August, 1993

I felt a strange sense of betrayal as I waited for my father to get off the phone. He held a cup of coffee in a mug and was periodically taking sips from it. It was very early in the morning.

"I miss you too," he was saying sweetly. There was a pause.

"Tomorrow night?" He asked. Another pause.

"Sure." He replied with a too-wide grin.

"I can't wait," he said, with enough eagerness to make me ill. "Alright, I'll see you then!"

He hung up, turning around with the biggest smile on his face. Then he caught sight of me lurking in the doorway and jumped, spilling his coffee on the floor.

"Lila!" He exclaimed. "What are you— how much did you hear?"

"Enough," I grimaced accusingly at him. "You didn't tell me you were seeing anybody."

"I'm not!" He said defensively. I raised an eyebrow. He faltered, turning to get a towel and mop off his coffee. "Alright, I am."

"But why?" I asked, following him. "If you need help paying I could easily get a summer job—"

He laughed. "It's not that at all, Lila," he told me, seeming amused. "I just like her a lot."

"Does she know about me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Of course, and she can't wait to meet you—"

"About me being a witch," I clarified. He blanched.

"Well, no, I haven't told her that yet," he admitted.

"How long have you been meeting?" I asked him. He'd been acting very strangely ever since I'd gotten back from Hogwarts. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night to an empty house, or he'd disappear for hours to the "grocery." I'd assumed that he'd been meeting with someone, but I hadn't had it in me to confront him about it until today.

"We met in May," he said. "I was on my way to a business meeting and we meet in a café."

"Now isn't that cliché," I rolled my eyes. "What's she like? Does she have a job?"

"She's an retired actress going into business," he replied, and I tried to fight down my grimace at his fondness. "She wants to start her own cosmetics company. She's, a people-person, and always prepared. She's a really hard worker, you know."

"Have you slept together?" I asked bluntly. My father choked on his coffee mid sip.

"Lila!" He exclaimed, aghast. "That is a very personal question—"

"Just wondering," I interrupted. I didn't really want to know the answer to that anyway. I turned to pick at the chipping paint on the wall beside me. "What's respectable about being an actress? You get paid to smile, stay skinny, and look pretty."

"There's a lot of pressure," my father defended. "It's very impressive that she made it so far in her career. It paid well enough for her to start her own makeup brand."

"Adam," I said. I rarely ever used my fathers first name unless I was really upset with him. "You're going to replace mom with a woman who owns a makeup brand?"

His face softened. "I could never replace your mother, dear. She will always have a very special place in my heart. But I think she'd want me to move on and let myself be happy, now, wouldn't she?"

I was silent. He did have a point. I picked a piece of paint from the wall and flicked it off of my fingers.

"Will you at least tell me her name, then?" I asked.

"Angela Hanscombe," he replied. "You'll grow to like her, I promise."

"I sure hope so," I muttered under my breath.

"Now what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked. "It's six A.M. on a Saturday, and I've lost half my coffee."

"Two things," I said promptly. "One, could you please sign my Hogsmeade form? The term stars in two days and I completely forgot about it. Two, are you still okay with me spending the night at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow? I know we already did our shopping but that's where Harry is and I'll be meeting Ron and Hermione too."

"I'd be glad to, and yes, of course," he said. "I'll be with Angela tomorrow night. I told the Weasley's to phone me in case anything were to happen. Arthur loves the telephone."

I handed him the form and he signed it contentedly, as though nothing had happened. He's always been so patient with me.

It was probably time he moved on and was happy with someone else again, as much as it saddened me to say. Knowing my mom's real story after last year had sharpened the edge for me.

"I'm sorry for being so upset about Angela," I told him. "It's just — I don't want you to replace mum, you know?"

"Like I said before, Angela's not a replacement," he said kindly. "Just a new start. You have every right to be upset, Lila. I understand."

I threw my arms around him in a hug. I was blessed with the most wonderful father, and I shouldn't push him away for trying to be happy.

"What's this for?" He asked, laughing.

"Everything," I told him. "I'm sorry again."

"It's alright."

