The Petrov and Romanov families and their guests arrived at the campsite used each year, the five vardos drawn by horses that had been hired for the week. Grandpa Vladek paid the manager and then camp was set up. After the horses were unhitched, they were tended to. Beth took Hermione to one of the horses and demonstrated how to brush him and check his hooves for stones. Alex did the same with Neville. Meanwhile, the Weasley twins, Ivan, Vera, Sirius, and Aunt Sarah fetched buckets of water.

After the horses had been fed and watered and picketed out so that they could graze, Granny Ilsa and Granddad Eli built a fire. Ana set up a large soup cauldron over the fire. Mrs. Weasley and Aunt Maria got out ingredients for a good stew from a food cabinet in one of the vardos, washed and chopped the vegetables, and put them in the cauldron with some water.

While the stew was cooking, Luna, Neville, Jonas, Ginny, Cara, and David got out bowls and utensils, and the others got out bread and cheese and cut them up. As they worked, Beth explained to Hermione and Neville some aspects about Romany camping and the few differences between theirs and the situation in the past. For one thing, they had plenty of food for the week, while caravans in the past weren't always so lucky and had to deal with coming up with food for their next meal.

Ivan added, "So none of us have to worry about going hungry. The only times anyone in the family has ever gone without food for a day in the past forty years were on Jewish fast days, like Yom Kippur. Our grandparents have made sure of that." His eyes hardened slightly and his tone was flat as he continued, "It's all because of the bloody Holocaust. Otherwise our parents probably would send us to bed without dinner as a punishment like some parents do, instead of just taking away dessert."

Hermione almost dropped the knife in her hand, and did drop the slice of cheese she had just cut. "You never told me that your grandparents survived the Holocaust, Beth and Alex!"

"You never asked," answered Alex. "Besides, we did tell you that they moved to Britain a couple years after World War Two, so you should have figured out that it meant they survived the Holocaust."

"But they're wizards, so I thought they used magic to escape having to go through it," she protested,

"And most of the Roma are magical, but a majority of them still perished," pointed out Vera. "Besides, our grandparents were only teenagers at the time and didn't know enough magic that would enable them to hide from the Nazis. And Granny Ilsa's parents were Squibs."

Hermione nodded in understanding. Alex got out a plate to put the bread slices on, and as he did so, noticed that Vera wasn't working next to Percy, which was rather odd, since the two were best friends. In fact, it was almost as if she was avoiding him, and Alex recalled that she hadn't spent any time with Percy since Sirius had been released. Come to think of it, Percy had been holed up in his room a great deal since the holidays started, and he hadn't made a big deal about earning twelve OWLs, which was not like him, since he had been very proud and showed it when he had gotten the prefect badge.

"Do you think Vera and Percy had a fight?" Alex whispered to Beth. "They haven't been together lately."

Beth shook her head. "I think it's something else. The last time they ever fought over something was back when they were like five, according to Mrs. Weasley, and that was over a toy. And any time Vera gets into a fight, she apologizes the next day and makes up. I can talk to her and find out what's wrong."

An hour later, lunch was ready. Some benches and stools were set up, and each person was given a bowl of stew and a spoon. Three plates of bread and cheese were passed around. For drinks there was tea and juice, and dessert consisted of fruit and some biscuits that Mrs. Weasley had made the day before.

After lunch, Ana gave Hermione her first lesson in wandless magic by demonstrating the Cleaning Charm and then having her practice on the dishes. It took several tries, but after nine times of concentrating and saying, "Scourgify", a bowl was magically cleaned. She then cleaned the rest of bowls with the spell, and after that was told it was enough practice. Vera and Ivan took over cleaning the cups and spoons, and then Ron, Beth, Alex, and Luna put the dishes away.

In the afternoon, the Gryffindor quintet and Sirius went for a walk. That way Hermione, Neville, and Sirius could get themselves familiarized with the campsite, and the latter also had an opportunity to talk and know his godson and his closest friends better. The other kids went the small lake for swimming or to just relax, with Percy and Vera in charge of the group since they were the oldest.

As Alex hadn't gone into detail about the troll that had appeared on Halloween or how it had led to the group becoming friends with Hermione, the quintet told Sirius the whole story. "After that, Ron and Alex looked past the fact that I came across as annoying and became great friends," Hermione concluded. "Though Alex had been making an effort before that."

