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SOON ENOUGH, it was the night of August 31st, and everyone was eager for the next morning to return to Hogwarts.

After a long night of eating and talking under the candlelit dining room in the Leaky Cauldron, everyone felt full and comfortably sleepy. Just one more night, that was all, and then they would head back on the train to Hogwarts. Robyn was so excited she could barely think.

The minister's task had already begun to take a toll on Robyn; she had quickly become rather paranoid every time Harry Potter was out of her sight. Yet she knew that once they arrived at Hogwarts, her job would become much easier. The other professors as well as Dumbledore would help to keep Harry out of trouble, as they always did.

Robyn stayed seated at their dinner table as everyone else headed up the stairs to bed. Her eyes followed Harry as he climbed up to his room for the night. The large room fell into a strange silence; the only sounds that could be heard were the scrubbing of tables and the shuffling of chairs being stacked away for the evening by various workers.

Suddenly, a loud thud came from right beside Robyn followed by a frustrated huff. Robyn looked over to see Flynn sitting backwards in the chair next to her, slouching over with her head in her hands, elbows propped up on the wood of the table.

Her friend looked exhausted. Flynn's usually bouncy, dark brown curls lay matted and flat against her head, and the temperamental flame that was always associated with her seemed to have burned out. It had been a long time since Robyn had seen Flynn like this; the last time was during their third year at Hogwarts, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione, then only first years, had gotten themselves involved in a huge plot with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Quirrell, and his plan with stealing the Philosopher's Stone so he could bring You-Know-Who back into power. Not since then had Robyn seen Flynn so disheveled.

"What's wrong?" Robyn asked, leaning down so that she was eye level with her friend.

Flynn sighed heavily, turning her head to face Robyn. "I don't know if I'm excited to go back to Hogwarts this year, or if I'm dreading it," she groaned, shaking her head.

"Why would you be dreading it?" asked Robyn, raising an eyebrow.

Flynn looked at Robyn with tired eyes. "You haven't noticed?" She snipped, her voice laced with sarcasm. "My dad. He escaped Azkaban, remember?"

"I remember."

"Well, I don't know if you've been paying attention, Robyn, but a lot of people are thinking that I helped him escape." Flynn rolled her eyes before throwing her head down on the table with a loud, echoing BANG!, and the wizard cleaning a counter across the room jumped in surprise.

Robyn let a small smirk creep up on her face for a brief moment as she lifted her eyebrows. "Did you?"

"No."

"Just checking."

"Wow, thanks," Flynn said, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "You have such faith in me."

Robyn grinned. "Hey, a little skepticism is perfectly healthy!"

Flynn rolled her eyes, though Robyn could see that a small smile was beginning to creep up onto her friend's face. Robyn laughed. She knew her friend wasn't angry anymore. Had Flynn been mad, Robyn would be nothing more than a pile of dust on the floor. Flynn knew that Robyn was just messing with her.

"To an extent," Flynn cut back. "And see, that's the problem. Everyone is making such an unnecessarily big deal out of this. Instead of just asking me to clarify, they make their ignorant little assumptions and then spread them around behind my back, thinking that I'm not listening or just not caring that I am. It's been happening here for the entire time we've been in Diagon Alley, Robyn, and there's a whole House of students at Hogwarts who are going to continue the rumours until my selfish, crazy prick of a father is locked back up in Azkaban where he's supposed to be!" She banged her fists on the table along with her words as her voice rose considerably, nearly yelling into the echoing, empty room by the end of her rant.

Robyn's response was a mere nod. While she herself had never been trapped by the legacy of a parent, Robyn did understand the feeling of always being talked about behind her back. Her adoptive parents didn't retain the greatest reputation in the Wizarding World, and her unknown beginnings sparked discomfort among many. People tend to become scared of what they do not know, and when people become scared, they feel threatened.

"It's going to be okay," Robyn said finally. She felt her voice hitch in her throat as she spoke, as it always did when she found herself lying. "They'll catch him, I'm sure."

"God, I hope they do, and soon," Flynn muttered. "Anyways, we should probably head to bed. It's getting pretty late, and Molly wants us up early in the morning. You know her, always paranoid that we're going to miss the train."

This was true. Robyn expected that after last year's incident with Harry and Ron, Mrs. Weasley would be especially cautious about any of their group missing the train. Their large group had been running late the previous year, due to forgetting school supplies and Quidditch brooms, and by the time they reached the train station, there were only a few minutes remaining until the train left. Harry and Ron hadn't made it through to the platform in time and missed the train, so they stole Ron's father's car and flew it - yes, flew it - to Hogwarts. Obviously, they ended up in a shitload of trouble. They landed in the Whomping Willow, a ruthlessly destructive tree on the grounds, and destroyed Mr. Weasley's car. Harry and Ron were nearly expelled. Ron broke his wand. Ron got a Howler from his mother. The car became sentient and drove away to live in the Forbidden Forest.

