Dear Attie,

We haven't spoken much in the past few weeks, but Harry and I wanted to check in and see how you are doing. There are several things to talk about that aren't pressing, but are very important to your future. First, have you spoken with McGonagall or your Head of House about possible career opportunities?

We understand now why you were so hesitant to plan ahead, but that's all in the past and I think you should start focusing on the future. (Let Albus know he has the same responsibility)

Second, Harry and I were wondering if you had made living arrangements for after school. Obviously you're perfectly welcome to stay with us, but we'll have to move either you or Albus to the opposite end of the house. (And put up barriers) Harry and I want to speak with you and Albus about your relationship—don't think we aren't pleased! We are thrilled the two of you are finally getting along. (Harry is telling me you're doing more than "getting along")

Anyways, if you would prefer some distance, Mr. Malfoy has said that you could come and stay with him. In fact, he made it crystal clear that's what he would prefer. It's your choice, but you can stay with us for as long as you like. I expect a letter from Mr. Malfoy will arrive shortly after this one seeing as we talked only a few hours ago.

We will see you at the Quidditch match next week!

Love,

Ginny and Harry

Atria set Ginny and Harry's letter down on her bed and looked at the other note.

Dear Atria,

I would like to speak with you after the match next Saturday.

Draco

She couldn't help but laugh at Draco's stunning personal interaction skills. After glancing at the clock, she realized she had been so engrossed in the two letters that she hadn't realized DADA was in about ten minutes.

Suddenly she was regretting not dropping this class after O.W.L.'s. Last week had been painfully embarrassing as her first DADA class in which everyone knew her true history with the Dark Arts. The second class had been slightly less tense, but everyone now watched with rapture when she couldn't perform a defense spell. Granted, she could do most of them, but perhaps not as well as she did attack spells or hexes.

And her magic was returning to the way it had been.

Thank Merlin Albus was helping her with the patronus charm, because without him in the room all the nasty thoughts in the back of her mind seemed to come forward. Every time she thought about that night in the Room of Requirement—and the three other nights since then—a shiver cascaded down her body and made her toes curl.

"You and Albus shagged!" Rose squealed, the flickering fire make her hair reflect the flames.

Atria blushed, wondering if she had done the right thing in telling Amanda and Rose. Her immediate instinct was to hide it and continue like nothing had happened, but… last night had been too amazing not to share with her best friends.

"You can't tell Scorpius though!" Atria told Rose, who scoffed.

"Please, I wouldn't do that. But don't you think Albus will tell him?" Rose asked and tucked her legs under her.

"Maybe." Truthfully, she was unconcerned with which of her friends knew. She just didn't like the idea that Rose and Scorpius would have pillow talk about her relationship with Albus.

"How was it?" Amanda asked eagerly.

Rose's nose scrunched up. "He's my cousin."

"So you don't want to know how it was?" Amanda stared at her until Rose sighed.

"Alright, but don't refer to him by name."

"Who says I'm going to tell you anything?" Atria snapped without any real anger.

Amanda practically growled. "You had better tell us or I'll curse you."

Atria decided it was necessary to tell them so they would stop bothering her. And she also was too thrilled to hold it in—even if she wasn't entirely comfortable with sharing all the sordid details with Al's cousin.

"It was…"

Atria pulled herself from the memory and grinned at the memory of Rose and Amanda's faces. Only a few students sat in the Slytherin common room and none of them paid any attention to her as she passed by the green leather furniture, which was an improvement upon the staring that had occurred when she first got back.

"Crap, I am so going to be late." She muttered as she sprinted down the third corridor and then tried not to trip on the moving staircase.

But she made it just in time, almost falling over as she leapt into her chair next to Amanda. Luckily, class hadn't started but everyone still turned to look at her.

"Where were you?" Amanda hissed as class began a second after the bell rang.

"Reading the letters I received."

"Oh, who were they from?" She whispered.

"Draco and Harry and Ginny."

"What about?"

"Am I interrupting your conversation?" Professor Linksan snapped.

"No." Amanda said quickly. "Sorry professor."

As soon as class was back on track, Atria muttered, "Living arrangements."

"The Potters don't want you to stay with them anymore?" Amanda asked in surprise.

"They do. But they'll separate Al and I."

"Makes sense."

"I know, but we were thinking we would all live together."

"All of who?"

Atria glanced up to make sure Linksan was still teaching. "Rose, you and I could live together and Scorpius and Al could flatshare."

Amanda stared at her for a moment. "You planned all this?"

