AN:here's one I've been working on for quite some time (Sept. 25, I can even tell u the date cuz I was in Illinois!) but I've just gotten around to posting it. Let me know that you think! Peace out, yall! sunkist
Disclaimer: sitting in on a phonecall with JKR my friend Jase
JKR: Oh hi Jase, how are you!
Jase: Oh good, you?
JKR: Good good, so how's school?
Jase: Hectic as ever. We just choreographed some one of our show choir songs earlier tonight. Hows HBP coming?
JKR: Very well… I sent the final copy to the publisher today.
Jase: Great!
JKR: Jase, can you do me a favor?
Jase: Sure!
JKR: Can you tell that friend of yours, I think her names Papples or some such nonsense, to stop doing DNA tests to see if she's me. Assure her she's not.
Jase: Will do! stares pointedly at me across the room
Jase: whispers to me I told you that you were going to annoy her!
Me: blushes crimson
Kara Weasley sat bolt up-right in her bed. Something had woken her form her deep slumber at the ungodly hour of 6:30am on a Saturday morning, but she couldn't remember exactly what it had been. Then she heard a squawk from somewhere down the hall and remembered.
She stumbled out of bed and down the hall, still wearing an old t-shirt and some pajama pants. She wandered into the kitchen to a very strange site indeed. Kara's mother, Ginny Weasley, was staring in disbelief at a tawny owl that was sitting on the sill of the open window. The owl was holding an envelope and looking at her strangely.
"Mum, what's going on?" Kara asked tentatively.
Ginny snapped her head to look at her daughter, then reached over and snatched the envelope from the owl. "Oh sweetie, you're up," said Ginny as she shooed the owl out the window.
"Yeah, Mum, now what was with that owl?"
"Oh nothing, dear."
"I can tell you're lying. What is that it was carrying?"
Ginny didn't answer. Telling Kara what the envelope contained would mean throwing the whole life she'd built to the dogs, but she knew that it must be done soon. Ginny didn't know how to tell Kara. Ginny sighed. "Kara, go get ready, then I'll explain," she said quietly, buying herself some time to think out what she wanted to say.
"But why?" Kara whined.
"Just go, Kara."
"Fine, fine, leave me guessing…"
Kara disappeared down the hall, grumbling under her breath about the world being unfair. As soon as Ginny heard Kara close the door to her room, she began pacing back and forth in the tiny kitchen of the flat she was living in located in London.
Ginny and her daughter had been there for six years, all the while living as a muggle. In fact, Ginny'd been living as a muggle ever since Kara'd been born, out of touch with all those people she loved. It had been one of the hardest decisions of her life, but because of certain events, such as Kara's birth, it had been completely necessary.
Kara didn't know who her father was, but there was no doubt in Ginny's mind. Whether it was the way Kara would never back down from something new, or how she could see straight through Ginny's lies, Ginny could see Kara's father shining through the girl each and every day. Ginny had intended to only stay away from the wizarding world for a few years, then return with Kara and pass the girl off as the result of a relationship gone bad. So Ginny'd gone to US, spent years there and built a solid life for her and Kara, but when it came time for Ginny to return to England, Kara'd grown up to be so much like her father that she knew it would take an average person about three seconds to figure out the identity of Kara's father. So Ginny'd stayed out of contact with the world that was a part of her, and in truth, a part of Kara as well.
Ginny missed her old life, the life she'd grown up in. She missed the feel of a wand in her hand or the rush of magic in her veins as she muttered a spell. But she knew that her leaving that life had been necessary, for Kara's sake and her own, and she was willing to make the sacrifice so that Kara could have a some-what normal childhood. But it would be a lie to say that Ginny never thought about those people she loved. She wondered what had happened to her friends and family. She figured that everyone married and had families of their own, and that 'everyone' probably even included Kara's father. She tried to imagine them all with kids running around and a spouse standing next to them, but she knew she wouldn't have to imagine much longer, as the envelope she was holding in her hand was, in essence, Ginny's ticket back to the wizarding world.
