The night before my party, I got an invitation to go to the Burrow, the house that apparently the Weasleys had all grown up in. Arabella was going to be there, as, of course, were Albus, Rose, Lily, and Hugo. I was excited. I missed Albus's quiet discussions with me about what we were reading, Rose's comfort, and Lily and Hugo's antics.

I wore semi-fancy black pants and a flowing blouse. I would've worn a dress, but something told me pants would be better for tonight. I apparated to the Burrow, seeing as in the States, you can get your license at 15 instead of 17. I felt mature as I made my way to the front door and knocked, but as soon as the door opened, I felt like a little kid again.

"Oh, you must be Caroline!" the plump, gray-haired lady exclaimed as she pulled me inside for a hug. "The children speak so highly of you, dear. I'm Molly, their grandmother. Let me introduce you to everyone else now." She pointed out her husband, and various sons, and their spouses, and their wives, until we got to a little cluster of people near the fireplace.

I noticed Mrs. Wood first. "Mrs. Wood!"

Mrs. Weasley laughed as she gave me a little push towards them. "You'll be in good hands, love."

Mrs. Wood came over and hugged me. "Arabella's off somewhere talking with Victoire and Teddy. You'll meet them later. Come meet the famous Harry Potter." She winked and pulled me to the group.

"Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, this is Caroline, the girls' friend," she introduced me with a flourish.

Ron's eyes twinkled. "Ah, so she's the one that –"

Hermione stepped on his foot. "Hush, Ronald."

I thought this exchange was odd, but still shook hands with them all and nodded my head at Oliver, who simply rumpled my hair. And then I noticed Professor Longbottom standing next to him.

"Pr- Professor," I stuttered.

He laughed. "Good to see you, Ms. Benedetto. Have you started on your paper yet?"

A woman beside him with a kind face and red hair elbowed him. "Neville, leave her alone." She offered me her hand. "Hannah Longbottom. My husband tells me you're one of the best students in his class."

I blushed. Ginny moved next to me. "Alright, leave her alone. I want to hear about quidditch, after all Ja- ah, Ary's told us."

Ginny was my height. It always made me feel weird when adults were exactly my height. It was odd. Her eyes gleamed with humor. "Ary's very excited to have you on the team, you know. Are you enjoying it?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Most definitely, Mrs. Potter."

She laughed. "You know, we were all on the team at some point, except for Hermione, Neville, and Hannah over there."

She laughed. "I had the grades to prove it." She winked at me.

Neville just winced. "I hate brooms."

Harry laughed. "Neville's misfortune was the reason I got picked, actually."

Neville paled. "No embarrassing stories in front of my students, Harry."

Harry just laughed harder.

Oliver piped up, probably to save Neville some embarrassment. "So, what do you say, Potter? Want to prove to me you're still the best seeker Gryffindor's had?"

Harry sobered and shook his head. "No –"

"Told you, Oliver." Albus appeared out of nowhere and stood next to his mother.

Harry frowned at him. "Told Oliver what, exactly, Albus?"

Albus grinned cheekily at him. "That you're too old to play."

Harry puffed out his chest indignantly. "Okay. Match. Now. Old vs. Young, then."

Oliver hooted. "Quidditch!"

Ginny and Elizabeth eyed each other. "Should've seen this coming," Elizabeth muttered.

Before I knew it, I was being ushered outside.

"Right!" Oliver started pacing in front of the crowd. "We'll have the first generation verses the new one, yeah? George, Lizzy, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Angelina, and I'll play against, Ary, James, Teddy, Victoire, Hugo, Albus, and Linny!"

I whispered to Elizabeth, "Mrs. Wood, does he always get that maniacal glint in his eye before a match?"

She sighed. "Yes. It's the same way with Ary, if you've noticed."

I nodded, suddenly afraid.

I nervously climbed onto the Cleansweep that had been given to me. Two other people on my team noticed and flew over to me.

"Hello! You must be Caroline." The blond-haired girl stuck her hand out for me to shake, which I did. "I'm Victoire." She gestured to the black-haired guy at her side with her unoccupied hand. "This is Ted."

"It's Teddy, actually." He rolled his eyes, but shook my hand, too. "Worried about the match?"

I blushed. "Sort of. I play at school, but I don't want to make a bad impression. Your families seem really nice."

Victoire waved me off, saying, " Don't worry about it. It always gets like this, doesn't it, Ted? Very competitive, our family is. And everyone already likes you, I can tell." She winked.

Teddy, whose hair was morphing from black to blue, nodded. "Besides, Hugo and I are okay Beaters, though I played for Hufflepuff in school. We'll make sure you don't get bloodied up to bad."

Victoire noticed my eyes going wide and smacked his head. "Don't give the poor girl a heart attack!"

I shook my head. "No, it's just… Your hair."

He looked rather proud of himself. "I'm a Metamorphmagus. It's quite rare you know."

Victoire smacked his head again as his hair started changing from blue to blond. "Stop showing off."

I laughed. "It's alright. It's pretty cool. Thanks for making me feel better."

Teddy grinned as he and Victoire flew into position.

I looked over and saw Arabella in position in front of the make-shift hoops. Victoire, James, and Albus were calm in their chasing positions. Teddy and Hugo knocked each other on the head a couple of times, but were more or less in the Beaters's positions. I looked up and saw Mr. Potter across from me.

