The Saga Continues

Chapter Two-Best of Friends

July 31, 2017

Molly turned to Katarina at the table. "Kat, what house do you think I'll be sorted into?"

Katarina took a bite of potato salad, swallowed, and said, "I don't know. I think you have all the qualities."

"You do?"

"You're brave, and you're bright, and you're loyal."

"What about power hungry and cunning?" Molly asked eagerly.

"You could be if you wanted to be."

"What do you mean?" she said, tapping her plate impatiently with her fork.

"Like if you were in danger, you could probably manipulate others to your advantage."

"Oh." Molly paused and scrunched up her nose. "Well, now I really don't know where I'm going to go. What's Ravenclaw like?"

Katarina shifted in her chair uncomfortably. "Normal, I suppose," she said, and she stood up, and waved her wand at her plate. It disappeared. "I'm going to go talk to Emily."

Molly's shoulders slumped down a bit. She wanted to be close to Katarina, because she admired her so much, but Katarina always avoided her. Probably because I'm seven years younger, she thought, as Ronnie walked over to their table looking horrified.

"Everyone told you not to put that wippee thing on Raven's seat," Molly said knowingly.

Ronnie rolled his eyes. "Stop acting like mum," he hissed. Then he looked up at his father. "Dad, shouldn't Hagrid be here?"

"He said he couldn't make it," his dad said simply.

Molly wondered if there was more to it than that. "Danny, are you coming to Diagon Alley with us after this?" she said. Her best friend looked a little preoccupied about something and didn't even hear her. "Danny!" she said loudly.

His head sprang up. "What?" he said, shaking his ebony hair from his eyes.

"Are you coming to Diagon Alley with us?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his mother hopefully. "Mum?"

"Sure you can go," Ginny said. "What about Raven?"

"What about Raven?" Danny said, his eyes darkening. So that was what was wrong with him!

"She's your sister," Ginny said.

"Ah, Ginny, she probably doesn't want to go there anyway. Not with her little brother, anyway. It'll probably ruin her image," spoke up Uncle Harry.

Ginny gave him a look. "Raven does not have an image," she snapped.

"Well, she can go with that friend of hers, Alana Zabini, or something..."

"You are always finding ways to push her out of the family!"

Harry looked astounded. "I do not!"

Danny and Molly exchanged looks and Danny cleared his throat. "Well, what a wonderful lunch!" he said brightly, rolling his eyes, and Molly followed him into the house.

"What happened between you and Raven?" Molly asked, once they had reached the living room and set up a chess board. "I hate chess," she added glumly.

"Cause your dad beats you all the time," said Danny with his usual lopsided grin.

Molly resisted the urge to respond to that. "What happened?"

"She was just being unfair about Quidditch, is all," Danny said. "Check."

"I hate you," Molly said, as his bishop destroyed hers.

"That's nice to know," he said, as she moved.

A good twenty minutes later, Danny had successfully beaten her at chess, and people had begun to stream in the living room from outside. Music was now pumping through the speakers and Molly saw Fred and Angelina dancing wildly. "They're going to get sick," she said, as Fred spun Angelina around and Molly jumped to avoid getting hit.

"Do you want to dance?" said Danny, raising his eyebrows. "You look like you do."

"No I don't," said Molly, shifting feet.

"You're clucking your tongue, dodo."

Molly stuck her tongue out at him. He knew perfectly well that she clucked her tongue when she was determined to do something. It was just a nervous habit. "So, do you want to dance then?" she asked. Her mother had given her lessons the previous summer.

A look of horror passed over Danny's face. "I don't think so. Dancing...ugh. Hey, Sam might want to, though."

Molly's eyes widened. "No, Danny, please don't..."

"SAM!" Danny yelled, his hands cupped over his mouth. Molly could feel herself growing bright red as thirteen year old Sam, the son of Lavender and Seamus Finnigan, walked over to them, looking bewildered. Molly wanted the floor to swallow her; she had had a crush on Sam since she was nine, and Danny was the only person that knew.

