For the first time, Ana is actually looking forward to her summer break. From her newfound interest in her mother's tea circle to the promise of OWL workbooks from Eric, there's a lot to anticipate.

Of course, there are also visits to the Macmillan mansion, as Ana's mother and Alasdair's mother have become quite good friends since their meeting the year before. These wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for two factors: football and Alec, Alasdair's older brother.

Alec is a twenty-two year old curse-breaker who's still on his trial period so he hasn't yet been shipped off to the far corners of the world - and far away from Ana and Alasdair. Instead, he's living at home for six months while working at St. Mungo's to try and cure people afflicted with curses, while afflicting himself on his brother, and by extension Ana.

Alec is, so far as Ana can tell, a self-important, arrogant man-child with far too high an opinion of his own importance. He spends his time bragging about his work and dropping non-subtle hints that he could easily tutor Ana in her schoolwork, as if she'd need any tutoring. He also is constantly condescending his younger brother, which neither Alasdair nor Ana appreciates very much.

The worst part is that the elder Macmillan has her parents completely charmed.

Alec spends the time he's not bugging his little brother and Ana up to the adults, and they fall for it hook, line, and sinker. Ana is rather disgusted by her parent's apparently inability to notice Alec's manipulative nonsense but she holds her tongue on the subject.

He wouldn't be so bad if she could just grab Alasdair and vanish up to his room where they could talk about books and schoolwork. But Alasdair is different away from Hogwarts as well. Namely because he starts playing football again.

Alasdair can talk non-stop about the Muggle sport if Ana allows him to do so, and most of the time she doesn't have the energy to change the topic once it's started. She personally doesn't find football to be particularly interesting but listening to Alasdair explain the rules and his latest game is the lesser of two evils when the other option is being downstairs and around Alec and her smitten parents.

Thankfully she's not always at the Macmillan household, and double thankfully Eric sends her his OWL workbooks within two days of her arriving back home. Between looking through that and doing her own summer homework, Ana has plenty of time to herself to do what she's actually interested in.

She's in her room, studying Transfiguration, when her mother's friends arrive for their weekly meetings. Ana gives them twenty minutes to settle and catch up on inane gossip before she closes her book and glides down the stairs, the train of her dress rustling behind her.

"Oh, don't you look lovely!" Mareum Macmillan notices her first, and it's unsurprising when Ana realizes the dress she'd put on that morning is the one that she'd received from the Macmillan matriarch for Christmas. "I'm so glad it fits!"

Ana smiles politely at Alasdair's mother. Mareum is a new addition to the tea circle, and she seems to be fitting in rather well, even if she is one of Ana's least favorites of her mother's friends.

Emelda Flint smiles as well. "It truly does suit you. You should take it with you to school this year, you'll surely catch some young man's eye with that!"

Ana frowns. "I'd rather focus on my studies. I've seen some of the older students in relationships and they seem to only be good for distraction." She replies demurely, settling into the seat by her mother that the women had left open for her. "I'm hoping to ask Professor McGonagall to train me as an Animagus this year, so my grades will have to be maintained to convince her to agree."

One of the other women gasps. "An animagus! Goodness Winona, your daughter has quite a lot of ambition!"

Ana beams at the praise. "Well, I'm not sure what I wish to do in the future, so I'm making sure I'm capable of doing everything." She explains mildly.

The women spend the next several minutes discussing possible future jobs that would suit Ana, and Ana files all the suggestions away in her mind for consideration. Most sound rather bland if she's being honest, but she knows she has plenty of time to sort through the list and par it down to just the most interesting options.

"Oh! Ana love, you're starting third year aren't you? Which electives are you taking?" Emelda Flint suddenly asks.

Ana is only too happy to answer. She'd spent a long time debating which classes to add to her schedule, and she's rather pleased with her ultimate decisions.

"Well, naturally I'm taking Divination. I've always had a knack for mind magic and it's always useful to have an idea of what may be looming in the future." Ana states with a smile. Several of the women nod as well, including her mother. Winona had recommended Divination over the winter break.

"And I'm also taking both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I think they're both widely applicable disciplines, and I can study Care of Magical Creatures and Muggles Studies on my own time easily enough. Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are a bit more difficult to teach oneself I'd think."

The women who had taken the same electives were quick to offer study tips and notes on the teachers.

"I'm rather certain that Professor Vector is still in charge of Arithmancy." One of the younger women notes. "She's a very harsh grader, but she's excellent at arranging for private review sessions if you're having any trouble with the material."

Ana doesn't say that she doesn't intend to have trouble with the material, instead thanking the woman for her suggestion.

Eventually the women begin leaving, and Ana is ready to head back up the stairs to go over parts of Eric's workbooks when Emelda Flint waves her over.

"My son is starting at Hogwarts this year." She says quietly. "And I must admit I'm a little worried. Marcus has always had a difficult time with schoolwork, so I was wondering if I could ask you to tutor him? You're so diligent and bright, and I can pay you for your time if needed."

Ana doesn't know how to respond at first. Tutor a first year? She can barely stand her own classmates, nonetheless some kid who apparently is naturally awful at anything intellectual.

Conversely, Mrs. Flint is offering to pay.

"I suppose I could work with him on weekends, and I'm not sure how much I would be able to do during exam periods as I do have my own studies to attend to, but I'll see what I can do."

Mrs. Flint seems content with her decision. "Thank you so much dear, just keep a log of the number of hours you work with him and I'll compensate you when we see each other. I don't like sending money through the post."

Ana nods. "Completely understandable. I'll see you next week Mrs. Flint."

Winona stops Ana from vanishing up into her room again once all the guests have left. "What did Emelda want to speak with you about?" She question, gesturing for Ana to reclaim the seat next to her own.

Ana sighs but does sit back down. Her homework isn't going anywhere after all, and worst comes to worst she can always take her essays with her to the Macmillan household during their next visit and work with Alasdair.

