I wasn't going to update again, but I've got a few chapters done for this one already, and I've been off work for the last few days, so I've just been writing most of the time anyway. I appreciate all of you for being here!

RoonieTunes: Thank you for the review! This book is going to be a tad rough, so clearly I'm a masochist too. We'll get to the good part soon enough!

Chapter Three

Nessa stared up at the ceiling of her room in the Leaky Cauldron. It had been several days since their ride on the Knight Bus. She had been grateful to get off of the thing and had nearly lost her dinner entirely as they'd stepped off onto solid ground. The only thing that had stopped her was the sight of the Minister of Magic stepping out of the Leaky Cauldron to greet them as they'd stepped off the bus. She'd had no idea how he'd found them — as far as she knew, neither of them had done any magic that would have alerted them to where they were headed.

It had been an odd meeting with Fudge. Nessa had been fully prepared to take blame for the incident with their aunt, but Harry had hastily explained that it was him and not her. She'd nearly throttled him in irritation. Except, it didn't matter one way or the other. The Minister had not been at all particularly interested in expelling either one of them. Instead, he'd just advised them that their Aunt had had her memory modified and returned to her normal size. No harm done. Their aunt and uncle were still quite angry but agreed to take them back next summer if they stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter (an idiotic stipulation because they never came back for the holidays). Fudge had moved next to telling them that they could stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the next three weeks of summer and that Tom would keep an eye on them.

No expulsion. No punishment at all. Despite the letter they'd gotten last year about potential expulsion if magic was used at their residence again. She'd found this odd. So had Harry. But when pressed Fudge had just said that "circumstances change." She had no idea what that meant. Further, they'd been asked to stick solely to Diagon Alley and not wander into Muggle London. It was weird to her. Not just the lack of punishment, but also the fact that the Minister of all people would be dispatched to deal with a case of underage magic. Surely, he had better things to be doing, particularly in this climate. The entire thing was fishy.

They'd been set up in two rooms at the Leaky Cauldron and had been staying there since. She'd no interest in breaking her word to Fudge — and Harry seemed to agree as he kept dragging her into Diagon Alley — but it was certainly strange to have this newfound freedom. They had to be back by dark, but otherwise they were free to do as they pleased. It had taken her a while to get used to. She'd never been allowed to wake up whenever she pleased or eat whatever she wanted or even go wherever she wanted. She'd never even had her own room before. She'd always had to share with Harry or the girls in their dorm. She liked the solitude, the privacy. It was refreshing and made it easier for her to read. Harry, however, did not enjoy it as much. He kept barging in to drag her out into the alley after he'd given her a few hours to herself to read.

They ate breakfast each morning together in the Leaky Cauldron, where they watched the other guests, who were very interesting, and ate until they were completely full. After, they'd journey down to Diagon Alley and explore the shops and stop to eat under the brightly colored umbrellas at the cafes, where they listened to other patrons talk about clearly magical creatures or shops. She spent so much of her summer pretending to be "normal" that it was exciting to be in the presence of people who were just like her. They usually did their homework in the sun outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, finishing essays with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who knew a great deal about History of Magic. He also gave them free sundaes every half an hour.

It took a great deal of self-control not to spend all their money in one trip. There were so many things they had an interest in. Harry was sidetracked easily by a gold Gobstones set, a moving model of the galaxy (he felt Astronomy was particularly boring), and, worst of all, the new wizard broom that had come out. A Firebolt. She had had to drag him out after he'd stared at it for nearly thirty minutes. She had no interest in going to Quality Quidditch Supplies, but he insisted on dragging her there every day.

Nessa, on the other hand, found herself easily entranced by anything in the apothecary. There were potions books she'd never read before, ingredients that were hard to come by (nevermind that she wouldn't likely need them as a student), and so many different sizes of scales that she could easily become dazed in there. She also particularly enjoyed looking at all of the bookstores within the alley and often found herself looking wistfully into clothing stores. She hated clothes shopping — it was long and tedious — but she'd never owned her own clothes. She'd always borrowed from Harry, who was much taller than she was, or Dudley, who was much larger. She'd always been bullied in primary school because of what she'd been forced to wear. Outside of her uniform and the sweaters Mrs. Weasley had knitted for her, the only clothes she had that made her feel feminine were the ones she'd gotten from Tori.

