Summer now spans three chapters: Beginning, Birthdays, and Back to School.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Luna awoke to the harsh cries of gulls, and the distant roaring of the ocean waves. She blearily opened her eyes, letting her sight focus upon the white-washed ceiling. With bits of brown gardening twine, various starfish and sea shells had been hung from the rafters. Their multicoloured surfaces gleamed in the morning sun, scattering tiny sunbeams everywhere. It was a nice touch, the sea-shells, Selene had good taste. Turning on her side, Luna saw that Selene was already awake. Her bed was already made, quilt neatly folded, and pillows back in place. Gradually, Luna became grew more awake, and she got out of bed. Her feet scuffed quietly against the wooden floor as she got dressed. (Her school trunk had arrived around the evening, with a stern note warning her to not leave it to the train again.)

Descending the squeaky stairs, she perceived the sound of the kettle whistling. Sure enough, Selene was in the kitchen, neatly setting two bowls and two spoons at the table. A glass of pumpkin juice already awaited her, sitting neatly next to her new spot. As she entered the room, Selene turned around.

"Morning."

"Good morning," she said, stifling a yawn.

"Uncle's already at work, so it's just us for breakfast."

From one of the cupboards, she produced a sack of oatmeal. Then, she took the sugar bowl off the counter, and placed it inside a bucket wooden bucket, which rested upon the counter. Then, she picked up the kettle with one hand, and the bucket with the other.

"I'm just going to deliver breakfast to the neighbour. Then we can eat."

Curious, Luna followed along with her. The sun, although still rising, glared brightly at them that morning. There was still an orange hue to the sky, casting the entire landscape in its warm glow. The land around Periwinkle Cottage was on an incline. Most of the area was for that matter. It consisted of sharp, gleaming, white cliffs, with jagged rocks below. The cottage sat atop one of these cliffs, a safe distance away from the steep drop ahead. On another hill, there was a lighthouse. The neighbour presumably lived there, because it was the only other building in sight. Between these two hills, there was naturally a bit of a valley. They began their descent carefully, Selene taking pains not to spill the water, or the contents of her bucket.

"I always take breakfast to the neighbour in the summer," Selene explained to her. "Uncle says it's good to provide acts of goodwill."

"I used to visit my neighbours all the time," she replied. "One of them was my first friend ever. We would go hunting for faeries."

"Were there many where you lived?"

"Right around the creek, there was a small thicket area that they liked. We always made sure to leave out some breadcrumbs and honey for them to eat."

"The ones around here prefer shiny things over food. Sometimes I'll leave out shells on the windowsill for them."

They were almost at the lighthouse now. It was a building taken straight from a picture: tall and cylindrical, its brick sides painted a peeling white. There were small, rectangular windows spaced all around the walls in a gradual spiral upwards.

"Are they magical?"

"Does it matter?" Selene snapped.

Setting the bucket and kettle on the porch, Selene first took out a bowl, and then a spoon. She poured some of the oatmeal into the bowl, followed by the water, and stirred it. Then, she sprinkled some of the sugar on top. There was a large, brass knocker on the door. It was shaped like an anchor, with ropes twisting around the middle. Selene knocked four times, and then turned on her way.

"We'll collect the bowl at lunchtime," she replied, still somewhat on edge.

Feeling slightly put out, and wondering who lived in the lighthouse, (maybe it was a were-vampire! That would certainly annoy John Perkins!) Luna resumed walking in the opposite direction. Breakfast was a quiet affair, saving the clinking of their spoons against the bowls. They washed their own dishes, and Selene showed her where to put them away.

Next, came their summer homework. They got out their books, and settled down at the kitchen table once more. Luna was supposed to be studying the theory behind how shielding charms worked, but she had trouble focusing. The quiet rustling of paper, and the sound of scratching quills started to bother her. Was it not stuffy, sitting inside, when she had a whole new environment to explore? It did not help that things were suddenly tense with Selene, for reasons she could not really understand. What had she done wrong? Should she have positioned her shoes facing west, rather than south, to channel the energy of the sun away from the door? Should she have helped with breakfast? Luna was somewhat at a loss as to what she needed to do. She vacantly stared at the page, until understanding was finally able to come to her.

"Blood purity's much more prominent now than it is in the future."

Luna had thought of using the word intense, but, as there was still a terrorist organization running around trying to kill muggles, she did not find that the appropriate use of vocabulary.

"You must be enjoying it here then," she tersely replied.

"Not really, it's harder to call out people, when everyone does it... Much harder..."

"Then why are you still hanging around blood purists?"

"Abraxas is more interested in surviving the schemes of his family than blood,"

Of course, that had not stopped him from being uncertain on whether to treat her politely before he was certain of her blood status.

"And the Blacks?"

"Slippery when wet."

"What does that even mean?"

"I'm not a blood purist, even if my friend is."

