After the Ministry Incident, the three sisters were sadly forced to depart, one after the other. Work called to Dulcie luring her back to the US after an outbreak of Dragon pox. Next to go was Isabelle, who responded to a different calling: Her mother. Finally, Cynthia met a pair of Norwegian twins in the village and after hearing their vivid descriptions of the Northern Lights, simply had to go with them. Jasper wasn't all too happy to see her leave with strangers, or any of them go as a matter of fact but was helpless to stop it.

Now that her sisters were gone, Aubrey dared to ask her parents if she could spend the last three days of the holiday at Lexy's. Although they were a little hesitant given Aubrey's current situation, they eventually agreed seeing as it was only for a few days.

Aubrey considered herself modestly well off, their rustic stone cottage was a decent size with lots of pretty, if slightly crazy, trees in the garden. They could have had more but Aubrey rarely wanted for anything.

However, Lexy's wealth was on another level. 

Nestled in the heart of the Surrey Hills, 'Master's Manor' as Aubrey called it, was immaculate in every way. The House dated back to Tudor times, a wide, grey stone manor with turreted balconies and beautiful bay windows that one could lounge in on sleepy mornings. The entire estate was covered by a dizzying array of perfectly considered flowers stretching the entire length of the long driveway. Inside was even more incredible, the Masters truly were perfectionists; every inch of the house fit the regal aesthetic they so desired. However there were little hints of modernism decorated sparsely throughout, the most recent addition being a rather fabulous swimming pool. 

When Mary dropped her off, Mrs Masters answered the door, smiling demurely at them. After a sweet greeting, she told Aubrey, "Well, Alexandra is being rather rude not answering the door herself for her guest today."

" Why?"

"Well, as you may know, the new pool was finally been finished about a week ago and we haven't been able to get her out since. That girl will most likely have flippers and gills by the time she returns to Hogwarts," Mrs Masters turned to Mary, "That can't actually happen, can it? Ralph and I never quite know with these things."

"Don't worry, not a chance." 

Mrs Masters' face was usually somewhat unemotional but the relief was still evident, "Thank you for reassuring me, Mary..." She glanced down at Aubrey who was trying and failing to suppress her eagerness, "If you go to the left and head straight on, the pool is out the back."

"Thank you!"

When Aubrey arrived at the pool after a mad dash, Lexy was already in, squealing loudly when she saw her friend. By the time they had finished their excited embrace, Aubrey was soaking wet but that was no matter as she simply changed into her swimming costume and joined Lexy. It was good to be reunited with her friend and it was several hours before the two girls were tired out, retiring to the pool's edge.

"Aubrey, I may have done a terrible thing," Lexy reclined dramatically, "The worst thing that anyone's ever done ever in the history of doing things."

"Lay it on me, hon," Aubrey smiled, "Although I may have you beat ..."

"There's a very small chance I may be back into Roger - HEY!" She jumped up as a splash of water hit her stomach. Looking down, she noticed one of Aubrey's legs had moved slightly and glowered, "Why did you do that?!"

"You're in your swimming costume, it doesn't matter," Aubrey pointed out, "But I splashed you in a sort of wake up call way ... I thought you were over this!"

"I thought so too! At the end of last year, I thought that maybe ..." Lexy suddenly went quiet, "Never mind."

"Tell me."

"No, you'll hate me!"

"I won't but I will tickle you..." Aubrey warned, wiggling her fingers in a menacing manner.

"You wouldn't!" Lexy squealed, "Please, you'll think I'm a terrible person - "

"Did it have to do with George?"

Again, Lexy's eyes widened as her head robotically turned to her friend, "Blimey, you must be psychic..."

"Lexy, it's alright," Aubrey assured her, "Me and Fred saw the sparks at the end of last year ... well, he did. If you want to do it ..." She shrugged, unsure of what she was going for, "... I mean do him ... not in that way. What I'm trying to say is, me and Fred are ... sort of a thing and I don't know if I actually liked George so if you actually liked him, then I would be supportive. Useless when it came to advising but supportive nonetheless."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Lexy laughed, "I don't know if I do ... well, I might do a teeny bit. He's not as handsome as Roger but we have way more fun together and his teasings seemed sort of flirty. I was sort of hoping he'd write or something but he never did and I guess in that time, the fading feelings for Roger rekindled. Plus I was worried you would be angry at me - "

"But I wouldn't!"

"I know that now but over the holidays I talked myself into a spiral," Lexy reminded her, "Anyway, I don't even know if I properly like Roger or if it's just a sort of backup crush. You know what I mean? When you don't like someone you just revert back to an old one because it's easier? Maybe it's that."

She looked up at Aubrey who was sitting rigidly, "Must be tough."

"I can't believe you now have a ... Fred and still feel uncomfortable talking about this," Lexy giggled.

"No, I'm not. Keep talking," Aubrey lied, trying to loosen up a bit, "Wait ... I actually do have some advice."

"Oh?"

"Well, Fred went silent too, he only sent me one letter," Aubrey replied, quick to add, "But ... it's not a bad thing or anything, all I know is the Weasleys are away from home. I'm guessing they can't write letters so that could be it."

"Yeah, maybe," Lexy replied, although she sounded somewhat unconvinced, "It's not like Roger wrote to me any more than him ... I guess, I just hoped George would," She gave a Disney-worthy sigh before propping herself up on her elbows, "Anyway, I doubt either of them would want me now considering how chubby I got over the summer - "

"Lexy, hon, you always look fabulous - "

"Shhh, no lies," Lexy whispered, holding a finger up, "Distract me, tell me about ... your worst thing you did that you mentioned earlier."

