Author's Note: Y'all, I have amazing news. Yesterday I FINALLY finished writing Year 6/Goblet of Fire! Holy cow is this thing long! The story is now 180 chapters, 567,000 words and 1452 pages long; with 167,000 of that coming from Year 6 alone! It's forty-three chapters, my dudes! That's 10 months worth of content!

Knowing that it's 10 months long, I've decided that I won't take another hiatus while I work on Summer of '95. This is more than enough time to clean up Year 6 as needed.

Saturday August 20th, 1994

Uncle Sirius will be returning Sunday from his honeymoon. In light of that oncoming ending, Melly's family drove down to Surrey for the day. Together the kids went out to see a movie called The Mask, then Harry joined the Londoners for the drive home.

A few minutes of silence passed as they drove on the motorway. In perhaps an urge to break that silence, Mary playfully asked, "So, Harry, should we expect you to stay the night, or will you and my darling daughter be breaking curfew again?"

Both he and Melly sputtered as they struggled to breathe. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Yeah, mum. He's gotta be up bright and early for when Sirius picks him up, right?"

"Right!" Harry nodded.

"Uh-huh," Mary hummed in between her and her husband's snickering at their reactions.

"Oh, of course," said Jake. "Wills of steel you two have, especially since there aren't any clubs to go to once you're back in school."

"They'll be forced to study, the poor dears!" Mary said dramatically.

"Hey, hey, I did plenty of studying this summer!" Melly argued.

"Is that why you keep waking up at noon half-covered in glittery makeup?" Mary asked.

"I'll have you know that my nights out are for research purposes," she claimed.

"Pranks don't count, Melly-bean," said Jake.

Full of cheek, Harry added, "Especially on days when I'm with you."

Giving him a smirk, Melly commented, "You can always join me on the plan, you know."

"And risk dancing something like the "Cuban Pete" in public? No, thank you!"

"Heh! Your loss, kid!"

After some laughter and teasing Harry asked, "Speaking of the prank, how is everything going with the Weird Sisters?"

"Not bad, actually," said Jake. "Much as I don't get John's geek stuff, those books he recommended have loads of magic stuff the boys can use for their trial. We even got some fiction novels to fill in the gaps for the rest of their songs' references."

"Nice! So they'll have perfect alibis, right?"

"That's the plan!" Jake said happily. "They've even started mentioning those books in their interviews with music magazines so that it sets their alibis in stone."

"It really is brilliant," Melly agreed.

A moment passed as thoughts ran through Harry's mind. He turned to Melly with one such thought. "Bit of a tangent, but did you hear that story about the Hogwarts relics?"

"The ones in America?" she asked. On his nod, she added, "That was a couple weeks ago, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it was in the paper again this morning. The Ministry is trying to force MACUSA to confiscate the collection on behalf of Britain, but the MACUSA is crying interference."

"Huh." Despite her cool disinterest, Melly humoured him by asking, "Well, I mean, do they have a claim? Like, how long has the collector had all of this stuff?"

"A couple of years," he answered, "but the previous owner's family had them for a couple of decades, and even they inherited them from a wizard who had it in his family for centuries."

"Ah, neat, so they were probably descendants of the founders of something, right?"

"That's likely, but they'd have to look into it to be sure."

"Hmm, makes sense. Well," she gave a yawn, "either way, they'll hopefully let it stay with the proper owners."

"The school, or the collector?" Harry asked with amusement.

"Whoever are the proper owners," she said noncommittally. "Not up to us to decide, right?"

"Eh, fair point."

Once they got back to London, Harry and Melly came to an agreement to not sneak out that night. They were practically caught, as-is, so why even risk it?

Which is why, upon getting ready for bed in the guest room, he was surprised to hear a secret knock at the door. He opened it to find Melly on the other side, giving him a quick, casual wave.

"I thought we weren't going to sneak out?"

"We're not," Melly agreed. Harry gave her a once-over, seeing that she was already in pyjamas.

"What's up, then?"

She glanced over her shoulder, confirming no one was listening in, then spoke in a hushed tone, "Can I come in, Houdini?"

Alarm bells went off in his mind, but he stepped aside with a, "Sure thing, Melody." She came in and pitched herself cross-legged on his bed. Harry joined her and did the same. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, per se; but… I have a belated birthday gift for you."

An odd smile grew on Harry's face. Using their secret names just for a birthday gift? That's a new one. Still, he'd bite. "Alright. What is it?"

"For your birthday, I'd like to give you a choice. A choice between knowing and not knowing."

His feeling of amusement dried up, and he swallowed hard. "Alright."

Her head shook slightly. "Don't pick yet. I have to explain something first." Melody took a slow breath to focus her thoughts. "Do you remember, back on the train last year, I told you that the only problem with your godfather being free is that Pettigrew's arrest changed certain things?"

"Yeah-" Harry shot up at once in understanding, "but he's on the run, now!"

Melody nodded, "Which means he's likely found him," she looked at him sharply, "and you'll be in danger."

Now it was Houdini's turn to nod. A shiver overwhelmed him. "Him, meaning Voldemort. …Right. So, what do we do?"

"For now, nothing." The answer surprised him, but Melody held up a placating hand. "If things are back to the way things were, to the way things are going to be… then we have that advantage. Unfortunately, I made a promise to you to let you know about things like this. Double unfortunately, if you know about it… there's a very good chance that you'll be tortured or killed without my knowing or having anyone able to save you."

His eyes bulged at the pronouncement. "Why would knowing about the future make me die?"

