Seventeenth

Hal found his wand, then summoned the others. Harper busied herself cleaning the blood from Imogen's side, confirming that the wound had closed, though she'd been left with a wide, white scar. Imogen's side had a general soreness, but what took time for Imogen to combat was the weakness from the blood loss. She sat up slowly, James supporting her. Once she had, Imogen looked up to Hal, who stood worrying and helpless over the others. "You shouldn't have brought James," she said.

The tension in Hal's body broke at this as he rolled his eyes, glowering at her. "I can't win between you people. They yell at me for doing exactly what you ask me to do, you yell at me for following their orders... what about what I want? I should be in Scotland right now have a decent lie in."

Imogen smiled at him as James conjured a cup and water, making her drink. "Tomorrow, you have whatever lie in you want," she said.

"About time," Hal replied. "In a way, everyone here is alive because of me."

Harper shot him a look and he shut his mouth.

They had a long discussion about what was next. James told them about the search team and warned Hal that if he stuck around he may be part of a long interview. "They may not question you," James said. "And I'm sure you'd be cleared of any trouble, but if you don't want to be kept behind—"

"I don't," Hal said. "We'll head back to the clan. They need to know what happened."

Imogen would use the stone to summon Taylor and the others. Hal was pretty sure that if a Gypsy dropped it, it was as good as an invitation, which would allow them into this space. Imogen stood, James holding her upright. Harper made a call, compacting it into a ball the same as Hal had done earlier. "Please… come see us," she said, giving it to Imogen.

Imogen smiled at Harper and leaned in to hug her. Harper pulled away a few moments later, wiping away tears. "I'll come," Imogen promised. "Send me news, when you can."

Hal didn't step in for a hug or get weepy, though Imogen didn't expect him to. Instead he had his snarky smile, with his hands deep in his pockets. "Stay out of trouble, Snow White," he said, then turned to James. "Take care of my cousin, Prince Charming," he added, grabbing Harper's arm. With ease, Harper made another call that the two held onto, taking them away.

"Prince Charming?" James asked.

"It's some muggle thing he keeps going on about. I don't really understand," Imogen said.

"I kinda like it," he said, grinning down at her.

James steadied Imogen as she dropped the stone to the ground and they waited. Birds sang from the trees and the breeze moved the grass slowly. Taylor was the first to apparate. She stopped, eyes wide as Ginny appeared beside her.

Ginny covered her mouth, Xander and Harry coming next. Imogen waited for Ginny to start yelling, telling her how terrible she had been. She braced herself for it when Ginny ran forward, clutching onto Imogen, pulling her out of James's arms. Imogen closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Ginny as well. "Oh, Imogen," Ginny said, crying as she ran her fingers through Imogen's hair. "My Imogen."

"Mum," Imogen choked out. Tears filled her eyes yet again as she gripped tightly. "I didn't mean to—"

"Shh," Ginny hushed her. "It's all okay now."

Harry shouted orders that Imogen hadn't bothered to pay attention to, then he also had joined their embrace and Imogen cried into Ginny's shoulder. Harry pulled back. "What are you doing here, James?" he asked.

Imogen looked over, still gripping Ginny, opening her mouth to answer. Taylor spoke before either her or James could. "That's your question?" she asked. "Nothing about the blood stain?"

There was certain amount of chaos after Ginny pulled away at Taylor's question. James and Imogen managed to clean their skin a decent amount in an attempt to lessen everyone's worry, but this didn't help as they had hoped. To top it off, without Ginny and Harry holding her up, Imogen nearly fainted. Several sets of arms eased her back to sitting. James sat right behind her. Xander suggested they transport Imogen back to his clinic for care, giving her a small vial of some potion. Harry agreed, ordering Broker and Carver to stay behind to pick up anything they might need for information (including the bloody silver knife in the grass) and the rest of them focused on Imogen, going back to Romania by portkey.

Just about everyone was relieved when Xander examined Imogen's side, confirming that the wound had been healed. Ginny wasn't deterred from fretting.

