In Moonlight's Shadow

Chapter 37: Kenzie's House

Dad shut the door behind Norlam and turned to me. "Thank you, Amy. You were brilliant in there. I think Matt's really making progress."

I stared at him and raised my eyebrow. "What? He won't go near Norlam. And what in the name of Merlin did I do?"

"You had your back to Matt the whole time. You didn't see what he was doing when you were talking with Norlam. When the session started, Matt had his head buried in Mum's shoulder but by the time it was over, he was looking at us and paying attention to what was going on. That is a huge improvement."

I hadn't noticed that at all. That was amazing, but what had I done? "That's great," I smiled, "But how did I help?"

"You were comfortable around Norlam. You talked with him like you knew him, like he wasn't a stranger. You asked him questions that would help Matt understand that he was a nice person. He looks to you to judge situations. He looks up to you more than you think, Amy. By knowing you're comfortable with Norlam, he'll begin to be comfortable with him. And when that happens, we can start to work through the issues."

I nodded. Did Matt really pay that much attention to what I was doing? I wasn't even home all the time. He went months without seeing me when I was at school. And even though I'd been home the past few months, I had to admit that I hadn't really been nice to him. But apparently I was a huge influence on him.

Dad gave me a hug and put his arm around me as we walked back into the living room. Mum and Matt were still sitting on the couch, but Matt had moved away from Mum and was playing his DS. Mum got up when she saw us come in. She gave me a hug and whispered 'thank you' and then she and Dad left the room. I stared curiously at their backs as they left. I never would have thought that I'd have such an important roll in Matt's therapy. It was kind of strange.

The next few days passed in a kind of relaxed but tense pace. I really didn't have anything to do, but I wasn't bored. I read and worked on potions. Mum and Dad held hushed conversations in Dad's study and I listened in on a few of them. Most were about the full moon and started becoming repetitive after a while. Matt continued having nightmares every night but seemed to sleep fine when he napped during the day. His ankle was healing, slowly but surely. Dad had him try walking on it Friday before his next therapy session, but he said it hurt and didn't want to do it again. Dad looked worried after this and I had a feeling it had to do with the fact that the full moon was just over a week away. Sterling had said Matt's ankle needed to be mostly healed before the next full moon.

Friday's therapy session followed the same pattern the first one had. Matt still wasn't comfortable enough with Norlam and spent the hour on the couch with Mum. But this time I paid more attention to what Matt was doing and I noticed that he watched us the whole time with some sort of curiosity on his face. Norlam said he was making excellent progress and wouldn't be surprised if he joined in the Exploding Snap games the next session.

Mum had reluctantly called Cinda and told her about our plans to have dinner at Kenzie's house. We had to tell them that we'd be Apparating to their house. Mum and Cinda's relationship remained strained, but Mum said that she and Richard did want to see Matt. They hadn't seen him since before his hospital stay.

I was very excited about going to Kenzie's house. I hadn't been there in a while, despite the fact that I was at Cinda's house every month. Mum and Dad seemed relatively excited as well. As much excitement as either of them could show, that is. They had told Matt about the dinner and he didn't seem too afraid to go. He had known the Dawes since before he even became a werewolf, though, so they weren't exactly strangers.

"Are you ready to go, Amy?" Dad asked me early Friday evening.

"Yeah," I grinned, "This is going to be much better than Cinda and Richard's going away party."

"Ready, Jule?" Dad asked Mum.

Mum nodded. She was holding Matt and was ready to Apparate. Dad picked up Matt's crutches and then wrapped me in a hug. With two loud cracks, the four of us disappeared.

I opened my eyes and we were standing in the middle of Richard and Cinda's living room. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see both my grandparents standing in the doorway. Richard looked happy to see us and I couldn't tell what Cinda was feeling.

"Julietta," Richard hugged both Mum and Matt at the same time, "It's so good to see you."

"You, too, Dad," Mum smiled.

"And how are you, Matt?" Richard asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Ok," he shrugged.

"Good," Richard smiled.

"Julietta," Cinda said quietly, "I know you have to get to the Dawes house now, but I'd like to talk to you after."

"I think that would be a good idea," Mum replied.

Dad nodded to both my grandparents as we left the room. I hurried after him and Mum and Matt brought up the rear. Whatever conversation Mum and Cinda were going to have later, it was definitely going to be interesting.

We left the house and started the walk to Kenzie's. Kenzie's house wasn't really that far away. It was right past my grandparents' property, but there was a large clump of trees in between so you couldn't see Kenzie's house from Richard and Cinda's. It was a warm night with a slight crisp wind. It was starting to get chillier. Winter was coming, although Australian winter wasn't nearly as cold as New York's or England's. We'd move before it really hit, though, so we'd be getting two summers in a row.

I could smell the barbecue as we walked up the steps to Kenzie's house. It smelled great. Kenzie's dad was an excellent barbecuer. Dad rang the bell and we waited to be let in. I could hear the thundering of footsteps and the door was thrown open a moment later.

"Amy!" Kenzie shouted and threw her arms around me.

"Kenzie!" I grinned and hugged her back.

"Julie! Walter!" Mrs. Dawe came bustling through the crowd of Dawe children and greeted my parents. "How are you holding up?"

"Surviving," Mum said, "Never a dull moment."

"Life sure would be boring if it weren't that way," Mrs. Dawe replied. She smiled at Matt and then noticed his ankle and the crutches Dad was holding. "Oh, dear, what happened?"

Mum and Dad had constructed the cover-up story earlier, making sure both Matt and I knew all the details.

"He passed out and fell down some stairs," Mum sighed, "But it's healing."

Mrs. Dawe looked at Matt sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear that. Such rotten luck. Glad it's healing, though. How is he otherwise?"

"The usual," Mum said.

"Well, I'm sure the doctors will come up with something and he'll be cured."

Mum nodded and we continued walking through Kenzie's house. Mrs. Dawe led us outside, where a few tables had been set up and the food was set out. Mum put Matt down on a chair and Dad handed him the crutches. My parents sat down nearby and continued their conversation with Mrs. Dawe. Mr. Dawe joined them as soon as he had the burgers on the grill.

Kenzie and I sat down at one of the picnic tables and were followed by all of her siblings, including little Michael. I told Kenzie more about the move and she told me about school.

Mari and Maddie soon grew bored of listening to our conversation and started running around the yard. They stopped in front of Matt and noticed his crutches.

"Can I try those?" Mari asked.

"Sure," Matt shrugged.

Mari picked them up and bent low over them and began to awkwardly walk around the yard. Despite the fact that Mari is only a few months older than Matt, she's a head taller than him and the crutches were much too small.

"Those are kind of fun," Mari grinned and set the crutches back down.

"Not really," Matt replied, "I always fall down with them."

"I didn't," Mari said.

"I wanna try!" Maddie shouted and picked up the crutches. They were slightly too big for her and she fell over as soon as she stood up with them. "You're right. They're not fun," she huffed.

"Are to," Mari disagreed.

"No they're not! And they're Matt's. He says they're no fun, so there!"

"He only says that because he sprained his ankle and has to use them!"

I rolled my eyes at Kenzie and we stifled laughs as we listened to the little kids fight. Kenzie's sisters always fought over the stupidest things.

"Girls!" Mrs. Dawe shouted, "Enough of that fighting. And nobody touches the crutches. I don't want either of you to hurt yourselves enough to actually need them."

Mari and Maddie stuck their tongues out at each other and then sat down on either side of Matt. Maddie started to poke his ankle and Mari smacked her arm away.

"Don't do that, Maddie," Mari scolded, "You'll hurt it more."

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"Will not!"

"Marianna Lily and Madison Rose!" Mrs. Dawe got up from her chair, walked over to the girls, and put her hands on her hips. "Stop this fighting right now! And Maddie, don't touch Matt's ankle."

Mari and Maddie both glared at their mother and then turned back to Matt. They began asking him questions and yelled at each other whenever the other one interrupted. Matt looked a little confused by this, but went along with it.

"They are so immature," Morgan muttered. She was currently looking at her face in a compact.

"She could use with being a little more immature," Kenzie whispered to me. I covered my mouth with my hand and stifled a giggle.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing," Kenzie smirked. She and Morgan used to fight like Mari and Maddie do. Well, I kind of think they still do, but neither of them admit it. Morgan is just a very irritating twelve-year-old.

Kenzie and I continued talking until dinner was ready. Every once and a while I would glance over at my parents and it looked like they were really enjoying themselves. It made me wonder why we didn't spend more time with Kenzie's family. We hadn't done something like this in months. This might even be the last time we get together. I shook the thought from my mind. It wasn't the time to dwell on the move. It was time to just live in the moment and have fun.

"Burgers are ready!" Mr. Dawe shouted a little while later.

Kenzie and I turned around and faced the table while her sisters sat down across from us. Mum, Dad, and Mrs. Dawe sat down at the other table. Matt glanced at the kids' table before deciding to sit in between our parents at the other table. Mr. Dawe set a platter of burgers down on both tables and then sat down next to his wife.

"Your dad always makes the best burgers," I told Kenzie as I helped myself to one.

"Yeah. But they're only good when he barbecues them. When he cooks them in the oven, they're not nearly as good," Kenzie explained.

"Why's Matt sitting over there?" Maddie whined as she squirted a huge amount of Ketchup onto her burger.

"Er-" I stammered, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse.

"Probably cause he didn't want to sit with all the girls," Mari interrupted.

I nodded my head in agreement. Leave it to an eight year old girl to come up with a reason like that.

"But I thought he liked us," Maddie said.

"He does," Morgan sighed, "But the two of you were driving him mad all afternoon!"

"Were not," Maddie huffed.

Morgan rolled her eyes. I went back to eating, happy that the conversation had been dropped. Mari and Maddie argued about pointless stuff throughout the entire meal, but Kenzie and I were able to ignore it. They didn't eat for very long anyway. The two of them shoveled down their burgers and then started playing a game of two-person tag. It seemed kind of pointless to me, but at least they weren't arguing.

After we all finished eating, the adults settled down on the patio furniture again and started discussing the move. Mrs. Dawe brought out a bottle of wine and they all had a drink while talking about houses and jobs and other moving related stuff. Matt, who looked tired, laid down on one of the lounge chairs nearby.

Kenzie and I climbed up onto a huge branch on one of the trees in her backyard. We talked and watched her sisters chasing each other around the yard. Well, Morgan wasn't participating. She had began painting her toenails at the picnic table. Michael was toddling around the yard trying to play tag with Mari and Maddie, which had all three of them in hysterics.

Sitting in that tree watching Kenzie's family made me wonder what my life would have been like if my parents had had more kids. I always got the feeling they wanted more, but they just weren't able to. Mum often talked about how she had been kind of lonely as a child because she had no siblings and how lucky I was to have a brother. Dad had Uncle Jack, but he occasionally talked about how fun it would be to have a chaotic household with lots of kids. In comparison with Kenzie's family, my family was relatively quiet. Our house never had the energy that Kenzie's seemed to have.

Kenzie and I jumped out of the tree after a while, since it was starting to hurt to sit on a branch. We wandered over to the patio, where everyone else seemed to have congregated.

Michael had tired of the tag game and was falling asleep in his mum's lap. Morgan had moved on to painting her fingernails. Mari and Maddie had given up on the game as well and were once again sitting on either side of Matt, who looked to be falling asleep.

"What's your school like?" Maddie asked Matt, "Mine's fun. We played Duck Duck Goose yesterday."

"I'm home schooled," Matt muttered without opening his eyes.

"What's that?" Maddie asked.

"School at home. My mum teaches me."

"Why?"

"Maddie!" Mari shouted, "Don't ask that." She lowered her voice, but not low enough not to hear what she was saying. "It's because he's sick."

"Oh," Maddie nodded, "When I'm sick, Mummy lets me stay home."

"That's not the kind of sick he is," Mari sighed, "You're too little to understand."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Mari groaned and put her arms across her chest. She turned back to Matt. "Does your mum teach you the same stuff I'm learning? What year are you in? I'm in third."

"I dunno. My mum doesn't mention years," Matt replied, "She teaches me maths and reading and other stuff."

Other stuff like magic, I thought.

"Oh," Mari said, "Are you going to be home schooled in England?"

"For a couple years. Then I'm going to the school Amy's going to."

"What's that one like?" Mari turned to me.

"Er, it's just your average school," I said. Well, if a school in a castle was normal. "Maths, reading, science, history, that sort of stuff."

"Sounds boring," Mari said and turned back to Matt, "Can I use your crutches again?"

"Mmm-hmm," Matt yawned.

"I want to try again, too!" Maddie shouted.

Mari picked up the crutches before Maddie could and started hobbling across the yard with them. Maddie shrieked and chased her. Mari was pretty slow on the crutches and Maddie soon caught up, tackling her to the ground.

Kenzie groaned and stormed over to her sisters. I followed. Kenzie bent down and ripped the crutches out of Mari's hands.

"Ok, neither of you are playing with these anymore! They're not toys!" she handed me the crutches and we went back over to the patio. Mari and Maddie grudgingly followed.

Maddie climbed onto the same chair Matt was on. "Are you tired?" she poked his arm.

Matt turned over and groaned. "Yeah," he mumbled.

"But it's early," Maddie whined.

"Maddie, leave him alone, please," Mrs. Dawe walked over to us and picked Maddie up off the chair.

The rest of the adults were behind her. They had finished their wine and were laughing about something. Mum looked at Matt and then glanced at Dad.

"We should probably get going," Mum said to Kenzie's parents, "It's getting late."

Mrs. Dawe set Maddie down and turned back to Mum. "Yes, I suppose it is. Well, thank you so much for coming."

"Thanks for having us," Mum smiled.

"Keep in touch," Mrs. Dawe embraced Mum in a hug, "Good luck with everything."

"Are you going to your grandparents' at all before you move?" Kenzie asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "In about a week, actually."

"Good," Kenzie smiled, "Then we won't say goodbye now."

"Right," I agreed, "So I'll see you in a week."

"See you then!" Kenzie grinned.

Mum and Dad said their goodbyes to everyone and promised to send letters. Mum even gave Mrs. Dawe her mobile phone number. The only other people who have that are my grandparents. Dad shook hands with Mr. Dawe and then gathered Matt, who was now fully asleep, in his arms. Mum grabbed the crutches and we began the walk back to Richard and Cinda's. I turned around when we were halfway down the yard and saw Kenzie and her family standing in the doorway, waving at us. I waved back and then continued walking.

******

"I'm going to miss them," Mum sighed as we walked up Richard and Cinda's driveway.

