The second that Manda arrived at the Zabini household, she realised that she had needed a break from the hustle and bustle of 12 Grimmauld Place.

It was a quick trip and she arrived in the front room with a sigh of relief. There was something about the Zabini home that made Manda feel safe and comforted despite it's immense size (which seemed ridiculous considering all that lived there were two people). Then again, it wasn't like they didn't use every single room in the home. Quite a few were used as guest bedrooms but one was Manda's permanent room. They had it right across from an art studio that they had there for her as well for whenever she stayed at the Zabini home.

Manda was quietly swept in to a hug by Antonia Zabini, the woman who had basically been like a mother to her Manda's entire life. Manda sighed contently and hugged back, relaxing in to the warm, comforting body of her best friend's mother. There was something about Antonia's perfume that was always so comforting to Manda and she used to buy herself bottles of it and spray it on her pillow for whenever her nightmares started up or she was having a bad day. It helped her sleep and it helped her feel so safe.

Of course she had never told Antonia this but she had a sneaky suspicion that Blaise had because when Antonia had tried out a new perfume, the next time that Manda saw her, she was back to her normal brand. She suspected that Blaise had said something when he'd noticed how little Manda had relaxed in his mother's arms that day.

"I'm so glad you're here. I wish you'd taken us up on our offer to come with us this summer but I understand why you didn't," Antonia said softly as she pulled away and smoothed down Manda's hair.

"Maybe next year? Things at home should have calmed down by then," Manda suggested with a soft smile on her face.

"Mum, seriously, stop hogging my friend," Blaise complained as he made his way down the stairs and over to the two of them, taking Manda's hand. "We'll be upstairs. Theo said he'll be by in about an hour or two, that okay?"

"Of course. I'll bring you up something to drink," Antonia told her softly before she watched the two kids head upstairs.

Manda flopped on to Blaise's bed and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't need to look around the room. It looked exactly the same as it always had, only sometimes it had some things added to it. His bedroom hadn't changed in the last two years. The back wall was still covered in books and shelves along with a couple of ornaments. The only difference with the bookcase was that some ornaments had been switched out for books. His dresser still stood under his bedroom window with a box containing his rings and his bed was still in the middle of the room.

Blaise sat down beside her, crossing his legs over each other with a raised eyebrow. "You look... drained."

"Apparently having a family does that," Manda commented as she looked over at her best friend.

"Well, I wouldn't know. It's just Mum and I here."

"Very true. Then again, I do also have a crying, attention seeking toddler at home as well which might contribute to the exhaustion."

"Don't you usually just magic away the bags under your eyes though? Or could you just not be bothered?" Blaise asked her as Manda laid her head in his lap so he would play with her hair. Of course, Blaise obliged, starting to brush through it before he braided certain parts of it.

A lot of people questioned why Blaise knew how to braid hair, and the reason behind it was a rather sad one. Growing up, Manda went through a phase where she only wanted to have her done in a braid. Narcissa never had time and Lucius had obviously refused so Blaise had gone to his mother and practically demanded that she teach him to braid hair. Antonia had obviously been confused but she had never been one to deny Blaise of anything so she had sat him down and taught him exactly how to do it. The next week, Blaise came over early before they were all set to go out and sat Manda down to do her hair for her. He did it for her every day until she grew sick of braids and then he had taught her to do it herself. Though, Manda did usually just get him to do it, enjoying the way that it felt to have someone's fingers run through her hair.

"Usually, I do just magic them away but I really can't be bothered to focus on making sure that they stay hidden at the moment," Manda admitted softly before the two of them settled in to a comfortable quiet.

That quiet didn't last long though and the reason for that can be summed up in two words.

Theodore Nott. 

"Theo?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you just break in to my house?"

"I think that I might have but your mum said it was okay."

Manda rolled her eyes and sat up on Blaise's bed. "If you think about it, we all break in to each other's houses all of the time."

Theo shrugged and flopped on to the foot of the bed, looking up at the dark ceiling. They stayed in a nice silence that both Blaise and Manda knew probably wouldn't last all that long. Theo tended to start talking once he felt a room was too silent so it was probably a good thing that their end of year exams had been cancelled so often. He would have ended up talking throughout the entire thing (which he did during their third year).

"We're all going to be okay this year, aren't we?" Manda asked as she laid down beside Blaise again, her feet in Theo's lap.

"Of course we will be," Blaise told her, wrapping an arm around her. "And you definitely will be. You'll come home at Christmas and your mum would have had the baby and you'll be a big sister. You'll have a properly family Christmas and then you'll go back in summer as well and have the best summer of your life."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Blaise couldn't have been more wrong...