What If? Year 2

Chapter 2

"Be back around sun down!" Mum calls after us, "Or I'll send Dad after you, Goldie!"
"Got it! We've got flashlights for when it gets a little darker."
"And don't go past the woods! Those are to keep muggles out, remember?"
"We've got it, Mrs. Potter," Ara calls back for me, "we'll be safe." I nod. We walk out past the broom barn. We walk up to the dock in the pond.
"This is why we needed our swimsuits!" Heather replies.
"Yep, it took Dad and Harry almost all summer to clean it out, so someone might as well swim in it." I tell them, "And we can fly around on the brooms in the barn."
"Has anyone ever jumped off the top of the barn into the pond?" Ginny asks, absent mindedly. Ara looks appalled, but I laugh.
"My Uncle Sirius and Dad used to, but they always had their brooms with them, incase they missed."
"That sounds like fun," Ginny continues, "We need to do that."
"I'll go with you!" Heather exclaims.
"We'll want my dad out here then while we swim, because I'm not so sure that my mom would let us do that." Ara and Rachel laugh. The sunset was almost gone, so we decide to head back.
"What are we going to do tonight?" Rachel asks, "play a game.. or watch some tv?"
"We could play Monopoly," Ara suggests. I giggle and nod.
"We need to play Monopoly." I run to the game closet once we get into the house. We set up in the living room and Ara turns on the radio.
"Can I play?" Evie asks, sheepishly. I look at her and smile.
"Sure," I answer. Evie sits down besides Ara and waits until everyone grabs a moving piece. We start and chaos immediately begins. I quickly realize that Ginny did not know how to play Monopoly, and Rachel and Heather were using that to their advantage.
"How much money do I get when I pass go?"
"A dollar.. I think," Rachel answers, smirking at Heather.
"Umm, okay."
"No, no... it's one hundred," I cut in, still technically lying. Ginny glares at Rachel, but the other two laugh.

Once our game was done, we decide to head to bed. We drop Evie in her room before coming upstairs.
"So," Heather says, "How's Cedric, Goldie?"
"He's fine.. I saw him two days before my tests."
"Ooooohhh," Rachel and Ginny tease. I throw a pillow at them both.
"Trust me, it was nothing exciting," Ara tells them, "they studied.. the whole time."
"We ate too!"
"Oh, cause that's more interesting than studying," she replies, "I think they should meet up at Diagon Alley and go on an actual date before we go back to Hogwarts."
"Yeah, you guys should." Heather says, "or I could recommend some muggle restaurants if you'd like."
"Thanks, Heather.. but we have like three weeks before we go back to school. I don't know if we have time to go on a date."
"I'm sure we could find you some time." Ara says, "we can plan that tomorrow! Oh, that would be so much fun!" The other girls nod in agreement.
"Oh... so playing around with my love life is fun to you all." Everyone laughs. I get out my pajamas and start to change.
"We should get to bed," I say, "you guys have a lot of planning you want to do." My teasing tone does not go unnoticed with everyone sticking their tongues out at me.

Remember when I said I could talk to ghost? It's happening now.
"So these are all your friends?" Mari asks, standing over Ginny.
"Yeah, and it's kinda creepy that your just.. you know standing over them while they sleep." Mari looks at me and nods.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm still not completely use to the whole ghost thing." She comes and sits by me on my bed.
"How long are they staying again?"
"Two days.. but I'll see them in a couple weeks at Hogwarts." Mari smiles.
"I can see Regulus when you go back to Hogwarts," she whispers, excitement radiating off of her.
"I still can't believe he never saw you at the end of the year.." I tell her. She shrugs and pats my shoulder.
"It's alright.. the whole chamber incident didn't really help me to be able to appear. It took all the energy that I had saved up." I nod.
"Thanks for that.. again."
"Of course! You're my niece, even if I only met you once, I still have a connection to you."
"Regulus is going to be so excited.. he tried to show me some of you time at Hogwarts together. I got to tired before he could get past your first class." My cheeks burn as I tell her that small bit of information.
"How'd he do that?" she asks, her interest peaking.
"I'm not sure.. he had us sit across from each other and we held hands. Then he just had me relax and.. he did the rest. I'm not sure what all it was though." Mari nods.
"Perhaps he can teach me! Then I can show you some of my past too." I smile, thinking about memories of my young mother.
"I'm sure he would be glad to help you in anyway he can." Mari smiles and looks down at the floor. 
"Are you going to help me find him, or are you going to send me off by myself?" she asks, "Either is fine, I just want to know." 
"Well, I guess it depends on if you're willing to wait on me," I tell her, "I probably won't come see you till that night." 
"I want you to be there.. the more I think about it... the more nervous I get." I nod. 
"I understand, I'll be with you as long as you wait." Mari hugs me. 
"Thank you, Goldie," she says, "you're amazing." I smile and hug her back. 
"You should get to bed," she continues, "you're going to have a full day of planning a date with Cedric. I'm very excited about seeing him again." I gasp and then immediately sigh. 
"Honestly," I scold, "you and Ara are the same people sometimes! You both need to behave." Mari smiles and tucks me in. 
"Goodnight, Goldie."