Another one.

For the purposes of this making any chronological sense at all, muggle school finishes a few weeks later than Hogwarts.

Hi, my name is Emily, and my life just got bloody bizarre.

Waking up to an alarm clock, I have decided, is the absolute worst way to wake up.

Wait, actually, it is the second worst. Waking up to my brother is the absolute worst, but he is just a pig anyway. I mean, he actually takes pride in being a bully! I haven't been at school with him this year, because he went to High School last september- a fact that he makes a point to throw in my face as often as possible- but alas all good things must come to an end. I turn eleven next week, and next month I will be following in Dudley's footsteps and attending Smeltings. What a ridiculous name for a school, honestly. It was an all boys school until recently, but a couple years ago they decided to merge Smeltings and the local girls' school together, and split by age group instead of gender. I wish they hadn't.

I had actually enjoyed my nap- despite the rude awakening- but I knew I needed to head down for dinner soon, so I pulled on a sweatshirt and made my way towards the stairs, pausing as I noticed a door ajar on my left. It was the door to my cousin's bedroom, and it was usually closed so that my dad and brother wouldn't bother him so often. He is a nice boy, my cousin, but my parents are scared of him so they treat him like crap. The thing is, there is nothing I can do to help him other than occasionally sneak him food. My parents think the stash of biscuits in my bedside cabinet is for me, and I will let them think that for as long as necessary, but really they are there for when Harry gets his meals taken away. That, at least, I can do for him.

I peer through the door, and notice something on his bed. I don't actually know what it is, but I'm also not sure whether I want to. "Um," I say, "hello?"

"Emily, why are you looking in my room?" I hear from behind me, as Harry's footsteps fall across the landing. I can tell that they belong to Harry because mum has heels that click on each stair, and dad and Dudley both sound like elephants when they walk anywhere.

"I think you have a guest." I reply, pushing the door further open so I can walk inside, with Harry following. Spotting the thing on the bed, Harry's eyes widen, and he quickly shuts the door behind us. It is rather odd, I think, to listen to a creature- a house elf apparently- telling your cousin that he must not go back to school for fear of 'terrible things'. But then, I guess, having a cousin who is a wizard probably falls into the category of 'odd' as well. Maybe I don't have a particularly good basis for what constitutes 'odd' in the first place.

Soon though, I hear my dad thundering up the stairs. "Shit-" I mutter. "Tell me everything later," I hiss at Harry, then open his bedroom door to see dad stomping towards me. He looks baffled to see me coming out of Harry's room.

"What the ruddy hell were you doing in there?" he bellows.

"Sorry, Dad, I needed help with my maths homework and I didn't want to interrupt your dinner. I thought it would be easier to just ask Harry but I knocked over my books- I'm sorry if I made too much noise."

Dad stared at me for a moment, but I have always been a good liar and mum and dad always believe me- they know I am much better behaved than Dudley and since they never punish him they don't bother with me either. Lucky trade, I guess.

"Keep it down then," Dad finally responds. Obviously he doesn't want to keep his guests waiting too long because he turns quickly and thunders back down the stairs. Looking at Harry's door, I decide going back in would be too risky in case Dad comes back, so I head back to my room and get started on some actual homework. I don't have any for math, I finished it already, but I do have a History paper due in a week. (It is actually due on my birthday, which I think is a bit unfair really, but at least if I do it now I won't have to think about it on my birthday.)

As I settle down at my desk, I realise I will probably have to sneak some food for Harry later as well as getting my own dinner. For now, though, I pull some digestives out of my draw and start reading a passage on Italian loyalties in the Second World War. History was the worst.

My birthday was on a Friday this year, which kinda sucked because it meant that I would have to go to school but at least I could then relax over the weekend. Being one of the youngest in the year could get quite annoying at times too, but knowing that there was only a week and a half left of school also helped to brighten up the day.

I woke up to singing- terrible singing, mind you- and the smell of bacon and eggs as mum, dad and dudley crowded around my bed. I saw Harry pause in the doorway and he smiled at me, before ducking into his own bedroom. I knew he would come and say Happy Birthday to me later, he always did.

About an hour later, after a long shower and the breakfast that Harry cooked complete with a strong cup of tea, I felt a lot more human. As I walked down the stairs I noticed that the mail had been delivered, so I picked it up off the mat. Looking down however, I stopped dead. The letter on top was addressed to me,

Miss E Dursley

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Oh, I knew what this letter meant. Shit. This was not going to go well at all. I ran quickly back upstairs and into Harry's bedroom, who yelped and covered his chest with the T-shirt he had been about to put on. Closing the door quietly behind me I turned to him and held out the letter. He stared.

"That- that's addressed to you." he faltered.

"I can see that."

"You're a-"

"Freak," I supplied.

"You are not a freak. Blimey Em."

I sighed. "I know, I'm sorry, but what the hell am I going to tell mum and dad? Will they let me go? What if they lock me in or something or-"

"Emily," he interrupted. "They aren't stupid, they know what we can do, and the school wouldn't let us just disappear. Ron and his family will help us if we ask." Harry opened his window as he spoke, and then moved to Hedwig's cage, unlocking the door.