"How did this start closing?" Xander asked when he turned his attention to Imogen's hand. It was still clearly cut and red, but finally scabbing over where it had refused before.

"I don't know," Imogen said. "My cousin's cuts took months to heal."

"Huh," Xander said, adjusting his glasses and looking closer at her hand. "That's fascinating."

He put some more paste on it, though he didn't wrap the hand again, gave Imogen three different potions to drink, and left her with Harry, Ginny, and James in the room. "I think it's about time to start discussing what exactly happened today," Harry said.

Imogen had rarely seen him in this auror mode. He went from the calm and relaxed to authoritative and firm. She swallowed, wondering where to begin.

"Do we need to now, Harry?" Ginny asked, fiddling with the blankets around Imogen. James had taken Xander's place beside her. "Imogen should rest."

"Yes, we need to now," Harry said. "When Broker and Carver get back, we'll need information to—"

"Harry," Ginny said, a dangerous edge to her tone as she looked at him.

There was an awkward moment of tension before James cleared his throat. "Dad, how about I fill in what I can… outside."

Harry sighed and nodded, opening the door for James.

Ginny, satisfied, handed Imogen a glass of pumpkin juice, encouraging her to drink and picked up the stack of pictures from Imogen's satchel. Taylor had dug through the bag, trying to find any usable clothes. Since they'd all been torn by Hal and Harper, she ended up bringing Imogen some pajamas of her own, but everything else was laid out on the side table.

"Is this your father, then?" Ginny asked, sitting beside Imogen so she could see.

"Yes," she said. "That's my papa."

"He's handsome," Ginny said with a smile. "And… who's this?"

"That's his sister, Bianka," Imogen said.

"You have the same nose as them, I think. Straight, but turning up just there." Ginny reached over, smiling, and tapped the tip of Imogen's nose with her finger.

Ginny continued flipping through the pictures. Guilt built up in Imogen until she couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry I ruined the summer."

Ginny stopped. "You didn't ruin anything," she said, her eyes softening.

"I did," Imogen replied. "I… I didn't know how to tell you…"

"I know, love," Ginny said. She moved so she sat on the edge of the bed. She pushed Imogen's hair out of her face. "You shouldn't have been expected to. But let's stop talking fault. I'd rather hear about what you learned about your papa, okay?"

Imogen teared up, but nodded. Imogen told Ginny about Hal and Harper, about Gabe and the clan. She told her about the bicycle and Masek—everything that was good about the Gypsies. Everything worth going back for someday. When Harry and James eventually came back in, Harry narrowed his eyes, barely hiding a grin. "I thought she needed rest," he said.

Ginny shot him a glare and Imogen bit her bottom lip, trying not to smile.

Imogen was questioned on and off in between stretches of rest. Carver and Broker went back to the Ministry, Xander would pop in to check on Imogen, and Harry and Ginny were either in the room or taking care of little details. Their latest exit was to check on Lily and Albus, and let them know what was going on. James stayed with Imogen. They talked for over an hour before they fell asleep, hand in hand. Imogen lay on her side, curled towards him, and James sat in a chair by the bed, head resting on his arms.

"James," Ginny said, rubbing his back and waking him up. "James, you need to go eat."

He took a breath and sat up, his hand still in Imogen's. "I'm not hungry."

"Come on," Harry said. "There's a pub across the way. Mum and Lily are going to stay and you're going to get something to eat."

James looked towards the door. Lily stood just outside the door frame, looking quite unlike herself—quiet and meek—as she peeked in. When James looked back down at Imogen her eyes were open. The activity woke her up as well. Her hand tightened on his as she adjusted herself, trying to sit up. Ginny moved forward, adding a pillow behind her back. "Go on," Imogen said to James. "I'm not going anywhere."

He stood, leaning over and kissing Imogen. He followed his dad, Lily stepping into the room as they passed. They went through the main room, telling Xander they'd be back, and went across the way.

When the food arrived, James dug in, hardly pausing between bites before shoveling the next one.

"I thought you weren't hungry," Harry said with an amused grin.

