~Astra~

Dear Father,

It's been so long since I've been able to write to you, and I'm sorry about that. If you replied to my last letter, I never got it, but I imagine it went along the lines of telling me that I was absolutely mad for running off on my own with James Potter, how dangerous that was going to be, and that you wanted me to be responsible and stay safe. Well, I did none of those things, but it worked out in the end, so that's good, right?

I'm sure you've heard about what happened at the Battle of Carrow already. It all feels so strange, to be honest. It's like I'm dreaming every day. It's surreal. I wake up every morning and remind myself that Stillens is defeated. I can go wherever and do whatever I want now, after so many months hiding. But even that's not the same—everywhere I go, people are stopping me and congratulating me and asking for a photo or an autograph. I don't know how long that's going to take to stop, but it does make it difficult to do anything.

A few months ago, Aunt Andromeda's house was partially burnt down. Stillens was trying to show me that no one I loved was safe, I guess. Ever since the battle, we've been working to restore it, and today we've finally done enough to make it livable! Just in time for Colette to come home from St. Mungo's tomorrow, as well. She got really hurt during the battle... I guess that's a longer story than I have time to write, though.

I have so much to tell you! You don't know about Cassie, or my radio broadcasts, or what really happened during the battle. I suppose I'll have to come visit soon, because my hand is already getting tired just thinking about writing all of that down. I can write the most important part, though: I've missed you terribly. I kept wishing I could write to you this whole past year. But don't worry! Now that the war's over, Mr. MacMillan promised to arrange a visit as soon as he can.

I'll go back to Hogwarts in the fall to take my last year. Colette and Albus will be there too (Oh, I guess you don't know that they spent several months in a detention center... another long story!). After that, it's a three year apprenticeship with a lawyer, and then I'll be able to take your case before the Wizengamot and get you released from Azkaban. Four more years! Start counting down!

