Story Title: Harry Potter and The Staff of Armagnus
Story description: Harry Potter enters his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry unaware of the path ahead of him in the year. Three new arrivals in Harry's year bring serious intrigue around the school. One gets extra attention from Harry though somehow she seems familiar to him...
Rating: PG-13 for some mild cursing (hehe...pun).
Chapter Title: Too Many Guests
A/N: This is a new and improved version of one of my fan fics. I had to revamp it because I felt as if the other one was going nowhere. This should be a lot better...I hope. Please read and review, and if you find anything wrong with it tell me. I like feedback.
The summer, for Harry Potter, was quite dull and boring. The air was always humid and thick, and the sun was always beating down on him when he went outside. On the other hand, he anxiously awaited news of Voldemort's attack. This summer slightly reminded him of the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the way that he had no way of knowing when the Dark Lord would strike next. He usually paced around his room waiting for owls from Ron and Hermione and trying to avoid the Dursleys as much as possible.
Harry was sitting on his bed after a long bout of treading the length of his room. He leaned back onto the rather lumpy mattress and folded his hands on his chest. His feet stuck off the end of the bed. He was getting taller every day. He supposed that he now knew how Ron felt. He was gaining on six feet, two inches, but Ron was still a bit taller than he at six feet, five inches. The state of Harry's hair was still extremely messy, possibly messier, and he still had the same round, black glasses.
Hermione, however, had blossomed from a bushy haired girl into a beautiful wavy haired woman. Her curls had softened and she now just had a slight wave to them. Harry sighed. Ron was lucky to have gotten her, but Harry wasn't sure if he really liked her that way. He could tell that Ron and Hermione would eventually be together. The fight in their fourth year about the Yule Ball was a dead give away that they both liked each other.
He wished he could be so lucky. He had pretty much no experience with girls. Cho was there, sure, but after their kiss and his neglect of her she left him for another. He was fine with that. She annoyed him in a way. She was always crying about Cedric, but then got jealous when he wanted to meet Hermione. Hermione was only a friend, and he thought Cho would have understood that. He shook his head and sighed. Some girls caught his eye, but a lot of them were too giggly, and that was one thing that he could not stand.
It was depressing that a boy as famous as he was hadn't ever had a real girlfriend. This was going to be his last year at Hogwarts. Maybe. Just maybe he'd see something in someone that intrigued him. He heaved a breath. Doubtful. Very doubtful.
All of the sudden there was a knock at his door. This was highly unusual. He stood from the bed and walked across the room to the door. He pulled it open to see Uncle Vernon standing there. His face wasn't its normal shade of maroon. It was slightly pale. He looked frightened and at the same time distraught. Harry wondered what could be the matter.
"Boy," Uncle Vernon said.
Harry picked up the sound of his Aunt Petunia crying.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Something's happened to Dudley," Uncle Vernon said. His voice was cracking with every word.
Harry raised a brow. From the drama that his cousin produced in the past he wouldn't be surprised if he had just simply skinned his knee or broken his arm. He said, "So?"
"So?!" exclaimed Uncle Vernon, "It's all because of you lot that it happened!!! It has to be! That Volde-thingy might be behind it!"
"What happened?" Harry questioned. He was feeling very impatient with his uncle. He wasn't getting to the point fast enough for the likes of Harry. He stepped forward.
"He's...in the hospital," Uncle Vernon said, "He's in a ruddy coma."
Harry was taken completely by surprise. He stepped back a little. He had never loved his cousin, but something about this seemed unusual, and he was worried.
"The doctors don't know why he did it," Uncle Vernon said, "He and his friends were at the park, and they said he just collapsed."
Harry raised a brow, "Did they see anything? Lights?"
"They were too scared to say anything," Uncle Vernon said, but all of the sudden his expression changed. His skin changed from white to puce in an instant of realization. "You! It's because of you! They were probably trying to get to you through MY SON!" Vernon said, "You need to leave now! Before when something like this happened you had to stay, but now you have to leave! Go stay with your freak-friends and NEVER COME BACK!"
Harry was taken aback. In that instant, he knew that his uncle was right. Maybe Voldemort knew how to make Harry's protection weaker. He retreated back into his room and grabbed his trunk. The Weasleys would understand if he just Apparated into their house. They would understand that his Uncle looked as if he could punch him square in the face because of what happened to his son.
Uncle Vernon's face kept turning redder and redder and he turned around quickly. He stomped down the hallway without so much as a goodbye. Harry didn't mind. They barely said anything to him besides the occasional degrading comment or scolding.
