The rest of the Easter break went by quickly, thankfully. We barely saw mum the whole week, she would hide out in her room, have Jilly bring her meals to her, and more bottles of alcohol to drown her days away.

I should feel sorry for her, but I don't.

She did this to herself.

She's the one who never loved her children, the one who didn't even acknowledge her husband, the one who plays the victim card even though she's the one who tore our family apart.

My dad and James got along quite well, which wasn't surprising.

I got to spend time catching up with Beatrice, and she told me all about her fourth year drama.

Henry seemed to like James a well, but it's always hard to tell with him.

James and I were walking through the castle grounds as we got off of the Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade and got into a carriage.

As we walked through the courtyard, I immediately spotted Remus and Sirius waiting for us.

"Hey, lovebirds!" I yelled, getting their attention.

Sirius's head shot up, and he ran over to us. Running straight past me, Sirius flung himself into James' arms, engulfing him into a tight hug, which James quickly reciprocated.

"You're not allowed to leave me for a week!" Sirius mumbled.

James patted his friend on the back, "Idiot-, you didn't want to come with us."

I gave a small laugh, and walked over to Remus, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey, Vixen."

"I missed you, Moony."

When Remus and I pulled away from each other's embrace, Sirius pulled me in for a hug, wrapped his arms right around my body.

"Please don't take him away again!" Sirius whispered into my blonde braid.

I smirked, "Don't worry, I won't."

The four of us walked back into the castle and made our way up to the Gryffindor tower. The common room was bustling as people said their hello's to their friends and caught up with each other about their holiday.

Jolie, Marlene, Lily, and Mary were sprawled across couches in the common room, talking to Frank and Alice, the latter holding out her hand for everyone to see. All of the girls were gushing over it.

I handed my trunk to James and walked over to the group, getting their attention as I approached.

"Daph!"

Jolie pulled me into a hug, her curly ponytail flying.

"Jo!"

I took turns hugging everyone, hugging Alice last. I grabbed her hand first, my blue eyes widening at the sight of the engagement ring on her finger.

"Oh, Alice!" I turned to Frank and smiled, "Congratulations, you two."

Frank smiled, "We're thinking about a summer wedding, as soon as school's done."

James, who had joined me shortly before, shook hands with Frank, "We'll be there."

I quickly brought my trunk up to my dormitory and returned down to the common room. James was sitting in an armchair by the couches, and I kissed him on the cheek as I sat on his lap, turning my attention to everyone's conversations.

Despite the weather warming up, the common room was still a bit chilly for my liking.

Thankfully, I had James.

I was curled up against him in the chair, my head resting on his chest. James absentmindedly ran his fingers through my hair as I tapped my fingers on his knee.

As the clock struck six, people were leaving the common room, making their way to the Great Hall for dinner. I was snapped out of my trancelike state, as Jolie grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the chair to go to dinner.

When the lot of us reached the Great Hall, I took my usual spot in between Jolie and James, across from Sirius and Remus.

Lily and Marlene were talking animatedly about their Easter holiday in London with Lily's family. Apparently, her older sister, Petunia, brought home her new boyfriend, Vernon, and the Evans' hated him.

Mary and Dorcas spent their holiday at Hogwarts, along with Sirius and Remus.

Alice and Frank were with Alice's family.

It was nice to be back at Hogwarts, even if it was insanely hectic with all of the chatter happening around me.

However, I did miss my dad.

I rarely saw him, but when I did I always had a nice time.

Sirius was deep in an argument with Jolie about whether or not mood rings were reliable.

"It's Divination-, but in ring form!" Sirius explained, shoving a bite of mashed potatoes in his mouth.

Jolie threw her fork at him, "Exactly! Divination isn't reliable, you dimwit!"

Remus and James were conversing about upcoming plans for the summer, and I was trying to listen in but kept spacing out because of pure exhaustion.

As of now, the four of us were planning to go to the Potter's for the summer holiday, but we wanted to get a bit of traveling in since we will all be of age.

All three boys were already seventeen, and much to my dislike, I was the youngest. My birthday's in May, and I already took the apparation course, so traveling would be much easier now.

"What about Italy?" I asked.

James and Remus turned to look at me, a bit surprised that I had finally spoken up.

"Pardon?" Remus mumbled.

I grinned, "I said, what about Italy?"

"What part, darling?"

"Amalfi, it's right on the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea."

Sirius perked up, "Italy, you say?"

"I've been there, it's perfect in the summer." Jolie announced. "It's not too touristy, but it's a beautiful city."

"Amalfi, it is?" James asked with a grin.

Sirius smiled, "Sounds good."

"Count me in."

I grinned at the boys, "Brilliant-, I love our foreign vacations."

Jolie coughed, "Oh-, I bet you do."

I elbowed the blonde in her ribs, making her laugh even harder than she already was.

