More Cousins
"Bombarde!" the wall came crashing down. The exit was blocked. She dangled from mid air. Panic rose in her chest. Blood rushed to her head. Pain. She had fallen back to the floor. Her friends were dead. A flash of green light. Caly screamed. Mrs Malfoy was dead. She felt numb, green light etched across her eyelids. Couldn't think. She didn't know what was going on. BANG! Something broke and she could think. James. Why was he here? Oh god he was going to be killed. Wand. She grabbed it. She could see James standing there; terrified.
"Get down!" confused but he obeyed.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Explosion. Thrown into wall. James hit the rocks. Cauldron exploded. Mans screams. World black. Pain. Death.
"Caly. Caly. Caly!" Caly opened her eyes aware of someone shaking her. She looked up and saw a face looming towards her out of the dark. She shrunk back, heart racing, until she realised that it was Rose. She felt her breathing slow down, her heart rate lessen. Rose was gazing at her with a very concerned look on her face.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"Sure?"
"Yes." Rose stood and turned on her bedroom light. Caly sat looked around the bedroom blinking.
"Where am I?" Rose raised her eye brows and rolled her eyes.
"Your at my house, remember." Caly frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Al went to his Great Aunt Petunia's funeral. He had to go stay at his Uncle Dudley's house so you came to stay with me." Caly frowned and rubbed her forehead.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Rose looked at her, still concerned.
"Are you sure you're alright you look really pale." Caly nodded and got out of her bed, pushing her hair out of her face, well aware of the sweat on her palms.
"What is the time?"
"Oh it's nearly 9, mum's making breakfast." Caly nodded, again.
The two of them proceeded downstairs together. Both still in their pyjamas and Rose still keeping an eye on Caly. Caly wasn't sure why she didn't want to tell Rose about her nightmares but she didn't. She was pretty sure that Rose knew that she had been having a nightmare, though. Caly was pretty sure that she screamed out loud.
"Morning girls." said Rose's mum, as they entered the kitchen. Hugo was sitting there wolfing down a full English breakfast. Ron was drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the clock on the wall. He had an empty plate before him that showed all the hallmarks of Hermione's mouth watering English breakfast.
"Hey mum."
"Hello Hermione." Caly had been instructed very early of Rose and Al's aunts and uncles by their first names because there would be far too many Mr and Mrs Weasley otherwise.
"I've told you, you can call me Aunt everybody does." Ron nodded.
"You're obviously being 'adopted' into Harry's family you might as well address us right."
"Sorry, sort of weird." Caly didn't mind them asking though, the first time Harry had asked her to call him Uncle Harry, she had sat there shocked and then realised that she didn't feel hurt or upset, she felt quite happy. That had been at the beginning of August after she had lived with them for nearly a month. It was weird them just opening up to her like that but she guessed that the entire family had realised their friendship was strong and had just welcomed it on it's way.
"Oh I'm sorry I don't want to push you."
"No it's okay…. Aunt Hermione." Rose smiled and Hugo paused his shovelling to give her the thumbs up.
"Are you alright Caly you look pale." asked Aunt Hermione as she placed their breakfasts before them.
"Yeah just bad nights sleep that all." Uncle Ron, as Caly guessed she could call him, nodded sympathetically.
"Try being an auror, you can go days without a good night sleep. It's awful."
"Yes well I think Kingsley did warn you about that when you applied for the job. In fact I seem to remember his words were, 'if you don't like coffee, don't sign up.'" All three children laughed into their breakfasts and Caly was starting to feel better. It had just been a nightmare. Rose was still alive. That meant Al, James and Scor were too. It was just a nightmare. It was all in the past, it couldn't hurt her anymore.
Pooft! Everyone in the room jumped and looked around for the source of the noise, both Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had their wands out, trained on the room.
"Oi down here." everyone relaxed when they realised the speaker was none other than Harry, his head sticking out of the fire place. "Can you remove the enchantment? I need to come through." Hermione, breathed a sigh of relief before waving her wand and Harry came spinning out of the fire place in a cloud of dust and ash. Caly blinked several times. She'd seen Uncle Harry travel by floo powder before but his head, just sitting in the fire place!
