Disclaimer: Even though I move back to school in a few days and will have to sell my soul to buy my textbooks, it doesn't mean I'm stealing Harry Potter. The rights to that belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers (bastards) Shakes fist
A/N: I'd like to take a minute to thank the people who've been really supportive of this story. First and foremost, I'd like to thank my friend, Becky, who has been helping me since day one and should be co-credited, along with my friend Matt, for giving Toby her name. Second, I want to thank my grandmother (though I know she'll never read this) for backing me up 100 on this and always having a proud smile whenever I tell her my story got another hit or another review. And lastly but certainly not least, to stargazer101, who has so kindly reviewed every chapter I've posted. Thank you so much!
Over the next few nights, Toby managed to sleep through the night by herself without difficulty. Though that was mostly aided by Toby telling her story to Ginny, Percy, and Arthur. All three of them had been so supportive, and Toby was starting to realize how lucky she was that the Weasleys had taken her in. Still needing to tell Molly, Toby had an idea on how to show her gratitude to the Weasley family for their kindness.
Toby decided to get up a little earlier than normal one morning to talk to Molly one on one. Taking special care to be quiet and not wake the whole house up, she quietly crept downstairs to the kitchen where her legal guardian was busy starting breakfast. She could see Molly's lips set in a grim line and there was a furrow in her brow.
Toby approached slowly, "Molly?"
Molly must have jumped three feet in the air, "Toby, dear! You gave me a fright! What are doing up so early?"
"I'm sorry I scared you. I wanted to talk to you about something," she paused before asking, "Is something wrong?"
Molly waved it off, "It's not important right now. What did you want to talk about, dear?"
Toby proceeded to tell Molly about her kidnapping. Even though she had told the story five times already, this telling was probably the hardest. Molly and Toby's mom had been very close friends, and having to tell Molly about how Elaine Donato had died was a trying task. Tears were flowing freely between the two ladies in the kitchen when Toby was finished.
"Your parents died as heroes," Molly told her through sniffles.
"Yeah. They did," Toby smiled sadly.
Molly pulled her into a hug. This time, Toby didn't feel uncomfortable and hugged Molly back.
"Molly, there's something else too," Toby began, not sure if Molly would accept her offer. She took a deep breath and said, "All of you have been so wonderful towards me and have accepted me without question, and I've been trying to think of a good way to tell you how much I appreciate it," she paused to see what Molly would say.
"Oh, dear, seeing how well you're adjusting and getting along with the children is all the thanks I'll ever need," she smiled at Toby with so much warmth, Toby could feel fresh tears threatening to spill over.
"I want you and Arthur to have full access to my money," she blurted out.
Molly looked at her with utter shock written all over her face, "Toby, I can't do that".
"Yes, you can. I've got a very nice steady income from my dad's shops, and I don't need all that money. If I'm going to truly be part of this family, then I want my family to be able to get the things they need without worrying about it. Clothes, food, school things, whatever you need. Please, it would mean so much to me if you would agree to this," Toby gave Molly the pleading puppy dog look. Within moments, Molly yielded.
"If it will make you feel better, then I'll do it, but I'm not going to go crazy".
Toby nodded, "Sounds fair," she put her hands on Molly's shoulders, "Thank you. This means a lot to me. I feel like I'm finally putting my past behind me".
As they pulled away from each other, Toby noticed something on the kitchen table. When she sat down to take a better look, she saw that it was the morning issue of The Daily Prophet. On the front page was a man with wild eyes and equally wild, dark hair, and the headline read:
Escape from Azkaban!
"Molly, who is this man?"
"You don't know? I thought everyone knew who Sirius Black was," Percy had entered the kitchen, grabbing a quick glass of juice before getting back to whatever it was he had been doing.
"Not all of your news makes it to American headlines," she replied, "So, who is he?"
"He's a psychopath. He killed twelve Muggles and a wizard with one curse without giving it a second thought," Percy answered darkly. He finished his juice and promptly left the kitchen for his bedroom.
"He was a Death Eater, a supporter of…You-Know-Who," Molly added.
