"Are you sure you want to do this, Lin?" my mom asked fretfully for the millionth time that day.

I sighed and turned to her, taping up the last moving box as I did so. "I'm positive, Mom. It'll be fine. I promise!"

She didn't look assuaged, so I put my arms around her and hugged her tightly. My dad came in and shrank the box. "This the last one, Lin?"

I nodded, and kissed my mom on the cheek. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll still be coming back for dinner every Sunday, remember?"

She, too, nodded and patted my hair, blinking back tears. "Oh, my Lin. You've grown up so quickly, and we weren't there to see it."

"Mom, you're acting as if I'm getting married or something. I'm not even going that far! It's a half an hour drive to the new flat, and you can always apparate if you need to see me sooner than that." I refrained from rolling my eyes as I turned to my dad. "Everything's there, then?"

He ruffled my hair with a grin. "See you Sunday, kiddo. And let us know when we can come see you practice with Puddlemere."

"I will!" I called as I stepped out the front door to apparate to the flat. "Bye!"

My mom shouted something after me, but I was gone before it could reach my ears. I suddenly found myself looking at a two-story brick building stuffed between shops 2 blocks down from the Leaky Cauldron. I smiled as I stepped through the door and up the stairs until I reached apartment 3B.

The door swung open just as I was about to insert my key into the lock. "Lin!"

"Mary?" My eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she threw her arms around my neck. "What are you doing here?"

"Rob, Jess and I moved in across the hall!" She quickly took my box from my hands and proceeded to my room.

"I thought you were moving into a place in Camden, not here in Westminster." I bit my lip.

I followed her into my room and watched her set the box down on my bed and enlarge it to its original size. "Well, Rob and I were, but then Jess told me she hadn't found a roommate yet, so I told her she was going to live with us," she explained. "The place in Camden was too small, so Rob suggested we talk to the landlord about this place." She turned to me and sighed dreamily. "He's so thoughtful. He accepted Jess coming along with us without a second thought."

I grinned and began unpacking. "So we'll be neighbors, then? This should be interesting. I wonder if Carly and Jack's neighbor is a muggle or not."

"I thought James and Louis would move in down there," Mary called as she entered my closet, hanging up my clothes.

"No, they're living in one of his dad's properties, along with Reg and Harold, you know, the last guy from Ravenclaw. It's called Grimmauld Place over in Islington," I answered as I made my bed.

We chattered mindlessly for the next 20 minutes as we organized my room. When we finally finished, I was proud of the work we had accomplished. My room was small, but I made the most of the space. One wall was lined with three bookshelves, the adjoining walls holding my closet and dresser, and my desk respectively. The wall across had the door and my bed, right beneath the window. Photos and posters covered most of the free space.

"Looks brilliant, Lin." Mary slung an arm around my shoulders.

I grinned. "Thank you so much. Let's see where Georgie and Jane went off to."

"Georgie went to help Louis unpack and Jane went to go get some dinner for all of us. Jess isn't moving in 'til next week, and Rob should be getting home any minute," she answered quickly, leading me to the kitchen area. "We should go find Carly and Jack, though, and make it a proper meal."

I nodded. "Would you mind getting them? I just want to take it all in, you know."

She smiled brightly. "Of course, Linny. I'll be back in a flash."

She closed the door quietly as she left me alone to my thoughts. I took in the apartment as a whole. The day before, Jane, Georgie, Louis, James and I had pulled in all the heavier pieces of furniture. Our living room was equipped with a television and a wireless, two sofas and a cushy armchair. The fireplace mantle and coffee table were the same type of wood, and it reminded me vaguely of Gryffindor's common room.

Behind one of the longer sofas was our kitchen table, and behind the table was the counter bar that separated the living area from the kitchen. We had muggle appliances, but had modified them to also work with magic, so Georgie could work them. The kitchen was bright and cheery. The hallway connected our bedrooms and one bathroom to the kitchen and living room. It was a very small place, but perfect for us. I felt a smile grow on my face. Life was good.

Jane chose that moment to burst through the door, arms laden with a massive amount of food. "Hello, Lin! I was wondering when you'd show up."

