Chapter 1

They always say that you can't go back home. I'm not quite sure who 'they' are or why 'they' believe that you can't go back home, though. Is it that the people back home changed and don't fit into your life anymore? Or is it that you've changed so much that you don't fit into your old life anymore? Either way, I was about to find out if the saying was right.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Adelaide Burke, my girlfriend since the end of my fifth year, asked me with concern etched on her face.

"I am positive that I have to do this," I replied, trying to not pick at my nails, which is a nasty habit that I had fallen into when I got nervous, "I can't miss out on my sister's wedding day. My family may hate me already, but they simply would never forgive me if I didn't show up to something this important."

"I hate seeing you like this though," Adelaide replied, shifting her body so that she was facing more towards me, "Would it make things easier if I didn't go with you? I mean it's going to be a strained enough reunion already without dropping the bomb that you have a girlfriend."

"No! I need you here for moral support and so that I don't lose my sanity," I replied, absolutely horrified at the idea of facing my family alone.

"Okay, well if you say that you need me Luce, then I will be here for you," Adelaide replied, grabbing my hand and leaning her head on my shoulder before drifting off to sleep.

I wished that I could join her deep slumber, but my stomach was too full of butterflies to even attempt to sleep. It had been about four years since I last saw anyone in my family. I couldn't help but wonder if I would recognize all of my cousins still or if they would look like just a bunch of gingers running around the yard.

Quicker than I even thought possible, the plane landed at Heathrow and I was about to disembark to face my family. If someone had told me when I was going into Hogwarts that I was going to be nervous to see my own family I would have had them committed. However, this really was my reality and I was going to have to deal with it.

The whole time spent in the airport passed by in a blur and the next thing I knew I was in a cab on the way to my Uncle Harry's house where Adelaide and I would be staying during the week of the wedding. He was the only family member that I contacted to tell him that I would be going to wedding. He offered to let us stay at the house and promised to keep my arrival a surprise.

We took a cab and quickly pulled up to my Uncle's three story cottage with blue shutters, window boxes with flowers, and a bright red front door. The house was clearly the work of my Aunt Ginny, because my Uncle Harry couldn't care less for detail and design. Uncle Harry was definitely more of a bigger picture person.

"Lucy! It's so good to see you!" I heard while paying the cab driver.

Turning around, I saw my Aunt walking towards me with a smile that could only be described as sad and knowing on her face. It was quite clear that she knew this was going to be a hard situation for me. She came up and wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug.

"And who is this?" Aunt Ginny asked, pointing at Adelaide who was standing awkwardly next to me.

"Oh this is Adelaide Burke. She is my…" I began only to be cut off with.

"Her best friend, bandmate and moral support at the moment," Adelaide completed, giving me a look that we would discuss things later.

"It is very nice to meet you Adelaide," Aunt Ginny replied, holding out her hand for Adelaide to shake, "Your name sounds familiar, did you go to school with Lucy?"

"Yes, I was in Slytherin though," Adelaide replied with a charming high wattage smile that showed her pride in her Hogwarts house even after all of these years.

"That's wonderful," Aunt Ginny replied with only a hint of resentfulness for the house in her tone, "Well why don't we head on in. Harry just got back from work with James."

"James already has a job? Didn't he just finish his seventh year at Hogwarts?"

"It's kind of a long story, but yes James just finished his seventh year. He recently got into some trouble with your Uncle and I. He is just working for Harry in the summer to clean up his act I guess you would say. He doesn't want to, but he knows that it's the only way his father will ever allow him to be accepted into the Auror training program," Aunt Ginny replied while opening the front door.

"So it doesn't sound like he has changed much," I replied and I received a laugh from Aunt Ginny in response.

Once we walked inside and into the family room I experienced the first real shock of the trip. Sitting on the couch were two young men that I vaguely recognized as my cousins James and Albus. James had really matured into a handsome young man. I hadn't seen him since the end of his fourth year. Albus also looked much older and mature. He was to be heading into his sixth year of Hogwarts and I hadn't seen him since he ended his second year.

"Well if it isn't the long lost Lucy Weasley," I heard a deep voice said amusedly behind me.

