Italy was nothing short of amazing. Scorpius and I were excited about exploring the little wizarding village.

Albus had not joined us when we port keyed over but said his family would be there soon.

Scorpius had his geekiness set a quivering by the idea of a new book store that had just opened.

"This place has really grown since I was a kid." Scorpius sighed clutching his new books to his chest.

Aunt Aly, who had joined us for this particular trip, laughed and wrapped an arm around him. "No matter how old you get you will always be my baby."

"Awww Mum!" Scorpius protested with a blush, but he was also grinning.

We had a really full day.

We stopped and ate at a really nice little outside café, Scorpius was head over heels for gelato.

Aunt Aly stopped to look in a broom shop. The Firebolt company had come out with a new broom that was affordable for everyone and she looked like a kid in a candy shop.

"You must really like brooms, Aunt Aly." I couldn't help but smile at how excited she looked.

"Oh no, I hate them!" She laughed. "I never go flying."

"Oh…?" I was thoroughly confused.

We spent the next hour or so with Aunt Aly explaining her special connection to that particular broom.

"Wow." I said when she finished. "I don't even know how properly research an essay topic, let alone how to research investments and stuff. You must have been pretty impressive as a kid!"

She smiled wryly. "Weird as a child you mean."

"NO! I didn't mean…" I protested.

"It is OK. I was pretty weird as a kid." She reassured me. "There is nothing wrong with being weird. Who wants to be normal? How boring THAT would be!"

I don't think Aunt Aly would ever have to worry about being boring, and I told her so.

"Your Mum is amazing." I told Scorpius later.

"Yeah, I don't know what we would all do without her." He looked suddenly horrified. "I am sorry Lils, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories or anything."

"No, it is OK. I hardly remember my Mum enough to miss her." Oh how easily that lie seemed to spill out.

Scorpius wasn't fooled though. "You can share my Mum. She IS pretty awesome. You could be like my sister… or something"

That was sweet, but for some reason I didn't like the idea of being his sister. I kept my thoughts to myself though. I mean, this is my best friend, why WOULDN'T I want him to be like a brother too?

It felt all too complicated for a summer vacation worry.

Later in the week Scorpius' older sister Miranda showed up with her fiancé Viktor.

Miranda was the prettiest woman I had ever seen. MUCH prettier than Polly Chapman, but she didn't seem all stuck up about it. She even joined in the family Quidditch game and didn't seem to mind being sweaty and dirty. I couldn't see Polly doing that.

And her fiancé. WOW! I could have spent hours staring at him. except I am pretty sure that would have just been creepy.

They had an interesting relationship. They seemed to fight like ALL the time, but I wasn't sure if they were actually fighting. It was weird.

I asked Scorpius about it and he just shrugged. "That is just how Miri communicates. School was tough for her. She was always fighting, and then one of our Aunts was imperiused in to trying to kill her. She became, I don't know, guarded about stuff."

"Your Aunt tried to kill her?!" I was shocked. How much would that mess with someone's mind?

"Yeah, but it wasn't her fault." He reached out and grabbed a cauldron cake from my bag. "They caught the real bad guy."

It turned out that not only were they both really good looking, but they could sing too. Like REALLY sing. Better than anything I had ever heard on the radio. And I felt good when they sang. Kind of like when Aunt Aly held my hand, but even better.

I guess it made sense that they could sing like that. I had heard the story about their hospital wing and their healing people through music, but hearing ABOUT it and actually hearing it were not the same.

They made our nightly bon fire so much better.

At some point while they were singing other family members arrived. Uncle Ron was there and Uncle Harry must be too because Albus joined us.

"Hey, Albus!" I called out. "Who all came with you?"

"Lilly and James." He waved to where Lily and James were just coming up to the fire. "And my Dad."

"Where is Aunt Ginny?" I handed him a stick.

"Mum is on assignment writing for the tournaments to figure out who is going to be in the World up. Albus plopped down next to me and grabbed a marshmallow. "She will be here tomorrow."

Albus didn't seem too impressed about his Mum writing for the Daily Prophet, but I thought it was brilliant. I read her articles. She was really good. You could tell she knew what she was talking about.

"Oh and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and Rose and Hugo are here too. They are all up in the house cleaning up from the trip." I scooted over to make more room for him.

"That seems silly." I mused. "I mean we are outside in the sand. They are just going to get dirty again. What is the point?"

Albus laughed. "No doubt Uncle Ron would agree with you. But when Aunt Hermione gives an order, you pay attention."

Perks of being the Minister of Magic I suppose.

"Where is Uncle Harry?" Scorpius asked.

"Dunno. I think he stopped to talk to Aunt Hermione." Albus said around a mouthful of toasted marshmallow. "They always kind of do that. Still best friends after all these years."

