Aaaaand we're back! Hi, everybody! I hope the past 5 months have treated you all well.

I know some of you expected to see a chapter last week; but, kind of a funny fact, I didn't plan to start posting until September 19th. What changed? Well, while re-reading the summer chapters I decided it needed another slice-of-life chapter.

Is that chapter done? ...No.

Will that stop me from my promise to post from September until Halloween? ...Also, no.

Hopefully I'll have that chapter done and comfortable before it's scheduled posting date. Fingers crossed!

In regards to my Goblet of Fire segment, that's one's also not done BUT I PROMISE THAT IT'S CLOSE! I've finished writing the big climax chapters, and just need to wrap up the year now. It's a monster of a year, lemme tell you. I'm at 160,000 words now; which is nearly double the Chamber of Secrets year. Who'd have thought that writing about magical experiments and teen experiences on top of reworking an entire book of canonical events would be so much? (Clearly I didn't think this through, ha!)

So the hiatus may still pick back up in November, but at least you can be assured of content for the next eight weeks. Now, let's get this summer on the road!

Saturday June 18th, 1994

"To the end of GCSEs!" Tally cried with a raised glass of champagne.

"To the end of GCSEs!" Sarah joined in.

"And A-levels!" Victoria added.

Melissa raised her own glass, "Amen to that!"

Sarah and the others eyed her with confusion as she took a sip, "You still did the GCSEs?"

"Eh, an equivalent," Melissa answered. "Though I'll be getting my results a month before you all do."

Victoria nodded, "That makes sense, considering there are less students to examine. Are you going to have something like A-levels as well?"

"Yeah, and my professors seem hell-bent on making me take as many as possible."

"Bully that," Tally scoffed. "We're artists! Musicians! What do we need all that other stuff for?"

"You said it!"

Sarah snickered at that, "Hold on, am I the only one not going professional?" Hearing their answers, she gave a headshake, "You three are mad. That said, best of luck to you all."

The four continued to sip their glasses of champagne, chatting about school and plans for the summer. Eventually, Tally turned back to the event at-hand, "So, Miss Birthday Girl, we've nicked the champagne and made the toast. What's next for the plan?"

"What's next, my dear artist," she purred, "is we find ourselves a right proper party!"

When you're a Londoner, a party is easy to find.

Tally and Sarah called up some friends and learned of an abandoned factory that'll be "lent" to a DJ that night, so the four hopped on a bus and made their way over. A second bottle of champagne was passed between them in secret. Though not necessarily tasty, the alcohol and secrecy of it all had them giggling with mischief. They were buzzed by the time they arrived at the factory, and the champagne was shared among their adjoining friends and finished off by the time they got to the front of the line.

Inside the factory was a contrast of darkness and bright colours. Neon graffiti was plastered above a makeshift stage where a DJ was livening up the crowd. Party lights danced, music blared, and the world was a movement of "Sweet Dreams".

"Holy shit, I know this one!" Melissa called, pulling Victoria by the hand and dragging her (and the others that linked hands) out onto the dance floor. For the next hour, Melissa was one with the crowd. She was movement, she was music, and most of all, she was having fun!

That didn't end, but it certainly switched gears when she bumped into someone recognizable on the dance floor.

"MERTON?!"

It took a moment for the boy to recognize her. When he did, he grinned and opened his arms up dramatically, shouting, "MEL!" He launched into her with a hug. "What're you doin' here?"

"Celebrating my birthday!" she shouted over the music. "What are you doing here?"

"Celebrating GRA-DU-A-TION! WOO!" He spun in a circle as the words were crowed out, causing her to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in why don'tcha!" She gave him a gentle shove. "Not all of us can ditch school to start a rock band!"

"We've done more than start!" he grinned dopily. "Wait til you hear what we've got planned!"

Oh? "The others are with you?"

Sure enough, half of them were. Gideon was here, as well as Donaghan, Kirley, and Myron. Merton waved them over, and soon enough the two groups converged.

"Aren't you three a bit old to be partying here?" one of Sarah's friends asked.

"Aren't you a bit young?" Myron teased back.

The friend waived off the (true) claim, though that failed to matter as another friend went wide-eyed. "Hold up! I know you! You're the Weird Sisters!"

"That we are!"

That got the muggles' attention! The convergence got deeper as conversation got lost in the wave of noise and fangirling. Melissa's own attention was pulled by the wayside as Kirley put an arm around her shoulder.

"I hear you tried to get my cousin gambling on the World Cup?"

