Chapter Thirty-Three

Looking Back and Looking Forward

News quickly spread around the school that Ilonka and Emily's mushrooms had cost them their next Hogsmeade weekend, as well as thirty points apiece.

"Professor Hawksworth's always harder on Slytherin than any other house," Ruby explained in Herbology on Monday morning. "He says we have more to prove because we've got that dark reputation to throw off. He went totally mental at them, so hopefully they'll behave for a little while."

"I wouldn't count on it," Lily scowled, glancing over at Ilonka and her sheep.

Later that week, the HEC met in a large empty classroom on the first floor to set up their second hand uniform shop. They had been given permission to open it at lunchtimes and after dinner on the last three days of term and Professor Reuben had unearthed some hangers and clothes rails which had been used for school plays in the past. Whilst most people folded and hung clothes, Archie, in his role as secretary, sat down and created a rota so three people were manning the 'shop' at all times.

"How are we pricing things?" Lily asked Matilda as she hung up robes by size.

"I was thinking we could give each rail a price," Matilda shrugged. "So maybe ten sickles for the robes? Eight for jumpers and trousers and skirts? Five for shirts and then maybe three for ties? We don't want to make anything too expensive – the whole point of this is to save the planet, not make money."

"There's some shoes in here, Mattie," JJ called from the other side of the room. "Are we selling those?"

"I'm coming!" Matilda asid, dumping the pile of ties she'd been untangling on Mia's lap and rushing away.

"Do you think she ever does any school work?" Lily asked, reaching over to try and pull out a tie and just making the knot tighter.

"Probably," Mia yawned. "She just probably doesn't sleep."

By Friday night, the second-hand uniform was almost sold out. The turnout had been good, and at breakfast on the last morning of term Matilda was able to stand up and announce they had raised fifty-four Galleons towards an end-of-year party.

Mia rode the Hogwarts Express back to London with Louis, Lily, Mac, Al and Cassie. To start with, they all squashed around one table, with Lily and Cassie sitting on Mac and Al's knees. However, after a while Mia and Louis moved to another table and Louis tried to teach Mia wizard chess. She'd played chess a few times as a child, but wizard chess was different as the pieces tried to give you advice. Mia quickly found that knowing how the pieces were allowed to move wasn't nearly half of knowing how to win. Before too long, Mia's pieces stopped offering her advice and just ended up complaining about her.

"I'm not sure chess is for me," Mia sighed after Louis checkmated her for the second time. "Give me a game of Quidditch any day."

Louis shook his head. "Quidditch is alright, but it's got nothing on chess. I'm guessing you're not up for another game?"

"No thanks," Mia yawned, and Louis started packing away the pieces, ignoring one of Mia's rooks which was saying, 'don't make us play with her again!'

Mia looked out of the window at the countryside rushing past, half-listening to Mac talking excitedly about visiting his dad now his quarantine was over.

"Mum says he should be able to come home sometime in the next week or so," he was saying, "although he still looks a little green."

"Louis," Mia said. "When d'you think Teddy and Vic will bring Dotty to meet us?"

"I think you'll have to go to them," Louis replied. "She doesn't travel well – throws up every time they apparate. I'm dying to see her again; she must've grown so much! She's like nine weeks old now!"

By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine and Three Quarters early that evening, Mia was thoroughly fed up with sitting still. As the train rolled to a stop, Mia and her friends got to their feet, hastily stowing belongings in bags. On the platform, Louis headed off to find his sister whilst Mac and Lily began what Mia suspected would be a very lengthy goodbye. Mia walked across the platform with Al and Cassie, carrying her broom in one hand and pulling her trunk along behind her with the other; she and Lily had both told their owls to meet them at Godric's Hollow rather than bringing them on the train.

Mia spotted Lily's parents, Harry and Ginny, stood a good way back from the edge of the platform, away from the crowd. For a moment, she looked around for her own parents before remembering they weren't coming and she was going home with Lily. When the trio reached them, Harry and Ginny dished out hugs all round and then asked after Lily's whereabouts.

"She's snogging her boyfriend; she could be a while," Mia grinned.

"How are we getting home?" Al asked. "We could apperate – there's three of us with licenses and three without."

Al had recently turned seventeen, and had passed his apparition test just last weekend; he had only mentioned this about ten times on the journey home.

"I think it would be best if you practiced apperating by yourself a bit first before you take a passenger," Ginny told him gently. "We'll go by floo, as soon as Lily turns up."

The platform was half empty by the time Lily showed up, flinging herself on Harry with a cry of, "Daddy!"

"You took your time," Harry told her.