Toby frowned at the picture in front of her. She knew who You-Know-Who was. That bit of news had made the wizard version USA Today, and she remembered her parents talking about it.
"How did he escape?"
"No one knows. He's the first one who's ever been able to do it. This has the wizarding world in an uproar!" Molly exclaimed, "Toby, I think it's best if you don't go out unsupervised".
"Why? Psychopaths are crazy, but they're not stupid, and it would be pointless to randomly come after me. Besides, I'd give him a shock he'd never forget!" Toby held up a ball of lightning for emphasis.
Molly let out an empty chuckle, "Even still, he could catch you off-guard, and then what would you do?"
"Round house kick him in the face," she mumbled under her breath.
"Toby, this isn't a time for jokes!" Molly yelled.
"Sorry," though she really wasn't. For whatever reason, her ordeal a year previous made her feel none too concerned about this Sirius Black fellow, but she would honor Molly's request out of respect.
"Oh, Toby, before I forget, a package came for you from your grandparents. It's on the couch in the sitting room," Molly didn't even have to finish her sentence before Toby rushed into the living room and ripped open the large box that was waiting for her. When she peered inside, she gasped excitedly.
"What's this stuff?" Fred and George had come up behind her, and Fred had reached into Toby's box and pulled out a rather large aluminum can.
"Only the best iced tea the U.S.A. has to offer!" Toby told him exuberantly. She turned the can around in his hand, making the AriZona Tea logo more clearly visible.
"Since when does America have good tea?" George glowered at the offensive object in Fred's hand.
"Since that tea came on the market. Don't knock it 'til you try it. It's good stuff. The peach tea is my personal favorite," she pulled out multiple cans of peach tea, green tea, lemon tea, and Arnold Palmers. At the bottom of the box, she saw a letter from her grandpa:
Toby,
Your grandma and I are missing you terribly, and we knew you were probably craving some of your favorite tea, so we sent you this care package. Enjoy! Hope things are going well with Molly and Arthur.
Love you always,
Grandpa and Grandma
P.S. Send us a web chat soon! We want to hear from you!
"Grandma, Grandpa, you rock!" Toby shouted joyously. She turned to the twins with a big smile and said "If you guys want some, go for it. There's plenty to go around!"
If she could have talked to her grandparents right then, she would have, but the time difference between Oshkosh and Ottery St. Catchpole prevented her from doing so. She tried to pass the time until a more decent hour by practicing her guitar and reading school notes that she had gotten from Percy to ensure there weren't any surprises when she started school. Deciding the minutes were ticking away too slowly, she grabbed her sketchbook and headed to the twins' room. The differences between them still piqued her interest, and she wanted to see if she could capture it on paper.
She headed down to their room and knocked, taking special care to step out of the way of any security measures Fred and George may have put up. She heard some mumbling and what seemed like scuffling, and after a few moments Fred opened the door.
"Tobias, old chap! How wonderful to see you!" he said jovially upon seeing her.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "Wish I could say the feeling was mutual, Fredward".
"What can I do for you?" the smirk never left his face.
"I want to draw you and George,"
"Again? We know we're devilishly handsome, but this is a bit much". Still smirking.
Toby chuckled at him condescendingly, "About as handsome as twin garden gnomes that just got squished by a troll. But seriously, I want separate portraits of you two. One of you and one of George".
"What do we get for compensation?"
She looked over Fred's shoulder to see George scrambling to hide a few vials of some suspicious looking liquid.
"How 'bout if I don't tell your mom that you've got Erumpet blood in the house?"
The smirk was gone, "How did you—?"
She pointed at George, "He had vials with thick turquoise liquid in them. That's just a big neon sign saying 'Erumpet Blood'!"
"My dear, lovely Tobias, George and I are professionals; we know what we're doing. Besides, we could always tell Mum that you slept in our bed".
"No, you wouldn't. You're butts would still be on the line, and I could always look at your mom and say," she put a pathetic, ashamed face on, " 'Oh, Molly, they offered and I'd had such a bad nightmare. It's the safest I've felt in ages. Please don't be mad at me'. She'd eat it up! I guess I'll just go tell her now".
