Ugh, such a tough question. The saddest death for me would have to be Cedric. It was the first time Harry saw someone die (and was old enough to understand, of course), and it was so senseless and useless. At least with all the later ones those people were actively fighting back. Cedric was killed just because he was there. Also, I love Cho Chang and gosh darn Rowling, why did you break them up like that?

~~~~

"James, I really think you should let me hold on to the Cloak for a while." Mr. Potter frowned at his elder son from across the desk. Al had insisted we tell him about what had happened, and had let it slip that most of the time, James kept the Cloak in his bag.

James rolled his eyes. "Dad, I can take care of it. You got it when you were eleven, and you held onto it just fine."

"I never told anyone about it except Hermione and Ron," Mr. Potter replied. "And I also didn't have someone trying to steal it."

"How do you know that's what the person wanted?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah!" James said, latching onto the idea. "Maybe it was just someone who lost their books and didn't want to buy anymore."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure that's it," Mr. Potter said.

"It's not like anyone's told us 'Oh, we're trying to steal your Cloak,'" James said.

Al opened his mouth, probably to tell his dad about the letter. I glared at him until he closed it again.

Mr. Potter sighed. "James, who knows about the Cloak? Who did you tell?"

"Astra and Albus, of course," James said. "And Rose. Oh... and Wren..."

"And Ciara Malfoy," I said. "Remember?" Last year, that had been the only way to get past the then unknown attacker and to safety. Ciara had been put under the Imperius Curse, but managed to fight through it, so we were obliged to take her with us.

Mr. Potter gave me a weird look. "You told Ciara Malfoy."

James nodded. "That night when Wren put her under the Imperius Curse. She's such a prat, but we couldn't just leave her there... I mean, I guess we could have, but that's not how the heroes of Hogwarts are supposed to act."

Albus rolled his eyes.

Professor Potter sighed. "James, I still think it's best that I keep it for a while."

"Dad, can't you just have a little faith in us? Astra, Albus, and I can handle it."

Professor Potter looked up at the ceiling, obviously a little frustrated. "I don't doubt you three. You know that, right?"

"Of course," Albus said immediately.

"This is for all of your safety," Mr. Potter continued.

"Dad, we're at Hogwarts. How much safer could it get?"

He frowned at us for several minutes before saying anything to that. Finally, he said, "Fine, if you're careful, I guess you can keep it. But, there are a few conditions."

James, who had leaped out of his chair to do a victory dance, slowly sat back down.

"One, you can't tell anyone else about it without asking me first, unless it's actually a life or death situation. Hopefully, none of you will run into any more of those in your lifetime, let alone this year.

"Two, you won't lend it to anyone outside this room."

"What about Rose?" I protested.

"What on earth would Rose need an Invisibility Cloak for?" Mr. Potter asked.

He had a point. I shrugged.

"The third and final condition is: if at any point I catch any of you using the Cloak to sneak out after hours, or go where you are not supposed to go, I will take it away immediately and give it to Lily when she graduates."

James looked like he wanted to protest that, but Al and I both agreed quickly. We could go without sneaking out after hours for now. As long as he didn't catch us, we'd be able to sneak out, anyway. James rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Mr. Potter looked very reluctant as he said, "All right. Al, I hope you'll make sure they're responsible?"

"I'm responsible!" James and I exclaimed at the same time.

"And Merlin was a Gryffindor," Professor Potter said, laughing. "I'm serious, though, Albus."

"Actually, I'm Sirius," James said, grinning. "James Sirius."

Mr. Potter rolled his eyes and shooed us out, claiming he didn't have time for our nonsense. We left in very high spirits. James still had the Cloak, and we'd be much more careful with it now. If one of us had it, it had to be with us at all times. We couldn't put it down, in case someone ran off with our bag. And Albus suggested that if we decided to put it in one of our trunks, it shouldn't be James's. That'd be whatever this person would expect, and Pouri had access to all the common rooms and dorms in the school. So, if it had to be put in a trunk, it'd be mine or Albus's, and probably mine because how perverted would the headmaster look mounting the stairs to the girls' dorms?

As we reached the portrait, James finally remembered what exactly had brought this to his dad's attention in the first place. "Al, why'd you tell him about the Cloak? You might as well have shoved the letter in his face." His tone sounded a lot sharper than I think he meant.

Albus crossed his arms. "Because if something can get to us here at Hogwarts, Dad needed to know."

"Out of the three times anything weird has happened this year, one was at Hogsmeade. And the first could have just been a student who didn't like Colette."