Needless to say, Mrs. Weasley had every reason to be paranoid this year.

The two climbed up the stairs, where they found Fred and George laughing to themselves. They were holding a small badge, and as Robyn looked closer, she realized it was a Head Boy badge, but instead of reading "Head Boy," it now read "Bighead Boy." It belonged to their older brother Percy, a Gyffindor, like the rest of the Weasley clan, in his seventh year. Percy could be heard from his room upstairs, yelling and seemingly throwing things around his room in an assumed hunt for the badge the twins now held.

With a couple of quiet laughs, Robyn and Flynn made their way to their separate rooms to call it a night. With a huff, Robyn slid the door to her room shut and catapulted herself onto the mattress of the old, creaky, four-poster bed in her room. It had been an exhausting week, and Robyn was ready to go back to Hogwarts. Things would be easier once she was back at Hogwarts.

She closed her eyes and felt herself fall asleep almost instantly.

◆◆◆

THE NEXT MORNING WAS ONE OF THE MOST hectic mornings Robyn had ever experienced. Like Flynn and Robyn had expected, Mrs. Weasley was rampantly running about, making sure that all 11 of the children she felt responsible for had everything they needed. Between Percy, Rose, Fred, George, Robyn, Lisa, Flynn, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, Mrs. Weasley surely was going mad as she double- and triple-checked everyone and their luggage to insure they all had their supplies.

After she was finished going through Ginny's trunks one final time, Mrs. Weasley sighed with content and pride, her red, curly hair quite frizzy and matted. "Everyone's ready to go," she announced. "Come now, children, Arthur has cars from work parked outside ready to take us all to King's Cross."

The large group piled their luggage up, with Hedwig, Eira, and Hermes, Percy's owl, sitting on top in their cages. Rose's cat Anastasia sat calmly in her gilded cage, which reflected the cat's own elegance, and Crookshanks shook up his wicker box, spitting and hissing loudly from inside.

"Don't worry, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed. "I'll let you out once we get on the train."

"Um, no you won't!" Ron spat back, placing a protective hand over the large lump in his pocket where Scabbers was curled up, his small rat heat peeking out over the top, his little pink nose quivering slightly.

The large group broke off into smaller group of three or four, and piled into the chain of Ministry cars parked across the street from the Leaky Cauldron, while employees from the pub carried their luggage to the cars, storing the trunks and cages into the backs of the cars.

Robyn watched as Mr. Weasley marched Harry across the street to one of the Ministry cars, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Percy. Robyn winced. She felt sorry for the trio. They had to deal with Percy on the ride to King's Cross. She'd wish that experience on few in the world. Percy was a prick to deal with on good days.

Robyn herself followed Rose and Fred to another Ministry car, sliding in behind them into the backseat.

The ride to King's Cross was short and uneventful. None of them dared to try anything while there were two Ministry officials in the front seat, watching their every move.

Once they arrived at King's Cross, the officials helped Robyn, Rose, and Fred retrieve their luggage from the trunk of the car before saying goodbye and leaving them at the station with the rest of their crew.

Mrs. Weasley glanced around the group, mouthing to herself words Robyn couldn't understand. She assumed she was counting how many of the group was there, double-checking to make sure that all the children were present, as she had to manage quite a large group of students with only the help of her husband, who seemed preoccupied with watching Harry Potter anyways. That left Mrs. Weasley to keep track of the rest of the group on her own.

Once everyone had their luggage, pets, and books, the group made their way over to the wall between Platforms 9 and 10. Muggles wove their ways around and through the group, not paying any attention to them as they were only focused on themselves and where they had to go.

The Muggles and their constant self-focus posed as the perfect distraction. Mr. Weasley and Harry Potter stepped up and casually leaned against the brick wall separating the two platforms before slipping through, suddenly vanishing through the wall without a trace.

The rest of them lined up in pairs, following Harry and Mr. Weasley to slip through the wall themselves. Robyn and Flynn ended up beside each other, right behind the Weasley twins, who pretended to be passengers of a crashing car as they ran into the brick wall, miming screams of terror and swinging their luggage around wildly before disappearing into the wall.

