Disclaimer: I do not, in any way whatsoever, own any of JKR's fabulous characters or plotlines. I simply like to mess around with them whenever I can.

As soon as Amanda had finished telling me about Ginny, she talked me into writing a letter to Ginny myself so that we could start to get to know each other. I grabbed a quill from the desk in my room and scratched off a quick message.

Ginny~

Hi. I am Angie Westermann. I know that you don't know me, but

I know of you through our mutual friend Amanda Hughes. She mentioned

that you lived in England and thought I should contact you since I will be

moving there to live at the end of this week. I know that this may sound

somewhat strange, but I was hoping that maybe we could talk some so

that I could at least know one person in the entire country before I moved

there. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Always~

Angie W.

I quickly attached the letter to my barn owl Tessa's leg and sent her off before I could change my mind. After that, Amanda and I spent the next five hours talking about everything: this Ginny Weasley person, how different England would be from California, what the school would be like, and other things like that. My empty suitcases were forgotten and left lying where they fell earlier.

Suddenly, there was a sharp tap on my balcony door. Amanda had closed it earlier, saying that it was a bit too breezy for her tastes. When I looked over, I saw Tessa standing on the balcony, waiting to be let inside. Amanda beat me to the door and Tessa sailed over to the bed, leg stretched out to reveal a letter attached. I took it off with shaking hands, let Tessa give my hand a love nip, and sent her out for the night.

I unrolled the letter, noticing at once that it was quite long and signed by Ginny Weasley at the bottom. I quickly focused back at the beginning of the letter and began to read.

Angie~

So, you are Amanda's best friend. It is good to finally talk to you.

She has told me so much about you. In fact, she has told me so much that

it feels like I already know you. Silly, right?

I am surprised to hear that you are moving here so suddenly.

Mainly because I know you are about to start your final year at the

wizarding academy you go to. I can never remember the name of it, even

though Amanda has told me about 50,000 times. I'm guessing that you

will probably be transferring to Hogwarts when you come over, which is

where me and my three brothers go. Don't worry, I'm sure it is exactly

like your school. The only major difference that I can think of is that we

are sorted into houses and go to our classes with our houses. I'm not sure

how they are going to assign you your house though. We are sorted at the

beginning of first year, and since you are obviously not a first year, I'm

curious about how that will work out. It would be kinda awkward to have

you sorted with them, but I'm not sure how else they could do it. I guess

we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, I would be glad to talk to you about anything you want to

know. My entire family has lived here for longer than I've been alive and

all nine of us in the family, my parents included, went to Hogwarts all

seven years. I have six older brothers, and no, that is not a mistake, I do

actually have six of the sodding idiots for siblings. My oldest brother, Bill,

is a curse breaker over in Egypt. Charlie, the second oldest, is a dragon

tamer in Romania. My next oldest brother, Percy, is a down right git who

works at the Ministry. The twins, Fred and George, come next, and they

are my absolute favorite ones. They are complete pranksters and really

know how to have a good time. They are both seventh years. My youngest

brother, Ron, is just a complete pain in the ass. He's a fifth year. And I am

the youngest in the family. I'm going to be a fourth year come September.

I know this might seem a bit sudden, but I already told my mum

about you moving here. She was the one who was in the kitchen when

your owl arrived and she was curious about who was writing me when

neither of us recognized the owl. She is very concerned about you not

knowing anyone when you move here and has offered to let you spend the

rest of summer, after you move of course, at my house, getting to know me

and my brothers. Not that you would want to know them, the lot of them

are quite thick and such bloody idiots. But I could always show you

around Muggle London and Diagon Alley, which is the magical side of

London. That way you can get all of your supplies and just spend some

time shopping.

So, if you want, you can ask your mum and dad about it and send

an owl back in the morning. We are 8 hours ahead of you over here and I

don't think mum would appreciate owls coming in at all hours of the night.

Last month, the twins had an owl come around midnight and it mad the

mistake of pecking Mum and Dad's window instead of the twins'. Mum was

furious at them for being woken up, and it only got worse when she saw

that it was an order form for some of the pranks and gag gifts that the

twins make. Mum doesn't approve of them in the slightest. I was surprised

to see Fred and George alive the next morning, though both of them were

forced to de-gnome the yard, which resulted in quite a few bruises and bite

marks. I don't know what would happen if you sent one, but I really don't

want to take a chance.