He walked around the room grabbing stray quills, books, pieces of parchment and other items that he needed for school. He packed away his new dress robes—they were once again, green—and closed the door of his trunk. He gave the room one last look and sighed a little. He eyed Hedwig. She was in her cage with her head under her wing. She was asleep.
He grabbed her cage. The stirring of her surroundings had awakened the beautiful snowy owl, and she gave Harry a curious hoot. Harry merely smiled at her.
"We're leaving here," He said.
She hooted in reply. It amazed Harry how intelligent his owl was. She tucked her head back under her wing and settled herself on her perch.
Harry took in a deep breath before Apparating. He appeared in front of The Burrow. Trolls scampered everywhere as he appeared. There was a tall redheaded boy standing in the back. It was Ron, and he seemed slightly surprised to see him there.
"Harry?" He asked, "What are you doing here? You were supposed to meet us at the station tomorrow."
"I know. I got kicked out of the Dursley's," Harry replied simply.
"Why?" Ron asked with a slight raise of his fiery brow. He crossed his arms over his chest and a interested expression spread across his heavily freckled face.
"Dudley was put into a coma," Harry answered, "His friends said he just collapsed. I think it' pretty suspicious. It could have something to do with Voldemort."
Ron's face went pink after flinching at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. He had been hearing Harry say it for seven years now, but he still couldn't get used to it. The name still struck fear in to the hearts of wizards everywhere around the world.
"Ron," Harry said, "You've got to stop doing that. It's slightly annoying."
"Well how do you think I feel? I grew up hearing the stories about him," Ron said.
"And I lived the stories about him," Harry retorted with a slight frown on his face.
"Oh. Right you are," Ron said sheepishly.
"Help me take my stuff inside, will you?" Harry asked motioning to the trunk and a suitcase. Hedwig poked her head out from beneath her wing again.
Ron nodded and picked up Hedwig's cage, and Harry grabbed his suitcase. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at the rather large trunk sitting next to him.
"Locomotor trunk!" he exclaimed. The trunk raised and moved slowly toward the front entrance of the house.
"I really think he might have been behind it," said Harry as Ron helped him take his things into the house.
They moved up the stairs and past Ron's bedroom and into what used to be Fred and George's old room. Harry looked at Ron with an expression of confusion.
"We've got guests," Ron explained.
"What kind of guests?" Harry asked.
"My cousin and two of her friends are going to be going to Hogwarts this year. They're in their seventh year like us," Ron said, "They exchanged here from America. California, actually."
"Really?" Harry asked, "Who'd they exchange them for?" deep in his heart he wanted him to say 'Malfoy, that ruddy ferret.' This hope was quashed by Ron's answer.
"Padma and Pavarti Patil, and Lavender Brown," Ron said.
Two of the girls were in the Gryffindor house along with Harry and Ron, and Padma had been Ron's date to the Yule ball in the fourth year. Harry heaved a sigh.
"Two of the girls are pretty good-looking," Ron said. He raised and lowered his eyebrows at his friend.
"What about the third? Is she hideous?" Harry questioned with a slight chuckle.
"No...she's my cousin...remember?" Ron said. His eared tinged red a bit.
"Oh," Harry said, "Right." He felt slightly embarrassed.
"Well," Ron said after a moment's silence, "Let's head downstairs. I think Ginny's trying to keep them occupied until mom and Hermione are back from Diagon Alley. They just arrived today, you know. Hermione and mom thought they'd be here later."
They walked out of the room and down the stairs. The steps made a rumbling noise due to the fact that they were going quite quickly. They made it to the living room to find that Ginny sat on the couch along with two unrecognizable girls. Another girl that he didn't know sat in a chair alone.
One of the girls had fiery hair and looked very much like Ginny except that her face was slightly heart-shaped rather than round as Ginny's was. The next who sat on a chair had short black hair and icy blue eyes. She looked as if she could be very mean at times. The other girl that sat next to Ginny was stunningly beautiful with her black wavy hair and hazel eyes. Cho Chang, though exquisitely pretty, had nothing on this girl...none of them actually. They were all extremely pretty, but something about the third girl appealed to Harry more so than the other two.
Harry had the funny memory of Ron saying, "They don't make 'em like that at Hogwarts." Now he realized that it was true. They surely didn't make them like that at his school, and he only gaped at them as Ron made the introductions.
"That's my cousin Cassandra Weasley my father's brother's daughter," Ron pointed to the redheaded girl, "and that's Darla Bane," He gestured to the girl sitting alone, "and that's Keira Rose," Ron motioned to the other girl next to Ginny.
"Hi," said Cassandra warmly. She nodded at him.
Darla waved at him a little.
"Hey," Keira said with a little smile.
"This is Harry Potter," Ron said looking over to Harry.
