"Goodbye! See you after Christmas!" called London as she waved goodbye to Harry, -Hermione and the Weasleys leaving platform nine and three quarters.

"You ready to go London?" asked Andrew.

London looked up at her Father, a broad grin on her face.

"Yeah okay."

"London!" London turned and saw Grace and Alyss coming towards her with their parents.

"Hi guys! Mum, Dad, these are my friends Grace Belladonna and Alyss Sims," said London. Her parents greeted her friends then introduced themselves to their parents. "I'm going to miss you guys over Christmas."

"I know me too," replied Grace. The three girls had become very close in the three and a bit months they had spent at Hogwarts. They did almost everything together, and it was only her occlumency lessons and knowing about the Order that London kept from them. She had told Alyss about her gift about a fortnight into their friendship. She had responded in very much the same way as Grace, claiming that the gift was weird but cool at the same time.

"Come on London, we've got to get back."

"Okay, see you guys after New Year." London hugged each of her friends tightly before turning and walking off with her family.

"So have you had fun at Hogwarts so far?" asked Cynthia as soon as they were in the car and heading home.

"Yes! It's even more amazing than I imagined it could be. My lessons are so much fun; I even know a few spells now! I can't show you though because Professor McGonagall says we're not supposed to perform magic outside of school until we come of age," replied London excitedly.

"Have you made many friends?"

"Well I made friends with Grace and Alyss. They're in Gryffindor like me. The other two first year girls in Gryffindor don't like me. Tayla and Sammy. They think I'm weird."

"I'm sure that don't think that sweetie," said Andrew without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yes they do, Alyss told me they do."

"Have you made friends from other houses?" asked Andrew, keen to change the topic slightly.

London shook her head. "No not really. There are a few people from Ravenclaw that I talk to sometimes in class. Carly, Dylan and Arnold, but I wouldn't really call us friends."

"You should try and make friends with people in other houses. I remember when I was in Hogwarts I had friends in all four houses."

"Even Slytherin?"

"Even Slytherin. One of my best friends was in Slytherin."

"Really?" Andrew nodded. "But I thought you were in Ravenclaw?"

"I was. That didn't mean I couldn't have a best friend from a different house."

"Tell me more about Quidditch London," said Cynthia. "Your Father's been trying to explain it to me but I just don't understand."

London giggled. "No you wouldn't. It's a game that you really have to see to understand properly. I told Dad that we should have gotten tickets to the world cup."

"After what happened at the world cup I'm glad we didn't get tickets," replied Andrew seriously. London thought back to what she had read about the world cup and realised she was glad they didn't go either.

"Home again home again!" sang Cynthia happily as they pulled into the driveway. "Ella should be getting home soon. We sent her to a friend's house while we were picking you up. Why don't you unpack and get settled while you wait?"

"Okay!" London bounded into the house happily. Andrew brought her trunk upstairs and she began to unpack it, leaving out a pile of washing for her Mother to do before she went back to Hogwarts.

"London! Ella's home!"

"London!" squealed Ella as she ran up the stairs.

"Little Miss Ella!" Ella jumped up and latched herself onto London, hugging her tightly. "How have you been?" asked London when she had out Ella down.

"Pretty good. I got Mrs McCarthy at school this year."

"I had her she's nice. Have you been having fun?"

Ella nodded quickly. "Yeah, but it's been boring being the only one here. I miss you being home."

"I miss being home too Ella. Don't worry, you'll be at Hogwarts in three years then we can be at Hogwarts together!" Ella smiled broadly and clapped her hands together happily. "Now, what do you want to do? I can play with you all you want until I go back to school."

"Can we play Disney dolls?" asked Ella timidly.

"Of course. Why don't you go and get them?" Ella ran out of the room to find the dolls for the game that London had made up when Ella was only four. The two of them had always loved Disney and London had decided to act out their favourite stories by having their dolls play as the characters. Ella loved the game and so London wasn't surprised that she had asked if they could play it.

They played together happily until Cynthia called them down for dinner. Dropping the dolls both girls raced downstairs to sit at the table. Although she loved the dinners cooked at Hogwarts London had missed her Mother's cooking. When everyone had full plates and had begun to eat Andrew once again brought up the topic of Hogwarts.

"Why don't you tell Ella all about Hogwarts?" he said indicating Ella who was smashing her peas in with her potatoes.

"Where would you like me to start?" asked London with a smile. Ella bit her lip, lost in concentration.

"The food!" she cried excitedly causing the rest of the family to laugh. Ella grinned although she didn't really understand why everyone was laughing.

"The food is really good," replied London in between mouthfuls, "we have special feasts at certain points during the year like the welcome feast, the Halloween feast, the Christmas feast and the farewell feast. Every other night it's just simple food. It tastes really good, but not as good as your food," she finished, placing a baby carrot in her mouth and smiling at her Mother.

"Oh really?" replied Cynthia. "You've never liked my cooking this much before." London shrugged.

"Isn't the saying something like you don't know what you've got until it's gone?"

