For Alastriona the rest of the term was fantastic, not being petrified was a wonderful bonus of course, but not having exams was brilliant and above all else... Lockhart was gone! Everyone was rejoicing, the school seemed to be in a stage of peace and Alastriona could only hope it would last and that another crazy person wouldn't be hired to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Alastriona spent time with all her friends, old and new, down by the lake and messing around in the sunshine while making plans to catch up over the holidays. Darcy especially wanted to come stay with Alastriona again and that way she could avoid her sister for as long as possible.
The day before they were to get back on the Hogwarts Express they were laying down on the grass near the quidditch pitch watching the clouds when Darcy let out a loud sigh, "And to think next year will be even worse than this year."
Dawn sat up slightly, "What're you talking about? We had a basilisk petrifying people this year, including Alastriona."
Darcy shook her head, closing her eyes, "That's nothing, next year will be the nightmare of all nightmares."
Dawn looked to Alastriona to explain, "Her sister is starting her first year at Hogwarts next year."
"You guys just wait, you'll all understand one day." No one was able to convince Darcy that she was overreacting, so they just nodded and smiled at each other behind Darcy's back.
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The very next day they climbed onto the Hogwarts Express together, Dawn was sitting with them for the first half of the trip, she was probably the most excited to be leaving Hogwarts. "I can't believe I'm finally going to see the dragons!" She squealed happily, unable to contain her excitement.
Theo grinned, "Take photos all right? I've never seen someone get burnt to a crisp before."
Alastriona smacked him on the shoulder, "Theo!" She smiled at Dawn, "When do you leave?"
"Day after tomorrow and we'll be staying there for the whole holiday as well! It'll be a nice break before starting O.W.L's." Dawn answered, her fingers drumming against her leg, hardly able to sit still.
"Anything from the trolley?"
Theo jumped out of his seat and shocked the lady as he bought five of everything on the trolley before sitting back down, handing all the sweets to the others.
It didn't take long for the sugar to kick in and Dawn and Darcy went and pranked a sixth year student- and their entire carriage- before crashing hard and Dawn went to sit with her other friends for the rest of the ride and Darcy passed out against the window.
Alastriona spent the rest of the train ride seeing how many Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean's Theo could catch in a row, he didn't get passed eight, too scared of getting a booger flavoured bean.
Alastriona woke Darcy up as they rolled to a stop at Platform 9 3/4 and the group waited until everyone else was off the train before walking down the empty hallways and jumping off onto the platform where Draco and Dawn were waiting for them.
Alastriona hugged Draco, catching him off guard but he wasn't complaining, "Write to me?"
He nodded, "I will." He broke away and waved goodbye to everyone else before going to find his parents.
Alastriona turned on Blaise and Theo, "We'll all get together and catch up so we can buy our books together and maybe you two can spend the last week of the holidays at my house? That's what Darcy did last year." She bounced up and down on her toes, too excited to stay still. "And the best part is that while Professor Sprout was visiting Uncle Finn to tell him... well to tell him what happened, she had the fireplace made floo-network worthy!"
Blaise and Theo looked at each other, knowing their parents probably wouldn't approve of them staying in a house with a muggle but they just smiled at Alastriona.
"We'll definitely catch up in Diagon Alley," Theo said with a grin before turning to Darcy, "of course only if Darcy actually responds to our letters."
Alastriona laughed and hugged Theo and Blaise close, much to Blaise's discomfort, it was just in time as the two could see their parents had arrived, they broke away and quickly hugged Dawn and Darcy before leaving.
Dawn grinned at the two girls, "I'm so glad I got to meet you two this year, it's been fantastic!" She hugged them both at the same time and ruffled Alastriona's hair, "You Hufflepuff's are the best! And don't worry about me too much over the summer, I'll make sure to write every week so you both know I'm alive." Darcy and Alastriona laughed and waved goodbye as the girl backed away, her parents calling her over.
Darcy heard her name being called and saw her mum and dad waiting for her, "Do you want me to wait with you until Finn comes?"
Alastriona smiled and shook her head, "No, it's all right, he probably isn't far away," Darcy hugged her tightly, "I'll write to you when it's okay to come over."
"Good," she hugged her back and didn't want to let go but she knew it was time when her dad called her over again, "I'm going to miss you."
Alastriona laughed and let her friend go, "I'm sure I'll see you soon!"
Darcy turned around and started walking away, "Bye!"
Alastriona waved back and looked around for her uncle again but found no sign of him, she felt a tap on her shoulder and spun quickly, some of her hair flew into her mouth and she quickly spat it out, "Oh, hey, Ginny."
Alastriona smiled at the girl in front of her before noticing the entire Weasley family standing behind Ginny looking rather shocked and confused, "I just wanted to say I'm so sorry about what happened-"
"Ginny, Hermione told me what happened and you don't have to apologise for anything, it's hardly your fault you were possessed by the darkest wizard of this age, it seems like a horrible way to kick off your time at Hogwarts."
Ginny laughed a little and smiled at the friendly red-head, "Thanks, Alastriona." She looked over her shoulder at her family who were still looking slightly bewildered and rolled her eyes, "Sorry about that lot, but you really do look like a Weasley."
Alastriona chuckled and waved goodbye as they all left, she turned around again and finally saw her Uncle Finn trying to push past the crowd to get to her, "Uncle Finn!" She ran and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he held her off the ground, squeezing her as tight as he could without hurting her, "I missed you so much!"
He sniffed loudly, barely holding himself together, "I missed you too, lass." He put her back down on her feet and checked her over to see if she was hurt in any way.
Alastriona smiled at him, "I promise I'm okay now, Uncle Finn." She grinned up at him, "And I promise that next year I won't get petrified."
His face grew serious, "No, you won't," he frowned down at her, grabbing her trunk and guiding her to the exit, "because you won't be going back to Hogwarts next year."