Al rolled his eyes. "Yes, James, I'm sure you believe that." He looked irritated as he climbed through the portrait hole.

James and I stood outside for a minute, frowning in confusion. All right, maybe James had been a bit harsh, but Al had just kind of blown up, at least for him.

"What's his problem?" James muttered.

"Well... Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing," I ventured, thinking the thought even as I said it. "Maybe he thought we might appreciate him looking out for our safety-"

"But he still told Dad, even when we'd both said we could handle this on our own!" James exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. You work this out with him. It's Al. Obviously, he had the best intentions." I climbed through the portrait hole, not giving James a chance to reply.

It was a few days before James got over himself enough to talk to Albus again. Al acted like nothing had happened at all, and ignored the fact that James was so obviously still upset with him. I did my best to not take sides, taking the opportunity to start looking through the library for anything about my mom. The last thing I needed was to lose one of my two closest friends. Finally, about a week later, James muttered good morning to Albus and it seemed that all had been forgiven.

Later that afternoon, James was sorely beating me at wizard's chess, while occasionally glancing longingly across the room at Mackenzie. It looked like she was trying not to look over at us, and I wondered if maybe they'd had a spat.

"How're things with Mackenzie?" I asked tentatively as James absentmindedly sent his pawn to the wrong square for the third time that game. I didn't think it was a coincidence that he'd glanced at Mackenzie just before each time that had happened.

"What?" James looked back at me, startled. "Oh. I'm not sure. She told me that I needed to sort out my priorities if I ever wanted to actually date her..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

James shrugged. "She said if I really liked her more than I like any other girl, I'd spend more time with her than any other girl. But that's ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, the only people I spend more time with than her are Al and you."

Maybe that's your problem, I thought. Instead of saying that, I said, "That's weird."

"Seriously. I mean, you're a girl, of course. But she's got to know that you're just like Lily. Except less annoying, of course."

This was perhaps the most awkward conversation I'd had in a very long time. I obviously didn't want to tell him to hang out with me less. However, I didn't want to ruin his relationship with Mackenzie. I wanted him to be happy, even if it was happy with someone else. Anyway, I was a little too young to actually be with someone. And strangely enough, over the past few weeks, I hadn't felt quite the amount of butterflies in my stomach every time I saw James, and it hadn't felt as much like electricity every time we bumped into each other. They were still there, they just seemed less pronounced, I guess. Or maybe I was just getting used to it.

"Well..." I shrugged. "I guess just explain that to her...?"

"I did!"

I sighed. "Well, I don't know how to help you, James. If you haven't noticed, I'm not too focused on your love life. If you want advice, go talk to Lacy."

James looked so horrified at the suggestion of going to Lacy for advice that I quickly dropped the topic, taking out one of his pawns in the process. James didn't bring it up again, thankfully.

After a while, Albus wandered over to us. "Hey, James, I was wondering something..."

"What?" James said, not glancing up from the board. I'd managed to check his king, and was praying that I could keep the upper hand. James obviously wouldn't let that happen, and was concentrating on finding something I hadn't thought of.

Al did not care at all that he was interrupting a critical moment in the monumental war we were waging against each other. "Can I borrow the Marauder's Map?"

James grinned as he apparently found a move. "Knight to E6." His knight moved into position, checking my own king. Finally, he looked up at his brother. "No."

"What? Why not?" Al exclaimed.

"Why should I let you? You'll probably go tell Dad about it, since you tell him everything, apparently."

"I do not tell him everything!" Al said, crossing his arms. "And I think I have a right to borrow it, anyway. You wouldn't know how to work it if I hadn't told you."

"I would have figured it out," James said. "Anyway, no."

Albus looked a little flustered as he turned to me. "Astra, help!"

I put my hands up. "Don't get me involved in this!"

James frowned. "It wouldn't matter if she did help you. You can't have it!"

"James!"

"No!"

Al looked like he wanted to argue more (the only time I'd ever seen him look like that), but people were starting to notice the fight, and we couldn't let them know about the map. Finally, he sufficed with stomping off.

James turned back to the game like nothing had happened. "Your turn, Astra."

I stared at him. "James, honestly, do you really want to fight again? You only just got over last time..."

"It's his own fault," said James, rolling his eyes. "If he hadn't told Dad, I'd trust him with the map."

"He'll be more likely to tell Mr. Potter now!" I exclaimed.

"Whatever. Are you going to go or not?"

