You've Got A Friend

Becoming a single mum so young the way she had done wasn’t something that Summer had planned on but then again she knew that no one ever did. Her mum had stepped up and raised her and her brother alone after their dad left and seeing the strength that she’d had to do that as well as the strength that others had showed in raising their children alone had made Summer realise that she could do it too. Not a day went by when she didn’t think about her husband but it had been a while since he’d died and she knew that it was about time that she started moving on with her life. The girls were getting older and she made sure to tell them about their dad not to mention there were still some photos of him with the girls around the house but they weren’t going to remember any of the time that they had spent with him and that saddened her to no end. Summer was doing her best to make sure that they didn’t miss out on anything though, she was the only parent that they had left but thankfully she had support in the form of her family and friends and she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without them. Her colleagues at the Hospital Wing were so understanding of her situation and they never seemed to mind if she had to bring the kids to work with her and settle them in a corner somewhere to play if her babysitting arrangements fell through and for that she was grateful. As bad as things had been for a while she had found a rhythm and she knew that things could easily be so much worse for her family than they were right now.

Things were definitely worse across the world as a whole after the Enlightened had decided to reveal magic to the world, that was for sure. Whenever Summer looked around at the faces of those around her she could see that some were still in shock and she had a feeling that it would be that way for a while to come. Thankfully Hogsmeade and the village she lived in were hidden from the muggle world so both places were as safe as they could be right now and that was what helped her sleep at night. Her husband’s superiors had been worried that the wizard he was tracking down would come after her and the kids after he died so she’d changed their surnames to her maiden name and she had been doing her best to keep them safe ever since and now this was going on. It was a lot to take in but she’d had friends help protect the house and Angel was with the girls right now so she knew that they would be just fine. She worried about them when she left them alone with most people even if it was only for a few minutes but Angel was her twin and he had always protected her so she knew that he would do the same for her daughters.

That left Summer free to catch up with an old friend and she knew that she wanted to make the most of this chance while she could. She and Nessie were both busy and there was an age gap between the two of them but they had become good friends during their time at Hogwarts and Summer knew that she didn’t want anything to come between them. Summer was the first to arrive but it wasn’t long before Nessie joined her and she felt a smile form on her face as she looked over at her friend. “Hey to you too. I needed a break as well so it sounds like it’s perfect timing for both of us,” she admitted. “The kids are doing fine, I swear they’re still getting bigger every day,” she laughed. “They miss their Auntie Ness, you’ll have to stop by the house and see them some time,” she suggested, knowing that the girls would absolutely love it. “How’s everything going at the studio? What commission have you been working on?”

NESSIE RILEY FORRESTER

Summer had thought that she had known what she was letting herself in for when she had found out that she was pregnant. She had thought that she and her husband would have been able to raise their daughters together and she had thought that they would have a long and happy life together but it hadn’t worked out that way at all. Instead she had found herself a single parent to two young girls and she knew that she wasn’t the only one. Will and Kirsten had both gone through the same thing and it had been the same for her own mum after her dad had left as well. Summer had never wanted to follow in their footsteps of having to do this on her own but she at least had her family and friends around her and she truly was grateful to them for that. She didn’t tend to get out as much as she would like to but she knew that that was just one of those things. That day, however, she and Ness had managed to arrange to meet up and Angel was looking after the girls so she knew that they would be just fine. “Definitely. We’re going to have to make sure we get to do this more often,” Summer nodded. It felt like it had been a long time since she had last seen Ness and that was something that Summer knew she didn’t want to let happen again. They were both busy but they were still friends and she knew that she didn’t want anything to get in the way of that. “They’re definitely growing up quickly, you’ll see that the next time you see them,” she laughed. They seemed to be changing on pretty much a daily basis at the moment but then again she was pretty sure that probably just about every parent out there felt that way while their kids were growing up. “They’ll absolutely love those, they still love the supplies you gave them last time,” she admitted before feeling a smile form on her face as Nessie suggested swinging by that night. “That would be perfect. They were so excited when I said I was meeting up with you, they’d love it if you surprised them and it’ll save me having to cook,” she grinned, knowing that neither of those things would ever be bad.

Now that they were no longer students it meant that they didn’t get to see each other as much as they used to and if she was honest that was something that Summer missed. She’d had friends her own age while she was at school but Nessie was someone she had taken under her wing and the younger girl really had become like a younger sister to her. Summer hated that they didn’t get to see each other that often these days so it was definitely something that she wanted to change if she could. “That’s amazing,” she admitted as Nessie explained about her work. “I’m sure it won’t take long for the foot traffic to turn into something more, word about you will spread in no time,” she added. Nessie really was incredible at what she did so there wasn’t a doubt in Summer’s mind that more would come of it sooner rather than later. “I don’t think it’s pointless at all, in fact I think there would probably be a lot of people interested in having a distraction for a while. I know I would,” she nodded. Summer wasn’t an artist, in fact she wasn’t very good at it at all but she knew that she would go in order to support her friend and if she could then she would drag some others along for the evening as well. “Maybe have wine and paint classes for the adults and something for the kids as well? I’m sure your mum and Bo would bring theirs along and you know the girls love any excuse to make a mess,” she added with a grin.

NESSIE RILEY FORRESTER