In Moonlight's Shadow

Chapter 7: The Letter

People were finally starting to leave the party when I wandered back into the ballroom a short while later. Richard and Cinda were standing near the door saying goodbye to them as they trickled out. Vivien, Jared, and Breanne were all sitting at the same table they had been at before I left and I walked slowly over to them.

"Oh my God, is your brother all right?" Vivien asked immediately.

"He's fine now," I assured them.

"What was wrong with him?" Breanne asked.

"His leg was bothering him," I said quickly, "He hurt it the other day and needed some medicine for it."

"Oh, well, I'm glad he's better now," Vivien smiled.

I didn't elaborate on the subject. All I wanted was for the three of them to go home so that I could go to bed. Fortunately, their parents came over only a couple minutes later and told them they were leaving. Breanne complained saying it was too early to leave, but in the end she got up and followed her parents out of the room. I got up as well and said good night to them near the front door. Vivien told me she was thrilled that we had gotten to spend time with each other and we should do it again sometime.

After they left I ran up to my room and shut the door behind me. It was finally over. The dreaded party had lasted well over six hours and I was beyond exhaustion. I yanked off my shoes and changed into more comfortable clothes. Despite my fatigue, I found that I couldn't really sleep after crawling into bed. My mind was racing with thoughts of the evening. First, there were my 'friends' that I had not seen in over a year. I honestly didn't mind Vivien so much or her twin brother, but Breanne drove me crazy. I'm pretty much indifferent to Alicia and Cassie, although I think Damien is somewhat of an arse. I wasn't really sure how I felt about visiting Vivien again after this. I mean, she's nice and everything, but I feel like I have to be so guarded around her. It's strange because I don't feel that way around Kenzie and she's a Muggle as well. I do kind of have to watch what I say around Kenzie, but it doesn't feel strange like it does with Vivien. I'm completely used to it because it's been that way forever. Same with Olivia. Even though Olivia is a witch there are things I have to keep secret even around her. Namely, everything about Matt. There really isn't anyone I can be completely open with except my parents.

My thoughts drifted to them next. My parents and what they were whispering about earlier. I honestly couldn't think of anything that would distract them so much as to forget about Matt's potion. I wish they would just tell me what was going on. It would make life so much easier. Maybe I could sneak into Dad's study again once we went home. No, I thought, I can't do that. It's just wrong. Well, if I go in there to find Jasper again and just happen to notice something on his desk and I accidentally read it, that wouldn't be so bad. I drifted off to sleep trying to think up ways to find out what was going on, but didn't come up with a single good idea.

******

Everyone was feeling the after-effects of the party the next morning. Nobody got up early, not even me. I slept until eleven o'clock and was the first one up. Richard and Cinda were the next ones up, although neither of them were awake enough to really do much. They sat at the kitchen counter drinking coffee for a full half hour before they perked up. Shortly after they finished their coffee, Mum and Dad came downstairs looking in much need of coffee themselves.

My parents set to work helping Richard and Cinda clean up after the party and they forced me into helping as well. It wasn't really that bad since Mum and Dad did mostly everything with magic. The clean-up went quickly and was completed in about twenty minutes. Once we were done with that my parents finally said we could go home.

"We'll see you next month, Amy darling," Cinda gave me a quick hug.

"See you then," I gave her a forced smile. I didn't really want to think about next month right now. Well, actually it was next month, since it was January. At least it would be the last one before I went back to school and then I wouldn't have to go back to my grandparents' house for a while.

"Ready?" Mum came down the stairs with Matt in her arms. He hadn't yet woken up and was sleeping with his head on her shoulder.

Dad nodded. "See you in a couple weeks, Richard and Cinda."

Mum said goodbye to her parents and Dad wrapped his arms around me. With a loud crack, the four of us Apparated to our house.

We arrived in the middle of the kitchen and Ellie came running into the room as soon as she heard us appear. "Hey, Ellie!" I grinned at her.

"Welcome back, Amy," Ellie smiled, "Ellie is happy you is home."

"Me, too," I agreed and tossed my overnight bag onto the kitchen floor.

Mum eyed the bag and shook her head. "I'm taking him upstairs." Dad nodded and then Mum left to take the still sleeping Matt up to his room. I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't tell me to pick up my bag. Whatever was going on was certainly distracting her.

Dad wearily wiped his forehead and started to walk into the living room. "You know, you really ought to pick that up."

I shrugged and followed him. "Eh, I'll do it eventually." I was kind of interested to see how long it took Mum to tell me to take it up to my room.

Dad sat down on the couch and I sat down in a chair across from him. He looked even more exhausted than he had the previous night. I wondered what time he and Mum went to bed. They were still up when I finally called it a night. "So," I began, "Are you going to tell me what's going on? And don't say it's nothing."

Dad sighed, "Amy, honestly, I'm not entirely sure what's going on. There have been some, er, rumblings at work, and if they turn out to be anything, they could change things."

I stared at him. He was telling me a whole lot of nothing cleverly packaged to sound like something. What were the 'rumblings'? Without knowing that, everything else was useless. What might change things? What would they change? "What rumblings?"

"I'm not going to tell you that. I don't want you to worry. There's a distinct possibility that this won't turn out to be anything."

"Why would I worry about it? What's it got to do with me?" I demanded.

Dad rubbed his hands on his face. "Again, I'm not going to tell you."

"If they won't turn out to be anything," I continued, "Why in the name of Merlin are you and Mum so worried about it?"

"Because of what might happen if it does turn out to be anything!" Dad leaned forward and looked me in the eye, "Now please drop it. I assure you that you'll find out eventually if it turns out to be anything at all."

I crossed my arms and frowned. "Fine."

Dad and I sat in silence, neither of us getting up or doing much of anything. There were things I probably should have been doing. Homework, putting my stuff away, working on potions, but I really didn't want to do anything right then. Maybe if I'm constantly around Mum and Dad, one of them will let something slip and I'll find out what is going on.

Mum came in a few minutes later and sat down next to Dad. I waited for her to tell to pick up my bag, but she never did. She kind of acted like I wasn't there. Good, I thought, now start talking about whatever is going on at Dad's work.

"He's still sleeping," Mum told Dad.

"That's good," Dad replied sleepily.

"You look like you could use a nap."

"So do you," Dad smiled. "I have to go into work later."

"Of course."

Yes, work! Talk about work! I stayed still with my ears poised to listen to whatever they were going to talk about.

"I'm just glad that party's over," Dad commented, "No offense to your parents, but the company of their friends is taxing."

"None taken. I completely agree. I lost count of the number of times I had to explain about where we've been the past year and a half."

"Me, too. Just hope we told the same stories," Dad laughed.

"Yeah," Mum agreed.

"Are they planning anymore parties?" Dad asked.

"Oh, I hope not. But knowing my parents they will. And now that we've been to one, they'll expect us to go to the rest."

"I don't think I can take another one of those," Dad groaned.

Hopefully the next party would be held while I was at school. Then I wouldn't have to go at all. Mum and Dad didn't seem to be interested in discussing what was going on at Dad's office, although that was probably because I was in the room. They just kept talking about the party, which wasn't really something I wanted to talk about. It was kind of funny to listen to them make fun of Cinda and Richard's friends, though. They were laughing a lot but it seemed a bit forced. The two of them must be incredibly distracted by whatever was going on.

Perhaps now would be a good time to ask them if Olivia could come over. They were tired and distracted, which would probably cause them to give in faster. I waited for a pause in their conversation and cleared my throat. Mum and Dad looked up and waited for me to say something.

"Um, Mum, Dad," I began, "I was wondering if maybe Olivia could come over for a couple days."

Mum and Dad looked at each other and seemed to be having a wordless conversation. I hated it when they did that. The forced laughter had died away from their faces and was replaced by more worry.

"Oh, I'm not too sure, Amy," Mum replied.

"Why not? She's never been here before!" I pleaded.

"We've been through this before," Mum reminded me. Of course we had. We went through it every holiday and they always said no.

"I know that. But I don't get why she can't come. I mean, it's not around the full moon, so she'll never suspect a thing!"

"She has a point," Dad said after a few minutes.

"I know, it's just with everything going on..." Mum trailed off.

"She won't find out about that by spending a few days here, Julie," Dad replied. "It's really not fair to Amy that we don't let her friends visit."

Mum thought for a few moments. "All right, she can stay for a couple days."

"Really?" I stared at them in shock. That had been easier than I thought.

"I suppose," Mum sighed. "Tell her she can come sometime next week and stay for three nights or so."

I stood up and ran over to my parents. "Thank you so much!" I grinned and hugged each of them.

"Go write her a letter and come back down in about fifteen minutes," Dad told me, "We'll send it off with Jasper along with a letter your mother and I need to send."

I nodded and ran out of the room. As I was turning into the hallway I noticed that the two of them were whispering to each other and looked tense again. Was it about Olivia visiting or something else? My curiosity about what was worrying them waned now that I was allowed to invite Olivia over. Nothing else seemed to matter right then.

My room was just as I left it and I hurried over to my desk. I grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled out a note to Olivia asking her what days she would be able to come. She was going to freak out when she read my letter. Olivia has been asking me for the past year when she would be able to see my house. I've told her all about it and she's absolutely enthralled with it. She thinks it would be so cool to live in a manor. I've told her that it's not all it's cracked up to be, but she wants to see for herself.

A glance at the clock told me that it had only been five minutes since I left the living room. Why had Dad told me to wait fifteen minutes? Did he really think it would take me that long to write a letter? I decided not to bother with waiting fifteen minutes and ran back to the living room.

Mum and Dad weren't there when I got there. Ellie was dusting some shelves. "Hey, Ellie," I greeted her.

"Hi Amy," Ellie replied.

"Guess what? Olivia is going to come over next week!" I grinned.

Ellie smiled, "Oh, good, Ellie has been wanting to meet Olivia."

"Do you know where my parents are?" I asked, "They were here before and said they'd send this to Olivia along with something they had to send."

"Mistress said she and Master had to be writing a letter in Master's office. They is not wanting to be disturbed and is saying they is coming out soon."

"Oh," I sighed and sank down into a chair. "I'll wait then."

I wasn't really that curious about the two of them secretly writing a letter. They did so on a regular basis, usually trying to find cures for lycanthropy. I was just incredibly impatient to get this letter out. I wanted it to get to Olivia as soon as possible. If only I had my own owl.

Mum and Dad emerged from the office a short while later and came into the living room with Jasper flying behind them. Mum was clutching a letter in her hand and neither of them looked any less tense than before. I handed Dad my letter and he affixed both envelopes to Jasper's leg.

"Let me know when she'll be here as soon as she replies," Mum told me.

"I will."

Dad glanced at his watch. "I've got to go into the office now. I'll see you two later, although I'm not sure when I'll be back." He kissed Mum and gave me a hug.

"Bye, Dad, and thanks for letting Olivia come over."

"Bye, honey," Mum said.

Dad nodded and opened a nearby window. Jasper flew out of it and Dad closed it once more. He walked over to the fireplace and within seconds he had Flooed to work.

******

Olivia sent me an owl the next day. She said that she could come on Monday, which was four days away. Nevertheless, the four days seemed to drag by. Dad spent everyday at work, working longer hours than he ever had before. Mum still seemed overly anxious about something and wouldn't tell me what it was. When Dad was actually home, the two of them spent hours locked up in Dad's office talking about something. Matt seemed oblivious to the whole thing and played outside or with his Christmas presents. He begged me to play with him a few times and I gave in, but really didn't feel like it. I was too excited about Olivia coming to do one thing for any length of time. I worked on potions and on homework, or when it was dark I stargazed. But mostly I just wandered around the house and tried not to think about how slowly the time was passing.

I got up late on Sunday morning, most likely do to the fact that I stayed up stargazing the previous night. One more day, I thought, and then Olivia would be there. If I could just wait one more day. I got out of bed and threw some clothes on, while wondering what I could do that day. Homework would be the smart option, but not something I really felt like doing. Potions would be a more fun choice. But first, brekkie.

The house was kind of quiet as I walked through the hallway. Dad had surely left for work hours ago. Matt's room was empty which meant he was probably outside enjoying the sunny day. Who knew what Mum was up to. I hadn't actually talked to her much over the past few days. She had been short and snappy whenever I said anything, so I just started ignoring her. I wished whatever it was that was bothering her and Dad would just stop. It was making this holiday awkward and not nearly as fun as it should have been. At least Olivia would be there tomorrow.

The silence stopped as soon as I descended the stairs to the main floor. I heard a faint muffled sobbing noise coming from the kitchen. I stopped in front of the stairs and listened for a moment. Who was that? It didn't sound like Matt and his crying was usually the only crying in the house. I cautiously crept towards the kitchen and paused before entering.

I peeked into the room and saw Mum sitting at the table with her head in her hands. It was her. Mum was crying. There was an opened letter sitting next to a cup of coffee. I swallowed nervously and walked over to her. She didn't seem to notice me as I sat down across from her and watched her for a few moments.

"Mum?" I asked quietly. "Is something wrong?" That was kind of a stupid question. Obviously something was wrong or she wouldn't have been crying. But it was what everyone always seemed to ask in a situation like this.

