Saturday, March 27th 1999

Five days had passed and in those five days, Minerva had sent five letters to Amelia. All with no response. Minerva had not gone to investigate anyone else on the Potter's dinner party guest list, she hadn't eaten in the Great Hall, and she hadn't spoken with Dumbledore. Lucy was surprised by her mother not leaving Hogwarts for five days in a row. She didn't mind not going to the Great Hall for meals, preferring to stay with Minerva. Minerva had told her that she could go down and eat with her friends but Lucy refused.

Today Lucy came out into the office dressed up for the day. Minerva looked over and raised an eyebrow at her. "Is your hair done?" she asked, looking at Lucy's very badly plaited hair. "Why have you done your hair?"

"Aunty Amelia's taking me to Hogsmeade today, remember!" Lucy said with a smile, walking over to her mother's desk. "Can you fix it? I did it badly."

Lucy jumped up on Minerva's lap so she could fix her hair. Minerva sighed and pulled the elastic out of the end of the braid. "Uh, Lucy, I'm not sure if your Aunt Amelia is coming today," she said as she ran her fingers through the hair to open up the braid. "She... she hasn't really been feeling well lately."

"But she promised," Lucy said with a frown, looking back at her mother. "She said we could get chocolate from Honeydukes and toys from Zonko's Joke Shop! Did she send a letter saying that she wasn't coming?"

"No, but -"

"Then she'll come," Lucy said matter-of-factly, smile returning to her face. "She always keep her word."

Minerva didn't say anything. She re-braided Lucy's hair and she slid down from Minerva's lap. She really hoped Amelia came. She wasn't sure how well Lucy would take her absence. Minerva opened her desk drawer and pulled out a coin purse. She looked inside and took out a few galleons, Lucy didn't need to spend that much. "Here, spend it wisely," she said, handing Lucy the purse. "And don't lose it."

"Thank you!" Lucy said with a nod before carefully putting it away in her coat pocket. Just then there was a knock at the door. Lucy ran to the door excitedly and opened it up. "Oh. Hi, Uncle Albus."

"That is definitely not the warmest welcome I've ever received, my dear," he said with a chuckle as he walked into the office.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said with a smile. "I just thought you were Aunty Amelia. She's taking me to Hogsmeade today!"

"That's nice," Dumbledore said. "You must try the Pumpkin Pasties at Honeydukes. They're quite good." He looked over at Minerva, who hadn't looked up from her desk at him since he walked in. "Hello, Minerva."

"Albus," Minerva muttered, still not looking up. "Why are you here?"

Lucy was surprised by her mother's rudeness. She and Dumbledore shared a confused look. Dumbledore walked over and sat down in front of her. "Well, you and Lucy have not been down to the Great Hall at all this week. I merely wanted to make sure you were both alright."

Minerva didn't respond. Lucy walked over too and said, "Mum wasn't feeling well and said that she didn't feel like going down to the Great Hall. We've been eating here."

"Oh, I see," Dumbledore said, looking at Minerva.

There was silence for a long time. Lucy felt very awkward. She wasn't sure why there was so much tension in the room. She had thought that her mother and her Uncle Albus were friends. Best friends. Why were they acting so strange? Were they fighting?

There was another knock on the door and Lucy ran back to answer it. She opened the door and smiled up at her Aunty Amelia. "Hey!"

"Hello, Lucy," Amelia said with a smile. "Guess who decided he wanted to tag along to Hogwarts."

"Hello, Princess," Raj said with a smile.

"Uncle Raj!" Lucy said happily, hugging him. "Are you coming to Hogsmeade with us too?"

"No, I do have some work to get done but I thought I would come by and do my work here since it's been so long," Raj said with a smile, picking her up and walking into the office. "Hello, Minerva, Albus."

"Hello, Raj," Minerva mumbled, still not looking up from her papers.

"Raj, how are you?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm good, thank you," he said with a smile. "So, love, I'll do my work while you and Aunty Amelia go out to Hogsmeade and then when you come back we can do something fun."

"Okay!" Lucy said with a smile as Raj put her down. She ran back over to Amelia and took her hand.

Amelia smiled. "Ready to go?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep!" she said. She looked back at her mother. "Bye, Mum!"

Minerva finally looked up and gave Lucy a little smile. "Goodbye, darling. Be good for your Aunty Amelia," she said. "Why don't you wait in the hall for a moment so we can talk for a minute."

"Okay," Lucy said with a frown. She looked from Amelia to Minerva to Dumbledore and Raj before walking out the door. Was everyone mad at each other?