"You alright mate?" asked Ron.
"Yeah we're fine. It's just we made a rather shocking discovery recently."
"What?"
"You'll see. Do you mind if my family come over and Percy's?"
"No of course I don't mind but what is going on?"
"We have some new additions to out family." and then he left with wink and green flames.
"What was that mum?" asked Rose.
"I don't know, Uncle Harry up to something again. Better get dressed, looks like we're having visitors."
"C'mon we'll see Al again."
"Yeah 'cause we last saw him, what four days ago?" Rose rolled her eyes but the two of them disappeared up the stairs to get dressed.
"So where do I go next?" Caly rubbed her brow and examined the chess board.
"Err C4. No not the Knight, the Pawn." Caly was trying to teach Rose how to beat her dad at Wizard Chess, the only thing he was better than her at.
"Okay."
"Rook to C4 and now you can go with your Knight and take my Rook."
"Okay."
"Perfect. Queen to E7."
"Ah not again." Rose had once more lost her Queen to Caly.
"And that is the next lesson, don't get distracted remember to focus on the whole board. It's best if you learn to play muggle pieces, they don't shout abuse at you, but seriously you get far too distracted by what's going on elsewhere now you've lost you're Queen I have a failsafe checkmate."
"What?"
"Go on make a move, any move." Rose deliberated and then moved her bishop so it could take Caly's other Rook on the next move. Caly moved her Queen two squares to the right.
"Check." Rose frowned and then moved it to the only free square, with a resigned sigh. Caly moved her Knight.
"Checkmate. I win again."
"Eugh." said Rose in frustration. "How the hell am I supposed to beat to you?"
"Well how about don't fall for all my tricks." Rose scowled at her.
"When is Al getting here? Then I can beat him at chess."
"I didn't know you had such a fragile ego." Rose throw a book at Caly but she ducked and it hit the Chudley Cannons poster behind her. The chaser shook her fist at Rose and then continued to soar around.
"We should invite Scor around." said Rose after a moment of silence.
"What?"
"We should invite Scor, we haven't seen him since Al went to his Great Aunt's funeral."
"Which was four days ago." interjected Caly. Rose rolled her eyes and continued.
"And if Al's coming here we should invite him round, get together again." Caly nodded and smiled, she hadn't realised just how close the Weasley's were until now. They spent nearly all their time together out of school, whatever their age. It was why becoming part of their family was made so easy. If you spent all your time with them and they liked you, you were pretty much family anyway.
"Why don't we floo him?"
"I'll ask mum." said Rose, swinging herself off the chair as the front door went.
"ROSE!" Aunt Hermione yelled. "CALY! Uncle Percy is here."
"Urgh." said Rose as she set off down the stairs. Caly didn't know Percy that well but she had to admit he was definitely the dullest of all of Rose and Al's relatives. He had sat all four of them down on their first day of holidays and told them why they shouldn't meddle in things. She could see that Al and Rose were both suppressing the urge to roll their eyes, Scor was trying not to hit him and Caly was about to point out she didn't really have a choice as she had something that they wanted. It was weird because there was a really large age gap, 7 years, between Molly who was 15 and Lucy who was 8. Al had explained that Lucy had been a complete surprise. There was also a large gap between Dom and Louis, 5 years, but that was because they hadn't thought they'd be able to have anymore children until Louis came along.
"Hello Uncle Percy." said Rose in a polite voice. "Did Uncle Harry explain what was going on to you?"
"No he didn't he just appeared in out fireplace and said we should go to yours. Something about family." Aunt Audrey came in next holding Lucy's hand. Caly felt a bit sorry for Lucy, as the youngest Weasley pretty much everyone treated her like a baby. Then Molly came in looking dishevelled and unhappy about being dragged out of bed at such an early hour, it was nearly quarter to ten. However she hugged both of them and promptly yawned widely.
"What the hell is going on?"
"No idea." said Caly as she sat in the living room, Rose had gone off the ask her mum about inviting Scor over. "Uncle Harry's head just turned up in the fireplace and then his whole body came through. Then he said he'd made a shocking discovery and he was bringing his family over and could yours come to and then he was gone again."