Love,

Your Little Star

~~~~

In the weeks since the Battle of Carrow, life had fallen into a little routine. It wasn't a particularly great routine all the time, but it was still a routine.

Every morning since she'd been discharged, Colette had gone up to the Ministry to either work on a counterspell or help with the rehabilitation efforts. By the time she made it downstairs, Aunt Andromeda had a lovely breakfast prepared, and I had a cup of coffee sitting at her place setting, and she would sit in stony silence as we happily chatted about what our plans for the day were. Every day, Aunt Andromeda would make a point to ask whether Colette felt up to seeing the Lupins after she got back from the Ministry, and every day Colette simply shook her head, glaring into her coffee.

Aunt Andromeda hardly seemed fazed by Colette's mood, so I tried my best to act the same way, though I was far less practiced than her. I couldn't tell why she was acting like this. Wren had never seemed so angry when she'd come back in fourth year. Maybe Colette was just trying to hide how she was actually feeling? But I couldn't imagine why she'd do it like this. Didn't she realize that acting so angry all the time was going to push people away? I mean, it wouldn't work here; Aunt Andromeda had made it clear that she wasn't going to be pushed away by anything. Colette was family, after all.

She didn't always act like that, I guess. In our room at night, before we fell asleep, I'd sometimes ask her why she was doing that, why she refused to see Teddy and Victoire. She always explained, but I still couldn't wrap my head around what she was saying. She knew she'd done terrible things, and it would be easier if we would just let her slip away now before things got messy? It didn't make any sense. Families were supposed to be messy, for one thing. For another... well, it almost sounded like she didn't want to be with us anymore. But why not?

Once Colette had left for the day, Aunt Andromeda and I would go visit Teddy and Toire, or go shopping for the house, or I'd sneak off to see Albus. At first, I'd been called up to the Ministry frequently to answer questions about being on the run, my time in the DA, and what happened during the battle, but that had gradually slowed to a stop. I didn't really mind not having to be up there. It was nice to step out of the spotlight, finally.

Once school got out, I'd probably be over at the Potters' more frequently, what with Albus and Wren both being there. For now, though, there was still plenty to do with my family.

One afternoon during the first week that Teddy had gone back to work in the auror office, Toire and I took the girls out shopping. Even though they weren't planning on moving back in with us, Toire had decided it would be good idea to get some more toys to keep at our house for the girls to play with when they came over, which would be very often once Toire started at Flourish and Blots again. They were looking at renting a cottage down in the village near our house, but weren't going to make any decisions until Colette had settled down a little.

We took the girls to Diagon Alley first, with the sole intention of buying Cassie a pygmy puff. It took nearly an hour to walk down to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because we kept having to stop so Cassie could stare at some new wonder. Had I been this excited when I'd first visited Diagon Alley? I couldn't remember. But hearing Cassie's squeals of delight at the child-sized broomsticks in the window of one shop, the owls flying out of the post office, and the hopping chocolate frogs in the candy shop window made me grin from ear to ear.

Despite how excited she was, every time Cassie realized that she wasn't directly next to Toire, she'd run back and grab her hand, immediately going from carefree to pale and anxious. It had taken me a bit to notice, because I kept having to chase Charis down as she ran off to pet someone's frog or clap her hands at a man using magic to make balloon animals. After the fourth or fifth time, I gave Toire a questioning look, and she brought us closer to the window of a shop that seemed dedicated to selling cats so that Cassie could look at them without freaking out. She and Charis were immediately mesmerized.

"She overheard us talking with Aunt Ginny about what the Ministry's plan was for all those poor missing children," she explained quietly. "So far, it's been nearly impossible to find living relatives, so they're looking into other options."

"Such as?" I pursed my lips, suddenly worried that all of these children were going to get dumped into the foster system, and have just as difficult a childhood as I did, growing up with muggles who weren't paid enough to deal with magical shenanigans.

"A form of adoption." Toire smiled and nodded as Charis turned to point at a ginger cat and made her hair turn orange at the same time. "The children that were rescued last year have already formed attachments with the DA members they stayed with while in hiding, so that's the logical place to start. But there's at least forty other children. I guess Parliament is considering framing it as a duty that wizarding couples have, to take in a child. They're just going to go down the list, pairing children with willing parents."

I frowned. "Why is that upsetting for Cassie?"

"I'm not entirely sure..." She let out a sigh, brow furrowed in thought as she regarded the little girl. "I think she's worried that she'll get taken away and placed somewhere else. We never really talked about what it would be like after the war. Initially, this was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but Teddy and I fell in love with her so quickly..." She shook her head. "Our only worry is that the committee they're forming is going to think we're too young to care for a seven-year-old. We were still at Hogwarts when she was born, you know."

"Does she know that?"

"Oh, no. We're trying not to worry her. We're supposed to plead our case next week, so I suppose we'll see what happens."

"If they don't let you adopt her, maybe they'd let Aunt Andromeda?" I suggested. "She's more than old enough."

Toire laughed. "That's true, I guess. She might be a little too old, though..."

Cassie laughed as two of the kittens playfully swatted at each other, and I smiled sadly. "Is that why we're getting a pygmy puff today, as well as toys?"

"If they do decide to take her away, I'm hoping a pet will be a little comfort to her," Toire said, nodding. "I'm just so worried... She took so long to warm up to us, and I can't imagine it being a smooth transition for her if they try to put her somewhere else."

"Surely they'll see that this is the best place for her," I said, shaking my head. "She's so happy with you, and you and Teddy are so patient with her..."

Toire smiled. "We're hoping the committee agrees with you, Astra. Until we talk to them, though, there's no use worrying more about it, right?"

Finally, we made it to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Cassie's eyes grew bigger than the pygmy puffs themselves when she saw them. "They're so cute!"

"I know!" Toire crouched down so she was eye level with Cassie, peering through the glass of the enclosure. "Which do you like better, pink or purple?"

Cassie's brow furrowed like she was processing through some theoretical physics, but finally she nodded matter-of-factly. "Purple."

The worker standing by the display smiled widely. "We've got three purple ones at the moment. This here's Matilda..." She pointed at the one right in front of the glass, snuggled up against two pink pygmy puffs. "And that's Bruce..." That one was lying on its back, asleep. "And finally... oh, where did you go... aha!" She pointed to one that was hiding inside the fake log. "That's Toby. He's a shy one."

Toire glanced at Cassie questioningly. "Which do you like the best, love? You get to take it home."

"Really?" Cassie was nearly shaking with excitement. "Um... um..." She finally pointed at the one under the log. "I like him. He's kind of like me."

Toire pursed her lips, clearly confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's shy, like me. But we'll take him home, and then he doesn't have to be afraid anymore."

I blinked and there were tears in my eyes. Merlin, why did this little girl have to be so precious? The idea that she might end up in someone else's family was too much.

Toire smiled, her eyes a little shiny. "That's perfect, Cass." She glanced up at the worker. "We'll take that one."

Ten minutes later, we were walking back out of the shop with a brand-new member of the family. They'd put Toby the pygmy puff in a little plastic enclosure that was light enough for Cassie to hold. I think a lot of children her age probably would've been swinging it around with excitement, but Cassie was being very careful to keep the pygmy puff still, constantly leaning down to whisper to it that everything was going to be okay and she was his family now.

"Well, the toys I want to get are muggle-made," Toire said as approached the Leaky Cauldron. "I think there should be some toy shops around that we can walk to. Is there a way to see that on here?" She handed me her phone.

I went to the map, typed in toys, and got several pop-ups within walking distance. "This one looks promising. It's three blocks away, once we're out in London."

Before we left the tavern, Toire took the little cloth covering they'd given us and put it over Toby's box. "If anyone asks, Cass, you have a hamster, and he's sleeping. Don't show that to any muggles, all right?"

