Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter One:
"Mum! There's a gnome under my bed!"
"And what do you expect me to do about it?"
"Get rid of it!"
"Your room has a window, just toss it out!"
"UGH! It just stole my shoe!"
Could the morning get any worse? Elizabeth Martin was perched on her bed, leaning over the edge of it to stare under it, her glasses slipped slightly on her face but not enough to blur her vision. Staring back at her under the bed with a mocking grin was a disgusting little garden gnome that had somehow gotten into the house. And it had one half of Elizabeth's favorite pair of shoes.
"Give that back," Elizabeth reached under the bed as car as she could, trying to get her shoe, "You disgusting little—OUCH! MUM! IT BIT ME!"
"Elizabeth Alexandra Martin, you are twelve years old!" Grace Martin's voice came from the other room, "You are perfectly capable of getting a single gnome out of your room!"
Elizabeth groaned, sitting up and straightening down her shirt. She hated gnomes. She jumped off her bed, still only wearing one shoe, and knelt on the floor, her skirt spilling around her legs as she reached her arm further under.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth's cat, a Siamese named Cream, had decided to come into Elizabeth's room at that time. Elizabeth's eyes widened as she saw Cream sniff, then go under the bed. A second later, the gnome took off from her bedroom with a scream, Elizabeth's shoe still in its hand, and Cream was close behind.
It was official. The day got worse.
"ELIZABETH!"
Elizabeth groaned and hurried—one-shoed—into the living room. The gnome disappeared under the couch, only to have Cream follow and the two appear on the other side, then repeating the process with the chairs. Elizabeth's mother was by the bookshelf, her brown hair in a tight braid. She had a book raised over her head in one hand with a death grip, but was also holding up the hems of her dress with her other hand, Apparently she was planning to either kick or smack the gnome if it came close.
"What am I supposed to do?" Elizabeth cried, "I can degnome a garden, but what do you do with one inside a house?"
"Catch it and toss it out!" Grace said, kicking at the gnome as it came by, sending it flying towards the other wall. Cream was right behind.
Elizabeth acted faster. She dashed over, snatching up the gnome, still dazed from her mother's kick. She rushed to the window, which was already open, and threw the thing as hard as she could before slamming the window shut.
It was only after she did, and she watched the gnome scamper away, that she realized it still had her shoe.
"Damn it," she whispered.
"Language, young lady," Grace said, smoothing down her skirt as she replaced the book on the shelf.
"That thing stole one of my shoes!"
"We'll get you another pair," Grace said, "Finish getting ready, okay? We're meeting Ginger at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and robe shopping."
Elizabeth sighed, turning and hobbling back to her room, pulling off her shoe and dropping it in the trash bin. It was no good without its mate. She dug around, finding another pair under her bed and pulling them on instead before heading back into the living room. She looked towards the owl cage and realized why the window was open. Daisy had returned. The gnome must have sneaked in while Grace was letting Daisy in.
"Hey there, Daisy, anything for me today?" Elizabeth asked, coming over to the cage. She already knew there wasn't, though, or else she'd have seen the letter already. She wasn't so worried about letters from most of her friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were in Gryffindor, and most of her fellow Housemates in Hufflepuff, especially Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. She'd gotten plenty of letters from them and she'd sent some in return.
It was her third Gryffindor friend, Harry Potter, whom she was worried about. She'd sent a letter at least every week. She even sent him a birthday card and a box of cauldron cakes nearly two weeks before.
It worried her that Harry hadn't answered. Was it the Muggles he lived with? She knew his aunt, uncle, and cousin were very nasty people. Were they stopping his letters?
"I'm sure things are fine, Elizabeth," Grace said, "Come on, why don't we get things cleaned up? We have to leave soon if we want to be back before too late."
Elizabeth nodded, eager for a bit of time out of the house. She hadn't gotten to go anywhere all summer, really.
A few months before, at the end of Elizabeth's first year at Hogwarts, she'd gotten herself into quite a bit of trouble. She and her friends had found out that hidden within their school was the Philosopher's Stone, a magical stone that turned object into gold and extended life. They also suspected one of their teachers of wanting to steal it, so they went after the Stone to find it first. Elizabeth had ended up with a broken shoulder and being grounded for the entire summer. She at first thought her mother would let up after a few weeks, but it seemed Grace had no intentions of letting Elizabeth off the hook. The only reason she was being allowed to come on the shopping trip today is because her Aunt Ginger wasn't going to get another chance for a while, and Grace didn't want to leave Elizabeth at home alone.
Elizabeth had just finished getting all the cushions back on the couch, as her mother magically repaired the potted plants, when it was time to go. They used the Floo network to reach the Leaky Cauldron, and it didn't take long to find Aunt Ginger waiting in the pub.