Mum startled and looked up at me with her tear streaked face. Her eyes were red and blotchy and it looked like she had been crying for a while now. She shook her head, but not in a way that was answering my question. Then she returned to her previous position without saying a word.

I sat awkwardly for a little while, glancing up at Mum and then towards the folded up letter next to her. I never knew what to do in these kinds of situations. Mum cried a lot right after Matt was bit and I never knew quite the way to comfort her. Only this time it seemed worse because of how strained our relationship had been the past few days.

My eyes kept drifting to the letter. It was like it was calling to me or something. I wanted nothing more than to just pick it up and read it. My hand slowly crept along the table, inching closer and closer to the letter. I watched Mum as I did so. She hadn't looked up and did not seem to notice that I was going to take her letter. Normally if I tried something like this Mum would snatch it away from me and tell me it was rude to read others' mail. This time she didn't do anything. I picked up the letter and unfolded it.

I immediately noticed the familiar letterhead of my school. I swallowed and my heart thudded. Was this about me? I couldn't recall doing something so bad that would bring my mother to tears. I continued down the page and read the short letter it contained.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Walter Eckerton,

I am writing in regards to your recent letter. You
asked if your son could attend our school in four
years. You informed us that he is a werewolf, who
does not take Wolfsbane.

How can you possibly expect us to accommodate
a monster? I find it unbelievable that you actually
thought we would accept him to our institution.
We have never ever accepted a werewolf to our
school and do not intend to start now. Doing so
would put all our other students at risk which
is not something we wish to do. To think that
you had the nerve to ask us if a werewolf could
attend boggles my mind. Let alone a werewolf
that isn't even on Wolfsbane.

Keep your werewolf child away from us and do
not contact us any further. Doing so will
cause us to contact the proper authorities.

Sincerely,
Addair Killigan
Headmaster

I threw the letter down on the table and stared at Mum. She was looking at me now and obviously knew that I had read the letter. I glared at the piece of parchment that my headmaster had sent my parents. I never particularly liked Killigan, but wouldn't have expected him to send my parents such an awful letter.

I honestly hadn't thought much about my brother attending school. I went to Muggle school before I went to the Australian School of Sorcery, but Matt had been home schooled from the start. He was bitten a few weeks before he would have started Muggle school. I kind of just assumed he would go to my school once he was eleven, but I guess it wasn't as simple as that. When I thought about it, it did make sense. I mean, he couldn't exactly stay in school on the full moon. But couldn't he just come home for that or something?

Mum rubbed her hands on her eyes and blew her nose before speaking to me. "Amy, I guess you know what is going on now."

"I guess so," I replied quietly. But what did this have to do with Dad working long hours?

"It seems that your brother cannot attend your school," her voice cracked, "I would never have expected such discrimination of Addair Killigan!"

I nodded, but couldn't think of anything to say. I didn't know the headmaster that well.

"He was my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Mum continued, "To think he would deny a child of an education just because of something they can't control!"

Mum seemed to have passed the initial stage of shock and crying and had entered the stage of anger. She stood up with murder in her eyes and stalked out of the room. I quickly followed her to the living room. She grabbed the pot of floo powder. She threw it into the fireplace and stuck her head in. "Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Head Office," I heard her shout in.

Whatever she told Dad, I heard nothing of it. She stayed in the fireplace with her head in Dad's office for nearly ten minutes, presumably talking about the letter. Her face was still filled with anger when she left the floo.

"Your father is coming home to discuss things in about ten minutes," she said in a voice that I knew not to argue with, "We'll be in his study. Go outside and watch your brother."

I nodded and ran to the back door. I knew not to cross Mum when she was on a warpath like this. The headmaster had not heard the end of it from Mum, that I was sure of. He could try and threaten her with the authorities, but in essence, Dad was the authorities Killigan would contact. That might get a little tricky.

Matt was running around the backyard kicking a football around and looked very excited to see me come out. "Amy! Want to play with me?"

"Sure," I replied. I kind of felt sorry for him at the moment, seeing as he probably wouldn't get to go to school. I knew he had been looking forward to it ever since I started.

Chapter 8: That Night

I played football with Matt for about an hour and a half before he had enough. Neither Mum or Dad had come outside so I assumed they were both still talking about the letter.

"I'm hungry," Matt whined as we sat down on the deck. "Is it lunch time yet?"

I glanced into the kitchen and didn't see anyone. Mum didn't expect us to stay out here all day, did she? "Uh, sure, we could go have lunch."

The house appeared deserted when we walked into the kitchen, although I could hear voices coming from Dad's study. Ellie wasn't anywhere to be seen but she didn't usually prepare lunch anyway. I wound up making Matt and I sandwiches and we ate them sitting at the counter.

"What's Mum doing in Dad's study?" Matt asked.

Of course he could hear her in there. It still amazes me what he's able to hear. Ever since he got bitten, he's had excellent hearing. That's probably why Mum wanted him to stay outside. "I'm not sure," I replied.

"Sounds like she's talking to Dad," Matt announced. "But isn't he at work?"

"Uh, he had to come home to talk to Mum about something. I'm not sure what."

"Oh, I want to go see him," Matt jumped off his stool and started running to the door.

I got up and blocked him. "You can't. Mum said not to interrupt them."

The door to the study opened at that moment anyway. Mum and Dad walked into the kitchen, both looking sad, angry, and nervous at the same time. Mum seemed to have been crying again and her face was streaked with tears.

"Dad!" Matt shouted and ran over to him, throwing his arms around Dad's waist.

"Hi, Matt," Dad looked at him sadly.

I wasn't really sure what to say at this point. Matt still had no idea about the letter and I didn't want to be the one to tell him. I settled on looking from Mum to Dad questioningly until one of them said something.

"Amy, Matt," Dad began, "We need to talk to both of you. Let's go into the living room."

I followed the three of them into the living room. Matt was talking animatedly to Dad about playing football earlier and Dad was nodding his head every once in a while to show he was listening. I sat down on the couch next to Matt once we got into the room. Mum and Dad sat down on the chairs facing us.

"Amy," Dad said slowly, "You read the letter, so you probably already know what this is about." I nodded. Dad turned to Matt. "Matt, a few days ago we sent a letter to Amy's school asking if you could go when you're eleven."

Matt looked from me to Dad with a look of confusion on his face. "Why couldn't I?"

Dad sighed and looked at him sadly. "Because of what happens once a month on the full moon."

"I don't even like that," Matt replied, "I don't want to do that anymore."

"I know, honey," Mum said, "Neither do we. More than anything, we want it to stop. But it just can't right now."

"We got a letter back from the headmaster today," Dad continued, "He said you can't go to school there."

Matt sat there in shock for a few seconds and then his eyes filled with tears. "No! That's not fair!" he shrieked.

"I know, it's not fair," Mum started crying as well and gestured for my brother to climb onto her lap.

"I want to go," Matt sobbed and buried his head into her shoulder. "Why can't I go?"

"They won't let you, honey," Mum replied, "It's not very nice at all, but there's nothing we can do."

"Nothing?" I asked, "Weren't you going to send them another letter?"

"It wouldn't do any good," Dad said quietly, "Under the law, the school is in no way obligated to accept him as a student."

"That's not right," I said, "Why don't you fight it?"

"It's not a good time to be fighting something like this," Dad answered.

"Well, you can home school him like you've been doing all along," I suggested.

Mum and Dad exchanged looks and I got the sense that there was more that they had to tell us.

"Amy," Dad began, "We were actually going to try and find a school to accept him."

"But there aren't any other wizarding schools in Australia," I told him.

"I know," Dad said, "We were going to write to schools abroad."

I stared at him. "You mean we're going to move?!"

"Perhaps. If another school will accept him."

"That means I'll have to change schools." I swallowed hard. I didn't want to move. I liked my school even though the headmaster was a discriminating troll. I had friends there and the other teachers were nice. I'd been going there for three years! I couldn't transfer to another school now!

"Amy, I know this is going to be hard, but even if another school doesn't accept him, you're not going back to the Australian School of Sorcery."

"What?!" I shouted and stood up angrily. "Just because of him I can't go back no matter what?! Even if we don't move I'm not allowed to go to school there?! That's not fair!"

Mum and Dad exchanged looks. "Amy, it is not his fault. We would never have let you go to that school to begin with if we knew what the headmaster thought," Mum explained.

"Well then you should have found out before I started going there!" I glared at them.

"Maybe we should have," Dad said quietly, "But we didn't."

"It's just not fair!" I shouted again, "Killigan doesn't teach any of my classes! The other teachers might not have the same opinions as him!"

"That might be true," Dad agreed, "But nevertheless, while you are at that school you are under his influence. I'm sorry, but you won't be returning."

"You're not sorry! If you were sorry, you'd let me go back! You just don't get it. This will ruin my life! I'll never get to see Olivia again!"

"Amy, of course you'll see her again. She's coming over tomorrow, after all," Mum sighed.

Oh, yeah. I had almost forgotten about that amongst the news. "And what exactly am I supposed to tell her?"

Mum and Dad looked at each other again. "You will certainly not tell her why you aren't going back," Mum said.

"Right, like she'll just accept that the two of you won't let me go back for no reason at all? What do you suppose the reason should be?" I demanded.

"Your father and I have more on our minds than what you'll tell your friends about this!" Mum shouted.

"Can you just let me go back until you find another school?" I pleaded, my eyes starting to well up. "Please?"

"No," Dad replied sternly, "Absolutely not."

"This is so unfair!" I yelled, "And it's all his fault!" I pointed at my brother, who was still crying into Mum's shoulder.

"You will not blame him for this!" Mum shouted, "I will not have it!"

"I'll blame whomever I like!" I turned and left the room, not waiting for a response.

Ellie was lurking outside the entrance to the living room and jumped out of the way as I went storming past. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

I stopped and turned around to look at the house elf. She looked a little scared and I couldn't blame her. We had been shouting awfully loud. "No, it's not."

"What is going on?"

"We might be moving, Ellie," I told her, "And Mum and Dad won't let me go back to school." My voice cracked.

Ellie's face broke out in a look of confusion and then her ears dropped in recognition. "Ah, Mistress's letter."

I nodded, "Did you read it?"

"Ellie did. Ellie is not liking Headmaster Killigan."

"Neither do I. But it's not like I see him on a regular basis at school," I explained, "Well, I'm going upstairs. See you later."

Ellie said goodbye and I continued to the stairs. I wanted nothing more than to be alone right now. I threw myself onto my bed as soon as I slammed the door shut. I buried my face into my pillow and let the tears flow. The anger I felt downstairs was subsiding and grief was replacing it. The fact that I wouldn't be returning to the Australian School of Sorcery was sinking in.

All the memories I had of the place would become just that, memories. I would not form any new ones. I would never again run through the quiet halls with Olivia when we were late for class. Never again would I shout my throat dry during a Quidditch match or dueling tournament. Even though I was rubbish at both, I absolutely loved going to the matches and tournaments. There would be no more late night study sessions in the dormitory or early morning jaunts through the grounds. I would never get to go to another start of term feast or end of term party. No more potions competitions, no more sneaking off to the Astronomy tower in the dead of night to stargaze.

I spent hours laying in bed crying and thinking of everything I would miss about school. I had no idea what the rest of my family was doing and didn't really care. Dad most likely went back to work and who knows what Mum and Matt did. Matt. He was the reason for all of this. No matter what Mum and Dad told me, this whole thing was his fault. If he hadn't have been so stupid as to wander out of the tent alone that night, none of this would have happened. We would both be going to the Australian School of Sorcery and would never have found out about Killigan's beliefs about werewolves. Not that it really would have mattered if Matt wasn't one anyway.

I still remember that night as if it was yesterday. It had been our first and only Muggle camping trip. The trip had been really fun at first. We hiked, boated and swam in the lake, and played at the nearby playground. Then came the night of the full moon. Dad warned us repeatedly not to leave the tent without one of them. He knew full well that it was the full moon, since he was the head of the Werewolf Control Unit at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the time. I don't think he really expected anything to happen but he was a bit worried due to what he saw at work. Turns out, he had reason to worry.

It had been me who realized that Matt was gone. He must've left the tent to go to the bathroom and disregarded Dad's warning. I have always been a light sleeper and heard growling and screaming coming from outside. There were flashlights shining all over the place and I heard Muggles running around. I saw that Matt wasn't in the tent anymore and woke up my parents. They have always been heavy sleepers.

The two of them immediately got up when I told them Matt was gone. They grabbed their wands and ran out of the tent. I followed them and immediately saw the chaos. Muggles were running around everywhere, grabbing their children and heading for their cars. Quite a few were talking on mobile phones and I heard fragmented bits of conversation that included phrases like 'huge dog', 'a wolf or something', 'attacking a kid', 'biggest damn animal I ever saw', and 'better send someone down right away'.

Mum, Dad, and I kept running towards the area that all the Muggles were running from. We were shouting Matt's name and a couple Muggles told us there was a kid being attacked in the woods. Mum shrieked and the three of us ran even faster. Both of them had their wands held up high but the Muggles didn't seem to notice or care amongst all the chaos.

