"Tell me again why we're packing early." Allison Snape told her dad, Severus, while packing on the night of August 30th.

"We're packing early because Dad has an early school meeting tomorrow at Hogwarts and there's nobody to take care of us along with Andrea." Her brother Matthew said.

"That's right, and you're coming with me tomorrow. Narcissa will pick up Andrea and she'll bring Draco and Pansy over here. Then, we'll go to the platform through Floo Powder." Severus explained. He stood up and walked into the kitchen. It was 11:30 at night and they had a lot more packing to do.

"You guys want some coffee?" He yelled from the kitchen.

"Sure Dad!" The two answered. He came out with three mugs full of hot coffee. Allison stood up and quickly grabbed her steaming cup of coffee from her dad.

"Thanks Dad." She said.

"Yeah, thanks!" Matt said as he received his mug from his dad. Severus nodded and he drank deeply from his mug.

They had been packing for a half an hour and the grandfather clock had just begun to strike twelve.

"Dad, do you miss Mom?" Allison asked suddenly.

"Yeah, yes I do, Ally." He answered.

"Do you ever feel sad that she's not here anymore?" Matt asked putting his pants into his trunk.

"I really do, Matt, but you know what. I don't feel sad and depressed like others do because I know I have three kids that she has given and I feel blessed to still be here with all three of you." Severus said.

"Aww, Dad!" Allison said putting her head on her dad's shoulder.

"Come on, let's finish packing so we can get some sleep and leave early tomorrow." Matt said. Severus nodded and Allison yawned.

They finished packing a few minutes later and trudged upstairs to their rooms. Allison hugged her brother before walking into their rooms separately. Allison walked inside the room carefully, not to wake her sister. She sat on her bed and watched the baby girl lying in the crib opposite hers. She watched Andrea as she slept on peacefully. Allison remembered what her dad had said on the day of her sister's birth.

"She looks just like her mother." He had said. A tear formed in her eye as she recalled the times she spent with her mom.

Since her mother's death in February, she kind of spent her time studying, most of the time typing up original stories on her laptop and posting them up online. That was how she met Hermione.

Hermione was a frequent reader of her stories and had emailed her telling her how good her stories were. She started talking to her online and she found out she went to Hogwarts during a chat with Hermione and some of Hermione's friends, who's screen names were GryffzBestSkrEva and Rdhednfrckleface. Hermione's screen name was HeadGrl2B2004, of course, and Allison's was LyLySnepperz6229.

She talked to her a lot, especially when she was feeling down. Hermione became like a best friend to Allison and vice versa. Allison finally took out her laptop and popped in a floppy disc containing her stories. She clicked on one and began to write:

Megan softly wept on her pillow, she missed her so. She was there for her through all the hardships and troubles she had faced, and now she was gone. She was gone like the grains of sand in an hourglass, her time wasted on nothing, but spent on work and achievements.

Megan wept more, thinking about the times they had spent together, the times when walking in the park and eating ice cream were the best of times together.

The door creaked open and her brother, Ryan, stepped in. He stood still as he listened to his younger sister's weeping. He walked over to her and said, "What's the matter?"

A loud sob came as if it were wrenched from deep in her soul and Ryan left his sister alone.

When he had left she quietly whispered, "Why… Mom?"

A loud ring suddenly pulled her out of her little world and she saw that Hermione had IMed her. Their conversation went like this:

SnippinSnappinSnapperooniez: Hey Mione!

HeadGrl2B2004: Sup Ally?

SnippinSnappinSnapperooniez: Nothing, just wrote another little piece of my story.

HeadGrl2B2004: Oh, that's cool!

SnippinSnappinSnapperooniez: Hey, sorry, but I have to go. I have an early trip tomorrow.

HeadGrl2B2004: OK, TTYT!

That was the end of the conversation. She shut her laptop off and put back in her bag. Allison yawned again and snuggled into the covers as she drifted off to sleep.