The feast in the Great Hall went on for most of the night and into the early hours of the morning. Fred, George, and Lee were amongst the last to leave and the barest streams of sunlight were beginning to creep over the horizon as they crawled into their beds. Fortunately, lessons for the day had been cancelled since Dumbledore didn't think it would be fair for his teachers to have to try and deal with half-asleep students, so the boys were able to enjoy an entire morning of doing absolutely nothing other than stay in their beds. By the time they emerged from their slumber it was already lunch time so they headed straight down to the Great Hall where they found it half empty.

"Where is everyone?" asked Fred, sitting down next to Alicia.

"Most people slept in and then had a late breakfast," explained Alicia, looking around the room. "Dumbledore said he expected most people to be up later than normal so he instructed the House-Elves to keep serving breakfast until about eleven and I'm guessing those that filled up then are still too full for lunch."

"What time did you three come up in the end?" asked Angelina.

"I have no idea but it was starting to get light and Lee had already fallen asleep at the table a few times," answered George, pointing at his friend.

"I would deny it but I think Colin Creevy took a photo," said Lee.

"The first year who was Petrified?" said Angelina.

"Yeah, Colin, Hermione, and the other two only headed to bed just before us," nodded Lee. "Turns out when you're Petrified for a few months you tend to be wide awake when they revive you."

"Hmm, maybe we should get Petrified each night before bed," ventured George.

"Don't be so silly," said Fred, shaking his head as he began to pile food onto his plate. "I mean where would we get a Basilisk from in the first place?"

"I'm sure Hagrid would know a man who knew a man," replied George.

"Oh, looks like someone isn't happy," said Lee, looking over at the teachers' table.

The group turned to see what he was looking at and saw that Professor McGonagall and Oliver Wood seemed to be having a rather heated discussion. They couldn't make out what was being said but it finished with McGonagall firmly gesturing that Oliver should leave her alone unless he was in the mood to be punished.

"Good news Oliver?" asked Fred, jovially as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain stomped along the gap between the House tables.

"Would you believe that Professor McGonagall won't allow us to play the remaining Quidditch matches before the end of term?" snorted Oliver furiously. He was holding a long piece of parchment which had been rolled up.

"There's only three weeks until we go back on the Hogwarts' Express," said Angelina, reminding him.

"That's exactly what I told her. Three weeks. Plenty of time to play the remaining games. I'm glad you think so too," said Oliver, looking delighted.

"I didn't say…" began Angelina.

"I mean we've already played one game each so we only need another three matches total for the Cup to be completed," said Oliver excitedly.

"And I take it she's not going for that idea?" said Alicia.

"No she didn't," said Oliver frowning. He lightened up quickly though. "However, I did come up with a plan. See, McGonagall said that apart from the remaining classes all the extra school stuff, like exams or Quidditch, had been cancelled. So I'm thinking I can start some sort of petition and get everyone to sign it and then McGonagall will have no option but to allow the Quidditch matches to be played."

"A petition?" said Angelina.

"Yes, see?" said Oliver, handing the girl the parchment which she partially unravelled. "I've already signed it."

"Er… Oliver I can't help notice that this petition is to reinstate the Quidditch Cup and the exams," said Angelina, reading the top of the parchment.

"Oh yes, don't worry about that," said Oliver quickly. "McGonagall said that both the exams and Quidditch had been cancelled and that she couldn't really bring one back without the other."

"So she said she'd bring Quidditch back, but only if the exams were back on as well?" asked Fred slowly.

"More or less," nodded Oliver. "I mean there were a lot of words but I'm pretty sure that was the gist of it. Have any of you notice just how much she tuts when she's talking to you?"

"No," said Alicia and Angelina together.

"Yes," said Fred, George, and Lee in unison.

"Oh, maybe it's just a boy girl thing," said Oliver. "So… do you five want to be the first people to sign my petition? It would look good if people could see the whole team on it, and obviously Lee as the match commentator your name would carry a lot of weight too."

"Let me get this straight," said Angelina, trying her best to keep a level tone. "You want us to sign a petition that is asking for the exams to be reintroduced? And you plan on bringing this petition around the school to show everyone that we signed it?"

"Yes, well the exam thing is more of an extra thing to keep McGonagall happy," explained Oliver. "It's mainly for the Quidditch."

"Oliver, you are our Captain, and more importantly you are our friend, and I think I speak for everyone here, as well as the rest of Gryffindor House, when I say…" Instead of finishing her sentence Angelina quickly crumpled the parchment into a ball and launched it over her shoulder where it bounced under the Slytherin table.