When we reached the woods we saw a small group of Muggles surrounding what was the biggest wolf I had ever seen in my life. I let out a gasp as I saw that the huge animal was standing on top of my brother and ripping at his back. Mum let out a loud cry and Dad an angry growl. Mum ordered me to stay back while Dad tried to disperse the Muggles. I stood a couple meters away and watched through tears as the two of them sent spell after spell at the werewolf.

The Muggles watched in amazement and shock as Mum managed to get Matt away while Dad succeeded in stunning the werewolf. Mum carried Matt over to where I was standing and I let out a scream when I saw him. He was shaking uncontrollably, bleeding profusely from numerous cuts and scratches, looked to have a few broken bones, and was clearly unconscious. Mum started trying to heal the wounds and Dad bound the werewolf with ropes. He tried to ignore the shaken Muggles as he walked over toward us. He wordlessly took out a piece of parchment and then started mumbling as he wrote on it. 'Werewolf attack, need backup from Werewolf Control Unit, and Obliviators.' Then he pointed his wand at it and the parchment vanished.

Dad told Mum to Apparate with Matt to the hospital and he would meet her there. Both of them seemed to have forgotten that I was there. I stood in the background for the next hour as various people from Dad's office and other people from the Ministry showed up. Someone interviewed a few Muggles and Dad, then Obliviated all the Muggles who had seen the attack. Someone else took the still stunned werewolf away. After the whole thing was over, Dad found me and the two of us Apparated to the hospital.

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Matt spent three whole weeks in the hospital, before they let him leave. I think they would have wanted him to stay longer but he had to leave before the next full moon. Mum spent most of her time at the hospital and whenever I saw her, she was crying. Dad didn't cry much in the open, but I heard him at night.

I had nightmares about that night for months after. Even at school I would wake up screaming. It freaked Olivia out, but I never told her what happened. No one ever found out what happened except the people who worked with Dad. He was able to hush the whole thing up and there was no mention of it in the paper. The nightmares subsided after a while, but that hadn't made the memory of it any less vivid.

Even though it was my brother who got attacked, and not me, my life changed drastically as well. I didn't have any secrets from Olivia before that night, and ever since then I'd been keeping a big one from her. My only secret from Kenzie had been about magic, but now I kept two big secrets from her. Not to mention the fact that I spent more time at my grandparents' house after that. We also went on less holidays, since Dad had to use all his time off work for full moons.

I sighed and rolled over on my bed. Now my life was going to change again because of my brother. What were my parents planning anyway? Where would we go? There was only one school of magic in Australia, so I doubted we'd stay in the country. That meant a new house. I liked this house and I didn't want to leave. I could hardly remember the house we lived in before this one. This house was my home, where I grew up. It was also where Dad grew up and Uncle Jack. Was Dad really going to sell it and move?

Of course he would. I didn't even have to think about it. I knew my parents would do anything for Matt. They would do anything for me, too. Well, anything except let me stay at my school. I wondered what schools they were going to look at. They would have to be in English speaking countries, of course. Mum knew French, Italian, and a bit of German, but none of the rest of us did. They would probably look at the school in New Zealand, since it was closest. But besides that one, what other schools were somewhat nearby? Did they even want to stay nearby? Maybe they would just try and see if the school in New York would accept Matt and we could live near Uncle Jack.

I wouldn't mind living near Uncle Jack, but I didn't really want to move to New York. I didn't want to start over in a new school. Fresh tears formed in my eyes and I squeezed them shut. Wizard school wasn't like Muggle school. Kenzie says that there are new kids all the time at her school and others move away. Muggles seem to move a lot more than wizards do. Wizards generally stay put. In my three years at my school, I had not seen one kid who just moved to Australia. Everyone in my year had started together in first year and no one had moved away. I assumed it was like that in other countries. I would be the weird new girl who moved during her fourth year for reasons she won't even talk about. They would already have friends and everyone would ignore me. It had been hard enough making friends when I was a first year. I could only imagine what it would be like when I was a fourth year.

******

I must have cried myself to sleep because before I knew it, sunlight was streaming into my window and my stomach was growling. My first thought as I got out of bed was that Olivia was coming over that day. I grinned and quickly changed clothes. Then the previous day's events hit me like a Bludger to the head. My grin faded immediately and I quietly left my room.

The house was quiet and it appeared that I was the first one up. Dirty dishes in the kitchen sink told me otherwise. Dad must have already left for work, I thought as I poured myself a bowl of Lucky Charms. I ate slowly and tried to get excited about Olivia coming over.

The thing was, now that I wasn't going back to school, the prospect of Olivia coming over wasn't nearly as fun. I should be even more excited since I wouldn't see her at the end of the month when school starts, but the fact remained that I wasn't. I was dreading telling her that I wouldn't be going back. And after I told her, what were we going to do? I mean, most of the stuff we talk about has something to do with school since both of us spend most of our time there. But I didn't really want to talk about school right now.

Just as I was finishing my bowl of cereal, Mum came into the room looking like she hadn't gotten a minute of sleep that night. I ignored her as she poured herself a cup of the coffee Dad must have brewed earlier. She sat down across from me and took a long sip of coffee. I started to stand up, but she laid a hand on my arm and looked at me. "Amy, I'd like to talk to you."

"I wouldn't," I said coldly.

She gave me a stern look that made me sit back down. I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at her.

"What time is Olivia coming over?" she asked.

"Two," I said.

Mum nodded. "Well, I would like to talk to you about yesterday. You ran out of the room so fast."

"Yeah, that's because I didn't want to talk about it anymore."

"You didn't let us finish, though. Your father and I have given this quite a bit of thought."

"Oh, yeah? Ever think how this is going to affect me? Switching schools after I've already done three here? Actually, I'll probably wind up switching in the middle of the year once you two figure out where we're going. Can only imagine what that'll be like," I rolled my eyes.

Mum sighed, "That's exactly why I want to tell you more about this. We do have a plan and I would like to tell you it. First, you are not going to switch in the middle of the school year."

"What, you've found a new school already?"

"No. Not all schools start their year in January. You will not be going back to school at the end of this month, not any school."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I get an extra long holiday?"

"I will home school you."

"What?!" I stared at her. I did not want to spend an entire school day with my mother.

"I will home school you for now. The schools we are looking at start their year in September and you will start as a fourth year in nine months at one of those."

"That's an odd time to start the year."

"Well, it's not odd for the countries they are in. The schools we are looking at are in New York, a couple of other states in the US, one in Canada, and one in Scotland."

I blinked at her. "Those are all far away."

"Yes, I know."

"How are you going to decide?" I demanded.

"We'll send letters and whichever Headmasters or Headmistresses are agreeable, we will set up times to visit their schools."

"And if none of them will let Matt go?"

Mum sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't say anything for at least a minute, during which I stared at her, but didn't dare speak.

"We'll deal with that if it happens," Mum finally said.

I rolled my eyes. Wonderful, they didn't have a plan if that happened. How could they not think about that? What made them so sure one of these other schools would let Matt attend?

"Could I go back to school here?" I asked hopefully. I knew it was selfish to want the other schools to deny Matt from going, but if they did, one of us might as well be happy.

"Absolutely not."

"Fine. I'll be upstairs until Olivia is here." I glared at her and stood up, stomping out of the room.

"Amy, take your bag with you," Mum pointed to my bag that was still sitting on the kitchen floor.

I grabbed it wordlessly and ran up to my bedroom. I had completely forgotten about my overnight bag and was surprised that Mum waited so long to tell me to put it away. I tossed it unceremoniously onto a pile of dirty clothes once I entered my room. I had no desire whatsoever to empty it and put anything away. Olivia wouldn't care if my room was a mess. She's a messy person as well and our dormitory at school was incredibly messy.

Our dormitory. I squeezed my eyes shut as I realized that it wouldn't be our dormitory anymore. It would just be Olivia's dormitory. There were six girls in our year and two of us shared each dormitory. Olivia would be by herself now since I doubted the school would put a first year in with a fourth year. The only way Olivia would get another roommate would be if someone transferred in. Someone like me. I was going to transfer into some other school. Into someone's dormitory who I had never met before. Someone who already had friends.

I sighed and walked over to the window. It was a bright and sunny day, the complete opposite of my mood. It was probably hot, too, but I couldn't be sure since Mum had put Cooling Charms all over the house. I wondered when we would move. All the schools Mum and Dad were looking at were in the Northern Hemisphere, which meant the seasons would be flipped. It was winter right now in all the countries we might be visiting. Would we move as soon as Mum and Dad found a school? Or would we wait until right before the year started? I hoped we wouldn't move until right before the year started. If we were here, there was a chance I could see Olivia a few more times. Who knew how often I'd see her after we moved.

Chapter 9: Olivia

Olivia told me she would arrive by the Floo Network. I left my room at a little before two and found Mum and Matt standing in the living room waiting for her to arrive. Neither of them said a word when I entered the room. I stood a few feet away from them, hoping Olivia would arrive soon so we could go up to my room.

The fireplace lit up with green light a few minutes after two. Olivia stepped out of the fireplace with a large grin on her face and ran over to me with her long black hair swinging behind her. Olivia was a little shorter than me with big brown eyes.

"Amy!" she shrieked and threw her arms around me.

"Olivia!" I replied and hugged her back.

"I cannot believe I'm actually here!"

"Me either!"

I looked up and saw that someone else had stepped out of the fire who I recognized immediately as Olivia's mum. Olivia and I stopped embracing each other and walked back over to where the adults were standing.

"Hi, Natalie," Mum put on a fake smile and greeted Olivia's mum. I could tell she was trying to conceal her worry that had plagued her for the past few days.

"Julie, nice to see you again," Olivia's mum replied, "Thank you so much for having Olivia over."

"No problem at all."

"Send her back in a few days," Mrs. Quelch said and then turned to her daughter, "I'll see you then."

Olivia gave her mum a quick hug. "Bye, Mum!"

"Bye, honey. Have fun girls!" Mrs. Quelch waved and threw some Floo powder in the fireplace. A few seconds later, she was gone.

"We'll be in my room," I said as soon as Olivia's mum left. Mum nodded.

Olivia grabbed her bag and followed me out of the room. "This place is amazing!" Olivia grinned at me.

"I suppose I'll give you the grand tour," I smiled and lead her down the hall. "You just saw the living room. This is the kitchen," I opened the door to the kitchen and found Ellie inside. "Hey, Ellie. This is Olivia."

Ellie bounded over to us and bowed. "Ellie is pleased to meet you."

"You, too," Olivia grinned, "I wish I had a house-elf."

I continued the tour of the main floor, pointing out the formal dining and living rooms, Dad's study, a few bathrooms, the drawing room, and a few storage areas. Then we went upstairs and I showed her my room, Matt's room, my parents room, more bathrooms, and a couple guest bedrooms.

"I'm ready to move in," Olivia laughed as we started up the stairs to the third floor.

I swallowed hard and didn't say anything. It was just an innocent statement, but it felt like a punch to the stomach. The fact was, was that in a few months, Olivia might actually be able to move in. Someone else would be living in our house. Some other kid would have my bedroom and my balcony. I shook the thought from my head and lead Olivia down the hall. I pointed out more guest bedrooms and storage, saving my Potions Room for last.

Olivia wasn't really into potions. Sure, she did decently in Potions at school but it certainly wasn't something she would want to turn into a hobby. Despite this, she was thoroughly impressed with the room. She had a million questions about the stuff I was brewing and I answered them patiently. She even went so far as to ask if she could brew something while she was here. I told her we would do it the next day or something.

"So," Olivia began as we were walking back to my bedroom, "Was that your brother down there?"

"Yeah."

"He's quiet. Didn't say a word when I got here."

"He's like that," I explained, "Kind of quiet around people he doesn't know." That was true, but I had a feeling Matt was still thinking about the previous day's events.

We didn't say much more on our way to my room. It was odd because usually Olivia and I never run out of things to talk about. My mind was racing as to how to tell Olivia I wasn't going to go back to school. I couldn't put it off very long, but I had no idea how to bring it up.

"All right," Olivia sat down on my bed and patted the spot next to her once I had shut my door, "You've been quiet ever since I got here. What's up?"

One look at Olivia's concerned face made me want to start crying again. She had always been a great person to confide in. Unlike me, she always knew exactly what to do or say. I just wished I could tell her the whole story.

I bit back tears and sat down on the bed next to her. I didn't say anything for a few minutes and just stared at the back of my door. Olivia didn't seem to mind and just sat patiently waiting for me to talk.

I sighed and started fiddling with a loose thread on my comforter. "I- I, don't really know how to tell you this," I swallowed hard, "But, I-I'm n-not going b-back to school." I watched the loose thread become blurry as tears started to run down my face.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.

"I m-mean that I c-can't go back for f-fourth year."

"You're not coming back? But why?"

"M-my p-parents won't let m-me," I explained, finally picking up my head and looking at my friend.

Olivia had a combined look of confusion and concern on her face. "Why not?" she asked softly.

I thought fast. What could I tell her? I hated more than anything to lie to my friends and this was a big one. "Um, my p-parents had a disagreement with the headmaster," I said finally. Well, it wasn't a total lie.

"And they won't let you go back because of it? Blimey, must've been a big disagreement. What was it about?"

"I have no idea," I lied.

"But what are you going to do now? Where are you going to go to school?"

"I don't know!" I wailed as tears poured down my face, "We're m-moving!"