Cassie nodded seriously, and after I hoisted Charis onto my back, we made our way onto the street, Cassie holding tightly to Toire's hand.

We popped into several shops, and luckily no one batted an eye at Cassie's strangely-shaped package. I followed along as Toire picked out some books, Frozen-themed dress up clothes, and puzzles for the girls to have at Aunt Andromeda's house. As we reached the third shop, she said, "I think after this we'll floo to Gran's house, okay?"

Charis, who had gotten tired of being out and about back at shop number two, yelled, "Yay!" as loud as she could into my ear before she went back to trying to wriggle out of my arms. Cassie smiled excitedly. "Really? I've never been there!"

"I know!" Toire smiled. "We won't be able to stay long, because Teddy will be home soon." And Colette would be home, perhaps the more pressing issue. "But we'll at least drop off the toys and look around, all right? You can introduce Gran to Toby."

"Go to Gran's now?" Charis whined, leaning so far away from me that it was a struggle to keep her from tumbling out of my arms and falling on her head. "Please?"

"Not quite yet." Toire ruffled her hair. "You're being a very big girl today. Just one more shop, all right?"

She let out a very dramatic sigh and went limp in my arms, but at least she didn't keep whining. As Toire and Cassie went off in search of some educational game or something, I took Charis over to the front to look at the Disney-themed doll display by the registers.

"Elsa!" Charis yelled. She started squirming so much that I finally set her down, but luckily she stayed right where I put her, reaching out to pat each doll as she said their names. "Anna! 'Punzel!"

I let out a sigh of relief. Today had been the first day I'd had to deal with a cranky Charis out in public since she was about one and a half, and this version of her was way more tiring to deal with. At least last year she couldn't run out the door. I suppose it didn't help that it was currently naptime.

Once I was sure that Charis was thoroughly distracted, I glanced around the shop, hoping there weren't any muggles nearby. Although Charis could control what color her hair was most of time now, I'd noticed that she struggled more when she was tired. I didn't want any flabbergasted muggles screaming about the little girl whose blonde hair had just turned red to match Princess Ariel.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be any other customers just then. The only person around was the employee, who was scrolling her phone with furrowed eyebrows at the cash register desk. I scooted around so that Charis was mostly hidden behind me, then frowned and turned back to the employee. Why did she look so familiar?

To my surprise, she was staring at me now, blinking. I froze, suddenly worried she'd seen Charis change hair colors, but she didn't look terrified. In fact, the look in her eyes was almost like she knew me...?

She bit her lip. "I... I'm sorry. I just... you look so much like someone I used to... Well, surely you're not..." She shook her head. "Astra?"

Out of context, I had hardly recognized her, but now... "Mara?"

My old foster sister stared at me for a moment. I mean, at least she wasn't glaring. "It is you," she said finally, shaking her head in disbelief. "Wow. Um... how are you?"

"Really good." I paused, wondering what exactly was appropriate here. Mara had been horrible to me growing up, of course, but was that a reason to be horrible back right now? At least she wasn't being malicious. I suppose she really was just a kid when I'd lived with the Lewises. Could I fully blame her for following along with what her parents said and did? "Uh... yeah, I'm good. How are you?"

"Fine." She nodded, smiling a little awkwardly. "Just trying to work myself through uni. Zach and I actually have a flat a few blocks over."

I frowned, trying to place that name, but came up with a blank. I thought my foster's brother name was Cameron? "Um... Zach?"

"Oh, he's my boyfriend," Mara said, cringing. "You... you met him once, the day before you left?"

"Oh... him..." I felt a twinge of guilt, thinking back to that day. Sure, the Lewises were awful people and treated me terribly in front of him, but maybe I'd gone a bit overboard, trying to scare all of them. I was kind of glad to hear that the poor guy had stuck around.

"Listen, um, I've actually been meaning to look you up..." Mara was staring down at the desk now, face growing pink. "I feel like... I don't know. I wanted to say sorry for being so miserable, back in the day? I guess you couldn't really help being... well, you know, the way that you are."

My mouth dropped open. Now this was something I'd never expected to hear. Mara Lewis apologizing? Well, to be fair, I'd never expected to see her again, but this was beyond the realm of imagination. Was I dreaming?

My lack of response seemed to be making her nervous. Mara rubbed the back of her neck, still avoiding my eyes. "Mum and Dad weren't the best to you. I get that now. I... I'm sorry I didn't, when we were kids."

Finally, my mouth caught up with my brain. "Oh, uh, it's okay. I mean..." I sighed and shook my head. "I guess it wasn't. But... I mean... you were a kid. I'm sure you were scared of me. I... I can't really blame you for that."

She smiled weakly, then glanced past me at Charis. "Is... is that...?"

I shook my head. I wasn't sure what I thought she was about to say, but it would probably be wrong. "This is my cousin's daughter, actually. Charis."

Charis looked over at Mara uncertainly, then glanced up at me. "I'm Charis."

"I know, Char." I nodded towards Mara. "Can you say hi? This is... it's someone I used to live with, before Hogwarts."

She waved hesitantly, then frowned up at me and loudly whispered, "A muggle?"

"Yes, she's a muggle, but she knows about magic. You don't need to be afraid of muggles, silly."

Charis frowned at Mara for a second longer, then turned back to the dolls as if nothing had happened. Half a second later, though, her hair had turned brown.

"Oh, Merlin..." I quickly moved in front of her, but one look at Mara's stunned face told me she'd already seen it. "That's normal, okay? She just can't always control it."

Mara nodded weakly. "Do you... do you all do that?"

"What? No, no..." I bit down a groan. "Her dad's a metamorphmagus, and he passed it down to her. It means they can change their appearance at will. But she can't hurt you. She's only two."

"Oh, right..." She tried to smile, but it looked more frightened than anything else. "I'm glad you actually found your family. But are they all... you know...?"

I pursed my lips. There was the old Mara I remembered. "If you mean are they all witches and wizards, yes, they are."

"Oh." She let out an awkward laugh. "I suppose that makes sense."

Just then Victoire and Cassie appeared, holding a few games. "All right, I think we're done! Are you ready to go to Gran's?"

"Gran!" Charis shouted, jumping up and down. "Yay!"

"We've just got to check out first," Victoire said, placing the boxes down on the counter. Just then, she seemed to take in the awkward way Mara and I were avoiding looking at each other. "Oh, is something wrong?"

"No," I said quickly, moving over to stand next to her at the register. "This is my... my foster sister. Mara, this is Victoire and Cassie."

Victoire's expression immediately grew cold. "This is Mara Lewis," she asked, in a tone that wasn't really a question at all.

Mara's eyes had grown wide, darting between Toire and me like she was afraid we were about to pull out a gun and rob the place. I rolled my eyes. "It's illegal for us to do magic in front of muggles, Mara. I don't fancy getting arrested. Neither does Toire. Right?" I gave her a pointed look, and Toire pursed her lips before nodding once. "Toire is my cousin. Well, she married my cousin." I shook my head, feeling flustered now. "She's basically my cousin."

"Right..." Mara said weakly.

"We were just catching up," I explained, turning back to Toire, who still had a glint of something very cold in her eyes. She raised an eyebrow, and I added, "She was apologizing... for when we were kids..."

Before Toire could respond, I felt Cassie tugging on my hand. When I turned to look at her, she shot Mara a wary glance before looking back at me. "What's a foster sister?" she whispered.

"It's like..." I frowned. "Before I came to Hogwarts, I lived with another family, because I didn't have any family that I knew about. So I was kind of like Mara's sister, but not really."

"Oh." Cassie seemed a little troubled by that. "And you don't talk to them anymore?"

"Not really, no..." I glanced at Mara. "It didn't really end well..."

"And Astra doesn't need a foster family anymore, because she has us," Toire said sharply. "So perhaps we should stop meddling in the past and you could just ring us up?"

"Toire..." I groaned as Mara shrank back a bit. "It's fine, okay? Please, let me handle this?"

Mara was already scanning the games, avoiding looking at any of us. "I'm so sorry to bother you," she said softly. "My boss is in the back, and—"

I held my hand out. "Please, everyone, relax, okay? No one's complaining to your boss, and no one is bullying me right now. We're all fine."

Toire frowned at Mara for a moment, like she was taking a moment to collect herself. "Right. Sorry. I'm sure you can understand why I'd be wary of your family, though?"

Mara nodded quickly, still not looking up. "No, I understand now. I know there wasn't anything wrong with Astra. It was my parents the whole time. Actually, they got a lot worse toward the rest of us after you left. I don't really talk to them much anymore..."