"Me, too," Dad agreed, "They are a very kind family. If half of wizarding Australia were as caring as they were, the country would be a much better place."

"That's for sure," Mum said.

Dad opened the door to the house and we walked inside. It was quiet, but I knew both of my grandparents were waiting for us to come back. We walked slowly down the corridor and into the living room. Richard was reading a newspaper and Cinda was flipping through the channels on the television. Both of them looked up when we came in.

"Mother," Mum nodded to Cinda.

"Julietta," Cinda replied.

I followed Dad into the room. He sat down on the couch next to Richard and held Matt, who was still sleeping, on his lap. Richard made no move to get up. He seemed to sense that this was something that was between Cinda and Mum. I sat down in a nearby chair and waited for the shouting to begin.

"I've hardly heard a word from you the past few weeks," Cinda said quietly, "I can't begin to tell you how much that worried me."

Mum sighed. "I'm sorry for that. I really am. But you knew we were at the hospital in London. I couldn't contact you everyday. It was hard enough to find a pay phone nearby. There really aren't many of those left. And then I had to figure out how to do an overseas call on one."

"You have a mobile," Cinda pointed out.

"I did not think to bring it. We left in an emergency."

Cinda nodded. "I know, but it still worried me."

"We're moving in three weeks," Mum said, "I'd rather not have us be on such bad terms."

"I haven't enjoyed it either," Cinda replied, "But I still do not approve of this move."

"And I don't think you ever will," Mum said shortly, "Because you truly do not understand what we're going through."

"I still see this as you running away from your problems instead of facing them," Cinda shot back, "Which doesn't seem to me as something unique to the wizarding world."

"The situation is unique to the wizarding world," Mum replied, "There is no Muggle disease that is viewed the way lycanthropy is."

"You have a point there," Cinda said, "I can't think of any Muggles who have to move to a different country because their son is sick."

"And that's because lycanthropy is not viewed as a disease here. The Ministry does not see Matt as a kid with a disease. They see him as an animal. And because of that, he's denied rights. Rights that every human being should have. He'll have those rights in England. He'll have a better life there."

"And what if those rights are taken away in England? Then what? Will you move again?"

"If it's necessary, yes," Mum answered.

"See? Running away from your problems. That's always the solution, isn't it? We raised you different than that!"

"When 'running away' as you call it, is the only way to keep my son alive, I sure will do it," Mum took a step closer to Cinda and lowered her voice, "I will not stubbornly stay here and put his life at risk. One more full moon like last month's could do just that. He can't go through that again."

"I just don't see how your Ministry can take him like that and get away with it."

"Because of the laws!" Mum groaned, "That is what you don't understand! Werewolves are not seen as people in the eyes of the law!"

"Fine," Cinda crossed her arms, "Fine. I don't understand. But I don't want you to move while we're fighting like this."

Mum sighed. "I don't either."

"Then let's just put this whole thing behind us," Cinda said, "I don't want us to go months without speaking again."

"Again, that's not something I want either," Mum replied.

"I will always support whatever decisions you make, Julie," Cinda said, "I may not agree, but I will support you."

"Thank you, Mum," Mum said.

"I do love you, Julietta," Cinda hugged Mum, "I always will."

Mum hugged her back. "I love you, too."

I stared at them curiously. They hadn't really shouted at each other much. With the way they had been ignoring each other lately, I would have expected an all out shouting match that would last at least an hour. I guess the time spent not talking to each other had helped both of them to calm down.

Richard and Dad looked at each other and shrugged. Neither of them were ones to hold grudges or shout at people. Well, there were exceptions of course. But the only people I had ever seen Dad really shout at were his cousin, Clarence, and Lubar. I had never seen Richard blow up at anyone. Mum must have inherited her temper from Cinda. Dad has told me a few times that I've got it, too, but I didn't think so.

Mum and Cinda sat down and began talking about everything that had been going on since their big row. Mum told Cinda more details about the move and explained about Matt's hospital stay. Cinda listened intently and then talked about the latest gossip in her group of friends. Mum paid attention, but I doubted she was actually interested in it.

I listened to the two of them talk and eventually drifted off to a half sleep. I wasn't sure how much time had actually passed, but Mum and Cinda were still talking by the time I woke up. Matt was stirring as well and was sort of crying.

"M-my ankle h-hurts," he cried.

"We'll go home soon," Dad told him.

Mum and Cinda looked up and stopped talking. They gave each other one more hug and Mum promised to call Cinda soon. Dad and I got up and I went over to Mum to Apparate. She looked happier than I'd seen her in months as we disappeared from Richard and Cinda's living room.

Chapter 38: Memories

The next week passed quickly. Too quickly in my opinion. My remaining time in Australia was flying by and I didn't like it one bit. I spent most of my time brewing potions and wandering around the bush. Norlam came to the house for Matt's therapy session on Monday and it passed in the same fashion the previous two had. The only difference was this time Matt spent the whole time watching us, instead of spending the first half hour with his head buried in Mum's shoulder. Norlam said that was a great improvement. Friday's session proved to be pointless, though. Matt seemed to have regressed and clung to Mum the whole hour. Norlam wasn't surprised since it was two days before the full moon. He actually spent the hour talking to Dad about the full moon. Sterling had sent along a packet of instructions for Dad about what to do right before and right after this particular full moon. Sterling was quite worried about it, despite the fact that Matt's ankle was mostly healed. He had stopped using the crutches on Thursday. I jokingly suggested that we give them to Mari and Maddie and earned a groan from Mum because of it.

Since Mum was on speaking terms with Cinda again, she Apparated with me to her house on Saturday. The full moon was Sunday. Mum seemed very anxious, as did Dad. Hell, I was anxious as well. Dad's plan to keep Lubar out of the house wasn't foolproof. In fact, it was far from it. But it was the best they could do. And it was the last Australian full moon. After this, we wouldn't have to worry about Lubar again.

I called Kenzie as soon as Mum left after dropping me off. To Kenzie, this was my last visit to my grandparents' house. At least until we visited, that is. My parents had explained that I would be spending the July full moon at Richard and Cinda's, much to my dislike. I had thought that maybe they would just let me stay home after we moved, but no. The July one was so close to the estate sale that I was just going to go to Australia with Dad for that and he'd pick me up after the full moon. I had no idea what I was doing for the August one.

However, my parents had told me that I wasn't allowed to tell Kenzie that I would be there. It would look extremely suspicious to her and her family. They would think that I'd fly to Australia while Matt was getting treatment for whatever Muggle disease they thought he had. I hated to have to pretend not to be there, but it was necessary.

Kenzie came over to Richard and Cinda's five minutes after I called her. She was going to sleep over at my grandparents' house for the last time. Mum and Dad didn't want her staying there the actual night of the full moon just in case something happened at home and I had to leave immediately. I actually didn't mind that since I didn't think I'd be able to hide my fear from her anyway.

We ate dinner with Richard and Cinda and then went up to my room.

"I still can't believe this is our last sleepover," Kenzie sighed as she flopped down onto my bed.

"Me either," I laid down next to her.

"Are you scared?" she asked quietly.

"About moving? Yeah, a little," I replied. More than a little, I thought.

"I wish I could tell you you'll be fine. But I've never moved, so I have no idea."

"It's just that we're moving so far away," I said, "Everything is going to be different."

"Well, look on the bright side. At least you're moving somewhere where they speak English," Kenzie shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," I laughed.

"Is your new school like your old one?" Kenzie asked.

"Pretty much," I shrugged. Except it's in a castle. But I didn't mention that since Muggle schools weren't normally in castles.

"And does your dad have the same top-secret job in England now?"

"Equivalent department, different job," I replied.

"So, it's like your whole life is just being transferred to a different country."

"Pretty much. But our new house is totally different."

"I think you'll survive in a smaller house," Kenzie laughed.

"I know," I shrugged, "But I like my house."

"Yeah. I know I'd hate to leave mine. Although I definitely wouldn't mind having my own room."

The rest of my time with Kenzie passed way too quickly. We spent most of it talking and just hanging out. Richard and Cinda seemed to sense that we wanted to be alone and didn't bother us the whole time.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Kenzie sniffled as she grasped me in a tight hug. It was late Sunday afternoon and the full moon was going rise soon.

"Me, too," I cried, "I don't want to go!"

"I don't want you to!" Kenzie replied, "But you'll be back to visit."

"I know," I stammered, "But I don't know when that will be!"

"Can't you come stay at my house tonight? Please?"

I shook my head. "Richard and Cinda want to spend time with me."

"Ok, well, I guess I'll call you soon," Kenzie said, "Your mum gave my mum her mobile number."

I nodded, "Yeah, call me. I'll write you as soon as we move, too. I'll let you know everything."

"And I'll tell you everything that's going on here," Kenzie said.

We hugged for a few more minutes and silently cried into each other's hair. I reluctantly let go and we looked at each other for a few moments.

"I guess this is goodbye for real now," Kenzie said as she grabbed her bag.

"I guess," I said with tears running down my cheeks, "Bye, Kenzie. But we will see each other again."

"Of course," Kenzie agreed, "But until then, good luck with everything."

I nodded, "Thanks."

"Bye, Amy," Kenzie said softly as she opened the door. She turned around as she walked outside and I waved.

I stood in the doorway and watched her go until long after she disappeared behind the trees. I let the tears roll down my face and blur my vision. This was it. Kenzie and I wouldn't see each other for months. She was one of my best friends and now she was gone. I was leaving and she was staying. I was being forced to leave my two best friends in the whole world. Olivia and I were already drifting apart and now I wouldn't see Kenzie for months. Well, at least I'd see Kenzie again. I didn't think I'd ever see Olivia again. I let a sob escape at the thought of never seeing Olivia again.

With the release of that first sob, the rest of them came hard and fast. My whole body shook as I cried almost as hard as I had when Matt was in the hospital. I couldn't see anything as the tears flooded my eyes. I was hardly aware of the fact that Cinda put her arm around me and led me back into the house and onto a couch in the living room. I laid down on it and let myself cry for ages. Both of my friends were gone. I didn't know when or if I'd see them again.

******

I wasn't sure how long I laid on the couch crying, but eventually, my eyes ran dry and I slowly sat up. Cinda was sitting in one of the armchairs and was looking at me. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Are you ok, Amy?" Cinda asked quietly.

I nodded. "I guess."

"I know this is hard," Cinda said, "It's hard to move away from your friends. My best friend, Helen, moved away when I was around your age. But we stayed in touch. We still call each other on occasion and even meet for coffee."

"But I'm moving to another country," I muttered, "It was hard enough to keep all the lies straight with Kenzie living here, but it'll be even harder now. Lies and living across the world. I'm just sick of it."

Cinda nodded. "Well, I won't pretend that I know what it's like to keep so many secrets from your friends. Helen and I told each other everything."

"I can't tell anyone everything," I replied.

"I know and it is hard on you. But you're strong. You're such a good big sister, you know that, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I just hate the whole thing sometimes."

"We all do, Amy, we all do," Cinda said.

I glanced out the window. It was getting increasingly darker. The moon would rise soon. "I'm going upstairs," I muttered.

Cinda nodded. "It's going to be ok, Amy."

I bit my lip and didn't say anything as I left. I wished I could just believe Cinda. But I couldn't. Everything was so up in the air. There was no way to know things would be ok.

I went upstairs and crawled into my bed. I hadn't even eaten dinner, but I wasn't hungry. I laid completely still under the covers, staring out the window. I didn't do anything. I just laid there. Thinking about nothing and everything at the same time. Thinking about school, moving, Kenzie, Olivia, Matt, my grandparents, my parents, and everything in between. Yet, my mind was empty at the same time. It was strange, but it was the best way to describe it. Everything and nothing at the same time.

I tossed and turned much of the night, but must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I was opening my eyes to the bright sun that was shining through the window. I groggily sat up and yawned.

Then it hit me. Night had passed. The moon had set once again. The sun was up. The last full moon in Australia was over! I jumped out of bed and quickly changed clothes. I ran downstairs as my heart thudded in my chest.

I had no idea when Mum or Dad would tell me what happened. I assumed nothing too horrible had happened since neither of them showed up the night before, but I still wanted to know. I poured myself a bowl of cereal, but wound up just pacing the kitchen while the Fruit Loops grew mushy in my bowl.

Cinda and Richard stumbled downstairs a little while later. Cinda sat down at the table while Richard poured them both mugs of coffee. I couldn't tell if they had been up all night or if they just needed their coffee.

"Amy, don't you want your cereal?" Cinda asked.

"No, not really," I replied as I continued pacing across the floor.

"I think things went ok last night," Cinda said quietly, "They would have contacted us sooner if they hadn't."

"I know," I said, "But I still need to know."

"Amy," Richard said as he set down the coffee mugs, "Stop pacing. Sit down and eat something."

I nodded and sat down. I picked up the spoon from my cereal and started stirring my cereal, but not eating it. Richard took it away and gave me a withered look. I didn't say a word as Richard began to cook eggs. Richard was cooking eggs. I couldn't remember the last time Richard cooked brekkie.

I ate the eggs even though I wasn't exactly hungry. It had been a nice gesture on Richard's part. My mind wasn't on the food, though, it was on my brother.

I was just getting up from the table when I heard a loud crack coming from the living room. I immediately ran out of the kitchen and into the living room. Mum was standing there looking exhausted, but not sad, which I took as a good sign.

"Mum!" I exclaimed, "What happened?"

"He's fine, Amy," Mum replied.

"Is everything ok, Julie?" Richard asked. I turned around and saw him and Cinda standing in the doorway.

"Everything is fine," Mum said, "Lubar did show up last night. But he had to Apparate into the bush and then come to our door the hard way. To say he wasn't happy about our wards and disconnection from the Floo Network would be an understatement, but there's nothing he could do about it. By the time he got to the house, the moon was about to rise. Matt was already in the basement. Walter was able to hold him off just by arguing with him. He was quite angry when he realized that the moon had risen before he got Matt, though. Walter told him to get out and slammed the door in his face. And that, hopefully, was the last time we will see Ralph Lubar."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good," I smiled.

"Glad to hear it," Richard said.

"What about Matt?" Cinda asked, "Is he ok?"

Mum gave Cinda a weird look, but then shook her head and it was gone. I guess Mum wasn't used to Cinda asking about Matt, since they had that huge row.

"As good as can be expected," Mum replied, "He had been unconscious for about an hour, but that's normal. He's got the usual injuries, and he re-injured his ankle. Depending on how fast it heals, he might have to go see Healer Sterling again. But after last month, this one has been a relief."