I nodded, and watched the owl as she flew to the window, then out into the street. Harry had told me all about Ron, and Hermione, almost as soon as he came back from school. He seemed sad when he thought they hadn't been writing, so knowing that Dobby had been keeping the letters from him brightened his spirits a lot too. Not that he managed to read the letters that Dobby had stolen, but at least now he could speak to them again so long as Hedwig was well behaved. She was, actually, she seemed to realise that Harry's freedom was at stake.

"Does this mean I can get an owl?" I asked hopefully, and Harry smiled.

"Yep," grinned Harry, "in fact, that is what I am going to get you for your birthday. Now, shall we go get the reveal over with?"

Shuddering slightly, I nodded, and Harry took my hand as we walked across the hallway and down the stairs. "It's going to be okay" he whispered. I just wish I could believe him. I didn't let go of Harry's hand as we walked into the kitchen, I don't think my legs would have held me up if I did, so as soon as we entered Dudley sneered.

"Why are you holding onto him?"

My legs felt numb and shaky, and I squeezed tightly before letting go of Harry's hand to pull the letter out of my pocket. "I got a letter from Hogwarts," I blurted, but I could not bring myself to look at the faces of my parents. Reaching out, I felt Harry take my hand again, and breathed deeply. It was going to be okay, he promised, so I steeled myself and looked up.

Mum had gone as white as a sheet, staring at the letter in my hands. Dad had turned his usual ugly shade of purple, but seemed to be glaring at Harry. Dudley looked gleeful, obviously aware that this made him the favourite child for good.

"Another one?" stuttered mum.

"I'm going," I told them. "You're not going to keep me away from that school."

Really, I should have known that going on the defensive was a bad idea, especially with dad looking so volatile, but it's a reflex, honest!

"Oh are you?" sneered my dad, a look of complete loathing on his face. "What in the hell makes you think that you can control that decision, eh?" He started forward towards me, but Harry jumped forwards and spread his arms.

"No!" he yelled, and dad stopped dead. After a moment I realised that he wasn't moving because he couldn't. Harry had done something to him, to protect me. Mum obviously realised this at the same time, because she shrieked and ran to dad's side, poking and prodding him in a futile attempt to release him. I knew it was no good. Harry was angry, I could see him shaking and his arms remained outstretched shielding me from any harm. I heard a knock on the door, and Harry turned his head to me.

"Go open the door, if it is a red-headed family bring them in here" he begged. I could see the fear in his eyes, and knew he didn't dare move in case the spell broke. Running to the door, I threw it open and sure enough there was a clan of red-headed men on the driveway. I beckoned them forward and ran back into the kitchen.

As soon as the family reached the kitchen, the eldest boy brought out his wand and waved it, releasing dad from whatever had caused him to freeze but also erecting a translucent shield between us and where mum, dad and Dudley all stood. Dad made to walk towards it, but the elder boy spoke, "don't try to break through, it will only electrocute you."

Sneering at the boy, dad continued forwards, but sure enough as he reached the large barrier he was jolted backwards to where he had been, so he just continued to glower. The boy turned to Harry, "Dad will be here soon, but I figured since you called it was a time sensitive matter, are you alright?"

Harry sunk to his knees, breathing heavily. "I thought-" he started, and turned to look right at me. "I thought he was going to hurt you."

Kneeling down, I pulled him into a hug. "You protected me, thank you."

"Always" affirmed Harry, and he looked at me as though he was confused. "I would never let anyone, let alone him, hurt you." Then he turned to assess the redheads, who were stood awkwardly in the doorway to the kitchen. "Bill, I take it?" he said to the oldest, who nodded. "Okay, Em, these are the Weasleys. Weasleys, this is my cousin Em, who got her Hogwarts letter this morning. Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Actually," I interrupted, "how exactly did you know to come? And how on earth did you get here so fast?"

Bill chuckled, and pointed to a spot in the hallway. I peered around to see Hedwig on the banister by the front door, which was still wide open. "I sent an owl," Harry explained. "Ron told me when I left Kings Cross that in an emergency, I should send Hedwig with no letter, and that he would come as soon as possible. I didn't think I would need to, but-" he trailed off.

"Which one of you is Ron?" I asked, looking at the boys. When he raised a freckled hand, I walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered. I noticed that he blushed quite hard, and held back a laugh.

Just then, there was another knock at the door. One of the twins stretched his neck to see the front door, and called out. "Hey, Dad, we're all in here."

A slightly balding man appeared from the hallway, although I could tell that his hair had one been as full and red as his children's. The man frowned as he took in the scene in the kitchen. "Alright, who put up the shield?"