Fred wasted no time in pulling Toby into the room and quickly shutting the door. Toby smiled in a very self-satisfied way and sat down on George's bed.
"You have to swear that you're not going to say a word of what we're up to in here," George said to her warningly.
Toby put her right hand over her heart and raised her left, "I, Tobias Jacobie Donato, solemnly swear that whatever happens in Fred and George's room, stays in Fred and George's room".
Nodding in satisfaction, they started pulling out potion ingredients from various hiding places and a shrunken cauldron that magic-ed back to its normal size once placed on Fred's desk. They started working as if Toby wasn't there, which was fine with her. She labored on Fred's portrait first, working very hard to get every last freckle in its rightful place. An explosion burst out unexpectedly, covering the twins with soot.
"No wonder it smells like gunpowder in here!" Toby laughed.
"Pipe down over there! Artists should be working and not noticed," Fred scowled at her.
She saluted him and continued drawing. Once she finished with Fred, she started working on George. Looking back and forth between him and Fred, all the physical clues that would tell a person how to tell them apart were extremely subtle, but they were there. Whoever said Fred and George were identical down to the last freckle had obviously not taken the time to study them. It was mostly in the eyes. They both had blue eyes, but what was behind those eyes was not the same. Fred's eyes were like a raging blue fire. They burned with an energy and mischief that seemed to threaten to scorch him from the inside out if he failed to fulfill their promise. George's eyes still shined with the same mischief as Fred's, but they were much more subdued, like warm embers that invited you in to toast yourself up after a romp in the snow. Not to mention George's eyes wrinkled more at the corners when he smiled. Toby wasn't aware of it, but she was taking much more care with George's portrait than she had taken with a picture in a long while.
Putting the finishing touches on the drawing, she looked up to see if they had made any progress on whatever it was that they were concocting.
"What are you guys trying to make?" she inquired with raised eyebrows.
They gave each other a dubious glance, and Toby decided she really needed to learn how to speak twin.
"Why do you want to know?" George countered with his own question.
"I'm curious," she replied.
"To tell you what we're creating would mean having to tell you our life's ambition, and we're not sure someone like you would approve," Fred declared.
"Someone like me? I'd support whatever you wanted to do, and you know it. Now spill," she demanded.
"You really want to know?" Fred asked, the smirk returning.
"Yes," she answered, starting to get annoyed.
"You really, really want to know?"
"Just tell me!"
"Fred and I want to own our own joke shop," George finally revealed.
That bit of information was so anti-climactic to Toby, she just looked at them blankly.
"You seem unimpressed," Fred observed.
"You realize, coming from the two of you, that kind of life ambition doesn't surprise me at all?" she informed them.
"Mum expects us to eventually work for the Ministry like Dad," Fred frowned at the thought.
Toby curled up her nose at the prospect, "I can't see you two doing something so…conventional with your lives. A joke shop seems perfect for you. I'm not your mother, so your career choice has the Toby J. Donato stamp of approval," she gave them a thumbs up and a big cheesy grin.
"Not that we need it, but thanks," George shot her a genuinely grateful smile, and Toby could feel a blush creep over her cheeks.
"Is what you're making for the joke shop?" she asked referring to what was in the cauldron.
"Perhaps. We'll tell you if you show us what you drew," Fred propositioned her with a leer in his eyes.
"You know my policy about my drawings," she reminded him.
"Then I'm afraid we can say no more".
Checking her watch and seeing that it was mid afternoon, which translated into late morning Oshkosh time, she figured now would be a good time to leave.
"Then, my dearest and most favorite-est twins, I bid you a good day," and with that, she sauntered coolly out of their room.
"Hey! You can't just leave like—"
"I said good day!" she waved at them as she ascended the stairs up to her room.
The first thing she did was check if her grandparents were online, and much to her delight they were. Sending them a request to start a webcam chat, she anxiously waited for them to accept.
"Hey! There's my favorite granddaughter!" her grandfather was on her computer screen, smiling brightly at the sight of her.