It had been a very odd summer indeed. First, some killer was on the loose from Azkaban, and apparently he was a big enough deal to make Muggle news too.

I'd been getting copies of the Daily Prophet to keep track of sightings. Sirius Black looked positively mad, but I suppose one would be after spending time in Azkaban. There was something familiar about him I couldn't quite place. Maybe his portrait was somewhere at Hogwarts from his school days.

Second, the Weasleys had won some gold and had decided to go on a trip to Egypt. I'd noticed that in the Daily Prophet too, Ron even taking Scabbers with him.

Third, Harry had run away from home. On the phone, Ron had told me he'd blown up his Aunt "like a giant, shrieking pufferfish" and that Ministry officials had to come and reverse it. He'd then somehow ended up staying in the Leaky Cauldron.

I missed my friends, and was very excited for the new year's electives. I'd gone shopping originally with Dean, Neville, and Seamus. They'd all gotten taller over the summer, but so had I.

It was like hanging out with them normally, chaotic and loud as always, except Dean and I interlocked pinkies while we moved from place to place, like it was the most natural thing, and it made my heart stutter. We got ice cream at the end of it all and he wouldn't let me pay for mine. What a gentleman!

I smiled even thinking about it now, getting ready to go back to Diagon Alley. I tied back my long, unruly hair into a bun at the nape of my neck, ignoring the strands that fell out around the front. Not sure what to wear, I tossed on a grey t-shirt and some blue jeans that were a bit too wide around the legs.

I'd spent a bit more time in the sun this summer, so a smattering of freckles had returned to my nose and cheeks. I remembered Ron saying he didn't like his, but I thought they were rather cute on everybody. I admired my own in the mirror as I brushed my teeth.

Once downstairs, I prepared myself some toast and honey. My luggage for the night and for Hogwarts were already packed. I checked to make sure I had my Hogsmeade form as well as my supply list.

We made it to the Leaky Cauldron rather quickly. I bid my father goodbye and was in a good enough mood to wish him luck on his date tonight. The smile he gave me made me feel very glad that I'd said it. When I walked in, the Weasleys were already there, Hermione with them.

"Thank Merlin you're here, Lila," Ron said when he saw me. "Hermione won't stop asking me about Egypt—"

"Don't think you're off the hook," I told him. "I have plenty of questions myself."

Ron groaned.

"Oh, Lila! It's so great to see you again," Hermione engulfed me into a hug, though she only came to my chin. "You're so tall now! I'll help you take your things up — you and Ginny and I are in room ten."

Ginny was standing with the rest of her brothers, looking at me shyly. She'd been very embarrassed about the Chamber of Secrets incident, despite the fact that Harry and I had said several times that we didn't mind. Hopefully I could help her warm up to me a little more, though I wasn't particularly good at that sort of thing.

Percy cleared his throat — not-so-subtly adjusting his Head Boy badge.

"Ah, yes," I said. "Congratulations on Head Boy, Percy! I'm sure it's an honor."

"We're all so proud of him," Mrs. Weasley said happily. I exchanged a look with Fred, who pretended to gag and vomit into a nearby rubbish bin. Thankfully, neither Mrs. Weasley nor Percy noticed. Hermione and I carried my trunk and Willow up to our room.

"Is Harry here?" I asked. Hermione shook her head.

"He's probably in Diagon Alley somewhere," she said. "We're going to see if we can spot him while we're shopping."

"I heard about his Aunt," I said. "Did he get in trouble with the Ministry?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, apparently Fudge let him off."

I scoffed, though I was glad he was okay. "Of course, he's Harry Potter."

Once we made it back downstairs, Ron, Hermione, and I set off to do our shopping. The three of us went to Gringotts, then Flourish and Blott's. The shopkeeper looked at the three of us grimly.

"Hogwarts?" He asked us. We nodded. He sighed — for good reason, I knew. "How many?"

"Just two," I said for them. The shopkeeper seemed grateful. He threw on some hardy-looking gloves and removed the cloth covering the cage of the Monster Books of Monsters. They were actively trying to tear each other apart, and Hermione's eyes were wide as he reached in.