There was a particular shop within Diagon Alley that was owned by a muggle-born witch, who sold wears of both Muggle and wizard invention. She'd gone in on several occasions to look at all of the clothing. So often that the proprietor had learned her name and told her all about her family and her travels as she browsed. She'd decided that she would buy new clothes once she'd gotten all of her school things. It was worth the splurge, she told herself. So, she'd replenished her potions stores at the apothecary, gotten her books from Flourish and Blotts (the manager had nearly cried when she'd said she needed A Monster Book of Monsters), and got new robes fitted.

After she'd hauled it up to her room, she'd dragged Harry back out into Diagon Alley and had forced him to sit for hours as she picked out a great deal of outfits and made him tell her how she looked in each of them. He'd grown irritated by this question toward the end because she clearly was not taking his word for it anyway — she'd discarded clothes he said he liked and kept ones he said he didn't. By the time they'd left, it was near dark, Harry was frustrated, and she was giddy. Harry refused to let her back near the shop now and said he was never setting foot in a clothing store ever again if he could help it

.

As days turned to weeks, she and Harry got particularly antsy to see their friends. Plenty of Hogwarts students were arriving within the alley now, with the start of term so near. One morning they'd met Seamus and Dean in Quality Quidditch Supplies during Harry's daily inspection of the Firebolt. Nessa had begun to bring a book so she could sit on the sidelines and wait until he got bored each morning. She'd been especially thankful for this decision on that day because Seamus and Dean were just as willing to ogle it as Harry was.

They'd seen Neville Longbottom in Flourish and Blotts but hadn't stopped to speak to him because he was being told off by his formidable looking grandmother for losing his book list. Nessa felt bad for him — he was such a sweet boy, but he was surrounded by people who clearly did not have much faith in him. She'd run into Lee briefly coming out of Gambol and Japes, but he'd not heard from Tori and the twins about when they'd be coming to the alley.

On the last day of the holiday, she was convinced they'd missed them somehow and would have to meet on the Hogwarts Express instead. They followed their usual routine. She woke up, read for a bit, was dragged down by Harry to breakfast, and then back into Quality Quidditch Supplies for a last look at the Firebolt. After she'd sighed heavily a great number of times (she'd forgotten her book this time), Harry had agreed that they could leave. They were just beginning to discuss where they'd grab lunch — Nessa loved the soup and sandwich cafe but Harry had a preference for fish and chips — when someone yelled Harry's name.

"Harry! HARRY!"

Ron and Hermione were sitting outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, both waving frantically at them.

"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as they came over to them. Nessa hugged Hermione and asked about her vacation, despite the fact that was dying to catch a glimpse of Tori or the twins. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and —"

"I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew we were staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad," said Ron simply.

"Yes, fantastic," said Nessa when Hermione opened her mouth to scold him for the events of the summer. "Where's Tori?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "It's nice to see you, too, Nessa," he said sarcastically. She grinned at him. "She's with Mum at Madam Malkin's —"

Before he'd finished, Nessa had risen from her seat and began racing down the alley. She got only a few steps before she realized she hadn't said goodbye to Harry, turned around to race back to them and kiss him on the cheek, and then raced back in the direction of the robe shop. She thought she heard him say, "She's been mad this summer, I tell you," but she was too busy racing around the people in the alley to be completely sure.

She came rushing through the door and looked around for a group of redheads. It did not take long to find them — their hair was incredibly easy to spot.

They were all milling toward the back of the shop. She could hear Mrs. Weasley bustling around and doting over her children. They were circled around the pedestal that Madam Malkin used to adjust the robes and Percy stood atop it, looking smug and superior as he eyed himself in one of the mirrors that surrounded him. Fred and George were whispering to each other in the corner, holding their own robes, and shooting smirks in Percy's direction. Mrs. Weasley was holding Ginny's hand tightly to keep her close. She didn't see Tori at all.

"You look just wonderful, Percy," Molly gushed, clearly very proud of her son for his Head Boy status.

"Thank you, mother," said Percy, stuffily.

"Yeah, Perce, looks great," said Fred with a sarcastic eye roll.

"Just smashing," said George in a very similar tone.