The letter that the owl had delivered wasn't for Ginny, it was for Kara. It wasn't like Ginny hadn't been expecting it. Since the time Kara'd magically locked all the doors without meaning to because she didn't want to go to the doctor, Ginny'd been expecting this day to come, but it seem all the more real as she turned the envelope over in her hands. She ran her finger over the crest in the upper-left corner of the envelope, and immediately a million memories from her own school days flooded back to her, but she pushed them back to the back of her mind because they made Ginny regret her decision to ever leave the magical world. The letter was for Hogwarts, telling Kara she'd been accepted. Ginny couldn't help but be proud of her daughter, and she knew that Kara's father would be as well, but she had no idea how to tell her daughter that she was a witch.
"Mum, what's going on?" Kara asked, making her mother jump, "Is it a letter? What kind of crackpot sends a letter with an owl?"
"Half the world, Kara, you've just never seen it before," Ginny answered quietly.
"What do you mean half the world, Mum? Normal people use the post."
"Normal muggles use the post, Kara."
"What the heck is a muggle, Mum?"
"A non-magic person."
"As opposed to the thousands of witches and wizards we see walking around on the streets daily. Mum, you're talking crazy."
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. There really are such things as witches and wizards." Ginny kept her voice even, knowing that her daughter didn't believe her.
"I'm calling a doctor, you've gone insane."
"Kara, just read it – it's for you anyway."
Ginny handed the letter to her daughter, Kara took it and looked at the back, then tentatively pulled the folded parchment from the envelope. She read the letter over a few times, reading the words aloud as she did. "Dear Miss Weasley, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In your time spent here, you will learn to master and use you magical abilities. You will be expected at start of term on September the first. A list of needed items is attached. We look forward to seeing you this year. Sincerely, Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore," Kara mumbled. When she had finished, she looked wearily at her mother, "So it's true then, I'm a witch?"
Ginny nodded with a smile. As worried as she was about someone recognizing Kara, Ginny was happy to be returning to the magical world. "Yes, Kara, you're a witch," she answered.
"But Mum, I can't be. I mean you're not a witch."
"Who said I'm not a witch? I happen to be a very good witch, I'll have you know."
"But I've never seen you do any magic. How could you be?"
"The Weasleys are one of the oldest magical families. I've just made a point to not let you know. But now it's time that you do, because magic is a part of you, just like it's a part of me."
Ginny tucked one of Kara's raven curls behind Kara's ear. Kara flipped through the several other sheets that were included in the letter. She found the supply list and read through it. She looked over the list at her mother. "Mum, where can we find all of this? Surely not here in London," Kara asked.
"Yes darling, right here in London. Just up the road a bit," Ginny said.
"Really? Then can we go and get my things today? Please! I want to meet other witches and wizards!"
Ginny sighed, she'd have to make the trip to Diagon Alley sometime. There was no reason to put it off.
"Okay, honey, just let me go get my wand," Ginny said, standing up and walking toward her bedroom, Kara following along close behind her.
Ginny dug to the bottom of one of her dresser drawers and pulled out a smooth mahogany wand. She ran her fingers over it, and put it in her back pocket, despite years of Moody's warnings. She turned around to look at Kara, who was standing in the doorway.
"WOW MUM! A wand! That's so cool! Can I see it?" Kara asked.
Ginny smiled and handed her wand to her young daughter. Kara grinned as she grabbed the wand and flicked it at a shoebox on Ginny's bed. The shoes immediately flew against the window behind the bed, and the box split into a million pieces. Kara gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. Ginny however, just laughed. "It's all right, Kara," Ginny said, "I did a lot worse when I was young. Now c'mon. We'll get you your own wand, you'll be much more successful."
Kara grinned and handed the wand back to her mother. "How are getting… to… uhh… wherever we're going?" Kara asked.