Darla's eyes went wide, Keira let out a little gasp, but Cassandra didn't really have any reaction. Keira looked especially excited.
"Really?" she asked.
"Of course," Cassandra said, "I've told you that Ron knows Harry Potter. Remember?"
"I thought you were lying," Darla put in with a little shrug.
"Well that's real nice. My own friends think that I'm a liar," Cassandra grumbled under her breath.
Harry pressed his lips together, withholding a little smile. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the others. They were very odd. Their way of speaking was different from the people in Britain's.
"Harry?" asked someone from behind. The voice belonged to Hermione.
Harry turned around to see Hermione running at him. She threw her arms around him in a hug, and she smiled a little. "I didn't think you were coming, Harry"
"Me neither," He said simply as Hermione detached herself from him and gave Ron a rather large kiss on the cheek. He thought he heard her say something that sounded a lot like, "There's my sexy-bummed man."
Mrs. Weasley entered the room with a large smile across her worn face.
"Harry, dear," she said in the usual kindhearted tone that she directed toward Harry, "It's so good to see that you're here early. We have so many guests now." She directed her attention to Ron, "Did you introduce them?"
Ron nodded and said, "Yes, mum." He wiped some of Hermione's lip- gloss from his freckled cheek when his mother looked away.
"Good," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, "Now. Who's hungry?"
Two voices from behind Mrs. Weasley sounded in unison, "We are, mum."
Fred and George Weasley grinned their identical grin to their mother as she turned around to face them. The only distinction between them was that Fred wore his favorite dragon skin coat, and George wore a maroon sweater. It was most likely one that his mother had knitted him for Christmas the year before.
Darla and Keira exchanged looks. They both smiled a little, and returned their eyes to the twins. Cassandra had stood up and was hugging her cousins in her arms.
"There's our favorite cousin," George said.
"Have you been behaving?" Fred asked. He winked at the lot of them slightly.
Cassandra didn't answer them. She just had her lips spread out into the most mischievous smile;one that highly resembled the one that Fred and George had gotten when they'd done something particularly bad.
"Wait," Fred said.
"What are we asking you for?" George finished.
"Of course not," They both said in unison.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head a bit, and said, "Don't encourage her, you two. I'm off to go make supper. Why don't you all get to know each other a little better?" She walked off and left the nine of them to themselves.
"What were you talking about?" Harry said in a hushed tone as Cassandra walked back over to sit next to Ginny.
"You mean about Cassandra?" George asked.
"Harry, dear, Harry," Fred sighed a little, "Just so you know. When Ginny and Cassandra are together...they make George and I look like angels."
Hermione's eyes widened as she heard them say this. Ron nodded, and Harry just laughed a little. The thought of two people worse than Fred and George would be horrible. He couldn't wait to see what they'd end up doing to Snape. He knew Ginny would do something to him.
"So," Darla said, "What do you actually do for fun around here?" She looked around the house. She had her eyebrows raised.
"Decapitate things, play practical jokes, and shenanigans," Fred replied promptly.
Hermione gave the two boys the evil eye. She shook her head a bit and said, "That's not what we actually do around here."
"Well she asked what we do, so we told her, Hermione," George stated.
Harry decided to say something instead of seem like a complete idiot just watching the conversation go by, "We play Quidditch sometimes."
"I love Quidditch!" exclaimed Keira.
"Really?" asked Ron, "What position d'you play?"
"I used to play Chaser," Keira replied with a slight nod, "Cassandra and Darla play too."
"I play Keeper," Darla said in a very dignified tone, "My captain wanted me to be Seeker this year because our old Seeker left, and he thought I'd be better, but, I decided to exchange to Hogwarts instead."
"I'm an awesome beater," Cassandra said with a large smile, "better than Fred and George combined" She smirked and the twins scowled at her as they shook their heads.
"So are you three going to try out for your house's team?" Hermione asked with a slight bit of interest. She had locked her fingers in with Ron's. Smiled a little with a tilt of her head.
"Maybe," Darla said, "but it depends on which house we get into right?"
"Yeah it does kind of," Harry replied.
Keira said, "I really hope I'm in Gryffindor. My mom was in Gryffindor when she went to Hogwarts."
"Your mum went to Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a slight raise of his eyebrow. He thought that she was from America. Maybe her mother was British and her father was American.
"She did," Keira said with a nod, "I think I'll probably get into Hufflepuff, though. I'm not full blooded, so I'm not going to get into Slytherin."
"You don't want to get into Slytherin," Ron said, "nothing but jerks and wankers in there."
"Yeah," said Harry.