"Because once you know, you'll have to go about life acting like you don't know about it." Melody floundered for words, "What I'm trying to say, Houdini, is you'll have to go through the rest of the foreseeable future acting. I'm serious when I say that you'll have to be completely convincing that certain people and certain places aren't suspicious; and I genuinely do not know if you have the ability to pull that off. Because, if you don't, if the wrong person catches whiff that you find them suspicious, they will stop all attempts to trick you and just go straight for the kill. Or straight for the torture. Honestly, with this particular situation it could go either way…"

Houdini paled, "But if I don't know who's suspicious, what's to stop them from coming after me, anyways? Or, better yet, stop them from coming after you? You're a target, too, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, scratching the back of her head. "I've put a lot of thought into it, and have decided I need to start avoiding those people and places so that they don't come near me at all. I can pull off a good acting job, but I've also got avoidance measures in place that'll work specifically for me. For you…" Melody flinched with guilt, "you don't have the same luxury."

The few hints given made Houdini frown. "So I'm in trouble either way, but less so if I choose ignorance?"

"That's the situation," she winced.

Houdini knows that Melody's manipulating him. …He also knows that she wants him to stay alive. "If I choose ignorance, are you willing to warn me right before things go wrong?"

"...Of course. As much as I'm able to."

"Alright, then. Prove it."

Melody frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Give me one example of a place to avoid. We're going to be at school all year, so not there; but I want to know about one place you're staying away from where I'm going to be. Tell me about the nearest place, and I'll accept ignorance. Can you do that, Melody?"

Melody stared at him long and hard, searching out his eyes for a sign of bluff. Eventually she gave an annoyed sigh. "...You drive a hard bargain, Houdini." She teetered backwards on the bed, before sitting back up and grumbling. "Fine. One place. One place… Ah. I'm not going to the Quidditch World Cup."

"You're not? But you've been making all of those bets on the matches."

"I do, but not directly. Lord knows no bookie in his right mind would accept a seer's money."

Harry nodded. That certainly explains why she got Kirley Duke involved. "Okay… but what's so bad about going in general?"

"In general, nothing. After the final match, however,…" she gave him a dark smile, "do yourself a favour, Houdini. Don't spend the night."

World Cup Disaster! Six Wizards Arrested For Mayhem and Muggle-Baiting!

Article by Mauricio Carneirus

As wizards from around the world celebrated Ireland's victory at the Quidditch World Cup, pandemonium struck when a group of masked wizards launched a terror attack on the masses. They paraded across the camp area to blast people with curses, set fire to tents, and took a muggle family hostage. Visitors were forced to flee in terror as attacks continued. Fortunately, aurors were quick to the scene to put a stop to these masked attackers.

"We got word from a reliable source that an attack would take place the same day as one of Ireland's matches," Auror Dawlish confided during a rescue of one family. "Since this was the last match, we've been all hands on deck!"

It's certainly a relief to know that aurors were prepared for this attack. They made swift work of the terrorists, duelling them with wands as well as using some never-before-seen magic. Eye witnesses report strange whirlwinds used to throw the attackers off their feet, as well as staves made of light that were able to cut through their shields. (More will come to light about these new tools as inquiries are made.)

The aurors' advanced magic put a stop to the mayhem in the best possible scenario. By the end of the night, there were zero deaths, and though there were several wounded, the DMLE arranged for healers to come to the World Cup on stand-by in preparation for the attack.

There is one unfortunate result, in that only half of the attacks were arrested. The rest fled the scene through apparition or portkey. At this time, the names of the arrested attackers have not been revealed. We do know, however, that they aimed to attack after an Ireland game. Speculation arises if these two events are related. Could muggleborn supporters of the IRA be responsible for the attack? Or, perhaps, bad actors wanting to protest the Statute of Secrecy? More will come as the investigation unfolds.

Sirius tutted by the end of the article, "Well, pup, your little snake friend was right on the money. Staying the night would've been a disaster!"

Harry made a disgruntled noise, resigning himself to his promise to Melody. Chiara, meanwhile, hummed over the headline. "At least they were arrested. That's not so bad."

"True," Sirius muttered, "but look at these masks!" He gestured to the picture. "Those are Death Eater masks, for sure! Yet these people are speculating that it was arranged by IRA supporters instead of You-Know-Who's. Heh, right. Like anyone with a brain will believe that!"

"Well they are wizards," Chiara teased.

"Ha! Oh, my precious heart!" he moaned mockingly. "The lady doth wound me! I should've known you only married me for my good looks."

Chiara chuckled, "My poor husband, tied to such a cruel woman." She moved out of the chair to kiss the top of his head. "Yet you love me, anyways."

"Alas, I do." He moved her head down for a full kiss on the lips. "And what about you, hmm?"

"Yes," she kissed him again, "I love you, too. Against my better judgement."

"Which means you'll fit right in with the wizarding world."

"Ha! We'll see, Sirius. We'll see."

Harry shook his head over their silly and mocking affections. Adults… what a weird bunch they are. After breakfast, he looked over his plans with a grimace. "My dress robes for school should be ready today, so I'm going to Diagon to pick them up after my appointment with the Muggle Liaison Office. Do you two need anything while I'm out?"

"No thanks, Harry, and no rush heading home. You should enjoy your time before heading back to school."

Code for 'We're going to be gross adults. Don't interrupt us.' "I'll do that. I'll see you two later!"

"See you pup!"

"Bye, Harry!"

As Harry walked out the door, he heard the giggling start even before he fully closed it.

Adults, he rolled his eyes again. I hope I'm not like that when I get older.

AC: See you all next Thursday as we enter Year 6 of The Laughing Slytherin!