When Rory returned to the Clubhouse, she was entirely unsurprised to see her best friend popping open a bottle of champagne. She didn't argue when Matilda handed her a glass. She sat down beside Harry and drank it.

Before long, a second and then a third bottle was opened. Rory watched her friends play billiards and laugh. She felt happier and more relaxed than she had in weeks, even though she was extra careful about ensuring everyone kept their glasses far away from any place they could be knocked over.

Somehow, Rory found herself sitting on a cushion next to Ginny. Her cheeks were stained as red as her hair and she'd been giggling all night. Sometimes Ginny still looked at Harry in a way that made Rory uneasy, but Rory promised to put it all behind her. She was not going to be jealous, especially not of Ginny.

Especially because everyone, including Ginny, had been infatuated with Atlas all day.

"Your brother is really nice," Ginny said.

"I know," Rory replied. "I wish I was going to get to see him more."

"Siblings can be pretty annoying," Ginny said with a shrug. "But I also feel like I can tell Ron anything. The important things anyway. I think that's good to have."

Rory nodded. "Good to know." She took a sip of her champagne and then swirled it around in her glass a bit. "Are we cool?"

Ginny chuckled. "What?"

"Like, are we okay? I don't think we've had an actual conversation since Easter, and even then it was kind of dicey," Rory replied. "Because of Harry and all."

Ginny's cheeks were already flushed from the champagne, but they reddened even more. "Right."

"And I get it," Rory said. She'd had too much champagne to have this conversation with Ginny but thought it was likely she'd never have this conversation with her without it. "Things are just really weird lately, and I kind of think your mum hates me—."

"Mum doesn't hate you," Ginny said quickly. "She doesn't like a single person any of my brothers has dated."

"Even Tonks?" Rory asked.

"Even Tonks. She's a bit insane about it," Ginny said. "If Harry and I were going out, that was about as close to a perfect situation as she was ever going to get. So it's not you."

"And you don't hate me?" Rory asked.

Ginny shook her head. "No. It's like I told Harry, I'll get over it."

Rory was sure that was true for Ginny. But Rory remembered telling herself about a million times that she would get over Harry. They were back together three months later. She was never going to get over Harry. Not that she wanted to. It just seemed incredible that anyone else would be able to.

"Everyone getting along?" Matilda asked sitting down beside Rory.

"Yes," Rory said holding her glass out to Ginny who clinked hers against Rory's.

"Splendid," Matilda said. "We should play a game. A drinking game."

"Oh, no," Hermione said.

Matilda groaned. "Don't worry, Hermione. We'll play never have I ever so you'll be in no danger of getting wasted."

"Unless we bring up all the times she's broken the law," Ron teased, clearly having had enough alcohol for the idea to be appealing to him as well. Soon the small group of teenagers had formed a circle on the floor. Harry replaced Ginny beside Rory.

She glanced around and saw that she was with the same people who'd come to the Ministry of Magic to rescue her. It was the first time Rory thought about that night and wasn't filled with a sense of dread. Instead, she felt safe. These people would always keep her safe.

Rory rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head. "You alright?"

"Yep," she replied. "They're not going to go easy on us."

"I don't expect they will," Harry said. "At least Mattie waited until your brother left to embarrass us."

Rory chuckled. She went to sip her champagne but expected that this was going to descend into chaos and that maybe she should hold off drinking unless directed to do so.

"Five fingers up, friends," Matilda said. "Ginny, since you're the baby amongst us, why don't you go first."

"Alright," Ginny said. She thought for a moment. "Never have I ever snogged anyone in the Gryffindor Common room."

Rory, Harry, and Matilda drank. If people listed places in Hogwarts where they hadn't snogged anyone, the three of them were going to be out of this game very quickly.

"Easy to play that card when you've never dated a Gryffindor," Matilda said.

"That's a good one," Ron said beside his sister. "Never have I ever dated a Gryffindor."

Again, Harry, Rory, and Matilda drank. Neville notably did not which caused Hermione to catch Rory's glance. The secrets were already starting to pile up.

But now it was Hermione's turn and she sat thinking. "Never have I ever snogged anyone I wasn't dating."

Harry and Matilda groaned and drank again.