I moved my piece into a position that would allow a checkmate for James. He looked a bit disappointed, obviously aware that I'd done it on purpose. I ignored him and went to find Al as soon as I'd returned Eric's chess set.

Al was in the library, the first place I looked. He had a book open, but he wasn't reading it. Instead, he was staring off into space. I sat down next to him. "Hey, Al..."

"Hey," Albus said, sounding fairly normal. "I wonder who gave her permission to go in there?" He pointed towards the restricted section, and I looked in the direction he was pointing. Colette was wandering around in the restricted section, which wasn't surprising, I'd seen her in there before. But I'd never wondered how she got permission to go in there. You had to have written permission from a teacher.

"Let's go ask Madam Pince," I suggested.

"Like she'll tell us."

"Come on, just follow my lead."

I walked up to the front desk. Madam Pince was glowering at me as I walked up, which didn't help. Al was right behind me, and I got the impression he was hiding behind me.

When I'd reached the desk, I whispered, "Madam Pince, I think someone snuck into the restricted section-"

"What?" the librarian exclaimed, standing up. "Who?"

"Colette St. Pierre," I said promptly.

Madam Pince narrowed her eyes. "Oh, she snuck in, did she?" I nodded. Madam Pince reached into a drawer and pulled a parchment out. She shoved it in my face. "And what is this, then?"

I quickly read it. Colette St. Pierre has my permission to go in the restricted section at any time the library is open. Harry Potter. "Oh. Well, all right."

As Madam Pince slowly sat back down, Albus and I quickly walked back to our table. "What'd that say?" Albus asked. "I couldn't see it."

"That Colette has permission to go in the restricted section whenever she'd like. Given by your dad."

"What?"

"I know!" I groaned. "Why would he do that? Even if she's not the person behind everything that's happened, she's still into the Dark Arts!"

Al frowned. "I bet if we asked him he'd just say to ask her."

"Perfect."

The puzzling mystery of why Mr. Potter would ever do something like that remained unsolved, however. Al did ask his dad why, and Mr. Potter did say to ask Colette. Since neither of us were very eager to get our noses hexed off, that was the end of that.

A few weeks passed, and James and Albus didn't speak to each other once. I ended up hanging out with Albus more, simply because we were in the same year and had the same schedule. I still refused to take sides, but I could tell that my not being around James nearly as much as normal was doing wonders for his relationship with Mackenzie. River claimed she saw them holding hands on Valentine's Day.

After a few weeks, even Mr. Potter had noticed the rift between his sons. Since none of the three of us would tell him about the map, all his inquiries were met with shrugs from me and stony silences from the boys. Not good.

One morning, Al got a letter from home. Which wouldn't have been strange at all if his mom had sent it. It was from Lily. As long as I'd been here, I'd only seen Al and James get letters from her on their birthdays, and they were usually as brief as Mrs. Potter let her make them, I think, consisting of "Happy birthday!" and one or two sentences about random things. Al opened it quickly and held it up so I could see it too.

Dear Albus,

I'm kind of scared. Did Dad tell you yet? Grandpa is very sick... They took him to St. Mungo's today. Mom left me with Aunt Hermione so she could stay with him and Aunt Hermione just says he'll be fine, but I don't believe her, so I'm really scared. Is he going to be okay? Ask Daddy and send me an owl. I bet HE knows better than Aunt Hermione.

Love, Lily

Al looked up at me, eyes wide. I was shocked. "What's going on?" I asked.

"I don't know..." He glanced over at his dad. "Let's go ask."

We quickly wove through the students in the hall and up to the teacher's table. Al didn't even bother leading up to the conversation; he thrust the letter into Mr. Potter's hands as soon as he was close enough. After giving him a minute to read it, he asked, "What's going on?" His voice trembled the slightest bit.

Mr. Potter sighed. "Al, first, I was going to tell you and your brother about this today. I only got an owl about it late last night. It's nothing serious. Your grandpa just got sick, and Grandma overreacted. Nothing to worry about. And I'd appreciate if you'd send Lily an owl and tell her that."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Mr. Potter smiled. "Yes, Albus. I'm very sure. Grandpa is fine."

Al looked incredibly relieved. "Okay. Good."

We slowly walked back to the table. As we sat down, Al observed, "Lily likes to exaggerate, anyway."

"No, really?" I said, smiling.

I didn't know Grandpa Weasley very well, but I liked him a lot anyway. He was really funny. Last year, over the break, he had me explain how to use his new smart phone that he'd bought at "some strange muggle store." He listed a few fruit names, trying to remember it, until I finally just suggested Apple and he acted like he'd known all along.