"Floo powder, you throw it into the fireplace and say where you want to go, then step into the fire. You're shot out the other end."
"COOL!"
Ginny started searching through cabinets, looking for the old canister of floo powder she'd kept around. "Oh I give up," she said as she pointed her wand toward the kitchen cabinets, "Accio floo powder!"
Instantly, an old canister flew toward her hand and Ginny caught it with ease. "WHOA!" Kara exclaimed.
"Ah, yes, one more thing before we go," Ginny said. She tapped her head and said muttered a spell. Instantly her hair shortened to be shoulder-length, the color changing from bright red to a deep auburn as the soft waves tightened to be long spirals. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened them a second later, the dark brown of her eyes had lightened to a grayish color. Her freckles had disappeared as well. Ginny had mastered this spell during the war, as this was her disguise she'd always used. She only hoped that someone in the streets wouldn't be looking close enough to recognize her. The Order knew her disguise, of course, and would recognize the fake name she always used, Kate Evans. Though anyone who hadn't known her disguise in the past certainly wouldn't recognize her now, and that's what Ginny wanted.
"Mum, why'd you do that?" Kara asked curiously.
"So people from the past that I don't feel like running into won't recognize me," Ginny answered, "so if anyone asks, I'm Kate Evans and you're Kara Evans, okay?"
"All right, Mum, whatever. Now can we go?" Kara said anxiously, too excited to implore her mother further.
Ginny grinned at her daughter and ushered her toward the fireplace. Ginny started a fire with the flick of her wrist then opened the canister of floo powder and held it in front of her daughter. "Okay Kara, just take a handful, toss it into the fire and say DIAGON ALLEY! And speak very cleary, then just step into the flames, okay? Don't be scared," Ginny said.
"I'm not scared Mum," said Kara though her hands were shaking as she took the powder and through it into the fire. "DIAGON ALLEY!" Kara said clearly as she stepped into the fire. Other fire places whizzed by her, and she landed with a thump on a dirt floor on her rear in what appeared to be a restaurant, in truth, The Leaky Cauldron. She moved just in time, as her mother landed on her feet right where Kara'd been sitting. Kara looked at her mother with a strange look. "How could you possibly land on your feet?" asked Kara.
"Practice – sixteen years of traveling by floo powder before I had legal liscence to apparate," Ginny said as she ruffled her daughter's hair.
"What's apparating?"
Ginny laughed, "so much to teach – so little time. C'mon, we'll talk on the way."
"Okay."
Ginny ushered her daughter outside into the back alleyway, where Ginny tapped a series of blocks with her wand and opened the portal to Diagon Alley. Kara gasped as she grabbed her mother's hand and walked along the streets. "Mum, are all these people witches and wizards?" Kara asked, obviously amazed at all she was seeing.
"Yes, dear, they are. I probably know a lot of them," Ginny said.
"You know some these people?"
"Oh yes, I did go to school with quite a lot of them. Like that girl over there," she pointed at a girl with dark hair, "is Cho. Probably married by now. Never a great friend of mine, actually never really liked her. But I know her."
Kara looked around a bit more, taking in the sites. Amazed at all of the different stores there. One particularly caught her eye. It was called Quality Quidditch Supplies. In the window was a broom. "Mum, what's quidditch?" Kara asked curiously.
Ginny laughed and put her face in her hand. "Good Lord, what have I done?" she asked herself jokingly. Then she turned to her daughter. "Your father would be absolutely appalled that you didn't know what quidditch was. He played when we were school."
"Dad was a wizard, too?"
"Of course, dear. We met when we were in school."
"So Mum, what's quidditch then?"
Ginny launched into a long and detailed description of the sport that had been the topic of conversation in wizarding pubs for centuries. Kara was in awe of the sport, and the thought of flying. Kara had always had dreams of flying, and she couldn't believe that she'd actually have a chance. When Ginny's description finally ended, they were climbing the granite steps to the Gringotts building.
