CHAPTER ONE:
WELCOME HOME

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FREYA MCKINNON WAS NOT having a good day. Sleeping through her alarm and waking an hour before she was due to leave for Hogwarts, forgetting where she left her favourite sweater and having to run around searching for it, overcooking her breakfast and needing her dad to come in and help her stop the pan from smoking because her seventeenth birthday wasn't for another three days, Freya McKinnon was in a foul mood when the time came to leave for King's Cross Station.

Her dad did nothing to hide his amusement as he watched her stomp down the stairs, lugging her heavy leather trunk behind her with great effort. She paused at the end of the staircase, panting as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Shoving several strands of hair out of her eyes, her scowl sharpened at the mess her ponytail had become, her dark blonde curls frizzing from the humidity in the air. With one last gasp of air, she nudged the trunk in her father's direction, the man deciding to take pity on her as he picked it up with ease.

"Nice hair, kid," Fraser McKinnon smirked, laughing as Freya swatted at his arm in annoyance. "Why are you so out of breath? Aren't you a Quidditch player?"

"Oh, hush you," Freya snapped at him, releasing her hair from her favourite floral scrunchie. She gathered each shoulder-length piece together and pulled them up into the messiest bun in existence, fanning her neck afterwards with a relieved sigh. "Are we going or what?"

"Come now, Frey," her dad tutted, blue eyes shining with amusement. "It's your last year. At least try and sound excited."

Freya sighed again, rolling her eyes as she plastered a fake grin onto her lips. With an exaggerated voice, she chirped, "Are we going or what?"

Fraser raised an eyebrow at her, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

At his words, an annoyed hiss erupted from the box at his feet. Sitting in a clunky plastic container with a metal cage door was Freya's cat, Maximus, who wore a grumpy frown on his face as he tumbled around the restricted space. Freya ignored her father's triumphant smirk as she grabbed the handle to the cage, picking it up as Max gave another hiss, this one a dignified shriek.

"Right," she nodded and held her hand out to him. "Now let's go, father dearest."

Linking their arms together, Fraser disapparated them away, the two landing in an empty alleyway with a loud crack. Freya took a second to adjust to her surroundings, fighting the queasy feeling twisting up her stomach as she looked around. The station was just up the road from where they'd appeared, Freya could hear the hoot of the train engines in the distance.

"Classy," she muttered as she nudged a bag of nearby trash with the toe of her boot.

Her dad ignored her as he stepped onto the main road, looking each way for traffic as he crossed to the opposite side of the street. Freya rushed to follow him before the crowd of beeping cars and pedestrians could separate them, scowling as Max continued to struggle inside his cage. He'd always hated the thing but it seemed like this year, he wanted to be that extra bit troublesome for her. Despite his attempts to distract her, Freya managed to snatch a trolley from beside the entrance to the station, and she paused to dump Max inside as he continued to wriggle about and hiss.

"Not long now, bud," she muttered to him as Fraser placed her trunk in beside him. She considered reaching through the bars to stroke his fur but knew she'd lose a finger if she tried to while he was this annoyed. "You can come out when we're on the train. I'm sure Solana has a treat ready for you."

"Now for the love of Merlin, please don't let him terrorise anyone," Fraser said as he started pushing the trolley for Freya. "I hear enough about him from Sprout as it is, I don't need to hear he scarred some poor first year before they even arrive at Hogwarts."

Max had a knack for getting into trouble over the years, escaping from his home up in Freya's dormitory to terrorise her classmates. He liked the Hufflepuffs well enough since they enjoyed giving him treats and he tolerated the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws because they tolerated him, but he despised the Slytherins, particularly Draco Malfoy. The blonde-haired prat and Filch's cat, Ms Norris, had a special place in Maximus McKinnon's heart.

"I make no promises," Freya grinned, and Max seemed to hiss in agreement with her.

Fraser let out a sigh but let it slide as they approached platform nine-and-three-quarters, glancing around for any muggles who might be watching before they passed through the bricks and onto the platform. Freya paused at the sight of the red steam train which had "The Hogwarts Express" printed on the side in big gold letters. It had only just hit Freya McKinnon that this was the last time she'd ever travel to school on the train. She'd known since the beginning of Summer that she was about to enter her seventh year, but seeing the platform with her own eyes brought on emotions Freya had never faced before.

"Finally hitting you, huh?" Fraser muttered, immediately noticing the look on his daughter's face. Freya nodded, the two standing in silence for a moment. "Look, you just have to make the most of it, kid. It's a scary world out there."

Fraser and Freya knew that better than anyone.

The train's engine roared to life, signifying that it was almost time to leave. Freya turned to her dad without a word, rushing forward and throwing her arms around him. Fraser returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. They were all the other had left in the world. Saying goodbye was never easy, but this year was much harder than the rest with the news of Lord Voldemort's return fresh on everyone's mind.