Sirius smiled. "The Gryffindor Quintet reminds me of the Marauders, except with an extra member. Or like the Marauders with Lily hanging out with us when she started dating James. Except of course none of you would ever betray each other. Maybe one of you will be like Lily and another like James."

Ron and Hermione made choking noises at what the last sentence implied, Neville blushed, and Beth and Alex exchanged significant looks before looking at the first two. While Ron and Hermione didn't exactly have the same relationship that James and Lily Potter did, they argued like an old married couple and actually seemed to get some enjoyment out of their bickering. In fact, they reminded Alex and Beth of the characters Aravis and Shasta/Prince Cor in the Chronicles of Narnia book The Horse and His Boy, who at the end of the book were said to have gotten so used to quarreling and making up again that when they grew up, 'they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently'.

Sirius caught the look and hid a smile. Ron then hastily changed the subject to ask about a prank the Marauders had done. After the walk, they got their swim suits and towels and headed for the lake. Vera was sitting rather stiffly against a tree, listening to Percy talk next to her. There was a smile on her face, but it wasn't real, for it didn't reach her eyes. When she saw the others, she got up and rushed over to them. "I can't stand another second being around Percy!" she hissed. "All he can talk about is his-' She immediately broke off, face red.

Beth, who was beginning to have a inkling as to why Vera was trying to avoid Percy, said, "Why don't we talk about it, Vera? In private. I promise to keep whatever you tell me secret."

Vera looked rather relieved. "All right, Beth. But you can tell Alex, since I know you two don't really have secrets from each other, as long as he keeps his mouth shut about it too."

"I won't tell anyone, Vera," promised Alex. "You know I wouldn't tell secrets about family members without permission regardless."

Hermione went off to hang out with Ginnny and Luna, while Alex, Ron, and Neville changed into their swimming trunks and jumped into the lake. Sirius sat down to talk with Percy, and Beth and Vera went off to a secluded area.

"I take it something else has gotten Percy's interest and you don't like it, Vera?" asked Beth.

"He has a girlfriend," responded Vera. "Her name is Penelope Clearwater, she's in Ravenclaw like me, except in the year above me, and she's a prefect. That's how she and Percy got to know each better. They knew each other before, since they share a couple of classes, but prefect duties together got them closer."

Beth had not been expecting that answer, and asked in puzzlement, "But why would Percy having a girlfriend bother you so much? You're best friends with him and should be delighted for him. If one of my friends, Ron for example, got a girlfriend, I'd be happy for him."

"Well, you're not in love with Ron," pointed out Vera bitterly.

"Yes, but-" Beth suddenly realized why her cousin was so upset. "You're in love with Percy. Or at least have a crush on him, since you're only fifteen. You would like your relationship with him to go beyond platonic friendship, but now that he has a girlfriend, it's not possible now, unless he breaks up with her and turns to you. Why don't you tell Percy how you feel?"

"Elisabeth!" exclaimed Vera, looking horrified. "Girls just don't go around saying how they feel outright like that until they are in a relationship! Or until the boy makes the first move."

"Aunt Sarah told Uncle Niko how she felt about him before they started dating," replied Beth. "She just went up to him one day, said that she saw him as more than a friend and would likely marry him someday, and he said he felt the same way. After that, they started dating."

"You mean courting, since they had marriage in mind at the end of it all," corrected Vera. "And the case with my parents is different. They had crushes on each other ever since they got to know each other, and only did something about it in fifth year, when they felt old enough to start dating."

"This isn't a hundred years ago, when men were expected to make the first move," said Beth. "And sometimes girls have to start things, because they boy is too shy to do so, or for some other reason. And you've read The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery. Valancy was the one to propose to Barney."

"That's because Valancy thought she only had a year to live, didn't want to go back to her stifling family, and had fallen in love with Barney, despite all the gossip about him. She wanted a year of happiness with him, and by the end, he had fallen in love back, turned out to be the son of a millionaire, and she wasn't going to die after all because of a mix-up with the letter the doctor sent. And Valancy and Barney, or should I say Bernard, are fictional characters! Percy and I aren't!"