"Sorry – I was saying goodbye to Mac," she explained, hugging her mum too. "Come on then, aren't we getting home? I'm starving!"
They gathered up all the luggage again and joined the queue waiting to use the two big fireplaces set up for floo travel. When they reached the front of the line, Harry produced a pouch of floo powder and offered it to each member of the party in turn. When it was her turn, Mia took a pinch of the emerald green powder, threw it into the flames and said, 'The Willows, Godric's Hollow'. She stepped into the flames and immediately found herself spinning around. Flashes of rooms whizzed by, and then Mia spotted Ginny, Al and Cassie in the Potters' cozy living room. Stepping forward, she just about managed to keep her balance as she exited the fire. Lily soon joined them, followed closely by Harry.

"Why don't you guys go and unpack and get settled a little, and then dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes," Ginny said.

The four of them trooped upstairs and spent the next fifteen minutes moving Lily's stuff into James' old room ('James could've done this – by magic – before he moved out,' Lily groused.) Revelling in his new-found freedom to use magic outside of school, Al had great fun levitating heavier things down the narrow landing, but Mia thought he was perhaps more of a hindrance than a help; the bewitched objects charged along with little regard for anyone else. By the time Ginny called them down for dinner, all of Lily's things had been removed from the little room at the top of the stairs, although her new room was far from tidy.

Over dinner, everyone talked about holiday plans. Cassie was quiet, and Mia remembered Al had been trying to convince her to go and see her aunt over the holidays. Lily was full of places she wanted to go and people she wanted to see but Mia was quite happy to go with the flow and do whatever. After a while, conversation turned to happenings at Hogwarts. The four teenagers filled Harry and Ginny in on Quidditch, the HEC and the Care of Magical Creatures trip into the Forest, and then Harry asked,

"So, how are Rose and Scorpius? How many times have they broken up this term?"

"Oh, I don't keep track of each individual term," Al shrugged. "But overall... let me go get my list."

He stood up, turned on the spot and disapperated with a loud crack, which was echoed from upstairs. Twenty seconds later, Al reappeared, bumping into the table and making all the plates rattle.

"Careful!" Harry warned. "Good job we didn't let you appearate home!"

"I only misjudged it by a couple of inches," Al scowled, sitting down. "And the answer's a hundred and eighty-three, if anyone still cares. They're getting less frequent, I think – perhaps they're growing up."

After dinner, Mia helped Lily restore her new room to some kind of order and then they both headed to bed early. The next day was spent quietly at home. Lily and Mia played some Quidditch with Harry and Ginny, and Mia soon found that mother and daughter made a formidable goal scoring machine.

On Monday, they went to meet Dotty. Harry and Ginny agreed to let Al apperate and take Cassie side-along.

"As long as you're sure you trust him, Cassie," Ginny said as they prepared to leave.

"I trust him," Cassie said, smiling up at her boyfriend.

"I won't splinch us," Al promised.

Mia took Ginny's arm (Lily had already claimed her father's) and prepared herself for the squeezing sensation which she found always accompanied apparition. Of all the magical travel methods, Mia preferred flying by far, although she supposed the instantaneousness of apparition, floo and portkeys was a huge point in their favour.

A few uncomfortable seconds later and the six of them were standing in a quiet village street.

"Where even are we?" Mia asked, realising she didn't know where Teddy and Vic lived.

"Upper Flagley," Lily told her. "It's in Yorkshire."

Harry led the way around a corner and up a narrow lane. Teddy and Vic's cottage was toward the end of the lane, set a little way back from the road.

Teddy answered the door with a red-haired Dotty asleep against his shoulder. His own hair turned from a mousy-brown to his turquoise 'happy colour' when he saw them.

"Come in, come in," he said, ushering them inside and into the living room, where Vic was hastily picking up cushions. Hugs were dished out all round and then Teddy offered to make tea, deftly handing off a still-sleeping Dotty to Vic.

As Teddy made tea, Vic had plenty of questions about Hogwarts. She wanted to know all about the HEC and all the teachers she remembered. Teddy returned with a tray full of mugs floating before him as Dotty began to stir. Vic cradled her daughter in her arms, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Cassie got to her feet. "I... I need some air," she mumbled, hurrying from the door. After half a minute's pause, Al followed her.

"Is she okay?" Vic asked, looking concerned. "We saw the latest Prophet article just after Christmas – that Skeeter woman's a menace."

"Hermione's on the warpath about her," Harry said. "Albus says Cassie's been struggling since it all came out."

"People can be so cruel," Teddy said, handing round mugs of tea. "It's no one's business who her grandparents were. You know, Cassie and I are second cousins. We didn't get much time to chat at Christmas but I'd love the chance to get to know her properly."

For the next few minutes, Vic cooed over Dotty and everyone else sipped their tea awkwardly, waiting to see if Al and Cassie would reappear. After five minutes, Al stuck his head around the door.

