"I'm going to warn you, it's properly awkward in there," Lee said, unable to stop himself grinning, "He won't talk, she will talk but keeps stammering - "

"She so fancies George," Aubrey whispered to Fred, "What a liar, saying she was unsure."

" - and I thought I was bad around Angelina."

"Angelina?" Saskia asked.

"She's only the fittest girl in Hogwarts," Lee replied to which Saskia nodded, "Wicked Chaser too but alas, she will never be mine," He brushed it off with a shrug, "S'alright though."

"Got it."

The four drew up to the carriage where Lexy and George were sat next to each other, finally talking a bit more freely. Fred suspected that the awkwardness had possibly been more to do with Lee making comments every few seconds. Lee opened the door for them, gesturing for them to inside. The moment they came in, Lexy's eyes widened, glancing between them as her mouth remained suspended open.

"Er ... Saskia, right?" She said, looking between Aubrey and Fred in the hopes one look could fill her in on everything. Unsurprisingly, it did not, "You're ... new? Or have you always been here and nobody at all noticed you?"

"New," Saskia replied.

"Oh ... right," Lexy nodded slowly before standing up. Seeing the girl, given what Aubrey had said about her, addled Lexy's brain somewhat. Fred stifled a laugh as she brushed down her skirt, holding out her hand for Saskia to either high five or shake. It became even harder to hold in the laugh as Saskia misjudged the signal and took Lexy's seat on the bench next to George.

"Um, no?" Lexy muttered under her breath, turning to Aubrey with a look of bewilderment. With a deep breath, she took a seat opposite, "It's alright, I can sit on this bench..." She tentatively sat down. Saskia grinned at George, who looked a little unnerved and Fred noticed Lexy's eyes widen slightly. He let out a snort of laughter, unable to contain it as Lexy casually kicked her feet up on George's legs.

Lee casually swung around the door frame with ease and plonking himself next to Lexy, "Do you know if Katie, Alicia and Angelina will be joining us?"

George shrugged, "No clue, they tend to sit as a trio on the train."

"Fair," Lee replied, noticing Aubrey and Fred still lingering in the doorway, "Do you two want to take a seat?"

"Yeah ..." Fred glanced at Aubrey, or his unofficial underage wife from their conversation earlier, "Aubs, let's sit."

"Um... we'll be right back," She abruptly slid the door shut, as a horrified Lexy looked in disbelief. 

" ... or not," for a moment they remained still before Fred, feeling a lot of second-hand awkwardness, pulled her out of sight of the glass window, "where are we going now?"

"Kenny and Angela, we usually sit with them but they're not here either... maybe they could explain some things," She said, "Ang's mum works in the Ministry and knows stuff ... not Hogwarts stuff mind you but a new student at Hogwarts in the final year no less is bound to cause stir. Plus ... I've missed them," She glanced back, peering around the door, "Should I bring Lexy? I don't think she likes Saskia."

"I would but I doubt she'd leave George alone in there," Fred replied, a smirk crossing both their faces.

"Yeah ... we'll be back soon, that's fine then, right?" 

• • •

It took them a while to find Kenny and Angela but they eventually stumbled across them, sitting together in one of the communal carriages. The moment they saw them, Aubrey dashed over, a smile on her face that fell slightly as Angela regarded her with a cool poker face.

"Hello, Aubrey."

"Hi, Ang," She said, glancing at Fred before the two took a seat, both squished up next to Kenny. Next to them, she noticed Kenny's shoulders suddenly jerked, the reason vaguely flickering back to her. She hadn't seen it for a while but when Kenny got incredibly stressed, his shoulders shrugged involuntarily, a small tic he'd had since he was a child. It took a lot to trigger it, in fact the last time she'd seen it was back in Third Year. His uncle had died and apparently, it caused hell when he kept shrugging in response to words of grief. Still, even with the stress of last year, he'd been fine ... things must have got a lot worse for it to return.

"Hi mate," Fred nodded at Kenny who responded similarly.

A few moments silence passed before Aubrey asked, "Um ... we're sitting a few carriages away if you wanted to join us."

"We're fine here," Angela replied coldly, "Is Lexy with you? I've missed her."

"Well, hon, I've missed you," Aubrey said, "And yes, she is."

"Good, I'll see her later," Angela replied.

"Nice holidays, Kenny?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah," His shoulders twitched, "Stayed at Ang's for most of it... yeah, it was nice."

"Did you have a good one?" Angela cut in, "Sounded like it from what my Mum said."

The reasons for Angela's coolness were starting to make sense. They'd been brewing last year but over the holidays, any tensions would have been solidified. Angela loved her mother dearly, to the point of near worship in some cases so anything her mother said, was the truth in Angela's mind.