"Grandpa, I'm your only granddaughter! How are you?"
"I'm fantastic now that I'm talking to you. How've you been? Things going ok there?"
"They couldn't be going better. And I've been drawing like crazy too".
"Glad to hear it. You getting along with everyone?"
"Yup. Everyone's been really great. I feel content here".
"I can see it in your eyes. You look happier".
"Where's Grandma?" Toby was suddenly aware that her grandmother was absent from the webcam chat.
"I'm right here dear," Grandma Donato walked up behind Toby's grandpa and sat down next to him.
"How are things going over there?" her grandma asked.
"Great! Molly and Arthur and all of them have been absolutely awesome".
"I take it you got our package?" her grandpa had a knowing smile.
"Yes, I did. Thank you! I was craving some of my favorite tea from home. You guys are the best!"
"What can we say? We know our granddaughter," her grandparents were laughing at Toby's enthusiasm.
"I miss you guys".
"We miss you too".
"What's going on in here? We heard voices that clearly don't belong to anyone who lives in this house," Fred and George had barged into her room, still upset that she had left them hanging after they tried and failed to one-up her about their concoction.
"I am chatting with my grandparents via webcam," she pointed to a lens built into the laptop.
"You're talking to your grandparents all the way in America through that little thing?" Fred seemed disinclined to believe such a statement.
"Yes," she told them, wishing they would leave.
"So they can see us?" George started waving at the laptop.
"Since you're still standing up, I think they can only see your torsos. Lean down to my level and they'll see your faces, though I don't know why they'd want to".
The twins glared at her but did as she told them.
"Grandma, Grandpa, this is Fred and George, Molly and Arthur's twins".
"Nice to meet you. I'd shake your hands, but the Atlantic Ocean is kind of getting in the way," her grandpa joked.
The twins appreciated the humor, "Not a problem, sir. We'd like you to know we've had to keep a very watchful eye on Toby. Causes a lot of trouble, that one does," Fred proclaimed with what Toby knew was a fake disappointed tone. He was trying to stir up trouble, but she wouldn't have it.
"Oh, really?" she cocked an eyebrow at him, "Who was the one who dumped a bucket of water on my head? Who was the one who charmed my shampoo to turn my hair pink? Who was the one who hijacked me onto their broom, scaring the pants off of me? And you say I cause trouble? That's the pot calling the kettle black!"
Both her grandparents and the twins were laughing hysterically, and she couldn't help but join in.
"You're obviously busy, so we won't keep you. Have fun and behave yourself," warned her grandma.
"Don't worry, guys, I will! Bye!"
"Bye, Toby!"
She clicked the "End Conversation" button and promptly attempted to shoo Fred and George out of her room.
"Nope, not going to happen this time. We told you our life's ambition, now we want to hear yours. It's only fair," the twins had equally obstinate looks on their faces, and Toby knew they weren't going to leave until she gave them an answer.
"I want to rid the world of red-haired twin trouble makers like yourselves," she grated out irritatedly.
They both laughed, "You're going to have to do better than that".
"Honestly? I don't know what I want to do with my life. When I'm done with school I'll probably move back to Oshkosh and see if I'm cut out to run my dad's shops, and if that doesn't pan out, well, I don't know. I guess I could draw portraits for a living until I figure it out. Is that a better answer for you?"
"Much better," they said in unison.
"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I need some time to myself".
The next morning she was rudely awakened by a persistent knocking on her door. Opening it in a haze of tiredness, she saw Ron standing in the hall looking very worried.
"Get ready. We're leaving for London in a half hour," he instructed her.
"What? Why?" now she was getting worried.
"It's Harry. Apparently he blew up his aunt and ran off and now he's at the Leaky Cauldron in London and Mum wants to make sure he's all right".
Blew up his aunt?
"I'll be ready," she told him.
So, she'd be meeting the famous Harry Potter today.
This was going to be interesting, indeed.
A/N 2: I probably won't be posting for a while because I'm moving back up to school in two days and I have to get everything ready and I have to get settled and all that. But no worries! I'll have the next chapter up ASAP. Promise!