'I'm sorry.'

'I know that.'

'I really am though.'

'I know that, too.'

'I hurt you.'

'Well... no, technically it wasn't you.'

'But it was my body. Which means I'm not letting go until you forgive me. Formally.'

'I'm getting a back ache.'

'Well I certainly didn't tell you to grow so tall.'

Gemma sighed. Iz was squeezing her in a hug, refusing to let go.

'Okay okay, I forgive you,' she said.

'Formally,' Iz reminded.

'Fine! I, Gemma, forgive you, Isolde, for... someone else trying to kill me. Happy?' Finally, Iz let go.

'Yes. Very. Now hurry up and eat, and then join me on the train. Compartment 106.' And with that, she skipped away merrily.

'She is strange,' Luke remarked from over his book.

'That she is,' Gemma replied.

'She's awesome,' Ted sighed dreamily, leaning his head on his arm. Gemma pushed it and his head fell, face first into his cereal bowl. Luke and Gemma both burst out laughing.

'That was mean,' Luke said. 'Do it again'.

'I hate you,' Ted gasped, his face soaked. He stood up and stalked away.

'Hey... Teddy, buddy, come back!' She called out in between laughs.

Luke and Gemma stayed for about fifteen more minutes, before they both gathered their things and got on the train. They found Iz and Ted- alongside Mulciber, Avery and Snape. They all looked slightly red, as though they'd been arguing.

'Gemma!' Iz exclaimed as soon as she saw them. 'Help!'

'These three are refusing to leave our compartment,' Ted huffed.

'I don't see your name on it,' Avery muttered.

'Gemma do something,' Iz demanded.

'What do you want me to do?' Gemma replied.

'Literally anything. You only have to pull out your wand and something always manages to go wrong.'

'Um, ouch?' Avery and Snape started snickering.

'I don't see why we can't all sit here,' Mulciber drawled. 'Like one big... happy family.'

'Yes, I agree,' Luke spoke up from behind Gemma, his face still buried in his book. 'I honestly just want to read, and this is getting tedious.'

And so, all seven of them squished into the tiny compartment, and Gemma found herself in between Mulciber and the window. Ted gave him a dirty look, as if trying to threaten him. Gemma sincerely doubted it was working.

'So if we're all a family,' Avery started. What're our roles?'

'Well,' Ted began, clapping his hands. 'Avery and Iz can be the divorced parents. I'll be the new stepdad, Luke can be the kid, Gemma can be the cool aunty, Mulciber should be the family dog and Snape is the creepy neighbour who's always looking through the window.'

'Looks like you've been thinking about this your whole life,' Snape droned.

'I cannot be the mother of children with Avery,' Iz snapped. 'I would never let my poor children be subject to such horrible genes.'

Avery looked like he was about to retort, but the sound of a shrill whistle cut him off. The train began to move, and Gemma felt herself starting to despair- could she really survive another ninety minutes with these people?

'What the fuck is digging into my leg,' Mulciber hissed at her suddenly. She frowned and reached her hand into her pocket. She pulled out the knife her dad had given her.

'Huh,' she said. 'I forgot about this.'

'Who are you trying to stab?' Mulciber joked. She looked up to see he was smiling.

'You, if your not careful,' she returned sharply.

'I'll take your word for it,' he said, looking away but still grinning widely. Gemma rolled her eyes and rested her head on the windowsill, allowing her eyes to flutter shut.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

'Oi, Gemma. Wake up. Wake up you lazy sod!' Someone was shaking her. She opened her eyes to see Ted, his face only inches away from her own. Startled, she flinched back slightly and he grinned. She groaned, and got up, seeing everyone else had left the carriage.

'Damn it,' she murmured. 'I didn't get to say goodbye.' Ted rolled his eyes and tugged at her arm.

'Let's go, or their gonna take us back to Hogwarts!' He fretted.

'Alright, alright.' Rubbing the sleep out of her eye, she allowed Ted to dump her trunk into her hands and drag her out onto the platform.

The busy, bustling atmosphere of excitable parents and children quickly shook Gemma out of her sleepy mood, and she ran energetically alongside Ted to find her dad.

She found him, standing with Ted's mother, Verity. He seemed comfortable enough, talking and laughing freely. She, on the other hand, seemed to be in mild disbelief that she was conversing with a a muggle. She looked relieved when Ted and Gemma ran over to them, wrapping her arms round her son. Gemma hugged her own dad.

'Man, you look happy,' her dad commented. 'I bet that's 'cause you haven't been studying.'

'I have,' she said, punching his arm lightly.

'Dan, would you and your daughter like to come over to our house today?' Verity asked politely. But Gemma definitely did not want her father to meet Verity's husband. She met Ted's eyes, and they reached an understanding.

'Mother, I'm sure their tired-' he began, but Dan cut him off.

'Tired?' He laughed. 'I'm never tired. We would love to.' And they all started walking together off the platform, Dan (unsurprisingly) doing most of the talking.

Gemma looked at Ted. Ted looked at Gemma. They both knew this would not end well.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

When they got into the house, Ted immediately dragged her upstairs into his room, slamming the door shut behind them.

'What are doing?' she hissed in annoyance. He gave her a quizzical look.

'Saving you from witnessing the shit go down?' He answered, as though it we obvious.

'Um, I would like to witness the shit go down.'

'Why?'

'To defend my dad, obviously!' Ted considered this thoughtfully.

'We'll go down if we hear shouting and murder,' he decided. Gemma sighed, but you didn't win fights like this with Ted, so she flopped down on his bed. Ted flopped down next to her, and they lay side by side, in silence, deep in thought. It lasted about two minutes.

'I'm bored,' He complained. She sighed, and sat up.

'Get your record player,' she ordered. 'We'll play some music.'

Ted brought it, along with some of the vinyl records he had. They consisted of strange wizarding bands, like the Weird Sisters, Celestina Warbeck, and others she hadn't heard of.

'Good collection, huh,' Ted said smugly. Gemma rolled her eyes.

'I don't know any of these people,' she said. 'Do you have any muggle bands?'

'Don't know,' he said. 'Names?'

'Queen? The Beatles? Pink Floyd? Led Zeppelin? ABBA? Aerosmith?'

'Stop,' he interrupted. 'I've never heard of any of those.'

'You are big time missing out,' she told him. He rolled his eyes.

'The names suck.'

'Oh yeah?' She picked up a record. 'These people are literally called Dragon Breath.'

'Don't you insult DB,' he said, faking offence, as he snatched the record out of her hand. She was about to smile, but it stopped dead on her lips.

'How dare you insult me in my house!'

Shouting. From downstairs. Gemma didn't think twice before bolting out of the room, Ted on her heels.

'I didn't even think it was insulting!' Dan defended.

'Filthy muggles! Disgusting, dim-witted, vile-'

'Titus please,' Verity begged her husband. 'The children are here.'

'Let then watch!' Titus roared. He turned to his son, who visibly cowered under his scrutiny. 'If you ever bring this muggle in my house again, I'll slaughter them and you with them.' He left, practically spitting venom.

'I think you should leave,' Verity said softly, opening the door. Ted refused to look at them as they left. The large stone door slammed shut behind them.

'What did you say?' Gemma asked wearily as they walked to the car. Her dad shook his head.

'Literally nothing,' he insisted. 'All I said was that his father marrying his first cousin could have caused some serious problems with his genetics!'

'Well of course he got offended. Pureblood wizards freaking love incest.'

'Well, as a doctor, that concerns me.'

'Yeah, sure.'  Now, as they got in the car, she revised the events in her mind, her major concern resting with Ted and what could happen to him.