This is a response to one of my friends challenges.
I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, so there.
Harry Potter sat in class hopelessly meditating a way out of the transfiguration assignment. Try as he might, (and that was all night long) he could not find a single way to turn the footstool into an Australian Shepherd (the dog, that is). He rested his hand on his chin, starring at the now mutated ottoman on the floor next to his makeshift desk. Somehow during the course of the night he had managed to break off all the legs, set it on fire, shear it of its upholstery "wool", then he managed to make it roll over and bark. This was the closest he had gotten to the whole dog concept. Other than that, it was a footstool that could sort of flop around and make noises that no footstool should.
"Hey, if all else fails, you could always use the force, Dude." Said a husky, unfamiliar voice from the seventh year stairwell. Harry turned his drooping, sleep filled eyes towards the figure standing at the foot of the steps. The boy, (or, assumed a boy, it was at the bottom of the boys stairwell) was tall, and wearing a badly tailored brown cloak. The wide cowl was up, and the figures face was shrouded in darkness.
" Go back to sleep, Fred." Said Harry tiredly. " I don't feel like Star Wars reenactments right now." he turned back to his work. Fred and George had entered a contest at Zonko's Joke Shop, and won a summer long trip to California (duh!). Their mother wasn't too pleased, until she found out whom they would be staying with. Much to the twin's initial dismay, they would be spending their summer in sunny California with none other than the Assistant Governor of the Magical Residences of California. The Redheaded menaces almost didn't go, but Molly Weasley decided that if the twins wanted to enter the contest in the first place, they had better accept the consequences.
So the two were off a week after the end of school. Mrs. Weasley even packed their bags for them. Harry was there to see them off.
" Oh, boys. I'm so happy that you're going to go spend the summer with such an influential individual. I heard he has a daughter about Harry and Ron's age. She is supposed to be absolutely charming. I bet Hermione would get along with her, but Hermione didn't win the contest, did she?" the boys just stared bitterly back at her, false smiles plastered onto their faces. Mrs. Weasley's smile was genuine though, and after the twins departed, Harry was aware as to why.
The house was silent, even the ghoul didn't make a noise through the vacuum that was the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley lay down on the couch, took a deep breath and feel asleep. Not a noise disturbed her, and she lay there for hours. Now, this didn't bother Ron one bit, 'cause then he and Harry could sneak about the house at will. But as the weeks progressed, Mrs. Weasley grew accustomed to her silence, so when Ron wanted to make some noise, they were shot down immediately after takeoff.
" She's going to drive me absolutely bonkers!" Ron whispered desperately to Harry one night as they slept side by side on the grass outside. " I never thought that I would want Fred and George screwin' around in their bedroom and making Mum yell!"
" I know what you mean. She's wicked when she can't sleep. The only reason she wasn't like this before was because Fred and George kept her so tired she couldnt' get mean enough to be like this!" they both laughed. So the summer passed, and slowly but surely Harry and Ron devised ways to make at least half the amount of noise that the terrible twins had made (and that is a considerable amount in poor Molly's opinion.) Before either of them knew it, the school year was rolling around, like a hamster in one of those plastic wheel thingys, and they were on their way to diagon alley. Molly carried a change of clothes for the twins, who they would be picking up at the train station on their way to their shopping. She also brought another bag, full of something the smelled delicious. Harry and Ron, the both of them growing like weeds, eyed the bag as it swung beside the plump woman's purse.
" What's in the bag Mum?" asked Ron every half-hour or so, as they rode on the bus. He told Harry every time that it was a tactic that Fred and George used to catch bit of information from their mother by catching her off guard.
Harry looked forward to seeing their friend, Hermione Granger, somewhere in diagon alley. Much to everyone's dismay, Hermione had been sent to a muggle summer camp, and would not be back until about two weeks before the start of the first term. They had not been able to get a hold of her since she had left, accept for one letter from her describing various unusual camp songs to the two clueless boys. There was no return address on the envelope, and the owl looked like it hadn't been in the service of letter delivery long, considering the animal bloodstains on the envelope.
Soon the bus crowded with solemn commuting muggles stopped a kings cross station, and the lot of them piled out like clowns from one of those too small cars. The Weasley's and Potter were the last ones off, looking both ways before heading down the walkway towards a landing platform unfamiliar to Harry.