"My parents went to Hogwarts," Darla said in an angered tone, "and they were in Slytherin." She narrowed her eyes at the lot across the room. She got up and walked away from the group and up the stairs.
Hermione's eyes went wide and she nudged both Ron and Harry in the ribs. She shook her head and said, "You shouldn't say things like that. You never know who you're going to offend. That was a horrible thing to say."
"It was a true thing to say, Hermione," George said.
"Well someone had better go talk to her!" Hermione said loudly with a stern look on her face.
"I will," Cassandra said looking particularly aggravated. She walked out of the room and followed Darla's footsteps. Keira got up, shrugged a little and walked upstairs after her.
"What do you think of them, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Darla seems a bit moody, doesn't she?" Harry asked in reply. "Cassandra and Keira are nice."
Ron nodded a lot and he got a swift elbow to the ribs from Hermione. He groaned a bit and said, "If you keep doing that I'm gonna have to go to St. Mungo's for a bone mending." He eyed her with a little redness forming on the tips of his ears.
"Ron," Hermione said, "We're supposed to show Darla how our school is. If she thinks that the school is full of mean, horrible people she might not want to come."
Ginny interjected, "She'd fit right in. She's been nothing but mean to me, at least, ever since they Apparated in today." She crossed her arms firmly over her chest, "I honestly don't see how Cassandra and Keira can get along with her. I think her father is a supporter of You-Know-Who."
"That's awfully prejudice isn't it?" Hermione asked. She seemed to be taking much offence in the defense of Darla.
"Can't you put two and two together, Hermione?" George asked with a raise of his brow.
"What do you mean?" questioned Hermione.
"According to Cassandra," Fred started, "he's just like Lucius Malfoy. In fact, the two are mates from school."
Hermione raised both of her eyebrows. "That doesn't mean that—"She broke off seeing that the three exchange students had come back downstairs. She opened her mouth to speak, but Darla shot her an extremely nasty look and she just said, "I'm leaving for the night."
"But the train leaves tomorrow," Ginny said with a little confused look on her face.
"I can catch it in London," She said with a slight frown on her face. She walked over to Cassandra and Keira. She hugged the two of them tightly and said, "I'll see you two on the train. I think I just need to be alone right now." She gave the two girls weak smiles and then Apparated.
Keira turned to the group and said softly, "Her mother died a few months ago. That's why she was sensitive about that. She's really a nice person, but she's just touchy about certain things."
Ron's face went all red and he said, "That really was a mean thing to say. I shouldn't have said it..."
"You're going to apologize to her on the train tomorrow, right Ron?" questioned Hermione with a sad tone in her voice.
"Yeah I s'pose so," Ron replied.
Harry felt bad for Darla. She seemed nice at first, before Ron made her angry. He let out a little breath and said, "So do you think that she'll be better tomorrow?" He looked over to Cassandra and Keira.
"Yeah," Cassandra said, "She should be after you apologize." She shrugged a little bit and smiled, "She always does this around new people. She'll get used to you guys, and you'll see how fun she can be. She's pretty crazy, and...well crazy sums it up."
Keira nodded in agreement. She tossed some of her long, dark, wavy hair behind her shoulder, and Harry found himself staring at her. She looked back at him, and she blushed when their eyes met. She turned away and said something into Cassandra's ear. Cassandra looked over to Harry and smiled.
"So," George said loudly, "Mum. When are we gonna get some food? We're starving out here, not to mention that some of us have left." He leaned on to harry a bit.
"Soon!" Mrs. Weasley poked her head out from the kitchen and scanned the room. "Wait..." She said, "Where did the third student go off to? Darla?" She held a large casserole dish in her hands.
"She decided she wanted to go back home for the night," Keira said, "She wanted to say good-bye to her dad again, I think."
"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said, "Well. Supper's ready, and you had all better wash up. Especially you two." She eyed Fred and George. "Merlin knows what kinds of things you were experimenting with before you got here."
"Dragon dung," Fred said.
"For new and improved Dung Bombs," George ended.
Harry looked to George who was leaning on him and stepped away making a noise that indicated that he was disgusted. He wiped his sleeve off a bit and George grinned at him.
They all headed in to the back yard. Mr. Weasley, who must have returned home from work while they were in the living room, had set up the tables, chairs, and plates. He gave them all smiles and greeted them.
Soon dinner was served, and they all found things to talk about. Keira talked Harry mostly. Harry wasn't sure if she was just making small-talk or if she was flirting, but he desperately hoped that it was the latter of the two. After dinner and desert were finished everyone headed inside to sleep. It was late, and they all had to get up early the next morning.