"Hey, Astra!" I looked up at River and Luke, who were leaning across the table. Luke grinned as he asked, "Have you ever played spoons?"

"The card game?"

"No, just polishing them," River said sarcastically. "Of course the card game."

"No... But I've seen people play it." Mara used to play it with her friends at sleepovers, and sometimes she let me watch.

"So you know how to play?"

"Well... I guess so-"

"Perfect. You're going to help us teach everyone, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Let's see what better things I have to do with my Saturday. Hmm, right at the top of the list is homework-"

"Oh, come on," River said. "You can do that later!" I sighed. Al looked pretty interested in this mysterious muggle game, so I finally agreed.

Luke and River got a pretty big group of first, second, and third years together to play. I recruited James to pilfer some spoons from the kitchen ("Does Al have to play?), and soon we were explaining the rules.

Everyone got four cards from Luke's amazing card-trick deck. The rest were set next to the dealer, in this round, Luke. River and I arranged the spoons in a circle in the middle of the circle of people, and Luke started passing cards around the circle. The point was to get four of a kind. Once you did, you grabbed a spoon. That set off everyone else, and there would be a mad scramble to get a spoon. There was one less spoon than the number of people, so whoever didn't get a spoon was out. Then, restart the cycle, with one less spoon and person. The game kept going until there was one person left.

James quickly got good. He happened to get good by the very James-worthy way of cheating - trading cards with the people next to him. I was more than willing to help as long as he let me know before he grabbed a spoon. We ended up being the last two in the first game, and I managed to beat him.

We played all afternoon. Some people drifted away, and older kids would come to take their spot. The grabbing-spoons part escalated into full out wrestling for a spoon between Fred and Patrick Shaw. Elodie Montero, a first year, got caught between them when that happened, and was holding her arm and crying when they finally got pulled apart. Victoire scolded us all soundly and walked the poor girl down to the hospital wing.

She wasn't the last injury. Cedric managed to accidentally hex Caleb with an Engorgio charm, making his teeth grow extremely huge. He was soon followed on his trip to the hospital wing by Olivia Rose Stevens, who was in the way and thus got tackled by several older boys lunging towards Drake, who had grabbed at least four spoons. Roxanne and Fred got into another wrestling match over a spoon, and managed to turn Roxanne's hair an atrocious shade of green and hex Fred's completely off somehow. Victoire looked about ready to burst as she led yet another causality to the hospital wing.

I was very surprised when Molly Weasley announced that if any of us didn't want to starve tonight, we better get our dinners before dinner ended. It hadn't seemed like that long at all. Abandoning the spoons, we all stampeded down to the Great Hall, filling the fairly empty Gryffindor table in a matter of minutes.

Before we could start eating, however, Professor Pouri clapped his hands for silence and stood up. "Students, I have been informed by Madam Pomfrey that some of you are engaging in a highly dangerous sort of activity."

"About as dangerous as Exploding Snap!" someone from our table yelled.

Professor Pouri frowned in the direction of the sound. "I am very sure that your classmates in the hospital wing would disagree with you. As it is," he said, once again addressing the whole student body, "this game does not seem to be necessary to the survival of the school, and may, in fact, call into question the chance of survival for some of the younger students. Madam Pomfrey has asked that I ban the ga-"

Immediately, shouts of protest from the Gryffindor table. James actually stood up and started down the aisle towards the professor, yelling who knows what, before Louis Weasley managed to haul him back to his seat. I wanted to emulate his behavior, but Albus put his hand on my arm and shook his head.

"Students, please!" Pouri clapped his hands once again. "Quiet!" Eventually, they calmed down. "This game's downsides far out way any benefits you could dream up. As such, I am banning it. There will be no more games of 'spoons' at Hogwarts."

I sincerely hope Pouri was disconcerted by all the glowering faces he saw when he looked our way.

Of course, the ban just made our games much more secretive. Even Victoire seemed to think the ban was overkill, and grudgingly agreed not to turn us in if we played in the common room, as long as the injuries didn't get too bad. Whenever we played, we stationed a first year just outside the portrait hole who would alert us to any approaching teachers. All of Gryffindor House was in a silent agreement to continue spoons and make excuses for any injuries.

The next few weeks kept me incredibly occupied. Between homework, first year Quidditch lessons and the game itself, illegal games of spoons, and trying to restore James and Al's relationship once I realized they wouldn't do it on their own, I had almost no time for looking for my mother in the library. It was frustrating.