You know, I never thought I'd be in a position where I could relate to Mara Lewis, but so many impossible things had happened in the past month that maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. There was a tiny voice inside me that was laughing and pointing, feeling vindicated that Mara had apparently started getting a fraction of the horrible treatment that I did. That was payback, wasn't it? But that voice was so small, the voice of a vindictive thirteen-year-old that was still in the back of my head. The overwhelming feeling inside me was strange and unexpected—for some reason, I was feeling sympathy for her.

"I'm really glad you're doing okay now," I found myself saying. "Truly."

"You, too," she said, nodding earnestly. She seemed relieved that I wasn't being hostile.

As she handed Victoire her receipt, I cast about for something to say. This seemed like such a strange way to end things, but we were practically strangers. What would've been polite? Before I knew what I was doing, I asked, "Maybe we should catch up sometime...?"

Mara hesitated. "I... I don't know if that's the best idea..."

A small part of me was relieved to hear that. I smiled a little, trying not to let out a sigh of relief. "No, you're probably right. Um... good luck, I guess."

"You, too." Mara waved awkwardly as we left.

I was sure Toire wanted to see if I was okay (I think I was?), but she kept quiet. I guess it wasn't really a conversation to have in front of the girls. Once we got home, everyone was clamoring about for a minute. Charis hardly remembered the place, so while Toire, Aunt Andromeda, and I unloaded the day's finds into the old nursery-turned-playroom, both girls wandered around, exploring.

"So, Astra, are you going to tell Gran about who we met at the shop?"

Aunt Andromeda looked at me curiously, and I winced. "Mara Lewis."

"Lewis? As in that horrible foster home?" Her expression darkened. "I assume that went poorly?"

"No, actually." I shrugged. "It seemed like she's changed a lot. It went surprisingly okay, really."

"Are you sure?" Toire prodded. "How are you feeling about it?"

I tilted my head, pausing to think for a moment. "Lighter, if that makes sense. Like some little weight got lifted off me. I guess it was kind of like a bit of closure?"

I didn't look up to see the look that passed between them, so I'm not sure if they were concerned, alarmed, or just curious. All Aunt Andromeda said was, "Well, I'm glad of that, then. If it will allow you to let go of some of that..."

I shrugged lightly. "I guess. I don't know."

A sound at the door caught my attention, and I turned to see Cassie hesitating in the doorway. "Hey, Cass," Victoire said, smiling at her. "Done exploring?"

She nodded, but didn't move from her spot. Aunt Andromeda frowned. "Are you all right, dear?"

"Is Charis my foster sister?"

"No," Victoire said automatically, frowning in confusion. "That's really more of a muggle thing, Cass."

"But..." Cassie looks down. "Am I going to have to leave, too? Like Astra did?"

Victoire blinked, a sudden sadness flowing across her face. "I hope not, love." She held her arms out, and Cassie crossed over and let her pull her into her lap. "We want you in our family. Teddy and I are doing everything we can to make sure you don't ever have to leave."

"But I might have to?"

Victoire hesitated, and Aunt Andromeda reached out to take Cassie's hand. "It's a possibility. The Ministry of Magic has to decide if Teddy and Toire are the best fit for you." She squeezed her hand. "But I'm not worried about that, dear. I know they'll do the right thing and leave you right where you are."

Cassie sniffled. "Really?"

"Really." Aunt Andromeda stood up. "Now, it's nearly time for you to go home. I'll see you later this week, all right?'

Toire and the girls had only been gone for five minutes when I heard the loud pop outside announcing that Colette had just gotten home. As always, she seemed very worn out, and as always I couldn't tell if she truly was exhausted or simply didn't want to talk much. Always better to err on the side of assuming she was exhausted, of course. Aunt Andromeda and I just shared what we'd done during the day.

When I mentioned running into Mara, Colette looked up at me in surprise. "Actually?"

I nodded, trying not to show my excitement at finally getting her to engage in conversation. "It was really strange. I still don't really know how I feel."

"I would've hexed her," Colette said matter-of-factly.

"Well, that's illegal." I shook my head. "It wasn't that bad. Just strange. She apologized. I guess she's changed a lot."

"Oh." Colette frowned like she couldn't quite understand how that was possible. "How odd," was all she said.

"I probably won't ever see her again," I continued. "It was nice, though. I never thought I'd hear anything like that from any of the Lewises."

"The thing about children is that they grow up," Aunt Andromeda said. "They start to look back on their childhood more critically. It's a lot easier for children to change than for adults. I would have been much more surprised if this had happened with one of the parents."

Colette nodded slowly, as if something had just clicked into place. "They'll never realize, will they?"

"They might, eventually, but there's a high chance it'll be too late to repair the relationships they broke with their children."

I glanced between them, confused. Were they still talking about the Lewises? Why would Colette care about Mr. and Mrs. Lewis? I opened my mouth to ask if I was missing something, but the way Colette was frowning at the table stopped me. She suddenly looked... sad, almost.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, dear," Aunt Andromeda said gently, reaching out to pat her arm.

"You didn't." Colette jerked away from her touch. "I know they're lost causes. They'll die from alcohol poisoning before admitting they were wrong."

Oh. Oh. For a moment, I'd forgotten that Colette had had an equally awful family situation before coming here, if not worse. Unfortunately, her parents didn't even have the excuse of being afraid of magic. At least when I thought back on my time with the Lewises, I didn't take in personally anymore.

"I know we can't fill the hole that your parents left, dear, but we do love you very much." Aunt Andromeda smiled at my friend.

Instantly, Colette closed up. Her expression grew stony, and she raised her eyes to stare at the far wall. I bit my lip. "Colette..."

"What?" she asked coldly.

I glanced helplessly at Aunt Andromeda, who shook her head. "She's been through a lot, dear. She's going to need some space and some time until she can believe that again."

Colette actually glared at Aunt Andromeda. "That's not what's happening here."

"Of course not." She smiled a bit, as if some inside joke had just been said. "We'll stop talking about it."

Later that night, while Colette was in the bathroom, I crept into Aunt Andromeda's room. "I'm worried about Colette."

She looked up from her book and smiled sadly. "I told you. She just needs time. When you've been treated as cruelly as she has, and thought you've lost everything you've ever cared about, and then that's suddenly over and everything is back, it takes time to adjust. She's going to take a while to trust anything kind again."

"But how long?" I glanced over my shoulder, but the bathroom door was still closed. "I don't know how to talk to her like this."

"I don't know, dear. But I do think that you and your friends are going to be a big piece of what brings her out of this. Just keep up what you're doing."

That wasn't exactly the comforting wisdom I'd been hoping for, but I guessed it was the best I would get. I said goodnight and crept back out into the hall. Unfortunately, the bathroom door was now open, and I could see the lamp on in our room. Damn it. She'd probably seen me in Aunt Andromeda's room.

Sure enough, as soon as I walked in, Colette said, "You were talking about me."

I winced. No use denying it, was there? "Sorry..."

She shook her head and sat down on her bed in the corner. "I wish you'd stop."

"I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be." She was frowning right at me, eyes following me as I walked across the room to sit on my own bed. I found I couldn't quite meet her eyes as she continued, "It's just empty words, Astra."

"No, they're—"

"Mrs. Tonks might not think they are now, but trust me, they'll turn out to be." She looked down, stoic expression suddenly replaced by bitterness. "I know you mean it, okay? But pretty soon, they're going to realize exactly how horrible I actually am, and they're not going to want me anywhere near themselves or you."

"That's not going to happen."

"Of course you think that." Colette's face softened a little bit. "It's not empty words, for you. You've never done anything so horrible that you deserve to be completely cut off from society.."

"You don't deserve that!" I groaned in frustration. "Why won't you just listen to me?"

"I'd ask you the same question," she said, "but I already know you can't understand."

What was I supposed to say to that? She wasn't wrong. How was I supposed to argue with Colette St. Pierre that the reason I couldn't understand her right now was that she wasn't making any logical sense, though? That had literally never happened before.

"Good night, Astra." Before I could think of anything to say, she'd already pulled the covers over herself and rolled over so I couldn't see her face anymore.