Turning around I saw my Uncle Harry standing in the kitchen doorway with a big smile on his face. I couldn't help but run and give him a big hug. He was always my favorite uncle…well truth be told he was most of my cousins favorite uncle too. He was just so easy going, well with everyone except James…but that was usually because James did something utterly stupid. I was admittedly jealous of James, Albus, and Lily for having Harry as their dad. It's not that I don't love my own, but sometimes my father could be so high-strung and closed minded.

"Uncle Harry! It's so good to see you," I replied, relaxing into his arms, before remembering that my girlfriend was still standing in the room, "This is my bandmate Adelaide. I brought her along as moral support I guess."

"It's very nice to meet you Adelaide," Uncle Harry replied, holding out his hand for her to shake, "Adelaide Burke, right?"

"Yes…how did you know?" Adelaide asked confused, while shaking my Uncle's hand.

"I may have kept my distance as Lucy asked in the letter, but that doesn't mean I stopped keeping tabs on her," Uncle Harry replied.

I was a little shocked by his answer. I didn't remember writing that I wanted to keep my distance from any of my family. I'm almost positive that I just stated that I had to follow my dream and that I understood that it wasn't something that they could wrap their heads around, but it was still something I had to do.

"Oh…right. Well Adelaide these are my cousins James and Albus," I introduced and the turned to my Aunt to ask, "Where is Lily?"

"She is probably locked up in her room writing in her diary again," Albus answered, rolling his eyes at such a girlish act.

"I will go let her know that you are here," Aunt Ginny replied, "Harry will you show the two girls to the guest room?"

"Of course!" Uncle Harry replied, stooping down to pick up a couple of our suitcases, "James will you get the other suitcases?"

James didn't seem to want to do anything of the sort, but he got up and picked up the suitcases without complaint. I definitely had to remember to ask what he had done that had gotten him into so much trouble. It was so unlike James to not speak his mind.

Uncle Harry and James walked our bags upstairs and settled them in the guest room that we would be staying in. The room was decorated with red and gold, much to Adelaide and my disdain.

"Well I will let you two settle in for a little while. We leave for the Burrow in an hour and a half for dinner," Uncle Harry informed us before walking out of the room.

"Okay, thanks Uncle Harry," I replied as he shut the door to the bedroom behind him.

After a couple seconds I turned to Adelaide hoping that my Uncle and cousin would be out of ear-shot.

"Best friends? Bandmates? Moral support?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is that really what we are? Because if that's the case, then I have been highly mistaken for the past several years!"

"Don't be silly! You know that you are my girlfriend," Adelaide replied, rolling her eyes dramatically as she did so, "I can see how hard this is for you. We don't need to add the stress of you having a girlfriend to this situation. If you really want to tell your family then I suggest we wait until after the wedding. I'm sure you don't want to ruin your sister's big day, right?"

"I guess your right…" I replied with a sigh, "How come that is always the case?"

"It's a Slytherin thing," Adelaide replied, sticking her tongue out childishly at me.

"I'm sure," I remarked dryly, "Well I know that I should be extremely jet lagged at the moment, but I'm not. I'm going to head back downstairs and see if there is anything I can help my Aunt with. You are more than welcome to join me."

"I think I'm going to stay here and take a quick nap if that's alright with you," Adelaide replied with a sheepish grin, I swear that girl sleeps more than a hibernating bear.

"Yeah that's fine," I replied while walking towards the door, "I will come wake you up a little before we are heading to my Grandparents' house."

After shutting the bedroom door I walked quickly downstairs and towards the kitchen. When I reached the outside of the kitchen I could hear my Aunt and Uncle having a whispered debate, so I decided to leave them alone and search for one of my cousins. The first cousin I found was Lily who was now sitting on the back porch writing in a notebook.

"Hello Lils," I greeted her with the nickname that majority of our family used to call her.

"Lucy!" Lily replied with wide eyes, jumping up and running to give me a big hug.

Lily and I were always really close growing up. It was very hard for her having two older brothers who always teased her, so she would often come to with her problems. Like I said I was the helpful and loyal Hufflepuff. Of course Lily looks much different than when I last saw her. She was a year away from being in Hogwarts when I left and now she is heading into her fourth year. If anything the girl just got much more beautiful. From the pictures that Uncle Harry has shown me of his mother, Lily looks just like her except for the eyes. Lily has my Aunt Ginny's eyes.

"So how have you been Lily?" I asked, while sitting down on the porch swing next to where she had been sitting.

"I've been great," Lily replied with what could only be described as childish enthusiasm glowing in her eyes.