"Don't start, you two," Mrs. Weasley scolded, turning on her heel and coming face to face with Nessa. She jumped a little at seeing her so close, but then laughed happily and enveloped her in a hug. "Oh, Nessa, darling! There you are! We went looking for you at the Leaky Cauldron, but Tom said you and Harry had left this morning. How are you, dear?"

"I'm great. Mrs. Weasley, thank —"

She was cut off abruptly by a flash of ginger hair and lifted off the ground entirely. She let out a squealing laugh and heard Mrs. Weasley begin to scold them again.

"Fred — or George — or whoever you are," she stuttered seriously. "You put that young woman down this instant! This is a shop, for heaven's sake, not a playground."

Nessa was still laughing, but couldn't tell which twin was currently holding her because he was swinging her around and she was afraid to let go in the event she went flying.

"Anywhere is a playground with the right attitude, Mum," said whichever twin was holding her, but he set her down anyway. She was met with the dazzling grin of Fred Weasley. "Hello, munchkin, did you miss me?" She opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke over her before she could. "Well, of course, you did. It must have been a great pain to be away from someone as dashing as me, wasn't it?"

She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning widely. She might not say so out loud, but she had missed him.

"Actually, I hadn't much noticed. I was here to see Tori." she said with a raised eyebrow. He grinned at her and stumbled backward dramatically with a hand over his heart. He ignored his mother swatting him with her purse and winked at Ginny when she giggled.

"Oh, how you deny our love, Vanessa —"

"Don't call me that, Fred."

"-even after I've effectively swept you off your feet."

She snorted as he winked at her this time.

"You're being ridiculous," she said pointedly.

She felt the warmth of someone behind her and made to step forward and apologize to whoever it was for standing in the way, but then she noticed Fred's grin widen and tensed instead. The scent of gunpowder and cinnamon flooded her senses immediately after, but she had hardly any time to react before she was being lifted into the air again. She screamed this time when she was thrown into the air as if she were merely a rag doll.

"For Merlin's sake! Will you two leave that poor girl alone?" said Mrs. Weasley with a huff. "I hardly think she wants to be flung around this shop like a Quaffle!"

"Vanessa, love," said George, grinning happily at her, and ignoring his mother completely. Her heart raced as she glared at him. She wasn't entirely sure that it was merely from having been flung into the air this time either. "How are you?"

"I'd be much better if you didn't accost me in Madam Malkin's, George," she said, struggling to get out of his grip. His grin widened until his eyes crinkled at the corners.

"Bet I made your heart skip a beat," he said with a wink before releasing her.

She laughed breathlessly and looked away from him hastily. It was much more unnerving when he flirted with her than when Fred did. Course, that could be that she was harboring a crush for him that apparently had not passed. It did not help that he looked…did he look better than last year or was it just because she hadn't seen him in so long? She couldn't really tell.

He had more freckles than he'd had before, likely from days in the sun in Egypt, and he'd grown a few inches, making the difference in their heights much more noticeable. His hair was as vibrantly red as always, closer to the color of fire, and the strands were messy, as though he'd been running his hands through it. Despite not having Quidditch practice over the summer, he was still in shape, built like an athlete, and was lean with muscle and just short of being bulky. Which, you know, made sense because he had just thrown her into the air as if she'd weighed nothing more than a baby. But it was the eyes that she liked most – they were a clear, sapphire blue that always had a sparkle in them that made it hard to focus.

Yeah, definitely avoid looking him in the eye, she thought hastily, turning back to face Fred, who was smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes at him. It was weird that she could look at him and feel absolutely nothing, despite the fact that he looked identical to his brother. She thought he was attractive, but not the kind of attractive that left her giggly and nervous. She almost wished she did because fancying him would have been much easier. He'd have broken her heart, surely, but at least she could have been over and done with it.

"Nessa!" said Ginny, suddenly breaking her concentration and enveloping her in a hug of her own.

Nessa grinned at her.

"Hi, Ginny, how was Egypt?"

"It was great! Percy's been horribly annoying though, you know," she whispered to her conspiratorially, looking back at her brother carefully. Nessa laughed. "He's been going on and on about setting an example for all the younger students. So I'd stay clear of him for a bit, if I were you."