~~~~

A few days later, we went to the memorial at Hogwarts. All of our Gryffindor friends made a huge fuss over Colette, which she took rather stoically. I could see a little discomfort in her expression when Lacy called her a hero, which I had to assume was a tiny glimpse of how she was actually feeling, but I didn't point it out. Not even Albus being by her side seemed to help. As soon as she could, she slipped out of the Great Hall.

The obvious next step was to get Wren involved. Colette wouldn't talk to me, and she wouldn't talk to Albus, but Wren was different. She'd be able to understand a lot better than we could, at least. Hopefully.

"Maybe go sit with her for a while, so she's not alone?" I begged her. For some reason, Wren seemed to think she wouldn't be able to help, either, which was ridiculous to me. "If she's going to open up to anyone, I'll bet it's going to be you."

Wren still seemed reluctant, but she glanced over at James, who patted her on the back. "I'll be fine, Wren. We'll find each other again later, okay?"

"Okay..." Wren nodded resolutely, then slipped off towards the doors.

I let out a sigh of relief. Surely this would work. Soon, Colette would be back to her normal self, right?

"Haven't seen you around the Ministry, lately," James said, snapping me back to the present.

I shrugged. "I think they asked all the questions they could four times over. There's not much I can actually do to help with anything, other than be a spokesperson every once in a while."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." He sighed. "I've missed seeing you."

I chuckled. "Now that Wren's about to graduate, we could come visit you for lunch if you wanted?"

"That'd be nice."

He still seemed down, and I frowned, tilting my head. "Are you okay?"

James thought about that for a moment before shrugging. "Just feeling kind of isolated, I guess. Mum's back, and Al's back, and Wren and Lily are about to be home, too, but I can't really go see them."

"You can't?"

He gave me a look that seemed to ask if I was completely stupid. "No. Al's there."

"Oh..." Of course. I'd seen Al enough to know that they weren't yet on speaking terms. "I'm sorry, James."

"I mean, I knew he might take a while to forgive me, but..." He shook his head. "He won't even see me. Mum said that when she mentions my name, he gets all cold and moody."

"At least you have Fred," I offered weakly.

"I'd rather just be home." James sighed. "I'm so tired of all this Ministry work, and not being able to go home, and everything."

"You're tired of the Ministry?"

"I hate the politics," James explained. "I'm sure things will be different under Carrow, but the past six months were so horrible... I can't wait to get out. I'm leaving as soon as they'll let me."

I pursed my lips, wondering whether I should be worried or not. "Well, I'm glad if that's what will make you happy. What are you going to do now?"

He glanced around to make sure no one nearby was listening, then pulled me over to the wall. "Madam Hooch reached out to me a few days ago. She said she's finally retiring, and that she'd be happy to give me a good recommendation if I wanted to apply for the job. I actually came up early today to talk to Haverna about it..."

"And?"