James slowed down, taking sips at his mug to pace himself. He sat back and watched his dad for a minute. Harry looked tired. And James didn't remember when his hair had become equally grey as it was black. James wondered if his own hair would do that one day. James cleared his throat, setting down his cup. "I never realized what you went through when you were my age," James said.

Harry looked surprised at the comment, blinking a couple times. He leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"You always told us about the people who died in the war, but I never thought what that must have been like for you," James said. "Dad… Imogen almost died in my arms today." James choked back tears.

When he'd told his dad about what happened in the meadow, James had focused on very specific facts. He told Harry about the woman and three men. James explained how they'd used him to make Imogen comply. He mentioned how Imogen took the knife and ruined their plans and how it affected those that wanted to hurt Imogen. But James glossed over the moments where he thought he'd lost her. James still couldn't stop picturing her white, still face. Harry reached out and grabbed his forearm.

"But she didn't," he said. "Which makes today a good day."

James nodded. "I guess it was worth losing my shot at the academy for."

"Why would you have lost your shot at the academy?"

"I went against your orders again," James said. He hadn't hesitated to follow Hal, but he knew what that meant for him in terms of his hopes to be an auror.

"Yes, but you made the right choice," Harry replied.

James stopped mid-bite, swallowing a rather large chunk of roasted carrot whole. "But the other day—"

"The other day you should have at least tried to talk to me first," Harry said. "You didn't send an owl or come to the office, both of which were possible. If you hadn't acted this time, who knows what would have happened?"

"Well, then how can I know when the right time and the wrong time to go against orders is?"

"I'd love to tell you that there's an answer for that. That you'll figure some trick out to tell," Harry said. "Truth is, most the time you only know by the end."

Lily had been reluctant to get close, her eyes slightly puffy and pink. "Al wanted to come too," Ginny told Imogen. "I thought it was best not to have too many people here."

Lily asked a couple tentative questions, reaching out for Imogen's hand, but it wasn't until Ginny was called away by Taylor and Xander with a request that Lily became more herself. She crawled onto the bed with Imogen, pulling a rusted tin can from her bag. Imogen raised an eyebrow, but Lily just lifted a finger for her to wait.

"Lorcan?" Lily said.

There was nothing for a minute, then a voice. "Lily? Are you with Imogen yet?" Lorcan asked.

Imogen smiled wide as Lily turned the can towards her. "Lorcan!" she exclaimed.

"Hey," he said, the echo of his voice making Imogen happy. "How's your vacation been?"

Imogen had to laugh. They talked for a while, sticking to mundane topics, steering clear of knives and wounds and anything that she'd had to talk about throughout the day. "By the way, James said something about you two dating?" Imogen finally asked, giving a side glance to Lily.

"Er, yeah," Lorcan said. Lily was beaming at being outed. Imogen could imagine Lorcan shifting his weight from one foot to the other, or else squirming as he sat. "Yeah I, er, finally… er… talked to her."

"After hearing about it for the last two years I'd like a few more details than that," Imogen said.

Lily, grabbed onto Imogen's hand, turning the tin towards her. "Well, Lorcan came up with this excuse to get me over to his house for dinner. Then he snuck me into the barn. He hardly gave me a chance before he wrapped me up in his arms and started passionately kissing me," Lily said. She had the cartoonish expressions that she always had when exaggerating a story. Imogen smiled and the other end was silent for a while.

"Er, I better go. My mum is calling me," Lorcan said. "I'm glad you're alright, Imogen."

She took the tin back. "Thanks, Lorcan. I can't wait to see you."

"Me either. By Lil," he added.

Lily put the tin away and told Imogen the real story of how everything happened with her and Lorcan. "I know I said I was done dating, but… I don't know… And I know he's different from the usual guys I date, but—"

"But you're happy," Imogen said. She could tell. Lily nodded. "You may want to stop embarrassing him, though.

"But he's adorable when he blushes!" Lily's smile faded. "If I hadn't let you go—"

"I would have made you forget," Imogen said. "I'm sorry I put you in that position."

