Five years later
My father was killed five years ago.
I wanted to witness it happen, and that was harder than I had thought.
He caused me so much trauma but still, I cried when he had his soul sucked out.
My mum's still in Azkaban, and she's never getting out which is something that took getting used to.
Now, five years later, I'm still married to George, finally happily. We're no longer in couples counselling.
Sure, we fight sometimes but we know how to talk it through afterwards so we don't stay mad for long.
I mean, fighting is a normal thing. Every couple does it.
Today was Friday. The last Friday of June — the last day of the school year, Fred's last day of his last year.
I sighed, leaning back in my chair.
I was looking at Fred's exam that he had scored an 'E' in. It was the highest grade and I couldn't be prouder.
He had worked so hard and now he was about to start his career. He was leaving home...
"Mum?" I heard Fred laugh and I looked up to see him stand in the doorway, his head almost touching the top of the doorframe.
He's gotten nearly as tall as his father.
"What are you doing?" He asked. "Is that the exam papers?"
"I was just—" I shook my head and put them down: "...what's up, Freddie?"
He sighed and stepped through, closing the door behind him.
"I passed two of my NEWTs with an 'E'" he said, walking over to sit in the chair across from my desk.
"I'm aware." I smiled. "Did I tell you—"
"You're proud of me." He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I get that... is there anything I can get into? Any sort of job, with the grades I've got? Cos I've got good grades in some but others are terrible."
I tilted my head.
"I thought you wanted to play Quidditch." I said. "You were just accepted into Falmouth Falcons."
He let out a groan and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling before he sat up straight.
"Yeah, I was... but I don't know anymore." He said. "Jess is going to be an astronomer and I was thinking if my grades are good enough for... that."
"Astronomy?" I raised, raising my eyes. "You hate astronomy. I remember when your dad used to talk about zodiac signs after he read that one book and you hated it."
"I know."
"Is this because of Jess?" I asked. "Did she ask you to drop your career choice to follow her into astronomy?"
Fred rolled his eyes as he ran a hand over his head, shaking his head.
"You've been in love with Quidditch for the past six years, and you're a great keeper. There's a reason Falmouth Falcons wants you on their team."
Fred looked at me and pushed his hands into the pockets of the jacket he was wearing.
"So? You know what else I'm in love with? My girlfriend. It's only because she wants me to be close to her, and I want that too."
He stood up.
"I came to ask if I could get into astronomy, not to talk about Jess." He said and walked towards the door.
"Fred!" I called out and he pause with a sigh. "You can get into astronomy but you're out late. I can talk to Professor Sinistra about writing you a recommendation if that's what you want."
"Thanks." He said and left the room, closing the door behind him.
I ran my hand over my mouth and looked at the clock again.
Right, that's it... I'm going home.
I packed up my things in the office, everything I needed home for the summer, and then I left through the fireplace.
I put my bag on the sofa before walking through the house to find George or any of the kids, but everything was quiet apart from Charley snoring loudly at the end of the stairs.
I noticed the open door out to the garden and when I walked over, I could see George outside, playing with the twins like he did most afternoons.
He always picked them up from school and while Leah walked up to her room, he went outside as the twins dragged him with them.
I smiled at the sight before turning around and walking through the house. I put my shoes by the door and hung my jacket on the wall.
I made my way up the stairs, the steps creaking all the way up.
When I reached the second floor, I knocked on Leah's bedroom door.
"What?!"
I raised my eyebrows and opened the door.
"What's with the attitude?" I asked, my eyes landing on my almost twelve-year-old daughter as she stared at the wall and as soon as I saw the hole punched through it, my eyes widened. "Leah!"
She turned to look at me.
"It was an accident."
"An accident?!" I hurried over to her and grabbed her hand to look at it. "Oh... baby, this it—"
I shook my head.
"C'mon. Let's get your hand fixed." I said and led the way out of her room and into the bathroom.
I looked at Leah and now noticed the eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick on her face.
"Trying something new?" I asked, motioning towards her face while I wetted a cloth.
"No." She scoffed: "It doesn't matter."
I sat down on the toilet seat and held out my hand towards her. She put her hand in mine and let me clean up her hand before I fixed it with magic.
"Better?"
She nodded.
"Now, how was your day? What happened that caused you to punch a hole in the wall?"
Something I've noticed in Leah since she went into puberty, is that she seems to have the same type of temper as her father.
Sometimes, it scares me.
"Nothing."
"You don't want to talk about it?" I asked, and she shook her head. "Well...that's fine. You know you can always talk to me... but you did punch a hole through your wall and you could've broken your hand. You're lucky it was just a few bruises."
Leah stared at the floor.
"I'm sorry." She said. "Do you have any makeup remover? I don't like it."
I smiled softly at her.
"Of course, beautiful." I said. "If you don't want to tell me about why you're so angry, do you then mind yelling me why you're suddenly interested in makeup? I'm guessing you found my drawer?"
She nodded but then shrugged at the same time.
"I just wanted to try. I'm sorry I took your makeup."
"Hey, you don't have to apologise for that." I said. "I can help you apply some if you'd like to try it another time."
I stood up.
"Let's go remove it, yeah? Then you can help me with dinner."