Near the end of February, James and I were playing spoons. Al was reading a book, which would have been surprising if it hadn't been a muggle book that I'd given him called The Lightning Thief, which was very good, even in Al's "non-reader" opinion.

James had just grabbed two spoons and slipped me one when the first year on guard duty this round, Dean Malfoy, ran in. "Quick, hide the spoons! Professor Potter's coming!"

Instantly, every one started shoving the spoons under the sofa, their unofficial hiding spot. After that, we all scrambled for something else to do. Luke threw out cards to the people around him and pretended to be playing a game, though it looked very strange on close inspection. James tugged me over to the couch and grabbed the closest book. Without even looking at it, he flipped it open and we pretended to read. Only after I heard the portrait hole swing open did I realize that whatever the book was, it was upside down.

I heard Professor Potter clear his throat from behind us. Why had we sat facing away from the door? James closed the book and set it down casually, then turned around.

Professor Potter looked like he'd seen a ghost. All right, perhaps that's not the best way to describe it in a castle filled with passive ghosts. That's what it looked like, though. He took a breath, then said, "Weasleys and Potters, I need to speak with you all." Then he turned around and left.

Victoire was the first to move after that. "Well, you heard him. Let's go, Weasleys, and Potters."

Al walked over to me before following his cousins out. "I'm sure he meant you, too."

"He didn't say that."

"Just... Come on, anyway. He seemed worried, so it must be bad..."

Al was as white as a sheet, so I agreed and followed him out. We followed the rest of his cousins to Professor Potter's classroom, since they couldn't all fit in his office. Dom and Molly, the only two not in Gryffindor, were there as well. Someone must have gone to Ravenclaw Tower to get them.

Professor Potter nodded at Al and me as we walked in last, smiling a little when he saw me. At least it was all right for me to be here, then.

"I really hate to be the one to tell you all this," Mr. Potter said quietly. It looked like he really hated it. "Well," he said, sighing. "I'm sure most of you know that your grandpa wasn't doing well."

I hadn't heard that, and by the looks of things, Al hadn't either. Mr. Potter saw our confused looks and frowned at James, who was staring at his lap.

"Well, he's not getting much better. The healer at St Mungo's says he probably doesn't have much more than a few days. So, we are all taking the Floo Network to the Burrow to see him. We'll probably be gone a week or two, so hurry and pack."

Everyone sat still for a minute, soaking all that it. Finally, Victoire and Dom both stood up. "Well, let's go, then," Dom said, her voice sounding a little hoarse.

Mr. Potter pulled me aside as everyone left and told me that if I wanted to go, I could. I was practically a part of the family, anyway. I agreed, of course, after a look at Al, who looked like he'd cry if I said no. The next few hours were spent packing, then sitting out in the living room while the families went into his room one at a time to see him. Mrs. Potter insisted I come with them, so I was able to say goodbye to Grandpa Weasley as well.

He died that night, February 27th. It made tears come to my eyes, so I couldn't imagine what the family around me was going through. Al cried all the next day, and he wasn't the only one. There wasn't a dry eye in the family. The funeral was planned quickly by Mrs. Potter and Grandma Weasley, and Mr. Potter scheduled us to go back to Hogwarts the day after.

I'd never lost anyone close to me that I could remember. I'd never really had anyone close to me, but it was still strange to be there. It felt like I was intruding on what should be private. James assured me that wasn't the case, but I still had my doubts. I never knew him like his family did. I didn't want to be a burden. I did my best to just be as invisible as possible.

At the funeral, a lot more people than I would have expected showed up. There were all sorts of people, from the Minister of Magic himself to Teddy and his grandmother, who I guess had gone to school with Grandpa Weasley, but I wasn't sure.

After the ceremony, James walked up to Albus and me, looking very somber. "Al, I'm so sorry about the... Well, everything. I... I should have told you what Dad told me about Grandpa... I... This has all got me thinking. I really don't want anything to happen to you and we're still not talking. So... Well, what do you say?" He held his hand out for Al to shake.

Al looked at it for a few seconds, then looked up at James's face. He stepped forward and hugged James. "I'm sorry, too, you know."

Soon, they were both crying into each other's shoulders about everything (though I swear James would tell you he hadn't cried at all), and I awkwardly patted their backs. When they'd finally stopped with the flood of tears, it was time to leave, but it was obvious that they were finally back to their normal relationship, which was a relief. The only good thing that had happened in the past two weeks.

~~~~

Question of the day: If you could change Albus Severus's name, what would you change it to and why? Or would you even change it?

Next update: Sunday!

Vote and comment and do your amazing thing!

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please!

~Ellie