"Yep that sounds like, wait did you call him Uncle Harry?" Caly shifted on the sofa."Yeah they said I could."
"Oh yeah, sorry, it's too early." she said and then yawned widely again. "That's good though. I think Scor is doing too, am I right?"
"I think so."
"Ah I'd love to see the expression on Uncle Ron's face when he calls him that." They both burst out laughing at the idea. Rose came in and saw them in hysterics. She opened her mouth to ask them but then changed her mind.
"Well I asked her."
"And?"
"And I didn't even have to finish the question."
"Your point being Rose?"
"Mum knew exactly what I wanted and just said yes and threw the floo power at me. Am I really that predictable?"
"Your ego really is that fragile." Molly dissolved into hysterics in the arm chair and Rose scowled at her.
"He's flooing over soon, though."
"Oh good." said Caly. "When's Al getting here?"
"I don't know I'm not telepathic."
"That's a shocking discovery."
"You've been spending too much time with Scorpius."
"How is that possible when I've lived with you and Al."
"She has a point." added Molly. Rose scowled at her again.
"How come no one ever sides with me?"
"Because you're always wrong?" suggested Caly.
The 15 minutes they had to wait for Scor to arrive was passed with good natured bantering. Hugo and Lucy came through and they soon found a common ground they could all talk on; insulting Rose. Hugo took great pleasure in ribbing his sister. However Lucy tried to stay on everyone's good side which was a pretty hard thing to do when it pretty much became a free for all at the end.
"Rose you should be ashamed of chess of your chess abilities." said Caly. Everyone smirked, Uncle Ron beating Rose at chess was always a sore spot for her. "With the intelligence levels you supposedly boast, you should be better. Scor is better than you."
"Why thank you Caly, coming from you, that's high praise." Everyone jumped and twisted round in there seats.
"Scor!" Caly jumped out and hugged her friend.
"Hey. Ah Rosie's gone off me." Rose rolled her eyes and got up and hugged him too. He waved his greetings to the rest. "Hello."
"Hey.""So what exactly going on?"
"No one knows. We have for Uncle Harry to get here and reveal his mystery."
"I see and until then."
"I suggest we go back to our previous game." Rose was just about to protest when the doorbell went.
"No need." they all got to their feet eager to see what exactly what was going on. Aunt Hermione opened the front door, Uncle Ron had headed off to work earlier.
"Harry, hey." she said. He was standing on her doorstep a grin on his face. "What is going on?"
"You'll see." She looked at Ginny who just rolled her eyes. He stepped aside to reveal his sons and daughter walking up the path. Al broke into a sprint when he saw the three of them and practically flattened them. James just slid into the house and Lily skipped in to say hello to Hugo. But behind them looking around them warily was another family of four. The man was thick set, muscular, like a boxer. He had blonde hair that flopped down over his eyes. The woman was normal height and thin, she had brown hair done up in a bun, and with them were two children, there was a brown haired boy, was thick set about the age of ten and a skinny, short blonde girl of about. Everything fell into place inside Caly's mind.
"So let me get this straight." said Scor. "You have more cousins."
"Yes." said Al. "Though technically they aren't cousins, Uncle Dudley is actually my Dad's cousin. I think they're my second cousins."
"Yes but more cousins! Just when I thought your family couldn't get any bigger."
"Well you made it bigger." said Rose.
"Touché."
"I bet you figured it out didn't you?" said Al turning to Caly.
"Not until I saw them, then everything was painfully obvious."
"Wait painfully obvious?" said Scor and Rose together.
"They're magical." said Al
"The boy is going to be going to Hogwarts next year and the girl two years two years after that so Uncle Harry brought him here to introduce him to Hugo as well as Lily and then invited Lucy to meet the girl. Well I must say, it must be nice to get much more notice."
"What?"
"I was only informed of what I was the summer before I started Hogwarts."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, I didn't know."
"One thing I don't get I thought your dad hated them."
"No well you see after the war he went to see if they were settling back into their new lives okay, I think. Then Dudley who had been acting less and less hostile towards Dad asked for a chance to turn the page, he asked if he could have a second chance. Both for him and his mum. Great Aunt Petunia divorced Vernon, see. Then they became friends. He's not got on great with the rest of the Weasley's though, but now that his children are wizards…" Al trailed off and Caly nodded.