"Yeah?" Sam said, eyeing them curiously, with his hands in his pockets. Molly thought he looked so adorable when he did that - stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked confused. Ronnie had said once that it was because he was thick.

"Danny wants to dance with you," Molly said hurriedly, doing anything to get the attention from her.

"What?" said Sam, backing away from Danny. He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Danny looked at Molly, and shook his head, grinning. "She's the one who wants to-"

"Could I get your attention, please?" said Ginny's voice. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at her. Fred had performed the Wingardium Leviosa charm and she was now hovering high in the air, so everyone could see and hear her. "It's almost time to start! If you're outside, come inside and if you're already inside then stay here. Okay, Fred, that should do it."

Fred flicked his wand and Ginny came back to the ground and kissed Harry, the little spat before obviously forgotten. Molly was relieved; Sam was still looking at her and Danny with an odd expression on his face.

Molly sighed, glared at Danny, and then focused her full attention on what her aunt was saying. Her grandmother was levitating a large cake into the room and behind her, Molly saw her mum and dad with mounds of presents. Her eyes widened; as did her Uncle Harry's.

Clearly, he wasn't used to this type of attention.

But before Molly knew it, all of them were singing Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs, and eating cake and watching Harry open his presents. Molly and Danny had bought him a joint present; a quilt with Snitches all over it.

His eyes lit up when he saw it, and he grinned at the both of them. Molly grinned back and she and Danny exchanged looks. Molly knew how much Danny loved his father and how much his father loved him, and she knew Danny was feeling especially proud at the moment.

She didn't notice Raven in the corner, isolated and alone, scowling.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Later that day, the Weasleys and the Potters were all in Diagon Alley. Molly and Danny had gone off with Hermione, Ronnie had gone off with Ron and Harry, Raven had gone off with her mother, and Katarina and Charlie were by themselves.

As Katarina went through the shops, buying the few things she needed for school, she noticed that Charlie was lagging behind. She didn't ask him what was wrong; she already knew. He was like this every year.

'Maybe staying home won't be all that bad', Katarina signed to him as they came out of Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor. She knew what she was saying wasn't going to cheer him up at all, because it never did, but she kept at it. 'Maybe you should find a girlfriend.'

Charlie turned and raised his eyebrows. Katarina rolled her eyes; he never was open to that prospect. 'It could do you a lot of good.'

Charlie licked his ice cream cone, as though pondering this, then grinned and shook his head, picking up his previous pace. Katarina decided to drop the matter. If she continued to press, Charlie would close himself off completely and she probably wouldn't be able to speak to him until the next day.

They walked into Flourish and Blotts, and she and Charlie brightened up considerably. Until the manager kicked them out for having ice cream, of course. Charlie began to sign furiously at the man, and he was lucky the manager couldn't read sign language, because Charlie was signing things that Katarina knew he wouldn't sign in front of their mother.

Katarina pulled him out of the shop by his sleeves, which was difficult because he was a head taller and more built than she was, and managed to drop her ice cream cone in the process. So they went back to the ice cream parlor and bought her another one.

They ran into Amos Diggory, Jr. along the way. "Hey," he said to Katarina, kissing her on both cheeks. "How are you? Didn't see you at the party."

"Er...there were lots of people there," Katarina said quickly. She and Amos had once been boyfriend and girlfriend, but when O.W.L. year rolled around, Katarina had broken up with him because she hadn't been able to focus her full attention on her studies. Their relationship had never really had any closure, though Amos didn't seem affected by it. After all, the breakup had occurred two years ago, and now he was dating Eleanor Midgen.

"Oh, I was hoping to catch you. I wanted to talk to you about something important. I guess we can talk about it at school, though."

"All right," said Katarina. "It was nice to see you again."

Amos smiled. "Next summer, keep in touch, why don't you?"

Katarina rolled her eyes playfully. "I will. It's just I was really busy this summer - "

"Studying for N.E.W.T.s?" he asked innocently. Katarina laughed and smacked his arm. "Don't make fun of me!"