"Just something Al and I spoke about."

"Let's talk about it more after class, before Linksan sends us out or gives us detention."

"So you planned our future without us?" Scorpius slung his arm around Rose, who still looked uncomfortable with everyone knowing about the two of them.

Atria perched on Al's lap. "Not exactly. We were planning our future and your futures sort of came into it."

"You two don't want to shack up?" Amanda asked Atria and Albus.

"We thought we ought to get settled into our lives before living together."

"I like the idea." Rose smiled softly.

Scorpius looked at her. "You do?"

"We would all be together, but have our own space." Rose chirped. "Scorpius and I are working at the Ministry. We should see about a flat near the Ministry. And the rest of you…?"

"I'm working with one of the Cevill brothers!" Albus said excitedly and the hand on Atria's hips squeezed. "His office is hidden in muggle London, so a flat near the Ministry works for me. But do we want a flat in muggle London or near Diagon Alley?"

"So we've decided this is happening?" Amanda's eyebrows shot up. "Because I have no idea where I'll be working next year."

Atria quickly said, "Neither do I! But I'm sure Charlie could help me figure something out." Albus gave her a questioning look and she added, "Not in Romania, but if he has connections in London."

"Amanda, do have any idea what you want to do?" Rose asked insistently.

"No and I wish everyone would stop asking. I'm not sure I'll be able to afford a flat." She propped her head up with her hand.

"A flatshare."

"All the same. I'm broke."

"What about healer's school?"

Amanda snorted. "I can't afford another two years of schooling."

"Look, we can cover you until you get on your feet." Atria shrugged.

"I don't want to take your money."

"It's my grandmother's money." Atria said fully.

Amanda paused thoughtfully. "I feel less guilty about taking money from her."

"You should. I blow her money all the time and I still have enough gold to fill several Quidditch pitches. We should go flat shopping immediately before all the good places are booked up. Do we want to buy or rent?"

"Buy." Scorpius said immediately.

Albus tensed. "I'm with Amanda. I have an internship worth about twenty thousand galleons a year and I have a savings not an inheritance."

"Buying an apartment in downtown London would cost almost fifty thousand galleons for two rooms and two baths."

"And one with three bedrooms would cost thousands more." Rose added.

"Price really doesn't matter." Atria stressed. She could understand why they didn't want to take money from her, but she wanted to do something for them. And she wanted them all to be together.

"It doesn't seem right…" Amanda bit her lip.

"You'll get a job. Even if it's not your dream job, you'll work your way up." Atria said.

"It'll all sort itself out." Scorpius agreed.

"So you're actually not going to let me play this Saturday?" Atria asked.

"You're bringing this up now?"

"It seemed like a good way to get away from the uncomfortable money topic."

"And onto the uncomfortable Quidditch topic." Rose muttered.

Atria folded her arms. "You blame me too?"

"We've forgiven you for nearly everything, but you can't accept that they had to replace you." Rose snapped with a bite Attie had never heard before. "Just think of this as your punishment for all the other stuff."

Atria wasn't sure exactly what to say. True, she could be very focused on a singular goal and everything else seemed to fall away. "So I should let it go? Miss out on my last year of Quidditch."

"Yes. Because you love us enough to not make our lives difficult." Rose said firmly.

"Alright."

Scorpius and Amanda looked abashed. "Alright?" Amanda hissed. "We've been trying to call you off for two weeks and Rose said two sentences and it's 'alright'?"

"Yes."

"Bloody hell."

Albus wrapped her arms around her from behind. "Now that that's settled, we should really get back to our own dormitories. Unless our Heads want to cover for us."

"Absolutely not!" Rose said immediately. "Besides we have class tomorrow and we need to have our rest. There are mere months before our N.E.W.T.'s."

Atria groaned and leaned back against Albus. She felt his chin lean on her right shoulder. "I'm going to fail my DADA N.E.W.T. and everyone is going to think it's because of my past." Albus stroked her shoulder lovingly.

"Technically, it is." Rose said.

Atria gave her a glare.

"Well, you never studied it!"

Scorpius groaned and then stood up. "Alright you lot, get out of our room."

Albus gave him a suspicious look. "What are you going to do when we lean?"

Scor shrugged and Rose hit his arm. "We're going to sleep, as should you." She insisted and to prove it, she marched up the stairs to the Head Girl's room without another word. Scorpius sighed, clearly disappointed.

"C'mon, Amanda." Atria stood up and brushed her lips over Albus's. "Goodnight."

"Love you." He muttered and squeezed her hand.