Robyn rolled her eyes and laughed before approaching the wall with Flynn. Both of them leaned against the wall slightly before slipping through, making sure to catch themselves and their luggage so they didn't fall.

The platform was loud with the noise of indistinct chatter among other Hogwarts students and their families, as well as a large clock that hung on the wall reading the time, ticking with every second. The all-too-familiar sign hanging out from the wall in several places down the station read:

The train itself, in all its radiant, shining red glory, was sitting in the station, doors wide open, accepting all its passengers onto the train to take them to Hogwarts.

To home.

Robyn and Flynn looked at each other, a large smile stretched across Robyn's face. What she met, however, was a warily cautious look from Flynn, not the smile she had been expecting. It then occurred to Robyn that Flynn was still concerned over their conversation from last night.

"It's going to be fine," Robyn said. "If anyone tries to give you grief about your father, just kick their ass. I'll defend you, okay?"

Flynn let out a sharp laugh. "Yeah, okay."

◆◆◆

THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS HAD PULLED AWAY from the station and was speeding along on its tracks towards Hogwarts. Robyn, Flynn, Lisa, Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan had all squeezed themselves into one compartment. Their luggage didn't all fit in the minimal storage area available in their compartment, so Lisa and Lee had to store their own in an adjacent one where a group of scared little first-years were sitting.

Rose wasn't with them. She had fellow Hufflepuff Quidditch team members that she hadn't seen all summer and she wanted to catch up with them, so she'd gone on to one of the larger, more open train cars to sit with them for the ride, though she promised she'd find them once they arrived at Hogsmeade Station.

Robyn, Fred, and Lee were on one side of the compartment, Robyn laying down across Fred and Lee's laps, her head in Fred's lap and her legs draped across Lee's, hanging off the side of the seat.

Lisa, Flynn, and George sat on the opposite side of the compartment, Lisa leaning with her head against the window, fast asleep. It wasn't uncommon for the Potter girl to fall asleep on the train rides to and from Hogwarts; she could honestly fall asleep pretty much anywhere at the drop of a hat.

Flynn was donning a pair of dark black sunglasses, and she wasn't moving, slumped up against the back of the seat, arms crossed, so none of them were sure if she was asleep or not.

"We're fifth years, guys," said Lee incredulously. He shook his head, dark black dreadlocks bouncing with his movements. "I mean, it feels like we went to sleep first years and woke up and now we're here. We're so old!"

"Don't get all nostalgic on us, Jordan," George joked. "Soon you'll start crying-"

"-And we all know how you get when you cry," added Fred.

"All mushy and gushy and 'guys, look how far we've come, we're so much greater than we've ever been.'"

"Next thing you know, you'll be nothing but a blubbering mess."

"And you know none of us can deal with Baby Lee."

"Wittle Baby Wee."

Lee scoffed. "I do not get like that!" At that, Flynn lowered her sunglasses at Lee.

So she was awake.

"You as well as the rest of us know that's total bullsh-"

Suddenly, the train screeched to an abrupt halt. Lisa's head thudded against the side of the train car and she woke up with a loud, "OW!" At the same time, Robyn was thrown from where she lay across Fred and Lee's laps and onto the floor.

"What the hell?" She groaned, rubbing her hip where it had landed rather roughly onto the hard, thinly-carpeted floor.

"Yeah, really, what the hell, we can't be there yet," Flynn added.

"We aren't even close to Hogwarts," Lee said.

As the group looked around at themselves in confusion, Robyn began to notice the compartment getting very, very cold, very quickly.

She sat up quickly and shoved herself between Lee and Fred to keep herself warm, as it was continuing to get colder and colder.

Soon enough, frost began collecting on the window, spreading across until it was nearly impossible to see through the thick, blurry layer of ice on the window. Flynn's sunglasses had also frosted over until the lenses and the frames were blue and icy, and she had to take them off and set them on the seat next to her, leaving a red outline around her dark brown eyes where the cold glasses had left an imprint across her nose and the sides of her face.

Suddenly, the whole train shifted, bouncing the compartment where they were sitting, the door to the compartment sliding open before slamming shut once more. Robyn met Lisa's terrified eyes and sent her a reassuring smile, though Robyn felt the same chilling sense of fear.

The Wizarding World was far from a safe world to live in, and with Sirius Black on the loose, the possibility of danger was even higher than normal. Even so, fear wasn't a feeling Robyn was used to. Everything in her body was freezing cold, nearing numbness, and her mind was so terrified.

She couldn't think about anything but how cold she was, how empty she felt. She felt hollow, like the chilling air was passing right through her. It took all the effort she had to keep breathing, to keep her eyes open. Everything just felt hopeless.

