'"GET BACK HERE, CHOPS!" I shrieked, running around after my lunatic cat. Chops wasn't the full name though. It was Pork Chops Of England. I was told I gave animals bad names. Whatever.
My best friend told me I was mental. I told her she was mental for thinking so. The pink-red color I dyed my hair didn't help my point. My first name was moderately normal.
"MREOWWWW!" Chops screeched, attempting to run away from me. Pets normally liked me. This one, which just so happened to be mine, didn't.
"Get into that bloody room! You know Ava is allergic to you, you damn cat."
I ended up chasing the unusually energetic cat into the bathroom by looking like a rugby player and scaring Chops inside. No offense to rugby players, but you guys are intimidating.
When I managed to lock the door, I slumped against it, sweat forming at my forehead.
Then, because of the simply amazing luck I have, the doorbell rang, making me groan and rush to get it.
When I opened the door, there was a supermodel thin girl grinning on the welcome mat. Her brown hair tumbled past her shoulders and curled to her chest, where it stopped and a white dress started. She looked like an angel but the huge, rocker glasses resting on her nose were destroying the cherubic image.
"Hey, girly." Ava grinned, lifted her sunglasses and her blue eyes twinkled mischievously at me.
"Come on in, cat-hater."
"I told you that I was allergic."
"You aren't.
"Have you been snooping in my medical file? Cause it surely says I am."
"I haven't."
"Good."
"Fine."
There was a pregnant pause before we launched at each other and hugged each other fiercely.
"I've missed you, Alex."
"Missed you too, Avocado."
"Alright. Enough moping." Ava said, crossing her arms. "Brooks, we're going shopping."
I gulped. "Shopping? Why, Ava? Why!"
"Because, sweetie, your clothes are out of fashion and you actually have money to buy things with. There is no way getting out of this." Ava said fiercely, glaring at my simple blue shirt and black sweatpants.
"Can we do it tomorrow?" I begged, using my puppy eyes.
"Noo, you procrastinator. It is today. I will pick something out for you and you get your wallet." And she strode off into my room at the end of the hallway.
I sighed and walked to the safe I had sitting under a counter. Quickly pressing four numbers in, I tugged open the door and pulled out my leather wallet before shutting the door again.
Stuffing the wallet into my pocket, I walked into my room and saw a black shirt on my red covers.
"Where's the rest?" I asked, pointing.
"Oh, ha ha. It's a dress."
"I bought it as a top."
"And now it's a dress." Ava said firmly.
I snorted but still took off my clothes and put the make-shift dress on.
"Now we're ready. I got your purse out and put your wallet and phone in." And she threw it at me. I growled at her but still complied.
Tugging down at the ends of the dress, I asked Ava, "where are we going?"
"Taking the train to Surrey. I need to see my sister, anyway. We'll go with her to the mall nearby." Ava was already walking toward the door quickly, throwing it open for me.
Grabbing the key off the counter, I rushed out the door, locked it, put the key in my purse and hurried after my quickly-departing friend.
The walk to the Kings Cross was embarrassing especially more so because of the dress/shirt.
"Slow down, Ava! I'm going to trip in these heels!" I called after her. True to my word, I tripped into a boy.
"Gosh, I'm so sorry. This is my first time wearing heels and my friend is carting me off to Surrey and then to a mall and it's really hard to walk in these." I rambled, standing straight and looking in confusion at the boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes. I knew him from somewhere. I just couldn't name it.
"It's no problem, Ally-pet." He said, smiling. "Let me call James and Lily over. They'd be delighted to see you again."
Again?
"I'm sorry. I don't know you." I told him. "Did you call me 'Ally-pet'? My mum called me that."
"Ally!" A voice squealed and someone jumped into my arms.
There was a girl with bright red hair nestling herself into shoulder.
"Who are you?"
"Nice to see you again, Ally."
There was another boy, smiling down at me. His hair was more brown than black and his eyes a warm brown color. I knew all three of these people from somewhere. I just couldn't name it. Or them.
"Who are you?" I cried, stepping out of the girl's fierce hug.
The smile fell of the older boy's face.
"They promised they wouldn't do anything." He raged.
"Who promised?" I asked, looking around me for Ava.