"She asked if I could tutor her son this year." She replies blandly. "I said I would but not during exams."

"She's paying I hope." Winona says immediately, and Ana nods.

"Of course, I wouldn't have accepted otherwise."

Winona smiles proudly. "Well if this goes well you could make a bit of a business out of it! Imagine, having some savings if you decide to pursue further education after Hogwarts."

Ana nods thoughtfully. "Or simply spending money for Hogsmeade." She adds, and Winona suddenly starts.

"Oh that's right! I have your signed permission form for that, let me get it so you can put it in your trunk."

Ana waits patiently for her mother to retrieve the parchment, and she uses the slip to excuse herself from the room back up the stairs so she can reconvene with her workbooks.

After carefully placing the permission slip in her trunk - she does want to be allowed to visit Hogsmeade after all - she scans the workbooks on her bookshelf until she finds one on Defense Against the Dark Arts. With Professor McCormack having declared he was re-retiring at the end of the year due to his feeling rather ill they're slated to get a new teacher with a new curriculum. Again.

Ana has officially decided that she'll be teaching herself Defense Against the Dark Arts to ensure that she'll be adequately prepared for her OWL exams in three years. With the actual professors being rotated out every year, they certainly haven't been getting a consistent education in the field.

She studies until dinner, practicing her wand movements with a finger extended and carefully enunciating each syllable of the incantations.

"How is your homework going Ana? You've been up in your room every time I've been home." Her father greets her with a smile, and she happily sits next to him as Winona puts the food on the table.

"It's going quite well. I've finished my history essay and am nearly done with my Transfiguration and Charms assignments as well. I also plan to do my star chart this weekend, I've heard it's supposed to be clear."

Her father nods approvingly as he digs into his dinner. "That's excellent. It's always good to finish the work when everything is still fresh."

"Well Ana is absolutely brilliant." Winona preens as she finally joins them at the table. "Today Emelda Flint offered to pay her to tutor Marcus! You remember Marcus dear, don't you? He was only five when we last saw him."

Her father chuckles. "I don't think I could forget that boy if I tried. They're sending him to Hogwarts?"

Winona glares at him. "If you've quite forgotten, I work closely with hag colonies - being part troll isn't something to mock anyone for." But Ana can tell her mother's defense comes more from embarrassment at being friends with someone who married a half-troll than actually believing what she's saying.

"If he's part troll it would explain his trouble with schoolwork." Ana notes mildly. "This meal is lovely mother, perhaps you could show me how you made it sometime?"

With that the conversation is effectively relaxed again, and the rest of dinner goes quite smoothly.

Ana continues to while away her summer with schoolwork and social gatherings, and on one occasion accompanies her father to Gringotts for his work as a security wizard.

She's quite excited about it at first, until she realizes that she won't be able to follow her father into the deeper recesses of the bank during his rounds and she ends up perched in one of the offices, going over flyers explaining the many available jobs for humans at the bank.

One flyer in particular stands out to her, and she's carefully reading through it when another person strides into the office.

"Hey, Mr. Di- Oh, hullo Ana! Didn't expect to see you here." Alec Macmillan is the absolute last person Ana expects or wants to see at just this moment, and she frowns at him, putting the flyer down quickly. But not fast enough to stop Alec from noticing it.

He grins. "Thinking about being a cursebreaker? It's tough work you know, not for the faint of heart or dull of wits. I got ten OWLs and eight NEWTs to get where I am." He puffs up slightly as he brags, and Ana narrows her eyes.

"Well I fully intend to get twelve of each so I don't see what's so impressive about that." She replies primly, but with an edge of irritation that her mother always uses when dealing with a particularly dim person. "So far as I can tell all you need to be a cursebreaker is a big mouth and an inflated ego."

Alec barks out a laugh. "That's harsh little miss, I'm just teasing. Go on, if you really want to cursebreak it's quite a thrill, and I'd be happy to show you the ropes when the time comes around."

Ana sniffs pointedly. "I'd rather have a troll show me the ropes, I feel he'd be better company. And I do not appreciate being called little miss."

Alec laughs again. "Bloody hell Alas sure can pick them. What's my brother see in you anyway?"

Ana doesn't deign to respond, instead randomly grabbing another pamphlet and pretending to be engrossed in it.

She sees Alec rolls his eyes but continues to ignore him, hoping he'll leave. To her dismay, he puts down the parchment he'd been carrying and settles himself in the chair right across from hers.

"I can't go until I get my papers signed, so you'll just have to deal with me." He informs her, leaning back in the chair and grinning like he knows she's watching. She's certain he doesn't though, she's very good at hiding what she's looking at.

They sit in a tense silence for what feels like ages before Alexander returns to save his daughter from the company of the elder Macmillan child.

Her father doesn't immediately get her out of the situation though. "Alec! How nice to run into you here, what brings you into the bank?"

Ana sits stiffly in her chair as the two chat for what is in her opinion entirely too long for a simple catch up, but finally the Vulchanova's leave for lunch.

"Funny running into him there, Alec usually gets his papers signed after work hours are finished." Alexander muses. "Still, it's always nice to see him!"

Ana doesn't reply, knowing that voicing her irritation with Alec will only lead to a discussion she doesn't feel like having. "Where are we going to have lunch then?" She asks instead, and thankfully the topic of her least favorite pureblood is dropped.

The rest of the day is much better, with Ana able to actually walk around with her father and see what he does, and that evening she enthusiastically goes over the pamphlets she'd brought home with her and discusses possible job opportunities with her parents.

That night she sits outside on their porch and studies the stars overhead, taking careful note of their positions and sketching them onto a star chart. When she's finished, she stays out a bit longer, enjoying the warm summer air and watching as shooting stars dance overhead.