Elizabeth loved her Aunt Ginger. She looked a lot like her older sister, the same brown hair, brown eyes, and narrow, freckly face. Aunt Ginger was incredibly fun-loving as well, always eager to help out and cheer others up.
"Great to see you again, Liz," Aunt Ginger said, hugging her and grinning brightly, "Grace finally decide you had enough punishment?"
"She's still grounded," Grace said, "Lewis just is at a friend's until this weekend, so there's no one home to watch her. Besides, I need to get her some new school robes."
Elizabeth blushed a little. She'd grown a little over the summer and her robes had gotten a bit short on her. Plus, she'd ruined one set during her late-night adventure that got her in trouble in the first place.
"And some new shoes," Elizabeth added, "A gnome stole one of mine."
Aunt Ginger laughed at that as they headed out into the busy street of Diagon Alley. This was one of Elizabeth's favorite places, enjoying the shops and busy streets. She loved the store displays, seeing people talking by shop windows...
They soon reached Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Grace informed Madam Malkin that they needed some new Hogwarts robes for Elizabeth, and Aunt Ginger said she'd like to be fitted for a new set of dress robes.
"Dress robes?" Grace asked, looking at her sister, "Whatever for?"
"Xavier is going to be taking me to a play tomorrow evening," Aunt Ginger said with a little grin.
Xavier Gretchen was Aunt Ginger's boyfriend. They had been dating since early in the year and Grace often commented that her sister was 'quite smitten' with the man. Elizabeth hadn't actually met him yet, but what she heard of him, he seemed like a great guy.
"Are the rumors true, Madam Malkin?" Grace asked a few minutes later, while the woman was taking Elizabeth's measurements, "Is Gilderoy Lockhart really doing a book signing here next week?"
Aunt Ginger groaned nearby.
"Oh hush, Ginger," Grace said, "Gilderoy Lockhart is a brilliant and talented wizard."
"He may be," Ginger said, "But he's also a self-centered, egotistical git."
"I think you're overreacting a bit—"
"I went to school with him, Grace! I spent seven years of Herbology around him, constantly drawing attention to himself..."
'Sounds like Malfoy,' Elizabeth thought, unable to feel like she might not like Lockhart if she ever met him.
The two sisters continue to argue over whether or not Gilderoy Lockhart was a self-centered git the entire time they were at Madam Malkin's, and Grace never did get her answer over the rumors by the time they left. Elizabeth, staying quiet and listening, was quite sick about hearing about the man.
She found herself eager to sit down for lunch at a little café, not just because she was hungry. It was also because her mother and aunt finally stopped discussing Aunt Ginger's former classmate.
"So, when is Lewis returning?" Aunt Ginger asked as she sunk her fork into her salad.
"Saturday morning," Grace said, "He's going to the Quidditch match between Ballycastle Bats and the Montrose Magpies tomorrow, and then he'll be home the day after."
Elizabeth resisted the urge to groan in jealousy. The Montrose Magpies were her favorite Quidditch team, and she would have had the chance to go to the match herself. After all, the Diggorys had invited Grace and Elizabeth too—Grace was quite good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Diggory—but Elizabeth was 'banned from anything fun', as Lewis often teased her with, for the summer. Elizabeth hadn't minded her punishment too much so far. After all, she could still write her friends, curl up in her room to read, or fly her broom in the yard—just not off to the field she and her brother often raced in. No shopping trips in Diagon Alley with her aunt. No inviting a friend to stay, or going to another friend's to stay. Those were things that didn't quite bother Elizabeth that much. After all, there'd be other vacations. Other summer breaks to invite others over.
But getting to see the Montrose Magpies in a match against the Ballycastle Bats? The two had quite the rivalry and their matches were always, in Elizabeth's opinion, the best match of the season. Instead of being there, actually getting to see the match, she'd be sitting at home listening to it over the radio.
It was her own fault, of course. So she wasn't going to complain, as much as she hated it. There'd be other Quidditch matches, she'd tell herself. Just like there'd be other breaks from school. Other breaks to visit friends over for a week or two.
"I would come over to listen to the match," Ginger said with a grin, "But that's when Xavier and I are going to the theater."
"Do you know what you're going to see?" Grace asked.
"No, Xavier said he was going to let it be a surprise."
"He must seem pretty confident if he's not asking your help to plan the dates anymore," Grace said.
"Oh, things are going wonderfully," Aunt Ginger said with a grin, "Sure, we have ups and downs like any couple, but right now things couldn't be better."
"Will Lewis and I get to meet him?" Elizabeth asked.
"Hopefully before you go back to Hogwarts," Aunt Ginger said, "I've talked to him about it. He really does want to meet you."
"I've already met him, and he really is a nice guy, Elizabeth," Grace said, "I'm sure you and Lewis will both like him."
Elizabeth nodded, quite sure her mother was right as she looked to watch people walking the streets as she ate her lunch.