Cinda winced at the sound of Matt's injury. "Well, I can't say I've heard anyone say a re-injured ankle is a relief, but I'm glad it wasn't anything worse."

I was, too. I hadn't even realized how worried I had been until I found out that Matt was ok. Sure, I had been pacing around the kitchen, but I hadn't thought I'd been that worried.

"When can I come home?" I asked quietly.

Mum sighed. "I guess you can come home now. But you'll have to stay out of Matt's room. He needs to rest."

I nodded and smiled as I went to get my stuff. I couldn't believe how much less strict Mum had become in the past few months. Six months ago, she never would have let me go home the morning after the full moon.

******

The next week flew by even faster than the previous one had. Mum and Dad were preoccupied with moving logistics and spent most of their time talking about packing and decorating and other sorts of stuff. With the last full moon in Australia behind them, they were both becoming increasingly excited about the move. I think Dad was excited about working again as well. He routinely talked about his new job and I got the feeling he was very enthusiastic about it.

Matt seemed indifferent about moving. He spent the week resting and lounging around the house while his ankle healed. Dad brought out the crutches again and Matt hobbled around the house on them. Mum said he needed to go to St. Mungo's, but Dad wanted to just wait until after we moved and see if it healed on its own with the usual potions. Mum reluctantly agreed. He had two more therapy sessions and Norlam was very pleased with the progress he'd made. During the most recent one, he had migrated from the couch onto the floor and watched Norlam and I play Gobstones. He didn't say anything or play with us, but it was progress nonetheless.

"Amy, did you clean up your room yet?" Mum shouted from the kitchen.

"It's almost done!" I groaned and got up from the couch.

"You need to finish it soon! The Magical Movers are coming early tomorrow morning and your room needs to be ready to be packed!"

"I know!"

Mum had been nagging me about cleaning my room all day. She and Dad were frantically running around the house making sure everything was ready. Matt and I had mostly been watching them. Mum of course got his room ready for him, but I had to do mine myself. Plus my Potions room, which I had done that morning.

I didn't want to get my room ready. I didn't want to see it bare and empty. Once it was empty, it wouldn't be mine anymore. It would be Clarence's, and who knows what he'd do with it. I still hated the thought of someone else moving into the house. Although, part of me thought Clarence was just going to own it in name only and let it sit empty just to spite Dad and Uncle Jack.

No amount of thinking about it could have possibly prepared me for packing up my room. I slowly ascended the stairs and stood in the doorway for a moment before sitting down and starting to clean. There was no feeling in the world quite like packing up your whole life and moving it to another country. I had only moved once in my life and I had been so young that I didn't remember it. This house was basically the one I had spent my life in. Even before we actually moved in, when Granny and Gramps were still alive, we spent every holiday in this house. Granny, Gramps, Mum, Dad, me, and occasionally Clarence and Gregory. We visited other times of the year, too. My memories of this house were some of the first ones I'd had.

Christmas morning when I was three. Ripping open the biggest box under the tree to find my very first toy broom. I flew it around the house the entire day, until I crashed into the refrigerator and Mum declared it an outside toy.

My fourth birthday. One of the only memories I had of Granny and Gramps. My last memory of them. All our family at the house eating a huge chocolate cake. My Little Hippogriffs, a toy owl, a stuffed animal dragon that breathed fake fire, and a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard for presents. But what I remember most is walking through the bush and seeing a family of kangaroos. That had been my first walk through that bush, and I fell in love.

Moving in. It had been a few months after Granny and Gramps had died. Dad couldn't bring himself to move in before that. I don't remember much about the accident, but I do remember being excited about moving. Mum carried me up the stairs and showed me my new room. I was thrilled and made a beeline for the balcony. It had been locked and it remained that way for years.

I was five and I first discovered the joys of climbing the wall into the bush. Mum completely freaked out and told me never to do it again. I was out there the next day when Mum was cleaning. I promptly fell off, skinned my knee, and ran crying inside to Mum. I tried again the next day and succeeded.

A few months later Mum was shrieking with joy and holding a white stick in her hand. I kept asking her what it was, but she wouldn't tell me. A few hours after Dad came home, they sat me down and told me I was going to have a new brother or sister. I was filled with mixed feelings about it, but what I remember most is wanting a sister.

Six years old and peering down at Matt, who was sleeping in his crib. I remember thinking how tiny he was. Mum and Dad asked me if I wanted to hold him and I said yes. I sat down in the rocking chair and Mum placed him in my lap. I looked down at his tiny red face and wondered how on earth a baby could have grown inside of Mum.

Sitting in the kitchen staring at the owl that was coming closer and closer to the house. I had been eleven and spent days waiting for my Australian School of Sorcery letter to arrive. I let the owl in and couldn't get the letter open fast enough. My hands shook as I opened it and shrieked with joy when I read it. I ran all around the entire house waving it above my head. Four-year-old Matt stared at me with a mixed look of confusion and awe on his face. He immediately asked me how long it would be until he got his letter.

Almost exactly a year later, laying on my bed thinking about how everything changed in a matter of minutes. It had been a few days after Matt got bitten and Dad and I came home from the hospital to get some sleep. Mum stayed with Matt. I was scared. Scared and upset. I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what would happen to Matt. To me. To my whole family.

Christmas, just six short months ago. Finally getting the twelve foot tree I had always wanted. With no way to know that it would be the one and only time we'd have a tree that tall in the house. With no way of knowing that it was our last Christmas in the house. My house. My home.

Memories. I knew deep down that I'd always have the memories of my house, even if we didn't own it anymore. I knew it was the people I shared those memories with were what really mattered. But I couldn't help but feel like I was being forced to leave my childhood behind. No matter how much I reassured myself things would be ok, I knew I'd be leaving a part of myself in Australia with the house.

I shook myself out of my reminiscing and stared at my room. I had no idea where to begin. Cleaning up my Potions room had been easy. Everything had a place in there. All I had to do was put everything in its place and I was done. My bedroom was different. It had never really been organized.

I sighed and began by picking up all the dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper. It was a start. But it was only a start. My room was still a mess when I finished that. I kept going and finished picking up everything else that was on the floor. I worked methodically, trying not to think about what the cleaning really meant. I knew if I sank back into reminiscing, I'd never get anything accomplished.

Then came my closet. I didn't think I had ever cleaned my closet. It was packed with the detritus of my childhood. I sat down in front of it and began to pull things out. Text books from previous years, broken displays of the solar system from Astronomy, broken quills, random bits of parchment. It was like cleaning out a big school trunk. I tossed most of it into the bin. I made a pile of stuff I wanted to keep and threw the books onto it.

It was like an archaeological dig. There were layers of my life piled into that closet. As I worked through the stuff, I worked farther back into the years. I found my first set of school robes, which were much too short. I couldn't bear to throw them away, though. They would remind me of Australia. A box of letters from Olivia joined them in the 'keeping' pile.

Next was the stuff from before I ever went to school. Well, magical school, that is. I found my My Little Hippogriffs. I threw away the broken ones and kept the ones that were still intact. Wendy Witch dolls, toy dragons, hippogriffs, unicorns, and just about every other magical creature in the world. Dad began teaching me about magical creatures before I could talk. My toy broomstick, which had seen better days. I put it in the 'keeping' pile. Old clothes that I hadn't seen in years went into the giveaway pile. Childhood books went into the 'keeping' pile.

Eventually the entire contents of my closet had been organized into three piles. The 'keeping' pile was considerably larger than the others. That didn't matter. Mum had said I could keep whatever I wanted. I grabbed a few of the boxes Mum had given me and piled everything I wanted to keep into it. The trash pile went in the bin and the giveaway stuff went in another box.

I tackled my dresser and desk next. Most of that stuff I packed into boxes to be moved to England. There wasn't much I wanted to get rid of. I left my bedding on the bed since we still had one more night.

By the time I finished, my room looked depressingly empty. It didn't even really look like my room anymore. It was an empty shell, a place where I had lived almost my entire life and was now just a room. I didn't like it. Not one bit. I sank down onto my bed and stared at the boxes. The boxes that contained my life.

Chapter 39: The Last Night

Mum knocked on my door a while later. I didn't know how much later. I just sat there and didn't say anything. I didn't care one way or the other if she came in. A few moments later the door creaked open and Mum walked inside. She sat down on my bed and wrapped me in a hug.

"I know it's hard," she whispered, "But you can get through it."

I nodded and bit my lip. It didn't stop the tears, though. They started out slow and soon evolved into huge sobs. Mum hugged me tighter and I rested my head on her shoulder like I was little again. I hadn't done that in years. But it was a relief. I cried until I had no more tears left and Mum just hugged me. She didn't say anything, just waited for me.

"I-I just d-don't want to l-leave," I sobbed, "E-everything has h-happened here."

"I know, Amy, I know," Mum soothed, "But we'll make new memories in England. And you'll always remember the good times here."

"I-I know," I cried, "B-but I l-like living here."

"We're all going to miss it, Amy," Mum said.

"B-but you and D-dad hate it here."

"No," Mum said quietly, "Your father and I don't hate living in this house. Believe me, we'd stay if we could. We hate having to deal with the Ministry here. We hate the restrictions they've put on us. But we do not hate living here. I want you to know that."

I nodded. I hated the restrictions too. Mum and I sat on my bed for a while longer before she went downstairs to help Ellie with dinner. I waited a few minutes and then joined her. I felt a bit better, but still incredibly depressed.

Dad and Matt were already sitting at the table when I entered the kitchen. Dad was wearing a completely unreadable expression on his face. I sat down next to Matt and waited for Mum and Ellie to serve dinner.

They had cooked my favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs. Mum served me a large helping, but I wasn't really hungry. I stared down at the pasta and waited for everyone else to be served.

Dad cleared his throat once Mum and Ellie sat down. We all looked up at him. He had been quiet the entire day.

"Well, here we are," he began, "Last supper in Australia. I don't really know what to say. I've spent the day thinking about everything we've done here. I've spent practically my whole life in this house. I grew up here. Jack grew up here. Amy grew up here. And Matt mostly grew up here. It's strange that we'll be leaving. But it's just a house. As long as we have each other, we'll be fine."

"Well said, Walt," Mum smiled.

I nodded. "Yeah, Dad, well said."

Dad seemed a bit more cheerful during the rest of the meal, but I didn't say much. I managed to eat half the spaghetti and then quietly helped Mum clean up. I wasn't sure what possessed me to do that, as I never help clean up, but for some reason I wanted to.

Mum and Dad spent the evening hours packing. They were saving most of the packing for the Magical Movers to do, but there were some things they wanted to pack themselves. I spent all evening wandering around the house getting one last look at all the rooms. I even went into the rooms I normally stayed out of. Matt followed me around and I walked slowly so he could keep up. His ankle was better, but not perfect. But we didn't talk. We just wandered, making last memories of the place.

I wandered into my room after Mum and Dad made Matt go to bed. I climbed into bed as well, but I wasn't tired. I stared at my ceiling and watched the sparkling fake stars. Stars. I jumped out of bed and walked out to the balcony. It was my last night to look at the Southern Hemisphere sky. After this, I'd be gazing at the Northern Hemisphere's sky.

I leaned against the balcony and looked up at the twinkling bits of light that created the constellations that I loved so much. The quarter moon provided some light, but not enough to impede the stars. I stood there for a while, thinking of all the times I had spent sleepless nights on the same balcony. The day I found out Mum was pregnant with Matt, the night before my first day of Muggle school, the night Matt was born and the healers hadn't been sure he'd make it, the night before my first day at the Australian School of Sorcery, the nights following the night Matt got bit, and of course the plethora of nights from the past six months.

It was a clear quiet night with hardly a hint of wind. It was cool, but not cold. The perfect night to sleep outside, I thought. I realized that I hadn't snuck out of the house and slept in the yard in months. Why was that? I used to do it all the time. This was my last chance. I knew I wouldn't get any sleep inside, so why not?

I went back inside and pulled the blankets and a pillow off my bed. I tossed them off the balcony and watched them land softly on the ground. Then I carefully climbed off the balcony and onto the lattice that was along the side of the house. It was tricky, but I had done it before. The lattice reached from my bedroom all the way to the ground. I slowly climbed down it and then jumped the last couple meters, landing softly on my feet. It was dangerous and Mum and Dad would completely freak out if they knew I did it, but there was no way I could sneak out through a door without them knowing.

I walked stealthily across the lawn and over to my usual spot. It was behind a huge tree that overlooked the pool. I spread out one of the blankets, laid down on it, and looked up at the sky.

I still remembered the first time I spent the night outside. I had been ten years old and the idea came to me as I was star gazing on the balcony. There had been a full moon and I remember thinking how beautiful it was. Looking back, I realized that spending a full moon outside was the stupidest thing I could have done. Sure, that was before Matt was bitten, but still. I'm not sure why I did it, since Dad had always taught me how to keep myself safe from dangerous magical creatures, including werewolves. But whatever I had been thinking, I spent the night outside.

I successfully climbed down the lattice without so much as a scratch. The thrill of sneaking out of the house was great. I hardly slept since I wanted to stargaze the whole night, but I must have fallen asleep towards morning because I awoke to Mum shouting. She had gone outside to do something and found me asleep. I received one of her loudest, longest lectures ever. Dad added to it when Mum's shouting drew him outside. He was more angry about the fact that I had done it during a full moon more than anything else. I never snuck out on another full moon after that. I had been extremely lucky, especially since we live near the bush.

That had been four years ago. Four years of sneaking outside and Mum hadn't caught me since that first time. I had been lucky.

I gazed up at the sky and opened my eyes wide when I saw a shooting star. I hadn't ever seen a shooting star on one of my little camp outs before. I had to make a wish. I thought for a moment about what to wish for. My first thought was that I could wish that I'd have no trouble with adjusting to England and Hogwarts, but then another wish came to mind. One not for me, but for my brother. And I knew exactly what I'd wish for. I squeezed my eyes shut and made the most unselfish wish I'd ever made in my life.

******

"You have got to be kidding me, Amy!"

My eyes snapped open and I shrieked and jumped back when I saw Mum peering down at me. My head hit the tree behind me and I winced.

"Ouch!" I rubbed the back of my head and groaned.

"Amy Marie, what in the name of Merlin are you doing out here?" Mum demanded, "Did you spend the night out here?"

I nodded but stopped abruptly when it made my head hurt even worse. "Er, yeah."

Mum sighed, "You haven't done this since you were ten! Unless...Amy, have you been doing this regularly?"

I groaned inwardly. Four years of Mum never finding out that I occasionally sleep outside. But the last night I do it, she finds me. Figures.

There was no use denying it. "Yeah," I replied, "But never on the full moon."

