"Saskia, she ... she..." Aubrey cut off. In the moment she'd turned back to alert the others, Saskia had reappeared, looking no less exhausted - more even.

"She what?" Fred prompted, "Aubs?"

"She looked knackered," Lee finished, looking between the injured Lexy and almost asleep Saskia, "We should get them both to the hospital wing..."

"Right," Aubrey jumped up, as Lexy was well cared for, dashing over to Saskia, "Saskia, are you okay, you're sweating - "

"I made a horrible mistake," She curled up, "I ... I shouldn't have done that. They'll know I'm here now that I left, we'll all be in trouble if they come looking - " She was cut off as her breathing became faint and the group set off, ditching the Quidditch equipment in the bushes.

When Aubrey told the others about it later, they were somewhat unsurprised but a little creeped out, especially considering it had followed a possible murder attempt at Lexy. Lexy assured them that they could check the camera later but it seemed life had other plans. That night, Fred and George were called away, there had been an attack at the ministry involving Mr Weasley so neither girl really had time to watch back to the tape, that taking up their time for the next few days until term ended.

On the Hogwarts Express, Lexy assured them she'd check the footage over the holidays for any disappearances and conjurings. Whilst that may have been Lexy's holiday plans, Aubrey had a different task over Christmas: ask her parents about Hogwarts second greatest tragedy.

However, this was thwarted almost the moment she came off the train.

"Hello, honey!" Her Mother greeted her with a smile, looking after the twins who dashed after their family with a wave, "Am I not going to meet Fred then?"

"He needs to rush off, they're visiting Mr Weasley in St Mungo's, I think. Anyway, didn't you already meet him at the start of term?"

"No."

"Oh ... well, no then," Aubrey said, suddenly feeling a tap on the shoulder. She turned around to see Saskia, a beaming grin on her face, "Oh, hi Saskia ..." Her eyes darted back to her mother, a small smile crossing her lips as she realised her Mother's calm expression had changed to one of pure shock, "Mum, you might not be able to meet Fred but what about Saskia?"

"Saskia?" Mary repeated back, her voice breaking slightly in the middle. Saskia was staring her dead in the eye.

"Yes, Saskia," The solemness quickly disappeared as she turned back to Aubrey, "Um ... I just wanted to say Merry Christmas ... so, yeah, Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" Aubrey replied with a smile. There was no reason to talk any longer, Saskia giving a funny bob goodbye before rushing off and vanishing into the crowd. The sly smile was still on Aubrey's face as she turned back to her still wide-eyed mother.

Quickly Mary recovered, "Aubrey, honey, who was that?..." She shook her head, "She reminded me so much of - "

"Gillian?"

The shock returned to Mary's face, "Aubrey - "

"She's the reason Dad and Umbridge hate each other, isn't she?" Aubrey stated, "Mum, I overheard them talking, you wrote a letter to Umbridge didn't you, with an orange blossom on the top about it to stop her from being cruel and holding a grudge ... didn't you?"

"Aubrey, you weren't meant to know about that - "

"Well, why not?" She asked, "What are you two hiding, you and Dad? He never talks about his school years, only anecdotes that came after. What happened, what big tragedy?"

"Aubrey, how much do you know?" Mary whispered before laughing softly, "This is a fine way to start off the Christmas Holidays. At least you're here at all..."

A few people had turned to look at them now; Aubrey hadn't realised she'd practically been shouting in the public train station, "I know that something happened to her, Mum, everyone thinks she's dead and it broke Umbridge. But Umbridge thinks she's back, that Gil returned for her - "

"That's impossible," Mary stated bluntly, her gaze vaguely wandering to where Saskia had stood, "That's just ... impossible - but don't tell your father this. Jasper said she was gone ... and I believe him. Your friend Saskia well ... they look nothing alike really, it's probably relative, she had aunts back in Vietnam I think."

"They must look something alike for you to react like that," Aubrey replied, "Mum, I just want to know the truth about it. If you don't want to tell me, I'll just go to - "

"Your father?" Mary cut in, "No, no, you won't. Aubrey, I understand you're motivated - believe me, I was the same at your age - but some things, such as Gillian Lennox, we don't talk about. Your Father hasn't talked about her in years and I don't intend to start now."

A sick feeling entered Aubrey's stomach, "You didn't even show him my letter, did you? You acted on your own which is why you didn't tell me you'd written to Umbridge - so he wouldn't find out either. Did he hate Gil and Umbridge or something? Did he ... kill her?"

"No, he didn't!" Mary said quickly, before sighing, "Trust me, Aubrey, he didn't kill her - never say that to him. He hated Dolly, yes, it was hard not to but ... Gil was very dear to him. That's why you can't bring her up, you cannot mention your new friend Saskia looking like her and don't mention Dolly - for his sake. I know your curious but sometimes the past is best left buried."

Aubrey claimed to understand and by all appearances she did, not asking her father about it once. Yet she was starting to put the pieces together in her mind. Maybe Gillian had been dead once but old magic was back and maybe she'd returned along with it. Perhaps when Saskia had disappeared that was merely a dead girl briefly losing her strength to live and slipping back into the beyond...

• • •

By comparison, Fred and George were having a bizarrely relaxing Christmas. Their Father had recovered well, the entire family going in to visit him on Christmas Day. He was still a little scratched up as was expected but somehow managed to remain chipper. There was definitely tension amongst other people but Fred was just glad his source of tension wasn't present.

Instead, he and George began to focus on serious issues (for them anyway). Their products had flourished and combined with the incredibly charitable donation of Harry's Triwizard earnings, the two were starting to keep an eye out for Diagon Alley premises. Eventually, they figured they should start early and go and look. After some deliberation, they decided to invite Lee and the girls along too seeing as they'd played such a big part in it too.

