▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Saffron loved the twins, it was a relief to see them walk off shyer than she had ever seen them do so before, with Mrs. Weasley and Ron's sister Ginny, giving Saffron time to finally breath. Having time with Hermione, Harry and Ron again was a need and was highly therapeutic for the girl.The environment in Squires was always tense and it was important to relief herself from that tension. She hoped Rachel and Rowan would do the same while simultaneously not embarrassing themselves, on Saffron's behalf, in front of Ron's mother.

Saffron didn't feel the need to ask Harry to explain the whole predicament with the Ministry and some house elf called Dobby. She had received several letters in the past few weeks detailing a house elf doing magic in Harry's house and getting him in trouble but didn't have the heart to enquire any further. The boy was in his element walking down the streets of Diagon Alley. He needed a break from his family so much more than Saffron did because he legitimately despised his family. At this point, his friends were his family.

The gold he had taken out of Gringotts, it seemed to Saffron, was going to be spent. He never spent money elsewhere so this was his opportunity and he evidently wasn't going to waste it. He bought them all four large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams. They ate them as they walked down the street, listening to Hermione describe her Summer in France and Ron go into detail on the Quidditch season as of late. Although Saffron wasn't really listening to Ron was saying, it reminded her of walking through Hogwarts with them, bringing her back to the normal she had grown into, last year.

After an hour of catching up, Hermione insisted they hurry off to Flourish and Blotts in order to make it to the Gilderoy Lockhart book signing on time. Saffron was surprised that Hermione took such an interest. By the looks of who were queuing up for the signing, it seemed that the main demographic was middle to old aged women, not twelve-year-old girls.

"I still can't believe we can actually meet him," Hermione voiced her thoughts aloud excitedly. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

Saffron watched the picture of the handsome man with a wavy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, flashing his straight and shiny white teeth at them, contrasting his flashy, silky extravagant lilac robes, like a cape.

Booklist aside, Saffron was mostly interested in seeing if he was as good looking as he was in that picture.

"Calmly, please, ladies .... Don't push, there ... mind the books, now . . . . " said a short man who was trying to calm the crowd which seemed incapable of calming, down.

Saffron, alongside Hermione, Harry and Ron barely managed to get inside. Saffron spotted her siblings standing awkwardly beside the Weasley family and she hurried over to them to check up on them.

"Are you okay?"

Rachel and Rowan both nodded with smiles.

"Mrs Weasley is so sweet,"

"Yeah, we're fine,"

"Good," Saffron beamed down at them. It was overwhelming to see her siblings in a different scenery and thus a different light. She couldn't wait for that enhancement to continue in September. "Just remember, we're not getting anything here. You two save the money Maya gave you for the train to school,"

Saffron was silenced by the sheer noise of the screeches when Gilderoy Lockhart walked across the sort of stage that had been set up for him. He took a seat at a table surrounded by pictures of himself, in forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes perfectly. Saffron couldn't help but smile but that smile soon wiped off of her face when she spotted the witch first in line, standing directly in front of him.

Wearing her finest lilac frock, Squire's minion Josephines' bulging eyes were fixed upon Lockhart and only Lockhart, hypnotised by his charm and appeal.

Saffron's muscles tightened and her jaw twitched in fear.

They couldn't be seen. Not by Josephine, for the woman wouldn't hesitate before telling Squire that the children had left Holyhead. She would apparate and hand the three of them over on a silver platter, to imminent punishment and stricter curfews than the one they already had. They couldn't be seen and in Saffron's mind, they wouldn't be.

Saffron grabbed onto Rowan's shoulder in order to alert him. The boy turned around and could instantly sense that something was wrong. The way in which his older sister looked at him told him that fact. He followed her gaze to Josephine and let out a small gasp.

"We have to go," Saffron hissed, just as a short man stood in front of them to take a picture of Lockhart. "Now, Rachel!"

Rachel crinkled her eyebrow at the sound of her name being enunciated sharply and responded to Rowan's wild hand gestures by slipping past Mrs Weasley and Ron (who had been shoved by the photographer so he could get a better view), and enquired in confusion amidst the noise.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked confusedly. "I thought we were getting him to sign ----"

"We're going," Saffron told her, she took her younger sister by the hand and proceeded to pull her away from the crowded shop. Rachel protested slightly, but when Rowan gave her back a little push, she could sense that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, shaking Saffron off of her arm, but following her through the crowd to the exit.

"It's Squire's spy," Rowan informed her matter-of-factly.

"Her what?"

"Her spy,"

"Josephine," Saffron told the puzzled Rachel.