"You were? You were honestly studying for N.E.W.Ts?" Amos looked incredulous.

Katarina could feel her cheeks getting warm. "Yes, well - you know my mother..."

"Oh no, don't even blame this on your mum! That's so low." Amos looked as if he was on the last leg of reigning in his laughter.

Katarina rolled her eyes again and told him, "Charlie and I have to get going. We still have lots more shopping to do. You can come along if you'd like."

"Can't. I'm here with Eleanor. She's in Madam Malkin's.

"Right, well, okay then. See you at school."

Amos lifted his hand in farewell and set off down the street. Katarina looked at Charlie, who was looking somewhat confused. She watched in amusement as he turned his gaze from Amos and then shook his head in way of giving up trying to figure out what he had missed.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Round about this same time, Danny and Molly were walking around Diagon Alley with Hermione, who was making sure that they were getting all the right things. Molly insisted that the three of them go into Madam Malkin's first, and both Danny and Hermione had sighed.

Hermione had never been fond of shopping for clothes, because she didn't really care much about her appearance. After the party, she had changed into simple brown robes that were frayed around the edges. Danny was a boy, and an eleven- year- old one at that, so there really wasn't reason for him to appreciate clothes. Molly, however, loved clothes. When she was a little girl, she had changed her outfit three times a day, much to Hermione's disapproval.

But before Molly's best friend or mother could protest, she had already entered the shop. Hermione saw Danny roll his eyes as Molly immediately went to the dress robes. "Molly, we don't need dress robes!" he said.

"That's very true, Molly. We're here for your school robes," Hermione said, watching the interaction between Molly and Danny closely. Molly almost always listened to Danny and vice versa; they had the same type of relationship that Katarina had with Charlie.

Hermione remembered fondly the day she found out she was pregnant with her fourth child (fifth in reality because Joseph had been miscarried). It was the exact same day Ginny had found that she was pregnant as well. It had not been a pleasant experience for Harry and Ron throughout their wives' pregnancies, because both were in danger of having plates and cups hurled at their heads if they didn't do everything their wives wanted.

"Okay," Molly said grumpily, still looking at the dresses with longing. "I really wanted that one," she added, holding out a periwinkle blue robe for them to see.

"I have a set almost exactly like that," Hermione told her, her mind going back to the Yule Ball. But remembering that meant remembering Viktor and that was still a tad painful, even after all this time. She and Ron had never told Katarina exactly how her real father had died, and figured she would find out soon enough.

"I am ready for you now," said Madam Malkin in a dull voice, and both Danny and Molly rushed forward for their measurements to be taken.

After they had their Hogwarts robes, Hermione decided that Ollivanders was the next place to go; Danny immediately brightened. There was the same process of being measured, and then Danny stepped forward as Mr. Ollivander held a wand in front of him.

"Eleven inch, sand wood with a core of unicorn hair." He handed Danny the wand, and Danny accepted it graciously, and waved it once. His eyes widened as the room seemed to darken.

"Er...I think not," said the old, balding wizard, going to retrieve another wand. "Ten inches...dark wood...core of basilisk blood..."

Danny went white and withdrew his hand quickly. "I don't want that one," he said stiffly.

"The wand chooses the wizard. Just give it a wave."

Hermione knew, that because of his parent's troubles with basilisks, he would be less than eager to try the wand. "I'm sure you won't get that wand, Danny. Just try it," she said soothingly.

Danny took it quickly and waved it even more quickly, and as the room had darkened before, it grew bright. The light was a bright yellow, a blinding sun. Hermione and Molly both covered their eyes with their hands, and once the room had dimmed a bit, stared at Danny at shock. He looked as though he might be sick. "But I...no..."

"No need to be shocked, Mr. Potter. Your sister-"

"I don't want to hear about my sister," Danny said swiftly, and he dropped the wand on the floor and walked out of the shop.

"I was just going to tell him that Ms. Potter's wand was thirteen inch, rose wood, with the core of a basilisk fang," said Mr. Ollivander, picking the wand up from the floor. "Ms. Weasley, step forward."