Olivia pulled me closer to her and I saw that she was starting to cry. The two of us cried in each other's arms for what must have been ten minutes before we finally stopped.

"We're going to figure this out," Olivia said, wiping tears from her eyes. "You're not going to move."

"What c-can we do? Mum and Dad have already decided. They're l-looking at s-schools. Either in the S-States, or Canada or England!"

"But those are so far away!" Olivia exclaimed.

"I k-know!"

"You can't go, you just can't," Olivia said as she stood up, "Maybe your parents will make up with the headmaster. I mean, how long can they stay angry with each other?"

About this issue? Forever. I just wished I could explain it to her. "They won't ever make up. That's completely out of the question."

"But what is it about?" Olivia sighed and shook her head. "I thought you didn't know."

This is why I hated lying. I could never keep the lies straight. "I don't know exactly. It's something with Dad's work." Again, it wasn't a total lie. Matt going to school did kind of have to do with Dad's work.

"What's Killigan involved with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for?"

"I don't know, but they got into a huge row and now I've got to find a new school."

"What about your dad's job, though? He can't keep it if you move across the world," Olivia pointed out.

That was a good point. I hadn't really thought about it. What would Dad do? Just quit and try to find a new job? I wondered if he could even find a new job doing the same thing he's doing now. I mean, there aren't really very many open positions for heads of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Of course, I wasn't even sure Dad still liked his job. He was working all the time now and never looked happy when he came home.

"I don't know," I sighed, "There's something going on with his job, too. He comes home all tense and is working a lot more than he usually did. Plus, he and Mum keep having private conversations about it and won't tell me anything."

Olivia paced the room for a few moments and then stopped in front of the dresser. "Wait. Maybe the two things are connected. Your Dad's job issues and the thing with Killigan."

I laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Who knows? All I know is that whatever it is, it's causing me to have to move across the world and I can't stand it!"

Olivia finally seemed at a loss as to what to say. She sat down and leaned against the bed. I continued staring up at the blurred ceiling. Something inside me told me that it didn't matter what Olivia and I did, there was no way I would ever go back to the Australian School of Sorcery. That part of my life was over. My life was just changing so fast and I didn't seem to care about anything at that moment. Just days before this, I had been incredibly curious about what was going on at Dad's work, but now it just didn't seem to matter. I mean, if we were just going to move to the States or something in a few months, what did it matter that Dad hated his job? He was just going to have to find a new one anyway. And the changes he was so vague about? They couldn't possibly affect us if we were thousands of kilometers away.

"You'll come back and visit, won't you?" Olivia asked a few minutes later.

I sat up and slid off the bed next to Olivia. The tears had dried up in her eyes, but she still looked sad. "Of course. I mean, I'll make my parents let me visit. We'll still come back to visit my grandparents, so they'd better let me visit you while we're at it."

Olivia nodded. "Good. Because I couldn't stand it if we never saw each other again."

"That won't happen," I said adamantly, "Maybe you can even visit me, wherever I wind up moving to."

"I'd like that. I've never been outside Australia before."

"I've only been to the States, but that's just when I visit my Uncle Jack. Haven't been there in over two years, though."

The last time we visited Uncle Jack had been the holiday before the time Matt got bit. Ever since then we hadn't been able to work out a good time to go. There always seemed to be a full moon whenever I had a school holiday or when it was a good time for Uncle Jack. He came and visited us over last Christmas, though. Too bad there had been a full moon and I was at my grandparents' for half the visit.

"Are you going to go visit him anytime soon?" Olivia asked.

"Not sure. Probably when we go to visit the school in New York. We'll probably stay with him then." That would be the silver lining in this whole mess, getting to visit Uncle Jack.

"Amy?" There was a knock on the door. I recognized the voice as Matt's.

"What?" I shouted.

"Dinner's ready," he replied.

I wasn't really that hungry, but I got up and led Olivia downstairs. Apparently Olivia coming over was enough to eat in the formal dining room and my parents, Matt, and Ellie were already sitting down. Matt was sitting next to Ellie that night, which left the two seats opposite them for Olivia and I.

"This looks delicious, Mrs. Eckerton, Ellie," Olivia said politely as she sat down.

"Thank you," Mum and Ellie said at the same time.

Once Dad had said the prayer, he served everyone up a heaping plate of steak, potatoes, and carrots. I mainly stirred my food around my plate and watched everyone else eat. The fact that I was going to be moving had caused my appetite to evaporate.

Both Mum and Dad still wore looks of worry and Dad looked positively worn out. There were more lines on his face than there had been the last time I was home. He was eating, but didn't seem to be that enthusiastic about it. Mum was eating less than he was, but more than I was. She did not seem all that excited about the meal either. All I had to do was look at them for a few seconds to realize that the entire meal was just a show for Olivia. They were trying to hide that anything was wrong. I was sure that if Olivia wasn't there, we would be having sandwiches in the kitchen or something.

They shouldn't have bothered with pretending for Olivia, however. Olivia looked a bit uncomfortable and kept stealing glances at each of my parents and then giving me significant looks. I knew she knew something was up. It's hard to hide that something is the matter from Olivia. Despite this, she was clearly enjoying the actual food and was cleaning her plate.

Matt was as oblivious to his surroundings as ever. He was eating about the same as he usually did, but was mostly concentrating on making a tower with his carrots. This habit had amused me just a few short weeks ago when he did it with peas, but now it was bugging me. How could he just sit there clueless as ever when it was his fault we were moving? His fault that I was having to switch schools. Probably his fault that my parents were all tense and exhausted. Well, that was probably also due to Dad's job, but the whole school issue certainly couldn't be helping matters.

Ellie was clearly worried about my parents. That's what I loved about Ellie. She was always so considerate of others and rarely ever thought about herself.

After about fifteen minutes of awkward silence, Dad cleared his throat. "So," he began, turning to Olivia, "How has your holiday been?"

"It's been good," Olivia answered.

"Looking forward to fourth year?" Dad asked.

I stared down at my plate. How could he ask something like that with me right there? I wasn't going back for fourth year. I tried not to look at Dad as I grabbed my glass of milk for something to do.

"Not really," Olivia replied flatly, "Since Amy won't be there, it's going to be positively horrible."

I choked on the milk I had been drinking as I tried not to laugh. Olivia usually had more tact than that. She was probably trying to be funny for my benefit. I coughed and she slapped me on the back.

"Oh, right," Dad said quickly, grabbing his own glass of milk.

No one attempted anymore polite conversation. The remainder of the meal was spent in awkward silence. Olivia and I both politely declined dessert and ran back up to my bedroom as soon as we were finished.

"Merlin, that was awkward," I groaned as I shut my door.

"Your parents really didn't need to fix such a fancy dinner," Olivia sighed and sat down on the floor. "They're so distracted about something."

"They've been that way since the beginning of the holiday, pretty much. Ever since right after Christmas. It's something to do with Dad's work. He said there are some changes that might be coming that could have a negative impact on us. He wouldn't elaborate, though."

"Geez, what more could happen? You're already moving across the world."

"I know, but Dad told me about that a few days before the school thing. I think they're two different things," I explained.

"Really? I kind of think they're connected somehow. What if the argument your parents had with Killigan had something to do with the changes at your dad's work?"

I highly doubted that the issues at Dad's work had anything to do with Matt attending school, but I had to keep up the lies.

"Maybe. Who knows?" I sighed, "But you know what? It doesn't really matter because I'm moving no matter what. I don't want to waste all our time talking about this."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. Let's do something."

"I haven't showed you my new telescope yet, have I?"

"Nope."

I stood up and went over to the balcony. "It's out here." I opened the doors and walked out. Olivia followed.

Olivia absolutely loved my telescope. The two of us sat outside talking about everything except my moving to who knows where until the stars came out. Once the sky was dark we spent hours watching the stars move across the sky.

******

Despite the fact that Olivia and I went to bed late, I was still up early in the morning. I could hear the birds chirping outside my window and Olivia's soft snoring next to me. I sat up and crawled out of the bed, being careful not to wake Olivia. I got dressed quietly and then laid down on the floor with a book, waiting for my friend to wake up.

Olivia finally got up a couple hours later. I had already read a quarter of my book. I closed it as I heard her sitting up in bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," I greeted her.

"Morning," Olivia yawned.

We went downstairs for brekkie once Olivia changed her clothes. I felt better that morning than I had the previous day. Today, I didn't want to dwell on the fact that I was moving. I just wanted to put it out of my head while Olivia was there.

Dad had long since left for work, but Mum and Matt were in the kitchen when we entered. Mum was pouring over a piece of parchment while drinking a large cup of coffee. Matt was eating a bowl of Lucky Charms, which meant that Mum was still feeling bad about how he couldn't go to my school. Well, what used to be my school.

Olivia and I poured ourselves bowls of Lucky Charms as well and sat down across from Mum and Matt. Mum muttered a good morning but didn't lift her head from the piece of parchment. She pulled it closer to her when I tried to read what it said. Chances are it had something to do with one of the schools Mum and Dad were looking at.

We decided to go explore the forest after brekkie. I hadn't been in it since we got the tree and Olivia had never been in it. I led her over to the wall and insisted she try climbing it. It took her a couple tries, but she eventually made it over.

Olivia and I spent the whole morning in the forest, but we didn't find anything particularly exciting. We mainly talked. I told her all about the party my grandparents threw for New Year's and about the Muggle kids I had spent time with during it. Olivia agreed that they seemed incredibly annoying, except perhaps Vivien. I told Olivia how Kenzie was doing, although Olivia and Kenzie had never met. They probably never would, I thought, now that I would be moving.

The remainder of Olivia's visit was much like that second day. We spent a lot of time just talking in my room or wandering through the forest. Mum pretty much left us alone except to tell us when dinner was ready. She seemed just as agitated and tired the next few days as she had been since Christmas. I wondered how much sleep she and Dad were getting. Dad left for work early in the morning and didn't return until late at night. I had no idea what Matt did while Olivia and I were out in the forest, but I didn't really care. We were slowly becoming one of those families who just lived in the same house but didn't really interact much.

I woke up early, as usual, the day Olivia left. Over the past couple of days I hadn't thought about moving much. The thought was always in the back of my mind, but with Olivia there, it kind of seemed distant, like it wouldn't happen for a very long time. The fact that I was really moving came crashing back to me the day Olivia left.

Olivia was going to go back to school in two weeks. She would be going back alone, without me. Life would go on for all my classmates, all the professors, and everyone else at the school. They would probably wonder where I had gone, but within a few weeks, they would begin to forget. Everyone except Olivia, that is.

"I still can't believe you're not coming back," Olivia whispered as we stood in front of the fireplace.

Olivia was going to be Flooing back to her house in mere minutes and I wasn't even sure when I would see her again. Mum was standing near us, but not saying anything.

"Me neither," I replied, swallowing back tears.

"I'll owl you as soon as I get back to school. I'll tell you everything that's going on."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"And you've got to keep me updated about this moving thing. Tell me when you're visiting schools and houses and stuff like that. And definitely tell me when your parents have decided."

"I will," I assured her.

"Well, I guess I've got to go now," Olivia gave me a long hug and then looked at me, "We will make this work. I'll owl you soon. Bye."

I hugged her back, "Bye, Olivia." My voice cracked and tears started to trickle down my cheeks.

Olivia gave a weak smile, grabbed her bag, and stepped into the fireplace. A few seconds later, she was gone. I turned around and saw Mum looking at me with concern.

"Oh, Amy," she sighed.

"Just leave me alone, Mum," I glared at her, "Who knows when I'll see Olivia again, now that you've decided we're moving."

"You girls will make it work."

"Oh, yeah? How can we really stay that close when we're thousands of kilometers away? I can't imagine you'll let me come back and visit every school holiday. Oh, wait, that wouldn't work anyway, would it? The schools you're looking at have different holidays!" I shouted.

"Maybe, but I'm sure you'll make new friends, too."

"I don't want to make new friends! I want to stay here, where Olivia and Kenzie are!" I turned and ran from the room.

I didn't stop running until I had locked myself into my Potions room. How could Mum suggest that I make new friends? I didn't need new friends when I had Olivia and Kenzie. They were the best friends I could ever have. The only thing I really wanted was to be able to tell my friends the real reason why I was moving, but I couldn't.

Chapter 10: For One of Your Kids

The day I was supposed to depart for school was quickly upon me. I had spent the past two weeks avoiding contact with my family by staying in my room or my Potions room. Neither of my parents seemed to care or even notice. They were both being highly secretive about something that I could only guess was researching schools for me to transfer to. Whatever it was, it seemed to take up all of Dad's time when he was home. The two of them would hole up in Dad's study for hours on end. I tried to listen in on what they were saying, but one of them must have put up a silencing charm since I couldn't hear a thing.

I wandered down to the kitchen a few hours after I woke up and found Mum sitting at the table with the usual large mug of coffee and piece of parchment she didn't want me to see. This had become a habit of hers, although I'm sure the parchment was a different one each day.

"Morning," I said as I grabbed my box of Lucky Charms.

Mum jumped and then stared at me, raising one eyebrow. Probably due to the fact that I hadn't said good morning to her in a few weeks. "Hello, Amy."

"So," I began as I poured my cereal, "Know what today is?"