Lily linked her arm with Imogen's and rested her head on Imogen's shoulder. "Just don't leave again and I'll forgive you immediately."

"Okay," Imogen said.

"Also… I'm going to need your help figuring out the Patronus Charm."

Three weeks later

Imogen's birthday had arrived and no one had said anything about it that morning. Imogen didn't bring it up either. After all the trouble she'd caused over the summer, she didn't feel she deserved any fuss. James would probably have something for her later, anyway, and that was enough.

Ginny and Imogen went to Diagon Alley alone, rushing through the shopping for everyone's school supplies since there hadn't been time until now. They'd leave for the train in three days. Ginny groaned as she looked at the lists. "James is going to have to wait for the herbology books, I think," Ginny said. "It's not like he can't pick them up once he's here."

James was waiting to hear about an internship with his Aunt Hermione at the Ministry. In the meantime, he would move in and work for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.

In the few weeks since Imogen came home, she noticed the way he talked about his plans had drastically changed. First, there was less of a mantra in how one thing would lead to another and then another. James was much more focused on the plans for the next year. Once or twice when he did start down that path, James would stop talking abruptly, pause for a minute, then ask Imogen what she was thinking. If she had anything to say, she'd share. Otherwise, James would start on asking more questions, like what she thought she might want to do after school and about what the clan had been like.

Aside from a little alone time with James, Imogen spent a lot of time with the others learning the Patronus Charm. She was the first to do so, producing a patronus in the form of a lamb a few days in.

"How did you do that?" Albus asked, irritated.

Having her casting back, Imogen found herself able to use it with more ease than ever. Even with wizarding spells, she knew how to feel for it and expect it to happen. Of course she only felt guilty about getting the charm, especially since Albus was close to missing the Hobgoblins, all because of her. James managed a decent patronus a few days before—his was in the form of a panther—and finally, after hours spent working with Imogen the day before, Albus managed to do it as well. James laughed at the little silver frog, which subsequently hopped around James's face, making him stumble into the side table and fall with a crash. Tomorrow was the concert, which Albus no longer worried about getting to go.

Lily told Imogen she wanted her help during the school year so that she wouldn't miss out on anything over Christmas holidays. "Dad's being mental about this," Lily complained quietly. She didn't bother saying so in front of her parents.

Ginny and Imogen were heading towards Madam Malkins to get Albus a new set of robes.

"Mum, Lily asked if I could get her something from George's shop," Imogen said.

"Uh, maybe not today," Ginny said, scanning the lists. "I can always have George send it by owl."

As they ran their errands, Imogen noticed a rhythmic tapping occasionally on the tips of her fingers. She smiled. Ever since James had used her magic to heal her, she'd been able to feel such phantom movements. She hadn't noticed before then, but James had a nervous habit of rubbing his thumb along his pinky. Imogen's own pinky would itch when he did this. It didn't happen in reverse, but she'd had to talk to him about it, as it would happen at the most random times.

James came up with something else using this knowledge. When they were sitting apart, he would tap his thumb to his index finger, then the middle, and down the row. "Kind of a like a code," he said proudly.

"A code for what?"

"That I'm thinking of you," James said.

Of course Imogen knew James had hoped his ability to use her wandless magic may have stuck, but he said he was just as happy with this side effect.

They rushed up and down the streets of Diagon Alley until they were bogged down in bags when Ginny stopped them at Miss Madeline's Ice Cream Shoppe. They set everything down and Ginny brought them each back of cup of ice cream. She set down something else in front of Imogen, a long black jewelry box. Imogen had just grabbed her spoon and stopped, looking up at Ginny, who was smiling wide.

"Go ahead, open it," Ginny said.

Imogen pushed aside her ice cream and opened the box. Inside was a golden bracelet with a few little charms. Two, dangling at the end, had little jewels: one a ruby, the other a sapphire.

Ginny reached over, pulling out the bracelet and worked on placing it on Imogen's wrist. "The boys in the family all get watches on their seventeenth, but the girls get bracelets," she explained. "In the Weasley family ours have always included a ruby charm, but I figure that's in part because we're generally in Gryffindor. I thought you should have your house on there too."