Molly gulped, and stepped bravely toward the white haired wand maker and said, "Mum, I can do this. Go talk to Danny if you want to."

Hermione wasn't surprised; her daughter often knew what she was thinking. Hermione stepped outside to find her nephew slumped against the brick wall, sweating a little, looking very much like Harry, without the scar and the glasses. So much like Harry in fact, that Hermione just stared at him for a moment.

Slowly, he looked up at her, his lips a straight line. "Am I evil?"

"Why on earth would you think that?" Hermione demanded, a little more sharply than she meant.

"The basilisk is a sign of evil. All snakes are," said Danny, looking back down at the pavement.

Hermione sat down next to him. "Danny, you are not evil!" she said firmly, wanting to shake her nephew by the shoulders. He was a foolish little boy, foolish just as Harry and Ginny had been.

Before he could respond, the door to the shop opened, and Molly stepped out. "Mum, you can purchase the wands now," she said, her face also white.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked her.

Molly withdrew a wand from her pocket. "Ten inches, dark wood, core of lion blood," she said tonelessly, as though she had just been slapped and hadn't quite realized it. Her next words were directed at Danny. "Our wands are exact opposites. Enemies." She paused momentarily. "Danny, our wands were made to fight against one another."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

All of them gathered around the entrance to Florean Fortescue's when they were finished shopping. Ronnie was sitting at the table, eating a three scoop bubble gum ice cream, his purchases at his feet as well as a large bag boring the words 'Zonko's'. Ron was sitting across the table from him, sorting through his son's Chocolate Frog collection. Katarina and Charlie arrived after them, and casually sat themselves beside Ronnie. Charlie pulled some Gobstones out of his pocket and they began to play. Raven came walking toward them next, her bags being held by Alana Zabini, who was several paces behind her. Raven pretended as though she didn't see the Weasleys as she walked into the ice cream shop; her way of saying, 'I'm here, come get me when we're ready to leave.' Molly, Danny, and Hermione came back much later than everyone else, Danny and Molly looking rather shaken.

"So, what happened?" asked Ron as his wife, daughter, and nephew approached, not looking up from his chocolate frog cards.

"I-er...I'll tell you later," Hermione said, handing Molly and Danny money to buy sundaes.

Molly and Danny walked inside, not looking at each other, very pale. When Molly came out, she cast an uncertain look at Danny, then plopped herself down between Katarina and Ronnie. Danny looked mildly hurt, and he turned his attention to some of his friends coming out of Flourish and Blotts and ran over to them.

"Something happen between you and Danny?" Katarina asked, then grinned as she successfully beat Charlie at Gobstones. Molly looked at her in surprise, her sister was never normally interested in anything she did or said.

Even so... "It's nothing," she answered quickly, then reached over to Katarina's bag of purchased items and pulled out a set of dark pink robes with a v-neck. "I can't wait until I can go to the Balls," Molly muttered.

"Well," said Katarina, now with her nose in a book, "the only reason we're having one this year is for the Triwizard Tournament. Happens every four years, you know."

"But you had one two years ago!" Molly protested.

"Yes, but that one was canceled because Uncle Harry was unable to judge and they didn't want to do it without him," said Katarina, now sounding somewhat irritated.

Molly felt a little foolish. "Oh," she said. "Must be exciting, being your last year at Hogwarts and all?" she asked.

"I suppose," Katarina said briefly, with a tone that suggested she didn't want to be interrupted. Molly didn't quite hear that.

"Do you like anybody?" she asked bluntly, more than a little interested in the older girl's love life.

Katarina sighed and snapped her book shut, then leaned over the table, peering at her younger sister through her reading glasses. "Molly, I really don't want to talk to...about this...I'd like to read."

Molly slumped indignantly in her chair and crossed her arms. "Fine," she said stiffly, then she turned to Ronnie. "Well, who do you like?" she demanded.

"Come off it!" said Ronnie. "Honestly, what is with you?"