Mum sighed, "January 25th? Two days before the full moon?"

"Anything else happening today?" I inquired.

Mum set down her parchment. "Not that I can think of. Just tell me what it is. I'm not in the mood to play guessing games."

"I can't believe you forgot," I huffed and sat down in front of her. "It's the day I should be returning to school!"

"Oh, well, I see," Mum muttered.

"Olivia's probably getting ready to leave for the train," I commented in between bites of cereal. "Sure wish I was going...."

"Amy, you're not going to guilt me into changing my mind about this. Don't even bother trying."

"I'm just letting you know everything I'm missing," I smiled sweetly.

"That actually does remind me, though. We'll have to get started with your homeschooling."

I groaned inwardly. I really didn't feel like having Mum teach me. Sure, she'd do all right with some stuff like Charms and Transfiguration, but what about Potions? Mum was dreadful at Potions. I'd be better off just learning by myself.

"Have you been doing your homework that your teachers assigned last month?"

I stared at her. "Are you mad? I'm not going back, why would I bother with the homework?"

"Well, that's a good place to start then. Complete the homework and then bring it to me. We'll see where to go from there."

"But-"

"No buts. Your professors know more about this than I do. You'll learn a great deal just by doing the homework they assigned. Then we'll start with the homeschooling. I won't be doing much, basically just keeping your skills up until the fall when you'll enter school again."

"That's not fair, though," I whined, "I don't want to just practice what I've already done. Why bother? I'm not going to forget anything."

"I will not have you not keeping up with your studies for six months," Mum said.

"It's your fault," I huffed, "I should be going back to school today."

"I'm not discussing that right now, Amy," Mum said sternly. "I want you to start your homework after you're done eating. We're going over to Richard and Cinda's after lunch. Your father and I have to tell them about our new plans, especially since you'll be going over there in two days."

"But Dad's at work," I pointed out.

"He's going to sneak out for a couple hours."

"Whatever," I muttered. This was just wonderful, I thought. Now I'll be spending every full moon for who knows how long at my grandparents' house. At least I'd get to see Kenzie, but I had no idea what I'd tell her when she asked me why I wasn't in school.

I finished my soggy cereal while Mum continued reading her piece of parchment. I dumped my empty bowl in the sink and went back up to my room. I opened my trunk and pulled out my Astronomy book. I knew better than to not start my homework. Mum would be riding me about this for weeks, so I'd better actually do it. Of course, I'd save the worst for last, like the two rolls of parchment Transfiguration essay.

I sat down on my bed and gazed out the window, my book laying unopened in front of me. It was a sunny day, the kind that was perfect for wandering through the bush. Well, I could read my book while I wandered through the bush, I thought. It certainly didn't look like I'd get much reading done in my room.

Mum was still in the kitchen as I walked past it. She looked up when she saw me.

"Don't go gallivanting through that bush today," she warned. "There's not enough time before we leave."

Yeah, right. We weren't going to leave for a few hours. But I knew she would watch me as I went outside to make sure I didn't go into the bush.

I nodded but didn't say anything and opened the door to the deck. I decided to just lay on the wall next to the bush and read there. I ran over to the wall and tossed my book up onto it.

"Amy!" a voice shouted from behind me. I turned around and saw that it was Mum sticking her head out the window. "Don't go into the bush!"

"I'm not! I'm just sitting on the wall!"

Mum shook her head, but walked away from the window. I climbed the wall and settled down to read my book. Astronomy has always been one of my favorite subjects and I was soon fully immersed in the chapter I was reading. Astronomy and Potions text books are the only ones I can read without being extremely bored. Transfiguration and History of Magic are the worst. They'd put me to sleep in less than five minutes. Charms, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts aren't that bad, but I'm not very good at DADA. I also take Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. I wish I had taken Arithmancy instead of Ancient Runes, though. Olivia says it's fascinating and I can't stand Ancient Runes. Care of Magical Creatures isn't that bad, but I'm not very interested in it. Dad wanted me to take that one, since it's pretty much what he built his whole career on.

I was almost done with the chapter I was on when I heard footsteps approaching. Probably Mum telling me lunch was ready or something. Why she actually bothered to come outside and not just yell out the window, I had no idea. Maybe Matt was asleep or something.

"Amy?" a quiet voice asked. I jumped and my book fell off the wall as I heard the voice. It wasn't Mum, it was Matt.

"What?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"Um, sorry for scaring you."

"You didn't scare me. I just thought you were Mum."

"Oh," he bent down and picked up my book.

I took it and looked at him, "Well, what do you want?"

"Will you play with me? Mum won't let me go swimming."

Probably because she's too busy inside, doing whatever it was that she had been preoccupied with lately. "I'm doing homework, so no."

Matt sighed, "Can I sit up there with you, then?"

"Are you mad?" I stared at him, "Mum would kill me. You're not supposed to be up here. Hell, I'm not supposed to be up here."

"Why are you, then?"

"Because I really don't care what Mum thinks," I said as I sat up and dangled my legs over the edge of the wall.

"I don't either," Matt grabbed the wall with his hands and started trying to climb it.

"Hey, stop!" I shouted, "She's not even going to yell at you if you get up here. She'll yell at me."

"No she won't. She's busy." He wedged his feet onto the wall and got about a foot off the ground.

"I'm serious, Matt. Stop. Get off the wall," I seethed.

"No. It's not fair. You come up here all the time."

"And I get yelled at for it. Plus, life's not fair," I said bitterly and crossed my arms. My life was just about as unfair as it got right now.

"I know that," Matt snapped, "Otherwise I'd get to go to your school." He continued trying to climb up the wall.

"Otherwise I'd get to go to my school!" I groaned, "Now get off the wall!"

"No!" he shouted.

I sighed. He always got so stubborn around the full moon. Any other time of the month and he probably would have listened to me. I glanced up to the house, hoping that Mum wasn't anywhere near the window. I couldn't see her, but she might walk by a window soon. Then I'd be in for it.

Matt was already halfway up the wall now. "Get down, now," I glared at him.

"NO!" he shouted. He reached up for the top of the wall, but his hand slipped. "Amy!" he said in a panicked tone. "Help!"

"This why you shouldn't have done this!" I yelled. I laid back down and tried to grab his hand, but his foot had already slipped and he landed on the ground, flat on his back.

"Ow!" he screeched and started crying loudly.

I jumped off the wall, my heart beating fast. I was in trouble now. I hoped he hadn't gotten hurt badly. "What hurts?" I asked as I bent down.

"My back," he cried.

I looked back to the house, but Mum wasn't anywhere in sight. That was strange. She usually had a sixth sense about these kinds of things and was by Matt's side within seconds of him getting hurt.

"C'mon, let's go inside," I picked him up and he started crying even more. I ran as fast as I could to the house.

I laid him down gently on the couch in the living room and then tried to find Mum. "Mum!" I shouted into the kitchen. She wasn't there. I wandered into the hall. "MUM!" I shouted even louder.

The door to Dad's study burst open and Mum appeared in the doorway with her wand. "What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.

"Um," I said nervously, "Matt got hurt outside. He's in the living room now."

Mum pushed past me and ran into the living room. "What happened?" she asked on the way.

"He tried to climb the wall," I said quietly.

Mum turned around and looked at me. "Really? Did you tell him to?"

"No! I swear I didn't! I tried to stop him but he wouldn't. And then when he was halfway up he fell off it."

"Amy..." Mum groaned and went into the living room.

I followed her over to where my brother was laying. She gently pulled him up and comforted him. She asked him what was wrong and looked at his back once he told her. I snuck a quick glance at it when she was looking and saw that he had a huge cut that was already bruising.

Mum wordlessly left the room and returned a minute later with two potions. She gave Matt one of them to drink and cleaned the cut with the other. Then she tapped it with her wand and the blood disappeared. Mum is pretty good with healing spells, but she can't heal cuts all the way. Matt's back was still bruised and the cut was still noticeable.

"Amy, you know I don't want you on that wall," Mum said as she held my brother in her lap.

"Why? Just because of him?"

"Yes, because he likes to copy you."

"That's not fair! Every part of my life revolves around him!" I shout and run from the room.

I spent the remainder of the morning in my room, reading more of my Astronomy book. The last thing I really feel like doing is going over to Richard and Cinda's house, but I was sure my parents wouldn't let me stay home.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. Olivia was still on the train to get to school. The train always left at ten o'clock sharp. I almost missed it my first year because Mum was busy taking pictures of me at home and lost track of time. I wondered who Olivia was sitting with. The two of us sat together on the train in our second and third years and nobody else sat in our compartment. She's probably sitting with the other girls in our year. Or maybe not, since neither of us really like those girls. I'll probably never see them again.

"Amy! Come down for lunch!" I heard Mum shout.

My stomach was growling so I decided to go down and eat lunch even though I didn't want to be in the company of my family.

Mum had made sandwiches and sliced up apples. I sat down in my usual chair and started to eat without saying anything. Mum was only picking at her food and she looked anxious. Matt seemed to have gotten over his fall from the wall and was eating all his food.

Mum glanced up at the sound of someone Flooing into the house and a minute later, Dad walked into the room. He looked preoccupied and tense as he sat down at the table and grabbed a sandwich.

"Did you get away ok?" Mum asks.

"Best as could be expected. Nobody was happy that I was leaving, but since I'm Head, nobody could really stop me."

I snorted into my milk and tried to stifle my laughter. Mum and Dad both gave me stern looks. "Sorry," I muttered. Hey, I thought it was funny.

"Your daughter spent the morning on that wall in front of the bush," Mum announced. It was never good when she said 'your daughter' to Dad.

"What happened?" Dad asked without looking up from his food.

"Matt tried to copy her and fell on his back," Mum explained. "He's all right now, but he's got a large bruise."

Dad sighed and shook his head. "Well, there's nothing we can do about that now. You're all right now, right Matt?"

Matt nodded, "Yup. Mum gave me a potion."

"Good," Dad said and then turned to me, "Amy, we've told you a million times not to climb that wall."

I shrugged, "I know. I told him not to follow me."

"Just be more careful in the future," Dad said distractedly.

We all finished our sandwiches in silence. Ellie came in partway through the meal and ate her sandwich. Once we were all done, she cleaned up and wished us luck at Richard and Cinda's.

"Ready?" Dad asked.

"Yeah," Mum nodded.

Mum picked up Matt while Dad wrapped me in a bear hug, and the four of us Apparated out of the kitchen. We appeared moments later in a secluded area of woods near Richard and Cinda's. I followed my family to the bottom of the driveway. Mum pushed the button and muttered something into the speaker. A few seconds later the gates opened and we started up the long driveway.

Cinda was waiting for us at the door with a worried look on her face. She ushered us into the house and we settled in the living room. Richard came out of the kitchen with a plate of cookies.

"What's wrong, Julie?" Cinda asked once everyone had sat down, "You sounded so tense on the phone."

Mum nodded, "We have to tell you something. It's pretty serious."

"What is it?" Richard asked anxiously, "You're not sick or anything, are you?"

"Oh, no, we're all fine," Mum assured him. "It's nothing like that."

I grabbed a cookie and started eating it. Matt and I were the only ones who were eating them.

"Walter and I sent a letter to Amy's school a few weeks ago," Mum began. "Remember when I told you that well, werewolves aren't always treated very nicely in our world?" She glanced at Matt, but he hadn't seemed to notice what she said. He was busy eating his third cookie.

"Yes," Richard said. Cinda nodded.

"Well, because of that we weren't sure if he would be accepted into the Australian School of Sorcery, so we sent the headmaster a letter."

"Is it the same headmaster that was there when you were?" Richard asked.

"No. Now Professor Killigan is the Headmaster. He taught Defense Against the Dark Arts while we were there," Mum confirmed. "Anyway, we got a letter back. Professor Killigan basically said that Matt would not be welcome at his school."

"He was downright rude and discriminatory," Dad muttered.

"That doesn't seem right," Richard said, "What about the right to an education? Doesn't your world have that?"

"Yes, but it doesn't apply to werewolves," Dad explained. His voice was stern and his face hard. "I have tried multiple times to change that, but nobody else seems on board."

"That's horrible," Richard replied and slammed his fist on his chair.

"What are you going to do?" Cinda asked, "Can you fight it?"

Mum shook her head, "The law is on Killigan's side, and as Walter said, he can't change the law by himself. The majority of the department has to agree and then the Minister would have to approve it. The majority of the department doesn't agree."

"That's just not fair," Cinda sighed.

"No, it's not," Mum agreed, "Walter and I did some serious thinking after receiving that letter and have decided not to let Amy go back to that place. Not with Killigan there."

"I don't blame you," Richard said.

"But where is she going to go to school? I thought that there was only one wizard school in the country," Cinda asked.

Mum took a deep breath, "Yes, and that's what we've got to talk to you about. We are looking for another school. One that will let Matt attend. Once we find a decent one, Amy will enroll there. We are going to move."

"What?!" Richard and Cinda shouted at the same time. "You're kidding!" Cinda added.

"We're completely serious," Dad said.

"Where are you planning to move to?" Richard asked. "New Zealand?"

