Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, and under no circumstance do I claim ownership to the series.

Chapter 38: The Act of Blowing Up Aunts

A/N: I'M SORRY THIS CHAPTER TOOK SO LONG, I WAS AWAY THE CREATION FEST (EAST) AND IT WAS SO AMAZING ASDFGHJKL (if you were there tell me and we can fangirl/fanboy together! TobyMac is my favourite! Wasn't he great?! ASDFGHJKL)

I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE OKAY AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS I LOVE YOU

Also, shout out to Mehri; I MISSED YOU GIRL! SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK! (You ARE back, right? You'll update your stuff again?)

Anyways, ENJOY!

Evanna woke up later than she usually might've, considering how late she was up the night before. But as soon as she stepped in the kitchen, the TV caught her eye. The reporter was talking about an escaped convict. She grabbed a piece of toast and began to listen.

". . . the public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hotline has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."

"No need to tell us he's no good," snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"

He shot a nasty look sideways at Evanna, whose untidy hair had always been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon. Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Evanna felt as if her hair was like a movie star's.

The reporter had reappeared.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries will announce today — "

"Hang on!" barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. "You didn't tell us where that maniac's escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!"

Evanna, though she slightly doubted that, was overcome with a sudden wave of fright. The crazy stuff always happened to her, so a mass murderer appearing at their doorstep wouldn't be exactly farfetched.

"When will they learn," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"

"Very true," said Aunt Petunia, who missed Evanna's scoff.

Uncle Vernon drained his teacup, glanced at his watch, and added, "I'd better be off in a minute, Petunia. Marge's train gets in at ten."

Evanna, who had just taken a drink, started choking in shock, water dribbling down her pajama shirt. "Marge? As in, Aunt Marge?" After Uncle Vernon's sharp nod, Evanna muttered, "Why wasn't I aware of this?"

"Because I don't see fit to inform you if this information!" Uncle Vernon snapped, and Dudley made a sort of 'ooooh' noise, which Evanna silenced with a glare. "She'll be here for a week. Speaking of Marge, there are a few things that need to be set straight."

Evanna groaned, but Uncle Vernon spoke over her. "Firstly, you'll keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking to Marge."

"Only if she remembers the golden rule," Evanna muttered darkly under her breath.

"Secondly," Uncle Vernon continued, ignoring Evanna's mutterings, "as Marge doesn't know anything about your abnormality, I don't want any — any funny stuff while she's here. You behave yourself, got me?"

"Again, golden rule is required!"

"And thirdly, we've told Marge you attend St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Girls."

"What?" Evanna yelled in disgust. "Is that even a real school?!"

"And you'll be sticking to that story, girl, or there'll be trouble!" spat Uncle Vernon, completely ignoring her question (alerting her that it probably wasn't).

"What if," Evanna said, leaning forwards as if to make a deal, "I just went to a friends' house and then I wouldn't be a bother to anyone."

"No! I don't trust you to not take advantage of me," Uncle Vernon snarled.

Evanna rolled her eyes; what would she do to take advantage of him? But then her eyes widened as she was hit with a sudden idea.

"Well," she began slowly, "I have a new proposition to make. This year, I'm allowed to go to a village near my school, but I need a signature from my legal guardian. So if you sign it, I'll stick to your story. What school do I go to again?"

"St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Girls," Uncle Vernon hissed. "And I don't need to sign any bloody paper of yours!"

Evanna shrugged, with a rather devious smirk on her face. "Well, I guess Aunt Marge will be learning all about my real school. Should I show her my wand too while I'm at it? I'm not sure what'll make her more mad, that I'm a witch," Evanna grinned deviously at Uncle Vernon, "or that you lied about it."

Uncle Vernon's face went his signature shade of purple, as Aunt Petunia and Dudley gaped at Evanna like goldfish, and Evanna settled back in her chair smugly.