"Okay, can we move away from snogging, or Harry and I are going to be wasted," Matilda said.

"It is starting to feel a bit like a personal attack," Harry replied.

Luna was next. She was as quiet and contemplative as she usually was, and she seemed to be thinking very hard on what to say. "Never have I ever been in Gryffindor Tower."

"Good one. Take all of us out in one go," Rory said. She took a drink. "Very well played."

"She is a Ravenclaw," Matilda said.

"No worries," Neville said. "Never have I ever purposefully jinxed my friend outside of a controlled educational environment."

Hermione's face went red as she took a drink. "I only did that because you were going to tell on us."

"Sure, sure," Neville said.

"I've thought of a good one," Matilda said. "Never have I ever attacked a teacher."

"And I'd do it again," Harry said before she took a drink with Rory, Ron, and Hermione. "And that's five for me."

"Shocking that you would be the first out," Matilda said. "You have to keep playing even though you can't win."

"Are you saying that because surely you'll be out next?" Harry asked.

Matilda shushed him.

Now it was Rory's turn. "Never have I ever ridden a broom without becoming ill."

"Cheat," Matilda said. Now she was out too.

"I've never ridden a broom without throwing up and everyone else here successfully passed flying class and makes up a third of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Those are just facts," Rory said.

"The facts suck," Ron said.

Rory laughed and then looked at Harry.

"Ah, yes, what has Harry Potter done that the rest of us haven't?" Matilda asked.

"I can think of a few things, but I don't want to single you out," Harry teased. Matilda laughed as Harry continued to think. He looked over to Rory. She was down to one, just like Hermione. He was probably trying to think of something that wouldn't get her eliminated but Rory had her fair share of shenanigans. "Oh! Never have I ever been a prefect."

"Do I have to keep playing now that I've lost?" Hermione asked, finishing her drink.

"Yes. Play until we have one champion," Matilda said. She grabbed a bottle of champagne and refilled everyone's glasses. "Let's see where we are. Hold up those fingers."

Ron and Rory were down to one, Neville and Ginny had three to go, and Luna was sitting impressively at four having only taken one drink.

But Rory's avoiding elimination was quickly thwarted when Ginny said "Never have I ever claimed Chudley as my favorite team" and eliminated Rory and Ron at the same time.

After that, the remaining three players did a great job at getting everyone who'd already lost to drink (though they swore this was not intentional). In the end, Luna was declared the winner.

Rory was bone tired by the time they finished playing. The day in the sun and the pool and the champagne had robbed her of all her energy. She huddled close to Harry, his arm around her while she fought to keep her eyes open, determined not to be the one to call it a night first.

"So who wants to take bets on how annoying Malfoy is going to be this term?" Matilda asked.

"Now that his dad's in Azkaban I'm sure he'll be intolerable," Ginny said.

"Dad said they've raided their manor twice already looking for dark artifacts and such," Ron said. "I'm sure he'll want to take it out on someone."

"Maybe he'll be so upset that he'll want to leave everyone alone," Luna offered.

"Unlikely," Rory replied. "I'm sure he'll play the 'my dad's in prison because of you' card."

"Never mind the fact that his dad was going to happily have you murdered," Harry grumbled. "Can't imagine why they would put him in prison."

As if Harry needed another reason to dislike Draco Malfoy and then Lucius rolled right up and gave him one.

"Well there's no more Inquisitorial Squad so I imagine he'll go back to being easier to ignore without the staff emboldening him," Hermione said.

"Yeah, not that the other Slytherins have ever done a poor job of giving him an ego too big for his body," Harry said. "I'm sure he'll be back to being swooned over by his adoring fans the moment he walks into school."

"He's not the only one," Matilda said. "Have you noticed that all the papers are calling you 'The Chosen One' now? I'm sure absolutely no one at school will refer to you as such."

Now it was Rory's turn to be a little irritated. She knew she wasn't going to have to worry about Harry being interested in anyone else, and she knew better than to behave the way she had last year. But on the inside, she knew she couldn't help but feel irritated by all the people who were going to be swooning over her boyfriend.

"Don't worry, I'll try to tune out everyone except present company," Harry said.

"I think your best friends are going to be more likely than anyone else to hype you up to do something stupid," Rory said.

