With Baby Noel fast asleep in his nursery, Nevaeh plopped down on the couch beside Emery, and settled the trick-or-treat candy bowl on her lap. "Candy?"

Emery, who already had one hand wrapped around Quill's wrist, grabbed Nevaeh's hand almost as soon as she'd sat down. Her feet were brought up under her, and the girl looked on edge.

'ROAAAAAAAR'

As wolf man, or whatever he was appeared on the muggle televison, Emery screamed, which caused Quill and Nevaeh both to jump, nearly spilling the bowl of candy.

"Em, it's okay.." Quill tried reasoning, "He's not real."

"I know that!"

'Why did I let them talk me into this?'

Sitting in a group circle with Nevaeh and her son on one side of him, and Emery and her daughter on the other, Tyler hid a look of annoyance and tried to appear pleasant.

His giggly, pretty little girl clapped and smiled happily from where she sat in his lap, baby-babbling the song the mothers around them were singing. For Violet's sake, he would see this through.

Emery nudged him with her elbow, and leaned in to whisper: "See that girl? That's Annalise. She's single."

Silently, Tyler wished for a timeturner.

…. I KEPT REPEATING GRYFFINDOR, I SWEAR ON SUNNY, MOM. AND I AM SORRY THAT I AM SWEARING ON HER. BUT THIS IS SERIOUS, MOM. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE, OKAY? I AM NOT HAPPY. YOUR SON IS NOT HAPPY. BECAUSE THAT STUPID SORTING HAT SHOUTED: HUFFLEPUFFFF! DO I LOOK LIKE A HUFFLEPUFF TO YOU? I AM NOT A HUFFLEPUFF, MOM. I AM NOT. I AM NOT. I AM NOT. I AM NOT. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN, MOM? SEVEN YEARS AS A HUFFFLEPUFF!! ALL MY DREAMS ARE SHATTERING, MOM. HOGWARTS IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS!!

Nevaeh was not happy.

Nevaeh had never been depressed, but now she wasn't so sure. Her two best friends were wasting their summer break with her and Baby Noel, when they should have been out doing something fun. Something people their age did. And neither of them had complained even once. Well.. except for Emery, but that was directed at the Healer for making them wait while Baby Noel suffered.

The waiting room was quiet, except for Emery's cooing at the small bundled person in her lap.

"Thank you," Nevaeh said, her voice soft.

"For what?" Quill looked up, puzzled.

"For being my friends."

It really shouldn't have surprised Quill when he walked into the kitchen of the Drewery-Mae's home only to see his two best friends were up to something.. strange, or it looked strange.

Nevaeh was wrapped up in plastic, stuck in a chair in the center of the room and her hair was soaked in something gooey that Emery was applying behind her. Quill frowned. "What are you guys doing?" He asked, making his presence known.

Both girls looked up, Nevaeh offering a smile, and Emery offering an explanation: "We're dyeing Nev's hair red."

"You know there's a spell for that?"

Baby Noel was getting quite big, but that didn't stop his adoring mum from lifting him up into her arms as they stood at a large glass window, staring in at rows and rows of hospital bassinets, most of them occupied by an adorable little face. But none of them, Nevaeh thought, were as beautiful as the one labeled 'Grey'.

Emery and Quill were resting, the nurse had told her when she returned with her son. Blonde curls bounced as the little boy shifted in his mum's arms, one finger pressed into the glass, pointing. "Quinten," Said Baby Noel, proudly.

Gripping Barty's hand tight, Nevaeh led the way through Platform Nine and Three Quarters, keeping her other hand on Baby Noel's shoulder as not to lose him. Emery and Quill were also at her side, preparing to send Baby Noel off to Hogwarts for the first time along with her. Nevaeh couldn't imagine doing this without them, really. Just as she couldn't all those years ago, when her baby had been a baby.

As the whistle blew on the Hogwarts Express, Nevaeh exchanged a look with Emery, before firmly pulling her son into her arms. "I love you, Baby Noel."

“You did WHAT?”