"What are their names?" asked Scor who seemed to have finally gotten over the fact that Al had more cousins.
"Billy and Cassey."
"We should probably go down and meet them." said Rose. The four of them and snuck up to Rose's room to let the adults talk and introduce the new cousins to the ones their own age.
"Yeah." said Scor
"They're pretty cool." said Al. "We go stay with them for a little while each summer and they're not irritating or anything."
"Well that's good."
"Caly are you alright?" Caly had been resting her head in hands but now she looked up.
"I'm fine."
"Really, so screaming in your sleep every night is completely normal then?"
"Caly doesn't scream in her sleep." said Al.
"Yes she does, well she does here."
"Well that's odd." said Al before turning a penetrating stare on her to match the ones Rose and Scor were giving her.
"It's nothing. I'm just having nightmares."
"About?"
"What do you think?" Scor flinched, and Rose looked down. Al rubbed his nose.
"How come you've just started having them?"
"I don't know. Maybe they'll pass."
"I think tonight you should come back to my house." Caly nodded, too tired to argue.
"Come on let's meet the new cousins." said Rose.
"This won't be awkward at all." muttered Scor to Caly as they went down stairs.
They were sitting in the kitchen and the atmosphere was one that was clearly awkward. The adults were dinking tea and attempting small talk and the children were just sitting quietly. Molly was leaning against the counter actually talking to James. Everyone looked up when they walked in.
"Ah you've decided to join us."
"Sorry dad." said Al.
"No problem, I think some introductions are probably in order, however." he nodded to himself. "Okay so this is my cousin Dudley but I think Uncle Dudley is better, then this is his wife Veronica and his children Billy and Cassey." They all smiled and waved. "You know Al, so this is Rose, she's Hermione's eldest child." Rose waved back at them. "And then the other two are not technically related, well actually remember my godson?"
"Teddy, his hair changed colour."
"Yeah, that's his cousin, Scorpius." Scorpius smiled. "And this is Caly, she's living with me."
"I see." said Dudley. Caly smiled and waved shyly at him, unsure about her reception. An awkward silence descended upon them. Suddenly Hugo started making hooting noises, rather like an owl. Everyone looked at him.
"What I'm bored?" he said.
"Well what do you want to do?" asked Hermione.
"Quidditch!" Harry rolled his.
"Well that might be quite a good induction into the magical world."
"Yes!" cried just about all the children whilst Caly noticed Billy and Cassey mouthing 'Quidditch?' at each other. Lucy led the charge out into the garden and Caly fell back to walk with James who wouldn't be playing. Billy and Cassey stayed close to their parents who seemed a little wary this sudden change in topic. Caly had to admit that from experience this was probably better than what happened to her, at least they hadn't had a giant man coming to inform her that actually she wouldn't be going to one school but to another and then taken shopping in a hidden street.
"James."
"Yes."
"Why don't you play Quidditch?" the two were leaning against the wall watching Harry divide the teams up. James fidgeted for a moment and then decided to tell her.
"When I was three everyone said I was too young to fly a real broomstick."
"Obviously." James rolled his eyes.
"But I thought I was."
"Okay why do I not like where I think this is going." James smirked.
"So I nicked one and then I flew it or tried to." Caly rolled her eyes and sighed. "I lost control of the broom and crashed into a tree. I got trapped in the top branches. Everyone thought I had run away from home but no one thought I was there because they thought I had gone on foot. I thought I was going to die."
"What happened?"
"Al, he noticed the broom cupboard door was open and that my toy was there. He gave it to mum, she was at home because she was pregnant with Lily. They looked in the trees and they found me. I was in St Mungos for a while. I um I'm too scared really." James looked away. Caly could see that he was really humiliated that he had admitted such a weakness. She patted his arm.
"It's okay we're all scared of something, you have a very good reason for being scared. I'm irrationally scared of heights."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't feel so bad in the stands but the thought of getting onto a broomstick." she shuddered and James nodded.
"Look can you not mention that to Lily, she doesn't know and it would only worry her." Caly nodded.