"Fine," Uncle Vernon said after he had calmed himself enough to speak, "but I will only sign the bloody permission slip after Marge is gone and not a second before! You put one toe out of line and I'll be doing much worse than refusing to sign a paper!"

Evanna saluted and dashed up to her room. She hid anything that would remotely tie her to magic, and sent Hedwig off to spend the rest of the summer with Errol. Then she was back downstairs, waiting for Aunt Marge to arrive.

Aunt Petunia stared disapprovingly at Evanna's hair, which was in its usual messy braid. She was very disappointed that Evanna had inherited her father's unruly hair. Then she glowered at her outfit. "Who are the weird sisters?"

Evanna peered down at her t-shirt, which had the name 'Weird Sisters' in a neat cursive. It was one of the t-shirts that Ginny had given her. Ginny had said that they were a really great wizarding band, and she had promised that she would let Evanna listen to some of their songs.

"A band," said Evanna, not in the mood to upset her aunt.

Suddenly (or at least, it seemed sudden to Evanna), the sound of Uncle Vernon's car returned reached Evanna's ears. She gulped, knowing this was going to be a long week.

"Hedwig?"

George was surprised to find Evanna's owl trying to squeeze into the same perch as Errol. Well, he wasn't exactly surprised to find her owl, but the strange part was how Hedwig seemed to be trying to make herself at home, and with only one note attached to her leg.

He took the note and passed Hedwig a treat. She hooted happily, nuzzling her head under his hand. He scratched her head, chuckling slightly, as he opened the envelope addressed to Any of you DAMN Weasleys (except Ginny; I like Ginny, I wouldn't 'damn' her).

Dear Fred/George/Ron/Ginny/Whoever,

I need you to watch my owl for about a week, pretty please! Let me explain Nope, let me sum it up. Aunt coming over. No magic. This wins me a signature to go to Hogsmeade.

See you at the end of the summer!

Evanna

George smiled. "Well, Hedwig, I guess you'll be chilling out with us for the week."

The owl hooted, letting George continue to scratch her head.

The week had seemed like an eternity to Evanna, but finally it had come to the last evening of Aunt Marge's stay. She had made it through the week with only one moment of accidental magic, making Marge's glass explode. Luckily, Aunt Marge had blamed it on her own firm grip. But now Evanna had to be extra careful.

Right now, they were sitting at the dinner table, and Aunt Marge was looking rather drunk, rambling about different things. Evanna worried about this, and wanted to go up to her room, but one look from Uncle Vernon and she knew she'd have to stay for a while longer.

"Now, this one here — "

Evanna nearly let out a groan, but caught herself just in time. The conversation had turned to her, and Aunt Marge especially loved criticizing her. Evanna just needed to calm down and force herself to ignore it.

"This one's got a mean, runty look about her. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."

Evanna looked down at herself. Mean? She looked many things, but mean? And why was she being compared to a dog? Earlier that week, she had been comparing her mother to a dog as well ("If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there's something wrong with the pup.") That had resulted in Evanna accidentally blowing up Aunt Marge's glass.

"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia" — she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one — "but your sister was a bad egg. They turn up in the best families. Then she ran off with a wastrel and here's the result right in front of us."

Evanna's breathing became short and heavy, her anger struggling to stay below the surface.

"This Potter," said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth, "you never told me what he did?"

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his pie to gape at his parents.

"He — didn't work," said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Evanna, and it was obvious that he could tell she was fuming. "Unemployed."

"As I expected!" said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. "A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who — "

"He was not," said Evanna suddenly. The table went very quiet. Evanna was shaking all over. She had never felt so angry in her life.

"MORE BRANDY!" yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass. "You, girl," he snarled at Evanna. "Go to bed, go on — "

"No, Vernon," hiccupped Aunt Marge, holding up a hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Evanna's. "Go on, girl, go on. Proud of your parents, are you? They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect) — "

"They didn't die in a car crash, they died protecting me from a murderer — !" Evanna yelled, jumping to her feet, grabbing for her wand, but then she remembered that she had left it upstairs.