James was blushing slightly, "I love our foreign vacations as well."

"Now that you two are together, we only need a place with two bedrooms." Remus confessed.

Sirius smirked, "Jolie owed me five galleons."

"On what?" James and I asked.

Jolie grinned, "We had a bet on how long until you two got together."

I rolled my eyes, "Of course you did."

• • • • •

The month of April went by fast. My days were spent studying for exams, gossiping with Remus, scheming with Sirius, and being head over heels in love with James Potter.

I often thought about the conversation we had over Easter.

"I can't wait to be married to you one day."

James grinned widely at this. "Then we'll have our own family, and we'll raise our kids right."

"What if I end up like my mum?"

James hugged me tightly and whispered into my hair, "You won't, I promise."

He was right. I won't end up like my mum. Because I have James. I am not my mother, and James is not my father.

Arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a hug from behind.

"Hello, love."

I turned my head and smiled, "Hello, James."

"It's your birthday tomorrow."

I turned around in James' embrace so that I was facing him, "Really? I didn't realize."

James kissed me on the cheek, "And how will we be celebrating."

There are some things you should know about me: (1) I hate my birthday, (2) I hate being the center of attention.

Everyone has a birthday, and thousands of other people share the same birthday with me, so I don't think that birthdays are that big of a deal.

James and I stood in the common room, just before breakfast, on the surprisingly warm morning of May fourteenth.

"Well-, I don't have anything in mind."

"Nothing?" James asked with a smirk.

I grinned, "Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"Please don't make a big deal about it, love."

James tucked a stray hair from my braids behind my ear, moving his hand to cup my face, "I would never."

"Says the James Fleamont Potter, the king of dramatics."

"Hmm-, I like that title, but it's not my favorite."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Oh, really? Then what is your favorite?"

"Your boyfriend." James responded with a smirk.

I kissed him on the lips, "I love you."

"I love you too."

Jolie came bounding down the stairs, her tie hanging loose around her neck as she quickly threw her long blonde hair into a messy bun.

"Oh-, hey lovebirds!" She smiled at us. "I thought I was the only one not at breakfast."

"Overslept?" James teased.

Jolie laughed, "Only because Daphne didn't wake me up."

I held my hands up in surrender, "You threaten to hex me every time that I try, so I'd rather not get hexed by you, especially that early in the morning."

"Solid."

James laughed, "Can we go to breakfast? I'm really hungry."

"Me too, I need coffee." Jolie muttered, fiddling with her crooked tie.

I intertwined my fingers through James' and we followed Jolie out of the common room and through the nearly empty corridors.

Everyone was already at breakfast.

When we reached the Great Hall, the three of us took our usual seats and began dishing out food and coffee.

Sirius was arguing very animatedly with Remus, moving his hands as he spoke.

"Listen! If we destroyed the moon-"

"Sirius, shut up! We are not destroying the moon."

"Moony-, it would fix your furry problem!"

I stifled a laugh at the argument, though I was a bit curious about if it would work. If there wasn't a moon, then there wouldn't be a full moon, so Remus wouldn't change into a werewolf.

"He has a point." I muttered as I poured a splash of creamer into my coffee.

Sirius threw his hands up, "Exactly!"

Remus rolled his eyes, "It's too early for this." He turned to Sirius and point his finger at the raven-haired boy. "You will not attempt to blow up the moon, correct?"

"Fine." Sirius mumbled, shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.

Jolie was completely unbothered by the whole conversation, as she was too fixated on undressing a Slytherin boy with her eyes.

I kicked her under the table, "You're drooling a bit."

She scoffed, "I am not!"

Sirius followed Jolie's eyes, a scowl appearing on his face.

"Why the hell are you eye-fucking my brother!"

Jolie's eyes shot back to Sirius, "What-, I am not looking at Reg."

"Hey-, maybe Jolie can convince him to join the light side." I joked, taking a bite of my pancake.

Remus and James chuckled.

"Seduce him, I dare you." Sirius retorted.

Jolie crossed her arms, "I will not seduce him because you told me to, I will seduce him because he's hot."

Remus groaned, "Are you seriously thinking about seducing Reg?"

"No, he's Sirius." Jolie stated, point across the table to a smirking Sirius Black.

The two high-fived over the table.

"No, it could work. Love is the most powerful form of persuasion." James admitted.

"Reggie isn't capable of love."

I rolled my eyes, "Everyone's capable of love, even Jolie, and she bolts as soon as the idea of commitment is brought up."

"Can we please stop talking about Regulus? Especially that Jolie finds him attractive."

Jolie laughed, "Gladly!"

We returned to our breakfast, with no more talk about Regulus Black, until people started clearing out of the Great Hall to go to their classes.

Surprisingly, my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, and one without a quidditch match.

James walked me to class, and bid me goodbye, giving me a quick kiss before he disappeared around the corner of the corridor.