"Well, I suppose that's a relief," Mum said, "But still! You know how I feel about camping."

"I know, I know," I said, "I won't do it again."

"Good, now come inside. We're going to Richard and Cinda's for brekkie."

I stood up and winced as my head started throbbing even more. I grabbed my blankets and pillow and followed Mum inside.

Dad and Matt were both in the kitchen waiting for us. Dad raised his eyebrows at us when we came in, but he didn't say anything. Mum wordlessly opened up the potions cabinet and poured me a disgusting looking pain potion. She handed it to me and I downed it in a few seconds.

We left the house and walked into the bush to Apparate. I didn't climb over the wall since Mum was already angry that I slept outside. Dad wrapped me in a hug and we disappeared with a crack.

Richard and Cinda were preparing food in the kitchen when we reappeared in their house. Cinda immediately hugged Mum and it looked like she'd been crying. Richard set the plates of food down and we all sat down. There was silence for a few moments and then Richard raised his glass and cleared his throat.

"I would just like to say a few words," he said quietly, "First, never in a million years would I have guessed that my only daughter would move out of the country. To England of all places. Of course, when she was born, I never would have guessed that she was a witch. Hell, I didn't even know magic existed. But when that teacher came to the door when Julie was eleven and explained everything, somehow I knew that life would be just a little more insane than normal.

"And well, the lot of you moving to England is kind of insane. But I mean that in the best way possible. Because I'm not thinking about the actual move. I'm thinking about the meaning behind it. When I look at this move, I see devotion. The devotion you have for your children, Julie. And Walter's devotion as well. It would be easy for anyone to say they would do anything for their children, including moving across the world, but it's a completely different story when it actually happens. Nobody can predict what they would do in such a situation. And I can honestly say that I am proud of what you're doing Julie. I am very proud to have raised such a wonderful daughter, who turned into such a devoted mother."

Richard was always good at making speeches and this was no different. I looked over at Mum and she had tears in her eyes.

"Thanks, Dad," she whispered.

"I agree with you, Richard," Cinda said and turned to Mum, "I know I haven't really shown it in the past few months, but I really am proud that you're such a devoted mother."

Mum burst out crying. "Thank you, Mum!"

Once Mum had stopped crying, we all dug into the food that Richard and Cinda had prepared. Well, prepared was the wrong term. Cinda confessed that she had bought it from a caterer. But it was good, so I didn't care.

Awkward silence descended upon the table after we finished eating. My parents kept looking at Richard and Cinda and vice versa. Nobody seemed to want to initiate the goodbyes. I knew they were going to be tearful, at least on Mum and Cinda's part.

Dad glanced at his watch and cleared his throat. "Well, I know this is going to be hard, but we've really got to go. The movers will be at the house soon."

Richard stood up and we all followed. Richard first went to Dad. "Well, good luck with everything, Walter. I hope to see you soon and perhaps we'll visit at some point."

Dad nodded and shook Richard's hand. "Thanks, Richard. We will visit soon and we'd love to have you up sometime."

Dad then turned to Cinda and she kissed him on both cheeks. Dad gave her a hug and they said goodbye.

Then came the tough part. Cinda and Mum's goodbye. They embraced each other and I couldn't understand a word either of them were saying. It seemed like they were mostly crying.

"Bye, Amy," Richard gave me a hug, "I'm proud of you as well. You're really a great big sister."

"Thanks, Richard," I smiled, "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

Richard let me go and then Cinda squeezed me in a tight hug and kissed both my cheeks.

"Oh, Amy," she sobbed, "I'm going to miss you so much. I love you."

"I love you, too, Cinda," I replied, "I'll miss you."

Cinda let me go and then moved on to Matt. She hugged him and did the kissing thing as well. She was still crying by the time all the goodbyes had been said. She and Mum kept crying as we Apparated out of their house for the last time until we would visit.

Saying goodbye to my grandparents hadn't shaken me up like saying goodbye to Kenzie had. I guess it was because I knew I'd be seeing them during the next full moon anyway. Cinda was acting like we were leaving forever, though. But we weren't. We would visit and they would eventually visit us.

We arrived at the house moments before the Magical Movers did. Mum and Dad rushed around doing final bits of packing while Matt and I sat in the kitchen and watched them.

There was a loud knock on the door a few minutes later. Dad glanced at Mum and then went to answer the door. Mum ushered Matt outside, where they were going to wait until the movers had left. Mum didn't think seeing a crew of strange men in the house would help with his therapy at this point, and Norlam had agreed. I followed Dad.

He opened the door to three burly looking men and a rather short woman. They stepped inside before saying anything.

"Right difficult to get to this place," the tallest man muttered, "No Floo connection, anti-Apparition wards. It's like going to a Muggle place."

"We have our reasons," Dad replied.

"Oh, right," the man peered around the corridor, "You're the one who got fired from the Ministry because your son's a werewolf. Where is he?"

"Let's just concentrate on the job," the woman said loudly.

"Yes, please," Dad said, "This way."

Dad showed the crew around and they soon got started on packing everything up. Luckily the tallest man didn't mention anything else about Matt.

Once the men were well on their way with the packing, the woman sat down with the rest of us in the kitchen.

"We've arranged a portkey for you to travel to your new house," she explained, "We'll use moving spells to move your stuff. The Muggles moved out yesterday, so you should be all set."

Dad nodded. "Sounds good."

"We'll unpack everything for you and reverse the shrinking spells we're going to put on it," the woman went on.

"Ok," Dad said and then lowered his voice, "I get the feeling your crew is sort of well, interested, in our particular move given recent developments that were greatly advertised in the media. But I would rather you not mention anything about this to any newspapers or magazines or anything else you can think of. I know you're not required to do this, but I would really appreciate it."

"I'll see what I can do," the woman replied.

Well, that was as good as we could hope for, I supposed. Chances were, though, that there would be an interview with the entire moving crew plastered on the front page of the paper the next day. Of course, we'd be in England so it wouldn't really matter, but I could see why Dad didn't want it published.

It didn't take long for the movers to be done packing everything up. When they were done, I left the kitchen and went into the bare living room. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. Our living room was completely empty. It was weirder than looking at my room the day before. I heard Dad follow me and felt his arm on my shoulder when he entered the room.

"Everything's been moved," the woman told us and handed Dad an old wooden plate, "That's the portkey. Just tap it with your wand when you're ready to go. I'll see you in England." She nodded to me and then left the room.

Dad left the room and came back a few minutes later with Mum and Matt.

"Well, shall we take one more walk around?" Dad suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Mum agreed.

We started with the kitchen and slowly made our way around the first floor. None of us spoke. There was a feeling of tension in the air that could only be described as a weird dank sadness. The house seemed like an empty shell. Sure, some of the rooms were still filled with furniture, but it was furniture that we wanted to sell. Furniture that was ours, but we didn't really use.

It was a weird feeling, walking around our empty house. It didn't quite feel like home anymore. I never would have thought that the house wouldn't feel like home, but it didn't. Seeing the empty rooms and the empty walls just depressed me.

When we made our way to the second floor, I stopped at my room and walked inside. It was completely and utterly empty. Not a broken quill remained. I stood there for a long time, not really comprehending what I was thinking about.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around. Mum had a bag in her hand and Matt's crutches in the other. Dad was holding Matt and his hand was gripped around the portkey. Ellie was standing next to Dad.

"It's time to go, Amy," Mum said quietly.

I nodded and she put her arm around me. Dad held out the portkey and Mum, Ellie, and I each put a hand on it. I looked up at their faces as Mum pulled out her wand. Dad looked determined, Mum looked forlorn, Ellie looked sad, and Matt looked tired. I took a deep breath as Mum tapped the portkey with her wand.

I kept my eyes open as I felt the jerk behind my navel and we began to travel. I watched my room swirl in front of me and Australia disappear from my life in a matter of seconds.

******

The first thing I noticed when I landed (ungracefully) in England was that it was dark. Very dark. Pitch black night dark. The stars were out and the quarter moon was lingering over the horizon. The only other light I saw was light coming from the house. It was also warmer in England than in Australia, which didn't surprise me. The darkness shouldn't have surprised me either, but it still did.

"C'mon," Dad pointed his lit wand towards the house, "Be careful."

Mum, Ellie, and I both lit our wands and followed him to the house. He was still carrying Matt so he wouldn't trip over anything. The rest of us managed not to trip and followed Dad through the front door. The lady (I still didn't know her name) from the moving company was standing in the living room, but I didn't see the blokes anywhere.

The lady turned around as she heard us come in. Matt looked at her apprehensively and then turned away.

"We're all set," the lady said, "All the charms have been reversed and all your furniture and belongings are back to normal."

Dad nodded. "Thank you."

"Would you like us to bill you or would you prefer to pay right now?" the lady asked. She certainly was straight forward.

"Now would be better," Dad replied and set Matt down on his feet. Mum handed him his crutches and he hid behind Dad. Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a sack of coins.

"Thank you, sir," the lady said as Dad dropped a handful of gold into her hand.

"There's a little extra in there," Dad muttered quietly and placed a few more Galleons into her hand, "If you decline to mention any of this move to the Ministry or the media."

"Right," the lady grinned, "This never happened."

Dad nodded. "Thanks."

"Oh no, thank you!" she shook his hand, "Good luck with everything."

"Thanks," Dad replied, "Goodbye."

"Bye," the lady said as she stepped out the door.

"Well," Dad sighed after the door shut, "Here we are. Welcome home."

I walked slowly into the living room and began to look around. I still liked the house, but it didn't feel homey. There were boxes piled everywhere and furniture haphazardly around the place. It was just so different from our other house. More open, yet somehow more confining. From where I was standing, I could see the majority of the downstairs. I saw the dining room, kitchen, the living room I was standing in, the hallway leading to the rest of the downstairs, and the stairs leading to the upstairs.

I wasn't really sure what to do. There was plenty of unpacking to be done, but Mum and Dad were just standing there. It was like reality had just been crushed down onto us and no one knew what to do. This small rustic house was now our home. We were no longer living in the Eckerton Manor. Comparatively, we were now living in the Eckerton Cottage.

"All right," Dad clapped his hands together and stepped over a pile of boxes towards a couch and a few chairs, "We have loads to do, so let's plan it out."

"Good idea," Mum agreed. She stepped over the boxes and sat down on the couch.

Dad lifted Matt over the boxes and he sat down next to Mum. Dad, Ellie, and I took the kitchen chairs that were facing the same direction the couch was and sat down on them backwards.

"Now, the obvious thing to do is unpacking," Dad began, "That is going to take a while, so the sooner we get started the better.

"It happens to be just after three o'clock in the morning here, but I doubt any of us are tired enough to go to bed, since it's one o'clock in the afternoon in Australia. Plus, our beds aren't set up," Dad turned around and gestured to a bed that was sitting in the kitchen, "Or even in the bedrooms.

"So I think it would be in our best interest just to get started with the unpacking. Then we'll just stay up until the early evening and get acclimated to England time that way."

"That sounds like a good idea," Mum replied, "I don't think I can stand it if we leave this stuff in boxes. I need this place organized."

Dad nodded. "I thought so. Anyway, there are also some things we need to do once day breaks. We need to visit the Ministry," he glanced at Matt, "To, register Matt with the Werewolf Registry. That needs to be done as soon as possible."

Mum nodded. "We'll do it as soon as the Ministry opens."

"That's what I was thinking. Then, I think we need to do a little shopping. I need to get started finishing the basement as I'd like to have it done before I start work in a week. And Amy," he turned to me, "You can decorate your room anyway you'd like. I'll take you with me when I go shopping."

I grinned. That was one thing I had been looking forward to about moving. The only thing. I would get to decorate my room however I wanted! No more ugly colors or furniture.

"Thanks, Dad," I said.

"No problem," he smiled, "Julie, did you want to paint the walls or anything? Or are you happy with them?"

The walls weren't really painted. They were wooden. Shiny wood, but wood nonetheless. They reminded me of a log cabin, which I kind of liked.

Mum shook her head. "No, I rather like the wood."

"Me too," Dad grinned, "Plus, if we leave them, we can continue our plans of unpacking right away. Amy, I think it would be best to leave all your stuff packed for now. I'll move the furniture up to your room, but we'll leave everything packed."

"Speaking of rooms," I began, "Which room am I getting?"

Mum and Dad hadn't mentioned which rooms Matt and I would get. It wouldn't surprise me if they hadn't thought about it at all.

"Er," Dad glanced at Mum, "That probably would have been a good thing to have decided earlier."

I smirked. Of course they hadn't thought about it. "Can I choose?" I asked.

"Sorry, no," Dad shrugged, "I don't want you two fighting."

Mum stood up. "Now's a good a time as any to decide."

We followed Mum through the sea of boxes and up the wooden staircase. Mum and Dad stopped once we reached the top. I squeezed between them and faced the two smaller bedrooms. The master bedroom was located on the left side of the house, the two smaller bedrooms were next to it facing the south, and the big 'playroom' type room was on the right side, reaching from the north side of the house to the south. There was a bathroom in between the smaller bedrooms.

I opened the door to the first room, which was closest to my parents' room. It was a standard square room with a window facing south and a closet. The carpet was a nice blue color. The other room looked exactly the same, except the carpet was a neutral brown and it was slightly larger. The playroom was twice as big and had red carpeting. That was the room I wanted, but I knew my parents would say no.

Mum and Dad whispered to each other as I was checking out the rooms. Matt and Ellie both followed me, but neither of them said anything.

"I think we'll give you the room with the brown carpet," Mum said after a few minutes.

At least I got the bigger of the two, I thought. "That's fine," I said. To be honest, I didn't care which one I got. They were both practically the same.

"Yes, I get the blue carpet!" Matt grinned.

"We thought you'd like that," Mum smiled.

Dad turned to me. "If you don't like the brown, I can change it."

I had a feeling I knew why Matt got the room with the blue carpet and it had nothing to do with the carpet. That room was right next to Mum and Dad's room. They'd be close for whenever he had a nightmare. I was sure my parents liked the idea of him being so close. In our house in Australia, his room was a bit farther from my parents'. Our house in Australia. I was still calling it our house, but it wasn't. As of July 1st, it belonged to Clarence Eckerton. But I had a feeling I'd always consider it ours.

Chapter 40: The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

We spent hours unpacking and setting up the house. I was completely knackered by the time the sun rose. I had helped Mum and Ellie with the kitchen and dining room and we got them set up. There were a few paintings that needed to be hung, but that was it. Dishes, silverware, and cooking implements were put away in drawers. I knew it would take a while to figure out where we put everything. The kitchen was equipped with state of the art Muggle appliances. There was even a microwave and a dishwasher, neither of which we had in Australia.