She finally goes inside around one in the morning, sleepy and already looking forward to the start of her third year. Summer is rather boring.

For Myr, going home for the summer means a lot of things. Seeing old friends, doubling down on his studies to catch up with everything he'd missed in normal middle school, and of course getting to spend time with his family.

His mother picks him and Owen up from the train station and naturally she questions him about school and his friends and whether he wants to invite anyone over during the summer months. He hadn't considered it, but he does say he might ask Holly over later on if she's available. The young wand enthusiast had gotten on well with Cadi during New Years, and he gets a feeling he'll appreciate talking about something other than school and Quidditch considering they'll likely be the primary topics in the dorm room come third year.

"Oh, and you'll be meeting Dylan this Friday, he's coming by for lunch." Aster sounds slightly strained, but her smile suggests that Myr shouldn't question it.

So he doesn't. Instead, he remembers what Holly had told him about first relationships, and shares the wisdom with his mother. "You know, people always get a bit weird the first time they're in a serious relationship. She'll be back to normal soon."

Aster laughs. "That is quite true. Since when did you become such a love expert?" Her tone is teasing and Myr goes red despite there really being no reason to.

"Mom!"

Aster helps him unpack his trunk when they arrive home, but she has to hurry to the curio shop shortly afterwards, leaving Myr and Owen alone in the house.

"Well boy, do you even remember this place?" Myr wonders as he waves around a cat toy for his kitten to pounce on. Owen misses spectacularly when he pounces and ends up on his back by the fireplace. Myr blinks as he realizes that his 'kitten' is now longer from nose to tail tip than the opening in the fireplace. "Holy heck you got big. How did I miss that?" He sits up and laughs. "I guess you are almost two years old. You're nearly an adult buddy."

Owen swats mournfully at the toy that's no longer moving in response. Myr laughs and shakes it a bit and Owen is immediately up and playing again.

"I suppose being physically grown up doesn't mean you're any less of a kid, huh?" He watches Owen lose track of the toy and begin chasing his own tail and he grins. "I guess I should let you roam around the castle next year though, I think the other guys are getting annoyed at you always being around the dorms." He still doesn't like the idea, but Drake's cat Kallie absolutely hate Owen, and as a result Drake barely sees her during the school year.

"You could go visit Cerid in the Hufflepuff common room." He suggests despite knowing Owen can't understand a word he's saying, and even if he could he's entirely too focused on detaching the toy from its string to be listening. "You remember Cerid, she's Aidan's cat. He brought her over to visit a few times last year."

The white puffball had gotten on brilliantly with Owen, and she'd taken to popping into the common room on her own from time to time as well, regardless of whether her owner was around to accompany her. Of course, she likely enjoyed the attention she got from the girls as well as getting to play with Owen.

Myr sighs and puts down the toy. "I think I'm going to go visit mom and Uncle Cyril at the shop. It's rather boring here, no offense." He scratches under Owen's chin, causing the cat to start purring heavily, and then stands up and pulls on his shoes.

The walk to the curio shop is one he's made what must have been thousands of times in his life, and he takes his time, enjoying the bustle of Cardiff around him in a way he hasn't gotten to since starting at Hogwarts. He's nearly at the shop when he suddenly stops.

Today, he abruptly decides, is going to be a magic-free day. And his uncle is far from magic-free.

And so Myr turns down the street just before his uncle's shop and instead takes to wandering the streets of Cardiff. He has some emergency cash in his pocket so he isn't worried about getting home - he can take public transport if he goes too far.

A couple of kids race past him, shrieking excitedly as their father desperately calls for them to slow down, despite his clear amusement at their antics.

Myr feels a faint stab of regret at the sight, remembering his own father who has never been around. Sure, he knows now that it's because Aeron Cadwallader had died during the last big war in the wizarding world, but for most of his life he'd believed the man had run off with another woman, abandoning him and Cadi and their mother. He still can't quite reconcile the newfound truth with the anger he's held towards the man for so long.

He also can't quite wrap his head around the fact he'll never actually get to meet Aeron. Some part of him had always thought he'd find his father when he was older and had made something of himself. That he would shout at him and demand answers. But instead the man is simply gone. Myr will never get to meet him.

He sits down heavily on a bench facing out to sea. He'd managed to make his way down to the docks on autopilot, and he stares out over the mass of workers to the calm sea beyond them.

Myr isn't sure how long he sits there, but the sun has dropped down to brush against the horizon when he finally gets up and begins meandering back down the sidewalk towards home. He stops off at a small local grocers to pick up some dragon shortbread to serve as an offering to his undoubtedly worried mother. He probably should have left a note telling her where he was going.

Though to be fair, he hadn't been sure of that himself.

Thankfully Aster lets him off with just a stern talking to, and he's still allowed to enjoy the dragon shortbread for dessert that night so clearly his mother hadn't been too upset by his wandering off.

Cadi is present for dinner as well, and Myr is happy that things aren't awkward with his sister despite their stilted communication during the school year. Holly had likely been right and she had just been caught up in the apparently very intense feelings of a new relationship.

A relationship he gets to finally observe first hand a few days later - and he understands why he mother sounded strained when talking about Dylan Driscoll.

Dylan is an attractive person, but honestly Myr doesn't get what exactly it is his sister sees in the other teen. He's a year older than Cadi at seventeen and he's about to graduate high school, but unlike Cadi he has absolutely no idea what he's going to do.

"I figure I'll take a year off." He tells Myr when the young wizard asks about his future plans. Myr can tell his mother has already grilled Dylan on this particular topic, but if someone is going to date Myr's sister he wants to make sure they're at least somewhat worthy of her.

And Dylan very firmly lands in Myr's opinion of 'not worthy'. But Cadi does seem happy at least, if rather different. She doesn't talk as openly about the political situation of the country as she normally does during dinner, and she's a lot less sure of herself than even the night before.

