After a short night of sleep, Harry awoke to find that both Ron and Neville had gone down to breakfast. Harry, forgetting what Lupin had advised him the previous night, dressed and proceeded downstairs without hesitation, and in a particularly good mood. With a smile on his face, he entered the kitchen to find over half of the Order sitting at the table. He caught sight of Lupin sitting at the head of the table, looking very sombre and holding a sealed piece of parchment in his hands. Harry felt the smile slide off his face, and his heart plummet into his stomach. He knew exactly what was coming.

Lupin looked up, and Harry saw that his eyes seemed misty. "Come over here, Harry," he said, pulling out the chair next to him.

Harry obeyed, and as he sat down next to the last of his father's best friends, felt a lump rise in his throat. Lupin laid the piece of parchment down on the table, and the words written on it confirmed Harry's belief of what they were all about to face.

It was not until Bill and Fleur arrived, hand-in-hand five minutes later, that Lupin rose from his seat. After lightly clearing his throat, he spoke to the room at large.

"Well," he began, looking around at all the faces, dimly lit in the gloomy kitchen. "It's time to read Sirius', uh, Last Will and Testament," he said, his voice shaking. His hand shook as well as he picked up the will. Lupin nervously cleared his throat again. "On to it," he said, more to himself.

The members of the audience nervously shifted in their seats.

Harry only had to sit there, listening to everything Sirius had left for him, for half an hour. However, he did smile when he heard how much Sirius left for the Weasleys. Lupin, however, refused to read out what Sirius had left for him. Harry wondered if he would ever find out.

The weeks passed. Bill and Fleur spent more and more time in Grimmauld Place, as did Sasha and Oliver. And still there was no word about Hermione. However, there was little room to pry and poke into the affair, as school was fast approaching, and Mrs. Weasley was keeping them busy with cleaning. The trip to Diagon Alley was finally planned a week before school began. After arriving in the Leaky Cauldron by fire on the twenty-second of August, they proceeded to Gringotts in the pouring raining. After visiting the very full vaults of the Weasleys, Harry, and Neville, they went their separate ways. While Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went to buy new robes, the boys went to visit Fred and George in their shop.

Upon entering the tiny place, they could see just how successful the twins were. There was hardly any room to walk between aisles; it was so crowded with people. And the harder Harry looked, the more Hogwarts students he recognized. Finally, the trio made it to the counter. As they approached, Fred was loudly explaining the infamous canary creams to a group of eager looking students. Just as he was about to demonstrate the effects, he caught sight of his younger brother – and Neville. He smiled mischievously at the plump boy, before turning back to his customers.

"And now," Fred announced, "let me introduce to you all the very first victim of this delicious prank: Neville Longbottom!"

The redhead pulled Neville up onto the counter with him. Applause filled the tiny store, and Neville turned just as scarlet as his remembrall in their first year.

Smiling broadly, the inventor turned to Neville. "If you would please demonstrate," he said to the teenager.

Without any hesitation, Neville took the cream treat from Fred, and popped it into his mouth. Silence fell over the crowd as they watched and waited. Within seconds and with a loud squawking noise, a yellow-feathered Neville stood beside a howling Fred. The crowd burst in applause and laughter. Ever so graciously, Neville took a bow, and sent the crowd into hoots of hysterical laughter. He hopped off the counter and rejoined his beaming friends. Never, in all the time they had known him, shared a dormitory with him, ate breakfast with him, had they seen such daring behaviour from their shy friend.

By this time, George had made his way to their sides. Smiling he said, "I can't believe you just did that, Neville."

"Neither can I," Neville replied, smiling sheepishly.

"What made you do it?" Ron asked, absentmindedly taking a crisp from his older brother.

"Well, after the rest of my family, you know, were taken, I've decided that you should live every day to the fullest," he explained, refusing George's crisps with a smile.

"That's a good philosophy," Harry said, shaking his head at George, who was now offering Harry a crisp. "How is business going?" he asked.

"Booming," George said with a smile. "Even with the discounts, we just might be bringing in more galleons than –"

Ron who, at that moment, sprouted great, purple carrots from both ears interrupted him. All those in close proximity howled with laughter, as Ron turned a brilliant shade of magenta.

"Carrot Crisps!" George shouted over all the laughter, "coming soon!"

