Thank you so much @AH123456789 for voting on my story! It means so much to me, and thank you all for being patient while I'm working on this chapter.

The healers kept the six students at St. Mungos for a lot longer than any of them had expected. It was the end of March when Aida, Jessi, and Olivia went back to school, but Lily and the others had to wait two and a half months. 

But thankfully, the remaining six were allowed to go back to Hogwarts in the middle of June, just two weeks left in the school year.

"Are you sure that you're ready?" Hermione was saying to Rose as she and Ron wished her goodbye.

Scorpius stood in the corning with his dark-haired mother and ice blonde father, speaking quietly together.

Lily and her family stood together in a tight hug. No words were spoken between them, but everything was understood all the same.

Jenna on the other hand, stood at the side of the room, talking to Healer Iba; her parents hadn't come to wish her goodbye.

"Okay luvs," Iba suddenly said, looking at the clock, "You've got thirty seconds before your portkey leaves, so I suggest that you get ready."

With a last squeeze, Lily said goodbye to her parents and put a finger on the rubber ball that was being used as a portkey.

She looked up at Jenna, steeling herself. Lily was afraid to go back, that she was sure of, but those men weren't going to stop her. 

Kent... Mallor... Strain... Wright... Their eyes flashed before her as Lily felt a hook behind her navel and was lifted off of the ground. The spinning was so fast and just as she felt that she was going to be sick, Lily's feet slammed into the ground again.

"Good afternoon students," the six of them had arrived in Professor McGonagall's office. Lily stumbled, having landed very poorly. Scorpius caught her and pushed her back on her feet. 

"Thanks," Lily whispered, and he shook his head with a small smile as if to say 'don't worry about it.'

"Now," McGonagall continued in a calm voice, but if you looked close you could tell that there was a lot going on underneath, "As you know, there are only two weeks left until the end of school. During normal circumstances, there would be end-of-year-exams, but you six have been exempt from them. You will still be expected to attend classes but if you need to, you may step out and go to the hospital wing without informing a teacher. However, if you would like to just get some air for a few minutes, please tell them so that someone knows where you are at all times. 

"You will have tomorrow and Sunday to become re-acquainted with the school," she looked at them kindly, "and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Now, go back to your dorms and get settled, and I'll see you at dinner at half-an-hour."

〰️〰️

Walking through the halls of Hogwarts felt like a blur. A few students were milling about, but nobody spoke to Lily or Jenna as they walked back to their dorm. Albus was walking with Scorpius back to the Slytherin Common Room and Rose and James were going to find Alaiha, so the two girls were on their own.

Neither of them said anything, but it felt like a lot was exchanged between the two at the same time.

Eventually, they made it back to their dorm. Someone- a teacher- had told Jessi, Aida, and Olivia that they were coming back to Hogwarts that day so that it wouldn't be a total surprise, but Lily was still nervous that something would 'go wrong' once they got inside. 

What would 'go wrong' Lily didn't know, but the fear was still there, all the same.

Aida, Jessi, and Olivia were inside talking; Aida drawing, Olivia doing a gymnastics stretch, and Jessi was getting something out of an owl's feathers. 

They all looked up and before Lily or Jenna could comprehend what was happening, they were crushed into a hug.

"We missed you so much! How are you? How is everyone else? Nobody told us, are you back for good? Are-" Olivia rushed but Aida interrupted her.

"Liv, let them breathe."

Lily chuckled. "We're fine, everyone else is fine. All of our wounds have healed. And yes, we're back for good."

"Fine as in actually doing well, or fine as in 'hiding your emotions'?" Jessi asked with a worried expression on her face.

"Somewhere in between," Jenna admitted.

"Well," Olivia said with a smirk, "It's our job to celebrate your being back at school, so, what can we do to make you feel better?"

"Well," Lily admitted, "I just want everything to be normal. Can we go down to the lake and spend time there?"

"Definitely, but that reminds me," Aida started, running over to Jessi's dresser and opening the top drawer. "Here," she took Jenna's wrist and tied a bracelet around it; a bracelet made from mer-scale charms.

"We made those at the beginning of the year and had some extra scales," Jessi explained. "It seemed like the perfect time to make you one while you were away."

Jenna stared at the bracelet for a long time, the light-catching all five girl's bracelets and dancing across the room.

She was at a loss for words and pulled them all into a hug. "Thank you," Jenna whispered.

{A/N ...hi. I'm back. I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I posted, I've had a serious case of writer's block for this story, and I hate this chapter so much, I've just written it over and over and settled on this pile of mediocrity. 

Also! While I was gone this book got to more than 700 reads! Thank you so much, and I'm sorry that we have such a crappy chapter to celebrate. But never the less, it is amazing to have 700 reads, and it is truly an honor. 

I promise that these chapters will start to get better now that we are past first year, and I just wanted to say thank you for believing in me, I couldn't have done this without you.}