He grinned. "I got the position."

My eyes widened in surprise, and I couldn't help smiling. "Merlin, James, that's so exciting! You'd be so good at that!"

"I hope so..." He flushed red. "Though if Al and I haven't made up by September, I might have to pass on it."

My smile dropped. "Is this something you really want to do?"

He nodded quickly. "It feels right, somehow. I think I'd really enjoy it. But... I can't really do anything if Albus won't talk to me."

"James, no." I huffed. It had only been a few weeks since Albus and I had made up, but already I was tired of this feud between him and James. Obviously, James's lie had been hurtful, but surely Al was taking this a little too far? I wasn't sure that he realized how miserable James was. Or maybe he did, and he wanted him to feel that way? Either way, I was ready to march James over to where Albus and his mum were standing and demand that they apologize and shake hands. Unfortunately, James had already asked me several times not to get involved, and I cared about our friendship too much to go behind his back and meddle.

Still, it wasn't fair to James for this to affect his ability to get a job. "Whether you and Albus are talking or not, you should do it. You'll be amazing at it, and Albus can just deal with it. He can't avoid you forever, just like you can't avoid him."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely." I shook my head. "You can't spend the rest of your life trying to plan around Al, you know. I bet your mum would tell you to take the job, too."

He was smiling, seeming relieved. "Thanks, Astra. I guess I needed to hear that." He laughed. "Wow. This is actually happening! I just can't imagine everyone calling me 'Mr. Potter'..."

Oh. That did sound really weird. "Is there something else they could call you?"

"I don't know. I don't think Haverna would really like it if I let all the students call me 'James.' Or whoever the new headmaster will be."

I scrunched up my face in thought. "Maybe you could be Coach Potter?"

"Coach Potter..." James repeated thoughtfully. "I like that."

"I'm still going to call you James, though." I shrugged. "Haverna can give me as much detention as she wants."

James smiled. "It'd be weird if you didn't."

~~~~

Though they hadn't come to the memorial, Teddy and Toire decided that graduation was a must, especially with two of Cassie's favorite people being graduates. They promised to stay well away from Colette (telling her that was the only way we could convince to still go). Aunt Andromeda sent me over to their flat to "help get the girls ready," which I think really meant give Colette some space and not press her to talk to the Lupins before she was ready.

By the time I got there, Cassie was sitting on the couch, already fed and dressed in a blue paisley dress. Charis was running around screaming in her pyjamas as Toire chased her with a brush and a hairbow. Teddy was filming and laughing, which didn't seem to be helping much but would make for quality entertainment later, so I didn't say anything. Instead, I sat down on the couch next to Cassie.

"Are you excited to see Hogwarts for the first time?"

She started and looked up at me in surprise, like she hadn't known I was there. "What?"

"I asked if you were excited about going to Hogwarts." I smiled at her, but she just shrugged and looked down. Serious thoughts on her mind, then. I hoped it wasn't about foster care again, but I asked anyway, "What's wrong, Cass?"

She looked up at me again, eyes wide and troubled now. "All the bad things at the battle, did they happen because I dreamed about them?"

I blinked, hoping I didn't look as horrified as I felt. Where had she gotten that idea? "Oh, no, not at all! It's not your fault."

"But I dreamed about it. The special dreams that come true."

There was nothing I could do but stare at her as I tried to puzzle out what connection there was between that and what she'd said. "I... I'm confused, Cassie. How would that make it your fault?"

She shrank away, pulling her knees up to her chest as she did. "You said that when we dream about things, they're going to happen."

In spite of myself, I cringed. "That's not what I meant. We don't make them happen." I still wasn't sure where she'd gotten that idea, but I was trying to think back on my own experiences to see if I could relate to anything here. "We just... we just see things. We can't control any of it."

The way she was frowning incredulously at me told me she was entirely unconvinced. I sighed, but then my eyes widened. I did know how she was feeling! "Cass, do you remember the night that Albus, Wren, and I tried to get you out of Stillens' house?"

She whimpered at his name, but nodded. "It didn't work, and Wren got left behind."

"Right." I hesitated. Had I ever even told anyone about this? Now I couldn't remember. "Albus and I were supposed to go alone, you know. We didn't plan for Wren to be with us. But she caught us sneaking out of school, and she wouldn't let us leave without her."

Cassie was still frowning, clearly not seeing the connection. It took a second to find words that I thought she would be able to understand. "When we were leaving, I started to get a very bad feeling. Like... I almost saw a flash of what was going to happen, it felt like. And I knew Wren shouldn't have come. I knew something bad was going to happen to her."

Now Cassie was watching me with rapt attention. Good. That meant I was making some kind of sense. "I told Wren something bad was going to happen, and I tried to convince her not to go farther, but she wouldn't listen to me. And... well, I guess you already know something bad did end up happening."

She looked down. "Wren got trapped, like me."

"Yeah." I took Cassie's hand and leaned down so I was closer to her line of sight. "I felt like it was all my fault. Like if I'd done something different, Wren would've been safe. But after a while, I realized that I did all we can ever do. I told Wren what I'd felt, and she made her own choice after that." Well, it was a lot more complicated than that, and I certainly did deserve a good part of the blame for that night, but not because of the inner eye or whatever. That was just for my stupidity, and we didn't need to get into that.

Cassie stared at me, seeming so close, but there was still something that hadn't clicked. I smiled sadly at her. "Like I said, when we see things, we can't control them. The best we can do is tell people, so they know what to expect."

"Oh..." she said softly.

I put my arm around her shoulders. "It's a big responsibility. I'm sorry you have to carry it, because it's no fun. I'd take it away if I could. But at least you've got me, right?"

She nodded quickly, then threw her arms around me. Had that worked all the way? I didn't know. I wasn't even entirely sure why she was worrying about this to begin with. Maybe she'd been asking about the memorial last night? It didn't matter. At least I'd made her feel better for now, and we could keep talking about this later if she ended up worried again.

By then, Toire had finally wrangled Charis into a bow, and Teddy had gotten a yellow sundress onto her. "Are you heading back to Gran's, or coming with us?" Teddy asked.

"I should probably go back." Whatever happened, I wanted to sit with Colette during the ceremony. I hadn't been letting myself think about it much, but I was feeling strange about going to what should have been my own graduation as just a guest.

In the end, Albus sat with us, too. Though none of us said it, I think we were all feeling a little bitter that we weren't also getting to graduate with our friends. Of course, Albus and I cheered for each of them, and Colette at least clapped when Wren walked across the stage set up in the Great Hall, but to me, it all felt a little muted. It was weird leaving after the ceremony to go home, knowing Wren would be riding the train back the next day. I guess it was pretty normal for Colette to be quiet at dinner, but the silence felt unnatural, probably because I was doing nothing to fill it.

I tried to invite Wren and Albus to spend the night the day she got back, but Aunt Andromeda made me wait until Monday to give time for Wren to settle in at home again. I was just desperate for the four of us to be back together, really. Watching Wren graduate without the rest of us had just felt... wrong.

Luckily (or unluckily), I had plenty to distract me on Monday. I'd been enlisted to babysit Cassie and Charis while Teddy, Toire, and Aunt Andromeda went up to the Ministry to meet with that missing child committee about Cassie. Charis was happily oblivious, of course, and spent most of the time pulling as many toy bins out as she could and dumping them on the living room floor, only to keep going back to the same two dolls. Cassie, on the other hand, had clearly figured out where all the adults had gone, because after they left, she curled up beneath the window, cuddling Toby the pygmy puff and staring into space.

I gave her some space for a while, but when she still hadn't moved after fifteen minutes, I sat down on the floor next to her. "Are you worried about what they're going to say?"

She nodded, and I could tell she'd been crying at some point based on the tearstains on her face. "I don't want to leave."

I really wanted to tell her that she wouldn't, that everything would be okay. But I didn't know if that was true. If the committee ended up being stupid, that would just make it all worse for her, right? I smiled sadly. "I don't want you to, either. I'm sorry, Cass. I wish we didn't have to wait so long."

Cassie just sighed. I hesitated, wondering how we could make the time go faster. "Why don't we watch a movie? I bet they'll be back before it's even over."

She sniffled a little, but nodded. When I asked what she wanted to watch, she didn't care, so I let Charis choose (Frozen, obviously). I'm not sure how much of the movie Cassie actually watched, though I at least got her to move to the couch instead of the floor. She snuggled against my arm through most of it, being very careful to give Toby enough room to breathe. I guess it was probably a bad sign that she didn't sing along with any of the songs...

It was just reaching the climax when I heard keys jingling in the door. I hopped up from the couch, suddenly feeling a little sick, but Cassie seemed to shrink back into the cushions finally setting Toby down beside her. When the door opened, Charis squealed and ran over to hug Teddy's legs. I raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

They ignored me. Toire walked over to sit by Cassie on the couch, and Teddy crouched down in front of her. "Well, Cass, they made a decision."

She didn't say anything, just stared at him with a troubled expression. Teddy shot a glance at Toire, who smiled and nodded. He gently took Cassie's hands in his and said, "We get to be your family, if you'll have us."

She gasped a little, eyes widening in disbelief. "Really?"

"Really." Teddy grinned. "Forever."

And suddenly Cassie was no longer on the couch, but hugging Teddy tightly. The way her shoulders were shaking told me she was crying. As Toire scooted forward to hug both of them, I had to reach up and wipe at my own eyes.