With that, the three friends left the joke shop. Neville and Ron left to go and buy their school books. Harry, who needed a moment to himself, left to get some ice cream from Florean Fortescue.

As he entered the parlour, he could not help but notice a pretty girl sitting alone in a corner booth. As he turned around after ordering his pineapple heaven cone, the golden-eyed girl looked up and caught his eye. She smiled; he returned it. Only then did he notice just how packed the tiny shop was. As it was raining outside, it only made sense that the customers eat their sweet treats in a dry place. Quickly glancing around, Harry noticed that there was no table left, and with a split-second's hesitation, he made his way over to the girl in the corner booth. As he approached from behind, he saw her ears turn red, when she caught sight of him in her compact's mirror. He touched her shoulder, and as she turned around, he took in the real beauty of her.

"Hi," he said, warmly. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

She blushed. "Oh, no," she said, "go ahead. I was just leaving."

"Why?" he asked, afraid he might not see her again, a funny feeling fluttering around in his stomach.

"Oh, you probably want to sit alone," she said.

"I'd rather sit with you," he said quietly.

She looked up at him out of those unique golden eyes. When they met Harry's brilliant green ones she smiled; and so did he. He took the seat across from her, and before either of them knew it, they were friends. They spoke for half an hour, and in that time he knew, and liked, so much about her that by the time the rain let up, he forgot that the loss of Sirius hurt. And so, as the sun shone through the window, they bid each other goodbye, and promised to look for one another on the Hogwarts Express.

For the next few days, Harry could not seem to stop thinking about the girl in Diagon Alley. He still had not told Ron or Neville about her, and did not plan to until they were on the train to Hogwarts. Nevertheless, that day came too soon for Harry's liking. Charlie picked them up from Grimmauld Place at 9 o'clock that morning.

"Why are we leaving so early?" Ginny sleepily asked her older brother.

"Because I want you all to meet someone before I – you know – before I, um, propose to her."

"What?" Ron asked.

Charlie blushed. "I've been seeing her steady for three years now –"

"And you never told us?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"We're your family!" Ron exclaimed.

Charlie smiled. "I know," he said, "but mum and dad haven't met her yet, and she wants to meet you lot first."

"Does Bill know about her?" Ron asked.

"Yes," replied Charlie, and as Ginny gasped, betrayed, he added, "but only because he was the one who set us up together."

"But Fred and George don't know about her?" Ron asked.

"Of course not," Charlie laughed, turning down a side street lined with huge oak trees, "they would be the first ones to tell mum and dad."

He pulled into the driveway of a simple bungalow. As he turned off the car, he twisted around in his seat.

"Her name is Kristina, and like I said, we've been dating for three years. What you should know before you meet her is, um, well –"

"Just spit it out already," Ginny said, exasperated.

"She's only nineteen," he said quietly.

"What?" Ron yelled.

Charlie did not look amused. "Well, we love each other, and like it or not, I'm going to propose. We've decided that age doesn't matter."

And with that, he got out of the car. Just before he was going to shut the door, he looked questioning at Harry and Neville. "Well, come on you guys," he said to them.

"But we're not fam–"

Charlie smiled. "Mum says you might as well be, so come on!"

They all proceeded up the walk to meet the bride to be.

By the time the whole ensemble of witches and wizards arrived at King's Cross, they only had five minutes to board the train. Once Charlie and Kristina had said their goodbyes, Ginny pulled her aside.

"Are you in love with him?" the fifteen year old asked Kristina.

The nineteen year old blushed. "Yes, I am," she replied, and beamed when Ginny smiled.

"So do you promise me you'll say yes?"

Kristina looked confused. "Yes to what?" she asked.

"Just promise me," Ginny said, as the whistle blew, signally that the train was about to leave.

"Okay, but –"

"C'mon Gin! We're leaving!" the boys called to her.

"Good," Ginny said, "and don't tell Charlie what I asked, okay?"

Comprehension dawned on Kristina's face. "Of course I won't," she said, and hugged her future sister-in-law goodbye, as she ran to catch the train.

"What was that about?" Charlie asked his curvy girlfriend as the waved to the teenagers on the train.

"Oh, just some girl talk," she replied, smiling. "Nothing you would be interested in."

Charlie laughed. "You're probably right. Now let's get going, it's time for you to meet my parents."

"And the rest of the Order," she smiled as they walked out of the station together, hand-in-hand.