrs. Weasley came in.

"Harry just returned! He's free to come back to school!" she announced. There were shouts and cheers of glee and happiness as soon as the words left her lips. Ginny and Elizabeth hugged, Fred and George high-fived, and Hermione and Ron went to go see Harry immediately.

There was a huge celebratory dinner that night. For once, Harry seemed in high spirits. Oh, how soon that would come crashing down…

There is nothing going on between Harry and Elizabeth! They are just best friends! Please review below!