A/N: Tell me how you liked it/hatedit/loved it....Review please! I would love you forever (
Story description: Harry Potter enters his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry unaware of the path ahead of him in the year. Three new arrivals in Harry's year bring serious intrigue around the school. One gets extra attention from Harry though somehow she seems familiar to him...
Rating: PG-13 for some mild cursing (hehe...pun).
Chapter Title: Too Many Guests
A/N: This is a new and improved version of one of my fan fics. I had to revamp it because I felt as if the other one was going nowhere. This should be a lot better...I hope. Please read and review, and if you find anything wrong with it tell me. I like feedback.
The summer, for Harry Potter, was quite dull and boring. The air was always humid and thick, and the sun was always beating down on him when he went outside. On the other hand, he anxiously awaited news of Voldemort's attack. This summer slightly reminded him of the summer before his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the way that he had no way of knowing when the Dark Lord would strike next. He usually paced around his room waiting for owls from Ron and Hermione and trying to avoid the Dursleys as much as possible.
Harry was sitting on his bed after a long bout of treading the length of his room. He leaned back onto the rather lumpy mattress and folded his hands on his chest. His feet stuck off the end of the bed. He was getting taller every day. He supposed that he now knew how Ron felt. He was gaining on six feet, two inches, but Ron was still a bit taller than he at six feet, five inches. The state of Harry's hair was still extremely messy, possibly messier, and he still had the same round, black glasses.
Hermione, however, had blossomed from a bushy haired girl into a beautiful wavy haired woman. Her curls had softened and she now just had a slight wave to them. Harry sighed. Ron was lucky to have gotten her, but Harry wasn't sure if he really liked her that way. He could tell that Ron and Hermione would eventually be together. The fight in their fourth year about the Yule Ball was a dead give away that they both liked each other.
He wished he could be so lucky. He had pretty much no experience with girls. Cho was there, sure, but after their kiss and his neglect of her she left him for another. He was fine with that. She annoyed him in a way. She was always crying about Cedric, but then got jealous when he wanted to meet Hermione. Hermione was only a friend, and he thought Cho would have understood that. He shook his head and sighed. Some girls caught his eye, but a lot of them were too giggly, and that was one thing that he could not stand.
It was depressing that a boy as famous as he was hadn't ever had a real girlfriend. This was going to be his last year at Hogwarts. Maybe. Just maybe he'd see something in someone that intrigued him. He heaved a breath. Doubtful. Very doubtful.
All of the sudden there was a knock at his door. This was highly unusual. He stood from the bed and walked across the room to the door. He pulled it open to see Uncle Vernon standing there. His face wasn't its normal shade of maroon. It was slightly pale. He looked frightened and at the same time distraught. Harry wondered what could be the matter.
"Boy," Uncle Vernon said.
Harry picked up the sound of his Aunt Petunia crying.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Something's happened to Dudley," Uncle Vernon said. His voice was cracking with every word.
Harry raised a brow. From the drama that his cousin produced in the past he wouldn't be surprised if he had just simply skinned his knee or broken his arm. He said, "So?"
"So?!" exclaimed Uncle Vernon, "It's all because of you lot that it happened!!! It has to be! That Volde-thingy might be behind it!"
"What happened?" Harry questioned. He was feeling very impatient with his uncle. He wasn't getting to the point fast enough for the likes of Harry. He stepped forward.
"He's...in the hospital," Uncle Vernon said, "He's in a ruddy coma."
Harry was taken completely by surprise. He stepped back a little. He had never loved his cousin, but something about this seemed unusual, and he was worried.
"The doctors don't know why he did it," Uncle Vernon said, "He and his friends were at the park, and they said he just collapsed."
Harry raised a brow, "Did they see anything? Lights?"
"They were too scared to say anything," Uncle Vernon said, but all of the sudden his expression changed. His skin changed from white to puce in an instant of realization. "You! It's because of you! They were probably trying to get to you through MY SON!" Vernon said, "You need to leave now! Before when something like this happened you had to stay, but now you have to leave! Go stay with your freak-friends and NEVER COME BACK!"
Harry was taken aback. In that instant, he knew that his uncle was right. Maybe Voldemort knew how to make Harry's protection weaker. He retreated back into his room and grabbed his trunk. The Weasleys would understand if he just Apparated into their house. They would understand that his Uncle looked as if he could punch him square in the face because of what happened to his son.
Uncle Vernon's face kept turning redder and redder and he turned around quickly. He stomped down the hallway without so much as a goodbye. Harry didn't mind. They barely said anything to him besides the occasional degrading comment or scolding.
He walked around the room grabbing stray quills, books, pieces of parchment and other items that he needed for school. He packed away his new dress robes—they were once again, green—and closed the door of his trunk. He gave the room one last look and sighed a little. He eyed Hedwig. She was in her cage with her head under her wing. She was asleep.