He wants to ask her about it, but she announces that she and Dylan are going out for dessert and she'll be home rather late.

Aster frowns at the declaration, but nods on the condition that 'rather late' not be past eleven o'clock.

"You let that girl get away with too much. And him! Cadi deserves much better." Uncle Cyril has clearly been biting his tongue throughout the dinner - Myr had been surprised to learn that he always ate with them now - and as soon as Cadi and Dylan were gone he released everything he'd been holding in.

Aster sighs. "I don't disagree Cyril, but we can't make that decision for her. She's smart, she'll figure it out herself. If we interfere, we could push her towards him even more."

Cyril frowns but sits back. "Fine, I won't jinx him. But if I find out they've been doing anything funny-"

Aster quickly cuts him off with a glance at Myr. "Then you'll leave well enough alone. She's nearly grown Cy, and at that age they'll do anything you discourage them to do. I know for a fact you and Aeron got up to plenty more trouble than Cadi is when you were her age."

Cyril reluctantly cracks a smile. "Alright fine. I'll only step in if she's in danger, alright?"

Aster nods, and the topic is dropped. Myr wishes he'd gotten to say something - he doesn't much like Dylan either.

He gets his chance that night, when Cadi sneaks into his room after she's returned and they've both pretended to fall asleep so their mother won't worry about them getting enough rest.

"Hey, what did you think of Dylan? I can tell mom doesn't like him very much, but I swear he's really amazing. He shows me things I never even thought about before. Really expanding my horizons. I don't want to disappoint her but she just doesn't get it."

Myr had been ready to tell his sister exactly what he thought of her new boyfriend, but the absolute wistfulness with which she talks about him, and the keenness in her eyes as she asks his opinion causes him to hesitate.

"I mean... I think you could show him a lot of stuff too." He finally says. "At dinner you were pretty quiet and I think that's what's making mom worried."

Cadi frowns. "I guess." She mumbles. "Well, goodnight Myr."

Myr doesn't think the conversation went very well as she leaves, and the pit in his stomach confirms it.

He doesn't see much of his sister after that. She's spending nearly every day with Dylan, so he decides to spend more time with his own friends.

He hasn't really seen much of Garreth, Delwyn, and Evan since starting at Hogwarts aside from the occasional football match during the summers, so he doesn't fault them when they seem surprised to see him.

"Hey guys, mind if I join you?"

Delwyn recovers first, grinning that familiar mischievous grin. "Sure thing prep boy. Think fast!"

Myr thanks Laurel and her intense training program that he's able to easily intercept the ball kicked his way and pass it straight back to Delywn, who stops it with his foot and looks surprised.

"Hey, you've gotten better! You play at that fancy school of yours?"

"Not exactly. I'm just a bench warmer for now but our Captain trains us well. Even the reserve players are field material."

His friends are suitably impressed, and he easily joins in on their game after that.

It's nice to be back with the three of them, but he's surprised to realize that each of them reminds him of one of his friends at Hogwarts. Apparently he'd been unintentionally befriending people who reminded him of home.

They talk about school as they pass the ball around, and Myr is careful to keep his stories focused on training with the team and everything his dorm mates get up to. His friend either don't comment on his avoidance of talking about his teachers and schoolwork, or more likely they simply don't notice. Either way, Myr enjoys his time with them. For a while, he actually feels normal again.

Then his mother reminds him in July that he can invite over a friend if he wants to, and he finds himself torn. Yes it would be nice to see Holly or Charlie, the only two he'd really consider inviting (well, he'd ask Fiona but she'd already told him she was traveling during the summer), but at the same time he rather likes that he only has to think about Hogwarts and magic in the evenings when he's working on his summer homework, and he's nearly finished with that.

He missed being a Muggle.

He doesn't voice any of this to his mother of course, instead says he'll think about it and see if they're available.

He sits in his room that night with a quill in one hand and a blank parchment on the desk. He's more acutely aware of his writing tool of choice than he normally would be - he's not sure he even has any pens or pencils in his room anymore. He's not sure how he feels about that.

He buys a pack of pencils from one of the general stores near his home the next day and more determinedly loses himself in his time spent with his old Muggle friends. Summer vacation is supposed to be fun, not induce an existential crisis. He decides the same day that he's not going to invite anyone over.

When his mother looks concerned by the decision he assures her it's because he wants to focus on spending time with the family, and that he sees plenty of his friends during the year. Aster accepts the explanation and promptly invites him to work part time at the curio shop so that he can, in fact, see more of her.

He thinks it might have been an attempt to get him to admit to the swirling mess his emotions have dissolved into recently, but he's actually pretty happy to accept the offer. He loves the curio shop after all, and getting paid to work there could give him some spending money for Hogsmeade.

He says as much to his mother, who shakes her head but promises she'll ask his Uncle Cyril if they have enough demand to take on a part-time worker.

As it turns out, Cyril had already been considering taking on a new employee for the busy summer months, and Myr is quick to apply.

The interview is informal and almost treated as a joke by his uncle, much to Myr's chagrin. He'd been hoping to get some actual experience, but after only a couple of general questions that Cyril already knows the answer to Myr is given the job and told to get to work.

Having already basically grown up in the shop, Myr doesn't need to be taught how things work, and he finds it's easy to fall into the pattern of store life.

At the end of most days, he's too exhausted to worry about how little he's seeing of his sister, or wonder which writing utensil he's picked up to write his Charms essay with.

But a small voice at the back of his head continues to worry about how he'll manage it all when the summer is over.

Being back in Germany is always a great feeling for Franziska. The weather is stable, the telly shows football games at all hours of the day, and Rosalinde is always at the front door bright and early, ready with a football tucked under her arm and an adventure planned out in her head.