"Miss Johnson!" barked McGonagall tersely from the teachers' table. Angelina's response was to gesture towards Oliver whilst pulling an exasperated expression. Apparently this was enough to convey her message as McGonagall just nodded in sympathy and continued on with her meal.

"So you don't want to play?" said Oliver, looking crestfallen.

"Look Oliver, it's been a tough year for everyone," said Alicia kindly. "What with the attacks and Dumbledore being suspended and everything, so having no exams is a good thing and it's something that everyone wants. So just accept there is no more Quidditch this year and take it easy for the next couple of weeks."

"It's just that we had a really good chance this year," said Oliver.

"I know but think of it this way. You can have an extra three weeks working on your team plans for next year," said Alicia.

"Oh? Oh! You're right," said Oliver, breaking into a smile. "An extra three weeks of planning, plus I'm sure I'll be able to access some good books on Quidditch from the library."

"See? It's a good thing," said Alicia.

"I'll work out a whole new training regime for next year," said Oliver excitedly. "There'll be no excuse this time. I have to go and start writing ideas down."

"Bye Oliver," said the group.

"Angelina," said Oliver, turning back quickly. "Have you been practicing shooting blindly behind your back? Cos that shot was pretty good, you should do that during games. Anyway, I'll see you later; I have so much to plan."

After the extra day of rest the students fell back into their usual class schedules, however as the exams had been cancelled each lesson was now much more relaxed than customary. The only exceptions were Potions and History of Magic; Snape had no interest in changing his normal teaching methods while Binns had barely registered anything that had happened over the previous school year. As Lockhart was no longer at the school the students were given free periods where they would normally have Defence Against the Dark Arts. In addition, third year students and above were allowed into Hogsmeade on the final weekend before the end of term.

"They should let us do this every weekend," said Fred as they walked into Hogsmeade. The village was packed as pretty much every student who was allowed had taken advantage of the final visit to pick up some souvenirs for home or to just get out of Hogwarts for a few hours. Usually at most only two year groups were allowed into the village at one time.

"I doubt the villagers would be too happy with that," commented Angelina, as they stepped around a group of fifth years who had abruptly stopped in the middle of the street.

"Come on," said Alicia, grabbing hold of Angelina's hand, "over to Gladrags', they have these lovely cloaks I want to try on. You three coming?"

"I think we'll pass," said George looking at the other two for confirmation. He pointed towards the Three Broomsticks. "Gonna have a last Butterbeer or three."

"We'll meet you in there later," called Angelina as she was dragged away.

The three boys made their way through the front doors of the pub and that was about as far as they could go. The whole place was standing room only as row upon row of students lined up at the bar trying to order drinks. There were a few people who had managed to find a place to sit at one of the tables dotted around the room but they were squashed together tightly on stools or benches that it made drinking practically impossible without the threat of being jostled and spilling liquid everywhere. Madam Rosmerta looked run off her feet as she hurried back and forth trying to serve as many people as she could all on her own.

Through much pushing, arguing, and a fair bit of swearing, the boys managed to eventually force themselves to the far side of the bar.

"You need help?" shouted George to Madam Rosmerta when she came into earshot.

"Do you know how?" she replied as she served a group of sixth years a round of Gillywater.

"They tell you want they want, you give them what they want, they give you money, and you give them change. That's about it, right?" said George.

"Fine, it's not like I have anyone else offering," said Rosmerta after a moment. She pointed a finger at George. "You pay for any breakages though."

"Sure," said George, ducking under a portion of the countertop quickly followed by Fred and Lee.

"I didn't mean all three…" began Rosmerta before shrugging her shoulders. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Just get them served."

"Right now, what are you having?" said George, rubbing his hands together and addressing the person in front of him.

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice," said the girl. "Oh and an umbrella."

"Er…" George turned around and looked at the drinks behind him for a few seconds before turning back. "How about a Butterbeer?"

"I want a cherry syrup and soda with ice," repeated the girl firmly.

"Okay, okay," said George. He eventually located the soda and cherry syrup and poured them both into one glass before tipping some of it out into the sink when he remembered he needed to add ice. "Here you go. Oh wait, and an umbrella."

"Thank you," said the girl, handing her money over. She took one sip and grimaced. "It's too sweet."

"Yeah I know, it's half syrup what do you expect?" said George shrugging.

"You're only supposed to put about that much syrup in," said the girl holding her finger and thumb up with a small gap between them.

"Oh, that makes more sense, hang on," he scooped up the drink and dumped the contents into the sink before remixing a fresh one and handing it back to the girl. She tentatively took another sip. "Better?"