Beth sighed. "You have a point, Vera. I sympathize with you, but as I'm only twelve and have no experience with love, I can't give you the kind of advice you need. Maybe you should talk to your mum about it. Well, all I can say is that I hope Percy opens his eyes and realizes he should be with you."

"That's not going to happen anytime soon," snapped Vera. "They've been writing back and forth to each other all summer. That's why Percy has been holed up in his room so much. And when Percy is with me, he goes on and on about how wonderful Penelope is. Like how beautiful she is, and how she's the only one that really understands him, since his family doesn't. How can he forget that I've been his best friend since we were practically babies and so I know him better than anyone except his parents? That I understand him completely and keep him from becoming a 'stick-in-the-mud' like Fred says he is?"

Beth had nothing to say to this, for what Vera said was true. Vera did understand Percy completely, and while he was definitely more uptight compared to his brothers, he wasn't like, say, Mr. Crouch. From what Aunt Maria and Uncle Toby had said of Mr. Crouch, he was really uptight, and would and had thrown family members to the wolves if they did something against the law. Also, he had been the one that sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial, which didn't endear him to the family or their friends.

After a moment of silence, Vera got up. "Thank you for listening to me, Beth, and trying to give me some advice. I'm just going to have to get over my feelings for Percy and date someone else. Larry Spencer, who is in my year, said he liked me and asked if we could go out sometime, just before the holidays started. I said yes to avoid hurting his feelings, and I suppose we'll become a couple now. He's nice."

After she had left, Beth returned to Alex and told him in a whisper that Percy was dating fellow prefect Penelope Clearwater and Vera was upset because she had feelings for him too. Alex's reaction was quite unexpected. "What? I am going to hex Percy Weasley! Twice!"

Beth stared at him. "Alex! What are you talking about? You're not going to hex him!"

"Yes I am!" retorted Alex angrily. "Once for not realizing how wonderful and perfect Vera is for him, and once for hurting her by dating something else. No one is going to hurt my cousin and get away with it."

"You will do no such thing, Alexander," reproved Beth. "Hexing Percy is not going to suddenly make him realize that Vera's the one for him, and he doesn't know he's hurting her by dating Penelope. Besides, it isn't your job to hex boys that hurt Vera. That would be Jonas and Ivan's job, since they're her brothers."

Alex opened his mouth to retort, then shut it again as he remembered that it generally was the father or brothers of a girl that would go after any boy that hurt her in some way in books. Finally he said, "Fine, but I'm going to tell Ivan so he can go and hex Percy for hurting Vera."

"Alexander Jacob Romanov, you promised Vera to not tell," reminded Beth sternly.

"Okay, I won't say anything." He sighed, hoping nothing like this would ever happen to Beth. He didn't want her falling for a boy only to discover that he was dating someone else. For that matter, he also hoped that he would never do anything like that. He would feel awful if he dated someone only to discover that Hermione, Luna, or Ginny had feelings for him. Well, Hermione probably wouldn't develop feelings for him, if her relationship with Ron was any indication, but Ginny or Luna possibly could.

"You'd better not, Alex. And Vera said that she's going to get over her feelings and date someone else."

Alex blinked in surprise, but didn't comment, instead asking Beth if she wanted to help plan a prank on Sirius, since he wouldn't start a prank war like the Weasley twins would. She was startled by the subject change, but agreed and the two of them joined their friends in brainstorming and swimming.

Dinner that evening consisted of roasted potatoes, fried fish that the adults had caught, and the leftover stew for those that didn't like fish. The prank was carried out, with a spell put on the potato for Sirius so that he had bright pink hair temporarily after eating it. Everyone had a good laugh at it.

After dinner, they sat around the fire and toasted marshmallows while singing songs and telling stories. When it was finally time for bed, Grandmum Lise announced the sleeping arrangements. Normally each household had a vardo to themselves, but now it was changed to accommodate the guests. The interior of each vardo had been altered so that it could sleep up to six people. The adults had two vardos, three couples to each. The six girls were in a third, and the nine boys plus Sirius had the remaining two.

Alex, Ron, Neville, David, and Jonas entered their vardo. There were two narrow bunks along each side wall, and another two along the back wall. Thanks to magic, it was larger on the inside than the outside, so it wasn't terribly cramped. They each claimed a bunk and then brushed their teeth and changed into their pajamas. After that, they got into their respective bunks and were soon asleep.