She felt a warm hand on her bare knee. Looking up slowly, she noticed that Flynn was looking at her, her dark eyes rimmed with concern. As Robyn looked around, Flynn didn't seem to wear the same looks of fearful gloom as the others did. As she did.

"Are you okay?" Flynn asked calmly.

That was an interesting question. Robyn wasn't entirely sure. She felt empty and cold, and incredibly exhausted. She definitely didn't feel happy. In fact, it felt as almost as if she's never be happy again. What even was happiness? Thinking about it made her head hurt and it was tiring just to even try to piece together the thoughts. Her head was a jumble of nonsense. Nothing made sense.

She couldn't put the words together to reply, so she simply shook her head. Flynn then turned and looked at Fred, and her face fell further. Following her gaze, Robyn turned to look at what Flynn had seen.

Fred looked sadder than Robyn had ever seen him. He looked merely a shell of his normal sarcastic, joking self. His brown eyes were downcast, and his arms lay limp at his sides. It was as if all the life had been drained out of him, leaving him a lifeless husk.

Flynn shook his knee lightly and Fred lifted his eyes to meet theirs, not even a glimpse of a smile crossing over his face.

There was a sudden whoosh from outside the compartment door. The group turned their heads to the icy glass window on the door to see a dark, shadowy, floating figure floating past before pausing at the door.

Robyn felt her breath hitch in her throat as the figure reached out a bony, thin hand, pushing the door open. As the door slid away, she realized the floating figure was cloaked with some ragged, torn black rags, concealing everything but a pair of bony, skeleton-like arms that reached towards the six of them.

Lisa let out a choking sob, breaking the silence. The cloaked figure turned towards her and floated closer to her, before abruptly stopping and lifting its 'head' upward. Suddenly, it turned and floated rather quickly out of the compartment and disappeared down the train.

As soon as the figure was out of view, Lisa broke down in vicious, loud sobs, her breath raspy and uneven. She curled up into a ball in her seat, pulling her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and crying into her knees.

George looked rather uncertain of what to do, and resorted to rubbing her back reassuringly.

They all took a moment to recollect themselves, save for Lisa, trying to breathe normally and not think about the terrifying moment they'd just all experienced. Fred and George stared at each other for several seconds, not moving, just soaking each other in, as though they'd been apart for decades.

Flynn leaned back in her seat, sucking in a deep breath before shaking her head. Robyn looked at her quizzically for a few moments before Flynn looked back, raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"It's just," Robyn said slowly, "why didn't that thing affect you like it did the rest of us?"

Robyn's friend shrugged before picking up her sunglasses again, pulling them up on top of her head. "I'm not sure. It did affect me, Robyn. It felt weirdly familiar though, so I just...I don't know. I just dealt with it."

Robyn looked away from Flynn's strong gaze. How anyone could be familiar with that empty, hopeless feeling, that was an idea she had a hard time wrapping her mind around. Especially her close friend of almost five years, her sarcastic, snappy, strong friend.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the compartment door being thrown open once more, a small, screaming, platinum blonde streak flinging itself into the compartment and onto Lee, who responded with a pained "Oof!"

The blonde headed boy who'd landed on Lee stood up quickly, flattening down his green-trimmed Hogwarts robes, appearing to look normal, though the scared-to-death look on his familiar face directly contradicted that.

"Malfoy, what the hell are you doing?" Flynn snapped.

Draco wiped at his small, beady eyes, which were streaked with tears, with the back of his fist before huffing rather pretentiously. "What I'm doing is none of your business, Black. The real question is what the hell are you doing here - shouldn't you be off helping your father?"

"Oh, you slimy little-" Flynn rose up from her seat menacingly, a look on her face that spoke to how much she wanted to turn the little third-year Slytherin inside out.

"Aah, aah, aah, don't want to end up like Daddy, do you? How perfect would that be, though? Like father, like daughter, both permanent Azkaban residents. Until you helped him escape. Hey, maybe he'll help you get out too, wouldn't that be touching."

"Malfoy, you stuck-up, whiny little bitch," Flynn yelled. "Go back to your other little slimy snakes where you belong. I can't deal with you right now."

Malfoy's smug smirk faded as Flynn shoved him backwards into the other side of the train. He scrambled up and ran away as Flynn slammed the door to the compartment shut and sat back down with a huff.

"Can we get back to Hogwarts already?" Flynn grumbled.

Silently, the rest of the group nodded in agreement, and not long after, the train started up again, and they were back on their way to Hogwarts.