Amelia glared at Minerva and closed the door behind Lucy. Raj looked between them before looking at Dumbledore who gave a little shrug. Minerva flicked her wand at the door so Lucy wouldn't be able to hear.

"I thought you might not come."

"I may be angry at you but I would never take that out on that little girl," Amelia muttered angrily, crossing her arms. "Of course, you would think I would though, wouldn't you?"

"Amelia, I -"

"Albus," Amelia said, ignoring Minerva now and giving Dumbledore a little nod. "Sorry, I just noticed you were here too."

He gave her a small smile. "Hello, Amelia."

"What exactly is going on?" Raj asked with a frown as he walked over and sat down beside Dumbledore in front of Minerva's desk.

"Nothing," Amelia replied. "Just here to drop you off and pick up Lucy."

"There's a spy in our ranks, I've told you," Minerva said with a sigh, looking over at Raj. "I've been investigating everyone to make sure it's not them. She's angry with me for investigating her."

"I'm angry with you," Amelia retorted, crossing her arms, "for thinking I would ever sell out my friends and family!"

"Okay," Raj said, "um... I don't think this is -"

"Don't, Raj," Amelia said dangerously. "Just don't."

"Amelia, I was the one who asked her to do that," Dumbledore said. So this was the reason that Minerva had been avoiding him. Amelia must have caught her tailing her. He sighed and shook his head. "I've asked her to investigate everyone. Not just you."

"She didn't have to do it," Amelia said. She turned to Minerva. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Stop sending me your letters. I trusted you but you didn't trust me. I thought I had proven myself to be trustworthy but I guess it wasn't enough for you. I suppose I should have known. You never let anybody in all the way, do you?"

Before Minerva could say anything, Amelia turned on her heel and walked out the door. Minerva watched her go before rubbing her face with her hands. Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic look. "Minerva -"

"I don't want to hear it, Albus," she interrupted, putting a hand up to stop him. "Please leave."

Dumbledore sighed and stood up. "It was nice seeing you, Raj," he said. "I hope you enjoy your stay at the castle."

"Goodbye, Albus," Raj said.

Dumbledore gave a little nod and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. When he was gone, Raj turned and looked at Minerva.

"That really sucked," he said.

She gave him a look. She was about to retort when suddenly she couldn't. She turned away as the tears fell down her cheeks. "I didn't want to," she whispered. "I trust her. I do. Albus asked me to make sure. I knew it was stupid and I - I shouldn't have done it... but... I don't know."

"I know," Raj said with a sigh. He leaned forward and took her hand. "It'll be okay. She'll get over it and forgive you. It just takes time. I mean, taking Lucy out is a good sign, isn't it?"

"Of course she would still take Lucy out," Minerva said. "She loves her. She wouldn't punish Lucy for something I did. I shouldn't have doubted her."

"I think," Raj said, "that war makes you doubt a lot of things in your life that you were once so certain about. When the core of your world is being shaken, it's hard to know where you stand and it's easy to start doubting the most solid things in your life. I think Amelia understands that and I think that eventually she will forgive you."

Minerva sighed. "I hope so," she mumbled. She looked up at Raj for a second and then down at their hands. She pulled her hand away and wiped her cheeks. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"Being a mess," Minerva mumbled. "I've been a complete mess this whole week and I think I'm really scaring Lucy."

"I think Lucy'll be fine," Raj said. "You're stressed right now. You're allowed to be a mess."

Minerva smiled a little. "I'm glad you decided to drop by, Raj," she said. "It's been a while."

"It has," he said. "I was worried about you all. Especially after what happened in Castletown in December. I hope that you find this spy soon. You'll all be safer once they're caught."

Minerva sighed. "Me too but I don't think I can investigate anyone right now," she said. "I don't want to investigate my friends anymore."

Raj gave her a reassuring look. Minerva sighed and looked back down at her papers. "I should get back to this. You have a lot to do?"

"I do," Raj said with a nod. He pulled a tiny briefcase out of his pocket and gave her a little smile. "Mind unshrinking this for me?"

"Of course," Minerva said with a small smile. She pulled out her wand and with a flick the briefcase grew to full size. Raj thanked her and then started pulling his files out of it. They both started their work in silence.

...

"Hogsmeade Village is the only all wizard village in all of Britain," Amelia said with a smile as she took Lucy's hand and led her down the moving staircases of Gryffindor Tower. "You've been here a long time. I'm surprised you've never gone."

"Mum's too busy," Lucy said with a sigh. "She's always doing stuff for Uncle Albus or trying to finish all of the Hogwarts stuff that she has to do as well. She's kind of stressed out."