"Wealth of evidence for that," Neville said. "Got Hermione to drink a whole bottle of champagne tonight."

Hermione scoffed, but she was clearly well on her way to falling asleep as well. She had her head on Ron's shoulder and he was sitting very stiffly.

"Yeah, even my dad who is easily the smartest person I know gets talked into dumb stuff by Sirius," Rory said.

"Yeah, but that's because Sirius and your dad are, like, a platonic married couple," Matilda said.

"It doesn't seem that platonic sometimes if I'm being honest," Ginny said. "At least on Sirius' part anyway."

"Rory keeps saying that when he was at Hogwarts he was the school slut, and he hates it but also agrees that it's accurate," Harry said.

"But what does it say about my dad that he used to always make out with the school slut?" Rory asked. Then she quickly covered her mouth because she hadn't meant to say the thought aloud.

"It means Remus Lupin is a slut too," Matilda laughed. "Incredible. Also, completely saw it coming by the way."

"Wait, Sirius and your dad used to, like, be together?" Ron asked.

"The phrase Theo used was 'platonic snogging,'" Harry said.

"Which I think is pretty normal actually," Rory said.

"Rory, what?" Neville asked.

"I just think that on some level everyone probably wants to kiss their best friend," Rory said. "Right?"

"Yes," Luna said at the same time everyone else said "No."

"Never once have I looked at Ron and wanted to snog him," Harry said. "No offense."

"None taken," Ron said quickly, "because the feeling is mutual."

"Oh, my god, Rory, have you thought about kissing me before?" Matilda asked.

"Of course I have. You're lovely," Rory replied.

"I'm flattered," Matilda said.

"There's no way Luna and I are the only people who've thought this," Rory said.

"I think it's possible you and Luna aren't as straight as you think you are," Matilda said.

"I'm not straight," Luna said dismissively.

"Really?" Ginny asked.

"No. I'm just kind of… I mostly just exist," Luna said.

"Luna Lovegood, I love you," Matilda said.

"I love you too, in a very platonic, heteronormative way," Luna replied.

Rory sighed and snuggled in closer to Harry. "I think I'm a little drunk."

"Well, you just told everyone that your dad used to make out with Sirius and that sometimes you think about snogging your best friend, so I think you might be also," Harry replied.

"We should get to bed before Rory divulges anything else," Hermione said.

"I think that's the opposite reason we should go to bed," Matilda said.

"Mind you she knows lots of your secrets as well," Neville reminded her.

"Shit, you're right," Matilda said.

They spent the next day enjoying the sunshine in Sirius' back garden. Rory was delighted that Tonks was there today. She'd hardly seen her when she was at Matilda's party ("I did have to actually make sure you were safe while I was there which doesn't leave much time for chatting," she'd said).

There were just over two weeks before school started up again and though Rory was enjoying her summer, to the extent that she could despite all her anxiety and the ever-present threat of the Servants of Pythia, she was unable to keep her thoughts away from school.

"Only you two could unwind by reading books about ancient runes," Ron scoffed at her and Hermione.

"I'm already starting behind," Rory said.

"You probably did better on your OWL than most kids who are taking Ancient Runes," Harry pointed out.

"I'm an overachiever," Rory said. "And you won't let me put my mind towards helping you with Quidditch."

"And I'm not going to change my mind," Harry said firmly.

She rolled her eyes. "And no one wants to take Alchemy with me."

"So you can make us study with you now?" Ron asked. "No thanks."

"And I've had enough of Alchemy for a lifetime," Hermione said. "Its end goal is just to create the Philosopher's Stone. There's not much purpose to it for me. It's not a far-reaching discipline."

"You said the same thing about Divination and now I bet you wish you'd kept at it," Rory said.

"I don't regret not having to take the class with Trelawney," Hermione said.

Rory looked over to Harry. "Have you considered taking Alchemy, Harry?"

"No I have not considered adding an extra class onto my course load," Harry said.

Rory frowned. She was getting nowhere with convincing her friends to take the class. Neville and Matilda had also told her no outright.

But then she had a thought.

"You know, Lovey, McGonagall was supposed to teach, but now Professor Slughorn has taken it over," Rory said. "He'd probably be impressed if you were taking it."