"Noted," said Nessa with a giggle as she eyed Percy on the pedestal. He was nearly done with his fitting, but he kept moving his Head Boy badge around to see where it looked best.

"I think these fit fine, Molly —"

Nessa whirled around just in time to see Tori stepping out of one of the dressing rooms in the back, holding a set of robes in one of her arms. She stopped talking when she saw Nessa standing next to Ginny, and they both grinned at each other for a moment. And then they were squealing in a way she'd have been embarrassed about if she had been around anyone other than the Weasleys, and threw themselves into a hug.

"Why d'you think she didn't get that excited to see us, George?" said Fred, eyeing them both as if they'd gone mad.

"It's got to be because she didn't see us clearly when she came in," said George, grinning when the two of them stopped their excited chatter and looked over at them in annoyance. "Thought we were someone different."

"Has to be."

Tori huffed at them and turned back to Nessa.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, you know," she said, handing her robes to Molly, who was setting to go and pay for their things. "Blowing up your aunt —"

"Later," Nessa hissed as Percy made to stride over to her. The last thing she needed was to be lectured by Percy Weasley. Tori turned and groaned to herself quietly and the twins came around to stand behind them with wide grins.

Percy held out his hand solemnly as if the two of them had never met before and said, "Hello, Vanessa. How nice to see you."

Nessa shot a confused look at Tori, who was clearly trying not to laugh, and the twins were sniggering behind her.

"Hello, Percival," she said, snarkily, adding extra emphasis to his full name because he knew she hated when people used hers. This sent Tori over the edge with her own snickering.

"I hope you're well?" he said pompously as if he hadn't caught on to her tone, and completely ignored his siblings.

Nessa gasped as she was spun around by her shoulders and came face to face with Fred. Honestly, why did she deal with him? He grabbed her hand and shook it so ferociously, she was sure her arm would fall off.

"Top of the morning to you, Nessa," he said with a wide grin.

George elbowed his twin to the side and mimicked his vicious hand shake.

"Absolutely delighted to see you, darling."

Nessa was giggling when she heard Percy huff from behind her.

"You know, Nessa," he said haughtily, eyeing his brothers and Tori in distaste. Tori rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You could be Head Girl in a few years' time if you spent your time amongst better company."

Nessa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, great, Percy," she said, deadpan. "Sounds like my nightmare."

Tori laughed as Percy stalked off to meet his mother. Fred sighed happily and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, walking out the store behind his mother and Percy.

"I just adore you, Potter, did you know?" he said with a grin.

"Did you have to pull my arm out of the socket then?"

"I can kiss it and make it better, if you'd like," he said with a smirk when her cheeks tinged pink and she pushed him away from her with a laugh.

"Maybe later, Fred," she said, laughing when he nearly stumbled as he gaped at her. "We're in public now. That's entirely inappropriate."

Tori snorted when Fred looked at her and George for confirmation of what she'd just said. She wrapped their arms together and pulled her off down the street.

"C'mon, boys, we've got to catch up. I've been just dying to know what happened to your aunt."

-o0o-

Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and the seven Weasleys, the two Potters, Tori, and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into their chocolate pudding. Tom, having learned of Nessa's aversion to chocolate, had brought her vanilla instead.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley.

Everyone looked up at him.

"Why?" said Percy curiously.

"It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously to Nessa's right. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them —"

"-for Humongous Bighead," said Fred to her left.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.

"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr. Weasley. "- and I work there, they're doing me a favor —"

His voice was casual, but his ears had gone red, which Nessa thought was odd. She'd only seen the twins' ears do that when they were embarrassed, which was a rare occurrence.

"Good thing, too," said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground…You are all packed, aren't you?"

"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.

After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they all retreated upstairs to their rooms to check their things had been packed for the next morning. Nessa was the last to make her way upstairs, as she had already packed, and was busy thanking Tom for the trouble of making her a separate pudding. They got caught up in talking about her upcoming school year, so she didn't head up to bed until much later than the others.

As she reached the second floor landing, she noticed Fred and George crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to someone yelling down the hallway. It sounded like Percy and Ron, and their room was being torn to pieces from the sounds of the thudding. Harry, who Nessa had not seen coming downstairs again, came up at the same time and stood next to her on the landing.