“I slapped him, mama,” Sunny Wallace told Nevaeh like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Honestly, if her mama was in her place she would have done the same. She had to! Nobody bullied her little brother but her. Especially not good for nothing boys who had nothing to do but pick on kids not their own size.

“But you slapped him, Sunny! Violence is bad!”

“You slapped who now?” Noel Wallace asked as he walked in. When Sunny recalled the whole story, her older brother grinned, proudly hi-fiving her and saying: “Right on!”

“Aunty Em?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think my dad is kind of boring?”

Emery snorted, and Nevaeh looked outraged. “SUNNY! How can you say that?”

“Well, mum look at him. He is so quiet – all of us, we do the talking, and he does the, you know, not talking. And he likes to read so much, he is ALWAYS reading, mum,” Sunny tried to explain, eying her father – who was reading the newspaper.

“She has a point, Nev,” Emery added, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“I can hear you, you know,” They heard Bart say from behind the newspaper.

She was so beautiful. Bart had never in his fifteen years of life felt this nervous. He tried to not look at her again and again as she walked beside him. It was hard.

When they came to a stop at her front door, Bart tried to say something but his words got stuck in his throat when Nevaeh's lips pressed against his.

Bart’s eyes widened, heart stopped and he was pretty sure the light bulb on her porch fused. When she pulled back, Bart was even more lost for words than he generally was when she was around him.

"He is .. just.. a chicken," Yes, that was it! "Just a dumb chicken, Nev! .. No, wait, that would be an insult to chickens everywhere -"

Head resting in Emery's lap, Nevaeh sniffled loudly, her gaze moving from where it stared blankly into space to look up at her best friend as she ranted and raved, as calmly as she could - really.

Maybe she was right, but it still hurt. How long would it hurt for? Would it ever stop? Nevaeh couldn't bring herself to ask.

"You deserve better," Emery finally said, stroking hair away from her face.

“So these creatures, they actually exist?” Bart asked, his eyes on his son's text book.

Nevaeh nodded, smiling. She was aware of her husband's fear of magic but the word 'fear' sounded all wrong though. It was just overwhelming for him. In all the time they had been together, Bart had never been critical of magic, or acted as if it was something unnatural. More often than not, Nevaeh always caught him being amazed with the most simplest of spells she did.

“But can I see them?” Bart asked, deep in thought.

“I think you can” she smiled, and nodded.

Emery was really trying to not suck and be pathetic but she couldn't help it. This boy was just really cute, okay? The fourteen year old cleared her throat and thought of things to say but she couldn't really form a word. So she was just staring, and trying to mentally kick herself.

“Is there something you want to say?” The older boy asked, looking up from his Arithmancy book.

“Uh No?”

“You are staring”

“There is this thing my heart is doing, and it is really loud.”

The boy stared, leaving her books behind Emery got up and left.

“LUCKEY LUCKEY. CHARM CHARM” Little Noel sang, holding his plastic spoon and watching his mama prepare his breakfast.

There was the green one, the pink one, the yellow one, SO MANY COLORS. Little Noel tried to jump, but he was restricted in his seat. He remembered all the colors, and sang: "Yellow is mama's hair, pink is mama's hair clip, green is mama's dress."

LUCKEY CHARMS

“Whose a good boy?” His mama asked as she turned to look at him with a smile, approaching him with a bowl of his favorite food.

“NOEL IS” he replied, flailing his tiny arms.

Nevaeh stood firmly beside her best friend as he gazed through the clear glass box, looking at a display of diamond rings, seemingly lost in his own world while her own blue eyes were fixed on the shopkeeper, staring him down.

She didn't say it, but one more time he tried to discourage Quill's choice in a ring or her opinion of it, in favor of something else that CLEARLY wasn't Emery's style at all, the invisible gloves would be off.

"I think this is it," Quill spoke up all of a sudden, grinning as she caught his gaze.

"Perfect!"

“Em?”

“Yeah?" Emery mused, picking up the dirty dishes from the table.

“What is Landon doing?”

“Huh?” Emery looked up, only to see Nevaeh standing on her toes and trying to look outside the window just above the kitchen sink. Quickly joining her, Emery saw Landon standing with Nevaeh's cousin near their backyard. “Is he hitting on her? oh my God!”