Harry looked up from where he was losing at chess to Ron. He looked over to Rory.

"Don't do this," he said.

"Don't point out that Dumbledore asked you to buddy up to Slughorn for some reason and that taking an advanced class with him might be a good way to do that?" Rory asked.

Harry frowned and then sighed. "You make an excellent point."

"So you'll do it?" Rory asked.

"I'll consider it," Harry said. "I'll write to McGonagall about it tomorrow."

Rory grinned. "I don't even care that you're doing it for Dumbledore and not for me. "

"I'm doing it because Slughorn knows something about Voldemort that Dumbledore wants me to find out," Harry said.

"Still don't care," Rory said. She kissed his cheek. "One step closer to helping me broaden my academic horizons."

Tonks, Sirius, and Theo walked outside, conversing with each other as they carried over trays of food and drinks.

"Anyone up for a picnic?" Sirius asked as they joined them in the grass. "Shame to sit inside on a day like this."

"Did any of you take Alchemy?" Rory asked as she grabbed a sandwich from the tray. "You did Sirius, right?"

"Yes. I took it with Lily, but Theo also took it sixth year," Sirius said. "The good thing about that class is that as long as you show up and try you can pass. I don't think Lily and I made a single thing correctly in that class. Was bloody difficult."

"I did not care for Slughorn and was not interested in adding another of his classes to my schedule after enduring it sixth year," Theo said.

"I don't think enough people wanted to take it while I was in school for it to ever be offered," Tonks said. "I've seen people do a lot of fascinatingly stupid things with Alchemy since I started Auror training though, so maybe it would've been useful. Although right now I'm wishing I'd stuck with Divination."

"Hopefully the cult is just a fluke," Rory said.

"Hopefully," Tonks replied. "You thinking of taking Alchemy?"

"Professor McGonagall said I should, but now that Slughorn is teaching it, he wants more than just two of us taking the class. So I'm trying to recruit others to take it," Rory explained.

"Any success so far?" Theo asked.

"Just Harry," Rory replied.

"Under duress," he added.

"I appreciate you and your ulterior motives," Rory said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Harry, I know you've set your mind on teaching now, but honestly, I think it's a travesty that you're not going to be allowed to be an Auror just because Snape won't let you take potions," Tonks said. She started on a whole tangent about Snape which led to her going off on a tangent about the Auror office and the new department head.

Harry hung on Tonks' every word, chiming in every so often. Rory hated that this one thing Harry was so passionate about was being denied to him just because he was only a slightly above-average potion's student and not an exceptional potion's student.

A while after they finished eating, Rory saw the door to the solarium open and her dad stepped outside. She waved excitedly.

"Hi, Dad!" she shouted. Everyone turned the door and waved.

"I'm very proud of you for actually resting and not getting up immediately to come check on Aurora," Sirius said as Remus joined them.

"We love to see growth," Rory said.

"So you've told me," Remus said. "How was the party? Didn't give Tonks a hard time did you?"

"She was too busy making sure no one murdered us to keep up with our shenanigans," Rory said.

"Everyone was well-behaved from what I could tell," Tonks replied. "Helped that Atlas came to visit. Made Rory behave extra well."

"I can't disagree," Rory replied.

Tonks got to her feet. "But now I have to go. I had to put off finishing some reports to supervise you lot and have delayed myself even further by having lunch with you all."

Rory frowned. She could feel the lie. Tonks was making excuses about why she was leaving. The only thing that had changed in the last 30 seconds was that her dad had shown up.

She'd suspected a while ago that they weren't speaking anymore, and this all but confirmed her suspicions. But Rory didn't know why.

"Don't go," Rory insisted. "Put it off a little longer."

"No, I can't," Tonks said. "And I do need to sleep at some point."

"Sleep is for people who aren't Aurors," Theo said getting to her feet. "Come on then. I want to chat with you before you go."

"Alright," Tonks said. "I'll see you all later. Remus."

He gave her a nod of acknowledgment and then she walked with Theo back to the house.

"What a time to be an Auror," Ron remarked.

Everyone agreed in one way or another, except Rory who knew that Tonks leaving had less to do with being an Auror and more to do with her dad.