"Sam! Welcome home buddy, you look great," Adam exclaimed as he pulled Sam into (what was about the 20th) bear-crushing hug Sam had experienced that evening.

Adam was right, Sam was looking better than he had in months, with his cheeks rosy with life and no bags beneath his eyes.

He was wearing a grey woollen cardigan that complimented his stormy grey eyes and plain black robes. Rose was so happy to see him looking better, and not just health-wise… He was definitely no longer a scrappy 17-year-old.

Even though Sam's chest felt like it might concave in from the pressure of the hearty hug, a warm feeling spread across it as he hugged Adam back.

Al had adamantly decided to throw a Welcome Home party for Sam, with lots of help from Rose - despite refusing to host the party at his own place.

"My flat is tiny, you're the one who lives in a literal mansion!" Al had exclaimed when questioned where the party was going to be.

.

Dozens of people were currently milling about the ballroom at Malfoy Manor, drinking, eating and hanging out - the room was buzzing with chatter and almost every person there had ecstatically hugged Sam and welcomed him back home.

Malfoy Manor had undergone extreme renovations post-2nd Wizarding War to banish the dark history of the place, in fact it had basically been in a constant state of knock-down re-build, for Sam's entire childhood.

Now, it was brought to life with colourful characters and faces who had all been a part of Sam's life before he left for India. He was rather surprised there were so many people because while he'd kept writing to most of his close friends, a lot of people in attendance were people he'd lost touch with in the last 7 years.

.

Despite the complete new design and look, Malfoy Manor still had all the extravagance of Malfoy wealth.

From the polished wooden floors to the great sweeping curtains that hung from the ceiling to shade the windows in a deep velvety green, there was always something dramatic about gatherings at Malfoy Manor, even when it was a casual party with a self-replenishing food and drink table.

As Adam finally let go of Sam reluctantly, Sam grinned and clapped him on the back.

"You look good too Adam, how have you travels been? International Magical Cooperation really takes you around hey."

"Yeah I just got back from Egypt actually, bloody hot there, I'm glad to be home."

Sam laughed, "Really, this drizzling miserable place? I can't say England's got much on India in terms of weather."

Adam squeezed Sam's shoulder strongly, "Well, whatever the weather, everyone is so glad to have you back Sam. We've really missed you, and Corey's been absolutely uncontrollable since you left - you used to keep him in line with all his gossiping and puppeteering of other people's lives."

.

Corey, having heard his name, diverted his attention from the brie and crackers he was wolfing down, to defend himself.

"Now, to be fair," Corey interjected, "I meddle and mastermind not just for my own pleasure, but for the greater good. Now this is a fact, a fact I say, because without my meddling, do you think that Greg would have ever agreed to go ahead with that potion co-op thing with Bee?"

Adam nearly choked on his butterbeer, "Excuse me, it was me who ran the numbers on the Apothecary-Potion Co-operative Shop and thought it was a good model-"

"Yeah but I definitely convinced his heart."

Adam threw up his hands in frustration, "I don't know how anyone at the Ministry puts up with you Corey, honestly I don't."

"How dare you, I am loved at the Ministry. Loved!"

Sam chuckled heartily at the both of them. Seeing the Hogwarts gang was like coming home all over again. There was Annie, chatting with Lily and Roxanne as they got themselves some butterbeer, Al and Al (Albus and Alice) were deep in discussion over the Quidditch season as they both played professionally, Greg was chatting to Hugo as he set up some equipment for his band who were playing at the party and the Scamander twins looked all too innocent as they chatted with James and Molly - they were definitely up to no good.

Although everyone had matured and grown, their antics were still a sight for sore eyes for Sam. He'd missed them all so much.

.

To be friendly, Sam had invited Aaliyah along to the party, but she seemed overwhelmed by all the Potters, Weasleys, Longbottoms, Scamanders and the Slythindor gang. She'd never really run in the same circles as them at Hogwarts, being a few years older than them, and she felt a little out of her depth.

Standing shyly next to Rose, Aaliyah tried to follow the fast-paced conversation and back-and-forth between the friends, they fired crackers off to each other with such ease - it was like walking into a debating competition.

She wasn't particularly happy when Rose walked off to grab some food, so she looked around to try and have a conversation.

Aaliyah had had a butterbeer with Bee and Rose at the Leaky Cauldron about a month after she and Rose had started dating, so she decided striking up a simple conversation with Bee was her safest option.

.

"Hi, Bee, how are you doing tonight?"

Bee smiled warmly back at her, "Great, it's so good to see Sam again, we've all missed him so much!"

"Oh yeah, that must be great…" Aaliyah tried to sound enthused, but she didn't quite get there.