"It's properly weird, I warn you."

Lexy's lips curved into sly grin, "Even better..."

It was nice to recite it to Lexy, a girl who hadn't seen the Daily Prophet, as her reactions were ten times more dramatic than usual. By the time she was done, Lexy was completely quiet, her blue eyes wide. Still, Aubrey was prepared for what came next, mentally counting down until Lexy's silence was replaced by a sudden squeal of excitement.

"You broke into the Ministry? The newspapers talked about you?" She splashed Aubrey, "And you let me go first?" Aubrey opened her mouth to speak, "Well, did they talk about the gong and that weird girl you met?"

"Wouldn't know, Mum and Dad cancelled the Daily Prophet subscription afterwards. Lexy ... it was odd though," Aubrey said, leaning in closer, suddenly feeling incredibly paranoid that they were being overheard, "That girl, Saskia, she acted ... weird."

"Us weird or the kind of person you would take the long road to avoid weird?"

"Um ... sort of in the middle?" Aubrey shrugged, "I don't know, it was like an eight-year-old and a ninety-year-old got smooshed into one body. Sometimes she'd be really knowing, weirdly so, and then others times completely oblivious. Plus, she asked me if her name was a good name, who does that?"

"I once asked a family friend if Lexy was sexier than Alexandra, was it like that?"

"No, not at all," Aubrey frowned, "I got the feeling if I'd said I'd hated it, she would have changed it."

"Perhaps she was an extreme people pleaser? Or maybe con-artists," Lexy guessed.

"Maybe," Aubrey shrugged her shoulders again, "She seemed nice and was helpful ... sort of, but I did get a weird vibe from her."

"Well, you never have to see her again, if she was sightseeing, she's most likely a tourist," Lexy replied with a smile, "Ooh ... unless she was a time traveller and you have been selected to carry out the mission that will either save us all or doom us into oblivion."

This was intended as a joke but it brought back some very real memories for Aubrey who fell unexpectedly silent. Anything she did whether it was writing letters or yelling at the top of her lungs, they wouldn't undo last year. Unseen forces were still unleashed; Barty and the Dark Lord were still out there and none of it would bring Cedric back from the dead.

"Er ... by oblivion, I meant THIS!" Lexy unexpectedly slid onto the pool, creating a mini tidal wave with her hands which caught Aubrey by surprise, "You doomed us all!"

"Noooo!" 

The two girls chose not to dwell on the future for the next few days - there would be plenty of that back at Hogwarts. Instead, they spent their time wisely and by wisely, they meant eating sweets until they felt ill and theorising about the Weasley mystery by the pool. Luckily, with this particular mystery, they wouldn't have to wait months for the answers.

• • •

Mary being Mary decided that even if she wasn't dropping her daughter at Kings' Cross she still had to be there for the send-off. The Masters left Lexy before the barrier so they went from one family to the other just by crossing onto platform 9 ¾.  

Aubrey felt an odd sense of Deja-Vu washing over her as she found herself being mollycoddled by her mother once more whilst Lexy sniggered in the background.

"Honey, I know you were a little relaxed about letters last year ... I understand why but this year I will be needing a monthly letter minimum," Mary instructed firmly, "I'm not asking for a lot but we just need to know you're safe."

"Mum, I will - "

"Your Father and I are on duty to help, okay?" Mary said. Secretly, there was very little chance that Aubrey would be going to her parents for help, she loved them dearly but preferred tactics to burst into the ministry unexpectedly. Still, her Mother didn't have to know that.

"I know, Mum, really," She assured her. Suddenly both she and Lexy looked up, both of them alerted by a sudden influx of redheads on the platform.

"Who are you looking two looking at?" Mary asked, "Is it some fellow?"

"Two, in fact," Aubrey replied, her smile widening as the twins caught sight of them. At first, Mary wanted to stay but eventually let them go, the two girls heading off to meet the boys. Aubrey and Fred's reunion was a lot more emotional than George and Lexy's to say in the least.

"Fred, hon, I missed you!" She essentially threw herself at him for a long embrace. For a moment she almost kissed him until realising her Mother and Fred's parents were all pretending not to watch from afar. Sadly, Fred mistook her hesitation for something and immediately launched into an apology.

"About not writing, I was banned and it may be silly but I just thought that you'd rather I tell you things in person," He trailed off, pleased to see she was smiling.

"I'm just glad you're alright," She said, as he sighed with relief, "Look, it must have been serious so tell me on the train where we can't be overheard, okay?" 

With her arms still looped around his neck, she glanced backwards, sympathy cringing as George and Lexy stood in silence. Clearly, the girl hadn't taken the twins' letter silence as well as Aubrey, "I have had one hell of a holiday, Fred..."

"I have too actually," They broke apart a little, "I'm all ears, Aubs."

"Well, I broke this gong thing and there was this really weird girl..." She began, turning around towards her trunk. However, as she turned something made her stop dead in her stride.

"Weird girl ... Aubs?" Fred prompted, "Aubrey ..." She felt his hand come to rest on her shoulder, "Who was this? ... Aubrey?"

She blinked a few times, opening her mouth to speak. Across the station, staring right back at her, now dressed in a Hufflepuff cloak was Saskia Cyrus.

• • •

So to summarise, Lexy is fabulously Muggle-wealthy, Angela is probably fairly wealthy, Aubrey most definitely has a slight Gloucester accent (or as my posh Ex-Stepfather said, the 'farmer accent') and Kenny is ... well, probably living in an industrial town somewhere. That's how I see it anyway - E x