"Don't forget to get home by four this afternoon!" Her mother reminds her on a sticky August morning as Franziska rushes through her breakfast so she can meet Rosalinde for their planned outing to the park across the Rhine.

Franziska swallows her last bite of sausage, and nods. "I know mom, don't worry. Can I bring Rosa as well? She likes dad as well." She looks pleadingly at Pannidda, who laughs and nods.

"Of course, just be sure to inform her mother of where she'll be."

"Thanks mom! See you later!" Franziska quickly grabs her sketchbook from where she'd dropped it at the bottom of the stairs the night before.

Rosalinde is already outside when Franziska gets to her house, and the other girl waves enthusiastically.

Franziska waves back and jogs the rest of the way to where her friend is waiting. "Hey, so I have to be back by four. Mom and I are making my dad a special dinner for his birthday! Did you want to come along?"

Rosalinde looks surprised. "It's his birthday? Cool! Um, I'd have to ask my parents, but if they're cool with it then yeah, sounds like fun! Maybe don't let me near any knives while we're cooking though." She grins as the two of them begin strolling down the street towards their destination of the day.

Franziska giggles. "Duly noted."

They continue chatting easily as they traverse the familiar route across the city to their favorite park. However, things don't go as they usually do.

A car slows down as it passes them just as they reach the park and the window closest to them rolls down.

The guy behind the wheel catcalls loudly, and both girls look at each other and then break into a run, racing into the park as quickly as they can to get away from the stranger.

Once they reach their favorite spot by the water, the finally stop running, share another glance, and then burst into laughter.

"Well that happened." Rosalinde gasps once she's somewhat recovered from their combined sprint and giggle fit. "Look at us, catching attention with our fabulous looks."

Franziska can only continue to giggle helplessly. "That guy had to be at least 20, what was he doing catcalling a couple of thirteen year olds?" She questions breathlessly.

Rosalinde flips her hair over her shoulder dramatically. "I'll have you know, I look almost fourteen." She declares with all the pomp of a Shakespearean actor, and both girls dissolve into laughter again.

Eventually they recover enough to actually get on with the day's plan of lazing in the summer sun and sketching whatever interesting thing crosses their paths. By three thirty Franziska has about twenty sketches of ducks and three of random joggers, as well as several of the flower decorating the ground along the edge of the river.

Rosalinde has filled her sketchbook's pages with images of the clouds and several more pedestrians than Franziska had taken note of.

The two girls compare and comment on each other's work as they pack up and start heading back to Franziska's house.

Rosalinde is halfway through a critique of Franziska's most dynamic jogger drawing when she interrupts herself.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure this guy has been walking behind us for three blocks now. We might need to pick up the pace a bit." She says it very casually, but Franziska can tell she's a bit creeped out.

Franziska is a little embarrassed she hadn't noticed their apparent stalker, but she speeds up perfectly in time with Rosalinde. It's not the first time one of them has noticed a suspicious presence during their roaming around the city, but it's happened a lot more this summer than in the past, and a lot more of their suspicions are proving to be correct.

"Yeah, he's definitely following us." Rosalinde concludes after a minute. "Next yellow light we find, we sprint across and hope he's either run over or smart enough not to cross on a red."

Unfortunately, it's not until they're across the bridge that they find an opportunity to execute the plan - and just in time as the man had been getting steadily closer as they walked.

"Well that was creepy. They don't normally follow that persistently." Rosalinde shudders as they hurry away from the crossing so they can get lost in the crowd and ditch their tail.

Franziska doesn't respond, but she feels the same. "Maybe we should tell my mom. Since it's happening more I mean. She might know what to do?"

Rosalinde doesn't look happy with the idea. "Maybe. But what if she tells us to stop going out? Or makes us go with someone else?" She points out. "Let's just wait a bit. Oh hey, hang on, let me tell my mom I'm having dinner at yours."

Franziska nods as Rosalinde runs into her house. The conversation is still weighing heavy on her mind when her friend returns, but she decides to keep shut for the time being. After all, that day's stalker was the first one to follow them for longer than ten blocks. It could have just been a one off and Rosalinde is right that they probably would lose roaming privileges.

"Lida, excellent you're home. Good afternoon Rosa, I assume you'll be joining us this evening?" Pannidda is already bustling around the kitchen, several bags of groceries scattered around her.

Rosalinde smiles as Franziska hurries to help her mother put the food away. "Yes ma'am, if that's alright. I'm happy to help with cooking as best I can as well!"

Pannidda nods briskly. "The more hands on deck the more efficient we can be. Alright ladies, put on your aprons and let's get started."

Franziska actually forgets about their creepy follower as she lets herself get lost in the thrum of the kitchen. She's put on chopping duty while Rosalinde is flitting between pots, stirring and adding ingredients from Franziska's cutting board as Pannidda instructs her to. As for Franziska's mother herself, she's focused on preparing the meat, which involves a lot of very careful mixing and toasting of different spices. The space smells absolutely heavenly by the time the three of the collapse at the table to let things simmer and roast at their own pace.

"I forget how big you guys go for birthday dinners." Rosalinde laughs. "Frannie, you need to be here for your fourteenth this year. Isn't there any way you can go to school a couple weeks late?" She's pouting lightly, but her eyes are cheerful so Franziska doesn't feel bad shaking her head.

"I'm starting a couple electives this year so missing the first sixteen days of school probably isn't the best idea." She notes with a mild grin. "I do admit to missing these though. I can't exactly ask the kitchen staff to make me something special when there's probably a birthday every day with so many student going there."

However, even as she says so, Franziska realizes that she might just be able to do that. The Hufflepuff common room is right next to the kitchens after all, and it's not like she hasn't asked the house elves for special treatment in the past. Maybe this year she could get herself a cupcake or something.

The three women talk a bit more about school, with Rosalinde excitedly discussing her hopes for high school and a cute boy in her class that she's thinking about asking out.