Amanda groaned. "Please, not in front of us."

"You're welcome to leave." Atria shot back, but Amanda waited patiently.

They went back to the door, tiptoeing through the halls so they wouldn't be caught by a wandering prefect or teacher.

Atria sat in the stands for the first time while Slytherin was playing. The only upside of this was that most of her house seemed to be on her side and couldn't understand why a third year was playing instead of Atria. At least Ariella seemed nervous. She should be. If Slytherin lost this game against Ravenclaw everyone would know that it's entirely her fault for not letting Atria play.

And Scorpius's fault as well. It should have been a clue that all of Ravenclaw was happy about Atria sitting out.

"Atria." Draco Malfoy sat down next to her in the stands. The only reason there were benched in the spectator stands were for pregame chat. No one was sitting during a Quidditch game.

Atria was relieved to see him.

"You're not playing?" He raised a pale eyebrow, managing to look confused and totally in control at the same time.

"Of course Scorpius didn't tell you." She mumbled. More people filled the Slytherin stands. "The third year he replaced me with is playing today."

"Is she better than you?"

"I don't know. But I'd imagine not seeing as it's her first time playing and it's a playoff match. If nothing else I have experience on her."

"Why is she playing?"

"To teach me a lesson." Atria folded her arms indignantly.

"Ah."

Atria looked sideways at Draco, thinking he might have some insight into how to deal with this. The man sat there, looking thoughtful, for a few moments. She became impatient quickly. "So what do I do? They've forgiven me, but Rose said this is my punishment."

"Do you think you need to be punished?"

Atria pinched her mouth closed. She had expected to be punished more than this, but now that it was actually happening she was angry. It was stupid and ridiculous how she was behaving and she knew it. Quidditch just seemed to be the only pure thing in her life—not tainted by her parents.

"Yes. But not with Quidditch."

"You would prefer Azkaban?"

"No! I just—I obviously expected to go to Azkaban, but now I just want everything to go back to normal."

Once again, Draco didn't say anything. She had always admired Draco and his ability to stay calm and keep an absent expression, but right now it just took the piss out of her.

"Do you want to stay here?"

"At Hogwarts?"

"Yes."

"You think I should drop out?"

Draco frowned. "I asked what you want, not what I think."

"I want to stay with my friends and for now, that means staying in school."

"Have you a plan for your future?"

"Not really."

"No plan?"

Atria bit her bottom lip. "Not a well formed one."

"Everyone must start somewhere. Tell me your not well formed plan."

"A zoo."

Surprise flashed across Draco's face and it was probably the first real emotion she had seen on him. "A magical zoo."

"A magical and muggle zoo! I especially want a leopard."

Draco swallowed hard, seemingly searching for the words to say. It was a dream that Atria had been entertaining for a little while. She didn't want to work with only one type of creature. Yet she didn't want to be a teacher like Hagrid. Opening a zoo seemed like a logical choice, but it seemed so silly.

"That seems like a good plan. How are you going to execute it?"

"Execute it?" She smirked. "It's barely a plan. I would have no idea where to begin."

Draco looked away from her. "We'll speak after the game. It looks like the game is about to begin."

"We better win."

"Amanda and Scorpius are both excellent players."

"Yes, but it's the seeker who seals the deal."

"I agree, but don't tell Scorpius I said so. He insists that a great chaser can win the game as well."

Atria laughed. "Of course."

"LET THE GAME BEGIN!"

"My nerves almost exploded!" Atria clutched her chest. She cornered Scorpius and Amanda after they came out of the locker room. "I mean, you couldn't have scored a few more goals before she caught the snitch?" She hissed at Scorpius.

"We won." He shrugged. "We'll be better prepared for the next game."

"Um… Captain?" A small voice came from behind Amanda and Scorpius. Ariella came to speak to them and Atria gave her a cold look. "I have to hand in my resignation."

Scorpius's mouth dropped. "Why?"

Ariella glanced at Atria. "Look, I want to play, but I also want Slytherin to win. I have more house spirit than I do pride."

"I have both." Atria muttered. "In copious amounts."

"I don't understand." Amanda said, ignoring Atria. "You have house pride so…"

"So I want us to win. Our best chance of winning is with her." Ariella motioned to Atria, who looked supremely smug. "And the looks I got from my roommates… and everyone else. If we had lost today, it would have been my fault."

"No, the chasers could have created a wider gap in the score so there was less pressure on you." Scorpius assured her.

"And I could have saved more shots." Amanda added.