~~~~

I was walking on air by the time we got back home. I'd nearly forgotten Wren and Albus were coming over, but for the first time I didn't mind having to clean my room quickly. They arrived just a few minutes after Colette got home from the Ministry. Twenty minutes later, we were holed up in my room with bowls of popcorn, and for the first time in over a year (barring the battle), we were together again.

"It felt really lonely, graduating without you all," Wren confessed. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Colette's bed, right across from me. "I kept thinking that it should've Albus sitting next to me, not Reya."

"If it makes you feel better, watching everyone graduate without us was also very weird," Albus said. He reached down from where he was laying on my bed, propped up by a pillow, to take some popcorn from my bowl.

"I'm sure it'll feel just as strange next year," Colette pointed out. She was sitting on the edge of her bed beside Wren, and now she looked down at her. "You'll be the one sitting by yourself in the crowd, though."

"What are you going to do now, Wren?" Albus asked.

She let out a breath, frowning thoughtfully at the end of my bed, then shrugged a little. "I stopped thinking this far ahead a while ago."

"You wanted to be a healer back in fifth year, didn't you?"

Though she nodded, she still seemed unsure. "I did say that. But... I don't know that I can handle seeing people in pain all the time. I feel like I've had enough of that for one lifetime."

We all mumbled things that resembled, "Oh, yeah," and, "That makes sense." I shook my head. "You don't have any ideas?"

"Well..." Wren looked down. "Ciara and I were talking... Of course, you know she wanted to be a professional Quidditch player."

Albus sighed. "I feel so bad for her. It's not fair. One stray curse, and her whole life is ruined."

"I wouldn't say ruined," Wren said, frowning at him in concerned. "That's pretty bleak. She's certainly trying not to think that way."

"Sorry," Al said, chuckling. "Go on."

"Anyway, we were talking, and neither of us are entirely sure where the future should take us, so I suggested that maybe instead of decided right now, we could just go to college?"

"But there aren't any wizarding universities," I said, frowning. "How are you supposed to do that?"

"It would have to be a muggle one, of course. We talked to Haverna about it a few days ago, and she said it's been done before. It's really late to apply, but we thought we'd try a few schools. At least then I've got four years to think about what I want to do."

