"Where have you been!?" came the screeching voice of Molly Weasley, so shrill that it could be heard all the way from Bill's room. The three teenagers exchanged a glance before sporting identical cheshire smiles at the idea of watching Fred, George and Ron get a talking-to. They spotted an oblivious Ginny making her way down in front of them, before hearing her ask, "Mum, have you seen my jumper?" Hiding behind the wall of the last step, they heard the response, "Yes, dear. It's on the cat," Her tone seemed pretty calm, so they stepped down just in time to have Ginny literally run into them in her haste to turn around. "Wotcher, Gin!" called Bill, as he extended his arms to steady his sister. She gave a startled squeal before stepping around them and continuing her hasty escape from the kitchen. "Wonder what her deal-" Nova began before registering that there was another person in the room besides her that wasn't a ginger. She cocked her head in a quizzical manner before going to extend her hand, but she was beat by the enthusiastic greeting of Molly Weasley saying, "Hello, dears! Have you met Harry?" Harry turned, giving a small smile and an awkward wave of his hand to the newcomers, feeling slightly overwhelmed.
"Of course they haven't met Harry, Mum-"
"-He just got here."
"Honestly, woman are you sure you're not going-"
"-A bit senile?" Fred and George traded off sentences, while throwing an arm around each of their eldest brothers. George ducked the frying pan that was playfully swung in his direction by their mother while chuckling, and announced, "We present to you, Harry Potter,-"
"-The most wonderful and illustrious,-"
"-Aspiring Gringott's Curse-Breaker-"
"-And our older brothers' best friend-"
"-The beautiful Miss Nova Lovegood!"
Nova was shoved forward by the unashamed twins and stuck her hand out towards Harry, "Nice to meet you, kid!" She said with a smile and a wink. "I think you'll fit in well with this clan of weirdos,"
"Hey, who are you calling weirdos?" Came from the door as Mr. Weasley walked in, giving a hug to everyone in the room, "Of course not you, Mr. Weasley! We all know you're the most sane of the bunch," Nova responded, leaning in for her own hug. "Now, now, none of this Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nonsense. How many times have we told you to just call us Mum and Dad?" Molly admonished, gathering her in a hug of her own. "Yes, Mum," the girl responded while playfully rolling her eyes.
"If we could get-"
"-Back to the introductions, please!"
Yelled Fred and George, "These strapping young men are Bill and Charlie Weasley,-"
"Although, with the ginger hair, I don't think you really needed to specify their last names" Nova cut in.
Sticking his tongue out at her, Bill stepped up to clap Harry on the shoulder, "Good to see you here. If you need anything just let us know,"
Harry gave a genuine smile to the whole family, feeling more happy than he could say at the fact that no one had even given his scar a second glance. Finally relaxed with everyone seated at the table, minus Ginny who had apparently run off somewhere, they proceeded with breakfast.
"We're going to go out and play Quidditch if you want to-"
*SMACK* came the sound from the window, and everyone turned in time to see Erol, the family owl, slide down the glass it had just run into. Percy went to retrieve the letters, which turned out to all be from Hogwarts and distributed them to the teenagers that would be attending. "Well, it looks like we are all in for a trip to Diagon Alley! I know you kids don't need school supplies anymore since you graduated, but feel free to join us," Shrugging, Nova, Bill and Charlie headed upstairs to grab their cloaks in anticipation of a day out.
The Weasley family lined up in front of their fireplace, and had Ron go first to show Harry how to travel by Floo. "Diagon Alley!" Ron practically yelled, as he threw his handful of Floo Powder into the fire, and was whisked away. Ignoring the stricken look on Harry's face, Molly ushered him forward, instructing him to do the same thing. "Digonalley!" Was what came out of Harry's mouth before he too disappeared into the flames. Seeing everyone stand there with quizzical expressions on their faces, Nova suggested, "You all go on and catch up with Ron, and I'll try to say it the same way Harry did and see if I can figure out where he ended up."
Agreeing that was a good idea, everyone took their turn going through the Floo. Stepping up last, Nova intoned, "Digonalley!"
