Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good holiday!
Chapter 2
Hope stormed upstairs, her black hair flowing behind her. She kicked her door open, making it dent the wall behind her, and stalked around her room, collecting her parchment, quills, books, and the few other things she had unpacked since she got back. There was no way in hell that Hope was going to stay here, now or ever again. She threw on her leather jacket and grabbed Hedwig's cage before slamming the door of her empty room behind her.
She pounded downstairs and almost ran face first into a purple Vernon.
"Get upstairs," he seethed.
"Get out of my way," Hope nearly growled.
"Or what?"
Hope pulled out her wand and pointed it at the man who took a slight step back before regaining himself.
"You can't use that on me or you'll be expelled," Vernon said.
"You want to test that?" Hope sneered. "Go ahead, we'll see how you end up."
It was obvious that Vernon didn't want to test it, as he backed away from the cupboard under the stairs, allowing Hope to storm forward and pick the lock, before she yanked out her trunk and broom, throwing the things she had collected into it. She glanced around inside, making sure she wasn't leaving anything before slamming the cupboard shut, flipping the bird at the fuming Dursleys, and exiting the house, making sure to break one of the glass pieces in the door while she did it.
Hope made it all the way to the intersection of Privet Drive and Kepler's Circle before she stopped to think of what had just happened. She had done it. She had really left. It felt as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders but then…
It was the middle of the night. She had no place to go. She could go to London, but that was a long walk away and there was barely a chance she could get a cab at this time of night. She could owl Ron, but there was no way it would get there until at least tomorrow morning. Hope was stuck, with nowhere to go. And God this trunk was heavy. Groaning, Hope sat down on a bench nearby and laid her trunk down at her feet, placing Hedwig's cage in front of her.
She pulled her worn leather jacket tighter around her slim form. For the middle of end of July, it really was quite cold. Her black hair hung down in loose waves, keeping her neck warm. She pulled out a piece of parchment and one of her pens, not wanting to use a quill in the middle of the streets.
Madame Bones,
It has come to my attention that there has been a misunderstanding regarding the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, paragraph C. If you would be so kind, I would greatly appreciate a meeting with you. Thank you so much for your time.
Hope Potter
Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin
Hope read the letter over before deciding it sounded professional enough, adding on her full title to make it sound a bit more impressive. Then she took one of her pins from her hair and picked the lock of Hedwig's cage, giving the letter to the bird and letting her, for the first time in a while, fly free.
But she immediately regretted it. She was now completely alone. Sighing, she pulled out the pack of letters she had taken from the house elf. Hope pulled off the top one and ripped it open, recognizing Ron's scrawl almost immediately.
Hope,
Are you alright? You have us all worried here. You've not been responding to any of our letters. Write back soon, alright? Fred keeps moping around the house and writing letters to you. It's actually kind of disgusting, in a sweet sort of way (Hope chuckled as she could picture Ron gagging at the words). I miss my best mate, Hope. See you soon, alright?
-Ron
Smiling, Hope pulled out another letter, this time from Hermione.
Hope,
Ron says you haven't been responding to his letters. Is everything alright? I'm betting it's just the muggles, but he's really worried. Write to him, alright?
Anyway, how's your summer? Have you been doing anything interesting? My summer has been pretty boring, considering. I've spent a lot of time reading the new textbooks, and I expect you've done much the same. Which one's your favorite? I personally like the Defense one, but I'm betting you like the History. Write soon, ok? And don't let the muggles get you down, Hope. See you soon!
-Hermione
Hope laughed. Of course Hermione would have already started to read her new textbooks. Hope hadn't gotten hers yet, obviously, but she was definitely looking forward to her new History one.
Hope yawned. It had to be really late now. The sky was already black, and the moon was shining bright over the houses of Privet Drive. In a few hours, the rest of the town would be awake and Hope, in theory, would be nowhere to be found.
She stretched her legs out onto the bench, laying her head down on a bundled up sweater she had pulled from her trunk. She could rest… for a few minutes…
Hope's eyes swayed shut, leaving the girl fast asleep on the bench.
Two hours later, Hope was jerked awake, the light just rising over the trees. A stray cat had jumped up on her, causing Hope to jump up, flailing around for a few moments before she composed herself again. It seemed like as good a time as any to start walking, so she stuck her wand through her hair and grabbed all her things before picking up her things and making her way through the streets.
But Hope had a weird feeling. Something that she couldn't shake. Like someone was following her. Or somethin-
"Need a ride?" came a familiar voice. Hope nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to find Angelina Johnson. She was seated in a red minivan, and her caramel hair was pulled back into a tight braid.