Fred flashed a Head Boy badge at them and Nessa snorted. It now read Bighead Boy.

"We've got it," he whispered to them. "We've been improving it."

Her brother's laugh sounded next to her before she could reply and her head shot toward him. His fake laugh was a lot higher pitch than normal. Now that she was looking at him, he looked pale as well.

"What's wrong?" she said, sharply, staring at him hard. Fred and George stopped laughing to look between the two of them.

"It's nothing, I just need to pack still —"

"Horrible excuse, mate," said George, shaking his head. "You look like you've been hit by a Bludger."

Nessa grabbed the back of her brother's shirt and drug him down the hall. She heard the twins scramble after them. Opening the door to her own room, she shoved him in there and heard the twins shut the door with a click behind her. Tori, who was laying on the bed reading Witch Weekly, saw the look on Nessa's face and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"For Merlin's sake, Harry, we aren't even at school yet," she said in exasperation, throwing the magazine aside and sitting up to look between them all. "What's going on now?"

"We don't know yet," said Fred, looking at Harry suspiciously.

"Really, Nessa, I have to finish packing before we leave tomorrow," said Harry, trying and failing to look chipper.

"And I probably have to re-pack whatever Tori's packed, so I'd make it quick," said Nessa, crossing her arms over her chest. Tori rolled her eyes again but did not disagree.

Harry stared at her for a moment with a stubborn expression on his face. She met his stare head on with one of hers and refused to back down. She was not in the mood for this already. She'd hoped for at least a few months without this insanity. Tori and the twins said nothing as they stared at each other. Harry broke first, just as she'd known he would, with a huff.

"Fine," he said angrily, starting to pace back and forth. "I heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing just now — on my way downstairs, I mean. Ron needed me to get his rat tonic for Scabbers —"

"Yes, okay, what were they arguing about though, Harry?" said Nessa, waving off the information about Scabbers.

Ron had been complaining about him the entire day, saying he'd look sick since they'd gotten back from Egypt and raging about Crookshanks and Peanut, who were both hissing at him and eyeing him as if they'd like to have eaten him. Crookshanks, in particular, seemed to have a problem with him and actively eyed him dangerously when they were in the same vicinity.

"They were arguing about whether or not to tell me that Sirius Black is after me," he said, coming to a stop and eyeing his sister wearily. "That's why they've got Ministry cars coming tomorrow. It isn't because of some favor."

Nessa hardly heard the last part at all because she had frozen in shock. Tori and the twins were gaping at Harry. They could have heard a pin drop in the room, which was in stark contrast to the yelling that could be heard a few doors down. Nessa had no idea what she was supposed to be saying. There was simply no way that this was true. It made not an ounce of sense.

"I — what? How could he — Why would he be after you? He doesn't even know you!" said Nessa slowly. It felt like her brain was moving through sludge, like the cogs had fallen off track.

"Mr. Weasley said they kept it out of the papers because they wanted it kept quiet," explained Harry. "Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped and the guards told him that he kept saying the same thing over and over in his sleep: 'He's at Hogwarts….he's at Hogwarts.'"

"That could literally mean anyone," said Tori in confusion. "I mean, for all we know, he could have been talking about Dumbledore. That's not very specific. What makes them think it has anything to do with you?"

"He said because I defeated Voldemort," said Harry, his eyes steady on his sister's, as the others flinched violently. "Black was a big supporter of Voldemort. Was set to take power after he took over, but I killed him, and now he has to sit in Azkaban every day."

"Not a happy place, Azkaban," said Fred grimly.

"Dad went once," said George with a frown. "He came back and…well, he wasn't right for a few days. Can't imagine what twelve years of that would be like."

"You're not helping," snapped Tori at the two of them before looking at Nessa and speaking tenderly, "Nessa?"

Nessa had not said anything because she could not think of anything to say. What did you say to something as insane as that? But it made so much more sense in her head now. Why Harry had not been expelled for underage magic, why Fudge had been waiting for them at the Leaky Cauldron, why he'd imposed the rules he had on their staying at the inn.

"Nessa," said Harry calmly. "Really, I'm fine. I'm not scared."

"Are you thick?" said Tori before Nessa could answer. "He killed thirteen people with a single curse, Harry."