Dad shook his head, "We sent them a letter the same time we sent one to Professor Killigan, as a back-up plan. They won't let Matt attend either. We're sending letters to schools in New York, Massachusetts, Canada, and Scotland so far. There are a couple other schools in the States that we might look into as well. We're hoping for the school in New York, though, since my brother lives there."

"New York?" Cinda stared at Dad, "That's on the other side of the world."

Dad nods, "I know, but we're willing to do it."

"You're mad," Cinda shook her head, "Can't you just homeschool them?"

Mum and Dad glanced at each other. One of those parental exchanges of information that don't require speech, I thought. I hated when they did that. I never understand what they're communicating about.

"We could," Mum began, "But we don't want to. There are experiences in school that they can't get at home."

"When are you leaving?" Cinda asked.

"Not sure," Mum said, "Before September, hopefully, since that's when the year starts at all of these schools."

Cinda sighed and shook her head, "I can't believe you'd move out of the country. We're not going to be able to see each other as often."

"I know, Mum," Mum said quietly, "But this is something we have to do, for our kids."

For one of your kids, I thought. I would be perfectly fine staying here and going to the Australian School of Sorcery. I didn't need to move across the world to go to school. Just Matt did.

"Since Amy is going to be home from school until we move," Mum said, "Can she stay here during the full moons? The next one is on Sunday."

"Of course," Cinda nods, "Will you bring her over tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Mum said, "That would be best."

"We'll be here," Cinda said, "We've got a dinner to attend next Sunday, but we're not doing anything this one."

They would have probably just dragged me along to their dinner if it had been this Sunday. I was glad it wasn't this Sunday. I have been to a couple dinners with my grandparents and they are incredibly boring. The food is always exotic and strange, too.

Mum stood up, "Well, we'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Can't you stay for dinner?" Cinda asked.

"I've got to get back to work," Dad told her.

"All right," Cinda said. She got up and gave Mum a long hug. "I can't believe my baby is going to move across the world."

"I can't believe it either, Mum," Mum said, "But we're not moving yet."

"Good, because I'll have to throw you a goodbye party."

"Oh, Mum, no. We don't want anything like that."

I'll say. A goodbye party thrown by my grandmother would just be a repeat of the New Year's party. Plus, we'd have to come up with an excuse as to why we're moving.

"Nonsense, I have to throw my own daughter a goodbye party. People would wonder why I didn't."

"Let them wonder," Mum said, "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Dad."

Richard got up and gave Mum a hug as well, "Bye, Jule."

Dad got up and said goodbye to my grandparents. Then Richard and Cinda said goodbye to Matt and I. The two of them hardly said anything to the two of us during the time we were there. I guess they were too focused on the fact that we were moving.

The four of us Apparated back home and Dad immediately Flooed back to work. Matt wanted to go swimming and Mum decided to actually let him. I had thought she would go back to whatever she had been doing earlier. I guess she wanted to keep an eye on him after what happened that morning.

I went up to my room and decided to start my Astronomy essay. I managed to write the introductory paragraph before getting distracted by thoughts of school. The train was probably almost to school by now. Soon everyone would be getting off and going inside to the feast. Killigan would make his start of term speech and announce any new teachers. There would be a new Transfiguration teacher this year since the other one retired. About time, too. He was ancient, and not very nice either. I hoped for Olivia's sake that the new one was nicer. Then, everybody would go to their dormitories and decorate them for the year. I always loved doing that. Olivia and I are best friends, but our tastes in decorations are so different that each of our sides of the room looked drastically different. Olivia would get to decorate the entire room herself this year.

I closed my Astronomy book and stared up at my ceiling. How long would it take the other students in my year to notice that I wasn't there? What would Olivia tell them? Would they really even care since I wasn't friends with them? The teachers would definitely wonder where I was. Killigan would surely tell them why I wasn't back. Or maybe he wouldn't. I didn't really know. I was going to miss most of my teachers, especially Professor Maratta, my Potions teacher. She was really nice and always let me experiment in my spare time. I hoped whoever my new Potions teacher was would let me do that.

Chapter 11: Life Goes On At School

I was still tired when I got up the next morning, probably because I spent half the night looking through my telescope. The house was quiet like usual as I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Even Mum was no where to be seen, but I noticed that the door to Dad's study was closed, which meant she was probably in there. I was starting to get vaguely curious about what she and Dad were doing when they were by themselves in there. I couldn't really tell if Dad was in there with her or not. It was Saturday, which meant that Dad shouldn't be at work, but he had been working the past few Saturdays.

After I ate brekkie, I spent the remainder of the morning working on various potions. There was no way I would get behind in Potions, whether Mum actually taught me anything or not. How she expected to teach me when she was cooped up in Dad's study all the time was beyond me, not that I really cared. The only schooling I wanted was schooling from the Australian School of Sorcery anyway.

Olivia's owl was sitting on my balcony when I forced myself to stop brewing and start packing for my stay at Richard and Cinda's. All thoughts of packing flew out of my head when I saw the owl. I retrieved the letter, gave the owl a piece of a biscuit that I had on my desk, and sat down on my bed to read the letter.

Dear Amy,

I still can't believe that you're not here.
It totally sucks. The train ride was dead
boring without you there. I wound up sitting
with a couple of first years. One of them
kept picking his nose the whole ride. Ew.

The feast was just like it always is. The
food was great and Killigan's speech was
boring. We've got a new Transfiguration
teacher. He looks nicer than the old one,
but I won't really know until I've been to
one of his classes.

The dormitory is so quiet without you here.
I hate it. It's kind of sad, really. I
only decorated my half, because it felt
really weird to take over the whole room.
That way if your parents change their minds,
you'll have your half back. Thank Merlin
they didn't stick some first year in with me.
I think I would have just left if they did.

Everyone is wondering where you are. Well, ok,
not everyone. The rest of our year kept asking
me if I knew where you were. I told them that
your parents had a row with Killigan and you
weren't coming back. They were all surprised
and wanted to know what the row was about. I
told them I didn't know, which is the truth anyway.

Carmen is jealous of my room now. She wants
her own room and has been whining all evening
that it's not fair how I've got my own now. I
told her to just stuff it and have been ignoring
her ever since. She's such a bitch. Doesn't
even care that you're not going to come back.
The other girls haven't been that bad. Izzy is
even kind of sympathetic.

I wish you were here. Write back soon about
all the new stuff about your move! I want to
know everything as soon as it happens. I'll
keep you updated about everything here at
school. Good luck with all the moving stuff.

Your friend,
Olivia

I bit back tears as I folded the letter. Reading it just made me miss school even more. Merlin, I was even starting to miss Carmen and her bitchiness. She and I have disliked each other ever since first year. Olivia can't stand her either. She's just very snotty and thinks that just because her parents are rich she can do whatever she wants. I guess she kind of thought we'd be friends, since my parents are rich too, but I couldn't stand being around her. She wasn't too happy about that.

Olivia wasn't even going to use the entire dormitory; that was so sweet. She's really the best friend I could ever have. I wished she didn't have to deal with everyone asking questions about me. I felt guilty that I couldn't even tell her the truth. She was such a good friend to me and I had to lie to her and keep secrets from her. It just wasn't fair.

I put the letter in my desk and pulled my overnight bag out from my closet. That thing would be getting a lot of use the next few months. I tossed a bunch of Muggle clothes haphazardly into it and realized that I wouldn't be wearing robes very much for the next few months.

A few hours later, which I spent writing my Astronomy essay, it was time for me to go to Richard and Cinda's. I still hadn't seen much of Mum, Dad, or Matt, but found them all in the living room when it was time for me to leave. Matt was laying on the couch with her head on Mum's lap while Mum leafed through a pamphlet of some kind. Dad was in his work robes and was sitting in an armchair reading a piece of parchment while rubbing his temple.

"Did you go to work today, Dad?" I asked as I entered the room.

"Yeah," Dad said absentmindedly, "Loads of work to do right now."

"Are you going back later?" Mum asked, looking up from her pamphlet.

Dad nodded, "I've got to. I'll be back later this evening. I should have all of tomorrow off, though."

"Good," Mum said and then turned to me, "Bye, Amy. I'll see you in a few days, ok?"

I nodded and bent down to give her a hug. "Bye, Mum."

"I love you, Amy," Mum hugged me back.

"Love you, too," I replied and stood up again. "See ya, Matt."

"Bye," Matt mumbled sleepily.

Dad and I Apparated a few moments later and reappeared in the same bit of secluded woods. We walked to the gate, got buzzed in, and walked to the house. Richard and Cinda greeted us and Dad left shortly after. I went to my room and dropped off my bag in my horribly ugly and flowery room.

Richard and Cinda were both sitting in the living room when I entered a few moments later.

"Anything you want to do today, Amy?" Cinda asked.

I raised my eyebrow at her. That was odd. Usually when I went over there, my grandparents just continued about their business and I did whatever I wanted. Maybe they felt bad that I wasn't going back to school and wanted to be extra nice or something.

"Er, I thought maybe I'd just call Kenzie and see if she was home. I've got to tell her that I'm not going back to school."

"That's fine. If you two want to go into town and do anything, just let me know," Cinda replied.

"Um, thanks," I said, "I'll just go call Kenzie."

To say Kenzie was shocked that I was at my grandparents' house was an understatement. She shrieked so loudly that Richard could hear it in the other room. She immediately demanded to know what I was doing there, but I told her I'd rather tell her face to face. I suggested she come to Richard and Cinda's, where we could talk in private. I loved Kenzie's siblings and her chaotic house, but it was impossible to talk without interruptions there.

I buzzed Kenzie in a little while later and met her at the door. She was completely out of breath and drenched with sweat.

"I...ran...all the way...here," she panted.

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked as she stepped in.

"Yeah...thanks."

I grabbed a couple sodas from the fridge and we went up to my room. Kenzie downed her entire soda and collapsed onto the floor. I sat down next to her and leaned up against my bed.

"Ok, tell me what's up. Why are you here? I thought your school started again this weekend."

I toyed with the top to my soda, "Yeah, it did."

"Then why aren't you there?"

"I'm not going back to that school," I said quietly.

Kenzie sat up and stared at me, "What? Why?"

I sighed. Here it goes, more lying. "My parents got into a big row with the headmaster."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Apparently they have very different views about certain things."

"What things?"

Things you don't even know about, I thought. "No idea. They won't tell me."

Kenzie laid back down, "Well that's stupid. They should at least tell you."

"I know. And my parents have lost all respect for the headmaster." So have I, but it's not like I really interacted with him at school. "They can't stand him. They won't let me go back to school because of it."

Kenzie rolled over and stared at me with wide eyes. "Wow. What do you think about it?"

"It sucks," I replied, "It's not fair. I loved that school, and now I can't go back just because of my parents." And my brother, I thought.

"What school are you going to go to now? Maybe you could transfer to mine?" Kenzie asked hopefully.

I shook my head, "I don't think so. I've got to go to another school like the other one."

When I first started attending the Australian School of Sorcery, I told Kenzie that it was a school for people who like to live really simple lives without many electronics. It was kind of true since with magic, we have no need for electricity.

"Oh, right," Kenzie said, "Where is the new school?"

I took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, "That's the other thing I've got to tell you. I've got no idea where the new school is because my parents haven't decided on one yet. But the thing is, there aren't any other schools like mine in Australia."

Kenzie sat bolt upright and put her hands on my shoulders, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," my voice cracked, "That we're moving."

"What?!" Kenzie shouted, "You can't move!"

"I know, it totally sucks!" I agreed, "But I've got no say in the matter!"

Kenzie sat down next to me, "Any idea where you're moving to? How many of these weird schools are there?"

"I don't really know. There's usually one school per country, except the States has a bunch since there's so many people there. China must have a bunch, too.

"My parents said they're looking at schools in the States, Canada, and Scotland."

"Are they insane? Those are on an opposite hemisphere! What about New Zealand?"

"Nope. They said that the New Zealand headmaster has the same opinions as the one at my school," I sighed.

"Oh, Amy," Kenzie frowned, "This is awful. You can't move across the world."

"I think I'm going to have to," I whispered, "My parents want to go to New York if possible, around where my uncle lives."

"New York," Kenzie repeated, "Like the City? I can't see you in a city."

"No. I'm sure we'd move somewhere else in the state. Maybe near my uncle. He lives in this town called Horseheads."

"That's a strange name," Kenzie giggled.

"I know. But I don't want to live there, despite it's odd name."

Kenzie laughed, "You've been there, right?"

I nodded, "It was all right, but I wouldn't want to move there."

"When are you moving?"

"No idea. Mum's plan is to move sometime before September so I can start as a fourth year at the beginning of term. The school years up there start in September."

"So it could be anytime between now and then?"

"I guess. I assume we'll move as soon as Mum finds a school for me," I bit my lip, "And...and...we find a house."

"Oh, right," Kenzie said, "I hadn't thought about that."

"I don't want to move. I don't want someone else living in my house. I think my parents are going to sell it, Kenzie."

"Maybe you'll find a nice house in New York or wherever you move," Kenzie replied.

"I doubt it'll be as nice as the one we've got now. I've lived there practically my whole life. I can't imagine living anywhere else."

"I know what you mean. I've lived in mine my whole life. I wouldn't want to move either."

I nodded, "It's just going to be strange."