The entire house was equipped for Muggles, actually, which made sense since it was a Muggle house. Electric lighting was in all the rooms and there were electric sockets everywhere. In our house in Australia, we had a few plugs (mostly in the kitchen), but now they were everywhere. I had no idea what my parents were going to do with them.

Mum and Dad had a few arguments about where to put things. They both had different ideas about how to arrange the furniture in the living room and in the den. And about which furniture to put in both of the rooms. Eventually, Mum got to organize the living room and Dad got to take care of the den. Mum put the fancier furniture in the den while Dad put the more comfortable homey stuff in the den.

The study of course became Dad's study and was filled with all the books he had acquired over the years. Despite the fact that his study was being set up for the first time in this house, it still looked in disarray after he finished. Mum sighed and shook her head when she saw it.

Apparently one thing Mum and Dad had agreed about was what to do with the big room upstairs. They had no plans as to turning into a playroom as the real estate agent had labeled it, since there weren't any really little kids in the house. Instead, they decided to turn it into a library and study area. They put all of the bookcases that used to be scattered throughout the Australian house in it and added a few tables and couches and desks. All in all, it looked like a very nice room when they finished.

We all collapsed at the kitchen table when we finally finished the library. Mum dug around in the bag she brought and tossed a few sandwiches and bottles of juice onto the table. I wordlessly grabbed a sandwich and some juice and started eating. I was so tired I felt like I'd fall asleep as soon as I'd finished eating. I had no idea how I'd stay awake until the evening. It was only around nine in the morning. Twelve more hours until I could sleep.

"I suppose," Dad yawned, "That it wouldn't hurt to take a quick nap before we visit the Ministry."

"It probably would have been a good idea to set up the bedrooms first," Mum replied.

I smirked. We hadn't set up any of the bedrooms yet. Mine wouldn't be set up until I painted it, but the rest of them could have been set up.

"Lack of a bed didn't stop him from sleeping," I pointed to Matt, who had fallen asleep on the table.

"I call the living room couch," Mum said as she stood up.

Dad took the couch in the den and I went up to the library and curled up in a huge armchair. Mum and Dad left Matt at the table, since they didn't want to disturb him.

When I woke up it took me a little while to remember where I was. I gazed around the library, forgetting that we had moved. I yawned and groaned. I was still tired. I knew I couldn't sleep any longer, though. I had to get used to England time.

I rubbed my eyes and stumbled out of the room. I walked slowly down the stairs and into the living room. Mum and Dad were both sitting on the couch talking. They stopped when they heard me come in.

"Morning," Dad said.

"Morning," I mumbled, "What time is it?"

"Just after noon," Dad replied, "Now that you're up, we'll go to the Ministry."

"Oh, is Matt up?" I asked as I sat down on a chair.

"No," Mum answered, "But he'd sleep all day, so we're just going to have to wake him up."

I nodded as Dad went into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with Matt, still asleep, in his arms.

"He'll wake up on the way," Dad replied and handed Mum the crutches.

"We should stop by St. Mungo's as well," Mum said.

"We're Apparating to an alley near the visitor's entrance to the Ministry," Dad said to Mum, "Put your hand on my arm and I'll guide you there."

"Are you sure?" Mum asked skeptically, "You know it's hard to Apparate with someone while guiding another person who is also side along Apparating another person!"

"It'll be fine, Julie," Dad assured her, "Just hold onto my arm."

Mum sighed and motioned for me to go into her arms. I did so and we all disappeared with an exceptionally loud crack.

We reappeared in a dank alley that reminded me of the pub we flooed from in New York City. It was dark and there was a stinky dumpster next to us.

"Dad?" Matt yawned and looked around, "Er, where are we?"

"We have to go to the British Ministry," Dad told him.

"The Ministry?" Matt squeaked.

"Yes, but the Ministry here isn't like the one in Australia," Dad assured him, "You'll be fine."

We followed Dad out of the alley and down the street. I had no idea where we were going, but the area looked a lot like where St. Mungo's was.

"We're using the visitor's entrance," Dad said, "Since the three of you are technically visitors."

Mum nodded. We kept walking until Dad stopped in front of what looked like a standard Muggle phone booth. I had a feeling it wasn't, though. Dad wordlessly opened the door and gestured for us to follow. Mum and I squeezed our way inside and I thought about how odd it would look to any passing Muggles to see all four of us inside one tiny phone booth.

"This is the entrance?" Mum asked.

"Yeah," Dad muttered.

I have been to the Australian Ministry numerous times. Most of them were before Matt was bitten, but even after we'd occasionally visit Dad at work. Not often, though, since the entire Werewolf Control Unit would stare at us as we went by. It made all of us extremely uncomfortable.

Dad picked up the receiver and punched in a few numbers. I couldn't see what they were, but they must have worked since we soon heard a cool voice in the booth. Dad put the receiver up to his ear and talked into it, despite the fact that the lady's voice was in the entire booth. I supposed he was trying to make it look believable to the Muggles.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," the voice said, "Please state your names and business at the Ministry."

"Walter, Julie, Amy, and Matt Eckerton," Dad said, "We just moved here and need to complete a few registration things."

"Thank you," the voice replied, "Please take the badges and proceed to the welcome desk when you descend into the Ministry."

Four silver badges fell out of the coin return and Dad took them. He pinned one to his shirt, handed one to Mum, and handed one to me. It said 'Amy Eckerton- Various Registrations'. Dad glanced at Mum and then shoved Matt's badge in his pocket. Hopefully no one would ask as to why he wasn't actually wearing his badge. That would surely raise questions.

I was about to ask Dad how we were going to 'descend into the Ministry' when I felt the phone booth lurch. I jumped and stared out the window as I saw the ground rising. Well, it looked like the ground was rising. Actually, we were literally 'descending' into the Ministry. The British Ministry was underground! That was the strangest thing ever.

The phone booth settled into a large atrium. Dad opened the door and it disappeared once we left it. I looked around the huge place and saw fireplaces lining the sides. Every once in a while, a witch or wizard would floo into one of them or floo out. There were a few people walking through the foyer, but none of them so much as looked at us. They all looked rather busy.

Dad led us through the room towards a desk that was sitting at one end. We walked past a huge gold statue of a wizard, witch, house elf, centaur, and goblin. I stared at it, but Dad hurried me along.

"Excuse me," Dad greeted the old man who was sleeping at the desk.

"Huh, what?" the man sat up quickly and looked at Dad, "Oh, er, visitors?"

"The three of them are," Dad gestured to Mum, Matt, and I, "I work here."

That was strange to think about. Dad would be working in this odd Ministry from now on.

The man leaned over the table and peered at us each in turn. He eyed Matt's crutches suspiciously and I got the feeling he was just itching to ask about them. After all, crutches weren't exactly common in the wizarding world.

"You work here?" the man asked Dad, "Never seen you here before."

"I start in a week," Dad said, "Could we get on with it? We're kind of in a hurry."

"Right, right," the man shook his head and looked at Mum, "I need your wand," then he looked at Matt and I, "And yours, if you've got one."

Mum and I handed the man our wands. He examined them, used some sort of machine to find out the information about them, verified the information, and then handed them back.

Dad nodded to the man and we walked through a set of gold gates towards the lifts.

"Oi!" the man called as we stopped in front of the lifts.

Dad turned around, "Do you need something else?"

"Just wondering," the man said, "Er, you're not from around here, are you? Can't quite place the accent, though."

Dad sighed, "We just moved here from Australia."

The man stared curiously at us. "Interesting. What made you move here of all places?"

"Listen," Dad replied, "We're in a bit of a hurry. I'd rather not discuss our reasons."

The old man shrugged. "All right...."

One of the lifts clanged and opened and we hurried inside. I wondered how often that would happen. I really didn't want random people asking why we moved here.

Dad punched the number 'four' and we waited as the lift started to move. A few minutes later, the doors opened and we followed Dad out into the corridor. As we left, a man wearing navy blue robes hurried past us muttering something about 'bloody weather charms'. His hair had a dusting of snow on it. I hid my laughter as he disappeared into the lift.

The corridor was quiet. I glanced down it and saw three sets of double doors that were all open. I followed Dad and we passed two of the doors, which were labeled 'Spirit Division' and 'Being Division'. Next was a single door that had a sign affixed to it that stated 'Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures'. So that was where Dad would have been working if he had gotten the equivalent job. Dad led us through the third set of double doors that was labeled 'Beast Division'.

Inside of this room were six desks all situated in front of six doors that appeared to lead to other rooms. There was a witch or wizard sitting at each desk working away at one thing or the other. All in all, it seemed to be a very quiet office.

Dad led us straight to the back of the room, where two doors were leading to other rooms. One was labeled 'Werewolf Registry' and the other said 'Werewolf Support Services', where Dad would be working. I didn't see any door labeled 'Werewolf Control Unit'. They must organize things differently in Britain. I did see a door labeled 'Werewolf Capture Unit' adjacent to the Support Services, but that was it.

"Well, this is where I'll be working," Dad said as we walked towards the Werewolf Support Services room.

"Seems like a nice place," Mum replied.

The witch who was working at the desk in front of that particular room looked up at us. "Oh, hello!" she smiled, "Mr. Eckerton, I didn't know you'd be in today."

"I'm not starting work until next week, Miss Lane," Dad replied, "I'm here on family business today." He gestured to Mum, Matt and I. "This is my wife, Julie, and my kids, Amy and Matt."

Miss Lane got up from her chair and walked to the front of her desk. She shook Mum's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Mum said.

"Well," Dad said, "I'll show you my office."

We followed him through the door and into the Werewolf Support Services room. It was completely different from his office in Australia. In Australia, he had his own office that was the size of the entire Werewolf Support Services room. Here, there were three desks crammed into the room along with multiple filing cabinets.

Two of the desks were already occupied. One of them was cluttered beyond any possibility of organization and the other was as neat as could be. The third desk was bare.

Both of the other occupants looked up when we stepped into the room. The messy desk was occupied by a middle aged woman who was wearing a set of scarlet robes. Her greying hair was piled into a messy bun and she was wearing a tiny pair of rectangular eyeglasses. The neat desk was occupied by a tall skinny man wearing a set of plain black robes. His dark hair was perfectly combed.

"Walter," the man stuck his hand out, "We're looking forward to having you start next week. I even made Yolanda clear her clutter off of your desk."

Yolanda threw the man a furtive look. "He's not starting until next week! I had plenty of time to do that."

"Thanks," Dad smiled, "I'm looking forward to starting."

"We're glad to have you," the man continued, "That job's been available for almost a year. The two of us have been swamped ever since the last bloke quit. Nobody seems to want this job."

"Believe me," Dad said, "I plan on staying."

"Good," Yolanda grinned, "Is this your family?"

"That's them," Dad gestured to Mum, "My wife Julie, and my kids Amy and Matt."

"Yolanda Jenson," Yolanda shook Mum's hand.

"Carter Dimorio," the man did the same.

"Nice to meet you," Mum replied.

Mum and Dad talked with Jenson and Dimorio for a few more minutes. I stood near the wall and tried to peer at the parchment that was littering Jenson's desk, but I couldn't make out her writing. Matt stood behind Dad looking scared. Neither Jenson or Dimorio seemed to be staring at him like the man at the desk had. Both of them seemed very nice.

"Well," Dad said, "We'd best be off. I'll see both of you in a week."

"Take care, Walter," Dimorio replied.

"Bye!" Jenson said.

We stepped out of the office just as a large beefy man came barging into the main room. Matt stared at him and grabbed Dad's arm. The rest of us stopped as Mum put her arm around Matt.

"I'll need that Doxy Report by Wednesday, Miller!" the man barked into a room labeled 'Pest Advisory Board'.

"Yes, sir!" a voice shouted from inside the room.

The beefy man turned away from the room and grinned broadly as he saw us. He walked swiftly towards us and Matt hid completely behind Dad.

"Walter!" the man exclaimed, "Wasn't expecting you until next week!"

"Mr. McVicar!" Dad shook his hand, "I'm actually here on personal business, but it's great to see you."

"And you, too," Mr. McVicar replied, "And please, call me Rob."

"All right, Rob, then," Dad said, "I'd like you to meet my wife, Julie."

Mum shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Rob is head of the department," Dad explained.

"Although I sure am looking forward to hearing Walter's ideas about running the department," McVicar said, "He's certainly got a bit of experience himself."

"Not as much as you," Dad pointed out.

"Ah, but we're always looking for new ideas," he smiled and turned to me, "Is this your daughter?"

"Yes, that's Amy," Dad said.

McVicar practically crushed my hand as he shook it, but he seemed like a nice bloke. Definitely energetic.

"Is your son here?" McVicar asked, peering around the room.

Matt slowly peeked his head from around Dad.

"Ah, there you are, son!" McVicar exclaimed. Matt quickly retreated again.

"Shy one, eh?" McVicar said to Dad.

"Er, yes," Dad whispered, "We've had certain, er, issues in Australia. I'd rather not get into it."

McVicar nodded. "Well, I'll let you get on with your business. See you in a week!"

McVicar barked something else into the Pest Advisory Board room and then left. Dad sighed and turned around. Matt was still staring at the main door and was ghostly white. Dad picked him up and Mum took the crutches.

"He's a bit energetic," Mum muttered, "But he seems nice."

"He's plenty nice," Dad replied, "Doesn't have a mean bone in his body, as far as I can tell. He's just, well, boisterous."

"That's a good way to sum it up," Mum said.

I would gladly take his loud and boisterous personality if it meant he was the complete opposite of Lubar. It would be a nice change of pace for Dad to work with people who didn't hate werewolves. Judging from the way McVicar treated Matt, he did not hate werewolves. Either that or he didn't know that Matt was one yet, but I had a feeling he did.

"Well, let's go get this over with," Dad muttered as he turned towards the Werewolf Registry room.

Mum nodded. "Never thought we'd be doing this again."

Dad knocked on the door even thought it was open. Someone from inside shouted for us to come in and I followed Mum and Dad into the cramped room.

This room was quite a bit smaller than the room Dad was going to work in. There were two desks sitting alongside two of the walls and a man was sitting behind each one. There was another door on the back wall, but it was closed.

One of the men looked up as we walked in. He put down his quill and got up from the desk. He was a bit on the chubby side, but nowhere near as large as McVicar. There was a pair of round spectacles perched atop his bald shiny head.

"Can I help you?" he looked curiously at us.

"Yes, my name is Walter Eckerton," Dad shifted Matt in order to shake the man's hand.