"So let me get this straight. The seeker is the one who usually wins the game for the team, and they're usually smaller, because it makes it easier for them to maneuver?" Kara asked.
Ginny nodded. "But it's a hard position, trust me. I played it for a year, my fourth year to be exact. You've got a lot resting on your shoulders," she said.
"Yeah, but that's what I want to play. I want to be the seeker for whatever house I'm in. I could do it, I know I could."
"Wouldn't surprise me a bit, sweetie, but you'll have some tough competition if the seeker didn't leave in the last few years, I'll guarantee you that. Especially because you can't have your own broom as a first year until you actually make the team."
"I don't care. I can do it, no I will do it. I'm gonna make seeker."
"You do that, I'll be so proud, and your father would be, too." Ginny opened the front door to Gringotts, and Kara seemed to realize for the first time that they were entering a building. She looked around at the large lobby in awe. She turned to her mother. "Mum, where are we?" Kara asked.
"Gringotts, the wizarding bank. They use a different currency than muggles. We'll have to get some out of my vault. No use in converting my pounds when I have quite a bit stored up already," Ginny said in explanation, now rummaging through her tan purse. "Where is that key, I know I have it here somewhere," she muttered to herself. She pulled out an old looking key, then smiled, "here it is."
"What's that mum?"
"The key to my vault. Now follow me and stay quiet, okay? The goblins are easily insulted."
Kara nodded as her mother walked toward an empty desk.
"How may I help you?" asked the goblin.
"I need to withdrawal some money from my account."
"Of course, and your name?"
"It should be under Ginerva Weasley." Ginny whispered her name softly, so no one other than the goblin could here her.
"Do you have the key?"
Ginny placed the key on the counter. The goblin looked it over, then nodded. "Of course, Miss, Radkern will take you to your vault," the goblin said, "RADKERN!"
Another goblin shuffled over, took the key from the goblin at the counter, then ushered Ginny and Kara over toward a door. "This way please," said Radkern.
Ginny followed the goblin confidently, knowing exactly what was to come, but Kara followed a little more slowly, unsure of what would happen. The three piled into a cart, Radkern checked the key one last time, then set the cart on its course.
"Hold on!" Ginny yelled to Kara just in time, just as they hit a large bump in the tracks that would have sent the small girl flying off into the darkness. After a series of twists and turns and steep drops, the cart came to a stop. The goblin jumped out, followed by Ginny and Kara. The goblin unlocked the door to the vault. Inside were some fairly sizeable stacks of gold, silver, and bronze, the result of working summer jobs at W.W.W. and a very handsome reward for her help in the defeat of the dark lord, though she had tried to refuse it at the time, she was happy she had it now that she was looking at paying for school supplies and uniforms for Kara. Ginny pushed some into a leather sack she'd pulled from her pocket and unfolded it. It would be plenty for all of Kara's supplies. They all piled back into the cart.
The ride back up from the vault was a lot less exciting for Kara than the ride down had been. Maybe it was that she knew to expect the twists and turns, or maybe it's just that she didn't feel the need to hang on for dear life, though when she got off at the top, she did feel slightly ill to her stomach.
Both Ginny and Kara blinked at the brightness of the lobby as the goblin handed Ginny back her key and thanked them for their service then rushed off to help another customer. Ginny and Kara walked out into the bustling streets again.
It was a long afternoon, but after a few hours, Kara had all her potion ingredients, uniform, cauldron, and the like. She had all her school books, plus a few extra that she'd insisted on buying for a little background reading, one of which being Hogwarts, A History, the 13th ed., something that made Ginny laugh. The only things left on Kara's list were her wand and her pet.
"Which one do you want to get first then?" Ginny asked her daughter.
"Umm…my wand, I guess," Kara said.
"All right then, to Olivander's it is then."
"Olivander's?"