Molly rolled her eyes, but the second she closed them, she felt something hit her face. She opened them to see a rubber chicken in her lap and her brother surveying her with an annoyed expression. "That shut you up for a while?" he said grumpily. She responded by throwing it back at him; it hit him squarely in the face.

"Why did you buy all that joke shop stuff anyway?" said Molly contemptuously.

"What do you care?"

"I don't. I just thought you'd give it a rest after what happened with Raven."

"How do you know what she did?" he demanded sharply.

Molly grinned. "You prat, we all saw! It's sort of hard to miss, you know, bees swarming all around you..."

She cut off and looked to the front of Ollivanders, where Danny was waving good bye to some of his friends. His eyes locked with Molly's briefly and she felt herself wondering why she had been so stupid. Danny was not evil; he was her best friend. She opened her mouth to speak but he looked away and strolled down the street by himself, sucking on a Sugar Stick and kicking rocks along the way.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"What day is it?"

The dementor simply glided past the Azkaban cell, making her shiver. Her head banged against the wall as her whole body began to shake, and she cried out, trying to reconnect with her mind and block out all the horrific memories that the dementor was making her relive - so many memories...

Her beloved throwing her against the wall, so that she lay immobile against the wall, staring up at him in shock..."You will not tell anybody! If so much as a single word comes out of your mouth, I'll kill you. You can be sure of that!

Peeves...her classmates from Hogwarts...teasing her constantly...

An explosion. A small, blonde girl, looking on with a blank face - then agony - "MUM!"

Her mother... "The potion went rather badly for her, one day." Her father, cradling her mother's body... "Turn away! Don't look! Please, look away!"

The trial..."Mrs. Nott, please - explain to the court what really happened the night your husband was found twitching on the ground of your home, the effects of the Cruciatus Curse lingering upon his body?"

"SOMETHING HAPPY!" she screamed maniacally, squeezing her eyes tighter, and remembering...searching...once again, the memory that she held onto, was the same one...her first kiss -

The dementor was gone. The woman breathed heavily, clutching her chest. She opened her eyes slowly and then lay on the floor, pressing her pale cheek to the dirty, but cool floor of the cell.

"It's no use, kid," said a dull voice. She looked across her cell to the cell of one of the people she loathed most. The woman had limp black hair and dark circles under her eyes. "Face it, we're in here forever. We've both committed horrible crimes." She laughed wickedly, and it was obvious she was not the least bit sorry for those horrible crimes.

She would have glared at her, had she the strength. "I - you tortured the Longbottoms," she said hoarsely, her voice cracking. She brought the material of her ugly, torn, cream colored robes to her eyes to wipe away any remaining tears that she had from the dementor.

Bellatrix Lestrange smiled at her, yellow teeth bared. "And you tortured your husband, Nott. Don't even deny it."

Nott looked down at the floor, avoiding the former Death Eater's laughing eyes. "That's different," she protested.

"No, it's not. Torture is torture. You and I, we're no different, really."

"Yes we are!" croaked Nott, as Bellatrix began to laugh.

"If that's what you believe," she said in a singsong voice. Next moment, she had faced away from Nott, and had curled up her body on the floor to rest.

I have to get out of here, Nott thought to herself, as she heard loud screams from another cell. She didn't want to know who the dementors were tormenting now. All she wanted was to leave. She had become an Animagus some years after graduating from Hogwarts, but she never knew whether her form would be of service to her now. People would notice she was gone, certainly - they'd come searching for her. Where would she go anyway?

Sighing, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

When she woke up, the answer hit her like a Bludger.

She waited hours until the dementors were on the other side of the prison. The sound of Bellatrix's snores reassured her. Nott began to bite her lip nervously as she shut her eyes, trying to concentrate. She hadn't transformed in a very long time. She was quite sure she would change only halfway, because she was so drained of energy.

Slowly, she felt her body begin to change. She kept her eyes firmly closed and imagined her Animagus form. She felt herself shrinking, her eyes shortening, her arms and legs disappearing.