"You'll come back and visit, right?"

"Yeah, since my grandparents will still be here. I'll still see you, just probably not as often."

"We already hardly see each other," Kenzie sighed, "Since you, er, used to go to a boarding school."

"Well, I'll be here once a month until we move."

"We'll just have to spend every moment you're here together," Kenzie decided. "Hey, what are you going to do while your brother's getting treatment if you move? You can't fly back here every month."

Why hadn't I thought about that? What were my parents going to do about that? I couldn't possibly come back to Australia during every full moon. Of course, I'd be in school for most of them, but still. Maybe they would actually let me stay home. I doubted it, though. They would surely figure something out that would keep me out of the house for a couple days before, during, and after the full moon.

I shrugged, "I'm not really sure. I hadn't even thought about it. I'm sure they'll figure something out."

"I just can't believe you're going to move," Kenzie said quietly.

"Me either," I agreed.

Kenzie stood up. "Let's go do something. We should make the most of the time we've got before you move."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's go swimming in your grandparents' pool. That thing is freaking huge!"

"Sure, why not?" I smiled and stood up. Kenzie always knew how to cheer me up. Merlin, I was going to miss that.

******

Kenzie and I spent the rest of the day with each other in my grandparents' backyard. Richard even decided to barbecue. I actually had a really good time and it kept my mind off moving.

"I wish you could sleep over," I said to Kenzie as we laid on lounge chairs next to the pool. We had just finished dinner and were watching the sunset. The two of us had begged Kenzie's parents to let her sleep over, but they said no since Kenzie's first day of school was the next day.

"Me too," Kenzie sighed, "I wish I didn't have school tomorrow."

"I kind of wish I did," I confessed, "Who knows when I'll next go to school."

"Just don't think about that right now. Think about all you can do with six months off. You can sleep-in everyday, stay in your pajamas all day, and stay up all night."

"I never sleep-in, you know that. I'm always up early. And Mum is making me do the homework I got at the end of last term."

"Really? That sucks," Kenzie replied.

"Yeah, she's going to home school me so I don't forget anything," I rolled my eyes.

"Ugh," Kenzie agreed, "What a way to ruin six months of freedom."

"But it's not like I would've been free anyway. You're in school and so is Olivia. My house has been so quiet lately it's driving me mad. My mum and dad are hardly ever around. Dad's always at work and when he isn't, he and Mum are shut up in his study doing who knows what. Even when Dad isn't at home, Mum spends all her time in there.

"I've just been hanging around by myself. Or with Matt when he feels the need to follow me around."

"Sounds boring," Kenzie commented.

"It is."

"How long are you staying this time?" Kenzie asked.

"Erm, not sure," I shrugged. My parents never really told me how long I would spend at my grandparents'. It always depended on Matt. "At least until Tuesday."

"Oh, then I won't get to sleep over this time."

"There's always next month," I replied, although I wasn't sure what day of the week the full moon fell on the following month.

"Amy! Kenzie!"

I turned around and saw Cinda waving at us from the deck. "What?" I shouted back.

"Kenzie's mum just called! She's got to go home now."

"Crap," Kenzie said and got up from the lounge chair.

"Good luck at school tomorrow," I said and walked with her into the house.

"Thanks," Kenzie replied and grabbed her stuff from the kitchen. "I'll come over as soon as school's out, ok?"

"Sure. I'll be here," I said.

Kenzie smiled at me, "Don't worry. You're going to get through this."

I nodded, "I know. I just don't want to do it."

"I wouldn't either," Kenzie said, "But it's not the end of the world. We'll still see each other every once in a while. And we can write."

"Yeah, we'll write," I agreed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Definitely. Bye!"

"Bye!" I shouted as Kenzie walked down the driveway.

I sighed and shut the door. It was strange, I was going to be seeing Kenzie a whole lot more now that I wasn't in school. Well, in the next six months that is. But I couldn't help but feel that we were being pulled apart. How often would we really see each other after I moved? Once a year, maybe. I would only get to see her when we visited Richard and Cinda and I wasn't sure how often we would do that.

I wandered into the living room and found Richard and Cinda talking quietly to each other. They stopped as soon as I walked in. No doubt they were talking about me.

"Hi Amy, darling," Cinda greeted me and set down her drink. "Kenzie leave?"

I nodded and sat down across from my grandparents. "She's coming back tomorrow after school, though."

"That's fine," Cinda replied. "I'd like to talk to you about something."

"What?" I asked.

"I really would like to throw you a goodbye party," Cinda said.

I raised my eyebrows, "That's probably not a good idea, Cinda. Mum said she didn't want one."

"Nonsense. She probably just doesn't want to be involved with planning it since she's got so much on her plate."

I groaned inwardly, "I'm pretty sure she just doesn't want one."

"Would you like to help plan it, Amy?"

I stared at her with my eyes wide open. Was she insane? Me helping with the party would be a one-way ticket to Mum's bad side for the remainder of time. "Are. You. Mad?"

"Of course not! It would be fun. We can plan it when you're here during the full moon next month. Of course it would be helpful to know exactly when you're leaving. You haven't the slightest clue, do you?"

"Uh, no. Mum and Dad really aren't telling me much."

"I'll just plan for April or so. You won't have left by then."

"I really don't think this is a good idea," I warned her. "Mum doesn't want a party."

"Lacinda," Richard interjected, "I think you ought to listen to Amy."

"I'm throwing them a party, Richard."

At that point I knew it was a lost cause. When Cinda got something into her head, there was no stopping her. She was going to throw us a party. I just had to make sure to make myself scarce whenever she asked for help in planning it. That and make sure Mum knew I had nothing to do with it.

******

I was incredibly bored the next day. I got up early as usual and Richard and Cinda had not yet woken up. I wandered around the house and finally decided to read my Potions book in the living room. Richard and Cinda got up when I was half-way through with the chapter and both of them offered to hang out with me. They were really trying to be extra nice to me in the wake of the news of us moving. I declined both offers and decided to write my Potions essay. I really didn't feel like doing anything with my grandparents anyway. I wanted to do something with Kenzie, but unfortunately, she was at school.

Kenzie came over as soon as she was done in school. We spent the afternoon and evening lounging in the pool again. The next day was pretty much the same, with Kenzie coming over after school.

"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Kenzie asked as we collected our stuff from a table by the pool.

"Yeah," I replied. Mum had sent an owl earlier in the day to let me know that Dad would be coming to get me early the next morning, before he had to go to work. "Really early, though. Seven in the morning."

"I guess I'll see you next month, then," Kenzie said as we walked back through the house.

"Yeah, I'll be back," I replied.

Kenzie gave me a hug. "Write me if you find out where you're moving or anything like that."

"I will," I replied and hugged her back, "See you then."

"See ya," Kenzie said and left the house.

I quietly shut the door behind her and went up to my room. With Kenzie gone, my mind immediately returned to thoughts of moving. If I saw Kenzie once a month until July, or so, I would get to see her six more times. Six, that was it. After that, who knew how often I'd see her. Of course, I really didn't see her that often now since I was usually in school all the time. Six times in six months was actually quite a few times compared to the past three years. I guess it was just because I knew that after those six or so times, we'd rarely see each other. Even though I didn't see her that often the past three years, it wasn't that bad since I always knew we'd see each other the next school holiday.

Even though I was sure we'd visit Richard and Cinda after we moved, that wouldn't necessarily mean I'd get to spend a whole lot of time with Kenzie. We'd surely visit my grandparents during school holidays and school holidays in New York might not be the same as Kenzie's. Despite our different schools in Australia, the holidays usually coincided.

I fell asleep before I even had a chance to stargaze, but I was up bright and early the next day. Good thing, too, since Dad was coming to get me so early. I got out of bed, packed my bag, and went down to the kitchen. Cinda had bought Lucky Charms a couple days ago and I poured myself a bowl. Cinda never bought Lucky Charms and I mean never. I couldn't remember a time when I'd had them at her house. Probably more of her sympathy about moving, I thought as I munched on the colorful marshmallows.

Richard and Cinda were still sleeping when I finished my brekkie. I tip-toed up to their bedroom and slowly pushed the door open. Richard was laying on his back and was snoring. I had no idea how Cinda could possibly sleep through it, but she was.

"Cinda," I whispered after I crept over to her side of the bed. "Wake up."

Cinda rolled over and opened her eyes. "What is it?" she groaned.

She looked about ten years older without her make-up on. Her hair was disheveled and kind of resembled the hair that witches that Muggles come up with have. It was a bit strange since I rarely ever see her without her make-up and hair done. I kind of thought she looked more grandmotherly without her make-up, but that was the exact reason she chose to wear it. If I told her what she looked like right now, she would make an appointment for more Botox.

"It's almost seven," I told her, "Dad will be here anytime to get me."

"Oh, right," Cinda said and sat up. "I'll be right down."

I nodded and left the room. Dad rang the intercom when I was half-way down the stairs. I ran into the kitchen and buzzed him in. A few minutes later, he was at the door.

I opened it and he walked inside, looking extremely tired. The lines on his face seemed more pronounced and there were purplish bags under his eyes. I wondered when the last time he got a decent night's sleep was. He still wore his usual tense look and I was starting to get used to the fact that he and Mum were constantly stressed nowadays.

"Hey, Dad," I said.

"Hi Amy," he replied. "Are you all ready?"

"Yes. I just woke Cinda up, she said she'd be down soon."

"All right."

"Um, are you ok, Dad?" I asked tentatively, "You look kind of tired."

"I am. Nothing for you to worry about, though. Just work stuff."

Right. I turned away from him and rolled my eyes. It was always work stuff. Always something he couldn't share with me. I was beginning to wonder if he wasn't just using work as an excuse. There was something else going on and I had a feeling it probably had to do with the move.

"Hello, Walter," Cinda strolled down the stairs and smiled at my dad. "How are you?"

Cinda was looking much better now. She had put on a bit of make-up and brushed her hair. She wasn't dressed in a trademark pants suite yet, though. She had donned a fancy pale pink robe. The buttons on the thing looked like they were real silver. It was utterly excessive in my opinion.

"Hanging in there," Dad replied, "You?"

"I'm fine," Cinda said and then turned to me, "I'll see you next month, then. If not earlier."

"Earlier," Dad interjected, "Matt's birthday is next week."

"Oh, how could I have forgotten!" Cinda exclaimed.

"No parties," Dad said flatly.

"Don't worry," Cinda said, "I couldn't throw a party in a week anyway."

She probably could, I thought, but she just didn't want to throw my family two unwanted parties.

"We'll see you in a week, then, Cinda," Dad said, "Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Bye, Amy. I hope you had fun."

I smiled at her. I actually had fun this time, although it was mainly due to spending time with Kenzie. "I did. See you next week."

I picked up my bag and Dad wrapped his arms around me. A few seconds later we Apparated back to our house. Back to the only place I could call home, but would be forced to leave in only a few short months.

Chapter 12: Muggle Encyclopedias

Life at home returned to normal as soon as I got back. Well, as normal as it had been since I went home for the holidays after third year. I wouldn't have considered that normal a few months ago, but it was starting to feel normal now.

Dad still hadn't elaborated on his issues at work and I had just given up on asking him. It would probably be better to focus my attention on weaseling information about the move out of them. I deserved to know what was going on with the move anyway, since it directly involved me. Mum and Dad didn't seem to pay any attention to that, though, since they just told me that they would tell me more about the move when they were ready to. I took this to meaning they still hadn't found a school that would accept Matt.

The two of them still hadn't told me any new information when Matt's birthday arrived the following week.

"Come on, Mum, you've got to know something else about it now," I said.

"I've told you, we don't know anything new right now," Mum replied as she frosted Matt's cake.

"Which schools have you written to?" I asked.

"You already know which ones. One in New York, one in Massachusetts, one in Canada, one in Scotland."

"That's it? There have got to be others."

Mum sighed and set down the frosting. "All right. We've also written to schools in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Those are just to start. We'll write to every school in the States if it comes to that."

"Illinois and Pennsylvania?" I repeated and stared at her, "The only place I might consider moving to in the States is New York and that's only because Uncle Jack lives there."

"Well you don't really have a say in this, Amy," Mum shook her head, "Your father and I will be making this decision."

"What are the schools like?" I asked, "I don't want to go to one I'll wind up hating."

"We'll visit them, if they agree to let Matt attend. If there are a couple that will accept him, you might have a say in the decision."

"They'd better all accept him, then," I muttered. "Haven't you gotten any response letters yet?"

"Just that rejection one from New Zealand. I'll tell you when we get one," Mum said as she put the left-over frosting into the fridge. "I need you to watch your brother while I go get Richard and Cinda."

I glanced at my watch. It was almost half-past five. "I thought Dad was getting them."

"He was, but he sent an owl a little while ago to tell me that he had to stay late at work. He won't be back until six-thirty."

"Oh," I replied. He was always staying late at work lately.

"I'll be back soon," Mum replied, and with a crack, she was gone.

I got up from the table and wandered into the hall. I didn't even know where Matt was. The house seemed empty with only the two of us there. I went upstairs and found Matt in his room. He was laying on his bed rifling through his collection of chocolate frog cards.

"Mum's getting Richard and Cinda," I announced and walked into his room.