"A boy already?" Pannidda looks amused.

Rosalinde puffs up. "Why not? I'm mature! And I bet Frannie likes someone too." She grins wickedly at her friend and Franziska feels herself blushing. "See? She obviously does!"

Franziska shakes her head rapidly. "I don't! I hadn't even thought about it!" But that would be lying if she's honest about it. There's a really cute fourth year - fifth year now that she thinks about it - who she can admit to fantasizing about dating. But she doubts he'd be interested in a gangly thirteen year old so it's a moot point anyway.

Pannidda has an unreadable expression on her face for a moment before she just shakes her head with a smile. "Just be careful, both of you. Dating can get very messy."

Both girls promise to be cautious, and they have to get back to cooking shortly after when one of the pots fizzles over. The conversation lingers at the back of Franziska's mind for a while afterwards though, and she wonders if maybe she could try asking that cute fifth year to Hogsmeade. Just to see what happens.

When her father returns home the kitchen is clean and the food is warm and already on the plates.

"What's this? Penny, you shouldn't have." Heinrich greets his wife with a kiss, and then hugs Franziska as well. "And hullo, did we adopt another daughter while I was away?"

Rosalinde laughs and accepts a hug. "Good to see you too Mr. Reinhardt. You've been awfully busy this summer so I thought I'd force you to see my face at least once."

Heinrich laughs as well as they settle around the table. "You've certainly grown Rosa! What happened to that little girl who used to play dress-up in my closet?"

The dinner is delicious, much to Franziska's relief as they'd had disasters in the past, and Rosalinde ends up calling her mother for permission to sleep over.

"I'll just borrow some of Frannie's things mom, it'll be fine. No, I'll just re-wear what I'm wearing now and change at home. We only live a block away mom. Okay mom. Yeah I love you too, jeez. Goodnight." Rosalinde rolls her eyes at Franziska as she hangs up. "Parents, am I right?"

Franziska smiles. "I think it's sweet that she worries. But I guess I don't see my parents most of the year so maybe I'm a bit biased. I always miss them something awful during the holidays so I appreciate being around them when I'm home."

Rosalinde hums sympathetically as the two girls make their way up to Franziska's bedroom, which is really just the house's re-purposed attic. "That's fair. I've got mine breathing down my neck twenty four seven so it gets a little overbearing at times."

The two girls stay up far later than they should, talking about life, the day's events, and boys. Franziska blushes through the entire 'boys' section of the discussion, especially when she finally admits her little crush on the older boy in her House.

"Oh my gosh Fran, you have to ask him out and then tell me all about it! And no forgetting to write again, I demand proper contact this year!" Rosalinde goads eagerly, poking Franziska in the side with her big toe. The blonde has set up on an air mattress on Franziska's floor, and she's awkwardly lying with her head on the floor and her feet next to Franziska's stomach. "And figure out his name you dummy!"

"It's not that easy!" Franziska protests weakly.

Rosalinde rolls her eyes. "Yes it is, you just go up and introduce yourself and ask for his name! Ask to study with him or something if it makes you feel better to have an excuse."

Franziska buries her face in her pillow and whines pitifully as Rosalinde laughs.

They do eventually fall asleep around three in the morning, and are woken at nine by the tantalizing scent of bacon.

Rosalinde groans. "I'm too tired to get up... but bacon." She laments.

Franziska's father peers into the room just then. "Alright girls, up and at 'em! Rosalinde, your mom wants you home by ten thirty so I'd get dressed if you want breakfast first."

Rosalinde groans again, but both she and Franziska get up and begin shuffling around in a sleepy daze, getting dressed and eventually stumbling down to enjoy the breakfast that Heinrich and Pannidda have put together.

Rosalinde leaves a little after ten fifteen after thanking the Reinhardts again for letting her stay and making Franziska promise to come by in the afternoon for a quick football game.

Once she's left Franziska helps her parents clean up the leftovers.

"So how late did you stay up?" Pannidda smiles knowingly and Franziska smiles sheepishly.

"...Too late?" She admits to the plate in her hands.

"Well you're only here for one more week so I understand wanting to spend as much time together as possible." Heinrich remarks from the table where he's reviewing what seems to be some papers from work.

Franziska starts. "Oh, I didn't even think about that... I haven't told her I'm leaving yet." She admits.

Pannidda frowns. "Lida, you have to tell her soon. She'll be devastated if you don't."

Franziska nods. "I know, I know. I'll tell her today." She finishes rinsing the dishes in silence, the topic of unstated facts bringing her mind to the incident of the creepy stranger the day before. Almost before she can stop herself she speaks again.

"Um, actually, there was something I wanted to mention to you guys too." And she tells the story of the catcalling and the man who followed her and Rosalinde for ten blocks.

Pannidda is frowning again when she finishes talking. "I was worried about this. Lida dear, you remember how your father is half-Veela? And you're a quarter Veela?"

Franziska nods. Her parents had explained her heritage to her when she was seven and a man had been staring at her long enough to make her incredibly uncomfortable. "It means people will stare at me sometimes. That's what you said." She recites, and her parents share a look.

"Well it's a little more complicated than that Ziska." Her father says. "Especially as you mature, some people will be drawn to you. You'll need to be extra careful in the future when you and Rosa go out, okay?"

Franziska doesn't completely understand what her father means, but she's just glad that her outings with her best friend don't have to stop. "Okay, I will. Thanks for not getting mad."

Her mother smiles warmly. "It isn't your fault Lida, it's just your genetics. You'll know when someone loves you for you and not your Veela charms."

"Which aren't that strong so you shouldn't have to worry about it really." Her father interjects, and then looks at the clock. "Oh goodness, ten forty already? I need to get going, I'll try to be home tonight."