"Darian Kadmiel," the man replied, "Aren't you the bloke McVicar just hired for Werewolf Support Services?"

"Yes," Dad said, "I'm starting in a week."

"Ah," Kadmiel smiled, "Then what brings you in today?"

"I have business with your department," Dad muttered quietly, "Could we speak in private?"

Kadmiel glanced around nervously. "Er, of course, right this way."

Kadmiel gestured for us to follow him towards the door in the back of the room. We followed him inside. The room was tiny, furnished only with a small desk and two chairs. Kadmiel took the chair behind the desk while Dad motioned Mum into the other. Dad set Matt in Mum's lap and turned to Kadmiel.

"What can I do for you?" Kadmiel asked.

"Well, my son is a werewolf, so I need to register him with your department," Dad stated.

Kadmiel visibly relaxed. I stared at him curiously. I had never seen anyone relax when they found out that Matt was a werewolf.

"Oh!" Kadmiel sighed, "When you said you had business with my department, I thought you had some sort of issue with us. Good to know it's just routine stuff."

"Sorry," Dad said, "I didn't want to state explicitly what it was out there. I'd rather let as few people know about this as possible."

"Right, right, understandable," Kadmiel said as he pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of the desk drawer. "I just have some paperwork to fill out. First, do you have his birth certificate?"

"Right here," Dad pulled a few pieces of parchment out of his robe and handed it to Kadmiel. "And visas."

"Visas?" Kadmiel asked as he looked at the birth certificate, "Oh, you're from Australia?"

"Just moved here today," Dad answered.

I was thinking the same thing Kadmiel was. Visas? I hadn't even thought about visas. Dad must have acquired them when he was interviewing for his job.

Kadmiel nodded and copied some information from the birth certificate onto the paperwork. "All right. Looks good. Date and approximate place he was bitten?"

"December 30, 2010. Outside of Brisbane, Australia."

Kadmiel jotted down the information and looked up. "Is he on Wolfsbane?"

"No," Dad sighed, "It doesn't work for him. No one has been able to figure out why yet, but he's signed up to participate in a study of the potion starting in January."

"Morris Sterling's study?"

"That's the one."

"I'm assuming you haven't set up a place for him to transform yet?" Kadmiel asked.

"Not yet," Dad replied, "But I have plans to do so shortly. I will renovate the basement of our new house and set up a safe room down there with the appropriate spells and charms."

"Sounds good," Kadmiel scribbled something else and put down his quill, "I'm also assuming he's already got a registration number from Australia?"

Dad nodded. "Yes."

"We should be able to use the same one here. I'll just have to see it," Kadmiel stood up.

Dad glanced nervously at Mum. Matt saw Kadmiel stand up and buried his head in Mum's shoulder.

"Actually," Dad stepped in front of Kadmiel, "Could I perform the viewing charm and just tell you what the number is? He had a very traumatic transformation in May that I'd rather not get into. But the gist of it is, is that he's afraid of strangers."

Kadmiel looked curiously at Matt. I could see a bit of concern and sympathy in his face that I had rarely seen in Dad's old colleagues' faces.

"Well, it's not normally done that way, but I don't see anything wrong with it. You know the spell? What was it you said you did in Australia?"

"I didn't," Dad muttered, "I was the head of their Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

Kadmiel gaped at Dad. "Was? And you decided to come work for Werewolf Support Services here? That's a bit of a step down."

"I was fired," Dad said, "And I don't think of it as a step down. I'm rather looking forward to working here."

"Oh, er, right," Kadmiel stuttered, "You know, I vaguely remember reading about you getting fired. Just didn't put two and two together."

"Well, I'm hoping most people won't. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread it around."

"No problem. Anything said in this room is always confidential."

"Good to hear," Dad replied, "I'll get you that number."

Dad turned to Matt and pulled out his wand. "Matt," he nudged him.

Matt turned to Dad. "What?"

"I need to get the number from your arm," Dad pulled up the sleeve of Matt's shirt.

Matt nodded and held out his arm. Dad muttered an incantation and a tiny row of numbers and letters appeared on Matt's wrist.

"64XF2J3847," Dad rattled off.

Kadmiel picked up his quill and wrote the number on the paperwork. "Got it."

Dad waved his wand and the numbers and letters disappeared. "Is that everything?"

"That's it," Kadmiel picked up the parchment and put the quill back in the drawer, "I'll see you in a week."

"See you then," Dad shook his hand.

Kadmiel opened the door and gestured for us to leave before him. I followed my parents and Matt out of the tiny room and through the Werewolf Registry into the main room.

A few of the secretaries glanced up at us as we left, but nobody said anything.

"That went well," Dad said as we walked towards the lifts.

"Yes," Mum agreed, "I like it here already."

"We've got to go register our place of residency now," Dad said as we got into one of the lifts, "Level five, I believe."

I punched the number five and the lift rattled shut. The doors opened again on a similar looking corridor. There was a sign that said 'Department of International Magical Cooperation.' We followed Dad down it and he stopped in front of a door labeled 'International Relocation'. Dad knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice said.

We entered the small room and there was a young woman with long brown hair sitting behind a desk. "May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes. We just moved here from Australia," Dad pulled the visas out of his robes, "I've already got the visas, but I just need to officially change our place of residence."

The woman pulled out a piece of parchment. She took the visas and copied down some information. "All right. I just need to know your current address."

Dad rattled off our new address. I made a mental note of it. It would be a good thing to know.

The woman waved her wand over the visas and then handed them to Dad. "You'll need to go register with the Department of Magical Transportation in order to have your house registered as a wizard's dwelling. They'll get you hooked up to the Floo Network."

Dad pocketed the visas. "Actually, we'd rather not be connected to the network."

The woman raised her eyebrow. "Can I ask why?"

"I'd rather not say," Dad replied, "But I will stop by the department and let them know myself."

The woman nodded and stared at us as we left. Well, not everyone was going to not pay attention to Matt's crutches. It had been nice while it lasted.

"Mum, I'm tired," Matt sighed as we started down the corridor.

"I think this next floor is our last stop, honey," Mum replied.

"Yeah," Dad agreed, "Then we'll get out of here."

I was definitely ready to get out of there. It was rather boring to follow Dad around while he did all these errands. I wanted to go shop for the stuff to decorate my room with.

We went back into the lift and Dad hit the button for level six. I leaned against the wall as the lift moved. Matt wasn't the only one who was tired. That nap I had taken earlier had long since worn off and I wanted to go to bed. Not before I got supplies to decorate my room, though.

The next floor again looked exactly like the others. I was surprised Dad seemed to know where he was going. He led us to a room that was labeled 'Floo Network'. It was a large room filled with cubicles and various witches and wizards walking around.

Dad went up to the first cubicle we got to. The woman inside was smacking her gum loudly and doodling on a piece of parchment.

"Excuse me," Dad said.

The woman looked up. "Yeah?"

"I need to talk to whomever is in charge of connecting houses to the Floo Network," Dad answered.

"Oh, you'll want Chuck," she pointed to another cubicle, "Chuck!"

A man popped his head out of the cubicle. "What is it, Nadine?"

"This bloke needs to talk to you!" Nadine shouted back.

Chuck beckoned for us to go to his cubicle. There wasn't nearly enough room for all of us in there, so Matt and I waited outside while Mum and Dad went in. We could see and hear everything, though.

"We just moved to England and bought a house that was previously owned by Muggles," Dad began, "But we do not want to be connected to the Floo Network."

Chuck looked at Dad oddly. "Er, all right. We won't connect you, then."

"The witch in the International Relocation office said we had to talk to you about getting our house registered as a wizard dwelling," Dad went on.

Chuck groaned. "She's always doing that. You actually have to go to Magical Law Enforcement to do that. There's a bloke there who deals with this sort of thing. Second floor. I'll have to talk to International Magical Cooperation again. I don't know why that witch always sends people here for registering their houses...."

Great, I thought, another place. We'd have gone to every department in the entire bloody Ministry by the time we were done! This was getting ridiculous.

Mum and Dad left the cubicle and we followed them out of the room. Dad let out a loud sigh as we proceeded to the lifts once again.

"This better be the last place," he muttered as he pushed the number two.

Chapter 41: The Only Bank in England

The doors opened on yet another identical corridor, except this one was more lively. Various witches and wizards were running in and out of a large room labeled 'Auror Headquarters'. That room was bustling with commotion. Matt edged closer to Mum as we walked inside.

Dad walked up to the first desk he came across, which I assumed belonged to some sort of secretary. This witch appeared to be a bit more sophisticated than the secretary in the Floo Network place. She had her hair in a bun and seemed to be concentrating on her work.

"Excuse me," Dad said for what must have been the millionth time today.

"Can I help you?" she asked without looking up from her work.

"I need to register my house as a wizard's dwelling. We just bought it and the previous owners were Muggles."

"All right," she replied and pulled a piece of parchment out of her desk, "Just fill this out." She handed it to Dad.

Dad took it and a quill from a mug on her desk. He sat down in a nearby chair and quickly filled out the information.

"There you go," Dad handed it back to her.

The woman took it, looked it over, and waved her wand over it. "You're all set," she said.

"Thanks," Dad replied. At least it hadn't taken very long.

"Mummy, what are those?" a shrill voice shouted from the doorway.

I turned around and saw a frazzled looking red-haired woman with three kids. Two of them were boys, one with red hair to match the woman, who I assumed was their mother, and the other with jet black hair. They were taller than Matt, although the red-haired boy was taller than the other. The girl, the one who the shrill voice belonged to, looked about Matt's height and had the same red hair her mother and brother had. She had one hand planted in her mother's and the other one was pointing at Matt.

The woman blushed. "Those are crutches, Lily, and it's not nice to point." She took the little girl's hand and gently pushed it down.

"What are they for?" the little girl asked, still staring at us.

"I'll explain later," the woman said quickly, "Let's go find Daddy."

The woman ushered her kids into the room and muttered an apology to Mum and Dad as she passed. Mum smiled to show it was no big deal, but the woman had already taken off to follow the two boys, who were chasing each other around the room.

"Could you imagine having three kids around that age?" Mum muttered as we left the room, "She's got her hands full."

"Looks like it," Dad agreed, "Makes me feel kind of happy we had ours six and a half years apart."

"Well, there's a plus side to everything," Mum replied, "Are we done here yet?"

"Yes," Dad grinned, "We're finally done. But now we've got to go to St. Mungo's."

I groaned inwardly. I'd forgotten about that. After having spent two entire weeks at St. Mungo's, the last thing I wanted to do was visit again, but I had no choice. We went back into the lift and returned to the Atrium. We handed in our badges, me being the only one still wearing mine, and then Apparated directly to St. Mungo's.

By this point, the Welcome Witch at the hospital knew all of us by name and merely waved as we walked towards the lifts. We entered one of them along with a wizard who emitted a loud quack every few seconds.

The first floor was relatively empty. A nurse hurried past us and said a quick 'hello'. I vaguely recognized her but couldn't remember her name. I followed my parents to Sterling's office and we walked inside.

Natalie Caberny looked up from her desk as we entered. "Oh, hello," she smiled, "Haven't seen you around in a while. Is everything ok?"

"We need to see Healer Sterling," Dad answered, "But everything is ok for the most part. We just moved here earlier today."

"Glad to hear it," Natalie grinned, "Sterling is seeing a patient right now, but I think I can squeeze you in once he's done."

"Thanks," Dad replied.

"Feel free to wait right here," Natalie gestured to a few chairs that were alongside the wall.

Dad nodded and we sat down. I read the titles of the books that were sitting on a nearby bookcase as we waited. Nearly all of them were various books about healing, potions, werewolves, and other magical creatures. I didn't think anyone could possibly have as many books about werewolves as Dad, but Sterling did.

I looked towards the door a little while later as I heard footsteps. Sterling came bustling through and stopped in front of Natalie's desk.

"Hey, Natalie," he greeted her, "Who's next?"

"Well, you don't have another scheduled appointment for a half hour, but the Eckertons showed up a little while ago."

Sterling turned towards us. "Oh, didn't even see you there!"

Dad stood up and shook Sterling's hand. "Afternoon, Morris. Any chance you could take a look at Matt's ankle?"

"Of course," Sterling replied, "Is it still bothering him? Why don't we head down to the exam room and I'll see what I can do."

I followed everyone into the corridor and to the exam room. Dad set Matt down on the exam table and I leaned against the wall, hoping it wouldn't take too long.

"How did the last full moon go?" Sterling asked as he began to look at Matt's ankle.

"Worse than usual," Dad sighed, "Probably due to the incident with Lubar."

Sterling nodded. "How was his ankle before the full moon? Was it healing?"

"It was mostly healed," Dad answered, "He re-injured it during the most recent full moon."

Sterling pulled out his wand and muttered a spell as he pointed it at Matt's ankle. "What about the therapy with Healer Norlam? How is that going?"

"Slowly," Dad sighed, "But Norlam thinks he's making progress."

"The emotional pain always takes longer to heal than the physical pain," Sterling said quietly, "Even in the wizarding world."

"That's for sure," Dad replied, "But I think things will get better now. We moved here earlier today."

"Congratulations," Sterling grinned, "I'm happy to hear that. Now, I think a few spells and another round of potions will heal his ankle. I'd have him keep using the crutches for another two days or so, and then it should be fine to walk on it." He pointed his wand at Matt's ankle again and muttered a few more spells. "I'll just get the potions."

Sterling left the room and returned a short while later with a large bottle of purplish potion. He handed it to Dad and sat back down.

"I'd like to see him after the next full moon even if everything appears to be fine. I just want to make sure everything is fine," Sterling said, "Just show up anytime the day after and I'll make room in my schedule."

Dad nodded. "Sounds good."

"I'm also going to have to do the transformation observation at some point," Sterling began, "It has to be done before the study begins in January."

"And what does that involve?" Mum asked.

"We have a safe room located in the basement. There are charms on it to enable people to watch what is happening inside. He'll need to spend a full moon there. He'll have to come a few hours before moonrise in order for me to perform a few pre-transformation tests and then stay a few hours after sunrise the next morning for a few more tests."

Mum and Dad glanced at each other. This time, I had a feeling I knew what they were thinking. The last time Matt transformed some place other than our basement, it was disastrous. This was obviously going to be different, but Matt would probably still be afraid of it.

"When do you want it done?" Dad asked, "We'd like to get him used to transforming at our new house before he transforms here. Plus, I'd rather it be done after Amy starts school."

I rolled my eyes. Of course. So they could keep me out of the loop again. I wasn't going to take it this time, though. I'd just owl them until they told me what went on.