"This train is the...uh....you know out train to our "airportal" Ron held his hands up in Dr.Evilesqe quotations as he mispronounced "airport". Harry just grinned at him, but before he could ridicule him for his misuse of muggle words, Mrs. Weasley led them into a dense crowd of Muggles. Much to the boys embarrassed dismay, she grabbed both of their hands and practically shouted : "NOW HOLD MY HANDS BOYS, I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET LOST!" she dragged the two suffering 15 year olds through the crowd to what looked like some sort of control booth, which covered about 30 meters of ground on the inside. She looked both ways, and then opened the door, shoving both the boys inside and following herself.
Harry was almost surprised at the large crowd of adult, professional looking wizards that looked at him as he came in. Most of them gave a surprised start at recognizing the Boy who Lived, others didn't quite register his identity, and simply looked away. The latter were his favorite type of people.
He looked up, barely surprised to find that the roof outside was a mere illusion, and only the wall enclosing the building" area stood, though, if Harry looked at them from the corner of his eye, he could have sworn that they were transparent.
"Here they come!" said Mrs.Weasley excitedly, much to the surprise of the boys. " I hope she likes this!"
The boys looked at each other in surprise, but as Ron turned to query his mother, the dull black train engine rolled into the station. Everyone pushed forward, including Mrs. Weasley, pulling the two confused boys with her. The train came to a halt, and the plain black doors swung open, revealing the unloading passengers. Each of the doors had an enormous amount of people crammed into the one waiting area, but when the fourth from the Engine's door opened, there stood only the Weasley twins and one girl. The girl stood about 30cm shorter than the twin boys, her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. They all stepped out, looking around for their mother.
They seemed unsuccessful in their search, and unaware of their mothers presence, because as Mrs. Weasley watched, Fred bent down and planted a kiss right on the lips of the girl who stood next to him. Harry and Ron looked at the two, shocked. But when they looked at each other, both had to try hard not to grin. Ron's ears went red as they both looked at Mrs.Weasley. She stood absolutely still as she stared open- mouthed at her son. After a moment of thought though, she turned to the two boys and said
"Not a word of this from either of you, understand? Your brothers a big boy," her voice cracked, surprising both Ron and Harry, "This is his business." Then she did a sharp left face and headed towards her two kids.
The two boys followed, but lagged behind a bit to try and talk in private.
"Can you believe that?" asked Ron. Both shock and amusement coursed through his voice as a suppressed grin came over his face. Harry only shook his head, and smiled back.
"Hey Mum!" both twins said in unison as they reached them. The girl stood slightly behind Fred, peering over his shoulder at them. Harry tried not to stare, but Ron just gaped at the girl over his mother's head (he was that much taller than her now).
"Ron!" said Harry, giving him a pinch. Ron just laughed.
"Mum," Fred spoke first " this is Amelisa Smith." He pulled the girl forward, who was also a considerable amount taller than Mrs.Weasley. George leaned over to lean on his brothers shoulder nonchalantly.
"She's the daughter of the Assistant Governor of the Magical Residents of California." He sounded almost proud. "but you know that already." He smiled.
"We know what?" he said. Harry looked at Molly.
"Oh, sorry dears, I forgot to tell you! We're having Amelisa over for the rest of the summer. She'll be going to Hogwarts this year!" she shook her head. "Silly me." Ron rolled his eyes.
The girl just looked kind of uncomfortable. But she looked up a Fred, who gave her a wink, and walked forward.
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs.Weasley." she held out her hand in greeting and smiled.
"OOH! You are a polite girl!" said Mrs.Weasley. "you can call me Molly dear." She gave her hand a hearty shake.
"Then you can call me Amy then." She gave a charming smile. Harry looked over at Ron. He was staring at Amy again, only this time it wasn't in the curious child-like fashion that he was before. His mouth hung open slightly, a half smile curved the corners of his mouth, and his eyes stayed half hooded. Harry gave him another pinch, but he just sort of jumped and kept on staring.
Molly noticed too, and put an arm around him. " How about we get going, maybe Ginny and your father are back from Romania." She gave Ron a squeeze as she led him away from the train. They headed back to the street, and towards the pub, the Leaky Cauldron. Fred and Amy stayed behind them all, and when Harry looked back at them they were holding hands.