"Just call her by her name, Rowan," Rachel rolled her eyes at her twin brother.

"Where are you going?"

The Mitchell's turned around to see Hermione standing behind them with her face a mask of confusion. None of the Mitchell's answered immediately. None of the three was quite sure why. Perhaps embarrassment, or maybe because it was too difficult to explain in brief, regardless, Saffron tried.

"Someone's here, someone who knows us and if we're seen----"

Saffron heard someone yell Ron's name from behind her and she jolted upwright, looking briskly over her shoulder to see Mr. Weasley bounding towards Ron, who was standing beside Harry, Ginny, and to Saffron's immense shock, Draco Malfoy. The cruel Slytherin was stood sneering at the three of them, like throwing various vulgar comments in their direction. Being a Slytherin, he disliked Gryffindors immensely, but he had a particular distaste for Harry.

"What's going on over there?" Saffron stood on her tippy toes to see that yet another man had joined the fold, he had long silver hair and resembled Draco. Undoubtedly, he was his father, the man whom Harry had encountered in Nockturn Alley earlier in the day.

Saffron exchanged a confused look with Hermione, but it was a knowing one and the pair walked with some pace off towards the group, which now had the additions of Fred and George Weasley. Rachel and Rowan followed the girls somewhat uneasily, uncertain of what the dynamic would be of the evident tense circle of people.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione stood at Ron's shoulder, whose eyes darted from his dad to Draco's dad constantly. Ron didn't answer, for Mr. Malfoy was talking.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," he said curtly, the air of feeling superior in all aspects of the word came across clearly. "All those raids ... I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He put his hand into Ginny's cauldron, which was full of her school books, and pulled out a second-hand copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

"Obviously not," Mr Malfoy was trying to sound as though he was sad in the most condescending way possible. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr Weasley was blushing profusely.

"Clearly," stated Mr. Malfoy, his eyes resembled Draco's seemingly lifeless and almost colourless ones, fixating themselves on Hermione's parents, who were watching with utmost apprehension. Saffron bit her lip. The man disgusted her. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower,"

Saffron would have let a gasp out at what the man said, but instead, the gasp she produced was at what occurred not even a second later.

Mr Weasley threw himself at Mr Malofy, knocking his body into a tall bookshelf, causing dozens of spellbooks to fall down on them. Mr Malfoy, in turn, flung himself at the other man and the two were to be seen physically brawling amidst the now parting crowd.

Saffron felt Rachel and Rowan close in close to her and that was when she made her decision. Now was the right time to leave. She knew that the commotion would be the catalyst to their downfall. The currency in which Josephine dealt in was gossip, and witnessing a physical brawl within Flourish and Blotts had value.

"We're going," Saffron said loudly, wanting Rachel, Rowan and Hermione hear her. Taking rasping breaths, she held onto her younger sisters hand again, and lead her and Rowan out ot the bookshelf, with Hermione right on their tails. They reached the door just moments after Rubeus Hagrid, the man whom Saffron held much resentment towards after the events of her first year in Hogwarts, entered the book shop. He entered with the intention of splitting up the fight and the last Saffron saw of the Weasleys, Malfoy and Harry, was Hagrid pulling the writhing bodies of Mr Weasley and Mr Malfoy, apart from each other.

"Are you sure you saw her?" Rachel asked Saffron hurriedly, as Hermione jogged to catch up with the three Mitchells. Rachel looked thunderstruck at what she had just witnessed, but equally as determined to put as much space between her and Squire.

"Positive," Saffron confirmed to her, she turned to Hermione once the girl reached her shoulder. She looked winded and hurt at what Mr. Malfoy had alluded to. "I'm sorry, Hermione, but we have to go, if Squire finds out we were here . . . "

"You won't hear from us for a long long time," Rowan finished his older sisters sentence.

"No, I understand," She stopped walking when they reached the public Floo Powder spot down a secluded alleyway in Diagon Alley. "I'm glad you got to come," she continued breathlessly, before talking specifically to the twins. "And it was lovely to meet you two as well, I look forward to seeing you both in school,"

"Make an excuse for us, for the others, please," Saffron said, as she took Hermione into a hug and rubbing her back with a satisfied smile. She had hoped to stay with her for longer, but needs must. She went on to lower her voice so the twins couldn't hear her. "And you know what Malfoy said, well --- it's a load of rubbish, you know that,"

Hermione merely supplied her with a nod. "I'll see you in September,"

Saffron took the flask of floo powder out of her bag and passed a pinch to Rachel, then Rowan, before using some herself, and transporting herself to Squires.