Rosalinde isn't too happy later, about Franziska leaving or her having told her parents about the stalker. "You're lucky they didn't freak out. My parents can't ever find out though, they'd definitely chain me in the yard to stop me from going off." She declares. "Now come on, you owe me for not telling me about leaving next week so I'm going to kick your in football."

All in all, Franziska really likes being home in Germany.

Rajani is absolutely thrilled when she's given permission to do her school shopping with the Shacklebolts at the end of July rather than with her own family a few weeks earlier, when their school letters first arrive.

This is of course in part because she wants to see Queenie and get some quality girl time without Eugene being there, like he always is during the gatherings their families plan, but also because Sahana has been worse than usual after learning she didn't make Head Girl.

Rajani's older sister has been holed up in her room for the most part, but when she is out interacting with the world she wears her irritation and disappointment on her sleeve and it makes the seventeen year old less than enjoyable to interact with.

On the morning of the trip to the Alley, Rajani triple checks her shopping list before tucking it into her bag, magically enlarged courtesy of her mother to make room for the extra books she'll need to get for her new electives.

Her parents aren't thrilled by her decision to take Muggle Studies, but she'd talked with Kingsley Shacklebolt several times about which electives would best serve her in a Ministry position, and Muggle Studies always came up. Her parents lowered the number of disapproving glances they gave her when learning it had been a Shacklebolt to recommend the class, but Rajani can tell they think she still could have picked something more useful as her third elective.

She's also taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which they approve of a bit more but which she honestly thinks she'll likely drop after fifth year OWLs as they don't really interest her. She's simply taking them because they're the same electives Sahana is in and she had been hoping her sister might help her out.

Until Sahana became the living embodiment of misery that is.

Rajani shakes off her negative thoughts as she hurries down the stairs and slips on her shoes.

"I'm heading out." She informs her mother, who's reading in the sitting room. Vandana nods without looking up.

"Have fun dear, and be home for supper."

Rajani agrees and then floos into Diagon Alley and, after brushing the soot from her hair and robes as best as she can, heads over to Flourish and Blotts to meet up with the Shacklebolts.

Queenie spots her first and waves her over enthusiastically to where the family of four is purchasing their books.

"Raj! Raj look at this and be jealous." Queenie greets with a grin and her left hand held out for observation.

Despite knowing exactly what she's going to see, Rajani is still taken a bit off guard by the silver and gold band winding around her best friend's ring finger.

She swallows her discomfort and returns Queenie's smile. "It's beautiful Queenie, Eugene really went all out." She compliments. It is, after all, a gorgeous engagement ring.

Queenie grins, her expression a bit silly if Rajani is honest. She wonders if that's what people in love look like, and if so she thinks she'd rather not ever be in love herself if that's the case. She quite likes her dignity where it is.

"It's been honestly really great Raj. We went on a date to Fortescue's just after the arrangements were complete and it was just-" She waves her hands as if to illustrate. "It's different than just being friends, but I'm really happy with it."

Rajani believes her completely. Queenie and Eugene had really already been practically dating the year before, it was just a matter of their families ironing out the details of the arranged marriage. However, knowing Queenie is happy in the arrangement and not being a bit weirded out by said arrangement are two rather different things.

"I'm glad you guys are happy. Just no ditching me please? I'll let you have your time together but I'd miss my best friends." She says instead of giving voice to any of her continued uncertainty about the whole situation. Just because she's uncomfortable doesn't give her any right to question someone else's happiness.

Queenie bumps their shoulders together as they walk through the store looking for Rajani's books. "Don't worry, I'll need my best girl friend to to when he's being annoying." She laughs.

Finding her textbooks is easy enough, as Queenie is taking all the same electives as Rajani so she already knows where the books are located in the store. She goes back to admiring her ring as Rajani pays and stows the books in her bag.

"I am jealous of the ring." She admits after a moment. "Being engaged to Eugene does mean being engaged to his money as well."

Queenie shoves her lightly. "Hey!"

Rajani laughs and the two reunite with the Shacklebolts outside of the book shop. Kingsley smiles at their giggles.

"It's good to see you again Rajani. I'm sorry we haven't seen more of each other, I've been rather flustered around OWL results and schedule planning." Kingsley greets. "And how is your sister doing?"

Rajani feels some of her mirth slip away at the mention of Sahana. "Oh, she's alright. She's spending a week in Ireland at her friend Mayra's house soon so she's busy packing for that for the most part."

Kingsley seems to understand what she leaves unsaid. "She didn't make Head Girl? That's too bad, I think she would have been good. But she had some strong competition among the other female prefects in her year - Sarah Poole for one has top grades and is known for helping the younger students with studying. It's hard for Slytherins to make Head Boy or Girl with the House divide the way it is."

Queenie shakes her head. "The House divide is dumb. So what we had one bad guy come out of our House? We also had Merlin! Slytherins are always great, and yeah sometimes that means terrible too, but come on. The House does not make the man."

"Misquoted Shakespeare." Kingsley grins. "You've been getting into my Muggle Studies book, haven't you?"

Queenie straightens her posture - as much as she can considering she was already standing perfectly - and sniffs delicately. "I do not appreciate the implication that I would need to 'get into' something to be cultured." She states regally, and Rajani smiles faintly.

"Okay I'll bite - who's Shakespeare?"

Time goes by entirely too quickly, as it always does when she's spending time with the Shacklebolt family. Kingsley, she learns, has given Eugene the classic 'if you hurt my sister I'll make you regret it' talk and he'd apparently had to squeak though a response Kingsley had been so terrifying.

"Nope, I don't believe it." Rajani declares. "No offense Kingsley, but you just look too soft to be scary. I'd take one look in your eyes and know you couldn't ever hurt someone."

"You haven't seen me defending my little sister." Kingsley responds with a grin. "I'm sure Sahana would be the same for you."

Rajani frowns. "Perhaps. She's a little more the blackmail type I think."