He grabbed her cage. The stirring of her surroundings had awakened the beautiful snowy owl, and she gave Harry a curious hoot. Harry merely smiled at her.
"We're leaving here," He said.
She hooted in reply. It amazed Harry how intelligent his owl was. She tucked her head back under her wing and settled herself on her perch.
Harry took in a deep breath before Apparating. He appeared in front of The Burrow. Trolls scampered everywhere as he appeared. There was a tall redheaded boy standing in the back. It was Ron, and he seemed slightly surprised to see him there.
"Harry?" He asked, "What are you doing here? You were supposed to meet us at the station tomorrow."
"I know. I got kicked out of the Dursley's," Harry replied simply.
"Why?" Ron asked with a slight raise of his fiery brow. He crossed his arms over his chest and a interested expression spread across his heavily freckled face.
"Dudley was put into a coma," Harry answered, "His friends said he just collapsed. I think it' pretty suspicious. It could have something to do with Voldemort."
Ron's face went pink after flinching at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. He had been hearing Harry say it for seven years now, but he still couldn't get used to it. The name still struck fear in to the hearts of wizards everywhere around the world.
"Ron," Harry said, "You've got to stop doing that. It's slightly annoying."
"Well how do you think I feel? I grew up hearing the stories about him," Ron said.
"And I lived the stories about him," Harry retorted with a slight frown on his face.
"Oh. Right you are," Ron said sheepishly.
"Help me take my stuff inside, will you?" Harry asked motioning to the trunk and a suitcase. Hedwig poked her head out from beneath her wing again.
Ron nodded and picked up Hedwig's cage, and Harry grabbed his suitcase. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at the rather large trunk sitting next to him.
"Locomotor trunk!" he exclaimed. The trunk raised and moved slowly toward the front entrance of the house.
"I really think he might have been behind it," said Harry as Ron helped him take his things into the house.
They moved up the stairs and past Ron's bedroom and into what used to be Fred and George's old room. Harry looked at Ron with an expression of confusion.
"We've got guests," Ron explained.
"What kind of guests?" Harry asked.
"My cousin and two of her friends are going to be going to Hogwarts this year. They're in their seventh year like us," Ron said, "They exchanged here from America. California, actually."
"Really?" Harry asked, "Who'd they exchange them for?" deep in his heart he wanted him to say 'Malfoy, that ruddy ferret.' This hope was quashed by Ron's answer.
"Padma and Pavarti Patil, and Lavender Brown," Ron said.
Two of the girls were in the Gryffindor house along with Harry and Ron, and Padma had been Ron's date to the Yule ball in the fourth year. Harry heaved a sigh.
"Two of the girls are pretty good-looking," Ron said. He raised and lowered his eyebrows at his friend.
"What about the third? Is she hideous?" Harry questioned with a slight chuckle.
"No...she's my cousin...remember?" Ron said. His eared tinged red a bit.
"Oh," Harry said, "Right." He felt slightly embarrassed.
"Well," Ron said after a moment's silence, "Let's head downstairs. I think Ginny's trying to keep them occupied until mom and Hermione are back from Diagon Alley. They just arrived today, you know. Hermione and mom thought they'd be here later."
They walked out of the room and down the stairs. The steps made a rumbling noise due to the fact that they were going quite quickly. They made it to the living room to find that Ginny sat on the couch along with two unrecognizable girls. Another girl that he didn't know sat in a chair alone.
One of the girls had fiery hair and looked very much like Ginny except that her face was slightly heart-shaped rather than round as Ginny's was. The next who sat on a chair had short black hair and icy blue eyes. She looked as if she could be very mean at times. The other girl that sat next to Ginny was stunningly beautiful with her black wavy hair and hazel eyes. Cho Chang, though exquisitely pretty, had nothing on this girl...none of them actually. They were all extremely pretty, but something about the third girl appealed to Harry more so than the other two.
Harry had the funny memory of Ron saying, "They don't make 'em like that at Hogwarts." Now he realized that it was true. They surely didn't make them like that at his school, and he only gaped at them as Ron made the introductions.
"That's my cousin Cassandra Weasley my father's brother's daughter," Ron pointed to the redheaded girl, "and that's Darla Bane," He gestured to the girl sitting alone, "and that's Keira Rose," Ron motioned to the other girl next to Ginny.
"Hi," said Cassandra warmly. She nodded at him.
Darla waved at him a little.
"Hey," Keira said with a little smile.
"This is Harry Potter," Ron said looking over to Harry.