Melissa gave a huff of laughter. "You'd have thought I asked her to rob Gringotts!"

"Your mistake was asking a Hufflepuff," he said. "Especially one of the honour-bound types."

"Really?" she said with a leer. "And what type of Puff are you?"

"No Puff at all, love. I was a lion. One who's going to the lion's share of matches." He pulled her in closer. "So, how's about you match me Sight for bets and we score ourselves a bag of galleons?"

She grinned wide, "Sounds like a plan to me!"

Three hours later the groups stumbled out of the factory with pained- yet still dancing- feet. Melissa tilted her head back, swaying to the fading beat. "We need to do this all summer!"

"I'm good for that!" Sarah cheered. "You guys should join us! What do you say, Mert?"

"That'd be fun. Shame we've got plans, though."

"Oh? What're you up to?"

"Going on tour!" Gideon answered. "Here and abroad. We're going to America."

"America!" Victoria gasped.

"Just a few gigs. Nothing crazy," Donaghan answered. "New York, Salem, and New Orleans. We also have a couple spots on the continent asking for us. It's not much, but it's a start."

"Hey, that's pretty amazing," one of Tally's friends said encouragingly. "You've only been around for a few months and already have enough of a following for a world tour?! You have to be pretty big to have that many fans!"

"Or just have enough fans in a niche enough market," Kirley said with a knowing grin.

Behind them, Melissa and her three muggle friends shared their own knowing looks.

"Do you have any gigs coming up around here?" Melissa asked. "It'd be great to hear you guys play before I go back to school."

"Yeah, we've got a couple on both sides of town," Donaghan said.

"But don't worry about waiting too long afterwards," Myron added. "School can't hold our music back forever, you know."

"Oh, I know," she purred.

Myron turned back to meet her eyes. "Do you, now?"

"Mhmm!"

"And what exactly is it that you know, little angel?"

"I know that I'm in for a very fun Christmas this year. Or should I say a fun Yule?"

A pause fell before Kirley started laughing, "She's got us there, Myron! Should've known she'd find out about that."

Gideon looked over at her, "Are you going to tell anyone that we're coming?"

"Nah, I'll keep it a secret. The surprise will be more fun."

"Hold on," Merton mumbled drunkenly, "what are we all talking about?"

"We'll explain later, mate," Kirley gave him a pat on the back. "For now, let's keep the celebrations going! Do we have anything to drink?"

"All out!" Melissa cried. "And I need more champagne."

"Alright then! Champagne for the lady and butterbeers for all!"

Sunday June 19th, 1994

"Melly?" Her mother called softly. "Melllly-beaaaan?"

Melissa groaned under a cocoon of soft blankets. The bed then groaned with shifted weight, all of which worsened as the head of the cocoon flapped open with glaring light. "Arrrrrghhh! Noooo!"

"Do you know what's wrong, dear?" her mother asked sweetly.

"It's too bright," Melissa muttered.

"No," the voice came like a chirp, grating on Melissa's ears. "What's wrong, little bean, is what we adults call a hangover."

Melissa groaned loudly.

"Now how could that have happened, I wonder?" The weight shifted again. With it, the voice grew louder and more obnoxious with sarcasm. "Oh, look! A bottle of champagne, right here beside my daughter's bed! How could THAT have happened?"

"Please…"

"Now, now, don't be alarmed. I'm sure we can solve this little mystery together." With a flash, the blankets were ripped away from her, exposing Melissa to painful light. It also exposed her party clothes from last night, one shoe included. "Hmm. More clothes than I expected. I figured they'd be half-off considering the state you're in. Unless your knickers are missing?"

"MUUUM!" She curled into her pillow, hiding her face and (still intact) modesty. It also muffled her voice as she muttered "-so embarrassing!"

"Be thankful no boys are around to hear me, then," her mother teased. "Alright, love, no more sleep for you. There's aspirin and a cup of water on the table. After that you've got chores to do. Since you're such a grown up girl I think it's time you have more responsibilities, don't you?"

A groan answered her, and Mary smiled. "So glad that you agree!"

Thursday June 23rd, 1994

When the Londoners floo'ed in from Sirius's flat to the Tonks home, they were greeted to the sight of a feast!

"Gotta love a Full-Moony dinner," Melissa said to Harry with a grin.

The boy grinned as well, moving towards said food before manners (and their hosts) caught up to him. "Sirius, Harry, it's good to see you!" Andromeda greeted them with familial embrace. She then greeted the Bennetts, and Melissa listened with half an ear as Harry had moved on to the others in the room.

