Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I do not own.

A/N This is officially the beginning of second year. Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy.

The summer of 1992 was exceptionally boring by the standards Serena had come to live by. She saw Harry every day and they talked about their former adventures at Hogwarts but it was nothing like living them. Serena surprised herself by missing the danger and excitement; maybe the sorting hat had been onto something when it put her in Gryffindor...

The most exciting thing that had happened in the Larkin house was Caitlyn getting her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Serena was torn between feeling protective and feeling excited. Hogwarts was bound to have something odd going on and, somehow, students always seemed to get involved. Their mother seemed to have the same thought because, as Serena helped her set the table for dinner while Caitlyn was upstairs, Ms. Larkin said:

"You'll watch over your sister while you're at school, right?"

"Of course." Serena was mildly offended by the doubt in her mother's tone. Granted, she and Caitlyn had never been a tight knit pair. While Serena preferred art and animals, Caitlyn preferred sports and being better than anyone else. Serena supposed it was a normal baby-of-the-family thing; Caitlyn had a natural urge to prove herself in everything she did. But, being Caitlyn, she'd dialed that nature urge up to eleven. Still, Serena was the older sister. Taking care of Caitlyn, even if only from afar, was deeply ingrained her already.

"You know, I never had such an exciting year at Hogwarts as you did. It was just studying and bullies all year round for me..." Ms. Larkin mused, shaking her head. Serena shrugged it off, trying to remember which side of the plate the spoons were supposed to go on. Her mother was a stickler for proper order.

"I guess it comes with being the best friend of the Boy Who Lived." Serena mocked Harry's title with a scoff; to her, he would always be the scrawny little boy who had comforted her in nursery school when she'd scrapped her knee. Not some legendary hero that had defeated some evil wizard, but just Harry from down the street.

"Don't make fun of him." Ms. Larkin scolded as she began to toss the salad.

"Sorry." Serena mumbled, a red flush appearing in her cheeks. It wasn't often her mother got after her for anything.

"He survived when James and Lily didn't. It's not something to make fun of him for." Ms. Larkin explained.

"Did you know them? His parents, I mean." There was a pause as Ms. Larkin considered her question, her movements slowly.

"Yes." She finally replied, but she seemed hesitant. Serena kept quiet as a mouse, hoping she'd continue. She did, after another long moment. "Your father was good friends with both of them, even after Hogwarts."

"Really?" Serena asked, finishing with setting the table and walking over to lean against the kitchen counter.

"They were best friends. But I didn't know them overly well myself. I didn't know any of your fathers friends that well, really." Ms. Larkin explained. She sighed, set the salad bowl aside and turned her full attention to her daughter. "Your father was a good man, I'm sure. But sometimes I don't think I knew him very well either."

"But you were with him for..." Serena trailed off, realizing she didn't know nearly as much about her parents' relationship as she thought she did. In her mind, they'd been a perfectly happy, normal couple. But some things weren't adding up. "You never married." She said aloud, pressing gently for more information.

"I was waiting for him to ask me. Or, that's what I told myself. Looking back, I don't know if I would've said yes."

"But you had me and Caitlyn-."

"Caitlyn and I." Ms. Larkin corrected quietly.

"Caitlyn and I, so I thought..." Serena trailed off again. What she thought and what actually happened was something very different, she knew now.

Ms. Larkin sighed again. Sometimes, Serena thought she looked much older than thirty-two. Before Hogwarts, all Serena really knew about the wizarding world was that there had been a war and that she was a witch herself. Her mother never really gave details, preferring her daughters to live a normal muggle life as long as possible. After she'd been in the world for a year, Serena realized the war wasn't some distant history lesson. It had still been going on when she was a baby. Her mother had lived through the war. Serena respected her mother even more after realizing that.

"Serena, your father was a good father. He was devoted to his family. He loved you and Caitlyn, but I didn't..."

"Love him?" Serena finished questioningly. Ms. Larkin grimaced and Serena knew her guess had been correct.

"No. Not the way I should have. I was young and I was just in love with the idea of a perfect little family. A perfect little life. Just like my mother and father had had. Just like what I'd dreamed of since I was a little girl. But Peter and I... We weren't meant to be. I didn't love him, I loved what he gave me. He bought us a little house, he gave me two beautiful girls, he promised me everything I wanted. So I lied to myself and said I wanted him when I didn't. I knew he kept things from me. I overlooked it. It was wrong." Ms. Larkin seemed to realize she'd been rambling, because she stopped and shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Serena stared at her, hoping she'd continue. She couldn't remember a time when her mother had opened up so much, especially about her father. Ms. Larkin glanced at her and saw her expression. Another sigh left her lips; she'd been sighing a lot that night. "Baby girl, let me give you a piece of advice. When you find someone and you're in a relationship, make sure it's an honest one and that you're not just in for pretty things and daydreams."

Serena didn't know what else to do except nod in understanding. Ms. Larkin echoed her nod and then changed the subject.

"Why don't you go get Harry and bring him over for dinner?"

Serena didn't need to be told twice; in a flash, she had pulled on her boots and was out the door. The familiar short walk to the Dursley's house didn't need any conscious thought; her feet knew where to go and she let her mind wander a bit. She wasn't sure if she was surprised by her mother's confession or not. Deep down, she thought, she'd already known the truth.

As she reached the pristine lawn of the Dursley's house, she paused and looked up at the house. There was something dark on the side of the house when everything else was white and shiny... With a gasp, she realized it was bars covering a window. She knew which window that was: Harry's. They had barred his window. She turned and ran all the way back to her house, feet pounding hard against the concrete sidewalk.

"Mum!" She was shouting before she even got through the door. Ms. Larkin appeared from the kitchen, startled.