"I'm taking Cassie home," he said. "Sorry, Teddy, Vic – I'd love to come over and see Dotty some other time if that's okay."

"Of course – you're welcome any time, mate," Teddy told him. "Is Cassie okay?"

Al shook his head. "Seeing Vic and Dotty has brought up some stuff about her mum," he explained.

"Do you want one of us to come home with you?" Ginny asked.

"No thanks, we'll be fine," Al said.

After he left, there was silence for a minute or so, and then Lily asked, "Can I hold Dotty?"

"Of course," Vic said. She got to her feet, walked over and deposited her daughter in Lily's lap.

"Hi, gorgeous," Lily cooed. "Oh my days, she smiled at me!"

"It was probably just wind," Harry grinned. "That was your party trick at his age – making everyone think you were smiling at them when you were just farting."

Everyone laughed, except for Lily who just scowled. After a few minutes, Teddy asked, "Do you want to hold her, Mia?"

"Can I?" Mia asked. She'd never held a baby before; she'd still been quite young when her cousins were born.

"Of course," Teddy said, and Lily reluctantly passed Dotty over. Mia cradled the baby in one arm and explored the tiny pink fingers with the other hand. There was a small popping sound, and Dotty's hair changed from a vibrant red to a mousey brown, not too far from Mia's own hair colour.

"She does that a lot-" Vic said, "-changes her hair to match whoever she's with."

"Do you think it's a conscious decision?" Mia asked.

"I don't think she'll have any control over it for a while yet," Teddy said. "I know I didn't when I was little. My appearance used to change with my emotions. The first time I remember doing it deliberately was to amuse Vic at a christening – James' maybe, so I must've been seven or eight."

"Your first act of flirting with me," Vic grinned.

Harry, Ginny, Lily and Mia stayed for about an hour. Dotty was quite content to be handed around and admired, and she even made a grab for Harry's glasses when he was holding her.

When they arrived home, Al and Cassie were sat in the living room. Cassie looked as though she'd been crying, but her voice was fairly bright when she said,

"Mia, do you want to compare rune translations?"

"What, now?" Mia asked.

"Yeah," Cassie said. "Let's go upstairs."

Mia followed Cassie up to her room. They sat down on the bed together (there wasn't really anywhere else to sit) but Cassie made no move to find her translation. Mia waited for her friend to speak.

"I feel like such an idiot, rushing out like that," Cassie said. "Teddy and Vic must think I'm such a..." she searched for the right word.

"They just wanted to know if you were okay," Mia interrupted. "And Teddy said he'd like to connect with you, since you're family."

"I wanted to meet Dotty," Cassie said. "And I want to get to know Teddy and Vic. I just... I saw Vic with Dotty and it made me wonder... did my mum ever look at me like that? Did she ever gaze into my eyes with that much love...?"

Cassie looked like she might cry again. Mia shuffled closer and put her arm around the Hufflepuff girl. "I'm sure she did," she said, trying to be reassuring.

"If she did, then why did she leave me?" Cassie asked. She sighed. "Al's right. I need to talk to Aunt Narcissa. I don't want to – not at all – but I need answers. Right. Runes. Let's go – where's your translation?"

A few days later, James apperated into the kitchen in time for dinner. Throughout the main course he was loud and entertained the others with things which had happened in the shop, but during dessert he grew increasingly quiet and serious. Finally, as Harry rose to clear the table, James said,

"Wait a minute, Dad – I've got an announcement. I... I've decided to become an auror."

There was a stunned silence. Mia knew James had been toying with the idea for a while, but once he started working at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes with his uncle and cousin, she thought he'd moved on from that idea.

Harry slapped his oldest son on the back. "I can't wait to welcome you to the team, son," he said. "I can help you with your application if you like, and-"

James cut him off, shaking his head. "No need, but thanks. I... I've already been accepted to do my training... at MACUSA."

"In America?!" Lily exclaimed. "You're moving to America?"

"For a while, at least," James nodded. "I might come back and work at the Ministry once I qualify, but... I thought it was better this way – I need to step out of your shadow, Dad."

Harry nodded understandingly. "I get that. Congratulations, James."

Ginny got up and hugged James. "I can't believe you did all this without telling us!" she said. "When do you start?"

"August," James said. "So you've got plenty of time before you'll have to miss me."

That night as Lily and Mia lay in bed, Lily made Mia jump by sighing heavily when Mia thought she was already asleep.

"So next year I'll have a dad and a brother who are aurors, and what's the betting Al'll be head boy too?" she said. "I won't be able to get away with anything. Who'd want to be an auror, anyway?"

"Not you, I'm guessing," Mia grinned. "What do you want to do when you leave school?"

"Sleep," Lily said shortly, rolling over onto her back. Within a minute, she was fast asleep, the sound of her snores filling the room.