"Me." volunteered Bill. "Harry froze his uncle, seems Emily here is a witch and they didn't respond so well, so I put up the shield when we got here and unfroze him. Not sure if we will be hearing from the ministry soon but they don't seem to have called yet." I frowned, surely the ministry wouldn't reprimand Harry for doing magic to protect me, would they? I said as much, and Bill sighed. "I should hope not, especially if we can all confirm the story, but they can be bloody difficult at times to be honest."

Mr Weasley looked around the kitchen, then spoke directly to the my mum and dad, who were looking rather unhappy at the crowd of people who had accumulated in their home. "I am taking Harry and- wait, Emily?" he threw a questioning glance at me, and I nodded. "-and Emily back to our home. They will stay with us for the summer. You may write to them if they wish you too, however I very much doubt that. Kids, go and pack please."

I couldn't believe it, I got to go to the Weasleys' instead of spending the summer here, and then I got to go to Hogwarts? Fantastic! As Harry and I headed into the hallway, followed by the Weasley boys, I could hear Mr Weasley shouting at my dad.

"Bill," said Harry suddenly, "could you unlock this cupboard for me please?"

Bill waved his wand, and Harry grabbed the door, but as he opened it one of the twins spoke. "Harry, why is all of this under the stairs?" Huffing slightly with the effort of heaving his trunk out of the cramped space, Harry replied.

"They don't like magic, they locked it all away."

Bill growled, and turned to the other boys. "Charlie, take care of the packing and transport, I'm going to go have a word with dad." Then, he turned and swept into the kitchen, shoulders hunched and looking quite scary with a grimace on his face and his fists clenched.

The boy who I assumed was Charlie took out his wand and pointed it at the contents of the cupboard. Everything of Harry's packed itself neatly into the trunk, except for a his wand which flew towards Harry and hovered in mid air until he grabbed it. Grinning at Charlie, he went to pull the trunk again, but Charlie held out his hand. He waved his wand once more and I watched as the trunk shrink to the size of a lunchbox. "Won't be so heavy now, either," said the boy, who then turned towards me. "I can help you with your packing as well, if that is alright?"

I beamed, and took off up the stairs, slowing down at the top just to make sure that the boys were able to follow me. As I entered my room, I quickly threw a few pieces of random clothing and underwear into the washing basket, and retrieved my favourite hoodie from inside. I might be willing to leave things behind but there was no chance I was not taking my Gilmore Girls hoodie. I adore the show, and honestly Rory is probably the only person in the world who reads as much as me.

Having said that, from the stories Harry has told me maybe Hermione might give me a run for my money. Shaking my head slightly to refocus, I started pulling clothes out the chest of drawers in the corner. I know I will be wearing mostly robes at school, but I need something to wear at the weekends and over the summer. If I won't be coming back in the holidays- and judging from dad's response this morning I have a feeling I won't be welcome back for them- I need to make sure there is something for the winter in my suitcase too. Deciding on a few pairs of black jeans, I turned back to my drawers and pulled out a pile of T-shirts. I may be an eleven year old girl, but I don't dress like most the girls in my class. I prefer a plain black or grey t-shirt and jeans to a dress any day of the week, but I also grabbed a dark green summer dress and threw that onto my bed too, just in case. I blushed lightly as I pulled open my underwear draw and threw as much as I could into my old P.E. bag, grabbing my thick fluffy socks too because Harry had told me the castle could get cold at night sometimes.

Spinning around, I noticed that Harry and Charlie were stood in the doorway watching me with bemused expressions on their faces. "What?" I snapped.

"It isn't a race, Em," teased Harry. I ignored him though, walking over to my bookcase and looking at the collection. This was probably going to be the hardest thing- deciding which books I could take with me. Obviously I couldn't leave behind my copy of When We Collided. Dad had told me I was too young, but I had read it at least fifteen times by now. I would never leave that behind, but looking at the shelves I realised I didn't really want to leave any of them. "You know," came Charlie's soft voice from behind me, "Hogwarts has a fantastic library. Any book you can think of. You don't need to take any of those with you."

Peering up at him, I realised that my eyes were starting to tear up. "I love to read, I don't want to leave any of them behind," I admitted. Blinking furiously, I turned back to my shelf and picked up the copy of My Sister's Keeper. If nothing else, I was going to have my favorites to hand. If I couldn't make friends at school, I could at least have my best girls in literature.

"Understood," nodded Charlie. "Maybe just take a couple though?" I didn't reply, but I did move away from the bookcase and started packing everything into my suitcase. "Let me," said Charlie, and waving his wand in a large arc, I watched as everything on the bed folded itself neatly into the case, which zipped shut then shrunk to the same size as Harry's trunk had done downstairs.

Grabbing my toiletries bag from the side I darted across the hall into the bathroom, loading my shower essentials and grabbing a few sanitary pads from the box in the corner- I may not need them yet but Christ I was going to have some available for when I did- I skipped back into my bedroom to find Charlie there alone. "Ready?" I called to him.

"Ready" he agreed. Then he grabbed the lunchbox-sized suitcase from the bed and followed me downstairs.

"Ready" I whispered to myself, "for a whole new start."