"What's the matter?"

"The Dursley's... put bars... over Harry's window." She panted out. Her mother pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously debating something.

"I'll report it to Dumbledore."

"And he'll get him out?"

"In time for school, yes."

"In time for... What about in the meantime?" Serena demanded, jaw popping open in shock. Surely Harry wouldn't be stuck there for another month?

"Serena, do you know why we live here? To watch out for Harry and report back to Dumbledore. But we are not to interfere. Dumbledore made that very clear when he had me move here." Ms. Larkin explained.

"Fine." Serena huffed and Ms. Larkin strode out of the room, no doubt to write a letter to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Serena herself ran up to her bedroom. She had her own letter to write, to Phoebe and Thomas. She wasn't going to wait for Dumbledore; they'd tried that before and, if they had, it would've ended with Quirrell having that fancy rock. She wasn't going to make Harry wait either, not with that horrid family. She was going to write to Phoebe and Thomas and the three of them were going to do what they did best: help Harry.

The Tonks' house was... unusual. There was always magic being cast or a prank being pulled by Ted or Tonks. Despite Andromeda's uptight nature, she managed to laugh right along with them. Phoebe found herself right at home in the odd place. It was a weird feeling; having a home. The last home she could remember was in her grandparents' loft apartment in Diagon Alley. It was a long time ago, to say the least.

With Andromeda's help, she was now in possession of her father's old belongings, or most of them at least. They had all been put in a shed on the Tonks' property for lack of room in the house, so Phoebe spent most of her time in the same shed, sorting through everything.

So far, she'd found a fair amount of interesting things among the random assortment of junk. There was a box of pictures shoved under some clothes in a trunk. She found more baby pictures of her than she cared to admit. She almost burned them, but Andromeda caught her when she was starting the fire outside and took them from her. One now stood framed proudly on the mantle next to ones of Tonks'. If Phoebe wasn't so embarrassed of the picture showing her chubby face, annoyingly bright pink onesie and bald head, she would've been happy Andromeda wanted it up there in the first place. She found a few pictures of her mother, which she took into her own room, leaving the pictures of her father to burn later when Andromeda was gone. There was a knife that, as far as she could tell, was enchanted to unlock any lock and untie any knot. She fully intended on sneaking that one into Hogwarts. The most interesting object by far was a flying motorcycle.

Ted convinced Andromeda to let Phoebe keep it in the shed until she was old enough to drive it. Tonks had taken Phoebe out on it and showed her how to fly it. It was exhilarating, riding the motorcycle on either the ground or in the sky.

It was a day in early August when an owl fluttered into the shed. It perched on a stack of boxes and Phoebe recognized it as the Larkin family owl. She wiped the polish on her hands onto her jeans and stepped away from the motorcycle to retrieve the letter it carried. The envelope wasn't even sealed and, when she pulled out the letter, she saw it was very hastily written.

Phoebe,

We have to do something about Harry. He's got bars on his window now! Mum told Dumbledore but they won't do anything unless he doesn't show up for school. You and Thomas can figure something out, right? Write me back as soon as you can. I'm worried.

~ S.

Phoebe flipped the letter over, dug a pen out of the bag she carried on her belt loop and wrote her response on the back.

Serena,

I'll write Thomas and we'll come up with something. If we can get past tasks set to stop Voldemort, I think we can handle a barred window.

~ P.

She sent the letter back with the owl and ran to get more paper. She needed to write Thomas and come up with a plan of attack. And, considering what she knew of the Dursley family, it was going to be an attack.

It was less than four weeks away from the start of term. Logic said that waiting for Dumbledore would get them in less trouble. But Phoebe wasn't a logical person; she was the type of person that broke rules for the right reasons. Which explained why she was wheeling her motorcycle down the driveway and praying that her adoptive family wouldn't wake up before she returned.

It was going to be a long night, Phoebe knew. She'd taken precautions and slept during the day, feigning feeling ill to avoid her new parents' questions. She hoped that Thomas was smart enough to do the same, but she had a feeling that he'd been too hyped up with excitement to even attempt it. Well, it wouldn't be a complete disaster if he did fall asleep. She'd be the only one driving the motorcycle and she could always duck tape him in so he didn't fall off.

Looking back over her shoulder, she realized she was at least half a mile from the house. It was far enough. She stooped down, checked to ensure the sidecar was properly attached and then swung herself onto the bike. It roared to life as she started it and she glanced over her shoulder in worry. No light came on in the house; they must not have heard.

Phoebe rolled the motorcycle forward, picking up speed on the gravel road before finally pulling it up into the air. The cool wind whipped around her face, stinging her skin. But it was exciting to be flying and to be flying towards something that would, no doubt, be even more exciting.

Flying to Thomas's house took over an hour, but finding it was a bit harder. The cottage was dark and almost completely over-grown with plant life. If it wasn't for the massive tree house, she wouldn't have looked twice at the property. Phoebe parked the motorcycle outside one of the shuttered windows of the tree-house, letting it hover as she waited.

It took less than three seconds for Thomas to throw open the shutters and stick his head out. An excited grin crossed his face.

"Let's hit the road... or sky... Where'd you get that?" Thomas clumsily climbed out the window and onto the motorcycle, with Phoebe grabbing his arm in case he fell.

"Dear old dad." She responded bitterly, then looked over her shoulder at him as he settled down behind her. "Did you make the list?" A piece of paper was shoved in her face, with a long list of items they were going to need.

"Got it. You got the money?"

"Yep." She'd tagged along with Tonks to Diagon Alley a few days prior and exchanged some wizard money for muggle money. A grin spread across his face once more and he stuffed the paper back into the pocket of his jeans.

"Let's go!"