"Much," nodded the girl.

It took the three boys and Rosmerta about an hour or so to make a dent in the crowd of customers. The main issue was that once someone was served their drinks they didn't actually have any room to sit down and enjoy it. This was solved when Fred suggested that Rosmerta turn the courtyard at the back of the pub into a rudimentary outside seating area. Old barrels were swiftly turned on their sides to become makeshift tables while Rosmerta transfigured some crates into benches. Soon there were more people seated outside than in as they wanted to take advantage of the warm sun.

"Here you go," said Rosmerta, popping open three Butterbeers and handing them to the boys. "Thanks for that, I don't know how I would have coped otherwise."

"Where's the barmaid?" asked Lee, taking a glug from his bottle.

"Up visiting her family in London," said Rosmerta. "Didn't think I'd need her since Hogwarts' students don't normally visit the village this late in the year."

"I think it's a once off," replied Fred. He tried to say something else but he had started hiccupping after he took a drink.

"Cos of the whole Chamber of Secrets thing," said George, finishing the sentence for his brother.

"Oh yes of course," said Rosmerta. "The whole village has been talking about it. It was your sister that was taken wasn't it?"

"Yep… hic…Ginny," confirmed Fred before taking a deep breath and holding it.

"Harry saved her," said Lee.

"Harry Potter? He'd be a second year now, right?" said Rosmerta. "I guess I'll meet him next year when they get their visits to the village. My niece will be delighted; Harry Potter mad she is."

"You should introduce her to Ginny," said George. "They could start a fan club."

"Er… are you lot working here now?" asked Angelina who had just stepping through the front door along with Alicia.

"Yeah, what can we get you?" asked George, throwing a cloth over his shoulder and leaning against the bar.

"Gillywater for me," said Angelina before turning to her friend.

"Same," nodded Alicia. She looked around the room which was still quite busy but nowhere near as crowded as it had been earlier. "Where is everyone? They said it was packed in here."

"They're out the back," said Lee, pointing over his shoulder.

"Madam Rosmerta made an outside area for everyone to sit," explained George, putting the girl's drink down in front of her.

"Smart," said Angelina as she took as sip from her drink.

"I'm glad you think so," said Rosmerta. She pointed towards a spare table in the corner of the room. "Thanks for the help boys I can take it from here if you want to go and sit down."

"No problem," said Fred, grabbing hold of his drink and ducking back under the counter.

"You know," said George, as they all sat down together, "I reckon I'd make a good barman."

"If that guy over at the Hog's Head can do it then I'm pretty sure it's not that difficult," said Alicia, referring to the unfriendly man that ran the only other pub in Hogsmeade.

"Oh yeah? How would you made a cherry syrup and soda?" challenged George.

"I dunno," said Alicia, shrugging. She held her finger and thumb up. "About that much syrup and then fill the rest up with soda and ice. Oh and an umbrella too."

"So it was just me who didn't know about the whole not pouring it half and half?" said George looking around.

"It's pretty obvious," said Angelina.

The group chatted for a while as they finished their drinks, mainly talking about their plans for the summer holidays. Alicia and Angelina lived close enough to each other that they would be able to meet up during the break while Lee was going abroad to visit his mother's family for an extended period. Fred and George said they were probably staying at home for most of the summer since their father's job usually kept him quite busy and so far their mother hadn't been brave, or foolhardy, enough to want to try and bring the twins on holiday on her own.

"We should be finishing up," said Angelina, casting her eyes over towards a large grandfather clock that stood on one wall. "McGonagall will be rounding up everyone left in Hogsmeade for the walk back in a bit."

"What?" said Fred, turning to look at the clock. "Is that the time?"

"Yeah."

"Quick," he said jumping up and holding a hand out towards Alicia.

"Where are we going?" asked Lee.

"Not you, just me and Alicia," said Fred. He twirled his hand impatiently. "Will you come on?"

"To where?" asked Alicia, taking his hand.

"This way," he said dragging her up out of the seat and towards the door. "We'll see you guys on the way back."

"Seriously, where are we going?" said Alicia as they exited the Three Broomsticks and made their way across the street.

"We're going… oh, sorry," said Fred as he almost knocked over a little old lady, "we're going on our date."

"Madam Puddifoot's?" said Alicia, looking at the shop she had just been towed towards. "It's closing."

"It's not closing… oh wait, it is. No, no, no," said Fred, quickly tapping on the door. Madam Puddifoot was just standing the other side of it having just turned the sign around to read 'closed'.

"I'm sorry dear," she said opening the door slightly. "I've just closed."