"Ok," Matt replied without looking up, "Have you got any Dumbledores?"

"Nope," I said as I sat down on the bed. I collected chocolate frog cards as well, but had never gotten Dumbledore.

"Bugger," Matt replied, "I've got about twenty Merlins, but not a single Dumbledore."

"You'll get one eventually," I assured him.

"Yeah, probably. Hey, Mum said we might get to go to Hogwarts. That's where Dumbledore was headmaster. Wouldn't that be neat?"

I honestly wouldn't care if Merlin himself was currently headmaster at that school, I still wouldn't want to go there.

"I guess," I replied.

There was a loud crack coming from downstairs and another one a few seconds later.

"Richard or Cinda is here. Let's go downstairs," I suggested.

Matt followed me as I went downstairs and into the kitchen. Cinda was standing next to the table in a lavender colored pants suit. She had been looking at the cake, but looked up when she heard us walk in.

"Happy Birthday, Matt!" Cinda smiled and gave my brother a hug.

"Ta," Matt grinned

"Hi, Amy," Cinda kissed both of my cheeks once and gave me a hug.

"Hey, Cinda," I replied.

There was another crack and Mum and Richard Apparated into the room. Richard wished Matt a happy birthday and said hello to me. After that, Mum took my grandparents into the living room to talk before dinner. Matt and I followed them and settled down on the floor to play a few games of Exploding Snap.

I listened to Mum and my grandparents talk as I played Exploding Snap. They really weren't talking about anything that interesting. Richard had immediately asked about the move, but Mum told him pretty much the same thing she told me: That they were still waiting for letters from schools.

Cinda hadn't said a word about the party she was planning on throwing. I was sure she was still going to have it, though. Maybe she was thinking of having a surprise party. That would probably go over even worse than a regular party. I could only imagine Mum's reaction to showing up at Cinda's house one day to find a party going on.

"What's so funny?" Matt asked.

I stifled my laughter about the surprise party. "Nothing."

Matt and I continued to play Exploding Snap while Mum talked to Richard and Cinda. I noticed that Mum kept glancing at the clock and then to the fireplace.

"When's Dad coming home?" Matt asked after I beat him in yet another game of Exploding Snap.

"Anytime now," Mum replied.

"I'm hungry," he whined.

"I know, honey. We'll eat as soon as Dad gets home," Mum said.

Dad finally appeared in the floo a little after seven o'clock, a half hour later than he said he'd be.

"Sorry I'm late," he said as he brushed ash off of his robes.

"Dad!" Matt jumped up and ran over to the fireplace.

"Hey!" Dad grinned and picked him up, "Happy Birthday!"

"Let's eat now!" Matt announced.

"All right," Dad smiled and let him down.

Matt ran into the hall and Richard and Cinda followed him. I decided to hang back a bit because Dad had started whispering to Mum. I strained to listen in on what they were saying.

"Everything ok at work?" Mum asked.

Dad sighed, "Not really. Everything is just escalating. It's only a matter of time...."

Until what? I thought. What was escalating? I took a step towards them, but both of them had gone silent. It didn't seem like Dad was going to elaborate on the topic. Probably since Mum obviously already knew what was escalating.

I quietly followed them out of the room and into the formal dining room. Richard, Cinda, Matt, and Ellie were already sitting down. Ellie must have taken all the food out of the fridge and heated it up, since it was all on the table with steam wafting off of it.

I took my seat in between Matt and Ellie while Mum and Dad took their seats on the opposite ends of the table. Dad said the prayer and then served everyone up heaping plates of food. I dug into my portion and nobody said much for a while.

It was a bit strange being home for Matt's birthday dinner. For the past three years, I had been at school on his birthday, so I missed the celebration. Hell, I hadn't even been home on my own birthday for the past three years. My birthday is October 27, which is during the last term of the school year. I had been having my birthday dinner during the holiday in between the third and fourth terms for the past few years.

Before I started going to school at the Australian School of Sorcery, Cinda would throw me a birthday party every year. I loved it when I was little, but by the time I was ten I was sick of them. The last one I had was when I turned eleven and I put up with it because I knew it was the last one. The parties just became too big and I hardly knew half the people who went to them. I would have been satisfied with having Kenzie over to my house to sleep over, but Cinda had other ideas.

Matt used to have big parties at Cinda and Richard's house, too. His last one had been the year he turned six, which was only a little over a month after he got bit. I didn't go since I was in school, but Mum and Dad told me it was an absolute disaster. It was only a week after the full moon, which had been his first transformation ever. That transformation had gone terribly and Matt was still worn out and cranky from it when the day of the party arrived. Not to mention the fact that he was covered in fresh scars and partially healed cuts. Dad told me that everyone was asking about them and that in itself was exhausting. Apparently Matt fell asleep shortly into the party and he and my parents were the first ones to leave. Mum told Cinda flat out no more big birthday parties after that.

Ever since then, Matt had been having small birthday dinners like I had. Usually they were a bit more fun than tonight's, though. Tonight, everyone was quiet. Even Matt was kind of subdued, which was a bit strange since he had been hyper all day. He must have been picking up on Mum and Dad's stress. I certainly was. Richard and Cinda weren't saying much either. Richard was normally a quiet person but it was rare to see Cinda not talking.

Just when I thought I wouldn't be able to stand the silence any longer, Cinda finally decided to say something.

"Any idea when you're moving?" Cinda asked. I groaned inwardly. The only reason she was asking was so she could plan that goodbye party, that was now destined to be a surprise party.

"I've told you, Cinda, I really don't know," Mum said.

"Where are we moving?" Matt asked for what must have been the hundredth time since Mum and Dad told us we were leaving the country.

"I don't know," Mum told him.

"Can we move to where Uncle Jack lives?"

"I really don't know," Mum sighed.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Walter," Richard began, "What about your job?"

Dad and Mum exchanged another one of those glances and Dad didn't say anything for a few moments. This just confirmed what I'd already been thinking. Something was going on at Dad's work and whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"I'll find something wherever we go," Dad finally said, "The number one priority is finding a school for Amy and Matt."

Finding a school for Matt, I thought to myself. I could get an education anywhere.

"Are you going to sell the house?" Richard asked.

"We're not exactly sure," Dad replied, "I've got to talk to my brother before we do anything with the house."

I stared at Dad, "Wait, we're not selling it?"

"I didn't say that," Dad said, "I said we're not sure what we're doing with it."

"So there's a chance we'll keep it?" I asked eagerly. I thought it was a given that we'd sell the house, but maybe I'd guessed wrong. Maybe they would keep it and I could move back after I graduated!

"We don't know, Amy," Dad replied adamantly, "I'm not promising anything."

"Can we have cake now?" Matt asked loudly.

"Good idea," Mum hastily got up from the table and returned moments later with a large cake.

She set it down on the table and I looked at it. It was a two-layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Atop it was a green dragon made out of frosting that was breathing red frosting fire. It said 'Happy 8th Birthday, Matt!' on it and had eight green candles.

"Wow!" Matt grinned at Mum, "Cool cake!"

It was somewhat of a tradition in my family for the birthday person not to see the cake before dessert. We all liked to be surprised on our birthdays.

"Thanks," Mum smiled back and pointed her wand at the candles. Flames erupted on each candle and with another flick of Mum's wand, the lights dimmed and only the candlelight remained.

We all broke out into an off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday', which we all sang in different tunes. Dad's ended last and once he was finished, Matt took a deep breath and blew out all the candles at once.

"What'd you wish for?" I asked as Dad cut slices of cake.

"Can't tell you," Matt said, "Or it won't come true."

"I know," I grinned, "Just asking anyway."

Dad passed Matt a piece of cake and he immediately stopped talking and took a bite. He gave Mum a wide grin after swallowing it, but didn't say anything. Another one of our traditions. The birthday person was not allowed to talk from the moment they took their first bite of cake until they finished the last bite. Then everyone else would try and get them to talk. No one ever managed to convince me to talk, but I had Matt talking before he was halfway done with his cake on his fourth birthday. That was the last one I had been home for. Of course, now he was twice that age and it would probably be harder to get him to talk.

I took a bite of my cake and thought about what to ask him as I chewed. I figured I might as well start with what had gotten him to talk when he turned four. That year, I told him I knew what his present was.

"So, Matt," I smirked, "I know what Mum and Dad got you."

He completely ignored me and continued eating his cake. I actually saw Dad crack a bit of a smile at this. I hadn't seen him smile in weeks.

"Yeah," I continued, "They got you a nice set of encyclopedias."

Matt snorted into his cake and started coughing. He took a gulp of milk and then shook his head. Bugger, I thought, this was harder than it was four years ago.

"They're Muggle encyclopedias."

Mum and Dad were trying to stifle their laughter. Richard and Cinda were smiling a bit, but didn't seem quite as amused as Mum and Dad. Matt took another bite of cake and I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. His face was bright red.

"They're quite nice, really. All of them have a nice blue cover and gold edged pages."

"Everyone needs a good set of encyclopedias," Dad chimed in, "Amy got some when she turned eight."

This time it was my turn to laugh into my cake. "Mine are purple. They're upstairs in my potions room. Yours are in that closet upstairs that's always locked."

"Tradition in the family, to get encyclopedias on your eighth birthday," Mum commented.

Matt was beetroot red now and shoveling in his last bite of cake. He looked ready to burst with laughter. I knew he didn't actually believe the encyclopedia thing, but it was still funny. Plus, it had gotten my parents laughing a bit, which was great.

Matt took a large gulp of milk and slammed down his glass. "All right, where are my encyclopedias? I've always wanted a set of them."

Everyone, including Matt, burst out laughing. We laughed for what must have been five minutes before we all calmed down.

"Where's my real prezzie?" Matt asked, grinning, "It's not in that closet, is it?"

"No," Mum laughed, "Not in that closet. I'll be right back."

Mum got up from the table and left the room. My present for Matt was already sitting on the counter in the kitchen, so I got it and returned to the table before Mum did. Mum came back with a rectangular box wrapped in shiny green wrapping paper and a gold bow.

"This is from Dad and I," Mum said as she set the box down in front of Matt.

He tore into the wrapping and pulled out a box. I leaned over and saw that it was a gobstones set. The board was oak and the gobstones were green and red.

"Wow!" Matt grinned, "Thanks Mum and Dad."

"You're welcome," Mum and Dad said at the same time.

"Here's one from me," I handed Matt a small box wrapped in the same green paper. I had had no idea what to get him for his birthday, so I just went with something I knew he'd like.

Matt took the box and unwrapped a box of Chocolate Frogs. "This is great, Amy! Thanks!"

I smiled at him, "You're welcome." I knew he'd like those, due to his chocolate addiction. Only my own chocolate addiction could top his. There were twelve Chocolate Frogs in that box and I hoped one of them had Dumbledore in it.

Cinda excused herself from the table and returned a few moments later with another box. This one was smaller than the gobstones set, but bigger than the Chocolate Frogs. It was wrapped in blue paper.

"This is from Richard and I," Cinda said as she handed Matt the box.

Matt quickly unwrapped the box and then stared at it. "What's this?" he asked.

I looked at the box and started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"It's a Nintendo DS. A gaming system," I explained. Kenzie had one and I'd played it a few times. It was pretty fun.

"What does it do?" Matt asked.

"You can play virtual games on it," I told him, "What game did you get with it?"

Matt picked up another box that had come with it. "Mario Kart 7."

"Oh, Kenzie's got that one. It's a car racing game. You'll like it."

"You got him a Muggle electronic game system?" Dad asked.

"Yes. All the kids like them," Cinda said.

"First the music thing and now this," Dad muttered.

"I like it," Matt announced, "It looks fun. Thanks Richard and Cinda."

"All right, if you say so," Dad shook his head. He often seemed reluctant about the Muggle devices.

Matt opened the box and pulled out the red DS. "How does it work?"

"You've got to charge it first," I told him and reached over to grab the box. I pulled the charger out and unwrapped it. "See this plug? One end goes into the DS and the other into the socket in the wall."

I got up and went over to the socket that was near the kitchen counter. Our house doesn't have many electrical outlets, but there were a couple in the kitchen. I plugged the DS in and set it down on the counter.

"Can I play it now?" Matt asked.

"It's not charged yet. It takes a lot longer than with magic."

"Oh. Do you want to play gobstones, then?"

"Sure," I said.

The rest of the evening was quite relaxing. Matt and I played match after match of gobstones, most of which I won. Matt didn't really care, though, since Mum would vanish all the slime off of him whenever he got squirted. Mum, Dad, Richard, and Cinda talked more about the move, but none of them said anything I didn't already know. Cinda still hadn't said anything about the party, which confirmed my suspicions that it would be a surprise party. At least she had dropped the idea of me helping her with it.

Richard and Cinda spent the night, since it was already late when we finished dinner. I went up to my room when Mum and Dad told Matt it was time to go to bed. I decided to spend the night on my balcony. I dragged a blanket out there and laid on my back, looking up at the stars. It was a clear night and I could see loads of constellations. It was a good end to what had turned out to be a great evening. Once Dad had come home, the evening had been fun. Him and Mum were a bit tense, but that seemed to dissipate a bit once I started joking around during the cake. I should do more of that, I thought. My family was in dire need of more humor in our lives.