"Angie!" Hope said, absolutely shocked to see the girl. "What are you doing here?"
"Fred, George, and Ron went to your house last night," Angie said, to Hope's surprise. "They said you weren't there. Scared the pants off of everyone, you did. Ron, Fred, and George wanted to come but their mum went absolutely bonkers when they came back after having stolen their dad's car."
"Speaking of," Hope said as Angie got out to help her load her things into the trunk of the car, "what are you doing driving around here? Aren't you only fourteen?"
"Fifteen, technically," Angie said, "I just turned it. Anyway, I just… borrowed my older sister's licenses."
"You have an older sister?" Hope asked curiously.
"Yeah, but she's not a witch." The two girls got into the car and Angie shifted the gears to drive, merging back onto the road.
"Where are we off to?" Hope asked, stretching her legs out. Angie swatted at the girl's legs.
"The Burrow," Angie replied. "Everyone's there waiting."
"The Burrow?" The name sounded familiar, but Hope wasn't sure where from.
"Yeah, it's the Weasley's house," Angie explained.
Hope looked at the clock face on Angie's dashboard. It was four am, meaning she had barely got any sleep last night.
"What do you mean by 'everyone'?" Hope yawned. SHe was really hoping there weren't too many people. She was so tired, she didn't think she could stand socializing for that long.
But as Angie pulled up to a lopsided house, her fears were recognized.
"Oh thank Merlin!" Hermione cried, rushing forward and pulling Hope into a bone crushing hug.
"Hey, 'Mione," Hope groaned.
"Let her breath, Hermione," Ron sighed, the boy walking up. He had grown over the summer, now towering over both Hermione and Hope. He grinned at the sight of her, and Hope mirrored his face.
"Thank goodness you're alright," Hermione said, grabbing Hope's hand. Hope squeezed it comfortingly. "We were all so worried. You are alright, aren't you?"
"I'm fine," Hope said fondly.
"Well in that case," Hermione let go of Hope's hand and swatted the girl over top of the head.
"Ow!" Hope said, putting a hand to her head.
"Stupid!" Hermione said.
"Alright, 'Mione," Ron said, chuckling.
"If you ever do anything like that again," Hermione threatened, and Hope felt a pang of fondness for the brown haired girl.
Hope, Ron, Angie, and Hermione entered the house to find Fred and George sitting at the kitchen table as Mrs. Weasley bustled around cooking food.
"It's good to see you, Hope," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling at the girl.
"It's good to see you, too," Hope said, smiling at the mother like look on Mrs. Weasley's face.
Fred and George were both smiling at her, mischievous grins on their matching faces.
"How're you, Hope?" the asked in unison.
"It's good to see you two idiots," Hope said, smiling.
"Idiots? Us?" Fred said, putting a hand on his chest.
"Never," George agreed. Hope rolled her eyes, used to these antics.
"Licia and Oliver send their regards," Angie said. "They're both away."
Hope was about to reply, but a streak of red stopped her in her tracks. What looked like a young girl had just run up the stairs, a look of terror on her face.
Ron followed Hope's gaze and groaned. "Oh, that's just Ginny," Ron said. "My little sister."
"She's slightly starstruck by you," Fred continued.
"Totally barmy, if you ask me," George added.
"No one did," Mrs. Weasley said, dumping eight sausages onto Hope's plate, one that Hope hadn't even realized was in front of her.
"Alright, well I'm glad you're ok, Hope," Angie said, hugging the younger girl, "but I've got to get home before Kelly realizes I took her license."
"Alright," Hope agreed. "Thanks, Angie, I mean it."
"Stay out of trouble, then," Angie said with a smile. All three Weasley boys snorted.
"Hey! I am perfectly capable of staying out of trouble," Hope argued.
"Sure you are," Ron said.
"If last years anything to go by, then you're right," Fred agreed.
"Oh shut it," Hope said, taking off her jacket and putting it on the back of her chair.
Mrs. Weasley added a few fried eggs onto Hope's plate and Hope thanked her.
"Blimey, I'm tired," Fred said, stretching out. "I think I may go up to bed and-"
"No you will not!" Mrs. Weasley said, her eyes flaring. "It's your own fault you've been up all night." Hope had a thought that this may have had something to do with the three stealing their father's car. "You're going to degnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand-"
"Oh mum-"
"And you two are joining him," Mrs. Weasley said, glaring at George and Ron. "You can go up to bed, dear," she added to Hope. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car-"
But Hope, tired as she was, wasn't about to leave her best mate yet again, said, "I'll help the boys. Honestly, it's fine-"
"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work. Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject-"
She pulled a heavy book from the mantelpiece, causing George to groan.