"It's beautiful," Imogen said, looking at the few other charms dangling from it. There was a koala, for Australia, a golden cauldron, and a plain golden circle."

"That one's neat," Ginny said, seeing her look at it. She held Imogen's wrist again, running her thumb over the coin-like charm. An image she recognized of her father appeared on one side and Imogen smiled. She turned it around and there was a second image. It was of a young girl with bright blond hair and an excited smile. Imogen tilted her head. The girl looked like her. Imogen looked up at Ginny. "Al will want to give you all the details, but I couldn't wait."

Imogen pulled it closer to her eyes. The girl in the picture was fiddling with her hair, the same way Imogen always did. She couldn't have been older than five. "You found her?"

"Yes," Ginny said. "It's not… a happy story, I'm afraid. Her parents died in a portkey accident when she was seven and she ended up in the muggle orphanage with no other family to speak of. We may be able to find more, now that we have a name—"

"What is it?" Imogen interrupted.

"Meara," Ginny replied with a smile. "Meara Durant."

Imogen felt tears sting her eyes as she flipped back and forth between her parents' images. "Thank you," she said.

Ginny squeezed her hand.

"I never told you why I didn't call you mum before," Imogen said, looking up. She didn't know why, but this seemed the right time for it. Ginny didn't say anything, but looked intently at Imogen. "I think... I think I felt like I was forgetting my mum if I called you the same thing I called her. And I already couldn't remember so much about her. But, something I realized after everything... I don't have to choose one or the other. Because you are my mum also."

Ginny looked down, blinking out a few tears as she gave Imogen another squeeze. "We should probably eat the ice cream before it melts."

When they'd finished, Imogen and Ginny made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron. When Imogen veered towards the fireplace to take the floo, Ginny stopped her. "No, we're taking the Knight Bus this time," she said.

Imogen had no idea why they would do this. It took longer and cost more, but she didn't argue as Ginny called for the bus and they got on, weighed down with everything from their morning shopping. They were dropped off in the front of the house and Ginny dropped a couple things by the door. "Where did I put my key?" she said rather loudly. She dug it out of her pocket and opened the door. "Go in, dear, I'll grab all this."

Imogen made her way inside.

"Surprise!" voices rang in loud unison from the living room and Imogen froze. There were nearly twenty people there to greet her. They all laughed and cheered as Imogen tried to adjust what was in her hands. James stepped up, kissing her cheek and grabbing some bags from her.

"You didn't think we'd forget your birthday, did you?" he asked.

She made her way around the room, hugging those who came. Not all the Weasleys were there, but George, Ron, and Bill's families all came. Fleur pulled her into a tight hug, giving her a kiss on each cheek, and fiddled with her short hair, calling her ma bichette. Imogen looked back at Ginny, realizing why she gave her the bracelet early, not wanting the moment to be overshadowed. Lily stood by Lorcan and Lysander, whose parents were there as well.

As she finished greeting everyone, George's daughter, Roxanne, pointed to the pile of presents on the coffee table. "You going to open those?" she asked.

"She's gotten really into opening presents," Angelina laughed.

"This one's from us," Roxanne said, pointing to a box wrapped in Wheezes paper wrap.

Imogen went to grab it, to appease the overexcited Roxanne, but Lily stepped forward. "No! You have to open James's in the garden first! He got you a—"

James grabbed his sister, clamping his hand over her mouth. Imogen looked at them, confused. Why James's gift would be in the garden didn't make sense. She went out, others following closely behind. The first thing she noticed was a long table, decorated and filled with food and a large cake, covered in blue frosting. Imogen looked to the right, covering her mouth.

The bicycle, with a large gold bow on the handle, was beautiful compared to the rusty one the clan owned. It was brown with little blue flowers painted onto it. The parts that weren't painted were a shiny silver and the seat was wide and whole. "Oh, James," Imogen exclaimed.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, standing behind her. "I had Dad go with me to the muggle town and pick it out," he said. "Like it?"