What happened next made no absolute sense.

“What the-”

Nevaeh gasped and dropped the plate she was washing while Emery cursed in disbelief. Her dearest brother had just gone down on one knee. He was proposing to Nevaeh's cousin.

Noel wasn't sure how he would board the train to Hogwarts if Sunny's tears kept falling. He saw his mother hugging her and trying to console her but it was no use. Sunny wanted her Noey.

He thanked his dad when he offered to load his luggage into the train so he can properly say goodbye to his mother and sister.

He sighed, when he noticed his mother was crying too. “MERCY! women of my life, I have a reputation to maintain!” he gently scoffed before smiling, while wiping his mother's tears and straightening the plaid frock his sister wore.

From an outsiders point of view, it would probably appear that the loud, rambunctious group of barely of age witches and wizard were preparing for more friends to join them at their booth, judging by the feast that the Leaky Cauldron cat brought over on a large enchanted tray. And on a different day, that may have been the case. Just not today.

Seated comfortably with Nevaeh and Emery on one side, and Baby Noel and Quill on the other, the Filipino wizard began to take their order from the feline, as the pair of girls arranged all the food.

Although they had known how sick he was, it had still come as a shock, and with heavy sadiness, when Mr. Grey had passed away. Maybe it was just England, but from where they stood outside it looked as if the sky was mourning the loss of the very lovable Muggle grandpa, too.

His funeral was small, but just the way he would have wanted it - surrounded by all those who mattered most. Emery and Nevaeh stood on either side of Quill, holding his hands for support and strength as they said their goodbyes, and forced the tears away.

Sunny stared in utter disbelief as snot oozed from Patience's runny little nose, though she made no move to wipe it away until her big blue eyes caught those of her father's, who was struggling to get Griffin settled down at the table. Taking the nearest napkin (which just happened to be in Quinten's hands), the nine-year-old wrinkled her nose as she assisted in de-snotting her baby sister.

"You're going to give them ice cream." Sunny repeated, for what must have been the millionth time. "Dad, do you know what sugar does to kids?"

Was he crazy?

"Sunny.."

"Yes, dad?"

Sunny Wallace was ignoring everybody because she was busy reading. Yes, she was too busy for baby Wallace and how he was currently snuggled into mama.

Emery had been watching her for a while now, her lips pulled in a grin. Sitting down next to her, she carefully asked: "Bud, you sure you don't want to say hi to baby Wallace?"

Sunny shook her head, eyes cast down.

Emery smiled and wrapped her arm round her. "Okay. So can I read with you?"

Sunny took a moment to decide before shifting the dictionary towards aunt Emery and leaning against her.

Bart couldn't take his eyes off his newborn baby. He was smiling, his eyes were gleaming and he was constantly placing a kiss on his tiny forehead. While he tried not to move and wake him up - Nevaeh was writing a letter to their elder son in Hogwarts. His attention wavered only when she clicked a picture of him.

"Do you think we can make him come home early?" he asked, watching her enclose the photo she had just taken in the letter.

"But he was just here for Christm-" Nevaeh started obliviously before realizing. She smiled and hugged him.

Emery Grey groaned as she lifted her swollen feet up and placed them on her husband's lap who sat on the sofa. Fluffing the cushion under her head, she took a deep breath and pulled open a bag of chips. "Holy merlin in a biscuit Quilly, why am I so enormously pregnant again?"

"Well ....." Quill gave her a look.

Emery shook her head, and Quill grinned: "You know what Em? I think I want at least five kids"

Emery gaped, "What?"

Quill shrugged, "I do"

She munched on a fist full of chips before answering, "only if we switch places."

Emery hadn't spoken to Landon in months. Every time she had seen Aly come around with his baby, Emery had wanted to scream at him for being an idiot and tossing away his marriage. But today, the moment Emery saw Landon, the act had fallen. She had struggled out of her aunt's arms and ran to Landon. Wrapping her arms round his waist, and crying in his chest, “She left us .. Mum left us” she sobbed.

Landon who had barely registered anything since he had heard the news stood there with dry eyes, an empty expression and a dead heart.