It took me a minute, but I cracked that look… "Who is he?"

"What?" Lily asked, trying with all her might to make her face look innocent but ultimately failing miserably.

"There is a boy that you like. It's written all over your face."

"Okay…you're right. You always were so good at reading people," Lily replied with an exasperated sigh. I told you I knew that look. It's how I sometimes catch Adelaide looking at me, "His name is Wesley and he is so nice and sweet and he is in my year. He is on the Quidditch team as a beater."

"Why am I sensing that there is a but to this…?"
"Well…first of all he isn't in my house at school…he's a Slytherin," Lily replied. I almost opened my mouth to tell her that it isn't really a problem and that I'm proof of that, but luckily I caught myself before carelessly revealing myself, "And second…"

What the second point is I wouldn't find out just yet, because at that moment James decided to make an appearance on the back porch.

"What are you two up to?" James asked, hopping up to sit onto the deck railing.

"Just catching up," I replied, knowing that Lily wouldn't want me to reveal the fact that she has a crush to her older brother, "So how have you been? I heard from your mother that you've been quite the trouble maker recently."

Lily immediately snorted in response to my statement and James just grunted and rolled his eyes.

"So are you going to tell me what you did, or am I going to have to take a guess?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You would never guess it in a million years," James replied.

"Okay that's a bet that I will take up…hmm…you stole a car?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Do I look like a car thief?"

"Well that depends on the day…when you get up in the mornings sometimes you look like a bum so I wouldn't rule it out," Lily chided with a laugh to which James just glared.

"Um…you embraced your inner arsonist and burnt down a barn?"

"I'm a wizard; I could fix that in a second."

"Touché…you robbed a bank?"

"I'm not even going to reply to that one."

"Well you have to give me something to go on! Was it something illegal?"

"In some places in the Muggle world it is," James replied, suddenly interested in his fingernails.

"Okay…well that narrows it down," I replied sarcastically. Seriously, what could my cousin have done that caused my Uncle to be so infuriated with him that he wouldn't allow him to be accepted into the Auror program?

The back door to the house opened again and this time Albus walked out to join our little party.

"What are you guys doing?" Albus asked, imitating his brother and sitting on the deck railing on the opposite side of his brother.

"Lucy is trying to guess what James did that got him in so much trouble," Lily replied with a smug grin, "And so far she has narrowed down that he isn't a car thief, arson, or bank robber."

"Really, Lucy?" Albus asked with a chuckle, "You are no where near the right answer."

"Well I'm sorry that all I have to go on is that it's illegal in some Muggle cultures!" I defended, "My only other guess is that Uncle Harry caught him smoking pot, but I feel like that guess is as probable as the rest of mine!"

My guess was greeted with silence and I looked up to see James staring intensely at his fingernails again.

"Uncle Harry caught you smoking pot?" I asked incredulous.

"Well…technically mum did. Well actually she just found it in my room while she was putting my clothes away over Easter break. She didn't know what it was and confronted me about it. I almost got away with it because I had her convinced that it was just something I was working with for Herbology…but then dad walked in. Being raised by Muggles, he of course knew what it was. Let's just say he wasn't happy about it and took it to mean that I'm not a responsible enough to act like an adult. He basically told me that I have to work for him for a little while to prove that I can be responsible or that he would make sure I wasn't accepted into the Auror training program. Since I want to be an Auror more than anything else in the world I accepted his terms…so I guess you could say that I'm grounded. Wow…doesn't that make me sound like a loser, 18 years old and grounded by my father from now until the foreseeable future. Maybe running away like you did isn't that bad of an option."

There it was…the first statement about how I left them. I didn't like the way it was worded, but I guess it's technically true. I did run away from my family in a sense…I just prefer to view it as I was following my dreams.

James didn't just leave it at that though, he went even further and stated my biggest nerve. He didn't do it intentionally or maliciously, but it was stated anyway.

"You know it will be nice to have you there tonight. It gives the rest of the family something else to gossip about other than me and how much trouble I'm in. Well I better go get ready."

Like I said, he didn't mean to say it to freak me out….but it did. I knew that it would be exactly how things would unfold. I was the new gossip in the family. The long lost daughter returned after several years without so much as a word. I'm starting to think that Adelaide was right in hiding the fact that we are together at first. I don't know how much drama my family can handle in one night!