I thought that was pretty cool. "I hope we are still best friends when we are their age."

"We will be. Scorpius said firmly. "Probably because no one else will have us, but still…"

Albus and I laughed and agreed he was probably right.

"Will anyone else be showing up?" It already seemed pretty crowded but it was a big house.

"Nah." Scorpius grabbed another marshmallow before Albus could beat him to it. "The Vipers already came and went."

"The Vipers?" I asked, confused.

"Mum's friends." Scorpius clarified. "They gave themselves the name when they were in school. Uncle Frank and his wife Esme are both Vipers. You met Uncle Frank at Mum's office."

"Oh yeah." I nodded. "He seemed nice."

"They all are." Scorpius shrugged. "Weird for Slytherins, huh?"

"Why?" I frowned. "We're Slytherin and we're nice."

"Well, I am nice." Albus grinned. "You two are marshmallow hogs."

After saying our hellos I got up to use the restroom. On my way back I finally learned what Uncle Harry and father had been arguing about.

And why I had been invited to Italy.

"You have to tell her, Harry." I heard Aunt Hermione saying. "No one knows what it is like to grow up with those people than you do."

"Where would I even begin?" Uncle Harry sounded worried. "Hey kiddo, you are here because your grandparents don't want you at home and your father is still the same spineless jerk he was as a kid and won't stand up to them" doesn't seem like a great conversation starter.

"Yeah… maybe work on that intro Harry." I could almost hear Aunt Hermione roll her eyes.

So… that was it. They don't want me at home. That wasn't a big surprise but father agreeing really hurt. And now these people who barely knew me were being saddled with me.

No wonder they were all being so nice. They felt sorry for me.

"She's a good kid." Uncle Harry responded. "She doesn't deserve any of this."

"Neither did you." Neither did he deserve what, exactly?

And why had no one ever really talked about Uncle Harry?

And if my grandparents were chasing me out of the house even on my holidays, why had Uncle Harry lived with them?

And what must that have been like? I couldn't even imagine.

But I wanted answers. I was angry. And hurt. Part of me knew that I was being unfair to everyone here. That they were family and friends and I was here because they care about me. But in the moment I was too angry with my grandparents to see that.

I stormed around the corner. "That is alright Uncle Harry. If they don't want me there, I won't force myself on them!"

With that I started running. I didn't know where I would go, just anywhere that I could not see pity on someone's face.

"Lilliana!" Uncle Harry called. I knew he was concerned but at the moment I could not care less.

I finally stopped running and found myself in a little garden with a huge willow tree. Looking up I noticed there was a tree house in its branches.

I started climbing the steps. It didn't look incredibly secure, more like something a kid would build, but the overly dramatic part of me thought "Good maybe it will collapse and kill me and then I won't be anyone's problem."

Once inside I found a couple of odd looking couches and threw myself on one to have a good cry.

I had no idea how long I lay there crying and feeling sorry for myself when I heard someone climbing the tree outside.

Figuring it was Scorpius or Albus I sat up and rubbed the tears off of my face as quickly as I could.

I was really surprised to see Aunt Aly climb into the tree house.

"I figured you would be here." She smiled gently at me.

"How did you know?" I hated the hitch in my voice.

"When I was your age this tree house, or actually one just like it, was where I would run off to when I was upset." She motioned towards the other couch and I shrugged. She sat down. "You are an awful lot like I was at your age, I didn't much feel like I belonged either."

I found that hard to believe. "You? But you were smart and your whole family are magical. How could you have not belonged?"

She sighed. "A sense of belonging doesn't depend on your entire family being just like you. It took me a long time to figure that out. At your age, I felt like I was so different because I didn't have red hair, and I liked to be quiet and read. My whole family was loud and excitable. I felt like they would be happier if I wasn't there."

"But there is a difference." I felt a tear slip down my cheek. "Your family actually DOES want you. Mine doesn't. They think I am a freak."

"I don't believe that, and I don't think you believe that either." She moved over to sit by me. "You have a brother, I understand. Does he treat you like a freak?"

"I couldn't help but giggle a little "Yeah, but he always has. That hasn't changed."

"And your father?" She prodded.

"He… I don't know. When we are together it all seems normal." I admitted. "But my grandparents.."

Your grandparents are afraid." She said firmly. "They went through a lot too." Wow, she really DIDN'T hate anyone. "They are extremists and you can't change that. But you can decide to be happy anyway."

I nodded, that actually made sense.

"I really want my Mum." I could feel more tears forming.

"I know, honey." And with that Aunt Aly pulled me in to her arms and let me cry as long as I wanted.

It was almost like having a real Mum who cared about me.

...