"I got here about 45 minutes ago, actually," I said as I helped her unload the food. "Why do we have enough food to feed an army?"

She smiled brightly up at me. "Housewarming party! Didn't I tell you?"

I frowned. "No. Who's coming?"

"Every Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw from our year, plus some others in Ary's year. Did you know that Carly's neighbors from across the hall are Cathy and Beth? Ary's old roommates?"

I grinned. "No! Oh, wow, this is going to be great! Living in an apartment building with only magical folk. We're so lucky."

She laughed. "We are. Now, come on and help me set things up. We're going to need to clear some room if we're going to fit all those people into this tiny flat."

An hour later the party was in full swing. I was munching happily on my plate of Thai food, chatting to Mary and Jessica.

"So, when does training start for Puddlemere?" Jessica asked after she had swallowed some of her butterbeer.

"July 11th. It's going to be crazy this year, on account of the World Cup being next year. The Ministry's already looking to change up England's national team." I sighed. "This isn't a good year to start. I'm probably going to be overlooked because I'm a newcomer."

"Don't put yourself down, Lin," Mary said soothingly. "You're the best seeker I've ever seen. Better than Krum, even."

I laughed. "Please, Mary. Don't joke about things like that!"

"Lin, shut up and enjoy the party." James suddenly materialized at my elbow. "You're brilliant, and we'll worry about the future when it comes."

I frowned at him, but wrapped my arm around his waist, anyway. "I am enjoying the party, Potter."

He chuckled and turned to Mary and Jessica. "Excuse us, ladies, but Lin here owes me a tour of the flat."

"Now?" I asked exasperatedly.

He simply tugged my arm and led me away. I rolled my eyes at Jessica and Mary, who blushed and giggled respectively.

"This is the kitchen," I gestured to the cramped space, "and this is the living room." I turned and gestured to the other half of the open room.

He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "And your bedroom?"

"James," I hissed, a blush covering my cheeks, "there are people over."

He wrapped his arms around my waist. "I haven't spent any time alone with you since the train ride, and that was a few days ago. I miss you, love."

I smiled. "Fine."

I checked to see if anyone was looking, and, when I was convinced the coast was clear, I opened the door to my room and pushed him in. He immediately pushed me up against the closed door and pressed feverish kisses to my lips. I moaned softly. "James," I breathed.

He ran his arms up and down my sides as his kisses moved to my neck. "I wish you would've moved in with me, Lin," he confessed quietly.

I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair. "Is it so wrong of me to want a bit of independence?"

"You could be independent with me." He nipped at my earlobe and sent shivers down my spine. "I don't understand it."

"James," I pulled his face back to mine, unwilling to get into an argument, "do you really want to get into this now? Or are you going to shut up and kiss me?"

He grinned roguishly and proceeded to do the latter.

Suddenly we broke apart due to a banging on the door. "Come out of there you two!" Carly shouted. "There's a party to be enjoyed!"

I groaned. "Of course."

James pouted. "We could try to ignore her."

"This is Carly we're talking about," I reminded him.

He sighed. "You're right. Let's go."

The party ended at about 2 in the morning. Georgie, Jane, Carly, who had stayed behind to help, and I managed to get things cleaned up pretty quickly, and soon collapsed onto our sofas. Jane grabbed cups and filled them with firewhiskey. She handed one to each of us. "I propose a toast."

I blinked sleepily at her. "To what?"

"To us." She smiled and raised her glass. "To our friendship and sisterhood. May it never end."

We grinned and clinked glasses together. "To us," we echoed.

"To our friends who have become family." Georgie raised her glass.

"To our friends." Our glasses clinked together again.

"To the love and support we are surrounded with, and that we give each other." Carly was the one to raise her glass this time.

"To our love and support."

I recalled privately the words Mrs. Wood had said when I had been in the Hospital Wing. I was determined to enjoy my life, and by doing that, to honor those who had lost their lives to give me the opportunity to do so. With this in mind, I let the firewhiskey warm my belly before adding my own toast. "To our future, and all the joys that lie ahead."

"To our future." We drained our glasses and shared smiles that can only be shared between best friends.

For the second time that day, I thought to myself, life is good.