Arielle smiled. "I have four more years to make the team. You three," she glanced at Attie, "only have one more game. You've played together for four years, you have to play your last match."

"I agree!" Atria said enthusiastically. "I told you she was smart."

Scorpius looked doubtfully at her. "When did you say that?"

"Oh. Maybe I didn't say it to you."

"So thank you." Ariella smiled softly. "Thanks for the opportunity."

Scorpius cleared his throat. "I'll be sure to give next year's captain a strong recommendation for you."

"I'd appreciate that." Ariella grinned and nodded her head shortly.

After Ariella disappeared, the three seventh years looked at each other. Atria grinned devilishly while Scorpius and Amanda shook their heads, looking as though they were on a diving hippogriff. .

"Looks like you're in need of a seeker." Happiness bubbled up in her stomach. It was petty of her to be so happy because a young girl had basically been bullied into giving up her position. Atria would have to do something about the people shaming Ariella—now that Ariella was on her side—but for now, she was going to just be with her friends.

"You planned this somehow." Scorpius said.

"Nope. Just happy coincidence. But we should put a stop to whoever was making her feel crappy about if Slytherin had lost."

"Oh, so now you like her?"

"She did something good for me." Atria shrugged. "Anyways, I'm going to go find Albus and share the good news with him."

Scorpius stood a little straighter. "And I'm going to find Rose."

"I'll go find something to entertain myself." Amanda said wryly.

"We can stay…"

"No. Go have your fun." Amanda said dismissively, waving a hand.

Amanda changed back into her regular clothes and then wandered around the pitch for a little while. Everyone seemed so happy, but after the conversation about flats, Amanda couldn't help but feel like she was dead weight in the group.

"Ms. Smith." Mr. Malfoy's cool voice floated from behind her.

She spun around. They were separated from the other spectators who were speaking with their children or leaving the pitch. "Mr. Malfoy," she pushed hair out of her eyes, "did you enjoy the match?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yes, you played well."

"Thank you." There was a pregnant pause. "Did you need something?"

"Scorpius mentioned that you might need work for after graduation." He said evenly.

Amanda flushed. "Everyone needs a job after graduation."

"You were very helpful that night at St. Mungo's."

"I can't afford two more years of healer's school."

"What about Quidditch teams?"

"I'm not good enough to be scouted. All the teams have keepers."

Mr. Malfoy's mouth tilted upward. "I meant what about a healer for a Quidditch team."

Amanda frowned. "What do you mean?"

"More and more professional Quidditch teams are hiring personal healer's for their players."

"But wouldn't I—"

"I trained one last summer who was a Quidditch player at a school in Germany. Teams seem to be looking for people with a background in Quidditch to train under a healer, but not actually go to school. There is a very narrow field for Quidditch injuries and all of the healers who work for teams were players before they were healers."

"And I wouldn't need any formal schooling for this?" Elation floated through Amanda. This was the perfect opportunity for her and it was a chance to have a part in Quidditch.

"I would like to speak with Madam Pomfrey about you working with her for the remainder of school and for the summer you would come train at St. Mungo's. Madam Pomfrey is extremely adept at dealing with Quidditch injuries so a recommendation from her could help immensely."

She almost jumped in the air and did a fist pump. But she was sure Mr. Malfoy would not appreciate the display of emotions. "But how do I know which Quidditch teams are hiring?"

"You and I shall both make inquiries."

"This is brilliant!"

Mr. Malloy nodded firmly. "Yes it is. I would send out letters before the Quidditch cup finals. I'll let you know if I get a response when I see you at the match."

"Alright." She nodded vigorously.

Mr. Malfoy gave her a quick head jerk as a salutation and then walked away. Amanda wondered why he was being so helpful. It was probably because of Scorpius. For all Mr. Malfoy's coolness and distance, he was dedicated to his family. Perhaps that's why he wanted Atria to come live with them.

She wondered if Mr. Malfoy had spoken with Attie today. They had been sitting together during the match, and before the match started Amanda had seen them exchange words. She imagined Attie had told him she was going to be living alone… or at least not with any adults. And where would Amanda stay if she got a job with a Quidditch team? She would have to travel with the team she assumed, so she couldn't stay with Rose and Atria all the time.

Amanda sighed and grinned at the same time.

Things were finally starting to look on the bright side.

Hello! Such a quick update, be proud of me! Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I will be starting a new story when I finish this one called Bounty Hunters and Hit Wizards. It will be about Rose and Scorpius a few years after graduation. Hate/hate relationship! Let me know what you think! - Alex