"Excuse me. Is there a problem?" Ava's voice came from behind me. I whipped around to see her with her arms crossed, an angry look settled on her face.
"No. We must have mistaken you for someone else." Green-Eyes said softly, pulling what is presumably his older brother and younger sister behind him.
Ava grabbed my hand and stalked off toward our train, pulling me on board and into an empty compartment.
She plopped herself down on one side and I on the other.
"So what was that about?" Ava asked, combing her brunette hair with her fingers.
"I don't know. They said they know me."
"They must have said something else because you look like you've seen a ghost." Ava remarked.
"It's what they called me. 'Ally'." I whispered and Ava's eyes widened.
"It's alright, Alex. They must have gotten you confused with someone else. Like cutie-pie-with-green-eyes said." My best friend moved next to me and hugged me for a couple moments before going back.
I sighed before thinking of something. "You don't think…" I trailed off.
"No. It's one in a million chance."
"Are you sure, Avocado?"
"Entirely."
Fifteen minutes later, Ava and I were at the small train station very near to her sister's house.
When Ava's phone buzzed, she looked down at it before informing me that her sister's cousin-in-law and his wife and children would be there when we go to pick her up.
I shrugged, telling her that as long as we got home fast, I wouldn't mind. These shoes were granting me a slow, painful death.
By the time we reached Privet Drive, I was limping and when we got to number nine, I had given up and was walking barefoot.
Reminder to put on web: Children, never wear heels. No matter if they look pretty. They kill you and they make it slow.
Ava knocked on the door and immediately, her sister who looked like a much older version of her opened.
"Hey, Ava. Hey, Alexis." Tara smiled and I smiled back, raising my head at the mention of my name.
"You ready?" Ava asked her sister. Tara was forty-seven, having had been a teenage pregnancy and Ava was much later because their mother hadn't wanted another child until Tara was turning twenty-six.
"Almost. I need to go change but come in anyway." Tara closed the door once Ava and I entered her house and walked upstairs.
"Is it you, Ava?" Tara's husband, Dudley Dursley's voice rang from another room.
"Yea, it's me."
"Come meet my cousin and his family." Dudley said and Ava brought me into a room.
I saw Dudley then my gaze moved and I saw a woman who looked around the same age as Tara and had long ginger hair and excited brown eyes. Her husband was sitting right beside her, with vibrant emerald eyes and untamable black hair that almost covered a lightning bolt scar. When I saw the couple's children, the smile dropped off my face.
"Oh. It's you." I said faintly, colors blurring before my eyes. I quickly recovered and smiled at them, tight-lipped.
"My name is Ginny Potter and this is my husband, Harry," the mother paused to let my eyes find her husband, "my eldest son, James, his younger brother, Albus and my daughter, Lily."
"We met. Half an hour ago, actually." said Ava, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder and throwing the siblings a strange look.
I nodded.
"Alright? Ready to go?" Tara suddenly appeared, making me jump a bit and look at her in surprise.
"Yeah," My best friend and I chorused, standing straight.
"Ginny, Lily, would you like to come along? Dudley can entertain the boys." Tara said with a wink at her husband who looked amused.
"We'd love to." Ginny quickly stood up and tugged on Lily's wrist, pulling her along.
Once we got to the mall, there were blisters on my feet and I was very obviously hobbling.
"What's our first stop?" Ginny asked, her conversation with Tara and Ava momentarily paused.
"Shoe shop," I gasped, the raw skin rubbing against the high-heel.
Lily let out a giggle and began supporting me with one arm until I sat down on the bench in the nearest shoe store.
She let her arms fall to her sides and sat next to me as someone began measuring my foot and searching for shoes.
"Can I ask three questions?"
"I guess."
"The first one was cancelled out. The second was to what's your name. I must have startled you in Kings Cross when I began yelling 'Ally' and things. I apologize."
"That did scare me some. My mum used to call me Ally-pet and it brought back unwanted memories. Otherwise, I was just surprised you knew my nickname."
"Oh. Okay. Why is your hair pink?" Lily's question was very blunt and straight-forward.
"I don't know."
"Oh. That's a pretty shoe." She pointed to the small stack of boxes waiting beside me.
I tried on the first one, deeming it perfect, and quickly paid for it.