"Hmm," Amelia mumbled, smile fading.

"Why are you mad at her?" Lucy asked, looking up at her aunt.

"I'm not -"

"You're lying."

Amelia looked down at Lucy with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you so smart?"

Lucy laughed and shrugged. "My DNA?"

"Right," Amelia said with a shake of her head though she was smiling again. "Well, sweetheart, sometimes people do things that make you a sad. I'm not mad at her. I'm just sad."

"What did she do?" Lucy asked.

"That's nothing for you to worry about. All that matters right now is that I take you out to have some fun, right?" she said, trying to make Lucy drop the subject.

"Yeah," Lucy said, though she wasn't quite ready to let this go. She would probably bring it up again later.

"Alright, so, Hogsmeade was actually founded by a Hufflepuff, you know?" Amelia said with a smile, bringing them back to the topic at hand as they walk out of the castle and down towards the gates. "Now, Hogwarts students in year three and higher are allowed to go down to the village on some weekends. There are a lot of little shops and things that you might like."

"Uncle Albus said to try the Pumpkin Pasties at Honeydukes," Lucy said with a smile. "Said they were really good."

"They are," Amelia replied. "We'll go to Honeydukes and Zonko's. We'll have lunch at the Three Broomsticks and then we can go to Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. I love that little store. They have both wizard and Muggle records. You probably listen to a lot of muggle music, huh?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah but I've listened to some wizard bands too since we came here. Mr. Tonks loves listening to the radio. It's always playing in the background in their room."

"What is your favourite band?"

"I like the Hippogriffs and Vampire '75," Lucy said with a smile.

Amelia smiled. "Yes, they're quite good. I like a lot of older artists like the Singing Hags and Twenty Pumpkins and Izabella Monty. I'm guessing you've never heard of them."

Lucy shook her head. "Sorry."

"That's okay," she replied with a smile. "I can show you some when we go down to Maestro's and maybe you can show me some of the Muggle bands that you like as well."

"Okay!" Lucy said excitedly.

They made it to the gate, went through and walked down the path to the village. They walked down to Honeydukes first. As soon as they walked into the tiny little shop, Lucy was hit with the sweet smells of chocolates and vanilla. The shop was filled with shelves of colourful sweets. It was like a seven year old's heaven! Lucy ran around trying the free samples of Sugared Butterfly Wings and Treacle Fudge. She tried a Pepper Imp and breathed fire down the aisle, singeing the bottom of Amelia's robes. Amelia just laughed and used her wand to fix her robes. Lucy wanted to buy one of everything but she knew that she did not have enough money for that and wasn't sure how happy Minerva would be if she came home with only bags of sweets. Amelia was starting to think that maybe they shouldn't have started at the sweetshop. Lucy ended up buying only a few things, Amelia talking her down from some of the more annoying puddings. Lucy bought a Pumpkin Pasty, a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, a Chocolate Frog, and a box of Honeydukes Best Chocolate.

After that they made their way into Zonko's Joke Shop. This shop was alive and buzzing. Miniature Dragons flew around and breathed fire overhead, Shrieking Pens screamed bloody murder when picked up, and Singing Socks sung various songs all involving feet. Lucy bought Bubble-Blowing Sweets that she couldn't wait to give to Bill, Charlie and Tonks. She also bought a set of Nose-Biting Teacups that she was sure she could slip into her mother's set. She avoided the Dungbombs, deciding they were much too smelly and mean for her. She prefered the silly, mostly harmless pranks.

From there they headed down to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. Amelia led the way to the counter where she ordered food and drinks from a woman named Madam Rosmerta. She was a tall, curvy, attractive young witch with brown curly hair and glittery six inch heels.

"So, you're Minerva's little girl, huh?" Rosmerta asked with a smile, looking down at Lucy. Lucy nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss. Your mother talks my ear off about you."

"Really?" Lucy asked with a laugh.

"Yes," she said, sounding tired all of a sudden. "Doesn't like talking to anyone about anything but loves to brag about her amazingly smart daughter."

"Yes, because you're definitely one to talk, Rosmerta," Amelia said with a laugh. "It's not like you talk nonstop every chance you get."

"I resent that, Amelia," Rosmerta said though she smiled. She walked down the bar and poured some juice for Lucy and some Butterbeer for Amelia. She handed them both a glass. "So, how are you doing, Amelia? It's been awhile since you've been down here."

"Oh, same old, same old," Amelia said. "Been very busy lately, you know how it is down at the Ministry. I just came up here to take Lucy out for a day of fun."

"Are you having fun, Lucy?" Rosmerta asked.