She was spit out in a dark and dusty room, filled with what she recognized as human heads. Figuring out that she had somehow made it to Knockturn Alley, she made her way out of the back room, and right past Harry's hiding spot, before noticing the back of a very blonde head. "Luc? Is that you?" She called out. The aristocrat turned to face her slowly and with as much grace as one could put into spinning on one's heel. He quirked an eyebrow before drawing his mouth into a genuine half-smile "Miss Nova, what a surprise to see you in this neck of the woods. I hear you're nearly done with Gringott's training program," He bent in a low bow over her hand, brushing her knuckles with his lips. Returning the gesture with a quick curtsey, she replied, "Yes, I should be finished by the end of summer," Another blonde head caught her attention as it came barrelling towards her. Catching the young Malfoy in a hug, she teased, "Hello, Draco! How is my second-favorite Slytherin?" Giving her an offended look, Draco said, "I thought I was your first favorite," With a haughty sniff and a raise of his nose, Lucius cut in, "Obviously the elder Malfoy holds the spot for favorite," The girl rolled her eyes at the two blondes in front of her, "Sorry, mini-Malfoy, you may be my godson, but I knew your dad first," she said with a wink.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Lucius finished his business with Borgin and left with a promise for Cissy to send her an invite for tea soon. Once the Malfoys had left, Nova did a quick Homenum Revelio and made her way over to the sarcophagus that Harry had been hiding in. The young boy stepped out, giving her a wary look. "What are you doing here, and why do you know Malfoy?" He spat the name as if it were a curse word. She barked a laugh while placing a hand on his back to steer him out of the shady store. "Me and the Malfoys go way back to my younger Hogwarts days. As for what I'm doing here, well, someone had to come looking for you after you utterly botched your Floo Address!"
With a look of dawning comprehension, Harry's eyes widened. "So this isn't Diagon Alley? Then where am I?"
"This is Knockturn Alley, kid. And somewhere you really have no business being. At least, not without a serious glamour to hide who you are and a damn good reason." She fixed him with her sternest look, "But obviously this time wasn't your fault. Let's get caught up with the family before Mum has a fit,"
Nova started to walk, but noticed that the kid wasn't following. Turning around, she noticed a look of trepidation in his startlingly green eyes. He bit his lip and opened his mouth hesitantly to post a question. "Are you.. you know.. related to Malfoy?" She raised her eyebrows, "They actually kicked me out of the family for not having a good enough smirk." she deadpanned. "Nah kid, we were just friends back at Hogwarts and our families knew each other pretty well."
His face turning red, he stuttered, "Oh, I just… I thought.. you know with the hair and the eyes… and you know…" Laughing, she cut him off before he could get even more embarrassed. "What, so everyone with blonde hair and blue eyes is suddenly a Malfoy now?" She jested, elbowing him lightly. He huffed a little bit and crossed his arms, seemingly gaining a bit more confidence, and retorted, "Well it's a little bit confusing when your hair is the exact same color and all," Giving a giggle, she rolled her eyes, "That's actually how we got to know each other, people kept mixing us up when they saw me from the back. You wouldn't imagine the number of times I was called 'Lucius' " Imagining the pompous man being called by a girl's name made Harry snort and give a genuine chuckle.
She slung an arm around the boy's shoulders and noticed how frail he felt. She stopped him in an alcove and bent down to his level. "Hey, Harry. Are you alright?"
Taken aback, he responded quickly, "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
With a slow look she said, "I heard what Fred said about bars on your windows. I know we just met, but if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, alright?"
Harry gave a slow nod as a foreign feeling flooded his heart. Someone cared? Someone believed him? He searched her eyes for a sign that she was joking, but he couldn't find one. There wasn't even pity. She just honestly cared for him- a kid she didn't even really know- and looked like she would believe what he said. Bewildered, he took her hand and let her lead him out into Diagon Alley to catch up with the other Weasleys.
For the rest of the time that Harry was at the Burrow, he was practically glued to Nova's side. While she didn't mind, Bill and Charlie were a different story, because wherever Harry went, Ron went. Needless to say, the elder brothers weren't fans of their little squirt of a brother following them around everywhere. No one really understood why Harry would always follow the blonde girl, or why he seemed to visibly relax when she was nearby, so Fred and George took to taunting him about him having a 'crush' on her, and Ron acted huffy and jealous that she was 'stealing' his best friend, but they both took it good naturedly. Their friendship grew and turned into trust and Harry began to allude and hint to his less-than-stellar treatment at the Dursleys, and she in turn told him stories about her Hogwarts days and tried to help assimilate him into the magical world. Something that she found he was extremely behind in learning.
By the time September 1st came around, she had taught him all the Pureblood etiquettes, bought him a wardrobe that wasn't all hand-me-downs, tutored him in nearly all the coursework for his upcoming year, and started explaining rudimentary ward breaking since it was her specialty. Harry never thought he would say it, but he was actually a little bit sad that his next year at Hogwarts was about to start.