For Nicolai, Florence, and Alexander, it was a weird thing not bustling about busily in attempts to get all their stuff, as well as themselves, ready during what was supposed to be train day. They found themselves unsure of what to do that day, so both Florence and Nicolai had apparated to the only place they knew they were sure to find a busy body during this day.

"Nicolai, please stop staring me, you're making me feel uncomfortable,"  Asher groaned, pausing his last minute packing to chastise the brunette, who had her gaze fixated intently on him, all the while reminiscing in her head.

"Don't mind me, just keep packing," she dismissed, taking a big swig from her coffee mug. Florence chuckled at this, swiveling around in her chair to face Mrs. Haddlowe, who was packing Asher a whole meal to eat on the train ride. "I'm awfully sorry we barged in on you this early, Melanie. We just wanted to see Asher go off to Hogwarts for nostalgia's sake."

"Nonsense. The pair of you are welcome here anytime you please." Mrs. Haddlowe smiled, before zipping up the lunch box, "Isn't it fascinating how time flies by so fast? Before we know it, Asher's going to be going on his last Train day too."

"Oh don't say that, Asher still has ages before that happens." Florence said, "He should enjoy every second of this."

"Is Divination really as fun as they say?" He asked out loud, Nicolai and Florence nodding their heads in response, "All the fortune telling is amusing. And Professor Trelawney is a nutjob, so that's a plus."

"Don't they have Firenze teaching it now, too?"" Inquired Florence.

"Oh right. I don't know if they're teaching two separate classes or teaching together."

"Well, regardless, I'm sure Asher would love Divination," Alexander quipped in, catching a bit of the conversation as he descended down the stairs, Asher's trunk in tow, "Do you have everything in here?" he asked his brother, who nodded in response, before zipping up his duffel bag, "I think I'm ready."

"No you're not." said Mrs. Haddlowe, "you forgot your Nimbus broomstick in the kitchen"

This made Asher frown, "But I don't have a Nimbus broomstick," he said in confusion.

"Pretty sure you do, pal. Check it out."

His face lit up like a child on Christmas morning, racing to the kitchen as soon as what Mrs. Haddlowe had been hinting at had clicked in his brain, "Merlin's beard!" the other three heard him yell as his mother followed him into the kitchen to witness his reaction, "It's even the latest model! Dri is the best!"

"Aw," Florence cupped a hand to her mouth in her excitement, "He's trying out for the team..."

"He's been hinting at it all summer, it was unbelievably exhausting," Xander chuckled, "So of course, Adrianna had to buy him a broom. She's more excited about the thought of Asher playing Quidditch than Asher is."

"Gryffindor has a lot of vacant slots now too that nearly half of their team's graduated," Florence said, "He could be a beater or a Chaser."

"Safer to be a Chaser."

This made Florence snort, "No, not necessarily."

"I'm ready!" Asher yelled, racing out of the kitchen with his new broomstick in hand, an even more enthusiastic smile on his face, "Come on! I don't want to be late for the train!"

"Thank you again for doing this," said Mrs. Haddlowe, "You lot take care, okay? Asher, please behave. I have to get ready for work now or I'll be late."

"No problem, Mrs. H. We'll take it from here." Said Nicolai, picking up Asher's seemingly light duffel bag, only for her to grunt in surprise, not anticipating its weight, "God, what do you have in here? Cinderblocks?"

Florence whipped out her wand, levitating the bag, "Come on, out the door everyone."

Asher wasn't as used to apparating as the three were, and he absolutely hated it, this inferable as he took a second to hurl in a bush before following his brother inside. "You okay?" Xander asked, noticing he was still a little green in the face, Asher answering with a grimace, "I just threw up, what do you think?"

"Wow, sassy much?" Florence whistled, Asher wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jumper, before loading his baggage in to a trolley.

Florence, Alexander and Nicolai trailed behind him as he pushed through the crowd of bustling muggles. Though it had only been a year since their last train ride, they still felt nostalgic, as well as unsettled, knowing that they weren't there to board the train anymore.

"You guys don't have to come with me to nine and three quarters," said Asher, "I'm going to be meeting Maisie and Callan anyways."

"We wanna see the train," Nicolai insisted, in a slightly tearful voice, "We're coming with you."

"Oookay."

"Jeez, he's in that phase now, isn't he?" Nicolai murmured to Alexander, "I remember being thirteen. I threatened to slit my throat if anyone did so much as look at me."

"Yes," the blond boy replied knowingly, "I was there, Nic. I remember all of it."

"Was some angsty phase, no? I don't miss it at all..."

"Don't miss what?" asked Florence, stopping in her tracks to let her friends catch up to her, as she had been talking to Asher briefly about quidditch audition tricks.

"Being thirteen."

"Oh. Yes. I don't miss that either."

After a few more minutes of walking, they had finally reached the platform 9 and three quarters, the three watching Asher run in with his trolley before stepping in after him.

The sight of the marvelous crimson Hogwarts Express pulled at their emotions once more, not even paying Asher any mind as he headed over immediately towards the Branson twins.

"Wow," Nicolai said, now sniffling, "All those years I just took this moment for granted. Now I actually miss it."

"Maybe this feeling will subside eventually," said Florence, her eyes still on the train, as though she was starstruck.

"Its because now that we're out in the real world, we realize how easy we had it when we were just students. Everything was handed to us; all we needed to do was soak up the knowledge." Xander sighed.