"Yes!" Lucy said with a big smile. "We went to Honeydukes and Zonko's Joke Shop!"

"That's exciting," Rosmerta said with a smile. She turned back to Amelia and leaned in closer. "So, what you've missed... Howard over there just got put on probation! Showed up to work piss drunk," she said, motioning with her head over to a pudgy, middle aged man drinking whiskey at lunchtime. Lucy thought he looked quite sad. "And Sharon's threatened to leave with the kids."

"Wow," Amelia said, very aware that this was probably not a conversation they should be having in front of Lucy even if Rosmerta wasn't. "Um, well -"

"And that's Iza Carmen. Just moved up the street all the way from Spain," Rosmerta continued, unaware of Amelia's uneasiness. "Has three children... all of different fathers!"

"I think that we should probably find a table while we wait for our food," Amelia said, giving Rosmerta a significant look and nodding slightly towards Lucy.

"Oh! Yes, of course," Rosmerta said, blushing a little bit. Apparently she had already forgotten about Lucy's presence. "Food'll be out in a minute."

Amelia took Lucy's hand again and led her over to a free table near the back of the pub. Lucy looked up at her and said, "Madam Rosmerta is a little... nosy."

Amelia smiled. "Oh, yes, she is the biggest gossip I've ever met," she said as she pulled out a chair for Lucy and then sat down herself. "Never let her know any of your secrets. They'll be spread all through Hogsmeade about five minutes after you do."

Lucy smile. Rosmerta brought them their burgers and fries, offered them a refill on drinks and then left them alone again. Lucy waited for her to be far enough away before looking back at Amelia and, with a mouth full of fries, asked, "Did Mum tell one of your secrets?"

Amelia gave her a look. "I thought I told you not to worry about that."

"Did she?"

"No."

"Did she do something really bad?"

"Lucy," Amelia said with a sigh. "I don't want you to think badly of your mother. Just because we're not on very good terms right now doesn't mean that she's did something bad."

"Then why are you fight?" Lucy asked. "I thought you were friends."

So did I, Amelia thought. She sighed and shook her head. "We are friends. Sometimes friends fight."

"But then they make up," Lucy said matter-of-factly. "You and Mum should make up and be friends again and not be angry anymore."

"I'm not -"

"Or sad anymore," Lucy replied.

Amelia smiled a little. She shook her head again, reached over and grabbed some of Lucy's fries. "You'll understand more when you're older."

"I hate it when people say that," Lucy muttered with a sigh.

Amelia laughed. "I'm sorry but it's true."

They ate their lunch and then headed back out to High Street to go into some of the other shops. They looked at the weird moving plants in Dogweed and Deathcap. Amelia stopped Lucy from buying a Devil's Snare plant. They listened to music at Dominic Maestro's Music Shop, looked at books in Tomes and Scrolls, potions in J. Pippin's Potions, and quills and stationary in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. They looked at the new, high tech Quidditch supplies at Spintwitches Sporting Needs. Lucy looked at the new broom in the window display. Nimbus One Hundred; the fastest broom in all of Europe. Lucy asked if she could buy a broom and Amelia showed her some of the children's brooms they had on display. That was not really what Lucy had in mind though.

"You can have a broom when you turn twelve," Amelia told her, making Lucy frown. "By then they'll have taught you how to ride one in school."

From the sporting goods store they went to Dervish and Banges, a shop that sold and repaired magical instruments. It sold loads of different magical objects like Sneakoscopes and Rememberalls. Amelia told Lucy she didn't need a Sneakoscope since she had the bracelet Mr. Doge had given her for Christmas which did the same thing without being as obvious. Lucy agreed and bought a silver globe of the moon instead. They went to Gladrags Wizardwear next. Amelia tried to get Lucy to try on some fancy robes and dresses for her but Lucy wasn't very interested in that. Instead she looked at the socks that shrieked when they got to smelly, thinking about buying a pair for Daniel. After they left the clothing shop, Amelia took her to the outskirt of Hogsmeade to see the Shrieking Shack.

"People call this the most frightening building in Britain," Amelia said. "Someone bought the land and began construction of the house but people say that it was never completed because something terrible happened."

"What?" Lucy asked, looking up at her aunt.

"I don't know. Nobody knows," Amelia replied. "But whoever was building it didn't do a very good job. There are no windows or doors."

"Maybe they accidentally built it around themselves and got trapped!" Lucy exclaimed with a wide eyes, staring at the brown, wooden, falling apart house.