Whether everyone believed these rumors was another story.

"Keep in touch, okay?" Fraser whispered.

Freya nodded against his shoulder, "I will, dad." Without hesitation, she added, "I love you."

"Love you too, kid."

Taking a step back, she took Max's cage from the trolley and held him close, making her way over to the train with her dad following behind her. He helped her lift her trunk up the train steps, the two standing in silence for another moment as the last few students jumped on with her.

"Be careful, Frey," her dad pleaded. He tried to sound casual but Freya could see the fear in his eyes. "Try not to get into too much trouble."

"When do I ever get into trouble?" Freya chuckled, and he laughed along too, albeit much weaker than she did. "I'll try, dad. See you soon."

"Goodbye, kid."

Freya grabbed the handle of her trunk and lugged it away just as the train began to move, slowly picking up speed before it was leaving the platform altogether. Max's struggles and her heavy trunk made it hard for Freya to weave around the students that were loitering in the hall, but for once that morning, it seemed like luck was on Freya's side. She found her best friend's carriage after a few minutes of peering into each compartment, the lonesome girl curled up on one of the benches with a muggle book perched on her lap.

"Long time no see, Solana Thomas."

Solana looked up as Freya closed the door behind her, grinning widely as she rushed to help the blonde with her things, "Hi, Frey! How are you? How was your Summer?"

"I'm better now that I can let this one out of his cage," Freya sighed, propping Max's cage on the bench opposite where Solana had been sitting. She clicked open the door, stepping aside as Max sprung out with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "Oh, stop it. You're out now, aren't you?"

Solana immediately began cooing at him, reaching into the pocket of her jeans for a treat she always made sure to carry whenever she saw Max. The tabby cat immediately warmed up to her, meowing as he nudged his head against her hand for scratches.

"What a suck up," Freya scoffed at the sight of him. She slid Max's cage onto the luggage rack beside her trunk and sighed as she sat down by the window. "About damn time."

"So," Solana prompted, taking a seat opposite her and kicking her feet up on the bench. "Your Summer?"

Freya hesitated for a second before shrugging, "It was fine."

"Fred told me you stayed with them," Solana chuckled. "So I doubt it was, but okay."

"You're right, it sucked," Freya sighed. "Thank Merlin I got to head home early. Grimmuald Place is about as grim as its name."

Solana just giggled, "You could have visited me. You know my mum loves you."

"I know, but my dad wanted me close," Freya mumbled. They both knew why. "Anyway, that's enough about me. What about you? How's it going with Fred?"

"I heard my name."

As if he knew he'd been mentioned, Fred Weasley opened the door to their compartment with a wide grin. He immediately made his way over to Solana, who beamed and leaned up to peck him on his lips. The two had started dating last Christmas after Fred asked her to the Yule Ball and they'd been attached at the hip ever since. It annoyed Freya sometimes, because with Fred Weasley came George Weasley and with the both of them came Lee Jordan, but Freya could ignore it if it meant Solana was happy. Judging by the girl's bright red cheeks and giddy smile, she was.

"McKinnon," Fred looked over at her and winked jokingly.

"Hello, Weasley," she winked right back.

"Hey! Don't we get a hello?"

True to her words, George and Lee entered the compartment seconds after Fred, sitting down on the bench beside Freya and taking up her space. She rolled her eyes at them playfully but shifted over so George could have more room between her and Lee.

"Hi, George," she said, then narrowed her eyes. "Jordan."

"Rude," Lee scoffed, though there was no bite to his words. He and Freya were known for their banter, a constant back and forth between the two. "I have a first name, you know."

Freya just shrugged at him. "I know, but I don't really care."

Freya had known the Weasley twins since they were babies. She didn't remember much from those years, but she knew they'd been fast friends during the Order's first stint. They'd play for hours while their parents discussed the war, oblivious to the horrors the world was facing. The last time Freya got to see them before Hogwarts was a week after her entire family, bar her dad, were murdered. When they met again several years later, they weren't as close as they used to be. Fred and George had found a best friend in Lee Jordan while Freya met Solana, but they were in an overlapping social circle so they knew of each other. Then Fred and Solana started dating, and they were kind of just thrown together.

Freya wasn't sure what to think about it but she supposed she didn't mind them hanging around.

"You alright?" George asked, nudging her side to snap her out of her trance. He shot her a tiny smile when she just blinked at him. "You zoned out for a moment there."

Freya glanced around the compartment. Fred and Solana were hugging while Lee complained about the 'over-the-top' affection, taking scrap pieces of parchment from the pockets of his jeans to throw at them in protest. Looking back at George, she found he was still looking at her, one of his eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm good."