"By gosh I think she's got it!" exclaimed Andrew. London and Ella dissolved into giggles and even Cynthia cracked a smile. By the time everyone's plates were clean London had high spirits from being back home with her family. As much as she adored going to Hogwarts she missed her family dearly when she was there.

"London, we've got a special dessert planned for you tonight as a coming home present," said Cynthia once she had cleared the table. "Ella do you want to help me grab it?" The two of them disappeared to get the 'special dessert' leaving London alone with her Father.

"Alright, what's wrong?" asked Andrew as soon as they were out of earshot. The question caught London off guard.

"Nothing," she replied quietly.

"Are you sure?" London nodded. She couldn't tell her Dad about Draco Malfoy's intentions. She hadn't told anyone except for Dumbledore and she wasn't planning on telling anyone else.

"Here it comes!" sang Cynthia. Ella ran into the room excitedly and London breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to come up with an excuse to give her Dad.

"Here you are London," said Cynthia as she placed a cake in front of her. London gasped in wonder. The cake was in the shape of a lion and was decorated in scarlet and gold.

"In celebration of your sorting into Gryffindor," said Andrew, a broad smile on his face.

"Thank you so much!" exclaimed London happily. Cynthia smiled and cut off a piece of cake for London. As she ate her cake London thought about how her Dad had known that something was wrong, although she was determined not to tell him what.

Even as she looked around at the smiling faces of her family she couldn't help but think about Draco Malfoy, and how he had commented on the mark on the back of her hand. By the time London was ready to head off to bed she was lost in thought about Draco and what he could possibly be planning. 'Next term' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes, 'I'll find out next term'.

The house was dark. She held out a cautious hand and moved forward blindly until her hand made contact with a wall.

"Hello?" she called out timidly, her voice shattering the haunted silence that hung over the house. "I-is anyone there?" The echo of her words bounced around the walls, growing fainter until only the ghost of them remained. She began to walk slowly, using her hands to guide her way.

The hallway suddenly glowed brightly. She stumbled as her eyes attempted to adjust to the blinding light. As the light grew dimmer she was able to look around and realise where she was.

"Why-?" she asked slowly as she realised she stood in the hallway outside of her bedroom. "I must have been sleepwalking." She turned; ready to make her way back to bed when an ear-splitting shriek rang out from along the hall. "ELLA!" she yelled, beginning to run to her sister's room. When she arrived London looked around the room, terrified that her sister was missing.

"MUM! DAD!" she screamed loudly, as she backed out of the room and ran towards her parents. She burst into their room and looked around. Her parents weren't there.

"Loooonnnddooonn..." sang Ella faintly.

"Ella? Where are you?" London ran from her parents' room and made her way towards Ella's voice. "Ella? What-?" she trailed off as she realised there was no one in the house. Ella's voice had stopped. She was alone.

London sat up, her heart thumping painfully in her chest. She looked around the room sharply before throwing back her covers and running to check on her family. 'They have to be here,' she thought, silently pleading that they would be.

She reached Ella's room first. The door was wide open, but that was nothing new. Ella was afraid of the dark and so liked to sleep with the door open so the light would hit her as she slept. London crept around the door slowly, hoping the best and dreading the worst. When her eyes found the bed she sunk to the floor, sighing in relief. Ella was still there.

'Okay,' she told herself silently, 'Ella's here, now find out if Mum and Dad are too.' As if obeying orders she stood up and hurried to her parents' room. Silent tears fell from her eyes when she found that her parents were also still there. 'They're fine, they're all okay,' she thought as she headed back to bed.

As she made her way towards her bedroom London thought about what Professor Snape had said before she left for the Christmas holidays. He had told her that although she had managed to lock her mind to invasion, some truly powerful images could still get through. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that it wasn't until the owl hooted loudly did she realise there was one sitting outside her window.

"Who could you be from?" she whispered as she opened the window. The owl hopped inside and extended its leg obediently. London took the envelope, cool and crisp in her sweaty hand. As soon as she had removed the envelope the owl took off into the night, leaving her standing in the cool breeze from the open window. "Alright let's see what we've got." She closed the window and returned to her bed, grabbing the flashlight she kept close for midnight Disney reading.

London,

First, let me apologise for my behaviour last term. I wasn't feeling very well for those last few weeks and I'm sorry that I was so rude to you. I understand that you were just concerned for me and for that I am glad.

Perhaps we could start over? Pretend that last term never happened and start fresh when school goes back after the New Year. If you're afraid of what Potter Harry and the others might say if they saw us then I guess we could just meet up in the Room of Requirement.

I have no idea why a first year like you is so interested in a sixth year but I'm willing to give it a go if you will.

Draco Malfoy

London stared at the page blankly. After about a month of trying to befriend him, Draco had taken the step himself and sent her the owl basically asking for her friendship. 'What brought this on?' she wondered as she turned off the flashlight and put the letter on her bedside table.

When she closed her eyes she could see the last day she had spoken to him. He had stared at the mark on the back of her hand curiously. Most people just assumed it was nothing, but he had stared at it like he knew more. 'But he can't know. No one knows.' But as much as she tried she couldn't shake the feeling that Draco knew something about the mark on the back of her hand, and that was something she just didn't think she could handle.