After waiting to see if Aaliyah had anything more to say (she didn't) Bee tried to move on to another topic of conversation, "Are you glad to have the night shift off from Mungo's?"

"I am right now, but I won't be when I'm stuck with the morning shift tomorrow - patients are actually so much more needy during the day, especially the in-patients," Aaliyah laughed awkwardly, nervously wiping her sweaty palms on her thighs as she tried to come off light-hearted while worrying that she sounded like she was complaining.

.

Aaliyah almost released an audible sigh of relief when Rose came back from getting herself some pumpkin pasties.

"Hey lovelies, you getting along?" Rose grinned at the both of them while she took a bite of pasty.

They both responded immediately overly-enthusiastically, "Oh yeah great," "Having such a great time" "This room is lovely!"

Rose looked at them both curiously and confusedly, but she was quickly distracted by a strange sight.

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"Jen's been chatting for quite a while with Fred, that's strange isn't it?"

Giggling uncontrollably, Bee whispered softly, "Yeah, it's all since Jen started at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Apparently they're both on the development team and they actually work well together? Who would have thought after all that hexing and cursing back in the day..."

Rose shrugged, "Well there you go."

Aaliyah nodded along as if she knew exactly what hexing and cursing had gone one back in the day, but her memory of Fred Weasley, being in the year below her at Hogwarts, wasn't very strong other than that he and James were well-known pranksters and she had usually made a point of staying away from them.

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They were all interrupted by Hugo's mic testing up at the front of the ballroom, where he and his band had finished setting up to play at the party. It was a small and intimate gig, so nothing too extravagant, but Hugo never played without properly testing the levels.

Since graduating from Hogwarts, Hugo's music dreams hadn't dipped in the slightest and he'd gone all-out trying to get himself on the radio and playing all the venues, parties, fundraisers and pubs he could.

Hermione hadn't been the least bit impressed that he refused to find stable employment but even she had to admit that he was good. The band, called Erised Evermore, had Hugo on the guitar and singing, his friend Gee Gee singing and on the keys, Suniva smashing out the drums and Eli on the bass.

.

They had a punk aesthetic and flavour to their band, but had toned it down for a slightly more acoustic style for the Welcome Home party, although they fully expected the throng of Weasleys and Potters to dance.

As they tested out their sound system, Rose leaned over and whispered to Aaliyah, "Corey and Hugo used to date. They broke up when Corey left school and it's never been too awkward, but yeah."

Aaliyah felt, for the hundredth time that night like she was playing catch-up to all the confusingly inter-webbed lives of Rose's Hogwarts clique. It wasn't just that Aaliyah had never run in the same circles as them, but the Potters and Weasleys had a certain status and celebrity reputation, which she had never been a part of.

It didn't help that all of them seemed to absolutely love Sam, and that despite being away for 7 years, he seemed to slip effortlessly into the group without even trying.

.

She just didn't want to have to tell Rose how hard it was for her to try and act naturally, when her own circle of friends from Hogwarts had been small and they barely kept in touch.

The only person she knew at the party from her own days at Hogwarts was Dominique, who was hanging in the corner with Victoire and Teddy. She had gone on to become an Auror after school, so their paths hadn't exactly crossed in the last ten years.

That was a long time for anyone to try and pretend they still knew each other, right?

Fighting down a sense of overwhelming discomfort, Aaliyah gave Rose a tight-lipped smile but Rose could tell something was wrong.

"Aaliyah, are you quite all right-"

"I'm fine, what do you mean?" She snapped, giving away how things were evidently not fine.

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Right as Rose was about to respond, Erised Evermore launched into their first song, which was loud enough to drown out any conversation at the front of the room.

Rosed pushed down her concern and tried to enjoy the music, but Sam, who had been watching the pair could see the tension clear on Aaliyah's face. He knew inviting her might have been pushing her out of her comfort zone, but he hadn't wanted to be rude by not inviting her.

Walking over to try and smooth things over, he leaned close down to Rose, gently moving her fringe out of the way and tucking it behind her ear naturally as he leaned down to speak into it over the music, "Is everything okay? Can I grab you guys anything?"

If Aaliyah's eyes could have rolled back into her skull they would have, but she tried to contain herself.

.

'Trust Sam to be all up in our business taking notice of every tiny little thing,' Aaliyah thought to herself angrily.

And a part of her was twinging strangely at seeing him touch Rose so easily in public. Aaliyah had never felt comfortable with Public Displays of Affection and it sent a pang of frustration through her that everything seemed to come so easily to Sam.

She quickly stalked off from the group before she got any more irritated, making way straight for the door. She was glad she didn't have to try and walk out quietly because the music was distracting enough and the doors to the ballroom were fucking ridiculously huge.

Of course they were.