"You can't close, well I mean you can but can you just stay open for five minutes," said Fred quickly spitting the words out as fast as he could whilst remaining coherent. He pointed towards Alicia. "I've asked her out twice now and for some reason, and I have no idea why, but anyway both times she said yes, but when it came time for our date something came up that completely wasn't my fault. Okay, the first time was my fault because I got detention, but the second time was absolutely not my fault, but this is the last chance that we'll get before the end of school to go on our date. So, can you please, please stay open for just five minutes so we can have a small piece of cake together?"

Madam Puddifoot looked at Fred, then at Alicia, then back to Fred.

"Just five minutes?" she said.

"Just five minutes and a small piece of cake, the one that looks like rainbows on the inside; it's her favourite," said Fred.

"Just this once," said Madam Puddifoot kindly. She opened the door and pointed towards a nearby table for them to use.

"It's not really much of a date if it only lasts five minutes," advised Alicia as Madam Puddifoot put down a small plate in front of them containing four dainty squares of cake.

"It'll still be the best date we've had all year," replied Fred.

"That's true," nodded Alicia, picking up one of the pieces of cake and popping it into her mouth. "Yum, so good."

"So, now what?" said Fred after doing likewise.

"Is this your first ever date?" asked Alicia, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course not, I've been on loads of dates, hundreds in fact," said Fred. "But let's just say it was my first ever date, what would usually happen?"

"Why are you asking me?" replied Alicia.

"Because you're here, I'd ask Puddifoot but that might be weird."

"Well I don't really know, I've only ever been on one date, and I didn't even realise it was supposed to be a date until after it was over," said Alicia shrugging.

"How did you not realise it was a date? Did you fall asleep?"

"Remember when we were supposed to go on a date the first time?"

"And I ended up in detention? It rings a bell," said Fred. "I did say sorry for that, didn't I?"

"Yes you did. Anyway I came in here while Angelina was off getting a new quill and sat down at a table. After a few minutes in came Rupert Cahir."

"Okay," said Fred slowly.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," said Fred, holding his hands up.

"Yes you did, you said 'okay'," said Alicia, mimicking the same manner in which he had said the word.

"Fine, I just meant you could do better than Rupert."

"Like you, you mean?"

"Oh, you could easily do better than me. I'm just glad you didn't realise that before you said yes to a date," admitted Fred. "But I'm pretty sure at the very least I'm better than Rupert."

"True, I'll agree with that," nodded Alicia. "He spent the entire time telling me how great he was at this thing or that thing and that how his father had a really important muggle job. I don't think he once asked me about myself."

"So… er… what are you great at? Other than Quidditch," said Fred.

"Nice save," said Alicia. "So Angelina arrives after about half an hour and Rupert gets up, shakes my hand, and said it had been a great date and we should do it again sometime. And that is the story of my first date."

"That's nothing. On my first date, all the girl did was talk about the last date she went on," said Fred, picking up his second piece of cake and eating it in one bite.

"Oh, did she now?" asked Alicia, doing the same with her cake as she smirked. "How rude."

"Ah I didn't mind," said Fred, waving a hand dismissively. "She had a nice voice to listen to."

"Really?" said Alicia smiling. "And what else was nice about her?"

"Her smile, plus she's funny, and smart, and really good at Quidditch," said Fred.

"Well, that is an important skill to have."

"I'm talking about you, you do know that right?"

"I think I got that," nodded Alicia.

"Good."

"I'm sorry dears, but I really do have to close the shop," said Madam Puddifoot apologetically from behind the counter.

"That's okay," said Alicia, standing up. "Thank you."

"Anytime dears," said Madam Puddifoot guiding them towards the door.

Outside in the village square they found Professor McGonagall had already corralled a large number of students ready to make the journey back to the school while Professors Flitwick and Sprout were popping in and out of each shop trying to find stragglers.

"Where did you two go to?" asked Angelina who had been waiting with George and Lee towards the edge of the group of students.

"Er… well…" said Alicia, looking over at Fred.

"We had our date," said Fred, grinning.

"A date?" said Angelina, raising one of her eyebrows quizzically. "And that went okay did it?"

"I can honestly say it was the best date I've even been on," replied Fred.

"It easily made it into my top two," conceded Alicia.

"It could only have lasted seven minutes at most," said Angelina. "Does that even count as a date?"

"Of course it does, there was cake," replied Fred. "Besides, it was probably a good thing it was only short. The longer it went on the more likely I would say something stupid to ruin it."

"I don't think anyone is going to argue with you on that," said Angelina. "But I'm still not sure it counts."

