Amelia had not been present at the meeting where Fudge had accused Dumbledore of trying to undermine him by providing the newspapers with misinformation, but she had seen Cornelius Fudge storming out of the castle as she walked up the lawns with Remus, having helped clear up the practical assault course he had put his students through.

He had been roughly the same colour as plum jam, which had clashed horribly with his lime green hat.

They watched him go, their good moods shattered, and walked up to Dumbledore's office to find out what the hell was going on. The Riddle family tomb had been smashed open and some remains removed. They had all guessed why.

Pettigrew had raised Voldemort from the ashes of himself.

They were at war.

Severus had been late and paler than usual, and Amelia hadn't liked it at all when he'd admitted what he'd been up to.

At his request, she'd posted a long, explanatory letter to Hazel, feeling that if she ever got her hands on Voldemort she would need to let Hazel have a go at him, too.

Still, the spirit of co-operation that the four champions had sparked among their classmates was doing wonders the mood of the school, particularly after Karkaroff (whose murky past had been treated to a badly-timed exposé by the British press) had done a bunk. Krum had taken charge, with absolutely no complaints from anyone. In fact, the Durmstrang students had seemed more cheerful than ever during the last month of term.

It had been sad to say goodbye to them and the Beauxbatons kids.

Amelia had thrown a movie double-feature for their departure. One of the films had been a not particularly subtle hint at how to survive in battle conditions (Tomorrow, When the War Began), but she'd gone with 101 Dalmations to finish, hoping it might soften the blow.

Now, sitting in the bright kitchen of her Aunt's farm, all that cheeriness seemed like an illusion.

"He's still out there, then?" Bea asked.

Remus nodded.

He and Hermione had spent the morning putting together shelves in the young witch's bedroom, and both of them had glue stuck in their hair.

"It's only a matter of time," said Amelia.

"Severus is taking a hell of a risk," Hazel observed, diligently removing the tomato from her sandwiches. She was still furious, Amelia could tell, but not with Severus.

She took this as a good sign.

None of them had to ask what that risk was. Although no one had actually told Hermione and her friends that he was essentially acting as a double agent and spying on Voldemort for Dumbledore, they had guessed more or less immediately

"What was that thing you were going to make the farm?" Bea asked, and Remus cleared his throat.

"Unplottable," he said. "Might be bad for business."

"Well, it's beginning to wind-down anyway," she said, sadly. "But no unsavoury types will be able to find us?"

"With any luck," said Remus, and gave a half-hearted grin. "It'll still let Sirius in, though, sadly."

Everyone made an effort to chuckle.

Amelia wondered whether it had felt like this before the last war, too.

"And you too still want the lodge?" Bea asked.

"If you'll have us," Amelia said, with a smile. "The flat feels a bit out in the open at the moment."

Remus nodded, sadly.

"Then it's yours." Beatrice smiled at them both. "Though I have to say I'm looking forward to you being around more. You too, Hazel, even when these three reprobates are back in Scotland."

Hazel nodded.

"Thanks Bea."

"Not at all, you're family."

"One of us! One of us!" Amelia chanted. Hazel threw a plum at her.

"Mel?" Hermione asked, picking at the glue on her hands. "We're going to war, aren't we?"

Amelia looked at the young woman that she dearly loved, feeling very old indeed.

"Yes, love," she said. "Sooner or later. But we'll muddle through." She shared a long look with Remus. "We're British, that's what we do."

0o0

I owe the following people great thanks – without you lot, I would never have finished this!

Bones and Styna, for proofreading without prejudice, pointing out plotholes, continuity errors and that time when Word ate everything and you gave me all my chapters back

My lovely regular reviewers, MuggleCreator – who has posted a review on this thing every week since last March (I may be a little bit in love with you) – Molly Grace 16, haha21 and gossamermouse. You four kept me writing, even when I wanted to delete the whole thing and abandon it all to become a goat-herder in the Faroes (now, where have I heard that before…?).

Those random reviewers, who made my day by dropping me a line to tell me how much they were enjoying this – thank you, it makes a huge difference.

And lastly, to all those people who read this and bump my reader counter up every week – you make my tiny heart flutter, you really do!

There will eventually be a sequel to this (trust me, if there isn't, Bones might actually kill me), but for the moment I'm intending to pick up my Criminal Minds fanfics for a few months and edit my 'real' novel.

Love you all!

Lauren xxx

(Parlanchina)