Darla's eyes went wide, Keira let out a little gasp, but Cassandra didn't really have any reaction. Keira looked especially excited.
"Really?" she asked.
"Of course," Cassandra said, "I've told you that Ron knows Harry Potter. Remember?"
"I thought you were lying," Darla put in with a little shrug.
"Well that's real nice. My own friends think that I'm a liar," Cassandra grumbled under her breath.
Harry pressed his lips together, withholding a little smile. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the others. They were very odd. Their way of speaking was different from the people in Britain's.
"Harry?" asked someone from behind. The voice belonged to Hermione.
Harry turned around to see Hermione running at him. She threw her arms around him in a hug, and she smiled a little. "I didn't think you were coming, Harry"
"Me neither," He said simply as Hermione detached herself from him and gave Ron a rather large kiss on the cheek. He thought he heard her say something that sounded a lot like, "There's my sexy-bummed man."
Mrs. Weasley entered the room with a large smile across her worn face.
"Harry, dear," she said in the usual kindhearted tone that she directed toward Harry, "It's so good to see that you're here early. We have so many guests now." She directed her attention to Ron, "Did you introduce them?"
Ron nodded and said, "Yes, mum." He wiped some of Hermione's lip- gloss from his freckled cheek when his mother looked away.
"Good," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, "Now. Who's hungry?"
Two voices from behind Mrs. Weasley sounded in unison, "We are, mum."
Fred and George Weasley grinned their identical grin to their mother as she turned around to face them. The only distinction between them was that Fred wore his favorite dragon skin coat, and George wore a maroon sweater. It was most likely one that his mother had knitted him for Christmas the year before.
Darla and Keira exchanged looks. They both smiled a little, and returned their eyes to the twins. Cassandra had stood up and was hugging her cousins in her arms.
"There's our favorite cousin," George said.
"Have you been behaving?" Fred asked. He winked at the lot of them slightly.
Cassandra didn't answer them. She just had her lips spread out into the most mischievous smile;one that highly resembled the one that Fred and George had gotten when they'd done something particularly bad.
"Wait," Fred said.
"What are we asking you for?" George finished.
"Of course not," They both said in unison.
Mrs. Weasley shook her head a bit, and said, "Don't encourage her, you two. I'm off to go make supper. Why don't you all get to know each other a little better?" She walked off and left the nine of them to themselves.
"What were you talking about?" Harry said in a hushed tone as Cassandra walked back over to sit next to Ginny.
"You mean about Cassandra?" George asked.
"Harry, dear, Harry," Fred sighed a little, "Just so you know. When Ginny and Cassandra are together...they make George and I look like angels."
Hermione's eyes widened as she heard them say this. Ron nodded, and Harry just laughed a little. The thought of two people worse than Fred and George would be horrible. He couldn't wait to see what they'd end up doing to Snape. He knew Ginny would do something to him.
"So," Darla said, "What do you actually do for fun around here?" She looked around the house. She had her eyebrows raised.
"Decapitate things, play practical jokes, and shenanigans," Fred replied promptly.
Hermione gave the two boys the evil eye. She shook her head a bit and said, "That's not what we actually do around here."
"Well she asked what we do, so we told her, Hermione," George stated.
Harry decided to say something instead of seem like a complete idiot just watching the conversation go by, "We play Quidditch sometimes."
"I love Quidditch!" exclaimed Keira.
"Really?" asked Ron, "What position d'you play?"
"I used to play Chaser," Keira replied with a slight nod, "Cassandra and Darla play too."
"I play Keeper," Darla said in a very dignified tone, "My captain wanted me to be Seeker this year because our old Seeker left, and he thought I'd be better, but, I decided to exchange to Hogwarts instead."
"I'm an awesome beater," Cassandra said with a large smile, "better than Fred and George combined" She smirked and the twins scowled at her as they shook their heads.
"So are you three going to try out for your house's team?" Hermione asked with a slight bit of interest. She had locked her fingers in with Ron's. Smiled a little with a tilt of her head.
"Maybe," Darla said, "but it depends on which house we get into right?"
"Yeah it does kind of," Harry replied.
Keira said, "I really hope I'm in Gryffindor. My mom was in Gryffindor when she went to Hogwarts."
"Your mum went to Hogwarts?" Harry asked with a slight raise of his eyebrow. He thought that she was from America. Maybe her mother was British and her father was American.
"She did," Keira said with a nod, "I think I'll probably get into Hufflepuff, though. I'm not full blooded, so I'm not going to get into Slytherin."
"You don't want to get into Slytherin," Ron said, "nothing but jerks and wankers in there."
"Yeah," said Harry.