The last few days in the school flew by and soon the students were boarding the train back to London. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny got a compartment to themselves and spent their time making the most of the last few hours in which they were allowed to do magic before the holidays. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of the twins' Filibuster Fireworks and practiced disarming each other by magic. Fred and George hated to admit it but, despite being two years younger, Harry seemed to be the best at it.

Halfway through the journey the twins went up to the first carriage to try and visit Lee but were ushered away by Percy. As they had made their way down the Great Staircase to leave for the station Lee had thought it was a good idea to try and slide down one of the bannisters, unfortunately he had miscalculated his landing and ended knocking a rare old painting off the wall and damaging it badly. The worst part was that this happened directly in front of McGonagall who placed him in detention, but since school had finished she decided that as a punishment he would have to sit in the Prefects' Carriage for the journey home.

They were nearly at King's Cross when Harry turned to Ginny.

"Ginny, what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyway?"

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well, Percy's got a girlfriend." Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head.

"What?" said Fred, who had completely forgotten that his older brother had a girlfriend with an unknown identity.

"It's that Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was… you know… attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she added anxiously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Fred, grinning.

"Definitely not," said George, sniggering.

"Don't know why you're smiling," said Ron, pointing at Fred. "Aren't you going out with Alicia Spinnet?"

"It's not the fact that he has a girlfriend it's the fact that he doesn't want us to know," said Fred. "Besides we knew he had a girlfriend, we just didn't know who."

"If he was upfront about it then we wouldn't tease him but because he wanted to keep it a secret means… well… let's just a lot of teasing is going to take place this summer," said George.

"So no change there then?" said Ron.

"Would you rather we teased you instead?" asked Fred.

Ron thought about this for a moment before sticking his fist into the air. "To the summer of teasing Percy."

"The summer of teasing Percy," said Fred and George in unison whilst mimicking their brother's gesture.

Mrs Formby placed her bag down onto the bed and undid the clasps before lifting the lid. Inside were a few changes of shirts and trousers. On top of the clothes were a small cauldron and several leather pouches that contained various strange smelling ingredients.

She looked at the front page of the Daily Prophet which she had picked up just before leaving the wizarding world and heading out into the muggle one. There was a picture of Thomas and Olivia Lysander along with Sebastian Walsh under the headline 'Murdered and Kidnapped'.

"Shame," she said, taking out a bottle from her pocket and uncorking it. She poured the contents down the sink in the room and waited patiently for twenty minutes, lazily turning the pages of the newspaper as time ticked by slowly. Eventually she stood up and walked over to the sink again and looked into the mirror above the taps.

She watched as her long red hair turned dark brown and gradually shortened until it was just above her ears. Her nose elongated slightly whilst becoming fatter at the nostrils. Her blue eyes faded away and began light hazel while she lost about an inch or so in overall height. The transformation took about two minutes to be complete.

Sebastian Walsh turned his head from one side to another. It was still strange seeing his own face after each time the Polyjuice potion wore off. He started to change into his usual clothes and his eyes were drawn to the front page of the Daily Prophet. He felt a flicker of guilt as he looked at the image of Thomas and Olivia Lysander. They had been kind people who had taken him in when no one else would, but once Wentworth had been captured it was the only way to free him, there were too many obstacles in place that would have prevented Sebastian from using the Polyjuice potion to impersonate Thomas and gain access to the Ministry's holding cells himself.

Wentworth, thought Sebastian, shaking his head. So impatient.

The initial plan had been simple. Get Formby to bring the book in from Egypt, but the Gringott's employee had become greedy and asked for more money and Wentworth had killed him before locating the book. So Sebastian had come up with a plan to get the Wizarding Detective Agency involved, Bernard Lexington had been a formidable Auror and if anyone could find out where Formby had hidden something it was him.

Sebastian had waited at their rendezvous for Wentworth to arrive after they were separated, but the Eternal Well either prevented Apparition or he had died during his fall as he never turned up within the agreed time. Not that the boy particularly cared, after all the man had tried to drop him down the well when he dispelled the rope holding him over the opening.

His mother died in Azkaban almost a year ago and with Wentworth gone as well, Sebastian was now the last surviving member of the Sect of Kai. And worst was that although he had picked up Wentworth's wand from the ground he couldn't use it as he was underage and any spell he used would set off the Trace placed upon him until he was seventeen. He had to continue to rely on potions only; luckily he had become quite adept at making them.

"Still," said Sebastian, reaching into his bag and pulling out the book which Lexington thought he had thrown into the well, "all is not lost."