Author's Note: I'll keep this short and I promise I'll only ever add this if it is absolutely necessary. This is just a reminder that this is the second book in a series for my OC, Meredith. I'd suggest you read that one first since it's all in order of the original series. It's not very long- it's only 14 chapters.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and let me know if you have any advice! (But like be nice about it because I'm sensitive af)

-Chapter One-

Secretive Sisters

Meredith Prewett felt out of place. She was sitting quietly on the swing as her old school friends talked and laughed. Silas had convinced her to come down to the park with him, telling her how everyone wanted to see her and Mafalda after they'd been gone for over a year at their fancy private school.

That fancy private school was Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, but no one in their small village, other than the Prewett family, knew it existed.

"Where's your sister, Meredith?" asked Jemma, a girl with mouse brown hair and freckles. She used to follow Mafalda around a lot at school and now it seemed she had taken her sister's place as the leader of the popular girls.

"She's busy with some school stuff," Meredith said nonchalantly.

"During the summer?" asked Daniel, a boy that Meredith didn't know until today. He was Silas's new friend and Meredith instantly didn't like him. He was brutish and dull, a stark contrast to Silas with his quick wit and kind way.

"She likes to be prepared," Meredith said with an edge, daring Daniel to say something unflattering about her sister.

The real reason Mafalda didn't want to come to the park was because she said it would be weird hanging out with muggles again. Meredith had rejected that idea, thinking that it was just the usual Slytherin prejudice, but now, after spending ten minutes with her old school mates, she wished she had taken Mafalda seriously, and stayed home.

It seemed that these old friends of theirs had been speculating about where they had been during the school year, and in their absence, made up all sorts of things about the sisters. Meredith was shocked at the rumours at first, but she enjoyed the one about them having run off to join a circus the most. If only they knew that the truth was more outlandish than anything they could come up with. Just a few months ago she had helped her best friends stop a dark wizard, with Voldemort sticking out the back of his head, from stealing the Philosopher's Stone and using it to bring Voldemort back to full power again. Meredith knew her life now was worlds apart from anything the people around her could experience. She couldn't help but feel a bit smug about it.

Although none of them could ever guess that Meredith was a witch, they did seem to understand that she was changed. They treated her suspiciously and felt uncomfortable whenever she spoke, like she was trying her hardest to hide something with every sentence. It made the whole experience unpleasant for everyone involved.

Silas wasn't oblivious to the discomfort around him, and it wasn't long before he made an excuse for Meredith and him to leave.

They were at the park exit when they heard the group behind them break into laughter.

"Freak!"

Meredith was sure that it was Jemma who yelled that at her back, but she found that it didn't bother her that much.

Silas on the other hand, looked embarrassed and angry.

"I'm so sorry I made you come, Meri," he said, "I didn't know they'd be so horrible to you."

"It's fine," she responded honestly. "Mafalda and I have just been away for too long- it's natural to grow apart from people."

Silas didn't respond- he wasn't sure how to. They made their way to the street they both lived on, silence weighing heavily on them.

"But still…" he said cautiously, "you really have changed a lot- just how different is your new school?"

He said it casually, but Meredith could hear the concern in his voice. She desperately wanted to tell him, but she knew it was against the rules to do so. She wasn't sure what would happen if someone found out she had told him.

"It's just an old school with weird traditions," said Meredith, forcing as much boredom into her voice as she could.

"What did you say it was called again?" he asked.

"I didn't."

"Right," he said, irritated now. "And they don't have a single telephone that you could use to call me?"

Meredith stammered awkwardly, feeling horrible about having to lie to him, but before she could start explaining he started heading back the way they'd come- back towards the kids in the park.

"When you feel like being my friend again," he said angrily over his shoulder, "let me know."

Meredith walked the rest of the way home by herself, feeling depressed and alone. She went straight up to the room she shared with Mafalda, not saying hello to her father, who had just returned from work.

Mafalda was lying on her front, spread out across the floor with last year's potions textbook open on a chapter about antidotes for common poisons, but she jumped up immediately after taking one look at her sister's face.

"What did they do to you," she said fiercely, crossing the room in an instant.

Meredith felt her eyes warm up with tears, but held it in as she explained.

"It wasn't them, exactly," she said weakly, "it was Silas- he knows we're hiding something from him and he won't be my friend because of it."

Now the tears trickled down her cheeks. She felt embarrassed of herself. Some Gryffindor she was turning out to be- she was more emotional than Neville Longbottom!

Mafalda pulled her into a tight hug, and they sat on her bed together.

"You don't need him," Mafalda said, as she stroked Meredith's hair comfortingly, "you have all those Gryffindor losers as your friends- and me, you always have me."

Meredith's laugh hiccoughed through her tears.

"They're not losers," she said fondly, knowing her sister was only trying to get her to stop crying and wasn't really insulting her friends- at least this time.

"It's just hard, you know," Meredith continued, "I haven't heard from Harry all summer and now we're not staying at the Weasley's before school starts because mum and dad want to try and be more involved with taking us to school and stuff- it just feels like we're basically spending the summer hiding."

"Have you always been this dramatic?" Mafalda teased.

Meredith laughed and turned to push her sister off the bed, but got a pillow in the face instead. They wrestled and fought until they were both out of breath from laughing so hard.

Thank Merlin for sisters, Meredith thought.