I exchanged the heels for the new shoe and began walking easier. The new shoe did still brush against my blistered skin but it was nowhere near as painful.
Never wear heels. Lesson learned.
The entire day was spent by Ginny, Tara and Ava buying clothes and Lily and I being more hesitant.
"Want to go to the cupcake shop?" I asked Lily quietly while the rest of the group was gossiping about new stores and how heavy the bags were.
"Please." Lily looked relieved as I told Ava we would be at the shop at the other end of the mall and Lily and I walked there, the conversation flowing loosely.
We talked for the next hour and a half. It wasn't small-talk but it wasn't too personal.
This is nice. Someone doesn't think I'm mental. I thought with a smile.
"Ready to go?" Ava cut into Lily and my discussion on whether chocolate or caramel tasted better.
"Let's," I jumped to my feet before directing a last word at Lily. "Caramel."
"Chocolate. Come on." She combed her natural red hair wither her fingers, a grin on her face.
"Vanilla wins the fight. Harry brought the car up front." Ginny said quickly. Everyone nodded and silently strode toward the car where Harry Potter was waiting patiently and got in. There was a light chatter as Harry was very generous and dropped me and Ava off at home.
"Thank you again, Mr Potter." Ava and I chorused, leaning our head in the window from the steps.
"None of that, girls. Please call me 'Harry'."
"Bye, Harry."
Harry waved and drove away.
As soon as I got inside my apartment, I fell on the couch and there was a lighter thump next to me.
"Dealing with my sister is tiring," Ava moaned, fanning herself.
"Seeing the Potters is tiring." I remarked, though I meant it halfway. I liked Lily but something made me uneasy about her brothers.
It's like I knew them from somewhere, and given the circumstances, it was possible. I just didn't want to believe it.
"What I would do for a beer…" Ava trailed off, her head lolling around on the back of the couch.
"What I would do for a way to get it without getting up…" I retorted, lazily grabbing the air.
"Yesss. It would be like…magical staffs and wiccans and shit." Ava nodded, taking off her glasses and wiping them before putting them back on.
"Abraca-beer." I waved my hand around, saying the words aloud.
We waited a moment. Please tell me it worked. Please, please, please.
"It didn't work."
Bugger. "Oh for the love of alcohol."
A knock sounded from the door.
"Do I never get a break?" I asked rhetorically.
Who am I kidding? I never got a break.
I pushed myself off the couch and fell off, landing on my face.
"Fan-fucking-tastic."
I got up and crawled to the door, stopping once to pull down my shirt/dress.
When I opened the source of knocking, I looked up into my landlord's face. Well, him and his son.
I hated his son. Him and all other fifteen year old hormonal male teenagers. I was five years older than him, for crying aloud.
Standing up and brushing the shirt off, I shot a discreet glare at Brian Thompson's face before smiling at his father.
"Hello, Mister Thompson. Is there something I could help you with?"
"Good evening, Miss Brooks. I just wanted to inform you about somebody moving in the other apartment."
I hesitated. It was a tall building, with three large apartments per floor.
The seventh floor, the one I lived on, had a supply closest and kitchen where the third apartment would be. Aside from that, there was mine and this new person's.
I hoped it would be a cute guy. I like cute guys.
Granted, I had the sex appeal of a turtle. Like those that snap at people's ankles.
"Oh? When would this person be moving in?"
"Tomorrow morning, in fact. There is something else as well." There was a anxious look on his face. "The first night, he may have to spend in this apartment. The water and electricity would be off and we need 24 hours to turn it back on. They begin tomorrow at six in the morning. Would it be alright if he did spend tomorrow night in here?"
I took a deep breath. I knew there was a guest bedroom and Ava would spend the night as well.
"I suppose." I said in a small voice.
"Thank you. Have a good day, Miss Brooks."
I shut the door.
"You actually said yes? You hate sharing." Ava's voice was muffled by the couch. I saw she had her face in it.
"I just hope my new neighbor will be nice."
"What would just make everything funny would be if one of the Potter boys came here. That would be seriously funny and ironic." Ava laughed at her own joke and I joined her in our laugh-fest.
We are just that cool. We have laugh-FESTS.
I smiled at the door behind me, a hand ruffling my hair. "That chance is one in million. It's not happening."