"You'd be a good teacher," Colette said matter-of-factly. "You're probably the only reason those two got as far at Hogwarts as they did."

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Rude!" My indignation was entirely fake, of course, and trying to cover up how happy I was to see Colette finally having just a bit of fun. I'd known things would get better after school got out. "I'll have you know, I had the highest marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts every single year, thank you very much."

Wren turned to look up at Colette questioningly. "Do you really think that? About me being a teacher?"

She shrugged, growing serious. "Yes. You're always so patient, and I wasn't totally joking about Albus and Astra. I think you taught them more than Binns did, at least."

"That's like saying she taught us more than a potted plant did," Albus protested.

"You could have read the books on your own," Colette pointed out.

"Fair point..."

Wren had grown thoughtful. "That might be a good idea. They have degrees in education at muggle colleges, you know. And Haverna is looking into hiring more professors down the line..."

"Is she officially the new headmistress?" Albus asked, then groaned. "We're going to be in detention every day!"

"No, no, she doesn't want the job," Wren said quickly. "She's just working with the board of governors to implement some changes before they hire a permanent replacement. One thing that she's adamant about is the professors needing a lighter workload." Her eyes seemed to grow brighter as she smiled. "Have you heard about James' new job?"

I nodded, shooting a worried look at Al, but he just pursed his lips and didn't say anything. Luckily, Colette was shaking her head no and Wren seemed to be not looking at Al on purpose. "He's taking over for Madam Hooch, since she's retiring," Wren explained. "But Haverna also asked him today if he would be interested in teaching the first year Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. I think she wants to test it out before hiring a bunch of new teachers. And I think James and Professor Rinduli will get along well..."

Albus laughed darkly. "He would."

"She's really lovely, actually," Wren said, frowning at him. "What you saw was her trying to keep her cover from me and Petrov."

"Whatever you say." He narrowed his eyes. "Can we go back to talking about you, instead of him?"

Wren wilted a bit, and I jumped in. "Well, I think that's a lovely idea. I bet Haverna wouldn't have been anywhere near as grouchy as she was if she hadn't had... what, thirty-five classes a week?"

"It's something ridiculous like that," Wren said, nodding. "I really hope it works out with... well, I really hope it works out."

"You know what you'd be perfect for?" I asked, grinning. "Charms! I bet no one else could handle working with Haverna."

Albus burst out laughing, Wren giggled seemingly in spite of herself, and even Colette smiled at that. Perfect! If only I could get her to laugh...

"Are you still planning on law, Astra?" Albus asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Definitely." I made a face at him. "When have I ever changed my mind about doing something?"

He laughed again. "Just checking. I was wondering if radio broadcasting might be your calling."

"Merlin, no." I shuddered at the thought. "After the vile things I had to say about Wren, that really lost its charm."

"What did?" Colette asked.

"She did secret radio broadcasts for the DA," Wren explained, smiling proudly at me. "DA members would secretly place radios in places where a lot of people would hear, then suddenly she'd be broadcasting everything that Stillens and Russey didn't want anyone to know. It was amazing, really."

"I never got to hear any, but I've been told you did a great job," Albus agreed, reaching down to pat my shoulder.

I shrugged. "Maybe I'll change my mind when I'm older. First, I've got to get my dad out of Azkaban."

"What if Carrow abolishes it first?" Albus prodded. "Wren's supposed to give a speech in front of Parliament about that next month, you know."

I smiled at her, even though she looked a bit queasy at the mention. "And she's going to do splendidly, of course. But I'll still want to be a lawyer." I frowned up at him. "What about you, hmm? What's your plan, exactly?"

To my surprise, he smiled. "Poppy and I haven't really figured out all the details yet, but I'd really like to visit all these werewolf colonies in Europe that I've heard about and see how they live. And of course Poppy has her apprenticeship with a magizoologist this year, but next year she wants to focus her studies on werewolves and how they interact with non-sentient magical creatures." He shrugged. "She wants us to advocate for werewolf rights someday, too. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to handle that, but at least finding other werewolves who aren't like the scary stories will be nice."

"Oh, come on, Al," I said, frowning up at him upside down. "You'd be amazing at that. I can see you becoming the first werewolf Minister of Magic."

He blushed bright red. "That's... I don't... No, that..."

"Shut up and take the compliment," Colette said, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're a really good leader, Albus."

"They wouldn't have asked you to be headboy again if you weren't," Wren pointed out. "You could probably do a lot of good for werewolves here."

"Maybe..." he mumbled. "Um... Colette, what are you going to do when you grow up?"

"Well, I'm already working with Unspeakables, so if I don't go to prison—"

"Don't finish that sentence," I snapped. "You know you're not going to prison."

Colette shot one of her withering glares at me that didn't have much effect since I'd long since grown immune to them. "I was going to say that I've been offered a place in the Department of Mysteries once Nico doesn't need help with rehabilitation anymore. I just have to pass my N.E.W.T.s."

"Colette, that's amazing!" Wren exclaimed, fully turning around so she could grin at her. "That's what you've always wanted!"

"They're only doing it so that I can make a counterspell," she argued.

"No, they're doing it because they'd be insane to let the best spellmaker in a generation slip through their fingers," Albus corrected. "You're a genius, Colette. They see that as well as we do."

She sighed but didn't argue, which was a good sign. I couldn't help laughing, and I was quickly joined by Al and Wren. Once again, Colette just smiled, but I did think it was a wider one than before.

Just then, it finally hit me that everything was over. Things were finally getting back to normal, and they were going to stay this way. Of course, all four of us had changed so much since we'd met each other. If I thought back to us in first and second year, I hardly recognized my friends around me. We'd been through so much and come out on the other side together. I was confident that the same thing was happening now.

All was not well. It was more complicated than that, and I thought it would be for a long time. But maybe one day we'd get there, to the place where all was well, and I suppose being on the journey there is good enough.

~~~~

Word count: 10055