"Of course." There was a moments pause.
"So your cousins what are they like?"
"I don't know really we've never had anything in common with them before, I mean we thought they were muggles and we had to pretend we were muggles too. Only Uncle Dudley knew what we really were."
"Did you just find out now?"
"Yeah it was weird they were really upset about their Grandma dying, of course, and then I dunno it just sort of happened. Apparently there have been some weird things like objects moving without them touching but no one's really paid any attention to it." Caly nodded, feeling a little jealous that that hadn't happened to her. "Is that what happened to you?"
"Pardon?"
"No one noticed." Caly laughed dryly.
"Oh no James. I was the freak, still am come to think of it." James turned to face her sharply.
"You're not a freak."
"I can't do magic James."
"You saved my life."
"That was odd. I don't know how I did it."
"You still did."
"Fine but in the muggle world I was a freak."
"What did they do?" Caly shook her head.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But I-"
"I'm going to go say hello to your cousins." She walked off leaving James with a sense he had pried a little too far.
"It's insane isn't it." Both Billy and Cassey jumped. They turned around and saw Caly the one that lived with Uncle Harry. "You get used to it though."
"What?" asked Billy
"I'm muggle born too. I thought I was just ordinary and then one day this man turned up, Hagrid, and he told me I was a witch and that I was going to go to Hogwarts and suddenly there's magic and flying and nothings real anymore."
"Do you get used to it?"
"Yeah, I got used to it really quickly. You just sort of accept it. I mean I was sort thrown in head first, it won't be like that for you." Both the cousins nodded and they returned to watching the game in the air. She could see Aunt Hermione and Uncle Percy talking to Dudley and Veronica.
"What's Hogwarts like?"
"Err." said Caly, trying to work out whether the usual rules applied. At the Potter/Weasley's there were some rules about talking about Hogwarts and the wizarding world; you never told them about the war. They got a talk when they got their Hogwarts letters and you had to keep it a surprise, no drawing maps to help them find their way, no telling them about vanishing steps and so on.
"It's pretty cool, although you might want to talk to someone else about Hogwarts."
"Why?"
"Last year, my year wouldn't exactly fit your definition of normal." said Caly, watching Scor pass to Aunt Ginny and then receive another one and slot it in the hoop.
"How does this game work?"
"Well it's sort of complicated, for a start they aren't playing properly they need two more players each."
"Yeah but when they have that they have a full team." James had joined them. Caly fell silent and listened to James' very detailed explanation of the rules of Quidditch. Both Billy and Cassey seemed awestruck by the world of Quidditch, and just magic it seemed, James had branched off at one point and had started talking about pranks he had pulled and other such things.
"Caly." she looked round. Aunt Hermione was tapping her on the shoulder.
"Yes."
"Could you come talk to Dudley and Veronica, I've been explaining what happened last year." Caly shivered.
"Why do I have to talk to him?"
"Because I need you to assure him Hogwarts is safe." Caly nodded and walked over to them. Uncle Percy stood there at decided unease, his red hair streaked with premature greys. He always looked tired. Dudley and Veronica stood there, hand in hand, looking slightly pale at what was going on in the sky. Percy gave her a wan smile when she came over which she returned. The other two turned sharply to her.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Is it safe?"
"About as safe as any other school. Look what happened last year, that stuff doesn't happen, normally."
"The last time stuff like that happened was 20 years ago." said Uncle Percy.
"And then 50 years before that." said Aunt Hermione.
"See, besides. One of the twins died. They can't join or do whatever the hell they wanted now. Look at this way, you don't have to worry about drugs or knife crime. You don't have to worry about them crossing the road to come home. The worst that can happen is an accident in class or a fall of a broomstick and then you'll just go to the hospital wing. Nothing dangerous happens in Hogwarts, really."
Okay I just wanted to apologise for the long time it has taken me to upload this. I suffered pretty badly from writers block and then it sort of fell second to my other fanfiction and if you haven't you really need to read the first one 'The First Year'. I'm not sure how frequently I'm going to be able to update, I'm almost back at school, I'll just have to wait and see, but enjoy the story!
Sopphires.