"You think Dumbledore will take us back if I got on my knees and begged?" Nicolai asked, the two subconsciously shaking their head no. "Doubt it."

"Looking pretty serious there," a voice chimed in, startling them. They peeled their eyes off of the train to see Lisa standing in front of them, a small smile on her face, "Doing all right there?"

Nicolai grabbed her shoulders, before shaking her slightly, "It's your last year, Branson. You better enjoy the hell out of it. For you. For me. Make the most out of it, or you'll regret it."

This made Lisa chuckle, prying off Nicolai's grip on her, "Alright. I swear."

"So Angelina's graduated now too..." Florence trailed off, "You think you have a shot at captaincy?"

Lisa snorted, "No. No chance at all. Katie said it's definitely gonna be Potter. You know, since he's a legacy."

"Legacy?" Florence chuckled, "In what way?"

"James Potter. Greatest chaser of all time."

"Well, you're a legacy too." Florence pointed out, "Both of your parents played professional Quidditch, and they're coaching now too. James Potter may have been the best Gryffindor Chaser, but he never played professional Quidditch."

Lisa simply shrugged, "I mean, I don't really mind. I'm new on the team too, so I doubt professor McGonagall's even gonna consider me."

"We never know," Florence winked, "Plus, Potter's in his sixth year. He still has another year to be captain."

"Yeah I guess..." Lisa trailed off, "You miss Hogwarts, don't you?"

"More than I'll care to admit."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the real world is cool too. With everything doing better now... I'm happy you and Fred are back together."

This made Florence smile, "I'm happy too."

"I might not know him as much as I know George...but.... he was pretty miserable without you over the summer."

Florence nodded at this, "Believe me, I was just as miserable."

Lisa had to board the train after a couple more minutes of small talk, the three staying to waive at the students as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station, a heavy feeling in their hearts.

"C'mon... Let's go home." Florence said, grabbing her friends' hands as soon as the train was a mere speck in the distance.

——————

Florence heard the bell chime above her as she pushed the wooden door open, her mouth immediately falling open as soon as she saw the burst of colorful display in front of her, "Woah," she managed to whisper, walking around the joke shop, marveling at the sight of everything. "Fred, George. I gotta hand it to you. This looks phenomenal."

"Your high praise is deeply appreciated," George bowed, "I just realized this is the first time you've been by. You know, the first month it was open, it wasn't as festive as this."

"Its beautiful..." she said, before pointing to the shelving, "Did you two do all this by yourselves?"

"Pretty much." Fred answered, "We had a little help from Nicolai too. And Verity–oh, which reminds me, you have to meet her. Verity!"

They heard a loud crash coming from the back room, a short brunette girl emerging a few seconds after, "Yes, Mr. Weasley?"

Fred grimaced, scratching the back of his neck, "Sorry, I didn't know you were doing something."

"Ofcourse," she answered flatly, putting her hands on her hips, "Because you totally pay me to sit around all day."

"Er...anyway, this is Florence. Florence, this is Verity."

"Nice to finally meet you," Verity took Florence's hand and shook it, before tilting her head at Fred's direction, "This one's been moping over you all summer."

"Verity..." Fred sighed

"What? Just being honest. Oh by the way, we just got a new delivery of skiving snackboxes. They're in the back room."

"Thanks, we'll get to that later. Just finish inventory for now."

Verity gave him a brief salute, before sauntering back to her work, Florence chuckling as Fred rested his chin atop her head, his arms around her torso, "Nic was right. She is charming."

"Gets the job done too... Are you ready to see the apartment upstairs?"

"Lead the way, sir."

The stairs up were a bit narrow, Florence worrying that the place would be a little bit too dim for her liking, but was surprised at how much natural light was coming through.

"You said you wanted a few more windows, you know, the first time we checked the place out with George."

"So he went crazy with the windows." George quipped in, "Now I can't get naked in the living room without exposing my bits."

"Why would you—you know what? Never mind. I don't think I want to know," Florence said, George laughing before shooting her a playful wink.

"Anyway, I have a smaller bed in my room right now, but we can get a bigger one once you move in."

"Sounds like a plan," she replied, her eyes wandering around briefly, before she scuttled over to the couch, plopping herself on to it, "Ah, passes the test..."

"What test?" Fred and George ask simultaneously, joining her on the couch which overlooked their small balcony. Florence pushed at the couch's foam, "The comfort test. I tend to just crash on the couch when I get home from training. So it has to be comfy."

"But then whats the use of getting a bigger bed if you're just gonna sleep on the couch," Fred pouted, making Florence chuckle, "Don't worry. For you, I will try to make it to the bedroom."

"I can't believe I'm back to third wheeling the two of you," George grumbled jokingly, to which Fred frowned at, "Hey, I spent all summer third wheeling you and Lisa."

"Only for three months, Freddie. I've been third wheeling you two since sixth year." he pointed out, "And please, the walls are thin, so please be considerate."

Florence grabbed a throw pillow, smacking George on the head, "Don't be like that."

"Hey, I'm just giving you a warning. It's gonna be inevitable, especially when you two are gonna be sleeping next to each other every night—"

"Okay, yeah, we're done talking about this now." Fred cut him off, now pink in the ears.

"I miss this," George laughed, before his facial expression transitioned in to something a little bit more serious, "But seriously, Flo, its good to have you back."

"Aw," she cooed, throwing her arms around George, giving him the tightest hug she could manage, "It's good to be back too."