And then, she was a butterfly.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Neville Longbottom studied the plant in front of him with a puzzled expression on his face. He poked the plant, but it did nothing but pull its leaves away and giggle. Neville looked down at the book in front of him and flipped to the index.

"Oh, bugger," he said, his cheeks flushing in the bright light of the greenhouse. No wonder he wasn't able to collect the pus from the plant - he had the wrong one! He sighed, straightening up and removing his goggles. He carried the plant over to a shelf in the corner of the greenhouse and set it there.

Neville had become a successful Herbologist after graduating Hogwarts. He had been working with plants almost the moment after stepping off Platform 9 3/4, except for a brief period of training as an Auror. During that period, he was in the "crowd", a group of people assembled by Harry Potter to fight and investigate whenever called upon. So far, there had only been a few incidents when Neville had been needed.

The first, had been when his friend Hermione's house had been attacked by Death Eaters. It had been a particularly stressful time for him, testing his emotional well-being. The second incident had been much more strenuous on his emotions, as it had involved putting one of his very best friends behind the bars of Azkaban.

Neville pushed those thoughts far from his mind, as he tried to never dwell upon those painful memories, and took off what he called his Herbology robe. It was ugly and tattered and always covered in soil or plant liquid, but he had had it for ten years now. His wife, Padma, had bought it for him.

"Daddy!" squeaked a voice. Neville barely had a chance to look down when his five year old son, Hugh, had ran into his arms.

"What is it?" said Neville brightly, picking Hugh up and closing the door of the greenhouse. He stepped into the kitchen and his eyes widened. "What a mess," he said, looking at Hugh knowingly.

"I didn't do it," Hugh said quickly, blushing, and Neville knew instinctively that his son had indeed, been the one to spill milk all over the floor and spaghetti over the walls.

"Did your brother and sisters leave you in here alone, Hugh?"

Hugh nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you know where they are?"

"Outside! Outside!" Hugh said, very loudly.

"Why don't you go on outside with them, while I clean up this great big mess?" said Neville, setting his son down on the floor. He opened the sliding glass door just opposite of the kitchen table, and yelled out to his other kids that Hugh was joining them. "Keep an eye on him!"

"Okay, dad!"

Sighing, Neville closed the door and removed his wand from behind his ear. It took him approximately two minutes to clean the kitchen free of milk and spaghetti. He smiled, satisfied at his work.

"Neville," said a voice.

He froze.

He knew that voice like he knew anything, but it was impossible. She couldn't be here now, could she? He had put her behind bars three years ago for torturing her husband into insanity. She had been the second case he had ever worked on as an Auror.

Slowly, he turned around. "How did you get in here?" he demanded. "How did you escape?"

"You know I was innocent," she said quietly.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked at her. She was much smaller than he remembered. Her once creamy skin was now pale and the blue-grey eyes that had once been wide, lively, and protuberant were blank and hollow. Her blonde hair was tangled and clumped together in dirty masses. She had dirt all over her body as well as cuts and dry blood.

"But," she continued, "you betrayed me anyway. I saved your life once, Neville. You're in my debt."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to hide me."

"But I - "

She gave him a sad stare. Neville opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't. She looked so helpless, standing there in front of him. She wasn't lively anymore. She seemed merely to exist.

"What else?" he asked, defeated.

"Say my name."

"What?"

"Say it. I haven't heard anyone say it in so long."

"L-Luna Nott."

She chuckled very softly and raised her head to meet his eyes. Neville swallowed. "That's not my name. Say my name."

The words came out as if he had been wanting to say them for a long time.

"Luna Lovegood."

They stood there for a moment, before Neville sprang into action. "You can stay in the cellar," he said. "It's just below here." Neville went to the corner that Luna had been hiding in and bent down to pick up the floorboard. Luna knelt down beside him, and he saw her take in how spacious the cellar was. "There's sleeping bags and some food down there, but you'll have to use the toilet and bath only when no one's home."

Luna gazed at him thoughtfully. "You won't tell your wife I'm here," she said, but it was a question, a curious question.