Imogen had told him at some point in the last few weeks about the bicycle. She never imagined he'd go out and buy her one of her own. "I love it," she breathed out.

"Show us how to use it!" Lily said.

Imogen ran over, getting on the bike and riding it through the grass. She let little Fred up onto the handlebar for a ride, then Roxanne. She tried it with Lily, though it got precarious at that point. Hermione took a turn, at the insistence of her children who wanted to see her "do something Muggle," though none of the other adults seemed inclined to try.

The party became relaxed, everyone gathering around the food with Roxanne occasionally bringing out gifts for Imogen to open. About halfway through she brought a familiar box tied with twine.

Thought you'd like to have these back, the note said. Imogen knew what it was, but looked through nonetheless. It was the rest of the photographs she had to leave behind early the morning her and her cousins left the clan. Fleur and Ginny stood right behind Imogen as she showed them.

"The owl that brought that is with Peregrine," Ginny added. Imogen knew she'd have to take some time to write to Hal and Harper. Perhaps they'd lifted Sabina's ban on owl communication.

Lily leaned on Lorcan as they sat beside each other. Lorcan was slowly becoming less tense, putting an arm around Lily. Imogen noticed a glance from Harry once or twice, first between the two of them and then over to Ginny as though to ask her what exactly was going on. Imogen was happy to see that Lorcan didn't notice these silent exchanges.

"I want James to give me a ride," Roxanne insisted.

"Yeah… Yeah I can ride that. How hard could it be," James said, hopping up from the table. "Let me try it first."

It was immediately apparent that James could not quite ride the bicycle. Imogen discreetly reached out her hand to steady him, keeping James upright as he rode in circles. It almost made him worse, as James didn't pedal in a steady fashion. Still, he continued and set his feet down onto the grass to stop.

"Me first!" Roxanne shouted, running into James's arms to be placed on the handlebar. George was about to protest when Angelina nudged him and nodded over to Imogen.

She continued to keep all riders safe as Roxanne and Fred both took turns, James smiling wide as he'd take sharp corners that kept Imogen on her toes to avoid him crashing. "This is easier than riding a broom!" James exclaimed.

When Fred jumped off after the third round of turns, James looked at Imogen. "Now you, Imogen," he declared.

"Uh…"

"Come on," James said. "I've got this."

"No she's got this," Lysander replied. James looked at him, brow knit. "She's been keeping you from killing everyone with her magic, you dolt."

Almost everyone at the table, who had caught on well before, burst out laughing. James looked dumbfounded, then narrowed his eyes at Imogen. She squealed, jumping up from the table and took off running. James struggled to get off the bicycle, causing another round of laughter and gave Imogen a head start.

Imogen rounded a second corner when James pointed his wand at her and she was pulled straight back. She flew into his arms and James turned her, pinning her against the house's wall. "That was sneaky," he said, grinning down at her.

Imogen smiled back. "Well then next time I'll just let you break your neck," she said.

"As well you should." James snaked his fingers in Imogen's hair and kissed her deeply. She closed her eyes, placing her hands on his chest. He pulled his lips back, keeping his face close. Imogen opened her eyes. His smile had faded into somber concern. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

"Do you think… would you be alright with me meeting you in Hogsmeade on one or two of your weekends there?"

"Of course," she said. James talked all the time the past year about how he would do this. He'd never bothered asking her permission.

"But you'll tell me if you don't want that right?" James asked. Imogen looked up at him, confused. "I just… I know I'm not the only important thing in your life and—"

Imogen cut him off, reaching her lips up to his, stopping him with a kiss. "You will always be the most important."

James gave a half grin, tightening his grip on her as they stood there quietly for a few moments.

"Ja-a-a-ames? Imoge-e-e-e-n?" Roxanne called, her voice getting closer.

"Time for cake I think," James said. His mischievous smile returned and before Imogen knew it, she'd been flung over his shoulder kicking and laughing as she was carried back to the party.

A/N: I know this feels pretty ending-esque, but keep an eye out for one more installment! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and if you haven't yet, I'd love to hear from you!