He grabbed one at a time, having to belt them shut with some rope. Panting, he asked us what else we needed. Ron listed all of our standard course books, as well as Unfogging the Future (for Divination).

When Hermione handed the shopkeeper her book list his eyes flew open. He left for the back room and returned with two bags full of books as well as Hermione's booklist. Ron gaped at the sheer amount of them. After the cashier rang them up, we left.

"Hermione, how do you expect to sleep?" I asked. She looked at me brightly.

"Don't fret, Lila, I'll be alright," she assured me.

"There's no way you have time to take every single class," Ron said matter-of-factly. "Plus, all of the homework you'll have to do—"

"It'll be worth it," Hermione replied. "Where to next? Madam Malkin's? I seem to have grown a bit."

I took note of the very abrupt subject change, but didn't say anything.

"I can just borrow Percy's old ones—" Ron began, but I immediately shushed him.

"He's probably spent hours making love in them to Penelope Clearwater," I told him, wiggling my eyebrows. "Don't worry, I'll pay."

"Mum will throw a fit," he told me.

"Not if she doesn't know," I winked. "Come on, you've probably grown as much as I have. I'm a whole 170 centimeters now."

Ron, who was tall and lanky like the rest of his brothers, admitted he was 180, so we went to Madam Malkin's. Next, Hermione and I waited outside Ollivanders for Ron to get a new wand. He came out and showed it to us excitedly. "Fourteen inch, willow, unicorn hair," he said proudly.

"That's excellent!" I told him. My stomach chose to rumble rather loudly at that moment.

"We should probably eat something," Hermione checked her watch. "It's nearly half past noon."

We walked into a nearby diner where I ordered a peach milkshake with my meal. We chose a table and sat to chat and enjoy the final summer day. I'd asked Hermione about France, and she went on and on about some of the fascinating things she learned about Wizard history there. She looked rather tan, so I assumed she'd spent some time on the beaches.

"Have you done anything interesting this summer?" Ron asked me, hoping to spare himself another interrogation on Egypt. I sipped my milkshake thoughtfully.

"Not nearly as exciting as going to France or Egypt," I explained. "But I spent last summer in Crete so it's not like I can complain." I smiled fondly, reminiscing. I suddenly recalled the conversation I'd had with my father yesterday.

"My father has been seeing somebody," I said. "I'm not really sure how to feel. I'm proud of him for finding somebody and moving on but I also don't want him to, you know?"

"I get it, Lila," Hermione said comfortingly. "He's happy though, isn't he?"

I nodded, sipping my milkshake. "He is. I suppose that's all that matters. I haven't met her yet though, and she doesn't know I'm a witch. I think he's waiting to see how serious they'll get."

"I hope she won't take it as too much of a shock," said Ron. I nodded in agreement. Hermione thankfully changed the subject to talk about Ron's vacation in Egypt.

I lazily looked over at the shop in front of us advertising the Firebolt — probably the best broom in existence right now. I was sure Harry would love to get his hands on one of those.

As if on a cue, I spotted him peering up at the advert.

"Harry!" I yelled. "Harry, over here!"

Ron and Hermione were startled, but they looked in his direction and saw him as well. His face broke out into a grin when he spotted us. He sat across from me in the empty seat, thrilled.

"Finally!" said Ron, returning Harry's grin. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and—"

"I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad," Ron answered.

"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" Hermione asked gravely.

"I didn't mean to," said Harry quickly, while Ron began to howl with laughter. "I just — lost control."

"It's not funny, Ron," Hermione reprimanded him.

I snickered. "It's a little bit funny."

"Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled." Hermione said.

"So am I," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked to Ron, who was still snickering. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"

"Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" Ron shrugged. "I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because my Mum would've killed me."

Harry and I laughed at the prospect. Hermione didn't find it nearly as amusing.

a/n: sorry for the abrupt cut-off! the chapter was getting a little too long but i'll publish the next part soon. this year's themes are: womanhood, seer powers, drama, snake, and drama because of said womanhood, seer powers, and snake. also expect a little wolfstar and some marauders content — as a treat.