"Hello, Caroline." He beamed at me. "Not to nervous, are you? It's okay to back out now, you know."

I laughed. "Never!" I exclaimed, just as Mr. Weasley, the grandfather of the clan, blew on his whistle and threw the Quaffle up into the air.

Before I could keep track of what was happening we were tied, 60-60. I groaned as I watched Hugo cheerfully whack a Bludger at his father, who parried it back. Ary whacked the Quaffle up and into Victoire's hands, who then shot down the field and had almost made it until her uncle sent her spiraling with another Bludger. She tossed it up to Albus, who threw it to James who scored! I whooped, and then I saw it.

The snitch, by James's elbow. A blur passed me, and I realized Mr. Potter had seen it too. I flew on his heels, and before I knew it, we were neck and neck. I knew he'd get it, and realized what I'd have to do. I launched myself off of my broom and went flying through the air at James.

He didn't even realize it until I was on top of him clutching the snitch within my sweaty hands. I screamed victory, and then realized how close I was to James. I tried to scramble backwards, but that just sent us slipping off of his broom and towards the ground.

"OW." I groaned from under James. I winced as I realized I had landed on my right ankle. "Jesus."

"Bloody hell, Benedetto," he whimpered, "I think you broke my hand!"

I tried to push him off me. "You broke my ankle!"

"How?" he demanded.

"You landed on top of me, you idiot!" I yelled.

"You did it first!" His face was inches from my own.

"I got the snitch, dumb ass." I shoved in his face.

Suddenly we were apart. "Caroline, are you okay?" Mrs. Wood was trying to help me up.

"Ow, please don't, ow, oh my ankle, ow," I whined from my position on the ground as she kept trying to lift me up. Ginny finally rushed over, and between the two of them, they lifted me. I limped in their embrace.

I looked over and saw James staggering to his feet being helped my Mr. Potter and one of the Mr. Weasleys. I remembered how close he had been, and my face turned red.

"BENEDETTO!" Ary roared as she rushed at me. "DID YOU GET IT?"

I shoved it in her face with a maniacal grin of my own before I realized that put me off balance and sent me toppling again.

Once we were all inside, with my ankle propped up, and James's hand bandaged. There was a lot of talk about the match. I still clutched the snitch within my hands. Wood was yelling at Potter.

"You're off your game, old man!" Oliver pounded the table with a fist.

Harry looked alarmed. Ginny was just laughing as Lizzy was trying to smother his voice with her hands. Ary, however, was bragging about me to George and his wife, Angelina, and his children, Roxanne and Fred, who were first and second years in Gryffindor, respectively. I was amazed I remembered their names. Bill was just looking amused at the whole situation with his wife, Fleur, and their two other children aside from Victoire, Dominique and Louis. Dominique had already graduated, but Louis was the brother in our year that Jane had told me about. He saw me watching, and winked. I laughed and threw the snitch at him, which he caught. We had Muggle Studies together, and he was always making corny jokes. I had to remember to invite him and his siblings to the party.

Then, in the corner, were Professor Longbottom, his wife, Percy Weasley and his wife Audrey, and their two little girls, Molly and Lucy. Molly was a second year in Gryffindor, I remembered, and Lucy a first year in Ravenclaw. Professor Longbottom was telling Percy and Audrey about a mutual friend, Luna, and her family's exploits in Norway. I gathered her children were homeschooled. There were so many family members. And then I remembered there was also another Weasley brother, Charlie, but he was in Romania. I thought my head would explode from all of this information. Not to forget, of course, there were the grandparents, who were getting James and me whatever they thought we might need to heal.

"All these children, and not one of them produces a Healer!" Molly threw her hands up in the air as she walked into the kitchen.

Arthur, her husband, just laughed and followed her.

I sighed and tested my ankle. "Ouch," I muttered.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Grandmum will be back with ice soon." I sighed and turned my head so I was looking at James.

I looked around us and noticed that Rose and Albus were in another corner, reading. Lily and Hugo were playing Exploding Snap. "Hey," I said, "where are Victoire –"

"And Teddy?" James grinned down at me, finishing my sentence. He sighed as he scanned the room. "Probably upstairs snogging. It happens a lot."

"Your parents don't care?" I was surprised.

James laughed. "It's been going on a while, actually. They're used to it, but Grandmum and Granddad both discourage it, so they better be careful. But I know my dad's hoping Teddy'll finally ask the question."

"The what?" I looked up at James confusedly.

He looked equally as confused back "You know, 'the' question? Good Lord, you're a girl aren't you?" He started trying to make gestures with only one hand. "THE question. The MARRIAGE question."

I turned red. "Oh."

"How could you not know? Isn't that, like, what every girl wants?" he asked dramatically.

I snorted at him. "I've never had an occasion to think of marriage, Potter."

"Girls don't need occasion to think of it! They just do!" He groaned. "Are you defective?"

I inhaled sharply, and stood up. I wobbled, but I managed to stay standing. "You know what. Maybe I am! Maybe I am defective because I don't think of marriage every Goddamn second of every Goddamn day." I realized at this point the room turned quiet and was listening to me. I didn't even care. I was tired and injured. "You're an ass," I told him, and I limped out of the room. I apparated before anybody could stop me.

When I got home, my parents fussed over my ankle, but my mom quickly remembered a spell to fix it after flipping through her Healing Handbook. I thanked her, and then promptly went to bed.