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"I believe a spot of butterbeer's in order for this occasion." Phoebe smiled, directing the rest of the group towards the Leaky Cauldron after they had finished collecting all of their first year school supplies. Rose and Lily had stood perplexed at store after store, joyously going along with Melanie when she suggested a white snow owl for Lily and watching in amazement as the various covers at the bookstore moved in such a fluid fashion.

"Butterbeer?" Zoe squealed with excitement. "Really Auntie Phoebe?"

"You said we were too young!" Jazz questioned, anticipating her mother's motives as well.

Rose and Lily weren't quite sure what butterbeer was and to Rose it didn't sound promising.

"I'm not sure it's right for them to drink alcohol" Rose interrupted, concerned.

"Oh dear, it's not alcoholic! Just a tad bit of light meade in the mix but the rest is just cream and butter!" Melanie added, opening the door to the Leaky Cauldron. Rose still seemed apprehensive but once the group sat down at a rather large pine dining nook and ordered the crescent moon colored drinks, she tended to relax a bit more.

"So Rose, I'm assuming your husband is muggle-born as well." Phoebe inquired, handing Melanie the glass that had just arrived.

"Why, yes. He was a bit ticked off at the news of Lily's acceptance. In fact, he's still against her attending the school." Rose explained.

"My older sister Petunia was mad too. She called me a freak when I told her." Lily added.

"Sounds like a royal wench, this sister!" Zoe observed, wiping butterbeer foam off her upper lip.

"Language, Zoe!" Melanie scolded. "Excuse her. She doesn't have many inhibitions."

"It's fine." Rose replied. "It's a fair judgement." Rose loved both her daughter's equally, but Petunia had always been somewhat biased, just like her father.

"Well, this has been a lovely day." Said Rose, once they finished their drinks and Zoe started openly belching. "But we really should be going."

"Yes, yes! A lovely day!" Phoebe smiled, rising from the table as the rest of the group of girls did.

"Do you think I could get your telephone number?" Rose asked, rummaging through her purse for a stray pen and paper.

"Oh, dear. I'm afraid you have much to learn about the wizarding world." Melanie sighed with a slight laugh at the end. She pushed Rose's hand away from her purse lightly. "We'll send you an owl."

"An owl? What?" Rose questioned, an odd, quizzical look across her face. Melanie and Phoebe gathered their things while Zoe and Jazz grabbed their endless bags of school supplies as well as their owl cages.

" Bye Lily!" Zoe waved with a bag-filled hand. "See you at the station tomorrow!"

Lily waved politely but the perplexed look she had adopted matched that of her mother's.

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That night Jazz had slept over Zoe's house once again, but neither of them had actually slept. They stayed up all night munching on Bertie Bott's beans that they sneaked out of the sweets shop in town that day. They decorated their trunks with silver and blue silks and ribbons, Zoe adding sparkles to hers since she loved to see the shine they emitted. By three in the morning, the living room where their sleeping bags were sprawled out upon was trashed in remnants of ribbons and jelly bean wrappers. They were so overjoyed at the prospect of attending the same school that such famous witches and wizards had for decades.

"Don't you two ever sleep?" a voice similar to Ray's had said through the darkness of the hallway, startling Zoe and Jazz.

" Look in a mirror, would you Raymond?" Zoe yelped back as Ray showed his face through the shadows.

"Zoe! Hush! We'll wake your parents!" Jazz whispered, placing one finger on her lips.

"Oh, You hush! They're not going to wake up." Zoe replied, flipping Jasmine off with one hand.

"Could you stop being a brat for just one second and go to sleep?" Ray said, walking to the unlit kitchen and opening the refrigerator.

"We can't, It's just not logical." Zoe said, grabbing another bag of Jelly beans. "It's the night before our first day at Hogwarts. How do you expect us to sleep?"

Ray seemed to ignore the comment, still searching through the fridge for something to consume.

"Why are you up, Ray?" Jazz whispered, still concerned that Zoe's parents would wake.

Ray grabbed a milk container out of the fridge and drank straight from it, strings of stray milk dripping down his chin. "No reason." He shrugged, belching.

"You're sick." Zoe said, throwing a bean at him but missing. Ray ignored his kid sister once again and walked back into the hallway.

"I wonder why he's so angry all the time." Jazz said, taking some beans as well.

"He's not angry. Just strange."

"Maybe something happened to him, at school. I mean, didn't he leave early?"

Zoe's face of obliviousness turned into fright as she rose from her sleeping bag.

"Maybe we should go to sleep." Zoe said, avoiding the subject altogether. She got up to shut off the remaining reading lamp in the living room and crawled back into her sleeping bag.

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"Here we are, Platform nine and 3/4." Melanie said, pushing a cart of Zoe's endless school supplies and robes that she just couldn't leave behind. Melanie and Phoebe each pushed the carts for their daughters, perhaps a sign that they didn't want their daughters to leave just yet. They had gone through the wall at the muggle station, quite an exciting experience for Zoe and Jazz but not for Melanie and Phoebe, who had experienced the platform wall dozens of times.

"I can't wait! We have to get a seat near the dinner car and I get to sit at the window seat!" Zoe squealed, jumping up and down at the sight of the Hogwarts Express. Jazz felt excitement rushing through her veins as well, but didn't show it as much.

"Now we'll be sending you letters as much as we can, so make sure you check the post everyday." Phoebe said, handing the cart to the storage elf and giving Jazz her carry-ons.

"Yes, and make sure you take care of your owls. I don't want to hear that you both didn't feed them." Melanie added, doing the same for Zoe.

"Mum, why wouldn't we feed our owls?" Zoe questioned, grabbing the carry-on bag which weighed a ton.

"Need I remind you about your fish, Tippy?" Phoebe interjected with a scornful look.

"You two aren't exactly good with pets." Melanie said.

"Oh mum, Psh Posh!" Zoe said, waving and getting on the train with Jazz behind her, smiling.

"Goodbye girls!" Melanie and Phoebe waved in unison.