"I still think you should tell him off if he says something mean."

When she thought about it, Luna never really had seen him discriminate against others within the school. However, she still knew that he was one of Tom's "friends," too. He kept that part of himself quite quiet, now that she thought about it. Had she simply never chosen to read into his actions, or was he actually going out of his way to hide things from her? Luna dismissed the thoughts as paranoid, even though not all of her agreed. The tension had been lifted from between them, anyway. She had guessed right in assuming that Selene was somewhat annoyed with her leaning more Slytherin, than Hufflepuff.

They eventually gave up on trying to do their homework. It was the first day of summer break, and there were more interesting things to be doing. But first, Selene lead her back to the lighthouse, where the now-empty bowl and spoon sat on the porch. They had been recently washed, a puddle of water still sitting within the dish. Selene put these things in the wicker basket she now carried, and they walked some more.

They stopped in the valley this time, however, and walked towards the coast. There were a few sandy patched, but most of shore was rocky, many spiked boulders protruded from the clear water. The smell of salt grew even stronger as they approached. Between rocks, there were millions of fragments of shell, in a range of colours. Most were rather plain in colour, muted creams and browns, but there were a few shiny ones.

Hoisting their skirts to their knees, they combed the beach, looking for anything interesting. Between the rocks and the shells, there was much for them to pick up. Selene was more than happy to identify anything which she could not recognize. It seemed like the girl was an encyclopedia of shell types, and even some of the different kinds of rocks which could be found. Each stone was washed smooth by the waves, which were rather calm that day. The tide was out when they started to fill the basket with various things which they liked, but it gradually encroached upon them. Cold water chased their toes until they could take it no longer.

After a mutual agreement to stop for the time being, they started to collect winkles instead. There were rocks which they could climb out on, now that the tide was in. They were slick with seaweed and water, yet they clambered out anyway, plucking winkles off the sides of the rock and placing them in the basket too. They harvested what Selene deemed to be "enough," and then had her lug the basket further back.

There was one large rock, which appeared to have been rolled to the spot, sitting in the grass. When they sat down upon it, the blades nearly reached to their shoulders. It was peculiar, to be so near the ocean, and yet have one of a completely different sort surround them on three other sides. Wildflowers of different varieties sprouted too, growing just as tall as the grass, adding splashes of red, purple, and yellow to the landscape.

Selene showed her how to shell the winkles, pulling them out with a pin, and then flicking them into the bowl. It was strange to see how the winkles in the basket gradually decreased, yet the bowl hardly seemed to get any more full. As they shelled, the began to talk once more.

"Is-" Luna wasn't quite sure how she should address Toghairm at this point. "Is your uncle often at work in the summer?"

"Oh yes," Selene nodded. "Being the head of his department means he has a lot of work and responsibility. Really, the only one who can discipline him is the Minister, so he has to make sure that he's able to be his own boss."

"What did you do before moving here?"

"Just travelling, research. He doesn't really need the job, but it's always best to be prepared."

"You never know when your position in the Ministry will provide you with insider information on the Halation Scheme."

"Huh?"

"Oh, you wouldn't have heard of it yet. Not for another ten years," she apologetically said.

"That makes more sense."

"I used to go travelling with my parents too, every summer holiday."

"Speaking of your parents," suddenly, the girl looked much more coy. "Who exactly is your grandfather? Is it Charlie Moody?! John Perkins?! Is it Algie Longbottom? Oh boy Augusta will not be happy about that- she hates me!"

"Mum never talked about her father."

"Never talked about?!" Selene yelped, pointing her needle at her. "Tell me you're joking! My love-life depends upon this Luna!"

"It may have already changed, what with me being here."

"Nooo! I'm going to die an old maid aren't I?!"

"That's the last of them."

"The last of what?"

"The winkles," she answered, pointing to the basket.

"Oh, how convenient."

"Incredibly," was all she said, picking up the bowl.

They took the winkles back to the kitchen. Here, Selene took out the frying pan and the butter. Luna felt a little hesitant letting Selene cook with boiling oil. Of course, they handled potions just as dangerous every day at school, but an illogical part of her brain told her to do it. Her own parents had not let her cook with boiling oil until she was taller than their leafiest crab apple tree. Surely, Toghairm was not aware that she had allegedly been doing that "forever now." Under the watchful eyes of Selene, she fried up the wrinkles, adding salt water, and carefully stirring them up. Naturally, there were many splatters of grease when she cooked. Luna found that the area up to her wrists had small red pinpricks, where she had been hit.

Selene in the meantime had toasted some bread for them, and spread even more butter across their surfaces. They heaped the wrinkles onto the bread, making sandwiches, and carried them out to the back steps of the cottage. There, they sat, balancing plates on their knees, and staring at the horizon. While the winkles had looked unappealing when taking them out of their shell, frying them up hid the rubbery, greyish tinge they really had. They were quite good in fact, if not a little greasy- no thanks to all the butter which had been involved.