"She...er...wouldn't like that," he whispered.

"No," Luna said softly. "I-I expect she wouldn't."

"Dad!" yelled a voice suddenly, and Neville started.

"That's my son, Hugh," he said hurriedly.

"I know his name."

"I'd better...er...go," he said, leaving Luna to climb down the steps to the cellar on her own. He watched her slim form disappear, and then swallowed hard as he opened the sliding glass door to play with his children.

He had an eerie feeling that everything in his life would be turned upside down now. And he was absolutely right.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The rest of the summer flew by way too quickly for anyone's tastes.

"Where does the time go?" mused Harry absently, staring around the backyard of Ron's and Hermione's home. He was sitting on the porch steps, with Ginny sitting just below him. His fingers played with her hair as he said the question to no one in particular.

"I'd like to know the answer to that question as well," Hermione said, smiling, as she handed Ginny a glass of lemonade. She then sat down next to Ron on the porch swing and sighed. He squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" said Ron softly, feeling suddenly like an old man. He wasn't the only one feeling old; the other three were acknowledging it as well. Their children were all in the backyard, being watched by the parents.

"It feels like they were born yesterday," Ginny stated, and Harry nodded in agreement.

Charlie was the eldest, and they could all clearly remember the day he had been born. It had been a bit of a surprise that he had turned out to be deaf, by a curse that had been placed on Hermione by Draco Malfoy. What was once just a tiny little baby was now a grown man of nineteen, nearly as tall as Ron. He was holding a drawing pad in his hands, sketching a picture of Katarina.

Katarina had always been the laid-back child. She always seemed relaxed, normally reading a book. She had always been a cute little girl, but now she was turning into a woman. Laughing at something Charlie had signed to her, she gave Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione a tiny wave.

"What are they doing?" said Ginny, laughing, and the four of them turned their gaze to Danny and Molly.

Molly was in the process of chasing gnomes around the backyard, her yellow sundress billowing all around her. Danny was right behind her. On closer inspection, it appeared that he was actually chasing after her with a slug. There were a lot of things that Molly could stand, but slugs were not one of those things. Squealing as she ran, she said, "I'm going to pay you back, Daniel James Potter!"

Suddenly she stopped running. Danny kept going and stopped just before colliding into her - Molly gave him one huge push and he fell to the ground. He groaned as he hit the ground. Grinning, she practically jumped on him, pinning him down so he couldn't escape. "Payback in motion! Now beg to be released!" she yelled triumphantly.

"You wish," Danny grinned, pushing upward. Molly screamed as she fell backward, but hung on to the front of his robes. The adults burst into laughter as the two started rolling around in the grass, determined to pin the other.

After a couple of seconds, however, they both sprang apart and simultaneously reached for their wands. They both scrambled to stand, laughing and panting. Next moment, they were like odd statues - Danny's wand was pointed directly at Molly's heart and vice versa.

Her friends looked on with interest as to what would happen next, but Hermione watched with concern. She hadn't told anyone what Molly had said about the wands that day in Diagon Alley. And while she was sure it was only a coincidence, she still bit her fingernails nervously.

Danny and Molly weren't laughing now. It was as if something had overcome them, because they looked at the other fiercely and kept the wands absolutely still. Neither looked like they wanted to lower their wand.

Hermione exchanged a look with Ron - her husband was confused - and stood up. "I'll settle this," she said confidently to the other three, as she walked off the porch. She approached Danny and Molly, who were silent and staring each other directly in the eye.

"Mahra," she said firmly. "Daniel. What's going on here?"

They were silent.

Hermione gave the two of them her best glare. "Hand your wands over to me, if you please."

"No, it's mine," said Danny.

"Mahra - "

"It's not your wand, mother," she snapped.

Hermione swiftly snatched the wands from both her daughter and nephew with ease. They looked at her, confused. "I'll keep these until you go to Hogwarts, shall I?" Hermione said.

"Go ahead," they replied together. With that, they stormed off in opposite directions.