"Maybe," Amelia said with a laugh. "Though I'm not sure why they wouldn't just Apparate out if they had or blast their own door. Either way, whoever was building it abandoned it and residents started reporting hearing terrifying screaming coming from the building. They think it's haunted."

"Maybe it is," Lucy said, walking closer to the wire fence looking over the scary looking building. "There are a lot of ghosts at Hogwarts."

"Yes but not even those ghosts will come here," Amelia said. "If there are ghosts in there they are not very nice like the ones at Hogwarts. They scream like they're getting hurt. Maybe there's something in there that can hurt ghosts."

"Hurt ghosts?" Lucy said. What could possibly hurt something that was already dead?

Amelia smiled and put a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "They're just stories, darling. I don't believe there's anything in there. I think people just like to tell stories to scare each other and threaten their children."

Lucy smiled. "Can we go in?"

"No, like I said, there are no doors."

"We could Apparate in or blast our own door," Lucy said, repeating Amelia's own words back to her.

Amelia shook her head. "I hate how much you remember," she said, letting go of Lucy's shoulder and walking away back to Hogsmeade. Lucy laughed and ran to catch up to her, taking her hand again.

The sun was starting to set now and it was almost time for dinner. Amelia took Lucy back up the path towards Hogwarts. She dropped Lucy off in front of Minerva's office and said goodbye without going inside. She didn't want to see Minerva again. Lucy sighed. She had tried to have her mother and aunt make up but it looked like it was going to be harder to do than she had thought. Maybe she should just ask Dumbledore for help.

She went into the office and found her mother and uncle sitting where she had left them. Minerva looked up and gave her a small smile as she walked in.

"Wow, looks like you did quite a bit of shopping," she said, looking at Lucy's bags.

"Not that much," she said with a smile, putting her bags down and racing over to her mother. She pulled the coin purse out of her pocket. She held it up for Minerva and Minerva took it from her. "I didn't spend all the money you gave me. Wizard money is weird."

Minerva laughed and shook her head as she put the purse back into her desk.

"It is weird," Raj said. "Couldn't just use a simple base ten system like us?"

"I didn't decide the system. I'm sorry but I don't have the answers you seek," Minerva said with a smile.

Lucy walked around to Raj's side of the desk now. "Are you done your work now, Uncle Raj?"

"Yes, I am," he said with a smile.

"Yay!"

Raj got up and grabbed her, tickling her. She squirmed around and laughed loudly. Minerva watched them and shook her head. They might be done but she still had a lot of work to do. Raj saw that and he decided to take Lucy inside to play in the private rooms so Minerva could finish her work in peace. He picked up Lucy's bags and helped her take everything inside. Minerva smiled and thanked him.

Once inside, Raj and Lucy sat down on the floor in the sitting room and Lucy showed him everything she had bought in Hogsmeade. She told him all about her trip. About Honeydukes. About the Three Broomsticks. About the Shrieking Shack. Raj thought the Shack sounded very interesting. She told him how she had wanted to buy a broom but Amelia had said no.

"That might be for the best, love," Raj said with a laugh. "Though a broom does sound pretty cool."

Lucy nodded. "She said I could get one when I was twelve but that's so far away!"

Raj smiled. "Only five years."

"That's a long time, Uncle Raj," Lucy said sadly.

"It'll go by faster than you know it, I'm sure," he said with a smile.

"Uncle Raj?"

"Yes, love?"

"Do you know why Aunty Amelia and Mum are fighting?" she asked.

"I'm not sure, Princess," he said with a sigh, "but I'm sure whatever it is they'll get over it and make up soon."

"I wish they would do it now," Lucy said, looking down at her new spellbook. "I don't want them to fight. They're best friends."

"They are," Raj said with a nod, taking the book from her and opening it up so they could look at the pictures inside. Lucy flipped through the pages absentmindedly. Raj gave her a little smile. "That's why I know that they will make up eventually. Friends fight sometimes but best friends always make up."

"You think so?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I think so," Raj said with a smile, closing the book and setting it aside. "Don't worry. They just need some time apart to think about it and then soon they'll both come to their senses, apologize, and be best friends again."

"Okay, good," Lucy said with a smile.

Raj smiled. "Now, I know it's almost time for dinner but I don't think it would be too bad if we had a little bit of that chocolate you bought, do you?"

Lucy laughed. "No," she said pulling the Honeydukes bag closer to her so she could grab the box of chocolates.

Author's Note:

Amelia was very hurt by the implication she could be working for the Death Eaters. How could she be? She's Amelia Fucking Bones!

She's still Lucy's Aunty Amelia though!

Thank you for reading. Please leave a review, I love hearing from you!