That gets Kingsley laughing, and Rajani can't help but grin as well. There's something addictive about the sixteen year old's laugh, even if she hadn't actually been joking. If she's honest, she's not sure her sister would defend her at all.

The group gets lunch after they finish their school shopping. Rajani hopes that she can extend the stay longer, not wanting to go home until the required supper time curfew. Queenie and Kingsley both volunteer to stay longer and make sure they didn't miss anything once the bill is paid, and Rajani is quite thankful for the excuse to stay.

They end up in Madame Malkins, where Queenie gets herself fitted for new robes, and then needles Rajani into joining her.

"You've grown at least an inch this summer, let your robes out! You're only going to grow more during the year you know, and we don't have a break until the winter for you to fix any awkwardly short hems."

So Rajani relents - Queenie does have a point, and she remembers that Sahana had done most of her growing between the ages of thirteen and fourteen - and when she goes to ask for her hem to be let out she's surprised to find that she recognizes the plump ravenette behind the counter.

Ilsa had measured her robes on her very first trip to Diagon Alley, and Rajani feels a rush of nostalgia for her childish excitement at the time upon seeing the seamstress.

Ilsa seems to remember her as well. "Well if it isn't young miss Misra! I believe you owe me a few tales of your Hogwarts adventures young lady." Her gray eyes sparkle cheerfully, and Rajani grins back, a bit sheepish.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

She of course introduces Queenie as her best friend, and the two tag team to recall the most interesting parts of their two years at school. Ilsa is particularly amused by the story of their disastrous night out at the start of the previous year.

"Did you ever discover who actually vanished the stair?" She inquires as she finishes sewing Rajani's final robe securely at it's new length.

Both girls shake their heads, and Ilsa claps excitedly.

"Ooh, I love a good mystery! You should keep an eye out for more things like that happening and see if you can get to the bottom of it! And keep me informed!" She blushes a bit. "You know, I wanted to work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as an Investigator for years, and I still do enjoy some problem solving every now and then."

Rajani grins. "I think we all do Ilsa. We'll definitely keep you updated."

As she had promised two years earlier, Ilsa gives both Rajani and Queenie a discount on their robes and she cheerfully sees them off with their newly hemmed robes.

"Well that was interesting." Queenie says, raising and eyebrow in clear amusement. "You seem to attract some unique friends Raj."

Rajani frowns. "What do you mean? Ilsa is nice."

Queenie holds her hands up defensively. "I'm not saying she isn't! She's just... a little slow on the uptake? You had to have noticed that. I'm not saying anything bad, she's just... a Hufflepuff I guess. Well meaning, but kind of slow."

Rajani frowns and thinks that the description doesn't at all match her Hufflepuff friend Donaghan Tremlett, but she doesn't say anything as she's certain Queenie doesn't know about that particular friendship of hers. "I suppose. I still think I'd like to keep using her as my seamstress."

Queenie laughs. "Oh definitely! My parents will love that I got a discount on my robes, these things get expensive during this time period what with all the growth spurts."

Rajani nods distractedly as Kingsley rejoins them. He'd left the girls to get their robes while he went to the Magical Menagerie to stock up on supplies for his new owl after his first one had unfortunately been killed en route to sending a message. They still aren't sure what exactly happened to the owl, but after two weeks of it not returning the Shacklebolts had gotten their oldest son a new one.

"You girls get everything you needed?"

"At a discount no less! Raj here has quite the negotiation skills." Queenie grins at her friend playfully.

Kingsley raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Rajani blushes slightly. "I already knew the seamstress from two years ago. It's not impressive really." She protests.

The three continue wandering around Diagon Alley for a few more minutes, but the Shacklebolts excuse themselves shortly after. Queenie promises to owl a few more time before school starts, and Rajani reluctantly accepts she'll need to go back to her own house.

Her mother greets her and suggests she works on her Hindi reading without looking up.

Rajani instead decides she wants to read through her new Muggle Studies textbook. She finds herself quite intrigued when she finds a chapter on the mysterious 'William Shakespeare' the Shacklebolts had been talking about earlier in the day, and she ends up loosing track of time until she's called down for dinner.

She remains quiet all through the meal, as does Sahana who doesn't make eye contact with anyone except to answer their parents' occasional inquiries into her travel situation for the following week, and as soon as she's excused she escapes back up the stairs.

She knows her parents likely won't be pleased with her adopting her sister's preference for staying in her room, but they can't really do anything about it without being hypocrites, and the Misras are never openly hypocritical.

Rajani extends her stay in her room to every possible moment that she can. She thumbs through her new textbooks, waits for owls from her friends, and if she's honest is a bit bored. So she starts snagging the Daily Prophet every morning once her father is finished with it and reading through it herself.

She's also impatiently counting down the days to September first, and her ride back on the Hogwarts express. She's seen plenty of Queenie and Eugene over the summer, and heard from most of her other friends, but Nia and Elspeth have both been silent despite Rajani owling them both a couple of times each, and Clary has been oddly sporadic in her contact. Rajani is hoping this means the girl is getting up to crazy adventures that she plans to share on the train ride back and not that she's less interested in being friends.

Eventually the two remaining weeks until September drag by, and Rajani finally finds herself packing up her trunk with her new books and robes and preparing enough food and water for Lakshmi for the long train ride to the Scottish Highlands and back to school.

Unfortunately, putting everything interesting away in her trunk means having to actually read her Hindi books in the last few hours before she goes to sleep and finally gets out of the house for an extended period of time. And while her grouchy sister will still be around at school, at least Mayra will be there as well to help balance things out.

As she lies awake in bed that night, Rajani wonders if she could possibly convince her parents to let her stay at school over the winter break as well. After all, she's quite certain she still won't want to be at home in three months either.

At least, she comforts herself as she falls asleep, summer is finally over and she can finally go back to school.