"Not that we know much more than that," said Fred. "Mum and Dad haven't let us talk much about him at all since he escaped."

"The night he did, Mum had freaked," agreed George. "Went barging into Ginny and Tori's room to make sure they were both safe. Woke us all up or I think she would have done the same to all of us."

"Yes, well, Mrs. Weasley was right," said Harry, looking at his sister pointedly. "There's no safer place than Hogwarts and you know it."

"You could have been killed the night we left, Harry," she said, suddenly horrified for another reason. "You could have —"

"I wasn't though, was I?" he said firmly. "I'm perfectly safe and there's no use worrying about something that didn't happen. You've told me that before, haven't you?" he grinned when she scowled at him for using her own words against her. "Besides, Mr. Weasley also said that the Azkaban guards are supposed to be at Hogwarts and you've heard the way everyone talks about those."

Nessa nodded weakly. That was true. She'd not met a single person so far who did not appear to be afraid of those guards. She had to imagine that Sirius Black was no different. She refused to think about the fact that he had clearly escaped despite their presence, however. Harry did look calm standing in front of her. Calmer than she felt, but it made her feel better about the fact that he wasn't having any asinine idea to go after Black himself.

"Yeah, okay," she said, clearing her throat when her voice shook slightly. "You're right. I just don't understand why you attract every lunatic that's ever lived."

"Just lucky, I guess," he said with a grimace and gave her a hug. "Please don't worry, alright? I'll be good this year, I swear. Goodnight."

They all muttered goodnight as he left them all within the room. The four of them looked at each other, but did not say anything for a long while.

"He's right about the Azkaban guards," said Fred bracingly. "I don't much fancy them being at Hogwarts even."

"What's wrong with them?" said Nessa, moving to the bed and laying out next to Tori. "Everyone seems to be afraid of them."

"They're Dementors," said Tori with a grimace.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, they…they're supposed to be really horrible to be around, aren't they?" said George, taking a seat in the desk chair. "They suck the happiness out of a place, dementors. They feed off of sorrow and fear. A lot of the prisoners go mad being around them all day."

"That's — that's horrible," said Nessa honestly. "Why would they use them to guard the prison then? Isn't that…inhumane?"

Fred shrugged. "I suppose they figure the prisoners deserve it. A lot of people have brought up to the Ministry that they're…well, them, y'know? But Fudge isn't interested in moving them."

Tori sighed heavily.

"Look, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow and you two need to get that badge back to Percy before he murders Ron," she said, seriously. "There's nothing we can do about this now until we know more. So let's just try to sleep and we can worry about this tomorrow, yeah?"

The twins nodded and came over to hug Nessa, who was clearly still worried about the situation, before leaving the room, switching the light off as they went. Nessa settled under the blankets and felt Tori do the same thing next to her. They each shifted so they laid on their sides, facing each other in the darkness.

"He's going to be okay, you know," Tori whispered to her in the darkness. "If he can handle You-Know-Who — twice — I think he can handle Sirius Black."

"I know," Nessa sighed heavily. "It's just…I'm so tired, Tori. Why can't we have a normal year, you know? Without all of the murder and trauma and lies."

"I know, Ness," she said gently. "But we'll get through this just like we have every other year. We won't let anything happen to Harry. I promise you."

Nessa smiled into the dark. God, she loved her so much. Sometimes it felt surreal to her that she and Tori had met and clicked so easily. They'd always been close, but she felt that now, since she'd been spending more and more time with her and the twins, their bond was even stronger. She sometimes wondered how she'd come to deserve a friend like Tori.

"And, you know, at least he's not asking us to go back into the forest and face those Acromantulas again," Tori continued jokingly. "I think you might have shattered my eardrum last time."

Nessa rolled her eyes. Maybe she shouldn't have been grateful they were so close after all.

"Yeah, you know, Tom was telling me that there's a vampire staying two doors down from us."

Tori stiffened next to her and Nessa had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"Are you kidding?"

"Of course, I am, Victoria," she laughed lightly. Tori huffed. "There's way too many windows in here for there to be a vampire."

"I despise you," said Tori snarkily. "Now, go to sleep before I decide to find a spider and chase you around with it."