"That's fine," Sterling replied, "I'd like it done in November at the latest."

"All right," Dad agreed, "October or November, then. I'll let you know which will work better when it gets closer."

Sterling stood up. "That'll work. Well, good luck with moving in."

"Thanks," Dad said as he stood up, "It's been an insane day. We've been all over London."

"Be sure to get some rest," Sterling said, "You all look exhausted."

"We will, but we're not quite done yet," Dad replied.

I followed my parents out of the exam room and into the corridor. I had no idea what other places Dad had to go to, but I hoped whatever it was, it wouldn't take long. I was ready to fall asleep on my feet and was kind of jealous that Matt got to sleep in Dad's arms.

"Where are we going now?" I asked as we entered a lift.

"Gringotts, the bank here," Dad replied, "Can't buy anything until our accounts are switched."

I groaned. "How long will that take?"

"No idea," Dad sighed.

"Maybe I should take Amy and Matt home and you can switch the accounts," Mum suggested.

Dad shook his head. "I've already owled with the bank. If you want access to the new account, you have to be there to sign some papers. It's very secure, this bank, so they're quite strict."

"All right," Mum sighed, "And after that, I think we ought to get something to eat and call it a night."

"Good idea," Dad agreed and turned to me, "Amy, I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get the stuff to design your room."

I nodded. At that point, I didn't even care. I was so tired that I didn't mind at all having to wait. Normally I would have been incredibly angry that Dad told me we could decorate my room that day and then changed his mind. However, all I wanted was to sleep for two days or so. Portkey lag was even worse than jet lag.

We meandered our way through the crowded waiting room and to the little Apparition room I was quite familiar with. I closed my eyes as Mum hugged me and all four of us disappeared.

I had no idea where the Gringotts bank was, but I was surprised when we reappeared in the Leaky Cauldron. I was beginning to think that my parents were so tired that they couldn't Apparate properly when Dad gestured for us to follow him through a back door.

The door led us to a small courtyard with a brick wall. Dad pulled out his wall and tapped on one of the bricks. They immediately moved aside to reveal a bustling shopping district.

The quaint street reminded me a bit of the wizard shopping areas in Australia, yet it was vastly different at the same time. The stores on this street were all small and old and almost looked to be taken from a different time. The shopping areas in Australia were much larger and the stores matched that.

I hadn't really been shopping recently. Well, shopping at a wizard store, that is. When I was little, I went shopping with Mum all the time. Sometimes we'd shop in Muggle stores and other times we'd go to wizard ones. No matter which, someone usually recognized us, which got rather annoying after a while.

After Matt was bitten, people gradually stopped recognizing us until we disappeared completely into the throngs of everyone else. I didn't really go shopping with Mum much at that point, since I was in school most of the year. She'd take Matt, though, as long as he was feeling ok.

Mum almost completely stopped shopping in wizard stores after Lubar announced that Matt was a werewolf. She went out once after that and an angry mob formed while she was in the apothecary. She returned home furious and never went shopping without some sort of appearance charm after that.

Shopping in England was completely different. Nobody recognized us as I followed my parents down the street. No one so much as gave us a second glance. Everyone was just going about their shopping or talking to friends. I looked from side to side and at all the stores. There was a robe shop, a wand shop, a few pet stores, a couple restaurants, and a joke shop that looked almost exactly like the one Matt and I had gone to in Hogsmeade. It even had the same name. Must be owned by the same ear-less man, I thought as we passed it.

Dad led us all the way down the street and up the steps of a very large white building. We walked through the door and into the foyer. There was a long desk along either side of the room and numerous goblins behind them.

The bank in Australia was run by goblins as well. To be honest, goblins scare me a little. They're just so mysterious and you never really know what they're going to do. Plus, wizards have kind of given them the short end of the wand (or not, since they can't have wands) for ages. If they wanted to, they could surely take over with the magic they're capable of.

Dad went up to the first available goblin. The goblin glanced up at him and then went back to counting the pile of Sickles on his desk. A few minutes later, he finished and looked up at Dad.

"What may I assist you with?" he asked.

Dad reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to the goblin. "We just moved here from Australia and wish to transfer our account."

The goblin took the parchment and nodded. He read it carefully and then set it down. "I presume you two are Walter and Julietta Eckerton?"

"Yes," Dad replied.

The goblin folded his hands and stared at us. I looked away as his eyes bore into mine. I really hated it when goblins did that, and people for that matter.

"I will need to see some identification," the goblin said.

Mum and Dad both reached into their robes and handed the goblin their identification cards. The goblin took them and studied them carefully, glancing up at us every once in a while.

"Very well," he said after a few minutes, "Everything seems to be in order. If you'll just follow me."

The goblin jumped off his stool and walked around to the other side of the desk. We followed him through a door and I stared curiously at what appeared to be railroad tracks in front of us. The bank in Australia did not have any railroad tracks in it.

The goblin held out his arm and a cart sped up the track and stopped in front of us.

"Get in," the goblin commanded.

"Excuse me?" Mum raised her eyebrow.

"Get in," the goblin repeated.

"Er," Dad said to Mum, "I think this is how we get to the vaults."

"That," Mum said, "Is bizarre."

I agreed with Mum. The bank in Australia had an odd array of lifts to take people to their vaults, not carts on railroad tracks. I eyed the cart suspiciously, but Mum and Dad got in. I reluctantly climbed in behind them and squeezed myself in. The cart was not meant to hold four people and a goblin.

No sooner had I put my second leg into the cart, it took off down the track. I let out a scream as we descended a steep hill at a speed I would not thought possible of such a rickety cart. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about how much it reminded me of turbulence on an airplane.

"What the hell is this?" Dad shouted.

"Can you slow this thing down?" Mum asked.

"One speed," the goblin cackled.

I made the mistake of opening my eyes just as we were beginning to shoot down another hill. I accidentally looked down and saw that we were meters above the nearest ground. My stomach churned and I was suddenly very happy I hadn't eaten in hours. My heart pounded and I tried to focus on the back of Mum's head. Riding in a Gringotts cart was quickly becoming one of the things I despised doing. It was right up there with flying on airplanes and on broomsticks.

Matt let out a loud shriek. "Mum!"

"It'll be over soon," Mum said in a voice that contradicted her words.

"I don't like this!" Matt wailed.

"None of us do, honey," Mum replied.

I closed my eyes until the cart came to a sudden halt. I slowly opened them and saw that the goblin was already standing outside the cart. I stumbled out of the cart and tried to get my bearings. Everything seemed to be spinning. I watched my parents climb out and they didn't seem to be doing much better. Mum practically tripped and Dad had to steady himself on the wall.

"This is your vault," the goblin announced. He pulled two keys out of his pocket and handed one Dad. "You'll need one of the keys every time you wish to make a transaction."

The goblin stuck the other key in the lock and opened the small room. We all walked inside and I saw that it was empty. The goblin motioned for us to stay in the doorway. I watched as he muttered something in what I assumed to be gobbledegook and move his arms around.

A few seconds later, piles of gold, silver, and bronze appeared. I gaped at it and turned to look at my parents. They seemed to have recovered from the cart ride and Mum walked farther into the vault. She took a handful of gold and shoved it in her pocket.

"So," Dad began, "We have to ride on of those ruddy carts every time we wish to get our gold?"

"Yes," the goblin replied.

"Are there any other banks in England?" Dad asked.

"No, Gringotts is the only one," the goblin smirked.

"I suppose there had to be something we didn't like about England," Mum muttered.

"If the only thing I dislike about this country is the Gringotts carts, I think I'll survive," Dad said.

The return cart trip was just as horrible as the previous one. The only difference was, I knew what to expect. I made a mental note never to eat before going to the bank. I was quite happy when we departed from the large white building and returned to the quaint street it was located on.

"Any preference as to where we eat?" Dad asked.

"Some place close by," Mum replied.

I couldn't care less where we ate. My stomach was still churning from the cart ride.

"Let's just go to the Leaky Cauldron," Dad suggested.

A little while later we were seated at a booth in the crowded pub. Mum and Dad were looking at menus and Matt was leaning up against the wall. I would be willing to bet a few Galleons that he'd be asleep before the food arrived. I was looking at a menu as well, but not really reading it. I figured I'd just get a sandwich.

"Evening," a blonde haired witch I recognized as the lady who owned the pub appeared by our table, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Just water," Dad replied.

She returned a few minutes later with four glasses and set them down on the table. "You look familiar," she said, "But I can't place it. I've seen you here a few times, but you don't come often."

Dad nodded. "We've stayed here a few times. But we actually just moved to England earlier today."

"Oh!" the witch smiled, "Welcome, then. Where did you move from?"

"Australia," Dad replied.

"Wow, that's quite a move," she said, "My name is Hannah Longbottom, just ask if you need anything."

"Walter Eckerton," Dad said, "And thank you."

"Julie Eckerton," Mum smiled, "And our kids, Amy and Matt."

"Ah, yes, now I remember you," Hannah said, "Are you ready to order?"

We all ordered sandwiches and Hannah returned to the bar. Mum and Dad talked quietly with each other, but I was too tired to bother trying to hear what they were saying. As I predicted, Matt fell asleep five minutes after we ordered and after another five minutes, I was ready to join him. The only thing keeping me awake was my grumbling stomach, which had recovered from the cart ride.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the booth while listening to the conversations of the diners around us.

"Incredible sale on beetle eyes! I bought about five months worth...."

"Spent the day at St. Mungo's. My husband thought it would be a good idea to mix a sleeping potion with a sleeping charm...."

"I'm already eager for the kids to return to Hogwarts. They're driving me up the wall...."

I opened my eyes when I heard plates being set down on the table.

"Exhausting day, huh?" Hannah asked. I nodded.

"Thanks," Dad said as she set down his food.

"Hope you enjoy," she smiled and left.

Mum woke Matt up and we all dug into our food. Nobody talked much as we ate, which was fine with me.

Mum paid once we finished eating and we said goodbye to Hannah. The pub was rather crowded to Disapparate from, so we returned to the street to do so. Dad hugged me and we Apparated home.

Home. Could I really call the place home yet? I opened my eyes and we were back in the living room. My living room. It didn't really feel like home yet, but it was our house. I figured it would get better with time, but it was still odd to call the place home.

I collapsed onto the couch and closed my eyes. I vaguely remembered that my bed wasn't even set up yet, but even if it was, I didn't want to move.

"We'll set up the beds now, Amy," Dad said, "It won't take long."

"Mmm-hmm," I muttered and cracked my eyes open. Mum set Matt down on the other couch and followed Dad upstairs. I closed my eyes again and drifted off to sleep.

"Amy." Someone was jostling my arm. I groaned and tried to push them away. "Amy," they whispered a bit louder.

I opened my eyes and saw Dad standing over me. "Wh-what is it?" I yawned.

"I've got your bed set up," he told me.

"Oh, ok," I mumbled and sat up.

Mum picked Matt up and carried him upstairs. Dad and I followed. I said good night to them and wandered into my room. My bed was sitting in the middle of the room. The rest of my stuff was still packed and the furniture was still under shrinking charms. The place looked rather empty and drab. It didn't seem like my room at all.

I sighed and sat down on the bed. Suddenly, I wasn't tired anymore. I got up and rummaged around in my overnight bag, which housed a few pairs of clothes and pajamas. I changed into pajamas and climbed into bed. I stared at the canopy and then turned to look out the window. I could see a few stars, but none of them were the familiar ones I had seen so many times in Australia.

I felt the sting of tears in the corners of my eyes and squeezed them shut. I felt so alone, so isolated in my empty room. Most of the people I knew, and all of my friends, were on the other side of the world.

I opened my eyes again and stared out the window as tears silently trickled down my face. Eventually, I fell into a restless sleep.

Chapter 42: Microwaved Eggs and Home Renovations

My dreams were plagued with images of everything that had happened in the past few months. Everything merged together to create one very strange nightmare.

I was brewing potions with Kenzie in my potions room at our house in Australia. All of her little sisters were in the room. I was trying to teach Kenzie to brew Wolfsbane potion while she tried to make sure her sisters didn't break anything.

The door opened and Lubar burst in with Clarence. Lubar announced that Wolfsbane could no longer be brewed in Australia and I would have to attend a hearing at the Ministry for breaking the law. Clarence grabbed me and all three of us Apparated to the Ministry.

My parents and Matt were sitting with the Wizengamot when we appeared in the middle of the court room. Mum and Dad looked disappointed and Matt looked scared. The Minister ran through the charges as I vaguely paid attention.

The Wizengamot charged me with breaking the law and they announced that I'd have to leave the country. My parents stared at me in shock as I approached them. Neither of them said a word, but Matt glared at me and said, 'Now we're going to have to move and it's all your fault. All my friends are here and I'm going to have to start over in a new place all because of you.'

I sat up in a panic and realized that it was just a dream. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and let my breathing return to normal. Just a dream. And probably the strangest one I'd ever had, at that. No one would ever outlaw Wolfsbane Potion, nor would I ever brew potions with Kenzie and her sisters. But neither of those parts of the dream really bothered me. The part that bothered me was the last part. The part when Matt told me it was my fault that we were moving. I had no idea what that meant, but after listening to Healer Norlam talk about psychology twice a week for the past month and a half, I had a feeling it meant something.

I sighed and laid back down. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep, but it was still pitch black outside. I closed my eyes, but snapped them open a minute later at the sound of a loud shriek.

I sat up quickly and regretted it as the room swam in front of me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, the room was back to normal. I sat completely still and listened. The initial shriek had been replaced with quieter screaming mixed with muffled sobs. I sighed and got out of bed.

Despite my light sleeping, Matt's screaming didn't always wake me up. I suppose I had just gotten used to it, since he usually has nightmares around the full moon. But it was probably also due to the fact that our rooms were kind of far apart. In our new house, they were only separated by a bathroom and the walls seemed thinner. Just another thing about the new house I'd have to get used to, I thought as I walked the short distance to Matt's room.

I quietly opened the door and was surprised at my parents' absence from the room. Usually they were with him in a flash when he had a nightmare. I guess they were just so exhausted from moving that they slept right through it.

I continued past Matt's room and entered my parents'. They were sleeping peacefully amongst the many boxes and furniture that were strewn haphazardly around the room. I cautiously stepped over the boxes only to trip over a chair and land face first on a few boxes.

"Ow!" I groaned and sat up. I winced as I lifted my arm off the boxes. That was going to leave a bruise.

The bed creaked and Dad sat up. I heard him grasp for his wand and a few seconds later it illuminated the room.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"It's just me," I replied as I stood up.