"Ang - "

"You know, just because the Ministry doesn't believe your ... cockamamy story, doesn't mean you should destroy their property," Angela snapped, "I expected better, that was really immature. And to get your parents to march down to the Ministry - "

"I didn't ask for that!" Aubrey snapped, "My parents did that - "

"What? Destroyed the gong? That was you and some other random girl you picked up along the way."

Even if she was using it for bad, Angela sure knew how to get a rise out of Aubrey, "We were only there because they were getting the Newspapers to essentially slander me - "

"Why didn't you go to the Daily Prophet then?" Angela snapped.

"Because Fudge and the Ministry are clearly controlling it?" The volume of the two girls' voices was steadily increasing, making Kenny vaguely uncomfortable.

"Honestly, can you two keep it down a bit? You can fight without everyone hearing," Kenny mumbled, "Fred, help me out here?"

Aubrey watched as Fred slowly turned to her before saying, "Keep fighting, Aubs, you're only telling the truth anyway."

"Typical," Angela replied, "My Mum warned me that Arthur was spewing nonsense, like father like son, I guess."

"Well ... my Dad says your Mum is the resident Ministry Hag," Fred replied, "I guess the same applies to you."

To this, Angela stiffened before turning to Aubrey once more, "I just think it's stupid, creating fear and causing trouble for no reason. I really thought better of you, you were my best friend for Merlin's sake but you haven't really been that the past year, have you, now. I guess I don't really know you at all."

"Ang, last year was complicated - "

"So you could tell Lexy and ... him," She pointed towards Fred, "But not me or Kenny? Look, I sat apart from you all for a reason, I didn't want trouble nor confrontation today."

"What? So you'd rather it just stew under the surface?" Fred asked.

"Better than being yelled at in a train carriage by a former friend, don't you think?"

"Look, I didn't come here to fight anyway," Aubrey huffed, "That's not to say I won't defend myself if one arises - "

"Clearly."

"Dear Lord, shut up!" Fred snapped.

"Thanks, Fred," Aubrey replied softly, "Look, hon, I'm sorry if you feel that way but last year was ... really complicated and the risks were high," This had little effect on Angela who remained frustrated, "But I came because I needed to ask you something."

The tension had been eased from the brief shouting match. Whilst her lips were still pursed, arms folded, she didn't look as angry as before, "I won't promise to answer but by all means ask away."

"Hogwarts never really accepts new students after eleven, right?"

Angela shrugged, "I'm far from an expert."

"They don't," Kenny replied, "Professor Binns told us once in a boring monologue that the last transfer student came in the 17th Century after he was nearly killed at three different schools."

"So if there was a new one, it would cause a stir..." Aubrey said.

"I should think so, yes," Angela raised an eyebrow, "How is this relevant to anything?"

"Very, listen," Fred replied.

"Has your Mum mentioned a new student attending at all?" Aubrey asked, although the answer became clear from the moment Angela's brow furrowed in confusion.

"No, and she would know if there was," Angela replied, "The Ministry is keeping a special eye on students this year..."

"Oh ..." Aubrey and Fred exchanged a nervous look, "That's a bit odd."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, sounds like your Mum's a bit out of the loop then," Fred said, "Because there is one and she's a bit eccentric. Said she was here because of an exception."

Angela's brow furrowed before shrugging, "Well ... Dumbledore's bat shit crazy, that much is clear. I wouldn't put it past him to do it under the Ministry's nose although I will be asking my Mum, sounds like something they should know."

Although this seemed to signal an effective end to the conversation, Aubrey lingered, hoping that perhaps this mild calmness signalled an end to her irritation. If Angela was mad, Kenny would probably be uncomfortable too so she really wanted to end this spark before it could turn into a fire.

"Aren't you two going to join your other friends?" Angela prompted. Instantly, Aubrey stood up in almost perfect unison with Fred.

"Yep ... we were," Aubrey murmured as Fred took her hand in his.

"See ya, Kenny ... the Hag," He grinned before pulling his girlfriend away. Once they were out the carriage, he finally spoke again, "Well, that could have gone better but at least she didn't do that stupid hinting then pretending she couldn't tell thing."

"True, I hate that ... although can't help feeling that was worse," Aubrey said, unable to make her expression happy, "I don't know what to do, Fred."

"Me neither," He admitted, "We could ask Dumbledore."

It was clear she was well and truly rattled as she said, "True, he might offer some insight."

She slumped against the wall, closing her eyes. Fred slowly came next to her, "You sure you want to return to the carriage? We could stay here for a bit or slip one of mine and George's new products into Angela's drink when she's not looking."

"Tempting but no, she's still my friend even if everything about our last conversation suggested otherwise," Aubrey murmured, "This is great, less than a train journey in and I've just lost two of my best friends it seems."

"Well ... Saskia seems to worship you so you've gained a new one, at least."

• • •

I've published a new book about Nymphadora Tonks. Basically, her friend gets pregnant young so Tonks assumes her identity and chaos ensues. It's serious but still able to be lighthearted which is kind of my writing aesthetic - E x