Only Lexy declined in an incredibly polite but slightly dramatic letter about being on a beach in Fiji for the entirety of Christmas. Aubrey had mentioned that Lexy was stinking rich but him and George both seemed shock, especially when her Christmas present ended up being an envelope addressed to each of them containing some galleons (and several other things in George's case). She also mentioned that the camera had been in front of Saskia so it had missed any disappearance although all of them were still very much convinced it had happened. Aubrey was a bloody awful liar.

The date came around and Mrs Weasley let them go to Diagon Alley. They'd claimed it was to extra revision books which was an obvious lie but the entire family was high on euphoria from Arthur's recovery so she let them go. When they arrived, Aubrey was already there along with a tall, elegant woman with long dark hair, that gleamed in the sun and hung around her shoulders.

"Who's on earth is that?" George asked.

It took Fred a few moments to remember what Aubrey had said about her sisters. After a moment, he held his finger up to signify the epiphany, "Isabelle ... I think," The girl turned to face them yet her eyes glazed right past them. Without even saying a word, she was vaguely terrifying, her lips turned down, eyes devoid of emotion other than a flicker of something akin to impatience, "Yep, definitely Isabelle."

"Aubrey!" George called, to which Aubrey waved; Isabelle didn't react whatsoever.

"Hey, hon!" She gave him a hug before turning to Fred and planting a kiss on his cheek.

"So this is Fred?" Isabelle shrugged, "I'll tell Dulcie," Her eyes seemed to bore into him which she excused by simply saying, "Just trying to get a clear mental image so my description will be good."

"Lovely, Isabelle."

"Well, I'm going to go," Isabelle said stiffly, "Be back here in four hours or I'll apparate without you. I have things to do."

With that, she turned on her heel, her sheet of hair swooping behind her as she strode away.

"Blimey, who was that?" They turned to see Lee casually walking up behind them.

"My elder sister, Isabelle," Aubrey pouted, "Apparently my life wasn't entertaining enough this holiday for her ... she's reverted. Still, at least she agreed to apparate me here, Dulcie just laughed and wandered off when I asked her," She glanced back at Lee who looked a little transfixed, "Lee?"

"She's so stern ... strong and ... tall," He sighed, "Exactly my type."

Fred couldn't help but snigger as Aubrey visibly shivered, "Alright, hon, don't go there. Isabelle adores working with fearsome beasts, she won't hesitate in neutering you if you so much as breath in her direction when she doesn't want you to."

"You're just selling her even more - "

To save her from further awkwardness, Fred put an arm around Aubrey to guide her, "Sounds like a sterner Charlie to me - we should introduce them. Anyway, shall we head to the first potential premises of Wizards' Weasley Wheezes? George?"

George looked up with a start, "Huh? Oh right, yeah ..." Something about his demeanour was off, looking around jerkily.

"George, everything alright?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," He replied after a moment, "Just thought I saw someone ... nevermind. I'll get the map out now, it's this way..."

The dumpy wizard showing them around the property had clearly been expecting people slightly older, her greying eyebrows disappearing into her hairline as she saw four teenagers approaching, the money literally stashed in an envelope in George's breast pocket. Even he wasn't quite sure how Wizard real estate worked but had assumed that if he paid on the spot, it would give them the upper hand. The witch was quick to explain that wasn't how it worked but George and Aubrey were only half listening, mainly because Fred and Lee were staring in horror at a raspberry red wall which matched Lee's shirt exactly.

It was safe to say the first place wasn't for them. When asked, they'd later claim it was the isolated location but really Lee was just too embarrassed at matching the faded paint making it a no-go. The next few that they looked at were perfectly fine but something just wasn't quite right about that, it seemed every single one had something just a little odd about it. Unusually George seemed jumpy and a bit distracted, looking around rapidly for something. Fred wasn't usually too nitpicky but this was going to be the place him and George probably lived after Hogwarts. It had to be perfect. 

Eventually, after a couple of hours searching, they were all exhausted so decided to stroll  down to Florian's Ice Cream Parlour. Fred and Aubrey really did feel like an old married couple as the leisurely wandered through, Lee and George hot on their heels.

"I've always loved this place," Aubrey said to Fred, "It's just so alive - woah!"

She jumped back as a young wizard, probably no older than fifteen stuffed a Daily Prophet in her face, "Only 1 knut!"

Fred laughed, feeling around in his pocket before taking one, "I feel like he just proved your point."

"And nearly broke my nose," Aubrey added wryly, craning her neck as she read the headline aloud, "Manhunt for 30 missing Muggles ..." Her eyes widened, "What on earth is that about?"

"I don't know ..." Fred murmured as she prized the paper out of his hand, "You-know-who?"

She shook her head as they wandered into the queue of the Ice cream parlour, "Maybe ... it says the entire hamlet was literally turned to dust, razed to the ground. Everything was gone, the houses, the people .... everything," At this, she suddenly looked up, "Speaking of which, where have Lee and George gone?"

"Huh?" Fred looked around, "Er ... they were right here," His brow furrowed as he looked around, suddenly spotting George and Lee half running through the crowd, "They're over there..."

Both of them turned to look, their brows furrowing slightly, "Fred ... look."

Her gaze had drifted over to something a little way behind, a tall man with shockingly blue hair walking directly behind them. Under her breath, he heard Aubrey murmur, "Saskia mentioned people were coming..." Before saying louder, "Fred, I think they're being followed."

• • •

I'm back! I don't know why but I realised Umbridge's boggart is probably Jasper which made me crack up for some reason. I'm physically exhausted though so my sense of humour bar is very low - E x