"She's so tiny!" he said with hushed awe. Melissa craned her head to where Tonks was standing at the foot of the door.

"It's unbelievable, innit?" Said Tonks. "It's mad to think of how small we start out."

Curiosity burning, Melissa soon broke away from Andromeda and went over to see the new baby. She was taken in at once by the tiny bundle. The babe had a shock of pale silver hair, and her gentle sleeping and cute face complemented the colouring in a way that gave her a sweetly ethereal appearance.

"She's beautiful," Melissa said. The baby stirred, her baby blue eyes opening for barely a moment. "Hello, Hope," she whispered, "it's nice to meet you."

The baby fell right back to sleep. Melissa couldn't help but chuckle. "Does she always look like this when she sleeps?"

"For the last few days," Tonks answered. "She had black hair when she was born, but it changes all the time. Mum says I was the same way."

Ted Tonks arrived as she finished speaking. "And you wondered why we took a photo just after she was born." He caught the teens' questioning looks with a clever smile, "Hope will eventually want to know what her natural colour is. It doesn't show up often once a metamorphmagus finds a look they prefer."

"Where would be the fun in that?" Tonks said with a tease.

Conversation and cooing over the baby continued for a fair while. It only abated once Hope was placed in a bassinet and the group sat at the table for dinner. It was about 6PM at that point, but with sunset not being until after 9PM thanks to the recent solstice, Remus and Sirius had enough time to socialize and stuff their faces.

The newlyweds' employment status eventually came up in conversation, and both answers were rather surprising. For Tonks, her maternity leave (and overall employment) was initially up for debate by the DMLE. Many were furious upon learning her status as a new mother. Things eventually had gone in her favour, but Melissa was shocked to hear that the main person in Tonks' corner was Mad-Eye Moody himself.

"He was never fooled by my concealing spells and body morphs," she explained. "He saw the baby straight away with that eye of his, but he wanted to see how long I could last through the pregnancy without getting caught by the others. He told them that any witch that can hide a babe for nine months and still do combat mid-labour is a witch worth fighting beside."

"You were fighting mid-labour?!" Mary gasped. "How did you manage that?!"

"It wasn't easy; but when you're trained to work through pain, well…" she shrugged, "it wasn't all that hard, either. At least, not until the contractions got worse. Then things got tricky."

"No kidding!"

When the questions turned to Remus, he answered that he's now brewing potions for a new hair-care company called Locks by Lockhart, …and Melissa had to double-take. "I'm sorry, but when you say Locks by Lockhart- do you mean Lockhart, like, Gilderoy Lockhart?"

"That's exactly who I mean," he answered. "Harry had this great idea of making colour-changing potions specifically for hair, with Dora able to supply her hair as an ingredient. I reached out to different companies to see if they're willing to invest in the product, but they all have strict anti-werewolf labour policies, so I was getting nowhere with them. A few days later I got a letter from Lockhart about it and we came to an agreement."

"He doesn't mind working with a werewolf?" Jake asked.

Remus made a face. "He does, I think. I had to agree to being a silent partner, while he finds the clients and distributes the product under his name. That said, I get a reasonable share of the profits, and had Harry included, of course; not to mention Lockhart's name carries far in the magical world. It's already more successful than I could have hoped."

Melissa nodded knowingly. "Yeah, he's been surprisingly generous with royalties these days." Her own royalty cheques for Discourse with Demons were an unexpected boon. She never even signed a contract with Lockhart, yet he still sends her money! The man held surprises galore, it seemed. "It's pretty cool that you're able to do this. Who'd have thought you'd find a great way to make a living with hair-colouring potions, of all things?"

Tonks gave her an amused look. "Well you did, didn't you?"

Melissa's head tilted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It was your idea, wasn't it?"

"No. Harry's the one that found the potion recipe in his grandparents' home and figured out how to perfect it."

"Sure, but you're the one that said me and Harry would make a killing in the hair business."

"...I did? When?"

"When we first met," she answered. "You remember?"

"Not really…" It does sound like something she would say, though, "but clearly my instincts were on the money."

"I'll say!"

"Right, instincts," Ted said with soft incredulity. Melissa knew that expression, but could only respond with a shrug and a sheepish grin.

If people want to believe every clever thing she says is a type of divination, that's their prerogative. As for her, she's learning to coast on their assumptions so long as it benefits her.