"My parents went to Hogwarts," Darla said in an angered tone, "and they were in Slytherin." She narrowed her eyes at the lot across the room. She got up and walked away from the group and up the stairs.
Hermione's eyes went wide and she nudged both Ron and Harry in the ribs. She shook her head and said, "You shouldn't say things like that. You never know who you're going to offend. That was a horrible thing to say."
"It was a true thing to say, Hermione," George said.
"Well someone had better go talk to her!" Hermione said loudly with a stern look on her face.
"I will," Cassandra said looking particularly aggravated. She walked out of the room and followed Darla's footsteps. Keira got up, shrugged a little and walked upstairs after her.
"What do you think of them, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Darla seems a bit moody, doesn't she?" Harry asked in reply. "Cassandra and Keira are nice."
Ron nodded a lot and he got a swift elbow to the ribs from Hermione. He groaned a bit and said, "If you keep doing that I'm gonna have to go to St. Mungo's for a bone mending." He eyed her with a little redness forming on the tips of his ears.
"Ron," Hermione said, "We're supposed to show Darla how our school is. If she thinks that the school is full of mean, horrible people she might not want to come."
Ginny interjected, "She'd fit right in. She's been nothing but mean to me, at least, ever since they Apparated in today." She crossed her arms firmly over her chest, "I honestly don't see how Cassandra and Keira can get along with her. I think her father is a supporter of You-Know-Who."
"That's awfully prejudice isn't it?" Hermione asked. She seemed to be taking much offence in the defense of Darla.
"Can't you put two and two together, Hermione?" George asked with a raise of his brow.
"What do you mean?" questioned Hermione.
"According to Cassandra," Fred started, "he's just like Lucius Malfoy. In fact, the two are mates from school."
Hermione raised both of her eyebrows. "That doesn't mean that—"She broke off seeing that the three exchange students had come back downstairs. She opened her mouth to speak, but Darla shot her an extremely nasty look and she just said, "I'm leaving for the night."
"But the train leaves tomorrow," Ginny said with a little confused look on her face.
"I can catch it in London," She said with a slight frown on her face. She walked over to Cassandra and Keira. She hugged the two of them tightly and said, "I'll see you two on the train. I think I just need to be alone right now." She gave the two girls weak smiles and then Apparated.
Keira turned to the group and said softly, "Her mother died a few months ago. That's why she was sensitive about that. She's really a nice person, but she's just touchy about certain things."
Ron's face went all red and he said, "That really was a mean thing to say. I shouldn't have said it..."
"You're going to apologize to her on the train tomorrow, right Ron?" questioned Hermione with a sad tone in her voice.
"Yeah I s'pose so," Ron replied.
Harry felt bad for Darla. She seemed nice at first, before Ron made her angry. He let out a little breath and said, "So do you think that she'll be better tomorrow?" He looked over to Cassandra and Keira.
"Yeah," Cassandra said, "She should be after you apologize." She shrugged a little bit and smiled, "She always does this around new people. She'll get used to you guys, and you'll see how fun she can be. She's pretty crazy, and...well crazy sums it up."
Keira nodded in agreement. She tossed some of her long, dark, wavy hair behind her shoulder, and Harry found himself staring at her. She looked back at him, and she blushed when their eyes met. She turned away and said something into Cassandra's ear. Cassandra looked over to Harry and smiled.
"So," George said loudly, "Mum. When are we gonna get some food? We're starving out here, not to mention that some of us have left." He leaned on to harry a bit.
"Soon!" Mrs. Weasley poked her head out from the kitchen and scanned the room. "Wait..." She said, "Where did the third student go off to? Darla?" She held a large casserole dish in her hands.
"She decided she wanted to go back home for the night," Keira said, "She wanted to say good-bye to her dad again, I think."
"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said, "Well. Supper's ready, and you had all better wash up. Especially you two." She eyed Fred and George. "Merlin knows what kinds of things you were experimenting with before you got here."
"Dragon dung," Fred said.
"For new and improved Dung Bombs," George ended.
Harry looked to George who was leaning on him and stepped away making a noise that indicated that he was disgusted. He wiped his sleeve off a bit and George grinned at him.
They all headed in to the back yard. Mr. Weasley, who must have returned home from work while they were in the living room, had set up the tables, chairs, and plates. He gave them all smiles and greeted them.
Soon dinner was served, and they all found things to talk about. Keira talked Harry mostly. Harry wasn't sure if she was just making small-talk or if she was flirting, but he desperately hoped that it was the latter of the two. After dinner and desert were finished everyone headed inside to sleep. It was late, and they all had to get up early the next morning.
A/N: Tell me how you liked it/hatedit/loved it....Review please! I would love you forever (