"Oh, Amy," Dad relaxed, "I thought you were an intruder or something. What's wrong?"

"I think Matt's had another nightmare," I explained, "He's been crying for the past few minutes."

"Oh, Merlin," Dad groaned and got out of bed, "I think I forgot to give him his potion before he went to bed."

I nodded and followed Dad out of the room. Matt had been taking dreamless sleep every night for over a month. I wondered when he'd not have to take it anymore. Norlam hadn't mentioned anything about stopping it, but they had yet to get to the point where Matt was actually comfortable around Norlam to actually begin the therapy.

Dad went into Matt's room and I continued down the corridor and back into my own. I climbed into bed and listened as Matt's sobs slowly dissipated. After it was quiet, I fell back asleep.

******

I awoke to the sound of furniture being moved around and distant voices. I slowly lifted my eyelids and looked around the room. Where the hell was I? It certainly didn't look like my room. Oh, right, I was in England. In our new house. I groaned and slowly got out of bed. I still felt knackered even though I was sure I'd slept much more than I normally did.

I changed and went out into the corridor to see what all the noise was. I followed it to Matt's room. My parents were setting up all his furniture and unpacking everything. I walked in and sat down on the bed.

"Morning, Amy," Dad muttered as he pushed Matt's dresser up against a wall.

"Morning," I replied, "What time is it?"

"Just after noon," Mum said, "You slept awfully late."

"Yeah, well, jet lag," I muttered, "Or, portkey lag or whatever."

"Oh, I know," Mum smiled, "Matt and Ellie are still asleep."

It did not surprise me in the slightest that Matt was still asleep, but Ellie? She always seemed to be awake. "Really? Ellie's asleep?"

"Yeah," Mum nodded, "She's been so helpful. Went out grocery shopping with me earlier but when we got back, I insisted that she take a nap."

"I'll take you shopping for your room decorations later, Amy," Dad said.

"Thanks," I grinned.

"Want to take a break, Jule?" Dad asked, "It's about lunch time."

"Sounds good to me," Mum replied, "I'll go check on Matt and see if he's hungry."

I followed Dad out of the room and down the stairs. He must have taken Matt back to his and Mum's room after his nightmare. I guess that worked out nicely since my parents were able to organize Matt's room without worrying about waking him up.

I sat down at the island while Dad rummaged through the refrigerator. He pulled out a few eggs and a loaf of bread. "Want eggs and toast?" he asked.

"Sure," I shrugged.

Dad set the food down on the counter and then turned to me. "You've been to Kenzie's house a lot," he pointed to the Muggle microwave, "What's this thing?"

"Microwave," I told him, "It cooks food faster than an oven. Kind of like magic."

"Huh," Dad pushed a button on the microwave and it opened. He stuck a few eggs inside it and shut it. "Any idea how long these would have to cook for?"

"Nope," I replied. I hadn't actually used the microwave that was at Kenzie's house or the one at Richard and Cinda's. Richard and Cinda didn't really cook. They ordered take-out. No wonder Dad didn't know what a microwave was.

Dad pushed a few more buttons and eventually the microwave lit up and started buzzing. I got up off the stool and watched the eggs spin around on the plate inside. All of a sudden, they exploded. One after another, they cracked and splattered all over the inside of the microwave.

"What the?!" I shouted and jumped back.

"Bloody hell!" Dad shouted and started pushing all of the buttons until the microwave stopped buzzing and turned dark.

Dad cautiously opened it up and a putrid smell hit us. I covered my nose and peered at the mess of yoke, white, and shell that was oozing from the contraption.

"That is disgusting," I said.

"I thought you said this cooked food," Dad replied.

"It does!" I said, "At least the one at Kenzie's house does."

"This one doesn't," Dad muttered and pulled out his wand.

"What is going on in here?"

I turned around and saw Mum walk into the room, carrying Matt, who was wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"What is that awful smell?" she asked.

"Er," I began, "Dad had fun with the microwave."

"What did you put in there?" Mum asked as she walked towards us.

"Eggs," Dad answered, "But they didn't cook right."

Mum groaned, "Walter, you can't cook hard boiled eggs in a microwave."

"Well, that's weird," Dad muttered and cleaned the mess up with a wave of his wand.

"From now on, ask me before you put anything in there," Mum sighed, "And that goes for you, too, Amy."

I nodded. What was the point in having a microwave if you couldn't cook everything in it?

"Now, let's make some eggs the normal way," Mum said as she set Matt down at the island. She pulled out a pot, filled it with water, and set it on the stove.

Dad nodded sheepishly and pulled out a few plates. I sat down next to Matt and tried to stifle my laughter. Dad was never going to live this one down.

"Ready to go shopping for you room?" Dad asked after we finished lunch.

"Yeah," I grinned.

"We'll be back in a few hours," Dad said to Mum as he stood up, "I'll get the things I need to finish the basement while I'm out. I'd like to have that done by the time I start work next week."

Mum nodded. "Pick up another dozen eggs while you're out. We haven't got any left now."

"Ok," Dad replied.

I said goodbye to Mum, Matt, and Ellie and then Dad and I left to Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub was relatively empty when Dad and I appeared in it. We didn't linger and soon found ourselves in Diagon Alley, which looked exactly as it had the last time I was there. I was quite relieved when Dad said he had enough money and we wouldn't need to visit Gringotts.

"There should be a hardware store around here somewhere," Dad said as we walked down the street, "I know I saw one the other day....

"Ah, here we go," Dad said a few minutes later.

I followed him into a rather large building. It seemed to be stuffed to capacity with various home improvement aids from Color Changing Paint (change your walls depending on your mood!) to Self-Cleaning Toilets (never clean another toilet again!). I had no idea how I'd find what I wanted amongst the plethora of products.

"What exactly do you want to do with your room?" Dad asked.

"I was thinking I'd paint the ceiling a really dark blue and the walls a lighter blue," I replied.

"Interesting," Dad said.

"And then I want those stars that you charm to change along with the real stars outside and only come out at night. Only I want them to be like the Southern sky, not the sky in England," I had come up with that idea a little while ago. It would be a way to make me feel like I was in Australia.

"All right. I can do that," Dad nodded, "Anything else?"

"I want to change the light fixture. I want a sphere globe type thing. So it looks like the moon."

"The moon," Dad repeated, "You want your light to look like the moon."

"Er, yeah," I replied. Hey, he had said that I could do whatever I wanted to my room and I wanted my ceiling to look like the night sky.

Dad sighed, "Ok, we can do that."

I grinned. "Now, how are we going to find everything?"

We looked around the store for an hour and managed to find the paint and the stars. Dad also bought a bunch of stuff he would need to renovate the basement and turn it into a bunch of smaller rooms. Eventually, we had to ask the bloke who was working the cash register where the light fixtures were. I picked one out and Dad paid for everything. He shrunk it to fit into a small bag and we headed back out into Diagon Alley.

"Can we go home and set it all up now?" I asked. I was really excited about it. My room in England might even turn out better than my one in Australia. It would certainly be better than my room at Richard and Cinda's house.

"I have to go to that furniture store down the road," Dad pointed to another large building a few meters away.

"Don't we have enough furniture?" I sighed.

"I need to buy a few mattresses for your brother's safe room," Dad whispered.

Oh, right. I had almost forgotten that he was going to need another safe room. I sighed and followed Dad to the furniture store. Dad wasted no time in finding the mattress section and told the the wizard working in that section that he'd like five of the softest most luxurious ones (one for each wall and the floor, to be enlarged to fit). The wizard looked at him kind of strangely but seemed happy at making such an expensive sale. Dad shrunk the mattresses and we left the wizard, who was bragging to his fellow salespeople about the amount of mattresses he had just sold.

"Don't forget Mum's eggs," I reminded Dad as we walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"Right," Dad nodded and turned towards the Magical Market.

We picked up a dozen eggs and then Apparated back home. When we got there, Mum and Ellie were re-organizing the kitchen and Matt was lounging on the couch, reading a book.

"Can we go set up my room now?" I asked the moment Dad set down the bags on the kitchen table.

"Did you get the eggs?" Mum asked.

"Yes and yes," Dad replied as he pulled the eggs out of one of the bags, "What are you doing to the kitchen?"

"I don't like where I've put everything," Mum sighed.

Dad nodded. "Ok, Amy, let's go set everything up."

I grabbed one of the bags and sprinted out of the kitchen with Dad following me. He caught up when I was on the stairs and we made a beeline for my room.

"You know she's going to re-organize that kitchen at least five times," Dad said as he threw a few sheets over all the furniture.

"Yeah," I laughed, "And we're not going to know where anything is."

"She did that when we moved to the house in Australia, too," Dad replied, "Now, the painting should go rather quickly since I can do it with magic."

"And will you teach me the spell?" I asked.

"Sorry, you're not supposed to do magic outside of school," Dad said as he opened the paint cans.

"Maybe they don't have that rule here," I pointed out.

"I'm sure they do," Dad smirked.

"But they might not."

"Until we know otherwise, you're not doing magic outside of school."

"Fine," I groaned, "I'll just have to do it the Muggle way."

I found a paintbrush in one of the bags and began to slowly paint one of the walls while Dad used some sort of charm to get the dark blue paint onto the ceiling.

It was actually kind of fun to paint Muggle style. Even Dad joined me after he'd finished the ceiling. It was nice spending time with just him. I couldn't remember the last time we'd done that. He even seemed genuinely happy as we turned my walls blue.

It took us a few hours, but eventually we finished the painting. I set my brush down and collapsed onto the floor. Dad sat down next to me.

"That was really fun, Amy," Dad said and gave me a hug, "I probably haven't been spending enough time with just you."

"It's ok," I said, "I know you've been busy with work and the move. And you're always busy with Matt. But I get it."

"It's no excuse, though," Dad said quietly, "I shouldn't put work before you. And I know it seems like we spend a lot of time with Matt, but we can't compare him with you. He's six and a half years younger than you. You need different things."

"Yeah, and the lycanthropy thing doesn't help," I pointed out.

"Yes, that's true, but it's just something we're dealing with and most likely will always have to deal with," Dad replied, "But I really am sorry that I haven't been spending a lot of time with you. I know your mother is, too. We'll try and make up for it before you go to Hogwarts."

I nodded, but didn't really know what to say. I had enjoyed spending time with Dad painting my room. It would be nice if my parents actually spent more time with me before I left for school, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. Dad was going to start work again and Mum always seemed to pay more attention to Matt than me.

Dad dried the paint by magic and put the stars on the ceiling afterwards. I had to help him a bit so he would get the constellations right, but he did all the charm work. Once that was done, he stuck the new light fixture on and we moved all the furniture to its permanent positions.

"It looks nice, Amy."

I turned around from where I was organizing my dresser and saw Mum and Matt standing in the doorway.

"Thanks," I smiled.

"Makes me feel like I'm in a planetarium," Mum said.

"That's what I was going for," I grinned.

It really did look like a planetarium. The new light fixture looked exactly like a full moon (I was sure my parents didn't really like that, but neither of them said anything about it) and the stars looked quite realistic. My bed (complete with star sheets) was against the wall with the window. On the opposite wall was my closet and my dresser. My desk was alongside one of the side walls and there was already random stuff strewn around the floor.

"I think the house is nearly complete now," Dad said as he gave my desk a final shove against the wall.

"Except the basement," Mum reminded him.

"Right," Dad nodded, "I know, but that's going to be quite the endeavor. I'll get started on that tomorrow. I only hope I can finish before I start work."

Dad set up my telescope so it pointed out of my window. It wasn't as good as having it on a balcony like it was in Australia, but it was as good as it would get. I spent a while looking out of it that night, as the fake Southern Sky twinkled upon my ceiling.

I slept better that night, but my sleep was still restless. I just didn't feel at home yet. I had thought having my room designed to my liking would improve my sleep, but it had only slightly improved. There didn't seem to be anything I could do to make my room seem anymore like home. I was just going to have to get used to it.

******

Dad got started with the basement renovations bright and early the next morning. Muggles would probably think that construction with magic would be easy and done in only a few short hours. They'd be in for a rude awakening if they listened to Dad finishing the basement. By the sounds of it, he was using Muggle power tools and fighting a losing battle against them.

Matt and I sat in the den while Dad was working and listened to his muffled swearing and loud crashes. It sounded like he was breaking the basement rather than finishing it. Every once in a while he'd come up the stairs muttering to himself. He'd say something to Mum and then we'd hear the door slam. He'd return a while later with some new supply or tool and disappear once again.

Mum asked how the project was going at dinner that night. Dad gave her a withered look and said 'don't ask'. None of us brought it up again during the meal.

In fact, we all thought it was best not to bring up the topic of the renovations unless Dad did. The next day progressed much as the first one had, with more swearing and trips to the hardware store in Diagon Alley. They would know Dad by name soon.

"Are you sure you don't want to hire anyone to do the renovations?" Mum said slowly at dinner that night.

Dad sighed, "No, I'd really rather do them myself. There are charms and spells that I'm putting into the safe room as I build it. It's going to be even stronger than the one in the old house."

"That is a good point," Mum agreed, "Do I dare ask how everything is coming along?"

"Better than it was yesterday," Dad said, "I've got the basement separated into three rooms. The safe room, Amy's potion room, and a big storage area. Now I just have to finish each individual room. I'm working on the safe room right now."

Mum nodded. "Ok, good. But you know, we're going to make fun of you for this for years," she smirked.

"Just like the eggs," I laughed, "Dad's specialties. Microwave cooking and home renovation."

Dad groaned, "You two will never let me live this down. At least I have Matt on my side. Right?"

Matt nodded. "Yup. But Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Dad turned to him, "What is it?"

"Can you microwave me an egg?" Matt grinned.

******

Dad did take a break from the renovations the next day when Norlam arrived for Matt's therapy session. It was the first one in the new house. Mum and Dad thought that Matt may have been even more afraid than normal due to the new house, but the complete opposite happened.

Matt surprised everyone by talking animatedly to Norlam about Dad's microwave incident. Dad groaned when he brought it up but he was grinning nonetheless. He was probably just happy that Matt was beginning to make progress. We were all happy about that.

Norlam talked to Dad after the session was over and I lurked in the doorway. Norlam thought that Matt's openness was due to the fact that we weren't in Australia any longer and therefore far away from Lubar. I agreed with him, since now there was no way Lubar could ever force Matt to transform in one of those Ministry centers again. Norlam thought that in itself was enough to make Matt feel safer than he had in months. I felt kind of guilty about complaining so much about moving during those few months. I hadn't really known he felt that scared just to be in Australia. I couldn't imagine not feeling safe in my own house.