"The only place to get a wand, trust me. I got mine there when I was your age and it hasn't failed me yet."
"Well all right then."
They walked down the street until they reached the run-down shop. The fabric under the wand in the window was faded, and the painted on letters above the door we starting to peel after centuries of wear. Kara pushed the door open apprehensively, and a small ding sounded throughout the shop.
The dark and dingy room was filled with stacks of boxes all the way to the fourteen-foot ceiling. Kara was looking curiously around the room when an eccentric looking old man entered from the back room.
"Hello, how may I help you fine people today?" asked the man in a very un-Olivanderlike style, "I don't believe I know you."
"Of course you do Mr. Olivander, you sold me my wand when I was my daughter's age," Ginny answered, she held out her wand to the old man.
The man took the wand in his hand and examined it. "Of course, 10.5 inches, cherry, unicorn's hair, nice to be seeing you again Miss Weas-"
"Please Mr. Olivander, for all intensive purposes, it is Miss Kate Evans, I am in need of keeping my presence here in Diagon Alley secretive."
"Ah yes, I understand. So I'm assuming you need a wand for the girl? Starting Hogwarts are you?"
"mhmm," Kara answered nervously.
"No need to be nervous. Well I remember your mother's trip to my store, she was so nervous I was sure she was about to collapse right in the middle of my store. Now which hand is your wand hand?"
Kara lifted up her right hand. Mr. Olivander measured her arm length and then her over-all height. "Hm," he said as he disappeared into the shelves.
Kara shot a nervous glance toward her mother, but Ginny returned a reassuring glance. Kara sighed to calm her nerves. Mr. Olivander reappeared from the stacks of boxes, holding four boxes. He opened the first one and handed the wand to Kara. "8.5 inches, Maple, dragon heartstring. Go on, give it a swish," said the man.
Kara flicked her wrist apprehensively, and the lenses in Mr. Olivander's glasses promptly shattered. Kara apologized and handed the wand back to him as Ginny mutter an Occulus Reparo. Mr. Olivander simply handed Kara then next wand. "9 inches, oak, unicorn's hair."
Kara repeated the swish of her wrist, and only sent a few boxes flying. She thought that was pretty good, but Mr. Olivander shook his head and Kara handed the wand back to him. He opened the next box and handed it to her. "7.5 inches, mahogany, phoenix tail," said Mr. Olivander.
Kara flipped her wrist a little more apprehensively this time, but instead of boxes flying or glasses shattering, this time, gold and red sparks flew from the end of her wand and a warm tingly sensation crept up her arm. Kara didn't need her mother's grins or Mr. Olivander's nods to tell her that this was the wand for her.
Mr. Olivander grinned at Kara. "Of course, I should've guessed. Phoenix tail, just like your father. Powerful wand that-"
"THAT will be quite enough, Mr. Olivander, now how much for the wand?" Ginny asked forcefully.
"Quite sorry, Miss Evans it was quite presumptuous of me. It will be 6 galleons."
Ginny paid for the wand and left quickly with her daughter. Kara was running her hands over her new wand. "Mum, what did Mr. Olivander mean by just like my father?" Kara asked curiously.
"He meant nothing by it, dear," Ginny asked, avoiding the questions that Kara so frequently asked about her father. Ginny wondered how long it would take for the girl to figure out her father's identity.
"But Mum, you never tell me anything about my father, why?"
Ginny stopped in the middle of the road and turned to her daughter. "It's hard, Kara, there's just some things that you don't understand. I promise-"
"Well if it isn't Miss Evans," came a joking voice from behind Ginny. Ginny stopped dead in her tracks, turning around to see a face that she hadn't seen in many years….
AN:hehe… so there's a slight cliffie there for ya. I'm not sure bout this story, so review please! My beta said it was great when I emailed her asking whether I should post it or not, but I want your opinions!
So again… REVIEW!
Luv always, emerino