The rest of the week passed pleasantly. Hermione and Neville got better at tending the horses. The only lessons were on wandless magic, for an hour each day. The rest of the time, except for meals, bed, and chores, the teens and preteens were allowed to do whatever they wished, within reason.

In between hanging out with his friends and Sirius, Alex finished reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Simarillion, which Ivan and Cara had given him for his birthday. Having read The Hobbit last year, he enjoyed reading more of J. R. R. Tolkien's works, and found the books fascinating.

On the last day of the camping trip, at breakfast time, the Hogwarts letters arrived. Jonas jumped to his feet, causing the plate with what was left of his breakfast to fall off his lap. "It's not fair!" he burst out angrily as the letters were being distributed. "Why can't the cutoff date be later?"

Hermione pointed out, "If the cutoff date were later, then I wouldn't have been in the same year as my fr-"

"Oh shut up!" interrupted Jonas nastily. "At least you're in the same year as your friends. I won't be!"

Before his parents could scold him for being rude or anyone else could react, he kicked his plate to one side, threw the fork in his hand, which landed on the roof of one of the vardos, and ran off. "I'll talk with him," said Granny Ilsa with a sigh, setting down her plate and getting up. Uncle Niko took out his wand and Summoned the fork from off the roof.

There was complete silence for several minutes, with Ginny and David looking rather uncomfortable. Luna did not, but she had a sympathetic look on her face as she gazed in the direction Jonas had run off. Finally Vera broke it by opening her letter and gasping. With a shocked look on her face, she withdrew a blue and bronze badge. A second later, she threw it on the ground. "That'll just upset Jonas even more!" she snapped. "Why do I have to be made prefect when he can't attend Hogwarts this year?"

Aunt Sarah picked up the badge. "Vera Magda Petrov, will you act your age? You ought to be happy that you were made prefect. While he has every right to be upset, your brother is behaving like a six-year old throwing a tantrum because he was denied a sweet, and it should not impact your behavior in any way. So be glad that you are made a prefect and think about what you want as a reward."

Vera reluctantly took her prefect badge and stowed it away in her pocket. The rest proceeded to open their letters. Alex frowned when he saw that almost all of his entire booklist was composed of Lockhart books. He knew that Mrs. Weasley had something of a celebrity crush on Gilderoy Lockhart, who was rather good-looking and had done amazing things, according to his books. Alex wondered if the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher was a fan, which would explain why the books were assigned.

"Mum, aren't Lockhart's books really expensive?" asked David, looking up from his supply list. "And there's the rest of my books, plus my wand and robes and cauldron and everything else. Well, besides my Potions supplies, since Granny Ilsa is paying for those."

"David, you don't have to worry," replied Aunt Maria. "You know your father and I are Aurors and make enough money to afford your school things."

"I know that," answered David. "I was trying to refer to someone else without mentioning names."

Aunt Maria frowned slightly, then nodded in understanding as she glanced at Ginny. "Molly, Ginny's birthday is the day after tomorrow, correct? I'll be happy to buy her wand and robes as a present."

"I'll pay for everything," interrupted Sirius. "For all the Weasley kids. I've got a whole pile of money that I could never spend in a lifetime, it would really upset my dear old mum if she were alive to know about it, and anyway, you're family, Arthur and Molly, even if you're more distant cousins than close ones."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tried to protest, but Sirius cut them off, insisting that they'd be doing him a favor by letting him pay for their kids' Hogwarts supplies. He also pointed out that he was paying for Alex and Beth's supplies, which reconciled them to the idea in the end.

Cara, the Weasley twins, Ivan, and Vera were in the middle of putting the just washed dishes away when Jonas and Granny Ilsa returned. Jonas walked up to Hermione and said, "I'm really sorry that I was so rude to you, Hermione. Just because I was upset didn't give me any right to take it out on you."

"It's all right, Jonas," responded Hermione. "You're forgiven." He nodded and then went to his mother, who hugged him and took him inside one of the vardos.

The next morning, after breakfast, everything was packed up and the families left the campground. Once back to their respective homes, the horses were returned to the stable they had been rented from. Everyone then settled back into their normal schedules.

Author's Note: Sorry about the wait for this update. I had some internet issues, and also had to figure out how I wanted things to go for second year.