Harry Potter sat in class hopelessly meditating a way out of the transfiguration assignment. Try as he might, (and that was all night long) he could not find a single way to turn the footstool into an Australian Shepherd (the dog, that is). He rested his hand on his chin, starring at the now mutated ottoman on the floor next to his makeshift desk. Somehow during the course of the night he had managed to break off all the legs, set it on fire, shear it of its upholstery "wool", then he managed to make it roll over and bark. This was the closest he had gotten to the whole dog concept. Other than that, it was a footstool that could sort of flop around and make noises that no footstool should.
"Hey, if all else fails, you could always use the force, Dude." Said a husky, unfamiliar voice from the seventh year stairwell. Harry turned his drooping, sleep filled eyes towards the figure standing at the foot of the steps. The boy, (or, assumed a boy, it was at the bottom of the boys stairwell) was tall, and wearing a badly tailored brown cloak. The wide cowl was up, and the figures face was shrouded in darkness.
" Go back to sleep, Fred." Said Harry tiredly. " I don't feel like Star Wars reenactments right now." he turned back to his work. Fred and George had entered a contest at Zonko's Joke Shop, and won a summer long trip to California (duh!). Their mother wasn't too pleased, until she found out whom they would be staying with. Much to the twin's initial dismay, they would be spending their summer in sunny California with none other than the Assistant Governor of the Magical Residences of California. The Redheaded menaces almost didn't go, but Molly Weasley decided that if the twins wanted to enter the contest in the first place, they had better accept the consequences.
So the two were off a week after the end of school. Mrs. Weasley even packed their bags for them. Harry was there to see them off.
" Oh, boys. I'm so happy that you're going to go spend the summer with such an influential individual. I heard he has a daughter about Harry and Ron's age. She is supposed to be absolutely charming. I bet Hermione would get along with her, but Hermione didn't win the contest, did she?" the boys just stared bitterly back at her, false smiles plastered onto their faces. Mrs. Weasley's smile was genuine though, and after the twins departed, Harry was aware as to why.
The house was silent, even the ghoul didn't make a noise through the vacuum that was the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley lay down on the couch, took a deep breath and feel asleep. Not a noise disturbed her, and she lay there for hours. Now, this didn't bother Ron one bit, 'cause then he and Harry could sneak about the house at will. But as the weeks progressed, Mrs. Weasley grew accustomed to her silence, so when Ron wanted to make some noise, they were shot down immediately after takeoff.
" She's going to drive me absolutely bonkers!" Ron whispered desperately to Harry one night as they slept side by side on the grass outside. " I never thought that I would want Fred and George screwin' around in their bedroom and making Mum yell!"
" I know what you mean. She's wicked when she can't sleep. The only reason she wasn't like this before was because Fred and George kept her so tired she couldnt' get mean enough to be like this!" they both laughed. So the summer passed, and slowly but surely Harry and Ron devised ways to make at least half the amount of noise that the terrible twins had made (and that is a considerable amount in poor Molly's opinion.) Before either of them knew it, the school year was rolling around, like a hamster in one of those plastic wheel thingys, and they were on their way to diagon alley. Molly carried a change of clothes for the twins, who they would be picking up at the train station on their way to their shopping. She also brought another bag, full of something the smelled delicious. Harry and Ron, the both of them growing like weeds, eyed the bag as it swung beside the plump woman's purse.
" What's in the bag Mum?" asked Ron every half-hour or so, as they rode on the bus. He told Harry every time that it was a tactic that Fred and George used to catch bit of information from their mother by catching her off guard.
Harry looked forward to seeing their friend, Hermione Granger, somewhere in diagon alley. Much to everyone's dismay, Hermione had been sent to a muggle summer camp, and would not be back until about two weeks before the start of the first term. They had not been able to get a hold of her since she had left, accept for one letter from her describing various unusual camp songs to the two clueless boys. There was no return address on the envelope, and the owl looked like it hadn't been in the service of letter delivery long, considering the animal bloodstains on the envelope.
Soon the bus crowded with solemn commuting muggles stopped a kings cross station, and the lot of them piled out like clowns from one of those too small cars. The Weasley's and Potter were the last ones off, looking both ways before heading down the walkway towards a landing platform unfamiliar to Harry.