The next few days were spent showing Luna around. One morning, Toghairm was sitting at the kitchen table when she and Selene returned from delivering breakfast to the neighbour.

"We're heading out to shopping today," he informed her. "Groceries in town, and then a quick stop at Diagon Alley."

It was a simple affair, and organized too. Selene naturally knew everything they had to buy, so she mostly pulled Luna around the small town, cheerily introducing her to shop owners and picking up groceries along the way. All three of them stayed together in Diagon Alley, however. Safety in numbers was more important there, apparently. Toghairm did not speak much, save, when they passed by Ollivander's.

"Selene, did you ever find some reading material for Luna on time-travel?"

"No," she guiltily replied.

"Make sure you do then. Luna, you should probably be aware that the trace doesn't affect minors, so long as they have gone back to a time before their wand was purchased."

"That's quite useful."

"You mean she could have been doing magic this entire time? So I didn't have to do all of those chores?"

"Yes, you still would have, because they're your chores."

"Hmph. First she won't tell me who I'm marrying and now this?!"

They stopped momentarily, to look at the summer display in one shop's windows. The weather inside the glass was altering back between blazing hot, and dark thunderclouds. The clothes inside remained completely oblivious to both elements. The moment Selene was suitably distracted, Toghairm quietly asked, "who is she marrying?"

"I don't know."

"See?" Selene said, evidently only having pretend to be occupied.

He laughed, and then they resumed walking.

Luna's impression of the man still remained the same since their first meeting, even after that moment. He didn't want to be here, part of himself was somewhere else already somewhere else. Only Selene could bring him fully back, for seconds a time at that. She worked very hard at it, Luna noticed. She did her best to be obedient, doing all of her chores, finishing her homework no matter how much of a "Ravenclaw" it could potentially turn her into, and so on. Some of those responsibilities were a bit dangerous for someone who couldn't yet be warded from the ermixmi. (Luna had quickly taken them up as they came along, the ermixmi were no joke after all.) Selene also kept bright and happy, making enough jokes for all three of them, and always trying to lighten the mood.

There was something off about the situation, with the little house so isolated from everyone.

Luna had ruled out a number of causes already: she had checked the floorboards for extra nails sticking out, made sure that there were no possessed objects living in the attic, or windows aligned in malignant positions. She wanted to understand what force it was that made her feel the way she was about the situation, but her searches always turned up with nothing.

So, the month of July slowly unfolded. Throughout the next weeks, they followed a structure, with Selene occasionally throwing in something new to do. Luna was lead her through various things: they plucked some wildflowers, hanging them to dry, and braiding wreaths to ward off the ligigord. She showed her how to set the traps for the eels, and made another attempt at their homework. Despite Selene's personality, it was a very subdued time. Mostly, it was just the two of them, quietly puttering around the house. Toghairm was seldom home, often coming in late, and leaving early in the morning.

Her frustration reached its peak just as the month began to die. But a large eagle-owl entered through the kitchen window before she could express her discontent. Luna would recognize the all-too-dramatic owl anywhere. She quickly took the letter, while Selene offered him a piece of eel from the batch they had been boiling. The owl slowly regarded it, sizing it up no doubt. Suddenly, Owley swooped in, and she snatched the eel from her fingers. There was a flurry of feathers and angered screeching. Luna drowned out Selene trying to scold and placate at the same time. She opened the envelope. In it, there were two letters. One more formal-looking (was that cologne which had been sprayed upon it, or dragon pheromones?) and the other written clearly in Abraxas' chicken scratch. She chose to read his first.

Luna,

First, please ignore everything on that invitation my crazy sister sent to you. (She's crazy.) ((Especially ignore the Abby part.)) (((And the gift recommendations she wrote on the back. I know whatever you get will be brilliant.)))

Second, your owl looked ready to drop dead with your last letter. She doesn't seem good with long distances. I've told my sister's even crazier bird to wait for your response. If he doesn't listen, please floo in response.

My birthday is on the Saturday. I've seen the clothes I'm wearing and the plans my sister made, so I'd suggest dressing formal, not whatever rubbish she wrote on your invitation.

I hope you can make it,

Abraxas.

Curious, Luna then turned to the invitation his allegedly crazy sister had sent. There was nothing startling about the front of it. The flowery card stock had little engravings of ivy along the edges, and the information was on the front. Date (last Saturday of the month), time (the evening), dress code (appropriate for a birthday, which actually gave Luna some ideas on what to wear), and so on. On the back, the suggestions for gifts were more interesting. It looked like Ariel had specifically written them down for her... And they all had to do with the typical gifts the engaged or courting purebloods gave one and other.

Crazy sister indeed.

In 1943, the last Saturday of July is the 31st.