Shite, I didn't realise how long this was getting. I'm just going to

wrap this up. It was nice to hear from you and I can't wait to meet you in

person. Actually, I might be able to talk one of my older brothers into

bringing me to Heathrow to meet your plane. I figure you are coming in at

Heathrow? Let me know and I will talk to you soon.

Your friend~

Ginny

I looked up and saw Amanda doing the same, with a slight smile on her face. "Is she always like this?" Amanda giggled and nodded. "I thought so. I can practically imagine her getting beyond excited about this."

"I know. And can you believe that she has six older brothers? I would die! I'm ready to rip my hair out with just the one!" Both of us laughed. I grabbed Amanda and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much for this. I'm really going to miss you when I leave."

Amanda gave me a quick squeeze and let me go. "I'm gonna miss you too. Cali is not going to be the same without you." Both of us smiled.

Just then, Dad came into my room with an apron tied around his waist. "Hello Amanda. I didn't realize that you were here. Well, I'm about finished fixing dinner and I would invite you to stay but we need to have a family talk tonight. Sorry, but maybe you could stay for dinner some other time." Dad turned around and walked out. He called back "I'll see you downstairs in 15 minutes."

I turned to Amanda, shrugging my shoulders. "I really wish you could stay for dinner, but you heard the tyrant." Amanda slapped at my shoulder, laughing. "You know I'm kidding. But I want to hang out with the whole gang tomorrow. Do you think you could set something up?" Amanda nodded. She was always the one who came up with plans and set everything in motion. Hell, she even planned her own surprise 17th birthday party, much to my annoyance.

We both stood up and hugged one last time. Once Amanda slipped out of the balcony doors, I headed to my closet to change clothes. I knew my mom would be furious if I went to dinner dressed like I just got off a surf board. I decided on a pale blue, knee length peasant skirt and a plain black tee. I slipped on a pair of black flats and headed down stairs to the catastrophe that I knew dinner was going to be.

Surprisingly, dinner was not completely terrible. Dad had made his famous chicken cordon bleu and Mom had fixed a fresh tossed salad and breadsticks to accompany it. It was very good, even though one could cut the tension in the room with a rusty chainsaw.

"So, how is Amanda doing?" I looked up from my plate, surprised that Dad had asked me. But then I remembered that Mom and I weren't talking. I then realized that I had just been sitting there and decided I had better answer.

"She's doing pretty good. She's trying to talk her parents into buying her a Firebolt for Quidditch this year," I said quickly, trying not to dwell on the fact that we wouldn't be playing together anymore. We had both been on the Quidditch teams since second year. It would be weird not playing with her any more. The table fell back into an awkward silence, all of us thinking about the giant pink elephant in the room: the move to England. I glanced up from the mahogany table and looked out the magnificent wall of windows right across the table from me. The entire wall was made of glass, giving me a spectacular view of the sun that was currently setting above the Pacific. I concentrated on the swirling blues, pinks, and oranges that were currently making a masterpiece of the sky. I then realized that this would be one of the final times that I would see the sun setting out this window, or even in this house. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of those thoughts. Instead, I thought back to the letter I got from Ginny Weasley. She seemed so nice responding to my owl when she didn't have to. Maybe this move wouldn't be so bad. Ginny seemed like she could become a close friend and maybe her brothers wouldn't be so bad either. And there was always the chance that I could talk my parents into allowing me to come back here for my winter vacation. I heard Dad ask Mom something, but I didn't pay attention. I kept thinking about how this move might not be the worst thing that could happen. Mom and Dad could have been transferred to Scandinavia or Antarctica. That would have been a complete travesty. I absolutely hate the cold, and while I've heard that England can get pretty cold, I know that there are plenty of places that are much colder. And London is a major theatre capital in the world. It would be simply amazing to see professional showing there on the West End, with all of the best theatre actors and actresses in the business. It would be a lot better than the Hollywood starlets that Amanda and I ran into on our infrequent trips to Hollywood. After seeing a bunch of immature starlets getting drunk and passing out in the middle of the day, I had pretty much given up on Young Hollywood. I glanced up and noticed that Mom and Dad were almost finished, while I still had half a plate of food left. I quickly finished my food, even though I knew 'the talk' would come as soon as everyone was finished.

When I had finished eating, Dad cleared the table with a wave of his wand and cleared his throat. Here it comes I thought, dryly.