"They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!" screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. "You are an insolent, ungrateful little — "

Evanna had been staring right at Marge, her eyes filled with fury, but now she had stumbled backwards in horror, watching as the woman, who was already relatively large, grew even larger, swelling and beginning to float up to the ceiling, as if someone was blowing her up like a balloon —

As her uncle and aunt attempted to get the woman off of the ceiling, Evanna turned on her heel and ran from the room, nearly slamming into the wall before running up the stairs. She had to get out of here. That magic was definitely enough to get the Ministry's attention. She was going to be expelled. But she couldn't stay here. But she couldn't go there either.

As she packed her things into her trunk, grabbing Hedwig's cage under her arm and shoving her wand behind her ear, she decided she would go to someone's house. She didn't know who yet, but she would take her broom and fly to someone's house. Or something. Honestly, she didn't have time or energy to work out the details now, she was just so mad.

She stomped quickly down the stairs, meeting Uncle Vernon at the bottom, his face purple.

"COME BACK IN HERE!" he bellowed. "COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"

Evanna pulled her wand from behind her ear, shoving it under the man's neck. "She deserved it. Hell, you all deserve it!" She restrained herself from actually making the whole family swell (she was in enough trouble as it was, plus she didn't know the spell). "I'm leaving! Stay away from me!"

She tore open the front door and stomped out into the dark of the night. She didn't stop walking until she had reached Magnolia Crescent, sitting stubbornly on a low wall. She flung open a small notebook, which had all the information she needed to contact or visit any of her friends.

"Let's see . . ." she hummed, looking through the addresses. "Mione and the Weasleys aren't back for another few weeks, I can't just invade their houses . . . Neville is too far away . . . Dean had told me that his house is quite small and he has a handful of half-sisters, I wouldn't want to invade their house without invitation . . ." She paused at Daphne's name. She was pureblood and had a huge manor in the middle of nowhere and told Evanna that she was welcome anytime . . . "But I don't know where it is," Evanna sighed, looking at the address.

She paused again, listening with wide eyes. She could hear growling coming from an alleyway. She peered into the dark alley, wand at the ready, trying to see if there was a threat. But then a large black dog came out into the open, looking malnourished and sad.

A huge smile spread across Evanna's face; she loved dogs! She put her wand back behind her ear and hugged the dog close, scratching it behind its ears, saying, "Hey, big guy! Aww, you're a cuddly one! Do you have an owner boy?"

The dog simply looked at her.

She sighed. "I don't suppose you know what I'm supposed to do for a place to stay . . ."

The dog's eyes widened, as if it understood and was shocked that Evanna didn't have a home. But then it just grabbed Evanna's wand from behind her ear, wagging its tail and running towards the street. It turned to see if Evanna was following, a doggy smile on its face.

Evanna smiled half-heartedly. "You can't play with that, boy, it's not a normal stick."

The dog dropped the wand in disappointment, then gave a yelp when a large purple bus appeared on the street with a bang. Evanna gasped as the dog darted away. She stood up, staring up at the triple-decker bus in awe. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus. She almost didn't notice when a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus, until he began to speak.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening."

"Pleased to meet you, Stan," Evanna said. "So, you could take me anywhere?"

But Stan's eyes had shifted to her forehead. She realized that her scar was almost visible through her hair. She quickly shifted her braid so that the hair covered it more. She really didn't want anyone knowing who she was, at least not yet.

"Woss that on your 'ead?"

"My hair," she said coolly. "I know it's not ginger, it's more crimson, and I was born with it!"

"Sorry," Stan said, obviously not sorry. "Woss your name?"

"Lavender," Evanna said the first name that came to mind, then cursed herself for not saying Ginny, which she could've pulled off with her red hair, even though hers was much darker. "Lavender Brown. Could you take this bus to the Greengrass Estate?"