"This train is the...uh....you know out train to our "airportal" Ron held his hands up in Dr.Evilesqe quotations as he mispronounced "airport". Harry just grinned at him, but before he could ridicule him for his misuse of muggle words, Mrs. Weasley led them into a dense crowd of Muggles. Much to the boys embarrassed dismay, she grabbed both of their hands and practically shouted : "NOW HOLD MY HANDS BOYS, I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET LOST!" she dragged the two suffering 15 year olds through the crowd to what looked like some sort of control booth, which covered about 30 meters of ground on the inside. She looked both ways, and then opened the door, shoving both the boys inside and following herself.
Harry was almost surprised at the large crowd of adult, professional looking wizards that looked at him as he came in. Most of them gave a surprised start at recognizing the Boy who Lived, others didn't quite register his identity, and simply looked away. The latter were his favorite type of people.
He looked up, barely surprised to find that the roof outside was a mere illusion, and only the wall enclosing the building" area stood, though, if Harry looked at them from the corner of his eye, he could have sworn that they were transparent.
"Here they come!" said Mrs.Weasley excitedly, much to the surprise of the boys. " I hope she likes this!"
The boys looked at each other in surprise, but as Ron turned to query his mother, the dull black train engine rolled into the station. Everyone pushed forward, including Mrs. Weasley, pulling the two confused boys with her. The train came to a halt, and the plain black doors swung open, revealing the unloading passengers. Each of the doors had an enormous amount of people crammed into the one waiting area, but when the fourth from the Engine's door opened, there stood only the Weasley twins and one girl. The girl stood about 30cm shorter than the twin boys, her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. They all stepped out, looking around for their mother.
They seemed unsuccessful in their search, and unaware of their mothers presence, because as Mrs. Weasley watched, Fred bent down and planted a kiss right on the lips of the girl who stood next to him. Harry and Ron looked at the two, shocked. But when they looked at each other, both had to try hard not to grin. Ron's ears went red as they both looked at Mrs.Weasley. She stood absolutely still as she stared open- mouthed at her son. After a moment of thought though, she turned to the two boys and said
"Not a word of this from either of you, understand? Your brothers a big boy," her voice cracked, surprising both Ron and Harry, "This is his business." Then she did a sharp left face and headed towards her two kids.
The two boys followed, but lagged behind a bit to try and talk in private.
"Can you believe that?" asked Ron. Both shock and amusement coursed through his voice as a suppressed grin came over his face. Harry only shook his head, and smiled back.
"Hey Mum!" both twins said in unison as they reached them. The girl stood slightly behind Fred, peering over his shoulder at them. Harry tried not to stare, but Ron just gaped at the girl over his mother's head (he was that much taller than her now).
"Ron!" said Harry, giving him a pinch. Ron just laughed.
"Mum," Fred spoke first " this is Amelisa Smith." He pulled the girl forward, who was also a considerable amount taller than Mrs.Weasley. George leaned over to lean on his brothers shoulder nonchalantly.
"She's the daughter of the Assistant Governor of the Magical Residents of California." He sounded almost proud. "but you know that already." He smiled.
"We know what?" he said. Harry looked at Molly.
"Oh, sorry dears, I forgot to tell you! We're having Amelisa over for the rest of the summer. She'll be going to Hogwarts this year!" she shook her head. "Silly me." Ron rolled his eyes.
The girl just looked kind of uncomfortable. But she looked up a Fred, who gave her a wink, and walked forward.
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs.Weasley." she held out her hand in greeting and smiled.
"OOH! You are a polite girl!" said Mrs.Weasley. "you can call me Molly dear." She gave her hand a hearty shake.
"Then you can call me Amy then." She gave a charming smile. Harry looked over at Ron. He was staring at Amy again, only this time it wasn't in the curious child-like fashion that he was before. His mouth hung open slightly, a half smile curved the corners of his mouth, and his eyes stayed half hooded. Harry gave him another pinch, but he just sort of jumped and kept on staring.
Molly noticed too, and put an arm around him. " How about we get going, maybe Ginny and your father are back from Romania." She gave Ron a squeeze as she led him away from the train. They headed back to the street, and towards the pub, the Leaky Cauldron. Fred and Amy stayed behind them all, and when Harry looked back at them they were holding hands.