"Angie, I know you were upset earlier when your mother and I told you about the move, but I hope that you have had some time to calm down and think things through. This move will be happening on Friday, no matter what. We will leave for the airport by 5 that night to make it in time for our 9pm flight. We will be arriving in London's Heathrow Airport around 7am the next morning, the 22nd. From there, a Ministry car will pick us up and drive us to Seaton, which is just on the coast of the English Channel. It's about 3½ hours away from London, so we should arrive at the new house around noon, once we are through customs and everything. After that, your mother and I have a meeting back at the Ministry that afternoon to attend, and then jump right into our new jobs that night, so you get the new house all to yourself to get settled into." Dad looked at me, chocolate eyes pleading with my midnight blue ones to not cause another fight.

I took a moment to go back though everything that I had thought through during dinner. With a sudden shock, I realized that I was actually looking forward to the move now. I suddenly felt guilty, like I was being a bad friend to Amanda and everyone else I was leaving behind. I shouldn't be excited about leaving, and maybe never seeing them again, but I was. Yet, Amanda wouldn't have introduced me to Ginny if she didn't want me to be happy in England. I shook my head, realizing that I was just trying to make myself come up with a reason for why I shouldn't be happy about the move. I looked up at my parents and saw them exchanging a look, which I could only characterize as being worried.

"Sounds like a plan, Dad." Twin looks of surprise flashed across Mom and Dad's faces. I guess neither of them expected me to accept this change so fast. "But, I actually have something to tell you that might make a mess of your plans." Mom and Dad both looked at me; Dad's eyes widening in concern, Mom's narrowing in suspicion. "Amanda actually knows a girl who lives in England, right outside Ottery St. Catchpole to be exact. I sent her an owl earlier and she responded, offering to meet me at the airport and even to let me stay with her family for the rest of summer break. I was considering accepting, but I wanted to run it by you two first." I smiled hopefully at both my parents, waiting for the news to finally hit them. Mom and Dad's eyes went back to their normal sizes, yet didn't say anything. I waited a couple minutes, during which neither of them so much as blinked. I was about to say something when Mom stood up. She came around the table and pulled me into a hug.

"Angie, I am so glad that you are okay with this move." She pulled away, tears glistening in her eyes. "However, none of us know this girl or her family. While it would be fine for her to meet us at the airport, I, for one, do not feel comfortable letting you spend the rest of break at her house."

"Mouse," Dad said gently. " Once we meet this girl and her family, and if they turn out to be decent folks, then maybe. But as for right now, I think it would be best if you told her that she can meet us at Heathrow after our plane lands."

I sighed, happy that they had at least thought about it. I know that it might seem strange to want to stay at a complete stranger's house when I would have my own to stay at, but I had a feeling that Mom and Dad would probably have the same hours in London as they had here. I really didn't want to spend the last week of summer break by myself, especially when I wouldn't have Amanda to keep me company this time. "Thanks for thinking about it. I think I'm going to head up to bed now. It's been a long day." Mom and Dad both nodded, each giving me a hug before I went upstairs. Once I reached my room, I stripped down to my underwear, pulling on a pair of baggy sweatpants and a white spaghetti strap tank.

I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep, so I grabbed the suitcases I had gotten out of my closet earlier and moved them onto my bed. I turned on my iPod, switching it to my favorite playlist. Once Girls Do What They Want started playing, I went into my closet and walked to the very back corner where there was a small three drawer dresser that held my warmer clothes. I knew London was going to be considerably colder than Santa Barbara and wanted to look over all my warm weather clothes first. Unfortunately, the only real cold weather clothes I had were the sweats I was wearing, a half dozen pairs of jeans, and a few hooded jackets. Sighing, I walked back into my room and went to my desk. I grabbed my wand, 11 ¼" mahogany with a unicorn hair core, before returning to the closet. With a flourish and a simple changing spell, all of my cute warm weather clothes had the ability to keep me at the perfect temperature depending on the weather. I let out another sigh, relieved that I would not have to do quite as much shopping now that I didn't need to replace my entire wardrobe.

With a second wave, all of my clothes except for one dresser magically shrunk, folded, and packed themselves inside of the three open suitcases on my bed. After getting them zipped and levitating them into the sitting room, I grabbed a book and settled down on top of my bed. I didn't even crack the book open before my eyes slipped shut and sleep claimed me.

So there it is, Chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 3 and 4 should be up by sometime this weekend.