"Mum, we know how to de-gnome-"
He was cut off by a door being pushed open, and a thin man with bright red hair that was balding at the top walked in, causing all of them to stop what they were doing.
"What a night," the man, Hope was betting was Mr. Weasley, said. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned."
"Find anything, dad?" Fred asked eagerly. Hope knew that the Weasley's father worked for the ministry, but he never knew quite what he did.
"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," Mr. Weasley yawned. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness…"
"Why would anyone bother making door key shrink?" said George.
"Just Muggle-baiting," Mr. Weasley sighed. "Slee them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it… Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keep shrinking- they'll insist they keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face… But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe-"
"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"
Mrs. Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. A look of guilt passed over Mr, Weasley's face, as he said, "C-cars, Molly, dear?"
"Yes, Arthur, cars," Mrs. Weasley continued, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."
Mr. Weasley blinked.
"Well, dear, I think you will find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if- er - he maybe would have done better to, un, tell his wife the truth… There's a loophole in the law, you'll find… As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't-"
"Arthur Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.
"We may want to go," Hope muttered to Ron, who seemed to not notice as he watched with fascination as the scene between his two parents unfolded in front of them.
"You made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Hope arrived this morning after your sons flew your car to his house!"
"Hope? Hope who?" He looked around, spotted Hope, and nearly jumped.
"Good lord, it's Hope Potter! Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about-"
"Your sons flew that car to Hope's house and back last night!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"
"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley said, turning to George, Fred, and Ron, "Did it go alright? I-I mean," he faltered as Mrs. Weasley practically fumed, "that- that was very wrong, boys- very wrong indeed…"
"Let's leave them to it," Ron muttered to Hope who was grateful to get out of the kitchen. She, Ron, Fred, and George, snuck upstairs.
"This," Hope whispered to the three of them, "is the best. House. Ever."
X
Life at the Weasley's wasn't anything that Hope had been expecting. She slept on the floor of Ginny's room, the younger girl never talking to her, but spent most of her days out and about with the boys. Hope could normally be found either in the back garden playing two v two quidditch with them, or holed up in the Twin's room, watching them invent more pranking tools.
The ghoul in the attic would drop pipes every time it thought the house was getting to quiet. A talking mirror would shout things out on occasion. And that mixed with the constant explosions from Fred and George's room meant that the house was never quiet.
But the most strange thing about the Burrow was that everyone seemed to like Hope.
Mrs. Weasley found a reason to fuss over the state of Hope's socks and tried to force her to eat fourth helpings of everything ("You're too skinny!"). Mr. Weasley, as Hope soon found out, had an obsession with all things Muggle and found reasons to sit next to her at the dinner table so he could bombard her with questions about life with the Muggles, asking her to explain how things like rubber ducks and the postal service worked.
Ginny had stopped running away any time Hope walked into the room, but still refused to make eye contact with the older girl or talk to her.
The day where their Hogwarts letters arrived was a sad day for Hope. It meant that soon, they would be going back to school, and as much as Hope normally wanted to be at Hogwarts, she loved the Burrow.
"Letters from school," Mrs. Weasley called as they all ambled down for breakfast. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Hope- doesn't miss a trick, that man." Hope scowled at the mention of the headmaster, and Ron stepped on her foot from under the table. But Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to notice, as she went on cooking breakfast.
Hope took her letter from a smiling Mrs. Weasley and opened it, reading over the usual information before turning to the book list.
Second year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2
Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee
Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls
Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags
Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls
Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyage with Vampires
Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves
Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti
Gilderoy Lockhart
Fred, who had already finished his list, put his chin on Hope's shoulder to read hers.
"You've been told to get all of the Lockhart books, too," he said, scowling at the thought.
"The new Defense teacher must be a fan," Hope agreed, pushing his chin off her shoulder. He smiled playfully as he sat back down next to her.
"Oh don't give me that," Hope rolled her eyes. Ron, who was on her other side, gagged, causing Hope to throw him an annoyed look.
It was common knowledge that there was no relationship between Fred and Hope (granted they were both a bit young), but they both flirted shamelessly with each other anyway, causing Ron a great deal of disgust.
"That lot won't come cheap, mum," George said as he put down his own list. "Lockhart books are bloody expensive."
"Language!" Mrs. Weasley reprimanded, swatting her son over top the head. "Anyway, don't worry. We'll manage."
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