"Yep, that's eleven sickles. but for firteen you get 'ot chocolate, and for fifteen you get an 'ot-water bottle an' a toofbrush in the color of your choice," Stan added.

Evanna rummaged in her trunk and handed him eleven sickles. "Thanks," she said, as she boarded the bus.

Sirius stared as the Knight Bus disappeared with a bang. He couldn't believe it. Well, there were a few things he couldn't believe.

One, his goddaughter had grown so much. She was a spitting image of her parents, with her mother's features, but nobody other than James' daughter could have hair that unruly. She had James' expressions too, and her personality was definitely a mix of them both. He wished he could've been there while she was growing up . . .

Two, she didn't have a place to stay?! What?! Why?! He had wanted to turn back into a human right there and just hug her and tell her it would be okay. But he knew he couldn't do that. So he had grabbed her wand and summoned the Knight Bus. She would be able to get to a shelter that way.

Three, he couldn't believe how he had finally escaped. He had finally escaped after twelve years in absolute HELL, and all he needed to do was find the rat. He let out a low growl.

Peter would soon get what he deserved.

Daphne Greengrass woke up with a start when there was a huge bang from outside. Her mind went frantically to Death Eaters! as she grappled for her wand on her bedside table. She ended up getting tangled in her blankets and falling off the bed, but jumped up quickly flinging open her window and aiming her wand outside. But she lowered her wand in surprise when she saw the Knight Bus and she was even more surprised when she saw who stepped out.

"Daph?"

Daphne turned to see her younger sister, Astoria, at the door, peeking into her room, fear in her eyes. She must've worried that it might be Death Eaters too.

"Come on, Tori," Daphne said, grabbing her sister's hand and pulled her downstairs.

"Wait, Daph, I know you always wanted to fight off Death Eaters, but seriously — "

Daphne flung open the front door, revealing Evanna Potter, looking apprehensive, as if she were contemplating going back home.

"H-hey, Daphne," Evanna waved nervously. "Think I could crash here for a while?"

"Of course! Come in, Evanna!" Daphne ushered her friend inside. "Evanna, this is my younger sister, Astoria. She's starting Hogwarts this year. Tori, this is Evanna Potter."

Evanna smiled at Astoria kindly. "Nice to meet you, Astoria! I love your hair!"

Astoria touched her brown curls, blushing. "Th-thanks! I like your hair too."

"What's all this racket?" Honoria Greengrass came down the stairs quickly, wand in hand, husband close behind her.

Rian Greengrass aimed his wand at Evanna. "Who is she?"

"Mum, Dad, this is Evanna Potter! My friend!" Daphne said, quickly stepping in front of Evanna. "Could she stay for a while?" Daphne turned to Evanna. "How long do you need to stay?"

Evanna shrugged indecisively. "As long as you'll let me."

"The whole rest of the summer!" Astoria suggested happily.

"She's been dying to meet you," Daphne explained.

"But, I did say that I'd meet Hermione and the Weasleys at Diagon Alley during the last week of break," Evanna added. "Knowing how late they like to leave their shopping, that means the last day."

Daphne laughed as her parents came up, now smiling at Evanna.

"Of course you're welcome here, Evanna," Honoria said.

"We've heard so much about you," Rian said. "Thank you for being our daughter's friend."

"Of course! I mean, Daphne's pretty awesome, and I'm absolutely sure Astoria is too," Evanna replied.

"Come, we'll show you to the room you'll be staying in," Honoria said, as Rian took Evanna's trunk and empty owl cage. Evanna smiled widely, glad that the Greengrass' were so accommodating. She had almost forgotten about her Aunt for the time being . . .

A/N: I just made the names of Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass, I use nameberry for all my naming needs! I really liked that chapter personally. And yes, Cornelius Fudge will still make his appearance, but he'll just show up at the Greengrass Estate instead.

Please review! ~Jayce